Rights blog 2007
Scroll down for a moving holiday message from a Palestinian in Nablus who lost his mother and speaks of love this holiday season. But first, from today's news that you will not see on Fox or CNN (Wolf Blitzer used to work for the Israel lobby, now works for CNN):
+ Six people (including my friend Iyad Burnat) were injured yesterday in the weekly non-violent demonstration in Bil'in as Apartheid Israel's soldiers opened fire with rubber-coated steel bullets and canisters of toxic gases. http://www.imemc.org/article/52064
+ ("O little town of Bethlehem...") Bethlehem Checkpoint movie, a product of Images for Life photo and video training project of Al-Rowwad Children Theater in Aida Refugee Camp
English Subtitles: http://youtube.com/watch?v=d1FaWE1SIZk
with French subtitles: http://youtube.com/watch?v=V3b0NVBsPDQ&feature=related
+ Jerusalem Latin Patriarch (Catholic Church highest official in the Holy Land) criticizes concepts of religious states
http://www.catholicregister.org/content/view/1413/849/
So the racist Zionist ADL slams him: "Jewish advocacy group voices concern over top Roman Catholic official's rejection of Israel as a Jewish nation ..."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485133,00.html
But the ADL has "A false veneer of moral authority", see http://www.muzzlewatch.com/?p=306
+ Gaza residents observe Eid AlAdha (feast of the sacrifice) without access to food let along fulfilling religious obligations of sacrificing animals to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. More stressful is that patients are dying (>50 already died) thanks to the Israeli siege of Gaza.
http://freegaza.ps/english/index.php?scid=100&id=201&extra=news&type=40
+ Celebrating a snowy Christmas... in Tehran, Iran http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/weden2.html
+ (Must read) So what have we done to them By Nehemia Shtrasler http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/936024.htm
++++++
Message from a Palestinian in Nablus (Saad Abuhijleh, his mother was murdered by Israeli soldier while at the balcony in her home):
Beloved sisters, brothers, family, friends, and colleagues,
May you have a blessed Eid Al Adha, merry Christmas, and a happy New Year...
Be true to the voice that comes from within...
Be Love for Love is the only way
That leads to that place where you do not have to say… a word... to be understood…
That leads to that bed in which you can sleep and dream like a baby… :-)
Be gentle with nature and nature will be gentle with you…
Slow down and feel yourself… do not overwhelm yourself with too many unnecessary inputs… first things first… do not sell the long-term for the short-term… walk with grace…you are the steward of Allah on Earth… join hands and energies with other Lovers that have understood the Way… allow for the synergies of Love to carry us all to the higher consciousness that will allow us to heal the bleeding wounds and the broken hearts…. And smile… let your whole Being smile… and do not understand the power of those sweet words you tell to your friends… the Arabs say “The good word comes out and the bad word comes out”…. So make it the good one :-) But if you hear a bad word that hurts you, learn how to forgive…
I pray to Allah almighty to protect you all and to gather us all on the right path… to unite us in the cause of peace…to forsake selfishness and be good to each other…
Our great prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” (Sahîh al-Bukhârî)
Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) also said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should say something good or remain silent.”
Allah almighty says in the Quran: “By time! Surely the human being is at loss. Except for those who have faith and do righteous deeds and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to patience.” (Sûrah al-`Asr)
Salaam from a city that lies between two mountains, Ebal and Jerzim…
Salaam from those who are waiting patiently for the dawn…
All the Love,
Your brother,
Saed J. Abu-Hijleh
-----------------------
'Recall the face of the poorest and most helpless person whom you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him, will he be able to gain anything by it? Will it restore him to control over his life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj, self-rule for the hungry and also spiritually starved millions of our countrymen? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.' Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
==================
18 December 2007
Tomorrow is the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha. And in one week, we will celebrate the Western Christmas tradition (December 25th). Jewish friends also celebrate Hanukkah around this time. On January 7, we celebrate the Eastern/Orthodox Christmas. And there is Kwanzaa.. For all, may you have a peaceful holiday and may the coming year bring love, peace, freedom, and prosperity to all especially those under occupation/colonization.
This image is the front of a virtual holiday card for you http://ifamericansknew.org/images/beth06-front.jpg
And here is a video card with the same theme: "They canceled Christmas in Bethlehem: the wall must fall" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMyjywN-8Ac
Now for the back of our virtual card, perhaps quotes:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus' (Issa's) Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:2-10)
"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives, the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections, that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let us not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God." Henri Nouwen, The Work of Christmas
And to all oppressed people, this message from a visitor to an exhibit of photos taken by Palestinian refugee children is appropriate this season:
"Keep your dreams, try to succeed, and try to manage your nightmares. Please tell the world about your experiences! We will tell the world about you, in order not to ever forget!"
maybe short assays
Memories of Bethlehem contrasted with the present reality by Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://imeu.net/news/article003992.shtml
and notes by Leila Sansour
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061229/news_lz1e29sansour.html
and you might want to read this revealing article with lots of things you may not have known about holidays you thought you knew: Hanukkah, Christmas, and `Idu-l-Adha: A Homily for the Season, by Joachim Martillo
http://eaazi.blogspot.com/2007/12/hanukkah-christmas-and-idu-l-adha.html
But for those who waded through this and believe as MLK and Ghandi believed that "silence is complicity" (Jesus asked that we be the salt of the earth, that we do not hide since no one lights a lantern and puts it in a closet), ACTION might be the best gift to give to others this Christmas and in the new year. And such gifts are always as Khalil Gibran noted a blessing to the receiver and a blessing to the giver.
Here are ten suggestions for actions:
1) Contact local churches, mosques, synagogues and insist that they speak out for basic human rights. A simple request would be to pray and work to help repatriate the 4 million Iraqi and 6 million Palestinian refugees/displaced people (Christian and Muslim). Offer to meet with them and to bring speakers. Let us know and we can suggest other speakers besides what is posted at http://www.palestinefreedom.org/?q=node/9 (list at left).
2) Take time to learn more about palestinian history (http://www.PalestineRemembered.com), about lies and myths (http://www.qumsiyeh.org/liesandtruths/), about current happenings (http://www.imemc.org/, http://www.maannews.net/en/ ), about statements from churches and Christian leadership (http://www.qumsiyeh.org/christianlinks/ ), about suffering of Iraqis (see http://www.electroniciraq.net/) etc.
3) Do not let any candidate for office off the hook. 2008 is an election year in the US and they must see you and hear from you. Go flyer on justice issues at their events, email them, write letter to the editor asking why many candidates (name them) do not speak out about ongoing slow genocide in Gaza or for the implementation of basic human rights like the right of refugees to return to their homes and lands or the rights of individual kidnapped and held in Guanatanamou for years without due process etc. Bring up the Israel lobby etc.
4) Ask churches, community groups and organizations to support the Palestinian Civil Society call to action; for boycotts, divestment and sanctions from Israel until it complies with human rights and International law (see http://stopthewall.org/news/boycot.shtml). Ask them to join the network of groups and organizations working on this (email me qumsi001@hotmail.com to learn more).
5) Write letters to the editor (150-200 words) and/or op-eds (700-800 words) to your local or national newspapers about the issues. Some media contacts can be found here:
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/contact/media.asp
http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/media
Write and call your TV and radio stations and ask that they interview native people from these areas on issues of religious freedom and the plight of Muslims and Christians in Iraq and Palestine and beyond (write to us if you would like suggested speakers near you).
6) Write and call your elected officials. Contacts available at
http://www.firstgov.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
http://www.house.gov
http://www.senate.gov
7) Take time to teach children about what is going on in Palestine. Give them copies of this book titled "A little piece of ground" by award winning author Elizabeth Laird (published by Haymarket Books) and then discuss it with them. http://tinyurl.com/y7lej6 and http://www.haymarketbooks.org
8) Hold a teach-in, a vigil, a forum or other community gatherings to bring attention to the plight of people in need and connect this to the year of Nakba actions and events in 2008 (the 60th year of colonization and ethnic cleansing in Palestine). In the US, invite the Wheels of Justice bus tour to your community (arrange talks at high schools, churches etc).
9) Donate to good charities (let us know if you want lists for any area of your interest, e.g. media, lobby, direct aid, etc).
10) Send this message other listserves, to your relatives, friends, co-workers and acquaintances and ask them to act. We launch a year of action because 2008 is the 60th year of Nakba: Catastrophe of Palestinians ethnic cleansing that heralded 60 years of wars and blood shed that still spills over into attacks on Lebanon, Iraq, and soon Iran to serve narrow political Zionist and other elite interests.
For more ways to help, see the Activism Manual at http://www.qumsiyeh.org/activistmanual/
======
12/16/07
My last message dissecting Israel's violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was tuncated and missed articles 25-30 and the concluding paragraph. The whole material is now posted at
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/exhibit1/
Now for this weekend's message. First a relevant quote from Martin Luther King Jr that I received on the internet:
"I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
M L King, Jr letter from a Birmingham jail
ACTION 1: Buy a Palestine Nakba calendar (available worldwide) and/or go to the website to check significant dates to do action on.
http://www.palestinecalendar.org/
The calendar is available online, at PalestineOnlineStore.com, for worldwide delivery, as well as at various retail points in Palestine
ACTION 2: Join events or make your own event. Here are two events for examples of good work:
a) South Bay (California) Mobilization for Peace: Stop AIPAC demonstration on December 16
http://southbaymobilization.org/calendar/2007/2007_12.htm#1216StopAIPAC
b) Adalah-NY protests at the new jewelry store LEVIEV New York. The protests focus on Lev Leviev's construction of the settlements of Mattityahu East on Bil'in's land, Tzufim on Jayous' land, Har Homa, Maale Adumim and other settlements. Join the next protest and create similar actions. See this video that features debkah and an unexpected visitor Alan Dershowitz. http://www.mideastjustice.org/
ACTION 3: In the year of Nakba action and commemorations, the Spring tour of the Wheels of Justice (eyewitness accounts to occupation and colonization from Iraq to Palestine http://www.justicewheels.org) is shaping up and you can be part of it. Please look over the itinerary and if you can help host in these cities or nearby then contact Abbie Coburn at abigail.coburn@gmail.com To quote Abbie "We have some wonderful speakers lined up for this spring including journalist Dahr Jamail whose book "Beyond the Green Zone" has been getting rave reviews, as well as filmmaker and journalist Mark Turner, founder of Research Journalism Initiative, who has produced various documentaries from Occupied Palestine. In addition, Mazin Qumsiyeh, Nora Barrows-Friedman, and Michael Birmingham are among those who will be joining us throughout. We are very excited about the breadth of speakers on board this spring!"
Itinerary so far (states and cities starting Feb 25, 2008): Washington: Olympia; Oregon: Portland, Salem, Eugene, Ontario; Idaho: Boise, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls; Utah: Salt Lake City; WY: Rock Springs, Cheyenne, Sidney; Nebraska: North Platte, Lincoln, Omaha, Kansas: Kansas City, Lawrence, Wichita; Iowa: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids; Illinois: Chicago)
ACTION 4: Donate to good causes for the holidays. Let me know what particular areas you would like to donate to (e.g. media work, lobbying efforts, direct aid to needy etc) and I could suggest charities.
In other news
Red Cross: Israel worsening Palestinian humanitarian crisis
Israeli restrictions have caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank that is growing worse, leaving hospitals unable to treat the sick and keeping farmers off their land, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/934353.html
Postal workers pass anti-Israel resolution By Paul Lungen, Staff Reporter
Toronto – A regional conference of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has passed a resolution supporting the boycott of Israel and pledging an educational campaign about “the apartheid nature of the Israel sic state.” The Canadian Jewish News
www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13716&Itemid=86
Civil rights group: Israel has reached new heights of racism (including 26% increase in incidnce of racist attacks against Arab Israelis).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932384.html
The guy walking to Washington for impeachment got thrown out of his old high school in Old Lyme, CT
http://www.marchinmyname.org/?page=1
(MQ comment: we may indeed be living in a paranoid police state. Th FBI called us because a visiting relative was videotaping the changing Fall leaf colors in CT from my car driving during thanksgiving holiday!)
New poll reveals how unrepresentative neocon Jewish groups are
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/12/ajc_poll/
Interview of Dr. Afif Safieh together with the Israeli Ambassador
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/cache/ASX_202783-1-0-0.asx
Zionist right wing extremist loses legal case
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/
(Revealing article) Jewish Week: An End To ‘Apocalyptic Unity’
How Iran became a top Jewish issue. Is it still 1938? http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c39_a1318/News/International.html
Israel's Palestinians Speak Out by NADIM ROUHANA http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071224/rouhana
=========================
Having private thoughts is not enough
Complaints and writing statements is not enough
MAKE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THIS WORLD!
BE THE LEADER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!
ORGANIZE AND ACT!
Quote of the week:
"Under a 1975 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the USA guaranteed all Israel’s oil needs in the event of a crisis. This Memorandum of Understanding is quietly renewed every five years. It commits U.S. taxpayers to maintain a strategic U.S. reserve for Israel, equivalent to $3 billion in 2002 dollars. Special legislation was enacted to exempt Israel from restrictions on oil exports from the USA. Moreover, the U.S. government agreed to divert oil from the USA, even if this causes domestic shortages. The U.S. government also guaranteed delivery of oil in U.S. tankers if commercial shippers become unable or unwilling to carry oil from the USA to Israel..."
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2007/11/15/us-guarantees-israel-oil-supply/
Sandy Tolan (http://www.sandytolan.com/the-lemon-tree) Kitchen Sisters produced the "The Olive Oil Season: A West Bank Kitchen Story," that aired as part of "Hidden Kitchens" series for National Public Radio Thanksgiving day (AKA Native American Genocide memorial day). If you missed the story, you can find great pictures and text and also replay at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16506897
Demands of a thief By Gideon Levy writing in Ha'aretz
“like the whites in South Africa who whipped up a frenzy of fear about the "great slaughter" that would ensue if blacks were granted their rights. But these are not legitimate questions: The incarceration must be ended and the myriad of political prisoners should be released unconditionally. Just as a thief cannot present demands,…�
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/927531.html
Zionism must be Dissolved for Peace
By Khalid Amayreh (Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine)
http://desertpeace.blogspot.com/2007/11/israel-peace-or-zionism.html
An Unlikely Visitor Gives Musharraf Support. The Zionist "Council of World Jewry" founder visits Pakistan.
http://www.forward.com/articles/12080/
New York City Activists escalate protests at Leviev Jewlery
For photos:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/92915.html
For Leviev's response see:
http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/diamonds/e3iebeeee1ed78e9c1cd1aa886183e96c25
Rutgers University Divestment Program
http://www.rutgersdivest.org
Lajee Center takes photography exhibit of Palestinian refugee youth around the world
http://www.lajee.org/english/display.cfm?DocID=41&CategoryID=2
Pentagon Cover Up: 15,000 or more US casualties in Iraq War By Mike Whitney
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18737.htm
Finally here is a forward from Anna Baltzer
Dear friends,
Two pieces of news:
I. The major shipment of the new revised edition of "Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories" (originally released by Paradigm Publishers in September) has finally arrived! I have someone helping to send them out (individually, or by the box) so please let me know if you'd like to place an order.
400+ pages full-color (including more than 500 original photos & maps!), "Witness in Palestine" costs $26.95 at Barnes & Noble or $20 on my website, www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com. They are even cheaper in person (see tour details below) or if you write me for a bulk discount.
Here are some notable reviews of the book:
"Even those who are familiar with the grim reality of the occupied territories will quickly be drawn into a world they had barely imagined by these vivid, searingly honest, intensely acute portrayals of unflagging courage, wanton cruelty, and enduring faith that through non-violent resistance fundamental decency will somehow prevail -- an outcome that lies very much in our hands. I cannot find words to express my admiration for the solidarity workers and peacemakers, international and Israeli, and the people of Palestine whom they are
supporting in their struggles to survive and to overcome." -NOAM CHOMSKY
"Baltzer's moving and vivid memoir tells the story of the daily struggle along the Wall in the West Bank, with stories and pictures that capture not just the hardships, but also the resilience of the Palestinian people. It also tells the story of courageous internationals like Baltzer, dedicating their time and energy to the
struggle of the suffering, who give many of us hope that, with the people of the world working together, justice and peaceful coexistence in Israel/Palestine are possible."
-TANYA REINHART, Israeli activist and author of "Israel/Palestine andb Roadmap to Nowhere"
"By combining a lucid and captivating text with artistic photography, this book draws you into the life of an average Palestinian living under exceptional circumstances of occupation, oppression, and colonization. This vivid account is also a deeply personal story that will inspire you not only to have hope but to actively seek and work for peace and justice."
-MAZIN QUMSIYEH, Palestinian-American author of "Sharing the Land of Canaan"
CALL TO ACTION:
A. If your local bookstores don't carry "Witness in Palestine," ask
them to! You can fill out a request form and they'll likely order it.
Same with libraries...
B. Teachers & professors: "Witness in Palestine" is already being used in several classrooms. It's a cheap and comprehensive textbook on the conflict... Let me know if you'd like a sample copy.
C. Recommend that local media do a book review. I'm happy to send a copy for review.
------------------------------------------
II. This next month I'll be touring with Hannah Mermelstein, an amazing speaker and activist I worked with at the International Women's Peace Service. Hannah went on to co-found Birthright Unplugged (www.BirthrightUnplugged.org). Our itinerary is below. Please forward it on to anyone who you think might be interested...
Yours in peace,
Anna
LIFE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE: EYEWITNESS STORIES & PHOTOS
Two Jewish American human rights volunteers with the International Women's Peace Service—Anna Baltzer, Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, the grand-daughter of Holocaust refugees, and Hannah Mermelstein, co-founder of Birthright Unplugged—will present photos, videos, and stories from their work with Palestinian refugees, Israeli activists, and others working nonviolently for peace and justice in Israel/Palestine. All events include both Baltzer & Mermelstein unless otherwise indicated.
Note: for times, addresses, and other details, visit www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com/presentations/schedule
Nov 27 Peoria, IL Bradley University (Baltzer solo)
Nov 28 Rockford, IL WNTA Talk Radio (Baltzer solo, remotely)
Nov 28 Peoria, IL Cable Access TV (Baltzer solo)
Nov 29 Bozeman, MT KMMS 1450 AM (Baltzer solo, remotely)
Nov 29 Chicago, IL Open University of the Left (Baltzer solo)
Dec 3 Rockford, IL Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford
Dec 4 Janesville, WI Janesville Academy for International Studies
Dec 4 Janesville, WI Janesville Academy for International Studies
Dec 4 Rock County, WI University of Wisconsin
Dec 5 Platteville, WI University of Wisconsin
Dec 6 La Crosse, WI Viterbo University (solo)
Dec 8 Des Moines, IA TBA
Dec 9 Marshalltown, IA Hope United Methodist Church
Dec 9 Ames, IA Ames Public Library
Dec 10 Cedar Falls, IA Cedar Falls Mennonite Church
Dec 11 or 12 Wayland, IA WACO High School (pending confirmation)
Dec 11 Mt Pleasant, IA First United Methodist Church
Dec 12 Cedar Rapids, IA Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist
Dec 13 Grinnell, IA Grinnell College (pending confirmation)
Dec 14 Newton, IA Newton Correctional Facility
Dec 14 Lawrence, KS Lawrence High School
Dec 14 Lawrence, KS Ecumenical Christian Ministries building
Dec 15 Lee's Summit, KS Holy Spirit Catholic Church (Baltzer solo)
Dec 15 Lawrence, KS Solidarity Center (Mermelstein solo)
Dec 16 Olathe, KS Saint Andrew Christian Church (Baltzer solo)
Dec 16 Salina, KS Unitarian Universality Church (Mermelstein solo)
Dec 17 Denver, CO Community Access Television (also with Mark
Turner of Research Journalism Initiative)
Dec 19 Boulder, CO First Congregational Church (Baltzer solo)
More Colorado Talks TBA...
Mermelstein will be selling copies of the CD she produced, Needle in the Groove, composed of women singing for social change to benefit Flowers Against the Occupation, a Palestinian groups working to support and empower young girls in the North West Bank (www.NeedleInTheGroove.org).
Baltzer will be signing copies of her new revised & updated book,"Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories." For more information about Baltzer & Mermelstein's work and tour, visit www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com & www.BirthrightUnplugged.org
===================
November 19, 2007
"Let us work first for justice. Reconciliation and peace will follow close behind"
Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu
ACTIONS from Middle East Children Alliance:
1) Legacies of 1948: 60 Years of Searching for Justice
May 24 - June 7, 2008
2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel and Al Nakba - the Palestinian "Catastrophe" of 1948 when 750,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in what is now Israel. This delegation, co-sponsored with the American Friends Service Committee, will focus on this dual narrative and the pivotal role of 1948 in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The trip will feature meetings with Palestinians and Israelis who lived through the events of 1948 and witnessed its impact on history and identity. The group will tour Palestinian refugee camps, where the descendants of the original 750,000 have grown to more than 5 million, and the ruins of Palestinian villages within Israel which testify to the displacement. Meetings will also be held with Palestinian and Israeli activists, historians, and public figures who will share perspectives on the past 60 years and consider prospects for historical justice.
2) Middle East Children's Alliance Delegation to Palestine/Israel
July 1-12, 2008
For nineteen years, MECA has taken small groups to visit Palestine/Israel. On MECA's twelve-day delegation you will be taken on a geographic, political, historical and cultural tour of Palestine/Israel by two MECA staff people, and Yacoub Odeh, refugee, former political prisoner, and human rights worker. We will travel by van to witness the impact of the Israeli occupation and visit organizations working for justice and equality. You will learn about refugees, land confiscation, political prisoners, women's initiatives, mental and physical health issues, civil rights in Israel, and the lives of children. The group of eight to twelve people will stay at the guesthouse of MECA's long-time partner Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, near Bethlehem. Ibdaa is a lively place in the heart of the community with great food and comfortable accommodations. Trip Cost: $1,800. For much more information go to http://www.mecaforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=52
ACTIONS from Palestinian America Congress 8th Annual Convention
Friday November 30 to Sunday December 2, 2007
Sheraton Hotel at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT
For Hotel Reservation: Phone: 860-627-5311 or 800-325-3535 (Ask for Palestinian American Congress Rate)
For PAC Convention Registration contact Haidar AbuShaqra , c/o Family Auto, 373 Main Street Manchester, CT 06040 or via e-mail Haidarpac@yahoo.com Banquet December 1 (Guest speaker: Dr. Ghada Talhami)
Music, food and more!
Please make registration and hotel reservation before the deadline of November 20th to guarantee the early bird deal
BANQUET December 1 (attend separately from convention), with keynote speech by Prof. Ghada Talhami
INFORMATIVE ARTICLES
Another important article by Gideon Levy on the realities of the Israeli occupation: "Twilight Zone / 'We saw death a thousand times'"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/924561.html
A History of Nonviolence: Palestinian leader Naim Ateek has long advocated nonviolence as the only way to secure peace between Israel and Palestine. So why is he so despised by hard-line Israel supporters? By Matthew Duss, American Prospect
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_history_of_nonviolence
Camera's attack on Sabeel
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2007/10/27/dexter-van-ziles-fraudulent-campaign-against-sabeel/
Speech of Khalid Mashaal to Arab intellectuals meeting in Damascus
http://conflictsforum.org/2007/mishals-speech-to-arab-intellectuals/
Zionist Organization of America says: "U.S. Presidential Hopefuls Running after Jewish Voters" by Sarah Morrison
http://www.zoa.org/2007/11/israel_national.htm
My god, what did we do? By Dalia Karpel (read for the reality that many Jewish Zionist supporters hate to face)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=922009&contrassID=2&subContrassID=14
Cut Israel Off, By Charley Reese
http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=11920
�Islamofascism�: The Failure of a Concept
by Gary Leupp / November 1st, 2007
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/11/%e2%80%9cislamofascism%e2%80%9d-the-failure-of-a-concept/
Christians in Jerusalem ask Jews: Stop spitting on us
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=487412&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=487412
Highlighted website
http://www.imemc.org/ International Middle East Media Center (updated information)
http://www.flashpoints.net/ (good radio station and also with lots of links)
====================
November 7, 2007
(The Sabeel Conference in Boston focusing on Israeli Apartheid over the weekend was a huge success with nearly 1000 attending. This quote from Bishop Desmond Tutu is relevant "From my experience in South Africa I know that truth-telling is hard. It has grave consequences for one's life and reputation. It stretches one's faith, tests one's capacity to love, and pushes hope to the limit.... No one takes up this work on a do-gooder's whim. It is not a choice. One feels compelled into it. Neither is it work for a little while, but rather for a lifetime - and for more than a lifetime. It is a project bigger than any one life. This long view is a source of encouragement and perseverance. The knowledge that the work preceded us and will go on after us is a fountain of deep gladness that no circumstance can alter." Bono adds a relevant point "History will be our judge, but what is written is up to us: Who we are, who we've been, what we want to be remembered for. We can't say our generation didn't know how to do it. We can't say our generation couldn't afford to do it. And we can't say our generation didn't have reason to do it. It's up to us. We can choose to shift the responsibility, or we can choose to shift the paradigm." Peace rallies over the weekend were successful and it was great to see such good turnout. Whether you were there or not, it is time to escalate our involvement/activism and there is no more relevant issue than this item below to bring peace - not only in Western Asia.)
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Global Nakba Plans and Actions
A number of groups and coalitions have designated 2008 (beginning with November 29, 2007) as a year of Commemoration for Al-Nakba (the catastrophe of Palestinian ethnic cleansing and dispossession) AND a year of action for justice (the only route to a durable peace). From November 29, 2007 to November 29, 2008, we ask you to join groups and individuals (or create your own group) to engage in meaningful actions that creatively relate the history and the consequences of the Nakba and ensure refugees are returned for peace with justice. This includes educational actions, demonstrations on key dates, solidarity trips to Palestine, media work, lobby actions, and others. Several local groups began planning a central mass mobilization in NYC in May 2008 US national event and other events are being planned around the world. The gravity of the moment demands real collective action from many different organizations concerned with justice. Your participation and your ideas and leadership are needed now more than ever. To facilitate your involvement, this message lays out the background, statements and actions on this critical year. This is just a beginning but it can only work to bring peace (and we know it can) if EVERYONE participates and creates local actions and/or joins other actions to say "60 years of colonial oppression and ethnic cleansing are enough: Time for justice/time for peace".
In this message:
I) Links and background on Al-Nakba
II) Call to action from Badil, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.
III) American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Resolution on the issue of Nakba (adopted June 2007)
IV) International Coordinating Network on the Question of Palestine adopts significant resolutions that include among other things a year of Nakba commemorations and actions (Aug 2007)
V) Proposal adopted by the US Campaign to End the Occupation for a year of Nakba Commemorations (adopted September 2007).
VI) Palestinians in the US preparing for a conference (Palestinians are called to join in the preparatory meeting Nov 9-11, 2007 and the main meeting in August 2008)
VII) Wheels of Justice planned actions and call for participation in coordination in Nakba year. You and your group can join this growing network.
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I) Links to background on Al-Nakba:
http://www.iremember1948.org (Excellent Testimonial)
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General/Story2129.html (Short video done immediately after the expulsion of Palestinian Refugees)
http://www.acrossborders.ps/portal/Reflecting.cfm (Reflections)
http://www.theunrecognized.org/ (on the continuing tragedy of Unrecognized Villages)
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/chapter4/ (Background Chapter on refugees)
http://www.zochrot.org/index.php?id=582 (Israeli statement on Nakba and ROR)
http://www.jewishsolidarity.info/ (Jews in Solidarity)
http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/index.php?id=228 (Video of Arab Women testimonies on Nakba)
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/henrylowi/ (Excellent article on Partition emailed 13 October 2007)
AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE WEBSITES ON THE ISSUES
http://www.palestineremembered.com
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II) Badil, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Call to action
In 2007 the Occupation turns 40
In 2008 al-Nakba turns 60
"Let's make 2007 � 2008 into 'the campaign of freedom and return'. Not just the return (al-awda) of the refugees, but also a return to the rule of law and respect for human rights."
http://www.badil.org/call-en.htm
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III) American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Resolution
Whereas ADC has adopted the Palestinian Civil Society call to action that included calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (�BDS�) analogous to those adopted against apartheid South Africa; and whereas ADC emphasizes the importance of the struggle for Palestinian freedom, return and self-determination; and whereas U.S. policy, influenced by a strong Israeli lobby, has deviated from principles of human rights and international law; and whereas the issue of Palestine/Israel is central to U.S. policies in Western Asia which have had disastrous consequences (e.g., Iraq); and whereas recent discussions were opened in many ways as a result of events such as the publication of President Jimmy Carter�s book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, the publication by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer of their research paper entitled �The Israel Lobby,� and the growing BDS movements in England, South Africa and North America, among others; be it resolved that ADC calls on its members and supporters to:
a. Plan events for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (November 29, 2007, the thirtieth such day since the UN General Assembly declared this day of solidarity in 1977) and for the 60th anniversary of the nakba, highlighting the inalienable rights of Palestinian refugees in these events.
b. Support the Wheels of Justice bus tour, which brings eyewitness accounts of the wars and occupations currently taking place in the Arab world to hundreds of colleges and universities, over 200 middle and high schools, and hundreds of churches and other venues in 48 states.
c. Take practical initiatives to heed the Palestinian Civil Society call to action, by taking concrete proposals for BDS to governmental and other institutions, following the recent examples set in England and South Africa.
http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3124
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IV) UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN SUPPORT OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE; INTERNATIONAL COORDINATING NETWORK ON PALESTINE, European Parliament, Brussels August 30-31 2007
Realizing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People: 60 years is enough! End the dispossession; bring the refugees home!
PLAN OF ACTION ADOPTED
Relevant section: "We commit ourselves, and call on global civil society, to join Palestinian communities inside Israel, in exile and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in mobilizing for a year of educational and campaigning work beginning on November 29, 2007. That year will include May 15, 2008, as a day of global mobilization to commemorate the Nakba, and the continuing dispossession and denial of Palestinian rights."
PDF File of all resolutions:
http://www.badil.org/40-60-campaign/UN-Call-to-Action.pdf
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V) Proposed by Middle East Crisis Committee, Al-Awda-CT, and Wheels of Justice Network and amended and adopted at the annual convention of the US Campaign to End the Occupation (PDF file at http://endtheoccupation.org/downloads/2007proposal3.pdf )
Name of the proposal: A year of commemoration and action for Al-Nakba
........
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VI) U.S. Popular Palestinian National Conference
Palestinians in the US: Reclaiming Our Voice, Asserting Our Narrative
Organized by The U.S. Palestine Conference Network (USPCN)
Preparatory Meeting
Washington, DC
November 9-11, 2007
We call upon Palestinians in the United States to join us on November 9-11, 2007, in Washington, DC to participate in the third Preparatory Meeting for the Popular Palestinian National Conference, Palestinians in the US: Reclaiming Our Voice, Asserting Our Narrative. The Conference will take place in 2008 to coincide with the 60 Year Anniversary of Al Nakba.
The U.S. Palestine Conference Network (USPCN) is not an organization. It is an open arena and network where Palestinian- American organizations, associations, village and town-based clubs and Palestinian individuals residing in the U.S. can come together. The purpose of the Conference is to empower us to assume a key role in realizing Palestinian national and human rights. We have an obligation to become full participants in the national struggle by developing a principled, inclusive and nonpartisan voice.
We pledge to ensure an inclusive meeting where all views are respected. We are aware of the diverse outlooks and opinions amongst Palestinians in the U.S. and we invite the participation of all Palestinian- Americans and Palestinians living in the U.S. who are willing to commit to making the Popular National Conference a reality. All participants must accept and support our three points of unity which are adopted from the Fundamental Palestinian National Principles:
* Self-determination and equality for the Palestinian people
* The Right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their original homes, lands, properties and villages (a natural right supported by international law and UN Resolution 194)
* End of Zionist occupation and colonization of Palestine
Application Process
Please confirm your interest in attending the Washington, DC Preparatory Meeting by filling out the application form located on our website at http://www.palestineconference.org under the �Register for the DC Organizing Meeting� tab or by e-mailing the attached application form to PalestineConferenceUSA@yahoo.com. Please note that preregistration is required and all applications must be received no later than November 2, 2007.
You will receive a confirmation letter with your registration status within one week of submission. The confirmation notice will contain detailed logistical information, including meeting location, hotel rates, transportation, etc. A registration fee of $50 will be collected onsite in order to cover meals and material costs. Please do not hesitate to contact us at PalestineConferenceUSA@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
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VII) The Wheels of Justice Network is working to share innovative ideas for commemorations and actions in the year of Nakba. In our last conference call, we agreed to publicize these things during the October 27, 2007 anti-war events and to then work on a number of events starting with local events on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Projects that are underway include
- creating a fund to help activists with limited income travel to Palestine on solidarity missions (or in the case of Palestinian youth, increasing connectedness)
- support for projects that strengthen steadfastness by Palestinians in their lands and of education and a dignified living of Palestinians in Refugee Camps outside of Palestine.
- sharing tools and resources for activism
To join the network, please read the following:
The Wheels of Justice Network (wojn@lists.riseup.net)
The idea behind this network came about as the bus tour (http://www.justicewheels.org) traveled in 48 states in the US and was hosted by hundreds of organizations working for peace and justice. Through this activity and other activities by key members (talks, conferences, conventions etc.), we have collected hundreds of key organizational contacts and tens of thousands of individual contacts. An important asset we developed is the credibility we built for doing actions to reach beyond the choir (to middle schools, high schools, colleges, churches, mosques, community centers, etc and in the media world with hundreds of stories in mainstream publications). Bookers, speakers, managers, and drivers (all volunteers) made these contacts and served by spreading the message. We found that a great side benefit is learning from host groups� new skills and new ideas that we did not think of before. We transmitted those to our own local groups. The reverse was also true (many local host groups learned new ideas transmitted verbally by those on the bus). But there are limits of this: interactions limited to people actually on the bus interacting with host groups or individuals attending events; the informal and verbal communications that is not available to others, etc. There was no systematic way for communications between groups working for peace and justice. Such a communication forum is important in order to:
a) Share lessons learned from mistakes and challenges in other places (so that different groups do not have to reinvent the wheels so to speak)
b) Share successes and innovative ideas from each other. For examples the successes of the Somerville Divestment Project, the University of Wisconsin Divestment Project, the Olympia-Rafah sister City Project, the AFSC Olive Oil sale campaign, the Ibdaa cultural tour, the Wheels of Justice, the IMEU media project, the Palestine Freedom Project etc.
c) Share resources (expertise, networking ability etc). For example, some groups have access to excellent and almost free web hosting or web design capabilities, some to vast email lists, some to graphic designers, some to printing presses, etc.
d) Solicit support from other groups for nation-wide or international campaigns (e.g. response to articles in a national or international publications, response to attacks on academic freedom, coordinating global campaigns). The network is now planning a series of evens for the 60th anniversary of the Nakba to launch at the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 November).
Towards these goals we are setting up a listserve that will include representatives from organizations. This listserve will be strictly limited to the goals listed above (e.g. NO posting of news articles, chats or discussions unless action oriented along the lines above). To join the list, an organization must agree to the following conditions:
- Agree to the principles of human rights as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Agree to the Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action; see: http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=66_0_1_0_M
- Agree that the US army must withdraw from all countries in Western Asia and respect the rights of self-determination for people in that part of the world
- Agree to select/elect two members of the group (one and a backup if available) to join the list serve and participate by communicating information in both directions (from WOJN to his/her group and vice versa) to achieve the goals set forth above.
If your group would like to join, please contact qumsi001@hotmail.com with information on the group, its agreement to the principles outlined and the name and contact information of the liaison person/persons.
Wheels of Justice
Danbury Peace Coalition
If Americans Knew, Washington DC
International Solidarity Movement, Italy
Middle East Children�s Alliance
Middle East Crisis Committee, New Haven
Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance, Albuquerque
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, Palestine
Palestine Human Rights Campaign, Auckland, New Zealand
Canada Palestine Association
Siraj Center, Palestine
Somerville Divestment Project, Massachusetts
Boycott Israel Association, Gaza
Palestinian American Congress
Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity
Friends of Sabeel, North America
Madison Rafah Sister City Project
Boycott Israel Association, Gaza
Students for Justice in Palestine, Penn State
======================
10/25/07
My visit to England reminded me of the role of English royalty and elites in pushing for a conflict starting with the leadership of the first Crusade and on to the Sykes-Picot agreement (1916, dividing Western Asia into British and French interests) the Balfour Declaration (1917 promising a homeland for Jews to get support for the war effort) to the first British occupation of Iraq and Palestine (1919-1920 and beyond) and to the latest British occupation (with the US) of Iraq and its support of the continued occupation and colonization of Palestine (so far 7 of the 10 million Palestinians were made refugees or displaced people). But on the other hand, now as then many individual citizens and groups were doing such fantastic job for human rights and justice. Believing indeed that silence is complicity these groups are making a huge difference (e.g. at the University of London and this excellent group that does twinning with Palestine: http://www.twinningwithpalestine.net/ )
The intensified media and educational campaign to vilify Muslims and Islam reached a new low with the David Horowitz blitzkrieg on campuses to promote Islamophobia and titled "Islamofascist awareness week." Imagine the outrage if we had a Christofascist or Judeofascist awareness weeks on campuses!!. A good summary of this campaign is found on the Black Agenda Report http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=404&Itemid=36 (My own guess is that this will help further awaken the sleeping giant, which is the Arab and Islamic world)
The intensified efforts and plans to attack Iran (thinking of it as a supposed preempting of a potential/supposed liberator of the Holy Land). On this front, the attack on Iran is playing a significant factor in choice of president: de jure by the US public but de facto by the Israel lobby. In fact, Israel has the Chutzpa to even rate them on their allegiance:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerPage.jhtml
Giuliani and Clinton are top in subsuming US interests to serve Israeli interests. And here is the Israel positions of these presidential candidates taken from the Zionist think tank "Council of foreign Relations: which claims the conflict goes thousands of years: http://www.cfr.org/publication/13579/
There is now a malicious campaign of vilification and attacks on any one who dares discuss Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. It was interesting to note the hysterical reactions of Zionist establishment to publications of books like Paul Findley's "They Dare to Speak Out", Jimmy Carter's "Palestine: Peace not apartheid" and Profs. Mearsheimer and Walt "The Israel Lobby: influence on US Foreign Policy." It is interesting to note that at every talk I give, the requisite quorum of at least three Zionists show up (a bad cop, good cop, and a supposed psychological commentator). This weekend, they are going full force against the Sabeel Conference (Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian liberation theology group with friends around the world). See Friends of Sabeel Website at http://fosna.org and the article promoting the racist demonstration at http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=3885
In all cases and failing to really address the substance, the attackers resort/ed to name calling the most common of which that was used over the years to silence people are calling them "anti-semite" and/or "self-hating Jews". For apologists of an apartheid regime to claim victimization is not unusual (white rulers in Apartheid South Africa and their elite supporters in the West for decades claimed victimhood of ANC Terrorism and being trapped on the tip of a black and backward continent. The white rulers literally looked at themselves as a beacon of democracy in the barbarity of those who burn people alive (called neck lacing). Today it seems unusual to speak about blacks in Africa in denigrating terms (although it is still done in the elite think tanks of Washington and behind the scenes in academic and other elite circles). The attack on Arabs and Muslims is now full fledged and is out in the open. The list is long from the PATRIOT act to warrantless surveillance, to profiling, to verbal abuse, to denial of the right to speak, to denial of employment and promotion, to Guantanamou and Abu Ghrieb, to "rendering" and secret CIA prisons, and on and on. One looks to history to understand the period we are in. The closest I could come-up with is the eleventh century when the Crusades were the norm. For the first 100 years of the crusader onslaught, the Arab and Muslim masses were divided and leaderless. The Crusaders were pragmatic and even established treaties and trades. Then they got greedy and expanded and broke treaties (see Karen Armstrong's book "Holy War") and aroused anger and aroused the sleeping giant of Islam. We see the signs of a similar thing today (as posted above). Here is one more: "Extremist Jews Burn a Church in a Jerusalem" http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/916567.html
(Of course hundreds of religious sites were destroyed by Israel when they depopulated 530 Palestinian Towns and Villages between 1947-1950 and later in 1967 and beyond)
Bizarre news: Israel to purchase Chinese fighter jets that have US technology (the article claims Israel technology when everyone knows that the Israeli Lavi was based on US F-16 technologies and that is the reason it was canceled but Israel profited handsomely). http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380641058&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
On good news, in a win for freedom of expression (and against Zionist attempted censorship) the University of Michigan Press will continue the distribution agreement with Pluto Press (the publisher of my book Sharing the Land of Canaan). And in a vuisually impressive action: Condoleeza Rice was confronted by Code Pink activist Desiree Firoos calling her war criminal (in the opening of the hearings in Congress presided over by AIPAC stooge Tom Lantos, Lantos was visibly shaken).: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9GytISiHzw
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." -- Abolitionist Wendell Phillips
====================
The compilation of links and resources on the issue of Islam and Christianity in last week's email was not intended so that you go to and read every link in that message or even to read the brief descriptions in front of all these links. They were intended as resources so that when we have things like the "Islamofascism Awareness Week", people could distribute facts to counteract the propaganda. Generally, there is no need to read all the information sent in any of our emails but skim it for useful bits. You do not even have to keep those for future reference as most material is at qumsiyeh.org under the blog or under the section for answers to lies and distortions.
In follow-up to that issue of those pushing for "clash of civiization", this article from Israeli icon of the left Uri Avnery explains consisely why Zionist leaders had to push the concept of Islam vs the "Judeo-Christian tradition" to justify continued oppression of Palestinians. In the "The Mother of all Pretexts" Avnery says that "our leaders are exploiting this slogan as a pretext for sabotaging any possibility of an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. It is just one more in a long line of pretexts." and he goes on to list some of those pretexes (http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1192288533/ )
(must read) A NEW ISRAELI STUDY CONFIRMS OUR WORST FEARS : On the academic research of Psychologist Nofer Ishai-Karen and Psychology Prof. Joel Elitzur, Dalia Karpel shortened translation of article in Haaretz `Hamedovevet` Translation published in Israeli Occupation Magazine (this was in the Hebrew not English edition of Haaretz)
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=22525 (English partial translation)
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/905287.htm (Hebrew in Haaretz)
As I was reading this I was reflecting on our confrontation with Alan Dershowitz who said Israel human rights record is "generally superb" and that no country faced with what Israel is faced did any better. (More on the event and Dershowitz's lies in next week's email)
Daniel Pipes and I have opposite views on many issues especially teh core issue: his support of ethnocentric chauvenistic racism (Zionism). He even listed me (with five others including Noam Chomsky as "Professors who hate America"). So it is a bit surprising when I send you his article titled "Zionism's Bleak Present" where I agree with his pessimistic appraisal of the Zionism of the present (not withstanding Zionist success in pushing us for a war on Iraq, even that backfired on them). Unfortunately the lesson that Pipes drew is not to join other Zionists and ex-Zionists by begining to rethink a racist and anachronistic ideology and develop anti-Zionist or at least a post-Zionist discourse. No, the lesson is to keep digging the hole which gets bigger and bigger (now taking on 1.5 billion Muslims after pissing off most decent Christians and Jews). Anyway, read what Pipes says in this Jerusalem Post article. It is a shame that some Palestinians are giving-up on our inalienable rights when most people (even Zionists) are coming to realize that the racism that denies us these rights is anachronistic and doomed to failure (Time was never on the side of Zionism no more than it was on the side of Nazism or South African Apartheid).
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/4997
(Presidential) Candidates court Jewish support
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21266470/
The Mega-Lie Called the "War on Terror": A Masterpiece of Propaganda. By Richard W. Behan
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/63632/?page=entire
Grant F. Smith: "These are stifling times at college campuses"
http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1479297.html
"It Doesn't Get Any Worse Than That, Ray: Unmasking AIPAC" By WILLIAM A. COOK
http://www.counterpunch.org/cook10052007.html
(if the real story of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty is heard more often and in the mainstream media or at least via the internet to US Citizens, they would be up in arms to demand at least an end to the US-Israel "special relationship") "New revelations in attack on American spy ship: Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn't tell full story of deadly '67 incident"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,66005.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout
(on how a visit to the occupied areas is essential for anyone wanting to give opinions on Israel/Palestine) "Go And See the Truth For Yourself, I Did," British Medical Journal,
http://uruknet.info/?p=m37031&hd=&size=1&l=e
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10/12/07
In memory of Shaden Abu Hijleh, mother and feminist Muslim activist who was murdered five years ago October 11, 2002 (see http://www.remembershaden.org/ ) Today we protest the appearance of Alan Dershowitz at Yale, a man who called Israel's human rights record "generally superb", and a man who supported assassinations, torture, and other war crimes.
In the past week and as we approach the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayers in the Islamic tradition, I received a few emails asking me as a Palestinian Christian about Muslim-Christian relations, about the killing of the one Christian evangelist in Gaza and other questions along the same lines. I wanted to take this opportunity to address some of these issues and took the time to compile links and resources for background facts on these important issues.
First, in good news, we commend the president of St. Thomas University in reversing his decision and inviting Bishop Desmond Tutu to speak (Israel apologists lost this round). Bishop Tutu is a Nobel Peace Laureate who suffered for his work against South African apartheid now speaks eloquently, with humility and passion, on Israeli apartheid. Thanks to many people (including members of Jewish Voice for Peace) for mobilizing in writing letters.
Second, I think every Christian and Muslim who is faithful to their religion should read this well-thought-out letter from Muslim scholars/leaders to heads of Christian Churches on the commonality of the two faiths including the two key commandments: loving God and loving your neighbor (wanting for your neighbor what you want for yourself). PDF File:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/11_10_07_letter.pdf
Third, it is important to recognize who are the people behind the propaganda campaign to create a Muslim-Christian division. Any cursory investigation would note that in 99% of the cases these are extremist racist Zionist Jews. Take for example the "Islamofascism Awareness Week" being peddled on University Campuses by arch racist David Horowitz. Even mainstream Zionists do not want to have anything to do with this character or people like him. Many Jewish Zionist editors of mainstream papers are even unwilling to publish op-eds by such people as Horowitz, Pipes, Podhorz, and their coterie. The tiny non-Jewish Zionist minority of those who are promoting the Muslim-Christian divide, are those on the payroll of the extreme Zionists (e.g. the nutty "Bridgitte Gabriel" who claims to be a Christian or the fake "ex-terrorist" "Walid Shoebat"). These few individuals are willing to say and do anything for money. So always look at the source of the information you are being told and who pays the salaries and who sponsors the events. While the stories and names of over 850 Palestinian Children (Christian and Muslim) killed by Israel are buried (and imagine if someone would take just one of these cases and claim it as evidence of "JewishFascism"), we are told that the regrettable killing of one Palestinian who happen to be Christian by unknown people is evidence of "IslamoFascism". Whose interests does that serve? Like all self-deluded war ,mongers of the past, the idea that they can divide and conquer for ever is very tempting. Problem is, we know that now power remains (watch the fate of the Roman, Ottoman, or Spanish Empires.
Fourth, we should take individual Christian claims of persecution by Muslims seriously but never at face value. To do our homework would require going and seeing things for ourselves and investigating those cases very carefully. There are human rights groups out there investigating human rights abuses on all fronts and we should read their reports (which document meticulously the Israeli occupation and colonization for atrocities against all Palestinians, Christians and Muslims). More important we should listen to the vast majority of Palestinian Christians and their representatives. By educating ourselves, we can start to distinguish lies from the truth. I thus decided to compile relevant information from Christian sources (Palestinian and non-Palestinian) for your use.
FOUR concise and factual descriptions of history and overview of the current situation of Palestinian Christian communities from non-Palestinians (includes analysis of emigration, challenges etc etc.)
http://www.al-bushra.org/holyland/sabella.htm
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/November_2005/0511064.html
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6369.shtml
http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20020312ib.html
A more detailed analysis is found in the highly recommended book "Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000" by Donald E. Wagner
A short clip from the award-winning film 'Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority" This clip is about the Christian presence in Palestine under Israeli military rule. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RKCQ-wfpiE (For more info on this excellent documentary please visit http://www.occupation101.com )
Statements from leadership of Palestinian Christians (these are illustrative of what really concerns us Palestinian Christians):
- Statement of Christian Church Leaders in the Holy Land
http://www.eappi.org/eappiweb.nsf/list/ICAPPI%202.html
- A communiqu� by the Christian National institutions
href=http://www.p-p-o.com/Eng/2002/1/WE4-1-2002-1.htm
- Statement Regarding the Separation Wall from The Patriarchs and Head of Churches in Jerusalem http://www.khsnsw.org/updates/2003/200308/statement_regarding_the_separati.htm
- 2002 call from heads of Christian Churches in the Holy Land http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/9-3-02jerus-call.html
- The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism
http://imeu.net/news/article003122.shtml
Palestinian Christian groups
Al-Bushra (the good tidings) Center of Bethlehem http://www.al-bushra.org
Center for Rapprochement Between People http://www.rapprochement.org
Annadwa (International Center of Bethlehem) http://www.annadwa.org
Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme http://www.eappi.org/
Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem http://Jerusalem.anglican.org
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the Holy Land (ELCJHL) http://www.holyland-lutherans.org
Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation http://www.hcef.org
Living Stones of the HLT http://www.livingstonesonline.org.uk/
Middle East Christians http://mideastchristians.virtualactivism.org
Network for Alternative Travel http://www.HolyLandAlternatives.net
Open Bethlehem http://www.openbethlehem.org
Sabeel, Palestinian Ecumenical Liberation Theology Group http://www.sabeel.org
Via Dolorosa http://www.via-dolorosa.net
YMCA East Jerusalem http://www.ej-ymca.org
YWCA in Palestine http://www.ywca-palestine.org/
http://www.wusul.com/
A selection of nonPalestinian Christian Communities that are actively speaking out on behalf against the systematic Israeli violations of human rights (violations that effect both Palestinian Christians and Muslims)
American Friends Service Committee http://www.afsc.org/
Anglican Communion News Service http://anglicancommunion.org/acns
Baptist Peace Fellowship http://bpfna.org/
http://www.christusrex.org
Christian Peacemaker Teams http://www.cpt.org
Churches for Middle East Peace http://www.cmep.org
Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace http://www.ccmep.org
Every Church a Peace Church http://www.ecapc.org/mainframe.asp
Fellowship of Reconciliation � Israel/Palestine Program http://www.forusa.org/programs/ipb/default.html
Friends of Sabeel, North America http://www.fosna.org
Global Ministries http://www.globalministries.org
Humanity Check http://home.earthlink.net/~humanitycheck/
Methodist Federation for Social Action http://www.mfsaweb.org
Middle East Council of Churches http://www.mec-churches.org
National Conference of Catholic Bishops http://www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/middleast.htm
Pax Christi USA http://www.paxchristiusa.org/pc_israel_palestine.asp
Presbyterian Church USA http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07028.htm
Stephen Sizer, Christ Church http://www.christ-church.info/articles/articles.html
Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace http://www.sojo.net/
World Council of Churches http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine
St Valentine Orthodox Christian Seminary, article on Palestine http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Paul-Nadim-Tarazi/Articles/Covenant-Land-and-City.html
Unitarian Universalists http://www.uua.org/actions/immediate/06peace.html
and http://www.uua.org/actions/immediate/02peace_and_justice.html
World Alliance of YMCA � Israel/Palestine http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=49
OTHER LINKS
- Debunking the oxymoronic "Christian Zionism" http://www.christianzionism.org
- http://www.cjpsd.com
- Ann Hafften's Lutheran blog http://voicesforpeace.blogspot.com/
- http://www.wrmea.com/archives/November_2005/0511064.html
- Mainline Churches vs. Israel? Will new church moves toward stopping investment in companies that do business in Israel endanger Christian-Jewish relations? By Daniel Treiman http://www.beliefnet.com/story/155/story_15507_1.html
- http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/other-ecumenical-bodies/23-03-06-church-leaders-in-jerusalem-urge-world-churches-and-all-christians-to-advocate-for-peace.html>World Council of Churches and Christian Churches call for Action 2006
- World Churches call to action for June 2007 http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pr-07-37.html
- Historic Christian towns losing ground in Holy Land http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak16.html
- Palestinian Christians make action against construction of Israel's separation barrier on Palestinian Christian lands in Wadi Nis village, in Ma'asarat (South of Bethlehem area,) marking Good Friday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZsMcWrNzZ4
- http://www.christusrex.org/www1/icons/palestine-index.html
==============================
9/12/07
(Two actioln alerts are posted at bottom. If any of the information provided makes a difference, then action is the logical step.)
Scott Ritter, US Marine and previously a US/UN arms inspector in Iraq, in his book "Target Iran" writes: "Let there be no doubt: If there is an American war with Iran, it is a war that was made in Israel and nowhere else." More issues on the upcoming conflict with Iran are below nbut first a few other issues obfuscated by the gatekeepers of the main US media outlets.
Christopher Columbus Legacy of Genocide
http://mit.edu/activities/thistle/v9/9.11/1columbus.html
(Today some people in the US celebrate Columbus day while many mourn. 83 activists were arrested in Denver for protesting the parade. This and the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine is a reminder that these issues are still alive today.)
(Must read) Mohammed al-Dura lives on, By Gideon Levy
The concern Israel demonstrates for the fate of one Palestinian boy touches the heart: Again, note what a fuss is being made about the case of the killing of Mohammed al-Dura. Our heart is impervious to the fate of other children who have been killed. Just little Mohammed continues to haunt us. But the question of who killed al-Dura is not important. And maybe he is even alive, as some eccentrics claim. Perhaps he committed suicide, as the strange investigations are liable to suggest. All of these are tasteless questions designed to divert attention from the truly important issues: According to data collected by human rights group B'Tselem, Israel is responsible for killing more than 850 Palestinian children and teenagers since al-Dura was killed, including 92 in the past year alone.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/909972.html
Exam failure: the price Gaza's children are paying for international blockade. It will be an uphill struggle, especially while the isolation imposed on Gaza by the international community and Israel continues. It's hard to over-estimate the impact on a generation of Gaza schoolchildren whom UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness says are being "bred in despair". He adds: "We risk radicalising people who show every sign of wanting only a measure of prosperity and dignity".
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article3033358.ece
Inside France's secret war. For 40 years, the French government has been fighting a secret war in Africa, hidden not only from its people, but from the world. It has led the French to slaughter democrats, install dictator after dictator � and to fund and fuel the most vicious genocide since the Nazis. Today, this war is so violent that thousands are fleeing across the border from the Central African Republic into Darfur � seeking sanctuary in the world's most notorious killing fields
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article3030349.ece
More on the Lobby from a US Presidential Candidate:
MIKE GRAVEL: I love my country, and I love the human race. And I want to see a change made in the leadership of our country so we can do more to protect the human race....With respect to my country going to war when there's no reason to go to war, killing human beings, I'm ashamed of this. I'm ashamed of the leadership we have, whether it's Democratic leadership or Republican leadership. That's the reason why I'm in. Look what we're trying to do with Iran right now. Last week, the Lieberman resolution -- he's the guy that wrote the resolution with Iraq and killed over 3,000 Americans and a million Iraqis. And now he comes forward with another resolution, and the leadership of the Democratic Party in the Senate doesn't even have the brains or the judgment to recognize what he's doing. Sanctions on the Republican Guard? They already have sanctions. The U.N. passed them in March, Resolution 1747. What is the game they're playing right now to have sanctions? I mean, this was AIPAC that put Lieberman up to do this. This is disaster...
RAY SUAREZ (incredulous): You're saying that the national legislature of this country, rather than doing the will of the citizens of the United States, passed that Iran resolution, sanctioning the Republican Guard, because of the American-Israeli Political Action Committee?
MIKE GRAVEL: Wait a second. They'll be some information coming out about how this thing was drafted. So the answer is yes, the short answer.
-------------
ACTION ALERT 1: Write letter to University of Michigan to ask them to continue and strengthen their relationship with Pluto Press (inspite of racist Zionist pressures). Here is a letter and details from Howard Zinn on this subject.
http://www.codz.org/send-letter.html
ACTION ALERT 2: NY Sun style guide betrays their racist Zionist agenda (this is published by the new and refreshing NY Observer which we should all support/subscribe to). I go back to the notion that stores owned by Muslims and Arabs especially in the NY/NJ areas should be contacted to stop carrying the racist NY Sun.
http://www.observer.com/2007/look-new-york-suns-style-guide
===============
9/9/07
"Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right." Martin Luther King, Jr.
The power of the Israel lobby is waning in the public and in mass communications (media, books, etc) thanks to those who listen to their conscience. This will not impact the next elections since leading candidates in both major parties are still pledging allegiance to AIPAC. But whoever gets elected will soon realize that AIPAC's push for a war on Iran was the final treachery that will destroy what remains of the US's reputation (so far support for Israeli expansionism costs us over $2 TRILLION for wars and occupation of Iraq and Palestine and thousands of American lives). Evidence for this waning influence is everywhere where good people stand up for what is right. We can cite the failure of the lobby to silence or put a dent in the sales of books like Carter's "Palestine: Peace not apartheid" and Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby". Mearsheimer was even on the Colbert Report: http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml
More evidence coming to light of results from people who follow their conscience rather than their fears:
Chicago Tribune Special report. New revelations in attack on American spy ship: Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn't tell full story of deadly '67 incident By John Crewdson
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,1050179.story?coll=chi_business_ugc
"Jewish money" and the presidential candidates rush to support conflict with Iran: An excerpt from an Amy Goodman interview with Seymour Hersh (both have been labeled "self-hating Jews"):
AMY GOODMAN: Sy Hersh, I wanted to switch gears for the last question, and this has to do with it not just being Republicans who are sounding a drumbeat for war. The three leading Democratic presidential candidates -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards -- have all declared no options off the table. This is a clip from last week's Democratic debate. It was the day the Senate approved a controversial resolution calling on the State Department to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. At the debate, Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Gravel bitterly criticized Hillary Clinton for voting in favor.
MIKE GRAVEL: This is fantasyland. We're talking about ending the war. My god, we're just starting a war right today. There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has authored another resolution, and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to war with Iran. And I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for voting against it, and I'm ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it. You're not going to get another shot at this, because what's happened, if this war ensues, we invade, and they're looking for an excuse to do it. And Obama was not even there to vote.
TIM RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I want to give you a chance to respond.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: laughter
AMY GOODMAN: That was Hillary Clinton laughing. Fifteen seconds, Seymour Hersh. Your response?
SEYMOUR HERSH: Money. A lot of the Jewish money from New York. Come on, let's not kid about it. A significant percentage of Jewish money, and many leading American Jews support the Israeli position that Iran is an existential threat. And I think it's as simple as that. When you're from New York and from New York City, you take the view of -- right now, when you're running a campaign, you follow that line. And there's no other explanation for it, because she's smart enough to know the downside.
AMY GOODMAN: And Obama and Edwards?
SEYMOUR HERSH: I -- you know, it's shocking. It's really surprising and shocking, but there we are. That's American politics circa 2007.
AMY GOODMAN: Seymour Hersh, thank you very much for being with us, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist. His piece in the New Yorker is called "Shifting Targets: The Administration' s Plan for Iran."
Source http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/02/1438251
--------------------
The lobby is partially successful where it bunches up on people who are not knowledgeable enough of the issues and when good people get silent (usually out of fear of being smeared with labels like "anti-Semitic" or "Self-hating Jews"). An example is the misinformed canceling of an event by Desmond Tutu (background at http://articles.citypages.com/2007-10-03/news/banning-desmond-tutu/ )
Take Action: Join Jewish Voice for peace in protesting the silencing of Bishop Desmond Tutu
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/jvfp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=14061
(My own letter read: As a Palestinian Christian, I am appalled by your actions to bar Archbishop Desmond Tutu from speaking at your campus. Your succumbing to the minority (and they are a minority even within the Jewish community) Zionist position is shameful. Here is a link to over 100 Jewish led organizations who would disagree with the Zionist pressure to silence voices of peace: http://www.qumsiyeh.org/predominantlyjewishlinks/
Archbishop Tutu is a Nobel Peace Laureate with whose voice for justice will win against Israeli apartheid just as it did against South African Apartheid. I strongly urge you to reverse this decision, let Tutu appear and reinstate Prof. Toffolo.)
And lest we are disconnected from reality of what is going on in Palestine, please read this account by Gideon Levy "The war for the house"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=908084
AND IN AMERICA....."Israel's Toy Soldiers" By Chris Hedges
"If you are a young Muslim American and head off to the Middle East for a spell in a fundamentalist "madrassa," or religious school, Homeland Security will probably greet you at the airport when you return. But if you are an American Jew and you join hundreds of teenagers from Europe and Mexico for an eight-week training course run by the Israel Defense Forces, you can post your picture wearing an Israeli army uniform and holding an automatic weapon on MySpace."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18488.htm
Jews for Ahmadinejad
"Just the facts Ma am, as Dragnet's Jack Webb used to say. When it comes
to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad however, facts can be hard to find. We hope to
present a few facts here that may have escaped your attention."
http://1984news.typepad.com/1984_news/
So ""Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right." Martin Luther King, Jr."
============
9/30/07
ACTION 1: Donate a Back to school gift for Palestinian Children (thru Middle East Children's Alliance)
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=1171
ACTION 2: The Wheels of Justice bus tour (http://justicewheels.org) seeks volunteer local and state coordinators in the United States. We need volunteers in all states but most urgently we need volunteers in the following states: NV, WY, UT, CO, KS, PK, AR. Email qumsi001@hotmail.com for details.
Videos on Iraq and the Iraqi resistance
http://abutamam.blogspot.com/2007/09/iraqi-resistance-samples.html
Israel provides military aid to the Myanmar military regime
http://www.ww4report.com/node/4491
Iranian University Leaders statement and questions to Columbia University President
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1004865&Lang=E
(Amy Hendrickson of Brookline Peace about the slanderous and unsubstanciated attacks on my talk at Brookline HIgh School)
The content of character: Debate is critical to democracy
http://www.townonline.com/brookline/opinions/x775332333
George Salzman on my appearance at Brookline
http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/S2/2007-09-20.htm
Israel's leading writers demand talks with Hamas on a ceasefire
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2998937.ece
Recipe for Tabouli salad (other Arabic food recipes also there): http://www.e-rcps.com/m_e/tabouli.shtml
(Amazingly candid) Israel discussed by Scheuer (ex CIA head of Bin Laden unit) and Actress Jeanine Garofalo interviewed by Bill Maher 9/21/07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAehMPVFFE0
======================
9/24/07
Three articles, a video, and three action alerts. The three articles are about the how more Jews are dissenting, about how Abbas should stop the charade of diplomacy, about Bush's Zionist nominee to Attorney General. The brief but excellent video is at one of The wheels of Justice bus stops. The two action items are to support a meeting of Palestinian Americans and to act to stop the brutal siege and starvation of Gaza (a crime against humanity).
About Ahmedinijad's appearance at Columbia University, all I have to ask is: can you imagine if Bush, Guiliani, Clinton, Barak, Olmert and other war mongers/war criminals/war pundits would be questioned openly like that? Alas, we have to rely on the internet to get the facts out.
Articles
1) (must read) For American Jews, Dissent Against Israel Has Become Mainstream By Tony Karon
(I would say against Zionism not "against Israel" or Israelis - Mazin)
http://www.alternet.org/story/62618/
2) Puppet Leader by Gideon Levy
"Mahmoud Abbas has to stay home. As things stand right now, he must not go to Washington. Even his meetings with Ehud Olmert are gradually turning into a disgrace and have become a humiliation for his people. Nothing good will come of them. It has become impossible to bear the spectacle of the Palestinian leader's jolly visits in Jerusalem, bussing the cheek of the wife of the very prime minister who is meanwhile threatening to blockade a million and a half of his people, condemning them to darkness and hunger."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=906199
3) The Jewish Week weighs in on the New Jewish Attorney General Nominee: http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=14552
(could it be that because this guy is a Zionist, he is not "controversial" for Congressional confirmation just like Chertoff for homeland security, who ended up stiffing US Companies for no bid contracts given to Israeli companies to build the barrier between the US and Mexico - Mazin)
Albuquerque Tribune video about the wheels of justice bus tour
http://abqtrib.com/videos/2007/sep/22/133/
(you can still host the bus or help in other ways, see http://justicewheels.org)
ACTION ITEM 1: Defend Haq Al-�wdah (Right of Return).
Support the upcoming Palestinian Popular Conference in Chicago.
Donate and help organize an inclusive and unifying assembly for the Palestinian people in the US. The U.S. Palestinian Conference Network (USPCN) is organizing the first popular conference of Palestinians in the United States in Chicago August 8, 2008.
The main objective of the assembly or conference is to offer an
open arena where Palestinians and their supporters in the U.S. can
come together to refine strategies, interlink efforts, and plan joint
actions to support the achievement of Palestinian rights.
However, we need your generous support in order to achieve this much needed goal. Please donate to help us make the first Palestinian popular conference in the U.S. a resounding success.
Make your check payable to USPCN and mail it to: USPCN, P.O. Box 22518, San Francisco, CA 94122
Or, make a secure online donation by going to:
http://www.palestineconference.org/donate.html
To participate in the conference�s organizing efforts, send us a message at conference@palestineconference.org
We thank you for your support.
USPCN, P.O. Box 22518, San Francisco, CA 94122
(402) 551-0674, (408) 849-7977
Email: conference@palestineconference.org
www.palestineconference.org
*The US Palestinian Conference Network (USPCN) is registered with the State of Illinois.
-------------------------
ACTION ITEM 2: From the Palestinian American Congress
According to news sources, Israel's cabinet took a decision to begin to apply large scale collective punishment on the people of the Gaza strip. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warned that any cutoff of vital services like fuel and electricity would violate international law and punish the already suffering civilian population. The Palestinian American Congress is deeply concerned over these reports of intended Israeli state terrorism. We are distressed at the silence of many in the International Community to the ongoing 40 year occupation and colonization of the West Bank and Gaza as well as the 60 year program of ethic cleansing and disposession. We ask our members, supporters, and people of conscience in the US to contact:
- the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
- the State Department: http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
- elected representatives: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/
- the media: use http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111 and http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/ .
Talking points:
- The framework invoked by Israel to carry out this illegal and immoral act by declaring Gaza a "hostile entity" within a "conflict short of war" has absolutely no standing in international law.
- Israel is still the occupying power in Gaza until such time that it allows Palestinians self-determination, lifts the siege, and allows free movement of goods and services into and out of Gaza including letting Palestinians freely operate the airport, the Rafah terminal and a seaport in Gaza.
- Obligations of occupying powers under the fourth Geneva convention are very clear and involve a number of responsibilities towards the protected person who live in occupied territories.
- It is prohibited according to International law to deny essential services or to impede economic development in occupied areas.
- Also see"The war on Gaza's children: Israel 's sanctions are leaving a generation of Palestinian children poorly educated and hungry" by Dr. Saree Makdisi
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-makdisi22sep22,0,1839917.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Palestinian American Congress http://pac-national.org
Contact media@pac-national.org
=================================
9/18/07
Hasbara and Hafrada
(Israeli Hebrew words for propaganda and separation)
Up until now and while leading Democratic and Republican elites debate �managing� Iraqi lives (orientalist racism at its worst), some 4% of Iraqis were killed and 17% made refugees/internally displaced in the past four years. This would be equivalent to killing 12 million and displacing over 50 million US citizens. I discussed elsewhere the role of the Israel lobby in pushing for the war on Iraq (1).
This lobby represented by the Israel Hasbara (propaganda) Committee is now fretting about Jewish intermarriage and lack of identification with Zionism or the state of Israel (2). As someone who is "intermarried", I ask what is wrong with assimilation and intermarriage? This reminded me that Yaakov Herzog, close advisor to four Israeli Prime Ministers, wrote: �We are not a normal people, we are not free from the Galut (exile) burden and we are not accepted by the world ... Political Zionism maintained that the concept of �people who dwell alone� is, in fact, an abnormal condition. In reality, the concept of �people who dwell alone� is the natural condition of the Jewish people.� (3). He was wrong in characterizing political Zionism because most political Zionists believed in segregation and that was the whole idea of a "Jewish State". He is also wrong to blame the whole world for the Zionist tribalistic mentality which exists out of its own desires to be separate and treat any non-Jew with contempt. It is the same idea that lets Zionists express that the world is always "against us" and privately claim to each other that any support they get is because of their might and muscle. Howard Friedman, President of AIPAC, titled his letter of July 30, 2006 to friends and supporters of AIPAC "Look what you've done". He explained: "Israel is fighting a pivotal war for its life...the expected chorus of international condemnation of Israel's actions... only ONE nation in the world came out and flatly declared: Let Israel finish the job.. That nation is the United States of America--and the reason it had such a clear, unambiguous view of the situation is YOU and the rest of America Jewry....How do we do it? ... decades of long hard work which never ends."
Wether Jewish or not, if you are human and is concerned with human rights, you would reject ideas of segregation/separation (Hafrada in Hebrew) and adopt ideas of coexistence, assimilation, and justice. To do that you would recognize things being shielded by censorship (from Zionists in many media outlets). Here are just some more recent and relevant news and writings on the subject of the lobby and censorship.
1) A chair of a history department writes on the attempts to use the card of anti-semitism to silence debate on Campus. He titles his article: "On Being Called An Anti-Semite in Montana: Is booking a critic of the Israel lobby to speak on your campus anti-Semitic?". Prof. Richard Drake concludes: "In a democratic society, all government policies must stand for public inspection. This is true whether liberal Democrats or conservative Republicans are in charge. With both of our political parties and the media sharing the same basic ideas about foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, we need a place where the assumptions of the status quo encounter a stern testing, not a happy-faced tribute. The university should be that place" (4)
2) Mrs Clinton wants to get Jewish votes and money and to do that, she thinks she has to court the right-wing fascist elements of the Zionist movement. So she emphasizes her strong support of apartheid Israel: �Hillary Clinton believes that Israel's right to exist in safety as a Jewish state, with defensible borders and an undivided Jerusalem as its capital, secure from violence and terrorism, must never be questioned.� I urge everyone to write to remind her that Jerusalem is illegally occupied and that no state has a right to be Jewish (or Muslim or Christian). Human rights demand that states be states of the citizens who live in them regardless of their religion.
3) George Bisharat explain that there is "A double standard on academic freedom in the Middle East" and how the lobby tries to silence debate in Academia (5)
4) Dick Cheney, who was and may still be a board member of the "Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs", is pushing for a war on Iran just like he and Wolfowitz and Perle and Faith and Ledeen and other neocon Zionists pushed for a war on Iraq (See 6).
Ledeen just published a book vilifying Iran.
5) A gentlemen was asking questions of Senator Kerry and was tackled, attacked and tasered by police. The media did not tell you that he spoke only for 1 minute 20 seconds of his allotted 2 minute time. They also did not tell you that only when he asked if Kerry was a member of the secret Skull and Bones Society that he was tackled. The video is posted here: http://www.attytood.com/ (continued segment where he asks police not to taser him is here http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=5692). They were worried where he might be going with a line of questioning that started by the fact that Kerry let Bush steal the 2004 elections. Here is what Bush said at AIPAC convention just before the election Bush vs Kerry (talks made while Israel was committing war crimes and crimes against humanity):
"The United States is strongly committed, and I am strongly committed, to the security of Israel as a vibrant Jewish state...Israel is a democracy and a friend and has every right to defend itself from terror." Kerry said exactly the same at AIPAC and here is what Joe Lieberman said of Kerry: "John Kerry has always stood with our crucial ally, Israel. During his 20-year Senate career, John has compiled a perfect record of pro-Israel votes, through his votes on economic aid, military security or the location of the U.S. Embassy. And John Kerry has had the courage to face down leaders who promote anti-Semitism. He has flown with the Israeli Air Force and seen from the cockpit how vulnerable Israel is. Simply put, Israel can rely on John Kerry."
6) "The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations" is pushing for Iran confrontation just like they did with the Iraq confrontation before 2003 (7).
7) Congressman Moran is being targeted by the lobby for speaking the truth. The Washington Post titles their article "Moran Upsets Jewish Groups Again: U.S. House Democrat Said Pro-Israel Lobby Promoted War". He was attacked by the lobby but defended by Rabbi Lener of Tikkun. Moran stood his grounds stating "I think Mr. Halber is being disingenuous in suggesting that the AIPAC board has not been strongly supportive of military involvement in Iraq and now in Iran" (8).
The 19th century notions of oppression, separation, and the use of propaganda to hide the facts led to atrocities of WWI, WWII, and many others. It has no place in the 21st century.
References
1) http://www.qumsiyeh.org/connectingthedotsiraqpalestine/
2) http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=4/b/viii/120320072
3) Yaakov Herzog, "Am Levadad Yishkon-A People Who Dwells Alone-" Tel-Aviv: Sifriat Maariv, 1975, pp. 58-59, Cited in MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL M Volume61, No. 1, WINTER 2007
4) http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2007/SO/Feat/Drak.htm
5) http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.boycott17sep17,0,4476313.story
6) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/16/wiran116.xml
7) http://www.conferenceofpresidents.org/
8) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402171.html
==========
9/9/07
I have to be very selective in this week's digest since there are lots of things going on and I myself was very occupied this weekend (gave talks and participated in workshops for meetings of New Hampshire Peace Action and Palestine Education Network and a talk at Cape Cod hosted by the nascent and excellent group beautifully named "Wake Up Cape Cod", http://www.wakeupcapecod.org/ ). First many people emailed to ask me about the Israel Supreme Court ruling on Bil'in (where weekly non-violent protests were held for three years against the Apartheid wall, weekly videos at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=emadbornat ). Basically the court asked the army to "modify" the route of the wall and this was hoped to mollify the growing protests in Bil'in and the ruling received lots of favorable media coverage and as usual any apparent success has many parents (lots of people who had nothing or very little to do with it claimed credit). If any credit is due it is 99.9% due to the people of Bil'in. Unfortunately there was hardly any publicity of the decision by the same court 24 hours later which basically "legalized" the illegal colony of Mattityahu East that is built on Bil'in Lands. All colonies in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) are illegal under International law and this particular colony is one of those also built without Israeli government approval (only a small fraction of colonies do not get Israeli approval and this was one of them). It was built illegally on Bilin native lands. The court ruled to accept the status quo (i.e. accept the construction built illegally on private Palestinian lands). That latter ruling issued less than 24 hours after the former received no media publicity.
Let us see, what else is happening this week. Everyone is talking about the "report back" coming Monday by General Petraeus (or at least by the White House via Petraeus). As usual the allowed language of discussion is whether the surge is working great or partially working or not working "to curb the violence" and "give space to Iraqi government for reconciliation." I find it far worse than Orwellian quixotic assumption/logic (by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, or is it one party with two wings that are occupied by the Israel lobby?) that takes for granted that the US government and its stooges in the Iraqi government want to "curb violence" or "contain sectarian strife." Any reader could easily do the required research to show the idiocy of such a scenario. Even without studying histories of "divide and conquer" colonial and occupation policies in Western Asia, all we have to do is look at the timing of employment of key administration officials who were recycled from promoting death squads and creating puppet armies in South America in the 1980s to sending them to Iraq in 2004 (which was followed by the magical emergence of death squads and Sectarian violence 1.5 years after the US invasion of March 2003. Meanwhile Democrats and Republican officials (except for principled stances by presidential candidates Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich) play the game of whether to fund another 50 billion or maybe 150 billion for the war on Iraqis effort (and it is a war on Iraqis not a war "in Iraq").
On the positive side, Mearsheimer and Walt's courageous book on the Israel lobby and its role in pushing for the war on Iraq and now the upcoming war on Iran climbed up to the 10 top sellers list on Amazon in the US. This shows that we in the US public are not buying our government lines/lies. Both the Democratic Led Congress and the Republican Led Executive branch receive dismal approval ratings.
In other good news, tomorrow are the first official events of the fall tour of the Wheels of Justice bus (eyewitness accounts to occupation in Iraq and Palestine). Below I include something about that and two other relevant items (action oriented):
- A comment on and excerpts from the book by Grant F. Smith "Foreign Agents: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee from The 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal." Amazing information on subversion of US democratic institutions with the Israel lobby.
- ACTION needed for CNN Special "God's Warriors": According to the Jewish Forward magazine: "A CNN documentary about religious extremists has prompted an unprecedented outcry from the organized Jewish community, including a call to advertisers to pressure the network." See below for details including on how to write to CNN.
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1) WHEELS OF JUSTICE BUS TOUR
The Wheels of Justice Tour has already covered 48 states and we spoke and mobilized at hundreds of events but we must intensify our efforts at this crucial stage. We are really excited as we begin our new fall season September 10 with great speakers, bus managers, and drivers. On the bus this fall at various time: David Johnson, Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, Anna Baltzer, Jack Terpestra, Hannah Mermelstein, Ed Kinane, Henry Norr, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Wendy Ake, Omar Baddar, Ceylon Mooney, Abbie Coburn, Bill Hill, Cecilia Lucas, and more. With your help will continue to offer the very best in compelling witness, testimony and expertise on our roles and responsibilities as taxpayers and world citizens. With your much-needed help (need volunteer hosts, organizers, speakers, money etc), we will continue to speak and mobilize at more high schools, more colleges, more churches, and more community centers and to a wider audience.
We need your support. If you live in the areas along the route or know people there consider hosting the Wheels Tour and participating fully. The tour schedule starting Sept 10th: Tuscon, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, Boulder, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California. Call and email people you know along the present route or people you think might be interested in being added to the route. Also hold fundraising events and raise needed funds. It takes money to operate this educational platform. It takes money for speaker travel costs, biodiesel, food, literature, mailing, logistics etc. To donate send checks to Wheels of Justice, 740 Roundlake Rd., Luck, WI 54853. On line donations via paypal can be made at http://www.justicewheels.org/donation-and-endorsements (BTW, tax deductible donations can be made to the Progressive Foundation-For Wheels of Justice and mailed to the address noted at the link above).
Contact Abigail Coburn abigail.coburn@gmail.com 510-384-9246 and visit http://justicewheels.org for more details.
Donations and support to this all-volunteer project are appreciated.
http://justicewheels.org
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2) Comment on and excerpts from the book by Grant F. Smith "Foreign Agents: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee from The 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal." (Available from http://www.irmep.org/).
In 1963, Senator Fulbright (famed for Fulbright fellowships, see his background at http://exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/fulbbio.htm ) in his capacity as chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held hearings on several foreign lobbies in the US including that of the Israel lobby. At the time, the Jewish Agency did the major Zionist lobbying activities and its activities fell under scrutiny based on Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The Jewish agency had a 22 member executive committee of which 6 came from the US. Other members were high ranking Israeli officials including those who were responsible for the 1954 clandestine false-flag operation (Operation Suzannah) that bombed American interests in Egypt (to blame it on Arab nationalists and sour Egyptian/US relations). Fulbright succeeded in shutting down some operations but other flourished. Many of the flourishing operations did not register under FARA. Excerpts from one exchange:
Senator Fulbright: Are any members of the executive living in Israel members of the Government?
Mr. Hamlin (Jewish Agency): Members of our executive are members of the Government of Israel? Yes, Sir.
Senator Fulbright: Who are they?
Mr. Hamlin: One member of our Executive is a member of the Israeli Government
Senator Fulbright: What is his position in the Israeli government?
Mr. Hamlin: He is minister of finance. But if I may add, in the area of the executive he has competence in one area of work, and that is the area of colonization.
Mr. Boukstein (A Council to the Jewish Agency, US branch): If I may add, a member of the Executive, Mr. Shazar, was the day before yesterday elected the President of Israel, as you probably noticed in the newspapers.
....
Senator Fulbright: Could you supply us with copies of the minutes of their (Jewish agency) meetings since 1960?
Mr. Boukstein: Mr. Chairman, I am not sure that would be a pertinent document. The minutes are in Jerusalem. They relate to all kinds of matters. If you mean excerpts of minutes relating to activities in the United States, we will be glad to furnish them. But I don't think that you have any interest in minutes relating to matters of completely ungermane subjects.
Senator Fulbright: No; we wouldn't request anything ungermane. It was my understanding from testimony this morning that a very large percentage of the funds of the Executive derive from this country, is that correct?
Mr. Boukstein: That is correct.
Senator Fulbright: I will agree that not all of it would be. I was interested in how this Agency operates. I don't know of any precedent of anything like it in any other instance, and it would be interesting to the committee to understand how foreign agents in this particular field operate and what kind of principals they represent.
The lengthy testimony went on to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Jewish Agency for Israel funded the establishment of both the American Zionist Council (now defunct) and AIPAC (now the Mecca to which politicians pay homage to before they get the green light to run for office). Fulbright was also the first to investigate how think tanks in Washington (like the Council for Middle East Affairs) were agents of this foreign lobby.
Smith goes on to document how the lobby violates US laws and not just simply on refusing to register as agents of foreign government. He shows that AIPAC possessed critical and classified documents of strategy from the USs International Trade Commission just prior to negotiations between the US and Israel on a Free Trade Agreement. This was the first-ever free trade agreement between the US and any foreign country. Its terms were highly disadvantageous to US businesses (the evidence for that is the skyrocketing growth of trade imbalance). Another example is how the Zionist institutions register under a 501c4 charitable status but lobby to defeat specific candidates contrary to US laws. It is a lobby that refuses to identify itself as a lobby and gets away with it.
In this book you also find gems like this quote from Morris Amitay, a former head of AIPAC (this quote alone should be enough evidence for indictment or at least new congressional investigations):
"There are a lot of guys at the working level up here (on Capitol Hill)..who happen to be Jewish, who are willing..to look at certain issues in terms of their Jewishness..These are all guys who are in a position to make the decision in these areas for those senators..You can get an awful lot done just at the staff level." (Mitchell Bard "Israel Lobby Power" Midstream, Vol 33, no 1, January 1, 1987)
ACTION: Contact your representatives (http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/ ) and contact the media (use http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111 and http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/ ). Contact them often!
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3) ACTION needed for CNN Special "God's Warriors"
According to the Jewish Forward magazine: "A CNN documentary about religious extremists has prompted an unprecedented outcry from the organized Jewish community, including a call to advertisers to pressure the network." http://www.forward.com/articles/11551/
Show website: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/
also see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57370
ACTION: Contact CNN and ask them to rerun the show and to do even better. CNN was actually far too moderate and accommodating by putting material on religious fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The examples chosen avoided touchy subjects like the Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Use this form to write to CNN presents:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?14
My letter to CNN:
Dear "CNN Presents" producers:
I noted on several Zionist websites (e.g. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57370) and in the Forward Magazine (http://www.forward.com/articles/11551/) that you are being attacked for Christiana Amanpour's special about religious extremism (a show I watched and found riveting). These attackers claim that her show was not harsh enough on Islamic fundamentalists and that it was overtly critical of Israel. In fact, if anything, the reverse is true. Christiane Amanpour for example never once mentioned the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that began in 1948 and continues today. That ethnic cleansing done in the name of Judaism created the largest remaining refugee population since WWII (over 6 million refugees). Ironically, the second largest refugee population today is from Iraq (here one can potentially link it to religion since Bush claimed that God told him to invade Iraq). I am a Palestinian Christian whose ancestors were slaughtered by the crusaders (for being of the wrong sect of Christianity). Christian Amanpour can expand on Christian fundamentalism beyond the areas she covered. Overall, Amanpour began a thread of discussion of fundamentalism and bigotry. She was trying to be careful and avoid discussion of taboo subjects like Zionism. That is a shame, and a follow-up show should expand to cover the real connections to religions of the two festering wounds in Western Asia that were created by Europeans (and perhaps more importantly their impact on the native Palestinians and Iraqis).
It is ironic that these attacks come from the organized Zionist lobby at a time when the lobby is denying it does lobby or that it has influence in the media and the halls of congress (see for example the controversy over the book by Profs. Mearsheimer and Walt).
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9/3/07
On this Labor Day weekend (in the US) we celebrate the achievements of organized labor (like a 40-hour workweek, work safety etc). On this weekend, Zionists chose to send an anonymous threatening letter to the director on one of the medical laboratories I consult for and quoting, of all things, the racist attacks on us by the discredited Zionist group "CAMERA". Such attacks from racist Zionists are not new to us; examples of other hate mail and diatribes are posted at http://www.qumsiyeh.org/hatemailanddiatribes/ . Other Zionists do have the courage to identify themselves and some even engaged us in public dialogues/debates (I debated in public key Israeli apologists including Morton Klein of the ZOA, David Harris of the AJC, Charles Small, Charles Hill, Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, Richard Himmelfarb, and UN Israel mission spokesperson Ben Harris, among others). Those who hide behind anonymity lack the moral fortitude/courage to engage in public dialogue to defend their eroding positions. However, their cowardly attacks do help us increase our determination and expand our activism (e.g. they validate that our work is making a difference, or the chnology "first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they attack you, then.."). For that we are thankful.
We are also hopeful. We are hopeful because despite all efforts at truth suppression, Carter's book on Israeli apartheid and now Mearsheimer and Walt's book on the Israel lobby rocketed the top 100 best selling books in their first week of availability (e.g. on Amazon). We are hopeful because of the growth of the boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS) as an alternative to violence. See initial compilation of examples at
http://www.fosna.org/investment_activism/documents/EconomicEngagementSurveyUpdateAug2007.pdf
http://www.quakerpi.org/QAction/ECON-SURVEY-Version2.html
Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza was denied by Israel the right to travel to the latest UN Conference in Geneva. He wrote stating: "I am one of nearly 1.6 million human beings residing in the Gaza Strip. We are caged in a large, open-air prison. The border crossings are at the mercy of an occupying power; and these terminals, the Strip's veins of life, are hermetically sealed. Over the past year and half, our movement in and out of the Strip has been impossible. Irrelevant of illness, education, employment, or any other humanitarian necessity, the prison gates are closed. My wife and 2 kids have been in Egypt for 1.5 years. The situation is beyond economic and political siege; it is social and humanitarian strangulation, where people cannot move to attend to their basic needs. As a result, Gaza lives in an unprecedented catastrophic situation. The international community and Israel are parties to the crime."
Yet we are hopeful because the UN Conference in solidarity with the Palestinian people was held despite Zionist-Racist efforts to shut it down completely (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3444096,00.html ). The UN conference supported BDS. We are hopeful because Israeli apartheid cannot be any more successful than South African apartheid. Our tasks is to speed up the day of the dismantling of apartheid to begin creating a society of equality for people of all religions in Western Asia. This is because when this natural process is accelerated it reduces the ongoing destruction, lost lives, and lost potential. Every week in Palestine, innocents are being murdered and land is being confiscated and more people are plunged into poverty (UN report documents skyrocketing poverty caused by the Israeli occupation, http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39100 ). Even according to Israeli journalists, Israeli occupation forces do not care if they kill children (five Palestinian children this past week, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/899694.html ). And the wall that Israeli authorities call wall of "segregation/separation" (in Hebrew "hafrada") and others call "wall of hate" continues to be built (see documentary at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5110030555620432782&q=wall+of+hate& )
We must remember that none of this would be possible without the Israeli Lobby's influence that makes the US government provide unprecedented diplomatic, military and economic support to a colonization and apartheid system. Nor would this be possible without the weakness of leadership among many (including among Palestinians). Meanwhile Zionist racism goes on; for example in its continuing drive to shape Palestine into a Jewish state. Even the few remaining Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship continue being stripped of their basic human rights (see "Dark side of Jewish dream" by Ed O'Loughlin, The Sydney Morning Herald and my earlier article "Is Israel Unique?" http://www.qumsiyeh.org/isisraelunique/ ).
Indirect complicity in the form of Apathy and direct complicity remain our main obstacle to speeding up the inevitable demise of racist systems. Yet, we are hopeful that there are millions of good people getting off the sidelines and working for human rights and justice (and thus exponentially increasing the torches of hope). We are hopeful because Scott Ritter, US Veteran and UN arms inspector now routinely speaks about the Israel lobby's push for the war on Iraq and now the upcoming war on Iran. And there are many, many others who were not intimidated and who decided to speak out, see just a few examples at http://qumsiyeh.org/honorlist/ (and send me candidates). For today's message, let us highlight the hopeful work of Birthright Unplugged (Dunya, Hannah, et al.). Here is their latest newsletter:
September 3, 2007
Dear Birthright Unplugged friends,
In the past month we have shared with you some of our media successes of the summer, and we are writing now to tell you about our work on the ground in Palestine this busy season.
The summer began for us in Jenin refugee camp. Our pre-trip visits made it clear that this would be one of our most daunting Re-Plugged trips. The entire Jenin district is under a virtual lockdown by the Israeli military, with between 5-8 checkpoints between the refugee camp and Jerusalem. Often as we traveled we encountered soldiers with machine guns drawn and trained on the grid-lock of cars that are corralled throughout the day.
This summer, we worked with 20 girls and boys from the Freedom Theatre and took them to Jerusalem, the sea, and the villages their grandparents were expelled from in 1948. We usually work with children from 2 or 3 different villages; this time they were from 11 villages. While this was logistically ambitious for us, we chose to work this way because the children were part of a creative community and wanted to work together after the trip on a number of projects related to it. With help from many volunteers, including Palestinians from �48 (Israel), Sweden, and the United States, we split into groups and managed to take each child to her/his own village.
There continue to be Israeli-imposed barriers to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship connecting with Palestinians with West Bank IDs, as Israel forbids its citizens from entering the most populated areas where Palestinians live under occupation. In an effort to connect Palestinians across these divides, we work with a cooperating Palestinian organization. This time, Baladna of Haifa hosted us in their homes and youth center and joined us for the village visits. We were fortunate to have with us Palestinian guides spanning three generations and all with a wealth of knowledge about the places we visited.
For all of the children this was a unique journey and filled with meaningful experiences, some of which they describe in the exhibition we prepared with them after the trip. Here are a few stories that stand out for us:
� As we left Haifa in 3 buses for the villages, Bilal, whose grandparents are from Zir�in, got on the bus headed to Um Il Fahm instead. When we asked him why he switched groups he refused to tell us, and we assumed it was for social reasons. When the group arrived in Um Il Fahm, a thriving Palestinian city, his reason became clear. A woman ran toward the bus crying and holding children by the hand. It was his sister, whom he hadn�t seen in 5 years because she is married and living in Um Il Fahm. Bilal�s sister is also subject to Israeli travel restrictions which make it illegal for her travel between the city where
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