Rights blog 2008
29 December 2008
It was not possible to sleep here for two nights now. The events and the images of death and carnage of children, of policemen, of people that look like my mother and my son and my sister and my friends were simply too much. Gaza has run out of stretchers and many are now carried to hospitals (which are running out of supplies) and morgues on commercial street signs, in blankets or simply by their limp limbs. Three mosques were destroyed. I recalled the Israeli attacks on the Church of Nativity which was minor compared to this. I was watching Israel shell the University in Gaza city including its faculty of science and a residence dorm for female students and was thinking of my university and my lab and office at Bethlehem University. I was then shocked into more horrific scenes and news. In one house five young sisters killed. In another six family members including four children killed while eating breakfast. In a scene that haunted me where four children were killed with their mother, I saw rescue workers try frantically to pull the remaining surviving girl whose legs were crushed under a huge boulder from the roof. As some of them were calming her down and working hard, just next to them other workers pulled the dead body of her sister (looked like 3-4 year old). They quickly covered her but I think her sister noticed. Sometimes the dead are envied for their suffering has ended. Her suffering is just beginnig. I thought of all the thousands of relatives of all the victims and how they feel..I thought of friends I lost and talks with people in Gaza...I thought of my mother who at 76 has seen so much suffering and still she cried at the new images of new atrocities
My heart aches and struggles with my scientist brain. The latter wants to focus on facts and figures. The attack in its second day was in the words of Israeli leaders the beginning and is intended to send Gaza back decades. So far over 300 were killed and over 1000 injured (200 of those critically), 35% women, children and elderly. I examine numbers of homes, police stations, civil society building destroyed. I read the Al Mezan Center for human rights which rationally states that most Gaza victims are civilians 1. But even my rational mind refuses to deal with these things. How could it handle just that one image of the young girls anguished pained look under the rubble of her house and so tears stream down again to to try to wash the image to no avail..How could my mind examine rationally the statements of leaders saying this carnage is not the fault of the bombers and war criminals, but of Hamas!
Protests were organized around the world and more are being planned 2. The demonstrations helped vent some frustration and we hope will herald a reawakening of the heart of humanity that has been sputtering. But we hope it will go much farther to changing the rotted system of elites in power ignoring peoples rights for political expediency and for profit.
In the Bethlehem demonstration, we pounded on the permanently closed gate of the apartheid wall with deafening sound and the soldiers in the tower started to through stun grenades and tear gas. Injuries were sustained for activists....Our lungs still ache but our hearts ache more for the criminality of the apartheid regime, and the collaboration of the world governments. The Israeli occupation army killed two protesters with live ammunition in other parts of the West Bank 3.
Can someone asks western media or the Wetsern governments ruled by elite racists who keep spouting the nonsense about "Hamas" and "rockets" (projectiles that are militarily of little use and have no explosives, killed one person this year), why targeting civilian police stations, mosques, homes with children, ports, fishing vessels, streets, and more in one of the most densely populated areas on earth murdering hundreds of civilians would be an acceptable action (I dont say response because Israel was killing people and massacring them for 60 years before)? And what would they expect from a starving 1.5 million people to do? Especially when one million of those are refugees or displaced people denied their rights to return to their homes and lands for 60 years while settlers live across the borders on their lands in areas like Sderot and Netviot? Would they not expect some resistance from some of those? Isnt that codified in International law for the right of occupied people to resist including violently? (note that I personally support civil forms of resistance). Even if one buys the US/Israeli government propaganda, would it be acceptable to bomb cities in Europe and the US for any perceived or actual crime of a portion of their society or even their leaders (Bush and Blair in Iraq?)?
But again I think it is not best for me to try and reason things through in such times of calamities and little sleep. I got so many letters of support but please redirect your letters and energies elsewhere. Redirect them to challenge the injustice directly 4. Jesus made a statement directly relevant for us today:
"You are the earth's salt. But if the salt should become tasteless, what can make it salt again? It is completely useless and can only be thrown out of doors and stamped under foot. You are the world's light - it is impossible to hide a town built on the top of a hill. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a bucket. They put it on a lamp-stand and it gives light for everybody in the house.
It is thus the time when people who claim they want peace and justice to stop talking about it and actually work for it. Put your lamp higher. It is time for real change...It is time for a world Intifada (uprising against injustice). It is time to do something concrete (like throwing our shoes at someone?)
Below are a press release from human rights organizations in Palestine (please circulate to media and politicians) and a poignant letter from a friend worth reading.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
In Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine
http://qumsiyeh.org
Urgent Release
27 December 2008
Palestinian human rights community calls for international action
Palestinian human rights organizations strongly condemn the recent military attacks carried out by the Israeli occupying forces in the Gaza Strip on 27 December 2008. The attacks began at approximately 11:30 am and lasted for approximately three hours. These attacks have destroyed most of the Gaza security offices including police stations, resulting in the deaths of over 200 Palestinians. More than 350 have been injured with over 120 critically.
The number of deaths resulting from these attacks indicates a willful targeting of the civilian police forces in these locations and a clear violation of the prohibition against willful killings. Willful killings are a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention under Article 147 and therefore, a War Crime. Both the time and location of these attacks also indicate a malicious intent to inflict as many casualties as possible with many of the police stations located in civilian population centres and the time of the attacks coinciding with the end of the school day resulting in the deaths of numerous children.
The ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip has left medical facilities in the Strip incapable of meeting the needs of the hundreds more who have been injured which will likely lead to an increase in the number of deaths. According to Israeli officials, these attacks are only the beginning of an open military campaign in Gaza. It is therefore imperative that the international community not stand in silence while Israel moves forward with impunity.
Despite repeated calls from the Palestinian human rights community with regard to Gaza, the international community has failed to act. We are now on the brink of an explosion of violence as result of this failure and are pushed once again to call for action.
In light of the above, Palestinian human rights organizations urge:
* The UN Security Council to call an emergency session and adopt concrete measures, including the imposition of sanctions, in order to ensure Israels fulfilment of its obligations under international humanitarian law.
* The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfil their obligation under common Article 1 to ensure respect for the provisions of the Conventions, taking appropriate measures to compel Israel to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular placing pivotal importance on the respect and protection of civilians from the effects of the hostilities.
* The High Contracting Parties to fulfil their legal obligation under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to prosecute those responsible for grave breaches of the Convention.
* EU institutions and member states to make effective use of the European Union Guidelines on promoting compliance with international humanitarian law (2005/C 327/04) to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian law under paragraph 16 (b), (c) and (d) of these guidelines, including the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions, as well as cessation of all upgrade dialogue with Israel.
Al-Haq
Addameer Prisoners' Support & Human Rights Association
Ad-Dameer Association for Human Rights
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights
Defence for Children International
Ensan Center for Democracy & Human Rights
Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center (JLAC)
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession - Musawa
Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People (PCR)
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS)
Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC)
Women's Studies Center
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations' Network - PNGO
======================
Letter From Jenka (US citizen married to a Palestinian who was paralyzed by an Israeli bullet in the back but continues to have hope and work for peace -- and also for our International Middle East Media Center) 12/27/08
I sit in front of the computer, editing the article, trying, as always, to maintain objectivity, "Israeli airstrikes kill 205 Palestinians in Gaza".....my eyes begin to blur .....images of bodies, of wailing mamas screaming for their sons, of children missing limbs, hospital crews running, rushing....bodies everywhere......I can no longer see the computer screen through the tears. I think of our friends in Gaza -"Are they ok?" .....I try to think of an appropriate response: a protest at the Israeli consulate? A petition? A boycott campaign? They all seem so trivial, so ineffective. Send ANOTHER letter to my congressman, only to be rebuffed again with a form letter stating that the Congressman is in full support of Israel and their War on Terror?
I'm thinking about an article I read yesterday, about Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush just last week. The article was by Ramzy Baroud, who said that the reality of the world outside the Green Zone had finally broken into the carefully-scripted press conferences of Bush lies and al-Maliki smiles....
"What also confused the script is that al-Zaidi was not al-Qaeda, or an al-Qaeda sympathizer, not a foreign fighter, not a member of the dissolved Baath Party, nor was he affiliated with it in any way, and not even an Iraqi Sunni, for any such affiliation would fit perfectly in the political and media scripts that would demonize the man as an enemy of the Iraqi people, stability, democracy, freedom, and the rest of the redundant clichs. Al-Zaidi is simply an Iraqi man who has, as a journalist, highlighted the suffering of his people as politely, objectively and professionally as he could, and when he could no longer tolerate the lies told in the Green Zones ever malicious drama, he scrapped the script altogether, chucking his shoes at the main actor: This is a farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq. His words, although uttered for the first time in the Green Zone theater, echoed the voices of millions of Iraqis outside, who have chanted these words, for six long, tragic years."
He was fed up! He tried to be objective, kept reporting the daily toll of deaths, the daily violence of the occupation, the never ending river of blood and bodies.....and finally, after nothing he reported changed anything, he risked his career, and his life, to break the script at the press conference and express the rage and fury of the millions of Iraqis suffering and dying in the daily brutality of Bush's war. He has been tortured and beaten senseless for his deed, by Iraqi security, who, Baroud says, "mustve tried to impress their American security counterparts by teaching the poor al-Zaidi a lesson in good manners, Abu Ghraib-style".
here's that article: http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14527
As I look again at the toll of today's Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, my eyes glance across a headline in one of the Israeli papers: "White House blames Hamas" .....and the fury and grief flow through me again. Israel drops 60 bombs on the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of civilians, wounding and maiming many more, and the first thing the White House has to say is that it is Hamas' fault! For what? For having been elected as the Palestinian government in uncontested and fair elections? For taking the unprecedented step of engaging in a unilateral ceasefire against Israel for the last six months, which was never reciprocated or even recognized by the occupying Israeli army? For begging Israel for a ceasefire this last week, but being rebuffed at every turn? The truth is, it doesn't matter what Hamas does, it is their very existence that Israel is trying to eradicate, with full US support. The fact that there is an Islamic movement that stands in resistance to the Israeli occupation is something that Israel cannot stand, and it's clear from their targets in today's airstrikes: Hamas government buildings, police stations, municipal headquarters, offices of the bureaucrats of an elected government. And they struck during rush hour, when the streets were full, in one of the most crowded places on earth, so as to maximize casualties.
And the US blames Hamas.
What eventually becomes clear, to any Palestinian, or any Iraqi for that matter, is that their occupier can do anything they want, with impunity, and no matter what, they, the occupied, will be blamed.
And the other thing that becomes clear, after day after day of this violence, month after month, year after year, is that the world, or at least those with the power to change anything, do not care.
It's like Ward Churchill said in his post-9/11 speech that got him fired from the University of Colorado despite his tenure: if you are a person in the Arab world and you see Madeline Albright up there on 60 Minutes saying, "Yes, we know that 500,000 Iraqi children have died from the sanctions, but we think the price is worth it", well, what are you SUPPOSED to think??? There's no other conclusion that you can reach except that the piles and piles of corpses, the thousands of innocent children, do not matter to Madeline Albright, or to the American people! The American people DO NOT CARE!
And no amount of objective journalism on the subject can make people care.
And what now - Barack Obama is supposed to be some kind of savior and change everything? I don't think so. My email after his election was mainly just surprise that there was not another Supreme Court-decided debacle. But he's not going to change US policy toward Israel. He's
never said that he would. I think maybe people just hoped that he would, with no evidence in his record that he would - just because people want someone to save them. But his appointment of Rahm Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff, as his FIRST cabinet appointment, set the tone for what the Palestinians can expect from Barack Obama. Emmanuel's dad told an Israeli paper, "Of course my son will have a big influence on Obama regarding Israel - what, do you think he's going to be sweeping the floors of the White House? He's not an Arab!"
This is the kind of outright racism that Obama's dear friend Rahm Israel Emmanuel was raised with.
There's no chance whatsoever that he'll change US policy toward Israel. He's said so himself, many times.
What can we do?
Every day I edit articles coming out of the occupied Palestinian Territories, on the website http://www.imemc.org .....will that really change anything? I don't know.
But at least it's a record, documenting the daily Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
Every week the Palestinian Center for Human Rights publishes a detailed record documenting the Israeli crimes for that week.
http://www.imemc.org/newswire?search_text=pchr&x=0&y=0
The record of Israeli crimes is all there, verifiable and well-documented. But the US government does not, and will not, care. As far as I can tell, the State Dept. bureaucrat directing policy
toward Israel is: Director of the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs Thomas Goldberger 202-647-3672
Maybe the least we can do is to flood his office with calls, demanding that the US stop supporting an illegal occupation that engages in daily violations of international human rights law and completely disregards the internationally-recognized rights of the Palestinian people.
Right now, though, I kind of feel like throwing my shoes.
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1 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10063.shtml
2 http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1773)
3 see example here
http://www.bilin-ffj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=1 )
4 Gaza Massacre must spur us to action (See article written even before three families were targeted killing 10 children)
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10055.shtml
5 Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk5ZTy7sERY
http://www.aljazeera.net/Channel/KServices/SupportPages/ShowMedia/showMedia.aspx?fileURL=/mritems/streams/2008/12/28/1_881090_1_12.wmv
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27 December 2008
Please forward to media immediately and pick-up the phone and call media outlets immediately to condemn the atrocities being committed in Gaza (Using US taxpayer money and International and Arab Government Acquiescence). Demonstrations are ongoing throughout the West Bank. Here is the press release for the one in Bethlehem ( / arabic at Bottom).
A demonstration to condemn the massacres being committed in Gaza
Palestinian Civil Society organizations in the Bethlehem area, people of various political affiliations, Christians, and Muslims, and all people of conscience in the Bethlehem area are gathering at 5 PM in front of the Church of Nativity and Omar's mosque in Bethlehem.
Nearly 200 people were reported massacred so far by Israeli war planes bombings of the besieged Gaza strip. Hundreds were reported injured so far. The victims include men, women, and children and the number of victims are expected to rise rapidly. Join us today as we call for ending the massacres, ending the siege on Gaza, for reconciliation between all Palestinians, and for freedom.
For more information:
Khalid AlAzza 0545439263
Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh 0598939532
Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour 0599255573
A personal note: I was reading an open letter from a family from Gaza on my computer that talked of the hardships and the lack of food and electricity when my mother ran in to tell me that they are bombing Gaza. I watch a little on the TV and get sick to my stomach. I rushed to the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement and it is buzzing with activities. Thousands will come out today on short notice I am sure just in the Bethlehem area. Please spread the word.
Since this is an emergency posting, I had prepared to send tomorrow my weekly posting and to avoid flooding your inboxes, below is the draft of what I was planning to complete and send tomorrow but events are now likely to escalate beyond anything we all can imagine. May we all see peace.....
Mazin
It is amazing that CNN and some other media outlets who reported on the death of famous Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter mentioned he was Jewish and mentioned his criticism of the US policies but do not mention his persistent criticism of Israel and Zionism. Just in April he signed (with many other well respected Jews of Conscience) a letter that read in part We cannot celebrate the birthday of a state founded on terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their land. We cannot celebrate the birthday of a state that even now engages in ethnic cleansing, that violates international law, that is inflicting a monstrous collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza and that continues to deny to Palestinians their human rights and national aspirations. We will celebrate when Arab and Jew live as equals in a peaceful Middle East. (see We're not celebrating Israel's anniversary, The Guardian, Wednesday 30 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/30/israelandthepalestinians
This is an example of self-censorship in some media. In parallel this same media fails to report the swindles of Zionists appropriately. An example of a story glossed over in its impact and relevance is the story of the way Zionists bilk donors and get rich (see Bernard Madoff: Wall Street Swindler Strikes Powerful Blows for Social Justice
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/printer_29099.shtml )
And some editors (out of ignorance, shoddy journalism, or bias) in the West prefer not to report reality in Palestine. Few really explained Bethlehem under siege this Christmas and few reported on our candle light procession to demand end of colonization of the Shepherds field yesterday. Occasionally something does seep into Western Media like this article on reality in Gaza reported by the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7766509.stm
Below are two things on this reality we face here:
Genocidal settlers, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line, 18 - 24 December 2008
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/926/re71.htm
PRESS RELEASE
Free Palestine and Free all Political Prisoners
The One Democratic State Group urges the International community and people of conscience everywhere to demand that Israel respect International law by ending its illegal occupation of all areas occupied since 1967, by respecting and implementing refugees right to return, and by freeing all political prisoners including members of the Palestinian legislative council.
Since June 2006, Israel has kidnapped more than 64 elected Palestinian Legislative Council members and cabinet ministers, university lecturers, city mayors and health workers, including Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker, Professor Aziz Adwaik. Professor Adwaik is also Professor of Economics at An Najjah University in Nablus. Ahmed Saadat leader of the PFLP was just sentenced to 30 years imprisonment by the illegal military courts of the occupation regime. Israeli forces kidnapped Saadat two years ago from a PA prison in Jericho and kept him in solitary confinement since then. Saadat and other Palestinians refuse to recognize the authority of the court or to appeal to higher occupation courts. Israel currently illegally holds more than 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners. While Palestinians have different opinions on tactics of resistance to colonial occupation, we all share the same goals of freedom and self-determination and we all recognize the rights and obligations of occupied people to resist per tenets of International law.
The One Democratic State Group calls on the international community, all academic institutions, and all international civil society organizations to demand:
- The immediate release of Ahmed Saadat, Marwan Braghouti, Professor Adwaik, other elected legislatures and all Palestinian political prisoners.
- The protection of civilian lives and property, as stipulated in international humanitarian law and international human rights law such as the Fourth Geneva Convention.
-An end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, Israeli apartheid and Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people.
-Implementation of International law including the rights of refugees to return to their homes and lands.
For Comments contact:
Dr. Asaad Abu Shark + 972 599 322636 (Gaza)
Dr. Haidar Eid + 972 599 441766 (Gaza)
Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh +972 598939532 (West Bank)
http://www.odsg.org/co/
5:00
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200 .
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0545439263 ()
. 0599255573 ()
. 0598939532 ()
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17 December 2008
Christmas Under Occupation
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NOVEMBER 7, 2008
First Sign of No Change: Obama Chooses his Chief of StaffOnline Journal 7 Nov 08
also Published in Palestine Chronicle
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10 November 2008
First Sign of No Change: Obama hires his Chief of Staff, by Mazin Qumsiyeh (occupied West Bank)
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3975.shtml
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14355
Action 1: Write Obama and tell him how disappointed you are that his first appointment shows no change: Zionist racist and bigots remain in control. Demand real change! Use this link to write his transition team http://change.gov/page/s/contact
Action 2: At 3:30 AM Sunday morning, the Israeli apartheid forces evicted a Palestinian elderly couple (Al-Kurd family) from their home in Sheikh Jarrah area of Arab East Jerusalem. They also arrested several International solidarity people who were having a continuous presence at the house to prevent such action. This after they already removed their sons family from the neighborhood. Speak out against the continued ethnic cleansing of native Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem by writing to your media and ask Obama to get involved to stop this. To learn more about this particular area in Jerusalem, see http://www.sheikhjarrah.com and http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/
The fourth Free Gaza boat arrived safely in Gaza but as we speak, some of the Internationals who joined Fishing boats are being subjected to attack by Israeli navy using water cannons and machine gun fire http://www.freegaza.org/
I will be in the US and the first few days in December for a short visit but I am available to speak around the 5-9 December (Universal Declaration of Human Rights day, my book was subtitled Human Rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle and I have a lopt more stories to tell before I go back to Palestine). For a recent report by a UN commission about Israeli violations of basic human righst in the occupied areas (and for the first time calling for sanctions), please see
this link
In good news, the settlers who were supposed (according to their website) to come to Ush Ghrab in Beit Sahour Sunday did not show up. IMHO, our collective previous civil resistance activities including planned ones here were significant. On this day we had dozens of children flying kites and having music etc (thanks to all the local and international volunteers). It was a sight to see at the liberated military camp (a short video shot by Andy Trimlett is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnkdCPT3lPI and google videos on Ush Ghrab).
An earlier video of Children at Ush Ghrab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liy37Q2LdX4
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29 October 2008
Press Release: Gaza Welcomes SS Dignity 29.10.2008
Once again, 27 activists from 13 nations-- including doctors, lawyers, teachers, and human rights advocates-- have arrived in Gaza from Cyprus, united in their determination to break the criminal Israeli siege and shed light on the suffering of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. They intend to deliver medical supplies, meet with civil society organizations, and volunteer in hospitals.
The One Democratic State Group commends this courageous step taken by the Free Gaza Movement and extends an open invitation to Amre Mousa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, to join the next trip to Gaza.
One passenger, Mairead Maguire, the winner of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, stated: "The people of Gaza are part of our human family. The Israeli government cannot cut off Gaza forever. We will come again and again until we reach our family. We go to visit our family, and the Israeli government has no right to stop us."The UN has called the situation in Gaza a humanitarian disaster, but the inhumanity goes on. More than 255 terminally ill people have already died as a result of this medieval siege imposed on 1.5 million civilians.
We in Gaza and the One Democratic State group take heart from this courageous mission by ordinary people from all corners of the globe. Dr. Haidar Eid from Gaza stated 'Their brave and direct action will remind the world of our incarceration and force the eyes of the world to look in our direction once more. We were happy at their safe arrival and thank them for their amazing action."
Once again, we reiterate our call on international civil society organizations to take similar actions as governments and multilateral organizations have stood by silently, and worse, even supported the barbaric Israeli siege on Gaza's 1.5 million people. We know that if we remain steadfast - and with the support of freedom loving - some day soon, thousands of boats will reach our shores.
The One Democratic State Group
www.odsg.org/co
onedemocraticstategroup@gmail.com
For comments
Dr. Haidar Eid +972xxxxxx (Gaza)
Dr. Asaad Abu Sharkh +9725xxxxxx (Gaza)
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh +9725xxxxxx (Bethlehem)
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17 October 2008
(please forward)
Below are
- Links to Videos of these events
- My brief write-up on the events at Ush Ghrab
- Links to other media sources on the events
Video Links
Part 1 http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=bHpdc78xUvg
Part 2 http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=IjXsutlrHys
Brief report back
When our photographer friend was being wrestled to the ground and heavy boots stepping on his neck and his expensive camera being trashed, time seems to stand still. It was actually a few seconds when several members attempted to help him (by pleading with the brutal settler police and border guards and in some case trying to shield him from brutal blows with their bodies) and six individual were "arrested" (I use this term in quotes because they were actually just kidnapped illegally and held hostage). The events leading up to this event began with intents by racist colonial settlers (many of them with foreign passports) to take over this piece of Beit Sahour land that was for a while used by the Jordanian and later Israeli army. Christian and Muslim Palestinians in Beit Sahour (the Shepherds' Field) and the surrounding towns and villages continue to actively use their land in Ush Ghrab in creative and positive ways despite attempts by settlers to take over. We regularly join hands with International human rights activists to show the power of nonviolent resistance and affirmation of our rights. Part of the land was already developed for a recreational area including children playgrounds. Other areas are slated for a community garden, a nature walk, and a hospital.
Palestinians and our international friends use the site for many activities from meetings to nature walks to parties to barbeques and picnics. On this day, we had plans for a hike with bird-watching (Palestine Wildlife Society), music festivities, and athletics. We arrived at 11 AM and our first attempt was to take three barrels (one for regular trash, one for glass/plastic, and one for compost) to put at the place where the settlers are to gather. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers blocked our way. We asked to see the military order of closure and they showed us an order that said that the area is a closed military zone (ironic since colonial settlers were allowed to get in with no problems !). Some soldiers took over a private home near the site and imprisoned its owners in one room while they made it into a military post with roof and window guns pointed at us.
We asked the soldiers to at least please deliver the trash barrels/bins to the site because every time settlers come they leave trash everywhere. We did much education of the soldiers and police (or at least those of them who listened). The soldiers followed us in the hike around the mountain and it was when we came close to the road which settlers used to get up the hill that they became insistent on us leaving, as we were walking back, an international friend was suddenly attacked from behind and as others were also attacked and kidnapped. We were told that if we go back to the park area and stay there they might be released. So essentially, the friends were hostages to impact our decisions (this is considered a war crime and fits the definition of terrorism to try and coerce an action from someone by threats to harm a friend or relative). We did go ahead with our other activities (including over 70 children who had a rap and other music festival) while negotiations for the release of our friends ensued and expanded to include the Mayor and officers of the Occupation army. Finally after several hours, five of our comrades were released and one was still being held and maybe deported. The five released included two Palestinians (one from Beit Jala and one from Bethlehem) and nationals from Italy, England, and the US. After the army withdrew, we did not that the soldiers (but not the colonial settlers) did use our trash containers but had decided to also add a few rocks! The colonial settlers plan to return with their hateful messages (and trash) on 9 November. We will stay here with peaceful and creative activities always and we always invite anyone to join us whether in dialog or action for peace.
Links to other news stories
http://www.imemc.org/article/57343
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32584
http://www.mema3a.com/inside.php?arID=411&aCAT=6
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11 September 2008
Dear friends:
In Bethlehem area, we face colonial settlements and apartheid walls on three sides (north, west, south) and east is a closed military zone. A week ago an activist suggested we simply break the wall with the help of internationals (ala what happened in Gaza). Two days later I had a dream of doing precisely that. My dream was focused on feelings about doing such a thing as we were doing it; feelings of fear, anxiety, thrill, love, hope, trepidations, sadness and joy and more. Every morning when I get up I see the colony of Har Homa (built on the lands of Jabal AbuGhneim) and the meandering "geder hahafrada" (Hebrew name meaning "wall of segregation") that goes in to maximize the land grab while minimizing the number of Palestinians included on the "Israeli side". Funny though how objects here including land and air become associated with tribal Jewish identity. Sharon once exhorted settlers to grab the hills because "everything we grab will become ours and everything we don't will be theirs". The "us" he was referring to is the Zionist conception of the Jewish people (as an ethnicity and a "nation" not a religion). The "them" is the "Arabs" as Zionists refer to us trying to avoid the use of the term Palestinians lest we are reminded that we are the natives in Palestine and that there is something called Palestine. But of course the land and nature is no more "Jewish" than it became Roman under the Roman Empire. For the most part, native people and creatures here try to make as normal a life as possible under the abnormal circumstances of colonialism and attempts to reconfigure their lives. Just as I gaze at the wall separating me from Jerusalem (a mere five miles) and the lights turning off in the settelment, I also see other images of the morning: Palestinian children with dark black hair, olive skin color, and pressed uniforms heading to school, our neighbor opening his car repair shop, a guy with a NY yankees cap selling sesame cakes, a municipal truck collecting garbage, our cats and dog begging for food, and a dove gently landing on the olive tree. Life and hence hope, I think to myself, always finds a way. I get to the university at 8 AM and already it is full of young students (and I mean full that it is hard to walk around not like US universities). Apparent normality in an abnormal situation, I think to myself.
I had shared earlier with you a poem by a young person. Today I saw an email message forwarded from a young person that is also worth reading. This teenager reflects on how "lucky" she is to live in Ramallah rather than Gaza. This is a sad commentary on the state of affairs: when occupied Ramallah appears so much better than occupied Gaza. But this 15 year old has basically not even lived under the more normal occupation I lived under when I was her age. In those "good old days" of the early military occupation (1970s and 1980s), a Ramallah resident (or Bethlehem resident) could drive and go swim in the Dead Sea, or the Red Sea or the Meduiterranean sea. Our parents could also move and work anywhere. All these are now off limits to us (rare exeption given with special permits that few are able to get: usually collaborators, government officials, or wealthy businessmen that normalize with Israel). So I wonder if a few years from now we will also look at "the good old days" of today when Ramallah residents could visit and work in Bethlehem but not Jerusalem. Our Israeli friend Dr. Jeff Halper wrote an article this week in which he argues that apartheid in South Africa would never "warehouse" people like Israel is "warehousing" us the Palestinian people. But this an evolving system and (while it could get better with our colective efforts and resistance), it could get worse. I followed the article of this 10th grader with an action alert to organize in your community a meaningful activity for the 6th International "week against the apartheid wall".
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A Girl from Gaza Identified by her ID
By: Haneen Zaqout, Grade 10, Friends School- Ramallah
We all spend a lifetime trying to figure out what makes someone who they are, and what defines them. Is it their characteristics, appearances, or behaviors? It may be a combination of allfor regular people. But for people who come from where I come from, figuring out who they are is not a choice for them. I come from Gaza City in Palestine, where surviving each day is a huge struggle for all Gazans. Leaving Gaza was the hardest thing Ive ever done, partly because I miss my old life, and partly it is the guilt kicking in.
When I left Gaza, I had to go through this checkpoint. Its not ANY checkpoint. It is the Erez Checkpoint and its there to imprison the people of Gaza because as soon as the Israeli soldiers see a Gaza ID, that person is automatically considered an utter terrorist. Without knowing who they are, without any idea whatsoever about those people, they decide that they are criminals. Who has the right to take a persons identity from them? Or to judge them based on a piece of paper or nationality? How can they take away peoples choice of trying to figure out who they really are? I dont know but as I was walking through that long tunnel in that checkpoint, I realized that no matter what I do, no one will accept me for who I am. In that tunnel, they make no difference whether I am a terrorist or a person who is yearning for peace, not only for my people but also for the Israeli people.
I had the privilege to leave Gaza that others dream of having. Not because they dont love Gaza, nor for the fun of it, but because it is so hard to live there. Home became something you want to escape from instead of being the place you can run to when life gets too hard. As soon as I was through that checkpoint, after being treated like an animal, after being numbered like baggage, checked out by all the screening machines that never occurred to my mind that I would ever see them. I now live in Ramallah, which is only 2 hours away from Gaza. I left that exotic part of the world called Gaza; but still have it on my mind every second of the day, still influenced by my past there, and still motivated by its peoples strengths.
On the news, the talk about how Gaza has NO fuel, NO food, and even NO electricity; but the TV is just a source of information to pass on how people are sufferingdoes that mean that anyone outside Gaza understands what the people are really going through? No, they listen to that devastating news, feel bad for the people going through it, and continue on with their lives like nothing happened. Maybe some people can pretend, but as for myself I cant! This is the main reason Im writing this for as much as I know that words can be inconsequential, they can also make a difference in many peoples lives.
I hate that I feel guilty every time I eat a piece of chocolate, knowing that a friend or a little child is craving one. I hate that when Im bored I can open the TV or the computer and waste time, while my friends have nothing to do considering they have no electricity. I hate how I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, even outside Ramallah, while my friends are stuck at home because they have no fuel to even go around Gaza city! I hate buying new clothes, because my friends cant. I hate that Im absolutely and utterly helpless.
However in Gaza, regardless of the situation, you always find love and hope, you find people struggling for their lives. A mother trying to put a smile on her childs face, a father trying to get the strength to protect his childs little body from a missile. In Gaza you find those mixed feelings between love and hatred, between hope and despair, between frustration and satisfaction. In Gaza, you find people smiling when they cross the borders, even when it takes them hours and even days to cross. In Gaza you find just what you need. You find home.
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ACTION ITEM:
As part of the national and international mobilization to mark the 60th year of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), in which millions of Palestinians were either slaughtered or displaced by the Zionist militias and army, the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign and its Popular Committees call for the Sixth Week against the Apartheid Wall.
Six years after the first mass protests started in the northern West Bank against the Apartheid Wall, Occupation bulldozers and military are still targeting our land and people. We have continued to stand our ground, halting the construction works with our own hands, defending our land and mourning our latest martyrs - Ahmad Mousa (12 years) and Yousef Amira (17 years) from Nilin - that have given their lives in the struggle against the Wall. We call on you to stand in solidarity:
Mobilize and raise your voice during the Sixth Week against the Apartheid Wall,
November 9 16 2008.
The Wall has almost been completed, resulting in the confinement of Palestinians in the West Bank into segregated Bantustans. 60 years ago, the depopulation or destruction of 531 Palestinian towns and villages, ruthless massacres and the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their houses and lands has turned the majority of the Palestinian people into refugees and placed those remaining in their homeland under an apartheid regime. Today, the Wall is threatening to finish the project of ethnic cleansing and land left that began in 1948.
Snaking through West Bank, the Wall has isolated 78 Palestinian villages, separating communities and wrecking livelihoods. Some are trapped between the Wall and the Green Line, where access is only allowed with permits through gates with restricted opening hours. Most are imprisoned from three sides by the Wall, settlers roads or settlements, with the only exit controlled by the Occupation. 14 of these villages face imminent demolition and are in serious danger of being wiped off the map.
The Wall is also sealing the fate of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin. Having faced expulsions since 1948, the Occupation is renewing the attack on them in order to clear the land in the Jordan Valley and around Jerusalem for annexation. Occupation authorities are pushing more than 6,000 members of the Jahalin Bedouin, residing east of Jerusalem, into rekuzim (concentration) camps in order to make space for Jewish-only settlements.
The fight for Jerusalem has reached a critical stage, with the Occupation consolidating and expanding the settlement ring around the city. Construction on the light rail, which will link Jewish settlements with the city centre, is near completion. Home demolitions have increased sharply, settlement construction is booming and Occupation forces regularly raid and close Palestinian institutions, events and religious sites.
As the Occupation tightens its grip on the West Bank, we must not forget the people of Gaza who are subjected to medieval siege and forgotten by the international community, yet continue to remain steadfast. They were the first to blow up the Wall, and their actions exemplify the resistance and determination of the Palestinian people.
The International Court of Justice has ruled that the Wall is illegal and has required that it be torn down and all laws and orders related to it be reversed. The Court has reminded the international community of their obligation not to render any aid or assistance to the Wall and instead to ensure the implementation of international law, including the ICJ decision itself. To date, the international community has not promoted any concrete move towards rulings implementation.
Instead, the United Nations and the international community have turned a blind eye to or even abetted Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing. The US sponsored and internationally endorsed Annapolis process is to result in a shelf agreement, meaning that while the Occupation will have no duty to change its policies, it will have gained the signature of Palestinian negotiators compromising our rights.
The only effective means to promote justice in Palestine to date is the united Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions issued in July 2005. The global adoption of the call has so far provided much needed support for our struggle.
We ask you to support the resistance of the people by mobilizing against the Wall and the apartheid system it has created on ground. We call on whoever still believes in justice, humanity, liberation, and resistance against tyranny to stand with us and:
Show solidarity to the Palestinian struggle against the Apartheid Wall
Expose Israeli occupation, apartheid, and colonialism
End global support for Israeli apartheid
Visit our website and use our awareness raising material to prepare your events and protests:
1)Palestinian Villages and Town between Isolation and Expulsion: a detailed study of the communities threatened with ethnic cleansing by the Apartheid Wall. Download the PDF here: http://stopthewall.org/activistresources/1583.shtml or contact us at global@stopthewall.org for hard copies. Please, see the French version at: http://www.stopthewall.org/downloads/pdf/threatenedvillages-fr.pdf
2)Palestinian Villages and Town between Isolation and Expulsion the factsheet: a short summary of the most important facts and figures. Download the factsheet at: http://stopthewall.org/factsheets/1632.shtml
3) The Arab Jahalin: from the Nakba to the Wall: an in depth study on the history of the Jahalin Bedouin, from there expulsion from Tal Arad until the present. Based on a number of oral histories, the Jahalin narrate their own struggle. Download the PDF at: http://stopthewall.org/activistresources/1720.shtml or contact us at global@stopthewall.org for hard copies.
4) On the way of return to Tal Arad - the Arab Jahalin: a 25 minutes documentary on the Arab Jahalin and their struggle for dignity and return to Tal Arad. To obtain a DVD, please contact us at: global@stopthewall.org
5) Threatened villages 6 years of struggle: a powerful photo exhibit that illustrates the reality and struggle of the Palestinian villages threatened by the Wall and the Bedouin communities within the context of the ongoing Nakba. 36 photos, including captions.
To preview the exhibit, see: http://stopthewall.org/activistresources/1721.shtml
To obtain the hi-res photos of the exhibit and captions, please contact us at global@stopthewall.org
Develop your boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns. For more information, materials and updates, see: www.bdsmovement.net
Mobilize against the Occupations policies and its Apartheid Wall!
Reach out to your media!
Reach out to your political representatives!
Stop support Israeli apartheid!
Go to www.stopthewall.org for information
Action is the best antidote to despair
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8/18/08
Life is still beautiful
The drooping Israeli flags were as numerous, unmoving, and lifeless in the desert heat as the Israeli police and military conscripts blocking people from their basic rights. One of those young Israeli conscripts at the "immigration window", obviously not enjoying her work and trying to make it as hard as possible for Palestinians and visitors, asked do I have another passport.. yes... here it is a US passport. She kept my Palestinian document (called a passport but really not a passport and issued only via approval by Israeli officials) and asked gruffly "Istana" (=wait) and "roh henak" (go there).
But on the window nearby for Palestinians from Jerusalem (blue ID card) there was an even more problematic women: a lunatic Israeli who was literally screaming at the top of her lungs to the line of Palestinians who tried to figure out what to do to get her to calm down and process their documents. We wait, some for one hour some for four or more (and some are denied entry to their own homeland). Mine was a tolerable 3 hours until they called my name; this I think relate to having US Citizenship and thus pushing us around is thought to make us decide not to stay or even visit. The wait gave me time to chat with fellow travelers/sufferers and to begin to jot these notes and reflect on the day's progress and to think about other things.
The day had started at 4:30 AM in Amman and we were lined up in cars at the Jordanian side of the border at about 6 AM as the morning sun rose strong over the hills in this lowest place on earth near the dead sea. Swarming hungry flies got thicker as the line of cars inched its way amid the restless children and smoking drivers.
Our Amman driver (Hanna) was an old veteran at this and simply let his tape recorder play the songs of George Wasuf , songs that seem to defy reality of the crossing point to the hell of the occupied territories. Lyrics of "Lissa Elhaya 7ilwa" (Life is still beautiful) and "life is short, the fortune is fate". Hanna is a Palestinian Christian who has not been back to Palestine since 1967 when he as a child and his family were in Jordan as Israeli strolled through the West Bank and then prevented those who were abroad from returning. He has four children. He was not shy to express his dismay at how Palestine was invaded (by British and Zionist colonial powers), betrayed (by Arab leaders), ignored (by the rest of the world), and maligned (in Zionist controlled media). But he has retained rays of hope as he talks about his children who did find jobs, about his dream of visiting Beit Lahem...
After the checks on the Jordan side, we are loaded onto crowded buses and then move to the Bridge area and wait in a line of buses. Images flash before my mind: a girl with torn shoes, a newborn being shielded from the flies by a vigilant mother, a women with a patch on her eye, a man on crutches, pilgrims coming back from Saudi Arabia carrying "holy water". Most are very poor but there are a few wealthier folks (some zipped us by in the VIP shuttles).
The hardest parts were from 6 AM when we got into the Jordan bridge to 2:30 PM when we were still languishing at the Israeli terminal. Hundreds of Palestinians, more than 70% women and children wait patiently to be bossed around. We witness acts of Israeli insensitivity (e.g. when the young conscript demands children be lifted for her to see them rather than simply lean over the look at them), we witness small acts of treachery (e.g. a Palestinian man cutting in front of old women and children), but we witness more acts of compassion and kindness (offering drinks, food, helping each other with luggage etc).
In between periods of waiting, there are periods of frantic dash to get luggage load it onto one or another bus. I missed two buses as I decided I was not in such a rush and I should help others get onto it. In going from Amman to Beit Sahour, we passed through the following areas of authority (each with checkpoints): Jordanian, Israeli, Palestinian, Israeli, then Palestinian again (the latter four are to pass from the Jericho ghetto/reservation to the Bethlehem Ghetto/reservation). The 11 hour ordeal for what should be a two hour trip is rather exhausting. Maybe they aught to make it an olympic marathon sport!
The apartheid system here is mean and people are being forced to worry more about their food than their freedom (of course they are directly related). But the apartheid system is not sustainable and even Israelis know it. It is the manner of its demise that we should start discussing (e.g. changing the concepts of nationalism to concepts of citizenship and equality). These are things I began to discuss and I find many interested. The conversations are fascinating, the people eminently interested (as well as complex). A friend who just spent the summer here wrote "the situation is so inhumane...How do we bring awareness to what occupation does to the lives of people..How do we get folks to to get it..this in the year 2008--it should not be allowed for one group of people to lawfully be able to murder, maim, torture, demolish homes, confiscate lands...Among the things we witnessed; we sat with the families in Sheik Jarrah.. once again, how can it be that settlers can come and kick the familes out of their homes ..and then arrest the owner..how can it be that Israel can just demolish the Al Kurd home in front of their eyes and those of the community family... then to impose such high taxes..that are nearly impossible for anyone to pay.. It reminds me of the gentrifcation happening in US cities where African Americans and the poor are being pushed out of their homes. I have so much respect for the ISM volunteers and others who are steadfast with the families...yes, a human shield...We saw so much oppression,children so defiant..after visiting a sibling in prison, or daughter not able to see her father for seven years --because he lives in Gaza and she lives in the West Bank..this is Bullshit!"
I do have to watch that I do nor waste time on negative thoughts. I did wonder briefly if people like Palestinian "negotiator" Saeb Erekat goes through the border hassles or cares about the suffering of ordinary Palestinians. I did wonder briefly about many in the "left" in the US who offer lip service to the suffering Palestinians while unwilling to really challenge the Israel lobby grip on US foreign policy. I wondered about Israeli transcripts some younger than my son who rule over millions of what they consider children of a lesser God at best or subhuman at worst. I wondered about collaborators and profiteers. I have to quickly shake off these negative thoughts to focus on actions since reality is far more interesting and there is far more goodness around as well as possibilities for good work (already I witnessed several acts of selfless giving). There are other things. I am glad that a child at the barber shop in Beit Sahour getting his first haircut seem to take more of my thought. A discussion of what to do with too many grapes in the garden far more interesting. Talk about actions to reduce solid waste and recycling far more exciting. Talk about what to with the liberated hill Ush Ghrab that is still under threat in Beit Sahour (see IMEMC video of the chronicle of this struggle and the inspiring message of resistance at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ZaFwi6WBo )...
So "joyful participation in the sorrows of this world" work is plentiful; come visit us. As we say in Arabic: Ahlan wa sahlan.
Indeed the George Wasuf song is correct that "Life is still beautiful".
PS: thanks to the hundreds among you who have written personal letters to me about this move. My apologies if I did not answer everyone personally. I am trying to catch up.
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Video: Preview of 6 part series: Chronicles of a refugee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPyXTW3bjyI
Pictures of Popular Palestinian Conference in Chicago
http://picasaweb.google.com/AlAwdaNY/USPCN
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8/14/08
Leaving the US For Palestine
After such knowledge; what forgiveness?
Think now
History has many cunning passages,
Contrived corridors
And issue, deceives with wispering ambitions
Guides us by vanities.
Think now
She gives when our attention is distracted
And what she gives, she gives with such supple confusion
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
T. S. Elliot
I graduated from Jordan University with a Bachelor degree at age 21 and then taught in Palestinian Schools (Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho). In those year and a half as a middle and high school teacher (Jan 78-June 79) I worked very hard at two jobs (extra teaching at private school in Jerusalem) so as to save money for higher education. I saved enough for the airline tickets and an extra $1500 for the first few months in America. I came to the US in August 1979 to pursue higher education and ended up making it a home while maintaining a home in Palestine. Since then I got my doctorate, medical boards in genetics, and served on faculties at the University of Tennessee, Duke, and Yale Universities. I published over 130 scientific papers and three books. Here I also met first my wife, built a family, made thousands of friends, and chose to become a citizen. Thus, my journey in the US was wonderful and highly successful. Much of my activism was driven here by the desire to improve this country (e.g. stop it from committing war crimes and crimes against humanity). I strongly believe that unless all of us work together to change US foreign policy (a policy shaped by Zionist lobbies), we are all doomed. We see that millions of US citizens are also concerned about the way this foreign policy is damaging our economy and reputation around the world. I think it must (and it will) change. There are many good signs (e.g. the books of Carter and Mearsheimer and Walt became best sellers). Yet, today with the new laws that shred constitutional protections, government intrusion on every sphere of life, the US has been more Israelized. These things, restrictions on students coming from the Arab world, and the war economy in America (that devastated higher education here) makes a repeat of my story much more difficult if not impossible. My own journey has not been easy. Racist Zionists tried to block us at every corner and racism in a society shaped by Hollywood films that villify Arabs is rampant. Some take their positions at institutions of higher education and at funding agencies (e.g. March of Dimes, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health) as a license to advance their racist ideologies. This situation continues although I did notice that in the past 12-15 years things have become more opened up. This is a function of a) numbers: Zionist ranks are dwindling and populations of all other people in the US are growing, b) the internet opening up the dialogues and increasing exposure to the truth, and c) more Arab and Muslim Americans taking on their civic responsibilities and asserting their rights and their responsibilities in this society. But perhaps it is always a struggle anyway.
But the difficulties I faced (including a major health issue) are nothing compared to what other Palestinians face under occupation or in exile (e.g. in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria). I consider my challenges/difficulties in life as blessings. I would not want them changed if I had the power to change them. Difficulties in life make us who we are and help us improve. In this I am thankful even to those self-declared enemies and protagonists who sometimes succeeded in what they aimed to do and sometimes failed but always provided me with good lessons. So perhaps a tinge of me wants more difficulties. I look back with nostalgia at my upbringing under Israeli occupation. I look with nostalgia at the time I was teaching in the West Bank. I talk to my elderly diabetic mother every week and she tells me stories of what is going on on the ground. Her stories include things like people dying because of being prevented from going to health clinics, students denied the right to go to school, lands confiscated, children shot in the back of the head, extra-judicial executions, further acts of ethnic cleansing, and more. I also go to Palestine every year and I see the apartheid system getting worse. Walls surrounding towns and villages, US weapons that killed or maimed friends and colleagues, economic strangulation, and much more. But both mother and I see so much good work being done by good people of all faiths and backgrounds.
Thus, every year when I go visit Palestine, I cannot wait to come back even though life there gets worse (checkpoints, the violence of the occupation, the economic deterioration). My last visit was of July last year. The hate I witnessed from settlers, from occupation soldiers, and yes from some natives was so thick in the air and permeated everything. The racism, the segregation, the apartheid walls... and all the other things I occasionally share with you through this cyberspace. BUT, there is also lots of love. Love is not usually expressed in words in Palestine. Even among family members it is rare to hear the words "I love you". Love is expressed at a far more meaningful sense in caring, asking how your health is, offering food, hospitality, offering your clothing and what little you have etc. These are acts of love.
In the US, I witness acts of love perhaps two or three times a day in person (I see many more on the emails and other news sources). In Palestine, in my last visit, I witnessed acts of love in the dozens in some days. In one day of a nonviolent demonstration in Bilin and then in the Hospital where Ibrahim Bornat was taken after being shot, I witnessed hundreds of acts of love. They came not just from Palestinians but from Internationals and even Israelis who were with us. In the US, writing a letter to the editor or demonstrating in front of a congressman's office are acts of resistance (and yes love). In Palestine, teaching a child to read, eating, drinking, breathing living, and everything we do in life there are acts of resistance (and love). This is because that is not what the colonial Zionist movement wants (they want us all out to create a more uniform "Jewish state" that is cleansed "nichsayon").
Of course without the US support of Israel, Israel can't survive as a colonial power. That is why work in the US has been and must continue to be a center of focus. We simply must change US policy in the Middle East (if nothing else than to save the US from economic collapse!). Work must be done both in Palestine and outside of Palestine. Indeed that is part of the reason why I have not relocated to Palestine earlier. There is something indeed about fate and destiny.
I also have a home in Connecticut and will maintain that for the time being. It is our destiny as Palestinians to be so conflicted and separated. I have relatives in 40+ countries. I have friends and colleagues in over 100 countries. So I guess, the world is my home. The corner of it that received a lot of oppression deserves a lot of attention/activism.
Activism for human rights is not only a duty but it is one of the most rewarding things to have done myself (marriage, having a son, writing books are others). Activism falls truly under the category of enlightened self interest which is what philosphers and sages of old have encouraged us to practice. So in that sense I am still going to be doing acts similar to here. My focus will shift though. I will be doing somethings:
- Teaching at Bethlehem University (a new masters program in Biotechnology, course in human molecular genetics)
- Working on environmental/conservation issues (see http://www.qumsiyeh.org/nature/ )
- Building a laboratory for clinical genetics that employs Palestinian graduates
- Doing other activities that create job opportunities (see for example by going to http://www.pcr.ps/ and click on outsourcing Palestine project at right)
- Writing more books (the next one on my agenda to complete is on history, theory, and practice of Palestinian non-violent resistance over the past 128 years)
- Giving help where I can (my dream is to start a "food not bombs" chapter)
- Continue the never-ending work to improve myself and fight the demons within.
- Having fun!
And as our newly departed poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote: "I long for my mother's bread, and my mother's coffee, and her touch. Childhood memories grow up in me Day after day. I must be worthy of my life. At the hour of my death, worthy of the tears of my mother.
I have a home in Beit Sahour, a lovely town despite the colonial occupation. Please look at these two videos of my hometown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-D2jy1knHs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXFd48-W7JQ
It also seemed the right time on the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (the ethnic cleansing of Palestine) to focus more on helping in Palestine while still maintaining a base in the US.
With humility and serenity, I will try to be positive, productive and helpful as one of millions struggling under occupation/colonization. My regular email messages may slow down or get way shorter. These emails will also undergo a change away from posting things from secondary sources. Since I will be on the ground more, I will report more of what I observe in Palestine and occasional suggestions for unique and inspiring actions for peace with justice we can all support.
If I slighted any of you, I apologize. I want to thank all of you for your kind support (especially those who took the time to act on action calls). I also want to thank those in Connecticut who helped make the state a great place to live. You all will be in my thoughts always.
If you ever want to take a trip to Palestine, please drop me a note and come visit!
In the meantime, stay tuned and best of Love to all.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
PS: Lessons I try to remember about life (most learned from mistakes :-)
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/lessonslearned/
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8/12/08
Palestine Conference workshop on and need of support of Free Gaza movement
Dear friends:
I have just returned from attending the amazing national Palestine conference held in Chicago http://palestineconference.org/. It was a phenomenal success (beyond most people expectations). Over 24 workshops proposed by participants generated ideas and action plans. A summary report will soon be circulated from the coordinating committee. But I did want to give you a taste of one of these workshops, the one devoted to the Free Gaza movement and then ask you for your support of the movement (by donating and insisting media cover it).
The participants in the Free Gaza movement (freegaza.org) workshop reviewed the history of the initiative and watched a videotape with a special message to workshop participants. One boat is named "Free Gaza" and the other named "Liberty", the latter in honor of the USS Liberty that was deliberately attacked in June 1967 killing 34 US Navy personnel. The survivors have sent strong support and asked boat participants to drop 34 red roses in the sea in honor these US victims of Israel.
The workshop participants proposed for the Sunday town hall meeting that The USPCN strongly supports the Free Gaza movement and encourages its members to join a newly formed support group that aims to not only lift the siege on Gaza but lift all restrictions on free movement and entry in all of Palestine and end all Israeli apartheid laws. We call on all USPCN members to report back to the local communities about the success of our conference in Chicago and to initiate local actions (e.g. by hosting an event on Gaza) that carries on these successes
Action items for the workshop participants:
- We will build a networking with churches emphasizing the moral imperative of support for Palestine as a classic struggle against apartheid. We can also connect them to Christian communities in occupied Palestine.
- We must support the Right to Enter Campaign righttoenter.ps
- We will get other organizations to endorse the freegaza campaign
- We will publicize the issues including breaking the siege through mainstream and alternative media. This includes print media and audio and visual media (call in to talk shows too).
- We will arrange speaking tours for returning participants in the Free Gaza movement. Suggests establishing committee to coordinate this.
- We will seek boat participants to join the Wheels of Justice bus tour which will be touring in the areas of WI, IL, MI, OH, TN in the fall
Below are resources and videos followed by an appeal from boat organizers
Free Gaza Movement Video and powerpoint
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=4777060879214101154&hl=en
Reports from the boat
http://www.presstv.ir/sections.aspx?sectionid=3510304
How is life in Gaza? See for yourself
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/aweekingaza
Video interviews
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0vSIG2FuTc (boat press conference)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OB-kadwOL8 (lauren Booth, sister in law of Tony Blair)
An appeal from the passengers and crew of the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty:
Two years ago, about a dozen human rights activists devised a plan to sail a boat to Gaza in order to break the siege. We rejected a plan to rent a boat as impractical because a similar venture in 1988 failed and three organizers were killed. Thus no boat owner would willingly risk his craft. We ultimately decided to purchase two small boats that could carry 44 passengers, crew and media. (Some of the photos of the boats are on the IMAGE GALLERY http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=image_gallery page on our website.)
Each of us contributed what we could, and we also received thousands of dollars from individual supporters, most of whom used the Paypal link on our website. We also held fund-raising events, received a few thousand dollars from small grants, and several "angels" helped us along the way. Each passenger has paid his/her own way to get here, and many have raised additional money through their groups, worked extra jobs, and asked family and friends to donate. The passengers also paid an additional 600 Euros each for lodging in Cyprus and to cover the cost of supplies and food on land and sea.
Through these efforts we have raised $300,000, which we thought covered our costs.
But the eroding dollar/Euro exchange rate seriously drained our funds. All of our planning did not anticipate this contingency.
We are now in Cyprus awaiting our boats' arrival from Crete. When they come in, we will fuel up (with very high-cost diesel) and stock necessary food and supplies. We hope to cast off for Gaza this weekend. We are told that hundreds of thousands of Gazans will greet us on arrival.
Many people thought we'd never come this far. But here we are and we firmly intend to set sail regardless of some recent staggering debts. Frankly, we have spent much more than we raised; here are just a few of our recent expenses:
Two Sailor 250 FleetBroadband systems to allow us to stay in electronic contact and to send streaming video in real time, $16,000 each, or $32,000;
Repairs required to make the boats seaworthy, $25,000-$30,000;
Electronics, wiring, connections, satellite uplinks, SPOT Trackers to make the system work, $5000-$8000. (Most of the labor on the electronics and boats has been donated by the Greek crew and technicians.)
Forty-four life jackets and two hand-held GPS units, $8000;
Paint & banners for the boats, and balloons & toys for Gaza children, $2000
Diesel fuel for both boats, both ways, $15,000 to $25,000.
Except for part of the diesel fuel, we have already paid these costs by running our personal credit cards to the limit, borrowing money, and asking some of the Greek crew to help. Frankly, we're tapped out.
We need your help so that we sail on the Mediterranean Sea but not on a sea of debt.
Please . . . donate through the Paypal account on our website (www.freegaza.org), send a tax-deductible check to the US address on the website, and/or send a check to the address in the UAE. Every donation, large or small, will help keep us afloat.
And, finally, thanks for your interest, support, and prayers!
Sincerely,
The Passengers and Crew on FREE GAZA and LIBERTY
http://Freegaza.org
8/2/08
A letter from Bassam Aramin and two other relevant items at end: Journalist Mohammed Omer writing in the Nation about his ordeal at Israeli fascist hands and notes on why oil prices got so high. "Assay the powers within you.. our doubts make traitors of us all" Shakespear
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From One Bereaved Palestinian Father to Another
An open letter by Bassam Aramin, co-founder of Combatants for Peace
Translated from the Arabic by Miriam Asnes
Dear Hisam, father of Ahmed, may he rest in peace,
I learned of the death of your son, Ahmed Musa, through a one-sentence newsflash on the Palestinian news station Ma’an last Tuesday: “Ahmed Musa, a young boy, was killed by a bullet of the occupying forces in Nil’in.” I was immediately overcome with shock and grief and bitter tears. And above all, that relentless feeling of powerlessness that I know too well. We Palestinians cannot protect our children from being killed. Not because they are soldiers on the battlefield, but because we cannot imprison them in our homes. They must live their lives, play outside the house, go to school. We tell ourselves that there must be in our land a safe place to protect our little ones. Should not our villages be safe? Should not the courtyards of our homes be safe? And the safest place of all—should this not be the schoolyard?
But our children are still murdered in cold blood in front of our homes, in the heart of our villages and in our schools. For on another black Tuesday a year and a half ago, soldiers of the occupation killed my own beloved ten-year-old daughter. Abir Aramin was shot in the head in front of her school in the village of Anata on January 16th, 2007. Ahmed and Abir passed on the same day of the week, at the same age; both were shot in the head by the same kind of killer: one of the Israeli border patrol guards.
The moment I heard the news of your son’s death, I found myself speaking aloud to him. “Ya Ahmed, please give my regards and my love to Abir. Your two pure souls will meet in paradise. Go in peace, beloved, do not fear for you are not alone—there are others there waiting for you. Ready to greet you are more than a thousand Palestinian children who have been killed since the year 2000. And though I hope with all my heart, Ahmed, that you will be the last victim of these legitimized Israeli war crimes, I cannot help but wonder—who will be killed next?”
We Palestinian parents—are we not fully responsible for what happens to our children? For why do we allow our children to go out into the streets in the light of day? Why do we permit them play outside the house? Why do we not only let them, but actually encourage them to go to school and be educated? And even more importantly, I place the blame our martyred children—how dare you let your heads get in the way of the Israeli sharpshooters? Let’s try to be reasonable: the soldiers of the occupation don’t really want to kill our children, it can’t be a deliberate policy of intimidation and violence—they are simply trying to help us keep our children in a safe place. And clearly they believe that the safest place for our children to be, where no one can harm them, is in their graves.
When I heard what happened to Ahmed, I was in the middle of reading a book about international human rights and the specific laws pertaining to children in times of war and armed struggle. Every Palestinian should read these laws until he knows his rights, and every Israeli should read these same laws until he understands the enormity of the criminal and fascist practices of the Israeli army against the Palestinian people.
Major General Gabi Ashkenazi, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces, has said that “My greatest fear is the loss of humanity among Israeli troops because of the ongoing warfare.” I must inform the distinguished General that he lost his humanity a long time ago. He and his army should fear for their loss of humanity, for under his leadership the Israeli army killed Ahmed Musa. And if he doesn’t care about Ahmed because he is a Palestinian, General Ashkenazi should at least be afraid that his army has lost its humanity in its treatment of Israelis as well. We have all seen how Israeli soldiers treat their own people who join us Palestinians in peaceful protest in Bil’in and Nil’in and Artash and in the Galilee and in Tulkarem. Did the General see when soldiers fired rubber bullets at Dr. Tsfiyah Shapira and her son Itamar, who were participating in a peaceful march in the village of Shufa near Tulkarem alongside many peace activists? I’m guessing that he did witness this, in fact I would guess that General Ashkenazi ordered this operation and the many others like it. Look closely, General, and you will find the source of your fear.
Hisam, Ahmed and Abir have gone to the hereafter, and I promise you that in eternity they will outlive their murderers. Our children are the epitome of innocent humanity, and their killers are the most despicable of criminals. But while such ruthless men exist as part of the occupying army, please know that there are thousands of Israelis who refuse to participate in these crimes, who are ashamed at the bloody stains that soak the uniform of the Israeli army and all those who would call its conduct moral or democratic. There are Israelis like Tsfiya and Itamar who feel it is their moral, and human, duty to stand with us.
They have killed our children, Hisam. What can we do but fight on? We will never lay down our arms. For despite the advanced military technology and deadly force that we face, it is we who posses the most dangerous weapons of all. These are the weapons of morality and justice. We will not surrender these in the face of brutality, and we will be steadfast in demanding justice for our children. Ahmed and Abir’s murderers must be judged and sentenced as criminals. Let me be clear: we do not seek revenge. Justice for our beloved, dead children will not be served by the murder of a young Israeli girl in front of her school, or by the murder of a young Israeli boy by a bullet to the head. We will refuse to mirror the violent means of the occupation. You and I, and every Palestinian, must let our morals and our humanity and the teachings of our great faith be our guides.
Yours in bereavement and steadfastness,
Bassam Aramin
Alquds for Democracy and Dialogue chairman
022349888 0542383907
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Truth and Consequences Under the Israeli Occupation By Mohammed Omer writing in the Nation
"At one point I fainted and then awakened to fingernails gouging at the flesh beneath my eyes. An officer crushed my neck beneath his boot and pressed my chest into the floor. Others took turns kicking and pinching me, laughing all the while. They dragged me by my feet, sweeping my head through my own vomit. I lost consciousness. I was told later that they transferred me to a hospital only when they thought I might die."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080818/omer
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The US military is the largest fuel burning entity in the world. According to published data the US army used 144 million barrels of fuel in 2004 with budgeted cost of energy used by the army at 8.2 billion for that year. The U.S. military consumes 10-11 million barrels of fuel each month to sustain operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. At $140/barrel only (unrefined) that is 1.4 billion monthly just on fuel. All this consumption and its impact on the demand is unmentioned by politicians and media in the west (this is not counting all other federal agencies use of fuels domestically - e.g. all the hundreds of thousands of SUVs in the service of government bureacracies). Also the dollar keeps coming down in value (so oil denominated in dollars is higher) because of the debts incurred by the US war economy. And you wonder why oil prices are high?
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7/28/08
The news today was received from Kathy Kelly that our friend Joel Gullege was beaten by a Jewish colonial settler. Joel is is a co-coordinator of voices for creative nonviolence, a reservist with Christian Peacemaker Team in Palestine, and has been a speaker and a volunteer with our Wheels of Justice bus tour. He is also founder of a website on At-Tuwani area of South Hebron where settlers routinely attack Palestinian Children on their way to school and try to drive their families out. Kathy wrote: "Joel called at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, very shaken, just before an ambulance arrived to bring him to a hospital. A masked settler carrying a slingshot had come out while Joel and Jan Benvie were escorting 15 children to school. Jan raced the children to safety. I think Joel might have been filming the settler. The settler caught up with Joel, broke his glasses and took the video camera--the settler repeatedly hit Joel on the head and in the face with the video camera and punched Joel in the face many times. Joel wouldn't go down on the ground; he just kept calling for help. Then the settler ran away."
The stories of oppression are many every week so we can only give examples. The NY Times had an article on Native Palestinian boys reduced to poverty trying to make a living by digging for valuables in the trash of the Jewish colonial settlers. The Israeli occupation army arrested a Canadian and the father of the girl who filmed its troops shooting a bound and blindfolded Palestinian. But there are also stories of activism and endless energy of resistance. Below you can read about the Free Gaza movement that is taking boats from Cyprus to break the blockade/siege on Gaza. You can read about artists canceling trips to the Apartheid state of Israel and of students mobilizing Palestinian Americans. You can view videos of a brief congressional testimony on why BUsh should be prosecuted for murder and a video of Iranian Americans speaking for peace. You can read an article by a South African leader writing in Haaretz that segregation is worse in Palestine than it was in South Africa and an article by a Palestinian American on Obama's Mideast tour that was intended to cater to the Israel lobby.
Free Gaza boats to launch: Jamal Alkhudari, chairman of the Popular Committee Against Siege(PCAS), "confirmed on Sunday that two international boats, loaded with internationals and assistance packages, will arrive in Gaza between August 5-10. In a press conference in Gaza city, aL-Khudari pointed out that two boats will arrive in Gaza shores, coming from Cyprus. One of the boats will carry peace activists, foreign parliamentarians and Palestinian refugees from overseas. Al-Khudary expected that Israel will intercept the boats, saying that the boat's passengers are ready to face any Israeli measures against them, even if they are forced to stay besieged on board. He pointed out that tens of Gaza boats will be welcoming the visiting boats, maintaining that a press conference will be held upon arrival of the solidarity boats. Israel has been imposing a crippling closure on the coastal region since June2007. Many essential food items and raw materials have been made scarce as unemployment and poverty rates have hit the highest records." Visit http://www.freegaza.org
ACTION: Don't Play Israel joins other groups in celebrating the list of artists to recently cancel appearances/engagements in Israel. We believe the cultural boycott is gaining in effect. Recent cancellations include: Jean-Luc Godard, Bjork, Chris Cornell, Siouxie Sioux, and Snoop Dogg. We believe that the hard work of activists and calls issued by organizations such as PACBI have been effective in increasing consciousness of the boycott -- many other artists are refusing to play Israel, but are doing so quietly. The next challenge is to encourage these artists to publicly engage with the boycott. And much remains to be done. Artists to have recently announced upcoming concerts include: Laurie Anderson and Mercedes Sosa. Details on how to contact these artists appear on the Don't Play Israel blog: http://www.dontplayisrael.blogspot.com Pass on the word... the cultural boycott is spreading.
Action: General Union of Palestinian Students asks: "Join The Popular National Palestinian Conference"
http://www.gups-usa.org/
Video: Brilliant congressional testimony by Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi (Author of "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDAFozFn4kU
Video: Voices of Iranian Americans for peace
http://www.searchles.com/channels/show/4563
Article: No need for the A-word By Jonathan Berger
"Whether motivated by legitimate security considerations, fear, mistrust or sheer prejudice, the occupation's physical manifestations - including distinct identity cards, number plates and roads, as well as checkpoints, electronic fences and concrete walls - result in a degree of separation far in excess of what was achieved in South Africa. This separation speaks for itself, whether or not one categorizes it as apartheid. "
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005365.html
Opinion: Barack Obama's visit to Israel and Palestine this week seemed designed to appease pro-Israel groups in the US, By Ali Abunimah
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/barackobama.israelandthepalestinians
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7/23/08
In this newsletter, I share with you action items (petitions on Iran and on protection of academic freedom and update on popular conference and Susan Nathan US Tour), a video of a deliberate shooting of a bound/blindfolded Palestinian, a video of how to protect yourself when approached by law enforcement (especially useful for profiled for Arabs and Muslims), an interview I had with Iran TV which explores the origin of the mess we are in, and an article with Palestinian and Israeli Women Talking Religion, Peace and Politics!
Actions first:
ACTION 1: Sign Petition from AcademicsForJustice.org to Protect Academic Freedom (reference to a professor who was unfairly treated because she spoke out for Palestinian Human Rights)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Protect-Academic-Freedom
ACTION 2: Sign Peace Action petition on Iran
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/161/t/288/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1312
ACTION 3: Popular Palestinian Conference 2008 updated schedule posted. I urge all to register and join us so as not to miss this historic conference. Also we are calling for a meeting of leaders of organizations active on Palestine to be held Friday night on the sidelines of this conference (for the latter please contact me for details and to sign up to attend this). http://www.palestineconference.org/program.shtml
ACTION 4: Susan Nathan Speaking Tour Fall 2008
Susan, an Israeli citizen and author of The Other Side of Israel (My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab Divide) is currently scheduled to speak from mid September through early November. Groups wishing to invite her or contribute to her expenses can find biographical information, financial expectations and obligations, and a letter of intent form, her calendar and other relevant information on the website link: www.snathantour.com Nathan wrote one: "Currently, I find myself outside the consensus of my country, but not alone in these thoughts. The discontinuity between the state's politics and my vision of Judaism is being noticed by a growing number of the Jewish-Israeli population who seek a different, realistic and viable alternative to the current situation. Progress in my region of the world will depend on freedom, justice and compassion. These are the concepts that a civilization is built on. Identifying one's Judaism with one's nationality, as occurs here in Israel, means little if it is devoid of these guiding principles." Contact: snathantour@gmail.com http://www.snathantour.org
Video: Israeli army shoots rubber coated steel bullet at bound and blindfolded man who participated in nonviolent resistance. Because this incident was caught on tape, the Israeli army launched "an investigation" but like other such investigations (hundreds) it will never result in prosecution or punishment for members of the apartheid army of occupation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hdm89WxkGs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/jul/21/palestinianshooting
Video: Give you Information about how to protect you and your family when approached by law enforcement
http://www.muslimadvocates.org/get_involved/got_rights.html
Question and answer on issues of Palestine on Iranian TV (English, translated and broadcast Farsi). Some material are from my book "Sharing the Land of Canaan"
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/irantvjuly2008/
Dialogues from the West Bank: Palestinian and Israeli Women Talk Religion, Peace and Politics
http://www.imow.org/wpp/stories/viewStory?storyId=1409
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7/17/08
The Israeli apartheid regime finally agreed to exchange Israeli with Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. This exchange could have been done before the summer 2006 massacres of Lebanese civilians which Israel launched claiming it is to liberate the two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah. This exchange shows the bankruptcy of the political and war making Israeli regime. That summer an Israeli chief of staff called his broker and sold his stocks an hour after getting out of a cabinet meeting that decided to launch that offensive (in every sense of the word) war. In that summer, Israel dropped millions of cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming Lebanese children today. That is the war than both Obama and McCain supported and our government funded and that is the war that now has been proven pointless. Despite AIPAC and its cronies in the media, that and many other truths remains clear to all who want to see. The overriding fact also remains that Zionism is the main cause of wars and conflict throughout the region from Palestine to Afghanistan. Peace is possible and it must start with ending US support for that apartheid regime and bringing peace to Palestine (where Jews, Christians, Muslims and others are then allowed to build a democratic country of all its people). That is the real road map to peace in Western Asia and indeed key to US economic recovery.
In todays message, you can skim through articles and video on Israel's lobby role in wars, an article on the Palestine conference in Chicago (I will be there), a refugee story (one of millions), news of the Green Party... and/or you can go directly to action items.
Turning the Tables on the Israel-Firsters by Michael Scheuer (Former director of CIA's Bin Laden Unit)
Now that the dust has settled in the spat between journalist Joe Klein and the ideologues at Commentary, it is time to regret the ink spilled over the non-issue of "dual loyalties." The idea that there are U.S. citizens who have equal loyalties to the United States and Israel is passé. American Israel-firsters have long since dropped any pretense of loyalty to the United States and its genuine national interests.
http://www.antiwar.com/scheuer/?articleid=13139
Video: Bill Maher interviews Michael Scheuer
Former director of CIA's Bin Laden Unit interviewed on Real Time with Bill Maher (09-21-2007). Includes a bonus shout out to Ron Paul, a smackdown to US policies in the Middle East, and a heated discussion on Israel. A little something for everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF4_oaTIH8g
Shell Games: Are They Really Oil Wars?
"Big Oil prefers peace and stability, not war and geopolitical turbulence, in global energy markets... behind the drive to war and military adventures in the Middle East lie some powerful special interests (vested in war, militarism, and geopolitical concerns of Israel) that use oil as an issue of “national interest” —as a façade or pretext— in order to justify military adventures to derive high dividends, both economic and geopolitical, from war."
http://www.counterpunch.org/zadeh07092008.html
SOUL Searching by IMTIAZ MUQBIL
US Palestinians plan for unity A historic conference in Chicago in August 2008 is intended to serve as an open arena where individuals and organisations coordinate and refine strategies, link efforts, plan united actions, and inform one another and the community about their work on behalf of Palestine
http://www.bangkokpost.com/060708_Perspective/06Jul2008_pers008.php
(A story worth reading from a 20 year old refugee on her visit to her ethnically cleansed village) My New Birthday By Areej Ja'fari, Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Palestine
"I laid down on one of the ruined walls of a house and kept watching the blue, clear sky, at that moment I felt the sky was very close, I wanted to hide in it to stay in Deir Rafat. I was breathing the air again and again as if I could not have enough of it, the passing clouds over Deir Rafat during that time was the first thing in common
between my village and I.....It's time to wake up from the real dream, time to go back to Dheisheh Refugee Camp, which I like, but do not belong to. Its time to face my family, they were all anxious to know how home looked like, where exactly did I go. I couldn't reply more than that it's the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life." More at
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/mynewbirthday/
US Green Party Nominates Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente for President and VP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-E00fLAL4Q
http://www.runcynthiarun.org/
Actions everywhere:
Write to the media about the issues and your concern of their (mis)coverage or lack of coverage of critical issues of our time. Write to politicians, demonstrate at their events, challenge them…
Actions in the US:
1) Write Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa mayor@lacity.org to object to his trip to the Zionist Apartheid regime
2) Monday, July 21st, 5:00-8:00 PM,
9th Street and Mass. Avenue NW, Across from DC Convention Center, Washington DC
Protest the right-wing Christians United for Israel Annual Conference, and raise awareness about preventing war with Iran and the importance of respecting world religions.
a coalition of peace and social justice groups wishing to foster greater understanding between faith traditions and stopping an illegal and immoral military strike on the nation of Iran will be protesting outside the Christians United for Israel Conference at the DC Convention Center.
3) Register and Vote http://www.rockthevote.com/
4) Conference in Michigan in September
Many churches, organizations and institutions in the Southeast Michigan region are co-sponsoring the Sabeel* Conference, "Peace Palestine and US Policy 1948-2008", which will be held September 25-27, 2008 at the First Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Michigan, located at 1669 W. Maple Road.
Peace in the Middle East is the most pressing issue of our time. It cannot be achieved without a just solution to the Israel-Palestine issue. A host of speakers including Ilan Pappe, one of Israel ’s foremost historians, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges, authors Joel Kovel, Susan Nathan, Naim Ateek, Anna Baltzer, Don Wagner and John Quigley, will provide insights into the history and current status of the issue, along with workshops for those looking for ways to effectively serve peace through action. The cost for the three-day conference will be $110 for early registrants and $50 for students. It includes a reception, a banquet and two lunches. Space is limited, so register and/or get more information on line at http://www.fosna.org Sabeel (The Voice of Palestinian Christians) is an ecumenical peace organization founded by Episcopal Canon Naim Ateek. It has offices in Jerusalem and Nazareth as well as support groups in Europe, Canada, and the US. Its Board of Directors includes Bishop Desmond Tutu. You can learn more about Sabeel at www.sabeel.org
(I was originally scheduled to speak at this conference but now I will be teaching in Palestine in the fall)
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7/14/08
I get many one finger salutes while driving on US highways (and one guy also tried to run me off the road) and I usually respond by smiling and waving peace signs. I am sure these are not related to my driving habits or driving vehicle (a Toyota Prius). It may have to do with the bumper stickers: "End the war on Iraq", "Free Palestine", "Stop US Aid to Israel", "Support the Troops: bring them home". I also get many peace signs, honks of approval and thumbs-up. But the vast majority of those who note the stickers are indifferent. The number of people who support ending wars, colonizations and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine is in the billions on this small planet. These billions also favor fixing our destructive habits especially in poisoning our small planet. But as in all social movements those who believe are many, those who act are few (I got the honor to interact with hundreds of such activists at the Green Party Convention in Chicago where I was invited to speak on the Nakba). Such activists occasionally get targeted and attacked by the ignorant, the misled, and the implanted agents who sow discord (e.g. Dr. Terri Ginsberg and Dr. Norman Finkelstein losing positions, Rachel Corrie losing her life etc.). But it is always inspiring to see those who keep going year after year doing great work. US Citizens are of course responsible for changing US policies; policies that support torture, warrent-less domestic spying, erosion of civil liberties, detention without legal process, etc. It is the responsibility of the Israeli public to challenge Israeli apartheid and war crimes. It is the responsibility of the Palestine public to root out defeatist and collaborative elements, to engage in more actions of civil society resistance, and to build solidarity and joint resistance with all people especially those who are also impacted by imperialism, racism, and zionism.
Now for an action item: Our wheels of justice bus will participate as a support vehicle for the walk from Chicago to the Republican National Committee. Unfortunately, today its transmission finally went down and we need to install a new transmission costing $2100. A donor is willing to give up to $1000 to match public donations to get the bus back in shape. To donate write your check to Wheels of Justice (or if you want it tax deductible do it to "Progressive Foundation for Wheels of Justice") and mail to Wheels of Justice, 740 Roundlake Rd., Luck, WI 54853 OR donate via secure online credit card donation here: http://www.justicewheels.org/donation-and-endorsements
US specific event: Peace Action Convention this weekend in Washington DC (I will be there)
http://www.peace-action.org/2008Congress.htm
Breaking Into A Prison To Uphold The Law by Ramzi Kysia
I want to tell you a secret and I want to ask you a question. Shhh! - Come closer. Listen carefully: I’m part of an international conspiracy to break into the world’s largest open-air prison this summer by sea. Will you help me? http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/06/10145/
Free Gaza movement promotional video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex0v5BDVFHk
'This is like apartheid': ANC veterans visit West Bank
"Even with the system of permits, even with the limits of movement to South Africa, we never had as much restriction on movement as I see for the people here," said an ANC parliamentarian, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge of the West Bank. "There are areas in which people would live their whole lifetime without visiting because it's impossible."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/this-is-like-apartheid-anc-veterans-visit-west-bank-865063.html
Video: Washington DC event in promotion for Palestine Popular Conference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nJFvg6Uits
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7/10/08
So far, 1.2 million Iraqis have lost their lives since the US invasion (the largest genocide on earth in this five year period). http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
This is the fourth anniversary of an historic ruling by the International Court of Justice on the Apartheid wall. Al-Haq human rights organizations stated that "On 9 July 2004, at the request UN General Assembly, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an Advisory Opinion on “The Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The ICJ found the construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), its associated regime of movement restrictions, land confiscation and property destruction, as well as the Israeli settlements in the OPT, to be in breach of customary international law. Furthermore, the ICJ declared that the facts on the ground created by continued construction of the Wall would be 'tantamount to de facto annexation.' The Advisory Opinion therefore held that Israel must cease construction of the Wall, dismantle those parts already constructed in the OPT, and provide remedies to the affected Palestinian civilians. At the same time, the ICJ outlined the legal responsibility of the international community, declaring that it must not recognise or assist in maintaining the illegal situation created by the Wall, and must consider further actions to bring that situation to an end."
On this anniversary, which happens to also be (not coincidentally) the third anniversary of the Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS against Israel, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)* launched the Global BDS Movement Website at http://www.bdsmovement.net and Palestinians demonstrated in two villages in the West Bank.
To act: Hang up on Motorolla, a campaign initiated by the US Campaign to End the Occupation http://www.hanguponmotorola.org/
(Good news, US specific) Our success at the National Assembly. Read about it:bApproval of mass action, independence from political parties and Support for Palestinian rights as integral to the movement and calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions "A Damned Good Assembly" http://www.counterpunch.org/heller07092008.html
(US Specific event) In Chicago Starting Thursday: Green Party National Convention. I will be conductinga workshop titled "The 60th Anniversaries of the Palestinian Catastrophe (Nakba) and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Green Party's Response" 10:45-Noon FGriday, in Clark 3 Rm., The Palmer House Hilton, 17 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603, 1 877 865 5321 and 312-726-7500 Details at: http://www.greenparty2008.org
(BTW, Stan forgot to mention that Arab and Muslim Americans led and two were elected to the new Administrative Committee)
*BNC Member organizations include:
Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine
General Union of Palestinian Workers
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions
Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)
Federation of Independent Trade Unions
Union of Arab Community Based Associations (ITTIJAH)
Palestine Right of Return Coalition
Occupied Palestine and Golan Heights Initiative
General Union of Palestinian Women
Union of Palestinian Farmers
Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW)
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba
Civic Coalition for the Defence of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem
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7/3/08
This newsletter is sent sent once or twice a week to the Wheels Of Justice listserve and to other listserves totaling some 50,000 email addresses. We sent a survey to the WOJ listserve (part of the population which receives those messages) and asked for feedback in the form of filling a survey and adding text comments. Over 320 people responded in the first 48 hours which gave us a great statistical sample. We will spend time to analyze the data and thus modify the way the messages are sent. Thanks to all who responded to the survey request. Initial results are posted here: http://www.qumsiyeh.org/surveyresults/ Areas readers are most interested in are a listing/summary at top with links for additional information as needed, Reports from people under occupations in Iraq and Palestine, and News articles (items not reported in mainstream media). Most people skimmed through the material reading only parts of it that they are interested in (57% on average) and found what they read useful (79% on average). It was very interesting to read what other topics readers were interested in besides topics we listed. The additional comments provided were insightful. We need to digest these data more carefully to act on them (more later on this).
In this week's message you will see below (depending on your interest/location):
* An action alert for US readers on the outrageous Congressional plan to give Israel even more aid
* Israeli authorities attempts to stop Jews from romancing/dating Muslims
* Links to excellent rally in London on 60 year of Nakba
* Two letters published in "Indian Country" to support an editor attacked by the ADL for telling the truth about Israel.
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Take Action (for US readers): Outrageous! $170 Million More in Military Aid to Israel
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1664
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Before the civil rights struggle intensified and succeeded, white girls were warned of dating black men. This was sanctioned and supported at the highest levels of local governments. Just this week it was publicized that "Kiryat Gat tells its school girls: No romancing with Bedouin" (BTW Kiryat Gat is build on land of Iraq AlManshiyya, land stolen from Palestinian villagers who are now refugees in Gaza).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/997629.html
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Excellent Rally in London to cap June and expose Israel apartheid. Israel first celebrants shocked at success of Nakba comemorations. Here are some links to these inspiring actions
http://israels60thbirthday.com
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/anti-apartheid-demo-in-london-angers-zionists/
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/402175.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/402208.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/402191.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/402208.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/402234.html Video of singing
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/402326.html
http://fanonite.org/2008/06/30/londons-shameful-salute-to-israel/
http://loolt.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/saluting-israel-palestinan-style/
Photos by David Ash and more http://www.day-tripper.net/080629%20Israel%20Parade%20demo/
http://www.billymacrae.blogspot.com/
http://billymacrae.blogspot.com/2008/06/salute-to-israel-and-counter-demos-3.html
http://billymacrae.blogspot.com/2008/06/salute-to-israel-and-counter-demos-2.html
http://billymacrae.blogspot.com/2008/06/salute-to-israel-and-counter-demos-1.html
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Two letters published in Indian Country to support the stance on Native Americans who support justice and hence support indigininous Palestinians (they were attacked by Salberg of the misnamed ADL):
Dares to speak out
Michael Salberg of the misnamed ''Anti-Defamation League,'' in attacking Steven Newcomb ''Different circumstances,'' Vol. 28, Iss. 3, claims that the ''Israeli-Arab conflict'' is a ''political dispute over national borders'' which is not the same as other European colonization of Native American lands.
Yet, 7 million of the 10 million native Palestinians (Christians and Muslims) are now refugees or displaced people, and the number grows every day. Israel defines itself as a country for and by the Jewish people everywhere. Every Jew in the world is considered as a national of the state whether they want it or not (part of 'Am Yisrael). Any Jew, including converts, can go there, get automatic citizenship and live on Palestinian lands while Palestinian refugees are not allowed to return simply because they are Christian or Muslim.
Israeli artists declared in 2002: ''If the state of Israel aspires to perceive itself as a democracy, it should abandon once and for all, any legal and ideological foundation of religious, ethnic and demographic discrimination. The state of Israel should strive to become the state of all its citizens. We call for the annulment of all laws that make Israel an apartheid state, including the Jewish law of return in its present form.''
The ADL persistence in obfuscating reality is not new. The ADL has always tried to stifle free speech. The ADL was also fined and signed a statement pledging not to engage in further spying and collecting information after federal investigators found that ADL had paid investigative police officers to gather information on Arab-Americans and blacks active in the movement against apartheid South Africa (see www.counterpunch.org/adlspying2.html).
The ADL is not the only well-funded group attempting to recruit Jews to support dubious agendas by attacking anyone (Jews included) who dare to speak out. For an understanding of these attempts to silence free speech on this issue in Congress, in the media and at college campuses, people should read Rep. Paul Findley's book, ''They Dare to Speak Out.''
It is sad that our media gives space to a vocal minority that believes in racial or religious superiority and a minority that insists our tax money continue to be funneled to Israel in support of the segregationist, colonialist ideology of Zionism. So far we spent more than $400 billion of our taxes to occupy Iraq for control of oil and other Zionist plans to reshape the Middle East, and more than $1 trillion to support the Israeli government. (Highest recipient of U.S. aid. We gave it more than we gave to Africa as a continent.) Yet, one-third of Israeli children live below the poverty line, while Israel is using billions of our tax dollars to ethnically cleanse and oppress the native Palestinians.
Only a public outcry would force the U.S. government to change its policies of supporting oppression despite the strong lobbies in Washington. That is why groups like ADL attempt to stifle debate and any exposition of the truth. The attacks on President Jimmy Carter for his latest book on Israeli apartheid, like the letter by Mr. Salberg, are symptomatic. Peace will come, but only with justice and the return of the stolen lands to their rightful owners.
- Mazin Qumsiyeh, Ph.D.
Orange, Conn.
Dr. Qumsiyeh is of Christian Palestinian heritage and author of ''Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle.''
http://indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417610
All the land
Michael Salberg's criticisms ''Different circumstances,'' Vol. 28, Iss. 3 of Steven Newcomb's column, ''American Zionism,'' were off the mark. The fundamental problem between Palestinians and Israel comes from the fact that the Zionist movement wanted all the land between the Mediterranean and Jordan to become a Jewish superiority state with most non-Jews expelled. This is a caricature of traditional Jewish religious aspirations for life after the return of the Messiah.
Orthodox Judaism (in which I was raised, but no longer practice) taught that Jews will return to the Promised Land when God thinks they have repented for their sins. According to the Talmud, it is a serious sin for mass migration to Israel. God would bring redemption when he judged the time was right.
As Newcomb wrote, Zionism is analogous to the notions of privilege and entitlement of the Pilgrims. I would also add its ''theology'' is similar to the Dutch Boers in apartheid South Africa. All the prattle about Israel's desire for peace means nothing when its leaders demand that Palestinians accept permanent submission and exile.
- Stanley Heller
Chairman, The Middle East Crisis Committee
Woodbridge, Conn.
http://indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417611
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7/1/08
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6/25/08
This weekend, many Palestine activists will be in Cleveland, Ohio for the National Assembly (http://www.natassembly.org), a meeting of hundreds anti-war activists of every stripe who are hoping to re-energize and reform the anti-war movement. We need your help to network with people in Cleveland and anyone who can come to this conference to support a principled stance that Palestine and the anti-war movement are one and the same.
In our view many activists fear of exposing Israeli connections to the so-called “War on Terror” out of fear or lack of information (rarely because of allegiance to racist ideologies like political Zionism). While oppression of Palestinians and colonization/occupation may be mentioned occasionally, the influence of Israel and its US supporters pushing for wars on Arab and Muslim countries is minimized or ignored. This is done out of: 1) a crude analysis which sees a US elite capitalist class as the sole malevolent engine in world affairs, 2) vague notions of what constitutes "anti-Semitism" and fear of Zionists attacking those who criticize them as "anti-Semitic" or "self-hating Jews", 3) fear of alienating Democratic Party or trade union officialdom with close tied to political Zionism. The result is the national anti-war coalitions talk about oil and talk about arms makers, but they don’t connect Palestinian oppression and Israeli militarism to the wars against Iraq and likely war on Iran. Americans see the Presidential candidates and Congress pledging allegiance to AIPAC and its demands to smash Iran, but some anti-war activists pretends this is all inconsequential.
A resolution that was adopted at the New England United conference about these issues and was then submitted to the National Assembly by the Middle East Crisis Committee (http://thestruggle.org) is appended below. We could use your support to pass this resolution at the National assembly. But first a couple of other items worth reading/acting on.
Action: Tell your representative to OPPOSE H. Cong. Res. 362, calling for a US naval blockade of Iran (an act of war):
http://capwiz.com/justforeignpolicy/issues/alert/?alertid=11518951
CBS news acknowledges Israel Prodding U.S. To Attack Iran
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/eveningnews/main4206201.shtml
Background on Israel and the last and ongoing (Iraq) war
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/connectingthedotsiraqpalestine/
To understand what is happening in Palestine today, see this presentation by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
http://www.adc.org/flash/palestine/files/eslides.swf
Tactics that ended apartheid in S. Africa can end it in Israel, by Bill Fletcher executive editor of www.blackcommentator.com and former president of the TransAfrica Forum, which led the U.S. movement to overthrow apartheid in South Africa during the 1980s. He wrote this article
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