Rights blog 2008
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 for the Mercury News.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_9681308?nclick_check=1
The above two items could help in you drafting letters to media, politicians, friends, colleagues, and others. In short No Justice = No Peace.
Palestine and the Anti-War Movement (resolutions submitted for the National Asembly)
The oppression of Palestinians is not just another cause to be occasionally mentioned by the anti-war movement. It is integral to what is causing the so-called “War Against Terror”, what is in reality a war to subdue and impoverish the Middle East and Islamic countries. It is intertwined because of Israeli designs on the Middle East, Al-Qaeda Islamist attempts to hijack the Palestinian cause, and the influence of the Zionist lobbies (Christian and Jewish) on US politics.
Because Israel is an apartheid state that oppresses Palestinians and because it has expelled most of the Palestinians of Palestine to neighboring countries and refuses to let them return, it finds itself necessarily in conflict with Middle Eastern countries whose populace sympathizes with Palestinians. If Israel can’t join with the US to bring collaborationist regimes to power in the Middle East it seeks to have independent minded countries invaded or rendered helpless or divided.
US Neo-cons politicians advocate a “War of Civilizations” against Arab and Muslim peoples as a way on enriching themselves and maintaining the military-industrial complex now that they can’t exploit Cold War fears and use sympathy for Israel to further their ends. While the lust for oil remains the bedrock of US interest in the Middle East the importance of Israel in US-European imperial motivations cannot be ignored.
In the run-up to the Iraq invasion AIPAC was a prime supporter of the murderous sanctions on Iraq. Israeli officials repeatedly urged a military attack on Iraq both to the Administration and in the U.S. media. Israel's paper of record, Haaretz, wrote on Nov. 14, 2002 that “Israel is the only country to absolutely support the American decision to attack Iraq, and has urged it to act, and quickly.”
Considering that a peaceful and just resolution would advance security and economic interests of the US and people in Western Asia (The Middle East) resolved that the anti-war movement should:
• Integrate the issue of Palestine in the broader anti-war struggle
• Build solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli human rights activists
• Actively support the call of the Palestine Civil Society Movement for boycotts, divestments and sanctions until Israel complies with international law and respects human rights.
==============
6/15/08
Israel will build 1300 more housing units in the illegal colonies in East Jerusalem. The US government over the past 6 decades had shifted its position from calling such settlement/colony activity "absolutely illegal", "illegal", "contrary to obligations under International law", "an obstacle to peace", "contrary to road map obligations", "a hindrance to peace", and finally "not helpful to the atmosphere between the Israelis and the Palestinians". The atmosphere!!? Let us look at the atmosphere: seven million Palestinian refugees and displaced people denied their right to return to their homes and lands, 93% of the Palestinian lands stolen in six decades of colonization, 600 checkpoints, an apartheid wall, half a million colonists living on stolen Palestinian land in areas illegally occupied since 1967, an apartheid wall, denial of right of families to live in their own lands, literal economic starvation/strangulation of remaining people, and denial of right to medical services, education, (e.g. in Gaza), etc.
We learned that in the weekly Friday demonstration against the wall in Bil'in, the Israeli occupation army shot Ibrahim Bornat again, this time far more seriously. Ibrahim was injured several times before. Last year Ibrahim was shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the demonstration that I attended in Bil'in last summer and we interviewed him in the hospital at the time. This time he was shot in the femoral artery with more lethal bullets when he was challenging the illegal wall that separates his village from the village lands (even the Israeli supreme court ruled that this was unfair stealing of land). Ibrahim's brother Rani was shot by an Israeli sniper which left him paralyzed from the neck down. Those in Ramallah area can donate blood for Ibrahim (blood type is AB+, please call Sarah at 0523991897)
Video of Friday's attack on Ibrahim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF1ibN40FJE
Video of Last year's incident and interview with Ibrahim in the Hospital: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZB_hlziDKQ
People are taking more risks everyday. What risk are we taking?
Here is another video of colonial youth living on stolen Palestinian lands attacking native Palestinians (BBC tries to spin it at the end). Cameras provided by Israeli human rights group B'Tselem http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7451668.stm
(Commentary on this video): "Hitler youth in the West Bank"
http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/06/15/hitler-youth-in-the-west-bank/
Video: Israel lobby power in the US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N294FMDok98
The Influence of Israel in Westminster
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=13821
ACTION: Write and call media, politicians, and other decision makers. Remember that "the squeeky wheel gets the grease" and more important that Silence is complicity.
ACTION ALERT from ISM for people in Europe (although talking points below can be used elsewhere): On the 16th June, the European Union will be discussing the possible upgrading of relations with Israel. Please send this letter to your various representatives and express your concern at this measure while Israel continues to flaunt international law. For details of your representative please follow this link: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=EN
Sample letter sent
I am writing to you now in order to express my profound concern about the possible upgrade of relations between the European Union and Israel and urge you to advocate for its rejection within the EU.
Israel's ongoing systematic violation of Palestinian human rights, its flaunting of both its international obligations and international law is well documented, as is its violation of commitments to the EU itself.
As I understand it, under its 'European Neighbourhood Policy', the EU offers to neighbouring nations opportunities for political and economic co-operation. In turn, the EU expects these neighbouring states to respect and abide by EU values and practices, particularly those related to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. In the case of Israel, I am concerned that the EU may be offering opportunities for social and economic cooperation and integration, but abandoning its expectation that Israel will respect and practice the central principles of human rights and international law.
Israel has consistently and flagrantly denied the call for Palestinian national and individual rights, violated international law, defied even the most basic guidelines of the Road Map as discussed at the Annapolis summit in November 2007, and failed to uphold it obligations to the EU under the Barcelona Process. Let me give some specifics:
- Israel has embarked on a siege of the Gaza Strip that has resulted in the denial of medical access, shortages of food, fuel and electricity and stands as a grave act of collective punishment. This siege has been imposed amidst Israeli attacks on Gaza which have shown clear disregard for civilian lives. Water has been severely restricted and polluted in the Gaza Strip, with the Mediterranean now receiving 50 million litres of sewage per day because Gazans have no alternative.
- Israel has continued construction in more than 100 of its illegal settlements in the West Bank and throughout so-called "Greater Jerusalem"
- In the last six months, Israel has issued a call for bids on the construction of 847 new housing units in settlements throughout the West Bank and 1,300 units in East (Palestinian) Jerusalem
- In the last six months, Israel has demolished more than 185 Palestinian structures, including 85 homes
- Israel continues to operate over 600 checkpoints, roadblocks, and other physical barriers to the movement of the Palestinian population.
- Israel has still not complied with the 2004 ruling of the International Court of Justice that determined that it must stop
construction of the Wall, remove those parts already built, and provide reparations
- Through a series of restrictions, Israel has consistently hindered implementation of the Interim Association Agreement concluded between the EU and the PLO on behalf of the PNA
- Israel is in direct violation of its Association Agreement with the EU regarding products produced by its illegal settlements. Despite the Association Agreement, Israel continues to export products to the EU as if they were manufactured and/or wholly obtained within Israel and to refund settlement businesses, using illegal subsidies, for import taxes paid by these settlement-based businesses in their export to the EU.
In light of Israel's systematic breach of European Union, international, and human rights obligations, agreements and laws, the EU's possible upgrade of its relationship with Israel can only be viewed as a reward to unlawful behaviour. Israel will certainly understand this upgrade as not just a condoning of its behaviour, but as a complete absence of consequences for its illegal and unethical policies and actions.
Moreover, by upgrading its relationship with Israel, the EU would be discarding a key incentive to Israel in proceeding with a just peace process. The EU has a vital opportunity here to play an active role in encouraging a just peace in the region; not by improving its relationship with Israel regardless of its violation of international law, but as a reward for its compliance with international and human rights law and EU agreements.
There is a great need for accountability at this critical juncture in EU-Israel relations. It is imperative that the EU make clear to Israel that the key to improving their relationship lies in embracing and implementing fully the goals and values of Europeans.
I thank you in advance for urging the EU to uphold fair, consistent and objective standards in its dealings with neighbour states and to decide against the upgrade of its relationship with Israel until it abides by international and human rights law and all EU agreements.
====================
6/6/08
This week, we commemorate the illegal Israeli invasion and now 41 year old occupation of the 22% of Palestine the Zionists did not control by 1948. That "6 day war" (really walk across since there was hardly any fighting after Israel decimated Egyptian and Syrian armies with US weapons) and subsequent brutal occupation is only second to the Nakba (the catastrophe of the ethnic cleansing of 1947-199) in its impact on all Palestinians. I grew up under Israel's brutal occupation. I have lived through and witnessed the beatings, the land confiscation, the murders of civilians, the checkpoints, the racism of settlers and soldiers, the torture (e.g. of my brother-in-law) and much more. The myths about the war are still perpetuated by some Zionists although many of them come out and honestly say that the invasion was for land expansion. Both Yitzhak Rabin and Ezer Weizman clearly allude in their autobiographies to the fact that they barred any and all political solutions to the crisis short of war. Rabin, Chief of Staff, admitted that: "Nasser didn't want war. The two divisions he sent to Sinai would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive war He knew it and we knew it." (Le Monde, February 28, 1968). Levy Eshkol admitted that "the Egyptian layout in Sinai and the general build up there testified to a militarily defensive Egyptian set-up, south of Israel" (Yediot Ahronot, October 16, 1967).
Here is also an article by Sandy Tolan from last year on the 1967 war and declassified US documents that show the same thing. http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/06/04/six_day_war/
But in any case, UN security council resolutions were very clear about teh illegality of the subsequent occupations, annexations (of East Jerusalem and the Golan), of the colonial settlement activities etc (these are also illegal based on the UN-adopted Geneva Accords)
The US vs Obama, McCain, and AIPAC by Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3340.shtml
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=13861
(I also sent this article to the Obama Campaign)
Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control
Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html
Jeff Carter on his father's visit to the Middle East "Elliot Abrams of the NSC runs the Israeli-US connection much to the consternation of the State Department. All of the State Department negotiations with Abbas and such are a complete sham. After Condi gave a press conference in Israel last December saying that they had all agreed there would be no more settlements she got on her plane and before she landed in Washington, Israel had announced another 900 settlement units. Abrams wanted the news to greet her when she got home to show her who was really calling the shots. That’s Realpolitik"
http://www.thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/27663#comment-72184
An article on the wearing of things like Kaffiyyas and Kippas etc by Daoud Kuttab
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/the-kippa-the-keffiya-gre_b_104293.html
Action alert 1: Support the Free Gaza Movement http://freegaza.org
Action Alert 2: Why You Should Do Wear a Kuffiyeh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHi3HHvsQ7U 1:45 minutes (Mazin Qumsiyeh)
Show Solidarity: Wear a Kuffiyeh and Put it on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqVUzduqdXU 36 seconds (Stanley Heller)
suggest you watch them by pressing the "high quality" button one inch below the video and in the right hand corner
Complain to Dunkin DonutsL Dunkin' Donuts Public Relations Department, 130 Royall Street, Canton, MA 02021, Tel: 781.737.5200
"Wear Your Kuffiyeh With Pride" day :) So we can confront those biggots who claim that it symbolizes terrorism!!! See http://www.PalestineOnlineStore.com for the whole scoop! and to buy a Kuffiyya".
Example of Action:
Message to the Obama campaign by Rod Driver sent via web site: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2
Obama to AIPAC: My goal is to eliminate threat to Israel from Iran.
Excuse me? Who will protect civilization from Israel?
Israeli soldiers and settlers destroy Palestinian homes and crops. They shoot Palestinian children for amusement. They torture and hold Palestinian prisoners for years. They are starving the people of Gaza. They deny Palestinians the right to travel in their own country -- even for medical care. They use American-supplied planes, bombs, guns and bulldozers to murder Palestinians.
Israeli settlers and soldiers violently attack Palestinians trying to live in their own homes and on their own land. They humiliate Palestinian women and girls by strip searching them (to see if they have guns hidden in their vaginas).
Israel bombs other countries such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at will. Even after a cease fire had been arranged in Lebanon in 2006, Israel flooded that country with cluster bombs which to this day are taking limbs and lives of Lebanese. Israel refuses even to provide maps of where they left the deadly unexploded bomblets. Now Israel threatens violence against Iran.
Israel captured and held in solitary confinement for more than a decade the man who blew the whistle on Israel's nuclear weapons program.
Israel is in violation of more UN resolutions than any other country ever was -- and Israel has been protected from other UN resolutions by U.S. vetoes.
Israel blocked UN observers from entering the country to see what Israel was doing to Palestinians in Jenin and Gaza.
Israel recently even prevented Dr. Norman Finkelstein and Bishop Desmond Tutu from entering Palestine to see what was happening.
Israelis murdered Americans on the USS Liberty in 1967 and crushed to death Rachel Corrie in 2003. No one was ever brought to justice.
On the one occasion where Israelis were tried for killing a Palestinian at a "checkpoint" the penalty was "one agora" -- an Israeli coin which is so worthless it hasn't been made for decades.
======================
6/2/08
Good news: The State Department finally asked Israel to allow students from Gaza to get to their universities abroad. We will see how hard they push this. It came from being asked by lots of groups about an article that appeared in NY Times about the State Department withdrawing Fullbright Grants from Gaza students because they "would be prevented from leaving by Israel". The lessons from this story is that a) it is worthwhile pressuring mainstream media to publish stories of the persistent human rights violations, and b) it is worthwhile for organizations and individuals to challenge administrations (this applies whether it is a Clinton, Bush, or Obama administration).
Good news: U.K. academic union moves to consider boycott of Israeli academia http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988087.html
ACTION 1: Join Washington DC Demonstration
Tuesday, June 3rd, 5:30 – 7pm
"we protest the presence of yet another corrupt Middle East leader, who’s a terrorist/child-killer, warmonger/no peace-partner and one of a long line of military junta leaders of his country. Ehud Olmert: Israel’s Prime Minister speaks at AIPAC Policy Conference.
Mt Vernon Sq’s NW corner near the Convention Center’s entrance
Where Mass Ave and NY Ave meet between 7th and 9th Sts.
3 metro stops: Gallery PL-Chinatown or Mt. Vernon Sq-Convention Ctr or Metro Center
ACTION 2: Dunkin Donuts Pulled Ad Featuring Rachael Ray In A Scarf That Looks Too Arab
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/28/dunkin-donuts-pulls-ad-fe_n_103859.html
FRIDAY JUNE 6th is a day designated to wear a Kaffiya to show our solidarity. Also videotape yourself and your group members wearing the Kaffiya and then post it on youtube and google videos.
ACTION 3: A movie recommendation: see "the Visitor", excellent artistic film that makes you think/debate.
"A lonesome widower and college economics professor finds his mundane existence suddenly shaken up when he befriends a pair of illegal immigrants, one of whom has recently been threatened with deportation by U.S. immigration authorities.."
Trailer/Preview http://prod.takepart.com/social_network/action/thevisitor/
Review in NYTimes http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/movies/11visi.html
ACTION 4: ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW AVAILABLE
THE POPULAR CONFERENCE FOR PALESTINIANS IN THE U.S.: RECLAIMING OUR VOICE, ASSERTING OUR NARRATIVE
REGISTER TODAY! (August 8-10, 2008, Chicago, IL)
https://www.eventville.com/Catalog/EventRegistration1.asp?Eventid=1003795
Informative articles
Understanding United Methodist Divestment--Full Report
http://www.unitedmethodistdivestment.com/GeneralConferenceActions.htm
From Rich Siegel: Notes on the counter-demonstration at the New York "Salute to Israel" parade, June 1, 2008
Some memorable (or perhaps better forgotten) signs:
"Rachel Corrie is in hell" (This one obviously gets the grand prize for obscenity!)
"Arabs get out of Israel"
"Christians stand by Israel"
Caterpillar logo (sans commentary)
"Keep Golan, get rid of Olmert"
A few other slogans critical of Olmert, connecting his policies with terrorism.
"Kahane was right!" (with fist logo)
Some memorable (or perhaps better forgotten) moments:
The usual chant: "2,4,6,8 Israel is the Jewish state. 3,5,7,9 No such thing as Palestine" repeated ad nauseum by various groups, mostly by large groups of children.
A new one: "Don't worry, be Jewish" sung to the tune of "Don't worry, be happy", taking me back to memories of my misspent youth in Zionist organizations (memories best forgotten!)
Senator Chuck Shumer yelling at the demonstrators some nonsense about terrorism while waving an Israeli flag. He really put on quite a performance!
Several plastic bags full of some unidentified grocery product thrown from a float at the demonstrators, ignored by police. Then when the demonstrators threw them back, the police took notice.
Numerous incidents of marchers giving demonstrators "the finger", often parents doing this in front of children who were also marching.
I was personally called "traitor" and "self-hating Jew" numerous times, and witnessed others experiencing similar. (My sign identified me as a Jewish supporter of the Palestinians.)
Some idiot woman screaming incessantly about sharia law- as if this is relevant to Palestinian rights.
Some problems on "our side":
The regular appearance by three members of the Islamic Thinkers Society with their Muslim extremist signs, calling for Islam to take over the world, for an atomic bomb on Israel, etc. Everyone else kept their distance from these goons, but unfortunately they made themselves visible. MQ note: those are Zionist implants
A single "Jew for Jesus" guy carrying a ridiculous sign with an American flag, shouting something equally ridiculous to the marchers about their being "fake Americans". Distance was also kept from him.
Found out later:
A friend of mine who wanted to attend for the first time was prevented from entering the demonstration area by police.
Best parts:
The free Handala T-shirt I got from Adalah just for wearing it, and, having a pint at a pub after the demo with a young lady tourist visiting from London who just happened on our demonstration, and, unlike my friend, was
allowed in.
Let's hope and pray that there will be no reason to demonstrate next year, but if there is, I hope everyone can make it.
-Rich Siegel
==========================
5/30/08
111 Countries agreed to ban the use of cluster bombs. Israel, the US, China, India and Pakistan did not agree. That is shameful especially after Israel dropped over 2 million cluster bombs in Lebanon that killed so many civilians and continue to kill and maim Children in Lebanon. Challenging injustices like this should be a duty to every human being with conscience. Tonight (Friday) we held a dinner event and joined the new campaign Five For Palestine http://www.fiveforpalestine.org
Here is more stuff to learn and do (but please remember to scroll to the action items at bottom).
Archbishop Tutu meets devastated Gaza family
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/archbishop-tutu-meets-devastated-gaza-family-835867.html
Jimmy Carter for the first time exposes Israel as having 150 nuclear weapons
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/987703.html
Body of 15 year old Palestinian boy found mutilated in Israeli settlement
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m43179&hd=&size=1&l=e
Israeli occupation forces continue the economic genocide
http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/05/27/eighteen-years-of-work-destroyed-in-less-than-four-hours/
Palestinian Suffering Dampens Israel Celebration by Bessy Reyna
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-reyna0516.artmay16,0,3405837.column
Sixty Years of Dispossession, Humiliation, and Oppression in the Middle East by Susan Abulhawa
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/05/14/02348.html
Dancing on graves – Israel celebrates 60 years
http://palestine.org.nz/phrc/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102&Itemid=1
ACTION: We should all demonstrate against those who celebrate ethnic cleansing and slow genocide. A counter demonstration to the "Salute to Israel Parade" will be held Sunday June 1, 11 AM - 3 PM in New York City (we will be going from CT and nearby areas, but if you are too far, do please attend similar rallies in your area).
Gather on the West side of 5th Ave between 58 & 59 Streets in New York City (that’s by the fountain in front of the Plaza). The site can only be approached from the West Side, as 5th Ave can’t be crossed when they put up the barriers for the parade. Bring Palestinian flags, signs will be provided.
R, N to 5th Avenue (use only west exit marked Central Park South near downtown end of platform - the end furthest from Queens!); F to 57th St. (at 6th Av.); Q to 57th St.-7th Ave; take 4, 5, 6 to 59th St (at Lex.)
http://www.salutetoisrael.com/
ACTION: NAKBA fliers to download, print and distribute everywhere
Download printable brochure: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/NakbaTrifold-sml.pdf
Download full-bleed brochure (to have professionally printed)
Front: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/NakbaTrifold.pdf
Back: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/NakbaTrifold2.pdf
ACTION: Write letters to the editors of newspapers, TV, and radio.
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/contact/media.asp
http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/media
==============================
The past seven days were as inspiring as any. In Wisconsin, we had a retreat to plan the fall tour of the Wheels of Justice bus (see call below for participation and support). The retreat was at a community farm (intentional and sustainable living). In Chicago, we had a great series of events that included talks on the Nakba and peace issues (myself, Sandy Tolan, author of the Lemon Tree, and Rabbi Lynn Gotleib who just returned from a successful trip to Iran). Last night in Greenwich, Connecticut, three Jews of conscience (Stan Heller, Rich Siegel, and Yoram Gelman) explained how they have evolved in their thinking about Israel and Zionism. (and we heard that the Nakba demonstration in front of the UN in NY was a huge success despite the rain). In between, I had time to write a commentary on issues of self-interest and goodness which I hope you will find useful. Please read and forward the two items below but please do help if you can on the first item which is the fall tour of the Wheels of Justice.
ACTION CALL: FALL 2008 WHEELS OF JUSTICE TOUR
The Fall '08 Wheels of Justice tour needs your active participation and support.
The Wheels of Justice Bus Tour has already covered 48 states bringing eyewitness accounts to US Taxpayer-funded occupations of Iraq and Palestine. We spoke and outreached at over 200 Middle and High schools, over 1200 Colleges and Universities, and hundreds of churches and community centers. The new fall season begins September 12 as we see significant changes in the landscape including in public opinion, elections, the failing occupation of Iraq, the 60th year of the colonization in Palestine, and the suppression of civil liberties here at home. The all-volunteer bus team is growing and adapting to changing circumstances and with your help will continue to offer the very best in compelling witness, testimony and expertise on our roles and responsibilities as taxpayers and world citizens. The bus also helps local organizers with tools and resources (we can also offer workshops on relevant activism subjects such as media work). With your much-needed help (need volunteer hosts, organizers, speakers, money etc), we will continue to speak and mobilize at more high schools, more colleges, more churches, and more community centers and to a wider audience.
Now what you should do:
1) If you live in the areas along the route or know people there consider hosting the Wheels Tour and participating fully. We would also appreciate any contacts you have for activists, friends, and relatives along the route. The tour kicks off in Madison, Wisconsin and on through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
2) Let us know if you know of good speakers with eyewitness accounts to occupations in Iraq and/or Palestine. We are also looking for bus drivers and bus managers.
3) Spread the word. Call and email people you know along the present rout or people you think might be interested in being added o the route. Also hold fundraising events and raise needed funds.
4) DONATE. It takes money to operate this educational platform. It takes money for speaker travel costs, biodiesel, food, literature, mailing, logistics etc. This summer, we will also be installing a system on the bus to allow use of spent cooking oil (grease from restaurants etc) for fuel. This system will cost $3000 and we have two organizers/donors who have put up $1500 matching funds so we need to raise only $1500. To donate, send checks to Wheels of Justice, 740 Roundlake Rd., Luck, WI 54853. On line donations via paypal can be made at http://www.justicewheels.org/donation-and-endorsements (BTW, tax deductibe donations can be made to the Progressive Foundation-For Wheels of Justice and mailed to the address above).
Contact Lama Nasser lamalucynasser@yahoo.com and qumsi001@hotmail.com to help and visit http://justicewheels.org for more information.
---------------------------------
On enlightened self-interest
random thoughts by Mazin Qumsiyeh
============================
5/27/08
Quote of the day
"The United Nations said in a report Friday that the number of Israeli obstacles in the West Bank has increased by 7 percent since last September, despite an Israeli pledge to ease Palestinian movement in the area as part of fledgling peace talks sic. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem said the overall number of obstacles increased from 566 on September 4, 2007 to 607 on April 29, 2008. The shift included the construction of 144 new closures and the removal of 103 in the same time period." (AFP)
Also on Friday, Israel detained and then deported Prof. Norman Finkelstein at Tel Aviv Airport. Citing "security", Zionists with hundreds of nuclear weapons and an army that is the fourth or fifth in strength in the world is afraid of Finkelstein's truths and has banned him for 10 years from entering into a country that they stole from the native Christians and Muslims (see also Khalid Amayreh: Finkelstein and me
http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/05/26/finkelstein-and-me/)
Before we get to this week's material, you maybe interested in comments and reflections received on the "Enlightened self-interest" article. These are now posted at the bottom of the article link here and in bold: http://www.qumsiyeh.org/onenlightenedselfinterest/
Chris Hedges: It’s Time for a Declaration of Independence From Israel http://www.alternet.org/story/55827/
U.S. Professor gives Israeli prize money to a Palestinian university and to Gisha (Israeli group that works against the Israeli apartheid system)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/986898.html
Videos of direct action: Code Pink disrupts Petreaus hearnings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASkl7BmoVqw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCOBsHFV5vk
ACTION: Donate
- to Cindy Sheehan For Congress http://www.cindyforcongress.org
- to Sam Rasool For Congress http://www.samrasoul.us
- to other progressive candidates
Video of Direct Action: Thomas Friedman pelted with pies at Brown University
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv6nvMUq10U&NR=1
ACTION: From Nicholas Schmader (nschmader@cox.net)
Hi All,
The indefinite expulsion of Molly Little from Brown University for throwing some green whipped cream at N.Y. Times columnist Thomas Friedman is grossly out of proportion to the act. The pieing was not a frivolous student prank, rather, as she intended, the action did evoke some good discussion on the contextualization of "free speech" in our society. Recently, an online petition has been created(see link below) in defense of Molly.
Molly is a Green and my first look at the YouTube video was from a link posted on this listserv, I believe by Joanne. Wherever you stand on the "free speech" controversy is not at issue here. If folks want to have that discussion, fine, but this is about closing ranks in solidarity with one of our own. Molly has been consistently, selflessly, publicly, and passionately opposing U.S policy in the Middle East for close to six years. Many of us feel that she's being targeted for bringing Norman Finkelstein, Dahlia Wasfii, and Mazin Qumsiyeh to speak at Brown. In the aftermath of the pieing, she has endured, courageously, some incredibly ugly backlash.
If you write to other lists please spread this petition effort. Thank you all for your continued efforts towards justice. Please excuse my silence on this list but we really do have a fairly active local antiwar coalition going on here in RI. – Nick (RI)
Please sign the petition in defense of Molly Little by clicking this link:
http://www.petitiononline.com/422buml/petition.html
If you are a Brown alum, please indicate that as well on your petition signature.
===========================
5/15/08
Palestinian Options at 60 Unpublished
==================
4/29/08
Killed by the Israeli occupation army in Gaza yesterday were four children and their mother of the Abu Me'teq family while they ate breakfast in their home. Mother Myasser was 40 y.o, and the children were 7 months old (Misaad), 3 yo (Hanaa), four (Rodina), and five (Saleh). Picture attached. The Israeli 'Defense' minister and war criminal Ehud Barak stated that it is Palestinian's fault that these deaths are continuing!
Instead of focusing on the ongoing war crimes perpetuated with our tax money and government support in Palestine, Iraq and beyond, the slimy and spineless US media is instead focusing on vilifying Jeremia Wrigt (the retired pastor of Barak Obama) and vilifying Jimmy Carter. The media pundits are using this to squeeze Obama to wrench further capitulations, until he becomes like McCain and Clinton simply puppets of the extremist in the US Zionist movement. I actually found Wright's and Carter's logic and rationals rather amazingly accurate and pertinent (say 99.8%) as opposed to the media which give accurate and pertinent information less than 10% of the time (perhaps 2% for Fox News). Given the choice between Wright/Carter and the talking heads on TV People of conscience always chose the former. I urge you to just listen to a full speech of Reverend Wright (e.g. here
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/us/politics/28cnd-wright.html?ref=politics ) and interviews and speeches of Jimmy Carter (for example see his report on his recent trip here http://www.cartercenter.org/news/trip_reports/middle_east_2008.html
and see his interview with Larry King here http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/28/lkl.01.html
Now for good news.
We just concluded the New England United annual meeting (http://www.newenglandunited.org ). I and Stan Heller (Jewish American and chair of our local CT Middle East Crisis Committee see http://thestruggle.org) facilitated a workshop on Palestine and the anti-War movement. The top four Resolutions adopted included the ojen developed by our workshop and it is copied below (received near unanimous support, only 4 no votes). We hope something similar can be devoped at the National Assembly in June.
http://www.natassembly.org
Palestine and the Anti-War Movement
The oppression of Palestinians is not just another cause to be occasionally
mentioned by the anti-war movement. It is integral to what is causing the
so-called "War Against Terror", what is in reality a war to subdue and
impoverish the Middle East and Islamic countries. It is intertwined because of Israeli designs on the Middle East, Al-Qaeda Islamist attempts to hijack the Palestinian cause, and the influence of the Zionist lobbies (Christian and Jewish) on US politics.
Because Israel is an apartheid state that oppresses Palestinians and because it has expelled most of the Palestinians of Palestine to neighboring countries and refuses to let them return, it finds itself necessarily in conflict with Middle Eastern countries whose populace sympathizes with Palestinians. If Israel can't join with the US to bring collaborationist regimes to power in the Middle East it seeks to have independent minded countries invaded or rendered helpless or divided.
US Neo-cons politicians advocate a "War of Civilizations" against Arab and
Muslim peoples as a way on enriching themselves and maintaining the
military-industrial complex now that they can't exploit Cold War fears and
use sympathy for Israel to further their ends. While the lust for oil
remains the bedrock of US interest in the Middle East the importance of
Israel in US-European imperial motivations cannot be ignored.
Considering that a peaceful and just resolution would advance security and
economic interests of the US and people in Western Asia( The Middle East).
Resolved that the NEU should
- Integrate the issue of Palestine in the broader anti-war struggle
- Build solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli human rights activists
- Actively support the call of the Palestine Civil Society Movement for
boycotts, divestments and sanctions until Israel complies with international law and respects human rights.
-------------
Other news
Challenge magazine: an English magazine on the Israeli Palestinian conflict
http://www.challenge-mag.com/
Repeating the Crime: The Iraq War Morphs Into the Iran War By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts04292008.html
New Head of the US Congress Foreigh Affairs Committee
“Even before I was a Democrat, I was a Zionist,”
http://www.forward.com/articles/13244/
More on the founding of J Street, the more left pro-Israel lobby
http://meretzusa.blogspot.com/2008/04/q-on-new-dovish-israel-lobby.html
US peace delegation departs to Iran led by woman Rabbi
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870516382&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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4/22/08
The US house of representatives today voted on a resolution drafted by Israeli lobbyists in Washington, a resolution to congratulate Israel on 60 years of murder, land theft, and ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, another spy for Israel is uncovered; one who handed nuclear and high tech US military secrets to Israel. According to news agencies: "U.S. authorities arrested the former military officer (Ben-Ami Kadish) on charges that he disclosed classified U.S. defense information, including on nuclear weapons, to Israel, the Justice Department said Tuesday... 'These kinds of activities whether they occurred long in the past or present time are not the kind of actions we would expect from a friend and ally and we would expect that Israel would not be engaged in such activities,' said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. 'We will be discussing, if we haven't already, this issue with the Israelis,' he said. Casey said Kadish's case was 'in some ways connected' to that of Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life term after being convicted on a charge of spying for Israel in the mid 1980s. Pollard had allegedly passed thousands of documents to Israeli agents whilst working as a US naval officer. The Israeli government publicly admitted in 1998 that Pollard had been their agent and awarded him Israeli citizenship, reports have said. " Imagine the uproar if it was any other country especially one whose very existence and continued oppression of others is dependent on continued US military, financial, and diplomatic aid.
In good news, the wheels of justice bus keeps on rolling, bringing eyewitness accounts to occupations of Iraq (now 5 years) and Palestine (now 60 years). Below are reflections from three people who have been on the bus in the past few weeks: Kathy Kelly, Gene Stoltzfus, and Hannah Mermelstein. They speak of reality and of action-- inspiring.
-----------------------------
Notes By Kathy Kelly
Yesterday afternoon, we arrived in Lawrence, Kansas where we're scheduled, today, to join the local witness against war taxes.
This morning, the Lawrence Journal World carried an AP report about U.S. Senators and Representatives who are troubled that Iraqis might experience windfall surpluses of revenue generated by rising oil prices while Americans bear the burden of paying for war in Iraq. Several lawmakers are considering proposals that would require Iraq's government to partially fund U.S. combat operations in Iraq and also assist with reconstruction in Afghanistan.
"Next they'll ask Iraqis to rebuild the levees in New Orleans," murmured a fellow bus traveler, Nora Barrows Friedman, shaking her head in disbelief as she read the news.
A spate of recent news reports suggest that Iraq now has a large surplus of funds because of rising oil prices. It's helpful to consult comments of people who've been paying close attention to Iraq's energy resources. On April 11, 2008, UPI's Energy Editor Ben Lando clarified that:
"Iraq would not make $100 billion in oil sales this year ... unless the price of oil went substantially higher, like nearing $200 per barrel. And the "surplus" would be anything beyond the $50 billion 2008 budget, which at current oil prices will give it just about a $10 billion surplus."
But, before U.S. lawmakers begin spending Iraq's $10 billion dollar surplus, shouldn't we ask about the "rights" of an aggressor nation that illegally invades another country. The U.S. waged an unprovoked war of choice against Iraq, a country which posed no threat whatsoever to U.S. people. Did Iraq have any "rights" after it invaded Kuwait? Under the Nuremberg principles, an aggressor nation has no rights. Period. Commenting on suggestions, within the U.S. Congress, that the U.S. impose financial obligations on Iraq, Lando writes:
"This begs the question as to whether a country can invade another country – which inherently destroys the capital, political and societal infrastructure – poorly spend both occupying and occupied funds, unilaterally create conditions of chaos requiring ongoing security and reconstruction funds, and then bind the occupied country to make reparations and take out loans from the occupying country?"
Part of our work, on the Wheels of Justice tour, is to help people empathize with and better understand what Lando summarizes as "conditions of chaos requiring ongoing security and reconstruction funds." This bus tour began eight years ago as part of efforts to awaken U.S. people to the suffering endured by Iraqis as the U.S. waged brutal economic warfare against them by imposing sanctions that wrecked Iraq's infrastructure, caused widespread impoverishment and directly contributed toward the deaths of over one half million children under age five. Today, the available statistics about the impact of U.S. invasion and occupation and the ensuing chaos that has engulfed many areas of Iraq speak of misery nearly unimaginable to most people in the U.S. One out of six Iraqis has been displaced from their homes. 70% of the population lacks access to potable water. A March 2007 report from Save the Children, a credible NGO, stated that 122,000 Iraqi children didn't reach their fifth birthdays in the year 2005 alone. With the World Health Organization reporting that 1 out of 3 Iraqi children are malnourished and one out of four are afflicted with acute malnourishment, should we expect improvements in health care for Iraqi children? 55% of Iraq's doctors have fled the country.
Who could blame people with resources for taking their families to relatively safer environs in neighboring countries? The flight of approximately 2.2 million people away from Iraq has caused a "brain drain" which severely impacts Iraq's capacity to rebuild. Those who remain face daily shortages of electricity and fuel. Many must also endure the terror of living in a country wracked by three civil wars. (See Juan Cole's April 13th analysis in The Boston Globe)
In the past year, there has been a fivefold increase in U.S. aerial bombardments of Iraqi neighborhoods and the number of Iraqis incarcerated in U.S. prisons in Iraq has doubled. Should Iraqis then be asked to pay for the combat expenses of their occupiers?
Perhaps news of proposals requiring Iraqis to pay for U.S. combat expenses will spur Iraqis presently aligned with U.S. forces to stop aiming their weapons against other Iraqis and to instead find common cause to use all means of nonviolent resistance to defy the U.S. occupation.
But we've really no right to prescribe actions that Iraqis might or might not take in response to the illegal, immoral war that has turned U.S. taxpayers into collaborators with war crimes. What the U.S. government wants from most of us, in order to continue this war, is our money. This tax day, the best prescription I can imagine for a war weary U.S. public is to draw energy from a simple, doable act. Plan now to eliminate at least $100 of spending for war from your personal budget. You can do this by planning to refuse, for one year, at least $100 of your federal income tax. It's a small step to take which incurs a small risk. The money can be redirected to assist Iraqis with acute medical needs and also to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina whose most basic needs are still unmet. (see http://www.nwtrcc.org )
Hopefully, my companions and I were among many people who felt outraged, reading the morning paper, over the notion that Iraqis should pay for combat expenses of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq. But our best hope lies in awakening the U.S. public to resist payment for ongoing war against Iraq.
Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org) is a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She hasn't paid federal income tax since 1980.
---------------------
By Gene Stoltzfus
"Last week I visited three communities in the Great Plains as part of a Wheels of Justice bus tour. We traveled in a made-over 56 passenger bus powered by a 290 Cummings diesel engine that once transported school children in Tucson, Arizona. At stops in Denver, Wichita and Manhattan, Kansas our 100 gallon tank was filled with fuel made from soy, now costing more than five dollars a gallon. Our clown like bus called out at whoever noticed the animal life and written words of hope on the sides of the vehicle "War is not the Answer". The sight of our bus made us a hit, an instant enemy, or a curiosity in every town and rest stop, mostly a curiosity.
We travelled in this way to elicit conversations on war and peace. The mission of Wheels of Justice now approaching eight years of criss crossing the country is to tease the nation away from war. The bus is under the able management and driving of Bill Hill, 62 , a foster child, Viet Nam war veteran and single father who raised two daughters. Bill learned to manage big machines as a tank driver with the 3rd Tank Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division in Da Nang, Viet Nam. He helps two speakers on the bus's travelling team by telling his story that includes war making, addictions and the war memories buried deep in his mind that last for a lifetime. During the six months of the year when the Wheels of Justice is not announcing "war is not the way" Bill has retooled 20 old buses that now carry passengers in Cuba through Pastors for Peace.
High school students, college students and peace warriors made up our audiences as we wound our way through the Great Plains. In ventures like this I am accustomed to at least a little hostility, but this was not to be last week. The mood of the times has swung away from the days of Shock and Awe. But we know a single incident may bring those days back. Warrior-peacemakers like me can get inspired when students push us for new, more effective ways of violence reduction and peacemaking, a strategy for the future. I feel the hope in their faces looking for something worth working for, worth living for, worth dying for.
On this trip I mostly told stories of Iraqi families and their children who are still disappearing into the catacombs of US and Iraqi prisons. The two speakers, me on Iraq and another on Palestine wove together the threads of war, terror and smart bombs in the Middle East and here at home. We nudged and challenged our audiences to remember that comprehensive solutions lead back to dealing with the US government's unbalanced support for Zionism expressed in the nation of Israel.
A brightly painted bus gets attention. But attention getting buses, speakers and literature tables reminded me that organizing for peacemaking is still hard work. After getting people to notice you must keep their attention long enough to motivate them to do real long term work. Thirty-eight years ago I helped organize the Indochina Mobile Education Project, not a very catchy name by today's standards. The project did in another war period some of what Wheels of Justice tries to do today.
We equipped a VW mini van to carry 24 display panels showing everyday life for Vietnamese people and the effects of war. Over five years the exhibits appeared in 350 shopping centres across the country for two to five days. Viet Nam hands, civilian and military, Vietnamese and Americans who had been through the war spoke in schools, colleges, churches, service clubs and community meetings. I wish we could have been a little more creative with the paint on our VW vans. To be honest I think one reason we didn't spice up the paint was because we preferred not to have our vans trashed by people who hated our message. Several times the travelling team called me to prepare a replacement display panel that had been spray painted or destroyed by upset citizens.
In those days the country was not yet so carefully tucked in with "private" regulations about shopping malls or a "free speech culture" of a Department of Homeland Security. We expected that our message might be a hard sell and learned how to deal with harsh charges and mean words. I would get a calls from a local organizer who couldn't figure out how to get permission to place the exhibit in a mall.
Often I jumped into my aging Volvo and travelled to a future display site, put on my only suit and went with local people to meet the mall manager armed with letters of blessing and recommendations from important personalities and mall managers who had formerly opened their doors to us. Often the negotiations were protracted. Occasionally when we suggested that the media might be interested in the success of our local display, its speakers and special Vietnamese dinner the door got nudged open a little bit further.
We learned early on not to take the easy way out and place the exhibit in little visited church basements. Like people everywhere we Americans go to market, but we call it the mall. Could we get into 350 malls today? I doubt it. It would easier to get into a Baghdad or Saigon market. Forty years ago the law of the private American market place had not yet constrained us to consumer conversation and colourful displays of boundless goods.
So now we need attention getters like Wheels of Justice and local organizers who know how to work the phone, the internet, and breakfast meetings to bring visibility to hard truths. By combining the visuals of a display, the sounds of our voices, the touch of materials from Viet Nam with the taste of Vietnamese food we learned how to light some flames. The steps to creating a recipe for conversations about the signs of times is as difficult on the Wheels of Justice as it was with our fledgling efforts 40 years ago.
One thing these two projects have in common. Everywhere we went last week as in the late 60s, we met veterans newly returned from war who are trying to put their lives together and escape the memories. I always looked for a better way to include their pain and harsh memories in the trek across our country. Bill Hill, the driver helped me get closer to an answer by telling his story.
"War is not the answer." "Occupation the Roadmap to Nowhere" cries out from the side of our bus as we move on. I suspect it's a little pushy for some. It may make others cringe with embarrassment that there are people like us who have not yet learned to see America as that unique nation under God put here to be a light on a hill.
As we travelled I watched spring unfold. I saw lush green wheat fields drinking up the sparse sunshine. These are the field where settlers met and their government betrayed native people. In those days the earth sometimes shook. In the fields I saw another future for all of us, the children of clashes, the prophets of hope.
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Bus blog April 20, 2008
Kansas City, KS is abloom on this mild, sunny Sunday.
I'm glad for a quiet afternoon and a chance to recall impressions of our experiences, earlier this week, when teachers and students at Lawrence H.S., in Lawrence, KS, hosted Nora Barrows Friedman, Abby Coburn, Bill Hill and me.
We visited Lawrence H.S. two days in a row, meeting each day with four classes that each lasted one and a half hours. I had fretted about whether or not we could engage students for one and a half hours, but was relieved to realize that my anxieties were baseless. Students were generally attentive and interested during presentations.
At the end of the first day, we told the teachers who invited us how impressive it was to be in a school with such a diverse student body. Better yet to see that the students take it for granted that they're well-integrated. "Maybe sometimes an adult will make something out of somebody being different," said one student, "but, then we'll just wonder, like, what's the big deal?"
During the second period, on our first day, our bus tour members attended a talk given by alum of the school, a West Point educated soldier who recently returned from Iraq where he had led a platoon stationed south of Baghdad. Soon, he'll return to Iraq. The soldier was engaging, articulate, and fair-minded as he handled questions. Joe Carr, a "para," (teaching assistant), was one of the last questioners. "If you were serving with the U.S. military in this country," Joe asked, "and if foreigners militarily invaded the U.S., do you think you would fight back?" The U.S. soldier struggled with the question for a few moments. "I'd uphold the Constitution," he said, "if I was under oath to do so. And, yes, I'd fight. I'd fight to the death." The obvious next question seemed to hang over the room. Why does the U.S. military designate Iraqi people fighting to resist foreign invasion and occupation as "the bad guys?"
I wouldn't be surprised if this very question isn't regularly discussed amongst U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
After reading about viewer dissatisfaction following last week's ABC televised debate between Senators Obama and Clinton, I wondered if the country could learn more from discussions held during seminar days at Lawrence H.S.
Inside the bus, on the walls, are "visitor passes" from high schools all over the U.S. They're like a badge of honor. We're privileged, honestly, to be amongst teenagers, to learn from them, and to hopefully help raise awareness about matters of war and peace.
As ever, the bus is getting by on a shoestring budget. If anyone reading this feels inclined to promote outreach in grass-roots communities which often lack funding to bring in outside speakers, please chip in to keep the bus rolling. http://www.justicewheels.org
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Hannah Mermelstein
Rawlins, Wyoming We’ve been stuck in Rawlins, Wyoming for more than 24 hours now, as the highway has been alternately open and closed with lots of snow, wind, and accidents. The good thing about the bus, though, is that whether we are giving presentations or not, and whether we are even in the city we’re supposed to be or not, our message is always out there for the world to see.
I joined the bus in Salt Lake City last week, and have given several presentations and spoken informally with several people since then. Audiences have been mostly small but engaged and receptive. It’s interesting that no matter where in the country I go, when I introduce myself as a Jewish American it brings connections. At my first presentation a man approached me afterwards and thanked me as a fellow anti-Zionist Jew. At my second, the son of a rabbi used the time to try to work through his own positions and past connection to Israel, stating that he now knows that rights should not be based on religion and ethnicity. At the next presentation, a woman told me she comes from a Jewish background and has just been ignorant about Palestine all her life.
The bus’s ability and effort to go into small communities is a wonderful complement to the many events and activities about Palestine and Iraq in cities and larger towns. One community at a time, we are doing our small part to educate and activate the US public.
To support, visit http://www.justicewheels.org
================
4/21/08
It saddens me to report in this weekly message the death under very suspiscious circumstances of an important activist for Palestine/for peace. Riad Hammad visited us in CT twice and we have met many times and exchanged lots of conversations by email and phone. He will be missed by his family, by the hundreds of Palestinian children and families he helped, and by all of us who knew him.
Obituary as Published in Austin American Statesman
Riad Elsolh Hamad
Longtime peace activist, beloved father, partner, soul mate, and educator
Riad Elsolh Hamad died tragically on April 14, 2008. Riad was born on September 20, 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, but called Austin home since 1970. A lifelong scholar, Riad received the first of many degrees from the University of Texas, Austin. At the time of his death, he was pursuing a PhD in Educational Technology. Riad touched many lives as an educator and friend. He was a computer technology instructor at Clint Small Middle School. He was a selfless individual who focused on helping students realize their potential. He was also a champion of human rights and worked tirelessly for peace and justice. He founded the Palestinian Children's Welfare Fund to aid Palestinian children, women, and families in need. Riad is survived by his loving partner, Diana; his daughter, Rita; his son, Abdullah; his brother, Omar; and other siblings and family across the world. He leaves behind countless friends who will miss him dearly and a legacy of love and peace. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Palestinian Children's Welfare Fund (http://www.pcwf.org, or by mail at PCWF - Riad Hamad Memorial, 405 Vista Heights Road, El Cerrito, CA 94530).
An interview with Riad can be found here
I think the best way to honor Riad and all who preceded him (Rachel Corrie, Tanya Reinhardt etc) is by getting more involved and doubling our efforts including donating more. Towards this, I wanted to focus in this week's message on Asking for your support for Peace Action.
Earlier this year I was nominated for, and accepted an appointment to the Board of Directors the Peace Action Education Fund (PAEF).
The board has since endorsed our Wheels of Justice Bus tour. Peace Action had previously also supported the Palestinian Refugees Right to Return. Peace Action Education Fund's work is an excellent compliment to the Wheels of Justice work, and I expect my role on the Board of Directors will provide great opportunities for cross-fertilization and potential partnership with both organizations. As a grassroots membership organization of 50,000 members the Peace Action Education Fund can provide an excellent opportunity for outreach for the Wheels of Justice Tour.
As one of my first acts of Board of Directors I'd like to invite you to visit the Peace Action Education fund website and consider join the Peace Action Education Fund, with a tax-deductible contribution of , $100 $50 or $15.
I am working to raise $1,000 over the next two month, and your contribution will go directly to support work educating voters about our issues, during campaign season and promoting a more diplomatic foreign policy.
If you are not ready to join with a membership, but would like to support their work you can take action to end the occupation of Iraq by visiting here.
The Peace Action Education Fund works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage a foreign policy that embodies respect for human rights. Their work includes supporting the Student Peace Action Network, and voter education to elect pro-peace candidates, through their Peace Voter campaign.
If you have any questions about the Peace Action Education Fund's work or ways you can get involved, please contact Development Associate Seth Long at 301-565-4050 x 308 or by email at slong@peace-action.org
Sincerely,
Mazin Qumsiyeh
=====================
4/19/08
In the past 24 hours, Israeli occupation forces massacred 21 Palestinians including six children and a cameraman for Reuters. In the same period Israeli forces also attacked and damaged El Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital and the damage does cause conditions that endanger lives (e.g. damaging power and essential medical equipement that cannot be replaced due to the siege). Patients denied access to medical care are still dying in Gaza due to the brutal siege. Abu Mazen and others who are trying to please the Israeli government (the 800 pound Gorilla in the room) continue to claim that the fault lies with Hamas for the concentration-camp-like of the Gaza strip. But creating a concentration camp with occasional runs by US-supplied weapons to kill civilians and destroy essential infrastructure is a war crime and a crime against humanity and there are no excuses per International law.
Israel intensified the attacks to send a political message to President Jimmy Carter who is meeting with all leaders willing to meet with him including Hamas. Israeli authorities and their stooges shunned the ex-president, refused him entrance to the Gaza strip, and intensified their media attacks/vilification. The three candidates for US President (Clinton, Obama, McCain) dutifully obeyed the Israel-first lobby in the US by also denouncing the peace efforts of Carter. (Obama who said he would meet with leaders of Iran claimed to self-appointed "Jewish leaders" in Pennsylvania that we should not meet with Hamas until they fulfill conditions that the Israeli government refuses (renounce violence, accept the other side, abide by signed agreements). Meanwhile, ex-Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed that "We Zionists/Israel are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq" and added that these events "swung American public opinion in our favor" (1). But I think he is wrong at least on the second part, I think in the long run the truth is very costly to hide and will be discovered by most people. Let me give you examples.
The chorus of public discontent is rising and the media and politicians cannot continue to ignore it. In the US and Canada, alternative Jewish voices are getting organized in forming lobbies to counteract the Israel-first right wing lobbies. Boycotts, divestments, and sanctions are spreading like wildfire prompting Israeli authorities (both in an out of Israel) to divert significant resources to combat these efforts. The ensuing discussions only act to expose Israeli apartheid. The Nakba events and commemorations are raising significant awareness about the 60 year process of ethnic cleansing that is continuing and was and is intended to create a more homogenous Jewish state in a land that was and is inhabited by Christians, Muslims, and others. For example, LeftTurn just had an issue devoted to the Nakba including excellent articles about Refugees and about the upcoming August Popular Palestine conference in Chicago (2).
It is gratifying to see Nobel Peace Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu endorses the Nov. 2008 anti-apartheid organizing tour of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (3).
It is nice to see for a change fair coverage of the demonstration that challenged Zionism in the center of the highest concentration of Zionists in the US (4). It was also gratifying that other local newspapers are publishing our letters to the editor on such subjects (5).
It is nice to see the Huffington Post ridicule the front page coverage in the LA times about Obama's "Palestinian Connections" (6).
It is nice to see a new survey shows public in Arab world becoming even more opposed to the US and Israel (and thus at odds with their governments) despite over hundreds of millions spent by the US to sway public opinion in the Arab and Islamic world to support their (political Zionist) agenda (7)
And it is nice to see that those who support apartheid and racism on college campuses are frustrated; see for example what this person reports in Israel's right wing newspaper about the University of Texas in Austin (8).
These examples are of tens of thousands. The chorus is getting louder and will become deafening when more US citizens find out how their economy was fleeced.
ACTION: Donate to help Palestinian Refugees: Friends of UNRWA Association, Inc.
http://www.friendsunrwa.org/donate.html
and speak out!!
Attend and organize events. Sample upcoming events in the next 10 days (hope to see you there)
Thursday April 17 , 7 PM
Philly Remembers Al-Nakba: 60 Days for 60 Years
The Western “Peace Process” & the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Lecture by Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
Golkin Room is on the 2nd floor., Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St., Univ of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
April 18-19 Living Stones Conference
Seattle, WA
http://www.livingstonesconference.org/
Saturday, April 19 at 4 pm
Western Connecticut Peace activist meeting (email me if interested)
Saturday, April 19 7:30 PM
Palestinians in CT meeting (email me for details)
April 25-27
Sabeel Conference in Philadelphia
http://www.fosna.org/conferences_and_trips/PhiladelphiaConferenceFlyer.htm
April 27 6:30 PM
Irish American Club, 177 West St., Malden, MA 02148
Palestinian Night with Dr. Elaine Hagopian and Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
April 25-26, 2008
Tufts University – Medford, MA
A New England United Conference: END THE WAR(S) ABROAD AND AT HOME
CHARTING A PATH FOR 2008
NOTES:
1) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975574.html
2) http://leftturn.org/?q=currentissue
3) For more info, please see: http://www.endtheoccupation.org
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrgGW5Q-f7s
4) Protestors at street fair denounce Zionism
http://www.teanecksuburbanite.com/NC/0/98.html
5) Letter to the editor published in North Jersey Record April 13, 2008
http://www.northjersey.com/news/nationalpolitics/17572724.html?c=y&page=2
6) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-wiener/breaking-news-obama-met-p_b_96115.html
Original LA Times article at http://tinyurl.com/4hp855
7) http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9458.shtml
8) http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208246577144&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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3/23/08
Two videos, four good articles, and six action items for peace (How about doing at least two of the six actions?)
(Video) US Bulldozers driven by Israeli occupation forces versus Human Rights advocates engaged in nonviolent resistance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA66xdLZXh0
(Video) Bilin Nonviolent Demonstrations and repression by Israeli occupation forces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzIAYQmIDRU
Good Op-Ed by former Palestinian negotiation adviser Diana Buttu at NPR's "this I believe"
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=30286&lastname=Buttu&yval
(Short but excellent) This land was theirs. By Hannah Mermelstein writing in the Jewish Advocate
As an American Jew, I could move to Lajun/Megiddo tomorrow, gain full citizenship rights, and live on the land that Adnan’s family has tended for centuries. Adnan, who lives just a few minutes away, is forbidden from doing so.
http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/opinions2/?content_id=4644
Rachel Corrie's Case For Justice By Tom Wright & Therese Saliba
http://www.countercurrents.org/saliba210308.htm
With friends like these By Gideon Levy writing in Israeli paper Haaretz
The amount of support being shown for Israel these days is almost embarrassing. The parade of highly-placed foreign guests and the warm reception received by Israeli statesmen abroad have not been seen for quite some time. Who hasn't come to visit lately? From the German chancellor to the leading frontrunner for the American presidency. And the secretary-general of the United Nations is on his way. A visit to Israel has become de rigueur for foreign pols. If you haven't been here, you're nowhere.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/967055.html
ACTION 1: Tax Day Is Coming: Offset Your Tax Dollars to Israel
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1607
ACTION 2: Donate and join the ship to the free Gaza movement
http://www.freegaza.org/pages/joinIn.html
ACTION 3: Newsletters of the Palestine Conference and needed support
http://www.palestineconference.org/newsletter.html
ACTION 4 (For Jews): NO TIME TO CELEBRATE: Jews Remember the Nakba" is a campaign organized by anti-Zionist Jews from around the U.S. and Canada to coordinate and make visible Jewish response to Israeli Independence Day celebrations and Jewish participation in commemoration of the Nakba. Sign the NO TIME TO CELEBRATE statement and pledge of action (text below). Go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/notimetocelebrate/ to sign! All signatories will be sent additional information about how to get involved in the campaign.
ACTION 5: "Palestinian refugees living in the US, EU, Canada and Latin America are requested to use their foreign passports to fly to the Israeli Ben-Gurion Airport from May 14-16. The plan calls for the Palestinians to hire dozens of boats flying UN flags that will converge on Israeli ports simultaneously."
ACTION 6: "Dying to Live"- A Peoples Struggle, Gaza Fundraiser- Friday March 28th at 6pm at Rutgers University Newark NJ, 350 MLK Jr. Blvd. in the Paul Robeson Campus Center in the MPR. Guest Speaker is Commissioner Ramsey Abdallah, there will be dinner, poetry, auctions, debkah performece. Tickets are $10 student and $15 General. The sponsoring groups are The Palestinian American Organization of Rutgers Newark, The Muslim Student Association of Rutgers Newark, The National Islamic Association and Islamic Relief. If people cannot attend but would like to donate the best and safer way is to make the Check out to Rutgers University and place under it somewhere PAO (PAO is the Palestinian American Org, we are the account holder and main sponsorer and we would be able to cash the check from our account at the university and put it with the rest of the donations.) If they would like to add a name or message to the donation we can give them a shout out during the event thanking them for the donation. Info: Manal Ramadan manalramadan2023@yahoo.com Rutgers University
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3/19/08
(Written and distributed on the fifth anniversary of the last leg of the War on Iraq: BTW the US/British-led war on Iraq started on 15 Jan 1991 and has killed nearly 3 million people since then including nearly 1 million children by sanctions alone)
On violent and nonviolent struggle: what about our personal responsibility?
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3/14/08
Note on the last email: The quote read by Nelson Mandela at his inauguration as President of South Africa was written by Marianne Williamson (Thanks Marcelle and others who pointed this out).
In this email: Wheels of Justice background, upcoming events, two action items, and articles on Zionism, the vile accusations of "Jewish-self hatred" and more.
As more Palestinians and Iraqis got murdered, and as many in the International community begin to understand the depth of the bankruptcy of the Western war economy (just watch bank stocks, mortgage meltdowns, hyperinflation, and the beginnings of the worst recession since 1930s), the Wheels of Justice bus tour keeps going: acting, meeting people, networking, and communicating. I finished my stint of about three weeks on the bus (I may go back on later in April) and now will focus on giving other talks (in North Carolina Saturday, Albany Sunday, NYC Wednesday at a high school etc), putting together a documentary on the bus (a rough/poor 10 minute video is on the website), and preparing for a summer trip to Palestine. I listed below public events I will be speaking at and other important events (like events to commemorate Rachel Corrie, Washington civil disobedience to end the war, a demonstration in NYC where a war criminal is visiting etc). Before that, let me give you a glimpse of the Wheels of Justice bus tour and what it is about (some of this taken from our website).
The Wheels of Justice (WOJ) bus tour brings eyewitness accounts to occupation in Iraq and Palestine. The schedule can be packed. In 11 days in Oregon, we spoke to five churches, four community gatherings, three Middle and Elementary Schools, a 1 hour TV program, a radio program, two newspapers, and to five colleges and universities. The colorful bus has already traveled to the 48 contiguous states over the past 9 years (including twice before passing through Oregon).
Through education, outreach, nonviolent actions and personal witness, we stand in opposition to the violence and injustice of war, terror and occupation. We recognize that to find peace, the root injustices must be sought, seen and directly dealt with.
To speak honestly and openly about Palestine/Israel, one must recognize that the Israeli military occupation continues a legacy that began in 1947 with the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to make room for the State of Israel. The violence suffered by the native Palestinians and by Israelis will continue as long the roots of the conflict remain: colonization, occupation, displacement, apartheid and the denial of the right of Palestinian refugees.
To speak honestly and openly about the war against and occupation of Iraq, one must recognize the ongoing legacy of U.S. involvement in Iraq. The current U.S. occupation of Iraq, the lifting of sanctions under U.S. military rule, and the continued local instability deny the Iraqi citizenry the very self-determination championed by the United States. The cultural, political and economic institutions of Iraq belong to the Iraqis, not to Washington; the hijacking of Iraq's culture and resources by a foreign power exacerbates and prolongs the consequences of the 17-year U.S.-led war, and the ordinary people of Iraq still have no self-governance.
We believe that peace comes with justice and we cannot see justice without actively resisting injustice. The consequences of wars and occupations fall upon the shoulders of the poor and oppressed, the refugees and the marginalized, and those in our own communities whose needs are neglected by governments' costly pursuit of foreign wars; the human cost is paid for by the innocent and most vulnerable, here and abroad. To see an end to the violence and injustice of war and occupation, we must invest in justice and human rights for those living with and living under the occupation and war.
As much of this violence is supported by our tax dollars and by our elected officials, Americans bear a great responsibility. The people of the world know this, and U.S. government policy provokes rage and retaliation against Americans. Further, draining our treasury on weapons and wars helps prolong and exacerbate our economic downfall and diverts resources greatly needed to build American schools and infrastructure and provide employment and healthcare to our own citizens.
To break the cycle of violence we must change our roles in these conflicts; as individuals and as a nation, we must move from instigator to negotiator, from enabler to resister. We support self-determination for both Iraqis and Palestinians stands instead of occupation and colonization and we draw parallels to the dispossession and oppression of other peoples, including Native Americans, African Americans, South African blacks under Apartheid, etc. We have huge economic problems after spending one trillion dollars of our taxes to support the Apartheid state of Israel and one trillion more on the war on Iraq (and talk now of attacking Iran by the same Israel-first lobbyists). But we are optimistic. Movements for social improvements, peace, and justice require activism and are many times successful if enough people get involved. Women's right to vote, civil rights, a 40-hour work week, ending the war on Vietnam, ending US support for Apartheid South Africa, and many more social movements happened precisely the same way.
To support the bus (financially, logistically etc.), please see http://justicewheels.org
ACTION 1: Ask Congress to save the US economy by ending US Military aid to Israel and by ending support for the war on Iraq or other wars pushed for by special interests
Here are EXAMPLES of events to attend (google for others in your city) followed by articles and relevant news items of global interest:
ACTION 2: Make your own event or join event to remember the murder of Rachel Corrie and the thousands of other innocents killed by the Israeli army funded by the US. See Rachel's emails here http://www.rachelswords.org/rachels-emails/
Saturday March 15,
Muslim American Public Affairs Council annual dinner
Keynotes speakers Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh and Imam Shaker El-Sayed
McKimmon Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
See http://www.iqraanc.net/
Sunday March 16, 1 PM
Rachel Corrie Commemoration
People Center, 37 Howe Street, New Haven
Sunday March 16th, 4 PM
Unitarian Universalist Complex, 405 Washington Avenue (intersection with Robin St.), Albany, NY
Talk by Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh on "Terrorism, the US, and the centrality of the question of Palestine"
Contact: Paul Rehm for the Palestinian Rights Committee Kprehm@aol.com
Sunday March 16 at 6 PM
Hartford Friends Meeting, 144 South Quaker Lane West Hartford, CT
Reading of Rachel Corrie's E-mails: "Rachel's Words”
http://www.hopeoutloud.org/#Rachel
Wayne (860)234-5405
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 5 pm
Waldorf Astoria (50th & Park), NYC
PROTEST: BUTCHERS OF GAZA IS COMING TO NEW YORK!!
While hundreds of Palestinians have been slaughtered in Gaza and while Ehud Barak threatens further invasions and massacres, the so-called "Friends" of the Israeli Occupation Forces are celebrating Barak and the war criminals of the Israeli Occupation Forces with a $1000-a-plate dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria!
60 years of Occupation, exile and murder have done nothing but bring more genocide and, now, threats of "Holocaust" from Israel's Deputy Minister of "Defense". Join us to protest in outrage and solidarity as the war criminal Ehud Barak is celebrated and IOF Soldiers dine at the Waldorf to raise money for more genocide.
WAR CRIMINALS NOT WELCOME HERE! PROTEST EHUD BARAK AND THE "FRIENDS OF THE IOF"!
Bring banners, signs and Palestinian Flags!
Protest the Genocide inflicted on Gaza!
Protest the Israeli Occupation Forces Fund-raising Dinner!
info@al-awdany.org http://www.al-awdany.org 718-228-8636
Wednesday March 19
Washington Civil disobedience to end the war
see http://www.5yearstoomany.org
ARTICLES/OPINIONS
An invention called 'the Jewish people' By Tom Segev
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959229.html
The first time I was called a self-hating Jew by Mike Marqusee
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/04/israelandthepalestinians.bookextracts
Akiva Orr is an anti-Zionist co-founder of Matzpen www.matzpen.org . You can download his books at http://www.akiorrbooks.org (no charge, no copyright)
Article by Paul Kendall: Did an 'Expert' on Terrorism Conspire With a Foreign Government to Violate the Constitutional Rights of American Muslims?
http://justiceandliberty4all.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/israeliconsulate.pdf
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3/11/08
We are now (Tuesday) heading to Boise, Idaho on the Wheels of Justice Bus Tour. We had great time in Oregon (and over 300 signed on as new friends of the bus; ranging in age from 11-88 year olds :-). Here is a relevant short poem I wrote inspired by a message covering a mirror at the Catholic Worker house where we stayed in the last few nights in Portland (note I am a medical geneticist and not a poet :-{ ) followed by the weekly relevant links:
Faces
As a child we first recognized faces before objects or toys
And we loved all faces.. ALL Faces
But a child's eyes grow some times
and learns to avert from some faces
Those who still really see.. see all faces
Faces that look away and those that engage us
Faces of youth radiant with young love
Faces of old content in holding hands
Faces of a lifelong activists with passion and determination
Faces of anger and fear and yes even racism in people who may or may not feel guilty for their thoughts of tribalism or yes racism
Faces that see the color of the face not its _expression_
I see faces of child angels who have no fear of strangers
Faces of mothers looking at their suckling babies
Faces suffering illness
Faces of students unsure of where to go
and those which light up with new knowledge
Faces contorted with hunger
Faces smiling at new friendships
Faces wet with the tears at the loss of loved ones
Faces weeping at coffins of young shot by those with young faces
Faces of those who claim to be good Christians, good Muslims, Good Jews
While doing unto others what they would not want done unto them
Faces of hate and bigotry
or compassion and understanding
Faces devastated at a home demolished
a family uprooted, a refugee camp
Faces of horror
Faces of despair
Faces of deep love
Faces of those who still see with a child's eyes
and those hardened and cynical
Faces of kindness and mercy
or ignorance and racism
Smilin
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