Was Israel founded by Terrorism?
Early Israeli Terrorism Before 1948
By Leila Daas
Today Israel exists as one of the most influential and powerful countries in the Middle East. With it’s over powering influence on the American government, Israel has managed to climb its way to the military top. The establishment of Israel in the Palestinian region has long been a subject of great controversy and detested throughout the Arab world. This is mainly due to the expulsion of the Palestinians and the loss of their beloved country.
Israel has remained in conflict status from the very days of its existence. “The conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews began around the turn of the 20th century. It is essentially a struggle over land. Until 1948, the area that both groups claimed was known internationally as Palestine.” (http://www.tucsonshowguide.com/stories/jul02/israel2.cfm). It seems that the state of Israel has developed itself over the years by means of terrorism. The record of Israeli terrorism goes back to the origins of the state - indeed, long before its actual establishment. Acts of terrorism perpetrated by advocates of Israel can be found dating back to the time of Zionism. Zionist terror groups inflicted terrorism in a mixture of disreputable attacks throughout the early 1900s, before establishment day. Zionism is one of the root causes for the continuing struggle, for it is credited with the re-establishment of the biblical state of Israel."If I were to sum up the Congress in a word – which I shall take care not to publish – it would be this: At Basle I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today I would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly in fifty years, everyone will perceive it." This was the belief of Theodor Herzl;
founder of modern Zionism.
Theodor Herzl was an Austrian Jewish journalist who founded modern Zionism, a national revival movement that originally supported the creation of a Jewish national home and cultural centre in Palestine. “As a correspondent for Neue Freie Presse, Herzl followed the Dreyfus Affair, a notorious anti-Semitic incident in France in which a French Jewish army captain was falsely convicted of spying for Germany.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Herzl#Zionist_leader). After the scandal, Theodor came to recognize the emptiness and futility of trying to ‘combat’ anti-Semitism. Prompted by the growing pressure on Jews in the central and eastern regions of Europe he began to reject his early ideas regarding Jewish emancipation and assimilation. In his book Der Judenstaat (The State of the Jews), published in 1896, he writes:
“The Jewish question persists wherever Jews live in appreciable numbers. Wherever it does not exist, it is brought in together with Jewish immigrants. We are naturally drawn into those places where we are not persecuted, and our appearance there gives rise to persecution. This is the case, and will inevitably be so, everywhere, even in highly civilized countries—see, for instance, France—so long as the Jewish question is not solved on the political level. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying the seeds of anti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.”
Click Here to continue the essay
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tony Blair's Sister-In-Law Imprisoned in Gaza
PALESTINIANS HAVE A RIGHT TO THEIR OWN WATERS
FREE GAZA ANNOUNCEMENT Date : 08-27-2008 (GAZA CITY, 27 August 2008) - It was standing-room-only in Gaza City studios today as the Free Gaza Movement held a press conference to announce the departure of the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty, and to reaffirm that 12-14 Palestinians, who have previously been denied exit visas by Israel, will be traveling to Cyprus on the two boats. Some of those leaving are students, with vaild visas or dual citizenship who have been accepted to universities abroad. Additionally, one Palestinian professor will finally be able to go back to teaching in Europe, and one young Palestinian woman will finally be reunited with her husband.
Since the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement will not be entering Israeli territorial waters, and since they will request inspection from the Gaza Port Authority before they depart as well as from Cypriot authorities when they arrive in Cyprus, they expect no interference on the part of the Israeli authorities when they leave Gaza. By Israel’s own admission, it has no authority to inspect the boats or the passengers when they leave Gaza.
With the collapse of the Israeli blockade, the Free Gaza Movement will quickly return to Gaza with another delegation, and invites the United Nations, Arab League and international community to organize similar human rights and humanitarian efforts.
The SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty arrived in Gaza early Saturday evening despite threats that the Israeli government would use force to prevent the nonviolent human rights workers from reaching Gaza. Since arriving, both boats have accompanied Palestinian fishermen out to sea in order to prevent Israeli warships from firing on the Palestinians as they fish, as has happened regularly in the past. Several of the Free Gaza international human rights workers will remain in Gaza after their boats leave in order to do human rights monitoring.
Dr. Vaggelis Pissias, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, stated that: “We do not accept that Israel can stop these boats. Palestinians have the same rights as all other peoples. Why is it that the only people in the Mediterranean without access
International law ... ... relevant to the Gaza Strip and the Free Gaza Campaign
Is Gaza under Israeli occupation?
Israel claims that it no longer occupies the Gaza Strip. This position is calculated to avoid the responsibilities of an occupying power under international law. But as a matter of fact Israel occupies the Gaza Strip because it maintains effective control over it. The international law relevant to occupied territories become applicable whenever a territory comes under the effective control of hostile foreign armed forces.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross:
The question of "control" calls up at least two different interpretations. It could be taken to mean that a situation of occupation exists whenever a party to a conflict exercises some level of authority or control within foreign territory. So, for example, advancing troops could be considered bound by the law of occupation already during the invasion phase of hostilities. This is the approach suggested in the ICRC's Commentary to the Fourth Geneva Convention (1958).
An alternative and more restrictive approach would be to say that a situation of occupation exists only once a party to a conflict is in a position to exercise sufficient authority over enemy territory to enable it to discharge all of the duties imposed by the law of occupation. Although Israel's position on the applicable international law fluctuates a great deal, its general approach has been to adopt this latter interpretation. This is reflected in Israel's claim that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the welfare of Gaza's population. Yet the Palestinian Authority lacks the capacity to meet this responsibility due to Israel's effective control of the Gaza Strip.The residents of Gaza require Israel's consent to travel to and from Gaza, to take their goods to Palestinian
and foreign markets, to acquire food and medicine, and to access water and
electricity.
The Palestinian Authority must seek Israel's permission to perform several
key functions of government. These include the provision of social and health
services, security, setting immigration policy, developing the Palestinian economy, and allocating resources. In other words Israel has total control of Gaza is obliged under international law to provide these services, but does not. If Israel does not wish to provide these services it must end its occupation of Gaza.Israel's obligations as occupying power Under international law Israel is obliged to uphold certain specified basic standards to protect both the population under its control and the land on which that population lives. These obligations are expressed in the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and the First Additional Protocol to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1977.
Israel's control of Gaza's borders If Gaza was not under occupation its residents would be free to leave and control its borders, including the sea. However Israel maintains effective control of Gaza's borders, its airspace, and the waters beyond the Gaza coast. Palestinian use of the coastal waters is subject to severe restrictions. Palestinian boats are prohibited from going out beyond a prescribed distance, and foreign vessels are prohibited from coming within 12 nautical miles off the coast. Furthermore, the Israeli navy retains the right to "take any measures necessary against vessels suspected of … any… illegal activity."Israel has maintained regular bans on fishing off the Gaza coast, such as its total ban on fishing between June to late October 2006. In late October 2006, Israel partially relaxed the ban. However in the same month the UN Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs noted: The fishing industry has been paralysed by the complete ban imposed by the IDF on fishing grounds off the Gaza Strip for over 50 days. On 14 August [2006], the General
Syndicate of Marine Fishers requested the assistance of the international community to support the needs of the fishermen and their families – there are almost 3,000 licensed fishermen in the Gaza Strip, most support sizeable families. The Israeli military has fired on and destroyed boats, and killed fishermen who have gone out to sea despite the ban. Furthermore, the Palestinians cannot develop maritime trade opportunities or develop natural resources located within the territorial waters without Israel's permission.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Free Gaza.Org
The Free Gaza Movement
Free Gaza.Org Organizer and Passenger
Palestinians waiting impatiently for Free Gaza boats
American physician on Free Gaza Movement Boat
Gaza Boats to Bust Blockade 1a
Gaza Boats to Bust Blockade 1b
Gaza Boats to Bust Blockade 1c
“Free Gaza” Boats Set Sail from Cyprus to Break Israeli Blockade
Two converted fishing boats set sail from Cyprus today carrying more than forty activists and humanitarian workers who are part of the Free Gaza movement that is trying to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli foreign ministry said in an open letter to the participants, “We assume that your intentions are good but, in fact, the result of your action is that you are supporting the regime of a terrorist organization in Gaza.” We speak with three of the activists at sea: Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement; Lauren Booth, a journalist and sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Israeli anthropology professor Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Free Gaza.Org Organizer and Passenger
Palestinians waiting impatiently for Free Gaza boats
American physician on Free Gaza Movement Boat
Gaza Boats to Bust Blockade 1a
Gaza Boats to Bust Blockade 1b
Gaza Boats to Bust Blockade 1c
“Free Gaza” Boats Set Sail from Cyprus to Break Israeli Blockade
Two converted fishing boats set sail from Cyprus today carrying more than forty activists and humanitarian workers who are part of the Free Gaza movement that is trying to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli foreign ministry said in an open letter to the participants, “We assume that your intentions are good but, in fact, the result of your action is that you are supporting the regime of a terrorist organization in Gaza.” We speak with three of the activists at sea: Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement; Lauren Booth, a journalist and sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Israeli anthropology professor Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
GAZA
Israeli offensive in GAZA
Gaza women end mosque stand-off
A siege at a mosque in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun has ended after Israeli forces entered the compound and found no-one there, Israel's army says.
An Israeli military spokesman told the BBC they believe the dozen Palestinian gunmen escaped by mingling with a crowd of women who had formed a human shield.
The women went to the mosque after an appeal on Hamas radio. Two were reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire.
Israel entered Beit Hanoun on Wednesday to stop rocket attacks, it said.
Rocket attacks by militants against towns close to the Gaza border, including Sderot and Ashkelon, have continued since Israel pulled its troops out of Gaza in 2005.
Bulldozer assault
In one of the biggest operations in the Gaza Strip in recent months, Israeli troops moved in and sealed the town off.
Twenty Palestinians and an Israeli soldier died in the fighting that ensued. Many of the 20 Palestinians killed were gunmen, but a four-year-old boy died from his wounds overnight.
A tense stand-off developed after Israeli forces surrounded the mosque, where Palestinian gunmen had taken refuge along with about 60 others.
Witnesses said bulldozers demolished a wall as the Israelis tried to force those inside to surrender and there were exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the gunmen.
However, following an appeal on Hamas radio, over 100 women approached the compound in groups.
Running to safety
"We risked our lives to free our sons," Um Mohammed, a woman in her 40s, told the AFP news agency afterwards.
"Hundreds of us entered the mosque and surrounded the resistance fighters to protect them," 21-year-old Nidaa al-Radih said.
With the gunmen shielded within their midst the women ran to an area north-west of the town which is clear of Israeli troops.
There have been reports that the Israeli soldiers fired on the groups of women. Two women are reported to have been killed.
Hamas radio has since reported that all of the militants in the mosque had escaped and were uninjured.
The BBC's Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that Israel's most immediate aim is to prevent rocket attacks against its territory, but beyond that it wants to strike a decisive blow at the militant group Hamas.
Israeli officials are convinced Hamas has been acquiring new weapons and wants to turn Gaza into an even stronger base for attacks against them, just as the Lebanese group Hezbollah did on their northern border.
Story from BBC NEWS:
FREE GAZA DEMO-London-26/01/08-In support of relief convoy
Gaza women end mosque stand-off
A siege at a mosque in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun has ended after Israeli forces entered the compound and found no-one there, Israel's army says.
An Israeli military spokesman told the BBC they believe the dozen Palestinian gunmen escaped by mingling with a crowd of women who had formed a human shield.
The women went to the mosque after an appeal on Hamas radio. Two were reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire.
Israel entered Beit Hanoun on Wednesday to stop rocket attacks, it said.
Rocket attacks by militants against towns close to the Gaza border, including Sderot and Ashkelon, have continued since Israel pulled its troops out of Gaza in 2005.
Bulldozer assault
In one of the biggest operations in the Gaza Strip in recent months, Israeli troops moved in and sealed the town off.
Twenty Palestinians and an Israeli soldier died in the fighting that ensued. Many of the 20 Palestinians killed were gunmen, but a four-year-old boy died from his wounds overnight.
A tense stand-off developed after Israeli forces surrounded the mosque, where Palestinian gunmen had taken refuge along with about 60 others.
Witnesses said bulldozers demolished a wall as the Israelis tried to force those inside to surrender and there were exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the gunmen.
However, following an appeal on Hamas radio, over 100 women approached the compound in groups.
Running to safety
"We risked our lives to free our sons," Um Mohammed, a woman in her 40s, told the AFP news agency afterwards.
"Hundreds of us entered the mosque and surrounded the resistance fighters to protect them," 21-year-old Nidaa al-Radih said.
With the gunmen shielded within their midst the women ran to an area north-west of the town which is clear of Israeli troops.
There have been reports that the Israeli soldiers fired on the groups of women. Two women are reported to have been killed.
Hamas radio has since reported that all of the militants in the mosque had escaped and were uninjured.
The BBC's Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that Israel's most immediate aim is to prevent rocket attacks against its territory, but beyond that it wants to strike a decisive blow at the militant group Hamas.
Israeli officials are convinced Hamas has been acquiring new weapons and wants to turn Gaza into an even stronger base for attacks against them, just as the Lebanese group Hezbollah did on their northern border.
Story from BBC NEWS:
FREE GAZA DEMO-London-26/01/08-In support of relief convoy
If Americans Knew
If Americans Knew What Israel Is Doing! VIDEO WAS CENSORED!
Free Palestine against zionists - Outlandish
Free Palestine against zionists - Outlandish
Friday, August 22, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Worlds Largest Open Air Prison?
What Makes Palestine the Worlds Largest Open Air Prison?
The conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews began around the turn of the 20th century. It is essentially a struggle over land. Until 1948, the area that both groups claimed was known internationally as Palestine. But following the war of 1948-49, this land was divided into three parts: the state of Israel, The West Bank and Gaza Strip ( http://www.tucsonshowguide.com/stories/jul02/israel2.cfm ). For over 50 years now, Palestinian people have been suffering from injustice by the Israeli government. Aside from the Israeli tanks and bulldozers that occupy Palestinian lands, there is still the issue of checkpoints. Everyday thousands of Palestinians must wait for permission to cross through the sixty one manned military checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli military, the system of checkpoints works to protect Israel from Palestinian attackers. Government and military officials have cited the system of checkpoints in the West Bank as one of the several factors contributing to a steady reduction in the number of suicide bombings against Israeli targets. Indeed, they are mistaken, with or without roadblocks, attacks will continue because the will of the Palestinian people cannot be broken.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of abuse by Israeli troops against Palestinian civilians at roadblocks: beatings, harassment, shootings, humiliation and life threatening delays. Last year a female Israeli soldier assigned to a Gaza Strip checkpoint was convicted of forcing a Palestinian woman at gunpoint to drink a bottle of cleaning fluid, according to court records. (The Washington Post) A couple of months ago, soldiers at the Beit Iba checkpoint ordered a Palestinian to open his violin case and play for them while the lines behind him grew. A large number of Palestinians seeking medical care have died during delays at checkpoints. What should normally be a few minutes for a student to get to school are now a few hours back and forth five days a week. This is unacceptable.
Checkpoints are often packed by the hundreds on foot in bitter heat or icy rains. Everyday the regulations are different; one day everyone is allowed to pass while on another no one gets through. It is fairly unpredictable. All these inconveniences fuel the frustration and hatred towards Israel. Like the rest of the world, Palestinians have jobs to go to and families to see. These daily activities are difficult to accomplish when having to face roadblocks operated by the enemy.
In 1995 following an attack on Bet Lid, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made his goals more specific: “This path must lead to separation, though not according to the borders prior to 1967. We want to reach a separation between us and them.” The construction of the Israeli Apartheid Wall began on the 16th of June, 2002 ( http://www.americantaskforce.org/the_wall.htm ).This barrier, which will eventually extend over approximately 790 kilo meter, consists of a series of 25 foot high concrete walls, trenches, barbed wire “buffer zones”, electrified fencing with uncountable watch towers, electronic sensors, thermal imaging video cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles, sniper towers and roads for patrol vehicles.
This wall separates the Israeli territories from the Palestinian territories; but not quite. The path the wall is taking through the West Bank is resulting in massive land confiscation. The construction of the wall has so far already uprooted an estimated 102,320 Palestinian olive and citrus trees. The land between the Green Line and the wall has been declared a “closed military zone”. Due to this, all the people living in this “zone” will require permits to stay living in their homes. 71 primary health clinics will be isolated from the West Bank between the wall and the Green Line. The construction of the wall being built by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around East Jerusalem is contrary to International law. But still the building of the Apartheid Wall goes on. When the wall is completed, nearly all of the West Bank population will be affected by the wall through loss of land, imprisonment in ghettos or isolation in areas de facto annexed to Israel.
On December 8, 2003 – The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s constructing of the barrier. By a ruling of thirteen votes to two, the (ICJ) found that “all States are under obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction.
The building of the Apartheid Wall continues today. Just about 45% of the wall has been completed. And the numbers of checkpoints have only increased. Palestinians are separated from land, resources, and family. Life in Palestine has never been so miserable. Yet many people see a strong need for this kind of security. But this is not security. This is imprisonment. The state of Israel is in grave violation of human rights. Sadly Israel is showing little sensitivity towards the Palestinians people.
After much un-needed research, I have come to learn that Palestine is in fact the largest open air prison in existence. Israel has raped the Palestinian people of their right to freedom. And America, the so called “super power”, clearly does not give two shits about Palestine and the people in it for they have done nothing to stop this nonsense. I am embarrassed to call myself an American. The construction of the Apartheid Wall and the system of checkpoints takes a heavy toll on the Palestinians. Yet they are strong-willed people, and the roadblocks will not STOP them from living their lives or even ending them. The Palestinians desire nothing more than to live normal lives but even that freedom has been taken away from them.
The conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews began around the turn of the 20th century. It is essentially a struggle over land. Until 1948, the area that both groups claimed was known internationally as Palestine. But following the war of 1948-49, this land was divided into three parts: the state of Israel, The West Bank and Gaza Strip ( http://www.tucsonshowguide.com/stories/jul02/israel2.cfm ). For over 50 years now, Palestinian people have been suffering from injustice by the Israeli government. Aside from the Israeli tanks and bulldozers that occupy Palestinian lands, there is still the issue of checkpoints. Everyday thousands of Palestinians must wait for permission to cross through the sixty one manned military checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli military, the system of checkpoints works to protect Israel from Palestinian attackers. Government and military officials have cited the system of checkpoints in the West Bank as one of the several factors contributing to a steady reduction in the number of suicide bombings against Israeli targets. Indeed, they are mistaken, with or without roadblocks, attacks will continue because the will of the Palestinian people cannot be broken.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of abuse by Israeli troops against Palestinian civilians at roadblocks: beatings, harassment, shootings, humiliation and life threatening delays. Last year a female Israeli soldier assigned to a Gaza Strip checkpoint was convicted of forcing a Palestinian woman at gunpoint to drink a bottle of cleaning fluid, according to court records. (The Washington Post) A couple of months ago, soldiers at the Beit Iba checkpoint ordered a Palestinian to open his violin case and play for them while the lines behind him grew. A large number of Palestinians seeking medical care have died during delays at checkpoints. What should normally be a few minutes for a student to get to school are now a few hours back and forth five days a week. This is unacceptable.
Checkpoints are often packed by the hundreds on foot in bitter heat or icy rains. Everyday the regulations are different; one day everyone is allowed to pass while on another no one gets through. It is fairly unpredictable. All these inconveniences fuel the frustration and hatred towards Israel. Like the rest of the world, Palestinians have jobs to go to and families to see. These daily activities are difficult to accomplish when having to face roadblocks operated by the enemy.
In 1995 following an attack on Bet Lid, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made his goals more specific: “This path must lead to separation, though not according to the borders prior to 1967. We want to reach a separation between us and them.” The construction of the Israeli Apartheid Wall began on the 16th of June, 2002 ( http://www.americantaskforce.org/the_wall.htm ).This barrier, which will eventually extend over approximately 790 kilo meter, consists of a series of 25 foot high concrete walls, trenches, barbed wire “buffer zones”, electrified fencing with uncountable watch towers, electronic sensors, thermal imaging video cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles, sniper towers and roads for patrol vehicles.
This wall separates the Israeli territories from the Palestinian territories; but not quite. The path the wall is taking through the West Bank is resulting in massive land confiscation. The construction of the wall has so far already uprooted an estimated 102,320 Palestinian olive and citrus trees. The land between the Green Line and the wall has been declared a “closed military zone”. Due to this, all the people living in this “zone” will require permits to stay living in their homes. 71 primary health clinics will be isolated from the West Bank between the wall and the Green Line. The construction of the wall being built by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around East Jerusalem is contrary to International law. But still the building of the Apartheid Wall goes on. When the wall is completed, nearly all of the West Bank population will be affected by the wall through loss of land, imprisonment in ghettos or isolation in areas de facto annexed to Israel.
On December 8, 2003 – The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s constructing of the barrier. By a ruling of thirteen votes to two, the (ICJ) found that “all States are under obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction.
The building of the Apartheid Wall continues today. Just about 45% of the wall has been completed. And the numbers of checkpoints have only increased. Palestinians are separated from land, resources, and family. Life in Palestine has never been so miserable. Yet many people see a strong need for this kind of security. But this is not security. This is imprisonment. The state of Israel is in grave violation of human rights. Sadly Israel is showing little sensitivity towards the Palestinians people.
After much un-needed research, I have come to learn that Palestine is in fact the largest open air prison in existence. Israel has raped the Palestinian people of their right to freedom. And America, the so called “super power”, clearly does not give two shits about Palestine and the people in it for they have done nothing to stop this nonsense. I am embarrassed to call myself an American. The construction of the Apartheid Wall and the system of checkpoints takes a heavy toll on the Palestinians. Yet they are strong-willed people, and the roadblocks will not STOP them from living their lives or even ending them. The Palestinians desire nothing more than to live normal lives but even that freedom has been taken away from them.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Outlandish & Sami Yusuf "Try not to cry" 4 Children of Adam
Outlandish & Sami Yusuf "Try not to cry" 4 Children of Adam
Dear Senators Obama and McCain
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=2906
Dear Senators Obama and McCain,
We were disturbed by your remarks at the AIPAC conference. We implore you to respect internationally recognized Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem, to hold not just Hamas but also Israel accountable for its use of weapons against civilian populations, and to support including Hamas in negotiations. We believe that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in safe and secure societies. Please commit to working for justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.
We believe the future status of Jerusalem must be negotiated. Since declaring at the AIPAC conference that Jerusalem "must remain undivided," Senator Obama has backtracked and indicated he is open to a shared Jerusalem. We welcome his new statement, because the first one undermines the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Obama promises to promote. Indeed, declaring Jerusalem as Israeli-ruled-only violates U.S. policy and international standards, ignores Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem and the more than 240,000 Palestinian residents there, while implicitly supporting Israel's continued land expropriation, demolition of Palestinian homes, and expansion of settlement building, such as the 900 tenders just issued to new housing for Jewish Israelis in East Jerusalem.
Both Senators McCain and Obama promised enormous sums of unconditional military aid to Israel.
We believe the U.S. must hold Israel accountable for using U.S. weapons against civilians. Numerous human rights organizations have documented Israel's use of U.S. weapons against civilian populations - from the basic maintenance of the Occupation of Palestinian Territories to the bombing of civilian areas in Gaza to the use of cluster bombs against Lebanese civilians in 2006. The use of weapons against civilians is in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act; even the U.S. State Department itself believed it likely that Israel's cluster bombs in Lebanon violated U.S. law. We implore the Senators to hold Israel accountable to U.S. law and prevent the use of our weapons against civilians.
Both Senators McCain and Obama continued to demand the exclusion of Hamas from the negotiating table.
We believe peace agreement cannot be achieved without Hamas at the table. While we, too, deplore any and all violence against civilians, we stand behind former President Jimmy Carter when he says that Hamas must be included in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. 64% of Israeli citizens want their government to speak to Hamas, the democratically elected leadership of the Palestinian people. Peace agreements are negotiated with enemies, not friends. For the sake of achieving a just peace, we ask the Senators to support the inclusion of Hamas in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Dear Senators Obama and McCain,
We were disturbed by your remarks at the AIPAC conference. We implore you to respect internationally recognized Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem, to hold not just Hamas but also Israel accountable for its use of weapons against civilian populations, and to support including Hamas in negotiations. We believe that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in safe and secure societies. Please commit to working for justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.
We believe the future status of Jerusalem must be negotiated. Since declaring at the AIPAC conference that Jerusalem "must remain undivided," Senator Obama has backtracked and indicated he is open to a shared Jerusalem. We welcome his new statement, because the first one undermines the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Obama promises to promote. Indeed, declaring Jerusalem as Israeli-ruled-only violates U.S. policy and international standards, ignores Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem and the more than 240,000 Palestinian residents there, while implicitly supporting Israel's continued land expropriation, demolition of Palestinian homes, and expansion of settlement building, such as the 900 tenders just issued to new housing for Jewish Israelis in East Jerusalem.
Both Senators McCain and Obama promised enormous sums of unconditional military aid to Israel.
We believe the U.S. must hold Israel accountable for using U.S. weapons against civilians. Numerous human rights organizations have documented Israel's use of U.S. weapons against civilian populations - from the basic maintenance of the Occupation of Palestinian Territories to the bombing of civilian areas in Gaza to the use of cluster bombs against Lebanese civilians in 2006. The use of weapons against civilians is in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act; even the U.S. State Department itself believed it likely that Israel's cluster bombs in Lebanon violated U.S. law. We implore the Senators to hold Israel accountable to U.S. law and prevent the use of our weapons against civilians.
Both Senators McCain and Obama continued to demand the exclusion of Hamas from the negotiating table.
We believe peace agreement cannot be achieved without Hamas at the table. While we, too, deplore any and all violence against civilians, we stand behind former President Jimmy Carter when he says that Hamas must be included in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. 64% of Israeli citizens want their government to speak to Hamas, the democratically elected leadership of the Palestinian people. Peace agreements are negotiated with enemies, not friends. For the sake of achieving a just peace, we ask the Senators to support the inclusion of Hamas in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Eye to Eye
by: Gihad Ali
Look into my eyes
And tell me what you see.
You don't see a damn thing,
'cause you can't possibly relate to me.
You're blinded by our differences.
My life makes no sense to you.
I'm the persecuted Palestinian.
You're the American red, white and blue.
Each day you wake in tranquility,
No fears to cross your eyes.
Each day I wake in gratitude,
Thanking God He let me rise.
You worry about your education
And the bills you have to pay.
I worry about my vulnerable life
And if I'll survive another day.
Your biggest fear is getting ticketed
As you cruise your Cadillac.
My fear is that the tank that just left
Will turn around and come back.
American, do you realize,
That the taxes that you pay
Feed the forces that traumatize
My every living day?
The bulldozers and the tanks,
The gases and the guns,
The bombs that fall outside my door,
All due to American funds.
Yet do you know the truth
Of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth that no one knows?
You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of Zionists.
I'm terrorized in my own land
And I'm the terrorist?
You think you know all about terrorism
But you don't know it the way I do,
So let me define the term for you,
And teach you what you thought you knew.
I've known terrorism for quite some time,
Fifty-five years and more.
It's the fruitless garden uprooted in my yard.
It's the bulldozer in front of my door.
Terrorism breathes the air I breathe.
It's the checkpoint on my way to school.
It's the curfew that jails me in my own home,
And the penalties of breaking that curfew rule.
Terrorism is the robbery of my land,
And the torture of my mother,
The imprisonment of my innocent father,
The bullet in my baby brother.
So American, don't tell me you know about
The things I feel and see.
I'm terrorized in my own land
And the blame is put on me.
But I will not rest, I shall never settle
For the injustice my people endure.
Palestine is our land and there we'll remain
Until the day our homeland is secure.
And if that time shall never come,
Then we will never see a day of peace.
I will not be thrown from my own home,
Nor will my fight for justice cease.
And if I am killed, it will be in Falasteen.
It's written on my every breath.
So in your own patriotic words,
Give me liberty or give me death.
Look into my eyes
And tell me what you see.
You don't see a damn thing,
'cause you can't possibly relate to me.
You're blinded by our differences.
My life makes no sense to you.
I'm the persecuted Palestinian.
You're the American red, white and blue.
Each day you wake in tranquility,
No fears to cross your eyes.
Each day I wake in gratitude,
Thanking God He let me rise.
You worry about your education
And the bills you have to pay.
I worry about my vulnerable life
And if I'll survive another day.
Your biggest fear is getting ticketed
As you cruise your Cadillac.
My fear is that the tank that just left
Will turn around and come back.
American, do you realize,
That the taxes that you pay
Feed the forces that traumatize
My every living day?
The bulldozers and the tanks,
The gases and the guns,
The bombs that fall outside my door,
All due to American funds.
Yet do you know the truth
Of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth that no one knows?
You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of Zionists.
I'm terrorized in my own land
And I'm the terrorist?
You think you know all about terrorism
But you don't know it the way I do,
So let me define the term for you,
And teach you what you thought you knew.
I've known terrorism for quite some time,
Fifty-five years and more.
It's the fruitless garden uprooted in my yard.
It's the bulldozer in front of my door.
Terrorism breathes the air I breathe.
It's the checkpoint on my way to school.
It's the curfew that jails me in my own home,
And the penalties of breaking that curfew rule.
Terrorism is the robbery of my land,
And the torture of my mother,
The imprisonment of my innocent father,
The bullet in my baby brother.
So American, don't tell me you know about
The things I feel and see.
I'm terrorized in my own land
And the blame is put on me.
But I will not rest, I shall never settle
For the injustice my people endure.
Palestine is our land and there we'll remain
Until the day our homeland is secure.
And if that time shall never come,
Then we will never see a day of peace.
I will not be thrown from my own home,
Nor will my fight for justice cease.
And if I am killed, it will be in Falasteen.
It's written on my every breath.
So in your own patriotic words,
Give me liberty or give me death.
FreePalestine
[FreePalestine] My thoughts on the campaign
Cenida Jones
Hello Everyone,
I'm new to the website but I'm a long time Obama supporter. I just wanted to introduce myself to all and say I am so proud of this country for having a candidate that really connects with the American people and seems to understand that we need to change how we're doing things. One of my fav quotes from "Obama is that you can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result."
This is true in so many ways, I am in line mostly with many of the campaign beliefs but I really hope that Mr.Obama would rethink his position on Israel and Palestine. I am in touch with a couple of Jewish volunteers who are working inside Palestine and they send me updates to share about what's going on over there. So I just wanted to share this with you because I know a lot of people don't know what's going on over there and also because many people don't get to hear the Palestinians side of the story. I'm and approaching this subject in leui of the speech Barack gave in front of AIPAC so this is relevant to the campaign. If you have any questions or concerns please email me or message me from my profile. Remember you can't keep doing the same old thing and expecting a different result:
Dear friends,
I've been thinking about the urgency of 1948. One of Ben Gurion's
most repeated quotes among Palestinian refugee communities is, "The
old will die and the young will forget." The young have not
forgotten. Everywhere I have traveled in the Arab world - Palestine,
Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria - Palestinian children tell me the names of
their original villages that they still hope to see someday. Even the
youngest of children will say things like, "If I don't return to my
village, then my children or their children will."
Perhaps this is the nature of displacement, that the desire to return
is compounded as long as the right to return is denied. But how to
explain the urgency? Those who were young at the time of the Nakba,
60 years ago, are dying. Just as the Holocaust generation of Jews is
slowly passing away, so is the Nakba generation of Palestinians. The
difference is in the collective world memory of each tragedy. The
Nazi Holocaust is denied by very few today (and even fewer with any
kind of world power), whereas the Nakba continues to be denied by the
powerful, as it has been for 60 years. Each time I visit with Nakba
survivors who currently live inside '48 (Israel) and have Israeli
citizenship, I am astounded that the desperation in their voices far
exceeds most of what I hear from Palestinians in the West Bank (Gaza,
currently, is another story). Why is this? In all superficial ways,
Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have a better standard of life
than those in the West Bank. West Bank Palestinians, however,while
continuously besieged and attacked, rarely find themselves face to
face in conversation with people who deny their identities, their
histories, and their experiences. Palestinians with Israeli
citizenship face this every day.
We visited last week with a man who lives just a few miles from his
original village. He showed us a map the survivors have made, in
Hebrew, with each person's name and house and land marked. "We were
here," he kept saying, "and we farmed, and we went to school, and we
had a bus station, and we owned land. We were here. This is my
father's name. We were here." He kept offering tidbits of proof, as
though he expected us to doubt his story.
When he took us to the land, as he has so many times before, I
couldn't help but think about the number of Israelis, foreigners, and
perhaps even Palestinians who drive by there each day without
realizing there was
ever anything there before the Jewish National
Fund planted a pine forest. The remains of houses can easily be
mistaken for stone paths. Not one house remains, but that doesn't
stop our guide from taking us to a spot on the land that to me looks
like any other, and saying, "Welcome to my home. Someday you will
come back here and visit me in my rebuilt house and I will serve you
tea."
The urgency is in the living memory, the denied reality, the willful
invisibility. The Nakba is not something that happened 60 years ago.
It is a process that continues to this day, and it is a process that
can and must end if we are ever to see a true solution for the people
of this land.
Cenida Jones
Hello Everyone,
I'm new to the website but I'm a long time Obama supporter. I just wanted to introduce myself to all and say I am so proud of this country for having a candidate that really connects with the American people and seems to understand that we need to change how we're doing things. One of my fav quotes from "Obama is that you can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result."
This is true in so many ways, I am in line mostly with many of the campaign beliefs but I really hope that Mr.Obama would rethink his position on Israel and Palestine. I am in touch with a couple of Jewish volunteers who are working inside Palestine and they send me updates to share about what's going on over there. So I just wanted to share this with you because I know a lot of people don't know what's going on over there and also because many people don't get to hear the Palestinians side of the story. I'm and approaching this subject in leui of the speech Barack gave in front of AIPAC so this is relevant to the campaign. If you have any questions or concerns please email me or message me from my profile. Remember you can't keep doing the same old thing and expecting a different result:
Dear friends,
I've been thinking about the urgency of 1948. One of Ben Gurion's
most repeated quotes among Palestinian refugee communities is, "The
old will die and the young will forget." The young have not
forgotten. Everywhere I have traveled in the Arab world - Palestine,
Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria - Palestinian children tell me the names of
their original villages that they still hope to see someday. Even the
youngest of children will say things like, "If I don't return to my
village, then my children or their children will."
Perhaps this is the nature of displacement, that the desire to return
is compounded as long as the right to return is denied. But how to
explain the urgency? Those who were young at the time of the Nakba,
60 years ago, are dying. Just as the Holocaust generation of Jews is
slowly passing away, so is the Nakba generation of Palestinians. The
difference is in the collective world memory of each tragedy. The
Nazi Holocaust is denied by very few today (and even fewer with any
kind of world power), whereas the Nakba continues to be denied by the
powerful, as it has been for 60 years. Each time I visit with Nakba
survivors who currently live inside '48 (Israel) and have Israeli
citizenship, I am astounded that the desperation in their voices far
exceeds most of what I hear from Palestinians in the West Bank (Gaza,
currently, is another story). Why is this? In all superficial ways,
Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have a better standard of life
than those in the West Bank. West Bank Palestinians, however,while
continuously besieged and attacked, rarely find themselves face to
face in conversation with people who deny their identities, their
histories, and their experiences. Palestinians with Israeli
citizenship face this every day.
We visited last week with a man who lives just a few miles from his
original village. He showed us a map the survivors have made, in
Hebrew, with each person's name and house and land marked. "We were
here," he kept saying, "and we farmed, and we went to school, and we
had a bus station, and we owned land. We were here. This is my
father's name. We were here." He kept offering tidbits of proof, as
though he expected us to doubt his story.
When he took us to the land, as he has so many times before, I
couldn't help but think about the number of Israelis, foreigners, and
perhaps even Palestinians who drive by there each day without
realizing there was
ever anything there before the Jewish National
Fund planted a pine forest. The remains of houses can easily be
mistaken for stone paths. Not one house remains, but that doesn't
stop our guide from taking us to a spot on the land that to me looks
like any other, and saying, "Welcome to my home. Someday you will
come back here and visit me in my rebuilt house and I will serve you
tea."
The urgency is in the living memory, the denied reality, the willful
invisibility. The Nakba is not something that happened 60 years ago.
It is a process that continues to this day, and it is a process that
can and must end if we are ever to see a true solution for the people
of this land.
Dear Senators Obama and McCain
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=2906
Dear Senators Obama and McCain,
We were disturbed by your remarks at the AIPAC conference. We implore you to respect internationally recognized Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem, to hold not just Hamas but also Israel accountable for its use of weapons against civilian populations, and to support including Hamas in negotiations. We believe that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in safe and secure societies. Please commit to working for justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.
We believe the future status of Jerusalem must be negotiated. Since declaring at the AIPAC conference that Jerusalem "must remain undivided," Senator Obama has backtracked and indicated he is open to a shared Jerusalem. We welcome his new statement, because the first one undermines the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Obama promises to promote. Indeed, declaring Jerusalem as Israeli-ruled-only violates U.S. policy and international standards, ignores Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem and the more than 240,000 Palestinian residents there, while implicitly supporting Israel's continued land expropriation, demolition of Palestinian homes, and expansion of settlement building, such as the 900 tenders just issued to new housing for Jewish Israelis in East Jerusalem.
Both Senators McCain and Obama promised enormous sums of unconditional military aid to Israel.
We believe the U.S. must hold Israel accountable for using U.S. weapons against civilians. Numerous human rights organizations have documented Israel's use of U.S. weapons against civilian populations - from the basic maintenance of the Occupation of Palestinian Territories to the bombing of civilian areas in Gaza to the use of cluster bombs against Lebanese civilians in 2006. The use of weapons against civilians is in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act; even the U.S. State Department itself believed it likely that Israel's cluster bombs in Lebanon violated U.S. law. We implore the Senators to hold Israel accountable to U.S. law and prevent the use of our weapons against civilians.
Both Senators McCain and Obama continued to demand the exclusion of Hamas from the negotiating table.
We believe peace agreement cannot be achieved without Hamas at the table. While we, too, deplore any and all violence against civilians, we stand behind former President Jimmy Carter when he says that Hamas must be included in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. 64% of Israeli citizens want their government to speak to Hamas, the democratically elected leadership of the Palestinian people. Peace agreements are negotiated with enemies, not friends. For the sake of achieving a just peace, we ask the Senators to support the inclusion of Hamas in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Dear Senators Obama and McCain,
We were disturbed by your remarks at the AIPAC conference. We implore you to respect internationally recognized Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem, to hold not just Hamas but also Israel accountable for its use of weapons against civilian populations, and to support including Hamas in negotiations. We believe that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in safe and secure societies. Please commit to working for justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.
We believe the future status of Jerusalem must be negotiated. Since declaring at the AIPAC conference that Jerusalem "must remain undivided," Senator Obama has backtracked and indicated he is open to a shared Jerusalem. We welcome his new statement, because the first one undermines the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that Obama promises to promote. Indeed, declaring Jerusalem as Israeli-ruled-only violates U.S. policy and international standards, ignores Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem and the more than 240,000 Palestinian residents there, while implicitly supporting Israel's continued land expropriation, demolition of Palestinian homes, and expansion of settlement building, such as the 900 tenders just issued to new housing for Jewish Israelis in East Jerusalem.
Both Senators McCain and Obama promised enormous sums of unconditional military aid to Israel.
We believe the U.S. must hold Israel accountable for using U.S. weapons against civilians. Numerous human rights organizations have documented Israel's use of U.S. weapons against civilian populations - from the basic maintenance of the Occupation of Palestinian Territories to the bombing of civilian areas in Gaza to the use of cluster bombs against Lebanese civilians in 2006. The use of weapons against civilians is in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act; even the U.S. State Department itself believed it likely that Israel's cluster bombs in Lebanon violated U.S. law. We implore the Senators to hold Israel accountable to U.S. law and prevent the use of our weapons against civilians.
Both Senators McCain and Obama continued to demand the exclusion of Hamas from the negotiating table.
We believe peace agreement cannot be achieved without Hamas at the table. While we, too, deplore any and all violence against civilians, we stand behind former President Jimmy Carter when he says that Hamas must be included in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. 64% of Israeli citizens want their government to speak to Hamas, the democratically elected leadership of the Palestinian people. Peace agreements are negotiated with enemies, not friends. For the sake of achieving a just peace, we ask the Senators to support the inclusion of Hamas in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Dear editor
Dear editor
I am writing in response to your coverage of news in the media. As an Arab-American who has lived in the West Bank during the second intifada, I have seen and experienced much. After moving to the states, I learned that the American people are very much unaware of the horrible acts taken upon Palestinian people everyday by the Israeli government. This is because of news channels that are “biased and uninformative”.
Some of the most popular news channels such as CNN, FOX, BBC, and SKY NEWS are extremely biased when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Often, I’d turn on the news and hear about an Israeli soldier who had been killed by Palestinians. They would give his full name, talk of his accomplishments, tell of his dreams and say he died doing his job; forgetting to mention that his job included killing innocent civilians, blocking roads that didn’t belong to his government, and demolishing Palestinian people’s homes built on their own lands. Important information is left out which changes the whole story and its meaning leaving people with the wrong idea.
I find it very hard to trust the news nowadays. I mean if people in the states know nothing of the large numbers of innocent civilians being killed, the number of homes being demolished, and the kind of humiliation the Palestinian people have been enduring for so long, then I must say, there is something seriously wrong. When the news chooses sides, or doesn’t give full information then that can lead to great misunderstanding. If people aren’t aware of wrong in the world then how can they make it a right?
In conclusion, if the news continues to carry on with false and biased information then this can and probably will lead to ignorance, non tolerance, and extremism. The news will become a fuel of hatred to many. Furthermore, people will continue to suffer, and however loud their cries are for help, the world will never be able to hear them and help them because their news will not let them know the truth.
I am writing in response to your coverage of news in the media. As an Arab-American who has lived in the West Bank during the second intifada, I have seen and experienced much. After moving to the states, I learned that the American people are very much unaware of the horrible acts taken upon Palestinian people everyday by the Israeli government. This is because of news channels that are “biased and uninformative”.
Some of the most popular news channels such as CNN, FOX, BBC, and SKY NEWS are extremely biased when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Often, I’d turn on the news and hear about an Israeli soldier who had been killed by Palestinians. They would give his full name, talk of his accomplishments, tell of his dreams and say he died doing his job; forgetting to mention that his job included killing innocent civilians, blocking roads that didn’t belong to his government, and demolishing Palestinian people’s homes built on their own lands. Important information is left out which changes the whole story and its meaning leaving people with the wrong idea.
I find it very hard to trust the news nowadays. I mean if people in the states know nothing of the large numbers of innocent civilians being killed, the number of homes being demolished, and the kind of humiliation the Palestinian people have been enduring for so long, then I must say, there is something seriously wrong. When the news chooses sides, or doesn’t give full information then that can lead to great misunderstanding. If people aren’t aware of wrong in the world then how can they make it a right?
In conclusion, if the news continues to carry on with false and biased information then this can and probably will lead to ignorance, non tolerance, and extremism. The news will become a fuel of hatred to many. Furthermore, people will continue to suffer, and however loud their cries are for help, the world will never be able to hear them and help them because their news will not let them know the truth.
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