The assault on Gaza has been an awakening for the American Arab and Muslim youth. The attacks came at the most festive holiday season of the year. Instead of celebrating, young American Arab and Muslim teenagers and kids spent their time protesting on the streets as they watched disturbing and devastating images streaming into their living rooms and onto their computers.

Amnesty International (AI), in its annual report on the Middle East released today, blamed Israel for breaking a six-month ceasefire with Palestinian group Hamas, and for grave breaches of Humanitarian law in its later offensive into the Gaza strip. Amnesty blamed Israel for having collectively punished the entirety of Gaza, and its civilians, with an 18-month crippling siege prior to the January conflict (that continues to this very day), and for a November fourth Israeli attack in Gaza, in which six Hamas fighters were killed. Israel had been expected in a June ceasefire agreement with Hamas to increase the amount of trucks let in to Gaza and to not instigate conflict. Israel did not live up to this agreement. Israel violated the ceasefire by first not diminishing its collective blockade of foodstuffs, medical supplies and building materials and second by invading Gaza on U.S. election day (November 4th).

In the ensuing debate in U.S. media over who started the conflict, blame repeatedly fell on the shoulders of Hamas. Even the U.S. President supported the Gaza offensive and blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire with renewed rocket attacks. It is refreshing to see an absolute refute of this "blame claim" by AI. Nevertheless, this does nothing to change the horrid conditions of Gaza.

Gaza continues to be under crippling Israeli siege. Products to rebuild the thousands of destroyed homes remain stuck at the border, along with simple foodstuffs such as couscous and pasta. The siege has been described as near-starvation of the Gazan people and many sick or injured have died at the hands of Israeli border authorities, waiting to leave Gaza to receive the medical treatment they desperately need. Hundreds continue to live in tents set up by UNRWA, and few have work to do. The Israeli authorities have created what has repeatedly been called a "concentration camp" or an "open-air prison," and yet, little continues to be done to relieve their perpetual suffering. It appears hopeless to rely on the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. to stop the suffering of Gaza's civilians. Instead, we must act ourselves. Act today by joining UB SJP and contribute to the cause of justice.

World Bank, Palestinian, Israel debate water crisis in West Bank

Xinhua article by David Harris, Huang Heng

JERUSALEM, May 27 (Xinhua) -- As many Palestinians in the West Bank living on just 15 liters of water per day, the World Bank believed "the water crisis has reached a humanitarian scale."

Pier Francesco Mantovani, the organization's lead water supply and sanitation specialist for the Middle East and North Africa, made the comment during an environmental conference in Jerusalem Wednesday after the World Bank published a report on the water situation in the Palestinian areas, with a focus on the West Bank.

According to the World Health Organization, the minimum quantity of water needed for short-term survival is 30 liters per capita per day.

Gaza's Reality

Gaza's Reality

The living conditions of Palestinian refugees living in Gaza.

Death In Gaza

Death In Gaza

GAZA

United Nations

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

FIELD UPDATE ON GAZA FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR

24 - 30 March 2009

Overview

In addition to limitations on humanitarian deliveries, restrictions on imports and exports in general continue to seriously affect the living conditions of the population. The vast majority of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip rely on local farming to produce affordable fresh foods, including fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. Movement restrictions continue to prevent herders and farmers from accessing areas near the borders. Fishermen stand to lose substantial income as a result of new restrictions that limit fishing to three miles from Gaza’s shores.

All Gaza patient referrals abroad have been halted affecting many patients with serious and complicated conditions due to the taking over of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health Referral Abroad Department by the Hamas authorities in Gaza. The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, together with the World Health Organization, has issued a joint statement expressing serious concerns about the halting of referrals out of the Gaza Strip.

Two months after the launch of the Flash Appeal for Gaza, the level of funding received stands at just 35 percent. For example, the 27 agricultural recovery projects aimed at protecting the livelihoods of the most vulnerable farming families received only USD 2.3 million of the USD 30 million requested.

During the reporting period, two Palestinians were injured, one civilian and one armed man in two separate incidents. In addition, Israeli patrol boats opened fire on five different occasions warning Palestinian fishing boats west of Rafah and west of Beit Lahia, forcing the boats to return to shore.

Commodities Import

During the period from 22 to 28 March, a total of 721 truckloads of goods including 129 for humanitarian aid agencies (18%), were allowed entry to Gaza compared to 728 reported during the last week.

This week new food items (tea, yeast, salt, potato chips) were allowed entry through commercial channels after being barred since late October 2008. Food supplies accounted for the vast majority of imported commodities, 568 truckloads (79 percent), followed by hygiene/cleaning supplies (including soap and shampoo, barred since October 2008), which accounted for 118 truckloads (16 percent). Non-edible consumables (blankets and mattresses) made up 26 truckloads (4 percent).

The remaining 9 truckloads were divided among the medical supplies (1), education/stationery supplies (2), agricultural raw materials (4) and packaging applications (2).

No construction materials, industrial/electrical appliances, livestock, vehicles/transport and/or any other type of commodity were allowed entry this week.

Exports

Two (2) truckloads of carnations (nearly 54,000 cut flowers) were exported on 23 and 26 March through Kerem Shalom crossings. The Palestine Trade Centre reported that in season, which ends by late April/May, there are only 25 dunums (out of 400 – 500 dunums in a normal production season) with a carnation production capacity of nearly 50,000 flowers per week each. Since 12 February 2009, approximately 450,000 flowers have been allowed out through Kerem Shalom out of an expected 6 million flowers being produced this season. Gaza farmers can export 40 to 50 million flowers in a normal production season. 2

1. Information on the status of border crossings and numbers of trucks crossing is compiled by OCHA Gaza, based on data provided by the Gaza Ministry of National Economy, UNRWA, UNSCO and Paltrade (Palestine Trade Centre) and cross-checked with data received from COGAT and covers the period 22 to 28 March.

2. This represents a correction of flower production estimates per season contained in the last update.

The Gaza Crisis

None Of Us Are Free

Solomon Burke _ "None Of Us Are Free"



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What is Dignity?



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Stand Against Apartheid

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
"There can be no peace, there can be no security, there can be no freedom in isolation. Israelis and Palestinians will be free, will be secure, will prosper only together.
My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity – especially on the situation in Gaza - shames us all. It is almost like the behaviour of the military junta in Burma.
Gaza needs the engagement of the outside world, especially of its peacemakers.
Finally, to you our brothers and sisters in Gaza: you will be free. Your isolation and loneliness will end. We want you to know that we are with you, and we will come back to celebrate with you your freedom! "

*********************

"The UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.( without the resolution of conflicts in East Timor, the Sudan and other parts of the world)”

Nelson Mandela

Boycott, Divest, Sanctions

Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction
Lookout
By Naomi Klein
This article appeared in the January 26, 2009 edition of The Nation.

It's time!! Long past time!!! ….. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.
In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era." The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions--BDS for short--was born.
Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause, and talk of cease-fires is doing little to slow the momentum. Support is even emerging among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors stationed in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the antiapartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves.... This international backing must stop."
Yet many still can't go there. The reasons are complex, emotional and understandable. And they simply aren't good enough. Economic sanctions are the most effective tools in the nonviolent arsenal. Surrendering them verges on active complicity. Here are the top four objections to the BDS strategy, followed by counterarguments.
1. Punitive measures will alienate rather than persuade Israelis. The world has tried what used to be called "constructive engagement." It has failed utterly. Since 2006 Israel has been steadily escalating its criminality: expanding settlements, launching an outrageous war against Lebanon and imposing collective punishment on Gaza through the brutal blockade. Despite this escalation, Israel has not faced punitive measures--quite the opposite. The weapons and $3 billion in annual aid that the US sends to Israel is only the beginning. Throughout this key period, Israel has enjoyed a dramatic improvement in its diplomatic, cultural and trade relations with a variety of other allies. For instance, in 2007 Israel became the first non-Latin American country to sign a free-trade deal with Mercosur. In the first nine months of 2008, Israeli exports to Canada went up 45 percent. A new trade deal with the European Union is set to double Israel's exports of processed food. And on December 8, European ministers "upgraded" the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a reward long sought by Jerusalem.*
It is in this context that Israeli leaders started their latest war: confident they would face no meaningful costs. It is remarkable that over seven days of wartime trading, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's flagship index actually went up 10.7 percent. When carrots don't work, sticks are needed.
2. Israel is not South Africa. Of course it isn't. The relevance of the South African model is that it proves that BDS tactics can be effective when weaker measures (protests, petitions, back-room lobbying) have failed. And there are indeed deeply distressing echoes: the color-coded IDs and travel permits, the bulldozed homes and forced displacement, the settler-only roads. Ronnie Kasrils, a prominent South African politician, said that the architecture of segregation that he saw in the West Bank and Gaza in 2007 was "infinitely worse than apartheid."
3. Why single out Israel when the United States, Britain and other Western countries do the same things in Iraq and Afghanistan? Boycott is not a dogma; it is a tactic. The reason the BDS strategy should be tried against Israel is practical: in a country so small and trade-dependent, it could actually work.
4. Boycotts sever communication; we need more dialogue, not less. This one I'll answer with a personal story. For eight years, my books have been published in Israel by a commercial house called Babel. But when I published The Shock Doctrine, I wanted to respect the boycott. On the advice of BDS activists, I contacted a small publisher called Andalus. Andalus is an activist press, deeply involved in the anti-occupation movement and the only Israeli publisher devoted exclusively to translating Arabic writing into Hebrew. We drafted a contract that guarantees that all proceeds go to Andalus's work, and none to me. In other words, I am boycotting the Israeli economy but not Israelis.
Coming up with this plan required dozens of phone calls, e-mails and instant messages, stretching from Tel Aviv to Ramallah to Paris to Toronto to Gaza City. My point is this: as soon as you start implementing a boycott strategy, dialogue increases dramatically. And why wouldn't it? Building a movement requires endless communicating, as many in the antiapartheid struggle well recall. The argument that supporting boycotts will cut us off from one another is particularly specious given the array of cheap information technologies at our fingertips. We are drowning in ways to rant at one another across national boundaries. No boycott can stop us.
Just about now, many a proud Zionist is gearing up for major point-scoring: don't I know that many of those very high-tech toys come from Israeli research parks, world leaders in infotech? True enough, but not all of them. Several days into Israel's Gaza assault, Richard Ramsey, the managing director of a British telecom company, sent an e-mail to the Israeli tech firm MobileMax. "As a result of the Israeli government action in the last few days we will no longer be in a position to consider doing business with yourself or any other Israeli company."
When contacted by The Nation, Ramsey said his decision wasn't political. "We can't afford to lose any of our clients, so it was purely commercially defensive."
It was this kind of cold business calculation that led many companies to pull out of South Africa two decades ago. And it's precisely the kind of calculation that is our most realistic hope of bringing justice, so long denied, to Palestine.
Further Reading: Disengagement and the Frontiers of Zionism
____
On January 14, in response to Israel's aggression in Gaza, the EU * called off its plans to upgrade the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a sign of growing understanding that political sanctions can be brought to bear to bring an end to the war.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090126/klein

An open letter to President Obama

 Dear President Obama,

Your presidency marks the beginning of a new era in America and in the world. Against all odds and maybe even our own better judgment, you taught us to hope again. Now, the crisis in Gaza demands that you match our hope with real progress. And, just to be clear, those who voted for you aren't the only ones doing the hoping.

We are Americans who voted for you and we are Palestinians and Israelis a world away. We are the women, men, and children who are suffering every single day in Gaza and Israel and we are the people who seek to heal their suffering. We are mothers of soldiers and children of refuseniks. We are Jews and Muslims, Christians and Atheists. We are united in our call to you today:

Please, support peace for the people of Gaza and Israel.

Press for an end to the blockade of Gaza, so that the people there can have food, medicine, fuel, and basic necessities. That is the only way that they can live, thrive, and rebuild their economy.

Talk to everyone, including Hamas. The late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban said, "You make peace by talking to your enemies." This holds true today. Even a majority of American Jews support negotiations even with Israelis "worst enemies."

Back up talk with actions. This includes monitoring arms smuggling into Gaza and U.S. military aid to Israel. These
weapons are killing mostly children and civilians.

And, support the Peace Plan. 57 countries around the world support this plan that provides independence and support for both Israel and Palestine. Peace Plan supporters won't wait for the United States forever – and without the United States, it won't happen. It's that simple.

President Obama, we will continue to hope, and to support your efforts. Please, don't let us down. Please deliver the promise of hope.

Signed, Ronald G B White



http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

Palestine: Shout Out Justice, Peace, and Freedom
http://camron46palestine.blogspot.com/

Israel Is Preventing Repair of the Electrical, Water and Sewage Systems in Gaza



News Release – For Immediate Release-Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Despite Promises to Facilitate Humanitarian Aid…
Israel Is Preventing Repair of the Electrical, Water and Sewage Systems in Gaza

Policy of Deliberate Obstruction Continues Even After the Ceasefire:

The amount of industrial diesel Israel has permitted to enter Gaza is just 64% of the total needed to operate the power station.
Since the fighting ended, Israel has totally obstructed the transfer of vital spare parts needed to repair the electrical, water and sewage systems.
As a result, 1/4 million people have been without electricity in Gaza for the past month; power outages span 16-18 hours a day for the others.
More than 200,000 people have no access to running water; the rest get water for only a few hours every 2-5 days.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 – Ten days after the ceasefire, and despite promises to permit humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents, Israel is continuing its deliberate policy of restricting supply of industrial diesel and humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip.The policy, in place for the past 15 months, is preventing the supply of electricity to humanitarian facilities in Gaza.

As a result of the restrictions on the supply of industrial diesel and the mass devastation caused by the military operation, 1/4 million people have been entirely without electricity for over a month, and more than 200,000 people are denied access to running water. Those who receive electricity -- suffer power outages of 16-18 hours per day, on average.

Ihab Abu Zaiter, a 32-year-old father of three, living east of Jabaliya, whose home was partially destroyed in the bombings, has been living entirely without electricity for the past month:“We don't buy any food that requires refrigeration; it’s like living in the Middle Ages,” he said. “We light a fire inside the house in order to keep the children warm.This is a very cold month, and we can’t sleep without the fire, but I’m afraid that the rest of the house will catch fire or that the children will burn themselves.”

The amount of industrial diesel that has been transferred since the ceasefire represents just 64% of the total required to fully operate the power station.In addition, Israel is continuing to impede the transfer of thousands of spare parts which are desperately needed to ensure repairs and the operation of the electrical, water and sewage systems.Some of the parts have been “stuck” in warehouses on the Israeli side for months.

Among these spare parts are 38 transformers which are essential for the repair of the electrical system, following the destruction of more than 100 transformers during the bombing. During the military operation, Israel permitted the supply of a bare minimum of spare parts to the electricity company's warehouse in Gaza – but four days later it bombed the warehouse, destroying much of the equipment.Since then, Israel has not allowed any spare parts to be supplied to the electrical system.

According to Nedal Touman, Project Manager at the Gaza Electricity Distribution Co. (GEDCO): "Our inventory has been completely empty for the past few months. Israel is not permitting the entry of spare parts that we purchased and which have been stuck for months at Karni Crossing. Without the spare parts, we cannot repair the badly-damaged electricity system in Gaza, meaning that 1.5 million people will continue to suffer."

According to Adv. Sari Bashi, Executive Director of Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement:“The deliberate withholding of supplies from Gaza for the past 15 months is what pushed its residents to a humanitarian collapse.If Israel’s stated intention to permit aid to the population of Gaza is genuine, it should prove it by immediately opening the Strip’s crossings to the supply of fuels and goods.”


http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

Palestine: Shout Out Justice, Peace, and Freedom
http://camron46palestine.blogspot.com/

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Gaza Conflict Drags On, Talk of Cease Fire

A poem for Gaza

By Remi Kanazi

I never knew death until I saw the bombing of a refugee camp
Craters filled with disfigured ankles and splattered torsos 
But no sign of a face, the only impression a fading scream
I never understood pain
Until a seven-year-old girl clutched my hand
Stared up at me with soft brown eyes, waiting for answers
But I didn't have any 
I had muted breath and dry pens in my back pocket
That couldn't fill pages of understanding or resolution

In her other hand she held the key to her grandmother's house
But I couldn't unlock the cell that caged her older brothers
They said, we slingshot dreams so the other side will feel our father's presence 
A craftsman
Built homes in areas where no one was building
And when he fell, he was silent
A .50 caliber bullet tore through his neck shredding his vocal cords
Too close to the wall
His hammer must have been a weapon
He must have been a weapon
Encroaching on settlement hills and demographics

So his daughter studies mathematics
Seven explosions times eight bodies 
Equals four Congressional resolutions
Seven Apache helicopters times eight Palestinian villages
Equals silence and a second Nakba
Our birthrate minus their birthrate
Equals one sea and 400 villages re-erected
One state plus two peoples…and she can't stop crying
Never knew revolution or the proper equation
Tears at the paper with her fingertips
Searching for answers
But only has teachers
Looks up to the sky and see stars of David demolishing squalor with hellfire missiles 

She thinks back words and memories of his last hug before he turned and fell
Now she pumps dirty water from wells, while settlements divide and conquer
And her father's killer sits beachfront with European vernacular
She thinks back words, while they think backwards
Of obscene notions and indigenous confusion

This our land!, she said
She's seven years old
This our land!, she said
And she doesn't need a history book or a schoolroom teacher
She has these walls, this sky, her refugee camp
She doesn't know the proper equation
But she sees my dry pens
No longer waiting for my answers
Just holding her grandmother's key…searching for ink