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)”
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
Saturday, February 7, 2009
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/
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
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.”
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 FreeGaza 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.
Death, destruction, terrorism and ethnic cleansing were the foundation of the Jewish State of Israel. Zionism served as the justification politically and religiously. The United Nations led by the United Kingdom, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States of America allowed this injustice to the Palestinian people to occur. Partly out of guilt for it’s failure to stop the genocide of the Jews of Europe and also because the people of Palestine were not economically nor politically important to them.
God will never allow injustice to stand “as you sow, so shall you reap”.
Prayers For Obama
Prayers For Obama www.prayersforobama.orgCome give your prayer for President Obama
Posts
