Le scimmiate andate in scena per l’anniversario della caduta del muro di Berlino sono sufficientemente esaustive di ciò che significa cerimoniare quando non c’è nulla da celebrare. E’ stata, come sempre, una buona occasione per ricordare gli eroi dell’anticomunismo, avallando Vladimir Putin e le sfere di influenza, ancora intatte, della grande madre patria russa. Ma ciò che la propaganda neoliberista tenta forsennatamente di distruggere non sono i muri o le ideologie ma la speranza di un mondo migliore. E’ questo lo spirito delle celebrazioni, stracolme di stars della musica e foraggiate da sponsor milionari, alla fine delle quali ci si dimentica anche le ragioni delle stesse. La Barriera di protezione antifascista fu costruita per ragioni ovvie in seguito alla spartizione dell’Europa post-seconda guerra mondiale. Nell’ atlantica Italia ci sarebbe stata GLADIO a garantire pace e democrazia. Da qui, oggi, la necessità di costruire nuovi muri e di distruggere quelli già in piedi, perchè il mondo nuovo e migliore è oltre la barricata, il curanderozapatista vive nella parte sbagliata.

ISRAEL SUCKS.

Wartawan Swedia “Donald Bustrm” mengungkapkan bahwa Otorita Palestina dan situs-situs medianya mengatahui Israel mencuri organ para korban Palestina yang terluka dan para syuhada. Otoritas Palestina sengaja tidak berusaha menunjukkan topik ini dan mengungkapnya, tetapi dengan sengaja membiarkannya.

Bustrm mengatakan hal tersebut dalam sebuah konferensi pers pada hari Ahad (11/10) di Damaskus. Dia mengatakan, “Tindakan Zionis mencuri organ tubuh warga Palestina diketahui para pemimpin Otoritas Palestina, Yasser Arafat dan pers Palestina. Mereka tahu masalah yang muncul dan kemudian menghilang.” Dia menambahkan bahwa “para pemimpin Otoritas Palestina tidak bekerja untuk menunjukkan masalah ini dan tidak berbicara tentang hal tersebut. Dan ketika saya memberitahu mereka, mereka pun mengabaikannya. Sesungguhnya saya tidak punya penjelasan atas apa yang terjadi.”

Dia menyatakan kecewa dengan pemerintah Arab pada umumnya dan Otoritas Palestina pada khususnya karena tidak melakukan reaksi apapun. Tidak membawa masalah tersebut kepada Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa dan tidak melakukan sesuatu untuk keluarga-keluarga Palestina.

Wartawan Swedia ini berbicara tentang kejahatan pencurian organ tubuh warga Palestina, yang mencakup dua hal; pertama orang Zionis membeli organ orang-orang miskin Palestina dan menjualnya di New York (Amerika Serikat), yang kedua orang Zionis mencuri organ tubuh orang Palestina yang terluka atau gugur. Dia melanjutkan, “Ada pencurian organ tubuh yang termotivasi oleh faktor ilmiah; di mana mayat-mayat warga Palestina digunakan di kelas-kelas sains di sekolah-sekolah entitas Zionis.”

Bustrm mengatakan, disebabkan oleh publikasi investigasi jurnalistiknya, dia mendapatkan ratusan pesan ancaman. Akibat dari investigasi yang dialakukan dia mengalami “banyak kesulitan” dan tidak bisa bekerja di berbagai institusi media.

Donald Bustrm melakukan investigasi yang dipublikasikan dengan judul “Amak-anak Kita Dimutilasi Organ Tubihnya”, dan diterbitkan di salah satu surat kabar negaranya. Laporan investigasi ini mengungkap pencurian organ tubuh orang-orang Palestina setelah mereka gugur atau dibunuh oleh Zionis Israel untuk diperdagangkan.

sumber: infopalestina.com

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently needs a little dose of that horrible subject called “REALITY”.

Today he vowed never to “allow Israeli leaders or soldiers to stand trial for war crimes over their actions during last winter’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip”, basically denouncing a recent U.N. report in his address to parliament. In other words, Israel’s corrupt politicians are all above the law – even if they specialize in killing civilians?!?!

Rest assured Benji, you can’t hide behind that behemoth wall forever – you might have to become a politician someday!!!
How’s that for a laugh?

A few years ago I bought a “Free Palestine” pin on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California. I thought nothing of it at the time. I was probably still in my bleeding heart save the gay baby seals stage of teenage activism and showcased it in a wall of liberal cliched fame.

Last year was my first year at New York University. I moved from one incredibly tolerant area to one seeming other–except for the high, high propensity of Jewish students and people. In class, in forging new friendships, and in random conversations I felt the need to mask my views, to express myself only through seeming to be a devil’s advocate, forever afraid that my peace-nik, why-don’t-you-stop-an-illegal-occupation-already-and-live-in-peace-and-cultural-harmony self would be interpreted as an angry, Angst ridden kuffiyeh flourishing Arab-American college student who wanted to drive all Jews into the sea.

Things happened this summer. I honed my views, grew older and wiser, read more books, got more involved, and resurrected my “Free Palestine” in in my treasure trove of liberal propaganda. Ever since then, it has been placed on the handle of my purse, just small enough to not be shoved down your throat, but just large enough to start a conversation.

Sure, I’m the queen of sassy political backlash, but I was a little scared to walk by the Yalmuke’d boys on eighth street after their Matzo ball dinners. The pathetic Greek life that NYU has are Jewish communes of boys partying it up with wine on Shabbat, not to mention an overdose of Long Island and Westchester Jewish American offsprings. I had no desire to offend, only to express myself.

So far, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. Sure, I got accosted by Jewish frat boys who didn’t know me at the Students for Justice in Palestine Table at the NYU club fest. Granted, I’ve had a few death stares with the words “I’m Israeli” (Yeah, I’m Lebanese so suck my hummus plate)…but I’ve also made a new friendship, had a Palestinian stranger tell me that it “made his day to see a young woman represent the flag”, and a woman in the elevator just today say that she was in solidarity with me and hoped for a Free Palestine as soon as possible.

What have I learned? Take comments in stride, smile, be gracious, and you’ll be surprised what wearing a little more green, red, white, and black and a lot more of your heart on your sleeve can do. Or purse handle as the case may be.

(Get started!)

Markas “Al Quds untuk Hak-hak Sosial dan Ekonomi” menyerukan pemerintahan Presiden Obama untuk memberi sanksi organisasi dan asosiasi Amerika Yahudi yang aktif di Amerika Serikat, yang mendanai pembangunan permukiman Zionis di wilayah Palestina.

Markas al Quds mengatakan dalam sebuah laporan yang dikeluarkan hari Sabtu (12/9), “Organisasi-organisasi dan asosiasi Amerika ini membiayai pembangunan permukiman Yahudi di wilayah Palestina, terutama di kota al Quds; di mana sebagian dana dari organisasi-organisasi ini digunakan untuk mengakuisisi rumah dan bangunan warga kota al Quds dan pengusiran mereka dari sana. Seperti yang terjadi baru-baru ini dalam penyitaan rumah keluarga al Ghawi, Hanun dan lebih dari 70 rumah di kota tua dan sekitar 40 rumah lainnya di Silwan.”

Laporan yang diberi judul “Orang-orang Amerika mendukung dan mendanai permukiman Yahudi di wilayah Palestina”, ini menyatakan, “(Tindakan) ini bertentangan dengan undang undang Amerika, banyak asosiasi dan organisasi Israel – yang paling terkenal adalah yayasan milik jutawan Yahudi Amerika Irving Moskowitz – mendanai penuh semua kegiatan permukiman di al Quds; mulai dari perampasan hak milik warga, dana untuk pembelian tanah dan bangunan dengan cara pemalsuan dan penipuan di Kota Tua dan daerah sekitarnya.”

Laporan ini menyatakan bahwa yayasan yang merupakan salah satu dari 1.000 lembaga khusus di Amerika Serikat ini telah “berhasil dalam pembiayaan akuisisi dari 70 properti di dalam tembok kota lama melalui organisasi “Attiyrat Khanim”. Proyek terpentingan yang dilaksanakan oleh organisasi-organisasi Yahudi Amerika ini adalah “membangun kampung permukiman” di jantung kampung Ras al Amud beberapa tahun lalu, yang diberi nama “Ma’ale Hazeetim”. Letak permukiman ini hanya 150 meter dari Masjid Al Aqsha dan meliputi 132 unit permukiman.”
Perlu disebutkan bahwa pemilik yayasan Amerika berada di belakang pembiayaan puluhan penjualan property yang mencurigakan di sekitar perkampungan Kota Tua, dan semua transaksi ini didanai dari ruang judi milik Moskowitz di berbagai wilayah di Amerika Serikat. (seto)

sumber: infopalestina.com

Several NGOs and human rights groups demonstrated in central Rabat on Wednesday evening, September 9th, against Israeli policies in Palestinian territories.

Organizers say they support Palestinians, but not policies like the siege imposed by Israel on the Gaza strip.

They are also calling for the Moroccan government not to normalize ties with Israel.

The Moroccan NGOs say Washington is putting pressure on some moderate Arab States, including Morocco, to resume ties with Israel.

Demonstrators chanted slogans in support of Palestinians, calling for an end to Israeli occupation and settlement construction, and for ending the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.

[Khalid Sefiani, Chairman of Iraqi and Palestinian Support Coaltion]:
“Morocco believes that the Palestinian cause is the cause of the whole nation. If this is how we, who are far away, feel, then you can imagine how those who are close (to the Palestinian territories) feel. Moroccans are convinced that Palestine is part of them and that its problems are part and parcel of its problems too because the Zionist project is not targeting Palestine alone.”

Morocco closed the Israeli liaison bureau in Rabat in 2001.

The Moroccan government did not confirm nor deny reports leaked by the Israeli media saying that the Israeli liaison bureau in Rabat may be reopened soon.

I always feel vehemently fundamental when I bring up the BDS movement. I feel at risk, on the line, and more than likely about to unintentionally offend everyone around me. Even though in my views I have no racist sentiment (I think an Israeli state should exist alongside with a Palestinian state, I simply think it should stop occupying and stealing land from it’s long established neighbor. Though popular sentiment pegs this view as an angry Arab that wants to drive the Jews into the sea, I see no trace of anti-Semitism in my prayers for peace.)

Thanks seanfderry-studenna on flickr commons for the image

The ironic thing is that boycotting Israeli goods and divesting from Israel seems like the most logical, effective, and also peaceful measure that we could take. Protesting, screaming “1,2,3,4 we don’t want to bomb no more” can be a nice catharsis and economic boost for Halls cough drops (do they give money to Israel?) but at the end of the day our green, black, red, and white haze of glory fades away and leaves us with the same ordeal.

So I invite anyone out there to reconsider boycotting. It’s not a sign of hatred, but a personal choice to drive the economics of the situation towards a more equal distribution of power, less capacity for violence, and hopeful peace. Money screams louder than kuffiyeh printed megaphones. I invite you to assess the situation, research the cause, and change your spending habits and the products you support.

Check out the campaigns links on the right column to get you started!

Ramadhan di Gaza benar-benar menyisahkan kisah dan kesan tersendiri.

Jika di beberapa negara Muslim lainnya, umat Muslim dan kota-kotanya menyambut serta memeriahkan malam-malam Ramadhan dengan gegap-gempita cahaya lampu, maka di Gaza lain lagi ceritanya.

Bayangkan,..umat Muslim di wilayah pesisir yang juga jalur perbatasan Palestina itu menjalani malam-malam Ramadhan tanpa listrik.

Mereka berbuka puasa, shalat tarawih berjama’ah, dan sahur dengan keadaan gelap gulita.

Sejak diboikot Israel pasca menangnya sayap Hamas di wilayah tersebut, Gaza seolah kota yang terisolasi,..

kota yang susah air, susah listrik, susah BBM, bahan pangan, dan seterusnya. Kondisi ini kian parah pasca penyerbuan Israel terhadap wilayah yang luasnya tak lebih dari kota Depok itu awal tahun lalu.

Di senja hari pertama bulan Ramadhan, Abu Mahmud, salah seorang kepala keluarga yang tinggal di bilangan as-Shabrah yang sederhana, telah menyalakan lilin dan lampu minyak.

“Hari ini tak ada listrik, juga sampai malam nanti. Kami harus menyalakan lilin dan lampu minyak untuk pencahayaan di malam hari,” katanya.

Dan petang itu, Abu mahmud beserta delapan orang anggota keluarganya, berbuka puasa di tengah remang cahaya lilin dan lampu minyak.

“Apakah masuk akal kita berbuka puasa di tengah gelap gulita?” tanyanya.

Di hari pertama bulan Ramadhan itu, arus listrik di rumahnya dan di bilangannya harus terputus selama delapan jam, karena mendapatkan giliran pemadaman. Maklum, pasca boikot dan serbuan Israel ke Gaza, listrik menjadi barang langka dan mahal.

“Boikot dan serbuan Israel ke wilayah kecil ini telah menghancurkan segalanya,” tambah Abu Mahmud.

Meski demikian, Abu Mahmud dan muslim Gaza lainnya tetap merasa berbahagia dan bersuka cita menyambut datangnya bulan ramadhan yang penuh berkah ini.

Olivenbäume

Und wieder wird gegen Landraub und Apartheid demonstriert, der Trennungszaun bei Ni’ilin wird durch eine hohe Betonmauer ersetzt, gebaut auf palästinensischem Land, hier etwas Hintergrundinformation über Tote, Verletzte und Verschleppte aus der West Bank. (Neue Videos sind noch nicht da.).

Ein kurzes Video

Menschenrechtler und Demonstranten müssen hohe Strafen bezahlen und werden mit der Auflage entlassen, nicht mehr an den Freitags-Demos teilnehmen zu dürfen und es gibt für Freitage noch eine Art Hausarrest. Das ist die viel gepriesene Demokratie nebst Recht…

In Bil in haben inzwischen auch die Kinder dagegen protestiert,  von vermummten israelischen Soldaten geweckt zu werden bei deren nächtlichen Besuchen. Es werden Leute geschlagen und immer wieder verschleppt. Ich vermute, um den Widerstand zu brechen, welches das Dorf den Besatzern und der Trennungsmauer entgegen setzen. Seit über vier Jahren finden Freitags- Demonstrationen statt. Gegen Apartheid, Mauerbau, Landraub, nächtliche Überfälle, Kidnapping und auch zum Gedenken an Bassem, getötet durch israelischen Beschuss. Ich bewundere diese Menschen, immer wieder und wieder stehen sie auf und trotzen dem  von der israelischen Regierung angeordneten Terror. Menschenrechte sind für Palästinenser nicht vorgesehen , unsere Regierung übersieht es weiterhin geflissentlich und auch die Mehrzahl der Medien schweigt noch immer. Aber ab und zu sickert doch etwas durch. Israels Soldaten befinden sich immer im Kriegszustand mit Zivilisten, siehe auch Tristan Anderson, ein amerikanischer Friedenaktivist. Der Anwalt der Familie: ” The Andersons lawyer, Michael Sfard, believes that branding a civil demonstration as an ‘act of war’ could only mean that Israel is at war with civilians…”

( Von den rassistisch, faschistischen Kommentaren unter dem Artikel von Press-TV distanziere ich mich ausdrücklich, sie geben in keinem Fall meine Meinung wieder)

Heute habe ich mir von Abraham Melzer den SEMIT gekauft, ein empfehlenswerter Lesestoff in einer unabhängigen jüdischen Zeitschrift.  Und ich  habe eine riesige Sammlung von Issa Nakhleh ” über das palästinensische Problem ” gefunden, sie zu lesen erfordert viel Zeit.

Und auch hierüber von ” Neturei Karta International” könnte gesprochen werden und auch diesen Beitrag über den iranischen Präsidenten finde ich interessant.

Hier endlich ein Bericht zu Ezra Nawis letzter Gerichtsverhandlung, ich hatte bereits danach gesucht.

Und es stellt sich mir die Frage, ist Israel eine “Militärdiktatur”? Diesen Artikel möchte ich ebenfalls empfehlen.

Und da  nun im Gespräch, mener Meinung nach  Jahren von  Verschweigen und ” Weg-Sehen”, ein  Link auf die Tagesschau,. Ich hoffe nur die Pressefreiheit hält durch. Untersuchungen fände ich wichtig, um die Vorwürfe zu bestätigen oder auch zu entkräften…

ISSUED  BY:
*   _The  Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott
of Israel_ (http://www.pacbi.org/)  (PACBI)
*   _Adalah-NY: The Coalition for  Justice in the Middle East_
(http://adalahny.org/)
*   _Boycott! Supporting  the Palestinian BDS Call from Within _
(http://www.boycottisrael.info/) (Israel)
*   _British Committee for the  Universities of Palestine_
(http://www.bricup.org.uk/)  (BRICUP)
*   _International Jewish  Anti-Zionist Network_
(http://www.ijsn.net/home/)
*   _Jews Against the  Occupation-NYC_ (http://www.jatonyc.org/)
*   _Jews for Boycotting  Israeli Goods_ (http://www.bigcampaign.org/)
(UK)
*   _New York Campaign for  the Boycott of Israel_
(http://boycottisraelnyc.org/)  (NYCBI)
*   _New York City Labor  Against the War_
(http://nyclaw01.wordpress.com/)
*   _Palestine  Solidarity Campaign_
(http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index2b.asp)  (UK)
*   _US Campaign for the  Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel_
(http://usacbi.wordpress.com/)
August  5, 2009
The  Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of  Israel
(PACBI) and groups around the world have been calling  for months for
musician Leonard Cohen to cancel his planned  September concert in Israel. With
the international community  failing to take action to stop Israeli oppression
of the  Palestinian people, and inspired by the international boycott
movement that helped bring an end to apartheid in South  Africa, Palestinian
civil society has launched calls for _Boycott,  Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)_
(http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52)  against Israel, including  an
academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Ninety-three  artists, writers and
other cultural workers have _signed  onto_
(http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=415&key=filmmakers)  the Palestinian cultural boycott call. Many
dignitaries signed the “_No  Reason to Celebrate_
(http://www.pngo.net/data/files/english_statements/08/PNGO-THT-HP5208(2).pdf) ” pledge and refused to
participate in  any artistic or literary event during Israel’s year-long 60th
anniversary celebrations.
Feeling  the heat of the protests, Cohen and his PR staff tried to
schedule a small concert in Ramallah to “balance” his concert  in Israel. However,
Palestinians rejected the Ramallah concert  and any claimed symmetry
between the occupying power and the  people under occupation.
Now  Cohen and his PR staff are trying to whitewash the concert in  Israel
by using Amnesty International USA’s good name.  According to _a  July 28th
article_
(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1248277906714&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull)  in the Jerusalem Post, Amnesty
International USA will serve as sponsor of a new fund. The  fund will launder the
money raised at Cohen’s concert in  Israel by using it to finance programs for “
peace.”
In  response, sixteen groups and coalitions issued a July 30th  Open Letter
to Amnesty International calling on Amnesty to be  true to its values and
immediately withdraw support for  Leonard Cohen’s ill-conceived concert in
Israel. The groups  noted that by supporting Cohen’s concert, Amnesty
International is undermining a successful effort by  Palestinian and international
civil society to end Israel’s  occupation and other violations of
international law and human  rights principles. Amnesty International also is
partnering in  the initiative with Israeli institutions that undermine peace,
including a bank directly involved in supporting Israeli  settlement
construction. The only alleged Palestinian partner  has announced it is not taking part.
TAKE  ACTION
Please  email Amnesty International, calling on Amnesty to withdraw  from
support for Cohen’s concert. Amnesty International is  recognized by many as
defending human rights worldwide, so  please be respectful and courteous in
your message.
You  can write and email your own letter, or use the sample letter  below
and email it, or send an editable form letter via the  website of the New
York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel:
_http://boycottisraelnyc.org/category/629/tell-amnesty-international-entertaining-apartheid-israel-deserves-no-amne
sty_
(http://boycottisraelnyc.org/category/629/tell-amnesty-international-entertaining-apartheid-israel-deserves-no-amnesty) .  Further below, for
reference, is the full Open Letter to  Amnesty International.
If  you send your own email, please email your letter  to:
_lcox@aiusa.org_ (mailto:lcox@aiusa.org) , _cgoering@aiusa.org_
(mailto:cgoering@aiusa.org) , _ZJanmohamed@aiusa.org_ (mailto:ZJanmohamed@aiusa.org) ,
_ikhan@amnesty.org_ (mailto:ikhan@amnesty.org) , _msmart@amnesty.org_
(mailto:msmart@amnesty.org) , _ccordone@amnesty.org_
(http://ccordone@amnesty.org/) ,  _drovera@amnesty.org_ (http://drovera@amnesty.org/)
-Larry  Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA
-Curt  Goering, Senior Deputy Executive Director of Amnesty  International
USA
-Zahir Janmohamed, Advocacy Director for  the Middle East and North Africa
at Amnesty International  USA
-Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary  General
-Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International (UK) Senior  Director
-Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International (UK) Middle  East Director, Research
and Regional Programs
-Donatella  Rovera, Amnesty International (UK) Researcher on Israel and
the Occupied Palestinian Territories)
If  you email your own letter, please cc it to:
_noamnesty4israeliapartheid@gmail.com_ (mailto:noamnesty4israeliapartheid@gmail.com)   so that we can
keep track of the  responses.
____________________________________

SAMPLE  LETTER TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Dear  Amnesty International,
I  hold Amnesty International’s worldwide work for human rights  and
international law in high esteem. For this reason, I was  very troubled to learn
that Amnesty International has agreed  to manage a fund that will disburse
the proceeds from Leonard  Cohen’s planned concert in Israel in September. I
call on  Amnesty International to be true to your values, distance  yourself
from efforts to normalize Israel’s occupation and  apartheid, and
immediately withdraw support for Leonard  Cohen’s ill-conceived concert in Israel.
By  supporting Cohen’s concert, Amnesty International will be  subverting
the worldwide movement to boycott Israel, a  non-violent, effective effort by
Palestinian and international  civil society to end Israel’s violations of
international law  and human rights principles. Accepting funds from the
proceeds  of Cohen’s concert in Israel is the equivalent of Amnesty  accepting
tainted funds from a concert in Sun City in  apartheid South Africa.
Ninety-three  artists, writers and other cultural workers have _signed
onto_ (http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=415&key=filmmakers)  the
Palestinian cultural boycott call. Many  dignitaries signed the “_No  Reason to
Celebrate_
(http://www.pngo.net/data/files/english_statements/08/PNGO-THT-HP5208(2).pdf) ” pledge and refused to participate in  any artistic or literary
event during Israel’s year-long 60th  anniversary celebrations.
In  his protest resignation from Amnesty International over this  issue,
Irish author and composer, Raymond Deane, wrote:
“By  assisting Cohen in his ruse to bypass this boycott, Amnesty
International is in fact taking a political stance, in  violation of the premise of
political neutrality with which it  so regularly justifies its failure to
side unambiguously with  the oppressed. Amnesty is telling us: resistance is
futile,  the voice of the oppressed is irrelevant, international  humanitarian
law is a luxury.”
Furthermore,  the Israeli partners in the concert, the Peres Center for
Peace and Israel Discount Bank, actively hinder efforts to  achieve a just
peace. A columnist in Israel’s Ha’aretz Daily  called the Peres Center for
Peace patronizing and colonial  organization that is in the business of
training “the  Palestinian population to accept its inferiority and prepare  it to
survive under the arbitrary constraints imposed by  Israel.” According to
research by Who Profits, a project of  Israel’s Coalition of Women for Peace,
Israel Discount Bank is  deeply involved in supporting Israel’s settlement
enterprise.  Israeli settlements violate the very tenets of international
law that Amnesty International works to uphold.
Finally,  the only Palestinian organization falsely reported in the July
28th Jerusalem Post article as being a partner in this  project, the
Palestinian Happy Child Center, has confirmed  that it is not taking part. There is
no Palestinian  organization participating in this whitewash.
Thank  you for your attention to this vital human rights issue. I  look
forward to learning of Amnesty International’s withdrawal  of its support for
the Leonard Cohen concert in Israel.
Sincerely,
Your  name
Your city and country of residence
____________________________________

Entertaining  Apartheid Israel Deserves No Amnesty!
Open  Letter to Amnesty International
July  30, 2009
In  May, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural  Boycott of
Israel (PACBI) _called on singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen_
(http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1006&key=leonard%20cohen)  to  heed the _Palestinian
call_ (http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=315&key=filmmakers)  for a
cultural boycott of  Israel and avoid complicity with Israel’s violations of
international law by cancelling his planned September concert  in Israel,
particularly in view of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza  earlier this year. Sadly,
according to a _July 28 article_
(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1248277906714&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull)  in the Jerusalem
Post,  Amnesty International USA has agreed to cooperate with Cohen  in
dealing with Israel on the basis of business as usual.  Amnesty International USA
will serve as sponsor of a new fund  that will whitewash the money raised
at Cohen’s concert in  Israel by using it to finance programs for “peace.”
Being one  of the world’s strongest proponents of human rights and
international law, you shall thus be subverting a non-violent,  effective effort by
Palestinian and international civil  society to end Israel’s violations of
international law and  human rights principles. We call on you to be true to
your  values and immediately withdraw support for Leonard Cohen’s
ill-conceived concert in Israel.
The  Jerusalem Post report indicates that Cohen and his PR staff,  having
been criticized for trying to normalize Israel’s  occupation and apartheid,
are trying to whitewash the concert  in Israel by using Amnesty International
USA’s good name.  According to the article, “All of the net proceeds from
Leonard Cohen’s September 24 concert at Ramat Gan Stadium will  be
earmarked for a newly established fund to benefit Israeli  and Palestinian
organizations that are working toward  conciliation,” and the fund will be “
sponsored by Amnesty.”  Curt Goering, the senior deputy executive director of
Amnesty  International USA, told the Post, “We saw this as an exciting
opportunity with potential to recognize, support and pay  tribute to the Israelis and
Palestinians who have been working  for peace and human rights amid a
difficult environment and  insurmountable odds. I see our participation as
complementary  to what we do, even though this initiative is different from
Amnesty’s ongoing work.”
WHY  WE ARE CALLING ON AMNESTY TO WITHDRAW FROM THE  PROJECT
By  supporting Cohen’s concert in Israel, Amnesty International is
actively undermining a particularly successful effort by  Palestinian and
international civil society to end Israel’s  occupation and other violations of
international law and human  rights principles. We find this position by Amnesty
particularly frustrating and puzzling given your _call for an arms embargo
against Israel_
(http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/arms-embargo-vital-gaza-civilian-toll-mounts-20090115)   following its atrocities in
Gaza earlier this year, which your  organization described as constituting war
crimes.
Accepting  funds from the proceeds of Cohen’s concert in Israel is the
equivalent of Amnesty accepting funds from a concert in Sun  City in apartheid
South Africa. Profits earned through  violations of human rights and
international law are tainted  and should not be accepted by any morally consistent
human  rights organization, particularly when this money is intended  to be
used to whitewash the very violations behind those  profits.
Furthermore,  your Israeli partners in this venture actively hinder efforts
to achieve a just peace. The Peres Center for Peace, with its
multi-million dollar annual budget and _fifteen million dollar building_
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1032834.html) , is listed  incongruously by the
Jerusalem Post as both a beneficiary of  the fund and a member of the new fund’s
Board of Trustees. The  Peres Center _has been denounced_
(http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=45&key=peres%20peace%20center)  by leading Palestinian
civil society organizations for promoting joint  Palestinian-Israeli
projects that are “neither effective in  bringing about reconciliation, nor
desirable” and that enhance  “Israeli institutional reputation and legitimacy,
without  restoring justice to Palestinians, in the face of continued  Israeli
Government violations of international law and  fundamental Palestinian
human rights, including breaches of  the Geneva Conventions.” A columnist in
Israel’s Ha’aretz  Daily called the Peres Center _patronizing and colonial_
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1032834.html) , explaining that  “Efforts
are being made to train the Palestinian population to  accept its
inferiority and prepare it to survive under the  arbitrary constraints imposed by
Israel, to guarantee the  ethnic superiority of the Jews.”
Your  other indirect partner in this project, according to the  Jerusalem
Post, is Israel Discount Bank, a key sponsor of the  Cohen concert. Who
Profits, a project of Israel’s Coalition of  Women for Peace, _reports that_
(http://www.whoprofits.org/Company%20Info.php?id=558)  Israel Discount Bank has
branches in the settlements of Beitar Illit and Maale Adumim,  has financed
construction in the settlements of Har Homa,  Beitar llit and Maale Adumim,
and is a major shareholder in a  factory in a settlement. Amnesty hardly
needs any reminder  that Israel’s colonial settlements built on occupied
Palestinian territory are not only illegal under international  law but are
considered war crimes in the Fourth Geneva  Convention. Your intention to
indirectly partner with a bank  that profits from the occupation and to oversee a
fund that  uses some of that legally and morally stained money  contradicts
Amnesty’s founding principles and commitment to  human rights.
The  latest attempt by the Cohen team to find an alternative  Palestinian
fig leaf has also failed. The only Palestinian  organization falsely reported
in the Jerusalem Post article as  being a partner in this project, the
Palestinian Happy Child  Center, has confirmed that it is not taking part. There
is no  Palestinian organization participating in this whitewash.
BACKGROUND  ON THE BOYCOTT
With  the international community failing to take action to stop  Israeli
oppression of the Palestinian people, and inspired by  the international
boycott movement that helped bring an end to  apartheid in South Africa,
Palestinian civil society has  launched calls for _Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS)_ (http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52)   against Israel, including
an academic and cultural boycott of  Israel. Endorsed by _nearly sixty
Palestinian cultural and civil  society organizations_
(http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=868)  and inspired by the South African  anti-apartheid
boycotts, _PACBI calls_ (http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869)  on “the
international community  to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli
academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the  struggle to
end Israel‘s occupation, colonization and system  of apartheid.” These
Palestinian calls have inspired a growing  international boycott movement which
gained added momentum  following Israel’s assault on Gaza last winter.
In  April, the _British Committee for the Universities of  Palestine
(BRICUP)_ (http://www.bricup.org.uk/documents/LeonardCohen.pdf)  and _over 100
Israelis_ (http://www.boycottisrael.info/content/open-letter-leonard-cohen)
called on Leonard Cohen to  cancel his planned September concert in Israel.
Protests  against Cohen’s plans to play in Israel were then held at  Cohen’s
concerts in _New York_
(http://adalahny.org/index.php/videos-of-our-events/310–leonard-cohen-dont-play-israel) , _Boston_
(http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/207645) , Ottawa and _Belfast_
(http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/leonard-cohen-faces-palestinian-picket-at-his-belfast
-show-1838840.html) , among other cities. Feeling the  rising heat of the
protests, Cohen tried to schedule a small  concert in Ramallah to “balance”
his concert in Israel.  However, Palestinians rejected the Ramallah concert.
The  Palestinian group that was supposed to host the Ramallah event
cancelled its invitation to Mr. Cohen after realizing the  adverse effects this
would have on the boycott movement, which  is widely supported by
Palestinians. Reflecting the general  mood in Palestinian society against any claimed
symmetry  between the occupying power and the people under occupation, a  July
12 _PACBI statement_ (http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1039&key=cohen)
explained, “Ramallah will  not receive Cohen as long as he is intent on
whitewashing  Israel‘s colonial apartheid regime by performing in Israel.
PACBI has always rejected any attempt to “balance” concerts or  other artistic
events in Israel–conscious acts of complicity  in Israel‘s violation of
international law and human  rights–with token events in the occupied
Palestinian  territory.”
For  all the above reasons, we strongly urge you to distance  Amnesty
International from this discredited project and its  tainted money.
Signed:
*   _The Palestinian  Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of
Israel  (PACBI)_ (http://www.pacbi.org/)
*   _Adalah-NY: The  Coalition for Justice in the Middle East_
(http://adalahny.org/)
*   _The  Alternative Information Center (AIC)_
(http://www.alternativenews.org/)
*   _American Jews for  a Just Peace (US)_ (http://www.ajjp.org/)
*   _Architects and Planners for Justice in  Palestine (UK)_
(http://apjp.org/)
*   _BOYCOTT!  Supporting the Palestinian BDS call from within
(Israel)_ (http://www.boycottisrael.info/)
*   _British  Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP)_
(http://www.bricup.org.uk/)
*   _Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)_
(http://www.independentjewishvoices.ca/)
*   _International  Jewish Anti-Zionist Network_
(http://www.ijsn.net/home/)
*   _Ireland Palestine  Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)_
(http://www.ipsc.ie/)
*   _Jews Against  the Occupation-NYC_ (http://www.jatonyc.org/)
*   _Jews for  Boycotting Israeli Goods (UK)_
(http://www.bigcampaign.org/)
*   _New  York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel (NYCBI)_
(http://adalahny.org/)
*   _New York  City Labor Against the War_
(http://nyclaw01.wordpress.com/)
*   _Palestine Solidarity Campaign (UK)_
(http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index2b.asp)
*   _US  Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of  Israel_
(http://usacbi.wordpress.com/)
Cc:
*   Larry  Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA
*   Curt  Goering, Senior Deputy Executive Director of Amnesty
International USA
*   Zahir  Janmohamed, Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North
Africa at Amnesty International USA
*   Colm  Ó Cuanacháin, Amnesty International (UK) Senior Director,
Campaigns
*   Claudio  Cordone, Amnesty International (UK) Senior Director,
Research and Regional Programs
*   Donatella  Rovera, Amnesty International (UK) Researcher on Israel
and  the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Visit  us on line at _www.adalahny.org_ (http://www.adalahny.org/)
.
————-
For more information about the International Solidarity Movement, see: www.palsolidarity.org

————-
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You can visit ISM-NYC on the web at www.ism-nyc.org.

We support activists from New York – and around the US – in travel to Palestine to engage in resistance to Israeli Apartheid.

For information on Israel’s Apartheid wall and its impact on the Palestinian people, please see www.stopthewall.org.

Other websites:

www.al-awda.org
www.electronicintifada.net
www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org
www.mezan.org

News sites for first-hand news and updates from Palestine:
www.rafah.vze.com
www.palestinenet.org/english
www.imemc.org
www.between-lines.org
www.notesfrompalestine.net

This Free Gaza video is an interview with a great woman, Hedy Epstein, just turned 85. She has dedicated her life to working for peace and human rights. In June she was going to sail to Gaza with the other 21 volunteers on board the Spirit of Humanity. But she was attacked just days before she was to leave for Cyprus. She was walking home, when she was thrown on the ground, cutting both knees and gashing her chin. She talks to us from her home in St. Louis, Missouri.

Palestine, A Priority, New Zealand, 2007

While on a break from our retreat in Nelson I stumbled upon an interesting exhibit, “Protest.” There was this interactive installment done- in which people had to vote what was a priority issue for them. Palestine was on the medium end of the ladder.

For Humanity

by Hussin Ramadan

Palestinians identify with one another through not only our mutual identity, but also through our common experiences, ­for example, our situation under occupation, our economic conditions, our lives as refugees, the lives and conditions of our prisoners. When we go to sleep, we are unable to do so like ‘normal people’, undisturbed by these realities. We do not live in ‘normal conditions’ for human beings. Every family in Palestine has at least one member in prison, or a former prisoner; imprisonment is one of those experiences shared among our people. Many Palestinians have died for Palestine, and many more will do so as well, but the prisoners suffer every day. They accept an inhumane life for the Palestinian cause, for freedom, for the return of the refugees, and they pay the price every day for their struggle ­substandard living conditions, immoral and unjust treatment, the willful neglect of their health by the occupation authorities. Ahmad Sa’adat is an elected leader of the Palestinian people. He is not a ‘terrorist,’ he is a defender of the cause of all Palestinian people. He is a leader who believes in freedom, dignity, humanity, a state without occupation, the return of refugees and all of the fundamentals of the Palestinian people ­the principles in which all Palestinians believe. He carries our message as Palestinians and as Arabs and as people committed to justice around the world, and we should support him until the end. For these reasons, we here in Palestine reject these conditions and policies, and demand freedom and justice for our prisoners, and we are determined to inform the people of the world about what exactly is happening here. And for these reasons, we are involved in the campaign to free Ahmad Sa’adat. Ahmad Sa’adat refuses to accept the occupation orders of the prison and the mistreatment of prisoners; he refuses to accept the illegitimate courts, trials and prisons of the occupier. He launched a hunger strike to demand that the occupation receive the message loudly and clearly: that we are humans, not animals to be treated in this way. We cannot leave him alone to face the darkness of the prison. We must feel what he feels and support him in every way ­ we must find our dignity and humanity under the rubble of occupation. We know that we have rights, we believe in our cause, and we will stand for it and we are willing to suffer for it, like Ahmad Sa’adat suffers every day to let us live as full human beings. It is very important to let the world know what we think and we are determined to let the people know the costs the prisoners pay every day from their lives for freedom and for us. No one would want to live in the conditions that Ahmad faces every day, but Ahmad continues to struggle ­he gives us hope, and we will stay on this path of justice and freedom, because we will not let him and all of our prisoners down. Because we have Ahmad’s faith, and Ahmad’s soul, we will continue to struggle until the end, to free all of the prisoners from the jails and detention centers. This is the path we choose, and this is why it is so important that we take up the campaign to free Ahmad Sa’adat. Freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and all of the prisoners, and for all of the defenders of liberty! *Hussin Ramadan is a Palestinian youth who lives in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, in occupied Palestine. He may be contacted via email at: the.godfather87@hotmail.com. He is currently active with the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat.

Viva Palestina Convoy Upate

July 15, 2009

The largest ever US Aid Convoy is now in Gaza - It is allowed to stay in the Gaza Strip for 24 hours only by order of the “egyptian” government. The Convoy was not allowed to bring in 47 vehicles that it had purchased – worth about half million $. Instead they had to leave those in Alexandria because the “egyptian” government would not allow these to cross into the Gaza Strip.

If Americans Knew founder Alison Weir’s Egyptian cell phone number is still working and she can be reached on it for interviews: 0188225433. She doesn’t know whether it will continue to work once she is actually in Gaza. Former member of Congress Cynthia McKinney is also with Alison and will be available for interviews on the same phone number.

Yesterday’s emergency protests across the country, including the demonstration at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC, may have succeeded.  The Viva Palestina convoy consists of four ambulances and 43 sedans and pick-up trucks slated for nongovernmental organizations, medical supplies and other items.

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

The Viva Palestina US caravan has received a permit to allow the group passage through the Rafah gate and into Gaza after spending 10 days in Cairo trying to overcome a series of bureaucratic delays.

The American convoy is mobilizing to carry busloads of supplies to the people of Gaza on Wednesday, July 15, and expects no further delays to their humanitarian mission because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already confirmed that all 200 delegates have satisfied all technical requirements required for travel.

Weeks ago, the Viva Palestina US convoy received assurances from Egyptian diplomats that they would expedite the delivery of a convoy of trucks, medical and relief supplies and American human rights volunteers into Gaza, but restrictions were then imposed on the initial Viva Palestina plan.

“We are now on our way to complete our humanitarian mission, more determined than ever and stronger in heart than when we entered Egypt,” says George Galloway, British Member of Parliament. “We now look forward to seeing in a matter of hours the faces of the besieged people of Gaza.”

This is a victory for the people of Gaza. We were determined not to be denied in bringing humanitarian aid to the children of Gaza. The silence of the world is deafening as the people of Gaza suffer, but the two hundred Americans and over one million dollars worth of aide that is going through confirms our commitment to a free Palestine. Long live the people of Palestine.

Source : http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/

FREE GAZA MOVEMENT

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire has spoken from behind bars of her terror after the aid boat on which she was travelling was attacked by terrorist Israeli Pirates

We were threatened by the Israeli navy when we were in |international waters and during the night they told us they would shoot if we didn’t turn back to Cyprus, she said.

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire was arrested and is in Israeli Jail

They cut off all our satellite communications and our lives were very much in danger,| because we could have strayed into Israeli waters.

We sailed on and they kept threatening that they would shoot if we didn’t turn back.

In the early hours of Tuesday navy boats pulled up to Maireads ship and special forces troops began to board it.

They were fully armed and wore balaclavas, she said.

They took all our equipment off us and handcuffed several people. They took me into a separate place and forcibly took our ship to Israel.

The 21 passengers and crew were taken to a detention centre before being moved to prison in Ramala.

I was taken handcuffed in a military vehicle and Im here in the prison in the clothes I arrived in, said Ms Maguire.

At the moment there are |19 of us still being held here after two Palestinian women were released.

They have said we are going to be deported, but deportation orders arent appropriate for us, as we were taken to Israel against our will. We want to leave Israel, but with our friends and all the belongings that were taken from us.

The contested Gaza territory is currently under blockade from Israel with only limited supplies being allowed in to Palestinians living there.

Physically I am very well, but I think more of the Palestinians who are denied the ability to cross the border and see their loved ones, said Ms Maguire.

It gives us a reflection of how tough it is for the Palestinian people and the way that they are treated.

It is a complete blockade of Gaza and collective punishment of 1.5m people which breaks the Geneva Convention. We have |to highlight how desperate |that is.

Irish Government Demands Release of Activists~Condemn Israeli Actions

Two Irish citizens remain in Israeli custody after a small boat carrying aid for Gaza was seized 24 miles from shore.

Minister for Justice Micheal Martin yesterday called for the immediate release of the two.

Nobel laurest Mairead Maguire (65) and former Irish soldier Derek Graham (40) sailed on a ferry from Cyprus in a bid to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip with a consignment of aid.

The pair were stopped 24 miles from shore and are waiting to be deported. Mr Martin said officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs have been in contact with Israeli authorities through the embassy in Dublin and the Irish Ambassador in Tel Aviv to secure their release.

Consular staff based in Tel Aviv visited Ms Maguire and Mr Graham yesterday after they were brought ashore on board the Greek-flagged The Spirit of Humanity .
Mr Martin said his immediate priority was ensuring their safety and welfare.

I would again renew my call for the release of Ms Maguire and Mr Graham as well as the other nineteen passengers detained, he said.

I would also call upon the Israeli Government to ensure that the humanitarian supplies for the people of Gaza being transported on The Spirit of Humanity are made available as soon as possible to the Palestinian authorities for distribution.Mr Martin repeated calls for border crossings and trade links to be reopened. They were effectively shut down by Israeli authorities after the military offensive in Gaza in December and January.

I do not need to recall my strong views on the completely unacceptable nature of the blockade now being imposed on the people of Gaza, he said.

All border crossings into Gaza should be opened immediately to humanitarian and normal commercial traffic so that the dire humanitarian situation can be adequately addressed and the reconstruction of Gaza begin.

This is the only effective remedy which we should seek to offer to the long-suffering people of Gaza.

IPSC Chair Marie Crawley commented: We welcome Minister Martins intervention and the statement in which he described the ongoing situation in Gaza as completely unacceptable, and his call on Israel to open all border crossings for both humanitarian. and commercial traffic.

In addition, we strongly welcome the call by Senator Terry Leyden to hold a government debate on the issue of Gaza. Irish Times

*cred:  from End the Occupation Now’s myspace album Apartheid Art and the piece is called Day of a Martyr*

love this piece.  i’m totally feeling it.