Lieberman: Barghouti Will Not be Released
Article: Israel National News

Speaking Thursday morning, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he could “guarantee” that arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti would not be released from prison in any deal to exchange terrorists for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. “We have no intention to free the head of the murderers, a person who has been sentenced to four life terms in prison. There are red lines, and this is one of them,” Lieberman said.

In response to U.S. demands that Israel free an additional 1,000-some terrorists as a “gesture” to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, Lieberman said that previous releases of Fatah terrorists “have not proven themselves. The Olmert administration did this several times and it did not work, and we do not plan to allow it to happen,” Lieberman said.

Why can’t BHussein be smart enough to know that freeing RADICAL TERRORISTS does NOT PRODUCE POSITIVE RESULTS?! Oh. I guess “brotherhood” has a lot to do with it.

BHussein with Palestinian President Abu Mazen as he demands that Israel releases an additional 1,000 terrorists as a “gesture”to “moderate” “Palestinians”.

Ohhhhhhhhhh golly…

Israel pardons 92 Fatah members
Article: YnetNews

Israel has granted pardon to 92 wanted members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing. Some were awarded full pardon while others were granted partial pardon. The most prominent member on the list is a commander in the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the territories. (Ali Waked)

Yet; the Palestinian terrorists are holding one of Israel’s soldiers captive. Does BHussein Obama give a shit? The answer is NYET. He cares about himself… and his brothers in Allah.

Israel soldier swap talks on hold: Palestinian
Article: Breitbart

Indirect talks between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement over a prisoner exchange involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have been suspended until Tuesday, according to a Palestinian official .

“Negotiations on Shalit will resume after Eid al-Adha in Cairo on Tuesday,” the official told AFP on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The Hamas delegation, which visited the Syrian capital on Wednesday to meet the movement’s leadership in exile, returned to the Gaza Strip via Cairo, he added, while refusing to detail the content of the discussions.

Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants including Hamas in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip in 2006.

Hamas, which has controlled the territory since June 2007, is demanding that more than 450 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails be released in exchange for the soldier.

But Israel is refusing to release some of the detainees, blocking the chance of any agreement being reached, an official close to the talks said on Wednesday.

The same official said reports of an imminent prisoner exchange were “premature.”

Both Hamas and Israel earlier this week reported progress in the negotiations, which have been mediated by Egypt and Germany, but played down reports of a quick deal.

Hamas on Wednesday blamed the delay on Israel, which “has not yet answered the demands of the Palestinian factions,” senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said.

So; even the terrorists who are holding the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captive demand only 450 Palestinian terrorist prisoners that are being held in Israeli jails be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit; but BHussein seems to think that’s a pretty low number. “DUR… I HAZ A BETR IDEA! LETZ GO FOR A THOUSAND. THEY IS MY TERRORIZT BROTHERZ.” UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. Negotiations are on hold until after Eid al-Adha… I guess the terrorists must be shopping at Best Buy.

Mientras tanto el Primer Ministro israelí Benyamin Netanyahu como los portavoces de Hamas tratan de reducir las expectativas respecto a la inminente conclusión de un acuerdo de intercambio de prisioneros, el Ministro israelí Benyamin Ben Eliezer dice durante una visita a Ankara que las partes están mas cerca que nunca de la feliz conclusión del acuerdo por la liberación del soldado cautivo en manos de Hamas.
Netanyahu declaró que no había aún acuerdo. “Aún no hay acuerdo y no sé si lo habrá pero puedo declarar que de producirse, primeros será sometido a la resolución del gobierno y a la deliberación pública. Permitiremos que los ministros del gobierno y el público en general deliberen abiertamente, pero es temprano decidir algo que aún no está concluido”.
“Por ahora no hay ningún acuerdo”, resumió el Primer Ministro ante los micrófonos de la prensa.
Por su parte, uno de los dirigentes de Hamas, Osama Hamdan, dijo que el avance es relativo. “En el pasado habíamos alcanzado un acuerdo pero el anterior primer ministro de los sionistas, Ehud Olmert, se arrepintió”, dijo.
Pero aún de se aprobado el acuerdo de intercambio de prisioneros tanto por Hamas como por Israel, las organizaciones israelíes de afectados por el terrorismo se disponen a apelar a la Corte Suprema de Justicia contra la liberación de 450 presos palestinos, muchos de ellos responsables por la muerte de centenares de israelíes en actos de terror urbano.

Link
November 13, 2009

Haaretz – 12 November 2009

A damning United Nations report on Israel’s winter offensive against Hamas in Gaza is being used to attack Israel by “self-righteous and hypocritical” groups, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.
Israel should only give the report the attention it deserves and continue to fight terrorism, said Olmert, who decided to launch the three-week offensive at the end of his term in office.

The UN report, which was authored by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during the winter offensive, but focused mainly on alleged Israeli offences.

Speaking near Jerusalem during the unveiling of a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 terror attack in the United States, Olmert added that there was a clear difference between terrorists and the countries that fight them.

“It is not a simple war, and it does occur that in the course of this war that people who are uninvolved in terror are affected by it,” he said.

“But there is one dramatic difference which always we have to bear in mind between the victims, that we memorialize today, and those who are unfortunately being affected by acts against the terrorists.

“When they attack, when they commit suicidal attacks, their main purpose is to kill innocent civilians.”

President Shimon Peres, meanwhile, told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a meeting in Brasilia on Wednesday that Goldstone is a man devoid of any real sense of justice and is intent on harming Israel.

Link
November 13, 2009

Haaretz – 12 November 2009

A damning United Nations report on Israel’s winter offensive against Hamas in Gaza is being used to attack Israel by “self-righteous and hypocritical” groups, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.
Israel should only give the report the attention it deserves and continue to fight terrorism, said Olmert, who decided to launch the three-week offensive at the end of his term in office.

The UN report, which was authored by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during the winter offensive, but focused mainly on alleged Israeli offences.

Speaking near Jerusalem during the unveiling of a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 terror attack in the United States, Olmert added that there was a clear difference between terrorists and the countries that fight them.

“It is not a simple war, and it does occur that in the course of this war that people who are uninvolved in terror are affected by it,” he said.

“But there is one dramatic difference which always we have to bear in mind between the victims, that we memorialize today, and those who are unfortunately being affected by acts against the terrorists.

“When they attack, when they commit suicidal attacks, their main purpose is to kill innocent civilians.”

President Shimon Peres, meanwhile, told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a meeting in Brasilia on Wednesday that Goldstone is a man devoid of any real sense of justice and is intent on harming Israel.

October has been a busy month at the Council. We’ve had programs about issues ranging from the resource curse of oil to the ways game theory can be applied to national security challenges. There was one region, the Middle East, which was given particular attention as we strove to provide the community with multiple perspectives of the region, its people, and the challenges they face.

On October 15, we welcomed Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Senior Political Advisor to Egypt’s Foreign Minister. He spoke about the Arab-Israeli conflict as well as Egypt’s work to aid peace and stability in the Palestinian territories. Dalia Mogahed, Senior Analyst and Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, joined us on October 21 to discuss the results and findings of Gallup’s recent survey of 50,000 Muslims from more than 35 countries.

Then, on October 22, we hosted a conversation between the former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert and Council CEO Jane Wales. Olmert responded to questions about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza, but particularly focused on the peace proposal he made to the Palestinians in September 2008. We concluded our Middle East perspectives series on October 27 with a program featuring Ambassador Maen Areikat, PLO Representative to the United States. Areikat discussed the ongoing hardships that Palestinians endure under occupation as well as how the Palestinians must heal internal divisions between Hamas and Fatah in order to secure a Palestinian state.

If you missed a program, check our online archive. To learn more about Gallup’s survey of Muslims, go to MuslimWestFacts.com. You can also read an editorial by Maen Areikat from the SF Chronicle here.

The spirit of being a student in the 21 century has long lost its resonance. The ideals of peace and freedom are not the focus of life anymore. In taking stock of the world, ‘I have been having the urgency to get out and shout how I feel lately’. Looking back to the 1960s and 70s, one cannot help but feel ashamed of being called an educated university student. Where did the student movement and protests go? Is the opposition of political and social orthodoxy really that old-fashioned?

Reminiscing through old youth protests, one basic fact kept popping up; the government should serve the people, not the other way around. The new generation of students has absolutely no interest in anything that requires a bit of struggle. UH students are painfully illiterate in regard to both domestic and world issues.

The University of Houston, the playground of a diverse pool of ethnic intellectuals, poses as a community with little or no students influence. Maybe high tuition fees, student debts, and the neglect of student rights are not enough reasons to raise an eyebrow. Texas of all places should have more eyebrows raised. So, why are students in other universities more involved? Are they more ‘hip’? Jealousy is brewing, news flash from the likes of the University of Chicago and California showed a great deal of student involvement.

The news flooded with students protests from around the world in response to the inhumane attack on Gaza; yet walking the UH campus on December 2008, one can scarcely see any signs of knowledge of the Gaza Trauma. The Gaza genocide was labeled as “the most brutal and violent attack against humanity in the 21 century” by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Maybe a pile of too many exams, work, and a girlfriend or a boyfriend prevented the student body from reading the news.

One cannot neglect the few student organization that tried to raise awareness but UH needs more involvement to play with the big dogs.

Ehud Olmert, the previous prime minister of Israel who approved the Gaza attack, made several appearances to the US in early October. He has been met with strong protests at locations including the University of Chicago, Tulane University, and the University of Kentucky. The protests were organized by CODEPINK Women for Peace, CAL Students for Justice in Palestine, Bay Area Women in Black and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Let’s ask this, why did Olmert endure giving speeches in such places packed with groups opposing his government? Simple, Student voices mobilize the country’s politics.

So why aren’t the students mobilizing? Do not give the ‘too busy’ excuse, students in the 1960s had it much worst.

Link

• Prosecution of Israelis likely, says solicitor
• Lawyers working on use of universal jurisdiction

• Ian Black, Middle East editor
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 27 October 2009 19.12 GMT
• Article history

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Photograph: Sebastian Scheiner/ AP

Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister during the Gaza war, would probably face arrest on war crimes charges if he visited Britain, according to a UK lawyer who is working to expand the application of “universal jurisdiction” for offences involving serious human rights abuses committed anywhere in the world.

Neither Olmert nor Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister during the Cast Lead offensive, and a member of Israel’s war cabinet, would enjoy immunity from prosecution for alleged breaches of the Geneva conventions, predicted Daniel Machover, who is involved in intensifying legal work after the controversial Goldstone report on the three-week conflict. Neither are ministers any longer.

Prosecutions of Israeli political and military figures remain likely despite the failure to obtain an arrest warrant for Ehud Barak, the defence minister, when he visited the UK earlier this month, he said. In the Barak case a magistrate accepted advice from the Foreign Office that the minister enjoyed state immunity and rejected an application made on behalf of several residents of the Gaza Strip.

“This needs to be tested at the right time and in the right place,” Machover said. “One day one of these people will make a mistake and go to the wrong country and face a criminal process — and then it’ll be a matter for the courts of that country to give them a fair trial: that’s what the Palestinian victims want.”

The death toll for the war was some 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. Israel insists it acted in legitimate self-defence in response to rocket attacks by Hamas.

Police sources denied a claim that police maintain a “watch list” of Israeli officers who would face arrest if they try to enter the country.

In 2005 General Doron Almog was tipped off that he was about to be arrested before leaving a plane at Heathrow airport. Last month a former chief of staff, General Moshe Ya’alon, cancelled a visit to Britain, apparently for fear of arrest. Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet security service, faced an arrest warrant in the Netherlands following a complaint by a Palestinian who said he had been tortured.

The development of universal jurisdiction has been boosted by the Goldstone report, which urged Israel to conduct an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes. Failing that, other governments were advised to try suspects using universal jurisdiction. Another option was for the UN security council to refer allegations to the international criminal court. Israel refused to co-operate with the report, which also accused Hamas of war crimes.

But the law is complex and developing unevenly. Lawyers in Germany were this week unable to obtain an arrest warrant for the current Israeli army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, because German law grants immunity to guests invited on state visits. Spain is considered legally “dangerous” by the Israelis.

Machover confirmed that he was working with other lawyers in the EU and elsewhere “in an increasingly organised fashion in different jurisdictions. It’s not just about Palestine. It might be about Rwanda or Afghanistan,” he said.

Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper reported today that officers of the Israel Defence Forces who took part in the Gaza operation have been asked to consult legal experts at the foreign ministry, where they are instructed how to behave abroad and in some cases advised not to visit certain countries.

The ministry said it was “aware of efforts undertaken by Palestinian groups and their supporters to harm IDF officers through legal and public relations means, and is working to prevent such efforts.”

The Goldstone Report is operating without the stupid UN Security Council endorsement. First Haaretz reports that the report will be discussed in the UN General Assembly, which will probably be quite a show. Then The National reports that European lawyers from several countries are working hard, since after Gaza actually, to collect Israeli military names for indictment in European courts. Then The Guardian reports that Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni could face war crimes arrest if they visit the UK.

From The Guardian:

The development of universal jurisdiction has been boosted by the Goldstone report, which urged Israel to conduct an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes. Failing that, other governments were advised to try suspects using universal jurisdiction. Another option was for the UN security council to refer allegations to the international criminal court. Israel refused to co-operate with the report, which also accused Hamas of war crimes.

The keyword: Universal Jurisdiction. It’s really difficult for the Europeans to make massive exceptions for the Israelis after so many of them used Universal Jurisdiction to indict many war criminals. Amnesty International reports:

Since the end of the Second World War, more than 15 countries have exercised universal jurisdiction in investigations or prosecutions of persons suspected of crimes under international law, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and others, such as Mexico, have extradited persons to countries for prosecution based on universal jurisdiction.

Link

Emily Ratner writing from New Orleans, US, Live from Palestine, 20 October 2009

Activists stage a sit-in to protest former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s visit to Tulane University. (Abdul Aziz/Penta Press)

On 13 October, Tulane University, an elite university in the southern United States, hosted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a featured speaker. Forced from office due to corruption charges and under indictment in his own country, Olmert’s speaking engagements at respected American universities should at the very least raise questions as to the propriety of such events. That he and members of his military and political cabinet have been accused of war crimes during the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and last winter’s invasion of Gaza requires people of good conscience to raise their voices in dissent. In response to his visit, a coalition of students, teachers, activists and community members — Muslims, Jews, Christians, Palestinians and their allies — rallied in opposition and protest inside and outside the event. Despite much hostility, they also found a great deal of support and more momentum for their organizing efforts.

Although outnumbered, we were more powerful than the war criminal and his Mossad protectors and stronger than his security checkpoints and his electronically amplified lies. We strapped red tape to our bodies and stashed fake-bloodied clothes in our packs. Those of us who had the required documents, who had student IDs from New Orleans universities, passed through the checkpoints while our barred friends and allies gathered outside, armed with truths painted on poster board and voices amplified by our growing numbers. With less than two weeks’ notice, we had formed a broad coalition that planned a multi-phased action to reclaim the same campus that is home to TIPAC (the Tulane-Israel Public Affairs Committee). In 2007, the university hosted conservative commentator Ann Coulter for “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” in 2007 and had invited Olmert for a brief respite from international and Israeli courts. As Tulane University constructed a safe-haven and solicited interviews and meetings on behalf of its delinquent guest, dozens of our neighbors began to organize. And scores more responded to the call for action.

Tulane has long been an unwelcoming environment to our broader community, as well as to Muslim and Arab students. Olmert’s strategists and local friends chose the city’s most Zionist and “secure” nonreligious institution for his visit, and many activists questioned the wisdom of challenging a hostile student body and a sometimes even more hostile private police force. Tulane voices have been almost entirely absent in a great many community dialogues and meetings about Palestine solidarity work, and the prospect of initiating a campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Tulane’s campus has always seemed laughable. But New Orleans is a city where so many feel linked to the Palestinian struggle through shared themes like the experience of diaspora, the right of return and near-daily racist violence and oppression by police and military authorities. There is no space in our city where Israeli war criminals will not be challenged.

Tulane was as hostile an environment as we expected. Hundreds of Tulane students showed up to hear Olmert speak, and many laughed and applauded when he made jokes about the comments of overwhelmed Palestinians who threw up their hands in exasperation at his remarks (i.e., lies) and walked out of the building. Many of our own group were only kept silent by the red tape we’d hidden on our bodies and then used to cover our mouths when Olmert first walked onto the stage. Scrawled on the tape were words that enumerated some of Olmert’s administration’s crimes, such as “human shields,” “illegal settlements,” “white phosphorous” and “occupation.”

We breathed deeply and sat through an onslaught of racist lies about our Palestinian friends and family, until Olmert began to talk about the mistake Israel had made in “withdrawing” from Gaza. Then, one by one, our jaws aching from biting down on our testimonials of what we have seen with our own eyes and what our families and friends continue to suffer, we rose from our seats throughout the auditorium, slowly made our way to the aisle, and walked out.

Olmert’s audience became our own for a moment. They gasped and whispered as more than 20 individuals stood glaring at Olmert and his guards and then marched out of the auditorium. As we left, we heard the chants of our friends, and breathed freely for what felt like the first time in over an hour. The hostility inside was palpable, but we were embraced by our friends outside whose numbers had easily tripled since we’d last seen them. They’d been shouting for two hours now, competing with calls of “Heil Hitler” and “Palestinians are Nazis” from students passing by. A Muslim woman in a hijab (headscarf) was hit with plates of food thrown from an adjacent third floor balcony while campus police looked on.

Within 20 minutes we’d set up the next phase of our action: four persons dressed in bloodied clothes laid down on the ground in front of the auditorium, and we placed cardboard grave markers with the numbers of massacred Palestinians and Lebanese around them. As students began to flow out of the auditorium, we handed out fliers detailing Olmert’s war crimes and tried to stop passersby from spitting on our friends on the ground. We were mostly successful, and prevented a student from urinating on one of the participants.

We were not at all surprised by the hostility we faced, but we were surprised by the positive responses of far more Tulane students than we expected. Members of Tulane Amnesty International, Tulane American Socialist Students United and individual undergraduate and graduate students were active in every phase. They were joined by students from the General Union of Palestine Students and Amnesty International of University of New Orleans and students from Loyola University. As a result of this action, the challenges we face in our local solidarity work seem more surmountable. Indeed, Olmert’s visit marked the beginning of Tulane’s Palestine solidarity movement.

Emily Ratner is an organizer and mediamaker based in New Orleans. She is a member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and a graduate of Tulane University (class of 2007). In June, she joined a New Orleans delegation to Gaza. She can be reached at emily A T nolahumanrights D O T org.

Related Links

• EI exclusive video: Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago, video by The Electronic Intifada and text by Maureen Clare Murphy (16 October 2009)

Link

Emily Ratner writing from New Orleans, US, Live from Palestine, 20 October 2009

Activists stage a sit-in to protest former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s visit to Tulane University. (Abdul Aziz/Penta Press)

On 13 October, Tulane University, an elite university in the southern United States, hosted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a featured speaker. Forced from office due to corruption charges and under indictment in his own country, Olmert’s speaking engagements at respected American universities should at the very least raise questions as to the propriety of such events. That he and members of his military and political cabinet have been accused of war crimes during the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and last winter’s invasion of Gaza requires people of good conscience to raise their voices in dissent. In response to his visit, a coalition of students, teachers, activists and community members — Muslims, Jews, Christians, Palestinians and their allies — rallied in opposition and protest inside and outside the event. Despite much hostility, they also found a great deal of support and more momentum for their organizing efforts.

Although outnumbered, we were more powerful than the war criminal and his Mossad protectors and stronger than his security checkpoints and his electronically amplified lies. We strapped red tape to our bodies and stashed fake-bloodied clothes in our packs. Those of us who had the required documents, who had student IDs from New Orleans universities, passed through the checkpoints while our barred friends and allies gathered outside, armed with truths painted on poster board and voices amplified by our growing numbers. With less than two weeks’ notice, we had formed a broad coalition that planned a multi-phased action to reclaim the same campus that is home to TIPAC (the Tulane-Israel Public Affairs Committee). In 2007, the university hosted conservative commentator Ann Coulter for “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” in 2007 and had invited Olmert for a brief respite from international and Israeli courts. As Tulane University constructed a safe-haven and solicited interviews and meetings on behalf of its delinquent guest, dozens of our neighbors began to organize. And scores more responded to the call for action.

Tulane has long been an unwelcoming environment to our broader community, as well as to Muslim and Arab students. Olmert’s strategists and local friends chose the city’s most Zionist and “secure” nonreligious institution for his visit, and many activists questioned the wisdom of challenging a hostile student body and a sometimes even more hostile private police force. Tulane voices have been almost entirely absent in a great many community dialogues and meetings about Palestine solidarity work, and the prospect of initiating a campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Tulane’s campus has always seemed laughable. But New Orleans is a city where so many feel linked to the Palestinian struggle through shared themes like the experience of diaspora, the right of return and near-daily racist violence and oppression by police and military authorities. There is no space in our city where Israeli war criminals will not be challenged.

Tulane was as hostile an environment as we expected. Hundreds of Tulane students showed up to hear Olmert speak, and many laughed and applauded when he made jokes about the comments of overwhelmed Palestinians who threw up their hands in exasperation at his remarks (i.e., lies) and walked out of the building. Many of our own group were only kept silent by the red tape we’d hidden on our bodies and then used to cover our mouths when Olmert first walked onto the stage. Scrawled on the tape were words that enumerated some of Olmert’s administration’s crimes, such as “human shields,” “illegal settlements,” “white phosphorous” and “occupation.”

We breathed deeply and sat through an onslaught of racist lies about our Palestinian friends and family, until Olmert began to talk about the mistake Israel had made in “withdrawing” from Gaza. Then, one by one, our jaws aching from biting down on our testimonials of what we have seen with our own eyes and what our families and friends continue to suffer, we rose from our seats throughout the auditorium, slowly made our way to the aisle, and walked out.

Olmert’s audience became our own for a moment. They gasped and whispered as more than 20 individuals stood glaring at Olmert and his guards and then marched out of the auditorium. As we left, we heard the chants of our friends, and breathed freely for what felt like the first time in over an hour. The hostility inside was palpable, but we were embraced by our friends outside whose numbers had easily tripled since we’d last seen them. They’d been shouting for two hours now, competing with calls of “Heil Hitler” and “Palestinians are Nazis” from students passing by. A Muslim woman in a hijab (headscarf) was hit with plates of food thrown from an adjacent third floor balcony while campus police looked on.

Within 20 minutes we’d set up the next phase of our action: four persons dressed in bloodied clothes laid down on the ground in front of the auditorium, and we placed cardboard grave markers with the numbers of massacred Palestinians and Lebanese around them. As students began to flow out of the auditorium, we handed out fliers detailing Olmert’s war crimes and tried to stop passersby from spitting on our friends on the ground. We were mostly successful, and prevented a student from urinating on one of the participants.

We were not at all surprised by the hostility we faced, but we were surprised by the positive responses of far more Tulane students than we expected. Members of Tulane Amnesty International, Tulane American Socialist Students United and individual undergraduate and graduate students were active in every phase. They were joined by students from the General Union of Palestine Students and Amnesty International of University of New Orleans and students from Loyola University. As a result of this action, the challenges we face in our local solidarity work seem more surmountable. Indeed, Olmert’s visit marked the beginning of Tulane’s Palestine solidarity movement.

Emily Ratner is an organizer and mediamaker based in New Orleans. She is a member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and a graduate of Tulane University (class of 2007). In June, she joined a New Orleans delegation to Gaza. She can be reached at emily A T nolahumanrights D O T org.

Related Links

• EI exclusive video: Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago, video by The Electronic Intifada and text by Maureen Clare Murphy (16 October 2009)