BLOOD DRENCHED RED CARPET ROLLED OUT IN JERUSALEM

May 13, 2008 at 4:28 pm (Complicity, DesertPeace Editorial, Israel's 60th, Nakba, Palestine)

A carpet red with the blood of the Palestinian people is being rolled out to welcome the visiting dignitaries coming to ‘celebrate’ 60 years of ethnic cleansing in the Holy Land.

Leader of the pact is the President of the United States. At his side will be the first lady Laura Bush. She has intentions of visiting children’s facilities in the Jerusalem area. If she drives about 20 minutes due south to Hebron she can witness the orphanage recently closed by Israeli troops…. but needless to say she won’t.

Neither will she be attending the funerals held in Gaza or in the Occupied West Bank of children murdered in cold blood by Israeli soldiers.

No, she nor the others in her group are here to celebrate those ‘victories’ of zionism, not to mourn with Palestine the loss of their land and homes 60 years ago.

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is overjoyed that Israel has agreed to remove four roadblocks in the Occupied Territories. FOUR, OUT OF OVER 500!!!! This is seen as a great victory for the self appointed ‘peacemaker of the Middle East’.

It was disappointing to learn that Michael Gorbachev will be among the guests in attendance. A man who once represented a nation opposed to Israeli policies towards the Palestinians is now here to celebrate those very policies…. reason enough for the fall of the Soviet Union, seems they were not to serious about anything if this is what their former leader turned into…

To see how another man changed drastically over the years click HERE. See with your own eyes how a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize gloats over the genocide taking place against the Palestinians… referring to it as ‘progress’.

Complicity is a bad enough sin committed by the West, endorsement of those genocidal policies is even a greater sin.

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THE NAKBA OF TODAY

May 13, 2008 at 10:27 am (Gaza, Israel, Palestine, War Crimes)

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
The Nakba of 1948 was a disaster for the people of Palestine…. The Nakba of today is…..

‘A disaster for everybody’

UN official says Israel’s blockade of Gaza is feeding a ‘growing sense of injustice’ among its population

Rory McCarthy in Gaza City

guardian.co.uk

Gaza’s population has been reduced to a “subhuman existence” where basic humanitarian needs are going unmet in the face of rapidly deteriorating conditions, according to a senior UN official.

An Israeli economic blockade on the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, has produced shortages of fuel and basic supplies and has closed most private businesses and pushed up poverty rates.

John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for the UN Refugee and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees, said the crisis and continuing toll of civilian deaths were feeding a “growing sense of injustice” among Gaza’s population.

“It is a disaster for everybody because it’s touching everybody in every aspect of their life, from the moment you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night,” he said. “The way things have been reduced here, there’s a very sub-human existence for the general population.”

Israel has significantly reduced the amount of fuel it sells to Gaza and there are now such shortages of diesel and petrol that many cars run on cooking gas or vegetable oil and that many schools can now longer bus their pupils to class.

Israel only allows 2.2m litres of industrial diesel into Gaza for the strip’s sole power plant each week, which means it can produce just 45-55mW of electricity, compared to 80mW if it was fully fuelled, and the more than 100mW it was able to produce before the plant’s transformers were bombed by Israeli aircraft two years ago. On Saturday, the power plant cut back its output even further, leaving most of Gaza City in darkness for several hours, because not enough fuel had been supplied.

Fuel shortages have affected water systems, leaving the 70,000 people who rely on water from fuel-pumped wells with a precarious supply, and meaning that 60m litres of raw and partially treated sewage are being pumped straight into the sea every day. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s 4,000 agricultural water wells rely on fuel-powered pumps, and shortages are leaving crops to die. The World Bank said last month that poverty rates in Gaza were now close to 67% and that economic growth was zero last year.

Israeli officials argue that they will continue to allow in enough fuel, food and aid to avert a humanitarian crisis and claim that Hamas is manipulating the situation, partly by hoarding fuel. “Israel is facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip while at the same time it is being attacked from that territory,” the government said in a statement last week. “Israel holds Hamas fully responsible for these attacks and their consequences.”

Israeli officials also criticised the continued firing of rockets and mortars by militants into southern Israel. An Israeli man was killed last Friday when a mortar struck his home at the Kfar Aza collective farm, near the Gaza border, and hours later the Israeli military killed five Hamas policemen in an airstrike. Attacks by militants in Gaza have killed five Israeli civilians and five soldiers this year. Israeli military attacks on Gaza this year have killed at least 312 Palestinians, of whom 197 were unarmed civilians, including at least 44 children, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

Ging said the delivery of aid was “inadequate for the basic needs of the population.”

“The definitions of a humanitarian crisis are rather obscene when compared with just how people are having to struggle to survive here at the moment,” he said.

“For everybody here, they have a daily crisis in their life to survive and that crisis is created by a policy to close the Gaza Strip off from the outside world.”

He accepted there were “serious security challenges” in operating the crossings into Gaza, which have been attacked by Palestinian militants. “The challenge is to overcome those,” he said.

“The equation cannot be reduced to actions based on the illegal actions of others. The rocket attacks were illegal and to be condemned, he said. “But it doesn’t justify a retaliation that is also illegal.”

Several senior international officials, including Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the commissioner for external relations for the European Commission, have described Israel’s policy towards Gaza as “collective punishment”.

Ging noted that the crossings were able to operate enough to supply fuel to the power plant and for the UN - although the UN’s food distribution to nearly 800,000 people had to be briefly halted last month because of a lack of fuel - and should therefore be able to supply fuel for the civilian population.

Gaza’s crisis could be eased if the crossings were opened to imports and exports, in line with a key agreement on access to Gaza negotiated in late 2005 by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. “The solution is simple: open the crossings,” Ging said.

The UN agency runs by far the largest aid operation in Gaza, providing food aid to around 80% of the population and educating 200,000 children, as well as operating health and social services and microfinance projects.

“The civilian population are not lost to civilisation. They have not given in to violence as the only way,” Ging said.

“They are actually struggling to protect themselves against that and they are getting no support. If this were understood - that Gaza is not lost to violence, that Gaza is not hopeless rather that the majority of people in Gaza are civilised - then the whole equation would change,” he said

“People respond much more positively to help than they do to force, coercion or violence.”

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NAKBA EVENTS NEAR YOU….

May 13, 2008 at 9:38 am (Activism, Nakba, Palestine)

MAY EVENTS:

May 12, 2008: Los Angeles , CA
What: The Sacrifice of Peace and Justice Speakers: Cindy and Craig Corrie
Where: Humanities A65, UCLA
When: 6:00pm
Contact(s): Randa Wahbe rwahbe@ucla.edu
Organizer(s): Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA

May 12, 2008: Columbia , MD
What: The Nakba: What Happened to the Palestinians When the Israeli State Was Established?
Where: Howard County Public Library, East Columbia Branch, 6600 Cradlerock Way , Columbia , MD21045
When: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Contact(s): Joanne Heisel hcceio@yahoo.com
Organizer(s): Howard County Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
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May 13, 2008: St Louis, MO
What: St. Louis, MO Women in Black Remembering the Nakba Vigil
Where: Near the Bread Co., on Delmar, in the U-City Loop, St Louis, MO
When: 11:30am-1:00pm
Contact(s): Hedy Epstein hedy@hedyepstein.com

May 13, 2008: Cleveland, OH
What: Press Conference and Panel Discussion
Where: St. Joseph Center/River’s Edge 3430 Rocky River Dr. Cleveland, OH
When: 1:00pm-2:30pm
Contact(s): Liz Lavelle alex9913x@juno.com
Organizer(s): Interfaith Council for Peace in the Middle East

May 13, 2008: Victoria , BC
What: Screening of Ilan Pappe talk ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’
Where: BCGEU hall 2994 Douglas St , Victoria , BC v5h2l9
When: 7:00pm
Organizer(s): CAIA-Victoria. [Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid]
Contact(s): George Mc Fetridge georgemcfetridge@gmail.com

May 13, 2008: Washington , DC
What: Expressions of Nakba: The Exhibit Opening Reception
Where: Josephine Butler Parks Center 2437 15th Street NW
When: 7:00pm
Organizer(s): US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Contact(s): Suha Dabbouseh organize@endtheoccupation.org 202-332-0994

May 13-15, 2008: Washington , DC
What: Nakba Commemoration
Where: Josephine Butler Parks Center 2437 15th Street NW
When: 7:00pm
Organizer(s): US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Contact(s): Suha Dabbouseh organize@endtheoccupation.org 202-332-0994
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May 14, 2008: Los Angeles , CA
What: U Assume I Witness: Accounts of Palestine Anna Baltzer, Jewish American Activist and Author
Where: Franz Hall 2258, UCLA, Los Angeles , CA
When: 6:00pm
Contact(s): Randa Wahbe rwahbe@ucla.edu
Organizer(s): Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA
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May 15, 2008: Washington , DC
What: “Palestinians and the Jewish State: 60 Years of Exile and Dispossession”
Where: The Palestine Center 2425 Virginia Ave NW
When: 11:30am-2:00pm
Organizer(s): The Palestine Center
Contact(s): rsvp@palestinecenter.org 202-338-1985 x 11

May 15, 2008: Eugene, OR
What: Nakba 60th Commemoration
Where: 500 E. 4th Ave Eugene , OR 97401
When: 3:00pm-6:00pm
Organizer(s): Al-Nakba Awareness Project/Palestine: JustJustice!
Contact(s): Marian Leung HappyHeartMom@comcast.net

May 15, 2008: Memphis , TN
What: Protest the Israeli Occupation
Where: Highland and Poplar intersections
When: 3:00pm
Contact(s): Dania Helou Missflyingcow@hotmail.com

May 15, 2008: Cleveland , OH
What: People’s Occupation at Federal Building Plaza
Where: A.Celebrezze Federal Bldg 1240 East Ninth Street Cleveland , OH
When: 4:00pm-5:30pm
Contact(s): Don Bryant donmbryant@yahoo.com
Organizer(s) :Middle East Peace Forum, Beit Hanina Social Club and Interfaith Council for Peace in the Middle East

May 15, 2008: Los Angeles , CA
What: To Resist is to Exist: Ethnic cleaning Of Palestine Ilan Pappe, Israeli Historian
Where: Rolfe 1200, UCLA, Los Angeles , CA
When: 6:00pm
Contact(s): Randa Wahbe rwahbe@ucla.edu
Organizer(s): Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA

May 15, 2008: Ann Arbor, MI
What: “Deir Yassin” screening
Where: Michigan Union, Pond Room 530 S. State St.Ann Arbor, MI 48104
When: 7:00pm
Organizer(s): Ann Arbor Middle East Film Society, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), Detroit-Ann Arbor SABEEL
Contact(s): Shirley Zempel, Zempel.shirley@gmail.com
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May 16, 2008: New York , NY
What: Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Nakba (Palestinian Catastrophe)
Where: Dag Hammarskjöld Park
When: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Contact(s): Nakbah60th@gmail.com

May 16, 2008: Woodstock , NY
What: Presentation on Palestinian “Nakba” refugees
Where: Woodstock Community Center 56 Rock City Road
When: 7:30pm-9:00pm
Contact(s): Harriet Malinowitz hmalinowitz@yahoo.com

May 16 - 18, 2008: Anaheim , CA
What: 6th Annual International Al-Awda Convention on The 60th of Al-Nakba and Struggle to Return
Where: The Embassy Suites Hotel Anaheim - South, 11767 Harbor Boulevard , Garden Grove , CA
When: May 16 - 18, 2008
Contact(s): info@al-awda.org
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May 17, 2008: Denver , CO
What: Remember al-Nakba: Palestine 60 Years Later
Where: West Lawn Capitol Denver, Lincoln & 14th
When: 11:00A-3:00P
Organizer(s): Friends of Sabeel-Colorado, Colorado Progressive Jewish News, Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center
Contact(s): Joy Lapp, lappj@earthlink.net, 303-494-2338

May 17, 2008: Boston , MA
What: Commemoration
Where: Winthrop Park
When: 11:00am - 3:00pm
Contact(s): numarray@comcast.net

May 17, 2008: Minneapolis , MN
What: Al-Nakba - No More Massacres
Where: Loring Park , Minneapolis
When: 1:00pm
Contact(s): Sarah Martin scsm@yahoo.com 612-437-0222
Organizer(s): Coalition for Palestinian Rights, Anti-War Committee

May 17, 2008: Washington, DC
What: Nakba Commemoration: 400 Villages
Where: West of the Reflecting Pool in view of the U.S. Capitol, Jefferson Dr SW and 3rd St SW
When: 2:00pm-4:00pm
Contact(s): Brian Hennessey bhennessey@bluecrab.org 202-378-0868
Organizer(s): Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace, Vineeta Foundation

May 17, 2008: Portland , ME
What: The Nakba Conference
Where: University of Southern Maine in Payson-Smith Hall, Room 302. Payson Smith Hall is located at 96 Falmouth Street in Portland .
When: 6:30pm
Contact(s): Wells Staley-Mays wells369@hotmail.com
Organizer(s): Peace Action Maine, Pax Christi Maine, Maine Veterans for Peace
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May 18, 2008: Portland , ME
What: The Nakba Conference
Where: University of Southern Maine in Payson-Smith Hall, Room 302. Payson Smith Hall is located at 96 Falmouth Street in Portland .
When: 11:00am-3:45pm
Contact(s): Wells Staley-Mays wells369@hotmail.com
Organizer(s): Peace Action Maine, Pax Christi Maine, Maine Veterans for Peace

May 18, 2008: Oak Park , IL
What: Seventh Walk for a Just Peace
Where: 848 Lake Street , Oak Park , IL60301
When: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Contact(s): Caren Levy Van Slyke justpeace1@aol.com 312-427-2533 x 18
Organizer(s): CJPIP

May 18, 2008: Los Angeles , CA
What: Branch out to Peace! Fundraiser Banquet for Children in Palestine (Benefiting Palestine Children’s Relief Fund)
Where: Ackerman Grand Ballroom, UCLA, Los Angeles , CA
When: 6:00pm
Contact(s): Randa Wahbe rwahbe@ucla.edu
Organizer(s): Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA

May 18, 2008: Marin , CA
What: The Nakba: The Palestinian Experience of the Creation of Israel as a Jewish State
Where: San Anselmo Inn, 339 San Anselmo Ave , San Anselmo, Marin, CA94960
When: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Contact(s): Jane Jewell 14friendsofpalestine@gmail.com
Organizer(s): 14 Friends of Palestine , Marin Peace and Justice Coalition
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May 19-23, 2008: Los Angeles , CA
What: Jerusalem Dispossessed: Photo Exhibit
Where: Kerckhoff Art Gallery
When: 6:00pm
Contact(s): Randa Wahbe rwahbe@ucla.edu
Organizer(s): Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA
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May 21, 2008: Brooklyn , NY
What: May 1948 - A New State for Israelis, Al-Nakba (Catastrophe) for Palestinians
Where: Brooklyn Friends Meeting House, 110 Schermerhorn, Brooklyn , NY
When: 7:00pm
Contact(s): Naomi Allen Naomi@brooklynpeace.org
Organizer(s): Brooklyn For Peace
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May 23, 2008: Chicago , IL
What: The Palestinian American National Conference
Where: Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare, 5440 North River Road , Rosemont , IL
When: May 23 - 24, 2008
Contact(s): Hesham Tillawi tillawi@aol.com

May 23, 2008: Chicago , IL
What: Rally to Commemorate 60 years of the Palestinian Nakba
Where: The Federal Plaza in Downtown Chicago ( Dearborn St and Adams St )
When: 5:00pm
Contact(s): Ramsey info@palestineactivistnetwork.com
Organizer(s): Palestine Activist Network
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May 24 -25, 2008: Milwaukee , WI
What: Al Nakba exhibits and speakers
Where: Milwaukee Ramada Inn South, 6401 S 13th St.
When: Afternoon and Evening
Organizer(s): Muslim American Society www.masnet.org
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May 31, 2008: Portland , OR
What: Commemorating 60 years of Palestinian dispossession, 40 years of Israeli occupation
Where: Hoffman Hall Portland State University 1833 SW Eleventh, Portland , OR 97201
When: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Contact(s): Peter Miller info@auphr.org
Organizer(s): Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights
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GENERATION
AFTER
GENERATION
UNTIL
TOTAL
LIBERATION

FREE PALESTINE!

“THE VOICES OF THE NEXT GENERATION”

Thanks TO

1 Comments

A REALISTIC REPORT ON THE MOSSAD/FBI MURDER VICTIM

May 13, 2008 at 8:16 am (Activism, Assassinations, Conspiracy Theories, Palestine)

The press has been harping at suicide in the MURDER of Riad Hamad. Some of his own so called supporters are even swallowing the lies put out by the local police. The reasons for this could be to simply put an end to the speculations and an opportunistic way to ’save their own asses’ while trying to make it look like there were wrongdoings in the way Riad operated. That is pure nonsense and those that do not stand with Riad’s family in this hour of pain are suspect of those very wrongdoings that Riad is being accused of, in my mind anyway…

The following is the first report I have seen that gives a true picture of the type of man Riad was…

Rough cut from yellow pad.

By Greg Moses

On the way to the St. James Episcopal Church of Austin Texas, the bus is happy to drop you into knee-high grasses and wildflowers along East Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, treating you to an unexpected nature walk. Yellow, white, purple, and brown blooms all smile up toward the sun which has not yet turned into the summer harshness that burns even the breeze into hiding.

Then, across the overgrown sidewalk along Webberville Road scurry creatures so tiny and fast they leave only traces behind. A magic tangle of cedar and mesquite whispers invitations to bow your head and step inside. But the caw, caw, caw of something overhead brings your eyes up to a pair of crows nipping in mid-flight at a passing hawk.

So it is a delightful revelation when you walk into the St. James sanctuary to see that two of its walls have been given over to glass, and you don’t have to leave behind the marvelous green thicket of this wild Texas oasis as you pick your seat upon a wooden pew.

Separating the converging glass walls is an altar with three crosses coming down. The highest cross is imaged upon a red tapestry, broad enough to hold an image of the world projected upon a scallop shell. Next cross down is thin, brown, and wooden, suspended by cables. And then supported from the ground up by a brass post is the third cross, in brass. Heaven to earth, global to local. Trinity applied. Three, two, one.

*** The hour is still a bit early for the program, so the women are testing the microphones. Rita Hamad and her mother Diana HajAli satisfy themselves that the sound will carry vibrantly through the modest sanctuary, and later the audience of 300 (way more than the “dozens” reported by the establishment press of Austin) will quickly demand that speakers use their microphone well, because nobody wants to miss a word.

“Okay, I’ll use my teacher’s voice,” is what Mark Kelly will say to the audience after he has been demanded to speak up. “I was in class the other day helping a student when a small noise caused me to look up unexpectedly. And I found myself explaining to the student: ‘I thought that was Mr. Hamad.’ I had to look back. I expected to see him there.”

From the flow of tears in this sanctuary and from the punctuations of laughter at funny memories, you can feel how the absence of Riad Hamad has been transformed into presence. “There has been some speculation about the circumstances of Riad’s death,” acknowledges Mr. Kelly. “But that’s not what we’re here for.” What we’re here for is a celebration of Riad Hamad’s life.

Retired Episcopal Priest Edward M Hartwell, for instance, recalls that when he first met Riad Hamad at a rally opposed to the occupation of Palestine, “I knew I wanted to know him better.” The audience chuckles at that. Soon enough, Rev. Hartwell and Riad Hamad were planning another rally in support of the Palestinian cause.

“Riad had a relentless commitment to the freedom of the Palestinian people, and his humanitarian work to help the children of Palestine was some of the most creative and effective work that I know of,” said Rev. Hartwell. “Day in and day out, there was always something going on.”

Two bumper stickers that Riad gave to Rev. Hartwell seemed to sum up the spirit and humor of the man. The first one said, “God loves everyone, no exceptions.” And the second one said, “When Jesus said love your enemies, I think he meant don’t kill them.” The laughter grows a little louder this time.

Riad loved gatherings like this, says Rev. Hartwell, and he would come often to places where Christian, Jewish, and Islamic peoples would join voices in prophetic support for protest against abuses of power, wherever and whenever they occur. “Wherever and whenever,” repeats Rev. Hartwell. “Wherever and whenever.”

As he reflects upon Riad Hamad’s legendary generosity and hospitality, Rev. Hartwell draws connections to the “law of hospitality” that he experienced in travels across the Arab world, whether at an oasis in the Nubian Desert, a Bedouin Camp near the Gulf of Aucuba, a community of Egyptian Christians, or among Palestinians at Ramallah, in Palestine.

“On his last visit to our home, Riad was in a hurry, as usual.” The audience chuckles. “He was practically out the door, when I called him back. I said I need hug. And I told him that we love you.”

We stand up for Rev. Hartwell’s opening prayer, to the Creator of All that Is, witnessing to Riad Hamad’s obedience to the Prophet’s call to give assistance to the oppressed, and testifying to his character, and life, and inspiration. As we sit back down, we are joined by new arrivals.

“Assalam Alaikum,” says Immam and Director of the Islamic Center of Greater Austin, Sheikh Mohammad-Umer Esmail. “Riad Hamad is here in my heart and I’m sure in the hearts of others.” Immam Mohammad thanks hosts and presents glad tidings to the audience, reminding them what the Prophet said upon news of the death of his granddaughter. “Only to God belongs what he has taken.”

For recollection of Riad Hamad’s life, Immam Mohammad turns to a testimonial posted at the website of the Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund (pcwf.org), the charity that Riad founded:

“As beautiful a human being as I have ever met . . . His charisma, energy, and positive outlook were contagious. He loved the children of Palestine and worked tirelessly on their behalf. . . . He would rather sleep in his car than pay for a hotel room so that he could save the money and send it to the children of Palestine . . . It was never about him, only the children of Palestine.”

The rest can be read HERE.

THIS earlier piece by the same author is also worth reading.

1 Comments

PALESTINE REMEMBERED 60 YEARS LATER REFUGEE STORY OF THE DAY

May 13, 2008 at 6:52 am (History, Israel's 60th, Nakba, Palestine, Refugee Camps)

By Tim Franks
BBC News, Jerusalem

Ali Abu Zour’s ID card from 1950, the year the Balata refugee camp was established

‘AND HERE I AM 60 YEARS LATER’

To get to Ali Abu Zour’s living quarters, you have to fold yourself into an improbable shape, and stoop-crawl-walk through the square hole in the back of his shop.

Once we had reached the bare room next to the kitchen, we decided it would be better to go back to the shop: just as comfortable, and he might not lose any passing business, as we talked.

Outside was the glare and the noise of the main market drag of Balata refugee camp, close to Nablus. Inside Mr Abu Zour’s shop, the light was dull and greyish, the shelves filled with dusty packets of soap powder and floor cleaner.

On a plastic stool by his side, sat Mr Abu Zour’s youngest son, 14-year-old Mohammed.

He grinned toothily as his father produced his ID card from 60 years ago.

In the photo, Ali may have been wearing a jacket and tie where Mohammed was now wearing a black t-shirt.

But other than that, the two boys were indistinguishable - replete with quiff, searching eyes, and large front teeth.

Ali Abu Zour lived in a village near Jaffa that no longer exists. The residents of Abu Kishk fled or were forced from their homes in 1948.

Ali Abu Zour in his shop in the Balat refugee camp

Inside Ali’s shop in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus in the West Bank

In 1950, Ali Abu Zour and his family wound up in Balata, the year that the United Nations set up a refugee camp there.

Mr Abu Zour recalled the small collection of tents. Balata is now the biggest of the Palestinian refugee camps on the West Bank, a concrete jumble, home to more than 20,000.

Shortly after arriving in 1950, his father was given the chance to buy five dunams (half a hectare) of land, close to the camp, for 75 Jordanian dinars.

Mr Abu Zour says his father barely considered the offer, telling the vendor that he was planning to stay only a week or two, or a month at most.

Mr Abu Zour laughed. “And here I am, nearly 60 years later.”

He insists that he keeps alive the dream of returning to what he says were the 200 dunams of land his family owned in Abu Kishk.

Mr Abu Zour looks younger than his 71 years. He has 12 children: 10 daughters and two sons. A third son died in the first intifada, killed in front of Mr Abu Zour eyes by an Israeli soldier. He did not go into details. “But it is still very difficult,” he said.

A STORY FOR NAKBA DAY

Before we left his shop, Mr Abu Zour asked that we stay and listen to a story; a story for the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (the “catastophe” - the name given by Palestinians and Arabs to the founding of the State of Israel) commemorated on 15 May:

During the 1973 war (Israel against Egypt and Syria), we were sitting in my house watching Syrian TV while they were covering the fighting.

My older sister was sitting behind me. She is dead now.

And we saw a picture on the Syrian TV when they captured an Israeli air force pilot. We saw that he was injured.

My older sister, she said: “Haram [Shame]! O my God, he’s injured.”

I told her: “He’s Jewish, he’s Israeli,” because I thought she didn’t realise.

She said that she knew.

“Look my brother, I’m a mother. And I look at him now as a mother. And I know that his mother may be seeing these pictures, and her heart is breaking,” my sister explained.

And I said to my sister: “If I thought that we can pray for anyone other than God, I would pray for your great emotions, because of what you are feeling.”

Her name was Umm Ibrahim [the mother of Ibrahim]. And she just had one cow in the family. Once she went to check the cow. In her way were some Israeli soldiers. They threw a tear gas grenade at her. And she died from this tear gas.

In her heart she had mercy for everyone, even for her enemies… those same enemies who ended up killing her and her people, and stealing her land. But this didn’t do her any good - this mercy. She was killed by the Israelis.

I don’t want to blame anyone falsely. I do know that there are men and women in Israel who have mercy in their hearts.

Once at the entrance to the camp at Balata, I saw lots of Israeli soldiers. And there were a few kids who were getting ready to throw stones.

One of these soldiers, he saw me. He walked straight up to me and he said to me: “Please tell these kids not to throw stones, because my mother she told me not to shoot anyone.”

At this time, I remembered my sister Umm Ibrahim. I thought that they - the Israelis - have Umm Ishaq [Ishaq being the Arabic for Isaac - a popular Jewish name].

If Umm Ishaq became the prime minister in Israel, and Umm Ibrahim the president in Palestine, then there would be peace.

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RACISTS FACING A DILEMMA IN ISRAEL

May 12, 2008 at 4:13 pm (Civil Rights, DesertPeace Editorial, Extremism, Ignorance, Intolerance, Israel, Racism)

Image ‘Copyleft’ by Carlos Latuff

‘What are we to do?? There are Arab children enrolled in Jewish nursery schools in this neighbourhood.’ Such is the dilemma facing the rabbinical council in Jerusalem. They have been pressing the ‘alarm’ button as more Palestinians move into neighbourhoods in the northern part of Jerusalem.

Just what is an ignorant racist to do when there is a development such as this? Last night a small (poorly attended) meeting took place in my neighbourhood, a meeting called to determine just what can be done about this ‘problem’. One heard words like ’staus quo’, and how we must not allow that to change. In other words, ‘we have a ghetto here and we like it!”. Well, if the truth is to be known, most of the locals in my area don’t like it! Heaven forbid we all live together, get to know each other and thereby eradicate the possibilities of war…. is that what they are afraid of? It sure seems so.

Brings to mind an incident in my own building when a real estate agent requested I do something about a Palestinian’s name appearing on one of the mailboxes. Seems she was having a problem selling one of the apartments because of that. I assured her that I would do something… I assured her that I would get the other 5 Palestinian families in the building to put their names on the boxes as well. Just to show you the type of neighbourhood I live in, read THIS. Needless to say, I would have nothing to do with the encouragement of an apartheid system in my own building…

In recent months there have been many newspaper reports and Blog articles about my neighbourhood, an area known for its tolerance and the peaceful coexistence of its residents. Why can’t this be accepted as the norm? Why do the carriers of the dreaded virus of racism have to spread their disease?

This ‘chosen people’ syndrome is also becoming a disease…. it leads only to the growth of racism and hatred. I’m sure that was not the intent when the phrase was coined. What’s left now is how to combat that, and thereby stopping the virus in its tracks.

The world we share today is small, the countries within it even smaller. Within the countries there are cities and within them there are neighbourhoods. Let’s start at the smallest denominator and see how far we can spread our anti virus…. IT CAN BE DONE!

2 Comments

PALESTINE REMEMBERED 60 YEARS LATER NAKBA QUOTE OF THE DAY

May 12, 2008 at 2:11 pm (History, Israel's 60th, Nakba, Palestine)

“We came and turned the native Arabs into tragic refugees. And still we dare to slander and malign them, to besmirch their name. Instead of being deeply ashamed of what we did and trying to undo some of the evil we committed … we justify our terrible acts and even attempt to glorify them.”

– Nathan Chofshi; cited in The Other Exodus by Erskine Childers.

Thanks TO

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OVERHEARD IN JERUSALEM ~~ “THIS IS MY HOUSE!”

May 12, 2008 at 1:02 pm (Ethnic Cleansing, History, Israel's 60th, Nakba, Occupation, Palestine)

Image by Ismael Shammout
60 years on, refugees visit lost Jerusalem homes
By Wafa Amr

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Eighty-year-old Beatrice Habesch sobbed when she caught sight of her father’s house in Jerusalem on Sunday and remembered how it was taken over by Jews in 1948.

“This is our house! This is my house!” she shouted as fellow Palestinians held her back from running towards the building.

Some 300 Palestinians marked 60 years since Israel’s founding in May 1948 with a protest walk through affluent Jewish parts of west Jerusalem that were once home to many Arabs. They wore black T-shirts with “This is my House” printed on the back.

The Palestinians said their families had owned houses in Talbiyeh, German Colony and other districts until Israelis drove them away or they fled in the Arab-Jewish fighting that accompanied the creation of the state of Israel.

Habesch said her father, a merchant, had owned property in Talbiyeh and that he had had friendly relations with his Jewish neighbours, letting part of his property to them.

One of their neighbours, she said, was Golda Meir, who as Israel’s prime minister in the 1970s refused to acknowledge the existence of Palestinians.

“I was 19 during the war in 1948. I remember two men and a woman came to our house and told us to leave. They said our house would be bombed if we did not leave,” Habesch said.

Like many of the 700,000 or so Palestinians who fled their homes in 1948, the Habesch family thought they would return after the war between Israel and the Arab states was over.

But they never did.

The demonstrators pointed at houses, many decorated with Israeli flags marking the 60th anniversary of independence, and recalled their former Palestinian owners: “This is the Dajani house. That is the Nammari house. This is the Halaby house.”

ISRAELIS LOOK ON

Israelis watched from porches, mostly in silence, though one man who trailed the marchers yelled: “Arabs out!”

“Most Israelis react defensively or aggressively,” said Tomer Belity, an Israeli teacher at a school in Talbiyeh.

“They are afraid and full of hate because they think the Palestinians want to get us out of here.”

Nahla Assaly, 70, was 10 when she and her family left their house in the German Colony, now a haven for well-heeled bohemians. “We left our house because we panicked,” she said. “People panic during wars.”

Assaly said her family heard of the killings of dozens of Arabs by Jewish guerrillas at Deir Yassin, a village near Jerusalem, in April 1948. Fear set in. When the shooting came closer to home, it was time to leave.

“Bullets came through our doors and windows, so my father took us to Damascus for what he thought would be a couple of weeks,” Assaly recalled. “But we never came back.”

She said she felt bitter about the festivities surrounding Israel’s 60th Independence Day, including this week’s visit by U.S. President George W. Bush, who is sponsoring a drive for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of this year.

“Bush is coming to celebrate. Why? Did anybody go to South Africa to celebrate apartheid? This whole idea of celebration is a mockery of peace.”

“Let the Israelis admit their wrongdoing in 1948,” said Assaly. “Then there will be room for healing.” (Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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A LATE PASSOVER OR AN EARLY RAMADAN?

May 12, 2008 at 7:45 am (Apartheid, Complicity, Ethnic Cleansing, Gaza, Palestine)

Image ‘Copyleft’ by Carlos Latuff
Passover ended on the Hebrew calendar almost a month ago…. Ramadan is not due to start until the 1st of September…

Why then are the bakeries in Gaza closing NOW???

APARTHEID…. complete separation of the Palestinians from the Israelis

SEIZURE OF GAZA…. Israel’s way of ethnic cleansing the population of Palestine

A land without food, a land without medical facilities, a land without water, a land in darkness…. AND A WORLD THAT WATCHES THIS SILENTLY!

Apartheid will end in this country as it did in South Africa… nothing or no one can turn back the wheels of progress. PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!

Gaza bakeries shut down due to lack of fuel supplies

The Society of Bakeries in the Gaza Strip announced on Sunday that all bakeries in the coastal region were forced to shut down midday as fuel supplies could not be replenished due to the Israeli siege.

In a press release, the Society said that “we as owners of fifty bakeries in Gaza, hereby announce that we must completely halt operations after running out of fuel supplies.”

The society appealed to international human rights groups to intervene and lift the Israeli blockade on the coastal region and to supply Gaza with the needed fuel “so its residents can have bread to eat.”

Misbah Al Shanty, the owner of Gaza’s biggest bakery told the French Press on Sunday that bakeries will remain unable to produce bread until the needed fuel is allowed into Gaza.

“This issue does not only affect us,” he added, “it affects and harms every resident in Gaza.”

Gazan resident Abu Ahmad, a 45-year old father of six children, said that he went to several bakeries to buy bread for his children, but came back home empty handed.

“I don’t know how long this will go on,” Abu Ahmad stated, “Will the world just wait until we and our children die of hunger?”

Additionally, the only power-plant in Gaza completely stopped its activities on Saturday due to fuel supply restrictions imposed by the Israeli military.

Source

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PALESTINE REMEMBERED 60 YEARS LATER PALESTINIAN IDENTITY BEFORE AND AFTER THE NAKBA

May 12, 2008 at 7:05 am (History, Israel's 60th, Nakba, Palestine)

Image by David Baldinger

Palestinian identity before and after Israel’s creation
By Sherri Muzher

“People are tired of hearing about it,” a friend once told me matter-of-factly about the Middle East conflict.

Tell me about it.

As a first-generation American of Palestinian descent, I can vouch that nobody is more tired of this conflict than the Palestinians. But many of us don’t have the luxury of flipping the channel or ignoring what is happening to our relatives and friends.

Palestinians with serious illnesses in Gaza are denied access to medical care (more than 150 died and children are being stoned on their way to school by Jewish settlers).

We do what we can but it never feels sufficient. And though we’re 100 per cent Semitic, the usual tiring label of “anti-Semite” is thrown at us for speaking out against the injustices.

This month marks the 60th anniversary of Israel’s creation and the dispossession of the Palestinians.

I’ll save the history lessons because the realities have even been acknowledged by Israeli historians, most recently by Professor Ilan Pappe, in 2006, in his book, “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine”.

Instead, I’d like to focus on the Palestinian people.

Denying their humanity has taken on many forms in the Israeli PR arsenal - from employing pop culture to painting Palestinians as terrorists at conception to the media’s glorification of Israel’s birth.

In recent years, pro-Israeli commentaries claim our parents apparently don’t love us. Apparently, my parents’ years of love and sacrifice illustrate that they never read the Palestinian manual for parents.

Sarcasm aside, it all makes strategic sense: dehumanise Palestinians or deny their heritage long enough so that any action against them doesn’t seem so outrageous, even expulsions at gunpoint.

Consider that Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said in 1969 in an often-repeated statement: “There is no such thing as a Palestinian.”

Too bad she didn’t read history because there has been a collective consciousness of their unique identity for millennia. The ancient Canaanites weren’t called Palestinians, but neither were the Mesopotamians called Iraqis or the Celts called Irish or British. Still, the roots are unquestionable and run eternally deep, from archeological finds to folktales.

Another example of whiting out the Palestinian heritage is using the term “Israeli Arab”. I’ve never heard of a generic Arab race - every Arab has a specific heritage, be it Palestinian, Lebanese, Algerian, etc. Think of Latin America, where they all speak the same language (Spanish, minus Portuguese-speaking Brazil) and most share the same religion (Catholic). In the Arab world, they all speak Arabic and most are Muslim. Nonetheless, each country has its own dialect, food and customs. Mexicans and Argentines differ, as do Palestinians and Egyptians.

And within each Arab nation, there is even more diversity - from distinguishable dialects and expressions to being able to identify the region a Palestinian woman comes from by the intricate embroidery on her traditional dress. Palestinians have always had a rich and vibrant culture that is all their own, before and after Israel’s creation.

There is no question that Palestinians have taken a bruising with poorly made leadership decisions and factional fighting in recent years. But what has remained steadfast is their fierce embrace of identity and their resilience. This is true not only of Palestinians in Palestine but also of Palestinians in the diaspora.

Whether it was the election of Tony Saca to the presidency of El Salvador or respected fiscal conservative, Sen. John Sununu being singled out for praise by Time magazine, or Dr Motia Khaled Al Asir being awarded the British Empire Medal by Queen Elizabeth II, those of Palestinian descent continue to make their mark around the world.

The Jewish Torah teaches us that man was created in God’s image. The Palestinians have never been absent from this equation.

The writer is director of the Michigan Media Watch. She contributed this article to The Jordan Times.

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CONTROVERSIAL DEATH MY EYE!

May 11, 2008 at 3:56 pm (Activism, Collaboration, Conspiracy Theories, Palestine)

Does a man who adores his wife and children plan a suicide so as to never see them again?

I THINK NOT.

Does a man who is so involved in causes to help Palestinian children plan a suicide at a time when his services are needed more than ever?

I THINK NOT.

Federal authorities this year authorized a search warrant of his home as well as a safe deposit box and storage unit. Authorities said that he received $633,965 in donations and that he sent some of the money — about $527,000 — to the Middle East. But according to an affidavit, authorities “can not determine the ultimate disposition of these funds at this time.”

Is that reason to plan a suicide rather than prove his innocence in any underhanded activity?

I THINK NOT.

Is the State of Israel capable of killing anyone involved in helping the cause of the Palestinian people?

DEFINITELY!

Is the Federal Bureau of Investigation capable of collaborating in such a vile act to assist their most trusted, loyal friend in the Middle East, despite the discovery of a spy ring working against their own country?

DEFINITELY!

Riad Hamad was tormented by Federal agencies the last part of his life. Riad was a strong, dedicated man with a mission…. would he give that up on his own?

I DOUBT THAT!

Despite what the press reports claim, despite what the local police authorities claim, I am positive that Riad was murdered… there is no doubt in my mind about that.

Below is a somewhat biased report of the memorial service that was held yesterday.

CONTROVERSIAL DEATH

Memorial service for Palestinian activist reveals more layers

Family, friends remember activist and teacher

By Eileen E. Flynn

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Ever since Riad Hamad’s body was found bound in Lady Bird Lake last month, the Palestinian activist whose charity was being investigated by the FBI has been either glorified on the Web as a martyr for the cause or vilified as a leftist zealot who intentionally staged a suspicious suicide. The picture that emerged at Hamad’s memorial service Saturday reflected a far more complex man who was at turns goofy, passionate, mischievous, abrasive and loving but whose final weeks were marked by agitation and fear.

Dozens of Hamad’s family, friends and co-workers gathered at St. James’ Episcopal Church on Webberville Road on a hot afternoon to share memories and photos and pledge to continue helping Palestinian children through the Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund that Hamad ran. A few people wore kaffiyehs, the checkered Palestinian scarf, and spoke strongly against the Israeli government.

But the service explored many facets of Hamad’s personality and steered clear of the conspiracy theories surrounding his death that have grown on pro-Palestinian Web sites and e-mail strings since Hamad’s body was found April 16. Already known internationally for his relief work, in death, Hamad has become a global cause célèbre among those who supported his cause.

On Saturday, mourners paid tribute to the father who would sign e-mails “always remember daddy loves you” to his two adult children, Rita and Abdullah. The Clint Small Jr. Middle School technology teacher who teased boys with long hair by calling them hippies. The chef who loved to whip up babaghanouj and baklava for his friends. The man who would sacrifice his comfort to help others, sometimes forgoing a hotel and sleeping in his car to save money for Palestinian children.

Hamad’s widow, Diana HajAli Hamad, a petite woman in a long maroon tunic with gold trimming, recalled their courtship in Beirut, Lebanon, almost 30 years ago. Every time they dined at their favorite cafe, she said, Riad would hand her the bill just to annoy the male chauvinist waiter. Twenty years ago, Riad persuaded her to move to Austin, the city he fell in love with as a University of Texas student.

Diana Hamad’s voice never broke as she said, “I stand before you in the house of God feeling like my heart has been ripped out of my chest.”

A slide show depicted a joyful man who adored his wife, children and cats and enjoyed mugging for the camera.

His death came as a shock, Hamad’s son Abdullah said. When the 55-year-old Hamad’s body was discovered, his ankles and feet were bound, and his eyes were covered with duct tape. Police said they believed it was a suicide, saying it appeared Hamad could have tied his own hands and that evidence suggested he had walked from his car to the lake. The cause of death from the Travis County medical examiner’s office isn’t expected for a couple of weeks.

Police also reported after his body was found that family members had said he’d been showing suicidal tendencies. A colleague who might have been the last to speak with Hamad has since said he believes it was suicide.

But Hamad’s brother-in-law denied Saturday that the family had described him as suicidal. And the circumstances have fueled online theories that Hamad was killed by the U.S. government or Israeli operatives.

Roberta Clark, a spokeswoman for the Austin chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, referred to Hamad’s death as a tragedy but said that rumors pointing the finger at Israel “are hateful and hurtful and they fuel the flames of those who are anti-Semitic and/or anti-Israel.”

In a telephone interview Saturday night, she said Israel, which marks its 60th anniversary this month, is committed to peace with its neighbors but cannot be “partners in peace” with leaders who support suicide bombers.

Before Saturday’s service, Diana Hamad said the family did not want to make a statement about her husband’s death. But during her talk, she did allude to her husband’s distress over the FBI’s seizure of his computers in February. She said he was working on a paper for a professor and was upset that he would not make the deadline.

Hamad also spoke with his middle school co-worker Mark Kelly about his anguish over the suspicion that surrounded his charity work.

“(He) was tormented by the defamation of being labeled a terrorist,” Kelly said. He said Hamad would ask him, “What have I done?”

The affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Austin in February said authorities think Hamad was using the donated money for personal use and not paying federal income tax on it, that he failed to file several income tax returns from 2000 to 2006 and did not pay any taxes on earned income during those years. Hamad filed a document with the IRS titled “Redirect TAX Money AWAY from Israel,” the affidavit said.

Friends said Hamad might have been a sloppy bookkeeper, but he lived frugally and gave everything he raised back to Palestinian families. Anna Baltzer, a friend, said Hamad purchased Palestinian hand-made goods such as olive wood carvings and embroideries, sold them and returned the profits to Palestinian families.

“He was sort of a one-man wonder,” Baltzer said. “Whenever I would see him, he would be working from the minute he woke up to the minute he went to sleep.”

But the lingering suspicions and pressure from the government, she said, took a toll.

Hamad had assigned his charity to an umbrella group in California, the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees. Paul Larudee, who ran the organization, said Hamad wondered whether his involvement with the Free Gaza Movement, an organization that opposes Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip, prompted the investigations.

“He felt … (federal authorities) were closing in on him,” Larudee said.

Israel withdrew its troops from Gaza and evacuated Jewish settlements there nearly three years ago but has made several military incursions since then in response to rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled region.

Larudee believes he was the last person to speak to Hamad before he died. His position, he said, is that Hamad “did take his own life but he took it with a view of fueling the speculation that has in fact accompanied his death.” Bloggers who have been critical of Hamad’s work have offered the same suggestion.

At Saturday’s service, no one addressed the conspiracy theories.

“That’s not what we’re here for,” Kelly said. Later in his eulogy, he described Hamad as agitated in the week’s leading up to his death.

“I can only hope that he has found peace now,” he said.

Also listen to THIS radio broadcast…

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THOUSANDS MARCH IN LONDON FOR A FREE PALESTINE

May 11, 2008 at 9:11 am (Activism, International Solidarity, Israel's 60th, Nakba)

Thousands of people marched through the streets of London, to show their support for the Palestinian cause.

The demonstrators were calling for an end to the siege on Gaza, the right of return for Palestinians, and an end to Israeli occupation.

And Tomorrow…..

The Nakba, Voices for Palestine event with Gilad Atzmon

Friends of Palestine Society Presents:

The Nakba - Voices for Palestine

Featuring: His Excellency Dr. Manuel Hassassian the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Gilad Atzmon and band, Nizar Al Issa and More…

University of Exeter, Monday May 12th, 2008:

On commemoration of the 60th anniversary of The Nakbah, meaning: “The Catastrophe”: The expulsion and dispossession of hundreds of thousands Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. More than 60 percent of the total Palestinian population was expelled. Over 530 Palestinian villages were depopulated and completely destroyed.

The society is putting together a gala with the main theme being ‘60 Years Later… Still No Peace…Still Existing”. The gala will celebrate Palestinian heritage: music and dabkah which continue to unite the Palestinian Diaspora despite the circumstances. More importantly the event aims to raise awareness and promote Peace by introducing prestigious academics in the field highlighting the Nakba’s history, present and suggestions to the future.

The event will take place on Streatham Campus in the Peter Chalk Centre, Stocker Road, EX4 4QD.

You are cordially invited to join us at what promises to be the largest event yet organized by Exeter Friends of Palestine

Donations will be highly appreciated.

Enclosed Event Program

The Nakba - Voices for Palestine
Program

6:00-7:30

The event will start by illustrating the major historical facts. Followed by, His Excellency Dr Manuel Hassassian, to speak about the current political implications and the future of the Palestinians. Time will be allotted for a Q&A session with the audience.

As a prelude to the cultural element of the evening, Gilad Atzmon will discuss his article ‘Primacy of the Ear’, in which he describes his personal journey from what he calls a ‘Judeo-centric upbringing’ to his realisation that ‘Israeli “peace-making”…wasn’t there to reconcile with the Palestinians’.

Intermission: Middle Eastern refreshments will be served

8:00-9:30

Two accomplished artists from Israel and Palestine gathered to inspire peace:

Gilad Atzmon, a leading professional Jazz musician, a very talented saxophonist and his Band. His performance is a real honour given how critically acclaimed he is – Clive Davis of the Sunday Times called him “one of the most distinctive saxophonists on the British circuit”.

Nizar al-Issa, a very famous Palestinian vocalist and Oud player. Nizar is high acclaimed for his creativity and ability to fuse his work with blues and jazz.

A performance of traditional folk dance of the Middle-East by the Exeter Dabkah Group.

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PALESTINE REMEMBERED 60 YEARS LATER PHOTO OF THE DAY: THESE KEYS FIT

May 11, 2008 at 8:50 am (Nakba, Palestine, Photography)

These keys fit

Nasser Flefel carves wooden keys to symbolize the Palestinian right of return in his Gaza City workshop. (Wissam Nassar, Maan Images)

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PALESTINE REMEMBERED 60 YEARS LATER NAKBA QUOTE OF THE DAY: YITZHAK RABIN

May 11, 2008 at 7:17 am (History, Israel, Nakba, Palestine)

This from a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize….

“The residents of Lod must be expelled quickly, without classifying them according to age … implement immediately.”

– Order from Lieutenant Colonel Yitzhak Rabin, operations chief for the Israeli attack on the Palestinian city of Lydda/Lod in 1948 (and later Israeli Chief of Staff and then Prime Minister), to the headquarters of the Yiftah Brigade, 12 July, 1948.

Paintings: The Exodus (1953) and A Drop of Water (1953) by Ismail Shammout, Palestinian artist and refugee, one of the almost 40,000 Palestinians expelled from Lydda/Lod and its twin city Ramla in July 1948 on the orders of Yitzhak Rabin.

Thanks TO

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A MOTHER’S DAY PROCLAMATION FOR PEACE

May 11, 2008 at 6:56 am (History, Peace, Poetry)

Mother’s Day Proclamation - 1870

by Julia Ward Howe

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

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ISRAEL’S 60 YEAR OLD LEGACY TO IT’S ARAB CITIZENS IS RACISM

May 10, 2008 at 4:19 pm (Intolerance, Israel, Palestine, Second Class Citizens, zionist harassment)

Arabs Say Racism on Rise as Israel Turns 60

By Mohammed Assadi

Salwa Abu Jaber believes her story shows Israel discriminating against its Arab citizens, 60 years after the state was established as a haven for Jews.

The 32-year-old mother of four from northern Israel said her five-year-old daughter has never seen her father, who lives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Separated from the man for five years, she says she has been forced to divorce him.

Thousands of families have been similarly split by a 2003 ban on Palestinians in the West Bank from reuniting with their families inside Israel, imposed citing security reasons after the Palestinian uprising or intifada began in 2000.

“In practical terms, Israel forced the divorce on us,” Abu Jaber said. “We could not continue to live like this any longer. If this is not racism, then what is it?”

This week, as Israel celebrates the anniversary of its foundation, its supreme court has said it found merit in the position of numerous petitions filed by rights groups against the law that keeps the families apart.

But Israeli Arabs — those Palestinians who remained after hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from their homes when Israel was created — say institutionalised racism and illegal killings of Arabs have increased since the intifada started.

After 1948, about 120,000 stayed and were granted Israeli citizenship. Now about one in five Israelis is Arab, and many prefer to be called Palestinians like their kin outside Israel.

Israel denies it discriminates and touts its credentials as a multi-cultural democracy, arguing all citizens have the vote and are equal under the law. Arabic is an official language, alongside Hebrew.

Arabs say they also struggle to get jobs, housing and land.

“Arab citizens … are related to more as enemies than as citizens with equal rights,” the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in its annual report.

The group said “racist incidents” against Arab citizens rose 26 percent in 2006. It did not have more recent figures. Poverty rates are four times higher among Israeli Arabs in comparison to Israeli Jews, according to Haifa-based advocacy group Mossawa.

Twelve Arab lawmakers including a cabinet member hold seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, but less than 8 percent of the country’s civil service workforce is made up of Israeli Palestinians, according to a recent civil service report.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

The Israeli government acknowledges the gap between the Israeli Jews and Arabs and says it is taking affirmative action to boost the number of Arab civil servants to 10 percent by 2012, particularly in high-ranking posts.

“Israeli Arabs enjoy more freedom, more civil rights that any of their compatriots across the borders,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesman, Mark Regev, said.

But some rights groups, including ACRI, say Israel has also been using the law to cement the state’s Jewish character.

Such draft bills, approved by parliament in 2007, include banning Arabs from buying land controlled by the Jewish National Fund, a quasi-governmental group that was founded before the state of Israel to buy and develop land in Palestine and later oversaw land distribution in the Jewish state.

The JNF also controls land owned by Palestinians before they fled or were driven from their homes when Israel was founded.

Another bill makes eligibility for national insurance benefits dependent on completing military service. Few Arabs serve in the army: unlike for Jews, service is not compulsory.

“The Palestinians inside Israel are being discriminated against in all spheres except for one: the right to vote,” Mohammad Barakeh, a member of Israeli parliament, said.

Olmert’s spokesman Regev said the bills did not reflect racist attitudes against Arabs, rather “legitimate differences of opinions”.

LICENCE TO KILL?

About 1.5 million Arabs reside in Israel with 5.5 million Jews, but 3.8 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

U.S. President George W. Bush is hoping for an agreement this year to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel.

To Israelis, the government justifies holding talks about creating a Palestinian state by saying the alternative is a single state where Arabs would soon outnumber Jews.

A recent poll by Israel’s parliamentary TV station showed 76 percent of Jewish Israelis give some degree of support to transferring Palestinians living inside Israel to a future state — an option most Arab citizens strongly reject.

“The Jews are the ones who immigrated to our homeland and took our land. We did not immigrate to their land so we cannot leave,” said Jamal Zahalka, an Arab lawmaker.

The outbreak of the latest Palestinian intifada marked a turning-point in the way Israel treats its Arab citizens, many say, especially after 13 unarmed Israeli Arabs were killed in October 2000 when police used live ammunition to disperse protests in support of Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Rights groups say a January Israeli court decision not to indict the alleged killers due to “insufficient evidence” was tantamount to giving police a licence to kill Arabs.

Two rights groups documented the killing of 41 Arabs by Israeli police or in “racist attacks” by Jews and security guards since 2000. Of those, only one suspected killer has been indicted, said Jafar Farah, director of advocacy group Mossawa.

“The message of (this court’s) decision is the following: Israel is allowed to kill Arabs and to make mass arrests,” said Abeer Baker, a lawyer with advocacy group Adala in Israel, which represented the families of those killed in the 2000 protests.

The court case rekindled painful memories for the families of those killed.

“They are re-opening my wounds,” said Raoofa Lawabneh in Sakhnin in northern Israel as she held a poster of her son, Iyad, who was among those killed. “I wish to see his killer in jail before I die,” said the 68-year-old mother of eight.

Many Israeli Arabs say they have lost faith in Israeli justice, arguing police were more restrained while dispersing gatherings by Israeli Jews.

“How come in a country that claims democracy, policemen shoot and kill citizens but no charge sheet is made?” asked Mossawa’s Farah. “When it comes to Arab citizens, the law-abiding state does not exist.”

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ISRAEL’S ALTERNATIVE INDEPENDENCE DAY

May 10, 2008 at 10:45 am (Activism, History, Israel's 60th, Nakba, Palestine)

Israel’s alternative independence day

Ben White reports on how some of Israel’s Palestinian citizens marked the beginning of the country’s 60th anniversary celebrations

Mothers with prams mixed with old men leaning on sticks, and groups of teenagers sang boisterously alongside those walking in silence. All along the stony path, the sun’s rays shone through the tree tops to illuminate the flags and placards. Not every afternoon woodland stroll is labelled a “subversive challenge” to the state, but the Palestinian citizens of Israel were well aware of the significance of their alternative ‘Independence Day’ event, as they gathered on the ruins of Safuriyya, one of the hundreds of villages destroyed by Israel in 1948.

On a day when across the country, hundreds of thousands attended official military shows, firework displays and communal barbeques, this was the biggest event held by Palestinians inside Israel. Participating in the procession were the very top level Arab leaders, including Knesset members, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

The march began just outside Nazareth, close to the Israeli town of Tzipori, and a short walk from the site where the village of Safuriyya once lay. Some carried the names of destroyed villages, while others held up Palestinian flags and banners saying ‘Yes to the right of return’. The rows of chairs laid out at the culminating rally were quickly filled, with people continuing to arrive as both Arabs and Jews gave speeches on the small stage.

The events that took place here sixty years ago are similar