Desertpeace

BLAMING THE VICTIM……

desertpeace — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:47:36 +0000

“Reckless” to sail in international waters – official

Stuart Littlewood

I thought I would share this with you.

Britain’s foreign secretary David Miliband – or rather, a henchman on his behalf – has written to me about the government’s response to Israel’s hijacking of the mercy ship Spirit of Humanity on the high seas and the outrageous treatment of six peace-loving British citizens (including the skipper), en route to Gaza not Israel, who had their gear stolen or damaged and were thrown into Israeli jails. The letter contains the usual wet and meaningless expressions like deplore and press and raise the issue, which are the familiar hallmark of Foreign Office mentality.

And I’m told it is “reckless” to travel in international waters. It should, of course, be safe – and would be if the high and mighty Western allies, always talking big against terror, were to enforce maritime law and rid the Eastern Mediterranean of marauding Israeli pirates.

Miliband’s spokesman says: “The Israeli Navy took control of the Spirit of Humanity on 30 June, diverting it to Ashdod port in Israel. All those on board, including six British nationals, were handed over to Israeli immigration officials. British consular officials had good access to the British detainees and established that they were treated well. The Israeli authorities deported the detainees on 6 July.”

Treated well? That’s not what the peaceful seafarers say. They were assaulted, put in fear of their lives and deprived of their liberty for fully a week – a long time in a stinking Israeli jail.

Miliband’s spokesman: “The Foreign Secretary said in the House of Commons on 30 June that it was ‘vital that all states respect international law, including the law of the sea. It is also important to say that we deplore the interference by the Israeli navy in the activities of Gazan fishermen’.”

Such fine words. Where is the action to back them up? Gaza’s fishermen suffer increasingly unjust restrictions and are still fired on.

Miliband’s spokesman: “When the Foreign Secretary spoke to the Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, on 1 July he raised the issue with him and asked for clarification about whether or not the Spirit of Humanity had been intercepted in international waters. We will continue to press the Israeli authorities for clarification.”

It’s well over a week and Lieberman hasn’t clarified anything. There’s a surprise! Was the Israeli ambassador in London summoned and given a dressing down? Has London demanded compensation for the Britishers’ losses and damage? Has the boat and its cargo been returned? Have arrangements been made for the aid to be delivered? Our Zionist-leaning government apparently takes pleasure in Britain’s repeated humiliation. Not long ago the British consul-general in Tel Aviv (a woman) was strip-searched by Israeli security perverts.

Miliband’s spokesman: “We regularly remind the Israeli government of its obligations under international law on a variety of issues, including with respect to humanitarian access to Gaza as well as Israel’s control of Gazan waters and the effect this has on Gaza’s fishing industry.”

Ever get the feeling they’ve switched off their collective hearing aid? What is the point of obligations if they never have to be met? Miliband and the rest should hang their heads in shame, particularly over the Gaza fishing scandal.

Miliband’s spokesman: “As I said on the phone, our Travel Advice makes clear that we advise against all travel to Gaza, including its offshore waters; that it is reckless to travel to Gaza at this time; and that medical and other essential specialist staff needing to travel to Gaza should coordinate their entry to Gaza with the major international humanitarian organisations already on the ground.”

Why does London perpetuate the blockade of Gaza by colluding in Israel’s unlawful conduct? Where are the consequences and penalties for breaching international law and all codes of human decency?

On the other point, Gaza’s Ministry of Health is surely best placed to know what’s needed.

Miliband’s spokesman: “Our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate General in Jerusalem have also similarly advised those wishing to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza to do so through existing humanitarian organisations which can advise, particularly with regards to medicines, [and] which items if any are currently required.”

Private suppliers should be free to deliver aid through whatever channels they wish.

Miliband’s spokesman: “The UK has been unequivocal in its calls for Israel to lessen restrictions at the Gaza crossings, allowing the legitimate flow of humanitarian aid, trade and reconstruction goods and the movement of people. This is essential not only for the people of Gaza, but also for the wider stability of the region.”

“Unequivocal”? “Essential”? More splendid but empty words. The needs of the crushed and devastated and half-starved people of Gaza have been urgent for 3 years, ever since Britain ganged up with the Zionist axis to bring Gaza to its knees.

Miliband’s spokesman: “Recent events in Gaza are a tragic reminder of the importance of progress on the peace process.”

No kidding……. They are also a tragic reminder of the West’s perverse failure in its duty to enforce compliance with international law, human rights and UN resolutions.

Miliband’s spokesman: “The UK, with the support of our international allies, will continue to pursue vigorously a comprehensive peace based on a two-state solution, involving a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state.”

But never vigorously enough. The world is still waiting after sixty-one years. And let’s change those worn-out words around. How does a secure Palestine alongside a viable Israel sound?

Britain and its allies need to try a new tack… like first establishing the rule of international law and forcibly breaking the siege. It’s so blindingly obvious.

Meanwhile, doesn’t the gut-churning, cowardly shambles that is Gaza make you proud to be British? Or American? Or European?

Stuart Littlewood
11 July 2009

Source

The truth is…..

It’s zionism that is reckless!

Steve Amsel

11 July, 2009

Posted in Activism, Chutzpah, Humanitarian Aid, Ignorance, International Solidarity, zionist harassment

CHILDREN OF GAZA RELIVING THE HORRORS OF WAR IN THEIR ARTWORK

desertpeace — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:46:45 +0000

Children should be painting pictures of life…. not war and death, but the children of Gaza are still reliving the horrors of the Israeli blitzkrieg.

These children are talented, but their memories and nightmares have taken over their creativity.

Let the pictures speak……..!!!!!!!

Photos of the images were taken by Ayman Quader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also read the following related post from Uruknet…..

Gaza’s children struggle with memories of war

by Patrick Moser

Palestinian Ghasan Matar, 14, who lost his legs in an explosion during the Israeli war on Gaza, sits on a bed at his family’s house in Gaza City

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Fourteen-year-old Ghasan Matar won’t talk about the explosion that cost him his legs and killed his brother. In fact, six months after the end of the Israeli war on Gaza, he still barely talks at all.

He spends most of his time staring at the walls and a huge poster depicting his older brother against a bloody background of war featuring a Kalashnikov assault rifle and dead Israeli soldiers.

He says he never thinks about the day when the house was hit during heavy shelling of Gaza City’s Zeitun neighbourhood. He insists he has no nightmares. “I’m doing fine,” he says, and then clams up.

“He’s very traumatised. He doesn’t speak, tries to act like nothing happened,” says social worker Nisrin Ramadan during a visit to the boy’s crumbling brick home.

“There are many cases like this of deep shock and loss of hope,” says Ramadan, who works with the Society for the Physically Handicapped.

More than 300 children were among the 1,400 Palestinians killed and many more were wounded during the 22-day Israeli offensive that ended on January 18, according to Palestinian figures.

And experts say a vast majority of the children who make up more than half of Gaza’s 1.5 million population, will bear the psychological scars for years to come.

“Children here have lost joy in life. They can laugh but there is no joy. They are unable to maintain hope,” says psychiatrist Eyad Sarraj, who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.

Seven-year-old Ahmed Salah al-Samuni smiles timidly as he is tossed a green plastic ball but quickly loses interest, instead digging his nails into a couch in a brightly coloured room used for psycho-social counselling sessions.

“I remember that Israelis came and ordered us out. Shells were fired,” he says when asked what he remembers of the war.

“Grandmother and grandfather are dead,” he says, going on to list about 10 others who died when his house was bombed. In all, 29 were killed in the attack, 18 of them from his direct family.

“I love Azza and want her back,” he says of his two-and-a-half year-old sister who was among the dead.

After the attack, he lay in a pool of blood. It’s only when he cried out for his mother that she realised he was still alive.

A large scar runs across his face, another along his hip. His nose is still deformed from the shrapnel wounds.

Just a few months ago he had regular fits of rage, when he’d beat his brothers and break whatever was in his path.

“He’d scream out at night: ‘The Jews are coming to kill me’,” his father says.

His psychological scars are also starting to heal. “But it’s a long process. He has seen so many dead bodies,” says counsellor Sabri Abu Nadi.

A huge number of children went through “horrible situations” during the war, says Saji Elmughanni, the Gaza spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF. “Nowhere was safe” in the overcrowded sliver of land wedged between Israel, the Mediterranean and Egypt.

“All children here went through some degree of exposure to violence.”

Many bury their feelings deep inside.

Njood Basal, 14, who suffered serious shrapnel wounds to the head, spends much of her time sitting on her bed in a room where light filters through holes in the tin roof.

She chats on the Internet with friends “in other countries, mainly the West Bank.”

“I don’t tell them what happened … they ask, but I always change the subject. I feel upset when I talk about the situation.”

Outside her house, a poster depicts her cousin Talat Basal. Her family says he was a “martyr,” a member the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist Hamas movement that rules Gaza.

Psychiatrist Sarraj says the exposure to extraordinary levels of violence is certain to turn many of today’s children into tomorrow’s extremists.

“I’m sure there will be a new breed of militants, they’ll want a more militant group than Hamas to feel protected,” he says.

Reminders of the war that Israel launched to halt rockets fired by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups are everywhere: buildings reduced to rubble, shell-scarred facades, charred car wrecks.

At night, firing can be heard from the Israeli naval ships that ensure fishermen don’t venture more than a few kilometers (miles) from shore.

Mental health experts say many children in the tiny coastal enclave still live in fear of renewed military attack.

“Whether consciously or unconsciously, the fear of another war is always there,” says Sarraj.

Awad Sultan, 12, lives in one of dozens of tents set up north of Gaza City to house families who lost their homes in the war.

He says he still has nightmares. “Israeli soldiers try to catch my dad and destroy houses.”

What was once his family home is now just rubble.

The bicycle he loved riding is a charred piece of wreckage. Now he plays with other kids from the camp in a large tent set up by social workers.

“We have fun, but what’s the use. We come back and think about the war.”

Posted in DesertPeace Exclusive, Gaza, Palestine, People's Art, War Crimes

VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY UPDATES

desertpeace — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:18:32 +0000

Photos, from top to bottom: New York City Councilperson Charles Barron and Abdullah in his son’s cab; some of Abdullah’s children; Charles Barron with an elder from the village.

by Sarah Ikhmayes, Al-Awda-NY

On our way to Alexandria

The day started out beautifully. Most of the 80 people that were heading to Alexandria to pick up the trucks that will be driving us into Gaza, were in the lobby by 8. You can really feel the excitement within the delegates. Not because we were going into a different city, but because this was really a step forward toward Gaza.

About 2 hrs later we began boarding the bus. And supposedly 2 1/2 hrs later we were supposed to be in Alexandria. But things don’t always work out as you plan. We eventually reached Alexandria 4 hrs later. We stopped at a McDonalds so that everyone can stretch and get something to eat. An hour and a half later we found ourselves heading to Customs, where the Egyptians were holding the cars. But get this, they didn’t give it to us. After waiting nearly 2 hrs for them, the Egyptians informed us that the Minister of Investment was visiting and was inside the building. Therefore for “his safety”, we were not allowed inside to get a hold of the vehicles. The authorities told us to come back on Saturday because Friday is a holy day for Muslims and many government institutions are closed.

One of our fellow delegates was not feeling to well. So we were told that we would be taken to this hotel so that we may rest and freshen up. About an hour passed before we got off the bus and into this residential building that we were going to be spending the next 2-3 days. However, many of us were disgusted at what we saw and went Hotel Hunting.

We did not go Hotel Hunting because we can’t handle hardship and dirt, but because we would rather pay the same money for something much cleaner.

And here we are, almost 9 hrs later in Alexandria. Awaiting the day the Egyptian government releases those cars so that we can make our way into the hearts of the Gazans.
Because no matter how much they try to delay us or try to make it impossible for us to reach Gaza, we will continue to stand here waiting. Time of course is not on our hands on this journey, but we will continue to stand. Viva Palestina!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Praying to return…

Dima & Dahlia Abi Saab (Al-Awda NY)

Dozens of children were running around the streets greeting us today when we arrived at Abdullah’s house, the cab driver we met a couple of nights before. He invited a group of us from the Viva Palestina convoy to his house for some tea, and we were blessed with the presence of Councilman Charles Barron.

When we arrived, we had our cameras out and were video taping and taking pictures of all the children. They all ran towards us and began posing for the camera, and jumping on top of each other and screaming take a picture of me, take a picture of me! Their faces lit up when ever the cameras came out and the dirt on their face from a long day’s worth of playing covered their little faces.

The conditions of the neighborhood didn’t seem much different from those in a refugee camp that we’ve seen in videos so many times. Tightly compressed areas (although not nearly as compressed as those in Palestine), not in great conditions and children running around playing with a soccer ball with clothing that were ripped and covered with dirt from the ground that was purely dirt and sand. All the children surrounded us and began kicking the soccer ball to us and we played a short game. The young boys began showing their talent by kicking the ball in the air, bouncing it on their knees, and then flipping it behind them. Then the elders began approaching us after seeing our bright blue Viva Palestina shirts.

People were asking us about our Viva Palestina shirts, and we told them about our mission. To our surprise, Abdullah told us that 95% of the people living in Teqseem Abu Taleb are Palestinians who were exiled from Palestine. So when they found out about the convoy, the older men of the village began telling us about their experiences, and how they left Palestine. After a few minutes of conversing, Abdullah took us up stairs.

We met his five boys, his daughter, Shaima and his gracious, beautiful wife. We all sat crowded in a room, and everyone took out their video cameras as Abdullah repeated his story for the Councilman as we drank the delicious sage tea. Mr. Barron had many questions for Abdullah, but one that stood out the most to us was when he asked if Abdullah wanted to return to Palestine. Abdullah answered with an emotional response: he said he prays everyday that he can return there with his children, and die there because he wouldn’t want to die on foreign land.

Sitting with Abdullah, yet again, reminded us all of why we were here in Egypt, how important this convoy is and the value of our organization — Al-Awda: the Palestine RIGHT TO RETURN coalition. We also realized that when four women came to talk to us as we were leaving Abdullah’s home. They were asking if we can take some medicine for their family living in Gaza who are in dire need of medication. They kept saying that all they want is medication, the people of Gaza NEED medicine to survive and the criminal blockade and siege on Gaza is preventing the sick from receiving any medication and people will end up dying.

These particular women had a family member who had recently received a kidney transplant and not only was her medicine completely unavailable in Gaza but the pharmacies in their area wouldn’t sell them more than one at a time due to some restrictions. They endlessly thanked us for our mission as we assured them we all desire the some thing, for a Free Palestine!
To get a real taste of life in Egypt, and see how many Palestinians residing in Egypt live, we needed to go to Abdullah’s house and enter his life for an hour or so. All the people we met, young and old all wanted one thing — and that was to return to their land and live in peace in their homes. Abdullah again reminded us of how important this mission is, and reminded us that these are conditions that we are in temporarily, but for the people living in this village, for the Palestinians living in diaspora — this is their life.

Source

Posted in Activism, Gaza, Humanitarian Aid, International Solidarity, Palestine

WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS MAN?

desertpeace — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:58:30 +0000

Quick paint job

Would you buy a used car from this man, asks Khalid Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem

Netanyahu

The Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is making concerted efforts to avoid a looming crisis with the Obama administration over the issue of Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.

United States President Barack Obama is demanding that Israel freeze all settlement expansion projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in order to enable the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

However, Netanyahu has so far been defying American demands, resorting to diversionary tactics and vague statements about accepting a Palestinian entity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

On Monday, 6 July, the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who is effectively acting as an extraordinary foreign minister in lieu of the widely- despised Avigdor Lieberman, met once again in London for 90 minutes with US Peace Envoy George Mitchell.

Barak was trying to sell the Obama administration its usual bill of goods, offering to dismantle “illegal outposts” in return for obtaining an American consent for allowing construction of settlement buildings in “legal outposts”.

The two had met earlier in New York and held “intensive discussions” on the settlement expansion issue. Barak described the meeting as “positive and constructive”, saying that “there was no crisis in relations between the US and Israel.”

However, subsequent reports indicated that the New York meeting was a failure as Mitchell refused to accept salesman Barak’s used-cars which would allow Israel to continue building thousands of settler units under the rubric of “natural growth”.

A few weeks ago, a Western diplomat confronted Israeli officials on the “illegal settlements”, asking them why Israel, an ostensibly democratic state where the rule of law is upheld, allowed illegal outposts to be established in the first place. The officials evaded the question, arguing that the issue was “more complicated than it seems”.

According to the Israeli media, Barak has been trying to impress Mitchell with an offer to dismantle 26 outposts, three of which have already been dismantled. The Americans, however, have a list of at least 100 outposts they insist Israel must dismantle. The bulk of these outposts were established after the end of the “Oslo era”, especially since 2000, and are built mostly on private Palestinian land seized at gunpoint by settlers, often in coordination with the Israeli occupation army.

In 2005 and 2008 Israel made commitments to dismantle the very same outposts, but to no avail. This probably explains why Barak gave Mitchell no timetable for removing the posts, a sign that Israel doesn’t really intend to carry out this old commitment, which is part of the American-backed roadmap.

Some Israeli commentators have labelled Israeli efforts to cajole the US to accept a “compromise” on settlement expansion “playing on borrowed time”. Writing in Haaretz this week, Akiva Eldar said that Israel should realise that the US considers all Jewish settlement activities illegal, even in East Jerusalem. “There is no magical formula by which Israel can convince the Obama administration to accept the settlement expansion.”

If the sought “compromise” with the US fails to materialise, it is widely expected that Israel will declare its “willingness” to freeze settlement construction in return for far-reaching concessions from the Arab camp: first, a recognition by the Palestinians of Israel as an exclusively Jewish state in which non-Jews have to accept racial inferiority or leave, and, second, a deep multi-faceted normalisation between Israel and the entire Arab world.

Israel, of course, realises that the Palestinians and other Arabs would never accept such humiliating preconditions which amount to a kind of capitulation to Israeli intransigence. Hence, such a declaration would be a continuation of the policy of posturing, which represents the modus operandi of the Netanyahu government discourse.

It is also an indication that Israel is not really interested in reaching an honest and dignified peace with the Palestinians but is only trying to throw the proverbial ball into the Arab or at least the American court.

Netanyahu has actually been bragging about succeeding in creating “a national consensus” on the restrictions and proscriptions that would make his “acceptance” of Palestinian statehood null and void.

In his speech at Bar Ilan University last month, Netanyahu, who barely uttered the word “Palestinian state” once, said Israel would have to tightly control of the borders, border crossings, air space, water resources, and foreign relations of such a state which he said had to be completely demilitarised.

Netanyahu also said the Palestinians would have to give up the right of return for millions of refugees uprooted from their homes when Israel was created in Palestine in 1948. He also said occupied East Jerusalem would remain part of Israel in the context of any peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Preferring to appease and please his extreme right-wing coalition partners rather than to deal honestly with growing international demands for ending the 42-year-old Nazi-like occupation, Netanyahu is increasingly betting on Barak, who is mendaciously marketed by the Israeli hasbra machine as “leftist” and Israeli President Shimon Peres, the presumed “dove of peace”.

Last week, Peres, who participated in an interfaith conference in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, called on Saudi King Abdullah “to meet me in Jerusalem, or Riyadh or any other place to make the promise of peace come true.”

Viewed widely as a master of hypocrisy and moral duplicity, Peres utterly ignored the fact that the dream of peace has been virtually killed by the inexorable Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and also by consistent Israeli rejection of all Arab peace offers, including Saudi Arabia’s own Arab peace initiative.

Nonetheless, it is increasingly clear that neither Netanyahu’s prevarication, nor Barak’s salesman tactics, and not even Peres’s public relations magic are making many people give Israel the benefit of the doubt.

On Monday, 6 July, former Israeli foreign minister and opposition leader Tzipi Livni accused Netanyahu of being dishonest and disingenuous about his declared commitment to the two-state solution.

“He doesn’t know that this is the right path for Israel, but he understands this is the right thing to say. The world is demanding it, so he says ‘I have to say it,’ this is how he explained his speech to his faction members,” Livni was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the expansion of settlements goes on unabated as if there is no crisis over the matter. The Jerusalem Post on 6 July reported that the government was providing financial inducements to encourage settlers to buy homes in the West Bank.

The heavy subsidies, said Peace Now, which monitors Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank, would help potential settlers move to the settlements. “In this way, the government proves its rejection of the two-state solution.”

Posted in Associate Post, Corrupt Politics, Deceit, Israel, Palestine

CAR WRECK IN THE MAKING

desertpeace — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:51:51 +0000

Fatah is on a collision course with itself, bemoans Khalid Amayreh

Palestinians pray over the rubble of a supermarket in the Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm, 60km north of Tel Aviv, on Friday. Israeli authorities destroyed the supermarket, which they said was built without legal permission, two days ago

Despite strong opposition from Fatah’s Executive Committee, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to hold the pivotal Fatah congress in the West Bank in the first week of August.

The decision, taken without consultation with the senior Fatah leadership, has already generated a lot of tension and confusion within the movement, raising fears that Fatah might fall victim to possible fragmentation and disintegration.

Farouk Kaddumi, ostensibly the number-2 man in Fatah, has called Abbas’s decision “grave and illegal”. Kaddumi warned that he would organise an alternative Fatah congress abroad should Abbas go ahead with plans to hold the long overdue congress “under the umbrella of the Israeli occupation”.

He further argued that it was utterly illogical for a liberation movement to hold its most important conference in the shadow of Israeli tanks. “It is a scandalous contradiction.”

Kaddumi and allies, who are mostly based abroad, argue that Israel, which occupies and controls every part of the West Bank, will have the final say as to who will be allowed to attend the congress in case it is held in Ramallah or Bethlehem.

However, the real worries of the Kaddumi camp seem to stem from fears that Abbas and his allies, people like Mohamed Dahlan, will try to manipulate the lists of members eligible to participate in the conference for the purpose of securing a majority in support of their political line, namely that the current peace process with Israel is the only option available to the Palestinians and that Palestinians must make painful concessions for the sake of statehood.

Abbas reportedly has warned Kaddumi against disrupting preparations for holding the conference in the West Bank, threatening to “isolate him” or “render him irrelevant if he doesn’t behave.”

Abbas, exasperated by Fatah’s failure to hold the conference (the last Fatah congress took place in Algiers 20 years ago), told the Fatah executive committee that it was unbearable to postpone the convening of the conference for the umpteenth time because “we have become a laughingstock and our people are no longer taking us seriously.”

“It is now or never,” Abbas reportedly told the executive committee of Fatah.

Despite Abbas’s decision to hold Fatah’s convention in the West Bank, several knots need to be untied in order for the convention to proceed unhindered.

First, Fatah delegates to the conference from the Gaza Strip can’t access the West Bank. To resolve this problem, Abbas in his recent visit to Damascus asked Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to pressure Hamas to allow Fatah members to the conference to leave the Gaza Strip.

However, it is uncertain whether Hamas will consent in this regard especially in light of the failure of the latest session of national reconciliation talks between the Islamic movement and Fatah.

Moreover, the continued harsh crackdown on Hamas by the Fatah-backed government of Salam Fayyad in Ramallah is likely to further stiffen Hamas’s attitudes in this regard.

Second, even if Hamas relented and allowed Fatah delegates to the conference to leave the Strip, Israel would still have the final say as to who will be allowed entry into the West Bank.

True, Fatah members would leave via the Egyptian- controlled Rafah border crossing. However, there is a long standing Israeli policy of barring Gazans from entering the West Bank from Jordan.

Hence the prospects of Gaza Fatah members having smooth access to the West Bank remains a real problem that has to be resolved to ensure a successful conference.

Some Palestinian sources have intimated that the PA will ask the Obama administration to pressure Israel to allow Gaza’s delegates to the conference to travel to the West Bank via Israel.

However, the prospects of Israel playing a factor in the working of the conference could very well be used by Abbas’s opponents to undermine the integrity of the conference.

Then there is the more formidable task of getting hundreds of Fatah leaders who are based in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, to the West Bank to participate in the sixth congress.

Abbas has promised to obtain permits from Israel to enable these mostly non-conformist Fatah members, most of whom oppose the Oslo Accords as a matter of principle, to get to the West Bank.

However, some of these members are actually wanted by Israel and might get arrested the moment they set foot in the West Bank.

More to the point, it is unlikely that Israel is interested in having some of its most ardent enemies come to the West Bank for the purpose of undermining and weakening its presumed peace partner, namely Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas has signalled that he may not nominate himself for the president of the PA in the elections that would take place in January 2010.

But it is uncertain if the elections will take place on time, given the still unresolved rift with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Without national reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, no election may take place in Gaza.

Similarly, if Fatah doesn’t reconcile its own internal problems, and if Abbas goes ahead with Fatah’s sixth congress in the West Bank without resolving the feuds with his opponents, it is quite possible that Fatah itself will crack wide open.

Posted in Associate Post, Corrupt Politics, Israel, Palestine, Palestinian Authority

IRAQ WAR VET REPORTS ON HUMANITARIAN CONVOY TO GAZA

desertpeace — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:52:06 +0000

The journey to Gaza begins
‘After five days in Cairo, we are ready to set off with vehicles and medical supplies’

Michael Prysner

Iraq war veteran Michael Prysner speaks to tens of thousands at a “Let Gaza Live” mass protest in Washington, D.C., January 2009.

Iraq war veteran and ANSWER Coalition representative Michael Prysner reports on the Viva Palestina delegation’s journey to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian supplies.

We filled New York’s JFK airport on July 4 with Palestinian flags and kaffiyehs, chanting “Viva, Viva Palestina!” as hundreds of international travelers watched us unload a truck full of wheelchairs, walkers and medical aid.

This powerful image was a visual reminder of the hundreds of people in Gaza who have endured amputations and crippling injuries from U.S. munitions fired by Israel during the recent December-January massacre. The cruel Israeli blockade prevents even wheelchairs from entering Gaza.

At the Cairo airport, the Egyptian security forces were overwhelmed by the number of Viva Palestina t-shirts amassed outside. With local press trying to cover the event, the Egyptian police tried to shut down the spectacle and shuffle everyone onto busses. Everyone stood strong, ignoring the Egyptian authorities and giving the media ample time to get images and conduct interviews.

The people in Egypt have expressed their support and gratitude for what we are doing here. Since our arrival, our solidarity trip has been covered by many media outlets, including Al Jazeera, Press TV, and several of the largest Egyptian television stations. I have been interviewed several times on behalf of ANSWER.

A very large press conference was held at the Egyptian Journalists Union, where a banner hangs outside protesting the working conditions imposed by the Egyptian government. It was attended by more than a dozen media outlets.

I spoke on behalf of the ANSWER Coalition, reporting on the growing movement in the United States—a movement that will fight until the Israeli siege ends and there is real justice for every Palestinian. One Egyptian newspaper journalist hugged me and said, “You are always welcome in Egypt.”

This morning, half of our delegation left to begin the drive to the first city where we’ll stop on our way to Gaza. We have purchased 47 brand new vehicles that we will leave in Gaza. Vehicles in Gaza are just as vital as medical aid to meet the need for public transportation, ambulances and more. Many of the vehicles break down and are no longer functional. The vehicles we have purchased will serve the people of Gaza for years to come.

The rest of us have remained in Cairo for an additional day to use the remainder of our funds to purchase as much medical aid as possible. We will then set out to meet up with the rest of the team, load the vehicles and head for Gaza.

The energy and morale in the group are very high. There are nearly 200 people here who will deliver aid to Gaza, provide medical care, and return home to tell their stories about the realities on the ground. Cynthia McKinney is due to join us after spending just one night in the U.S. following her return from an Israeli prison.

We are setting out for Gaza to break the siege—to disobey the criminal blockade that forbids toys for children and materials to rebuild the homes, schools and hospitals that have been reduced to rubble. We are going in the largest delegation from the United States to ever head to Palestine. Not only are we making history on this trip, but we are defining a new period by setting the stage for a renewed struggle for the liberation of Palestine from colonial rule. Every day the movement to free Palestine grows. Every day we are closer to victory.

Meet Michael Prysner

Michael Prysner joined the U.S. Army when he was 17 years old, hoping that he would get a college education and, in his own words, “believing that the U.S. government stood for freedom, justice and equality.” Prysner was later deployed as part of the initial invasion of Iraq.

Of his experience, Michael wrote: “I spent 12 months in Iraq, doing everything from prisoner interrogations, to ground surveillance missions, to home raids. It was my firsthad experiences in Iraq that radicalized me. I soon realized that my purpose in Iraq was to be the oppressor, and to clear the way for U.S. corporations with no regard for human life.

“I separated from the Army in 2005. I understood that illegal conquering of Iraq was for profit, carried out by a system that serves a tiny class of superrich whose endless drive for wealth is at the expense of working people in the United States and abroad.

“I still had the same drive to fight for freedom, justice and equality as I did when I joined, and I understood that fighting for those things meant fighting against the U.S. government, not on behalf of it.”

Funds are Urgently Needed

Funds are urgently needed to help build the struggle for a free Palestine. We can’t do it without your help. You can make a contribution through a secure server by clicking here, where you can also find information on how to contribute by check.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
- info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311

Source

Posted in Activism, Gaza, Humanitarian Aid, International Solidarity, Palestine

DESTROYING GAZA

desertpeace — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:59:56 +0000

By Sara Roy

Gaza has been reduced to a state of abject destitution. (Wissam Nassar/MaanImages)

The recent meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu generated speculation over the future relationship between America and Israel, and a potentially changed US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Analysts on the right and left are commenting on a new, tougher American policy characterized by strengthened US demands on Israel. However, beneath the diplomatic choreography lies an agonizing reality that received only brief comment from Obama and silence from Netanyahu: the ongoing devastation of the people of Gaza.

Gaza is an example of a society that has been deliberately reduced to a state of abject destitution, its once productive population transformed into one of aid-dependent paupers. This context is undeniably one of mass suffering, created largely by Israel but with the active complicity of the international community, especially the US and European Union, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Gaza’s subjection began long before Israel’s recent war against it. The Israeli occupation — now largely forgotten or denied by the international community — has devastated Gaza’s economy and people, especially since 2006. Although economic restrictions actually increased before Hamas’ electoral victory in January 2006, the deepened sanction regime and siege subsequently imposed by Israel and the international community, and later intensified in June 2007 when Hamas seized control of Gaza, has all but destroyed the local economy. If there has been a pronounced theme among the many Palestinians, Israelis and internationals who I have interviewed in the last three years, it was the fear of damage to Gaza’s society and economy so profound that billions of dollars and generations of people would be required to address it — a fear that has now been realized.

After Israel’s December assault, Gaza’s already compromised conditions have become virtually unlivable. Livelihoods, homes and public infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed on a scale that even the Israeli army admitted was indefensible. In Gaza today, there is no private sector to speak of and no industry. Eighty percent of Gaza’s agricultural crops were destroyed and Israel continues to snipe at farmers attempting to plant and tend fields near the well-fenced and patrolled border. Most productive activity has been extinguished.

One powerful expression of Gaza’s economic demise — and the Gazans’ indomitable will to provide for themselves and their families — is its burgeoning tunnel economy that emerged long ago in response to the siege. Thousands of Palestinians are now employed digging tunnels into Egypt — around 1,000 tunnels are reported to exist although not all are operational. According to local economists, 90 percent of economic activity in Gaza — once considered a lower middle-income economy (along with the West Bank) — is presently devoted to smuggling.

Today, 96 percent of Gaza’s population of 1.4 million is dependent on humanitarian aid for basic needs. According to the World Food Program, the Gaza Strip requires a minimum of 400 trucks of food every day just to meet the basic nutritional needs of the population. Yet, despite a 22 March decision by the Israeli cabinet to lift all restrictions on foodstuffs entering Gaza, only 653 trucks of food and other supplies were allowed entry during the week of 10 May, for example, at best meeting 23 percent of required need.

Israel now allows only 30 to 40 commercial items to enter Gaza compared to 4,000 approved products prior to June 2006. According to the Israeli journalist Amira Hass, Gazans still are denied many commodities (a policy in effect long before the December assault): building materials (including wood for windows and doors), electrical appliances (such as refrigerators and washing machines), spare parts for cars and machines, fabrics, threads, needles, candles, matches, mattresses, sheets, blankets, cutlery, crockery, cups, glasses, musical instruments, books, tea, coffee, sausages, semolina, chocolate, sesame seeds, nuts, milk products in large packages, most baking products, light bulbs, crayons, clothing and shoes.

Given these constraints, among many others — including the internal disarray of the Palestinian leadership — one wonders how the reconstruction to which Obama referred will be possible. There is no question that people must be helped immediately. Programs aimed at alleviating suffering and reinstating some semblance of normalcy are ongoing, but at a scale shaped entirely by the extreme limitations on the availability of goods. In this context of repressive occupation and heightened restriction, what does it mean to reconstruct Gaza? How is it possible under such conditions to empower people and build sustainable and resilient institutions able to withstand expected external shocks? Without an immediate end to Israel’s blockade and the resumption of trade and the movement of people outside the prison that Gaza has long been, the current crisis will grow massively more acute. Unless the US administration is willing to exert real pressure on Israel for implementation — and the indications thus far suggest they are not — little will change. Not surprisingly, despite international pledges of $5.2 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction, Palestinians there are now rebuilding their homes using mud.

Recently, I spoke with some friends in Gaza and the conversations were profoundly disturbing. My friends spoke of the deeply-felt absence of any source of protection — personal, communal or institutional. There is little in society that possesses legitimacy and there is a fading consensus on rules and an eroding understanding of what they are for. Trauma and grief overwhelm the landscape despite expressions of resilience. The feeling of abandonment among people appears complete, understood perhaps in their growing inability to identify with any sense of possibility. The most striking was this comment: “It is no longer the occupation or even the war that consumes us but the realization of our own irrelevance.”

What possible benefit can be derived from an increasingly impoverished, unhealthy, densely crowded and furious Gaza alongside Israel? Gaza’s terrible injustice not only threatens Israeli and regional security, but it undermines America’s credibility, alienating our claim to democratic practice and the rule of law.

If Palestinians are continually denied what we want and demand for ourselves — an ordinary life, dignity, livelihood, safety and a place where they can raise their children — and are forced, yet again, to face the destruction of their families, then the inevitable outcome will be greater and more extreme violence across all factions, both old and increasingly new. What looms is no less than the loss of entire generation of Palestinians. And if this happens — perhaps it already has — we shall all bear the cost.

Sara Roy is a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. This article was originally published by The Harvard Crimson and is republished with the author’s permission.

Source

Posted in Corrupt Politics, Gaza, Israel, Palestine

HOW TO MAKE A JEWISH MOTHER PROUD OF YOU

desertpeace — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:49:55 +0000

Surely not by behaving like the animals described in the report below. Does Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) have to be synonymous with behavior not acceptable by most other humans? Surely the photo below is a better way to get one’s point across…. but the story that follows???? No mother, Jewish or not wants their son to be an animal….

How many times have we heard a Jewish mother speak of “her son the doctor” or “her son the lawyer” or “her son the successful business man”? Have you ever heard them speak proudly of “her son the animal”?

Haredi boys wearing sacks as a sign of mourning during a march near Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood as part of a peaceful protest against the opening of a parking lot near the Old City on Shabbat.

Photo: AP

Reporter feels mob’s hate in the Holy City

By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker

‘Humiliated and degraded’: ABC Middle East correspondent Anne Barker (ABC News)

The ABC’s Middle East correspondent Anne Barker became caught in violent street protests involving ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem at the weekend. This is her graphic account of her ordeal.

As a journalist I’ve covered more than my share of protests. Political protests in Canberra. Unions protesting for better conditions. Angry, loud protests against governments, or against perceived abuses of human rights.

I’ve been at violent rallies in East Timor. I’ve had rocks and metal darts thrown my way. I’ve come up against riot police.

But I have to admit no protest – indeed no story in my career – has distressed me in the way I was distressed at a protest in Jerusalem on Saturday involving several hundred ultra-Orthodox Jews.

This particular protest has been going on for weeks.

Orthodox Jews are angry at the local council’s decision to open a municipal carpark on Saturdays – or Shabbat, the day of rest for Jews.

It’s a day when Jews are not supposed to do anything resembling work, which can include something as simple as flicking a switch, turning on a light or driving.

So even opening a simple carpark to accommodate the increasing number of tourists visiting Jerusalem’s Old City is highly offensive to Orthodox Jews because it’s seen as a desecration of the Shabbat, by encouraging people to drive.

I was aware that earlier protests had erupted into violence on previous weekends – Orthodox Jews throwing rocks at police, or setting rubbish bins alight, even throwing dirty nappies or rotting rubbish at anyone they perceive to be desecrating the Shabbat.

But I never expected their anger would be directed at me.

I was mindful I would need to dress conservatively and keep out of harm’s way. But I made my mistake when I parked the car and started walking towards the protest, not fully sure which street was which.

By the time I realised I’d come up the wrong street it was too late.

I suddenly found myself in the thick of the protest – in the midst of hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in their long coats and sable-fur hats.

They might be supremely religious, but their behaviour – to me – was far from charitable or benevolent.

As the protest became noisier and the crowd began yelling, I took my recorder and microphone out of my bag to record the sound.

Suddenly the crowd turned on me, screaming in my face. Dozens of angry men began spitting on me.

Spit like rain

I found myself herded against a brick wall as they kept on spitting – on my face, my hair, my clothes, my arms.

It was like rain, coming at me from all directions – hitting my recorder, my bag, my shoes, even my glasses.

Big gobs of spit landed on me like heavy raindrops. I could even smell it as it fell on my face.

Somewhere behind me – I didn’t see him – a man on a stairway either kicked me in the head or knocked something heavy against me.

I wasn’t even sure why the mob was angry with me. Was it because I was a journalist? Or a woman? Because I wasn’t Jewish in an Orthodox area? Was I not dressed conservatively enough?

In fact, I was later told, it was because using a tape-recorder is itself a desecration of the Shabbat even though I’m not Jewish and don’t observe the Sabbath.

It was lucky that I don’t speak Yiddish. At least I was spared the knowledge of whatever filth they were screaming at me.

As I tried to get away I found myself up against the line of riot police blocking the crowd from going any further.

Reassurance

Israeli police in their flak jackets and helmets, with rifles and shields, were yelling just as loudly back at the protesting crowd.

I found them something of a reassurance against the angry, spitting mob.

I was allowed through, away from the main protest, although there were still Orthodox Jews on the other side, some of whom also yelled at me, in English, to take my recorder away.

Normally I should have stayed on the sidelines to watch the protest develop.

But when you’ve suffered the humiliation and degradation of being spat on so many times – and you’re covered in other people’s spit – it’s not easy to put it to the back of your mind and get on with the job.

I left down a side street and walked the long way back to the car, struggling to hold back the tears.

Source

Posted in Extremism, Ignorance, Israel

LEGAL SLAVE TRADE IN ISRAEL ~~ PART 2

desertpeace — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:11:23 +0000

LEGAL SLAVE TRADE IN ISRAEL (PART 1)

(Part 2 is below)

The wall of Apartheid in Israel has made it virtually impossible for many Palestinian workers to cross over to the Israeli side for work purposes. This has resulted in a mass influx of foreign workers, especially those that work as caregivers for the old and sick of the nation. Hundreds of thousands of these people are in Israel today, most with valid visas, many who are here illegally.

The tales they tell are unbelievably shameful and expose yet another aspect of the racism inherent in zionism…. I’ll deal with just one of these stories in this post, but keep in mind that this is just one of a thousand of such examples…

A disabled man was approached not long ago by a man who asked if he had or needed a caregiver. The disabled person was wheelchair bound which made him an ‘easy target’ for the scam in the making….

He was informed that he could get a worker in his home for ten hours a week and it would not cost him a thing…. that’s a hard offer to refuse.

Papers were filled out, documents were signed, interviews with government agencies, etc., etc….

Finally, all was approved and a foreign worker from Sri Lanka was on his way to what he hoped would be a possible way to make a few bucks to help his destitute family back home…. BOY, was he in for a surprise!

Upon arrival in Israel the ‘agency’ that brought him here demanded $1,500 up front to start the process of obtaining the proper documents for his employment. At the Minister of Interior’s office he had to shell out another $40 to get the work permit stamped in his passport…

He was then ready to go to work….. but where?

His visa was obtained in the name of the disabled man mentioned at the beginning of this post…. but he won’t actually be working for him full time… just for 10 hours a week… at no cost to him. What happens the rest of the week??, and who pays this worker for the 10 ‘free hours’ of labour???

The ‘agency’ arranges for this worker to perform his duties as caregiver in someone else’s home…. someone that was not able to obtain a visa in their own name. The wage is way below the minimum, the hours are long, and the person must be available during his ‘free time’.

Accommodation is often provided at a fee…. usually higher than one would normally pay. At the end of the month, his salary is barely enough for him to survive, let alone send money to his family as was planned….

The ten ‘free hours’ are ‘payment’ to the original person for obtaining the visa.. NO ONE PAYS FOR IT…. the worker is a virtual slave to this person.

This entire procedure is considered the ‘norm’ in Israel…. as it was in the southern American States after slavery was officially ended. It is a demonstration of the non value of life placed upon those ‘not of the tribe’ by the Israeli government.

What happens if this worker refuses to do his ‘obligated’ free hours? Simple, his visa is revoked and he darts off to unknown territory and becomes a soldier in the army of illegal immigrants… eventually caught and deported…. AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE….

The ‘agency’ then arranges to bring over a new worker from abroad and the entire process is repeated as well as more money going into the coffers of these scam masters.

In this particular case, the worker had a lucky streak…. he told the original person involved what was going on…. the man was shocked beyond belief. He told the worker that he would not have to work for him, that he would not report this and his visa would not be canceled. He was then free to work wherever he wanted, legally.

The ‘agency’ got wind of the situation and visited the disabled person at home, wanting to know why the worker was not doing his ‘time’ for him. The man explained that he did not need his services as he had a regular worker come in once a week to clean the house, that was all he required… simple explanation…. but not so simple reaction…

The agency contacted the foreign worker, told him that he would have to give them an additional $150 a month to cover the cost of the man’s cleaning help… or they would cancel his visa. Can we call this blackmail??

The worker then visited the man and wanted to know if he intended to cancel his visa… he was told that he was promised otherwise and not to worry and NOT TO GIVE THE ‘AGENCY’ THE $150…. the ‘agency’ could NOT cancel the visa without the man’s approval.

In this case, the worker continues to function legally with no fear of deportation…. the ‘agency’ lost out on their scam… and all ended well. This is not the case for thousands of others who are virtually slaves to this inhumane system… a system known about and allowed to continue by the zionist regime…

Israel does not discriminate in who they discriminate against… racism, exploitation, occupation, and now slavery are an integral part of their system… I wonder what Abe Foxman would say about all of this…. I’m sure one of his cronies will direct him to this post.

The above is a post from my archives…..

Below is an article from today’s HaAretz….. the nightmare continues…..

MKs warn of ‘terrible injustice’ to children in roundup of migrants

By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent

Lawmakers yesterday called for a halt to the “manhunt” for foreign workers, warning their deportation of foreign workers and that of their children would constitute a “terrible injustice” and infringe on the children’s basic rights.

The Knesset’s Committee on the Rights of the Child yesterday discussed the state’s treatment of foreign workers and asylum seekers’ children, following the police’s extensive drive to round up and expel foreign workers.

MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), who called the discussion, said the roundup and deportation would have harmful implications on the workers’ children, who had been born and raised here and have no other country but Israel.

“This is a terrible injustice. They’re deporting people while bringing new workers into the country,” Horowitz said. “If the policy was to deport foreign workers in view of rising unemployment, so be it. But bringing in new workers casts doubt over the motives for the deportation scheduled for August.”

“These children were born here, Hebrew is their language and Israel is the only country they know. They’re not Jewish, but they’re Israelis. The immigrants from Russia also have numerous non-Jews among them but receive a legal status here nonetheless,” he said.

Tziki Sela, commander of the “Oz” task force, which replaced the former Immigration Police, told the committee that some 300,000 foreign workers reside in Israel illegally.

Some 2,800 children of migrant workers and asylum seekers live in Israel, according to the Knesset Research and Information Center.

MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) called on the authorities to “stop the manhunt on foreign workers immediately.”

Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, director of the National Council for the Child, said “thousands of children in Israel have no legal status. They are not entitled to health services and are forced to receive treatment from unauthorized persons. Israel turns its back on those who have no status,” he told the committee.

Committee chairman Danny Danon (Likud) compared the foreign workers’ children to the children of the settlers who were evacuated four years ago in the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. “I see the evacuated children and the traumas they sustained since then. We must treat these children with sensitivity,” he said.

The immigration task force rounded up 60 migrants earlier this week and sent them to a detention center in Holon. The force detained 300 migrants last week.

Posted in Chutzpah, DesertPeace Editorial, Human Rights, Israel

HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN THREE PARAGRAPHS

desertpeace — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:12:33 +0000

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel “
pick up
your shovel, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the
promised
land”.

Nearly 75 years ago, Roosevelt said, ” Lay down your shovels, sit on
your
asses, and light up a camel, this is the promised land”.

Now Obama has stolen your shovel , taxed your asses, raised the price of
camels, and mortgaged the promised land.

‘Life’s tough……it’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”
– John Wayne

Posted in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Economy, History, Humour

ISRAEL; ‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD SETTLEMENTS, WE WILL CONTINUE TO LIE ABOUT THIS, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO HIDE THE TRUTH FROM YOU’

desertpeace — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:23:39 +0000

Two representatives of the Peace Now organization and members of an Israeli television crew were attacked last week by a settler who objected to their presence in the West Bank as they documented construction in the settlements.

The footage, originally broadcast on Channel 2 Television and posted online by Peace Now, shows a security guard at the Dolev settlement snatching and destroying the TV crew’s camera equipment and later attacking the activists’ car with rocks.

Source

Posted in Activism, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Occupied West Bank, Settler Violence

MICHAEL JACKSON ~~ ‘WE HAD HIM’

desertpeace — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:43:55 +0000

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)

High resolution version of this image for printing
purposes available HERE 4800 x 7070 pixels, 300 dpi

The following poem was written by Maya Angelou for
Michael Jackson’s public memorial at the Staples Center
in Los Angeles. It was read by Queen Latifah, one of the
many celebrities that paid tribute to the King of Pop.

We Had Him

By Maya Angelou (*)

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

(*) Dr. Maya Angelou is an American poet born in 1928. She is known as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, she continues to travel the world, spreading her wisdom. Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou’s power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race.

——————

The poem appeared on www.mtv.com

Posted in Associate Post, Entertainment, Poetry

FOXMAN HAS HIS WORK CUT OUT FOR HIM

desertpeace — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:27:08 +0000

Image ‘Copyleft’ By Carlos Latuff

We all know that criticism of Israel is tantamount to anti Semitism. We are told this time and time again. So why does it continue? Have we not learned that Israel has friends in ‘high places’, including Heaven itself? Do we not fear the wrath of God for daring to speak against His ‘chosen people’? Worse yet, do we not fear Abe Foxman, the self appointed protector of those people?

Apparently not…. as the criticism continues…. as the crimes continue. Below is the latest….. I can hardly wait to see the response from Foxman…. for him to remain silent on this issue would surely mean he’s in agreement…. WHICH I HIGHLY DOUBT.

Israel criticised for thwarting medical mission to Palestinian territories

Vikram Dodd

• Border guards turn away team including British medics
• Doctors had planned to perform surgeries on children

Israel was yesterday criticised after it refused to allow a group of doctors on a humanitarian mission organised by the French government to enter Gaza.

The team, including three British medics, was turned back by Israeli border guards on Sunday and Monday. They say their mission is purely humanitarian, aimed to helping those in medical need, and some of whom were left injured and in need of surgery after Israel’s attack on Gaza earlier this year.

One of the Britons refused entry to Gaza, Sonia Robbins, who is a reconstructive plastic surgeon, said: “I don’t know why we are being refused permission to enter.

“The consequences are that patients will not be operated on, children will have to wait until next time for surgery, and that won’t happen until six months time.

“I think it is unacceptable to refuse a humanitarian mission.”

The team had tried to enter through the Erez crossing. Robbins said she had been allowed to work in Gaza before. She said the team of nine medics were concentrating on surgery to the upper limbs, and that their papers to gain entry into Gaza were all in order. She added the border guards had been courteous as they refused the medical team permission to enter Gaza, where as well as treating the injured, they would help teach Palestinian doctors.

The mission is organised by the French doctor Professor Christophe Oberlin. His lawyer has sent a letter to the Israeli defence ministry, demanding an explanation, and wrote: “The purpose of their meeting was for the both teams, to hold activities together of medical consultation, surgery and teaching.”

The letter says the denial of entry to the medical team amounts to Israel violating “the basic international humanitarian law principles, the obligations of Israel as the occupying power of the occupied territories, [and] its obligations under the international covenant of civil and political rights and the convention on the rights of the child.”

Source

Posted in ADL Hatemongering, DesertPeace Editorial, Gaza, Health Crisis, Israel, Palestine, Sarcasm

GEORGE GALLOWAY LEADS THE WAY TO FREEDOM!

desertpeace — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:50:03 +0000

200 American Volunteers Lead by George Galloway Head for Gaza With Emergency Humanitarian Aid

A send-off for Viva Palestina was held at the House of the Lord Church. Speakers called for the safe return of Cynthia Mckinney from Israeli prison and expressed solidarity with activists from the Civil Rights movement who support the right to bring medicine, toys and cement to Gaza. Speakers included Lamis Deek of Al Awda, City Council Member Charles Baron, Kevin Ovendon of Viva Palistina and Rev. Lucius Walker of IFCO Pastors for Peace among others.
By Elias Farhud

VIVA-Palestina USA olunteers at JFK International Airport before Departure

The American convoy,Viva Palestina U.S.A left for Gaza, headed by U.K Minister of Parliament George Galloway arrived in Cairo on Monday, July 6. The 200 American volunteers will take much needed Medical Supplies and medicines to the suffering people of Gaza , who have been devastated by the two year Israeli blockade, and the criminal “Operation Cast Lead” attack by israel against Gaza’s civilians that left 1,440 Civilians killed , and nearly 6,000 wounded, half of the wounded and killed were children. The survivors of this brutal attack are left literally starving several months later and Israel still continues to stop humanitarian aid into Gaza and the World Leaders (?), Governments and people remain silent.

American volunteers arrival at Cairo Airport

When this large Historic Group of American Volunteers arrived Cairo, they were met at Cairo’s International Airport by Egyptian Government Officials and were escorted by police escort to their Hotel.

Among the American volunteers were 4 Rabbis from Neturei Karta International, Jews united against Zionism.
The American volunteers are a diversified group of young and old from varied ethnic backgrounds. High school, College students,Middle aged, elderly, and even handicapped.

All medical supplies, equipment, and vehicles are being purchased in Cairo and the convoy is set to leave Cairo around July12. The word from Gaza is that the people are very anxious and looking forward to the arrival of the American Stars and Stripes Convoy bringing Aid to Gaza’s children.

Source

Also see Chippy Dee’s commentary

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update……

Viva Palestina US blocked at Rafah – British ISM activists refused exit from Strip

Viva Palestina US has reached the Gaza border at Rafah

At least 100 Americans arrived in Egypt Sunday and made their way up to the Egypt-Gaza border at Rafah with a rumored 1 million US dollars in medical supplies for the besieged Strip.

Less than a week after Israeli occupation naval boats seized and boarded the Free Gaza ship, the Spirit of Humanity, and as activists from half a dozen countries remain in Israeli prison from the first group of activists, the Americans, with the “Viva Palestina” movement, will try to enter the Strip via Rafah.

Following the first British “Viva Palestina” convoy which was allowed into the Strip in early October 2008, the American group – also lead by British MP George Galloway – will attempt to deliver supplies and show solidarity with the closed-off coastal area.
From the Palestine Media Center

Meanwhile, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists Jenny Lindell and Natalie Abou Chakra have been prevented from leaving the Strip by the Egyptian regime because of their work with the Free Gaza boats.

Protest now:

The Egyptian Embassy in London
phone 020 7499 3304/2401
Fax: 020 7491 1542

The British Foreign Office
Middle East Desk
Tel: 020 70088784
Email: jill.bayliss@fco.gov.uk and trish.wise2@fco.gov.uk

Source

Posted in Activism, Gaza, International Solidarity

NEW TOON ~~ FREE GAZA

desertpeace — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:08:05 +0000

Image by Bendib

Posted in Activism, Cartoons, Gaza

GAZA ~~ RELIVING THE NAKBA

desertpeace — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:46:56 +0000

Palestine 1948~~Gaza 2008-9

Gaza: A Story

by Marryam Haleem

They lived in a place called Peace. But then came the tanks and the guns. So they left, the white flag waving in the air.

Nestled in the north of Gaza, close to the Israeli border, Hay As-salaam (Peace Neighborhood) was in nature as in name: A quiet area outside the city. The land owned by a wealthy Palestinian (extended) family, the Abu Eida family. Their 10 family houses gave life to the neighborhood. All were new and large and beautiful, the oldest only built in the early 2000‘s.

Surrounding these beautiful villas were about 400,000 square meters of farm and orchards. Lambs grazed the land. Chickens pecked the ground. Throngs of varied trees stood tall all round: nuts and palms, citrus and orange–some over a hundred years old. Just down the lane were the family factories. These concrete mixing factories included the first and oldest ones in the Gaza Strip.

Situated as it was, on the border, Peace Neighborhood was one of the first places the Israeli army occupied during the December-January Massacre of 2009. Until that point of the Massacre, the families stayed in their homes, afraid to leave–as all in Gaza were.

On the 12th of January, Jihad Abu Eida received a phone call from his brother, telling him that the Israelis would let them leave their houses if they held up the white flag. So Jihad collected his wife and six young children and they left carried nothing with them but the clothes on their back and, naturally, the white flag.

They waited out the next week of terror, away from home and anxious to return. When the day of relief finally arrived, Jihad once again gathered up his family, this time with uplifted spirits, for they were headed home.

But home was never to be found again.

They returned to a graveyard. The entire land all around, as far as the eye could see, lay flattened. It was as if a giant plow came through and raked everything through.

“This was my home,” Jihad tells me as we stand in front of a heap of rubble. I look around, trying to detect some of the beauty he described. I see nothing. Just destruction. Not one tree still stands. There are heaps of rubble that used to be houses. Only the elevator shafts still stand in some.

One house stands, however. It is quite a handsome house. Or rather I can tell it used to be handsome, despite the broken brick walls and bullet holes, despite the broken pillars and crumbling balcony.

“The Israelis used it as a command post,” Jihad explains. That is why it remained standing. They were considerate enough, however, to leave their mark before they departed. The walls on the inside of the house are covered with maps of the area. They are also trashed with swear words and vulgarities. It was ransacked and looted of all valuables.

“They took all our gold and money and valuables before they bombed them,” Jihad explains as we walk around his “house.” Jihad picks out a bent and torn text book.

“That was one of my engineering books,” he says, fingering it delicately. And I wonder vaguely at the horrible misconception people back home have of the people here whose lives our money has destroyed.

Jihad studied engineering in San Diego, CA in the late 80‘s and 90‘s. He is an avid Lakers fan until now (he is still rooting for them to win now!). And he even named his oldest son Kareem after Karim Abdul Jabbar. This is the kind of person who American media vilifies.

“That was my driveway,” Jihad says as we walk on some rubble. I see bits of beautiful tile among the debris. A little way off I spot chunks of engraved columns.

“We have nothing left. Not one photo. Not my diplomas. Nothing. Everything is gone,” he says as we walk slowly among the destruction,

“That was my uncle’s house,” he points to another mount of rubble.

“Remember,” says a friend who is with him, “remember when we had breakfast their that time?” They laugh at the personal memory. I smile weakly, wondering at the their ability to still laugh amid the ruin.

Our media gets worse and worse by the minute here in Gaza. What sort of military “defense” bombs, with F-16, residential homes? Do people who supposedly fear for their safety occupy a house, loot it, desecrate its wall and shell it with tanks when done? Do they shoot and kill the harmless livestock and chickens? Do they uproot hundred-year-old trees? (Environmentalists, do you care?)

I watch in numb disbelief as Jihad tells me of that dreadful day they returned. This middle aged man’s voice shakes with grief. He was overcome with shock when he saw the place. They, none of them, could believe it. It was absolutely devastating. He thought he was going to have a heart attack from the horror. And all the family there with him. It was awful, he kept saying.

He never thought they would destroy the place at all, let alone destroy everything so completely. Because they are on the border, Jihad explains, the Israelis came to their place three or four times before in the past few years. Just last year they came and forced his family to stay in one room while they used the rest of the house.

“When they left, the only thing they destroyed were the fences,” he says. This time, he thought, it would be like that. But he was wrong. The destruction was total. The family lost everything. For the Israelis not only destroyed their places of residence and farms and orchards and animals, but also all their factories.

Jihad told me the estimate of their loss is 15 million dollars. That, I am sure, is an extremely conservative estimate. He said others are saying it is over 20 million and I think that is closer to the mark. But he holds 15 million, for he knows that for sure it is that much that is lost.

“It’s the tax we pay for being Palestinian,” he says. A heavy tax, indeed.

“We are fine with them are our neighbors,” he told me when I asked about the Israelis, “let us live together! But they don’t want us as neighbors. They are trying to drive us out. They want the land and not the people.”

When I asked him if this terrible loss made him want to leave Gaza. He just looked at me and stated simply, “Gaza is the only place for me. I have no other place.”

We visited one of the factories. Heaps of rubble and metal are scattered around. Jihad said it is much cleaner now than it was. They are trying to rebuild. But it is a slow process because of the siege. I asked him why they are rebuilding after this absolute loss.

“We must rebuild,” he said, “and if they come and destroy again. We must rebuild. We cannot just sit and cry and think about the past. We must look to the future.”

After touring the destruction of the once-upon-a-greener-time factory, we sit with his father and brothers and nephews and have tea. The talk is light and happy. I don’t understand how it could be so, with the signs of their grief all around. But they are a strong people, and inclined toward optimism. So we drink and talk and laugh.

As we get up to leave the “factory” and go back home, Jihad shakes hands with his father. When we get into the car and head out, he remarks on his parting.

“You see how I shook hands with my father just now to go home?” he asks. “I never had to do that before. We lived in the same house. But now he lives here and I live in middle of the crowded city. In a small, rented flat.”

The desolate land goes by in a blur. It wasn’t just the loss of property, and fortune, and future, I think to myself. They ripped the family asunder.

What is the excuse, I ponder now in the silence of a Gazan night, what is the excuse for a people who destroyed that place called peace?

Source

Posted in Ethnic Cleansing, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Nakba, Palestine, War Crimes

I’M CONFUSED…..

desertpeace — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:24:13 +0000

Yes, very confused….

A convoy of Human Rights Workers was headed to Gaza to deliver much needed medical equipment, children’s toys and construction material. On board were a number of American citizens, including a former Congresswoman and Presidential candidate.

Uniformed pirates, members of the Israeli Navy, kidnapped these people and hauled them off to a prison in Israel. They were charged with being in Israel illegally.

OK….. that’s where the confusion sets in…. who dragged them off to Israel? They were in International waters with no intention of setting foot on Israeli soil.

Adding to the confusion was a total press blackout of this incident. NOT A WORD until Sunday when Cynthia McKinney was released and returned to the United States….. and only in a local Georgia State Newspaper.

A United Nations Human Rights Invesigator issued a statement on the situation, it was reported by Reuters but ignored completely in the Western Media.

President Obama was aware of the situation as he was contacted by many influential people. He did NOTHING.

Were these people criminals? Were these people involved in some sort of terrorist plot against Israel? Why were they punished and why didn’t their governments come to their aid? WHAT KIND OF WORLD ARE WE LIVING IN?????

If it’s Israel that is committing the crime does it make it OK? It seems so….

Does AIPAC and its ilk have Obama completely under their spell?? It seems so as well.

Image by Bendib

Below is one of the latest reports on the situation of the hostages…

Just remember….. SILENCE IS COMPLICITY!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six ‘Free Gaza’ human rights activists deported by Israel

by Katherine Orwell

Israel deported six UK citizens on Monday afternoon. The six were part of a group of human rights workers that tried to deliver aid to the sealed off Gaza Strip last week. The six from the UK arrived at Heathrow airport around two o’clock in the afternoon.

Free Gaza vessel the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY

The group of human rights activists was detained last week by the Israeli navy as it was 23 miles away from the coast of Gaza.

“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate.

Just before being kidnapped by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement chairperson and delegation co-coordinator on this voyage, stated that: “No one could possibly believe that our small boat constitutes any sort of threat to Israel. We carry medical and reconstruction supplies, and children’s toys. Our passengers include a Nobel peace prize laureate and a former U.S. congressperson. Our boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot Port Authorities before we departed, and at no time did we ever approach Israeli waters.”

The reaction of the UK ministry of foreign affairs was coined in less strong wording: “We would be concerned if the stories of the Israeli navy boarding the Spirit of Humanity in international waters were true,” said a spokesperson for UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, to British media.

The spokesperson also suggested that the issue of Gaza’s legal waters “are murky”, but that the ministry was “looking into claims that the takeover by Israel’s navy of the ship and its 21-member crew violated international law”.

Source

Today, now that this particular crisis seems over with, FoxNews FINALLY had something to say about it.

Posted in Activism, Barack Obama, Complicity, Corporate Media, DesertPeace Editorial, Gaza, International Solidarity, Israel, Palestine

MIKE RIVERO LIVE

desertpeace — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:03:08 +0000

UPDATE……………………..

McKinney released, returning to United States

By RHONDA COOK, LARRY HARTSTEIN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Cynthia McKinney’s mom said she’s learned that her daughter is on the way home.

Leola McKinney said a friend who contacted the U.S. Embassy in Israel reported that the former congresswoman was released from Israeli custody and taken to Ben Gurion International Airport.

“We finally got word that she was released,” Leola McKinney said late Sunday afternoon. “We don’t know what time she is supposed to fly out. All we know is that they took her to the airport.

“I would be more relieved when I know she’s on the flight,” Leola McKinney added. “But I am relieved that she’s away from there.”

McKinney had been in custody since Tuesday, when she and 20 others were swept up by the Israeli Navy while allegedly trying to sail through a navy blockade. The group says it was attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza.

McKinney and the rest of her group could have been released soon after they were taken into custody but they refused to sign a document admitting they violated Israel’s blockade, according to McKinney’s parents. The group was due to appear in an Israeli court Sunday.

Leola McKinney said she had no information about the court hearing.

Leola McKinney said she had not spoken with her daughter since shortly after she was taken into custody.

Cynthia McKinney and other members of the “Free Gaza Movement ” left Cyprus Tuesday on the Greek-registered ship Arion.

Their ship was stopped when they tried to pass through the Israeli Navy’s security blockade at Ashdod. The group was taken into custody and their ship was seized. Israel officials promised to deliver by ground all of the humanitarian supplies that were on the boat.

Family, friends and supporters say Cynthia McKinney believed she was in international waters and was free to pass.

“The Israelis hijacked us because we wanted to give crayons to the children of Gaza,” Cynthia McKinney said in a recorded statement delivered via telephone and posted on the internet site YouTube.

The office of the Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta said in a statement released Friday, “According to Israeli law Ms. McKinney and her fellow crew members were suggested to sign a form acknowledging their deportation… Since Ms. McKinney has refused to do so, she is expected to appear before an Israeli judge on Sunday, July 5, and afterwards be returned home as soon as possible.”

Civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery, head of the Atlanta-based Coalition for the People’s Agenda, said he and others have spoken by phone with the Consulate General of Israel.

“Whatever happened, there was no harm done,” Lowery said. “She was not carrying munitions, but medicine. We hope Israel will show compassion and release her and let her go on to deliver the much-needed medicine to the Gaza Strip. … If she were carrying guns, that would be a different thing. [But] she was carrying humanitarian aid.”

Israeli officials blame McKinney and her group for the controversy, saying they were looking for confrontation to attract publicity. The officials note that Palestinian Authority and the rest of the international community had agreed to the off-shore blockade to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is classified by the U.S. and European Union as a terrorist organization.

Leola McKinney said the trip would have received no “publicity if they had been allowed to deliver supplies to Gaza. They [Israel] made an issue out of it by taking the boat and escorting them into Israel.”

Billy McKinney, Cynthia McKinney’s father and a former state legislator, said his daughter was only trying to show “the devastation in Gaza… Anybody who has a humanitarian spirit would not want to see those people live in those conditions.”

Latest update…..

McKinney Back in U.S. from Israeli Jail

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watch the following to see why Cynthia and the others attempted to get into Gaza….

Posted in Activism, Censorship, Corporate Media, Gaza, Israel

MIDEAST CHURCHES SLAM CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

desertpeace — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:16:23 +0000

Khalid Amayreh, IOL Correspondent

“It has nothing to do with true Christian teachings and ideals. It is actually a heresy,” Bishop Younan told IOL.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Christian leaders in the Middle East and the Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) are on a holy mission to expose Christian Zionism as a pseudo-religious movement that twists Christianity for its own political purposes.

“We don’t consider these people [Christian Zionists] a legitimate Christian sect or denomination,” Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, told IslamOnline.net.

Younan co-signed the landmark Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism along with leaders of seven other major churches in the Middles East.

In the document, the Christian clergy denounce so-called Christian Zionism as a heretic movement whose ideas and ideals are incompatible with authentic Christian teachings.

“[It’s a] false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.”

Christian Zionism, also referred to as Evangelical Zionism, teaches that the creation of Israel on the rubbles of Palestine in 1948 was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

Its doctrine, popularized by the 19th century American Cyrus Scofield, claims that Israel is an important catalyst in the second coming of Jesus Christ and that the Israeli-Arab conflict is a battle between good and evil that will play a pivotal role in this.

They claim that Jesus can’t return until certain events occur, including Jews gaining control of Jerusalem, destroying its Islamic holy places and building their alleged temple.

According to Christian Zionism, the final battle of Armageddon will then precipitate the second coming of Christ.

“It has nothing to do with true Christian teachings and ideals,” insists Bishop Younan.

“It is actually a heresy.”

Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism signatories include Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate and Bishop Riah Abu el Assal head of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East.

Messages

Bishop Younan says their declaration is to communicate certain messages to all those concerned with what happens in the occupied lands, including Christian Zionists themselves.

“To the Americans and the world at large, we would like to say that the Christians of Palestine stand firmly with their people for freedom and justice and deliverance from the Israeli occupation.”

In the declaration, the eight church leaders reiterate opposition to alliance between Christian Zionists and the right-wing Israeli government.

They warned that the alliance would inevitably lead to unending cycles of violence all over the Middle East.

Organized Christian Zionism has long been rooted and mobilized in the US.

American Evangelicals, who are usually linked to the Christian Zionism movement, believe they have a biblical and moral obligation to support and protect Israel because it is “God’s foreign policy”.

A research by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that evangelical Christians were more likely to support Israel than any other religious group in America besides Jews.

“To the Palestinians and the Arab world, we say do not lump Christian Zionists with true Christianity which stands with the oppressed and the weak against the oppressor,” says Bishop Younan.

“And to Christian Zionists we say, you are not welcomed here. Don’t come to our country to dupe and mislead people with your money and poisoned ideology.”

Posted in 'Christian' Right, Associate Post, Israel, Palestine, Religion, zionism

NEW YORKERS HOLD FESTIVE SEND OFF FOR ‘VIVA PALESTINA’ CONVOY

desertpeace — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:51:51 +0000

Commentary by Chippy Dee, Photos by Bud Korotzer

On Friday evening, July 3, ‘09, the House of the Lord Church on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn hosted a high spirited send-off for the 200 members of the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy led by MP George Galloway and Ron Kovic, VietNam veteran and peace activist. They will be bringing about 100 truckloads of medical equipment and medicine, through Egypt, to the people of Gaza who are in very desperate need because of the Israeli attack last winter and the 2 year Israeli blockade that is strangling them.

Rev. Daughtry welcomed everyone to his packed church and said that the church has always been at the center of human rights struggles. He is deeply affected by the dimensions of the humanitarian problems in Gaza and called for peace in the area. He hopes all there would soon live as members of a human family.

Some of the organizers of the convoy praised Rev. Daughtry for giving then full reign in his church. The downstairs area is full of wheelchairs, walkers and other medical necessities. They believe this is a very historic moment. Civil rights workers here are supporting the people of Gaza and the people there are aware of their support here. They have seen the huge demonstrations against the Israeli attacks on their TVs and they are hoping that public opinion will change public policy. Several rabbis are part of the convoy because of their belief in justice. The U.S. consul in Cairo has been invited to meet the 200 Americans delivering the aid because, after all, Obama has said that aid should be sent to Gaza. There will be a 2nd US convoy at the end of this year, it will go through France and North Africa and is scheduled to arrive in Gaza on December 27th, the anniversary of the Israeli attack.

NYC Councilman Charles Barron spoke with his wife, NYC Assemblywoman Inez D. Barron, at his side. He said it was easier to do the right thing than to be spineless and that he is not a politician, he is an “elected revolutionary”. He will be part of the convoy and intensely hopes that there will be no interference with them delivering the essential aid. Inez Barron agreed and said that she wished she was able to go.

A recording of a phone conversation with Cynthia McKinney from her Zionist prison cell was played. She said that there are 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Many are children and many are being tortured.

Rev. Lucius Walker of Pastors for Peace was the next speaker. His group allowed the Viva Palestina aid organizers to use their financial set-up, their sponsorship, to raise funds since people have been made to feel nervous about contributing. He said that the US government has been complicit in destroying the hopes of the Palestinian people. The government’s silence was very loud when Israel attacked Gaza. We must find ways to creatively resist injustice. He quoted Fidel saying that “A better world is possible.” The convoy, he continued, is bringing love, justice, and the hope of peace. It is telling the people of Gaza that they aren’t alone, people stand with them. Rev. Walker couldn’t be part of the convoy because he is going to Cuba with the Pastors for Peace to bring aid there. However, he will be part of the next Viva Palestina convoy bring aid at the end of the year.

The next speaker was Daniel Meyers, N.Y. President of the National Lawyers Guild, the oldest and largest human rights bar organization in the country. He said the NLG supports the caravan and the liberation of the Palestinian people. The Israeli occupiers had violated international law by committing crimes against humanity intentionally targeting civilians when using drones and white phosphorus. Stopping a power that will do anything to destroy a population is difficult. He then warned the participants about conspiracy laws and told them they must be very careful to be truthful and accurate when speaking to any public official. He also assured them that, should they face any legal problems when they return, the NLG will be there to support them.

Fr. Luis Barrios, the next speaker, recently spent 2 months incarcerated in a federal prison for participating in civil disobedience at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning because torture is taught there. It is “a symbol of US despotism towards our Latin American countries”. He said that people who make history are those that “cross the line”. We can create a miracle – we can stop Israeli crimes.

Brenda Stokley, organizer of the Million Worker March, said that we have to build a united front in our country, not just get together to deal with individual crises. We have to tell the mayor and Obama to stop being on the side of oppression. Black people are going to Gaza, she added, they are revolutionaries, always aware of the ugly underbelly of imperialism wherever it is.

The final speaker was one of the convoy organizers in N.Y., Lamis Jamal Deek. She sees this event as the beginning of a major movement that will support the Palestinian right of self-determination and opposition to Zionist colonialism.

From the Al-Awda-NY Blog….. From Viva Palestina US Convoy to Gaza

ARRIVAL IN CAIRO!

Just landed in Egypt. What scenery. Apartment buildings in the desert? Beautiful though. Not as beautiful as the feeling we felt whilst waiting to board at JFK watching the sea of blue Viva Palestina t shirt wearers. What a show of solidarity and support for the Palestinian people, not just by the Arab americans who travelled across the states to join us but also the black, Latino, Asian, Indian, Caucasian and Native Indians that are also with us on this amazing humanitarian convoy. The flight was amazing with everyone asking what the blue shirts were about then asking us to give them one. Not to mention it was Lamont Carolina, Community Liaison Officer for Councilman Charles Barron’s, first time ever being on a plane. We filmed his first experience and will release the video later today. The feeling of joy, excitment and anxiety shows however everyone is determined to make it to Gaza and show the people they are not alone. The jersey boys have taken up security for the convoy while we new york girls handle the accomodations. At the airport we were met by Rabbi Weiss, Associated Press, Al Jazeera and the Egyptian police who by the way, are not too happy about and ruined our press conference outside the airport. We will keep you updated and report back later tonight. Pictures to follow shortly.

Nancy (existence is resistance)
Sarah (al awda)

Posted in Activism, Associate Post, DesertPeace Exclusive, Gaza, International Solidarity, Israel, Palestine, Photography

Desertpeace

BLAMING THE VICTIM……

“Reckless” to sail in international waters – official

Stuart Littlewood

CHILDREN OF GAZA RELIVING THE HORRORS OF WAR IN THEIR ARTWORK

Gaza’s children struggle with memories of war

by Patrick Moser

VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY UPDATES

WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS MAN?

Quick paint job

Would you buy a used car from this man, asks Khalid Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem

Netanyahu

The Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is making concerted efforts to avoid a looming crisis with the Obama administration over the issue of Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.

United States President Barack Obama is demanding that Israel freeze all settlement expansion projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in order to enable the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

However, Netanyahu has so far been defying American demands, resorting to diversionary tactics and vague statements about accepting a Palestinian entity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

On Monday, 6 July, the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who is effectively acting as an extraordinary foreign minister in lieu of the widely- despised Avigdor Lieberman, met once again in London for 90 minutes with US Peace Envoy George Mitchell.

Barak was trying to sell the Obama administration its usual bill of goods, offering to dismantle “illegal outposts” in return for obtaining an American consent for allowing construction of settlement buildings in “legal outposts”.

The two had met earlier in New York and held “intensive discussions” on the settlement expansion issue. Barak described the meeting as “positive and constructive”, saying that “there was no crisis in relations between the US and Israel.”

However, subsequent reports indicated that the New York meeting was a failure as Mitchell refused to accept salesman Barak’s used-cars which would allow Israel to continue building thousands of settler units under the rubric of “natural growth”.

It is also an indication that Israel is not really interested in reaching an honest and dignified peace with the Palestinians but is only trying to throw the proverbial ball into the Arab or at least the American court.

Netanyahu has actually been bragging about succeeding in creating “a national consensus” on the restrictions and proscriptions that would make his “acceptance” of Palestinian statehood null and void.

Last week, Peres, who participated in an interfaith conference in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, called on Saudi King Abdullah “to meet me in Jerusalem, or Riyadh or any other place to make the promise of peace come true.”

Nonetheless, it is increasingly clear that neither Netanyahu’s prevarication, nor Barak’s salesman tactics, and not even Peres’s public relations magic are making many people give Israel the benefit of the doubt.

On Monday, 6 July, former Israeli foreign minister and opposition leader Tzipi Livni accused Netanyahu of being dishonest and disingenuous about his declared commitment to the two-state solution.

“He doesn’t know that this is the right path for Israel, but he understands this is the right thing to say. The world is demanding it, so he says ‘I have to say it,’ this is how he explained his speech to his faction members,” Livni was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the expansion of settlements goes on unabated as if there is no crisis over the matter. The Jerusalem Post on 6 July reported that the government was providing financial inducements to encourage settlers to buy homes in the West Bank.

The heavy subsidies, said Peace Now, which monitors Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank, would help potential settlers move to the settlements. “In this way, the government proves its rejection of the two-state solution.”

CAR WRECK IN THE MAKING

IRAQ WAR VET REPORTS ON HUMANITARIAN CONVOY TO GAZA

The journey to Gaza begins ‘After five days in Cairo, we are ready to set off with vehicles and medical supplies’

Michael Prysner

DESTROYING GAZA

HOW TO MAKE A JEWISH MOTHER PROUD OF YOU

Reporter feels mob’s hate in the Holy City

Spit like rain

Reassurance

LEGAL SLAVE TRADE IN ISRAEL ~~ PART 2

HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN THREE PARAGRAPHS

ISRAEL; ‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD SETTLEMENTS, WE WILL CONTINUE TO LIE ABOUT THIS, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO HIDE THE TRUTH FROM YOU’

MICHAEL JACKSON ~~ ‘WE HAD HIM’

FOXMAN HAS HIS WORK CUT OUT FOR HIM

Israel criticised for thwarting medical mission to Palestinian territories

GEORGE GALLOWAY LEADS THE WAY TO FREEDOM!

200 American Volunteers Lead by George Galloway Head for Gaza With Emergency Humanitarian Aid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Viva Palestina US blocked at Rafah – British ISM activists refused exit from Strip

NEW TOON ~~ FREE GAZA

GAZA ~~ RELIVING THE NAKBA

Gaza: A Story

I’M CONFUSED…..

Six ‘Free Gaza’ human rights activists deported by Israel

MIKE RIVERO LIVE

McKinney released, returning to United States

McKinney Back in U.S. from Israeli Jail

MIDEAST CHURCHES SLAM CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

NEW YORKERS HOLD FESTIVE SEND OFF FOR ‘VIVA PALESTINA’ CONVOY

From the Al-Awda-NY Blog….. From Viva Palestina US Convoy to Gaza

ARRIVAL IN CAIRO!

The journey to Gaza begins
‘After five days in Cairo, we are ready to set off with vehicles and medical supplies’