reposted: Jewish Voice for Peace
“My family in Israel has bomb shelters. They are, actually, safe. In Gaza, there is no such thing as “safe.” Please, ask your friends to join me in asking President Obama to make aid to Israel contingent on not using it to target civilians.”
I wear many hats. I’m a dad, a videographer, a Jewish Israeli, a veteran. But I’m telling you my story, and asking you to forward this email and ask your friends to sign this letter to President Obama about US military aid to Israel, as a human being, as a citizen of the world, and as someone who deeply cares about the people in Israel and Gaza.
My wife, kids and I live just on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, where life during the past weeks for the most part carried on as normal.
There were four sirens in the eight days of the Israeli operation, which means we had to move into a room in the house that has reinforced concrete walls. In our case, we went down to our apartment building’s bomb shelter for 10 minutes—as far as I know every apartment building in Israel has one. Fortunately, the kids took it well and were not scared.
In the south close to the border with Gaza where I’ve been working, life is much, much different. People who could do so temporarily moved northward and stayed with family and friends out of rocket and mortar range.
Being outdoors when the siren goes off in the south is quite scary. Most rockets are relatively small, up to 12 pounds of explosives, and cannot bring down a building. But in the open space they splatter lots of metal fragments.
The bigger long distance rockets that were fired at lower intervals were the "Fajar" Rockets that carry 90 lbs of explosives. They cannot bring down a building but can destroy an apartment and killed 3 people in an apartment building. People in bomb shelters are considered to be safe.
And of course, the Iron Dome defense system reportedly destroyed 85% of rockets headed towards Israeli populated areas.
Still, in the south, the sirens went off many times a day and there was no school and no work because parents naturally wanted to be near their kids.
In contrast, in Gaza, the bombs dropped by the Israeli military ranged from 500 to 1,000 pounds, and in the past, also 2,000 pounds. Ten or 20 times more powerful than those which they have sent our way.
When I’d go to our bomb shelter with my family, I would think of families like mine in Gaza. They had no sirens, no Iron Dome defense, no shelters, and because they are essentially trapped, nowhere to go.
But mostly, I thought about how terrified I'd be during the bombings.
There is no safe place to go in Gaza.
It wouldn’t matter if buildings had shelters since the Israeli bombs often flatten the building they hit. There's literally nothing left.
I want you to ask your friends to sign this letter to President Obama asking him to make aid to Israel contingent on not using it to target civilians because there is no military solution. Not for Palestinians. Not for us Israelis.
To reach a true peace for all of us, Israeli and Palestinian, our governments must choose diplomacy over more bombing. The Israeli government must end its terrible siege of the Palestinians.
And the US must stop sending my government weapons they know will be used to violate the law and harm civilians.
I am happy we've reached a cease-fire and I hope this will lead to negotiations with the Hamas government. I remind myself that the British in pre-state Israel also considered the Israeli political groups terrorist entities.
With hopes for a fair and lasting peace for both of our peoples,
Dear President Obama,
We are Americans from small towns and big cities, and we are Palestinians and Israelis a world away. We are the women, men, and children who are suffering every single day in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, and we are the people from across the world who seek to end that suffering. We are mothers of soldiers and children of refuseniks. We are Jews and Muslims, Christians and atheists, and people of the many other traditions of the world.
And we are all united by our determination to see a truly just peace take root in Israel and Palestine. That goal became even more elusive during your first term, but the American voters have just given you a second chance to make history.
Our request is simple.
Fifteen church leaders have bravely spoken out in a letter to Congress--stating a principle that should be obvious: Israel, the biggest long-term recipient of US aid, should not be above the law. Mr. President, please condition US aid to Israel on compliance with US and international law. It must not be used to violate the rights of Palestinians.
Anything less is a danger to Palestinians, to Israelis, to Americans and to the entire world.
Showing posts with label Palestinian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palestinian. Show all posts
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Gaza Strip - Documentary Film
Forward by Susan Brannon
Film by James Longley
James Longley went to the Gaza Strip for three months and made a documentary film in 2001. This was before the settler's were forced to leave and gives a true prospective on life for the Gazans just as things started to get worse. James Longley decided to release his film for free online only a few months ago so more people will have access to view the Gazan realities.
He first released his film in 2002 at the Chicago Palestine Film Festival and the place was packed. Longley also produced "Iraq in Fragments" and was awarded three jury awards at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature. His short film Sari's Mother premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Short. In 2009, Longley was awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship "Genius Grant.
This film begins with an introductory to the live in the Gaza Strip and the tension increases in the film while the tension is increasing in the Strip. Parts of this film clearly shows crimes against humanity...when the Israelis dropped chemical canisters onto Khan Younis, Gaza of an unknown substance. At the time, the population was going about their business, along with shooting nearby. The children were coming home from school and the men were working and the then the canisters of some sort of smell-less gas that tasted like sugar or mint was released onto the general population.
The film focuses on the lives of the children and you can clearly see the effects of the trauma in their lives. You can follow along through some of the lives of these Gazan children and understand that the children had to grow up quickly with the sounds of bullets, rockets, tanks and loosing their homes. They lost friends, parents, uncles and brothers. One of the children decides that it is better to die than live like the way that his life has led and reflects what life means to him.
There are scenes that describe the aftermath at the hospital explaining that some boys picked up some boxing gloves that the Israeli tank dropped off to play with it. Inside was some metal, they thought they could sell it. One boy took the metal ball out of the glove and tried to break it. It exploded and was killed instantly. Two other boys were injured and taken to the hospital.t
This film is an eyewitness to The aftermath of the destroyed homes in Khan Younis, the shooting when the families attempt to clean up the mess. You can hear the shooting while the families live in small tents near their destroyed homes.
In the end there is utter devastation, inside of the Gaza Strip, in the neighborhoods inside of the Gazan border.
It is my hopes that the world does not forget the Gazans and continue to ignore the plight that their lives have taken. After the shooting of this film, life has become much worse for those that live in the Gaza Strip.
Friday, December 31, 2004
A Home of Our Own
December 31, 2004
"We're Still Waiting for a Home of Our Own
A View from Syria on the Palestinian Right to Return
By FARRAH HASSEN
"We travel in the chariots of the Psalms, sleep in the tents of the prophets, and are born again in the language of Gypsies/Ours is a country of words: Talk. Talk/Let me see an end to this journey."
Mahmoud Darwish, "We Travel Like All People," from Fewer Roses, 1986 The 21st Century began as a world filled with war and refugees, words that can deaden one's emotion. Occasional newspaper stories refer to refugee camps, the plight of refugees, and obscure issues like "the right of return." I, like most young people who become gradually insensitive to suffering when the words to describe it anesthetize rather than sensitize the reader, could not picture how refugees really lived, what their "camps" looked like and what the right of return actually meant.
Then I realized my own "right to return." I visited Syria, my father's birthplace, in 2003. It took a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus to bring to my mind the agonized voice of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish-whose village of birth the Israeli Army destroyed in 1948: "we travel like everyone else, but we return to nothing" ("We Travel Like All People").
He captured the unresolved abyss of the weary-eyed, long-time inhabitants of Palestinian refugee camps scattered throughout the Middle East and their more energetic, but equally dejected offspring. I returned home to a place where generations of my family had retained the culture and traditions; indeed, it showed me that there was merit in striving to maintain a "Syrian-American" life.
It also dramatized the significance of Article 13 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the one that sanctions my freedom of movement. I admit this didn't cross my mind while I visited the ancient Roman ruins at Bosra, south of the Jordan border, or drove past the Aleppo home where my mother grew up. Then I visited the Jaramana refugee camp near Damascus, housing around 5,000 registered Palestinian refugees (of the total 500,000 that reside in Syria), mostly displaced after the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars and some one thousand who fled southern Lebanon in 1982 following the Israeli invasion. Instantly, the euphoria associated with returning to Syria to meet new relatives, savor syrupy baklava and carry on a conversation in Arabic disintegrated into shame.
Shortly after I entered one of the country's ten official camps, an elderly Palestinian woman originally from Jericho reminded me of how I took for granted what for her epitomizes the core of human patience: "we're still waiting for a home of our own." Rows of decaying "homes" slightly larger than the size of office cubicles lined the streets, juxtaposed by the newly constructed roads and oncoming traffic traversing the camp. The flurry of young children playing tag, teenage boys riding rusty bicycles down the cramped streets and the commanding shriek of babies channeled some brightness into Jaramana, a camp otherwise dominated by the grayish hues of the stone edifices and smoke emanating from the burnt trash. An aging man with deep set, expressive eyes talked to me in front of his home.
His covered wife and three children surrounded him, framed by light and dark shadows that invoked a Rembrandt portrait. "I'm from Hebron," he informed me. "I haven't seen my brothers and sisters who had to stay behind since 1948. Other members of my family have already passed away." "How do you expect me to feel?" Mohammed snapped. He paused, lit up a cigarette and then widened his eyes. "This separation makes me feel very angry and bitter." Across the street, a middle-aged woman who wore a white hijab sat on the doorsteps of her residence to take advantage of the light breeze, a rare break from the sweltering July heat that felt exaggerated at the densely populated camp and that emphasized the prevailing scent of burnt trash, cigarettes and cooking oil. Her young daughter leaned against her and seemed pacified by the piece of candy that she quietly chewed.
The mother managed to muster some optimism about being a Palestinian refugee in Syria. "Here, we live fine, but we'd be more comfortable living in our own homes," she said, alluding to the fact that Palestinians in Syria are still able to enjoy more or less the same rights as other Syrians, including attending schools and universities, competing for the same jobs and owning businesses. Jaramana's residents, however, mainly find work as street sellers or in the informal sector, as drivers, cooks and domestic workers.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which provides education, healthcare, social services and emergency aid, 1.3 million of the over 4 million registered Palestinian refugees still live in 59 recognized refugee camps across the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In an early effort to respond to the Palestinian refugee crisis following the establishment of Israel, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194 on December 11, 1948-a day after the world body approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations."
Article 11 of Resolution 194, likened by one Jaramana man as "the heart of our legal defense" despite its repeated rejection by Israel, declared that the Palestinian refugees "wishing to return to their homesshould be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property." Supplementing GA Resolution 194 and carrying the force of law, Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967 reaffirmed "the necessityfor achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem" (Article 2b), although the political will to do so on the part of Israel, the US government and other Middle East peace brokers still remains elusive. "What's the use of having international law on our side when it's not upheld by the ruling powers?" questioned one man in his early 20s, wearing a traditional Islamic white robe and matching kufi (prayer cap).
A small group of elderly men gathered around this new face of the 21st Century Palestinian refugee, some nodding in agreement and others looking wistfully at the impassioned young man whose generation would inherit their decades-long struggles for justice. "I'm just as cynical about the Roadmap peace process that your president supports. Will it allow me to return back to Palestine?" he chuckled. Certainly, the majority of refugees I met that day viewed the latest Roadmap initiative backed by the so-called Quartet (U.S., UN, EU and Russia) as an empty effort, so long as their "right to return" remained left off of the negotiating table and reduced to a "final status issue"-as obscurely phrased in the 1993-94 Oslo Accords and the stagnant Roadmap agreement.
As I departed the camp, I asked Ibrahim, a gray-haired refugee from the 1967 war selling colossal-sized watermelons, if he had a message for President Bush. "I'd like Bush to examine the Palestinians' plight without spinning lies into truths and truths into lies. We are living in pain," he implored, raising his tired-looking hands into the air in vain. Less than a year after my Jaramana visit and realization of my "right to return," President George W. Bush turned a blind eye to the refugees' own dreams of returning back to their former homes and the international laws that protected their right, not to mention longstanding US policy.
He declared in an April 14, 2004 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, "a just, fair, and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel." Complicating matters for Palestinian refugees, the continued Israeli settlements built throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip in violation of the Oslo Accords and the construction of a 650 kilometer long wall-declared "contrary to international law" by the World Court in July 2004-deviating from Israel's 1967 Green Line border beg the same question that one despondent Jaramana refugee had contemplated, "in reality, would we ever return back to historic Palestine?" Indeed, upon completion of the wall itself, which Sharon has justified as a "means to assist in the war against terror," the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including around 1.5 million refugees, will live on only 12% of historic Palestine (Al Ahram, April 16, 2004). After PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat died on November 11, the Palestinian refugee issue made a brief return to the newspaper headlines.
On December 9, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and the new PLO chairman and presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas met with thousands of Palestinian refugees on a campaign-like visit to the Al-Rashidiah camp in southern Lebanon. Ahead of the January 9 Palestinian elections, Qurei reassured the crowd-who have no say in the upcoming election-that the post Arafat PLO leadership would "never abandon" their right to return, reported Agence France Presse. This rhetoric flew in the face of more serious words by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a December 16 conference. Sharon, who has steadfastly refused to even open the right of return as an issue in the peace talks, nevertheless called 2005 "the year of a great historic opportunity" in the Middle East. Addressing the Palestinians, Sharon simply lied. "We do not want to rule over you, or to run over your lives," the 'man of peace' said as Israeli troops continue to occupy Palestine and run Palestinians' lives, such as by enforcing draconian checkpoints and according to the UN, demolishing at least 1,686 Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp during the past four years.
Palestinian leaders cannot address the right of return issue by themselves. Indeed, Arafat bore responsibility for sacrificing the right of return by signing the 1993 Oslo Accords. The ink on that document speaks louder than words to the disheartened refugees at Jaramana and their counterparts. In September 2004, I again exercised my right to return to Syria. A middle-aged Palestinian man named Nabil, who worked as a driver for a well-to-do family, taught me how to use Damascus' tricky version of a public transportation system. Like the other Syrians that I met, he relied on humor to deal with the daily realities of life, which I needed while we waited on a street curb under an unforgiving sun for the white microbus (a small van) to arrive. "Does it normally take this long for the bus to arrive?" I wondered aloud, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity. "Remember, we're on Syrian time," he smiled. "The trick here is to be patient. Take it from me, I'm a Palestinian!" he joked, instantly reminding me of the Jaramana refugees that I had met a year earlier and their patient-defying wait to experience their own right to return.
Once we boarded the packed microbus, Nabil practiced the few words of English he knew to make us forget about the bumpy, stomach-churning ride through the mid-day traffic. "Welcome to Syria," he liked to declare, as the other passengers watched in amusement, followed up by "Have you questions?" When I reached my stop, I thanked Nabil for helping me become more "Syrian" in his adopted home and not willing to reconcile with the improbable, assured him that I'd show him around California if he ever visited. "Sure," he winked, "I'll take the first flight out from Palestine." Farrah Hassen, a Political Science graduate from Cal Poly Pomona University, was the associate producer of the 2004 documentary, "Syria: Between Iraq & And A Hard Place," with Saul Landau. She recently spent 2 months working for the United Nations Development Programme in Syria. She can be reached at: FHuisClos1944@aol.com
Monday, October 25, 2004
National Lawyers Guild Rights for the Palestinians
| National Lawyers Guild Rights for the Palestinians | |
| October 25,2004 Susan Brannon Another huge victory in our quest for justice for the Palestinian people... The National Lawyers Guild, in its national convention in Alabama (which ends today)... HAS PASSED A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN!!!!! The National Lawyers Guild has consistently supported Palestinian rights, and has done much work in this field. | |
| Their Middle East Subcommittee has sent delegations to Palestine, prepared reports about Israel's violations of international law and human rights, given talks, written op-eds, and even made a documentary film about Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people, called "In The Name of Security." The film is available at Palestine Online Store and your purchase would certainly help support their work and help fund their upcoming film (about refugees). | |
| In The Name of Security film, at Palestine Online Store: http://www.palestineonlinestore.com/films/inthenameofsecurity.htm Report by NLG delegation to Palestine "Israel and the Destruction of Palestinian Culture and Civil Society" (PDF, 39 pages)http://www.nlg.org/programs/mideast/name_of_security.pdf Israel's Wall: An Analysis Of Its Legal Validity Under U.S. and International Lawhttp://www.nlg.org/programs/mideast/wall.htm Information sheet condemning Israeli Military (PDF, 2 pages)http://www.nlg.org/programs/mideast/NLG_MidEast_41502.pdf Report by NLG delegation to Palestine "The Al Aqsa Intifida and Israel's Apartheid: The U.S. Military and Economic Role in the Violation of Palestinian Human Rights" (PDF, 74 pages)http://www.nlg.org/programs/mideast/al_aqsa_intifada.pdf NYTimes Op-ed: Palestinians in a State of Siege (March 16, 2001)http://www.nlg.org/programs/mideast/pacheco_oped.htm Emergency Gaza Relief Fund - Please Contribute Now http://www.al-awda.org/urgentemergencygazarelieffund/ | |
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Corruption with the PA
| Khaled Al Haroub Al-Hayat 2004/10/12 | |
| Could the occupation be defeated in light of the corruption within the current Palestinian Leadership? Of course not. It is often said that the occupation is the reason behind the corruption of the Palestinian army, the Palestinian leadership and the entire Palestinian situation; had it not been for the occupation, there would have been no corruption. The Palestinian situation before the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PA) was much better than the current situation. | |
| Today, corruption is obliterating every aspect of hope in the Palestinian dream. Corruption within the Palestinian authority varies from the embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the involvement in killing witnesses, sexual rape, drug dealing, and protecting traitors. Hundreds of people are accused of stealing the Palestinian money, and many Palestinians are accused of nepotism; the Egyptian cement file is enough to topple ten governments. How could Palestinian officials maintain their positions after their hands were besmirched in supplying cement for the construction of the Israeli racist wall? All this happened, and is still happening, with the complete knowledge of the Palestinian leadership. Nevertheless, the advent allegation is always the responsibility of the Israeli occupation for the corruption within the PA. This is a total manipulation of national and political standards in order to blame all those who want to reformulate a national agenda. We are seeing today the President of the PA himself defending the corrupt, those who control the political, economic and social destiny of the Palestinians; yet, these people claim to be representing the Palestinian people. The President of the PA refuses to pass any law that would hold these corrupt people accountable in front of the law. He says that opening the corruption file is a conspiracy that aims at shifting attention from the main cause, which is the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Wrong timing for opening this or that file is the same vindication that made the Arabs pay the price for remaining silent in the face of their regimes, as timing was never appropriate for an uprising. On the contrary, now is the time to open the Palestinian files of corruption. These files destroyed and have been destroying every Palestinian achievement in the course of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict. We would be deceiving ourselves if we shift our attention towards Israel, and claim that we should not preoccupy ourselves with marginal issues. When corruption become carcinogenic, we can no longer achieve any operational progress, because the body is weary and cannot move; either cancer is removed, or the body dies. Corruption within the PA has reached a stage where we can no longer remain silent. What is the use of the legislative council if this council cannot reveal the corruption files to the Palestinian people? There are many accusations of corruption; the easy movement of traitors means that the Israeli security apparatuses got their accurate and precise information from inside the PA. Nonetheless, Israel is not the one to be blamed because it is the apparent enemy and such a conduct is expected from the enemy. However, it was not expected that the Palestinian legislative council and the PA would disregard this aberrant corruption. It is not possible for a national program to achieve any considerable success in light of this anomalous corruption that is consuming the Palestinian veracity. Any justification for this corruption is unacceptable. This corruption within the PA has blemished the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian dream. Priority now is to clean the Palestinian house. It is required to recuperate the framework of the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian body, for we can not fight the enemy without a strong and healthy body. http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/contributors/10-2004/Article-20041012-8d9a4e62-c0a8-01ed-0077-896f54d22a07/story.html# | |
Friday, October 01, 2004
Good Ole Gaza
| Good Ole Gaza | |
| October 01, 2004 By MIFTAH | |
| Yesterday the Gaza Strip witnessed one of the most vicious and intense Israeli military campaigns in months. For the first time in four years of Palestinian civil uprising, the Israeli army reached the heart of the over densely populated Jabalya refugee camp. | |
| This latest Israeli incursion comes supposedly as a response or retaliation, to a Qassam rocket attack by Hamas, which killed 2 children and injured 10 in the southern Israeli town of Sderot and a scorched earth policy which is part of Israel's plan for Gaza `disengagement.' With Israel's `natural right to defend herself,' the Israeli army undertook one of its most concentrated and systematic campaigns of killing innocent Palestinian civilians while at the same time, demolishing many homes and general infrastructure in Gaza. According to news sources, since Wednesday's incursion, 42 Palestinians have been killed and 140 people injured, who are said to be in very critical condition, 57 homes have been completely demolished, and one power transmitter was destroyed in the centre of Jabalya camp as well as, the outer walls of a UN school. The primitive, homemade Qassam rockets have proven to be a great annoyance for the Israeli military, illegal Israeli settlements within Gaza, and neighboring Israeli towns and villages. Using these simple rocket attacks as a pretext, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered his Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to "Take every necessary step to stop the firing of Qassams". In immediate response, Mofaz consulted with his Chief of Staff General Moshe Ya'alon, and told the Israeli Public Radio that "the army is considering temporarily re-occupying the Palestinian territory and could mobilize reserve troops". Under this operation codenamed `days of penitence', Gaza could become the venue of a large scale campaign of killings and massacres similar to the tragedy that took place in the Jenin refugee camp two and a half years ago. Israeli troops have repeatedly entered northern Gaza in an attempt stop Qassam rockets from reaching Israeli settlements and nearby towns and villages, but have failed so far. It is unclear how this latest operation will seek to halt the Qassam rockets, and the Palestinian resistance at large. With Gaza becoming a virtual disaster zone, the Israeli Government can not seem to comprehend that its incursions in Gaza will only fuel the anger and tension among Gazans, while achieving no security goals whatsoever for Israelis. If security is not Israel's primal intention, the question arises, how Israel's miserable conduct can be justified, with respects to human rights and the complete disregard for human life. Quite simply, apart from Israel having sadistic obsessions with Gaza and its inhabitants, Israel's policies of continued and repeated war crimes in Gaza go hand in hand with PM Sharon's proposed Unilateral Disengagement Plan. This plan seeks to evacuate all settlers by 2005, while creating as much collateral damage as possible prior to handing over the territory back to Palestinians. Former Gaza Security Chief, Mohammed Dahlan, who is seen as a key player in running Gaza after an Israeli withdrawal, said in a statement that the Israeli operation "will result in a bloodbath on both sides because the Palestinian people cannot remain silent in the face of this aggression". How much more damage and killing does the Israeli army need to commit before the International community, through the mechanics of the United Nations Security Council, issues a Chapter 7 resolution which progressively pressures Israel into full compliance with legally binding resolutions, or face sanctions and eventually the threat of military action through a world alliance? The UK Foreign Minster Jack Straw described the Middle East conflict as the greatest challenge to international order and went on to say "As for Israel – the targeted killings have to end, the settlement building in the West Bank must stop as must the routing of the `security barrier' onto Palestinian land". UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also commented on the recent developments in Gaza by expressing grave concern at the escalation of violence and "especially mourns the death and injuries of children". According to Al Mezan, a Palestinian human rights organization, after four years of the Intifada, the excessive use of force by Israel has brought the death toll in Gaza to 1,621 Palestinians, 179 of whom were killed by extra-judicial assassinations. The Israeli military also targeted 5,897 homes, 221 public facilities, 67 schools, 30 places of worship and 18 NGO offices, in addition to 477 commercial businesses and 248 industrial facilities. | |
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
West Bank taxi driver by settler was unprovoked
| West Bank taxi driver by settler was unprovoked | |||
| Ha'aretz, September 29, 2004 By Arnon Regular | |||
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| According to the passengers, five people entered Jabara's taxi in the West Bank village of Salem at about 12:30 P.M. on Monday. The regular access road from Salem to the main road is blocked by the Beit Furik roadblock, so the taxi instead took a dirt road that funnels into the access road to Elon Moreh. According to the passengers, there are daily incidents between settlers and Palestinians on this road. Nael Mansour, 25, a clothes merchant from the Balata refugee camp near Nablus , described what happened next as follows: "We traveled a short distance to the main road, and at this stage we did not yet see anyone. We began to ascend the rise that leads to the road, and then to the left of our vehicle a few meters away from us, I saw the settler with a big rifle aimed at the window of Sael, the driver. I saw that he [the settler] was saying all kinds of things, but the windows were closed and I didn't understand what he was saying, even though I understand a little Hebrew. Sael began slowly turning right and intended to open the window, because we were afraid of him [the settler]. "Then the settler yelled `stop!' and shortly afterward he fired a single shot that hit Sael in the hand and chest. There was a lot of blood, and the car continued going right. I held onto Sael and then I hit the brakes with my foot and pulled the hand brake and the car stopped. The settler was still there, and I was afraid to leave the car. We were all afraid that he would kill us all, but Ahmed, who sat behind me, got out and began shouting at him: `What have you done? You've killed him! Call an ambulance!' "But the settler shouted something in Hebrew at him and turned toward his red car, which was parked on the other side of the road. A few seconds later, another car came toward Elon Moreh and we flagged it down to ask [the driver] to call an ambulance or evacuate Sael, but the first settler shouted various things and the driver continued driving and didn't stop. In the end, we moved Sael to the seat beside the driver and drove toward the Beit Furik roadblock. Rahma Shtayeh, a 33-year-old from Salem , described the incident as follows: "We drove on the dirt road, and had reached the main road when suddenly I heard a shot. When I looked out the window I saw the settler, and then [I saw] the blood. I started to scream like a mad woman, because I thought he was going to kill us all. The others also shouted, and then I saw the one who was sitting next to the driver hit the brakes so the car wouldn't roll. Then I saw another man in the middle seat open the door, get out and begin shouting at the settler, who turned around and left. Then the man who got out returned to the car and drove the car to the Beit Furik roadblock." Ahmed Shtayeh, 37, a shepherd from Salem, gave the following description: "The car had finished climbing the rise, and Jabara began turning left onto the road when we all saw a tall, bearded, brown-haired settler standing in the middle of the road, and behind him, a red Fiesta car. "Sael thought the settler needed help and slowed the car, and then he opened the window and was speaking to him in Hebrew when suddenly the settler aimed an M-16 rifle at him and two seconds later, he shot, while the window was still closed. The weapon had been loaded earlier, and the settler who was standing in the road fired a bullet at Sael that hit his left hand and tore it to pieces and afterward also entered the left side of his chest. He lost consciousness and we tried to treat him. I opened the door and shouted at the settler to come help and call an ambulance, but he said, in Hebrew, `God willing, he will die' and left. Another car, with another settler inside, arrived, but the first settler shouted at him to keep going and he didn't stop. In the end, we drove to the Beit Furik roadblock." Jabara's death is only the latest in a string of incidents over the last four years in which at least five Palestinian civilians have been either fatally shot or run over by settlers in this area, which includes the settlements of Elon Moreh, Itamar, Yitzhar and Har Bracha. Jabara's body has not yet been released from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir. | |||
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Intensified Israeli Plans to Expel Palestinian Citizens from Jerusalem
| Intensified Israeli Plans to Expel Palestinian Citizens from Jerusalem | |
| September 22, 2004 By MIFTAH | |
| The apartheid wall in Jerusalem is taking on new dimensions, as Israel plans to continue to "offer services" in the affected east Jerusalem neighborhoods. This comes in contradiction to a report published last week that revealed Jerusalem municipal plans to drive out the Palestinian inhabitants of the city. | |
| According to estimates from Al Quds, a Palestinian daily newspaper, 60,000 inhabitants in the neighborhoods of Qalandia, Kufur Aqab, Shufat, Abu Dis and Dahiyat al Barid, will face travel restrictions. Hence, the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality announced plans to establish a new coordinating office in order to facilitate the movement of Jerusalem residency card holders. The plan also includes creating 11 "gates" for the residents of these neighborhoods, which includes the paving of five new roads that will offer greater access. After the completion of the wall, the Israeli Civil Administration will allegedly be implementing the first phase of providing services to those neighborhoods; however, no budgets have been announced to date, which casts doubt on the veracity of such plans ever being implemented. These plans may be a cover for the previous week's announcement that the Jerusalem Municipality is planning to push many of east Jerusalem 's inhabitants out of the city boundaries. The most threatened residents will be those in the Old City of Jerusalem, whom Israel is planning to pay off, according to Issa Samandar of the Palestinian Land Defense Committee, who warned of this imminent danger facing east Jerusalem at press conference last Thursday. Israel will most likely use the exodus of Palestinians from the city to strip them of their residency rights there, hence, denying them any further access to their places of work, study and worship. Samandar, however, is confident that these Israeli plans will not prevail, because people understand fully well what Israel is trying to do and will not stand for it. Israel has always had ambitions to completely control Jerusalem , and in 1991, all covert attempts to do so, suddenly became a reality with the onset of the Gulf War. Curfews were imposed and checkpoints were erected; hence, restrictions of movement began, which gradually worsened to the conditions they are today. Settlements surrounding Jerusalem have also been part of the plan to deny any natural growth and expansion for east Jerusalem neighborhoods. While these settlements have expanded to unprecedented size, nearby Palestinian areas face immense difficulties in obtaining building permits to house ever-expanding families. Palestinians then resort to building without permits, and live in perpetual fear of seeing their homes being demolished by Israeli bulldozers. While the route of the apartheid wall will allegedly enable some east Jerusalem residents to retain their rights in the city, many Jerusalem District villages will not be so "fortunate". The wall will completely isolate villages such as Bido, not only from Jerusalem itself, but also from the surrounding villages. This is catastrophic for these villages, as Bido has been central to their livelihood, their children's schooling and immediate access to basic health care. | |
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Israels Political Big Bang
| Israels Political Big Bang | |
By WILLIAM SAFIRE Published: September 15, 2004 | |
| Washington — In Hebrew, physicists call the theory about the formation of the universe the hamapatz hagadol - the "big bang." In Israeli politics, that phrase is used today to describe the potential realignment of parties and power. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to "disengage" from Palestinians now under the spell of terrorist leaders brought this simmering pot to a boil. | |
| Sharon 's plan calls for completing a security fence to protect almost all Israelis and pulling back into the well-defended territory the remainder of those now most vulnerable in Gaza and the West Bank . Once a divisive figure, the former general is supported in this plan by an overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens. Like him, they are realists: Israel needs defensible borders and cannot absorb Palestinians nearby. But 7,000 deeply religious and courageous Jewish settlers - who live amid the 1.2 million Arabs in Gaza - see this as a double-cross. Within the Likud Party that Sharon founded three decades ago, they are an admired force of pioneers. As a result, though Arik wins landslides in national elections, he loses to supporters of settlers in referendums within his rightist party. The day of decision in the Knesset to adopt his disengagement plan is near. (Coincidentally, it will be in the first week in November, as elections are held in the U.S. ) The level of fury and viciousness is worse than in the days before the assassination of Yitzak Rabin. Sharon , the lifelong embodiment of Israeli security, is being reviled as a traitor and threatened with death. Members of the Israeli Defense Forces are urged to disobey orders to dislodge settlers when moving day comes. Febrile minds in the settler minority even warn of civil war. At a tense moment like this, Sharon expects members of his coalition cabinet to speak out for his government's plan. They vote his way - 9 to 1 in the cabinet this week to richly compensate the settlers being moved - but some of the Likudniks are keeping mum, lest they upset the hardest-line members of their own party. Benjamin Netanyahu, who as Sharon 's strong finance minister is becoming the Jewish Alexander Hamilton, has found a way to hedge. On the one hand, he votes in the cabinet for disengagement, even as his family loudly denounces it; on the other, Bibi proposes delaying the November disengagement vote until a national referendum can be held. That straddle has Sharon seething. He knows the momentum of battle, and sees delay as destructive. A referendum requires legislation, with lengthy debate, a probable filibuster and a wrangle over whether Arabs can participate. He believes that deviation from his timetable - surrendering to threats of violence from within - would mean six months of paralysis and a loss of the initiative. I sent in a single query to Arik about Bibi's suggestion. An aide passed back his response: "I hear all sorts of suggestions, but not one word from him about the incitement to civil war. Not one word." I think there will be no referendum or election before the Knesset vote to disengage. Sharon 's plan will carry with the support of either the Shimon Peres or the Ehud Barak faction of Labor, the centrist Shinui Party and Arik's followers. Now let's consider the possibility of a political big bang. That convergence of forces on the disengagement vote could be the genesis of "New Likud." The anti-Arik faction of Likud would go its own way, hitching up with several of the religious parties. My unsourced guess is that Bibi would choose the New Likud, which would reflect the Israeli majority. After Arik retires, like Cincinnatus, to his farm - and with a new Palestinian leader ready to become a partner in creating a peaceful neighborhood - the Hamiltonian Bibi would compete for leadership with the Sharon loyalist Ehud Olmert, former mayor of the still-undivided Jerusalem . Thus, the Israeli system would have the gall to divide into three manageable parts, with the center party making deals for a majority with left and right. Not a bad way to run a parliamentary democracy. Having had the chutzpah to predict from afar the coming hamapatz hagadol, let me wish a sweet and peaceful Rosh Hashana to one and all. http://nytimes.com/2004/09/15/opinion/15safi.html Dear Editor, I find Mr. Safire's words both offensive and indeed quite misleading as he describes the settlers who live on lands that were stolen from their rightful owners, the Palestinian people. There is NOTHING religious or remotely “courageous” about these fanatics. Would Mr. Safire call a thief that sneaks into his home during the night to steal his home, land, and property a “courageous and religious” person? I really doubt it! I think that he would be calling for the return of what is legally his and that the perpetrators be bought to justice, BUT then again, it is indeed a rare occasion that one finds the words “justice and Palestinians” used in the same sentence… The settlements, which are heavily subsidized by the Israeli government, using the American tax payer's money, were built and CONTINUE to be built as we speak, make ANY talk of a 2 state solution a mere charade meant to confuse and mislead. Israel 's occupation, settlements, and now the wall they are building, is meant to accomplish one thing and one thing only: to negate any possibility of a future just and lasting peaceful solution in the Holy Land ! Mike Odetalla Canton , Michigan Subject: Re: Israel 's Political 'Big Bang" by William Safire at least the times, printed the letter. letters@nytimes.com | |
Monday, September 13, 2004
Media Harrassment in the PA
| Media Harrassment in the PA | |
| A|ME exclusive - 9/13/2004 12:00 AM | |
| A Palestinian newspaper editor recently fled Ramallah together with his wife and children after receiving death threats from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. Before leaving for one of the Gulf countries, the editor told friends that the last threat came in the form of an envelope with a bullet that was sent to him by mail. | |
| "Your fate will be like that of Nabil Amr," the letter warned, referring to the Palestinian legislator who was shot and seriously wounded several weeks ago in Ramallah. The attack on Amr came almost immediately after he appeared on an Arab television station and criticized Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's performance and the lack of democracy and transparency in the PA. The verbal and physical intimidation of Palestinian journalists, especially those who dare to report on issues that reflect negatively on Arafat and the PA, has almost become accepted practice in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The editor who packed his bags and headed for the Gulf was guilty of demanding financial and security reforms. Even worse, he had written a number of articles calling for the prosecution of top officials and ministers implicated in various corruption scandals. He had good reason to flee Ramallah. The city has in recent years come under the control of thugs claiming to belong to different political groups. Their victims include legislators, senior officials, political activists, businessmen and ordinary men and women. The Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hassan Khraisheh, complained that he had received death threats from unidentified gunmen because of his role in exposing the "cement scandal." A Palestinian parliamentary committee found that top Arafat aides and ministers had been importing cheap cement from Egypt on behalf of Israeli construction firms. The cement, according to reports, was later used for construction of Israel 's security fence in the West Bank . "There is a systematic campaign to silence any criticism of the Palestinian leadership," said a legislator in Ramallah. "The campaign is directed not only against our journalists, but also against the foreign media and political leaders and activists." Another reform-minded legislator said he had decided to keep a low profile after the attempt on the life of Nabil Amr. "It's becoming very dangerous," he explained. "Today I'm afraid to say things in public for fear that I would be targeted." The general belief among many Palestinians in Ramallah is that the campaign is being orchestrated by Arafat's inner circle. "All the guys who carry out the attacks are never caught," said a respected journalist living in the city. "We believe that they enjoy the backing of senior officials in the Mukata [Arafat's presidential compound]." Arafat himself recently rebuked a group of Palestinian journalists for reporting extensively on the ongoing power struggle in the Palestinian Authority. "You must focus on the Israeli crimes against our people and the Aqsa Mosque," he told the reporters. The Palestinian Journalists Association, a body controlled by Arafat loyalists, went a step further by issuing a directive banning Palestinian journalists from covering the internal strife. The majority of the Palestinian journalists are complying with the new regulations. Even many reporters working for Al-Jazeera and the foreign media have begun toeing the line. After all, they live in Ramallah and Gaza City and are subjected to the same threats. As a result of the intimidation, Palestinians now have to rely on rumors, street pamphlets and outside sources to learn about what's happening inside the Mukata. Last week, for instance, Palestinians learned from a number of London-based Arabic dailies that Arafat had bad-mouthed his estranged Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who even threatened to resign. Some legislators have complained that the Palestinian media was boycotting them on the instructions of Arafat's office because of their demands for reforms. Jamileh Saydam, one of the lawmakers, said the Palestinian media was not giving her and many of her colleagues a chance to express their views. Instead, she added, the media focuses all the time on the same [pro-Arafat] legislators. Arafat is under heavy pressure from the international community to endorse a series of financial and security reforms. But almost no one talks about the freedom of expression or the need to have independent and free media in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. That's perhaps the international community doesn't even know that the Palestinian media is entirely controlled by Arafat and that many journalists are under threat. This is certainly a story that is not going to be told in Arafat's newspapers and television stations. 2004 Access|Middle East (A|ME). All rights reserved. | |
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Palestinian Intifada - 4th Anniversary
| SUMMARY OF PRESS CONFERENCE Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi Director HDIP Monday, September 27, 2004 | |
| Dr Mustafa Barghouthi began today's press conference with a summary of recent trends and statistics. The second Intifada, now entering its 5th year, has seen the World distracted by events in Iraq enabling Israel to continue violating Palestinians' Human Rights with complete immunity. The International media remains more accessible to the Israeli side and thus allows Israel to push forward their preferred narrative. Furthermore, these past years have witnessed a significant deterioration in international support and involvement with the peace process, many becoming disheartened and reluctant having supported the now dead Oslo Peace Process. However, the Intifada has also witnessed the emergence of a new democratic opposition movement, born within the Palestinian Territories , together with a consolidation in support for pioneering, modern Palestinian leaders. | |
| In the years since 1948, the Palestinians have witnessed a consistent decrease in their promised State - now just 11% of historic Palestine (as according to Sharon 's plan). What we are looking at now is not a future Palestinian State , but a series of Bantustans . Death and Injury In the four years since Sharon 's famous visit to the Haram Al Sharif we have seen 4,342 Palestinians and Israelis killed. Of those 1,008 were Israeli and 3,334 Palestinian. 82% of Palestinians killed were civilians. Two to three Palestinians are killed by Israeli soldiers, police or settlers per day. Whilst this number may appear to be low, if this death rate were to be applied to the UK it would be equivalent to 35 being killed per day, and in the US this would be 157 per day. Since the start of the Intifada on the 28th of September 2000 , 621 Palestinian children below the age of 17 have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces. Of this figure 411 were shot with live ammunition and 200 were shot in the head, face or neck. 331 were from the Gaza Strip. 10,000 Palestinian children have been injured. Dr Barghouthi insisted that there is absolutely no excuse to justify the killing of such a huge number of children. What is equally disturbing is the telling figures of injuries received to the head – Israeli forces were obviously shooting to kill. In fact the majority of Palestinians killed have suffered injuries to the head and upper body. 424 Palestinians have died in extra judicial executions (assassinations). 186 of those were bystanders or "unintended" victims, killed as they were near the victim. 39 bystanders were children 26 were women. With regards to extra judicial assassinations, in Gaza whilst 72 Palestinians died in targeted killings, a shocking 118 bystanders were additionally killed in these attacks. Palestinian Prisoners Israel continues to make use of an old emergency law that dates back to the British Mandate. This Law allows Israel to arrest and detain anyone for an unlimited time without charging them. There are currently 78 Palestinian children in administrative detention. There are also currently 100 Palestinian women and 377 children in Israeli prisons. 80% of the children are routinely tortured or harassed and 31% suffer from disease. Health 30% of Palestinian children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The number of pregnant women unable to receive any medical attention during their pregnancy is now five times higher than figures before September 2000. Economy More than one billion dollars worth of Palestinian infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli forces and more than 200 million dollars of this has been donor financed. Since the start of the Intifada the Palestinian GDP has decreased by 50% and agricultural losses have amounted to more than one million dollars. Education Israeli forces have shelled or broken into 298 Palestinian schools. 4 young children were shot in the head in UNRWA run schools in Gaza , in 2004 alone. Water & the Evolution of Apartheid Since September 2000, the price of water in the Palestinian Territories has increased from $2.5 per cubic meter to $7.5 per cubic meter. And only a shocking 70 litres per person per day is consumed in the West Bank for domestic, urban AND industrial use. 200 Palestinian communities have no access to a clean water supply. In the Gaza Strip we can no longer forecast a disaster because it has already begun. There is no water supply in Gaza that is fit for drinking. Every Israeli citizen consumes five times more water than the Palestinians. Illegal settlers living in the West Bank consume twenty times more water than the Palestinians living there. Movement Restrictions There are currently 703 movement restrictions in the West Bank alone. As an example of the effects on Palestinian everyday life that this has caused, whilst a journey from Ramallah to Hebron should take around one hour, it has taken up to twelve hours for many Palestinians. 86 Palestinians have already died because of movement restrictions, and this figure includes 30 children. Had these people been allowed to travel, they would have probably survived. In addition at least 55 women have been forced to give birth at checkpoints with 20 losing their children. The Wall The Wall is three times as long and twice as high as the Berlin Wall. In Qalqilia 40,000 residents are imprisoned within the Wall in what can only be described as a ghetto. As well as those imprisoned inside the wall the residents of surrounding villages now placed on the western (Israeli) side of the wall have been cut of entirely from schools, jobs, healthcare and family. Many in fact have lost all access to the outside world is controlled by 11 Israeli manned gates which are collectively only opened for a total of 55 minutes per day. Anyone who wishes to enter or leave Qalqilia must have special permission – even patients and medical services. Qalqilia residents claim that they can no longer see the sunset. Whilst there is talk about adjustments to the Wall's route, there are in fact no changes other than mere cosmetic alterations. What we are witnessing is not just the building of the Wall it is the destruction of a two state solution. Disengagement in Gaza and the Road Map to Peace Sharon only accepted the Road Map as it was approved by the Israeli Cabinet and this was with 15 reservations, the first being a refusal to freeze any settlement building. At the same time whilst Sharon talks about removing settlements in the West Bank, he is referring to 4 that exist in the north of the West Bank, that exist on land that can not be enclaved by the Wall. The other existing settlements will of course remain because they exist on land that Israel plans to appropriate through the Wall and enclaves. Unfortunately, with regards to Sharon 's Gaza Plan most of the World's media mistakenly continues to refer to it as a "withdrawal". In fact Sharon never referred to a "withdrawal", what he actually said was that they would redeploy from Gaza but the military would still enter at any time they deemed appropriate. In Rafah the Israeli forces are destroying on average 6 houses per day in order to clear a passage separating Gaza from Egypt, which will grant them full border control. So far 2200 homes have been demolished in this area alone. Periods of "Relative Calm? During this last year of the Intifada, there has been a serious rise in mass popular support for non-violent resistance. This is why suicide attacks against Israel have significantly depleted, not because of the Wall. However, this has certainly not encouraged Israeli forces to stop attacking Palestinians. Between March 15 and August 31, 2004 , the International media talked of a period of "relative calm" purely because there were no suicide attacks against Israel . However, the following days of March saw 45 Palestinians dead with no Israeli casualties; April saw 56 Palestinians dead compared to 3 Israelis; and May saw 116 Palestinians dead (the majority during Israel's "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah) compared to 19 Israelis. It must be noted that of the total Israelis killed, 18 were Soldiers, 10 were illegal settlers and only 3 were civilians. This means that during a period of practical cease fire on the part of the Palestinians Israel continued to kill civilians at a rate of 12:1. If Sharon was at all serious about wanting a peaceful solution, genuine advantage could have been taken during this period of quiet, instead he proceeded to kill more Palestinians than at any other time since the beginning of the Intifada other than the 2002 invasions. Palestinian Elections and future Democracy? Israeli forces have closed six election registration offices in Jerusalem as well as others across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Dr Barghouthi stressed that this is totally unacceptable and if the Palestinians are to achieve reform through democratic process, then the International community must do more than condemn these recent actions, they must demand that Israel reopens the offices. Democracy he insisted is a precondition not only for reform but also for lasting peace, a peace based on justice. Dr Barghouthi concluded the press conference by declaring that unfortunately, he was almost 100% sure he would be greeting the same audience at a press conference to mark the fifth anniversary of the Intifada. As of yet, there has been no reason for the Palestinians to stop resisting – "either we live as slaves under an occupation or we continue to struggle for freedom", and the latter he insisted is the path that will be taken. A breakdown of the statistics for the four years of Intifada quoted in Dr Barghouthi's presentation is available here. NOTE: all statistics are based on information available at the time of calculation. | |
Friday, September 03, 2004
Pacifism in the Palestinian case is...
Pacifism in the Palestinian case is
> total surrender and voluntary Palestinian transfer
>
> Dear Friends
>
> We have some who call them selves "Palestinians",
> but they condemn other Palestinians who are well
> aware that the problem is that the ball is in the
> Zionist side of the field, and they don't compromise
> even though they are the invaders and the
> oppressors. They want all of Palestine without its
> Palestinian Arab indigenous population. They don't
> compromise to keep at least one square inch for the
> Palestinian Arab land, in their claimed "promised
> land". They invaded Palestine thousands of years ago
> and on this pretext, and the myth of a divine order
> to execute every soul on the Palestinian land, which
> they are repeating today.
>
> If there are rejectionists on the Palestinian
> arena, they are the Zionist racialist, and we don't
> claim that every Jew is a Zionist. Some Jew are
> fighting for Palestinian rights.
>
> Even though I am not Moslem, and I don't agree with
> fundamentalist ideas as being secular, and believe
> in the separation between nationalism and religion
> (the church/mosque and the state), but we cannot but
> recognize the contribution that such organizations,
> namely Hamas, to counter Zionist aims of trying to
> force total submission on not only the Palestinians,
> but all the Arabs.
>
> Palestinians have been fighting against Zionist
> terrorism for over six decades and half, and that is
> what stops in the face of the Zionist aim of to
> complete the transfer of every Palestinian from his
> land. There are too many examples in history that
> prove that national armed resistance against very
> strong occupiers cannot but win. To name some are:
> French resistance against Nazi occupation, Algerian
> resistance against French occupation, Vietnamese
> resistance against French and American occupation,
> South Yemeni resistance against French occupation,
> Egyptian resistance against Israeli/French/British
> occupation in 1956........................ and
> presently Iraqi resistance against the American led
> coalition occupation, The Lebanese resistance
> against Zionist occupation starting with Beirut and
> almost ending with south Lebanon............ and
> don't forget Palestinian resistance which is not
> submitting to the Zionist aim of imposing total
> Palestinian submission and exodus!!!
>
> Pacifism against racism don't work.
>
> There are ex-Palestinians who voluntarily quit their
> land and want the rest to follow them!!!
>
> Adib S. Kawar
> total surrender and voluntary Palestinian transfer
>
> Dear Friends
>
> We have some who call them selves "Palestinians",
> but they condemn other Palestinians who are well
> aware that the problem is that the ball is in the
> Zionist side of the field, and they don't compromise
> even though they are the invaders and the
> oppressors. They want all of Palestine without its
> Palestinian Arab indigenous population. They don't
> compromise to keep at least one square inch for the
> Palestinian Arab land, in their claimed "promised
> land". They invaded Palestine thousands of years ago
> and on this pretext, and the myth of a divine order
> to execute every soul on the Palestinian land, which
> they are repeating today.
>
> If there are rejectionists on the Palestinian
> arena, they are the Zionist racialist, and we don't
> claim that every Jew is a Zionist. Some Jew are
> fighting for Palestinian rights.
>
> Even though I am not Moslem, and I don't agree with
> fundamentalist ideas as being secular, and believe
> in the separation between nationalism and religion
> (the church/mosque and the state), but we cannot but
> recognize the contribution that such organizations,
> namely Hamas, to counter Zionist aims of trying to
> force total submission on not only the Palestinians,
> but all the Arabs.
>
> Palestinians have been fighting against Zionist
> terrorism for over six decades and half, and that is
> what stops in the face of the Zionist aim of to
> complete the transfer of every Palestinian from his
> land. There are too many examples in history that
> prove that national armed resistance against very
> strong occupiers cannot but win. To name some are:
> French resistance against Nazi occupation, Algerian
> resistance against French occupation, Vietnamese
> resistance against French and American occupation,
> South Yemeni resistance against French occupation,
> Egyptian resistance against Israeli/French/British
> occupation in 1956........................ and
> presently Iraqi resistance against the American led
> coalition occupation, The Lebanese resistance
> against Zionist occupation starting with Beirut and
> almost ending with south Lebanon............ and
> don't forget Palestinian resistance which is not
> submitting to the Zionist aim of imposing total
> Palestinian submission and exodus!!!
>
> Pacifism against racism don't work.
>
> There are ex-Palestinians who voluntarily quit their
> land and want the rest to follow them!!!
>
> Adib S. Kawar
Friday, August 13, 2004
Happenings
| Happenings | |
| This weeks events: click on the links for the full stories Susan Brannon August 13, 2004 | Back to Palestine Back to Home |
| The only game in town by Sima Kadmon, Yediot Aharonot, August 13 This week, there was an intensive debate in "The Majority Headquarters", the coalition of political parties and extra parliamentary movements which organized the giant rally at Rabin Square two months ago. | |
| |
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Eyewitness Account
| For Immediate Release: Eyewitness Account | |
| On 6 July 2004 Professor Khaled Salah of An-Najah National University , along with son Muhammad, were killed by an Israeli attack unit. The Salah home was later demolished by six helicopter rockets. | |
| A press conference by the wife and daughter of Prof.Khaled Salah,"If I am Palestinian they will kill me...If I am American they will kill me… should I be Jewish to be safe?" "My name is Diana Khaled Salah, I am 23 years, the only daughter of Khaled Salah. He was more like a friend than a father. Last night, about one o' clock I heard a bomb explosion. I saw Israeli soldiers come into the house. My father rushed into my room. I told him, Dad, it is full of soldiers downstairs." "Are you kidding?" he said. "No," I answered. 'He went to look in the kitchen. He rushed back and took me from my bedroom into another room. "Our house is open, all rooms have windows and the windows were all open. The only room with three walls is the reception room (the living room). We all huddled there, Dad, Mum, Muhammad, Ali and I. We were all in one corner of the room for three hours. Three long hours. We could hear the shooting and bombing, they were using all kinds of weapons: tanks, rockets, helicopters and M-16s. Fire was crossing our house. "We were so afraid but Dad said an Arabic _expression: Let it be the money and not children. It means better to loose money better than souls. I was crying but he tried to cheer me up saying: I didn't know that you are such a coward. Up until that moment we were all OK." (At this point Mrs. Salah interrupts saying, He knew no fear. He was a believer man. My husband used to read holy Quran and praying. Her voice is more composed than her daughter's.) Diana continues… "Minutes later, shooting stopped. It was so quiet. It is over! We thought. But then the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) started shouting over loudspeakers: Open the doors! All people out of the building! Dad went to open the door but he couldn't move it. The lock of the door was damaged from the bombing so the door could not be moved. He went to his bedroom window, held his hands and called in English to the soldiers: We can't open the door. The door is damaged. I am a peaceful man. We all are peaceful people. I have children. My daughter has an American citizenship. I have an American green card, I have no weapons. Only my children are here. Come and open the door. I can't open it. Then in Arabic he shouted: Help... help… somebody come and open the door. "Suddenly we heard shooting and my Dad's voice stopped. Mum ran in to find my Dad lying on the floor. She called to him, Khaled.. Khaled…what happened? She came back crying and told us, they killed your dad. "At that same moment my little brother Ali and I were still in that corner. But my other brother, Muhammad, was on the floor. My Mum asked me, what's wrong with Muhammad? "I said I don't know. I can see him there…I thought maybe he was kidding. We called to him. He didn't answer. Then we saw blood coming out of his mouth. But we could feel him breathing. Mum cried for help and tried to open the door but they started to shoot. "I shouted, Mum don't open! Please... Please … I have no dad now… I don't want to lose you too. I don't want to be alone. "When mum called to the soldiers for help they mocked and told her to shut up. We then called the neighbors. We thought maybe someone can open the door. One of our neighbors, a 17 year old boy, came and tried to open the door. The soldiers threatened him but he continued pull at the door. Mum was pushing from inside and the boy was pulling from the outside. Finally the door opened. We begged the Israeli soldiers to let us pull out my dad and brother's bodies, but they refused and threatened to kill us too. At this point the mother adds: "We were shocked when we came out of the flat and saw the huge number of soldiers. Almost every two meters there was a sniper. We are not in a war." Finally Diana ends her testimony saying: "If I am Palestinian they will kill me...If I am an American they will kill me… should I be Jewish to be safe?" | |
Monday, September 15, 2003
An Open Letter to Most Americans
| You've Lost Your Alibi! By OMAR BARGHOUTI Dear Americans (I am here addressing only those of you who are rationally choosing to prolong the suffering of the human race for 4 more years):
| |||
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