Half-marathon run for Palestine: the results

Run to the Beat, the name of the half-marathon we’ve been harassing you for sponsorship about, helpfully sent out lots of pre-race material written in annoying overly-familiar marketing speak to help us to prepare and get us in the mood. “As soon as you cross the line you’ll be wanting to sign up for 2011 to beat your 2010 time” they parped.

This, it turns out, was a lie.

I believe I can safely assume the right to speak on behalf of all three competitors when I say that I never, ever want to go through that again, and I’m really quite happy that it’s over and not coming back. Around mile 10 my legs turned to lead. The only thing to successfully take Jo’s mind off the pain was her annoyance at a preacher preaching (that’s what they do) to the runners. And Joe thought the ligaments in his knee were going to “pop”.

So thank you to everyone who has sponsored us or wished us well or supported us in whatever way you can. Because without that, this would have been nothing more than an extravagant exercise in extreme self harm, a sadomasochistic display on a par with Jo’s attempts to stay vegan, Joe ‘giving up’ smoking, or me going to a Torquay United match.

For the record, we all finished with more than respectable times. I scraped in just under 2 hours and the two Jo(e)s were just behind that. Given our lamentable training regimes, we’re all pretty pleased with that. The bananas and pantomime horses didn’t beat us, and that constitutes a success.

ISM will benefit hugely from the money raised, it’ll make a real difference on the ground in Palestine. And, if you didn’t believe we’d make it (fair enough) and were holding off on sponsoring us, now’s the time to go make a donation. Just go here to find out how:

http://www.ism-london.org.uk/sponsor-page

Thanks again to everyone!

Pete, Joe and Jo

Смъртна присъда за палестинците, продаващи земя на евреи

Междувременно Абас даде да се разбере, че няма да преговаря с Израел, ако строителната дейност в еврейските колонии на окупирания Западен бряг бъде възобновена

Палестинците, които продават земя на израелци, ще получават автоматично смъртна присъда, постанови днес палестински съд на Западния бряг, предаде АП.

Постановлението бе издадено въз основа на жалба на главния прокурор Ахмед ал Мегхани.

Той се аргументира, че сегашният закон, според който съдът има избор дали да осъди съответния палестинец на смърт или на доживотен затвор, не е достатъчно строг.

На практика палестинският президент Махмуд Абас не е одобрявал изпълнението на смъртни присъди, откакто пое поста през 2004 г.

Иначе в миналото е имало случаи на линчуване на палестинци, заподозрени в продажба на земя на израелци.

Палестинците са много чувствителни по този въпрос, отбелязва АП.

Междувременно Абас даде да се разбере, че няма да преговаря с Израел, ако строителната дейност в еврейските колонии на окупирания Западен бряг бъде възобновена, предаде АФП.

"Преговорите ще продължат, докато колонизацията е замразена, но не съм готов да преговарям и един ден, в случай че колонизацията бъде възобновена", обобщи Абас на път за Ню Йорк, където ще присъства на годишната сесия на Общото събрание на ООН.

Предвидено е палестинският президент да произнесе важна реч за близкоизточния мирен процес и за усилията за прекратяване на израелската окупация на завладените по време на войната през 1967 г. палестински земи и за създаване на независима палестинска държава с Източен Ерусалим за столица, съобщи неговият говорител Набил Абу Рудейна.

Преките израелско-палестински преговори за мир, които бяха възобновени на 2 септември под егидата на Съединените щати, "удрят на камък" заради строителната дейност в еврейските селища на Западния бряг.

Zionist incitement to violence against SPSC speakers: Gideon Levy and Ben White

The last speaker hosted by Scottish PSC was Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, in August. Shortly after his speaking tour, the Jewish Telegraph published a letter calling for the speaker to be ‘eliminated’, killed. The Jewish Telegraph is now the subject of several complaints to the Press Complaints Commission, on the grounds that publications in this country should not incite the murder of public figures, however acceptable that may be in Israel. (How long would the police have taken to make an arrest if a UK Muslim publication had called for the ‘elimination’ of a well-known journalist?)

This incitement to violence from a mainstream Zionist publication is increasingly common. Ben White, another journalist and the author of Israeli apartheid: a Beginner’s Guide, is speaking at a series of Scottish meetings starting tomorrow. Zionist websites already display Photoshop images of Ben in Nazi uniform, accusing him of anti-Semitism, living in “Londonistan”. He is said to watch “concentration camp news reels into the wee hours” for pleasure. Such vile language is incendiary.

Ben White, author of Israeli apartheid: a beginner's guideBen White will be speaking at venues across Scotland on a tour organised by local branches of Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Edinburgh: Monday Sep 20th @ 1.30pm
Edinburgh University, David Hume Tower, George Square.
SPSC & Students for Justice in Palestine

Glasgow: Monday Sep 20th @ 7.30pm
STUC offices, 333 Woodlands Rd

Aberdeen: Tuesday Sep 21st @ 12noonAberdeen University, New Kings Building, Room NK10

Dundee: Tue 21st Sep @ 7.30pm
Dundee University, Tower Building, Room T9

St Andrews: Wed 22nd Sep @1pmHoly Trinity Church, St Andrews

Comments on his book:“This book deals rationally and cogently with a topic that almost always generates considerable heat even just with book titles. The reader may not agree with everything that White asserts but it is a highly commendable effort to throw light on a fraught subject.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

“A very strong and clear voice that does not shun from exposing in full, and in a most accessible manner, the essence of Zionism and Israeli policies in Palestine. In a world confused by competing narratives, disinformation and fabrication, this book is an excellent guide for understanding the magnitude of the crimes committed against the Palestinians and the nature of their present suffering and oppression.”
Professor Ilan Pappe, University of Exeter, Israeli historian and author of ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’ (2007)

“This book provides one of the best introductions to the Israel/Palestine conflict. It reveals what mainstream media in the West seeks to conceal from the public: that Israel has an apartheid regime which has been obsessed with demographic racism and ethnic cleansing and for six decades. The book provides an indispensable context for understanding the origins and consequences of the conflict. It also makes by far the most compelling case for ‘peace with justice-not apartheid’.”
Nur Masalha, Reader in Religion and Politics, St Mary’s University College (UK), and author of The Bible and Zionism (2007)

“Is Israel an apartheid state? The answer to this question has enormous implications for how states and international civil society should act towards a country that bills itself as the moral guardian of the memory and lessons of the Nazi Holocaust – that is why it is so heavily contested. But there is no doubt that Israel is constituted as a “Jewish state.” The problem is that half the population it controls – the indigenous Palestinians – is not Jewish. In this carefully-researched book, Ben White demonstrates that indeed Israel could have become and could not continue to be a “Jewish state” unless it used discriminatory tactics that resemble and often surpass those of apartheid South Africa. At a time when Israel appears to regard any action against Palestine’s indigenous people — no matter how violent and illegal — as justified, this book is essential reading for those who want to deepen their understanding beyond soundbites and spin”
Ali Abunimah, Co-founder of Electronic Intifada, author of ‘One Country’ (2007)

“Ben White’s new book Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide is a useful introduction to a vital debate. To understand the challenges of the current situation in the Middle East we must revisit the long and often painful journey that led from the creation of Israel to the forty-year long occupation of the Palestinians. This challenging new work unpicks some of the myths of that story and forces us all to look again at the reality of current Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.”
Crispin Blunt, Conservative Member of Parliament for Reigate

“There are always those who say the conflict in Palestine is too complicated for anyone to dare engage with it, much less understand it. Yet here is the book which answers them, and it does so with a rare intelligence and fine line of argument. Drawn from a rich range of sources, Ben White’s ‘Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide’ takes on the most complex arenas of injustice and contested history, and renders them accessible, lucid, and morally compelling. Never compromising on the facts, its narrative both enlightens and inspires. If you want to learn about Palestine, start here.”
Karma Nabulsi, Oxford University academic

“An essential guide for understanding the reality of Israeli apartheid – both the history, and the day to day reality.”
Eyal Weizman, Israeli architect and author of ‘Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation’ (2007)

“I am impressed by Ben White’s clear-minded journalism and analysis. I have quoted from an article of his in a speech to The House of Commons. I feel sure his book will be of value in understanding the attitudes behind the Middle East division.”
Harry Cohen, Labour Member of Parliament for Leyton and Wanstead

“White’s book helps us see much more clearly both what is happening in Israel/Palestine but also what we must do about it. If you really care about peace in the Middle East, read this book. Then commit yourself to supporting non-violent proactive ways to bring justice with peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
Rev. Stephen Sizer, author of ‘Zion’s Christian Soldiers’ (2007)







Keep up to date with Scottish PSC on Twitter: @scottishpsc
Scottish PSC Factsheets available for download from: www.scottishpsc.org.uk  

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
c/o Peace & Justice Centre
Princes Street
Edinburgh EH2 4BJ
www.scottishpsc.org.uk  
campaign@scottishpsc.org.uk  
00 44 (0)131 620 0052
00 44 (0)795 800 2591

Get involved - campaign, lobby, take action...
Contact Scottish PSC branches to find out more about activities in your area:
fife@scottishpsc.org.uk  
southwestscotland@scottishpsc.org.uk  
aberdeen@scottishpsc.org.uk  
dundee@scottishpsc.org.uk  
glasgow@scottishpsc.org.uk  
edinburgh@scottishpsc.org.uk  

If you are interested in holding a meeting in your area, contact us at campaign@scottishpsc.org.uk  

Take Action Against Isolation – Free Ahmad Sa’adat!

INTERNATIONAL DAYS OF ACTION – OCT 5-15, 2010

http://freeahmadsaadat.org/

Imprisoned   Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat will be returning to court in mid-October 2010 challenging his isolation and the isolation of  Palestinian political prisoners in  Israeli prisons. Write letters today and take action from October 5-15,  2010 in support of Palestinian prisoners’ struggle for freedom – demand  an end to isolation! 

www.freeahmadsaadat.org/indexb.html

Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the  Liberation of Palestine, has been held in isolation in a series of  prisons since March 16, 2009, with his isolation renewed again and again  by
occupation courts. He has been transferred from prison to prison,  and is  currently held in the isolation section of Ramon prison in  the Naqab desert. Within these isolation units, Sa’adat has been  placed further inside a separate isolation unit where he is confined  without access even  to the other prisoners in isolation, and deprived of  basic human rights. 

His personal books have been confiscated and he  is allowed access to newspapers only once or twice weekly. He is denied  access to English and Arabic language newspapers and allowed only  Hebrew-language media. He has been repeatedly denied family visits – his wife, Abla, has been  allowed only two visits during his entire period in isolation – as well  as legal visits, and barred from  purchases at the prison canteen, including cigarette purchases. In the  prison yard, Sa’adat has been held handcuffed  and in ankle shackles and  allowed only one-hour of exercise/recreation. The Prison Administration  is  attempting to criminalize the human and social relationship between  fellow Palestinian prisoners, and between the
prisoners and their  families outside.
Sa’adat has led in the struggle against isolation, engaging in a  nine-day hunger strike in 2009 in protest of isolation. Isolation is  damaging and destructive to the mental and physical health of  Palestinian prisoners, and is being used as a political weapon in order  to punish and isolate
Palestinian prisoner leaders. Some prisoners have  been subject to isolation  for years at a time, with severe effects. Take  action now to fight isolation and demand the freedom of Ahmad Sa’adat  and all Palestinian prisoners! 
 www.freeahmadsaadat.org/october.html


TAKE ACTION TODAY!
1. The Campaign in Solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat in  Palestine is calling upon all supporters to write letters to the Israeli Prison Service and demand they end the practice of isolation, end human rights violations, and free Palestinian prisoners. Send an email to the Bureau of the  Minister of Public Security at sar@mops.gov.il and to the Public Complaints Department at mevaker@mops.gov.il, and copy the following:

Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime  Minister, 3,
Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem,  Israel, Fax: +972-
2-651 2631,
Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Mr. Menachem Mazuz, Attorney General, Fax: + 972 2 627 4481; + 972 2 628
5438; +972 2 530 3367
Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit, Military Judge Advocate  General, 6
David Elazar Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel, Fax: +972 3  608 0366, +972
3 569 4526,
Email: arbel@mail.idf.il, avimn@idf.gov.il

Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations Office and  Specialized
Institutions in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, 1202 Geneva,  Fax: +41 22 716
05 55,
Email: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il

You may use our online form at: www.freeahmadsaadat.org/action3.html
2. Write a letter to Ahmad Sa’adat. Letters of support are important and demonstrate solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat and  Palestinian prisoners – let him know that the world is demanding his  freedom. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat at info@freeahmadsaadat.org with your letters, or use our contact form at: http://freeahmadsaadat.org/contact.html.
We will send all  letters received to Palestine.
We also encourage you to write to him directly using this address: Ahmad Sa’adat, Ramon Prison, Ramon area, PO Box 699, Postal Code 80600, Israel.  

JOIN THE WEEK OF ACTION, OCTOBER 5-15, 2010!

1. October 5-15, 2010 will be international days of action in  support of Ahmad Sa’adat and Palestinian prisoners and against  isolation . Join us! Hold an event, protest or action in your city. Email  the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat at
info@freeahmadsaadat.org to be added to the global list of actions.
2. Distribute the Free Ahmad Sa’adat flyer:
http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org/saadat-flyer.pdfin your town, city, event or location! Bring the fliers to events and  activities, or hold a flier distribution at a public place.
3. Protest outside the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Diplomatic+missions/Web+Sites+of+Israeli+Missions+Abroad.htm) and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian political prisoners. Ahmad Sa’adat has been imprisoned since 2002 in the prisons of the Palestinian Authority, held under U.S. and British guard, until his
abduction by the Israeli occupation forces on March 14, 2006 by an  occupation military raid on Jericho prison. On December 25, 2008, he was sentenced to thirty years inside the occupation prisons. He is a member  of the Palestinian Legislative Council and one of the foremost  Palestinian  national leaders held inside the occupier’s jails.
Ahmad Sa’adat and approximately 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are daily on the front lines, confronting Israeli oppression and crimes. Today, it is urgent that we stand with Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners against these abuses, and for freedom for all Palestinian prisoners and  for all of Palestine!

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat www.freeahmadsaadat.org

9/16 REMEMBRANCE DAY. SABRA AND SHATILA MASSACRE.

HELLO AND ASSALAMUALAIKUM. MAY PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON ALL OF YOU.

An event took place, almost twenty years before 9/11, an event that took more lives, an event that was just as barbaric, but was instantly forgotten, never to take a place in our collective consciousness. A truth which is rarely mentioned in the Septembers of our lives.

For three days in September 1982, Israeli forces in collusion with the Lebanese Militias, s...laughtered, raped and maimed thousands of unarmed civilians inside the encircled and sealed Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut. More than three thousand five hundred innocent men, women and children were massacred.

The figures of those that died are disputed, (The estimate of victims varies between 700 (the official Israeli figure) to 3,500) but it is difficult to tell how many were butchered, their bodies lying tangled, crushed under the concrete rubble of the houses they sought shelter in.

To this day, amidst all the attempts to seek justice, no one has been held accountable for this genocidal act. Yet the warlord Ariel Sharon, who was responsible for this heinous act, was proudly rewarded for his actions with the Premiership of his country, even though the Israeli Kahan Commission found him to “bear personal liability” for the events at Sabra and Shatila.

These September events remain stuck in the memory of our collective horror and guilt. They are remembered by every human being. Unlike any other violent act, the wantonness and scale of large-scale killings of innocents puts the event on a different level altogether, a level shared by other notorious tragedies in modern history: Halabja in Kurdish Iraq in 1988, the killing fields of Cambodia, Srebrenica in Bosnia, Sabra and Shatila, and of course New York

Such atrocities are different from ordinary crimes because of their context and magnitude. By its sheer size, its wantonness, its ferocity, its callousness, its planning, the means used and the thousands of innocent civilians destroyed in a brief lapse of time, the crime then qualifies as a crime against humanity, a category which is well defined in international law and carries the common responsibility of all humankind.

This article in no way, shape or form condones the acts of September 11 2001. In fact when the lives of those in New York were extinguished forever, it was something Muslims the world over could empathise with.

As those responsible for the crimes against humanity perpetrated against the citizens of New York and Washington are being pursued across the world into the tenth year of the ever expanding “war against terror”, one has to ask oneself why is it that “American Imperialism” has been allowed to seek its revenge against the rest of the world, yet no one can be bought to justice over Septembers' other atrocities?

Have we accepted the fact that the appalling deaths of those on September 11 2001, are more morally abhorrent than the 30,000 lives destroyed by Putin when he razed Grozny or the daily atrocities committed in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kashmir?

Acceptance of this is totally obscene.

The question we must address is one of law.
Are all human beings subject to the same law, and more importantly, to the same application of the law?

Will all the victims of these devastating September days see those responsible for their suffering appear before a court of law?

The question is as old as history, yet this question has acquired additional meaning in a world after September 11 2001.

ON THIS DAY FOR 3 DAYS PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THIS PRAYER ON YOUR STATUS IN REMEMBERING OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN PALESTINE.

"Our God,
Lord of the two Easts and the two Wests,
Our God,
Lord of the Holy Place (Jerusalem) and the two Sacred places (Makkah/Madinah)
Oh Allah, correct the position of our Ummah...
the Victims of the catastrophe in Palestine
Oh Allah secure their fears
Reward them as you wish
Oh Allah swap their fear for peace,
Oh Allah swap their fear for Peace,
Oh protector of the fearful,
Oh hope of the needy,
Oh Granter of the prayers of the oppressed,
You are the Lord of the weak,
and You are our Lord,
There is NO diety worthy of worship except YOU! "



please view this documentary made by Robert Frisk. :-



An eye witness report from doctor Ang Swee Chai :-

http://www.inminds.com/from-beirut-to-jerusalem.html

Al jazeera report :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eidBhGS9i9g&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Letter to israel

Journalist Lauren Booth was on the first Free Gaza voyage and stayed to work ...

September in our lives...

The picture is of victims of the Israli pogrom against Palestinians done at the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982.

"An event took place, almost twenty years before 9/11, an event that took more lives, an event that was just as barbaric, but was instantly forgotten, never to take a place in our collective consciousness. A truth which is rarely mentioned in the Septembers of our lives." (Mr. Pity)

Sabra and Shatila are the names of two Palestinian Refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon. From 16 to 18 September 1982 inclusive, during the Lebanese civil war, a massacre was carried out on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the camps.
The Is...raeli government established the Kahan Commission to investigate, and in early 1983 it found Israel indirectly responsible for the event, and that Ariel Sharon bears personal responsibility for the massacre for allowing the Phalangists into the camps. The Israelis had been supplying the Phalangists with weapons and equipment, and had provided transportation of the Phalangists to the camps.
The total number of killed is estimated at 3,000 - 3,500.

Започна срещата между израелски и палестински лидери в Египет

14.09.2010 13:25

Израелският премиер Бенямин Нетаняху и президентът на Палестинската власт Махмуд Абас дадоха старт на тридневната си среща с държавния секретар на САЩ Хилари Клинтън в египетския курорт Шарм ел-Шейх. Абас и Нетаняху се ръкуваха и се усмихнаха за камерите, но без да правят коментари. Те се разположиха от двете страни на Клинтън с националните флагове зад тях. Американският специален пратеник за Близкия Изток Джордж Мичъл също присъства на срещата. /АФП /

A letter to the people of Israel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgp_3_rPWwo

Journalist Lauren Booth was on the first Free Gaza voyage and stayed to work in Gaza after the boats left. Her heartfelt letter to the people of Israel should be read and seen by everyone who hopes for peace in the Middle East. This stunning video tribute to her words was designed and produced by the Free Gaza movement.

--
Greta Barlin, Gaza Friends