Rachel Corrie Foundation announces 2011 annual "Peace Works" conference

The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, based in Olympia, Washington, is a member group in our national coalition.

Peace Works 2011: Solidarity in Action

FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKER ALICE WALKER


The Rachel Corrie Foundation will host its annual Peace Works Conference, April 8-9th, 2011. This years conference, Solidarity in Action, features acclaimed author and activist, Alice Walker as our keynote speaker. Please join us for two exciting days of networking, panels, and workshops focused on organizing around the ever-growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in support of Palestinian human rights.


Peace Works will take place at the Evergreen State College whose student body in June 2010 overwhelmingly voted for campus divestment from Israeli corporations and the creation of a Caterpillar Inc. equipment free campus. Panelists will address a variety of issues including strategies for justice, BDS campaigns, and cross movement building. Local and national organizers will facilitate workshops to educate, motivate, and inspire you to take action in your community. Workshop themes will include corporate, consumer, campus, interfaith, and cultural/academic BDS campaigns providing the opportunity for the BDS movement to celebrate its national successes and strengthen our regional efforts.


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Stand with Egypt

After several cancelled flights, I am finally on my way to Egypt to join my CODEPINK colleagues who are already there. We were supposed to be leading a delegation to Gaza right now, traveling through the Sinai to get to Gaza's southern border. The Rafa crossing into Gaza has been closed, our delegation is unable to leave Cairo, and we have been caught up in the breath-taking people's movement that is sweeping Egypt. CODEPINK’s Tighe Barry has been out on the streets of Cairo all week long. You can hear a compelling report from him here. When CODEPINK was in Cairo for the Gaza Freedom March last year, we led and participated in small, peaceful protests that were set upon by hundreds of riot police at the behest of repressive Mubarak regime. But now there has been a seismic shift. There are not 50 people rallying in Cairo, but hundreds of thousands protesting across the nation. Dozens have been killed; hundreds have been wounded. But the Egyptian people will not be turned back. They feel their power and are determined to seize the moment. The US has given Egypt $68 billion since 1948, and since 1979, Egypt has been the second-biggest recipient of US aid after Israel. Our government currently gives $1.3 billion a year of our tax dollars in military aid to the Mubarak regime. Join us in telling President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S. Congress to stop funding the Mubarak regime now, to call on Mubarak to resign, and to expressly say that our government stands with the Egyptian people. After all, in his recent State of the Union Address, President Obama declared: “The United States stands with the people of Tunisia.” Shouldn’t we also stand with the Egyptians? Sign here to stand in solidarity with people who are giving their government, our government and the world a lesson in democracy. Mubarak is refusing to leave. But our government can—and must—break its ties to this dictator. As courageous Egyptian citizens are being assaulted with U.S. tear gas and other Made-in-the-USA weapons, we must say: Enough. In solidarity, Medea Benjamin P.S. Add your events and ralllies for Egypt to our calendar here! Find an Embassy of Egypt near you Women of Egypt: protest photos on Facebook More News! Al Jazeera English Live Stream Washington Post list of Twitter feeds that are live in Egypt Follow the following hashtags on Twitter for more news: #Egypt, #Jan 25, #Jan 28, and more listed here: A Primer On Following Egyptian Protests On Twitter, NPR, Jan 30, 2011 Ahdaf Soueif piece from The Guardian Factbox: Most U.S. aid to Egypt goes to military, Reuters, Jan 29, 2011

STAND WITH THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT

The demonstrations in Egypt could end three decades of repressive rule and bring, at long last, freedom and democracy to Egypt. 

The regime is attempting to starve the protest movement of two crucial sources of power: information and solidarity. But despite the internet blackout, Egyptian radios and satellite TVs can still receive broadcasts from across the border -- so Avaaz will work with broadcasters whose signals reach inside Egypt to circulate the number signatures on this statement of solidarity, along with messages of support from around the world for Egypt's people. 

Every hour matters. What happens next depends of all of us. Let's stand with those on the streets and build a deafening outcry against rampant corruption and political repression, and for democratic reform.Sign the statement of solidarity--and spread the word about this campaign!
Avaaz.org

Good riddance, 'peace process'

Don't lament the end of negotiations that put Israeli demands, backed almost unconditionally by the U.S. and at the expense of basic Palestinian rights, first and foremost.

By Josh Ruebner
January 28, 2011

Aaron David Miller, a former Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" point person in the George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, is correct to assert in his Jan. 26 Times Op-Ed article that the recent cache of formerly secret documents on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations leaked to Al Jazeera "are bound to have a chilling effect on a process already in the deep freeze."

He errs, however, in lamenting the potential demise of a U.S.-sponsored "peace process" that is premised on Israel's demands, not Palestinian rights.

"As harmful as these leaks are to Palestinians, the Israelis don't look very good either," Miller notes. The Palestine Papers, as the leaks are known, portray Palestinian negotiators bending over backward to concede their rights, with Israel pocketing the concessions while demanding even more.

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Less Lethal? Ask the Abu Rahmah Family

By Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation 


Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Bil'in had no cause to ring in the New Year as tragedy struck the Abu Rahmah family for the fourth time in three years.


After inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli military at a December 31 demonstration, 36-year-old villager Jawaher Abu Rahmah died the next day from cardiac arrest. Rather than admit wrongdoing, the Israeli military briefed behind closed doors friendly bloggers who then shamefully blamed her death on cancer, or failing that, on an "honor killing."


Previously, Jawaher's 29-year-old brother Bassem was killed by the Israeli military in April 2009 when he was hit in the chest with a high-velocity tear gas canister.


The tear gas that killed both siblings was manufactured by Jamestown, PA company, Combined Systems, Inc. (CSI), which ironically markets its products under the website: www.less-lethal.com. Cold comfort for the grieving Abu Rahmah family.


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Israeli Forces Arrest Two Palestinian Boys, Ages 11 and 12, in Beit Ommar

27 JANUARY 2011

On Thursday, January 27th at 2pm, two army jeeps full of Israeli soldiers entered the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar in the southern West Bank, and arrested two Palestinian boys, Bilal Mahmood Awad, age 12, and Hamza Ahmed Abu Hashem age 11. The boys were arrested while they were playing football not far from their homes.

Bilal and Hamza were taken to the nearby Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur and then transferred to the police station in Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron. Hamza is the son of a member of the National Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ommar, a committee that organizes weekly unarmed demonstrations against the occupation.

Israel was a signatory to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which mandated that “the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort.” By all eyewitness accounts, Bilal and Hamza were only playing football in their own village at the time of their arrest. As of yet, no explanation has been given for their detention.

Israel routinely imprisons Palestinian minors under the age of 18 in the Occupied Territories, often in violation of International Law. Another Beit Ommar youth, Mohammad Awad, age 14, was released from an Israeli prison earlier this month after serving a month and a half despite his young age and affliction with a chronic medical condition.

source: Palestine Solidarity Project

Cool facts about "israel" (true version)

I'm sure all of us have been "confronted" with those high flying claims of "israeli" accomplishments(hence justifying Jewish terrorism against Palestinians). Much like the horse manure email circulated by the usual shlomos claiming that Jews winning Nobel prizes makes them "smarter" then Muslims(got a post in the works on that). Without further ado, lets see how "israeli" these "israeli" inventions are :

by DrMaxtor

Leaks show Palestinian Authority is selling out its people

Nadia Hijab is a member of our Advisory Board, and co-director of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, and wrote the following CNN exclusive op-ed.

Leaks show Palestinian Authority is selling out its people

January 26, 2011

In time-honored style, the Palestinian Authority took aim at the Qatar-based news network Al-Jazeera for its release of over 1,600 documents detailing Palestinian-Israeli negotiations from 1999 to 2010.

There is little love lost between the Fatah-dominated authority and Al-Jazeera. They have previously clashed bitterly over news coverage, and Qatar is known to have a soft spot for Hamas.

By seeking to focus attention on Al-Jazeera and its host country, the Palestinian Authority is following the lead of its main donor and security guarantor, the United States, in its response to WikiLeaks, arguing that the problem lies not in the news but its purveyor. Of course, the reverse is true. The leaks bring to light the horrors governments commit in their people's names.

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The al-Madhoun assassination

Documents include handwritten notes of 2005 exchange between PA and Israel on plan to kill Palestinian fighter in Gaza.

Arrests and night raids: the repression of the Popular Struggle in Nabi Saleh

Shackled and drowning in an adult prison uniform, 14 year old Islam Tamimi was brought before a military court this morning for a hearing on his detention. Exhausted and nervous, Tamimi sat before a court room of soldiers. Tamimi was arrested during a night raid in the village of Nabi Saleh early Sunday morning. After soldiers arrested the child, they forced him to stand outside in the cold until 09h00 Sunday morning. Soldiers also repeatedly threatened the child while he was in their custody.

Upon hearing the news, defense lawyers for Tamimi contacted the army and police to ask permission to meet with the child before his investigation. Interrogators responded that access would be granted to the child’s lawyers and parents, however this never happened. Tamimi was taken for investigation at 09h30 on Sunday morning and only at 14h00 in the afternoon did his lawyers gain access to their client. The investigation of the child, who was taken from his bed in the middle of night, forced to stand in the cold and received threats from fully armed soldiers, took eight hours in total.

In the courthouse this morning, after explaining the arrest and interrogation of the child, Tamimi’s defense lawyer pleaded with the judge to view the child as a scared and traumatized 14 year old. However, the army prosecutor said that the child was considered ‘extremely dangerous’ and for that reason must stay in jail for the entire period of his trial. The army prosecutor also informed the court that the army had ’secret’ evidence against the child which the defense was not entitled to view. The military judge presiding over the hearing asked the prosecutor why the child was not given proper legal recourse nor allowed access to his lawyer. The army prosecutor responded simply “it was authorized.” The judge pushed furthur and asked, “it was authorized by whom?” Again, the answer from the army was short and Kafkaesque , “it was authorized by the person who authorizes.”

With that the child was taken back to jail from the courtroom. He will have another hearing tomorrow morning to determine if he will stay in jail during the entire process of his trial. The answer is surely yes.

One hour after Isalm Tamimi was taken back to his jail cell, the popular committee leader of Nabi Saleh, Basama Tamimi, was arrested in the village along with two 15 year old boys. Tamimi was taken in for questioning, most likely in reference to the testimony unethically gleaned from Isalm Tamimi. After two hours Bassam was released however, at the time of this writing the two 15 year old children remain in custody. According to Tamimi, he was beaten while in Israeli custody. The location of the two arrested children currently unknown.

Villagers fear that in the coming days there will be another round of night raids and arrests of the village’s youth. The strategy that Israel is using against Nabi Saleh is very similar to the one employed against the village of Bil’in. The popular committee leader of Bil’in, Abdallah Abu Rahmah has been in jail for over 13 months on charges of incitement. His conviction was based on testimonies of three 14 year old children from the village.
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While the world is debating the death of the two state solution, Israel maintains a strict and harsh control of unarmed civil mobilization efforts against the occupation. The real failure of the Palestinian Authority, as shown in the Palestine Papers, is its inability to nurture mass unarmed civil resistance to Israeli occupation. The popular struggle in villages like Bil’in, Ni’ilin and Nabi Saleh presents a unique form of community based organizing and resistance in the tradition of the first Palestinian Intifada. These diverse, non-partisan committees lead community resistance to Israeli occupation in various forms, such as marches, strikes, demonstrations, direct actions and legal campaigns, as well as supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). However, the movement is being crushed in the form extreme violence during demonstrations (21 unarmed demonstrators have been killed since 2005 and thousands have been injuried), criminal misconduct by Israeli soldiers and the use of the occupation legal system to imprison popular committee leaders such as Abdallah Abu Rahmah.

Al-Awda Condemns Betrayal by Unelected Palestinian leadership

Posted By: THE PALESTINE RIGHT TO RETURN COALITION

To: Members in 9 Causes

Al-Awda Condemns Betrayal By Unelected Palestinian Leadership Al-Awda Condemns Betrayal by Unelected Palestinian leadership January 24, 2011 Palestinians around the world and all their supporters watched in shock, but not total surprise as secret documents, "The Palestine Papers", detailing carefully the years of so called peace negotiations were released by the news network Al-Jazeera during the last few days. While Palestinians are struggling to win back their rights to their homes and lands, some in the unelected leadership of the Palestinian Authority (PA) were making offers to give away these rights. The documents show that they were willing to give up the rights of seven million Palestinians living in forced exile to return to their homes and lands. They were willing to cede Palestinian control over most of East Jerusalem as well as nearly all the land on the West Bank on which the major Israeli settlements around Jerusalem were illegally built. Even the major Muslim holy site the al-Aqsa mosque, Harm al'Sharif, was open to "creative" solution. Long before these revelations, Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, its members, supporters and people of conscience in the US and around the world were already deeply suspicious of the maneuvering against the Palestinian people that Saeb Erekat, Ahmad Qurei and others demonstrated during these secret negotiations over the past many years. The Palestine Papers released by Al-Jazeerah confirm our people's worst fears. What the PA officials committed is a grave breach of duty and a betrayal of their own people.    The chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and sitting PA president Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, whose term has long expired, bears full responsibility. We demand his immediate resignation or removal from office. A self-appointed puppet leadership beholden only to its US and Israeli occupation masters cannot be allowed to stand. It does not represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people, the vast majority of whom are living in forced exile. Al-Awda reiterates that a just and lasting peace can only be achieved with the return of all Palestinians to their original homes, towns, and villages, with full restitution of all of their confiscated and destroyed property, and compensation. The Palestinian people, regardless of their religious affiliation, are indigenous to Palestine. Therefore, they are entitled to live anywhere in their homeland Palestine which encompasses present-day 'Israel', the West Bank and Gaza Strip. No agreement, negotiations or parties which purport to trade away these rights or any other inalienable rights can have any legal basis and cannot bind or compel the Palestinian people to end the struggle for the fulfillment of all of their rights. The current PA/PLO leadership has proven to be both untrustworthy and unworthy. We call on all peace-loving people around the world to condemn this unelected unrepresentative leadership. We also call on leaders who support the Palestinian cause to boycott this leadership until it is removed and replaced with legitimately elected representatives. It's time for the Palestinians to take charge of their own destiny and be represented by those who can bring justice to their cause and not serve the illegitimate racist aspirations of their enemies. Until Return, Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition PO Box 131352 Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA Tel: 760-918-9441 Fax: 760-918-9442 E-mail: info@al-awda.org WWW: http://al-awda.org Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC) is a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3) organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations to PRRC are tax-deductible. To donate, please go to http://www.al-awda.org/donate.htmland follow the instructions.

Call to Action Support the cause. Be counted: I Read This

И Перу призна Палестина!

Правителството на Перу призна Палестинската автономия за независима държава, съобщи външното министерство на латиноамериканската държва, цитирано от АФП.

„Правителството уведоми посланика на Палестина в Лима, че признава Палестинската автономия за свободна и суверенна държава”, съобщи говорителят на перуанското външнополитическо ведомство Хосе Антонио Гарсия Белаунда.

Още на 18 януари бе съобщено, че се очаква още латиноамерикански държави да признаят независима палестинска държава в границите от 1967 година. Това обяви доктор Набил Шаат, един от съветниците на палестинския президент Махмуд Аббас, съобщи на електронната си страница израелският вестник „Йедиот Ахронот”.

По данни на Шаат Парагвай, Перу, Коста Рика и Доминиканската република ще последват примера на други седем страни от Латинска Америка и ще признаят независима Палестина.

изт.: Актуално

German distributor postpones release of 'anti-Israeli' movie

A German cinema distributor cancelled this week's premiere of a new Turkish film, Valley of the Wolves - Palestine, saying Tuesday it needed time to review a movie rating ruling.
The original release date, Thursday, was global Holocaust Day, which has outraged Jewish and other German groups.
Pera Film of Cologne said it acted after a German cinema industrybody, FSK, which classifies films' suitability for audiences, ruled the film was unsuitable for minors.
The Valley of the Wolves series, on both television and film, is about fictional Turkish secret agents who fight conspiracies.
Because the villains were Americans or Jewish, a first Valley of the Wolves film caused upset several years back in Germany where it was mainly patronized by ethnic Turkish audiences.
The new movie attaches a fictional story to a real-life event, last year's unsuccessful Turkish-led aid convoy to Gaza.
A Pera Film spokeswoman told the German Press Agency dpa, "The official letter from the FSK has not arrived yet, but for the time being we will be following the decision. The film definitely will not release on Thursday."
She said Pera Film would study the FSK decision before deciding its next move. Pera is the sole distributor in Germany.
The May 2010 Israeli operation to stop the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara outraged many in the Muslim world. Nine Turkish activists were killed when the Israeli navy took over the ship.

Posted by Earth Times Staff
 

The Palestine Papers: The Ultimate Confirmation of Israeli Intentions

The cables released last night by Al Jazeera, which form the Palestine Papers, have provided ultimate confirmation of what many on the ground have known for some time – Israel is not interested in an equitable two state solution. Instead Israel is interested in maintaining the status quo, which necessarily means that both Palestinian and Israeli society will be in a permanent state of war. Control of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the separation of the West Bank from Gaza is the form of the Israeli-imposed one state solution. Crippling land annexation in the form of settlement expansion and development of Israeli infrastructure permanently change the facts on the ground while the United States, the main broker in the region, remains deftly silent. This continues while Israel informs the world that there is no Palestinian partner for negotiations and refuses to even provide documents detailing the Israeli bottom line.

This is not a new story, it has been happening for years. We now have ultimate confirmation that this is what was happening behind closed doors. However, I am left with a lingering and specific question regarding the United States. During negotiations regarding Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority was ready to give up part of the contentious East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Israel simply rejected the offer and began moving settlers into Palestinians homes in the neighborhood. Apparently the Israeli rationale was that the Palestinians were ready to give it up, might as well move settlers in, create facts on the ground and force them to ‘give up’ different territory. A simple land grab. What is striking is that the United States monitored this entire process. American officials were aware of the Palestinian offer and then watched in relative silence while Israel created a new settlement. Hilliary Clinton did deplore the actions of Israel in Sheikh Jarrah but the language was more tempered than that of the Europeans who literally watched the take over from their consulates in the neighborhood.

We are left with a number of revelations that are not surprising or new. Israel is not interested in an equitable two state solution, preferring a one state in which the Palestinians are controlled without democratic recourse. The Palestinian Authority is an effective instrument of Israeli occupation which is not representative of Palestinians. Finally, the United States is a dishonest broker who is acting like Israel’s lawyer and main supplier of aid. Again nothing new, now we just have concrete proof. These documents do not represent the death of the two state solution, they show that it never really began.

source: Joseph Dana

Breaking: another child arrested in Nabi Saleh

Тhe 11 year old brother of Isalm Tamimi- a 14 year old child who was arrested in Nabi Saleh during a night raid on the village- has been arrested this morning by the army in Nabi Saleh. Isalm Tamimi was interrogated for eight hours after his arrest early Sunday morning. Yesterday, the state asked for him to remain in jail until a hearing on Thursday.

In an escalation of the repression on unarmed demonstration in the West Bank, 14 year old Islam Tamimi was arrested from his home at 0200 on Sunday morning. It was the second time in roughly three weeks that he was taken by soldiers. However, the army moved him to the Ofer military jail instead of interrogating him on the spot and releasing him. After an eight hour session of interrogation on Sunday, Tamimi confessed to throwing stones during the weekly demonstrations against the occupation in Nabi Saleh. Tamimi’s lawyers were present in the police station and constantly pleaded with interrogators to talk with the child but were only given access to their client after five hours of interrogation. His parents, who have legal right to be present when a child is under investigation, were denied access to their son. Imagine a 14 year old child pulled from bed at 02:00 in the morning by fully armed soldiers and then interrogated without parents or lawyer present. Horrifying and sick.

Islam Tamimi was arrested Sunday in Nabi Saleh. Picture Credit: Alison Rammer

After five hours of interrogation, lawyers were finally able to gain access to the horrified Tamimi and learned that he made the exact confession of stone throwing that the army was after. Due to the traumatic experience that he was put through, Tamimi said that we would provide any information which the army wanted about Nabi Saleh. He was ready to make up information because, as a child, he really does not know the workings of the village and the planning of the demonstrations. On Monday morning, Tamimi was brought before a military court. The state asked the court to hold Tamimi until Thursday when he was scheduled to have a trial. Tamimi’s defense requested to have the trial date closer because Tamimi is a child. The judge has yet to give a decision.

In a cruel twist of events, Israeli police and soldiers raided the village of Nabi Saleh Tuesday morning and arrested Tamimi’s 11 year old brother. The child is now being held with his brother and is undergoing the same interrogation process that his brother did on Sunday. Defense lawyers believe that this is a sick tactic designed to punish Tamimi for requesting a quicker trial date. The 11 year old has not been charged with any crime. However, the pressure of Israeli integrators and the absolute fear of being taken by armed soldiers almost always resulted in a confession of stone throwing whether or not it is the truth.

–

Beyond the headlines of the Palestine Papers, the arrest of Tamimi and his 11 year old brother demonstrate the inner workings of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and control of the Palestinian population. Israel is using one of the most advanced military machines in the world to raid small villages and arrest children. The children are put through traumatic and psychologically scarring experiences in order to glean false testimonies which are used against the leaders of unarmed movements of civil resistance. Numerous Palestinian Gandhi’s such as Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah are thrown in jail based on these false testimonies. It is part of the cycle of Israeli repression of Palestinian civil resistance. Sadly,this story is one of hundreds that go unreported every week in the West Bank. This is the what maintenance of the Israeli occupation looks like.

Source: Joseph Dana

ПРОФ. ЧУКОВ: РАЗКРИТИЯТА НА „АЛ ДЖАЗИРА“ СА МЕДИЙНА ДИМКА

понеделник, 24 януари, 2011     

Разкритията на „Ал Джазира“ са медийна димка и имитация на „Уикилийкс“. Това каза пред Информационна агенция КРОССарабистът проф. Владимир Чуков. Днес катарската телевизия разкри тайни документи, от които става ясно, че палестинската страна се е съгласила на значителни отстъпки пред Израел в мирния процес.

„Някаква голяма промяна, едва ли не революция, не може да се очаква от изтичането на документите“, коментира експертът.

„Палестинската автономия отрече да има такова нещо – че това са провокации и лъжи. Самата информация не е много ясна и точна“, коментира той.

Според проф. Чуков разкритията само ще подкопаят доверието в палестинските лидери и опитите им да намерят компромис за единна палестинска позиция в мирните преговори. Става дума за „Фатах“, който в момента представлява палестинската автономия, и „Хамас“, които управляват Ивицата Газа.

„На практика в момента няма легитимно представителство от страна на палестинците. Мандатът на президента Махмуд Абас изтече. Същото се случи и с палестинския парламент. Поради, меко казано, насипното състояние, в което се намират палестинските политически субекти, не могат да бъдат организирани избори, за да има легитимен палестински преговарящ“, обясни специалистът.

Разкритията на „Ал Джазира“ ще имат отражение и върху близкоизточния мирен процес, коментира проф. Чуков. Американската страна не дава подкрепа за израелската селищна политика в окупираните територии и настоява строителство да бъде прекратено.

„Впечатлява ме това, което се говори от някои анализатори  – че може би на готвещата се проекторезолюция на Съвета за сигурност на ООН, с което ще се предложи Израел да бъде осъден за политиката по отношение на селищата, за пръв път американците няма да наложат дежурното вето“, каза проф. Чуков.

Информационна агенция КРОСС

Палестинските дневници – истината продължава да изтича

Максим Проданов

Само часове след новината, че израелският външен министър Авигдор Либерман подготвя планове за условна палестинска държава с ограничена независимост и 50% по-малка територия, Ал Джазира и Гардиън публикуваха първата част от над 1600 секретни документи, описващи преговорите през 2008 г. между палестинските лидери, Израел и САЩ. В тях става ясно, че палестинските власти са направили редица отстъпки по статута на Йерусалим и правото на завръщане на бежанците, докато израелската страна не прави никакви концесии, а САЩ открито взема страната на Израел. Според Гардиън, документите показват палестинските лидери като слаби, отчаяни, готови да обсипят израелците с комплименти. Израелските власти от друга страна, са любезни на думи, но презрителни по дела. А американската делегация показва неутралитета си като осмива слабите, а протяга ръка на силните. В документите се споменава как Кондолиза Райс, в отговор на оплакването на висш палестински дипломат, че Палестина изпълнява задълженията си по пътната карта, а Израел продължава строителството на селища в Западния бряг и отказва правото на завръщане на бежанците от 1948 г., отвръща: “Лоши неща се случват на хора по цял свят през цялото време”.

Главният скандал в документите обаче е готовността на палестинските представители да направят компромиси по Йерусалим и правата на бежанците –  и последвалият израелски отказ. Палестинската делегация предлага “най-големия Йерусалим в еврейската история” и се съгласява Израел да анексира почти всички селища в Източната част на града. Израел не предлага никакви отстъпки в отговор на предложението и дори обявява, че ще построи още 1600 заселнически къщи в Палестина. Палестинските власти правят и огромни отстъпки по въпроса със завръщането на бежанците по домовете им в Израел. Те се съгласяват броят им да остане символичен, а части от Палестина да останат демилитаризирани, за да не застрашават Израел.

Според Джонатан Фрийланд от в-к “Гардиън”, документите разбиват тезата, с която често излизат израелските власти: че в преговорите липсва палестински партньор; не само, че такъв не липсва; но едва ли някога ще се появи по-благосклонен партньор.

Документита показват също така намесата на Англия, която работи заедно с Израелската армия и цели унищожаването на Хамас. Заедно с израелската армия работят и сили за сигурност на палестинската автономия. В близките дни ще бъдат публикувани още секретни документи, които ще продължим да следим.

 Intidar

Още един палестински “терорист“

В своя блог Max Ajl, американски евреин, живеещ в Бруклин пише за поредното убийство на палестинец в т.нар. буферна зона в Газа.

Израелските национални новини съобщават, че “израелски танкове и булдозери са преминали на няколко стотин метра вътре в Газа във вторник следобед и убили един терорист, след като бомба е избухнала в близост до патрулиращо израелско превозно средство близо до бариерата за сигурност между Газа и Израел“.

Max Ajl твърди, че това не е вярно, защото знаe кой точно е убитият: Amjad Sami Za’aneen. Знае това, защото e получил обаждане от негов роднина, Saber Za’aneen по-рано днес, който му е казал, че е имало нахлуване в Бейт Ханун, и защото негови приятели лично са отишли до болницата за да интервюират членове на семейство. Те са разказали, че е Амджад е събирал скали заедно с приятели в буферната зона, когато израелски танк е стрелял по тях. Нараняванията са били толкова сериозни, че той дори не e успял да издържи до болницата и е умрял по пътя.

Израелските журналисти твърдят, че „е широко известно, че дадената област е затворена военна зона.“ Така те не само, че оправдават смъртоносните рани в тялото на момчето, но и “пропастта“ в света на семейството му.

Първо те лъжат за случилото се, а после обвиняват жертвата. Наричат го терорист. Дори не казват името му. Какво следва да се направи сега. Max Ajl призовава “Нека направим така, че мъртвите да имат имена.“

Повече за буферните зони:

The so-called “buffer zone” is a military no-go area that extends along the entire northern and eastern perimeter of the
Gaza Strip’s border with Israel, inside Palestinian territory, as well as at sea. The precise areas designated by Israel
as “buffer zone” are unknown; changing Israeli policy is typically enforced with live fire.

Delineations
On land: inside Palestinian territory
• Oslo Accords: 50 metres
• Second Intifada (2000): 150 metres
• January 2010, according to Israel: 300 metres
• In reality: 300 metres – 2 kilometres

източник: Give me justice first, the peace will follow…

Документален филм за децата и камъните, които днес станаха стена

Вчера имах възможността да присъствам на премиерата на немския документален филм Kinder der Steine – Kinder der Mauer (Деца на камъните – деца на стената) на немските режисьори Роберт Криг и Моника Нолте.
Филмът е посветен на живота в окупиран Витлеем, показан през очите на шест млади палестинци.

Всъщност, това не е първият филм на Роберт Криг, сниман в района на Витлеем. През 1989 година той заснема “Intifada – Auf dem Weg nach Palästina“ (Интифада – на път към Палестина), филм, в който както сам обясни пред публиката по време на премиерата, за него е било важно да покаже какво точно представлява Първата Палестинска Интифада. Медиите създавали впечатлението за насилствен бунт, но всъщност това, на което той станал свидетел са били мирни протести и недоволство на палестинците, опит за премахване на окупацията, за свободен живот.
Той снимал най-вече в Бейт Сахур, стар малък град близо до Витлеем. Жителите, занаятчии и земеделски производители, жени и мъже, ученици и възрастни хора показват чрез различни форми на гражданска съпротива своята решителност и постоянство никога да не приемат израелската окуапция. Но както г-н Криг обясни, преди 20 години филмът така и не получил одобрение да бъде излъчен от която и да е телевизия или кино. Бил прожектиран в по-тесен кръг, участвал и на фестивали в чужбина.

Един кадър от този филм остава завинаги в съзнанието на режисьора.

На един пазар попаднахме сред конфронтация между цивилни палестинци и израелските окупационни войници. Палестинците хвърляха камъни, войниците стреляха с газови пистолети.
След като ситуацията се успокои, седем малки деца застанаха на едно тясно уличка. Муса, Мохамед, Мохунард и Бахар – тези имена си спомням все още. Фотографът ги снимка, докато те показваха с пръсти знака на победата.
Това, което ме впечатли бе от една страна радостта от живота, коят тези момчета излъчваха, от друга страна, никога няма да забравя насилието. ..

Децата на интифадата 1989 © Ralf Emmerich

Тъй като ситуацията в окупираните територии се влошава все повече и повече, а темата на войната остава актуална, той решава почти 20 години по-късно да потърси тези момчета.

През лятото на 2007 г. изпратих на приятел имейл със снимката. Докато поставяше копие на снимката върху стена в кафене във Витлеем, братът на едно от момчетата е стоял зад него.

Благодарение на това бързо намират и останалите герои от снимката.

Днес момчетата от снимката са пораснали мъже. Филмът показва тяхното ежедневие, какво се е променило в живота им след края на интифадата, за какво мечтаят и се борят днес.
Както самият автор каза, филмът не е политически, той е човешки. Целта не е била да се представи гледната точка на автора, а просто житейската история на героите – те водят камерата след себе си, говорят за всичко, което ги интересува, без предварителен сценарии, без актьорска игра.
Докато игрят карти или пушат наргиле, докато пият чай или просто седят на сянка под някое маслинево дърво – темата на техните разкази е винаги една и съща – окупацията, стената, заселниците, липсата на перспектива, на бъдеще за децата им. В името на децата повечето от тях са готови дори да емигрират…

Децата на стената 2009 година

Както казва един от героите, “камъните, които хвърляхме преди се превърнаха в стена и поселения. Те хващаха всеки хвърлен от нас камък и с него строяха стена, която ни задушава и жилища за заселниците, които ограбват нашите земи“.

Друг филм на режисьора на темата Палестино-израелския конфликт е:
I came to Palestine

източник: Give me justice first, the peace will follow…