Gaza Reels, by gisha.org

A new animated film released today by Gisha challenges the commonly held belief that Israel no longer exercises control over Gaza and does not bear responsibility for what goes on there. The opening of the Rafah Crossing is a welcome improvement in Gaza residents' access to the outside world. However, it does not detract from Israel's obligation to allow regular travel between Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinian territory shares a single economy, a single education system, a single healthcare system and countless familial, cultural and social ties.

The film was created as part of Gisha's effort to initiate an informed public discussion of Israel's policy toward Gaza. To accompany the film, Gisha is also releasing a "cheat sheet" providing concise answers to commonly asked questions about Gaza, such as: what is the economic situation in Gaza today? Is there a food shortage in the Strip? Exactly what travel restrictions does Israel currently impose on residents of Gaza? The cheat sheet is available on Gisha's website and will be regularly updated.

End the occupation blog

"Ал Джазира" хвърли инфобомба в Близкия изток

Най-влиятелната арабска телевизия започна да разкрива стотици поверителни документи, свързани с израелско-палестинските мирни преговори

Палестинският преговарящ Саеб Ерекат

Телевизия "Ал Джазира" започна да разкрива стотици поверителни документи, свързани с израелско-палестинските мирни преговори, цитирани от световните агенции.

Представени като "сензационни", те бяха определени от базирания в Катар канал като "най-важното изтичане на информация в историята на конфликта".

От разпространените документи става ясно, че палестинците са били готови през 2008 г. да направят отстъпки по два от най-мъчните въпроса в преговорите - статутът на Ерусалим и съдбата на палестинските бежанци. Това би било в разрез с официалното позиция на палестинската автономна власт.

Палестинският главен преговарящ по онова време - Ахмед Корая, казал тайно на Израел, че може да запази всички еврейски анклави в Източен Ерусалим, построени след окупирането на тази част от града през 1967 г. В замяна той поискал палестинците да получат израелски земи, населени преобладаващо с араби.

Израел обаче не само не предложил нищо в замяна, 

но отклонил предложението с аргумента, че то не отива достатъчно далеч. Около 200 хил. евреи живеят в анклави в Източен Ерусалим, който палестинците искат за столица набъдещата си държава.

По въпроса за връщането на бежанците, палестинската автономна власт се съгласила еврейската държава да приема по 10 хил. палестинци за период от 10 години, или общо 100 хил. души.

Официално, тя настоява всички палестинци, принудени да напуснат родните си места по време на войната през 1948-1949 г., както и техните наследници, което прави няколко милиона души, да имат правото да се завърнат.

Израел винаги е отхвърлял това искане с мотива, че то заплашва еврейския характер на държавата.

Възможно е документите да подкопаят позицията на палестинския президент

Махмуд Абас, чиито публични изявления за Ерусалим са в разрез с обещанията, дадени в частни разговори от неговия преговорен екип, отбелязва Ройтерс.

Палестинската автономна власт отхвърли категорично твърденията на телевизия "Ал Джазира".

Голяма част от документите са били изфабрикувани с цел подстрекателство срещу палестинската власт, коментира Ахмед Корая.

Сегашният палестински главен преговарящ Саеб Ерекат на свой ред нарече твърденията на "Ал Джазира" "лъжи и половинчати истини".

Според световни медии документите са най-голямото изтичане на поверителна информация в историята на Близкия изток. Става въпроса за хиляди страници палестински документи за период от над 10 години преговори, уточнява британският в. "Гардиън".

Според вестника изненадващото предложение на палестинските преговарящи ще предизвика

вълнения сред палестинците и в целия арабски свят

Документите, голяма част от които ще бъдат публикувани от "Гардиън" в идните дни, разкриват също искането на израелски лидери някои арабски граждани да бъдат прехвърлени в новата палестинска държава, близкото сътрудничество между израелските сили за сигурност и палестинската автономия, централната роля на британското разузнаване в изготвянето на таен план за разгромяване на "Хамас" в палестинските територии и др.

Описано е също как палестински лидери били лично информирани за намерението на Израел да поведе война в Газа през 2008-09 г.

Едно от най-спорните предложения на палестинците според документите е създаването на обща комисия, която да стопанисва Ал Харам аш Шариф или Храмовия хълм в стария град на Ерусалим - невралгичен въпрос, който доведе до срив в преговорите в Кемп Дейвид през 2000 г., отбелязва британският вестник.

Палестинските предложения били направени през 2008-2009 г. в навечерието на конференцията в Анаполис, организирана с подкрепата на Джордж Буш.

В. "Индипендънт" коментира, че разкритията може допълнително да дестабилизират крехките международни усилия за подновяване на мирните преговори под някаква форма.

Според вестника критици ще се възползват от разкритията за отстъпките, 

за да покажат до каква степен палестинският президент Махмуд Абас е готов на компромис в името на бъдеща палестинска държава.

От друга страна, отстъпките могат да подкопаят широко разпространеното твърдение в Израел, че не съществува партньор за смислени преговори, прогнозира изданието.

За "Дейли телеграф" от всички палестински служители Саеб Еракат вероятно ще изпадне в най-неудобно положение, тъй като според документите той окачествил бившия израелски премиер Ариел Шарон като "приятел" и казал на опозиционната лидерка Ципи Ливнипреди изборите през 2009 г., че би гласувал за нея, ако можеше.

Изданието отбелязва, че още по-тревожно за Махмуд Абас е обещанието на "Ал Джазира" да разкрие още документи, които ще имат по-тежък ефект, включително за близко сътрудничество между израелските и палестинските сили за сигурност за операции срещу "Хамас" на Западния бряг.

В. "Ню Йорк таймс" отбелязва, че разкритията идват в момент, когато САЩ са под необичаен натиск от арабски и европейски съюзници, и дори от някои бивши високопоставени американски служители, да не налагат вето на проекторезолюция на Съвета за сигурност на ООН, която утвърждава дългогодишната международна позиция, че израелските селища на окупираната територия са незаконни.

Общата позиция на лобиращите за такава резолюция е, че доверието към САЩ е изложено на риск, особено ако Вашингтон, след като настоя Израел да спре застрояването, откаже да отнесе въпроса до Съвета за сигурност, пояснява американското издание.

източник: Вести.бг

Breaking News: 12 European countries to send aid to Gaza within Freedom Flotilla 2

Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) - Despite official Israeli continuing threats to use violence to stop international support from reaching Gaza by sea, 5 more ships carrying passengers from France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy will join Freedom Flotilla 2 in late June. The European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), one of the flotilla's sponsors revealed that the ships will carry  country-level legislators and members of the European Parliament among their passengers, which will number in the hundreds.

  "I am sure the recent Israeli fire on the Malaysian ship, the Spirit of Rachel Corrie, was meant as warning for the flotilla, but we will not be deterred," said Anouar Gharbi, a member of the ECESG. 

He added that, " the ruling South African government also fought back against early attempts to end apartheid, but eventually it was forced to change by the power of the people. Veterans of that fight for human rights say that the Israeli apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is even worse, and it will take the same kind of international solidarity to bring it down."

So far, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Holland, Switzerland, Greece, Sweden and Spain

The Spirit of Rachel Corrie, a Malaysian-owned ship sponsored by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation will be  carrying pipes to help repair the devastated sewage system in Gaza, was intercepted and attacked by the Israeli naval forces on May 16. Passengers included seven Malaysians, two Irishmen, two Indians and one Canadian.

The ship was forced to dock at Egyptian waters one and a half nautical miles from the Gazan shore. It remains there today. Nine flotillas have attempted sail to Gaza since August 2008 to break Israel's illegal stranglehold, three of which have been co-sponsored by the ECESG.

Five of those flotillas were successful in entering Gaza; however, they were violently intercepted on the past four voyages -- including last year's, which was organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition -- an international Coalition that brought all of the sponsors under one umbrella. On May 31, 2010, the Israeli military attacked the six-ship Freedom Flotilla, as it was called, killing nine of the passengers on the lead boat, the Mavi Marmara.
Gharbi noted that the Freedom Flotilla 2 -- using the slogan "Stay Human" in honor of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian peace activist killed in Gaza earlier this year -- will include the largest number of ships yet (still being finalized, but more than 12 ), which this time will depart from ports throughout the Mediterranean. The three new ships just announced will leave from Marseille, France; Genoa, Italy; and a port yet to be named in Germany. Other European countries to be represented in the flotilla are Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Spain, the UK and Ireland. Elsewhere, ships are being sent by delegations from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Israel has controlled  and humiliated the Palestinian people for 63 years. Since then more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes or fled out of fear following the creation of Israel in 1948. That control intensified in 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Although Israel withdrew its settlers from Gaza in 2005, it has continued to control the inhabitants’ lives; since 2007, it has prevented most human traffic in and out of the densely populated Strip, while restricting imports and banning virtually all exports. The impact: More than 75 percent of Palestinians in Gaza live under the poverty line.

“There is nothing in international law that supports Israel’s four-year-long blockade of Gaza, or its attacks on humanitarian shipments in international or Palestinian waters. In fact, as stated by the normally neutral International Committee of the Red Cross, Israel’s collective punishment of the residents of Gaza is itself a clear violation of international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.” Said Gharbi. “

Премиера на книгата "Монолози за Газа"

Под патронажа на Посолството на Държавата Палестина
Форумът за арабска култура
и Столична библиотека


Ви канят на премиерата на изданието


„Монолозите на Газа”


на 7 юни 2011, вторник, от 18,00 ч.
в Клуб-кафето на Столична библиотека,
София, пл. „Славейков” № 4


Блокадата на Газа е наложена от Израел на Ивицата Газа след парламентарните избори през 2006. Особено строги ограничения наложи Израел през 2007 г., включвайки забрана или ограничаване вноса на гориво, електроенергия и много стоки, между които кетчуп, оцет, бисквити, пилета и месни продукти, детски играчки, забрана на риболова на повече от 2 мили от брега, затваряне на граничните пунктове между Ивицата Газа и Израел.”
Такъв примерен текст бихте прочели, ако потърсите справка за т.нар. „блокада на Ивицата Газа”. Бедата не е, че нещо в тези думи е невярно, изопачено или преувеличено. Бедата е там, че и в тези редове, написани на сухия език на статистиката и историята, отсъстват обикновените хора – такива като нас, с техните човешки съдби, с техния живот – дарен им еднократно, неповторим и болезнено крехък.
Международната културна инициатива, озаглавена „Монолозите на Газа”, е подета от палестинската Театрална формация „Ищар” с идеята за символичен пробив в блокадата на Ивицата Газа. „Монолозите на Газа” са автентични свидетелства на деца от Газа, разказващи за своя житейски опит преди и по време на войната, която израелската окупационна армия води срещу Газа в края на 2008 – началото на 2009 г. „Монолозите” са опит на тогава 12-15-годишни палестински момичета и момчета да анализират сами своите най-съкровени преживявания, чувства и мисли, които неизменно остават скрити за медиите и оттам – за страничния наблюдател.
Театрално студио „Ищар” се свърза с младежки организации от цял свят с идеята монолозите да бъдат представени по всички краища на света в един и същи ден – на 17 октомври 2010 г. Тогава децата на Газа се събраха на брега на своето окупирано море, написаха думите си върху листове хартия, сгънаха от листовете лодки, платноходки и корабчета и ги пуснаха да отплават в открито море. Хартиената флотилия нямаше как да бъде прихваната, обстрелвана и потопена като подозрителен обект. Натоварена със страданията и надеждите на децата на Газа, тя доплава до 50 града от 36 страни, където я очакваха техни връстници – деца от арабските държави, Зимбабве, Великобритания, Испания, Гърция, Кипър, Норвегия, Швеция, Италия...
Прочетете целия материал тук...

No More Applause

By Cecilie Surasky, Deputy Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a US Campaign member organization
May 26, 2011

I was stunned to see that our entire U.S. Congress gave Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu 29 standing ovations on Tuesday. Twenty-nine. Unbelievable, given what his speech contained.

The speech that Netanyahu gave that day will go down in history as an extraordinary embarrassment to Americans and Israelis alike. Read on to find out what he said and why we cannot let it go unanswered.

To put it simply, Netanyahu proved yet again that he prefers settlement expansion and Jewish domination of Palestinians to any kind of true peace agreement that would benefit both peoples. He claimed that Israel isn’t occupying anyone—ignoring nearly 44 years of increasingly brutal Israeli control over the lives of millions of Palestinians.

He stated that Israel had no need for American military assistance—ignoring the $3 billion in military equipment and aid the U.S. provides Israel each year. He said Israel supports the desire of Arab peoples to live free—saying nothing about the ongoing Israeli shootings and arrests of Palestinians who nonviolently protest for their right to be free. (1)

What makes this so outrageous is that Netanyahu’s speech found a shockingly sympathetic audience in the U.S. Congress while people like you and me could only watch in disbelief.

I’ve had it. I cannot stand by and watch my member of Congress applaud this man and his litany of distortions, myths and outright fabrications. Please, I urge you to join me in writing your US Representative to say, “How could you? Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has shown repeatedly that he is not interested in a viable future for either Palestinians or Israelis and you rewarded him with 29 standing ovations as the world watched."

READ full article...

Support the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza

We are writing to ask for your support for the Gaza Freedom Flotilla scheduled to set sail in the second half of June to the besieged Gaza strip. You can help prevent an assault on the nonviolent activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza by signing on to our petition.

At least ten ships with dignitaries, doctors, professors, artists, journalists, and activists, as well as construction supplies and humanitarian aid, will sail from ports in Europe to Gaza in an act of non-violent civil disobedience to persuade the international community to fulfill its obligations towards the Palestinian people and end Israel's four-year illegal blockade of Gaza.

This is the second, large-scale citizen-to-citizen flotilla to be launched by international grassroots groups. Organized by 14 national groups and international coalitions, the flotilla will carry approximately 1,000 passengers. It will include a US boat named The Audacity of Hope, which will have aboard dozens of dedicated social justice activists. Learn more about the US Boat to Gaza. 

The last Freedom Flotilla in May 2010 included seven vessels carrying nearly 700 passengers from 36 different countries. Israeli commandos attacked the boats, shooting and killing nine passengers, injuring over 50 and imprisoning all aboard.This tragedy opened the subject of Gaza on the world stage and put considerable pressure on Israel to ease the draconian siege on Gaza – something the international community had failed to do for 3 years. Learn more about the Free Gaza Movement and support their efforts.

We ask you to sign this petition to show the overwhelming public support for an end to siege of Gaza and the rights for Palestinians. We also demand that the American administration apply pressure on Israel to ensure that passengers are not violently attacked and to allow the flotilla to sail to Gaza.
READ PETITION LETTER & SIGN..

U.S. Announces Sanctions Against Israeli Company

Although clearly this news has nothing to do with our movement to end U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid -- which we pursue partly through boycott-divestment-and-sanctions campaigns -- still it might serve as a useful answer to anyone who claims that we cannot boycott or sanction Israel.

By Isabel Kershner
May 26, 2011

JERUSALEM -- Even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was praising the United States in a speech on Tuesday for imposing tougher sanctions on Iran for its nuclear activities, the State Department announced that it was imposing sanctions on a leading Israeli company, Ofer Brothers Group, for activities supporting Iran’s energy sector.

While the State Department’s decision caused Israel considerable embarrassment, it was the timing that created the greatest stir. It came soon after Mr. Netanyahu’s friction with Mr. Obama over using the 1967 borders as a basis for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Nobody wants to over-interpret the choice of timing,” said an Israeli official who was speaking on the condition of anonymity for diplomatic reasons, “but there was no objective reason for the State Department to come out with the announcement on that precise day.”

“Does this carry meaning? I am unable to tell you. But you cannot blame anybody for being suspicious,” he said.

The Obama administration dismissed any connection between the sanctions and Mr. Netanyahu’s visit. “These sanctions take months” to work through the Department of Treasury’s vetting process, a senior administration official said. “There is a process.”

Still, the awkward fact remains that a corporation owned by one of Israel’s most prominent business families has been blacklisted for dealings, however indirect, with Iran.

ARTICLE CONTINUES...

London commemorates 2010 attack on Freedom Flotilla

Видни личности в Израел подкрепят палестинската държава

Двайсет видни личности в Израел, в това число бивши високопоставени служители, призоваха европейските страни да подкрепят евентуално признаване от ООН на палестинска държава. "Евентуално провъзгласяване на палестинска независимост не е само легитимен акт, а представлява позитивен и конструктивен акт за двете нации", се казва в публикувана днес декларация. Сред подписалите документа личат имената на бившия главен прокурор Михаел Бен Яир, бившия директор във външното министерство Алон Лиел, експредседателя на парламента Аврахам Бург и носителя на Нобелова награда за икономика Даниел Канеман. Авторите на декларацията обвиняват международната общност и по-конкретно САЩ за неспособността да издействат подновяване на мирните преговори между Израел и палестинската власт. /АФП /

Египет отваря границата с Газа

Египет ще отваря границата си с Газа при Рафах всеки ден от 9 до 17 часа, съобщи BBC.

Това, обаче, няма да важи за петъчните дни и празниците, допълва агенцията.

Жените от всички възрасти ще бъдат освободени от визи, както и мъжете под 18 и над 40 години.

Блокадата бе наложена през 2007 година, когато радикалното палестинско движение ХАМАС взе властта в Газа.

Според израелските власти, с блокада е възможно да се спрат доставките на оръжие за ХАМАС.

Считаните за контрабандни тунели по границата с Рафах редовно са бомбардирани, за да се пречи на движението.

Те, обаче, се принудиха да облекчат снабдяването с редица стоки за населението на Газа, заради международния натиск.

Според международната общност, населението там е пред хуманитарна криза.

Докато бе на власт бившият египетски президент Хосни Мубарак, страната му също наложи ограничения.

Новата власт в Египет показва чрез това решение отношението си към палестинските власти ижеланието за добри двустранни отношения.

Израел вероятно ще реагира отрицателно на промените. 

Move Over AIPAC: Silencing DIssent is Indefensible

"To Gaza With Love" video message

US To Gaza is a US Campaign member group.



The Audacity of Hope will sail as a human rights mission to help end the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.

The U.S. Boat to Gaza Campaign is collecting thousands of personal letters to the people of Gaza from people like you in the U.S., in an act of friendship and solidarity. These letters will be carried as our cargo on the U.S. Boat to Gaza when it sets sail in June 2011 in the next International Freedom Flotilla "Stay Human".

To include your voice in this great effort please write a letter, card or postcard and send it to:

LETTERS TO GAZA
119 West 72nd St. #158
New York NY 10023

or

Email your letter to:

Letterstogaza@gmail.com

Bassam Saba & New York Arabic Orchestra to Perform at ADC Convention

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is one of our 350+ coalition member organizations. With chapters and members in all 50 states, it is the largest grassroots Arab-American civil rights and civil liberties organization in the United States.

Washington, DC, May 21, 2011 -- ADC is proud to announce that the New York Arabic Orchestra will perform at the ADC National Convention on Friday evening June 10, 2011 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, D.C., 20008). The event will begin with a reception at 6:00pm to 7:00pm, followed by a presentation of the Jack G. Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarship Awards at 7:30pm and the concert at 8:00pm.

The New York Arabic Orchestra is lead by nay virtuoso Bassam Saba. Saba is a world-renowned nay virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist, performing on oud, violin, buzuq, saz, and western classical flute. Along with Saba and over 20 musicians, guest kanoun virtuoso Jamal Sinno will also perform.

Additionally, two guest vocalists will perform at the concert; Salma Habib, a multi-talented singer and one of the most prominent Arab female vocalists in the United States and Naji Youssef who has been a leading figure in the Arab-American music scene, performing in many venues and festivals throughout the U.S.

Tickets for this event are available at $75.00 per person  and included at no charge with each ADC Convention full package registration.

For more information and tickets: Call 202-244-2990 or log on to www.adc.org

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Netanyahu visit stirs protest in DC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington has prompted protests against the controversial ties between the United States and Israel.

A day after US President Barack Obama's Middle East speech, protesters gathered outside the White House in opposition to Netanyahu's visit on Friday, a Press TV correspondent reported. 

“Israeli policy and US support for that policy, has been part of destroying people's basic rights in the occupied territories amongst Palestinians,” one demonstrator told Press TV. 

“President Obama's speech, it was nonsense, and it did not support Palestinians at all. Unfortunately, all the press have been focusing on one sentence he said, that Palestinians have the right to the border of [19]67. But his whole speech supported the Israelis,” Lucy Jerias of Code Pink told Press TV. 

Yet many treated the speech as a step in the right direction toward Palestinian statehood and US support. 

A handful of counter protesters also showed their support for Netanyahu and his US allies. 

“You want to make sure that there are no Jews? That's what Hamas and Fatah are all about. So I can't listen to any more arguments. It's a matter of my security as a Jew and as a human being. If you're going to kill me, I have to kill you first. It's just that simple,” Bob Kunst of Shalom International told Press TV. 

President Obama is also scheduled to speak at the American Israeli Political Action Committee's (AIPAC) convention this weekend. 

The outrage and disappointment expressed by protesters here will carry on into the weekend where the annual AIPAC summit will take place, countering the issue of the United States 'special' relationship with Israel. 

LF/PKH/MMN

CAUGHT: Ahava’s Theft of Occupied Natural Resources Finally Exposed

CODEPINK is a US Campaign member organization.


May 18, 2011

After years of strenuous denial, Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli cosmetics firm with its main manufacturing plant in an illegal West Bank settlement, is proven by documentary evidence to be in violation of international law through its theft of Palestinian resources. This evidence was recently discovered by Who Profits (www.whoprofits.org), a research project of the Israeli Coalition for Peace, which documents corporate activity in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory.

Prior to this finding representatives of Ahava repeatedly claimed that the company does not make use of natural resources from the West Bank: "the mud and materials used in Ahava cosmetics products are not excavated in an occupied area. The mud is mined in the Israeli part of the Dead Sea, which is undisputed internationally".[1] The new findings prove that the company was given a license for excavating minerals in 2004 from the Israeli Civil Administration, which is the representative of the Israeli government in the Occupied West Bank, and that the excavation site on the occupied shores of the Northern Dead Sea is currently active. By making use of mud that is excavated in the occupied area the company is violating international humanitarian law (the laws of occupation), which prohibits the plundering of natural resources from the occupied territory. Merav Amir, Coordinator of Who Profits, said, "Ahava can no longer continue misleading consumers about where they get the mud used in their products. This mud is from the Occupied West Bank and is stolen from the Palestinian people."

Nancy Kricorian, the manager for CODEPINK's Stolen Beauty Ahava Boycott (www.stolenbeauty.org), an international campaign against the company’s violations of international law, said, "Ahava's CEO has been circulating a letter to retailers that we thought was filled with lies, and now Who Profits has provided us with the evidence to prove it."

The company is still reeling from the public relations setback of an explosive new report [2] issued on May 5th by B’tselem, a leading Israeli human rights group, which calls Ahava out by name as an occupation profiteer. Ahava representatives have yet to respond to B’tselem’s report, and the company’s reputation is now further tarnished by this just discovered documentary proof of its violations of international law.

[1] http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=182493. See also: http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=5548

[2] Dispossession and Exploitation: Israel’s Policy in the Jordan Valley and Northern Dead Sea:

http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/201105_Dispossession_and_Exploitation.asp

source: US Campaign to End the israeli Occupation

IOF kidnap six Palestinians today in W. Bank

[ 19/05/2011 - 03:03 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have kidnapped at dawn Thursday six Palestinian citizens in different West Bank areas. Local sources said the IOF violently knocked at the doors of homes causing panic among children and women during the raids. The detainees were taken blindfolded and handcuffed to interrogation centers. In another development, the Palestinian prisoners in Nafha jail called in a letter addressed to all Palestinian spectra especially the resistance factions to support their protest steps which they take every once in a while to demand an end to the violations committed against them by Israeli jailers. The prisoners said they demand the prison administration to end its solitary confinement policy, improve incarceration conditions and stop the punitive measures taken against them lately because of their protest steps.

Friends of humanity urges Egypt to open Rafah crossing, release detainees

[ 19/05/2011 - 04:07 PM ]

VIENNA, (PIC)-- Friends of humanity international called on the military Council and the government in Egypt to fulfill their pledges to break the siege on the Gaza Strip, open the Rafah border crossing and release Palestinian prisoners. Friends of humanity said the population of Gaza has been exposed for 63 months to unjustified blockade and still cannot live normally. The organization also called for releasing all Palestinian prisoners from Egypt's jails and enabling them to return to their homes. It confirmed that the serious restrictions imposed on entry and exit of people and goods from the Gaza Strip violate the principles of humanitarian law, which prohibits mass punishment. palestine-info.co.uk

BDS Works: Israeli Businessmen Plan Peace Initiative to Head off BDS, “South African-isation” of Israel

May 15, 2011

The Hebrew online news site Calcalist reports that some of Israel’s most senior and powerful businessmen conducted a meeting last week to begin promotion of the “Israel Initiates” peace initiative in order to head off the growing international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

“We are quickly turning into South Africa” noted Idan Ofer to the Israeli paper Calcalist, a prominent Israeli player in international ventures and future technologies. “The economic damage in the wake of boycott and sanctions will be felt by every family in Israel. The top percentiles, members of the middle class and first and foremost the distressed classes,” he added.

Together with Yaakov Peri, the former head of Israel’s General Security Services (GSS) and Dani Gilerman, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Ofer initiated the meeting of some 80 of Israel’s most prominent businessmen.

“Global business provide us with heightened senses and in recent months we are experiencing signs of substantial erosion in the legitimacy of the state of Israel, stated Ofer. “If in the past the community of business people tended to desist from taking a position in relation to the political process, today’s situation obligates us to act in defence of the Israeli economy. In an age in which exports represent almost 50% of the gross domestic product, damage to Israel’s international position will immediately endanger jobs and households in Israel.” Therefore, said Ofer, “we must act with all the means at our disposal to call on the government of Israel to initiate a political initiative that will prevent any possibility of the imposition of a boycott on Israel.”

Dani Gillerman, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said “the morning after the expected recognition of a Palestinian state, a dramatic and painful process of South Africanisation of the state of Israel will commence. The economic quiet existing today in Israel is illusionary, and is very likely to explode immediately following the declaration. I continue even today to receive messages from senior Palestinian officials that the Palestinian side prefers a peace agreement over a unilateral move. Therefore, the (Israeli) prime minister must initiate a real political process which will allow this, and prevent a catastrophe from an Israeli perspective.”

Calcalist reports that “Until now”, Gilman added, “we enjoyed legitimacy despite the situation of occupied territories, but if the state will not do something we will be perceived as South Africa 2 and that will harm the economy.

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