Израел определи като "политическа атака" срещу еврейската държава посланието на синода за Близкия изток, свикан от папата във Ватикана, в което се настоява да се сложи край на израелската окупации на арабски територии. Изразяваме нашето разочарование от факта, че този важен синод се превърна в трибуна за политически нападки срещу Израел според най-добрата традиция на арабската пропаганда, заяви заместник-министърът на външните работи Дани Аялон. В посланието си синодът с участието на епископи в мнозинството си от Близкия изток поиска да се сложи край на израелската окупация на арабски територии и постанови, че израелската държава не може да се позовава на Библията, за да защищава политиката си на колонизация. Израел не може да използва термина "Обетована земя", фигуриращ в Библията, за да оправдае връщането на евреите в Израел и изселването на палестинците, заяви мелкитско-гръцкият епископ на Нютон, САЩ, монсеньор Салим Бутрос, председател на комисията за посланието на синода. Повечето еврейски духовници смятат, че земята на Израел е дадена на евреите от Бога, и еврейските заселници често цитират Библията, за да запазят властта си над Западния бряг на Йордан и Източен Ерусалим, окупирани след Шестдневната война през 1967 г. Говорителят на израелското външно министерство Игал Палмор обаче заяви, че свещените текстове никога не са били използвани от израелското правителство за оправдаване на окупацията или колонизацията на дадена територия. /АФП /
Boycott israHell!
Бойкот на израел и печелещите от окупацията! Boycott israHell and those who profit from occupation!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Women- Israeli Mother Addresses European Parliament
By Nurit Peled-Elhanan
Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the mother of Smadar Elhanan, 13 years old when killed by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem in September 1997. Below is Nurit's speech made on International Women's Day in Strasbourg.
Thank you for inviting me to this today. It is always an honour and a pleasure to be here, among you (at the European Parliament).
However, I must admit I believe you should have invited a Palestinian woman at my stead, because the women who suffer most from violence in my county are the Palestinian women. And I would like to dedicate my speech to Miriam R`aban and her husband Kamal, from Bet Lahiya in the Gaza strip, whose five small children were killed by Israeli soldiers while picking strawberries at the family`s strawberry field. No one
will ever stand trial for this murder.
will ever stand trial for this murder.
When I asked the people who invited me here why didn't they invite a Palestinian woman, the answer was that it would make the discussion too localized.
I don't know what is non-localized violence. Racism and discrimination may be theoretical concepts and universal phenomena but their impact is always local, and real. Pain is local, humiliation, sexual abuse,
torture and death, are all very local, and so are the scars. It is true, unfortunately, that the local violence inflicted on Palestinian women by the government of Israel and the Israeli army, has expanded around the globe, In fact, state violence and army violence, individual and collective violence, are the lot of Muslim
women today, not only in Palestine but wherever the enlightened western world is setting its big imperialistic foot. It is violence which is hardly ever addressed and which is halfheartedly condoned by most people in Europe and in the USA .
torture and death, are all very local, and so are the scars. It is true, unfortunately, that the local violence inflicted on Palestinian women by the government of Israel and the Israeli army, has expanded around the globe, In fact, state violence and army violence, individual and collective violence, are the lot of Muslim
women today, not only in Palestine but wherever the enlightened western world is setting its big imperialistic foot. It is violence which is hardly ever addressed and which is halfheartedly condoned by most people in Europe and in the USA .
This is because the so-called free world is afraid of the Muslim womb.
Great France of "la liberte égalite et la fraternite" is scared of little girls with head scarves. Great Jewish Israel is afraid of the Muslim womb which its ministers call a demographic threat.
Almighty America and Great Britain are infecting their respective citizens with blind fear of the Muslims, who are depicted as vile, primitive and blood-thirsty, apart from their being non-democratic, chauvinistic and mass producers of future terrorists. This in spite of the fact that the people who are destroying the world today are not Muslim. One of them is a devout Christian, one is Anglican and one is a non-devout Jew.
I have never experienced the suffering Palestinian women undergo every day, every hour, I don't know the kind of violence that turns a woman's life into constant hell. This daily physical and mental torture of women who are deprived of their basic human rights and needs of privacy and dignity, women whose hоmes are broken into at any moment of day and night, who are ordered at a gun-point to strip naked in front of strangers and their own children, whose houses are demolished , who are deprived of their livelihood and of any normal family life. This is not part of my personal ordeal. But I am a victim of violence against women insofar as violence against children is actually violence against mothers. Palestinian, Iraqi, Afghan women are my sisters because we are all at the grip of the same unscrupulous criminals who call themselves leaders of the
free enlightened world and in the name of this freedom and enlightenment rob us of our children.
free enlightened world and in the name of this freedom and enlightenment rob us of our children.
Furthermore, Israeli, American, Italian and British mothers have been for the most part violently blinded and brainwashed to such a degree that they cannot realize their only sisters, their only allies in the world are the Muslim Palestinian, Iraqi or Afghani mothers, whose children are killed by our children or who blow themselves to pieces with our sons and daughters. They are all mind-infected by the same viruses engendered by politicians. And the viruses , though they may have various illustrious names--such as Democracy, Patriotism, God, Homeland--are all the same. They are all part of false and fake ideologies that are meant to enrich the rich and to empower the powerful.
We are all the victims of mental, psychological and cultural violence that turn us to one homogenic group of bereaved or potentially bereaved mothers. Western mothers who are taught to believe their uterus is a national asset just like they are taught to believe that the Muslim uterus is an international threat. They are educated not to cry out: `I gave him birth, I breast fed him, he is mine, and I will not let him be the one whose life is cheaper than oil, whose future is less worth than a piece of land.` All of us are terrorized by mind-infecting education to believe all we can do is either pray for our sons to come back home or be proud of their dead bodies. And all of us were brought up to bear all this silently, to contain our fear and frustration, to take Prozac for anxiety, but never hail Mama Courage in public. Never be real Jewish or Italian or Irish mothers.I am a victim of state violence. My natural and civil rights as a mother have been violated and are violated because I have to fear the day my son would reach his 18th birthday and be taken away from me to
be the game tool of criminals such as Sharon, Bush, Blair and their clan of blood-thirsty, oil-thirsty, land thirsty generals..
be the game tool of criminals such as Sharon, Bush, Blair and their clan of blood-thirsty, oil-thirsty, land thirsty generals..
Living in the world I live in, in the state I live in, in the regime I live in, I don't dare to offer Muslim women any ideas how to change their lives. I don't want them to take off their scarves, or educate their children differently, and I will not urge them to constitute Democracies in the image of Western democracies that despise them and their kind. I just want to ask them humbly to be my sisters, to express my admiration for their perseverance and for their courage to carry on, to have children and to maintain a dignified family life in
spite of the impossible conditions my world in putting them in. I want to tell them we are all bonded by the same pain, we all the victims of the same sort of violence even though they suffer much more, for they
are the ones who are mistreated by my government and its army, sponsored by my taxes.
spite of the impossible conditions my world in putting them in. I want to tell them we are all bonded by the same pain, we all the victims of the same sort of violence even though they suffer much more, for they
are the ones who are mistreated by my government and its army, sponsored by my taxes.
Islam in itself, like Judaism in itself and Christianity in itself, is not a threat to me or to anyone. American imperialism is, European indifference and co-operation is and Israeli racism and its cruel regime of occupation is. It is racism, educational propaganda and inculcated xenophobia that convince Israeli soldiers to order
Palestinian women at gun-point, to strip in front of their children for security reasons, it is the deepest disrespect for the other that allow American soldiers to rape Iraqi women, that give license to Israeli jailers to keep young women in inhuman conditions, without necessary hygienic aids, without electricity in the winter, without clean water or clean mattresses and to separate them from their breast-fed babies and toddlers. To bar their way to hospitals, to block their way to education, to confiscate their lands, to uproot their trees and prevent them from cultivating their fields.
Palestinian women at gun-point, to strip in front of their children for security reasons, it is the deepest disrespect for the other that allow American soldiers to rape Iraqi women, that give license to Israeli jailers to keep young women in inhuman conditions, without necessary hygienic aids, without electricity in the winter, without clean water or clean mattresses and to separate them from their breast-fed babies and toddlers. To bar their way to hospitals, to block their way to education, to confiscate their lands, to uproot their trees and prevent them from cultivating their fields.
I cannot completely understand Palestinian women or their suffering. I don't know how I would have survived such humiliation, such disrespect from the whole world. All I know is that the voice of mothers has been suffocated for too long in this war-stricken planet. Mothers` cry is not heard because mothers are not invited to international forums such as this one. This I know and it is very little. But it is enough for me to remember these women are my sisters, and that they deserve that I should cry for them, and fight for them. And when they lose their children in strawberry fields or on filthy roads by the checkpoints, when their children are shot on their way to school by Israeli children who were educated to believe that love and compassion are
race and religion dependent, the only thing I can do is stand by them and their betrayed babies, and ask what Anna Akhmatova--another mother who lived in a regime of violence against women and children--asked:
race and religion dependent, the only thing I can do is stand by them and their betrayed babies, and ask what Anna Akhmatova--another mother who lived in a regime of violence against women and children--asked:
Why does that streak o blood, rip the petal of your cheek?
Friday, October 22, 2010
Free Ameer
| Every Human | ||
| To: Members in Every Human Has Rights | ||
Free Ameer Leading human rights activist from Israel, Ameer Makhoul is now entering his sixth month in jail in Israel after being accused of being a spy for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite any evidence against him, without free access to lawyers and following torture under interrogation according to the Union of Arab Community Based Organisations. “My human dignity, basic human rights and constitutional rights are suffering from basic violations,” said Ameer Makhoul, who is a Palestinian citizen. Ameer goes on trial next week and so we need to get as many signatures from across the world to call for his release. Please share the link: http://www.everyhumanhasrights.org/component/content/article/107 And invite all you know to the Cause! |
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Saturday 23rd of october: Join the Boycott Ahava and Veolia Demonstrations
Dear Friends,
This saturday 23rd of october in London, we are carrying on with our efforts to bring those who profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine down:
Join the fortnightly demonstration outside Ahava, which sells stolen goods manufactured in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem from 12pm to 2pm, 39 Monmouth Street Covent Garden. bring banners, leaflets and friends!
more info on the campaign against Ahava: http://freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com/ or www.ism-london.org.uk
Action against Veolia, complicit in maintaining and expanding illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank: 'Veolia The Alternative Exhibition" outside the Natural History Museum in South Kensington from 2pm to 5pm
(some of us present at the demonstration against Ahava will be going together)
more information on the Veolia action:
This saturday 23rd of october in London, we are carrying on with our efforts to bring those who profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine down:
Join the fortnightly demonstration outside Ahava, which sells stolen goods manufactured in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem from 12pm to 2pm, 39 Monmouth Street Covent Garden. bring banners, leaflets and friends!
more info on the campaign against Ahava: http://freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com/ or www.ism-london.org.uk
Action against Veolia, complicit in maintaining and expanding illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank: 'Veolia The Alternative Exhibition" outside the Natural History Museum in South Kensington from 2pm to 5pm
(some of us present at the demonstration against Ahava will be going together)
more information on the Veolia action:
"Veolia is the chief corporate sponsor of the Wildlife Photography Exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London.
For Veolia such sponsorship - with the corporate name and logo liberally sprinkled on publicity material at the museum- is a key part of projecting a caring, green and progressive image.
The reality is completely different: Veolia is actively complicit in helping Israeli maintain and expand the Illegal Settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. For this reason Veolia is one of the key targets of the international Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement.
This year (like last year) a protest is being planned outside the Natural History Museum to publicise Veolia's direct connection to Israel's illegal occupation. There are a few thousand people who go to the Natural History Museum on a Saturday and so this gives us a ready-made target audience.
We are organising 'Veolia-The Alternative Exhibition' outside the Museum. We will have large long sheets of hardboard and are asking everyone who comes to the protest to bring along pictures (cut from a newspaper / magazine or pictures printed off from the internet etc ) and to stick their pictures on the hardboard to create a montage of images of Israel's Occupation. The pictures do not need to relate directly to Veolia and can be any size. The idea is to create a visual association in the public's mind between Veolia and the Occupation. We will also have blank sheets for people to write comments.
The 'Alternative Exhibition' should give us a backdrop/talking point to engage with the public/passers-by. There will of course be the usual leafleting etc.
Hardboard sheets plus blutack for sticking up pictures will be provided. Please bring your pictures, banners and placards as well as yourself and other supporters. We will start at 2pm and aim to finish by 5pm; it is the same day as the fortnightly boycott Ahava demo, so the timing is designed to allow people to attend both if they want. Come along even if you can't make it for all of the time.
A number of London PSC branches and other solidarity activists have already said they are going to support this event - so please help us to build further on this. The more people we have the bigger the impact.
Attached to this e-mail is a short flyer on Veolia; could we ask you to circulate it to friends, supporters, post up on facebook etc
You can find out more info about Veolia's activities in Occupied Palestine by going to http://www.bigcampaign.org/index.php?page=veolia"
Hope to see you on saturday!!
In solidarity,
fellow campaigners for justice
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
МОНОЛОЗИТЕ НА ГАЗА
 17 октомври 2010 г. 16:00 - 18:00 |
| Националният дворец на децата,София |
| Форумът за арабска култура „Махмуд Даруиш” И Националният дворец на децата Ви канят да чуете МОНОЛОЗИТЕ НА ГАЗА Палестински деца говорят за своето ежедневие и мечтаят за бъдещето. Нека помечтаем заедно с тях и да ги подкрепим в стремежа им да постигнат мечтите си! Заповядайте в Националния дворец на децата – София, бул. „Ал. Стамболийски” № 191, Неделя, 17 октомври 2010 от 16,00 ч. ======================================= Международната културна инициатива, озаглавена „Монолози от Газа”, е подета от палестинската театрална трупа „Ищар” в името на пробив в блокадата на Ивицата Газа. „Монолозите на Газа” са авторски монолози на деца от Газа, които разказват за ...своя житейски опит преди и по време на войната срещу Газа. Монолозите представят чувствата на младите момчета и момичета от Газа – индивидуални, съкровени чувства, с които светът не би могъл да се запознае чрез медиите. Монолозите на Газа” ще отплават от крайбрежието на Ивицата с книжни корабчета сутринта на 17 септември 2010, за да тръгнат към държавите в света. Този път израелските военноморски части няма да има как да ги прихванат в териториалните води, няма да има как да стрелят по тях задето били подозрителни тела. И те ще отплават в открито море, за да поемат курс към световните пристанища, където да разтоварят товара си на световните театрални сцени на два етапа. За първия етап Театрална трупа „Ищар” търси партньори по цял свят, които да вземат участие в това културно и общочовешко приключение. Тя е събрала и превела текстовете на монолозите на различни езици, за да ги разпространи сред партньорите си, всеки от които ще подготви група деца на възраст между 14 и 18 години с интереси и заложби в областта на театъра, и те ще изнесат представление по монолозите – всеки на своя език – на 17 октомври т.г. Досега за участие в инициативата са откликнали театрални дейци от: арабските държави, Зимбабве, Великобритания, Испания, Гърция, Кипър, Норвегия, Швеция, Италия и др. |
Join us in pressuring the OECD to cancel its conference in Jerusalem
Dear friend,
These are hard but important days for us in Palestine. Just yesterday, my friend and coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, was sentenced to a year in prison by an Israeli military court. His sole crime was being an instrumental part in our village's campaign against the construction of the wall on our lands.
However, we mustn't allow our sadness about Abdallah's incarceration to stop our work. While Abdallah worked to highlight the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, Israel also constructs illegal infrastructure in East Jerusalem.
Between the 20th and 22nd of October, almost a week from today, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) plans to hold its bi-annual tourism conference in Jerusalem - a city whose indigenous Palestinian residents suffer from systemic discrimination and expulsion. There is not a moment to lose if we want to change this decision.
Despite Israel’s persistent violations of human rights and disregard for International law, the OECD – whose member countries include the majority of the world richest countries – granted Israel membership on May 27th of this year.
Tourism plays an important role in Israel’s colonization of occupied East Jerusalem. The state and right wing settler organizations cooperate in expelling Palestinians residents from East Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah for the creation of colonies and biblically theme parks for tourists.
Join us in calling on the OECD to cancel its tourism conference in Jerusalem. Please follow this link to send an email to Angel Gurría, the Secretary General of the OECD, and demand that his organization respect International law by canceling the planned OECD tourism conference in Jerusalem.
Help us highlight this injustice and voice your concern.
In solidarity,
Mohammed Khatib
Bil'in
These are hard but important days for us in Palestine. Just yesterday, my friend and coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, was sentenced to a year in prison by an Israeli military court. His sole crime was being an instrumental part in our village's campaign against the construction of the wall on our lands.
However, we mustn't allow our sadness about Abdallah's incarceration to stop our work. While Abdallah worked to highlight the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, Israel also constructs illegal infrastructure in East Jerusalem.
Between the 20th and 22nd of October, almost a week from today, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) plans to hold its bi-annual tourism conference in Jerusalem - a city whose indigenous Palestinian residents suffer from systemic discrimination and expulsion. There is not a moment to lose if we want to change this decision.
Despite Israel’s persistent violations of human rights and disregard for International law, the OECD – whose member countries include the majority of the world richest countries – granted Israel membership on May 27th of this year.
Tourism plays an important role in Israel’s colonization of occupied East Jerusalem. The state and right wing settler organizations cooperate in expelling Palestinians residents from East Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah for the creation of colonies and biblically theme parks for tourists.
Join us in calling on the OECD to cancel its tourism conference in Jerusalem. Please follow this link to send an email to Angel Gurría, the Secretary General of the OECD, and demand that his organization respect International law by canceling the planned OECD tourism conference in Jerusalem.
Help us highlight this injustice and voice your concern.
In solidarity,
Mohammed Khatib
Bil'in
Monday, October 11, 2010
Free Gaza's investigation has shown the following....
Regarding the attack on the flotilla, below is what we have found out. In addition, we are providing a link to the attack on the Irene from the 'most moral army in the world.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hphSiBrnBYw
Please distribute to your lists and, if in the US, write to your representatives asking them why we Americans support murder on the high seas. Greta Berlin
Please distribute to your lists and, if in the US, write to your representatives asking them why we Americans support murder on the high seas. Greta Berlin
- The military units are "Shayetet 13" (the navy commando unit).
- The helicopters that were used to drop them on the ship (according to the media and to the army spokesperson as well) are from The IAF's Black Hawk squadron. All the helicopters of the IAF, including the Black Hawk squadron, were given to Israel as part of the US military aid.
- The new black hawks given to Israel in 2002 (of the Lima model) are most likely the ones that were used in the attack on the Maramara.
- Almost all of the weapons used by the IDF are US made, and it is 100% clear that some was used to kill the passengers on the Mavi Marmara.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Pink Floyd Frontman Targeted By ADL For Criticizing Globalist Military Industrial Complex
Roger Waters: I’m not anti-semitic, I’m anti-occupation
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, Oct 7th, 2010
Legendary Rock group Pink Floyd’s main creative force, Roger Waters, is locked in a fierce battle with the Anti-Defamation League, after the group accused Waters of using anti-semitic imagery in his stage show.
The ADL claims that visuals accompanying the song “Goodbye Blue Sky” on Waters’ latest tour of the seminal 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall, are intended as “a comment about Jews and money.”
The backdrop, which can be seen in the video below, features huge dark bomber planes dropping a series of red symbols, which culminate in a sea of blood on the landscape below.
The symbols include crosses, a hammer and sickle, a crescent and star, a Mercedes logo and a Shell Oil logo, yet the ADL sees the inclusion of a Star of David along with Dollar signs as reprehensible.
“It is outrageous that Roger Waters has chosen to use the juxtaposition of a Jewish Star of David with the symbol of dollar signs.” an ADL statement issued by director Abraham Foxman last week read.
“While he insists that his intent was to criticize Israel’s West Bank security fence, the use of such imagery in a concert setting seems to leave the message open to interpretation, and the meaning could easily be misunderstood as a comment about Jews and money.”
Foxman added that Waters should have “chosen some other way to convey his political views without playing into and dredging up the worst age-old anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and their supposed obsession with making money”.
Waters has been open about his opposition to the Israeli fence for several years, and has publicly stated that The Wall live show is his form of protest against such imposed barriers.
The iconic song writer hit back at the accusations earlier this week with a letter published in The London Independent, asserting that he is not anti-semitic, but that he is vehemently anti-occupation.
“There are no hidden meanings in the order or juxtaposition of these symbols.” Waters writes.
“The point I am trying to make in the song is that the bombardment we are all subject to by conflicting religious, political and economic ideologies only encourages us to turn against one another, and I mourn the concomitant loss of life.”
The letter goes on to say that “In so far as The Wall has a political message it is to seek to illuminate our condition, and find new ways to encourage peace and understanding, particularly in the Middle East.”
Waters’ response has only encouraged the ADL to continue their accusations, however. In a response to Waters, Foxman writes:
“We have heard from many of your fans who have attended the concerts in the States and were shocked by the decision to immediately follow the Star of David with dollar signs,”
“We would ask, out of sensitivity to those who might be offended, that you change the order of the symbols so that the dollar signs are made to appear elsewhere in the show. For us, it would put this matter entirely to rest.”
Pink Floyd Frontman Targeted By ADL For Criticizing Globalist Military Industrial Complex 140410banner4
Waters isn’t about to do that however, noting that he has had an overwhelmingly positive response to the visuals, particularly from Jewish and Israeli fans.
Waters further commented that in his opinion the ADL intentionally goes after critics of Israel’s foreign policy by using anti-semitism as justification:
“It’s a screen that they hide behind. I don’t think they should be taken seriously on that. You can attack Israeli policy without being anti-Jewish,” Waters told The Independent.
“It’s like saying if you criticise the US policy you are being anti-Christian. I’m critical of the Israeli policy of occupying Palestinian land and their policy of building settlements, which is entirely illegal under international law, and also of ghettoising the people whose land they are building on.
“It’s that foreign policy I’m against. It’s nothing to do with the religion.”
Clearly the ADL did not watch the live show before making the accusations against Waters, or they are once again intentionally seeking to garner media coverage by creating a false impression of the artist’s intention.
As we have documented, the group has a history of attacking politically active groups and individuals as peddlers of hate, often because they simply disagree with government policy. It is no coincidence that the group consistently lands lucrative government contracts and tie-ins.
ADL director Foxman has been described by former colleagues as a loose cannon who routinely “hatches crackpot ideas” and “foolish initiatives” to generate publicity.
——————————————————————
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor at Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and regular contributor to Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, Oct 7th, 2010
Legendary Rock group Pink Floyd’s main creative force, Roger Waters, is locked in a fierce battle with the Anti-Defamation League, after the group accused Waters of using anti-semitic imagery in his stage show.
The ADL claims that visuals accompanying the song “Goodbye Blue Sky” on Waters’ latest tour of the seminal 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall, are intended as “a comment about Jews and money.”
The backdrop, which can be seen in the video below, features huge dark bomber planes dropping a series of red symbols, which culminate in a sea of blood on the landscape below.
The symbols include crosses, a hammer and sickle, a crescent and star, a Mercedes logo and a Shell Oil logo, yet the ADL sees the inclusion of a Star of David along with Dollar signs as reprehensible.
“It is outrageous that Roger Waters has chosen to use the juxtaposition of a Jewish Star of David with the symbol of dollar signs.” an ADL statement issued by director Abraham Foxman last week read.
“While he insists that his intent was to criticize Israel’s West Bank security fence, the use of such imagery in a concert setting seems to leave the message open to interpretation, and the meaning could easily be misunderstood as a comment about Jews and money.”
Foxman added that Waters should have “chosen some other way to convey his political views without playing into and dredging up the worst age-old anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and their supposed obsession with making money”.
Waters has been open about his opposition to the Israeli fence for several years, and has publicly stated that The Wall live show is his form of protest against such imposed barriers.
The iconic song writer hit back at the accusations earlier this week with a letter published in The London Independent, asserting that he is not anti-semitic, but that he is vehemently anti-occupation.
“There are no hidden meanings in the order or juxtaposition of these symbols.” Waters writes.
“The point I am trying to make in the song is that the bombardment we are all subject to by conflicting religious, political and economic ideologies only encourages us to turn against one another, and I mourn the concomitant loss of life.”
The letter goes on to say that “In so far as The Wall has a political message it is to seek to illuminate our condition, and find new ways to encourage peace and understanding, particularly in the Middle East.”
Waters’ response has only encouraged the ADL to continue their accusations, however. In a response to Waters, Foxman writes:
“We have heard from many of your fans who have attended the concerts in the States and were shocked by the decision to immediately follow the Star of David with dollar signs,”
“We would ask, out of sensitivity to those who might be offended, that you change the order of the symbols so that the dollar signs are made to appear elsewhere in the show. For us, it would put this matter entirely to rest.”
Pink Floyd Frontman Targeted By ADL For Criticizing Globalist Military Industrial Complex 140410banner4
Waters isn’t about to do that however, noting that he has had an overwhelmingly positive response to the visuals, particularly from Jewish and Israeli fans.
Waters further commented that in his opinion the ADL intentionally goes after critics of Israel’s foreign policy by using anti-semitism as justification:
“It’s a screen that they hide behind. I don’t think they should be taken seriously on that. You can attack Israeli policy without being anti-Jewish,” Waters told The Independent.
“It’s like saying if you criticise the US policy you are being anti-Christian. I’m critical of the Israeli policy of occupying Palestinian land and their policy of building settlements, which is entirely illegal under international law, and also of ghettoising the people whose land they are building on.
“It’s that foreign policy I’m against. It’s nothing to do with the religion.”
Clearly the ADL did not watch the live show before making the accusations against Waters, or they are once again intentionally seeking to garner media coverage by creating a false impression of the artist’s intention.
As we have documented, the group has a history of attacking politically active groups and individuals as peddlers of hate, often because they simply disagree with government policy. It is no coincidence that the group consistently lands lucrative government contracts and tie-ins.
ADL director Foxman has been described by former colleagues as a loose cannon who routinely “hatches crackpot ideas” and “foolish initiatives” to generate publicity.
——————————————————————
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor at Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and regular contributor to Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Settler drives into Palestinian boys
Director of settler organisation hits two children after they hurled stones at his vehicle in East Jerusalem. Last Modified: 08 Oct 2010 23:57 GMT |
| The leader of an Israeli settler organisation has hit two Palestinian boys with his car after they hurled stones at his vehicle in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, David Be'eri was in his car with his son as the Palestinian children hurled stones at them on Friday. He hit the children while trying to get away. The two masked boys, Imran Mansur, 11, and Iyad Gheit, 10, were standing in the road among a group throwing stones when a car drove round the corner and ploughed into them, witnesses at the scene said. Mansur was thrown into the air and bounced off the car's windscreen before crashing to the ground. The car stopped briefly before driving off. He suffered a broken leg, while the other boy was taken to hospital to have glass removed from his arm. The incident occurred after Friday prayers, raising tensions in the area that has seen regular clashes between hardline Jewish settlers and local residents. Be'eri is a well-known right-wing activist and is the director of Elad, a settler organisation that runs the City of David in East Jerusalem. He was taken in for questioning by police and released on bail. Israeli police officers say the investigation against him will continue. |
Rally-goers put jobs ahead of military aid
 Above: Harry Belafonte speaking at "One Nation Working Together" rally |
At last Saturday's "One Nation Working Together" march on Washington, multitudes of progressive causes arrayed across the National Mall. Whether or not rally-goers noticed the connection, their resounding themes, including "justice," "jobs," "peace" and "quality education," constitute an essential wish-list for Palestinians too.
While the US Campaign leafletted a stream of marchers in one shady corner of the Mall, tens of thousands stood in the sun before the Lincoln Memorial, where musician-activist Harry Belafonte, Jr., passionately denounced militarism (watch video here).
"This is America's wake-up call," Belafonte said. "All Americans will soon come to the realization that the wars that we wage today in faraway lands are immoral, unconscionable, and unwinnable."
The crowd replied in affirmative thunder. Talking with hundreds of other activists and visitors throughout the day, US Campaign staff and volunteers were heartened by a positive reception too – at our calls for help to end military aid to Israel (video here).
The crowd applauded when he said "the giant called democracy is at last stirring again." We encouraged marchers to ask why democracy for Palestinian citizens of Israel is being dismantled, as seen in the recent censure of Haneen Zoabi, a Palestinian Member of the Israeli Knesset.
Belafonte championed "jobs, jobs, jobs." We found some people already aware of the lines of unemployed workers in the West Bank, their mobility restricted by checkpoints, and their farms fenced off and guarded by Israeli troops.
In principle, a civil society disgusted with militarism and wasteful policy should be able to mobilize against the flow of $30 billion from U.S. taxpayers into Israeli military projects, which President Obama has affirmed for the fiscal decade 2009-2018.
That remains OUR daily focus, not only for the US Campaign and many of its member groups, but other initiatives around the nation:
This week in Chicago, the Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine (a U.S. Campaign member) succeeded in placing bright, persuasive ads throughout the transit system, calling explicitly for stopping that military aid. Passengers on Chicago's "El" trains will see the ads for a full month. In Georgia, legislators received an eloquent petition for divestment from Israel by the state's Green Party. Tonight, documentarian Simone Bitton's film "Rachel" will open in New York City, telling the story of Rachel Corrie. If these calls reached President Obama with enough intensity, he would have to do as our National Advocacy Director recently wrote in the Huffington Post, and "cut off military aid to Israel ... until a time that Israel was prepared to negotiate in good faith with Palestinians on the basis of human rights, international law, and UN resolutions."
In the meantime, our campaign keeps growing, joined by more Americans who know that this can be done!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Simone Bitton’s film "RACHEL" screening in NY
RACHEL, the controversial documentary from award-winning filmmaker Simone Bitton and distributed by Women Make Movies, will screen at Anthology Film Archives from October 8-14. Simone Bitton will be in attendance on October 8 for a Q&A after each screening.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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:
Thanks again to everyone!
Pete, Joe and Jo
Monday, September 20, 2010
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.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
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
Edinburgh University, David Hume Tower, George Square.
SPSC & Students for Justice in Palestine
Glasgow: Monday Sep 20th @ 7.30pm
STUC offices, 333 Woodlands Rd
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
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
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)
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)
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)
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
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
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)
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.”Harry Cohen, Labour Member of Parliament for Leyton and Wanstead
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
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
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
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
Thursday, September 16, 2010
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/fro
Al jazeera report :-
http://www.youtube.com/wat
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/fro
Al jazeera report :-
http://www.youtube.com/wat
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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 /
Monday, September 13, 2010
A letter to the people of Israel
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
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