little bits and shirking your democratic principles

Yaay. I read this before, or maybe saw some photos. I will track it and them down tomorrow. For the time being, via Antony Loewenstein and via Ma'an news agency comes this bit of good news:

Palestinian and international demonstrators managed to convince Israeli settlers to re-route a road around a West Bank village on Sunday, a house from demolition.

By nonviolently blocking construction vehicles on their way to build a road in the village of Umm Al-Kheir, the protesters forced Israelis from the settlement of Karmel to change the route of the planned road, according to fieldworkers with the organization Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).

Antony also adds: Relying on US influence to shift this outrage is probably a fool’s game.

It's all those little bits again, though if their sum total was more than the little bits and pieces that Palestinians unfortunately find their lives, pride and day to day life in, then we'd be getting somewhere.

________________________________________________________________

Added May 1st.

Israeli riot policemen violently arrest Feminist activists out side “Ha Yarkon” police station in center Tel Aviv on the 30/4/2009.
50 activists protested the investigation of “new profile” a feminist organization that is active against the militarism in the Israeli society.
Last week, Israeli police raided the house of 7 activists from “new profile”, confiscating computers and arresting the activists for investigation in the suspicion of “promoting draft-dodging”.
Protestors said the investigation is and attack on freedom of speech and against all the radical organizations.Photo by: Meni Berman/ Activestills.org

The harassment and arrest of peace workers in Israel is quite worrying, though. Though not really a new development, though maybe it has stepped up under the new government. Uri Avnery has this post: Witchhunt against peace seekers

"The police assault on activists of 'New Profile' and 'The Center for the Defence of the Individual', the detention of activists, among them grandmothers, and confiscation of computers constitutes a severe attack on the Freedom of Speech in Israel" warns Uri Avnery of the Gush Shalom movement. "The activity of New Profile – an organization which opposes the militarism of Israeli society and gives counseling to Conscientious Objectors – is considered by the police to be 'incitng to shirking' - a severe legal charge.

and Mondoweiss also reported on it yesterday.

This is from a speech Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield made at a pro-Israel rally on the 4th of January, smack bang in the middle of the Gaza slaughter, which he justified.

Israel is a beacon of hope and liberty in the Middle East. It is a great and robust democracy. The people of Israel are free and always will be. And Australia will stand by them.

Free all except the ones who aren't free (let's not even get started on the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails, and then all those fortunate free Palestinians jailed in open air prison Gaza, and living with severe restrictions on movement in the rest of the occupied territories, and even within Israel itself).

They aren't watchtowers, they're beacons.

And Australia will...? *sigh*

Being a patriotic Australian, I guess Fifield is aware of this World War 1 connection of the ANZACs to Palestine. I will blog about it at some point.