a request from gordon, klein and chomsky

From the wonderful Jewish Voice for Peace:

Every so often someone comes along who is so brave and so inspiring that you just can't sit by and remain silent when you learn they need your help.
We're writing to you today about one of these rare people.
His name is Ezra Nawi.
You've probably never heard of him, but because you may know our names, now you will know his name.

Ezra Nawi is one of Israel's most courageous human rights activists and without your help, he will likely go to jail in less than 30 days.
His crime? He tried to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins in the South Hebron region. These homes and the families who live in them have been under Israeli occupation for 42 years.. They still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. They are continuously harassed by Jewish settlers and the military.
Nawi's friends have launched a campaign to generate tens of thousands of letters to Israeli embassies all over the world before he is due to be sentenced in July. They've asked for your help.

His name is Ezra Nawi.
We keep saying his name because we believe that the more people know him and know his name, the harder it will be for the Israeli military to send him quietly to jail.
And Ezra Nawi is anything but quiet.
He is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic.
He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade.
He has dedicated his life to helping those who are trampled on. He has stood by Jewish single mothers who pitched tents in front of the Knesset while struggling for a living wage, and by Palestinians threatened with expulsion from their homes.
He is loved by those with little power, to whom he dedicates his life, and hated by the Jewish settlers, military and police.

Now that you know Ezra, you have a chance to stand up for him, and for everything that he represents. Especially now, as Israel escalates its crackdown on human rights and pro-democracy activists.

He needs you. His friends need you. Those he helps every day need you. So please send a letter to the Consulate, to the media, to your family and friends.
Take just a moment to write your letter. Do it now. And then share his name with a friend. Do it for Ezra Nawi.

Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Neve Gordon

* Noam Chomsky photo by Donna Coveney, MIT

Sorry about the signatures above. I had to copy the email. But if you go to the Jewish voice for Peace site to send a letter, you can find the original information. The links are included all throughout the letter.

I am eight months pregnant

Being pregnant, I couldn’t run fast. After about one hundred meters, the settlers caught me. One of them hit me in my right arm and left leg with his stick. The other settler threw a stone at me, which hit me in the left leg. Then one of them pushed me, and I fell onto some thorns. My arm and leg hurt a lot. When I fell, the two settlers left me and ran toward the farmers and other shepherds. I remained there, crying. I was in terrible pain.

After a few minutes, Amneh and Khadrah ran over to me and helped me get up. They lifted me up with the help of the children and laid me on the donkey that we had brought with us, and returned me to the village. I was in such great pain that I thought my arm has been broken. I was still crying when we reached the village. An Israeli ambulance came and the medical team gave me first-aid. Then the Israeli police and two army jeeps of the Civil Administration arrived. I told them what happened. Around 11:00 A.M., a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance came and took me to ‘Aliyah Government Hospital, in Hebron.

At the hospital, they examined me and X-rayed me. They found that my arm was not broken. I was very lucky, and the fetus was not harmed. I remained in the hospital for two or three hours, and then went home. My arm swelled up and I am still in pain, a week after the incident.
A Palestinian policeman at the hospital took my complaint. I did not go to the Israeli police because I don’t feel well enough, and because I need somebody to accompany me to Kiryat Arba to do that.(Continue reading)

a country that respects human rights

I think I will preface all of my posts on the Durban 2 conference on racism with these three quotes. If anyone reads regularly, you would have seen two of them before. The first is from the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, who urged attendance, and pointed out that:

. . . only six of the 341 paragraphs on Durban 1 singled out Israel, while there was also a resolution stating that the Holocaust “must never be forgotten”

The second is from Ha'aretz, who is not quite so hysterical with cries of anti-semitism as many western papers seem to be, and who state quite matter of factly:

The United States and Israel walked out of the first UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, to protest against an attempted resolution comparing Zionism to racism.

You might want to ask some Palestinians about that, seeing as they are under occupation due to Zionist beliefs. Maybe it is true.

The third quote is from UN Association of Australia president John Langmore: He concedes that at the 2001 conference attempts to misuse the talks to criticise Israel had taken place (but I wonder, if we return to the opening statistics put forward by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society), he also said that:

The 2001 World Conference Against Racism declared "the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination" while also recognising "the right to security for all states in the region, including Israel." [My emphasis].

Well, that's what the international community all agree on, isn't it? So what is the problem?

Further information on the Durban Conference website (IV. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) states :

In her October 6, 2008 speech, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay acknowledged the antisemitism of the 2001 NGO Forum, while minimizing its implications:

Seven years ago at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, the virulent anti-Semitic behaviour of a few non-governmental organizations on the sidelines of the Durban Conference overshadowed the critically important work of the Conference. Measures were taken to address this betrayal of the core principles of the Durban Conference, and the NGO document was not forwarded to the Conference. [My emphasis].

and

In his December 12, 2008 article, "Distortions plague anti-racism conference," Rupert Colville, Spokesperson of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights writes “The purpose of this Durban Review Conference (sometimes misleadingly referred to as ‘Durban II’) is to examine the implementation of the outcome document of the World Conference against Racism which took place in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. Unfortunately both newspapers replay a number of factual distortions which have become increasingly widespread on the internet over the past year, including numerous references to the review conference as an anti-Semitic ‘hate-fest’.” [My emphasis. The papers he is referring to are The Australian and The Wall Street Journal which ran articles on the Durban conference].

Australian Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tom Calma, will lead an Australian delegation of three officials to the talks. He represents Australia's top human rights body. He said

... he had not observed either anti-Semitic or anti-Islamic sentiment in the preparations for the conference and urged both the Government and Opposition to send representatives.

Julie Bishop, the opposition foreign affairs spokesperson does not want Australia to attend, and our own government still seems to be sending human rights officials as opposed to government representatives, but it is better than nothing, which might have been the case. Julie Bishop fears it will become a platform for anti-Semitism, but I think Israel fears that it might become a platform for criticism against [it] for its occupation of Palestinian territories. Well, that's not anti-semitism, that's called having a conscience. At the same time, Israel said in January, in the midst of the onslaught of Gaza, that:

the Foreign Ministry considers the "Durban 2" World Conference against Racism, scheduled for April in Geneva, as the point when they can determine the extent to which Israel's standing as a democratic country that respects human rights has been damaged. Israel has rallied many countries against the conference on the grounds that it will become a platform for anti-Semitism, and has also announced, along with the United States and Canada, that it will boycott the conference. [My emphasis].

Considering Israel is not attending the conference, has convinced many other countries not to attend, or to be leery of the conference; considering its forces killed 1400 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, many of them children, might mean that its standing as a democratic country that respects human rights has been damaged quite severely. But I forget myself. Black is white, and Israel does not have to fear any criticism because no-one will be there to criticise them, (or to criticise other governments who do not respect human rights, either), if the Julie Bishops and Kevin Rudds of the world have their way.

Calma said:

the Geneva conference would examine issues critical to the role of national human rights institutions, such as policing and diversity and the rights of indigenous peoples.

"These are matters that governments need to engage on a global level in order to ensure that their policies are in line with international standards. It is also an opportunity to share good practices in these areas."

Hear, hear! Considering Australia has recently committed to honouring an election promise of signing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Langmore, in the same article, says:

"It is about the issue of racial discrimination, and that is a problem in our country and in a great many others, and we have some experience in trying to handle it, but we also have some lessons to learn from other countries," he said.

While Professor Langmore conceded attempts to misuse the talks to criticise Israel had taken place, he said it was an overreaction and a self-defeating gesture for Australia not to attend. "If you are concerned to ensure equitable principles are developed and applied, then you need to participate — Australia needs to participate," he said. [My emphasis].

Many Americans also feel that their country should be concerned about ensuring [that] equitable principles are developed and applied, and are also concerned about racial [and sexual] discrimination, as seen from the 92 signatories of human rights and civil groups, and individuals in the U.S. who are urging the Obama administration to attend (the U.S. has so far decided to boycott). Those signatures can be found at the end of this post. The open letter was published in Ha'aretz, which shows that the Israeli media is paying close attention to this issue, even if other media is not.

The points that the signatories raise are eloquently argued, but too long for this post. I have posted the article in full before, and it is linked to at the end of this entry, or go to the source, here. The sub-titles within their letter summarise why the signatories think the Obama administration should attend Durban, and those titles are listed following this paragraph. If one really believes that a democratic world with equality for all is the way to go, then what dispute is there with the ideas that are being expressed?:

Refusing to Discuss Racism on a Global Platform is Inconsistent with a Policy of Engagement with the International Community

The United States Should be Fighting for the Strongest Protections against Racism

Specific Objections Raised do not Warrant a Boycott

The United States Must Not Attempt to Ignore our History of Slavery

The United States Must Engage the Global Fight for Racial Justice in Good Faith

The Current Position of Non-Participation is worse than that of the Bush Administration

A United States Refusal to Discuss Racism Encourages Other Countries to do the same

So at least Australia will have a face at the Durban Review Conference, which means that we must be slightly better than the Bush administration, or is that the Obama administration? The conference seems to be labelled as a racism forum in the press, but is really anti-racist, or is about tackling racism. As Mr Calma said of the Australian government, and the opposition:

"I'd encourage them to participate, I don't think it's going to compromise anything."

___________________________________________________________________

Other posts referencing Durban 2 in lizardrinking are as follows:
Durban 2 - Americans who want Obama to Attend
Still no decision
It's all in the genes
Stories and Controversies
I guess Catholics just don't like them

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Organizational Signatures on the open letter to Obama.

1. Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
2. Alianza Latinoamericana por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes, ALDI
3. Black Alliance for Just Immigration
4. Black Workers for Justice - Europe (BWJ-e)
5. BLACK Advisors
6. Center for Constitutional Rights
7. Cidadao Global
8. Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European, and Latino Immigrants of Illinois
9. Coalition to Save Harlem
10. Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
11. Croydon African Caribbean Family
12. Equal Justice Society
13. Equality Now
14. Four Freedoms Forum
15. Global Afrikan Congressuk
16. Hawai'i Institute for Human Rights
17. Highlander Research and Education Center
18. International Action Center
19. Justice Now
20. Labor/Community Strategy Center
21. Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
22. Maria Iñamagua Campaign for Justice
23. Matahari: Eye of the Day
24. The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute
25. Minnesota Tenants Union
26. Movement for Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA)
27. National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Branch
28. National Conference of Black Lawyers
29. National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
30. National Lawyers Guild
31. National Lawyers Guild - Minnesota Chapter
32. National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
33. National Rail Maritime and Transport Union 0543 Local Finsbury Park Branch
34. Norbertines of the Priory of St. Moses the Black
35. NY Solidarity Coalition with Katrina & Rita Survivors and the Survivors Assembly
36. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
37. Urban Justice Center
38. Willets Point Defense Committee
39. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
40. Women of Color United
(please see individual signatures on next page)

Individual Signatures (with organizational affiliation for identification purposes only)

1. Ajamu Baraka, Executive Director, US Human Rights Network
2. Alexandra Oprea, Senior Editor, UCLA Law Review, Vol. 57
3. Aleyamma Mathew, Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action
4. Alice J. Palmer, Chicago, Co-Chair of the People Programme
5. Amelia Parker, Program Coordinator, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law
6. Amy Agigian, Center for Women's Health and Human Rights, Suffolk University
7. André Degbeon, Founder, AFRO TV BERLIN
8. Andrés Castro, Founder/Managing Ed., The Teacher's Voice
9. Ann Fagan Ginger, The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute
10. Anthony Gifford, Barrister (UK) and Attorney-at-law (Jamaica)
11. Asantewaa Gail Harris, Community Vision Council
12. Bill Fletcher, Jr., Executive Editor, BlackCommentator.com
13. Brenda Stokely, New York Solidarity Coalition with Katrina & Rita survivors
14. Charles Amjad-Ali, Ph.D., Th.D., The Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Justice and Christian Community, Director Islamic Studies Program, Luther Seminary
15. Council Member Charles Barron, New York City Council
16. Chris Crass, Catalyst Project
17. Clarence C. Gravlee, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida
18. Colin Rajah, International Migrant Rights & Global Justice Program Director, National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
19. Professor Connie de la Vega, University of San Francisco, School of Law
20. Dr. Corann Okorodudu, Professor of Psychology & Coordinator, Africana Studies
21. Daniel Hazen, Board Member, US Human Rights Network
22. David Gespass, President-Elect of the National Lawyers Guild
23. David Kreindler, Vermont Workers' Center
24. David Wildman, Executive Secretary, Human Rights & Racial Justice Mission, Contexts & Relationships, General Board of Global Ministries United Methodist Church
25. Dawn Stanger, Vermont Workers' Center
26. Denise Williams, Ph.D., Negotiation, Conflict Resolution & Peacebuilding, California State University Dominguez Hills
27. Ms. Diane King, Director, Seeking Joint Solution
28. Dianne Burnham, Ohio Valley PEACE, Outreach
29. Donald H. Smith, Ph.D., Past President, the National Alliance of Black School Educators; Former chair, the Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry, the John Henrik Clarke House, New York City
30. Dowoti Désir, Founder of the DDPA Watch Group
31. Ms. Dra Barryl A. Biekman, President of the African European Women's Movement "Sophiedela"; Chair of the National Platform Dutch Slavery; Past President of the Pan African Strategic and Policy Group (Panafstrag Europe EU/NL; Board member of Tiye International
32. Edith M. Jackson, Howard University
33. Edward L. Palmer, Chicago, Co-Chair of the People Programme
34. Ellen Raider, Independent Commission on Public Education
35. Emira Woods, Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies
36. Eric Mann, Author, Dispatches from Durban: The World Conference Against Racism and Post-September 11 Movement Strategies.
37. Erika Simard, Vermont Workers' Center
38. Eva Paterson, President, Equal Justice Society
39. Francisco Ramos, Executive Director, Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European, and Latino Immigrants of Illinois. (CAAAELII)
40. Gary Orfield, Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning. Co-Director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA
41. Gerardo Renique, Associate Professor, Department of History, City College of the City University of New York
42. Dr. Gloria A. Caballero-Roca, Hispanic Studies, Earlham College
43. Gwendolyn Anderson, Member, NEA, WEAC and Milwaukee Teachers Association
44. Henrietta Faulconer, Northside Neighbors for Justice
45. Ignatious Muhammad, Member, Nation of Islam
46. Dr. Irma Loemban Tobing-Klein, President MDG Global Watch
47. Iwan Leeuwin, Chairperson, AAD Network in the Netherlands
48. James Haslam, Vermont Workers' Center
49. James Rowan, Northeastern University School of Law
50. Dr. Jason M. Ferreira, Department of Race and Resistance Studies College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University
51. Jeanne Mirer, Secretary General of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers
52. Rev. Jeremy Tobin, Board Member, US Human Rights Network and Executive Board, Movement for Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA)
53. Jerrika Rivera, President, Asociacion Latina DBA Latina Association
54. Jewel L. Crawford, MD, National Medical Association; Participant, UN World Conference Against Racism, 2001
55. Joanna Cuevas Ingram, Student Member, National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco
56. Joceline A. Clemencia, Director Cultural Institute Independence, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
57. John A. Powell, Executive Director, the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
58. Jonathan Kissam, Vermont Workers' Center
59. Jose R. Matus, Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras
60. Joshua Cooper, Director, Hawaii Institute for Human Rights
61. Kalin Williams, Malcom X Grassroots Movement
62. Katie Seitz, Teaching for Change
63. K-C Nat Turner, Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
64. Keith Jennings, President, African American Human Rights Foundation
65. Kristine Suozzi, Ph.D., New Mexico Health Equity Working Group Coordinator
66. Dr. Lady Dhyana Ziegler, Professor of Journalism, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida
67. Laura Roskos, Ph.D., Co-President of U.S. Section, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
68. Lisa A. Crooms, Howard University School of Law
69. Loretta J. Ross, National Coordinator, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective
70. Lucy Murphy, Convenor, Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington
71. Lynn Roberts, PhD, Assistant Professor & Coordinator, Community Health Education Track, Urban Public Health Program, Hunter College
72. M. Thandabantu Iverson, Ph.D., Indiana University Labor Studies Program, School of Social Work
73. Madeline Labriola, Hudson Valley PaxChristi
74. Marc Pilisuk, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, The University of California. Professor, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center
75. Marilyn Fischer, Franciscans International
76. Martin Y. Iguchi, Ph.D., UCLA School of Public Health
77. Dr. Martin C. Okeke, (PhD) Former President of the Organisation NIDOE-France, Vice President PanAFSTRAG-France
78. Matt McGrath, Vermont Workers' Center
79. Mavis G. Biekman, Board Member, African European Women's Movement Sophiedela, The Hague, The Netherlands
80. Monami Maulik, DRUM-Desis Rising Up & Moving
81. Monique Ndigo Washington, The Healing Drum Collective
82. Nancy J. Bothne, Instructor, DePaul University
83. Nancy Munger, Co-President of U.S. Section, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
84. Nina T. Harawa, MPH, PhD, Department of Research, Charles Drew University
85. Nkem Dike, Northwestern University, IL
86. Nzingha Assata, Founding Member, The Alliance of Afrikan Women in England
87. Peg Franzen, Vermont Workers Center
88. Mr. Philip M. J. Baptiste, III, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc
89. Queen Quet, Founder, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition
90. Radhika Balakrishnan, Professor of Economics and International Studies , Marymount Manhattan College
91. Raj Patel, Affiliation. UC Berkeley Center for African Studies
92. Ramona Ortega, Executive Director, Cidadao Glo

how a moral army should be investigated

Maybe there is not a single moral army in the world. More than likely, after all, the two concepts seem to kind of cancel each other out, but there are international laws that govern the rules of engagement, and recently a U.S. soldier was imprisoned for 35 years for the murder of prisoners in Iraq. This seems to be the kind of investigation that should be held into soldiers' actions, not the whitewash that promises an investigation, but never delivers, and which protects its members from investigation, or which only investigates them if there is more than enough of a public outcry, and even then, which often gives lenient or no sentences for crimes committed* (see end of this post). Spain is investigating crimes against humanity that it is alleged Israel committed in Palestine in 2002. The reason why Spain decided to pursue the investigation is due to the fact that Israel was not investigating it. B'tselem, the Israeli human rights watch, and other human rights groups issued this press release on the 19th of March, this year:

Circumstances point to the inadequacy of internal military investigations. The Military Advocate General only ordered the opening of an investigation by the Military Criminal Investigation Division following the publication of the Haaretz story, three weeks after the relevant materials reached the Chief of the General Staff. This tardiness follows a pattern of failures to investigate suspicions of serious crimes and illegitimate officer orders. Such partial investigation represents only a fraction of the necessary attention into this matter and raises suspicions that the norms of whitewashing serious crimes have spread across all ranks of the army. Read more.

Indeed, this infamous video from 2008 of a soldier shooting a handcuffed, blindfolded Palestinian detainee in the foot - was the only reason that the soldier supposedly got investigated. Strangely enough, it made it to international the news. I remember reading about it at the time. From B'Tselem:

According to press reports, the Military Police have opened an investigation and arrested the soldier who fired the shot. Apparently, until the video was aired, the army did not conduct a Military Police investigation, and settled for an operational debriefing. According to the reports, the debriefing reached the desk of the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Division Commander, who failed to inform the Military Police or the Judge Advocate General’s Office, or to take any measures against the soldier or the battalion commander. Residents of Ni’lin stated that, the day after the incident, they saw the soldier still serving in his unit.

I haven't read of any follow up. Maybe the fact that the Israeli Ministry of Justice lawyers have said:

“The State of Israel is at war with the Palestinian people, people against people, collective against collective”,

justifies every and all actions, though as stated at the beginning, democracies and signatories to the Geneva conventions and so on, surely have rules of engagement, particularly pertaining to civilians. Again, from B'Tselem:

... it is not correct to define the situation in the Occupied Territories as armed conflict. Some of the actions taking place in the Occupied Territories are indeed combat actions, but a significant number of IDF actions - at checkpoints, in dispersing demonstrations in which the Palestinian side does not open fire, in arresting Palestinians - are normal police actions of the kind that were carried out by soldiers in the first intifada. Furthermore, even if the situation is one of armed conflict, the army is still required to investigate attacks on civilians. Armed conflict, too, has rules, and intentional attacks on the civilian population are forbidden. To ensure that soldiers comply with these rules, such incidents must be investigated.

If you look at Alison Weir's video below, Off the charts, even before this Gaza offensive, the number of Palestinian children who died, or have been injured (losing eyes, shots to the head) is unbelievable and tragic, even in so called peace times.

The soldiers' testimonies from recent Ha'aretz articles which have been supported by human rights reports, Palestinian reports and AP reports, have been "debunked" in both the States, the blogosphere, and in elements of Israel as "hearsay", accusations of blood libel being thrown out - more likely heresy in that someone is speaking the truth. So why not investigate it, rather than throwing PR into full spin, and smearing everyone who speaks out? What is there to hide?

As an endnote, the sentences handed out to settlers who murder Palestinians are laughable, also.

...[E]mergency laws ... allow Israeli civilians residing outside sovereign state territory to be tried in Israeli courts under the purview of Israeli criminal law. In contrast, Palestinian citizens are tried in military tribunals that use a different set of laws and punishments.

As such, a settler may be released on bail and given probation for a crime that would land a Palestinian in custody until the end of legal proceedings, followed by a long prison sentence. Prior proposals to transfer some cases of crimes by settlers to military court jurisdiction were rejected under defense establishment pressure.

*And this from a 2007 US Department of State report, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, (which also details abuses committed by the western-backed Palestinian authority, and Palestinians), part of which details the [lack of] action taken against police and soldiers in the occupied territories when they commit crimes, or within Israel itself, so the same kind of leniency will be shown to the soldiers who fought in Gaza, I expect:

On January 19, a border policeman killed Nadim Milham, an Israeli Arab, while reportedly searching for weapons in his home. A family member reported that police beat Milham and shot him when he attempted to escape; the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel (Mossawa) claimed to have evidence that Milham was shot twice from behind. On November 21, the State Prosecutor's Office indicted the policeman for manslaughter; however, there was no further action by year's end.
...
On August 11, an Israeli Border Police soldier fired a rubber bullet at the head of Lymor Goldstein, an Israeli demonstrator protesting construction of the separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bil'in, injuring him and requiring surgery to remove the bullet. No action was taken against the police.
...
There were no developments in the September 2005 case in which IDF soldiers forced residents of a home in Tulkarm to undress in the street or the November 2005 report that IDF soldiers assaulted Palestinian students in Hebron.

There are many more stories and much more information in the report.

it's all in the genes

Update to yesterday's post: Well, at least the U.S. has been protesting the randomness of the supplies that Israel lets into Gaza or not.* Though who the "officials" mentioned in the report below are, I do not know.

The United States is protesting to Israel over seemingly random restrictions on deliveries to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip of harmless goods such as soap and toilet paper, diplomats said Wednesday.

Diplomats fear day-to-day crisis management on Gaza was diverting the United States and other Western governments from bigger issues like the goal of restarting peace negotiations for a Palestinian state.

In one case, Israel blocked for weeks a World Food Program (WFP) shipment of chickpeas, used to make the Palestinian food staple hummus, the U.N. food agency said.

"We're certainly asking the Israelis questions about this," a U.S. official said of the restrictions on what is allowed into Gaza.

A Western official said: "The Americans and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are raising their concerns... We're protesting."

I think the second paragraph of the above is the most important, especially considering Hamas has ordered those who are firing rockets to stop while negotiations are currently going on in Egypt, and it is especially indicative of why it is not necessarily a wonderful policy to have an unquestioning, "special" relationship with Israel. Our own prime minister has said in the past that support for Israel is "in his DNA". Of course it is possible to support Israel and to condemn the occupation (though you wouldn't think so), but considering Rudd did nothing to condemn the recent onslaught on Gaza (it was Hamas' fault entirely), and has celebrated Israel in ways that no government before him has, and his government is now considering not attending the Durban II conference against racism*, along with the U.S., Canada and Israel, it seems that he has little problem with the occupation and the human rights abuses that occur within, or even the racism that also occurs within Israel "proper" (it doesn't define its borders). It's obvious that pettiness, inconsistency, cruelty, sycophancy and the means to annihilate a people must be a genetic thing.

*Reference to the opening article first found here.

*The United States and Israel walked out of the first UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, to protest against an attempted resolution comparing Zionism to racism. Considering that it is a sect which justifies the keeping of a people in an open air prison, the taking of their land, stripping them of their rights and their lives, could it be that maybe the call was justified?

challenges

The number of West Bank barriers (roadblocks, checkpoints, and other obstacles) has increased nearly 70% in the last three years, and now exceeds 625 -- this in a land about the size of Delaware. (Sandy Tolan, Mitchell's Challenge: After Gaza, Five Questions about Palestinian and Israeli Realities, 2009).
___________________________________________________________________
Please read Eva Bartlett's blog , too, and also view these pictures below of just how much destruction there is in Gaza which come from another Gaza blog, Tales to Tell. The pictures are from the post Temporary shelters in Jabalia , but the whole blog contains straightforward, but humane, stories of the people in Gaza at the moment. If you skip everything else in this post, read those two blogs just mentioned.

Jabalia is a refugee camp. This is what it used to look like in 2006. In view of all the destruction, This decision by the BBC and Sky TV (Murdoch owned) is unfathomable, really (Sky joins BBC on Gaza screening ban, 26 January, 2009, ITN).

As Human Rights Watch has said, and other international bodies:

Even though it withdrew its permanent military forces and settlers in 2005, Israel remains an occupying power in Gaza under international law because it continues to exercise effective day-to-day control over important aspects of Gazan life. Israel has the obligation to protect its population from rocket attacks from Gaza, but it also must ensure the safety and well-being of the Gazan population under its occupation (January 22, 2008).

These two places are pretty close to each other. I imagine the contrast between the day to day running of each place is pretty stark and severe. In the West Bank, that is further explored by Sandy Tolan's opening article.
___________________________________________________________________
Lastly, an interesting article on destruction of production capability in Gaza (An assault on the peace process, Donald Macintyre, The Independent, 26 January, 2009).

reaction and rallies

I wish to reinforce that this blog is in reaction to the current and ongoing human rights abuses and war crimes that have been perpetuated against Palestine by Israel as recorded by many international organisations, (which at the end of the day represent us all), such as the United Nations, and Amnesty International, and as detailed by the many aid organisations and human rights watch groups, such as the Israeli B'Tselem, Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Medicine without Frontiers among others.

It is in no way anti-Jewish, and I would like to point out that a lot of my information comes via Jewish or Israeli websites such as Australian writer, Antony Lowenstein's blog, Independent Australian Jewish Voices, and B'Tselem which is:

the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories [and which] was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.

A lot of my information also comes via the joint Palestine/Israeli Alternative Information Center, and from Israeli journalist Amira Hass who writes for the fairly conservative Israeli paper Ha'aretz. I also ascribe to views put forth by writers such as, Noam Chomsky , a prominent American Jew who has always spoken out, and Canadian Naomi Klein.

This blog is aware of the bravery of refuseniks who do not serve with the IDF on humanitarian grounds, and is well aware that there are a lot of Israelis who do not support the incursion in Gaza, as detailed by this radio interview with Tel Aviv resident, Efrat Wolfson (go to this link, and click the 14 January, 2009) show, and as shown by protests within Israel itself (that youtube clip has subtitles)and even in the U.S. Though it does make one sound like a rabid conspiracy theorist nut, the media machine is very smooth and ruthless with people who speak out, as seen by Australian member for parliament, Julia Irwin's comments here, and this Guardian article about web use. I have blogged on both of those before. The kind of attitude that anyone might have to face, but especially a Jewish person, if he or she speaks out can be read about in this August 2008 post by Lowenstein.

From the Independent Australian Jewish Voices is this January, 5, 2009, this
petition against the current war, which the members condemn as "inhuman, superfluous" and "abominable" as I think any sane human would (however, there were many in the Australian media who criticised them for their standpoint). The original petition had 100 signatories, and as of January 11, 2009, it had 202. Many other countries, including Israel, have similar petitions.

I know that there is a lot of misinformation out there, and I hope that I am not adding to it. I understand that I am not an expert on Israel, Palestine or the affairs of the Middle East, yet the facts and figures provided by the various agencies above speak for themselves.

I do not fool myself that I have a readership of thousands (my blog counter clearly tells me otherwise), but I know that our media does not focus on the human rights issues of the occupied territories, and so the only way we can find such information, is independently.

It seems very likely that this massacre will continue until January 20th, if not beyond. A report from this morning, which I also posted in a prior entry:

A senior Israeli defence official told AFP that the war, which has killed some 400 civilians and has sparked outrage across the Muslim world, could well continue until the January 20 inauguration of US president-elect Barack Obama.

1038 Palestinians are dead (10 Israelis have died, and three Israeli civilians), and a further 4850 are wounded. That is the result of 19 days of carnage. Within another 5 days, I wonder what the numbers will rise to. And even if Israel pulls out on the 20th or near that date, what is left? As Julia Irwin says, from the article linked above:

And who will pick up the pieces when the bloodshed has finally stopped? The rest of the world will, of course. Through the world's contributions to the UN, its largest budget item is the UN Relief and Works Agency. With an annual $700 million budget going to support Palestinian refugees, the biggest component is being spent on Gaza.

Bolivia and Venezuela have broken diplomatic ties with Israel, and as these countries are not on particularly good terms with the U.S. it probably will not influence Israel too much, but, good on them for making a stand. Other countries, and companies, including Norway have reconsidered their not unsubstantial investment in Israeli companies.

My writings since the massacre began are not an attack against Judaism but a call for injustice to stop, and for the media and politicians to stop blinkering us from the reality, history and the actual tragedy of events which are unfurling far too quickly for any Gazan to ever escape.

Post script: I forgot to add this for people who are in Perth, Western Australia:
1.
Friday the 16th
Speakout/vigil for the people of Gaza
5:30 PM
Speak out on a megaphone about the Israeli atrocities in Gaza or alternatively bring a candle or placard and stand silently in remembrance of the 1000 people killed so far in the war on Gaza.Friday 5.30pm January 16th, Wesley Church steps, corner of Hay St & William St in the city.
0407 850 962

2.
Saturday the 24th
Direct Action public meeting: Israel's assault on Gaza and the struggle for a free Palestine
3:00 PM
Sat Jan 24,
3pmMaritime Union Hall,
2-4 Kwong AlleyNorth Fremantle

This is a forum. Entry is via donation.
0409 762 081 or email perth@directaction.org.au

3.
Saturday the 31st
Rally & march for the people of Gaza
12:00 PM
Rally & march for the people of Gaza midday
Saturday 31st January in the Perth CBD.
Venue yet to be confirmed.

The march will go ahead regardless of whetehr or not there is a ceasefire or an end to the war between now and January 31st
0407 850 962

Full details can be found here .