- Pixies rediscover their conscience!

This from a comment on a post on Mondoweiss, from a guy called Jethro:

Jethro June 6, 2010 at 10:59 pmThe list of artists refusing to play Israel is getting longer week by week:

Carlos Santana
Gil Scott Heron
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello
Bono/U2
The Pixies

We’ll have see what happens with these artists still scheduled to play this summer and fall: Madonna, Elton John, Paul McCartnry, Rod Stewart, Diana Krall. (My emphasis)

This comment was in relation to a post entitled Israel, your Sun City moment has arrived detailing that the Pixies have decided NOT to play Israel this week on Wednesday.
Mondoweiss links to a JTA article which carries the following information:

Two other groups, Klaxons and the Gorillaz, canceled their scheduled performances in Israel following the deaths of nine activists during clashes with Israeli Navy commandos during the boarding of one of the flotilla's ships early on May 31.

The cancellations come less than a month following the cancellation of British rocker Elvis Costello, who was making a political protest. Costello called the cancellation of his scheduled June 30 and 31 concerts "a matter of instinct and conscience." (My emphasis)

That's a last-minute cancellation on the part of the Pixies, et al. Good. BDS is how the message is going to get across to the world and to the people on the street. I wrote to the Pixies management back when. I know that others did, too. Richard Falk, the Jewish-American United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights called for people to support BDS in a speech heard on Democracy Now (on the radio in my case) in a bid to stop the unnecessary suffering in Gaza, and the other Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The movement seems to be gaining momentum. If popular artists get behind it, then they can circumvent the seemingly official line of the American government, and of the Australian government, of enabling Israel in its human rights abuse, basically. Or at least bring it to the public's attention, something that the media has a lot of trouble doing.

Now I can pull out Doolittle again with a clear conscience.

Oh, that Mondoweiss post also has a video of Roger Waters singing "We Shall Overcome" in support of the Palestinians.

from the mouth of the people, not the mouthpieces of the military

From Harsha Walla on the Mondoweiss blog.

As international outrage spreads at the Israeli elite commando attack on an unarmed humanitarian convey in the middle of the night on international waters, Israel is desperately trying to rebrand the incident as one of self-defence. It is nothing new for Israel, and other aggressing powers, to smear their victims as perpetrators. Afterall, unjustifiable murder is too jarring to stomach.

Yet, Amnesty International released a statement about Israel’s excessive use of force, further stating that Israel’s version of events begs credibility. Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu proclaimed the actions of Israel as “completely inexcusable”. According to Craig Murray, specialist on maritime law, “To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal.”

Deported activists tell a horrifying story of the use of electric shock, live ammunition, smoke bombs, gas canisters, beatings, and seizure of all evidence on cameras. Greek activist Michalis Grigoropoulos said, "They took us hostage, pointing guns at our heads…There was absolutely nothing we could do." A Turkish woman, with her 1 year old baby, recalls “The ship turned into a lake of blood.” Read more. (My emphasis).

Do read more. There is far more to know, and the Norman Goldmans, and New York Times of the world will not tell you. Go to Mondoweiss. Go to Jews for Peace. Go to the Israeli papers themselves. Go to Amnesty International. Go to United Nations. Go to Glenn Greenwald. Don't listen to Hilary and the left wing media whitewash it either with excuses or silence. The right wing will of course also just drown out any protests with hyperbole, but what chills me is that the left wing, the traditional school of thought which stands up for the underdog remains absolutely muzzled on this issue. Not everyone, of course, but many of the ones who could influence things a whole lot more remain eerily quiet on this issue. So, who gets informed? Nobody. There are many fine Palestinian sites, too, but go to whichever site or sites you are most comfortable with. There are any number in my blog roll.

The heading of the article from Mondoweiss is: Israel’s spin won’t work this time. But it will. At least in the U.S. and in Australia among the general public. Within America, the popular left-wing radio announcers, such as Norman Goldman are defending Israeli's actions in international waters. Yet the Somali pirates are dennounced for their acts of piracy. I don't know Mr. Goldman's position on the pirates. However, in this case, I don't see how you can defend commandos boarding an unarmed vessel in international waters under the cover of the night. An aid vessel. And shooting 9 people. Dead (an additional six missing).

Within Australia, the news is presenting and buying the same old line that "Israel has the right to defend itself", even when it is not being attacked. I trust Desmond Tutu over Murdoch. I know that the aid flotillas that approach Israeli waters, and which have been boarded in the past are not peopled with terrorists. I know that a former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire were on one of the boats that the Israelis boarded intercepted last year, and I know she was also on another boat that was intercepted very close to, if not during, the outbreak of the war on Gaza (in international waters). I admire these people. I don't view them as liars. Why do they keep trying to break the siege on Gaza if everything is fine within this tiny occupied part of Palestine? And remember to ask yourself, occupied by whom? I wonder why the soldiers did not fire on the boat that the ex U.S. representative was on. Maybe this time, as the boat was Turkish, they felt that international opinion would be in their favour rather than against? Then again, the United States has never got terribly upset when its own people have been hurt by the Israelis as shown by its lack of action, or concern when any of the protesters who have gone to participate in the peaceful demonstrations against the apartheid wall in the West Bank is injured or killed.

Why are these actions called piracy when anyone else in the world does them? Murder, mayhem and so on. Yet, when the Israelis commit them it is all of a sudden self-defense. Hillary Clinton speaks of wanting the Israelis to probe themselves, and everyone knows where that always ends. Not with transparency. Even if the United Nations probed the event, findings would be ignored, and the writers would be vilified, such as happened to the United Nations report written by Richard Goldstone investigating the war on Gaza. He is Jewish, by the way. I think he is a humanist. I don't think he is anti-semitic. He has been branded as such, though.

Why is this group of people, this rogue state, allowed to flaunt the human rights of everyone? Allowed to put the world in a great and grave danger through ongoing aggression and such strong influence on American foreign policy? I am glad that Erdogan is sticking up to them. Of course, he probably will not last long, more is the pity. But the world must be questioning. The punter on the street. No matter how much our politicians whitewash it. No matter how much the media nullifies it. The thinking humanist must be pulling back and saying, "Now, hold on a minute."

For anyone more interested in working towards peace and alleviating suffering, the non-violent Global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement may be the movement for you. Endorsed by Naomi Klein. This is the form of protest that the Palestinians themselves have asked be adopted, and some film-makers, such as Ken Loach, have adhered to the call by pulling his movies out of some film festivals that have had Israeli governmental involvement. Others, such as Naomi Klein, the Church of England and various unions and colleges, have also risen to the occasion. It worked in South Africa. Hopefully it can ultimately work in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, because our governments, who support Israel, both diplomatically and with finance, will not do anything until they absolutely feel they have no other choice, as happened in South Africa. And you won't hear about the ongoing human rights abuses in the popular left-wing media, and definitely not in the right.

If you ever had an inkling that things were not quite right, well now might be the time to inform yourselves, because these are our people committing these atrocities, too. The Australians, the Americans who have immigrated to Israel. Why let another country of immigrants do precisely what we did to our own indigenous populations? Maybe because, everything remains exactly the same in the world, and any of the advances that seem to have been made since World War Two are obviously only advances applicable to people from the west, or sympathetic to the west. And even then, a country may be sympathetic to western ideas, or ideas we say we value such as democracy, but it is of no concern to us if it is not prudent to us to honour those ideals. When that happens, we usually support a siege or assassinate the leader and install a dictator. Anyway. We live a very good life, and many people do not, and something can be done about it. Do not believe that it can't.

disappointed but not surprised

Too bad, it seems that Spain will probably suspend its investigation into war crimes that Israel is alleged to have committed in 2002.

Spanish prosecutors have asked a Madrid judge to suspend an investigation of seven Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed Hamas militant Salah Shehadeh and 14 others, including nine children.

It seems that the Israelis are now going to conduct their own investigation. Considering how quickly they declared that there were no war crimes committed in Gaza, despite a plethora of evidence to the contrary, I wouldn't be holding my breath for anything to come of it.

International law will apply to none, soon, it's obvious.

In some positive news, Australia has committed to honouring an election promise of signing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In 2007, 4 member states voted against the declaration, those being Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and Canada.

The vote was 143 countries in favour, four against, and 11 abstaining.[5] ... The abstaining countries were Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine; another 34 member states were absent from the vote.

Tragedies all

The latest from B'Tselem: Tragedies all:

Palestinian kills a 13 year-old boy and injures a 7 year-old boy
B'Tselem strongly condemnss [sic] the killing of a 13 year-old boy and the injuring of a 7 year-old boy by a Palestinian in the settlement of Bat Ayin in the Bethlehem district. Deliberate attacks against civilians are immoral and illegal. Wilful killing of civilians is defined as a "grave breach" of international humanitarian law and is a war crime.*


Phosphorous victim from Gaza dies
Ghada Abu Halima, 21, a Gazan mother of two, died on 29 March. Abu Halima was wounded and 5 of her relatives, among them 4 children, were killed, when the military shelled their house with white phosphorus during "Operation Cast Lead". In her testimony of 9 January, she described the attack.


Punishment of policeman who killed Palestinian increased
The Israeli Supreme Court has increased the prison sentence of border policeman Yanai Lazla for the killing of 18-year-old Imran Abu Hamdiya in 2002. Lazla and three other policemen threw Abu Hamdiya from a jeep moving at high speed after they had abducted, beaten, and abused him. B'Tselem and the Palestinian human rights organization al-Haq exposed the affair.

*3rd April: The following has just been brought to my attention regarding the Israeli boy who was murdered, and the one who was injured, by axe in the occupied territories yesterday (see the opening paragraph of this post), and, as my commenter says, it is neither an explanation, nor an excuse, but it does provide more information. Emphasis is mine.:

Ofer Gamliel, the jailed father of Yair Gamliel, who was wounded in the Bat Ayin terror attack, on Thursday refused to visit his son in the hospital accompanied by prison guards.

The Prison Service on Thursday said it would allow Gamliel to visit his son with wardens chaperoning him and without handcuffs. Gamliel who was sentenced seven years ago for participating in a plot to attack a Palestinian girls' school demanded to be released temporarily in order to visit his son.

. . .

The second victim, a 13-year-old who was killed in the attack, has been identified as Shlomo Nativ, the son of Haim and Ravital Nativ, one of the original settlers who founded Bat Ayin, a community of secular-cum-religious Jews.

Ofer Gamliel is currently serving a prison sentence for his involvement in the 'Bat Ayin underground,' which had planned to carry out an attack several years ago at a girls' school in the A-Tor neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

The 'Bat Ayin underground' was active in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the early years of the Second Intifada.

In April 2002, police arrested Shlomo Dvir, Yarden Morag and Ofer Gamliel, 'Bat Ayin underground' members, who were later convicted of attempting to place an explosive device near the East Jerusalem school.

There is more information in the news article. I wonder if the background will be printed in the Western papers which cover the story. You might also like to look at the Alison Weir documentary on the evident disparity between reporting the deaths of Palestinian children and Israeli children. Both are tragic, of course, therefore both should be equally reported.

infected by a climate of impunity

"The Israeli military and government is repeatedly blaming Hamas for civilian deaths in Gaza. Now, do we have something to say about Hamas' behavior in Gaza? Yes, we do ... This is the first in a series of reports we will be issuing. Its rocket attacks in Israel ... are a war crime. In the cases of this report ... we did not find evidence of Hamas using civilians as human shields. Now, were they in the area at the time of these attacks? In some cases, we believe they were, and that is documented in the report. We state very clearly where we believe Hamas was, and where it was not. The bottom line, and the crucial point, is even if enemy forces -- from the Israeli perspective, Hamas fighters -- are in the area, white phosphorus should not be used in civilian neighborhoods. And that's the bottom line."

"In our view, the Israeli military has been infected by a climate of impunity, going back over since 2005, the disengagement [Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza]. There is an attitude that soldiers can do what and how they want in Gaza, and this has had a direct impact on civilian lives. It has caused civilians to die. That's because soldiers believe they can get away with what they want -- no one is watching. And that's why investigations are so important, to break this climate of impunity."

Human Rights Watch, a report on Israel's Unlawful use of White Phosphorous (March 25, 2009), summarised in this article, Report excoriates Israel's use of white phosphorous in Gaza (April 1st, 2009).
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3rd April: There is a good article at Anti-War, Israel is changing the rules of war, a point that Julia Irwin made, and which does not, ultimately, bode well for anyone.

exhibition

Here is a story about common suffering, and people willing and hoping to work together in peace. A story that probably will not get much mainstream media attention. It's uplifting. Take a look.

Here is another story about how things are negotiated in Israel.

By the way, the Spanish courts have decided to continue probing crimes against humanity allegations against Israel. It relates to a 2002 attack on Gaza City which killed a suspected leader of Hamas, Salah Shehadeh, along with 14 civilians, mainly infants and children.

Some 150 Palestinians were also wounded, according to the allegations. In accepting the case last month, Andreu said the attack in a densely-populated area "showed signs of constituting a crime against humanity." Sounds familiar, though the number of deaths have increased nowadays. I think these are the same courts that ultimately were able to arrest Pinochet for his human rights abuses.

It seemed for a while that Spain was not going to proceed, but they have now decided that they will. There are two Ha'aretz articles detailing it here and here. From that last article, this paragraph is very revealing:

The [Spanish] judge initially launched the investigation under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain, and other European countries, to reach far beyond national borders in cases of torture or war crimes. The universal jurisdiction ruling sparked outrage in Israel and elsewhere.

Subsequently, Spanish Foreign Minister said that Spain would act to amend the legislation that granted Andreu the authority to launch the investigation, promising Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that he would take action to prevent such moves in the future.

According to Spanish judicial sources, Andreu decided to continue with investigation after reading material handed over to Spain by Israel's Foreign Ministry, indicating that Israel is not investigating the incident.

Those two articles are from an Israeli paper, so I don't really know how much "outrage" the universal jurisdiction ruling provoked "elsewhere".

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I saw Lemon Tree on the weekend at the Festival of Perth. An Israeli directed film about Israel and Palestine and Lemon Trees, with the wonderful Hiam Abbas who I first saw in the American film, The Visitor (I know, I know. I'm late on the scene). The Festival is held at the University of Western Australia every summer. It is outdoors. It's a beautiful way to spend an evening. Cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and wine. The stars above and the damned uncomfortable deck chairs! Each week a different film is shown. It winds up next week, but I am more than happy that I have been able to catch two weeks of it.

Sorry for the lack of visuals. I'm on a friends computer, and will insert them all later when I'm on familiar cyber ground.

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Also from the Israeli papers. Just remember, these kinds of deaths are still going on. An almost daily occurrence, it seems, or at the least, definitely not unheard of.