Illegal Settlers Infesting Occupied East Jerusalem

Thaer Qirresh is a 14-year-old Palestinian living in the Muslim quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem. His family are the last Palestinian family left in the block after a settler organisation purchased the lease and moved in

A group of students gathered outside of one of Max Brenner’s franchise cafes in Sydney in protest at its support for the Israeli army.
The protest is part of the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS campaign, which was called from a broad cross-section of Palestinian civil society organisations in 2005.
Max Brenner is a chocolate retailer owned by the Strauss Group, which is the second largest Israeli food and beverage company and is largely touted as one of the greatest successes of Israeli industry.
On its website in the section on “Corporate Responsibility,” the Strauss Group emphasises its support for the Israeli army, noting: “Our connection with soldiers goes as far back as the country, and even further. We see a mission and need to continue to provide our soldiers with support, to enhance their quality of life and service conditions, and sweeten their special moments”.
Max Brenner has been the target of BDS actions throughout Australia for over two years. Protesters here say that this action is part of their commitment to the global BDS campaign which seeks to pressure companies that either profit from or support the Israeli military occupation until Israel ends the occupation and complies with international law and United Nations resolutions.
Early in the protest the police officers present tightened their control over the students movements. A number of police officers asked our crew to leave on a number of occasions, forcing us to stop filming and physically removing our crew away from the protest.
The students marched on chanting anti-Apartheid messages. The police officers then attempted to disperse the crowd and put an end to the protest. The police then used force to disperse the protesters, beating a number of students. Two students were charged with hindering police and their trials set for July 13.
The students have vowed to continue protesting outside of the ten Max Brenner cafes throughout Sydney, saying it is their legal right. They also criticized the police’s role in protecting a company that openly supports an illegal military occupation while at the same time using violence against a peaceful student protest

Palestine / Israel Links

Israeli hasbara machine touts ‘culture’ as propaganda in Marrickville
From Arab Spring comes a new form of Palestinian unity
Will Free Gaza Flotilla Be Safe from Israel’s Murderous Threats?
Israeli Entrepreneurs, Fearing BDS and UN Recognition of Palestine, Announce New Peace Initiative
Old but useful: Peace Now wants to collaborate with Lieberman
Ask Jello Biafra to observe the cultural boycott of Israel.

Jello Biafra, Please Boycott Israel

Jello Biafra : Please Don’t Play Apartheid Israel – Find Out The Facts
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Interview with Jello Biafra

Other Links

Empire Games: Who Writes the Rules? the Western left is not merely trapped in the illusion of a liberal democracy, it has contributed to its creation and the Western left is itself a product of liberal democracy.
Challenging economic (ir)rationalists’ addiction to growth, neoliberalism & capitalism

Israeli Sadism – Aid Blocked During a Medical State of Emergency

Very bad news for besieged Gazans requiring surgery in the week ending 10/6/11 – on Wednesday 8/6/11, the health ministry declared a state of emergency due to the shortage of medical supplies. In February, 2011, “Israeli warplanes blitzed a Health Ministry medicine warehouse in northern Gaza … injuring eight Palestinians and sparking a fierce fire”.

Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said Thursday that warehouses had run out of over 178 types of medicine and that over 190 surgical items had either run out or were in short supply.

The health minister in the besieged coastal enclave appealed to human rights organizations to intervene to avert a looming crisis.

Gazan doctors cancelled surgeries due to critical shortages of medicine and supplies on Friday. Simultaneously Israel decided it would close ALL crossings until Sunday. The Rafah crossing to Egypt only allows traverse of people, not goods.

It is now Sunday 12/6/11, and vital medicines have not arrived.

The crisis was unprecedented even during Israel’s massive offensive on Gaza in December 2008, Naem said, adding that the situation was worsening by the day.

Speaking at a conference in Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Naem said 180 types of medicine and 200 medical items had run out in Gaza, including alcohol and needles.

All health facilities were affected by the deficit, the minister said, adding that Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip exacerbated the crisis.

How many vulnerable, ill people does Israel cause to suffer because of its hideous, illegal collective punishment? Israel is sick, and makes itself sicker through such terrible acts.

The medicine for apartheid states is BDS – boycott, divestment and sanctions are effective as a global topical application.

UPDATE 19/6/11

Why doesn’t the PA blame Israel’s illegal closure of Gaza? The PA attempts to exonerate itself and blames Hamas for ‘politicising’ the issue of medical aid. Bad argument when the WHO say there have been shortages since February.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry on Saturday sent 20 truckloads of medicine to the Gaza Strip to ease critical hospital shortages.

Another 20 trucks will be transferred by Monday from warehouses in the West Bank city of Nablus to Gaza via the Erez crossing on Israel’s border, the ministry said in a statement.

Ramallah Health Minister Fathi Abu Moghli said that the critical shortage of medicine in the Gaza Strip was caused by suppliers’ delays. But he accused the Hamas health ministry in Gaza of trying “to politicize the health sector” by blaming the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority for the shortages.

The Gaza ministry threatened to close hospitals and clinics “to disturb the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah,” Abu Moghli said.

The PA distributed medicines to hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank as soon as they were received from suppliers, he added.

Abu Moghli said 300 types of medicine worth 10 million shekels ($2.91 million) as well as laboratory equipment and surgical items would be delivered to Gaza on Saturday.

UPDATE 17/6/11

World Health Organisation: Shortages of Drugs and Medical Disposables in MoH Gaza, June 2011
The Turkish Red Crescent donated a truckload of medical supplies

to the Palestinian Ministry of Health to meet ongoing shortages, the ministry’s PR head said Thursday.

Omer An-Naser told Ma’an that the truck contained medication which has run out in Gaza, to be added to a delivery of 20 truckloads of medical supplies to Gaza by the ministry on Saturday and Sunday.

‘The report said shortages were a failure in coordination between the Ramallah and Gaza health authorities despite the unity agreement between the divided administrations signed over a month ago.’

Is the PA is covering for the Israeli regime with whom it collaborates? Gaza health ministry declared a state of medical emergency l on the 8/6/11. And now, once again –

Israel on Friday [17/6/11] closed the sole operating goods crossing into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

Liaison official Raed Fattouh said Israel would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday.

The southern border crossing is the only operating entry point for commercial goods and humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave, home to more than 1.6 million Palestinians.

On May 28 Egypt reopened its Rafah border with Gaza, allowing limited numbers of residents to move freely in and out of the Strip for the first time in four years.

But Egypt is not allowing imports, exports and humanitarian aid or construction materials through Rafah, and the terminal is not equipped to handle large quantities of goods.

UPDATE TUESDAY 14/6/11

Red Cross donates stockpiled medicine to Gaza hospitals
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights warned Monday of a “catastrophic deterioration”

in the health conditions of Gaza residents, especially those with chronic diseases who could not access medication.

PCHR said the Gaza Strip had not received any medical supplies since February, and that shortages had led to a “devastating crisis” over the past two weeks. At a press conference in Cairo, Al-Barsh said most hospitals had run out of basic medicines and supplies.

Meanwhile, Ash-Shifa Hospital director Medhat Abbas said hospitals and primary care centers would have to close if medicine did not arrive soon, adding that many hospitals had been forced to cancel surgeries due to the crisis.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights warned Monday of a “catastrophic deterioration” in the health conditions of Gaza residents, especially those with chronic diseases who could not access medication.

PCHR said the Gaza Strip had not received any medical supplies since February, and that shortages had led to a “devastating crisis” over the past two weeks.

All surgeries cancelled in Gaza due to lack of anaesthetic
Finally, 13/6/11Israeli Convoy Delivers Medical Supplies to Gaza

Today, Israel sent 19 truckloads of medical equipment to Gaza’s Jordanian field hospital via the Erez Crossing. The Israeli aid convoy also included 195 Jordanian hospital staff members — who replaced outgoing staff — one fuel tank, one refrigerated truck and transportable buildings, which will expand existing hospital space by 300 meters.

Efforts such as providing Gaza’s civilian population with medical supplies–are coordinated daily by two Israeli bodies: The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration. The organizations also provide aid in fields including health, education, agriculture and infrastructure in particular.

Unnamed Egyptian border official: ‘Only medical supplies will be allowed through Rafah.’ Why then was a state of medical emergency declared by the Gaza health ministry last Wednesday?

When Egyptian border officials reopened the terminal on 5 June, they found that their Palestinian counterparts had closed it from the other side to protest Egypt’s apparent foot-dragging. … Border operations finally resumed on Wednesday, 8 June — although still confined to human traffic — after Egypt reportedly promised to raise the daily passenger limit to at least 500.

UPDATES

@Jinjirrie & how much sorely needed medicines? RT @IDFSpokesperson: Yesterday, 202 truckloads (~6,000 tons) bearing goods, gas & fuel entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing in Israel #
Malicious Occupier Israel still keeps Gaza on a siege diet – limited aid allowed on Sunday despite state of medical emergency
Sources in the Gaza Health Ministry said Palestinian Authority official Nabil Shaath had promised to send medicine to Gaza from Ramallah, but that the supplies never arrived.

Gaza’s hospital stock running on near empty : Hospitals in Gaza are forced to cancel operations due to lack of medical supplies as the Israeli blockade continues.’
Gaza health minister: Acute medicine shortage

Related Links

Gaza Border ‘Opening’ is Just Rhetoric – by Ramzy Baroud
Gaza: Lists of Controlled Entry Items
A severe shortage of medical supplies in Gaza threatens the lives of thousands of patients
There was never any compelling strategic logic behind Israel’s refusal to allow civilian goods into Gaza. The idea of punishing 1.5 million Gazans so that they would remove Hamas from power was pointless and counterproductive: it impoverished the Gazan farmers and industrialists – the people with the most interest in cooperative economic relations with Israel –and empowered tunnel- diggers and others who enjoyed close relations with Hamas. It also gave Israel a bad name. And it had no effect at all on Hamas’s readiness to release Gilad Schalit for a reasonable price. In this sense, the only good thing that came out of last spring’s Turkish flotilla was Israel’s relaxation of that boycott.
Gaza health conditions in crisis
Israeli restrictions on movement of people and goods cost foreign aid groups millions of dollars a year and hamper their ability to deliver assistance, a report released on Wednesday said.

The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), which groups 80 charities working in the Palestinian territories, called on the international community to pressure Israel to ease the restrictions, saying they cost its members around $4.5 million (three million euros) each year in unnecessary expenses.’

West Bank travel restrictions take their toll on international aid budgets : European, American taxpayers supporting aid groups paying at least $4.5 million additional expenses a year to overcome Israeli restrictions.
Israeli-imposed movement and access restrictions on humanitarian and development work in the occupied Palestinian territory are costing donors and their tax payers at least US$4.5 million a year. This according to a new report released by the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a coalition of more than eighty international aid and development agencies, including NRC, said today.’ The full report is available for download.
Russian tycoon Nevzlin convicted in absentia of murder (Israel refuses extradition), buys 20% of Haaretz

Palestine / Israel Links

I’m either an illegal citizen of one state, or an inferior citizen in another
The Americans told Molho that to block European initiatives such as France’s proposal for an international peace conference in Paris, they must have something concrete to offer, like Netanyahu’s agreement to negotiate on the basis of Obama’s speech.

The U.S. proposal was also given to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who said the Palestinians would resume talks on this basis.

Meanwhile, a European diplomat who was briefed on Molho’s talks in Washington said they were fruitless. “The Americans didn’t get anything new from Molho,” the diplomat said.

This week, American diplomat David Hale will arrive in Israel to hold further meetings with both Molho and Erekat. Hale is temporarily replacing George Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy who resigned earlier this year.
Renen Raz writes to Dream Theater
New book documents how the EU bankrolls Israeli dungeons

Shalit is the first Israeli soldier to be captured by a Palestinian armed group since1994. By contrast, 700,000 Palestinians have been detained under Israeli military orders in the occupied territories since 1967. That amounts to one-fifth of the total Palestinian population in those territories. By placing so much emphasis on one Israeli, Ashton is turning a blind eye to the infinitely worse suffering that Palestinians have to endure. She does not even acknowledge – as far as I can tell – that Israel’s response to Shalit’s capture was disproportionate, to use a word that trolls regularly from the tongues of EU representatives. At the moment, there are some 900 prisonersfrom Gaza in Israeli custody. Following Shalit’s capture, Israel has deniedthose prisoners visits from their families, thereby breaching its international obligations (the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 says: “Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.”

Abbas says prefers talks with Israel over UN vote on Palestinian state

The Palestinian president also disclosed in Ramallah that he had personally approached the leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ), knowing that they wielded considerable influence over Netanyahu.

Govt Ignores Israel’s Threats against NZers on Gaza Flotilla
Humanitarians Across The World Asking Napalm Death To Stand Up For Justice: Cancel Concert in Israel
Haneen Al Zoabi: Racists impose the rules of the political game in Israel

She stressed that the real political struggle is to hold on to the ethical, humanitarian and national positions in every sphere; ranging from the struggle against land confiscation, demolition of Palestinian homes, the fight for recognition of the Palestinian identity, and the struggle to end the Israeli occupation

Haniyeh: No differences among Hamas leaders

“Mash’al’s speech was in line with the movement’s positions, policies and principles,” the statement said. “Any remarks contradicting these issues do not represent the movement and its branches.”

The politburo is solely tasked with making the party’s policy, the statement added.

Medics: Gaza hospitals at crisis point
Former Israeli minister describes Begin and Shamir as ‘terrorists’

Yossi Sarid: ‘Jewish terrorists provoke me more than Arab terrorists do, as the Jewish ones want to make all Israelis like them’.

A concerted effort from Europe against Israeli produce exporter Agrexco
Fear and tear gas in Nabi Saleh: A coward’s story
The Struggle for an Equal Right to Academic Freedom
Report calls for end to occupation : The International Labour Organisation has added its voice to the growing international chorus calling for Israel to end restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement in the name of security
Keep boycotting Israel say delegates :

Community union delegates delivered a crushing blow today to the executive’s attempt to force through a resolution aimed at undermining the TUC policy of boycotting Israeli goods produced in illegal settlements.

Members at the union’s biennial conference in Southport accused the leadership of using it to obtain a “retrospective mandate” from members to support Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine (Tulip), which they labelled “an apologist” for Israeli war crimes.

French Analyst Urges End to Israel’s N. Ambiguity
Israeli lawmaker calls to cut volunteers to human rights NGOs
Israel is targeting human rights organisations which dare to criticise the regime and report on its crimes voraciously with new legislation to penalise them under discussion.

Organisations in the firing line include the Pubic Committee Against Torture in Israel, the Association for Civil Rights, the Israeli branch of Amnesty International, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

‘Hadas Ziv, PHRI’s director of public outreach, described the initiative promoted by Hasson as “a shocking, appalling message.”

“The message being relayed is that if you have suspicions of crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces during the 2009 war and a probe commission is established, you must not cooperate with it because it will damage Israel’s image,” Ziv said in a phone interview on Sunday.

“In effect, it substantially damages Israel’s position as a law- abiding state. The initiative also sends a message that we like one kind of Israelis, one that shoot and shut up, not those who pose question marks,” she said, “It’s a pathetic attempt to narrow the public discourse and to create an obedient people.”‘

Syria Links

‘Gay Girl In Damascus’ Turns Out To Be An American Man
Apology to readers – MacMaster comes clean as suggested he do by Ali Abunimah and Ben Dougherty in EI who are acknowledged for their sleuthing in NPR above.
From Damascus with Love: Blogging in a Totalitarian State
‘Paula Brooks,’ editor of ‘Lez Get Real,’ also a man
Britta Froelicher, wife of ‘A Gay Girl in Damascus,’ caught in her husband’s ‘hurricane’

Libya Links

Thus, if we are serious about international solidarity we need to figure out what the internal politics of a place is, what has been achieved in that country and what are its contradictions. As I have been saying, supporting rebellions for the sake of supporting rebellions is problematic because everything gets framed as a battle between good and evil. The alternative that ends up being offered actually narrows the space for thinking about and building something different than liberal-democracy anywhere in the world.

Libya: The poverty of analyses
Libyan rebels offer ‘ties’ with Israel if win

Egypt Links

A Spy in our revolution This shill took up the zionist cause against Green Left Weekly in Australia.
Israel denies spy caught in Egypt

US Links

WikiLeaks Haiti: Let Them Live on $3/Day : Revealing the true face of that great humanitarian peace prize winner, Obama.
Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending Capitalism? : Samir Amin

Repression of Dissent in Israel

Appearing before the Israeli military court in Ofer, Palestine rights leader Bassem Tamimi reads as much of his statement as the judge permits him. It is stirring and to the point, describing how the Israeli authorities have treated him and his family during previous periods of incarceration for non-violent protest of the illegal Israeli Occupation.

Your Honor, I hold this speech out of belief in peace, justice, freedom, the right to live in dignity, and out of respect for free thought in the absence of Just Laws.

Every time I am called to appear before your courts, I become nervous and afraid. Eighteen years ago, my sister was killed by in a courtroom such as this, by a staff member. In my lifetime, I have been nine times imprisoned for an overall of almost 3 years, though I was never charged or convicted. During my imprisonment, I was paralyzed as a result of torture by your investigators. My wife was detained, my children were wounded, my land was stolen by settlers, and now my house is slated for demolition.

I was born at the same time as the Occupation and have been living under its inherent inhumanity, inequality, racism and lack of freedom ever since. Yet, despite all this, my belief in human values and the need for peace in this land have never been shaken. Suffering and oppression did not fill my heart with hatred for anyone, nor did they kindle feelings of revenge. To the contrary, they reinforced my belief in peace and national standing as an adequate response to the inhumanity of Occupation.

International law guarantees the right of occupied people to resist Occupation. In practicing my right, I have called for and organized peaceful popular demonstrations against the Occupation, settler attacks and the theft of more than half of the land of my village, Nabi Saleh, where the graves of my ancestors have lain since time immemorial.

I organized these peaceful demonstrations in order to defend our land and our people. I do not know if my actions violate your Occupation laws. As far as I am concerned, these laws do not apply to me and are devoid of meaning. Having been enacted by Occupation authorities, I reject them and cannot recognize their validity.

Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws which lack any legitimacy; laws that are enacted by authorities that I have not elected and do not represent me. I am accused of organizing peaceful civil demonstrations that have no military aspects and are legal under international law.

We have the right to express our rejection of Occupation in all of its forms; to defend our freedom and dignity as a people and to seek justice and peace in our land in order to protect our children and secure their future.

The civil nature of our actions is the light that will overcome the darkness of the Occupation, bringing a dawn of freedom that will warm the cold wrists in chains, sweep despair from the soul and end decades of oppression.

These actions are what will expose the true face of the Occupation, where soldiers point their guns at a woman walking to her fields or at checkpoints; at a child who wants to drink from the sweet water of his ancestors’ fabled spring; against an old man who wants to sit in the shade of an olive tree, once mother to him, now burnt by settlers.

We have exhausted all possible actions to stop attacks by settlers, who refuse to adhere to your courts’ decisions, which time and again have confirmed that we are the owners of the land, ordering the removal of the fence erected by them.

Each time we tried to approach our land, implementing these decisions, we were attacked by settlers, who prevented us from reaching it as if it were their own.

Our demonstrations are in protest of injustice. We work hand in hand with Israeli and international activists who believe, like us, that had it not been for the Occupation, we could all live in peace on this land. I do not know which laws are upheld by generals who are inhibited by fear and insecurity, nor do I know their thoughts on the civil resistance of women, children and old men who carry hope and olive branches.

But I know what justice and reason are. Land theft and tree-burning is unjust. Violent repression of our demonstrations and protests and your detention camps are not evidence of the illegality of our actions. It is unfair to be tried under a law forced upon us. I know that I have rights and my actions are just.

The military prosecutor accuses me of inciting the protesters to throw stones at the soldiers. This is not true. What incites protesters to throw stones is the sound of bullets, the Occupation’s bulldozers as they destroy the land, the smell of teargas and the smoke coming from burnt houses. I did not incite anyone to throw stones, but I am not responsible for the security of your soldiers who invade my village and attack my people with all the weapons of death and the equipment of terror.

These demonstrations that I organize have had a positive influence over my beliefs; they allowed me to see people from the other side who believe in peace and share my struggle for freedom. Those freedom fighters have rid their conscious from the Occupation and put their hands in ours in peaceful demonstrations against our common enemy, the Occupation. They have become friends, sisters and brothers. We fight together for a better future for our children and theirs.

If released by the judge will I be convinced thereby that justice still prevails in your courts? Regardless of how just or unjust this ruling will be, and despite all your racist and inhumane practices and Occupation, we will continue to believe in peace, justice and human values. We will still raise our children to love; love the land and the people without discrimination of race, religion or ethnicity; embodying thus the message of the Messenger of Peace, Jesus Christ, who urged us to “love our enemy.” With love and justice, we make peace and build the future.

Palestine / Israel Links

Some of What’s Wrong With the Liberal Zionist Vision of the Two State Solution

The liberal Zionist vision is indeed motivated by moral concerns. The vision recognizes that it is morally wrong, not just inexpedient, for Israel to have day to day control over the lives of Palestinians. It is less concerned with the measure of effective control Israel will have over the future Palestinian state, and indirectly, on the lives of the Palestinians living within it. I don’t think it is concerned with that at all.

NUS LGBT letter to IGLYO Board of Directors : In solidarity with Palestinians, NUS LGBT in the UK will not attend the International LGBTQ Youth and Student Organisation event unless the venue is shifted from Tel Aviv.
UK ‘anti-Sharia’ legislator backed Israel group calling for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians

In 2005, Cox agreed to serve as “Co-President” of The Jerusalem Summit, an Israeli Zionist organization that denies the Nakba and which has advocated the ethnic cleansing, or transfer of Palestinians and espouses extreme Islamophobic views.

A record number of Palestinian children have been displaced as a result of Israeli demolition of homes in the West Bank, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a new release published Thursday. …

‘Children often watch with their parents as their homes are demolished. A house is a place of safety and comfort for most children around the world. A home demolished is a future destroyed’.

The capricious acts of the fascist Occupier of Gaza continue – the boot comes down on Gazans again as Israel closes the only crossing till Sunday.
Haaretz exclusive: Secret cables show Israel’s battle plan over Palestinian UN bid
East Jerusalem: Sharing our house with settlers

Australia Links

When I hear Australia’s ‘national interest’ I hear US ‘national interest’ – the ALP is infected

Other Links

How’s this for a radical policy? Extremism to become a notifiable ‘disease’ in the UK – Blair’s GP will need to report him.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Full Letter to Marrickville Council

The full text of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s letter sent to Mayor Fiona Byrne and the Marrickville Council is reproduced here from the Green Left Weekly:

Dear Mayor Fiona Byrne,

We in South Africa, who both suffered Apartheid and defeated it, have the moral right and responsibility to name and shame institutionalized separation, exclusion, and domination by one ethnic group over others. In my own eyes I have seen how the Palestinians are oppressed, dispossessed and exiled.

We call on all our Jewish and Israeli sisters and brothers to oppose the occupation and work for equality, justice and peace, between the River and the Sea, in the same way that so many South African Whites took risks to oppose the crime of Apartheid.

I want to pay my respects to you and your fellow Councilors in Marrickville for taking a stand to isolate the Israeli state, and before that for offering practical solidarity to our sisters and brothers under occupation in the Holy City of Bethlehem.

International Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against the Apartheid regime, combined with the mass struggle inside South Africa, led to our victory. I recall that after the very strong actions to prevent Apartheid sportsman competing with Australians, that Councils, starting with Wollongong, declared their cities “Apartheid free” areas, and this was a great contribution.

Sometimes taking a public stand for what is ethical and right brings costs, but social justice on a local or global scale requires faith and courage.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (Cape Town — South Africa)

In the customary imperial fashion which it adopts to deal with criticism of apartheid Israel, The Australian editorial today attempts to minimise Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s letter with lies, distortions and smears.

The most serious lie is its disgraceful claim that the Palestinian minority in Israel has equal rights with Israeli Jews – in fact more than 30 laws discriminate against non-jewish people. A new law was passed just three weeks ago to legalise migrant slavery. Non-jews do not have nationality in Israel, merely citizenship – there is only Jewish nationality, not Israeli nationality.

A group of Jews and Arabs are fighting in the Israeli courts to be recognized as “Israelis,” a nationality currently denied them, in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state.

Israel refused to recognize an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality.” Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel,” the state is defined as belonging to the “Jewish nation,” meaning not only the 5.6 million Israeli Jews but also more than seven million Jews in the diaspora.

Critics say the special status of Jewish nationality has been a way to undermine the citizenship rights of non-Jews in Israel, especially the fifth of the population who are Arab. Some 30 laws in Israel specifically privilege Jews, including in the areas of immigration rights, naturalization, access to land and employment.

Arab leaders have also long complained that indications of “Arab” nationality on ID cards make it easy for police and government officials to target Arab citizens for harsher treatment.

The interior ministry has adopted more than 130 possible nationalities for Israeli citizens, most of them defined in religious or ethnic terms, with “Jewish” and “Arab” being the main categories.

The group’s legal case is being heard by the high court after a district judge rejected their petition two years ago, backing the state’s position that there is no Israeli nation.

The head of the campaign for Israeli nationality, Uzi Ornan, a retired linguistics professor, said: “It is absurd that Israel, which recognizes dozens of different nationalities, refuses to recognize the one nationality it is supposed to represent.”

The government opposes the case, claiming that the campaign’s real goal is to “undermine the state’s infrastructure” — a presumed reference to laws and official institutions that ensure Jewish citizens enjoy a privileged status in Israel.

The Australian ignores the fact that Palestinians in the territories militarily occupied by Israel – the bantustans of the West Bank and Gaza – have no rights at all.

Regardless of the clear evidence revealed in the Palestine Papers that Palestinians have offered more than generous concessions to Israel in order to achieve peace, The Australian deceitfuly puts the onus on Palestinians for avoiding ‘peace’, posturing that the ‘right’ for Israel to insist on being recognised as the ‘Jewish’ (aka ethnosupremacist and apartheid) State is paramount. Further, it shamelessly misrepresents the Barak and Olmert offers.

Yet recognising Israel as a ‘jewish’ state would entrench and legitimise the existing undemocratic discrimination suffered by non-Jews. Equal rights are not guaranteed in Israeli law. It should be understood however, that even Hamas agreed in principle to recognise Israel within 1967 borders in 2006.

Hamas, though, is not leading current negotiations, this is the role of the PLO.

Israel’s brutal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is illegal under international law. Israel disregards more than two score UN Security Council resolutions against it.

The proper onus is on Israel to obey international law, end its illegal occupation and heinous system of apartheid and colonialism which has been thoroughly researched and identified, install equal rights guaranteed by law for all its inhabitants and recognise Palestinians’ right to return to their lands.

Since governments have failed to act to enforce international law and protect the guaranteed rights of Palestinian people, boycott, divestment and sanctions are a legitimate, non-violent means of achieving justice. Australians of conscience must stand in solidarity with oppressed Palestinians as they did with black South Africans to resist apartheid.

Related Links

The rich tapestry of Israeli apartheid
Israeli Apartheid is Worse Than Apartheid Practised by White South Africa
Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) study : Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Israel/Palestine and the Apartheid Analogy: Critics, Apologists and Strategic lessons (Part 1) by Ran Greenstein
Israel/Palestine and the Apartheid Analogy: Critics, Apologists and Strategic Lessons (Part 2) by Ran Greenstein
BDS Movement
PACBI
Our South Africa Moment Has Arrived : Omar Barghouti [03/18/2009]
Israel knows apartheid has no future by Mustafa Barghouti
“Boycotts work”: An interview with Omar Barghouti
Why Is BDS a Moral Duty Today? A Response to Bernard-Henri Levy
Reap what you have sown by Nawal El-Saadawi

Women’s emancipation in the Arab region is closely linked to the regimes under which we live, regimes which are supported by the US in most cases, and the struggle between Israel and Palestine has an important impact on the political situation. Besides, how can we speak of liberation for Palestinian women without speaking of their right to have a land on which to live? How can we speak about Arab women’s rights in Palestine and Israel without opposing the racial discrimination exercised against them by the Israeli regime?

Israel/Palestine: Apartheid of a special type? by Ran Greenstein
Israel 2007: worse than apartheid by Ronnie Kasrils, SA Minister of Intelligence
Israel should be given the South African treatment : Antony Loewenstein and Moammar Mashni
Adalah, ‘The Inequality Report: The Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel’ (pdf) – important document
Full report of the South African Human Sciences Research Council
South African scholar Na’eem Jeenah trapped at Istanbul airport after Israeli interrogation, confiscation of passport
I mean, what would Desmond Tutu know about apartheid anyway?
BDS scares La Devine who smears Archbishop Desmond Tutu with recycled Dershowitz misquotesDouchowitless piece is here.

Palestine / Israel Links

Israeli fascism: MK Levin: Stop Zouabi from Leaving Israel
Saeb Erekat denies Washington Post claim Palestinians dropped settlement freeze demand
Obama: Palestinians should avoid seeking UN recognition for statehood
Stop Scabbing for Apartheid — Withdraw From Israel Bonds “Celebration”
Videos in Support of the Canadian Boat to Gaza

Australia Links

Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in action
Bio-prospectors probe Australian Aboriginal lore

Other Links

The capitalist roots of sexualised society
After 40 Years, the Complete Pentagon Papers
Lupe Fiasco: Obama ‘The Biggest Terrorist’

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Offers Solidarity with Marrickville Council

Since a delightful presentiment from Lee Rhiannon on last night’s Q&A, parts of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s letter of support and solidarity to Marrickville Council have surfaced. The letter will be presented to Council tonight. Marrickville Council has the admirable fortitude to embrace human rights and justice for Palestinians.

Firstly on the Coalition for Justice & Peace in Palestine (CJPP):

“Sometimes taking a public stand for what is ethical and right brings costs, but social justice on a local or global scale requires faith and courage,” wrote Archbishop Tutu.

“I want to pay my respects to you and your fellow Councilors in Marrickville for taking a stand to isolate the Israeli state, and before that for offering practical solidarity to our sisters and brothers under occupation in the Holy City of Bethlehem.

“International Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against the Apartheid regime, combined with the mass struggle inside South Africa, led to our victory.”.

Mayor Fiona Byrne and Councillors respond:

“I’m honoured to receive this endorsement from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,” Mayor Byrne said. “Desmond Tutu’s courageous stand against Apartheid in South Africa and ongoing advocacy for peace and human rights is an inspiration to us all. Palestinian civil society has called for support for the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions campaign to highlight the struggle of the Palestinian people for basic human rights. I am proud that Marrickville Council was able to support and highlight the human rights violations suffered by many Palestinian people,” Mayor Byrne said.

“We are humbled and inspired by this expression of support from Archbishop Desmond Tutu,” said Councillors Kontellis, Thanos and Peters, who along with Mayor Byrne maintained their support for the BDS despite intense media pressure.

Then In the Sydney Morning Herald

The Nobel peace prize recipient and critic of Israel wrote that he wanted to extend his respects to the mayor, Fiona Byrne, and her fellow councillors ”for taking a stand to isolate the Israeli state”.

”We in South Africa, who both suffered apartheid and defeated it, have the moral right and responsibility to name and shame institutionalised separation, exclusion, and domination by one ethnic group over others,” Archbishop Tutu said in the letter, which will be formally presented to Cr Byrne tonight.

”Sometimes taking a public stand for what is ethical and right brings costs, but social justice on a local or global scale requires faith and courage.”

ABC Story with unflattering Tutu photo

Yet why has the ABC used such a dreadful, unflattering photo of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and quoted Vic Alhadeff’s snide smears?

Jewish groups have condemned Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu for congratulating Sydney’s Marrickville Council on its now abandoned boycott of Israel.
….
The chief executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff, says Archbishop Tutu has a long history of such comments.

“This one is merely another in a consistent line of outrageous comments in terms of the conflict,” Mr Alhadeff said.

Yet Alhadeff was associated according to a deleted, cached and now screen-shot post from the blog of the Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance, ‘a local grassroots group which formed as a response to the December 14 2010 resolution by Marrickville Council to boycott Israel’ with an aim to use the scuttling of the first Australian Council initiative to warn local government off support of BDS.

We think it is extremely important to ensure that this first local government attempting to implement the boycott will be convinced by their constituents and by intelligent public opinion to reconsider and recast their boycott decision. The March state election is giving candidates and voters the opportunity to consider what an Israel boycott means, and to ask questions such as whether local or state governments should be deciding foreign policy.

We have plans for some carefully targeted media coverage and advertising in relation to the election. These strategies are expensive, but we believe they will be successful. We have been fortunate to have ongoing help and advice from very capable professionals. Also, we have among our own numbers people who are deeply involved in the Jewish community, and we are in frequent communication with Vic Alhadeff and Yair Miller from the Jewish Board of Deputies as well as Peter Wertheim from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

We need to raise approximately $12,000 in the next two-three weeks to carry out the activities that we believe will make a decisive difference. All the professional work that is being done for the campaign has been donated pro bono, but there are unavoidable advertising and research costs we will need to pay.’

If you would like to contribute to the success of this campaign, please donate what you can. Please also pass this information on quietly to like-minded friends.

Alhadeff has consistent form himself, most recently endorsing the Shalom Institute’s decision to ban pro-BDS speakers from Jewish Festival Limmud-Oz and slamming Lee Rhiannon’s involvement with the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine forum, which he described as “an activist conference lacking any hint of balance or academic integrity on a divisive and complex issue”.

Following an exceeding dirty campaign against Palestinian people’s human rights of push polls, electoral poster vandalisation with racist graffiti, near complete media blackout of Palestinian voices, newly elected NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell threatening to ‘sack’ the Council for its support of BDS and death threats to Councillors, the Marrickville Council stuck to the principles of BDS in its final motion without implementing a boycott.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Vic Alhadeff said his ‘organisation had no knowledge of the poster campaign, or the phone survey, until afterwards’.

The solidarity of human rights icon and anti-apartheidist Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a wonderful accolade for Marrickville Council and the community which supported their principled struggle for justice for Palestinians through boycott, divestment and sanctions. Congratulations to the courageous Councillors from Marrickville who have set an example which all people of conscience and compassion can applaud.
Poll: 77% of Israelis oppose going back to pre-’67 lines

Related Links

Lee Rhiannon hails Desmond Tutu praise for Marrickville Council’s Israel boycott
Tutu congratulates council’s Israel boycott
Tutu praises Marrickville mayor
West Dunbartonshire council has reaffirmed its support for BDS following false allegations made about the implementation of its boycott policy.

Palestine / Israel Links

The Impossible Distance: A Choice to Kill : fascism kills compulsively to replenish itself
On Naksa Day, unarmed resistance sends Israel into violent contortions

While evidence that the Syrian regime directly organized the demonstrations is scant to non-existent, the regime clearly enabled the demonstrators to reach the fence by neglecting to repel them with its own troops. Not only does this fact fail to excuse Israel’s wanton killing, it highlights the irony of Israel and its allies condemning the Syrian regime for its brutal repression of Syrian citizens rising up against it (of course, the whole world should deplore Assad’s draconian rule), while at the same time demanding that the regime repress the Palestinian refugees who are protesting for their own internationally recognized rights.

Ex-army adviser says Goldstone op-ed makes S. Africa safer for ex-pats
Israel Prepares To Approve 4100 New Units For Israeli Settlers In East Jerusalem
Israel’s Obsession with walls : Israel needs northern wall In face of new Arab invasion strategy on Golan, Israel must build new cement wall
West Bank mosque targeted in suspected ‘price tag’ attack by settlers Palestinians: Jewish youth roll burning tires into a mosque in Maghayer village next to Alei Ayin outpost demolished by IDF last week.
Poll: 77% of Israelis oppose going back to pre-’67 lines

77% of Israelis would rather stay expansionist and reject peace – they ‘oppose returning to pre-1967 lines even if it would lead to a peace agreement and declarations by Arab states of an end to their conflict with Israel’ … 82% considered security concerns more important than a peace deal.

Saudi Arabia Links

petro-dollar counter-revolution Saudi Arabia’s array of bribes to makes its inhabitants forget that they’re living under the whip of nut-job monarchs.
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Australian Links

Emails reveal nature of attacks on climate scientists
Statement by Samah Hadid, Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations Third Committee, delivered 4 October 2010