--SAYS ISRAEL. Israel released its annual list of political orgs which pose the biggest threat to their Apartheid colonial project in Palestine. Except -- WHO DOES THAT?! Who gives positive feedback to adversaries?! Rather, this is a list of the lesser effective pro-Palestinian campaigns which Zionists would like to see draw energy from the international BDS movement. BDS is universally acknowledged to be Apartheid's existential nemesis. Hence the regular legislative attempts to make it illegal. BDS took down White South Africa. This BDS is the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israeli Apartheid in Palestine. Below is the official "worst enemy" list, which avoids mention of BDS except where the omission would not seem credible. The list is divided by hemisphere. Europe is made to look like BDS there gets only a smattering of support. In the US there's no BDS group at all, until you notice they've relegated BDS NATIONAL COMMITTEE to "other!" HAHA! EUROPEAN ORGANIZATIONS: France-Palestine Solidarity Association BDS France BDS Italy European Coordination of Committees & Associations for Palestine Friends of Al-Aqsa Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign The Palestine Committee of Norway Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden Palestine Solidarity Campaign War on Want BDS Kampagne AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS: American Friends Service Committee American Muslims for Palestine Code Pink Jewish Voice for Peace National Students for Justice in Palestine US Campaign for Palestinian Rights OTHER GROUPS: BDS Chile BDS South Africa BDS National Committee
Tag: Apartheid
Is the Israeli Left any lesser invasive? Support Israelis who don’t live in Israel
Happening upon a Middle Eastern restaurant advertising itself to be Israeli-owned, I wondered, as a BDS-adherant promoting boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure the state of Israel to abandon apartheid and illegal occupation, if this business fell under the BDS dragnet. BDS targets Israel and not just products from the Occupied Territories as moderates might prefer. At times BDS also focuses on prominent Zionist enterprises whether they be Israeli or American. Very likely these proprietors evangelize for Israel, but I thought a broader principle suggested itself: LET'S DO SUPPORT ISRAELIS WHO DON'T LIVE IN ISRAEL! Wouldn't that be precisely the goal?! But a word about other Israelis for whom BDS is asked to make an exception, the oft-celebrated Israeli Left. Are we supposed to be reassured that many Israelis do not support the ethnic cleansing perpetuated by their right wing government? What of the purported majority of Americans who oppose our continued wars and our drone extrajudicial executions? If populations cannot prevent the crimes perpetrated in their name, indeed the responsibility falls to who other but them, does their objection earn any points until they act?
If Israel can intercept Hamas rockets, it can stop pounding Gazans
If the Iron Dome works, Israel won't have to retaliate after each Hamas rocket! These acts of desperation by the besieged Gazans, victims of Israel's occupation, will become like the rocks thrown by Palestinian youth, futile. Hopefully Israel will expand its dome of impunity to protect Gazans too, from whoever is striking at them.
Gilad Shalit trade goes to Israel’s head
But that's not news. Trade ratio of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners exchanged for one Gilad Shalit could not but encourage the Zionist notion that Israeli Jews are worth more than your average cretinous Palestinian. Of course, Palestine held only one prisoner, versus Israel's 6,000, so Israelis might consider that Shalit was worth only 16% of real exchange rate. Mathematicians might wonder how any multiple of non-Jews could be considered equal to one Jew. Apartheid suggests you don't want to be compared to a low-life nothing, especially at a magnitude. Really, are Palestinians supposed to make peace with that? The trade is complicated by several factors. One, Shalit gets to go home, while many of the Palestinians are being released into exile. Likewise, Shalit returns to safety while the Israel is free to detain Palestinians at whim, those released or any multitude of other, their relatives for example, or have them killed in airstrikes. So it's actually a raw deal. Israel retains 5,000 captives, but if you count Gaza, described as an open air prison, what's the number really?
Next Gaza Freedom Flotilla will be an anti-globalist, anti-Apartheid Armada
Israel successfully defended its inhumane illegal siege of Gaza against the 2011 Freedom Flotilla, currently regrouping in Greece. Let's recap: the French Dignite Al Karama awaits permission to leave Crete, the Swedish/Greek MV Juliano overcame sabotage which crippled the Irish MV Saoirse and unconfirmed others. The Canadian Tahrir was boarded by Greek commandos and towed back to Athens. The US Audacity of Hope repelled a shouting match with the Greek Coast Guard then surrendered into custody. Ready to form the next flotilla are the Spanish Guernica, French Louise Michel, and the Stefano Chiarini, Freedom for All and Methimus II. In the wings of course await the Mavi Marmara and the Rachel Corrie. Will this grow to an Armada? Israeli intransigence and its Hasbarapocalypse guarantee it. Check these allied organizations to see how you can join the next voyage: Belgium to Gaza Canada: boat to Gaza Europe: Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza France: Un bateau français pour Gaza Germany: Initiative zum Bruch der Gazablockade Greece: Ship to Gaza Italy: Freedom Flotilla Norway: Ship to Gaza Palestine: Free Gaza Movement Palestine: International Campaign to End the OccupationScotland: Free Gaza Spain: Rumbo a Gaza Switzerland: Un bateau pour Gaza Turkey: IHH Humanitarian Aid Flotilla US to Gaza
Okay I’ll bite, what is legitimate about Israel?
Israel asserts that Palestinian efforts to seek UN recognition, without Israel's consent, are intended to delegitimize the Tel Aviv regime. Apparently sending an aid convey to relieve the siege of Gaza is also to delegitimize Israel. What they really mean it that Israel's inevitably violent responses won't help but to prompt onlookers to rethink Zionism's legitimacy. Because, Israel was created unilaterally by the UN, without obtaining Palestinian consent. And whatever reason could anyone contrive to deny humanitarian aid to the Gazans? The Obama administration recently reiterated its aim to combat efforts to delegitimize Israel. You wonder if they've even asked it themselves, what is legitimate about Apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and occupation?
PPLFF says no BDS of Israeli Apartheid
Crap. The Anti-Apartheid BDS campaign targeted Cannes because of it, Hollywood luminaries boycotted the Toronto Film Festival over the same principles in 2009, you'd think the Springs gay community might have paid heed. Instead the 2010 Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival opted to screen the Israeli melodrama Eyes Wide Open, Zionists' illegal appropriation of Jerusalem be damned. When Canadian gays made international news for allowing Queers Against Israeli Apartheid to march in their pride parade, in spite of Jewish philanthropists pressuring the City of Toronto to withdraw funding, I hoped that COS pride festivities might opt to climb aboard. Instead this weekend Colorado Springs gets a full-on endorsement of Israel's ongoing illegal invasion of Palestine. It was a false hope. The Pikes Peak area gay community has found itself so embattled since Amendment Two's 1992 measure to legalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, that common social causes are easily crowded out by Gay Marriage, DADT and brand recognition for LGBT. So much so that social justice activists can only participate in the pride parade on the condition that it be about solidarity, not antiwar. With gay issues being so politicized, should gays and lesbians get a pass on staying apolitical about war or racism? Whatever excuses we make, it's a perfectly flamboyant example of silence equals consent. I count apolitical queens every bit as complicit with US military criminality as the above-it-all new-agers and NASCAR jackasses. Set in an Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem, Eyes Wide Open doesn't address the Israeli-Palestinian troubles, it ignores them, effectively normalizing an ethnically-cleansed Palestine. The film tells the story of an extramarital gay affair between Jewish scholars, blablabla, minus the evictions of Palestinians in the path of encroachment by Israeli settlers, and the hijacking of Muslim holy sites . "Beverly Hills 90210" was fine without scenes of the LAPD repression of Watts or East LA, but 90210 wasn't pretending to be taped on non-Jewish land. Eyes Wide Open was the title of the 2005 American Friends Service Committee antiwar boot-counting exercise to open American eyes to the enormity of casualties of the Iraq War -- before the Eyes Wide Open slogan was adopted by a 2008 Israeli PR project to encourage American Jews to pay more attention to their birthright offer of Israeli citizenship. The death count of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan (now that the AFSC has been cleared to consider both wars illegal) has long since outgrown the AFSC budget for buying boots or lugging them around in rented trucks, and now EWO (Einaym Pkuhot) is a miserable tale about infidelity and sin. Frankly, Trembling Before G-d was an incredible documentary about gay Orthodox men struggling with the DADT policy of Orthodox Judaism. I remember seeing it at the 2003 PPLFF, or so. I remember Rabbinical experts expounded on both sides of the argument with authority and humor. But that was before the BDS movement to curb Israel's racist apartheid system. You either support the picket or you scab. Objective reviews of EWO are scarce
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid undaunted by Zionist intimidation
Organizers of the 2010 gay pride parade in Toronto have relented to allow the participation of QUEERS AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHEID. At first it was declared that the two words "Israeli Apartheid" would jeopardize their city subsidy and summon a perfect storm of angry Canadian Jews. Faced with queers determined to parade for their social cause in spite of the ban, Toronto Pride opted to honor their members' freedom of expression.
S. Africa wipes Apartheid from the map
A unique subtext of the pre-game coverage of the 2010 World Cup is that South Africa was once banned from soccer competition because of its policy of Apartheid. Reporters ask how the host nation is faring post BDS. In the wake of Apartheid, South Africa has been trying to revert its place names to aboriginal origins, some buried by centuries of colonial heritage, to efface Apartheid's dark legacy. Those hopeful about Israel's sooner-than-later repudiation of its racism can take heart that for original place names of a re-christened Palestine, one need look no further than a 1947 map.
Looking for a parallel colonial failure? French Algeria and US Israel
Not "US-Israel" as in an alliance, but U.S. Israel, protectorate. L'audace of the savage Arabs to assassinate the white settlers one by one, or by means of uncivilized cafe bombs, defying France's brutal measures to wall the terrorists off and impoverish them.
Israeli yacht club sends Anti-Freedom Flotilla to protest Gaza relief convoy
PICTURES! -Some very expensive yachts sailed from Herziliya Yacht Club in a feint of indignation that an international social justice effort was showing favoritism toward Palestinians. No Gaza yacht club could be reached for a response. Commodore Guy Bechor, an outspoken Zionist, led the ostentatious flotilla in protest of the humanitarian aid convoy attempting to break the siege of Gaza, which he belittled as "rusty tin cans." The banners for their private regatta? TURKEY=IRAN? and FREE GILAD, an interesting conceit. 1.5 million Gazans are being blockaded to coerce the release of one Israeli POW. That's a ratio similar to the disproportionate casualties of the 2008 Gaza "War." While soldier Gilad Shalit is considered a hostage of Hamas, he was an IDF soldier captured by the resistance. Israel holds 8,000 Palestinians in detention, not counting all the residents of Gaza. The Gaza Massacre, like the ongoing siege itself, is recognized as an illegal act of collective punishment. A fact apparently lost on the Yerziliya skippers. Likewise the disconnect they display in presuming to insult the Turkish leader by associating him with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Though the yacht flotilla raised fears of creating an embarrassing confrontation with the humanitarian fleet, in reality it was a single day affair. The Israeli counter protesters were informed that the entire coast of Gaza has been cordoned by the Israeli navy. The pretext it will use to try to arrest the Freedom Flotilla blockade runners. Bechor's website G-planet celebrates all the press they received, I don't see the harm in giving them more. These pictures speak a thousand words, almost as many days as Gaza has been under illegal siege. See more pictures at Bechor's Facebook album. The irony of the singular concern for Gilad Shalit might have caused Bechor to think twice about the message. All photos of yachts featuring the banners about Shalit have been curiously scrubbed, but they remain on some Turkish news sites. Bechor list dozens of Turkish media outlets which covered his anti-relief regatta, demonstrating a strategy of aiming to undercut Turkish public support for what it predominantly its humanitarian effort. While several of the outlets might be Hasbara properties echoing Israel PR, most of the articles about the Israeli counter-protest make as much fun of it as we. For the record, here is the port at Gaza, absent of yachts. The relief convoy will even have to improvise docks for unloading their supplies.
BDS movement should target USA too, for complicity in Israeli Apartheid
As the US continues to subsidize the Israeli occupation, including the recent commitment to fund an anti-missile system, plus failure to demand a halt to Jewish settlements, termed "impediments to peace" and not "illegal," it's time the BDS movement against Israel recognized the US for its integral part in upholding Apartheid. It may be too much for nascent BDS efforts in the US, but international organizers should certainly add American products, businesses and institutions to the list of BDS targets. As our politicians reaffirm that US-Israeli interests are indivisible, so should we expect to hang together. As if the world didn't have enough excuse to sanction the US, for Iraq, for Afghanistan, for Pakistan, for the IMF, World Bank and United Nations. For its warmongering and provocations, for its covert crimes meant to destabilize populist resurgence against its imperial grasp. Israel and Apartheid, should be just the start. Israel is not a tough sell in the growing international BDS movement. Adding the US is no great stretch, the two already regarded as partners in crime, I can't think that proponents of BDS in the United States would be averse to calling out our own nation as accomplice. The same principles of social justice drive solidarity for Palestine as those against war and imperialism. Maybe an international shift to group the US with Isreal will find more support because it is more intellectually honest. The effort will still be attacked as anti-Semitic, but perhaps the argument can be deflected by the enlarged focus. Israeli Apartheid, American racism, drive the same globalist anti-everybody-else policy.
Simon Wiesenthal Center makes best case against Israel colonial legitimacy
Give Israel credit for answering their critics head on, but that is the Zionist hubris. Simon Wiesenthal is propagating the latest Hasbara crib sheet to counter the ten most threatening lies about Israel. We couldn't have summarized the arguments better ourselves. One man's "lies" are his victim's desperate appeals to confound systemic myopic denial. Here it is in their own nutshell: Israel was created by European guilt over the Nazi Holocaust. Why should Palestinians pay the price? ... Had Israel withdrawn to its June 1967 borders, peace would have come long ago. ... Israel is the main stumbling block to achieving a two-state solution. ... Nuclear Israel, not Iran, is the greatest threat to peace and stability. ... Israel is an apartheid state deserving of international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns. ... Plans to build 1,600 more homes in East Jerusalem prove Israel is "Judaizing" the Holy City. ... Israeli policies endanger U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. ... Israeli policies are the cause of worldwide anti-Semitism. ... Israel, not Hamas, is responsible for the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. ... Goldstone was right when he charged that Israel was guilty of war crimes against civilians. ... The only hope for peace is a single, binational state eliminating the Jewish State of Israel. Even dissembled, the case weighs hard against Zionist mendacity. OK, a tad capricious To Wiesenthal's credit, the arguments are loaded with a laudable reserve of disingenuity: 5,500 MORE HOMES have been zoned for East Jerusalem, not 1,600, (and yes, Jerusalem's mayor has set quotas, a Jewish to non-Jewish target ratio to counter a higher Arab birthrate). Israeli policies are the cause of [PROLIFERATION] of worldwide anti-Semitism, The Gaza "humanitarian catastrophe" soft-pedals the critics' real accusation: MASSACRE. Imagine referring to the Holocaust as befalling its victims with the ambivalence of a tsunami. JUDGE Goldstone isn't the only accuser who's documented the criminality the world witnessed WITH ITS OWN EYES. Apartheid legitimizers blink Further demonstrating the disintegrating global support for a Jewish haven-state, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has all but dropped its cover as Holocaust-remembrance-sledgehammer to directly shore up the supposed public grant of legitimacy to Zionist colonialism. Trying to turn the argument on Israel's "de-ligitimizers" couldn't be more out of touch. While the US fights in expanding but downward spirals against the entropy of Pax Americana, Western public support for empire-building erodes for even the pretext of "globalization." White Man's Burden has smartened to Carbon Debt, missionary zeal evolved to indigenous and environmental protectionism. Religious crusades haven't held water for centuries, but what an Auld Testament to Zionism's xenophobic tenacity to posit the Jewish People as "chosen" to revive God-manifested destiny. What part of "Apartheid is for Neanderthals" do Palestine's neo- Afrikaners fail to understand? Even an 18th Century South African settler categorization gives the mid-twentieth century European transplants in Zion too much credit for pretended genealogical roots in the Middle East. Only State Solution Not very well concealed in Wiesenthal's framing of the "Top Ten Lies" is a specious conceit formed by straw arguments three and ten, which presume
UCSD divestment hearing tweeted
The University of California San Diego student council decided to postpone its resolution to address the suffering of Palestine, but let public comments play out. UCSD Divest For Peace tweeted the proceeding @ucsddivest, which we retweet below so future student discussions don't have to rehash the boilerplate AIPAC prevarications. @ 2nd Divestment Resolution proceeding... before walking into the ASUCSD meeting, we were notified that it was tabled indefinitely... public input occurring to revive resolution (or shut it out by opposition) opposition is trying to make this a joke while we bring them truth about oppression opposition argument: it's not our place to do this because there are a lot of places that we have not put our hand in It is our place. Change starts with us. Stand with those who are oppressed and always constantly silenced. This movement has been constantly silenced but we will not give up! Truth will emerge!!! A student is disgusted that people are too cowardly and afraid to give people their right to live. "What Israel is doing is the dictionary definition of terrorism" So much obvious truth is being said for this resolution ... I can't keep up... a student explains how this is not anti-semitic/anti-Jewish which is the opposition's argument a student from the committee created last Wednesday to "work together" explained the failed process due to the opposition Question: Why don't we invest in Palestine instead of divest from Israel? Answer: Council, educate yourself on last year's invasion on Gaza "Operation Cast Lead" and then answer their question A.S. should honor the majority here at UCSD. One group against so many groups who have come together for this resolution due to PEACE! How can we invest in Palestine while Israel imposes a blockade upon the Gaza strip and denies it direly needed relief? Opposition is taking pictures of all our speakers ... scare tactic against those for peace, justice and equality? "You can't censor my voice!" ... against this resolution = alienating and segregating against a side! Desmond Tutu thanked UCSD for change ... let's do it again. "Council, you are privileged! ... t is the duty of a human being to speak for the voiceless." "Standing up for human rights is not a political statement!" "I will use the rest of my time to remain silent because you won't listen to my voice anyway." This resolution is not against Israel but against companies that the U.S. deals with. Get it straight. We were just told Israel tolerates everyone ... democratic? What's his definition of democracy? please educate yourself on Israel and its laws and if you can, go there and see the truth for yourself ... "Council, you do matter and this decision really does matter." If this is not the time then when is the time? When will we talk about this? NOW! We are already divided so let's make an effort to talk about this b/c people are suffering every day. Last person to speak WE JUST WALKED OUT INTO A RALLY! Peace until later... check in later for results! Short rally was held leading into amazing speeches with opposition in the back who looked like they were in awe
Apartheid haunts Israel Innovation Wk
BDS activists take heart. Anti-Apartheid Bostonites targeted their Museum of Science for hosting Israeli Innovation Weekend, a propaganda event to solicit investment in Zionist high tech industry. Protesters disrupted the speakers, provoking venomous outcry from the audience, all lovingly captured on video. Insults were so arrogant, I predict the pro-Israel ego will become the next too big to fail.
South African white supremacist gets head bashed in while followers look on
Wasn't because of his violent racist activities, though, he was trying to cheat "his" workers and (this is important) according to his fellow supremacists who witnessed the event two of those workers, black, who had spent the summer putting money in his pocket, beat him to death. Mind you, his fellow Supremacists were right there, so why didn't they do anything to stop it? it was Buc-buc-buc-buc because they're chicken. Not as "superior" as they thought themselves to be. Now his demented demonic disciples are saying that because it was a pair of BLACK workers who he tried to screw and started a fight with them, a fight he thought his Fellow Supremacists would handily win for him.... that it's a "declaration of war" by every black PERSON in South Africa. No, stupid racist punks, it was two people who defended themselves from your comrades when your comrades attempted to basically strong-arm rob them of their due wages. Now what are you going to do? Even when you had the "darkies" held at gunpoint and forbidden to bear arms you lost the last round of Apartheid. Your Mighty Leader, ever so superior, picked a fight with two of the supposed untermenschen and got his head handed to him.
Boycott Israel Apartheid this Christmas
In solidarity with the ONE MILE MARCH to free Gaza, on the one year anniversary of Israel's genocidal incursion into Gaza, let's kick start a Colorado Springs effort to support the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel, to end apartheid and free Palestine. There are many US/Israeli companies who promote or profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine. On December 28, let's target those in the Chapel Hills Mall! L'Oreal, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Ahava, Hanes, Timberland, Teva, Victoria's Secret, and Bath & Body Works. American citizens can feel a vague sense of disconnectedness with respect to US business ties with Israel, or we can trace the responsibility for the injustices suffered in Palestine directly to retailers in our neighborhoods. Let's let these local outlets know we will not tolerate their companies' agenda in Palestine. These are just among the consumer products and retailers which actively support Israel's illegal actions in Palestine. Others you can boycott in town include Home Depot, Starbucks, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Sara Lee, Danon, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clarke, AOL Time Warner, [Fox] News Corp, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Motorola and Caterpillar. The BDS movement against Israel is attempting to recreate the same pressures which ultimately brought down apartheid in South Africa. Academic, cultural and business boycotts are targeted against US and Israeli companies which participate in the settlement industry, the economic exploitation of Palestine and Palestinians, and control of the population.
Ward Churchill speaks on which settler invasion wrote the book on Apartheid
Ward Churchill spoke in Tucson on Friday and Brenda Norrell has posted the footage. Watching the ex-CU professor speak, I can't help but think about the university students' loss. They're missing the lamentably rarefied perspectives he offers of course, but more important, the inspiration gained from such an engaging luminary. Throughout his lectures, Churchill likes to put questions back at his audience. He understands, if I can presume to project his rationale, that a mentor's role is to bounce ideas around, and be sure his students have minds open enough to let them resonate. It's also a sign of someone fully confident with what they are teaching. Churchill gives you the impression he's interested in the best argument you've got, and I believe him, but in reality he's going to have few peers up to the task. When it's time for Q and A, Prof. Churchill calls it mud-wrestling, and welcomes all shots, "even spit wads." He draws the line at brick bats, because he says, one might bounce off his head and hit somebody else. He warns, as if he's had practice, "because someone might get hurt. I can assure you it won't be me." I wished at that moment that Tucson was not so far from Churchill's curiously vile detractors, who attended his trial in Denver, and who hold bitch fests online about every Churchinalia for reasons unspecified. I predict they're remunerated; the love-to-hate pretext is wearing thin, these yahoos are pro-Israeli tea-baggers. So there's no Drunkablog or Pirate Ballerina there tonight to take the "perfessor's" challenge. Although wouldn't such an exchange have been simply tedious? I recall this dismal attempt mounted against "Wart" by a couple CU college Republicans, it was just embarrassing. Have Churchill's online critics ever confronted him in person I wonder? They can spout off in the safety of anonymity, and that's about it. Churchill's speech to the predominantly Anglo and O'odham border activists was about the bigger issues behind the border wall. The theme of the gathering was Apartheid in America, and Churchill demonstrated how South African Apartheid came of the successful colonial methods practiced in the United States. These were the strategies employed by the Germans in taking and settling the Eastern Front during WWII, and of course the goals of Israel in Palestine. Churchill described how settler invasions vary from colonial administration. In the latter case, the colonizers can go home, in the former, they stay. Another distinction is critical, the settlers aren't moving to a land and becoming part of the social system, they remain citizens of the occupying force. They bring their identity and the foreign system with them, to apply against the people indigenous to the land. The process involves two steps: displace enough of the natives to make room for yourselves, but leave just enough to serve as a labor pool, for all the building that is required of empire building. You've need of only a portion of the original population, to do the manual labor required
This Israel public relations jig is up
COLORADO COLLEGE- The news from the ISRAEL TODAY lecture is all good. If you'd been there, you might wonder how my takeaway from such a bilious gathering could be upbeat. I'll tell you. The Palestinian voice was well represented, Israel's presentation was Old Testament, and the writing on the wall grows ever more clear. And I got a few nice pics. The Audience To begin, I would certainly have preferred everyone had acted with more decorum. That is, if there had been impressionable attendees there. As it was, the seats were only half occupied. Except for the young men with "JEW CREW" on their backs, or girls with Hebrew script across their pullovers, there were almost no CC students. The audience was one third voices for Palestine, and two thirds vitriolic Jew, amazingly indignant to disruption of their world view. No one was there to listen, except to cheer for what they already believed. But I'm certain it was an eye opener for all. My friends and I were sure to supplement the speaker's pauses with color to augment his heavily loaded statements. For example, when Gil Artzyeli described the objective and feat of Israel's 2006 incursion into Lebanon "to silence them," and did that not prove effective? Who could refrain from adding "you killed them." The 2/3 supporters grew more and more angry. But the speaker had an inopportune manner of posing rhetorical questions, which we couldn't resist answering. It almost got us kicked out. I spent the duration with security guards poised right behind me, ready to escort me out of the room. I learned it would be more prudent to avoid the back row at opportunities like this, because you can be pulled out of your chair, or distracted into involuntary conversation with security personnel more readily than if you were well ensconced among the other attendees. Those voicing support for Palestinians were made to wait until question and answer portion to voice their objections. Even then, the pro-Israel audience would cut them off. It became impossible to ask a complex question without interruptions of "What is your question? State your question!" They hounded everyone who wasn't setting the speaker up for a softy. It was a ruthless crowd with the civility of Tea Partiers. When the pro-Israel attendees took their turn posing questions, no one interrupted. When it was a detractor, their time suddenly became too valuable to entrust to us. Even a CC student from Gaza, who hasn't been permitted to visit his family in two years, was not given a hearing. I'm positive that as these rude people think on how the event transpired, they will not be able to help feeling ashamed. Our interactions were spirited and engaging, addressed to a speaker with the hubris to take us on. We interrupted the speaker, but never tried to drown him out. Our adversaries on the other hand tried to flat out shut their fellow audience members up. That crowd is immovable. I've no optimism for influencing their resolve. On the
Israel sends deputy consul general to CC
The Israel Today event changed the speakers on us, instead of the Israeli Consul General to Los Angeles, it's the Deputy Consul Gil Artzyeli. But the act's still on. Get to Gaylord hall sometime before noon, it's the conference room at the Southeast corner of the Worner Center building. We'll stand outside with our repudiation of Mr. Artzyeli's message, then go inside to assure the discussion steers toward being honest. I found this quote by Artzyeli, addressing the Denver Jewish community earlier this year about the Gaza incursion: "This is not a war for territory ... The first war is to protect the citizens of Israel, the second war is against Iran and the third war is against lies and disinformation." Any takers? My first question, if I'm given the chance: Mr. Artzyeli, are you here only to speak, or will you listen? Cyndy Kulp put together a handout for the occasion: Human Rights Issues in “Israel Today” Israel is a pariah nation condemned by the UN and much of the international community for its multiple violations of international human rights law, including: • Continuing the occupation of the Palestinian people • Building housing settlements on confiscated land • Seizing additional land and property from Palestinians to build “The Wall”, highways for the exclusive use of Israelis, and military areas, etc. • Using extremely disproportionate and indiscriminate force in the invasion of the Gaza Strip during “Operation Cast Lead” in Dec. 2008 • Inflicting heavy casualties on Palestinians, many civilians and children with no way to escape the bombing • Refusing to compensate the 5.8 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants who were displaced from their homes and properties during 1948 Israeli Diplomats, like our speaker today, should not be given a public platform from which to promote their views as long as they refuse to recognize and cooperate with international laws. HERE ARE FURTHER DETAILS: ? In June 1967, the Israeli military invaded the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. These areas of historic Palestine under military control are the "Occupied Territories," comprising some 3.5 million Palestinians, and they are systematically being incorporated into the state of Israel in violation of international law. ? Life under occupation is very harsh. The Palestinians have virtually no human or civil rights. Unemployment is rampant. In order to go about their daily lives, the people in the Occupied Territories must line up and go through multiple checkpoints manned by the Israeli army. Proper paperwork, including Palestinian ID’s, and permits are required to pass through, and many people are denied entry, even into East Jerusalem which is Palestinian territory and home to many hospitals, schools, and employers. ? Israel has built 200+ settlements in the West Bank, and over 400,000 Israelis have moved onto Palestinian land. Many of the settlers are armed and aggressive extremists, and their actions are regularly protected by Israeli Defense Forces. ? Israel has seized a majority of the West Bank land as military bases, settlements, security areas, "land reserves," by-pass roads linking settlements with Israel, and other areas forbidden to Palestinians.
Ward Churchill to speak for O’odham
According to Censored News, Activist and scholar Ward Churchill will speak at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 W. 22nd St., on November 13, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. to benefit O'odham VOICE Against the Wall, which since 2003 has organized and advocated for the traditional O’odham leaders and elders of the Tohono O’odham communities in the southern territory of the United States and northern territory of Mexico. Professor Churchill’s talk is part of the “Apartheid in America: Surviving Occupation in O’odham Lands” O'odham activist Ofelia Rivas will also participate. The event is sponsored by the Dry River Radical Resource Center, the Earth First! Journal, and Voices against the Wall. Here's some background on the O'odham struggle: By J. D. Hendricks, 2004 TIAMAT PUBLICATIONS #5 The People Who Emerged From the Earth Over two thousand years ago the descendents of the O’odham moved into the southwestern region of the area now claimed by the U.S. as the state of Arizona. 1 The O’odham have had one of the longest histories of contact with the forces of European colonization compared with the rest of the native North American peoples. The O’odham’s first contact with Spanish invaders took place in the mid 16th century; nearly one hundred years before the colonization of the North Atlantic coast and Great Lakes regions were begun by the French and English colonists. As such, the history of the O’odham provides a good context for an investigation of the colonization of Native North America, and more specifically, an investigation of the interplay between, and results of, the varied responses to colonization – that of collaboration, accommodation, and resistance. Many histories of the O’odham refer to these desert people as the Papago. The term Papago was a name given to the O’odham by the Spanish colonizers, and is likely the result of a Spanish corruption of the O’odham word “papabi” which was the O’odham name for one of their principal bean varieties. Thus, the Spanish colonizers term for the O’odham (Papago) came to mean “the bean eaters.” 2 For the purposes of this study I will refrain from the use of the term Papago and will refer to “the people” 3 by their traditional pre-colonial name. 4 As is often the case, with the name Papago being a good example, European constructs are often imposed upon indigenous peoples by the historians that seek to portray their past. This result can occur when historians seek to glorify European norms and traditions at the expense of indigenous ones, and can also be the result of the subconscious indoctrination of the historian by the dominant culture – in this case that of western style industrial civilization. In other cases it can be the result of a simple uncritical usage of language. One of the most dominant and reoccurring “civilized” constructs imposed upon indigenous peoples history is the commonly understood notion that the O’odham, or any other indigenous North American culture for that
Picture of Israeli worth 20 Palestinians
At first glance the trade betrayed a racist inequity. This week Israel agreed to release twenty Palestinian women in exchange for one Israeli held captive by Hamas. Not for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, just for proof that he was still alive. What is the worth of one Israeli? At first his captors demanded the release of all Palestinian women and girls. Later they asked for the release of 1,000 detainees. But the relative values are reversed. Shalit is the lone POW held by Palestine. Israel incarcerates an estimated 11,000, most detained for obstructing the construction of the Apartheid Wall. Exchanging Shalit would represent a trade of 100% for 9%. Don't worry, Israel's occupation forces can always capture more. Gilad Shalit is the first IDF soldier captured by the Palestinians since 1994. Israel on the other hand, with the collaboration of Fatah, can arrest civilians whenever they choose. Shalit's capture is an interesting story. Israel claims to have received warning of the eminent kidnap attempt. The day before, IDF soldiers raided a house belonging to a suspected Hamas militant. They arrested his two sons, a doctor and a lawyer. Their torture allegedly extracted details of a cross-border raid. As a result, technically I suppose you could say, their intelligence officers "received warning." However Israel was unable to thwart the tank operator's capture. Shalit has served as the pretext for many ensuing incursions into Gaza, at a great cost to Palestinian lives. Draw your own conclusions. Israel propagates this story to assert that Gilad Shalit was "kidnapped," invoking a litany of international laws which Israel wields against Hamas. With shameless hypocrisy, Israelis protest the inhumanities suffered by Shalit, ignoring the documentation of thousands of imprisoned Palestinian subjected to worse. The irony of Israel's complaints becomes tedious: lack of International Red Cross access, parental visitation, regular correspondence, information of his exact whereabouts, etc. This in light of Israel's refusal to permit oversight of its Palestinian detainees, or to denounce its tortures. What gall to decry the fate of one soldier, taken prisoner while on duty, with Israel's demonstrated eagerness to expend ordnance and harass Palestinian civilians at whim. Shalit has prompted Israel to launch aerial bombardments, and restrict border checkpoints in the effort to extort his release, or to pit Palestinian sentiments against Hamas, who refuse to release Shalit in spite of the collective punishment meted to its people. The Israelis had reason to doubt that Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in 2006, was not dead. After all, the IDF was confident that their January incursion into Gaza had destroyed all known Hamas hiding places.
Don’t buy Israeli Apartheid
Interesting counterpoint in Ha'aretz this morning about the Goldstone Report on the recent war crimes committed in Gaza, where the UN commission found grounds to investigate both Hamas and Israel for violations. Hamas rejects the charges based on population's right to resist illegal occupation. The Israeli administration was indignant with a more complicated rationale. In the face of having inflicted 100 times more casualties, most of them civilian, Amira Hass wrote about The one thing worse than denying the Gaza report, which is to justify the crimes. Ari Shavit took a further tack, arguing that the UN must hold Obama to same standard as Israel. My favorite analysis of the moral predicament Israel finds itself rationalizing, is by Jihad el-Khazen.
Osama on Obama
The usual channels have yielded another video from Osama bin Laden, wherein a still photo of the al-Qaeda godfather accompanies an audio "statement to the American people," purportedly recorded June 4. Here is the full English translation of the 10 minute tape. First, two questions. ONE: I find it interesting that the message echoes what most anti-imperialists already believe. From a Chavez, or Ahmadinejad, this text would be timid. Throw in the unverified nature of this transmission, the mystery of whether Osama lives, or whose interest he really served, and this new tape subverts somebody's message, but whose? For example, in the new tape, Osama bin Laden recommends three books. The NYT is quick to tell us that any recommendation from bin Laden is certainly unwelcome by any author. The books? The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, and Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. The NYT just as quickly dismissed the titles as well. TWO: Why does no one release the full translation of Osama's message? Newspapers comment on his statements based on interpretations made by US intelligence contractors, who themselves do not release their translations to the public. Are there no Arabic speakers who wish to translate bin Laden's words for the international audience? Why is everyone content to hear what the US government says is Osama's message? Extracts the US media is reprinting of Osama's message: "Reasonable people know that Obama is a powerless man who will not be able to end the war as he promised, but rather, will continue it to the highest point possible." "The bitter truth is that the neoconservatives continue to cast their heavy shadows upon you." "Ask yourselves to determine your position: is your security, your blood, your children, your money, your jobs, your homes, your economy, and your reputation dearer to you than the security of the Israelis, their children and their economy? "If you choose your security and cessation of war … this requires you to work to punish those on your side who play with our security." "The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby." "The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine." "If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups." "Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq -- as Bush claimed -- it should have been liberated." "If you stop the war, then fine. Otherwise we will have no choice but to continue our war of attrition on every front... If you choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then we are ready to respond to this." "You have only changed the faces in the White House." The full English translation, courtesy of the NEFA Foundation: “All praise is due to Allah who created [the] creation for His servants and commanded them to justice, and who permitted those who have been unjustly treated
IDF targets al-Jazeera on West Bank
Did you catch it on Democracy Now? Al-Jazeera reporter Jackie Rowland, broadcasting live from the West Bank covering the weekly Palestinian protests of the Israeli Apartheid Wall at Bil'in, was interrupted by the IDF. The protesters were accustomed to being shelled with tear gas, but this time the Israeli soldiers targeted the reporter. While she was on the air, the IDF soldiers repeatedly fired gas canisters, until she could no longer speak, and a cameraman had to come to her rescue with a spare gas mask. Here's the original footage: