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resistance

Invasion of the body snatchers

The ‘news’ that is transferred to masses in the West through controlled media are so disconnected from reality that it is shameful. Fortunately the spreading of real news by decent people through the internet and other alternative media is shaking the foundations of oppression (which are ignorance, apathy, racism).

Thus, an anonymous ‘US official’ is quoted as threatening Turkey if it does not start towing the line in opposition to Iran and support of apartheid Israel.

And the Israeli government statements about the removal of a wall in Gilo are printed as if they are facts (the wall was actually erected to keep residents of an illegal colony of Gilo afraid and supportive of apartheid rather than to protect them and since polls show that Israelis have developed fear of gentiles to paranoia levels, it is no longer needed).

And the Quartet (US, UN, EU, Russia) is unwilling to challenge the fascist government of Israel so it pressured Abbas to go to direct negotiations (already 19 years of that produced only expanded colonies and shrinking Palestinian lands). But the Zionist controlled media does not dare publish reality: what is happening on the ground to people.

The popular resistance is all but ignored by the self delusional right wing Zionists and their managed media outlets.

If we allow exceptionalism in any way, we are all doomed. Now in the “democratic” US, there are challenges to building an Islamic center in New York City, in “democratic” Europe there are countries were you can examine and challenge any historical event except the Zionist version of WWII history, and in Apartheid Israel calling for BDS may soon be declared a crime punishable by law.

The International investigations on war crimes are ignored (e.g. Goldstone report) or scuttled (e.g. Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla).

But more and more people are realizing that this project of “chosen people”, “democracy is only how we chosen define it”, “above the law” notions, and “us here them there” must fail and is failing whether it comes from ideologies of Nazism or Zionism (and the two collaborated closely for 11 years) whether from the mouth of Osama Bin Laden or Shimon Peres or Benjamin Netanyahu.

Can humanity rise to the challenge? In this article by Patrick Cockburn, you can read how even a tiny state like Lebanon was able to challenge the might of Israel and defeat its plans Lebanon’s popular pressure also got Syrian forces to leave Lebanon.

Maintaining its independence from Both Israel and Syria (and by extensions US and Iran) is no small deed. If we Palestinians can just take the lessons of how, by the will of common people, a small nation can succeed against the interests of powerful countries.

We must rise to this challenge instead of allowing ourselves to fall into the traps set for us (see Palestinian democracy Under threat from all sides: Democracy is flagging in both the Palestinian territories ).
What if all of us stop talking about two states in Palestine and instead reveal the reality that Israel is a racist apartheid state (see for example this brilliant article by George Bisharat and Nimer Sultany in the Miami Herald. What if we set aside factional and personal interests and put the people interest first?

We can start by demanding unity and by that there would be no direct or indirect negotiations until Palestinians are strengthened (via struggles and sacrifices) to negotiate as equals not as prisoners and prison guards. We can demand simple human rights including the right of return and full equality instead of ghettos and Bantustans with a flag and elites who are rich.

We can achieve this by first liberating our minds from the notion that the hegemony of the US, Israel or any other country is permanent and really understand that history changes (is changing).

A nation like Egypt cannot forever remain prisoner to the whims of Hosni Mubarak (and soon his son Jamal) and must again retake its place as leader in the Arab world. If we just have faith in Egyptians and Palestinians and Jordanians and Israelis; i.e if we have faith in ourselves.

We all must continue to push with all our energies towards utilizing the tools available to us for educating others (personal interactions, internet and other modern communication tools) and with all our energies on boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS). On the latter front, the successes continue to pile-up as Harvard University fund just sold all its Israel holdings (see here .

I am reminded of the old science fiction movies like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” But the choice for us individuals is to be like robotic groaning Zombies or active and alive human beings challenging injustice.

Take action now: Please call your Congressperson to oppose H.Res. 1553 (see here )
– A House Resolution introduced on July 22, 2010 which gives support for possible Israeli military strike on Iran. The Resolution has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

And as always, come visit us in occupied Palestine…
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home

http://www.qumsiyeh.org
Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities
Chairman of the Board, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People,
http://www.pcr.ps

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Al-Walaja 13-8-2010

In case the video should not show go click here

On the first Friday of Ramadan, thousands of Palestinians tried to reach the Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem for prayers in Al-Aqsa mosque. But only some men above 50 and some women above 45 year old were allowed to enter through the checkpoints in the apartheid wall. Some of those left behind participated in demonstrations.

Al-Walaja demonstration was particularly inspiring and faced the might of the apartheid system. The Apartheid wall here is being built to surround Al-Walaja on all sides. We marched from the mosque towards the village entrance and along the main road; here the wall facing Al-Walaja village is ugly concrete and the side of it facing the illegal colony of Har Gilo is decorated with Jerusalem stone.

As we stopped at the village entrance as planned, several military and police vehicles and dozens of heavily armed apartheid warriers prepared to attack us. Ali chanted in Arabic, I spoke in English, and then Ali spoke in Hebrew. We addressed the gathering and the soldiers telling them this was a peaceful demonstration against land confiscation. We explained that this village lost 80% of its land in 1948 and is now about to lose the rest.

The officers came and gave us five minutes to disperse but then started attacking us within five seconds with stun grenades and tear gas. They arrested Ali Al-Aaraj and then they ran into the nearby house and arrested his cousin Ma’moun (who was not participating in the demonstration) . Some colonial racist settlers showed up with an Israeli flag and waved uit and cheered their storm troops on.

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The Palestinian Call for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions

Palestinian Civil Society Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights

9 July 2005

One year after the historic Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which found Israel’s Wall built on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal, Israel continues its construction of the colonial Wall with total disregard to the Court’s decision. Thirty eight years into Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights, Israel continues to expand Jewish colonies. It has unilaterally annexed occupied East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights and is now de facto annexing large parts of the West Bank by means of the Wall. Israel is also preparing – in the shadow of its planned redeployment from the Gaza Strip – to build and expand colonies in the West Bank.

Fifty seven years after the state of Israel was built mainly on land ethnically cleansed of its Palestinian owners, a majority of Palestinians are refugees, most of whom are stateless. Moreover, Israel’s entrenched system of racial discrimination against its own Arab-Palestinian citizens remains intact.

In light of Israel’s persistent violations of international law, and Given that, since 1948, hundreds of UN resolutions have condemned Israel’s colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal and called for immediate, adequate and effective remedies, and

Given that all forms of international intervention and peace-making have until now failed to convince or force Israel to comply with humanitarian law, to respect fundamental human rights and to end its occupation and oppression of the people of Palestine, and

In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions;

Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression,

We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.

These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;

2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and

3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

Endorsed by:

The Palestinian political parties, unions, associations, coalitions and organizations below represent the three integral parts of the people of Palestine: Palestinian refugees, Palestinians under occupation and Palestinian citizens of Israel.
UNIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, CAMPAIGNS

1. Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine (coordinating body for the major political parties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory)
2. Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizen’s Rights (PICCR)
3. Union of Arab Community Based Associations (ITTIJAH), Haifa
4. Forum of Palestinian NGOs in Lebanon
5. Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
6. General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW)
7. General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT)
8. Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities’ Professors and Employees
9. Consortium of Professional Associations
10. Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC)
11. Health Work Committees – West Bank
12. Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
13. Union of Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)
14. Union of Health Work Committees – Gaza (UHWC)
15. Union of Palestinian Farmers
16. Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI)
17. General Union of Disabled Palestinians
18. Palestinian Federation of Women’s Action Committees (PFWAC)
19. Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
20. Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
21. Union of Teachers of Private Schools
22. Union of Women’s Work Committees, Tulkarem (UWWC)
23. Dentists’ Association – Jerusalem Center
24. Palestinian Engineers Association
25. Lawyers’ Association
26. Network for the Eradication of Illiteracy and Adult Education, Ramallah
27. Coordinating Committee of Rehabilitation Centers – West Bank
28. Coalition of Lebanese Civil Society Organizations (150 organizations)
29. Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Network of Student-based Canadian University Associations

REFUGEE RIGHTS ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS

30. Al-Ard Committees for the Defense of the Right of Return, Syria
31. Al-Awda Charitable Society, Beit Jala
32. Al Awda – Palestine Right-to-Return Coalition, U.S.A
33. Al-Awda Toronto
34. Aidun Group – Lebanon
35. Aidun Group – Syria
36. Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center, Aida refugee camp
37. Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced (ADRID), Nazareth
38. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Bethlehem
39. Committee for Definite Return, Syria
40. Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights, Nablus
41. Consortium of the Displaced Inhabitants of Destroyed Palestinian Villages and Towns
42. Filastinuna – Commission for the Defense of the Right of Return, Syria 43. Handala Center, ‘Azza (Beit Jibreen) refugee camp, Bethlehem
44. High Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return, Jordan (including personal endorsement of 71 members of parliament, political parties and unions in Jordan)
45. High National Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return, Ramallah
46. International Right of Return Congress (RORC)
47. Jermana Youth Forum for the Defense of the Right of Return, Syria
48. Laji Center, Aida camp, Bethlehem
49. Local Committee for Rehabilitation, Qalandia refugee camp, Jerusalem
50. Local Committee for Rehabilitation of the Disabled, Deheishe refugee camp, Bethlehem 51. Palestinian National Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return, Syria
52. Palestinian Return Association, Syria
53. Palestinian Return Forum, Syria
54. Palestine Right-of-Return Coalition (Palestine, Arab host countries, Europe, North America)
55. Palestine Right-of-Return Confederation-Europe (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden) 56. Palestinian Youth Forum for the Right of Return, Syria
57. PLO Popular Committees – West Bank refugee camps
58. PLO Popular Committees – Gaza Strip refugee camps
59. Popular Committee – al-‘Azza (Beit Jibreen) refugee camp, Bethlehem
60. Popular Committee – Deheishe refugee camp, Bethlehem
61. Shaml – Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Center, Ramallah
62. Union of Women’s Activity Centers – West Bank Refugee Camps
63. Union of Youth Activity Centers – Palestine Refugee Camps
64. Women’s Activity Center – Deheishe refugee camp, Bethlehem
65. Yafa Cultural Center, Balata refugee camp, Nablus

ORGANIZATIONS

66. Abna’ al-Balad Society, Nablus
67. Addameer Center for Human Rights, Gaza
68. Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association, Ramallah
69. Alanqa’ Cultural Association, Hebron
70. Al-Awda Palestinian Folklore Society, Hebron
71. Al-Doha Children’s Cultural Center, Bethlehem
72. Al-Huda Islamic Center, Bethlehem
73. Al-Jeel al-Jadid Society, Haifa
74. Al-Karameh Cultural Society, Um al-Fahm
75. Al-Maghazi Cultural Center, Gaza
76. Al-Marsad Al-Arabi, occupied Syrian Golan Heights
77. Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza
78. Al-Nahda Cultural Forum, Hebron
79. Al-Taghrid Society for Culture and Arts, Gaza
80. Alternative Tourism Group, Beit Sahour (ATG)
81. Al-Wafa’ Charitable Society, Gaza
82. Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ)
83. Arab Association for Human Rights, Nazareth (HRA)
84. Arab Center for Agricultural Development (ACAD)
85. Arab Center for Agricultural Development-Gaza
86. Arab Education Institute (AEI) – Pax Christie Bethlehem
87. Arab Orthodox Charitable Society – Beit Sahour
88. Arab Orthodox Charity – Beit Jala
89. Arab Orthodox Club – Beit Jala
90. Arab Orthodox Club – Beit Sahour
91. Arab Students’ Collective, University of Toronto
92. Arab Thought Forum, Jerusalem (AFT)
93. Association for Cultural Exchange Hebron – France
94. Association Najdeh, Lebanon
95. Authority for Environmental Quality, Jenin
96. Bader Society for Development and Reconstruction, Gaza
97. Canadian Palestine Foundation of Quebec, Montreal
98. Center for the Defense of Freedoms, Ramallah
99. Center for Science and Culture, Gaza
100. Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ramallah- Al-Bireh District
101. Child Development and Entertainment Center, Tulkarem
102. Committee for Popular Participation, Tulkarem
103. Defense for Children International-Palestine Section, Ramallah (DCI/PS)
104. El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe
105. Ensan Center for Democracy and Human Rights, Bethlehem
106. Environmental Education Center, Bethlehem
107. FARAH – Palestinian Center for Children, Syria
108. Ghassan Kanafani Society for Development, Gaza
109. Ghassan Kanafani Forum, Syria
110. Gaza Community Mental Health Program, Gaza (GCMHP)
111. Golan for Development, occupied Syrian Golan Heights
112. Halhoul Cultural Forum, Hebron
113. Himayeh Society for Human Rights, Um al-Fahm
114. Holy Land Trust – Bethlehem
115. Home of Saint Nicholas for the Aged – Beit Jala
116. Human Rights Protection Center, Lebanon

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The choices facing Palestinian leadership

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Palestinian sources revealed a letter sent by Obama that outlines carrots and sticks approach to get Mahmoud Abbas to go to direct and endless negotiations so as to keep the disastrous Oslo cover for the occupation going a few more years.

This revealed once and for all that Washington is indeed Israeli-occupied territory.
Despite our political differences, we can only feel pity for Abu Mazen whose two open choices are both bad: a) negotiate while Israel continues to colonize and ethnically cleanse what remains of the occupied areas and thus lose what little credibility remains among the Palestinian public, OR b) insist on reference to International Law (and thus a settlement freeze) and lose hundreds of millions in funding and lucrative positions of power over the now de facto self-rule areas.

In either case there will be no end to the occupation and no real or sovereign Palestinian state in the foreseeable future. Will he choose a third route that preserves dignity and self-respect and give up the charade of Oslo and its trappings that he started (and convinced Arafat to follow for years until Israel killed him when he hesitated)? (there are ways to do this since an agreement signed under duress and especially one that violates basic international law is null and void anyway and does not remove the rights of native people even when someone representing them signs it).

Will PLO reclaim its name sake as Palestine Liberation Organization or degenerate into the Palestinian Leftover Officials? Will the Palestinian people realize that they hold the keys to their own future and that salvation will not come from anyone else?

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org
Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities
Chairman of the Board, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People:http://www.pcr.ps

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Israel cracks down on dissent

The Israeli parliament is considering several new laws that could seriously impact the ability of citizens to criticise the government, according to rights groups. Human Rights Watch is reporting a crackdown on political activists who criticise Israeli’s treatment of the Palestinians. In what rights groups consider part of an alarming pattern, Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, recently admitted to spying on a young Australian activist in the West Bank. Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros reports from Jerusalem.

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BURSTING ‘OFFICER BUBBLES’

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Even The Troops Are Waking Up

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UK: Intruders acquitted for ‘preventing war crimes in Gaza’

SEE THEIR BLOG

Israeli ambassador furious after court clears five residents who caused £180,000 damage to Brighton arms factory, ruling they committed offense to prevent more serious crime

Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Ron Prosor has harshly criticized a British judge who displayed a blatant anti-Semitic stand, after a jury acquitted five residents who broke into an arms factory and caused heavy damage. The five defendants said they were seeking to prevent war crimes in Gaza.
 
Judge George Bathurst-Norman suggested to the jury, “You may well think that hell on earth would not be an understatement of what the Gazans suffered in that time,” the Guardian newspaper reported.

Prosor responded to the remark on Thursday night, saying that “after reading the judge’s statement, there is no doubt that this is not a great era of the British justice system. I assume that Sderot’s children, who have lived under thousands of missiles, for years, will be able to enlighten the judge as to the meaning of ‘hell on earth.’
 
“I am convinced,” the ambassador added, “that his honor would have ruled differently had he been sitting in the Sderot youth cultural center, rather than on Brighton’s sunny shores.”
 
According to the report which angered the Israeli ambassador, the five were acquitted despite causing £180,000 (about $270,000) damage to the arms factory shortly after Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
 
The five admitted they had broken in and sabotaged the factory on the outskirts of Brighton, but argued they were legally justified in doing so.
 
They said they believed that EDO MBM, the firm that owns the factory, was breaking export regulations by manufacturing and selling to the Israelis military equipment which would be used by the Israeli army against in the territories. They added that they wanted to slow down the manufacture of these components, and impede what they believed were war crimes being committed by Israel against the Palestinians.
 
‘Proud of what I’ve done’

One of the defendants, Robert Nicholls, told the Guardian after being acquitted: “I’m joyful really, at being a free man. The action was impulsive really, we just wanted to do something that would make a real difference to the people of Palestine.”
 
Another, Ornella Saibene, said: “I’ve felt very peaceful all the way through the trial because I’m proud of what I’ve done. It was the right thing to do.”
 
According to the Guardian, the group used the “lawful excuse” defense – committing an offenSe to prevent a more serious crime – as a tactic in their campaigns. Four of the activists, aged 25 to 52, are from Bristol. The fifth lives in Brighton.
 

The British report mentions the Goldstone Report, which ruled that Israel had committed war crimes during the Gaza offensive.
 
Ambassador Prosor, who has been dealing with serious incidents of delegitimization – in universities, economic organizations and the British press – on a daily basis, has decided not to keep silent. Nonetheless, it appears his protest will not be enough to change the grim situation of Israeli PR in the UK.
 
source

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Beit Jala 20 June 2010

justicewheels — 20 juin 2010 — Israeli occupation forces today in Beit Jala engaged in beatings, burning of fields, and attacking peaceful demonstrators, bystanders, and reporters. Two young Palestinains: Mohammed Masalma and Thaer Mahmoud were injured after severe beatings with hands and clubs (they were both near their homes and not participating in the demonstration). Several demonstrators were also roughed-up. Occupation enforcers also attacked six reporters and prevented them from doing their job of covering the event: Yousef Shahin (Palmedia), AbdelHafith Hashlamon (European News Aghency), Nasser AlShayukhi (associated Press), Mamon Wazwaz (APA), Musa AlShaer (France Press), and Najeh Hashlamon (ABA). The Israeli occupation forces (thugs) also aimed their gas canisters at dry fields managing to set a fire that engulfed an olive grove (fortunately, the Palestinian fire department quick response saved most of the field and the nearby homes). The apartheid forces also aimed tear gas at far away homes in Beit Jala to send a message of fear to the local population. And Israeli Occupation ‘intelligence’ Officer Fadi came at the end to mock us and call out my name with his loud speaker.

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