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Palestinians dressed as the Na’vi from the film Avatar stage a protest against Israel’s separation barrier

Date: 12/02/2010

The village of Bilin reenacted James Cameron’s new film Avatar during todays weekly demonstration. Five Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were painted blue, with pointy ears and tales, resembling the Avatar characters. Like Palestinians, the Avatars fight imperialism, although the colonizers have different origins. The Avatars presence in Bilin today symbolizes the united resistance to imperialism of all kinds.

Todays non-violent demonstration was again met with excessive violence by the Israeli army. Sound bombs and tear gas were used, leaving four people directly injured by the canisters. The canisters were shot directly at the protesters, which is in violation with the IDFs firing regulations. Many other activists suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Before coming to Bilin, Israeli activists reported that police were present at their carpool meeting point. Their IDs were checked and some cars reported they were followed by the police. At the Rantis checkpoint, they were delayed once more and activists were obliged to continue their journey by taxi.

Bilin has reason to celebrate this week. Yesterday, preparations for the construction of the new Wall began, which returns 30 per cent of Bilins land to the village. Iyad Burnat, Head of the Bilin Popular Committee speaks of a victory: We feel relieved and feel the non-violent resistance is successful in its aim. Nevertheless, we will continue our struggle against the occupation as Bilin still has another 30 per cent of land that is confiscated by Israel.

Next week Bilin will have a special demonstration, celebrating five years of non-violent resistance and expects a large number of demonstrators. Bilin calls for all its supporters to invite people to join in next weeks demonstration.
Catégorie : Actualités et politique
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Bilin Reenacts Avatar Film 12-02-2010 By Haitham Al Katib

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Tanta workers continue sit-in protest downtown

Protesters from the Tanta Flax and Oils Company outside the headquarters of the Cabinet of...

Workers from the Tanta Flax and Oils Company continued their sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Cabinet of Ministers in downtown Cairo yesterday. The protesting workers have not received salaries for January and are calling on Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to solve their dispute with Saudi investor Abdullah al-Kahki, who closed the company and threatened to dismiss the workers.

The 400 protesters said they submitted a memorandum to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday demanding that they be allowed to enter early retirement in return for financial compensation of no less than LE45,000. The workers from Tanta also demanded the payment of their salaries for January and their share of profits since 2005.


The workers said officials from the cabinet promised to respond within two days, but didn’t propose any preliminary solutions

Two members of parliament have been supportive of their demands, the workers said

Abdel Hadi el-Qasabi, member of the Shura Council for the National Democratic Party, offered to allow 170 workers to enter early retirement, but the workers turned down the offer saying they wanted a plan to include all workers, they said

Youssri Bayoumi, a Muslim Brotherhood member of the People’s Assembly, told the workers he was going to ask People’s Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour to examine their problem immediately.

The protesters called on President Mubarak and his two sons to intervene, chanting slogans like, “Why is the future bleak? Gamal, what are you going to do?” and “Alaa, tell your father the Tanta workers love him.” Protesters also chanted that Prime Minister Nazif is taking Egypt “back to the [King] Farouk era.”

Translated from the Arabic Edition.

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No to Agrexco

We call all of you, from all parts of France to join the big mobilization against the installation of AGREXCO/Carmel in the port of Sète (South of France, near Montpellier) on Saturday March 6. We will gather in front of the Region headquarters in Montpellier in the morning, to tell the region representatives headed by George Frêche, notoriously racist, and the candidates in these new regional elections that we refuse any collaboration with Israeli war crimes, occupation and colonialism. And then we’ll march to the port of Sète who is 35 km away from Montpellier.

We are organizing buses, trains and cars so that many of you can participte in this important initiative that is also an international one. Please write to tell us if you are prepared to join us.

The BDS campaign is progressing everywhere. We want to congratulate the comrades who led two remarkable actions last week-end : one at the airport of Liege (Belgium) against the import-export of “israeli” goods and war ammunition, and the other at the Brussels Holiday exhibition where 8 activists dressed in El Al hostesses and stewards proposed free tickets to Israel to the public, in order to thank Belgium for its military collaboration with Israel.

This progress in the Boycott campaign explains the threats, slanders and trials we undergo, with the complicity of our governement. Our friend Sakina Arnaud has just been condemned for “discimination” and “provocation to racial hatred” by some judges in Bordeaux for having put a sticker “Israel Apartheid Boycott” on a bottle of “Israeli” orange juice in a Carrefour supermarket. The judges accepted the summing up for the prosecution, which was made by the government itself that had followed the Israeli lobby demands. She was condemned to pay 1000 euros as a fine, and 500 euros to each of the two zionist agencies that were opponent parties, because odf a so-called “discrimination against a nation”.

Sakina Arnaud is appealing against the judgment and we’ll keep supporting her, including financially. We already sent 500 euros that we collected. Thank you for your help. Please send your checks to EuroPalestine, 16 bis rue d’Odessa. 75014 Paris. Please mention “in support of Sakina” at the back of the check.)

Talking about boycott, we call every one to pay attention to flowers next Sunday, which will be Saint Valentine day. Do not offer flowers from the occupation and lie.
The Franco-Israeli Chamber of commerce itself confesses that the thousands of tons of flowers exported by Israel in all Europe on that occasion, are labelled “Made in Holland” after a little detour via the Netherlands.

Don’t forget that many of these flowers come from Israeli settlements on Palestinian confiscated lands; while Palestinian villages are deprived from water, Palestinian houses demolished in many places, and Palestinian workers treated as slaves in places like the Jordan Valley. Without speaking of the Gaza strip that used to export 80 million tons of flowers a year, ten years ago, before the siege and the Israeli massacres last winter. But Israel dared show its “generosity” last year for Saint-Valentine by allowing 25000 flowers to get out of Gaza !

Don’t say “I love you” to any one with these bloody flowers !

Best wishes,

CAPJPO-EuroPalestine

http://www.europalestine.com

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Burning Conscience: Israeli Soldiers Speak Out

A searing interview with Avichai Sharon and Noam Chayut, both veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces and members of Breaking the Silence. Sharon and Chayut served during the second intifada, an on-going bloodbath that has claimed the lives of over three thousand Palestinians and nine-hundred-fifty Israelis. After thorough introspection, these young men have chosen to speak out about their experiences as self-described “brutal occupiers of a disputed land.” Producer: Sat Gwin

Alternate Focus is available on the Dish Network, Free Speech TV, Channel 9415, Saturdays at 8:00pm EST and on cable stations near you. Check http://www.alternatefocus.org for details

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Gaza’s recycled rubble

Palestinians are finding new ways to rebuild houses destroyed during the war on Gaza a year ago.That’s because an Israeli blockade is preventing construction materials from getting into the Strip.

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Intermedio. La boda de Luís Alonso. J Gimenez. Lucero Tena

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Touring Israeli ballet company has no Palestinian dancers

by Philip Weiss on February 7, 2010 · 18

Several BDS groups, including Adalah-NY here, have called for boycott of the Israel Ballet’s tour to Florida and the Northeast this month. The groups say that the ballet is part of the government’s rebranding campaign–

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Israel: The Alternative

By Tony Judt
2003
The Middle East peace process is finished. It did not die: it was killed. Mahmoud Abbas was undermined by the President of the Palestinian Authority and humiliated by the Prime Minister of Israel. His successor awaits a similar fate. Israel continues to mock its American patron, building illegal settlements in cynical disregard of the “road map.” The President of the United States of America has been reduced to a ventriloquist’s dummy, pitifully reciting the Israeli cabinet line: “It’s all Arafat’s fault.” Israelis themselves grimly await the next bomber. Palestinian Arabs, corralled into shrinking Bantustans, subsist on EU handouts. On the corpse-strewn landscape of the Fertile Crescent, Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and a handful of terrorists can all claim victory, and they do. Have we reached the end of the road? What is to be done?

read here

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Britain, You Better Wake Up by Gilad Atzmon

The more I read about the Chilcot inquiry the more disturbed I am. The fallacy imbued in the heart of British ‘democracy’ is staggering. While some commentators are concerned with questions to do with the legality of the war, the most crucial issue here is actually the disappearance of ethical judgment from our public and political life. Rather than being concerned with morality and ethics British politicians are concerned with legalism. In other words, if someone would manage to prove that the war was ‘legal’ then the murdering of a million and a half Iraqis would be well justified. Let’s all face it, our politicians are corrupted to the bone.

read on

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