J Street

A very interesting development in the US: A new pro-peace, pro-Israel political voice

Via TPIP. More here.

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder

The Unrecognized

[Click on image]

This short documentary by Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, has been around for a while but I am only discovering now. I thought of posting it again for those who drop by here and have not had a chance of watching it yet.

The Unrecognized “highlights the plight of Palestinian Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel living in the Naqab (Negev) desert, many of whom were forced off their lands following the establishment of the state in 1948.”

Also available at Adalah’s website here [Allow a few seconds for it to download]

More information on Palestinians in Israel.

Related material here.

ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK

How can we help the Palestinian cause?

[More later on activism pertaining to the Occupation ... by organized groups and by individuals.]

Meanwhile, you might want to visit the Balata Camp

or if you are only now connecting with the plight of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, you might want to see for yourself what is really going on there.

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder

Missed opportunities

I came upon this interesting evaluation of the conflict in terms of the solutions that are available to all parties involved: Reflections on the Middle East Without Sharon’s Leadership by Yevgeny Primakov, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences:

I would like to say something that may be a surprise to many readers: It’s a pity that Israel today is not ruled by Ariel Sharon, a strong, can-do politician. Consider his decision, in the face of tremendous pressure, to pull out troops and evacuate all Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. One might not agree with Sharon’s policy, but he never used it selfishly to strengthen his own position. Sharon, who never feared criticism from the right, would have used this window of opportunity [re. the Arab Peace Initiative] to ensure a real advance toward peace. - LINK

Loving Israel to death

From Prospects for Peace:

Bolton inhabits that neo-con netherworld where philo-Israelism comes exceedingly close to being anti-Israel. Their ideal image of Israel bears little resemblance to the actual Israel that exists or the predicament that it finds itself in. They literally love Israel to death—being almost totally indifferent to the living, breathing Israelis who bear the consequences of the warrior policies that the neo-cons advocate. Their version of Israel is destined to live by the sword in perpetuity, should cede no inch of territory and is thrust into the front line of their clash of civilizations. - LINK

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder

One Wall Down

From Rootless Cosmopolitan:

The hole blown by Hamas in the Gaza-Egypt border fence has finally punctured the bubble of delusion surrounding the U.S.-Israeli Middle East policy. In a moment reminiscent of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, through the breach surged some 350,000 Palestinians — fully one fifth of Gaza’s total population, as my friend and colleague Tim McGirk observed at the scene. And what did they do on the other side? They went shopping for the essentials of daily life, denied them by an Israeli siege imposed with the Wehrmacht logic of collective punishment. And the Egyptian security forces didn’t stop them, despite Washington and Israel urging them to, because U.S.-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak would provoke a mutiny among his citizenry and even his own security forces if they were to be ordered to stop hungry Palestinians from eating because Israel has decided that they should starve until they change their attitude. - Link

From Jeff Halper:

I am not a Palestinian; I am not one of the oppressed. I only hope I can use my privilege in an effective way in order to redeem the gift the people of Gaza have given all of us: the realization that the people do have power and can prevail even in the face of overwhelming power*. We may each express our responsibility towards the people of Gaza in whatever way most suits us, but as the privileged we must do something. We owe the Palestinians and the Palestinians writ large at least that. - Link (link added by me)

Hopefully, THIS ONE will be brought down soon … to the satisfaction of both peoples. Fingers crossed!

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder

*Escape from Gaza*

I know this is not a popular story in the US press or media, but usually we, as a people and our government, at a minimum, condemn governments who take such actions to starve and bomb ethnic minorities over whose territory they exert control. Hell, in Bosnia and Kosovo we put the US Air Force to work bombing Serbian military and civilian targets to get the Serbian government to cease its genocidal activities. But, as we all know, Israel is sacrosanct. Official and /or media criticism of its actions against people living in the “occupied territories” is simply not done. [...]

Because, they’re only Arabs after all. Poor, dirty crazy Arabs. Less than human. They don’t even belong in Greater Israel. So why not starve them out?

But seriously, if collective punishment wasn’t the preferred modus operandi of the Israeli government to punish the many for the sins of a few, maybe Hamas wouldn’t be as powerful a political force in Gaza among ordinary Palestinians as it is today. Because when you trade large acts of violence (air strikes, economic blockades, massive detentions, bulldozing homes, etc.) for smaller acts of violence against you (as we are learning in Iraq) pretty soon everyone who used to be a moderate has been radicalized. But then when have the beneficiaries of “occupation” and “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing” ever voluntarily surrendered their advantages out of humanitarian concerns for the people they exploit. Not very damn often in this world. - Steven D

Nasrallah forecasts the prospect of coming conflict

Via Conflicts Forum

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder

Gaza: Breaking the Silence

Rep. Barbara Lee speaks out on Gaza Crisis

And a call for action (for US readers of this blog):

I call upon you, my elected representative, to join with other Congressional representatives in passing a binding resolution that declares the human and material costs of the Israel Palestine conflict are unacceptable and that, inasmuch as the United States of America has exercised substantial power and influence in Israel and Palestine for many years, the US government shall now use its power and influence to promote peace, justice, and reconciliation in the region.

To that end, the U.S. should hereby demand the Israeli government end the siege of Gaza, both because it is inhumane and illegal, and as an irrefutable expression of sincerity and good will in creating the conditions to continue negotiations and dialog that result in a just and lasting peace. - Link

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder

Gaza: Agression will not end this insanity

From the Irish Examiner

22 January 2008

GAZA BLOCKADE- AGGRESSION WILL NOT END THIS INSANITY

EVEN at the very darkest moments of the recent troubles in this country, even at the darkest moments in South Africa’s long struggle to end apartheid, there were voices urging moderation and compromise.

They might have been small voices at first, struggling to be heard over the carnage that inevitably follows social injustice imposed at the point of a gun. But, thankfully, in the end those brave voices prevailed and we now live in a peaceful, secure country.

Imagine if, after an especially awful IRA atrocity carried out in our name, but without our mandate, the British government decided to impose sanctions of the mildest kind on the Irish.

Say, they demanded that all Irish citizens working in Britain needed a work permit. Even this feeble measure would have had serious consequences for the work-starved Irish of the ’80s and ’90s, when the IRA was at its most murderous. That imaginary sanction pales into insignificance when compared with the measures deployed by Israel in Gaza.

In an effort to end Palestinian missile attacks they blocked crucial fuel supplies into Gaza, despite warnings from the UN that vital food aid could be suspended within days. All of the people of the region were punished for the actions of a few.

Israel has frequently expressed its bewilderment and disappointment at Ireland’s opposition to its aggressive tactics, suggesting that we are the most anti-Israeli of all European countries. Maybe we have adopted this position because, despite all out faults, we can still recognise injustice when we see it. (my emphasis) - LINK

[Via Media Lens]

Cross-posted @ The Cylinder