ARCHIVES OF ALL PSC RESPONSE NETWORK
ALERTS
The Palestine Solidarity Committee
maintains a Response Network that provides participants with action alerts
on prominent issues regarding the occupation. With this network mechanism,
we
offer an opportunity for friends of Palestinian human rights
to practice
internet activism by responding to alerts that we send
to all who sign up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONTENTS:
September 2,
2009 THANK THE
SEATTLE TIMES FOR BRUCE RAMSEY'S OP-ED CRITICIZING ATTORNEY GENERAL LETTER
June 12,
2009
TO ACTIVISTS THROUGHOUT THE US: WRITE ONE OF TEN ATTORNEYS GENERAL RE: LETTER TO
CLINTON
May 11,
2009
WRITE WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB McKENNA RE: OBJECTIONABLE LETTER TO
CLINTON
February 6, 2009
THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES FOR GEORGE BISHARAT OP-ED
January 31,
2009
THANK THE SEATTLE P.I.; CONTACT REPS RE: CLINTON LETTER; THANK CBS RE: BOB SIMON
January 8,
2009
ACTION ALERT: CONTACT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES / PROTEST RACIST P.I. CARTOON
January 7,
2009
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT: CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES, CALL FOR END TO INVASION
December 28,
2008 ACTION ALERT:
CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES AND MEDIA ABOUT GAZA ATTACKS
May 5,
2008
MEDIA ALERT: WRITE THE P.I. ABOUT BRUMER AND HARI ARTICLES
March 5,
2008
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT: NO TO $2.55 BILLION IN MILITARY AID FOR ISRAEL
January 22,
2008
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT: GAZA HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
November 29,
2007 ANNAPOLIS:
WRITE TIMES RESPONDING TO OP-ED
October 21,
2007
THANK P.I. FOR EDWARD MAST OP-ED
October 11,
2007
WRITE P.I. RESPONDING TO BRUMER OP-ED
June 10,
2007
WRITE TIMES RESPONDING TO TWO OP-EDS
June 5,
2007
THANK P.I. FOR HUWAIDA-NETA OP-ED
MAY 23,
2007
WRITE P.I. PROTESTING RACIST GREENBERG OPINION COLUMN
APRIL 5,
2007
THANK TIMES FOR BRUCE RAMSEY OP-ED
MAR 28,
2007
THANK P.I. FOR STEVE NIVA OP-ED
MAR 19,
2007
WRITE P.I. PROTESTING OP-ED DISTORTING RACHEL STORY
MAR 14,
2007
CONTACT SENATORS RE: ANTI-PALESTINIAN SIGN-ON LETTER
AUG 7-11, 2006: EMERGENCY WEEK OF ACTION
JULY 30, 2006:
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE-SEATTLE DENOUNCES HATE CRIME
JULY 14, 2006:
STOP ISRAEL'S ATTACKS ON GAZA & LEBANON
APRIL 5, 2006:
P.I. GUEST OP-ED DISTORTING RACHEL CORRIE'S STORY
MARCH 30,
2006:
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON ANTI-PALESTINIAN BILL
MARCH 14, 2006:
THANK P.I. FOR EDITORIAL ON RACHEL PLAY
FEBRUARY 25, 2006: CONGRESSIONAL
ALERT ON ANTI-PALESTINIAN BILL
JANUARY 30, 2006:
SEATTLE TIMES ARTICLE ON PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS
JANUARY 18,
2006: P.I. GUEST OP-ED ON
SHARON
DECEMBER 29,
2005: THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES
OCTOBER 22, 2005:
P.I. ARTICLE ON BUSH AND ABBAS
OCTOBER 9, 2005:
ONE-SIDED P.I. ARTICLE BY YOSSI KLEIN
JULY 15, 2005:
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON ANNIVERSARY OF ICJ OPINION
JUNE 2, 2005:
P.I. ON PLANNED DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM HOMES
MAY
7, 2005:
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON "JERUSALEM RESOLUTION"
APRIL 10, 2005:
CONTACT
CATERPILLAR
MARCH 29, 2005:
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON SEPARATION
WALL
FEBRUARY 5, 2005:
P.I. MISSES THE POINT
JANUARY 26, 2005:
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON JAYYOUS LAND THEFT
JANUARY
16, 2005: ERLANGER in the P.I.ALERT:DECEMBER
29, 2004: THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES
===============================================================================================
--PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--
Action
Requested: Please thank the Seattle Times for the op-ed by
Bruce Ramsey that was published on Wednesday, September 2.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009786997_bruce02.html
AG Rob McKenna's letter about Israel's response to Gaza ignores broader
issues
The article is inserted in full at the end of this alert.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, September 3
--Still helpful: Monday, September 7
Context: In late
March Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna, together with nine other
state Attorneys General, signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
defending Israel's recent 22-day-long assault on Gaza. The letter, a prime
example of amoral political opportunism, contained a variety of factual and
legal errors. It also ignored the entire context for the conflict around Gaza:
the fact that the Israeli regime has perpetrated an appalling, two-year siege
upon the territory, clamping down on all entrance and exit of goods and people,
causing widespread malnutrition and desperation among the Palestinians, and
regularly perpetrating acts of violence against them. In so doing, Israel has
broken international laws governing the behavior of an occupying force. The
letter Rob McKenna signed ignores all of this.
McKenna has not acknowledged that he made a mistake in signing the letter; in
fact, after meeting with a group of concerned citizens in July, he compounded
the offense by repeating the simple-minded assertion that "the Israelis
have the right to defend themselves."
Recently, Seattle Times columnist Bruce Ramsey met with McKenna, and Ramsey's
September 2 op-ed is the fruit of that meeting. We encourage you to write The
Times and thank them for printing the op-ed. Bruce Ramsey has shed light on the
ill-considered position that McKenna promotes, and Ramsey's stance needs to be
supported.
For our original alert on the AG letter to Clinton, see
http://www.palestineinformation.org/alerts_archives.htm#McKenna
For a rebuttal letter to AG Rob McKenna signed by prominent legal experts, see http://www.palestineinformation.org/Bisharat_AG_letter
Letters of up to 200 words can be sent to opinion@seattletimes.com.
Please include your name, phone number, and address for confirmation by
the newspaper.
For guidelines on how to write a letter to the editor, go to
http://www.palestineinformation.org/Take%20Action.htm
and click on "Letter-Writing Guidelines."
Talking Points:
1. Thank Bruce Ramsey for taking a critical stance on Attorney General Rob
McKenna's co-signing of the letter to Clinton, and thank the Seattle Times for
printing Ramsey's op-ed.
2. On the pretext of halting weapons movement into Gaza, Israel has severely
restricted the supply of essential goods into the territory, creating massive
deprivation amounting to a humanitarian emergency. In the last two years only
approximately twenty percent of Gaza's food, medicinal, and energy needs have
been supplied.
3. The truce established between Israel and Gaza in the summer of 2008 was
effective in reducing the number of rockets shot from Gaza almost to zero.
Israel could have maintained the calm, but instead, it broke the truce in
November, culminating in its massive assault on Gaza last December.
4. Israel had other choices. If Israel's goal were truly to remove threat of
rockets, opening Gaza's border to free movement -- as pointed out by Israeli
experts themselves -- would have "ensured quiet for a generation." (See
article from The Guardian (UK) quoting the Israeli press: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfjj4rpq_208cj46frhm)
5. Israel cannot make peace with the Palestinians by killing hundreds of
civilians, and there is no justification for Israel's massive violation of
international laws.
6. While we understand that our local officials may have reasonable cause to
express themselves regarding international issues, there is no excuse for the
offhand, ill-considered measure that McKenna took in signing such an
objectionable letter. If he purports to represent his constituency, he must
consult with us before such an action.
7. Such a letter only encourages the Israeli regime to continue to treat the
Palestinians in a brutal manner.
8. "Self-defense" and "security" work in both directions at
once. For the Israelis to live in security, they must take an interest in the
security of the Palestinians. The only way to do so is to negotiate for peace
with the Palestinian leaders -- including Hamas.
9. The January assault on Gaza was not only an election gambit -- it was another
atrocity in a long-term Israeli campaign for complete intimidation and
domination of the Palestinians.
10. Mr. McKenna should indeed think about his political future.
*
Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
Please bcc your letter to us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
*
Full text of article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009786997_bruce02.html
AG Rob McKenna's letter about Israel's response to Gaza ignores broader
issues
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna signed a letter defending Israel's
2008-2009 invasion of Gaza. The letter does so on narrow grounds without
considering wider arguments that favor the Gazans.
By Bruce Ramsey
Seattle Times editorial columnist
Attorney General Rob McKenna cosigned a letter defending Israel's 2008-2009
invasion of Gaza
Attorney General Rob McKenna cosigned a letter defending Israel's 2008-2009
invasion of Gaza
Last winter, Israel shelled Gaza, rolled in the tanks, shot it up and left much
of it in ruins. Some 1,400 Gazans and 13 Israelis died, a ratio of 100-to-1.
Israel was defending itself, or so it said. To persuade the new Obama
administration of that, a letter was circulated among U.S. state attorneys
general who had visited Israel, some as guests of the America-Israel Friendship
League. The letter is addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It
begins:
"The undersigned Attorneys General write to convey our strong support for
the State of Israel's actions in Gaza." The letter deems it unfair to
compare the dead on each side the way I just did. It says Israel was not bound
to be "proportionate" in its response to Gazan rocket attacks.
"Israel's acts were justified and, in our view, met the international legal
standards required of a modern state."
Signing the letter were four Democrats and six Republicans, including
Washington's Rob McKenna.
This is a remarkable thing. The chief legal officers of Colorado, Florida,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington
— state governments, with no authority over foreign affairs — were lobbying
the U.S. secretary of state on behalf of a foreign power.
I asked our attorney general about the propriety of that. "We're elected
officials," McKenna said. "All the attorneys general have
constituencies for which Israel is important."
They do — and on both sides. Some friends of Gaza heard about the letter and
went to see McKenna in July. One was Craig Corrie, whose daughter Rachel was
killed in Gaza in 2003 by an Israeli soldier. Corrie told me he objected to a
state official who had supported "increased violence in the Middle
East."
That is what the letter does. McKenna focused on what it says. "The letter
was narrowly crafted around whether Israel has a right to self-defense," he
said.
I asked him whether 1,400 deaths were not excessive in response to rocket fire
that had killed no one by the time the Israelis responded.
"You have to wait until enough of your people die so that it's roughly
equal to the number of people you're going to kill?" he asked. "Nobody
operates on that principle."
Indeed not. But under the rules of war, surely the other side had just cause as
well. After the people of Gaza had elected the Hamas government, Israel had
blockaded Gaza for a year and a half, by land and sea. The Gazans could export
nothing, and could not make a living in the world. Israel had reduced them to
living on handouts, and only a ration of those.
A blockade of such a small place — less than twice the area of Seattle — can
be more lethal to civilians than rockets. It is also an act of war. But there is
nothing in the letter about any of this.
Nor was there any mention that Israel's centrist Kadima Party government was
facing an election Feb. 10 and was afraid of losing to the rightist Likud Party.
The Gaza incursion was part of an election campaign. (Likud was elected anyway.)
McKenna said the letter came across his desk and he turned it around in 24
hours. He is a lawyer, and he responded like one.
But in this state he is Mr. Republican, his party's brightest and most
successful standard-bearer. Someday he will run for U.S. Senate, where his
foreign-policy views count. He should be careful about what he signs.
Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His
e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
back to top
===============================================================================================
PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED
YOUR STATE
ATTORNEY GENERAL SIGNED A LETTER TO SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON SUPPORTING
ISRAELI WAR CRIMES IN GAZA.
Contents of this alert:
Link to rebuttal letter by legal experts
The letter from the Attorneys General to Secretary Clinton
Talking points
Contact information for the ten Attorneys General
On March 31st,
Attorneys General from ten states sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton
expressing support of the State of Israel's actions in Gaza and condemning
Hamas. The letter offered an interpretation of the nature of the
Israeli-Palestinian relationship that is distorted beyond recognition.
In the letter to Secretary Clinton, all mention of the occupation and attendant
human rights violations against Palestinian civilians are omitted. The letter
condemns Hamas's actions while completely exonerating Israel of any war crimes
-- even justifying a disproportionate military response. The letter rationalizes
Israel's recent offensive against the incarcerated population of the Gaza Strip
by citing "continuous...attacks on Israel's civilians..." without
mentioning the eighteen-month siege of Gaza or that Hamas observed last year's
truce with Israel until Israel violated it.
Click
here to read a June 9th, 2009 letter composed by George Bisharat of the
University of California Hastings College of Law, and signed by ten
international lawyers and legal scholars. This
letter, addressed to the ten Attorneys General, is a systematic and thorough
refutation of both the facts and the legal analysis in the Attorneys General's
letter to Secretary Clinton. The Bisharat rebuttal letter states, “We find
numerous factual and legal errors in the letter, and write to share our analysis
of the letter with you and to ask you to publicly repudiate its claims."
The Attorneys General will be receiving
this letter in the mail very shortly.
We urge you activists in the states of the ten signers of the letter to Clinton
to contact your respective Attorney General:
Call or email to express your objection of the letter to Secretary Clinton (Refer
to the rebuttal letter for talking points – or scroll down for summarized
talking points)
Insist that your Attorney General read the rebuttal letter drafted by expert
legal academics and practitioners
Request a meeting with your Attorney General – take a copy of the rebuttal
letter and present it to him. Contact
us at info@palestineinformation.org
for a copy addressed to your Attorney General
Demand that you Attorney General remove his signature and repudiate the contents
of the letter to Secretary Clinton.
For more information or support in
contacting and making appointments with your state attorney general email info@palestineinformation.org
Full names and
contact information of the attorneys general follows the letter.
LETTER FROM THE TEN ATTORNEYS GENERAL
A Communication From
The Chief Legal Officers From The States Of Colorado * Florida * Kentucky *
Louisiana * Michigan * Nebraska * Ohio* Rhode Island *Utah * Washington
March 30, 2009
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
United States Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C 20002
Dear Madam Secretary:
The undersigned Attorneys General write to convey our strong support for the
State of Israel's actions in Gaza. The State of Israel's actions; are taken in
furtherance of its right to self-defense provided under Article 51 of the United
Nation Charter that provides that "Nothing in the present Charter shall
impair the inherent right of individual...'self-defense if an armed attack
occurs against a Member of the United Nations..."
Since June 2005, when Hamas militarily expelled the Palestinian Authority from
Gaza in a coup d'etat, Hamas has launched more than 6,300 rockets and mortars at
Israeli civilians, killing and wounding 730, while disrupting the lives of
hundreds or thousands of citizens. [Wall Street Journal December 29, 2008.] With
the increased range of its recent rockets, more than 500,000 people in Israel
have been included within their reach, with rocket attacks targeting not only
Sderot, but also Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be'er Sheva.
While Hamas is an acknowledged terrorist regime - recognized as such by Israel,
the United States, and the European Union - it acts under the cover of a
"sovereign state."
Hamas War Crimes in Violation of Article 48 of the Geneva Convention
By intentionally targeting 6,300 rockets against Israel's civilian population,
Hamas is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a war crime in that it has violated
Article 48 of Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Convention of 1949 which
provides that "...the Parties to the conflict shall at all times
distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian
objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations:
only against military objectives.
In addition to its war crimes committed against the Israeli civilian population,
Hamas has also committed atrocities against the Palestinian civilian population
under its control in Gaza by using these civilians as shields for its criminal
conduct. As recently noted by the Wall Street Journal, "...Hamas
deliberately locates its security forces in residential neighborhoods. This is
intended to both deter Israel from attacking in the first place as well as turn
world opinion against the Jewish state when it does attack."
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but Hamas, instead of establishing a
flourishing, independent Palestinian State, has used this occasion to cause a
civil war with the Palestinian Authority, leading to a coup d'etat in 2007 - a1l
to the detriment of the Palestinian civilian population living in Gaza.
Conclusion
Hamas's continuous rocket and mortar attacks on Israel's civilian population are
a casus bellum. As in all wars, the appropriate response is not a
"proportionate one," but one measured to bring an end to the acts of
war. The United States did not bomb Tokyo Harbor and the Japanese fleet as a
response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Seventh Fleet. It declared war
on Japan. To Israel's credit, it launched a limited and directed action against
the source of Hamas's military acts white allowing the entrance of humanitarian
aid into Gaza.
It is an essential element in the common law that intent is a crucial element in
the commission of all acts. Hamas's intentional acts of launching rockets at
civilians were in no way comparable to Israel's acts in directing its response
to the source of Hamas's military attacks that unintentionally caused harm to
Palestinian civilians; Israel's acts were justified and, in our view, met the
international legal standards required of a modern state.
Since 1988, many attorneys general have been members of delegations visiting
Israel through the America-Israel Friendship League, an educational organization
that organizes a lega1 exchange program in conjunction with the government of
Israel and NAAG. Those of us who have been fortunate to embark on one or more of
these missions have had memorable experiences, meeting with top Israeli
officials to address issues of mutual concern, such as anti-terrorism
initiatives, cyber crime, civil rights, criminal law, crimes against women, and
youth crime, as well as encountering the people of this magnificent land, from
the Golan Heights to Nazareth and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
We are firmly supportive of your current efforts, Madam Secretary, and the work
of all in the Obama administration involved in maintaining the cease-fire and
sustaining a lasting peace in the region while upholding our nation's strong and
enduring bonds to the State of Israel. In furtherance of NAAG's goals to
"increase citizen understanding and law enforcement's role to ensure both
protection of individual rights and compliance with the law," we did feel
compelled to express our condemnation of Hamas' acts in Gaza and our support for
the State of Israel.
Sincerely,
(Signed by the Attorneys General of the ten states listed above)
******************************************************
TALKING POINTS
1. We do not advocate rockets being fired upon Israeli civilians from Gaza. The
root cause of the conflict between Israel and Hamas is not rockets fired from
Gaza, but the occupation and the continuing siege. Israel's ongoing complete
control of Gaza's air, land, and sea borders, as well as its severe restriction
of the exit and entrance of goods and people, legally constitute the continued
occupation of Gaza even after Israel's 2005 "disengagement." Given
this, Israel's occupation never ended, and the Gazans have not had sovereignty
over their own society. The Attorneys General's letter faults Hamas for not
establishing a "flourishing, independent Palestinian State," but
Israel's continued control over the territory has prevented any possibility of
doing so. Gaza has remained occupied by Israel ever since 1967.
2. Israel committed war crimes in its recent, massive attack on Gaza. Crucial
here is the fact that because Gaza is one of the most crowded locations on earth
-- and with all borders locked down -- during Israel's widespread bombing of the
territory there was no way for civilians to escape from the assault. In
repeating the questionable assertion that Hamas used civilians as "human
shields" (for which no proof has been submitted) the Attorneys General's
letter omits the fact that Israeli forces did, in fact, intentionally target
Palestinian civilians on a vast scale. Of the more than 1400 Palestinians killed
and over 5,000 wounded in the offensive, the vast majority were non-combatants.
Targeting of civilians in wartime is a growing trend, from Sri Lanka to
Afghanistan. The Attorneys General's letter supports this trend.
For background on Israeli behavior during the offensive,
see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/world/middleeast/10gaza.html?hp
and http://www.nlginternational.org/com/main.php?cid=11
3. Israel's invasion of Gaza only served to exacerbate the conflict. Relieving
the intense material pressure on the Gazan population is the prerequisite for a
peaceful resolution. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/07/ST2009010702803.html
also "Israel's incursion into Gaza replays well-worn blueprint"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/04/israel-gaza-invasion-troops-hamas
..."If Israel's goal were to remove the threat of
rockets from the residents of southern Israel, opening the border crossings
would have ensured such quiet for a generation."
4. Israeli and international human rights organizations are calling for more
independent investigations into Israeli war crimes. Israeli soldiers who
returned from operations in Gaza have spoken out about war crimes that they
witnessed and/or were ordered to commit. Inform the Attorney General of the
illegal use of white phosphorous; the targeting of medical and media
professionals; and the bombing of hospitals, mosques, schools, residential
buildings, and UN facilities. Investigations of Israeli actions are underway;
the Attorneys General have signed a statement without concern for the results of
such investigations and in contradiction of evidence that is already available.
5. The recent Israeli offensive was one extremely violent event in a long-term
siege of Gaza. The
assault followed a siege that has lasted for two years with no real respite. The
siege has resulted in drastic shortages of practically every daily necessity.
This deprivation has led to extreme suffering - including malnutrition - among
the vast majority of Palestinian civilians. Since the middle of 2007
Israel has restricted entrance to Gaza of ever more desperately-needed medical
supplies, while preventing journalists and medical workers from entering the
territory. Humanitarian relief and materials for reconstruction of the territory
have also been withheld since the offensive. (see http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/
and http://www.indypendent.org/2009/04/16/land-of-ghosts/)
As before the offensive, Gazans are experiencing regular and widespread
electricity and water cutoffs; offshore fishing has been restricted and subject
to violent attack; fuel reductions have resulted in inability to treat sewage;
and delivery of food, school, and medical supplies are arbitrarily and regularly
prevented. Certainly, such policies cannot encourage peaceful developments.
6. There is an inherent problem in state public officials using their offices to
engage in foreign policy when they do not consult with their constituency
beforehand. We are concerned that our representatives promote peace and justice
rather than advocating militarism and denying war crimes. We call on our public
servants to become more educated about complicated issues such as the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian lands before weighing in on them. Finally, it is a
good idea for officials such as the Attorney General to engage us, the citizens,
and give us an opportunity to weigh in on the issues involved, before trying to
influence US foreign policy.
7. In signing this letter, the
Attorneys General have spoken for the most belligerent and militaristic
supporters of a disastrous, failed policy of support for Israel. Request that
these Attorneys General insist on an independent investigation of what happened
in Gaza on both sides.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE TEN
ATTORNEYS GENERAL
Jon Bruning - Nebraska
Office of the Attorney General
2115 State Capitol
Lincoln, NE 68509
Main Office: (402) 471-2682
Main Office (FAX): (402) 471-3297
Email: nedoj@nebraska.gov
Buddy Caldwell - Louisiana
Administrative Services
Division
1885 N. Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
P.O Box 94005
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone: 225-326-6705
Fax: 225-326-6793
e-mail: AdminInfo@ag.state.la.us
Jack Conway-Kentucky
Office of the Attorney General
Capitol Suite 118
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-3449
Email: attorney.general@ag.ky.gov
Richard Cordray-Ohio
State Office Tower
30 E. Broad Street, 17th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-3428
(614) 466-4320
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/
Mike Cox – Michigan
G. Mennen Williams Building, 7th Floor
525 W. Ottawa St.
P.O. Box 30212
Lansing, MI 48909
(517) 373-1110
(877) 765-8388
Fax (517) 373-3042
Email: miag@michigan.gov
Patrick C. Lynch - Rhode Island
150 South Main Street
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 274-4400
Email: mbotelho@riag.ri.gov
Bill McCollum - Florida
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Switchboard: 850-414-3300
Citizens Services: 850-414-3990
Florida Toll Free: 1-866-966-7226
***FAX is Best way to communicate 850 410-1630
for generic complaints, use webpage
http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Attorney_General
Rob McKenna - Washington
Main Office:
1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100
rob.mckenna@atg.wa.gov
Mark Shurtleff – Utah
General Office Numbers: (801) 366-0260, (801) 538-9600, (801) 366-0300
E-Mail: uag@utah.gov
Please leave your name, phone number or address so you can be contacted.
FAX: (801) 538-1121
Utah State Capitol Office Mailing Address
Office of the Attorney General
PO Box 142320
SLC UT 84114-2320
John Suthers- Colorado
Attorney General
1525 Sherman St.
7th floor
Denver, CO 80203
(303)866-4500
FAX: (303)866-5691
attorney.general@state.co.us
*
When writing the Attorney General of your state, please express your thoughts in
a courteous manner.
This alert has been drafted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee -- Seattle,
together with members of the Save Gaza Campaign (of the Pacific Northwest).
For information about Palestine Solidarity Committee -- Seattle, see www.palestineinformation.org
If you e-mail a response to any of the Attorneys General, please bcc to alerts@palestineinformation.org,
so that we can monitor the response to this alert.
===============================================================================================
PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED
Please e-mail Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and express your
protest at the letter to Secretary of State Clinton, which he signed. This
letter signed by the Attorneys General of ten states, reproduced in full below,
expresses support of the State of Israel's actions in Gaza and condemns Hamas.
It offers an interpretation of the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian
relationship that is distorted beyond recognition.
If you are receiving this letter in another state whose Attorney General signed
the letter, please address a letter of protest to that official (Colorado,
Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Utah).
Apologies for multiple postings.
BACKGROUND:
The letter from the ten Attorneys General, dated March 30, 2009, came to public
attention late last week via a news article published by the press agency JTA.
That article is also inserted at the bottom of this alert.
Parts of the letter read like an Israeli tourist office advertisement for a
valiant but beleaguered state. All mention of the occupation and attendant human
rights violations against Palestinian civilians is omitted. Turning facts on
their head in a breathtaking manner, the letter condemns Hamas's actions while
completely exonerating Israel of any war crimes -- even justifying a
disproportionate military response. The letter rationalizes Israel's recent
offensive against the incarcerated population of the Gaza Strip by citing
"continuous...attacks on Israel's civilians..." without mentioning
that Hamas observed last year's truce with Israel until Israel violated it. The
tone of the letter is such that it could have been drafted by someone
significantly more militant than any mainstream supporter of Israeli policies.
The letter notes the Attorneys Generals' concern for "individual
rights" and "compliance with the law" while ignoring the fact
that through its occupation of Palestinian lands and ongoing siege of Gaza,
Israel violates the rights to security and other basic human rights of millions
of Palestinians on a daily basis. Violating international laws governing the
behavior of an occupying power, Israel continues to deprive Palestinians of
freedom of movement, the right to return to their homes, and the right to a
livelihood. Under international law an occupying power has the obligation to
ensure the security of the occupied population (see reference below), and Israel
has done quite the opposite.
START
DATE FOR ACTION:
Monday, May 11
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
as
soon as possible and ongoing as needed in order to keep a continuous focus on
this issue.
TALKING POINTS:
1. We do not advocate or support
rockets being fired upon Israeli civilians from Gaza, nor any similar action.
However, the root cause of the conflict between Israel and Hamas is not rockets
fired from Gaza, but the occupation and the continuing siege of Gaza. Israel's
ongoing complete control of Gaza's air, land, and sea borders, as well as its
control and severe restriction of the exit and entrance of goods and people,
legally constitute the continued occupation of Gaza even after Israel's 2005
"disengagement." Given this, Israel's occupation never ended, and the
Gazans have not had sovereignty over their own society. The Attorneys General's
letter faults Hamas for not establishing a "flourishing, independent
Palestinian State," but Israel's continued control over the territory has
prevented any possibility of doing so. Gaza has remained occupied by Israel ever
since 1967.
2. Israel committed war crimes in its recent, massive attack on Gaza. Crucial
here is the fact that because Gaza is one of the most crowded locations on earth
-- and with all borders locked down -- during Israel's widespread bombing of the
territory there was no way for civilians to escape from the assault. In
repeating the questionable assertion that Hamas used civilians as "human
shields," The Attorneys General's letter omits that Israeli forces did, in
fact, intentionally target Palestinian civilians on a vast scale. Of the more
than 1400 Palestinians killed and over 5,000 wounded in the offensive, the vast
majority were non-combatants.
Targeting of civilians in wartime is a growing trend, from Sri Lanka to
Afghanistan. The Attorneys General's letter supports this trend.
For background on Israeli behavior during the offensive, see
See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/world/middleeast/10gaza.html?hp
and
http://www.nlginternational.org/com/main.php?cid=11
3. Israel's invasion of Gaza was not militarily necessary and it was not a
solution to the conflict; rather, it only served to exacerbate it. Relieving the
intense material pressure on the Gazan population would have been, and still is,
the prerequisite for a peaceful resolution. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/07/ST2009010702803.html
also
"Israel's incursion into Gaza replays well-worn blueprint"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/04/israel-gaza-invasion-troops-hamas
..."If Israel's goal were to remove the threat of
rockets from the residents of southern Israel, opening the border crossings
would have ensured such quiet for a generation."
4. Israeli and international human rights organizations are calling for and have
conducted independent investigation into Israeli war crimes. Israeli soldiers
who returned from operations in Gaza have spoken out about war crimes that they
witnessed and/or were ordered to commit. Inform the Attorney General of the
illegal use of white phosphorous; the targeting of medical and media
professionals; and the bombing of hospitals, mosques, schools, residential
buildings, and UN facilities. Investigations of Israeli actions are underway.
The Attorneys General have signed a statement without concern for the results of
such investigations and in contradiction of evidence that is already available.
References: for useful background information on the definition of an
occupation and the rights of the occupied population, see the following Red
Cross web page: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/634KFC.
The 1907 Hague Convention and the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention extensively
define these rights and the obligations of the occupier; for information on the
Geneva Convention, see http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm.
For background on soldiers' testimony about Israeli war crimes committed in
Gaza, see
http://www.btselem.org/English/Testimonies/Index.asp?TF=29&image.x=18&image.y=11
and
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel -- several links on the website to
testimonies and medical findings:
http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=24&catid=51&pcat=51&lang=ENG
(scroll towards bottom of page for Gaza attack testimonies)
Amnesty International calls for cessation of US aid to Israel pending war crimes
investigation:
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8545/
and
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkg78E2TUtVYt4xO4XaIkzkaUDrg
For
information on the UN's accusations against Israel, see "UN blames Israel
for Gaza attacks": http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/05/200955143232389149.html
5.
The recent Israeli offensive was one extremely violent event in a long-term
siege of Gaza. The
assault followed a siege of Gaza that has lasted for two years with no real
respite. The siege has resulted in drastic shortages of practically every daily
necessity. This deprivation has led to extreme suffering - including
malnutrition - among the vast majority of Palestinian civilians. Since
the middle of 2007 Israel has restricted entrance to Gaza of ever more
desperately-needed medical supplies, while preventing journalists and medical
workers from entering the territory. Humanitarian relief and materials for
reconstruction of the territory have also been withheld since the offensive.
(see http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/
and http://www.indypendent.org/2009/04/16/land-of-ghosts/)
As before the offensive, Gazans are experiencing regular and widespread
electricity and water cutoffs; offshore fishing has been restricted and subject
to violent attack; fuel reductions have resulted in inability to treat sewage;
and delivery of food, school, and medical supplies are arbitrarily and regularly
prevented. Certainly, such policies cannot encourage peaceful developments.
6. There is an inherent problem in state public officials using their offices to
engage in foreign policy, purporting to represent the views of the citizens,
trying to influence national foreign policy and doing so without engaging
citizens (and in fact, without citizens’ knowledge) and without an opportunity
for us to weigh in on the issues involved.
7. In signing this letter, the Attorneys General have spoken for the most
belligerent and militaristic supporters of a disastrous, failed policy of
support for Israel. Request that Rob McKenna publish an apology for signing a
letter of support for gross violations of international law.
E-mail your letter to: rob.mckenna@atg.wa.gov
Send a regular letter to
Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna
1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100
*
Reminders:
--Please write even if you only have time for a brief note.
--Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
--Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick
one or two points to concentrate on.
--Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers.
--Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to
that address. This is for our monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
A
Communication From The Chief Legal Officers From The States Of Colorado *
Florida * Kentucky * Louisiana * Michigan * Nebraska * Ohio* Rhode Island *Utah
* Washington
March 30, 2009
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of Slate
United Slates Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C 20002
Dear Madam Secretary:
The undersigned Attorneys General write to convey our strong support for the
State of Israel's actions in Gaza. The State of Israel's actions; are taken in
furtherance of its right to self-defense provided under Article 51 of the United
Nation Charter that provides that "Nothing in the present Charter shall
impair the inherent right of individual...'self-defense if an armed attack
occurs against a Member of the United Nations..."
Since June 2005, when Hamas militarily expelled the Palestinian Authority from
Gaza in a coup d'etat, Hamas has launched more than 6,300 rockets and mortars at
Israeli civilians, kitting and wounding 730, while disrupting the lives of
hundreds or thousands of citizens. [Wall Street Journal December 29, 2008.] With
the increased range of its recent rockets, more than 500,000 people in Israel
have been included within their reach, with rocket attacks targeting not only
Sderot, but also Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be'er Sheva.
While Hamas is an acknowledged terrorist regime - recognized as such by Israel,
the United States, and the European Union - it acts under the cover of a
"sovereign state."
Hamas War Crimes in Violation of Article 48 of the Geneva Convention
By intentionally targeting 6,300 rockets against Israel's civilian population,
Hamas is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a war crime in that it has violated
Article 48 of Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Convention of 1949 which
provides that "...the Parties to the conflict shall at all times
distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian
objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations:
only against military objectives.
In addition to its war crimes committed against the Israeli civilian population,
Hamas has also committed atrocities against the Palestinian civilian population
under its control in Gaza by using these civilians as shields for its criminal
conduct. As recently noted by the Wall Street Journal, "...Hamas
deliberately locates its security forces in residential neighborhoods. This is
intended to both deter Israel from attacking in the first place as well as turn
world opinion against the Jewish state when it does attack."
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but Hamas, instead of establishing a
flourishing, independent Palestinian State, has used this occasion to cause a
civil war with the Palestinian Authority, leading to a coup d'etat in 2007 - a1l
to the detriment of the Palestinian civilian population living in Gaza.
Conclusion
Hamas's continuous rocket and mortar attacks on Israel's civilian population are
a casus bellum. As in all wars, the appropriate response is not a
"proportionate one," but one measured to bring an end to the acts of
war. The United States did not bomb Tokyo Harbor and the Japanese fleet as a
response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Seventh Fleet. It declared war
on Japan To Israel's credit, it launched a limited and directed action against
the source of Hamas's military acts white allowing the entrance of humanitarian
aid into Gaza.
It is an essential element in the common law that intent is a crucial element in
the commission of all acts. Hamas's intentional acts of launching rockets at
civilians were in no way comparable to Israel's acts in directing its response
to the source of Hamas's military attacks that unintentionally caused harm to
Palestinian civilians, Israel's acts were justified and, in our view, met the
international legal standards required of a modern state.
Since 1988, many attorneys general have been members of delegations visiting
Israel through the America-Israel Friendship League, an educational organization
that organizes a lega1 exchange program in conjunction with the government of
Israel and NAAG. Those of us who have been fortunate to embark on one or more of
these missions have had memorable experiences, meeting with top Israeli
officials to address issues of mutual concern, such as anti-terrorism
initiatives, cyber crime, civil rights, criminal law, crimes against women, and
youth crime, as well as encountering the people of this magnificent land, from
the Golan Heights to Nazareth and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
We are firmly supportive of your current efforts, Madam Secretary, and the work
of all in the Obama administration involved in maintaining the cease-fire and
sustaining a lasting peace in the region while upholding our nation's strong and
enduring bonds to the State of Israel. In furtherance of NAAG's goals to
"increase citizen understanding and law enforcement's role to ensure both
protection of individual rights and compliance with the law," we did feel
compelled to express our condemnation of Hamas' acts in Gaza and our support for
the State of Israel.
Sincerely,
(Signed by the Attorneys General of the ten states listed above, including Rob
McKenna, Washington State)
**
Washington Atty. Gen. Rob McKenna is One of Ten State AG's to Defend Israel's
Military Action in Gaza
10 attorneys general defend Israel
May 6, 2009
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Attorneys general from 10 states defended Israel's military
action in the Gaza Strip, in a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton.
The letter, sent last month, also condemned Hamas for what it called "war
crimes" for its bomb attacks on civilian targets in southern Israel.
The attorneys general wrote that "By intentionally targeting 6,300 rockets
against Israel's civilian population, Hamas is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
of a war crime in that it has violated … the Geneva Convention of 1949."
The letter notes that the Geneva Convention provides that parties in a conflict
must distinguish between civilians and combatants, and civilian and military
objectives, and "direct their operations only against military
objectives."
"In addition to its war crimes committed against the Israeli civilian
population, Hamas has also committed atrocities against the Palestinian civilian
population under its control in Gaza by using these civilians as shields for its
criminal conduct," the letter continued.
The officials concluded that "Hamas' continuous rocket and mortar attacks
on Israel's civilian population are a casus bellum. As in all wars, the
appropriate response is not a 'proportionate one,' but one measured to bring
about an end to the acts of war."
The America-Israel Friendship League said in a statement that it welcomed the
letter by the attorneys general, calling it "a strong rejoinder to those
who have castigated Israel over its role in Gaza and used it in an attempt to
delegitimize the Jewish State."
Several of the attorneys general have visited Israel through an educational
exchange program conducted by the league, which offers American officials the
chance to become familiar with Israel's legal framework, security issues and
commitment to the rule of law.
The 10 attorneys general represent the states of Colorado, Florida, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington.
* ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
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The response network sends out periodic emails asking you to take action on
specific Palestine-related issues.
===============================================================================================
--PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--
Action
Requested: Please thank the Seattle Times for publishing an
op-ed by Professor George Bisharat on Thursday, February 05.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008708504_opinb05bisharat.html
Guest columnist
Hold Israel accountable for Gaza
The article is inserted in full at the end of this alert.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Friday, February 6
--Still helpful: Monday, February 9
Context: George
Bisharat's op-ed in yesterday's Seattle Times provides compelling evidence that
Israel violated international law during its vicious offensive against Gaza,
which killed over 1400 people (including at least 400 children), wounded
approximately 6,000, and displaced tens of thousands. On the heels of these
atrocities, it is imperative that we work to put an end to Israel's impunity.
Professor Bisharat's powerful argument is sure to enrage those who defend
Israeli war crimes. Please write
the Seattle Times today in support of the op-ed.
Letters of up to 200 words can be sent to opinion@seattletimes.com.
Please include your name, phone number, and address for confirmation by
the newspaper.
For guidelines on how to write a letter to the editor, go to
http://www.palestineinformation.org/Take%20Action.htm
and click on "Letter-Writing Guidelines."
Talking Points:
1. Thank the Seattle Times.
2. Reinforce the idea that sanctioning Israel for its crimes makes the whole
world safer.
3. Impunity for Israel must come to an end.
4. If our government will not cease its blind support for Israel, we must help
our leaders concentrate -- and send a message to Israel -- by initiating
boycotts and divestment campaigns.
*
Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
Please bcc your letter to us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
*
Full text of article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008708504_opinb05bisharat.html
Guest columnist
Hold Israel accountable for Gaza
Israel's Gaza invasion provides evidence of at least seven serious violations of
international law, notes George E. Bisharat, a University of California Hastings
law professor. If Israel will not be held accountable in international venues,
the "court of last resort" might be international civil society, whose
tools for nonviolent enforcement include boycotts, divestment and sanctions.
By George E. Bisharat
Special to The Times
"THE boss has lost it," many Israeli military and political officials,
and people on the street, were reportedly joking after their army's recent
devastation of the Gaza Strip. As Israeli journalist Uri Avnery observed, the
jest means that: " ... in order to deter our enemies, we must behave like
madmen, go on the rampage, kill and destroy mercilessly."
In fact, the "boss has lost it" is an unselfconscious admission of
policies that violate international law, and could at some point be used against
Israeli leaders in a criminal prosecution.
Evidence suggests that Israel may have committed at least seven serious offenses
during its Gaza invasion: launching a war of aggression (because Israel itself
triggered the breakdown of a six-month truce, and therefore did not have a valid
claim of self-defense); deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure;
deliberate killings of civilians; collective punishment; illegal use of weapons,
including white phosphorous; preventing care to the wounded; and
disproportionate use of force.
These constitute grave breaches of customary and conventional international law,
and some amount to war crimes. Hamas' indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli
civilians were also war crimes, but did not justify Israel's violations.
What is the likelihood that Israel leaders faced with allegations of war crimes
will ever be investigated and brought to justice?
Israel has not accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court,
formed in 2002 to try crimes against humanity and other serious international
crimes, and thus its nationals cannot be prosecuted there. Meanwhile, the
International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations,
deals only with states — and Palestinians do not have a state.
Normally, the United Nations Security Council could establish a special
international criminal tribunal, as it did following genocide in Rwanda and
ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. But any effort to investigate
allegations of Israeli war crimes faces the certainty of a U.S. veto. Since
1970, the United States has vetoed resolutions censuring Israel 41 times.
About a dozen nations worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Spain and
Belgium, have laws bestowing "universal jurisdiction" over genocide,
war crimes, torture and other similar offenses. These states try cases
irrespective of the nationalities of the parties or the location of the alleged
offenses when they are grave enough to be considered crimes against all
humanity. They offer another potential venue for the prosecution of suspected
Israeli war criminals.
Yet when Belgium permitted litigation against former Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and others for their roles in the 1982 massacres of Palestinians in
Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, the U.S. brought withering pressure,
threatening to move NATO headquarters from Brussels if the case were not shut
down. It was halted, shortly thereafter, by Belgian parliamentary legislation.
Thus, perhaps the "court of last resort" is that of international
civil society, whose tools for nonviolent enforcement include boycotts,
divestment and sanctions. That route, once so effective in helping to end
apartheid in Africa, offers a powerful model for those seeking justice in
Israel/Palestine today. Israel is both sensitive to Western opinion and
dependent on trade and would likely respond to ostracism.
Ending Israel's impunity should be a priority for us all. Palestinians clearly
bear the brunt of Israel's violence. Israelis face a future of endemic conflict
in a region that will never bow to pure might. We Americans suffer by acting as
Israel's principal enabler and accomplice, isolating ourselves from much of the
world and multiplying our enemies. International law — which protects the
powerful and weak alike — is diminished when one nation tramples basic legal
principles without consequence.
Two years ago, I was contacted by the sister of a U.N. peacekeeper who had been
killed along with three colleagues in a July 2006 Israeli artillery strike on
their observer post in Lebanon. She sought my guidance in pushing for
accountability for her innocent brother's death. Israel never acknowledged any
culpability, and the woman's quest continues.
We have kept in touch. Before the latest cease-fire in Gaza, she poignantly
remarked: "I'm watching with growing horror and can't help wonder: What if
accountability had been practiced in prior years?"
The answer should be clear. It is time, now, to act.
George Bisharat is a professor at University of California Hastings College of
the Law and writes frequently on law and politics in the Middle East. He is
speaking at both the University of Washington's School of Law and Department of
Political Science today.
===============================================================================================
PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS
WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--
With this alert we present three important actions that you can take. If you
only have time for one of these, do one action; if you have more time, please do
as many as you can:
1. Send a message of support and thanks to Robert Jamieson for his good article
on conditions in Gaza from Thursday, January 29th in the
Seattle P.I..
2. Thank Congress members Brian Baird and Jim McDermott for signing a letter to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Urge other Congress members to do the same.
3. Send an urgently-needed message of support and thanks to Bob Simon and
Robert Anderson for their excellent January 25th segment of 60
Minutes, covering Israeli apartheid.
Time by which actions should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, February 2, 2009
--Still helpful: Thursday, February 5
DETAILS ON THESE THREE ACTIONS:
I. COMMEND ROBERT JAMIESON FOR
HIS ARTICLE OF JANUARY 29TH
Please read "Survivor of Gaza carnage cries out for peace," by Robert
Jamieson, at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/397862_robert29x.html
Jamieson describes the atrocities in Gaza in a straightforward manner as he
conveys the story of a survivor who used to live in Seattle. The P.I. needs to
be informed that readers appreciate it when a journalist tells the truth about
the situation.
.
Send your letter to the editor to editpage@seattlepi.com
For guidelines on how to write a letter to the editor go to http://www.palestineinformation.org/Take%20Action.htm
and click on "Letter-Writing Guidelines"
Please bcc your
letter to us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
II. URGE YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER TO SIGN LETTER TO CLINTON
Both Congressman Baird and Congressman McDermott have signed on to an excellent
letter sent to Secretary of State Clinton that quite comprehensively addresses
the many concerns about aid and commodities getting into Gaza.
The letter is inserted below, followed by a list of signers.
Baird and McDermott constituents should send an e-mail to personally
thank their Congressman for signing on to this letter.
To date, Baird and McDermott are the only two to sign on from Washington
State. They joined more than
sixty other House members who signed.
If your representative did not sign this letter please send an email expressing
your disappointment that this opportunity was missed.
To determine who represents you in the U.S. Congress, go to http://www.congress.org/
and enter your zip code in the "My Elected Officials" sidebar on the
left and send your email from there, or go to your representative’s website
and click on the “Contact me” header.
*
The text of the letter to Secretary Clinton follows:
Dear Secretary Clinton:
First, we would like to congratulate you on being sworn in as our nation’s
67th Secretary of State. We are very hopeful that this new era in American
foreign policy upon which we embark can advance the cause of peace in the Middle
East and beyond.
As strong supporters of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, we are writing
to express our deep concern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and
to request immediate action by the United States to address this crisis.
With the ceasefire now in effect, it is critical that the United States
play a leading role in alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza and we
respectfully urge your assistance in this task.
As you know, the situation on the ground is dire. The flow of humanitarian goods
into the Gaza Strip is limited to food and medicine. Yet there exists a real
need to allow for the importation of construction materials and fuel, which
require the opening of crossings into Gaza. For example, only the Karni Crossing
has the capacity for transporting large cargo, such as cement, but it remains
closed.
In addition, in order to rebuild civilian infrastructure in Gaza the
international community is going to have to make significant monetary
contributions. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East (UNRWA) estimates financial needs of nearly $350 million just
to rebuild their own infrastructure and continue providing essential services to
the Palestinians in Gaza.
We also remain especially concerned about the desperate condition of medical
services in Gaza. Although Israel has begun to allow limited medical supplies
into Gaza, the need far outweighs the availability while hospitals remain
understaffed and ill-supplied. One of the most crucial steps that needs to be
taken is for Israel to allow critically ill patients to be transported out of
Gaza and into Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, where they may receive necessary
medical care. We therefore urge you to express this concern directly to Israeli
government officials.
In addition to the several thousand individuals who were physically injured
during the recent military operations, we can expect to see a dramatic increase
in the number of individuals suffering from psychological trauma. In order to
help the population to begin rebuilding, we will need to further ensure that
funds are used to provide adequate mental health services in Gaza.
Failure to address this humanitarian emergency has the potential to produce a
crisis of even more unspeakable proportions. We therefore respectfully request
that the State Department release emergency funds to UNRWA for reconstruction
and humanitarian assistance. We believe the State Department can make funds
available through accounts such as Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance
(ERMA) and urge you to facilitate the transfer of funds as soon as possible.
We look forward to maintaining a productive and ongoing dialogue with the State
Department and the Obama Administration regarding the United States response to
the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Toward that end we respectfully request that
you or your staff share with us prior to Congress recessing on February 13,
2009, the actions taken to date and the strategy you will pursue to address the
humanitarian crisis.
Finally, we know that addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a whole is
a top priority of the Obama Administration and we applaud President Obama and
you for your early and public commitment to meet this challenge. We also believe
that the naming of former Senator George Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle
East is commendable. We believe the
security interests of both Israel and the United States will be greatly enhanced
by the establishment of a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and
that United States involvement is indispensable in achieving that goal.
We stand ready to work with you as the Administration furthers these
efforts.
Full List of Signatories to the Letter:
David Price, Lois Capps, Keith Ellison, Sam Farr, Maurice D. Hinchey, Barbara
Lee, Jim Moran, Earl Blumenauer, Lloyd Doggett, James P. Mcgovern, Gwen Moore,
Jim Mcdermott, Raúl M. Grijalva,
Pete Stark, Michael E. Capuano, Peter Welch, Dennis J. Kucinich, Donald
M. Payne, Lynn C. Woolsey, John D. Dingell, Maxine Waters, Diane E. Watson, André
Carson, Donna F. Edwards, John Lewis, Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Glenn C. Nye, Henry
C. Johnson, Joe Sestak, Bob Filner, Stephen F. Lynch, John F. Tierney, Rush D.
Holt, Betty Mccollum, George Miller, Nick J. Rahall, Yvette D. Clarke, William
D. Delahunt, Loretta Sanchez, Rosa
L. Delauro, Mike Thompson, Brian Baird, Peter A. Defazio, Christopher
Murphy, Mary Jo Kilroy, Thomas Perriello, John Conyers Jr., Neil Abercrombie,
Gerald E. Connolly, Earl Pomeroy, Anna G. Eshoo, Jackie Speier, Michael M.
Honda, John A. Yarmuth, Bruce Braley, Tammy Baldwin, James L. Oberstar, Eric J.J.
Massa, Michael H. Michaud, Marcy Kaptur, Bill Pascrell, Jr, Daniel B. Maffei,
Danny K. Davis
III. THANK
CBS 60 MINUTES FOR EXPOSING ISRAELI APARTHEID
On Sunday,
January 25, CBS 60 Minutes aired a remarkable segment exposing Israel's
apartheid against Palestinians. The
piece is by Senior CBS Foreign Correspondent Bob Simon and produced by
Robert G, Anderson.
This is an urgent action because CBS has been receiving a deluge of
critical comments from supporters of Israeli policies.
TAKE ACTION:
1. Watch the video: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1811
2. Send a thank you note to 60 Minutes, Bob Simon and Robert Anderson.
Go to http://action.gazajustice.org/t/4436/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=905
to fill out a simple form letter.
3. Invite your friends to watch the video and send a thank you note.
|
===============================================================================================
PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO WANT TO ACT
TWO ACTIONS INCLUDED:
ACTION 1:
The
Senate just unanimously voted on a resolution that essentially pats Israel on
the back for "defending itself" from Hamas, and the House will likely
follow their lead tomorrow (Friday).
Please contact your delegates to the US House of Representatives to urge them to
use their power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane assault on the civilians of
Gaza. Ask them to vote "NO" on any resolution that fails to
call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and for unimpeded access for
humanitarian aid into Gaza. There are several biased resolutions on the table,
most of which applaud
Israel for being a strong ally in the "Global
War on Terror;" falsely
blame Hamas for breaking the cease-fire; fail to
recognize the
legitimacy of Palestinian elections; and say
nothing about
Israel's responsibility for the killing and
injuring of Palestinians. Tell your representatives that Israel's imposition of
collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza is unacceptable.
This action must take place immediately Friday
January 9th, because it is very likely that the House of Representatives will
take the same action tomorrow that the Senate, who approved a similar
resolution, took today.
For talking points go to: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1780.
We've heard from sources
in Congressional offices that as few as 20 phone calls
from each district can help dampen
Representatives' blind support of Israel's assault.
This action alert is in partnership with CodePink, Peace Action,
United for Peace and Justice, Progressive
Democrats of America, the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and
other national groups to
make our voices heard in the House - Your call will make a
difference -
call 202.224.3121 now.
Please telephone your representatives, and if you are not able to do that,
e-mail them with a strong message in the subject line, such as, "No on
blind support to Israel." If
you don't know who represents you in Congress, then you can find out
at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home
(enter
your zip code in the upper right corner of the website). Once
you know who represents you call 202.224.3121 and the operator will connect you to your
Representative.
If you are Jewish, please let your representatives know that you are a Jew who
opposes Israel's attack on Gaza. If you belong to a Jewish community
organization, arrange to contact your representatives in the name of that
organization.
After asking your Representative to vote NO
on these resolutions, we also encourage you to
call your Senators at 202.224.3121
and
register your displeasure with their abhorrent
unanimous vote to blame
Gazans for Israel's siege and assault.
Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure
the impact of our alerts.
ACTION 2:
PROTEST OFFENSIVE HORSEY CARTOON
The Seattle P.I. today published a very offensive cartoon by David Horsey --
see: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/.
In this cartoon a mother is saying to a caricaturized "militant,"
"Young man, when will you learn? If you hit somebody bigger than you, he'll
hit back!"
The cartoon at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/
reinforces and perpetuates the notion that the Palestinians are entirely to
blame for their predicament, because of a "childish" and senseless
inclination to use violence. It is not our intention to justify the use of
violence on the part of any group; however, this cartoon glosses over the fact
that the vastly greater part of the violence has been perpetrated by the Israeli
forces upon an imprisoned civilian population.
Please write the P.I. at editpage@seattlepi.com
and, in 250 words or less, express your objection to this offensive cartoon.
(See guidelines for letters to the editor below). Point out that the
Palestinians in Gaza are involved in a legitimate struggle for their rights;
that they have effectively been under siege for over three years; that it is the
Israelis who have perpetuated the belligerence by refusing to negotiate with
Hamas; and that David Horsey is not funny.
*
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
PLEASE FORWARD THIS
ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED
Please contact your Congress members and/or Senators to urge them to use their
power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane assault on the civilians of Gaza.
CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES: MASSACRES OF CIVILIANS IN GAZA MUST STOP
We are sending you this alert to ask you to take action with regard to the
Israeli invasion of Gaza. Israel has intensified its ongoing blockade and
punitive campaign against the population of Gaza by cutting off fuel supplies,
Now the bombing and invasion of the territory have resulted in the deaths of
hundreds of civilians. Israel's treatment of Gaza amounts to collective
punishment on the scale of a crime against humanity.
In light of the last twelve days of Israel's appalling attacks on Gaza, we are
sending out this second alert to ask you specifically to contact your Senators
and members of Congress. The 111th Congressional session has just
begun, and there are moves underway to pass statements that will support
continuation of Israel's military action. In recent conversations with
Congressional aides, it has been pointed out to us that our representatives have
primarily been hearing from supporters of Israel's policies. Calls from people
opposing the massacre of Gaza are just trickling in -- let's change that!
ACTION:
Please telephone your Congress member and Senators Patty Murray and Maria
Cantwell, and demand that they exert pressure on the government of Israel to
bring an immediate halt to the invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israel must not only
withdraw its armed forces completely from Gaza and stop the bombing; it must
also open Gaza's borders completely for delivery of desperately-needed food,
medicine, fuel, and all daily necessities. Doctors and journalists must also be
allowed entrance to Gaza. Let your representatives know that you want US aid to
Israel cut off until the assault on Gaza is discontinued and until the Israeli
occupation of all Palestinian lands is ended. If you speak with an aide to
Representative Jim McDermott -- who knows what is right but is too hesitant to
take appropriate action -- urge him to launch a Congressional resolution that
condemns Israel's war crimes.
If you are Jewish, please let your representatives know that you are a Jew who
opposes Israel's attack on Gaza. If you belong to a Jewish community
organization, arrange to contact your representatives in the name of that
organization.
START DATE FOR ACTION:
Wednesday,
January 7
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Monday, January 13
BACKGROUND:
A six-month truce between Israel and the Hamas-led government of Gaza expired on
December 19th, 2008. For almost five months of that period,
hostilities were significantly reduced. However, violence broke out well before
the official end of the truce. The Israeli attacked Gaza on November 4th,
killing a half-dozen Palestinians. From there, the truce deteriorated.
At the same time, Israel heightened an existing blockade on deliveries to Gaza,
compounding what was already a growing humanitarian emergency. Food, medicine,
and fuel were already in short supply from the beginning of the blockade
(imposed in 2007); soon hospitals were working without anesthetics; banks were
shutting down; and most Gazans were unemployed.
Then on Saturday, December 27th, Israeli jets began a thorough
bombing of Gaza, destroying most police stations immediately, and striking many
other civilian targets as well. We note here that police are civilians, and
their stations are by necessity located in civilian areas. Hundreds of people
were killed that weekend, at least half of them civilians. A week later the
ground assault began, on Saturday, January 3rd.
To date well over six hundred Palestinians have been killed and thousands
wounded. The violence has reached calamitous proportions. The Israeli government
has not restrained itself from bombing schools, mosques, dormitories, apartment
buildings and single-family residences, as well as shops and government offices.
There is no square meter of space in Gaza that is a safe place for civilians to
take refuge.
Israel has claimed that there is "no humanitarian emergency" in Gaza.
The United Nations yesterday contradicted this claim, stating that at least one
fourth of Gazan casualties are civilians. However, this figure only includes
women and children. Certainly many of the men who have been killed are civilians
as well.
In the last couple of days the Israelis have bombed several UN-run schools being
used as shelters, killing at least forty civilians. Army spokespersons' claimed
that the shelters were being used by Hamas fighters; given UN assertions to the
contrary, these claims were simply not believable.
(See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians)
It is clear that the Israeli bombardment and invasion was planned well in
advance. Israel apparently never intended for the truce to lead to peace,
because it did not work to ease restrictions on Gaza but intensified them, and
it shunned the possibility of negotiating with Gaza's elected leaders.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
At this point it is more effective to telephone your representatives than to
e-mail them. Please call Congress members and Senators Patty Murray and Maria
Cantwell, objecting to the Israeli bombardment and assault on Gaza, Appeal to
them and to your Congress members to censure Israel for the cruelty and
hopelessness that it is wreaking upon the Gazan population. See talking points
below.
Contact information:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S.
Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access
these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Murray
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238
E-mail: www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Cantwell
Telephone: 202-224-3441
Fax: 202-228-0514
Email: www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
TALKING POINTS:
--Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza are resulting in massive loss of
life, injuries, and traumatization of the entire civilian population. Call on
your representatives to promote legislation that demands an immediate end to the
assault; the opening of Gaza's borders to delivery of emergency aid including
food, fuel, and medicines; and unrestricted entry to medical caregivers and
journalists.
--The standard Israeli rationale for its violence is that Israel is only
protecting the security of its citizens. In fact, it is constantly putting its
own citizens in danger by savagely attacking an imprisoned people. Tell your
representatives that the Palestinians need security just as much as the
Israelis, and that the only way to enhance security is for Israel to initiate
negotiations with the Palestinians' leaders. The present massacres of the Gazan
population will not lead to peace, but only to continued and intensified
bloodshed on both sides.
-- Israel is openly ignoring the distinction between civilians and combatants.
The collective punishment against the population of Gaza is a violation of
international law, amounting to a crime against humanity.
--Most wars are fought for political reasons and are ultimately resolved through
political means; only negotiations will bring the present one to an end. The
unprecedented number of civilian victims in this case will make a resolution
more difficult to attain. (For a knowledgeable comment on this factor, listen to
the NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99071510
-- "Civilian Casualties Factor into War Decisions."
--The United States, principle sponsor of Israeli policies, must not sit idly as
this humanitarian crisis unfolds. F16 fighter jets, Apache
helicopters, naval gunships, and missiles paid for by our tax money are being
used to slaughter Palestinian civilians. In addition, Israel's government has
long been able to count on the United States consistently vetoing any UN
Security Council resolution that is critical of Israel's policies. Our
government has both the responsibility and the leverage to put an end to the
carnage.
--Call on your representatives to seek more balanced information about the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict. They are ill-informed; their sources are
one-sided, and they thus cannot make good decisions. Suggest that your elected
officials hold informative meetings with such people such as Diana Buttu,
Michael Tarazi, Ali Abunimah, Jimmy Carter, Jeff Halper, and Phyllis Bennis, who
are respected experts on the Palestinian experience and can provide crucial
alternative analysis.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.
Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure
the impact of our alerts.
For more information on current developments in Gaza, check the following
links:
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights: http://www.pchrgaza.org/
The Electronic Intifada: www.electronicintifada.net
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation: www.endtheoccupation.org
Search for Congressional Bill summaries and status: http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/111search.html
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Daily Situation Report on
Gaza: http://www.ochaopt.org/
Gaza Hospital Overwhelmed by Dead, Wounded: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/world/story/453496.html
CNN: How Israel Broke the Gaza Truce
http://crm.cair.com/site/R?i=hp8yMDNcgy4wxTZaKHOn1A
*
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED
Please contact your Congress members and/or Senators to urge them to use their
power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane assault on the people of Gaza.
ISRAEL BOMBS GAZA, KILLING OVER 300; ATTACKS CONTINUE, GROUND ASSAULT
THREATENED
We are sending you this alert to ask you urgently to take action with regard to
the current Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip. On Saturday morning,
December 27th, over eighty Israeli warplanes and helicopter gunships
dropped at least one hundred tons of bombs throughout Gaza. Israel targeted all
Gazan police stations, but also many residential areas. Latest reports as of
Sunday morning state that over three hundred Palestinians were killed, and at
least a thousand wounded. Of those killed, almost half were civilians.
An Israeli military spokesman announced that the bombardment was "only a
beginning." The already severely-taxed Gazan infrastructure is being
destroyed, leaving the territory without power and water, and crippling medical
facilities.
Palestinians are appealing to the conscience of the world to intervene and call
upon our elected officials to condemn the Israeli atrocities.
The United States Administration has expressed support for Israel's attack.
President-elect Obama, vacationing in Hawaii, was unavailable for comment.
START DATE FOR ACTION:
Sunday,
December 28, 2008
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
As
soon as possible, and ongoing
ACTION:
Due to the brutality of the current attacks and the particularly atrocious scene
now unfolding in Gaza, in this alert we are listing more than one possible
action for you to take, including contacting elected representatives and other
government officials: writing your local media; and participating in upcoming
protests in your region (or organizing your own local protest). Talking points,
as well as tips on writing letters to the editor, are found below this action
section. We urge you to take at least one of these actions as soon as possible:
1. CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
--Contact your Congress member and Senators Patty Murray
and Maria Cantwell, and let them know that you deplore Israel's current assault
on Gaza. Urge them to draft a resolution censuring Israel's actions and calling
on the Israeli government to end all attacks on civilians and to lift the siege
of Gaza, allowing in all needed fuel, food, and medical provisions.
Find contact info for your members of Congress below.
--Contact the White House to protest the attack and
demand an immediate cease-fire, as well as an end to US aid to Israel until
Israel withdraws completely from the Occupied Territories.
Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to comments@whitehouse.gov.
--Register your protest at the State Department by calling 202-647-6575, or send
an email to <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZrRIlakqCAcJIej2TCH%2BXgLGSk1kKskM>)
--Sign the US Campaign to End the Occupation's open letter to President-Elect
Obama calling for a new U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine by going to this
address: <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HcM8nrbijj%2Bqdkj8hF7w%2BPEoRqTwY3k7>.
2. WRITE YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
Write to the letters to the editor section at the Seattle P.I. or the Seattle
Times (or your local newspaper), expressing your opposition to the Israeli
attacks.
The PI address for letters is editpage@seattlepi.com
The Seattle Times address is opinion@seattletimes.com
Talking points and guidelines for letter-writing are found below.
3. PARTICIPATE IN UPCOMING PROTEST EVENTS OR ORGANIZE YOUR OWN
-- EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION TO
PROTEST THE ISRAELI WAR CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE IN GAZA
Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 4:00PM
US Federal Building ( 915 2nd Ave, Seattle 98104)
--PROTEST ATTACKS ON GAZA AT WESTLAKE PARK IN SEATTLE
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 -- 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.
--TACOMA PROTEST
Demonstrate to protest the Dec. 27 massacre in Gaza --
please bring signs, flashlights, and candles
Organized by People for Peace, Justice, and Healing
Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 5:00 p.m.
Federal
Courthouse, 1717 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, WA 98402
BACKGROUND:
Since Israel removed settlers and army troops from Gaza in September of 2005, it
has progressively tightened the screws on Gaza's residents to previously
unimagined levels. Especially after Hamas won elections in early 2006, and took
complete control of Gaza in mid-2007, Israel has clamped down on entry, exit,
and supply to Gaza, to unprecedented levels. Fuel shortages and a recent,
complete blockade of the territory have resulted in extremely low supplies of
food, medicine, water, electrical power, and all other basic necessities of
life. Hospitals in Gaza have been working without half of the crucial medicines
necessary to cure disease and sustain life. Dozens of people with curable
ailments have died because they were prevented from leaving Gaza for urgent
treatment.
A six-month truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas government kept down the level
of violence between the two entities, but Israel's siege on Gaza was otherwise
intensified. The truce began to break down before it expired last week, as
militants fired home-made rockets from Gaza into Israel, and the Israeli army
undertook sporadic bombings of the territory. In the past weeks Tzipi Livni,
foreign minister of Israel and candidate for prime minister in upcoming
(February) elections, announced that an Israeli attack on Gaza was "only a
matter of time."
The attack has commenced, and the atrocities we have witnessed in the first days
threaten to escalate into a full-scale land assault. Through this action,
Israeli leaders presume to solve several problems. First, a clearly aggressive
military action portrays Livni as a "strong leader" and presumably
gives her an advantage in her now-lagging campaign against rival Binyamin
Netanyahu. Second, belligerencies force the present and future US
Administrations to affirm their support for Israel. And probably most important
of all, Israel's motive seems to be the complete destruction and replacement of
the Hamas leadership in Gaza. The next few days will clarify Israel's motives.
Meanwhile, we must try to influence the outcome. by pressuring our government to
take measures to stop the killing and to arrange serious peace negotiations.
TALKING POINTS:
--Before Israel's attacks on Gaza, the ongoing siege resulted in
life-threatening shortages of food and medicine, as well as a cutoff in crucial
power supplies. This is unconscionable treatment of a civilian population, and
it is not reasonable to expect a pacifist response.
--No matter how much destruction Israel wreaks upon
Gaza, this will not lead to peace in the region, but only an escalation of
violence. The United States must pressure Israel to initiate sincere
negotiations with all Palestinian leaders, including Hamas, immediately.
--Israel has attempted to destroy the Gazan police department, which only makes
sense if the goal is to take over the territory or, at the very least, create
complete chaos in Gaza. The Gazan police were not firing rockets into Israel,
but were maintaining order in Gaza.
-- The laws and conventions of warfare make a distinction between a civilian
population and armed forces -- a distinction which Israel is openly ignoring.
The collective punishment against the entire population of Gaza is a violation
of international law (including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949), amounting
to a crime against humanity.
--The United States, principle sponsor of Israeli policies, must not sit idly as
this violence unfolds. The Israeli army would not be able to carry out such
attacks if it were not continuously supplied by the US with weapons and parts
for its F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters. The US Administration must
cease all aid to Israel until it discontinues the attacks and withdraws entirely
from the Occupied Territories.
For
more background information:
--US Campaign to End the Occupation:
www.endtheoccupation.org
(includes
additional action links)
-- http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/israel-planning-military-assault-on-gaza-strip-20081225.html
--B'Tselem, Israeli human rights organization
http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp
Electronic
Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10053.shtml
Israeli Coalition Against Housing Demolition (ICAHD): http://www.icahd.org/eng/
*
How to contact Congressional Representatives:
The most effective ways to get in touch with Congress and Senators are listed in
order:
1. fax
2. telephone calls
3. e-mail letters
Contact information:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S.
Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access
these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Murray
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Telephone: (202) 224-2621
E-mail: www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Cantwell
Fax: 202-228-0514
Telephone: 202-224-3441
E-mail: www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
*
Things to keep in mind when sending letters to the editor:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or
opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William
Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick
one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to
that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.
Note: If you contact your representatives, please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure
the impact of our alerts.
* ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** ***** ***** *****
===============================================================================================
--PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO
OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED--
Please write the Seattle P.I. about Sunday's op-eds by David Brumer and Johann
Hari, inserted below. Presumably inspired by the upcoming 60th
anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, Brumer has written yet
another exaggeration of Israel's innocence and victimization. Loaded with
stereotypes and falsehoods, this column paints a picture of Israel as a
"vibrant democracy" apparently demonized, unfathomably, by deranged
"progressives" and fundamentalists who wish for the destruction of the
state. Standard Brumer fare.
In the same issue, the P.I. reprinted an editorial from the Independent by
Johann Hari. This column provides a partial response to Brumer, in that it
mentions the 60-year displacement of the Palestinians, and it describes the
environmental racism practiced against them by Israeli settlers.
Our response could further any or all of the following goals:
1. bring up the "rest of the story:" Israel's creation involved a
catastrophe for the Palestinians that is still being imposed to this day (see
details in talking points below).
2. Suggest that the P.I. give the ubiquitous Brumer a rest and find an Israeli
patriot who can avoid such malicious and fanciful writing.
3. Note with appreciation that the P.I. tried to answer Brumer's article with an
opposing point of view, but how about giving the Palestinians a chance to speak
for themselves?
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, May 5
--Still helpful: Thursday, May 8
Articles:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361594_israel04.htm
l
"An incontrovertible right to exist"
By David Brumer
and
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361593_hari04.html
"Israel built over the ruins of its crimes against Palestine"
By Johann Hari
The full texts of the articles are inserted at the end of this e-mail.
Context:
In this 60th anniversary year of the Nakba (Arabic for
"catastrophe"), when over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced and
hundreds of their villages were destroyed, opponents of human rights for
Palestinians are particularly on the offensive, urging the general public to
celebrate the establishment of an idealized Jewish state, while burying the rest
of the history that has happened in historic Palestine over the past century.
There were Palestinians. Most of them were displaced, their lives uprooted. The
Palestinians have resisted this crime, and the crimes continue, as does the
Palestinians' resistance. This year, we turn a corner in educating the public
about this history. Heretofore we have mainly concentrated on the now 40-year
occupation of Palestinian territories, but we have resolved to put that
occupation in the context of the larger dispossession of the entire Palestinian
society. For Americans to understand why there is a conflict in Palestine and
Israel, they must have information that goes back before 1967.
*
Talking points for letter writing:
Your
letter can be very brief; it is the response to the editorials that counts.
Below are some points that could be expressed.
--Express objection to the P.I.'s giving space to Brumer's tired,
overblown, racist comments. Express appreciation for Hari's reprinted article.
Request air time for Palestinians.
--Brumer's framing of his argument centers on the alleged questioned existence
of Israel. For most of us concerned with the conflict, the central issue is the
ongoing, flagrant violation of Palestinian human rights. Re-frame the discussion
this way. Put differently, Brumer's grandiose worrying about Israel's right to
exist is a version of the security argument. But it leaves out the question of
Palestinian security!
--On the issue of Palestinian security, let's
remember:
-that in 1948 over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their ancestral land,
which they had continually inhabited for many centuries, and around 500 of their
villages were destroyed at that time.
-That several hundred thousand more Palestinians were displaced in 1967, and the
rest of Palestine, that is, the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, were then
occupied at that time.
-that the Palestinians within Israel have been treated as (at best) second-class
citizens ever since 1948, and those in the Territories have been living under a
harsh, brutal military dictatorship for the last fifty years.
-that Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are routinely denied their rights
to worship, livelihood, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and that
they are subject to random arrest, torture, jailing without trial, confiscation
of their land, and uprooting of their orchards. The "separation
barrier" separates from their land and from Jerusalem, their
holy city (for Palestinian Muslims and Christians) as well as that of the
Jews.
-that Palestinians within Israel are denied equal opportunity, education, and
livelihood on a par with Jewish Israelis.
--These and many other offenses to Palestinian security are the root of Israeli
insecurity. Brumer finds the "delegitimization" of Israel baffling. He
should take a look at these ways that Israel ruins its own legitimacy.
--Reinforce Hari's comments that show that Israel is not in fact the idyllic
land, the vibrant democracy falsely portrayed by Brumer. As Hari writes, the
history of 1948 needs to be "excavated," indeed. Part of that process
will addressing the refugee problem. As part of the condition for Israel's
membership in the United Nations, it signed on to UN Resolution 194, which
acknowledged the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
--In burying the true history of 1948, Brumer also ignores the fact that the
establishment of settlements on Palestinian lands continues to this day, in the
West Bank. Cementing territorial dominance through settlements, besides being
prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, is an outmoded way of
conquering people and land, and it does not work.
--Although Brumer doesn't recognize occupation, he touts the Israeli withdrawal
from Gaza as a commendable move. He notes the removal of 8,000 "Israeli
citizens" from that territory, but doesn't explain what they were doing on
someone else's land. Furthermore, the ongoing Israeli control of Gaza's borders,
air, and resources leave Israel under the onus of occupation law. Most
objectionably, Brumer does not recognize the continuing torment imposed on Gaza
by the complete shutoff of fuel in, and commerce out. This has reached such
drastic proportions that UNRWA (UN Relief Works Agency) last week suspended
relief operations in Gaza due to lack of fuel for deliveries. Starvation is
threatening Gaza.
--Brumer mentions suicide bombing, but not the targeted assassinations,
regular army incursions, and bombing of Gaza that leave its population helpless
and desperate. Apologists for Israel's behavior usually point to the rockets
fired on Sderot as the cause of all this, but is Gaza really the place to look
for Gandhian resistance? Meanwhile, last month Hamas offered yet another truce
to the Israeli government, one that was once again ignored.
--Brumer cites partition plans as if they were the most reasonable
"compromise" imaginable. From the Palestinian side, these plans have
always meant theft of their homeland.
--Brumer writes of gay and women's rights in Israel, but where are the
Palestinians in that commendable scenario? For the Palestinians, Israel is not a
democracy. Their representatives in the Knesset are routinely marginalized; to
fill out parliamentary coalitions, the most extreme religious and pro-expulsion
Zionist parties are chosen in their stead. Palestinian villages remain
sidelined, deprived of public services, roads, new schools, and utilities.
Palestinians within Israel, in the most developed country in the Middle East,
suffer from Third World diseases, lacking the health care that Brumer touts.
--Brumer also claims that Israel boasts of religious freedom, but if that is so,
then why did Israeli soldiers beat Arab Christians in Bethlehem on Easter,
violently preventing them from worshipping in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher?
*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or
opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William
Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick
one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to
that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of articles:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361594_israel04.html
An incontrovertible right to exist
By DAVID BRUMER
GUEST COLUMNIST
The creation of Israel, the modern flowering of an ancient people, was one of
the few redeeming acts in a century of atrocity and shame. Yet, as the Jewish
state celebrates its 60th birthday, a chorus of defamers sees the modern
incarnation of the Jewish people in their homeland as a historic injustice. For
some in academia, the media and even the United Nations, Israel's very
"Right to Exist" is considered a subject for legitimate debate. It's
ironic, too, since few nations can claim the kind of historic legitimacy and
connection to a place as can the Jewish people.
For more than 3,000 years, Jews have been spiritually as well as corporeally
bonded to the land of Israel. In 1921, Winston Churchill proclaimed, "It is
manifestly right that the Jews, who are scattered all over the world, should
have a national center and a national home. And where else could that be but in
this land of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been
intimately and profoundly associated?" For French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
the recreation of a sovereign Jewish state "is the most significant event
of the 20th century." He described Israel's re-establishment as "the
20th century's miracle" and noted that "defending its existence is an
international duty."
So why, 60 years later, or 3,060 years, if you will, is Israel living under such
a barrage of existential threats? Why does Israel still have to prove itself
worthy of being included in the family of nations? Why indeed is Israel singled
out as the one nation on Earth whose very existence is questioned? Cynthia Ozick
bristles at the "the scandal of calling into question a living nation's
existence ... The Big Lie that demonizes Israel and contaminates the viler
estuaries of what is nowadays dubbed 'the international community' ... ."
Yet among "progressive" intellectuals, especially in Europe, it is
axiomatic that Israel is not merely "not doing enough to for peace in the
Middle East," but is responsible for Islamist "outrage" against
the West; that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains at the core of the Arab
world's grievances, and, if only this conflict could be solved, peace would
ensue. Leaving aside the illogical nature of this proposition (al-Qaida and
other radical Islamists have as much a gripe against Christian nations whom they
see as usurping their place in history), it is hard to find a country that has
striven more for peaceful co-existence with its neighbors than Israel. No nation
has taken more demonstrable risks for peace. Israel proved its intention to live
in harmony with its neighbors when it enacted peace treaties with Egypt in 1979
and Jordan in 1994. Israel has shown its willingness to make painful sacrifices
in the name of peace, withdrawing from all of Gaza in 2005 while evacuating more
than 8,000 Israeli citizens from their homes.
Israel has said yes to virtually every partition plan put forth in modern times
while the Palestinians have said no, starting with the Peel Commission in 1937,
which would have given the Palestinians nearly 80 percent of the land between
the "River and the Sea." In 1947, the Palestinians again rejected
statehood on 45 percent of the land, while Israel agreed to the remaining 55
percent divided into three cantons (60 percent of which is desert). Finally, in
2000 Israel offered the Palestinians more than 96 percent of contiguous West
Bank land and all of Gaza in the hopes that the century-old conflict could end.
The Palestinian response to that offer was the Second Intifada, more aptly
understood by Israelis as a Terror War unleashed against the Jewish State.
Yet Israel continues to be viewed as the obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
Israel, which at 60 continues to be a vibrant, secular democracy. Israel, which
is accused of human rights violations and even apartheid, remains an oddity in
the Middle East where gays participate openly in military service; all women
have the right to vote, with 17 of them serving in the 120-member Knesset
(Parliament). Another12 members are Arab-Israelis, with three parties
representing the Arab segment of the population. And all Israeli citizens,
Christians, Muslims and Jews, enjoy freedom of speech, the press and unfettered
religious expression, as well as access to education, modern health care and the
professions.
Of course, Israel is far from perfect, and legitimate criticisms launched
against specific conditions and policies are expected and welcomed. It is the
demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish state that is as baffling as it
is malevolent. Israel, which has produced more Nobel laureates per capita than
anywhere else in the world, a nation of highly educated and motivated people,
producing cutting-edge technologies in medicine, science and business; and all
this in the face of ongoing threats -- and actualities -- of war, and the
unwillingness of too many of its neighbors to accept Israel's very right to
exist as a Jewish nation. The world might better applaud the miracle of Israel's
rebirth in its deliberately tiny ancestral land as a model of decency, tolerance
and intellectual vibrancy, for these are the true criteria of legitimacy, and
focus its urge to deligitimize on societies that celebrate (and wish to spread
around the world) the values of suicide-bombing, uncompromising intolerance, and
irrationality.
David Brumer is a media analyst, writer and consultant on Middle Eastern
affairs. He is on the advisory board of StandWithUs Northwest and is a member of
Israel Bonds Speakers Bureau. Visit his blog, BRUMSPEAK, at
brumspeak.blogspot.com
*
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361593_hari04.html
Israel built over the ruins of its crimes against Palestine
By JOHANN HARI
GUEST COLUMNIST
When you hit your 60th birthday, most of you will guzzle a glass of champagne
and wonder if you have become everything you dreamed of in your youth. Soon, the
state of Israel is going to have that hangover.
She will look in the mirror and think -- I have a sore back, rickety knees and a
gun at my waist, but I'm still standing. Yet somewhere, she will know she is
suppressing an old secret she has to face. I would love to be able to crash the
birthday party with words of reassurance. Israel has given us great novelists
such as Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, great filmmakers such as Joseph Cedar, great
scientific research into Alzheimer's, and great dissident journalists such as
Amira Hass, Tom Segev and Gideon Levy to expose her own crimes.
She has provided the one lonely spot in the Middle East where gay people are not
hounded and hanged, and where women can approach equality.
But I can't do it. Whenever I try to mouth these words, a remembered smell fills
my nostrils. Across the occupied West Bank, raw untreated sewage is pumped every
day out of the Jewish settlements, along large metal pipes, straight onto
Palestinian land. From there, it can enter the groundwater and the reservoirs
and become a poison.
This is no freak: A 2004 report by Friends of the Earth found that only 6
percent of Israeli settlements adequately treat their sewage.
Meanwhile, in order to punish the population of Gaza for voting "the wrong
way," the Israeli army is not allowing past the checkpoints any
replacements for the pipes and cement needed to keep the sewage system working.
The result? Vast stagnant pools of waste are being held within fragile dykes
across the strip, and rotting. Last March, one burst, drowning a 9-month-old
baby and his grandmother in a tsunami of human waste. The Center on Housing
Rights warns one heavy rainfall could send 1.5m cubic meters of feces flowing
all over Gaza, causing "a humanitarian and environmental disaster of epic
proportions."
So how did it come to this? How did a Jewish state founded 60 years ago with a
promise to be "a light unto the nations" end up flinging its filth at
a cowering Palestinian population?
The beginnings of an answer lie in the secret Israel has known, and suppressed,
all these years. Even now, can we describe what happened 60 years ago honestly
and unhysterically? The Jews who arrived in Palestine throughout the 20th
century did not come because they were cruel people who wanted to snuffle out
Arabs to persecute. They came because they were running for their lives from a
genocidal European anti-Semitism that was soon to slaughter 6 million of their
sisters and their sons.
They convinced themselves Palestine was "a land without people for a people
without land." I desperately wish this dream had been true. You can see
traces of what might have been in Tel Aviv, a city that really was built on
empty sand dunes. But most of Palestine was not empty. It was already inhabited
by people who loved the land, and saw it as theirs. They were completely
innocent of the long, hellish crimes against the Jews.
When it became clear those Palestinians would not welcome becoming a minority in
somebody else's country, darker plans were drawn up. Israel's first prime
minister, David Ben-Gurion, wrote in 1937: "The Arabs will have to go, but
one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as a war."
So, for when the moment arrived, he helped draw up Plan Dalit. It was -- as
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe puts it -- "a detailed description of the
methods to be used to forcibly evict the people: large-scale intimidation; and
laying siege to and bombarding population centers." In 1948, before the
Arab armies invaded, this began to be implemented: About 800,000 people were
ethnically cleansed, and Israel was built on the ruins. The people who ask
angrily why the Palestinians keep longing for their old land should imagine an
English version of this story. How would we react if the 30 million stateless,
persecuted Kurds in the world sent armies and settlers into England to seize
everything below Leeds, and swiftly established a free Kurdistan from which we
were expelled? If we are not going to be endlessly banging our heads against
history, the Middle East needs to excavate 1948, and seek a solution. Any peace
deal -- even one where Israel dismantled the wall and agreed to return to the
1967 borders -- tends to crumple on this issue. The Israelis say: If we let all
3 million come back, we will be outnumbered by Palestinians even within the 1967
borders, so Israel would be voted out of existence. But the Palestinians reply:
If we don't have an acknowledgement of our right under international law to the
land our grandfathers fled, how can we move on?
It seemed like an intractable problem -- until, two years ago, the Palestinian
Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted the first study of the
Palestinian Diaspora's desires. They found that only 10 percent -- around
300,000 people -- want to return to Israel proper. Israel can accept that many
(and compensate the rest) without even enduring much pain. But there has always
been a strain of Israeli society that preferred violently setting its own
borders, on its own terms, to talk and compromise. Last weekend, the elected
Hamas government offered a six-month truce that could have led to talks. The
Israeli government responded within hours by blowing up a senior Hamas leader
and killing a 14-year-old girl.
Perhaps Hamas' proposals are a con; perhaps all the Arab states are lying too
when they offer Israel full recognition in exchange for a rollback to the 1967
borders; but isn't it a good idea to find out? Israel needs to ask what kind of
country she wants to be in the next 60 years.
Johann Hari is a columnist for The Independent in Britain.
===============================================================================================
PLEASE
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED
Please contact members of Congress to urge them not to approve a planned budget
of $2.55 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/t/2439/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23113 to express your opposition to the
President’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in Foreign
Military Financing (FMF) for Israel. The
U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation has posted an action alert at this address,
allowing us to send a letter of protest to the appropriate members of Congress.
START
DATE FOR ACTION:
Tuesday, March 4th
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Ongoing Campaign
BACKGROUND:
In
August 2007, the United States and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
to increase military aid to Israel by 25%, totaling $30
billion by Fiscal Year 2018. Then, last month President
Bush sent his Fiscal Year 2009 budget request to Congress, which includes $2.55
billion in military aid for Israel, the first installment
of the proposed increase under this ten-year agreement.
This
budget request is now under deliberation in subcommittees of the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees. The Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs
are considering the request, and will then pass a modified budget to the full
Appropriations Committees. At that time we will alert you again; Washington
State does not have representatives on the Subcommittees, but Congressman Norm
Dicks and Senator Patty Murray are on the Appropriations Committees. For now,
own representatives are not directly concerned with this matter, but we can
still contact the subcommittees. The easiest way to do so is to click on the
U.S. Campaign form.
When the budget will be sent to the Appropriations Committees is not yet known.
Last year the process took a few months, with the budget going up to the main
committee in June. We will keep you posted.
*
Information for this alert has been taken from the following sources,
which you can consult as background material:
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1541
and
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=208
*
MORE CONTEXT:
--The Israeli army, using weapons purchased
through Foreign
Military Financing, has bombarded Gaza daily for the last
week, killing over 115 people (including well over 50 on Sunday alone); around
one third of them were children. This is not the way we want our tax money to be
used.
--Israel uses weapons purchased through Foreign
Military Financing to enforce its illegal 40- year
military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip
and to commit human rights violations against Palestinians in the Occupied
Territories and against civilians in Lebanon.
-- Israel’s ongoing use of U.S. weapons to enforce
an illegal military occupation and to commit human rights abuses places it in
violation of the Arms Export Control Act (requiring recipient governments to use
weapons from the U.S. only for legitimate self-defense purposes) and the Foreign
Assistance Act (prohibiting military aid from being used for human rights
violations).
-- There
is a growing number of people in the United States who disapprove of our tax
dollars being spent to enable Israel to enforce its illegal military occupation
and to commit human rights abuses.
--The
Israeli siege and occupation of Palestinians—and the humanitarian crises they
are causing—are enforced with U.S. weapons, making U.S. taxpayers accessories
to Israel’s crimes.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
*****
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The response network sends out periodic emails asking you to take action on
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* ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** ***** ***** *****
===============================================================================================
GAZA UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE, SIEGE
Please contact your Congress members and/or Senators to urge them to use their
power to bring a stop to Israel's inhumane pressure on the civilians of Gaza.
We are sending you this alert to ask you to take action with regard to the
deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In recent weeks Israel has intensified
its ongoing punitive campaign and blockade against the population of Gaza by
cutting off fuel supplies, and by daily bombing of the territory, resulting in
the deaths of dozens of civilians. The cutoffs have created a dire situation,
with severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essentials. With Gaza's only
power plant in danger of being shut off, hospitals are working in the dark and
without crucial supplies, forced to decide whose life to save, and whose to
sacrifice. Israel's treatment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment on the
scale of a crime against humanity.
ACTION:
Contact your Congress member and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell,
and let them know that you deplore the current policy of Israel towards Gaza.
Urge them to draft a resolution censuring Israel's actions and calling on the
Israeli government to end all attacks on civilians and to lift the siege of
Gaza, allowing in all needed fuel, food, and medical provisions.
START DATE FOR ACTION:
Tuesday,
January 22
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Monday,
January 28
BACKGROUND:
Residents in Gaza are facing the closure of Gaza's only
power plant as Israel continues a shutdown of its border crossings. The plant
shut down one of its two turbines on Sunday because of a fuel shortage following
Israel's sealing of Gaza's borders and shutoff of fuel supplies.
In the past couple of months Israel
has sealed its border with Gaza, blocking all air, land, and sea entries.
It has cut off the flow of almost all supplies, including medications, in
a bid to turn Gazans against Hamas. Hundreds of seriously ill people face death
due to the lack of medical treatment and Israel’s refusal to let them travel
to Egypt or Israel to receive proper care. Even
the importation of water filters, vital for purifying the water drawn from Gazan
wells, has been prevented.
Meanwhile,
in just the past week over 40 people have been killed by Israeli bombing raids,
with dozens more wounded, including women and children. In that time, Israel
has launched daily operations against Gaza. In only one day last week, nineteen people were killed.
More
than 120 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in air strikes since
Israelis and Palestinians formally relaunched a peace process in late November.
The Israeli government has drastically reduced its
supply of fuel and energy, increasing the already desperate humanitarian crisis.
Gaza now has only 35 percent of the power that its 1.5 million citizens need.
With most areas already suffering power cuts for up to eight hours a day, Gazans
are now faced with living entirely without electricity.
At the beginning of this week, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross
said Gaza hospitals still had medications, "but it won't last for more than
two or three days." Now, Gazans must also contend with the possibility of
already scarce food supplies being cut off. The UN relief agency UNRWA said that
the agency could be forced to suspend food distribution to 860,000 people
because of the shortage of fuel and plastic bags.
On Monday Israel agreed to allow diesel fuel and medicine into Gaza on a
one-time basis, momentarily easing the blockade. The shift came after the
Israeli prime minister had said Gaza's residents can "walk, without gas for
their cars." However, this token move will not appreciably resolve the
crisis; the Israeli government will do no more than the minimum, without
significant pressure from the United States.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please write letters to your Congress members and Senators Patty Murray and
Maria Cantwell, objecting to the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza, and to
Israel's policy of withholding fuel and goods needed for survival. Appeal to
your representatives to censure Israel for the cruelty and hopelessness that it
is wreaking upon the Gazan population. See talking points below.
The most effective ways to get in touch with Congress and Senators are listed in
order:
1. fax
2. telephone calls
3. e-mail letters
Contact information:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S.
Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members: http://clerk.house.gov/
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access
these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Murray
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Phone: (202) 224-2621
E-mail: www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Cantwell
Fax: 202-228-0514
Telephone: 202-224-3441
Email: www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
TALKING
POINTS:
--Israel's siege against Gaza is resulting in life-threatening shortages of food
and medicine, as well as a cutoff in crucial power supplies. This is
unconscionable treatment of a civilian population.
--The United States, principle sponsor of Israeli policies, must not sit idly as
this humanitarian crisis unfolds.
-- The laws and conventions of warfare make a distinction between a civilian
population and armed forces -- a distinction which Israel is openly ignoring.
The collective punishment against the entire population of Gaza is a violation
of international law, amounting to a crime against humanity.
--Forcing the people of Gaza to die in darkened
hospitals, to drink polluted water because of lack of electricity to power water
pumps, and to starve slowly, will in no way help the people of Sderot, where
Gazan fighters are firing their small and ineffective rockets. Direct
negotiations with Hamas must be initiated.
Thank
you for your urgent attention to this matter.
Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure
the impact of our alerts.
*
Information for this alert has been taken from the following sources, which you
can consult as background material:
1. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__196
"Economic Warfare in Gaza" by Yossi
Wolfson
Challenge Magazine
Jan-Feb 2008
2. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/880/re02.htm
"Green
light for atrocities"
Saleh
Al-Naami
3. http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1491
"Bush
in Jerusalem: Rhetoric Trumps Substance"
4. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ECA56EC5-ED9B-4878-B386-3C4A132940EE.htm
Sunday,
January 20, 2008 11:08 Mecca Time, 8:08 Gmt
"Gazans
facing power shutdown"
5. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9242.shtml
"Role
of the Media Where does it end?"
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada
21 January 2008
*
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===============================================================================================
Action Requested:
Please write a response to an op-ed that was published in the Seattle
Times on Wednesday, November 28.
Editorial
"Mideast peace talks: the triumph of hope"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004039253_annaed28.html
The full text of the
article is included at the end of this
e-mail.
Time by which
action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, November 29
--Still helpful: Friday, November 30
Context:
After a seven-year period without peace negotiations, representatives of the
Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority (PA) met Tuesday in Annapolis,
Maryland, to start a new round of talks. With the support of President Bush and
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a statement outlining a
plan to hold regular discussions starting in December, with the hope of
achieving a peace agreement by the end of next year.
To put this event in perspective, several factors have to be held in mind:
·
The Israeli army (IDF) occupies the Palestinian territory of the
West Bank and holds Gaza under a brutal siege;
·
the Palestinian leadership is bitterly divided between Hamas and
Fatah, with the democratically-elected representatives of Hamas excluded from
the present negotiations;
·
and the United States unconditionally supports the Israeli
government with billions per year in financial aid, regardless of that
government's human rights violations.
Given these factors, Israel is in a position to play
elements of the Palestinian leadership against each other, and ignore the
Palestinians' legitimate demands for an end to the occupation and for
sovereignty. Israel is capitalizing on its advantages by making unreasonable
demands on a population that has already given up too much.
In this context the lead negotiators produced a very bland, unpromising
statement. The new round of negotiations is to be based on the resurrected Road
Map plan of 2002, whose program involves an end to Palestinian resistance and an
end to Israeli settlement expansion. As constructed at that time, this is a
failed plan with built-in dead ends. (more on this below)
The Seattle Times responded with an equally bland, empty, and thereby misleading
editorial. There is much that's being left out of the picture; let's bring some
reality into this discussion.
Talking Points:
1. With the full backing of the United States, Israel has controlled events
leading up to the present negotiations in such a way that the Palestinians have
precious little hope of good representation. It is a particularly objectionable
point that Hamas, the winner of the most recent Palestinian election (in early
2006), is excluded from the negotiations. By cooperating with the Israeli/U.S.
scheme to exclude Hamas, President Abbas has given up his legitimacy as
negotiator on behalf of all Palestinians. Representatives of Hamas must be
brought into the process.
2. The demand upon the Palestinians to "recognize Israel" is
constantly repeated -- including by the Seattle Times Op-ed -- as a condition
for progress in negotiations. This ignores the fact that PLO chairman Yasser
Arafat formally accepted the legitimacy of Israel in 1988, and that the
Palestinians again recognized Israel as part of the 1993 Oslo agreement. How
about Israel recognizing the Palestinians' right to statehood?
3. More recently this absurdity has been taken to a new extreme with Prime
Minister Olmert demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a
"Jewish state." With the Palestinian and non-Jewish portion of the
Israeli population surpassing twenty percent, it is hardly appropriate to expect
Palestinian negotiators to trade away their people's right to equal citizenship.
4. The Op-ed notes that the representatives must "sell" whatever
agreements they achieve back home. The United States can provide the Israeli
government with some leverage to persuade its constituency by promising -- or
even beginning -- to withhold some part of its massive aid to Israel if the IDF
fails to give relief to the Palestinians under siege and occupation. Our
government must participate in this process with more than photo-ops, since it
holds the true leverage needed to break the impasse.
5. The Road Map failed because the Israelis interpreted its own obligation to
freeze settlements as conditioned on a Palestinian end to resistance, to be
enforced by the Palestinian Authority. Thus, the Israeli government was not
going to freeze settlements until the PA managed to accomplish full repression
against its own population, effectively sub-contracting the security functions
of the occupation -- that is, the occupied defending the occupiers. This was
never going to be able to happen; therefore the occupiers had a built-in,
permanent excuse to keep expanding.
Furthermore, the newly-started negotiations process leaves out the Middle
East Quartet (Russia, the EU, the U.N., and the US) as participants. All these
factors combine to utterly disempower the Palestinians and place the center of
all decision-making squarely with the Israelis.
6. We should call upon the Israeli government urgently to
agree to take the serious steps that would be part of real negotiations,
starting with lifting the siege on Gaza. This includes terminating the
devastating limitations on fuel to Gaza, and allowing free movement in and out
of the territory.
7. The Seattle Times op-ed should be commended for bringing up that most taboo
of subjects, refugee return. Effective negotiations will have to address this
issue and recognize the rights of the Palestinian refugees (of 1948 and 1967) to
return to their homes, a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and many United Nations resolutions (starting with UN resolution 194).
8.. Several other concessions by the Israeli government will be crucial to make
these negotiations anything other than a complete waste of time. The following
list, taken from a recent open
letter from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to the
negotiating parties, may be helpful in phrasing your letter to the Times.
excerpted from the WILPF open letter, which calls for the following:
- Full
Israeli withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since 4 June 1967
including withdrawal from the Golan Heights and the Lebanese territories in
the south of Lebanon, in implementation of Security Council resolutions 242
and 338, reaffirmed by the Madrid Conference of 1991, and all other relevant
UN resolutions;
- The
promised freeze on settlement construction to be immediately followed by
dismantlement of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the environs of
Jerusalem;
- Israel's
acceptance of an independent sovereign State of Palestine with East
Jerusalem as its capital;
- A
just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with U.N.
General Assembly resolution 194 adopted on 11 December 1949, which
guarantees the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes, and for
compensation to be paid for the property of those which, under the
principles of international law should be compensated by Israel, the
responsible government;
- Lifting
of the siege on the Gaza Strip and open passage to enable all Palestinian
citizens to move in and out, and between Gaza and the West Bank to enable
access to commerce, work, medical treatment, and education;
- Freedom
of movement for the Palestinian people, by removing all the checkpoints and
closures within the West Bank, and Jerusalem respecting the geographical and
political integrity of Palestine;
- The
announced release of some 400 political prisoners prior to the conference to
be immediately followed by the unconditional release of all Palestinian
political prisoners of conscience, in particular child prisoners;
- Removal
of the Wall erected illegally on Palestinian land and all such further
construction, which the ICJ Advisory Opinion states Israel is obliged to do
and should make reparation for all damage caused by it;
- Equitable
sharing of the water sources among all countries in the region;
- Negotiation
of a zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction in the
region;
- Discontinuation
of the supply of weaponry to any state in the region, instead, human and
economic resources should be used for construction of a just and viable
peace and through the reconstruction of war-devastated areas;
Full participation of women
in conflict prevention, resolution, negotiation and democracy building and a
gender perspective in protection, repatriation and post-conflict reconstruction.
*
Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of
the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example:
"Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East
politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just
pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please
bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your
letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full
text of the article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004039253_annaed28.html
Editorial
Mideast peace talks: the triumph of hope
As diplomats convene in Annapolis, Md., for a Middle East peace conference, the
expectations bring to mind a Samuel Johnson quote about "the triumph of
hope over experience."
He was talking about second marriages, but optimism is triumphant as the Bush
administration makes its first sustained effort to broker a regional accord.
President Bush had scorned and avoided the intense involvement of President
Clinton in earlier, unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Israelis and
Palestinians to negotiate a sustainable peace agreement.
Success at Annapolis might be a timetable for more talks that carry through the
end of the current administration. Credit would accrue for any eventual success,
but there would be no obvious fingerprints on failure.
More than 40 countries and international organizations have rallied to provide a
chorus of support. But the talks always boil down to the elemental components
across the table from one another.
Are Israel's neighbors ready to acknowledge its right to exist? Not live in
peace, but exist. Is Israel any more willing to literally give ground in the
name of ending bloodshed? Another basic decision is Israel accepting the right
of return for Palestinians displaced from their homes.
Borders. Settlements. Refugees. The key words have not changed, but the players
have.
All the good work one wishes to come from such a conference has to be explained
and sold back home. As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert talks peace on
Chesapeake Bay, he is under criminal investigation for his financial dealings.
The Palestinians are not unified enough to order a sandwich. Saudi Arabia was
dragged into making an appearance.
Failure and disappointment are so predictable that trying is respected. Everyone
is eager to applaud progress. There is also simple curiosity to discover who
risked the most in a serious effort.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
===============================================================================================
Action Requested:
Please
write the Seattle P.I. and express your appreciation of Friday's op-ed
(10-19-07) by Edward Mast, inserted below. The op-ed is in part a rebuttal to
the offensive October 9th op-ed by David Brumer, which painted a
strangely idyllic picture of Israel, omitting the story of the Palestinians.
Mast's op-ed is also an important essay in its own right, pointing out the
invisibility of the Palestinians on the world stage, and it was appropriate for
the P.I. to print it. We need to affirm their behavior.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, October 22
--Still helpful: Wednesday, October 24
Opinion
Palestinians' lives invisible to Israelis
By Edward Mast, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/336015_insivible19.html
Friday October 19,
2007
The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.
Context: The mainstream press in this country, under the guise of
"objective" reporting, overwhelmingly prints information that is
partial to Israeli policies. Carefully documented studies* have shown that a
disproportionate amount of attention is paid to Israeli suffering, while leaving
most of the story of the Palestinians out of the picture. Consequently, Israel
comes off as a victim, and American readers remain hardly aware that there is
such a thing as a military occupation. We grant that Israelis are under pressure
and feel like victims, but the story is quite incomplete without a background on
the "invisible" Palestinians. Edward Mast's essay is one step in
filling out this picture.
*(for example, see Media Analysis in the "If Americans Knew" site: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/)
*
Talking points for letter writing:
Your letter can be very brief;
it is the acknowledgment of the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below
are a few points that could be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the
most important thing is to say thank you.
-- The P.I. did a good thing in printing Edward Mast's op-ed.
-- Edward Mast left out one "invisible" fact that's very important to
us in the United States: the U.S. government is the most generous sponsor of
Israeli policies (and by extension, the occupation), funding the Israeli
government with between $3 billion and $6 billion in aid every year. As U.S.
citizens, it is our responsibility to pressure our government to discontinue
this aid until the occupation is lifted.
--For that matter, it's also worthwhile to remember a few other points not
mentioned by Mast, that highlight the injustice of the occupation:
In
2004 the International Court of Justice ruled that the route of the Separation
Wall, annexing large amounts of Palestinian to Israel, is illegal;
Israeli
settlers in the West Bank commit daily violence against Palestinian civilians;
The
U.S., Israel, and the European Union are conducting an ongoing embargo against
Palestinians, strangling their economy.
-- The
Israeli government undermines Israel's own security by confiscating more and
more land for illegal settlements, and targeting more Palestinian civilians.
These actions only foment increased Palestinian anger and resistance. Given this
syndrome, it
seems surprising, actually, that the vast majority of Palestinians resist the
occupation through non-violent means -- another "invisible" fact.
-- Mr. Mast recommended that David Brumer travel to the other side of the wall
to witness the conditions under which the Palestinians live. That is good
advice. But for those who are unable to do so, it is helpful to visit the web
sites of some human rights organizations (including Israeli groups) that tell
the story in great detail, including
describing the targeting of non-combatants by the Israeli military.
Here are a few:
B'tselem
http://www.btselem.org/
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
http://www.icahd.org/
Rabbis for Human Rights
http://rhr.israel.net/
Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem
http://www.arij.org/
Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON) http://www.pengon.org/
*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of the article or
opinion piece to which you are responding. Example: "Regarding William
Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick
one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to
that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of article:
October 19, 2007
Palestinians' lives invisible to Israelis
By Edward Mast, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/336015_insivible19.html
On a visit to Tel Aviv last month, I asked some Israeli friends what people in
Israel were saying about the Palestinian situation. Not much, they told me.
Israelis are more concerned about the corruption charges against Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, coming on the heels of corruption charges against previous
governments. Palestinians and their issues, my friends told me, are becoming
more and more invisible to the Israeli people.
Palestinian lives are kept invisible in David Brumer's Oct. 10 guest column,
"Despite concerns, Israel a vibrant country." Also invisible are
Israel's military occupation and the ongoing takeover of Palestinian land. If
Brumer had traveled to the other side of the wall, as I did, he could have
witnessed the many ways that the Israeli occupation crushes people with poverty,
violence and injustice.
Before visiting Tel Aviv, I spent two weeks working with a theater in the
Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank. During that short time, the
Israeli army killed at least 15 Palestinians in the occupied territories;
several killed were children. For Palestinians, these are regular occurrences.
Over the past seven years, the Israeli army has killed more than 4,000
Palestinians. The majority of these, even according to Israeli statistics, have
been unarmed civilians. Many thousands more have been wounded or kidnapped. The
severe underreporting of Palestinian casualties in the U.S. and Israel can leave
the impression that Palestinian lives have less value.
While I was there, Brian Avery came from the United States to testify in
Jerusalem against the Israeli army. Avery is a peace activist who was shot in
the face by the Israeli army in 2003. At first the Israeli army denied that the
shooting took place, but has been forced to launch an investigation now that
Avery is bringing a suit.
In Ramallah, I learned that, though there is plenty of water near the city, the
several hundred thousand residents had spent the summer with running water
available only three or four days each week. That sort of fact tends to be
invisible to Israelis, along with the reasons.
Ramallah is near the cluster of West Bank aquifers, which are the main sources
of water for both the West Bank and Israel, but 80 percent of the West Bank's
water goes to Israel and Israeli settlements. For decades, Israel has used its
military occupation of the West Bank to build an illegal network of settlements
around the water sources. Palestinians have been beaten, killed and driven away
to make space for these settlements, and Israel has built a continuous wall, not
on the border of Israel but inside Palestinian territory, which effectively
annexes the settlements and water resources into Israel.
Israelis are told the wall is for their security. Palestinians call it the
annexation wall, and it is difficult for them to believe Israel can be a partner
for peace while the Israeli government continues taking Palestinian land for
settlements, building the wall to annex them and maintaining the system of
checkpoints that paralyze movement and life in the West Bank.
With some colleagues, I spent one day traveling from Ramallah to Jerusalem. The
eight-mile trip took 2 1/2 hours. In Ramallah, the wall is 25 feet high, and the
Israeli checkpoint is like an airport security station. We lined up for more
than half an hour with Palestinians at a remote-controlled 8-foot turnstile
where people had to crowd like cattle and wait for a green light to get as many
through as possible before the light turned red.
Once past X-ray security and more turnstiles, we boarded shared taxis for what
should have been a short ride to Jerusalem. However, the Israeli military had
set up an additional temporary "flying checkpoint" some 1,640 feet
down the road, forcing several lanes of traffic down to a single lane for
stopping and searching. That took almost an hour.
Business in Ramallah is at a standstill. Poverty is everywhere; jobs are not to
be found. The people at the checkpoint said to us, "Take pictures. Tell
people what is happening here."
Some Israelis, such as my Tel Aviv friends, no longer accept the excuse that the
virtual imprisonment and killing of Palestinians are justified by the need for
security.
The Israeli government has recently confiscated more Palestinian land near
Jerusalem to build a segregated road, literally underground, for Palestinians.
Israeli settlers will be able to commute back and forth from the territories
without having so much as to see a Palestinian. Invisibility here is no
accident.
Edward Mast is a Seattle playwright who volunteers with the Palestine
Information Project.
===============================================================================================
Action
Requested:
Please write a letter to the Seattle P.I.
challenging some of the statements in an objectionable guest opinion column by
David Brumer, printed Wednesday, October 10.
"
Despite concerns, Israel a vibrant country "
By David Brumer, Guest columnist, Seattle P.I.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/334828_brumerisrael10.html
The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Friday, October 12
--Still helpful: Monday, October 15
Context:
David Brumer has published an op-ed validating Israel's imprisonment of the
entire Palestinian population and celebrating apartheid Israel's
"vibrancy." He achieves this without recognition of the fact that
Israel's wealth is based on illegally expropriated Palestinian land and
resources. Meanwhile, his ode to the Israeli "zest for life" denies
the fact of ongoing Israeli assault on Palestinian civilians, resulting in
thousands dead and tens of thousands injured over the last seven years --
including many children, women, and elderly people. Brumer depicts the
Separation Wall as a benign, necessary defense, ignoring the fact that its true
purpose, becoming clearer every day, is to create a geographical fragmentation
of the Palestinian population, and annex a significant amount of valuable
Palestinian land to Israel.
Brumer is concerned with security -- but only for Israelis. But the Israeli
government must realize that the Palestinians need security as well. The only
way that Israel can protect its own population is to allow the Palestinians full
freedom of movement, access to their farmlands, and the right to go to work and
school -- all of which have been curtailed by forty years of occupation,
culminating in the construction of the Wall.
Talking Points:
1. Brumer's depiction of Israel as a small, vulnerable country covers up the
fact that the Palestinians are subject to an incomparably greater, ongoing
assault on their physical well-being by the Israeli occupying army in the West
Bank and by regular, murderous bombings and incursions into the Gaza Strip. The
first step for Israel, if it wishes to ensure its own security, is to withdraw
its aggressive, violent forces from the Occupied Territories.
2. The creation of Israel in 1948 took place on 78% of Palestinian ancestral
land, and the June war of 1967 put the rest of Palestine under occupation. Since
then Israeli settlements, especially in the West Bank, have taken over
successively greater areas of Palestinian land, leaving the Palestinians crammed
into more and more cramped spaces, separated -- especially with the creation of
the "Security Wall" --
from their farmland and from each other. The Wall, rather than providing
security to Israel, establishes the de facto annexation of valuable West Bank
land and vital aquifers to Israel.
3. The Wall is an oppressive barrier, whether constructed of concrete or
fencing. Close to 90% of the Wall is located well inside the
internationally-recognized border between Israel and the West Bank, penning the
human population of Palestine into Israeli-made ghettos, separating them from
their livelihood, and creating enclaves out of the population centers.
Meanwhile, Israel's military regime suppresses the development of civil society
in Palestine. Rather than preventing terrorism, such a set-up guarantees that
some Palestinians will continue to respond violently.
4. In a sop to Palestinian rights, Brumer mentions Israeli
Supreme Court decisions against placement of the Wall near certain
Palestinian villages. However, he omits the fact that the Court validates the
Wall overall, legitimizing the confiscation of thousands of square kilometers of
Palestinian land.
5. While Israeli society celebrates its successes in scientific research and
fine wine -- and arms exporting -- let us note that Palestinian society would
have similar successes, if it were not under lock and key.
6. Nowhere does Brumer address The toll of the almost 60-year displacement of
the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine. Upon the creation of Israel, around
800,000 Palestinians were exiled, and over 400 of their villages were destroyed.
During Israel's 40-year occupation of the rest of Palestine, approximately
12,000 homes were demolished. This is the story of the invisible Palestinians
behind the Barrier.
*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of
the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example:
"Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East
politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just
pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media
monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of article:
"Despite
concerns, Israel a vibrant country"
By David Brumer, Guest Columnist
Having just spent the past three weeks in Israel, I'm happy to report that,
rumors to the contrary, Israel is alive and well and thriving.
Israel is a country about the size of New Jersey. Space is at a premium, and so
is security for this small expanse of land. That was brought home to me during a
three-hour "Intellicopter Tour" around the country, provided by The
Israel Project, an international non-profit that educates the media and the
public about Israel.
We took off from Herzilya airport, on the Mediterranean coast just north of Tel
Aviv. Flying east, we were at the edge of the West Bank within minutes, hovering
over Tulkarm and Qalqilya. Unknown to most Westerners is the fact that at this
latitude, Israel's waist is at its most narrow, spanning just nine miles
(several miles less than the distance from the University of Washington to
Microsoft in Redmond).
The coastal plain, where 80 percent of Israelis live, is literally minutes by
foot from the West Bank. From the skies, it is much easier to understand why
Israel started construction of its Security Barrier in 2002, a year that saw 450
Israeli deaths attributable to terrorism. Often referred to as the Wall, more
than 95 percent of the 800-kilometer barrier, when completed, will actually be
constructed of chain-link fence.
In Qalqilya, the barrier is in fact a concrete wall. This is because Qalqilya
sits on a hill above Highway 6, a major north-south artery for Israelis, and
until the construction of the wall there, Israeli motorists were vulnerable to
Palestinian snipers. The majority of the concrete portion of the barrier is in
Jerusalem, where a fence would be impractical in such a densely populated
locale, given that the fence requires a buffer zone on either side for motion
detection and army patrols. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the barrier has
been enormously successful in stopping terrorism and saving lives. In areas
where the security barrier is completed, attacks are down 90 percent.
Flying southwest from Jerusalem, we touched down in Sderot, a development town
in the south, only a few kilometers away from the Gazan border. Sderot has borne
the brunt of the Qassam missile attacks, with more than 2,000 landing after
Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005. Although unsophisticated and
inaccurate, the Qassams are a very effective weapon of terrorism for the precise
reason of their unpredictability. And when on target, they are deadly weapons.
The newer Qassams have a range of up to 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), putting the
Ashkelon Power Plant in their sights. To date, Israel has not come up with an
adequate response, in part, because to strike back at the launching sites would
endanger Palestinian civilian lives, something Israel is loath to do.
I came away from the helicopter tour with a renewed appreciation for the
security dilemmas Israel faces, especially with the radical Islamists of Hamas
now holding the full reins of power in Gaza, and vying for control of the West
Bank. To see with one's own eyes the very real security risks that this tiny
country faces (not to mention the threats on the northern borders from Hezbollah
and Syria, compounded by Iran's long-range missile capabilities and nuclear
ambitions) gives one pause.
Israel must balance her citizenry's security needs with ordinary Palestinians'
human rights. And Israel's Supreme Court has on several occasions overruled
military dictates, for example when the security barrier has been deemed
encroaching on Palestinian villages.
Despite those concerns, Israel remains a vibrant, prosperous society.
Construction is booming, the high-tech sector is burgeoning and people are out
at parks, beaches, cafes and cultural centers.
From the magnificent Baha'i Gardens in Haifa (home to the holiest shrine in the
Baha'i faith) to the Druze village of Daliat al-Carmel to the streets of Rehovot
(home of the world-class Weizmann Institute for Scientific Research), Israelis
of all ethnicities and amazingly diverse backgrounds are dancing, studying,
dining and doing it all with a great zest for life.
It is said that great wines are produced from vines that are most stressed and
must dig deep into the Earth's surface in search of nourishment. The few grapes
those vines produce make the finest of wines. And so it is with Israel, a people
who must dig deeply within their greatest resource -- themselves -- to meet the
prodigious challenges that this amazing land presents, and in so doing create
the modern miracle that is Israel.
David Brumer is a geriatric social worker and psychotherapist. Visit his blog,
BRUMSPEAK, at brumspeak.blogspot.com, for more in-depth dispatches from Israel,
September 2007.
===============================================================================================
ALERT:
Please write a response to one or both op-eds
that were published in the Seattle Times on Friday, June 8.
Short listing of news items:
1. The Six Day War | Survivor bears the wounds of
conflict and occupation
By Ibtisam Barakat
2. The Six Day War | Extremists
stand in the way of a peaceful resolution
By Moshe Dunie
Both articles are inserted in full at the end of this
alert.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, June 11
--Still helpful: Wednesday, June 13
Context: Today, June 10,
2007, marks the fortieth anniversary of the end of the "Six-day War"
and the beginning of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories known as
the West Bank and Gaza. The mainstream press has marked this occasion with a
variety of editorials, two of which just appeared in The Seattle Times. In
recent weeks we have sent out more than the usual number of media alerts, but we
feel that it is important for editors to hear from us at this time. This is
especially important, in this case, as none of our recent alerts have been
directed to The Times, the newspaper with the largest readership in this region
and which publishes relatively little on this issue.
One of the op-eds is by a Palestinian woman who grew up under the occupation,
and describes in a straightforward way some of the living conditions she
experienced in her everyday life -- conditions that no one should have to
endure, and that are clearly prohibited by international law.
The other op-ed is by the president of the Greater Seattle American Jewish
Committee, Moshe Dunie. His op-ed, in offense to all reason, promotes confusion
about the occupation and about the possibilities for a resolution to the
conflict. It is an attempt to justify and tone down the offenses of Israel's
military dictatorship over the Palestinians. Mr. Dunie's column is another one
of those tracts that is so full of distortions that it is difficult to know
where to start responding. One possible answer would be, "Mr. Dunie, it's
the occupation."
Talking Points:
I. Ibtisam Barakat's article: Thank The Times for printing this article. If you comment, you might
mention that Ms. Barakat's writing does not even touch on the more atrocious
aspects of the occupation, such as the demolition of thousands of Palestinian
dwellings; routine Israeli torture of prisoners; extra-judicial killings of
targeted individuals; destruction or confiscation of thousands of hectares of
Palestinian farmland and orchards; long-term closure and extended curfew imposed
upon towns, cities, and villages; and the violation of Palestinian civilians'
dignity at every turn. The occupation, which expands towards the ultimate
ghettoization of the Palestinian population centers, is supported by Americans'
tax money to the amount of $3 to $6 billion every year.
II. Moshe Dunie's article -- pick one or a few of Mr. Dunie's falsehoods to
address:
1. Overall, the message of this op-ed is that the
Palestinians and other Arabs are guilty for the ongoing conflict; Israel is
innocent and only desires peace; and Israel is frustrated in all its
well-meaning attempts to achieve a resolution. Through repetition of standard
myths that have been thoroughly refuted, Mr. Dunie attempts to blame the victim
and exonerate the perpetrator of the occupation.
For background on the relevant history, there are many sources available on the
internet. One of them is the history section in our own web site at www.palestineinformation.org. Click on
"History of the conflict" and see "1967 Six Day War."
2. One of Mr. Dunie's lapses in logic is the statement that the "Arab
world" rejected the UN's 1947 decision to create two states. In fact, in
the context of the times, it could hardly be expected that Palestinians would
have consented to the creation of a state encompassing well over half of their
historic territory, while the Jewish and Zionist settler population -- mostly
recently arrived -- only amounted to less than a third of the overall population
of Palestine. What's more, the UN decision (SC Resolution 181) was taken without
the participation of those who were to be displaced. It is simply not rational
to expect that any population would peacefully consent to such manipulation from
outside.
3. Mr. Dunie writes, " In 1967, Arab nations
sought once again to destroy Israel..." One of the most widespread myths
about 1967 and the beginning of the occupation is that Egypt was about to attack
Israel. However, this has been debunked, and even Israeli leaders admitted that
the country was not seriously threatened by Egypt's military presence on the
Sinai border. Israel's "pre-emptive" attack on Egypt was not necessary
-- unless the aim of Israel's action was to pave the way for expansion of its
territory.
On this history, here are a couple of honest reappraisals by Israeli leaders,
after the fact:
"I do not believe that Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent into
Sinai on May 14 would not have been enough to unleash an offensive against
Israel. He knew it and we knew it." --Yitzhak
Rabin, Chief of Staff (later Prime Minister)
"In June 1967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in
the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We
must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him--Menachem Begin, Israeli
Cabinet Minister (later Prime Minister)
4. Mr. Dunie represents the Israeli government as having "sought a land-for
peace agreement." In fact, Israel started constructing settlements in the
West Bank and Gaza immediately after the war, and this expansion has never
stopped. The settlement of Israelis in the Occupied Territories, illegal under
the IV Geneva Conventions that address occupation, is not a route to peace;
rather, it exposes the real aim of the Israeli government: to retain control of
the Territories forever, and to marginalize the Palestinian population.
5. Mr. Dunie asserts in several places that Hamas "does not even recognize
Israel's right to exist and perpetrates violence." On the first count, in
recent years Hamas has called many times for a long-term cease-fire, and even
implemented its own, unilateral ceasefire for a year and a half. And just last
week, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, speaking for Hamas,
reiterated his movement's acceptance of a two-state solution to the conflict.
(See "1967: Our Rights have to be Recognized" posted June 07, 2007 By
Ismail Haniyeh http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=13809&CategoryId=5)
6. Mr. Dunie refers to the Palestinian Authority's rejection of Israel's
"offer...to give up more than 95 per cent" of the Territories in 2000.
This event has been more misrepresented than most in the history of
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Ehud Barak did not make a "generous
offer" to the Palestinians, but demanded that they accept a resolution
involving cut-up portions of land within the West Bank, separated by
international borders and Israeli-only bypass highways. The Barak proposal would
have retained all the major Israeli settlements in the West Bank as part of
Israel, creating a non-viable state composed of islands of territory, separated
from the commercial, political, and spiritual capitol of Jerusalem. And the
actual percentage of land that would have come under control of a Palestinian
government was much less than 95% (for more information on this issue see our
web site: click on "Position Statements", then "Barak's
offer..." For the same reason that Palestinians rejected UN SCR 181, it is
not imaginable that they would have accepted Barak's ungenerous demands.
7 Mr. Dunie's mention of the Saudi peace initiative (introduced a few years ago
and revived recently) in a positive light is rather quirky, as it proposes that
all Arab countries recognize Israel in return for Israel's complete evacuation from the Occupied Territories.
Mr. Dunie (like his government) shows no inclination to support such a move
anywhere else in his rhetoric.
8. It is worth noting Mr. Dunie's propaganda style; he makes several statements
exploiting sympathy for the tiny, afflicted state of Israel:
--"...and
tried to destroy the new tiny Jewish nation formed after the Holocaust."
--"... Israel, a minuscule nation the size of New
Jersey, achieved an astonishing victory."
Condescension is another tactic:
--"The Palestinian population has suffered, too, ignored by the Arab
nations prior to 1967, under Israeli rule for the past 40 years, let down by PLO
and Hamas leadership."
Truth-stretching bordering on fantasy is another:
--"Israeli leaders Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert have recognized the
Palestinians' right to a state as part of a two-state solution..."
Sharon and Olmert's "recognition" could only be characterized
as such if a gulag of Palestinian ghettos surrounded by high walls could be
called a state.
9. We suggest responding to Mr. Dunie's exploitation of
the memory of the Holocaust. Many Jews, including survivors and their
descendants, oppose Israel's attempted subjugation of the Palestinians. Mr.
Dunie's propagandistic use of his parents' ordeal is one of the more
objectionable items in his catalogue of manipulation, all of which sheds
serious doubt on his purported desire for peace.
*
Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief
note. Numbers count. If you are not published, you will be helping someone with
a similar viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for
publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference
to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you are
responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column
("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when
relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority. However, you can also
establish your authority by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When
possible, include a reference to your source, such as, "according to the
Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece
in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street
address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are
actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring
records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of both articles:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003738907_sixdaywarz08.html
The Six Day War | Survivor bears the wounds of conflict and occupation
By Ibtisam Barakat
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
On June 5, 1967, when the Six Day War between Israel and Arab countries broke
out, I was 3 years old.
I was separated from my family that night because I could not put my shoes on
quickly enough. I found my family the next day, but my sense of safety in the
world had been shattered.
I continued to put on my shoes every evening for many years after that because
living under occupation, I was always worried that the war might start suddenly
again.
Despite 40 years of media coverage about the Israeli occupation, many Americans
seem not to know the story of the Palestinians or what the occupation means.
Because misinformation about the humanity of others often fuels war, one of the
ways we can heal is to share stories about our experiences. Here is my story:
I am a Palestinian who lived 20 years of my life under occupation.
As a teenager living in Ramallah in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I endured
oppression as a normal way of life. I felt that I had no right to live. The very
existence of the Palestinians was often spoken about by Israeli media as a
problem — an obstacle to peace.
Israeli soldiers often arrested Palestinian men between ages 15 and 35. No one
knew where they were taken to or when they would return home. Israeli soldiers
sometimes broke into homes between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., searching for suspects.
Curfews were imposed with no warning — for days, sometimes weeks. One could go
outside for two hours every three days, maybe.
Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchanges were made in the ratio of one dead or
living Israeli for hundreds of living Palestinians. The underlying message about
the worth of a Palestinian in such an equation was devastating.
And the harsh circumstances of life under occupation have been getting more
extreme. Now, a wall twice the height of the former Berlin Wall cuts
Palestinians from their orchards, relatives, workplaces and schools.
In Beit Iksa, my mother's village, the wall means that students who finish
middle school cannot go to secondary school because it is in a neighboring
village on the other side of the wall.
Palestinians also wait for hours at the endless checkpoints, and many people are
turned back. People suffering from emergencies, diabetes, cancer or heart
disease cannot get timely medical care, if at all.
I came to the United States in 1986 and found Palestinian viewpoints mostly
absent from the mainstream conversation. Palestinians are talked about often,
but are not necessarily talked with.
The United States influences both Israelis and Palestinians. To be an ally of
freedom and security in the world, the U.S. government needs to support a just
approach that ends violent oppression.
Occupation cannot lead to peace and safety for either Israelis or Palestinians.
There is a strong link between human rights and genuine peace. And this peace is
within our reach.
Guarding the freedom and dignity of everyone like we guard our own not only
creates peace but also preserves our humanity.
I dream that some day soon, no more children experience war. No more children
grow up under occupation. No more children have to put on their shoes every
evening to heal an indelible wound.
Ibtisam Barakat is the author of "Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian
Childhood" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007). The writer wrote this for
Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and
international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine.
2007, Ibtisam Barakat
*
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003738909_sixdaywar08.html?syndication=rss
The Six Day War | Extremists stand in the way of a peaceful resolution
By Moshe Dunie
Special to The Times
Born in Israel, a son of an Auschwitz survivor, I always yearned for peace. What
is so troubling on this 40th anniversary of the Six Day War is how volatile and
violent the Middle East continues to be, how extremists continue to prevent
peaceful coexistence.
The conflict's history reveals the challenges. The Arab world categorically
rejected the United Nations' 1947 decision to create two states, one Jewish, the
other Palestinian, and tried to destroy the new tiny Jewish nation formed after
the Holocaust. Sixty years of conflict and suffering could have been avoided had
the Arab nations accepted the U.N. Partition plan.
In 1967, Arab nations sought once again to destroy Israel. On May 27, Egypt's
President Gamal Abdel Nasser stated "our basic objective will be the
destruction of Israel." After the failure of persistent international
diplomatic efforts, facing massive deployment of Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian
troops, Israel, a minuscule nation the size of New Jersey, achieved an
astonishing victory.
Prior to the '67 war, Israel wasn't in possession of any "occupied
territories." Jordan annexed the West Bank, while Egypt controlled Gaza,
and there was no attempt to create a Palestinian state!
After the war, Israel sought a land-for-peace agreement with its neighbors.
However, the Arab League, in September 1967, responded by declaring: no
recognition, no negotiations and no peace with Israel.
Forty years later, moderate Arab leaders have emerged, but extremists continue
to dominate through aggression, and opportunities for achieving a comprehensive
Arab-Israeli peace continue to be squandered.
In 2000, the Palestinian Authority rejected Israel's offer, backed by the U.S.,
to give up more than 95 percent of the Gaza and West Bank territories, and to
establish a Palestinian state on those lands. Instead of negotiating, Palestine
Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat launched the violent "intifada"
with frequent suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians.
The Palestinian population has suffered, too, ignored by the Arab nations prior
to 1967, under Israeli rule for the past 40 years, let down by PLO and Hamas
leadership.
Two years ago, Israel removed all its settlers and military from Gaza and
transferred control to the Palestinian Authority. The resulting brutal
Palestinian-on-Palestinian violence in Gaza and the firing of rockets into
Israel from Gaza have been depressing hopes for peace. A growing number of
Israelis consider holding the occupied territories bad for a democratic Jewish
state, but Hamas does not even recognize Israel's right to exist and perpetrates
violence.
With Iran threatening to wipe Israel off the map, sponsoring Palestinian terror
groups and inching closer to producing a nuclear weapon, a climate of hostility
hangs over the Middle East. Hezbollah's rocket war on Israel last summer and
Hamas's ongoing stockpiling of rockets in Gaza indicate violent escalation.
However, it is important to recognize significant positive changes in the past
40 years.
Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein signed landmark peace treaties
with Israel. For peace, Israel withdrew in 1979 from Sinai with its strategic
oil fields.
Israeli leaders Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert have recognized the Palestinians'
right to a state as part of a two-state solution. Moderate Palestinians have
expressed support of Israel's right to exist.
The recent Arab League endorsement of a Saudi peace initiative was well-received
by Israel's prime minister. As the Palestinians' Hamas leadership refuses to
even recognize Israel, moderate Arab leaders, who share Israel's concerns over
the Iranian threat, may be the catalysts for peace.
While Syria's continued support of Palestinian terrorist groups and Hezbollah
raises doubts about the seriousness of its recent offer for peace negotiations
with Israel, Israel is checking through a third party the prospects for peace
with Syria.
With Iran and Hamas in control, the prospects for peace are not bright, and,
yet, recognizing the painful cost to all of the continued deterioration, it is
vital to pursue every opportunity for peace.
Moshe Dunie is president of the Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish
Committee.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
===============================================================================================
ALERT: Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your
appreciation of Monday's op-ed by Huwaida Arraf and Neta Golan, inserted below.
Huwaida and Neta's op-ed is a rebuttal to the objectionable May 22nd
op-ed by Jack Greenberg, which crossed the line into racist hate mail and
revealed a deplorable lapse in judgment on the part of the PI's opinion editors.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Wednesday, June 6
--Still helpful: Sunday, June 10
Opinion
Column a replay of tired lies
By Huwaida Arraf and Neta Golan, Guest Columnists
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/318435_greenbergrebut05.html
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Monday,
June 4, 2007
The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.
Context:
The Seattle Repertory Theater's presentation of the play "My Name is Rachel
Corrie" earlier this spring prompted a series of opinion columns in the PI
-- some dreadful, some decent -- and accompanying letters to the editor. The
story of our native daughter is clearly one that sparks very strong feelings in
this region.
Most recently, as you are aware, the PI chose to print a rock-bottom rant by
Jack Greenberg. The response to this article was among the strongest we've seen
in letters to the editor. While editors initially insisted that the Greenberg
piece was to be the end of this thread, in the face of this response they backed
off and published Huwaida and Neta's column.
This op-ed responds to Greenberg's piece in an articulate way, pointing out the
truth about Rachel Corrie's work and goals; the nature of ISM; and the
disgusting nature of Greenberg's essay.
Without beating this issue into the ground, it would still be good to write and
thank the PI for publishing this rebuttal, and to reinforce a point or two. It
would also be useful to note the broader context of the occupation which, as of
this week, has lasted forty years.
*
Talking points for letter writing:
Your letter can be very brief; it is the acknowledgment of
the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below are a few points that could
be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say
thank you.
-- The P.I. did a good thing in printing Huwaida
Arraf's and Neta Golan's op-ed.
-- Greenberg's article spread disinformation about the work of Rachel Corrie and
the ISM, and smeared all Muslims. This is no way to promote a peaceful
resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
-- The crucial fact about the conflict is the occupation. This week marks the 40th
anniversary of a situation of constant, escalating oppression and
disenfranchisement of the Palestinian population. On this anniversary, it is
time to intensify our push for a halt to this ongoing violation.
--The occupation more and more resembles apartheid -- even outstripping the
former South African system. The Palestinian economy has ground to a halt.
Freedom of movement is prohibited; homes and farmland are demolished; innocent
Palestinians are arrested and mistreated by the thousands; and a
"separation barrier" has been erected annexing vast portions of
Palestinian land to Israel.
-- The United States government is the most generous sponsor of these
atrocities, funding the Israeli government with between $3 billion and $6
billion in aid every year. As U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to
pressure our government to discontinue this aid until the occupation is lifted.
-- The Israeli army, euphemistically named the Israeli Defense Force, calls
itself the "most moral army" in the world, citing a fictional ethic of
"purity of arms." The presiding myth is that this army does not attack
civilians -- or when it does, it is an "accident" and a
"tragedy." The killing of the civilian Rachel Corrie stands out
because Rachel is one of a few foreign civilians attacked, but her case, along
with the those of thousands of less-publicized, Palestinian civilian victims,
starkly illustrates the falsehood of that myth.
*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of
the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example:
"Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East
politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just pick
one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to
that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of article:
Monday, June 4, 2007
"Column a replay of tired lies"
By Huwaida Arraf and Neta Golan, Guest Columnists
It is sad that J.L. Greenberg recycles discredited propaganda to defame the
memory of Rachel Corrie and the ongoing, important work of the International
Solidarity Movement ("Corrie ignored Muslim atrocities," May 23). It
is shocking that he does so on behalf of the larger Seattle Jewish Committee.
Greenberg repeats tired lies that the ISM is a "Muslim organization"
affiliated with the PLO and Hamas, focused on the "annihilation of the
Jews" and unconcerned with other conflicts and repression around the world.
The ISM is a non-violent resistance movement founded on the principles of Gandhi
and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It is not a religious movement and, in fact,
a significant number of ISM volunteers are Jewish and Christian. Buddhists,
Hindus, atheists, Pagans, Confucians and many other religions have also been
represented in the movement. The ISM is totally funded by private donations from
civil society around the world. It receives no money from Palestinian political
parties or organizations. The ISM is focused on ending Israeli occupation and
oppression, a precondition for fair negotiations to end this conflict and secure
peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.
The ISM rejects all forms of racism absolutely, including anti-Semitism.
Greenberg takes specific aim at Corrie's memory. Again, he repeats ridiculous
claims -- that Corrie was "supporting terrorists," uninterested in
protecting Israelis from Palestinian attacks (and thus a de facto anti-Semite)
and preventing the destruction of weapons-smuggling tunnels. In the series of
e-mails Corrie sent home while in Palestine, she discussed in eloquent prose the
anguish she felt about the violence she was witnessing. Corrie instinctively
humanized all people involved in the conflict, Palestinian and Israeli. Seattle
P-I readers are well aware that the house Corrie was trying to protect when she
was killed was the home of a pharmacist and his family. As the Israeli army was
eventually forced to concede, there was no weapons-smuggling tunnel under the
house. Had the Israeli soldiers present that day listened to what the
non-violent ISM volunteers were telling them, that there were no tunnels, no
terrorists, no violence at that house, Corrie would be alive today. Her death
was no "tragic accident" as Greenberg wants us to believe. It was the
predictable outcome of Israeli occupation, Israel's wholesale policy of house
demolition, and the kind of demonization of Palestinians and Muslims that
Greenberg engages in.
Greenberg also attacks Mairead Corrigan Maguire, the Irish Nobel Peace Prize
recipient, who was recently wounded by the Israeli army at a non-violent
demonstration in Bil'in village in the West Bank. Maguire was participating in
the weekly nonviolent protests in Bil'in against the construction of Israel 's
apartheid wall and the expansion of an illegal settlement onto the village's
farmland. Greenberg, extraordinarily, labels Maguire a "Jew hater"
without a single bit of evidence.
Greenberg's essay overflows with distortions bordering on, if not crossing
unabashedly into, racism and Islamophobia. He labels all Palestinians, whether
Muslim or Christian, as "Muslims" and calls Bil'in's weekly protests
"Muslim demonstrations" though they have no religious character and
feature participants of all religions. Greenberg's laughable claim that Israeli
military attacks on non-violent protesters are justified because "guns,
grenades or sticks of dynamite might be under the flowing robes" of male
and female Palestinian protesters also plays on ugly stereotypes of Palestinians
and Muslims.
To achieve real, lasting and just peace for Palestinians and Israelis, extreme
voices such as Greenberg's, which demonize and undermine all those standing for
human rights and non-violent change in Israel and Palestine, must be rejected.
On the contrary, the non-violent resistance represented by Rachel Corrie in
Rafah, and the joint Palestinian, Israeli and international protests in Bil'in
are examples deserving respect, praise and support.
Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American living in Washington D.C., and Neta Golan,
an Israeli living in Ramallah, Palestine, are co-founders of the International
Solidarity Movement.
(c) 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
===============================================================================================
ALERT:
Please write a letter to the Seattle P.I. protesting a particularly racist and
offensive
guest
opinion column by J.L.Greenberg, printed Tuesday, May 22.
"Corrie ignored Muslim atrocities"
By J.L. Greenberg, Guest columnist, Seattle P.I.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/316739_corrierebut23.html
The full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, May 24
--Still helpful: Monday, May 28
Context:
The recent theater production "My Name is Rachel Corrie" at the
Seattle Repertory Theater, showcasing the words of the International Solidarity
Movement to End the Occupation (ISM) volunteer from Olympia who was killed in
Gaza in 2003. This play prompted a vigorous discussion in the mainstream press.
The P.I.'s role in this discussion was relatively commendable, since the
newspaper printed a some fairly reasonable columns and letters to the editor.
However, Mr. Greenberg's essay, full of false and racist statements, is the most
offensive opinion piece we have monitored in some years. We feel compelled, and
hope you will feel the same, to take a moment from our hectic lives to rebuke
Mr. Greenberg and the P.I. for reaching this low point in the discussion.
Talking Points:
1. Overall, the Greenberg article is so stuffed with lies and insults that it is
hard to know where to start. However, the outstanding offense is probably the
constant use of "Muslim" as if this word denoted a vicious worldwide
conspiracy to destroy all that is decent. This is the cardinal mystification
that Greenberg wishes us to assimilate. In fact, the conflict has very little to
do with religion. It is about land and sovereignty -- the Israeli government has
them; the Palestinians do not. In any case, this is not a conflict between
"Jews" and "Muslims," but between the Israeli government and
Palestinians, many of whom are Christians. And there are many Jews, both in
Israel, the United States, and the rest of the world, who do not support
Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory and oppression of the Palestinian
population.
2. Another principle untruth is Greenberg's characterization of the ISM and
Rachel Corrie's motives. To call the ISM a "Muslim organization" is
absurd; it was founded and is led by Palestinians and international volunteers
(including a Jewish Israeli, an American Jew, and a Palestinian-American) whose
agenda, to put it simply, is human rights. This is the work of the ISM, and
Rachel Corrie was in Gaza to witness the freedom struggle of the Palestinians
and to stand by them in resisting the occupation. This is an occupation that has
corralled the Palestinian population into ever-shrinking spaces, depriving them
of their land, livelihood, and dignity, in a 40-year assault on an entire
civilian population.
3. Here are a few facts, contrary to the ranting of Mr. Greenberg: Rachel Corrie
died attempting to obstruct the demolition of a house inhabited by a Palestinian
pharmacist and his family. It was NOT just a "tragic accident," in Mr.
Greenberg's condescending words, but
a murder. And the Palestinian pharmacist and his house, as the Israeli army
eventually conceded, had nothing to do with tunnels for smuggling.
4. Greenberg repeats the standard tall tale that "the wall can be taken
down" -- but the actual purpose of the "separation barrier,"
sometimes known as the "apartheid wall," is to annex large amounts of
Palestinian territory to Israel, permanently leaving the denser Palestinian
population centers in walled-off ghettoes.
5. Mordechai Vanunu, rather than being Israel's "worst convicted spy
traitor," ranks among the most honorable of that country's citizens. In
tipping off the world to Israel's possession of hundreds of nuclear weapons, he
helped to show Israel for the aggressive power it is, demystifying Israel's
stance as a perennial victim. Also, he did not reveal defense secrets, but
merely disclosed the fact that Israel has nuclear weapons.
6. Greenberg calls Ramallah "Arafat's terror center," but Yasser
Arafat and his Fatah heirs to the Palestinian Authority are the closest
collaborators with the Israeli government to be found among the Palestinians.
Just in the last week Israel and the United States have nearly succeeded in
hiring those Palestinians to kill their fellow Palestinians.
7. The ISM espouses conflict resolution and practices non-violent direct action.
International volunteers put themselves in harm's way to prevent
violence, not to defend terrorism. This is an honored tradition in American
history, and we doubt that Rachel Corrie would have been prosecuted in this
country for her activities. None of the hundreds of other American ISM
volunteers has been prosecuted.
8. Bil'in, contrary to Greenberg's characterization, has been a center of
ongoing non-violent demonstrations against the separation wall for over two
years. In that time the Israeli government has confiscated and annexed over 60%
of the land belonging to Bil'in farmers. The Israeli army has responded to their
peaceful protests with exaggerated violence of its own, injuring many civilians
-- including Palestinians, internationals, and Israelis who support the
protests.
9. If you are Jewish, please emphasize that Greenberg does not speak for you.
For that matter, is there really such an organization as the "Seattle
Jewish Committee?" This is a new name, and we were not able to find
evidence of this organization's existence elsewhere.
10. If you agree that this is a particularly low-grade, defamatory essay, it
would be appropriate to extend your criticism to the P.I., for sinking to
Greenberg's level. It is understandable that the newspaper wants to air
"the other side," but the P.I. has insulted its own dignity and
damaged its own standards by giving Greenberg a podium.
*
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint get
into print.
2) The word limit for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of
the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example:
"Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle East
politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in
establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority by
writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a reference
to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just
pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full name, street address and contact phone
numbers. The paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only
your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media
monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of article:
"Corrie ignored Muslim atrocities"
By J.L. Greenberg, Guest columnist, Seattle P.I.
Rachel Corrie may personify the idealism of P-I editorial columnist Joe Copeland
but most Northwesterners outside The Evergreen State College respect the U.S.
law that Hamas is a terrorist organization and that those who support it go to
jail ("Corrie personified Northwest idealism," April 29). If Corrie
had not come home in a box, she would have been prosecuted.
The International Solidarity Movement that Corrie supported is a one-agenda
Muslim organization that was founded to energize the PLO and Hamas in their
annihilation of the Jews. It has no concern for alleviating the conditions of
any afflicted or destitute people or for rescuing the poor and the needy
anywhere in the world. Its sole obsession is to destroy Israel, and it gains its
naïve recruits from left-wing colleges such as Evergreen by steady doses of
propaganda, deceit and duplicity. It even trains its young agents on how to
answer the questions asked by the Israeli immigration and passbook authorities
so as to avoid being denied admission to Israel.
However Copeland wants to spin it, the facts are irrefutable that Corrie did not
go to Israel to stop any violence. She did not concern herself about all the
other Rachels murdered by the terrorists she was supporting and protecting. She
never tried to stand in front of any Muslim rocket or grenade launchers to stop
their daily shelling of the nearby Jewish town of Sderot. She never went to
Bethlehem or Nazareth, the very cradles of Christian civilization, to stop the
Muslim persecutions and restrictions against the resident Christians there.
Instead, she entered a closed Israeli military zone, in which at that time
already 93 tunnels had been discovered that were used solely for the smuggling
of arms to Hamas, arms used to kill Jews. Israel's counterterrorism effort was
to collapse along the Egyptian border those houses that allowed the tunnels with
their flow of military equipment to come up into them for distribution from
there. She attempted to prevent Israel from cutting off Hamas' arms supply flow.
Corrie's death was a tragic accident in an area where she had no business being.
She got in the way of a bulldozer. But the deaths of all the innocent Jewish
Rachels and other Jewish civilians in hotels, at religious functions, bus stops,
schools, pizzerias, on buses, on highways, were outright Muslim murders, which
didn't bother Corrie. She simply chose to ignore Muslim atrocities.
Regarding Mairead Corrigan Maguire being Copeland's paragon of truth and peace
because of her Nobel Award, such an award was also given to Yasser Arafat, the
No. 1 killer of Jews since Hitler. Maguire has long been a Jew hater and Israel
basher. She writes for the magazine CounterPunch, which claims that 9/11 was a
Jewish conspiracy, and she has been a promoter of Israel's worst convicted spy
traitor, Mordechai Vanunu. She was active in the Muslim demonstrations on
Fridays coming out of Ramallah, Arafat's terror center, by Bili'm, in which the
anarchists create violent situations by throwing rocks at the Israel Defense
Forces guarding the wall construction against Muslim vandalism there. Those
walls and fences have been very effective in funneling traffic to specific check
points so people can be searched for contraband, thus preventing and reducing
the number of terrorist acts. When the terrorism stops, the wall and fences can
be taken down, but in the meantime they save Jewish lives.
Considering that the IDF only recently had captured a cache of arms in Arafat's
former Ramallah headquarters, and that they are unable to determine whether any
guns, grenades or sticks of dynamite might be under the flowing robes of the
women (or men dressed as women) approaching in the demonstrations, the restraint
the IDF showed in using only tear gas and rubber bullets on the mob after
refusing orders to disperse is quite remarkable.
J.L. Greenberg of Seattle wrote this essay on behalf of the Seattle Jewish
Committee.
ALERT:
Please thank Seattle Times for editorial column by Bruce Ramsey,
describing the play "My Name is Rachel Corrie" in sympathetic terms.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, April 5
--Still Helpful: Tuesday, April 10
Short listing of news item:
Bruce Ramsey/Times editorial columnist
"Putting an American face on Palestinian aspirations"
Editorials & Opinion Wednesday,
April 4, 2007
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=rams04&date=20070404&query=bruce+ramsey
The full text of the article is included at the end of this
email.
Why we are asking you to write: Most often, we
will ask you to write critiques of misleading media pieces. This is an
unusual opportunity, because the Times has printed an op-ed that is sympathetic
to the story of Rachel Corrie. We wish to encourage future writing that
does not deny or obscure the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.
Additionally, the Times will receive many letters castigating the columnist and
the paper for having taken this step. Your letters will help demonstrate
that the Times has a constituency of readers who are interested in hearing the
whole truth about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
We are aware that we have posted somewhat more alerts
lately than is customary, and we hope that we are not taxing your patience or
overloading your inbox. It happens that the issue of Rachel Corrie is very
charged in this region and throughout the country. The event of the play about
Rachel has prompted an outpouring of expression about the nature of the Israeli
government and its actions; much of that expression, at least in the Pacific
Northwest, has been very positive. We feel it is imperative to continue to do
our best to uphold that record.
For background on
the life of Rachel Corrie, see " Rachel Corrie: Myths and Facts" at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/RCFdocs/Rachel_Corrie_FAQ.pdf
Talking points for letter writing:
Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank
you.
--Why this is a good column: In his write-up
of the Seattle Repertory Theater's production "My Name is Rachel
Corrie," Bruce Ramsey has aptly described the play as providing a
counterbalancing view to that of such pro-Israeli propaganda films as Exodus.
Mr. Ramsey reinforces the point that the mainstream American media
overwhelmingly present a positive image of Israel and its government's policies;
Rachel Corrie's story is one that helps show the missing pieces, revealing that
there is another side to the story. Many people reflexively assume that anyone
who criticizes Israel, or for that matter anyone targeted by the Israeli
military, is on the wrong side. Bruce Ramsey's column openly recognizes that
Rachel Corrie's death was not an accident, as her presence was fully known to
the driver of the bulldozer. Making this point begins to reveal the outrageous
nature of the behavior of Israel's demolishing forces, which consistently act
without regard for civilian casualties.
*
Meanwhile, there are some points Mr. Ramsey left out and which you can
add:
--Israel is occupying Palestinian land! This is a crucial point which needs to
be included in any analysis of the conflict. Because of lopsided media coverage,
many Americans fail to realize this truth. The Israeli government has
implemented a military dictatorship over Gaza and the West Bank since June 1967,
almost forty years.
--In this period, the Israeli army has demolished thousands
of homes; killed and injured tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians;
arrested many more without charge
and imprisoned them without due process, often employing torture; cut Palestine
into small pieces and turned these enclaves into compact ghettoes encircled by
Israeli-only highways and a wall more than 20 feet high; and settled Palestinian
land with hundreds of thousands of illegal settlers. This is the occupation, and
Rachel Corrie went to the Occupied Territories, first and foremost, to witness
and protest this injustice.
--Demolition: The Israeli army, in its forty-year occupation of Gaza and the
West Bank has demolished close to 12,000 homes. Just in the past few years,
during the second Intifada, in Gaza alone the army has demolished several
thousand homes. These demolitions have been carried out, above all, to clear
land for use exclusively by Israeli settlers; for purposes of border control;
and to punish Palestinians who are legitimately resisting the occupation. These
are the reasons Israel bulldozes Palestinian homes. The house Rachel Corrie was
trying to defend had nothing to do with a smuggling tunnel.
--Seattle
should be proud of the positive reception it has afforded "My Name is
Rachel Corrie." The play has not fared as well elsewhere, due to
intimidation by pro-Israel advocates. The play's showing was canceled in New
York and had to be moved to another theater. And word has just come out that the
play was canceled in Miami, even though support for the play was running about
85 per cent.
Email your letter to: opinion@seattletimes.com
Thank you!
===
Full text of article:
Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist
"Putting an American face on Palestinian aspirations"
My first reaction to the death of Rachel Corrie was to sigh
at the damfoolishness of a 23-year-old from Olympia who would place her body in
the way of the Israeli army. On March 16, 2003, in Rafah, Palestine, an Israeli
soldier drove his bulldozer over her and crushed her.
I think of the Chinese man who blocked the column of tanks
in Beijing on June 4, 1989. That man created an image and vanished, never
leaving his face. Rachel left her face.
In "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," now playing at the
Seattle Repertory Theatre, actress Marya Sea Kaminski brings Rachel to life in a
90-minute monologue extracted solely from Rachel's diary and e-mails. Here is
The Evergreen State College idealist, who declares, "I am building the
world myself and putting new hats on everybody."
The 9/11 attacks have provided a focus to her fervor. She
is drawn to the Palestinians. She imbibes Arabic. Feeling that she must join in,
she goes to Gaza to witness the Israeli occupation.
Making use of her "international white person
privilege" — an asset she feels she shouldn't possess but does — she
joins a campaign to block the bulldozing of Palestinian homes, which is how the
Israelis searched for smuggling tunnels.
Still, Rachel says, "I worry we are not really
effective. I still don't feel particularly at risk." The protesters take
more risks — and the soldiers grow more steely. Toward the end, she says,
"I am really scared and questioning my belief in the fundamental goodness
of human nature."
Her father, an actuary — Rachel denounces his "neoliberal
job" — says in an e-mail he is proud of her but wishes her home. He knows
the military. He served in Vietnam with the First Air Cavalry. He senses that
this is not going to come out well.
She has dreams of dying. "I can't die. I can't die," she insists. But
she does.
I spoke to her father, Craig Corrie. He said where Rachel
was killed there had been two bulldozers (49-metric-ton Caterpillar D9s) and two
soldiers in each one, plus an armored personnel carrier. There were six or seven
protesters — and unlike the man in Beijing, the protesters in Gaza intended to
stop the army permanently.
For a while, the bulldozer drivers would stop at the
protesters and yell at them. Then they were called away. After they came back,
they didn't stop, and within five minutes Rachel was run down.
Apologists say it was an accident. Perhaps the driver's
intention was to force Rachel to jump aside, and it was an accident that her
legs got caught in the advancing pile of dirt.
The not stopping was no accident. Certainly, the Corries do
not speak of accidents. Not once when I heard them did they say their daughter
had "left us" or "passed away" or "died." Always
they say she was killed.
It was her death, and her expressive writing, that made
Rachel Corrie an international figure. A British paper, the Guardian, asked to
see Rachel's writing and published it. A Guardian editor, along with actor Alan
Rickman (the terrorist in "Die Hard") made a play of it. It has been
performed in London and New York only, and to much controversy. The play is
doing so well at the Rep that it has been held over until May 6.
Of course the play does not tell both sides. Neither did
the 1960 movie "Exodus," which I saw as a kid. It told the Israeli
side only, and in Paul Newman, put an American face on that side. For years, it
was the only side Americans could see.
The Palestinian side never had an American face. Now it
does. It is a female face, an unthreatening face. Rachel's face.
One wonders whether Rachel would think it was all worth it.
Her mother, Cindy Corrie, says Rachel's story may open Americans to hearing the
Palestinians' side, which would be a good thing. Still, she says,
"Sometimes you want to reclaim your child for yourself."
Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial
pages of The Times. His e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
back to top
ALERT: Please
write the Seattle P.I. and express your appreciation of Wednesday's op-ed by
Steve Niva, inserted below.
Professor Niva's op-ed is a rebuttal to the
offensive March 18th
op-ed by David Brumer, which defamed Rachel Corrie and gave a distorted picture
of the situation in Gaza.
Time
by which action should be taken:
--Ideal:
Thursday, March 28
--Still helpful: Sunday, April 1
Opinion
Wednesday March 27, 2007
Israel's Apologists Distort the Truth
By Steve Niva, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/309199_corrierebut28.html
The Seattle P.I., Wednesday, March 27, 2007
The
full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.
Context:
The
Seattle Repertory Theater is enjoying a very successful run of the one-woman
play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie." Given that the story of Rachel
Corrie is one of opposition to Israel's military subjugation of the
Palestinians, David Brumer, who apparently supports the occupation, wrote an
op-ed full of misinformation. In the present op-ed, Steve Niva refutes Brumer's
misrepresentations of Corrie and exposes the crucial background to the story:
that there is an occupation going on.
In
response to Brumer's smear, we put out an appeal to our response network for
letters to the editor, and received the best ever response to an action alert.
Understandably, we find much more occasion to criticize the mainstream media's
portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (including the media's choice of
writers) than we find opportunities to praise. But now, upon publishing Niva's
article, the P.I. deserves to receive positive reinforcement from us. We can be
sure that those who wish to condemn the Seattle Repertory Theater's choice of
material, insult the memory of Rachel Corrie, and deny the reality of the
occupation will be responding to Professor Niva's op-ed -- they are very
organized. So it is important that we continue to make the editorial staff of
the P.I. aware that there is a community of supporters of peace and justice in
the Middle East, who feel strongly about the way the issue is portrayed in the
media.
For
more clarification on the life of Rachel Corrie, see " Rachel Corrie: Myths
and Facts" at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/RCFdocs/Rachel_Corrie_FAQ.pdf
*
Talking
points for letter writing:
Your letter can be very brief; it is the acknowledgment of the editorial
in a positive way that counts. Below are a few points that could be reinforced.
Whichever point(s) you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.
-- The P.I. did a good thing in printing Professor Niva's
op-ed.
--
Spreading disinformation about the work of Rachel Corrie is no way to promote a
peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
--
The crucial fact about the conflict is the occupation, nearing its 40th
anniversary on June 10th. In this occupation a situation more and
more resembling apartheid -- even outstripping it -- has developed. The
Palestinian economy has ground to a halt. Freedom of movement is prohibited;
homes and farmland are demolished; innocent Palestinians are arrested and
mistreated by the thousands; and a "separation barrier" has been
erected annexing vast portions of Palestinian land to Israel.
--
The United States government is the most generous sponsor of these atrocities,
funding the Israeli government with between $3 billion and $6 billion in aid
every year. As U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to pressure our
government to discontinue this aid until the occupation is lifted.
--
The Israeli army, euphemistically named the Israeli Defense Force, calls itself
the "most moral army" in the world, citing a fictional ethic of
"purity of arms." The presiding myth is that this army does not attack
civilians -- or when it does, it is an "accident" and a
"tragedy." The killing of the civilian Rachel Corrie stands out
because Rachel is one of a few foreign civilians attacked, but her case, along
with the those of thousands of less-publicized, Palestinian civilian victims,
starkly illustrates the falsehood of that myth.
*
Email
your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or forward your letter to that
address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full
text of article:
Wednesday,
March 27, 2007
Israel's Apologists Distort the Truth
By Steve Niva, Guest Columnist
The fairy-tale view of Israel as eternally besieged and
completely faultless in its conflict with the Palestinians, as presented by
David Brumer in the March 18 Focus ("Play shines light on conflict"),
has certainly taken a hit this past year.
A growing number of Americans who deeply sympathize with
Israel, including former President Jimmy Carter, have spoken eloquently of the
need to recognize that Israel has committed severe human rights violations
against the Palestinian people through its nearly 40-year military occupation
and theft of Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. While extremely critical
of Palestinian terrorism, they conclude that peace with security is not possible
until Israel ends the injustices.
Perhaps that is why Israel's more fervent apologists are
resorting to distortion and defamation as their preferred method to discredit
anyone who dares acknowledge Palestinian grievances or Israel's grave and
well-documented human rights abuses. Carter is facing an onslaught of malicious
charges that range from intentionally lying to anti-Semitism. They want to
silence an emerging debate over the United States' one-sided embrace of Israel.
This method of attacking the messenger is clearly on
display in Brumer's article as well as in the flurry of protest against the play
"My Name is Rachel Corrie" at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. The play
tells the story of the 23-year-old woman from Olympia crushed to death by an
Israeli bulldozer demolishing Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.
Instead of joining with Carter, Rachel Corrie and countless
others, many Israeli and Jewish, who recognize Israel's occupation and
settlements are unjustified and prevent peace, Brumer peddles defamation and
falsehoods about Corrie masquerading as reasonable criticism.
Claiming that Corrie was even "unwittingly"
supporting terrorists is contradicted by the fact that the Israeli army has
never claimed or provided any evidence that the homes in the neighborhood of
Gaza that Corrie was defending when she was killed were concealing tunnels or
were involved in attacks on Israelis.
Claiming Corrie was in any way providing cover for suicide
bombers is easily proved false by the fact that no Palestinian suicide bombers
had come from Gaza three years before or during the time Corrie was there.
Claiming that Corrie was working with an
"extremist" organization is contradicted by the fact that the
International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation is composed of leading
Palestinian voices of non-violence and supported by numerous Israeli peace
groups.
Legitimate questions can be raised about Corrie's risky
decision to enter into a very dangerous conflict zone. But that zone was
dangerous precisely because Israel has imposed a merciless military occupation
over a largely defenseless population and was wantonly demolishing homes to
steal land for Israeli settlements.
One can certainly and rightly blame, as Brumer does,
Palestinian extremists for damaging the moral justness of the Palestinian cause
through murderous and strategically worthless suicide bombings that have killed
hundreds of innocent Israelis.
But none of that justifies Israel continuing to steal
Palestinian land and building a wall deep within Palestinian lands to annex
those settlements. Nor does it prevent Israel from taking unilateral steps to
vacate completely the land that it has illegally occupied since 1967.
Brumer's complete silence regarding Israel's occupation and
settlements implies that it does.
Brumer's implicit justification for Israel's occupation and
settlements is the continually recycled myth that Israel has always extended its
hand of peace while Palestinians have always rejected it. This myth conveniently
ignores the fact Israel's "generous offer" at Camp David in 2000 was
based on Israel annexing the bulk of its settlements, cutting any Palestinian
state into five tiny enclaves surrounded by Israel. Brumer touts Israel's recent
withdrawal from Gaza, but ignores Israel's withering siege upon its imprisoned
population.
Brumer also justifies the status quo by emphasizing the
immutable extremism of Hamas. But the fact is that Hamas has not conducted a
single suicide bombing in nearly two years and has endorsed a reciprocal truce
with Israel if it were to withdraw completely to its 1967 borders. But Israel
completely rejects those terms, missing a historic opportunity to undercut Hamas
extremism.
Those who truly support a balanced and just peace in the
Middle East should honestly debate Corrie's life and legacy. Her very act of
acknowledging legitimate Palestinians grievances and her promotion of
alternatives to violence was a message of hope and peace sorely lacking today.
By attacking the messenger, Corrie's detractors are sending
a clear message opposed to hope and peace.
*Steve
Niva teaches International Politics and Middle East Studies at The Evergreen
State College in Olympia, WA.
back to top
Please
write the Seattle P.I. and express your dissatisfaction with the unbalanced
nature of Sunday's Op-ed by David Brumer. The article, pegged to the current
showing of the one-person play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," in well
over one thousand words, manages to repeat a full catalogue of distortions about
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without ever using the word
"occupation." In an attempt to bury
the fact that Rachel Corrie had an excellent, first-hand grasp of the situation
in Palestine, the op-ed condescendingly refers to her as a "human
shield," "passionate," "fervent," and
"unwitting," etcetera. It propagates wild myths about Hamas, and makes
Israel out to be nothing less than a peace-loving, democratic nation, pining for
reconciliation with its neighbors.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, March 19
--Still Helpful: Thursday, March 22
Opinion
Sunday March 18 2006
"Play shines light on conflict"
By David Brumer, Guest Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/307834_focus18.html
The Sunday Seattle P.I., Sunday, March 18, 2007
The
full text of the article is included at the end of this
e-mail.
Context:
Friday,
March 16th, was the fourth anniversary of the killing of Rachel
Corrie in Gaza, occupied Palestine, by an Israeli-operated (Caterpillar)
bulldozer preparing to demolish homes of Palestinian civilians. Rachel and other
colleagues from the International Solidarity Movement to End the
Occupation (ISM) were attempting to block the path of the bulldozer. Rachel was
run over and crushed by the bulldozer which then reversed direction without the
usual precaution of raising its blade, thus crushing Rachel a second time.
Rachel
Corrie was an exceptionally intelligent and articulate young woman with a gift
for writing, and she expressed her ideas passionately and shared her experiences
in detail, in e-mail postings regularly sent back to her friends and family from
Gaza. These writings, and journals from her childhood, have been compiled into a
play opening at the Seattle Repertory Theater this week; an event that should
help to educate Seattle's theater-going community by sharing some unpopular
truths about the occupation, as witnessed by Rachel Corrie.
Sadly,
David Brumer has chosen to defend the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land by
distorting the story of Rachel's last writings and what she saw in Gaza beyond
recognition. Please take a few minutes to read the op-ed, study the talking
points below, and write a few lines of protest to the P.I.
For
more clarification on the life of Rachel Corrie, see " Rachel Corrie: Myths
and Facts" at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/RCFdocs/Rachel_Corrie_FAQ.pdf
*
Talking
points for letter writing:
This
op-ed is a particularly long and comprehensive collection of distortions which,
for clarity, we are dividing into three sections: distortions about Rachel
Corrie; distortions about Israel; and distortions about Hamas. As mentioned in
the writing guidelines/reminders below, we recommend that you don't try to
tackle all of these points, but pick one or a few that you feel most confident
about, and express them well.
I.
Rachel Corrie
--
Rachel Corrie was not misguided or naïve, but a very intelligent and articulate
woman with a fully-developed sense of justice. Present on the scene of the
occupation, she was able to discern the truth about what she saw, and write
about it with clarity.
--
The name of the organization of which Rachel Corrie was a member was not the
"Islamic Solidarity Movement" but the International Solidarity
Movement (ISM). Was this an intentional distortion on the part of David Brumer,
who could easily have known better? This should be clarified. Mistake or not,
this calls for a formal retraction by author or newspaper, or both.
--
It is true that the use of human shields is a violation of the Geneva
Conventions. The Israeli army often employs this illegal tactic in its
operations against Palestinian civilians. However, Rachel Corrie and her fellow
ISM volunteers were not "unsuspecting" people being manipulated as
"human shields" by Palestinians. The ISM is composed of human rights
activists who are committed to providing support, witnessing, and a measure of
safety to Palestinian civilians under constant attack by the full might of the
Israeli army.
--
The ISM is not an "extremist" movement, but one which seeks to uphold
respect for human rights as enshrined in international law. In the Occupied
Territories the ISM works against racism and apartheid. Far from being
extremist, this work reflects values that Americans hold dear, such as
non-violence, equal rights, the right to security in one's home, and the right
to a livelihood.
II.
Israel
--
Probably the most important thing of all to point out is that there is violence
between Palestinians and Israel because Israel is occupying all of Palestinian
territory. Going back a bit (but not very far) in history, 800,000 Palestinians
were displaced from what is now Israel in 1948, when Israel was founded. This
event took over 78% of historic Palestine, and the rest (the West Bank and Gaza)
was occupied by Israel in 1967, displacing several hundred thousand more
Palestinians. These people have not been allowed the right to return home, as
supported by many U.N. resolutions. They have since lived in refugee camps under
poor conditions. Further, thousands of Palestinians have been killed, injured,
jailed, and tortured under the 40-year occupation, and thousands of homes and
olive orchards have been destroyed. This is the background to the violence --
not Islamic fundamentalism.
--
Many Israelis "yearn for peace," but their government works around the
clock against peace by continuing to conquer more land and drive Palestinians
out to make room for Israeli-Jewish settlements. Israel's government is now
erecting a massive separation (annexation) barrier that crowds the Palestinian population into ever-denser
sections of land, like ghettoes, separating them from their farmland so that
they can have no livelihood.
--
The true nature of the occupation is manifested in land confiscation, house
demolitions, and checkpoints that make freedom of movement and a normal day of
life impossible for all Palestinians. On top of this, the Israeli occupying army
regularly attacks Palestinian civilians with F-16 fighter jets, helicopters
tanks, and heavy artillery, killing and wounding thousands. We regret the deaths
of Israeli citizens, but insist on pointing out that the death toll has been at
least four times higher on the Palestinian side -- a fact that Brumer omits.
--
The Israeli political system displays some aspects of democracy, but only for
Israeli Jews. Contrary to Brumer's assertions, Israeli Palestinians do *not*
enjoy equal rights with Jews. Discrimination against Palestinians is
comprehensive: in school, work, health, and social services, opportunities and
conditions are consistently, vastly inferior to those available to Israeli Jews.
"Jim Crow" describes the situation within Israel; in Israeli-occupied
Palestine, the more appropriate word is "apartheid." There is nothing
democratic about this.
--
The "generous offer" by Israeli Prime Minister Barak as described by
Brumer was not, in fact, something that any Palestinian representative could
have accepted. It would have annexed extensive Israeli settlements on
Palestinian land, cutting the West Bank into separated reservations. The land
offered in exchange for these parcels was not comparable in size, quality, or
viability.
--
The "withdrawal" from Gaza has not left it an "emancipated"
territory, by far. To the contrary, Israel has retained so much control over
Gaza's air, water, and border access and crossings that the occupation arguably
continues. And regular Israeli military incursions into Gaza, with resulting
destruction exponentially greater than the paltry Qassam rockets mentioned by
Brumer, amount to a state of siege on the territory.
--
The United States government uncritically supports Israel's occupation of
Palestinian land with $3 to $6 billion a year in aid. We call for an end to this
aid until the occupation is fully terminated.
III.
Hamas
--
We don't presume to support all of Hamas's goals or tactics, but feel compelled
to point out that the violence of the besieged and terrorized is a natural
result of the conditions described above and of the actions of the Israeli
military dictatorship, when no other avenue of redress is available. Despite the
blind alley of occupation, even the militant Hamas carried out a unilateral
cease-fire for well over a year in 2005-2006; it was Israel which refused to
stop the violence.
--
Hamas has not completely recognized Israel, but has done so implicitly by
agreeing to negotiations. And in recent years prominent members of Hamas
have repeatedly expressed a willingness to discuss peace with Israel, based on mutual
recognition of each other's sovereignty, rather than a one-way recognition of
Israel by Hamas.
--
Hamas won the favor of the Palestinian electorate more because of its
social policies and lack of corruption than because of its militancy. While
Fatah (the party of deceased leader Yasser Arafat) was widely considered to be
corrupt and unresponsive, Hamas has channeled extensive resources into provision
of services to a destitute population, and its officials have a reputation for
honesty.
--
Rachel Corrie was not in the Occupied Territories to support Hamas, but to
provide solidarity with the population of Palestinian civilians under siege.
*
Email
your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
*
Full
text of article:
Sunday,
March 18, 2007
Play
shines light on conflict
By David Brumer, Guest Columnist
Last
week, as the Seattle Repertory Theater opened the one-woman show, "My Name
is Rachel Corrie," we were again reminded of the tragic death of this
passionate young woman from Olympia. Yet perhaps her untimely death and the play
that celebrates her life can help shed new light on the ongoing Arab-Israeli
conflict and bring us closer to peace for both peoples.
Without
doubt, Corrie, who was killed in 2003 while protesting the Israeli Defense
Forces demolitions of Palestinian houses in the West Bank and Gaza, wanted to
make the world a better place, and she fervently believed her actions in Gaza
furthered that goal. But armed with an incomplete understanding of a very
complex situation, she may have unwittingly supported a cause she would have
been horrified to learn, actually undermined many of the beliefs and values she
most cherished. When she attended pro-Hamas rallies in Gaza and in one
photographed instance, burned a mock American flag, she may have been swept away
by the youthful exuberance that buoyed her in the certain belief that her
protests were justified by the need to defend the rights of the innocent and
oppressed.
But
if she was alive today, I like to believe she would be shocked by Hamas' rise to
power, given what they stand for. At first, she would be surprised to learn that
Hamas, an acronym for "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia," or Islamic
Resistance Movement, is an offshoot of the radical Islamist movement known as
the Muslim Brotherhood and founded in 1928, long before the establishment of the
modern state of Israel. That Hamas is fighting to establish an Islamic state in
Palestine and beyond, a state that if ever successfully created, would be ruled
by Islamic Sharia Law. She would be appalled to hear that institutionalized
misogyny plagues Arab women in Gaza, with widespread violence often inflicted on
them from their husbands and clans, the most severe culminating in "honor
killings" for adultery, even when the accusation is unsubstantiated. The
form of execution mandated is death by stoning.
Some
of Corrie's compatriots who joined the extremist Islamic Solidarity Movement
alongside her, who might be gay or lesbian, would also not fare well under the
yoke of Hamas. Were they to assert their sexual orientation under such a
government, they would risk certain persecution, violence and possibly even
death. Those standing under the much vaunted human rights umbrella so frequently
touted by the defenders of the downtrodden in Gaza might be surprised to
discover that using unsuspecting Western activists as human shields constitutes
a gross violation of the often cited Geneva Convention. So too does targeting
civilians (a proudly self-proclaimed Hamas practice) and firing from densely
populated civilian neighborhoods, another favored tactic of Hamas and other
internationally recognized terror organizations operating out of Gaza, like
Islamic Jihad.
Meanwhile
Israel, the nation whose policies and practices Corrie characterized in her
diary as "true evil," continues to be a thriving secular democracy,
where gays participate in military service, all women have the right to vote,
with 18 of them serving in the 120-member Knesset, or Israeli Parliament. Of
that parliamentary body of 120 members, 10 are Arabs, and there are three
parties in the government representing the Arab segment of the Israeli
population. In addition, Ishmael Khaldi, the Israeli Deputy Counsel General for
the Western United States, is an Israeli-Arab and the second highest Israeli
government representative in Western America. All Israeli citizens, Christians,
Muslims and Jews enjoy freedom of speech, the press and unfettered religious
expression. And all citizens, including the over one-million strong
Israeli-Arabs, 20 percent of the population, have access to education, modern
health care and good jobs.
Israel
mourns the senseless deaths of all the Palestinians who have died since the
eruption of the second intifada, recognized by Israelis as a deliberately
launched terror war by the late Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian leadership.
The deaths of all Palestinians during that war are not only senseless and
tragic, but have done nothing to further the cause of establishing two states,
living side by side in peace. Yet even after all the bloodshed of those years,
both the Israeli government and the vast majority of Israelis still yearn for
peace and a two-state solution. As Ambassador Dennis Ross definitively
established after the Camp David Talks in the summer of 2000 (he was there
throughout those talks as Special Middle East Coordinator under President
Clinton), the Clinton Parameters improved on those earlier Israeli peace
offerings, and at Taba in early 2001 Israel made its most far-reaching offer for
peace:
Full
withdrawal from Gaza.
Relinquishment
of more than 96 percent of contiguous land in the West Bank.
Arrangements
for a 4 percent land swap in exchange for the remaining percent.
Palestinian
control of their holy sites in Jerusalem as well the Arab neighborhoods of East
Jerusalem, where they could declare their capital.
The
right of return to all Palestinian refugees -- and their descendants -- to the
new Palestinian state.
A
$30 billion fund created to compensate those refugees who chose not to exercise
their right of return into the new Palestine.
Arafat
and the Palestinian leadership rejected this offer and instead launched the
Second Intifada, leaving more than 1,000 Israeli men, women and children dead
and thousands more wounded and traumatized. Yet despite such suffering, Israel's
desire for peace remained great enough that in the summer of 2005, it withdrew
completely from Gaza, uprooting more than 8,000 Israeli citizens, including 48
who had died, interred in graves near their families' homes.
Those
very painful sacrifices made by the Israelis in the name of peace were answered
with almost daily barrages of Qassam missile attacks launched from the newly
emancipated Palestinian Gaza into southern Israeli communities. After Hamas
swept into power in January 2006, those unrelenting Qassam missile attacks
culminated in a brazen, unprovoked ambush through a tunnel dug into Israel
proper, resulting in two Israeli soldiers killed and one kidnapped.
Despite
it all, Israelis still wants nothing more than to live in peace with its
neighbors. Just as Israel made peace with brave Arab leaders such as Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein, so Israel continues to dream of
a day when she can live side by side with a free and democratic Palestine,
realizing the vision of a two-state solution for the two beleaguered peoples.
"My
Name is Rachel Corrie" reminds us of the tragic loss of life on both sides.
Let us honor those lives by continuing to support the moderates in the region.
May there soon come a day when the only aspirations of Palestinian children are
to grow up to be doctors, educators, and entrepreneurs, living side by side in
peace and prosperity with Israel. Let's not allow those dreams to blow up in
smoke.
David
Brumer is a member of the International Committee of the Anti-Defamation League
of the Pacific Northwest. He works as a geriatric social worker and
psychotherapist. Visit his blog, BRUMSPEAK, at http://brumspeak.blogspot.com
back to top
CONTACT SENATORS MURRAY AND
CANTWELL ABOUT ANTI-PALESTINIAN SIGN-ON LETTER TO SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA
RICE
Action
Requested: Please call or e-mail Senators Patty Murray and
Maria Cantwell urging them not to sign a letter, currently being circulated in
the Senate, calling for no contact with Palestinian leaders,
Time by which action
should be taken:
--Ideal: Wednesday, March 14
--Still helpful: Friday, March 16
Context:
This alert is adapted from an alert sent out by Brit Tzedek
(see http://ga3.org/btvshalom/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=6987599)
Senators
Bill Nelson (D-FL) and John Ensign (R-NV) are circulating a deeply problematic
sign-on letter to Secretary Rice (see full text below) that asks her to promote
a policy of banning ALL contact with Palestinian moderates such as President
Mahmoud Abbas, if the new Palestinian unity government does not explicitly agree
to all of the Quartet’s requirements: recognize Israel, renounce violence, and
abide by previous agreements. Senators will be faced with intense pressure to
sign the letter early this week, leaving little time to consider its
repercussions. Call your Senators NOW and urge them NOT TO SIGN the
Nelson-Ensign letter to Rice!
This
so-called “pro-Israel” letter suggests that the U.S., Israel, and the
international community prohibit contact with ALL members of the Palestinian
Authority if it does not meet the Quartet requirements. This would prevent all
diplomatic engagement with Palestinian leaders, and is therefore in direct
opposition to any sincere impulse for negotiation and peace-building on either
side of the conflict.
Talking Points:
--
This letter calls on Sec. Rice to ban contact with ALL members of the
Palestinian Authority, including moderates like President Abbas, if the unity
government does not meet the Quartet’s requirements. This would render
impossible any progress towards the restart of negotiations.
--
In the event of such a continued standstill in progress, Palestinians will be
further victimized by the now 40-year-old Israeli occupation for an indefinite
period of time.
--
Delaying the start of negotiations will also thus perpetuate the atmosphere of
fear among Israelis and, for that matter, prolong the region-wide tension
stemming from the continuing injustice caused by the occupation.
--
Please work to pressure the Israeli government (and encourage Secretary Rice to
do so) to end the occupation, rather than cutting off lines of communication
between parties which must, ultimately, negotiate.
Contact
Information
Phone numbers and
e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
E-mails to most
Senators must be sent via their web
sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar
of your browser.
Senator Patty
Murray: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Murray’s
Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
To fax Senator Murray: Fax: (206) 553-0891;
Senator Maria
Cantwell: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/
Senator
Cantwell’s Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
To fax Senator Cantwell: Fax: 206-220-6404;
*
Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org
or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media
monitoring records.
Thank you!
*
Full text of
Nelson-Ensign letter to Secretary Rice
The Honorable
Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
United States Department of State
Dear Madame Secretary:
Securing peace in
the Middle East between Israel and all of her neighbors has been a long-term
goal of the United States- long before and quite apart from the current conflict
in Iraq -- and we support your efforts to advance that important goal.
We know how deeply
the people of Israel long for peace, and we are mindful of all the avenues
successive Israeli governments have pursued to achieve it: bilateral
negotiations, multilateral negotiations, and unilateral actions. Unfortunately,
those efforts have yet to bring a lasting peace, largely because there has been
no viable Palestinian leader ready to negotiate an end to the conflict who has
the strength and conviction to compromise and then to implement an agreement.
This sad fact remains as true today as it has ever been.
That is why, as you
seek to reinvigorate the peace process, we believe it important to reinforce
certain basic principles that have guided US Middle East policy that we know you
share. First among these basic principles is securing the three very basic
obligations put forward by the Quartet that the Palestinian Authority must meet
in order for it to receive direct aid from the international community:
recognition of Israel's right to exist, a renunciation of violence and terror,
and acceptance of previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. So
far, as a result of the international community's firm unity on these
obligations, this policy has had a real impact, with pressure mounting on the
Hamas led PA to do what is necessary in order for international assistance to
resume.
The pressure to
form a Palestinian unity government is a manifestation of that impact. We
were deeply disappointed, however, that last month's Mecca agreement negotiated
between the leaders of Hamas and Fatah failed to meet or even address the
obligations of the Quartet. Statements
by Hamas leaders since the agreement was signed only reinforce that fact. While
the agreements might have brought a temporary peace between Hamas and Fatah, it
had little to do with making peace with Israel and ultimately does not serve the
interests of the Palestinian people.
We know that there
are already some in the Quartet who are pressing for direct aid to resume. That
would be a huge step back from the peace process you seek to invigorate. We urge
you to continue to hold firm and insist that these very basic international
principles not change- no direct aid and no contacts with any members of a
Palestinian Authority that does not explicitly and unequivocally recognize
Israel's right to exist, renounce terror, and accept previous agreements.
We know that these
are principles that you helped develop and certainly share. It
is our strong hope that they remain central to your efforts and to those of the
Quartet as the process moves forward.
Sincerely,
* ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** ***** *****
back to top
Emergency Week of Action,
Aug. 7-11 Events Planned All Over
the Country
On July 30, Israel bombed a
residential apartment building in the Lebanese village of Qana, killing 57
civilians, including 37 children
(see below for details).
When U.S. soldiers killed
civilians in Fallujah and other densely populated areas of Iraq, the Bush
Administration claimed the "war on terror" justified such actions. But nothing
justifies bombing innocent civilians, no matter who does it or in what
country.
It is likely that U.S. weapons
provided to Israel with U.S.-taxpayer dollars killed the villagers of Qana.
According to The Washington Post, a bomb fragment found at the Qana bombing
site read "For use on MK-84, Guided Bomb BSU-37/B". MK-84's are free-fall
unguided bombs; Boeing-produced Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM's) are
attached to MK-84's to convert them into GPS-guided "smart" bombs. Between
2002-2004, the Pentagon notified Congress of impending sales of 6,000 JDAM's
and 2,590 MK-84's to Israel through its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program -
valued at $346 million.
There is no military solution to
the current conflict. The Iraq war hasn't brought peace or security to the
people of Iraq and the U.S. Bombing civilian populations has not and will not
bring greater peace or security to the people of Lebanon, Palestine, and
Israel.
The only way out of the carnage
is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, followed by multiparty
negotiations to resolve the underlying political disputes based on human
rights and international law. Most of the world agrees, but the governments of
the U.S., Britain, and Israel have so far rejected calls for an immediate
cease-fire.
So long as Washington provides
military and diplomatic support to Israel's indiscriminate killing of
civilians, a cease-fire will not be possible. It is time for the people of
this country to speak up! The US Campaign and United for Peace and Justice,
the country's largest anti-war coalition, call on you to take action to press
Congress and the White House to back an immediate ceasefire and prevent Israel
from using U.S. weapons to commit war crimes.
TAKE ACTION THIS WEEK:
Emergency Week of Action, Aug. 7-11
During the week of Aug. 7-11,
while Members of Congress are home on recess, organize local pressure on your
Representatives and Senators to demand an end to support for Israel's human
rights violations, an immediate cease-fire and a just peace, and the end of
weapons deliveries to Israel.
Depending on the position of
your Members of Congress, local organizers should decide whether a protest,
vigil, meeting, or nonviolent civil disobedience is the most effective way to
express opposition to U.S. support for Israel's attacks.
Your delegation should include,
if possible, constituents who were evacuated from Lebanon so that they can
provide eye-witness accounts.
-
Click here to see where events are being
organized or to sign up to organize one.
-
Click here and here for resources on the
legislation mentioned below, action alerts with talking points,
and policy briefs and news articles on Israel's misuse of U.S. weapons.
-
Click here for the addresses of the
district offices of your Members of Congress.
-
Click here for a template to fax a
constituent meeting request to your Members of Congress.
-
Click here for tips on how to conduct a
meeting with your Members of Congress.
ISSUES TO RAISE WITH YOUR
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:
1. Support Kucinich &
Jackson-Lee Resolutions for Immediate Cease-Fire & Just Peace
On July 19, Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(D-OH) introduced
H.Con.Res.450, calling for an immediate
cease-fire and multi-party negotiations with no preconditions. On July 25,
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) introduced
H.Res.945, calling for the cessation of
targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, secure humanitarian corridors
to be opened in Lebanon, an immediate cease-fire, and a comprehensive and just
resolution to the Israeli-Arab conflict. Ask your Representatives to sign-on
as a co-sponsor of these resolutions, or thank them if they've already done
so. Ask your Senators to introduce a similar resolution in the Senate.
Pressure on Congress has already resulted in 34 Representatives signing on to
the Kucinich resolution, while 16 have signed on to the Jackson-Lee
resolution.
If your Congressperson is a
member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, let them know you expect them to support an
immediate end to the bombing of Lebanon. And urge them to publicly announce
their support for a cease-fire now.
2. Stop U.S. Support for
Israel's Attacks on Gaza and Lebanon
On July 18 and 20, the
Senate and House respectively passed one-sided resolutions expressing
unconditional support for Israel's attacks on civilians and civilian
infrastructure in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip (S.Res.534
and
H.Res.921). Tell your Members of Congress
that the United States should be supporting human rights and international
law, not expressing support for their violation. If your Representative was
one of the few who voted no or abstained, thank them for not supporting this
biased resolution.
3. End Weapons Deliveries to
Israel Now
Over the past month, Lebanese
and Palestinians civilians by the hundreds have been killed by Israel with
U.S.-supplied weapons. By using U.S. weapons to kill civilians and destroy
civilian infrastructure, Israel is violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA),
which limits the use of U.S. weapons to internal policing and legitimate
self-defense. Instead of stopping the flow of weapons as required by law, the
United States is rushing jet fuel and satellite- and laser-guided bombs to
Israel. Ask your Members of Congress to demand from the President a report on
Israel's violations of the AECA as a first step toward cutting off U.S.
weapons to Israel.
Get voices for peace into the
media
Now is the moment to help people
see there is an alternative, and getting our voices into the media should be a
central part of what we do:
- For your local newspapers: send a letter
to the editor and encourage others to send letters; try to arrange for an
op ed piece or a guest editorial; if you or someone you know has been
personally touched by this crisis, try to get a reporter to do an
interview.
- Call into radio talk shows: you can
often talk about anything that's on your mind and reach thousands of
people.
- If you organize a visit to your member
of Congress, invite a reporter to come with you.
- Be sure to let the media know about any
public educational or protest events you are organizing.
BACKGROUND ON QANA AND
CIVILIAN DEATHS
Israeli officials are blaming
Hezbolla for the Qana deaths, saying Israel cannot be held responsible for
killing civilians in "terrorist strongholds." But according to Kenneth Roth,
executive director of Human Rights Watch, the most recent strike on Qana
"suggests that the Israeli military is treating southern Lebanon as a
free-fire zone... [and] seems to consider anyone left in the area a combatant
who is fair game for attack." According to Human Rights Watch, the consistent
failure to distinguish between combatants and civilians is a war crime.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/30/lebano13881.htm
In three weeks the Israeli government's bombing
campaign has killed at least 750 Lebanese, the vast majority civilians; made
700,000-800,000 Lebanese homeless; and methodically destroyed Lebanon's
infrastructure. Hezbollah fire has killed 52 Israelis, 19 of them civilians.
July 14, 2006: Stop Israel's Attacks on Gaza
& Lebanon
BACKGROUND: Israel is using weapons supplied
by the United States to target Palestinian & Lebanese civilians and civilian
infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in violation of the US Arms Export
Control Act and the Geneva Conventions.
* On July 12th, Israel killed 23
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with missiles fired from aircraft and shells
fired from tanks. Israel killed 9 members of one family in a missile strike on a
house near Gaza City.
* On July 12th, Israel launched a
massive invasion of Lebanon. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting
civilian infrastructure, including bridges, roads, a mosque, a community center,
and the Beirut International Airport, and the Israeli navy is blockading
Lebanon's ports. Israel has killed at least 50 Lebanese civilians and
injured more than 100, including entire Lebanese families of 10 and 7 people
killed in the villages of Dweir and Baflay.
* On June 27th, Israel launched a
massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft fired missiles
targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts of collective
punishment, Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip's only
electricity generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering
Palestinian human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and
freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the
purpose of these measures is to "apply pressure" to the civilian population of
the Gaza Strip.
* On June 20th, Israeli aircraft
fired at least one missile at a car in an extrajudicial assassination attempt on
a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed its intended
target and killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
* On June 13th, Israeli aircraft
fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial assassination of two Palestinians in
Gaza City. A second barrage of missiles fired shortly afterward killed
nine Palestinian bystanders.
* On June 9th, Israel shelled a
beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32. At the site of
the killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence of a 155mm artillery shell
consistent with those fired from an Israeli M-109 Self-Propelled
Artillery.
Israel's human rights violations in the Gaza
Strip and Lebanon are being committed with US weapons financed by US tax
dollars:
The Israeli air force fighter squadrons are
composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire
US-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. From 2000-2005,
the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts,
engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.
From 2000-2005, the United States licensed
to the Israeli navy more than $572 million worth of patrol boat, ship, and
submarine components and spare parts, torpedoes, and sonar equipment.
From 2000-2005, the United States licensed
to Israel more than $348 million worth of tanks, components, and spare
parts.
From 2000-2005, the United States licensed
to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109 spare parts and 155mm artillery
shells.
(Statistics for US weapons licensed to
Israel are compiled from the State Department's annual report to Congress
pursuant to Sec. 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act. For more information,
click here:
http://pmddtc.state.gov/)
Israel's summer of killing civilians and
destroying civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that
Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite last year's
"unilateral disengagement". Living under military occupation, the
Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are "protected persons" under the terms of the
Geneva Conventions. Israel's targeting of civilians and civilian
infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is a violation of the Geneva
Conventions and constitutes war crimes.
In addition, by using US-supplied weapons to
commit these atrocities, Israel is violating the terms of the US Arms Export
Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act
restricts the use of US weapons to legitimate self-defense and internal
policing; US weapons cannot be used to attack civilians in offensive
operations. The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US aid of any kind to a
country with a pattern of gross human rights violations.
TAKE ACTION: Hold Israel to account for its
killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza
Strip and Lebanon.
1. Contact the White House, State
Department, and your Members of Congress to demand that Israel is held
accountable for its violations of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign
Assistance Act and urge that military aid to Israel be cut off as required by
law. Click here to send an email:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460 2. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed for
your local newspaper and call your local talk radio stations to protest Israel's
atrocities in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and highlight US support for these
actions. For contact information for your local media, click here:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/
Below is a template for a letter to the
editor:
Letters to the editor should be short,
punchy, and clear. They MUST refer to actual coverage of that particular
paper, either naming a particular article or referring to trends (as
below). Be sure the text of the letter does in fact respond to the
particular article or trend you reference. Be sure to include full name,
address, contact phone numbers and (for some, not for others) name of the
organization.
BE SURE THAT LETTERS ARE ALL DIFFERENT,
AND DO NOT LOOK LIKE CARBON COPIES OF EACH OTHER!
TEMPLATE: USE
THIS AS A GUIDE, NOT A CARBON COPY!
* Ask WHY DOESN'T [NAME THE
NEWSPAPER] ACKNOWLEDGE or DOWNPLAYS or MINIMIZES THE FACT THAT or DOES NOT
EMPHASIZE THAT a) ISRAEL IS
ATTACKING CIVILIANS or b) ISRAEL
IS DESTROYING NON-MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE
or c) ISRAEL'S RESPONSE IS
DISPROPORTIONATE
* Add YOUR READERS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO
MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING a)
THAT THE VICTIMS INCLUDE X, AGE XX, Y, AGE XX, AND Z, AGE XX
or b) THAT DESTROYING THE
ELECTRICAL PLANT
MEANS
1) 860,000 CIVILIANS WITHOUT POWER, MANY WITHOUT WATER
or
2) HOSPITALS DEPENDING ON LAST WEEK OF FUEL FOR GENERATORS
or
3) THE UN SAYS GAZA FACES A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE
or
4) ISRAEL AND U.S. HAD ALREADY IMPOSED A SEVERE BOYCOTT ON GAZA
CAUSING HUGE HUMANITARIAN CRISES
* EXPRESS CONCERN FOR ISRAELI VIOLATIONS
OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THE UNCRITICAL NATURE OF U.S. SUPPORT
FOR THOSE VIOLATIONS.
* ASK [THE NEWSPAPER] TO BE MORE BALANCED IN
ITS COVERAGE.
MODEL LETTER:
To the Editors:
I am mystified by the failure of the
mainstream media to acknowledge that Israeli military actions in the Gaza and
southern Lebanon are targeting civilians and other non-military targets.
The destruction being wrought on the Palestinian people, and now the Lebanese,
has largely been ignored while all attacks - whether on soldiers or civilians -
carried out by a Palestinian militant receives significant
attention.
The silence of the vast majority of the
mainstream media and political leadership in the USA regarding Israel's actions
and the blind-eye taken toward Israel's continual failure to respect the United
Nations' resolutions to withdraw from the Occupied Territories, makes a mockery
of any concern regarding human rights and international
law.
I ask that [THE NAME OF NEWSPAPER] provide
more balanced coverage of the situation in Palestine, and offer a forum for
legitimate debate on the issues at hand. Years after an atrocity, the
people of the world look at themselves and ask '...why were we silent?' It
is not too late to preempt that question.
Sincerely,
3. Make a donation to support humanitarian
efforts to reprovision the Gaza Strip with much-needed medical supplies for
Palestinian children. The Middle East Children's Alliance and Grassroots
International, member organizations of the US Campaign, are accepting
tax-deductible donations to send medical supplies. Click here to donate:
http://www.mecaforpeace.org/GazaMeds.html
or
http://www.grassrootsonline.org/
4. Support the efforts of the US Campaign to
End the Israeli Occupation to build a national movement to challenge US support
for Israel's human rights violations. Click here to donate to our summer
fundraising drive:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1221
July 30, 2006:
Palestine Solidarity Committee-Seattle denounces hate crime
The Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) wishes to express its shock and sorrow
for the vicious attack against members of the Jewish Federation. This attack was
the action of an unbalanced individual, and we denounce this violent crime
unequivocally.
Attacks based on ethnicity or religion do nothing but detract from work for
equal rights, justice, and freedom. Anyone who perpetrates such attacks works
against all we stand for.
We sincerely hope that this act will not escalate ethnic tension in our city. We
call on the citizens of Seattle to reflect on the need for tolerance and to work
towards non-violent ways of resolving conflicts, both locally and globally.
July 14, 2006:
Stop Israel's Attacks on Gaza & Lebanon
BACKGROUND: Israel is using weapons
supplied by the United States to target Palestinian & Lebanese civilians and
civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in violation of the US
Arms Export Control Act and the Geneva Conventions.
* On July 12th, Israel killed
23 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with missiles fired from aircraft and shells
fired from tanks. Israel killed 9 members of one family in a missile strike on a
house near Gaza City.
* On July 12th, Israel
launched a massive invasion of Lebanon. Israeli aircraft fired missiles
targeting civilian infrastructure, including bridges, roads, a mosque, a
community center, and the Beirut International Airport, and the Israeli navy is
blockading Lebanon's ports. Israel has killed at least 50 Lebanese civilians
and injured more than 100, including entire Lebanese families of 10 and 7 people
killed in the villages of Dweir and Baflay.
* On June 27th, Israel
launched a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft fired missiles
targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts of collective punishment,
Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip's only electricity
generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering Palestinian
human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and freedom of
movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the purpose of these
measures is to "apply pressure" to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.
* On June 20th, Israeli
aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an extrajudicial assassination
attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed its
intended target and killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
* On June 13th, Israeli
aircraft fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial assassination of two
Palestinians in Gaza City. A second barrage of missiles fired shortly afterward
killed nine Palestinian bystanders.
* On June 9th, Israel shelled
a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32. At the site of the
killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence of a 155mm artillery shell consistent
with those fired from an Israeli M-109 Self-Propelled Artillery.
Israel's human rights violations in the
Gaza Strip and Lebanon are being committed with US weapons financed by US tax
dollars:
The Israeli air force fighter squadrons
are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which
fire US-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. From 2000-2005,
the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts,
engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.
From 2000-2005, the United States
licensed to the Israeli navy more than $572 million worth of patrol boat, ship,
and submarine components and spare parts, torpedoes, and sonar equipment.
From 2000-2005, the United States
licensed to Israel more than $348 million worth of tanks, components, and spare
parts.
From 2000-2005, the United States
licensed to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109 spare parts and 155mm artillery
shells.
(Statistics for US weapons licensed to
Israel are compiled from the State Department's annual report to Congress
pursuant to Sec. 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act. For more information, click
here:
http://pmddtc.state.gov/)
Israel's summer of killing civilians and
destroying civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that
Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite last year's
"unilateral disengagement". Living under military occupation, the Palestinians
of the Gaza Strip are "protected persons" under the terms of the Geneva
Conventions. Israel's targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the
Gaza Strip and Lebanon is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes
war crimes.
In addition, by using US-supplied
weapons to commit these atrocities, Israel is violating the terms of the US Arms
Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act
restricts the use of US weapons to legitimate self-defense and internal
policing; US weapons cannot be used to attack civilians in offensive
operations. The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US aid of any kind to a
country with a pattern of gross human rights violations.
TAKE ACTION: Hold Israel to account for
its killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza
Strip and Lebanon.
1. Contact the White House, State
Department, and your Members of Congress to demand that Israel is held
accountable for its violations of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign
Assistance Act and urge that military aid to Israel be cut off as required by
law. Click here to send an email:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460
2. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed
for your local newspaper and call your local talk radio stations to protest
Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and highlight US support for
these actions. For contact information for your local media, click here:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/
Below is a template for a letter to the
editor:
Letters to the editor should be
short, punchy, and clear. They MUST refer to actual coverage of that particular
paper, either naming a particular article or referring to trends (as below). Be
sure the text of the letter does in fact respond to the particular article or
trend you reference. Be sure to include full name, address, contact phone
numbers and (for some, not for others) name of the organization.
BE SURE THAT LETTERS ARE ALL
DIFFERENT, AND DO NOT LOOK LIKE CARBON COPIES OF EACH OTHER!
TEMPLATE: USE THIS AS A GUIDE, NOT A CARBON COPY!
* Ask WHY DOESN'T [NAME THE NEWSPAPER] ACKNOWLEDGE or DOWNPLAYS or MINIMIZES
THE FACT THAT or DOES NOT EMPHASIZE THAT
a) ISRAEL IS ATTACKING CIVILIANS or
b) ISRAEL IS DESTROYING NON-MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE or
c) ISRAEL'S RESPONSE IS DISPROPORTIONATE
* Add YOUR READERS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING
a) THAT THE VICTIMS INCLUDE X, AGE XX, Y, AGE XX, AND Z, AGE XX or
b) THAT DESTROYING THE ELECTRICAL PLANT MEANS
1) 860,000 CIVILIANS WITHOUT POWER, MANY WITHOUT WATER or
2) HOSPITALS DEPENDING ON LAST WEEK OF FUEL FOR GENERATORS or
3) THE UN SAYS GAZA FACES A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE or
4) ISRAEL AND U.S. HAD ALREADY IMPOSED A SEVERE BOYCOTT ON GAZA
CAUSING HUGE HUMANITARIAN CRISES
* EXPRESS CONCERN FOR ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW,
AND THE UNCRITICAL NATURE OF U.S. SUPPORT FOR THOSE VIOLATIONS.
* ASK [THE NEWSPAPER] TO BE MORE BALANCED IN ITS COVERAGE.
MODEL LETTER:
To the Editors:
I am mystified by the failure of the
mainstream media to acknowledge that Israeli military actions in the Gaza and
southern Lebanon are targeting civilians and other non-military targets. The
destruction being wrought on the Palestinian people, and now the Lebanese, has
largely been ignored while all attacks - whether on soldiers or civilians -
carried out by a Palestinian militant receives significant attention.
The silence of the vast majority of the
mainstream media and political leadership in the USA regarding Israel's actions
and the blind-eye taken toward Israel's continual failure to respect the United
Nations' resolutions to withdraw from the Occupied Territories, makes a mockery
of any concern regarding human rights and international law.
I ask that [THE NAME OF NEWSPAPER]
provide more balanced coverage of the situation in Palestine, and offer a forum
for legitimate debate on the issues at hand. Years after an atrocity, the
people of the world look at themselves and ask '...why were we silent?' It is
not too late to preempt that question.
Sincerely,
3. Make a donaation to support
humanitarian efforts to reprovision the Gaza Strip with much-needed medical
supplies for Palestinian children. The Middle East Children's Alliance and
Grassroots International, member organizations of the US Campaign, are accepting
tax-deductible donations to send medical supplies. Click here to donate:
http://www.mecaforpeace.org/GazaMeds.html
or
http://www.grassrootsonline.org/
4. Support the efforts of the US
Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation to build a national movement to challenge
US support for Israel's human rights violations. Click here to donate to our
summer fundraising drive:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1221
April 5, 2006: P.I. Guest op-ed distorting Rachel story
Action requested: Please write a response to the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the op-ed article on Tuesday, April 4, 2006,
"Idealist Rachel Corrie was misled" By Gilead Ini, a senior research
analyst with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
(CAMERA). CAMERA is a media watchdog organization that often sends out distorted
information in the attempt to undermine criticism of Israeli policies
Please write a response to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
about the op-ed article on Tuesday, April 4, 2006, "Idealist Rachel Corrie
was misled" By Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst with the Committee for
Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). CAMERA is a media
watchdog organization that often sends out distorted information in the attempt
to undermine criticism of Israeli policies.
Please note that the Seattle PI has recently published several positive articles
and even a major editorial about Israel's military occupation and the work of
Rachel Corrie. As usual, they felt they needed to publish some kind of
counter-opinion. The article they chose is unfortunately full of innuendos and
misinformation, particularly about the International Solidarity Movement to End
the Occupation (ISM).
The full text of the article is included at the end of this
email.
Time by which action should be taken:
-- Ideal: Friday April 7th
-- Still helpful: Monday April 10th
Talking points for letter writing:
-- Seattle PI has recently published several articles and
an editorial which mentioned Israel's military occupation and supported the work
of Rachel Corrie. It will be good to remember and thank them, and to know that
they needed to print some kind of counter-opinion.
-- The International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation (ISM), which has
already been the target of a libelous campaign of misinformation. ISM is and has
always been devoted exclusively to nonviolent resistance to the illegal Israeli
military occupation of Palestinian territory. Dozens of Seattle-area volunteers
have worked with ISM, volunteers of all ages and from many walks of life -- not
the young naive idealists of Ini's deliberately distorted picture.
-- Though practicing only nonviolence, ISM supports the Geneva Conventions, and
therefore recognizes the right of people under occupation to legitimate armed
struggle - that is, armed struggle against soldiers only. At no time as ISM
facilitated or participated in armed struggle at any level. At no time nor in
any way has ISM supported attacks against non-combatants, either by Palestinians
or in far greater numbers by Israelis.
-- Not only were there no tunnels discovered in or around the house that Rachel
Corrie died defending, but the great majority of demolished Palestinian homes
are being destroyed not for security reasons but to make room for illegal
Israeli settlements.
--Ini's proposed history not only leaves out Zionist terrorism that dates back
to the early 1900's but also tries to cover up the central fact of the ongoing
expulsion of Palestinians, beginning with 800,000 Palestinians driven out in
1948 and continuing to the present day in the form of confiscations,
demolitions, and settlement building. Even many Israelis are calling the current
conflict the War for the Settlements.
-- Nonviolent resistance to Israeli war crimes does not equal denial of Israel's
right to defend itself.
-- ISM supports nonviolence, justice, peace, equal rights for Palestinians and
Israelis.
Letters to:
editpage@seattlepi.com
Op-ed Editor:
kimberlymills@seattlepi.com
Editorial Page Editor:
marktrahant@seattlepi.com
===
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Idealist Rachel Corrie was misled
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/265324_corrieresponse04.html
By GILEAD INI, GUEST COLUMNIST
All can agree that the death of a young woman is tragic.
Like the hundreds of young lives lost as the target of Palestinian suicide
bombers, and like those unintentionally killed during Israeli counterterror
operations, the loss of Rachel Corrie undoubtedly has affected many in a painful
way.
It is understandable, then, that her friends and family want to keep her memory
alive, and they have done so successfully. But whether Corrie's message deserves
to be propagated and celebrated by audiences in theater productions such as
"My Name is Rachel Corrie" and "Daughter Courage" is a
different story. Corrie was an idealist; but as fate had it, her idealism ended
up channeled through the radical International Solidarity Movement, an
organization that not only puts at risk the lives of Israeli civilians but also
the lives of its members.
ISM tells its young followers that Palestinians have the right to armed attacks
against Israelis, while at the same time making clear through its activities
that Israel has no right to protect its citizens. While the two positions seem
mutually contradictory, the organization apparently reconciles them by summing
up the complex Israeli-Arab conflict as singularly caused by a sadistic Israel
seeking arbitrarily to oppress Palestinians.
In ISM's world, legitimate Israeli security concerns don't exist. The group's
narrative obscures the fact that Palestinian terrorism began even before Israel
occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, that Israel acquired those territories in
a war precipitated by neighboring countries openly threatening to destroy the
Jewish state and that Israel repeatedly offered to turn over land to the
Palestinians. Hamas, whose charter makes clear that the group's violence against
Israeli civilians is rooted in racist ideology and is aimed at destroying
Israel, and other groups seeking Israel's annihilation are invisible in the
Middle East portrayed by ISM.
Why are those and other important realities about the conflict excised from
ISM's depictions? Is it because creating a false dichotomy of blameless
Palestinians and faceless Israeli oppressors makes it easier for the group to
persuade naïve idealists to risk their lives? Perhaps ISM's activists would be
less likely to throw themselves before Israeli bulldozers if they were told that
the bulldozers are used to search for very real smuggling tunnels that bring
weapons and explosives used against Israeli children. Whatever the reasons,
ISM's activists are misled.
But theatergoers should not be misled. They should know that any play based on
the ISM's dogmas might possibly provide audiences with a better understanding of
the organization's propaganda, but certainly will not offer viewers an accurate,
complete or nuanced understanding of the difficult situation in Israel, the West
Bank and Gaza Strip. ISM's partial and simplistic views are more geared toward
building hatred against Israel than toward forwarding peace, human rights or
justice.
Gilead Ini is a senior research analyst with the Committee for Accuracy in
Middle East Reporting in America.
back to top
March
30, 2006: Congressional Alert on anti-Palestinian bill
We
are sending you this alert in conjunction with a national effort by the US
Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, to ask you to take action on a
particularly dangerous resolution under consideration in the U.S. House of
Representatives. It appears that HR4681, which punishes the Palestinians for
electing Hamas by withholding aid to the Palestine Authority, will come under
consideration by a House committee very soon.
While
in the past Hamas has employed violence as part of its struggle against the
Israeli occupation, for the past year it has observed a unilateral truce, even
in the face of Israeli assassinations and incursions into Palestinian areas.
Hamas has stated that it will continue to observe this truce. The measures
proposed in HR 4681, far from discouraging terrorism or encouraging
democracy, can only serve to disempower and invalidate the Palestinian struggle
for self-determination and equal rights.
ACTION:
CONTACT
YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE HR 4681, THE
"PALESTINIAN ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 2006"
START
DATE FOR ACTION:
Friday,
March 31
TIME
BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
There
will be a period of time before HR 4681 comes up to the full House, so your
calls to Representatives on this issue will continue to be important.
BACKGROUND:
As
the US Campaign writes,
"Of
the several anti-Palestinian resolutions introduced by Members of Congress in
the aftermath of the Palestinian legislative election, the most far-reaching is
H.R.4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, introduced by Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) on February 1...
"The
central provision of this resolution would prohibit the United States from
providing direct assistance to the PA unless the President certifies that it has
fulfilled a long list of subjective and ambiguous conditions. Current law
already prohibits the United States from providing direct assistance to the PA
unless the President signs a national security waiver, and in fact the United
States provides no direct assistance to the PA.
"However,
this resolution goes far beyond reiterating the current US ban on direct
assistance to the PA; it also calls for many troubling provisions that would
punish and isolate the Palestinian people for exercising their right to
vote."
These
provisions include restriction of humanitarian aid to the Occupied Territories;
designation of the Territories as a "terrorist sanctuary;" prohibition
of official Palestinian diplomacy or representation in the United States;
targeting the UN for supporting Palestinian human rights; and denying
Palestinians the ability to receive assistance through international financial
institutions.
These
measures, far from preventing terrorism or encouraging a resolution to the
conflict in the region, are a throwback to the pre-Oslo days when the United
States would not even speak to representatives of the Palestinians. The U.S.
Administration would do much better to pressure the Israeli government to end
the occupation.
You
can view the text of the U.S. Campaign's appeal on their web site at
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/
RECOMMENDED
ACTION
Please
write letters to your Congressional Representatives expressing your objections
to H.R.4681, (the "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006") and urging
them not to support it.
You
can also simply modify, sign, and post a message electronically from the US
Campaign's site by going to this page:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2536
Contact
info:
Phone
numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members:
http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html
E-mails
to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access these
sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
If
possible, it would be very helpful if you could write us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org,
describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.
Thank
you for your urgent attention to this matter.
back to top
March 14, 2006:
Thank P.I. for editorial on Rachel play
Please
thank Seattle P.I. for its editorial column affirming the value of the recent
play by Bread and Puppets, "Daughter Courage," about Rachel Corrie.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Tuesday, March 14
--Still Helpful: Wednesday, March 15
Short listing of news item:
Seattle
Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board
"Rachel Corrie: Invisible no more"
Monday, March 13, 2006
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/262561_corried.asp
(vote at bottom of the P.I. article on seeing "My Name is Rachel
Corrie" presented in Seattle.)
The full text of the article is included at the end of this
email.
Why we are asking you to write: Usually we ask you to write critiques of
misleading media pieces. This is an unusual opportunity. The P.I. Editorial
Board has published a column that in a few short paragraphs acknowledges the
courage and good intentions of Rachel Corrie and the brutality of the Israeli
occupation -- a word that rarely makes it into the newspaper. (The fact that
this is an unsigned editorial signifies endorsement by the newspaper.) The
editorial also honors the act of presenting this play in Seattle, when a New
York theater company backed out of producing another play about Rachel.
It is safe to assume that the P.I. will receive a barrage
of complaints about this editorial from people who wish to sweep Israeli abuses
under the rug and to blame Rachel Corrie for her own death. Let's write and try
to balance those complaints with appreciation.
Talking points for letter writing:
Your letter can be very brief;
it is the acknowledgment of the editorial in a positive way that counts. Below
are a few points that could be reinforced. Whichever point(s) you choose, the
most important thing is to say thank you.
-- The P.I. did a good thing in acknowledging, in an editorial, the value of the
play, the brutality of the occupation, and Rachel Corrie's good work.
--Rachel Corrie was not naïve, but wise beyond her years. She was not defending
terrorists, but defending innocent civilians from an attack by the State of
Israel. She was manipulated by no one, acting of her own free will in support of
the right of Palestinians to live in freedom. Rachel Corrie was not anti-Israel;
she and other activists who are called "pro-Palestinian" believe in
peace, security, and equal rights for both peoples.
-- The bulldozer that killed Rachel Corrie was manufactured by Caterpillar, an
American corporation. Caterpillar should be pressured to stop supplying the
Israeli government with armored bulldozers that are used, in violation of
international law, to destroy civilian homes under occupation.
--Rachel Corrie was an American who has become a symbol for courage and
solidarity with the Palestinians. But let's also remember that Palestinian
civilians themselves are being attacked regularly by the Israeli Defense Force,
an army that has occupied Palestinian lands illegally for almost 39 years.
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
Also, please go to the article and vote at the bottom
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will be helping someone with a similar viewpoint
get into print.
2) The word limit
for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of
the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example:
"Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle
East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful
in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority
by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a
reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just
pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your
full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper
needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and city
will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at pscdocs@yahoo.com or
forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
===
Full text of article:
SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/262561_corried.asp
Rachel Corrie:
Invisible no more
Monday, March 13,
2006
SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Can
Seattle liberals be proud about hosting a play on the remarkable Rachel Corrie
without being smug? Let's try.
At
a time when a supposedly bold New York theater dithered on one play, Vermont's
Bread and Puppets Theater gave a Seattle presentation of another work,
"Daughter Courage," about the Olympia human rights activist tragically
killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003. As Seattle P-I art critic Regina Hackett
described it, "Daughter Courage" is unabashedly pro-Palestinian. That
is certainly a part of exploring Corrie's legacy, as she died trying to
alleviate Palestinians' sufferings under an often-brutal occupation. But we
don't think she, her family or her supporters can be charged with blindness to
the suffering of Israelis, either.
Corrie's
critics delight in lamenting her supposed naiveté, as if 23-year-olds all ought
to sit on the sidelines awaiting the enlightenment of additional decades. The
London play, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," is about the inspiration to
be drawn from a caring young person's engagement with the world. In one of its
many beautiful lines, the play quotes an e-mail from her worrying mother, Cindy,
"Palestinians have really been invisible to me, but you are changing
that."
Now,
about our Seattle tendency toward smugness. It's hardly criminal for the New
York theater to think about balance. And let's remember that many people have
tried to learn more from Corrie's life. President Bush's State Department last
week included a statement about continuing concerns regarding her death in its
annual report on human rights around the world. Pointedly, the remarks were
included under a discussion of the international and non-governmental observers'
treatment while they are checking alleged human rights violations. That's an
appropriate way of looking at Corrie's presence in the Gaza Strip that largely
has escaped local notice.
© 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
back to top
February 25, 2006: Congressional Alert on
anti-Palestinian bill
CONTACT CONGRESSIONAL
REPRESENTATIVES TO OPPOSE HR4681, THE PALESTINIAN ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 2006
Since January, when Hamas won the
majority the Palestinian Authority's parliamentary election, the U.S.
Administration has been making threats against the new government. Congress
recently passed a bill that prohibited transfer of any funds to the P.A. This
law is largely symbolic, as the Administration has in any case not been granting
assistance directly to the P.A. However, Congress has now introduced a bill that
amounts to punitive measures against the entire Palestinian population. Together
with the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, the Palestine Solidarity Committee
is asking people to contact their and Representatives requesting that they
oppose the passage of HR4681.
For the U.S. Campaign
explanation of this campaign:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1188
For the text of the bill:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-4681
For good background
information on Hamas, see the fact sheet and question/answer article by Jewish
Voice for Peace:
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_292.shtml#q9
Background, talking points and
contact information follow below
Time by which action should be
taken:
-- Monday, February 27 for
impacting the movement of this resolution from committee
-- There will be a period of time
before HR 4681 comes up to the full House, so your calls informing your
Representatives on this issue will continue to be important
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Phone, fax, or email your
Representatives. Keep in mind that one fax is worth many e-mails. Since we do
not have direct access to our Representatives, please try to speak to the aide
most familiar with the issues we are addressing. It is helpful to make follow-up
calls to ask aides what actions they have taken.
BACKGROUND:
While it is not PSC's purpose to
praise Hamas and its goals and methods, Hamas was selected by the Palestinian
voters in internationally-accredited democratic elections[1]. The U.S. and
Israeli governments have reacted with measures that are punishing the
Palestinian electorate in ways that will only serve to increase support for
Hamas. The unbalanced idea of "starving Hamas out of power"[2] will
literally result in the starvation of Palestinian citizens.
HR4681, the Palestinian
Anti-Terrorism Act Of 2006, which currently has 68 co-sponsors, goes much
further than withholding funds from the Palestinian Authority. Provisions of the
Bill include restricting US humanitarian aid by designating Palestinian
territory as a “terrorist sanctuary” thus triggering the following:
restrictions on US exports; prohibiting official Palestinian diplomacy or
representation in the United States in a way counter-productive to promoting
dialogue and a just peace; reducing US dues to the United Nations because some
of its bodies were created by the UN to advocate for Palestinian human rights;
and denying Palestinians the ability to receive assistance through international
financial institutions.
This bill would punish and
isolate the Palestinian people for exercising their right to vote. This
unconstructive approach would only perpetuate the status quo of violence,
military occupation, and human rights violations rather than promoting dialogue
and a just, peaceful resolution to the conflict.
[1] "Don't punish the Palestinians" Jimmy Carter:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022106Z.shtml
[2] "U.S. and Israelis Are
Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster" Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/middleeast/14mideast.html?hp&ex=1139979600&en=d28cff5caa1702fa&ei=5094&partner=homepage
TALKING POINTS:
-- The Palestinian Authority is
already around $900 million in debt. The Israeli government has determined to
withhold a monthly payment of taxes to the P.A., which will render it unable to
cover the payroll on which around a third of the Palestinian population depends.
There is a very real possibility that the chilling effect of this action on the
Palestinian economy could result in starvation of Palestinians. Further
withholding of aid by the U.S. will only compound such a disaster.
-- Rather than punishing the
Palestinian voters, the U.S. Administration should pressure Israel to hold
direct peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority at the earliest
possible date.
-- The U.S. government must
demand that Israel give the Palestinians their own money that Israel collects
for them at customs. Delivery of humanitarian assistance must be allowed to
continue through UN and private agencies.
-- If the U.S. government wishes
to influence the new Palestinian government, it must find ways to do so without
injuring ordinary Palestinian civilians. However, the best way for the U.S. to
influence the situation and to reduce the violence would be to pressure Israel
to end the occupation of Palestinian lands; this is the root cause of
Palestinian resentment and resistance.
*
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Phone numbers and e-mail
addresses for your Congress members:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
E-mails to most Congress members
must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the above URL
into the address bar of your browser.
back to top
January 30, 2006: Seattle Times article on Palestinian
elections
Action
requested: Please
write the Seattle Times to comment on the Monday, January 30 article titled Palestinian
vote rocks Bush's plan for region." Like the preponderance of media
coverage around the January 25 elections in the Occupied Territories, this
article misses the crucial point that if the U.S. wishes to support democracy,
it should recognize the new, democratically-elected Palestinian government, and
should encourage negotiations with it.
This is the first of two alerts that we will be posting to you. The second one
is a forwarded Congressional action alert generated by the U.S. Campaign to End
the Occupation, encouraging activists to contact their representatives asking
them not to withhold U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority. We encourage
you to respond to at least one of these alerts, and let us know by bcc'ing us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org,
or by forwarding your letter to that address.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Tuesday, January 31
--Still Helpful: Friday, February 3
News item:
"Palestinian
vote rocks Bush's plan for region," by
Glenn Kessler
Monday, January 30, 2006
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mideastpolicy30&date=20060130
The full text of the article is included at the end of this
email.
Context: The
mainstream press has been inundated with professions of "shock" since
Hamas scored an overwhelming victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections
held last week. With an accent on Hamas's terrorist history, Israel vows to
refuse negotiations with any Palestinian government containing Hamas members,
and the U.S. Administration is preparing to withhold vital economic assistance
to the Occupied Territories because of Hamas's non-recognition of Israel. The
overwhelming thrust of this media coverage is that a Palestinian parliament with
Hamas members is a frightening, destabilizing element in Middle East politics
and must be repressed harshly. There has been precious little recognition,
first, that the popularity of Hamas is the direct result of long-term oppressive
Israeli and American policies, and second, that Israel's best hope for peace
would be to take the new democratically-elected government seriously and
negotiate with it on a sincere basis.
While Mr. Kessler's article, on the whole, repeats this
kind of context-free analysis, it includes one or two comments, noted below,
that should be recognized as helpful insight.
For a good background information on Hamas, see the fact
sheet and question/answer article by Jewish Voice for Peace at
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_292.shtml#q9
Talking points for letter writing:
--Kessler notes accurately that the U.S. " was so focused on facilitating Israel's withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip that it did not press Israel to end settlement expansion, release
additional prisoners or take other measures that might have reduced Palestinian
indignation." Better put, the U.S. did not press Israel to end the
occupation.
-- The attitude of the U.S. and Israeli governments that
negotiations with Hamas members must not take place is wrongheaded on various
counts. One does not choose one's enemy; if there is a sincere desire to work
towards peaceful resolution of the conflict, the Israeli government has no other
recourse than to talk to the government that the Palestinian population has
clearly legitimized.
-- The Bush Administration purports to be campaigning in
the Middle East and throughout the world for democratization. And Israel is
often touted as the "only democracy in the Middle East." Now, the
Palestinians have shown themselves to be one of the most democratic societies in
the Arab world.* Given this, the U.S. and Israel should show their sincere
desire to promote democracy by reinforcing the new Palestinian government.
*see quote from elections observer former president Jimmy
Carter in the January 26 Seattle Times article: "Huge Hamas win throws Mideast peace prospects further in
doubt": http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webmideast26&date=20060126
* (See JVP document cited above: "Considering
that this election took place under military occupation and was run by a
Palestinian Authority that does not have anything like the resources of an
independent government, the election, in and of itself, was a triumph for the
Palestinians. Virtually free of any scandals, and with nearly 78% of eligible
voters participating, the election was a huge success. In terms of
participation, transparency and verified honesty of the ballot, one would have
to dig deep and far before one found an Israeli or American national election
that could match it.")
--Regarding the hyped-up danger of a terrorist organization
running Palestinian society, several ameliorating factors must be recognized.
While we in no way support Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians any more
than we support Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians, it is important to
note that Hamas has held to its self-imposed, unilateral period of
"calm," during which attacks on Israelis have been significantly
reduced. Among other things, this is a result of Hamas's recognition that it
lacks the military power to significantly affect the Israeli occupation. Since
the beginning of Hamas's cease-fire in early February 2005 the IDF (Israeli
Defense Force) has been responsible for the deaths of over 170 Palestinians,
mostly civilians.
(For statistics on deaths in both sides of the conflict see the web site of the
Middle East Peace Council --
http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/resources/resources.asp
click on "conflict statistics".)
--Hamas has shown evidence that it is a flexible
organization that is capable of changing its positions. For example, Hamas has
historically refused to participate in Palestinian elections, but its current
participation and victory are a reflection of a moderating stance. This
assertion will be rejected by those who wish to perpetuate the disempowerment of
the Palestinians by any means, but it is a political truism that extremists,
once in office, are compelled to face the demands of power by mitigating their
policies. Hamas is not a monolithic organization, but some members espouse
relatively moderate tendencies. In any case, Hamas spokesmen have made it clear
numerous times over the past year that they are prepared to establish a
long-term truce with Israel if Israel shows a willingness to end the occupation
of Palestinian land.
--Speaking of occupation, the most omitted word in dozens
of articles from the mainstream media is "occupation." The Kessler
article in today's Seattle Times refers to the "Palestinian
territories," as if they were frontier lands benevolently administered by
the Israeli government. In fact, it should be recognized that the occupation is
the root cause of the violence. As Israel's violence towards Palestinians became
more extreme under former Prime Minister Sharon, the Palestinian response became
more extreme as well. In a very real sense the victory of Hamas is a clear
reflection of the long-term policies of Sharon and his predecessors. Given that
Sharon consistently refused to negotiate with Palestinian Authority president
Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority was powerless
to show its constituents any sign of success in making headway against the
occupation. Combined with the ruling Palestinian Fatah party's notorious
corruption and factionalism, this apparent weakness increasingly turned
Palestinian voters towards Hamas. While Hamas's militancy appealed to some, its
contrasting reputation for honesty and its record of public service was the
strongest attraction for the voters. In the end, according to polls, Hamas's
clean record was more of a selling point than its anti-Israel policy.
Email your letter to:
opinion@seattletimes.com
===
Full text of article:
"Palestinian
vote rocks Bush's plan for region," by
Glenn Kessler
Monday, January 30, 2006
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mideastpolicy30&date=20060130
WASHINGTON
-- Standing in a sunny Rose Garden on June 24, 2002, surrounded by his top
foreign-policy advisers, President Bush issued a clarion call for resolving the
deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "I call on the Palestinian people to
elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror."
Last
week, Palestinians gave their answer, handing a landslide victory in national
legislative elections to Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of
suicide bombings and desires the elimination of Israel. Bush's statement calling
for new leaders was aimed at the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but in
the same speech he also said it was necessary to thwart Hamas and other militant
groups.
The
election outcome signals a dramatic failure in the administration's strategy for
Middle East peace, according to analysts and some U.S. officials. Since the
United States cannot deal with an organization labeled a terrorist organization
by the State Department, Hamas' victory is likely to curtail U.S. aid, limit
official U.S. contacts with the Palestinian government and stall efforts to
create an independent Palestinian state.
More
broadly, Hamas' victory is seen as a setback in the administration's campaign
for greater democracy in the Middle East. Elections in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and now
the Palestinian territories have resulted in the defeat of secular and moderate
parties and the rise of Islamic parties hostile to U.S. interests.
The
administration has long been criticized for being reluctant to get involved in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; even after Bush's 2002 speech, the policy
drifted except for occasional high-profile speeches and events.
But
after Arafat's death in late 2004 and the beginning of the new presidential
term, Bush vowed things would be different, saying he would invest
"political capital" in ensuring a Palestinian state before he leaves
office three years from now.
The
effort went wrong on three fronts, according to interviews inside and outside
the administration:
--
The administration put its hopes on the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas,
and gave hundreds of millions of dollars for public-works projects. But it
failed to back him when he asked for concrete help, especially in his dealings
with the Israelis.
--
The administration was highly attuned to the shifts of Israeli politics but
tone-deaf to the upheaval in Palestinian society. It was so focused on
facilitating Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip that it did not press
Israel to end settlement expansion, release additional prisoners or take other
measures that might have reduced Palestinian indignation.
--
Despite deep Israeli misgivings, the administration late last year shifted
policy and decided Hamas could participate in the elections even though it had
not disarmed its militias, in contrast to rules set for elections in Afghanistan
and Northern Ireland.
To
be sure, a large share of the blame for Hamas' victory rests with Abbas --
widely perceived as weak and indecisive -- and his quarreling and often corrupt
Fatah party. The Palestinian Authority proved incapable of governing Gaza after
the Israeli withdrawal, adding to the perception of incompetence.
Analysts
credit the Bush administration with focusing on building some governing
institutions, such as a well-functioning Finance Ministry that handles the
foreign aid that keeps the Palestinian Authority afloat. But many experts fault
the administration for issuing high-sounding rhetoric without sustained
involvement on the ground.
"There
were eloquent speeches and praise for Abbas" but little else, said Robert
Malley, director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East program, who
was on President Clinton's National Security Council. "There was an
abstract faith in the idea that if you do the right thing, you will get a
two-state solution."
The
administration at the start of last year pledged it would take a low-key
approach that would rely much more on nations in the region to carry the
diplomatic burden. Officials were disdainful of the Clinton administration's
deep involvement in the peace process, which they believed amounted to
micromanaging.
But
over the course of the year, a top general was dispatched to help organize
Palestinian security forces, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn was
recruited to assist on the Gaza withdrawal and Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice in November personally negotiated the opening of a border crossing.
The
key to the administration's plan was Abbas, who was elected president after
Arafat's death. Abbas had briefly been prime minister under Arafat in 2003,
after international donors threatened to abandon Arafat if he did not allow the
creation of a strong prime minister. Abbas quit after a few months, blaming both
the United States and Israel for failing to back him up.
Administration
officials had said they would not repeat the mistake when he became president.
But
Abbas faced a steep road. The administration was perceived in the region as
biased toward Israel, in part because Bush backed the Gaza withdrawal plan with
pledges that Israel could keep large settlements and refuse the return of
Palestinians in a final peace deal.
Israel's
departure from Gaza was designed to be a unilateral step, depriving Abbas of a
negotiated peace victory he could claim; instead, Hamas asserted it had driven
the Israelis out with its uncompromising approach.
Abbas
cut a deal with Hamas, winning its agreement for a cease-fire in exchange for
allowing it to participate in elections. But Abbas did not put conditions on its
participation, such as giving up its weapons or even pledging not to attack
Israelis -- a problem that did not capture the administration's attention until
it was too late.
Abbas
privately convinced U.S. officials that a Fatah victory would be a blow to
Islamic extremism in the region, making the election showdown more enticing to
an administration promoting democracy in the Middle East. He also pledged to
quickly pass a law requiring the dismantling of militias as soon as the new
legislature was elected. The original argument that he should take action
against the militias sooner rather than later faded.
When
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned in September that he would try to
block Hamas' participation unless it disbanded its militia and accepted Israel's
right to exist, the administration forced the Israelis to back off.
"Elections
are fundamental to the continued evolution and development of the Palestinian
process," Rice said.
=======
Copyright (c) 2005 The Seattle Times Company
www.seattletimes.com
back to top
January 18, 2006: P.I. Guest Op-Ed on Sharon
Action
Requested: Please write a response to the Seattle P.I.
opinion piece from Wednesday, January 18: "Sharon
Makes Lasting Contributions"
by guest columnist David Brumer, inserted
in full below. This op-ed, a paean to the stricken Israeli prime minister
Ariel Sharon, is remarkable for its rote repetition of the entire catalogue of
myths about Sharon and his heroic status as a "brilliant strategist"
who helped create and strengthen Israel. While placing Sharon on a pedestal,
Brumer also vilifies the Palestinians with the usual round of epithets.
It is important that we avoid
rejoicing in Sharon's physical demise; in any case, his policies live on.
However, it is equally important that we work to debunk the avalanche of
falsehoods that have inundated the media since Sharon's last stroke took place.
Time by
which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Friday,
January 20
--Still helpful: Tuesday, January 24
Context:
Ariel Sharon was not a hero, but a militarist who advanced
his long-term goals for the expansion of Israel in the most vicious manner over
a long, well-recorded period. Among his notable early achievements was the
massacre of 69 Palestinians in the village of Qibya in 1953 .* As he rose
through the ranks of the army his reputation for two attributes, dishonesty and
brutality, grew. His culminating act as a military figure was to oversee the
massacres of the Palestinian refugee camps Sabra and Shatila in 1982, during the
Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
* see
http://student.cs.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/bigDB.php?eid=113
Sharon's famous visit to the Muslim holy site of the Al
Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on September 28, 2000, touched off the beginning of
the long-overdue second Intifada. Soon after, in February 2001, he was elected prime minister of Israel. During his
tenure, he supervised the destruction of over 7,500 Palestinian homes and
hundreds of orchards, the confiscation of thousands of acres of
Palestinian-owned land, the killing
of over 4,000 Palestinians, mostly unarmed civilians.*
He initiated the construction of the Separation Barrier in the West Bank,
designed to annex to Israel large areas of Palestinian land. In September of
last year, he orchestrated Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, leaving the territory
surrounded on two sides, its borders and air space under foreign control, and
bombed on occasion by Israeli forces, and essentially converting an occupation
into a siege.
* see (http://www.miftah.org/report.cfm)
Talking
Points:
1. Sharon's record as a "brilliant strategist"
must be set straight. His main goal was expansion of Israel's control over
Palestinian land, and his main instrument was military terror. The massacres at
Qibya and in Lebanon stand out, underlining these attributes of his career.
2. Brumer's article demonizes the Palestinians, repeating
the sham assertion that the Israeli government has "no negotiating
partner." In fact, the Palestine Authority under Arafat and then Mahmoud
Abbas was always willing to negotiate, but Sharon did not find this useful. He
saw no need to negotiate when he could achieve his goals by brutalizing
Palestinian civilians and stealing their land, and then covering up his
transgressions by blaming the Palestinians. Sharon had no desire to promote real
"Palestinian autonomy."
3. It is easy to point a finger at the Palestinians and
blame all of Palestinian society, and its hapless government, for the violence
of a few. But the fact is that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is the
root of this violence. There can be
no hope for a real end to this conflict without an end to the occupation; the
cards are in the hands of the Israeli government.
Brumer writes that "Israeli mothers dream that their
children will no longer have to work at checkpoints..." It dehumanizes the
Palestinians in a most offensive way not to acknowledge that Palestinian mothers
also dream: that their children will not be arrested without charge, detained
without trial, or humiliated at checkpoints.They also dream that Israel will
stop confiscating their land, and that they may live in their
homes without fear of demolition and eviction.
4. Brumer writes that Sharon's new Party "Kadima"
(Forward) "reflects the will of Israeli's moderate, mainstream
majority." This fanciful statement reflects the desire of an American
extremist to stake out a position even more hard-line than that found in the
mainstream Israeli press. In fact the Israeli electorate is quite polarized, and
Kadima's strength was based on Sharon's popularity. In recent times Sharon's
position, and by extension that of Kadima, was described as "centrist"
-- quite a stretch considering his ongoing goal of destruction of Palestinian
society.
5. One of Brumer's most imaginative stretches is to refer
to an "independent Gaza." In fact, Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza left
the territory in ruins, both socially and physically. Gaza's infrastructure, and
by extension the possibility of effective Palestinian self-government, had long
since been systematically destroyed by the occupying army. So it is no surprise
that amidst the destruction, hopeless Palestinians will lash out. Meanwhile,
Sharon collected a bounty of false political capital for this
"disengagement," which he then used to solidify and expand Israel's
hold on the West Bank.
For more background on Sharon see the following articles:
http://electronicintifada.net/forreference/keyfigures/sharon.html http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery10182004.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-makdisi7jan07,0,7417483.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
*
Full text of article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/256000_sharon18.html
Sharon makes lasting contributions
DAVID BRUMER
GUEST COLUMNIST
While the fate of Ariel Sharon is still undetermined, it is
not too early to comment on the legacy this extraordinary man leaves or the new
direction he has irrevocably set for the Jewish nation. His brilliance as a
military strategist helped create and strengthen the fledgling nation, but it is
as prime minister that he has made his most valuable and lasting contributions
to the still formative state of Israel, contributions that will ensure his
legacy as one of Israel's giants.
Sharon's first great accomplishment at the helm of
government was to defeat the strategically planned Palestinian campaign of
terror that began in late summer of 2000. After dramatically improving Israel's
security, he was ready to look to the future. But finding no partner for peace
in Yasser Arafat, Sharon initiated the unilateral disengagement from Gaza. While
this plan entailed painful sacrifices on the part of Israel and jeopardized
Sharon's standing within his own party, he boldly pushed through the evacuation
of 9,000 Jewish residents from Gaza.
Sharon's other important contribution to a more hopeful
future was to create a new centrist party, Kadima, or Forward, reflecting the
will of Israel's moderate, mainstream majority, who crave peace and have shown
themselves overwhelmingly supportive of living side by side with their
Palestinian neighbors.
Long before Sharon succumbed to serious health problems,
the onus for ending the conflict had shifted to the Palestinian side. An
independent Gaza was meant to be a first step in the direction of self-rule for
Israel's neighbors. Thus far, that experiment has been a dismal failure. Armed
gangs, warlords and terrorist groups currently vie for control of the Gaza
Strip. Qassam rockets rain down unceasingly into Israel, al-Qaida is already
trying to infiltrate into Gaza and Hezbollah has already established a beachhead
there. And the Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 25 are
shaping up as a struggle between Hamas, which still does not recognize Israel's
basic right to exist and refuses to disarm, and Fatah, whose leading
vote-getter, Marwan Barghouti, is serving five consecutive life terms in an
Israeli prison for his role in terrorism.
Given those grim realities, Israel's predicament is not
that Sharon can no longer lead the way toward peace, but rather, that there is
no equivalent leader on the Palestinian side with the courage and determination
to do what is necessary to transform Palestinian society. As long as there is no
end to terror, no monopoly on the use of arms by governmental forces and no end
to the culture of hatred, there can be little hope of continuing the momentum
toward peace.
While Sharon's departure from the political scene is a
great and sorrowful loss, Israel remains a mature democracy with the mechanisms
for the succession of power securely in place. Ehud Olmert already has taken
over the temporary reins of power as acting prime minister, and he will almost
certainly head the new Kadima party that Sharon established.
In Olmert, Israelis have a smart and seasoned leader, the
mayor of Jerusalem for a decade, a distinguished statesman in his own right,
known and respected by heads of government throughout the world. As deputy prime
minister under Sharon, he was a major force behind disengagement and other
visionary plans for establishing Palestinian autonomy while safeguarding
Israel's security. Olmert long ago recognized the legitimate rights of the
Palestinians to govern themselves, and is committed to ending the conflict in a
way that acknowledges both Palestinian and Israeli needs.
As mayor of Jerusalem during the height of the second
intifada, Olmert witnessed firsthand the horrors of Palestinian terror attacks
and was deeply affected by them. He has said publicly, "We are tired of
fighting, tired of being courageous, tired of winning, tired of defeating our
enemies. ... We want them to be our friends, our partners, our good neighbors,
and I believe that this is not impossible." Indeed, this remains the wish
of the vast majority of Israelis. Israeli mothers only dream that their children
will no longer have to work at checkpoints and that fences can eventually come
down.
Olmert has proved himself to be a leader who can be trusted
to negotiate further compromises with the Palestinians, to relinquish more land
in exchange for guarantees of peace, when there are responsible leaders on the
other side with whom to make lasting agreements. But as long as rockets continue
to rain down on Israel and terrorists continue to dictate policy, the
Palestinians continue to be their own greatest existential threat.
David Brumer is on the Israel Advocacy Committee of the
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.
back to top
DECEMBER 29, 2005:
THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES
Action Requested:
Please thank the Seattle
Times for Bruce Ramsey's editorial column exposing the inhumanity of the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian land and drawing a comparison between that occupation
and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, December 29
--Still Helpful: Tuesday, January 3
News item:
Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist
"Occupiers in another land, but hated all the same"
Wednesday, December 28, 2005: Editorials & Opinion
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002707197_rams28.html
The full text of the article is included at the end of this email.
Why we are asking you to write: We usually ask you to write critiques of
misleading media pieces, but this is an unusual opportunity to commend the
Seattle Times for publishing a rare comment that tells the unvarnished truth
about the brutal practices of the Israeli army that occupies Palestinian
territory. We wish to encourage future writing of this kind. We expect that the
Times will receive many letters criticizing the columnist and
the
paper for having taken this step. Your letters will send the important message
to the Times that there are many readers who are concerned about the behavior of
an occupying army and appreciate it being described for what it is.
Bruce Ramsey's column relays the message of some former Israeli soldiers who
have become repelled by the mistreatment of Palestinian civilians which they
have witnessed and, indeed, practiced themselves. These former soldiers have
founded an organization called "Breaking the Silence," which toured
the United States and visited Seattle in late October (see http://www.breakingthesilence.com/).
Ramsey quotes the two young veterans at length, describing how they used
gratuitous force essentially to terrorize the Palestinian population into
submission. The two former soldiers, Mr. Sharon and Mr. Chayut, describe how
they realized that they were engaging in brutal practices that had nothing to do
with protecting Israeli lives and that were unconscionable behavior.
Bruce Ramsey very briefly draws a parallel between the U.S. occupation of Iraq
and the Israeli occupation -- strongly supported by the U.S. Administration --
of Palestinian lands. We should thank Mr. Ramsey for this observation and point
out that the U.S. support or implementation of any occupation is thoroughly
wrong and objectionable, and that the violence done unto civilian populations
through the methods described in this column can only result in an escalation
and perpetuation of terror.
Talking points for letter writing:
Whichever point(s) you choose, the most
important thing is to say thank you.
--Mr. Ramsey has taken the courageous step of using the appropriate name for the
U.S. presence in Iraq and the Israeli presence on Palestinian land:
"occupation." Through tortuous legalistic reasoning and simple
distortion of the English language the truth is usually concealed, leaving such
euphemisms as "disputed territory" or "administered lands"
to hide the reality of an illegal occupation. Once the word is gone, the truth
disappears as well.
--Mr. Ramsey's recounting of Sharon's and Chayut's message provides us with a
relatively detailed description of the brutality of the Israeli occupation
visited daily upon Palestinian civilians for the last 38 years. The humiliation
and the mean, wanton, destruction committed by Israeli soldiers can only result
in an outburst of anger from those thus affected. It is in the violence of
occupation that we should find the original cause of the conflict, not in the
usually-implied "hateful" character defects of those under occupation.
--Given the vicious nature of this occupation, we call for an end to the U.S.
Administration's economic support of Israel as long as it continues militarily
to occupy Palestinian land.
--We call on the U.S. Administration to pressure the Israeli government to
implement a complete withdrawal from Palestinian land, accompanied by direct
peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
--Furthermore, the American people should examine and reconsider their support
of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, which shares many of the brutal attributes of
the Israeli occupation. The U.S. army has even called on the assistance of the
Israeli army for training of in the treatment of an occupied population (see
"Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq,"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4815008-103681,00.html
). Given the similarities of the two occupations, it is no wonder that in both
cases there are horrendous outbursts of violence in response.
--It is important to remember that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is
illegal. Prominent among relevant elements of international law are the 1949
Geneva Conventions, to which Israel is a signatory. The Fourth 1949 Geneva
Convention, covering belligerent occupations, prohibits a host of acts currently
committed by the Israeli government, including construction of settlements,
collective punishment, forced transfer of the native population, and denial of
education. (see
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm)
Email your letter to:
opinion@seattletimes.com
Reminders:
1) Please write even if you only have time for a brief note. Numbers count. If
you are not published, you will still be helping someone with a similar
viewpoint get into print.
2) The word limit
for letters that are intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with a reference to the title and date of
the article or opinion piece to which you are responding. Example:
"Regarding William Safire's Friday column ("Sharon shifts Middle
East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful
in establishing your authority. However, you can also establish your authority
by writing factual, logical, respectful letters. When possible, include a
reference to your source, such as, "according to the Israeli human rights
organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem with the piece in question. Just
pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include
your full name, street address and contact phone numbers. The
paper needs these to verify that you are actually the author. Only your name and
city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at alerts@palestineinformation.org or
forward your letter to that address. This is for our media monitoring records.
Thank you!
Full text of article:
Occupiers in another land, but hated all the same
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002707197_rams28.html
The travails of American occupiers of Arab Iraq may not be so different
from those of the Israeli occupiers of Arab Palestine. That is what I thought
while hearing the stories of Avichay Sharon and Noam Chayut.
Sharon, 24, and Chayut, 26, had been in the Israeli army. They were here
recently to criticize what their army does, touring under the auspices of a
group called Breaking the Silence. Of course they "had an agenda."
Keep that in mind -- but hear their story.
"It is very difficult to do this," said Sharon. "We love our
country. We grew up in patriotic Zionist homes, thinking we would serve in the
most moral army in the world." But the civilian notion of morality is
difficult to apply to the job of a military occupier.
The occupiers are shot at. To protect themselves, they search for weapons. They
have learned it is dangerous to approach a front door. Where houses are
wall-to-wall, they pound or blast through the wall instead. This is a tactic
proven to reduce casualties. "We invented it," said Chayut.
As a soldier, he commanded a squad in Jenin. Besides confiscating weapons, he
said, "the order was to arrest every male between 16 and 50. You go to
every house, handcuff and blindfold the men, put them in a truck and send them
to Israel." Usually, he said, the men were beaten up, though "that was
not in the order."
Sometimes the soldiers would commandeer a house, either leaving one room for the
family or expelling them. "I could choose who will be the family sent
outside for three weeks," Chayut said. He added, "I was 22 years
old."
Every night there would be a search-and-arrest operation. "You stop feeling
that these are people," Chayut said. "You can't sympathize. You break
things. You break the walls, maybe you break the floor if you suspect there are
weapons hidden there. I was in a small kid's room, tossing the things in the
kid's knapsack. I saw the kid in the corner. He was six or seven years old. He
was afraid of me. I saw fear and hatred in his eyes -- and I realized I looked
like a monster to him."
This was Chayut's moment of truth.
"Five minutes before, we had thrown that boy's father against the
wall -- his father, who is like a god to him. That is the essence of being an
occupier."
None of what I'm describing is about killing. Killing is not the essence. It is
the power to kill -- which is the power to humiliate. These youths were
humiliating men older than their fathers, and for any reason, or for none at
all. They did it for a political reason, or because they were frustrated, or
simply because they could.
They could take an armored personnel carrier and squash parked cars with it. And
they did.
"Was it fun?" I asked Chayut.
"It is fun," he said.
Smashing cars was not a military necessity. Ripping out a decades-old olive
orchard along a road in Gaza was, Sharon said, because it made the road secure.
He recalled the Palestinian owners of that orchard -- an old man, a middle-aged
man and a boy -- beholding the destruction of their family's asset. "I am
the son of a farmer," he said. "I know what it means to have an
orchard."
To all this I know the all-purpose reply: There is a war on. The occupier
has to "suppress terrorism." The occupier has to take "security
measures." Always the occupier has to "defend." Those are labels.
From the perspective of far away they may be satisfying. From the perspective of
these two soldiers, pushing the muzzles of their rifles at frightened fellow
humans, they were false labels, heavy carpets thrown over inconvenient facts.
The facts, as they saw them, were that they were occupiers, they were hated, and
they were doing things to make them hated more.
I asked Sharon his thoughts about Iraq.
"I am not an expert on Iraq," he said.
Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His
e-mail address is
bramsey@seattletimes.com
back to top
OCTOBER 22, 2005: P.I.'s ARTICLE ON BUSH AND ABBAS
Action Requested:
Please write a response to the Seattle P.I. article from Friday, October 21,
" Bush urges
Abbas to curb attacks," inserted in full below.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, October 24
--Still helpful: Wednesday, October 26
Context: President of
the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas visited the United States and met with
George W. Bush on Thursday. At the meeting, as mentioned in this article,
President Bush concentrated on pressuring Abbas to rein in militant Palestinian
organizations that employ violence against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Abbas
made the point that the PA is doing what it can in this area and that the U.S.
Administration must work harder to pressure Israel for an end to the occupation.
We readers and supporters of self-determination for Palestine need to write the
P.I. in support of this point.
In emphasizing the PA's role in pacification and overlooking the fact of the
occupation, President Bush reinforces the Israeli government's ongoing but
disingenuous claim that it has taken steps towards peace (such as the fake
"withdrawal from Gaza"*), while the Palestinians have yet to take
effective steps of their own -- or even that "there is no partner to
negotiate with." In fact, in the post-Gaza period the Israeli government
has been taking steps to reinforce and expand its hold on the West Bank
*See "Israel's Unilateral 'Disengagement'" by Diana Buttu
http://www.jmcc.org/news&media/editorial2.htm
Talking Points:
1. In his conversation with President Bush, Mahmoud Abbas expressed the need of
the Palestinian people: that the Israeli government must be pressured to end the
occupation. The ultimate source of the violence between Israel and Palestine is
the occupation, and Israel must display a sincere intention to bring the
occupation to an end before there can be any hope of ending that violence. But
contrary to such a development, construction of the "separation Wall"
continues with resulting destruction of homes and orchards, and annexation of
farmlands. The Israeli army has arrested over 400 Palestinians in a massive
escalation of repression in the Occupied Territories. (1) Settlement expansion
continues in many parts of the West Bank, and the Israeli army exercises no
effective control over invading settlers. As long as the Israeli government and
Israeli settlers are maneuvering to take more and more land away from
Palestinians, as long as the occupying army is visiting massive and regular
brutality upon Palestinian civilians, and as long as many Palestinians feel that
they have no other outlet, some of them will respond with violence (2)
2. The Israeli army has spent the last five years intensively destroying the
infrastructure of Palestinian society, with Palestinian police and government
buildings high on the list of targets. After such an onslaught, the Palestinian
Authority has been left without the logistical power required to clamp down on
the militant Palestinian organizations that attack Israelis. Without
an effective police force, the PA cannot very well be expected to provide order
in Palestinian society.
3. The Palestinian territories are due to hold legislative elections in January.
The government of Israel has vowed to prevent Hamas from taking part in these
elections. With all its talk of support for democratization in the Middle East,
can the United States government condone this thwarting of democratic processes
among the Palestinians? This would make President Bush's talk of a
"genuinely democratic Palestine" look particularly hypocritical.
Democratic processes have a tendency to bring "extremists" towards the
political center and give them a stake in non-violent participation. In fact,
Hamas has already been moving in this direction. The Israeli and American
pressure to exercise repression against Hamas, a movement that has strong
support from among the Palestinians, works counter to this moderating process. Rather
than "fighting terrorism," the real purpose of Bush's demand is to
pressure the Palestinian Authority into sub-contracting the Israeli occupation.
4. As Abbas travels to the United States to receive a lecture from Bush, Israeli
Prime Minister Sharon builds a new border between Israel and what will become
Palestinian enclaves, well outside the old, internationally recognized Israeli
"Green Line." The enclaves may eventually be called a state -- this
looks to be Sharon's strategy. But enclaves do not make a state. The violence
will continue, because the new "state" of Palestine -- actually a
string of ghettoes -- would not be economically viable; it would lack full
sovereignty over its borders, airspace, and resources, and remain a pressure
cooker for a frustrated society. (3)
5. President Bush has committed himself rhetorically to the establishment of a
Palestinian state, but continues to back away and soften his stance on an actual
date for this event. He has similarly avoided discussion of the status of
Jerusalem and the question of Palestinian refugee return. This stalling
effectively works as a form of support for Israel's occupation, its
not-so-covert expansion and for its general flouting of world opinion.
Background resources:
1) "Israeli Offensive in Gaza Targets Hamas"
By Jean Shaoul
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=4&id=2411).
2) "Israel Redraws the Roadmap, Building Quietly and Quickly" by Chris
McGreal
http://www.miftah.org/display.cfm?DocId=8708&CategoryId=5.
3) "Setting up Abbas" by Jeff Halper
http://www.miftah.org/display.cfm?DocId=8653&CategoryId=5).
Full text of article:
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=wdig21&date=20051021
Friday, October 21, 2005
Bush urges Abbas to
curb attacks
Washington
President Bush politely urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
yesterday to do more to crack down on terrorist attacks against Israel so that
long-stalled Middle East peace negotiations could move forward.
But Bush acknowledged that the negotiations have slowed to the point that he's
unlikely to reach his goal of an independent Palestinian state before he leaves
office in 2009.
Bush told Abbas that the best way to proceed was by "confronting the threat
that
armed gangs pose to a genuinely democratic Palestine" and to a
"lasting peace
between Israelis and Palestinians."
Bush said he'd name a new senior U.S. security coordinator in the region to help
Abbas and the Palestinian Authority fulfill their responsibility under the
so-called "road map" peace plan to end terrorist attacks, dismantle
terrorist
infrastructure and maintain law and order.
Abbas, who was elected last January, said his government was doing what it could
to rein in terrorism and called on Bush to push Israel to end its "policies
of
occupation" and policies of "settlement construction ... that
undermine your
vision toward two states."
"Peace and security cannot be guaranteed by the construction of walls, by
the
erection of checkpoints and the confiscation of land, but rather by the
recognition of rights," Abbas said.
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OCTOBER 9, 2005: ONE-SIDED P.I. ARTICLE BY YOSSI KLEIN
Action Requested:
Please write a response to the Seattle P.I. article from Wednesday, October 5,
"A Letter to His Palestinian Neighbors" by guest columnist Yossi Klein
Halevi," inserted in full below. This column is so one-sided and
oblivious to the reality of occupation that it cries out for refutation. Halevi
ignores the occupation completely, blames the victim of the occupation for lack
of progress in peace negotiations, and places the burden for change on the backs
of the Palestinians. Halevi projects an air of aloof philosophizing, as if there
were no demolitions, administrative detention, or abuse at checkpoints, and as
if the construction of an annexation Wall had never happened. This
"letter" is clearly meant to sway Western readers to believe that
Israel's position is righteous and that of the Palestinians is benighted.
We need to express our objection to the P.I.'s publishing of this cheap and
insulting kind of propaganda, and demonstrate that we are not fooled.
Time by
which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Sunday, October 9
--Still helpful: Tuesday, October 11
Context:
In mid-August Israel evacuated several thousand Israeli settlers from the
occupied Gaza Strip, and subsequently removed all settlements and Israeli
military installations from that territory. While this event was a monumental
propaganda coup for Israel, in fact the occupation of Gaza is not over, since
Israel still controls all of Gaza's air space, borders, and movement in and out
of the territory (for more on the disengagement see
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=2&id=1014
). Meanwhile, capitalizing on the "moral credit" gained from this
perceived withdrawal, Israel is escalating its offenses against Palestinians in
the occupied West Bank. Illegal Israeli settlements are rapidly expanding,
construction of the "security Wall" which effectively annexes to
Israel vast portions of Palestinian farmland continues, and Palestinians are
still abused on the street and at checkpoints (report on human rights violations
in since disengagement
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4218.shtml).
The column by Halevi is part of the cover-up of these events and the
whitewashing of the Israeli government's behavior. Phrased in liberal,
empathetic language, in fact this letter is yet another piece of demagoguery
calculated to make Israel look like the beleaguered party in the conflict, when
it is the Palestinians who have been under occupation for 38 years.
Talking Points:
1) One of the most objectionable
elements of this article is Halevi's position that Palestinians want to destroy
Israel, and the only difference among Palestinians is whether to do so quickly
or slowly. It's worth pointing out that, meanwhile, the reality is that Israel
has destroyed Palestine and is continuing to do so. There is an occupation going
on, after all, and it is the Israelis who are occupying Palestinian land, not
the reverse. It is also the Israelis, not the Palestinians, who have an army
with tanks, airplanes, and helicopters. The Israeli government has demolished
thousands of Palestinian houses, unjustly arrested many thousands of
Palestinians, held them without charge and in many cases tortured them, and is
in the process of building a Separation Wall which will annex thousands of acres
of Palestinian farmland to Israel. These things are not mentioned in Halevi's
letter (see
http://www.miftah.org/report.cfm for statistics on deaths, demolitions and detentions).
2. While these abuses are continuing,
Halevi speaks self-righteously of "legitimate claims" and
"national narratives." It would be good to point out that it would be
much more reasonable to expect to successfully embark on this kind of discourse
if Israel would, to paraphrase Desmond Tutu, "kindly get its foot off the
Palestinians' neck." Furthermore, Halevi's assertion that Palestinians have
"made virtually no effort to understand [the Israeli] narrative" is
the height of manipulation. Palestinians are trying full-time to understand why
their land is being stolen from under their feet. Meanwhile, few Israelis have
even a vague understanding of what it is like to live under occupation.
3. Halevi places the "onus for
ending the conflict" on the Palestinians, as if the entire problem were one
of the failure of the Palestinians to "make a conceptual breakthrough"
and accept the Israelis' "legitimacy." Actually, the problem is much
more concrete than that. If the Israeli government were to behave in a
2) The word limit for letters that are
intended for publication is 200.
3) Don't forget to begin your letter with
a reference to the title and date of the article or opinion piece to which you
are responding. Example: "Regarding William Safire's Friday column
("Sharon shifts Middle East politics")....
4) Personal experiences and/or
qualifications, when relevant, can be helpful in establishing your authority.
However, you can also establish your authority by writing factual, logical,
respectful letters. When possible, include a reference to your source, such as,
"according to the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem,..."
5) Don't try to respond to every problem
with the piece in question. Just pick one or two points to concentrate on.
6) Don't forget to include your full
name, street address and contact phone numbers. The paper needs these to verify
that you are actually the author. Only your name and city will appear in print.
7) Please bcc us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org
or forward your letter to that address. This is for our media
monitoring records.
Thank you!
legitimate manner, for example by
respecting international laws on human rights to which it is a signatory, it
would be much more possible for Palestinians to accept that legitimacy. Under
the present circumstances, there is no chance that this acceptance can happen.
4. Halevi justifies building a
"security fence" without acknowledging that it is routed in such a way
that it is effectively confiscating over ten per cent of West Bank land (so
far), shutting thousands of Palestinians into ghettoes, and separating them from
vital sources of work and sustenance. The Separation Wall is not being built for
security, but to create a new de facto border. For more information on the Wall,
see
www.pengon.org
.
5. Halevi refers to a "terror
lull." For the Palestinians, that "lull" is over. Since the
Israeli re-deployment from Gaza, Israeli terror against Palestinians in the West
Bank has markedly increased. The Israeli army has killed 32 Palestinians and
arrested hundreds more, just in the past month and a half (for more on arrests
of activists and candidates see
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=4&id=2411).
Full text of article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/243349_plo05.html
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 A letter to
his Palestinian neighbors YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI GUEST COLUMNIST
Once, before what you call the Second
Intifada and we Israelis call the Terror War, a time that seems now to belong to
another millennium, I undertook a one-man pilgrimage into your mosques and
churches, seeking to know you in your intimate spiritual moments.
I went as a believing Jew, praying and
meditating with you wherever you allowed me to enter into your devotional life.
My intention was to transcend, however briefly, the political abyss between us
by experiencing together something of the presence of God.
During my journey, which took me from
Galilee to Gaza, I saw the fearless heart of Islam, its choreography of
surrender, in which one becomes a particle in a great wave of devotion, a wave
that preceded our arrival on this Earth and that will continue long after we are
gone.
I learned that acceptance of mortality
can be the basis for a religious language of reconciliation. Repeatedly,
Palestinians would say to me, "Why are we arguing over who owns the land
when in the end the land will own us both?"
But I learned too, during numerous candid
conversations with Palestinians at all levels of society, that, in practice, few
within your nation are willing to concede that I have a legitimate claim to any
part of this land.
I learned in my journeys into your
society that moderation means one thing on the Israeli side and quite another on
the Palestinian side. An Israeli moderate recognizes the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict as a struggle between two legitimate national narratives. A Palestinian
moderate, by contrast, tends to disagree with the extremists about method, not
goal: He advocates the disappearance of Israel through more gradualist means,
like demographic subversion. He sees a two-state solution as an interim
agreement, a step toward a one-state solution, which, of course, is nothing more
than a thinly veiled code for the end of a Jewish state and the creation of a
Greater Palestine.
My journey into the faiths of my
neighbors was part of a much broader attempt among Israelis, begun during the
First Intifada, to understand your narrative, how the conflict looks through
your eyes. Your society, on the other hand, has made virtually no effort to
understand our narrative.
Instead, you have developed a
"culture of denial" that denies the most basic truths of the Jewish
story. According to this culture of denial, which is widespread not only among
your people but throughout the Arab world, there was no Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem, no ancient Jewish presence in the land, no Holocaust.
The real problem, then, is not terrorism,
which is only a symptom for a deeper affront: your assault on my history and
identity, your refusal to allow me to define myself, which is a form of
intellectual terror.
I believe that the onus for ending this
conflict has now shifted to your side. Many Israelis have made the conceptual
breakthrough necessary for peace between us; but we will remain entrenched
behind our security fence until we sense a shift in attitudes on your side. The
fence represents the antithesis of my hope for an Israel integrated in the
Middle East, but I must accept reality and protect myself from your refusal to
accept my legitimacy.
I wrote above that your people has made
"virtually no effort" to understand who we Jews are.
One remarkable exception was a pilgrimage
of Palestinian Israelis to Auschwitz two years ago. For Palestinian citizens of
Israel to reach out to Jews at the height of the Intifada was the deepest
expression of the generosity of Arab culture. I was privileged to be among the
Jewish participants in that Arab initiative. We stood at the crematorium, Arabs
and Jews holding each other in silence, facing the abyss together. At that
moment, anything seemed possible between us.
Lately, perhaps because of the terror
lull, I have been thinking again about that journey, and about the journey I
took into your devotional life.
I have even allowed myself to miss the
intimacy and uplift I felt in your mosques, the conversations about faith and
meaning and destiny over endless cups of coffee and tea, the sense of leisurely
time expanding into God's time.
I approached you then without apology for
my presence here or dismissal of your presence. And that is how I dream of being
with you again: as fellow indigenous sons of this land, which one day will claim
us both.
Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at
the Shalom Center and the Israel correspondent of The New Republic. He is also
author of "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God
with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land."
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
(c) 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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JULY 15, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON ANNIVERSARY OF ICJ
OPINION
We
are sending you this alert to ask you to join with us in commemorating
the one-year anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory
Opinion on the illegality of Israel’s Wall and using this opportunity to
educate and pressure government officials regarding this important and
increasingly urgent matter.
ACTION:
Contact members of Congress and
the State Department, and demand the United States comply with the ICJ opinion
regarding the illegality of Israel’s construction of the wall and the
illegality of other nations providing Israel with aid to build or maintain the
wall.
START DATE FOR
ACTION:
Friday, July 15
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN:
Thursday,
July 21
BACKGROUND:
One year ago, on July 9, 2004, at the request of the United Nations, the
International Court of Justice in
The Hague issued an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's
construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), an area
encompassing Gaza, the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem.
This Opinion represents the most authoritative statement to date on the content
and applicability of international law concerning Israel's occupation of
Palestinian territory. It
established that the construction of the Wall and of Israeli settlements in the
OPT breach both international law and international humanitarian legal
obligations. The ICJ made clear that Israel should not only immediately
stop with the construction of the Wall, but also begin dismantling existing
portions of the Wall and settlements and pay reparations to those who have lost
their property as the result of the illegal construction.
The Court also concluded that all states were obliged not to recognize
the illegal situation Israel has created and to refrain from any financial
support to Israel in maintaining the illegal construction. The ICJ noted that signatories to the Geneva Conventions of
1949, including the United States, have "additional obligations to ensure
Israel's compliance" with the Conventions.
You
can view the complete text of the ICJ Advisory Opinion at:
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/idocket/imwp/imwpframe.htm
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please write letters to your Congressional representatives and the State
Department expressing your support of the July 9th 2004 ICJ Opinion
and ask that the US comply with the rulings therein.
Contact info:
E-mails to most Congress members
must be sent via their web sites. To access these sites, enter the URL supplied
below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Patty Murray
E-mail:
http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Fax: (206) 553-0891
Senator Murray's Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
Senator Maria Cantwell
Email:
http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Fax: 206-220-6404
Senator Cantwell's Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for
US Representatives: http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html
Ambassador C.
David Welch
State Department
Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs
(202) 647-7209
nea-ipa@state.gov
It would be very helpful if you
could write us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org,
describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.
TALKING POINTS:
-- The
International Court of Justice ruled that states cannot "render aid or
assistance in maintaining the situation created" by Israel's construction
of an illegal Wall in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. (Paragraph 163D,
Source: http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/icjhome.htm)
-- The Israeli Foreign Ministry has announced plans to build high-tech terminals
to solidify its grasp on the occupied Palestinian West Bank under the guise of
easing the movement of Palestinian peoples and goods. The Foreign Ministry
affirmed that the terminals will be at "crossing points along the revised
route of the security fence." The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported that
Israel plans to build 34 of these terminals into the Wall.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2005/Israeli+assistance+and+humanitarian+measures+towards+the+Palestinians+-+May+2005.htm
-- Congress has already passed legislation limiting Israel’s use of US
assistance "only to support activities in the geographic areas which were
subject to the administration of the Government of Israel before June 5,
1967." (Public Law No. 108-11: Emergency Wartime Supplemental
Appropriations Act, 2003) Congress and the Executive Branch must act now
to ensure that this US aid to Israel is not used in the occupied Palestinian
West Bank to maintain Israel’s illegal Wall.
-- Regardless of whether money that the U.S. Administration grants to Israel are
explicitly designated for construction of these terminals, in any case these
considerable funds free up resources for Israel to continue its construction
projects. Since the Wall constitutes nothing less than a de facto annexation of
massive portions of Palestinian land to Israel, the United States has the
responsibility to work against this construction -- as emphasized by the ICJ
finding -- rather than supporting it.
-- Haim Ramon, the Israeli Cabinet minister in charge of Jerusalem, confirmed
claims that demographics and not only security determined the barrier route, and
is meant to ensure a Jewish majority in the city and not just serve as a buffer
against bombers. This represents de facto annexation of Palestinian land and is
illegal by international law as stated by the ICJ.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071100257.html
Thank
you for your urgent attention to this matter.
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to top
JUNE 2, 2005: P.I. ON PLANNED DESTRUCTION OF
JERUSALEM HOMES
Action Requested: Please
write a response to the Seattle P.I. article from
Thursday,
June 2, "East Jerusalem plan provokes protest", cited below.
On this, the 38th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories, it is crucial to examine the ongoing encroachment of Israeli
settlements on neighborhoods around Jerusalem heretofore inhabited by
Palestinians. The planned destruction of 88 Palestinian homes in the El-Bustan
neighborhood of Silwan valley, just outside of the Old City, signals yet another
inexcusable takeover of Palestinian residential areas. This plan exposes the
Israeli government's true intention, which have nothing to do with peace: to
continue illegal settlement expansion into the West Bank, in order for Israel to
secure for itself as much Palestinian land as it can, with as few Palestinian
inhabitants as possible.
If you do not live in the Seattle P.I. readership area, you can still write to
your local newspaper and comment on these developments.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Sunday, June 5
--Still helpful: Tuesday, June 7
News item:
East Jerusalem plan provokes protest
Thursday, June 2, 2005
By Erik N. Nelson Cox News Service
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/226745_jersalem02.html
The full text of the article is included at bottom.
Context:
Much ink has been spent in the world press about "peace negotiations"
and the forthcoming Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but developments such as this
planned destruction of yet another Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem
show that the Israeli government is forging ahead with its decades-long drive to
take over that area, and for that matter most of the West Bank, in small but
steady increments. The supposed withdrawal from Gaza is only a cover for that
encroachment. Meanwhile, the destruction of the Silwan neighborhood directly
violates the Road Map peace plan injunction against construction of new Israeli
settlements.
The demolition of 88 dwellings in Silwan, displacing close to 1,000
Palestinians, would constitute the largest Israeli demolition since 1967 in
Jerusalem.
It would be another step in what various Israeli officials have made clear is a
concerted program to establish a growing foothold in traditionally Palestinian
neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, drive the Palestinian inhabitants out, and
expand settler control over the entire space between Jerusalem and Israeli
settlements to the east of the city.
According to Meir Margalit, a former Jerusalem City Councilman and a member of
the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), "All this is part
of an explicit process of "Judaizing" Jerusalem. Look at the larger
picture," he says. "Put the settlement actions in Silwan together with
the ongoing
demolition of Arab houses in East Jerusalem. Put it together with the building
of the wall through Abu Dis. All these features together paint a very dramatic
picture where the Israeli government, together with the settlers, are part of a
national program to make the life of Palestinians so hard they will leave
Jerusalem. It is that simple."
For a comprehensive review by ICAHD of the Silwan plan and Israeli intentions
concerning the expansion of Israeli control in the East Jerusalem area, see
http://www.icahd.org/eng/
also:
US Campaign to End the Occupation fact sheet on the Wall:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1107
For more information of the illegal actions of the Israeli military towards
Palestinians during 38 years of occupation:
Fact sheet on US policy: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1076
Fact sheet on the law:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/fact_sheet_2.pdf
Talking Points:
1) The plan to destroy the homes of around 1,000 Palestinians in the Silwan area
of East Jerusalem is an affront to the rights of the legitimate civilian
inhabitants of that neighborhood. This is expulsion, the destruction of around
one tenth of the families inhabiting a traditionally Palestinian neighborhood
to make way for new Israeli settlement.
2) The plan constitutes an illegal operation by the Israeli government. Israel
regularly declares space inhabited by Palestinians as "open green
space,"
whenever it desires to clear it and claim it for its own purposes. Furthermore,
it uses the excuse that Palestinians built their homes without permission --
finessing the fact that the government never grants Palestinians building
permits. But no amount of legal manipulation or excuses negates the fact that
the
Israeli occupation itself is illegal.
Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention states: "Reprisals against
protected persons and their property are prohibited". Article 53 states:
"Any
destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging
individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other
public
authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except
where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military
operations."
Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that "extensive
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity
and carried
out unlawfully and wantonly" is a grave breach of the Convention.
3) The ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West
Bank violates the "Road Map" peace plan, which specifies that the
Government
of Israel must end "actions undermining trust, including attacks in
civilian areas and confiscation/demolition of Palestinian homes/property as a
punitive
measure or to facilitate Israeli construction."
4) This expansion exposes the false nature of the proposed forthcoming Israeli
withdrawal from Gaza. The Israeli government is trading Gaza for increased
control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Its maneuvers in these areas show
that it intends to capitalize on supposed moral credit gained by the
withdrawal from Gaza as a cover for expansion elsewhere.
5) Please note in your letter that this Sunday, June 5th, is the 38th
anniversary of the Israeli takeover of Palestinian lands after the 1967 war. The
salient features of this long and illegal occupation are the expansion of
settlements; proliferation of checkpoints; extended detention of thousands of
prisoners without charge; and the construction of a massive Separation Wall that
effectively annexes large portions of the West Bank to Israel. All these things
amount to denial of self-determination for the Palestinians. For peace ever to
be achieved between the Palestinians and Israel, these moves must be reversed.
Nothing less will work. Certainly, the destruction of the homes of another 1,000
Palestinians is a major step in the wrong direction.
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
Full text of article:
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Thursday, June 2, 2005
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/226745_jersalem02.html
"East Jerusalem plan provokes protest "
City wants to raze up to 88 Palestinian homes for park
Thursday, June 2, 2005
By Erik N. Nelson , Cox News Service
JERUSALEM -- Like any municipal planning director, Uri Shetrit has a vision
for his city: parklike vistas that highlight its history.
This Israeli's vision of a biblical archaeological park springs in part
from 3,000-year-old stones on display at the bottom of a canyon in the
Palestinian Arab neighborhood of Silwan.
The stones are remnants of Jerusalem's oldest history, in an area called
Shiloah in Hebrew, believed to be the original Jebusite city that King David
conquered and made the capital of Israel about 1000 B.C.
But the Palestinians now living in this valley, just down a hill from the
Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site, and Judaism's most revered
Western Wall, subscribe to a different vision for their neighborhood. They want
to
remain in their homes, and Palestinian leaders warn that the project could
hurt peace efforts.
As many as 88 homes in the neighborhood are designated to be demolished
under the city's plan, which has been widely condemned by Palestinian residents
and Israeli peace and human rights activists.
The plan would amount to the largest eviction of Arab residents of
Jerusalem since Israel captured the eastern part of the city from Jordan in
1967. A
year later, Israel tore down Arab homes adjacent to the Western Wall to make
room for a plaza.
Opponents of the demolition plan for Silwan note that it would displace
about 1,000 residents, one-tenth of the neighborhood's population. Some of the
families have lived in the neighborhood for three or four generations,
dating back to British colonial rule before World War II and the creation of
Israel in 1948.
But Shetrit says that the dwellings violate zoning laws and that perhaps 95
percent of the current residents came to the area in the 1990s from the
West Bank city of Hebron and have no legitimate claim to residency.
Since Israel captured the city, it has declared Jerusalem its eternal and
unified capital -- even though the United Nations, the United States and most
of the world still regard the city's eastern half as occupied territory.
Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of an independent
state.
Palestinian residents of Silwan say they will challenge the plan in Israeli
courts, which generally have frowned upon the destruction of homes if they
have been inhabited for a decade or more. Both sides agree that a large
proportion of East Jerusalem's 230,000 Palestinian residents live in housing
built illegally under Israeli administration of the city. Over the years,
Jewish groups have used the courts to evict Palestinian residents and take up
residence behind them. While the city's plan for Silwan would not put Israelis
in the houses, it would remove Palestinians from the neighborhood,
something opponents say serves the motives of right-wing Israelis.
"This reflects people in positions of authority who view the realities of
3,000 years ago with 20/20 vision, but are totally blind to the realities of
today," said Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer who advises the public
interest group Ir Amim, or City of Nations.
The group is taking the Israeli government to court for enforcing a
55-year-old law that strips ownership from absentee property owners, another
tactic
to push Palestinians out of the city, advocacy groups have complained.
"The attempt by all sorts of legal manipulations to eject many hundreds,
perhaps thousands of people from homes which they've lived in for decades,
based on a biblical-ecological vision of pastoral Jerusalem, gives me the
chills," Seidemann said. Shetrit said that he has been unfairly demonized
by the
Israeli media, and that the "four or five" dwellings he believes might
have
been in the area before 1974, when the area was designated as open space by
the city, would be preserved under his plan.
Even before 1967, the Jordanian government had designated the area as
public open space, he said.
(c) 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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MAY 7, 2005:
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON "JERUSALEM RESOLUTION"
We are sending you this alert
to ask you to take action on a particularly objectionable resolution recently
introduced in the U.S. Senate. A bill has been introduced, and subsequently
referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recognizing Jerusalem as the
“undivided capital of Israel.” Senate Joint Resolution 14 (S.J.Res.14)
requires this recognition to take place 180 days before any U.S. recognition of
a Palestinian state. Together with the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation and
other organizations, we request that you contact your Senators and urge them not
to support S.J.Res.14 and to oppose its passage.
ACTION:
Contact Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and urge them to oppose Senate
Joint Resolution 14, the “Jerusalem Resolution.”
START DATE FOR ACTION: Saturday, May 7
TIME BY WHICH ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN: Friday, May 13
BACKGROUND:
On April 19th, Senator Brownback (R-KS), together with cosponsors Mike Crapo
(R-ID) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), introduced S.J.Res.14, which calls for US
recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel prior to any
recognition of a Palestinian state by the US. The bill also denies all
Palestinian political, historical, and religious claims to the city.
The bill’s wording calls upon a spurious use of garbled history to support a
claim that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and only of Israel.
Completely negating all legitimate Palestinian claims to the city, S.J.Res.14
requires the United States recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move
its Embassy to that city prior to any recognition of Palestinian statehood.
While S.J.Res.14 calls for freedom of worship for all citizens of Israel, it
entirely overlooks the existence of the military occupation of Palestinian land,
and the accompanying regular denial of the freedom of Palestinians to worship in
their holy shrine at Jerusalem.
Due to its extreme racist character, S.J.Res.14 may sink of its own weight.
However, such dodgy legal forays by marginal Senators tend to accumulate
momentum over time. Ignoring S.J.Res.14 can only contribute to the legitimacy of
a later, similar but more clever attempt. It is important for us to weigh in on
this matter.
You can view the text of the legislation on the U.S. Campaign website at:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/s.j.res.14.pdf
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please write letters to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell expressing your
objections to S.J.Res.14 (the “Jerusalem Resolution”) and urging them not to
support it.
Contact info:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members:
http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To access
these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Murray
E-mail:
http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Fax: (206) 553-0891
Senator Murray's Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
Senator Cantwell
Email:
http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Fax: 206-220-6404
Senator Cantwell's Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
If possible, it would be very helpful if you could write us at alerts@palestineinformation.org,
describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.
TALKING POINTS
(adapted from U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation’s alert and other sources):
--S.J. Res. 14 makes a mockery of efforts to achieve peace in Israel and
Palestine, and shows that the U.S. is a biased participant in the peace process.
--For thousands of years, members of different ethnicities and adherents of
different religions have shared Jerusalem. To declare the city as the sole
capital and property of one nation, and to throw the political weight of the
world’s superpower behind this declaration, would be a gross violation of the
rights of the Palestinians who look upon Jerusalem as their holy city, as do
Israelis.
--Israel has controlled the Palestinian portion of Jerusalem, i.e., East
Jerusalem, since it began to occupy the West Bank and Gaza in June of 1967. U.N.
Security Council Resolution 242 called for Israel to withdraw from these
occupied territories. U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's undivided
capital would violate this U.N. resolution and other international laws, which
prohibit the acquisition of territory through the use of force.
--This is a chauvinistic resolution that only recognizes Israeli and Jewish
claims to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city of historical, religious, political,
and cultural significance for Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, and
Christians. The U.S. Senate has no business deciding which religion or
nationality has an exclusive claim to Jerusalem.
--The resolution claims that only citizens of Israel should have the right to
worship freely in Jerusalem and that Israel supports freedom of worship for all
faiths. All people, including Palestinian Muslims and Christians, are guaranteed
the right to worship freely (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18).
The resolution fails to mention that Israel often bars Palestinian Muslims and
Christians from accessing their holy places in Jerusalem.
--Jerusalem is one of the "permanent status" issues that are supposed
to be resolved by Palestinian and Israeli negotiators. Jerusalem has been
envisioned as a shared capital for Israelis and Palestinians in previous
negotiating rounds. It is inappropriate for the Senate to undercut the desire of
those Israeli and Palestinian negotiators who want to have Jerusalem as their
shared capital.
-- S.J.Res.14 conceals the grave
damage being done to Palestinians in Jerusalem by Israel's construction of an
illegal wall and the expansion of its illegal settlements there. Recently,
Israel announced plans to add 3,500 housing units to the illegal settlement of
Ma'ale Adumim, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The expansion of this illegal
settlement will sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank and prevent the
establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. In defiance of the
International Court of Justice, Israel is continuing to build an illegal wall
around and through Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, turning them
into disconnected and unsustainable ghettoes.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.
Note: Please e-mail us at alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what
action you have taken. This enables us to measure the impact of our alerts.
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APRIL 10, 2005: CONTACT CATERPILLAR
We are sending you
this action alert in conjunction with a campaign initiated by Amnesty
International. The goal of this campaign is to pressure Caterpillar Inc. stop
selling Israel armored bulldozers that are used to demolish homes of innocent
Palestinian civilians.
On Wednesday April 13th, the annual Caterpillar shareholders meeting
will be held in Chicago. This date has been declared an international day of
action against Caterpillar. In observance of this day we request that you
contact Caterpillar Inc. and send a message based on the talking points below.
ACTION:
CONTACT CATERPILLAR INC.
DEMAND THAT THEY STOP SELLING LIFE-DESTROYING BULLDOZERS TO ISRAEL.
Time by which action
should be taken:
Tuesday evening, April 12
BACKGROUND (adapted from Amnesty International reports):
The Israeli government continues to use Caterpillar bulldozers illegally to
destroy hundreds of family's homes and possessions, in support of Israel's
overall policy of forced eviction and demolition of homes of Palestinians living
both in the Occupied Territories and in Israel. Recently, Israel announced its
intention to suspend its policy of "punitive" house demolitions.
However, that category of demolitions constituted only a small percentage of all
such actions, and numerous other homes remain under threat of demolition. One
target is the homes that are in the path of Israel's "Separation Wall"
that is being constructed well inside the territory of the West Bank, cutting
off large portions of Palestinian land from access to its owners.
Forced evictions and house demolitions are usually carried out without
warning, often at night, and the occupants are given little or no time to leave
their homes. Often the only warning is the rumbling of the Israeli army’s
bulldozers and tanks and the inhabitants barely have time to flee as the
bulldozers begin to tear down the walls of their homes. In the wake of the
demolitions men, women and children return to the ruins of their homes searching
for whatever can be salvaged from under the rubble: passports or other
documents, children’s schoolbooks, clothes, kitchenware or furniture that was
not destroyed.
Many of these demolitions have been carried out using specialized
“D9” series bulldozers. Caterpillar promotes these bulldozers as having the
“flexibility to respond to the specialized unique needs of U.S. military and
government agencies along with foreign militaries…We are also well staffed to
design and manufacture high priority military modifications for our standard
products such as armor kits…”
It was a D-9 series bulldozer that was used by the Israeli military in the
killing of Rachel Corrie. Corrie, a US. citizen, was trying to stop the
demolition of a Palestinian civilian's home in the Rafah refugee camp in the
Gaza Strip when an Israeli army bulldozer ran her over, crushing her to death.
The D-9 has also been implicated in the deaths of Palestinians.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Below are several ways to contact Caterpillar:
1. Go to Caterpillar's contact form at their web site to post a letter:
http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=37391&x=7
2. Call Caterpillar's Corporate Public Affairs Office: (309) 675-4388
3. Write a letter:
Mr. James W. Owens
Chair and CEO, Caterpillar, Inc.
100 NE Adams Street
Peoria, Illinois 61629-1425
TALKING POINTS:
Express concern about Caterpillar bulldozers being used by the Israeli army to
commit human rights violations in Israel and the Occupied Territories.
--In the past four and a half years the Israeli army has used Caterpillar
bulldozers among others to demolish more than 7,700 homes,* vast areas of
agricultural land and hundreds of other properties in Israel and the Occupied
Territories. The destruction of these properties constitutes widespread
violations of the right to adequate housing and a decent standard of living for
tens of thousands of people. (*for figures on demolitions see www.miftah.org)
--Although Caterpillar sells its bulldozers to the U.S. government, Caterpillar
has been made aware of the fact -- through Amnesty International and many others
-- that its bulldozers are being sold by the U.S. government through US Foreign
Military Sales to Israel.
Urge Caterpillar to take the following actions:
--Caterpillar has claimed that the D-9 bulldozers are transferred to Israel
through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program. Given this, Caterpillar Inc.
should immediately request the U.S. government stop the transfer of these
bulldozers until enforceable guarantees can be obtained that they will no longer
be used to commit human rights violations. This suspension should also apply to
spare parts, training and other support whether supplied by Caterpillar directly
or through the US government.
--Caterpillar Inc. should adopt a code of conduct that complies with the United
Nations Human Rights Norms for Business (UN Norms). Caterpillar should appoint
an independent committee to determine whether the sale of its equipment to the
Israeli military conforms to its Code of Worldwide Business Conduct.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter
For more information and background on the use of Caterpillar's bulldozers in
the Occupied Territories, to Amnesty International's site:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=11671
Note: Please e-mail us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org and let us know what action you have taken. This enables us to measure
the impact of our alerts.
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MARCH 29, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON SEPARATION WALL
CALL CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT THE ILLEGAL DIVISION OF
JERUSALEM
In our Congressional alert of January 26th, we wrote you about the
Expansion of settlements in the Jayyous area and the resulting confiscation and
destruction of Palestinian property. Today, in spite of what seem to be
advancing peace negotiations and somewhat reduced violence between Israelis and
Palestinians, destruction of Palestinian property and curtailment of Palestinian
rights continue rapidly. One of the greatest causes of destruction -- and thus
emblematic of the continuing occupation -- is the Separation Wall that the
Israeli government is building throughout the occupied West Bank. [1]
We would like to call your attention to a request posted by the
Israeli Coalition Against House Demolitions, asking that informed citizens
contact their Congressional representatives to oppose the division of Jerusalem
caused by the ongoing construction of the Separation Wall. [2]
Construction of the Separation Wall in the Jerusalem area began in
August 2002 and during the past year has begun to surround the Jerusalem
municipality. It already cuts off Abu Dis and several other villages from
Jerusalem, the economic, cultural and political center of the West Bank.
Unless they have Jerusalem IDs, Palestinians from the West Bank,
Including the villages only a kilometer or two away, will be prohibited from
accessing the city that they have named as their capital. Additionally, in July
Palestinians from East Jerusalem will be prohibited from traveling to the West
Bank without a permit. This constitutes the separation of East Jerusalem from
the West Bank. Meanwhile, news reports this week inform us that 3,500 new
housing units are to be constructed in the Maale Adumim settlement east of
Jerusalem. The expansion of this settlement, in violation of international law
and the Roadmap peace plan, will further cut the West Bank into geographically
separate cantons, rendering a future Palestinian state unviable. [3]
A stark example of the damage caused by the Wall in the Jerusalem
area is found in the village of Sheikh Sa'ad, just southeast of the Jerusalem
municipality. In late September of 2000, the Israeli army blocked the road out
of Sheik Sa'ad with a pile of rubble, making traffic between this village and
Jerusalem almost impossible. Because of the conditions caused by the separation,
at least 30% of the residents have left the village. Difficult as it is now,
when the Separation Wall passes through thisarea in a few months, it will
completely sever the village from Jerusalem. It will mean the complete economic
death of Sheikh Sa'ad. [4]
Another instance of the drastic effect of the construction of the
Wall in the area around East Jerusalem is found in Beit Hanina, the neighborhood
bordering Ramallah to the north of Jerusalem. There, the Israeli army has
blocked the road that connects two parts of the town. Those living in one part
of the town lost their jobs in the other part after the road was closed. Travel
restrictions have caused the closure of event halls, factories, butcher shops, a
dental clinic and a private school. The rent market has collapsed as well,
leaving hundreds of apartments empty. Among other hardships, the completed
Separation Wall will prevent people in the western part of the town from
reaching the hospital. [5]
With these actions Israel is violating Article 12 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, which confirms the right to
Freedom of movement. Additionally, Article 43 of the Hague Regulations demand
that the occupying power should make every effort it can to ensure that public
life continues in the area under its control.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please contact your government representatives. Most of them have not
displayed concern about the security and rights of the Palestinians under
occupation. They need facts about the occupation, and they need to be informed
that they have constituents who care about this issue. Only this pressure will
help them change their positions. Phone, fax, or email your Senators, your
Congressperson, and/or their foreign affairs aide. Keep in mind that one fax is
worth many e-mails. Since we do not have direct access to our Senators, please
try to speak to the aide most familiar with the issues we are addressing. It is
helpful to make follow-up calls to ask aides what actions they have taken.
Time by which action should be taken:
--This is an ongoing campaign. Please call or write in the next few days.
TALKING POINTS:
The essential purpose of the Separation Wall, notwithstanding Israeli
rhetoric to the contrary, is to annex Palestinian land and to create a de facto
new Israeli border with the West Bank. Construction of the wall, still
proceeding at full pace, is cutting the West Bank into small, geographically
separate cantons, and separating Palestinian villagers from their farmland and
from the towns and cities where they work. This fragmentation of Palestinian
territory makes ordinary life and self-governance impossible.
Most extreme among these separations is the restriction of access to
Jerusalem for residents of the West Bank. Jerusalem is the heart of Palestine's
commercial and spiritual life, and its fate should be a matter for negotiations,
not the result of a the forced construction of an illegal barrier. If the Wall
continues simply to be forced through the West Bank countryside, it will leave a
permanent cause for resentment and hostility among the Palestinians.
Last year the International Court of Justice (World Court) found the
Separation Wall to be a grave violation of international law covering military
occupation. (URL reference here) The ICJ called upon the international community
to sanction Israel for this destructive project.[6]
As citizens of the United States -- the strongest supporter of Israel
– we must call upon our representatives to act in accord with the World
Court's recommendations.
We urge our Senators and Representatives to pressure the Israeli
government to halt the construction of the Separation Wall and the division of
East Jerusalem. Current travel barriers should be removed, and no new ones
should be put in their place. The fate of Jerusalem and its access to
Palestinians must be the subject of negotiations, not the de facto result of
unilateral actions by Israel.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your U.S. Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your Congress members:
http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html
E-mails to most Congress members must be sent via their web sites. To Access
these sites, enter the URL supplied below into the address bar of your browser.
Senator Murray's Foreign Affairs aide:
Ben McMakin in Washington: (202) 224-2621
To fax or e-mail Senator Murray: Fax: (206) 553-0891;
E-mail: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Cantwell's Foreign Affairs aide:
Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202) 224-3441
To fax or email Senator Cantwell: Fax: 206-220-6404;
Email: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
It would be very helpful if you could write us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org, describing to us your interaction with
any government officials over this issue.
Thank you!
Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle
Resources:
[1] Documents about the Wall supplied by the PLO Negotiations and Affairs
Department:
http://www.nad-plo.org/listing.php?view=palisraeli_wall_primary
Maps of the Wall: http://www.nad-plo.org/listing.php?view=maps_wall
Also: http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3178&CategoryId=21
[2] ICAHD (Israeli Coalition Against House Demolitions)
http://www.icahd.org/
Action alerts from ICAHD:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/icahdaction/
[3] "And the Land Grab Continues," Article from Miftah.org on recent
Israeli government approval of construction of additional 3,500 housing units at
Maale Adumim. http://www.miftah.org/Index.cfm
[4] Information from Israeli human rights organization B'tselem on Sheik Sa'ad
and other issues around Jerusalem: http://www.btselem.org/english/Separation_Barrier/Jerusalem.asp
[5] Khaled Odetalah (2005), Beit Hanina - a ghetto under construction:
http://www.pngo.net/campaigns/Beit_Hanina_impact_of_Wall.htm
Map of Beit Hanina: http://www.pngo.net/campaigns/Beit_Hanina_Wall.pdf
[6] Ruling on Separation Wall by International Court of Justice:
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2004/ipresscom2004-2_summary_mwp_2
0040709.htm
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FEBRUARY 5, 2005: P.I. MISSES THE POINT
Action Requested:
Please write a response to the PI editorial, "A Moment of Hope", cited
below. While it is always hopeful when violence by Israelis and
Palestinians might decrease and when negotiations rather than unilateral action
are emphasized, the PI has missed the important context of the ongoing
occupation and Israeli land grab, conditions that are impossible for ordinary
Palestinians to ignore. It was once aptly said that the way Israel
negotiates is like talking about how to split up a pizza while you keep eating
one piece after another.
Time by which action
should be taken:
--Ideal: Sunday, February 6
--Still Helpful: Thursday, February 10
News item:
"A Moment of Hope"
Friday, February 4, Seattle
Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/210625_summited.html?searchpagefrom=2&searchdiff=2
The full text of the article is included
at the end of this e-mail.
Context:
Indeed, things are a little hopeful now. 900 (out of 7,000) Palestinian
political prisoners will likely be released; there might be less suicide
bombing and less shooting of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers; Israel may put
its policy of extrajudicial assassinations on hold for a while.
On the other hand, the Israeli land grab continues completely undisturbed and
uncriticized, including construction of new sections of the Separation Wall,
demolitions of houses and farmland in the "seam zone" between the wall
and the Green Line (the internationally recognized border), ongoing Israeli
settlement construction, the introduction of new measures to separate
Palestinian East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, and plans to build a
huge moat on Palestinian land between Gaza and Egypt involving the demolition of
hundreds or thousands of additional Palestinian homes. Israel has even
asked the US to fund $180 million in new high tech checkpoints in its
illegal separation wall which cuts through Palestinian land. Israel claims
this wall is "only temporary".
Talking Points:
1) While politicians and editors are crowing with "optimism", Israeli
bulldozers continue their deadly work undisturbed and Israeli state and army
lawyers rationalize these illegal acts. For Palestinians, nothing
significant has changed. Their land is still being ripped out from under
them. They are still being humiliated at checkpoints set up by Israeli
soldiers on Palestinian territory. Their children are still
being shot by Israeli soldiers. Their economy is still being
"de-developed" by the Israeli siege.
2) This is also a dangerous moment in that, if history is any indication,
negotiations may be hailed as leading to "a two state Middle East
peace solution" (as the PI editors put it), but what they may really
lead to is a "one state (Israel), several reservations (Palestine),
temporary, peace-without-justice non-solution" and later, inevitably, to a
third Intifada (uprising). There can be no lasting peace without
justice. Palestinians must have a VIABLE state over which they have TRUE
sovereignty, and not self-determination in name only.
3) The editorial states that "Sharon has made clear to the Israeli
public that he is prepared to make painful concessions for peace."
Sharon has proposed that Israel withdraw its settlers, and the soldiers who
protect them, from Gaza and four insignificant outposts in the West Bank.
But, Israeli military, political and negotiating strategy has always been and
continues to be based on an effort to get the most land with the fewest
Palestinians.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and, by contrast to
the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) where there are 400,000 illegal Israeli
settlers, in Gaza there are only some 8,000. Unlike the West Bank,
including East Jersualem, Gaza is not rich in natural resources and areas of
profound historical, religious and political importance to Israel.
Sharon makes no concession at all in "disengaging" from Gaza. "Disengagement"
does not constitute liberation for the Palestinians who will still be imprisoned
there. Israel will sub-contract the occupation to the Palestinian
Authority and cease to be responsible for the well-being of the
Palestinians who have been made starving and homeless by Israel's
seige and house demolition program. In addition, Israel will maintain
control over Gaza's borders, water resources and air and sea space.
The Gaza withdrawal plan is a coup for Sharon, especially on the PR front where
he can claim to be making huge concessions and fool the likes of the
editors of the PI. Meanwhile, Sharon's eye remains focused unwaveringly
on the valuable East Jerusalem and West Bank land that he wants for the
Israeli state.
4) The editorial states that "Abbas won a legitimate election and has
cooled anti-Israeli violence". Abbas won in a dubious election.
It is extremely difficult to carry out any kind of free and fair election under
conditions of military dictatorship imposed by an occupying power. Abbas's
main rival, Moustafa Barghouthi (as well as other candidates), was not able to
campaign freely within East Jerusalem and Gaza. He was beaten,
arrested and detained for long periods by Israeli authorities, while their
chosen candidate, Abbas, was accorded full freedom of movement. One of
Barghouthi's campaign aides was shot dead by Israeli soldiers while hanging
political posters in Gaza. Additionally, Israeli authorities allowed only
5,000 of the 180,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem to cast a vote.
5) While the PI and most other media outlets have been thoroughly focused on the
need to stop Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, Israeli violence
against Palestinian civilians, especially that that facilitates the continuation
of the construction of the illegal separation wall and of illegal Israeli
settlements, has continued apace, with no criticism, or even notice, being
lavished on it by the US press. Palestinian and Israeli violence are not
discussed on equal terms and the victims are not mourned with equal attention or
feeling. Do we care less about one people than another? If so, that
is a questionable, indeed racist, point of departure for any reporting and
analysis.
Full text of article:
Friday, February 4, 2005
"A moment of hope"
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
EDITORIAL BOARD
Israel and the Palestinian leadership
have reached a moment of hope. In a region where violence has a way of
destroying optimism, the Bush administration and the world must stand ready to
preserve the prospects for peace.
President Bush's policies certainly
helped create the possibility of Tuesday's summit. The more direct credit goes
to a patient Israeli public and Palestinians who have elected a leader whose
policies offer a peace settlement.
But creating the terms of a workable
peace agreement will challenge the leadership skills of everyone involved. On
Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the newly elected Palestinian
leader, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet in Egypt.
They will have some support on hand from
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, representing the
only Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel. U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the region in advance, setting up a
possibility she could stay for the summit.
On twisting paths, Israelis and
Palestinians have brought themselves to this promising point. While protecting
security, Sharon has made clear to the Israeli public that he is prepared to
make painful concessions for peace. Mubarak, who invited the leaders to the
summit, has said Sharon is the Palestinians' best hope for a deal. Abbas won a
legitimate election and has cooled anti-Israeli violence.
Sharon and Abbas have differing ideas on
the next steps toward peace. But for the first time since 2000, the top Israeli
and Palestinian leaders will meet. If a two-state Middle East peace solution is
to have a chance, that's something Americans must support.
back to top
JANUARY 26, 2005: CONGRESSIONAL ALERT ON JAYYOUS LAND
THEFT
Call Congressional representatives and the State Department about the
Jayyous land grab.
We would like to call your attention to a national campaign spearheaded by the
Rhode Island Qalqilya Alliance, requesting that informed citizens write or call
their congressional representatives and the U.S. State Department to oppose the
destruction of village farmlands for the expansion of an Israeli settlement
planned on Jayyous property.
Please call and/or email the Foreign Affairs aides of your Senators.
Insist that they inform the Senators of the urgency of the situation in Jayyous.
We are asking the Senators to write a letter to the State Department and the
Israeli Embassy to protest the destruction of Jayyous lands and the illegal
Israeli settlement planned on village property. We are also asking the
Senators to write a “Dear Colleague” letter or initiate a Resolution to
protect Jayyous and oppose ongoing settlement expansion.
Adam Smith (R-WA 9th) is on the House International Relations Committee and has
just returned from a trip to Israel. He has yet to make a public statement
about his experience there. If you are in his district we urge you to call
or write his Foreign Affairs aides with our concerns about the Israeli land
grab.
Please call William Burns, Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs, at the
State Department. Urge him to direct representatives from the American
Embassy and American Consulate in Jerusalem to go to Jayyous to speak with
farmers and see for themselves the destruction Israel is perpetrating on
Palestinian lands.
Contact information and talking points follow after the background on Jayyous.
Background on Jayyous:
Ongoing construction of the Separation Wall between Palestinian towns and
Palestinian farmland is engineered to annex valuable West Bank property to
Israel. This is how it's done, as exemplified on the lands of Jayyous: first the
wall creates a new border where the Israeli government would like the border to
be (in places, veering as much as four miles into the West Bank, away from the
internationally recognized "Green Line"); then the land between the
wall and the Green Line is developed by the expansion of settlements in order to
make the "new border" a permanent fact. This deprives Palestinians
both of their livelihood and of hope for a viable Palestinian state.
The destruction of land, the process of annexation, and the ongoing ethnic
cleansing are taking place at a vicious rate to the village of Jayyous. The
farmers who are losing their lands have documents to prove their ownership and
are in the process of taking legal action against the Israeli government to stop
the illegal expansion of the settlement of Zufin. They need our help. This
is a good opportunity to explain to members of Congress and the American public
what is happening throughout the West Bank. For the people of Jayyous, stopping
the destruction of their farmland and the planned construction of Zufin is
critical to the survival of their village. Many residents of Jayyous have
been forced to leave due to loss of their lands, and more will be leaving if
this land theft is not stopped.
To understand more about what is happening to Jayyous, and to read about US
Senators’ attempts to bring the State Department's attention to this issue,
read Pricilla Read's article "U.S. should help stop Israeli land grab.”
This article can be found at http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/projo_20050114_14read.2e67e.html.
To read "The 'olive branch' that ought to cross the wall" by Abdul-Latif
Khaled, a Palestinian from Jayyous, go to: http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1221/p09s02-coop.htm.
Talking points:
<> Under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan, accepted by Israel and the
Palestinians, Israel is required to stop further settlement building in the
Occupied Territories. Yet Israel continues construction of settlements
throughout the West Bank. In the last few weeks in the Jayyous area alone, and
despite nonviolent protests by Palestinian villagers, farmland has been
destroyed and Israeli bulldozers have uprooted hundreds of olive trees in order
to clear land for the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Zufin. This
is blatant theft of private property, in violation of international law, and
proof that the purpose of the wall is not for security, but for annexation of
more Palestinian lands and resources. For more information on land confiscation
at Jayyous, including maps and details of legal actions go to: www.RIQA.info,
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763.
Currently there is yet another instance of massive confiscation of Palestinian
land taking place in East Jerusalem. For more information on this, see:
http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/01/25/opinion/edsiegman.html
;
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5200774.html
<> The expansion of the Zufin settlement is the latest step in a long
program of ethnic cleansing directed at Jayyous. Jayyous has suffered land and
water theft by Israel since 1948. Consequently, members of a community that
would otherwise be self-sufficient are being forced to leave their homeland for
economic reasons. Half of the village is already in exile and half of those who
remain now rely on foreign aid.
<> The United States Administration claims to promote a peaceful
resolution to this conflict in an impartial way. But, not only does it turn a
blind eye to Israel's brutal military occupation in the Palestinian territories,
it also supplies Israel with $3 to $6 billion in aid every year. In
addition to this amount, Israel is now asking for another $180 million to pay
for new high tech checkpoints in the wall, claiming that this will help
Palestinians go through the search process faster. This is truly Orwellian.
The U.S. has no business paying for a wall that was declared illegal by the
International Court of Justice last July.
Contact Info:
Phone numbers and email for U.S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Senator Murray’s Foreign Affairs aide: Ben McMakin in Washington: (202)
224-2621
To fax or email Senator Murray: Fax: (206) 553-0891; Email (cut and paste into
url): murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Senator Cantwell’s Foreign Affairs aide: Sebastian Budoh in Washington: (202)
224-3441
To fax or email Senator Cantwell: Fax: 206-220-6404; Email (cut and paste into
url): cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Adam Smith (R, WA): Smith’s Foreign Affairs
aide, John Mulligan, in Washington: (202) 225-8901;
Foreign Affairs aide, Sean Eagan, in Tacoma: (253) 593-6600; Fax: (253)
593-6776
State Department Near East Desk:
William Burns, Assistant Secretary: (202) 647-7209; Fax: (202) 736-4462.
Daniel Rubinstein, Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs: (202) 267-2647
Call one or both of your Senators’ Foreign Affairs aides. Since we do
not have direct access to our Senators, it’s imperative that we speak to the
aide most familiar with the issues we are addressing. If you can make more
calls, call the State Department numbers. You might get the run-around from the
State Department, saying that they can't do anything without hearing from
elected officials. As part of the executive branch, the State Department
takes orders from the Bush Administration. However, we are more likely to
get a response from them if our efforts are paralleled by the efforts of our
elected officials. If you are able, after a couple days please make follow
up calls; ask them what they've done. If they’ve done nothing, ask them why
they are allowing such blatant illegal behavior from Israel to go unchallenged.
It would be very helpful if you could write us at
alerts@palestineinformation.org,
describing to us your interaction with any government officials over this issue.
Thank you!
Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle
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JANUARY
16, 2005: ERLANGER in the P.I.
Please write the Seattle P.I. and express your dissatisfaction with the
unbalanced nature of Saturday's article by Steven Erlanger on page A4, a reprint
from the New York Times. The article, referring to the Israeli government's
recently-declared suspension of contact with all Palestinian institutions,
places a disproportionate amount of the burden of peace-making on the
Palestinians, and fails to recognize Israeli responsibility for the ongoing
conflict.
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Monday, January 17
--Still Helpful: Friday, January 21
News item: Sharon cuts Palestinian ties, says Abbas must bring end to attacks
By Steven Erlanger, The New York Times
The P.I., Saturday, January 15, 2005 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/208012_mid15.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=2
The full text of the article is included at the end of this e-mail.
Why we are asking you to write:
One of the fundamental arguments of those who directly or indirectly support
Israel's occupation of Palestinian land is that the Palestinian Authority must
bring an end to Palestinian attacks against Israelis before any peace
negotiations can take place. This gambit of placing an impossible demand on the
P.A., while ignoring Israeli responsibilities, is widely circulated in the
mainstream press. It implicitly denies the possibility that the Israeli
occupation is the root of the violence, and it effectively supports the
perpetuation of that occupation.
The Erlanger article focuses exclusively on Palestinian violence and the failure
of Mahmoud Abbas's new government to reign in violence -- even though Abbas had
barely been elected when the attack in question took place. It does not mention
the ongoing violence committed against Palestinians (for example, six
Palestinians were killed in Gaza at the end of last week), nor Israel's
obligation, under the Road Map peace plan, to end the construction of new
settlements in the Occupied Territories. Israel's promise to halt settlement
construction is violated repeatedly throughout the West Bank, notably most
recently in the vicinity of the Palestinian town of Jayyous, where orchards are
being uprooted to make way for massive expansion of the illegal Israeli
settlement of Zufin.
Talking points for letter writing:
--The article focuses on Palestinian violence to the exclusion of the wanton
ongoing violence that the Israeli army commits against the Palestinians. Since
the beginning of the Intifada, roughly four times as many Palestinians have been
killed as Israelis.
--The article fails to address Israeli obligations. Under the U.S.-backed Road
Map peace plan, accepted by Israel and the Palestinians, Israel is required to
stop further settlement building in the Occupied Territories. Quite the opposite
has happened. In the last few weeks in the Jayyous area alone, despite
nonviolent protests by Palestinian villagers, Palestinian orchards, farmland,
and greenhouses have been destroyed in order to clear land for the expansion of
the Zufin settlement. For more information on land confiscation at Jayyous, see
http://www.skjpag.org/%20riqahome.htmand http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1372963,00.html
For general information on the ongoing Israeli land grab in east Jerusalem and
the West Bank, see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/524066.html
--The ongoing construction of the separation Wall between Palestinian towns and
Palestinian farmland is engineered to annex valuable West Bank property to
Israel. First, the barrier is constructed in places where the Israeli government
would like to establish a new border, and then the space between Israel proper
and the wall is in a way that makes the 'new border' a permanent fact. This
process deprives Palestinians both of their livelihood and of the hope for a
viable Palestinian state -- hardly a way to discourage terrorism. For current
maps of Jayyous and Zufin go to: http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/832.shtml.
--The United States Administration claims to promote a peaceful resolution to
this conflict in an impartial way. But not only does it turn a blind eye to
Israel's brutal military occupation in the Palestinian territories, it also
supplies Israel with $3 to $6 billion in aid every year. And while Colin Powell
castigates the newly elected President Abbas for not having reigned in
Palestinian extremists, no criticism is made of Israel's ongoing land
confiscation and illegal settlement building.
Email your letter to: editpage@seattlepi.com
Full text of article:
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Sharon cuts Palestinian ties Says Abbas must bring end to attacks
By STEVEN ERLANGER THE NEW YORK TIMES
JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered yesterday that all government
officials cut ties with the Palestinian Authority and that the Gaza Strip be
sealed until Palestinian leaders move to curb terrorism. He issued the order a
day after Palestinian militants killed six Israelis at a checkpoint on the Gaza
border.
"The prime minister has instructed all members of the government to cease
all contact with the Palestinian Authority until they take the necessary steps
to curb and stop terrorism," said Ranaan Gissin, a senior aide to Sharon.
"We are suspending contacts until they investigate this incident and bring
to justice those who planned it, and take real steps to stop terrorism."
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a radio interview that he
hoped the action by Sharon would be "just a temporary breach," but
that the Israeli leader needed to send a signal to Palestinians that they have
to stop the attacks on Israelis.
Any meeting between Sharon and the newly elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud
Abbas, would have to wait for the Palestinian security forces to move against
the militants, Gissin said.
"This will send a very clear and unequivocal message to the
Palestinians," he said. "Where are the Palestinian preventive-security
forces? They need to deploy and present themselves on the ground in Gaza to
prevent such actions."
The attack Thursday night appeared to have been coordinated with Palestinian
security forces around the Karni terminal, Gissin added.
Earlier, Israeli officials had said they would give Abbas, who will be sworn in
today, time to reorganize his security services and take action against
militants such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
Sharon's decision was unexpected, because it seemed to allow the militants to
distort the Israeli-Palestinian agenda before Abbas could even form a new
government.
Sharon spoke to Abbas earlier this week to congratulate him on his election and
begin to plan a meeting; one of his senior advisers, Dov Weissglas, has regular
contact with senior Palestinians, as do Israeli military officers.
Israeli officials believe that Abbas can take the measures they are asking:
arresting those responsible for the attacks and deploying Palestinian security
forces. But it is unclear how forcefully Abbas feels he can move against
Palestinian militants.
Sharon's actions, officials said, were intended to protect his plan to pull
Israeli settlements out of Gaza, which he cannot do politically under
Palestinian fire.
Sharon also appears to be trying to puncture Western optimism over the death of
Yasser Arafat and the election of Abbas in his place, while emphasizing Israel's
bottom line for progress: Israel will not negotiate while its citizens are being
attacked.
Sharon has been pressured by the European Union and the Israeli left to hold
early talks about a Palestinian state to strengthen Abbas. But Sharon aides and
the military are resisting, believing that this is precisely the mistake made in
the Oslo accords of 1993 and should not be repeated.
*"We are not going back to the days when we had attacks in the morning,
funerals in the afternoon and negotiations at night, as if nothing had
happened," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.*
Palestinians said the Israelis' demands were unreasonable and counterproductive.
"We reject that you hold Abu Mazen responsible because he is not sworn in
yet as president," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator, using the
name Abbas is popularly known by. "The only way to end this vicious cycle
of violence is by resuming peace talks and not suspending them."
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DECEMBER 29, 2004: THANK THE SEATTLE TIMES
Please thank Seattle Times for editorial column showing map
of Qalqilya and explaining how Israel's wall constitutes a land grab
Time by which action should be taken:
--Ideal: Thursday, December 30
--Still Helpful: Wednesday, January 5
Short listing of news item:
Bruce Ramsey
/ Times editorial columnist
Israel's circuitous wall puts chokehold on
Palestinians
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 : Editorials & Opinion
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=rams29&date=20041229&query=%22Bruce+Ramsey%22
The full text of the article is included at the end of this email. Unfortunately,
we are not able to show you the map, which accords with maps created by the
Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO, and is an accurate map as far as we
know. If you have the print version of the Times, you can see it there.
But you can easily write your response without seeing the map, as the columnist
describes it.
Why we are asking you to write: Usually we will ask you to write
critiques of misleading media pieces. This is an unusual opportunity.
In a mostly unprecedented move, the Times has printed both the truth about the
annexation wall and the map that proves what the wall is really for. We
wish to encourage future writing of this kind. Additionally, the Times
will receive many letters castigating the columnist and the paper for having
taken this step. Your letters will help soften the blow.
Talking points for letter writing:
Whichever point(s)
you choose, the most important thing is to say thank you.
--Why this is a good column: Many Americans do not understand very
much about the Israeli wall, the strategy behind its route (which is to keep as
many Palestinians as possible out of the future boundaries of Israel and as much
Palestinian land as possible in), and its real-life effects both on Palestinian
people and on the viability, or lack thereof, of a future Palestinian state.
The reason for this lack of understanding is that the US media generally
does not tell this story. Mr. Ramsey is to be commended for printing both
the facts and the map. In particular, Mr. Ramsey's description of the
wall's strategy and effect as "gerrymandering," or "the redrawing
of boundaries for political gain," is a highly apt analogy.
Some points Mr.
Ramsey left out and which you can add. Don't criticize him for leaving
them out. After he printed the map (which was an excellent choice), he
didn't have much space left:
-- Building and expanding Israeli settlements, like Zufin and Alfe Menashe,
on Palestinian land is illegal: Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention states that "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
This means that Israel cannot legally facilitate the movement of settlers
to the West Bank (including East
Jerusalem).
--On July 9 of this year, the International Court of Justice in the Hague
declared the Israeli wall illegal due to its route through Palestinian lands
and stated that the wall should be dismantled. The world, with the US as
its leader, is ignoring its responsiblities in this regard. The
Palestinians brought their case against the wall to the Hague, received a just
ruling, and are still waiting for it to be carried out.
-- The wall is only part of the larger problem of Israeli military
occupation: In the Occupied Territories, Palestinians have no freedom
of speech or movement or assembly, can be arrested and imprisoned indefinitely
without charge or trial, and are subject to assassination, torture, and
collective punishment. The upcoming Palestinian elections are all well and
good, but no change in Palestinian leadership will make much difference as long
as Israel maintains these conditions of military dictatorship. As long as
Palestinian farmland and water wells continue to be confiscated on a daily basis
by the Israeli army and its subcontractors and as long as Palestinian
houses and olive groves continue to be demolished to clear land for the Israeli
wall and for new Israeli colonies, there is not much chance for a just peace.
--On the northern side of the illegal Israeli settlement of Zufin, further
land for its expansion is being confiscated from the Palestinian
village of Jayyous, RIGHT NOW. As Mr. Ramsey points out, this is part of
a larger strategy to annex the land between the artificial border created by
Israel's wall and the internationally recognized border between Israeli and
Palestinian territory known as the Green Line. The Israeli human rights
group, Bimkom, reports that the Israeli government plans to expand Zufin from
200 to 1400 homes. The PLO estimates that Israel is planning an additional
1,670 units in Zufin. For more information on the Jayyous land grab
subsequent to the construction of the wall through Jayyous, you may want to
read one of the following recent articles: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1372963,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position
The second one has some inaccuracies, but it is the first account printed in the
US mainstream press.
Full text of article:
Bruce Ramsey / Times editorial columnist
Israel's circuitous wall puts
chokehold on Palestinians
Here is a map that tells a story few Americans know.
Americans have seen photos of Israel's wall in the West Bank. It looks much like
the old Berlin Wall, which was built to keep people in. Israel's wall is
supposed to keep terrorists out. It is labeled a defensive wall.
Consider the map, a detail of the border along the West Bank. The border is the
dotted line. Israel's wall is the black line.
Americans will recognize its shape: It is gerrymandering, the redrawing of
boundaries for political gain. Israel drew this new line and, as you might
expect, every square inch of the gain is Israel's. The wall does not loop into
Israeli territory to favor Palestinian towns. Here it loops into Palestinian
territory to favor two Israeli settlements, Zufin and Alfe Menashe. These land
claims act as pincers, squeezing Qalqilya into a congested enclave.
I talked to several Seattle people who went to Qalqilya. Robert Becker, 39, a
graphic designer, visited in 2003 as part of the pro-Palestine International
Solidarity Movement.
"It's surreal," he said. At the Western edge of Qalqilya is a high
concrete wall with a guard tower. Outside the town, it is a barrier of razor
wire, ditches and a patrolled road. For the Palestinian farmers separated from
their fields and water wells, Israel has provided two crossings at Qalqilya.
Becker visited one that was open 4:30 to 4:45 a.m., 12:30 to 12:45 p.m. and 5 to
5:15 p.m. Imagine farming under such circumstances — and if the owners don't
farm their property, they fear it will be declared abandoned, and confiscated.
Long-term, the problem is the settlements. The people there are making not only
a property claim with their personal assets but a sovereignty claim for Israel.
In effect, they are attempting to move Israel's frontiers at the expense of any
future Palestinian state.
The appetite, Palestinians say, is for land. "I'm a Christian
Palestinian," says Michael Tarazi, legal adviser to the Palestine
Liberation Organization. "They don't want me in their country. I'm a
demographic threat. But they do want my land."
Israel's original land grant, made by the United Nations in 1947, was for 55
percent of Palestine. After the 1948 war, Israel held 78 percent. The wall is an
attempt to annex some of the choicest bits of the other 22 percent.
All this time, Israel's friends have defined the wall as a barrier to terrorism
and a bulwark of Israel's right to exist — that is, as defense.
It does that. And some other things, as this map illustrates.
Bruce Ramsey's column
appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is
bramsey@seattletimes.com. Look for more of his thoughts on the STOP blog, our
editorial online journal at www.seattletimes.com/stop
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