Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts
Friday, June 29
Friday, June 8
Miko Peled: "The Israel Army is the best Terrorist Group in the world!"
Miko Peled, son of an Israeli General: "The Israel Army is the best Terrorist Group in the World!" "The most shameful day in the history of the Jewish People."
Bodies of Palestinians are laid out at Shifa hospital in Gaza after Israeli missile strikes. Photograph: Suhaib Salem/Reuters
Wednesday, October 18
The Real Reasons Trump is Quitting UNESCO: Palestine
by Jonathan Cook
October 17, 2017
Nazareth.
Counterpunch.
At first glance, the decision last week by the Trump administration, followed immediately by Israel, to quit the United Nation’s cultural agency seems strange. Why penalise a body that promotes clean water, literacy, heritage preservation and women’s rights?
Washington’s claim that the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is biased against Israel obscures the real crimes the agency has committed in US eyes.
The first is that in 2011 Unesco became the first UN agency to accept Palestine as a member. That set the Palestinians on the path to upgrading their status at the General Assembly a year later.
It should be recalled that in 1993, as Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo accords on the White House lawn, the watching world assumed the aim was to create a Palestinian state.
But it seems most US politicians never received that memo. Under pressure from Israel’s powerful lobbyists, the US Congress hurriedly passed legislation to pre-empt the peace process. One such law compels the United States to cancel funding to any UN body that admits the Palestinians.
Six years on, the US is $550 million in arrears and without voting rights at Unesco. Its departure is little more than a formality.
The agency’s second crime relates to its role selecting world heritage sites. That power has proved more than an irritant to Israel and the US.
The occupied territories, supposedly the locus of a future Palestinian state, are packed with such sites. Hellenistic, Roman, Jewish, Christian and Muslim relics promise not only the economic rewards of tourism but also the chance to control the historic narrative.
Israeli archaeologists, effectively the occupation’s scientific wing, are chiefly interested in excavating, preserving and highlighting Jewish layers of the Holy Land’s past. Those ties have then been used to justify driving out Palestinians and building Jewish settlements.
Unesco, by contrast, values all of the region’s heritage, and aims to protect the rights of living Palestinians, not just the ruins of long-dead civilisations.
Nowhere has the difference in agendas proved starker than in occupied Hebron, where tens of thousands of Palestinians live under the boot of a few hundred Jewish settlers and the soldiers who watch over them. In July, Unesco enraged Israel and the US by listing Hebron as one of a handful of world heritage sites “in danger”. Israel called the resolution “fake history”.
The third crime is the priority Unesco gives to the Palestinian names of heritage sites under belligerent occupation.
Much hangs on how sites are identified, as Israel understands. Names influence the collective memory, giving meaning and significance to places.
The Israeli historian Ilan Pappe has coined the term “memoricide” for Israel’s erasure of most traces of the Palestinians’ past after it dispossessed them of four-fifths of their homeland in 1948 – what Palestinians term their Nakba, or Catastrophe.
Israel did more than just raze 500 Palestinian towns and villages. In their place it planted new Jewish communities with Hebracaised names intended to usurp the former Arabic names. Saffuriya became Tzipori; Hittin was supplanted by Hittim; Muyjadil was transformed into Migdal.
A similar process of what Israel calls “Judaisation” is under way in the occupied territories. The settlers of Beitar Ilit threaten the Palestinians of Battir. Nearby, the Palestinians of Sussiya have been dislodged by a Jewish settlement of exactly the same name.
The stakes are highest in Jerusalem. The vast Western Wall plaza below Al Aqsa mosque was created in 1967 after more than 1,000 Palestinians were evicted and their quarter demolished. Millions of visitors each year amble across the plaza, oblivious to this act of ethnic cleansing.
Settlers, aided by the Israeli state, continue to encircle Christian and Muslim sites in the hope of taking them over.
That is the context for recent Unesco reports highlighting the threats to Jerusalem’s Old City, including Israel’s denial for most Palestinians of the right to worship at Al Aqsa.
Israel has lobbied to have Jerusalem removed from the list of endangered heritage sites. Alongside the US, it has whipped up a frenzy of moral outrage, berating Unesco for failing to prioritise the Hebrew names used by the occupation authorities.
Unesco’s responsibility, however, is not to safeguard the occupation or bolster Israel’s efforts at Judaisation. It is there to uphold international law and prevent Palestinians from being disappeared by Israel. (emphasis mine)
Trump’s decision to quit Unesco is far from his alone. His predecessors have been scuffling with the agency since the 1970s, often over its refusal to cave in to Israeli pressure.
Now, Washington has a pressing additional reason to punish Unesco for allowing Palestine to become a member. It needs to make an example of the cultural body to dissuade other agencies from following suit.
Trump’s confected indignation at Unesco, and his shrugging off of its vital global programmes, serve as a reminder that the US is not an “honest broker” of a Middle East peace. Rather it is the biggest obstacle to its realisation.
A version of this article first appeared in the National, Abu Dhabi.
Tuesday, October 21
Tuesday, August 26
Saturday, July 12
Friday, July 4
Best of World Cup 2014: Algeria squad to donate World Cup bonus to Palestine
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| Algeria team arriving home |
"Islam Slimani, who scored a crucial header against Russia to ensure Algeria’s first ever qualification to the World Cup knock-out stage, said: “They need it more than us,” referring to those in the Palestinian city, according to journalist Waleed Abu Nada."
This is until the moment the best statement of this world cup and FIFA must not intervene. FIFA must not accuse the squad for bringing politics to sports.
Shut up FIFA and enjoy the money you did. FIFA turned the World Cup into a joke.
Gestures like this that give us hope.
Algeria was the only Arab country playing in the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Friday, April 4
Roger Waters speak out on Israel: the musician adheres the boycott by BDS
I hope that Mick Jagger reads Roger Waters' words published on March, 17 at Salon. Wanna know if I agree with Walters when he compared some Israelis to Nazis?
Strange that Israelis say the same about Palestinians: "Survey Shows Palestinians Far Worse Than the Inhabitants of Nazi Germany" by David Horowitz, 2011, July, 15.
We have to raise the reasons from both sides but I know which outcome an in-depth analysis would find: Zionists are Nazis. Note that I'm using the word "Zionists".
Salon exclusive: The Pink Floyd star details why he supports the boycott
Roger Waters
"Seventy years ago, my father – 2nd Lt. Eric Fletcher Waters – died in Italy fighting the Nazis. He was a committed pacifist, and a conscientious objector at the start of the war, but as Hitler’s crimes spread across Europe, he swapped the ambulance he had driven through the London blitz for a tin hat and a commission in the Royal Fusiliers and he joined the fight against fascism. He was killed near Aprilia in the battle for the Anzio Bridgehead on Feb. 18, 1944. My mother – Mary Duncan Waters – spent the rest of her life politically active, striving always to ensure that her children, and everyone else’s children, had no Sword of Damocles in the form of the despised Nazi Creed or any other despicable creed hanging over their heads.
Last month, thanks to the good people of Aprilia and Anzio, I was able to pay tribute to the father I never knew by unveiling a memorial in the town where he died and laying a wreath to honor him, and all the other fallen. Losing my father before I ever knew him and being brought up by a single, working mother who fought tirelessly for equality and justice colored my life in far-reaching ways and has driven all my work. And, at this point in my journey, I like to think that I pay tribute to both my parents each time I speak out in support of any beleaguered people denied the freedom and justice that I believe all of us deserve.
After visiting Israel in 2005 and the West Bank the following year, I was deeply moved and concerned by what I saw, and determined to add my voice to those searching for an equitable and lawful solution to the problem – for both Palestinians and Jews.
Given my upbringing, I really had no choice.
In 2005, Palestinian civil society appealed to people of conscience all over the world to act where governments had failed. They asked us to join their nonviolent movement – for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) – which aims to end Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, to secure equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and to uphold the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the cities and villages they were violently forced out of in 1948 and 1967.
After more than two decades of negotiations, the vulnerable Palestinian population still lives under occupation, while more land is taken, more illegal settlements built, and more Palestinians are imprisoned, injured or killed struggling for the right to live in dignity and peace, to raise their families, to till their land, to aspire to each and every human goal, just like the rest of us. The Palestinians’ prolonged statelessness has made them among the most vulnerable of all peoples, particularly in their diaspora where, as now in Syria, they are subject, as stateless, powerless refugees, to targeted violence, from all sides in that bloody conflict, subject to unimaginable hardship and deprivation and, in many cases, particularly for the vulnerable young, to starvation.
What can we all do to advance the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories, Israel and the diaspora? Well, BDS is a nonviolent, citizen-led movement that is grounded in universal principles of human rights for all people. All people! In consequence, I have determined that the BDS approach is one I can fully support.
I feel honored to stand in solidarity alongside my father and my mother, and alongside my Palestinian brothers and sisters, and so many others of all colors, faiths and circumstances from all over the world – including an ever-increasing number of courageous Jewish Americans and Israelis – who have also answered the call.
In the furor that exists in the U.S. today about BDS and the right and wrong of a cultural boycott of Israel, a quote from one of my heroes, Mahatma Gandhi, has been on my mind. He prophetically said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” The BDS movement is fulfilling its promise and fits Gandhi’s description. Once dismissed by many as a futile strategy that would “never work,” BDS has gained much ground in recent weeks, bringing with it the expected backlash.
Divestment votes at major U.S. universities, European pension funds divesting from Israeli banks that do business with illegal Israeli settlements, and the recent high-profile parting of the ways between actor Scarlett Johansson and the global anti-poverty group Oxfam are symptoms of a growing resistance to the Israeli subjugation of the indigenous people of Palestine, and also, to the decades of occupation of land designated by the U.N. as a future state for the Palestinian people.
And with each new BDS headline, the ferocious reaction from the movement’s critics, with Netanyahu and his AIPAC fulminations in the vanguard, has risen exponentially. I think it’s safe to say BDS is in the “then they fight you” stage.
Some wrongly portray the boycott movement, which is modeled on the boycotts employed against Apartheid South Africa and used in the U.S. civil rights movement, to be an attack on the Israeli people or even on the Jewish people, as a whole. Nothing could be further from the truth. The movement recognizes universal human rights under the law for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or color.
I do not claim to speak on behalf of the BDS movement, yet, as a vocal supporter, and because of my visibility in the music industry, I have become a natural target for those who wish to attack BDS, not by addressing the merits of its claims but, instead, by assigning hateful and racist motivations to BDS supporters like me. It has even been said, cruelly and wrongly, that I am a Nazi and an anti-Semite.
When I remarked in a recent interview on historical parallels, stating that I would not have played Vichy France or Berlin in World War II, it was not my intention to compare the Israelis to Nazis or the Holocaust to the decades-long oppression of the Palestinians. There is no comparison to the Holocaust. Nor did I intend or ever wish to compare the suffering of Jews then with the suffering of Palestinians now. Comparing suffering is a painful, grotesque and diminishing exercise that dishonors the specific memory of all our fallen loved ones.
I believe that the root of all injustice and oppression has always been the same – the dehumanization of the other. It is the obsession with Us and Them that can lead us, regardless of racial or religious identity, into the abyss.
Let us never forget that oppression begets more oppression, and the tree of fear and bigotry bears only bitter fruit. The end of the occupation of Palestine, should we all manage to secure it, will mean freedom for the occupied and the occupiers and freedom from the bitter taste of all those wasted years and lives. And that will be a great gift to the world.
“Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal
In the end.”
Strange that Israelis say the same about Palestinians: "Survey Shows Palestinians Far Worse Than the Inhabitants of Nazi Germany" by David Horowitz, 2011, July, 15.
We have to raise the reasons from both sides but I know which outcome an in-depth analysis would find: Zionists are Nazis. Note that I'm using the word "Zionists".
Salon exclusive: The Pink Floyd star details why he supports the boycott
Roger Waters
"Seventy years ago, my father – 2nd Lt. Eric Fletcher Waters – died in Italy fighting the Nazis. He was a committed pacifist, and a conscientious objector at the start of the war, but as Hitler’s crimes spread across Europe, he swapped the ambulance he had driven through the London blitz for a tin hat and a commission in the Royal Fusiliers and he joined the fight against fascism. He was killed near Aprilia in the battle for the Anzio Bridgehead on Feb. 18, 1944. My mother – Mary Duncan Waters – spent the rest of her life politically active, striving always to ensure that her children, and everyone else’s children, had no Sword of Damocles in the form of the despised Nazi Creed or any other despicable creed hanging over their heads.
Last month, thanks to the good people of Aprilia and Anzio, I was able to pay tribute to the father I never knew by unveiling a memorial in the town where he died and laying a wreath to honor him, and all the other fallen. Losing my father before I ever knew him and being brought up by a single, working mother who fought tirelessly for equality and justice colored my life in far-reaching ways and has driven all my work. And, at this point in my journey, I like to think that I pay tribute to both my parents each time I speak out in support of any beleaguered people denied the freedom and justice that I believe all of us deserve.
After visiting Israel in 2005 and the West Bank the following year, I was deeply moved and concerned by what I saw, and determined to add my voice to those searching for an equitable and lawful solution to the problem – for both Palestinians and Jews.
Given my upbringing, I really had no choice.
In 2005, Palestinian civil society appealed to people of conscience all over the world to act where governments had failed. They asked us to join their nonviolent movement – for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) – which aims to end Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, to secure equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and to uphold the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the cities and villages they were violently forced out of in 1948 and 1967.
After more than two decades of negotiations, the vulnerable Palestinian population still lives under occupation, while more land is taken, more illegal settlements built, and more Palestinians are imprisoned, injured or killed struggling for the right to live in dignity and peace, to raise their families, to till their land, to aspire to each and every human goal, just like the rest of us. The Palestinians’ prolonged statelessness has made them among the most vulnerable of all peoples, particularly in their diaspora where, as now in Syria, they are subject, as stateless, powerless refugees, to targeted violence, from all sides in that bloody conflict, subject to unimaginable hardship and deprivation and, in many cases, particularly for the vulnerable young, to starvation.
What can we all do to advance the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories, Israel and the diaspora? Well, BDS is a nonviolent, citizen-led movement that is grounded in universal principles of human rights for all people. All people! In consequence, I have determined that the BDS approach is one I can fully support.
I feel honored to stand in solidarity alongside my father and my mother, and alongside my Palestinian brothers and sisters, and so many others of all colors, faiths and circumstances from all over the world – including an ever-increasing number of courageous Jewish Americans and Israelis – who have also answered the call.
In the furor that exists in the U.S. today about BDS and the right and wrong of a cultural boycott of Israel, a quote from one of my heroes, Mahatma Gandhi, has been on my mind. He prophetically said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” The BDS movement is fulfilling its promise and fits Gandhi’s description. Once dismissed by many as a futile strategy that would “never work,” BDS has gained much ground in recent weeks, bringing with it the expected backlash.
Divestment votes at major U.S. universities, European pension funds divesting from Israeli banks that do business with illegal Israeli settlements, and the recent high-profile parting of the ways between actor Scarlett Johansson and the global anti-poverty group Oxfam are symptoms of a growing resistance to the Israeli subjugation of the indigenous people of Palestine, and also, to the decades of occupation of land designated by the U.N. as a future state for the Palestinian people.
And with each new BDS headline, the ferocious reaction from the movement’s critics, with Netanyahu and his AIPAC fulminations in the vanguard, has risen exponentially. I think it’s safe to say BDS is in the “then they fight you” stage.
Some wrongly portray the boycott movement, which is modeled on the boycotts employed against Apartheid South Africa and used in the U.S. civil rights movement, to be an attack on the Israeli people or even on the Jewish people, as a whole. Nothing could be further from the truth. The movement recognizes universal human rights under the law for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or color.
I do not claim to speak on behalf of the BDS movement, yet, as a vocal supporter, and because of my visibility in the music industry, I have become a natural target for those who wish to attack BDS, not by addressing the merits of its claims but, instead, by assigning hateful and racist motivations to BDS supporters like me. It has even been said, cruelly and wrongly, that I am a Nazi and an anti-Semite.
When I remarked in a recent interview on historical parallels, stating that I would not have played Vichy France or Berlin in World War II, it was not my intention to compare the Israelis to Nazis or the Holocaust to the decades-long oppression of the Palestinians. There is no comparison to the Holocaust. Nor did I intend or ever wish to compare the suffering of Jews then with the suffering of Palestinians now. Comparing suffering is a painful, grotesque and diminishing exercise that dishonors the specific memory of all our fallen loved ones.
I believe that the root of all injustice and oppression has always been the same – the dehumanization of the other. It is the obsession with Us and Them that can lead us, regardless of racial or religious identity, into the abyss.
Let us never forget that oppression begets more oppression, and the tree of fear and bigotry bears only bitter fruit. The end of the occupation of Palestine, should we all manage to secure it, will mean freedom for the occupied and the occupiers and freedom from the bitter taste of all those wasted years and lives. And that will be a great gift to the world.
“Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal
In the end.”
Source: Tony Greenstein Blog.
There are the Hassidic and Haredi mouvements the unite Jews that are against the state of Israel.
Wednesday, April 2
Rolling Stones lost integrity, ethics and tradition by planning show is Israel
Jerusalem (AFP) - The Rolling Stones announced plans Tuesday for an Israeli concert in June, prompting pro-Palestinian activists promoting a boycott of the country to say that would be equivalent to performing in apartheid South Africa.
To jubilation from the Israeli media, a spokeswoman for the British rock icons said the band will perform in Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park on June 4 as part of its forthcoming European tour.
But a spokesman for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions committee noted that the Stones had been vocal opponents of racial segregation in South Africa, saying Israel also practices apartheid.
"Palestinian organisations urge the Rolling Stones to refrain from playing in apartheid Israel and not to condone Israel’s violations of international law and human rights against the Palestinian people,"Rafeef Ziadah wrote.
"The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of enforcing a cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa, but performing in Israel at this time is morally equivalent to performing in South Africa during the apartheid era."
After months of rumours of an impending first-ever visit by the band, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012, Israeli media were jubilant.
"It's official! The Rolling Stones are coming to Tel Aviv," proclaimed Haaretz daily's website.
It said Israeli promoter Shuki Weiss, once quoted as saying he would retire after bringing the Stones to Israel, had guaranteed the band $6.7 million (4.9 million euros) for the one-night stand.
"Israelis finally get some satisfaction as Rolling Stones confirm concert date," was the Jerusalem Post's headline.
"This is a historic and very meaningful visit," it quoted Weiss as saying.
"In these days when we hear calls for boycotts from around the world, it's not taken for granted that a band of this magnitude will come to Israel."
A growing number of governments and international businesses have said they will not trade with Israeli firms with ties to Jewish settlements, highlighting the creeping success of a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
The movement works to convince them and celebrities to cut ties with Israeli companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories, in a bid to repeat the success of the boycott that ended apartheid in South Africa.
Last week, the Stones postponed their tour of Australia and New Zealand after the suicide of Mick Jagger's girlfriend L'Wren Scott.
But the grieving front man's songwriting partner of 50 years, Keith Richards, vowed that they will soon be back on stage.
Source: Yahoo.
Saturday, March 1
Gaza: normal life and street art
Little is shown about the normal life of people who are in areas or countries where crimes against humanity are committed on a daily basis.
The only reference for this places are the lies mainstream media tells and the work of those who write or show through other media the resistance.
What do we know about Palestinian art and culture? Nothing.
The eurocentric history of art and culture did a lot of harm to many nations whether they are in conflict zones or not. Fortunately the discussion about it has started and I hope that soon historians will correct this mistake.
Monday, February 17
Edward Said for dummies
On the first anniversary of 11 September a leading Palestinian, Edward Said, has warned the US against taking further military action against Iraq. In an interview for BBC HARDtalk, Mr Said told Tim Sebastian that many Arab countries are keen to seek a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis. Professor Said, who for many years been a spokesman in America for the Palestinian cause, said: "I think it's possible to salvage something from the ruins, but it cannot be done quickly unfortunately, and it cannot be done by military means and that's what makes me so despondent."
The Myth of the "Clash of Civilizations"
In 1993 Harvard Professor Samuel P. Huntington wrote an essay titled "The Clash of Civilizations?" and later he expanded into a book with the same title, but without the question mark. Edward Said, late Columbia professor rips Huntington's thesis to shreds.
Sunday, November 18
War in Gaza: Obama supports the massacre of Palestinians
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| Click to enlarge |
“The bombs that are falling on Gaza right now are paid for by US tax dollars, as unconditional military aid to Israel remains an unquestioned budgetary priority,” writes Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP).
U.S. and allies are backing the massacre of Palestinians claiming that Israel has the "right of defense":
"In his second phone call with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, since the conflict began, Obama backed "Israel’s right to defend itself," while expressing "regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives," according to a statement from the White House late Friday."
Joshua Hersh at The HuffPost.
As always the facts are distorted and Israel is the victim even though it was the assassination of the Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari - a peace activist who was discussing about a long-term peace between Israel and Hamas - that started the crisis.
"Unconfirmed reports suggest the Israeli military is using white phosphorous and other illegal weapons. It is likely. Israel uses them in all its wars. New ones are tested in real time. Doctors report injuries never seen before." PressTV.
People around the word has manifested their support protesting in the streets.
“It’s an atrocity what is being perpetrated as punishment on the people in Gaza.It’s a crime… I think it is an abomination that this continues to go on,”
Former US President Jimmy Carter
"In the context of total aerial supremacy, in which one side in a conflict deploys lethal aircraft against opponents with no means of defending themselves, the bombardment bears all the hallmarks of war crimes."
The attacks, in retaliation for rockets fired by the Palestinians, would not contribute to the security of Israel, he said.
"It is a blight not only on the Middle East, but on the entire world - and particularly world leaders who have consistently failed the people of Palestine and Israel over the past 60 years."
Desmond Tutu
"I am telling the Zionist oppressors that if you insist on your aggressions, you will face the consequences of your mistakes, you and those who you think are protecting you... I am saying to Israel stop, or you will face the anger of Egyptians... Our souls are striving for the holy lands... Everyone must know that the will and abilities of Egypt could take out the roots of evil just like it took out the roots of oppression... Read history and you would know that you will never become victorious... There will be no peace or prosperity with oppression, as the bloods of victims will be a curse on you and will move all nations against you... The Zionists shall not have power over the people of Gaza, and we are not going to leave Gaza alone." -
Egypt President Mursi, Friday night.
This video shows how the mainstream media manipulates the facts of the conflict.
I was going to write a detailed post but at the moment there is a terrible bombardment that is killing more Palestinians.
A genocide is going on and children are among them.
I'm following Harry Fear that is live as explained in the post below.
"American Muslims for Palestine believes that the occupation leaders are using Palestinian blood for election purposes. “Each time the political climate in Israel reaches a dead end Israeli officials attack Palestinians for political gain in hopes of swaying the Israeli voter.”"
Israeli commentator Jonathan Cook says “Obama’s policy towards Israel and the Palestinians will be the same as in his first term, with policy determined by Zionist pressure and concern for future Democratic Party prospects.”
Is There any Hope for Palestine? by Karin Friedmann.
Friday, November 16
Operation Pillar of Clouds: Harry Fear reporting direct from Gaza
Harry Fear is at Gaza and is reporting live at this channel. In case he is not reporting he is sleeping.
You can follow Harry's blog Gaza Report.com to read his articles and watch his videos.
I found Harry watching a video by RT where he was invited to speak at "CrossTalk" and his remarks caught my attention because it was clear he knew exactly what is going on.
I google him and found this great human being. This is how real journalism is done, with passion and transparency. Harry Fear is a documentary filmmaker, an activist and a journalist.
Thank you Harry. Be safe.
Gaza Conflict: The world condenms Israel
Left: UK Jewish MP Gerard Kaufman speaks after the attacks in 2009.
Right: Americans protesting at 2nd Avenue on November, 15.
Sir Gerard Kaufman: "Israel was born out of Jewish Terrorism" Tzipi Livnis Father was a Terrorist" Astonishing claims in the House of Parliament. Sir Gerald Kaufman, the veteran Labour MP, yesterday compared the actions of Israeli troops in Gaza to the Nazis who forced his family to flee Poland.
During a Commons debate on the fighting in Gaza, he urged the government to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
Sir Gerald, who was brought up as an orthodox Jew and Zionist, said: "My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town a German soldier shot her dead in her bed.
"My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza. The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians."
He said the claim that many of the Palestinian victims were militants "was the reply of the Nazi" and added: "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants."
He accused the Israeli government of seeking "conquest" and added: "
They are not simply war criminals, they are fools."
The vast majority of citizens of the world condemn Israel. Still they keep the genocide. We had enough.
Saturday, October 20
Friday, October 19
Dove Dead Sea minerals: are the minerals from occupied territory?
I was watching a movie and the advertisements started. I usually zap to take a look at the other channels because I hate ads.
But today I came across with the new Dove deodorant with Dead Sea minerals. I laughed as always when I come across with the ideas the companies find to sell.
The cosmetic industry is a great source of examples about how people are easily manipulated. It always amazes me how women believe that those creams will remove years from the face or make all sort of changes in the skin.
Shampoos, conditioners, leave-ins and a whole paraphernalia will cause a dramatic change in the hair. After trying three brands with no success some women are ready to try the next novelty. I'll never forget reading at a shampoo bottle "anti-gravity effect". I have no idea what it means as most women.
The reality is that even if in the formula of one of these creams there is a component that works the percentage for cosmetics is not enough for the treatment. If it has retinoic acid, for instance, the percentage is 0,0004 which is nothing. Cosmetics that have drugs in their formula follow the same rule.
The Dead Sea minerals! Can you imagine the power? It made me remind of the article by Harriet Sherwood at The Guardian:
Israel accused of pillaging Dead Sea resources in occupied territory
Cosmetics firm Ahava singled out for criticism in report by Palestinian human rights organisation
Harried Sherwood, September 3, 2012
Israel is "pillaging" the natural resources of the Dead Sea which lie in occupied Palestinian territory in violation of international law, a report which singles out the cosmetics firm Ahava for criticism.
According to the Palestinian human rights organisation al-Haq, the "appropriation and exploitation of Palestinian land and natural resources in the occupied Dead Sea area by Israeli settlers and companies … meet the requirements of the crime of pillage". (keep reading)
Eleven women raised their voices about Dove's new product at The Grocer.
Hi,
Before I consider buying Dove deodorant I would like to know if the Dead Sea minerals are acquired form the illegal Jewish settlements located in the occupied Palestine. I practice ethical shopping and I wold appreciate if you would let me know.
Many thanks!
Rada
It is quite inspiring knowing that some women are alert. Even if it is proven that the new Dove's deodorant have the minerals from a legal place it is out of the planet thinking that it can do what the ads claim they do. Still the cosmetic industry make billions of dollars with their magical products.Before I consider buying Dove deodorant I would like to know if the Dead Sea minerals are acquired form the illegal Jewish settlements located in the occupied Palestine. I practice ethical shopping and I wold appreciate if you would let me know.
Many thanks!
Rada
Sunday, September 30
My Neighbourhood: Palestinians and Israelis peacebuilders
"When a Palestinian boy loses half of his home to Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem, he joins his community in a campaign of nonviolent protests. Efforts to put a quick end to the demonstrations are foiled when scores of Israelis choose to stand by the residents' side."
Boy: "They came at ten o'clock... with a lot, a lot of anger faces."
Boy: " I hate them." (watch the video)
This is the work of Just Vision: "Increasing the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis working for nonviolent solutions to the conflict."
Visit the site and educate yourself. Get involved.
Tuesday, August 28
Rachel Corrie's murderers not responsible according to Israeli verdict
"Tom Dale, a pro-Palestinian campaigner who witnessed the death of Rachel Corrie, refutes the judgement of an Israeli court that the death of the American activist was "a regrettable accident"."
"I am absolutely clear that the bulldozer driver would have been able to see Rachel. It was a clear day, Rachel was standing in open ground, wearing a high-visibility vest and the bulldozer driver moved toward her from 20 or 30 metres away and absolutely would have had a chance to see her as she stood in one place, motionless, in that time".
Source: The Telegraph.
I just received this e-mail and I feel the obligation to publish it.
It's appalling that the "international conscience" is quite aware of what is happening in Palestine and condemns Israel, still, nothing is done not even when the victim is an American citizen.
Something has to be done immediately.
International Solidarity Movement palreports@gmail.com
11:49 (3 hours ago)
to International
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is deeply concerned by the verdict of Judge Oded Gershon that absolved Israel’s military and state of the 2003 murder of American ISM activist Rachel Corrie. Rachel was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the American administration stating that the Israeli military investigation had not been "thorough, credible and transparent" and the Israeli government withholding key video and audio evidence, Judge Gershon found no fault in the investigation or in the conclusion that the military and state were not responsible for Rachel’s death. Judge Gershon ruled that Rachel was to blame for her own murder and classifies her non-violent attempt to prevent war crimes as proof that Rachel was not a “thinking person".
By disregarding international law and granting Israeli war criminals impunity Judge Gershon’s verdict exemplifies the fact that Israel’s legal system cannot be trusted to administer justice according to international standards.The ISM calls on the international community to hold Israel accountable by supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and continuing to join the Palestinian struggle in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Describing the situation in Gaza 2 days before she was killed, Rachel said, “I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive. It's horrifying.” Rachel’s analysis holds true today, confirmed by the United Nations a day before this ruling, which reported that Gaza would not be "liveable" by 2020 barring urgent action.
The verdict is a green light for Israeli soldiers to use lethal force against human rights defenders and puts Palestinian and International human rights defenders in mortal danger.
This will not deter us. As long as our Palestinian sisters and brothers want our presence, the ISM will continue to find ways to break Israel’s siege, and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. As Rachel’s mother Cindy put it, “There were children behind the walls of the home Rachel was trying to protect...We should have all been there”.
Judge Gershon’s verdict is a travesty of justice but it is not exceptional. As a rule the Israeli legal system provides Israeli soldiers impunity to commit murder. The only Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter since the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000 was Taysir Hayb, a Bedouin citizen of Israel for shooting British ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall in the back of the head with a sniper rifle as Tom was carrying a child to safety. At least 6,444 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces in this period, with no justice for them or their families.
"I am absolutely clear that the bulldozer driver would have been able to see Rachel. It was a clear day, Rachel was standing in open ground, wearing a high-visibility vest and the bulldozer driver moved toward her from 20 or 30 metres away and absolutely would have had a chance to see her as she stood in one place, motionless, in that time".
Source: The Telegraph.
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I just received this e-mail and I feel the obligation to publish it.
It's appalling that the "international conscience" is quite aware of what is happening in Palestine and condemns Israel, still, nothing is done not even when the victim is an American citizen.
Something has to be done immediately.
International Solidarity Movement palreports@gmail.com
11:49 (3 hours ago)
to International
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is deeply concerned by the verdict of Judge Oded Gershon that absolved Israel’s military and state of the 2003 murder of American ISM activist Rachel Corrie. Rachel was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the American administration stating that the Israeli military investigation had not been "thorough, credible and transparent" and the Israeli government withholding key video and audio evidence, Judge Gershon found no fault in the investigation or in the conclusion that the military and state were not responsible for Rachel’s death. Judge Gershon ruled that Rachel was to blame for her own murder and classifies her non-violent attempt to prevent war crimes as proof that Rachel was not a “thinking person".
By disregarding international law and granting Israeli war criminals impunity Judge Gershon’s verdict exemplifies the fact that Israel’s legal system cannot be trusted to administer justice according to international standards.The ISM calls on the international community to hold Israel accountable by supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and continuing to join the Palestinian struggle in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Describing the situation in Gaza 2 days before she was killed, Rachel said, “I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive. It's horrifying.” Rachel’s analysis holds true today, confirmed by the United Nations a day before this ruling, which reported that Gaza would not be "liveable" by 2020 barring urgent action.
The verdict is a green light for Israeli soldiers to use lethal force against human rights defenders and puts Palestinian and International human rights defenders in mortal danger.
This will not deter us. As long as our Palestinian sisters and brothers want our presence, the ISM will continue to find ways to break Israel’s siege, and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. As Rachel’s mother Cindy put it, “There were children behind the walls of the home Rachel was trying to protect...We should have all been there”.
Judge Gershon’s verdict is a travesty of justice but it is not exceptional. As a rule the Israeli legal system provides Israeli soldiers impunity to commit murder. The only Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter since the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000 was Taysir Hayb, a Bedouin citizen of Israel for shooting British ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall in the back of the head with a sniper rifle as Tom was carrying a child to safety. At least 6,444 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces in this period, with no justice for them or their families.
Wednesday, December 28
2011 top news: State of Palestine is UNESCO's member
Palestine became the 195th Unesco member.
No: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sweden, US, Vanuatu.
Abstentions*: Albania, Andorra, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Georgia, Haiti, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Liberia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, Thailand, Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, UK, Zambia. Yes: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
Absent* (includes states that lost right to vote because membership fees were not paid): Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominica, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Madagascar, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Niue, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, East Timor, Turkmenistan.
Read here some of the consequences of having Palestine in UNESCO. Not recognizing Palestine as a state is something beyond me. It is time for inclusion and learning to cope with differences.
No: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sweden, US, Vanuatu.
Abstentions*: Albania, Andorra, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Georgia, Haiti, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Liberia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, Thailand, Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, UK, Zambia. Yes: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
Absent* (includes states that lost right to vote because membership fees were not paid): Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominica, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Madagascar, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Niue, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, East Timor, Turkmenistan.
Read here some of the consequences of having Palestine in UNESCO. Not recognizing Palestine as a state is something beyond me. It is time for inclusion and learning to cope with differences.
Wednesday, November 9
US and Israel boycott UNESCO because of Palestine membership
(Reuters) - The United Nation's cultural agency plans to cut costs and launch an emergency fund to raise cash after a vote to grant the Palestinians full membership led to a cutoff in vital U.S. and Israeli funding, its director general said Wednesday.
UNESCO's Irina Bokova said the organization, which promotes global education and press freedom among other tasks, has a $65 million shortfall in its 2011 budget, but has yet to receive any offers from other nations to fill the gap.
"We will (push) strongly the reform process and make every possible saving and look at reducing our administrative costs. It's a good opportunity to continue the reform of the organization," Bokova told reporters at her headquarters in central Paris.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization was plunged into financial crisis in October when Washington cut off its 22 percent support following the Palestinian vote.
U.S. legislation prohibits funding to any UN agency that grants full membership to any group that does not have "internationally recognized attributes" of statehood.
Bokova, who took her post two years ago, said UNESCO had received hundreds of letters of support -- including some with donations -- and was working on a plan to raise financing.
"We will launch an emergency fund ... we will do this fund to (collect) contributions from governments, the private sector, citizens and philanthropists," Bokova said, adding that she would only tap debt markets as a last resort.
UNESCO eyes emergency fund, savings to counter U.S. cuts
When asked whether any other UNESCO members such as wealthy Gulf Arab states -- which backed the Palestinian bid for membership -- had offered to make up the immediate cash flow issues, Bokova replied no.
"I have to deal with the imminent problem to review our activities by the end of the year and then of course we will reach out, but has somebody approached us? No," she said.
HOPEFUL OF U.S. REVERSAL
The 59-year old former Bulgarian foreign minister said she did not believe the United States would disengage from UNESCO in the long term, although if it did not pay its contributions for two years its voting rights would be suspended.
President Barack Obama's administration is talking to members of Congress about funding UNESCO, a U.N. agency for which there is little affection in an era of tight budgets, especially among some Republicans lawmakers.
Bokova said she did not expect an imminent change in the law, but said she had been lobbying lawmakers to change their minds and convince them of the agency's relevance to the United States.
"(UNESCO) is in the national interests of the United States, including its security interests," she said, describing the agency's role in Iraq and Afghanistan, where a U.S. troop drawdown is underway, and where her group helps develop local institutions and educate people.
"You don't want to leave them to extremism, fanaticism," said Bokova, saying UNESCO needs to be supported for its crucial work in literacy, police training and other efforts.
(Reporting By John Irish; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
Picture: Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki delivers a speech during the 36th session of UNESCO's General Conference in Paris, October 31, 2011.
Credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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