We live in an era where individuals with agendas can say and do much without being challenged on the facts. An era where lies and distortions sell for facts. But I wonder if this is not the same whether it is today or 70 years ago or 700 years ago. It was on Sept 1, 1939 that World War II started (a war that was directly linked to the Balfour and Jules Declarations of British and French support for the Zionist project). It was in this black month of September that the British forces occupied Palestine in 1917 to try and change a multiethnic, multicultural, multireligious Palestine into a “Jewish state” (abandoning the promises they made to the Arabs for political expediency). It was on September 8, 1947 that for the first time in its 2 year history, a United Nations official committee recommends partition of a country despite the wishes of its natives (and the UN charter itself). It was on 9 September 1993 that Arafat signed on behalf of the PLO recognizing Israel (but no Israeli recognition of Palestine or Palestinian rights was demanded in return); the process of Oslo led to normalization for Israel with so many countries and a green light to double settlements while creating an authority that would control people’s frustrations. It was on September 16, 1948 that the UN appointed mediator (a Swedish diplomat who saved countless Jews) made his report official, a blanced report based on basic human rights and international law. He was assassinated the next day by Jewish terrorists who later became high officials of the nascent Israeli state. It was also in this black month of September that Jordanian forces killed hundreds (maybe thousands) of Palestinians in the process of removing the PLO from Jordan in 1970 (the mistakes/responsibility of Palestinian leadership positions at the time have never been acknowledged). It was ofcourse also in this month on September 11 that
- In 1922 the British mandate officially kicked into gear destroying Palestine
- In 1973 the US engineered a coup against an elected government of Salvador Allende installing a dictatorship that killed thousands in Chile
- In 2001, the attacks in New York and Washington that killed so many innocent civilians (attacks that to this day have not been independently investigated nor lessons learned)
But ofcourse in history there are also so many good things. I could list hundreds that happened in September including thousands of acts of civil resistance in Palestine over the past 130 years. Just for one, John Lennon’s album “Imagine” about peace was released 9 September 1971 and so I choose to imagine and hope for better Septembers. “You say I am a dreamer.. but I am not the only one”
Why not sanctions for Israel?
In Israel, a country stolen from the Palestinians, fanatics control the government. One of the fanatics is the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Last week Netanyahu called for “crippling sanctions” against Iran. Why does Israel want to initiate a war between the United States and Iran?
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/
Shafiq Alhoot interview in Arabic before he died with the Institute for Palestine Studies. Very insightful on the Palestinian cause and how it was hijacked to serve very narrow interests (and especially the role of Yasser Arafat)
http://www.palestine-studies.
(highly recommended film) Amreeka in US Theaters now
Watch the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Israeli firm Elbit kicked out of Norwegian government pension fund:
http://www.norwatch.no/
CALL FOR
THE SEVENTH WEEK AGAINST THE APARTHEID WALL,
NOVEMBER 9 – 16 2009.
The Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, its popular committees and member organizations call on activists to launch a week of global mobilization against the walls of apartheid in the West Bank and Gaza from November 9 to 16 2009
We call on all organizations, networks, institutions, unions and concerned media to mobilize during the 7th Week against the Apartheid Wall and to:
• Protest the overarching Israeli policy of ghettoization behind a system of walls that targets the Palestinian people, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, isolating them from each other and the Palestinians inside the Green Line.
• Protest the criminal repression of the people resisting these walls.
- Protest the inhumane siege on Gaza imposed to force its people to surrender their dignity and struggle.
- Protest the repression of the communities struggling against the Wall in the West Bank. The current wave of violence has reached alarming highs, and education and awareness raising around this issue is critical. Stop the Wall and Addameer have published Repression allowed, resistance denied, an extensive report on the repression of the grassroots movement against the Wall.
• Continue BDS efforts. Launch campaigns against companies building the Wall and complicit in the siege of Gaza. BDS campaigns have already made important inroads, especially against transportation giant Veolia’s project in Jerusalem and settlement builder Lev Leviev. Campaigns are being built up against those involved in the construction of the Wall, such as CRH which is involved in supplying concrete and Elbit Systems, which equips the Wall with sensors and other hi-tech equipment while at the same time producing the drones that kill Palestinians in Gaza.
• Put the Wall back on the agenda. Pressure your government representatives to follow their obligation to ensure the walls in Palestine are torn down and the siege on Gaza is ended. Governments have to respect the ICJ decision and not to aid the construction and maintenance of the Wall. They have to stop their complicity through silence in the siege on Gaza.
On November 9 1989 – exactly 20 years ago – the Berlin Wall fell. The event was celebrated as a victory of the ‘Free World’. Today, however, the same powers back the construction of walls which are destroying Palestine.
Five years ago – the International Court of Justice ruled that the Wall is illegal and has required that it be torn down and all laws and orders related to it be reversed. The Court has reminded the international community of its obligation not to render any aid or assistance to the Wall and to ensure the implementation of international law. To date, the international community has not promoted any tangible move towards the ruling’s implementation.
The hypocrisy must end – justice has to prevail.
Gaza has been imprisoned by walls and razor wire for 15 years. The wall and its no-go zone confiscate almost 25% of the prime agricultural land of the starving Strip. About 15% of Gaza’s farmers are barred from working their farmlands, while tens of water wells and about 50% of livestock shelters and other related industry in the east part of the Gaza strip have been destroyed. Many farmers have been killed while tending to their land or have been displaced and forced into overcrowded urban centers.
In the West Bank, the Apartheid Wall carves out today’s Bantustans. It curves around settlements, which continue to grow despite disingenuous talks of a “settlement freeze.” So far its path has isolated 78 Palestinian villages, trapping them between walls, settlements and/or the Green Line while stealing land, water and other resources from hundreds more. Jerusalem remains isolated by the Wall and settlements, and an increasing number of Palestinians have found their homes demolished or taken over by settlers.
In response, the international community has put a veil of silence over these crimes – yet another Nakba for the Palestinian people.
In spite of this, Palestine resistance to the Wall has grown. Protests have been a weekly undertaking in a number of West Bank villages. In an attempt to uproot what they have termed “a dangerous phenomenon”, Occupation forces have employed increasing violent means against protesting communities, in particular youth. In barely more than a year, 6 have been shot and killed by soldiers, hundreds have been injured and dozens arrested in the villages struggling against the Wall.
Gaza has seen much worse. In response to their resilience under siege, the people of Gaza have faced an overwhelming military onslaught. More then 1,500 were killed as a result and thousands more injured this past winter when Occupation forces laid waste to the small costal territory.
In their struggle, the Palestinian people shall not stand alone.
Unite against apartheid!
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Mobile- (00972) (0) 598403676
www.bilin-ffj.org
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://qumsiyeh.org
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