IN SUPPORT OF THE “BATTLE OF THE EMPTY STOMACHS”

May 16, 2012, Shalom Rav http://rabbibrant.com (USA)
A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen

From the Palestinian NGO, Adameer: Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association:

After nearly a full month of fasting, around 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners ended last night their mass hunger strike upon reaching an agreement with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) to attain certain core demands...

The written agreement contained five main provisions: the prisoners would end their hunger strike following the signing of the agreement; there will be an end to the use of long-term isolation of prisoners for “security” reasons, and the 19 prisoners will be moved out of isolation within 72 hours; family visits for first degree relatives to prisoners from the Gaza Strip and for families from the West Bank who have been denied visits based on vague “security reasons” will be reinstated within one month; the Israeli intelligence agency guarantees that there will be a committee formed to facilitate meetings between the IPS and prisoners in order to improve their daily conditions; there will be no new administrative detention orders or renewals of administrative detention orders for the 308 Palestinians currently in administrative detention, unless the secret files, upon which administrative detention is based, contain “very serious” information.

This is heartening news to be sure, particularly for the families of the strikers. But on an even deeper level, this deal is a testimony to the astonishing moral/political power of fasting in response to oppression. As my colleague Rabbi Alissa Wise recently wrote:

I can not even begin to fathom the pain, the discomfort, the anguish of starving yourself to protest injustice. Their decision to take up this action surely was not taken up lightly, and neither, I imagine, (was) their decision each and every day to continue with the fast.

Nor can I think of any more basic or courageous form of resistance than the simple act of refusing food. And I can think of no greater expression of this principle than the widely published letter written by hunger striker Thaer Halahleh to his two year old daughter Lamar. (Halahleh, who has hovered between life and death for weeks, has just ended his strike at 77 days):

When you grow up you will understand how injustice was brought upon your father and upon thousands of Palestinians whom the occupation has put in prisons and jail cells, shattering their lives and future for no reason other then their pursuit of freedom, dignity and independence. You will know that your father did not tolerate injustice and submission, and that he would never accept insult and compromise, and that he is going through a hunger strike to protest against the Jewish state that wants to turn us into humiliated slaves without any rights or patriotic dignity.

Hunger striking is, of course, is an ancient time-honored form of protest. As a Jew, I'm particularly mindful that the Book of Isaiah passionately connects the act of fasting to the pursuit of justice:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

Indeed, it is critical that we understand that the Palestinians' "Battle of the Empty Stomachs" as part of this long and honorable tradition of nonviolent resistance. As we have seen from the events of the past several months, it has lasted so long largely because it is a tactic that works.

At the same time, however, it is imperative to bear in mind what has been accomplished and what has not. While several specific demands regarding prison conditions have been met, Israel's overall policy of administrative detention essentially remains in place. Adameer's press release rightly noted this point:

Addameer is concerned that these provisions of the agreement will not explicitly solve Israel’s lenient and problematic application of administrative detention, which as it stands is in stark violation of international law.

In a recent blog post for +972mag, Palestinian journalist Omar Rahman also viewed this agreement in context of the overall Israeli/Palestinian power dynamic:

We must also remember that Israel holds all the chips. These hunger strikers have managed to pressure Israel into a level of accommodation, but only while people are focused on the issue. As soon as that attention dissipates, Israel is free to take back what it has offered. In the relationship between the occupier and the occupied, Israel is the Lord who giveth and taketh away. What will the Palestinians do? Stage another collective hunger strike only to repeat the process of give and take? The costs are simply too high to stage such a strike every time the need arises to challenge the system.

In the meantime, it seems to me, the most important outcome of the hunger strike campaign is the way in which it powerfully frames the ethical stakes of Israel's occupation. As a recent Guardian editorial stated plainly, "Israel cannot claim the moral high ground while it is holding Palestinians without charge."

And finally, as Jews, the "Battle of the Empty Stomachs" presents us with a profoundly critical challenge. Will we, who are the bearers of a tradition that bids us to call out oppression, find the wherewithal to stand with those who fast in response to their oppression by the Jewish state?

I don't know how to say it any better than my colleague Rabbi Rachel Barenblat:

When I read anything which speaks ill of Israel and of Judaism, my heart aches. I do not want to hear these things about my coreligionists. But the answer is not to silence or ignore those who are speaking out. The answer is for my fellow Jews to live up to what is best in our tradition. Detaining people without trial, without informing them or their lawyers of the charges against them, is wrong. When the only Jewish government in the world makes those choices, we are all diminished.

Announcing: GAZA’S ARK

17 may 2012/Desertpeace http://desertpeace.wordpress.com (Israel)

We are thrilled to announce the Gaza’s Ark project and the participation of those in the United States who support the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

If you would like to know more about Gaza’s Ark and how you can support the project, join us on a conference call,
Tuesday, May 22 at 11pm Eastern. Please call
712-432-3900, access code 481417#.

Ann Wright and Jane Hirschmann are the US points of contact on the international steering committee.

Please email Ann if you are planning on calling in for the conference call– gazaarkus@gmail.com

Gaza’s Ark

Building Hope

The Canadian Boat to Gaza, in cooperation, with international initiatives in the US, Australia and other countries, is launching a new initiative to challenge the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade of Gaza, the only Mediterranean port closed to shipping.

This new initiative: Gaza’s Ark, will build a boat in Gaza, using existing resources. A crew of internationals and Palestinians will sail it out of Gaza carrying Palestinian products to fulfill trade deals with international buyers.

Gaza’s Ark will be constructed in Gaza by Palestinian hands and expertise, with international assistance.

Gaza’s Ark will help revitalize the dwindling ship building industry in Gaza and help ensure the transmission of this disappearing expertise (another effect of the blockade) to the younger generations.

Through Gaza’s Ark and trade deals secured between Palestinian producers in Gaza and international businesses and NGOs a channel will be established to export Palestinian products from Gaza that are available despite the blockade.

Gaza’s Ark will also provide training to Gaza’s sailors in the use of up-to-date electronic sailing equipment and techniques which they have been denied for years as a result of the blockade.

Although it will help in a very limited manner to alleviate Gaza’s unemployment crisis by paying wages to the boat builders and providing business opportunities to traders, Gaza’s Ark is not an aid project. It is a peaceful action against the blockade which Israel unilaterally and unreasonably imposes on Gaza.

Gaza’s Ark also stands in solidarity with the Palestinian fishery in Gaza whose ability to operate in territorial waters and to derive a livelihood is threatened by the same Israeli blockade which our campaign is challenging.

Gaza’s Ark challenges the blockade by building hope on the ground in Gaza, and affirms our confidence that the Palestinians of Gaza can rebuild their economy through outbound trade that threatens no-one’s security.

With your support, the work on Gaza’s Ark will start this summer. You will be able to follow its progress with regular updates on the web (www.GazaArk.org), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GazaArk) and Twitter (@GazaArk).

You can reach us by email at info@gazaark.org.

Gaza’s Ark is a project of US Boat to Gaza

GHETTO DE VARSOVIA: NUESTRA MEMORIA CON LOS SITIADOS INSURRECTOS

20 abril 2012/Judios Antisionistas.com judiosantisionistas.org
Judíos antisionistas en Argentina, Judíos antisionistas en España, Red Internacional de Judíos antisionistas (IJAN)

El ghetto de Varsovia fue establecido por las tropas nazis que ocuparon Polonia en octubre de 1940. Durante los 3 años de existencia se estima que de las 400.000 personas que lo habitaron, fueron reducidas por deportaciones a campos de exterminio, por asesinatos y fusilamientos, a 50.000. Pero en ese rincón de Varsovia, en ese territorio hostigado, acosado y atacado, tuvo lugar una de las primeras revueltas masivas contra la ocupación nazi: el levantamiento se inició el 19 de abril de 1943.

Polonia era una parte más de los distintos países y territorios donde se libraba el espanto de la guerra. El Partido Socialista Polaco protestaba enérgicamente contra los persecuciones, y resistentes polacos ayudaron a los sitiados, tanto entrando en el ghetto como proporcionando medicamentos y armas. Se conformó el Comité de Ayuda a los Judíos, en el que se coordinaban varias organizaciones, incluso el comité de justicia del gobierno civil clandestino polaco, emitió varios decretos y condenas a muerte a quienes delataran o entregaran judíos a las tropas nazis. La población polaca sufría asimismo de los peligros y la represión que ejercían el ejército ocupante. La eliminación de los colaboradores con los nazis, se hacía saber mediante octavillas y carteles, y, junto al nombre figuraban los motivos de la condena.

Los gobernadores alemanes en Polonia, trasladaron al barrio judío de Varsovia, judíos de otros distritos y poblaciones cercanas. Inicialmente el perímetro fue cercado con alambres de púas y posteriormente levantando un muro de 3 metros de altura y 18 kms. de largo…
El ghetto era parte de la cadena de terror y destrucción de la política nazi. Dentro de los muros del ghetto, de acuerdo a la documentación recuperada, a los testimonios de los sobrevivientes, y la difusión que se expandía fuera del mismo, desde los primeros pasos del aislamiento, se iniciaron también caminos de resistencia.

Bajo el lema vivir con dignidad y morir con dignidad, y con una ajustada organización social, se trató de dar cabida a las múltiples necesidades de sus habitantes. Así funcionaba una biblioteca central, consultorios médicos, un instituto clandestino, un círculo dramático, se organizaban recitales poéticos, conciertos; obras de teatro y exposiciones de arte.

La vida cultural incluía periódicos clandestinos, que eran editados en polaco, en hebreo y en yidish. Se realizaban asimismo, ceremonias religiosas, tanto en lugares abiertos como en las casas de los rabinos; llamativamente había una iglesia construida para los judíos convertidos al catolicismo; se distribuían noticias del frente, había un receptor de radio; a pesar de todos los obstáculos se celebraban fiestas obreras, los comités de inmuebles ubicaban a los que llegaban según las urgencias, pero también construían refugios y planificaban la compra de armas. Se construían pasadizos y subterráneos secretos, se colocaban minas, etc. Es de destacar la labor de archivo de la documentación de los que vivieron en el ghetto, encontrándose numerosos ensayos, trabajos escolares, colecciones de arte, recetas, entradas de teatro, periódicos clandestinos, cartas, diarios personales, etc. Esta documentación fue escondida en tres partes distintas de las que se recuperaron dos.

En todas y cada una de las actividades trataba de rescatarse la vida frente al hambre, a las enfermedades, a los ataques nazis… En diciembre de 1942 se llegó a un acuerdo entre las diversas asociaciones. Así la resistencia judía clandestina se agrupó en dos organizaciones, por un lado, la Organización Judía de Combate, y por otro, el Comité Judío de lucha, un bloque antifascista, para preparar la respuesta por la vía armada.

La dificultad de conseguir armas generaba actos de heroísmo indescriptibles. Las batallas desproporcionadas cuerpo a cuerpo, con bombas de fabricación casera, la lucha de guerrilla, la resistencia en las cloacas…

Tres semanas de titánica lucha que acabó con la derrota de la resistencia, fueron incendiadas todas las casas y los nazis dinamitaron la sinagoga Tlomacki como signo del fin de la existencia del ghetto de Varsovia. Según los datos del jerarca nazi Stroop, informaba que tras el levantamiento 56.065 judíos fueron capturados durante los días de enfrentamiento y 631 búnkeres destruidos; entre 5.000 y 6.000 judíos murieron en combate, 7.000 fueron fusilados y otros 7.000 fueron deportados a campos de exterminio.

Estimaciones posteriores puntualizaron que también murieron 300 soldados alemanes.

Hasta aquí un relatoría memoriosa posibilitada por las voces que no sólo atravesaron el muro, atravesaron fundamentalmente el olvido y la manipulación.

Y llegados hasta aquí, la indignación por aquella barbarie nazi aún perdura porque con iguales tácticas de separación, aislamiento y cerco, se extiende un nuevo muro de la vergüenza que aísla Cisjordania y Gaza deparando a la población palestina, perjuicios inauditos. Han establecido el recurso perverso del apartheid contra los palestinos que son avasallados a vivir en un cárcel territorial impuesta por el sionismo negacionista de los derechos históricos de un pueblo, que con similares sufrimientos y esperanzas, encara un combate desigual, como antaño lo hicieran los resistentes de Varsovia.

El periódico del BUND (partido socialista judío antisionista) llevaba en su cabecera la consigna “Por nuestra libertad y por la vuestra”; y tenemos la absoluta convicción que en la misma contenía y contiene toda resistencia contra la injusticia y el oprobio.

Por todo lo anterior, queremos también como miembros de IJAN, Red Internacional Judía Antisionista, en estas líneas rendir un homenaje sin exclusión, a todos los inolvidables combatientes del ghetto de de Varsovia, y en especial a todos aquellos omitidos de la historia construida por sionismo.

Y porque esta historia no conoce aún un final digno en tanto y cuanto continúe el plan de exterminio del Estado de Israel sobre el pueblo palestino, cerramos provisionalmente estas líneas con Marek Edelman, adjunto de la insurrección y uno de los sobrevivientes del ghetto de Varsovia, (fallecido en esta ciudad, octubre 2009) , quien declaraba “Es en Israel donde nuestro recuerdo corre peligro de perderse”.

Fuente: http://www.judiosantisionistas.org http://acjp.cat

Red de Judíos Antisionistas
Judíos antisionistas en Argentina
Judíos antisionistas en España
Red Internacional de Judíos antisionistas (IJAN)

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