Mostrando postagens com marcador Barghouti. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador Barghouti. Mostrar todas as postagens

segunda-feira, 2 de abril de 2012

THE NEW MANDELA

31 March 2012/ Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)

Uri Avnery אורי אבנרי

MARWAN BARGHOUTI has spoken up. After a long silence, he has sent a message from prison.

In Israeli ears, this message does not sound pleasant. But for Palestinians, and for Arabs in general, it makes sense.


His message may well become the new program of the Palestinian liberation movement.
I FIRST met Marwan in the heyday of post-Oslo optimism. He was emerging as a leader of the new Palestinian generation, the home-grown young activists, men and women, who had matured in the first Intifada.

He is a man of small physical stature and large personality. When I met him, he was already the leader of Tanzim (“organization”), the youth group of the Fatah movement.

The topic of our conversations then was the organization of demonstrations and other non-violent actions, based on close cooperation between the Palestinians and Israeli peace groups. The aim was peace between Israel and a new State of Palestine.

When the Oslo process died with the assassinations of Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, Marwan and his organization became targets. Successive Israeli leaders – Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon – decided to put an end to the two-state agenda. In the brutal “Defensive Shield operation (launched by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, the new leader of the Kadima Party) the Palestinian Authority was attacked, its services destroyed and many of its activists arrested.

Marwan Barghouti was put on trial. It was alleged that, as the leader of Tanzim, he was responsible for several “terrorist” attacks in Israel. His trial was a mockery, resembling a Roman gladiatorial arena more than a judicial process. The hall was packed with howling rightists, presenting themselves as “victims of terrorism”. Members of Gush Shalom protested against the trial inside the court building but we were not allowed anywhere near the accused.

Marwan was sentenced to five life sentences. The picture of him raising his shackled hands above his head has become a Palestinian national icon. When I visited his family in Ramallah, it was hanging in the living room.

IN PRISON, Marwan Barghouti was immediately recognized as the leader of all Fatah prisoners. He is respected by Hamas activists as well. Together, the imprisoned leaders of Fatah and Hamas published several statements calling for Palestinian unity and reconciliation. These were widely distributed outside and received with admiration and respect.

(Members of the extended Barghouti family, by the way, play a major role in Palestinian affairs across the entire spectrum from moderate to extremist. One of them is Mustapha Barghouti, a doctor who heads a moderate Palestinian party with many connections abroad, whom I regularly meet at demonstrations in Bilin and elsewhere. I once joked that we always cry when we see each other – from tear gas. The family has its roots in a group of villages north of Jerusalem.)

NOWADAYS, MARWAN Barghouti is considered the outstanding candidate for leader of Fatah and president of the Palestinian Authority after Mahmoud Abbas. He is one of the very few personalities around whom all Palestinians, Fatah as well as Hamas, can unite.

After the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, when the prisoner exchange was discussed, Hamas put Marwan Barghouti on top of the list of Palestinian prisoners whose release it demanded. This was a very unusual gesture, since Marwan belonged to the rival – and reviled - faction.

The Israeli government struck Marwan from the list right away, and remained adamant. When Shalit was finally released, Marwan stayed in prison. Obviously he was considered more dangerous than hundreds of Hamas “terrorists” with “blood on their hands”.

Why?

Cynics would say: because he wants peace. Because he sticks to the two-state solution. Because he can unify the Palestinian people for that purpose. All good reasons for a Netanyahu to keep him behind bars.

SO WHAT did Marwan tell his people this week?

Clearly, his attitude has hardened. So, one must assume, has the attitude of the Palestinian people at large.

He calls for a Third Intifada, a non-violent mass uprising in the spirit of the Arab Spring.

His manifesto is a clear rejection of the policy of Mahmoud Abbas, who maintains limited but all-important cooperation with the Israeli occupation authorities. Marwan calls for a total rupture of all forms of cooperation, whether economic, military or other.

A focal point of this cooperation is the day-to-day collaboration of the American-trained Palestinian security services with the Israeli occupation forces. This arrangement has effectively stopped violent Palestinian attacks in the occupied territories and in Israel proper. It guarantees, In practice, the security of the growing Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Marwan also calls for a total boycott of Israel, Israeli institutions and products in the Palestinian territories and throughout the world. Israeli products should disappear from West Bank shops, Palestinian products should be promoted.

At the same time, Marwan advocates an official end to the charade called “peace negotiations”. This term, by the way, is never heard anymore in Israel. First it was replaced with “peace process”, then “political process”, and lately “the political matter”. The simple word “peace” has become taboo among rightists and most “leftists” alike. It’s political poison.

Marwan proposes to make the absence of peace negotiations official. No more international talk about “reviving the peace process”, no more rushing around of ridiculous people like Tony Blair, no more hollow announcements by Hillary Clinton and Catherine Ashton, no more empty declarations of the “Quartet”. Since the Israeli government clearly has abandoned the two-state solution – which it never really accepted in the first place – keeping up the pretense just harms the Palestinian struggle.

Instead of this hypocrisy, Marwan proposes to renew the battle in the UN. First, apply again to the Security Council for the acceptance of Palestine as a member state, challenging the US to use its solitary veto openly against practically the whole world. After the expected rejection of the Palestinian request by the Council as a result of the veto, request a decision by the General Assembly, where the vast majority would vote in favor. Though this would not be binding, it would demonstrate that the freedom of Palestine enjoys the overwhelming support of the family of nations, and isolate Israel (and the US) even more.

Parallel to this course of action, Marwan insists on Palestinian unity, using his considerable moral force to put pressure on both Fatah and Hamas.

TO SUMMARIZE, Marwan Barghouti has given up all hope of achieving Palestinian freedom through cooperation with Israel, or even Israeli opposition forces. The Israeli peace movement is not mentioned anymore. “Normalization” has become a dirty word.

These ideas are not new, but coming from the No. 1 Palestinian prisoner, the foremost candidate for the succession of Mahmoud Abbas, the hero of the Palestinian masses, it means a turn to a more militant course, both in substance and in tone.

Marwan remains peace oriented – as he made clear when, in a rare recent appearance in court, he called out to the Israeli journalists that he continues to support the two-state solution. He also remains committed to non-violent action, having come to the conclusion that the violent attacks of yesteryear harmed the Palestinian cause instead of furthering it.

He wants to call a halt to the gradual and unwilling slide of the Palestinian Authority into a Vichy-like collaboration, while the expansion of the Israeli “settlement enterprise” goes on undisturbed.

NOT BY accident did Marwan publish his manifesto on the eve of “Land Day”, the world-wide day of protest against the occupation.

“Land Day” is the anniversary of an event that took place in 1976 to protest against the decision of the Israeli government to expropriate huge tracts of Arab-owned land in Galilee and other parts of Israel. The Israeli army and police fired on the protesters, killing six of them. (The day after, two of my friends and I laid wreaths on the graves of the victims, an act that earned me an outbreak of hatred and vilification I have seldom experienced.)

Land day was a turning point for Israel’s Arab citizens, and later became a symbol for Arabs everywhere. This year, the Netanyahu government threatened to shoot anybody who even approaches our borders. It may well be a harbinger for the Third Intifada heralded by Marwan.

For some time now, the world has lost much of its interest in Palestine. Everything looks quiet. Netanyahu has succeeded in deflecting world attention from Palestine to Iran. But in this country, nothing is ever static. While it seems that nothing is happening, settlements are growing incessantly, and so is the deep resentment of the Palestinians who see this happening before their eyes.

Marwan Barghouti’s manifesto expresses the near-unanimous feelings of the Palestinians in the West Bank and elsewhere. Like Nelson Mandela in apartheid South Africa, the man in prison may well be more important than the leaders outside.


terça-feira, 13 de dezembro de 2011

Le Parlement européen adopte une proposition visant à lancer une campagne pour la libération des prisonniers

13 Décembre 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité http://www.france-palestine.org (France)

Alhadathnews

La Commission des droits de l’homme du Parlement européen et le Comité des relations avec le Conseil législatif palestinien ont annoncé hier l’adoption d’une proposition visant à déclarer une campagne internationale au début de l’année prochaine pour la libération des prisonniers et des détenus qui croupissent dans les geôles israéliennes

Cela est arrivé dans le sillage de la réunion qui s’est tenue au Parlement européen en présence de Issa Qaraqe, ministre palestinien des prisonniers, accompagné d’une délégation composée d’ institutions de protection des droits humains, de la société civile palestinienne, de l’ambassadeur de la Palestine au Parlement européen et de Leila Shahid, avec des membres du Parlement et du Conseil du Sénat belge ainsi que organisations de la société civile Belge.

Dans son discours le ministre Qaraqe a demandé au parlement européen d’adopter des décisions claires pour la libération des prisonniers palestiniens similaires aux décisions prises pour la libération du soldat israélien Gilad Shalit.

Il a ajouté que la détention du soldat Shalit, avancée comme excuse au cours des cinq dernières années, est terminée et qu’ il y avait une responsabilité internationale à travailler de façon équilibrée pour la libération des prisonniers palestiniens, en particulier les prisonniers et détenus détenus avant la signature des accords d’Oslo, les malades , les handicapés, les femmes, les enfants et les membres du parlement palestinien élus comme Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Hassan Youssef, et d’autres.

Après avoir écouté le discours du ministre des prisonniers et l’intervention de Fadwa Barghouti, de Nasser Al Rayes d’Al-Haq, de Quzmar Khalid du mouvement mondial pour la défense des enfants, de Francis Saher de la Fondation Addameer ainsi que les délibérations et les commentaires des membres du Parlement européen, la présidence du Parlement européen a annoncé l’adoption d’une campagne pour la libération des prisonniers et l’envoi des missions d’enquête dans les prisons de l’occupation afin de déterminer les conditions inhumaines subies par les prisonniers en violation de tous les principes et valeurs du droit international humanitaire.

Issa Qaraqea a appelé le parlement européen à soutenir et à appuyer les efforts du Président Mahmoud Abbas et du gouvernement palestinien pour libérer les prisonniers comme base pour une paix juste dans la région et de tester la crédibilité d’Israël dans la coexistence égale avec les Palestiniens.

Il a aussi demandé de faire pression pour le respect et la mise en œuvre de l’accord signé il y a quelques années entre le Président Abbas et Ehoud Olmert qui concerne la libération d’un plus grand nombre de prisonniers, après la libération du deuxième groupe de prisonniers suivant l’accord Shalit.

Il a demandé aussi l’intervention du Parlement européen pour mettre fin aux poursuites des ex-détenus et aux restrictions imposées sur leurs déplacements et leur travail ainsi que la levée de toutes les mesures arbitraires prises contre les détenus palestiniens dans les prisons israéliennes comme le confinement et l’isolement, le droit de visite à la population de la bande de Gaza, le droit aux études universitaires des prisonniers et le rétablissement des autres droits humains qui leur ont été confisqués.

Publié par alhadathnews.com

domingo, 7 de agosto de 2011

TEL-AVIV PROPOSE UN MARCHE DE DUPES

5 août 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) http://www.france-palestine.org (France)

Hassane Zerrouky - L’Humanité

Si les Palestiniens renoncent à demander «  unilatéralement  » l’adhésion d’un État de Palestine à l’ONU en septembre, Israël est prêt à négocier un accord de paix sur la base des propositions du président Barack Obama, a indiqué une source israélienne.

En mai dernier, l’hôte de la Maison-Blanche s’était prononcé pour un État palestinien basé sur les frontières de 1967 avec des échanges de territoires, provoquant alors la colère du gouvernement de Netanyahou  ! Bref. «  L’objectif ultime, c’est deux États pour deux peuples, Israël en tant qu’État du peuple juif, et l’État de Palestine, patrie du peuple palestinien  », a assuré le premier ministre israélien, cité par le Jerusalem Post de mardi. Il y a dix jours, s’exprimant sur la chaîne Al-Arabiya, Benyamin Netanyahou s’était déjà dit «  prêt à négocier la paix  » avec le président Mahmoud Abbas, assurant que «  tout est sur la table, mais il faut se rendre à la table  ».

Ce semblant de revirement, qui au fond s’apparente à un marché de dupes visant à torpiller l’admission de l’État palestinien à l’ONU, est dû au moins à trois éléments. Le premier, c’est l’appel de Marwan Barghouti à des manifestations de masse en septembre pour soutenir la demande d’adhésion palestinienne (voir l’Humanité du 24 juillet). Le deuxième tient au fait qu’Israël ne semble pas être parvenu à convaincre au moins trente pays pour rassembler «  une majorité morale  » afin de faire échouer la reconnaissance de l’État palestinien par l’ONU. Enfin, troisième élément, et non des moindres, «  l’intifada sociale  » de la jeunesse israélienne n’est sans doute pas étrangère au fait que Benyamin Netanyahou tente, à la faveur d’une reprise des négociations avec les Palestiniens, de freiner la chute de sa cote de popularité en Israël.

sexta-feira, 22 de julho de 2011

Da prisão, líder palestino convoca milhões às ruas

21 julho 2011/Vermelho http://www.vermelho.org.br (Brasil)

Da prisão israelense de Hadarim – onde cumpre cinco penas de prisão perpétua – o líder palestino Marwan Barghouti pediu ontem que "milhões" saiam às ruas em setembro, em apoio ao pedido de independência palestina, que deve acontecer em setembro, durante a Assembleia Geral da Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU).
Crianças palestinas levantam cartaz de Barghouti

Em carta enviada à imprensa, ele incentiva os palestinos nos territórios ocupados por Israel e em outros países a "marchar pacificamente" durante a semana de votação do pedido na Assembleia Geral das Nações Unidas.

O plano palestino de pedir que a ONU aceite a Palestina como membro da organização deu início a uma disputa diplomática com Israel, que o considera – apoiado por seu aliado norte-americano – um ato unilateral, contrário aos acordos de paz assinados.

Com a paralisação das negociações de paz desde 2008 e sem sinais de que serão retomadas em breve, os palestinos disseram que pedirão na ONU uma votação em favor de sua independência. A aprovação na Assembleia Geral seria simbólica e teria pouco efeito prático, mas os palestinos acreditam que o endosso internacional representaria uma forte pressão para que Israel saia dos territórios ocupados.

O líder Barghouti manteve a influência que conquistou durante o movimento insurgente mesmo após ter sido preso. É frequentemente apontado em pesquisas como um dos favoritos à Presidência palestina.

No texto, ele diz que a ida à ONU é parte de uma nova estratégia palestina que abrirá as portas para mais manifestações. A ideia é reproduzir o espírito das revoluções árabes e acirrar a pressão sobre Israel com o aval da ONU.

"Vencer a batalha de setembro, que é um passo importante de nossa luta, requer os maiores protestos pacíficos aqui e na diáspora, nos países árabes e muçulmanos e nas capitais internacionais", disse Barghouti.

Líder palestino
Barghouti, de 51 anos, talvez seja o mais conhecido líder palestino detido por Israel – e um dos cerca de 10 mil presos políticos o que conflito já fez. Ele cumpre cinco sentenças de prisão perpétua por sua participação em levantes armados na última década. Seu nome sempre é citado quando se discute o futuro político da presidência palestina.

A mulher de Barghouti, Fadwa, afirmou que o marido ditou a mensagem para seus advogados durante uma visita recente. Ainda não está claro como a convocação de Barghouti vai evoluir, já que as manifestações vão depender da organização de ativistas pró-palestinos.

Segundo especialistas, Barghouti vem tendo sua trajetória política comparada a de Nelson Mandela – ativista e ex-presidente da África do Sul. A comparação é surgiu principalmente a partir das declarações do líder baseadas na chamada “resistência pacífica”, como pregava o militante africano. E hoje, mesmo preso, é uma das figuras mais populares da Autoridade Palestina.

Barghouti nasceu em uma aldeia próxima de Ramallah, e se tornou membro do Fatah ainda com 15 anos. Com 18, foi preso pela primeira vez por ter envolvimento com grupos militantes palestinos. Em 1987, atuou como um dos principais líderes da Primeira Intifada, levando os palestinos a protestarem em um levante contra Israel. Em 1996, Barghouti foi eleito para o Conselho Legislativo da Palestina, quando começou sua defesa ativa por um Estado Palestino independente.

Durante a Segunda Intifada, sua popularidade cresceu ainda mais e o líder passou a ser visto como uma das principais forças de combate contra as Forças de Defesa Israelenses. Ao mesmo tempo em que via sua popularidade junto às massas aumentar, o líder palestino exortava ações combativas contra Israel. Em 2001, ele conseguiu se livrar da primeira tentativa de prisão.

Só em abril de 2002, Barghouti foi preso, sob a acusação de assassinato e tentativa de homicídios decorrentes dos movimentos de insurgência popular dos quais participou. Desde que está preso, seus apoiadores – entre eles, autoridades políticas, militantes, membros do parlamento europeu – acreditam que Barghouti é uma espécie de Nelson Mandela palestino, uma vez que é apontado como o líder ideal para reanimar um movimento à deriva e dividido nacionalmente.

Estado palestino
No Brasil, a campanha “Pela Criação do Estado da Palestina Já” está em desenvolvimento e a manifestação é respaldada por cerca de três dezenas de organizações políticas e sociais. A Palestina já é reconhecida política e moralmente por mais de cem países.

A Palestina também foi admitida nas organizações da ONU, com exceção da Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura (Unesco) e da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS). E o presidente dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, em pronunciamento feito em maio deste ano, admitiu a criação do Estado palestino com as fronteiras de 1967.

O ministro da Defesa de Israel, Ehud Barak, comparou a eventual decisão da ONU em favor dos palestinos a um “tsunami”. O novo embaixador de Israel na ONU, Ron Prosor, informou à imprensa israelense que o reconhecimento da Palestina por parte da ONU “levaria à violência e à guerra”.

Em 1947, a Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) criou o Plano de Partilha da Palestina, que resultou na criação do Estado de Israel. Essa iniciativa abriu caminho para uma tragédia cotidiana para o povo palestino. Mais de 500 vilas e comunidades palestinas foram destruídas. Milhares foram presos, torturados e assassinados.

Palestinos foram expulsos de suas casas e de centenas de cidades. Cerca de 4,5 milhões de refugiados palestinos vivem hoje pelo mundo, sendo que a maioria destes se encontra nas fronteiras da Palestina ocupada, e o Estado de Israel segue negando o direito de retorno. (Da Redação, com agências)