25 August 2011, + 972 http://972mag.com (Israel)
Yossi Gurvitz*
A week passed since the Eilat attack, and the IDF has yet to prove the blame of the group Israel chose to attack in response.
Earlier this week I posted about the cracks in the Barak-Netanyahu narrative regarding the terror attacks near Eilat. A quick reminder: While the attacks were still going on, Barak blamed them on the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, and hours later the IAF attacked and killed the leadership of the PRC. However, there is not a shred of evidence the PRC had anything to do with the attacks, and Barak’s action plunged Israel and Hamas into a new round of hostilities.
Since Monday, there have been a few more reports in the Israeli media, casting more doubt on the official story. Yediot reported on Tuesday (Hebrew) that nameless people in the security apparatus doubt the PRC were responsible for the attacks, and raise an interesting question: If they were responsible, why was the PRC’s entire leadership in the same place?
According to Yediot’s anonymous intelligence sources (bear in mind that such sources should always be viewed with skepticism; by their very nature they cannot be corroborated, and they tend to be unreliable even when speaking openly), the attribution of the attacks to the PRC stems from one somewhat incoherent comment on some Jihadi message board.
Ha’aretz reported on Tuesday (Hebrew) that at least three on the attackers were Egyptian Jihadis. American intelligence sources – the same caveat above applies here – told Globes (Hebrew) that they, too, doubt the PRC are responsible, though they may have had a small role in the attacks.
Two days ago, the IAF attacked the Gaza Strip again – naturally, it does not consider itself bound by the ceasefire; only the Palestinians are, and only them can be blamed for breaking it – and killed some Islamic Jihad apparatchick. Yesterday, the IDF claimed (Hebrew) that he was in charge of funding the Eilat attacks. Hold on a minute, I’m confused: I thought you said the attacks were carried out by the PRC, and now it’s the Islamic Jihad left holding the bag? As of yesterday, reported Amira Hass in Ha’aretz (Hebrew), there are no mourning tents in Gaza. As of today, one week after the attack, the IDF refrains from exposing the identity of the attackers it killed.
One should note that none of the bewildering array of information comes officially from the IDF Spokesman, but rather from all sorts of “senior sources”. That’s the way the IDF raises a smokescreen, and then, when it is penetrated, rightly say he said nothing official. Lt. Col. Avital Leibowitz was adamant, during a phone call on Sunday, that all of the people involved in the attacks were Gazans; unofficially, the IDF seems to back away from this position.
Despite the ceasefire, the IDF renewed attacks on the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli media – aside from Netanyahu’s mouthpiece, Israel Ha’yom – quietly points that out. This low level of military activity suits barak fine: It prevents a serious escalation, which may deal a blow to the Egyptian peace treaty – the Egyptians have warned the cabinet, it is reported, from a full-scale offensive (Hebrew) – and yet allows the government a distraction from the demands of the #J14 movement.
And if a few Gazans die, who cares?
-------------------
I am Yossi Gurvitz*, a 40-year old journalist, blogger and photographer.
I write for several Israeli publications, including the influential financial daily Calcalist and the Nana portal. In the past, I’ve been deputy editor of Nana News, and with Itamar Shaaltiel edited its 2006 Knesset elections section.
I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, graduated from a Yeshiva (Nehalim), but saw the light and turned atheist at about the age of 17. After the mandatory three years in the military, much more strictly enforced in 1988 than now, I studied history and classics, earning a BA degree, and studying three additional years towards an MA, but abandoned the project in favor of earning my living as a journalist. [It seemed a good idea at the time.]
Mostrando postagens com marcador Rafah. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador Rafah. Mostrar todas as postagens
quinta-feira, 25 de agosto de 2011
ISRAEL’S NICE LITTLE WAR
25 August 2011, CounterPunch http://www.counterpunch.org (USA)
Gaza, Egypt in the Range of Fire
by Ramzy Baroud*
Israeli writer Uri Avnery recently wrote an article entitled ‘How Godly Are Thy Tents?’, which began with the words, “First of all, a warning.” The reference was made to the tent cities that have sprung up across the country by middle class Israelis demanding change and reforms. The organizational style of these demands was not entirely different from Arab uprisings. To everyone’s surprise, the limited Israeli mobilization, which extended from concerns about sky-rocketing real estate prices to calls for ‘social justice’, was seen as Israel’s Tahrir Square moment. The movement was yet to articulate a political agenda, although such enunciation would have been a natural progression.
So what was Avnery’s warning about?
The “social protest movement is gathering momentum,” wrote Avnery. “At that point, there will be a temptation – perhaps an irresistible temptation – to ‘warm up the borders’. To start a nice little war. Call on the youth of Israel, the same young people now manning…the tents, to go and defend the fatherland.”
It was an unnerving warning, not only because it came from Avnery, a veteran well-versed in his understanding of the Israel ruling class, but also because it actualized in its entirety a few days later.
The ‘war’ had indeed commenced, starting on August 18. The ‘provocation’ had supposedly demonstrated without doubt that Israel’s security was greatly compromised and that the small state with ‘indefensible borders’ was paying a high price for Gaza’s armed intransigence and Egypt’s post-revolutionary chaos. Israeli sources reported that a large number of militants had crossed Sinai into Israel’s Red Sea resort of Eilat on Thursday (August 18), opening fire on two buses carrying Israeli soldiers. The passage was implacably coordinated, thus the ability of these bold attackers to kill and wound soldiers and other Israelis. According to the Israeli version of events, some of the attackers were killed, but others managed to flee back to Egypt. This forced the Israeli military to pursue them in an extraordinary chase, which mistakenly killed three Egyptian military personal.
Israeli sources, seemingly clueless to the armed men’s infiltration of a high security area, immediately provided precise information about the attackers. Instant consensus was also reached about the attackers’ link to Gaza. Per the massive strikes on many Gaza targets, it seemed as though the entire Strip was being blamed and punished.
The outcome was most predictable, albeit tragic. Israeli warplanes flew back over the Gaza sky, drones roamed uncontested, and the Palestinian death toll augmented. The whole miserable scene of killed civilians, mutilated children and burnt buildings was once more upon us. The chorus of support for Israel and condemnation of Palestinians from Washington was reminiscent of a history that never stops repeating itself.
But before delving into counter-arguments, one is tempted to question the conveniently situated Israeli wars of ‘self defense.’ How different is this latest ‘nice little war’ from the horrifying Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982? When Ariel Sharon requested an American green light to attack Lebanon, Alexander Haig, US Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan, insisted Israel must possess a ‘credible provocation’ before leading such a mission. Moreover, the case made to justify the war on Gaza in 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead also had its own ‘credible provocation’. In fact, all of Israel’s wars are sold to the public within this neat package which actually holds little credibility.
This time the provocation had to be convincing enough to justify multiple Israeli strikes on all of Gaza’s factions, as well as politically vulnerable Egypt.
Why is Israel bent on discrediting Egypt, exploiting the most sensitive period of its modern history, and destabilizing the border area so as to show Egypt’s failure to ensure Israel’s border security, as stipulated in the Camp David treaty?
Reportedly, all of Gaza’s prominent factions denied any responsibility for the Eilat attacks, including the Popular Resistance Committees (not affiliated with Hamas), which was accused by Israeli of being behind the attacks.
Responding to Israel’s killing of Egyptian officers, and under pressure by thousands of porters, Egypt pulled its ambassador out of Israel on August 20. In Israel, the discussion is now shifting to security and the need to complete construction of its 200km barrier at the border with Egypt, ostensibly aimed at blocking African immigrants from sneaking into Israel. Strangely, Egypt, which stands accused of allowing hundreds of militants into Israel from Sinai, had kept an eye on the border despite the effects of the revolution on security throughout the country. On July 7, for example, and on August 11, Egyptian security reportedly killed an Eritrean man and a Sudan migrant respectively for trying to cross the border. Many others have been apprehended during past months as well.
The army’s ability to strike down lone migrants, while supposed laxity allowed for the infiltration of hundreds in one instance raises more questions than it provides answers.
Some hidden hands seem to be orchestrating chaos in the city of Arish and the rest of the Sinai area. This includes the peculiar daytime attack by hundreds of armed met at police stations in Arish on July 29, which killed several Egyptian officers.
While deliberate chaos was being engendered in Sinai, fear was returning to Gaza as it was promised another Israeli military assault.
On August 9, residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip feared attack by Israel. The fears were not only based on repeated threats by Israeli officials, but also on a mysterious telecommunication blackout that day which cut off all Internet, mobile phones and international landlines for hours, according to Ma’an news agency. “Meanwhile, residents of Gaza near the border with Israel said army bulldozers were seen operating shortly before communications went offline,” Ma’an reported.
Why did Israel cut Gaza’s communication off? Was the ‘credible provocation’ being concocted then? Why did Israel fail to provide a reasonable explanation for the blackout? More, why the attempt at embarrassing, provoking and perhaps dragging Egypt into a border confrontation at a time when Egypt is attempting a transition towards democracy?
It ought to be said that “new Egypt’ was also credited for facilitating Palestinian unity, a first step towards taking Hamas out of its international isolation.
Is it not then possible that Israel’s ‘nice little war’ was a response to such a dangerous shift in Egyptian policy towards Hamas – and Palestine in general?
*Ramzy Baroud is editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide. He is the author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: a Chronicle of a People’s Struggle and “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story” (Pluto Press, London).
Gaza, Egypt in the Range of Fire
by Ramzy Baroud*
Israeli writer Uri Avnery recently wrote an article entitled ‘How Godly Are Thy Tents?’, which began with the words, “First of all, a warning.” The reference was made to the tent cities that have sprung up across the country by middle class Israelis demanding change and reforms. The organizational style of these demands was not entirely different from Arab uprisings. To everyone’s surprise, the limited Israeli mobilization, which extended from concerns about sky-rocketing real estate prices to calls for ‘social justice’, was seen as Israel’s Tahrir Square moment. The movement was yet to articulate a political agenda, although such enunciation would have been a natural progression.
So what was Avnery’s warning about?
The “social protest movement is gathering momentum,” wrote Avnery. “At that point, there will be a temptation – perhaps an irresistible temptation – to ‘warm up the borders’. To start a nice little war. Call on the youth of Israel, the same young people now manning…the tents, to go and defend the fatherland.”
It was an unnerving warning, not only because it came from Avnery, a veteran well-versed in his understanding of the Israel ruling class, but also because it actualized in its entirety a few days later.
The ‘war’ had indeed commenced, starting on August 18. The ‘provocation’ had supposedly demonstrated without doubt that Israel’s security was greatly compromised and that the small state with ‘indefensible borders’ was paying a high price for Gaza’s armed intransigence and Egypt’s post-revolutionary chaos. Israeli sources reported that a large number of militants had crossed Sinai into Israel’s Red Sea resort of Eilat on Thursday (August 18), opening fire on two buses carrying Israeli soldiers. The passage was implacably coordinated, thus the ability of these bold attackers to kill and wound soldiers and other Israelis. According to the Israeli version of events, some of the attackers were killed, but others managed to flee back to Egypt. This forced the Israeli military to pursue them in an extraordinary chase, which mistakenly killed three Egyptian military personal.
Israeli sources, seemingly clueless to the armed men’s infiltration of a high security area, immediately provided precise information about the attackers. Instant consensus was also reached about the attackers’ link to Gaza. Per the massive strikes on many Gaza targets, it seemed as though the entire Strip was being blamed and punished.
The outcome was most predictable, albeit tragic. Israeli warplanes flew back over the Gaza sky, drones roamed uncontested, and the Palestinian death toll augmented. The whole miserable scene of killed civilians, mutilated children and burnt buildings was once more upon us. The chorus of support for Israel and condemnation of Palestinians from Washington was reminiscent of a history that never stops repeating itself.
But before delving into counter-arguments, one is tempted to question the conveniently situated Israeli wars of ‘self defense.’ How different is this latest ‘nice little war’ from the horrifying Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982? When Ariel Sharon requested an American green light to attack Lebanon, Alexander Haig, US Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan, insisted Israel must possess a ‘credible provocation’ before leading such a mission. Moreover, the case made to justify the war on Gaza in 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead also had its own ‘credible provocation’. In fact, all of Israel’s wars are sold to the public within this neat package which actually holds little credibility.
This time the provocation had to be convincing enough to justify multiple Israeli strikes on all of Gaza’s factions, as well as politically vulnerable Egypt.
Why is Israel bent on discrediting Egypt, exploiting the most sensitive period of its modern history, and destabilizing the border area so as to show Egypt’s failure to ensure Israel’s border security, as stipulated in the Camp David treaty?
Reportedly, all of Gaza’s prominent factions denied any responsibility for the Eilat attacks, including the Popular Resistance Committees (not affiliated with Hamas), which was accused by Israeli of being behind the attacks.
Responding to Israel’s killing of Egyptian officers, and under pressure by thousands of porters, Egypt pulled its ambassador out of Israel on August 20. In Israel, the discussion is now shifting to security and the need to complete construction of its 200km barrier at the border with Egypt, ostensibly aimed at blocking African immigrants from sneaking into Israel. Strangely, Egypt, which stands accused of allowing hundreds of militants into Israel from Sinai, had kept an eye on the border despite the effects of the revolution on security throughout the country. On July 7, for example, and on August 11, Egyptian security reportedly killed an Eritrean man and a Sudan migrant respectively for trying to cross the border. Many others have been apprehended during past months as well.
The army’s ability to strike down lone migrants, while supposed laxity allowed for the infiltration of hundreds in one instance raises more questions than it provides answers.
Some hidden hands seem to be orchestrating chaos in the city of Arish and the rest of the Sinai area. This includes the peculiar daytime attack by hundreds of armed met at police stations in Arish on July 29, which killed several Egyptian officers.
While deliberate chaos was being engendered in Sinai, fear was returning to Gaza as it was promised another Israeli military assault.
On August 9, residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip feared attack by Israel. The fears were not only based on repeated threats by Israeli officials, but also on a mysterious telecommunication blackout that day which cut off all Internet, mobile phones and international landlines for hours, according to Ma’an news agency. “Meanwhile, residents of Gaza near the border with Israel said army bulldozers were seen operating shortly before communications went offline,” Ma’an reported.
Why did Israel cut Gaza’s communication off? Was the ‘credible provocation’ being concocted then? Why did Israel fail to provide a reasonable explanation for the blackout? More, why the attempt at embarrassing, provoking and perhaps dragging Egypt into a border confrontation at a time when Egypt is attempting a transition towards democracy?
It ought to be said that “new Egypt’ was also credited for facilitating Palestinian unity, a first step towards taking Hamas out of its international isolation.
Is it not then possible that Israel’s ‘nice little war’ was a response to such a dangerous shift in Egyptian policy towards Hamas – and Palestine in general?
*Ramzy Baroud is editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide. He is the author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: a Chronicle of a People’s Struggle and “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story” (Pluto Press, London).
DOUBTS EMERGE OVER IDENTITY OF TERRORISTS WHO CARRIED OUT ATTACK IN ISRAEL'S SOUTH
25 August 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
Gazans doubt responsibility of Popular Resistance Committees and their military wing; Egypt newspaper identifies three of attack planners as Egyptians.
By Amira Hass
It has been one week since the terror attacks near Eilat, and there is no sign of the traditional mourners' tents for the relatives of militants killed by the Israel Defense Forces, or indeed any reports of Gazan families who are grieving as a result of IDF actions near the Egyptian border last Thursday. Nor were there reports of families demanding the return of their loved ones' bodies for burial. A longtime social activist told Haaretz that even in the event that families were instructed to conceal their grief, news like that is difficult to hide in the Strip.
The absence of mourners' tents reinforces the general sense in the Strip that the perpetrators of the attack were not from Gaza, contrary to Israeli defense establishment claims. Gazans also doubt that members of the Popular Resistance Committees and their military wing (the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades ) were behind the attack. Support for this view can be seen in a report on Monday by the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, according to which Egyptian security forces had identified three of the planners as Egyptians. A PRC spokesman responded to the report by announcing that the organization "praised" the attack but had not planned it.
Within hours after the attack, at about 5 P.M. Thursday, two IDF missiles killed PRC chief Kamal al-Nirab and three members of its military wing, who were in one of the men's homes in the Rafah refugee camp. The 2-year-old son of the homeowner also died in the missile strike.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral Friday morning of the five victims. A relative of Nirab's told Haaretz that there is a sense that people in Rafah want revenge.
Nirab was popular in the area less because of his military prowess than due to a role he embraced in the past few years, that of mediator and conflict-solver - within families and between Fatah and Hamas.
Judging from conversations with a few people, the rest of the Strip is tending against escalation. "In the north people see Iron Dome in action," a man from the area of Beit Lahiya said, referring to the antimissile system protecting Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza. "The military ineffectiveness of our rockets was never so apparent to people as it is now," he added.
Palestinian media outlets reported that three children were killed in Israeli retaliatory air strikes. But one of them, a 13-year-old boy, actually died after being hit by a rocket or missile fired by Palestinian militants north of the Shati refugee camp on Friday. Such incidents, when rockets launched from the Strip fall in Gazan territory, causing injuries and damage, are not widely reported but are not rare.
The body of a 65-year-old man was found in farmland east of the Bureij refugee camp yesterday, according to local residents a victim of an Israeli air strike. No other details about the circumstances were available. Excluding him, since Thursday the IDF killed 14 Palestinians, four of them civilians (including a physician and his 2-year-old nephew ) and the remainder members of militant organizations. An additional 32 Gazans were injured in the attacks, including eight women and nine children, some of them critically. Researchers from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights counted 20 attacks (from the air, sea and ground ) between Thursday and Saturday evening.
Gazans doubt responsibility of Popular Resistance Committees and their military wing; Egypt newspaper identifies three of attack planners as Egyptians.
By Amira Hass
It has been one week since the terror attacks near Eilat, and there is no sign of the traditional mourners' tents for the relatives of militants killed by the Israel Defense Forces, or indeed any reports of Gazan families who are grieving as a result of IDF actions near the Egyptian border last Thursday. Nor were there reports of families demanding the return of their loved ones' bodies for burial. A longtime social activist told Haaretz that even in the event that families were instructed to conceal their grief, news like that is difficult to hide in the Strip.
The absence of mourners' tents reinforces the general sense in the Strip that the perpetrators of the attack were not from Gaza, contrary to Israeli defense establishment claims. Gazans also doubt that members of the Popular Resistance Committees and their military wing (the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades ) were behind the attack. Support for this view can be seen in a report on Monday by the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, according to which Egyptian security forces had identified three of the planners as Egyptians. A PRC spokesman responded to the report by announcing that the organization "praised" the attack but had not planned it.
Within hours after the attack, at about 5 P.M. Thursday, two IDF missiles killed PRC chief Kamal al-Nirab and three members of its military wing, who were in one of the men's homes in the Rafah refugee camp. The 2-year-old son of the homeowner also died in the missile strike.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral Friday morning of the five victims. A relative of Nirab's told Haaretz that there is a sense that people in Rafah want revenge.
Nirab was popular in the area less because of his military prowess than due to a role he embraced in the past few years, that of mediator and conflict-solver - within families and between Fatah and Hamas.
Judging from conversations with a few people, the rest of the Strip is tending against escalation. "In the north people see Iron Dome in action," a man from the area of Beit Lahiya said, referring to the antimissile system protecting Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza. "The military ineffectiveness of our rockets was never so apparent to people as it is now," he added.
Palestinian media outlets reported that three children were killed in Israeli retaliatory air strikes. But one of them, a 13-year-old boy, actually died after being hit by a rocket or missile fired by Palestinian militants north of the Shati refugee camp on Friday. Such incidents, when rockets launched from the Strip fall in Gazan territory, causing injuries and damage, are not widely reported but are not rare.
The body of a 65-year-old man was found in farmland east of the Bureij refugee camp yesterday, according to local residents a victim of an Israeli air strike. No other details about the circumstances were available. Excluding him, since Thursday the IDF killed 14 Palestinians, four of them civilians (including a physician and his 2-year-old nephew ) and the remainder members of militant organizations. An additional 32 Gazans were injured in the attacks, including eight women and nine children, some of them critically. Researchers from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights counted 20 attacks (from the air, sea and ground ) between Thursday and Saturday evening.
sexta-feira, 19 de agosto de 2011
WHY ISRAEL SHOULD NOT ATTACK IN GAZA
18 August 2011, + 972 http://972mag.com (Israel)
Yossi Gurvitz*
A terrorist attack in Israel has claimed seven victims. Barak plans a large-scale attack on Gaza. We shouldn’t do it.
Seven Israelis were killed earlier today in a terror attack in the south of Israel, near Eilat. As these words are written, IAF fighters are circling in the skies of Gaza, and reports just came in of an airstrike in Rafah that claimed three lives. We still don’t know who is responsible for the attack, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak has already found the guilty parties, the residents of the Gaza Strip. Borrowing the language of the settler pogromchiks, he actually promised a “price tag” operation (Hebrew). In Gaza, people are already huddling in shelters, and following the tweets from there, you can feel the despair, the terror, the feeling of “not again”.
We are all familiar with this circle: Attack, terrorist attack, attack, terrorist attack, attack, major terrorist attack, major operation, terrorist attack, attack and so on and so forth. Maybe we should, for once, break the circle? Here are a few reasons why:
A. Enough with the Pavolvian instinct. Barak wants to take us to a major operation in Gaza? He should first explain to the public what proof he has the attack originated there. I may well be proven wrong in the coming days, but right now this looks more like an Al Qaeda job, certainly much more professional than anything Hamas ever managed to pull off. Al Qaeda has already attacked Eilat before (a rocket attack – Hebrew), and it threatened an attack on it last year (Hebrew). Secondly, Barak should explain how, precisely, will his attack change the situation. The ease, almost absent-mindedness, in which the government can take us to war should be stopped.
B. Nobody does it anymore. Israel is one of the few countries still clinging to the punitive raids method of the 1950s. Does Barak claim the Hamas is responsible for the murder of Israeli citizens by a rocket attacks on busses? He should go the UN and demand an investigation of what seems to be a bona fide war crime. What does Israel stand to lose, if for once it should let international law take its course, instead of breaking it? Will the coming blow will show any different results from the previous ones? Take a deep breath, let the blood recede from your eyes, let’s talk this over; don’t make decisions when you’re in this state.
C. Fear for civilian life: The IDF does not know how to fight without harming civilians – even assuming that i wants to. Much of its lore is fighting against civilians, making them a pre-mediated target. This began in the late 1960s, with the bombing of the Suez Canal cities, and reached its climax in operations Grapes of Wrath and Law and Judgment in 1990s Lebanon – both of which directly attacked the population so that it would pressure its government to end the fighting. Barak led one directly and was involved in the planning of the other. Politically and diplomatically, Israel cannot afford another such operation, particularly not after Cast Lead.
D. The suspicion of a putsch: A large segment of the Israeli people will not believe that a major offensive – which will entail the calling up of reserves – is the result of today’s attack. Given that one deputy minister, Ayoub Qara, already asked the tent-towns of the J14 protests to go home, and given that this morning saw particularly heavy fighting between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defense, this suspicion would be very hard to disperse. Particularly when the minister in charge is Ehud Barak, whose cynicism is only rivaled by the hatred the public feels for him.
Let’s, for once, not open fire as our first move. If this fails, we can always fire later.
----------
I am Yossi Gurvitz*, a 40-year old journalist, blogger and photographer.
I write for several Israeli publications, including the influential financial daily Calcalist and the Nana portal. In the past, I’ve been deputy editor of Nana News, and with Itamar Shaaltiel edited its 2006 Knesset elections section.
I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, graduated from a Yeshiva (Nehalim), but saw the light and turned atheist at about the age of 17. After the mandatory three years in the military, much more strictly enforced in 1988 than now, I studied history and classics, earning a BA degree, and studying three additional years towards an MA, but abandoned the project in favor of earning my living as a journalist. [It seemed a good idea at the time.]
Yossi Gurvitz*
A terrorist attack in Israel has claimed seven victims. Barak plans a large-scale attack on Gaza. We shouldn’t do it.
Seven Israelis were killed earlier today in a terror attack in the south of Israel, near Eilat. As these words are written, IAF fighters are circling in the skies of Gaza, and reports just came in of an airstrike in Rafah that claimed three lives. We still don’t know who is responsible for the attack, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak has already found the guilty parties, the residents of the Gaza Strip. Borrowing the language of the settler pogromchiks, he actually promised a “price tag” operation (Hebrew). In Gaza, people are already huddling in shelters, and following the tweets from there, you can feel the despair, the terror, the feeling of “not again”.
We are all familiar with this circle: Attack, terrorist attack, attack, terrorist attack, attack, major terrorist attack, major operation, terrorist attack, attack and so on and so forth. Maybe we should, for once, break the circle? Here are a few reasons why:
A. Enough with the Pavolvian instinct. Barak wants to take us to a major operation in Gaza? He should first explain to the public what proof he has the attack originated there. I may well be proven wrong in the coming days, but right now this looks more like an Al Qaeda job, certainly much more professional than anything Hamas ever managed to pull off. Al Qaeda has already attacked Eilat before (a rocket attack – Hebrew), and it threatened an attack on it last year (Hebrew). Secondly, Barak should explain how, precisely, will his attack change the situation. The ease, almost absent-mindedness, in which the government can take us to war should be stopped.
B. Nobody does it anymore. Israel is one of the few countries still clinging to the punitive raids method of the 1950s. Does Barak claim the Hamas is responsible for the murder of Israeli citizens by a rocket attacks on busses? He should go the UN and demand an investigation of what seems to be a bona fide war crime. What does Israel stand to lose, if for once it should let international law take its course, instead of breaking it? Will the coming blow will show any different results from the previous ones? Take a deep breath, let the blood recede from your eyes, let’s talk this over; don’t make decisions when you’re in this state.
C. Fear for civilian life: The IDF does not know how to fight without harming civilians – even assuming that i wants to. Much of its lore is fighting against civilians, making them a pre-mediated target. This began in the late 1960s, with the bombing of the Suez Canal cities, and reached its climax in operations Grapes of Wrath and Law and Judgment in 1990s Lebanon – both of which directly attacked the population so that it would pressure its government to end the fighting. Barak led one directly and was involved in the planning of the other. Politically and diplomatically, Israel cannot afford another such operation, particularly not after Cast Lead.
D. The suspicion of a putsch: A large segment of the Israeli people will not believe that a major offensive – which will entail the calling up of reserves – is the result of today’s attack. Given that one deputy minister, Ayoub Qara, already asked the tent-towns of the J14 protests to go home, and given that this morning saw particularly heavy fighting between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defense, this suspicion would be very hard to disperse. Particularly when the minister in charge is Ehud Barak, whose cynicism is only rivaled by the hatred the public feels for him.
Let’s, for once, not open fire as our first move. If this fails, we can always fire later.
----------
I am Yossi Gurvitz*, a 40-year old journalist, blogger and photographer.
I write for several Israeli publications, including the influential financial daily Calcalist and the Nana portal. In the past, I’ve been deputy editor of Nana News, and with Itamar Shaaltiel edited its 2006 Knesset elections section.
I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, graduated from a Yeshiva (Nehalim), but saw the light and turned atheist at about the age of 17. After the mandatory three years in the military, much more strictly enforced in 1988 than now, I studied history and classics, earning a BA degree, and studying three additional years towards an MA, but abandoned the project in favor of earning my living as a journalist. [It seemed a good idea at the time.]
segunda-feira, 11 de julho de 2011
União Africana pede entrada da Palestina nas Nações Unidas como Estado independente
Dakar, Senegal, 8 Julho 2011 (PANA) – A União Africana (UA) instou os seus representantes no Conselho de Segurança das Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) a apoiar os esforços da Palestina para a sua adesão a esta organização mundial como Estado-membro de pleno direito.
De acordo com as decisões da recém-terminada 17ª cimeira da UA em Malabo, na Guiné Equatorial, os países-membros desta organização continental, que ainda o não tenham feito, são chamados a reconhecer imediatamente o Estado da Palestina com Jerusalém Oriental como sua capital.
Este reconhecimento e o estatuto de membro pleno das Nações Unidas para o Estado da Palestina devem basear-se nas fronteiras de 4 de junho de 1967 que consagram Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalém) como a capital deste território do Médio Oriente, refere a documentação final da conferência de Malabo.
Para o efeito, a União Africana propõe ao Conselho de Segurança da ONU a convocação de uma "sessão de emergência" para analisar o estatuto do Estado Palestino com vista à sua adoção durante a próxima sessão ordinária da Assembleia Geral da ONU a decorrer, a partir de Setembro deste ano, na sua sede em Nova Iorque (Estados Unidos).
Pede ainda a retomada das negociações de paz entre a Palestina e Israel e reafirma o seu apoio a uma solução pacífica do conflito árabe-israelita “com base nos princípios do Direito Internacional e nas resoluções pertinentes da ONU, com ênfase na criação de um Estado palestino independente”.
A UA denuncia as “práticas desumanas israelitas contra prisioneiros e detidos palestinos” e apela ao Governo de Israel para cessar a sua “política de ocupação e agressão” em todo o território palestino.
Reitera a sua solidariedade para com o povo da Palestina e saúda o acordo de paz e reconciliação assinado entre os movimentos palestinos rivais do Hamas e do Fatah, a 4 de maio deste ano, na capital egípcia, Cairo, elogiando por isso o Egito por ter facilitado a assinatura deste documento.
O Egito é igualmente enaltecido pela abertura do posto fronteiriço de Rafah que pôs fiz a quatro anos de bloqueio contra a Faixa de Gaza.
De acordo com as decisões da recém-terminada 17ª cimeira da UA em Malabo, na Guiné Equatorial, os países-membros desta organização continental, que ainda o não tenham feito, são chamados a reconhecer imediatamente o Estado da Palestina com Jerusalém Oriental como sua capital.
Este reconhecimento e o estatuto de membro pleno das Nações Unidas para o Estado da Palestina devem basear-se nas fronteiras de 4 de junho de 1967 que consagram Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalém) como a capital deste território do Médio Oriente, refere a documentação final da conferência de Malabo.
Para o efeito, a União Africana propõe ao Conselho de Segurança da ONU a convocação de uma "sessão de emergência" para analisar o estatuto do Estado Palestino com vista à sua adoção durante a próxima sessão ordinária da Assembleia Geral da ONU a decorrer, a partir de Setembro deste ano, na sua sede em Nova Iorque (Estados Unidos).
Pede ainda a retomada das negociações de paz entre a Palestina e Israel e reafirma o seu apoio a uma solução pacífica do conflito árabe-israelita “com base nos princípios do Direito Internacional e nas resoluções pertinentes da ONU, com ênfase na criação de um Estado palestino independente”.
A UA denuncia as “práticas desumanas israelitas contra prisioneiros e detidos palestinos” e apela ao Governo de Israel para cessar a sua “política de ocupação e agressão” em todo o território palestino.
Reitera a sua solidariedade para com o povo da Palestina e saúda o acordo de paz e reconciliação assinado entre os movimentos palestinos rivais do Hamas e do Fatah, a 4 de maio deste ano, na capital egípcia, Cairo, elogiando por isso o Egito por ter facilitado a assinatura deste documento.
O Egito é igualmente enaltecido pela abertura do posto fronteiriço de Rafah que pôs fiz a quatro anos de bloqueio contra a Faixa de Gaza.
quinta-feira, 30 de junho de 2011
CONFERENZA STAMPA FREEDOM FLOTILLA ITALIA
30 giugno 2011, Freedem Flotilla Italia http://www.freedomflotilla.it
COMUNICATO STAMPA
Roma, 30/6/2010
Se l’anno scorso la freedom flotilla partiva accompagnata dalle parole dei genitori di Rachel Corrie, quest’anno ad accompagnare le navi in partenza per Gaza è la lettera dei familiari di Vittorio Arrigoni: l’augurio rivolto alla Flotilla è di arrivare sana e salva in porto per testimoniare al popolo di Gaza che la dichiarazione dei diritti universali dell’uomo vale anche in quella terra, dove troppo spesso “l’altro mondo” ha scelto di stare dalla parte dell’oppressore e non da quella dell’oppresso. Con i versi di Withman “O Capitano! Mio Capitano! Il nostro viaggio tremendo è finito…” Egidia Beretta, Ettore e Alessandra Arrigoni augurano buon vento, con Vittorio nel cuore, alla Flotilla Stay Human.
Accuse infondate di terrorismo, atti di sabotaggio a danno delle navi ferme nei porti greci, denunce pretestuose : sono stati questi i temi affrontati durante la conferenza stampa indetta questa mattina a Roma dal Comitato della Freedom Flotilla Italia. L’intervento in diretta di Vauro Senesi, uno dei passeggeri della nave italiana “Stefano Chiarini”, ha messo in luce il braccio di ferro in corso “tra noi e le autorità greche, sotto ricatto per la situazione economica in cui versa la Grecia, per ritardare o tentare d’impedire la nostra partenza”. Il giornalista italiano ha poi aggiunto: “per quanto riguarda la nave italiana manca solo che procedano all’ultima ispezione. Noi siamo pronti”.
Mila Pernice e Germano Monti, del coordinamento della FF2 Italia, hanno ribadito come siano prive di fondamento le dichiarazioni del governo israeliano secondo il quale non vige alcun blocco in quanto le merci verrebbero lasciate passare regolarmente dai valichi egiziani. In effetti il blocco è tuttora attivo, al punto che ne’ i pescatori ne’ i contadini possono svolgere le loro attività senza essere oggetto dei colpi dei cecchini. I due attivisti hanno ricordato che le rive di Gaza, come il mare di Gaza, “sono”territorio di Gaza e che, se Israele ne blocca l’accesso, l’assedio non può in alcun modo considerarsi interrotto. Inoltre Monti ha ricordato che il valico di Rafah, oltre al fatto di essere soggetto agli umori dell’Egitto, consiste in un semplice cancello di circa tre metri, incapace di consentire un normale flusso di camion.
Per l’Associazione dei Giuristi democratici, Fabio Marcelli, richiamandosi alla normativa sul Diritto internazionale umanitario, ha fatto notare come il blocco di Gaza rappresenti la primaria e gravissima violazione del diritto internazionale umanitario e dei diritti umani.
Il coordinamento della FF2 Italia indice per domani, venerdì 1° luglio alle ore 18, un presidio davanti all’ambasciata di Grecia a Roma , in via Mercadante 36 (zona Parioli) e a Milano in piazza San Babila, per far pressione sulle autorità greche affinchè non cedano al ricatto loro imposto da Israele per ostacolare la partenza delle navi.
Ufficio Stampa Freedom Flotilla Italia
CONTATTI:
333.5601759 - 338.1521278
--------------
Alla FF2 dalla Famiglia di Vittorio Arrigoni
Ai partecipanti la Freedom Flotilla
Crediamo che questa seconda flotilla, che avete voluto chiamare “Stay Human”, viaggerà portando con sé la convinzione profonda di Vittorio che tutti gli sforzi debbano essere fatti per testimoniare al popolo di Gaza che la Dichiarazione dei diritti universali dell’uomo vale anche lì, in quella striscia di terra calpestata, mortificata, isolata dall’assedio israeliano.
Crediamo che questa vostra azione solidale, pacifica, concreta, generosa porterà grande gioia ai suoi abitanti, sollievo alle pene quotidiane e soprattutto speranza, fiducia, certezza di non essere totalmente ignorati e abbandonati da “quell’altro mondo” che spesso ha girato la testa e chiuso occhi e orecchie, che spesso, se non quasi sempre, ha scelto non l’oppresso, ma l’oppressore.
Per questo noi speriamo che arriviate infine al porto e che possiate cantare:
O Capitano! mio Capitano! il nostro viaggio tremendo è finito,
La nave ha superato ogni tempesta, l’ambito premio è vinto,
Il porto è vicino, odo le campane, il popolo è esultante.
Vi saremo vicini, ogni giorno e ogni ora.
Che il buon vento vi porti, con Vittorio nel cuore.
Egidia Beretta, Ettore e Alessandra Arrigoni
Bulciago, 30 giugno 2011
COMUNICATO STAMPA
Roma, 30/6/2010
Se l’anno scorso la freedom flotilla partiva accompagnata dalle parole dei genitori di Rachel Corrie, quest’anno ad accompagnare le navi in partenza per Gaza è la lettera dei familiari di Vittorio Arrigoni: l’augurio rivolto alla Flotilla è di arrivare sana e salva in porto per testimoniare al popolo di Gaza che la dichiarazione dei diritti universali dell’uomo vale anche in quella terra, dove troppo spesso “l’altro mondo” ha scelto di stare dalla parte dell’oppressore e non da quella dell’oppresso. Con i versi di Withman “O Capitano! Mio Capitano! Il nostro viaggio tremendo è finito…” Egidia Beretta, Ettore e Alessandra Arrigoni augurano buon vento, con Vittorio nel cuore, alla Flotilla Stay Human.
Accuse infondate di terrorismo, atti di sabotaggio a danno delle navi ferme nei porti greci, denunce pretestuose : sono stati questi i temi affrontati durante la conferenza stampa indetta questa mattina a Roma dal Comitato della Freedom Flotilla Italia. L’intervento in diretta di Vauro Senesi, uno dei passeggeri della nave italiana “Stefano Chiarini”, ha messo in luce il braccio di ferro in corso “tra noi e le autorità greche, sotto ricatto per la situazione economica in cui versa la Grecia, per ritardare o tentare d’impedire la nostra partenza”. Il giornalista italiano ha poi aggiunto: “per quanto riguarda la nave italiana manca solo che procedano all’ultima ispezione. Noi siamo pronti”.
Mila Pernice e Germano Monti, del coordinamento della FF2 Italia, hanno ribadito come siano prive di fondamento le dichiarazioni del governo israeliano secondo il quale non vige alcun blocco in quanto le merci verrebbero lasciate passare regolarmente dai valichi egiziani. In effetti il blocco è tuttora attivo, al punto che ne’ i pescatori ne’ i contadini possono svolgere le loro attività senza essere oggetto dei colpi dei cecchini. I due attivisti hanno ricordato che le rive di Gaza, come il mare di Gaza, “sono”territorio di Gaza e che, se Israele ne blocca l’accesso, l’assedio non può in alcun modo considerarsi interrotto. Inoltre Monti ha ricordato che il valico di Rafah, oltre al fatto di essere soggetto agli umori dell’Egitto, consiste in un semplice cancello di circa tre metri, incapace di consentire un normale flusso di camion.
Per l’Associazione dei Giuristi democratici, Fabio Marcelli, richiamandosi alla normativa sul Diritto internazionale umanitario, ha fatto notare come il blocco di Gaza rappresenti la primaria e gravissima violazione del diritto internazionale umanitario e dei diritti umani.
Il coordinamento della FF2 Italia indice per domani, venerdì 1° luglio alle ore 18, un presidio davanti all’ambasciata di Grecia a Roma , in via Mercadante 36 (zona Parioli) e a Milano in piazza San Babila, per far pressione sulle autorità greche affinchè non cedano al ricatto loro imposto da Israele per ostacolare la partenza delle navi.
Ufficio Stampa Freedom Flotilla Italia
CONTATTI:
333.5601759 - 338.1521278
--------------
Alla FF2 dalla Famiglia di Vittorio Arrigoni
Ai partecipanti la Freedom Flotilla
Crediamo che questa seconda flotilla, che avete voluto chiamare “Stay Human”, viaggerà portando con sé la convinzione profonda di Vittorio che tutti gli sforzi debbano essere fatti per testimoniare al popolo di Gaza che la Dichiarazione dei diritti universali dell’uomo vale anche lì, in quella striscia di terra calpestata, mortificata, isolata dall’assedio israeliano.
Crediamo che questa vostra azione solidale, pacifica, concreta, generosa porterà grande gioia ai suoi abitanti, sollievo alle pene quotidiane e soprattutto speranza, fiducia, certezza di non essere totalmente ignorati e abbandonati da “quell’altro mondo” che spesso ha girato la testa e chiuso occhi e orecchie, che spesso, se non quasi sempre, ha scelto non l’oppresso, ma l’oppressore.
Per questo noi speriamo che arriviate infine al porto e che possiate cantare:
O Capitano! mio Capitano! il nostro viaggio tremendo è finito,
La nave ha superato ogni tempesta, l’ambito premio è vinto,
Il porto è vicino, odo le campane, il popolo è esultante.
Vi saremo vicini, ogni giorno e ogni ora.
Che il buon vento vi porti, con Vittorio nel cuore.
Egidia Beretta, Ettore e Alessandra Arrigoni
Bulciago, 30 giugno 2011
segunda-feira, 27 de junho de 2011
A limpeza étnica dos palestinos, ou Israel democrático em acção
26 Junho 2011, ODiario.info (Portugal)
Gideon Levy
“Enquanto ainda estamos desesperadamente ocultando, negando e reprimindo nossa principal limpeza étnica de 1948 – mais de 600.000 refugiados, alguns dos quais fugiram pelo temor às Forças Armadas de Israel e suas antecessoras, e outros que foram expulsos pela força – a realidade nos demonstra que 1948 nunca terminou, que seu espírito continua connosco”.
Ocorreu no dia seguinte ao Dia da Independência, quando Israel estava imerso quase que ad nauseam em loas a si mesmo e a sua democracia, e nas vésperas do (virtualmente fora da lei) Dia da Nakba, quando o povo palestino rememora a “catástrofe” – o aniversário da criação de Israel. Meu colega Akiva Eldar publicou o que sempre soubéramos, mas ignorávamos as chocantes cifras reveladas: No momento dos Acordos de Oslo, Israel tinha derrubado a residência de 140.000 palestinos da Cisjordânia. Em outras palavras, 14% dos residentes da Cisjordânia que ousaram viajar ao exterior tiveram seu direito de retornar a Israel e aqui viver negado para sempre. Em outras palavras, foram expulsos de suas terras e de seus lares. Em outras palavras: limpeza étnica.
Enquanto ainda estamos desesperadamente ocultando, negando e reprimindo nossa principal limpeza étnica de 1948 – mais de 600.000 refugiados, alguns dos quais fugiram pelo temor às Forças Armadas de Israel e suas antecessoras, e outros que foram expulsos pela força – a realidade nos demonstra que 1948 nunca terminou, que seu espírito continua connosco. Ainda continua connosco o objectivo de limpar esta terra de seus habitantes árabes o máximo possível, e até um pouco mais. Afinal, é a solução mais encoberta e desejada: a Terra de Israel para os judeus e só para eles. Algumas pessoas se atreveram a dizê-lo abertamente - o rabino Meir Kahane, o ministro Rehavam Ze’evi e seus discípulos, os quais merecem alguns elogios por sua integridade. Muitos aspiram a fazer o mesmo sem admiti-lo.
A revelação da política de negar a residência provou que este sonho secreto é efectivamente o sonho secreto do establishment. Não se carrega os árabes em caminhões como era feito antes, mesmo depois da Guerra dos Seis Dias; não se dispara sobre eles para afugentá-los - todos esses métodos são politicamente incorrectos no mundo novo. Mas, de facto, este é o objectivo.
Algumas pessoas pensam que é suficiente tornar miserável a vida dos palestinos nos territórios para forçá-los a irem embora, e muitos deles, com efeito, foram embora. Um êxito de Israel: de acordo com a Administração Civil, cerca de um quarto de milhão de palestinos abandonaram voluntariamente a Cisjordânia nos sangrentos anos 2000 – 2007. Mas isto não é suficiente. Portanto, vários e diversos outros meios administrativos foram acrescentados para transformar o sonho em realidade.
Qualquer um que diga que “não é apartheid” está convidado a responder: Por que um israelense tem permissão de sair de seu país pelo resto da vida e ninguém sugere cassar-lhe a cidadania, enquanto um palestino, um filho nativo, não tem essa permissão? Por que um israelense pode casar-se com uma estrangeira e esta recebe uma permissão de residência, ao passo que um palestino não tem permissão de se casar com sua ex-vizinha que mora na Jordânia? Isto não é apartheid? Através dos anos, documentei intermináveis e lamentáveis tragédias de famílias que foram separadas, cujos filhos e filhas não recebiam permissão de viver na Cisjordânia ou em Gaza devido a regras draconianas - só para os palestinos.
Vejamos o caso de Dalal Rasras, por exemplo, uma menina de Beit Omar com paralisia cerebral, que foi separada de sua mãe durante meses porque sua mãe nasceu em Rafah. Somente depois de que seu caso se tornar público é que Israel permitiu que ela regressasse para sua filha “apesar da letra da lei”, a cruel letra da lei que não permite que os residentes de Gaza vivam na Cisjordânia, mesmo se ali tiverem feito suas casas.
O clamor dos despossuídos agora foi traduzido em números: 140.000, apenas até os Acordos de Oslo. Estudantes que saíram para estudar em universidades estrangeiras, homens de negócios que foram tentar a sorte no exterior, cientistas que viajaram ao exterior para sua formação profissional, jerusalenses nativos que se atreveram a mudar-se temporariamente à Cisjordânia, todos correram a mesma sorte. Todos foram levados pelo vento e foram expulsos por Israel. Não puderam regressar.
O mais surpreendente de tudo é a reacção dos responsáveis pela política de limpeza étnica. Eles não sabiam. O major-general (na reserva) Danny Rothschild, ex-governador militar com o título eufemístico de “coordenador das actividades governamentais nos territórios”, disse que leu pela primeira vez sobre o procedimento no jornal Haaretz. Acontece que a limpeza étnica não apenas continua, senão que também continua sendo negada. Toda criança palestina sabe, só o general a desconhece. Até mesmo hoje ainda há 130.000 palestinos registados como “NLR”, um comovedor acrónimo das IDF (Israeli Defense Forces – Forças Armadas de Israel) para definir aos “já não residentes”, como se fossem voluntários, outro eufemismo para denominar aos “expulsos”. E o general, que se considera relativamente bem informado, não tinha conhecimento.
Há uma recusa absoluta em permitir o regresso dos refugiados - algo que poderia “destruir o Estado de Israel”. Também há uma recusa absoluta em permitir o regresso das pessoas recentemente expulsas. Para o próximo Dia da Independência provavelmente inventaremos mais regulamentações para a expulsão, e nas próximas férias conversaremos sobre “a única democracia”.
Tradução: Jair de Souza/Carta Maior
Publicado originalmente no jornal Haaretz
Gideon Levy
Ocorreu no dia seguinte ao Dia da Independência, quando Israel estava imerso quase que ad nauseam em loas a si mesmo e a sua democracia, e nas vésperas do (virtualmente fora da lei) Dia da Nakba, quando o povo palestino rememora a “catástrofe” – o aniversário da criação de Israel. Meu colega Akiva Eldar publicou o que sempre soubéramos, mas ignorávamos as chocantes cifras reveladas: No momento dos Acordos de Oslo, Israel tinha derrubado a residência de 140.000 palestinos da Cisjordânia. Em outras palavras, 14% dos residentes da Cisjordânia que ousaram viajar ao exterior tiveram seu direito de retornar a Israel e aqui viver negado para sempre. Em outras palavras, foram expulsos de suas terras e de seus lares. Em outras palavras: limpeza étnica.
Enquanto ainda estamos desesperadamente ocultando, negando e reprimindo nossa principal limpeza étnica de 1948 – mais de 600.000 refugiados, alguns dos quais fugiram pelo temor às Forças Armadas de Israel e suas antecessoras, e outros que foram expulsos pela força – a realidade nos demonstra que 1948 nunca terminou, que seu espírito continua connosco. Ainda continua connosco o objectivo de limpar esta terra de seus habitantes árabes o máximo possível, e até um pouco mais. Afinal, é a solução mais encoberta e desejada: a Terra de Israel para os judeus e só para eles. Algumas pessoas se atreveram a dizê-lo abertamente - o rabino Meir Kahane, o ministro Rehavam Ze’evi e seus discípulos, os quais merecem alguns elogios por sua integridade. Muitos aspiram a fazer o mesmo sem admiti-lo.
A revelação da política de negar a residência provou que este sonho secreto é efectivamente o sonho secreto do establishment. Não se carrega os árabes em caminhões como era feito antes, mesmo depois da Guerra dos Seis Dias; não se dispara sobre eles para afugentá-los - todos esses métodos são politicamente incorrectos no mundo novo. Mas, de facto, este é o objectivo.
Algumas pessoas pensam que é suficiente tornar miserável a vida dos palestinos nos territórios para forçá-los a irem embora, e muitos deles, com efeito, foram embora. Um êxito de Israel: de acordo com a Administração Civil, cerca de um quarto de milhão de palestinos abandonaram voluntariamente a Cisjordânia nos sangrentos anos 2000 – 2007. Mas isto não é suficiente. Portanto, vários e diversos outros meios administrativos foram acrescentados para transformar o sonho em realidade.
Qualquer um que diga que “não é apartheid” está convidado a responder: Por que um israelense tem permissão de sair de seu país pelo resto da vida e ninguém sugere cassar-lhe a cidadania, enquanto um palestino, um filho nativo, não tem essa permissão? Por que um israelense pode casar-se com uma estrangeira e esta recebe uma permissão de residência, ao passo que um palestino não tem permissão de se casar com sua ex-vizinha que mora na Jordânia? Isto não é apartheid? Através dos anos, documentei intermináveis e lamentáveis tragédias de famílias que foram separadas, cujos filhos e filhas não recebiam permissão de viver na Cisjordânia ou em Gaza devido a regras draconianas - só para os palestinos.
Vejamos o caso de Dalal Rasras, por exemplo, uma menina de Beit Omar com paralisia cerebral, que foi separada de sua mãe durante meses porque sua mãe nasceu em Rafah. Somente depois de que seu caso se tornar público é que Israel permitiu que ela regressasse para sua filha “apesar da letra da lei”, a cruel letra da lei que não permite que os residentes de Gaza vivam na Cisjordânia, mesmo se ali tiverem feito suas casas.
O clamor dos despossuídos agora foi traduzido em números: 140.000, apenas até os Acordos de Oslo. Estudantes que saíram para estudar em universidades estrangeiras, homens de negócios que foram tentar a sorte no exterior, cientistas que viajaram ao exterior para sua formação profissional, jerusalenses nativos que se atreveram a mudar-se temporariamente à Cisjordânia, todos correram a mesma sorte. Todos foram levados pelo vento e foram expulsos por Israel. Não puderam regressar.
O mais surpreendente de tudo é a reacção dos responsáveis pela política de limpeza étnica. Eles não sabiam. O major-general (na reserva) Danny Rothschild, ex-governador militar com o título eufemístico de “coordenador das actividades governamentais nos territórios”, disse que leu pela primeira vez sobre o procedimento no jornal Haaretz. Acontece que a limpeza étnica não apenas continua, senão que também continua sendo negada. Toda criança palestina sabe, só o general a desconhece. Até mesmo hoje ainda há 130.000 palestinos registados como “NLR”, um comovedor acrónimo das IDF (Israeli Defense Forces – Forças Armadas de Israel) para definir aos “já não residentes”, como se fossem voluntários, outro eufemismo para denominar aos “expulsos”. E o general, que se considera relativamente bem informado, não tinha conhecimento.
Há uma recusa absoluta em permitir o regresso dos refugiados - algo que poderia “destruir o Estado de Israel”. Também há uma recusa absoluta em permitir o regresso das pessoas recentemente expulsas. Para o próximo Dia da Independência provavelmente inventaremos mais regulamentações para a expulsão, e nas próximas férias conversaremos sobre “a única democracia”.
Tradução: Jair de Souza/Carta Maior
Publicado originalmente no jornal Haaretz
segunda-feira, 20 de junho de 2011
Forthcoming Gaza Flotilla: Heroism vs Violent Intransigence?
The heroism and sacrifice of the flotilla will not be in vain. (Via aljazeera)
15 June 2011, Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com (USA)
By Richard Lightbown*
After he returned from his ordeal on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Fiachra O'Luain, the mate on the Challenger I, was asked if he would go again to break the siege of Gaza. He replied 'yes...and again, and again'.
Many of the survivors of the flotilla will be on the next one due to sail for Gaza towards the end of June. Called 'Stay Human', it will commemorate Vittorio Arrigoni who gave his life (as did ten activists on the Mavi Marmara: nine dead and one in a coma) for justice and human rights for the Palestinian people.
In the face of Israeli propaganda, parroted by the BBC and other mainstream media, we should hold fast to the truth that these people are prepared to face. All of the survivors of the previous flotilla were maltreated and humiliated. Many of them were beaten, tasered (by electric stun gun), attacked with stun grenades and tear gas, deprived of food and water and subjected, by terrorists in the employ of the state of Israel, to treatment described by a United Nations Fact-Finding Mission as tantamount to torture. Many suffered injury from deliberately over-tightened handcuffs. Several had their passports stolen (for use in who-knows-what future outrage by Mossad criminals) all cameras, mobile phones and computers were illegally seized and many lost large sums of money: plundered in individual acts of piracy by members of one of the world's most criminal and immoral armies. All of the victims experienced first-hand the ruthless contempt for human dignity that the Zionist state considers its right.
On the Mavi Marmara passengers and crew saw friends and comrades killed, wounded or maltreated by thugs with no more respect for human life than Al Capone's gangsters. Some of these same criminals later appeared on Panorama. Wary of the daylight they lurked in the night shadows of Haifa docks like wharf rats, referred to their victims as "terrorists", and falsely accused them of shooting at commandos who were indulging a blood bath totally outside of any remit granted by International Law. (A terrorist, we should remember, is someone who uses violence against civilians for political ends. The commandos defined the term as someone who comes prepared to commit violence, dressed in military clothing with covered faces. Either definition accurately fitted the commandos themselves, who in any event would never be accorded the protection that International Law demands for civilians.)
The blood of men who believed in universal human rights dripped down the stairs of the Mavi Marmara that night as war crimes were committed on the orders of Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu under the guise of defending the state of Israel. Knowing all this, in a few days time an even larger flotilla with even more human rights workers on board will sail for Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu has tried every trick in the diplomatic book to prevent it. We can be sure that Mossad has been hard at work too, trying to sabotage ships bound for the high seas.
Despite well-publicised claims to the contrary, and despite the recent opening of the Rafah Crossing to many civilians, the sadistic Israeli closure remains firmly locked on Gaza. There has been no confirmation that the 4,500 tons of building materials on the last flotilla ever reached Gaza. Desperately needed sewage pipes are still aboard the Malaysian ship the 'Spirit of Rachel Corrie' instead of being delivered to Gaza. (Ironically this would have helped to reduce pollution in the eastern Mediterranean where the tides presumably wash untreated Gazan sewage onto Israel's beaches.) Permitted exports from Gaza amount to around two lorry loads a day in place of the 400 per day that Israel agreed to allow in a deal brokered by Condoleezza Rice in 2005. Meanwhile the scarcely-reported ceasefire of missiles from Gaza, applied after the successful Palestinian unity talks, attracts no concessions from Israel's continuing occupation of the Gaza Strip.
The heroism and sacrifice of this next flotilla will not be in vain. Despite more brazen lies from Mark Regev and biased portrayals of events by the likes of Jane Corbin, Mr Netanyahu's stubborn, blinkered stupidity will further damage Israel's international image while further advancing the Palestinian cause. No Nobel Peace Laureate will be able to disguise the guilt if more Israeli hoods batter more human rights workers. No selectively edited whitewash report, with of without endorsement from professors of International Law, will be able to conceal the truth this time from the people of the world. The flotilla is coming, and just as Mickey Mouse's sorcerer's apprentice merely increased the activities of his animated broom when he attacked it with an axe, Mr Netanyahu only risks further opprobrium in the eyes of the world, further censure for his pariah state and further flotillas if he insists in perpetuating the use of violent crime against lawful protest on the high seas.
(Once the ships sail it will be possible to track them on www.marinetraffic.com/ais/. Any assault is likely to be before dawn on the night before the anticipated arrival in Gaza.)
*Richard Lightbown is a researcher and writer. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
15 June 2011, Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com (USA)
By Richard Lightbown*
After he returned from his ordeal on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Fiachra O'Luain, the mate on the Challenger I, was asked if he would go again to break the siege of Gaza. He replied 'yes...and again, and again'.
Many of the survivors of the flotilla will be on the next one due to sail for Gaza towards the end of June. Called 'Stay Human', it will commemorate Vittorio Arrigoni who gave his life (as did ten activists on the Mavi Marmara: nine dead and one in a coma) for justice and human rights for the Palestinian people.
In the face of Israeli propaganda, parroted by the BBC and other mainstream media, we should hold fast to the truth that these people are prepared to face. All of the survivors of the previous flotilla were maltreated and humiliated. Many of them were beaten, tasered (by electric stun gun), attacked with stun grenades and tear gas, deprived of food and water and subjected, by terrorists in the employ of the state of Israel, to treatment described by a United Nations Fact-Finding Mission as tantamount to torture. Many suffered injury from deliberately over-tightened handcuffs. Several had their passports stolen (for use in who-knows-what future outrage by Mossad criminals) all cameras, mobile phones and computers were illegally seized and many lost large sums of money: plundered in individual acts of piracy by members of one of the world's most criminal and immoral armies. All of the victims experienced first-hand the ruthless contempt for human dignity that the Zionist state considers its right.
On the Mavi Marmara passengers and crew saw friends and comrades killed, wounded or maltreated by thugs with no more respect for human life than Al Capone's gangsters. Some of these same criminals later appeared on Panorama. Wary of the daylight they lurked in the night shadows of Haifa docks like wharf rats, referred to their victims as "terrorists", and falsely accused them of shooting at commandos who were indulging a blood bath totally outside of any remit granted by International Law. (A terrorist, we should remember, is someone who uses violence against civilians for political ends. The commandos defined the term as someone who comes prepared to commit violence, dressed in military clothing with covered faces. Either definition accurately fitted the commandos themselves, who in any event would never be accorded the protection that International Law demands for civilians.)
The blood of men who believed in universal human rights dripped down the stairs of the Mavi Marmara that night as war crimes were committed on the orders of Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu under the guise of defending the state of Israel. Knowing all this, in a few days time an even larger flotilla with even more human rights workers on board will sail for Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu has tried every trick in the diplomatic book to prevent it. We can be sure that Mossad has been hard at work too, trying to sabotage ships bound for the high seas.
Despite well-publicised claims to the contrary, and despite the recent opening of the Rafah Crossing to many civilians, the sadistic Israeli closure remains firmly locked on Gaza. There has been no confirmation that the 4,500 tons of building materials on the last flotilla ever reached Gaza. Desperately needed sewage pipes are still aboard the Malaysian ship the 'Spirit of Rachel Corrie' instead of being delivered to Gaza. (Ironically this would have helped to reduce pollution in the eastern Mediterranean where the tides presumably wash untreated Gazan sewage onto Israel's beaches.) Permitted exports from Gaza amount to around two lorry loads a day in place of the 400 per day that Israel agreed to allow in a deal brokered by Condoleezza Rice in 2005. Meanwhile the scarcely-reported ceasefire of missiles from Gaza, applied after the successful Palestinian unity talks, attracts no concessions from Israel's continuing occupation of the Gaza Strip.
The heroism and sacrifice of this next flotilla will not be in vain. Despite more brazen lies from Mark Regev and biased portrayals of events by the likes of Jane Corbin, Mr Netanyahu's stubborn, blinkered stupidity will further damage Israel's international image while further advancing the Palestinian cause. No Nobel Peace Laureate will be able to disguise the guilt if more Israeli hoods batter more human rights workers. No selectively edited whitewash report, with of without endorsement from professors of International Law, will be able to conceal the truth this time from the people of the world. The flotilla is coming, and just as Mickey Mouse's sorcerer's apprentice merely increased the activities of his animated broom when he attacked it with an axe, Mr Netanyahu only risks further opprobrium in the eyes of the world, further censure for his pariah state and further flotillas if he insists in perpetuating the use of violent crime against lawful protest on the high seas.
(Once the ships sail it will be possible to track them on www.marinetraffic.com/ais/. Any assault is likely to be before dawn on the night before the anticipated arrival in Gaza.)
*Richard Lightbown is a researcher and writer. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
quarta-feira, 15 de junho de 2011
Llamamiento desde Gaza en apoyo de la Flotilla de la Libertad II
15 junio 2011, Rebelión http://www.rebelion.org (México)
Fuente: Uruknet.info http://www.uruknet.info
Traducido del ingles para rebellion por Sinfo Fernández
En este día, nosotros, los palestinos de la asediada Franja de Gaza, cinco años después del comienzo del bloqueo, decimos ¡Basta ya de inacción, basta de discusiones, basta de esperas! El asedio contra la Franja de Gaza tiene que acabar ya en todas y cada una de sus manifestaciones.
Poco después de las democráticas elecciones de 2006, que fueron supervisadas por gentes y entidades de la comunidad internacional, las naciones que anteriormente proporcionaban ayuda y las organizaciones culturales presentes en Gaza nos retiraron su apoyo. A mediados de 2007, Israel y Egipto, que controlan nuestras fronteras, nos bloquearon a cal y canto, encerrando dentro a los palestinos e impidiendo que las exportaciones e importaciones atravesaran nuestras fronteras.
Desde el 27 de diciembre de 2008 al 18 de enero de 2009, Israel emprendió una brutal masacre contra Gaza, matando a más de 1.500 palestinos, la inmensa mayoría civiles inocentes, con más de 430 niños entre ellos, destruyendo además miles de hogares, negocios, industrias y edificios, incluidas universidades, escuelas, hospitales, instalaciones sanitarias, y devastando tramos inmensos del sistema de canalizaciones hídricas y de saneamiento.
Dos años y medio después de aquellos ataques, apenas se ha podido reconstruir alguna vivienda y unos pocos edificios; nuestro sistema de saneamiento y tratamiento de aguas fecales se halla en situación alarmante; las aguas residuales se siguen vertiendo al mar –por falta de instalaciones de tratamiento- contaminando nuestras aguas y los peces a lo largo de la costa donde nuestros pescadores se ven obligados a pescar, al tener prohibido superar las veinte millas náuticas que los acuerdos de Oslo concedieron a los palestinos-. El agua para beber y los cultivos están asimismo contaminados.
Los soldados israelíes siguen disparando, mutilando y asesinando a nuestros campesinos a lo largo de la frontera, se les impide ir a trabajar, a cultivar y recoger las cosechas de sus tierras, negándonos así productos ricos en vitaminas. Las deficiencias alimenticias y la desnutrición siguen aumentando, afectando al crecimiento de nuestros niños y a su capacidad para el estudio. Nuestra economía está destruida porque las fábricas no pueden funcionar sin electricidad. Nuestros estudiantes apenas tienen perspectiva alguna de poder salir a estudiar al extranjero, aunque tengan asegurados los billetes de desplazamiento y las becas, debido al control israelí del cruce de Erez y a que el cruce de Rafah bajo control egipcio está casi siempre cerrado. Nuestros enfermos sufren por falta de los necesarios medicamentos y suministros y equipamientos médicos.
Desde 2005, alrededor de 170 organizaciones palestinas suscribieron un llamamiento por el Boicot, la Desinversión y las Sanciones contra Israel a fin de presionarle para que cumpla el derecho internacional. Desde 2005, los palestinos nos reunimos semanalmente en los pueblos de la ocupada Cisjordania y de la ocupada Jerusalén Oriental para protestar contra las políticas de la ocupación israelí.
Los esfuerzos creativos puestos en marcha, como los buques de Free Gaza que rompieron el asedio en cinco ocasiones, la Marcha por la Libertad de Gaza, la Flotillla por la Libertad de Gaza y los muchos convoyes terrestres no deben interrumpir sus esfuerzos para romper el asedio, poniendo de relieve la inhumanidad que supone mantener a un millón y medio de gazatíes en una inmensa prisión al aire libre.
El 2 de diciembre pasado, 22 organizaciones internacionales entre las que figuraban Amnistía Internacional, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid y Medical Aid for Palestinians elaboraron el informe “Dashed Hopes, Continuation of the Gaza Blockage” [Esperanzas frustradas, prosigue el bloqueo contra Gaza], llamando a la acción internacional para obligar a Israel a que levante incondicionalmente el bloqueo, exponiendo que los palestinos de Gaza bajo el asedio israelí siguen viviendo en las mismas condiciones devastadoras de siempre. Human Rights Watch publicó un amplio informe titulado “Separated and Unequal” [Aislados y discriminados] que denunciaba las políticas israelíes como Apartheid, haciéndose eco de sentimientos parecidos de los activistas anti-apartheid sudafricanos.
El reciente anuncio que hizo Egipto de que abriría el cruce de Rafah no se ha cumplido completamente. Incluso aunque se abriera, significaría muy poco en relación con las importaciones y exportaciones de productos desde y hacia Gaza, y no mejorará la grave situación de pescadores, campesinos, ni las tasas de pobreza ni desempleo en Gaza.
Pedimos a los ciudadanos del mundo que se opongan a este medieval y letal bloqueo. El fracaso de las Naciones Unidas y sus numerosas organizaciones a la hora de condenar los crímenes de Israel demuestra su complicidad con este Estado. Sólo la sociedad civil es capaz de movilizarse para exigir que se aplique el derecho internacional y se acabe con la impunidad de Israel. La intervención de la sociedad civil fue eficaz a finales de la década de 1980 contra el régimen del apartheid sudafricano. Nelson Mandela y el arzobispo Desmond Tutu no sólo han descrito como apartheid el opresivo y violento control israelí de los palestinos, también se han unido a este llamamiento para que la sociedad civil mundial se movilice de nuevo.
Hacemos un llamamiento a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil por todo el mundo para que intensifiquen la campaña de sanciones contra Israel para obligarle a poner fin a su agresión. Llamamos a las naciones y ciudadanos del mundo que van a participar en la Flotilla de la Libertad II para que continúen con sus planes de navegar hacia Gaza donde los palestinos los recibiremos con los brazos abiertos. Las iniciativas de la sociedad civil como las Flotillas de la Libertad representan una posición de justicia y solidaridad con los asediados palestinos frente a la inacción de sus gobiernos. Pedimos al movimiento de la Flotilla que crezca y continúe navegando hacia nosotros hasta que se levante totalmente el asedio contra Gaza y se les garantice a sus habitantes los derechos humanos básicos y la libertad de movimiento de que disfrutan los ciudadanos de todo el mundo.
Relación de firmantes del llamamiento:
• Asociación de Profesores de Universidad
• Red de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales Palestinas.
• Universidad de Al-Aqsa
• Media Luna Roja Palestina de Gaza
• Sindicato de Organizaciones de Jóvenes
• Forum Cultural Árabe
• Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Sanidad
• Sindicato de Trabajadores de los Servicios Públicos
• Sindicado de Trabajadores del Sector Petroquímico y del Gas
• Sindicato de Trabajadores Agrícolas
• Comités Sindicales de Mujeres Trabajadoras
• Sindicato de Sinergias, Unidad de Mujeres.
• Comités Sindicales de Mujeres Palestinas
• Sociedad de Estudios sobre la Mujer
• Sociedad de Mujeres Trabajadoras
• Campaña de Estudiantes Palestinos por el Boicot Académico a Israel
• Grupo Estatal de Demócratas
• Jóvenes Palestinos contra el Apartheid
• Asociación Al-Quds por la Cultura y la Información
• Federación de Navegantes Palestinos
• Asociación Marítima Palestina de Pesca
• Comité de Mujeres Palestinas
• Unión Progresista de Estudiantes
• Sociedad Médica de Socorro
• Sociedad General de Rehabilitación
• Centro Cultural Afq Yadida para Mujeres y Niños
• Centro Cultural Deir Al-Balah para Mujeres y Niños
• Centro Cultural Maghazi para la Infancia
• Centro Al-Sahel para Mujeres y Jóvenes
• Escuelas Infantiles Gassan Kanfani
• Centro Rachel Corrie, Rafah
• Hermanas de la Ciudad de Olimpia de Rafah
• Centro Al-Awda de Rafah
• Hospital Al-Awda de Rafah
• Asociación Ajyal del Campo de Yabalia
• Sindicato de Palestinos de Gaza
• Centro Al Karmel
• Iniciativa Local de Nuseirat
• Unión de Comités Sanitarios de Beit Hanun
• Sociedad de la Media Luna Roja de Gaza
• Centro Cultural de Beit Lahiya
• Banco Al-Quds para la Cultura e Información Social
• Sindicato de Mujeres Trabajadoras Palestinas
• Alianza para los Niños de Oriente Medio-Gaza
• Iniciativa Local de Beit Hanun
Fuente: Uruknet.info http://www.uruknet.info
Traducido del ingles para rebellion por Sinfo Fernández
En este día, nosotros, los palestinos de la asediada Franja de Gaza, cinco años después del comienzo del bloqueo, decimos ¡Basta ya de inacción, basta de discusiones, basta de esperas! El asedio contra la Franja de Gaza tiene que acabar ya en todas y cada una de sus manifestaciones.
Poco después de las democráticas elecciones de 2006, que fueron supervisadas por gentes y entidades de la comunidad internacional, las naciones que anteriormente proporcionaban ayuda y las organizaciones culturales presentes en Gaza nos retiraron su apoyo. A mediados de 2007, Israel y Egipto, que controlan nuestras fronteras, nos bloquearon a cal y canto, encerrando dentro a los palestinos e impidiendo que las exportaciones e importaciones atravesaran nuestras fronteras.
Desde el 27 de diciembre de 2008 al 18 de enero de 2009, Israel emprendió una brutal masacre contra Gaza, matando a más de 1.500 palestinos, la inmensa mayoría civiles inocentes, con más de 430 niños entre ellos, destruyendo además miles de hogares, negocios, industrias y edificios, incluidas universidades, escuelas, hospitales, instalaciones sanitarias, y devastando tramos inmensos del sistema de canalizaciones hídricas y de saneamiento.
Dos años y medio después de aquellos ataques, apenas se ha podido reconstruir alguna vivienda y unos pocos edificios; nuestro sistema de saneamiento y tratamiento de aguas fecales se halla en situación alarmante; las aguas residuales se siguen vertiendo al mar –por falta de instalaciones de tratamiento- contaminando nuestras aguas y los peces a lo largo de la costa donde nuestros pescadores se ven obligados a pescar, al tener prohibido superar las veinte millas náuticas que los acuerdos de Oslo concedieron a los palestinos-. El agua para beber y los cultivos están asimismo contaminados.
Los soldados israelíes siguen disparando, mutilando y asesinando a nuestros campesinos a lo largo de la frontera, se les impide ir a trabajar, a cultivar y recoger las cosechas de sus tierras, negándonos así productos ricos en vitaminas. Las deficiencias alimenticias y la desnutrición siguen aumentando, afectando al crecimiento de nuestros niños y a su capacidad para el estudio. Nuestra economía está destruida porque las fábricas no pueden funcionar sin electricidad. Nuestros estudiantes apenas tienen perspectiva alguna de poder salir a estudiar al extranjero, aunque tengan asegurados los billetes de desplazamiento y las becas, debido al control israelí del cruce de Erez y a que el cruce de Rafah bajo control egipcio está casi siempre cerrado. Nuestros enfermos sufren por falta de los necesarios medicamentos y suministros y equipamientos médicos.
Desde 2005, alrededor de 170 organizaciones palestinas suscribieron un llamamiento por el Boicot, la Desinversión y las Sanciones contra Israel a fin de presionarle para que cumpla el derecho internacional. Desde 2005, los palestinos nos reunimos semanalmente en los pueblos de la ocupada Cisjordania y de la ocupada Jerusalén Oriental para protestar contra las políticas de la ocupación israelí.
Los esfuerzos creativos puestos en marcha, como los buques de Free Gaza que rompieron el asedio en cinco ocasiones, la Marcha por la Libertad de Gaza, la Flotillla por la Libertad de Gaza y los muchos convoyes terrestres no deben interrumpir sus esfuerzos para romper el asedio, poniendo de relieve la inhumanidad que supone mantener a un millón y medio de gazatíes en una inmensa prisión al aire libre.
El 2 de diciembre pasado, 22 organizaciones internacionales entre las que figuraban Amnistía Internacional, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid y Medical Aid for Palestinians elaboraron el informe “Dashed Hopes, Continuation of the Gaza Blockage” [Esperanzas frustradas, prosigue el bloqueo contra Gaza], llamando a la acción internacional para obligar a Israel a que levante incondicionalmente el bloqueo, exponiendo que los palestinos de Gaza bajo el asedio israelí siguen viviendo en las mismas condiciones devastadoras de siempre. Human Rights Watch publicó un amplio informe titulado “Separated and Unequal” [Aislados y discriminados] que denunciaba las políticas israelíes como Apartheid, haciéndose eco de sentimientos parecidos de los activistas anti-apartheid sudafricanos.
El reciente anuncio que hizo Egipto de que abriría el cruce de Rafah no se ha cumplido completamente. Incluso aunque se abriera, significaría muy poco en relación con las importaciones y exportaciones de productos desde y hacia Gaza, y no mejorará la grave situación de pescadores, campesinos, ni las tasas de pobreza ni desempleo en Gaza.
Pedimos a los ciudadanos del mundo que se opongan a este medieval y letal bloqueo. El fracaso de las Naciones Unidas y sus numerosas organizaciones a la hora de condenar los crímenes de Israel demuestra su complicidad con este Estado. Sólo la sociedad civil es capaz de movilizarse para exigir que se aplique el derecho internacional y se acabe con la impunidad de Israel. La intervención de la sociedad civil fue eficaz a finales de la década de 1980 contra el régimen del apartheid sudafricano. Nelson Mandela y el arzobispo Desmond Tutu no sólo han descrito como apartheid el opresivo y violento control israelí de los palestinos, también se han unido a este llamamiento para que la sociedad civil mundial se movilice de nuevo.
Hacemos un llamamiento a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil por todo el mundo para que intensifiquen la campaña de sanciones contra Israel para obligarle a poner fin a su agresión. Llamamos a las naciones y ciudadanos del mundo que van a participar en la Flotilla de la Libertad II para que continúen con sus planes de navegar hacia Gaza donde los palestinos los recibiremos con los brazos abiertos. Las iniciativas de la sociedad civil como las Flotillas de la Libertad representan una posición de justicia y solidaridad con los asediados palestinos frente a la inacción de sus gobiernos. Pedimos al movimiento de la Flotilla que crezca y continúe navegando hacia nosotros hasta que se levante totalmente el asedio contra Gaza y se les garantice a sus habitantes los derechos humanos básicos y la libertad de movimiento de que disfrutan los ciudadanos de todo el mundo.
Relación de firmantes del llamamiento:
• Asociación de Profesores de Universidad
• Red de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales Palestinas.
• Universidad de Al-Aqsa
• Media Luna Roja Palestina de Gaza
• Sindicato de Organizaciones de Jóvenes
• Forum Cultural Árabe
• Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Sanidad
• Sindicato de Trabajadores de los Servicios Públicos
• Sindicado de Trabajadores del Sector Petroquímico y del Gas
• Sindicato de Trabajadores Agrícolas
• Comités Sindicales de Mujeres Trabajadoras
• Sindicato de Sinergias, Unidad de Mujeres.
• Comités Sindicales de Mujeres Palestinas
• Sociedad de Estudios sobre la Mujer
• Sociedad de Mujeres Trabajadoras
• Campaña de Estudiantes Palestinos por el Boicot Académico a Israel
• Grupo Estatal de Demócratas
• Jóvenes Palestinos contra el Apartheid
• Asociación Al-Quds por la Cultura y la Información
• Federación de Navegantes Palestinos
• Asociación Marítima Palestina de Pesca
• Comité de Mujeres Palestinas
• Unión Progresista de Estudiantes
• Sociedad Médica de Socorro
• Sociedad General de Rehabilitación
• Centro Cultural Afq Yadida para Mujeres y Niños
• Centro Cultural Deir Al-Balah para Mujeres y Niños
• Centro Cultural Maghazi para la Infancia
• Centro Al-Sahel para Mujeres y Jóvenes
• Escuelas Infantiles Gassan Kanfani
• Centro Rachel Corrie, Rafah
• Hermanas de la Ciudad de Olimpia de Rafah
• Centro Al-Awda de Rafah
• Hospital Al-Awda de Rafah
• Asociación Ajyal del Campo de Yabalia
• Sindicato de Palestinos de Gaza
• Centro Al Karmel
• Iniciativa Local de Nuseirat
• Unión de Comités Sanitarios de Beit Hanun
• Sociedad de la Media Luna Roja de Gaza
• Centro Cultural de Beit Lahiya
• Banco Al-Quds para la Cultura e Información Social
• Sindicato de Mujeres Trabajadoras Palestinas
• Alianza para los Niños de Oriente Medio-Gaza
• Iniciativa Local de Beit Hanun
The parameters of change in Egypt’s foreign policy
In place of the old policies which were designed to safeguard the regime's interests, new approaches to the Palestinian question and other regional issues are being drawn up that will reflect Egypt's new voice
13 Jun 2011, Al Ahram Online
Emad Gad
After the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and the formation of Essam Sharaf’s cabinet which brought in Nabil El-Arabi as foreign minister, there has been much talk about core changes in Egypt’s foreign policy. These analyses are based on statements by El-Arabi regarding Egypt’s readiness to restore relations with Iran, and readings of statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning about alterations in Egypt’s foreign policies, as well as signs of these modifications.
Meanwhile, several factors came together to form a picture that is being promoted as an example of the deep nature of these changes in Egyptian foreign policy, as if Egypt has joined the “opposing axis” or is on its way to join the ranks of “snubbed” countries or the camp hostile to the West, such as Iran. These factors include Egypt’s request to revise the price of natural gas exported to Israel, Cairo’s sponsorship of the reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas and the decision to permanently open the Rafah border crossing starting on 28 May.
A closer look at these claims reveals that these are deliberate statements intended to group elements together to prove actual and expected changes in Egypt’s foreign policy. Let us first deconstruct these elements and discuss Egypt’s foreign policy during Mubarak’s era. Mubarak manipulated Egypt’s foreign policy in the last five years to create a succession scenario for his son Gamal. To this end, he used the results of the Palestinian 2006 parliamentary elections – which brought in Hamas as a majority – to send messages to the West, and the US in particular, asserting that any honest and transparent elections will bring Islamists into power. The people of Egypt are not “mature” enough to exercise democracy, he argued, and allowing political Islam to take over the helm would harm the interests of the West and dissolve the peace treaty with Israel.
Israel’s war against Lebanon also broke out in 2006, and private Egyptian newspapers distributed photos of Hassan Nasrallah, which gave Mubarak another card to play in the plot of succession by saying that Egyptian public opinion is fanatical and could usher in figures who oppose the West and Israel. Therefore, it would be best not to demand democracy or human rights in Egypt until the people become more seasoned.
After that, Mubarak arrived at a pact with the US whereby he was left to his own devices regarding domestic issues, since he knew his people best, particularly how to control them and safeguard US interests and the peace treaty with Israel. In return, Egypt would apply any regional policies dictated by Washington, which indirectly means Israel.
Once Mubarak was removed from power this pact collapsed, and Egyptian foreign policy was liberated from the limitations of the succession project and adopted the policies of a major regional power with a dignity and independence which commands respect and appreciation. Cairo began implementing foreign policies which serve Egypt’s interests, not the interests of the succession scenario and was no longer hostage to it. This is the actual change has that occurred in Egypt’s foreign policy, namely liberation from a pact to sell Egypt’s regional role to serve the succession scenario.
In terms of relations with Israel, this has not officially changed at the core; the main change here is the aspiration of the Egyptian people for a foreign policy that befits revolutionary Egypt an expression of the dignity of an exceptional people. This was met with an expected hostile campaign by Israel, similar to ones which occured whenever the ruler of Egypt changes; it happened when Sadat left and it was especially acute after the overthrow of a regime which was described as “a strategic asset” for Israel.
The issue of Egyptian natural gas going to Israel is a matter of corruption and wasting Egyptian resources. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum sold Egypt’s natural gas to the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) owned by Hussein Salem, who managed Mubarak’s finances, and we don’t know at what price the gas was bought or sold to Israel. Egypt’s demand to revise the price of gas exports is legitimate and is not a hostile move against Israel. I doubt Egypt would refuse to sell natural gas to Israel at world prices.
As for Palestinian national reconciliation, change occurred for all parties. Egypt was liberated from the pact of selling Egypt’s regional role for services in the succession project; meanwhile the positions of Hamas and Fatah were transformed after the spirit of Tahrir Square swept through Gaza and Ramallah where demonstrators chanted: “The people demand an end to divisions”. These are the slogans of Tahrir Square which carried a discreet threat to the rulers there, and confirmed the aspirations of the Palestinian people for freedom, democracy and ending divisions.
Hamas revised its position when the head of its Political Bureau refused Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s request to condemn anti-regime protests, which are sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood there. Mishaal refused to denounce his group’s parent-movement and had to find another home for Hamas’s Political Bureau away from Damascus, which has stopped protecting the bureau and its members.
Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also altered their position after years of extending his hand in peace to Israel, and was repaid by humiliation and derision for being a weak president who does not have control over the Gaza Strip. Everyone changed, which made the conclusion of the Egyptian proposal possible as it stands. The parties agreed to sign and postponed many problematic issues until the interim period although there is no guarantee they will be resolved.
The natural outcome of this is permanently re-opening the Rafah border crossing, which had been open from 2005 until Hamas took over power in Gaza in June, 2007. In the period that followed, it was open two days a weeks to allow Palestinians through since it is a crossing for individuals not trucks. Abu Mazen no longer objects to opening the border crossing as part of the reconciliation process, and in return for Hamas’s agreement to reconcile and let the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) control negotiations with Israel until a political settlement is reached according to international legitimacy.
This settlement would be proposed to the Palestinian parliament or the Palestinian people in a referendum. Several European countries, such as France, Germany and Britain, understood the deal and welcomed the reconciliation agreement. Washington did not strongly object but asked for more time to look into the matter before commenting, which is a positive sign.
As for Egyptian-Iranian relations, these are too complicated to restore in a short period, because the boycott is not only in Cairo’s hands but is also based on complex ties since the Iranian revolution in 1979. There are dozens of unresolved issues which require a long time to settle, mostly regarding the dynamic of interaction between two regional powers. Revolutionary Egypt’s decision to expel an Iranian diplomat is an example of the deep complications in bilateral relations.
Yes, there are core changes in Egypt’s foreign policy, namely an end to selling Egypt’s regional role for the benefit of the succession scenario. Accordingly, a new foreign policy was drawn to represent a major regional power which wants to restore its influential role based on its capabilities and the implications of such a role. Anyone who understands this transformation will be able to maintain their ties with Egypt, and anyone who does not or insists on misunderstanding will continue to talk about root changes in Egypt’s foreign policy and jeopardise their bilateral relationship with revolutionary Egypt.
13 Jun 2011, Al Ahram Online
Emad Gad
After the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and the formation of Essam Sharaf’s cabinet which brought in Nabil El-Arabi as foreign minister, there has been much talk about core changes in Egypt’s foreign policy. These analyses are based on statements by El-Arabi regarding Egypt’s readiness to restore relations with Iran, and readings of statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning about alterations in Egypt’s foreign policies, as well as signs of these modifications.
Meanwhile, several factors came together to form a picture that is being promoted as an example of the deep nature of these changes in Egyptian foreign policy, as if Egypt has joined the “opposing axis” or is on its way to join the ranks of “snubbed” countries or the camp hostile to the West, such as Iran. These factors include Egypt’s request to revise the price of natural gas exported to Israel, Cairo’s sponsorship of the reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas and the decision to permanently open the Rafah border crossing starting on 28 May.
A closer look at these claims reveals that these are deliberate statements intended to group elements together to prove actual and expected changes in Egypt’s foreign policy. Let us first deconstruct these elements and discuss Egypt’s foreign policy during Mubarak’s era. Mubarak manipulated Egypt’s foreign policy in the last five years to create a succession scenario for his son Gamal. To this end, he used the results of the Palestinian 2006 parliamentary elections – which brought in Hamas as a majority – to send messages to the West, and the US in particular, asserting that any honest and transparent elections will bring Islamists into power. The people of Egypt are not “mature” enough to exercise democracy, he argued, and allowing political Islam to take over the helm would harm the interests of the West and dissolve the peace treaty with Israel.
Israel’s war against Lebanon also broke out in 2006, and private Egyptian newspapers distributed photos of Hassan Nasrallah, which gave Mubarak another card to play in the plot of succession by saying that Egyptian public opinion is fanatical and could usher in figures who oppose the West and Israel. Therefore, it would be best not to demand democracy or human rights in Egypt until the people become more seasoned.
After that, Mubarak arrived at a pact with the US whereby he was left to his own devices regarding domestic issues, since he knew his people best, particularly how to control them and safeguard US interests and the peace treaty with Israel. In return, Egypt would apply any regional policies dictated by Washington, which indirectly means Israel.
Once Mubarak was removed from power this pact collapsed, and Egyptian foreign policy was liberated from the limitations of the succession project and adopted the policies of a major regional power with a dignity and independence which commands respect and appreciation. Cairo began implementing foreign policies which serve Egypt’s interests, not the interests of the succession scenario and was no longer hostage to it. This is the actual change has that occurred in Egypt’s foreign policy, namely liberation from a pact to sell Egypt’s regional role to serve the succession scenario.
In terms of relations with Israel, this has not officially changed at the core; the main change here is the aspiration of the Egyptian people for a foreign policy that befits revolutionary Egypt an expression of the dignity of an exceptional people. This was met with an expected hostile campaign by Israel, similar to ones which occured whenever the ruler of Egypt changes; it happened when Sadat left and it was especially acute after the overthrow of a regime which was described as “a strategic asset” for Israel.
The issue of Egyptian natural gas going to Israel is a matter of corruption and wasting Egyptian resources. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum sold Egypt’s natural gas to the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) owned by Hussein Salem, who managed Mubarak’s finances, and we don’t know at what price the gas was bought or sold to Israel. Egypt’s demand to revise the price of gas exports is legitimate and is not a hostile move against Israel. I doubt Egypt would refuse to sell natural gas to Israel at world prices.
As for Palestinian national reconciliation, change occurred for all parties. Egypt was liberated from the pact of selling Egypt’s regional role for services in the succession project; meanwhile the positions of Hamas and Fatah were transformed after the spirit of Tahrir Square swept through Gaza and Ramallah where demonstrators chanted: “The people demand an end to divisions”. These are the slogans of Tahrir Square which carried a discreet threat to the rulers there, and confirmed the aspirations of the Palestinian people for freedom, democracy and ending divisions.
Hamas revised its position when the head of its Political Bureau refused Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s request to condemn anti-regime protests, which are sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood there. Mishaal refused to denounce his group’s parent-movement and had to find another home for Hamas’s Political Bureau away from Damascus, which has stopped protecting the bureau and its members.
Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also altered their position after years of extending his hand in peace to Israel, and was repaid by humiliation and derision for being a weak president who does not have control over the Gaza Strip. Everyone changed, which made the conclusion of the Egyptian proposal possible as it stands. The parties agreed to sign and postponed many problematic issues until the interim period although there is no guarantee they will be resolved.
The natural outcome of this is permanently re-opening the Rafah border crossing, which had been open from 2005 until Hamas took over power in Gaza in June, 2007. In the period that followed, it was open two days a weeks to allow Palestinians through since it is a crossing for individuals not trucks. Abu Mazen no longer objects to opening the border crossing as part of the reconciliation process, and in return for Hamas’s agreement to reconcile and let the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) control negotiations with Israel until a political settlement is reached according to international legitimacy.
This settlement would be proposed to the Palestinian parliament or the Palestinian people in a referendum. Several European countries, such as France, Germany and Britain, understood the deal and welcomed the reconciliation agreement. Washington did not strongly object but asked for more time to look into the matter before commenting, which is a positive sign.
As for Egyptian-Iranian relations, these are too complicated to restore in a short period, because the boycott is not only in Cairo’s hands but is also based on complex ties since the Iranian revolution in 1979. There are dozens of unresolved issues which require a long time to settle, mostly regarding the dynamic of interaction between two regional powers. Revolutionary Egypt’s decision to expel an Iranian diplomat is an example of the deep complications in bilateral relations.
Yes, there are core changes in Egypt’s foreign policy, namely an end to selling Egypt’s regional role for the benefit of the succession scenario. Accordingly, a new foreign policy was drawn to represent a major regional power which wants to restore its influential role based on its capabilities and the implications of such a role. Anyone who understands this transformation will be able to maintain their ties with Egypt, and anyone who does not or insists on misunderstanding will continue to talk about root changes in Egypt’s foreign policy and jeopardise their bilateral relationship with revolutionary Egypt.
segunda-feira, 6 de junho de 2011
Palestinians engage with Egyptian public in bid to open Rafah crossing
5 june 2011, Al Ahram online
Saleh Naami
With Palestinians growing increasingly despairing of the failure of Egypt's new government to keep the Rafah border with Gaza open, they are opening up new channels to exert pressure
Palestinian sources predict an escalation in protests in Gaza to put pressure on Egyptian authorities to re-open Rafah border crossing.
A Palestinian official in Gaza told Ahram Online that if the Egyptian government does not solve the current problems in Rafah, hundreds of thousands of Gazans will organise a mass march towards the border crossing to force its opening, possible leading to clashes.
“The Palestinians are working with Egyptian rights groups, media, political forces and the Youth movements’ leaders to exert heavy pressures on the Egyptian government in order not to restore restrictions on the Rafah crossing,” he said.
The official added that Palestine has high expectations of Egypt’s new political order and are waiting for fundamental changes in its border security policy.
He noted that Israel and US are putting a lot of pressure on the Egyptian leadership to keep in place the restrictions implemented during the Mubarak regime, adding that some elements within security and intelligence prefer to maintain this policy.
“The Egyptian officials who administrate the crossing show us [the Palestinians] that they have no intention to fully open the border and carry out the Egyptian government's decision to make the Palestinians' lives easier,” the official added.
Saleh Naami
With Palestinians growing increasingly despairing of the failure of Egypt's new government to keep the Rafah border with Gaza open, they are opening up new channels to exert pressure
Palestinian sources predict an escalation in protests in Gaza to put pressure on Egyptian authorities to re-open Rafah border crossing.
A Palestinian official in Gaza told Ahram Online that if the Egyptian government does not solve the current problems in Rafah, hundreds of thousands of Gazans will organise a mass march towards the border crossing to force its opening, possible leading to clashes.
“The Palestinians are working with Egyptian rights groups, media, political forces and the Youth movements’ leaders to exert heavy pressures on the Egyptian government in order not to restore restrictions on the Rafah crossing,” he said.
The official added that Palestine has high expectations of Egypt’s new political order and are waiting for fundamental changes in its border security policy.
He noted that Israel and US are putting a lot of pressure on the Egyptian leadership to keep in place the restrictions implemented during the Mubarak regime, adding that some elements within security and intelligence prefer to maintain this policy.
“The Egyptian officials who administrate the crossing show us [the Palestinians] that they have no intention to fully open the border and carry out the Egyptian government's decision to make the Palestinians' lives easier,” the official added.
terça-feira, 31 de maio de 2011
Israel se prepara para tomar el control de la Flotilla de la Libertad II
31 mayo 2011/TeleSUR http://www.telesurtv.net
El Ejército de Israel amenazó esta martes con tomar el control de los barcos de la segunda Flotilla de la Libertad si se desobedece la orden de parada. El jefe militar, Benny Gantz, dijo que el objetivo de esta misión no es la de llevar ayuda a la Franja de Gaza, si no de "encender el odio y la provocación" contra Israel.
A un año del sangriento ataque contra la primera avanzada que intentó llevar suministros a los palestinos en Gaza, Gantz aseguró que "el Ejército israelí ha aprendido las lecciones del (Mavi) Marmara", sin embargo dejó claro que sus soldados "actuarán para impedir todo intento de romper el bloqueo".
La marina israelí ha venido realizando en las últimas semanas ejercicios conjuntos con la Fuerza Aérea para prepararse ante una intervención, dijo un alto oficial israelí a la prensa según reportó el diario Jerusalen Post.
El impreso agregó que también participan efectivos antimotines para neutralizar cualquier resistencia y que, según el oficial, se preve hacerse "sin violencia".
El 31 de mayo de 2010 el Mavi Marmara lideraba una flotilla de barcos que intentaban llevar ayuda a Gaza. En una operación comando el Ejército israelí tomó por asalto el buque, asesinó a nueve activistas turcos y dejó a más de 50 activistas heridos.
La Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) y varios países, entre ellos Rusia, condenaron las acciones de Israel. El Gobierno israelí alegó que sus soldados abrieron fuego solo después de que les “atacaran” los activistas turcos.
Manifestaciones en Turquía
A un año del ataque, las manifestaciones en conmemoración a la fecha se han visto en varias parte del mundo. En Turquía se vieron las concentraciones más multitudinarias. A gritos "Alá es grande" e "Israel, asesino" la multitud pidió el fin al bloqueo de Gaza impuesto por Israel desde 2006.
"Espera, Palestina, el Mavi Marmara llega", "De Estambul a Gaza, resistencia", se leían pancartas en turco, inglés y hebreo, mientras una amplia bandera representaba los retratos de los nueve mártires turcos.
Los manifestantes estuvieron acompañados de activistas de la primera flotilla, así como algunos de los mil 500 aspirantes que viajarán en el próximo convoy humanitario el próximo mes de julio.
Tunca y Kess Mittendorf, una pareja sexagenaria que este año formará parte de la Flotilla de la Libertad II expresó al diario El País de España que "llevamos 24 años luchando por la causa palestina, desde la segunda Intifada. ¿Crees qué tenemos miedo a las balas de los israelíes?".
Los organizadores de la segunda flotilla de ayuda humanitaria internacional reiteraron este lunes en Estambul su determinación de romper antes de finales de junio el bloqueo israelí, pese a la reapertura de la frontera entre Egipto y la Franja de Gaza.
"Saludamos de todo corazón la decisión del Gobierno egipcio de hacer funcionar de manera regular la terminal de Rafah entre Egipto y la Franja de Gaza, pero el bloqueo ilegal de Israel sigue efectivo", declaró en una conferencia de prensa Vangelis Pisias, coordinador de la Flotilla de la Libertad II.
"Israel impide todavía a los palestinos utilizar su mar y controla y restringe duramente los bienes que ingresan y salen de Gaza. Por eso, debemos seguir desafiando el bloqueo", añadió el activista griego.
Todavía se desconoce la fecha para la partida de la segunda flotilla, sin embargo fuentes de la organización señalan el día 25 de junio como la fecha en la que la nave capitana turca partirá de Estambul rumbo a Chipre.
Mavi Mármara se reunirá con los 15 barcos que forman el convoy. Zarparán desde España, Francia, Italia, Grecia y Turquía para encontrarse en aguas chipriotas, desde donde seguirán rumbo al puerto de Gaza, bloqueado por las autoridades israelíes. A bordo viajarán ciudadanos de un centenar de países, según los organizadores, que han puesto mucho cuidado en resaltar el carácter "internacional, no gubernamental y pacífico" de la flotilla.
Asimismo, mil 500 activistas de un centenar de países transportarán productos humanitarios, materiales de construcción, entre ellos 600 a 700 toneladas de cemento, material escolar, equipos médicos, medicamentos y juguetes.
El Gobierno de Israel aplica desde el año 2006 un bloqueo férreo contra el pueblo palestino, que mantiene cerrados los pasos fronterizos necesarios para recibir ayuda humanitaria, alimentos y combustible para la única planta de electricidad de la Franja de Gaza.
El Ejército de Israel amenazó esta martes con tomar el control de los barcos de la segunda Flotilla de la Libertad si se desobedece la orden de parada. El jefe militar, Benny Gantz, dijo que el objetivo de esta misión no es la de llevar ayuda a la Franja de Gaza, si no de "encender el odio y la provocación" contra Israel.
A un año del sangriento ataque contra la primera avanzada que intentó llevar suministros a los palestinos en Gaza, Gantz aseguró que "el Ejército israelí ha aprendido las lecciones del (Mavi) Marmara", sin embargo dejó claro que sus soldados "actuarán para impedir todo intento de romper el bloqueo".
La marina israelí ha venido realizando en las últimas semanas ejercicios conjuntos con la Fuerza Aérea para prepararse ante una intervención, dijo un alto oficial israelí a la prensa según reportó el diario Jerusalen Post.
El impreso agregó que también participan efectivos antimotines para neutralizar cualquier resistencia y que, según el oficial, se preve hacerse "sin violencia".
El 31 de mayo de 2010 el Mavi Marmara lideraba una flotilla de barcos que intentaban llevar ayuda a Gaza. En una operación comando el Ejército israelí tomó por asalto el buque, asesinó a nueve activistas turcos y dejó a más de 50 activistas heridos.
La Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) y varios países, entre ellos Rusia, condenaron las acciones de Israel. El Gobierno israelí alegó que sus soldados abrieron fuego solo después de que les “atacaran” los activistas turcos.
Manifestaciones en Turquía
A un año del ataque, las manifestaciones en conmemoración a la fecha se han visto en varias parte del mundo. En Turquía se vieron las concentraciones más multitudinarias. A gritos "Alá es grande" e "Israel, asesino" la multitud pidió el fin al bloqueo de Gaza impuesto por Israel desde 2006.
"Espera, Palestina, el Mavi Marmara llega", "De Estambul a Gaza, resistencia", se leían pancartas en turco, inglés y hebreo, mientras una amplia bandera representaba los retratos de los nueve mártires turcos.
Los manifestantes estuvieron acompañados de activistas de la primera flotilla, así como algunos de los mil 500 aspirantes que viajarán en el próximo convoy humanitario el próximo mes de julio.
Tunca y Kess Mittendorf, una pareja sexagenaria que este año formará parte de la Flotilla de la Libertad II expresó al diario El País de España que "llevamos 24 años luchando por la causa palestina, desde la segunda Intifada. ¿Crees qué tenemos miedo a las balas de los israelíes?".
Los organizadores de la segunda flotilla de ayuda humanitaria internacional reiteraron este lunes en Estambul su determinación de romper antes de finales de junio el bloqueo israelí, pese a la reapertura de la frontera entre Egipto y la Franja de Gaza.
"Saludamos de todo corazón la decisión del Gobierno egipcio de hacer funcionar de manera regular la terminal de Rafah entre Egipto y la Franja de Gaza, pero el bloqueo ilegal de Israel sigue efectivo", declaró en una conferencia de prensa Vangelis Pisias, coordinador de la Flotilla de la Libertad II.
"Israel impide todavía a los palestinos utilizar su mar y controla y restringe duramente los bienes que ingresan y salen de Gaza. Por eso, debemos seguir desafiando el bloqueo", añadió el activista griego.
Todavía se desconoce la fecha para la partida de la segunda flotilla, sin embargo fuentes de la organización señalan el día 25 de junio como la fecha en la que la nave capitana turca partirá de Estambul rumbo a Chipre.
Mavi Mármara se reunirá con los 15 barcos que forman el convoy. Zarparán desde España, Francia, Italia, Grecia y Turquía para encontrarse en aguas chipriotas, desde donde seguirán rumbo al puerto de Gaza, bloqueado por las autoridades israelíes. A bordo viajarán ciudadanos de un centenar de países, según los organizadores, que han puesto mucho cuidado en resaltar el carácter "internacional, no gubernamental y pacífico" de la flotilla.
Asimismo, mil 500 activistas de un centenar de países transportarán productos humanitarios, materiales de construcción, entre ellos 600 a 700 toneladas de cemento, material escolar, equipos médicos, medicamentos y juguetes.
El Gobierno de Israel aplica desde el año 2006 un bloqueo férreo contra el pueblo palestino, que mantiene cerrados los pasos fronterizos necesarios para recibir ayuda humanitaria, alimentos y combustible para la única planta de electricidad de la Franja de Gaza.
Hamas urges Palestinians not to jeopardize Egypt’s opening of Rafah crossing
Ismail Haniyeh says Gazans must respect Egypt's security so Rafah crossing will remain open and enable Palestinians to travel after a four-year blockade.
31 May 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urged Gazans on Tuesday to refrain from breaching Egypt's security in order to maintain the Rafah border crossing open, French news agency AFP reported.
"Don't do anything that could compromise the reopening of the terminal," AFP quoted Hanieyh as saying. "We assure our Egyptian brothers: 'Your security is ours and your stability is ours.'"
On Saturday, Egypt permanently opened the Gaza Strip's main gateway to the outside world after four years of an Egyptian blockade of Gaza that has prevented the vast majority of Gaza's 1.5 million people from being able to travel abroad.
The move marked a significant achievement for the area's ruling Hamas group, and Haniyeh welcomed the decision and warned Palestinians "to refrain from any breach of Egypt's security."
Haniyeh made his remarks at the Gaza City inauguration of a monument in honor of the nine Turkish activists killed last year during an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007. The closure, which also included tight Israeli restrictions at its cargo crossings with Gaza and a naval blockade, was meant to weaken Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes peace with Israel.
But since the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February, Egypt's new leadership has vowed to ease the blockade and improve relations with the Palestinians.
The Rafah border terminal has functioned at limited capacity for months.
Travel has been restricted to certain classes of people, such as students, businessmen or medical patients. And the crossing was often subject to closures.
Travel through Israel's passenger crossing with Gaza is extremely rare.
Under the new system, most restrictions are being lifted, and a much larger number of Palestinians are expected to be able to cross each day, easing a backlog that can force people to wait for months.
More on this topic
U.S. 'confident' Egypt can provide good security at Rafah border
Fatah official hails 'brave' Egyptian decision to open Rafah crossing
Egypt permanently opens Rafah crossing with Gaza
31 May 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urged Gazans on Tuesday to refrain from breaching Egypt's security in order to maintain the Rafah border crossing open, French news agency AFP reported.
"Don't do anything that could compromise the reopening of the terminal," AFP quoted Hanieyh as saying. "We assure our Egyptian brothers: 'Your security is ours and your stability is ours.'"
On Saturday, Egypt permanently opened the Gaza Strip's main gateway to the outside world after four years of an Egyptian blockade of Gaza that has prevented the vast majority of Gaza's 1.5 million people from being able to travel abroad.
The move marked a significant achievement for the area's ruling Hamas group, and Haniyeh welcomed the decision and warned Palestinians "to refrain from any breach of Egypt's security."
Haniyeh made his remarks at the Gaza City inauguration of a monument in honor of the nine Turkish activists killed last year during an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007. The closure, which also included tight Israeli restrictions at its cargo crossings with Gaza and a naval blockade, was meant to weaken Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes peace with Israel.
But since the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February, Egypt's new leadership has vowed to ease the blockade and improve relations with the Palestinians.
The Rafah border terminal has functioned at limited capacity for months.
Travel has been restricted to certain classes of people, such as students, businessmen or medical patients. And the crossing was often subject to closures.
Travel through Israel's passenger crossing with Gaza is extremely rare.
Under the new system, most restrictions are being lifted, and a much larger number of Palestinians are expected to be able to cross each day, easing a backlog that can force people to wait for months.
U.S. 'confident' Egypt can provide good security at Rafah border
Fatah official hails 'brave' Egyptian decision to open Rafah crossing
Egypt permanently opens Rafah crossing with Gaza
segunda-feira, 30 de maio de 2011
BARBARITY WIELDED IN THE NAME OF ISRAEL'S ETERNAL CAPITAL
30 May 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
On Nakba Day this year, Israel should have followed the advice of a young Fatah activist, as it did in 1990; Jerusalem Day, on Wednesday, presents another opportunity for restraint, or violence.
By Amira Hass
When Ami Popper murdered seven Palestinian workers and injured 11 more on May 20, 1990, GOC Southern Command Matan Vilnai wanted to prevent an escalation. He summoned a young revolutionary, Fatah activist Sami Abu Samhadana, from the Rafah refugee camp and consulted with him on how to head off further bloodshed.
His attorney, Tamar Peleg, told me at the time that Abu Samhadana happened to be at home, between one administrative detention and the next and before the issue of a deportation order against the vanguard of the popular uprising. He told Peleg that he advised Vilnai to do the obvious: Keep your soldiers and their weapons in barracks, far from the mourners. Vilnai, it is said, took his advice.
Abu Samhadana receded into anonymity. Peleg, considerably past retirement age, is still representing administrative detainees. Vilnai donned civvies and remained in the army, while the murderer grew the beard of newly observant Jews, married, fathered children, killed his wife and one of their children in an accident, remarried and has had innumerable furloughs from prison.
Only the logical advice remains as it was. How many human lives and how much bitterness and wrath would have been spared in the past 44 years had the authorities followed it. Which leads to the question: If he does not deploy his armed men in the heart of a civilian neighborhood, how will the ruler feel like a ruler? How will the sovereign - if his forces do not patrol spitefully near a school during recess - depict himself as the Order that must not be disturbed?
That is what happened on May 15, Nakba Day, in Isawiyah, a village that isn't exactly a neighborhood and a neighborhood that was a village until all its available land for agriculture and construction faded away for the benefit of the sovereign and Order: a national park for Jews to the south, a terrifying superhighway to the east, a Border Police camp to the east as well, a military camp on a hilltop in the middle and spacious neighborhoods for Jews to the west. A foreigner would not realize that this strangled village, overlooked by our fortress of higher education, is part of our eternal capital - whose unification we will fake this week with an official, annual celebration. A foreigner would think this village is a set for a film on Stephen Biko.
The force deployed at the western entrance to the village is in fact understandable. This is the gate to the lush, broad and manicured streets of French Hill. The sovereign, creator of slums and the guardian that preserves them, knows that the simmering wrath must not be allowed to spill over and disturb the White Man's rest.
But this last Nakba Day, about half a kilometer from that western entrance, deep in the heart of the village, a large Border Police force marked out territory with a vehicle that sprayed blue water, with tear-gas grenades, faces masked in black, black uniforms, rifles and blows. In the alleys and on the narrow main street full of potholes the guys prepared. They wanted to thwart the advance of the forces of order with burning garbage containers and barricades of stones. They knew the filming balloon hovering over Al Aqsa and the East Jerusalem neighborhoods ignores - like the municipality headed by Mayor Nir Barkat - the unmaintained roads and the neglect, and transmits to the sovereign only their portraits. They knew that the Border Police and the special police forces come disguised as masked rebels.
And what would have happened had the sovereign's representatives, their weapons erect and ready for discharge, not appeared in the heart of the village? There would have been no one at whom to throw stones and the fire in the garbage containers would have died down undisturbed.
In the heart of that slum, on that Nakba Day, A.A., a boy of 15 and a half, went to buy cigarettes for his father (Haaretz, May 27 ). The police, who say he threw stones and that his face was masked, explain in the following way why the boy arrived at the hospital unconscious and remained there for 11 days: "During the course of the pursuit of the stonethrowers one paint bullet was fired and as a result the youngster was hit, fell to the ground and was injured. He was picked up by the forces and taken for medical treatment at the police clinic. The medic determined that he should be transferred to a hospital for continued medical treatment." Let us suppose it was not a focused blow from a rifle butt, as the boy claims. Let us suppose it really was a single paint bullet that found its way to his head. Here is what the one and only paint bullet fired by the Border Police and the police accomplished, as enumerated in the medical report: a scalp hematoma, a linear skull fracture, subcutaneous swelling and hematomas on his face and chest, multiple scratches on his back, multiple signs of blows on his limbs and a tear in his liver.
The police response to Haaretz evaded the medical findings and the following facts presented to them: The police dragged the unconscious boy on the road after he was beaten on his head. He was loaded onto a Jeep, was unloaded from it at a gas station and there, so that he would regain consciousness, he was sprayed with water and air from the tire pump. He was beaten repeatedly, he spit blood and he fainted again. He still had deep handcuff marks on his wrists 10 days after the cuffs were removed.
The police wrote that at their initiative they had "sent all the materials in this incident" to the Police Investigation Unit.
Investigation? Objective? You've made the inhabitants of the village laugh. A few people, who presumably were eyewitnesses to the paint ball and its deeds, have told me they weren't there. Their eyes lied and apologized for lying. Their fear says they know the sovereign is always not guilty. Their fear says they do not distinguish between the terrorizing sovereign and Israeli Jewish society. This is a society that is living in peace with the transformation of the village into a neighborhood choking on its masterminded poverty. It will also live in peace with the sovereign's agents who beat up Palestinians and covet their land.
30 May 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
On Nakba Day this year, Israel should have followed the advice of a young Fatah activist, as it did in 1990; Jerusalem Day, on Wednesday, presents another opportunity for restraint, or violence.
By Amira Hass
When Ami Popper murdered seven Palestinian workers and injured 11 more on May 20, 1990, GOC Southern Command Matan Vilnai wanted to prevent an escalation. He summoned a young revolutionary, Fatah activist Sami Abu Samhadana, from the Rafah refugee camp and consulted with him on how to head off further bloodshed.
His attorney, Tamar Peleg, told me at the time that Abu Samhadana happened to be at home, between one administrative detention and the next and before the issue of a deportation order against the vanguard of the popular uprising. He told Peleg that he advised Vilnai to do the obvious: Keep your soldiers and their weapons in barracks, far from the mourners. Vilnai, it is said, took his advice.
Abu Samhadana receded into anonymity. Peleg, considerably past retirement age, is still representing administrative detainees. Vilnai donned civvies and remained in the army, while the murderer grew the beard of newly observant Jews, married, fathered children, killed his wife and one of their children in an accident, remarried and has had innumerable furloughs from prison.
Only the logical advice remains as it was. How many human lives and how much bitterness and wrath would have been spared in the past 44 years had the authorities followed it. Which leads to the question: If he does not deploy his armed men in the heart of a civilian neighborhood, how will the ruler feel like a ruler? How will the sovereign - if his forces do not patrol spitefully near a school during recess - depict himself as the Order that must not be disturbed?
That is what happened on May 15, Nakba Day, in Isawiyah, a village that isn't exactly a neighborhood and a neighborhood that was a village until all its available land for agriculture and construction faded away for the benefit of the sovereign and Order: a national park for Jews to the south, a terrifying superhighway to the east, a Border Police camp to the east as well, a military camp on a hilltop in the middle and spacious neighborhoods for Jews to the west. A foreigner would not realize that this strangled village, overlooked by our fortress of higher education, is part of our eternal capital - whose unification we will fake this week with an official, annual celebration. A foreigner would think this village is a set for a film on Stephen Biko.
The force deployed at the western entrance to the village is in fact understandable. This is the gate to the lush, broad and manicured streets of French Hill. The sovereign, creator of slums and the guardian that preserves them, knows that the simmering wrath must not be allowed to spill over and disturb the White Man's rest.
But this last Nakba Day, about half a kilometer from that western entrance, deep in the heart of the village, a large Border Police force marked out territory with a vehicle that sprayed blue water, with tear-gas grenades, faces masked in black, black uniforms, rifles and blows. In the alleys and on the narrow main street full of potholes the guys prepared. They wanted to thwart the advance of the forces of order with burning garbage containers and barricades of stones. They knew the filming balloon hovering over Al Aqsa and the East Jerusalem neighborhoods ignores - like the municipality headed by Mayor Nir Barkat - the unmaintained roads and the neglect, and transmits to the sovereign only their portraits. They knew that the Border Police and the special police forces come disguised as masked rebels.
And what would have happened had the sovereign's representatives, their weapons erect and ready for discharge, not appeared in the heart of the village? There would have been no one at whom to throw stones and the fire in the garbage containers would have died down undisturbed.
In the heart of that slum, on that Nakba Day, A.A., a boy of 15 and a half, went to buy cigarettes for his father (Haaretz, May 27 ). The police, who say he threw stones and that his face was masked, explain in the following way why the boy arrived at the hospital unconscious and remained there for 11 days: "During the course of the pursuit of the stonethrowers one paint bullet was fired and as a result the youngster was hit, fell to the ground and was injured. He was picked up by the forces and taken for medical treatment at the police clinic. The medic determined that he should be transferred to a hospital for continued medical treatment." Let us suppose it was not a focused blow from a rifle butt, as the boy claims. Let us suppose it really was a single paint bullet that found its way to his head. Here is what the one and only paint bullet fired by the Border Police and the police accomplished, as enumerated in the medical report: a scalp hematoma, a linear skull fracture, subcutaneous swelling and hematomas on his face and chest, multiple scratches on his back, multiple signs of blows on his limbs and a tear in his liver.
The police response to Haaretz evaded the medical findings and the following facts presented to them: The police dragged the unconscious boy on the road after he was beaten on his head. He was loaded onto a Jeep, was unloaded from it at a gas station and there, so that he would regain consciousness, he was sprayed with water and air from the tire pump. He was beaten repeatedly, he spit blood and he fainted again. He still had deep handcuff marks on his wrists 10 days after the cuffs were removed.
The police wrote that at their initiative they had "sent all the materials in this incident" to the Police Investigation Unit.
Investigation? Objective? You've made the inhabitants of the village laugh. A few people, who presumably were eyewitnesses to the paint ball and its deeds, have told me they weren't there. Their eyes lied and apologized for lying. Their fear says they know the sovereign is always not guilty. Their fear says they do not distinguish between the terrorizing sovereign and Israeli Jewish society. This is a society that is living in peace with the transformation of the village into a neighborhood choking on its masterminded poverty. It will also live in peace with the sovereign's agents who beat up Palestinians and covet their land.
Egypt Re-Opens Gaza Border, Partially Dismantling Siege
28 May 2011, Tikun Olam-תקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam (USA)
A cornerstone of U.S.-Israel policy over the past five years has just partially dissolved with Egypt’s reopening today of the Rafah border crossing. This will allow passenger traffic (but not goods) to cross every day with little hindrance (though men from 18-40 will have to undergo a special security screening). It leaves Israel to maintain its siege on its own border with Gaza. Israel currently maintains the only border crossing that allows goods to cross. But Egypt is considering removing even this restriction. When it does (as I presume it will if there are no major problems with the Rafah opening), then the Israeli siege will be dead. And yet another punitive U.S.-Israeli policy toward the Palestinians will have bitten the dust and shown itself to have served no useful purpose.
Ethan Bronner, as usual acting as the stenographer for the Israeli government and conveying the wishful thinking of its policy “experts,” claims the lifting of the Egyptian siege will actually help Israeli policy goals. It supposedly will place a greater burden on Egypt to police its borders and, by extension, Hamas. But the most laughable claim by the Israelis is that lifting the siege will actually release international pressure on Israel, since there presumably would no longer be any humanitarian crisis to make the world scream bloody murder. What this neglects though, is that Egypt will likely shortly allow everything to enter Gaza, not just people. And when that happens, Israel will look stupid if it maintains a blockade. It’s reminds me of the extraordinary lengths to which the French went to build the Maginot Line, which they believed made them impregnable to German attack. There was only one problem: when the Germans attacked, they went around it and conquered France in record time. Maintaining a siege on one border when the other is completely open looks not only mean-spirited and ineffectual, but downright dumb. Israel doesn’t like to be seen by the world as dumb. So I predict even the Israeli siege will be drastically modified in six months or less.
Returning to Hamas, as Tony Karon so aptly writes at his Time Magazine blog, there is only one way to deal with it: engage. If there is ever to be real peace between Israelis and Palestinians it will have to receive at least a tacit blessing from Hamas. Laying siege to Gaza was a useless, wasted policy. It secured nothing, proved nothing. We (that is, the U.S., I can’t speak for Israel) should try something else. Something more positive. If we don’t, we will have only ourselves to blame and the corpses of hundreds or thousands more dead laid at our doorstep until we look at things more pragmatically and less ideologically.
A cornerstone of U.S.-Israel policy over the past five years has just partially dissolved with Egypt’s reopening today of the Rafah border crossing. This will allow passenger traffic (but not goods) to cross every day with little hindrance (though men from 18-40 will have to undergo a special security screening). It leaves Israel to maintain its siege on its own border with Gaza. Israel currently maintains the only border crossing that allows goods to cross. But Egypt is considering removing even this restriction. When it does (as I presume it will if there are no major problems with the Rafah opening), then the Israeli siege will be dead. And yet another punitive U.S.-Israeli policy toward the Palestinians will have bitten the dust and shown itself to have served no useful purpose.
Ethan Bronner, as usual acting as the stenographer for the Israeli government and conveying the wishful thinking of its policy “experts,” claims the lifting of the Egyptian siege will actually help Israeli policy goals. It supposedly will place a greater burden on Egypt to police its borders and, by extension, Hamas. But the most laughable claim by the Israelis is that lifting the siege will actually release international pressure on Israel, since there presumably would no longer be any humanitarian crisis to make the world scream bloody murder. What this neglects though, is that Egypt will likely shortly allow everything to enter Gaza, not just people. And when that happens, Israel will look stupid if it maintains a blockade. It’s reminds me of the extraordinary lengths to which the French went to build the Maginot Line, which they believed made them impregnable to German attack. There was only one problem: when the Germans attacked, they went around it and conquered France in record time. Maintaining a siege on one border when the other is completely open looks not only mean-spirited and ineffectual, but downright dumb. Israel doesn’t like to be seen by the world as dumb. So I predict even the Israeli siege will be drastically modified in six months or less.
Returning to Hamas, as Tony Karon so aptly writes at his Time Magazine blog, there is only one way to deal with it: engage. If there is ever to be real peace between Israelis and Palestinians it will have to receive at least a tacit blessing from Hamas. Laying siege to Gaza was a useless, wasted policy. It secured nothing, proved nothing. We (that is, the U.S., I can’t speak for Israel) should try something else. Something more positive. If we don’t, we will have only ourselves to blame and the corpses of hundreds or thousands more dead laid at our doorstep until we look at things more pragmatically and less ideologically.
quinta-feira, 26 de maio de 2011
A Partir de Samedi prochain L'Egypte ouvrira le passage de Rafah de façon durable
26 mai 2011/Centre Palestinien d´Information http://www.palestine-info.cc/fr
Les autorités égyptiennes ont décidé d'ouvrir la frontière de Rafah avec la bande de Gaza sur une base durable, à partir du samedi 28/5, sauf les vendredis et les jours fériés, de neuf heures du matin jusqu'à cinq heures du soir.
La source officielle égyptienne a déclaré, dans un communiqué de presse écrite, publié le mercredi 25/5, que cette mesure s'inscrit dans le cadre des mesures prises par les autorités concernées pour faciliter la circulation du passage des citoyens palestiniens à travers les entrées égyptiennes.
La source a ajouté que les autorités égyptiennes ont pris plusieurs mesures pour faciliter la circulation des citoyens palestiniens les entrées égyptiennes, à partir de Samedi prochain, ajoutant qu'elles ont décidé de mettre en œuvre du mécanisme d'entrée, qui a été mis en œuvre avant 2007.
"Ce mécanisme prévoit une exemption de l'obligation d'obtenir un visa avant, pour chacune des femmes palestiniennes de tous âges, les hommes âgés moins de 18 ans et plus de 40 ans, et les enfants à venir avec leurs parents et qui sont exemptés avant de l'obligation d'obtenir un visa d'entrée ", a-t-elle insisté.
Le communiqué indique que cela permettrait, en outre, selon ce mécanisme, pour les familles palestiniennes à arriver à destination et à partir de la bande de Gaza avec la nécessité de leur obtention des passeports et de l'identité palestiniens, et de venir étudier à condition de les amener à cet effet, et à travers le passage de Rafah pour le traitement médical en vertu de la conversion médicale.
Il a ainsi expliqué: "les hommes âgés entre 18 et 40 ans doivent obtenir une coordination préalable des ambassades égyptiennes à l'étranger, précisant que ceux en provenance de la bande de Gaza et en Cisjordanie doivent obtenir la coordination de l'ambassade égyptienne à Ramallah.
"Pour les Palestiniens qui ne répondent pas aux conditions d'entrée visées à l'heure, le communiqué a souligné que l'ambassade palestinienne au Caire coordinera avec les autorités concernées en Egypte pour leur transport vers et depuis la bande de Gaza", a également indiqué le communiqué.
Et sur l'entrée des Palestiniens de la Libye à la suite des conditions actuelles, le responsable égyptien a déclaré: "Les autorités en Egypte appliquent des règles sur l'entrée de ceux-ci, qui nécessité de l'obtention du visa d'entrée pour tous les groupes d'âge"
Améliorations au niveau du passage
Dans un contexte lié, le gouvernement palestinien dirigé par Ismaïl Haniyeh a souligné que le côté égyptien viendra améliorer le travail du passage de Rafah dans le sud de la bande de Gaza, à partir de Samedi prochain.
Le Dr. Hassan Abou Hashish, directeur de l'administration des médias au bureau, a déclaré dans un communiqué, mercredi soir, que parmi les améliorations les plus notables sur la passage de Rafah, est l'augmentation de la période du travail, de 6 jours par semaine au lieu de 5 jours (le congé sera uniquement le vendredi), et le travail quotidien de 9 heures à 17 heures.
Il a ajouté que le passage à niveau accueillera les étudiants et les employeurs d'hébergement et des transferts, les femmes et les enfants de moins de dix-huit ans, sans coordination, en plus des hommes qui sont âgés de plus de quarante autres que celles énumérées.
En outre, il a précisé qu'une coordination se fera également pour les personnalités politiques à travers les ministères des Affaires étrangères palestinien et égyptien, et que le dossier des personnes classées sera discuté, pendant les trois prochains mois, et voyageront seulement de l'aéroport du Caire.
Les autorités égyptiennes ont décidé d'ouvrir la frontière de Rafah avec la bande de Gaza sur une base durable, à partir du samedi 28/5, sauf les vendredis et les jours fériés, de neuf heures du matin jusqu'à cinq heures du soir.
La source officielle égyptienne a déclaré, dans un communiqué de presse écrite, publié le mercredi 25/5, que cette mesure s'inscrit dans le cadre des mesures prises par les autorités concernées pour faciliter la circulation du passage des citoyens palestiniens à travers les entrées égyptiennes.
La source a ajouté que les autorités égyptiennes ont pris plusieurs mesures pour faciliter la circulation des citoyens palestiniens les entrées égyptiennes, à partir de Samedi prochain, ajoutant qu'elles ont décidé de mettre en œuvre du mécanisme d'entrée, qui a été mis en œuvre avant 2007.
"Ce mécanisme prévoit une exemption de l'obligation d'obtenir un visa avant, pour chacune des femmes palestiniennes de tous âges, les hommes âgés moins de 18 ans et plus de 40 ans, et les enfants à venir avec leurs parents et qui sont exemptés avant de l'obligation d'obtenir un visa d'entrée ", a-t-elle insisté.
Le communiqué indique que cela permettrait, en outre, selon ce mécanisme, pour les familles palestiniennes à arriver à destination et à partir de la bande de Gaza avec la nécessité de leur obtention des passeports et de l'identité palestiniens, et de venir étudier à condition de les amener à cet effet, et à travers le passage de Rafah pour le traitement médical en vertu de la conversion médicale.
Il a ainsi expliqué: "les hommes âgés entre 18 et 40 ans doivent obtenir une coordination préalable des ambassades égyptiennes à l'étranger, précisant que ceux en provenance de la bande de Gaza et en Cisjordanie doivent obtenir la coordination de l'ambassade égyptienne à Ramallah.
"Pour les Palestiniens qui ne répondent pas aux conditions d'entrée visées à l'heure, le communiqué a souligné que l'ambassade palestinienne au Caire coordinera avec les autorités concernées en Egypte pour leur transport vers et depuis la bande de Gaza", a également indiqué le communiqué.
Et sur l'entrée des Palestiniens de la Libye à la suite des conditions actuelles, le responsable égyptien a déclaré: "Les autorités en Egypte appliquent des règles sur l'entrée de ceux-ci, qui nécessité de l'obtention du visa d'entrée pour tous les groupes d'âge"
Améliorations au niveau du passage
Dans un contexte lié, le gouvernement palestinien dirigé par Ismaïl Haniyeh a souligné que le côté égyptien viendra améliorer le travail du passage de Rafah dans le sud de la bande de Gaza, à partir de Samedi prochain.
Le Dr. Hassan Abou Hashish, directeur de l'administration des médias au bureau, a déclaré dans un communiqué, mercredi soir, que parmi les améliorations les plus notables sur la passage de Rafah, est l'augmentation de la période du travail, de 6 jours par semaine au lieu de 5 jours (le congé sera uniquement le vendredi), et le travail quotidien de 9 heures à 17 heures.
Il a ajouté que le passage à niveau accueillera les étudiants et les employeurs d'hébergement et des transferts, les femmes et les enfants de moins de dix-huit ans, sans coordination, en plus des hommes qui sont âgés de plus de quarante autres que celles énumérées.
En outre, il a précisé qu'une coordination se fera également pour les personnalités politiques à travers les ministères des Affaires étrangères palestinien et égyptien, et que le dossier des personnes classées sera discuté, pendant les trois prochains mois, et voyageront seulement de l'aéroport du Caire.
Activists refuse to send Gaza aid via Israel
26 May 2011/Al Ahram (Egypt)
Activists criticise Egyptian reluctance to allow them transit to deliver aid to Gaza via a Malaysian ship; Malaysian FM says it is working with Egypt to unload the aid
Activists on a Malaysian aid ship that had been bound for Gaza refused to hand their cargo to Egypt on Thursday, saying they feared it would end up in Israel.
They had tried to land in Gaza last week but changed course when the Israeli navy fired warning shots.
Matthias Chang, who is heading the mission for the Perdana Global Peace Foundation, told AFP the group was not consulted when the Malaysian and Egyptian governments worked out a deal to end the impasse. Chang said Egypt had insisted the cargo be discharged and transported via Kaern Shalom, at the Israeli border in Gaza.
"We are not assured that this cargo would in fact be delivered to Gaza, as in the past... most of the humanitarian aid was laid to waste in Israel," he added.
Chang also questioned Cairo's refusal to allow the cargo, consisting of 7.5 kilometres (4.6 miles) of sewage pipes, to be transferred via the Rafah crossing -- Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel -- given that it would be open this weekend.
"This turn of events demonstrates the insincerity of the Egyptian government and their implicit endorsement of the illegal siege when they explicitly stated they would permanently open the Rafah crossing," Chang said.
Egyptian state media have said the Rafah border crossing would open on a daily basis starting Saturday.Perdana Foundation adviser Mukhriz Mahathir, a son of former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, told AFP they were unhappy with Cairo's actions.
"We are disappointed that it has come to this as we were hopeful that with the new government there would be substantial change in regard to the way they treat Palestinians and Gaza but this is clearly not the case," he said.
"We urge the Egyptian government to allow the aid ship to dock and unload the pipes and ensure that they are delivered to Gaza via the Rafah crossing," Mukhriz added.
However, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said Kuala Lumpur and Cairo were working to enable the MV Finch, which has been refused entry to El Arish for the last 10 days, to dock and unload its aid, according to a statement.
Anifah and his Egyptian counterpart urged "the parties concerned not to resort to any unnecessary action that could further aggravate the situation."
The 12 activists and crew onboard the MV Finch aborted their second attempt to land in Gaza on Monday after engine trouble, and are anchored in a waiting area off the Egyptian port of El Arish.
Perdana Foundation officials said the MV Finch left Greece on May 11, carrying the pipes to help restore the sewage system in Gaza.
But Israeli naval forces fired warning shots at the vessel on May 16, when it was in Israeli waters about 400 metres (yards) from Gaza, forcing it into Egyptian waters.
The Perdana Foundation is headed by Mahathir, an 85-year-old firebrand who was a strident critic of the West and Israel over the treatment of Palestinians during his two decades in power.
The organisation was also involved in the first "Freedom Flotilla," a May 2010 attempt to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which ended in disaster when naval commandos raided the aid ships, killing nine Turks on board one of the vessels.The incident sparked heavy criticism of Israel and led to a sharp deterioration in ties between Turkey and the Jewish state. (AFP)
Activists criticise Egyptian reluctance to allow them transit to deliver aid to Gaza via a Malaysian ship; Malaysian FM says it is working with Egypt to unload the aid
Activists on a Malaysian aid ship that had been bound for Gaza refused to hand their cargo to Egypt on Thursday, saying they feared it would end up in Israel.
They had tried to land in Gaza last week but changed course when the Israeli navy fired warning shots.
Matthias Chang, who is heading the mission for the Perdana Global Peace Foundation, told AFP the group was not consulted when the Malaysian and Egyptian governments worked out a deal to end the impasse. Chang said Egypt had insisted the cargo be discharged and transported via Kaern Shalom, at the Israeli border in Gaza.
"We are not assured that this cargo would in fact be delivered to Gaza, as in the past... most of the humanitarian aid was laid to waste in Israel," he added.
Chang also questioned Cairo's refusal to allow the cargo, consisting of 7.5 kilometres (4.6 miles) of sewage pipes, to be transferred via the Rafah crossing -- Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel -- given that it would be open this weekend.
"This turn of events demonstrates the insincerity of the Egyptian government and their implicit endorsement of the illegal siege when they explicitly stated they would permanently open the Rafah crossing," Chang said.
Egyptian state media have said the Rafah border crossing would open on a daily basis starting Saturday.Perdana Foundation adviser Mukhriz Mahathir, a son of former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, told AFP they were unhappy with Cairo's actions.
"We are disappointed that it has come to this as we were hopeful that with the new government there would be substantial change in regard to the way they treat Palestinians and Gaza but this is clearly not the case," he said.
"We urge the Egyptian government to allow the aid ship to dock and unload the pipes and ensure that they are delivered to Gaza via the Rafah crossing," Mukhriz added.
However, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said Kuala Lumpur and Cairo were working to enable the MV Finch, which has been refused entry to El Arish for the last 10 days, to dock and unload its aid, according to a statement.
Anifah and his Egyptian counterpart urged "the parties concerned not to resort to any unnecessary action that could further aggravate the situation."
The 12 activists and crew onboard the MV Finch aborted their second attempt to land in Gaza on Monday after engine trouble, and are anchored in a waiting area off the Egyptian port of El Arish.
Perdana Foundation officials said the MV Finch left Greece on May 11, carrying the pipes to help restore the sewage system in Gaza.
But Israeli naval forces fired warning shots at the vessel on May 16, when it was in Israeli waters about 400 metres (yards) from Gaza, forcing it into Egyptian waters.
The Perdana Foundation is headed by Mahathir, an 85-year-old firebrand who was a strident critic of the West and Israel over the treatment of Palestinians during his two decades in power.
The organisation was also involved in the first "Freedom Flotilla," a May 2010 attempt to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which ended in disaster when naval commandos raided the aid ships, killing nine Turks on board one of the vessels.The incident sparked heavy criticism of Israel and led to a sharp deterioration in ties between Turkey and the Jewish state. (AFP)
domingo, 15 de maio de 2011
Militares israelenses atiram contra palestinos e ferem 45 em Gaza
15 maio 2011, Vermelho
Pelo menos 45 palestinos foram feridos neste domingo (15) em Gaza por disparos do Exército israelenses durante um protesto na passagem de fronteira israelense, informaram os serviços de emergência palestinos. Quase mil manifestantes seguiam para a fronteira israelense para lembrar a “Nakba” (Catástrofe), ou êxodo palestino, o aniversário da criação do Estado de Israel, apesar dos disparos de advertência israelenses.
Dos 45 feridos, cinco se encontram em estado grave, de acordo com um balanço médico. Segundo a rádio militar israelense, os soldados, que receberam ordens estritas para proibir a entrada no território israelense, atiraram primeiro para o alto e depois nas pernas dos manifestantes.
O protesto envolveu milhares de pessoas, que fizeram uma passeata no norte da Faixa de Gaza, rumo à divisa do território com Israel, informaram testemunhas. Segundo elas, os tanques israelenses estacionados na área dispararam pelo menos quatro projéteis contra o local da manifestação. Uma porta-voz do Exército israelense confirmou que “está ocorrendo uma grande manifestação no norte de Gaza”, mas assinalou que, por enquanto, não pode confirmar que as forças tenham disparado contra a população.
Em um comício realizado na cidade de Gaza, que contou com a presença de aproximadamente 10 mil pessoas, o líder do Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, disse que os palestinos têm direito a resistir à ocupação israelense e recuperar as propriedades perdidas em 1948, informou o serviço de notícias israelense Ynet.
Este é o primeiro ano desde 2007 em que as distintas facções palestinas se unem na Faixa de Gaza para organizar atos conjuntos em memória da Nakba, o que foi possibilitado após a assinatura do acordo de reconciliação palestina, feito no início deste mês no Cairo. O Hamas, em coordenação com o Fatah, organizou os dois principais atos com apoio das demais facções palestinas. O primeiro foi realizado no norte da Faixa de Gaza e o segundo, na localidade de Rafah, na fronteira com o Egito. (Fonte: Portal Terra)
Pelo menos 45 palestinos foram feridos neste domingo (15) em Gaza por disparos do Exército israelenses durante um protesto na passagem de fronteira israelense, informaram os serviços de emergência palestinos. Quase mil manifestantes seguiam para a fronteira israelense para lembrar a “Nakba” (Catástrofe), ou êxodo palestino, o aniversário da criação do Estado de Israel, apesar dos disparos de advertência israelenses.
Dos 45 feridos, cinco se encontram em estado grave, de acordo com um balanço médico. Segundo a rádio militar israelense, os soldados, que receberam ordens estritas para proibir a entrada no território israelense, atiraram primeiro para o alto e depois nas pernas dos manifestantes.
O protesto envolveu milhares de pessoas, que fizeram uma passeata no norte da Faixa de Gaza, rumo à divisa do território com Israel, informaram testemunhas. Segundo elas, os tanques israelenses estacionados na área dispararam pelo menos quatro projéteis contra o local da manifestação. Uma porta-voz do Exército israelense confirmou que “está ocorrendo uma grande manifestação no norte de Gaza”, mas assinalou que, por enquanto, não pode confirmar que as forças tenham disparado contra a população.
Em um comício realizado na cidade de Gaza, que contou com a presença de aproximadamente 10 mil pessoas, o líder do Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, disse que os palestinos têm direito a resistir à ocupação israelense e recuperar as propriedades perdidas em 1948, informou o serviço de notícias israelense Ynet.
Este é o primeiro ano desde 2007 em que as distintas facções palestinas se unem na Faixa de Gaza para organizar atos conjuntos em memória da Nakba, o que foi possibilitado após a assinatura do acordo de reconciliação palestina, feito no início deste mês no Cairo. O Hamas, em coordenação com o Fatah, organizou os dois principais atos com apoio das demais facções palestinas. O primeiro foi realizado no norte da Faixa de Gaza e o segundo, na localidade de Rafah, na fronteira com o Egito. (Fonte: Portal Terra)
domingo, 8 de maio de 2011
THE TRIAL: RACHEL CORRIE’S PARENTS SPEAK AT THE AICAFE
8 May 2011, Alternative Information Center (AIC) Israel http://www.alternativenews.org
Please join us at the AICafe on Tuesday 10 May at 7pm as Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of martyred American peace activist Rachel Corrie, speak about their current lawsuit against the Israeli army and their efforts to promote the work of their daughter in struggling for Palestinian rights and a just peace.
Activist Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer on 16 March 2003 when attempting to halt the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza's Rafah Refugee Camp.
Additional information about Rachel Corrie and the work of her family may be found on rachelcorriefoundation.org.
We hope you will join us!
The AIC is a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy and grassroots activism. The AICafè is a political and cultural café open on Tuesday and Saturday night from 7pm until 10pm. It is located in the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, close to Suq Sha’ab (follow the sign to Jadal Center ). We have a small library with novels, political books and magazines. We also have a number of films in DVD copies and AIC publications which critically analyze both the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the conflict itself.
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