Tikun Olam: Tzedakah to Make Israel a Better Place

April 9th, 2012, Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

Tonight, I was thinking of a particular friend who has created over the past few decades a wonderful business that is almost perfectly attuned to its community. It has provided well for his family and, I presume, enabled him to give generously to his local community, including the Jewish community.

I wrote to him an e mail which I hope he won’t find presumptuous. My motivation stemmed from the direness of the situation is in Israel. And from how great the need is to fight on behalf of Israeli democracy and combat the damage caused to it by Occupation and a rampant national security state. I can’t remember a time I felt Israel was in more jeopardy. I can’t remember a time when Israeli NGOs more needed support to combat the vicious effects of this right wing Netanyahu-Lieberman government.

I’ve made clear here in the past that I’ve lost any hope or confidence that the Israeli political system can offer any answers to Israel’s most profound war and peace issues. Nor do I believe that NGOs alone can solve Israel’s problems. But they are all that we have left. They are the teetering dyke that stands between a possible peaceful future and a catastrophic flood of ultra-nationalism and hate. As such, we owe them all the moral and financial support we can offer.

Not to mention the fact that Avigdor Lieberman has proposed draconian legislation that would limit the foreign funding any Israeli peace group could receive. This alone justifies offering the movement for justice and human rights all the support we can.

Such charitable giving is reinforced in Jewish traditions by the term, tzedakah. It means more than charity. It means a religious obligation to support causes and movements that bring justice to the world. If there is any place that needs justice right now, it’s Israel. And tzedakah compels us to do what we can to help.

Though this post is certainly meant for my regular readers, I’m hoping that someone reads this who has been as financially and otherwise blessed as my friend. Someone who may share my politics or not. But someone who feels some of the urgency I mentioned above. And who wants to invest as much of their wealth as they can in repairing the damaged land of Israel. I would welcome directing such individuals to groups like those below, and to do research on any peace group that might interest them. To promote such acts of tzedakah, I’d be delighted to help in any way necessary.

The groups in Israel and Palestine I recommend below are doing heroic work against all odds. You may or may not be aware of them. If at all possible, I hope you can devote consideration to their work. These organizations are all ones I know personally through their staff and through their cooperating with campaigns I’ve mounted here. If you give you may (or may not, as you choose) mention the blog as something that played a factor in your giving.

There are, of course, other groups doing good work in this field. But some of them are groups (like New Israel Fund, J Street and Peace Now) with which I have specific politicial, philosophical or moral disagreements and whose work I can’t endorse for inclusion on this list for that reason. There are also American Jewish groups fighting for peace and justice in Israel, but because of the urgency I wanted, with only one exception, to focus on groups working in Israel-Palestine.

The list is divided more or less according to the rubric of Israeli groups followed by Palestinian. I’m open of course to adding Palestinian groups since it’s a community whose NGOs I know less well.

Anarchists Against the Wall (donate) Israel’s leading group fighting against the Separation Wall through weekly protests that often end in violence perpetrated by the Israeli security forces against unarmed demonstrators who seek to prevent the theft of Palestinian land.

B’Tselem (donate) Israel’s leading human rights group which documents arbitrary arrests, shootings, settler violence, and IDF malfeasance.

HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual (donate)

Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement (donate) The leading NGO working against Israel’s draconian system of checkpoints and arbitrary laws which impede freedom of movement for Palestinians.

Breaking the Silence (donate) An anti-Occupation Israeli combat veterans group seeking to expose the horrors of the military experience and its impact on Palestinians and Israelis.

Combatants for Peace A group of Israeli and Palestinian combat veterans who advocate against war and violence in their respective communities

Machsom Watch (donate) a movement of Israeli women who oppose the Israeli occupation and the denial of Palestinians’ rights to move freely in their land. It documents IDF violations of Palestinian human rights at military checkpoints.

Association for Civil Rights in Israel (donate) Israel’s largest, most prominent, and most mainstream human rights organization.

Taayush: Arab-Jewish Partnership (donate) Israelis & Palestinians striving to end the Israeli occupation and to achieve full civil equality through daily non-violent direct-action.

Yesh Din (donate) a group of Israelis seeking to defend the human rights of Palestinians under Israeli Occupation

Ir Amim (donate) dedicated to documenting Israeli encroachment on Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Ir Amim wants Jerusalem to be a more viable and equitable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it. The group envisions a city that ensures the dignity and welfare of all its residents and that safeguards their holy places, as well as their historical and cultural heritages.

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (donate) A human rights group working in the media and through the legal system to expose egregious instances of Israeli torture of Palestinian prisoners.

Yesh Gvul (donate) Israel’s leading NGO investigating potential IDF war crimes and advocating for Israeli accountability to the laws of war.

Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (donate) An NGO that promotes awareness of Israel’s policy of destroying entire swaths of Palestinian homes for security and punitive purposes.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (donate) Engaged in providing medical assistance and advocacy that advances human rights in Israel

Rabbis for Human Rights (donate) A group of Israeli rabbis who advocate for human rights based in the Jewish tradition

Parent’s Circle (donate) An organization whose members are survivors of those Palestinians and Israelis victims murdered in terror attacks.

Gush Shalom Uri Avnery’s peace group.

Women of the Wall (donate) Religious feminist group advocating equal treatment of men and women at the Western Wall holy site

Jewish Voice for Peace (donate) The leading American-Jewish group working to promote a just Israeli-Palestinian peace. It supports BDS and refuses to endorse either a two or one-state solution to the conflict.

Seruv (donate) An Israeli NGO which supports those who refuse to serve in the IDF on moral or religious grounds.

New Profile (donate) A feminist NGO encouraging military refusal and conscientious objection.

Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity (donate) supporters of Palestinian families evicted from their East Jerusalem homes by settler squatters and home thieves

Neve Shalom (donate) A cooperative community of Israeli Jews and Palestinians devoted to showing that the two people can live and build a thriving community together.

West-Eastern Diwan Orchestra (donate) Daniel Barenboim’s groundbreaking musical ensemble of young Israeli and Palestinian musicians whose music breaks the taboos established by each society that inhibits tolerance and mutual respect.

Mada al-Carmel (donate) A Palestinian social-science institute which documents the evils of Occupation and the inferior treatment of Israeli Palestinians within Israeli society. I particularly mention it because New Israel Fund specifically defunded Mada when they refused to adhere to NIF guidelines which demanded Palestinian NGOs not advocate for a one-state solution.

Adalah: the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (donate)

Al Haq: Defending Human Rights in Palestine

Addameer: Prisoner Support and Human Rights Network (donate)

Al Mezan: Center for Human Rights (donate)

Badil: Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

Palestinian Center for Human Rights (donate) Gaza-based human rights advocacy group

MIFTAH: (donate) The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy

SABEEL: the Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center (donate) Canon Naim Ateek’s Episcopal movement seeking to apply the teaching of liberation theology to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

“POUR OUT YOUR WRATH!”

6 April 2012, Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)

Uri Avnery אורי אבנרי

I AM writing this on Friday night, the eve of Passover. At this moment, all over the world, millions of Jews are gathered around the family table, observing the Seder, reading aloud from the same book: the Haggadah, which tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

The impact of this book on Jewish life is immense. Every Jew takes part in this ceremony from earliest childhood and plays an active part in the ritual. Wherever a Jewish man or woman goes in later life, they will take with them a memory of the warmth and togetherness of the family, the magical atmosphere – and the overt and subliminal message conveyed by the text.

Whoever invented the Seder (“order”) ritual, many centuries ago, was a genius. All human senses are involved: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting. It includes eating a ritualized meal, drinking four glasses of wine, touching various symbolic objects, playing a game with the children (searching for a hidden piece of Matzo). It ends with singing several religious songs together. The accumulated effect is magical.

More than any other Jewish text, the Haggadah forms the Jewish conscious – or, rather, unconscious - mind today, as in the past, influencing our collective behavior and Israeli national policy.

There are many different ways to view this book.

LITERATURE: As a literary work, the Haggadah is rather inferior. The text is devoid of beauty, full of repetitions, platitudes and banalities.

This may cause wonderment. The Hebrew Bible – the Bible in Hebrew – is a work of unique beauty. In many places, its beauty is intoxicating. The peaks of Western culture – Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Tolstoy – are not its equal. Even the later Jewish religious texts – Mishnah, Talmud and so forth – while not so uplifting, contain passages of literary merit. The Haggadah has none. It is a text devised purely for indoctrination.
HISTORY: It’s not. Though it claims to tell history, the Haggadah has nothing to do with real history.

There can no longer be the slightest doubt that the Exodus never happened. Neither the Exodus, nor the wandering in the desert, nor the conquest of Canaan.

The Egyptians were obsessive chroniclers. Many tens of thousands of tablets have already been deciphered. It would have been impossible for an event like the exodus to pass without being reported at length. Not if 600,000 people left, as the Bible tells it, or 60,000, or even 6000. Especially if during the flight a whole Egyptian army contingent, including war chariots, was drowned.

The same goes for the Conquest. Because of acute security concerns, after being invaded once from there, the Egyptians employed a host of spies, - travelers, merchants and others - to follow closely the events in neighboring Canaan, in every single one of its towns and at all times. An invasion of Canaan, even a minor one, would have been reported. Except for the periodic incursions of Bedouin tribes, nothing was recorded.

Moreover, the Egyptian towns mentioned in the Bible did not exist at the time the event is supposed to have happened. They did exist, however, when the Bible was written, in the first or second century BC.

There is no need to point out that after a hundred years of frantic archaeological searching by devout Christians and Zionist zealots, not a shred of concrete evidence for the conquest of Canaan has been found (nor that the Kingdoms of Saul, David or Salomon ever existed).

But is this really important? Not a bit of it!

The Passover story does not derive its immense power from any claim to be history. It is a myth that grips the human imagination, a myth that is the basis of a great religion, a myth that directs the behavior of people to this very day. Without the Exodus story, there would probably be no State of Israel today – and certainly not in Palestine.

THE GLORY: One can read the Exodus story as a shining example of all that is good and inspiring in the annals of humanity.

Here is the story of a small and powerless people that rises up against a brutal tyranny, throws off its chains and gains a new homeland, creating a revolutionary new moral code on the way.

Seen in this way, the Exodus is a victory of the human spirit, an inspiration for all downtrodden peoples. And indeed, it has served this purpose many times in the past. The Pilgrim Fathers, the founders of the American nation, were inspired by it, and so were many rebels throughout history.

THE OTHER SIDE: When one reads the Biblical text attentively , without religious blinkers, some aspects gives us food for other thoughts.

Let’s take the Ten Plagues. Why were the entire Egyptian people punished for the misdeeds of one tyrant, Pharaoh? Why did God, like a divine Security Council, levy on them cruel sanctions, polluting their water with blood, destroying their livelihood with hail and locusts? And, even more gruesome, how could a merciful God send his angels to murder every single Egyptian firstborn child?

On leaving Egypt, the Israelites were encouraged to steal their neighbors’ property. It is rather curious that the Biblical story-teller, who was certainly deeply religious, did not omit this detail. And this just a few weeks before the Ten Commandments were handed down to the Israelites by God personally, including “Thou Shalt Not Steal”.

No one seems ever to have given much thought to the ethical side of the conquest of Canaan. God promised the Children of Israel a land which was the home of other peoples. He told them to kill these peoples, expressly commanding them to commit genocide. For some reason, He singled out the people of Amalek, ordering the Israelites to eradicate them altogether. Later, the glorious King Saul was dethroned by His prophet because he showed mercy and did not murder his Amalekite prisoners-of-war, men, women and children.

Of course, these texts were written by people living in times long past, when the ethics of individuals and nations were different, as were the rules of war. But the Haggadah is recited - today as before - uncritically, without any reflection on these horrible aspects. Especially in religious schools in Israel today , the commandment to commit genocide against the non-Jewish population of Palestine is taken by many teachers and pupils quite literally.

INDOCTRINATION: This is the real point of these reflections.

There are two sentences in the Haggadah that always had – and still have – a profound impact on the present.

One is the central idea on which almost all Jews base their historical outlook: “In every generation they rise against us to destroy us”.

This does not apply to a specific time or to a specific place. It is regarded as an eternal truth that applies to all places, all times. ”They” is the entire outside world, all non-Jews everywhere. Children hear this on Seder evening on their father’s knee, long before they are able to read and write, and from then on they hear or recite it every year for decades. It expresses the total conscious or unconscious conviction of almost all Jews, whether in Los Angeles, California, or in Lod, Israel. It certainly directs the policy of the State of Israel.

The second sentence, which complements the first, is a cry to God: “Pour out your wrath upon the nations that do not know you…for they have devoured Jacob and desolated his home…Pour out your wrath on them! May your blazing anger overtake them! Pursue them from under the heavens of the Lord!…”

The word “nations” in this text has a double meaning. The Hebrew word is “goyim”, an ancient Hebrew term for “peoples”. Even the ancient Children of Israel were called a “Holy Goy”. But over the centuries, the word has taken on another meaning, and is understood to refer to all non-Jews, in a very derogatory way. (As in the Yiddish song “Oy, Oy, Oy, / Drunk is the Goy.”)

To understand this text properly, one has to remember that it was written as a cry from the heart of a defenseless, persecuted people who had no means to take revenge on their torturers. To raise their spirits on the joyful Seder evening, they had to put their trust in God, crying out to Him that he should take revenge in their stead.

(During the Seder ritual, the door is always left open. Officially, that is to allow the Prophet Elias to enter, if he should miraculously rise from the dead. In reality it was to allow the Goyim to look in, so as to disprove the anti-Semitic libel that Jews baked their unleavened Pesach bread with the blood of kidnapped Christian children.)

THE LESSON: In the Diaspora, this craving for revenge was both understandable and ineffective. But the founding of the State of Israel has changed the situation completely. In Israel, Jews are far from being defenseless. We don’t have to rely on God to take revenge for the evils done unto us, past or present, real or imagined. We can pour out our wrath ourselves, on our neighbors, the Palestinians and other Arabs, on our minorities, on our victims.

That is the real danger of the Haggadah, as I see it. It was written by and for helpless Jews living in perpetual danger. It raised their spirits once a year, when they felt safe for a moment, protected by their God, surrounded by their families.

Taken out of this context and applied to a new, completely different situation, it can set us on an evil course. Telling ourselves that everybody is out to destroy us, yesterday and most certainly tomorrow, we consider the grandiloquent bombast of an Iranian bigmouth as a living proof of the validity of the old maxim. They are out to kill us, so we must – according to another ancient Jewish injunction – kill them first.

So, on this Seder evening, let our feelings be guided by the noble, inspiring part of the Haggadah , the part about the slaves who rose up against tyranny and took their fate in their own hands – and not the part about pouring out our wrath.

Israel’s dumb Zionist atomic bomb

8 April 2012, Alternative Information Center (AIC) http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)

Uri Yaakobi-Keller

One of the most recent “achievements” about which the Israeli government brags is the diversion of international attention to Iran and its development of nuclear weapons, a situation perceived as an end of the world by the Israeli mainstream.

It is possible that, to a certain extent, this is indeed an achievement of the Israeli public relations machine, and as evidence the world was a bit more apathetic than usual to last month’s Israeli bombings of Gaza (not that the world is normally so sensitive). However, the overall Israeli position toward Iran, just like its “achievement”, contains the fundamental flaws existing in the overall Israeli perspective.

Zionism, which established and rules Israel, is a not so special national movement in comparison to others like it from the 19th century. Like similar movements, it aspired to establish national hegemony and what has forever guided it is military force and not all sorts of contentions concerning justice or rights. The Zionist explanation, which transformed into Israeli public relations, is that the Holocaust of European Jews occurred as “we were not sufficiently strong to prevent it”.

According to this, the behaviour of the Zionist movement - and the state of Israel which was controlled by parts of the Zionist movement and its supporters - was forever founded on an obsession with power and military rule, all the while ignoring the long-term situation and political implications of Israeli actions.

To this day the Israeli mainstream does not understand what is so bad about the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948, as numerous other movements and countries in the world did much worse things. On the face of it there is a modicum of truth in this contention; only a few years earlier, at the end of World War II, the deportation of peoples on an ethnic basis was still occurring in Europe itself. What Israel finds difficult to understand is that whilst there were indeed times in which deportations and horrific acts were accepted, today these acts are now defined as “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” and they are finally considered a barbaric anachronism – so that today not all problems can be solved with the sword.

The Israeli obsession with power and the blindness it inflicts on the Zionist state led Israel to numerous strategic, tactical and political errors in the past. So it was, for example, in Lebanon, where Israel offhandedly declared war against Hizbullah only because it could, and so it was with the strengthening of the Hamas movement by Israel in order to weaken the PLO and Fatah, and so it was with the fundamental Israeli error which led to the current situation.

Decades ago already Israel clarified to the world that it possesses nuclear weapons. The step of attaining nuclear arms appears in the Israeli mainstream as a substantial achievement for the Israeli military power. It is almost pitiful that a majority of Israelis do not understand that as a direct result, the other regional powers also wish to gain similar weapons.

The Americans managed to sufficiently bribe Egypt so it wouldn’t go down this route; this is, of course, before the American puppet regime of Mubarak fell, so who knows what will occur now. Syria was apparently never sufficiently strong and wealthy to develop such weapons. The Saudi power has always been founded on petroleum money and friendship with the United States. Iran, in contrast, is simply doing the most logical thing – if Israel, the most aggressive country in the region for the past six decades, is doing it, there is no reason that Iran will not attempt to attain nuclear bombs (which will, of course, force Egypt and Saudi Arabia to reconsider their previous decision on this matter).

In a recent article in Haaretz, Uri Avnery notes there is no chance that Israel will attack Iran – the United States will not permit it due to the implications of war with Iran on the price of oil, and because Iran’s nuclear weapons are almost a done deal and Israel must begin to get used to the idea. This is almost true. The coming months, with a heating up of the American presidential election campaign and a short time following the November 2012 elections, are the most dangerous period from the perspective of Israeli actions.

While all candidates for the American presidency are competing to be virulently pro-Israeli, Israel traditionally feels the most freedom (whilst ignoring, which is also a tradition, the long-term political implications of its actions). It is not by chance that Operation Cast Lead occurred just a bit less than four years ago – only a few months after the election of a new American president, and that the most deadly attack on Gaza since then is happening now. There is too big of a chance that the two clowns of Netanyahu-Barak, who control Israel, in a typical Zionist move lacking all long-term thought, will decide to attack Iran in order to grasp at Israel’s dying military hegemony in the region.

The implications of such a move will be disastrous for Israel in the best case scenario, and for the entire world in the worst case, and in any event will not prevent the Iranian attainment of nuclear weapons, but will simply delay it. Israeli missed the real opportunity to prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East when it decided to develop its own nuclear weapons.

Translated to English by the Alternative Information Center (AIC)

Tel Aviv University students: End Palestinians 'administrative detention'

3 April 2012, The Israeli Communist Party המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎ (Israel) الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي‎ (Israel)
info@maki.org.il

In a show of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in administrative detention, several dozen students from Tel Aviv University held a demonstration on Monday afternoon. Dozens of students, lecturers and university professors, among them Hadash and Communist Party activists, called for an end to the practice, which allows Israel to indefinitely detain security prisoners without charge or trial.

A Hadash member, a 24- year-old sociology student, said the protest’s message was that administrative detentions “are illegal and must be stopped.” Prof. Adi Ofir, also present at the rally, said that administrative detentions are “part of a long list of the crimes of the Israeli occupation,” which he said must be ended.

A University security guard pushes a left wing activist as members of the right wing group "Im Tirtzu" protest in front of activists during a action against administrative detention , in Tel Aviv University, Monday, March 21, 2012 (Photo: Activestills)

The rather small protest was met by one of about equal size staged by the Zionist and right-wing group Im Tirtzu, whose activists waved Israeli flags, booed and shouted at the other protestors, calling upon them to stand up for human rights in "Syria and Gaza." Im Tirzu spokesman Amit Barak said they came “to show support for those who believe in real human rights, the right to live in security,” which he said is represented by “the Zionist majority in Israel.”

Last week, Israel deported Islamic Jihad member Hana Shalabi to Gaza. She had been arrested at her West Bank home on February 16, and went on a hunger strike to protest her administrative detention. Shalabi agreed to end her strike on March 29 after 43 days, in accordance with a deal that bans her from leaving Gaza for three years. On Friday, Israeli military court renewed the administrative detention of a Palestinian lawmaker for the third time, Ma'an news agency reported. Khalil al- Rabai, an MP with Hamas' Change and Reform Bloc, has been held without charge since he was detained on Dec. 30, 2010, the Palestine news agency said. The court gave the parliamentarian a further six month's imprisonment, the report noted.

Israeli authorities also renewed the detention of a 70-year-old lecturer at Nablus' Al-Najah National University on Friday. Yousif Abdul-Haq was detained on October 7, 2011 from his home in Nablus. Over 300 Palestinians are held in administrative detention in Israeli prisons, using laws dating back to the British Mandate period. Some 27 Palestinian lawmakers are in jail, 24 of them held without charge, according to latest figures from prisoners group Addameer.

Latuff: O que temos na Palestina é uma questão imperialista

4 Abril 2012, Vermelho http://www.vermelho.org.br (Brasil)

Cerca de 500 pessoas compareceram no ato em solidariedade ao Dia da Terra Palestina, que ocorreu na Faculdade Cásper Líbero, na última sexta-feira (30). O evento teve a participação do Professor Doutor Paulo Daniel Farah e do cartunista Carlos Latuff, que expôs suas charges e debateu com os participantes sobre a situação dos palestinos.

Na atividade, que faz parte do 3º Festival Sul Americano da Cultura Árabe, Latuff produziu charges ao vivo enquanto eram declamadas poesias árabes. Após esta intervenção, deu-se início a um debate sobre o tema.

O cartunista, que desenha sobre a Palestina desde 1999, contou para os participantes a experiência que teve no local e como usa do trabalho artístico para contribuir com a luta dos povos pela paz. “O que temos na Palestina e Israel é uma questão imperialista. Existe um lobby pró-Israel que tenta neutralizar qualquer tipo de discussão, de debate, de charges”, denunciou.

Para ele a falta de informação trazida pelos meios de comunicação faz com as pessoas desconheçam a real situação vivida na Palestina.

Guerra é negócio
Ao ser questionado sobre o que poderia ser feito para a resolução do conflito, Latuff disse acreditar que Israel não está interessado num acordo de paz, pois lucra muito com a guerra. “O Estado de Israel, enquanto entidade política associada aos Estados Unidos, ganha muito mais vivendo esse clima constante de conflito”. Para ele é preciso que a situação se resolva com justiça “não dá para passar mais décadas esperando, assistindo as pessoas sendo mortas, retiradas de suas casas. É preciso dar um basta!”.

O cartunista criticou a falta de solidariedade das pessoas e fez um apelo: “O direito ao retorno é fundamental, direito de voltar para a própria terra. A justiça é o caminho da paz. Existe uma construção feita cuidadosamente pelo Estado, as pessoas são doutrinadas a acreditar que o palestino é inimigo, terrorista é preciso que se comece a quebrar esses estereótipos”.

Fórum Social Palestina Livre
A respeito do Fórum Social Mundial Palestina Livre, que vai ocorrer em Porto Alegre em novembro deste ano, Latuff se mostrou otimista e afirmou que será uma boa oportunidade para definir metas e estratégias que contribuam com a causa. O professor doutor Paulo Daniel Farah, que foi o coordenador da mesa, acredita que há uma mobilização mundial forte em prol da solução pacífica para o conflito e apoio aos direitos dos palestinos a um Estado soberano. “Espero que o fórum consiga cumprir o objetivo de mostrar a importância deste debate, sempre no espírito da não violência e da cultura da paz”, disse.

Solidariedade com os povos
Para o secretário geral do Cebrapaz, Rubens Diniz, uma atividade como esta é uma forma inteligente e eficiente de desenvolver a solidariedade com povos em luta. “Necessitamos chegar às pessoas que não possuem informação sobre o tema, sobre as condições de vida do povo palestino, dos abusos que são cometidos pelas forças de Israel. É necessário falar do direito do povo palestino possuir seu Estado”, disse.

O conselheiro do Cebrapaz, Igor Fuser, lembrou que durante a semana o músico britânico Roger Waters fez uma declaração de apoio à causa palestina e que o ex-integrante do Pink Floyd defende uma campanha de boicote a produtos israelenses. “É uma coisa concreta que nós brasileiros talvez possamos fazer de apoio ativo à causa palestina. Boicotar produtos que são feitos com base na opressão de um povo inteiro”, sugeriu.

Dia da Terra Palestina
O dia 30 de março é lembrado pelos palestinos como símbolo de luta pela libertação de sua pátria e seus direitos ao retorno às suas terras e propriedades. Esta data é marcante, pois, em 1976, o povo palestino sofreu uma repressão violenta por parte do Exército de Israel ao se manifestar contra a invasão em seus territórios.

É o que explica o diretor da Federação Árabe Palestina do Brasil (FEPAL), Emir Mourad, presente nas atividades. “Uma greve geral e passeatas foram organizadas nas cidades árabes de Israel - da Galileia ao Negev - em reação ao anúncio do plano do governo israelense de expropriação de uma área de 25.000 metros quadrados, na Galileia - por "razões de segurança e para construção de assentamentos".

Além disso, uma área ainda maior, situada em três aldeias na área de Al-Mil, foi declarada zona militar fechada, visando a construção de nove assentamentos judaicos.” Durante as manifestações, seis palestinos foram mortos na área de Al Jahil, desde então é celebrado o dia da Terra Palestina.

Este evento foi organizado pelo Cebrapaz, FEPAL, FEARAB, BIBLIASPA e o Comitê Estado da Palestina Já. Nos próximos meses, o Cebrapaz e a BIBLIASPA vão desenvolver um curso sobre a história Palestina para estudantes e interessados em geral. Outras informações no email: info@bibliaspa.org

Para conhecer os trabalhos feitos pelo cartunista Carlos Latuff acesse o blog: http://latuffcartoons.wordpress.com/

Érika Ceconi, do Cebrapaz (www.cebrapaz.org.br)

SIONISMO NAZI: LAS IRONÍAS DE LA HISTORIA

3 abril 2012/Rebelión http://www.rebelion.org (México)

Paola Dragnic*
El Ciudadano

Entre los años 2006-2007 la autora de este relato viajó a Israel y a los ‘Territorios Palestinos Ocupados’ como parte de lo que llama “un reporte personal”.

Hace ya cuatro años que volví de Palestina y desde entonces, quiero escribir esta carta. Pero es tan grande todo lo vivido, que no he podido sentarme a resumir todo lo que quisiera contarles, para que al menos pudieran dimensionar lo que ahí sucede. Porque eso me pasó a mí. Creí ser conocedora del tema, creí saber y entender algo del “conflicto” y de la “causa”, pero nada se asemeja a vivirlo.

No hay libro que uno lea ni imágenes que uno vea, que puedan graficar lo que sucede. Uno puede ser un “experto”, pero si no se ha pisado ese suelo, si no se ha respirado ese aire, si no se ha palpado esa miseria, es imposible llegar a comprender el lento genocidio que ocurre en esas tierras.

Es imposible, porque quienes lo cometen han sido las grandes víctimas del siglo XX y, entonces, cualquiera que condene alguno de sus actos, corre el riesgo de ser tachado de antisemita. De hecho, eso aprendimos en el curso de “Conflicto en Medio Oriente” al que entré como invitada a unas cuantas horas de Tel Aviv (capital de Israel). A la veintena de periodistas latinoamericanos que estábamos ahí, nos entregaron un riguroso listado de claves conductuales que se titulaba: “Cómo identificar el antisemitismo del siglo XXI”. Y creo que muchos lo leímos y en voz baja pensamos que fácilmente seríamos tachados de antisemitas. Por eso, muchos callan. Porque ser antisemita ante el horror del holocausto, es algo inaceptable hoy, a más de 50 años de esa masacre.

Ahí está el primer gran error. El holocausto judío nos avergüenza como especie. Al recorrer los campos de concentración que quedaron como vestigio, uno se pregunta cómo pudo existir ese infierno, mientras el mundo seguía girando. Cómo no fuimos capaces de detenerlo. Cómo fue posible que millones de seres fueran perseguidos, torturados y asesinados de la forma más cruel, en el completo silencio del resto del planeta. Quizás, luego de la desolación y el horror que uno siente, eso es lo que más sorprende del holocausto: La indolencia y complicidad silente. Hoy, muchas décadas después lo condenamos y somos cuidadosos al tener el más mínimo acto de aceptación de alguna actitud nazi, ¿verdad?

¿Tendrán que pasar nuevamente décadas para que entonces nos preguntemos cómo fue posible que, en silencio, se masacrara a los palestinos?

¿Entonces seremos capaces de ver las fotos de los moribundos, detrás del muro, esperando comida? ¿A las mujeres pariendo en las fronteras establecidas por el sionismo? ¿A los prisioneros que Israel mantiene en condiciones infrahumanas? ¿Veremos entonces el muro y sus rejas interminables, con un judío hablando detrás de un vidrio mientras te grita que te quites la ropa una y otras vez, solo para atravesar de una lado a otro y poder visitar a tu familia? Y lo que parece más terrible aún, ¿las fotos de los palestinos tatuados con un número en los brazos, como un carnet imborrable, que les autoriza entrar a Jerusalén? Sí, tatuados. Igual que esas fotos espantosas de esqueléticos judíos fichados en los Campos de Concentración. Hoy, de palestinos.

¿Tendrán que pasar otros 50 años para que podamos ver todo esto y no sentirnos amenazados de ser antisemitas?

Ahí está el primer error que los judíos sionistas han sabido calarnos profundamente, para entonces amparar las más atroces injusticias que sus propios antepasados sufrieron bajo el yugo de los nazis. No hay que aceptar más este chantaje moral. Sé que esta carta bastará para que mi nombre entre en la lista de los antisemitas. Pero no lo soy. Mi padre, yugoslavo, eslavo y casi gitano, sobrevivió a la limpieza étnica de los nazis y él mismo me enseñó que los nacionalismos enfermizos como el que persiguió a su pueblo en la Segunda Guerra, son la lacra social más terrible que puede existir. ¿Y qué es el sionismo de Israel sino un nacionalismo moderno y enfermo?

Un nacionalismo que, en sus vertientes más colonizadoras cercanas al socialismo, apela a razones bíblicas para demandar un territorio que, además pretende limpiar de las otras razas que ahí habitan. El sionismo es racista no porque en sus principios esté escrito o porque la ONU en 1975 lo haya dicho en una resolución, sino simplemente porque no tolera la coexistencia de otros pueblos y actúa en esa dirección.

Como todos, crecí repudiando el holocausto y de cerca, con mi padre y sus historias. Tanto me enamoré de la “causa”, que a los 19 años estuve a punto de irme a un kibutz, embobada en mi adolescencia por la justicia tardía para ese pueblo. Enamorada de “la causa” y de la propuesta socialista de construir patria mancomunada en el desierto.

Veinte años después conocí uno de los kibutz más emblemáticos de la oleada que se creó en los ’70. Y sigo creyendo que es un proyecto precioso, si no fuera por “el alto costo humano que representa”. Supe como se reparte el sueldo de todos para la comunidad, compartí con ellos el Hanukkah, vi los huertos inmensos perfectamente regados y su intimidad. Pero también vi los restos de casas bombardeadas, que se levantan en medio de los verdes sembradíos del kibutz como trofeo a la reconquista de la “tierra prometida”.

A un lado, la lechería con vacas ultra desarrolladas y al otro lado, las ruinas de la que fue el hogar de alguna familia palestina allegada hoy, tras el muro, en esos ghettos árabes que los sionistas parecen haber recreado al más puro estilo de los ghettos judíos de la Alemania nazi.

Recordé entonces esas viejas películas que mostraban el esplendor europeo de algunos pocos en plena década de los ’40, mientras la Segunda Guerra asolaba el continente. Hitler en sus despampanantes juegos olímpicos, y al frente la chimenea humeante de los Campos de Concentración. Recordé, incluso, algún texto que describe la casa de Townley en Santiago, cuando Mariana Callejas celebraba sus rondas literarias en plena dictadura, mientras en el subterráneo de su casa, el servicio de inteligencia torturaba a quienes son hoy algunos de los Detenidos Desaparecidos de Pinochet.

No hay que tener miedo. Condenamos el holocausto judío y hoy condenamos -oportunamente- el holocausto palestino.

La “tierra prometida” es hoy un cuadrillé de pueblos enmarcados en un muro de más de 8 metros de altura que zigzaguea el suelo y forma ghettos palestinos, de donde no hay salida. A puñados, los palestinos quedaron en algunos pueblos sin conexión entre sí muchas veces, sometidos al ímpetu de los israelíes que deciden qué puede entrar y qué puede salir. Esto incluye, obviamente, hasta lo más básico como la comida que, estratégicamente, te permite matar de hambre, lentamente, a quienes están adentro.

Si tu padre quedó en el ghetto de al frente, deberás visitarlo escasamente y previa autorización. Entonces, tendrás que hacer una larga fila entre dos rejas, como las vacas camino al matadero, ingresarás a una pequeña habitación donde sacarás tu ropa, serás humillado sin derecho a pataleo en tu propia casa, y alguien te gritará en hebreo, detrás de un vidrio, si es correcto lo que estás haciendo.

Si la panadería quedó al otro lado del checkpoint, deberás hacer esta rutina de ida y de vuelta, sólo si tienes la suerte de entrar, para luego ver si tienes la otra suerte de encontrar algo para comer.

Belén es uno de los más dolorosos ghettos palestinos, porque buena parte del mundo recuerda ese lugar como un sitio histórico que quisieran visitar sin temor.

La plaza de Belén, enmarca la llegada a la Iglesia de la Natividad. Los habitantes de Belén, que obviamente poco y nada comparten el fervor cristiano, respetan a los escasos turistas y valoran ese espacio como el sitio histórico que indudablemente es. Que distinto, entonces, es ir a Nazareth, hermoso en la pulcritud israelí y prácticamente neutralizado con el fanatismo religioso o ateo -como quieran- de la administración que lo gobierna. Si preguntas por alguien llamado Jesús de Nazareth, entrarás a lista de las personas no gratas, aunque simplemente seas un historiador nada de católico. La intolerancia se respira en Israel.

La plaza de Belén se repleta de hombres enflaquecidos y hasta con el rostro como desfigurado por el dolor, que se pasean en círculo matando el tiempo. No tienen trabajo, no pueden salir a buscarlo tampoco. Tienen hambre. Sus mujeres e hijos esperan en casa por algo para comer y ellos deambulan por la plaza, mirando y compartiendo algún café con cardamomo.

Te paseas en uno de los lugares más emblemáticos para el mundo occidental y entonces decides entrar a un restorán a pocas horas del 25 de diciembre. Un escuálido árbol de navidad parpadea a la entrada, y al menos diez mesoneros, sentados en la barra, te reciben con felicidad, llevarás algunas monedas que sólo podrán transar entre ellos mismos. Eres el único turista que ingresa y el menú es reducido. No hay casi comida, porque la frontera no se ha abierto. Viven en la tierra donde siempre existió su gente, pero hoy no tienen derecho a salir, ni a moverse. Están presos en su propia casa, esperando.

Entonces pides un té y un pan con queso. Esa es la cena de navidad que puedes comer en Belén, mientras afuera un grupo de niños y hombres te mira engullendo el queso que han reservado para el turista, con la esperanza de que se mueva la microeconomía que tienen en ese ghetto donde nació Jesús.

Si puedes permanecer más días en Belén, comenzarás a sentir entonces la angustia de vivir en un ghetto. Comenzarás a sentir la desesperación y entenderás otro poco de la historia: Simplemente, un buen día, el mundo decidió hacer justicia con un pueblo masacrado y en la accidentada división territorial, tu casa quedó al otro lado.

Deberás desocuparla, y partir al ghetto, acarreando las pocas cosas que pudiste sacar, y arrastrando a tus niños entre lágrimas y griteríos. Te instalarás en un campo de refugiados, que se diferencia de los campos de concentración nazis, porque la muerte es más lenta que con el gas. Morirás de locura y hambre. No asfixiado.

Vivirás arriba de varias familias en una habitación, sitiado a pocos metros por el muro que te encañona con tanquetas y fusiles, y esperarás con ansias la llegada de algún valiente grupo de turistas alternativos, que quiera “conocer tu realidad”.
Decidí salir de Belén, angustiada, amargada… aterrorizada, y con una de las tristezas más profundas que he sentido en mi alma, simplemente porque tienes la certeza absoluta de que no hay retorno.

Llegamos a Beit Jala, que tiene conexión directa con Belén, omitiendo el checkpoint. Entramos al mejor hotel de la ciudad, un hermoso edificio de casi 12 pisos, hermosamente decorado, con un salón inmenso en la recepción, un gran comedor, un hermoso bar. Más de 300 habitaciones. Todas vacías.

Pedimos una buena habitación. Estaban todas disponibles. Beit Jala como deshabitada, detenida en el tiempo. Y nosotros, omitiendo un rato el caudal de incomprensiones que teníamos en la cabeza y el corazón. Teníamos hambre. Esa noche podríamos comer bien. Decidimos bajar a comer. A las 9 de la noche un restorán con más de 100 mesas había sido abierto sólo para nosotros. La mesa repleta de las más exquisitas comidas árabes. Era temporada alta, plena navidad y no habían llegado pasajeros. Comimos lento, pensando en cómo hubieran querido algo de “very tipical food” en el campo de refugiados que habíamos visitado horas antes.

Nos instalamos en el hermoso salón contiguo. Prendieron las luces para nosotros y entonces apareció un hombre alto, canoso, amable. Saludó y se presentó como el dueño del hotel. Comenzó una tonta conversación sobre clima. Él no quería hablar del tema y nosotros tampoco, pero nuestro inglés chapurreado, tan chileno, pronto lo hizo sospechar sobre nuestra procedencia. Como muchos en Beit Jala, él también tenía un familiar en Santiago. Entramos en confianza, y entonces preguntamos y preguntamos.

Cómo sobrevivía, cómo mantenía ese hotel y para qué lo hacía en medio de tanta desolación. La conversa cada vez era más triste. Los escasos 200 dólares que podíamos dejar por nuestra estadía, ni siquiera alcanzaban para pagar la electricidad de un día de funcionamiento del hotel. ¿Por qué no te vas a Chile?, le preguntamos. Uno de sus hermanos vive en Santiago. Sus ojos se llenaron de lágrimas, como si ese tremendo hombre de rasgos tan masculinos, fuera un pequeño muerto de susto. Como un comandante derrotado en su trinchera, moribundo, pero impecable y de corbata, él estaba dispuesto a morir ahí, en el precioso hotel que heredó de su padre y que antaño estaba repleto de turistas, viviendo el esplendor de la cultura árabe mezclada con el rito católico de la navidad.

No puedo hablar, dijo tartamudeando y se despidió de lejos antes de marchar. A la mañana siguiente partimos rumbo a Jordania. No pudimos conseguir un auto palestino que nos llevara a la frontera. No queríamos dejar ni 10 dólares más en manos de Israel. Pero fue imposible. Está prohibido y, aunque los “territorios palestinos” dan con Jordania, la frontera también es de los judíos.

*Paola Dragnic es Venezolana de ascendencia yugoslava, es licenciada en Comunicación Social de la Universidad de Chile.

Fuente original: http://www.elciudadano.cl/2011/08/01/38987/sionismo-nazi-las-ironias-de-la-historia/

LAND DAY PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

April 1st, 2012, Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

Israeli border police pepper spray palestinian at point blank range on Land Day (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words, at least. In the case of this image by Reuters’ Ammar Awad, this one may be worth 10,000 or more. It’s also instructive that the NY Times headline for the slideshow presentation of Land Day images that includes this one was: Protesters Scuffle With Forces. I don’t see protesters scuffling with Israeli forces. I see Israeli border police mauling unarmed Palestinian demonstrators. I see them pepper-spraying one at point-blank range. You might not notice that his head has already been bloodied as a result of the blows he received at the hands of these border police goons, known for their savagery against such protesters.

Israeli forces also killed one such individual, again someone unarmed.

Let’s not make the mistake of talking about this solely as a product of Occupation (which it is, in part). Keep in mind that this is Land Day. In other words, this is about the injustice of Israel expelling Israeli Palestinians and appropriating their land after the Nakba. There is only one way to address this injustice. It is not just to end the Occupation of Palestine, but to redress the injustice of Nakba.

Palestinian Nakba refugees must be compensated for what Israel stole from them in 1948. Those who wish to return must be permitted to do so. Those who choose to remain where they are or settle in Palestine proper, must also be similarly compensated. If Israel or other nations wish to encourage such refugees not to settle in Israel proper they might offer more compensation to those who do not return to Israel. But returning or not should be a decision of the refugee.

It goes without saying that this image portrays the monstrous thuggery of the border police, known for their savagery against generally defenseless Palestinians. But they are the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lies much more profound injustice. It is precisely such injustices which liberal Zionists like Gershom Gorenberg and Peter Beinart cannot successfully address in their critique of Israel and Zionism.

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100 IRANIAN MISSILES WILL PENETRATE DEFENSES, HITTING ISRAELI TARGETS AFTER FIRST-STRIKE

March 29th, Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

Gareth Porter does some excellent reporting during his current trip to Israel, where he’s meeting Israeli military and intelligence figures concerning a possible Israeli attack on Iran. He focuses on the lack of Israeli psychological preparation or awareness of the danger they face from an Iranian counter-strike after Israel’s pre-emptive attack.

Neve Gordon reported in Al Jazeera English that Israel assassinated the leader of the Gaza PRC a few weeks ago in order to deliberately provoke a Gaza missile barrage. Bibi wanted to test the Iron Dome missile system in the expectation that its success would further reassure Israelis and his doubting cabinet members, who must vote to approve war, that Israel will remain protected from rockets in the event Iran is attacked. I have a Truthout story being publishing tomorrow that will cover more of this ground.

Arrow 3 Missile (IDF)

Porter notes that Iron Dome will not protect Israel from Iranian missiles. The Arrow system is designed to shoot down the medium and long-range projectiles that Iran would launch. An Israeli missile expert notes that in testing, the Arrow has achieved an 80% success rate (the rate would be lower in battlefield conditions). Iran has around 450 missiles capable of hitting Israel. That means that over 100 missiles would get through Israel’s protective shield. Even if we factor that some of the 450 might be destroyed before launching by Israeli aircraft and that some of the missiles will land harmlessly and miss their target, that still leaves a very significant number that will get through. These are not Qassams we’re talking about. These are missiles packed with lethal warheads that will kill many and cause huge amounts of damage.

The missile expert, Uzi Rubin, says that Iran has improved its accuracy to within “meters” of the target. That means virtually all of Israel’s major infrastructure including power generation, air and seaports, political command and control facilities (the Knesset), and military bases (and the Kirya) would be hit. Add to this, the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah rockets would likely be falling as well. Even with the success of Iron Dome, a significant number of these rockets would get through, adding even more damage. Rubin tellingly says:

”I’m asking my military friends how they feel about waging war without electricity.”

I’m wagering that the Iranian response would give Israelis the shock of a lifetime, putting it mildly. Thousands will die, and as Meir Dagan said, Israel will not be the same country physically or psychologically afterward. Nor has Israel ever had to fight a war under such circumstances. It has never really had an adversary (save in 1948 and possibly 1973) who could put up a real fight and even take the fight to Israel itself.
On a related note, the Israeli right-wing media is full of stories complaining about Mark Perry’s terrific Foreign Policy expose of Israel’s shady dealings in Azerbaijan, which have likely led to an agreement to use its airspace and airfield as part of the plan to attack Iran. These media outlets seem to be in high dudgeon (Dan Margalit in Yisrael HaYom says the Americans are “shooting at Israel”) that the Obama administration is using Mark and others to relay its extreme discomfort and displeasure with Israel’s machination both in Azerbaijan and relating to a strike on Iran itself. The Jerusalem Post headline reads:

U.S. Leaks on Iran Meant to Prevent Israeli Strike

The columnist kvetches about Perry’s report:

There was something off-putting about the whole tone of the piece, as if the bad guy in this story were not Iran, for trying to acquire nuclear weapons, but Israel…
These…stories are…fed by sources intent on sending a clear message: Do not attack.

Gee, whadaya know? The U.S. has the chutzpah to worry about Israel throwing a lit match onto the tinderbox that is the current Middle East, and there’s something “off-putting” about that. As if our job and the job of the rest of the world is simply to understand Israel’s motives and interests and then get out of the way.

I find it humorous that Israel’s prime minister and defense minister are entitled to leak like a sieve to Israeli and world media about their war plans and yet the U.S., chas v’chalilah, has a hidden agenda when it does the same. No one, after all is allowed to have hidden agendas except Israeli prime ministers intent on attacking their neighbors.

Thousands of Arab-Palestinians in Israel took part in Land Day rallies

31 March 2012, The Israeli Communist Party המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎ (Israel)

Several thousands of Arab-Palestinians in Israel took part in Land Day marches across the country on Friday, while similar rallies in the Palestinian territories saw dozens injured and one dead. Arab and communist Knesset members were among the protesters, who wielded Palestinian and red flags. The chairman of Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel), MK Mohammad Barakeh, who spoke during the central rally in the Galilee village of Deir Hanna, blamed the government for promoting plans to transfer Arabs residents out of towns in the Negev and other parts of the country.

MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) attended a protest event at the Negev Bedouin village of Wadi al-Naam, and addressed the housing shortage in the region. "Land Day this year is overshadowed by a suburb construction plan that threatens to confiscate some 800,000 dunams of land in the Negev… which will cause a housing shortage worse than anything Jewish towns have experienced," he said.

Protesters run as Israeli army shot tear gas during a demonstration commemorating Land Day in Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah on March 30, 2012 (Photo: Activestills)

According to Ma'an News Agency Israeli fire killed one young Palestinian man and injured over 30 others in clashes at two sites in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical official said Friday evening. Adham Abu Salmiya identified the victim as Mahmoud Zakot, 20. He was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, the official said. Thirty-one others in the Erez area were injured and taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital. In Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized. Three people were critically injured, Abu Salmiya added. Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching frontier barriers in the small coastal territory.

Hamas forces had set up checkpoints to prevent protesters reaching the border area, but many of the activists bypassed them, an activist who attended protests in Beit Hanoun said. Ebaa Rezeq says she witnessed at least six of the injuries which came after Israeli forces fired on a crowd that arrived at the border area. Rezeq says Israeli forces used live fire after they managed to remove a part of a metal fence near the wall. "People are falling here like flies," she wrote on Twitter. "Blood everywhere".

A young Palestinian protester in Bethlehem, meanwhile, was seriously injured on Friday afternoon after being hit in the face by a tear-gas canister, a Ma'an correspondent said. Muhammad Arafa, 20, was taken to hospital in Hebron. He was injured when Israeli forces fired tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at Palestinians who threw stones at a checkpoint in a rally marking Land Day.

Two other people have been seriously injured, the head of the Red Crescent in Bethlehem reported. Eleven people were hospitalized in total at a demonstration outside an Israeli checkpoint. Activists had called for the Global March to Jerusalem to commemorate the Land Day anniversary of Israel's killing of six Palestinians protesting against land confiscation in 1976. Thousands rallied at checkpoints around Jerusalem and in Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan. Israeli forces fired tear gas, stun grenades, sprayed foul-smelling water and used a "scream" acoustic device against stone-throwing Palestinians at Qalandia near Ramallah. Red Crescent spokesman Muhammad Ayyad told Ma'an that medics treated 249 protesters at Qalandiya and 20 were transferred to hospital. Israeli forces injured nine medics and damaged three ambulances at the protest, he added.

Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa called Friday for Israel to stop using excessive force against demonstrators. Ann Harrison said reports that dozens were hurt at demonstrations were "extremely worrying, particularly in the light of frequent and persistent use of excessive force against Palestinian protesters. "We are also concerned at reports that Palestinian Authority security forces have tried to prevent protests in areas under their control, while Hamas security forces have beaten protesters in Gaza. "All those involved in policing demonstrations should respect freedom of assembly and must adhere to international policing standards," Harrison said in a statement.

Related: Land Day Galilee and Negev massive rallies-

THE NEW MANDELA

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

Uri Avnery אורי אבנרי

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why?

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

SO WHAT did Marwan tell his people this week?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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