*nasrawi

Israeli Troops Confess to Killing Civilians and PCHR Confirms over 83% Civilians Dead in Gaza

2009-03-20T10:14:00.003+02:00

Troops with the Israeli army confirm killing civilians and intentionally destroying their property. The soldiers are graduates of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military preparatory course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon. Some excerpts of their confessions:

"There was a house with a family inside .... We put them in a room. Later we left the house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an order to release the family. They had set up positions upstairs. There was a sniper position on the roof," the soldier said.

"The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to the left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they had let them go and it was okay, and he should hold his fire and he ... he did what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders."

According to the squad leader: "The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away....

....

"All the articles had one clear message," one soldier said. "We are the people of Israel, we arrived in the country almost by miracle, now we need to fight to uproot the gentiles who interfere with re-conquering the Holy Land."
"Many soldiers' feelings were that this was a war of religion," he added.

See Ha'aretz here and the BBC here.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) confirms that the vast majority of dead in the War on Gaza were civilians and non-combatants. A total of 1,417 Palestinians were killed. Of these, 236 were combatants. 926 civilians lost their lives, including 313 children and 116 women. The 255 police officers that were killed were non-combatants. See the PCHR press release here and download the list of dead here. Ynet's report on the list is available here.

Suheir Hammad - Def Poetry - Affirm Life World

2009-03-18T14:57:00.003+02:00

Respect for the truth. Please listen. Affirm life world.

Israel Officially Silences Al-Jazeera

2009-02-04T00:00:00.000+02:00

The Israeli government has taken an official decision to silence Al-Jazeera and restrict its activities in Israel. As a result of this directive:

- Israel will not renew the visas of Al Jazeera's non-Israeli employees or grant visas to new employees;
- Station representatives will have reduced accessibility to government and military bodies, and will not be allowed into briefings or press conferences;
- Al-Jazeera will have access to only three official spokespeople - those of the Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces. The information directorate has also provided a non-binding instruction to Knesset members and ministers not to grant interviews or otherwise cooperate with Al Jazeera.

See Ha'aretz here.

A Foreign Ministry official commenting on the government's decision nevertheless insisted, "Israel believes in freedom of the press and in the public's right to know".

Although Israel claims that this decision is a response to Qatar's closing of the Israeli trade office in Doha, another valid (unstated) reason is Al-Jazeera's stellar coverage of the war in Gaza. That coverage spoke to the world of Israeli atrocities on Gaza's population and infrastructure. It showed the world how ugly war can get and turned even those otherwise supportive of Israel's 'war on terror' less swayed by Israel's military tactics and its general future direction. To restrict Al-Jazeera's coverage post war seems only due punishment.

And so silencing of the media in Israel continues.

Hannibal Lives, Israeli Soldiers Die, in Gaza

2009-02-03T20:35:00.003+02:00

The Hannibal Procedure, an Israeli military operation in effect since 1986, reads like this: Better a dead Israeli soldier than a captured one.

This post draws on the great investigative journalistic work of Sara Leibovich-Dar here and Uri Avnery's followup article here.

According to Leibovich, in 1986 three senior officers of the Northern Command drew up 'The Hannibal Procedure' as a means of tackling abductions - the three were Yossi Peled, Gabi Ashkenazi and Yaakov Amidror. The need for the procedure arose after the abduction of the soldiers Yosef Fink and Rafael Alsheikh in February of that year.

Testimonies indicate that the Hannibal procedure was fully activated when three soldiers - Sergeant Benny Avraham and Staff Sergeants Omar Sawid and Adi Avitan - were abducted in the Har Dov region along the Lebanon border on October 7, 2000. In line with the procedure, the army was commanded to open fire at 26 vehicles that they suspected of carrying the soldiers.

Leibovich writes that there was huge opposition within the army to the procedure, with many unable to grasp how they were being called upon to kill their comrades.

Why institute such a procedure? According to Avnery, 'when an Israeli soldier is taken prisoner, a huge public demand arises to bring him home, even at the cost of releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. In May 1985, Israel released 1150 Palestinians in return for three Israeli prisoners-of-war, in an exchange known as the "Jibril deal"'. The army was determined not to allow a repeat scenario.

It seems that Hannibal was around in Gaza. See my post on January 26 speaking of how Israeli soldiers confirmed being given orders to kill themselves over being taken hostage in Gaza.

The fact that the Hannibal procedure has been in operation since the mid-80's, continued as of 2003 in Lebanon in spite of official army word that the procedure had been halted, and that the Israeli Military Censor has prevented most publications on the issue would give credence to Hamas' assertion (and Israel's denial) that two kidnapping operations of Israeli soldiers did take place, the first on the third day of the ground invasion and the second on January 5, and that in both cases, the Israeli air force struck and killed the kidnappers and the kidnapped - their own soldiers.

Speaking of the procedure to Leibovich, Peled asserts, "Decisions have to be made that endanger soldiers; sometimes there is no choice. The army is supposed to maintain the state's security as the top priority, not the lives of its soldiers".

In light of war crimes charges being brought against IDF operations in Gaza, Barak promises to provide legal aid to soldiers and to support what he insists is the "most moral army in the world".

Israel Tortures Palestinian Detainees Captured in Gaza War

2009-01-28T22:17:00.004+02:00

Most people have heard about Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier taken hostage in late June 2006 but not so much about the kidnapping earlier in the month of Salwa Salah and Sara Siureh, two Palestinian girls (both 16) kidnapped from their homes in Bethlehem and held without charge in administrative detention. See a piercing post about the issue here.

It is similarly unlikely to expect mainstream media to report on the roughly 200 Palestinians kidnapped by Israeli forces during Israel's most recent war on Gaza and the torture to which they have been subjected. Speaking about the kidnapped, seven Israeli human rights groups assert that:

... minors and adults were held in ditches dug in dirt for hours, sometimes days, exposing the detainees to the elements while handcuffed and blindfolded. The testimonies also suggested that food and shelter were not always made available to the detainees. Even after the detainees were taken out of the ditches, the letter argued, the detainees were held inside a truck for an entire night, handcuffed, with one blanket for every two people. They suffered violence and humiliation at the hand of IDF soldiers and investigators, the letter went on to suggest. The rights groups went on to argue that after the detainees were transferred to a military detention facility, they were denied showers and bathroom facilities.

See Ha'aretz here. According to Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs (yes, so persistent is the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails that a ministry was created):

...prisoners were subjected to severe beating especially in the upper parts of the body, forced to sit in uncomfortable positions, deprived of sleep and forced to sit on children chairs while both hands and feet shackled in addition to violently shaking them and exposing them to extreme cold... some of those detainees were moved to the Negev desert prison without any clothes, covers or other basic necessities, and noted that the IOA [Israeli Occupation Authority] was dealing with those detainees as "unlawful combatants", which meant they had no rights and [are] indefinitely detained without trial or specific charge or knowing the reason for their detention.

See Palestine Information Center here.

The Shin Bet is currently releasing information that 'terrorists' that they captured in Gaza are now confessing to Palestinian terrorist groups training and hiding bombs in mosques. Sure, nothing a little waterboarding and torture can't dream up for the occupation.

There are currently 11,000 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel, including 345 children and 53 parliamentary members! Inspite of the 1999 High Court of Justice ruling prohibiting most means of torture by the Israeli security forces, Palestinian detainees continue to be victims of torture.

Cover of 'Torture and Democracy', Darius M. Rejali (2007)

Obama's Math Theorem = 100 Palestinian Kids' Lives < (Worth Less Than) 1 Israeli Kids' Life

2009-01-28T15:35:00.012+02:00

On July 23 2008, when visiting Sderot (the Qassam hit-town) in Israel, Obama spoke the following, "if missiles were falling where my two daughters sleep, I would do everything in order to stop that." See Ha'aretz here.

During the Gaza War, which conveniently ended two days before Obama's inauguration as President, he insisted on not commenting on the assault because 'there is only one president at a time'. His charming rhetoric was being put on hold because it would mean he would not have to talk about Palestinian lives under threat from chiefly US-supplied arms.

Following inauguration, the silence on Palestinian children and Palestinians continued. Rather, he spoke with Mahmoud Abbas and Olmert and with the heads of Jordan and Egypt (the American-friendly regimes at peace with Israel who came under serious criticism for essentially echoing the Israeli line in the opening days of the assault). He did not call the elected government of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, who throughout was under threat of political assisinations together with the people of Gaza.

The following photo is of Palestinian kids back in school following Israel's 22 day assault on the Gaza Strip. Placards indicate classmates who are no longer with them.

Mohammed Kutkut, 14, right, covers his face as he sits next to the name sign of his killed friend Ahed Qaddas in the Fakhoura boys school in Jebaliya, northern Gaza strip, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009. Three friends of his class where killed when the Israeli army shelled Jebaliya in the past weeks (AP)

So really Obama? You would do everything? You would kill over 400 Palestinian kids to stop home-made rockets from landing on your home (rockets which incidentally have killed around 18 Israelis since 2000)? Well, if your theorem reads that 1 Israeli life (13 Israelis dead) is worth more than that of a hundred Palestinians (over 1300 Palestinians dead), I'd see how you would.

Please see Noam Chomsky's take on Obama's oratorical prowess but moral ineptness here. On how Obama learned to love Israel to stay in political power see Ali Abunimah here.

Shame on your silence. Shame.

Israeli Soldiers Confirm Suicide Orders Over Being Taken Hostage in Gaza War

2009-01-26T13:24:00.003+02:00

According to the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv and the Israeli Channel 10 Tv station, a number of Israeli soldiers have confirmed that they were given strict orders not to be kidnapped, and to kill themselves rather than be taken hostage in the War on Gaza. See the report at arabs48 here.

This would strengthen Hamas' claim that two kidnapping operations did take place, the first on the third day of the ground invasion and the second on January 5, and that in both cases, the Israeli air force struck and killed the kidnappers and the kidnapped - their own soldiers. See my previous post on this issue here. At the time I wrote that report, there was no news of the kidnappings. However, now Israeli soldiers and the media are speaking up.

According to an officer from Battalion 501 of the elite Golani Brigades, "No troop member from the 501 battalion was to be kidnapped at any cost, nor in any situation, even if this means blowing up a grenade in his possession, killing himself and those trying to kidnap him".

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonot, army instructions called for the prevention of kidnapping at all costs, including shooting at the area where the kidnapped soldier was being held.

According to one soldier, he received the following instruction from a Givati Brigades officer before the ground incursion into Gaza, "What is happening is not important, there will not be a kidnapped soldier, we will not have 2 Gilad Shalits at any price."

Is this honestly an establishment and an order that cares about its soldiers? The government's public adulation for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped June 2006, really amounts to naught when we factor in these strict orders - for Israeli soldiers to commit suicide over being taken hostage - during the Gaza operation.

We come to realise that Israeli lives do not matter, contrary to government professions. The gesturing for Gilad Shalit is just that, gesturing. What the overarching goal of the government is is to prevent 'political casualties', those events that would make the government appear weak.

The Israeli establishment's war ethos makes it so morally devoid that not only do over 1300 Palestinian lives, 86% of them civilians, not count, their own countrymen do not count either - they explicitly call for their deaths over suffering a 'political casualty'.

Palestinian Resistance: Around 80 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza War; Israel Silent

2009-01-25T21:37:00.005+02:00

Ezzedeen Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, confirm having killed 49 Israeli soldiers during the War on Gaza, and estimate that throughout the war around 80 Israeli soldiers were killed. They confirm having injured hundreds. They also assert that they undertook two kidnapping operations of Israeli soldiers - the first was on the third day of the ground invasion and the second was on January 5. In both cases, the Israeli air force struck and killed the kidnappers and the kidnapped - their own soldiers.

See the full press release in Arabic here, a roughly translated version of the press release in English here, and an English news brief on the press release here.

However, there has been no mention of such Israeli soldier deaths, injuries or kidnappings from the Israeli media. Israel insists that only 10 soldiers were killed during the war and 4 of them from friendly fire. Either Hamas is outright lying or Israel isn't telling the whole story. If the latter is true, it can be explained by the fact that the Israeli Military Censor strictly forbids news of soldiers deaths, rocket strikes, and troop movements from being published without it going through the news item first. This is so as to prevent aiding an enemy or harming the security of the state.

Zatzman in 'The Return of the Israeli Military Censor' writes of the Israeli Military Censor (IMC):

...the Israeli military censor has been and will continue to suppress publication of information it considers not appropriate to relay to the Israeli public at this time. Until now, the Israeli Military Censor had been trotted out, especially during the first Intifada, to keep the foreign press from reporting struggles waged or victories won by Palestinian military forces against regular Israeli military forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Read the full article here on the IMC's role during the Lebanon War.

Should the Hamas reports on the kidnappings be true, we can conclude that the establishment almost certainly wants to avoid creating another Gilad Shalit and the heat it would come under as a result. But would that warrant taking out their own soldiers?

Further, the lack of coverage on Israeli soldier casualties can be explained partly by the fact that the Israeli public is very sensitive to news of that kind, the occurrence of which could all taste very sour for politicians in their scramble for votes in the upcoming elections. But does censoring soldier deaths really assist the enemy or harm the security of the State according to IMC directives? Very unlikely. Rather, publishing the truth on the number of casualties allows the Israeli public the opportunity to judge for themselves whether or not they want this war and future wars of this kind. Moreover, it is the right of the Israeli public to know fully the extent of their army's wars - the real motives of going to war, the 'nature' of their 'enemy', the financial cost, and very definitely the human cost - on both sides, Palestinian and Israeli.

However, the establishment is not giving their public this right. It is censoring the truth. And it achieves this with the media's complicity. This is so that the upper echelons of society, those with political and capital gain at stake, are the only recipients of truth, the broadcasters of untruths and convenient truths, and the decision makers and fate sealers for their people and those that they occupy.

Now is Time for the Rebirth of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Campaign

2009-01-24T00:19:00.005+02:00

Now is a very opportune moment to join and support the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign and support Palestinians who are a defenceless people on the receiving end of a belligerent force that has lost moral direction, and certainly too its political compass.

The BDS Campaign is a moral action to pressure Israel to comply with basic principles of justice and international law, including ending the occupation, facilitating the right of Palestinian refugees to return and ensuring equal rights for all Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Please, this is a call to all people of conscience, wherever you may be, to impose broad boycotts, implement divestment initiatives, and to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. This would be similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. This is also an invitation to conscientious Israelis to support this call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.

Haidar Eid, a professor at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza makes a very convincing plea in this interview given on January 19 of the urgency of the BDS campaign at this time.

For more on what you can do in the US see adalahny here, in the UK see BIG here, and more generally see the Global BDS Movement here.

The Israeli barcode starts with 729. Please, do your bit.

Dimi Reider on Israeli Media Propaganda during Gaza War

2009-01-23T16:07:00.004+02:00

Picking up on my previous post about Israel's cheerleader media, this article by Dimi Reider on the online journal, Index on Censorship is a great read. He talks about Keshev, the lack of coverage on the anti-war movement within Israel, and brain-jolting oxymorons by Tzipi Livni:

IDF statements are given as news items and the most extravagant quotes by the Israeli politicians are reported as they are. (The prize-holder for these is, undoubtedly, Tzipi Livni, with such profound statements as ‘a ceasefire would damage negotiations’ and ‘the war is necessary to promote peace.’)

See the full article here.

Photo taken from http://mparent7777.blogspot.com/2007/03/mass-media-propaganda-masquerades-as.html

Israel and its Cheerleading Media

2009-01-21T10:48:00.001+02:00

Israeli attacks brought the death toll in Gaza to over 1300 Palestinians and the number of injured to 5300 Palestinians.

This war seems to be overwhelmingly supported by Israelis, all the Jewish political parties, and as I wish to expound on in more detail, by the media in Israel as well.

The recommendations of the State-appointed Winograd Commission (see summary interim and final reports), setup post-Lebanon War 2006 to investigate the shortcomings of that war, included that there be more political-military coordination and a prohibition of leaks. The media, in keeping with the recommendations of the Winograd Commission, and contrary to its role as the fourth estate that is supposed to place the government and those in power in check, is functioning as an overenthusiastic pom-pom queen of the State.

Keshev - The Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel that monitored the conduct of the Israeli media during the Gaza war has reported that the Israeli media in the first days of the war was "enthusiastic" and "self-righteous", with sparse criticism of military operations and reports on the deaths of Palestinian civilians buried in the newspaper. Arabs protesting the war and calling for an end to the killing were seen as disloyal and violent! See Keshev's December 2008 report here. However, Keshev writes that the media could be patted on the back for giving decent coverage, compared to coverage during the Lebanon war, to diplomatic options alongside military ones. See January 2009 report here.

Keshev's reporting focused on the early period of the war. So criticism of media coverage was very limited. They did not touch upon the issue that the very premise for going to war should have been challenged in the Israeli media - that this was indeed a war on Palestinians and their national liberation and not on the official pretexts offered by the State. Or that this was the single most brutal attack on Palestinians to date and should be a moral red-light for the State to ask itself where the hell it is headed. Or at the very least allow for adequate coverage of the deaths of civilians in Gaza, in keeping with the ethical codes of the media. These should have been the questions posed by the Israeli media on its front pages, not buried inside the newspaper, chiefly in opinion columns not considered 'real' news by most readers.

Of course, the attack on the media can be gauged by the State's approach to the media in general during this war - in the killing of five journalists; in targeting media stations in the Gaza Strip including Al-Aqsa Television, the al-Johar Tower housing 20 news organisations and the Ash-Shuruq Tower housing various news agencies including Reuters, NBC, Fox News, Sky News, Al-Arabiya and Abu Dhabi TV; in preventing foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip; through police attacks on Arab journalists operating within the Green Line; in the arrest and prosecution of Al-Alam TV's (Press TV) journalists for not informing the military censor before reporting live developments. See the International Federation of Journalists' (IFJ) press releases here (Jan 15), here (Jan 14) and here (Jan 12).

When the team clears the field, and the cheerleaders are left standing alone with exhausted pom-poms, it is sincerely hoped that they reflect on what exactly they have been cheering. Killing? Murder? Destruction? And for what ultimate good?

Arab Parties - Balad and United List - Banned From Participating in Israeli Elections

2009-01-12T23:07:00.003+02:00

Today, the Central Elections Committee voted overwhelmingly in favour to ban the Arab parties, Balad and The Arab United List for Change, from participating in the upcoming Israeli elections on February 10 after accusing the Arab parties of incitement, supporting terror groups, and refusing to recognise Israel's right to exist. See arabs48's article here.

The Arab parties have been vocal, as always, against the targeting of civilians and the belligerent forces of war, especially during this current war on Gaza, and in response have held a number of demonstrations. Furthermore, they have been calling for a number of years now for a state of all its citizens (see two documents reflecting this call - 'Future Vision' and 'Democratic Constitution') - that is, not a state based on ethno-cultural or racist particularities, but a democratic state where every citizen enjoys equal rights and protections, currently which Israel is not as it constitutionally accords the state to Jews to the exlusion of 18% of its citizenry, Arab Palestinians. The Committee has concluded that such demonstrations and such calls for a state of all its citizens either challenge Israel's right to exist, support terror groups or equal incitement!

These elections have been marked by more racist calls for population transfer of the Arabs in Israel from parties such as Yisrael Beitenu and National Union, and even traditionally 'left'/'liberal' parties, like Meretz, are tending to the center-right.

Hassan Jabareen, head of the legal NGO Adalah noted that at no time in the 20th century was any political party banned from running under the platform 'a state for all its citizens' except for the ANC in apartheid South Africa in the 1960s.

In the previous elections, the Balad party - then led by Azmi Bishara, who is currently in exile because he would be tried for treason should he return to Israel; such is the extent of his political persecution - was banned from running in the elections by the committee. The Israeli High Court of Justice overturned that decision and allowed the party to stand. Both parties are expected to file a similar case before the court shortly.

I think now the mask truly has come off. The 'only democratic' state in the Middle East is showing the world its true colours. Dissent is absolutely forbidden. Political dissent will not even be allowed the platform to run in elections! Come one, come all - come see the facade that has fallen apart!

Update: On January 21 The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Central Elections Committee, allowing both parties to participate in the elections. Victory for democracy? I'm not so sure. Why does a political party that calls for a state for all its citizens and democracy for all have to petition a court to participate in elections? Why does the Arab minority who account for 18% of the population have to be threatened with losing political representation? And why do these parties, who are supposed to be among the people, working with their electorate, spreading their message, have to deal with a court case a few weeks before the election?

Israel Deliberately Targeting Civilians to Ensure Quiet Occupation

2009-01-07T02:39:00.008+02:00

Around 40 people were killed, overwhelmingly civilian, in an Israeli attack on the UNRWA-run Al-Fakhora school in Jabaliya, Gaza on January 6. See here. As of now, there have been 660 Palestinians killed and close to 3000 injured. The majority of casualties are civilians. Around 50% are civilian women and children. See here.

According to Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor currently in Gaza, he has only seen a single fighter treated at the hospital but has witnessed hundreds of civilians. See here and check out his statement on CBS below. To paraphrase Gilbert, "This is a war on the civilian population of Gaza, not Hamas".

In my opinion, the goal of the state was always to dispel Palestinians from Palestine, and for those that remained, to keep them an occupied, docile, chaotic, illiterate, subjugated mass devoid of emancipatory sentiments that take the form of a genuine liberation movement. See in general the work of Nur Masalha, Ilan Pappe.

And it has been mostly successful - in having the PLO essentially work together with them in designing policy and life (of a subjugated people) for Palestinians, in signing agreements with Egypt and Jordan to neutralise emancipatory threats from outside their borders, and in having most international governments agree to the designation of unliquidated Palestinian liberation movements as terrorist organisations.

Unfortunately for Israel, Hamas is not playing the same game. It could very well play the same game if weakened enough, but it seems a genuinely emancipatory liberation and resistance movement.

In my opinion, Israel is deliberately targeting civilians to drive popular sentiment in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere against Hamas. In other words, Israel is targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip to deflect and neutralise sentiment, support and action for a genuine liberation of Palestinians from subjugation and occupation.

Enough is enough! The international community needs to act immediately to stop the aggression and to push for the State of Israel's leaders - Barak, Olmert, Livni and others - to be tried for war crimes for the (deliberate or not) targeting of civilians; I maintain that such attacks are reflective of a historical trend towards Palestinian emancipation and are evidenced by numbers, making such civilian attacks seem a deliberate policy.

For more on the colonial manoeuvrings to crush genuine Palestinian liberation movements see Azmi Bishara on al-Jazeera.

150,000 Palestinians in Israel Demonstrate Against Israeli Assault on Gaza

2009-01-04T02:49:00.004+02:00

On Saturday, January 3 around 150,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrated in Sakhnin in support of the people of Gaza and in opposition to the Israeli aggression, which Saturday moved forward with a ground operation. The demonstration was organised by the Higher Monitoring Committee and was probably the largest demonstration in the community's history. See more here.

The following are photos from the demonstration, courtesy of the online news website, alarab.

Reports from Hamas say that 5 Israeli soldiers were killed and 29 injured as Israel began its ground operation in the Gaza Strip. Check out this website for immediate updates in Gaza from those in Gaza - http://www.paldfmedia.net/news.htm

Hamas exposes Israeli campaign of deception of Israelis, Palestinians and the world

2009-01-02T14:46:00.003+02:00

With 5 Israelis dead, and over 425 Palestinians dead, 8,500% more Palestinians than Israelis suffering casualties (not factoring in the injured), we ask what started it?

These are the Israeli government's assertions:
- The war is on Hamas and not on the Palestinian people.
- Hamas broke the ceasefire and so instigated the attacks a week after its 6-month conclusion.
- The rockets that Hamas fires legitimate the response currently being undertaken by the Israelis.

Looking at each of these assertions, we see that in targetting mosques, businesses, civil establishments, the police force, the university, a hospital, homes - Israel may be hitting at the political wing of Hamas, but they are certainly also attacking Palestinian civilians who utilise, live in, live off and depend on these institutions and facilities. Further, civilians being killed are unarmed non-combatants, thus making such attacks war crimes in international humanitarian law. Second, the Palestinian people voted Hamas into power in January 2006, making Hamas the legitimate political representative of the people; even if the assertion that only Hamas was being targetted, which is false as the evidence shows, this would still be an attack on the Palestinian people's democratic choice of a political representative, thereby making it an attack on Palestinians in general.

Second, Israel broke the 6-month long ceasefire when it killed six Palestinians in Gaza on November 13 and prior to that on November 5 when it blew up a tunnel and also killed around six Palestinians. See the BBC here and Press TV here. Therefore, there is absolutely no truth to the assertion that Hamas broke the ceasefire. Another condition of the ceasefire was the opening up of the border crossings to allow in aid, medical supplies, fuel and food into Gaza. This was another violation on the part of the Israeli government who repeatedly closed the border crossings. Also important to note is that 49 Palestinians were killed by the Israelis during the ceasefire; Israel did not suffer a single casualty.

Finally, there is absolutely no 'proportion', a buzz word among the human rights activists sitting in comfortable chairs in the UN, between "homemade projectiles that make more noise than damage" and the Israeli response of a seige on Gaza preventing electricity, food, medicines, fuel and other essentials from reaching 1.4 million Gazans, not to mention the humiliation, uncertainty of death, and the terror instilled in those on the receiving end of such a policy.

And then at 1130am on December 27, sixty Israeli war planes dropped a hundred bombs on Gaza city, killing close to three hundred Palestinians. And the operation continues.

Video of Palestinians in Israel demonstrating in Support of our Gaza Brothers and Sisters; And Glimpse of Police Response

2009-01-02T13:28:00.003+02:00

Courtesy of alarz tv.

Please come out and show your support and participate in the march in Sakhnin tomorrow, Saturday, January 3 at 1pm.

Ali Zeidan from Kfar Manda brutally assaulted by Israeli police

2009-01-01T14:40:00.003+02:00

Last night, on New Years eve, Israeli police and special forces launched an unprovoked and brutal assault on Palestinian youth from the Galilee village of Kfar Manda in Israel while they were on their way to visiting a friend in the hospital in Nazareth.

Ali Zeidan and his friends were on their way to visiting a friend in hospital in Nazareth, but as the road was blocked due to ongoing events, police presence and demonstrations in Nazareth, they got out of their car to survey the situation. Only a couple of minutes had passed when they were attacked brutally by a large contingent of Israeli police and special forces. They assert they had done nothing to provoke the attack. While some friends managed to get away, Ali Zeidan was not so lucky. Partially unconcious, he was later taken by ambulance to a hospital. He suffered a broken hand and suffered serious injury above his eye and on his head.

The following are photos showing the beatings he received:

I picked up on this story on the online news website, alarab. This site has shown itself to provide better coverage on goings-on in the Palestinian community during the Gaza assault than the other up-to-the-minute news website for Palestinians in Israel, panet.co.il .

All photos are courtesy of alarab.co.il.

Gaza War: Developments in Nazareth and Israeli Police Violence on Arab Journalists and Demonstrators

2008-12-31T14:52:00.005+02:00

During demonstrations by Palestinians in Israel against the attacks on Gaza, Palestinian journalists in Israel have also come under attack.

Two days ago (Dec 29), Jamal Amara (Editor of Online News website, 'Radar') and Raed Dellasheh (Reporter for the newspaper Fasl al-Maqal and the online news website www.arabs48.com) were both beaten and arrested by the Israeli police. These two journalists came under attack and were later arrested just doing their job in the Arab town of Kufr Kanna in Israel. They were eventually let go. Please see the following reports on the incident from arabs48 and alarab.

Yesterday (Dec 30), in the town of Nazareth, youth were demonstrating the Israeli war on Gaza following a larger demonstration held by the political party 'Jabha'/'Hadash' (the communist party that focuses on Jewish-Arab cooperation). The youth later lit fire to some wood and threw stones at the police building. In response, several hundreds of police showed up at the scene and started attacking the youth and firing tear gas and rubber bullets. They also used helicopters to chase down youth. In the end, around thirty youth were rounded up and arrested in Nazareth. It seems that a number of local media houses have decided not to report the incident. Common police practice when this happens are beatings and various forms of torture. Police have released the names of only 16 of those arrested; the other 14 we are unaware of them. The police say that because they are around 14-15 years old and so are not obligated to carry identity cards, they don't have information on them. As I've said, there seems to be a general quiet about this in the local media, as some have colluded with the authorities not to speak of the extent of police repression and force used on youth. However, these are two of the reports of the incident - from arabs48 and alarab.

It should be remembered that in the demonstrations that took place by Palestinians in Israel in support of the second intifada, Israeli police killed 12 Palestinian citizens of Israel. Known as the October 2000 events, various official state inquiries into the matter have yielded naught - to date, not a single person responsible for the deaths of innocent unarmed civilians (most of them youth) has been charged. See my earlier post here on October 2000 here.

As of 3:05pm local time, 390 in Gaza have been killed by Israeli strikes and over 1750 injured. See al-Jazeera here.

Gaza operation that took the lives of 282 was planned 6 months ago

2008-12-28T04:11:00.005+02:00

Please see this article from Barak Ravid in Ha'aretz for more info:
Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about

Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public - all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces "Cast Lead" operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which began Saturday morning.

The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike.

Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well.

Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organizations operating in the Strip.

This intelligence-gathering effort brought back information about permanent bases, weapon silos, training camps, the homes of senior officials and coordinates for other facilities.

The plan of action that was implemented in Operation Cast Lead remained only a blueprint until a month ago, when tensions soared after the IDF carried out an incursion into Gaza during the ceasefire to take out a tunnel which the army said was intended to facilitate an attack by Palestinian militants on IDF troops.

On November 19, following dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds which exploded on Israeli soil, the plan was brought for Barak's final approval. Last Thursday, on December 18, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the defense minister met at IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv to approve the operation.

However, they decided to put the mission on hold to see whether Hamas would hold its fire after the expiration of the ceasefire. They therefore put off bringing the plan for the cabinet's approval, but they did inform Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the developments.

That night, in speaking to the media, sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said that "if the shooting from Gaza continues, the showdown with Hamas would be inevitable." On the weekend, several ministers in Olmert's cabinet inveighed against him and against Barak for not retaliating for Hamas' Qassam launches.

"This chatter would have made Entebe or the Six Day War impossible," Barak said in responding to the accusations. The cabinet was eventually convened on Wednesday, but the Prime Minister's Bureau misinformed the media in stating the discussion would revolve around global jihad. The ministers learned only that morning that the discussion would actually pertain to the operation in Gaza.

In its summary announcement for the discussion, the Prime Minister's Bureau devoted one line to the situation in Gaza, compared to one whole page that concerned the outlawing of 35 Islamic organizations.

What actually went on at the cabinet meeting was a five-hour discussion about the operation in which ministers were briefed about the various blueprints and plans of action. "It was a very detailed review," one minister said.

The minister added: "Everyone fully understood what sort of period we were heading into and what sort of scenarios this could lead to. No one could say that he or she did not know what they were voting on." The minister also said that the discussion showed that the lessons of the Winograd Committee about the performance of decision-makers during the 2006 Second Lebanon War were "fully internalized."

At the end of the discussion, the ministers unanimously voted in favor of the strike, leaving it for the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister to work out the exact time.

While Barak was working out the final details with the officers responsible for the operation, Livni went to Cairo to inform Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, that Israel had decided to strike at Hamas.

In parallel, Israel continued to send out disinformation in announcing it would open the crossings to the Gaza Strip and that Olmert would decide whether to launch the strike following three more deliberations on Sunday - one day after the actual order to launch the operation was issued.

"Hamas evacuated all its headquarter personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defense official said, "but the organization sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday."

The final decision was made on Friday morning, when Barak met with Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Shin Bet Security Service Yuval Diskin and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Amos Yadlin. Barak sat down with Olmert and Livni several hours later for a final meeting, in which the trio gave the air force its orders.

On Friday night and on Saturday morning, opposition leaders and prominent political figures were informed about the impending strike, including Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Yisrael Beuiteinu's Avigdor Liebermen, Haim Oron from Meretz and President Shimon Peres, along with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.

'The Occupation Has Gone Absurd' says Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz

2008-07-13T16:48:00.003+02:00

With a bevy of Words that hang so so heavy
Spit the truth like our man Gideon Levy
Shameful secrets in God's name
How did the war fame-game frame so lame?

Gideon Levy's article in Ha'aretz today speaks to the move by the Israeli Defence Ministry to target charities, bakeries, schools, clinics and beauty salons because somewhere along the line, these organisations are linked to Hamas. Here is an excerpt:

Thus the occupation proves once again that there is no place in Palestinians' lives that it cannot reach, and that it has no boundaries: An army that closes a school, library, bakery and boarding school; soldiers who raid a licensed commercial television station, confiscating its equipment and threatening its closure, as happened recently at the Afaq TV station in Nablus.

Read the full article here.

In the end Levy asks, 'On whose back are we fighting terror? Widows? Orphans? It's shameful.'

15 year old Palestinian killed for carrying mobile phone at Hawara Checkpoint, West Bank

2008-06-03T19:16:00.002+02:00

Ha'aretz reported that a 15 year old carrying explosives was shot dead at the Hawara Checkpoint in the West Bank. However, the truth is told on Mahsanmilim:Reports from the West Bank and linked to on Sabbah's blog with first hand accounts of what happened on May 19 2008.

To quote the article written by Aya Kaniuk, Vivi Sury, Tamar Goldschmidt:

Fahmi Abd alJawaad alDarduk (فهمي عبد الجواد الدردوك), who was shot by the soldiers at this checkpoint on Monday, May 19th 2008. After he was shot, the army claimed that pipe bombs had been detected in his belt. That wires had been seen hanging from under his clothing. That three pipe bombs had been observed.... He was actually carrying two mobile phones and earphones which the soldiers mistook for 'pipe bombs'.... When he went through the turnstile he was ordered to “lift your shirt, show your belly.” He lifted his shirt. When they saw the earphone wire, and the cell phone, they shot his head, immediately. Before he even passed through, he was shot in the head. The woman-soldier shot him. Yes, the woman-soldier. But she was not the only one. Not one shot. Six shots.

This story highlights the brutality of the occupation and the fickleness of Palestinian life under it, the untruths, the cover-ups and the trigger happy protagonists at the front line of the enterprise.

Israeli Army Fires on Palestinian Demonstrators at Karni/Al-Mantar Crossing in Gaza

2008-05-22T19:12:00.004+02:00

Israeli forces today fired rubber bullets and tear gas on Palestinians demonstrating at the Al-Mantar/Karni border crossing. The Palestinians were protesting the siege on Gaza, which has extensively prevented an adequate supply of fuel and other basic amenities into the Strip as well as Palestinian exports out of it, which has plunged the Gazan economy into dire straits and its inhabitants into soaring poverty (79% of Gazan households in poverty by April 2006 compared to less than 30% in 2000). As a result of the Israeli forces attack today, a young Palestinian man was killed, and around 17 were injured (among them children).

As Gisha, the human rights NGO focused on freedom of movement in Gaza, writes, 'Israel's working assumption is that choking Gaza's economy and closing its borders to the passage of people will achieve the political objectives it wants. According to this theory, political objectives are to be achieved by exerting pressure on 1.4 million women, men and children, whose suffering is to bring out the desired change – toppling Hamas control in Gaza. In reality, a policy of collective punishment is being imposed upon 1.4 million people, in violation of international humanitarian law and, in effect, in clear contradiction of Israel's interests' (see Gisha, Commercial Closure: Deleting Gaza's Economy from the Map (2007)).

Ha'aretz reports that militants fired at the IDF and so they responded. However, Al-Jazeera and Hamas report differently - they say it was a 2,000 strong demonstration by Palestinian protesters demanding an end to the siege on Gaza as the international community has remained largely silent about it. It seems that the policy of violently silencing dissent and truth continues - look to my previous post on Israeli police opening fire and assaulting peaceful Palestinian demonstrators (citizens of Israel) on May 8 in Safuriya ahead of Nakba Day commemorations.

The question is, how sustainable is such violent suppression?

Israeli Police Violence Against Arab Protesters and Journalists in Safuriya

2008-05-16T03:23:00.003+02:00

On May 8, the Palestinian Arab community in Israel marched into the destroyed village of Safuriyya ahead of the Nakba commemoration ceremonies to affirm the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Although the march went on without interference, as it drew to a close police began using force on the protesters and journalists, including two journalists from CNN and Al-Arabiya. Please see the following video from al-Arz Productions telling the story.

Haaretz reports that Palestinians instigated the clashes by throwing rocks at the police, however there are counter reports based on first hand accounts that this was because of police violently shoving peaceful protesters. Furthermore, how did that justify in any way the brutal beatings, arrests and the firing of tear gas on innocent bystanders (including children) and journalists? Arab MKs Wasel Taha and Mohammad Barakeh were also assaulted by the police. This is the first protest in my recent memory where the cops have used force on peaceful protesters.

May 16 Update: Jonathan Cook, who was at the demo, has written about it on Electronic Intifada - 'The Nakba March'.

لا تصيف - حمد العامري

2007-12-03T21:45:00.000+02:00

عيدكم مبارك

2007-10-17T16:09:00.000+02:00

This is how 'Eid l-Fitr has gone down in Gaza - an article (October 17) from Ha'aretz reporter, Amira Hass.

UNRWA, the UN organization that helps Palestinian refugees, was unable to keep its promise to give students at its schools in the Gaza Strip NIS 100 each with which to buy clothes for the Id al-Fitr holiday. Why? Because Israel would not allow it to bring the cash into the strip.

The hermetic closure of Gaza over the last four months has also left its mark on the currency still circulating: The notes are ragged and torn, a visible reminder of the severance of commercial ties between Gazan farmers and manufacturers and their external markets. Only basic necessities are allowed into the strip...

...Appliance and computer stores have empty shelves; even the stock of light bulbs and electric cables is being steadily depleted. People are saving things they would not have saved in the past - even medicines: A. went to every pharmacy in Gaza City yesterday in an effort to buy a medicine imported from Egypt for his anemic wife, but came home empty-handed.

Read the full article here.

Jonathan Cook asks 'Why did Israel attack Syria'

2007-10-13T18:12:00.000+02:00

To quote Cook's article, "...Damascus, Hizbullah and Iran undoubtedly do share some military resources. But their alliance should be seen as the kind of defensive pact needed by vulnerable actors in a Sunni-dominated region where the US wants unlimited control of Gulf oil and supports only those repressive regimes that cooperate on its terms. All three are keenly aware that it is Israel's job to threaten and punish any regimes that fail to toe the line.

Contrary to the impression being created in the West, genocidal hatred of Israel and Jews, however often Ahmadinejad's speeches are mistranslated, is not the engine of these countries' alliance."

Read the full article here.

Mi'kmaq Poetry on the Spirit of Haida Gwaii

2007-10-13T06:41:00.000+02:00

The Haida First Nations people of Haida Gwaii (off the coast of present-day British Columbia in Canada) were a flourishing population that maintained a delicate balance with the sea and the forest and sustained a civilisation that had evolved over the past twelve thousand years. Since James Cook landed on the island in 1778 and in the 138 years of contact with settler Europeans, over 90% of the Haida population was wiped out due to spread of European diseases of smallpox and measles, cultural dislocation and killing (Tulley, Strange Multiplicity).

These are beautiful words of truth, from Rita Joe of the Mi'kmaq First Nations people. These words speak to the 'spirit of Haida Gwaii' and to the spirit of modern-day Canada and urges us to remember and respect the indigenous populations of present-day Canada.

Your buildings, tall, alien,
Cover the land;
Unfeeling concrete smothers,
windows glint
Like water to the sun.
No breezes blow
Through standing trees;
No scent of pine lightens my burden.

I see your buildings rising skyward,
majestic,
Over the trails where once men walked,
Significant rulers of the land
Who still hold the aboriginal title
In their hearts
By traditions know
Through eons of time.

Relearning our culture is not difficult,
Because those trails I remember
And their meaning I understand.

While skyscrapers hide the heavens,
They can fall.

(Rita Joe, 1978)

Israeli Army Doings Exposed by Army Insider

2007-10-06T17:31:00.000+02:00

This is a Ha'aretz article (October 6 2007), written by Dalia Karpel called 'Parallel Lives'. The article tells the story of Nufar Yishai-Karin, a clinical psychologist who was drafted into the army in 1989 as a combat soldier and who also served in Gaza.

During her army service, she became interested in "finding out why some people in these groups (i.e. the army) work to bring about a change for the better, what it is in their personality that makes them like that and what happens in that kind of situation (i.e. in army service)." Accordingly, she studied the issue of violence ingrained in the minds and actions of Israeli soldiers, in conjunction with a Professor serving in the Army's mental health unit.

Read excerpts of her findings below:

The study included interviews with 18 soldiers and three officers who served with her in two armored infantry units. She knew most of them from her military service. She interviewed each of them personally in his home for a few hours and recorded the interviews; she still has the tapes. Her prior acquaintance with the soldiers led them to trust her implicitly, and they opened up fully, readily telling her about crimes they themselves had committed: murder and killing, breaking the bones of children, inflicting humiliation, destroying property, stealing.

About half the 21 interviewees are Ashkenazim, half Mizrahim (Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent). Most are native-born and most are from middle-class families.

Testimony: "I went out on my first patrol ... Others on the patrol were just shooting like crazies ... I also started shooting like all the others ... It was ... look, I won't tell you that it wasn't cool, because suddenly for the first time you come and hold the weapon seriously, you're not training in some drill or in some dugout in the dunes, or I don't know what, or you have some commander who is looking over your shoulder in the firing range. Suddenly you are responsible for what you are doing. You take the gun. You shoot. You do what you want."

One of the study's most shocking findings is that the soldiers enjoyed the intoxication of power no less than the kick they got from the violence. "At one point or another of their service, the majority of the interviewees enjoyed [inflicting] violence," Yishai-Karin observes in the thesis. "They enjoyed the violence because it broke the routine and they liked the destruction and the chaos. They also enjoyed the feeling of power in the violence and the sense of danger."

Testimony: "The truth? When there is chaos and like that, I like it. That's when I enjoy it. It's like a drug. If I don't go into Rafah and if there isn't some kind of riot once in some week, I go nuts."

Another soldier: "The most important thing is that it removes the burden of the law from you. You feel that you are the law. You are the law. You are the one who decides ... As though from the moment you leave the place that is called Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] and go through the Erez checkpoint into the Gaza Strip, you are the law. You are God."

The callousness of some of the soldiers produced extreme indifference to the Arabs' suffering: "We were in a weapon carrier when this guy, around 25, passed by in the street, and just like that, for no reason, he didn't throw a stone, did nothing - bang, a bullet in the stomach - he shot him in the stomach and the guy is dying on the sidewalk and we keep going, apathetic. No one gave him a second look."

There were some tough soldiers who developed an ideology holding that even minor events necessitated a brutal response. "A 3-year-old kid, he can't throw, he can't hurt you no matter what he does, but a kid of 19 can. With women I have no problem. With women, one threw a clog at me and I kicked her here [pointing to the crotch], I broke everything there. She can't have children. Next time she won't throw clogs at me. When one of them [a woman] spat at me I gave her the rifle butt in the face. She doesn't have what to spit with anymore."

Some of the soldiers were singled out in the study as "prone to being led" - that is, they were swept up in the wake of their officers and buddies - and there were some who had never lifted a hand against anyone before their army service. "The moment the red line is broken, it is not just broken, it is smashed to smithereens, and from that moment everything is permitted," one soldier testified.

These soldiers believed that the intifada was a war, and that they had to be professional and maintain "purity of arms" - morality in warfare. But the reality of the situation and the fraternity of fighters prompted some of them to cover up for their friends, even if they stole from homes where they conducted searches or sexually harassed or provoked Arab women.

Most of the soldiers who were interviewed vividly recollect their first encounter with brutality. In one case, while still in basic training, they served as escorts for a group of suspects. "They took the Arabs, the commanding officers did, and put them on the bus between the back door and the last seat, put them only between the seats. On their knees. Then they told us: Within two minutes - and this is still just basic training - within two minutes everyone is on the bus. No one steps on the seats ... And everyone started to trample them [the Arabs] and step on them on the run ... It was a really bad winter. Minus 4 degrees [Centigrade] and rain and hail ... They each went out in the middle of the night ... They weren't given time to dress. Some of them had clogs, short-sleeved shirts ... Everyone opened the windows deliberately. People poured water on them from the canteens, so they would freeze from the cold. And the whole way they were bombarded with blows ... and I mean the whole way."

Another soldier describes one of the first times he entered a house to arrest an Arab, "an absolute giant, around 30, maybe. Rampaging. We shout at him to lie down, we hit him, but he doesn't lie down, he wants to escape ... These four guys show up and throw stones at him from all sides, and we are beating up on him ... Lie down! Lie Down! Lie down! Until in the end he lies down ... We get to company headquarters and it turns out he lost consciousness ... and a few days later he is dead."

An incident that fomented a crisis began when a squad commander from the hard-hearted group maltreated three bound teenagers. A soldier of conscience summoned another squad commander who was a paramedic. He told Yishai-Karin that by the time help arrived the three Palestinian boys were already "completely covered with blood, their clothes were saturated with blood and they were shaking with fear. Their hands were tied and they were afraid to move, they were on their knees."

The conscience-driven squad commander and soldier reprimanded the brutal squad commander, but were not backed up by the platoon commander. "You should know that what the two of you did is very serious," the platoon commander told them, "talking to him like that! You should know that you're in for punishment."

The two soldiers who received this tongue-lashing told another soldier what had happened, and he decided to tell the story the next day at a meeting of the brigade with the division commander. After hearing him out and asking to hear the testimonies of the two other soldiers, the division commander asked the brutal squad commander what he had to say for himself. But he refused to respond in front of the soldiers. The division commander removed him from the sector and ordered the Military Police to investigate the incident. The squad commander was sentenced to three months in prison.

Recalling this incident, which broke the conspiracy of silence in the company, Yishai-Karin notes that all the other soldiers supported the brutal squad commander, even those who thought he had gone too far and deserved punishment. In the face of the sacrosanct creed of the fraternity of fighters and unit loyalty, the soldiers of conscience were considered traitors, because "no soldier should have to go to jail because of some Arab."

The two soldiers of conscience - the eyewitness to the beating of the helpless youths and his paramedic buddy - were transferred out of the company. The former was sent to a snipers' course, the latter to an advanced course for paramedics, and afterward both of them took an officers' course. The soldier who revealed the story to the division commander was ostracized. Everyone boycotted him and hounded him, until he finally transferred out of the company and was assigned to a rear-echelon post.

...The soldiers claimed that the longer the unit spent in the field, the more violent it became and the more it was prone to impose order. They claimed that the army was aware of the drift toward violence, and encouraged it, because that way they could allocate less manpower.

Can you sum up the message of the study?

...Freud talks about the destructive aggressive instinct. In a letter to Einstein in 1932, Freud wrote, 'Musing on the atrocities recorded on history's page, we feel that the ideal motive has often served as a camouflage for the lust of destruction.' That has existed in everyone, in all languages and in all religions, across all the hundreds and thousands of years of history, and probably even before. There are some cultures that are more violent, yes, but violence appears in every culture.

Back from Exile in 3amman

2007-07-04T16:44:00.000+02:00

After being in exile in 3amman for 5 weeks, I finally am allowed to return under alias.

PCHR's Position on Emergency Order Restricting Civil Society in Gaza

2007-06-27T14:49:00.000+02:00

Following the declaration of the 'state of emergency' declared by Mahmoud Abbas on June 14, on June 20 Abbas issued a decree on civil society organisations. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights based in Gaza writes about this decree:

Under first article of this decree the Palestinian Interior Minister is granted “the authority to review all permits for associations and organizations issued by the Ministry of Interior or any governmental source.” The second article gave the Minister of Interior or any person delegated by the Minister the power to “take any steps deemed necessary against associations and organizations with the intent of closure, amendment, or any other action.” The third article points that “all organizations and associations must submit new registration applications within one week; and all who violate this directive are subject to the law.”

PCHR's position is that this decree is a serious violation of the right to establish organizations, which is a basic human right guaranteed by article 26 of the Amended Basic Law for 2003, stating Palestinians’ right to “Establish unions, associations, federations, clubs, and public organizations in accordance with the law”, while they stress the importance and necessity of civil society in the current crisis, especially in the provision of humanitarian, relief, medical, and other services to the civilian population.

At a time when there is a crucial need for dialogue and cooperation among Palestinians at all levels - governmental, non-governmental, in civil society, among activists, in the media - there seems to be an earnest effort taken by the Palestinian Authority to sideline those who don't support them. This bodes very dangerous for the acting government as through actions like these they lose their legitimacy among the people and push Palestinians further apart from each other, all the while that the Occupation persists, the refugees are left without hope, and the initial goals that characterise the Palestinian struggle of a sovereign, independent state are threatened with being put off for another 59 years.

Gazawi Human Rights NGO's Position on Crisis in Gaza

2007-06-20T20:25:00.000+02:00

I read the following recommendations to address the crisis in Gaza at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) website, an organisation that do very important work in Gaza and that we have had the honour of cooperating with. This organisation and their website - http://www.pchrgaza.ps/ - are a great resource to get the truths on Gaza from within; their June 18 Press Release reads:

In light of these accelerating developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), particularly in the Gaza Strip, PCHR stresses the following:

- PCHR condemns the use of military means to resolve the conflict between Hamas and Fatah movements, particularly the decision to resolve the conflict militarily through the seizure of Palestinian security headquarters and sites in the Gaza Strip by the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades. Although PCHR is aware of the legitimacy of the government and its right to fully have its constitutional powers, and conscious of the security problems that preceded and the urgent need to reform the security establishment, there is no justification for the use of Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades in the military conflict and in the take over of the security establishment, which will only frustrate reform of the security establishment.

- Steps taken by President Mahmoud Abbas in response to these events violate the Basic Law and undermine the Basic Law in a manner that is no less dangerous than what is happening in Gaza, especially as:

A.The President has the right to declare a state of emergency and to dissolve the government in accordance with Chapter 7 of the Basic Law, but according to the Law, the dissolved government shall serve as an acting government until the formation of a new government that must be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
B.The Basic Law does not give the President any authority, even during a state of emergency, to suspend the enforcement of any provision of the Law concerning the PLC’s authority to grant confidence to the government, and he does not have the authority to dissolve or interrupt the work of the PLC during the period of emergency (article 113). The Basic Law is superior to all laws, from which all powers, including those of the President and Prime Minister, are derived, and it must not be undermined or suspended in all circumstances.

- Steps taken by the President are likely to complicate the crisis rather than solving it. The President’s response may lead to further isolation of the Gaza Strip and throw its 1.5-million residents into the unknown by subjecting them to international sanctions. There is also concern that a de facto political situation may develop in which the Gaza Strip is cut-off from the rest of the OPT.

- In the context of such a dialogue, it is important to stress the need to reconstruct the Palestinian security establishment on professional and national foundations, to ensure its independence and not to push it into any hideous factional conflicts so that it may be able to carry out its constitutional duties to defend the homeland, serve the people, protect the society, and ensure security and public order.

- The current Palestinian crisis is a new Nakba (in reference to the dispersion of the Palestinian people in 1948) that if not immediately stopped, will only grow as expectations of more economic and social strangleholds fuel concerns over massive emmigration from the Gaza Strip.

- The international community and Arab States are invited to take immediate steps to prevent this catastrophe by pressing for political dialogue between the Hamas and Fatah movements, as well as all other political factions, and to end this crisis which threatens the PNA and the Palestinian people as a whole.

Gutting Gaza

2007-05-18T16:12:00.000+02:00

And then twisting the knife of occupation.

First they made beggars of an entire nation with their sanctions, then they threw their dirty dollars towards undermining the Palestinian Unity Government by arming Abbas' security force, and now the Israelis are dropping bombs like they would throw cheese-flavoured-sweets at Shavuot.

Please turn to good friend Laila Haddad's words to get the real story before you start spilling your misinformation about 'look at those Palestinians turning on each other and spreading chaos and Hamas and terrorist and barbarians'.

Hamas represents a real alternative to the Occupation and that is why the US and Israel are working to undermine them.

Ya Awlad il-7aram - You're killing the Fourth Estate!

2007-04-05T13:19:00.001+02:00

Pay respects folks - it's true... the fourth estate is dead. Allah yer7amha.

On a related note, the harrassment hasn't stopped at the airports, malls, border crossings, Jewish towns, mixed Arab-Jewish towns - it has now followed you all the way to your own Arab hometown. Two nights ago I was harrassed by police in my own town of Nazareth while walking home. It's alright cousin, I'm coming armed with books in one hand and ghitra in the other.

Ya awlad il-7aram... This is the State we live in - the anti-Arab one. The anti-Palestinian one. The anti-government narrative one. The racist one.

صدق مخطوبة يفلانة وصدق باجر يزفونج

2007-01-23T09:50:00.000+02:00

She and I engaged souls late November. She is wardat al-Nasereh, my queen. Mabrook baby on finding the right man.

The Revolution will not be televised

2007-01-19T13:05:00.000+02:00

The Revolution will not be televised... There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clocknews and no pictures of hairy armed women liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.

The revolution will not be televised - And sometimes, even today's reality isn't. Spot the coverage of the story below in al-bayan. Wila kilma ya 3ami.

January 18 - At least two people have died in a fire that broke out in a building under construction in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

Two workers building the 37-storey apartment tower were killed and 57 others injured, said Maj. Rashid al-Falasi of the Dubai Police.

"Some of the workers were trying to climb down on cables. One guy in red was trying to climb down and then he just fell. It was horrible," said Louise Olson, 25, from Denmark, who watched the scene from her whirlpool bath in a high-rise that faces the burning tower.

ta7chee min 3yoonha

2006-10-05T17:38:00.000+02:00

Been away. And busy. But still trying to right human wrongs. I hope to get a chance to write about my new role in Palestinian civil society soon. Until then...

سرمچار

2006-09-01T14:31:00.000+02:00

Nawab Akbar Bugti was extrajudicially assisinated by Pakistani forces last week. Bugti had campaigned for years for the gas-rich province of Baluchistan to be given greater autonomy and a larger share of natural resources.

The beat goes on as sarmachars continue resisting.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon forced to resign

2006-08-18T17:03:00.000+02:00

Israel's Justice Minister Haim Ramon is handing in his resignation on Sunday after being charged with indecent assault for allegedly having forcibly kissed an 18-year-old female soldier in a government office.

This is the same individual that said the following during Israel's war on Lebanon, "In order to prevent casualties among Israeli soldiers battling Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, villages should be flattened by the Israeli air force before ground troops move in", and "all those in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah." He was obviously unaware of the old and frail, the poor, and those without cars and fuel that were forced to remain in southern Lebanon.

Well, Justice Minister of Israel, that's what you get for thinking with your penis.

Banksy's Guantanamo

2006-08-14T13:00:00.000+02:00

Remixing masterpieces from the flea-market

As the dust settles, can we see winners?

2006-08-14T12:13:00.000+02:00

Many people are of the opinion that Hizballah came out victorious since the War with Israel began on July 12. They say that:

- Israel's month long campaign did nothing to hamper Hizballah's ability to fire into Israel, which was openly evident yesterday when Hizballah fired 250 rockets;
- Israel spent tremendous military effort into this war - costing it US$1 billion/week for four weeks (a minor blow);
- Israel has lost major political capital in the world's eyes because the world sees in the Qana massacre and the 1,170 dead Lebanese (mostly civilian), the brutality of the Israeli military and government;
- Israel has made more enemies now than it ever had in the Arab and Muslim world and even outside;
- The belief that Israel is the strongest army in the Middle East has been shattered, increasing despair among Israelis, and increasing its neighbours' will to challenge Israeli policy;
- According to certain Jewish lawyers in Tel Aviv, this War will prove to be the beginning of the decline of the State of Israel as we know it. He estimates it won't happen tomorrow, but that this War will be the start of a long decline.

All relevant points, with which I mostly agree. Nevertheless, in this war I don't believe there were winners. There were only losers.

The UN and its Security Council showed their impotence in being unable to act in time; Lebanon lost over a thousand of its people, its infrastructure and economy; Israel lost financially, militarily and in morale; the world has lost because of our society's inability to prevent the madness, death and destruction of war from ruling and defining our lives. Our world's bloody history has failed to teach us that collective good and cooperation is our ultimate goal as human beings. Not ethnic goals. Or religious goals. Or political goals.

As the dust settles, I can see no winners in this War.
Only losers.

An Israeli NGO urgent plea and call for action

2006-08-07T16:11:00.000+02:00

Voces Latinas Radio Interview - 1610 AM Toronto

2006-08-05T14:40:00.000+02:00

In 30 minutes I'll be doing a radio interview with Sandra Farias of Voces Latinas AM 1610, a Spanish radio station based in Toronto. We'll mostly be talking about the War in Lebanon.

I'm unsure if we're airing live but tune in to find out when the interview will air.

Wein inti ya ummi?

2006-08-03T09:04:00.000+02:00

mazen kerbaj's impressions of lebanon

Israel's war crimes, massacres and blatant breaches of international law continue unhindered in Lebanon and Gaza

2006-07-31T12:12:00.001+02:00

An HRA press release / July 31, 2006

Israel's military assault on Lebanon continues to violate international humanitarian law as Israel pushes forward an agenda awash in unabated violent massacres and war crimes. US diplomacy has only complied with these war crimes through granting Israel impunity, thereby giving Israel the impression that it has permission to continue. Finally, it is plain to see that the international community has failed miserably in its duty – to ensure the protection of innocent civilians during time of war.

Israel's latest assault on Lebanon was Sunday morning's massacre in Qana – which killed 28 civilians (initial reports said 60, but the new numbers are more accurate), the majority of whom were children. With this massacre, Israel's war on Lebanon has entered a new phase. This war crime is also testament to the UN Security Council's failure to impose an immediate ceasefire to ensure the protection of civilians and to halt war actions. Furthermore, if following the massacre all that is made is a verbal condemnation, then Israel can only interpret that as being a green light to assault more civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The massacre in Qana has brought the death toll to over 750 in Lebanon, the majority of who are civilians. In addition, as Israel's crimes of collective punishment in Gaza continue, more than 160 Palestinians, also chiefly civilians, have been killed. The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) makes an urgent appeal to the international community to act towards an immediate cessation of violence and for Israel to comply with its obligations to international law.

Lebanon: Since the start of Israel's military assault of Lebanon on July 12, over a third of the casualties in Lebanon have been children. Furthermore, Israel's bombardment of Lebanon has given rise to over 700,000 refugees. Civilian infrastructure and institutions have been deliberate targets of Israel's aerial attacks – airports, ports, power stations, roads and bridges have all been hit. As casualties mount, there is an increasing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, particularly in the south.

Gaza Strip: In addition to the 160 Palestinians killed since June 25, at least 700 civilians have been wounded by Israeli army gunfire. In addition, Palestinian ministries and educational institutions have been destroyed, as has the plant that supplies nearly 50% of Gaza's electricity. Bridges, roads, dozens of homes, and hundreds of dunams of agricultural land have also been destroyed. Furthermore, 27 elected Palestinian ministers, including eight cabinet ministers have been detained without charge.

The United Nations Security Council is the UN's most powerful body whose chief responsibility is the 'maintenance of international peace and security'. However, despite its numerous meetings following the crisis, it has been unable to enforce a ceasefire, much less condemn Israel's blatant violations of international humanitarian law, including the killing of four UN observers.

The European Union also has a special role to play in the crisis because of the Association Agreements it has signed with Israel and Lebanon. Article 2 of this Agreement contains a human rights clause that states, 'Relations between the parties shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles'. Furthermore, the EU-Israel Action Plan clearly stresses 'Common values of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law and basic freedoms'. Surely, Israel's targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and its refusal to negotiate do not fall in line with these shared values.

The HRA believes that the failure of the UN Security Council to protect civilians in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip at a time when serious humanitarian crises face the two populations raises serious questions from civil society engaged in promoting international law and human rights principles, about the credibility of institutions and agreements that fail to stop war crimes against civilian populations. The failure of the EU to use existing agreements (Action Plan, Association Agreement) clearly resulted from a lack of political will by certain member states. This failure undermines the EU's credibility and its position in the region.

Through our work in the community, we receive clear signals that the EU and UN's failure to act and to apply agreements to protect civilians during war has been interpreted as having succumbed to the political interests of powerful states. This sends the negative message that these agreements will never be enforced to stop the daily human rights violations and discrimination that our community faces. This is viewed as a step backward, as people will look for alternatives outside the current system, which will only lead to more violence in the region.

The HRA strongly condemns Israel's war crimes and gross violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention. We stress that Israel should not be allowed to stand above international standards and law.

We thereby urgently call on the EU and UN to firstly, take clear positions condemning the current breaches of international law; and second, to activate the existing mechanisms (Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention) for an urgent and immediate international ruling to impose a ceasefire and to enable effective transfer of humanitarian aid to the needy. Third, given recent developments it is increasingly urgent that the UN establish an international commission for enquiry into the war crimes committed by Israel since its assault on Lebanon began on July 12.

In this moment, the want for international action is dire; at stake are not only the lives of innocent civilians but also the credibility of humanitarian morals and international values that have been held ransom by the belligerent forces of international politics and war machines.

Scholar Ghazi Falah free but Lebanon siege continues

2006-07-30T18:25:00.000+02:00

The Shin Bet (Israeli General Security Service) and police today released without charges Professor Ghazi Falah, an Israeli-Canadian geographer (of Palestinian descent) detained three weeks ago on suspicion of spying for Hezbollah.

Falah was held for the first 18 days of his detention without permission to consult a lawyer, and was questioned by security sources for more than 12 hours straight without break or sleep.

In the meanwhile, Israel's breaches of international humanitarian law continue with its latest massacre in Qana, Lebanon. Atleast 54 dead, among them 34 children. How much longer?

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon assuming a lot these days

2006-07-28T15:07:00.000+02:00

Haim Ramon. Being probed. I'm assuming ofcourse.

Haim Ramon, Israel's Justice Minister, seems to be assuming a lot these days.

Following international talks in Rome on Wednesday about Israel's brutal assault on Lebanon, when the international community stopped short of calling for an immediate truce, Haim Ramon made an assumption. He assumed that Israel had received "a green light from the world... to continue the operation". The US wasn't too pleased.

Back at home, Haim is making other assumptions.. about how certain women wish to get down with him. He is alleged to have forcibly kissed an employee of another government ministry on the mouth about two weeks ago at a party in Tel Aviv. Israel's Minister of Rough Justice is currently being probed by the police.

I'm assuming that it will be a non-invasive probing and will likely result in him receiving a promotion.

Scholar Ghazi Falah arrested by Israel without charge

2006-07-27T16:31:00.000+02:00

Ghazi-Walid Falah is a tenured professor from the Geography and Planning Department at the University of Akron in the US. He was arrested in Israel on Saturday July 8, 2006 and remained detained without charge and without access to legal council until today. On July 17, 2006 the authorities denied his access to a lawyer for a further ten days. Only today has his lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, been allowed a meeting with him.

Ghazi was on a visit to see his mother who was facing an operation to remove a brain tumor. During his visit he went to a popular tourist resort at Nahariya (Israel) to take some pictures, presumably for use in the Arab World Geographer, in research articles, or for teaching purposes. However, the Israeli authorities thought he was spying for Hizballah in taking photos of an area repeatedly hit by Katyusha rockets. The Israelis fear that the photos would give Hizballah an idea of how accurate its firing has been. Ghazi is originally from near Nasereh and holds Canadian citizenship. Nayil Falah, his son, says the Canadian government has done nothing to help him.

Since being arrested and until today, Ghazi-Walid was refused access to a lawyer, consulate staff, or other visitors - a blatant violation of his human rights.

Click here to see how you can help.

What is this 'durable ceasefire' they talk about?

2006-07-27T16:14:00.000+02:00

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted there could not be a return to the "status quo" of political uncertainty and instability in Lebanon and that any ceasefire must be "sustainable."

Really, what does that mean - sustainable/durable ceasefire? Implementation of UN Resolution 1559 that calls on Hezbollah to disarm? Why would they? What have they gotten in return? Has Israel made any concessions that would prompt Hezbollah to disarm?

The whole world is calling for an immediate ceasefire with the exception of the US and UK. 405 Lebanese dead, the majority civilian. And many more buried under the rubble. Over 600,000 refugees. How many to die before this 'sustainable' ceasefire is reached.

Remember, a durable/sustainable ceasefire would also entail answers to the question of Palestine and Palestinian refugees as per UN Resolution 194. The Palestinian Question remains one of the principal reasons that Hezbollah became involved. If you want a durable ceasefire, then you must address this question. However, it hasn't been answered for nearly 60 years. It therefore seems that a cessation of violence will not come about anytime soon.

Hizballah's Katyushas hit Nazareth

2006-07-20T10:30:00.000+02:00

Two Katyushas dropped on Nazareth yesterday at approximately 1400 GMT, directly striking and killing two kids - Mahmood 'Abd il Raheem Taluzeh, 3, and his brother, Rabee' 'Abd il Raheem Taluzeh, 7. Allah yer7amhum.

How much blood needs to be spilled before we approach the negotiating table? Why is Israel so adamant to continue its onslaught of Lebanon, where more than 300 civilians have been killed to date; and why then does it question Hizballah's Katyusha fire?

It is well known that Hizballah was striking an army weapons depot in Nazerat Illit, overshot, and hit Nazareth instead. So contrary to what you would expect, the people here are not turning on Hizballah. Instead, they're blaming Israel and asking how many more casualties before Israel gives diplomacy a chance?

Happy Birthday ya wardat al-nasereh

2006-07-19T14:59:00.000+02:00

Kill sana wa inti salma 7abibti.

Over 200 Lebanese civilians dead

2006-07-18T12:59:00.000+02:00

As of 1030 GMT, 203 Lebanese civilians and 14 Lebanese army personnel have been killed by Israeli action in Lebanon.

Erasing

2006-07-17T14:05:00.000+02:00

Erasing all things Arab.

This is a picture taken in Israel. It speaks of how State discriminatory practice reflects on the people. I know, I live here. There is a lot of animosity towards Palestinians and Arabs and the majority would tell you without batting an eyelid that they would much rather have a pure Jewish State for Jews only.

Credit farfuglinn on flickr.com

Nazareth Elite and 'Afula hit by Hizballah's Katyushas

2006-07-17T10:45:00.000+02:00

Nazareth Elite (Nazerat Illit) and 'Afula, two Israeli towns, were hit last night at approximately 2000GMT by Katyushas fired by Hizballah.

But shhhhh - don't tell anybody. The Israeli army wants to keep it a secret. That's why there has been virtually no coverage following the event.

Why? Well, Knesset (Israeli parliament) Member Zvi Hendel (National Union – NRP) thinks that doing so would "serve the enemy", so he's called on Israel's Chief of Staff Dan Halutz to ban the media from reporting the exact spots of rocket landing.

In addition, Israeli intelligence has also been preventing al-Jazeera's reporters (Elias Karam and others) from doing their job through detentions, questioning, and forced censorship.

Has Israel forgotten about its kidnapped soldiers?

2006-07-15T23:19:00.000+02:00

I think so.

Or if it hasn't, then it really wasn't about Israel's soldiers in the first place.

Ilan Pappe's recent Electronic Intifada article offers some good perspective on what Israel is really about in Lebanon. And Putin two hours ago made comments that hint of having probably read the Pappe article.

Being engaged in 'low intensity warfare' with the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, even following the intifada in 2000, is extremely frustrating when you're the biggest military power in the Middle East. So they used the Hizballah capture of 2 soldiers to wreak havoc on Lebanese civilians and civilian infrastructre so that Hizballah is blamed; they implicated Syria and Iran because they want nothing more than to fire their toys and see all three aforementioned parties no longer in existence.

I suppose the aim is so that the world no longer mistakes them for a weak ethnicity that was unable to prevent the Holocaust; maybe it's cognitive dissonance after running up a debt of 74 billion dollars of which military spending factors heavily.

Fine. But at what cost?

Lebanon and Israel update

2006-07-15T21:20:00.002+02:00

Reuters says Israel killed at least 34 civilians on Saturday (by 1915 GMT), including 15 children, in air strikes meant to punish Lebanon for letting Hizbollah guerrillas menace the Jewish state's northern border.

In the meantime, little Katya has the State on Kidnap. Watch for her.

Hizballah - Representing Resistance or Terrorism?

2006-07-15T15:35:00.000+02:00

I’m sorry that innocent Lebanese have to die. But don’t you realise that the despicable, morally bankrupt Israeli army is specifically targeting civilians, civilian infrastructure and Lebanon’s pretty café’s so as to turn the people against Hizballah?

Don’t you realise that in taking out families from major villages in the south (and now also in the north) the Israeli army hopes to turn the civilians against the moqawimeen (resistance)?

Hizballah is representing resistance to Israeli oppression. Oppression against Gazawis, those in the West Bank and to the Palestinian minority citizens of Israel.

I know cause I’m in Israel. Maybe my town will be hit by a long range missile, but if it’s a step towards changing current Israeli policy meted out to the Palestinians and really all Arabs for that matter, then I’ll be okay with it.

Kidnap the State

2006-07-12T17:49:00.000+02:00

So Ivory Coast lost. And Italy won. Who cares?

The State is on kidnap. As of 1600 GMT, 7 Israeli soldiers dead, 2 kidnapped.

A Lebanese celebrates in Beirut (AP)

Lots has happened

2006-06-13T17:15:00.000+02:00

...since I last wrote.

The Israelis have a new government but everything is still the same, the Occupation's absolute disregard for the lives of Gazawi civilians has never shown itself as explicitly in recent memory as it did this past week, as of 11am this morning I officially became an agent, and the World Cup is here and Ivory Coast is going to make some tidal waves (that'll inshallah drown out all the colonisers).

Are you ready?

The Basilica of the Annunciation in my hometown Nazareth attacked

2006-03-06T10:50:00.000+02:00

On Friday at around 5pm, the Church of the Basilica in my hometown Nazareth was attacked by 3 Jewish people - Haim Eliahu Habibi, 44, his wife Violet and their daughter Odelia, 20.

I was at the Basilica soon after the bombing happened, and stayed around till approximately 10:30pm when the police finally left Nazareth.

I took some good pictures of the event and the protest march held on Saturday and will upload them soon.

In the meantime, Ehud Olmert's (Israel's acting PM) use of the incident to instigate divide between the Christian and Muslim populations in Nazareth is plain despicable. Nevertheless, this policy of 'divide and conquer' appears to be official governmental policy towards the Arab population here.

To treat Druze as non-Arab, to inflame tensions over the Sha'ab il-Diin square in Nazareth so as to pit Christian against Muslim, to portray Muslims as barbarians and Christians as being more peace-loving; this has always been official policy of the State so as to weaken a popular movement against the State's discriminatory strategies and to lower the voice of a united Arab people. However, no one is fooled.

When we marched on Saturday in protest of the bombing - we marched through the Sha'ab il-Diin square which was previously covered up since it was a source of tension between Christians and Muslims in Nazareth. But marching through the now uncovered area is very symbolic and very indicative of chants that roared through Nazareth the last few days,

Wahideh wahideh wataniya, islamu u masihiyyeh

Is Israel for real?

2006-03-03T14:36:00.000+02:00

My colleagues and I were responding to some queries from an Irish solidarity group and we compiled the following information about the Palestinian Arab minority for them.

So I'll share some real facts about the Palestinian minority living in Israel:

Real fact 1: Since 1948 till today, there have been 700 new Jewish communities established, but not a single Arab community, despite the fact that the Palestinian minority has increased by 750 percent (from approximately 160,000 in 1948 to 1,200,000 in 2004).

Real fact 2: Although the Palestinian minority constitutes 18% of the population, they live on only 2.4% of the land. The land given to the Jewish community is 800% more that for the Arab community. In the Galilee, where the Palestinian minority constitutes 72% of the population, they live on only 16% of the lands.

Real fact 3: The Arabs live mainly in three (old) villages and three main Arab cities. The infrastrucure is extremely substandard due to government fund allocations for development being discriminatory. The villages are overcrowded and houses are built without permits (as they are very hard to obtain if you are of Arab ethnicity), and it therefore comes as no surprise that thousands of Arabs have built their houses 'illegally'.

"I've no particular biases towards or against Israelis"

2006-02-22T10:41:00.000+02:00

For real.

I take serious issue with specific governmental policy within the State, general policy in the Occupied Territories and information policy internationally. But I have no particular bias against Israelis. And I told this to one of the security staff at the Jorden Valley border-crossing during my 6 hour detention - "I've no particular biases towards or against Israelis. But treatment like this is humiliating and insulting, and it steals me of my dignity."

I looked him in his eyes and spoke with unreserved sincerity. He stood for a couple of seconds, nodded, and stepped away. I think he saw what I saw.

In any event - in my show of not being against Israelis / not being an anti-semite, I've decided to post an anti-Semitic cartoon. Relax! These are taken from boomka and come in response to an Iranian newspaper saying they will launch an anti-semitic cartoon contest after Danish papers posted about the prophet Mohammad (saw). Boomka has therefore launched a new anti-Semitic cartoons contest - this time drawn by Jews themselves! “We’ll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published!”

They stole my dignity for 6 hours and criminalised all things Arab

2006-02-19T10:55:00.000+02:00

I returned to Israel's Jordan Valley border crossing at 730am this morning. After 2 hours of detention/extensive searching/questioning (in addition to the same that I encountered yesterday for 4 hours), I was grudgingly let through.

Let through after being made to feel inhuman for having affiliations to 'enemy ethnicities/religious inclinations'. Not their words, mine. But if they were to word their discriminatory actions, I suppose it would probably sound like that.

I'm a Canadian; but because of my travel to the Gulf, my Arab background and my work in human rights, I was subjected to treatment I would wish on nobody. It was insulting and it stole my dignity. It made me strip my pants to my knees, walk around the building without shoes and jacket when external temperatures stood at 7 degrees, it went through personal messages and contacts on my cellphone unrelated to 'security', it refused to speak with Canadian Foreign Ministry Officials that I was in contact with, it made fun of Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East, and it made it a crime to speak Arabic.

Shu sawee?

Denied entry on ethnic grounds

2006-02-18T22:55:00.000+02:00

I'm now in Irbid, Jordan because after a 4 hour detention the Israeli authorities decided they wouldn't let me in through the Jordan Valley Border crossing. So they've told me to sleep the night in Jordan and return to the border crossing tomorrow and try again.

Will try to keep the world updated on the blatant religious/ethnic discrimination by the Israeli state, which I have had the displeasure of experiencing for the 4th time in 5 months. This last time has definitely been the worst.

Dahab was, well, golden

2006-02-05T21:16:00.000+02:00

Drove here

Slept here

I was in Dahab, Egypt's Sinai last week for 5 days.

It was a good break. And the Red Sea is really a sea like no other.

Swam here

The secret wish, in the not too distant future, is to be lost somewhere inbetween.

Black and Blue

2006-01-16T12:26:00.000+02:00

My only sin

Is in my skin

What did I do

To be so black and blue?

Louis Armstrong's words at a time and a place where I have never felt more racially profiled in my life.

Ariel Sharon is not feeling well

2006-01-12T13:12:00.000+02:00

Jalal al-Rafai, al-Dustour (Jordan)

My date with the kamanche and classical Iranian music

2006-01-06T17:13:00.000+02:00

Last month (I've been slow with the posting I know) I met with the Kamanche (کمانچه) and classical Iranian music in Haifa. I could do with a second date right about now.

The kamanche is the only bowed string instrument in classical Iranian music. That night in December it was played by Mark Eliyahu; also on feature was Amir Shahsar, flutist and vocalist. One of the biggest things I took from the event (put on by Beit Al-Musica) was the tension between these two individuals. They were both tremendous artists in their own right, but it seemed that the stage on that night was just not big enough for the two of them.

But they managed to tie it together well. And along with the Palestinian artist, Samir Makhoul on oud, some Tajik musicians, and a dancing queen stepping to Sufi rhythms, the sounds produced had my undivided attention.

I'm willing to share December's date with the rest of you because music like this is too good to be kept to just one person - but I need your assistance: outside of putfile, how else can I do this?

Mark Eliyahu on Kamanche

Amir Shahsar on flute

Amin Elayev (on Tajik percussion) looking over at Eliyahu doing his thing

Getting poetic about Palestinian eroticism

2005-12-20T16:29:00.000+02:00

مشكلة عرب اسرائيل وثماره – كابوس، فتعداد العربي في إسرائيل قد تخطى المليون وهو ينمو بسرعة
انظر إليهم – تسودّ الدنيا في عينيك! سأقولها من دون أجرح اليهود: العرب في الليل يحرثون ليعظموا جنسهم
ما هذا – خسوف ضوء القمر، نفحة ملاك الموت، علامة الشغب؟ فأنثى الأرنب، القطة، الجرادة لا تعرف مثل هذا الشَّبَق!"

· The problem of the Arab-Israelis and their produce – a nightmare; the number of Arabs in Israel is over 1 million and increasing.
· Look at them - Life blackens in front of your eyes! I will tell it without taking anything from the Jews – the Arabs are working hard at night in order to make great their race!
· What is this – is it a lunar eclipse, the breath of the angel of death, a signal of riot? Even the female rabbit, the cat, and the locust do not know such eroticism.

The above is a poem written by Gershon Ben-Ya'acov, and posted in the Russian-Israeli newspaper, Vesti (August 25, 2005). Needless to say, they're being sued for incitement of racism. And possibly also on aesthetic grounds.

It's been raining in Nasereh

2005-12-16T16:29:00.000+02:00

It's been raining in Nasereh.
We've been blessed with grey skies and temperatures of 14 degrees.

So this afternoon I stole the opportunity to indulge in the company of coffee, and in that of a beautiful Nazarene by the name of K.

For some reason, on this wet afternoon in Nasereh, the coffee finally tasted like it should.

Disenfranchised Bedouin youth

2005-12-15T19:35:00.000+02:00

The Center for Information and Higher Education in the Naqab (Negev) presented troubling information as regards education among the Arab Bedouin of the Naqab. Only 2,000 Arab Bedouin graduate from high-school every year, and less than 10% thereafter enter institutions of higher education. In addition, approximately two-thirds of students change their program of study when at university/college, while a quarter of female Bedouin do not complete their bachelors.

Approximately two-thirds of Bedouin that do enter institutions of higher education do not succeed in English. Furthermore, on average a Bedouin student stays a year longer at an institution of higher education than his Jewish counterpart. (www.arabs48.com, November 23, 2005).

You need only to see the living conditions for Bedouin in the unrecognised villages of the Naqab to understand why the above is happening.

It's very shocking, and such a shame that youth are being deprived of a future. They have no present, and the only way to make a future would be through education - and they don't even have that made available to them.

Unreal.

جدارية في بيت لحم

2005-12-06T20:47:00.000+02:00

On Sunday, the Arab HRA's 'Human Rights Education and Community Outreach' Department took around 30 youth to Bethlehem, in the West Bank, to throw a Diego Rivera on the Wall.

As there are always aguafiestas looking to rain on the parade, this occasion was no different. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were quick to disperse the muralists in action.

In any event, I'm of the opinion that these young artists well deserve a round of applause.

Chilling in al-Quds with Loay Qudsi

2005-12-04T19:53:00.000+02:00

I spent the 26th and the 27th of November in al-Quds/Jerusalem with sa7iby, Loay Qudsi.

In case you were wondering, his last name has no connection with al-Quds because he's originally from Nabulus.

In any event, we dabbled in some nightlife on the 26th, and the next day, which also happened to be my birthday, we spent in the Old City, at Hebrew University and at Fort David (Gila3t Dawood). The suug in the old city was something else, and let me tell you about the hummus!

Al-Quds also houses a piazza, and together with its cafés and live music, it felt at times European. I liked it.

Yes, I liked it. But not everyone would agree - others feel there's just too much tension in the air. The population roughly breaks down like this - 30% religious Jews, 30% secular and 30% Arab. Since East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel, it has become a city that breathes tension. The annexed East Jerusalemites refused to take on Israeli citizenship, and the majority to date identify as Palestinian.

For information on Israel's current policy in East Jerusalem, and how the population is daily being strangled, see this leaked report from the European Union's Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

I'll post the following pictures to relay the rest of the story.

On the way to the Old City

Qudsi sizing up the entrance to the Old City

Al Aqsa in the distance

EMHRN meeting in Vienna, November 12-13, 2005

2005-11-24T17:40:00.000+02:00

I was in Vienna last weekend at a network meeting; the network is called the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN). The Arab HRA, the organisation I represent, sits on the Steering Committee of the network's Working Group, called the Working Group on Palestine/Israel.

We finalised European advocacy strategies in London and Brussels for December 2005, and spoke of future possibilities for late 2006.

Although the meeting schedule didn't allow for a visit into Vienna, we did manage to sample great chocolate, rich ice wine and some warm hospitality from a Croatian-minority couple living near the city of Neusiedl am See.

Room Keys at the Hotel

Guess who... found an iron that morning

Caffeine Advocacy

Why Gaza is still Occupied Territory

2005-11-19T16:54:00.000+02:00

Gaza is still occupied. We heard it from a Gazawi (Gazan), the Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Raji Sourani. He was supposed to meet with us in Austria as part of the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network's 'Working group on Palestine/Israel', but because no Gazawi can currently leave Gaza, we had to settle for a teleconference with him.

This is what Raji had to say:

The Occupation remains and Gaza is completely disconnected from the West Bank and Al-Quds (Jerusalem). Israel maintains complete air and land control (in spite of the fact that there is no physical army presence on the ground).

Mainstream media talks about Gazawis now having the chance to step up to the plate and prove themselves. But here is the de facto situation on Gazawi ground:
- Lives of Gaza's inhabitants still completely controlled.
- Israeli navy presence just 10 metres from Gaza's shores.
- 3-5 kms from border, Israel fires sonic bombs as a method of intimidation.
- Political assassinations commonplace by Israeli apaches. Since the disengagement and until November 13, 2005 - 17 such killings.
- The Rafah border crossing is totally sealed.
- Unemployment in Gaza used to stand at 66% - today it is more. 81% people under poverty line – facing real economic, social, political strangulation.
- Israel decides what Gazawis drink, eat and wear. Very frightening.
- Buffer zones exist in the north and west; the army will shoot and kill any movement in that area.
- Gazawi fisherman can’t even go to the sea.
- There are 985 kilo bombs parked 360° around Gaza.
- Israel has been able to achieve this ‘withdrawal mirage’.
- However, the reality is very different and is not promising on any level.
- 1.4 million people are caged in. And nobody seems to see that.

He added:

- 7,000 settlers evacuated – which is great. But it’s business as usual. Remember, the withdrawal wasn't about the Palestinians; it was about a military presence that was working out too costly for them.
- Israel has marketed the Disengagement smartly; so much so that they can reasonably convince the Europeans to work with them on Israeli security.
- Israel is manufacturing another Bin Laden in Gaza by continuing their present practice in the region.

Advocating for Palestinians

2005-11-10T20:39:00.000+02:00

To make inroads into seeing true Palestinian representation within Israel (and even in the Occupied Territories; yes Gaza is still occupied), the struggle can assume two forms:

- An internal struggle, and
- A struggle that employs external advocacy measures

True, empowerment of the population is vital to seeing representation... as are other internal strategies - like working with the Israeli public to make them aware of real Palestinian issues, political participation, and even (running contrary to the previous) economic and political boycotts. However, part of the struggle is applying external pressure on the Israeli government; international advocacy helps us get there.

I will be in Vienna, Austria tomorrow, and for the following 3 days, to work on just that. The Euro Med Human Rights Network's 'Working Group on Palestine/Israel', on whose Steering Committee the Arab HRA sits, will be meeting to talk about the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Barcelona Process and general advocacy strategies for Occupied Palestine and Israel.

Look, if they don't listen to us, maybe they'll listen to those that can prospectively make them richer. Maybe they'll listen to those that they aspire to be, the Europeans.

Anyway, details on the meeting to follow.
Must get to packing.
Leaving shortly.
Very.
Short.
Notice.

And in the words of Lascelles, my Jamaican/ Torontonian/ photographingmanofwisdomwithmanywordsofintellect, Keep the faith, the beat goes on...

Quotes from the West Bank

2005-11-08T22:21:00.000+02:00

Two weeks ago I was in Bethlehem. In the West Bank.

There are stories of border crossings, the current status of Palestinian civil society, and why the Palestinian women I've met are not what I expected (not a bad thing). But I'll postpone those stories for tomorrow.

Today I'll leave you with quotes. Quotes from the two conferences I attended. Also in attendance were European funders and advocacy groups, Palestinian and Israeli NGOs, and words spoken but till date not understood...

"If you dig a hole with a needle, you make a packet, then you take a spoon, then you take a shovel..."

He then adds, "They are from us who is doing it yknow, they are not from them."

This from the moderator, "It’s kind of like an active forum. It’s kind of like a weird animal."

"Mohammed, let’s go step by step. I’m really feeling like, yknow, a car turning round and round in a playground..."

"Mohammed, Laila... wait! Everything is missing… I’m not bullshitting myself, neither you guys here yknow… I explained yesterday, working on the Israelis and not with the Israelis… Mohammed you are really trying to put make-up on the face of the thing… This is the normalisation terms that we used and we ate shit!"

This is an open call to all translators; we're west-banking on you.

Lubna Azabal

2005-11-07T17:11:00.000+02:00

This post goes out to young, talented female actors world-over; and is especially directed to Belgian artists of Moroccan origin.

Belgian artists of Moroccan origin that exhibit soul in their step and breathe character in their smile.

I had the pleasure of meeting, albeit briefly, Lubna Azabal of Paradise Now / Exils / Viva Laldjérie - fame. She's in Nasereh for the French Cultural Centre's 1ère édition du Festival du Film Français de Nazareth.

I'm not sure how much of her spirit you can feel through the inserted photos, but I'll throw them in anyway because they're easy on the eyes.

Veo aspectos de las actrices de mi vida personal - Brooke, Jimagua, Zuzia - en ella

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

2005-10-17T22:53:00.000+02:00

Today a world collectively impoverished in the failure of our governments to effectively aid the destitute

Today, October 17, is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. That this Day has been observed since 1993 is telling – it speaks of the urgency to combat poverty for those that live along society's margins - social, economic and political, and it emphasises the role that developed nations are obliged to play in this global struggle.

The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) sees poverty as breeding an environment non-conducive to human rights. We believe that poverty constructs serious obstacles to the enjoyment of basic human rights, and leaves individuals within its grasp without basic human dignity; individuals living in poverty have only limited access to food, water and adequate housing.

The National Insurance Institute of Israel published a report last year which said that 54% of Arab children and 50% of Arab families live under the poverty line in Israel. This is the result of official policy that has brought about cuts to welfare benefits and other forms of social assistance, and only serves to further marginalise the poor – affecting most directly children and the elderly. These policies also exacerbate the divide between rich and poor; so much so that Israel, followed by the US, is currently the developed nation with the most number of people living under the poverty line.

The HRA feels that poverty warrants more urgency than, and should therefore be addressed before, sustainable development issues.

Currently, malnutrition seriously afflicts the Arab populations of Israel, in particular those that live in the Naqab (Negev) and in unrecognised villages. A direct result of malnutrition is the inability to enjoy the basic human rights of health, education and mental and physical growth. Left unresolved, the following generation stands to inherit the present generation's poverty and lack of basic human rights.

UNICEF declared that over 50% of children in the world currently live in poverty. Furthermore:

640 million lack adequate housing
400 million lack access to clean water
140 million children, for various reasons, are not in school

The HRA believes that all this is evidence of the failings of world governments. They have failed in implementing their international commitment to save the poor and children of the world and have failed to comply with their moral commitment to humanity.

This comes at a time when governments spend billions on weapons and hundreds of millions on wars that are immoral, and that to date have only exacerbated death, poverty, hatred, hunger and human rights violations in our world.

The above is a press release issued by the Arab HRA, jointly prepared by Mohammad Zeidan and me.

Palestine in Black and White. And Red and Green.

2005-10-17T01:07:00.000+02:00

I scoured the Arab HRA archives for these photos - some from the Occupied Territories, others from Israel; unlike most photos posted on this website, I can't credit these to my name.

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Top-down: Photos 1-7

Protesting Sheikh Yassin's assassination in Israel - Photos 1, 2, 3, 4
Ramallah Checkpoint - Photo 5
Ramallah's Future - Photo 6
Kids at an Arab HRA summer camp - Photo 7

Between Kfar Manda and Sakhnin

2005-10-16T00:07:00.000+02:00

Naked stars wait for us between Kfar Manda and Sakhnin

So why are we still here?

Instead we'll choose lonely highways where street lights don't live

Together we'll journey blind

And you in the embrace of restlessness, will slowly push me away

Hina Jilani's personal quest for really good falafel

2005-10-15T10:37:00.000+02:00

The Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Hina Jilani, was at our office on Monday. She was officially touring Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to look at the conditions and challenges faced by human rights defenders. Unofficially, however, she was on a personal quest for the best falafel. Doubtless she came across it in an Arab neighbourhood. ;)

'Human rights defenders' is a term used to describe people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights.

In regard to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, she wrote this, 'conditions and an environment which place human rights defenders operating in these areas at grave risk and presents serious obstructions in every aspect of their functioning.' (UN OHCHR Press Release, October 11, 2005). Although Israel was comparatively 'freer', she acknowledged the difficulties defenders face here. From Monday's meeting, 2 points immediately spring to mind:

- NGO-ers have bags, computers and other material in their possession probed when travelling abroad.
- Lawyers and their clients are refused privacy to confer with one another in prison; to confer they must use a phone (which is open to the risk of being tapped) and be watched over by prison guards (whom, word has it, are endowed with hearing faculties little seen in this part of the world).

Bottom line?

For really good falafel: must travel to Arab town

Qatar sponsors Arab-Israeli soccer team, Sakhnin

2005-10-12T00:53:00.000+02:00

Haaretz, September 11, 2005:

The president of the Qatar National Olympic Committee, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, met yesterday in the Qatari capital Doha with an Israeli delegation led by MK Ahmed Tibi (Hadash-Ta'al) and Sakhnin mayor Mohammed Bashir to finalize the details of a $6 million donation to the Bnei Sakhnin soccer club.

Sakhnin is the only Arab Palestinian team in Israel's Premier Soccer League.
As recently as earlier this year, it was the only team without a home stadium.
Till today, it is the team that struggles most with finances.

But against all these odds, Sakhnin won last year's Premier League.

I only learnt about the team upon my arrival; but it hasn't taken me long to fall in love with them. Soccer is my game, and an Arab soccer team that makes it through with all the world's obstacles in place - wow. Respect. I look forward to watching a home-game in 10 days.

With regard to Qatari sponsorship of an Arab-Israeli team, I show support. There should be more support for Palestinian Arabs living within Israel. They're too often seen as 'collaborators' or 'Israeli' to warrant any help from Gulf nations. I appreciate Qatar's move and wish more GCC countries would see things in the same light. This community received Israeli citizenship by default (though some would disagree with the term) - either by not being forced off their lands by the Israeli forces or by not fleeing. Either way, the majority identify as Palestinian.

And no where did this show itself more publicly and collectively than in the October 2000 events. These events were a testament to how the struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were the struggles of Palestinians living within Israel; their issues are not the same, and it cannot be expected that they be, but their collective identity is Palestinian.

For more on Sakhnin and the urgency to show it support, I'll leave you with excerpts from Jonathan Cook's article, Arab footballers make Israeli history:

The team, called Bnei Sakhnin, are carrying aloft the hopes of the Jewish state... Israeli media has been arguing that the victory reflects a new atmosphere of coexistence between the country's Jewish majority and its one million Arab citizens... In fact, relations between Jews and Arabs have rarely been worse... One of the disturbing trends noted by Mossawa are racist chants at football matches, particularly since Sakhnin and another Arab squad, Nazareth, qualified for the premier division last season... In June the first football fan was convicted of shouting "Death to the Arabs" at a match in Jerusalem.
Certainly, Sakhnin needs all the help they can get. The only major team without a stadium, Sakhnin have had to use a scrap of cleared land among olive groves for training. Their municipality, like most other Arab councils, is deep in the red after decades of underfunding from the central government... Today, overcrowded Sakhnin is surrounded on all sides by a military base, an industrial estate and a string of luxury hilltop Jewish communities, which have been given control of the town's lands...
...apparently worried by bad publicity, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stepped in to pledge $2 million for a stadium. The money is all very well, says Sakhnin engineer Kassem Abu Riya. "But where will Sakhnin find the land to build a stadium when we haven't the space for homes, let alone badly needed public facilities such as youth centres, recreation areas and proper schools?"

Pretty things need upkeep pretty often

2005-10-10T23:06:00.000+02:00

Keeping the patio pretty isn't an easy task.

It calls for a broom, a dustpan and something called effort. I usually manage to bring them altogether on a Sunday.

Here's an indication of the mammoth task at hand every weekend

And here's why it's worth it

Political views from Haifa

2005-10-07T17:30:00.000+02:00

I spent yesterday in Haifa with work colleagues, Hamad and his wife; they had me over for futoor. On offer was an amazing spread of food and a television; I haven't had much of either since my arrival to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last month, so I made sure to take multiple helpings of both.

Hamad was talking about how he interpreted being Palestinian Arab in Israel:
- Either you can go along with the crowd and voluntarily shed your Arab identity; this of course makes things easier for you in dealings with the police, the government and society in general.
- Or you can hold strong to your Arab identity and deal with its repercussions.

Hamad was about the latter, and for him that meant not voting in Knesset (the Israeli parliament) elections, even if Arab MKs (Members of the Knesset) were running. He felt it selling out; and a lot of people do... playing by Israel's rules is selling out to Israel.

Others, like 25 year old Yamen Al-Hijri, don't agree. Active in politics and an engineer by profession, he calls for his people to be smart. He stresses the importance of working with both options at hand - Arab and Israeli. He votes in the Knesset for Arab MKs and wishes that more would do the same. He also believes in an Arab Parliament being constructed within Israel so that issues tackling the Arab population are given focus.

He says that today Arab Palestinians make up 20% of the population so that they can't really afford not to play by the rules. However, once the dynamics change and the Palestinian population within Israel and the Territories is in the majority (2020 by some estimates), then the Palestinians will be in a better position to shape Israeli politics and see real change within their community.

Political views from Hamad's balcony

(overlooking the Mediterranean)

Ramadhan Kareem

2005-10-04T20:25:00.000+02:00

رمضان مبارك

a Nasereh side street at night

The events of October 2000

2005-10-03T12:37:00.000+02:00

Courtesy www.arabs48.com /صورة من المسيرة المركزية على طريق كوكب ابو الهيجاء - سخنين

The events of October 2000 have etched themselves on the memories of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel as a time when those in charge could walk away with blind murder, literally.

October 2000 is marked by the killing of 12 innocent Palestinians living within Israel while they were protesting Israeli aggression in the Occupied Territories during the Intifada.

So on the 1st of October, as has happened over the last 5 years, a maseereh / march was organised to commemorate the deaths of the 13 (12 from Israel, 1 from the Territories). This year's march, which I attended, holds special significance because the authorities in charge of the investigation, the Mahash, recently published their conclusions. This final report found no one to be responsible in the deaths of the 13, and came after a state-sanctioned commission recommended criminal prosecution for specific officers.

Arab leaders point to institutionalised racism as being at the heart of the situation, as Arab Palestinians within Israel are increasingly being viewed as a demographic threat, and as Israel's fifth column.

Sunset in Nasereh

2005-10-01T17:48:00.000+02:00

Sunset in Nasereh

Sunset on us

Too soon

We've motioned the sun down

Before its time

But complacent

It tucks itself away

in non-communication

In our non-communication

We're left strangers in the dark

Unrecognised villages in the Nagab (Negev)

2005-09-30T13:50:00.000+02:00

The state that claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East is not telling you the whole truth.

Nevermind Israeli policy in the Gaza and West Bank, discrimination on multiple fronts is being meted out among their own citizens, particularly ethnic Ethiopian Jews and Palestinian Arabs. The focus of this entry is on the latter.

The following is provided courtesy of the Association of 40 / لجنة الأربعين :

The plight of the Arab Unrecognised Villages first began in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel. Even though these Arab Villages existed hundreds of years ago, consecutive Israeli governments have ignored their existence, and their Bedouin inhabitants have been denied their rights as citizens of the country.

Since '48, these villages have not appeared on any map and there is still no plan for their development. As a result of this lack of recognition, the villages still lack basic infrastructure: Today, there are approximately 100,000 people who are dispossessed or denied any basic services such as running water, electricity, proper education, health services and access roads - constituting a gross violation of human rights and opposing the values of a modern and democratic state.

Waiting for the bus

2005-09-29T10:24:00.000+02:00

I took the bus from Haifa to Nazareth this morning.

5 minutes before the bus could make a showing, someone in uniform did. He looked at me good, made note of the beard that I'd let grow for a week and a half now, and then began speaking Hebrew.

I don't speak Hebrew, but I knew why he was saying whatever it was he was saying.

Authorities here have special units that make directed stops at various bus stations throughout the state. These units greet those waiting for the bus, and based on the reply (and accent), conclude if you're a threat or not i.e. If you're Arab or not.

"I don't speak Hebrew".
"Oh, so you're a tourist. Okay then - have a good day".

Apple-picking in the Golan Heights

2005-09-28T08:01:00.000+02:00

Saleem Durzi (above) from the Joolan took us to his family's apple plot to pick fruit from the earth. The Joolan is well known for its apples, and the locals can talk for hours about them - how they grow, how they're stored in mega-freezers, how they're pressed, and even how to eat them!

In this Garden of Eden were Elias, myself and Incognita (below).

في الجنة عدن

Landmines in the Golan Heights

2005-09-26T12:27:00.000+02:00

There are landmines among currently inhabited homes that overlook the Syrian border.

Local people say that on occasion little kids cross the barbed wire, because caught in the moment, kids playing don't think of boundaries or barriers.

This is also the area where people from the Joolan come to speak with relatives on the Syrian side of the border. Reasons: its proximity to Syria, and the acoustics on offer.

Aloooo??

She looks to the Lebanese border and Majdl Shams

2005-09-25T19:22:00.000+02:00

Last week was spent in the Joolan/Golan Heights.
It was beautiful, and as the picture relates, so was the company.

Saleem, a Druze like most people from the region, and resident of the Joolan, showed us around his neighbourhood and had us over for lunch at his mother's. The food was ladheedh killish i.e. real good. He spoke about identity of his people within Israel - that they don't consider themselves Israeli, but as Syrians under occupation.

It was a good Saturday, and the Joolan's September breeze had something to do with it.

Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship

2005-09-25T19:15:00.000+02:00

For those unclear about the situation,there are 2 groups of Palestinian Arabs by geographical location:

1 - Palestinian Arabs living within the Occupied Territories - Gaza and the West Bank.

2 - Palestinian Arabs that live within the Green Line i.e. within Israel, and carry Israeli citizenship. They were the Palestinians caught within Israel's 1948 borders, and include Druze and the Bedouin.

They are referred to mainly as 'Arab-Israelis' in the international media. However, the majority prefer to be referred to as Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship/Palestinian Arabs living within Israel.

Most of nasrawi will focus on their struggle.

Nasrawi

2005-09-25T19:01:00.000+02:00

Nasrawi is from Nasereh, Israel & the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

He's here because he believes he can make change, even if it can't be seen in the immediate. And he also believes life is about opening up and experiencing; even if it makes things seem smaller after. He's NGO-ing with a Palestinian Arab organisation, and hopes to speak of his experiences in the city of Nasereh, aka Nazareth, and the rest of this land.

Originally from the T-dot and Emarat.

Watch for photos and commentary, and no further references to self in the 3rd person.