Palestina/Izrael:
Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment - Book by Mazin Qumsiyeh
Over two-thirds of the 10 million native Palestinians in the world are refugees or displaced people. This outcome, like all other similar situations in history such as in South Africa, could not have come about without resistance to the violence of colonialism. But most of this resistance has been in the form of civil/nonviolent resistance that is little discussed elsewhere. This book will answer an acute need in the literature on this neglected area. Because there has been key transformative events that bookmark chapters of our history, we use the intervening periods as indeed chapters to discuss what acts of civil resistance transpired and what lessons are drawn from them. These periods: the resistance to Zionism during the Ottoman rule (from the first colonies in 1878 til 1917); the British era from 1917 (Balfour Declaration) to 1935; the 1936-1939 uprising; the period between the start of WWII and the Nakba of destruction of hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages between 1947-1949; the period of fragmentation of the Palestinian population in exile and divided among the rule of Israel, Jordan and Egypt (to 1967); the unification under one ethnocentric Jewish state after 1967 to 1987; the uprising of 1987-1991; the Oslo years 1992-2000; and the Al-Aqsa Intifada starting in 2000. Various UN resolutions and customary International law affirmed the legitimacy of armed resistance. For example, UNGA A/RES/33/24 of 29 November 1978 "Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, particularly armed struggle". The principle of self-determination itself provides that where forcible action has been taken to suppress the right, force may be used in order to counter this and achieve self-determination. Considering decades of ethnic cleansing, violence, destruction, it is actually surprising how few Palestinians engaged in violent resistance as a whole (whether internationally sanctioned or not). In fact, from the first Zionist colony in 1878 until the 1920s, we show in this book that nearly 50 years had elapsed of popular nonviolent resistance.
Pro-Peace Groups to Confront AIPAC's Love-Fest for Israeli Militarism
A cultural and political rift is widening within the Jewish-American community. It's a divide that will be on display later this month in Washington, DC, as the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) holds its annual meeting and a broad coalition of progressive groups answer with a dueling “Move Over, AIPAC” conference highlighting the powerful PAC's disproportionate influence over U.S. policy in the Middle East. “We hope to show the Congress and the administration that AIPAC is not the only game in town,” Code Pink's Medea Benjamin, one of the campaign organizers, told AlterNet. “It doesn't represent all of the opinions of the Jewish community or of the population at large, and it's time for U.S. policy in the Middle East to be made in the interest of the United States and not in the perceived interest of Israel.”
Lord Dubs raises concerns for Palestinian child detainees in UK Parliament
We went to see how children are treated by this system of military justice. Approximately 700 Palestinian children are prosecuted every year in these courts, and at the end of January this year some 222 were in jail. In the court we visited we saw a 14 year-old and a 15-year-old, one of them in tears, both looking absolutely bewildered. What shocked me as much as anything was to see that these young persons-children-had chains or shackles around their ankles while sitting in court. They were also handcuffed as they went into court. Although the handcuffs were taken off while they were in court, they were put on again as they left the court. When being interogated these young people do not have the security of video recordings, lawyers or parents present. In fact, if parents want to visit, their permission might take 60 days to come through, by which time the young person might have served his or her sentence. The court proceedings are in Hebrew, with translations of a doubtful quality. The verdicts are mostly based on uncorroborated confession evidence.
Palestinian teen buried in Jerusalem
U Jeruzalemu pokopan ubijeni palestinski maloljetnik (14. svibanj 2011.)
Oko 2000 ljudi okupilo se na pogrebu palestinskog tinejdžera Milada Saida Ayyasha (16) koji je ubijen u petak tijekom prosvjeda Palestinaca u okupiranom Istočnom Jeruzalemu. Prosvjedima se na palestinskim područjima, u arapskim zemljama, Izraelu i diljem svijeta obilježava 63. obljetnica Nakbe. Pogrebna povorka se kretala od Ayyashevog doma u četvrti Ras Al-Amud pored obližnjeg isključivo židovskog kolonističkog naselja gdje su izraelske sigurnosne snage ispaljivale suzavac na mladiće koji su ih gađali kamenjem. Izraelski su mediji izvijestili da je bilo ranjenih i uhićenih. Sudionici prosvjeda su nosili palestinske i Fatahove zastave, a palestinska zastava se zavijorila i s krova džamije u kojoj su se održavale molitve za pokojnika. Jedan je Ayyashov srodnik novinarima izjavio da je ubijenog u trbuh vatrenim oružjem pogodio jedan židovski kolonist u četvrti Silwan, dok policija tvrdi da je Ayyash zadobio lakšu povredu ramena, čiji je uzrok još uvijek nepoznat, te da je istraga u tijeku. Policija tvrdi da ni kolonisti ni sigurnosne snage nisu koristili bojevo streljivo. Obitelj ubijenog je izrealskoj policiji odbila dopustiti da provede obdukciju i pokupila njegovo tijelo iz bolnice u Istočnom Jeruzalemu u kojoj je od zadobivene ozljede preminuo tijekom noći. Izraelska je policija u petak uhitila 34 palestinskih mladića koje sumnjiči da su narušavali javni red, dok ih je u srijedu i četvrtak uhićeno 13. Policija tvrdi da su u sukobima s prosvjednicima koji su na policiju bacali kamenje i Molotovljeve koktele lakše ozblijeđena 3 policajca i 3 prosvjednika. Dopisnik AFP-a tvrdi da je u Silwanu vidio najmanje 4 Palestinaca koji su bili ozlijeđeni gumenim metcima koje je policija ispalila na mladiće koji su je u Silwanu gađali kamenjem. Sukobi su također izbili u četvrtima Issawiya, Al-Tur i Ras al-Amud koji se nalaze pored Starog grada u Jeruzalemu. Palestinske organizacije u nedjelju organiziraju masovne skupove i prosvjede, uključujući i u susjednim arapskim zemljama. Egipatska je vojska propalestinskim prosvjednicima blokirala pristup Sinajskom poluotoku. Prosvjednici su namjeravali u subotu iz Kaira krenuti u Pojas Gaze. Prije 63 godine, prilikom nastanka države Izrael, iz svojih je domova protjerano ili izbjeglo više od 760 000 Palestinaca – velika većina autohtonog stanovništva. Tim je ljudima i njihovim potomcima, čiji se broj danas procjenjuje na oko 4,7 milijuna, još uvijek onemogućen povratak u njihovu domovinu, samo zato što su Palestinci, a ne Židovi. Svega 160 000 Palestinaca ostalo je unutar granica Izraela. Njih danas ima oko 1,3 milijuna i čine 20% izraelskog stanovništva.
Alice Walker - “This is the Freedom Ride of this era” (video)
"Notes on Palestine/Israel"
No stranger to colonization, the British saw that the Zionists were undermining the stability of British rule over Palestine and began limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine and halted Jewish purchases of land in Palestine. This prompted a response by Zionists: terrorism. Some chose to target Arab villages which could no longer be legally depopulated by land purchases, and others chose to target the British colonial authorities. The Haganah, the predecessor to the current IDF, targeted Arab villages and civilians in campaigns of ethnic cleansing and intimidation to provoke the exodus of Palestinians. The UN Partition Plan to create a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine would have assigned the Jewish state 55% of the land when in reality they only owned 6%. The alternative offered by the Palestinians and other Arabs was the creation of a single democratic, secular state in Palestine. The hopes for an UN-mediated solution were dashed when the UN Emissary Count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated by Zionist terrorists from Irgun, comprised of extremist Zionists and led by future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which targeted not only the British but engaged in not just ethnic cleansing but massacres in Palestinian villages such as Deir Yassin. Future Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was the commander the Zionist forces that massacred the Muslim men of Lydda and sent the rest of the population into exile including the future founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine George Habash. The Palestinians who refused to be driven from their homes or intimidated into exile make up the current Arab population of Israel, and they were subject to martial law from 1948 until 1967. … The two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is just as illegitimate now as it was in 1948. The final resolution of the conflict must include the repatriation of the 1948 refugees to their original homes, not consignment to the rump Palestinian state which would be formed from the leftovers of the Green Line. A just solution must recognize the right of the Palestinian people to live in all parts of historic Palestine with total freedom of movement along with full citizenship coupled with recognition of responsibility for the 63-year-old refugee crisis and reparations from the Zionist state. The ideas and dreams of Zionists have no right to take precedence over the reality of Palestine which was obliterated in 1948. The original solution proposed by the Arab Higher Committee remains the best solution in respects to both Jewish and Palestinian people in Palestine: a single democratic, secular state.
Prof. Rashid Khalidi on Hamas-Fatah agreement (video)
The biggest difference is the earthquake that has affected the entire Arab world and which is one of the main reasons there is an agreement between these two factions. The state of Arab disarray, the decadent authoritarian regimes, most of them aligned with the United States of course, but in the case of Syria it is not, held up the status quo in Palestine. They effectively supported Israel's occupation and were the major factor, besides pressure from Israel and the United States, in keeping the Palestinians divided. That stagnant status quo has now broken like a log jam. The Arab Spring has burst the entire regional structure which effectively upheld Israel's occupation and which was instrumental in keeping the Palestinians divided. Specifically, the fall of the Mubarak regime removed the major obstacle to Palestinian reconciliation. The so called malaf, the folder of Palestinian reconciliation was in the hands of Omar Suleiman for four years. For those four years he worked ceaselessly to ensure that there would be no Palestinian reconciliation because that was Egyptian policy, it was Israeli policy, and it was American policy, and he faithfully followed that policy. Within two months of Omar Suleiman's disappearance the Egyptian Military Intelligence, the same agency that he headed, brokered a reconciliation agreement. It is impossible not to conclude that the fall of the regime in Egypt removed the largest obstacle to Palestinian reconciliation, which means the Mubarak regime was a faithful agent of American and Israeli policy and of its own paranoid fantasies about Hamas. ... I think that American military aid should be stopped entirely. I do not see it doing any good besides fostering war, death, and destruction. … In the case of Palestine, as far as I am concerned, aid to Palestinian security forces which do the work of Israel without protecting Palestinians is monstrously misbegotten on the part of the Palestinians. I do not see why the Palestinians are taking American money in order to repress their own people in a situation where Israel is not reciprocating. If Israel were dismantling the occupation, removing settlers, closing down settlements, and negotiating in good faith on issues like the right of return, on issues like Jerusalem, like giving up water resources then you might have an argument. Palestinian security forces should both protect the security of Palestinians and prevent the agreement from being disrupted by attacks on Israelis. But, in a situation where Israel is expanding settlements, is further entrenching its occupation, and refusing to negotiate in good faith, I do not see why the Palestinians want that. If they want to preserve security and do so in whatever way they chose that is their business. But, if American aid is conditional on doing something which is entirely a one way street, Israel gets what it wants and the Palestinians get nothing, then good riddance to such aid.
Why We Must Sail to Gaza
Now an even larger flotilla, with the participation of more ships and more activists from more countries -- including, crucially, the U.S. ship Audacity of Hope -- is preparing to set sail in June. And -- God willing -- when the Audacity of Hope sets sail, I will be on it. It is our hope and expectation that the Israeli government, after all the negative publicity it received for its attack on last year's flotilla, will allow our ships to pass to Gaza unimpeded. It is our hope and expectation that the Obama Administration will pressure the government of Israel not to attack us, especially with a U.S. boat with well-known American peace activists on board participating in the flotilla. Nonetheless, there is certainly some risk of confrontation with the Israeli authorities. I can say with absolute confidence that everyone on the American boat is committed to nonviolence; if I were not confident of that, I would not go. If the Israeli authorities attempt to seize our boat, we may engage in nonviolent resistance, but we will not attack anyone and we will neither have nor use any form of weapon. If Israeli authorities attack us physically, the world will know that the Israeli authorities attacked unarmed Americans who were not a threat to anyone. That's a key component of what nonviolent resistance, from Montgomery to Tahrir to Budrus, is all about: not providing any excuse for the violence of the oppressor. We engage in this voyage because the world, having accepted and even embraced the right of self-determination of Egyptians and Tunisians, cannot any longer deny this right to the Palestinians.
Izraelska vojska ubila nenaoružane palestinske prosvjednike na granicama
Unutar okupiranih područja deseci tisuća su izašli na ulice, mnogi držeći ključeve svojih obiteljskih domova izgubljenih 1948. Izrael je jučer uveo obustavu na cijeloj Zapadnoj obali, zatvarajući mnoge prijelaze i kontrolne točke. Do sukoba prosvjednika i izraelskih postrojbi je došlo u Hebronu, Wallajehu i Jeruzalemu, dok je na graničnom prijelazu Erez u Gazi najmanje 15 nenaoružanih civila ranjeno izraelskom paljbom. Izraelske obrambene snage su ispalile ono što nazivaju ”pucnjevima upozorenja”, uključujući tenkovske granate i metke iz strojnica usmjerene prema otvorenom terenu pokraj prosvjeda. Jedan Palestinac, za kojeg izraelske vlasti tvrde da je postavljao bombu, je ustrijeljen nasmrt. U Egiptu su tisuće prosvjedovale ispred izraelskog veleposlanstva. Više od sto ljudi je ozlijeđeno kada su egipatske sigurnosne snage ispalile suzavac i gumene metke nakon što je navodno pokušan juriš na zgradu. Al Jazeera izvještava da je najmanje dvadeset ljudi uhićeno. Najgore nasilje se dogodilo izvan sela Maroun al-Ras u južnom Libanonu gdje su se tisuće ljudi okupile kod granične ograde. Prosvjednici su navodno objesili zastave na bodljikavu žicu i pjevali pjesme, a neki mladi ljudi su bacali kamenje preko granice, prije nego što su i izraelski i libanonski vojnici počeli pucati. Libanonske snage su prvotno ispucale pucnjeve upozorenja, iako ostaje nejasno da li su pucali i na gomilu. Izraelske snage su navodno odgovorne za poginule. To je bilo najgore nasilje naneseno Libanonu od izraelske invazije 2006. Oni koji su jučer ubijeni na sirijskoj granici su bili žrtve izraelske operacije ponovnog zauzimanja sela Majdal Shams. Prema jednom izvještaju, od dvjesto prosvjednika koji su prešli granicu mašući zastavama i plakatima, više od sto je ranjeno u izraelskom napadu, pokazujući bezobzirno korištenje sile. Prije napada, stanovnici sela su srdačno dočekali prosvjednike, Independent izvještava da je ”lokalno stanovništvo pozdravilo došljake kao junake te im se pridružilo dok su marširali prema glavnom trgu pjevajući i mašući palestinskim zastavama.” Jedan od prosvjednika, Muhammad Umran (35), iz izbjegličkog kampa Yarmouk u glavnom gradu Sirije Damasku, razgovarao je s Washington Postom. ”Ne možemo ovo više podnositi,” objašnjava. ”Zahtijevamo svoje pravo na povratak. Ne bojimo se.”
SAD:
Activists Confront Condoleeza Rice at Stanford University (video)
Ostalo:
Meet The Workers Who Make Your iPad: 100 Hours Of Overtime, No-Suicide Pacts, Standing For 14 Hours A Day
Back in March, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) astoundingly claimed that the iPad and iPhone are “built in the United States of America.” This news must have been a great surprise to the Chinese workers who work for Taiwanese-based manufacturing giant Foxconn, which is notorious for the poor conditions at its factories and the wave of suicides at its plants.
