Ali Abunimah: Ethan Bronner’s Nakba denial in The New York Times
The ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist forces began in late 1947, so that by 15 May 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had already been expelled from their villages and cities before a single soldier from any Arab army had intervened. The exodus from, for example, Jaffa began in early 1948 after Zionist terrorists belonging to the Stern Gang set off a massive car bomb destroying the Jaffa municipality building on 4 January (this is all well-documented in books by right-wing Israeli historian Benny Morris, among others). Many villages in the north of Palestine were also depopulated around that time. Ilan Pappe notes in The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine that between the beginning of December 1947 and the end of March 1948, Zionist forces: “had been able to complete the first stage of the cleansing of Palestine, even before the master plan had been put into effect. If there were a turning point in April, it was the shift from sporadic attacks and counter-attacks on the Palestinian civilian population towards the systematic mega-operation of ethnic cleansing that now followed” (p. 85). The notorious massacre of Palestinian villagers at Deir Yassin occurred on 9 April 1948, and triggered – as intended by its perpetrators – mass terror that led many more Palestinian villagers to flee their homes. My mother’s village of Lifta, currently in the news because of Israel’s plans to destroy surviving houses, was also depopulated in January 1948 along with dozens of other Jerusalem area villages. In light of the facts, the Arab “invasion” should be properly understood as a belated and unsuccessful intervention to save Palestinians from further expulsions. It is really inexcusable that Bronner does not – or pretends not to – know this since he himself lives on the West Jerusalem property of Nakba survivor and noted Palestinian writer Ghada Karmi. Karmi and her family were among the last to leave the Qatamon neighborhood of Jerusalem toward the end of April 1948, as she recounted in her brilliant memoir In Search of Fatima. But many of the families had already fled after the Zionist bombing of the nearby Semiramis Hotel, which killed 26 civilians including the Spanish consul-general, on the night of 4-5 January 1948. Thomas Friedman, then New York Times bureau chief, purchased the house in 1984 on behalf of the newspaper, from Israelis who occupied it. This story was exclusively told by The Electronic Intifada last year. For Bronner to continue to promote the Israeli propaganda that the expulsion and flight of Palestinians – the Nakba – occurred only after 15 May 1948 when the much exaggerated Arab “invasion” occurred, is not merely making excuses for Israel’s crimes. It is nothing short of Nakba denial.
Read more...
Israeli warship attacks international human rights boat Oliva (video)
Izraelski vojni brod napao čamac Oliva međunarodnih aktivista za ljudska prava (video) (13. srpanj 2011.)
Civilni mirovni čamac Oliva i njegova posada napadnuti su vodenim topovima 13. srpnja 2011. u podne na moru, 2 milje od obale Pojasa Gaze, dakle unutar granice od 3 milje od obale koliko palestinskim ribarima Izrael samovoljno i jednostrano nameće. Međunarodni aktivisti u civilnom čamcu Oliva u Pojasu Gaze prate i dokumentiraju kršenja ljudskih prava palestinskih ribara od strane izraelske vojske.
Watch and read more...
European anti-arms trade network supports Palestinian call for arms embargo against Israel
In support of the call of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee we, groups of the European Network Against Arms Trade ask the European Parliament and European countries to:
Immediately cease any provision to Israel of arms and related material of all types, including the sale or transfer of weapons and ammunitions, military vehicles and equipment, para-military police equipment, including dual-use equipment, and spare parts; and also cease the provision of all types of equipment and supplies and grants of licensing arrangements for the manufacture or maintenance of these weapons.
Stop all military and dual-use imports (equipment, assistance and munitions) from Israel.
Stop the transfer of military products to and from Israel through national ports, territory and airspace.
Stop cooperation with the Israeli army, military companies, and military-related R&D projects, including joint ventures (whether bilateral or multilateral).
Halt all military-related training and consultancies with the Israeli army, military companies and academic research institutions.
End all military aid to Israel.
Refrain from any cooperation with Israel in the manufacture and development of nuclear weapons and mobilise for a nuclear-free Middle East.
Read more...
Gaza fishermen swamped by Israeli gunboats and water cannon (video)
Under the 1993 Oslo accords, Palestinian fishermen were permitted to fish up to 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza. Over the past 18 years, the fishing area has been successively eroded, most recently in 2007 when Israel imposed a limit of three nautical miles as part of its land and sea blockade of Gaza after Hamas took control of the territory. But fishermen and human rights groups say that, since the war in Gaza in 2008-09, the Israeli military regularly enforces a limit even closer to the shore. The restriction has devastated Gaza's fishing industry. "It is a catastrophic situation," said Khalil Shaheen of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. "Sixty thousand people are dependent on [the fishing industry], and 85% of daily income has been lost." Fishermen on both sides of the three-mile limit, he said, were subjected to harassment, live fire, confiscation of boats and nets, and water cannon, sometimes impregnated with foul-smelling chemicals. Since early June, a coalition of Palestinian and international organisations under the umbrella of Civil Peace Service Gaza has been monitoring encounters between fishermen and the Israeli military from its own boat, the Oliva. But in the past fortnight, the Oliva itself has become a target for the Israeli navy, with repeated assaults on it by military vessels.
Watch and read more...
French flotilla activists return home (video)
Eleven French passengers, arrested by the Israeli army on Tuesday for trying to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip by boat, have arrived at the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris. Relieved and in good health, they were welcomed by pro-Palestinian organisations as soon as they got off the plane.
Click to watch...
Israeli propaganda festival finds few fans in Milan
On Friday, 11 June, just before the official events began, activists dressed in white marched to Piazza Duomo behind a banner that read “322 children killed: Unexpected Israel” and read aloud the names of each child killed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-09. A daily presence was maintained at the entrance to the multimedia installation in Piazza Duomo, where an alternative version of “Unexpected Israel” postcards were distributed, including images of the Nakba (the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948), racist t-shirts worn by Israeli soldiers, the destruction in Gaza and graffiti in the West Bank city of Hebron that reads “Arabs to the gas chambers.” Posters for the protests showing the Duomo — Milan’s cathedral — behind Israel’s wall were found throughout the city’s center. Ambassador Meir soon learned he could not walk the streets of Milan without being challenged. As he walked from Piazza Duomo, surrounded by Italian police officers, an activist managed to slowly work her way into the crowd and confront Meir with photos of demolished houses in Silwan, occupied East Jerusalem. Another unfurled a banner reading “Stop Agrexco: Boycott the Fruit of Israeli Apartheid” behind Meir as he spoke to the television cameras inside the multimedia installation. ... On Friday, 17 June, an “unexpected gift” was delivered to the Italian headquarters of the Israeli produce exporter Agrexco in Milan. Activists from the Stop Agrexco campaign, which calls for a boycott of the company, delivered baskets of rotten fruit symbolizing Palestinian agricultural products rotting at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank (“VIDEO: BDS action against the Agrexco headquarters in Milan, Italy,” 25 June 2011). On Saturday, 18 June, thousands filled the streets of Milan, arriving from Rome, Florence, Bologna and Turin, for a protest march followed by a concert by Gaza rappers DARG Team. And as “Unexpected Israel” came to a close on 22 June, a replica of the Stefano Chiarini, the Italian boat that is taking part in the second Freedom Flotilla, arrived on the square. In the form of a child’s boat made of newspapers — fitting for the boat carrying the name of the late Italian journalist and Palestine solidarity activist — the three-meter replica “sailed” around the talking pedestals, the megaphone of the protesters drowning out the propaganda. The ten-day event, while securing the support of Berlusconi’s government and those Italian firms willing to do business with an apartheid state, did little to win the hearts and minds of the people of Milan. Once again — in contrast to the cowardice of governments and institutions — it was a grassroots movement that mobilized to hold Israel accountable for its violations of human rights and international law.
Read more...
"Dignity" ship remains destined for Gaza
Meanwhile, six Rumbo a Gaza activists began a hunger strike at the Spanish embassy in Greece on Monday (11 July) after medical checks. Two other members of the group participated in the protest from Madrid. In a statement, the activists said they would fast until “the Spanish government shows some sign that it will intercede [with the Greek authorities] so that the Gernika may sail freely across the Mediterranean.” The six hunger strikers were among a score of activists who occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens with the declared intent of remaining there until their country’s foreign ministry responded to their demands, and until their ship, held by the Greek authorities in Crete, was released and allowed to go to a safe port or return to Spain.
Read more...
DODATNO:
HRVATSKA:
Mate Kapović: Direktna demokracija – Između utopije i stvarnosti
Tu onda dolazimo do konkretnog pitanja kako bi dirdem točno funkcionirao na nacionalnoj razini? Naravno, nemoguće je unaprijed donositi i zamišljati potpuno definirane modele, no moguće je dati nekoliko skica kako bi takav sustav mogao izgledati. Na lokalnoj razini – u općinama/četvrtima većih gradova, manjim gradovima (do nekoliko tisuća ljudi), selima, fakultetima, tvornicama, poduzećima i sl. – dirdem bi najjednostavnije mogao biti ustrojen plenumski, tako da se svi zainteresirani redovno okupljaju, raspravljaju i donose odluke. Naravno, to ne znači da bi svi nužno i morali sudjelovati svaki put, nego samo da bi na to, kao članovi dotične zajednice, imali pravo. Plenumi bi raspravljali o najbitnijim pitanjima ili o pitanjima o kojima bi članovi zajednice zahtijevali raspravu, manje bitna ili kompleksnija pitanja bi se rješavala na otvorenim radnim grupama (čije bi odluke plenum morao potvrditi), dok bi neke od njih, kao i pitanja tehničke naravi, rješavali javni službenici (birokrati), koji bi bili u svakom trenu smjenjivi na plenumima ako ljudi njima ne bi bili zadovoljni, a koji bi zamijenili sadašnje političare. Na regionalnoj i nacionalnoj razini očito ne bi postojala mogućnost da se svi nađu na plenumu i raspravljaju pa bi se tu u pomoć morala pozvati tehnologija, tj. glasanje preko interneta. E-glasanje je, u ovom ili onom obliku, već itekako prisutno u svijetu – dovoljno je spomenuti primjer da je u Estoniji početkom 2011. preko interneta glasalo preko dva milijuna birača, a slični se primjeri upotrebe tehnologije u glasanju mogu naći i drugdje, npr. SAD-u, Kanadi, Nizozemskoj, Brazilu, Indiji itd. Tehnološki to ne samo da je izvedivo, nego takva tehnologija već postoji. Važna paralela je tu e-bankarstvo – ako znamo da se sigurno mogu prebacivati novci s računa na račun, nema nikakve sumnje da se može tehnološki osigurati i e-glasanje, koje, uostalom, u svijetu već i postoji, mada nigdje u funkciji potpunog dirdema o kojem govorimo. Moguć prigovor je da nemaju svi pristup internetu, no to je vrlo slaba kritika – pristup internetu bi trebao postati jedno od ljudskih prava, kao u Finskoj, i, u slučaju uvođenja e-glasanja, svi bi morali moći imati pristup internetu i informatički se opismeniti, što je, uostalom, jedan od preduvjetâ za razvoj ikakve moderne demokracije. U prijelaznom razdoblju bi se to moglo rješavati tako da bi ljudi koji nemaju kompjutera glasali u općinama, lokalnim školama, preko mobitela i sl. Putem e-glasanja bi se glasalo o svim bitnijim pitanjima u zemlji, kao i o problemima o kojima bi ljudi htjeli glasati (na internetu bi se mogli skupljati glasovi/ potpisi za otvaranje određenog pitanja, a svaki bi čovjek mogao dati prijedlog o čemu bi trebalo glasati), dok bi tehnička i svakodnevna pitanja rješavali u svakom trenutku smjenjivi izabrani javni službenici. Svakom glasanju bi trebala nužno prethoditi javna rasprava, ali u pravom smislu te riječi a ne kao danas – na internetu, lokalnim plenumima i radnim grupama, u javnim medijima i prostorima, čije bi se primjedbe onda prilikom glasanja i formuliranja pitanja uvažavale. Javni mediji, neovisni o političkim strukturama i kapitalu, preduvjet su funkcioniranja pravog demokratskog društva [vidi M. Kapović, "Mediji kao organ tranzicije", Zarez siječanj 2010]. U ovakvom bi sustavu sabor postao nepotreban, kao i političke stranke, no one bi mogle opstati, zajedno s nevladinim udrugama i sličnim organizacijama, kao interesno-lobističke skupine koje bi, kao i svi ostali glasači, imale pravo zagovarati određena rješenja, no, naravno, njihova promocija ne bi smjela nikako biti vezana uz financijska sredstva jer bi to bilo suprotno samoj ideji demokracije.
Pročitajte više...
