Linkovi – Palestina/Izrael, SAD…

PALESTINA/IZRAEL:
From Balfour to Obama: Colonial Thinking on Palestine
In the hands of colonizers and conquerors, language is always a weapon used against the colonized and the occupied. Within an imperial/colonial mindset, language is more often than not used by those in power to fabricate, confuse, dehumanize and dominate. It is a tool used to justify past crimes and to excuse future ones. With settler colonialism in particular, language is used to denigrate or even erase the history and culture of the indigenous population being usurped. As the Israeli Professor of language and education Nurit Peled-Elhanan recently wrote, “[Israeli] apartheid is not only a bunch of racist laws, it is a state of mind, fashioned by education. Israeli children are educated from a very tender age to see 'Arab' citizens and 'Arabs' in general as a problem that must be solved, eliminated in one way or another…. Israeli education succeeds in building mental walls that are far thicker than the concrete wall that is being constructed to incarcerate the Palestinian nation and hide their existence from our eyes…. [Israelis] don't consider Palestinians as human beings like themselves, but as an inferior species, that deserve much less” (Independent Online/Daily News, How racist laws imprison a nation, November 3, 2011).
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Balfour's Apartheid Legacy
The country called Palestine was “liberated” from Turkish Ottoman rule after the Allied Powers, in correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon and Sharif Hussein ibn Ali of Mecca in 1915, promised Arab leaders independence in return for their help in defeating Germany's ally. However a Jewish political movement, Zionism, was finding favour among the ruling élite in London, and the British Government was persuaded by the Zionists' chief spokesman, Chaim Weizmann, to surrender Palestine for their new Jewish homeland. Hardly a thought, it seems, was given to the earlier pledge to the Arabs, who had occupied and owned the land for 1,500 years - longer than the ancient Jews ever did. The Zionists, inflated by the notion that an ancient Biblical prophecy gave them the title deeds, planned to push the Arabs out by bringing in millions of Eastern European Jews. They had already set up farm communities and founded a new city, Tel Aviv, but by 1914 Jews numbered only 85,000 to the Arabs' 615,000. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 - actually a letter from the British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, to the most senior Jew in England, Lord Rothschild - pledged assistance for the Zionist cause ignoring the consequences to the native majority.
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Occupy the Occupiers: A Jewish call to action
The occupation of Palestine and stratification of our own Jewish community are consistent with the grievances of the Occupy Wall Street New York General Assembly's “Declaration of Occupation.” It is time for us to reclaim our own community. It's time to occupy Jewish institutions that actively obstruct human rights for Palestinians, like AIPAC, the Jewish Federations, Birthright, the Jewish National Fund, Hillel, and the foundations of right-wing philanthropists, like the Schusterman Foundation, which impose ideological litmus tests on Jews who want to work in or with the Jewish community. It's time to occupy the offices and stores of the multinational corporations that profit off of human rights abuses in Palestine.
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From Occupation to “Occupy”: The Israelification of American Domestic Security
Escorted by Brigadier General Simon Perry, an Israeli police attaché and former Mossad official, the group toured the Israeli separation wall, now a mandatory stop for American cops on junkets to Israel. “American officials learned about the mindset of a suicide bomber and how to spot trouble signs,” according to JINSA. And they were schooled in Israeli killing methods. “Although the police are typically told to aim for the chest when shooting because it is the largest target, the Israelis are teaching [American] officers to aim for a suspect's head so as not to detonate any explosives that might be strapped to his torso,” the New York Times reported. ... Some of the police chiefs who have taken part in JINSA's LEEP program have done so under the auspices of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a private non-governmental group with close ties to the Department of Homeland Security. Chuck Wexler, the executive director of PERF, was so enthusiastic about the program that by 2005 he had begun organizing trips to Israel sponsored by PERF, bringing numerous high-level American police officials to receive instruction from their Israeli counterparts. PERF gained notoriety when Wexler confirmed that his group coordinated police raids in 16 cities across America against “Occupy” protest encampments. As many as 40 cities have sought PERF advice on suppressing the “Occupy” movement and other mass protest activities.
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SAD:
Video of police attack on peaceful protesters at Occupy Berkeley

For 'Occupy Fresno', First Amendment trumped by county ordinance (video)

People Locked in Tiny Cages, Crying in Pain: What I Saw and Heard When the LAPD Threw Me in Jail for Exercising My Right to Protest the Oligarchy
There was nothing peaceful or professional about the LAPD's attack on Occupy LA–not unless you think that people peacefully protesting against the power of the financial oligarchy deserve to be treated the way I saw Russian cops treating the protesters in Moscow and St. Petersburg who were demonstrating against the oligarchy under Putin and Yeltsin, before we at The eXiled all got tossed out in 2008. Back then, everyone in the West protested and criticized the way the Russian cops brutally snuffed out dissent, myself included. Now I'm in America, at a demonstration, watching exactly the same brutal crackdown…
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Occupy Iowa Caucus: Anonymous Hacker Group Claims Responsibility For Web Video (VIDEO)
The two-minute YouTube video is narrated by a synthetic-sounding voice leveling a charge that both Democrats and Republicans have "failed us" -- citing ties to megacorporations as a key factor. Taking the argument a step further, the video alleges that both parties are guilty of deliberately driving tens of millions of people into poverty. "Voting for these parties is unethical," the voice says. "They have destroyed the American democracy."
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HRVATSKA:
Otvoreno pismo plenuma Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu povodom predstojećih parlamentarnih izbora, 1.12.2011.
Diskurs „uspješnosti“ i „redovitosti“ predstavlja stare neoliberalne ideološke podvale koje se koriste da bi se opravdalo uništavanje civilizacijskih stečevina utemeljenih na solidarnosti i javnom dobru. Na djelu je isti proces koji uključuje pokušaje izmjene radnog zakonodavstva na štetu radnika ili privatizaciju zdravstva. Taj proces se pokušava opravdati štednjom ali on predstavlja istu onu politiku koja je i dovela do krize te siguran put u još veće siromaštvo i socijalne razlike. Ponovit ćemo još jednom: znanost i obrazovanje moraju djelovati u interesu čitavog društva, a ne privatnog kapitala. Visoko obrazovanje mora biti potpuno javno financirano i svima dostupno.
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SIRIJA:
Activists say 25 killed in Syria, most in battle between army defectors and regime forces
The pre-dawn clashes between regime forces and defectors killed seven soldiers and policemen, as well as five defectors and three civilians, according to a British-based group of Syrian activists called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Elsewhere, security forces killed one civilian in the southern province of Daraa, six in the central region of Homs and three others in areas near Idlib, the observatory said. The U.N.'s top human rights official said this week that Syria is in a state of civil war and that more than 4,000 people have been killed since March. ... November was the deadliest month of the uprising, with at least 950 people killed in gunbattles, raids and other violence, according to activist groups. In the west of the country, Syrian troops detained at least 27 people in the village of Talkalakh on the border with Lebanon and set fire to the homes of nine activists who were on the run, the observatory said. Talkalakh is within walking distance from Lebanon, and at least two Lebanese civilians were struck by bullets on their side of the border on Friday. Witnesses said that they had heard hours of explosions and heavy machine-gun fire coming from the village. ... The reports of new violence could not be independently confirmed. The regime has sealed the country off from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting. Syria has refused to accept an Arab League proposal for ending the violence under which a team of Arab monitors would enter the country to ensure the government has halted its crackdown on protesters. Arab League officials at Saturday's meeting in Qatar said Syria has asked for a meeting to discuss the proposed monitoring team with the league's secretary-general, Nabil Elaraby. But no date or venue for those talks was announced.
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JEMEN:
More deaths in Yemen violence
At least two Yemenis were killed in a third day of shelling by government forces of the country's second city of Taiz, as sustained violence threatened to derail a fragile power-transfer deal. State media said a ceasefire was reached in the afternoon after a call by Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, the vice-president, for an end to the fighting that has killed a total of 17 people, and a pullout of troops and casual fighters. ... "A seven-storey building has been set on fire," Abdel-Jabbar Mahmnoud told the Reuters news agency by telephone from the al-Hasab district in Taiz. He said residents had fled shelling by government forces based at a security compound in the city. Tens of thousands earlier defied the shelling to march in the city centre demanding that Saleh be put on trial. Residents said government forces used artillery, tanks and rockets on Saturday in residential areas of Taiz, trapping about 3,000 families in the commercial hub some 200 km south of the capital Sanaa. Opposition fighters responded with medium and light fire, they said. Medics said two people were killed, one of them an activist shot by a sniper during the demonstration. The second was a bakery worker killed in front of his shop. Four people were also wounded, including one woman. Gunmen backing anti-Saleh protesters control the centre of Taiz and most of its streets, while government forces have taken up position on hills within the city and on its outskirts. Witnesses said forces loyal to Saleh pounded most neighbourhoods in Taiz on Saturday, while clashes raged in western parts of the city, including Al-Hasab, Beir Basha, Wadi al-Qadi and Al-Murur. ... Meanwhile, local residents took action to try to stem the flow of military supplies to pro-Saleh troops from regions surrounding Tiez, which lies 270km southwest of Sanaa. In Al-Raheeda, 30km south of Taez, locals, including women and children, staged a sit-in on the main road obstructing a military convoy heading to Taez from the Anad base in Lahij, witnesses said. Fresh protests also broke out in the capital Sanaa for Saleh to be put on trial, despite a Gulf-tailored peace deal which granted him immunity from prosecution.
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Peticija: Muzej dječje umjetnosti u SAD-u otkazao izložbu palestinske dječje umjetnosti

Link na peticiju: Tell MOCHA to show "A Child's View From Gaza"

Pod snažnim pritiskom Židovske federacije i lokalnog Vijeća za odnose židovske zajednice, Muzej dječje umjetnosti (MOCHA) u Oaklandu, Kaliforniji je otkazao izložbu umjetničkih radova palestinske djece koja je, nakon mjeseci priprema, pod nazivom „Dječji pogled iz Gaze“, u tom muzeju trebala biti otvorena 24. rujna 2011. Na linku možete Muzeju dječje umjetnosti u Oaklandu poslati poruku kojom izražavate svoje razočaranje otkazivanjem ove izložbe, te potporu njenom otvaranju i pravu palestinske djece na slobodu izražavanja.


Izvor i link na peticiju: Tell MOCHA to show "A Child's View From Gaza"


DODATNO:
PALESTINA/IZRAEL:
Gideon Levy: Israel does not want a Palestinian State. Period.
The truth is that the Palestinians have just three options, not four: to surrender unconditionally and go on living under Israeli occupation for another 42 years at least; to launch a third intifada; or to mobilize the world on their behalf. They picked the third option, the lesser of all evils even from Israel's perspective. What could Israel say about this - that it's a unilateral step, as it and the United States have said? But it didn't agree to stop construction in the settlements, the mother of all unilateral steps. What did the Palestinians have left? The international arena. And if that won't save them, then another popular uprising in the territories. The Palestinians in the West Bank, 3.5 million today, will not live without civil rights for another 42 years. We might as well get used to the fact that the world won't stand for it. Can Netanyahu or Shimon Peres explain why the Palestinians do not deserve their own state? ... Yesterday, a coalition of Israeli peace organizations published a list of 50 reasons for Israel to support a Palestinian state. Assuming that you only accept five of them, isn't that enough? What exactly is the alternative, now that the heavens are closing in around us? Can anyone, can Peres or Netanyahu, seriously contend that the regional hostility toward us would not have lessened had the occupation already ended and a Palestinian state been established? The truths are so basic, so banal, that it hurts even to repeat them. But, unfortunately, they're the only ones we have. And so, a simple question to whoever will be representing us at the UN next week: Why not, for heaven's sake? Why "no" once again? And to what will we say "yes"?
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West Bank Protest Organizer, Bassem Tamimi, to Attend Court on Sunday
As one of the organizers of the Nabi Saleh protests and coordinator of the village's popular committee, Tamimi has been the target of harsh treatment by the Israeli army. Since demonstrations began in the village, his house has been raided and ransacked numerous times, his wife was twice arrested and two of his sons were injured; Wa'ed, 14, was hospitalized for five days when a rubber-coated bullet penetrated his leg and Mohammed, 8, was injured by a tear-gas projectile that was shot directly at him and hit him in the shoulder. Shortly after demonstrations in the village began, the Israeli Civil Administration served ten demolition orders to structures located in Area C, Tamimi's house was one of them, despite the fact that it was built in 1965. ... On the March 24th, 2011, a massive contingent of Israeli Soldiers raided the Tamimi home at around noon, only minutes after he entered the house to prepare for a meeting with a European diplomat. He was arrested and subsequently charged. The main evidence in Tamimi's case is the testimony of 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, who was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into "brigades", charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc. Ever since the beginning of the village's struggle against settler takeover of their lands in December of 2009, the army has conducted 80 protest related arrests. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes approximately 10% of its population. Tamimi's arrest corresponds to the systematic arrest of civil protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages Bil'in and Ni'ilin.
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Još nekoliko linkova o narodnoj pobuni u Egiptu

slika s jednog od prosvjeda solidarnosti s egipatskim narodom u SAD-u

Amy Goodman: When Corporations Choose Despots Over Democracy
[...] the Mubarak regime, with the help of U.S. and European corporations, has shut down the Internet and curtailed cellular service, plunging Egypt into digital darkness. ... Mubarak's regime has received roughly $2 billion per year since coming to power, overwhelmingly for the military. Where has the money gone? Mostly to U.S. corporations. ... "It's a form of corporate welfare for companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, because it goes to Egypt, then it comes back for F-16 aircraft, for M-1 tanks, for aircraft engines, for all kinds of missiles, for guns, for tear-gas canisters [from] a company called Combined Systems International, which actually has its name on the side of the canisters that have been found on the streets there." Hartung just published a book, "Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex." He went on: "Lockheed Martin has been the leader in deals worth $3.8 billion over that period of the last 10 years; General Dynamics, $2.5 billion for tanks; Boeing, $1.7 billion for missiles, for helicopters; Raytheon for all manner of missiles for the armed forces. So, basically, this is a key element in propping up the regime, but a lot of the money is basically recycled. Taxpayers could just as easily be giving it directly to Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics." Likewise, Egypt's Internet and cell phone "kill switch" was enabled only through collaboration with corporations. U.K.-based Vodafone, a global cellular-phone giant (which owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless in the U.S.) attempted to justify its actions in a press release: "It has been clear to us that there were no legal or practical options open to Vodafone ... but to comply with the demands of the authorities." Narus, a U.S. subsidiary of Boeing Corp., sold Egypt equipment to allow "deep packet inspection," according to Tim Karr of the media policy group Free Press. Karr said the Narus technology "allows the Egyptian telecommunications companies ... to look at texting via cell phones, and to identify the sort of dissident voices that are out there. ... It also gives them the technology to geographically locate them and track them down."

Targeted Attacks on Reporters in Cairo
Popis brojnih napada na strane novinare (te neke aktiviste za ljudska prava) organiziranih i provedenih od strane Mubarakovog režima tijekom nekoliko dana narodne pobune u Egiptu (uključujući jedan neprovjereni navod o bacanju jednog novinara s balkona).

On Khaled Said
(Upozorenje - uznemirujući sadržaj: preporučam osobama mlađim od 18 godina i onima slabijih živaca da ne otvaraju ovaj link, jer sadrži stravičnu sliku na smrt premlaćenog Khaleda Saida) 2 su egipatska policajca u srpnju 2010. na javnom mjestu pred očima brojnih svjedoka ovog 28-godišnjaka 20 minuta tukla, sve dok nije preminuo, a potom su njegovog tijelo odvezli u policijsku postaju gdje im je rečeno da tijelo izbace negdje van na ulicu i pozovu kola hitne pomoći kako bi kasnije mogli tvrditi da su tijelo pronašli na ulici i da je mladić preminuo od "gušenja". To je realnost s kojom se već 30 godina suočavaju obični Egipćani koji žive pod brutalnim i nečovječnim režimom Hosnija Mubaraka koji podržavaju i na vlasti održavaju u suprotnosti s voljom egipatskih građana SAD i njegovi satelitski saveznici (koji za sebe još uvijek imaju obraza tvrditi da promiču i njeguju demokratske vrijednosti), uključujući Hrvatsku. Iako su brojni svjedoci gledali kako policajci na ovakav krajnje brutalan način ubijaju mladića, nitko ništa nije poduzeo, jer su znali da će, ako se usprotive, i sami završiti kao i on.
He simply was sitting in a Cyber Cafe, when two policemen walked inside and demanded the ID's of everyone who was sitting there. When he refused to give it to them, they grabbed him, tied him up, dragged him out of the Cafe, took him to a nearby building where for 20 minutes they beat him to death, smashing his head on the handrail of the staircase, while he screamed and begged for his life, and as people around watched helplessly, knowing that if they did something, they would be accused of assaulting a police officer, which would pretty much guarantee them a similar fate. This went on for 20 minutes. Think about that. You are beaten to death, by those who swore to protect you, while the people in your neighborhood watched silently, and as your pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. 28. Not yet married. Still having the rest of your life ahead of you. No More. After the police discovered he died, they took the dead body to the Police station, where the Police Officer ordered them to throw it back on the street and call an ambulance, in order not to be held responsible for him. ... When the story went out, and people saw the pictures, they were of course enraged. About a 1000 people gathered after the Friday prayers to protest in front of the police stations, and there are plans to do sit ins and demos this entire week, demanding that people take action, before they become the next Khaled. The Ministery of Interior swiftly responded, by stating that Khaled was a criminal and a womanizer and a drug dealer and responsible for 9/11, and that he died from Asphysxiation, and the picture is simply after his body was diagnosed by the Coroner. And that really, really, we should be glad that such a menace to society at large is not with us anymore. And of course no one will get punished. Egypt likes to refer to itself as the land of Security and Safety. Please note that we always put the word Security first. We like to think we are safe, that we are better than those evil western countries, where a woman is raped every 48 seconds or whatever, but we are not. We are not Safe. None of us is. Not in this country, not in this world. Any one of us could lose that spark of life at any minute, and the lucky ones get it quickly and painlessly. The unlucky ones suffer. The really unlucky ones end up like Khaled.

Page grab of Father Fawzi Khalil holding the Bible standing by an Imam holding the Quran at Meydan Tahrir today
U nedjelju (6. veljače 2011.) egipatski kršćani su održali misu na Trgu Tahrir u Kairu, a za to su ih vrijeme od Mubarakovih nasilnika čuvali muslimani (slično su u petak kršćani za vrijeme džume na istom trgu čuvali muslimane). Ovo je slika s Trga Tahrir u Kairu na kojoj otac Fawzi Khalil u ruci drži Bibliju dok pored njega stoji jedan imam koji u ruci drži Kuran.

VIDEO: Egypt Burning
This film tells the story of five days in January 2011 when the people of Egypt broke through a barrier of fear they had known for a generation and rose in revolt against their president. Anger had long been brewing in Egypt - strikes, unemployment and sectarian tension were on the rise. Small networks of activists had been agitating against Hosni Mubarak's autocratic rule for years. But it was only when another Arab country, Tunisia, rose up against its tyrant that the Egyptian activists attracted mass support. People took to the streets across Egypt demanding political freedoms, an end to state corruption and a better quality of life for the impoverished population. Egypt Burning captures those critical moments as history unfolded through interviews with Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground.

U.S. defense contractors with the most at stake in Egypt
Na linku možete pročitati koji američki proizvođači oružja imaju najunosnije ugovore za isporuku oružja Mubarakovom diktatorskom režimu; ova do sada sigurna (a trenutno ugrožena i u budućnosti neizvjesna) zarada (kao i ona od daleko najveće isporuke oružja Izraelu, te drugim američkim saveznicima koji primaju američku vojnu "pomoć") je u cijelosti plaćena novcem američkih poreznih obveznika.
The Egyptian government receives about $2 billion a year from the United States, with most of that assistance going to its military. Last year the U.S. sent about $1.3 billion to Egypt's military compared to about $250 million in economic aid, and the Obama administration requested similar amounts for the 2011 fiscal year, as Britain's Telegraph reports. The U.S. has long made the case that its unconditional funding for Egypt strengthens relations between the countries and provides benefits for the U.S. such as expedited processing for U.S. Navy warships sailing through the Suez Canal. Indeed, one of the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks noted that "President Mubarak and military leaders view our military assistance program as the cornerstone of our mil-mil relationship and consider the USD 1.3 billion annual FMS as 'untouchable compensation' for making and maintaining peace with Israel." Last week White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration would be reviewing its assistance to the Egyptian government based on events over the coming days. Obviously any change in U.S. aid policy would have important ramifications for Egypt. But it could also have implications for the U.S. companies that contract with the Defense Department to provide good and services to the Egyptian military -- and for their workforces and communities. Facing South reviewed the Department of Defense contract database over the past two years to see what deals are already in place, and discovered many contracts with connections to the South. The following are the 10 biggest contracts involving aid to Egypt in that period.

VIDEO: Cairo Intifada

Saudi women protest, web activists call for reform
Aktivisti pozivaju na reforme u još jednoj zemlji koja kao nepokolebljivi američki saveznik (čitaj: poslušnik) prima ogromnu vojnu pomoć koju plaćaju američki porezni obveznici, također unatoč tome što se radi o krajnje represivnom i nelegitimnom režimu koji ljudska prava, naročito prava žena, krši na još gore načine nego onaj Hosnija Mubaraka u Egiptu.
In a rare sign of rising discontent in Saudi Arabia, a group of Saudi web activists also launched an online campaign calling for political reform in the world's biggest oil exporter. The Saudi campaign, which was launched on Facebook on Jan. 29 and has 264 members so far, called for a constitutional monarchy, an end to corruption, an even distribution of wealth, and a serious solution for unemployment, among other demands.

reportsfromtheegyptianuprising
First hand reports from an anarchist perspective from the Cairo uprising, in solidarity with the direct action of the people of Egypt against state repression. Drawing together grassroots and alternative media coverage from the Egyptian rebellion and creating a forum for calls to global solidarity.

US solidarity rundown
Solidarnost s Egiptom u SAD-u
Stotine ljudi prosvjedovale su u subotu (5. veljače) diljem SAD-a u znak solidarnosti s egipatskim narodom tražeći da Mubarak i ljudi njegovog režima odstupe s vlasti.

Solidarity with Egypt in Ramallah
Solidarnost s Egiptom u Ramalli
U subotu (5. veljače) se u solidarnosti s Egiptom prosvjedovalo diljem cijelog svijeta, pa tako i u Ramalli na okupiranoj Zapadnoj obali gdje su do tada snage Palestinske samouprave onemogućavale Palestincima da prosvjeduju u znak potpore egipatskoj pobuni protiv diktatora Mubaraka. Više od 2000 prosvjednika je u Ramalli prosvjedovalo solidarizirajući se s narodnim pobunama u Egiptu i Tunisu, te protiv represije u Palestini, kako od strane izraelske vlade tako i od strane Palestinske samouprave. Prosvjednici su tražili okončanje okupacije, kraj unutarnjih podjela među Palestincima, ukidanje svih ugnjetavačkih režima, te pozivali SAD i Zapad da prestanu biti suučesnici u izraelskom kolonijalizmu i štititi despotske arapske režime.

Postavite pitanje o Palestini/Izraelu američkoj državnoj tajnici Clinton

Ne biste vjerovali, ali izgleda da u američkom ministarstvu vanjskih poslova ne znaju da li je tjestenina roba koja se može koristiti i u druge svrhe od prehrambenih. Naime, glasnogovornik tog ministarstva Robert Wood 25. veljače na pitanje novinarke „Da li tjestenina spada u humanitarnu pomoć?“ i „Da li Izrael treba odlučivati koja je hrana Palestincima potrebna?“ nije znao i nije htio odgovoriti. (vidi dolje na linku)

Na donatorskoj konferenciji za „obnovu“ Gaze održanoj 02. ožujka 2009. u Sharm El Sheikhu u Egiptu, SAD su najavile da će Palestincima dati oko 900 milijuna američkih dolara u 2009. godini. No taj novac nije namijenjen za obnovu Gaze, već za humanitarnu pomoć (300 milijuna), proračun Palestinske samouprave (200 milijuna) i „ekonomske i institucionalne reforme“, poboljšanje javne infrastrukture i sigurnosnog sektora na Zapadnoj obali (oko 400 milijuna). Niti jedan dolar od tog novca neće biti utrošen na obnovu Gaze razorene oružjem koje su većinom platili američki porezni obveznici. U svom govoru na konferenciji američka državna tajnica Clinton niti jednom riječju nije pozvala na okončanje ilegalne izraelske okupacije i blokade Pojasa Gaze.

S ovog linka možete poslati kratko pitanje američkoj državnoj tajnici Hillary Rodham Clinton.

U nastavku pronađite ponuđena gotova pitanja od kojih možete odabrati jedno i poslati s gornjeg linka, a možete sastaviti i poslati i vlastito pitanje. Dovoljno je upisati samo Ime i Mjesto/Državu u kojoj se nalazite te kopirati jedno od slijedećih pitanja na engleskom (u zagradama sam stavila kratki prijevod kako bi oni koji ne znaju engleski znali o čemu se u pitanju radi. Mislim da u ovom slučaju nema smisla slati pitanja osim na engleskom.)

Pitanje br. 1:
(Što poduzimate kako bi natjerali Izrael da ispoštuje odredbe rezolucije VS UN-a 1860 i otvori granice Pojasa Gaze za neometanu dostavu i distribuciju humanitarne pomoći?)
UN Security Council Resolution 1860 “Calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment.” What are you doing to ensure that Israel complies with this resolution?

Pitanje br. 2:
(Što poduzimate kako biste okončali izraelsku ilegalnu blokadu Pojasa Gaze?)
President Obama stated that “Gaza's border crossings should be open to allow the flow of aid and commerce.” What are you doing to end Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip?

Pitanje br. 3:
(Što Vaše ministarstvo poduzima kako bi osiguralo da će biti provedena transparentna i temeljita istraga mogućih kršenja američkog zakona o kontroli izvoza oružja tijekom posljednjeg rata u Pojasu Gaze?)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich has requested that the State Department investigate Israel's possible violations of the Arms Export Control Act during its recent war on Gaza. Could you please state what your department is doing to ensure that this investigation is conducted in an accurate and transparent manner?

Pitanje br. 4:
(Mislite li da Izrael ima pravo određivati koju vrstu hrane Palestinci u Pojasu Gaze smiju jesti?)
State Department spokesperson Robert Wood was unclear if the United States considers pasta a dual-use weapon. Could you state your opinion on whether Israel should be allowed to control what types of food Palestinians in the Gaza Strip eat?


Nekoliko vijesti i linkova za Palestinu/Izrael:
Prominent Palestinian figures appeal for national unity
The basic pillar of national action must include maintaining the democratic principles of the political system, including peaceful transfer of authority and pluralism in all its form and preserving and respecting individual rights and freedoms and human rights, and securing the rule of law, in addition to the adoption of regular and periodic elections. The pillars of the higher national interests that unite Palestinians wherever they are forces everyone to respect the unity of the cause and people and to preserve the freedom of belief and freedom of expression and the right to protest and demonstrate; this also entails the complete and immediate halt of all forms of political oppression and arrest and the need to release all political detainees and ending torture and acts of killing and ending incitement campaigns and refraining from issuing decisions or decrees that can lead to further split and division.

Peace Now: Israel planning 73,300 new homes in West Bank
Izraelska nevladina organizacija Peace Now objavila je u ponedjeljak (02. ožujka) izvještaj u kojem stoji da izraelska vlada namjerava sagraditi više od 73 300 novih stambenih jedinica na Zapadnoj obali. U izvještaju stoji da bi se u slučaju da se izgrade svi planirani stanovi veličina dvaju najvećih ilegalnih izraelskih naselja Ariel i Ma'aleh Adumim udvostručila. U izvještaju stoji da je već izdano odobrenje za izgradnju 15 000 stambenih jedinica, a očekuje se odobrenje za još dodatnih 58 000 stanova. Od ukupnog broja planiranih novih stambenih jedinica, 5722 su u Istočnom Jeruzalemu, a do sada je ukupno već izgrađeno oko 9000 stanova. Peace Now također tvrdi da je u planu izgradnja 17 000 stambenih jedinica u Gush Etzionu u okolici Betlehema i da će se ti stanovi graditi izvan granica postojećih ilegalnih izraelskih naselja, a oko 19 000 planiranih domova trebalo bi bili sagrađeno s druge strane ilegalnog izraelskog zida koji otima palestinski teritorij Zapadne obale, uključujući u ilegalnim izraelskim naseljima u Hebronu, Kiryat Arbi i Arielu. Prema izvještaju 22% stambenih jedinica čiju izgradnju trenutno planira izraelsko ministarstvo stanovanja trebalo bi biti ilegalno izgrađeno na ilegalno okupiranom palestinskom teritoriju Zapadne obale.
(Opaska uz članak u Ha'aretzu: Peace Now nije nikakva „ljevičarska“ organizacija, nego liberalno cionistička koja između ostalog, za razliku od ostatka svijeta i međunarodnog prava, ilegalno okupirani istočni Jeruzalem ne smatra dijelom Zapadne obale.)

Interview with Adam Shapiro : “60 Years of Israeli crimes should be tried”
Intervju s Adamom Shapirom, jednim od suosnivača International Solidarity Movementa
I Manu Chao podržava ISM i globalnu solidarnost s Palestincima pa je na svojoj stranici Politik kills objavio ovaj intervju (engleski tekst slijedi poslije španjolskog)
There needs to be unequivocal action in the international community to force Israel to end its aggression in Gaza. This should entail full suspension of diplomatic relations (as we have seen in Venezuela and Bolivia); full arms embargo on Israel; and the establishment of a criminal court under the ICC (mandated by the security council) to bring forward war crimes charges. While these may be long-shots, we have to remember that the Palestinian people, unlike virtually any other people in the world, are wholly dependent on the international community to act to help, both because it is the international community that is responsible for the original partitioning and displacement of the Palestinians and because Palestinians do not have a state, an army or any means of self-defense. The UN general assembly can also act and take dramatic action, and it should - and this would be a way to overcome a US veto. ... There needs to be a tribunal established to try these crimes committed in Gaza. But this is truly not sufficient. The crimes of 60 years need to be addressed. Because of the impunity Israel has enjoyed since 1948, the lesson it learned is that there are no consequences for its actions and no limits. The Palestinians have borne the brunt of that ‘freedom to act’ for 60 years. It is not enough to say what Israel is doing in Gaza today is too much. What was done in Deir Yassin, in Tantoura, in Lid, in the Jenin refugee camp, in Israeli prisons, and hundreds of other places and over the course of years, has been beyond the limit of international law and human rights. Of course, I would welcome justice for the crimes committed in Gaza, but this should just be the beginning.

:)

The Accelerated Ethnic cleansing of Al Bustan Neighborhood – Silwan City
Cionisti nastavljaju s planiranim etničkim čišćenjem u Silwanu u Jeruzalemu. Izraelske su gradske vlasti grada Jeruzalema odlučile srušiti više od 88 kuća u četvrti Al Bustan. U tim kućama živi više od 1000 Palestinaca, od kojih veliki postotak čine djeca. Gotovo pola vlasnika kuća u Al Bustanu primilo je sudske naloge kojima se naređuje rušenje njihovih kuća. Zemlja u Al Bustanu je u privatnom vlasništvu, a neke su kuće izgrađene prije ilegalne izraelske okupacije Zapadne obale (uključujući istočni Jeruzalem) 1967. Ostale kuće izgrađene su tijekom 1980-tih i 1990-tih. Cionisti na mjestu ovih kuća namjeravaju podići nacionalni park, a prave vlasnike i mještane preseliti na jedan brežuljak u Silwanu i u grad Beit Hanina sjeverno od Jeruzalema.

Ramez Al Shweiki … Another Palestinian Baby Born at An Israeli Checkpoint
25-godišnja Palestinka bila je 13. siječnja 2009. prisiljena roditi svoju bebu u automobilu na izraelskoj kontrolnoj točki Al Za'ayyam koju je trebala prijeći kako bi iz grada Al Izzariya, gdje je bila u posjeti rodbini, došla do bolnice Al Hilal u Al Siwwani u Jeruzalemu. Unatoč molbama trudničine rodbine, vojnikinja na kontrolnoj točki nije htjela ni pogledati trudnicu koja je već imala bolne trudove. Tek kad su rođaci vojnikinji rekli da trudnica krvari, ona se udostojala otići do automobila kako bi provjerila njihove tvrdnje. Do tada je dijete već bilo rođeno, a vojnikinja je tek tada propustila automobil kroz kontrolnu točku kako bi novorođenče i majka mogli doći do bolnice.

Još studija instituta ARIJ iz Jeruzalema o izraelskoj kolonizaciji, etničkom čišćenju i drugim zločinima na engleskom i arapskom

Israelis Are Beginning to See the Power of BDS
These four articles are a sign that there is a shift in the effectiveness of the BDS movement against Israel, and that if the momentum is maintained and strengthened, Israeli businessmen may decide to move their headquarters away from Israel, or to begin to put pressure on the Israeli government to begin respecting international law, and ending the occupation.

Peticija za neovisnu istragu „protuterorističkih“ metoda Busheve administracije

Američka vlada ovaj tjedan raspravlja o tome da li da oformi istražno povjerenstvo koje će se baviti metodama koje je Busheva administracija koristila u svom „ratu protiv terorizma“. Američkim senatorima koji traže istragu potrebna je globalna podrška kako bi se doista i oformilo učinkovito povjerenstvo. Na linku možete potpisati peticiju američkoj vladi koja će biti dostavljena članovima senata prije donošenja odluke o formiranju tog istražnog povjerenstva ovaj tjedan.

Peticijom tražimo uspostavu neovisnog tijela koje će u potpunosti istražiti postupke Busheve administracije, privođenje odgovornih za zločine i kršenja ljudskih prava pred lice pravde i beskompromisno usklađivanje protuterorističkih mjera s načelima ljudskih prava i vladavinom prava.
Link na peticiju: War on Terror: Demand the Truth


Nekoliko linkova za Palestinu/Izrael:
Israel concerned U.S. may agree to take part in 'Durban 2'
Izraelski se dužnosnici pribojavaju da bi administracija Baracka Obame mogla odlučiti da sudjeluje na drugoj UN-ovoj Svjetskoj konferenciji protiv rasizma koja bi se trebala održati u Ženevi u travnju ove godine. Izraelsko ministarstvo vanjskih poslova nastoji uvjeriti američku državnu tajnicu Clinton da zaustavi svoje napore da promijeni odluku Busheve administracije da SAD na toj konferenciji ne sudjeluju, jer je cionisti smatraju „anti-semitskom“ i „anti-izraelskom“. Izrael bojkotira konferenciju jer se očekuje da će se na njoj donijeti deklaracija kojom se cionizam izjednačava s rasizmom. Očekuje se također da će sudionici i organizatori konferencije Izrael optužiti za genocid protiv Palestinaca. Busheva administracija se prethodno složila s Izraelom i odlučila da SAD neće sudjelovati na konferenciji. Kanada je također najavila da će bojkotirati konferenciju, a izraelsko ministarstvo vanjskih poslova posljednjih mjeseci nastoji uvjeriti zemlje Europske Unije da na njoj ne sudjeluju. Navodno se nekoliko dužnosnika u Obaminoj administraciji zalaže za sudjelovanje SAD-a na toj konferenciji, a jedna od vodećih među njima je Susan Rice, američka veleposlanica pri UN-u. Rice također nastoji SAD uključiti u UN-ovo Vijeće za ljudska prava sa sjedištem u Ženevi, tijelo koje su SAD do sada bojkotirale. S druge strane u američkom veleposlanstvu vanjskih poslova navodno postoje, sudeći prema ovom članku, visoki dužnosnici koji su kontaktirali izraelske diplomate i od njih zatražili da blokiraju inicijativu da SAD ipak prisustvuju na UN-ovoj konferenciji protiv rasizma u Ženevi.
(Članak iz Ha'aretza je naravno obojen pro-cionistički, pa ga u takvom svjetlu treba i čitati. Naravno da je svakoj razumnoj i nepristranoj osobi jasno da UN-ova konferencija protiv rasizma nije „anti-semitska“ (posebno obzirom da je i anti-semitizam oblik rasizma) nego cionisti ne žele priznati da su rasisti i da je ideologija na kojoj su zasnovali državu Izrael zločinačka i rasistička, te da ta država provodi aparthejd.)

MICHAEL NEUMANN and OSHA NEUMANN to the President of the State of Israel and the Director of the Yad Vashem Memorial: Remove Our Grandmother's Name from the Wall at Yad Vashem
Following the example of Jean-Moise Braitberg, we ask that our grandmother's name be removed from the wall at Yad Vashem. Her name is Gertrud Neumann. Your records state that she was born in Kattowitz on June 6, 1875 and died in Theresienstadt. M. Braitberg delivers his request with excellent reasons and eloquent personal testimony. His words are inspiring, but they give you – and those who stand with you - too much credit. I will instead be brief. Please take this as an expression of my disgust and contempt for your state and all it represents. Our grandmother was a victim of that very ideal of ethnic sovereignty in whose cause Israel has shed so much blood for so long.

Jean-Moïse Braitberg: Effacez le nom de mon grand-père à Yad Vashem
Monsieur le Président de l'Etat d'Israël, je vous écris pour que vous interveniez auprès de qui de droit afin que l'on retire du Mémorial de Yad Vashem dédié à la mémoire des victimes juives du nazisme, le nom de mon grand-père, Moshe Brajtberg, gazé à Treblinka en 1943, ainsi que ceux des autres membres de ma famille morts en déportation dans différents camps nazis durant la seconde guerre mondiale. Je vous demande d'accéder à ma demande, monsieur le président, parce que ce qui s'est passé à Gaza, et plus généralement, le sort fait au peuple arabe de Palestine depuis soixante ans, disqualifie à mes yeux Israël comme centre de la mémoire du mal fait aux juifs, et donc à l'humanité tout entière.

Jean-Moïse Braitberg: Erase my grandfather's name at Yad Vashem
(engleski prijevod gornjeg teksta)
Yet you, Mr. President, you lead the destiny of a country which claims not only to represent the Jews as a whole, but also the memory of those who were victims of Nazism. This is what concerns me and that I find unacceptable. By displaying the names of my family members at the Yad Vashem Memorial, in the heart of the state of Israel, your state imprisons my family memories behind the barbed wires of zionism, and makes it hostage of a so-called moral authority which commits every day the abomination of denying justice. So, please, remove the name of my grandfather from the shrine dedicated to cruelty against Jews so that it no longer justifies the injustice being done to the Palestinians.

Amnesty International traži zamrzavanje prodaje oružja Izraelu

ostaci projektila kojim su 04. siječnja 2009. ubijena 3 bolničara hitne pomoći dok su pokušavali doći do ranjenih i 1 dječak u blizini svog doma u gradu Gazi (slika: Amnesty International)

Podaci izvađeni iz članka Amire Hass: Amnesty International urges freeze on arms sales to Israel koji u cijelosti možete na engleskom pročitati na linku.

Više od 20 država prodalo je Izraelu oružje čija bi uporaba tijekom izraelskog napada na Gazu mogla predstavljati ratne zločine i ozbiljne povrede međunarodnog prava, stoji u izvještaju „Fueling Conflict: Foreign Arms supplies to Israel/Gaza“ koji je Amnesty International objavio u ponedjeljak (23. veljače).

SAD se nalaze na vrhu popisa zemalja koje izvoze oružje u Izrael, no izvještaj također navodi i Francusku, Rumunjsku, Bosnu i Srbiju...

Amnesty International poziva na zamrzavanje izvoza oružja u Izrael sve dok više ne bude postojala opasnost da će se to oružje i vojna oprema koristiti za teške povrede međunarodnog humanitarnog prava i kršenja ljudskih prava.

U izvještaju stoji i da Hamas i ostale palestinske skupine svoje oružje koriste ne razlikujući civilne od vojnih ciljeva, iako ostaje nepoznato tko te skupine snabdijeva oružjem koje nije domaće izrade (a koje je proizvedeno u Iranu i Rusiji). Amnesty International također poziva na moratorij na prodaju i isporuku oružja Palestincima. U izvještaju stoji i da je količina oružja kojim raspolaže Hamas mnogo manja od one koju posjeduje Izrael.

SAD je zemlja koja je Izraelu dostavila najviše oružja od 2001. godine. Između 2004. i 2007. ukupna vrijednost oružja koje je SAD dostavio Izraelu iznosila je oko 8,3 milijarde američkih dolara. Od 2002. do danas Izrael je primio vojnu i sigurnosnu pomoć u vrijednosti od 21 milijarde američkih dolara, uključujući direktnu vojnu pomoć u vrijednosti od 19 milijardi američkih dolara. U 10-godišnjem ugovoru, koji je na snazi do 2017, stoji da će SAD Izraelu dostaviti vojnu pomoć u vrijednosti od ukupno 30 milijardi američkih dolara. Amnesty International poziva Obaminu administraciju da odmah obustavi vojnu pomoć Izraelu.

Između 2004. i 2007. Francuska je u Izrael izvezla vojnu opremu u vrijednosti od 59 milijuna eura. Rumunjska je u Izrael izvezla opremu vrijednu oko 20 milijuna eura, a Velika Britanija oko 10 milijuna britanskih funti. Srbija je Izraelu prodala oružje i streljivo u vrijednosti od 15 milijuna američkih dolara, a Njemačka je Izraelu dala vojnu pomoć vrijednu oko 1,5 milijuna američkih dolara.

Više na linku...

Izvještaj AI-a o ratnim zločinima počinjenim u nedavnoj izraelskoj agresiji na Gazu i naoružavanju Izraela i palestinskih naoružanih skupina
AI: Fuelling conflict: Foreign arms supplies to Israel/Gaza
Od 2001. Izraelu su vojnu opremu, osim SAD-a, Velike Britanije i Francuske, isporučile i slijedeće zemlje: Austrija, Australija, Belgija, Češka, Finska, Njemačka, Mađarska, Italija, Poljska, Rumunjska, Srbija, Slovačka, Slovenija, Južna Korea i Španjolska. Nizozemska i Grčka poslužile su kao tranzitne zemlje za vojnu opremu izvezenu u Izrael. Albanija, Bosna i Hercegovina, Brazil, Kolumbija i Indija su među 20 najvećih komercijalnih izvoznika oružja i streljiva u Izrael. 18 zemalja članica EU-a 2007. godine odobrilo je 1018 dozvola za prodaju oružja Izraelu. Njihova vrijednost iznosila je oko 200 milijuna eura. Među tim zemljama prednjačile su Francuska, Njemačka i Rumunjska. Zbog političkog pritiska svoje javnosti 9 zemalja EU-a (uključujući Švedsku) sada tvrdi da uopće ne izvoze oružje u Izrael. Osim ovih, u izvještaju se kao zemlje koje Izrael snabdijevaju oružjem ili dijelovima koji se koriste za proizvodnju oružja navode još i Estonija, Kazahstan, Meksiko i Kanada.
Amnesty International found remnants of air-delivered munitions – ranging from fragments of 20mm cannon and Hellfire and other missiles fired from helicopters and unmanned drones, to large fragments of large laser-guided and other bombs dropped from F-16 warplanes, as well as pieces of rocket motors, circuit boards and other electrical components of the missiles. Fragments from these bombardments are all over Gaza - on the streets, in school playgrounds, in hospitals and in people's homes. ...
According to the 1996 United Nations Guidelines for International Arms Transfers, the term “illicit arms trafficking is understood to cover that international trade in conventional arms, which is contrary to the laws of States and/or international law.” The responsibility of all states to prohibit international arms transfers that will facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights derives from their obligation not to participate in the internationally wrongful acts of another state. The principle is stated in Article 16 of the International Law Commission's Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts in terms which reflect customary international law, binding on all States. Article 16 states: “A State which aids or assists another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act by the latter is internationally responsible for doing so if: (a) that State does so with knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act; and (b) the act would be internationally wrongful if committed by that State.” General international law prohibits conduct that involves patterns of blatant abuse and complicity in such a pattern of blatant abuse.
Tvrtke iz Bosne i Srbije Izraelcima prodaju streljivo:
According to research by Amnesty International and International Peace Information Service (a NGO based in Antwerp), Serbian and Bosnian companies have in recent years exported large quantities of small arms ammunition and components, as well as artillery shell and mortar components to Israeli companies that supply such weapons to the IDF. Such exports have been sanctioned by the governments of Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzogovina. The primary Israeli importer of small arms ammunition components and finished products from the Balkans is the company Israeli Military Industries (IMI). During 2005 and 2006, IMI imported millions of rounds of 5.56 calibre ammunition from the Prvi Partizan factory in Serbia. IMI also ordered 45 million rounds of 5.56 calibre ammunition compatible with IDF assault rifles from a Bosnian factory in September 2005. IMI continued to import massive quantities of IDF compatible ammunition from Serbia. IMI is the leading small arms supplier to the IDF. ... Israeli companies such as Soltam Systems have also purchased large quantities of key mortar and artillery shell components from Bosnia & Herzegovina. Soltam Systems is a leading supplier of artillery and mortar shells to the IDF.


Ostali linkovi za Palestinu/Izrael:
The Fifth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week March 1 - 8, 2009
Mark your calendars - the 5th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week will take place across the globe from March 1-8, 2009! First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, more than 25 cities around the world participated in the week's activities, which also commemorated 60 years since the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and land in 1947-1948. IAW 2008 was launched with a live broadcast from the South African township of Soweto by Palestinian leader and former member of the Israeli Knesset, Azmi Bishara. This year, IAW occurs in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault against the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions will make the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid. IAW 2009 will continue to build and strengthen the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a global level.

Q&A: Israel Bars Credible Observers from Gaza
Thalif Deen Interviews U.N. Human Rights Expert RICHARD FALK
Falk, whose official title is U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is a Professor of International Law who has taught at several U.S. academic institutions, including Princeton, Ohio State and the University of California. The detention and expulsion were "unprecedented and regrettable," Pillay said, complaining that Falk was not only separated from two U.N. staffers accompanying him but was also held incommunicado for more than 20 hours at the Ben Gurion airport last week and denied the use of his U.N.-issued cell phone. ... Of course, the geopolitical realities of great powers unconditional support for Israel places a great obstacle in the path of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, and continues to expose the Palestinian people living under occupation to severe hardship that has been harmful to health and wellbeing. But it is important also not to lose hope. The struggle against apartheid in South Africa also seemed to be decisively blocked by political obstacles and the relation of forces, but unforeseen results produced a positive outcome due, in large part, to the anti-apartheid campaign waged globally.


Ostali linkovi:
Center for Constitutional Rights: CURRENT CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT AT GUANTÁNAMO STILL IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW February 23, 2009
U američkom koncentracijskom logoru Guantánamo u kojem su godinama zatvoreni, zlostavljani i mučeni ljudi koji nikada ni za što nisu optuženi i/ili nikada nisu imali priliku iznijeti svoju obranu na poštenom suđenju:
After over seven years of unlawful executive detention, the approximately 240 men who remain imprisoned at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba continue to be held in inhumane conditions that violate U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. Constitution, and international human rights law. Most of these men have never been charged or had an opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention in a habeas hearing. ... The descriptions of ongoing, severe solitary confinement, other forms of psychological abuse, incidents of violence and the threat of violence from guards, religious abuse, and widespread forced tube-feeding of hunger strikers indicate that the inhumane practices of the Bush Administration persist today at Guantánamo, despite President Obama's Executive Order, and should be remedied immediately. ...
On the afternoon of January 7, 2009, Yasin Ismael was in one of the outdoor cages of Camp 6 for “recreation” time. The cage was entirely in the shade. Mr. Ismael asked to be moved to the adjoining empty cage because it had sunlight entering from the top. The guards, who were outside the cages, refused. One guard told Mr. Ismael that he was “not allowed to see the sun.” Angered, Mr. Ismael threw a shoe against the inner mesh side of the cage; which bounced harmlessly back onto the cage floor. The guards, however, accused Mr. Ismael of attacking them and left him in the cage as punishment. He eventually fell asleep on the floor of the cage, but hours later he was awakened by the sound of an IRF team entering the cage in the dark. The team shackled him and he put up no resistance. They then beat him. They blocked his nose and mouth until he felt that he would suffocate, and hit him repeatedly in the ribs and head. They then took him back to his cell. As he was being taken back, a guard urinated on his head. Mr. Ismael was badly injured and his ear started to bleed, leaving a large stain on his pillow. ...
Mentally ill prisoners have been grossly mistreated and mismanaged in ways that have exacerbated their mental illnesses and suffering. Psychiatric visits are often cursory, and detainees who have reported problems to psychiatrists have been placed in more restricted isolation and denied basic items, termed “privileges” or “comfort items.” Suicide attempts have been downplayed and classified as “manipulative self-injurious behavior.” Members of the medical staff have assisted with or acquiesced to beatings by military guards. Some have gone so far as to verbally abuse detainees and laugh at their pain. Prisoners have been denied information about their test results, existing diseases, and the nature and risk of drugs and procedures to which they were subjected. They have been forced to accept unwanted medical care. Medical staff have permitted guards without medical training to assist in administering treatment. They have failed to address conditions of detention that undermined the health and well-being of the prisoners, such as inadequate and insufficient food, water, sanitation, shelter from inclement weather, as well as isolation, fear, mistreatment, and the mental anguish caused by indefinite detention. Improper or insufficient food, water, and sanitation has led detainees to suffer from, among other symptoms, renal pain, chronic constipation, weight loss, rotted teeth and receded gums. The U.S. government has denied detainees access to independent medical experts, leaving them in the exclusive care of medical staff, including psychiatrists and psychologists, that have collaborated with interrogators and systematically violated their legal and ethical duties to oppose, stop, record, and report abuse. Further, detainees have been subjected to medical examinations for non-therapeutic purposes, including vetting for interrogations designed, pursuant to medical findings, to be harmful to the prisoners' physical and mental health. Medical treatment, including mental health treatment, has been deliberately withheld or dispensed conditioned on prisoners' cooperation with interrogation, and interrogation-related medical exams have been kept apart from the prisoners' medical files, facilitating the concealment of injuries suggesting abuse. ...
A tube described by the men as the thickness of a finger is forcibly inserted up their noses and down into their stomachs and as much as 1.5 liters of formula is pumped through the tube. In the case of hunger strikers, this amount can be more than their stomachs can comfortably hold and the effect can be an uncomfortable, sometimes painful bout of nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, and shortness of breath. Men are kept strapped to the chairs for an hour after “feeding” to prevent them from purging the formula. No sedatives or anesthesia are given during the procedure. The tubes are generally inserted and withdrawn twice a day, and the same tubes, covered in blood and stomach bile, are reportedly used from one patient to another without adequate sanitization. The policy of force-feeding with restraint chairs continues to this day under the Obama Administration.

AI USA: Peticija za istragu uporabe američkog oružja u Gazi i suspenziju američke vojne pomoći Izraelu

Među američkim oružjem koje je Izrael koristio tijekom svojih napada u Pojasu Gaze pronađene su i američke granate s bijelim fosforom. Korištenje sredstava s bijelim fosforom u gusto naseljenim područjima, kao što je to radio Izrael u Pojasu Gaze, predstavlja kršenje međunarodnog humanitarnog prava i ratni zločin. U Pojasu Gaze zabilježeni su i drugi ratni zločini koje je nad civilima počinio Izrael, kao npr. pucanje na timove hitne pomoći koji su pokušavali spasiti ranjene.

SAD je od 2002. do danas Izraelu dao više od 21 milijardu američkih dolara vojne i sigurnosne pomoći. Tijekom izraelskog napada na Pojas Gaze izraelska je vojska u velikoj mjeri bila naoružana američkim oružjem, streljivom i vojnom opremom koji su plaćeni novcima američkih poreznih obveznika.

Na linku možete američkoj ministrici vanjskih poslova Clinton poslati pismo kojim od nje tražimo da zatraži:
- istragu uporabe američkog oružja od strane Izraela u Gazi
- suspenziju američke vojne pomoći Izraelu i
- nametanje UN-ovog embarga na oružje za sve strane u sukobu.

Obavezno (*) je upisati Ime, Prezime, Adresu, Grad, (pod State, ako niste iz SAD-a) odaberite Not in the USA, Poštanski broj, Zemlju i E-mail adresu.

Više informacija o američkom oružju kojim Izrael čini ratne zločine i teško krši ljudska prava Palestinaca na okupiranim područjima:
Armed and Dangerous: Weapons Transfers to Israel during the Bush Administration
Video: Prezentacija koalicije US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation u američkom kongresu (02. veljače 2009.) Sudjeluju Josh Ruebner, predstavnik koalicije US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, kongresnik Dennis Kucinich i mladi Palestinac Amr Shurrab, kojem su izraelski vojnici tijekom izraelske agresije ranili 2 brata i oca.
Vojnici su u slučaju Amrove braće i oca svojem zapovjedniku rekli da znaju kako se radi o civilima, ali on je unatoč tome naredio da se u njih puca. Kasnije unatoč brojnim pozivima medija i organizacija za ljudska prava vojnici 24 sata nisu do ranjenih pustili kola hitne pomoći zbog čega su dva ranjena Amrova brata (od kojih je 1 maloljetan) preminula od zadobijenih ozljeda. Štoviše, među vojnicima su se nalazili i vojni liječnici i bolničari koji su željeli pomoći ranjenima, no zapovjednik im je to zabranio.
Prva 2 dijela bave se američkom vojom pomoći Izraelu koju Izrael u suprotnosti s američkim zakonima koristi za teška kršenja međunarodnog humanitarnog i ljudskih prava, a u 3. dijelu možete poslušati potresnu Amrovu priču.


Dodatni linkovi za Palestinu/Izrael:
Erased: Wiped off the Map
Trailer novog filma Erased: Wiped off the Map španjolskog snimatelja Alberta Acrea koji je u Pojasu Gaze boravio tijekom izraelske agresije u prosincu 2008. i siječnju 2009.

Feb 11: Back home in Telal Howa
Slike palestinskih domova i drugih civilnih objekata uništenih u izraelskim napadima u siječnju u četvrti Tel Al Hawa u gradu Gazi.

O Izraelu, Gazi i “palestinskom pitanju”
(jedna opaska uz ovaj tekst: Smatram da rješenje s 1 državom ravnopravnih građana (ili binacionalna konsenzualna demokracija i/ili neka vrsta federacije) uopće nije nerealno (dapače, puno je realnije i praktičnije od rješenja s 2 države u skladu s rezolucijama UN-a koje također zahtijevaju povratak palestinskih izbjeglica, a što opet znači da Izrael ne može biti isključivo židovska država na svom današnjem teritoriju). Potrebna je politička volja kako u Izraelu, tako i u međunarodnoj zajednici (koja u interesu mira mora vršiti konstantan i učinkovit pritisak na Izrael) da se bilo koje od ova 2 rješenja (od kojih niti jedno ne predviđa Izrael kao isključivo židovsku državu) sprovede. Ako netko misli da je moguće da Izrael opstane kao židovska država, onda mora početi razmišljati o tome koji će dio trenutno svog teritorija Izrael predati Palestincima, jer ne može na 78% Palestine biti židovska država, a na 22% palestinska.)
Problem je s državom Izrael što je ona stvorena kao “židovska država”. Etnoplemenska, ekskluzivistička koncepcija države bila bi danas problematična u bilo kojem dijelu “zapadnog svijeta”, ali u uvjetima u kojima postoji Izrael to znači katastrofu. Unatoč nastavljenu židovskom doseljavanju u Izrael, ukupno gledajući Izrael i palestinske teritorije, većinu stanovništva uslijed većeg priraštaja uskoro će činiti Palestinci, tzv. “osveta zipke” pokorenih naroda. To izraelske Židove stavlja u poziciju bjelačke manjine u Južnoafričkoj Republici, koja na vlasti ostaje isključivo zahvaljujući sili, i Izrael bi i formalno prestao biti demokratska država. U principu, on to već nije – na predstojećim izborima za Knesset zabranjeno je sudjelovanje dvjema arapskim strankama pod izlikom da one “negiraju državu Izrael”. Negiranje Izraela kao židovske države nipošto nije isto što i pozivanje na istrebljenje Židova, i Fatah, koji je do kraja osamdesetih zastupao borbu za oslobođenje cijele Palestine kao demokratske i sekularne države, jasno je razlikovao to dvoje.


Ostali linkovi:
The Danger of Right-Wing Populism
Ron Paul is a long time Republican congressmen in the House of Representatives, while at the same time being a self-professed Libertarian — the party in which he ran for president in 1988. Paul is extremely religious, strongly anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, and incredibly anti-immigration (he regularly refers to immigrant workers as “the illegals”). Paul once famously stated “that 95 percent of the black males in Washington, DC are semi-criminal or entirely criminal." In '92, Paul was an advisor for Pat Buchanan's Republican Presidential campaign and more recently ran for the Republican nomination in 2008. Paul became a true name brand when, in 2003, he voted against the Iraq War Resolution. Craig Paul Roberts is primarily an economist, and in that capacity was chosen to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan. While in this position, he played a critical role in implementing the 1981 Tax Act, which was the first of two tax cuts — under Reagan — for the super rich to the tune of a 42% reduction, while overall taxes for the lowest tax bracket were raised 1%. Roberts has only fond memories of the Reagan administration. Roberts too has Libertarian leanings and has served as a “Distinguished Fellow” for the Cato institute, a right-wing think-tank. He has been a severe critic of President Bush, which gives him credentials with liberals. His syndicated column circulates widely over the internet. Pat Buchanan is an old school Republican having gained notoriety for being a close advisor and speechwriter for Nixon. During the Reagan years he served as the White House Communications Director, where his principal task was to garner support for the US-backed military intervention in Nicaragua. Buchanan is a proud co-founder of the infamous “culture war” rhetoric of the right-wing, which primarily pits white US Christians against anyone else, especially immigrants, homosexuals, Muslims, and “Zionists." For this, Buchanan has earned the praise and influenced the ideas not only of Christian fundamentalists, but white nationalist groups (Nazis), who regularly post links to him — as well as to Ron Paul — on their websites. Like Paul, Buchanan has solid links to the ultra-right, theocratic Constitution Party. Buchanan, like the above two, has earned praise from liberals for being against the Iraq war, while being staunchly anti-“neoconservative” — all three refer to themselves as “real” Conservatives. ... And while the far right says they are against most government institutions, they are primarily against business regulation, public education, the social safety net, and against whatever else that reduces the profits of the corporations they serve. And this is where the different groups of the far right — Libertarians, Constitution Party, “real” conservatives, etc. — sing a hymn together in perfect harmony. They loudly condemn government to the masses, while quietly idealizing both the market economy and “private property” to their corporate backers. Private property is, to them, not the home you live in, but the giant corporation owned by an individual or small group. In their idealized society, there would be no limit to the mega-employers greed for profits: no minimum wage, no social security, no workers' protection, no social safety net, etc. The majority of people would naturally rebel against this, requiring the "free-market" idolaters to quickly reestablish all the old, “repressive” institutions. Since the right-wing has ultimately the interests of the rich in mind, they must resort to radical rhetoric to secure a mass base, while distracting their followers away from the source of their seething anger - capitalism. This is the same reason that they pander not only to religion, but also to ignorant racists by focusing on immigration, condemning both homosexuality and Islam, while ranting against "multiculturalism." ... The need, therefore, to be able to distinguish between the political essence of Left versus Right is fast becoming critical. As the recession deepens, the far Right will use their rhetoric and large donors to gather strength. Unmasking their “progressive” positions for what they are is paramount if their true role in support of their corporate masters is to be exposed. No alliances can be made with this dangerous group. Below the progressive phrases of the ultra right lie class interests, and explaining the fundamentally opposed relationship between worker and owner is crucial if we are to prevent their ideas from developing a mass base capable of being transformed into fascist reaction.

Tražite pomilovanje Troya Davisa

Troyu Davisu prijeti pogubljenje u američkoj saveznoj državi Georgiji unatoč tome što ne postoje čvrsti dokazi da je on odgovoran za ubojstvo policajca za koje je osuđen. 7 od 9 svjedoka povuklo je ili proturječilo svojim iskazima, nije pronađeno oružje kojim je policajac ubijen i ne postoje fizički dokazi koji bi Davisa povezivali sa zločinom. Unatoč tome osuđen je na smrt, a Odbor za pomilovanja u državi Georgiji odbio mu je ublažiti kaznu.

Na linku možete guverneru Georgije poslati poruku kojom tražite da ublaži Davisovu smrtnu kaznu i spriječi njegovo pogubljenje.

Potrebno je upisati (*) ime, prezime, adresu, grad, (saveznu državu ako živite u SAD-u ili) na kraju odaberite Not in USA, poštanski broj, zemlju, e-mail adresu.


Dodatni linkovi:
Volunteer and Study Arabic in Palestine!
You've seen them on the news. But what do you really know about them? What do Palestinians do for fun? What do they eat? What do they think of the outside world? What is daily life like under military occupation? What you've seen on the news is only half the story. Palestine Summer Encounter (PSE) is a one, two, or three month service learning and cultural immersion program in Bethlehem, Palestine. Participants study Arabic in and outside of the classroom setting, live with a Palestinian host family, meet with both Israeli and Palestinian NGOs and peacemakers and volunteer with one of thirty-seven participating nonprofits and organizations.

Latin America Breaks Free
This unified bloc is effectively replacing Washington's presence in the region, from military training grounds to diplomatic meetings. In varying degrees, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Venezuela are demonstrating that the days of U.S.-backed coups, gunship diplomacy, and Chicago Boys' neoliberalism may very well be over for South America.