In this post: Free Gaza ships break siege in Gaza; Arabic class almost done; news stories from the region, etc.
The big news for Palestinians today is that the Free Gaza ships (two of them) were actually able to sail from Cyprus to Gaza and dock in the Gazan port. Although Israel claims to have withdrawn from occupying Gaza, Israel still controls all of Gaza's borders: land, sea, and air. This has allowed Israel to impose a crippling siege on Gaza, even limiting humanitarian supplies into the region (all of the intl aid agencies working in Gaza have strongly condemned the siege). The Free Gaza ships were made up of intl's from many countries, and many from the US. There was fear that Israel would stop the ships from entering Gazan waters, perhaps even harm the ships or people aboard, but in the end, Israel decided it would be a worse PR disaster to stop the ships than let them through. Now that the ships have been let through with their humanitarian supplies, the question is, what next? I believe they should soon organize more ships to make the voyage and see if Israel refrains from acting. You can read more about the ships voyage here: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31473.
The other big news from today is Obama's announcement of Joe Biden as his running mate. You can read some annalysis from an Israeli perspective here.
I have one more week of Arabic classes left, and I'm looking forward to taking a break from the rigorous study schedule I've had for the last several weeks. I plan to spend a few weeks reviewing Arabic, and I'm also going to change gears in my Arabic study to focus more on simply talking with people (opposed to disciplining myself to learning 12 words a day--what I was doing before the class started).
At the beginning of next month, I hope to have a (re)opening party of sorts for Ibrahim's house, and after that, I hope that we will have at least a dozen guests here all the time.
I'm also planning to get more involved in direct peace work again after my class finishes. I'm interested in looking into some Israeli peace groups and observing their work here in Jerusalem.
Below you'll find a few news stories from this region you might have missed, along with my comments about them.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31463
The issue of the Israeli army spraying protesters with sewer water is fairly new, but the tactic can have some serious effects on the victims.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014430.html
The UN says it will have to scale back clean up of the mine fields in Lebanon after cuts in funding. Israel dropped thousands of land mines on Lebanon in the last 72 hrs of the conflict in 2006, and it has refused to give the UN a map of where the minds might lay. Why isn't Israel responsible for cleaning up these fields, which have a devasting effect, primarly on civilian farmers?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014171.html
After all the protests, political meandering, and appeals to the high court, changing the route of the wall comes down to a few comments by the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister. It seems crazy to me that one or two people can hold that much power.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31381
A big deal was made when Israel said it would release 199 Pal prisoners, mostly to boost Fatah. However, this report points out that since last Nov., Israel has arrested four times the number of Pal prisoners it just released. Most of those released were nearing the end of their terms anyway.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31382
The Palestinian Authority is beginning to close down charitible organizations it says are affiliated with Hamas, despite that the evidence is quite shaky. These closings are being down in coordination with Israeli military operations, so now we have a government in the West Bank that simply does the dirty work for the Israeli military.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/world/middleeast/22baghdad.html?hp
To make a few comments on a different struggle, yet one close to here: the US and Iraq are trying to agree on a timetable for action and withdrawl of US troops from Iraq (the only reason the Bush admin. will consider this is that it looses its UN mandate to be in Iraq at the end of this year, so it now wants to negotiate with Iraq). You can call this what you want--time horizen, contigent on the security on the ground, etc.--but this is what people on the left in the US have been calling for all along: not a time table of pulling troops out, regardless of the what's going on the ground, but a general idea of when we'd like to end opperations there. What the Bush admin. is now negotiating is close to what Obama has been saying, and what Iraqi politicans are asking for (as far as date of withdrawl) is exactly what Obama proposed. This is not meant to defend Obama or even one day more of US troops in Iraq, as far as I'm concerned. I find it interesting that the most senior Shiite cleric in Iraq says we should let the Iraqis vote on how long they want the US there. What a novel idea!!! Democrasy in action. This is not the first time this cleric has challenged the US to actually live up to its ideas of democrasy in Iraq.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Israel in S Ossetia; a "Peace Proposal"; etc.
In this post: Israel's part in South Ossetia; the Israeli peace proposal--a complete joke; my Arabic class; other news stories, etc.
The big news everywhere this last week has been the Russian-Georgian war over South Ossetia. I have watched in horror as the US media have presented a very biased perspective on the conflict. This highlights for me, again, the reason to read, listen, or watch news from multiple services and multiple countries.
I will in no way justify Russia's response, but let's keep in mind that it was a response. Before Russia's actions, Georgia pummeled South Ossetia with US manufactured weapons, invading an independent state that had time and time again said that it wanted to be free from Georgia. Why is it that nations cannot accept people who say they don't want to live with them or be a part of their system? Georgia had already inflicted many, many civilian casualties before Russia acted.
Russia's response can, in some ways, be compared to the US response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Just as the US justified its invasion of Iraq by saying Iraq had attacked another independent country or region during the first Guld War, so Russia tried to do the same with South Ossetia. Russia's response was disproportionate, but it feels quite threatened by US influence on its back door and the missle system the US is trying to set up in post-Soviet states.
How does all this relate to Israel and my work here? The conflict in South Ossetia has been all over the news here because of Israel's involvement in selling weapons to Georgia and training Georgian troops. Georgia even appealed to Israel for aid, saying that it is fighting terrorism just as Israel is. See this article for a good analysis of the relationship between Israel and Georgia: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9756.shtml.
The other big news here this week was Israel's release of a peace proposal saying that it wanted to annex 7 % more of the West Bank, give the new "state" of Palestine some land in the Southern desert as recompense, and therefore, have peace with Palestinians. The "moderate" Palestinian leadership responded by asking, "Is this a joke?"
All Palestinians have a right to utterly reject this proposal as nothing more than Israel trying to steal more of their land (similar to what the US did to Native Americans, giving them treaty after watered down treaty, and never fulfilling the US part of the treaties completely). Aside from simply trying to steal 7% more of what little is left of Palestine (after stealing over 50% already), this proposal has many ridiculous elements. One is that Israel refuses to remove any of its settlements from Palestinian land until Palestinians have done all of their part of the bargain. This is clearly Israel using the settlements as a weapon to manipulate, and it shows that Israel does indeed want the settlements as a tool in its arsenal.
According to this proposal, Israel expects "moderate" Palestinians to retake control of the Gaza strip, but the proposal also calls for a disarmed Palestinian state. Apparently, the Abbas gov't is supposed to wrestle control of the Gaza strip away from Hamas, yet do so without any weapons (Hmm, would Israel be willing to do this?). After the Abbas gov't in the West Bank retakes the Gaza strip, Israel is promising to allow Palestinians to travel freely between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, but these two areas won't be unified. Palestine will be a state split in two, with Israel control over who and when people cross between the two areas (divide and conquer?--oh wait, that's already happened).
Finally, Israel proposes to maintain complete control over all of Palestine's borders: land, sea, and air. There would be Isaeli military at all the Palestinian borders.
What kind of proposal is this? Is this much different from what's happening here now? I'm convinced that if these sorts of "peace negotiations" continue, it will be completely impossible to establish a real, independent Palestinian state, and the only course of action will be a one state solution with equal rights for everyone. That doesn't sound so bad now.
See the following two links for stories on my above comments: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010812.html ; http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31341.
The tributes to Palestinian national poet, Mahmoud Darwish, this week in Ramallah and everywhere in Palestine, were huge. You can read a tribute to him and one of his poems here.
I am continueing with my Arabic class this month. I'm a little frustrated with the class because of the difference in accent they use in the class (opposed to what I've heard and learned actually speaking with people on the street) and because they use an English script to write Arabic. In some ways, I wish I would have put my money for the class toward paying a private tutor who could have worked from where I am at; I also simply learn more one on one than in groups. I don't like trying to memorize things in class, in a group setting. I use class to get new information and review what I've learned since the last class; then, I take the new information and learn it on my own. Trying to quickly memorize a few words, then practive them in class, I find this almost a complete waste of time. But . . . I'm still learning a lot, and I'm trying to make the best of it. I'm also figuring out how I learn best, and I can make adjustments for the future.
Below you'll find some links to some other news articles you might have missed this week.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010938.html
Says the US is halting a transport of weapons to Israel, out of fear that Israel will use the weapons to attack Iran. How about we stop building these weapons in the first place?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1011977.html
Israeli police admit to turing a blind eye to Israeli settler violence in the W Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56522
Israeli settlers attack and hospitalize a Palestinian child.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56526
Israel demolishes three Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. On a separate note, I'm told there are several houses on the Mount of Olives, where I live, that are slated for demolition.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56546
Israeli army invades Gaza strip. Hmm, I don't even think we should recognize the cease fire as working anymore.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31357
A group of intl peace activists are trying to sail to Gaza from Cyprus to break the siege. Israel will likely not allow the ship to enter Gazan waters, as it controls all of Gaza, despite saying that it has pulled back from Gaza (this points to the fact that Gaza is an open air prison today). One of the activists who will sail on the ship is related to Tony Blair, and she claims that she has received threatening phone calls saying the Israel is going to blow up the ship.
The big news everywhere this last week has been the Russian-Georgian war over South Ossetia. I have watched in horror as the US media have presented a very biased perspective on the conflict. This highlights for me, again, the reason to read, listen, or watch news from multiple services and multiple countries.
I will in no way justify Russia's response, but let's keep in mind that it was a response. Before Russia's actions, Georgia pummeled South Ossetia with US manufactured weapons, invading an independent state that had time and time again said that it wanted to be free from Georgia. Why is it that nations cannot accept people who say they don't want to live with them or be a part of their system? Georgia had already inflicted many, many civilian casualties before Russia acted.
Russia's response can, in some ways, be compared to the US response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Just as the US justified its invasion of Iraq by saying Iraq had attacked another independent country or region during the first Guld War, so Russia tried to do the same with South Ossetia. Russia's response was disproportionate, but it feels quite threatened by US influence on its back door and the missle system the US is trying to set up in post-Soviet states.
How does all this relate to Israel and my work here? The conflict in South Ossetia has been all over the news here because of Israel's involvement in selling weapons to Georgia and training Georgian troops. Georgia even appealed to Israel for aid, saying that it is fighting terrorism just as Israel is. See this article for a good analysis of the relationship between Israel and Georgia: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9756.shtml.
The other big news here this week was Israel's release of a peace proposal saying that it wanted to annex 7 % more of the West Bank, give the new "state" of Palestine some land in the Southern desert as recompense, and therefore, have peace with Palestinians. The "moderate" Palestinian leadership responded by asking, "Is this a joke?"
All Palestinians have a right to utterly reject this proposal as nothing more than Israel trying to steal more of their land (similar to what the US did to Native Americans, giving them treaty after watered down treaty, and never fulfilling the US part of the treaties completely). Aside from simply trying to steal 7% more of what little is left of Palestine (after stealing over 50% already), this proposal has many ridiculous elements. One is that Israel refuses to remove any of its settlements from Palestinian land until Palestinians have done all of their part of the bargain. This is clearly Israel using the settlements as a weapon to manipulate, and it shows that Israel does indeed want the settlements as a tool in its arsenal.
According to this proposal, Israel expects "moderate" Palestinians to retake control of the Gaza strip, but the proposal also calls for a disarmed Palestinian state. Apparently, the Abbas gov't is supposed to wrestle control of the Gaza strip away from Hamas, yet do so without any weapons (Hmm, would Israel be willing to do this?). After the Abbas gov't in the West Bank retakes the Gaza strip, Israel is promising to allow Palestinians to travel freely between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, but these two areas won't be unified. Palestine will be a state split in two, with Israel control over who and when people cross between the two areas (divide and conquer?--oh wait, that's already happened).
Finally, Israel proposes to maintain complete control over all of Palestine's borders: land, sea, and air. There would be Isaeli military at all the Palestinian borders.
What kind of proposal is this? Is this much different from what's happening here now? I'm convinced that if these sorts of "peace negotiations" continue, it will be completely impossible to establish a real, independent Palestinian state, and the only course of action will be a one state solution with equal rights for everyone. That doesn't sound so bad now.
See the following two links for stories on my above comments: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010812.html ; http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31341.
The tributes to Palestinian national poet, Mahmoud Darwish, this week in Ramallah and everywhere in Palestine, were huge. You can read a tribute to him and one of his poems here.
I am continueing with my Arabic class this month. I'm a little frustrated with the class because of the difference in accent they use in the class (opposed to what I've heard and learned actually speaking with people on the street) and because they use an English script to write Arabic. In some ways, I wish I would have put my money for the class toward paying a private tutor who could have worked from where I am at; I also simply learn more one on one than in groups. I don't like trying to memorize things in class, in a group setting. I use class to get new information and review what I've learned since the last class; then, I take the new information and learn it on my own. Trying to quickly memorize a few words, then practive them in class, I find this almost a complete waste of time. But . . . I'm still learning a lot, and I'm trying to make the best of it. I'm also figuring out how I learn best, and I can make adjustments for the future.
Below you'll find some links to some other news articles you might have missed this week.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010938.html
Says the US is halting a transport of weapons to Israel, out of fear that Israel will use the weapons to attack Iran. How about we stop building these weapons in the first place?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1011977.html
Israeli police admit to turing a blind eye to Israeli settler violence in the W Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56522
Israeli settlers attack and hospitalize a Palestinian child.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56526
Israel demolishes three Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. On a separate note, I'm told there are several houses on the Mount of Olives, where I live, that are slated for demolition.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56546
Israeli army invades Gaza strip. Hmm, I don't even think we should recognize the cease fire as working anymore.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31357
A group of intl peace activists are trying to sail to Gaza from Cyprus to break the siege. Israel will likely not allow the ship to enter Gazan waters, as it controls all of Gaza, despite saying that it has pulled back from Gaza (this points to the fact that Gaza is an open air prison today). One of the activists who will sail on the ship is related to Tony Blair, and she claims that she has received threatening phone calls saying the Israel is going to blow up the ship.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Passing Poets, Arabic studies, etc.
In this post: Supporting Ibrahim's house; the passing of a poet; Arabic studies and cleaning; peace events this month here; web-site news stories, etc.
At the end of the this post, you can find a fund-raiser request written by a supporter of Ibrahim's house, where I'm now volunteering. I'm passing this along, hoping that you can circulate the request to other groups.
Over the weekend, Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian national poet, hero of Palestine, passed away in the US. This week, and maybe longer, will be a period of morning for all Palestinians. See http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31227 for more info.
I started an intensive Arabic course that will keep me quite busy for the rest of this month. When not studying Arabic, I'm spending a lot of time continuing to fix up the house and ready it for new visitors. I spent most of the day on Sun. moving beds around the house, throwing out a lot of garbage, and cleaning.
There are several peace events near or related to the house that I hope to participate in this month. Last night, we hosted a group of about 25 people from the All Nations Cafe who are doing a sort of peace pilgrimage throughout Israel and the West Bank. The All Nations Cafe was actually started in Ibrahim's house here, several years ago. It is made up of people from all religions and backgrounds who desire peace for this region. Next month, there's also a Sulha, (something Ibrahim has also been involved in), which sounds like a sort of peace festival using music, praying, etc. to promote dialog and peace.
I see myself as a skeptical spectator, yet participant with these events. Even before, but more so after my time in the West Bank, I have felt uncomfortable with the idea of only concentrating on the positive aspects of people getting together and talking about peace when all sorts of horrible things are happening. Sometimes I don't find a lot of substance at peace events where Israelis and Palestinians gather--perhaps because people want to focus on the joy of everyone coming together. But, I belive that unless we do the difficult work of addressing the gross injustices going on, the problems will only continue. We can't merely gather and enjoy being around each other while abuses continue. Are we not then allowing the injustices to contiue?
Persuing peace and justice is difficult, painful work. It takes sacrifices, and sometimes, we have to be very adamant about applying structure and discipline to situations and people who would act injustly.
Anyway, most of my days are quiet right now. I'm enjoying the study and cleaning time, but I also feel frustrated and concerned about my lack of progress with the Arabic language.
Below are some websites you might have missed and find interesting, and I add my comments to some of them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010124.html
One of the most fascinating finds recently. This artifact points to the terrorism of Jewish militias before the establishment of the state of Israel. In this document, these militas, who later Israeli prime ministers were involved in, explain why terrorism starts and is sometimes justified (in their opinion). This article, for me, really underscores the similirites between state and gurella violence and why we can never fight terrorism with war.
http://www.cpt.org/node/7252
Story reporting on the water problem in the West Bank. For those who would say Palestinians should just conserve more water, this story points out that Israeli households consume 3 1/2 times more water than Palestinian households.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_race_for_jerusalem
Tells the story of one person, among thousands, who lost her Israeli ID because she obtained an American Green Card. This points to the quiet ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Israelis who are often prevented from returning to Israel after they have left the country for a short time. How many Jewish Israeli citizens have dual US-Israeli citizenship?
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31036
There are 39 times more Israeli settlers in Palestine today than in 1972, according to this Palestinian study. Most of the settlers reside in Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56404
Story of settlers trying, again, to take over Palestinian house in E Jerusalem. Other stories on settler activity and Palestinian house demolitions in E Jerusalem: http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3311&Itemid=1 ; http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9733.shtml
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009375.html
An Israeli report on settler harrassment of Palestinians. Recently, some Israelis settlers in the North have started launching rockets at Palestinian villages.
You can read about the latest erruption of Israeli settler violence in Beit-Sahour, where I have visted many times: http://www.imemc.org/article/56403. Pictures from the racist graffit the settlers sprayed on the walls are here.
At the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, the fourth holiest site in Islam, settlers recently stormed the mosque again. There have been a number of attacks and deaths caused by Israeli settlers at this mosque, which the settlers want to take over. See: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31184.
The US is now offering more advanced weapons systems to Israel, despite Israel's human rights record. I don't understand how the US can do this, and continue with its own pracites, while trying to condemn others who want these weapons. The only way to keep people safe and make this world safer is to get rid of all these disatrous weapons. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009148.html
Below is a fund-raiser request for Ibrahim's house:
Greetings to all Ibrahim's friends
At the end of the this post, you can find a fund-raiser request written by a supporter of Ibrahim's house, where I'm now volunteering. I'm passing this along, hoping that you can circulate the request to other groups.
Over the weekend, Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian national poet, hero of Palestine, passed away in the US. This week, and maybe longer, will be a period of morning for all Palestinians. See http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31227 for more info.
I started an intensive Arabic course that will keep me quite busy for the rest of this month. When not studying Arabic, I'm spending a lot of time continuing to fix up the house and ready it for new visitors. I spent most of the day on Sun. moving beds around the house, throwing out a lot of garbage, and cleaning.
There are several peace events near or related to the house that I hope to participate in this month. Last night, we hosted a group of about 25 people from the All Nations Cafe who are doing a sort of peace pilgrimage throughout Israel and the West Bank. The All Nations Cafe was actually started in Ibrahim's house here, several years ago. It is made up of people from all religions and backgrounds who desire peace for this region. Next month, there's also a Sulha, (something Ibrahim has also been involved in), which sounds like a sort of peace festival using music, praying, etc. to promote dialog and peace.
I see myself as a skeptical spectator, yet participant with these events. Even before, but more so after my time in the West Bank, I have felt uncomfortable with the idea of only concentrating on the positive aspects of people getting together and talking about peace when all sorts of horrible things are happening. Sometimes I don't find a lot of substance at peace events where Israelis and Palestinians gather--perhaps because people want to focus on the joy of everyone coming together. But, I belive that unless we do the difficult work of addressing the gross injustices going on, the problems will only continue. We can't merely gather and enjoy being around each other while abuses continue. Are we not then allowing the injustices to contiue?
Persuing peace and justice is difficult, painful work. It takes sacrifices, and sometimes, we have to be very adamant about applying structure and discipline to situations and people who would act injustly.
Anyway, most of my days are quiet right now. I'm enjoying the study and cleaning time, but I also feel frustrated and concerned about my lack of progress with the Arabic language.
Below are some websites you might have missed and find interesting, and I add my comments to some of them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010124.html
One of the most fascinating finds recently. This artifact points to the terrorism of Jewish militias before the establishment of the state of Israel. In this document, these militas, who later Israeli prime ministers were involved in, explain why terrorism starts and is sometimes justified (in their opinion). This article, for me, really underscores the similirites between state and gurella violence and why we can never fight terrorism with war.
http://www.cpt.org/node/7252
Story reporting on the water problem in the West Bank. For those who would say Palestinians should just conserve more water, this story points out that Israeli households consume 3 1/2 times more water than Palestinian households.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_race_for_jerusalem
Tells the story of one person, among thousands, who lost her Israeli ID because she obtained an American Green Card. This points to the quiet ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Israelis who are often prevented from returning to Israel after they have left the country for a short time. How many Jewish Israeli citizens have dual US-Israeli citizenship?
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31036
There are 39 times more Israeli settlers in Palestine today than in 1972, according to this Palestinian study. Most of the settlers reside in Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56404
Story of settlers trying, again, to take over Palestinian house in E Jerusalem. Other stories on settler activity and Palestinian house demolitions in E Jerusalem: http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3311&Itemid=1 ; http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9733.shtml
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009375.html
An Israeli report on settler harrassment of Palestinians. Recently, some Israelis settlers in the North have started launching rockets at Palestinian villages.
You can read about the latest erruption of Israeli settler violence in Beit-Sahour, where I have visted many times: http://www.imemc.org/article/56403. Pictures from the racist graffit the settlers sprayed on the walls are here.
At the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, the fourth holiest site in Islam, settlers recently stormed the mosque again. There have been a number of attacks and deaths caused by Israeli settlers at this mosque, which the settlers want to take over. See: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31184.
The US is now offering more advanced weapons systems to Israel, despite Israel's human rights record. I don't understand how the US can do this, and continue with its own pracites, while trying to condemn others who want these weapons. The only way to keep people safe and make this world safer is to get rid of all these disatrous weapons. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009148.html
Below is a fund-raiser request for Ibrahim's house:
Greetings to all Ibrahim's friends
My name is Juliet Goldstein and I am writing on behalf of Ibrahim Abu ElHawa. I now live in California but have known Ibrahim for almost 30 years dating back to the time I lived one year on the Mt of Olives and altogether 8 years in Jerusalem.I am a member of CHN (Creative Health Network) which helped to set up Jerusalem Peacemakers of which Ibrahim is a part. (see www.jerusalempeacemakers.org)
Many hundreds of people Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals for so many years have stayed at his Peace House on the Mt of Olives with no donation required. Also hundreds of people have been hosted there for free meals with true Arab hospitality.
Ibrahim agrees that the time has definitely come to put his Peace House on a financially sustainable basis. A group of us have now formed to further this unique project with month to month budgeting, a manager and accounting.
Simple way to finnish with current debts
You may or may not know Ibrahim has a court case pending which is now due to come to trial in Jerusalem on Aug 18th regarding the additions he made to his house. He has the threat of a jail sentence and Ibrahim says it is very important that he come to trial with no outstanding debts.
If those of us who have met Ibrahim and benfited from his friendship and generosity of heart in any way, those who support his ongoing peacework and our friends, would like now to contribute $10-$20 'or more' (or the equivalent in English pounds, Euros or Shekels), ideally within the next few days, because of Ibrahim's very extensive e-mail list, it could go a long way to paying off his water bill, house taxes, costs of repairing old water pipes and bank loan, before his trial on Aug 18th. We have devised a way of collecting a lot of small donations without costly wiring expenses to you. In order to make sure these bills are paid in a prompt and correct manner, two of our team over there will be the ones paying these bills directly with our donations.
Details:
Depending on the currency of your check please choose from the following options:
Kindly make out your check for $10-$20 (or the equivalent) 'or more', to the collecting agent designated for your country or region (not directly to Ibrahim) and mark on the space below 'for Ibrahim Hawa'.
For the US, tax deductible dollars only:
Make your check out to CHN (Creative Health Network)
and mail to:
Juliet Goldstein
POBox 644 Aptos
Ca 95001 USA
Please mark your check at the bottom 'for Ibrahim Hawa' -
(we also collect for another Ibrahim)
In the UK for non-deductible English pounds only
Make your check out to Marianne Duggan (a close friend of Ibrahim's)
and mail to: Marianne Hannah Duggan
20A East Dulwich Grove
East Dulwich
London SE22 8PP UK
Mobile 07944 521761
Home 0208 693 3214
email: hannahmarianne@yahoo.co.uk
Please mark your check at the bottom 'for Ibrahim Hawa' -
For Europe, non-deductible donations in Euros only.
Make your check out to:
Idit Schlezinger( works with Machon WATCH helping Palestinans pay their bills)
and mail to: 1Hanesher Street
Gilo Jerusalem
Israel 93852
Please mark your check at the bottom 'for Ibrahim Hawa'
In the Holyland for non-deductible Israeli shekels only:
Make your check out to: Chaim Cohen (a longtime collector of donations for Ibrahim and works with Human Rights)
mail to: Peace Channels
P.O.B. 24367
Jerusalem 91243 Israel
Please mark your check at the bottom 'for Ibrahim Hawa'
Please note: A reminder to make your check out to the designated Collector for your currency and marked 'for Ibrahim Hawa' below but not directly to Ibrahim.
I would like to encourage you to send on this e-mail to your friends and Networks of people who might like to help with Ibrahim's unique Peace House on the Mt of Olives.
Thanking you.
We will let you know how this endeavor is going and how future plans are coming together so this will not be a continuing situation. Many hands make a Miracle-Please pray for Ibrahim's health and the Court case on Aug18th. Thank you so much for your great support!
Juliet Goldstein, Suzanne Keehn (President of CHN) , Marianne Hannah Duggan, Chaim Cohen, Idit Avner
Please direct all queries to me:
Juliet Goldstein-shiningjoy@cs.com
Tel 831 662 0186
As Elana Rozenman in Jerusalem who is Director of Trust-Emun (see: http://trust-emun.org) says about Ibrahim -'he has such a good heart and lives in complete trust -- so he is constantly spending money to take care of people.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Tours, Settlers, Child-killings, Accountability, etc.
In this post: Tour of Arab-Jewish neighborhood; settlers taking over individual rooms in a Pal. family's house in E Jerusalem; child-killings by Israeli military in Na'lin; gaining a conscience to hold everyone accountable for war crimes; spray painting in Beit Sahour; unemployment in Palestine; settling into the Hostel; Notes, etc.
A week ago, last Fri., I had the opportunity to participate in a tour of some neighborhoods in Jerusalem that have been inhabited by Arab Jews in the past. It was fascinating to here the stories of how they came here and how they have been treated. Many came from Morocco and other countries in Africa, and especially during the 1960's, Israel encouraged them or forced many Arab Jews to live on the borders. Living on the borders meant that these Jews received a lot of the violence and fire from Israel's enemies, and the Arab Jews (who were very poor) served as a buffer for European Jews, who would live farther inside Israel, away from the violence of the borders. You can read more about this in my notes below.
After the tour, I visited a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem who's house has been invaded by settlers. I was shocked at the boldness of these settlers, because they have taken over entire rooms of the family's house. The situation with this family, although so far an isolated incident, is, in some ways, worse than what settlers are doing in Hebron. Settlers try to stay as far away from their Palestinian neighbors as possible, out of fear and racism against them. Even in Hebron, settlers families don't live in the same houses as Palestinians (although they will take over the entire house). But in this instance in E Jerusalem, the settlers are essentially sharing the same house with the Palestinians, and trying to push the Pal family out. The Jewish families have armed guard patrols and escorts so they can leave the house; the Pal's have internationals living with them, to bear witness to what's happening and to serve as a deterent against being evicted.
Even the US embassy in Tel Aviv has filed a formal complaint with Israel about the pending legal proceedings which will force the Pal's out of their home. It is quite rare for the US embassy here to criticize Israeli policy. You can read all about these events on these sites:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9716.shtml
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005342.html
Another happening this last week is that an 11 y.o. boy was shot dead by a live bullet at a protest in Na'lin. This is the same protest that I frequented, and it's very disturbing that the Israeli military issued a statement admitting they killed the boy but offered no apology or regret for loss of life. It is against all laws across the world to shoot and kill an 11 y.o. boy. You can read about the incident here: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006664.html
The next day after this incident, the military attacked the funeral procession of this boy, wounding 9 (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006972.html). During this attack, the military killed a 17 y.o. boy by shooting him in the head with a rubber coated bullet at close range (see last web page link). Instead of apologizing for killing unarmed children, the military ordered a military group, specializing in riot control, into the area. I belive they have completely sealed off Na'lin again. Also see http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30931
In other news, you can read about how the soldier who was filmed shooting a Palestinian at point-blank range with a rubber-coated bullet was placed back on duty. He got off by claiming his commanding officer told him to do it. When are we, in the deveoped world, going to find a conscience and start holding everyone accountable for immoral acts--hold both those who order (including our own nation's leaders) and those who carry out the orders responsible? The soldier who shoots someone at point blank range or tortures someone should know better than to do such an act. That soldier should refuse such an order, on the grounds that it is immoral. Do we expect the lower ranking soldier to have no conscience? How can he be pardoned by saying, "Someone told me to do it?" When are we going to think for ourselves and question what people tell us?
This last Thurs., I attended a painting project in Beit Sahour (outside Bethlehem) where we repainted some buildings that Israeli settlers had spray painted with racist grafiti (including, "Death to the Arabs"). The settlers are hoping to make this area into a new settlement, so it's important for locals and internationals to show that the land is not free to be taken. At the end of our painting, the settlers showed up, along with the military. I left, just as the military arrived, but apparently, the military evicted the Pal. painters, then gave the settlers access to the land for an hour to re-graffiti the place (see: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30931).
If all this news isn't depressing enough, a new UN report says that Gaza has a 45% unemployment rate, the worst in the world. The W Bank is at 25 % unemployment, which is double the average rate of the Middle East and N Africa (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006282.html). All this is happening while prices steadily rise here and fighting between Hamas and Israel and the Palestinian Authority (in the W Bank) escalates. You really wonder how these people can tolerate living in such conditions for so long.
On a more personal note, I'm settling in nicely to the hostel on the Mount of Olives (E Jerusualem, Palestine). I will begin an Arabic class next week, which is close to my house. We're making good progess in cleaning the house and getting a better system in place for having guests stay with us. I'm feeling parts of a late on-set of culture shock, though, and missing the familiar in the US. Part of the reason for this is a sense of not accomplishing as much as I'd like here (whether w/ Arabic, peace work, or other things). I may try to call some friends in the US this weekend to say "hi," so please try to answer your phones if you don't recognize the number.
Notes
Israeli Blank Panther Tour, 7-25-08
One Million Jews brought in 1950s to Israel who were Arab. Israel needed them for demographic reasons, to have a working force. Other parts of the world wanted Jews to leave too (anti-semitism). Israel placed the new immigrants on borders as a barrier against rockets and other attacks.
Initially, these neighborhoods had been Palestinian, but the Pal had been expelled, and Arab Jews were moved into these areas. All the areas on the border of Israel were settled by N. African Jews, and these people served as a human barrier between European Jews and Jordan and other nations against Israel. These Arab Israeli neighorhoods remain impoverished to this day. Poverty in neighbohoods drove Israel to make settlements and transfer poor people there.
Presentations at Ramallah Friends Meeting, 7-31-08
Omar Bargouti, representing the campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel:
Palestinians who are married and live on different sides of the Wall are not permitted to live together.
If there's one thing Pal's suffer from, it's denial of refugee rights because most Pal's are refugees. How can you take a poll of Pal's and ignore refugee's opinions and those living outside Israel?
Israel is different than racism in other states because it is insitutionalized in Israel and lawful to discriminate. Even in the US, laws no longer allow for blatant racism.
Pal Israeli citizens are not allowed to build or own in 93% of Israel cuz most of the land is reserved for Jewish people.
An Israeli study of cancer only focused on Jewish Israelis and not Pal Israelis because Pal-Israeli villages near Israeli factories were giving them cancer, and Israel didn't want to have to move factories because of higher cancer rates among Pal-Israeli citizens.
Israel wants to be recognized as a Jewish only or Jewish dominated state, not just a Jewish majority. What if the US said it was only a Christian state and non-Xians were not given the same rights as Xians? What would Jews in the US say?
The #1 point of leftists should be equality of all human beings. If there's an Israeli left, then why don't they recognize the right of return for refugees (equality of everyone to return)? The only reason Pal's aren't allowed to return is because they're not Jewish.
Jews claim to be most discriminated agianst, but historically, Black Africans have suffered much more discrimination; many more Blacks were killed during slavery in the US than Jews durin the Halocaust. Why don't Blacks in the US declare a separate state from the US, then--a black-only state? Why don't other oppressed groups set-up a one-race state--gypsies, etc.? The way to fight racism is to have integration and equality (equal rights), not set-up one-race-only states.
Jews are more safe in the US than Israel.
Only Zionism and Naziism believe that Jews are completely different from anyone else. Zionism has done more to stir anti-Jewishness and make the world unsafe for Jews than any other recent movement.
Armed resistence is for an elite to partipate in. Civil, nonviolent demonstrations are something everyone can participate in.
Sam Bahour--Palestinian/American businessman
There's not always symetry in every situation. There was no symmetry between Hitler and Jews in Europe (no middle ground). There's no symmetry here.
Terrorism is acts of stupid violence, prompted by despair. People who are unemployed and living in this kind of situation can't think straight and act from despair.
A week ago, last Fri., I had the opportunity to participate in a tour of some neighborhoods in Jerusalem that have been inhabited by Arab Jews in the past. It was fascinating to here the stories of how they came here and how they have been treated. Many came from Morocco and other countries in Africa, and especially during the 1960's, Israel encouraged them or forced many Arab Jews to live on the borders. Living on the borders meant that these Jews received a lot of the violence and fire from Israel's enemies, and the Arab Jews (who were very poor) served as a buffer for European Jews, who would live farther inside Israel, away from the violence of the borders. You can read more about this in my notes below.
After the tour, I visited a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem who's house has been invaded by settlers. I was shocked at the boldness of these settlers, because they have taken over entire rooms of the family's house. The situation with this family, although so far an isolated incident, is, in some ways, worse than what settlers are doing in Hebron. Settlers try to stay as far away from their Palestinian neighbors as possible, out of fear and racism against them. Even in Hebron, settlers families don't live in the same houses as Palestinians (although they will take over the entire house). But in this instance in E Jerusalem, the settlers are essentially sharing the same house with the Palestinians, and trying to push the Pal family out. The Jewish families have armed guard patrols and escorts so they can leave the house; the Pal's have internationals living with them, to bear witness to what's happening and to serve as a deterent against being evicted.
Even the US embassy in Tel Aviv has filed a formal complaint with Israel about the pending legal proceedings which will force the Pal's out of their home. It is quite rare for the US embassy here to criticize Israeli policy. You can read all about these events on these sites:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9716.shtml
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005342.html
Another happening this last week is that an 11 y.o. boy was shot dead by a live bullet at a protest in Na'lin. This is the same protest that I frequented, and it's very disturbing that the Israeli military issued a statement admitting they killed the boy but offered no apology or regret for loss of life. It is against all laws across the world to shoot and kill an 11 y.o. boy. You can read about the incident here: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006664.html
The next day after this incident, the military attacked the funeral procession of this boy, wounding 9 (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006972.html). During this attack, the military killed a 17 y.o. boy by shooting him in the head with a rubber coated bullet at close range (see last web page link). Instead of apologizing for killing unarmed children, the military ordered a military group, specializing in riot control, into the area. I belive they have completely sealed off Na'lin again. Also see http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30931
In other news, you can read about how the soldier who was filmed shooting a Palestinian at point-blank range with a rubber-coated bullet was placed back on duty. He got off by claiming his commanding officer told him to do it. When are we, in the deveoped world, going to find a conscience and start holding everyone accountable for immoral acts--hold both those who order (including our own nation's leaders) and those who carry out the orders responsible? The soldier who shoots someone at point blank range or tortures someone should know better than to do such an act. That soldier should refuse such an order, on the grounds that it is immoral. Do we expect the lower ranking soldier to have no conscience? How can he be pardoned by saying, "Someone told me to do it?" When are we going to think for ourselves and question what people tell us?
This last Thurs., I attended a painting project in Beit Sahour (outside Bethlehem) where we repainted some buildings that Israeli settlers had spray painted with racist grafiti (including, "Death to the Arabs"). The settlers are hoping to make this area into a new settlement, so it's important for locals and internationals to show that the land is not free to be taken. At the end of our painting, the settlers showed up, along with the military. I left, just as the military arrived, but apparently, the military evicted the Pal. painters, then gave the settlers access to the land for an hour to re-graffiti the place (see: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30931).
If all this news isn't depressing enough, a new UN report says that Gaza has a 45% unemployment rate, the worst in the world. The W Bank is at 25 % unemployment, which is double the average rate of the Middle East and N Africa (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006282.html). All this is happening while prices steadily rise here and fighting between Hamas and Israel and the Palestinian Authority (in the W Bank) escalates. You really wonder how these people can tolerate living in such conditions for so long.
On a more personal note, I'm settling in nicely to the hostel on the Mount of Olives (E Jerusualem, Palestine). I will begin an Arabic class next week, which is close to my house. We're making good progess in cleaning the house and getting a better system in place for having guests stay with us. I'm feeling parts of a late on-set of culture shock, though, and missing the familiar in the US. Part of the reason for this is a sense of not accomplishing as much as I'd like here (whether w/ Arabic, peace work, or other things). I may try to call some friends in the US this weekend to say "hi," so please try to answer your phones if you don't recognize the number.
Notes
Israeli Blank Panther Tour, 7-25-08
One Million Jews brought in 1950s to Israel who were Arab. Israel needed them for demographic reasons, to have a working force. Other parts of the world wanted Jews to leave too (anti-semitism). Israel placed the new immigrants on borders as a barrier against rockets and other attacks.
Initially, these neighborhoods had been Palestinian, but the Pal had been expelled, and Arab Jews were moved into these areas. All the areas on the border of Israel were settled by N. African Jews, and these people served as a human barrier between European Jews and Jordan and other nations against Israel. These Arab Israeli neighorhoods remain impoverished to this day. Poverty in neighbohoods drove Israel to make settlements and transfer poor people there.
Presentations at Ramallah Friends Meeting, 7-31-08
Omar Bargouti, representing the campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel:
Palestinians who are married and live on different sides of the Wall are not permitted to live together.
If there's one thing Pal's suffer from, it's denial of refugee rights because most Pal's are refugees. How can you take a poll of Pal's and ignore refugee's opinions and those living outside Israel?
Israel is different than racism in other states because it is insitutionalized in Israel and lawful to discriminate. Even in the US, laws no longer allow for blatant racism.
Pal Israeli citizens are not allowed to build or own in 93% of Israel cuz most of the land is reserved for Jewish people.
An Israeli study of cancer only focused on Jewish Israelis and not Pal Israelis because Pal-Israeli villages near Israeli factories were giving them cancer, and Israel didn't want to have to move factories because of higher cancer rates among Pal-Israeli citizens.
Israel wants to be recognized as a Jewish only or Jewish dominated state, not just a Jewish majority. What if the US said it was only a Christian state and non-Xians were not given the same rights as Xians? What would Jews in the US say?
The #1 point of leftists should be equality of all human beings. If there's an Israeli left, then why don't they recognize the right of return for refugees (equality of everyone to return)? The only reason Pal's aren't allowed to return is because they're not Jewish.
Jews claim to be most discriminated agianst, but historically, Black Africans have suffered much more discrimination; many more Blacks were killed during slavery in the US than Jews durin the Halocaust. Why don't Blacks in the US declare a separate state from the US, then--a black-only state? Why don't other oppressed groups set-up a one-race state--gypsies, etc.? The way to fight racism is to have integration and equality (equal rights), not set-up one-race-only states.
Jews are more safe in the US than Israel.
Only Zionism and Naziism believe that Jews are completely different from anyone else. Zionism has done more to stir anti-Jewishness and make the world unsafe for Jews than any other recent movement.
Armed resistence is for an elite to partipate in. Civil, nonviolent demonstrations are something everyone can participate in.
Sam Bahour--Palestinian/American businessman
There's not always symetry in every situation. There was no symmetry between Hitler and Jews in Europe (no middle ground). There's no symmetry here.
Terrorism is acts of stupid violence, prompted by despair. People who are unemployed and living in this kind of situation can't think straight and act from despair.