this is going to be a quick hodge-podge post because tam tam and rania are conspiring against me to make me sleep. they are talking behind my back about this. hmmmm. and rami sends me email messages at 4 am telling me to go to sleep when clearly he is wide awake, too. anyway, muna sent me this coffin counter. the graphic is interesting, though it appears to be a bit slow in keeping up. also from dear muna–an important demonstration planned for sunday in beirut:
الأمهات في لبنان يعزين أمهات غزة
قدّمن المواساة والعزاء لأمهات وعائلات غزة
مع أطفالكنّ
مع شموعكنّ
مع يافطاتكنّ
باللباس الأسود
تضامنّ مع أخواتكنّ في غزة
المكان: كورنيش رملة البيضاء
الزمان: يوم الأحد 18 كانون الثاني، 5 – 7 مساءً– منى، لبنى، ريما، رملة، مزنة، مها، ربى، أمال، هبة، ألين، نجوى، صونيا…
———————————————————————–Mothers in Lebanon:
Join us to offer your Support and Condolences
to the mourning mothers and families in GazaCome with Your Children
Hold a Candle
Make a Banner
Wear Black
Take a Stand
Place: Ramlet Al-Bayda Corniche
Date: Sunday 18 January, 5 – 7 PM– Aline, Lubna, Maha, Muna, Ramla, Ruba, Rima, Najwa, Hibah, Amal, Muzna, Sonya…
and more beirut events for gaza from baha’a:
FRIDAY January 16th: Talk-In; AUB Main Gate; 1:00-3:00; to be followed by a protest march to the ESCWA sit-in
SATURDAY January17th: Gaza-Present: Sight & Sound Performance; Massrah al-Madina; 1pm
SATURDAY January 17th: “Karakeeb” fund-raising children’s play (Save the Children- Sweden); Massrah Dawwar al-Shams; 4pm. Tickets on sale at the theatre @ LL20,000 & 30,000. (tel:01-381290)
SUNDAY January 18th: Gaza-Present: Sight & Sound Performance; Ain el-Mreisseh; 2pm
SUNDAY January 18th: National Palestinian Theatre play “Afoul al-Qamar”, Massrah Dawwar al-Shams; 6:00-8:00 (open invitation)
MONDAY January 19th: Performance by “Ushshaq al-Aqsa” Troupe, “Jaffra” Troupe, & Qassem Istambouli (open invitation); Massrah Dawwar al-Shams; 6:00-8:00 (open invitation)
MONDAY January 19th: Gaza-Present: Sight & Sound Performance; Mar Elias; 6pm
TUESDAY January 20th: Public Talk by Dr. Rita Giacaman – Birzeit University on the situation in Gaza and the reaction on the West Bank; T-Marbouta; 7pm,
WEDNESDAY January 21th: May Nasr & “Ushshaq al-Aqsa” Troupe in fund-raising concert, AUB Bathish Hall (West Hall), 6:30. Tickets available in front of West Hall @ LL10,000.
all of these actions, of course, are so that we remind gaza that we are with them. that we stand in solidarity with them. the same goes for boycott actions that are spreading like wildfire around the world. the variety of voices being lent to palestinian solidarity right now should put the bulls*&^ arab league and arab summit and leaders to shame, even in spite of qatar and mauritania severing ties today with the zionist entity (though it took them 21 days and 1,069 martyrs and 5,1015 wounded palestinians before they acted). or bashar al assad calling for cutting relations with the israeli terrorist state all the while he negotiates with them behind closed doors, and sometimes open doors. but these are heads of state. we don’t expect such people to act with a moral compass.
but in nepal, as rami blogged, farmers are in solidarity with gaza. they don’t need political meetings in fancy hotels where they hash out points and jockey for power. they stand up for what is just and moral because it is just and moral:
ANPFa believes that military attack can never be a solution of the problem. The slaughter resumed after a brief truce only fuels further the conflict and it quashes hopes of peace for Palestinian people.
We also call upon the conflicting parties to sit on peaceful dialogue and solve the problems politically.
We hereby call on the international community to immediately deploy an international peace-keeping force bringing an end to the attack, protect innocent civilians and alleviate the escalating inhuman crisis in Gaza.
We urge the international community to press for immediate resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine based on the Arab Peace Initiative as the only way of bringing peace in the region.
though we do have turkey speaking out (anyone for bringing back the ottoman empire? or at least those open borders…?):
“How is such a country, which does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN [headquarters]?” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
this is one of the ways pressure can be exerted on the zionist entity–by pushing for them to be removed from the UN–permanently. but also on the local level you can do what people in cambridge have been doing for years now to work for divestment on the local level. that work, which of course includes grassroots educational work, led to a recent decision (which i don’t agree with politically at all; it is just nice to see an american city council taking up this issue of palestine and at least acting in solidarity, even if that solidarity is a bit misguided):
Summary of original resolution: “That the Cambridge City Council go on record recognizing the grievous impact of the loss of lives in the conflict on families and communities, mourning those lives on both sides of the conflict, condemning the attacks and invasion of Gaza by the Israeli military and the rocket attacks upon the people of Israel, and call for an immediate end to all attacks on civilians on both sides.”
The resolution was proposed by Councillor Marjorie Decker and Mayor Denise Simmons, and drafted with the support of the Cambridge Peace Commission .
In an unprecedented decision after the 3-hour hearing, the Council voted to adopt the resolution with 8 members voting in favor and 1 voting present. It included a last minute amendment requesting a long-term negotiated truce between both parties and support for a 2-state solution.
Read the full text of the original Gaza resolution (Cambridge City Policy Order Resolution O-15, January 12, 2009). The amended resolution will be posted online soon.
This landmark resolution should encourage many others around the country to propose similar actions in their own city councils and have congressional representatives finally take notice of the injustice and bias in US foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly regarding the devastating siege of Gaza.
Please show your support by thanking members of the Cambridge City Council for their bold and courageous action for an end to the siege in Gaza and a just peace in the region. Contacts for council members can be found here: http://www.cambridgema.gov/ccouncil.cfm
what is even better is the news that jordanian farmers are acting in solidarity with people in gaza:
Farmers say much of their produce is being held in warehouses due to canceled orders, and fear a sharp decrease in fruit exports to countries such as Jordan, Britain, and the Scandinavian countries.
“We export persimmons, and because of the fighting a number of countries and distributors are canceling orders,” Giora Almagor, of the southern town of Bitzaron, told Ynet. He said some of the produce had already been shipped while some was awaiting shipment in warehouses.
Almagor said a large number of cancellations came from Jordan.
“The produce stays packed in warehouses, and this is causing us massive losses,” he said.
“The longer the fruit waits in storage after sorting, the more its quality decreases. We also have to pay for cooling the merchandise that should have already left, and the cost in considerable,” he added.
Ilan Eshel, director of the Organization of Fruit Growers in Israel, said Scandinavian countries have also been canceling orders.
“It’s mostly Sweden, Norway, and Denmark,” he said. “In Scandinavia the tendency is general, and it may come to include all of the chains.”
Eshel says the boycott did not exist before the Gaza offensive was launched.
“It’s getting worse, and more voices can be heard calling to boycott Israeli merchandise,” he said. “Until the operation began we had excellent business, though the economic recession in Europe was causing a slight fall in the market.”
He added that winter was an especially difficult season to be unable to export fruit, because the avocado, persimmon, and citrus markets are at their height.
and in beirut activists have been targeting starbucks as part of their gaza solidarity work:
british academics have written an open letter, published in the guardian, calling for boycott, divestment, and sanctions:
We believe Israel should immediately and unconditionally end its assault on Gaza, end the occupation of the West Bank, and abandon all claims to possess or control territory beyond its 1967 borders. We call on the British government and the British people to take all feasible steps to oblige Israel to comply with these demands, starting with a programme of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
in london students also took action in solidarity with gaza at the prestigious london school of economics:
A rally was due to take place this afternoon attended by veteran politician Tony Benn and anti-war campaigner Lindsey German.
The students are demanding that LSE director Howard Davies issues a statement condemning Israeli violence on Gaza.
The protest began last night when a group of students entered the LSE’s Old Theatre in central London and occupied the stage.
In a statement the students said: “LSE is an institution founded on the Fabian values that were the precursor of the human rights agenda of modern politics.
“LSE must restate those values and condemn state criminality. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of humanity.”
at georgetown university (thanks tam tam) sohrab ghassemi authored a strong statement in the student newspaper, addressed to university president
degoia:
The situation in Gaza is one which should shock the conscience of the world and the conscience of our university. We take heart in the fact that we attend a Jesuit institution that has a great tradition of being a voice for justice in the world. President DeGioia, we call on you to lead our community by again upholding our institution’s Jesuit tradition of standing for social justice in the face of the massacres of innocent civilians in Gaza.
We call on you, as the leader of an educational institution, to condemn the destruction of the educational infrastructure in Gaza. We ask you to issue a statement condemning the massacres in Gaza, calling for an immediate and total cease-fire and expressing especially your deep concern for the educational and religious institutions and civilian life of Gaza.
Over 400 Georgetown students, faculty and staff have signed in support of this letter. The following on-campus groups have also endorsed it: the Georgetown chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, the Pakistani Students Association, Georgetown Students for Justice in Palestine, the Muslim Students Association, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee and Our Moment.
in lebanon i helped rania and rami write a statement supporting the academic boycott campaign yesterday; rami posted the draft which we are using to collect signatures of professors in lebanon. so far the signatures are not coming as quickly as one would hope, but here is the statement we drafted:
Statement of Academics in Lebanon
In this latest onslaught against Palestinians, Israel has attacked a university, the Ministry of Education, schools across the Gaza Strip, and several UNRWA schools. Such attacks against learning centers are not unique for Israel. Most particularly since 1975, Israel has infringed upon the right of education for Palestinians by closing universities, schools and kindergartens, and by shelling, shooting at, and raiding hundreds of schools and several universities throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
Nor have these attacks been limited against Palestinians. As academics in Lebanon, we are all too familiar with Israeli onslaughts against educational centers. In its latest assault, in 2006, for example, Israel destroyed over 50 schools throughout Lebanon, and particularly schools designed for the economically disadvantaged in the South.
We thus stand, as academics in Lebanon, in urging our colleagues, regionally and internationally, to oppose this ongoing scholasticide and to support the just demand for academic boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel. Specifically, we ask our colleagues worldwide to support the call by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to comprehensively and consistently boycott and disinvest from all Israeli academic and cultural institutions, and to refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joining projects with Israeli institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel’s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid.
We further call on the enforcement of Lebanese anti-normalization laws with Israel, and thus for the prosecution of individuals and institutions in Lebanon that violate those laws and conduct collaborations, associations or investments in Israel or with Israelis.
We salute the recent statement by the Scottish Committee for the Universities of Palestine calling for a boycott of Israel, the letter signed by 300 Canadian academics to Canadian Prime Minister Harper asking for sanctions against Israel, and the appeal by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee supporting a ban on collaborations between Canadian and Israeli universities.
to sign the above statement email rania at rania [at] ourwords.org
the response to the lebanon document has not been good so far. and i should say that this was true in 2006, right after the israeli invasion of lebanon when we tried to garner support for the boycott then. the apathy here and the desire to collaborate with israeli terrorist academics whose institutions fund and produce the knowledge for massacres of palestinians and lebanese is appalling to say the least. but in lebanon it is also illegal, though that law is not enforced as it should be. and our activism around this died down because only 6 months after our post-war organizing the lebanese army started a war against the palestinian refugee camp nahr el bared. it is one war after another. and usually palestinians bear the brunt of the assaults. it is not that we forget here about these atrocities and war crimes, but we move on. and this is what is challenging. zionists around the world never let us forget what happened to them during world war ii. and yet since world war ii people here in lebanon, syria, palestine have continuously suffered at the hands of those who suffered in europe. people here continue to pay the price though they had nothing to do with european anti-semitism. but war upon war upon war, massacre upon massacre upon massacre: these crimes are all worse than anything that happened in world war ii. why? because these israeli terrorists know better. because they are doing what was done to them. there is a great photo essay comparing the warsaw ghetto with the gaza ghetto that makes this point visually. but this is also worse because it is live on television. we watch, we read, we know. and still the carnage continues. the world that never forgets jewish suffering always forgets palestinian and arab and muslim suffering. even as it happens. they forget. they forgive. ehud olmert bombs a united nations building, he apologizes, is forgiven, and goes on to bomb hospitals, homes, children. this is why we should heed as’ad’s call and never forgive, never forget.
we should never forgive israeli or american terrorists who are in cahoots with these war crimes 100% as the guardian demonstrated today with respect to the american-made white phosphorous as does this report on al jazeera makes clear as well:
likewise this report by shirene tadros on al jazeera shows the american-israeli terrorism produced by american-made white phosphorous directed on the tar al hawa area of gaza:
all of those who do not sign statements, who do not act, who sit in the comfort of their little academic offices or wherever else they work and choose not to do something about these massive war crimes are complicit in them as i have said many times before. likewise, a professor friend in gaza sent this to me today, which is now posted on electronic intifada beseeching us to all act, to do something to support palestinians in gaza and across the world:
المقاطعة ، وسحب الاستثمارات ، والجزاءات : دعوة من غزة
يتزايد النداء عالمي لمقاطعة و سحب الاستثمارات و الجزاءات من اسرائيل
مع تزايد عدد القتلى في قطاع غزة في كل ساعة ، والصمت والتواطؤ. يتحتم
على المواطنين المعنيين لمطالبة حكوماتهم باتخاذ إجراءات فورية لوقف
الإبادة الجماعية الاسرائيلية في غزة.اكتب اليوم النموذج وطالب ب :
1. إن مجرمي الحرب الإسرائيليين استدعوا أمام المحكمة الجنائية الدولية
أو محكمة خاصة لجرائم الحرب التي ارتكبت في غزة. (ذكر ممثلكم أن التحقيق
أو الملاحقة أو تسليم المسؤولين عن جرائم الحرب هو واجب جميع الأطراف
المتعاقدة في اتفاقيات جنيف.)
2. و ردا على الانتهاكات الجسيمة للقانون الإنساني الدولي والقانون
الدولي لحقوق الإنسان التي ارتكبتها اسرائيل، ان تنهي دولتكم كل
الاتفاقيات التجارية والعلاقات الاقتصادية مع إسرائيل ، بما فيها الاتحاد
الأوروبي اتفاق الشراكة مشروطاً بالانضمام إلى حقوق الإنسان والمبادئ
الديمقراطية
3. إن تقطع دولتكم العلاقات الدبلوماسية مع اسرائيل.لقد كانت الاحداث الجارية في غزة متوقعة و محشوداً لها من قبل الاسرائيلي
البروفيسور ارنون سوفير ، رئيس قوات الدفاع الاسرائيلية كلية الدفاع
الوطني. البروفيسور سوفير وضح النتائج المرجوة في اسرائيل الى انسحاب
احادي الجانب من قطاع غزة في مقابلة مع صحيفة جيروساليم بوست (24 مايو
2004) :جيروساليم بوست : كيف ستظهر المنطقة في اليوم الذي سيلي الانسحاب احادي
الجانب؟– أولا وقبل كل شيء، بدلا من دخول غزة على غرار ما فعلنا الأسبوع الماضي،
سنقول للفلسطينيين في حال اطلق و لو صاروخ واحد فوق السور ، سنقوم
باطلاق النار 10 مرات اضعاف بالمقابل. والنساء والأطفال سيقتلون ، وسيتم
تدمير المنازل. بعد المرة الخامسة من مثل هذه الحادثة ، لن تسمح الأمهات
الفلسطينية لزوجهن اطلاق صواريخ القسام ، وذلك لأنهن سيعرفن ماذا
ينتظرهن.ثانيا ، عندما يعيش 2.5 مليون شخص في قطاع غزة المغلق، فإنها ستكون كارثة
إنسانية. هؤلاء الناس سيصبحون اكبر الحيوانات مما هم عليه اليوم ،
بمساعدة من جنون الإسلام الأصولي. الضغط على الحدود سيكون مروعا. انها
ستكون حرب مروعة. هكذا ، إذا كنا نريد أن نبقى على قيد الحياة ، علينا أن
نقتل ونقتل ونقتل. طوال اليوم ،و كل يوم… وإذا لم نقتل، فلن يصبح لنا
وجود… الانسحاب احادي الجانب لا يضمن “السلام” — إنه يضمن دولة
صهيونية يهودية مع أغلبية ساحقة من اليهود…
جيروساليم بوست : تحويل التبرعات؟ارنون سوفير : نعم. وقطاع غزة سيكون كارثة و سيكون أبعد من قدرتنا على
تقديم المساعدة. ولا بد أن تكون هناك نطاق واسع من المعونات الدولية.
سيكون على الولايات المتحدة الضغط على مصر للتنازل عن الأرض.
وفي الآونة الأخيرة، قال ماتان فيلناي ، نائب وزير الدفاع الإسرائيلية،
لراديو الجيش الاسرائيلي خلال عملية “الشتاء الساخن” (29 فبراير 2008 ) :انها ستجلب على نفسها اكبر المحرقة لاننا سوف نستخدم كل قوتنا للدفاع عن
انفسنا.
في الأيام التي أعقبت هذا البيان ، 107 فلسطينيا لقوا مصرعهم. أخفق
المجتمع الدولي في اتخاذ إجراءات. هذا التقاعس ، تليها تصريحات أوروبية
عن نوايا لرفع مستوى الاتفاقيات التجارية مع إسرائيل ، كان بمثابة الضوء
الاخضر للمجازر الحالية.الكولونيل الاحتياطي يواف غال ، وهو رائد في سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي، قال
لراديو الجيش الاسرائيلي خلال عملية “ممثلون الرصاص” (11 يناير 2009) :
وأعتقد أنه كان ينبغي أن تكون أقوى! درسدن! درسدن! إبادة مدينة! على كل
حال ،قيل لنا أن وجه الحرب قد تغير. لم تعدكما هي عليه من تقدم الدبابات أو تنظيم عسكري. […] هي أمة بأكملها ، من
السيدة المسنة للطفل ، هذا هو الجيش. هده أمة تخوض حربا. وأنا ادعوهم
بالأمة ، على الرغم من أنني لا أراهم كالواحد. فهو قتال أمة لأمة. قتال
المدنيين للمدنيين. اقول لكم أننا […] يجب أن نعرف […] أن الأحجار لن
تلقى علينا! أنا لا أتحدث عن الصواريخ — ولا حتى الحجر سوف يلقى علينا.
لاننا يهود. […]؛أريد العرب أن يلذوا بالفرار من غزة إلى مصر. هذا هو
ما أريد. أريد لتدمير المدينة ، وليس بالضرورة الأشخاص الذين يعيشون
داخلها.
لوضع حد لإفلات إسرائيل من العقاب ندعو المجتمع المدني لدعم الحملة
الفلسطينية للمقاطعة دولية ، سحب الاستثمارات و الجزاءات ضد اسرائيل.الموقعون
مجموعة الدول الواحدة الديمقراطية — غزة
رابطة مدرسي الجامعات في فلسطين — غزة
المنتدى الثقافي العربي — غزةالتي أقرتها
اللجان الشعبية ضد الجدار والمستوطنات — في الضفة الغربيةWith the death toll in Gaza growing hourly, silence is complicity. It is imperative for concerned citizens to demand that their governments take immediate action in order to stop Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Write your representative today and demand:
1. That Israeli war criminals be brought before the International Criminal Court or a Special Tribunal for war crimes committed in Gaza. (Remind your representative that the investigation, prosecution or extradition of those responsible for war crimes is an obligation of all high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions.)
2. That in response to Israel’s severe breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, your state terminate all favorable trade agreements and economic relations with Israel, including the EU Association Agreement which is conditional upon adherence to human rights and democratic principles.
3. That your state cut all diplomatic ties with Israel.
The current events in Gaza were predicated and advocated for by Israeli Professor Arnon Soffer, Head of the IDF’s National Defense College. Professor Soffer spelled out the desired results of Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza in an interview with the Jerusalem Post (24 May 2004):
Jerusalem Post: How will the region look the day after unilateral separation?
…First of all…. Instead of entering Gaza like we did last week. We will tell the Palestinians that if a single missile is fired over the fence, we will fire 10 in response. And women and children will be killed, and houses will be destroyed. After the fifth such incident, Palestinian mothers won’t allow their husbands to shoot Kassams, because they will know what’s waiting for them.
Second of all, when 2.5 million people live in a closed-off Gaza, it’s going to be a human catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today, with the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam. The pressure at the border will be awful. It’s going to be a terrible war. So, if we want to remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill. All day, every day…If we don’t kill, we will cease to exist…Unilateral separation doesn’t guarantee “peace” – it guarantees a Zionist-Jewish state with an overwhelming majority of Jews…
Jerusalem Post: Voluntary transfer?
Arnon Soffer: Yes. And Gaza is going to be such a disaster that it will be beyond our capacity to help. There will have to be large-scale international aid. The US will have to pressure Egypt to cede land.
More recently Matan Vilnai, Deputy Defense Minister of Israel, told Army Radio during “Operation Hot Winter” (29 February 2008):
They will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.
In the days following this statement, 107 Palestinians were killed. The international community failed to take action. This inaction, followed by European declarations of intentions to upgrade their trade agreements with Israel, served as a green light for the current atrocities.
Reserve Colonel Yoav Gal, an Israeli Air Force pilot, told Army Radio during “Operation Cast Lead” (11 January 2009):
I believe that it should have been even stronger! Dresden! Dresden! The extermination of a city! After all, we’re told that the face of war has changed. No longer is it the advancing of tanks or an organized military. […] It is a whole nation, from the old lady to the child, this is the military. It is a nation fighting a war. I am calling them a nation, even though I don’t see them as one. It is a nation fighting a nation. Civilians fighting civilians. I’m telling you that we […] must know […] that stones will not be thrown at us! I am not talking about rockets – not even a stone will be thrown at us. Because we’re Jews.[…] I want the Arabs of Gaza to flee to Egypt. This is what I want. I want to destroy the city, not necessarily the people living within it.
In order to end Israel´s impunity we call on civil society to support the Palestinian campaign for an international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
Signatories,
The One Democratic State Group – Gaza
University Teacher Association in Palestine – Gaza
Arab Cultural Forum – GazaEndorsed by,
Popular Committees Against the Wall and Settlements – West Bank
if you need further reasons why you must act watch this video that is a montage of all the israeli terrorist propaganda circulating in the media in the u.s., and i’m sure around the world, as compared to the facts on the ground that most journalists are not privy to given the fact that israeli terrorists like to ban people from witnessing their war crimes and massacres:
why is it that so many disparate groups are speaking up and acting out? (as opposed to world leaders who breathe a lot of hot air and don’t to anything…) for those of you who like to just sit on your asses and put your name to a simple petition and feel like you did something, here are a few you can sign:
okay and now it is 3:48 am and i have to meet baha’a in 4 hours…must sleep. tisbah ala watan ya tamara… mwah!
body on the line 