How was he ever the chairman of HRW??

Read this alarming opinion by Robert Bernstein, former chairman of Human Rights Watch, published in the NY Times on Oct. 19, 2009.

Besides the fact that the message in his article is simply not true, (one look at the HRW Middle East division page and you see that most of the publications refer to the suppression of political freedoms in the Arab countries and Iran, systematic discrimination in Saudi against Shia groups, there’s even an entire report and severe condemnation of rocket attacks sent by Hamas on Israeli civilians), what bearing does it have on the situation in the Gaza Strip? Let’s assume its true and there is some alarming bias in HRW against the state of Israel. Does it change the fact that Israel is guilty of committing numerous war crimes in Gaza this past January? No, it absolutely does not.

Pushing Forward

This is an article I wrote for my college newspaper on January 29, 2009, a few days after Israel ended its offensive in the Gaza Strip. I don’t think I posted it before so I wanted to now. I think the message still holds true until today as we have yet to see an end to the siege. Gaza is still like an earthquake zone as Israel continues to refuse to allow in reconstruction materials. Palestinians are rebuilding their homes with MUD. It’s been 8 months since the end of the offensive and Israel has repeatedly denied Gazans their right to move forward, to attempt to rebuild their lives.

Pushing forward

Many proponents of the recent offensive in Gaza have perpetuated the view that Israel’s disproportionate response, incurring the deaths of more than 1,300 Palestinians, was justified, that it was because of Hamas that Israel was forced to kill innocent Palestinians.

Those who perpetuate this misguided view are blind to the fact that collective punishment is illegal under international law, and that nothing justifies killing innocent civilians. Moreover, they neglect to remember time and time again that the Palestinians in Gaza, along with residents of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, have been living under one of the most brutal occupations in modern history, since before Hamas even existed. If those who hold these misguided views would take the time to look at the Israel-Palestine conflict with a memory that spans farther than the past three weeks, they would realize that this recent conflict in Gaza is not some abstract war between good and evil, but a continuation of the 42 years of victimization of the Palestinian people.

It is with these two conflicting outlooks that Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine and Hoos for Israel conducted their demonstrations last week. While some HFI members claimed that they did not express their support for Israel’s offensive publicly, they handed out pamphlets that did express a political view. The pamphlets detailed the number of rockets sent by Hamas into Israel as well as the amount of trucks allowed by Israel into Gaza before the operation. These facts were taken from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Web site, the most powerful pro-Israeli lobbying group in the United States. If that is not politicization, I do not know what is.

In the SPJP memorial, tombstones were lined up to represent Israeli and Palestinian deaths. One was for the Israeli victims and 100 were for the Palestinians, because each tombstone represented 13 deaths. During the operation, 13 Israelis were killed along with 1,300 Palestinians. SPJP also formally requested HFI to join them in the memorial, but HFI respectfully declined.

SPJP put up signs on the South Lawn that read “The world stands up for Gaza.” This exact phrase was the rallying cry of the international community during the entire Israeli offensive, as three quarters of the world condemned Israel’s disproportionate response. It was uttered by millions of European, Asian, African and Middle Eastern citizens, including 10,000 Israelis, who were disgusted with the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces. The collective outcry of so many around the globe demonstrates their solidarity with the innocent victims of Israel’s shelling and bombing.

The layout of these two distinct demonstrations conveyed the messages of both groups; while both groups desire peace, SPJP had a more elevated goal in mind — to honor the dead, to point out the injustice of the Israeli offensive, and to remind the world that we have more work to do to ensure that human rights and justice prevail for all, including the Palestinians.

The only way to move forward is to rectify the errors of the past. Those who said that the SPJP events were not looking forward are the ones who have the solution backwards. They echo the viewpoint of the Israeli government, and many U.S. media outlets, who want the Palestinians to stop touting their pain and forget the past. They want us to forget the fact that Gaza, according to many aid agencies, now looks like it has been struck by an earthquake. They want us to forget the deaths of over 1,300 Palestinians; of the thousands injured without medical aid; of the homes, schools, and mosques that were demolished. They want us to forget that entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, and villages removed from the face of the Earth. But we can not, we will not, and we should not forget.

Our memory of the past two Israeli episodes of collective punishment inflicted on the Palestinians, the first in 2006, and the one most recently, are still fresh in our minds. And it is exactly these memories of the innocent victims of the Israeli massacres, the memories of the destruction in the Gaza Strip, which are indeed pushing us forward. They are pushing us forward in the fight for justice for all. Because peace and reconciliation have proven themselves to be meaningless words without the prevalence of justice.

Israel Continues to Pirate Gaza’s Waters

Israel continues to violate international and maritime law when it hijacks boats such as the Spirit of Humanity, (which was stopped on July 30th as it headed to Gaza to bring humanitarian relief to its population,) and individual boats of Palestinian fishermen.

The video documents instances of Israeli forces firing water cannons with a biological and chemical solution at a Palestinian fishing boat.

“No one seems to have the will to stop Israel. It acts with impunity, shooting Palestinian fishermen, kidnapping them, forcing them into Israeli waters, and stealing their boats.”

In this video, Free Gaza news reports that since the ceasefire in January 2009, Israel has hijacked 21 fishing boats. Three were returned after the Palestinians were forced to sign a document stating that they would not go to court over Israel’s illegal action. Since January 1st Israel has kidnapped 54 Palestinian fishermen, in attempts to force them to collaborate with the Israeli occupation.

Settler Population in West Bank Now Over 300,000

An IDF Civil Administration Report just released states that the current Jewish settler population of the West Bank has reached over a whopping 300,000, a 2.3% increase since January. These settlers live in 120 various settlements dispersed all over the West Bank, the ones with the largest population growth being: Modi’in Ilit and Beitar. 

Alice Walker: “The Best Place One Could Be on Earth”

 

Alice Walker, poet, novelist, and feminist, also the author of The Color Purple, joined a CODEPINK delegation to the Gaza Strip following Israel’s latest deadly operation. She has written a beautiful article on her experiences during the trip, and on the correlations she found between her own experiences, and the discrimination and racism African-Americans faced and continue to face in the United States, to the plight of the dispossessed and oppressed Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

She writes:

“I speak a little about this American history, but it isn’t history that these women know. They’re too young. They’ve never been taught it. It feels irrelevant. Following their example of speaking of their families, I talk about my Southern parents’ teachings during our experience of America’s apartheid years. When white people owned and controlled all the resources and the land, in addition to the political, legal and military apparatus, and used their power to intimidate black people in the most barbaric and merciless ways. These whites who tormented us daily were like Israelis who have cut down millions of trees planted by Arab Palestinians; stolen Palestinian water, even topsoil. They have bulldozed innumerable villages, houses, mosques, and in their place built settlements for strangers who have no connection whatsoever with Palestine; settlers who have been the most rabid anti-Palestinian of all, attacking the children, the women, everyone, old and young alike, viciously, and forcing Palestinians to use separate roads from themselves.” 

The article was truly inspiring. The part I appreciated the most, and in fact, I never knew, was when she talked about her former Jewish husband, who like many Jewish Americans I know,  turn a blind eye to the war crimes that continue to be perpetuated by the Israeli government. I do not believe that criticizing Israel is the equivalent of being anti-Semitic. That notion is preposterous. If I criticize the American government, will I be deemed to be anti-American, or unpatriotic? Of course not. If that was the case, then that characterization would be true of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike.

Let’s See Some Action

Let’s see some action behind these words….

The U.S. government has warned Israel not to build the E-1 corridor between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which will consist of 3,500 additional housing units.  It has termed Israel’s latest plan for its greedy territorial expansion: “extremely damaging and corrosive.” While it is true that these are much stronger words than Secretary of State Clinton’s a few months ago, when she called Ehud Barak’s plan to demolish thousands of Palestinians homes in Jerusalem “unhelpful,” I’d like to see some action behind them, please. 

LA Times: “Swinger’s sexual confessions get him arrested by morals cops”

Watch the video.

 It’s a short clip. I was really disturbed. I’m kind of glad he was arrested. I know that incidents like that one are commonly used by Westerners to point out how Saudi Arabia is undemocratic, repressive of those who diverge from Islam, and lacking of free speech. I do not disagree with that analysis. It is true. In a democratic system, in one that values the basic freedoms of all individuals, that man, despite his tasteless and degrading views on women, would be allowed to project his opinions on society without fear of any repercussions or punishment. However, just as I find it to be insulting when men on American television talk about women as if they are only objects to be fucked, I have the same exact sentiments when Arab men do it. I am even more saddened by it in the latter case, because I expect men raised in a Muslim country, who clearly know and understand that Islam holds a high regard for women, to not act that way.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it is important for Arab and Muslim men and women to be open about issues such as sex and sexuality. For example, I commend Rajaa El-Sanei, author of Girls of Riyadh, who writes openly about feminism, sex, and lesbianism in Saudi society. (I have yet to read that book..will soon..I’ve heard great things about it though so I recommend it to all). But I didn’t see that kind of a real respect for women or their issues in any of the statements made by that red loving idiot.

Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories

You have probably seen these Dead Sea products in at least one kiosk in every mall you’ve ever visited. Perhaps you have even bought some of the facial products or body wash. These kiosks are always manned by Israelis who make an extra effort to approach those of Arab descent. And they always point out the fact that “we are neighbors, and as such, we should really consider buying Dead Sea nourishing hand cream or some other product.” At which point my mom usually gets frustrated and shouts something along the lines of “that’s our home we lived there so we know how valuable and healing dead sea minerals are for our skin because it’s our dead sea!” But I diverge.

What you probably didn’t know is that these “Israeli” products were produced from stolen resources. In fact, I never knew that. I always thought that they were produced in some part of Israel, within its internationally recognized borders. However, the truth is that the main manufacturing plant for Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories is located on an Israeli settlement known as Mitzpe Shalem in the occupied West Bank.

Jonathan Cook on “Israel Deploys Cyber Team to Spread Positive Spin”

Apparently, Israel’s foreign ministry is establishing a special undercover team to surf the internet 24 hours a day “spreading positive news about Israel.”

In an interview this month with the Calcalist, an Israeli business newspaper, Mr Shturman, the deputy director of the ministry’s hasbara department, admitted his team would be working undercover.

“Our people will not say: ‘Hello, I am from the hasbara department of the Israeli foreign ministry and I want to tell you the following.’ Nor will they necessarily identify themselves as Israelis,” he said. “They will speak as net-surfers and as citizens, and will write responses that will look personal but will be based on a prepared list of messages that the foreign ministry developed.”

They obviously already do this- if you visit any website that even remotely talks about Palestinians as if they are human beings you see comment boxes flooded with blind defenses of Israel. But it’s goood to know they are recruiting. “Thought-police state” indeed.

Read full article from The National here.

Check Out The U.S. Campaign’s Blog

The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, one of my favorite pro-human rights and international law organizations, created a blog some time ago. Very informative, especially on how one can, as an American citizen, take action to promote a more balanced US foreign policy towards Israel and the Palestinians.

Check it out!

Here is a link to the official US Campaign website.

Israel Blocks Over A Dozen French Envoys From Entering Gaza

Haaretz Reports..

The most astounding part of this is the following quote by an Israeli source:

“”They should not be allowed to celebrate a holiday marking freedom and human rights for the people of Gaza while Gilad Shalit remains in captivity.”

And I suppose no one should be allowed to celebrate any holidays marking freedom and human rights  for Israelis while 9,000 Palestinians are still languishing in Israeli prisons? This includes 400 children, which Time reports have been subjected to torture + ill treatment).

As can be seen by the article, this was not the case. The celebrations went on in Israel, in the city of Jaffa.

Israel is essentially asking the whole world, and in this instance, the French government, to not only show sympathy and concern for Gilad Shalit, but to support all actions the Israeli government has taken and might take to secure the release of the soldier–even if it means collectively punishing an entire population and denying them fundamental human rights and freedoms.

It’s disgusting how such universal concepts and terms, as human rights and freedom, are tarnished by the Israeli government, and are forbidden for use in reference to the Palestinian people.

What a Big Baby.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has demanded an apology from President Obama over his recent comments on the protests in Iran. (ie. his condemnation of the unjust killings instigated by the Iranian government, as well as his support of the Iranian people and their “universal right to free speech.”

Ahmadinejad’s response: Apologize, meanie!

Well, his exact words were: “I hope you avoid interfering in Iran’s affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it.”

WPost: “Arab Activists Watch Iran And Wonder: ‘Why Not Us?’”

I also tend to wonder about this point: Why doesn’t the US actively support democratic movements in countries like Egypt instead of continuing to give Mubarak the second largest amount of US foreign aid every year, thereby bolstering these dictatorships? Or does seeing people suffer under brutal political repression only move us to tears and require our interference when it is perceived to be in our own national interest, as in Iran?

“Here, in the last presidential election, the police used live ammunition,” Sharkawy said. “Why didn’t the West speak out against what was happening to us, when we had much smaller numbers? You become skeptical. We understand the United States and the West will pursue their own interests. They don’t want a strong Egyptian government that will have separate opinions from the West.”

For the full article click here

Michael Sheuer, former CIA operative, on what Obama’s Position On Iran Should Be

“I think Mr Wolfowitz and many people in the press..they want to break the Iranian regime..that’s all they are interested in..its a matter of power. For westerners to flicker into youtube and to urge these kids to go out in the street, and as Gary said, fall on the bayonets of the revolutionary guards to me is, its just almost criminal. The US should stay the devil out of this business. Obama managed to keep his big mouth shut while the Israelis killed 1500 people in Gaza ..he just [] with the greatest jail master in the middle east in Cairo, stay out of this business. America doesn’t need another war.”- Michael Sheuer, former CIA operative.

Sheuer reminds us that the position the neocons and republicans are advocating for, a stronger US involvement in the Iran crisis, will only worsen things and turn the situation into an Iran-US showdown while the Iranian people will pay the price with their blood. Moreover, he reminds us that these same critics couldn’t give two shits about the people in the Middle East and their quest for democracy, justice, and freedom.

Although I value Gary Berntsen’s solidarity with the Iranian people, I do think that what he is aiming for, a complete overthrow of the current regime in Iran, is an example of what problematic expectations certain U.S. officials have of the recent turmoil in Iran– exactly what Sheuer was referring to. The Iranian people are protesting what they perceive to be a rigged election, and for their voices to be heard. They are rallying for Mousavi, not for an overthrow of the Islamic regime. As Sheuer and many others like him have pointed out, Mousavi is not that different from Ahmadenijad. If by some miracle he is declared to be the next president of Iran by the Guardian Council, it will not necessarily mean the end of the Islamic Republic nor the dissolution of the “problems” the US has with Iran.

The legitimate protests of the Iranian people have been met with tear gas, live ammunition and severe brutality from their own government and Basij militia. The Iranian people are fighting for their rights, for their right to be heard and for their right to nonviolent protests as enshrined in the Iranian constitution. They are not a means by which the U.S. government will use to reach its foreign policy goals– these protests are about them, not us, and it’d be great if certain US officials would see it that way.

NYTimes article: “Amid West Bank’s Turmoil, the Pull of Strings”

Watch the video

Obama’s Approval Rating in the Arab World at 45%

This is a pretty interesting blog post in TIME.

Although I don’t think the more favorable rating has much to do with Obama’s Muslim background but rather the fact that the Arab world perceives Obama to be a million times better than Bush in terms of his foreign policy. (of course, this is all comparative, I don’t think Obama’s foreign policy decisions have differed tremendously from President Bush’s- we are waging less war in Iraq and more in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and our policy towards Israel remains the same with the exception of harsher rhetoric criticizing Israeli settlement expansion).

But I thought that this was the most interesting part of the poll results and can serve as a statement to those who believe that every Middle Easterner is an avid supporter of Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah:

After surging, respectively, to ratings of 27% and 17% in the 2008 poll, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian Preisdent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fell to 11% and 10%–behind even current French President Nicolas Sarkozy. And no leader of Hamas figured in the top 12.

Moral of the story: If President Obama wants to reach out to the Muslim world, just as Scott Mcleod put it, he must take actions that prove to the residents of the Middle East that the U.S. is ready to pursue a more fair and just policy in the region. As made clear by the poll, Middle Easterners are not looking for meaningless rhetoric and promises of change, but concrete actions.

Avigdor Liberman Foreign Minister

So I haven’t really had time to blog what with my thesis due in like less than two weeks. And I’m properly late on this bit of news, but our worst fears have been realized – Avigdor Lieberman is now Foreign Minister of Israel.

While Lieberman is a fan of the two-state solution, he envisions a purely Jewish state, and, at one point, advocated for the expulsion of the Palestinian citizens of Israel. In the last election, his party advocated for the banning of two Arab parties from running in the election on the pretext that they were critical of Israel’s Dec. 2008 war in Gaza. Shortly before the election took place, the ban was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.

However, now as Foreign Minister, he will be in charge of internal security, among other things, and I fear that his racist views will be projected into Israeli policy.

Allah yustor.

Video: “Nursing the Nightmares”

Guardian Video.

A female psychotherapist in Gaza, Insherrah Zakout, helps women try to free themselves of the trauma they suffer from as a result of the wars in Gaza.

I think that this an aspect of war that a lot of people don’t think about–the fact that the brave men, women, and children in Gaza are going to be living with the memory of the massacres, the trauma of losing their loved ones, for the rest of their lives. There is nothing that can make up for what these people have lost.

 I remember from the summer I spent in the refugee camps in Jordan that many of the women in the camp wished they had psychotherapists in the camp. They needed someone to relay their problems to, to help them deal with the poverty, sickness, and alienation that came along with their dispossession.

If there was such a high demand for therapy in Jordan, where the Palestinian people have led mostly stable lives, one can only imagine how much psychotherapy is needed in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Insherra Zakout is one of a few psychotherapists in Gaza. God bless her.

Attacks in Northern Ireland

Gunmen killed two British soldiers in Northern Ireland today.

It is the first attack on British troops since 1997.

Read the article.

Fayyad Steps Down, But Not Really…

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced his resignation and his plans to step down from his post, to allow for the formation of a unity government between Hamas and Fatah. Fayyad will remain as Prime Minister until the unity government is actually formed.

Palestinian sources claim that the resignation of Fayyad is just a tactical move aimed at pressuring Hamas to soften its stance and allow Fayyad to resume his post as Prime Minister. Hamas is demanding that Fayyad be replaced by an independent candidate.

The United States has let the PA and Hamas know that it will not recognize the Palestinian unity government unless Salam Fayyad is re-appointed as Prime Minister.

U.S. obstructionism strikes again.

“Must Jews always see themselves as victims?”- Antony Lerman

Antony Lerman, former director of Institute for Jewish Policy Research, writes in The Independent about how Jews should not use their memory of the horrors of the Holocaust and their sense of victimization to allow the dehumanization of the Palestinians and the demonisation of anyone who criticizes Israel….

Read it. Amazing article.

Props to Habab for sending it to me.

EU Report Accusing Israel of “Illegal Annexation of East Jerusalem”

According to Haaretz, the “EU document accuses Israel of using settlement expansion, the security barrier in the West Bank, Palestinian house demolitions and discriminatory housing policies to gain control over East Jerusalem.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the Israeli order for the eviction of 1500 Palestinians in East Jerusalem “unhelpful,”  and that is as far as criticism from the United States for Israel’s recent policies in Jerusalem has gone and probably will go.

So I’m glad that the EU pointed out the obvious fact that these evictions, home demolitions, and settlement projects have a larger goal; to continue Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and to complete its Judaization of all of Jerusalem.

Haaretz Reports: Lieberman Demands Full Autonomy As Foreign Minister

Lieberman.

In a nutshell, he’s crazy.

Oh and he wants to appoint the even crazier Dov Weiglass, Sharon’s aide, as the Foreign Ministry special envoy. Remember that guy? The one who talked about how the Gaza disengagement was the ‘formaledehyde’  which was “necessary so there” would “not be a political process with the Palestinians,” and no chance of there ever being a Palestinian state?

Ah, Israeli politics.

BBC Audio Slideshow: Homeless in Gaza

Look at these pictures.

Props to my friend Sean for passing this along.

Images that would never be shown on U.S. news.

Go Easy on Him NY TIMES!

I know this is very different from the general news you get from my blog, but I had to address this– it’s very important, and it aggravated me so much.

In this NY Times article, Alessandra Stanley just destroyed Jimmy Fallon’s first week at the Late Night Show !

(As you all should know, he’s taken over for Conan O Brien who will be taking over for Jay Leno in July I believe.)

Alessandra was too hard on Jimmy Fallon. She’s LAME.