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July 31, 2008
Brum has the slowest moving traffic
The Birmingham Post report today (31/7/2008) tells us what our leaders don't want to know, can't grasp, that Birmingham's traffic is slowing down. Out of 5 comparable metropolitan areas an AA report says that 15% drivers are caught in traffic compared to 11% in Sheffield and 10.7% in Manchester. Both these cities have tram links while Glasgow, another comparator, has, with its underground, a figure of 12.7%.
Currently it seems that Birmingham City Councillors dislike the tram intensely, but they don't appear to have any other plans. The "big idea" is a revamp of New Street Station, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that on its own it's a long way from supplying Birmingham and the West Midland with the public infrastructure which will be reliable, clean and modern.
Why the antipathy to the Midland Metro is beyond me. It is clean and reliable. You don't get thrown about like you do on buses (I've only encountered one driver who succeeded in stopping suddenly throwing passengers about). It is know to be much more effective in getting people out of cars. It has free park and ride facilities with security cameras. Not only don't they like it, they have no plans for a modern public transport system. How do they answer the correspondent who writes into todays Post I've quoted below?
In many ways New Street is the envy of many cities because of its location at the centre. Edinburgh has a similar advantage in that sense. So some of the ideas coming on board to relieve New Street appear to have some merit. If you travel to London from Snow Hill and Moor Street it is apparent that there is already room for four tracks, which would be a huge problem to provide between the Coventry - New Street route, not taking into account the tunnels feeding into the station. A high speed link I understand is being looked at here. I had high hopes at one time that the tram would go out to Eastside and then connect at Duddeston and Vauxhall. An interchange there would also relieve pressure on New Street.
Already officers with foresight have managed to get the exit route for the Midland Metro constructed at Snow Hill and this will make it possible for the tram to link with New Street. It also frees up platform 4 for heavy rail. At present light rail and heavy rail are forbidden to use common track, but I understand that the government are revisiting this question so there could be interesting developments there.
The same edition of the Post contains a letter headed "International aspirations let down by dire transport"
"Dear Editor, I read the excellent Birmingham Post property supplement with a sense of growing excitement when examining some of the detail surrounding, the proposed 10 year, £17 billion development of Birmingham city centre. The iconic V Building, the development of Park Central, the Calthorpe Estates' proposed £40 million office development and the redevelopment of Five Ways and the A38 corridor. These proposed and planned developments will certainly place Birmingham at the forefront of international focus and generate interest from the business and commercial sectors."
The letter continues:
"Unfortunately my enthusiasm slowly waned as I realised that yet again the one key area of focus that is always missing from these grandiose plans is the development of appropriate and suitable transport infrastructure to support the increasing urbanisation of our city."
He continues:
Our city planners are guilty of being romanced by the idea of creating a legacy, of building bigger, taller and shinier than their counterparts in other cities; and guilty of demonstrating their impressive plans at international expos and conventions while knowing that our city is lacking quality transport amenities.
The sad fact is that our transport infrastructure is outdated and badly implemented. Our gateway railway station is a national joke, our national coach and bus depot is an appalling blot on the landscape and in the wrong part of the city to be of any practical use. Our grossly overpriced and overhyped bus service fails on several counts, including cleanliness, availability, frequency and accessibility. Transportation within the city centre is non-existent and car drivers have been branded persona non-grata by redevelopments which have destroyed or severely limited vehicle access.
Someone should pitch up next to our high flying city promotions team and tell the eager international community that it can take up to 45 minute to travel four miles along the Hagley Road to the city on any given weekday, that public transport is shabby and erratic, that despite massive investment plans for New Street station's redevelopment there will still be only two tracks in and two tracks out, that light-rail and tramway plans are being proposed, investigated and discarded in lightning fashion, and there is no appreciable long-term integrated transport proposal let alone a solution.
The incumbent city fathers, with their burning desire to create a lasting legacy, need to face reality and get our priorities right. We need fast, frequent transport within the city and surrounding districts. The West Midlands tramway is good as far as it goes (one track), but as we all now realise, it doesn't go far enough and recent reports have suggested that it isn't going to go any further.
The answer? Don't waste any more time trying to shoehorn the tram into a city where it just won't fit. Look at alternatives. We had a fantastic network of tramways and trolley-buses in and around this city. Trams and trolley buses are environmentally friendly, pollution free and are only limited by the availability of an overhead power supply or track. The cost of installing pylons and cable must be infinitesimal compared to the projected costs of a light rail extension, which would be a single line "all the way" to Five Ways if we are lucky. We should be creating a superb 21st century city centre transport system capable of providing the interconnects between Digbeth bus and coach station, Snow Hill, Moor Street and New Street stations, in conjunction with large park and ride facilities built on the city perimeter approaches. Such a system would also provide the means for city centre residents to be able to dwell in the city without the need for the ubiquitous motor car.
If second-rate towns like Sheffield can develop city-wide tram services that move local people and encourage cars to be left at home, then why can't Birmingham? We must get the basics right before we reach for the stars. A 21st century city needs 21st century transportation."
A Garcarz,
By email.
Why we need high-speed Gateway plan more than ever
Jul 24 2008 Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I would like to respond to the leader column in Monday's paper commenting on the Gateway project at New Street and the House of Commons Transport Select Committee's concerns over long term rail capacity at the station.
As the region's passenger transport authority, Centro believes that the Gateway scheme is absolutely the right thing for New Street as it will increase passenger capacity and address the problem of overcrowding.
We also believe that New Street Station is in exactly the right place and that the long distance railway should not be going anywhere else in Birmingham. New Street is, in effect, the hub of the nation's rail system and should remain so. That's why Gateway is so important.
In the medium term, Gateway will be able to cope with much longer trains which will help us provide the extra capacity needed.
However, we agree that the growth in demand for rail is now rising far faster than previously forecasted.
This faster rate of growth justifies our ambition to build the proposed Camp Hill Chords project as soon as possible. This project involves the construction of new train tracks and points to allow certain services to be routed into Birmingham Moor Street Station thereby freeing up capacity and allowing performance improvements at New Street.
The rapid growth in demand for rail also illustrates the pressing need for extra transport capacity within Birmingham. That's why Centro, together with its partners, is working towards providing a world class integrated public transport system incorporating rail, rapid transit and bus. This network will enable local journeys to be made in a different way and without the need to use the main platforms at New Street.
In the longer term, many local services could therefore be taken out of New Street, freeing up further capacity so that the station can cater for the anticipated growth in rail referred to in the Select Committee's report.
For now, however, it's important that New Street Gateway advances as fast as possible in order to solve the acute passenger capacity issues that already exist at the station and which threaten to constrain growth in the short term.
Geoff Inskip, chief executive Centro
Posted by John at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2008
Miliband states the blindingly obvious
David Miliband has spoken. "Labour needs real change" he says. And he's the favoured front runner. He's the one who blamed wild birds from bringing Avian 'Flu to Bernard Matthews when it was the action of corporate enterprise linked to Hungary. Our David preferred to look after the interests of an iindustry which is a constant threat to public health. Bins of offal were found lying next to sheds of live birds. Avian 'Flu hit the headlines scaring us to death over the possible outbreak of a pandemic resulting in thousands of deaths. A New Labour man through and through! The other person mentioned to take over is Jack "excuse me do you mind removing your clothes when you speak to me" Straw. We hear that Harriet also fancies her chances.
The real change needed is for someone to come along not wedded to the idea that market forces are the answer to everything. Don't look at the Tories or Lib-Dems for that any more than New Labour. Most of those who believe fundamentally differently have moved out of Labour long since. Tony Benn said it was a mistake when Arthur Scargill and Tony Blair changed party: Scargill formed the Socialist Labour Party which I joined, and Blair New Labour. Brown won't countenance a perceived "move backwards" to restore union power. As far as I can see none of the potential contenders would either with the possible exception of John McDonnell.
McDonnell makes the point that hose being lined upfor "change" are those who have gone along with the New Labour project, and as before with the Blair-Brown handover those who can or can't stand will be rigorously controlled. We'll get more of the same with yet another face. All that Miliband seems to arguing is for changes in presentation. We'll get a return to a more light-weight media friendly kind of guy, more like Blair.
Blair himself has become more of media darling again now he is removed from the scene. Already we've forgotten why we desperately wanted him to go with Brown seeming to offer something different like a move away from imperialist war mongering. As far as I'm concerned Brown has become more like Blair without the smooth superficial persona. Brown always had a deeper grasp of the facts than Blair. We hear this from those who witnessed both in action on visits to the United States.
Posted by John at 9:23 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2008
Oil profits up, Buffett gives Obama advice so all's well.
Don't worry you're in good hands as BP announce a rise in profits in spite of problems with their Russian partners. Russia accounts for a sizable chunk of their business. Meanwhile back at the ranch Obama takes time to worry about the rise in price of fuel and food, so step forward Warren Buffett, supposedly the richest person in the world, a noted philanthropist, called in to give some thought to how we ordinary mortals can be helped.
The present administration find the economic crisis handy for explaining away the record budget deficit facing the U.S. Nothing to do with spending on Iraq and Afghanistan you understand. While Obama has always said he's against the Iraq war Afghanistan he says is a priority. And Iran? Israel can't wait to get going and recent words from Bush, Obama Brown is doing nothing to restrain them. While it looked like Condi Rice had stalled the rush to Tehran, war is on the agenda and it could be nuclear.
All this seems to be playing into Obama's hands, eclipsing McCain who can only sit by moaning about the press coverage he's not getting.
How can it be that the very forces that contribute to unfettered consumerism are seen as a solution the the problem? The simple answer is they're not. However they are sustained by media hype which continues to sell the celebrity concept.
Once again people are mobilising in all parts of the world, including U.S.A. Mobilising against further aggression and further costly wars. In U.S.A. we see the beneficiaries: those corporations involved in the arms and security industries who profit from government procurement and acquire huge profits for their shareholders, shareholders like one Dick Cheney, a leading aggressor in the American administration.
Posted by John at 9:34 AM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2008
Tory, Tory, Tory
There used to be a saying that the Tories were in power whichever party was running the government. At the moment the focus is on Brown. It can't be said that he's not the author of his misfortunes but the trouble, as the Independent pointedly makes out (28/7/2008), is not a matter of personality. The real Tory party got into the habit of ditching one leader after another without result. A month or so back they were after Cameron's blood, although today he seems a favourite candidate for P.M. Only Brown and Blair hit the radar with 10% and 12% respectively, the next, Straw and Milliband hit 5% each.
A little analysis shows that media reporting of events to be highly superficial. They make a point of saying Brown's recent speeches in Israel, in Europe as well as at home were of some substance. Obama's highly acclaimed European tour put across speeches full of platitude and little weight.
New Labour's willful adoption of Thatcherism, taking it to new heights that Blessed Maggie herself didn't dream of, has led to a government which puts the interests of big business first. In other words they vied with the Tories to manage capitalism. When the crunch comes, as it's bound to given the logic of reliance on finance, the majority: those without access to the means of production, are going to suffer.
Who will be there to look after the interests of the rest who are exploited by the powerful? New Labour has betrayed the people it is supposed to champion, but for all the rhetoric of Cameron Conservatives are wedded to big business much of which they own. New Labour tried to compete creating it's own monsters like Capita, which has made a killing on local government services and gained profits regardless of its performance in supplying good services. LIb-Dem? Forget them - well that's easy. Do you know what they stand for? In Birmingham they're very happy sharing power with the Conservatives. Vote Conservative you get a government which is Tory, Lib-Dem apparently the same, but who knows? Vote New Labour the best Tory party of the lot.
So dealing with Brown is beside the point. Given New Labour's policies all those mentioned as likely candidates for the job have all assiduously followed the lead and no one's come up with anything markedly different. Yet it is policies which put people at the heart of the matter which are required, but these are dismissed as "a return to the 70s and 80s". Turning left, even a little, is taboo.
As one commentator has put it the choice we have with unregulated and unsustainable consumerism depleting the planet's resources, with those who can grabbing the goodies while others struggle for their existence, is between socialism and barbarianism.
Posted by John at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2008
HEINZ MEANZ EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR. BROWN MEANZ MORE OF THE SAME
Gordon Brown spoke in the Midlands the day after the loss of Glasgow East. To trades unionists his message was "NO LEFT TURN". If you haven't got a reverse gear the only options left are to carry straight on or go eternally right. The supposition is that the unionists are far left, way beyond public opinion. Recently unions made 130 demands to New Labour, but they only wanted parity of treatment of staff in the new academies. This privatisation of a public service goes beyond what people want adn thought they had ditched with Thatcher.
So no left turn, we'll continue feeding the owners of Northern Rock whether they've made a complete mess of the business or whether they haven't. Fuel and food prices can rocket skyward but those who provide our essential needs can take joy from the record profits without a murmer. Vote Tory? Well it's a continuation of Thatcherism that we've seen under New Labour so that's a waste of time. Lib-Dems. What the hell do they stand for? Happy to go along with the Tories here in Brum!
So let's tell Brown to go. Hasn't been there five minutes so like Tories and Lib-Dems it's musical leaders. Who's there to pick up the reigns. Only New Labour's look alikes. Jack "mind removing your veil when you speak to me" Straw, David "Wild birds brought in 'flu to Bernard Matthews poultry business" Milliband (or was that his brother?), the more Liam Byrne comes out with vacuous comments the higher he climbs the New Labour ladder. There was hope when Gordon Brown came that he would be different to Blair and for a time he encouraged the view. Now you can't tell the difference, not from policies pursued. The same war mongering, same privatisation of public services. People say on the door step they do not like it! Have you seen anyone in New Labour prepared to say different? No socialism in sight. No prospect of help for working people. Can't touch the big players 'cos they'll disappear abroad in the globalisation game of exploit the worker. Heinz took HP sauce went to Holland and now Spain in spite of its associations with UK. HEINZ MEANZ NO JOBS in Birmingham at least.
Posted by John at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
Why peaceful protest is ignored
Weekly posts from Bil'in village show the determined peaceful protests against an unlawful and brutal oppressor. This is just an example of what goes on across the Palestinian territories, yet there very existence is, willfully it seems, ignored. Could it be that there is a political imperative, since without the ability to label individuals as "terrorists" then the whole reason for going into armed combat is undremined. If it's inconvenient it doesn't exist. The following comes from Jewish Voice for Peace:
"Activists working to end Israel's occupation of the territories it captured in 1967, to stop its severe oppression of the captive residents of these territories and to reverse the rampant militarization of Israeli state and society are often challenged by interlocutors as to the (supposed) absence of a movement of peaceful Palestinian resistance. The question, usually an insincere and confrontational dismissal, often takes on the formula, "So where is the Palestinian 'Peace Now'?" (Notably, demonstrating the entrenched ignorance behind this question, 'Peace Now' has not been a large or leading group within the Israeli anti-occupation movement for many years now).
The reality is that there are many and varied Palestinian groups and individuals working to end the occupation through peaceful means. Many of them have been at work for decades. At the best of times, they operate under extremely difficult constraints and conditions. Among other things, they are barred from moving freely from one village or town to another, not to speak of longer trips. They are denied freedom of assembly. The means of communication at their disposal are often limited and erratic, frequently blocked. Some of them live in poverty and struggle to subsist, leaving little time and energy for painstaking activism. Israel routinely blocks or confiscates their funding. Nevertheless, they go on, some of them working among Palestinians only, others creating joint initiatives with Israeli counterparts.
This peaceful and peace-seeking component of the Palestinian resistance goes systematically unreported by both Israeli and international corporate media. However, despite this erasure, such resistance has gained considerable grassroots solidarity worldwide and is viewed as a threat by Israel's leadership. Israel repeatedly targets peaceful Palestinian activists, as well as their family members, aiming to stop their activities while intimidating others who would follow their lead. Their systematic omission by mainstream media undoubtedly eases the way for the Israeli practices of harassing, injuring, imprisoning, torturing and frequently killing such Palestinian activists with impunity.
The second item below, from Haaretz (Friday, July 25), reveals a rare instance of intentionally publicized or possibly leaked "controversy among senior security officials" concerning a recent campaign against what the military described as "Hamas' civil institutions". According to Haaretz journalists Harel and Issacharoff, "some of the brass [are] arguing that [.... part of] the operation was not sufficiently justified".
Exemplifying the legal infrastructure allowing Israel's arbitrary actions, "The IDF", according to Harel and Issacharoff, "has received legal authorization to confiscate income-producing assets of Hamas-affiliated groups, even if no clear link between the groups and terrorist activity has been proven".
However, Haaretz claims, "the activity in Nablus seemed to some to have gone too far [...] One senior official said he was concerned that the campaign would be seen as 'war against Islam' instead of a focused struggle against Hamas and its terror activities".
One of the measures frequently employed to undermine non-violent Palestinian organizing is termed 'administrative detention' and amounts to indefinite imprisonment without trial or charges.
The first item below focuses on the 'administrative detention' of Dr. Ghassan Khaled.
The military court that usually approves such detention as a matter of course initially found no grounds for enforcing it in his case. Later, Israel's High Court "were critical about the procedures leading to Khaled's arrest". Nevertheless Dr. Khaled currently remains in detention.
The report and request for action regarding Dr. Khaled were compiled and disseminated by The Israeli Association for the Palestinian Prisoners. The Association is led by my friends and longtime sister activists, Anat Matar (see contact details below) and Tamar Berger.
Their call for action is an attempt to muster alternative means to un-erase the issues at hand and move caring people worldwide to learn about, and act in solidarity with, the men and women unjustly and outrageously incarcerated and harassed by Israel. "
Rela Mazali
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THE ISRAELI ASSOCIATION FOR THE PALESTINIAN PRISONERS
anatmatar@gmail.com ; +972528560001
20 July, 2008
Administrative Detentions
The Case of Dr. Ghassan Khaled, the law faculty of Al Najjah University, Nablus
Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial, and without informing the detainees or their lawyers of the charges against them. Moreover, neither they nor their attorneys are allowed to see the evidence.*
Administrative detention serves as a convenient tool of harassment by the Israeli regime to use against political activists and members of parliament, peace activists leading non-violent resistance to the occupation, students and other people who cannot be put to trial because of the lack of evidence against them.
In recent years, 8% of the political prisoners in Israeli jails have been administrative detainees. At present there are about 730 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons.
The iniquity of administrative detention is well illustrated by the case of Dr. Ghassan Khaled, for whom we ask your help. Please act now: disseminate this message and write letters to the authorities cited below.
Dr. Khaled was detained under administrative detention for six months. This period is due to end at the beginning of October 2008, but his arrest warrant may afterwards be renewed for additional periods of 6 months ad infinitum.
Dr. Ghassan Khaled: Personal details
Dr. Ghassan Khaled, 41, Id. 929191302, is a lecturer at Al Najjah University in Nablus. Though originally from the village of Jayyous, he lives and works in Nablus. He is a senior lecturer at the law faculty of Al Najjah University, in Nablus, specializing in international commercial law. He is married and a father of five: his oldest son is 8 years old, his youngest is 6 months. Dr. Khaled does not engage in politics. Rather, his dedication is to his work and to his family.
Dr. Khaled's father, Sharif Omar Khaled (Abu Azzam), has developed many liaisons with international and Israeli peace activists, being one of the popular leaders of the peace demonstrations against the Apartheid wall built on the land of Jayyous. His own fields - like most, in that area - are located in the western side of the wall, and he is required to present a permit in order to cultivate them. In October 2007 his permit was denied for unspecified "security reasons", and was renewed only after a strong public campaign at the beginning of 2008.
Legal status
Dr. Khaled was first arrested on the night of 16th January, 2008. For three weeks he was denied contact with his lawyer. He was interrogated under duress, and eventually was accused of "giving a service to an unauthorized body". The accusation is based on two allegations: it is claimed, first, that Dr. Khaled used to give financial aid to members of the kutla Isslamiya, Hamas' student movement; and secondly, that he gave permission to publish an academic article written by him in the journal "Mushkat al'Adalah", issued by law students at his university belonging to the Kutla Islamiya. Dr. Khaled's trial was set to 17th July. The prosecution wished to keep him in custody, but Khaled appealed and won. The military judge, Captain Azriel Levi, expressed his opinion that there was no real substance in the prosecution files. He noted that the GSS (General Secret Service; in Hebrew shabak) evidence relied on hearsay and that, according to Dr. Khaled's testimony, his article was published
without his consent. There was nothing incriminating in the secret files as well. Dr. Khaled was released on bail; his family paid 30,000 NIS and he went home, awaiting his trial.
After less than a fortnight, on the night of 30th March, Dr. Khaled was re-arrested. The judge refused to keep him in custody, claiming that his previous release and the days he spent at home proved that there was no danger in letting him go. He told the prosecutors that unless they brought some incriminating material, Dr. Khaled should be released within 24 hours. This never happened; yet -
On 3rd April Dr. Khaled was declared an administrative detainee. A judge approved the detention for six months, until 2nd October 2008. Neither Dr.. Khaled nor his lawyer was informed of the procedure in advance; only the GSS representatives and the prosecutors were present. They claimed that Dr. Khaled's previous release was "the system's fault", which was corrected after 12 days.
On 1st May, after an appeal to the military court was denied, Dr. Khaled appealed to the High Court of Justice. During the hearing, on 22nd May, his lawyer, Adv. Muhammad Abed, claimed that the intelligence reports, incriminating Dr. Khaled, were unfounded. He told the judges that during his interrogation by the GSS, Khaled's investigators attempted to convince him to admit that he belonged to the Hamas party. In return, they promised to omit any charges of military activity. One GSS investigator, "Arad", said that "had he admitted he belonged to Hamas, we might believe him; but since he denies everything, we cannot believe a word he's saying and therefore suspect he is involved in military activity". Another investigator, "Doron", threatened to "ruin his life" in case he does not cooperate. Adv. Abed concluded that the GSS interrogators were seeking revenge for Dr. Khaled's refusal to cooperate with them by formally advancing their suspicion of military activity and requesting
administrative detention. Supreme Court judges Beinish, Rivlin and Jubran were critical about the procedures leading to Khaled's arrest.
Yet on 1st June, they rejected his appeal. Their decision is concise: "Upon the petitioner's permission, we examined the secret files and found that we have no reason to interfere with the decision. The petitioner is a Hamas activist who was involved in organizing a military activity that is dangerous for the area and as a result of this threat, his appeal is denied."
Dr. Ghassan Khaled was put under administrative detention in order to bypass the military judge's decision rejecting the military prosecutor's request to keep him in custody. The trial itself began on 17th July, at the military court in Salem. Due to a mistake, no witnesses were summoned. The judge, Major Dalia Kaufman, proposed a date at the end of September for the next hearing. She argued that "we are not limited in time because the accused is not in custody with regards to the present case", despite the "unrelated" fact that he is kept in administrative detention. The next hearing was eventually set to 25th August. At the moment Dr. Khaled is incarcerated in Megido prison.
*For more on administrative detention see http://www.btselem.org/English/Administrative%5FDetention/
A very similar case to that of Dr. Khaled, Abu Azzam's son, is that of Mousa Abu-Maria from Beit-Omar. Mousa is a peace activist, one of the founders of the Palestine Solidarity Project, and a leading figure within the organizers of the nonviolent demonstrations against the Apartheid wall. Like Dr. Khaled, Mousa Abu-Maria got the status of administrative detainee after the military prosecutors admitted in writing that they had not enough material for putting him on trial. He is accused of being a senior member of the Islamic Jihad. His appeal, too, was rejected. His lawyer, Adv.. Gaby Lasky, has now appealed to the High Court of Justice, claiming that if Abu-Maria is indeed so senior, it is improbable that this alleged "seniority" cannot be proven and supported by open evidence. She also argues that the frequency of the use of administrative detention raises severe doubts concerning the way they are monitored by the judicial level.
Birzeit University opened a campaign against the administrative detentions of many of its students, focusing, at the moment, on the case of Omar Kassis, who was put on detention last March for three months. For details, see
http://right2edu.birzeit.edu/news/article546
The Israeli Association for the Palestinian Prisoners wishes to bring Dr. Khaled's case, as well as those of Abu-Maria and Kassis, into public attention - in order to awaken the international committee to the horrors and injustices caused by the procedure of administrative detention in general.
Please write to your representatives at parliament or congress, asking them to demand that Israel either release all administrative detainees or allow them a just trial. Please write also to the Israeli embassy in your country, protesting Israel's abuse of human rights with regard the administrative detainees.
The Birzeit campaign advises to write to the International Bar Association (IBA), asking its members and Human Rights Institute to put pressure on the Israeli Bar Association to ensure that all subjects under Israeli jurisdiction be granted the basic principles of rule of law - transparent processes which do not allow for arbitrary justice or governance - to which the IBA's Human Rights Institute (HRI) claims to be dedicated:
Fiona Paterson, Director of Human Rights Institute
International Bar Association
10th Floor, 1Stephen St
London, W1T 1AT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7691 6868
Fax: +44 (0)20 7691 6544
More info:
The Public Committee against Torture in Israel is currently investigating Dr. Khaled's complaints about the conditions under which he was put during his arrest and interrogation. According to his friends, he was tied for long hours to a small chair, his interrogation lasted about 20 hours a day, during which he was not allowed to eat or pray.
Ha'aretz reporter Meron Rapoport wrote about the systematic abuse that Dr.. Khaled's father suffered:
..........................................
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005352.html
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
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Last update - 02:45 25/07/2008
Military allows certain Nablus mall stores to reopen
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
The Israel Defense Forces has decided to rescind its closure order of a mall in the West Bank city of Nablus, issued about two weeks ago.
However, the decision to reopen the mall applies only to stores whose income is not transferred to Hamas-affiliated associations.
The decision followed a meeting Tuesday among GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Gad Shamni, the governor of Nablus, Jamal Mohsein, and the head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai. The meeting was to have been secret, but it was leaked to the press.
Mohsein told the Israeli officers that the decision to close the mall harmed the Palestinian Authority and the people of Nablus.
At the beginning of the month, Haaretz reported that the IDF's Central Command and the Shin Bet security service were making a concerted effort to shut down the dawa, Hamas' civilian infrastructure. As part of this effort, the IDF closed down a large number of Islamic charities, confiscated their property, searched their computers and seized documents from their offices. Major operations of this type were carried out in Hebron, Qalqilyah and Ramallah, and a similar operation began in Nablus two weeks ago.
However, the intensive campaign against Hamas' civil institutions has become a focus of controversy among senior security officials, with some of the brass arguing that the Nablus operation, which included closure of the mall, was not sufficiently justified. The operation also angered Palestinians and drew sharp criticism from international organizations.
The broad outlines of the campaign were approved by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. But the activity in Nablus seemed to some to have gone too far, because the stores' links to Hamas were limited. One senior official said he was concerned that the campaign would be seen as "war against Islam" instead of a focused struggle against Hamas and its terror activities.
The IDF has received legal authorization to confiscate income-producing assets of Hamas-affiliated groups, even if no clear link between the groups and terrorist activity has been proven. The IDF General Staff explained that in this way, Hamas would be deprived of an essential source of income and a means of increasing its influence over the Palestinian population in the West Bank.
Also on Tuesday, Barak and senior IDF officers met with the governor of Jenin, Kadura Musa, and the commander of the Palestinian security forces, Suleiman Omran. The officials discussed the planned opening of an industrial park near Jenin, as well as operations by the Palestinian security services and easing IDF restrictions on Palestinian civilians.
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources said the PA security services had arrested a few dozen Hamas activists and suspected Hamas members in the West Bank, including 17 the Qalqilyah area and a large number around Nablus.
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Joel Beinin
Racheli Gai
Rela Mazali
Sarah Anne Minkin
Judith Norman
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Rebecca Vilkomerson
Alistair Welchman
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Posted by John at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2008
Obama on tour
The pros and cons of Obama visiting Iran are neatly set out in a supposed dialogue in Al Jazeera today.(24/7/2008). Quite where he stands at the end of the day keeps everyone guessing. What is known is that 4 out of 5 U.S. citizens favour talks, so that's good enough for the front running presidential candidate for now.
Both Obama and Brown look like appeasers of Israel from their recent trips to Jerusalem. Brown went on a at length of his childhood memories of the Holy Land as a member of the church and said nothing about Gaza, confiscation of Palestinian land or the rising toll of Palestinian casualties. However his rhetoric led Obama's with references to the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Obama's statement about the indivisibility of Jerusalem concerns Palestinians although Israelis still appear to favour McCain as the greater potential ally.
Posted by John at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2008
Bil'in continues its court battles
This is the weekly bulletin from Bil'in which routinely reports peaceful demonstration about the building of a wall and the land grab for further illegal settlements. It is Israeli courts that have challenged the legality, but court orders have been ignored. Canadian firms are also involved in the illegal use of Palestinian land and being challenged.
1- Bilin continues its battle in the courts
2- Bil'in Canada call to action
3- One injured and dozens affected by tear gas at Bilin weekly non-violent protest against the apartheid wall.
1- Bilin continues its battle in the courts
FFJ- July 18, 2008 - Yesterday afternoon the village counsel and popular committee of Bilin met with their lawyers to discuss recent developments in two legal actions: the first, the lawsuit Bilin filed last Tuesday against two Canadian corporations, Green Park and Green Mount; the second, a follow up to a case they won last year, in which the High Court of Israel ruled that the fence in Bilin is illegal, and must be re-routed.
In the claim filed against Green Park and Green Mount International, Bilin's legal representation argues that by building Jewish settlements in Occupied West Bank, ones like the nearby Modi'in Illit and Mattityahu East, Israel is committing war crimes. Further, they argue that anyone assisting in this crime--by planning, building, and marketing residential units in these settlements, for instance--is by virtue of abetting these crimes violating international law (see the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49). "This is legal history," said one lawyer, "the first case ever to raise this argument. To some degree, we have already won just by filing it, since it will make other corporations think twice before supporting settlements. And if we succeed, we will set a huge, huge precedent."
The claim was filed in the Superior Court of Quebec, and both Green Park and Green Mount International have given notice that they will appear in court to defend themselves. Since receiving this notice, Bilin's legal team has been preparing for a big trial, anticipating that the defense will object to the trial itself, on the grounds that Canadian courts do not have proper jurisdiction to try this case. But Bilin intends to counter this argument, stressing that war crimes and violations of human rights concern all humanity, and hence all courts, where each and every court has a duty to try cases of this kind. If Bilin can overcome this initial objection, assert their lawyers, they will be on solid ground. The villagers of Bilin are putting out a call to their supporters to raise awareness about this groundbreaking trial. They are also putting out a call to each and every Palestinian, regardless of political party, to come together around this significant act of resistance. It's a national issue, after all.
The second update is less uplifting. In September 2007, after an arduous trial, Israel's High Court of Justice concluded that the section of the separation barrier that slices through Bilin's land, cutting villagers off from over sixty percent of it, is illegal. The court ordered the Ministry of Defense and the IDF to design a new route that satisfies a few essential criteria: (1) that the new route must be planned in a way that minimizes the suffering of the village, (2) that the new route should return as much cultivated land as possible to Bilin's side of the barrier, (3) that the planners must try to return the cultivated land of Wadi Dilib to Bilin, (4) that the new route should be placed, as much as possible, on state instead of private Palestinian land, and (5) that the new route should return a certain set of key enclaves designated by the court.
As of May 2008, Israel had yet to suggest a new route, and absolutely nothing had changed. So Bilin filed a claim against the State of Israel, contending that Israel is in contempt of its own court. One week later Israel replied that it would issue a new plan in three weeks time, and on July 6th the plan for a new route was submitted.
But this plan met none of the criteria. The new route ceded part of Wadi Dilib, but only a fraction, and nothing else. Further, the construction of the projected route will destroy 37 more acres, whereas the people of Bilin will only be allowed to recover 30.25 acres; not to mention that 17.5 of these acres have already been destroyed by the route of the previous fence. Not a hair of the proposed route will be built on state rather than Palestinian private land, not one of the key enclaves will be returned, and perhaps most strikingly: 545 of Bilin's 1,000 acres--some 54.5 percent--will still be lost to the fence. It is clear, of course, that the Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Defense Forces have done their very best to avoid implementing any of the criteria into the new route, not by negligence, but sheer calculation.
Bilin has once again claimed that Israel is in contempt of its own court, and that Israel has "treated the ruling as dust." Bilin has demanded that the court fine or arrest the Minister of Defense and the regional Israeli military commander. On the day this claim was filed, the court responded that it would hold a hearing on July 27th. Bilin is preparing for the hearing.
Related article: "Seeking Justice Abroad" posted July 10, 2008.
2- Bil'in Canada call to action
Dear Friends,
As you may already know, the village of Bil'in recently announced the launch of an unprecedented legal action against two Canadian companies, Green Park International Inc. and Green Mount International Inc., charging them with war crimes. The case has been filed in the Quebec Superior Court in Montreal, Canada.
Bil'in charges that these companies have violated both international law and Canadian domestic law by acting as agents of Israel, illegally constructing residences and other buildings in the West Bank, a territory internationally recognized as illegally occupied due to an act of war in 1967.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, an occupying power may not transfer its civilian population into territory that it has occupied as a result of war. Canada has similar prohibitions under its Canadian Geneva Conventions Act and its Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. Moreover, the Canadian statutes have jurisdiction over all its citizens everywhere, regardless of where in the world the offence has been committed.
Bil'in is seeking an immediate Order from the Canadian Supreme Court that these companies halt their illegal construction and provide punitive damages to the village. Upon obtaining such an Order in Canada, Bil'in intends to petition the Israeli Court to enforce the Canadian Court Order in Israel and the West Bank.
This landmark court case aims to bring international companies active in illegal settlement construction to justice. Bil'in's case is strong, and the lawsuit will foreground the political issue of settlement colonialism as well as the legal responsibility of perpetrators abroad, regardless of the case's actual outcome. However, if the outcome of the case is positive, other companies in other countries could be dealt with in a similar manner.
What you can do to show your solidarity:
The village of Bil'in is calling on supporters from all over the world to join them in solidarity actions during the court case. Which will cost of approximately $50,000.
Please consider doing any one or more of the following:
• Circulate and publicize a petition of support for the village of Bil'in.
• Hold a fundraising party for the Bil'in case in your home or organization.
• Donate directly to the cause by clicking on this link: (if there isn't one yet let's make one!)
• Add this link to your blog, website, and organization website so visitors can donate to the fund.
• etc.
To obtain background information on Bil'in please visit www.bilin-village.org/english
3- One injured and dozens affected by tear gas at Bilin weekly non-violent protest against the apartheid wall.
Bilin - Friday 18th of July, 2008: As soon as Friday prayer finished, people of Bilin marched in their weekly protest against the apartheid wall and settlements, joined by the international and Israeli activists. The demonstrators carried banners against occupation, arrests, killings, closures and incursions against the Palestinians. They also carried posters of the martyr Dalal al Moghrabi and banners calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
The demonstration started at Bilin Mosque through Bilin Street and the demonstrators were chanting against the apartheid wall and for the release of prisoners. The walked towards the gate of the wall and soldiers started firing tear gas and rubber bullets resulting in the injury of Adeeb Abo Rahmah and dozens affected by the tear gas.
Today there were two delegations, one of European journalists and members from the left parties of the Greek parliament who visited the village observed the demonstration and were also affected by the tear gas and heard an account of the struggle of the people of the area from the Bilin Popular Committee.
Yesterday, the lawyer of the village, Michael Sfard, visited Bilin and had a meeting with local residents and explained to them the legal status of their legal action in Canada against Canadian companies who are building settlement of Mitatyaho East (the eastern side of Modi'in Elite) on their land and explained the status of cases pending in the Israeli Supreme Court about the new path of the wall which residents are objecting to.
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
Head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bilin
Email- ffj.bilin@yahoo.com
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Fax- (00972) (2) 2489129
Posted by John at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2008
Memo to Obama, McCain (and Brown): No one wins in a war (JVP)
The following has come from Jewish Voice for Peace. As Gordon Brown is about to address the Knesset, he too needs to consider this message with reports that he is continuing to sabre rattle. Brown visited the West Bank, saw Bethlehem, saw the dividing wall. He must of heard of the brutality and killings perpetrated by the Israeli state. While Brown is right to remember the holocaust, what is happening in Gaza was described by a member of the Israeli government using the same language. The official line used to be that the Holocaust was unique in history and nothing can compare. So that justifies the inhumane treatment of the Arab people does it?
While the speech and actions of the Israeli state and the Zionist movement encouraging settlers with extremist views - mirrored by the extreme right Christian Zionists, who while sharing the name have a rather different agenda and include anti-semitic individuals - there is a considerable body of Jewish opinion which dissents. Numerically it is probably vastly greater than the few who have taken power, and backed by the U.S. uses it to intimidate, bully, terrorise in pursuit of "peace2 we are told.
"It probably seems clear to many of us that of the Obama and McCain pair, one is way more reckless and dangerous. Yet, they share a view of how to resolve conflict which is based on waging war. Howard Zinn points out how bankrupt this line of thinking is - at least in terms of achieving the stated aims: ridding ourselves of "terrorism" and such.
Of course, waging wars have other aims(which this short article doesn't address): The further consolidation of wealth and power in the hands of the few, and the opportunity to use drummed up fear to dissolve chunks of what liberties we still possess."
Racheli Gai.
Memo to Obama, McCain: No one wins in a war
Jul 18, 2008 By Howard Zinn
"BARACK OBAMA and John McCain continue to argue about war. McCain says to keep the troops in Iraq until we "win" and supports sending more troops to Afghanistan. Obama says to withdraw some (not all) troops from Iraq and send them to fight and "win" in Afghanistan.
For someone like myself, who fought in World War II, and since then has protested against war, I must ask: Have our political leaders gone mad? Have they learned nothing from recent history? Have they not learned that no one "wins" in a war, but that hundreds of thousands of humans die, most of them civilians, many of them children?
Did we "win" by going to war in Korea? The result was a stalemate, leaving things as they were before with a dictatorship in South Korea and a dictatorship in North Korea. Still, more than 2 million people - mostly civilians - died, the United States dropped napalm on children, and 50,000 American soldiers lost their lives.
Did we "win" in Vietnam? We were forced to withdraw, but only after 2 million Vietnamese died, again mostly civilians, again leaving children burned or armless or legless, and 58,000 American soldiers dead.
Did we win in the first Gulf War? Not really. Yes, we pushed Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, with only a few hundred US casualties, but perhaps 100,000 Iraqis died. And the consequences were deadly for the United States: Saddam was still in power, which led the United States to enforce economic sanctions. That move led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, according to UN officials, and set the stage for another war.
In Afghanistan, the United States declared "victory" over the Taliban. Now the Taliban is back, and attacks are increasing. The recent US military death count in Afghanistan exceeds that in Iraq. What makes Obama think that sending more troops to Afghanistan will produce "victory"? And if it did, in an immediate military sense, how long would that last, and at what cost to human life on both sides?
The resurgence of fighting in Afghanistan is a good moment to reflect on the beginning of US involvement there. There should be sobering thoughts to those who say that attacking Iraq was wrong, but attacking Afghanistan was right.
Go back to Sept. 11, 2001. Hijackers direct jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing close to 3,000 A terrorist act, inexcusable by any moral code. The nation is aroused. President Bush orders the invasion and bombing of Afghanistan, and the American public is swept into approval by a wave of fear and anger. Bush announces a "war on terror."
Except for terrorists, we are all against terror. So a war on terror sounded right. But there was a problem, which most Americans did not consider in the heat of the moment: President Bush, despite his confident bravado, had no idea how to make war against terror.
Yes, Al Qaeda - a relatively small but ruthless group of fanatics - was apparently responsible for the attacks. And, yes, there was evidence that Osama bin Laden and others were based in Afghanistan. But the United States did not know exactly where they were, so it invaded and bombed the whole country. That made many people feel righteous. "We had to do something," you heard people say.
Yes, we had to do something. But not thoughtlessly, not recklessly. Would we approve of a police chief, knowing there was a vicious criminal somewhere in a neighborhood, ordering that the entire neighborhood be bombed? There was soon a civilian death toll in Afghanistan of more than 3,000 - exceeding the number of deaths in the Sept. 11 attacks. Hundreds of Afghans were driven from their homes and turned into wandering refugees.
Two months after the invasion of Afghanistan, a Boston Globe story described a 10-year-old in a hospital bed: "He lost his eyes and hands to the bomb that hit his house after Sunday dinner." The doctor attending him said: "The United States must be thinking he is Osama. If he is not Osama, then why would they do this?"
We should be asking the presidential candidates: Is our war in Afghanistan ending terrorism, or provoking it? And is not war itself terrorism?"
Howard Zinn is author of "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress" published by City Lights Books.
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Jewish Peace News editors:
Joel Beinin
Racheli Gai
Rela Mazali
Sarah Anne Minkin
Judith Norman
Lincoln Shlensky
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Alistair Welchman
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Jewish Peace News archive and blog.
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Posted by John at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2008
How cheap is cheap labour?
Interesting how the super rich depend on getting their labour at rock bottom prices. On Long Island the wealthy inhabitants, including a number of "celebrities" are finding themselves short of servants. A clamp down on illegal migrants has meant that many have been deported leaving their wives and children. already poor, in desperation.
It happens in former British, and no doubt other, colonies where not immigrants, but local people will sell their labour very cheaply. To them the payment is a matter of life and death.
What is happening on Long Island brings into sharp relief the hypocrisy of western governments tied to capitalist economies. Illegal migrant labour in fact provides a necessary function for the economy. The exploitation and misery which exists in this underworld surfaces from time to time and includes slavery, child labour and a huge sex industry. Whether the deportation of servants working for the super rich touches these pressing problems remains in doubt.
Posted by John at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2008
Condi shows VP the door
After my previous pessimism over an attack on Iran, it seems that Condoleeza Rice has been able to prevail over Cheney and the Neocon ideas of bigger and better wars than we have so far seen in Iraq. Rice of course has had hands on experience of Iraq and so is in as good a position as anyone to comment.
"Mr Bush's decision to send the number three in the State Department, William Burns, to attend talks with Iran in Geneva at the weekend caused howls of outrage that were heard all the way from the State Department's sanctuary of Foggy Bottom to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. A parallel initiative to reopen the interest's section of the American embassy in Tehran, which would be the first return of a diplomatic presence on Iranian territory since 1979, has also received a cool response from neo-conservatives." Source Independent 18/7/2008
John Bolton and the like are now complaining about yet another u-turn which will give a signal to Iran that they can do what they like. Rice has pointed out that internationally there is complete unity in the opposition to Iran's programme so diplomacy has replaced belligerence.
Posted by John at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
Too little, too late
According to the Guardian (18/7/2008) union leaders have tabled 130 demands for New Labour to look at. Gordo says it's a return to the seventies, but the list includes the acceptance of changes which were unthinkable then by socialists. For example Academies are accepted as a fact of life when the demand is only that staff receive the same treatment as staff in other schools. The whole idea of Academies undermines socialist thinking, so where are the unions now? A long way from where they should be evidently!
There is something about hospital cleaning being brought back in house. Public services should never be surrendered to the private sector anyway. Look at the catalogue of catastrophe that has resulted. Hospital cleanliness is one, the latest is the failure of an American firm to mark SATs papers on time. Remember a number of railway accident fatalities after Jarvis was let loose?
The New Labour Government hates professionals with some passion having ignored teachers on the raft of poisonous proposals they have introduced, with predictable disastrous consequences for pupils, for staff, for parents. Doctors didn't jump, and while they as private concerns themselves, weren't beyond reproach, plans to replace family practices with clinics are not what people want. Run by large unaccountable corporations they require maximum profit. The unions are concerned about the NHS, but the basic Thatcherite philosophies underpinning health, education, prisons - every facet of life, including the conduct of our wars is outsourced. Shareholders are happy, but who else?
Posted by John at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2008
Israel: "worse than apartheid" say South African delegation
The following comes from Jewish Voice for Peace who report on a delegation to Israel who recall the struggle against apartheid South Africa:
Gideon Levy accompanies a group of prominent South African human rights activists, as they visit Israel and the West Bank. Many of the visitors' comments, who are shocked by what they're seeing, deal with comparing life in Apartheid South Africa to the conditions prevailing in this part of the OPT.
To me, the major interest of the article is in that it gives us a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of people who had been through that other struggle.
Racheli Gai.
Gideon Levy: 'Worse than apartheid'
July 10, 2008
"I thought they would feel right at home in the alleys of Balata refugee camp, the Casbah and the Hawara checkpoint. But they said there is no comparison: for them the Israeli occupation regime is worse than anything they knew under apartheid. This week, 21 human rights activists from South Africa visited Israel. Among them were members of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress; at least one of them took part in the armed struggle and at least two were jailed. There were two South African Supreme Court judges, a former deputy minister, members of Parliament, attorneys, writers and journalists. Blacks and whites, about half of them Jews who today are in conflict with attitudes of the conservative Jewish community in their country. Some of them have been here before; for others it was their first visit.
For five days they paid an unconventional visit to Israel - without Sderot, the IDF and the Foreign Ministry (but with Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and a meeting with Supreme Court President Justice Dorit Beinisch. They spent most of their time in the occupied areas, where hardly any official guests go - places that are also shunned by most Israelis.
On Monday they visited Nablus, the most imprisoned city in the West Bank. From Hawara to the Casbah, from the Casbah to Balata, from Joseph's Tomb to the monastery of Jacob's Well. They traveled from Jerusalem to Nablus via Highway 60, observing the imprisoned villages that have no access to the main road, and seeing the "roads for the natives," which pass under the main road. They saw and said nothing. There were no separate roads under apartheid. They went through the Hawara checkpoint mutely: they never had such barriers.
Jody Kollapen, who was head of Lawyers for Human Rights in the apartheid regime, watches silently. He sees the "carousel" into which masses of people are jammed on their way to work, visit family or go to the hospital. Israeli peace activist Neta Golan, who lived for several years in the besieged city, explains that only 1 percent of the inhabitants are allowed to leave the city by car, and they are suspected of being collaborators with Israel. Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, a former deputy minister of defense and of health and a current member of Parliament, a revered figure in her country, notices a sick person being taken through on a stretcher and is shocked. "To deprive people of humane medical care? You know, people die because of that," she says in a muted voice.
The tour guides - Palestinian activists - explain that Nablus is closed off by six checkpoints. Until 2005, one of them was open. "The checkpoints are supposedly for security purposes, but anyone who wants to perpetrate an attack can pay NIS 10 for a taxi and travel by bypass roads, or walk through the hills.
The real purpose is to make life hard for the inhabitants. The civilian population suffers," says Said Abu Hijla, a lecturer at Al-Najah University in the city.
In the bus I get acquainted with my two neighbors: Andrew Feinstein, a son of Holocaust survivors who is married to a Muslim woman from Bangladesh and served six years as an MP for the ANC; and Nathan Gefen, who has a male Muslim partner and was a member of the right-wing Betar movement in his youth. Gefen is active on the Committee against AIDS in his AIDS-ravaged country.
"Look left and right," the guide says through a loudspeaker, "on the top of every hill, on Gerizim and Ebal, is an Israeli army outpost that is watching us." Here are bullet holes in the wall of a school, there is Joseph's Tomb, guarded by a group of armed Palestinian policemen. Here there was a checkpoint, and this is where a woman passerby was shot to death two years ago. The government building that used to be here was bombed and destroyed by F-16 warplanes. A thousand residents of Nablus were killed in the second intifada, 90 of them in Operation Defensive Shield - more than in Jenin. Two weeks ago, on the day the Gaza Strip truce came into effect, Israel carried out its last two assassinations here for the time being. Last night the soldiers entered again and arrested people.
It has been a long time since tourists visited here. There is something new: the numberless memorial posters that were pasted to the walls to commemorate the fallen have been replaced by marble monuments and metal plaques in every corner of the Casbah.
"Don't throw paper into the toilet bowl, because we have a water shortage," the guests are told in the offices of the Casbah Popular Committee, located high in a spectacular old stone building. The former deputy minister takes a seat at the head of the table. Behind her are portraits of Yasser Arafat, Abu Jihad and Marwan Barghouti - the jailed Tanzim leader. Representatives of the Casbah residents describe the ordeals they face. Ninety percent of the children in the ancient neighborhood suffer from anemia and malnutrition, the economic situation is dire, the nightly incursions are continuing, and some of the inhabitants are not allowed to leave the city at all. We go out for a tour on the trail of devastation wrought by the IDF over the years.
Edwin Cameron, a judge on the Supreme Court of Appeal, tells his hosts: "We came here lacking in knowledge and are thirsty to know. We are shocked by what we have seen until now. It is very clear to us that the situation here is intolerable." A poster pasted on an outside wall has a photograph of a man who spent 34 years in an Israeli prison. Mandela was incarcerated seven years less than that. One of the Jewish members of the delegation is prepared to say, though not for attribution, that the comparison with apartheid is very relevant and that the Israelis are even more efficient in implementing the separation-of-races regime than the South Africans were. If he were to say this publicly, he would be attacked by the members of the Jewish community, he says.
Under a fig tree in the center of the Casbah one of the Palestinian activists explains: "The Israeli soldiers are cowards. That is why they created routes of movement with bulldozers. In doing so they killed three generations of one family, the Shubi family, with the bulldozers." Here is the stone monument to the family - grandfather, two aunts, mother and two children. The words "We will never forget, we will never forgive" are engraved on the stone.
No less beautiful than the famed Paris cemetery of Pere-Lachaise, the central cemetery of Nablus rests in the shadow of a large grove of pine trees. Among the hundreds of headstones, those of the intifada victims stand out. Here is the fresh grave of a boy who was killed a few weeks ago at the Hawara checkpoint. The South Africans walk quietly between the graves, pausing at the grave of the mother of our guide, Abu Hijla. She was shot 15 times. "We promise you we will not surrender," her children wrote on the headstone of the woman who was known as "mother of the poor."
Lunch is in a hotel in the city, and Madlala-Routledge speaks. "It is hard for me to describe what I am feeling. What I see here is worse than what we experienced. But I am encouraged to find that there are courageous people here. We want to support you in your struggle, by every possible means. There are quite a few Jews in our delegation, and we are very proud that they are the ones who brought us here. They are demonstrating their commitment to support you. In our country we were able to unite all the forces behind one struggle, and there were courageous whites, including Jews, who joined the struggle. I hope we will see more Israeli Jews joining your struggle."
She was deputy defense minister from 1999 to 2004; in 1987 she served time in prison. Later, I asked her in what ways the situation here is worse than apartheid. "The absolute control of people's lives, the lack of freedom of movement, the army presence everywhere, the total separation and the extensive destruction we saw."
Madlala-Routledge thinks that the struggle against the occupation is not succeeding here because of U.S. support for Israel - not the case with apartheid, which international sanctions helped destroy. Here, the racist ideology is also reinforced by religion, which was not the case in South Africa. "Talk about the 'promised land' and the 'chosen people' adds a religious dimension to racism which we did not have."
Equally harsh are the remarks of the editor-in-chief of the Sunday Times of South Africa, Mondli Makhanya, 38. "When you observe from afar you know that things are bad, but you do not know how bad. Nothing can prepare you for the evil we have seen here. In a certain sense, it is worse, worse, worse than everything we endured. The level of the apartheid, the racism and the brutality are worse than the worst period of apartheid.
"The apartheid regime viewed the blacks as inferior; I do not think the Israelis see the Palestinians as human beings at all. How can a human brain engineer this total separation, the separate roads, the checkpoints? What we went through was terrible, terrible, terrible - and yet there is no comparison. Here it is more terrible. We also knew that it would end one day; here there is no end in sight. The end of the tunnel is blacker than black.
"Under apartheid, whites and blacks met in certain places. The Israelis and the Palestinians do not meet any longer at all. The separation is total. It seems to me that the Israelis would like the Palestinians to disappear. There was never anything like that in our case. The whites did not want the blacks to disappear. I saw the settlers in Silwan [in East Jerusalem] - people who want to expel other people from their place."
Afterward we walk silently through the alleys of Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank, a place that was designated 60 years ago to be a temporary haven for 5,000 refugees and is now inhabited by 26,000. In the dark alleys, which are about the width of a thin person, an oppressive silence prevailed. Everyone was immersed in his thoughts, and only the voice of the muezzin broke the stillness."
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Jewish Peace News editors:
Joel Beinin
Racheli Gai
Rela Mazali
Sarah Anne Minkin
Judith Norman
Lincoln Shlensky
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Alistair Welchman
------------
Jewish Peace News archive and blog.
Posted by John at 6:55 AM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2008
Bush gives Israel amber to attack
I feel sick in the stomach. According to a report in Haaretz (13/7/2008) the George W, Bush has given Israel an amber light to attack Iran. "Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you're ready," according to a Pentagon official.
Condoleeza Rice has already being saying that the U.S. will "not hesitate" to defend Israel from Iranian aggression. As I have said before America it seems to me America is at its most dangerous in the last gasp of an administration hell bent on taking control of resources in the Middle East. Israel is the base and can do some of the dirty work when th U.S. is short of manpower and has already stretched its budgets to deal with conflicts. It is probably Dick Cheney who is most influential here. As we have seen death and destruction means little to him. What I suppose is the hope is that the next administration will be bounced into clearing up the mess.
Apart from the human cost in Iraq the damage to the country's heritage is immense. The history of a nation, which gives a sense of identity and purpose to its people, has been savagely destroyed from "shock and awe" onwards.
Tail Piece. Dick Cheney as prophet in 1994.
Open letter from Jewish Voice for Peace to Barack Obama.
Posted by John at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2008
Good News from Bethlehem
I'm not referring on this occasion to the birth of the holy child, but the opening of a new music school with the name of Edward Said. News from Bethlehem makes grim reading so I want to draw attention to something positive happening. Edward Said with Daniel Barenboim founded the East-West Divan Orchestra which brings together musicians from Arab and Jewish communities. Their visit to Ramallah in 2005 resulted in a overspill audience watching a relay of the concert on screens erected outside.
Interview with Barenboim.
Barenboim at the Knesset on receiving the Wolf Prize.
Posted by John at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 8, 2008
Break the siege of Nilin
I received an invitation to join those who will tomorrow (9th July) courageously face heavily armed occupying forces who have shown no mercy in the neighbouring village of Bil'in. In addition to tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and sound bombs have used live ammunition. A few weeks ago they gravely wounded someone protesting about the loss of their land, their jobs, their rights. The action of the occupying was judged illegal even by an Israeli court, but that too was ignored. And the rest of the world remains silent..
Dear Friends, I regret I shan't be with you tomorrow but wish you every success in achieving your goal in the struggle over brutal oppressors. I am ashamed that our western governments are not only silent but complicit with the powerful forces sustaining the oppression. How else could they have built this barbarous symbol of inhumanity stealing land and throwing your livelihood away?
Fraternally
John Tyrrell
-----Original Message-----
From: Eyad Bornat
To: friends-of-freedom-and-justice-bilin@lists.riseup.net
Sent: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 18:25
Subject: [friends-of-freedom-and-justice-bilin] Invitation
Invitation
The Popular Committees of West Ramallah invite you to participate in a demonstration to break the siege of Nilin to take place this Wednesday July 9, 2008. This demonstration is also being held to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the decision of the International Court of Justice on the Israeli Apartheid Wall.
We will gather at the same time - 11:00 am - at two different locations: Budrus Village and Deir Qadis Village.
Together we will break the siege of Nilin.
For more information please call: Ayad Murrar: 0598-918-112 or Iyad Burnat: 054-784-7942
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
Head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bilin
Email- ffj.bilin@yahoo.com
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Fax- (00972) (2) 2489129
Follow up. A report of the protest
Posted by John at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2008
How does Zimbabwe maintain her Independence?
My overriding impression from to visiting Zimbabwe and Botswana in 2006 was what an impossible position the black African population continue to find themselves in. Ownership of resources remains outside their hands to a large extent with outside interests continuing to "own" land and mineral deposits. So when Gordon Brown threatened Mugabe with withdrawing British companies, Mugabe's response was "what are you waiting for?"
The European settlers and their dependents may be having a hard time with inflation rising exponentially, but many, if not most continue to have funds stashed away outside the country. A pound will buy billions of worthless Zimbabwean currency. This is not the case for those without links outside, although as we know many now have relatives who have fled. In UK thousands are still being forced to return. In South Africa resentment of Zimbabweans competing with local residents for jobs has spilled over into violence. It was said that the Zimbabweans were rather better educated than those they attempted to settle alongside.
As we see at every turn outside attempts to interfere with another nation turn into catastrophe for the people. The outsiders become an occupying power and have their own agenda to follow. Zimbabwe may not have oil, but it is rich in mineral resources. A UN delegation to Zimbabwe reminds us that the sanctions being proposed, on the basis of Mugabe's behaviour towards the outcome of elections, has something else in mind.
Another report today (12/7/2008: Independent) talks about Gordon Brown offering military aid to Nigeria, which is an act to justify the Mugabe fear that the U.S. and Britain want to overturn the gains of independence. Outsiders still own, or have considerable stakes in, land and mining rights across the continent. Clearly if Mugabe is seen to be successful in returning this to Africans then others will continue to support him. While many have condemned him in words the African Union are not about to take any action against him: certainly not the sort that western governments are trying to get the UN to agree to.
Posted by John at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
Castro writes
Fidel Castro is still active and continues to write regularly in Granma. His memory is triggered by day to day events, commemorating those like Allende who had resisted U.S. dominance in the region, but also remembering those who had chosen a different path. In doing so he describes his own involvement. This he does in a rather matter-of-fact way. There's no self aggrandisement but it comes across as valuable eye-witness accounts of an interesting period in history of ongoing struggle.
In this article he remembers Trujillo who gave support to Batista after he left Cuba after the 1959 Revolution which celebrates its 50th anniversary during the coming year. The article is also reveals the humanitarian (this was a term I heard on several occasions when I was in Cuba used when referring to Fidel) aspects of what could have become an authoritarian and oppressive regime. Cuban exiles returned later in 1959 to stage a counter revolution. The main protagonists might well have been imprisoned, tortured, executed. They were instead free and allowed to go to the U.S. where to this day they continue to work with the government to undermine the Cuban revolution.
Posted by John at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
July 5, 2008
The Public is Irrelevant
Talking about the U.S. election campaign Noam Chomsky believes that all the candidates are well to the right of public opinion. That view seems to chime in with the feeling in the U.K. Judging by reaction on doorsteps in this year's local election it seems that we in the U.K. are stuck in a no win situation. People believe, for example, that public services are of vital importance and no one I spoke to thought that privatising them was O.K. In fact they felt strongly to the contrary, yet none of the 3 main choices, i.e. parties likely to gain power, think differently. All favour pandering to the power of large privately owned corporations. In the U.S, we know of the connection between the likes of the Vice President, Mr Cheney, and companies like Haliburton, currently making millions out of involvement in Iraq and looking for bigger and better wars.
While MPs have voted themselves a pay and perks deal, they can also benefit business and other interests. Clearly their inside knowledge is valuable to companies on the make. When did we last hear of Philip Gould an early New Labourite. Wasn't he snapped up by someone like Tesco for his knowledge of planning and where Tesco could buy up land for new stores as well as shutting out competition. Patricia Hewitt recently departed from the Department of Health works for Boots, not to mention Blair now businessman cum philanthropist cum opportunist cum you name it. Made us sick when in office and now we know why.
But what about those in office? What other benefits do they get a la Cheney in the US. As we know registers of interest don't always show the full picture. I want to know what individuals know about BAE Systems and their adventures in Saudi Arabia and Tanzania. Here we see Jack Straw serenading Condie Rice (health warning. View this at the risk of nausea).
Posted by John at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
July 4, 2008
Don't embarrass the President
A report has not been published because, it is said, it would embarrass President Bush. It explains not a trivial matter though. It says that biofuels have caused world food prices to rise by 75%, whereas the US government maintains that they contributed only 3%. So keeping the President happy and in ignorance is far more important than starvation and hunger round the world.
"President Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the leaked World Bank study disputes that: 'Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases.' " Source Guardian 4/6/2008
Biofuels have become a political tool creating a new myth about renewable energy sources. Any such dream needs to be tempered with the reality that there is an unknown and massive cost to the idea. Once in the politicians' hands the reverse gear has gone. As Tony Blair once famously said, echoing Margaret Thatcher. "I have no reverse gear". Problem is the vehicle is perched facing the edge of a cliff.
Not telling the President is back to the story of the Emperor's clothes. But what of the presidential hopefuls, have they a view on this? As with global warming we seem to be on a treadmill to self-destruction. It is the poor who are already expendable, while those who hold the power to decide continue the self-delusion on a grand scale.
Posted by John at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)
Pastors for Peace caravan stopped at US Mexico border
The following bulletin is from the "Free the Cuban Five" committee which reports that this year the Pastors for Peace annual delegation to Cuba has been preventing from taking medical and educational supplies to Cuba.
National Committee To Free The Cuban Five Bulletin
An alert from the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Pastors for Peace Caravan stopped at U.S.-Mexico border
Computers destined for Cuba seized by Border Patrol
Take Action Now!
Pastors for Peace Caravans have been taking supplies and solidarity to Cuba since 1992. This year's Caravan is dedicated to the freedom of the Cuban Five. We urge supporters to read the alert below and take action immediately!
We have just received word that the Pastors for Peace Caravan, which challenges the U.S. blockade of Cuba on an annual basis, has been stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border. As always, the Pastors for Peace buses are carrying medicines and other materials to show their solidarity with the people of Cuba.
Rev. Thomas Smith, President of the Board of Directors for the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization/Pastors for Peace, told ANSWER, "We've had 31 computers seized by the Customs and Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border. These computers were destined for classrooms, clinic and hospitals in Cuba. These are 31 classrooms, clinics and hospitals that now will not have the opportunity to have computers." Smith vowed to "maintain a demonstration until we get the computers back" and called upon all opponents of the U.S. blockade to take a moment to protest this outrageous and cruel confiscation of humanitarian materials by contacting the following:
1. The Border Patrol, which under the Department of Homeland Security, which can be reached at 877-227-5511
2. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which regulates the U.S. blockade of Cuba, which can be reached at 1-800-540-6322 or ofac_feedback@do.treas.gov
3. Your House representative, who can be reached at the Congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121.
In your phone calls and emails demand the immediate release of all items belonging to the Pastors for Peace Caravan, which have been seized at the U.S.-Mexico border. Let them know that you stand with the Caravan members who are currently protesting at the border, that you oppose the blockade of Cuba. Take action right now!
Contact us: info@freethefive.org
Or call: 415-821-6545
Web: http://www.freethefive.org
Tail piece. The Pastors for Peace convoy prevailed surmounting all the obstacles placed in their path.
Posted by John at 8:43 AM | Comments (1)
July 1, 2008
Give us the evidence
A US court has ruled that it will not support government claims that an individual is an "enemy combatant" if there is insufficient evidence. Such a case is reported in today's "Washington Post" (1/7/2008). According to the report the decision could have far reaching implications for other cases.
Last week Moazzam Begg, who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, spoke at a conference held at Aston University. This discussed what had happened a year after Blair had packed his bags and vacated Downing Street. Speakers included Salma James, widow of the distinguished writer and historian CLR James.
Begg's view was that the 42 day detention period without trial was the most significant decision of our time. It is precisely this sort of legislation that allowed him to be kidnapped, incarcerated and tortured without trial.
Posted by John at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)
