Thursday, May 17, 2012

"Above and Beyond" for Israel

Is the United States "going above and beyond for Israel?"  According to the Washington Post's Walter Pincus, the answer is yes. In his column today, Pincus asks provocatively, "Should the United States put solving Israel’s budget problems ahead of its own? When it comes to spending, it appears that the United States already is."

Walter Pincus
Walter Pincus
Fine Print

What draws the ire of Pincus in today's column is the fact that nearly $1 billion of additional money for weapons to Israel is working its way through the appropriations process this year, in addition to a record-breaking $3.1 billion in military aid.  We wrote about this development last week in Mondoweiss.

Pincus notes the absurdity of  providing Israel more than $4 billion in weapons this year, even though doing so will likely bring the United States closer to painful across-the-board budget cuts next year.  He writes: "So here is the United States, having added to its own deficit by spending funds that it must borrow, helping to procure a missile defense system for Israel, which faces the threat but supposedly can’t pay for it alone."

Read the entire column here.

After you read the column, please add a positive comment to Pincus's brave truth-telling and then spread the word to your friends via social media.

You can also write a letter-to-the-editor in support of the column.  Instructions on how to do so are here.

Let's make sure that the Washington Post hears plenty of encouragement and support from us for printing such an important opinion!


Of course, we've been making for case for years that military aid to Israel comes at a moral and financial cost that we simply can't afford.  Learn more about the budgetary trade-offs and the moral impact of providing weapons to Israel at our websites www.aidtoisrael.org and www.weaponstoisrael.org.

Pincus's column is yet one more piece of evidence that discourse around U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinian people is changing in dramatic and positive ways.  Help us continue this momentum by signing up to receive a packet to educate and organize people in your community to end U.S. aid to Israel.

When you do, you'll be joining activists in more than 1,000 cities across the country who are doing this work and helping to shift the discourse as a step toward ending U.S. complicity in Israel's human rights abuses of Palestinians.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Stop the Wall offices raided by Israeli military

At 1:30am on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, ten armoured jeeps of the Israeli occupation forces and intelligence surrounded and raided the offices of Stop the Wall in Ramallah.

The Israeli military stole two laptops, three hard drives and ten memory cards containing files and photos, as well as archive material relating to the work that the organization does in opposition to Israel's apartheid wall.

This raid is a renewed attack upon Palestinian civil society and their struggle against the physical and psychological oppression, land confiscation and ethnic cleansing policies of the Israel.

Stop the Wall activists are counting on the solidarity of all their supporters across the globe in this latest attempt by Israel to repress their work.

They are calling on your support by:
  • Spreading the news and publicly expressing your support to Stop the Wall and their work in the media available to you (and please let them know you did so!)
  • Encouraging your representatives and governments to condemn and report this further repression of civil resistance and human rights defenders organizations
Make sure to share with your friends and tweet this to your followers and State Department.

Find more information on their 
website.  


In Their Name, We Remember the Nakba


To the memory of all who have lost their land, homes, lives during the Nakba and to this day, may Palestinians around the world never lose hope.

In Their Name, We Remember The NAKBA 

Come congregate with us- 531 of us, 1 for every village lost,-for a memorial in front of the White House on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 from 6:30pm till sunset. 

We will be joined by local students on a hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.

-Reading of Village Names 
-Testimonials of Survivors 
-Display of Antiquities from the Nakba (old village key, diary)
-Mobile Art Exhibit "Faces of Nakba" 
-Mobile Slide Show of the Nabka will circle the White House

At sunset, 1 person, 1 candle, 1 village, 531 candles will be lit in remembrance and hope with a reading of Mahmoud Darwish’s Poem "I Come From There." 

RSVP on Facebook

Sponsored by Ad Hoc Committee for Nakba 2012 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Palestinian Christians Urge United Methodists to Divest

Palestinian Christians published an open letter to delegates to the United Methodist General Conference urging them to support the church's resolution to divest from three corporations--Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard--that are profiting from Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands.

The letter implores delegates not to be misled down the false path of "positive investment" as an alternative to divestment.  As the signatories argue, "Many of you may be tempted to support 'positive investment' in Palestine as an alternative to divestment from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation. We sincerely believe that no amount of positive investment under Israel’s harsh occupation can truly alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and correct the injustice against them."

The United Methodists will likely vote on this resolution today.  To watch the deliberations LIVE, you can go http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.8038037/k.5731/Legislation__General_Conference_2012__The_United_Methodist_Church.htm and choose the option for live-streaming.

If you can't watch, there will be minute-to-minute updates on Twitter at: 
  • #gc2012 (this will have stuff on all resolutions, not just divestment)
  • #churchdivest
  • @UMKairosResp
  • @US_Campaign
  • @jvplive

  • Tuesday, May 1, 2012

    A Suggestion for the State Department on Human Rights and Business

    Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Maria Otero spoke yesterday at the State Department on implementing the Guiding Principles of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

    Otero claims that "We must establish clear guidelines and reliable processes so that business can do their part in respecting human rights. The U.S. government uses our foreign policy to help strengthen the rule of law and human rights, which in turn improves the environment for prosperous business. It also ensures investment and innovation don’t violate standards of stable and democratic society."

    That sounds just fine and dandy, Under Secretary Otero.  Here's a suggestion to help advance the United States' supposed concern for businesses respecting human rights: get the State Department to stop licensing Caterpillar D9 bulldozers for export to the Israeli military, paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

    As we've documented copiously over the years, Israel has misused these bulldozers in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act to commit human rights abuses of Palestinians, including the deliberate injuring and killing of civilians, the demolition of civilian homes and businesses, the razing of Palestinian agriculture, and the building of Israel's illegal settlements and Apartheid Wall.

    Under Secretary Otero, we challenge you to implement your fine words about the United States encouraging businesses to respect human rights: sanction Israel by ending U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons transfers of Caterpillar bulldozers and stop U.S. corporate profiteering from violations of Palestinian human rights.

    But, we're not waiting for you to take action either.  Right now we're down in Tampa encouraging the United Methodists to divest from Caterpillar and other corporations that profit from Israeli military occupation. Follow the latest developments from Tampa on our Twitter feed here.  

    Obama Admin. Catalogues Effort to Protect Israeli Occupation/Apartheid at UN

    It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that the Obama Administration has repeatedly taken decisive measures in the United Nations to protect Israeli occupation and apartheid toward the Palestinians and to prevent the international community from holding Israel accountable for its numerous violations of human rights and international law.

    We've seen this over and over again.  From undermining UN fact-finding missions on "Operation Cast Lead" and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, to vetoing a mild condemnatory resolution in the Security Council about Israel's illegal settlements, to scotching Palestine's UN membership bid, the Obama Administration has doggedly worked to prevent the UN from protecting or advancing Palestinian human rights.

    For anyone who doubts this to be the case or was perhaps unaware of this, the Obama Administration has now usefully encapsulated its myriad efforts to protect Israeli occupation and apartheid in the UN.

    On April 24, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer--a key player in the Obama Administration's effort to protect Israeli occupation and apartheid in the UN--delivered a speech to the American Jewish Community of Greater Miami and Broward in which she enumerated all of the ways in which the Obama Administration shields Israel from accountability in the UN.

    According to Brimmer, "We have opposed unbalanced, one-sided resolutions, at the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, UNESCO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN Human Rights Council and elsewhere."

    Brimmer rightfully notes that "Over the past several months, we have engaged in a global diplomatic marathon to oppose the Palestinian membership bid in New York and elsewhere in the UN system."

    Not for the first time does Brimmer equate Palestinian efforts to secure their long-denied human and national rights through the UN as undermining Israel.  In her zero-sum mentality, "we vehemently reject [these] attempts to de-legitimize the State of Israel."

    For an Administration that came to office supposedly rejecting the us versus them foreign policy dichotomy of its predecessor, it is distressing to see the Obama Administration adopt this same type of rhetoric when it comes to its approach toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: any advance in Palestinian rights is a diminution of Israel's legitimacy. Is the Obama Administration also then willing to argue the converse?  Namely, that Israel's "legitimacy" can only be predicated on the continual denial of Palestinian rights.  That seems a bit illogical.

    Well, even if Brimmer failed to clarify how advancing Palestinian rights "delegitimizes Israel," at least she put in one succinct place all of the Obama Administration's efforts to protect Israeli occupation and apartheid.

    Update from Tampa on Methodist Divestment Vote

    US Campaign National Organizer Anna Baltzer and Steering Committee member Sydney Levy write from Tampa where they provide an upbeat assessment of the impending vote of the United Methodist Church resolution on divestment from companies profiting from Israeli military occupation.

    Check out their article, "The Push for Divestment Continues as the Methodist General Conference Enters Its Second Week" on Mondoweiss.

    awad
    Palestinian Methodist Missionary and Pastor Alex Awad outside the Tampa convention center where the Methodist divestment vote will take place. (Photo: Anna Baltzer)
    The Methodist vote is scheduled to take place sometime today.  You can watch a live-stream of the proceedings  by clicking here

    Also, be sure to follow the live-Tweeting from the Methodist conference at the following hash tags and Twitter handles:
  • #gc2012 
  • #churchdivest
  • @UMKairosResp
  • @US_Campaign
  • @jvplive
  •  

    Friday, April 20, 2012

    Travel to Gaza or Join the African Heritage Delegation


    Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB), a US Campaign coalition member, is organizing two delegations to Palestine/Israel in October and November 2012.

    African Heritage Delegation
    October 21-November 3, 2012
    Leaders: Darryl Jordan (second leader TBD)
    Deadline to Apply: By August 1st or until delegation fills

    The African Heritage delegation will travel in Israel/Palestine for two weeks and meet with members of Palestinian and Israeli civil society, human rights organizations, grassroots activists and others.  Specific meetings will also feature African Heritage communities in Israel/Palestine, Jews of color (Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews), Palestinian refugees, and others whose unique experiences will contribute to the educational and activist aim of the delegation. Anyone of African descent is encouraged to apply for this delegation. Find more information on their website

    Voices of Conscience: Delegation to the Gaza Strip
    November 4 - 12, 2012Leaders: Michael Brown & Cindy Corrie
    Deadline to Apply: June 15, 2012 (this is not a rolling deadline)

    This delegation to the Gaza Strip is open to all and will focus on an in-depth look at the situation on the ground, as well as the work of various civil society groups, grassroots organizers, religious leaders and more. Find more information on their website



    Thursday, April 19, 2012

    Join ICAHD’s 2012 Summer Rebuilding Camp

    Since 2003 the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD), a US Campaign coalition member group, has made it possible for internationals and Israelis to join together with Palestinians in Anata, East Jerusalem, to resist the Occupation and rebuild the demolished homes of Palestinian families.

    In the summer of 2012, ICAHD will once again rebuild during their two-week Summer Rebuilding Camp July 1-16. "Creating Alternative Facts on the Ground" invites you to participate in the incredible opportunity to learn first-hand about life under occupation. Working with local Palestinian construction workers and community members, alongside Israelis, camp participants rebuild an entire house in two weeks.

    The summer program includes presentations from activists who are engaged in the struggle to resist the occupation in nonviolent, creative and constructive ways, as well as field trips to the West Bank, Lod, Jerusalem and the Negev to personally witness the methods used by the Israeli authorities to limit available land and resources for use by any future Palestinian state. 


    Find more information on ICAHD's website.

    Friday, April 13, 2012

    UMD Palestinian Solidarity Week April 16-20

    "Nakba: An Ongoing Process"
    April 16th 2012 6:00-7:30pm
    1208 Knight hall
    Yousef Munayyer, Palestinian American writer and Executive director of the Jerusalem Fund.


    "Bedouin Life under the Israeli Occupation"
    April 17th 6:00-8:00pm
    3202 Knight Hall
    Mourad Elsana, Professor at UMD


    "The Wall Must Fall"
    April 18th 10:00am-4:00pm
    McKeldin Mall
    Interactive demonstration of the Wall and the human rights situation in Palestine. Come paint your own street art on the wall, or learn about the human rights situation in Palestine.


    April 19th 7:30-9:30pm
    Room: Charles Carrol room, Stamp Student Union
    "Armed and Dangerous: U.S. Weapons to Israel"
    Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director of US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
    "Prospects for Peace"
    Ali Zaghab, Board member, American Task Force on Palestine. 


    Movie Screening: Budrus

    April 20th 6:00-7:00pm
    3200 Knight Hall 
    Budrus is an award winning documentary about a community organizer who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to saw his village from destruction by Israel's separation barrier.


    RSVP on Facebook. 

    Derail-Dump-Drown Veolia Campaign in the U.S.

    The Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights is asking for your help by sending emails to members of the Board of Directors of the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency (WDCWA) to encourage them to deny Veolia Water North America the opportunity to participate as a bidder on a $3.25 million public tender for a water project to be constructed in Yolo County, California.  

    The Board is expected to make its determination on Thursday, April 19 so make sure to have your emails sent no later than Monday, April 16. Below is a sample email and the contact information of the members.


    One of Veolia’s subsidiaries continues to provide bus and light rail transit services to settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while another operates an illegal landfill in the Jordan Valley for the disposal of waste originating from the settlements and from Israel. Both the transit and landfill operations violate international law by providing services to and supporting the settlements in the Occupied Territories. 


    The Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights has appeared before the Board on four occasions addressing Veolia’s violations in Palestine and the need for ethical criteria to evaluate the bidders. 
    The more complaints they receive about Veolia, the stronger will be the basis for rejecting its bid.

    WDCWA Board Members and contact information: 

    The Board is composed of 4 voting and 2 non-voting members:

    City of Davis: Stephen Souza, WDCWA Chair ssouza@cityofdavis.org 
    City of Davis: Joe Krovoza (Mayor) jkrovoza@cityofdavis.org 
    City of Woodland: Martie Dote martie.dote@cityofwoodland.org
    City of Woodland: Bill Marble, WDCWA Vice-Chair bill.marble@cityofwoodland.org
    Univ. California Davis: Sid England asengland@ucdavis.edu (non-voting)
    Yolo County Board of Supervisors: Don Saylor don.saylor@yolocounty.org (non-voting)


    Sample Email:
    I am writing to express my concern that one of the prospective bidders on the WDCWA surface water design and construction contract will be allowed to participate in the bidding.

    Veolia Environnement, the parent company of Veolia Water North America, has been accused of complicity with the state of Israel in violating the rights of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Jerusalem due to operation of a transit system and bus routes that provide service to the illegal settlements, as well as through operation of a landfill in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank that accepts waste from locations throughout Israel and from the settlements.

    Veolia is in the process of losing contracts with public agencies in many cities and counties in Europe (London, England; Wales, Ireland, and Sweden). Here in the United States, Veolia has lost the confidence of several public utilities, including most recently the City of Richmond, California.

    As the City of Davis did in helping to eliminate apartheid by supporting divestment from companies doing business with South Africa, please do the right thing by supporting contract denial to companies doing business with Israel in violation of international law. 



    Tuesday, April 10, 2012

    "I've been duped." America’s travel guide Rick Steves and Israel's brutal occupation

    In the Huffington Post last week, Rick Steves shared his thoughts on watching Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land

    "I pride myself in understanding how the media works... and I find I've been bamboozled," Steves writes. "Invest 75 minutes in watching this, because most of the time we only hear one viewpoint when it comes to the interminable struggle in the Holy Land. While this documentary would never be shown on commercial TV in the USA, it can be viewed online. In my view, many Palestinians live under inhumane conditions, and U.S. taxpayers help to make it happen. Please, watch this and then share your impressions."

    Steves' post is only the latest example of discussion of Israel's military occupation of Palestinians- and U.S. support for these policies- becoming part of the mainstream discourse in the United States.

    Watch the documentary Steves describes as "powerful and courageous." And make sure to share with your friends and tweet to your followers.








    Why Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Should Be Used to Target Israeli Apartheid

    Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a member of the US Campaign Steering Committee, a senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies and the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum.

    I read with great interest Peter Beinart’s recent New York Times
    op-ed “To Save Israel, Boycott the Settlements.”  His thesis is straightforward: Beinart believes Israel is a democratic country being undone by the occupation of the Palestinian territories.  The settlements must be opposed while allegedly democratic Israel must be supported.  Efforts to support the Palestinian right of return (for refugees), he contends, undermine the possibility of a two-state solution and, thereby, end the possibility for Israel as a Jewish homeland.

    It is critically important that Beinart identifies the undemocratic—indeed, colonial—nature of the settlements.  It’s insufficient, but an important start.  The Israeli settlements flout international law, utilizing distortions of Judeo-Christian theology and/or what are regarded as the ‘facts on the ground’ (in this case meaning that the Israelis hold the land so they are not going anywhere).  By controlling another people, the Israeli occupation renders impossible any real sense of democracy for Israel.


    Yet it is within Israel itself that Beinart’s argument is fundamentally based upon a set of myths, repeatedly stated and often unquestioned, but myths nevertheless.  The central myth is that Israel, within the pre-1967 borders, is a democracy and that it is the Occupation perverting this otherwise just state.  This misrepresents reality.  For 20 percent of Israelis there is no genuine democracy.  Palestinian citizens of Israel exist as second-class citizens compared with Jewish Israelis.  Whether one is referencing a “racial” differential in public education, availability of land, marriage laws, employment, or discriminatory housing access, Israel within the pre-1967 borders – with some 35 discriminatory laws – comes up short on democracy. 


    It's like calling the pre-Civil Rights United States of America a democracy.  With rampant legalized discrimination against African Americans and other people of color, and with voting skewed against the poor more generally, how could that have been a democracy?  It’s also reminiscent of those who speak of ancient Athenian democracy while ignoring the fact that this “democracy” was founded on slavery.  Either a system is democratic or it is not, a fact that many of us here in the USA understood in the period of Jim Crow segregation in the former Confederate states of our South.



    Continue Reading at AlterNet

    Friday, April 6, 2012

    Eyes in Gaza Tour with Dr. Mads Gilbert

    Dr. Mads Gilbert, professor of medicine at the University of North Norway, specializes in anesthesiology and emergency medicine. He provided medical support in Gaza during Israel’s three-week assault in December 2008 and January 2009. Dr. Gilbert describes his experiences in his book, Eyes in Gaza, co-authored with colleague Dr. Erik Fosse. Mads Gilbert recently returned from trips to Beirut, Lebanon (March 2012) and the Gaza Strip (January 2012). 

    Gilbert’s US lecture tour will focus on his experiences in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead and in his recent follow-up visit, while providing an up-to-date analysis of the Palestinian crisis in light of current US-Israeli foreign policy in the Middle East.

    Wednesday, April 11, 2012: Washington, DC. 8:00–11:00am. National Press Club – the Murrow Room. 529 14th Street NW. Admission free. No tickets required. Contact Jennifer Loewenstein (608) 215-9157.

    Wednesday, April 11, 2012: Washington, DC. 3:00-6:00pm. Georgetown University ICC Auditorium followed by reception in CCAS Boardroom (241 ICC). This event has been marked as open to the public. Contact Jennifer Loewenstein (608) 215-9157.

    Thursday, April 12, 2012: Madison, Wisconsin. 12:00-1:00pm, WORT 89.9fm Radio: A Public Affair – Interview. Lecture and book sales at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 180 Science Hall 7:00pm. Contact: Max Love (724) 557-6269 or Barb Olson (608) 827-6433.

    Friday, April 13 2012: Minneapolis, MN. Lecture at 7:00pm. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church; 2730 E. 31st Street.  Contact Women Against Military Madness (612) 827-5364.

    Saturday, April 14, 2012: Minneapolis, MN. Coffee 9:30am & lecture at 10:00am; Hennepin United Methodist Church; 511 Groveland Ave. Contact: Dixie (952) 941-1341.      

    Saturday, April 14, 2012: Northfield, MN. Lecture at 7:00pm; St. Olaf’s College; Contact: Jonathan Hill (507) 645-7329.

    Monday, April 16, 2012: New Brunswick, NJ. Lecture at 7:00pm at Rutgers University. Busch Campus Center Room 120AB;  604 Bartholomew Road Piscataway, New Jersey 08854. Contact Maryam (917) 297-0478.

    Tuesday, April 17, 2012: New York, NY. Lecture at 7:00pm at Hunter College. Contact Maryam (917) 297-0478.

    Wednesday, April. 18 2012: Cambridge, MA. Lecture at 6:00pm at Harvard Law School, Austin West. Contact Ellen (781) 396-0684.