Blog to End the Occupation

State Department Right on Cue with "Peace Process" Happy Talk

2012-01-27T10:31:00.000-05:00

In a follow-up to yesterday's blog post on hope springing eternal for the "peace process" managers as yet another negotiating deadline was blown, here is State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland's spin on Israeli-Palestinian pre-talk talks breaking down at yesterday's press briefing:

"It’s not surprising that the sides need some time to pause and to reflect. Our hope is that this will only be a little short period and that they will be able to get back to the table relatively quickly, and that’s what we are urging them to do."

One intrepid or cynical reporter then dared to ask the obvious: "But – I’m sorry. I mean, this hope, what is it based on? I mean, the conditions have not changed."

Nuland responded vaguely: "I think our sense is that this process was helpful to both sides. They’ve clarified some issues, there are some things that they need to work on at home on both sides, and that perhaps a small pause and then to come back with some fresh ideas will be helpful."

Yes, perhaps, indeed. Although it seems highly unlikely when Palestinians are negotiating for a sovereign and geographically contiguous state and the Israeli government is doing everything it can to prevent the establishment of such a state in favor of maintaining its colonization, military occupation, and apartheid rule over the territory that is supposed to be the future Palestinian state.

There's simply no way to jam that square peg into the round hole no matter how much misplaced hope one has. Onward with the "peace process" charade.

No One Is Buying Tickets for this Quartet Symphony of Speechifying

2012-01-26T12:50:00.001-05:00

January 26, 2012. One more date in a long string of blown deadlines for the pathetic Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" overseen by that bizarre hybrid of fading or faded superpowers and multilateral organizations known as the Quartet. No wonder the Obama Administration has washed its hands of the effort and happily delegated this futile exercise to Jordanian auspices. For the last several weeks in Amman, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have held sporadic preliminary talks about holding talks to talk about "permanent status" issues. Heady and inspiring stuff.

In case you're interested in keeping track of these faux negotiations, here's how we got to this point. After the United States scotched the effort of Palestine to become a member of the UN at this fall's General Assembly with its oh-so-subtle threats and blandishments, the Quartet once again dusted off its defibrillator to shock the moribund Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" back to life. On September 23, the Quartet issued a statement confidently predicting that renewed negotiations should conclude successfully "not longer than the end of 2012." Toward that end, Quartet Envoy Tony Blair shuttled out to the region for prep work on October 26, thereby kicking off a three-month period ending today during which time the Quartet "expects the parties to come forward with comprehensive proposals within three months on territory and security."

Fat chance. Israel dragged its feet so badly it left scuff marks all over King Abdullah's nice marble palaces. According to an article in yesterday's edition of Ha'aretz, Israel refused to present any detailed proposals on borders, instead sticking to vague principles and focusing on its security demands. Unsurprisingly the talks broken down. Hmm...when have we heard this broken record before?

But isn't this, after all, the exact purpose of the so-called "peace process" from which Israel finds itself in a cushy situation? From these endless talks, Israel gets the double benefit of getting the international community off of its back by seeming to want peace while at the same time buying precious additional time to colonize more Palestinian land that is supposed to be the basis for a fanciful future Palestinian state.

Yet, hope springs eternal for the "peace process" optimists. EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton stated: "I still remain hopeful that with goodwill, they can continue to talk." And, of course, the failed January 26 deadline was actually no deadline at all because it was not “written in stone, but was there to give a sense of dynamic or momentum." For sure, things are looking up for wrapping up the "peace process" in 2012!

SOTU Silence

2012-01-25T15:43:00.002-05:00

In a clear indication of just how far off the Obama Administration's radar screen Israeli-Palestinian peace has fallen, last night's State of the Union address contained just one perfunctory sentence designed yet again to convince the doubters that indeed Israel has never had it as good as it does under President Obama.

The President stated for the umpteenth time: "Our ironclad commitment -- and I mean ironclad -- to Israel’s security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history."

For anyone who's still unsure, let's repeat the mantra one more time: ironclad commitment.

Mr. President, when will you express your ironclad commitment to ensuring Palestinian human rights, systematically denied by Israeli apartheid?

What a good question to ask of Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, who will be doing "office hours" at 11am Eastern on Friday.

Here's how to join the conversation on Twitter:

Let us know if he answers your Tweet. If so, then you'll have better access to the Obama Administration than us.

Join William Parry in Columbia, Maryland!

2012-01-25T14:59:00.004-05:00

“Against the Wall: The Art of Resistance in Palestine”
with William Parry

Sat., March 3, 2:00 p.m.

Howard County Central Library

Columbia, Maryland

William Parry, a London-based photojournalist & author who contributes regularly to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), is launching his new book, “Against the Wall: The Art of Resistance in Palestine,” with a U.S. book tour.

His stunning book of photos captures the graffiti and street art that has transformed Israel’s apartheid wall in the occupied West Bank into a living canvas of resistance and solidarity. Featuring the work of international street artists including Banksy, Ron English, Swoon, Faile and Blu, as well as Palestinian artists and international grassroots activists, these photos express outrage, compassion, solidarity, peaceful resistance and touching humor. They mirror the wall’s toll on lives and livelihoods and are coupled with interviews that show the hardship it has brought to tens of thousands of Palestinians, preventing their access to work, education, families, vital medical care and places of worship.

“Against the Wall” has received excellent reviews and publicity in a range of media, including Electronic Intifada, Publishers Weekly, and the New York Review of Books.

Parry will show slides of his photos and tell the stories behind them on Sat., March 3, at 2 p.m, at:

Howard County Central Library
10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy
Columbia, MD 21044

Copies of his book will be available to buy.

His presentation is free of charge and open to the public. Free parking is available at the library.
The event is sponsored by the Howard County–based Committee for Palestinian Rights. For more information: CPR_Maryland@yahoo.com

No Comment Warranted on Commentary Blog

2012-01-23T11:16:00.000-05:00

The neo-con rag Commentary had an especially tendentious post on its blog Contentions on Friday proving for themselves beyond a shadow of doubt that there exists a grand conspiracy between Marxism, anti-Semitism, the Occupy movement, and the US Campaign to "sabotage or at least overshadow the AIPAC event," by organizing Occupy AIPAC.

Let's leave aside for the moment the hypocrisy of a magazine formerly dominated by Communists (who then found the light in shucking for American imperialism) engaging in McCarthyite red baiting. Um, dudes, the 1950s was like so last century.

I can't figure out if this blog post is the result of sloppy journalism, or a hatchet job, or most likely a combination of the two. First off, they give us credit for organizing Occupy AIPAC. Thanks for the publicity, but we're actually just one of more than 100 organizations endorsing the event and promoting it. (As we mentioned in our email last week, we'll also be doing workshops and organizing a Congressional Hill briefing for it.)

Then they have the nerve to call us the "so-called" US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. According to Collins Thesaurus, so-called is most definitely a pejorative, meaning "alleged, supposed, professed, pretended, self-styled, ostensible," and so forth. Hey, Commentary, take a step outside of your Israel-is-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread bubble and start getting used to the fact that growing numbers of people in the United States are simply sick and tired of the United States bending over backwards to protect Israeli occupation and apartheid against Palestinians. Yeah, Commentary, we're not "so-called"; we're part of the political landscape. Hide your head in the sand all you want.

Thanks, though, for your back-handed compliment of us having "neatly appropriated the slogans and the spirit" of the Occupy movement. We're not though "appropriating" the Occupy movement--we are part of it. We're a part of a growing national movement to get special interest money out of our corrupt political system, to stop gaming our economy to promote militarism and never-ending warfare, and to make government work for the people and not the elites like casino poobah Sheldon Adelson who dumped millions of dollars into Newt Gingrich's super PAC to get him to say outrageously dumb things like the Palestinians are an "invented people" and that he would move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Damn right, Commentary, we'll be Occupying AIPAC come March. AIPAC's number one lobbying item is always to advocate for more U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons transfers to Israel, weapons which will be misused in violation of U.S. law to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians like Mustafa Tamimi who died in December after he was shot in the face by an Israeli soldier with a high-velocity tear gas canister likely manufactured by Combined Systems, Inc. of Jamestown, PA and paid for with U.S. taxpayer money.

We've got so many better things to spend our money on than killing Palestinian protesters like Mustafa Tamimi who want nothing more, nothing less, than their inherent and fundamental human rights to a life of freedom, justice,and equality, rather than brutal military occupation and apartheid. So, yeah, Commentary, we'll be there protesting AIPAC's agenda and all of your silly accusations about who we are and what we stand for won't stop us.

London's Natural History Museum Blasted for Collaborating with Ahava

2012-01-20T12:43:00.000-05:00

In the summer of 2009, US Campaign coalition member group CODEPINK launched the Stolen Beauty Campaign against Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava Dead Sea Labaratories. Since then, the boycott campaign against Ahava has grown into an international campaign that continues to raise awareness about Ahava's deceitful business practices, which include labeling products manufactured in the occupied West Bank as 'Made in Israel', in violation of international law.

This past Tuesday, prominent intellectuals in Great Britain demanded that the Natural History Museum in London pull out of a research project which involves Ahava. In an open letter to the British newspaper, The Independent, top British filmmakers Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, along with other leading cultural and academic figures in Great Britain, condemned the museum for "coordinating an activity that breaks international law."

The museum is coordinating a European Union-funded project studying the environmental and health risks of nanoparticles. Avaha is one of several companies and institutions collaborating on the project, however, it is the only one operating in an illegal settlement in occupied territory. In their letter, the 21 signatories conveyed their outrage over the museum's collaboration with Ahava:

Ahava/DSL is based on occupied territory. It extracts, processes and exports Palestinian resources to generate profits that fund an illegal settlement. Israel's settlement project has been held by the International Court of Justice to break international law. Organisations which aid and abet this process may well themselves be found to be in violation. We find it almost inconceivable that a national institution of the status of the Natural History Museum should have put itself in this position.

We call on the museum to take immediate steps to terminate its involvement in Nanoretox and to establish safeguards that protect against any comparable entanglement.

The letter has generated a fair amount of negative publicity for Ahava, including a separate article in The Independent, and featured articles in the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Rueters, YNet News and leading science websites like Nature and Science.

Check out CODEPINK's Stolen Beauty website for more information on how you can get involved in the boycott campaign against Ahava!

Now Is the Time to #OccupyAIPAC

2012-01-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

Join Us in Washington, D.C., March 2-6, to #OccupyAIPAC

by Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director
January 19th, 2012

Ever since the Occupy movement burst on to our political landscape last fall and reinjected energy into the movement to make government serve the 99 percent instead of the elites, we've enthusiastically joined forces by doing teach-ins at Occupy protests across the country and sending hundreds of organizing packets to empower local activists to end military aid to Israel.

Now we're ready to Occupy AIPAC. We'll be joining with member group Code Pink and more than 100 other endorsing organizations for five days of film screenings, teach-ins, performing arts, direct actions, trainings and grassroots advocacy during AIPAC's annual policy conference.

Join us from March 2-6 in Washington, D.C. Register today to hold your place.

In our struggle to change U.S. policy toward Palestine/Israel to support human rights, international law and equality, perhaps no organization better epitomizes everything that is wrong with our political system and current policies of support for Israeli occupation and apartheid than AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The time has come to #OccupyAIPAC!

Here are just a few of the many reasons to #OccupyAIPAC:

An AIPAC front group skirts Congressional ethics guidelines to send Members of Congress on lavish trips to Israel where they are lobbied intensively to provide more taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel.

Political action committees and individuals aligned with AIPAC's agenda dump millions of dollars into elections to ensure that politicians applaud Israel's human rights abuses of Palestinians.

And, AIPAC lobbies for ever-expanding sanctions and never-ending wars against other peoples and countries, with Iran now the focus of their efforts.

Who benefits from the policies that AIPAC is pushing? Certainly not Palestinians, who bear the brunt of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel and unconditional diplomatic support for Israel and live under brutal Israeli military occupation and apartheid. Certainly not the millions of ordinary Iraqis, Syrians and Iranians who have suffered harm as a result of AIPAC-backed sanctions and wars. And certainly not us, whose taxpayer dollars are diverted from funding unmet community needs to giving Israel--a country with greater per capita wealth than New Zealand and Saudi Arabia--$30 billion in military aid from 2009 to 2018.

It seems that the people benefiting from AIPAC policies are those in Israel and their supporters in the United States who work to ensure that Israel continues to subjugate Palestinians, to deny their fundamental human rights, and to try unsuccessfully to strip them of their humanity. And, of course, also benefiting are the U.S. weapons manufacturers, who literally make a killing by joining with AIPAC to lobby for more taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel to injure and kill Palestinians by the thousands.

For these reasons and more, we strongly encourage you to join us in Washington, D.C., March 2-6, to #OccupyAIPAC.

Above: Click to see our interactive map of cities where people are organizing to end military aid to Israel -- and sign up!

The US Campaign will conduct a workshop there to end military aid to Israel, and organize a Capitol Hill briefing to launch our new policy paper documenting the devastating impact on Palestinians of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel and build our case for sanctions against Israel.

Learn more about #OccupyAIPAC and register today!

We've got a lot of work ahead to counter AIPAC's agenda--both here in Washington, D.C. in March and throughout the country all the time. Help us do so by signing up to organize in your community to end U.S. military aid to Israel. When you do, we will send you posters, stickers, postcards, flyers and more, to help educate and organize people in your city. More than 2,000 organizers from 950 cities have already joined this ongoing campaign. Sign up today to help us reach our goal of 1,000 cities with people organizing to end military aid to Israel in time for #OccupyAIPAC.

And don't forget about our exciting matching funds competition for community groups that want to organize campaigns to get their city councils to pass resolutions to end military aid to Israel and redirect the money to unmet community needs. That's right, we're offering your community group money, resources, training and inspiration to do it!

Thank you for helping us to #OccupyAIPAC and for changing our country's policies to support freedom, justice and equality for Palestinians.

Make your tax-deductible contribution to the US Campaign to support our ongoing efforts to counter AIPAC's agenda and end U.S. military aid to Israel.

Latest Hasbara Meme: BLACKWASHING

2012-01-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

By Richard Silverstein
RichardSilverstein.com
January 9, 2012

You’ve heard of pinkwashing, greenwashing–now “blackwashing” joins the cast of pro-Israel hasbara communities exploited in order to combat the major criticisms of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. Pinkwashing is the effort to promote Israel to the gay community in order to point out the homophobia of Arab culture and nations. Greenwashing is the attempt by environmental groups like Jewish National Fund to point to Israel’s alleged sensitivity to environmental issues (excluding of course its heinous treatment of Negev Bedouins whose communities are being bulldozed by the Israeli government in collaboration with JNF). Now blackwashing is the rage.

African American political leaders and
students on Aipac Israel junket

Israel lobby groups like Aipac have worked closely cultivating relationships on college campuses with African-American students. They send these young leaders to Aipac conferences where they can be trotted out to the media as witnesses for the defense to combat the BDS campaign to label Israel as an apartheid state:

When Vincent Evans arrived as a bright-eyed first-year at Florida A&M, the country’s largest historically black university, he knew he wanted to get involved in politics. So when an older student leader approached him one afternoon after a student government meeting to ask if he wanted an all expenses paid trip to D.C., Evans jumped at the opportunity.
The trip, it turned out, was sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the country’s most powerful pro-Israel lobbying outfit. Israel is under growing attack from Palestinian and international activists who call the country a racist apartheid state. In response, its staunchest U.S. lobby is recruiting black students as moral shields to make the case for Israeli impunity. At historically black colleges and universities (known as HBCU’s) around the country, AIPAC is finding and developing a cadre of black allies to declare there’s no way Israel can be racist.
In his four years in college, Evans traveled to D.C. at least 10 times on AIPAC’s dime. He and a small group of other student leaders from his school joined hundreds of others from around the country, including other HBCU students, for AIPAC’s semi-annual Saban Leadership Seminar.
“Within the program,” says Evans, “they make a concerted effort to reach out to HBCU and majority Hispanic schools.”

Does the Israel lobby care about African-American students? Does it care about the issues close to their heart? Is it about to reach out to Blacks to create political coalitions to advance causes of mutual interest to each community? Are you kiddin’? These kids are fodder in the PR war. They don’t mean anything other than having a black face to show the world that Israel isn’t an apartheid nation. But how much do these kids really know about Israel?

ARTICLE CONTINUES...

Intern with the US Campaign!

2012-01-18T17:38:00.000-05:00

The US Campaign is currently seeking interns for the 2012 spring semester! Interns are an integral part of the US Campaign. Internship positions offer substantive work experiences and hands-on opportunities for professional and personal development.

Interns work 10-30 hours per week under supervision of the US Campaign staff in its Washington, DC office. Interns are needed to help in our following programmatic areas:

Challenging U.S. Policy

The US Campaign works to end U.S. support for Israel’s illegal 44-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. We work to change U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and equality by:

challenging military aid to Israel;

researching policy and legislative developments;

organizing a national Congressional District Coordinators network of grassroots advocates;

utilizing social networking technologies to spread information;

attending and reporting on Congressional and policy briefings;

holding advocacy training and lobbying days to demand accountability for Israel’s human rights abuses;

building upon these efforts through public education campaigns.

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campaigns

Boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign impose economic and political costs to Israeli apartheid and occupation, and to US support for those policies. We work to support member-group-led BDS campaigns by:

providing strategic support and BDS trainings for congregations, campuses, and community groups nationwide towards implementing BDS campaigns at the local level;

utilizing social networking technologies to publicize member-group-led BDS campaigns and action alerts;

promoting and mobilizing for global BDS days and weeks of action

producing fact sheets, merchandise, and other materials promoting BDS;

creating and maintaining new pages on the BDS section of our website;

providing organizing and campaigning tool-kits for volunteers across the country.

All interns are also responsible for a reasonable amount of administrative work, including data entry, filing, tabling, letter-writing, etc.

The ideal candidates for these positions will have:

Experience with and/or interest in social activism

Experience with and/or interest in U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East in general and toward Palestine/Israel in particular

Strong interpersonal communication and writing skills

Strong motivation and the ability to be a self-starter

Able to juggle multiple projects at the same time

Working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Open Office Applications

Web design, work with promotional materials, and general tech skills are also a plus

The US Campaign is only able to consider currently enrolled college students or recent college graduates for internship positions, but all individuals are welcome to inquire about volunteer opportunities. The US Campaign will work with colleges and universities for class credit for the internship.

Please note that this is an unpaid internship.

TO APPLY: Please send a resume and a one-page statement outlining:

a) Your goals and motivations for working with the US Campaign.
b) The above area(s) of work you are most interested in.
c) What makes you an ideal candidate for the intern position?
d) You may also include a short writing sample and/or an a/v clip showcasing your communication/public speaking skills.

Send your resume and statement to membership@endtheoccupation.org. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

*The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a diversified workplace. Women, LGBTQ and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Non-Violent Way to Justice

2012-01-18T15:42:00.003-05:00

Cindy & Craig Corrie

Cindy Corrie is president of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, which is a member of the US Campaign's nationwide coalition of more than 380 groups.

Emel, a monthly print publication with 100,000 subscribers in more than 60 countries, describes itself as: "The Muslim lifestyle magazine. Emel is for the reader who wishes to combine an ethical outlook to life with evolving ideas and modern lifestyle."

The mother of a U.S. citizen crushed by an Israeli bulldozer recollects her daughter’s passion for justice.

By Cindy Corrie
Emel Magazine, December 2011 issue

My daughter Rachel Corrie brought me to the Palestinian/Israeli issue. Ours was a family and community that generally thought about the world and its inhabitants in a loving, curious way. We connected, as comfortable Americans do, through following and discussing the news, attending events, and making donations to support those in third world countries—but there was never any intention of sacrifice. In 2003, Rachel travelled to Gaza to join the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group of Palestinian and international activists who use non-violent, direct-action methods to confront the Israeli occupation. Why did she go? Rachel was motivated by her family and community experiences, by her questions about US foreign policy that arose after 9/11 shattering our nation’s sense of security and self-satisfaction, and simply by whom she was as a human being.

Once in Gaza, Rachel documented when the Israeli military destroyed Palestinian olive orchards, gardens, and greenhouses and harassed Palestinians at checkpoints. She worked with women and children and planned for a sister-city project to connect people in Rafah with those in Olympia, her hometown. Through phone calls and e-mails, she introduced family and friends to life in Occupied Palestine: “I don’t know if many of the children here have ever existed without tank shell holes in their walls, and the towers of an occupying army surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and many of the children murmur his name to me —Ali—or point at the posters of him on the walls.”

Rachel stayed with civilian Gazan families whose homes were threatened by widespread military clearing demolitions. On 16th March 2003, while working with seven international activists, she was crushed by a military Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer as she stood to protect a threatened Palestinian home. The family who owned it watched from inside their garden wall, as the bulldozer approached.

The horror of learning what happened that day is etched in my memory—a searing pain like nothing I had experienced before, and hope never to experience again. The loss is encompassing and forever—and from a parent’s perspective, the price too dear. But there is another cost too much to bear—that of discouraging a child from being all they can be. We are sometimes asked why we did not stop Rachel from going to Gaza. Her father’s response is, “Why weren’t we all there?”

I have connected with families of others lost to the non-violent struggle in Palestine, and to those injured—Palestinians, Israelis and others. Despite the pain, I am struck by their continued conviction about the rightness of the cause, and the methods of resisting. In 2005, Gene Sharp, an expert on non-violent resistance, stated at a Bethlehem conference, “None of this is safe. None of this is easy. But these are the tools for those struggling for liberation and for those of us who work with them.”

With her writings from Gaza, Rachel charted our path: “This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don’t think it’s an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benetar, and have boyfriends and make comics for my co-workers. But I also want this to stop.” In the eight years since Rachel was killed, I have witnessed the injustice in the West Bank and Gaza but, also, the imagination and determination of Palestinian activists—and the resilience of all Palestinians who, despite occupation, act with dignity, and with determination not to be silenced. They continue to ask us to visit, and to stand in solidarity with them in Palestine and back home. Israeli Jewish and Palestinian activists challenge their country’s policies and actions, but tell me they cannot succeed alone. They need the rest of us.

International solidarity can take many forms. We can make the journey to Israel/Palestine in person, through the internet, or by connecting to efforts in our own communities. Whatever the path, we must follow the news, share the stories, be visible, and strategically challenge policies that allow the injustice to continue. Rachel was compelled to live meaningfully. She made the journey to Palestine because (as an American) she felt implicated in Israel’s actions and felt a responsibility to challenge them.

Books of Mahatma Gandhi were on Rachel’s shelves. She knew that suffering and sacrifice in some form is one element of non-violent resistance. She also knew from Gandhi that “a small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” Our actions are cumulative; our numbers are increasing; and our struggle is for our own universal human rights. To achieve and maintain those for everyone, we must continue to stand with the Palestinians.

Cindy Corrie, guest comment writer, is the President of the Rachel Corrie Foundation.

SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE...

Weapons maker target of area protest

2012-01-18T13:58:00.000-05:00

Below a newspaper in Meadville, PA, covers Monday's protest against Combined Systems, Inc., which manufactures the tear gas projectiles illegally used by the Israeli military to injure and kill Palestinian demonstrators. As we posted yesterday, US Campaign member group Adalah-NY discovered important details on shipments of U.S. tear gas to Israel linked to the injury and killing of both Palestinians and U.S. citizens in this article. To organize with us to end military aid to Israel, sign up here!

By Keith Gushard
January 16, 2012
Meadville Tribune

JAMESTOWN, PA — “Silence is betrayal,” “End chemical warfare,” “Democracy for all” and “Honor Dr. King and the right to protest oppression” were just some of the signs carried by protesters.

Why about two dozen people chose to march two miles on a cold Monday morning from downtown Jamestown into rural Mercer County was straight-forward, according to Werner Lange of the Coalition for Peace in the Middle East.

“We’re here to try to put an end to one of the major weapons manufacturers whose products have killed countless people,” said Lange, who also is a professor of sociology at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. “It’s time to put a spotlight on it.”

The protesters picketed peacefully Monday in front of Combined Systems Inc. of Jamestown, a maker of tear gas, smoke munitions, other non-lethal and lethal munitions and crowd-control devices. The company’s production complex is located two miles west of the borough on Route 58.

The company’s security director said Monday that company officials were out of town and would have no comment on the protest. Messages left for company officials by the Tribune on Friday and Monday did not get a response.

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ICAHD News: Displacement Report Released, Summer Rebuilding Camp Announced

2012-01-18T10:55:00.000-05:00

ICAHD-USA, a coalition member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, is the U.S. affiliate of the Jerusalem-based Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

ICAHD-USA The Judaization of Palestine: 2011 Displacement Trends

This publication provides a political analysis of the root causes and consequences of Israel’s house demolition policy, focusing on the demolition of Palestinian homes and other structures in the Occupied West Bank.

House demolitions and forced evictions are among Israel’s most heinous practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). In 2011, a record year of displacement, a total of 622 Palestinian structures were demolished by Israeli authorities, of which 36% (or 222) were family homes; the remainder were livelihood-related (including water storage and agricultural structures), resulting in 1,094 people displaced, almost double the number for 2010. The Jordan Valley sustained the largest number of demolitions (32% of total structures demolished, 40% of residential structures demolished, 37% of people displaced), with 199 structures demolished and 401 people displaced.

Israel now controls 40% of the West Bank through 149 settlements and 102 outposts, housing more than 500,000 Jewish Israelis, as well as through closed military zones and declared nature reserves. In addition, house demolitions, forced evictions, and land expropriation, exacerbated by settler violence and the economic effects of movement restrictions, have left Palestinian communities struggling to make a living. Palestinians live in constant fear of displacement and dispersion, while Israel secures its domination and control.

The demolition of Palestinian homes is politically motivated and strategically informed. The goal is to confine the 4 million residents of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza to small enclaves, thus effectively foreclosing any viable Palestinian state and ensuring Israeli control, and to allow for the expropriation of land, the ethnic displacement of Palestinians, and the Judaization of the Occupied West Bank.

Read more...

Alternative Tours of Israel and Palestine

Having provided thousands of people from around the world with top-quality critical tours for over 15 years, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is widely known for its knowledgeable tour guides and its grounded approach to the politics of Occupation and the difficulties of Palestinian life. On our tours you will see how Israel’s settlement project has created irreversibl e “facts on the ground.” You will better appreciate what a truly just and lasting peace would entail. If you wish, you can meet Palestinian families suffering under Israeli policies of separation and home demolitions. ICAHD believes that first-hand learning is the only way to grasp the social, cultural, political, and historical issues that underlie the Isr aeli-Palestinian conflict.

We look forward to seeing you on one of our East Jerusalem, "Greater Jerusalem", and Jordan Valley tours.

Read more...

Every year hundreds of Palestinians are forced from their homes, homes built on land they own. Since 1967 Israel has demolished more than 26,000 Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In 2011 Israel demolished more than 500 structures, displacing hundreds of Palestinians. ICAHD rebuilds homes as acts of political resistance, creating alternative facts on the ground.

Every summer ICAHD organizes a rebuilding camp in the West Bank town of Anata in which dozens of volunteers from around the world join with Palestinians and Israeli activists to rebuild demolished homes. Within two weeks we rebuild an entire home from foundation to roof, and in the process send a message of solidarity to the besieged Palestinian people. We also send a message to the world: We refuse to be enemies; together we resist the Occupation. At the end of the camp international participants return home prepared to act as advocates for a just peace, carrying ICAHD’s vision of what a just and sustainable resolution might look like.

ICAHD invites you and all who support our efforts to participate in a very special rebuilding camp which aims to attract professionals – architects and others involved with housing and planning, lawyers with interest in international law, clinicians who focus on psycho-social issues and educators, activists, and university student leaders. It is expected that rebuilding will take place in East Jerusalem and in the Bedouin Jerusalem periphery. In addition to rebuilding Palestinian homes, the 2012 programme includes a number of field trips that allow participants to witness the reality on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and within Israel. The educational aspect of our programme includes films, meetings with Palestinian and Israeli activists and expert political analysis on house demolitions, displacement and Israel’s Apartheid policies over both the Palestinians of the OPT, and within Israel.

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Incorporated as an independent non-profit in 2004, ICAHD-USA was founded by a diverse group of U.S. activists working to bring about a just and sustainable peace in Israel/Palestine while advocating for an end to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. We draw from and supplement the educational work of ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions). ICAHD is an independent non-violent, activist organization originally established to oppose the Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. We also work cooperatively with ICAHD-UK and other peace and human rights groups working for a just peace in the Middle East.

Hands Not Bombs: From the cave of your invented neighbors

2012-01-17T14:05:00.000-05:00

The following was written by former US Campaign intern Tamara Masri. It appeared yesterday (Martin Luther King, Jr., Day) on 972mag.com.

“Dare to look for the handprints, dare to acknowledge the humanity of an invented people.” A Palestinian-American student, writer and activist takes a journey of discovery, in an essay inspired by the culture and literature of liberation, an ancient symbol, and a prehistoric cranium.

The author against a mural she painted on the separation wall.
"Do not take the sun out of my palm," it reads.

By Tamara Masri

January 16, 2012

+972 Blog

Skulls of early man flashed across the screen. Dr. Bailey looked at no notes as he described the anatomical features of the ancient cranium. “Female Neanderthal found in Mt. Taboun, Israel”.. For the first time in my Biological Anthropology class, I felt a small jolt in my gut. Until that moment, the babble and jargon revolving around some chick named Lucy had flooded my head with a kind of collegiate wonder. Like the unfamiliar New England snow, the names given to the various early stages of man wafted around and settled within me. The exact location of the Garden of Eden no longer seemed to matter. Though every concept Dr. Bailey spoke was completely foreign to me, it was not the word Neanderthal that had gotten my attention. It was the fact that I had never heard of a place called Mt. Taboun. For Dr. Bailey, the name of the site might have been as dry as the bones unearthed there. But for me the word hung in the air like a piece of ripe fruit, forbidden fruit, and the Mitochondrial Eve within me was reaching for it. Forbidden, that is, for a Palestinian.

Dr. Bailey continued, now speaking of cave paintings found around the world. He was explaining how early man pressed their palms against cave walls; blowing red ochre around the outline of their hands. He raised his own hand slowly, revealing an open palm. “Hands. Why have we always been so fascinated by them?” Long after class ended the question lingered in my mind, a feather floating on a red ochre breeze.

Now I see hands everywhere. On bathroom stalls, imprinted in cement, worn as amulets, the once unnoticed shape now follows me. And I wonder, why hands, indeed? The figurative hands of past literary greats are imprinted on my memory as well. Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish once wrote, “Don’t leave the palm of my hand without the sun.” During elementary school, those elusive Arabic words rolled on my tongue, heavy with syllables but lost in meaning. Other symbols I knew well: keys, the sea, Jaffa oranges. Those are the symbols that are etched into every psyche identified as Palestinian. While the land dwindles with each passing year, those are nostalgic symbols of loss that have never failed to be passed down to the next generation—our negative inheritance.

But for hands, the connotation has never been clear. The symbols of loss we carry around with us, sometimes emerging in the midst of controlled and intellectual New England conversation. Those symbols introduce an uncomfortable tide that shifts the once placid conversation into the uncharted waters of “politics”. Friends at school come back from their Birthright trips; conversation is pleasant when they speak of the deep blue of the Mediterranean. I think of how in Palestine, my friends call it the “white sea”. And for the life of me, I don’t know why. Perhaps because when you stand on a rooftop, balance on your tiptoes, and the haze has cleared… you can see a white glimmer. That’s the only way they’ve ever seen that water. But in Birthright pictures, the sea is a deep blue. I begin to speak of our white mirage of a sea, and I see the straining tide tugging at the corners of their bright faces. Politics. I give a tight smile and swallow the symbols. Can I blame them? The Palestinians are just one uncomfortable paradox that doesn’t fit into their newly discovered Jewish “Narnia”.

The next picture: An innocuous camel ride, a boy helps them climb on to the spitting beast’s back. Their bright faces are the dots of exclamation points. How exciting, foreign, authentic! But my friends don’t even know the best of it: it is all already theirs. Their paradox now pulls at the fringes of my smile: an exotic welcome home in a land in which that boy helping them has no place. He wears the familiar tight smile, a chapped crescent moon carved into dark skies of his skin. The silent smile of submission.

This camel, this ride, this land…it’s their birthright, their Manifest Destiny, not his. I’ve seen him and those rides times before. The stage is set: American teenager and camel in center, the boy edging to the picture’s frame. Another photograph snapped, another album of legitimacy complete. Later it will be posted on Facebook, or perhaps even developed, anything to build the sentimental bedrock of the newfound homeland. My friends move onto the next room of this new house of a country, we awkwardly stand between their frames. Place a golden Israeli coin into our dirt-caked palms, and we stand a little further. The faux sun that has pacified the oppressed, unprivileged, and unwanted—my people— for 63 years. No different than the colonized the revolutionary writer Frantz Fanon once described; we are the wretched of the earth.

When arriving in Israel last week, I handed the soldier my American passport. The passport is the only reason I can use that airport. The soldier is a girl my age, a gun strapped around her shoulder; I smile tightly as I hand her the booklet. Every time I do this I hope she doesn’t open it. It is because of my American passport that I know that the Mediterranean Sea isn’t white, but blue. I want her to see the rolling blue waves of my star-spangled passport. I want her to see the white of my colonial skin. But she does not look at me as she opens the booklet, and suddenly she sees something in the fine print: the red that flows in my veins. “The middle name. Eman. It’s Arabic for what?” She doesn’t believe the lie that my parents would name me after David Bowie’s wife. I scramble trying to explain that I carry only an American passport. I am red, white and blue. She only raises her hand, “Stop talking. A Palestinian is a Palestinian.” And I am sent into a room for interrogation. With every question, the image of her hand – that primitive outline of what makes us all human – kept flashing. Driving home I hand over my passport at each military checkpoint for inspection, now freshly scarred with yet another short-term visa. Being the persistent visitor who can’t seem to get enough of the Israeli State is my only fragile connection to home.

Hands continue to emerge in places where I least expect them. I walk through the streets of Jerusalem, and only now do I notice the hand talisman hanging on the walls of old Palestinians homes in Jerusalem. An Israeli girl walks by, a hand amulet glitters on her neck. Hamseh in Hebrew, Khamsah in Arabic – the hand signifies protection. The irony is blatant. A sole symbol of semblance amongst the two peoples, adorned as protection against the wrath of the other.

The hand itself is such a versatile appendage, completely at the will of the mind’s great machinery. The symbolism of the hand appears to be just as boundless and malleable. Perhaps those hands did not emerge cosmically, but rather I finally chose to see them. I read a poet’s verse and adopt the universal symbol of the human hand as our own. It’s a vain and naïve attempt of just another kid trying to find “meaning.” But that’s what a forgotten people do. We collect the detritus of our ancestors; mold them into ornaments to adorn the colorful, crumbling inner cathedrals of our intricate and fragile identities. And so I hunt—in search of that symbol that can’t be taken.

Now more than ever I have visions of running up to that girl in the cubicle, pressing my hand against the glass that separates us. I want her to look at that hand, at something she can’t take away from me. I want to tell her that we are just a people of hands—not carrying bombs but suns within our palms. It is not the red of blood she sees but the red of ancient ochre outlining my handprint. The symbol is a primal bond far older than our teenage selves, far older than this conflict and all the visceral bitterness that has set us so far apart. Though we may emphasize the unique intricacies of those scars in our palms, holistically our hands are the same. I want her to not only see, but to believe in our equality.

But I did none of that as I returned to the masses of the oppressed and tired prisoners. People were killed during the non-violent demonstrations commemorating Al-Nakba, referring to the Palestinian Diaspora. When I heard my cousin was injured, I sent him a message to which he replied, “Everything is fine.” He did not mention that he may be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. An Israeli asked me if he regretted his “mistake”.

After those words sank in, I spent the next month making mistakes in the village of Bil’in.

Every week for the past six years the people of Bil’in and many Israeli supporters protest the separation wall. I went, hoping that clouds of burning tear gas would fill the void of helplessness. Through the haze and chaos, I saw a man in a wheelchair heaving himself up a hill against a crowd of running protesters – toward the gas, bullets, soldiers, wall. I did not know how he could withstand the physical pain, all I could see was his relentless battle to photograph the injustice he was forced to swallow as the law of his life. When I spoke to Rani Burnat he replied in hushed, gentle whispers. A quiet disposition radically contrasts to the image of a man hurling himself and the mechanism that binds him towards the grey fumes of chemicals. Every week more images, more characters, more stories burn within me. A boy once ran between the recovering protesters, yelping with joy. He carried a strange electrical box wrapped in loose wires like a trophy. Someone told me that he had dissembled a security device from the wall itself. He ran ahead of the crowd, up the hill toward the soldiers. He moved swiftly through the smoke, eventually throwing the device over the fence. He ran down the hill cheering, weaving between the descending tear gas torpedoes, dodging and dancing. The celebration and the struggle, inseparable. You see, for the wretched of the earth, everything is a wedding.

I still can’t help but think Darwish was speaking of something distinctively meaningful. Suns in the palms of our hands. The image resonates with gravitas similar to that of the Israeli whistleblower Mordachai Vanunu’s first words when he was released from prison, “You tried, but you cannot break the human spirit!” In fact, it was the photograph of Vanunu’s palm pressed up against a car window inscribed with the details of his kidnapping that told the world of his own injustice. His hand served as a fleshy canvas of truth. Saying such words after 11 years of solitary confinement for “treason,” I wouldn’t have ever believed him. But after living in the urban prison that the Palestinian Territories prove to be, I know his words are true. Perhaps this is what Darwish meant. To take the sun, the spirit, out the palms of the innocent is impossible. Under the smoke and sun, there will always be jubilee.

I think back to Dr. Bailey’s statement: “The most intact Neanderthal remains were found in Taboun, a cave in Israel.” If that cave had to go through a checkpoint, surely it wouldn’t pass with a name like that. The cave itself, with its ethnic name, betrays the country that has adopted it. Taboun in Arabic means oven. And though I may be denied of ever seeing this relic, I can feel the temperature rising in this oven-cave I call my home. The fumes of third world traffic exhaust trace the tight circles of the confined motion of a buzzing people with too much energy – too much potential – and nowhere to go. These grey walls we’ve been placed in only incubate the heat of all these wasted suns.

It is no wonder the handprint was the first art form. Early man must have been so fascinated with hands because that print was proof of his own existence on this Earth. And that is in fact the only crime Palestinians are guilty of: sheer existence. But there is a consolation in knowing that other hands across the world have experienced the similar struggles. A man at Bil’in once told me, “Didn’t Martin Luther King have a dream? Why not us?” I smile at the wonderful naïveté of the cliché, but cannot help but think of the question Langston Hughes once posed, about what happens to a dream deferred.

Indeed, Dr. King’s words have never been more applicable than today, “I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the “do-nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist.” The equivalent forces that have always polarized the Palestinian image have never been more unpopular. Like in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, they too have been busy projecting images on these cave walls. But it is far too hot now to keep watching the players take turns at shadow games between the flames of empty promises. Though this prison I write from may be larger than Dr. King’s cell in Birmingham, I am reminded of the fact people do overcome. I do believe that the wind of red ochre blows within Palestine. An age has come in which making handprints on these walls has never been so alluring. The walls may rob us of our freedom, but let them remind the outside and ourselves of our own humanity.

For us, Plato’s cave is no allegory but a 63-year old reality we have endured. Darwish, Vanunu, a boy with the camel, a girl with the gun. They are all just hands, some with prints, some without. Their existence within a conversation carries a certain tension, but they are not political. The hands I speak of, the hands I have held, are not about politics. Politicians have hands too, but as Stephan Walt of Foreign Policy noted a few months ago when referring to Congress; hands may also “applaud for apartheid.” The sound of those hands applauding is amplified with Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s sentiment, when he called the Palestinians an “invented people” in early December.

Mustafa Tamimi. Bassem Abu Rahma. Jawaher Abu Rahma. These are the “invented” names that chose to protest non-violently in the past few months. American-made “non-lethal” teargas torpedoes took their lives, human hands no longer.

Let it be known that the hands of the Palestinians are open, empty, and reaching. Whether you hold onto that extended hand now or wait to shake it after all is said and done, that is your choice. Our dream is no different from that of Martin Luther King Jr., Langston Hughes, or any people who have been oppressed. Together we share the dream of justice “deferred.” Ours has been blooming in the form of non-violent resistance, and only now are you seeing the blossom. In this garden of a world that my generation will inherit, I know that I will struggle to protect that delicate bud from the weeding hands of the various gardeners we never asked for. And though I take solace in reading the literature of the oppressed, I am reminded that there are multiple fates for a dream deferred. Even blossoms are ephemeral, if they spend their lives fighting the violent heat insulated between these cave walls. Dare to look for our handprints, dare to acknowledge our humanity. For it is the only thing we have left, the only thing we really need.

Here’s to the wretched, the indigenous, the “invented” people who brought me into existence. Our emergence from this cave is inevitable. With fists unclenched, flickering suns illuminate the path to freedom.

Tamara Masri is a sophomore at Tufts Univeristy in Medford, Massachusetts. She lives in Ramallah.

SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE...

Adalah-NY Discovers Important Details on Shipments of U.S. Tear Gas to Israel

2012-01-17T11:10:00.002-05:00

US Campaign member group Adalah-NY discovers important details on shipments of U.S. tear gas to Israel linked to the injury and killing of both Palestinians and U.S. citizens in this article.

Adalah-NY unearthed this information in advance of an MLK Day protest against Combined Systems, Inc. of Jamestown, PA, one of the leading providers of tear gas to the Israeli military whose products have been misused to injure and kill nonviolent protesters in West Bank villages such as Nabi Saleh and Bil'in. In the article, Adalah-NY presents strong evidence that a CSI tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier killed Mustafa Tamimi after he was hit directly in the face during a December 9 protest in Nabi Saleh.

Undoubtedly these lethal tear gas canister are paid for by U.S. taxpayers as part of the $3.075 billion in military aid allocated to Israel in the 2012 budget. One more reason why you should sign up to organize with us to end military aid to Israel.

Silenced in Seattle, SeaMAC presses on with ads against settlements, child imprisonment and collective punishment

2012-01-14T15:05:00.004-05:00

Seattle Middle East Awareness Campaign is a coalition member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. A few of our past blog posts about the group's pioneering efforts to change Palestine-Israel discourse through advertising are here and here and here and here and here.

by Annie Robbins on January 12, 2012
Mondoweiss.net

The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC), the same organization who battled it out with King County Metro over the “Israeli War Crimes” bus ads last year, has been running half-page ads in both the Seattle Weekly and The Stranger since Dec 28th, commemorating the Gaza massacre. The next campaign of print ads, Collective Punishment, (above) will be running over the next several weeks.

Press Release:

King County first approved and then censored SeaMAC’s bus ad on December 23, 2010. King County Metro then twice revised its advertising policy to prevent any “public issue advertising expressing or advocating an opinion, position or viewpoint on matters of public debate about economic, political, religious or social issues”. In spite of that policy, King County Metro has since accepted advertisements for the Mormon religion and a labor rally, as well as a recent ad that said “Buy American”.
“It’s hard to see how King County has been unbiased or ‘viewpoint neutral’ when they have continued to run other political and religious advertisements while censoring ours,” said SeaMAC volunteer Edward Mast.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington is representing SeaMAC in a lawsuit against King County for breach of contract and for violating SeaMAC’s First Amendment right of free expression. The trial was scheduled to begin in federal court on October 31. King County lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and a federal judge granted King County’s motion on October 10. SeaMAC has filed an appeal with the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Another SeaMAC ad, with the slogan EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PALESTINIANS, was accepted and put up on billboards in April 2010 by Clear Channel Outdoor, a private firm. Clear Channel then censored SeaMAC’s ads. Clear Channel had also run other controversial ads which caused public outcry, including an ad that advocated laboratory testing on live animals.
“Why should criticism of Israel be singled out for silencing?” says Peter Lippman, another SeaMAC volunteer.
SeaMAC’s print ads about Israeli war crimes are part of a series that began last August in Seattle Weekly and The Stranger. The ongoing series draws attention to Israel’s policies of segregation and apartheid, as well as the treatment of Palestinian child prisoners and Israel’s attempt to impose a non-viable fake state on Palestinians living under Israel’s illegal military occupation.

So here’s a huge shout out to SeaMAC for relentless and untiring activism to bring awareness to Seattle and the entire Northwest, and, more than that, for serving as an example of how communities across America can pressure our government to stop funding Israel’s occupation and war crimes.

Below are two more ads from SeaMAC’s ongoing series. The complete series of print ads can be viewed at SeaMAC.org.

SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE...

Mideast conflict spills onto BART walls

2012-01-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

Jewish Voice for Peace is a coalition member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

12 January, 2012
San Francisco Examiner

Thousands of miles removed from the political tinderbox of the Middle East, a controversy has broken out between Palestinian and Israeli advocacy groups over dueling advertising campaigns on BART.

Since 2010, a consortium of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups has sponsored three BART train ad campaigns, each of which feature slogans asking for an end to United States military support for Israel.

For every one of those campaigns, Stand for Us, an Israeli education group, has countered with its own ads. The latest campaign, which starts Monday, features taglines urging Palestinians leaders to accept Israel as a peaceful neighbor.

Cindy Shamban, a member of Jewish Voices for Peace, one of the groups sponsoring the original ads, said their campaign was intended to spur people’s interest and provide information. She said BART was an ideal option for the campaign since so many people take public transit.

“When we first put these ads up, I really didn’t think they’d elicit any reaction,” Shamban said.

Roz Rothstein, president of Stand With Us, said the group felt compelled to counter the original ads because they were one-sided and placed blame exclusively on Israel. She said her organization would normally not advertise on public transit vehicles such as BART, but since the original campaigns were placed on the trains, they had little choice except to respond with their own ads nearby.

In reviewing Stand With Us’ proposed counterads, BART General Manager Grace Crunican acknowledged that they might provoke comments. However, she said the campaign complied with the agency’s advertising consent guidelines, and she offered her support for the ads in a memo to BART’s board of directors.

BART spokesman Jim Allison said once ads are approved by the agency, they are not taken down early, even if public complaints arise about their content.

SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE...

"A Child's View from Gaza" Book Tour

2012-01-12T12:07:00.002-05:00

Organize a speaking event with US Campaign member group Middle East Children's Alliance! Executive Director Barbara Lubin and Associate Director Ziad Abbas are organizing a book tour for MECA's recently released book, "A Child's View from Gaza: Palestinian Children's Art and Fight against Censorship."

If you're interested in organizing a speaking event with Barbara Lubin or Ziad Abbas, contact MECA at meca@mecaforpeace.org

As we commemorate the three year anniversary of Israel's brutal assault on Gaza, MECA Associate Director Ziad Abbas, and I welcome invitations to speak to your communities, schools, or groups about our work in Palestine and our recently published book, “A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship.”

Three years ago, I traveled to Gaza to deliver more than six tons of food, medicine, and medical supplies--including a new ambulance--following Israel's attacks, which killed more than 1400 people, including 352 children.

I can still see the look of sheer terror and trauma on the faces of the children.
Right after the attacks, MECA helped our Gaza partners launch "Let the Children Play and Heal," a program that gives children psychological support and an opportunity to express themselves through art, dance, music, and story-telling. Many children drew pictures of the devastation they witnessed, which comprise the now famous exhibit, "A Child's View from Gaza."

We found a place to show the children’s art after it was censored by the Museum of Children's Art in Oakland last fall. And we will continue to fight back against censorship and the bullying of anti-Palestinian groups that silence Palestinian voices.

Recently, we published high-resolution, print images of the children's drawings in a book--which undoubtedly serves as part of the historical record of horror inflicted on the Palestinian people--so that the children's stories will reach an even broader audience.

Ziad or I would be pleased to come to your community to share the children’s art, the fight against censorship, the lives of Palestinian children, and MECA’s work to meet their basic needs.

Click here to let us know if you’re interested and we’ll get in touch soon.

Many Thanks,
Barbara Lubin, MECA Founder and Executive Director

Palestinians Hold Third National BDS Conference

2012-01-11T12:24:00.001-05:00

Last month, the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank hosted the Third National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Conference. The Conference centered on BDS as a means of nonviolent popular resistance and addressed some key issues currently confronting the movement, both locally and internationally. Below is the Conference Report, published by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.

Report: Third National BDS Conference, Hebron, December 17

Posted January 9th, 2012 by Conference team

On 17 December 2011, Palestinians gathered in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank for the Third National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Conference. The event took place against the backdrop of continuous Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, and a growing resistance against injustice worldwide as demonstrated by the Arab revolutions and the occupy movements. Just minutes away from the conference venue, 500 Jewish settlers live under escort of the Israeli military in a colonial enclave in the middle of old Hebron, terrorizing local Palestinian residents on a daily basis, with the stated intent of driving them from their homes. Hebron is also an important commercial center in Palestine, and thus was a fitting venue to hold the national BDS conference, after it was held in Nablus and Ramallah in previous years.

The day started early with about 500 Palestinians from all corners of the West Bank, as well as 48 Palestinians representing a diverse sector of civil society including trade unions, student and women groups, academics, cultural workers and NGOs, all uniting under the banner of BDS.

There was also a visible international presence as well as that of Israeli partners who have responded to the 2005 BDS call. Notable was the absence of representation from Gaza, under an Israeli imposed siege, and refugees outside historic Palestinian, although their contribution to the movement was acknowledged.

The conference was an opportunity to take stock of the movement’s achievements worldwide, and to develop strategies to face the challenges ahead. The BDS movement witnessed impressive growth in 2011. Achievements include the withdrawal of German company Deutsche Bahn from construction of the A1 train line connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv; the forced closure of settlement company Ahava’s London flagship store and the loss of a $10 bn contract by French company Alstom in Saudi Arabia as a result of its role in the construction of the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail in occupied Jerusalem. 2011 was also the year when Israel’s foremost agricultural export company and a major BDS target – Agrexco – went bankrupt thanks in part to a sustained Europe-wide campaign.

The movement has now visibly spread beyond its traditional base of Palestine solidarity groups. The call for a military embargo of Israel received an enthusiastic response in Brazil and South Korea while in Australia, a nationwide debate involving government politicians and national media outlets ensued following the adoption of the movement’s principles by Marrickville Council in Sydney. A number of well-known artists have cancelled their scheduled performances in Israeli venues following appeals from BDS activists. Over a hundred Swiss artists vowed to boycott performances in Israel. Similarly, over 200 Swedish academics pledged to implement an academic boycott of Israel. The campaign for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel (ACBI) has undoubtedly been one of the most visible, and successful campaigns this past year.

Governments and corporations are yet to end complicity with Israel’s policies of occupation, colonization and apartheid, as is clear from Israel’s continued violations of international law. Nevertheless, the costs for Israel are now undeniable, as BDS is proving to be the most effective tool to challenge Israel’s impunity. Governments and corporations can now expect strong and principled opposition from a truly global movement. Israel and its supporters in turn have recognized BDS as a “strategic threat” that could become an “existential threat”, yet unable to mount effective opposition to the movement.

The opening session of the conference covered these exciting developments. Dr. Wael Abu Yousef, representing the Coalition of National and Islamic forces, said that despite internal political divisions between the political parties, BDS is an unshakable point of consensus among them. Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the BDS movement, emphasized that while the movement is inspired by the South African anti-apartheid struggle and other struggles for national liberation around the world, it is foremost a Palestinian movement, rooted in decades of nonviolent popular resistance to Zionism.

Michael Deas, the BNC coordinator in Europe, and Adam Horowitz, co-editor of popular blog Mondoweiss, spoke in the first panel about developments of the campaign in Europe and the US. There was much interest in the numerous successes the BDS movement has achieved, in addition to an element of surprise about the movement’s wide reach and successes. Questions asked by the audience reflected these sentiments. There was consensus amongst participants that these victories should be widely publicized as to promote awareness amongst Palestinian civil society about the strength and victories of the BDS movement.

The second panel addressed the possibilities for implementing a boycott of Israel locally and in the Arab world. Rania Elias, member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), said Israeli and international actors have been major players promoting Palestinian normalization with Israel, which runs counter to Palestinian aspirations and universal opposition to normalization within Palestinian civil society. The audience voiced their opposition to normalization, and demanded that the Palestinian Authority takes a strong stance to end all forms of normalization, and to hold those involved accountable.

Palestinian economist Ibrahim Shikaki provided a detailed critique of the current state of the Palestinian economy, dangerously developing to become subjugated to Israel in the long-term. He warned against attempts to replace a national resistance discourse with that of economic development.

In his analysis of Israeli dominance of the Palestinian consumer market, Salah Haniyyeh of the Economic Monitor noted that the Palestinian Authority lacks procurement legislation within its own government institutions to favor Palestinian and Arab products over Israeli ones. He also lamented the perception of Israeli products as being superior to Palestinian ones, calling on organized efforts to promote local produce. Hanniyeh considered shortsighted the idea that the economic boycott of Israel should be halted for the risk it could pose to livelihoods of some families and instead emphasized the need for proactive strategies to protect workers while forwarding the national cause. Omar Assaf, representative of the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS), in turn condemned the existing Oslo framework as a major obstacle for social justice as it served to legitimize Israel’s security aspirations and economic dominance. The establishment in 2011 of PTUC-BDS represents a positive development in the consolidation of the workers’ efforts to isolate Israel, Assaf stated.

The hall awakened during the Q & A session with loud cheers in support of a number of enthusiastic interventions. There were suggestions for the development of a united front against normalization. Some expressed unhappiness about the role of foreign donors in turning Palestinians into consumers instead of promoting true economic independence. The loudest cheers however were reserved for the urgent need to bring the struggle back to the people, BDS being one such avenue, contrasting it to the role of the peace process in removing Palestinian popular agency.

Following lunch, participants split into groups for workshops on aspects of BDS relevant to the local context (students and youth, women’s organizations, civil society institutions, formal labor, and popular committees against the wall and settlements and international work). Each session agreed recommendations that were then presented to the conference at the end. Recommendations varied from strengthening the culture of boycott through awareness raising campaigns to developing mechanisms to actively oppose all levels of normalization.

It was evident throughout the day that there is huge enthusiasm and energy among all those attending to contribute more actively to the global BDS movement, and activate the boycott within their respective organizations and institutions.

SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE...

The phony war over which US party loves Israel most

2012-01-10T16:18:00.000-05:00

Issam Rimawi / APA images

By Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director

January 10, 2012

The Electronic Intifada

“No Aid to Israel?” wonders a recent Facebook ad sponsored by US President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. “Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich say they would start foreign aid to Israel at zero. Reject their extreme plan now!” the ad implores, directing people to sign a petition to that effect on my.barackobama.com (“Stand against “zeroing out aid to Israel””).

After signing the petition, the caption underneath a beaming photo of the president declares that “Any plan to cut foreign aid to zero across the board is dangerous and ignorant. It’s up to us to get the word out about it. Donate now to help us spread the facts about the Romney-Perry-Gingrich plan to wipe out foreign aid to allies like Israel.”

Ruebner

As Salon writer Justin Elliott correctly notes, “the Obama ads are incredibly dishonest. First of all, the Republican candidates were talking about setting foreign aid at zero each year as a starting point in discussions about how much to give, not setting it at zero as a matter of policy” (“Obama’s dishonest Israel ads," Salon, 12 December 2011).

However, the Obama campaign is far from unique in employing a breathtakingly simplistic strategy of artifice and vituperation (both against opposing candidates and against Palestinians) to bolster their pro-Israel street cred in a transparent ploy to attract campaign donations and votes. US support for Israel, once a carefully nurtured bipartisan consensus, is fast degenerating in the context of the 2012 presidential election into a mud-slinging partisan contest as to which party, in the words of Mitt Romney, who leveled the accusation against Obama, is more guilty of having “thrown Israel under the bus” (“Mitt Romney accuses Obama of “throwing Israel under the bus”, CBS News, 19 May 2011).

Last month’s presidential forum organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) managed to ratchet up the rhetoric another notch. Invoking the ghost of Neville Chamberlain, Michele Bachmann accused Obama of having “confused engagement with appeasement.” Romney blamed Obama for “immeasurably set[ting] back the prospect of peace in the Middle East.” Rick Perry asserted the administration has unleashed a “torrent of hostility towards Israel.”

Not to be outdone, Newt Gingrich took to the airwaves the next day to dub Palestinians an “invented people.” Unnoticed until recently, Rick Santorum topped all other comers when he stated in November that “all the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis, they’re not Palestinians” (“Pro-settler Santorum claims Mexico and the West Bank,”Salon, 6 January 2012).

This rhetoric occasioned Arab American Institute founder James Zogby to lament that “all of this goes beyond the normal platitudes offered up in an election year. It was dangerous, shameful and crass pandering, making it clear how far today’s GOP has moved from the reality-based foreign policy of the Bush-Baker era” (“GOP candidates discuss Israel-Palestine,” 12 December 2011).

Obama’s clear legacy of support for Israeli policy

Notwithstanding this political hot air, no political elite, whether in the Democratic or Republican Party, can legitimately be accused of “throwing Israel under the bus,” least of all Obama. On behalf of protecting Israeli occupation and apartheid, the president has employed the only US veto at the UN during his term to derail a mild condemnation of Israel’s illegal settlements and backtracked on his hope to see Palestine admitted as a member of the UN this year, while deploying the full arsenal ofUS diplomacy to block the initiative behind the scenes.

Also lost in the heat of this faux electoral debate is the fact that the Bush and Obama administrations, with a bipartisan rubber stamp in Congress, have tag-teamed to ramp up to unprecedented levels both military aid to Israel and the joint research, development and field testing of anti-missile projects financed separately by the Pentagon. According to the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries in 2007, the US is scheduled to provide Israel with $30 billion in tax-payer funded weapons between 2009 and 2018, a 25 percent average annual increase over previous levels (Memorandum of understanding, 2007 [PDF]).

While presidential candidates make risible claims that the other party is abandoning support for Israel, this increasing partisan sniping is no laughing matter to those advocating for a strong US-Israel relationship. In September, the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a policy paper by Haim Malka, deputy director of its Middle East Program, warning that this “partisan wedge is likely to deepen, posing considerable challenges to Israel and the US-Israeli partnership.”

This burgeoning fear led two stalwarts of the Israel lobby — the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee — to issue a National Pledge for Unity on Israel, which beseeches “national organizations, elected officials, religious leaders, community groups and individuals to rally around bipartisan support for Israel while preventing the Jewish State from becoming a wedge issue in the upcoming campaign season” (“National pledge for unity on Israel”).

However, instead of calming the waters, the pledge initiative served only to roil them more. The ultra-alarmist Emergency Committee for Israel’s Bill Kristol responded in Washington Jewish Week with a dismissive “You must be kidding” statement, accusing the organizations of needing “a refresher course on the virtues of free speech and robust debate in a democracy” (“Should Israel be a partisan issue in American politics?,” 2 November 2011).

Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, declared that “This effort to stifle debate on US policy toward Israel runs counter to this American tradition.”

Far from rethinking US policy on Israel

Yet Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of “liberal” Israel lobby group J Street, lamented in The Washington Post that this debate is redefining what it means to be “pro-Israel” and rendering it the “exclusive property of the political right. In doing so, they are breaking new ground. Their agenda is not to ensure bipartisan support for aid to Israel or nurturing US-Israeli ties based on shared interests and values” (“What pro-Israel should mean,” 16 December 2011).

Instead, he rather naively accused the candidates of “seek[ing] political advantage,” as if everything that politicians do were not based on their political calculus of what is expedient to them.

While fretting about Israel as an electoral issue has been confined largely so far to the self-described “pro-Israel” crowd, an open and honest debate about US policy toward Israel and the Palestinians desperately needs to take place in the broader body politic as well.

However, this debate must be one which is more substantive and critical than the cotton candy served up in this electoral circus. For far too long, the US political system has treated Israel as a sacred cow, leading to unconditional military and diplomatic support for its illegal 44-year military occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and its human rights abuses of Palestinians.

Now that Israel is becoming just another issue over which the parties squabble, even if it is to trip over each other in a modern day redux of “who lost China?” (a debate over communism that raged for much of the twentieth century), U.S. support for Israel is becoming in the process normalized as a political issue.

Proof of this normalization occurred after the bipartisan failure of the super-committee to produce a deficit reduction plan, triggering across-the-board budget cuts in 2013. Because of this deadlock, regular appropriations of US military aid to Israel are set to substantially decrease for the first time since President Gerald Ford’s 1975 “reassessment” of US policy toward Israel.

Obama was to have requested a record-breaking $3.1 billion in military aid to Israel in his Fiscal Year 2013 budget, the level at which weapons to Israel was expected to plateau until 2018.

However, according to Nathan Guttman, writing in the Jewish Daily Forward, Israel will lose an estimated $250 million yearly from its military aid package when across-the-board budget cuts take effect. Surprisingly, Guttman notes, AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the US, has yet to publicly protest the upcoming cuts in military aid to Israel, because it “may fear a backlash if Israel is singled out for special treatment in the face of broad cuts favored by both Democrats and Republicans” (“Israel faces $250 million slash in aid,” 2 December 2011).

Even as these tangible cuts to military aid to Israel are in the offing, AIPAC and the rest of the Israel lobby also may have noted to its chagrin that inane electoral posturing over Israel has also seeped into the hallowed halls of Congress itself, thereby undermining the bipartisan consensus on Israel it has so laboriously constructed over the years.

According to the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation’s 112th Congressional Report Card, 35 of the 37 Members of Congress rating -5 or worse are Republicans — the only Democrats deserving of the dubious distinction are Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York) and Representative Steve Rothman (New Jersey’s ninth Congressional district). This demonstrates that the most significant Congressional initiatives on Israel and the Palestinians last year were largely partisan affairs designed to undermine, constrain and humiliate any White House attempts to pressure Israel, even if only in the slight, ineffectual way that Obama did during the early days of his term (“Report card for the 112th congress (2011-2012)”).

Although the elites of the Democratic and Republican parties are far from rethinking U.S. policy toward Israel, much less even considering abandoning it, the normalization of Israel as a political issue is already commonplace at civil society levels and in political discourse. Exasperated by political leaders seemingly incapable of policy change, dozens of university campuses and community organizations are deriving lessons learned from the global South African anti-apartheid movement to organize boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel and companies that profit from its human rights abuses of Palestinians. And even in the rarefied pages of The Washington Post, columnist Walter Pincus suggested in October that it is “time to examine the funding the United States provides to Israel” (“Unites States needs to reevaluate its assistance to Israel”).

By continuing to level sophomoric accusations against each other’s mythical abandonment of Israel, the presidential candidates are inadvertently and perhaps counter-intuitively helping to normalize the question of U.S. support for Israel and providing fodder to the strengthening currents in civil society truly questioning failed U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinians.

As is the case in all processes of social and political change, this grassroots ferment is a necessary prerequisite for a broad-scale policy change at the political level. Such a policy review, although a long way off as demonstrated by the 2012 election cycle, is nevertheless essential if the U.S. hopes to broker a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of human rights, international law and UN resolutions, rather than continuing to obstruct its attainment.

Josh Ruebner is the National Advocacy Director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and a former analyst of Middle East Affairs at Congressional Research Service.

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Why Is "Terror Expert" Attacking US Solidarity Groups?

2012-01-09T09:40:00.002-05:00

Szremski

US Campaign Steering Committee member Kristin Szremski picks apart Steven Emerson's discredited campaign against American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) in this investigative article, published in Electronic Intifada. Why do well-funded figures like Emerson attack groups like AMP and Students for Justice in Palestine? Because they're effective, says Szremski.

Why is "terror expert" attacking U.S. solidarity groups?

Kristin Szremski

January 5, 2012

Discredited journalist Steven Emerson, who traded in a career with national news outlets for the his Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), is trying to entangle an American non-profit organization in a shroud of secretive conspiracy theories intent on branding it a “supporter of terrorism.”

Emerson has crowned himself the “expert” on terrorism through his production of scurrilous blog posts and videos that he tries to pass off as credible reports. Now he’s targeting the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the organization for which this writer works, and by extension, Students for Justice in Palestine.

After students convened their a national SJP conference in October 2011, Emerson posted an article on his blog, calling SJP a “radical student organization” (“SJP’s ‘Dialogue’ Goes Nowhere”) The accompanying graphic shows a large iceberg labelled with SJP at the top connected to AMP, which is shown lurking under the surface with the bulk of the iceberg.

A concerted effort is underway in the US to silence critics of the
Israeli occupation and US aid to Israel. (Steve Rhodes / Flickr)

“AMP’s support for Students for Justice in Palestine is troubling, given AMP’s radical rhetoric and its ties to extremist groups,” Emerson writes. And after AMP concluded its national convention in November, Emerson posted yet another attack, whose headline borrowed from the convention theme — with a dangerous twist. Emerson changed “A New Era of Activism” to a “New Era of Terror Support” (“American Muslims for Palestine’s Web of Hamas Support”).

Emerson attacks SJP and AMP because of their success in raising awareness about Israel’s continual violations of international law and abuses of Palestinians’ human rights. AMP was co-founded by Dr. Hatem Bazian, a professor of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Bazian also co-founded the first SJP chapter at Berkeley in 1993.

AMP is now on the radar of Zionist groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT). Bazian, an outspoken advocate of Palestinian human rights, has been under attack for much longer.

Emerson, whose articles are quickly picked up and parroted around the Internet by sycophantic bloggers, cannot argue the facts with AMP and that’s why he resorts to inflammatory, deceptive and dangerous rhetoric to smear the organization and its founder.

Meanwhile, Emerson makes millions of dollars falsely branding Muslims and pro-Palestine advocates with the deadly label of “terrorism supporters.” Though he calls himself an expert on Arabs and terrorism, Emerson’s background is in sociology and he does not know Arabic. He was all but run out of the field of journalism after his “expert analysis” on the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 turned out to be dead wrong, after he told CBS News it had a “Middle Eastern trait” because it “was done with the intent to inflict as many casualties as possible” (“Steven Emerson’s Crusade,” Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, January/February 1999).

“Pervasive bias”

Peer review of Emerson’s works would ring the death knell for any self-respecting journalist, whose career is almost solely dependent upon the reliability of his or her reporting.

Adrienne Edgar, reviewing Emerson’s book Terrorist: The Inside Story of the Highest Ranking Iraqi Terrorist Ever to Defect to the West in May 1991 for The New York Times, was one who questioned Emerson’s objectivity. The book offers “a pervasive anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias,” she writes, adding that “Palestinian violence is invariably portrayed as terrorist, while Israeli violence is always characterized as self-defense.”

Journalist Jane Hunter complains of the same pro-Israel bias in Emerson’s work in an article published by the media watchdog group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting in 1992. Emerson’s work “is sometimes nimble in its treatment of facts, often credulous of intelligence sources, and almost invariably supportive of the Israeli government,” according to Hunter (“Steven Emerson: A journalist who knows how to take a leak,” October/November 1992).

Even Ethan Bronner, who can hardly be described as partial toward the Palestinians, criticized Emerson’s book, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us. In 2002, when Bronner was assistant editorial page editor, he wrote, “In truth, it is hard even now to know exactly what to make of Emerson’s contentions.”

Though he viewed some parts of the book favorably, Bronner wrote, “Emerson may not be a scholar, and he may sometimes connect unrelated dots. He may also occasionally be quite wrong” (“Suspect thy neighbor,” 17 March 2002).

It was in American Jihad where Emerson first planted a lie about Bazian that, despite the Berkeley professor’s repeated refutation, has survived in several forms and mutations to this day.

Manufacturing anti-Semitism

In Appendix C of American Jihad, Emerson contends that in May 1999, Bazian told a gathering, “In the hadith [saying], the Day of Judgment will never happen until you fight the Jews. They are on the west side of the river, which is the Jordan River, and you’re on the east side until the trees and stones will say, oh Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him! And that’s in the hadith about this, this is a future battle before the Day of Judgment.”

Throughout American Jihad, Emersion makes copious use of citations to back up his assertions. Appendix C alone has 79 footnotes. However, Emerson does not include one citation for the 1999 event or for the hadith Bazian allegedly quoted. There is no indication that Emerson attended the event and heard the quote himself or that someone else reported it. Bazian has repeatedly refuted Emerson’s allegation, most prominently on The O’Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly in 2004.

“It’s a fabrication,” Bazian told O’Reilly. “I would never use that statement. It’s a statement that comes from Islamic historiography. It’s a part of hadith collections, references to the end of time. And I in general don’t use that in any type of speech or discussion.”

The Detroit News’ Nolan Finley, in October 2002, repeated Emerson’s lie. From there, the fabrication has taken on a life of its own and is often trotted out in attempts to vilify Bazian and discredit his work.

But the hadith doesn’t just plague the Berkeley professor. It’s also a statement that Islamophobes like to attribute to Muslim leaders in general, as a sure-fire way to discredit them. The money trail Emerson never lets the facts get in the way of a good story. The same is true when it comes to the image he’s crafted of himself as a selfless crusader, who declined marriage to pursue his “vocation.” He’s a man so intent on his mission that “the unused portion of his bed at home is strewn with court documents, telephone records and bio-terror updates,” The Washington Post reported in 2001 (“The man who gives terrorism a name,” 14 November 2001).

At least two profiles by The Jerusalem Post and The Washington Post paint Emerson as a selfless individual who is bent on exposing “Middle East terrorism” out of a sense of duty to the American public. Emerson has claimed that he chose to “remain independently poor,” instead of accepting a lucrative three-year contract with CNN.

Roughly two months after the 11 September 2001 attacks, The Washington Post ran a profile on Emerson that perpetuated the selfless persona by calling “The copper-haired Emerson, 47 … an unpaid consultant-in-chief.” Emerson may be many things. Unpaid is not one of them.

According to IRS 990 forms, which are required by the US federal tax agency to show an organization’s eligibility for tax-exempt status, Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) paid him nearly $5 million through his SAE Productions in 2008 and 2009. Emerson is SAE Production’s sole employee.

The tax forms also state IPT receives private donations as the bulk of its funding. A recent report by the Center for American Progress showed seven foundations gave almost $43 million over ten years to five major disseminators of Islamophobia.

Three of those five — including Emerson and IPT — are staunch supporters of the pro-Israel Zionist agenda. In fact, IPT received about $560,000 from a small number of Islamophobic and right-wing sources, such as the Donors Capital Fund ($400,000), the Russell Berrie Foundation ($100,000), and from Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum, which donated $250,000 in 2007 and 2008, states the 2011 Center for American Progress report “Fear, Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America.”

In addition, IPT received large sums of money through the Counterterrorism & Security Education and Research Foundation.

“An examination of CTSERF’s 990 forms showed that, much like the Investigative Project, all grant revenue was transferred to a private, for-profit entity, the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals,” according to the Center for American Progress.

Links to Zionist outfit

The scope of Emerson’s work over the years, as well as the funding trail that emanates from Zionist sources, expose Emerson and the IPT as vociferous advocates for Israel and its racist occupation policies.

Nothing shows this more than a trail of emails between the Israeli consulate in Boston and the pro-Israel David Project, which collaborated in attempts to stop the construction of a mosque in Boston in 2004. The emails were part of the discovery of a lawsuit stemming from the incident.

In May 2004, Anna Kolodner, the executive director of the David Project, wrote she would ask Emerson for information relating to a lawsuit being planned against the Islamic Society of Boston.

On 4 August 2004, Kolodner wrote, “As a result of collaboration with Steve Emerson’s office, we have a comprehensive document regarding the individuals/organizations/history etc., of the mosque, which will be the backbone of the media campaign. … Filing the lawsuit would be the initial lead/newsworthy component of the media angles.”

Then in September 2004, Kate Frazer of the Israeli consulate’s political affairs office, sent an email verifying that she had been working on a number of documents, one that was to be a magazine article, and another, the “‘local proof’ document with bullet points and the sections we discussed, (i.e., people and associations, ideology, funding and actions).” This is the list purportedly Emerson supplied.

These emails have not been independently verified, but they were discussed in an article by Andrew Cochran, published by the IPT in 2008 (“Caught in the act: smear attempt on Steven Emerson boomerangs,” 13 March 2008).

The emails came to light because of a press release issued by Paul Kendall from the organization Justice and Liberty for All, also in 2008. Kendall contended the emails show Emerson worked directly with the Israeli consulate to stop the Boston mosque (“Paul Kendall: Did an ‘expert’ on terrorism conspire with a foreign government to violate the constitutional rights of American Muslims?”, PR Newswire, 4 March 2008).

The emails do not show direct communication between Emerson and the Israeli consulate. They do, however, show that the David Project was at the center of the efforts to stop the mosque. The David Project communicated with the Israeli consulate and with Emerson, but not necessarily at the same time.

Nonetheless, Kolodner’s praise of Emerson for his help seriously calls into question his motivations and suggests he is on a personal crusade. Over the years, Emerson’s mission has been to thwart Muslims in general and to defame and discredit anyone working to promote Palestinian human rights, specifically.

As long as there are advocates for Palestinian human rights, there will be Zionist-funded ideologues like Emerson trying to shut them down. The best protection against these scurrilous attacks is to educate ourselves about their motivations and funding trail and then expose them to the American public. The more we know about them, the less power and influence they wield.

Kristin Szremski is an independent journalist and currently the director of media and communications for the American Muslims for Palestine.

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Obama's Real Israel Problem

2012-01-09T09:22:00.001-05:00

Bennis

US Campaign Steering Committee member Phyllis Bennis published a strong piece in the L.A. Times calling for equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis as the basis for a change in U.S. policy to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a just and equitable way.

Check out her op-ed below and comment on it here.

Obama's real Israel problem -- and it isn't Bibi
Phyllis Bennis

January 6, 2012

Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, responds to The Times' Jan. 2 Op-Ed article, "Bibi and Barack." Bennis is the coauthor of "Ending the U.S. War in Afghanistan: A Primer" and the author of "Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer."

If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

Photo credit: J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press

Aaron David Miller is right: President Obama does have an Israel problem. But Miller is wrong about the roots of the problem.

The problem isn't Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his Likud Party, or even Israel's current extreme right-wing government. Israel's fundamental policy toward the Palestinians is the problem, and that policy has hardly changed, despite the seemingly diverse sequence of left, right and center parties that have been in power.

Just look at the occupation of the territories seized in 1967 -- the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Settlement building, along with all the land and water theft that goes with it, began just weeks after the Six-Day War. And a right-wing government wasn't in power; it was Mapai, the left-wing precursor to today's Labor Party. The right wing wouldn't come to power until almost three decades after Israel's founding, when Menachem Begin led the Likud coalition to victory in 1977.

Settlement construction and expansion started right after the war and continued under all the leftist (in the Israeli context) governments. By the time Likud came to power 10 years after the 1967 war, there were already more than 50,000 Israeli settlers living in Jews-only settlements in the occupied territories, most of them in occupied East Jerusalem, with smaller numbers in the West Bank and Gaza. Settlement expansion advanced under Labor, Likud and Kadima-led governments. Now there are more than 600,000 settlers living illegally in Palestinian territory, divided between the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

As Moshe Dayan, a former defense and foreign minister, explained, the settlements were necessary "not because they can ensure security better than the army but because without them we cannot keep the army in those territories. Without them the [Israel Defense Forces] would be a foreign army ruling a foreign population."

The different parties, prime ministers and officials sometimes used different language. Some repeated the words the international community wanted, a "land for peace" deal and "two states"; others insisted that only "peace for peace" or "Jordan is Palestine" was acceptable. Some spoke loudly in defense of settlements, while others only whispered.

But there was no diversity of substance. What happened in the real world, the "facts on the ground," continued regardless of which party was in power.

Other things continued too -- settler violence against Palestinians, expropriation of Palestinian land and water, illegal closures, collective punishments including massive armed assault, arrest without charge, extra-judicial assassinations and the siege of Gaza.

Of course, that's just in the occupied territories. Inside Israel, Arab Israelis -- those who survived the dispossession of 1947-48 -- live as second-class citizens. They have the right to vote, but they are subject to legalized discrimination in favor of the Jewish majority. The Israeli human rights organization Adalah reported to the United Nations more than 20 such discriminatory laws, the most important of which deny Palestinian citizens equal rights on issues of immigration and citizenship as well as land ownership. And outside, the Palestinian refugees, now numbering in the millions, have been denied their internationally guaranteed right of return by Israeli governments of every political stripe.

The whole range of Israeli political parties has continued to implement these same policies. They may talk a different talk, but they all walk the same walk.

What none of these governments is prepared to acknowledge is what it will take for a real solution, one that is lasting, comprehensive and just: human rights and equality for all based on international law. It shouldn't be more complicated than that. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifies everyone has the right to return to their home country, no exceptions; that everyone has the right to live in safety, no exceptions; that everyone has the right to an equal say in the government that rules their country, no exceptions.

Every law should treat all citizens the same, no exceptions. Every government has the obligation to live up to the treaties it has signed, including the U.N. conventions on human rights, against racism, the Geneva Conventions and more. Israel has signed them all. Yet not one Israeli government, of any party, has implemented them.

As long as the United States provides the Israeli government more than $3 billion in aid every year, regardless of those violations, and protects Israel from being held accountable in the U.N., regardless of those violations, no Israeli prime minister has much reason to change. That's Obama's Israel problem -- not Netanyahu. Changing U.S. policy should provide the solution.

ALSO:

Bibi and Barack

Middle East states of mind

Settlement outposts at root of Jewish violence in West Bank

-- Phyllis Bennis

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Anti-BDS campaigner out of step with pro-BDS consensus of her Catholic order

2012-01-06T14:11:00.000-05:00

As Mondoweiss' Alex Kane reports, in upcoming assemblies of the national United Methodist and Presbyterian church bodies, leading the fight against resolutions of divestment from companies profiting from Israel's occupation and settlements will be Sister Ruth Lautt, the national director of Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East (CFWME), and a member of the Dominican sisters order of nuns (Roman Catholic).

Kane's investigation of donation tax records to CFWME show that the organization's funders are also linked to illegal West Bank settlements. The settlement-funders who contribute to CFWME stand in stark contrast to the Dominican order's position on Israel/Palestine. The order's "call to justice" which Lautt's New York-based branch signed onto, calls for prayer and support for the Palestinian United Nations bid for statehood. It also expresses firm support for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. The website Dominican Life USA provides access to US Campaign resources.

Wildman

Kane gathered some insight from David Wildman, who serves on the US Campaign's Steering Committee and as Executive Secretary for Human Rights and Racial Justice with the United Methodist Church's Board of Global Ministries:

“It gears itself, I think, towards otherwise liberal congregations” ... Wildman, a critic of CFWME, also described the organization as an “attack group” that seeks to “block other efforts at achieving a just peace.”

Christian group dedicated to derailing divestment bankrolled by settler-funding philanthropy

by Alex Kane on January 5, 2012

When United Methodists converge on Tampa, Florida this Spring, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) holds its general assembly in early July, the question of divestment from companies that profit off of the Israeli occupation will once again attract significant attention. Delegates at these church wide meetings will be confronted by an array of attacks on any resolution that promotes divestment as one route to pressure Israel and its control over the occupied Palestinian territories. And a familiar face to the delegates will be leading the fight against these resolutions: Sister Ruth Lautt, the national director of Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East (CFWME).

Lautt is a member of the Dominican sisters order of nuns (Roman Catholic) and a former lawyer. Her organization, which she runs on her own (though there is a board), says it “advocate[s]” for “fairness” in American church dealings related to Israel/Palestine. In practice, this has meant leading delegations to Israel, promoting “positive investment” in the region instead of divestment, and working “behind-the-scenes” at religious conventions, “helping opponents of divestment draft motions [and] applying persuasion at the subcommittee and committee levels,” as the New York Times has reported.

But an analysis of donations to the organization reveals a much more complicated picture that raises questions about CFWME’s professed mission and their role in church politics on Israel. My investigation of donation tax records to CFWME show that the organization's budget has more than doubled since its founding through the support of funders linked to illegal West Bank settlements and promoting Islamophobia in the U.S.

ARTICLE CONTINUES...

Israel/Palestine as a 21st Century "Lawfare" Laboratory

2012-01-05T16:50:00.000-05:00

Below, hear Lisa Hajjar, Professor of Sociology at UCSB, speak in Washington, DC, about her new paper that brings together the two concepts of "lawfare" -- Israel's litigation of warmaking practices -- and targeted killing, which Israel interprets as supported within its international legal rights and duties as occupier of Palestinian territory. Hajjar's presentation is followed by two other panelists named below.

In early December, the Institute for Palestine Studies was privileged to host the third Mansour Armaly panel on Palestine at the annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) held in Washington, DC. This year's panel was entitled "The "Humanitarian" Present in Israel/Palestine: Forensic Architecture, Estrangement, and Lawfare." It addressed the intersection of conflict, space and law in the politics of humanitarianism and war:

"Israel/Palestine as a 21st Century Lawfare Laboratory"
Lisa Hajjar, professor, University of California, Santa Barbara.

"Forensic Architecture and the Politics of War Crime Investigation"
Eyal Weizman, professor, Goldsmiths College (UK)

"Spectres of Estrangement: the ‘ungovernable’ camp & the figure of the ‘irreconcilable’ refugee"
Nasser Abourahme, graduate student, Columbia University.

The presentations can be viewed on this video player (if you cannot view the player, click on the links above to view on YouTube).

SEE ORIGINAL HERE...

The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) is the only institute in the world exclusively devoted to research, analysis, and publication on Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israeli conflict. IPS was established in Beirut in 1963 and also has offices in Washington D.C., an affiliate in Ramallah, and a small office in Paris.

What a Year Stretches Before Us!

2012-01-05T12:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Supporters,

Above: Co-chairs Felicia Eaves & Peter Miller.

New shifts in U.S. public discourse mean more pressure on candidates challenging conventional military and political support for Israel, growing B.D.S. campaigns on campuses and in communities across the country, mainstream churches challenging corporations that profit from occupation... and the US Campaign with our nearly 400 member organizations will be at the center of all the work that comes with it.

Thanks to all of you, the Campaign is beginning 2012 stronger and better resourced than ever before. More than 600 donors last year helped to replant 2,050 olive trees in Palestine, supporting fair-trade farmers. Just in the holiday period of last December alone, together we raised $43,500 in online contributions, helping the US Campaign begin the new year ready for action.

Thanks for everything you're doing. For your work in your campuses, communities, faith congregations, as well as in Congress and in the media, to end US military aid to Israel. For your creativity in building BDS campaigns. For bringing the cost of Israeli occupation to the Occupy Movement that has so empowered all of us. For linking economic injustice and the unmet needs in our communities these ten years to the $30 billion in military aid to Israel.

The US Campaign is made up of--and supported by--people like you, and member groups like yours. Together we are moving into a new year of action, mobilization, and education. Huge challenges lie ahead. But because of all you’ve done, we start the year with the excitement, the energy, and the resources to challenge U.S. support for Israel's occupation and apartheid policy, and to demand a new U.S. policy based on human rights, international law and equality for all.

Thanks again. And we look forward to working together in 2012!

Felicia Eaves & Peter Miller

Co-chairs, US Campaign Steering Committee

Click to watch our new 8-minute documentary!

P.S.: Witness how this nationwide grassroots coalition has struggled against U.S. support for Israel's occupation over the past decade! Our new mini-documentary combines an audiovisual sampling of major events with a narrative of our coalition's growth, voiced by members of our staff and Steering Committee. Take eight minutes to watch the quest progressing, and join us to help complete it!

Plans Crystallize for Largest-Ever U.S.-Israel Military Exercise

2012-01-05T10:53:00.001-05:00

Last year we reported on emerging plans for "Operation Austere Challenge," the largest-ever joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise, planned for May 2012. As it turns out, the planning for the mission is now in its final stages, according to the Jerusalem Post. Last month, Lt.-Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the U.S. 3rd Air Force, stationed in Germany, visited Israel last month to hammer out the remaining logistics of a training exercise that is expected to include thousands of U.S. troops.

According to the Jerusalem Post article, the exercises "will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces in the event of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East."

"Austere Challenge" is another in a long series of events underscoring the extent to which the Obama Administration has jacked up U.S. military support to Israel. Under President Obama, U.S. military aid to Israel has reached unprecedented heights ($3.075 billion in the recently completed 2012 budget). Separate Pentagon funding for the research and development of ostensibly joint U.S.-Israeli anti-missile programs (though deployed by and exclusively benefiting Israel) now account for hundreds of millions of additional dollars each year. And Obama has shipped to Israel weapons systems that even his predecessor, George Bush, refused to export.

Clearly, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's charge of Obama "throwing Israel under the bus" is patently absurd, as U.S.-Israel military relations have soared to unprecedented levels of collaboration under his watch.

All the more reason why we need to redouble our efforts in 2012 to end U.S. military aid to Israel and other forms of U.S. military and diplomatic support of Israeli occupation and apartheid against the Palestinian people.

Check out some of our new resources and initiatives and help us accomplish this goal!

We've got new posters and stickers to add to the organizing packets we send out to volunteers to educate and mobilize people to end U.S. military aid to Israel. Join our more than 2,000 organizers in more than 930 cities in getting all the resources you'll need to organize in your community by signing up here.

Also, check out our newly redesigned and interactive map at http://www.aidtoisrael.org to find out how much money your state, Congressional district, city, and county are giving in weapons to Israel and what that money could fund instead for unmet community needs. Our new map makes it easier for you to find all the data you're looking for on one page.

Finally, we'll be working with local groups across the country in 2012 to launch organizing campaigns to get city councils to pass resolutions to end U.S. military aid to Israel and redirect the money to unmet community needs. Find out more about this initiative on our website http://www.fundcommunityneeds.org

Join Phyllis Bennis for a Discussion About the Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS!

2012-01-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

Join Phyllis Bennis, US Campaign Steering Committee Member, and Omar Barghouti, Tuesday, January 10th in San Diego, CA! Phyllis Bennis and Omar Barghouti will be discussing the Palestinian Civil Society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

Challenging U.S. Support for Israeli Occupation and Apartheid

Tuesday, January 10th, 7pm

4 Points Sheraton

8110 Aero Drive

San Diego, CA 92123

Divestment from Israel is a call to action on the level of corporate investors. Investors are called on to withdrawal their stocks and funds from corporations complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian rights. Individual consumers are called on to show their opposition to Israel’s violations by participating in a consumer boycott of Israeli companies, goods, and services, or of international companies involved in Israeli policies. And, given the dependency of Israel upon global markets, U.S. sanctions at a state, regional, or institutional level can be a highly effective measure to bring about real pressure.

Phyllis Bennis, an Institute for Policy Studies Fellow and independent Palestinian activist/author and founding member of the BDS Movement, and Omar Barghouti will discuss the Palestinian Civil Society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

Join us at 7pm for the main event, FREE and open to the public!

There will be a special reception to meet the speakers at 5:30, with a $20 admission. Refreshments will be provided. Please contact Nasser Barghouti at nasserb63@yahoo.com to RSVP for the reception by January 5th.

These events are hosted by the BDS Movement.

Video: 10 Years of Struggle for Justice

2012-01-03T13:40:00.004-05:00

This year, contributions from supporters will allow us to plant 2,050 olive trees for Palestinian farming families in 2012.

Thanks to your generosity, the US Campaign will be able to replace almost 25% of the olive trees destroyed by Israel this year. Your support will also allow us to capitalize on a decade of tireless work, and challenge U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid on an unprecedented scale in 2012.

Above: Our 10th anniversary video retrospective combines a visual sampling of
our past national actions with a narrative of our coalition's growth
from mere concepts in 2001, voiced by members of the US Campaign staff
and Steering Committee.

The US Campaign and our coalition of 380 member organizations have come a long way in the past decade. Each staff member, intern, and volunteer at the US Campaign is honored to be a part of this movement, hundreds of thousands strong, tirelessly working to change U.S policy in support of Palestinian human rights.

While we have made tremendous progress in the past decade, Palestinians simply cannot afford to wait another ten years for the United States to uphold their freedom and equality.

Your contribution today will send a message that Palestinian human rights are non-negotiable.

Your support will help us take that message far and wide, from the halls of Capitol Hill to the board rooms of major corporations. Your contributions enable us to educate those who don’t know better, and organize those who do.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video above and see how we’ve challenged U.S. support for Israel’s occupation over the last decade. And if you haven’t already, please make a contribution to help us redouble our efforts to end decades of Israeli occupation and Palestinian dispossession.

Former US Campaign Organizer to Receive Women of Conscience Award

2012-01-03T12:12:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to our former National Organizer and Legal Advocate Noura Erakat who will be honored in April by the Michigan Peace Team, along with our friends Hedy Epstein and Ann Wright. For more details and to purchase tickets, click here.

Women of Conscience,Women of Courage,Women Who Challenge:Another World is Possible!Event Emcee
Siham Awada Jaafar
Host and Producer WDHT TV “Community Connection” and “Off the Cuff”

The celebration will include a spectacular Middle Eastern dinner,
silent auction, talks by our guests, and presentation of the
the Rachel Corrie Peacemaker Award

Date: Sunday, April 29^th, 2012
Time: 3pm - 4pm Auction opens; 4pm - 7pm Program, Dinner & Auction

Place: Greenfield Manor Banquet Hall - 477 Greenfield Rd.; Dearborn, MI 48220

Between Michigan Ave. & Hubbard Dr. MAP IS HERE

Tickets: $50 per person; $500 table of ten; $35 student

To purchase your tickets, go to: MPT SIGNATURE EVENT

Who's Afraid: The Several Messages of SeaMAC's Ad Campaign

2012-01-03T10:43:00.002-05:00

Edward Mast, of US Campaign member group Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC), explains below the rationale for his group's series of ads protesting U.S. support of Israeli war crimes and details the censorship they have faced in trying to get the message out.

SeaMAC's latest ad, at left, ran last week in two Seattle weekly newspapers. Check out all the great examples of US Campaign member groups' ad campaign to end U.S. military aid to Israel and learn how to run an ad campaign in your community.

WHO’S AFRAID
The Several Messages of SeaMAC’s Ad Campaign
By Edward Mast

In memory of Israel’s 2008-9 assault on the captive population of Gaza, Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC) has published a half-page ad this week in two Seattle weekly newspapers with the slogan ISRAELI WAR CRIMES: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK. The slogan and design are based on SeaMAC’s bus ad which was censored by King County last December 2010.

The newspaper ads are part of SeaMAC’s ongoing series of print ads drawing attention to Israel’s policies of segregation and apartheid, as well as to the treatment of Palestinian child prisoners and Israel’s attempt to impose a non-viable fake state on Palestinians. The whole series of ads can be seen at www.SeaMAC.org.

SeaMAC’s bus ad about Israeli war crimes made international news last December when it was first approved and accepted by King County Metro, then censored after pressure groups mounted a campaign to silence the ad. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stepped forward immediately and is representing SeaMAC in a lawsuit against King County for violating SeaMAC’s First Amendment right to free expression. A trial was supposed to begin in Federal Court in Seattle on October 31. However, despite considerable evidence that King County’s decision to censor the ads was neither reasonable nor neutral, a federal judge dismissed SeaMAC’s lawsuit on October 10. SeaMAC is now appealing that decision at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. ACLU will continue to represent SeaMAC in the case.

Even though the appeal will probably take a year or more to come to hearing, SeaMAC has decided to pursue the issue. SeaMAC’s ad was attacked as inappropriate speech for a public forum, and King County’s cancellation of the ad gave implicit validation to that complaint.

Those who complained about the ad brought a variety of arguments, including the claim that Israel is being unfairly singled out for criticism. In fact it is the U.S. government that singles out Israel for special treatment, giving Israel unequalled financial, political, diplomatic and military support. This special treatment by the U.S. government makes many U.S. citizens feel a special responsibility to resist Israel’s ongoing crimes and violations of international laws.

The question is not why Israel is singled out for criticism, but why criticism of Israel is singled out for censorship.

After the bus ad was censored by King County, SeaMAC contracted with Clear Channel Outdoor to run several billboards with a different message: “Equal Rights for Palestinians – Stop Funding the Israeli Military”. The billboards were approved and several of them were put up and displayed. However, after a week, Clear Channel cancelled the contract and took these billboards down as well, in response to complaints from unidentified individuals or groups. There was no public controversy about the billboards. As it happens, there had been considerable public controversy the previous week about another unrelated set of billboards that advocated laboratory testing on live animals, but Clear Channel did not cancel those billboards.

The censoring of billboard ads with an unimpeachable call for equal rights also seems to refute another common complaint: that the “Israeli war crimes” ad was censored only because it was needlessly severe. In fact, when developing the ad, SeaMAC rejected stronger language and settled on the term “war crimes” because of its specific legal meaning: grave violations of the Geneva Conventions. Such violations by Israel have been well-documented throughout its lengthy occupation of Palestinian territories. Violations by Palestinians in their struggle for self-determination have also been documented, though violations by Israel are far more numerous and far less reported in this country. The bus ads were an attempt to correct that imbalance.

During the public controversy, there was surprisingly little argument about the allegation that Israel commits war crimes. Rather, the issue seemed to be that some people believe it’s inappropriate to discuss Israel’s war crimes in public, for fear of collateral consequences not only for Israel but for members of the Jewish community in Seattle.

Some friends and allies, along with King County officials, took this claim very seriously; and of course SeaMAC needs to consider people’s real fears even when those fears are misplaced. In this case, however, people’s fears are being exploited, and the State of Israel is using Jews everywhere as virtual human shields to defend Israel from accountability for ongoing crimes. An increasing number of Jews are denying Israel’s claim to represent them, and many are angry at Israel’s distortion of traditional Jewish values and exploitation of Jewish history to justify ongoing persecution of Palestinians.

It is not criticism of Israel but Israel’s actions themselves that are creating hostility toward Israel. That hostility is sometimes mistakenly directed at the Jewish people generally. For this reason, we should increase our efforts to distinguish between Israel and the Jewish people of the world, as well as continuing our efforts to stop Israel from committing more criminal actions.

Some have argued that SeaMAC should be satisfied because more people saw the bus ad on TV or in other news media than would likely have seen it on twelve buses for a month. However, SeaMAC’s message was not merely the eight words on the bus ad.

SeaMAC chose a mainstream advertising venue because words on a bus ad not only reach beyond the usual audience, but also reach those people in a different way than the same words on a protest sign or banner. Bus ads and billboards on this issue demonstrate that there is a wide and increasing spectrum of people that are concerned and angry about Israel’s ongoing crimes and our U.S. government’s unilateral support for them.

The message of our bus ads was not just that Israel commits war crimes, but that some people in the United States actually care about Israel’s war crimes, and that we care enough to risk talking to our neighbors.

No billboard or bus ad will convert people by itself. Instead, the ads are trying to change people’s perception: using the fewest possible words and images to help members of our community see the conflict in a new way. Even those who don’t immediately understand or agree with the ad might look differently at Israel’s next attack on an aid convoy, or the next bombing of Gaza, or may take a step toward understanding that the conflict is not about religion or ancient feud, but about one people having power over another.

While debate and protest and large-scale education must continue, public opinion in this country will ultimately be changed by all of us speaking to our friends and neighbors and engaging them with our concern and our sincerity as well as our knowledge. For all the furor, our ad campaign is an attempt to share the intensity of our concern with our community in Seattle, risking disapproval, hoping that our neighbors and colleagues will respond to our caring with caring of their own. Our right to share those concerns in a public forum needs to be defended, no matter how long it takes.

10 Things We Did to Make this a Memorable Year

2011-12-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

Ready for Our New Year's Countdown?

As 2011 draws to a close, we want to wish you and your loved ones a new year filled with peace and justice.

We also want to thank you for the generous support that enables us to wake up every morning and work on an issue we feel deeply passionate about, advancing a mission we believe in: to change U.S. policy toward Palestine/Israel to support freedom, justice, and equality.

In this economy, we're all glad just to have jobs. That's why we're extra grateful to have jobs that contribute to a better world.

Because we feel so privileged to work for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, we work extra hard, day-in and day-out, to provide you with actions, resources, information and inspiration to advance our collective work to end U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid and to change our country's policies toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and equality.

Below is our New Year's Countdown -- 10 things we did in 2011 to move us ever closer to our goal, in random order. Please make your year-end tax-deductible donation now so that we can do even greater things in 2012.

We grew our coalition to more than 380 organizations in 46 states.

We published articles in the Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Huffington Post, Palm Beach Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, to name a few.

We produced a flash mob how-to guide to help strengthen boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) protests.

We partnered with member groups to advance BDS campaigns like Stolen Beauty, Stop Caterpillar, and We Divest, and called upon performers and other celebrities to cancel appearances in Israel. Some of them agreed!

We joined the Palestinian BDS National Committee's call for a global arms embargo of Israel and launched a campaign to get city councils to pass resolutions against military aid to Israel.

We expanded our organizing campaign to end military aid to Israel to more than 900 cities and joined with the Occupy movement to protest corporate greed and war profiteering.

We gave our website an extreme makeover--reorganizing and redesigning it--to make it more user-friendly and interactive.

We held our 10th Annual National Organizers' Conference, with more than 160 delegates representing 63 member groups, at the historic Thurgood Marshall Center in Washington, DC.

We kicked off our 10th anniversary with a fabulous benefit concert featuring world-renowned musician Simon Shaheen.

We launched an interactive Report Card for the 112th Congress.

Thank you for making this work possible. We look forward to returning in 2012 to unleash even more creativity, with your generous support.

Our best wishes for a new year of peace and justice,

Anna, Josh, Josh, Mike & Rana

P.S.: Consider making a personal divestment from Israeli occupation and apartheid, and "offset" your taxes today. This year the average U.S. taxpayer had $21.59 of their hard-earned income spent on more weapons for Israel. This is your last chance to "offset" your 2011 taxes to support a U.S. policy that upholds human rights and equality for all.

P.P.S.: Speaking of our 10th anniversary, stay tuned for our final email of 2011, which will bring you a music video of what we have accomplished together over the past decade.

Gingrich’s Campaign Resurgence Funded by Secretive Coterie of Super PACs, Wealthy Israel Backers

2011-12-23T16:10:00.000-05:00

The following is an excerpt of today's newscast from DemocracyNow.org. While you're here, check out one of our Steering Committee members' analyses about Newt Gingrich earlier this week, plus this post from one of our member groups about Gingrich's "invented Palestinians" claim.

As Newt Gingrich's poll numbers surge and plummet with the predictability of the Dow Jones, some are making the connection between the two figures as genuine reflections of investor confidence. Several recent exposes reveal how Gingrich has skirted campaign finance rules to raise millions of dollars in unlimited donations from billionaire backers and big industry, with his ability to attract capital showing signs of abiding. But just who are those donors and what do they stand to gain from Gingrich?

Greg Gordon, an investigative reporter for McClatchy Newspapers who has been following the Gingrich campaign's finances, discussed one of Gingrich's latest beacons of support: Sheldon Adelson. "Sheldon
Adelson is a rabidly pro-Israel donor and he operates two of the most elite casinos in Las Vegas: The Pallazzo and the Venetian. And he is also listed by Forbes as the 16th wealthiest person on the planet. Mr.
Adelson is a huge backer of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he in fact publishes a free newspaper that circulates in Israel that basically is an extra voice to boost the Israeli Prime Minister.

... Perhaps it is no surprise, after all these donations from Adelson--totaling 7.65 million--that Gingrich has recently...talked about the Palestinian people as an 'invented people,' and he talked about moving the [US] embassy on his first day in office...from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would be an extremely provocative move to make in the Middle East," Gordon said. "According to Politico...[Adelson] is planning to put $20 million into these Super PACs that support Newt Gingrich."

Peter Stone, of the Center for Public Integrity, echoed Gordon's findings on Adelson and the Gingrich campaign. According to one of his reports, a close friend of Adelson's confirmed that he would "do whatever it costs to help Gingrich."

SEE ORIGINAL ON DEMOCRACYNOW.ORG...

Anna Baltzer: "Will You Help Me Cultivate Justice This Season?"

2011-12-23T15:02:00.000-05:00

By Anna Baltzer
National Organizer, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

Just over one year ago, I began working as National Organizer with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Having spent five years on my own educating everyday people about the occupation, Israeli apartheid, and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, I realized I needed to do more than advise others to move from education into campaigning -- I needed to follow my own advice!

During my first 12 months at the US Campaign, my respect for the work and dedication of the organization has only grown. Whether it's providing trainings; creating new resources; setting up mass action alerts; coordinating and mobilizing for nationwide boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) campaigns and days of action; or promoting the work that you do in Campaign member groups, we spend every day working to support organizations and individuals around the country in challenging Israel's violations of Palestinian rights and the U.S. military, diplomatic and financial support that allows these violations to continue.

Believe me, we are a very small staff with an even smaller budget. The only way we can continue our work is through support from people like you.

That is why I ask you to consider donating to the US Campaign this holiday season.

Above: We'll send you this personalized certificate when you donate to plant a tree.

Your gift not only supports the US Campaign, but also Palestinian farming families. For every $25 you donate, the US Campaign will plant one olive tree for a Palestinian farming family in the name or in memory of someone special to you. For every $100 you donate, we will plant five trees.

Hannukah has just begun. Christmas is this Sunday. Rather than rushing out for more shopping, why not give a deeply meaningful gift in the name of a loved one to help us cultivate justice here at home and in Palestine?

Of course, we know that planting olive trees will not end U.S. support for Israel's occupation and apartheid policies. We know that new trees cannot replace adult, fruiting olive trees that Israeli soldiers and settlers have uprooted from Palestinian groves.

But, in some ways, olive trees represent the past, present and future of Palestinian traditions and steadfastness. Each tree planted sends a message to Israel that Palestinians will never give up their way of life and right to stay on their own land, and that people in the U.S. will not allow our government's support for Israel to go unchallenged.

Many of you purchase Christmas trees as a holiday tradition. Why not start another tradition with the olive tree? This year, with your help, we raised funds to plant 1,603 trees so far. Help us to reach our goal of 2,000 new olive trees by the year's end!

May 2012 be the year that brings desperately needed change in U.S. policy and an end to Israel's occupation and apartheid. Until that happens, help us continue to join and elevate voices and actions nationwide in support of Palestinian human rights.

Click here to donate to the US Campaign today.

Check Out Our New Stickers to End Military Aid to Israel

2011-12-23T10:19:00.001-05:00

Santa has come a few days early to our office to deliver to us this awesome new resource...stickers to end U.S. military aid to Israel.

We've got so many of them here in the office and we'd love to send you some, along with our other resources to educate and organize people in your community to end military aid to Israel.

Just sign up for an organizing packet here and receive in the mail from us postcards, facts sheets, fliers, posters and these stickers.

When you do sign up, you'll be joining thousands of organizers in more than 900 U.S. cities who are educating and organizing people in their community to end $30 billion of military aid to Israel.

While we're on the topic, check out our newly redesigned and easier-to-use interactive map at http://www.aidtoisrael.org to find out how much money your state, Congressional district, county, and city will be spending on weapons to Israel and what that money could fund instead for unmet community needs.

Ahmad Tibi Schools Eric Cantor

2011-12-22T10:57:00.000-05:00

Member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi has vigorusly criticized House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his hometown Richmond Times-Dispatch. Please make your online comments and send your letters to the editor today, particularly those of you in Richmond or in the district of Michele Bachmann or Newt Gingrich's old district. Those two presidential candidates also came in for heavy criticism.

Please keep your letter to under 200 words and use this online form: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/forms/letters-editor/.

Alternatively, you can email your letter to letters@timesdispatch.com along with your name, city, and contact information (for verification purposes).

***********************

The op-ed can be read in full by clicking on the link below.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/oped/2011/dec/22/tdopin02-tibi-world-beginning-to-understand-palest-ar-1560551/

Will the Holy Cow of Aid to Israel Survive the Dull Blade of Across-the-Board Budget Cuts?

2011-12-20T17:02:00.003-05:00

Another budget battle has ended as Congress has agreed to fund the government through next fall including a record-breaking $3.075 billion in military aid to Israel. At the same time though, the failure of the super committee to come up with a deficit reduction plan will trigger across-the-board budget cuts in 2013, including a loss of $250 million per year in military aid to Israel. As our National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner writes, this is the time for Congress to review U.S. policy towards Israel, a policy which the United States cannot afford "morally, politically or financially." Military aid to Israel makes the average American taxpayer complicit in Israel's human rights abuses as well as takes away resources from funding the projects Americans need at home, including providing affordable housing and primary healthcare.

Will the Holy Cow of Aid to Israel Survive the Dull Blade of Across-the-Board Budget Cuts?

Huffington Post

Posted: 12/20/11 11:52 AM ET

The Israel lobby can breathe a sigh a relief now that Congress has agreed to fund the government through next fall, including a record-breaking $3.075 billion in military aid to Israel. This earmark may have emerged unscathed in this year's budget battle, but because the super committee failed to produce a deficit reduction plan, triggering across-the-board budget cuts in 2013, this heretofore sacrosanct and perennially expanding budgetary line-item is suddenly and deservedly on the chopping block.

Budgets are always moral documents and budgetary priorities always reflect trade-offs. With the annual average $3 billion appropriation of U.S. military aid to Israel, the United States could provide instead each year 350,000 low-income families with affordable housing, or 500,000 unemployed workers with green jobs training, or 900,000 at-risk youth with early reading education, or 24 million uninsured people with access to primary health care, according to www.aidtoisrael.org, a project of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

Despite the deteriorating fiscal position of the United States, military aid to Israel has been increasing and crowding out these more urgent, unmet domestic needs because in 2007 the United States and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding for the United States to provide Israel with $30 billion of taxpayer-financed weapons from 2009 to 2018. This agreement represented an annual average increase of 25 percent above previous levels of military aid to Israel, which even beforehand took the lion's share of U.S. foreign aid despite per capita income greater than New Zealand and Saudi Arabia, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Bush and Obama Administrations faithfully implemented the proposed increases in weapons to Israel in their budget requests to Congress from a baseline of $2.4 billion in FY2008 to $3.075 billion in the FY2012 budget.

President Obama was to have requested $3.1 billion in military aid to Israel in his FY2013 budget, the level at which weapons to Israel was expected to plateau until the memorandum expires fives years hence. However, it appears these projected increases in aid to Israel will not be immune from the ramifications of the super committee debacle. According to Nathan Guttman, writing in the Jewish Daily Forward, Israel will lose an estimated $250 million yearly from its military aid package when across-the-board budget cuts take effect.

Surprisingly, Guttman notes, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most influential of the organizations within the Israel lobby, has yet to publicly protest the upcoming cuts in military aid to Israel, because it "may fear a backlash if Israel is singled out for special treatment in the face of broad cuts favored by both Democrats and Republicans." This despite the fact that the lobbying outfit's primary purpose is to advocate for additional weapons to Israel, one of the central reasons its tax-exempt front group, the American Israel Education Foundation, led a record-breaking delegation of 81 Members of Congress to Israel this August.

Questioning military aid to Israel has long been a taboo topic in U.S. politics, a third rail issue even more electric than abortion and guns. Led by a cadre of Congressional true believers and backed by the fearsome power of the Israel lobby to reward acquiescence and punish deviance, Congress has, for the most part, unquestioningly toed the line that saturating Israel with weapons will conjure up peace. Those few in Congress who have raised doubts about this received wisdom have tended toward the feather tips of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party or the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.

The across-the-board budget cuts that will affect future levels of U.S. military aid to Israel should allow Members of Congress to reexamine this policy more broadly in an atmosphere devoid of the usual ideological cant of zealots and the menacing glare of AIPAC if it continues to sit out this battle.

Such a review is long overdue since providing Israel with taxpayer-funded weapons is a policy that the United States cannot afford, either morally, politically, or financially. From 2000-2009, the United States gave Israel more than $24 billion in military aid, from which the United States licensed, paid for, and delivered more than 670 million weapons valued at nearly $19 billion. (The remaining money was gobbled up by Israel's own weapons industry due to a unique budgetary provision that allows Israel to spend up to 26 percent of its U.S. military aid domestically.)

During this same period, Israel killed at least 2,969 unarmed Palestinian civilians, according to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, while enforcing its illegal 44-year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. The extensive databases at weaponstoisrael.org, a project of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, make clear that by providing Israel with hundreds of categories of weapons, the United States is intimately and intricately connected to every Israeli military action in some fashion.

Not only does U.S. military aid to Israel make the average taxpayer complicit in Israel's human rights abuses committed against Palestinians; it also serves as a perverse disincentive to the attainment of U.S. policy goals such as ending Israeli settlement expansion, loosening the blockade of Gaza, and establishing a Palestinian state.

With the super committee's failure necessitating cuts across-the-board to reduce the deficit, Israel and its supporters in Congress should be forced to share the pain. Israel's impending loss of $250 million per year in military aid should also open up a conversation about ending all U.S. military to Israel at least until it complies with its obligations under international law to end its illegal military occupation of Palestinian territory.

Read Original Article

"Newt Gingrich puts Israel interests first" - Kristin Szremski

2011-12-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

Szremski

Our Steering Committee member Kristin Szremski writes that Newt Gingrich is forwarding a Zionist agenda at the expense of Americans. In trying to "out-Romney" Romney, and align himself to the pro-Israel element, the potential GOP frontrunner is not only selling off the values and safety of the United States for his shot in the Oval Office -- and still failing to impress the pro-Israel Jewish voters he was trying to court -- he's also inflaming tensions in the Middle East, where U.S. neutrality and integrity are already is viewed with suspicion and hostility. He's proven he does not care about the people whom he'd be sworn to protect as President.

Szremski faults Gingrich with helping to inflame Islamophobia by using the pro-Israel entities behind it. Millions of dollars are being funneled into organizations bent on helping Israel maintain its occupation of Palestine, thanks to figures like Gingrich demonizing Islam in the United States by planting outrageous and false innuendos of a "stealth jihad" here, and insinuating a connection between American Muslims and overseas groups on the State Department's list of designated foreign terrorist organizations.

Newt Gingrich puts Israel interests first

Gingrich will abandon US values and safety for a chance at the White House.

By Kristin Szremski
December 19, 2011
AlJazeera.com

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House who faded into obscurity after resigning in 1998 amid a sex scandal, is back and seemingly ready to say anything to become the next president of the United States - even if it means making sycophantic statements that pander to the pro-Israel lobby but that oppose US policy and the best interests of the American people.

Gingrich apparently revised history when he told Jewish reporter Steven Weiss recently that the Palestinians are an "invented" people. He willfully obfuscated the fact that Palestinians' roots in the Holy Land go back thousands of years. He ignored that Palestinians and Palestine are mentioned in the Torah and the Bible; that they are referred to in many historical documents, including the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which gave British support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people".

Gingrich re-invented history when he said the
Palestinians are an "invented" people
[GALLO/GETTY]

The potential GOP frontrunner is far from alone in his pandering to the pro-Israel lobby. Mitt Romney, running a close second to Gingrich, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachman, also have made concerted efforts to undermine President Barack Obama's Middle East policy while emphasising their own loyalty to Israel in attempts to gain the votes of Tea Partiers and Christian evangelicals, who are strongly pro-Israel. During the GOP debate in Des Moines, it appeared as if it were an open season on Palestinians.

That Gingrich would intentionally contradict stated and long-standing US policy, which recognises the Palestinian people and their right for a state of their own, for his own self-interest is extremely troubling. But even more problematic is the fact that Gingrich told Weiss he would consider granting clemency to one of the most notorious spies ever to infiltrate our national security agencies: Johathon Pollard.

Pollard's release

Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1986 after he confessed to spying for the state of Israel. Pollard, who was a civilian research analyst with high security clearance for the US Navy, had agreed to spy for Israel for 10 years in exchange for more than $500,000.

According to a January 1999 article in the New Yorker by Seymour Hersh, Pollard "betrayed elements of four major American intelligence systems". He caused extensive damage to US intelligence and US national security because of the nature of the highly sensitive documents he sold to Israel. According to Hersh, Pollard gave up data dealing with specific American intelligence systems and how they worked, a "most sensitive area of intelligence". The espionage was so great that successive presidents have rejected Israel's pleas for Pollard's release.

Gingrich told Weiss he'd consider granting clemency if Pollard were no longer a security threat and also had served time within the range of people with "similar problems". To be sure, seasoned politicians often have to compromise goals - sometimes even ideals - to achieve their own. But when a potential presidential candidate so easily panders to the interests of a foreign country and its lobby here, in the United States, over the interests of his fellow countrymen, he is clearly not fit to hold public office.

And that is only one of the ways in which Gingrich is forwarding a Zionist agenda at the expense of Americans, which is readily seen in his "Clash of Civilisations" narrative that became prominent in 2010 during the controversy surrounding the Park 51 mosque project. During the controversy, the country's favourable attitude towards Muslims fell 10 points (from 40 per cent to 30 per cent), according to a study co-authored by the Centre for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Islamophobic rhetoric

That same report says Gingrich was one of those at the forefront of fuelling mistrust and hatred of Muslims. In other words, a former Speaker of the House was working against American unity by bringing divisive Islamophobic rhetoric into mainstream discourse.

The Constitution founded the United States as a pluralistic society; the First Amendment grants the free expression of religion. Yet Gingrich behaves as if allowing Muslims that right would lead to the loss of American values and liberty.

Other credible reports - "The Great Isamophobic Crusade", by Max Blumenthal and "The Roots of the Islamophobic Network in America", by the Centre for American Progress - have exposed the link between Islamophobia and the pro-Israel entities behind it. Millions of dollars are funneled into organisations bent on helping Israel maintain its occupation of Palestine.

One way they accomplish this is by smearing anyone trying to raise awareness about Israel's continued violations of international law. Another way is to demonise Islam in the United States by planting outrageous and false innuendos of a "stealth jihad" here. Or they insinuate that there is a connection between American Muslims and overseas groups on the State Department's list of designated foreign terrorist organisations. These fallacies are then taken up and trumpeted about by unprincipled people like Gingrich.

Gingrich seems to have no qualms allying himself to pro-Israel element and selling the values and safety of the US for his shot in the Oval Office. But based upon published reports, he's failed to impress the pro-Israel Jewish voters he was trying to court. Instead, he's inflamed tensions in the Middle East where the neutrality and integrity of the US already is viewed with suspicion and in some cases hostility, and he's proven he does not care about the people who, if he were elected president, he'd be sworn to protect.

In trying to "out-Romney" Romney, Gingrich may have passed Israel's litmus test, but he hopelessly failed to show his loyalty to the US or the American people.

Kristin Szremski is the director of media and communications for the American Muslims for Palestine, a national grassroots organisation. Follow her on Twitter: @kristin_scribe

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE...

Flash Mob Tells Bed Bath & Beyond: "Stop Selling Illegal Israeli Settlement Products!"

2011-12-20T13:46:00.000-05:00

The three groups involved in this action -- CODEPINK, 14 Friends of Palestine, and Keep Hope Alive -- are all coalition members of the US Campaign, which offers its exclusive flash mob resources here.

Brides, Professional Choir and Minister Flash Mob at Bed Bath & Beyond with Message:
"Stop Selling Illegal Israeli Settlement Products!"

Action in Solidarity with Global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement

[LARKSPUR]: On Saturday, December 10, International Human Rights Day, a flash mob took over the wedding registry section of the Bed Bath & Beyond in Larkspur. The flash mob consisted of a mock wedding in which four brides committed to boycott illegal Israeli settlement products, namely Ahava cosmetics and SodaStream home carbonation systems, and local Reverend Dr. Walt Davis pronounced the brides "married to a life of peace and justice." The Justice Voices choir sung a parody of "Ode to Joy" that asked Bed Bath & Beyond to deshelve these products. Store employees asked the flash mobbers to leave the store and called the police. No arrests were made. Caroling continued outside the store where the group received positive feedback from holiday shoppers.

“We hope Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Steven Temares hears our plea and stops selling products that are in clear violation of international law,” said Rae Abileah, flash mob "bride" and co-director of CODEPINK. “Consumers have a right to know the ugly truth behind Ahava beauty products: they’re stealing Palestinian land! SodaStream is marketed as an environmentally responsible product, but the destruction of life, land and peace brought about by this settlement industrial zone is anything but environmentally responsible. Save a few plastic bottles at the expense of trashing Palestinian land and people? We don’t think so.”

Ahava and SodaStream products are fraudulently labeled as “Made in Israel”, but are in fact produced in illegal settlements under the conditions of the military occupation in the West Bank, outside the internationally-recognized borders of Israel. Ahava cosmetics are manufactured in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Ahava’s fraudulent labeling is under investigation in the UK and in The Netherlands. The Stolen Beauty Boycott and international boycott pressure have successfully pressured many stores to drop Ahava. Stores that have pulled Ahava from their shelves include Canada’s major department store The Bay, UK retailer John Lewis, the National Cathedral in DC, the U.N. commissary in Vienna, and many more.

A recent report by the Israeli research project Who Profits from the Occupation describes SodaStream’s illegal settlement activities, exposes its fraudulent labeling practices and investigates its exploitative labor practices. SodaStream is another occupation profiteer located the illegal industrial zone called Mishor Adumim, one of the largest land expropriations of Palestinian land in the West Bank, which prevents a future contiguous Palestinian state.

"This month, we mark three years since the Israel's deadly assault on Gaza that killed about 1,400 Palestinian men, women, and children. Let us all recommit ourselves to ending US financial and diplomatic support to Israel, and to supporting the inspiring, growing, global, Palestinian-led movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions until Palestinians enjoy the freedom, equality, and justice that they deserve,” said Anna Baltzer, flash mob "bride" and national organizer with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

“I invited the CODEPINK women to Marin so that we could do a boycott action at our local Bed, Bath, and Beyond,” said Jane Jewell, founder of 14 Friends of Palestine and Justice Voices. “BDS is one of the most important non-violent activities we can do to oppose the cruel Israeli Occupation of Palestine that causes such terrible suffering to the Palestinian people. I consider it the duty of those of us who enjoy a life of freedom and privilege to help those who do not. If I lived under horrendous oppression like the Palestinians do, I would like to think that somewhere in the world there were people looking out for me. "

The action was coordinated by 14 Friends of Palestine, CODEPINK Women for Peace, and Keep Hope Alive.

More information on both campaigns is available at www.stolenbeauty.org and www.codepink.org/boycottsodastream.

Israel Bonds Lawsuit to Continue Despite Governor's Refusal to Divest

2011-12-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

US Campaign coalition member group Minnesota Break the Bonds (MN BBC) today distributed the media release below about its lawsuit to get the state to divest from Israel Bonds.

First, here's a TV news clip from November 29, when WCCO Channel 4 News in Minneapolis interviewed activists with MN BBC on the day their lawsuit was announced. The original article can be viewed here.

Israel Bonds Lawsuit to Continue Despite Governor's Refusal to Divest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 16, 2011

Email: mn@breakthebonds.org
Website: http://mn.breakthebonds.org/

[St. Paul] Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC), a statewide campaign aimed at stopping Minnesota investment in Israel’s human rights and international law violations, has officially filed its lawsuit against the Minnesota State Board of Investment. This filing comes after Governor Dayton rejected the Campaign’s demand that the SBI divest from in Israel Bonds.

The complaint was formally filed yesterday in the Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul, and today was assigned to Judge Margaret M. Marrinan, with case number 62-CV-11-10079.

On November 29, 2011, MN BBC, along with 26 other co-plaintiffs, including Palestinian residents of the besieged village of Bil’in in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jewish-Israeli members of the Israeli human rights advocacy group Boycott From Within, served a lawsuit against the SBI demanding that it cancel its Israel Bonds investments. The suit was not formally filed in court at that time in order to permit the SBI an opportunity to resolve MN BBC’s divestment demand without the necessity of court action.

The lawsuit claims that the Board’s investments in Israel Bonds are unlawful according to Minnesota and international law because they help fund Israel’s universally condemned illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Following Governor Dayton’s rejection of the divestment demand, the Executive Committee of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), headquartered in New York, advised all four members of the SBI Board, including Governor Dayton, that the Board was aiding and abetting Israel’s violation of international law, which also violates Minnesota law. The NLG correspondence to each of the four Board members, which was delivered to them on December 13, 2011, is posted at the MN BBC website at http://mn.breakthebonds.org/?p=1597.

In deciding to proceed with the lawsuit, the plaintiffs also considered the murder by Israeli soldiers last Friday of Mustafa Tamimi, a Palestinian resident of Nebi Saleh, one of a growing number of West Bank villages besieged by Israeli settlers. Tamimi was shot point-blank in the face with a high velocity tear gas grenade. Israel buys a portion of its military equipment with the aid of Israel Bonds. MN Break the Bonds Campaign believes that Minnesota should not be investing our state's money in such atrocities.

To read the complete version of the lawsuit, go to:
http://mn.breakthebonds.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/MNBBCvSBI.pdf.

###

Embody the Message: Occupy the Mind

2011-12-16T14:05:00.001-05:00

We Will Not Be Silent, the artists/activists who designed the U.S. Boat to Gaza T-Shirts, is now selling 35 new designs to the We Will Not Be Silent t-shirt/language project. Designs include a shirt which says PALESTINE on the front and a list of human rights on the back, and shirts with the worlds SOLIDARITY, LOVE, and FREEDOM in Arabic.

Make sure to show your support by purchasing your t-shirt today!

As the artists/activists who designed the U.S. BOAT TO GAZA T-SHIRTS, we are pleased to announce the addition of 35 new designs to the WE WILL NOT BE SILENT t-shirt/language project. The original project began in March 2006, when a small group of artists and activists decided to wear those historic words "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT" on their bodies during a public action in New York City. Soon after, the words were translated into six different languages, including Arabic and Arabic and Hebrew together. Since then, we have reached over 50,000 people throughout the world, who have also embodied that important message.

We continue to be galvanized by peoples' movements from Palestine, to Tunisia, to Egypt, to Greece and beyond. Here in the United States, with the Occupy Wall Street movement taking root and growing, we are engaged in a global uprising for social and economic justice, moving toward liberation and striving to end military occupations and abuses of power worldwide.

Based on some of the signs we carried in Greece, while advocating to send THE AUDACITY OF HOPE to Gaza, and in the spirit of our time, we designed new additions to the WE WILL NOT BE SILENT campaign. The words SOLIDARITY, LOVE, and FREEDOM in Arabic, have been added to the Arabic Language Collection, each their own shirt.

Finally, we want to demonstrate our strong commitment to solidarity with the people of Palestine by offering a new shirt to wear, which says PALESTINE on the front and has a unique list of human rights on the back.

In each of the 35 new designs, we have chosen clear, bold and simple language to evoke complex ideas and, most importantly, to compel conversations between those who wear the shirts and others they encounter.

Please visit the updated site:
WWW.WEWILLNOTBESILENT.NET

IFPB's Offering Scholarships for Summer 2012 Delegations to Israel/Palestine

2011-12-15T08:51:00.000-05:00

Interfaith Peace-Buliders, a US Campaign coalition member group, is offering scholarships for students and young adults interested in joining a summer 2012 delegation to Israel/Palestine.

We are offering two $1,000 Scholarships for students and young adults who travel on Interfaith Peace-Builders Summer 2012 Delegations*

*Plus...in addition to the two $1000 scholarships, anyone who applies will also be considered for smaller financial aid packages from IFPB, ranging from $250 – $500.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 20, 2012

Download Application Here

WHY SHOULD YOU PARTICIPATE?

Be an Eye Witness: Move beyond research and gain first-hand experience on the ground.

Network: Meet and build relationships with key players working towards peace and justice.

Build Personal Connections: Hear from people directly affected by the conflict, from various viewpoints.

Test your Knowledge: See how the realities on the ground compare to what you have already learned.

Interfaith Peace-Builders has led 35 delegations and taken more than 550 people to Israel/Palestine.

SUMMER 2012 DELEGATION DATES

We're offering 2 different delegations this summer. Click to learn more...

May 19- June 1

July 14 - July 27

WHO CAN APPLY?

IFPB welcomes any current student or young adult (age 18-30) to apply for consideration for these two scholarships.

To apply, fill out and submit the application form by January 20, 2012.

Download Application Here

We expect to notify scholarship recipients in early February, 2012.

As mentioned, applying for this opportunity will also add you to our pool of other candidates who may be considered for smaller scholarship help, generally in the $250 - $500 range.

For more information or if you have questions, contact IFPB at office@ifpb.org.

Want to advertise to others? Click and print this Announcement!

WHAT DOES THE DELEGATION COST?

IFPB delegations regularly cost $2100 for ground fees (including: accommodations, local transportation, breakfasts and dinners, guides, and meetings. This $2100 does not include international airfare.

Scholarships will be applied towards the delegation cost of $2,100.

LEARN MORE ABOUT IFPB DELEGATIONS

Click here to learn much more about IFPB delegations.

Click here for multimedia information about Interfaith Peace-Builders.

Click here to get a copy of our fundraising.

Israeli Blood Diamonds Campaign Conference Call, December 18th, 9am PST

2011-12-14T12:41:00.005-05:00

Join US Campaign member group Palestine Action Group- Corvallis for a conference call about the Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds Campaign, this Sunday, December 18 with Sean Clinton from Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Contact Emmet Whittaker at palestineactiongroup@gmail.com for call-in info.

Join the Palestine Action Group- Corvallis, Oregon for a conference call with Sean Clinton from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Sean is spearheading the Blood Diamonds campaign and is the author of the original report on the Israeli diamond industry and its relevance to BDS (reference 1). Sean will discuss the Israeli diamond industry and relevance to BDS, the campaign to date and opportunities for the future.

Israel is one of the world’s leading exporters of cut and polished diamonds accounting for $20B in exports in 2008. This industry presents significant opportunity to further BDS efforts and 2012 presents a significant opportunity for activists in the US to influence this campaign since the US takes the chair of the Kimberly Process in 2012.

Conference call: Sunday December 18th, 9am PST (12pm Eastern)

Contact Emmet Whittaker (palestineactiongroup@gmail.com) for call in details.

Background:

Israel is one of the world’s leading diamond exporters and the diamond industry represents by far Israel’s largest export item in $’s, $20B in 2008 (reference 1). In a presentation to the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Israeli economist Shir Hever estimates that up to $1B annually funnels from this industry to the Israeli military (reference2). This campaign argues that Israeli processed diamonds are de facto blood diamonds.

The diamond campaign essentially looks to raise awareness of the fact that diamonds crafted in Israel are funding gross human rights violations and should be regarded as blood diamonds. The campaign works to expose the double-standard in the diamond industry which regards diamonds that fund war crimes in Africa as blood diamonds but diamonds that fund war crimes in Gaza are labeled conflict free.

The campaign has many powerful levers that can be used to exert pressure on the diamond industry and thereby indirectly exert pressure on Israel and the Israeli economy which is highly dependent on the diamond industry as it accounts for about 30% of Israel’s exports (3) and 5% of Israeli GDP.

Jewelers claim that their diamonds are conflict free but when asked if any of their diamonds are cut and polished in Israel where “revenue from the diamond industry” funds the nuclear-armed Israeli military that stands accused of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity by the UN HRC their claims are shown to be false and grossly misleading.

Diamonds are a luxury fashion commodity and anything that tarnishes the public perception of diamonds can cause irreparable damage to the brand image in a relatively short period. The diamond brand image suffered badly in the 90s as a result of the exposure by Global Witness of diamond-funded gross human rights violation in some African countries. The term “blood diamonds” became widely know and the a film of that name starring Leonardo di-Caprio cemented the public association between diamonds and gross human rights violations. In response, the industry introduced regulations known as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP) which purports to end the trade in “conflict diamonds”. However, the KP was seriously flawed from the outset as it only regulates “rough diamonds used by rebel groups….” As a result of this sleight of hand the Israeli diamond industry evades the regulations, and regardless of what human rights violations they may be funding, Israeli diamonds cannot be classed as “conflict diamonds” and are sold to unsuspecting consumers worldwide as conflict free diamonds. Fifty percent of the diamonds in dollar terms sold in America come from Israel.

The diamond campaign has the potential to bring the boycott campaign to a whole new global audience, who are largely not politically aware but who are fashion conscious and demanding of products of proven ethical provenance. If they public begin to associate diamonds from Israel with images of blood-drenched hospital floors and war crimes in Gaza, jewelers will be forced to provide diamonds that are cut and polished in countries that respect human rights and international law.

To date the campaign has focused on raising public awareness about this issue by exposing the gaping hole in the KP regulations which allows diamonds that fund gross human rights violations by government forces to evade the regulations and be labeled as conflict free. The Campaign is spreading information about Israeli blood diamonds via the internet to the global Palestine solidarity community and is pressurizing national and International Jewelers associations to end the trade in diamonds from Israel, calling for an introduction of a hallmarking system for diamonds so the public can identify where a diamond was crafted.

In Europe the issue has brought this to the attention of members of the European Parliament, who have tabled questions to the European Commission calling for a reform of the KP definition of a conflict diamond. Actions in the street to raise awareness with the public have taken place in Ireland and in Hatton Garden, London. A Facebook page dedicated to the diamond campaign has been set up. It has many very informative links going back months.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Israeli-Blood-Diamonds/159257804168987

Israeli brand image is utterly toxic for the diamond industry. Any association with Israel’s deplorable human rights record is extremely bad for the diamond brand image. The diamond industry is very much aware of this and react immediately to any linkage between Israeli diamonds and war crimes. One example here: - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8654956/IMG_0190a.jpg

Blue Nile, the NASDAQ listed, world-leading online diamond retailer has blocked access to their Facebook page (www.facebook.copm/bluenile) to all residents in Ireland. Many people there kept asking if any of their conflict-free diamonds are cut and polished in Israel – the company never answered the question and altered their page blocking over 100,000 fans from posting. That facility has been restored but people in Ireland are still blocked (4).

References/Further Information:
1. Report on the Israeli diamond industry by Sean Clinton of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign which initiated the campaign: http://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-blood-diamonds/8754
2. Russell Tribunal presentations. Shir Hever’s comments that are referenced are at approx. minute 34: http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/1087/video-day-2-afternoon-part-1-of-london-session
3. Graph of Israel’s top 30 export commodities http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8654956/Israel%27s%20Top%2030%20small.jpg
4. The diamond industry’s double standard in relation to Israel http://electronicintifada.net/content/diamond-industrys-double-standard-israel/10102

Other:
• Articles on the BNC website:
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/tell-kimberly-5414
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2010/israels-blood-diamonds-673
• Omar Barghouti writes in BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights “......I cannot overemphasize the significance of effective BDS campaigns to raise awareness about Israel’s violations of human rights and international law and to convince diamond buyers to boycott Israeli diamonds”

How Did Your Members of Congress Do This Year?

2011-12-13T16:51:00.000-05:00

Did YOUR Representative sponsor a resolution encouraging Israel to annex the Palestinian West Bank?

Did YOUR Senators vote to sanction Palestinians for seeking UN membership?

Find out now on our new interactive 112th Congressional Report Card.

We've had Congressional Report Cards for ten years now, but you've probably never seen one like this before. It lets you "slice and dice" all the details as you want to see them. Check it out now!

Our report card confirms what's already known by anyone who saw Members of Congress madly cheer during Benjamin Netanyahu's rejectionist address to Congress earlier this year: Congress on the whole horribly and unapologetically supports Israeli occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.

After viewing our report card, sign up to become a Congressional District Coordinator and help us organize and mobilize in your Congressional District to educate these Members of Congress who obviously need to be schooled.

We'll be updating this report card frequently so bookmark it and refer back to it often. And make sure to share it with your friends by posting it to Facebook, Twitter and other social media you use!

Give Bibi a Thumbs Down!

2011-12-13T11:14:00.004-05:00

On the eve of International Human Rights Day, Bibi Netanyahu declared: “Israel will continue to proudly raise the torch of freedom and human rights.”

Of course what Netanyahu fails to mention is that the Israeli military uses U.S. tax dollars to force millions of Palestinians to live under a brutal occupation.

You can challenge this blatant misrepresentation of Palestinian suffering by taking these three steps:

1. Give the speech a "thumbs down" on YouTube.

2. Tell Congress that you reject Netanyahu's false statements. Between 2009-2018, the United States is sending $30 billion in military aid to Israel. U.S. tax dollars should not be bankrolling the occupation and denial of Palestinian human rights.

3. Sign up to help organize opposition to military aid for Israel.

And remember to share with all your friends and followers!

Coalition member discredits Gingrich claim of "invented" Palestinians

2011-12-12T16:19:00.000-05:00

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is a coalition member of the US Campaign. It distributed the following news release today.

"Invented People" or Invented History?

ADC rejects Gingrich's offensive comments. Download our letter

Washington, DC | www.adc.org | December 12, 2011 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is stunned and appalled at Newt Gingrich’s simplistic and strange assertion that the Palestinian people are an "invented people", which offends hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Americans and millions of Arab Americans. At the same time, ADC dismisses Mr. Gingrich's assertion, and urges him to acquaint himself with the basic concept of nationhood to spare his campaign further embarrassment and ridicule. Nations are not defined by the existence of states, as Mr. Gingrich, who is not a specialist in Middle Eastern history and has not held an academic post since 1978, incorrectly suggests. The modern states of Israel, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Libya and dozens of others around the world did not exist at the turn of the twentieth century. These historical circumstances do not negate their inhabitants' national identities or fundamental human rights; the same is true of Palestinians.

Gingrich

In a second attack against Palestinians, during the Republican debate, Mr. Gingrich stated that “[Palestinians] are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools.” ADC condemns Mr. Gingrich’s rant against Palestinians as baseless, reckless, offensive and utterly unbefitting a candidate for President of the United States. Such indiscriminate language from prominent public figures leads to hate crimes and discrimination against Arab Americans, and ADC strongly urges Republicans to repudiate it.

ADC President Warren David stated, "I am appalled that a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States could make such insulting statements about the Palestinian people. Our members are outraged by Mr. Gingrich's remarks. Rather than attempt to negate the Palestinian people's national identity with irrelevant and antiquated pseudo-arguments and collectively defame Palestinians as "terrorists", Mr. Gingrich should insist that the United States of America defend their legitimate rights to (a) freedom from 44 years of oppressive Israeli military rule and (b) equality in the face of institutionalized Israeli discrimination.”

Finally, on Saturday night, Mr. Gingrich stated, “It's fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, enough lying about the Middle East.” We couldn’t agree more. So, please, Mr. Gingrich, enough lying about the Middle East.

###

NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non-profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan, is the largest grassroots Arab-American civil rights and civil liberties organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former Senator James Abourezk. ADC has a national network of chapters and members in all 50 states.

"This Is Apartheid" Poster Contest

2011-12-07T10:16:00.011-05:00

Art has always been an important part of liberation struggles. It can inspire and convey concepts beyond words. Itisapartheid.org and its primary partner, Lajee Center, are sponsoring a competition for artists and graphic designers who are invited to submit posters on the theme of “Israeli Apartheid.” These posters should reflect the nature, realities, and/or consequences of apartheid policies in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Posters will be judged by a panel of distinguished activists and artists. The winning entries will be featured in an online poster gallery and disseminated widely on the internet and various other venues. Youth from refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank will participate in the contest.

Prizes
* Expert Jury Prize made up of distinguished artists and activists: $400
* Global Jury Prize from global internet voting: $400
* Palestinian Prize (winner must be Palestinian): $300
* 6 Honorable Mention prizes: $50 each

Deadline for submission of all posters is June 1, 2012.

Visit www.itisapartheid.info for more information and submission guidelines.

Co-Sponsors: Badil, Code Pink, Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa, Friends of Sabeel North America, American Muslims for Palestine, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Committee, Artists Against Apartheid International Alliance, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), Students Against Israeli Apartheid (Canada), Queers Against Israeli Apartheid , Palestine freedom Project, Australians for Palestine. Palestinian Network for Children’s Rights, Pontifical Mission, the Papal Agency for Middle East Relief and Development, The Alternative Information Center, Birzeit University, Defense for Children International, Palestine Section, Alhaq Organization, Defending Human Rights In Palestine, NGO Development Center, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Faculty 4 Palestine

New poster series illustrates trade-offs in sending military aid to Israel

2011-12-06T15:19:00.001-05:00

Above: Our new posters include
this QR code, scannable with
your smartphone, to take you
directly to a page where you
can take action to end U.S.
military aid to Israel.

Help us continue to shape the political landscape to end U.S. military aid to Israel by signing up today to educate and organize people in your community.

When you do so, you'll join more than 2,000 people in 49 states and more than 900 cities who have received an organizing packet with fact sheets, flyers, petitions, stickers, and more--everything you'll need to spark conversations in your community and identify more people who agree with us that we should be funding community needs, not Israel's misdeeds against the Palestinian people.

And, for the first time, we're excited to include in these organizing packets this sharp-looking series of posters (shown below) that illustrate the moral and economic costs of providing U.S. military aid to Israel. The four 11-inch by 17-inch (tabloid-size) posters include a code scannable with your smartphone's camera, bringing you directly to a page where you can take action and get involved.

Poster #1 shows trade-off:
school programs vs. weapons

Poster #2 shows trade-off:
jobs vs. farm destruction

Poster #3 shows trade-off:
housing vs. apartheid wall

Poster #4 shows trade-off:
healthcare vs. more weapons

National Advocacy Director to be on Panel Discussing Anti-Zionist Rabbi

2011-12-06T15:13:00.007-05:00

The National Press Club is hosting a panel this Thursday discussing the new book Rabbi Outcast: Elmer Berger and American Jewish Anti-Zionism which profiles one of the most well-known rabbis of the 20th century.

The panel, sponsored by the Freda Utley Foundation, will be held on December 8 at 1:00 pm in the Murrow Room of the National Press Club (13th floor, 529 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20045). A light lunch will precede the panel at 12:15 pm. Reservations are requested.

The panel will include two of Rabbi Berger's former colleagues: Andrew Killgore, former diplomat and ambassador to Qatar and publisher of The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and Allan Brownfeld, editor of Issues, published by the American Council on Judaism.

Also on the panel is Josh Ruebner, writer for the Huffington Post and former Middle East analyst for the Congressional Research Service, and the book's author Jack Ross, a columnist and writer from Brooklyn, New York.

Rabbi Outcast: Elmer Berger and American Jewish Anti-Zionism discusses the influence that Berger had in his lifetime, particularly from World War II through the 1967 Six Day War and its aftermath.

The 233-page book, with 582 footnotes and an extensive bibliography, is a comprehensive account of American Jewish history. Ross places liberal Jewish anti-Zionism (as opposed to that of Orthodox or revolutionary socialist Jews) in a historical perspective. That brand of anti-Zionism was embodied by Rabbi Berger and his predecessors in the Reform rabbinate.

Sheldon Richman, a political writer and editor of the Freeman, wrote recently that he knew Berger "and admired him greatly for his courageous work on behalf of what he called 'emancipation and integration' and against Jewish nationalism, or Zionism. He was truly the last great Classical Reform Jewish rabbi- Classical Reform Judaism having been founded in opposition to nationalism, to the ideas of diaspora and return to Zion. Berger was a founder and long time director of the American Council for Judaism, and later of the American Jewish Alternatives to Zionism."

Murray Polner, author of Rabbi: The American Experience, calls Rabbi Outcast "a seminal book, nothing less than the rediscovery of American Jewry's dissenting tradition. Ostensibly about the fascinating and controversial Rabbi Elmer Berger, it is really much more - a nuanced and readable portrait of people and ideas undeservedly erased from American Jewish history."

"In Jack Ross' new book, we see a fascinating history of Jewish resistance to Zionism- and warnings of its consequences for Jews and for America," commented Jon Utley of the Freda Utley Foundation. Freda Utley, the British historian and author, wrote extensively about Elmer Berger in her book Will the Middle East Go West?

"Rabbi Outcast is a tremendous resource for young American Jews looking for facts to back up their existing doubts," Utley said.

For more information contact Fran Griffin at griffin@griffnews.com or call 703-255-2211 or 202-643-1048.

Activists Call on Fashion Icon to Sever Ties with Lev Leviev

2011-12-06T11:30:00.008-05:00

In November, US Campaign coalition member groups Adalah-NY, CODEPINK, and Jewish Voice for Peace, along with human rights organizations in the UK, called on fashion icon Daphne Guinness and Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to sever ties with Israeli settlement builder and conflict diamond purveyor Lev Leviev. Leviev is a principal sponsor of Ms. Guinness’s current fashion exhibition at FIT.

In an open letter to Guinness and FIT, the groups detailed Leviev’s sordid complicity in a multitude of human rights abuses that have led a number organizations and governments to distance themselves from Leviev’s companies. Citing Guinness’s own humanitarian work, the groups implored Guinness to sever all ties with Leviev:

We recognize your strong commitment to supporting women’s rights around the world, to countering AIDS in Africa and to helping the needy in places like Haiti. Therefore, like the organizations, governments and individuals who have sought distance from Leviev, we feel confident that you do not wish to tarnish your name and good works by associating yourself with Leviev’s companies’ human rights violations and questionable business practices. Leviev’s companies undermine the very rights and humanitarian causes that you support. Therefore, we call on you to act swiftly to sever all ties between the exhibit at FIT that bears your name, and Lev Leviev.

Representatives of Guinness and FIT have responded by saying they are taking the groups’ concerns into account, but have thus far failed to elaborate a further course of action. The petition calling on Guinness and FIT to sever ties with Leviev has generated a fair amount of negative publicity for all involved. Online stories detailing Leviev’s sponsorship of the exhibition have been featured on prominent sites like New York magazine, Vogue UK, and Jezebel, the influential feminist blog. The exhibition runs through January 17th, 2012.

Activists Mic Check the "Ethical Standards" of the IDF

2011-12-05T14:26:00.005-05:00

Sergeant Nadav Weinberg of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is once again touring college and university campuses in the US absurdly promoting “the ethical standards of the IDF.” Weinberg conducted a similar tour last year, and you may recall the response his propaganda received from US Campaign coalition group ASU-SJP. Last week solidarity activists in Boulder, Colorado picketed and interrupted Weinberg’s presentation at the University of Colorado’s (CU) Chabad Jewish Student Center. US Campaign coalition member CU Divest! released the following the statement regarding their protest of Weinberg’s talk.

For Immediate Release

December 1, 2011

CONTACT: Michael Rabb, CU-Divest, 2002 18th Street, Boulder CO 80302 720-837-9674, michael.rabb1@gmail.com, https://sites.google.com/site/cudivest/

Activists at University of Colorado Disrupt Israeli Military Presentation: White Phosphorous Is Not Ethical

On Wednesday evening, 6:30pm, November 30, about 15 activists gathered at CU Chabad Jewish Student Center, 909 14th Street, in Boulder, to picket and demonstrate against Israel’s pernicious and immoral crimes against humanity. CU Chabad was hosting a talk by Sgt. Nadav Weinberg, a representative of the Israeli Defense Forces. Sgt Weinberg’s presentation is part of a USA tour of several college campuses designed to inform students about the high ethical standards of the IDF.

Michael Rabb, local activist and one of the founders of a campaign to get the University of Colorado to divest from Israeli apartheid, says Weinberg’s presentation was perfectly timed: On the 3rd anniversary of “Cast Lead”, Israel’s slaughter of 1400 people in the Gaza Strip, including hundreds of children, it’s entirely appropriate that we, students, faculty and members of the CU community confront Israel’s crimes against humanity.

During the presentation, several of the protesters in attendance stood up and “mic checked” Sgt. Weinberg. Using call-and-response, occupy wall street human microphone technique the activists accused Israel’s military of murder, massacre and war crimes. Rabb was forcibly removed from the meeting hall. Other activists stayed for the presentation and a few were even allowed to ask questions, like, “Sgt. Weinberg, how does dropping 2000 lb. bunker buster bombs on schools and hospitals demonstrate IDF ethics?”

It’s sort of amazing, perhaps “chutzpa” is the right word, for the Israeli military to send someone to Boulder Colorado to try and explain or whitewash their war crimes. Cast Lead is where Israel bombed this little piece of land (about 20 miles long 5 miles wide): the most densely populated piece of land on earth (1.5 million people) – with white phosphorous, cluster bomb units, (these would be anti-personnel weapons), not to mention the bunker busters, 2000-pound bombs that crushed homes, schools and hospitals.

CU-Divest is a grassroots movement: We are students, faculty and staff of the University of Colorado, and members of the University community at large, who are deeply concerned that the University of Colorado invests in companies that profit from Israel's illegal and immoral occupation and apartheid of the Palestinian people. CU-Divest is part of part of a global movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel for its crimes of apartheid.

New film by Palestinians living in Gaza shows yearning for a normal life

2011-12-02T18:55:00.001-05:00

US To Gaza is a coalition member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

"Where Should the Birds Fly?" is the story of two women in Gaza - the filmmaker, Fida Qishta, and a young survivor of Operation Cast Lead, Mona al Samouni. Through their eyes, we learn how people live, survive, and dream of a normal life, while facing Israeli attacks.

We are more than halfway to the finish line in raising the money we need to complete "Where Should the Birds Fly?". Please donate generously and email your friends and lists and urge them to support this project. You can see a short trailer of the film and make a tax deductible contribution at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1767087449/where-should-the-birds-fly.

It is the first film about Gaza made by Palestinians living in Gaza. It is the story of two young women, survivors of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, who represent the spirit and future of Palestinians. It is a visual documentation of the Goldstone report. Not all misery and rubble, it reveals strength and hope.

We held a small screening of the film in NYC last week and got a warm, positive reception to the film. Those watching found it very powerful and moving, as well as a very timely statement in light of Israel's current threats to attack Gaza again. We must get this film into distribution as soon as possible.

One comment, from an organizer of the US Boat to Gaza, seemed particularly appropriate. "Our campaign focused a bright spotlight on Israel's illegal occupation of Gaza, but we weren't able to bring our passengers to port in Gaza City. This film brings the people of Gaza to us and to the rest of the world."

How true. The film itself breaks Israel's blockade of the hopes and dreams of Palestinians to lead a normal life.

Supporting "Where Should the Birds Fly?" would be a great gift to a friend. If you would like to receive one of the premiums offered to supporters in time to give it as a holiday gift, make that request by clicking Contact at the bottom of the kickstarter page and let us know that. (Otherwise the premiums will be sent out sometime in January.)

Thanks for your support and please pass this on to your friends.

Fida Qishta
Brian Drolet
Felice Gelman

Israel Faces $250 Million Slash in Aid

2011-12-02T18:37:00.001-05:00

By Nathan Guttman
December 02, 2011
Jewish Daily Forward

WASHINGTON — The failure of the supercommittee appointed by Congress to reach a deficit-reduction deal on the federal budget could cost Israel a cool $250 million a year.

For the first time in decades, Israel could be facing a reduction in United States aid, due to automatic across-the-board budget cuts scheduled to take effect in January 2013 as a result of the supercommittee’s failure.

Despite this dire forecast, Israel’s strongest defender in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has yet to publicly speak out against the cuts. Sources say that the Israel advocacy lobby may fear a backlash if Israel is singled out for special treatment in the face of broad cuts favored by both Democrats and Republicans.

The November 21 announcement by members of the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that they had failed to reach agreement on a plan to cut the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next decade set in motion an automatic process called sequestration.

It requires Congress to make cuts, divided equally between defense and nondefense spending, in order to reach the required debt reduction.

In practice, this means an estimated 8% to 9% cut in all government budget items, except some social safety net programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Cuts are scheduled to kick in during January 2013 and will be in place for nine years. Government agencies will not have discretion over where to impose the cuts, and all programs will be subject to an equal budget reduction.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Israel and the United States, Israel is scheduled to receive $3.1 billion in Foreign Military Financing in fiscal 2013. The financing is used primarily for the purchase of American-made defense systems. The MOU is subject to congressional appropriation, meaning that it would be overruled by the across-the-board cuts.

Although the aid is used for military needs, it comes under the State Department budget and is therefore seen as a nondefense-spending program under the sequestration rules. According to current estimates, Israel faces a cut of roughly $250 million a year beginning in 2013 and continuing at the same level until 2021.

Supporting aid to Israel has been a cornerstone of the pro-Israel community in the United States for decades. Spearheading the effort is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has cultivated throughout the years a close relationship with key lawmakers involved in the appropriation process.

The lobbying of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups has ensured that aid to Israel is safe even in times of austerity and that Israel receives preferred terms, such as early disbursement of the annual aid and the right to spend nearly a quarter of the money on local defense products.

In advocating for aid to Israel, AIPAC has been stressing the importance of Israel as a regional ally and as a strategic asset for America. A memo issued in March by the lobby argued for the need to maintain foreign aid at current levels as a means of helping Israel address increasing threats. AIPAC also pointed to Israel’s need to increase its defense spending because of turmoil in the Middle East and the growth of neighboring countries’ military investments.

The lobby, however, has yet to issue any memo or talking points regarding the looming sequestration and its potential impact on American aid to Israel. In part, this reflects the problem facing supporters of Israel as they experience the challenge of across-the-board cuts.

Singling out Israel as being immune to any cuts at a time when all other government programs will face painful cuts may be useless at best, or even counterproductive.

History says it will be difficult if not impossible to prevent the cuts. The 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act required all government agencies to cut spending in order to meet the goal of a balanced budget. As a result, aid to Israel took a hit, and Israel was forced to return part of the annual assistance.

This example makes clear that little can be done to fight sequestration and that if legislation is not changed, aid to Israel is facing its biggest financial setback ever.

ARTICLE CONTINUES...

Earth to Congress, We have a Problem

2011-12-01T10:32:00.009-05:00

By Mike Coogan, Legislative Coordinator

Representative J. Randy Forbes' recent trip to a series of illegal Israeli settlements typifies much of what is broken with Congress these days and lays bare an unprecedented level of hypocrisy. While Representative Forbes was gallivanting along apartheid roads connecting Israel's illegal settlements, Palestinians were preparing to engage in an act of civil disobedience to highlight the lack of freedom and equality that has long characterized their lives. On November 15, nonviolent Palestinian Freedom Riders challenged segregation on Israeli buses plying routes between West Bank Israeli colonies. Rep. Forbes, holding to American principles, should have been the first to commend them.

Notably, he did not.

In fact, the Congressman frequently professes his intention to work for religious freedom around the globe, but has failed to say anything about Israel's denial of religious freedom and equality to Tuesday's Freedom Riders and millions of other Palestinians. Palestinians are at the mercy of Israeli occupation authorities if they hope to pray at Christian and Muslim holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem. That’s not freedom of worship; it is systemic religious and racial discrimination.

Coogan

Forbes' penchant for self-selecting those who should be allowed to enjoy freedom was on full display during a recent meeting I had with his staff. Before the discussion about the Palestinian bid for membership in the UN and Israeli violations of U.S. laws could begin, the legislative assistant informed us that Rep. Forbes supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without reservations.

The message was simple: Israel can violate human rights and U.S. laws with impunity, but Palestinians will be subject to swift and devastating sanctions for nonviolently exercising their right to self-determination in the U.N.

To follow up on the legislative assistant's statement, we asked how the Congressman could possibly justify unconditional support for a leader who shows reckless disregard for U.S. law, Palestinian human rights, and American interests.

Astonishingly, we were informed that there is no difference between Netanyahu's policies and U.S. interests. There are differences between Americans in the Republican and Democratic parties, but no differences between Netanyahu’s policies and American interests? The idea is absurd and the sentiments behind it dangerous. We ought not cede our principles to the policies Netanyahu crafts for subjugating Palestinians.

The fundamental nature of an alliance and core American interests appear to be lost on Representative Forbes and his staff. Members of Congress seemingly lost the message sent out by military officials, human rights groups, and civil society organizations across the country: Israel is not a useful asset in the region, but a strategic liability. Quite simply, we do ourselves no favor by backing and funding Israel’s domination of another people.

For example, according to Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently told the National Security Principals Committee that the U.S. has received nothing in return for copious and unconditional support to Israel. During the same meeting, Gates reportedly went on to say that Netanyahu was both ungrateful and endangering Israel’s own security.

General David Petraeus stated in March of 2010 that unconditional support for Israel was damaging U.S. standing in the region and fomenting widespread anti-American sentiment.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the U.S. State Department have documented clear and flagrant human rights violations by the Israeli government with U.S.-supplied weapons.

And in addition to concerns about human rights and U.S. security, taxpayers simply cannot afford to give Israel over $731 million in military aid over the next nine years as we underfund our own social programs and watch the deficit skyrocket.

Before Rep. Forbes makes more token statements about the promotion of religious freedom and equality, he should think about how his actions in support of Israel’s discriminatory policies fundamentally undermine the principles he claims to hold dear. After all, throwing Palestinian Freedom Riders off buses bound for occupied East Jerusalem is every bit as wrong as throwing American Freedom Riders off buses bound for the Jim Crow South.

Mike Coogan is a member of Virginians for Middle East Peace and the Legislative Coordinator for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

Protect the Academic Freedom of Prof. Marc Ellis

2011-11-30T13:29:00.001-05:00

Ruebner

By Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director

I met Professor Marc Ellis nearly ten years ago when he invited me to speak at a conference he organized at Baylor. As one of the foremost and inspiring contemporary Jewish theologians who is critical of Israel's actions toward the Palestinian people, it is unfortunately not surprising to see that Baylor is now taking steps to force him out.

Having learned of a secret investigation against him that resulted in the cancellation of his courses, Marc writes, "I believe this is a pretext to silence an independent voice at the place for which I have had deep appreciation."

Join Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Cornel West, Rosemary Radford Ruether, me, and thousands of others in signing this petition to Baylor University President Kenneth Starr asking him "to honor Dr. Ellis' academic freedom and stop all hostility toward him and any attempt of dismissal."

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Take Action on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

2011-11-29T16:25:00.001-05:00

	Above: Activists in Sacramento show solidarity with the Palestinian Freedom Riders.
	Above: Click to watch Peter Miller, US Campaign Steering Committee Co-chair, address the U.N. General Assembly this morning (skip to 1 hour and 17 minutes after start).

By Anna Baltzer, National Organizer

In 1976, in commemoration of what is now 63 years of Palestinian dispossession and exile, the United Nations declared November 29 to be the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This year, Peter Miller, president of Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights and co-chair of the US Campaign's Steering Committee, addressed the U.N. General Assembly. Peter's speech, which took place this morning at the U.N, can be viewed and read here (the speech begins at one hour and 17 minutes into the recording).

Today the Palestinian people's resilience and struggle for freedom continue. Bedouin families of Al-Arakib in the Negev Desert have rebuilt their homes more than 20 times to maintain their presence there. Villagers of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank continue to nonviolently protest settler and army violence and land confiscation, remaining steadfast in the face of the army's intimidation tactics and extreme brutality. Children in Gaza whose schools have been bombed attend makeshift classrooms, persisting to get an education. Survivors of the Nakba, the catastrophe of Palestinian dispossession in the 1947-48 war, continue to preserve and pass down their testimonies and the keys to their homes, refusing to forget or to give up their internationally recognized right to return to the homes and lands from which they were expelled.

Also today, Minnesota citizens from the exciting Minnesota Break the Bonds campaign gathered at the State Attorney General's office to serve a lawsuit on the state's Board of Investment, demanding that it divest from Israel Bonds, based on moral, ethical and legal grounds.

MN BBC is asking for your support! Sign this letter telling members of the Minnesota State Board of Investments to stop investing in Israeli apartheid!

These are only two of the many actions by US Campaign member groups over the past two weeks. On November 15, activists in 15 cities across the United States organized actions and educational events in solidarity with the Palestinian Freedom Riders, who challenged the Jim Crow-style segregation inherent in the Israeli occupation. You can find an exciting play-by-play chronology of the Freedom Riders' actions at The Struggle, and a summary of the day's events--in the West Bank and the U.S.--here at Jewish Voice for Peace, a US Campaign member organization.

Above: Click to watch LA activists educate passengers on a Veolia bus as part of a campaign to end the city's Veolia contracts.

Here is just a small sampling of U.S. actions supporting the Palestinian Freedom Riders as part of the growing worldwide campaign to challenge Veolia, a French multinational corporation that profits from the Israeli occupation by operating buses on Israeli-only roads, among other things:

In Los Angeles, activists demonstrated and boarded buses run by Veolia to educate passengers about Israel's apartheid policies as part of a campaign targeting Veolia contracts with the city.

Boston activists launched a campaign challenging the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Company's contract with Veolia by distributing fliers to educate and mobilize Boston residents.

In Baltimore, activists demonstrated at Penn Station during rush hour, singing a freedom song and drawing connections between the Palestinian and American struggles for equality and human rights, linking Veolia's profiteering from racism and exploitation in Israel/Palestine to the City of Baltimore's unequal government contracts.

There were also more actions in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Phoenix, Sacramento, Chico, Oakland, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.! Check out the photos on Mondoweiss and Flickr, and watch Jewish Voice for Peace's round-up video here.

Above: Click to watch video by Sana Kassem.

Palestinian filmmaker Sana Kassem put together this excellent video drawing parallels between the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the struggle of the Palestinian Freedom Riders.

Our National Advocacy Director, Josh Ruebner, published this article in Counterpunch supporting the Freedom Riders—just one of dozens of articles published recently worldwide.

Last Saturday, activists in 10 European countries staged more than 60 actions as part of a Day of Action calling on supermarkets and governments to "Take Apartheid off the Menu."

Today, on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, let us celebrate Palestinian steadfastness and renew our commitment to ending U.S. complicity with Israeli occupation and apartheid as part of a growing, exciting, global movement for freedom, justice, and equality.

US Campaign Co-chair addresses U.N. General Assembly

2011-11-29T14:46:00.001-05:00

This morning Peter Miller, Co-chair of the US Campaign's Steering Committee, gave the following address at the United Nations General Assembly, at the invitation of the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Solemn Commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People

United Nations
New York
November 29, 2011

Remarks by Peter Miller

President, Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights

Co-Chair, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. President, Excellencies:

I am honored to speak to you today on this solemn commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. I am but one voice among many from global civil society who are deeply concerned about the plight of Palestinians resulting from Israel's policies of occupation, settlement, siege and the denial of Palestinian rights. Many civil society activists around the world have dedicated their lives seeking a just resolution to the Palestine-Israel conflict. Some have paid a huge price for their efforts. And why must civil society pay such a high price? It is because of the failure, your excellencies, of the United Nations and governments to implement international law.

As an American, I am deeply disturbed, as are many Americans, by the role the my government plays in preventing Palestinians from achieving their aspirations and their human rights. The U.S. unconditionally gives Israel $3 billion every year in military aid and ignores Israel's many systematic and continuing human rights violations. Those include the illegal use of military weapons against civilian populations and the ever expanding Israeli settlements, the expansion of its separation wall on Palestinian lands, the treatment of its Palestinian citizens as second class human beings and the denial of the rights of Palestinian refugees. One of the challenges to the UN and the international community, if you truly are committed to upholding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, is to confront the deeply negative role of the U.S. in perpetuating injustice and enabling Israel to continue to violate international law and destroy the possibility of realizing Palestinian aspirations.

The admission of Palestine into the UN Organization UNESCO is a great victory for the UN and the voice of people around the world. 107 countries, representing over 75% of the world's population voted to include Palestine, truly “We the Peoples of the United Nations.” Unfortunately, the Obama administration was eager to enforce archaic U.S. laws, and cut off U.S. dues to UNESCO. Also unfortunate is the fact that the Obama, and earlier U.S. administrations, have failed to uphold other U.S. laws conditioning military aid to countries, such as Israel, which use U.S. supplied weapons against civilian populations. The UN is challenged to uphold its Charter in the face of all the various anti-democratic pressures the US brings to bear, whether it is spying on UN officials, pressuring independent countries economically and politically, or threatening the UN itself with economic sanctions. The UN must defend its founding principles despite these pressures and the global community must be ready to increase economic and diplomatic support for the UN and UNESCO.

One of the great advancements of civilization has been the development of the concept of the rule of law, that human beings have universal rights, and that there should be international institutions that work to safeguard these rights, especially in times of conflict and military occupation. The principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and other laws lay out this framework. The challenge for the UN is not to develop new laws or to express new sentiments, but to implement these existing universal principles and its existing resolutions to protect Palestinian human rights. The whole concept of universal rights and protection of civilians is endangered when powerful nations can pick and chose, in defiance of international bodies and global opinion, to whom these laws apply and for whom they are ignored. The law should be universal.

So far, the UN and other established institutions have failed to implement these universal principles, and have been unable to hold the powerful accountable for their oppression of the weak. So it has become necessary for global civil society to step into the void. This is what is happening around the world, including in the United States, on behalf of Palestinian human rights. This is why there is a growing movement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions to bring non-violent pressure on the State of Israel to end its systematic violations.

The Russell Tribunal is yet another expression of global civil society responding to the failure of the UN and governments to uphold the law. One of Bertrand Russell's last accomplishments was the establishment, with French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, of the Russell Tribunal to investigate the role of the United States in the war in Vietnam. The tribunal was established as a means for civil society to bring to the light the evidence of war crimes ignored by the United States government and by other nations and international institutions. Russell declared “May this Tribunal prevent the crime of silence.”

A new Russell Tribunal on Palestine has been reconvened with three sessions to date to examine Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. The most recent session was held November of this year in South Africa, with judges including Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, emeritus judge of Spain’s Supreme Court José Antonio Martin Pallin, African-American poet Alice Walker and South African writer and activist Ronald Kasrils. They examined the question of whether Israel is engaged in the crime of Apartheid. Israeli human rights activist Jeff Halper, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions said,

“States, along with the United Nations, are obligated to enforce international law and human rights conventions. When they don't, as in their failure to apply to Israel and its Occupation the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, the people themselves must rise up and demand that they do. Civil society forums such as the Russell Tribunal may not carry formal authority, but they represent millions of people the world over who believe that simply leaving governments free to pursue their narrow agendas driven by power, sectarian ideology, militarism and the profits of a few is to doom us all to continued war, bloodshed and injustice.”

The Tribunal concluded that Israel does indeed engage in the crime of Apartheid:

"Israel subjects the Palestinian people to an institutionalized regime of domination amounting to apartheid as defined under international law.... The Palestinians living under colonial military rule in the occupied Palestinian territory are subject to a particularly aggravated form of apartheid. Palestinian citizens of Israel, while entitled to vote, are not part of the Jewish nation as defined by Israeli law and are therefore excluded from the benefits of Jewish nationality and subject to systematic discrimination across the broad spectrum of recognized human rights. Irrespective of such differences, the Tribunal concludes that Israel's rule over the Palestinian people, wherever they reside, collectively amounts to a single integrated regime of apartheid."

The Russell Tribunal is not the first time Israeli apartheid has been identified. In 1961 Hendrik Verwoerd, then president of South Africa and considered the architect of the system of apartheid, stated, “Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state.” Both Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela have expressed concerns that Israel's behavior was similar to what they experienced under South African apartheid. Mandela remarked that:

“The UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

In 2009, the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa issued a report concluding that Israel practices both Apartheid and colonialism. In 2010, Henry Siegman, former national director of the American Jewish Congress said, "Israel has crossed the threshold from 'the only democracy in the Middle East' to the only apartheid regime in the Western world." Now in 2011, we can add the conclusions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

Palestinian rights must no longer be held hostage to the domestic politics of the United States. Israel should not escape UN censure simply because it refuses to cooperate with international institutions. International law demands condemnation of Israel's violations and crucially, Your Excellencies, decisive action to reverse them. Palestinian dignity is assaulted on a daily basis. Both the Palestinian and Israeli people are diminished each passing day as you allow these Israeli policies to continue. Every day, a tree is destroyed or a home is demolished. Every day, a Bedouin village inside Israel is ground down by bulldozers or Palestinians in the West Bank are attacked by settler pogroms that turn their lives into lives of fear. Every day, critical medicines go lacking in Gaza, and Gazans are forced to drink brackish water unfit for human consumption.

The so-called “Quartet” has failed. But while many question whether the UN should have ever agreed to participate in such sham diplomacy, you can still play a constructive role by moving quickly to implement the necessary pre-conditions for serious and honest negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians based on the enforcement of international law. Excellencies, you must separate Israel’s legitimate security concerns from its illegitimate political agenda. The International Court of Justice ruling on the illegality of Israel's wall made just this sort of distinction: determining that Israel may build its wall on Israeli land, but Israel cannot build its wall on Palestinian land, destroying Palestinian farms and homes, and separating Palestinian villages and towns from each other. It is illegal, not simply “unhelpful,” for Israel to build settlements on Palestinian lands. Israel violates international law when it imposes collective punishment on the people of Gaza. UN-based solutions must be found to mitigate all of these issues. The international community must demand that Israel end its assaults on Gaza that kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure in an endless cycle of international development assistance repeatedly destroyed by Israel's U.S. supplied bombs and missiles and Israel's U.S. supplied Caterpillar bulldozers. All that is lacking is your will to impose solutions rooted in international law.

One of the great privileges of working within civil society for Palestinian justice is witnessing the coming together of people from many origins working together for justice. In my own small group, we have Jewish Americans, Palestinian Americans, Christians, Muslims, and secular people who recognize in each other our common humanity. This is replicated around the world. We in global civil society seek to rise above narrow national and tribal self interest and truly believe that peace is possible when our common humanity is recognized and justice is implemented. We honor the efforts of those Israelis who recognize that peace for Israel comes through justice for Palestinians, we honor the efforts of activists and UN workers from around the world, many who have risked their comfort and sometimes their lives in the name of justice. Though there are wide ranges of opinion about what the various solutions might be, we are united in the recognition of our common humanity and our dreams of living together, as equals, on this small blue planet.

Thank you.

-- END --

Organize a Film Screening of New Documentary about Israeli Apartheid

2011-11-28T15:49:00.007-05:00

In 2006, at the 5th Annual National Organizers’ Conference of the US Campaign, coalition member groups overwhelmingly resolved to adopt the language of apartheid and Jim Crow segregation in describing Israeli policies towards Palestinians. Applying the apartheid framework to analyses of Israeli practices offers a methodical and startling assessment of conditions on the ground in occupied Palestine. The apartheid framework also explicitly highlights Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.

Palestinian solidarity activists Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson have produced an important new documentary, “Roadmap to Apartheid,” comparing Israeli policies with those of apartheid-era South Africa. A film tour is being scheduled for 2012 (see below for more info) and we would like to encourage you to consider organizing a screening in conjunction with an anti-apartheid training seminar. For information on how to organize an anti-apartheid training in your community, please see our training curriculum.

Message from Producers of “Roadmap to Apartheid”

The documentary "Roadmap to Apartheid" will be released by New years of 2012. The producers will be touring extensively in 2012. If you are interested in helping build the tour by organizing a screening, or inviting us to speak along with the movie at an event, on campuses, in churches, unions and community centers, please contact us at info@roadmaptoapartheid.org.

Narrated by Alice Walker, Roadmap to Apartheid is promising to be the definitive documentary that compares and contrasts South African apartheid with Israeli policies and practices. We think its going to be an incredibly important and useful tool for Palestine solidarity organizing and education campaigns, helping to spark hot debates, sorely needed honest discussion, and most importantly, action.

In solidarity,
Ana Nogueira
Eron Davidson
Producers, Roadmap to Apartheid
www.roadmaptoapartheid.org

Media Release: Citizens' Campaign Sues Minnesota State Board of Investment for Illegal Investments in Israel Bonds

2011-11-28T15:08:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 28, 2011

Contact: mn@breakthebonds.org

[Minneapolis] MN Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC), a statewide campaign aimed at stopping Minnesota investment in Israel's human rights and international law violations, along with several individuals and organizations, is serving a lawsuit on the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) with a demand that it divest from sovereign Israel Bonds.

The lawsuit contends that the SBI's investment in Israel Bonds is unlawful and imprudent. The investment violates Minnesota statutes that control the types of foreign investments the SBI is permitted to make. Foreign government bonds, including Israel Bonds, are not included in the SBI's statutory list of authorized investments. Canadian Bonds are the only exception.

The lawsuit further claims that the SBI's investment in Israel Bonds is unlawful because the SBI is knowingly aiding and abetting Israel's internationally recognized violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention by financing Israel's illegal settlement activities, which involve the prohibited transfer of Israel's civilian population into the occupied Palestinian territories. International law affirms the culpability of those who financially aid and abet this type of international law violation.

Finally, the lawsuit argues that the SBI is in breach of its fiduciary obligations by exposing Minnesota taxpayers to liability to any victims of Israel's human rights abuses and international law violations due to its material support of Israel's unlawful activities.

MN BBC is a group of Palestinians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, students, professionals, parents, community members and allies working together to educate Minnesota communities about injustices suffered by Palestinians in order to promote justice and human rights. MN BBC believes that the people of Minnesota have the moral obligation to make sound investments that will not aid the oppression of any one race, creed or people.

The lawsuit will be served on November 29, 2011 at the Attorney General's office, 1400 Bremer Tower, 445 Minnesota Street, St. Paul. Members of MN BBC will begin gathering at the base of the escalators at 9:30 am, and then proceed to the AG's office to serve the complaint at 10:00. Reporters and media are welcome to interview members of MN BBC and some of the co-plaintiffs following service of the complaint. Copies of the lawsuit will be available to the press. For more information, see the article at Mondoweiss.net, http://bit.ly/veexzS.

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Israelis Accuse BNP Paribas of Caving to BDS Pressure

2011-11-28T12:06:00.008-05:00

In an article (below) in last Thurday's Haaretz, Israeli officials angrily accused French bank BNP Paribas of pulling out of Israel in response to civil society pressure in France. While BDS activists are currently directing robust campaigns against French companies like Veolia, BNP Paribas does not appear to have been targeted by BDS activists. The bank itself has said that it is pulling out in response to the ongoing financial crisis in Europe.

While it may be difficult to ascertain exactly why BNP Paribas is exiting Israel, it is not difficult to explain Israel's enraged response: it is terrified by the growing international momentum of BDS. The palpable fear and anxiety exhibited by Israeli officials in the Haaretz article is further evidence of the strength of BDS as a powerful nonviolent resistance strategy.

Rage in Israel as BNP Paribas pressured to pull out

By Moti Bassok

The powers that be are furious at BNP Paribas for shuttering its operations in Israel, and suspect it is acting due to Arab and anti-Israeli pressure in France, the bank’s home base.

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Banks Supervisor David Zaken and their top officials believe the bank’s board of directors caved to pressure groups, contrary to its claims.This is the first case in years of a foreign bank leaving Israel. BNP Paribas has had operations in Israel since 2003. Most of its business here involved financing large projects that involve French companies.

The bank recently decided to shut down its local offices and dismiss its 60 employees. The bank claims this is because it sustained serious damage from the Greek crisis. Yet the only foreign branch is closing is its Israeli one, even though BNP Paribas has branches all over the world, including in Israel’s neighbor countries.

The French bank is leaving a very limited representation in Israel. It does not need the Bank of Israel’s approval for this, even though its operations are still supervised by the central bank.

Fischer and Zaken held several harsh discussions with BNP Paribas executives, which brought no results, and also denounced the bank’s actions in internal meetings. Fischer reportedly said that one of his goals as Israel’s chief banker was to convince large foreign banks to do business in Israel. There is no reason for BNP Paribas to leave, he reportedly said.

The Bank of Israel said it could not comment on a specific bank.

Organize a Speaking Event with William Parry, London-Based Journalist & Author

2011-11-28T11:28:00.011-05:00

William Parry, a London-based photojournalist who contributes regularly to the Washington Review of Middle East Affairs, is launching his book, Against the Wall: the art of resistance in Palestine, with a book tour in the USA. He will be available to give illustrated talks over a two-week speaking tour for student groups and advocacy groups around February 2012 to fit in with university semester schedules.

His stunning book of photos captures the graffiti and street art that has transformed Israel’s wall into a living canvas of resistance and solidarity. Featuring the work of artists including Banksy, Ron English, Swoon, Faile, Blu and others, as well as Palestinian artists and international grassroots activists, these photos express outrage, compassion, solidarity, peaceful resistance and touching humor. They mirror the wall’s toll on lives and livelihoods and are coupled with interviews that show the hardship it has brought to tens of thousands of Palestinians, preventing their access to work, education, families, vital medical care and places of worship.

William Parry has given over 50 illustrated talks throughout the England, Scotland, Ireland and Canada for advocacy, student and arts groups (the UK launch was held with a talk and exhibition at Amnesty International's UK headquarters). He has been interviewed on BBC's News 24 channel, Australia's national ABC Radio, Montreal's C-JAD radio and other media. Against the Wall has received excellent reviews and publicity in a range of media, including Electronic Intifada, al Jazeera English, Publishers Weekly, the New York Review of Books, street art websites and many others (see links below).

William Parry would like to hear from you if you would be interested in supporting the trip and/or organizing a speaking event. Please contact him directly as soon as possible as he will be looking to devise a two-week itinerary ideally before the Christmas break: williamparry@yahoo.co.uk.

The book is published by Lawrence Hill in North America. Review copies may be available -- please ask William Parry for a copy. Publisher details are available at www.ipgbook.com/showbook.cfm?bookid=1569767041.

Endorsements, review and links for Against the Wall:
American political cartoonist Joe Sacco describes Against the Wall as “a singular achievement – both a stunning photographic essay of how Israel’s concrete wall has cut into Palestinian land and strangled whole communities and a powerful visual record of how local and international graffiti artists have battered it with their only weapons, paint and spray cans”. Pink Floyd's Roger Waters says “This book is very beautiful and very ugly. The wall is very ugly, much of the art on it is very beautiful. This book helps to expose the ugly tyranny of oppression. There is beauty in the resistance of the Palestinian people. The annexation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank is ugly. That many Israelis are joining the resistance against their own government’s policies is brave and beautiful. The ugliness of the wall outweighs the beauty of the rest. This book seeks to redress the balance.”

Links to book reviews and press coverage:
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/10/againsttheoccupation/
http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-14369-up-against-the-wall.html
http://londonstreetartdesign.blogspot.com/2011/01/lsd-magazine-interviews-william-parry.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56976-704-7
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11497.shtml
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/apr/07/israel-and-palestine-robbed-dreams/
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/review_against_the_wall_by_william_parry/

Links to news interviews:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j35UJSEROWQ
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks/stories/2011/3222094.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iVBptvx0Bg (from 3:11)
http://vimeo.com/14299704

William Parry can be contacted at williamparry@yahoo.co.uk or via Yuval Taylor at Lawrence Hill/Chicago Review Press (YTaylor@chicagoreviewpress.com).