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Belly dancing political activism

Iqbal - thank you so much for almost making me fall from the chair from laughing! Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agree to your statement!

Posted by Iqbal Tamimi on November 10, 2009 at 7:00pm

View Iqbal Tamimi's blog

Activism is a wonderful form of solidarity; different people passionate about certain human rights' issues are willing to express their support in every possible way.

Some hold placards and march in the streets, others express their political stand by writing, and some paint the most wonderful works of art, or donate money to buy some aid.

But I have found after a number of gatherings I have been invited to that there are activists who are not there for the cause. Some enjoy being considered rebels and going against the flow, and they contest about almost everything. It takes all kind of people. But things started to get annoying lately for some Palestinians like myself when I found out that some come to such activities for other reasons, like taking their weekly shot of inflating their ego. Others promote their films and records, and many mix activism with musical talents that have nothing to do with the theme. All that is fine as long as they allow Palestinians to express themselves. But they don't. One wonders if such forms of activism are a sign of a severely inflamed society, i.e., a reflection of individuals suffering oppression themselves, causing them to vent their anger and frustration through different platforms of activism; or is it a mere misunderstanding of what activism mean for different people of different backgrounds?

The majority are sincere about their efforts, but I have been invited to few events which show that the organizers know very little about us Palestinians. How can someone send an invitation to the Muslim community requesting their presence at an event that is supposed to be in support of the hungry in Gaza using a Western method of advertising? The invitation reads, ‘there is plenty of wine and belly dancing'. I thought, are they serious? Don't they know that the majority of Palestinians are Muslims, and that this is not their cup of tea? The moment I read the invitation which shows a half naked woman wearing the patriotic belly dancing costume and bending like she is suffering a tummy ache, immediately I experienced a 7-scale Richter shock which was so hard that it almost blew off my Hijab. I thought that the dancer was so passionate about the Palestinian cause that she had leapt from the screen and was about to liberate Palestine and feed all the famishing people of Gaza.

Dear belly dancing activists... have mercy on our souls. In our part of the world dancing is performed on happy occasions, and happy events in Palestine do not involve the belly -- or kidneys for that matter, since we don't trust taking our kidneys with us anywhere any more. Some kidneys in Palestine lost their way in the crowds and never came back. We only stamp our feet hard to make sure that the land hears us and open its arms for us to dig our roots further, the trunk of our bodies standing stiff like the trunk of the olive tree, and we spread our hands towards the sky since it is our only escape for freedom...until further notice.

No one dances where there are pools of blood, and I am not talking here about dry cleaning reasons. How can one celebrate by belly dancing, even if it was for a good cause? I tried to find excuses for those people who want to mix activism with pleasure. I thought maybe the dancer was an impressionist, and her belly button symbolized our sinking morals, or she wanted to show us how the underprivileged people of Gaza can't afford to buy clothes. I even thought of donating my spare curtain to cover the dancer's bare body, since it is almost December and she might catch cold. But on the other hand, I thought, the price of the sequins stitched on her activism belt can probably buy her more than a big Mac.

Well, belly dancers and alcohol drinkers, thank you for your efforts, but we Palestinians need sober, healthy supporters. Donations are accepted from those who are doing better than the Gaza people and have enough clothes to cover their cold bodies. Pleeeease do not misunderstand my words. I am grateful. I do appreciate people's kind efforts. But please do not use our plight to have fun. We like to participate in any activist's event that is done in the name of our country. Surely you do not expect us to strip or get drunk to feed the orphans of Gaza. And from my humble point of view, serving mountains of food to fund some aid for starving children is bad taste, I would say.
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Iqbal Tamimi is an exiled Palestinian journalist, living in the UK. She has worked in news TV production, broadcasting and print journalism for almost 17 years and is the founder and organizer of the Palestinian Mothers' network for human rights.

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THERE'S NO FAIRNESS IF ONE DOESN'T HEAR BOTH SIDES !!

Steve Clemons Interviews Khaled Meshal @ October 17, 2009

The Long Path Out of Denial: Zionism, Heartache, and a New Vision of Israel and Palestine

Sam says ...

This is a long (but moving) article, thus, I will provide the link only. It is a must read for my Jewish subscribers.

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By Kim Chernin http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/nov_dec_09_chernin

Kim Chernin, Ph.D., a feminist writer and psychotherapist who practices in Berkeley, has won acclaim for her numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This article is adapted from her new book, Everywhere a Guest, Nowhere at Home: A New Vision of Israel and Palestine.

They are seeing the light, one by one ...
Sam
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Another Divisive Wall

Queen Rania of Jordan

Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Posted: November 9, 2009 07:40 AM

The fall of the Berlin Wall: what a testament to the power of peaceful revolution. Even as a high school student in Kuwait, it was impossible not to be swept up in the emotion, as I watched people clamber to freedom, family and friends for the first time.

And yet, for me, and for so many other people in the Middle East, and around the world, the anniversary is bittersweet. It is a reminder, as if one was necessary, of another divisive wall that we are desperate to tear down and consign to the annals of history: the ugly expanse of concrete and barbed wire that runs through the West Bank, most notably splicing Jerusalem and mutating its cherished and sacred history.

As the people of Germany celebrate a wall coming down, the people of Palestine are overwrought by a wall going up.

According to the Israeli government, their "Separation Barrier" is meant to divide Israel from Palestine, and protect Israelis from attacks. But to 'protect' illegal Israeli settlements, the wall snakes deep into Palestinian land, cleaving families from friends, homes from schools and universities, and workers from their land and their jobs. Innocent Palestinians, suffocated. A nation, imprisoned.

According to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, the wall cuts off half a million Palestinians from the rest of the West Bank. Communities are being forcibly torn apart. Not 20 years ago, but today.

It has been five years since the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel should cease construction, dismantle the wall, and pay reparations to affected Palestinians. But the "Separation Barrier" is now 400 km, double its length at the time of the court ruling. Israel continues to ignore this legal ruling and construct the barrier which, they claim, is only two-thirds complete.

I know this wall is only the symptom of a greater division - the figurative wall of hate, fear, and mistrust that divides the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. But that does not justify - legally or morally - what is happening in Palestine. It is an affront to human freedom, an assault on human dignity, a scar on our collective well-being. Until the barriers, blockades, and barbed wire are history, Palestine's history will be irreconcilable.

Today, we celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall; next year, we will celebrate the end of Apartheid in South Africa. These two events taught us that when barriers are removed - whether physical barriers, legal barriers, or the walls people build in their hearts - the ground is laid for progress, peace, and development for both sides. The people of my region yearn as well for justice and reconciliation.

What better way to honour these anniversaries than to tear down another wall?
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SOURCE
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Twenty years after Berlin, Palestinians crack Israel's wall

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Marking the 20th anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Palestinians tore down a section of Israel's wall in the West Bank village of Ni'lin on Friday.

During a weekly protest against the barrier, which cuts through the Ramallah-area village's center and isolates residents from 60 percent of their farmland, some 300 demonstrators methodically dismantled a concrete section before Israeli forces opened fire.

"Twenty years ago, no one imagined that the monstrosity that divided Berlin would ever be taken down, but it took only two days to do it," participant Muhib Hawaja told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.



"When one concrete part started to come down partially, the Israeli army arrived and started shooting large amounts of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and even live ammunition," said organizer Ahmad Mesleh. "Dozens of soldiers came through the gate and are currently following the demonstration into the village."

Mesleh said protesters first gathered in front of Ni'lin's health clinic, where they prepped supplies and marched toward the wall. They burned tires and removed an eight-meter concrete slab with a hydraulic car-jack.

"Twenty years ago, no one imagined that the monstrosity that divided Berlin would ever be taken down, but it took only two days to do it," participant Muhib Hawaja told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

"Today we proved that we too can pull it off, right here and right now. That is our land beyond the barrier, and we have no intention of ceding it. We will triumph because justice is on our side," he added.
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SOURCE
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ADC Thanks 36 House Representatives who Opposed H.RES 867

... and THAT was yesterday:

Iqbal Tamimi (@PALESTINIAN MOTHERS)

Yesterday, the US House of Representatives voted 344-36 in support of the remarkably biased H. Res. 867 which called on the President and the Secretary of State to unequivocally oppose any endorsement of the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. During the debate on the House floor, it became increasingly clear that the Members of Congress who voted for H. Res. 867 had not read the report, and instead were relying on inaccuracies and deeply flawed arguments made around the Report. By passing this resolution, Congress sent a message yesterday that it does not stand for the accountability of war crimes committed in Gaza, the protection of civilians, and/or the restoration for peace.

Though the vote was very one-sided, 36 Members of Congress – 33 Democrats and 3 Republicans - courageously voted to oppose H. Res. 867, and correctly pointed out that the opportunity of holding a hearing on the Report did not even exist, and that such resolution does nothing to promote peace and accountability. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) urges you to recognize and thank these 36 US House Representatives for exhibiting real leadership by contacting them TODAY.

Please see below for the list.

Arizona: AZ-4: Edward Pastor (D), AZ-7: Raul Grijalva (D)

Arkansas: AR-2: Victor Snyder (D)

California: CA-6: Lynn Woolsey (D), CA-7: George Miller (D), CA-9: Lee Barbara (D), CA-13: Fortney Stark (D), CA-23: Lois Capps (D), CA-35: Maxine Waters (D), CA-51 Bob Filner (D)

Indiana: IN-7: Andre Carson (D)

Kentucky: KY-4: Davis Geoff (R)

Louisiana: LA-7: Charles Boustany (R)

Maryland: MD-4: Donna Edwards (D)

Massachusetts: MA-1: John Olver (D), MA-3: James McGovern (D), MA-9: Lynch Stephen (D)

Michigan: MI-13: Carolyn Kilpatrick (D), MI-15: John Dingell (D)

Minnesota: MN-4: Betty McCollum (D), MN-5: Keith Ellison (D)

Missouri: MO-1: William Clay (D)

New York: NY-11: Yvette Clarke (D), NY-22: Maurice Hinchey (D)

North Carolina: NC-4: David Price (D), NC-12 Melvin Watt (D)

Ohio: OH-10: Dennis Kucinich (D)

Oregon: OR-3 Earl Blumenauer (D)

Texas: TX-14: Ronald Paul (R), TX-25 Lloyd Doggett (D),

TX-30 Eddie Johnson(D)

Virginia: VA-8: James Moran
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Washington: WA-3: Brian Baird (D), WA-7: James McDermott (D)

West Virginia: WV-3: Nick Rahall (D)

Wisconsin: WI-2: Tammy Baldwin (D)

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non sectarian and non partisan, is the largest Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980, by former Senator James Abourezk to protect the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38 chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in the country, and members in all 50 states.

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U.S. HOUSE CONDEMNS GOLDSTONE REPORT ON 344-36 VOTE

THAT WAS TWO DAYS AGO ...

3 November 2009

BY NATASHA MOZOVAYA and BARAK RAVID
Haaretz

The U.S. House of Representatives condemned a UN report Tuesday that accuses Israeli forces and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes in Gaza early this year as irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy.

On a 344-36 vote, the House passed a nonbinding resolution that urged President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to oppose unequivocally any endorsement of the report. Twenty-two representatives voted present.

The report, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, accuses both Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group of war crimes but presents Israel’s actions as much more serious.

The Ros-Lehtinen/Berman resolution defines the report as “biased and unworthy of further consideration,” U.S. Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, said recently at the Jerusalem Conference.

The report “paints a distorted picture,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

It “epitomizes the practice of singling Israel out from all other nations for condemnation.”

Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Chairwoman of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, warned lawmakers that further consideration of the Goldstone report could seriously harm Middle East peace negotiations.

“Israel, like all sovereign nations, has the responsibility to respect human rights and adhere to international law,” she said, “However, its defense of its citizens against attacks by Hamas militants simply cannot be conflated with terrorist actions.

“Facilitating a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is among our most important foreign policy priorities, and further consideration of the Goldstone report could hinder movement toward peace negotiations,” said Lowey.

However, opponents of the House move warned that although the resolution was non-binding, it would hurt U.S. credibility as a broker of Middle East peace.

The National Jewish Democratic Council urged Democratic members of Congress to support the resolution and denounce the commission’s report.

“The Obama administration has made it abundantly and repeatedly clear that they stand with Israel against the distorted Goldstone Commission report. And as this legislation correctly asserts, the report is indeed ‘irredeemably biased,’” the JDC said in a statement.

“We concur with the findings of the Ros-Lehtinen/Berman resolution that this report is deeply flawed, and that the U.S. government should do all in its power to stop this report in its tracks at the UN, lest it be used to undermine Israel’s fundamental right to self-defense in the future.”

Israel urges West to reject Goldstone report

Meanwhile, Israel has called on Western nations to speak out against any endorsement of report when the matter comes up for deliberation at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

Israel has told the countries of the European Union and other friendly nations that it expects them to vote against any resolution proposed by the Arab states on the report.

The deliberations will revolve around a draft resolution by Arab states
calling for the adoption of the report and the transfer of the debate from the General Assembly to the Security Council. The resolution also calls for an independent inquiry by Israel into Operation Cast Lead and the presentation of its conclusions in three months.

Senior officials at the Foreign Ministry described the Arab resolution as very extreme and said it constitutes an escalation of the attacks against Israel in international forums.

A vote is not expected immediately, but Israeli sources say one is likely by the end of the week.

On Tuesday, Britain and France, representing the EU, held talks with
representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Arab states at the United Nations in an effort to soften the proposed resolution.

Accordingly a Franco-British document representing the EU has been drafted, describing “red lines” that the resolution should not cross if the Arab states and the Palestinians expect Western support.

Essentially, the offer seeks to avoid the transfer of deliberations from the General Assembly to the Security Council or the International Criminal Court at The Hague. The Europeans are asking Israel and the Palestinians to agree to an independent inquiry into the war and a return of the matter to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

A notable element in the Arab draft resolution is a failure to mention Hamas; it refers only to the Palestinians, even though the original Goldstone report mentions Hamas and accuses it of carrying out war crimes along with Israel.

Whatever form it takes, the Arab resolution is expected to gain a majority with 130 votes. However, if it remains extremist and the Europeans refuse to support it, there is a chance that around 60 countries will vote against it or abstain.

Foreign Ministry director general Yossi Gal told ambassadors on Tuesday that any further support for the Goldstone report would have a negative effect on the peace process and undermine democracies’ right to self-defense.

ADL director to Goldstone: As a good Jew, repudiate report

Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman of ADL called on Goldstone to repudiate his report: “I have had great respect for you over the years. Your work at the head of the South Africa Reconciliation Commission and in helping to find a just solution to the Bosnian conflict deserves the highest commendation.

“Moreover, I know you to be a proud Jew who serves on the Board of Trustees of Hebrew University and who has a daughter living in Israel.”

“With this background, I wondered in the first place how you could take on the chairmanship of the investigation of the war in Gaza mandated by the UN Human Rights Council,” he said. “After all, the Human Rights Council has repeatedly demonstrated its bias against Israel and in its stated mission for the investigation began with assumptions presuming Israeli guilt.”


http ://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=47855

A new OCEAN??

A 35-mile rift in the Ethiopian desert is giving scientists a rare look at an epic process



Giant Crack in Africa Will Create a New Ocean

By LiveScience Staff

posted: 02 November 2009 05:23 pm ET

A 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia will likely become a new ocean eventually, researchers now confirm.

The crack, 20 feet wide in spots, opened in 2005 and some geologists believed then that it would spawn a new ocean. But that view was controversial, and the rift had not been well studied.

A new study involving an international team of scientists and reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds the processes creating the rift are nearly identical to what goes on at the bottom of oceans, further indication a sea is in the region's future.

The same rift activity is slowly parting the Red Sea, too.

CONTINUE >>>
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Israeli bulldozers demolish two Jerusalem homes

Jerusalem – Ma'an – Israeli bulldozers demolished two Palestinian houses in the Ath-Thuri neighborhood of Jerusalem on Monday morning, according to a statement from the Al-Quds Center for Social and Economic Rights.

The center's research and documentation department reported that a third house was damaged in the event of the demolitions, and that some 20 people were displaced ...

CONTINUE >>>

... and at the end it reads: "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hesitantly reitarted her opposition during a news conference on Saturday night, following a question from New York Times reporter Mark Landler, who asked if she still stood by her condemnation of the ongoing Israeli policy.
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"I have nothing to add to my statement," Clinton responded. "I continue to stand by what I said then."
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DEAR MRS. SECRETARY OF STATE - WHEN WILL YOU (and countless others) ACCEPT THAT ISRAEL DOESN'T GIVE A HOOT ABOUT YOUR "CONDEMNATION" ... THEY ALWAYS (since 1948) DID WHAT THEY WANTED (and got away with it) AND WILL CONTINUE DOING SO UNTIL SOMEONE WILL HAVE ENOUGH BACKBONE TO CREATE A NEW REALITY FOR THEM !!
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Ashrawi: US treats Israel as a state above the law

Ramallah – Ma'an – Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi, spoke of the “serious slowdown” in the US position on the Israel-Palestine conflict in a number of recent interviews, stating that the US has succumbed to Israeli pressure regarding settlements, and the future of Jerusalem.

Ashrawi noted that this change in attitude towards Israel constitutes a reversal of the promises made by US President Barack Obama who initially stressed the importance of a settlement freeze as necessary to reopen the peace process.

Ashrawi’s comments come after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday expressed support the view that a freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank should not be a precondition for renewed negotiations.

A member of the PLO’s executive committee, Ashrawi was one of the main early proponents of the two-state solution to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.

Ashrawi further stated that the US now deals with Israel as "a state above the legitimacy of international laws.” She went on to state that by continually standing by Israel’s side, the US is effectively placing further hurdles to overcome in bringing about a viable peace.

In addition, she stressed the importance of Palestinian unity and the need for a strong position by the leaders of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority regarding negotiations.

Dr Ashrawi further called upon Arab states to intervene, to acknowledge their responsibility to the Palestinian question and to defend the rights of Palestinians.
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Die Golda-Kriege

von Gideon Levy
15.10.2009 — Ha'aretz

— abgelegt unter: Naher Osten

Diejenigen, denen die Schuld gegeben werden muss, sind gefunden worden: „die Goldstoners“. Nicht die Besatzung, nicht die Siedlungen, nicht die israelische Aggressivität oder Brutalität: es ist nur Goldstone. Nach Ari Shavit (Haaretz 8. Okt.) der Geist des Richters Richard Goldstone wird uns den nächsten Krieg bringen und er wird der Goldstone-Krieg genannt werden.

Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanyahu wiederholte dieses Gefühl mit erstaunlich ähnlichem Terminus in dieser Woche in seiner Rede in der Knesset. Seit Golda Meir sagte, sie würde den Arabern nie vergeben, dass sie uns zwingen, ihre Kinder zu töten, gab es solche selbstgerechte, ärgerliche und schädlichen Statements. Es ist ziemlich sicher, dass der nächste Krieg zu einer Zeit und an einem Ort ausbrechen wird, den Israel bestimmen wird. So ist es bei allen Kriegen seit 1973 gewesen. Wir haben drei unnötige Kriege auf Israels Initiative angefangen wegen „Goldas Geist“ nach Ari Shafit und seinesgleichen, die den Krieg als ein legitimes Mittel und sogar als eine wünschenswerte Waffe ansehen.

Der nächste Krieg wird also auch ein „Golda-Krieg sein, wie jener verfluchte Krieg von 1973, der hätte vermieden werden können, wenn nicht Goldas Geist gewesen wäre. Shavit und die andern Goldas, mit Selbsttäuschung und moralischer Blindheit beschäftigt, die anstacheln, unterdrücken und lügen, die jede Möglichkeit einer gerechten Lösung zurückweisen – sie sind es, die ihn bringen, genau wie ihre Vorgänger.

Die Goldas tun alles Mögliche, um ein Friedensabkommen zu vermeiden. Sie jammern und spielen das Opfer.

„Israel erleidet unaufhörlich Terrorakte,“ lamentiert Shavit. Der Terror hat seit langem fast aufgehört, doch das beendet die Behauptung nicht, dass sie „unaufhörlich“ weitergeht.

David feuerte Qassams auf Goliath, Goliath reagierte wild. Man kann auch ein Boxen zwischen Mike Tyson und einem 5Jährigen einen Wettkampf nennen – aber die Proportionen, oh die Proportionen!!

Sie, die Goldas, ignorieren auch die Belagerung von Gaza, als ob diese nicht die Hauptursache für die Qassams sind. Und sie sind selbstgerecht.

„Um zu verhindern, dass die sowieso schon schlimme Situation der Region im kompletten Chaos endet, muss Israel alle paar Jahre Gewalt anwenden,“ schreibt Shavit, wobei er vorsätzlich die Tatsache verschweigt, dass diese Kriege für nichts anderes gut sind als zur Aufrechterhaltung der Besatzung, Kriege für Immobilien (Siedlungen). Ja, um dies aufrecht zu erhalten, muss man alle paar Jahre einen Krieg führen.

Operation Cast Lead hat die Hamas nicht geschwächt, wie Shavit überraschend feststellt, er stärkte sie. Die zeitweise Stabilität, die danach erreicht wurde, hätte durch ein Waffenstillstandsabkommen erreicht werden können – ohne das schreckliche Blutvergießen.

Aber die Herzen der Goldas sind hart, wenn es sich um Abkommen handelt. Sie wollen Blut, Feuer und Rauchschwaden, möglichst von Phosphorbomben.

Und wer schädigt die imaginären Errungenschaften von Cast Lead? Die Goldstoners, natürlich. Er ist nur ein international anerkannter, geschätzter Richter, ein mutiger Liberaler und ein Kämpfer für die Menschenrechte, ein Mann mit Gewissen, der es wagte, hier das zu tun, was er in Ruanda und im früheren Jugoslawien getan hat.

Dort jubelten sie ihm zu, während sie ihn hier anklagten, den nächsten Krieg zu verursachen. Slobodan Milosevic hätte es nicht besser sagen können als Shavit. Der Präsident von Serbien erkannte die Autorität des Den Haager Tribunals auch nicht an. Auch er hatte Sicherheits- und patriotische Rechtfertigungen, und auch er gab den Goldstoners die Schuld für alles. Aber die Goldstoners sind die wahren Patrioten und der Goldstone-Geist reflektiert jüdische Geschichte besser als der Goldageist.

Die Goldstoners erkennen die jüdische Tragödie an, und genau deshalb glauben sie, dass Israel einem moralischen Verhalten verpflichtet ist. Sie wollen Israel nicht isolieren, nicht denunzieren und unterwandern, eher seine Methode und seine Politik, die in den Abgrund führt.

Cast Lead ist es , das Israels Ansehen ruiniert, nicht die Berichte, die danach geschrieben wurden. Diejenigen, die einen neuen solchen Krieg verhindern wollen, in der Art, die die Goldas monströs als „Schaffung einer Infrastruktur der Stabilität“ nennen.

Etwa 1400 Menschen wurden getötet und Zehntausende wurden verkrüppelt und obdachlos gemacht – für eine „Infrastruktur der Stabilität“, die weder eine Infrastruktur ist - noch stabil.

Den Goldas sagen wir: Jede Granate, die auf einem Haus im Gazastreifen landet, schadet uns mehr als ein Bericht. Diejenigen, die Israel isoliert haben, das ist die Regierung, die IDF und ihre demagogischen Cheerleaders.

Ja , wir Goldstoners wünschen uns ein anderes Israel. Eines für das ein Krieg die letzte Option ist, eines, das die Besatzung beendet, eines, das sich darum bemüht, der Stolz seiner Bürger zu sein und nicht eines, über das sich seine Bürger schämen müssen. Wenn es doch nur mehr Goldstoners hier gäbe und weniger Goldas, dann könnte dies möglich sein.

Gideon Levy
Gideon Levy ist israelischer Journalist aus Tel Aviv und arbeitet für die Tageszeitung Ha'aretz unter anderem als Chefredakteur der Wochenendbeilage. Er gehört zu den wenigen israelischen Journalisten, die über das Leben der Palästinenser unter der israelischen Besatzung berichten, und ist wegen seiner kritischen Berichte, Angriffen seitens der israelischen Leser und Kollegen ausgesetzt.

Orginalartikel: Dieser Artikel ist NICHT auf www.zmag.org erschienen!
Übersetzt von: Ellen Rohlfs


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If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

Bishop Desmond Tutu

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A CEILING MURAL IN A SMOKER'S LOUNGE

HILARIOUS - I JUST HAVE TO SHARE THESE FOLLOWING IMAGES WITH YOU ....

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NO COMMENT ...

I guess I'd get a heart attack ... BATHROOM PAINTED FLOOR!!!

Imagine you are at a party on the 10th floor of a hi-rise building ..

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You have to visit the bathroom ...

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You're in a hurry ...

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You open the door ...

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... and then THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Could you ... I mean ... be honest !!

THE LADY IS GETTING READY TO ENTER!!

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This is a picture of a public toilet in Houston ...

Now that you've seen the outside view,
take a look at the inside view..


It's made entirely of one-way glass! No one can see you from the outside, but inside it's like sitting in a clear glass box!

Now would you go?

COULD YOU....??

"Life begets life.

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Energy creates energy.

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It is by spending oneself ...

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... that one becomes rich."

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Sarah Bernhardt

Why has the Egyptian authority burned the Palestinian aid?

By Iqbal Tamimi

The headlines came in some newspapers two days ago screaming ‘ The poor of Sinai are looting the aid of the poor of Gaza’...this is alarming I thought, the aid was there for a very long time, no one from AlAreesh’s poor ever touched a grain of rice before, what was happening?

It was found that at the early hours of dawn, few boys ran towards the sport stadium in AlReesh where tons of humanitarian aid for Gaza was piling up, they have started to loot whatever their hands could reach, and then tens of grownups followed them to take what remained of the food and other urgently needed aid for Gaza.

Is this possible I thought? Why there were no security forces to guard those tons of aid in food and other consumer goods especially that it was supposed to reach the orphans and the needy in Gaza who suffered the Israeli bombardment and the siege?

It has been reported that one of the witnesses said that ‘the poor kids were able to loot a large amount of food aid which has been lying there in the sun since last January’...But then he burst to tears.

I guess he was crying because both the one’s on the Egyptian side who committed the looting and the people of Gaza on the other side who are supposed to get the aid are both extremely poor. At least one of them should have benefited from the food.

Other witnesses said that there were some Egyptian police security present but the children threw some stones at them and kept them away, others said that they have phoned the police and reported that there is looting going on, but the police never responded.

One wonders, why this aid that was laying there since January has not been looted before or delivered. The answer came from the poor of AlAreesh themselves. One boy carrying a bag of rice on his shoulders in a hurry said: ‘we are not thieves, we are only poor. We came to take whatever we can benefit from because the authorities piled everything here to burn it; we are taking rice, flour, tinned food, oil, cheese, and blankets’.

The Egyptian police refused to comment on the looting, but confirmed that the tons piling there were gathered to be burned down because all of it was inedible any more; all expired and no more safe for human consumption.....WHY on Earth such thing has been allowed to happen?

Why tons of food aid to starving people was not allowed to go through to Gaza? Why feed the fire instead of feeding the people on either side? Why the North Sinai Governor Mohamed Shousha, and the Red Crescent official, failed to respond to all the attempts to call them? Why burn all this effort that has been a collaborative effort of millions of people and charity donors around the world? Why Egypt has steeped so low?????

It was found that the authorities in Egypt has already burned down in May more than 250 tons of food aid that came originally last January as a donation from the Libyan people, after months exposure to the heat of the sun and finding out that it was no more edible or fit for human consumption. Why Egypt would not facilitate the delivery of the food to the starving poor in Gaza? Through the sea...through the crossings...through the air...or even through the tunnels that was gassed by the Egyptian authorities to deter any hungry soul from reaching out for a loaf of bread.....why Egypt are you frightened of being caught red-handed while trying to feed the hungry orphans?

Why Egypt?

WHY????

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South Africans 'fought in Gaza war'

Efforts to prosecute those who may have committed war crimes in Israel's war on Gaza have spread beyond the Middle East.

A lawyer in South Africa has identified 75 South African nationals who he says were fighting with the Israeli army in the war earlier this year.

Feroze Boda, based in Johannesburg and working on behalf of two local pro-Palestinian organisations, says the soldiers should face court action for their involvement.

Imran Garda reports from Johannesburg.

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America, stop sucking up to Israel

YES!!!!!!!!

01/11/2009
By Gideon Levy

Barack Obama has been busy - offering the Jewish People blessings for Rosh Hashanah, and recording a flattering video for the President's Conference in Jerusalem and another for Yitzhak Rabin's memorial rally. Only Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah surpasses him in terms of sheer output of recorded remarks.

In all the videos, Obama heaps sticky-sweet praise on Israel, even though he has spent nearly a year fruitlessly lobbying for Israel to be so kind as to do something, anything - even just a temporary freeze on settlement building - to advance the peace process.

The president's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, has also been busy, shuttling between a funeral (for IDF soldier Asaf Ramon, the son of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon) and a memorial (for Rabin, though it was postponed until next week due to rain), in order to find favor with Israelis. Polls have shown that Obama is increasingly unpopular here, with an approval rating of only 6 to 10 percent.

He decided to address Israelis by video, but a persuasive speech won't persuade anyone to end the occupation. He simply should have told the Israeli people the truth. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived here last night, will certainly express similar sentiments: "commitment to Israel's security," "strategic alliance," "the need for peace," and so on .

Before no other country on the planet does the United States kneel and plead like this. In other trouble spots, America takes a different tone. It bombs in Afghanistan, invades Iraq and threatens sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Did anyone in Washington consider begging Saddam Hussein to withdraw from occupied territory in Kuwait?

But Israel the occupier, the stubborn contrarian that continues to mock America and the world by building settlements and abusing the Palestinians, receives different treatment. Another massage to the national ego in one video, more embarrassing praise in another.

Now is the time to say to the United States: Enough flattery. If you don't change the tone, nothing will change. As long as Israel feels the United States is in its pocket, and that America's automatic veto will save it from condemnations and sanctions, that it will receive massive aid unconditionally, and that it can continue waging punitive, lethal campaigns without a word from Washington, killing, destroying and imprisoning without the world's policeman making a sound, it will continue in its ways.

Illegal acts like the occupation and settlement expansion, and offensives that may have involved war crimes, as in Gaza, deserve a different approach. If America and the world had issued condemnations after Operation Summer Rains in 2006 - which left 400 Palestinians dead and severe infrastructure damage in the first major operation in Gaza since the disengagement - then Operation Cast Lead never would have been launched.

It is true that unlike all the world's other troublemakers, Israel is viewed as a Western democracy, but Israel of 2009 is a country whose language is force. Anwar Sadat may have been the last leader to win our hearts with optimistic, hope-igniting speeches. If he were to visit Israel today, he would be jeered off the stage. The Syrian president pleads for peace and Israel callously dismisses him, the United States begs for a settlement free ze and Israel turns up its nose. This is what happens when there are no consequences for Israel's inaction.

When Clinton returns to Washington, she should advocate a sharp policy change toward Israel. Israeli hearts can no longer be won with hope, promises of a better future or sweet talk, for this is no longer Israel's language. For something to change, Israel must understand that perpetuating the status quo will exact a painful price.

Israel of 2009 is a spoiled country, arrogant and condescending, convinced that it deserves everything and that it has the power to make a fool of America and the world. The United States has engendered this situation, which endangers the entire Mideast and Israel itself. That is why there needs to be a turning point in the coming year - Washington needs to finally say no to Israel and the occupation. An unambiguous, presidential no.
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No one understands why the Egyptian authorities are insisting on making any effort to help the Gaza people a total misery.

PRESIDENT MUBARAK - WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING THIS?

By Iqbal Tamimi
(FOUNDER OF PALESTINIAN MOTHERS)
1/11/2009

No one understands why the Egyptian authorities are insisting on making any effort to help the Gaza people a total misery.

The humanitarian convoy ‘Miles of Smiles’ that is bringing aid to disabled people in Gaza is made of many good ordinary people who abandoned their jobs and home comforts to bring some help to the needy in Gaza, yet since 3 weeks they are held in Port Said in Egypt and forced to pay a $5.000 fine every single day for being on an Egyptian ‘floor’ even though they are held and delayed by the Egyptian authorities.

The Egyptian authorities are insisting that the convoy should only go by sea to AlAreesh instead of the usual path of previous convoys. Even though there is no reason what so ever that they should not be allowed to go by land.

The convoy members proposed to the Egyptian authorities that they can travel at night and load the aid in big trucks, but they were refused such permission.

The convoy also offered to cover all the vehicles just in case the Egyptian authorities are worried that Israel would know that Egypt is helping the disabled and the needy in Gaza, or should the authorities were worried that such convoy will gain the emotional support and momentum from the local Egyptians who are frustrated by their own government's policies, but they were refused such solution as well.

They also offered to go in individual vehicles one at a time and not as a convoy, and their request was denied too.

They even proposed that instead of paying $100.000 cost fee just to go through the sea from Port Saed to AlAreesh, that they can donate $30.000-£40.000 for any local charity project in Port Said, and be allowed to continue their trip by land, but the Egyptian authorities also refused this proposal and said NO.

Every single solution proposed by the humanitarian aid group ' Mile of Smiles' was rejected by the Egyptian authorities.

All the above proposals were refused by the Egyptian government, even though the same people on the convoy came earlier in June along with the 'Hope' convoy and entered then from Rafah.

The Egyptian authorities also allowed the convoy of George Galloway to go through the same route only two months ago, what is going on? Why they are tightening their fists on every help coming to Gaza?

Is Egypt benefiting financially and economically and politically from the Gaza plight? By the way does anyone know how much money was pouring in Egypt through fining the convoys? Pricing the supplies that are bought in Egypt? The expenses and costs those humanitarian convoy members have paid on stamps and living cost day by day? Thousands of people came to help Gaza through Egypt and held against their will in Egypt for long periods...does anyone have a calculator guys?

I would love to receive any comments on such costs.

Shame on those whose pockets' swell with money out of the misery of the hungry, the poor, the homeless and the disabled.
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