{"id":10649,"date":"2013-05-15T11:58:09","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T11:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/?p=10649"},"modified":"2014-07-01T11:19:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T11:19:39","slug":"may-15-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haimbresheeth.com\/gaza\/2013\/05\/15\/may-15-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"May 15, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"boycott-israel-anim2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

47 years to the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights!<\/h2>\n

2273 Days to the Israeli Blockade of Gaza:<\/span><\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Heroes of the IDF arrest children in Hebron<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/h1>\n

End Israeli Apartheid <\/span><\/h1>\n

Now!<\/span><\/h1>\n

Support Palestinian universities – it is what people under the Israeli jackboot ask you to do<\/span><\/h2>\n

Any army fighting against children, has already lost the war!<\/span><\/h2>\n

Israeli War Criminals and Pirates – to the International Criminal Court, NOW!<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Make Zionism History!<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Demand the destruction of Israeli WMDs NOW!<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Prof. Hawking breaks the Wall down, by Carlos Latuff<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 15, 2013<\/span><\/h1>\n

65 Years to the Nakba, and it is still going on!<\/span><\/h1>\n

EDITOR<\/strong>: How many times will we have to mark this day with the occupation and injustices continuing?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nakba is almost as old as I am myself (always was… I was born in 1946) and I now feel the terrible weight of it more than ever before. Having been involved in ant-Zionist activity for over four decades, I sometimes feel we have achieved very little in all this time. Apartheid is now stronger than ever, and Israel itself seems to be stronger than when I started my activity in the early 1970s; not only stronger militarilly, but it has also become an economic success story, marketing death and destruction to every corner of the globe under the banner of ‘security’ and ‘defence’. Never before was Israel so safe with its protectors in the west – US and the EU, Canada and Australia. Never before were the Palestinians so divided, weak and leaderless, as well as totally in awe of the might of the occupation army, navy and airforce, supplied by the same allies. Never before was Israel’s war against its critics so expansive and expensive. Never before were the settlements so toxic and vast, so central in Israel’s heart of government. It all seems so hopelerss on overcast days in London.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, one then remebers the great successes of the BDS campaign recently, crowned by Prof. Hawking retraction from the President’s Conference 2013 in Israel, and the many smaller ones dotted all around the globe, coming thick and fast. The Gursian poll of its readers found two thirds of them supported the move by Hawking, and in the US, the public severe critique of Israel rose by 10% to 41%; of course, the governemnts of these publics are only more committed to continue and support Israeli atrocities, so this becomes a real political issue in these countries, one we will have to develop and exploit. No doubt the BDS campaign has now started to hurt Israel. and it is fighting back with all its might, and with its friends in high places. We have no such resources at our command, neither did we have them in the 1979s and 1980s, when fighting Apartheid in South Africa. But the struggle was won then.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Occupied Palestine, the struggle goes on, regardless. Israel and its allies have not managed to defeat or subdue the struggle by Hamas in Gaza, despite all the death and destruction which they meted out to the blockaded city. Despite the PA submissiveness, Israel has not managed to force it to sign away the teritory, as it wishes to do. The links between Palestine and communities all over the world is only intensifying.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the wider arena, the so-called Arab Spring is uncertain and spluttering, and in many places, especially in Syria and the Gulf, has gone into reverse. Nonetheless, the historical process of democratisation of the Arab East is afoot, and likely to be long, painful, and ultimately successful. A democratic Arab East will never play Israel’s dirty games, like Mubarak and Sadat did. This success of this process is crucial for a just solution in Palestine.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was won simply because of the great wave of public sympathy to the cause of defeating the unjust and inhumane forces of apartheid and racism; this can happen again, and is most likely to, if only we can bring the struggle for just peace and equality in Palestine to the public attention everywhere, and BDS is the best tool for this task. We will just have to go on, be even better at it, and we shall win over racism and apartheid in Palestine. The single, democratic state in Palestine will be there one day.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Nakba anniversary, refugees make almost half of population:<\/a> WAFA<\/h3>\n

14 MAY 2013
\nBy WAFA \u2013 Palestine News and Infor Agency \u2013 14 May 2013<\/p>\n

RAMALLAH \u2013 On the eve of the Nakba (catastrophe) 65th anniversary, the refugees make almost half of the total Palestinian population, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While statistical data show that refugees constitute 44.2% of the total Palestinian population in Palestine, records by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) showed that there were 5.3 million registered Palestinian refugees by mid-2013, constituting 45.7% of the total Palestinian population worldwide, said the PCBS.<\/p>\n

It said 59% of the refugees live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, 17% in the West Bank and 24% in Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

About 29% of registered refugees live in 58 refugee camps, of which 10 are in Jordan, nine in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank, and eight in Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

The PCBS said, however, that these estimates represent the minimum number of Palestinian refugees, given the fact that there are many non-registered refugees.<\/p>\n

These estimates also do not include Palestinians who were displaced between 1949 and the 1967 war and do not include the non-refugees who left or were forced to leave as a result of the war in 1967.<\/p>\n

The number of Palestinians who remained in their towns and village in 1948 after the Nakba was estimated at 154,000. Their number is now estimated as 1.4 million on the 65rd anniversary of the Nakba.<\/p>\n

In 1948, 1.4 million Palestinians lived in 1,300 Palestinian towns and villages in historic Palestine. The Israelis controlled 774 towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns and villages during the Nakba.<\/p>\n

More than 800,000 of the population were driven out of their homeland to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, neighboring Arab countries and other countries of the world.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian population worldwide is estimated 11.6 million by the end of 2012, said the PCBS. This means that the number of Palestinians worldwide has multiplied eight-fold in the 65 years since the Nakba.<\/p>\n

A total of 5.8 million live in historic Palestine and this number is expected to rise to 7.2 million by the end of 2020, based on current growth rates, said the PCBS.<\/p>\n

EDITOR<\/strong>:Letter to Hawking, that made him pull out from the Pered do<\/span><\/p>\n

Below is the letter sent to Hawking by a large and influential group of scientists. The Caricature apopeared in Forward, the Jewish paper of NYC, but having tried it on two Zionists, I can report they took it straight, and did not get the irony… Good evidence Zionism is bad for you; it certainly damages your humour gland…<\/span><\/p>\n

Letter sent to Prof. Stephen Hawking<\/a>: BRICUP<\/h3>\n

This letter was distributed by Jonathan Rosenhead of BRICUP<\/strong><\/p>\n

27 April 2013<\/p>\n

Dear Professor Hawking,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As fellow scholars and academics, we are surprised and deeply disappointed to learn that you have accepted an invitation to participate in Israel\u2019s Presidential Conference in June.<\/p>\n

It is entirely natural to wish to accept an invitation to a high profile event of this kind. But can we ask you to reflect further before exercising that reflex.<\/p>\n

Israel has many special features which should give pause, and which indeed are already persuading many academics and cultural figures not to participate with official Israeli institutions. Here are a few of them:<\/p>\n

Discrimination against Palestinians: Israel systematically discriminates against the Palestinians who make up 20 per cent of its population in ways that would be illegal in Britain.<\/p>\n

Systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law: The UN Fact-Finding Mission on the 2008-09 Gaza Conflict concluded that the preceding blockade of Gaza amounted to \u201ccollective punishment\u201d of the people of Gaza. Furthermore it found that Israel\u2019s Cast Lead offensive involved numerous breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the likelihood that \u201dwar crimes and crimes against humanity\u201d had been committed.<\/p>\n

Illegal settlement: Israel has systematically transferred Jewish settlers into the territories occupied in 1967. These transfers breach the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949).<\/p>\n

Access to higher education: Israel places multiple roadblocks, physical, financial and legal, in the way of higher education, both for its own Palestinian citizens and those under occupation.<\/p>\n

Additional information about these claims can be found on the attached sheet.<\/p>\n

Israel has a name for the promotion of its cultural and scientific standing \u2013 \u2018Brand Israel\u2019. This is a deliberate policy of camouflaging its oppressive acts behind a cultured veneer. Since 2005, organisations that comprise practically the whole of Palestinian civil society have called on foreign academics to engage with individual Israeli academics if they wish, but to have nothing to do with state-funded Israeli institutions. By heeding their call we, and you, can provide moral backing to our Palestinian colleagues whose teaching and research have been severely compromised by multiple Israeli policies. We can also indicate to Israeli opinion that participation in the global community comes with obligations.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called the Palestinians\u2019 plight under Israeli control, \u201cworse than Apartheid\u201d. Iain Banks this month wrote of the Palestinian people that \u201ccollectively we have turned our backs on their suffering for far too long\u201d. We very much hope that you will refuse this invitation.<\/p>\n

(signed)<\/p>\n

David Elworthy
\nMohamed El Gomati
\nColin Green
\nNigel Harris
\nNick Humphrey
\nGabriel Khoury
\nAilsa Land
\nFrank Land
\nMalcolm Levitt FRS
\nMoshe Machover
\nMary Midgely
\nDavid Mond
\nMalcolm Povey
\nMartin Richards
\nSteven Rose
\nJonathan Rosenhead
\nTim Shallice FRS
\nDavid Pegg
\nDavid Wield
\nand
\nNoam Chomsky<\/p>\n

Professors in<\/strong>
\nBiology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Electronics, Food Physics, Information Systems, Linguistics, Mathematics, Medicine, Operational Research, Philosophy, Psychology, Technology, Tectonics
\nat<\/strong>
\nCambridge University, Imperial College, Kings College London, University of Leeds, London School of Economics, Newcastle University, Open University, University of Southampton, University College London, Warwick University, University of York and Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n

DELIVERED TO THE UN INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON PALESTINE IN ADDIS ABABA ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE<\/span><\/h3>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My name is Cynthia McKinney and I served as a Member of the U.S. Congress for 12 years. During my time in Congress, I strove to make respect for human rights a central feature in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy.\u00a0 Amid minor successes, I have to say that my efforts while, broadly appreciated by many, failed miserably. That failure stems in part from the peculiarities of U.S. politics that allow policy formulation to deviate from and in many cases become diametrically opposed to the values of the people of the U.S.\u00a0 Sadly, what we in the U.S. call “special interests” are able to buy public policy by way of campaign contributions and misleading media campaigns.\u00a0 These \u201cspecial interests\u201d are aided and abetted in the U.S. by a concentrated media that has no obligation according to U.S. court decisions to tell the public the truth.\u00a0 In other words, U.S. media have won in U.S. court the right to knowingly lie to the people they ostensibly serve.\u00a0 I will briefly delve into this unusual and anti-“democratic” state of affairs now controlling in the U.S. once again before I conclude my remarks.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After my tenure in Congress, I became involved in international human rights activism.\u00a0 During Israel’s Operation Cast Lead (which was its war against Hamas and others), I joined with a group of human rights activists who tried to deliver medical supplies to the people of Gaza; the Israeli Military stopped us.\u00a0 While in international waters, an Israeli Defense Forces warship rammed the pleasure boat that I was on with the other volunteers, and totally destroyed our boat.\u00a0 Neither the medical supplies nor us volunteers reached Gaza.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Approximately six months later, we, the volunteers from the first thwarted effort, reassembled in order to make another attempt to reach Gaza by sea, traveling through international waters, with the hopes of entering into Palestine by way of Gaza’s territorial waters.\u00a0 By this time, Operation Cast Lead had ended, President Barack Obama had been sworn in, and he had appealed publicly for an easing of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.\u00a0 Gazans had made an appeal for school supplies for the children still reeling from the trauma of three weeks of what the United Nations called \u201cone of the most violent episodes in the recent history of the Palestinian territory.\u201d So, some of us answered that call with school supplies for the children and building supplies for the adults so that Gaza could rebuild from the devastation after Operation Cast Lead.\u00a0 On this effort to answer a humanitarian call for help, I, along with 20 other volunteers, was kidnapped by the Israeli military while in international waters, our boat was seized, we were taken by an extremely circuitous route to Israel where we never intended to go, and I was incarcerated in an Israeli prison for 7 days.\u00a0 Sadly, what I witnessed while in Israeli prison pointed to Israel as an apartheid state and the gross mistreatment of, particularly, Ethiopian women who had been lured to the \u201cHoly Land\u201d for job opportunities that vaporized because they were not of the correct religion.\u00a0 In addition to that, my observation at the time was that Ethiopian Jews are used as an important pillar–even enforcer, ironically, of Israeli apartheid.\u00a0 I can expand on this aspect of my observations later if there are specific questions or requests for more information from this body or from individuals in attendance at this Conference.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Needless to say, for a second time, I was prevented from entering Gaza.\u00a0 Upon hearing of my ordeal, Member of Parliament George Galloway who was in Cairo leading \u201cViva Palestina USA,\u201d contacted me and invited me to come to Cairo and enter Gaza by land, which I did.\u00a0 Upon entering Gaza, I was able to see the destruction inflicted on the people by Israel’s Operation Cast Lead.\u00a0 I scooped up a bit of the soil and put it in this container.\u00a0 Sadly, as noted in the Goldstone Report and admitted by the Israeli Defense Forces, this Gaza soil is probably contaminated with whatever remains of the chemicals that were used by the Israelis against the people of Gaza: chemicals ranging from white phosphorus to inert metals.\u00a0 And while I unsuccessfully tried to pass legislation in Congress to end the use of depleted uranium in U.S. munitions because of the health effects, the Goldstone Report mentions that allegations were made that Israel used depleted uranium during Operation Cast Lead, which also might be in this soil.\u00a0 The United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights is also aware that civilian targets were bombed and totally destroyed.\u00a0 I visited a few of those targets.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One stop on my private tour of the destruction in Gaza was the American International School and amid the rubble I spotted a bright yellow something that I couldn’t quite make out what it was.\u00a0 So, I climbed through the jutted shards of concrete and exposed rebar to retrieve the object.\u00a0 This is that object:\u00a0 an English language children’s art book stamped with the initials of the American International School in Gaza., \u201cAISG.\u201d\u00a0 I was standing in what was left of the School’s library.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another stop on my tour of the effects of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead was a neighborhood school, not nearly as big and grand as the American School.\u00a0 There, I could see the path of one missile that blew a hole clear through several walls of the school.\u00a0 There were markings on the chalkboard, including the Star of David.\u00a0 I saw several cans of peanuts on the floor.\u00a0 This is one of them.\u00a0 It is written in Hebrew.\u00a0 The Israeli soldiers blew up the school and then sat down in its ruins and enjoyed peanuts and drew religious and political markings on the chalkboard.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Both boats that I was on were seized by the Israelis and destroyed by them.\u00a0 The humanitarian aid on the boats did not reach Gaza and only token aid was delivered by the land convoy to the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza., the bulk of it stranded in Egypt, not allowed into Gaza by the Egyptians or the Israelis.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is amazing is not only that this happens over and over again, but that Israeli leaders who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, leave office, and are never held accountable for their policies., as was done by victims of Augusto Pinochet, and as is being done currently by the International Criminal Court.\u00a0 Another aspect of this impunity is that Israel continues to receive U.S. weapons and technology which it uses against civilians in contravention of U.S. law.\u00a0 As these weapons are used or become outdated, the U.S. replenishes Israel\u2019s weapons stock every year.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One measure of this impunity is brought to bear by the pro-Israel Lobby that operates in the political sphere of the U.S.\u00a0 I am a former Member of Congress because pro-Israel sympathizers known as the \u201cpro-Israel Lobby\u201d ensured my ouster from Congress and that of many other Members of Congress who dared to try and draw attention to U.S. law, Israel\u2019s human rights violations, Israel’s misuse of U.S. weapons, or any other inconvenient facts that were better buried and left unknown.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What many of you might not know, because these things just aren\u2019t discussed as widely as they should be, is that many of those Members of Congress who were put out of office by the pro-Israel Lobby were the stolen children of Africa, descendants of Africans trafficked in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.\u00a0 I will call the names of a few and tell you where you can find information about them as they tell their own stories:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gus Savage, Member of Congress from Chicago, Illinois was targeted for defeat by the pro-Israel Lobby because he dared to engage in foreign relations within the purview of a Member of Congress on the African Continent, in Egypt among other places.\u00a0 He recounted his ordeal on the Floor of the House of Representatives and revealed the secrets of the pro-Israel Lobby on the Congressional Record where students and others interested in this topic can find his words today:\u00a0 http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/cgi-bin\/query\/F?r101:20:.\/temp\/~r101lw459S:e0:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Earl Hilliard, Member of Congress from Birmingham, Alabama was the first Black Member of Congress to serve the people of Alabama since the U.S. Civil War\u2019s Reconstruction Era.\u00a0 He was ejected from the Congress by the pro-Israel Lobby because he, like Gus Savage, traveled to Africa, and in particular to Libya.\u00a0 He also traveled to Lebanon and learned of new weapons for that time, that had been used there by Israel.\u00a0 For this transgression, Earl Hilliard had to go.\u00a0 He is interviewed in a Dutch documentary that is available on youtube (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EJ6WLB9oRUk) where he describes the vicious campaign that was run against him by the pro-Israel Lobby.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And then, there\u2019s me.\u00a0 Just this month, I published a book entitled, \u201cAin\u2019t Nothing Like Freedom,\u201d (http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/McKinneyII.html) in which I describe just a few of the tactics that were used against me by the pro-Israel Lobby to destroy my career in Congress.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These three political \u201ctake-downs\u201d were very publicly done in order to send a message to others who might also be inclined to speak up out of moral conviction, as Savage, Hilliard, and I did.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This weeding out also occurs on the local level with state and local elected officials like my father and others targeted for defeat because of the potential threat to the interests of the pro-Israel Lobby that they pose.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In addition, on a public and private level, targeted individuals have to endure soft repression that makes life difficult.\u00a0 All of this needs to be put on the record if one is to fully understand the power of the pro-Israel Lobby and the pall that it casts on the political process in the U.S. and from what I have been told, also in Europe.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, the political landscape for Blacks in the U.S. is negatively affected by this weeding out process, because their strongest and most outspoken authentic leaders are vulnerable to the challenges from candidates that are well funded by outside \u201cspecial interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

11.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In light of this, I would like to put this thought to you:\u00a0 can you even imagine what U.S. policy would be like at the United Nations if the will of the people were carried out without the interference of the pro-Israel Lobby?\u00a0 The Durban World Conference Against Racism was a watershed that could be revisited time and time again with U.S. support and participation, except that powerful Lobbies want otherwise.\u00a0 I know, it\u2019s hard to imagine things differently.\u00a0 But it is not hard for me and that is one vision that keeps me going:\u00a0 U.S. policy made in the image of the values of the people of the U.S.\u00a0 At a Conference whose theme is African solidarity with the Palestinian people, I thought it was important to mention not only how the pro-Israel Lobby skews politics in the U.S. against the Palestinians, but also against African-descendants inside the U.S.<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I focus on this important aspect of policymaking by focusing on who gets to make the policy because I believe that this is one key reason why Palestinians are forced to suffer while, at best platitudes and delay, serve as the effective policies of the US and European countries.<\/p>\n

13.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The short version of this tragic story is that pro-Israel forces inside the U.S. are willing to use their money to buy political influence and protection for Israel across the political spectrum while the same cannot be said of pro-peace, pro-justice forces.\u00a0 I liken the situation to game day when one team shows up in beautiful new uniforms with all of the latest and best equipment, primed and ready to execute its strategy in the game of play, while the other team doesn\u2019t even show up on the pitch.\u00a0 I believe that one remaining untested justice frontier is the political battleground in U.S. and European capitals.\u00a0 It is inside these essential capitals that pro-Israel Lobbies have become comfortable operating with very little opposition from the other side.<\/p>\n

14.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I am tired of losing when, I believe, we really do not have to lose.\u00a0 I fundamentally believe that the people of this world are good and want peace.\u00a0 I have spoken to Afghanis and Pakistanis, to Yemenis and to Somalis, Palestinians and Americans, and I find them to be peace-loving peoples.<\/p>\n

15.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So, how do we move from where we are to where we need to be?\u00a0 That is the fundamental question.\u00a0 I focus on the political because the political creates the legal.\u00a0 And the political creates impunity.<\/p>\n

16.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just in my personal experiences, I have outlined breaches of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international law, and U.S. law by the occupying power:\u00a0 Israel.<\/p>\n

17.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I served as a juror on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine that recently concluded its Sessions with a finding that both the U.S. and Europe are guilty of contributing to the atmosphere of impunity with which apartheid Israel carries out its policies against Palestinians and anyone who stands in its way.<\/p>\n

18.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I also recently served as an Official Observer as the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission received testimony from Palestinians on their treatment inside Israel as well as in the Occupied Territories.<\/p>\n

19.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Through my service with both of these organizations, I have met too many courageous Palestinians and Israelis who want to live peacefully with each other and who put their lives and their livelihoods on the line every day for peace and the rule of law.\u00a0 I do believe that much of the suffering could be alleviated if we would put sufficient energy and resources behind putting out in public view how the pro-Israel Lobby misdirects U.S. and European policies and prevents pro-peace and justice politicians from ever having the opportunity to put those values, along with our basic human dignity, permanently on the table for public debate.<\/p>\n

20.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, I am not Palestinian.\u00a0 I am not Arab.\u00a0 I am not Muslim.\u00a0 But I am human.\u00a0 And that is enough for me to acknowledge the dignity of others who are oppressed and to epitomize what this Conference is all about:\u00a0 African Solidarity with the Palestinian People for the Achievement of its inalienable rights, including the sovereignty and independence of the State of Palestine.<\/p>\n

21.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian Nakba: The Resolve of Memory<\/a>: On Islam<\/h3>\n
\n
By\u00a0Ramzy Baroud<\/a><\/p>\n
Columnist and Editor of Palestine Chronicle<\/div>\n
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 00:00<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Old<\/a><\/p>\n
Old keys and deeds of stolen lands attest to the intergenerational experience that is Al-Nakba<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Many Palestinians remember and reference\u00a0al-Nakba<\/em>, also known as the Catastrophe, on May 15 every year. The event marks the expulsion of nearly a million Palestinians, while their villages were destroyed. The destruction of Palestine in 1947-48 ushered in the birth of Israel.<\/p>\n

Older generations relay the harsh and oppressive memory of their collective experience to younger Palestinians, many of whom live their own Nakbas today.<\/p>\n

In covering\u00a0al-Nakba<\/em>, sympathetic Arab and other media play sad music and show black and white\u00a0footage<\/a>\u00a0of displaced, frightened refugees. They rightly emphasize the concept of Sumud, steadfastness, as they show Palestinian of all ages holding unto the rusty keys of their homes and insisting on their right of return.<\/p>\n

Other, less sympathetic media discuss\u00a0al-Nakba<\/em>, if at all, as a side note \u2013 a nuisance in the Israeli narrative of a nation’s supposedly miraculous birth and its progression to an idyllic oasis of democracy.<\/p>\n

What such reductionist representations often fail to show is that while\u00a0al-Nakba<\/em>started, it never truly finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David Ben Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel, once prophesized that \u201cthe old (refugees) will die and the young will forget.\u201d He spoke with the harshness of a conqueror<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Al-Nakba Victims<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who underwent the pain, harm and loss of\u00a0al-Nakba\u00a0<\/em>are yet to receive the justice that was promised to them by the international community. UN Resolution 194 states that \u201cthe refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date\u201d (Article 11).<\/p>\n

Those who wrought this injustice are also yet to achieve their ultimate objectives in Palestine. After all, Israel doesn\u2019t have defined boundaries by accident.<\/p>\n

David Ben Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel, once prophesized that \u201cthe old (refugees) will die and the young will forget.\u201d He spoke with the harshness of a conqueror. Ben Gurion carried out his war plans to the furthest extent possible. Every region in Palestine that was meant to be taken was captured, its people were expelled or massacred in their homes and villages. Ben Guiron \u2018cleansed\u2019 the land, but he failed to cleanse Israel\u2019s past. Memory persists.<\/p>\n

Ben Gurion referenced my own family\u2019s village \u2013 Beit Daras \u2013 which witnessed three battles and a massacre. In an entry in his diaries on May 12, 1948, he wrote: \u201cBeit Daras was mortared. Fifty Arabs (were killed). The (villages of) Bashit and Sawafir were occupied. There is mass exodus from nearby areas (neighbors in Majdal). We sustained 5 dead and 15 wounded. \u201d (War Diaries, 1947-1949).<\/p>\n

Beit Daras Fighters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"15-05-12_h-2\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Those who underwent the pain, harm and loss of al-Nakba are yet to receive the justice that was promised to them by the international community<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

More than fifty people were killed in Beit Daras that day. An old Gaza woman, Um Mohammed \u2013 who I discussed in my last book,\u00a0My Father was a Freedom Fighter\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 refers to what is likely the same event:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town was under bombardment, and it was surrounded from all directions. There was no way out. The armed men (the Beit Daras fighters) said they were going to check on the road to Isdud, to see if it was open. They moved forward and shot few shots to see if someone would return fire. No one did. But they (the Zionist forces) were hiding and waiting to ambush the people. The armed men returned and told the people to evacuate the women and children. The people went out (including) those who were gathered at my huge house, the family house. There were mostly children and kids in the house. The Jewish (soldiers) let the people get out, and then they whipped them with bombs and machine guns. More people fell than those who were able to run. My sister and I\u2026started running through the fields; we\u2019d fall and get up. My sister and I escaped together holding each other\u2019s hands. The people who took the main road were either killed or injured. The firing was falling on the people like sand. The bombs from one side and the machine guns from the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read More on Palestinian Crisis:<\/strong><\/p>\n