(Larnaca, Cyprus, 10:00 am) On Tuesday, December 30, at 5 a.m., several Israeli gunboats intercepted the Dignity as she was heading on a mission of mercy to Gaza. One gunboat rammed into the boat on the port bow side, heavily damaging her. The reports from passengers and journalists on board say that she is taking on water and appears to have engine problems. When attacked, the Dignity was clearly in international waters, 90 miles off the coast of Gaza.

The gunboats also fired their machine guns into the water in an attempt to stop the mercy ship from getting to Gaza.

As the boat limps toward Lebanon, passengers have been in contact with the Lebanese government, who say the captain has permission to dock and are willing to lend assistance if needed. Cyprus sea rescue has also been in touch, and offered assistance as well.

The Dignity clearly flies the flag of Gibraltar, is piloted by an English captain and has a passenger manifest that includes Representative Cynthia McKinney from the U.S. The Israeli Government Press Office director was faxed the passenger list and press release last night, after Dignity set sail. The attack was filmed by the journalists, and crew and passengers will report on Israel’s crime at sea on arrival in Lebanon.

On board the boat are doctors traveling to this impoverished slice of the Mediterranean to provide badly-needed relief at the hospitals there. The crew and passengers were also hoping to take wounded out for treatment, since the hospitals are totally unable to cope. In addition, the Dignity was carrying 3 tons of medical supplies at the request of the doctors in Gaza.

The three physicians on board who were sailing to Gaza are: Dr. Halpin (UK), an experienced orthopaedic surgeon, medical professor, and ship’s captain.

Al-Haq is proud to announce that its recent documentary, “Memory of the Cactus,” directed by Hanna Musleh, took first place in the Dubai International Film Festival in the category of best documentary.

The film addresses the story of the destruction of the Palestinian villages of Latroun in the Occupied West Bank and the forcible transfer of their civilian population in 1967. Over 40 years later, the Israeli occupation continues, and villagers remain displaced. Currently the site of the villages is home to the Canada Park, which was built with funds from the Jewish National Fund of Canada.

To view a trailer of the documentary, please click here.

Denial of entry to UN Special Rapporteur demonstrates once again Israel’s duplicity in its relations with the UN

AL-HAQ ALERT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REF.: 39.2008E
17 December 2008

As a Palestinian human rights organisation dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq is deeply concerned over Israel’s expulsion of the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Professor Richard Falk.

Invoking Professor Falk’s “politicised views” and “methodic criticism of Israel,” the Israeli authorities denied the Special Rapporteur entry to Israel on his way to the OPT on 14 December 2008. He was expelled from Ben Gurion International Airport on 15 December 2008, and thus prevented from carrying out official functions in the context of his mandate as the UN’s independent reporter on the human rights situation in the OPT. The Special Rapporteur was scheduled to meet with officials from the Palestinian National Authority, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as human rights organisations and UN agencies working throughout the OPT. However, Israel’s disapproval of Falk’s presence was reflected in several statements by spokespersons of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as Yigal Palmor, who referred to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur as “profoundly distorted and conceived as an anti-Israel initiative.”

Israel has repeatedly criticised the Human Rights Council for an alleged bias on evaluating Israel’s human rights performance. However, on 4 December 2008, Israel, like 47 other States this year, was reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review, a newly established UN monitoring mechanism that reviews the human rights records of all 192 UN member states. The review of Israel resulted in a total of 54 conclusions, most of which drew attention to the continued and systematic violations of international human rights law in the OPT (a draft report can be found here). The review also included several recommendations for Israel to better cooperate with UN Special Rapporteurs as a means of improving the human rights situation on the ground. While Israel’s response purported to demonstrate cooperation with the UN reporting mechanisms on the basis that it has allowed the entry of seven Special Rapporteurs into Israel and the OPT during the last three years, it belied the selective nature of this cooperation.

Several Special Rapporteurs who have requested a visit to Israel and the OPT have not been granted permission, such as the Special Rapporteurs on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (requested in 2002 and follow up request in 2007); on violence against women, its causes and consequences (requested in 2001); and on adequate housing (requested in 2005). Further, the expulsion of Professor Falk marks the latest in a string of high profile human rights experts, scholars and observers denied entry to Israel and/or the OPT this year, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and his Human Rights Council mandated fact finding mission.

As a UN Member State, Israel is under an obligation not only to uphold international human rights law and standards, but also to cooperate with UN institutions and mechanisms which work to promote and protect universally acknowledged human rights, including the UN Special Rapporteurs. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the OPT has provided the Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation with a unique means to alert the international community of the violations of international human rights and humanitarian law that are committed by the Israeli Occupying Power in the OPT.

Israel’s duplicity and hypocrisy in dealing with the UN manifested itself once again on 16 December 2008 in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement in which, just a day after expelling the UN Special Rapporteur, Israel expressed its commitment to the “peace process” and the implementation of the so-called “Road Map,” of which the UN is a principle guardian.

In this light, and in light of the recommendations made during the recent Universal Periodic Review of Israel, it is deplorable for Israel to deny the UN Special Rapporteur entry to the OPT. This denial not only constitutes a blatant assault on democracy and on the proper functioning of UN mechanisms, but also violates Professor Falk’s freedom of expression and opinion, while deliberately undermining his ability to perform his duty to monitor and document the human rights situation in the OPT in any meaningful way. The very purpose of the UN as a guardian of universal human rights is forfeited if the functioning of its special procedures is contingent on approval by a given State.

In light of these concerns Al-Haq calls upon:

• the Human Rights Council to pass a resolution to formally condemn Israel’s expulsion of the UN Special Rapporteur on the OPT; and

• UN Member States to exert pressure on Israel to grant Professor Falk a visa to enter Israel and the OPT in his official capacity as Special Rapporteur.

- Ends –

Al-Haq, PO Box 1413 - Ramallah, West Bank
Tel: +972 2 295 4646/9 Fax: +972 2 295 4903
media@alhaq.org - http://www.alhaq.org

Report from CADFA http://www.camdenabudis.net/

• the news that 230 Palestinian prisoners have been released by Israel. BUT … some light is cast on who they are by this Abu Dis example:

The Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) and Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies proudly announce re-inaugurating the Nativity Trail from Nazareth to Bethlehem in 2009.

Now, 2000 years after the historic journey of Joseph and Mary, the modern city of Bethlehem invites you to make a symbolic and historic journey by walking Palestine’s Nativity Trail.

This walking trail was originally inaugurated in 1999. However, the route has been recently researched again and modified to suit the new changes on the ground

Meeting the people while walking the Nativity Trail will be an opportunity to meet a diverse range of people: Franciscan priests on Mount Tabor, Muslim clerics at village mosques, Greek Orthodox monks in desert monasteries, hillside farmers and their families, small-town shopkeepers and craftspeople, Bedouin shepherds watering their flocks at ancient cisterns, and many more interesting people.

The Nativity Trail is an opportunity to understand the Geopolitical situation in the Holy Land by observing it while walking through the valleys and mountains of Palestine. It gives the participants the chance to have a first hand experience of the situation on the ground.

The Nativity Trial is not just a trip; it is a journey of dialogue, openness and interaction with new people.

Participants will be able to understand the Flora and Fauna of Palestine and the Bible, and will be able to embrace the culture that lasted in Palestine for thousands of years.

Dates:

• 12 Mar 2009 until 23 Mar 2009
• 23 Apr 2009 until 04 May 2009
• 08 Oct 2009 until 19 Oct 2009
• 29 Oct 2009 until 09 Nov 2009
• 12 Nov 2009 until 23 Nov 2009
• 13 Dec 2009 until 24 Dec 2009 ( Christmas Trail)

For more information about the Nativity Trail please visit our website:www.atg.ps; www.sirajcenter.org

You are most welcome,

ATG and Siraj

[ATG are long-standing partners of Olive Cooperative, and we would like to take this chance to highly commend their work and recommend their tours - Ed]

Tzipi’s Nation-State

IT SOUNDS like an invented story. And indeed it is.

In this tale, an American politician gets up and declares: The United States was founded by British Protestants who were persecuted in Europe for their Puritan beliefs. Therefore, the United States is an Anglo-Saxon Protestant state.

And he goes on: the United States is also a democratic state. Therefore, people with another background – such as Native Americans, Africans, Latinos, Asians and Jews – enjoy full equality. But they must know that the United States is an Anglo-Saxon nation-state, while they belong to other nation-states.

Sounds far-fetched? Indeed it is. No American politician would dream of uttering such a statement, even if he might feel it in his heart.

Here in Israel one can say such a thing, and nobody gets excited.

THIS WEEK Tzipi Livni did just that. She was speaking to high-school pupils – the audience preferred by our politicians, who know that the great majority of them are conformists who will listen to anything without protest. Standing in front of these pupils, boys and girls, who will be called up by the army in a year or two, Tzipi disclosed her inner convictions.

Israel, she said, is a Jewish and democratic state. The Arab citizens enjoy full civil rights. But they must know that this is the Jewish nation-state, while they belong to another nation, and their nation-state will be the putative Palestinian state.

This statement did not arouse a storm, not on the spot and not in the media. It does not contradict the convictions of most Israelis. The public accepts the view that Israel is a Jewish state, and that its Arab citizens are, at most, a tolerated minority.

What is special about Tzipi Livni is her emphasis on the two words “nation state”. She has made them into her trademark and repeats them at every opportunity. They give her statements a certain respectability, the halo of a thought-out world-view, which makes her sound different from Ehud Olmert, Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, who, of course, think exactly the same.

NO ONE denies that the world is divided into nation-states. The nearest thing we have to a world parliament is called the “United Nations”, meaning “United Nation-States”. The question is only: what is a nation-state?

In historical terms, the nation-state is a relatively recent phenomenon. Only a hundred years ago, large parts of Europe belonged to multi-national empires. It was the dynasty that united the empire, not the national identity of the subjects. The Austrian Empire included people of more than a dozen nationalities, and so did the empire of the Russian Czar.

Actually, the national idea crystallized only in the 18th century. More and more thinkers adopted the view that a society with a common origin, a common cultural identity, a common language (mostly), a common territory and (usually) a common religion should be united in a state of its own, which should belong to them alone, and enjoy national independence.

The timing was not accidental. All over Europe, mass education systems sprang up and all the peoples developed a national consciousness. Slovaks and Slovenes began to wonder why they should be subject to the Austrian crown, Lithuanians and Latvians no longer found it natural that they should be oppressed by the Russian Czar. At the same time, economic and technological advances demanded states big enough to sustain a modern economy and a large enough army to defend its citizens (and perhaps to attack neighboring countries).

The classic nation-state was France. It developed a French nation with a nationalist world-view and a national pride, and that imposed its language and culture on the peoples that became part of France either by agreement or by force – Alsatians in the East, Corsicans in the South, Basques in the West, Bretons in the North. British nationalism absorbed the Scots, the Welsh and some of the Irish. The people that were swallowed up by the big nations generally accepted this and developed a pride in their new nations. The Corsican Napoleon Bonaparte was the Frenchman par excellence, and the Jew Benjamin Disraeli created the British Empire.

That was the heyday of the classical nation-state: a national state, homogenous as far as possible, which at most tolerated its minorities or persecuted them outright, that demanded national conformism within and made little pretense of morality in its dealing with other nation-states.

It seems that Tzipi Livni takes such a nation-state as her ideal. But developments have long since left that stage behind.

The nation-state has not died, but it has changed almost beyond recognition.

THE UNITED STATES, too, is a nation-state. But that nation is very different from the one Tzipi Livni is dreaming about.

The American nation is composed of all the citizens of the United States. Lithuanians, Argentinians and Vietnamese become members of the American nation the moment they receive their citizenship. The heritage of Washington and Lincoln is conferred on them together with their passport. They are not required to change their religion or skin-color.

The ultimate confirmation of the success of this system has been given by the election of Barack Obama, the grandson of a Muslim from Kenya. Throughout the stormy election campaign, no one seriously claimed that he was not a complete American.

The American flag and the American constitution unite this modern nation. The President does not swear loyalty to the Fatherland, but to the constitution. Not the skin-color is important, not the ethnic origin, nor religion or language. Only citizenship. Even the requirement that the citizen should know at least basic English is not enforced as strictly as it once was.

The term WASP – White Anglo-Saxon Protestant – has long since been reduced to a half-jocular appellation. Demographic experts predict that in not so many years, the Whites of European origin will be a minority in the American nation-state. But it seems that this piece of news did not arouse a storm of alarm and anger.

Everybody understands that the future and robustness of the US-American nation do not depend on the religion and race of the American people. Therefore, there is no “demographic problem” in America. Neurotic demographers like our Arnon Sofer would be considered cranks over there.

AS IN several other areas, the United States is a model for the rest of the world in this respect, too.

In Europe, the old nation-states persist. Even after World War II, when the Europeans woke up from their fatal nationalist intoxication and came to the conclusion that they had to create a united Europe, they rejected the idea of a unified European nation on the American model. They did not establish the “United States of Europe”, but rather a “European Union”, which is composed of a large number of nation-states. Yet a German or a Frenchman of 200 years ago would not believe their eyes if they were to walk down Unter den Linden or the Champs Elisee today.

The European nations are changing. They are opening up to the world. The idea of a homogenous nation, based on a common origin, is fading. Slowly, perhaps too slowly, tolerance towards “the stranger in our midst” is growing, and citizenship is granted to inhabitants with a different ethnic origin and religion, like Turks in Germany and Africans in France. It is a difficult process that does not always advance smoothly, but that is the direction.

It is also necessary for the very survival of the European nations. Their birth-rate is decreasing, there are fewer and fewer local workers to sustain the economy and pay the taxes to cover the pensions of an aging population. Europe needs a steady stream of new immigrants, and these will join the European nations.

Angela Merkel will not tell her Turkish citizens: “You can enjoy equality here, but you belong to the Turkish nation-state”. One can hardly imagine Gordon Brown telling the British citizens of Pakistani extraction: “Your nation-state is Pakistan.”

The Arab citizens of Israel can be compared to the Swedish citizens of Finland. These constitute about 6% of the population, but they play an important role in the economy and other spheres of life. All signs in Finland are bilingual. Finland belongs to all its citizens. Ariel Sharon’s advisor, Dov Weisglas, once said that “peace will come only when the Palestinians become Finns”. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that peace will come only when we ourselves “become Finns”.

The Israeli Arab citizens in Kafr Kassem and Um-al-Fahm, near the Green Line, can be compared to the Alsatians in France, who have been living there for untold generations. Several times in history they have belonged to Germany. The last time was when Adolf Hitler annexed them to the Third Reich. Nowadays, the Alsatians are as French as any, with equal rights and obligations, and other aspects do not interest anybody. Would the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian nobleman, declare that “the nation-state of the Alsatians is Germany?”

I KNOW, I know, all these examples do not apply to us. We Jews are special. Fact is, God chose us.

But with all due respect to God and Tzipi Livni, I must tell the Kadima candidate: ”Madam, what you are saying is already a little obsolete.” Since Vladimir Jabotinsky was born 128 years ago into the Jewish minority in Odessa, much water has flown down the Dniester river, and I am not sure that even he would have signed Tzipi’s statement. When he wrote that in our future state “the son of the Arab, the son of Nazareth and my son” would live happily together, did he mean that the Jewish state he was dreaming about would not be the state of its Arab citizens, too?

I believe that nation-states will continue to exist for a long time to come. It seems that this is the social structure contemporary people prefer for the time being. A person feels a need for national identity.

But it will not be a narrow, closed nation-state, compulsively homogenous, based on nationalist-religious-linguistic conformity, hostile to its neighbors. The new nation-state will be open and cosmopolitan, respectful of minorities, a state of all its citizens, integrated in a regional partnership, a part of the global economy, a partner in the joint struggle for the preservation of this little planet.

That may be the future. And when does the future begins if not today?

permlink:  http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1229205376/

Winner of Lloyds TSB Asian Jewel for Business & Commerce to return award in protest at banks actions against UK charity
By Tim Saunders, 10th December 2008
(Please visit the link below to sign a petition requesting Lloyds TSB to stop denying humanitarian aid to 5 million Palestinian refugees and forward to people you know)
http://www.petitiononline.com/FOSISPal/petition.html
Kettering Town Chairman Imraan Ladak will return his 2007 Lloyds TSB Asian Jewel Award (awarded for the extraordinary growth of DRC Locums and Locumlinx) after learning that the bank, recently bailed out by billions of pounds of British taxpayers money, are on the verge of ending humanitarian aid for up to five million Palestinian refugees in desperate need, by cutting off the charity Interpal’s (who have raised over £50m) banking facilities.
The Kettering Chairman feels he has no choice as “Lloyds TSB’s plans can only result in escalating the horrific suffering of innocent children, supported by those with racially motivated agendas. I no longer trust that Lloyds TSB follow the equal opportunities and anti-racist principles the Asian Jewel Awards are based upon. At Kettering Town, like the majority of British football clubs, we value success on and off the field equally. “Off the field” includes supporting and promoting humanitarian causes and dozens of charities and we won’t change these principles, even for a Goliath like Lloyds TSB.”
This evening, Kettering Town (leading scorers in the history of the FA Cup and first club to ever have a shirt sponsor) will continue their quest for FA Cup glory, wearing their Interpal shirts live on Setanta Sports, having displayed the Wateraid and Interpal charities instead of corporate sponsors regularly since July 2007. Gianfranco Zola, Les Ferdinand and Christian Karembeu are some of the legendary footballers that have played for Kettering Town in the charities shirts.
As most are aware, the beleaguered Palestinians have been the victims of ethnic cleansing and sixty years of human rights violations - condemned by 69 United Nations resolutions and almost every country in the world, resulting in a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions. This slow genocide, described by former US President Jimmy Carter as “one the the greatest human rights crimes on earth” and the great Nelson Mandela as “apartheid” is solely because they were born Palestinian. However, the success of Interpal’s humanitarian efforts is at odds with the racially motivated aspirations of those behind the suffering who have made unsupported and damaging allegations against Interpal, with the sanction of the George Bush regime.
The UK Government and Charities commission on each occasion have investigated these allegations and found them to be without merit. Following a two year legal challenge, the Board of Deputies were forced into a substantial out of court settlement and a humiliating apology after having repeated such allegations
When Kettering Town agreed to display Interpal on its playing shirts, they received the congratulations and letters of support from several MP’s within the Labour Party, Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats.
In November 2008, it was reported that Lloyds TSB – the bank that had just received billions in aid from the taxpayer – were trying to stop Interpal from trading.
Kettering Town FC immediately contacted Lloyds TSB to ascertain why a charity, supported by the UK government and it’s main opposition parties, the United Nations and the UK Charities commission was under threat. Lloyds wrote back:
“Lloyds TSB does not hold or never has held accounts for Interpal. Furthermore, Lloyds TSB would not direct nor would it be appropriate for us to direct another institution on how to deal with its own customers.”
However Kettering Town FC are now in possession of a letter from Lloyds TSB (acting as a clearing bank) to IBB (with whom Interpal bank), dated 8th October 2008 which states:
“We are writing to you to give you notice that, from the date falling on the sixtieth calendar day following the date of this letter”..(Eid – the festival somewhat akin to Christmas)..“we do not wish you to transfer, receive, process or in any way deal with any funds, or in any way whatsoever (acting either as banker or agent on behalf of the Customer) be involved with any type of banking arrangements for Interpal…”
This letter clearly indicates that the information Lloyds TSB provided Kettering Town FC was inaccurate at best, downright misleading at worst.
Kettering [Town] have since written to the Lloyds TSB Chairman Sir Victor Blank, who was a Chair of UJS Hillel, a member of “Labour friends of Israel” and a Governor of Tel Aviv University (which sits on a site where scores of innocent Palestinian women and children once lived before their homes were bulldozed). Alas, it appeared Sir Victor Blank was too busy planning the Lloyds TSB/HBOS merger to reply to little old Kettering Town FC’s interest in starving children.
Kettering then wrote to Sir David Manning GCMG CVO who only joined the Lloyds TSB board in May 2008, having previously been an ambassador to Israel, sure that a newly appointed board member would have the time to explain why Lloyds TSB were trying to stop aid to the most desperate of people. To date they have had no response.
However Kettering Town FC have received renewed statements of support from MP’s who are trying to lobby our Prime Minister Gordon Brown to ask his good friend Sir Victor Blank to reverse this sickening act by Lloyds TSB.
We trust the Prime Minister will ensure race does not determine if banks process charitable donations.
Selected letters of support:
“I have seen for myself the excellent work that Interpal does funding hospitals, health clinics, nurseries, schools and orphanages in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Because of the current conflict and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Palestine, the work of charities like Interpal is even more essential. As a reputable charity, audited by the Charity Commission, I know that every pound given to Interpal will help to improve the lives of children, women and families in Palestine and I commend this excellent initiative by Kettering Town FC.”
Dr Phyllis Starkey
Labour Member of Parliament
Milton Keynes South West
“As a member of the International Development Committee I have seen at first hand some of the excellent projects that help improve water and sanitation services in Africa and elsewhere. Anybody who works on development issues in the Middle East also knows that millions of Palestinians face appalling levels of poverty and deprivation - whether they are cut off from the outside world in Gaza, in the occupied West Bank or in refugee camps in other parts of the region. That is why the work of groups like Interpal is so important. I congratulate Kettering Town FC for supporting the valuable work done by both of these charities.”
Richard Burden
Labour MP
Birmingham Northfield
i>”…I am writing to say that I applaud your initiative in raising funds for Water Aid and Interpal.
I know that Water Aid is active with regard to water provision in Africa and Asia, whilst Interpal is providing humanitarian aid to the displaced Palestinian people. Whatever one’s views of the situation in the Middle East, it must be right that peoples of all nationalities and persuasions have access to clean water, sanitation and other basic facilities and this is no less true for Palestinians in refugee camps as it is for Israeli people living in new settlements.
So, as Kettering’s local MP, I am very happy to support Kettering Town Football Club in encouraging charitable donations via Interpal and I very hope that as much of the money raised as possible goes to help people in desperate need.”
Philip Hollobone
Conservative MP
Member of Parliament for the Kettering Constituency
House of Commons
“I am delighted to learn of the sponsorship for Interpal and can I wish Kettering Town every success for the new season”
Colin Breed
Liberal Democrat MP for South East Cornwall

What’s happening in Gaza? How does the video project work? How do they get their data?

This is your chance to ask their researchers, data coordinators, video department and anyone else all those questions you never got around to asking. You’re more than welcome to invite your friends too.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 9:00am    —to—   Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 7:00pm

Write anytime during these 48 hours and they’ll post a reply. Please, keep the questions informative and the tone decent! They’re here for any of you who want to learn more about our work.

See you next Wednesday!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=43424622002
The B’Tselem team

I have seen an old Palestinian watch while the Israeli Army bulldozed his olive trees, pushed his wife into the dirt, clubbed his sons, and drove him out of his house “for security reasons.” Armed only with his anger and his helpless tears, he faced down their guns by shouting “Who will help us? Where is Osama Bin Laden? I will become Osama Bin Laden.”

Since the Israeli Courts, EU or USA will not, and Arab states cannot, help him, I know that Arab youth will. Since even international solidarity movement activists, and MPs, are arrested by Israel, the only vehicle for their idealistic help is Bin Laden.

Just say this, and Howard Jacobson blames you for the terrorism and for anti-semitism. In his mind, exposing Israeli war crimes is an offence worse than the crimes themselves.

If the persecution of Palestinians ends, terrorists would have no support base. If propagandists like Jacobson stopped persecuting anyone who speaks out against Israel, the sooner these crimes would be exposed and ended, and the safer we all will be.

Propaganda kills, Howard, so stop it.

Rod Cox

Chester and Palestine exchanges Ltd, Chester