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Video from March 20 Anti-War Demo in DC

Excellent demonstration 5,000 to 10,000 marchers. Palestine cause mentioned well in many speeches.

Code Pink speaks

Interview with Madea Benjamin of Code Pink

Cindy Sheehan show

Cindy Sheehan arrest slide show

Cindy Sheehan arrest video

Mazin Qumsiyeh's Stamford Speech

On the history of Palestinian popular peaceful resistance and on Ush Gharb, March 4, 2010

Mazin Qumsiyeh Tells Own Story in the New Haven Register

click here to see Mazin's op-ed

Mazin, of course, did not write the headline. Beit Sahour is not in Israel. It's regarded as Occupied Territory by the U.N. and hence international law. Israeli settlements there are all illegal.

Anna Baltzer Video for Mazin and Other Political Prisoners

(Anna as you may recall wrote a fine book called "Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories". She also appeared recently with Omar Barghouti on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show"

Youtube for Mazin and others by Anna Baltzer

Don't Let them Kidnap Mazin Qumsiyeh

In the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour (next to Bethlehem) settlers and the Israeli Defense Force are defying Obama's call for a settlement freeze and are preparing seized land (Ush Ghrab) for a new Jewish-only settlement. Settlers have defaced a children's playground by drawing Jewish stars all over the facility. People of the Beit Sahour have held peaceful demonstrations to try to prevent the settlement.

One of the leaders of the popular committee in Beit Sahour doing work on this land grab is Dr. Mazin Qumisiyeh an officer of our Middle East Crisis Committee and formerly on the faculty of Yale and Duke universities. He left for a speaking tour of the U.S. on Feb. 28, but on March 2nd the streets around his Beit Sahour home was blockaded by the army at 1:30 in the morning. Army officers told his family that he must report to them. Fears are that he may be abducted by the army on his return to the West Bank The Israelis have a procedure called Administrative Detention, months of prison without charges or trial under grueling interrorgations and miserable conditions.

We can prevent his arrest if there's a MASSIVE publicty campaign about Ush Ghrab and plans to abduct Mazin Qumsiyeh, letters to the media, Congress, etc. etc.. Watch this space for further information. WE HAVE TO GET THIS CAMPAIGN IN FULL GEAR WITHIN A WEEK.

Who is Mazin Qumsiyeh?

BACKGROUND INCLUDING VIDEO

NEW Facebook page

...NEW Youtube for Mazin and others by Anna Baltzer

How to Help Mazin and Beit Sahour

Noam Chomsky, Tony Judt, Philip Weiss, Felicia Langer
and a list of others ask you to do what you can to Stop a Jewish-only Settlement in Beit Sahour and Help Prevent the Kidnapping of Mazin Qumsiyeh (list in formation)

Years ago the great Israeli activist Israel Shahak told us, "Don't just send protest letters to Israel. The officials don't care." What they do care about is losing support from the U.S. and Europe, losing buiness and being embarrassed face to face.

Keep that in mind when you think of things to do. What you need to send to Israel are concrete evidence that you're revealing the ugly state of Israeli apartheid through published letters to the editor and Congress, street protests, etc. Here are some things you should try

Write letters to the editor of local and national papers and SEND COPIES TO Israeli authorities.

Read and download a copy of our petition to the President, and Congress, get people to sign it and fax them to us.

Sign the online petition. Make sure you fill the first name and last name boxes separately.

Petition powered by ThePetitionSite.com

Contact national and local media, Amy Goodman, editors of Nation magazine, Joe Klein of TIME, Bob Herbert of the New York Times, and any liberal, left of open minded person you might know in the national media. Then start collecting phone numbers and emails of state media and contact them about what's going on. Ask them to write about Beit Sahour.

Write to Israeli columnists Gideon Levy, Amira Hass, Akiva Eldar, Bradley Burston.

Write to and call to progressive Jewish organization, JVP, Mondoweiss, (Challenge J Street if you have some spare time, though I suspect it will be useless)

Write to Palestine solidarity and left political groups and ask them to join the campaign.

Invite us to speak at an event in your locality. Call MECC at 203-934-2761

If you know Mazin or have heard him speak or oppose apartheid settlements make a short video and stick it up on YouTube.com

And we, of course, could use money

Visit this page frequently for updates. This article will by hyperlinked to specific emails as the hours pass.

March 9 -- Contact Member of Congress Rosa DeLauro Day

http://delauro.house.gov/contact_form_casework.cfm?subject=All Other Issues

Phone: 202-225-3661

This is what I sent by the web email address above:

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh a Palestinian-American who was one of your constituents for nine years and who is living now in Beit Sahour on the West Bank in Palestine is under threat of arrest. Since Feb. 28 he's been on a speaking tour in the U.S. On March 2 Israeli troops blockaded his neighborhood came to his house and demanded he come out. When his family explained he was in the U.S. they were told he had to report to military headquarters today March 8.

We fear that when he returns he will be put into Administrative Detention, no charges and no trial and a term of often 9 months under harsh conditions.

We believe it stems from his decades of activism for Palestinian rights and in particular from his participation in peaceful protests of a plan to take land from Beit Sahour and establish an illegal Jewish-only settlement. Full details are at www.TheStruggle.org

We ask that you contact the State Department and Israeli authorities directly and insist that they not detain this American citizen.

mazin (12K)

Mazin Qumsiyeh

We Gave Israel $60 Billion

In a two page debate on the pages of Newsweek (February 22, 2010) Roger Cohen, columnist for the New York Times, talks about the "incredible largesse that the United States shows toward Israel- over the past decade, almost $60 billion." Shocking. That's more than twice the amount that usually is said to be the figure in aid. Cohen is being refreshingly honest, no doubt adding in all the bennies (loan guarantees, money up front, tax-deductible gifts, etc., etc.) that are rarely mentioned. See the full article by clicking here.

Congressman Says U.S. Should Defy Gaza Blockade

The Israeli paper Ha'aretz reports that Washington state Congressman Brian Baird is calling for the U.S. to break the blockade of Gaza. "We ought to bring roll-on, roll-off ships and roll them right to the beach and bring the relief supplies in, in our version of the Berlin airlift," he said, adding that the supplies could be delivered to UN aid agencies.

This goes far beyond the statement of 54 members of Congress callling for easing of the blockade. Baird is the Congressman in the district of the late Rachel Corrie's family. Apparently he has been educated. Reportedly he is not planning to run for re-election. Thank him by web email at https://forms.house.gov/baird/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Perhaps now would be a good time to let your local Congressman or woman know how you feel about the blockade of Gaza.

Talk to Hamas

"As Israeli soldiers we hang our heads in shame over last year's attack on Gaza's civilian population. Dialogue, not war, is needed"

Great article by two Israeli soldiers. Click here for it......... Click here to donate to their group.

Many Events in March for Palestine

"Israeli Apartheid Film Festival", Mazin Qumsiyeh in Stamford, Bill Doares at Yale, Najla Said's new play in New York City

Click here for details

Encounter with Justice Goldstone

by Stanley Heller, February 8, 2010

I was less than overwhelmed by Justice Goldstone's speech and remarks at Yale University on January 27th. I have no training in law, but found his presentation unfair to Palestinians.

Goldstone unfair to Palestinians? This will come as a shock to those who see the man vilified and threatened daily by apartheid worshipping scum. For instance ...

for the full article click here

The Spell is Broken

Stanley Heller writes on last week's Anti-War Confernce at MIT, oil vs. Zionism as the cause for U.S. interventions and the danger of "911 Truth"

The most important thing shown at the MIT Anti-War Conference last weekend was that the U.S. Left has realized it can safely denounce our war mongering President. Speaker after speaker criticized Obama and his continuation and escalation of Bush's wars. Gone was the reluctance to criticize a Black President. Gone was the illusion that Obama's election was a boon to activism.

To my mind the most important speech was by Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report. His group has had no illusions about Obama, whom he called "imperialism's favorite candidate". Ford said that his group noticed that Obama had taken his October 2000 anti-war speech off his website just at the time when he began being touted by the corporate loving Democratic Leadership Council. Ford said this "struck fear in us, dread". They realized that the supposed epoch making progress in elected a Black man as President could blind people to his total surrender to corporate politics. Ford points out that for the first time in memory the U.S. black political leadership did not raise one single demand during the 2008 campaign, fearing that to make any demand "might embarrass discomfort or burden" Obama. Ford said this "unilateral shutdown" caused confusion in White Left which takes its cues from Black Left. Progressives "demobilized" themselves just at a time when the capitalist system "collapse" left the system open to deep criticism.

for the full article click here

Mazin's Best Talk

Mazin Qumsiyeh has given many talks about Palestine, but I think this one was one of his very best. It was given late last spring in Cambridge, MA and we've finally got the audio up online.

Click here for "Living Again in the West Bank"

54 in Congress Sign Letter to Obama on Gaza

click here to see the letter and the names

Haiti and Gaza

Stanley Heller reflects on what people in Gaza think about the disater in Haiti and he muses about a possible connection between Pat Robertson and the Price of Darkness

How are they feeling about Haiti in Gaza?

What do they think about when they see video of those collapsed buildings and homeless people? Horror, shock, confusion? Is this Haiti or is it Gaza?

What do they think when they see the armada of vehicles loaded with supplies coming to help Haiti? Warships, helicopters. Planes, boats.

What do they think, locked down in the Gaza Strip, the testing ground for every kind of wall, the testing ground for every new Israeli weapon, the testing ground for killing by sanctions? ...

(this is the beginning of the piece. To HEAR all of it click here.)

Cartoonists Look at Mubarak

...

.................Khalil Bendib..........................................................................................................Carlos Latuff...........................

Mission Accomplished

The Viva Palestina Convoy reached the Gaza Strip and handed over the keys to two hundred vehicles to Palestinians there. They were full of humanitarian supplies. The trucks traveled thousand of miles and were on the road for a month.

The convoy was hindered by the Egyptian regime every step of the way. 55 people on the convoy were injured when the convoy was attacked at one point in El-Arish. 7 were arrested, let go and were do to be rearrested when they left Gaza for Egypt. George Galloway, Member of the British Parliament, and leader of the convoy movement was arrested by the Egyptians, deported from the country and told he may not return. He was called a "troublemaker". Click here for latest. People from the convoy were able to stay in Gaza only 48 hours. As they were leaving the Israeli Air Force bombed the strip and killed three people.

Egypt was the site where Obama gave his high sounding blather about a new U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

Three New Audios

---Chris Hutchinson, member of the Gaza Freedom March, speaking from the West Bank
---Stanley Heller reads Najwa Sheikh's Newest Letter from Nusseirat Camp in Gaza
---Stanley Heller's remarks on Dec. 27 on the One Year Anniversary of the Gaza Massacre

To hear them click here

In Cairo Freedom March Defies Mubarak Police State

Dec. 31 Denied their human right to travel to starving Gaza, Gaza Freedom Marchers brought the demonstration to the Egyptian Police State, sitting down in an important street before being dragged away and roughed up by police. For daily reports by Chris Hutchinson in Cairo click here For audio interviews click here.

The Gaza Freedom marcher on the left is Hedy Epstein 85 year old American (an Holocaust survivor) who is on a hunger strike .

One of the Gaza Freedom Marchers Marie Renee of France died of an apparent heart attack in Cairo. Reportedly she was not involved in any of the demonstrations. Rest in Peace Hero.

Jan 1. Gaza Freedom March protest banner "NEW YORK TO GAZA" photo (by Ahmad Shirazi) was selected by the NY Times as one of the photos to document the decade: click here

Meeting and March Demands End to Gaza Siege

The Charter Oak was filled yesterday with people from CT calling for an end to the Gaza Siege and free passage in Egypt for the Gaza Freedom March. Brittany Florio told about the 1,4000 Gaza Freedom Marchers and the decision by the Mubarak regime to close the Israel Gaza border. Stanley Heller of the Middle East Crisis Committee denounced Egyptian and U.S. collaboration in the siege and questioned whether it was time to start boycotts of Egypt. Haidar abu Shaqra described the difficult conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank as well as Gaza. Nada Khader spoke of her horror of seeing a Gaza Massacre photo of a toddler who was trapped for days with the corpses of his parents about the effectiveness of barrages of calls and emails to the embassys.

Then we had a brief march of our own to the Federal Court House in Main St. chanting "Gaza, Gaza Don't you Cry, Palestine Will Never Die", "1,2,3,4 We Don't Want Your Racist War, 5, 6, 7, 8, Open Up the Rafah Gate".

video of our march

We auctioned off several copies of Joe Sacco's brand new book "Footnotes in Palestine" about the 1956 massacres in Gaza and took time to write letters to the Egyptian Consul. Then there was entertainment. Musician Rich Siegel played his "In Palestine" which he wrote along with David Lippman. We were interrupted by "Joe Foxhole" with his naked zionism take on things. Foxhole proved to be a persona of musician-performance artist David Lippman.

* Breaking News **

Egyptian Regime Barring Both Missions

George Galloways' VivaPalestine convoy is stuck in Jordan trying to get permisson to into Egypt. The Gaza Freedom Marchers have arrived in Egypt, but they being told they may not go to Rafah and their buses have been cancelled. Several score French marchers staged a rally on their consulate in Cairo.

We have to help them by calling and writing.

MECC sends $725 to Code Pink for Gaza Freedom March

We raised this money at a house party for the march. We also are partially financing the trip of two Free Gaza Marchers through our SeePal (See Palestine) program.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Sought for War Crimes

Haaretz reports that an arrest warrant was issued for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in the United Kingdom for war crimes in connection with the Israeli attack on Gaza last winter.

While Livni is afraid to go to Britain she was in New Haven a few months ago where she was given a warm reception at Yale University. In America the murder of 300 Palestinian children is not considered a crime.

The Great Wall of Egypt

To honor the 20th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall Egyptian President ( Pharoah?) Mubarak is building a 7 mile long wall on the Gaza Strip border to help seal the Israeli-American "Concentartion Camp Gaza". The BBC reports it will be 18 meters below ground to prevent Palestinians from bringing sheep, food, clothing and battleships through the tunnels.

It will be made of a super-strong steel that has been tested to be resistant to explosives. It's Made in America in pieces and assembled like a jig-saw. This new effort to strangle Gaza will help reduce the lavish Palestinian life style there and so help win the battle against Global Warming.

Satire aside, this new crime will cost Palestinians more lives and more misery. That is why efforts like the Gaza Freedom March (Dec. 27-Jan 1) take on paramount importance. In CT many groups are getting together to help send people to Cairo for the march and to hold a solidarity event on Sunday, Dec. 27.

It will be held from 1 to 3:30 and will include a symbolic march of our own. We'll meet at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue in Hartford. Video and photos of Gaza, Palestinian activists Nada Khader and Younees Bakr will speak. Activists/Entertainers Rich Siegel and Dave Lippman will entertain. Street parking.

More details to follow.

Hundreds Demonstrate against Afghan Killing Escalation

Demonstrations broke out in many cities around the U.S. in response to Obama's speech ordering an escalation of the Afghanistan war. 300 in San Francisco, 150 in Albany, 100 in Providence, 200 in Boston and 100 in Cambridge. New York City had two (seperate) demonstrations of 150.

There were 45 in Hartford and 75 in New Haven. In New Haven signs pointed out that "our" allies in Afghanistan were warlords, drug dealers and women haters. Channel 8 broadcast a good sound bite.

The Smell of Misery and the Feeling of Hope

Mazin Qumsiyeh visits Lebanon's Sabra and Shatila camps

...I have been to over 30 refugee camps in Jordan and the West Bank and I did expect the refugee camps in Lebanon to be worse. I have read a lot and even seen pictures and some videos but still I was shocked by what I saw, what I smelled, what I heard and what I felt...

for the article click here

Congress Declares Earth Flat and at the
Center of Universe

The Imperial Overseers who make up the U.S. House of Representatives voted 344 to 36 to condemn the Goldstone Report about the Gaza Massacre. That most honorable body decided that the report is biased, flawed, unfair, etc., etc. and urged the President to use all his influence at the U.N. to crush it. President Obama could, of course, have opposed it, but said nothing. Any day we expect the Congress to declare the Earth flat and at the center of the universe.

That windbag John Conyers couldn't muster up the courage to vote "No". He is recorded as "Not Voting". Most other liberals didn't even go that far. All the Connecticut Congressman voted to condemn Goldstone.

The soft Zionist lobby "J-Street" didn't lift oppose the resolution, but proposed it be amended. If you look at their website they don't mention it at all, though they did have time to print a letter of appreciation for their conference by Tzipi Livni who was Foreign Minister and a key perpetrator of the Gaza Massacre.

The UN General Assembly is not yet under the thumb of our Congressional Bozos. On November 5 it voted to support the Goldstone Report 114 to 18. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Friday (Nov.6) said that he will transmit the Goldstone report to the UN Security Council at the request of the General Assembly. Obama's people will no doubt bury it there.

The Goldstone report was produced for the United Nations by Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist, a Jew and a Zionist. He was the Chief Prosecutor for the UN at war crimes trials in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

Avnery Denounces Obama

Uri Avnery is leader of the Israeli peace organization, Gush Shalom, the Peace Bloc. He had had great hopes for Obama.

A Line in the Sand

MAHMOUD ABBAS is fed up. The day before yesterday he withdrew his candidacy for the coming presidential election in the Palestinian Authority.

I understand him.

He feels betrayed. And the traitor is Barack Obama.

For the article click here

Noam Chomsky: no change in US 'Mafia principle'

from the article

Chomsky said that a leading doctrine of US foreign policy during the period of its global dominance is what he termed as "the Mafia principle."

"The Godfather does not tolerate 'successful defiance'. It is too dangerous. It must therefore be stamped out so that others understand that disobedience is not an option," said Chomsky..

for the article by Mamoon Alabbasi click here

Tree of Life this Weekend in Old Lyme, CT

Conferenece on Palestine and Israel
for details click here

Barghouti and Baltzer a Smash

Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer appeared on John Stewart's "The Daily Show" on October 28th. Reportedly Stewart's "comedy" program is the main news source in the country for people under 25. After the show's broadcast Anna's book catapulted to #1 in Amazon's "Human Rights" law section.

See the"Daily Show" interviews and Stanley Heller's interview with Anna Baltzter by clicking here.

The Zionist Operation Was A Success,
The Jewish Patients Died

Amazingly enough the Zionists are trying to publicize and put a positive spin one of their darkest chapters, their disgusting deals with fascists during the '30's and '40's. Here's an article by historian Lenni Brenner. (Note I left off half the article the other day. There's MORE. editor)

Educated folks are fond of the cynical saying that 'the only thing we learn from history is that people don't learn from history.' Unfortunately some of the worst offenders are professional historians and film documentarians, who cook up singular interpretations of events and serve them up again and again to their followers. Two such mock scholars are Edwin Black, author of "The Transfer Agreement," which deals with the 1933 Ha'avara (Hebrew for transfer) Nazi-Zionist trade agreement, and Gaylen Ross, director of "Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With The Nazis." As republished books don't get reviews, Black had to announce, in the 9/23/09 Jerusalem Post, that he put out a new edition, while Ross is more fortunate, with the 10/24 New York Times giving her new documentary a favorable review. Now, Black hopes, a new generation of gullible Zionists will rush out and buy it, unaware of the across-the-political-spectrum critical disdain for his 1983 original, while Ross relies on the ignorance of present reviewers as to how serious critics dealt with previous attempts to defend Rezso Kasztner's collaboration with Adolf Eichmann.

Continued here

Boston Streets Resound with Demand "Bring Troops Home"

700-800 marched down the streets of Boston in a spirited march calling for the removal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. The were led by the white and black banners of the Veterans for Peace, the Smedley Butler Brigade who were very active in organizing the day.

Zoya, renknowned activist in RAWA, Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women electrified the crowd. Both her parents were killed by fundamentalists, but she gave absolutely no support to the US-NATO invasion and occupation of her country. Hear a 10/17 interview with Zoya now.

There was a Code Pink speaker on the situation in Palestine who had returned from a late winter trip to the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately and bewilderingly there were very few Palestinians, Arabs or (outwardly) Muslims in the crowd.

Some press accounts here and here.

from the Oct 17 Organizers

"Our appreciation goes to Bojah and the Insurrection, Above/Below with DJ Mayday, and Roy Zimmerman, whose challenging and joyful music kept us moving and dancing on a chilly day. The Constitution Brass Band of Vermont and Boston made the marchers (and many bystanders) strut, and the Bread and Puppet Theatre, whose bus was repaired just in time to make the trip, drew attention from all sides, complete with die-ins at street intersections."

"Our featured speakers Zoya, Matthis Cheroux, and John Schuchardt, laid bare the disasters and roots of U.S. war policy. Sarah Fuhro, Peter Knowlton, Sarah Roche-Mahdi, Tito Meza, Sergio Reyes, Charlie Derber, Jim Brooks, and Angela Kelly drew together many of the strands of the peace and justice movement and showed the interconnection of the many issues and struggles which are gathering together to resist the corporate, militarist destruction of our people's lives and those of people throughout the world. Our thanks to them for their educational and moving presentations. (Catch the long version of Zoya's talks tonight and tomorrow as well as those of Iraqi peace activist Abdulsattar Younus and Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya in the coming weeks)"

Palestinian Leader Responds to Obama's prize

Why does Obama get a prize whilst Bush gets shoes?

By Iyad Burnat

Today, when I came home from our nonviolent demonstration in Bil'in, after the soldiers shot tear gas and after seeing the violence of the Israeli soldiers, I heard that President Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. When I heard this from the media I started to go crazy. I asked myself why. The Americans are still in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Palestine is still occupied. In the recent news I saw that the Israeli soldiers closed Jerusalem, and I heard that many people were injured. We haven't seen anything changed. Why didn't the committee give the prize to Bush? I remember nine years ago Bush had a good speech about the establishment of a Palestinian state in the year of 2005. We saw after the speech that Sharon invaded Al Aqsa mosque, and the American army invaded Iraq. Why didn't you give the prize to this man at that time, and he got shoes instead? This is injustice!

I am so sorry Mr. Bush. You worked very hard, eight years with killing children, starting wars and supporting the occupation, and they gave the prize to another man.

I ask you our friends in the Nobel Committee, why didn't you choose quality? I think your prize makes the people more violent. Do you think that Obama can make peace, and why didn't you wait until he actually made the peace? Maybe he will invade another country. Sorry, but we are still under occupation and it makes us very crazy because we see every day and night the suffering of our children, and it's killing us. We hear in the speeches that the president talks about peace, but nothing has changed. To deserve a Nobel prize you need to work, not talk. We need the work to be done now, not tomorrow. We need our land now, not tomorrow.

www.bilin-ffj.org Thank you for you continued support,

Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin www.bilin-ffj.org

and listen to 12 seconds of the song "Henry K" about when he won the prize by clicking here.

Palestinians Protest Abbas Capitulation

700 angry Palestinian in Ramallah held a demonstration on October 5 in protest of the decision of the Palestine Authority to "postpone" pressing the findings of the Goldstone report to the United Nations Human Rights Council

At the same time an angry petition campaign was launched. Click here to see the letter and early signers. and sign the petition yourself

and see this Bendib cartoon

Zionist Defends Deal with the Nazis

by Stanley Heller

A dark betrayal of Jews took place in the '30's and '40's when leading Zionist organizations appeased or outright collaborated with Mussolini or Hitler. A few short months after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany Zionists were ready to make deals. The worst was the Ha'avara, "the Transfer" whereby Zionist organizations broke the growing boycott of German goods and sold German goods in Palestine and other places in return for which the Nazis eased the laws on how much money German Jews could take with them when they left for Palestine (A cut of each emigre's money also was given to Zionist organizations in Palestine!)

This was bitterly protested by many Jews and the Left in the '30's and then forgotten. It exposed by Lenni Brenner in 1984 in "Zionism in the Age of the Dictators" and praised in a book by Edwin Black in 1984 in his book "The Transfer Agreement". Black is so proud of what the Zionists did that he's issuing a 25th anniversary edition! He wrote an article about it on September 23rd in the Jerusalem Post.

To see the article click here.

Note his justification, quoting the original Zionist, Theodore Herzl, he says "Whole branches of Jewry would wither, but the trunk would survive". In other words if all of European Jewry is threatened with extinction, don't fight it, just grab what you can to build your Jewish Superiority State. Sick and stupid "realism". If it wasn't for the Soviets, and the British and the Americans, Hitler would have swallowed up Palestine and killed every Jew there.

Black said Zionists did this just "this once". Not true. Israel had fine dealings with Argentina during the '70's when Jewish prisoners there were tortured and made to bow before pictures of Adolph Hitler.

I added this comment to the Jerusalem Post article in the talkback section. They haven't printed it. "The best treatment of "the transfer" is in Lenni Brenner's "Zionism in the Age of the Dictators - a Reappraisal" (1983) You can google it and read it all on line. No Germans Jews were saved by the deal. Some Jews were able to leave Germany with more of their money, that's all. The price for this treachery paid by European Jewry and others was incalcuable: demoralization in efforts to fight the Nazis and encouragement to appeasement. The "branch" that Black and the 1930's Zionists allowed to die were millions of our Jewish brethren." I interviewed Lenni Brenner on this very subject in August Parts will be on "The Struggle" TV this week (Oct 1...). To see the full interview click on these six links.

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6

Answering Obama's Demand for More Sanctions

President Obama recent statements on Iran are encouraging hysteria. Read Scott Ritter's level headed article about the new centrifuge plant in Iraq by clicking here. Ritter is a former UN arms inspector in Iraq and has written a book about Iran's nuclear materials in which he says are consistent with a nuclear energy program.

Don't Be Surprised
Obama's State Department Slams U.N.

All those starry eyed people who thought that Obama's silence during the Gaza Massacre was just tactical can wake up now after his State Department denounced the U.N. report calling for war crimes prosecutions.

To read Uri Avnery's excellent comments on the Israeli government and popular reaction to the Goldstone report click here.

To see and excerpt of the Goldstone report click here. On that page there's a link to the entire report.

Hear the Speech of the "Shoe Thrower"

Click here to hear a translation of the speech of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at Presdent Bush and was in jail for nine months (where he said he was tortured).

60 Send Letter to AFL-CIO
"Sell Your Israel Bonds"

Over 60 unionists, and concerned citizens sent a letter to the Connecticut, USA trade union, the AFL-CIO asking them to divest (sell off) $25,000 in Israel bonds that the union has held for some time. Unions worldwide are breaking their ties with apartheid Israel, but U.S. trade unions so far have not.

To see the statement and the names of the signers click here.

Jimmy Carter, Bishop Tutu, Mary Robinson
Visit Bil'in in Occupied Palestine

Thursday, 27 August 2009.Bil’in village, West Bank:

Former US president Jimmy Carter, Mrs. Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa visited the site of the Apartheid Wall on the land of the village of Bil’in. The Carters and Archbishop Tutu came to Bil’in together with their colleagues from The “Elders” delegation, former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland, former Irish president and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Indian human rights activist Ela Bhatt, and renowned businessmen Richard Branson and Jeff Skoll.

Former president Carter pointed to the land on the other side of the wall where the settlement of Modi’in Illit is being built: “This is not Israel; this is Palestine and settlements must be removed from Palestinian land so that justice will be restored in the area.”

Desmond Tutu encouraged the Palestinian activists: “ Just as a simple man named Ghandi led the successful non-violent struggle in India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela led the struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in Bil’in are leading a non-violent struggle that will bring them their freedom. The South Africa experience proves that injustice can be dismantled.” Report from Friends of Bil'in

Other details from Haaretz

The next day the Israeli Army went back to gassing the demonstrations. Details here

Israel Declares Non-Violent Demos "Acts of War"

Tristan Anderson has been in coma since March. He was shot in the village of Ni'lin during a peaceful demonstration against the Apartheid Wall. The Israeli Ministry of Defense has notified the Anderson family’s lawyers that Israel perceives the incident on 13 March 2009 as an “act of war.” In other words a non-violent demonstration is an act of war and Israeli soldiers can do anything to a protester that they might do to any enemy soldier during wartime. A new low for Israel's Ministry of Aggression.

Video about the "incident"
Just after the Shooting
Amy Goodman on Shooting

Nothing Distressing about Yermiya's Abandoment of Zionism

A Zionist pioneer at 95 years of age writes a letter denouncing Zionism and the "Jewish fascist state". Why does Uri Avnery have a problem with it?

We need Heroes, not "Basterds"

Stanley Heller talks about the awful new movie from Tarantino and suggests a movie be made about a real Jewish hero, leader of a group of Palestinian comrades who became the feared "Red Orchestra"
Click here to go to Oped News.

Coming in September

Dahr Jamil

renknowned journalist
Sunday, September 20
Bushnell Park, Hartford
(east side of the Park)
2 p.m.

He will speak briefly at the Hope Out Loud Festival
and then for CT United for Peace

71 Senators Kiss Netanyahu's ... Hand

Click on the link at the end of the paragraph and you can see the actual signatures of the 71 U.S. Senators who've responded to the Gaza Massacre and Siege with big fat wet kiss for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. You can see their salute of Israeli government achievements for peace such as shifting roadblocks from one street to another, granting Palestinians on the West Bank the right to build shops in their ghettos and helping the C.I.A. train Palestinians in their shooting and torture of other Palestinians. Of course such generosity demands equal benificence such as total normalization, the end of the (phoney) Arab states boycott, and a halt in all criticism of the "only democracy of the Middle East". Here comes the link WARNING. It goes to the AIPAC site, a vile ultra-Right section of the Israel Lobby. Hold your nose and clilck here.

Speaking of Congress you might want to read Stanley Heller's article "Why It's Useless to Lobby Congress on Gaza"

Gaza Children Attempt to Set Kite Record

Beit Lahiya. July 30. Thousands of Palestinian children attempted to set a Guiness world record by flying home-made kites at one time. Note Guiness could not verify the record as no representative was allowed in by Israeli jailers. Also Beit Lahiya should ring a bell. It's where the Israeli military bombed the school killing two during the Gaza massacre in January.

See interview with Al Rowwad Director Here

After their fine CT performance of "Blame it On the Wolf" and selections from "We are the Children of the Camp" the Al-Rowwad theater group moves on to other states.

See the interview with Al-Rowwad founder and dirctor Abdel Fattah Abu Srour by clicking here

For information about future preformances See times and locations here.

You can see a bit of the play right here.

photos of the camp

Protocol of Hate 2009

A loony vile booklet claiming the Vatican was in league with Hezbollah and training it to use Nazi methods to wipe out Jews has been distributed for months by Israeli army officers to some Israeli troops. It's all in an article in the Israeli paper Ha'aretz. The booklet was endorsed by the Shmuel Eliyahu the Chief Rabbi of Safed, Israel (a son of the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel)

A hundred years ago the secret police of the Czar of Russia fabricated a booklet called the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" showing a so-called plot of Jewish "elders" to conquer the world. It's been a stable of anti-Semitic ravings ever since. This booklet is concoted of the same slime.

Ha'aretz says the booklet was published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The OU trademark, the "U" is used to certify some 400,000 products as kosher (fit for Jews to eat). The OU is a major organization. Stephen Savitsky, president of the Orthodox Union, was among a small group of American Jewish leaders who met with President Barack Obama on July 13.

The OU The OU issued a statement disavowing the booklet saying, "Upon investigation, it has been ascertained that this endorsement was made by staff at the OU’s Israel branch office, and was never submitted to, nor approved by, senior Orthodox Union management."

In March of 2008 Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu called for "hanging the children of the terrorist who carried out the attack in the Mercaz Harav yeshiva from a tree."

This steady stream of religious hatred coming from people like Eliyahu is a major source of the madness that caused the atrocities during the Gaza Massacre.

Reread the Ha'aretz article. The army says it has stopped the distribution of the booklet. Nowhere does it say it will launch a program to try to undo the damage done by the disgusting slander.

"Just a Little Fun"

A despicable advertisement for an Israeli cellphone (Cellcom) company showing soldiers playing football over the West Bank Aparthied Wall led people of Bil'in to make their own "ad" showing the real thing.

This is the cellphone ad See, the Israeli soliders are really hip, playing with the Palestinians despite the wall. As the ad says, "After all, what are we all after? Just a little fun."

But This is what happened to Palestinians when they tried to play soccer with the soldiers.

More about the controversy here.

Israel to Obama, "Go to Hell"

In his Cairo speech President Obama called for a complete freeze on Israeli settlement construction. Israel's government has thumbed it's nose at him by authorizing construction on 300 new homes to be built in on an "illegal outpost" in the West Bank. All the settlements are illegal by international law, but an "illegal outpost" is a settlement that's illegal even according to Israeli law. 60 totally illegal houses, and roads to get to them, have already been built in this outpost named Givat Habrecha. The outpost is 13 kilometers east of the Green Line (the 1949 armistice line with Jordan). It's built on the "Palestinian side" of the Segregation Wall. (so much for claims that the wall is built for security). The 300 units were authorized by Israelil Defense Minister Ehud Barack.

The ball is in Obama's court now. Will he suspend aid to Israel?

The Tragedy of the Left's Discourse on Iran

fine article by Saeed Rahnema

Horror Story

Stanley Heller describes how Israelis shot at a search party looking for a corpse of a youth who had disappeared 54 days earlier. Click here for the sound file. Click here to see the video

The Fruit Police

A while back Senator Kerry discovered that pasta was considered by a Israeli authorities a luxury that the people of Gaza had no right to ingest. The Israeli paper Haaretz on June 22 printed a full report on what's allowed into the bellies of Gazans.

"These officers decided, for example, that persimmons, bananas and apples were vital items for basic sustenance and thus permitted into the Gaza Strip, while apricots, plums, grapes and avocados were impermissible luxuries. Over the past year, these officers were responsible for prohibiting the entry into the Gaza Strip of tinned meat, tomato paste, clothing, shoes and notebooks. Read the whole article by clicking here.

Jimmy Carter's Speech at the Gaza Graduation

The New York Times buried references to former President Jimmy Carter's speech in Gaza deep on its website. Here it is:

"I first visited Gaza 36 years ago and returned during the 1980s and later for the very successful Palestinian elections. Although under occupation, this community was relatively peaceful and prosperous. Now, the aftermath of bombs, missiles, tanks, bulldozers and the continuing economic siege have brought death, destruction, pain, and suffering to the people here. Tragically, the international community largely ignores the cries for help, while the citizens of Gaza are being treated more like animals than human beings." Click here for the complete speech.

Download David Rovics' Songs....for Free

Click on this link to hear them and download them. To download click on the little triangle arrow pointing down. RECOMMENDED: "Behind the Barricades", "Operation Iraqi Liberation", and on page 2 "Spanish Journalist Strike"

A Major Human Rights Victory

In the first smashing and convincing victory of the global BDS (Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions) movement in the field of corporate responsibility and ethical compliance, Veolia is reportedly abandoning the Jerusalem Light Rail project, an illegal project that aims at connecting Israeli colonies built on occupied Palestinian territory to the city of Jerusalem.

As the Haaretz article below admits, the BDS campaign's success in costing Veolia some $7 billion worth of contracts is the key behind this decision by the troubled company to pull out of the project.

It is worth mentioning that Le Monde has recently published an expose, revealing to French readers and, crucially, to Veolia's stock holders the fact that the company is losing a lot of money because of its complicity in a project that constitutes a major violation of international law, if not a war crime.

This great victory came as a result of years of hard, principled, meticulous and persistent work by French solidarity groups, particularly AFPS; by the growing French BDS movement which was instrumental in making Veolia lose a huge contract in Bordeaux; by Dutch activists who achieved the first success in convincing a Dutch bank to divest from Veolia and applied pressure on other banks to follow suit; by Swedish peace and justice groups, mainly connected to the Church of Sweden, particularly Diakonia, and Swedish Palestine solidarity groups who cost Veolia the heaviest, $4.5 billion contract in running the Stockholm metro; by British solidarity groups and activists, particularly affiliated with PSC, who contributed tremendously to excluding Veolia from a lucrative contract in the West Midlands; and of course by the Palestinian BDS National Committee, BNC, which partnered with all the above in the now famous Derail Veolia and Alstom campaign to pressure the company to abandon this illegal project.

The Derail Veolia and Alstom campaign, which involves activists and groups in many countries all working to pressure the two French giants to quit the JLR project, was officially launched at the Bilbao Initiative conference in the Basque city last November.

Now is the time to pressure Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Gulf states, among others, to kick Alstom out due to its complicity in this illegal project. Solidarity with Palestine means almost nothing if it cannot be translated into BDS action that can truly cost the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime dearly.

This is the time to DERAIL ALSTOM!

As Haaretz reports it

Galloway's Magnificent Speech

In Brooklyn, NY in late May he called for 1,000 Americans to defy the Gaza siege. If you just have time for the last 10 minutes click here. To see the whole speech in ten minute sections click here Then on the right look at other sections produced by: thestrugglevideo.

And rate us. It literally takes half a second. Click on the stars just below the picture ...hopefully the one most to the right. It bumps us up in You Tube and makes it more likely people will see us.

And you must view Galloways savaging of Sky News a couple years ago see this And hear him wipe out an idiot anti-Semite click here.

Shocking Racist Anti-Obama Comments
from American Jews in Israel

see it here, over 250,000 people have already.

Benjamin L. Hartman, Haaretz Correspondent, wrote an article June 7th, downplaying it and saying the the video is circling the globe "on a mission to humiliate the Jewish people. " Get it. It's the Jewis people here who should get the sympahty, not a the U.S. President who has been called every racist name in the book. Hartman continues, "the booze-fueled hubris and uber-Zionism is not so strange at all. In the Jewish homeland for the first time, on a free trip, fleetingly experiencing a place gripped by a visceral realism and powerful sense of purpose, it's easy to let the beer overtake you."

It's the booze at fault. Now where did we hear that before? Something comes to mind, a drunken movie star yelling about "the Jews". Yes, Mel Gibson' ranting. When he sobered up he claimed it was all the fault of the booze. Funny I don't recall him getting that much sympathy.

One of the putzs' threated to kill Obama. Last I looked that was against the law. Will Homeland Security track him down and question him?

The video was shot Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana. For Blumenthal see: maxblumenthal.com/ For Dana ibnezra.wordpress.com/ Good comments on Mondoweiss Philip Weiss just came out of Gaza as part of the Code Pink delegation. Norman Finkelstein was part of the delegation.

Unfortunately many of the comments posted below the video are disgusting and racist, by "brave" bigots who don't have to show their face or state their real name.

Heller on Obama's Cairo Speech

published on Counterpunch, June 5, 2009

and on the upcoming June 8 anniversary of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty Stanley Heller's article calling for the arrest of Robert McNamara.

21 Year Old Woman Dies After 12 Weeks of Suffering
from Israeli Phosphorus Attack

On 29 March, Ghada Abu Halima died in an Egyptian hospital from injuries she suffered when struck by white phosphorous on January 4. Phosporus cannot be put out. It must be dug out. It can burn for weeks in the human body. It penetrates deeply and can cause heart and liver damage.

In mid-January Ghada Abu Halima told the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, "...Around 4 P.M. the next day [4 January], when all the family was in the house, the army started to shell our area. A few minutes later, shells landed on our house. Fire broke out in the house and several members of the family burned to death: my father-in-law, his baby daughter Shahd, and three of his sons - 'Abd a-Rahim, Zeid and Hamzah...."

In her memory please, please read her entire testimony

Questionable Evaluation Leads to Firing

Joel Kovel, author of Overcoming Zionism, has been fired from his position at Bard College. After nearly 20 years he received a bad evaluation. However, the chief evaluator had no business evaluating him.

SMELL A RAT? READ ON

The Latest on Tristan Anderson

Gaby Silverman, the girlfriend of Tristan Anderson, who was shot by an Israeli soldier in Ni'lin , Gaby, reports that he is doing much better. When the doctor asked him to put up two fingers he did so. Tristan recognizes Gaby and can squeeze her fingers in answer to different questions. He’s started his moving toes and his torso around a bit. (according to www.palsolidarity.org)

About a dozen people protested the shooting of Tristan in New Haven on March 16. We had signs about Tristan and we displayed our banner about Rachel Corrie. A message from Cheryl Broderson, the aunt of Rachel Corrie was read to those assembled. See video fo the protest next week on "The Struggle" TV.

An article Stanley Heller wrote about the shooting was published on Opednews

Also very good account on Democracy Now including an interview with Gaby Silverman and the usual bureaucratic twaddle by Obama's Consul General in Israel, Andrew Parker.

and this brand new piece from storysinger, songwriter David Rovics

The Israeli Terror

I was in Olympia, Washington driving towards Evergreen State College when I got a phone call from someone in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. An Evergreen graduate named Rachel Corrie had been killed a few days before by an Israeli soldier in an armored bulldozer, and someone with an Australian accent on my cell phone named Tom was wondering whether it was OK for the International Solidarity Movement to use the lyrics to a song I had just written about the incident on their website. Rachel's murder was followed quickly by the murder of a British ISM activist named Tom Hurndall.

And now, almost six years to the day after the murder of Rachel Corrie, my friend and comrade Tristan Anderson has been critically injured by the IDF. He joins ISM activist Brian Avery, who was also shot in the face. Brian survived, seriously disfigured but otherwise intact. Tristan lies in a coma in a hospital near Tel Aviv and may or may not be as lucky as Brian. His brain was exposed by the tear gas canister fired at close range at his face, and as I write, large parts of his frontal lobe have had to be removed by the surgeons.

CONTINUED

Famed Jurists Demand Invesigation into Israeli Actions in Gaza

Sixteen of the world's most experienced investigators and judges On March 16, 2009, called for a full international investigation into alleged abuses of international law during the 22-day Gaza war in late 2008 and early 2009.

CONTINUED

Help the Schools of the Gaza Strip

A bold proposal. Raise money within your schools to send money to the United Nations to rebuild 37 U.N. schools damaged or wrecked by Israeli bombs. A "non-political" humanitarian campaign that will naturally build sympathy for the cause of Palestinian rights. Click here.

See photos of the UN schools that were bombarded. See pictures here.
Here's a page on a website made for younger people that explains the situation simply

Collect money at colleges. Click here for photo and leaflets.

The Nation Would't Print What I Wrote about Tom Hayden

by Stanley Heller

Tom Hayden's red-baiting attack on anti-war protests is dismaying. He crows about President Obama's "commitment" to withdraw all troops from Iraq by 2011. Actually Obama's one sentence about it in his Camp Lejeune speech was just confirmation of the Status of Forces Agreement agreed to by President Bush last year. The speech itself was replete with neo-con pandering. "You got the job done," he said. "We will leave the Iraqi people with a hard-earned opportunity to live a better life - that is your achievement", etc. Not a sentence mentioning the colossal Iraqi and American waste in life or the divided and ruined Iraqi society that is our real "accomplishment". His only criticism of Bush's war was that we must remember to "go to war with clearly defined goals." Is that what he meant in the campaign by the Iraq war being "misguided"?

CONTINUED

$900 Million of Posturing

Mazin Qumsiyeh writes from Beit Sahour, Palestine

A donor conference in Sharm Alshaikh in Egypt is "to raise funding" for Gaza but is turning out to be similar to all previous conference: lots of huff, puff, and posturing. For the US administration, it is a way to prop the government of Mahmoud Abbas (whose term ended January 9). The US "pledged" $900 million but $200 million , of this will go to cover deficits of the administration of Mahmous Abbas, $400 million to West Bank projects (many profiting Israel), and the remaining $300 million will be slated for Gaza but may never get there because the US refuses to deal or help anything associated with Hamas and Hamas is the de facto government (and most of the people) of Gaza.

CLICK FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Should We "Waltz with Bashir"?

by Stanley Heller

Assuming "Waltz with Bashir" to be an Israeli anti-war film I made an exception of my usual practice of boycotting Israeli products and personalities and went to see it. Only afterwards did I hear of (Ha'aretz columnist) Gideon Levy's blistering review of it.

CONTINUED

Letter to the New York Times on Saudi Arabia

by Lenni Brenner

To the Editor:

Re "A Promise of Reform in Saudi Arabia" (editorial, Feb. 26):

The Times welcomes King Abdullah's recent mini-reforms and hopes for "full civil and legal rights to women and all who reside in the kingdom." How much time is the Times allowing the dynasty to go from despotism to sexual equality and democracy?

CONTINUED

The Atrocities Wrapped Inside a War Crime

For three weeks in December and January Gaza was assaulted unmercifully by the Israeli army. The attack is generally known as the Gaza Massacre. In Israel it's called an "operation", Operation Cast Lead. MECC chairperson Stanley Heller writes that the whole attack was criminal and lists many of the particular outrages with the attack.

37 UN schools and the Islamic University were bombarded. See pictures here.

Professing Peace, Raining Death

by Gulamhussein Abba

Following worldwide outrage and condemnation of its recent savage military attack on Gaza, Israel has been speaking more of its desire for peace than of its right of defense

Speaking in Davos at the World Economic Forum, Israeli President Shimon Peres made an impassioned defense of Israel’s December- January invasion of Gaza. At times wagging his finger at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had accused Israel of “killing babies” and more, Peres shouted – literally! –“Our aim is peace, not war, and when we win a war, we don't consider it as a victory, for us victory is peace, not war.”

CONTINUED

Don't let the neo-con rubbish about victory in Iraq fool you. Read this Newsweek article showing how little even "they" realilze they've accomplished. "The coalition is fighting to remove Al Qaeda from a land where it did not operate before 2003 and has built blast walls to end a sectarian blood feud between sects that used to live in relative harmony."

For leaflets to use to tell people about the March 21 demo click here.

Man Bulldozes his Own Home

Al Shalloudi received permission from a Jerusalem Court to bulldoze his own home. He's doing this because his ten year old home was built without a permit (Palestinians are almost never given one.) and Jerusalem authorities are about to knock it down themselves. Their bulldozer cost would be much higher and their also could be a jail sentence. Read the sad story here.

Finkelstein Examines Gaza Massacre

Backed by his usual impeccable scholarship Norman Finkelstein speaking before a packed hall at Central Connecticut State University demolished Israeli apologies for mass murder and laying bare the true and barely disguesd motive. He explained that after losing in Lebanon in 2000 and 2006 it needed to restore its military reputation as a feaful power so it smashed up Gaza, purposely killing masses of civilians to increase its swagger. It was classic state terrorism.

Watch for excerpts from his talk on future editions of "The Struggle" TV.

Pickets Greet Racist Benny Morris

Benny Morris chief apologist for Israeli ethnic cleansing and a man who last July hysterically demanded the U.S. attack Iran spoke at Wesleyan University on February 2. He was greeted by a group of sign carrying pickets carrying signs saying "Genocide Apologist Go Home", and "Stop Calling for War with Iran" and "Morris approves of the annihilation of the American Indian" and "Morris Demands War with Iran...Aggression is a War Crime.", "End the Siege of Gaza" and more.

Among other things Morris approves of the ethnic cleansing of 1948 and said Ben Gurion should be faulted for not pushing all the Palestinians out. He defends more ethnic cleansing at a future date,. He told Ha'aretz that "Even the great American democracy could not have been created without the annihilation of the Indians" (emphasis added). Last July in an op-ed in the New York Times he openly called for a massive attack on Iran, a war crime of aggression.

To see our new leaflet about Morris click here

On January 26 ten of us picketed the appearance of an Israeli filmmaker at Yale University. MECC calls for boycott of Israeli goods and for boycott of any public appearance by an Israeli except those speaking on behalf of Palestine human rights and against Israeli massacres. We passed out scores of leaflets, spoke via megaphone to hundreds passing by and were interviewed by NBC-30.

New Leaflet

Doctor Described Attack for Israeli TV...Then the Israeli Army Killed his Daughters

click here for downloads page and leaflet

They Murdered 450 Children and Now they Ceasefire

by Mazin Qumsiyeh, Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine

With the Gaza "cease fire" in place for one week (after Israeli forces murdered at least 450 Children), the Beit Sahour vigil that was held daily for the past 22 days will be transformed to increased action. Tomorrow (Monday) at 10 AM local, Palestinian Civil Society Organizations in the Bethlehem area will hold a second work day for Gaza where we will be emailing, writing media and politicians, sharing ideas and developing strategies to develop the Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel as well as bringing Israeli leaders to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity.Those of you who can join us it will be at AlGhad institute in Downtown Beit Sahour near the bus company offices.

We believe this is not the time to relax but to intensify the pressure that is building especially introducing new BDS actions so that we can once and for all end the 61 year injustice against the native Palestinians (Israel must be made to comply with all Palestinian Rights especially the rights of refugees to return to their homes and lands). We also believe the International community should not be paying for Israel's war crimes and must hold Israel accountable.

Please begin to or expand your work in your community for BDS (see http://www.bdsmovement.net and http://www.pacbi.org) and develop legal, media, and out reach strategies to build up the isolation of Israel like we did with South Africa so that such atrocities that have been ongoing for 61 year are ended and we move to a post-Apartheid era of Peace with Justice. For resources and tools, we are listing below links to: pictures and video, facts on Gaza, Declarations by the UN and human rights groups, political analysis, and the link to 25 actions to do.

Links to video and picutres of Gaza Massacre

New Leaflet: "Unemployed? Losing your House?
It's Time you Paid tor Taxes for Israel

click here for leaflet

Zionist Spokesperson Calls Demonstrators "KKK"

After blathering about "peace, friendship and love" Gary Jones, of the Community Relations Council (Hartford, CT) refused our challenge to debate the Gaza attack. According to TV station WTNH he called the demonstrators protesting the appearance of an Israeli General in a West Hartford Jewish Community Center "KKK" and said he refuses to debate "hate".

About 30 stood opposite the Center will signs and bullhorns condemning the Gaza massacre. One of us was arrested. A day earlier Yale cancelled the appearance of the General upon hearing that he would be picketed.

Hundreds March in New Haven

Hundreds marched through frigid New Haven streets with large banners and signs, chanting "Free Palestine" and "Not Another Nickel, Not Another Dime, No More Money for Israel's Crimes". Signs: "End the Siege of Gaza", "Stop Killing Palestinians - Cut the Billion$ to Israel", "Stop the Massacres of Palestinians", "Collective Punishment is a Crime", "Stop US Aid to Israel".

They were then addressed by human rights, activist and Islamic speakers who demande an end to the siege of Gaza, an end to the killing of Palestinians and the cutoff of U.S. aid to Israel.

New Haven Register reports

Injured when Israel bombed the UN School in Gaza and killed 40

Three Bitter Brillilant Cartoons by Bendib
Gazabama Walls Mubarak Shoes

for more see www.Bendib.com

London Times "We’re wading in death, blood and amputees." READ ARTICLE
US Soldiers on Egypt-Gaza Borders to Destroy Tunnels READ ARTICLE
Family of Seven Wiped Out by Israeli Naval Shell Read Artcle
"The Gaza Ghetto Uprising" a denunciation of
Israel and Arab Collaborators by Joseph Massad READ ARTICLE

25,000 March in New York City
Big Protest in New Haven Being Planned for Friday

Thousands marched past the Israeli Embassy Saturday Jan 3 in New York City. Most wore kuffieyehs, the new emblem of protest and human rights.

Hundreds Demonstrate in Hartford

200 to 300 people rallied in Hartford in the late afternoon against the Gaza Massacre in front of the Federal Building. The rally was mainly organized by the Islamic and Palestinian community. People came from all over the state. The sponsors were the Council on Islamic Relations, Palestinian-American Congress, Middle East Crisis Committee, American Friends Service Committee, People of Faith, Queers Without Borders, ISO-CT

higher quality image

Statement of Determination to Boycott Israel Sponsored by The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP)

Gaza's Guernica
Enough is enough

The Israeli government is sending waves of F16 fighter jets to bomb the Palestinian population of Gaza, many of whom are already weak and sick from two years of siege and encirclement by Israel. Children, says an Israeli spokeswoman, are legitimate targets because if they inhabit a house allegedly being used to manufacture home-made rockets to fire into Israel, they are 'terrorists' themselves. On Saturday December 27, Israel says it dropped 100 tonnes of bombs on Gaza.

We say enough is enough. As long as the state of Israel continues to defy humanity and international law, we, the citizens of the world, commit ourselves to boycotting Israel.

When Nazi planes firebombed the Basque town of Guernica in 1937, to advance General Franco's revolt against the democratically elected Republican government, Britain, France and other European powers continued to refuse military and political support to the Republic, and Franco and his Nazi allies prevailed.

Since our governments decline to take action against Israel, we, as citizens, must act.

We declare that, in solidarity with the bombed, maimed, tortured and ethnically cleansed people of Palestine, we will, individually and collectively: refuse to buy any fruit, vegetable, flowers, cosmetics, underwear, swimwear or piece of technology manufactured or produced in Israel or the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and we will inform shops that we object to them stocking Israeli products;

we will not go on holiday to Israel;

we will research which brands of computer contain Israeli-designed and manuctured components, make the information public, and and press all computer manufacturers to end research partnerships with Israel;

we will boycott Israeli films, theatre companies, dance groups and orchestras, and make known our objections to the management of theatres and cinemas;

we will campaign actively for our governments not to allow citizens of our countries to serve in the Israeli army, navy, airforce and security services;

we will lobby in our professional organisations and trade unions for Israeli institutions to be boycotted unless they state publicly that they oppose their government's actions, will not co-operate with the state (for instance by teaching courses for the security services, which all Israeli universities do), and support the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

Signed:

Professor Jonathan Rosenhead, London
Professor Haim Bresheeth, London
Abe Hayeem, London
Mike Cushman, London
Professor Keith Hammond, Glasgow
Professor Ghada Karmi, Exeter
Jenny Morgan, London
Dr. Sue Blackwell, Birmingham

28 December 2008

for a higher quality image of Guernica/Gaza click here

20 Send Letter to Hartford Courant Dec. 28

click to see the letter

The British papers are writing about the growing pitiful hunger in the Gaza Strip. Peter Beaumont, the Foregin Affairs editor of The Observer (UK) on December 21 reported that Palestinians are picking through garbage dumps looking for the remains of food. A week earlier the London Times website featured an article talking about a family that lived on wild grass. The mother and 12 year old daughter beg and when they don't get enough they eat khobbeizeh, the leaves of a plant that grows in the streets.

On the 18th UNRWA announced that it once again was stopping food distribution to the 750,000 refugees in Gaza because Israel will not allow the trucks laden with food in past the checkpoints. Israel's excuse, as always, is the rockets which fall on Sderot, but when there was a fairly well observed truce for five months Israel only opened the flow of food, medicine and materials into the Strip by a trickle. This is all very much like Iraq in the '90's. Supposedly all Saddam had to do to end the sanctions on Iraq was to obey certain demands (goal posts that were ever changing). Since he didn't it was perfectly reasonable for the UN to kill a million Iraqis to make him comply.

The Strip goes in a never ending spiral downwarded, from being walled-in ghetto, to being blockaded, to becoming the world's largest prison, to having the status of a enemy "entity" under siege. Only the option of extermination camp has not been applied. The only food and supplies coming in is through tunnels from Egypt. Sara Roy in an upcoming aritcle for the London Review of Books writes that Israel is allowing the tunnels hoping to make Gaza an Egyptian problem.

On the 20th a boat carrying a Qatari delegation, Lebanese activists and journalists from Israel and Lebanon sailed into Gaza City's small port in defiance of a border blockade. It was the fifth such boat trip since the summer, part of the Free Gaza movement. On of the Israelis was activist Neta Golan (see an interview with her in our recent TV shows) She was arrested when she left Gaza to return "home".

The Free Gaza boats have been leaving from Cyprus. Arab governments and private Arab groups are finally starting to challenge the blockade. A Libyan ship with 100 tons of medicine was turned back from Gaza. A Qatari boat tried to land in Ashkelon Israel with 2 tons of cancer supplies and was turned back angrily by Defense Minister Barak. A boat from Lebanon will reportedly be next to challenge the siege.

Speaking of Barak the latest stage of all out siege was started by him when on the night on the US Presidential election his troops defied the truce and raided the Strip, killing six Palestinians. Palestinian rockets flew and the heightened siege began, Why did he do it? The Israeli elections are coming up in a month or so and each Israeli party tries to outdo each other in fascist attacks and threats. Barak's attempt to be "strong" backfired. Polls suggest his Labor Party will be crushed in the next election.

Final note the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories is Richard Falk. His job is to report to the UN on conditions for the Palestinians. He's an American Jew, a former Princeton professor. All this counts for nothing to Israel. When he arrived in Tel Aviv on December 14 he was detained and forced on a plane and out of the country. Israel says he is "biased" and that's that. The US government,crusader for "democracy" has nothing to say. Neither does President-elect Obama.

At times it all seems hopeless, but we must patiently (but passionately) expose all this to the American people. They pay billions for this continuuing outrage. If it's explained well at some point people will refuse to be fleeced by the Imperialists and the Zionists. . An op-ed about Gaza by MECC Chairperson Stanley Heller was published in the New Haven Register.

There are thousands of Palestinians in the US from Gaza. They need to tell their story to the papers and to the net.

Hundreds March against the War in Hartford on December 7

On a cold windy day 150 to 200 marched and rallied against the war in Hartford CT. CCSU professor Mike Alewitz electrified the crowd with his denunciation of the war and vain hopes of those pressing for a New New Deal . Other speakers were CT AFL-CIO President John Olsen, Dave Ionno of Veterans for Peace, Jerrimarie Leisgang of Queers Without Borders, Mazin Qumsiyeh of the Middle East Crisis Committee and several student leaders. SEE VIDEO

Not a single elected politician was in evidence anywhere in the crowd.

After speakers were done the crowd marched a mile through Hartford neighborhoods. Colorful MECC banners "60 Years of Occupation and Apartheid are Enough" and "End the Siege of Gaza" were in the thick of it. Despite the weather many windows opened and onlookers waved. One TV station gave the event a minute of nightime coverage and of course TSVN, The Struggle Video Network recorded the whole event for future programs..

The UN Resolution That Time Forgot

Ghada Karmi reflects on the Right to Return resolution 60 years after its passage.

UN General Assembly President Calls for Boycott of Israel

Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua the current head of the UN General Assembly called for a boycott of Israel. On the UN's International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People which takes place yearly on the day the UN voted the 1947 partition resolution he said, "Although different, what is being done against the Palestinian people seems to me to be a version of the highest policy of apartheid." The General Assembly president called on international institutions to boycott Israel and sever its financial ties to the world, and for the imposing of sanctions against Jerusalem

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Nobel Peace Prize Winner Says: Suspend Israel from UN

Mairead Maguire who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Ireland in 1976 has called on the United Nations to suspend Israel's membership. She takes this stand because Israel has defied a long string of UN resolutions concerning the Palestinians. Maguire has been invovled in Palestinian rights causes for years. In 2004 she welcomed Israeli nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu on his release from prison. In 2007 Israeli soldiers injured her with a rubber coated bullet and tear gas in a demonstration againg the Wall in Bil'in.

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Hamas Says It Will Accept State
on '67 Borders

The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. He spoke to 11 members of the European Parliament who had arrived in Gaza via the second sailing of "The Dignity". Another person on the boat was Amira Hass the amazing journalist for Haaretz who has been kept out of Gaza for two years.

The Europeans delivered a ton of medical supplies and a medical scanner. "We are taking very basic medical supplies like paracetamol and painkillers. We were shocked when we got the list from the Health Ministry in Gaza - it means they don't have anything," said Arafat Shoukri, a doctor from the UK.

The "Dignity" Makes it to Gaza

Despite threats that the boat would be towed to Ashod the new boat of the Free Gaza movement, made it to Gaza City on the morning of October 29th.

Read this account by Ramzi Kysia, a member of the boat's company :

"This morning I walked to the Indian Ocean and made salt in defiance of the British Occupation of India. This morning I marched in Selma, I stood down tanks in Tiananmen Square, and I helped tear down the Berlin Wall. This morning I became a Freedom Rider. "

"The Freedom Riders of the 21st Century are sailing small boats into the Gaza Strip in open defiance of the Israeli Occupation and blockade. This morning I arrived in Gaza aboard the SS Dignity, part of a Free Gaza Movement delegation of twenty seven doctors, lawyers, teachers, and human rights activists from across the world, including Mairead Maguire - the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. CONTINUE

Hear Stanley Heller's telephone interview with Huwaida Arraf in Cyprus shortly before the boat left harbor by clicking here."

While this is good news the grinding siege is the biggest reality. Medicine to Gaza is now down to a "trickle" according to the International Red Cross

Israeli settlers attack a Beit Sahour neighborhood, detain six persons

Beit Sahour is a town next to Bethlehem. Part of it has land that was used as an army base by Jordan and later by Israel. Palestinians were hoping to build a hospital on the land. Settlers are trying to take the land. On October 16 IMEMC reported, "Dozens of Israeli colonists, some of them were armed, stormed on Thursday the Osh Ghrab neighborhood of Beit Sahour town in the West Bank. Israeli police detained six people including four international human rights activists and two Palestinian. "

These are videos of what happened Part 1 Part 2

Mazin Qumsiyeh who is in Beit Sahour fills in the details:

When our photographer friend was being wrestled to the ground and heavy boots stepping on his neck and his expensive camera being trashed, time seems to stand still. It was actually a few seconds when several members attempted to help him (by pleading with the brutal settler police and border guards and in some case trying to shield him from brutal blows with their bodies) and six individual were "arrested" (I use this term in quotes because they were actually just kidnapped illegally and held hostage). The events leading up to this event began with intents by racist colonial settlers (many of them with foreign passports) to take over this piece of Beit Sahour land that was for a while used by the Jordanian and later Israeli army. Christian and Muslim Palestinians in Beit Sahour (the Shepherds' Field) and the surrounding towns and villages continue to actively use their land in Ush Ghrab in creative and positive ways despite attempts by settlers to take over. We regularly join hands with International human rights activists to show the power of nonviolent resistance and affirmation of our rights. Part of the land was already developed for a recreational area including children playgrounds. Other areas are slated for a community garden, a nature walk, and a hospital.

Palestinians and our international friends use the site for many activities from meetings to nature walks to parties to barbeques and picnics. On this day, we had plans for a hike with bird-watching (Palestine Wildlife Society), music festivities, and athletics. We arrived at 11 AM and our first attempt was to take three barrels (one for regular trash, one for glass/plastic, and one for compost) to put at the place where the settlers are to gather. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers blocked our way. We asked to see the military order of closure and they showed us an order that said that the area is a closed military zone (ironic since colonial settlers were allowed to get in with no problems !). Some soldiers took over a private home near the site and imprisoned its owners in one room while they made it into a military post with roof and window guns pointed at us.

We asked the soldiers to at least please deliver the trash barrels/bins to the site because every time settlers come they leave trash everywhere. We did much education of the soldiers and police (or at least those of them who listened). The soldiers followed us in the hike around the mountain and it was when we came close to the road which settlers used to get up the hill that they became insistent on us leaving, as we were walking back, an international friend was suddenly attacked from behind and as others were also attacked and kidnapped. We were told that if we go back to the park area and stay there they might be released. So essentially, the friends were hostages to impact our decisions (this is considered a war crime and fits the definition of terrorism to try and coerce an action from someone by threats to harm a friend or relative). We did go ahead with our other activities (including over 70 children who had a rap and other music festival) while negotiations for the release of our friends ensued and expanded to include the Mayor and officers of the Occupation army. Finally after several hours, five of our comrades were released and one was still being held and maybe deported. The five released included two Palestinians (one from Beit Jala and one from Bethlehem) and nationals from Italy, England, and the US. After the army withdrew, we did not that the soldiers (but not the colonial settlers) did use our trash containers but had decided to also add a few rocks! The colonial settlers plan to return with their hateful messages (and trash) on 9 November. We will stay here with peaceful and creative activities always and we always invite anyone to join us whether in dialog or action for peace.

Nir Rosen Back from Afghanistan

Taliban Takeover Looks "Irreversible"

Sign the Petition to Outlaw the Degrading Strip-Searches of Palestinianians and Jewish Dissidents

Click here to see what's it's all about

150 Jews from Around the World Denounce Drive to Attack Iran

See the statement and signers by clicking here. Statement issued August 11, 2008 and updated as of August 15. Statement in English, Arabic, French and German

MECC Calls for
"We Cannot Afford a War Against Iran" Campaign

We have a chance of stopping war against Iran. This country can't afford it and people know it. Iran has warned that any "limited bombing" of their country will result in a massive strike against oil tankers, our troops in Iraq and Israel. Oil prices will skyrocket. Still Congressional support for HCON 362 is rising (247 sponsors) and with the fanatics in the White House anything is possible. We have a good leaflet on the subject for distribution and we call on all our readers to write letters to the media and to call Congress. We also have a petition available for downloading. And listen to an great interview with Scott Ritter here.

Poets for Palestine

You've heard Remi Kanazi's poems on our "The Struggle" TV program. He's just one of the poets in the collection "Poets for Palestine"

"Poets For Palestine" was published to unite a diverse range of poets, spoken word artists, and hip-hop artists who have used their words to elevate the consciousness of humanity. Sixty years after the dispossession of the Palestinian people, this anthology presents forty-eight poems alongside original works by Palestinian artists. All proceeds from the sale of this collection will go toward funding future cultural projects that highlight Arab artistry in the New York City area. .

Selected Past Headline Stories

November 15 Hamas Says it Will Accept 1967 Borders

July 30 Another Youth Killed in Nil'in

May 26 Regime Deports Jewish Hero

April 25 Dems Offer Bush an Extra $70 Billion

April 17 Israel Threatens to End the Iranian Nation

March 30 Will "Stop Loss" Break Through? **** Ritter Regrets

March 8 Israelis Loot Orphanage - Vilnai Threatens "Holocaust"

February 22 The Man Who Should Win the Academy Award

January 1 Peace Activists Occupy Huckabee’s Iowa Campaign Office

November 24 Palestine Authority Doesn't Have the Right to Cut a Deal

October 30 Break the Siege

September 15 Cut and Run

September 13 Pentagon Will Take Out 1,200 Iranian Targets

August 20 European Union Turns off Gaza Electricty

July 12 Senate Supports Lieberman 97-0

July 6 - Is US Killing 10,000 a Month in Iraq...or is it More?

June 28 - Israelis Kill 11 in Gaza --- Katzav Cops a Plea

June 25 Lieberman Commits War Crime

June 1 Rabbi Uses Bible Story to Justify Carpet Bombing

May 20 Israelis Shoot Dead Fetus

May 2 Whistleblower Vanunu Found Guilty

April 8 Sanctions Working: Another Dialysis Death

March 31 Six Month Old Killed at Checkpoint

March 20 Tanya Reinhart has Died / 80% on Food Aid in Gaza

February 27 Nablus Raped Again

February 19 - Facing MECCA - Uri Avnery

More past headlines

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