Let's Talk About Resistance

The choice of civil resistance in challenging the Israeli occupation is considered by some as a form of "surrender." In an interview [in Arabic] on Al Aqsa on the 13th of October, 2009, Palestinian activists Mazen Qumsiyeh and comrade Haidar Eid answer these questions.

Eid was asked about the meaning of civil resistance of which he spoke about the numerous terms coined to non-violent resistance, civil resistance, non-violent struggle and therefore multiple definitions to each term. There is, he says, the Gandhian non-violent struggle, Satyagraha, which is to depend totally on people power and the strength of economic boycott of the occupier's products. "What happened in South Africa was that this concept was further developed to include multiple and different forms of struggle, of which complete one another. And there was an emphasis in the later part of Apartheid, during the eighties, on Boycott [in all its forms]." Eid emphasized that the four pillars of struggle in South Africa should be taken as a model to learn from in the Palestinian struggle.

In the Palestinian context, the word "peace" has come to have a negative connotation, and Eid explains that this is due to the "industry of peace" processes that the Palestinians had to face constantly, and particularly from 1993 till now, where peace as a process was not linked to the attainment of justice for the Palestinian people, and the right of return of the refugees with reparation of the decades of suffering, estrangement, refugeehood and exile. "When we speak of peace, we will speak only of peace that leads to the implementation of Palestinian people's legitimate rights." What the settler colonial policies and direct military occupation of the WB and GS since 1967 require, says Eid, is an amalgam of the different forms of struggle. And, as such, the Palestinian call for Boycott, which brings together and is a common ground to all Palestinian national and Islamic factions, was initiated and appeals to the official and unofficial international community to boycott Israel. As a result of this initiative, the BNC [BDS National Committee] was formed in 2005 of which held the participation of all Palestinian national and Islamic factions.

"I believe that we in Gaza, unlike the WB, have not invested much in other forms of resistance. I don't believe that armed struggle, of which I do not oppose and believe to go hand-in-hand with other forms of resistance, is enough taking into consideration the absurd imbalance of power between the Israeli state and the Palestinian national and Islamic resistance-there is a need to turn to people power as well." Eid mentioned that if a minority involve themselves in armed resistance, then the majority of the people "from farmers, academics and intellectuals" need engage more in civil resistance against occupation.

"Can we imagine the Palesitnian people without Edward Said, Ghassan Kanafani, Mahmoud Darwish?" Eid asks. "What makes those Palestinians stand-out is their emphasis on the fact that the struggle against the Israeli occupation is an ideological struggle: we must defeat the Zionist mentality that this land is for the Jews, and that, we as Palestinians, should prove to the world that we posses the higher moral ground, that the Palestinian people in their resistance, whether armed or civil, will re-humanize the Israeli, unlike the latter whom strips the Palestinian off her humanity."

Qumsiyeh, answering to "what is civil resistance," mentioned that the Palestinian struggle has, since the British mandate till this date, involved resistance in all its forms: from civil to armed.

"Sumuud [endurance] by itself is resistance," says Qumsiyeh. Simple acts as "getting married, going to school, reading a book" become acts of resistance. "When a student comes to my class at eight in the morning after passing numerous checkpoints- that is resistance," Qumsiyeh notes.

Civil resistance is inclusive[at a time when exclusivity seems dominant]: from a woman, to a child to an elderly- all can resist. And that was what both academics and activists implied.

"We all need to look at Bil'iin, " says Qumsiyeh, "the demonstrations against the wall occurring all those years, unhesitatingly and consistently." Not only in Bil'iin does this civil resistance emerge but, more recently, in Gaza, says Eid, when the Palestinians in the Strip attempted to break the wall separating them from Egypt, twice, in forming a human chain from the beginning till the end of the Strip. Beit Sahour, the town of which Qumsiyeh is from, was exemplary in its civil resistance and civil disobedience, during the First Intifada, according to Eid. "When the Palestinians from Beit Sahour gave up their IDs to the military officer there," this, Eid says was an example of civil resistance.

What about the use of bodies and human shield? Eid says that this is one of the most sublime forms of civil resistance, using the body in fighting off the bullets the bombs, in protection and defense of home and land.

A question arises of whether or not this kind of resistance creates a battle within the psyche of the occupier. This, Eid says, was something Mandela wrote about in his diaries and something which Said questioned a while before his death: "who possesses the higher moral ground: the colonized or the colonizer; the occupied or the occupier?" According to Eid, that as a civilian struggling for your moral and legal rights possesses the higher moral ground and, therefore, psychologically attacks the occupier. "This was what happened with the Nazi German, this was what happened with the White South African colonizer," Eid says.

Eid mentions that "Israel is one of the societies of which domestic violence is most encountered" and "that there is a direct relation between domestic violence and suicide cases in the Israeli society and between the occupation in the WB, GS and 1948 lands." He continues, "I think this is very important. For instance, there are many US soldiers who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan who commit suicide shortly after their return." Thus the occupied possesses a moral and psychological power that should be invested against the occupation itself.

Eid re-emphasises that the obvious, huge imbalance of power in the Israeli-Palestinian case requires the moving away from negotiations that are but a waste of time:

"Israel has more than 450 nuclear heads, it has Apaches, it has F16s- it has the most strategic alliance with the USA. I mean, how can we as 10 millions Palestinian, more than half living in the Diaspora and in refugee camps living under horrendous conditions, fight that? People power."

This inclusivity which brings together and encourages Israeli Jews against Israeli Apartheid and policies of colonization, with 1948 Palestinians, along with the farmer, the student, the fisherman, and all supporters of these universalistic rights share together this moral grounding, and can channel their suppression through civil resistance, through boycott- which is but the simplest of forms of resistance, and one of the most powerful simultaneously.

According to Eid, "if you hit the occupation in the core of its existence, through its strategic relations with the USA, through US boycott of Israel in all its faces [...] if all the Islamic Palestinian factions, for instance, from Islamic Jihad, to Hamas, which all have a supportive stance from Islamic movements worldwide, promote BDS in their discourse, when every leader of an Islamic movement speaks and it was demanded to boycott US & Israeli products till the implementation of every basic Palestinian right-" then we can talk about the road to liberation.

Natalie Abou Shakra

Elian the Israeli- إليان الإسرائيلية

My article in Alakhbar: Elian the Israeli

"خلال عدوان تموز، حملت شعار «لن ننسى ولن نسامح»، داخلي واجتزت ألم قتل أهلنا وأطفالنا. خلال محرقة غزة كان الشعار أغنيتي تحت القصف.عندما نطالب بمقاطعة إسرائيل نطالب بمقاطعة شاملة: اقتصادية، ثقافية، رياضية، دبلوماسية وعسكرية. لكن، ماذا عن مقاطعة الأشخاص؟ تجب مقاطعة كلّ صهيوني إسرائيلي أو غير إسرائيلي. هل يمكننا، مثلاً، مقاطعة أشخاص كالمؤرخ الإسرائيلي إيلان بابيه المؤيّد للقضية والمناصر لحق العودة؟ أو مقاطعة نيتا غولان المؤسسة لحركة التضامن العالمية مع فلسطين والمناضلة مع الحقوق الفلسطينية مؤيدة المقاطعة بكلّ أوجهها؟"

A part translated to English:

I met Elian as she was at a stand speaking about the cause of Palestine, & advocating BDS agaist Apartheid Israel.
We felt familiar immediately.

At a pro-palestinian society's get-together, Elian & I went outside the bar, we shared the fact that both of us were not so happy in a crowded place- somehow introverts, not that social.

I asked about when As'ad Abukhalil came to SOAS & there it was...
"He didn't speak to me" Elian said
"Why?! Does Abukhalil boycott Ilan Pappe?"
Then she said it "when I told him I served in the Israeli army."
A moment of silence, nausea and anger on my behalf. Images of dead children between my arms.
"Did you kill any arab children?" I asked her coldly.
"I was appointed to be an instructor," she looked away, voice a little lower.
"An instructor of what?" I demanded
"Teaching soldiers how to launch missiles, & alocated to Golan heights"
I looked at her deeply, she looked away, smoked her ciggarette, feeling the tension.

I carried my things, & left Elian, no longer 'friend', behind me.

One thing in my mind: would you befriend an ex-SS knowing they regretted it, then became active against it?

--

Natalie

Oxfam International Activists Tour the Holy Land

Oxfam Action Partners from around the world are currently visiting the Occupied Territories in Palestine. They are maintaining an updated blog about their visit: their observations, impressions, reflections and so on.

Given that I am an Oxfam action partner myself, I was invited to be part of that tour, but could not do so because Israel controls every border in these territories and was/is/will be an enemy.

The bottom line of their observations is a phrase which I will quote from the blog:

"The Palestinians are not criminals but they are treated like criminals in their own home"

While the above statement is not new to anyone writing or following this blog, it may be new to these international youngsters. It is interesting to see how they are gradually 'discovering' the reality on the ground.

Below is a link of their blog: http://yanapoorpaminotmeng.blogspot.com/?spref=fb

Regards,

Nader

Lebanon

Kundara Intifada

A demonstration against Abbass took place yesterday in Gaza where people threw their shoes at Abass' poster.

Then, after the Hamas government fired the Aqsa University president, yesterday, the Ramallah government asked the Aqsa university professors not to work!
(Maan wrote about this more)


*Kundara means shoe in local Palestinian dialect. It is one of my favorate words.

Accusing this Blog as Anti-Semitic

Dear readers,
I was just contacted by one of the Gaza Freedom Movement Organizers who told me that my name as an endorser is being negotiated to be removed off the list.
Why..? Supposedly, this photo, above, once posted on my blog, was considered as "anti-semitic."
Let me tell the Zionist hoodlooms one thing: this torch might be a religious sign, it is non of my concern here, & I do not use it in that context to attack a religion. This sign, unfortunately, was used by Zionists promoting their cause and thus has been transformed into a Zionist symbol that which expresses anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian attitudes.
So, all that I write is anti-semitic? Let's see... if I say that I am against an Muslim state, does that mean I become an Islamophobic person? Or, if I am against a Christain state- does that mean I am anti-Christian?
But, wait a minute, if I attack the fact that Israel is a Jewish state... I become anti-Semitic. Great, I understand this illogical logic now.
This is a weapon the Zionists hoodlooms use to attack all those of good conscience, anti-racist, co-existence believers.
Also, hoodlooms, how can I be an anti-semite? Can I be anti-myself? I am a semite after all as I come from the Arab world!
This use of politics of fear and intimidation does not work with me.

Also, as to my views on the Gaza Freedom March statement of context, I stand firmly on my position to endorse the GFM statement after it was altered, as I believe it to have taken into account the least of Palestinian basic rights.
I did not attack Professor Finkelstein personally, I did attack him ideologically. Meaning that, I, like many many others, did not agree with his Ghandian approach to the Palestinian conflict & to his not taking into account Palestinian civil resistance, Palestinians' inalienable right to return, and the BDS call. Otherwise, I am an avid reader of his work, research and respect him as a scholar. I am appreciative of his dedication to the Palestine question, yet, I am even more appreciative, respectful, and admiring of those children who gave their blood to Palestine and I, then, cannot and will not accept anything that does not take into account their surviving relatives and families' basic rights, or anything that does not appreciate their sacrifices.
As for the post, "GFM is now Zionist Free", and, thus, I am an endorser, well, yes that is true. When you flirt with Zionism, what does that make of you?

Yours,

Natalie

"The Thirteenth Tribe": Jews are not Israelites

Absolute Historical Proof : Jews are not Israelites:

"The Thirteenth Tribe", a book by Arthur Koestler

I came across this book a few days ago which drew my attention. It is very rare to find such well-documented historical proof of one of the world's most false claims.

The well known Jewish author, Arthur Koestler and his wife were "suicided" years back after Koestler published a book called the "The Thirteenth Tribe".

In the book he explores the origins of the Ashkenazim Jews. He noted that the vast majority of todays Jews are descended from the Kahzars of central Asia who converted to Judaism in 700ad.

They have absolutely no connection to the Holy Land of Palestine and never had. That is the majority of todays Jews. No historical or DNA connection to the original Hebrews of the time of Christ and before. They are not Semitic. A tiny number of Hebrews/Real Jews stayed on in Palestine living in harmony with the Muslims and Christians for centuries.

Only when the European Zionists made their false claim on Palestine did the troubles begin.

As seen in the map above (which can be accessed here: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagenes_sociopol/khazar03_02.jpg ) the movement of the Khazarian Jews is shown. It has no relationship with Palestine whatsoever.

For more information about this book and the false claim of Zionist Israel:

http://www.christusrex.org/www2/koestler/

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/13trindx.htm

http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0591/9105071.htm

Nader

Israel Bombs South of Lebanon

So, after the Israeli terrorist forces finish bombing Gaza, they get to the south of Lebanon. But, don't get me wrong now; they sometimes bomb both simultaenously.

Earlier today, there was Israeli terrorist military activity in the areas of Norther occupied Palestine very close to the borders of the South of Lebanon, both land and air, a local from Hasbayya, a village in the South of Lebanon, said. There was such military activity in the Lebanese village, Shebaa as well, as usual.

According to UNIFIL reports, at 15:45 today, two katyushas were bombed north of Nehareya from the Qulaylah valley in Tyre, with the terrorist forces bombing back 15 times with heavy loaded tank bombs continuously to the area where the katyushas were launched.

Ambulance sirens were heard in the area of the bombing, but there was no news of injuries. The streets became empty, with only the UNIFIL forces spreading through the area.

When I was in Lebanon, there was not a single person I met who did not tell me they think war was on the horizon. My answer was, it already is, has been, & will continue.

Gaza Freedom March is now Zionist free

After much pressure on the Gaza Freedom March organizing committee,
they altered their statement to acknowledge BDS, israeli military occupation
& palestinian civil resistance not apparent in their previous statement. A note: the organizing committee in addition to barghouti & eid are receiving many aggressive emails from zionists due to this 6 out of 14 members of the organizing committee voted against the change of statment of context that did NOT previously include the most basic of rights of the Palestinians one of them was norman finkelstein, who resigned from the organizing committee




Message from Barghouti & Eid



"Dear all,

We were just informed that the organizing committee of the Gaza Freedom March has finally adopted the statement of context that takes into consideration the key constructive suggestions expressed by both of us ( Omar Barghouti and Haidar Eid) weeks ago. We and the organizers of the March have reached an agreement whereby the Call will be posted with a clear reference to the statement of context, which clearly acknowledges that Palestinians have for over six decades been denied their basic rights that they are entitled to under international law, including the right of return, and the fact that Palestinian civil society has adopted Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as one of its main civil resistance strategies against Israel’s occupation and other injustices.

Accordingly, we fully endorse the Gaza Freedom March call to action and statement of context, and we call on all supporters of international law, just peace and Palestinian rights to endorse them as well and to do whatever is possible to make this March a success.

A lot of work still needs to be done, clearly, to iron out organizational and logistical details, particularly to minimize the risks to the Palestinians in Gaza who will participate in this form of civil resistance; but these challenges can best be met by a wide coalition of enthusiastic, principled and well organized networks across the world, all coming together to make this happen. It can also happen if we all manage to convince world renowned figures to lead the March, as initially planned.

Omar Barghouti (Jerusalem)
Haidar Eid (Gaza) "


Now, I have become an endorser

Please send the organizers messages of support so to outweigh the threats from Zionists that they are receiving

Child Killed Eastern Beit Hanoun from Yesterday's Attacks

From Yesterday's Israeli terrorist forces' attacks, a child was killed.

This is from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative team:

"The child Ghazi Maher Zaaneen, 13, died yesterday due to his critical condition

after the Israeli shootings and bombings yesterday eastern Beit Hanoun"

Zionist Democracy & Israeli Soldiers Morality

IOF Attack Civilians during Iftar Meal

At 7 o'clock today, a large group of Israeli soldiers entered Beit Hanoun, only 500 metres away from civilian farmlands. At around Iftar time, the soldiers shot at civilian houses and farmlands which resulted in the injury of three civilians, one of which is a child whom is in a moderate condition at the Beit Hanoun Hospital.

Moments after the firing stopped, tanks forcefully entered the Amal neighborhood and inner farmland areas within Beit Hanoun during the Iftar meal during which the Israelis started bombing at civilian homes.

Local activists in Beit Hanoun fear this is but a preliminary onto something more serious, dangerous, and deadly... a preliminary onto a coming military operation within the Strip.

--Beit Hanoun Local Initiative

"Dirty Arabs"

From the Diaries of an Arab Girl under Occupation

Occupied Palestine- Amani Khatter

It's been a while, my friend, that I have been wanting to ask you these few questions stuck at the tip of my tongue. Yet, I never found an oppurtunity to, till now.

I have wanted to ask you if you still remember your Jewsih friend who once inquired: Why do you study the 'Tanakh' [the Torah] when you

attend Arabic schools?"

Do you remember what you answered her at the time? You told her then that the "Tanakh was very important."

Did you blush at the moment when everyone was staring at you, or did you blush because you weren't convinced of the answer you gave?

Do you remember that time at university when the lecturer asked each one of us to write three words that we thought express our identity?

Do you recall the manner of which you acted then? You lowered your gaze to the ground, as if he would not notice you , and then you would not have to answer his questions.

Did you avoid answering because three words are just not enough... or, because three words are just too much to express an identity you do not possess? I think that it was not easy for you to admit that you are

without identity.

Alright. Do you recall the day the judge from the Supreme Court

visited university to speak about equality between man & woman... the Jewish man and the Jewish woman, and everyone was allowed to ask

her questions? Do you remember the excitement of your Jewish friends

as they stood for the first time near a judge of her ranking, and not because they were allowed to ask her questions?

I remember very well how you tried tirelessly to be as excited as they were. I asked you then: "When will we have a lecture addressing

equality between Arabs and Jews?" Do you remember how you just stood their silent; you didn't ask the judge, but kept the question

to yourself? Was it because you acknowledged the risk of this question

being asked in a "democratic country," or was it that you knew the answer, but chose not to hear it?

Shall I publish your photograph, now when you have reached 20?

Do you remember when you were in the bus, and that Israeli soldier tried, with all his unsuccessful trials, to converse with you? Do you recall when, after an hour, a Palestinian came on board- who wished he didn't after all eyes turned to stare scornfully, mixed with fear?

Do you remember how the soldier siezed the moment to speak to you, flaunting his masculinity and chauvinism in front of you, saying:

"Izi Arabeem mlukhlkheem," meaning: Dirty Arabs?

The soldier spoke to you in Hebrew, not knowing you were an Arab. Your laughed back then, but you had unmasked him; you knew that he

was actually an Arab from his broken Hebrew accent.

Alright my little actress, shall I expose you and tell what you did when

you went to rent a room at the university?

At that moment, the Jewish house owner asked you to introduce yourself. You answered saying:" I am Druze."

Yes. Your were born as such, with an ID having "Durzeet" written on it. Druze with a dot before it. A dot that is supposed to be after the ending of a sentence, to seperate it from what was before it. A dot that erases your entire history, heritage, and identity... they didn't even mention anything after it.

Do you remember what you answered the house owner when she asked whether the Druze were Arabs?

She does not rent to Arabs, and she hadn't heard of Druze before.

Do you remember the silence that came over you?

At the time, you liked the room... at the time, it hurt to have lied.

Translated by Moments of Gaza

Original article appeared in Arabic in today's issue of Alakhbar, Lebanese Leftist newspaper

http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/node/154661

Haniyyeh Kicking

"Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh inaugurates Gaza stadiumPublished Sunday 09/08/2009 18:00video here, Hamas leader, de facto Prime Minister and sports nut Ismail Haniyeh takes on other footballers in Gaza. The match was a re-opening ceremony fro Gaza City's football stadium, which was demolished during Israel's assault last winter.Haniyeh said the stadium's reopening would serve as a message to Israel that its siege of the Gaza Strip had failed. He said not only would Palestinians rebuild destroyed stadiums in Gaza, they would soon build them in Jerusalem, as well."

Maan News continues:

"Maan's correspondent reported back that Haniyeh managed to score one goal, while Israeli newspapers insisted that the Hamas leader came close once, but that it was blocked."

There are 1.5 million besieged, & Maan News is concerned with fighting Israel over Haniyyeh's scoring.

How does a Palestinian eat tomatoes?

My latest article in al-quds al arabi:كيف سأكل الفلسطيني البندورة؟ (How Does a Palestinian Eat Tomatoes? which will be translated to English soon):



'بالشوكة يا نتالي! أم انّك تعلّمت ان تأكلي بيديكِ كما يفعل الفلسطيني!' تلفت اليَّ مستهزءًا حين مددت يدي لأتناول حبّة البندورة من زاوية المائدة. لم تتعدّ اقامتي في لبنان أسبوعها الأوّل بعد وذلك إثر عودتي من غزّة، حيث مكثتُ من عشيّة العدوان الاسرائيلي حتّى أواخر شهر تموز (يوليو).
لم أتوقّع ان تتفوّق قصصي مع العنصرية والشوفينية 'الوطنية' والتمييز الجنسي في لبنان عما عشته من مآس في القطاع. فمنذ وصولي الى هنا اخبرتني صديقة عن 'حديث اهل الحي' بأني قد 'احببت فلسطينيا وذهبت لاراه في القطاع.' او عندما طال بقائي في القطاع قالت احداهن لجدتي:'ما تكون اخذتلها شي فلسطيني هناك وصارعندها اطفال.'
لم يمضِ أسبوع على وصولي حتّى اُلقيَت كلّ جرائم العنصرية والكره للفلسطيني عليَََّ. فكانت أوّل ردّة فعل من الأقارب: 'لما فعلتِ ذلك؟!'؛ هذا الممشى مش ممشانا! نحن مالنا ومال القضية الفلسطينية!'
وقد سألتني جارتي، وهي امرأة عجوز: 'بصراحة يا نتالي، انا ما بطيق الفلسطينيه؛ لا تزعلي منّي.'
والأفظع من ذلك هو عندما قالت لي 'قريبة' بغضب واشمئزاز: 'لا تتحدثي معي باللهجة الفلسطينية!' و'أنا من طائفة (كذا) ومن منطقة (كذا) وأفتخر بأصلي!'



In this article I speak about "Apartheid Lebanon", the chauvinism and racism embedded within the Lebanese society towards women, Palestinians, and foreign workers.

You can also notice that in one of the comments on the article, a lady calls me... a "Hamas supporter"-no, really. What does that have to do with the price of badora & battata?

Boycott that entity!

"Oxford City Council calls for boycott"

Oxford City Council calls for boycott from Nina Arif on Vimeo.

"Oxford City council called for a boycott of Israeli products following Israel’s assault on Gaza. In an unprecedented move, the Council passed a motion, which as well as condemning the loss of civilian life in Gaza, called for individuals to boycott products made by Israel. "

Martyrs of the Tunnels

"My fellow friends who died, Yousef Moamer aged 20, Tareq Shamia aged 23, Mohammed Al-Moghari aged 36, Sami Qeshta aged 33, were inside the tunnel digging and enlarging it when another tunnel for smuggling gasoline fell down excessively, while the three other victims were rescue men whose magnanimity and friendship let them go deep with their simple tools but strong hope." Al- Qaisi explained.

The Palestinians started working in tunnels successively after Hamas' takeover amid July 2007. Since then, Israel's stringent blockade forced Gazans to make tunnels as a public phenomenon with by-laws even if not written. Furthermore, Hamas parliamentary bloc held a special session to discussing tunnels and their laws until some Gazans expected a newly imposed "ministry of tunnels"

The network of tunnels in Gaza, are an industry by itself
Also, one thing wrong with this article is that the tunnels have been there ever since before the First Intifada. After speaking with many who work in the tunnels, from students, minors, and elders, all said the tunnels existed from before they were born

AMANDLA INTIFADA!

This is excatly what we expect from anti-apartheid activists.
AMANDLA

Today, University of Johannesburg academic, Professor Farid Esack and Palestine Solidarity Committee members formally laid charges at the
Johannesburg Central Police station against war criminal Lieutenant-Colonel David Benjamin.
This follows an application lodged on Monday by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance and others with the assistance of well-known international law
professors John Dugard and Max du Plessis. The application calls on the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions to set in motion an investigation
into war crimes committed by a number of Israelis linked to the Gaza massacre of December 2008-January 2009.
South African-born Lieutenant-Colonel David Benjamin, who obtained his law degree from the University of Cape Town, has worked for the Israeli
Occupation Forces for the past 17 years. As a member of the Israeli Army’s Military Advocates Corps, he provided legal advice to the .Israeli
military during the massacre.
Benjamin has been credited with giving the Israeli army the legal go-ahead for the use of white phosphorous in its attacks against Gaza in December
2008-January 2009. Israel’s use of white phosphorous in Gaza is illegal under international law; the Geneva Convention bars its use against
civilian targets.
Benjamin, by his own admission, told Bloomberg News that the Gaza “campaign was a long time in the works, and we [the Military Advocates Corps] were intimately involved in the planning... Approval of targets which can be attacked, methods of warfare – it all has gone through us.”
.
The charges are supported by overwhelming evidence, including reports from internationally known human rights organisations, and affidavits in excess of 3500 pages (available from the PSC). The massacre followed an 18-month siege and blockade which saw an occupied population experience starvation, deprivation, displacement and ongoing trauma on a horrendous scale that has shocked humanity. This seige continues.

The Gaza onslaught resulted in the deaths of 1400 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians. Of these approximately 40 % were women and children. More than 5400 Palestinians were seriously injured, many with the most horrific wounds, burns and amputations and countless others are psychologically, physically and mentally traumatised. This is in comparison to 10 Israeli soldiers killed (four by own fire and 2 Israeli citizens).
These acts of barbarity did not spare the innocent lives of a besieged occupied people. It is common knowledge that Israel attacked and destroyed schools, places of worship, shelters, hospitals and United Nations installations, such as the UNWRA school and relief aid warehouses. Israel’s offensive destroyed about 22,000 buildings and is estimated to have caused 1.9-billion US dollars worth of destruction. The actions are abhorrent and profoundly in breach of international humanitarian law and constitute evidence of international crimes.
The Israeli attack and bombardment of Gaza has been extensively documented and horrific scenes of death, injury and destruction of the civilian population were televised to the world. Evidence collected from eye-witnesses and those injured as well as United Nations and other investigative reports, including the testimony of Israeli combat soldiers and physicians (including South Africans) provide compelling proof that suggests Israelis have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

All credible humanitarian and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, and the Red Cross, and respected individuals such as the professors of law Richard Falk and our own John Dugard, also condemned these actions as war crimes.
All of these actions are war crimes under international law, and Benjamin is, therefore, a war criminal. South Africans should feel outraged to have
such a war criminal visiting our country, with the express purpose, according to the host organisation, Limmud, of providing South African audiences with the Israeli army’s justification for their war crimes.

Issued by the Palestine Solidarity Committee.

For more information contact:

Prof. Farid Esack-083 459 9989
Dr Shereen Usdin-082 652 4844
Salim Vally-082 802 5936

Defamation of Who I Am and What I Believe in

The Lebanese Daily Star newspaper published this article about my work:

Lebanese urged to help break Gaza siege
"A Lebanese human rights worker with the Free Gaza Movement made a plea on Thursday for Lebanon to show solidarity over the issue of the Palestinian right of return and play a more active role in breaking the siege. Natalie Abou Shakra, who returned Wednesday from the Gaza Strip after an eight-month humanitarian mission, said it was Lebanon’s duty to help ease the situation in the Palestinian territories.

The plea comes a week after President Michel Sleiman told Russian Mideast envoy Alexander Saltanov that any attempt to achieve peace in the Middle East must include the Palestinian right of return.

Shakra, the only Lebanese activist currently on the ground, said the resettlement of Palestinians from countries offering refuge is one of the most important issues that Lebanon should support.

“A Lebanese initiative is also needed to break the siege,” Shakra told The Daily Star. “The last one was not a total failure and I think it should be followed up – and more creative and daring ways should be thought of.”

Shakra defied Israeli orders for Lebanese citizens not to enter Gaza and was able to get in with the Free Gaza movement’s SS Dignity boat on the December 20 last year. She has since been working with Free Gaza Movement (FGM) and International Solidarity Movement to bring medical and food assistance into the Gaza Strip.

Shakra drew on the relationship between Lebanon’s struggles and Gaza’s own, saying that there was a lot of commonality yet support was lacking.

She added that, as an Arab country with a history of struggle with Israeli occupation, Le­banon had a duty to help be­sieged Gazans – 80 percent of whom are currently dependent on food assistance.

“As activists, we need to deal with people who support civil resistance, culturally. It is easier to deal with people, like the Lebanese, who we don’t have to explain the ABCs to, as they already have that political discourse in them,” Shakra added.

She said that living through Israeli occupation during her childhood in the south of Lebanon gave her an appreciation of the plight of Palestinians. “Living there we had to endure a lot and as a result we hold a lot in common with the Palestinian people – we have a common enemy.”

Surely, readers who follow my work, and read what I write, have an idea about the tone, and attitude that I intentionally use. This article defamed who I am, what I believe in and what I do.
I responded to this article to the Daily Star, which was published on the 1st of August as follows:

Readers’ Letters and Opinions

In the article entitled “Lebanese urged to help break siege on Gaza,” written by one of The Daily Star staff, Josie Ensor, and published in The Daily Star newspaper on Friday July 24, 2009, I, the undersigned, had my words misquoted, misrepresented and misunderstood. The following will illustrate:From the very beginning, Ms. Ensor identifies me as a human rights worker when I am not. I am an activist from Lebanon, and wish to be identified as so. What I did was not humanitarian – it is entirely political. My breaking the siege and staying in Gaza for the months that I did was standing in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Strip and living the savage, inhumane and hermetic siege they are under as imposed by the Apartheid Zionist state, with the direct participation of the official Arab regimes, in addition to the long, sleepless, and horrific 22-day manslaughter that the Palestinians endured and resisted, of which ended up killing more than 400 children. The Palestinian issue is not humanitarian; it is political with humanitarian consequence.
First, Ms. Ensor seemed to miss the point of my speaking about “Lebanon” in the first paragraph. In my responses, which Ms. Ensor had recorded, the “Lebanon” I was speaking about was the Lebanese Initiative to break the siege on Gaza, headed by Dr. Maen Bashour, in addition to civil society movements based on civil resistance concepts, and the need to plan more creative attempts to break the siege.
Second, concerning the “right of return” issue, I had mentioned that any initiative aiming at breaking the siege must have a political umbrella: that of endorsing the right of return, in addition to the boycott, divestments and sanctions that must be imposed on the Apartheid state of Israel … I was definitely not referring to President Michel Sleiman’s stance, or words.
Third, Ms. Ensor says I claim that “the resettlement of Palestinians from countries offering refuge is one of the most important issues that Lebanon should support.” I definitely do not support resettlement and that is a dangerous misquote since it is against everything I believe in, against the Palestinian cause-a defamation of what and who I am and what I have been fighting for.
Fourth, Ms. Ensor misquotes, misunderstands, and misrepresents my words when she writes that “Lebanon had a duty to help besieged Gazans – 80 percent of whom are currently dependent on food assistance.” As I clearly remember, and as the recorder might as well, I said that “more than 80 percent of the people in Gaza are refugees,” and therefore striking them is a direct strike to the right of return.
Fifth, Ms. Ensor writes that I believe “As activists, we need to deal with people who support civil resistance, culturally. It is easier to deal with people, like the Lebanese, who we don’t have to explain the ABCs to, as they already have that political discourse in them.” I definitely did not refer to “culturally” knowing that the BDS slogans, civil resistance, civil democracy-one person, one vote- are universalistic slogans. In addition to the, yet again, mistake about the “Lebanese” – when I have explained to Ms. Ensor, again as the recorder might remember, that I was referring to civil society, civil resistance, and particularly the Lebanese Initiative to break the siege – and not the whole Lebanese population, or culture, or – gosh! – government! Also, I mentioned that there is a need to deal and work with people in Lebanon who have a clear cut position and who do not need the ABCs of civil resistance, boycott and the political umbrella that any initiative should embrace.
The article portrays the Palestinian cause as a humanitarian one, portrays Gaza as separate from the rest of the occupied Palestinian lands. From its beginning, Ms. Ensor refers to my mission as “humanitarian” when it should be considered as revolutionary, and core activism, a duty and responsibility of each and every Arab citizen, not only so, but the duty and responsibility of freedom-loving people and people of conscience. In conclusion, representing myself as well as a few colleagues, activists and independent political analysts, the article conveyed a clear anti-Palestinian agenda, was racist and, as a fellow activist wrote, “isolationist.”

Natalie Abou Shakra
Lebanon. Beirut