Meeting Palestinians In Gaza

15 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography

Abdul Salam al-Hissi’s boat leaves Gaza City harbour and heads out into the open sea.

Appended below are five links to poignant short videos from the excellent Guardian series A Week in Gaza, detailing the impact of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Ghetto on ordinary people. On this 60th anniversary of the Nakba, these heart-rending portraits of Gazans is particularly timely and offers a window into life in Gaza.

As Ali Abunimah, currently in Sydney, has said, Nakba Denial not only exists, but unlike Holocaust Denial still has some mainstream intellectual acceptance. The ongoing plight of the indigenous Palestinians after 60 years deserves our attention and support now more than ever. For our part in Australia, there is a strong campaign to have the Australian Parliament acknowledge the Nakba — please consider lending your support if you are in Australia.

1. The blockade and the smugglers (4.55)
Israel’s fuel blockade has ground Gaza’s infrastructure to a halt. In response, smuggling gangs bring fuel in from Egypt through underground tunnels. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Activism, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Israel Watch, Palestine, Peace and Justice, Peace education, People, Video. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

You Can’t Raise A Baby With Apartheid Arms

4 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography.com
Graphic: Carlos Latuff.
The title is a play on the anti-proliferation catchcry: You can’t hug a baby in nuclear arms.

That, of course, is the idea, the result of a deliberate strategy and as a direct consequence of Israel’s prevailing self-definition and worldview. As surely as our cosmology informs our sociology, the abhorrent siege of the Gaza Ghetto continues, the result of the internal logic of Israel’s continued existence as an apartheid expansionist state, producing policies of continued ‘low-intensity’ ethnic cleansing, divide and rule and genocide as Ilan Pappe and others have described. Zaid Khan’s words are worth quoting again:

Nearly 70 years ago, in a small eastern European city, an oppressed and occupied people were under siege, living under atrocious and brutal conditions, lacking food, medicine, electricity, water, and slowly being strangled in the hope they would just disappear.

Warsaw Ghetto 1941 – Gaza 2008. Israel, you are a disgrace.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Activism, Empire, War and Terror, Gaza, Genocide, Hegemon-watch, Holocaust, Israel, Israel Watch, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine Peace, Peace and Justice, US Foreign Policy, USA. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments »

Not In Our Name: We the People Respond To Australian Parliamentary Motion On Israel At 60

15 March, 2008 — peoplesgeography.com

In response to PM Rudd’s Motion on Israel’s 60th Anniversary year, many Australians, including this blogger, supported and signed an advertisement that appeared prominently on page 7 of The Australian national broadsheet on Wednesday 12 March. The statement reads:

Not in Our Name

We, as informed and concerned Australians, choose to disassociate ourselves from a celebration of the triumph of racism and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians since the al-Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948. As we write, Israel continues to expand illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank including Arab East Jerusalem.

Australia and Australians should not give the Israeli people and its leaders the impression that Australia supports them in their dispossession of the Palestinian people. Israel has poisoned our (the West’s) relations with the whole of the Arab and Muslim world. Rather than celebrating the creation of the State of Israel, we should be recognising the people of Palestine, those who were dispossessed, those who lived and died as refugees, those who continue to live and die and suffer at the hands of the State of Israel, and those who will continue to suffer and die in the future until justice is done. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Activism, Australia, Human Rights, Israel, Justice, Lobby watch, Media, Occupation, Palestine, Palestine Peace, Peace and Justice, Peace education, Speeches. 4 Comments »

Genocidal intent of apartheid regime confirmed: Israeli minister warns Palestinians of holocaust

1 March, 2008 — peoplesgeography.com

After murdering 33 over 60 78 112 (as at 3 March) Palestinians since Tuesday (whose names and family status are rarely mentioned like the Israeli “father of four”, and two others, combatants), the Israeli regime and blight unto nations has now confirmed to the world its genocidal intent against the indigenous Palestinian population: the Deputy Israeli Defense Minister Matan Vilnai has threatened a shoah (holocaust, disaster) against Gazans, telling Israeli Army Radio:

“The more Qassam (rocket) fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they (the Palestinians) will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.”

This is not about “defence”, of course. Stopping the rockets — which are a response to the occupation, control and strangulation of the Palestinians — could be achieved by talking to the elected government of Gaza, and ending the longest-running military occupation in modern history, and one of the most brutal. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Gaza, Genocide, Holocaust, Israel, Israel Watch, Militarism general, News, Occupation, Palestine, Peace and Justice, Quotes, War, War crimes, Zionism. Tags: . 9 Comments »

“We must take a neighborhood in Gaza and wipe it off the map”

12 February, 2008 — peoplesgeography.com

Quotables from the Israeli government’s current (c)harm offensive

While you may have read about the first, Israeli Minister Sheetrit’s revealing outburst was by no means the only recent one. These are just a few picked up from a couple of news pieces, and seem unfortunately indicative of how the Israeli government public discourse has further degenerated, reflecting its actions on the ground.

  • ”We need to topple the Hamas regime,” Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Israel Radio ahead of Barak’s briefing. ”We need to assassinate its leaders without any artificial differentiation between those who wear explosive vests and those who wear diplomatic vests.“
  • Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters after the cabinet meeting, “There is no hope for the Palestinian people with Hamas. There is no hope for any kind of peace or the vision of a Palestinian state which includes the Gaza Strip without a real change on the ground.” (read: usual ‘never a partner for peace’ and attempting to dictate who governs and the shape of a future Palestinian state, which is to say, actively preventing one)
  • Olmert’s Deputy, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, said he expected Hamas, which seized control in June, to be forced out within the year. “I believe a combination of steps against Hamas in Gaza will bring an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza,” Ramon said. “It will take a few months, maybe it will take a year.” Hamas sources said Hamas leaders were keeping a low profile, apparently to avoid assassination attempts. Asked who Israel could be targeting, minister Shaul Mofaz said: “Everyone, without exception.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Empire, War and Terror, Gaza, Genocide, Hegemon-watch, Israel, Israel Watch, Language, Palestine, Peace and Justice, People, Quotes, Violence, War. Tags: , , , , , , . 8 Comments »

The Wall: impact and consequences, video

10 February, 2008 — peoplesgeography.com

While the introduction and conclusion of the narration leaves something to be desired (it is not “democracy” that is being installed in the Middle East, it is being actively subverted and sabotaged in the OPT, for a start), this eight minute ChromoVision video is a very worthwhile production overall: it is a very good overview of what the illegal separation wall in Israel means in terms of partitioning off from Palestinians the most fertile agricultural land and water supplies for use by Israel.

The narration also is correct in noting that all the wall is not in fact along the 1967 Green Line: 157,800 acres2 – or about 11.5 percent – of West Bank land (excluding East Jerusalem) will actually lie between the Barrier and the Green Line, according to the revised route announced in 2004. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Agriculture, Apartheid, Gaza, Human Rights, Illegal settlements, International Law, Israel, Israel Watch, Justice, Maps, Occupation, Palestine, Peace and Justice, Peace education, Video, Water, West Bank. Tags: , , , . 3 Comments »

For Want of An Honest Broker … Genuine Peace in Palestine Needs Washington’s Willingness To Curb Israeli Hubris and Aggression

20 January, 2008 — peoplesgeography.com

right_of_return_palestinian_boy.jpgIt was JFK who said that “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Our thoughts are with Gaza, where GWB’s recent visit to the region has seen Israel only ratchet up its violence and airstrikes upon a territory from which it only nominally withdrew and in fact continues to choke, killing dozens of people in the space of a few days.

Let us recall that after maintaining a ceasefire or hudna for eighteen months, the democratically elected government of Hamas was subject to nothing but economic siege, divide and rule, sabotage and targeted killings. Let us also recall that Israel rejected the offer of a truce, instead continuing its collective punishment of a whole population already brutally repressed and assassinating leaders and civilians alike, including the son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.

latuff_cartoon_israel_collective_punishment.jpg

The criminal strangulation of a whole population of a million and a half people in one of the most densely populated places on the planet is being committed on the pretext of rocket attacks on Israel using primitive weapons like Qassams; with pretext being the operative word. As Uri Avnery recently observed in Help! A Ceasefire: “If the Qassams were really bothering our political and military leaders, they would have jumped at the cease-fire offer. But the leaders don’t really care … [it] has an important positive side: it provides an ideal pretext for the actions of the army. The Israeli strategic aim in Gaza is not to put an end to the Qassams. It would still be the same if not a single Qassam fell on Israel.” Israel’s policy is to deliberately destroy Gaza. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Activism, Blogosphere, Gaza, Hamas, Hegemon-watch, Human Rights, International Law, Israel, Israel Watch, Justice, News, Palestine, Palestine Peace, Peace and Justice, Politics, US Foreign Policy, USA, War crimes, Zionism. Leave a Comment »

On This Day in Peace History: the Greenham Common Women and other inspiring people power episodes

31 December, 2007 — peoplesgeography

A very Happy New Year to you and yours. May 2008 be a good one for you personally and a more peaceful one for the world. We remember that these are sometimes quite politically grim times for a good slice of humanity.

Yet even in the axial Israel-Palestine conflict, most obviously a key focus here, there have been promising glimmers of action and initiatives throughout 2007. Mazin Qumsiyeh has assiduously listed many of them in his excellent mailing list newsletter (see below, after the fold, for a summary).*

More locally in Australia, John Howard was ousted both from government and from his own seat, and David Hicks has finally been released from the Guantanamo Bay gulag, and has just finished serving the remainder of his sentence in his home town. With some of the mainstream media here reporting on this atrociously, it bears remembering that there is absolutely no evidence that David Hicks actually committed any crime whatsoever. He admitted to the charge of “supporting terrorism” as the linchpin of a plea bargain, after years of effort to secure his release. Let’s hope the man is let be to recover something of his life, and all best wishes to him and his courageous father, Terry.

Some reminders of the unstoppable force of the human spirit might be a fitting last post for 2007. This Week in Peace History, published by Carl Bunin and edited by Al Frank, is an interesting and valuable compendium to which you can sign up to receive by email. It is designed to remind us that our agency counts, and to appreciate that we are indeed “part of a rich history advocating peace and social justice.” Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Agency, Boycotts, Civil disobedience, Dissent, History, International cooperation, Israel, Israel Watch, Palestine, Peace and Justice, Peace education, People, People power, Politics. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . 9 Comments »

Open Bethlehem: the campaign to free an occupied city

21 December, 2007 — peoplesgeography.com

Every Christmas this site has focused upon Bethlehem, birthplace of Christ, historically a beautifully polyglot community where Christians, Muslims and Jews coexisted peacefully before the founding of Israel in 1948. Open Bethlehem is a positive campaign to raise awareness around the world about the plight of Christian and Muslim Palestinians in this historic holy city, and the fate of the city itself. The presentations featured in the embedded videos are also available to be downloaded and viewed in powerpoint from the Open Bethlehem site—this is recommended for viewing the slides in full screen, enabling the reading of the text clearly and at one’s leisure.

Previous posts on Christmas and Bethlehem can be found here:

leunig-kill-leader-movement.jpg

Organisations

Cartoon by Leunig

Caption: “Look at that! Brilliant! You kill the leader and you nip the whole movement in the bud.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Christianity, Israel, Israel Watch, Justice, Palestine, Palestine Peace, Peace and Justice, Peace education, Video. Tags: , , . 3 Comments »

A Christmas Reflection on Palestine by Sonja Karkar

21 December, 2007 — peoplesgeography.com

Sonja Karkar is founder of Women for Palestine and her writing has been featured at Counterpunch, Electronic Intifada and many other good alternative press sites.

Picture credits: Banksy (many thanks Dave) and Polyp.

Christians and Muslims Weep Together
A Christmas Reflection on Palestine

By Sonja Karkar | December 19, 2007

As Christmas approaches this year, the thoughts of Christians all over the world will once again turn to Bethlehem, the holy town where Jesus was born over two millennia ago. Voices will be raised in joyful celebration and children everywhere will re-create the Christmas story to help us remember the circumstances in which the Christ child was born.

Such a momentous occasion in such humble surroundings heralded a new way of thinking about people’s relationship with God and with each other. It shook the foundations of an unforgiving society presided over by an unforgiving God and proclaimed peace and goodwill on earth amongst all people. There was indeed much to hope for.

However, the tranquil pastoral scene so familiar to us is not at all evident in Bethlehem today. Bethlehem does not lie still, and peace on earth and goodwill towards all is as elusive as ever. The tyranny of Israel’s occupation and its colonial expansionism is crippling the lives of both Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Christianity, Christmas, Israel, Israel Watch, Occupation, Palestine, Palestine Peace, Peace and Justice, Peace education, Zionism. Tags: . 5 Comments »
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