Jewish Voice of Peace

http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/blog/jvp-statement-on-israels-operation-pillar-of-defense

JVP Statement on Israel's Operation "Pillar of Defense"

Submitted by Alissa Wise on Wed, 11/14/2012 - 12:32pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rabbi Alissa Wise, alissa@jvp.org

Jewish Voice for Peace Statement on Israel’s Operation "Pillar of Defense"

As Israel launches operation “Pillar of Defense” in Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) calls for an immediate cessation of the air strikes and naval bombardment into Gaza and an end to the ongoing siege of Gaza. JVP urges Israel not to exploit its asymmetric power to exacerbate the instability in the region. We urge President Obama to  take a stand against these attacks and to use the power of the United States to insist that Israel pursue all diplomatic measures possible for the sake of life, safety and security on all sides.  JVP also urges the end of  rocket attacks from Gaza into civilian communities in Israel, which we believe is never justifiable, and which only serve to derail efforts for a just resolution to the conflict. 

This operation is named in reference to a  biblical passage in which a pillar of cloud protects the Israelites as they wandered in the desert after leaving bondage in Egypt.

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night.                                                                                                         Exodus 13:21

It is unseemly to invoke the protection afforded the Israelites wandering in the desert when Israel is the dominant military power in the region. JVP rejects the possibility that such a military operation and escalation of violence will be of any protection for Israelis or Palestinians. As Israel continues to control Gaza by air, land and sea, Israel holds responsibility for the well-being and safety of Palestinian civilians in Gaza who will be traumatized, injured and killed through this escalation of violence. 

JVP calls on our chapters, members, and supporters to join us in redoubling our efforts to advocate for an end to the U.S.’s unconditional military aid to Israel and to intensify our calls for divestment from all companies that profit from this escalation of violence and Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza.

You can follow live updates from Gaza here: https://twitter.com/theIMEU/watching-gaza

_________________________________________________________________________________
Jewish Voice for Peace is a national organization dedicated to promoting a US foreign policy in the Middle East based on peace, democracy, human rights and respect for international law.
With offices in New York and California, over 100,000 supporters and 30 chapters, a Rabbinic Cabinet, and a youth wing, JVP’s board of advisors includes Tony Kushner, actor Ed Asner, writer Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky and other respected rabbis, artists, scholars and activists.  
http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

Gaza 2012: "Pilar de defensa" Análisis en El País de Jesús A. Nuñez

http://blogs.elpais.com/extramundi/2012/11/pilar-de-defensa-suma-y-sigue-en-gaza.html

Entrevista con Michael Warshavsky: "Israel no existe más que por la guerra"

"Israel tiene necesidad de un enemigo. Debe estar en estado de guerra permanente. Sin mucha exageración, Israel no existe más que por la guerra. Israel no es apoyado por los Estados Unidos (3,5 millardos de dólares por año) más que porque juega un papel militar en la región. La peor catástrofe que puede ocurrirle a Israel es que no haya guerra, que no haya enemigo, ni amenaza. Siempre se trata, por tanto, de identificar una nueva amenaza. Hemos tenido el terrorismo que se ha convertido en el terrorismo islamista y que luego se ha generalizado al islam. No es suficiente. Entonces se coge a Hezbolá, pero éste es demasiado pequeño. Hay que encontrar algo más grande, llegaría incluso a decir que hay que vender a Washington que ese enemigo no amenaza solo a Israel, sino que amenaza la civilización judeo-cristiana en su conjunto. Así llegamos a la ecuación general de que la civilización judeo-cristiana está amenazada por el islam representado por la República Islámica de Irán."

Para leer la entrevista completa: http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=159164&titular=%22israel-no-existe-m%E1s-que-por-la-guerra%22-

Daniel Barenboim: Lucho contra la ignorancia de israelíes y palestinos

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/11/14/cultura/a08n1cul

Carta de The Other Voice a Netanyahu y Barak: "A country at war rarely spares a thought for the children of the enemy"

Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/a-country-at-war-rarely-spares-thought.html

Noam Chomsky: "Gaza, la prisión al aire libre más grande del mundo"

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/11/11/mundo/022a1mun

Detenidos israelíes y extranjeros (algunos diplomáticos) del barco sueco "Estelle" rumbo a Gaza

Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío.

Entre los activistas detenidos y que sufrieron de los abusos de los servicios se inteligencia israelíes se encontraba Elik Elhanan, el hijo de la madre de negro Nurit Peled. También se encontraba el miembro del parlamento griego Evangelis. "Quince naves armadas contra un barco civil que llevaba juguetes para los niños de Gaza" y la certeza de aferrarse más a la lucha pacifista.

Swedish Ship to Gaza
Activists in Israel  

Press Release Oct. 22, 2012

The Israeli activists detained on board the "Estelle" were released
Elik Elhanan: excessive force was used against us, without any reason

Electric shocks by taser out of vengeful hatred
A Greek MP was beaten by Shabak Security Service interrogators

"I am now on my way home, but I keep thinking of my shipmates, my fellow activists from abroad who are still imprisoned under harsh conditions and undergo  interrogation by the Shabak Security Service, among them Parliament Members from several countries," said Elik Elhanan, one of the Israeli activists who had sailed aboard the Gaza-bound Swedish ship "Estelle". Today, the court ordered his release and that of two other detained Israelis, Yonatan Shapira and Reut Mor. "At first they tried to charge us with all kinds of very serious felonies, such as 'aiding the enemy'. The court rejected this out of hand. Today they tried a article on the law books called "Attempted infiltration into a part of the Land of Israel which is not part of the State of Israel" (sic). But the court threw out this charge, too". The detained activists were represented by Attorney Gaby Lasky and her team, who have considerable experience with Human Rights cases.

The released detainees were cheerfully greeted by peace activists who arrived at the courtroom, among them Elik Elhanan's  parents - Rami Elhanan and Nurit Peled-Elhanan, who is the daughter of the late Major General Matti Peled. Smadar Elhanan, Elik's sister, was killed in a suicide bombing at the center of Jerusalem – a harsh experience which made surviving family members all the more determined to strive for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, so as to prevent further casualties on either side.

"I have gone though difficult days, but I certainly do not regret sailing on that boat. I knew what I was getting into" said Elik Elhanan. "During the voyage I made a special contact with Evangelis, a Member of the Greek Parliament who sailed with us. When the Naval Commandos came aboard and while we were blocking their way to the bridge, Evangelis told me we have generated in him a love for the people of Israel and a hope for a better future in the Middle East. Shortly afterwards they separated us. Yesterday evening, when they put Dror Feiler in our cell, he told us that Evangelis had been beaten by the Shabak interrogators. The Shabak lied shamelessly to the Consuls and representatives of foreign countries, telling them that their citizens and MPs were being treated well." Dror Feiler, who was born in Israel and whose  mother Pnina lives in Kibbutz Yad Hana, gave up his Israeli citizenship after moving to Stockholm, and was therefore separated most of the time from the Israeli detainees.

"They used a completely disproportional amount of force against us" continues Elhanan. "When the Navy arrived to take us over, Yonatan Shapira counted no less than fifteen vessels surrounding us on all sides. Large and small ships and boats, a ship carrying a helicopter, as well as the Zodiacs of the Naval Commandos. Fifteen armed naval vessels against one small civilian boat carrying games for the children of Gaza. We must have disturbed very much the Navy and those who give orders to the Navy.

When they came aboard and we blocked their way, the soldiers knew exactly who I was. They shouted in Hebrew: 'Elhanan, you will pay for your Leftism!' and used the taser to give me electric shocks. Even after they completed their takeover of the boat, they continued to use the taser and administer more shocks. But if they think they could deter me and those who sailed with me, they are mistaken. The siege of Gaza is an ongoing crime and it must be ended. We will continue the struggle".  

Contact:
Elik Elhanan +972-2-5700112 or via Nurit Peled-Elhanan +972-547-578703
Adv. Gaby Lasky +972-54-4418988

Uri Avnery 79 años después de la guerra de Yom Kipur

Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1348845384/

Petición de académicos del mundo para impedir el cierre del departamento de Cs. Políticas en la Universidad de Beer Sheva.

Por favor, se agradece a los académicos que deseen firmar y difundir.

Here is a petition concerning the closure of the Politics and Government Dept. in Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva - please sign and circulate widely.

http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/academyunderattack

For those interested in writing a letter, this is a link to more information:

http://isacademyunderattack.wordpress.com

Traducción del artículo de Gideon Levy: "¿Cuántas patrias tenéis'"

Gracias a Rolando Gómez por la traducción y el envío.

¿Cuántas patrias tenéis?

Por: Guidón Levi

Haaretz, 20 de septiembre del 2012

Al momento en que las intensivas negociaciones con los palestinos se encuentran en su apogeo, y todo pareciera solucionarse, Israel presenta sorpresivamente un nuevo reclamo: sin que haya indemnización a los refugiados judíos de los países árabes, no acordará pronunciarse por el fin del conflicto.

Todo se solucionó; verdadero fin al conflicto, y ahora vamos a arremeter contra otro pequeño objetivo en el camino a la paz justa que maduró y se encuentra a la vuelta de la esquina.

Ya existe un documento de propuesta sobre el tema por parte del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional, publicado por Barak Ravid en “Haaretz”, y también una campaña de propaganda dirigida por el viceministro del exterior, Dani Aialón, quien tiene derechos paternales sobre el asunto (su padre nació en Argelia).

Luego de que nos enseñaran a lo largo de generaciones enteras que la Aliá (Ascención -en el lenguaje místico sionista, significa inmigración judía a Israel.  N. de T.) de los países árabes fue un acto sionista, de repente resulta que se trató de una ola de refugiados.

Cuando pensábamos que Israel ya hubiera roto todos los récords posibles de la desfachatez, viene esta campaña y nos muestra que hay otros récords que es capaz de romper.

Es difícil saber por dónde comenzar a refutar la ridícula comparación entre el destino de los refugiados palestinos al de los judíos, pero es posible despejar una preocupación: el documento de propuesta del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional no ve ningún lugar a la comparación.  El destino de los refugiados (judíos) lo señala como “tragedia”, mientras que el destino de los palestinos es un “tópico”.  Y el colmo: la culpabilidad por ambos recae sobre los países árabes.  Difícil de creer: Israel no tiene arte ni parte en el problema de los refugiados palestinos.

Con razón evitó Israel desde su creación toda alusión al tema; entendió que la tierra arde bajo sus pies.  Hasta que el gobierno de Biniamín Netaniahu se atrevió a meter las manos en el fuego.  Tal vez ahora –pensaron en Jerusalén- que no hay posibilidades de nada, es posible traer a colación este asunto; tal vez gracias a él recoja Israel unos cuantos cupones en las sinagogas de los judíos de origen árabe en Estados Unidos.

Israel reclama indemnización a la propiedad de 800 mil refugiados de los países árabes.  No propone ningún tipo de indemnización por la propiedad perdida por unos 650 mil refugiados palestinos, sobre cuyos escombros se construyó un Estado.  Eso que lo pague el mundo, no Israel.

La relación será de 2 a 3 a favor de Israel, calculó el Consejo de Seguridad Nacional.  ¿A lo de 1948, lo de 1967 y todo lo que pasó desde entonces?  ¿A las casas que se destruyeron y las tierras que se saquearon, las canteras que se explotaron y los recursos que se aprovecharon?  ¿A todo eso acordará Israel pagar indemnización?  No hagan reír a la gente inteligente.

El Consejo de Seguridad Nacional también hace caso omiso de la categórica diferencia entre el destino de las dos comunidades de refugiados: los judíos emigraron –por decisión propia o no, decisión de Israel- al Estado que a los ojos de ellos consideran su patria.  Los palestinos fueron expulsados o forzados a escapar contra su voluntad hacia campos de refugiados y a la dispersión.  A los unos se les decretó una vida de libertad y respeto en su país.  A los otros se les decretó una vida de ocupación y diáspora.  Los unos no quieren regresar, los otros sí.  Encontrad vosotros la diferencia.

Así como Israel no se avergüenza de devolver propiedades judías de antes de 1948 a sus dueños, desde Jevrón y hasta Sheij Yara, por medio de la expulsión de palestinos de sus casas, nunca pensó en hacer lo mismo en relación a la propiedad palestina.  ¿Con qué derecho?   No se pregunta.  No lo hará nunca.  Si aceptará ahora discutirlo, es porque se trata entonces de una conquista colosal para los palestinos.

¿Se devolverá a los palestinos a sus casas, como a los judíos de Jevrón?  ¿o lamentablemente se los indemnizará por su sufrimiento, como reclaman los judíos?  Si no, se trata de otro engaño que está destinado a eliminar el problema de los refugiados palestinos del orden del día.  O se trata de otro paso nacionalista, de aquellos que no reconocen la igualdad de derechos entre palestinos y judíos.

En la base de este asunto se erige la cuestión de principios, que el Miembro del Parlamento Ajmed Tibi expresó tan bien: “¿Cuántas patrias tenéis?”, le preguntó a Aialón en la televisión, y su pregunta se quedó suspendida: ¿Es Israel la patria?  ¿O acaso Irán?

Hasta el mismo idioma hebreo tiene dificultades para expresar “patrias” en plural.

Israel quiere justicia para sus refugiados.  Vamos a hacer justicia a todos; a todos los refugiados de este terrible conflicto, desde Bagdad hasta Yafo.

Hasta entonces, mejor que nos conformemos con poner fin a la adversidad de aquellos que sufren la política que se inició en el año tashaj (año hebreo 5708, o 1948; año de la creación del Estado de Israel.  N. del T.) y no se interrumpió ni por un momento hasta este mismísimo día.

Traducción del hebreo: Rolando “el negro” Gómez

Coyoacán, 20 de septiembre del 2012

Fuente en hebreo: http://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/1.1826718

Fuente en inglés (para suscriptores): http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/how-many-homelands-do-the-israelis-get-to-have.premium-1.465702

Soldados israelíes denuncian los abusos contra niños y adolescentes palestinos

Gracias a Inés Westphalen por el envío.
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/08/26/actualidad/1345997855_853212.html

Más de cien activistas internacionales de la campaña "Bienvenidos a Palestina" pedirán pasar a los territorios ocupados de Cisjordania desde Jordania

Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío

More than a hundred international activists, invited to Bethlehem, will demand admittance to the West Bank over Jordan bridges tomorrow (Sun. Aug 26)    

 

Press Release from the Welcome to Palestine Campaign

Over one hundred delegates from Europe and North America will show up on Sunday at the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge linking Jordan to the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank. All of them are participants to this new version of the Welcome to Palestine campaign. They respond to an invitation launched by the Governor of Bethlehem and several civil society organizations of this West Bank city. They carry with them over one ton of stationery to give to Palestinian children who are about to go back to school these days, and with their eyes and cameras, they are ready to document life under occupation and apartheid, during a week-long series of encounters with the population.

 

 

 

We are well aware of what happened to two previous versions of the Welcome to Palestine campaign: they were faced with illegal repression by the Israeli authorities, although their only supposed crime was admitting that they were visiting Palestine. Israel even went to the extreme of providing a fabricated list of 1,200 individuals to European airlines to deny them boarding, not one of those people was a security threat. Israel made Ben Gurion Airport into a virtual military camp with hundreds of extra security personnel to restrict entry to those they falsely claimed were intent on disruption and trouble-making.

 

 

 

This new version has started in Amman, Jordan, where our delegates have arrived at the middle of last week, visiting this country – and the numerous Palestinian refugee camps it hosts - before heading to the bridge over the River Jordan.

 

 

 

Contrarily to the previous versions, the visitors’ trip does not encroach, even as a very provisional step, an inch of Israeli national territory. Yet, it is known for a fact that the Israeli government routinely makes light of respecting the International Laws and regulations warranting the right to travel and visit friends. The French government, while warning the participants of the Welcome to Palestine mission about the risk of being denied entry to the West Bank by the Israeli army, felt the necessity to reaffirm this week its strong commitment to the right to enter the Palestinian territories, and announced a decision to mobilize its diplomatic network in the area in order to be able to provide assistance to its nationals, if needed. Such a message was passed to the Israeli authorities, the French Foreign ministry added.

 

 

 

What will happen on Sunday at the Jordan/West Bank border, illegally manned by Israel ? Are the participants of Welcome to Palestine, aged 9 to 82 year-old, a so-called “security risk”? And a “security risk” for whom? For Israel? They do not go to Israel this time.

 

 

 

Having the might, the Israeli government has the choice between playing by the minimal rules of a civilized world, or again, as it so often does, violating elementary rights of the citizens. We would appreciate the Israeli public opinion know about that.

 

 

 

Welcome to Palestine, Saturday 25th of August 2012

 

Contacts : 00 33 6 73 38 24 84 (in Europe) or 00 33 6 80 88 71 54 (currently in Amman, Jordan)

 

 

 

The Israeli movement Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc) called upon the government to admit the international activists and rectify the mistake made in the previous two times they tried to arrive in the Palestinian territories and were treated as "enemies". "The Palestinians, just like us, have the right to invite guests from abroad to visit them. As long as the state of Israel insists as acting as the gate-keeper and controlling the access to the Palestinian territories, it has the obligation pf observing the common courtesies and letting the Palestinians' invited guests come visiting" was the text of a letter sent to Defense Minister Barak.

 

 

 

Contact:

 

Adam Keller, Gush Shalom Spokesperson +972-3-5565804 or +972-54-2340749

Carta abierta de Gaza a la Unión Europea

Gracias a Gladis Banegas por el envío.
http://www.ticovision.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=10574

Entrevista a Lea Tsemel, abogada israelí de los palestinos (subtitulada en español)

Pedro Brieger entrevista a Lea Tsemel. Gracias a Gabriela W. por el envío.

http://rocagenocida.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/lea-tsemel-en-vision-7-internacional.html

Policía agrede a niño en Hebrón -B'tselem

Gracias a Inés Westphalen por el envío

http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/07/03/actualidad/1341304344_442425.html

Futbolista arrestado

Gracias a Inés Westphalen por el envío.
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/06/13/actualidad/1339578820_716438.html

Un breve mensaje para difundir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I6sPCSJu31U

Noticias de Ta'ayush

http://972mag.com/watch-settlers-set-fire-to-palestinian-olive-grove-man-shot/46876/

El libro "No voy a odiar" de Izzeldin Abuelaish

http://www.librosaguilar.com/es/libro/no-voy-a-odiar/

Izzeldin Abuelaish, autor del libro "No voy a odiar"

Gracias a Omar Arach por el envío.
http://www.clarin.com/mundo/Perdio-hijas-ataque-israeli-activista_0_707929237.html

Más en la entrevista de Walter Martínez al Dr. Abuelaish
parte 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExuWP8D0JMw&feature=relmfu

parte 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLwHZ9iwrxw

Huelga de hambre de 24 hrs. en solidaridad con los prisioneros palestinos frente a las embajadas y consulados de Israel

Their Fate is in Our HandsMay 17th: 24 hours of hunger in solidarity
with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails

Coming Thursday, May 17, will mark a month to the hunger strike, with over 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails participating in it. As Israel refuses to accept the prisoners' demands for their basic rights, including humane treatment, many of them face immediate risk of death as the world watches over in silence.

The prisoners have decided to live in dignity or starve to death in their isolation cells, and a global mobilization is urgently needed to break the deafening silence! A month into the hunger strike, join a

Global 24-hour hunger strike

In front of Israeli embassies, consulates and UN offices

May 17, 2012

Endorse the Palestinian civil society call for a boycott of G4S dueto its complicity in Israel’s violations of Palestinian prisoners’rights

Click here to pledge to join the Global 24-hour hunger strikeEmail us if you are organizing a sit-in in your community

Background 
More than two weeks ago, some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have launched an open-ended hunger strike and their life is in danger. Their demands are simple and the strike's slogan, echoing through the prison walls, is just as plain- freedom or death. The lives of all prisoners on strike are currently under danger, but among them is a smaller group, which has been striking for a longer period and whose lives are under immediate threat.

Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab have not eaten for more than 70 days - since the 29th of February. Israeli courts have rejected their appealsand refused to free them from administrative detention where they remain without charge or trial, subject to secret evidence and secret allegations. They are in critical condition.

Hassan Safadi has been refusing food since the 2nd of March, Omar Abu Shalal, 54, since the 4th of March, Mahmoud Sarsak, the only Gazan to have been incarcerated under Israel's Illegal Combatants Law, since the 24th of March, Mohammed al-Taj, 40, also since the 24th of March and Ja'afar Ezzadeen, 41, since the 27th of march.

The Prisoners' key demands include:

• Ending the policy of solitary confinement and isolation;
• End to the use of administrative detentions;
• The restoration of visitation rights to families of prisoners from the Gaza Strip, a right that has been denied to all families for more than 6 years;
• Canceling ‘Shalit’ law, which restricts prisoners' access to educational materials as punitive measure. The law remains intact despite a prisoner swap deal last October.
• Ending systematic humiliation, including arbitrary strip searches, nightly raids and collective punishment.

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have been hit hard with retaliationfrom Israel Prison Services, including beatings, transferring from oneprison to another, confiscation of salt (an act that could have severehealth consequences for hunger strikers), denial of family and lawyervisits, and isolation and solitary confinement of hunger strikers.

In response, Human Rights Watch issued a statement chiding Israel’s over its administrative detention policy; it said, “It shouldn’t take the self-starvation of Palestinian prisoners for Israel to realize it is violating their due process rights." Amnesty International also issued a call for urgentaction from individuals around the world to contact Israeli authorities about Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh.

Emphasizing imprisonment as a critical component of Israel’s system of occupation, colonialism and apartheid practiced against the Palestinian people, Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations havecalled for intensifying the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to target corporations profiting directly from the Israeli prison system. In particular, we call for action to be taken to hold to account G4S, the world’s largest international security corporation, whichhelps to maintain and profit from Israel’s prison system, for its complicity with Israeli violations of international law.

Signed:Popular Struggle Coordinating Committee
Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)

Israel Hawkademia in Australian Universities

Gracias a Omar Arach por el envío. Israeli Hawkademia in Australian Universities

By Vacy Vlazna The Israeli 'defense' industry is embedded in Israeli universities and in universities around the world including Australia. It plunders overseas intellectual property for Israel's military research-and-development (R&D) programs while strategic bi-lateral research and exchange missions deliberately whitewash or 'normalize' the Zionist military occupation of Palestine and her people. In Israel, Zionism and the military are undifferentiated. The IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces), the world's fourth most powerful (nuclear) army, since the inception of the state of Israel, is duty bound to secure the fanatical Zionist goal of Eretz Yisrael or Greater Israel, which incorporates the whole of historic Palestine and beyond (from the Nile to the Euphrates). The 1948 Nakba, the Catastrophe, which accounted  for the destruction of 500 Palestinian villages and the forceful expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians by Israeli terrorist militia (Irgun, Lehi, and Haganah) that metamorphosed  into the Israeli army, has never ended with Israel's relentless policies of ethnic cleansing through the expansion of its illegal colonies and the illegal Annexation Wall on stolen Palestinian land perforated moreover by hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks manned by belligerent IOF. Under international law, Israel's military occupation of Palestine is illegal and yet it has impunity to defy UN Resolutions and to daily commit war crimes because of US, EU, Canadian and Australian support as well as the $3.1 billion in Israeli military assistance granted annually from the US State Department budget. "Israeli defense sales in 2010 totaled 7.2 billion U.S. dollars, making the small nation the world's fourth largest exporter...Most of the sales are from four leading companies: Elbit Systems, Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, and Israel Military Industries ..Strong points of Israel's arms industry include unmanned aerial vehicles, armoured vehicles, smart munitions, military and civilian aircraft avionics, weapons platforms and structural upgrades for foreign governments and private clients." It is Palestinian men, women, teenagers and children who are the guinea pigs of Israel's 'battle-tested' weaponry. Israeli defense companies as well as their joint venture US/UK defense partners have subsidiaries in Australia- Elbit Australia, Oracle Australia, Thales Australia, Raytheon Australia and have footholds in and associations with Australian universities. In November 2011, Elbit Systems joined the Australian Defense Department's Rapid Prototyping, Development and Evaluation Program. The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University also joined. "Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries contribute directly to two of the most insidious facets of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory: the indiscriminate assaults on civilian populations, through the provision of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's or 'drones') and other military equipment to Occupation forces; and the ever-tightening ghettoization of the West Bank, through the provision of surveillance and electronics systems along the Apartheid Wall and settlements. During Israel's 23-day assault in Gaza in 2008-09, missiles fired from drones were directly attributed to the killing of 78 Palestinians, including 29 children. Like all Israeli firms operating the military technology sector, endless war and occupation create valuable marketing opportunities. Elbit UAVs, for example, can be sold on the global market as 'battle tested' devices, significantly increasing their appeal and leading to their adoption by a number of militaries." The ZEN Entrepreneurs' Challenge is a student business planning competition run by the Entrepreneurship, Commercialization and Innovation Centre at the University of Adelaide. 'Participants work with dedicated mentors to cultivate their entrepreneurial plans including marketing thanks to Dr. Ben-Ari who joined Elbit Systems in 1978 and is, since 2001, Managing Director of Elbit Systems Singapore. The Edith Cowan University's Security Management program is offering academic credit to delegates on completion of the 2013 "Security Fundamentals Tour of Israel designed to provide a select group of security specialists and professionals with an insight into Israel's critical infrastructure security and what continues to drive Israel to be one of the leading security technology providers." The tour includes the euphemistically named 'Separation' Wall which is in fact an Apartheid/Annexation Wall deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004 and also includes the security, passenger screening and deterrence applications of Ben Gurion Airport which last month detained and deported volunteers invited to Palestine to help build a school for blind children. Last year, Australians Vivienne Porzsolt and Sylvia Hale were also arrested and detained at Ben Gurion for having the temerity of wanting to visit Marrickville's sister city, Bethlehem. In February, a guest speaker at Deakin University's 7th Annual International Electromaterials Science Symposium was A/Prof. Yair Ein - Eli, He had been Director of Research and Battery Technology at Electric Fuel Ltd before joining the Department of Materials Engineering at the Technion. Electric Fuel Ltd is a subsidiary of the Arotech Corporation which has facilities in Israel and "operates through three major business divisions: High-level armoring for military and nonmilitary air and ground vehicles; interactive simulation for military, law enforcement and commercial markets, and batteries and charging systems for the military'. Each Israeli university has societies worldwide that encourage and facilitate academic and scientific exchanges and collaboration. 'Recent exchanges organized by The Technion Society of Australia have included Technion staff at Sydney University, University of NSW, University of Newcastle, Victoria University, University of Adelaide and Australian National University.' On staff at the University of Western Sydney is a professor with Technion associations and experience in military and civilian R&D. Both Elbit and Rafael Advanced Systems (run by the Israeli Ministry for Defence)have long-standing partnerships with the hawkish Technion. In May 2008 was the launch of the AICC s inaugural WA Innovation and Business Development Mission to Israel, supported by the WA State Governments Department of Industry and Resources and coordinated by the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce (WA) Inc. (AICC). Among delegates were representatives from the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University. Mr R McCulloch representing Murdoch University's interest in water research and renewable energy institutes praised Israel's "immediate interest and openness to finding partners" though, of course this excludes Palestinians whose critical water resources are stolen, controlled and/or demolished by Israel. The University of Johannesburg which had a joint water project with Ben Gurion University severed links in 2011 because it found "detailed, factual evidence and information regarding Ben Gurion's direct and indirect role in further entrenching the violations of human rights and international law by the Israeli state". Innocuous academic interchange can promote normalization whereby Israeli oppression, racism and apartheid is accepted as the 'normal' status quo. The Yachad Accelerated Learning Project designed to improve outcomes and address inequalities in Indigenous and Remote education was set up with the support of  Melbourne and Monash Universities and The Hebrew University (Michael Federmann, the Chairman of Elbit Systems is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of Hebrew University). In 2007 an Australian Yachad delegation enthusiastically visited the Bedouin village of Kseyfeh aware or unaware that the per capita spending per Bedouin student is less than half Israel's average and that 40% of indigenous Bedouins are threatened by forced transfer policies and live in Unrecognized Villages systematically deprived of water, electricity, health care, education yet not deprived of incessant home demolitions. The information presented here about the relationship between Australian universities and the Israeli occupation of Palestine is merely the tip of a very grubby iceberg. Australian universities by their degrading prostration to funding donors associated with Zionist Israel have lost their moral equilibrium and the purpose and ideals of academia. Dissenting academics are rare. Few emulate Professor Jake Lynch's protest of the 2011 Israel Research Forum at the University of Sydney with guest experts from the The Weizmann Institute of Science, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, and Tel Aviv University, all of which collaborate with the Israeli military industry. Academics and students, concerned for the human rights of the people of Palestine, must investigate their university finances and demand divestment from and boycott of companies and Israeli universities that are implicated in the war crimes and crimes against humanity that Palestinians suffer daily. - Dr. Vacy Vlazna is Coordinator of Justice for Palestine Matters. She was Human Rights Advisor to the GAM team in the second round of the Acheh peace talks, Helsinki, February 2005 and was coordinator of the East Timor Justice Lobby as well as serving in East Timor with UNAMET and UNTAET from 1999-2001.

Otro Nobel (Paul Krugman) "Las políticas del gobierno israelí son una forma de suicidio nacional"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/paul-krugman-israeli-government-policies-are-a-form-of-national-suicide-1.426387

Uri Avnery: Netanyahu compara Israel con Siria e Irán, así contribuye a la deslegitimación de Israel

Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío.

Avnery: Netanyahu compares Israel to Syria and Iran, thereby himself contributing to thedelegitimation of Israel. The aggressive conduct at the airport exhibits to the entire world the image of Israel as a police state

"In the height of demagoguery, Binyamin Netanyahu calls upon peace and human rights activists to go Syria and Iran, and this pack of absurdities go echoing though the official and unofficial government mouthpieces. The Prime Minister did not notice that exactly by making this comparison he is putting the State of Israel on one level with these oppressive regimes and himself significantly contributes to the delegitimation of Israel" said former Knesset Member Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom activist.

"Today is a black and shameful page in the history of the State of Israel. The massive aggressive play staged today at Ben Gurion Airport, the hundreds of police flooding the terminal, the systematic hunt for every traveler who dared to openly admit being headed to Bethlehem, as if this was the most horrible of crimes, the hysterical assault on a handful of Israeli peace activists who dared to express a dissident opinion, the worldwide campaign of pressures and threats to make airlines cancel the flights of hundreds of passengers. Had the government set out to exhibit to the world the image of an ugly Israel - oppressive, aggressive, nationalistic, tolerating no criticism - then today was a huge success. But if they had wanted to corroborate the assertion that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East", the government's conduct conveyed the very opposite message. The government's "victory" over the the international activists was the very epitome of a pyrrhic victory.

The Assad regime in Syria is already for a year facing worldwide condemnation for its atrocities, and now the international community is finally beginning to intervene there, even if too little and too late. Courageous human rights activists in Syria are risking their lives to transmit messages and images, and deserve all respect and honor. All this does not clear or exonerate the State of Israel of its responsibility for the last 44 years - more than two thirds of its entire history – in which Israel maintains an oppressive rule over four million people and systematically steals their land. There is indeed no doubt that in the count of sheer bloodshed Syria is at this moment ahead Israel - but it would be better for Israel not to boast too much about this. Human rights activists around the world could and should deal with human rights violations, wherever they occur - in Syria, in Iran and also in the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation. The Israeli peace activists, who came to the airport to protest the government's aggressive conduct and welcome the international activists, helped restore a bit of Israel's good name".

Contact:
Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesperson +972-54-2340749

Noticias de "la única democracia de Medio Oriente"

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/04/dear-activist-first-solve-the-real-problems-of-the-region-netanyahu-plays-alfred-e-newman-in-petulant-letter-to-foreign-activists.html

Artículo de Amira Haas - Israel hipoteca la paz de sus hijos

Gracias a Rolando Gómez por la traducción y el envío.

Israel hipoteca la paz de sus hijos

Por: Amira Hass

Diario Haaretz, 11 de abril de 2012

La maraña de distribuidores de autopistas y carreteras en la entrada a Jerusalén nos habla de planeadores, Ministros, Alcaldes y contratistas que piensan “a lo americano”. Nos acostumbramos a dimensiones que empequeñecen todo lo que no es asfalto: gente y árboles. Por ejemplo, nos acostumbramos a las “soluciones de transportación” que devoran la naturaleza. Sobre todo porque supuestamente sin proponérselo, estas soluciones de transportación destruyen tejidos sociales existentes.

Si se hablara solamente de Ministros, planeadores y asfalto, que sea. Pero el “pensar a lo americano” se volvió una característica que define a Israel. “Pensar a lo americano” es un pensamiento guía en la sociedad israelí judía, en su política respecto a nuestros propios “indios”.

¿Por qué tendríamos menos éxito que EEUU, Canadá o Australia, que en el proceso de su establecimiento e independencia borraron –cada uno de ellos a niveles distintos- las sociedades y comunidades que vivían en ellos? ¿Por qué no, olvidar nosotros lo que se les olvidó a países que se presentan a sí mismos como baluartes de la civilización?

Ahora, cuando los remanentes de esas naciones originarias se atreven a reclamar derechos, participación en los recursos e indemnizaciones, esos reclamos ya no ponen en peligro a los colonos blancos y a las autoridades. Entonces hagamos lo mismo nosotros: aguantemos otros 20, 50 años, continuemos robando la cabra y la colina, aplastando al desamparado, provocando emigraciones, comprando y sometiendo a sus líderes, armándonos y saliendo a la guerra…hasta que la molestia (de la entidad nacional, cultural y política que exige sus derechos) desaparezca.

Es tan lógico este hilo de pensamiento, que la gran mayoría en Israel no está interesada en diálogo sobre soluciones. Esa mayoría por supuesto que no se interesa por los hechos y los detalles que tejen conjuntamente la realidad despreciable y repugnante de la brutal dominación de Israel sobre otro pueblo. Lo que le interesa a esa mayoría es saber si es que hay o no hay tranquilidad y seguridad; qué tan fuerte es el Ejército Israelí, y cuántos pasajes de la biblia demuestran nuestra propiedad sobre la tierra.

Pero para el colmo de la felicidad y el alivio, los palestinos son un solo pueblo (no como los cientos de pueblos originarios que había en América), y el proceso del asentamiento judío no lo aniquiló. Estamos en una época distinta y un área distinta. El “pensar a lo grande” olvida que, en oposición al modelo que se quiere copiar y desarrollar, nosotros somos solo una minoría en la región, y la región cambia y reclama cambiar las reglas del juego que son cómodas para Israel y para EEUU.

La verdadera cuestión no es “dos Estados” o “un Estado”. La historia de todas maneras no reconoce etapas finales. Cada etapa lleva a otra. Tampoco son visiones lo que falta. Las visiones deben desarrollarse y cambiar en el proceso de lucha por la igualdad y la justicia. De lo contrario se transformarán en gulags.

La cuestión era y sigue siendo cuánto más derramamiento de sangre, sufrimiento y catástrofes hacen falta para que se desmorone el régimen de discriminación y apartheid judío que se desarrolló en estos 64 años.

Los palestinos nos concedieron a los israelíes una escalera que nos hubiera ahorrado la magnitud del sufrimiento y desposesión que les causamos a ellos. Una escalera a la que nos subiríamos en la etapa histórica en la que seamos recibidos en la región como vecinos reconocidos, con raíces y derechos, y no seamos solamente invasores hostiles.

Pero los gobiernos de Israel, con el apoyo de sus electores, derribaron la escalera. Sabían muy bien porqué hacer fracasar la etapa de dos Estados (en su fórmula original).

Esa etapa hubiera allanado el camino a otras configuraciones de vida en común de dos pueblos. Solo que la base y la lógica de esas configuraciones hubiera obligado a renunciar a la hegemonía y superioridad judías.

Y es necesario decirlo: por esa hegemonía, Israel hipoteca la paz de sus hijos y la vida de sus nietos. Junto con la paz y la vida de los hijos y nietos de toda la región.

______

Fuente en hebreo:

http://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/1.1683861

Fuente en inglés:

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israel-must-understand-it-cannot-be-like-america-1.423677

Traducción del hebreo:

Rolando Gómez

Coyoacán, 11 de abril de 2012

El israelí Guideon Levy piensa que el poema de Günter Grass dice "lo que debe ser dicho"

Gracias a Omar Arach por el envío

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israelis-can-be-angry-with-gunter-grass-but-they-must-listen-to-him-1.423194

Poema de Günter Grass

What Must Be Said by Günter Grass

But why have I kept silent till now?

Because I thought my own origins,

Tarnished by a stain that can never be removed,

meant I could not expect Israel, a land

to which I am, and always will be, attached,

to accept this open declaration of the truth.

Why only now, grown old,

and with what ink remains, do I say:

Israel's atomic power endangers

an already fragile world peace?

Because what must be said

may be too late tomorrow;

and because – burdened enough as Germans –

we may be providing material for a crime

that is foreseeable, so that our complicity

wil not be expunged by any

of the usual excuses.

And granted: I've broken my silence

because I'm sick of the West's hypocrisy;

and I hope too that many may be freed

from their silence, may demand

that those responsible for the open danger we face renounce the use of force,

may insist that the governments of

both Iran and Israel allow an international authority

free and open inspection of

the nuclear potential and capability of both.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/05/gunter-grass-israel-poem-iran

Las colonias israelíes bajo la lupa de la ONU

Gracias a Federico Donner por el envío

http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/ultimas/20-190205-2012-03-22.html

Noticias de Gush Shalom: escalada en Gaza

Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío.

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1331386810

Silwan, 5 de marzo, 5 menosre detenidos

http://www.palestinalibre.org/articulo.php?a=38137

Obra de teatro sobre Rachel Corrie. Lunes de febrero a las 20.30

En el Foro Shakespeare, Zamora 7, Colonia Condesa.

Ojalá puedan ir y recomendarla.

http://www.dondeir.com/content/rachel-corrie-se-manifiesta-en-el-foro-shakespeare

México: en los zapatos del otro

Gracias a Marcos Límenes por el envío

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UB7db7kMFk&feature=player_embedded

carta para firmar: 25 órdenes de demolición en una pequeña aldea de un total de 45 casas

Para todos aquellos que deseen firmarla y hacerse eco de esta protesta. Gracias a Eduardo Mosches por el envío

Urgent appeal – please write to Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak, by fax and email, and either use the sample letter in the end or make your own. Why it is needed, you find in the following press release.

=============================================================

Press Release January 30, 2012

Occupation rule's cynical game with the small village of Aqaba. Brigadier General Almaz makes a personal visit, promising to "look into the complaints"
Then, his representative issues 25 demolition orders - in a village consisting of 45 houses in all

In a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Gush Shalom warns of a cynical game played by the occupation rule in the small village of Aqaba, the east of Jenin, which is over many years the target of repeated raids by the Military Government's Civil Administration, destroying houses and basic infrastructure. "A month ago they were here last time," Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq told Gush Shalom. "They destroyed our access road, which we call 'The Peace Road' and demolished several houses. When the children who had been thrown out of their homes were crying, the soldiers posed for souvenir photos on the bulldozer, smiling and laughing".

In recent years, there was some interest in the village of Aqaba on the international scene, when an American human rights group called "The Rebuilding Alliance" raised the issue in meetings with Representatives and Senators and invited the village's mayor to a lecture tour in the United States. Following this international interest in the issue, the Civil Administration head Brigadier General Motti Almaz, made an unprecedented personal visit to the village.

I "He sat with me at the local council offices. I told him: 'You're destroying our homes and we build them again. What else can we do? This is our village, we have nowhere else to go. I told him that in our village there had never been clashes with the army, neither in the First Intifada nor in the Second one. For years the army carried out training with live ammunition among the village houses, villagers were killed and wounded. I personally, the mayor, was hit at a young age and remain in a wheelchair for life, and yet I feel no bitterness or hatred. I support peace. I just ask that they live us alone. I asked Almaz to approve a zoning plan for our village so that we can build legally. I asked him to allow us to rebuild the access road to the village - with our own money and labor, just that they don't destroy it. I asked him to let us build a school on 42 dunums of state land which are in the middle of the village and which we can't use. To allow us to be linked to the water pipe, so that we will no longer need to fetch water by tankers, at twenty Shekels per cubic meter. I told him that ten years ago, the electricity pylons at the entrance to the village were pulled down, and in 1999 Knesset Members wrote to Defence Minster Ehud Barak and he gave instructions not to touch our electricity - but still, two months ago they came and again pulled down twenty pylons. I put all problems and issues to Brigadier General Almaz, and for everything I said he answered 'We will look into it', 'We will take care of it'. And he went off.

What happened next? A few days later there arrived in our village the local representative of the Civil Administration, a man named Yigal (he does not tell his family name) and started handing out demolition orders. Demolition orders for houses, for cattle sheds, even for the tabun bread ovens. Seventeen demolition orders in total. And he told us, this whole village is illegal, everything must be destroyed. Is this the 'looking into it' which the Civil Administration Head promised us? Then the Head of the Jenin Area Civil Administration, located at the Salem Chekpoint, came to our village. I asked him 'Why did you send us Yigal with the demolition orders?' And he said: 'No, I did not sent him, this did not come from me'. And then. after another few days Yigal came back with another eight demolition orders. Demolition orders also for our kindergarten and clinic. A total of 25 demolition orders for a village which consists of 45 houses in all. So what am I to do now? What can I tell villagers who ask me 'You are talking about peace. Where is your peace?' "

Adam Keller, Gush Shalom spokesperson, wrote to Defense Minister Barak: "There are two ways of interpreting this, one of them bad and the other even worse. Either the Civil Administration plays a cynical game of 'Good Cop, Bad Cop', or in truth the Civil Administration Head does not control the people who are supposed to be under his command, and they run their own independent policy. In both cases, this abomination must be stopped. The residents of Aqaba should have the right to live safely and in dignity at their homes and in their village."

Contact:
Adam Keller, Gush Shalom Spokesperson +972-54-2340749
Haj Sami Sadeq, Akaba Mayor +972-9-2572201

Meir Margalit, Israeli Committee against House Demolitions +972-54-4345503

-------------------

Sample letter:

To Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense, Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel
Fax +972-3-6977285 +972-3-6916940
Mail: minister@mod.gov.il, dover@mod.gov.il, pniot@mod.gov.il

Mr. Defense Minister, I urgently call upon you to rescind the demolition orders, 25 in number, issued by the Military Government's Civil Administration at the village of Akaba to the east of Tubas - a small village which consists of 45 houses in all. For many years already, inhabitants of this village, about three hundred in number, face severe repression by the Israeli military government, repeated destruction of houses and infrastructure. Despite promises to the village by the Civil Administration Head, Brigadier General Almaz, harassment continues and the threat of mass destruction of houses hovers over the village. The residents of Akaba have the right to live peacefully in their homes!

video sobre los refusenikim (objetores de conciencia del IDF)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ga0s936ldU&feature=related

de Infancia hoy

Gracias a Inés Westphalen por el envío.

http://www.infanciahoy.com/despachos.asp?cod_des=9799&ID_Seccion=192

Rafeef Ziada - "Nosotros enseñamos vida, señor"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neYO0kJ-6XQ

Testimonio del ex prisionero franco-palestino Salah Hamoui

Testimonio de Salah Hamouri, ciudadano franco-palestino prisionero de Israel desde 2005, uno de los liberados a cambio de Guilad Shalit. Había sido encarcelado por sospechas de planear el asesinato de Rabin.

http://teleobs.nouvelobs.com/articles/sur-france-inter-gerard-longuet-decouvre-en-direct-un-dossier-cher-a-nicolas-sarkozy

El testimonio filmado (gracias a Inés Westphalen por el envío de la entrevista)

http://www.npa2009.org/content/interview-de-salah-hamouri

AIC: Lucha conjunta

http://www.alternativenews.org/castellano/index.php/topics/jerusalem/3099-lucha-conjunta

Economía de la ocupación: AIC

http://www.alternativenews.org/castellano/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3091-articulo-3

Plomo fundido, tres años después

http://www.alternativenews.org/castellano/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3089-aritculo-5

documental

http://www.alternativenews.org/castellano/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3088-articulo-6