Israel Railways - First Victory Over Racist Sacking of Arabs

People may remember the article a few weeks ago on the attempt to sack Arab workers from Israel Railways because they hadn't served in the army. This is one of the means by which Apartheid is maintained in Israel without the need for ‘Jews Only’ signs or specific legislation reserving jobs etc. to Jews only. Well thanks to the fierce reaction to this naked piece of racism, with my own union UNISON taking the lead, the High Court in Israel has issued a temporary injunction. No one should be under any illusions that the reason, as cited in court, for granting an injunction was the international reaction to another apartheid step. So congratulations every one. Pressure works!

Tony Greenstein

International Appeal in Solidarity with Arab Railway Workers in Israel (May 12, 2009)
First Victory – Handle with Care
full document (pdf)
list of endorsements (pdf)

Dear colleagues and supporters of the Arab railway workers’ struggle,

Arab railway workers in Israel have scored a first victory: Israel Railways was forced to act!
This is a major success for all workers and for international solidarity action, as it shows that we have the power to challenge arbitrariness, exploitation and discrimination by employers and the government (Israel Railways is a state-owned company).

The labour court ordered Israel Railways to review its new policy requiring army service as an employment condition in consultation with Israel’s Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. On May 6, 2009, Israel Railways submitted a new policy proposal to the court. However, no action will be taken while the lawsuits are pending as the court has ordered a temporary injunction. The date for the next hearing is still to be determined.

The struggle continues!

Sawt el-Amel and representatives of the railway workers are currently discussing the latest developments and new strategies for the campaign because the “compromise” presented by Israel Railways looks like a sham: the revised policy may well have the intended effect – the exclusion of Arab workers – without being openly discriminatory.

Main features of the suggested policy change:

• Army service as an employment condition will be replaced by three new conditions: at least 18 months continuous employment in the same workplace (army service included); night-shift work experience (army service included); work experience in an “hierarchical organisation” (army included). All three conditions must be fulfilled in order to be eligible for employment;
  

• Railway crossing guards who have been employed for more than one year will keep their jobs without having to fulfill the new conditions. On the other hand, all Arab railway crossing guards who have been on the job for less than a year will be sacked as they no longer fulfill the criteria.
  

Representatives of the railway workers criticise:

• In light of the facts on the ground in Israel’s labour market, the new conditions virtually replace the condition of military service;
  

• The term “hierarchical organisation” is unclear – railway workers conclude that it in fact describes the military;
  

• Between 50 and 60 Arab level crossing guards, who have worked for Israel Railways for less than a year, will lose their jobs as a result of the suggested new policy. This is not acceptable to the railway workers.

Sawt el-Amel’s concerns:

• The new conditions automatically qualify everyone who served in the army and put serious obstacles to Arab and other marginalised workers who frequently change their workplace and often work in more informal work environments;
  

• It appears that de facto workers affected by the original policy explicitly mentioning army service as an employment condition will also be affected by the proposed compromise.

Campaign update:
Hundreds of organisations and individuals have endorsed the appeal and sent protest messages to Israel Railways, among them trade union leaders and grassroots activists from all over the world. Long live international solidarity!

With regard to the recent developments, representatives of the railway workers called on Sawt el-Amel to continue the international solidarity appeal.

Please pay attention to the next campaign update, to be published soon on our website www.laborers-voice.org and via our mailing list.

YOUR VOICE COUNTS!
List of campaign endorsements as of May 12, 2009:
Organisations:
Sawt el-Amel/The Laborer’s Voice
Intal, Belgium
Association Tutti-Frutti International D?veloppement Solidarit?, France
UNISON the public service trade union, UK
Brighton and Hove District Trades Union Council, UK
Brighton and Hove UNISON Local Government, UK
Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre, UK
New York City Labor Against the War, U.S.A.
PGFTU - Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions, Palestine
Isle of Wight Friends of Palestine, UK
Union Sindical Obrera (USO), Spain
Comit de Solidaridad con la Causa ?rabe, Spain
Acre Women's Association, Pedagogical Center, Acre
NION, Toronto, Canada
South Lanarkshire Branch, UNISON, UK
City of Edinburgh UNISON, Scotland, UK
GMB@PCS, UK
Norwich PSC, UK
GMB Norwich General Branch, UK
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, UK
A.C.L.I.A (Acces la Citoyennete Lutte pour l’Insertion et l’Autonomie), France
Australian Services Union, Brisbane, Australia
LBC-NVK Antwerp, Belgium
UCU (University and Colleges Union) Westminster-Kingsway College, UK
Association Le ZartsDuMonde, France
Freedom Socialist Party, International Executive Committee, Australian and U.S. Sections
Oxford Brookes University branch of UNISON, UK
Council of Canadians | London, Ontario, Canada
KWB, Brussels, Belgium
KWB Vlaamsbrabant and Brussels, Belgium
syndicat national CGT de l'INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique), France
East Sussex Area UNISON Branch (TU), UK
Norwegian Electrician’s and IT Worker’s Union, Norway
The Internationalist Socialist League
Arab Association for Human Rights – HRA, Nazareth
AKNahost Berlin, Germany
Vigilances et Initiatives Syndicales Antifascistes – VISA, France

Individuals:
Taher Jayousi, Railway Worker/Assad Salami, Railway Worker/Ibrahim Nasrallah, Railway Worker/Luqman Salami, Railway Worker/Mustapha Matani, Railway Worker/Karim Qadi, Railway Worker/Ali Rabus, Railway Worker/Yussef Nasrallah Railway Worker/Amir Hamoudi, Railway Worker/Ahmad Hamoudi, Railway Worker/Jibran Naddaf, Chairperson Sawt el-Amel, Nazareth/Auni Banna, Attorney, Board Member Sawt el-Amel, Nazareth/Haifa Shehadi, Board Member Sawt el-Amel, Nazareth/Awni Zidani, Board Member Sawt el-Amel, Nazareth/Wehbe Badarne, Director Sawt el-Amel, Nazareth/Marie Badarne, Int’l Relations Sawt el-Amel, Nazareth/Fakher Badarne, Young Workers Sawt el-Amel, Majd el-Krum/Maha Krayyem, Women’s Platform Sawt el-Amel, Majd el-Krum/Tawfeiq Tibi, Advocate, Insaf Centre, Taybeh/Ramzi Suleiman, University of Haifa/Barend Claessens, ACV-CSC, Belgium/Younis Biadsi, Baqa al-Gharbiyeh/Heidi Paredes, Beit al-Musiqa, Shefamer/Rasha Hilwi, Beit al-Musiqa, Shefamer/Tawfiq Natour, Abna al-Balad/Melanie Atrash/Kifah AbdelHalim, Jerusalem/Mayss Nasser, al-Tireh/Frances Raday, Jerusalem/Elizabeth Bishop, Ph.D., Texas State University, U.S.A./ James E Vann, Oakland Tenants Union, U.S.A./ Riya al-Sanaa, Bir as-Sabaa/Beer Sheva/Smadar Carmon, NION and IJV Toronto, Canada/John Porter, Glasgow, Scotland/Frank Barat, PSC-Russell Tribunal on Palestine, UK/ Dr. Ted Swedenburg, University of Arkansas, U.S.A./ Dr. Laleh Khalili, SOAS, UK/ Aharon Eviatar, Hofit, Israel/Peter Eglin, Kitchener/Canada/Elizabeth Spradley, University of Arkansas-Middle East Studies, U.S.A./ Anna Miransky, Canada/David Hillman, Oxford, UK/ Mark LeVine, Ph.D., UC Irvine, U.S.A./ Alam Sher, Glasgow, Scotland/Guy Bollag, Jewish Voice for a Just Peace between Israel and Palestine, Switzerland/Nadine M?OUCHY, Institut fran?ais du Proche-Orient (Ifpo), Lebanon/Ola Sweetat, Attorney, Tarshiha/Dr Robert Boyce, London School of Economics, England/Brenda Maddock/Henry N. Lowi, Advocate, Barrister Solicitor, Toronto, Canada/Chandler Davis, Toronto, Canada/Kenneth Fryde, Teacher, Cambridge, U.K./ Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky, University of East London, London, UK/Ruth Friedman, Belgium/Ann Pett/Tareq, Morocco/Dr. Anna Carastathis, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada/Byron Simmonds, Norfolk Jewish Peace Group, Norwich, Norfolk, UK/Robin Winogrond, Jewish Voice for a Just Peace, Zuerich, Switzerland/Dr. Edwin E. Daniel, Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta and McMaster University/Sherna Berger Gluck, California State University, Long Beach, USA/Claude Calame, Prof. Dr., ATTAC et NPA, Paris, France/Ameer Makhoul, Ittijah, Haifa/Vicky Russell, Cambridge Town & Gown Against War-Mongering, Cambridge, England/Nidal Nadaf, Acre/Jason Kunin, Toronto, Canada/Wasseem Abbas, Kufr Kanna/J Kazantzis, UK/Pat Montague, Toronto, Canada/Jessica LaBumbard, Ojibwa, Wisconsin, USA/Monciaud Didier, Cahiers d’Histoire, revue d’histoire critique, Paris France/Susan Stout, Trade Union Committee for Justice in the Middle East (TUCJME), Vancouver, BC, Canada/Bernard Regan, National Union of Teachers (NUT) Member, UK/Dr. Mary-Jo Nadeau, Faculty at Trent University; Member of Faculty 4 Palestine, Toronto, Canada/Liam Barnard, Monkfish Big Band (Bass Player)/SOAS, University of London, Kent, GB/Malcolm Wallace, Chelmsford TUC, Chelmsford/Ben Drake, Steward, York City UNISON, York, UK/Sharon Carter, Coal Mine Worker, Dalby, Queensland, Australia/John Cevasco/Hilda Meers/Luisa Memore, Torino, Italy/Ben Singleton, Unite/Labour Party, Oxford, Oxfordshire/Conor Scott, Dublin, Ireland/Albert Folch, SODEPAU, Barcelona/Greg King, SEIU, Local 888/ Erica Gregory, Retired member PCS Union, Cornwall UK/Michele Citoni, independent journalist and filmmaker, Rome, Italy/ David Gering-Hasthorpe, Coventry/ David Szollosy, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, Toronto, Canada/ Henry Norr, Berkeley, California, USA/ Jonathan Kissam, UE Local 203, Burlington, VT USA/ Oliver Pearce, Christian Aid, London/ Snehal Shingavi, Instructor, postcolonial studies, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, USA/ M.C. Warrior, Labourers’ International Union of North America, Vancouver, B.C. Canada/ Dr Neil Wellappili, BMA/ NHS, London/ Jeff Bennie, Alliance Employees Union, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada/ Dr. Philip Gasper, Madison, Wisconsin, USA/ Andrew Yale, PhD Student, University of Chicago, USA/ Victor Aram, Bergen, Norway/ Leslie den Harder, New Zealand Service and Food Workers Union, Auckland, New Zealand/Sarah Measday, Hagerstown, MD/ Norman Traub/ Jeremy Dear, NUJ, London/ Corbisier ,Maurice, Bernissart,Belgique/ Terje Kvam, Fellesforbundet, Tofte, Norway/ Jan Van Criekinge, Rotselaar, Belgium/ John Mc Fadden, Fire Brigades Union, Glasgow, UK/ Michael Ring, Sacramento, USA/ Maria Elena Martinez, Sacramento, USA/ Pierre VIART, GPS, Linkebeek, Belgium/ Sam Robson, STEM (Teachers Union), Madrid, Spain/ Anne MacDonald, STEM (Teachers Union), Madrid, Spain/ Katie Jones, Cambridge, UK/ Enrique Ferro, Civil Servant, Brussels, Belgium/ Judith M.Joy, Skipton, UK/ Margret Jeune, NZEI, Levin, New Zealand/ Norma Claire Moruzzi, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA/ Mick Sidaway, Chairperson, RMT, Norwich Branch, Norfolk, UK/ Asne Hagen, Bergen, Norway/ Janine Booth, Secretary, RMT London Transport Region, London, UK/ Maria J. Pedraja, Comisiones Obreras, Spain/Tim Kelly, University of Warwick, Coventry/Dave Barnes, TSSA, St Albans, UK/ Norman Biddlecombe, London/ Pete Green, UCU (University and Colleges Union) Westminster-Kingsway College, London/ Liz McQuaid, WTA NUT/ Thomas Lux, Aerospace worker, Seattle, Wa/Janine Booth, Secretary, RMT London Transport Regional Council/Frank Curtis, RMT rep, Arnos Grove depot/Oliver New, RMT National Executive/Glenroy Watson, Chair, RMT Finsbury Park branch/Will Reid, RMT rep, Seven Sisters depot/Leona Francis, Seven Sisters depot/Carl Campbell, Seven Sisters depot/Unjum Mirza, Political Officer, RMT London Transport Regional Council/Steve Hedley, RMT London Transport Regional Organiser/Derek Bishop, Arnos Grove depot/Mashud Ali, RMT rep, Willesden Green group/Gary Fitzpatrick, RMT rep, Arnos Grove depot/Clive Protheroe, Chair, RMT Bakerloo line branch/Tracy Fitzpatrick, Women's Officer, RMT Finsbury Park branch/John Leach, RMT National President/Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary/Patrick Sikorski, RMT Assistant General Secretary/Tony Byrne, Political Officer, RMT Midlands Regional Council/John Kelly, RMT rep, London Underground Stations & Revenue Council/Ed Shine, Secretary, RMT East London Rail branch/Glen Wallis, Chair, RMT East London Rail branch/Gordon Martin, Secretary, RMT Wishaw and Motherwell branch/Janet Cassidy, Women's Steward, RMT Scotland Regional Council/Pete Woods, RMT TfL no.1 branch/Roy Carey, RMT rep, London Underground Managers, Admin, Technical and Support Staff/Malcolm Taylor, RMT rep, London Underground Stations & Revenue Council/Craign Diggins, Assistant Secretary, RMT Finsbury Park branch/Mandy Evans, Chair, RMT National Women's Advisory Committee/Becky Crocker, RMT rep, Goodge Street stations group/Peter Pinkney, President, RMT North East Regional Council/Terry O'Neill, RMT health and safety rep, Loughton depot/Craig Johnston, RMT National Executive/Kim Axford, Secretary, RMT Docklands Light Railway branch/Fliss Premru, RMT TfL no.1 branch/Chris Baillie, RMT rep, Embankment stations group/Brenda Sutton, RMT rep, Gloucester Road stations group/Micky Hyde, RMT London Transport Regional Council Executive/Neil Cochrane, RMT rep, London Underground Stations & Revenue Council/Jon Abdullah, RMT rep, London Underground Stations & Revenue Council/Joanne Parry, Chair, RMT TfL no.1 branch/Mick Crossey, RMT rep, Finchley Central stations group/Tony Gandolfi, Chair, RMT Camden 3 branch/Jason Schulman, Professional Staff Congres/AFT Local 2334, New York, NY/ Clinton Cook, Shop Distributive And Allied Employees Association, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia/ Kate Ramsden, UNISON Scotland, Aberdeenshire/ Jo Heinum, NTL, Oslo/ Bastien Elodie, Sailly-en-ostrevent/ Patrycja Wibe, Gdynia/Poland/ Mike Pixton, Oxford Brookes University/ Neville Grundy, Member of PCS Union, Southport, England/ Mike Marsolek, Private Citizen, Seattle, WA USA/ Professor Patrick Ainley, University and College Union, London/ Nassos Theodoridis, Athens Greece/ Wanda S. Ballentine, Eagan, MN/ Giogio Forti, Italy/ Giorgio Canarutto, Torino, Italy/ Gabe Kramer, SEIU / District 1199, The Health Care and Social Service Union, Columbus, OH/ Anne Lemon, NUT Divison secretary of north Somerset, North somerset/ james m nordlund, fargo, north dakota, usa/ Andrea, Italy/ Daisy Mules, Derry Trades Union Council, Derry City, Ireland/ Elisabeth Maroti, SYRIZA, Zakynthos / Greece/ Bharti Ramji, UNISON, Manchester, UK/ Paola Merlo, Torino, Italy/ Mikel Arregi San Mart?n, Pamplona-Irueea, Spain/ Lorraine Clay, Liverpool, UK/ Rachel Shanks, University and College Union, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK/ Tony Reddin, PEI Musicians for Justice and Peace, Bonshaw, PEI, Canada/ Lot van Baaren, kaderlid, ABVAKABO FNV (public service union), Rotterdam / Netherlands/ Maria Dimitriadi, Journalist, Athens,Greece/ Kath Porteus, Leeds Metropolitan University Unison Branch member, Leeds/ Adele Buffone/ Mary McEachern/ Paolo Amati, Sapienza Universite di Roma, Roma, Italy/ Marcel De Prins, KWB, Belgium/Meaghan Ross, London, UK/ Scarpa, Danila, CGT, NICE/ MILLIARD, Alain, FO, AUXERRE/ GL?NTZLEN, Jean-Marie, CFDT, Aisne – France/ F Maathuis, UCU, York, UK/ John R. Porter, University and College Union, Glasgow, UK/Roger Calvez, Secretaire du Syndicat SNPREES-FO, BREST/ Andrew Knapp, Association of University Teachers (UK)/ GUENNETEAU Christiane, Syndicat des Retrait?s C F D T , NOGENT/OISE FRANCE / G Mir, University and college union/ Annette Maguiness, Sydney, Australia/ Talma Bar-Din, Haifa, Israel/ Snehal Shingavi, instructor, postcolonial literature, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA USA/ Christine Vidal-Gomel, Paris 18/Tanouti N., Belgium/ Michael Eisenscher, Coordinator, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice, Oakland, CA/ Denise D’Anne, SEIU-Local 1021, San Francisco, CA/ Fred Hirsch, Plumbers & Fitters Local 393, Santa Cruz, California/ Dr Julie Scott, University and College Union/London Metropolitan University/ David Nelson, RMT/ Dr Robert Boyce, London School of Economics & Political Science/ Dr Michael Loughlin, UCU, UK/ MIFSUD Gabriel, Retrait? de l'Education Nationale Francheville, France/Anne Candlin, Dalton, UK/ Claribel Le Beller, SNESUP/ Yves Jardin, France/ Nadjette Kitatni , Bondy France/ Dr. Susan Blackwell, University and College Union, Birmingham, UK/ Mary N. Layoun, U. of Wisconsin, Madison, US/Jef Keighley, Canadian Auto Workers - National Representative (Retired), British Columbia, Canada/ Patricia Latour journalist France/ Maurice Odic France/ Pascal Costarelle Trade unionist France/ Nick Phillips, BECTU, London, UK/ A Knapp University of Reading UK/ Ed Rosario Trade Unionist New York City/ Bill Leumer - Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign. USA/ Brigitte Persson Trade Unionist France/ Jean Pierre Barrois France/ Claire DEHOVE Senior Lecturer University of Lyon France/ Donna Kesselman, University of Paris trade Unionist SNPREES-FO/ Ennoufous Bedairia, France/ Helen Peters Open University, UK/ Jean Dubessy Researcher Trade unionist France/ Jean Marc BRUNEEL France/ Luisa Hirschbein Researcher University of Orsay France/ M. M. Nasr, Lawyer, Egypt/Dr. Mayeh Omar, Universities and Colleges Union, University of Leeds, UK/ Monadel Herzallah , AAUMC ( Arab American Union Members Council) trade Unionist U.S/Francis Combe publisher France/ Ruth Shepherd trade unionist university of Manchester UK/ Simon Costa France/ Zarina Bhatia, UK/ Sid Shniad Co-ordinator, Independent Jewish Voices Canadian Office and Professional Employees, Local 15 , Vancouver Canada/ Greg Addington, Twickenham/ Yossi Schwartz/ Suleza Qureshi , Thompsons Solicitors, London/ Ginette Hess Skandrani, Alliance Zapatiste de Lib?ration Sociale AZLS, Paris/ Peter Rachleff, Labor Educator and Professor of History, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA/ David Gering-Hasthorpe, UK/ Dorothy Naor, Israel/ Bill Rosenberg, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, New Zealand/ Marcia Bernstein, USA / Bernhard Klinghammer/Norma Claire Moruzzi, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA/ Benjamin Merhav, Victoria, Australia/ Peter Klosterman, Software Engineer, Piedmont, CA, USA/ M. Zeidan, Arab Association for Human Rights – HRA, Nazareth/ Doris Ghannam/ Roland M?lo Retrait? aviation Civile, non syndiqui, Bouches du Rhine, France/ Rachida Lambert, Manosque France/ Yehudit Keshet, Manchester, Jerusalem/ Stefanie Collins, West Fork, Arkansas USA/ Pierre et Ruth Fuchs, Genive/ Chivvis Moore, USA/ Eliane Viault/ Rachel Adams, UK/ Mira Khazzam, Member of Independent Jewish Voices Montreal, Canada/ Wanda S. Ballentine, Eagan, MN/ A J Silvera, UK
Moreover, hundreds of protest emails are being sent to Israel Railways.

LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

Lieberman's party proposes ban on Arab Nakba

In its backward advance to 1984, The Party of Israel's new fascist foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman's , Yisrael Beteinu, is proposing that make it illegal for Israel's own Arab citizens from commemorating the Nakba. Presumably the truth is too uncomfortable for much of the Zionist movement, which hosted and welcomed Lieberman in all European countries. One wonders what would be said if they proposed banning remembrance of the Holocaust. On second thoughts, since the Russian Jewish neo-Nazis have already done that, being entitled as Jews to come to Israel in preference to the Palestinians, maybe that too is on the agenda.
fff
Tony Greenstein

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party wants to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary of what they term "the Catastrophe" or Nakba, when in 1948 some 700,000 Arabs lost their homes in the war that led to the establishment of the state of Israel.

The ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party said it would propose legislation next week for a ban on the practice and a jail term of up to three years for violators.

"The draft law is intended to strengthen unity in the state of Israel and to ban marking Independence Day as a day of mourning," said party spokesman Tal Nahum.
The initiative could fuel racial tensions stoked by Lieberman's February election campaign call to make voting or the holding of public office in Israel contingent on pledging loyalty to the Jewish state.

Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Israel's population, said the allegiance demand was aimed at them and accused Lieberman of racism.

Israel celebrated its Independence Day this year on April 29, in accordance with the Hebrew lunar calendar. Palestinian refugees around the world and Israel's Arab citizens mark the Nakba on May 15, the day after the British mandate over Palestine ended in 1948.

Ceremonies in the West Bank were held a day early this year because May 15 falls on Friday, the Muslim day of rest.

In Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians, some holding large wooden keys to symbolize the keys of homes from which they fled in 1948, took part in a rally.

"I came here to show that we believe that one day we will return. If not me, then my son," said Mohammad Hassan, 79.
ghgh
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, on a visit to Syria, was to make a televised address later in the day to mark the Nakba.

The right-leaning government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which Lieberman's party is a key ally, has not endorsed the Western and Arab-backed goal of Palestinian statehood.
It also firmly opposes the division of Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and Netanyahu recently introduced a demand that Palestinians, as part of any future peace agreement, recognize Israel as a "Jewish state".

Medical Aid for Palestinians & Rebuffing Gilad Atmon

On 4th May, a group of us wrote to Steven James, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians.

MAP, formed in 1984, has a reputation second to none when it comes to support for the health and welfare of Palestinians living under occupation. It was for that reason that we were concerned to see that Gilad Atzmon and his anti-Semitic clique, Michelle Renouf et al., were advertising a benefit concert in aid of Medical Aid for Palestine (we assume the wrong name was accidental rather than a sub-text for another conspiracy theory).

Knowing Atzmon and his ego, there was no doubt that Atzmon was seeking to use MAP, just as he has the Palestinian cause in general, in the service of his own ego and career. The occasional benefit he has done in aid of MAP has one primary purpose - to enhance his own reputation. Indeed this is a common feature of Atzmon – supporting charitable events in aid of Palestine whilst opposing political campaigns such as the Boycott of Israeli Universities.

We received a letter by way of response on 6th May from Stephen James which makes it clear that the organisation of the benefit had nothing to do with MAP and that they are regularly the beneficiaries of external fund-raising events. What makes this letter somewhat strange is that on April 30th, in an e-mail to one of the signatories who had written to him personally, Steven James stated that:

A couple of months ago we were made aware that there are serious objections by some members of the London Palestine community to an individual named Gilad Atzmon. Atzmon is one of the musicians that has performed in these events. We take the substance of these concerns seriously…. For your information, we will be closing this loophole following this event.’ Equally instructive was his frank admission that he hoped the write would ‘appreciate the difficult situation we have been placed in

And indeed we do understand the difficulty situation that Atzmon and his crew have contrived to put MAP in, which is why I have hesitated about putting this article up. However the Atzmonites, who managed to get hold of a copy of the original letter to signatories, had no such qualms. They plastered it all over their so-called 'think tank'. Hence why Atzmon’s anti-Semitic supporters like Paul de Rooij and miscellaneous holocaust deniers like Jeffrey Blankfort have been e-mailing me like made venting their spleen. Clearly they are worried that their time is up and that only anti-Semitic sites like The Radical Press and Redress will publish their rubbish.

Tony Greenstein

Letter to Medical Aid for Palestine

Steven James
Chief Executive Officer
Medical Aid for Palestinians
33a Islington Park Street
London N1 1QB

Monday 4th May 2009

Dear Steven,

Re: Gilad Atzmon Gig – Thursday April 30th

We write as both supporters of the Palestinians and opponents of Zionism. We all admire and respect the work Medical Aid for Palestine which has done so much to ease the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli state.

We therefore understand your need to put on fundraising and benefit concerts. However it is with regret that we have to write to you about the Gilad Atzmon gig at the Concert 606 Club this Thursday 30th April in support of MAP.

Accusations of anti-Semitism, or in the case of Jewish opponents of Zionism ‘self-hatred’ are the standard fare of supporters of the Israeli state. We therefore do not use the term lightly when we say that Gilad Atzmon is without doubt anti-Semitic. We don’t doubt that Atzmon supports the Palestinians, but he blames their plight not on Zionism but on Jews per se.

If we were to document each and every anti-Semitic comment by Atzmon it would fill a large book. But the following comments should stand as an example of what we say. In his essay ‘on anti-Semitism’ he wrote that:

‘we must begin to take the accusation that the Jewish people are trying to control the world very seriously…. I would suggest that perhaps we should face it once and for all: the Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus who, by the way, was himself a Palestinian Jew.’

In another essay, ‘the Jew-spot’ he writes that:

‘The J’s are the ultimate chameleons, they can be whatever they like as long as it serves as some expedient. As soon as you criticise their expansionist militant national beliefs (Zionism) you hurt them as a race (Semites).’

In one of a number of articles on the economic crisis Atzmon spoke, in relation to an article in the Observer by John Reynolds, of the need for ‘spiritual dejudification’ of the City of London. After the threat of a libel action, Atzmon apologised.

The dispossession of the Palestinians and the theft of their land can be directly traced back to the rise of anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th Century. Throughout its history Zionism and anti-Semitism have been like Siamese twins. The idea that anti-Semitism offers any benefits or advantages to Palestinians today is absurd.

The association between Medical Aid for Palestine and Gilad Atzmon, whilst it may bring some short-term financial advantages can only damage you in the long-term. We are not asking that you cancel the gig on Thursday as clearly that is impracticable. However we would seriously ask you to consider not having Gilad Atzmon to play in fundraisers for MAP again. We are sure there must be anti-racist musicians of greater renown who would be willing to host a concern in aid of MAP.

With best wishes,

Tony Greenstein & 33 others

From: Steven James
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 10:36 AM
Subject: Jazz Concert

Thank you very much for your email below and for bringing to our attention your concern about the forthcoming Jazz Concert.

Firstly, let me say that this is not an event organized by MAP. While we directly organize several fundraising events, there are a number of events which are organised by individuals and groups independently of MAP, to fundraise on our behalf. Sometimes we are contacted by the organizers, and at that point we choose whether to involve – this could be by sending a speaker (if requested) or MAP materials.

Sarah Gillespie is one such organizer. Gillespie has twice organised jazz concerts to fundraise for MAP, and these have been held at the 606 Club in London .

A couple of months ago we were made aware that there are serious objections by some members of the London Palestine community to an individual named Gilad Atzmon. Atzmon is one of the musicians that has performed in these events. We take the substance of these concerns seriously…. For your information, we will be closing this loophole following this event.

Most recently, we were contacted by Sarah Gillespie, who has again organised a fundraising concert for MAP - with Atzmon appearing alongside other performers such as Nigel Kennedy. We were contacted only once all the publicity for the event (which had been prepared by Sarah) had been distributed – as with some other events being planned externally, we were not consulted but informed. We have since had discussions with Sarah Gillespie and have raised our concerns. The only option at that stage would have been to ask that MAP be removed from the event. Given the wide publicity already distributed, and that members of the public had already purchased tickets based on the fact that the proceeds were in aid of MAP, we decided that this would be more publicly damaging.

I trust you will appreciate the difficult situation we have been placed in.

Thanking you for your support in this matter and for your support of the work of MAP .

Kind regards,

Steve


Steven James
Chief Executive Officer
Medical Aid for Palestinians
33a Islington Park Street London N1 1QB
T: +44 (0)20 7226 4114
M: +44 (0) 7500 772861 F: +44 (0)20 7226 0880

Wednesday 6th May 2009

Dear Tony,

Thank you for your email and letter, and the concerns you have raised, the substance of which we take seriously.

Firstly, let me reassure you that we were not involved in the organisation of the concert you refer to, nor in the creation of the materials which were used to publicise the event. Rather it was organized by Sarah Gillespie and featured a number of well known artists, among them Nigel Kennedy, who has long been a supporter of MAP and all we stand for. Furthermore, any donations made at the concert have been given by individuals attending the event in aid of needy Palestinians in Gaza.

We regularly receive donations from externally run events which are not organized by ourselves - ranging from cake stalls and marathon runs to cycle rides across Europe.

In this regard, and as a UK Charity governed by the Charity Commission rules and regulations, we ensure that we abide by their guidelines at all times. Therefore, we confine ourselves to the provision of medical and humanitarian aid to Palestinians, especially those living under occupation, displacement or as refugees; save to campaign for the right to health for all Palestinians as prescribed by International Humanitarian Law.

Hopefully, this email puts your mind at ease as to MAP’s position on this matter, and I agree with you that entering into a public debate on this would only serve to harm the cause of the Palestinians.

As you will know the situation in Gaza three months on since the end of the incursion is still critical, and it is essential we all focus on helping the people of Gaza to recover and repair their minds and bodies and homes as quickly as possible. At present we are undertaking more than 12 key projects in Gaza to help with the recovery, covering disability, burns, nutrition and hygiene, psycho-social support and maternal and child health.

We look forward to your continued support at this difficult time.

Yours sincerely,

Steve James

Steven James
Chief Executive Officer
Medical Aid for Palestinians
33a Islington Park Street
London N1 1QB
T: +44 (0)20 7226 4114
M: +44 (0) 7500 772861
F: +44 (0)20 7226 0880
steven.james@map-uk.org


Friday 8th May 2009

Dear Steven,

Thank you for your e-mail of 6th May 2009 in response to the letter from 34 people, which I sent you on 4th May, protesting against any association between Medical Aid for the Palestinians and Gilad Atzmon.

No one is suggesting that MAP was involved in the organisation of the 30th April concert at the 606 club. This was clearly organised by Sarah Gillespie, a close friend and associate of Gilad Atzmon. I also accept that MAP, like many charities, regularly benefits from externally run events which are organised by others. That is how it should be.

Nor is anyone suggesting that you should breach the guidelines of the Charity Commission by taking an overtly political stance on issues to do with Palestine, although the Charity Commissioners themselves seem to have no problem with overtly Zionist charities such as the Jewish National Fund.

No one who signed the letter to you disputes the excellent and wonderful work you do to support the Palestinians and relieve their suffering, in particular given the plight of the people of Gaza at this time. There is no question that any of the signatories will withdraw support from MAP on account of the Atzmon issue. However a number of questions remain unresolved by your e-mail response.

The question is whether or not MAP should be taking money from someone who is not only widely recognised as anti-Semitic, as the original letter clearly demonstrated, but who openly consorts with and supports holocaust deniers. Atzmon himself has openly questioned whether the Nazi holocaust took place and has never failed to give support to those who are open holocaust deniers. Indeed Atzmon himself has been widely reported as having stated, in Germany of all places, that the holocaust was a ‘complete forgery, initiated by Americans and Zionists". http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=38848&sectionid=351020604

The problem is, as you recognised in your e-mail of 30th April, that you have no control over events which are being organised in your name. The poster which was used to advertise the concert, (see below) led me and others to believe that it was an officially organised MAP event. The picture itself is entitled ‘MAP flyer’.

In your letter to xxx, which was somewhat more candid than your response to the joint letter, you stated that you were made aware of ‘serious objections’ by some members of the London Palestine community to Atzmon and that you took such concerns seriously. Mention of these concerns was omitted from your e-mail of 6th May and I therefore have to ask you why, in the space of a week, they seem to have disappeared?

You also expressed your concern at a situation in which Atzmon and friends are raising funds in the name of MAP, and in the process using MAP as a cover for their own racist political agenda. It was, you said, a ‘loophole’ which you would be closing. Can I therefore ask you if this is still your position because the impression given by Ms Gillespie and other members of the Atzmon fan club is the complete opposite? To quote Ms Gillespie, ‘MAP catagoricaly denies any sympathetic reaction to Greenstein and has repeatedly enthused on the extent to which they appreciate our work and loved the evening.’ http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/05/05/sarah-gillespie-on-the-concert-for-medical-aid-in-palestine-30th-april-2009/ Is this statement true?

You will be aware that supporters of Israel’s attack on Gaza, and Zionists more generally, have repeatedly used the accusation of ‘anti-Semitism’ as a stick with which to beat their opponents. It is therefore incumbent upon us to ensure that genuine anti-Semites are not allowed to use the Palestinian cause for their own nefarious purposes.

You also stated in your e-mail to me that ‘entering into a public debate on this would only serve to harm the cause of the Palestinians.’ That is why we have not publicised the letter which we sent to you. Unfortunately when gathering signatures, the letter appears to have been sent to a supporter of Atzmon. The result of this has been that this matter has now been publicised on the Palestine Think Tank web site, co-edited by Gilad Atzmon and Mary Rizzo, in an article by the said Ms Gillespie. The fact that they have deliberately publicised something which we had kept under wraps clearly demonstrates that their concern is not so much support for MAP but their own anti-Semitic political agenda. I have personally been bombarded with abuse by these self-same holocaust deniers and anti-Semites but that is par for the course.

The issue is therefore now in the public domain and I would urge that you and the Trustees of MAP make it clear that you have no connection with Atzmon, Gillespie etc. and that you aren’t willing to have your reputation tarnished by these fringe anti-semites on account of the funds they raise. In short that the cause of Palestine is not for sale.

My own union, UNISON, recently donated £10,000 to MAP and local branches probably gave the same, if not more, again. UNISON, like other trade unions, has a strong policy of opposition to racism, including anti-Semitism, and it could cause incalculable political damage if you were allow this matter to remain unresolved. For example, the article by Gillespie cited above has a comment by Mary Rizzo citing the Redress site. This site was taken off the Scottish UNISON web site last year because of an article questioning the holocaust by the said Gilad Atzon.

Kind regards.


Tony Greenstein

A Message to Leonard Cohen – Don’t Reward Genocide

AN OPEN LETTER TO LEONARD COHEN

Dear Leonard Cohen,

We are Jews, Palestinians, Israeli citizens, who hold your poetry and music in high esteem, and it is because of this respect for your artistic contributions and your moral Buddhist commitment to "save all beings" that we hope that our appeal to you to cancel your planned performance in Israel will not fall on deaf ears.

Israel is facing one of its most immoral historical moments. Its ruthless, criminal bashing of the Palestinians has met with little international criticism or curbing. The silence of most of the world’s governments continues to embolden successive Israeli governments to commit more violent acts. Israel has violated numerous international laws, but so far for Israeli Jews life in Israel goes on as if nothing happened. Indeed, your people, Cohen, have built "a new Dachau, And call it love, Security, Jewish culture", as you have so perceptively put it yourself in ‘Questions for Shomrim’, [see below] but only a few voices have been raised against these injustices.

It is left for us, citizens of the world, to condemn Israeli atrocities and crimes against humanity. Dissociating ourselves from Israel’s brutal policies is the only non-violent way now to avoid becoming complicit in the killing, the wounding and the maiming, and the robbing of Palestinians. Faced with all this and more, Palestinians are calling on all people tosupport their struggle for their basic rights. Unfortunately, recognizing Palestinian rights will require a fundamental shift in Israeli society. We suspect that this change will be achieved only via external pressure. The least that one can do in such a situation is not act as if it is business as usual. We see our society becoming more and more calloused and racist and given your longstanding, vocal commitment to justice, we cannot envision you cooperating with continued Israeli defiance of justice and morality; we cannot envision you playing a part in the Israeli charade of self-righteousness. We appeal to you to add your voice to those brave people the world over who boycott Israel. We urge you to cancel your planned performance in Israel.

This letter has been signed, initially, by 110 Israelis - but more signatories are being collected. If you are an Israeli (Jewish or Palestinian) and wish to add your name contact Rachel Giora

QUESTIONS FOR SHOMRIM:

And will my people build a new Dachau

And call it love,

Security,

Jewish culture

For dark-eyed children

Burning in the stars

Will all our songs screech

Like the maddened eagles of the night

Until Yiddish, Arabic, Hebrew, and Vietnamese

Are a thin thread of blood clawing up the side of

Unspeaking steel chambers I know you,

Chaverim

The lost young summer nights of our childhood

We spent on street corners looking for life

In our scanty drops of Marx and Borochov.

You taught me the Italian Symphony

And the New World

And gave a skit about blowing up Arab children.

You taught me many songs

But none so sad

As napalm falling slowly in the dark

You were our singing heroes in '48

Do you dare ask yourselves what you are now

We, you and I,

were lovers once

As only wild nights of wrestling in golden snow

Can make one love

We hiked by moonlight

And you asked me to lead the Internationale

And now my son must die

For he's an Arab

And my mother, too,

for she's a Jew

And you and I

Can only cry and wonder

Must Jewish people

Build our Dachaus, too?

Leonard Cohen, poem from 1970's

This is Cohen's own comment on the poem:

This poem, first published in the early 1970's, is, tragically, still pertinent today. It was also sent anonymously to a number of rabbis, selected at random, in New York City and posted on traffic lights, lampposts, and other places. The word "Shomrim" refers to members of the left-wing, Zionist youth organizaion Hashomer Hatzair that supported a binational state in Palestine/Israel when I was close to them.

Leonard Cohen, who has experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years, has long been a cult figure for the doomed and depressed. Classics such as Suzanne and So Long Marianne are part of the 1960’s music scene.

Cohen has always been a Zionist of sorts and in 1973 flew to Israel to join the Israeli military. However what was not clear to many people in 1973 is abundantly clear now with the election of an openly racist, right-wing Government. Israel is an occupier and oppressor state whose own Arab citizens are their on sufferance, such is the nature of a ‘Jewish’ state.

BRICUP, the British Committee for Universities for Palestine has issued a call to Leonard Cohen calling on him to cancel his proposed visit to Israel to perform at a concert on 24 September. They are calling on all supporters to read the open letter to Cohen and send messages to him via his manager, Robert Kory, asking him to abandon this trip.

As Israel’s daily, Haaretz reported, ‘Israel boycotters in U.K. urge Leonard Cohen to cancel Tel Aviv show’

Sir Winston Peres - a Political Prostitute

Below is an amusing and telling article by veteran Israeli peace activist, Uri Avnery, about the role of Shimon Peres, the Israeli President, whose main task is to portray the regime of Netanyahu and Lieberman as all sweetness and light.

Peres, once described by assasinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as an 'indefatiguable schemer' was one of the hawks who left the Israeli Labour Party in the wake of the Security Mishap [Lavon Affair] in 1965, when Israeli agents were caught planting bombs in Egyptian cinemas amongst other places. He joined with David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan to set up the Rafi list but by 1968 he was back with the Israeli Labour Alignment, as Mapai had become. When the going got rough he left Labour and and helped form Kadimah with his friend, the racist murderer Ariel Sharon.

The Father of Israel's Nuclear Bomb, Peres was elected President of Israel in 2007 by the Knesset. The description of him as a political prostitute is apt. He has no known principles other than personal political advancement and despite cultivating a 'peace' image has always been a warmonger.

Avnery is not an anti-Zionist but he is one of the few committed and sincere Israeli peace activists who has never formally rejected Zionism. Although I don't agree with his opposition to making comparisons between the Nazi holocaust and Israeli state actions, his analysis of the Iranian regime is pretty accurate.

Tony Greenstein

Sir Winston Peres
First of all, I want to apologize to all the good women who are engaged in the world’s oldest profession.

I recently described Shimon Peres as a political prostitute. One of my female readers has protested vigorously. Prostitutes, she pointed out, earn their money honestly. They deliver what they promise.

Our president, on the other hand, only tells the truth by accident. He is a political impostor and a political sham. To him, too, apply Winston Churchill’s words about a former Prime Minister:

"The Right Honorable gentleman sometimes stumbles upon the truth, but he always hurries on as if nothing has happened." Or the words of former minister Amnon Rubinstein about Ariel Sharon: "He blushes when he tells the truth."

Like a traveling salesman offering a counterfeit product, Peres is now peddling the merchandise called Binyamin Netanyahu. He presents to the world a Netanyahu we have never known: a peacemaker, the epitome of truthfulness, a man with no other ambition than to go down in history as the founder of the State of Palestine. A Righteous Jew to outshine all Righteous Gentiles.

HOWEVER, ALL these lies are nothing compared to trivializing the Holocaust.

In some countries, that is a criminal offense, punishable by prison. The trivializing has many guises. For example: the assertion that the gas chambers never existed. Or: that not six million Jews were killed, but only six hundred thousand. But the most dangerous form of minimizing is the comparison of the Holocaust to passing events, thus turning it into "a detail of history", as Jean-Marie Le-Pen infamously put it.

This week, Shimon Peres committed exactly this crime.

Like a lackey walking in front of the king, strewing flowers on the road, Peres flew to the US to prepare the ground for Netanyahu’s coming visit. He imposed himself on a reluctant Barack Obama, who had no choice but to receive him.

Posing as a new Winston Churchill, the man who warned the world against the rise of Nazi Germany, he informed Obama with solemn bombast: "As Jews we cannot but compare Iran to Nazi Germany."

About this sentence at least three things must be said: (a) it is untrue, (b) it trivializes the Holocaust, and (c) it reflects a catastrophic policy.

DOES IRAN really resemble Nazi Germany?

I don’t like the regime there. As a committed atheist who insists on total separation between state and religion, I oppose any regime based on religion – in Iran, in Israel or in any other country.

Also, I don’t like politicians like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I am allergic to leaders who stand on balconies and declaim to the masses below. I detest demagogues who appeal to the base instincts of hatred and fear.

Alas, Ahmadinejad is not the only leader of this type. Indeed, the world is full of them, some are among the staunchest supporters of the Israeli government. In Israel, too, we do not lack this sort.

But Iran is not a fascist state. According to the evidence, there is quite a lot of freedom there, including freedom of expression. Ahmadinejad is not the only candidate for president in the present election campaign. There are a number of others, some more radical, some less.
Nor is Iran an anti-Semitic state. A Jewish community, whose members are refusing to emigrate, is living there comfortably enough. It enjoys religious freedom and has a representative in parliament. Even if we take such reports with a grain of salt, it is clear that the Jews in Iran are not being persecuted like the Jews in Nazi Germany.

And, most important: Iran is not an aggressive country. It has not attacked its neighbors for centuries. The long and bloody Iraq-Iran war was started by Saddam Hussein. It may be remembered that at the time Israel (contrary to the US) supported the Iranian side and supplied it with arms. (One such transaction was accidentally disclosed in the Irangate affair.) Before the Khomeini revolution, Iran was our most important ally in the region.

Ahmadinejad hates Israel. But it has been denied that he has threatened to annihilate Israel. It appears that the crucial sentence in his famous speech was mistranslated: he did not declare his determination to wipe Israel off the map, but expressed the opinion that Israel will disappear from the map.

Frankly, I don’t think that there is such a great difference between the two versions. When the leader of a big country predicts that my state will disappear, that makes me worry. When that country appears to do everything possible to produce a nuclear bomb, that worries me even more. I draw conclusions, but about that later.

Moreover, Ahmadinejad – unlike Hitler – is not the supreme leader of his country. He is subject to the real leadership, composed of clerics. All the signs indicate that this is not a group of adventurers. On the contrary, they are very balanced, sophisticated and prudent. Now they are cautiously feeling their way towards dialogue with the US, trying to reach an accord without sacrificing their regional ambitions, which are quite normal.

In brief, the speeches of one demagogic leader do not turn a country into Nazi Germany. Iran is not a mad country. It has no real interests in Israel/Palestine. Its interests are focused on the Persian Gulf area, and it wants to increase its influence throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Its relations with Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas mostly serve this purpose, and so does the anti-Israeli incitement of Ahmadinejad.

In brief, the comparison of Iran to Nazi Germany lacks a factual basis.

FROM THE Jewish point of view, the comparison is even more objectionable.

The Holocaust was a unique crime. True, the 20th century has seen other terrible acts of genocide, but they did not resemble the Shoa. In the Ottoman empire, a horrifying massacre of the Armenian citizens took place, which amounted to genocide. Hitler himself mentioned it, saying that the annihilation of the Jews would similarly be forgotten. Stalin killed millions of Soviet citizens in the name of a monstrous ideology, which had started as a humanist creed. So did Pot Pol, who killed millions in order to change society for the better. In Rwanda, members of one tribe slaughtered the members of another. And, alas, the list goes on.

But Nazi Germany was unique in employing the instruments of a modern industrial society in order to eliminate helpless minorities (let’s not forget the Roma, those with disabilities and the homosexuals) in a prolonged, planned and highly organized process, with the participation of all the organs of the state. If the Nazi regime had not been overthrown by war, Hitler would have continued with the annihilation of many more millions of Poles, Ukrainians and Russians.
Nothing like that can reasonably be expected to happen in Iran. Neither the ideology, nor the composition of the regime nor any other indication leads in that direction. As far as its growing nuclear capabilities are concerned – the Israeli deterrent power will prevent any such thought from arising. (Let’s not forget that the only country ever to use nuclear bombs in war was our friend, the USA.)

Nothing that is happening in the world today resembles the Shoa, in which six million Jews were wiped out. The Palestinians did not kill six million Israelis, and we did not kill six million Palestinians. Comparing the Arabs to the Nazis is no less odious than comparing the Israelis to the Nazis. Many terrible things have been and are being committed in our name – but they are as far from the deeds of the Nazis as the earth is from distant galaxies.

Any such comparison for the sake of some fleeting propaganda advantage is trivializing the Holocaust and its perpetrators. If the Nazis were not worse than the Ayatollahs, then the Shoa was not so terrible, after all.

In all my contacts with Palestinian leaders, including Yasser Arafat, I have always advised them to avoid this upsetting comparison. This would also be good advice for our own leaders.
DOES THE comparison of Iran to Nazi Germany serve Israeli interests?

Iran is there. It was our ally in the past, and may be our ally again in the future. Leaders come and go, but geopolitical interests are more or less constant. Ahmadinejad may be replaced by a leader who will see Iranian interests in a different light.

The nuclear threat to Israel will not disappear – not after a (bad) speech by Peres nor after a (good) speech by Netanyahu. All over the region, nuclear installations will pop up. This process cannot be stopped. We all need nuclear energy to desalinate water and to produce electricity without destroying the environment. As an Israeli professor, a former employee in the nuclear center at Dimona, said this week: we must reconsider our nuclear policy. It may well be to our advantage to accept the demand of the American spokeswoman that Israel (as well as India and Pakistan) join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and a regime of strict supervision.

President Barack Obama is now saying to Israel: Put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That is a precondition for the elimination of the threat to Israel. When the Palestinians, and the entire Arab world, make peace with Israel – Iran will not be able to exploit the conflict for the furthering of its interests. We were saying this, by the way, many years ago.

The refusal of Netanyahu-Lieberman-Barak to accept this demand shows the insincerity of their arguments about Iran. If they really believed that Iran posed an existential menace, they would hurry to dismantle the settlements, demolish the outposts and make peace. That would, after all, be a small price to pay for the elimination of an existential danger. Their refusal proves that the entire existential story is a bluff.

And concerning the comparison of Iran to Nazi Germany – it is as convincing as the comparison of Shimon Peres to Sir Winston.

Uri Avnery 02.05.09

Israel Set to Confiscate 12,000 Acres of Palestinian Land

Behind the rhetoric of the 'peace process' lies the reality of Zionism's war against the Palestinians. And nowhere is that war better expressed than in the policy of confiscation of Palestinian land to provide for a further expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The hypocrisy of the West is never better exposed than in the complete lack of any punitive measures to deter Israel's behaviour. On the contrary they have been consistently and continually rewarded. The West's condemnation of 'terrorism' should be seen in the light of the fact that destruction and confiscation of land are precisely the recruiting sergeants of what is termed 'terrorism'. Or to put it bluntly. If Britain was occupied by another power for 40 years, who then brought in foreign settlers to evict the indigenous population, who then would call the inevitable resistance 'terrorism'? Below is an article from the Palestine Human Rights Commission on the latest confiscation, aimed at creating a continuous land settlement corridor between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. Tony Greenstein

PCHR Strongly Condemns Israeli Plans to Confiscate 12,000 Dunums of Palestinian Land

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the Israeli Ministry of the Interior’s decision to expand the illegal West Bank settlement of “Ma’ale Adumim” and to confiscate 12,000 donums (12 million square meters) of Palestinian land.

In the context of policies aimed to establishing a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem – thereby consolidating its illegal annexation – the Israeli Minister of Interior, Elli Yishai, decided to adopt the recommendations of a special committee established by his ministry to link `Qedar` settlement with the larger `Ma`ale Adumim` settlement, east of Jerusalem. Under the Israeli Ministry of Interior`s plan, at least 12,000 donums of Palestinian land will be annexed to `Ma`ale Adumim`, linking it with the smaller `Qedar` settlement, which is located nearly 3 kilometers to the east. A few months ago, the Israeli media unveiled another plan to construct 6,000 new housing units in `Qedar` settlement. The implementation of these plans will disrupt geographical contiguity between the north and south West Bank, and will isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank as a whole. These decisions fundamentally undermine the viability of any future Palestinian State.

Israeli occupation authorities have recently started to establish a new settlement neighborhood in the densely Palestinian-populated al-Sawahra area, southeast of Jerusalem. They have also continued to undermine Palestinian construction in the city, in an effort to impose forced migration on the Palestinian population. Dozens of Palestinian families have been ordered to evacuate their homes under various pretexts, related to, inter alia, the lack of construction licenses and the construction of homes on lands allegedly owned by Israeli settlement associations. Recent orders targeted two floors constructed atop the Armenian Church in the Old Town, which was built more than 150 years ago.

International law explicitly prohibits the annexation of land consequent to the use of force (Article 47, Fourth Geneva Convention), a principle confirmed in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter. International humanitarian law is unambiguous in this regard: occupation does not imply any right whatsoever to dispose of territory. Annexation is straightforwardly illegal.

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention also explicitly prohibits the transfer and settlement of parts of the Occupying Power’s population in occupied territory. PCHR wish to highlight the underlying purpose of this provision, as noted in the authoritative commentary to the Geneva Conventions: “It is intended to prevent a practice adopted by during the Second World War by certain Powers, which transferred portions of their own population for political or racial reasons or in order … to colonize those territories. Such transfers worsened the economic situation of the native population and endangered their separate existence as a race.”

The United Nations estimate that there are currently between 480,000 and 550,000 illegal settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

PCHR strongly condemns all Israeli policies and measures aimed at consolidating the annexation of occupied East Jerusalem, and:

1) Emphasizes that East Jerusalem is an integral part of Palestinian territories that have been occupied since the 1967 war.

2) Asserts that measures taken by Israeli occupation forces following the occupation of the city, especially the Israeli Knesset`s decisions on 28 June 1967 to annex the city to Israeli territory and on 30 July 1980 declaring that the “complete and united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel”, and the decision to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem, violate international law and United Nations resolutions.

3) Stresses that all decisions, plans and measures implemented by Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied city do not alter the legal status of the city.

In light of the above:

1) PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties, individually and collectively, to fulfill their legal and moral obligation under article 1 of the Convention to ensure Israel`s respect for the Convention in the OPT.

2) PCHR believes that international silence serves to encourage Israel to act as a state above the law and to continue violating international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

3) PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately act to force the Israeli government to stop all settlement activities in the OPT, especially in occupied East Jerusalem.

4) PCHR calls upon the European Union and/or its State members to activate article 2 of the Euro-Israeli Association Agreement, which affirm Israel`s respect for human rights as a condition for continue economic cooperation. PCHR calls also upon State members of the European Union to boycott Israeli goods, especially those produced in illegal Israeli settlements established in the OPT.

Sadly, Israel is no longer democratic

This is an important article by the doyen of the Israeli peace movement. Shulamit was the founder of Ratz, the Citizens Rights Movement, a liberal human rights party that unfortunately merged with the racist Mapam (Labour Zionist party) and has gone downhill since. Aloni became Minister of Education and was a lone figure in supporting Israelis who refused to serve in the army or in the Occupied Territories. Something Mapam, a left-Zionist group which puts worship of the State above all else. And to reinforce the message, I also carry an article on the attack on young Israeli Jewish teenagers, New Profile, who oppose service in the Israeli army (not just in the Occupied Territories). They are facing severe repression as the article demonstrates. Tony Greenstein

Shulamit Aloni
Monday, 4 May, 2009 10:15 PM

Israeli soldiers marching toward the northern Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead. (AP)

Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin and philosopher Asa Kasher, two respected men around here, published an article entitled: "A just war of a democratic state," (Haaretz, April 24, Hebrew).

A remark about the first part: There are wars that are necessary for self-defense or to fight injustice and evil. But the expression "just" is problematic when speaking of war itself - which involves killing and destruction and leaves women, children and old people homeless, and sometimes even kills them.

Our sages have said: "Don't be overly righteous." And there is absolutely no question that dropping cluster bombs in an area populated by civilians, as we did in the Second Lebanon War, does not testify to great righteousness. The same thing can be said of using phosphorus bombs against a civilian population.

Apparently, according to the Yadlin and Kasher definition of justice, in order to eliminate terrorists it is just to destroy, kill, expel and starve a civilian population that has no connection to the acts of terror and no responsibility for them. Perhaps had they adopted a more decent and less arrogant approach they would have tried to explain the reasons for the fury and intensity that brought about the shocking killing and destruction, and even apologized for the fact that these exceeded any reasonable necessity.

But after all, we are always right; moreover, these things were done by "the most moral army in the world," sent by the "democratic" Jewish state - and here is the meeting point of the two concepts in the title of Yadlin and Kasher's article.

As for the army's morality, it would have been better had they remained silent and thereby been considered wise. This is because the statistics on the destruction and harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip are familiar to everyone, and not divorced from the oh-so-moral behavior of our army in the occupied territories. In the context of this behavior, for example, the army operates with great efficiency against farmers who demonstrate against the theft of their lands, even when the demonstrations are not violent.

The long-term evidence of abuse by soldiers against civilians at the checkpoints - including repeated instances of expectant mothers who are forced to give birth in the middle of the road, surrounded by armed soldiers who laugh wickedly - is no secret either. Day after day, year after year, the most moral army in the world helps to steal lands, uproot trees, steal water, close roads - in the service of the righteous "Jewish and democratic" state and with its support. It's heartbreaking, but the State of Israel is no longer democratic. We are living in an ethnocracy under "Jewish and democratic" rule.

In 1970 it was decided that in Israel religion and nationality are one and the same (that is why we are not listed in the Population Registry as Israelis, but as Jews). In 1992 it was determined in the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty that Israel is a "Jewish state." There is no mention in this law of the promise that appears in the state's formative document, the Declaration of Independence, to the effect that "The State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or sex." The Knesset ratified the law nonetheless.

And so there is a "Jewish state" and no "equality of rights." Therefore some observers emphasize that the Jewish state is not "a state of all its citizens." Is there really a democracy that is not a state of all its citizens? After all, Jews living today in democratic countries enjoy the full rights of citizenship.

Democracy exists in the State of Israel today only in the formal sense: There are parties and elections and a good judicial system. But there is also an omnipotent army that ignores legal decisions that restrict the theft of land owned and held by people who have been living under occupation for the past 42 years. And since 1992, as we mentioned, we also have the definition "Jewish state," which means an ethnocracy - the rule of an ethnic religious community that strictly determines the ethnic origin of its citizens according to maternal lineage. And as far as other religions are concerned, disrespect for them is already a tradition, since we have learned: "Only you are considered human beings, whereas the gentiles are like donkeys."

From here it is clear that we and our moral army are exempt from concerns for the Palestinians living in Israel, and this is even more true of those living under occupation. On the other hand, it is perfectly all right to steal their land because these are "state lands" that belong to the State of Israel and its Jews.

That is the case even though we have not annexed the West Bank and have not granted citizenship to its inhabitants, who under Jordanian rule were Jordanian citizens. The State of Israel has penned them in, which makes it easy to confiscate their land for the benefit of its settlers.

And important and respected rabbis, who are educating an entire generation, have ruled that the whole country is ours and the Palestinians should share the fate of Amalek, the ancient tribe the Israelites were commanded to eradicate. At a time when a "just war" is taking place, racism is rife and robbery is called "return of property."

We are currently celebrating the 61st anniversary of the State of Israel. We fought in the War of Independence out of a great hope that we would build a "model society" here, that we would make peace with our neighbors, work the land and develop the Jewish genius for the benefit of science, culture and the value of man - every man. But when a major general and a philosopher justify - out of a sense of moral superiority - our acts of injustice toward the other in such a way, they cast a very heavy shadow on all those hopes.

Israeli soldiers marching toward the northern Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead. (AP)

STOP THE HARRASSMENT OF ISRAEL'S NEW PROFILE

We are asking you to contact the Israeli Attorney General to demand an immediate stop to this harassment.

The activists targeted are members of New Profile, a group of feminist women and men daring to suggest that Israel need not be a militarized society. They are being wrongfully accused of inciting young people--like the shministim--not to enlist in the army. The charge is not true. While New Profile does not tell youngsters not to enlist, they certainly support those who do not: pacifists, those who oppose the occupation, and others. New Profile informs them of their rights and gives them legal support when necessary. But Israel is a country that does not acknowledge the basic human right to conscientious objection.

The government's accusation against New Profile is not new. It has been out there for some time, as a source of harassment. Today's police actions tighten the screws considerably. We've seen how international pressure has helped get many shministim out of jail. Now it's time to put as much pressure so that Israeli peace activists can do their work free of intimidation.

Defend Omar Barghouti against Zionist McCarthyism

Omar Barghouti is a Palestinian with permanent rights of residency in Israel. He isn’t an Israeli national because there is no such thing. Most people are not aware of this simple fact. There is no such thing as Israeli nationality because Zionist ideology deems that Israel is merely the state of the Jewish people, wherever they live.

So the author of this blog is entitled to go to Israel, to ‘return’ to a State in which he has never lived, and claim citizenship, whereas Arabs born in Israel have no such rights. Omar Barghouti is therefore a tolerated member of a society which is a ‘Jewish’ State.

But Omar has broken a key rule of Israeli society. Omar Barghouti is also one of the most vociferous and outspoken supporters of a Boycott of Israeli institutions. As such he has committed a cardinal sin for which he is now under attack. Instead of keeping his head down, his mouth shut and being grateful for being able to live and study in the land of his birth, he is politically outspoken, opposed to a racist ‘Jewish’ state and an active campaigner. To the Zionist far-right (and today most Zionist parties are on the far-right) this is intolerable.

In particular Zionists have now started to demand that Omar be expelled from Tel Aviv University where he is taking a doctorate. Apparently he is hypocritical for supporting an academic boycott of Israel’s racist universities whilst at the same time studying at them. Superficially of course this is an attractive argument. If victims of racial and national oppression demand a Boycott of their oppressors they should also participate in that Boycott.

Of course this is a nonsense. The purpose of the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel is not to make the plight of Palestinians inside and outside Israel even worse but to redress the balance. It is to put pressure on business, academia etc. not to discriminate, to abandon the idea of a State based on racial criteria and instead transform into a non-racial unitary state in what was Mandate Palestine.

No doubt the racists who are targeting Omar would have demanded that Blacks in South Africa should have boycotted their own access to South African institutions too. In fact we recognise that no Israelis can boycott their own participation in Israeli society. What we do is try to exert pressure from outside Israel to force Israeli society to change, since internal reform is impossible. This is exactly what happened in South Africa. Indeed, because Boycott is a sophisticated instrument, we do not demand a Boycott of anti-Zionist and anti-racist Israeli Jews. It is not because someone is Israeli that we demand a Boycott but because they are willing participants in oppression.

We therefore call for the defence of Omar Barghouti against the racist attacks being made upon him. It is a clear sign of the growing success of the BDS movement.

Tony Greenstein

PACBI Statement on the McCarthyist Campaign against Omar Barghouti
Occupied Ramallah, 3 May 2009

The impressive growth of the Palestinian civil society campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, particularly after its criminal war of aggression on the occupied Gaza Strip, is testimony to the morality and consistency of ordinary citizens and civil society organizations around the world concerned about restoring Palestinian rights and achieving justice for Palestinians.

The most recent achievement of the Israel boycott movement was the adoption of BDS-- nearly by consensus -- by the Scottish Trade Union Congress [1], following the example set by the Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU [2] and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU [3].

In despair over their evident inability to stop or even hold back the growing tide of BDS across the globe, Israel apologists have resorted to an old tactic at which they seem to excel: witch hunts and smear campaigns. A self-styled McCarthyist academic monitor group in Israel has launched a petition calling for the expulsion of Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), from Tel Aviv University, where he is enrolled as a doctoral student. The Israeli campaign urges the university administration to expel Barghouti due to his leading role in the BDS movement that calls for boycotting Israel and all institutions complicit in its occupation and apartheid

To date, more than 65,000 persons have reportedly signed this right-wing Israeli petition that depicts Barghouti as an “especially strident and persuasive voice” against Israeli colonial and racist policies. Several media columns by Zionist journalists in Israel and the United Kingdom, among others, have tried to use the “revelation” that Barghouti, “now enrolled” at an Israeli university, is politically inconsistent for calling for the boycott of all Israeli academic institutions while he is a student at one of them. Other than the clear dishonesty and underhandedness of these same media in presenting the case as if Barghouti has just -- or recently -- enrolled in an Israeli university despite themselves having reported years ago that he was already enrolled then [4], the reports have made some glaring omissions about the Israeli apartheid context, the widely endorsed criteria of the PACBI boycott, and the system of racial discrimination in Israel’s educational system against the indigenous Palestinians.

While consistently calling upon academics around the world to boycott Israel and its academic -- and cultural -- institutions due to their entrenched collusion in the state’s colonial and apartheid policies [5], PACBI has never called upon Palestinian citizens of Israel and those who are compelled to carry Israeli identification documents, like Palestinian residents of occupied Jerusalem, to refrain from studying or teaching at those Israeli institutions. That would have been an absurd position, given the complete lack of alternatives available. Successive Israeli governments, committed to suppressing Palestinian national identity in their pursuit of maintaining Israel’s character as a racist state, have made every effort possible to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian university inside Israel. The only choice left to Palestinian students and academics in Israel, then, is to go to an Israeli university or leave their homeland to pursue their studies or academic careers abroad -- often not possible due to financial or other compelling reasons. In fact, the Israeli authorities have consistently worked to strip Palestinians from occupied Jerusalem of their Israeli ID cards and thus their residency rights while they study abroad, thereby prohibiting them from returning.

Palestinians in Israel are treated as second-class citizens in every vital aspect of life and are subjected to a system of “institutional, legal and societal discrimination,” as admitted even in US State Department reports on human rights [6]. In the field of education this discrimination is dominant throughout the system, as the following conclusion from a ground-breaking Human Rights Watch study published in 2001 states:

“The hurdles Palestinian Arab students face from kindergarten to university function like a series of sieves with sequentially finer holes. At each stage, the education system filters out a higher proportion of Palestinian Arab students than Jewish students. ... . And Israel‘s courts have yet to use ... laws or more general principles of equality to protect Palestinian Arab children from discrimination in education.” [7]

Palestinians, like any people under apartheid or colonial rule, have insisted on their rights, including their right to education, even if the only venues available were apartheid or colonial institutions. Nelson Mandela studied law at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, one of the most notorious apartheid institutes then. Similarly, leaders of the anti-colonial resistance movement in India and Egypt, among many other countries, received their education at British universities at the height of the colonial era.

PACBI has always made a distinction between the forms and range of academic boycott it urges the world to adopt and what Palestinians themselves can implement. The former have a moral choice to boycott Israeli universities in order to hold them accountable for their shameful, multifaceted complicity in perpetuating the occupation and racist policies of the state; the latter are often left with no choice but to use the services of the oppressive state, to which they pay taxes.

Finally, we stress that it is precisely PACBI’s five-year-old record of moral and political consistency and the growing influence of its principles and the campaigns it and its partners have waged around the world that have provoked Zionist anti-boycott forces to try, yet again, to rehash old attacks of inconsistency, failing to understand or intentionally and deceptively ignoring the boycott criteria set by PACBI. We urge all academics, academic unions, cultural figures and cultural associations to adopt whatever creative form of BDS their context allows them. This remains the most effective and morally sound form of solidarity with the Palestinian people in our struggle for freedom, dignity, equality and self determination.

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
PACBI@PACBI.org
www.PACBI.org

[1] http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/376
[2] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=271
[3] http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/20
[4] See for example: http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Views%5El181&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Views
[5] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869
[6] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108484.htm
[7] Human Rights Watch, Second Class: Discrimination Against Palestinian Arab Children in Israel‘s Schools, September 2001. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2