June 7, 2010

“Gaza today has become the test of our universal morality and our common humanity. During the South African anti-apartheid struggle, the world was inspired by the brave and principled actions of dockworkers unions who refused to handle South African cargo, contributing significantly to the ultimate fall of apartheid. Today, we call on you, dockworkers unions of the world, to do the same against Israel’s occupation and apartheid. This is the most effective form of solidarity to end injustice and uphold universal human rights.”–Palestinian Trade Union Movement Calls on International Dockworkers Unions to Block Loading/Offloading Israeli Ships Until Israel Complies Fully with International Law and Ends its Illegal Siege of Gaza, June 7, 2010[1]

As trade unionists in the United States, we join with labor bodies around the world to condemn Israel’s May 31 armed assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

To date, these include the South African Congress of Trade Unions; National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa), Irish Congress Of Trade Unions; Maritime Union of Australia; New Zealand Council of Trade Unions; International Dockworkers Council; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (Turkey); GSEE (Greek TUC); ADEDY (Greek public sector union federation); Trades Union International of Workers in the Building, Wood, Building Materials and Allied Industries; International Federation of Journalists; World Federation of Trade Unions; International Trade Union Confederation; International Transport Workers’ Federation; Public Services International; Unite (U.K.); Canadian Union of Postal Workers; Canadian Union of Public Employees; Education International; and US Labor Against the War.

Notwithstanding Israeli propaganda — abetted by the corporate media — the Flotilla Massacre was a premeditated act of state terrorism.

Taking place in international waters under cover of darkness, it targeted 750 unarmed volunteers from 40 countries seeking to relieve the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s illegal and immoral collective punishment against the 1.5 million people in Gaza. This criminal assault killed and wounded scores of aid workers, while abducting, jailing and deporting hundreds of survivors.

This crime against humanity only symbolizes a regime rooted in more than six decades of piracy, ethnic cleansing, racism, and apartheid against Palestinians and other indigenous people of the region.

Most immediately, it is a direct extension of the 2008/2009 Gaza massacre that killed 1400 people, most of them civilians, which has been condemned by the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, including those that are Israeli.

That Israel’s crimes nonetheless continue unabated is due entirely to support from its international sponsors. In the past ten years alone, the US government — with overwhelming bipartisan support — has given Israel $17 billion in military aid; over the next decade, it will give another $30 billion.

Thus, this attack, like Israel’s entire war on Palestine, was carried out with US-supplied naval vessels, Apache helicopters and other weapons. Once again, through its not-so-silent complicity, the Obama administration is letting Israel get away with murder.

Workers in this country pay a staggering human and financial price for US-Israeli war and occupation from Palestine to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Iran.

Yet, top US labor officials — often without the knowledge or consent of union members — collaborate with the Histadrut, the segregated Zionist labor federation that defends every attack on Palestinian rights,[2] including the Flotilla Massacre. These same leaders invest billions from our union pension and retirement funds in State of Israel Bonds.

US labor officials’ policies directly violate the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against apartheid Israel, initiated in 2005 by Palestinian civil society — including its entire labor movement.

Inspired by the international boycott that helped topple apartheid South Africa, the campaign demands Palestinian self-determination, including an end to Israeli military occupation, the right of refugees to return, and equal rights for all throughout historic Palestine.

BDS has been endorsed by labor bodies around the world, including the trade union congresses of South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and the UK, and labor bodies in Australia, France, Canada, Norway, Catalunya, and Italy.

Just one day before the Gaza Flotilla Massacre, the University and College Union (UK) voted to “sever all relations with Histadrut, and to urge other trade unions and bodies to do likewise.”[3]

South African workers play a leading role in the BDS movement because they remember that Israel was apartheid South Africa’s closest ally, and they agree with the observation of numerous South African freedom fighters that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “worse than apartheid.”[4]

In February 2009, South African and Australian dockworkers refused to handle Israeli goods and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (COSATU) “call[ed] on other workers and unions to . . . do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine is free.”[5]

In response to the Gaza Flotilla Massacre, the Swedish Port Workers Union has announced it will blockade Israeli ships and cargo from June 15-24. The South African dockers (SAWATU) have “salute[d] the Swedish dock workers for their blockade of all Israeli ships” and “call[ed] for an escalation of the boycott of Israeli goods and call upon our fellow trade unionists not to handle them.”[6]

Now, the entire Palestinian trade union movement, “calls on dockworkers’ unions worldwide to block Israeli maritime trade in response to Israel’s massacre of humanitarian relief workers and activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla, until Israel complies with international law and ends its illegal blockade of Gaza.”[7]

Israel deliberately carried out the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Massacre in order to silence opposition to its strangulation of Gaza. But just as the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and the 1976 Soweto Massacre spelled the ultimate doom of South African apartheid, Israel’s attack has already had the opposite effect.

New waves of volunteers are coming forward to break the siege, which is already beginning to crack. The BDS movement is exploding. Already, it is clear that the Flotilla martyrs did not die in vain.

Just as labor solidarity played a critical role in toppling South African apartheid, it now has the potential to cripple Israeli apartheid. Therefore, we urge trade unionists in the US to call on our unions, the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to condemn the Gaza Flotilla Massacre and support the international labor BDS campaign to:

1. End US military and economic aid for, and ties with, Israel.

2. Divest from State of Israel Bonds.

3. Refuse to handle Israeli goods and cargo.

4. Break ties with all Israeli state institutions, including the Histadrut.

Notes

[1] http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/712

[2] http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/4557

[3] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1249

[4] http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/03/israel-and-apartheid-is-it-a-fair-comparison/

[5] http://links.org.au/node/888

[6] http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?include=docs/pr/2010/pr0604d.html&ID=3434&cat=COSATU%20Today

[7] http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/712

 To endorse this statement, click here. To donate to Labor for Palestine, click here.

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The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is under threat from the Israeli navy and other Israeli forces, including Israeli civilian yachts, all determind to terrorise the Human Rights Defenders, in order to keep under barbaric siege 1.5 million Palestinian in Gaza .

 The Free Gaza flotilla is on its way to Gaza. Unlike previous Free Gaza boats, this flotilla includes large vessels, will be carrying substantial amounts of reconstruction supplies, medical and school supplies, and 800 passengers from 50 countries. It cannot afford to fail. This is an opportunity to denounce the inhumanity of Israel's three year long siege and running. Israel said it will stop the boats from reaching Gaza, they have done it before and they can do it again:
http://bit.ly/9JCCyS

All EU states are committed, via their embassies, to supporting Human Rights Defenders of any nationality. When alerted that HRDs are under threat, individual member countries or the EU as a whole, should make an official protest to the government concerned. The British Foreign Office in London and the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, should be reminded of their responsibilities under the EU guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.
 
All EU states are committed, via their embassies, to supporting Human Rights Defenders of any nationality. When alerted that HRDs are under threat, individual member countries or the EU as a whole, should make an official protest to the government concerned. The British Foreign Office in London and the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, should be reminded of their responsibilities under the EU guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.

Please write to the new Secretary of State- FCO, William Hague: private.office@fco.gov.uk .
William Hague might need to be made aware of the Israeli navy kidnapping previous Human Rights defenders from international water. 

Jeremy Browne is the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibilities including Human rights - see at: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/who-we-are/our-ministers/jeremy-browne
 
FCO email addresses: private.office@fco.gov.uk, fcoresponsecentre@fco.gov.uk,  MSU.PublicIn@fco.gov.uk  msu.correspondence@fco.gov.uk  
Sophie Honey, Head of Near East Group, Sophie.Honey@fco.gov.uk  
Sonia Farrey, Head Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Territories, Sonia.Farrey@fco.gov.uk 
AINAGCorrespondence@fco.gov.uk  - the duty of the Consular Team at the Foreign Office is to ensure the safety of Britons abroad FCO: +44 20 7008 2716
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv: +972 3 725 1222 UK’s UN Ambassador uk@un.int

- Additional Steps We Can Take Right Now -

Send letters demanding that the Israeli government allow free passage to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla - Every time someone sends a letter from this web form, it will email AND fax 150 Israeli Embassies and Consulates worldwide: 
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6207/t/6210/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3142

Sign the petition:
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6207/t/6210/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=775
See further details at [especially as Free Gaza website www.freegaza.org has already been attacked]:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120912394598161&ref=mf <http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120912394598161&amp;ref=mf>
 
Please support the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and urgently forward item.

Please take action! Model letter below:
 

• Contact the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, to tell him that the British government must insist that these military orders are cancelled: msu.correspondence@fco.gov.uk
• Phone, fax or email the Israeli embassy to register your opposition: Tel 020 7957 9500; Fax 020 7957 9555; info@london.mfa.gov.il
  

To Foreign Minister David Milliband MP                cc                   MP

Dear David Milliband

Two new Israeli military orders are due to come into effect on Tuesday, which will make any resident of the occupied West Bank who does not have an Israeli-issued permit - and that includes people who were born in Palestine -  liable for deportation or jail.

I appreciate that the demands of the election campaign may currently be a priority; however, elections are won on the real actions that governments have taken, rather than on campaigning rhetoric. I would therefore ask you to make your protest to the Israeli government about the new laws, which are illegal under international law, with the same forcefulness with which you dealt with the forged passports issue.

A statement by ten Israeli human rights groups points out that Palestinians, and any foreigners living in the West Bank, could be labelled infiltrators and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit – with no definition on what Israel considers a valid permit. "The orders … are worded so broadly such as theoretically allowing the military to empty the West Bank of almost all its Palestinian inhabitants."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/11/israeli-groups-attack

A Haaretz editorial today says that tens of thousands could be deported, and ‘the order's vague language will allow army officers to exploit it arbitrarily to carry out mass expulsions’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162382.html.

The Netanyahu government has the bit between its teeth and is running away unimpeded on a mad gallop of anti-Palestinian actions that are also an insolent slap in the face to the international community, especially the US and UK governments. The British government must insist that these military orders are cancelled.

We urge your urgent intervention both directly to the Israeli government and to the US administration, which at this time of continuing Israeli intransigence , will be likely to have a strong influence.

Yours sincerely

 
Israeli groups fight orders allowing army to jail West Bank residents
Israeli human rights campaigners claim Palestinians or foreigners could be labelled infiltrators

Israeli human rights groups say that Palestinians and any foreigners living in the West Bank could be deemed 'infiltrators' and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit under the new orders. Photograph: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP/Getty Images


Israel <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel> 's leading human rights <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/human-rights>  groups are trying to stop two new Israeli military orders which will make any resident of the occupied West Bank who does not have an Israeli-issued permit liable for deportation or jail.
The new Order Regarding Prevention of Infiltration and Order Regarding Security Provisions, which comes into force on Tuesday have "severe ramifications," the rights groups say. Palestinians, and any foreigners living in the West Bank, could be labelled infiltrators and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit. It does not define what Israel considers a valid permit.
"The orders … are worded so broadly such as theoretically allowing the military to empty the West Bank of almost all its Palestinian inhabitants," said the 10 rights groups, which include Ha-Moked, B'Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Rabbis for Human Rights. Until now the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank have not been required to hold a permit just to be present in their homes, the groups say.
"The military will be able to prosecute and deport any Palestinian defined as an infiltrator in stark contradiction to the Geneva conventions," they said. The law broadens the definition of an "infiltrator" and could allow Israel to transfer some Palestinians from the West Bank to Gaza, or to deport foreign passport holders married to West Bank Palestinians, or to deport Israelis or foreigners living in the West Bank. The groups said tens of thousands of Palestinians were in those categories.
Israel effectively controls the Palestinian population register and since 2000, apart from once in 2007, the Israeli authorities have frozen applications for renewal of visitor permits for foreign nationals, or applications to grant permanent status in the occupied territories. As a result, many Palestinians live in the West Bank without formal status and are now vulnerable under the new orders. The human rights groups wrote to the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, today asking him to delay or revoke the orders, which they said were "unlawful and allow extreme and arbitrary injury to a vast number of people".
The Israeli military said the purpose of the orders was "the extradition of those residing illegally in Judea and Samaria," an Israeli term for the West Bank. The orders had been "corrected" in order to "assure judicial oversight of the extradition process," it said.
However, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the orders would make it easy for Israel to imprison or expel Palestinians from the West Bank. "These military orders belong in an apartheid state," he said. "They are an assault on ordinary Palestinians and an affront to the most fundamental principles of human rights. Israel's endgame is not peace. It is the colonisation of the West Bank."
 



Come along and protest against the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from East Jerusalem!

Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine,  Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al Aqsa; Friends of Lebanon, Friends of Sabeel UK, , Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, Britain Palestine Twinning Network.
PSC Weekly update March 19th 2010 

Jerusalem situational update:

The situation for Palestinians is worsening every day. For five days and in the context of the opening of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish quarter, the Old City has been turned into a city under siege. Israeli authorities have maintained a heavy military and police presence.

Since Friday, a closure was imposed on the West Bank, banning the entry of West Bank permit holders into occupied East Jerusalem. Men under 50 years of age have also been prohibited from entering Al Aqsa Mosque compound. Demonstrations were reported throughout the city, while clashes were especially concentrated in the Old City, Eisawiya, Shu'fat Camp, Wadi Al Joz, Qalandiya checkpoint.

The confrontations in Jerusalem are the result of a number of recent factors including plans for 1,600 new homes in Occupied East Jerusalem whilst denying Palestinians permission to do the same - and making the possibility of East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state less real.

For up-to date information and analysis about the situation, visit Maan News and Palestine Monitor.

NEWS: Quartet blasts Israel over East Jerusalem settlements

          Tensions run high in al-Quds, protests expected

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URGENT ACTION: Protest against Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Monday 22nd March, 5pm, London

Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem behind the announcement of 1,600 new settlement units in East Jerusalem, will be visiting London early next week.  A total of 50,000 housing units have planned in the coming years - doubling the settler population - and reducing the Palestinian population to a third. Israel's plans to restore Hurva synagogue a few hundred meters from Al-Aqsa mosque has led to clashes over the last few days - men under 50 have been refused entry into Al-Aqsa since Friday. Israel has deployed some 3,000 security forces across the city.

He will be speaking at Chatham House Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al Aqsa; Friends of Lebanon, Friends of Sabeel UK, Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, Britain Palestine Twinning Network.

You can let Chatham House know what you think about their recent briefing ‘Jerusalem: the Cost of Failure' and the event by ringing 020 7957 5700 or emailing: contact@chathamhouse.org.uk.

EAPPI video: the housing crisis in East Jerusalem



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Emergency meeting on Jerusalem - next Tuesday in Parliament



PSC are supporting Friends of Al-Aqsa's emergency meeting on the situation in Jerusalem, next Tuesday 23rd March 19.45-21.00 in the House of Commons.

Speakers include: Karen Abu Zayd Former commissioner UNRWA; Tony Benn; Sir Gerald Kaufman MP; Martin Linton MP; Phyllis Starkey MP and others.

To register for the event email your name and contact details to arif@aqsa.org.uk.

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This is a call to all people in Ireland to support the human rights of the Palestinian people by calling on CRH to divest from Israel.

Thank you for visiting the IPSC's CRH: Stop Your Involvement in the Apartheid Wall campaign website - we hope you will take action on this vitally important issue. The first actions you can take are to familiarise yourself with the campaign, and then sign the online petition by clicking here. For other ways to get involved in a more hands-on manner, please see the 'What You Can Do' section of the campaign site. For in depth information about the campaign, please read on...

Join the CRH Campaign Maling List - Click Here a Please take the time to sign the IPSC's online petition calling for CRH to divest from the Israeli Mashav Group, and thereby ending their complicity in the construction of the Apartheid Wall and illegal colonial settlements and mining operations in the occuiped West Bank. Click here to sign the petition Campaign News a Mashav cancels Hanson Israel acquisition [Adi Ben-Israel, Globes Israel - 28.12.09] IDB Holding Corp. Ltd has cancelled its acquisition of cement company Hanson Israel Ltd. The acquisition was to have been made through IDB unit Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. subsidiary Mashav Initiative and Development Ltd., which owns 75% of Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd... Read more Tainted Cement: CRH’s Business Dealings with Israeli Company That Exploits Resources on Occupied Lands [Shir Herver, Alternative News - 25.11.09] On 14 November, hundreds gathered in Dublin, Ireland for a demonstration against the CRH Irish construction company. The demonstration was organized by the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)... Read more Irish construction giant digs deeper in occupation [Adri Nieuwhof, Electronic Intifada - 18.08.09] A recent acquisition by the Israeli subsidiary of brick and mortar giant Irish CRH has placed the European conglomerate under increased pressure from Palestine solidarity activists. Irish CRH, formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holding, owns 25 percent of the Mashav Group, an Israeli construction firm... Read more Read more CRH: Building for the future? [Claudia Saba, Socialist Worker - 12.10.09] The company’s products are being used in the construction of the light rail project in Jerusalem - an apartheid public transport system which connects Israeli settlement neighbourhoods with the city centre while cutting off Palestinian neighbourhoods from each other... Read more News Archive a

About the CRH Divestment Campaign

The aim of this campaign is to convince CRH to cease its involvement with the illegal occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people by divesting from the Mashav Group, an Israeli construction company.

Background to CRH and the illegal apartheid wall

2001 CRH Europe Materials Division acquired a 25% shareholding in the Israeli group Mashav Initiating and Development Ltd. Mashav is the holding company for Nesher Cement which is the sole Israeli cement company. It is reported that Nesher produces approximately 85% of all cement sold in Israel.

2002 The apartheid separation wall commenced construction.

2004 Under questioning from Amnesty International, CRH accepted that “in all probability” Nesher cement is being used in the construction of the wall. The ICJ begin its investigation.

2004 The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the wall is illegal as they consider it to be an attempt by Israel to annexe Palestinian territory contrary to International Law and that it constitutes an interference with the right of Palestinians to self determination.

Following the ruling the UN General assembly voted overwhelmingly in support of the advisory opinion by 150:6. Israel continues to ignore the ruling and world opinion as does CRH plc.

2010 CRH continue to profit from the rapid expansion of the colonial settlements (pop currently 450,000) which are illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Resolutions 446, 452 and 465. The UN Global Compact states that ‘businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights within their sphere of influence’.

The wall is currently 450km long. Its planned route will be 711km, twice the length of the 1967 line. It is predominantly (82%) built in 1967 occupied Palestinian territory. So far it has annexed 10% of Palestinian territory.





In cooperation with the
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28.02.2010 Kairos and Playground for Palestine CALL TO ACTION

Playground for Palestine is sending out this CALL TO ACTION to alert our supporters about a troubling development in the Oush Grab Peace Park, the site designated for a 2010 PfP playground installation.

The Israeli military is trying to implement a decision to confiscate community and privately held property belonging to the community and families in the Palestinian Christian town of Beit Sahour.

Included in this swath of land is the treasured Peace Park, which serves as a community space, park and recreational facility where Palestinian families gather daily and was to be the site of one of PfP’s next playgrounds.

We ask you to call and write to Israeli officials in order to protest this action, call upon them to stop the construction of the watchtower, prevent settlers from attacking the park, and cease any idea of building a settlement in the site.

Follow the link and enter zip for to contact local congressmen - http://www.congress.org/communicate
Call the Israeli ambassador 202 364 5500 or email info@washington.mfa.gov.il
Email the Consulate General of the US, Jerusalem - uscongenjerusalem@state.gov
Call the Israeli consulate in Philly 215 977 7600
Contact the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Near East Affairs - Jeffrey D Feltman 202 647 7209
Injustice in Beit Sahour
A Statement by Kairos Palestine

(Jerusalem 20.03.2010) As described by town residents, Ha’aretz,Ma’an News, and other sources in recent days, Israeli soldiers and bulldozers arrived on February 10 at a family recreation park in Beit Sahour – a town slightly east of Bethlehem in the West Bank, and the site of the former army base Osh Grab, which was abandoned by the IDF in 2006 – and declared it a closed military zone.

KAIROS Palestine condemns this action and calls upon churches worldwide to advocate for the Christians and all residents of Beit Sahour and intervene in the damage, present and projected, wrought upon their home.

Please join KAIROS Palestine in condemning these oppressive actions in Beit Sahour and working to restore the justice that is both our calling and our right.

We ask you to call and write to Israeli officials in order to protest this action, call upon them to stop the construction of the watchtower, prevent settlers from attacking the park, and cease any idea of building a settlement in the site.

Please make appeals to:

[Ehud Barak] Minister of Defense, Ministry of Defense,
37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv 61909, Israel
Fax: +972 3 691 6940
Email: minister@mod.gov.il
Salutation: Dear Minister

Israeli Ambassador in your respective country

Copy to the:

Mayor of Beit Sahour
Email: bsmuni@p-ol.com
Kairos Palestine: www.kairospalestine.ps
Email: Kalimatuna@gmail.com

KAIROS Palestine is a group of Palestinian Christians who authored “A Moment of Truth” – Christian Palestinian’s word to the world about the occupation of Palestine, an expression of hope and faith in God, and a call for solidarity in ending over six decades of oppression – and published it in 2009.

From our board member, Nathan Dannison, more information at –

Here is a great background video re: the site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ZaFwi6WBo&feature=player_embedded
and more background information from decolonizing architecture:
http://www.decolonizing.ps/site/?page_id=428

Here’s two articles regarding my non-violent protest and its result:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=204315
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=56403

Here are some photographs of the event:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dannison/BethlehemPart2#5233543371141960338 (scroll forward to see more)

Here are my relevant blog entries:
http://michigantopalestine.blogspot.com/2008/08/praying-for-childrens-hospital.html
http://michigantopalestine.blogspot.com/2008/08/ush-ghrab-is-safe-again.html

Here is some troubling information regarding the current state of affairs:
http://michigantopalestine.blogspot.com/2008/08/ush-ghrab-is-safe-again.html

Also –

Photos of popular resistance including tearing down the apartheid fences in Bilin
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//100219/ids_photos_wl/r1248158112.jpg/#photoViewer=/100219/481/4865168bfb7a4784947f920bbbd07b13

Beit Sahour: a new struggle by Ben White - 21 February 2010 11:49, The Newstatesman

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/02/palestinian-israeli-settlers

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Statement of Purpose and Principles

Amnesty International has called the blockade of Gaza a “form of collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza, a flagrant violation of Israel’s obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

Human Rights Watch has called the blockade a “serious violation of international law.”

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has said the people of Gaza are being treated “like animals,” and has called for “ending of the siege of Gaza” that is depriving “one and a half million people of the necessities of life.”

One of the world’s leading authorities on Gaza, Sara Roy of Harvard University, has said that the consequence of the siege “is undeniably one of mass suffering, created largely by Israel, but with the active complicity of the international community, especially the U.S. and European Union.”

The law is clear. The conscience of humankind is shocked.  

Yet, the siege of Gaza continues.

The people of Gaza have exhorted the international community to move beyond words of condemnation.

It is time for us to take action!

The Long March toward Freedom

To mark the anniversary of Israel’s bloody 22-day assault on Gaza the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza will dispatch contingents from around the world to Gaza.

On January 1, 2010 we will march alongside the people of Gaza in a nonviolent demonstration that breaches the illegal blockade.

The march is inspired by decades of nonviolent Palestinian resistance from the mass popular uprising of the first intifada to the West Bank villagers currently resisting the land grab of Israel’s annexationist wall.

It draws inspiration from the international volunteers who have stood by Palestinian farmers harvesting their crops, from the crews on the vessels who have challenged the Gaza blockade by sea, and from the drivers of the convoys who have delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza.

It draws inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi called his movement Satyagraha-Hold on to the truth. We hold on to the truth that Israel’s siege of Gaza is illegal and inhuman.

Gandhi said that nonviolence requires more courage and is more effective than violence. We want to prove the truth of Gandhi’s beliefs with our deeds.

We are not afraid, we won’t turn back, we won’t let Gaza die.

Gandhi said that the purpose of nonviolent action is to “quicken” the conscience of humankind. We want to bring humankind not just to deplore Israeli brutality but actively to stop it.

Those of us residing in the United States also draw inspiration from our Civil Rights Movement.

If Israel devalues Palestinian life then-just as northern whites went down South during Freedom Summer-we must both interpose our bodies to shield Palestinians from Israeli brutality and bear personal witness to the inhumanity that Palestinians daily confront.

If Israel defies international law then-just as federal marshals were sent in to enforce the law of the land against racist southern sheriffs-we must send nonviolent marshals from around the world to enforce the law of the international community in Gaza.

We take no sides in internal Palestinian politics. We side only with international law and basic human decency.

We conceive this march as yet another link in the chain of nonviolent resistance to Israel’s flagrant disregard of international law.

The siege is illegal.

The wall is illegal.

The settlements and house demolitions are illegal.

The closures and curfews are illegal.

The roadblocks and checkpoints are illegal.

The detention and torture are illegal.

The truth is that if international law were enforced the occupation would be unsustainable.

The march can only succeed if it arouses the conscience of humanity.

If we join ranks with the people of Gaza in the march for freedom, and millions more around the world watch the march on the internet, we can breach the siege without a drop of blood being shed.

If the whole world is watching, Israel can’t stop us.

Please join us.



To: Beatriz Corredor Sierra,

Ministerio de Vivienda, Government of Spain.

Paseo de la Castellana,112

2807, Madrid, Espana

Dear Minister Sierra,

RE: SOLAR DECATHLON EUROPE - MADRID 2010, Participation of Ariel.

As members of the international organisation, Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine, and academics from Universities in the UK, we are astonished to see that the  self-styled Ariel 'University Centre’ of Samaria is representing Israel in the Solar Decathlon, and has been selected as a participant in the final entries.

This 'college' is not in Israel, but in territory which the settlers call ‘Judea and Samaria’, in the West Bank illegally occupied by Israel. The settlement of Ariel has been constructed illegally, and its settlers and institutions illegally set up, to create facts on the ground that will negate the possibility of a viable Palestinian state. This is in complete contradiction to international law and the Geneva Conventions.

Under the Rome statute of the Geneva Convention, "The transfer ... by the occupying power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies" is a war crime – an apt description of the Israeli settlement process. The International Criminal Court Act states that it is an offence to aid and abet war crimes. So it is considered illegal for an EU country to award any recognition to this sort of institution, let alone to "enhance its prestige" which is one of the stated aims of the Decathlon.

The International Union of Architects (UIA) has already taken note that Israeli architecture and planning in the West Bank is contrary to its professional ethics and Codes of Conduct and Accords. Architects, planners and academics around the world have signed petitions against the illegal settlements.

Ariel college, whose degrees are not even recognised by Israel’s own Council of Higher Education, generally excludes the local Palestinian population, who are confined and restricted in every detail of their lives and controlled by hundreds of checkpoints and barriers, and prevented from travelling on the main settler-only highways in the West Bank. Their water resources and land are expropriated, and their houses and trees demolished. The head of the architecture department in Ariel College in the West Bank commented that his students watching out of their classroom windows  "see the Arab villages, but don’t notice them. They look and they don’t see.”

Ariel College has been the subject of international boycott by academic institutions around the world, and the Palestinian community and NGOs (PACBI) have requested that the participation of the illegal colonial institutions like Ariel, set up against international law by Israel, have no place in international forums. Their participation would convey undeserved respectability and recognition to them.

In the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression, and as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel’s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid, we sincerely urge the organisers of the Solar Decathlon to withdraw the participation of this illegal institution. Its presence in the Decathlon will only sour the atmosphere and constructive spirit of such an important gathering.

We look forward to your urgent response.

With best regards

Abe Hayeem, RIBA Chair, Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine,UK
Hans Haenlein, RIBA
Kate Mackintosh,RIBA
Cezary M Bednarski RIBA FRSA SARP
Dr. Ghada Karmi, MD, Exeter University, UK
Prof. Haim Bresheeth, Chair of Media and Cultural Studies, University of E. London
Walter Hain, Architect,UK

Martin O’Shea, RIBA

Isabel Camacho, arquitecto COAM, Spain.

Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor of Operational Research, LSE

John Murray, Architect,UK
Gail Waldman,RIBA

Malcolm Hecks,RIBA, UK, France
John van Rooyen, RIBA
David Berridge, RIBA
Professor Osama Hamdan, Architect, Al Quds University, Jerusalem
Mike Gwilliam, RTPI, Planner UK
Zahira Nazer, Architect, Urban designer, Lebanon, UK
Mike Cushman, LSE
Dr. Robert Boyce, LSE

Dr. Derek Summerfield, London Institute of Psychiatry

Edwin Rutledge, Architect USA/Germany
Prof. Fahmi Salameh ,Architect, Universitat Politecnica, Barcelona, Al Quds
Ahmad Barclay, Architect, UK, dip.Arch Nottingham University

Yara Sharif, Architect, Unversity of Westminster, Birzeit University, Ramallah
Sara Wood, UK
Nicholas Wood, Architect, UK

Kelvin Bland,RIBA

Aun Qurashi,RIBA

Dr. Sue Blackwell, Birmingham University
Dr.Keith Hammond, Glasgow University

Phil Marfleet, University of East London,UK

Steve Fox, RIBA

Paul Barham,Architect,UK
Mayyad Bader, Architect, UK
Francesca Visconti, Architect, Italy
Anne Markey,RIBA, London Metropolitan University
Robert Shaw,RIBA Practice

John Lynes, Engineer, Christians’ Peacemakers’ Team, Iraq
Anil Korotane, Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST) UK

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Letter from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Campaign

Palestine, September 2, 2009

Beatriz Corredor Sierra,

Minister of Housing, Government of Spain.

Javier Uceda Antolín,

Rector, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,

Subject: The participation of ARIEL UNIVERSITY’s Center of Samaria IN THE SOLAR DECATHLON MADRID 2010 

Illegal Israeli settlements should not be promoted as a form of sustainable architecture.

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), which is drawn from the major Palestinian political and social force is deeply concerned about your selection of Ariel 'University’s' Centre of Samaria (hereafter referred to as AUCS) as a participant in the Solar Decathlon, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Housing and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and taking place in Madrid in June 2010. Extending an invitation to AUCS is a form of complicity in breaching international law through offering concrete support and legitimation to an illegal Israeli settlement built on occupied Palestinian territory.

The Palestinian BDS campaign has called for the academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions until Israel fully complies with its obligations under international law.[1] Israeli academic institutions have “either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying … [Israeli colonial] oppression, or have been complicit in them through their silence."[2] AUCS is especially complicit as it is itself a colony built on occupied Palestinian territory, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention which regards such colonization as “war crimes.” The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2004 also ruled in its advisory opinion on Israel’s Wall that all such settlements are illegal.

Founded as a regional branch of Bar-Ilan University, AUCS is located in the Ariel settlement which, together with its industrial zone Barkan, is the second largest Israeli colony in the West Bank, just after the occupied East Jerusalem settlement block. It is located 22 km away from the “Green Line,” cutting deep into the Palestinian Governorate of Salfit and grabbing more than  22% of its land: 10% is used to house 17,000 settlers, and 12% is used for military training purposes[3].

Israel’s illegal apartheid Wall divides the governorate into separate Bantustans in order to facilitate the annexation of the Ariel settlement block to Israel. The colony destroys the livelihoods and water sources of Palestinian farming communities as prime agricultural lands are buried under its cement or polluted by its waste.

The Fourth Geneva Convention states that "the transfer by the occupying power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies" is a war crime.[4] Also, U.N. Security Council Resolution 465 confirms the illegality of Israeli settlements and calls on “all states not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connection with settlements in the occupied territories.”[5]

Ariel settlement

The most recent European Council meeting in Brussels, held on June 15^th, 2009, has once again reiterated the illegality of Israeli settlements and has defined them as "obstacles for peace."[6] Spain, represented by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos, has explicitly adopted this European position on Israeli settlements, which lends further support to why Spain should not engage in any cooperation with AUCS.

The Israeli project, called ‘the stretch house’ is in fact the ultimate model of Zionist expansion and colonialism. Fayeq Kishawi, coordinator of the popular committees against the Wall and the settlements in Salfit district, comments: “The Israeli project represents Israeli claim to expand control over our land and resources and to expel us, occupy us and destroy our livelihoods at their own whim and desire. It is a recipe for how to steal more and more land. As somebody living in Salfit and suffering like the others from Ariel’s continuous ‘stretching’ I wonder how the Solar Decathlon can accept a project submitted by an institution that has stolen our land and will build its project on our stolen land.”

Abe Hayeem, chair of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, has referred to the irony of the name Ariel College chose for its project at the Solar Decathlon, "the stretch house;” illegal settlements, like Ariel, have been built by 'stretching' and distorting international law to justify their construction. Hayeem believes that “Ariel’s entry boasts of proposing a different alternative at a time of growing awareness for sustainability and ‘green’ architecture" in blatant disregard for international law.

The inclusion of “the stretch house” into the “Solar Villa” undermines international law and offers concrete support for and complicity with Israeli war crimes. We ask that you reconsider your invitation to the illegal settlement institution to display its model illegal expansion rebranded as one of ‘sustainability.’

The International Union of Architects (UIA) has charged that Israel’s architecture and planning in the occupied West Bank are contrary to its professional ethics and Codes of Conduct and Accords. Architects, planners and academics around the world have signed petitions against the illegal settlements.

Thus, inviting AUCS to participate in the Solar Decathlon is not only a breach of international law, but also lends validity to the illegal settlement through promoting its model of ‘illegal sustainability’ in house building.

 In compliance with international law, and in the spirit of international solidarity and moral consistency, we ask the organisers of the Solar Decathlon Madrid 2010 competition for sustainable architecture to cancel the participation of AUCS. We ask that you recognize that the ‘stretch house’ is not a sustainable housing development, but rather a model that actively breaches international law. We sincerely hope that Madrid’s Solar Villa will not include a model promoting the Israeli occupation and apartheid.

The Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)

www.bdsmovement.net

Endorsed by Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP)

www.apjp.org  

[1] This includes ending the occupation, facilitating the right of Palestinian refugees to return and ensuring equal rights for all Palestinian citizens of Israel. For more information please see the Palestinian BDS call: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52

[2]http://www.pacbi.org/printnews.php?id=1051

[3] http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_barrier_report_july_2009_english_low_res.pdf. Page 40.

[4] Rome Statute of the Geneva Convention, Art. 8 (2) (b) (VIII)- and as a source of International Humanitarian Law Art. 85(4) (a) as quoted by the International Red Crescent Committee: http://www.icrc.org 

[5] “All measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel’s policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.” See: http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/5aa254a1c8f8b1cb852560e50075d7d5

[6] Conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process, adopted by the Council on 15 June 2009

(11046/09) http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/es/article_8923_es.htm

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