BBC Article: Israelis and Gazans Reflect on the War

I think that this is a very important kind of article to have in the media. Though it is short, it offers several different perspectives on the Gaza war reflecting that civilians can be either for or against their governments. Instead of Israeli PR and a perpetual condemnation of Palestinian terrorists, it is these varied accounts of advocacy, moderacy, and occasional patriotic fundamentalism that allows Americans to redefine thier often over simplified views of the world.

Stop the Wall Offices Raided in Ramallah

Ramallah – Last night Stop the Wall Campaign offices were unlawfully searched and raided by the IDF. Jamal Juma, coordinator of “Stop the Wall” who has recently been released from being arrested claimed, “This is part of the continuous targeting of the popular grassroots movement and the struggle of the Palestinian human rights defenders for Israeli accountability.”

In the face of mounting pressure from anti-Apartheid activists, Israeli’s have used their carte blanche to their advantage, arresting whoever and whatever seems hopeful as a threat. Forty Stop The Wall advocates are currently in jail, most likely without due cause in the slightest. This “endless” cycle will continue until Israel is held accountable under international law, takes down the wall, and takes responsibility for its actions.

Avatar: A Call to Rise Up?

I saw this article this morning. I was intrigued by the sentence, “this is what Palestinians should do to the Jews”…

(I have a problem with this sentence referring to “Israelis” (Zionists, actually) as Jews. I think it is very unsophisticated, offensive, and dumb. Still, this is besides the point…but it’s my blog, damn it and I can tangent if I want to.)

But I just wanted to put this out there. More thoughts later.

Remembering Howard Zinn

My memories of Howard Zinn are that of one of the few historians/writers/thinkers who cared to fill in the gaps that media and collective memory left to tell a complete story. Not only does he share the truth, his versions of things make a lot more sense.

Here is what he has to say about Palestine:

It did not occur to me–so little did I know about the Middle East–that the establishment of a Jewish state meant the dispossession of the Arab majority that lived on that land. I was as ignorant of that as, when in school, I was shown a classroom map of American “Western Expansion” and assumed the white settlers were moving into empty territory. In neither case did I grasp that the advance of “civilization” involved what we would today call “ethnic cleansing.”….It was only after the “Six-Day War” of 1967 and Israel’s occupation of territories seized in that war (the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the Sinai peninsula) that I began to see Israel not simply as a beleaguered little nation surrounded by hostile Arab states, but as an expansionist power….I had long since understood that the phrases “national security” and “national defense” were used by the United States government to justify aggressive violence against other countries. Indeed, there was a clear bond between Israel and the United States in their respective foreign polices, illustrated by the military and economic support the United States was giving to Israel…

I know that many people innocently think this way. This is not ignorance, it is innocence: if many of these people knew that Israel was not a religious homeland but an expansionist, colonizing, genocidal enterprise, their opinions and conscience would completely reverse. Certainly, there are those who are malicious and racist, but I think, as activists for Palestine, much of our perception of the conflict is bimodal: those who side with evil Zionists versus those who side with victimized Palestinians. This is ironic because our greatest strength is in this third sector of those who have not yet been educated. Instead of strategizing against the enemy, perhaps it is time to mobilize our forces by reaching out, educating, enlightening, and strengthening. Afterall, Howard Zinn (a writer for Tikkun magazine and founder of Jewish Voice for Peace) was once one of these people.

Rest in peace, Howard. I’m kicking myself for not seeing you speak at NYU (although Ali Abuminah was not too shabby.)

Musings: Food For Thought

I’m currently taking a Community Empowerment class where we are reading “Rules For Radicals.” I curled up all day last Sunday and read the entire book cover to cover. In short, I ate up every word, and obviously thought about Palestine at every turn of phrase. Here are a few things I want to throw out into the blogosphere to jostle minds and light revolutionary matches:

1.) Silence is an essential tool of the system. If you are to change the system, you must communicate. Communication involves staying true to yourself, understanding others’ experiences, and forming alliances.

2.) In order to achieve a particular (good) ends, the means or reasoning will not be good; it must be crafted in such a way to cater to self interest of a certain party in power. Once achieved, this ends will be revered as motivated by benevolence.

3.)We must work within the system as much as we can. Once we decide to change the policy, we must reach out to as many as we can.

Please, this is our call to action. Blog, talk about it, go to talks, network, tweet, facebook, seek alternative media, feast on the truth. If slaves in the French Antilles could gain their emancipation with ships from France as their only communication and rare literacy, we have no excuse to not end Apartheid.

Conversations with Cairo’s Citizens

Yesterday I attended a talk back at Judson Church from four people (including Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abuminah) about Gaza in relation to the freedom march and the state of affairs. While all the speakers were wonderful (particularly Jenna, an 18 year old high school age girl with stories about cajoling Egyptian police in Cairo), what struck me most was a conversation I had with an Egyptian acquaintance of mine who happened to be there.

Photo by Elaine Pasquini

When I learned that he was in Cairo just this winter break (as a citizen, not a GFM demonstrator), I asked him about the dialogue on the streets surrounding the demonstrations, what general public opinion was, and how that affected life in Cairo. His response was shocking to me; not only did the Egyptian media refused to report the march (just like the American media), but most Egyptians were more concerned with the swine flu than the en masse protests that were occurring in their capital city. The Egyptians fell for their media, which ultimately is controlled by the White House; they believed not only their media’s discrepancies, but their media’s lies (“these people are trying to get cars into Gaza”).

I found this appalling. It is one thing to hate the American, flawed, Zionist motivated mass media, but I cannot believe that this degree of censorship can happen when these policy decisions are happening on the ground, in the capital city. Once again, it made me realize how flawed the media is, how important the blogosphere is, and how possibly with a little netroots activism we can dig for the truth a little bit harder.

Stolen Beauty

Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company, operates in two illegal Israeli settlements, thus stealing resources that are rightfully Palestinian. This is illegal by international law; the Fourth Geneva Convention negates the legality of settlements (no occupying power can transfer its citizens to occupied land) nor can they exploit the resources of the occupied land. Also, 44% of Ahava’s stock is owned by these settlements, meaning any Ahava sale is a direct financial profit for settlements.

This campaign has been victorious. Oxfam has ended a relationship with Ahava spokeswoman Kristin Davis and received a promise from Costco that it will no longer restock Ahava products. Mobilizing is not a vain activist effort that stops at your conscience, but a powerful and peaceful tool for changing mindsets and ultimately destabilizing an unjust operation.

Thanks to US Campaign to End the Occupation of Israel for putting together a Stolen Beauty Action kit!

Pep Talk: Get Active

Mohammad Othman and Jamal Juma have been released from imprisonment! This is wonderful news and a clear message to all activists that grassroots activism is necessary to focus, mobilize, and destabilize an occupation that the government is focussed on promoting. Now more than ever it is necessary to learn who invests in Israel to learn who needs to divest from Israel, boycott products, and bring Israel and Palestine on an equal level to make a just and equal peace.

Actions:

Campus Divestment Handbook from US Campaign

Congressional Mobilization Guidelines

“Jailed for an Idea” Cartoon

Ethan Heitner of Adalah NY makes these cartoons. In light of my recent post on political prisoners, and the desire to provide a fleshed out account of what is going on with political prisoners, I just wanted to repost it here:

Avatar: The Missing Truth in Mainstream Media

This is a very interesting article on Avatar and the wars in Gaza, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Though as a cynic I’m wary of religious material, I love how this piece muses about Avatar’s timing and place as a teaching mechanism about the horrors and moral wrongs of warfare. Sure, Avatar has been criticized as a hypocritical multi billion-dollar enterprise condemning capitalism, but I am thrilled that artists with the right idea such as James Cameron hold the reigns in the industry.

Pop culture is how politics becomes a human (or Na’vi) character as opposed to a barely skimmed headline. It was not safe sex education, but lovable, human, HIV positive characters in shows like Life Goes On and Rent that warn and educate people en masse about AIDS. In this way, I think Avatar is a giant leap both for digital film and social consciousness. The more people publicize these crucial links between Avatar’s conflicts and world conflicts, the more people, especially young people, will see that the bulldozer running over the Tree of Souls is happening live in Palestine and that ethnically different people around the world are oppressed and terrorized by capitalist interests.

Perhaps then they’ll vote against it. Perhaps they’ll vote to divest from it. These are big ideas now, but I honestly think that James Cameron’s Avatar is the mass media recognition of the truth of resource wars that has been missing in mainstream American media for the better half of the decade.