The Wall. The symbol of Apartheid in Palestine. I always believed it must fall. I thought of a million ways to bring it down. A bulldozer, and excavator, bombs, earthquakes... a million other ways.
Aparently, all it has ever needed is a handful of committed individuals. Now that's easy to find, isn't it?
The Palestinian cause is currently succeeding in mobilising international grassroots support around the world. It would have previously been unthinkable to, for example, see people in America standing up so courageously against a War criminal like Olmert. Now this is becoming a growing trend. The British UCU has time and again discussed the boycot of Israeli institutions. So has many other European, American, Canadian institutions. The Trade Unions movement is also leading BDS effort around the world and this is leaving an echo.
The Goldstone Report has also marked an important milestone in this process. Israeli officials are increasingly becomming concerned that this report will discourage soldiers from participating in military operations because of the ensuing criminal responsibiltiy and the potential legal implications around the world. already, Barak and Ya'alon had to worry about the prospects of beign arrested in the UK if not for their diplomatic immunity as official state visitors.
What I see today is the core of an international campaign that will grow in the coming years to sufficient strength to be able to push for a real and just change in international policy towards Israel. The increased isolation of Israel will force it to review its policy and the way it deals with the conflict. It will make it understand that its policies cannot be sustainable. It will happen, it happened before in South Africa, it will happen again here.
Jerusalem… There is not a single Palestinian who can imagine or think of Palestine without Jerusalem. I have more reasons than one to think the same.
The Israelis on the other hand say that Jerusalem is Jewish, has always been and will always be. Of course an idiot can identify the fallacy in that argument. In the first place, a city can never belong to a people in the manner these people are claiming. Second, Jerusalem has been there long before David ever made it the capital of his kingdom, and since its establishment, its people have always lived there. They lived through the rise and fall of the Jewish Kingdoms, they lived through out the Romans, and the brief return of the Jews, and the subsequent Roman victory. They lived there through the Arab Caliphate, the crusades, the return of the Arabs and the Ottomans. They lived there through the British and Israeli occupations, and as they did previous conquerors, they will outlive the current ones.
Most importantly though, if the city so rightly belonged to the Jews, why do we see a vicious campaign to erect the Arabs? After all, if that claim was right, were did these Arabs come from?
Israel is clearly trying to change the whole face of Jerusalem, making it more Jewish than it has ever been. In the process, thousands of Arabs are losing their right to live in the city they called home, long before Israel was born. Their homes are being destroyed, and their families are split apart.
In Ma’amanillah, a commercial centre just outside Jaffa gate, I saw whole buildings which have been brought from elsewhere in Palestine and rebuilt as shops, malls and pubs. I thought how would the person who owned that house feel to see it moved from where he had built it, and used by someone else without him being consulted.
Yesterday, as I walked through the city, I noticed the Mezuzah at Jaffa Gate. As if, that gate was a gate to a Jewish home. I used to play around those gates, long before all those who touched it and kissed their hands came to this land. And now, I have to climb up and down the mountains to get there, while they can pass through the gate, and kiss their Mezuzah whenever they like.
In any case, her smile inside the old walls, where more than enough to deserve the climb to city.
This week was eventful. Israel launched its Farsi radio, beginning its broadcast with Nairuz greeting by president Peres, who urged the Iranian people 'to reclaim their place among enlightened nations'. It must be a twisted definition of enlightened that he refers to. Forget the masccares he orchestrated and led in his career, for on the same day we were destined to learn of a new fiasco with Israeli army recruits at its centres. It appears that these young, brainwashed boys tend to celebrate their murderous career by printing T-shirts with slogans and cartoons that illustrate their exprience in the army. The picture on the left (courtesy of Maan News), an example, portrays a young Palestinian boy in the target range of a sniper shot, with the words "the smaller, the harder". Not much further can be said about this.
Today, was the launch day of "Jerusalem, Capital of Arab Culture" a year long of cultural events focused around the city and its contribution to Arab culture, a contribution that cannot be denied even by the most stubborn of Zionists. The 'enlightened' State of Israel waged a war against the events of launch spreading thousands of its police and border guards around the city, detaining organisers, invading monasteries, schools, universities and cultural centres in their attempt to stop the events.
It is ironic that a country that claims to be a light unto the nations would use such barbaric force to put an end to cultural celebrations of this kind.
The world cheered the decision by the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant of arrest for Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with the ongoing conflict in Darfur. The warrant lists 7 criminal counts based on the Rome Statute. These are:
1. Murder (Article 7(1)(a));
2. Extermination (Article 7(1)(b));
3. Forcible Transfer (Article 7(1)(d));
4. Torture (Article 7(1)(f));
5. Rape (Article 7(1)(g));
6. Directing attacks against civilians (Article 8(2)(e)(i)); and,
7. Pillaging (Article 8(2)(e)(v)).
I always believed that what the Sudanese government and its sponsored militias were doing in Sudan is a crime against the people of Darfur. I always felt for those unfortunate civilians who were attacked, and whose homes were destroyed, villages torched down, women raped.
One of the argument Zionists and supporters always used to suppress any case or argument against Israel, was the referral to the human rights situation in Sudan, asking the rhetorical question “why is Israel always blamed while other countries can do as they wish?”
Well, I guess the ICCs decision clears the way in response to this question. So The Court’s decision to issue a warrant for the arrest of a president while in office, is a precedent. The Court, however, believes that the Rome Statute does not provide any exemption or immunity based on official capacity.
So, maybe now the Court can turn its eye to another part of the Middle East where clear violations of the Rome Statute have been committed. Israeli leaders current and past can be tried for a hell more crimes than those seven. I will try here to list my counts:
1. Article 7/1/a- Murder: There are numerous cases of murder committed by the Israeli army. The consecutive chiefs of staff, ministers of defence, and prime ministers are liable for prosecution under this article based on their direct and indirect responsibility of coordinating, designing, leading and promoting the events that led to such cases, as well as their hierarchical control of the “apparatus” of the State of Israel that implemented this crime.
2. Article 7/1/b Extermination: (as per 7/2/b) “the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.” The responsibility of Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barack and the Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, in particular for the siege of Gaza and the prevention of urgently needed medical supplies, food and electricity which lead to over 300 deaths among Palestinians requiring medical attention.
3. Article 7/1/d Deportation or forcible transfer of population: Several cases of this crime have been committed and documented. The most notable of which are the two massive waves of transfer of population in 1948 and 1967. Currently, the Israeli Government is not fulfilling its obligations to stop the Settlers Militia from enforcing such transfers. The village of Yanoun in the centre of the West Bank is one example of forced transfer. Tana village, with supreme court support is due for demolition by the State of Israel.
4. Article 7/1/e Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law: There are over 10,000 prisoners in Israeli Prisons. Many of them sit there on Administrative Detention which is renewed endlessly. Many others are serving absurdly high sentences reaching for some over 1200 years (yes, one thousand two hundred years).
5. Article 7/1/f Torture: Israeli Supreme Court (of Justice?) has made several rulings allowing the Shin Bet to exercise torture against Palestinian prisoners. The Shin Bet is the Government’s National Security Agency, it falls under the authority of the Prime Minister
6. Article 7/1/h Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.
7. Article 7/1/j The crime of apartheid: (As per 7/2/h) ‘The crime of apartheid’ means inhumane acts of a character similar to those [mentioned above], committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.
8. Article 7/1/k Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
9. Article 8/2/a/i Wilful Killing. Several documented cases of wilful killing can be raised under this article. Many of those gained international fame such as the case of the assassination of Salah Shehada.
10. Article 8/2/a/ii Torture and Inhumane treatment. Several documented cases most notably the actions of Israeli army on roadblocks across the West Bank.
11. Article 8/2/a/iii Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
12. Article 8/2/a/ iv Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. Many such cases exist. In the early fifties Israel transferred the ownership of millions of dunnums of land to the KKL/JNF. These lands were owned by Palestinian refugees, by the transfer Israel ensured that these lands will only be used by Jews as KKL regulations forbid selling property to non-Jews.
13. Article 8/2/a/vi Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
14. Article 8/2/a/vii Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
15. Article 8/2/b/i Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
16. Article 8/2/b/i Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;
17. Article 8/2/b/iii Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
18. Article 8/2/b/iv Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated;
19. Article 8/2/b/v Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives;
20. Article 8/2/b/viii The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory;
21. Article 8/2/b/ix Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
22. Article 8/2/b/xvi Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
23. Article 8/2/b/xix Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions;
24. Article 8/2/b/xx Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of the international law of armed conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to this Statute, by an amendment in accordance with the relevant provisions set forth in articles 121 and 123;
25. Article 8/2/b/xxi Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
26. Article 8/2/b/xxiii Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations;
27. Article 8/2/b/xxiv Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law;
28. Article 8/2/b/xxv Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions;
So Twenty eight counts. Of course these have been committed by various Israeli politicians since the establishment of the state, but I am sure current politicians have a criminal responsibility over many of these. The only problem we have is that no one will file a case on behalf of the Palestinians. The double standards that plague international organisations will necessarily mean that the ICC prosecutor will not file a case on his own as he did in the case of AlBashir.
I am sure with some research all of these crimes can be documented and presented as a complete case. Maybe, just maybe, at one point we would be able to launch such a suit.
Palestinian nationalism might be recent phenomenon, But so is Jewish nationalism. Despite finding its roots the 3000 year old history of the Jews, this form of nationalism only started as a real movement in the late 1800. It wasn't this history that made the Jews a single nation, Jews around the world never identified with Zionism. That's why the state had to carry out its aliyah programmes to bring in Jews from Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and elsewhere (ah! BTW this is not a miracle from G-d, it is the result of Mossad work and a lot of money). These groups may now have this sense of Israeli patriotism but it wasn't there 60 years ago.
The root of the story is not if Palestinian nationalism existed or not before 1967 (and it did because traces of an independent Palestinian national movement can be traced as far back as mid 1800's- read Baruch Kimmerling and Yoel Migdal, "The Palestinians").
The root of the conflict is not in religion either. You believe that G-d gave the land to Israel. I don't believe that. So what makes your belief an argument in a conflict like this one? you can use your belief to justify to yourself what you are doing. But to the whole world it doesn't make sense because the world doesn't believe in a God that gives away land like a feudal lord.
The essence of the problem is that when Israel was established, hundreds of thousands of people lost their possessions, livelihoods, and lives. These people are scattered around the world, just like the Jews were in their diaspora. And these people have one objective, to go back to their homes.
Now please spare me the arguments of War and attacks by Arabs. As Palestinians we are not responsible for the failure of incompetent Arab armies who were (ALL of them) under British leadership. These armies were there to fake a war not to fight one. They have even facilitated the Israeli war effort.
Israel may have created a flourishing economy. An economic miracle i would say (but not a divine one). But if you examine closely how this happened you will find out that if you take over 3 million dunums of land, and transfer their ownership to one entity (KKL), and bring hundreds of thousands of low skilled workers to till them, then it is easy to create wealth.
In fact the reason that made Israel so rich is the same reason that made the Palestinians so poor. You cannot steal all they own and claim that they are not helping themselves. You can't steal all they own and boast about your ability to make the desert bloom.
The Palestinians want to go back to their homes and live peacefully. They don't have anything to do with All the gods of the world and all their promises.
In response to quoting Psalm 137 in my previous post, I got this reply.
Our ancestors composed this tearful lament over 2500 years ago. Exiled from their beloved land, they sat down and mourned by the rivers of Babylon.
The Jewish people never forgot Jerusalem. 3 times a day, we pray in the direction of Jerusalem and ask G-d that "our eyes may behold in mercy Your return to Zion". For 2000 years, 3 times a day without fail, we looked towards Jerusalem and prayed for its rebuilding. We observe 4 fasts anually over the destruction of Jerusalem, culminating in the fast of the 9th of Av, the most tragic day i nthe Jewish calendar, when both Temples were destroyed. At the end of every Yom Kippur fast and Passover seder, we declare: "Next Year in Jerusalem!"
Jerusalem is mentioned 700 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is never mentioned in the Qur'an. Muslims pray towards Mecca, with their backs to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was never the capital of any Muslim nation. The only times Jerusalem was a capital was when Jews ruled Israel: during the Davidic kingdom, the Hasmonean dynasty and in the modern state of Israel.
G-d has returned Jerusalem to us after 2000 years of longing, mourning, hoping and praying. Never will we be distanced from her again.
