Martine, I didn't realise you'd sent this to this list as well.
Batty-Wally and her various incarnations, monitors this list, (like the
JC), hence why she/he/it wrote to you. The best way to ignore her/him/it
is not to bother posting her/his/its trash to this list in the first
place. She/he/it sent me a different email altogether which has gone
unread into my trash.

These people have nothing better to do; much like Plonkard and 'It ain't
half Hoffman'......

Debbie

--- In JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com, richard kuper <richard@...> wrote:
  >
  > ignore.
  >
  > 2009/11/23 Martine Miel <m.miel@...>

  > > just received this in response to the email i circulated about the
group
  > > that were denied entry at Ben Gurion - so Batsheva Waley
al-Mutawakil is a
  > > reincarnation of the infamous charles edgbaston, right?? respond or
  > > ignore...?
  > > martine
  > >
  > > ----- Forwarded Message ----
  > > From: batshevawm <batshevawm@... <batshevawm%40yahoo.com>>
  > > To: Martine Miel <m.miel@... <m.miel%40btopenworld.com>>
  > > Sent: Monday, 23 November, 2009 22:48:59
  > > Subject: Security threats to Israel from the UK
  > >
  > > You will be interested to know that we have ascertained with the
Israeli
  > > authorities that the group tour leader from the UK of Muslim
background was
  > > a security threat to Israel.
  > >
  > > He is also denied entry into several other countries including Egypt.
  > >
  > > We are working closely with the Israeli authorities to boycott the
  > > Palestinian war criminals identified in the recent Goldstone
Report. All
  > > their goods and services are subject to a world-wide boycott at the
present
  > > time.
  > >
  > > Yours faithfully,
  > >
  > > Batsheva Waley al-Mutawakil, B.LL, Ph.D (International Law)
  > > Director of Communications
  > > Boycott of Palestinian Goods and Services (BPGS)
  > >
  > > and
  > >
  > > Executive Vice-President
  > > Coalition Against Palestinian War Crimes
  > > London/Geneva

ignore.

2009/11/23 Martine Miel <m.miel@...>

>
>
> just received this in response to the email i circulated about the group
> that were denied entry at Ben Gurion - so Batsheva Waley al-Mutawakil is a
> reincarnation of the infamous charles edgbaston, right?? respond or
> ignore...?
> martine
>
> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> From: batshevawm <batshevawm@... <batshevawm%40yahoo.com>>
> To: Martine Miel <m.miel@... <m.miel%40btopenworld.com>>
> Sent: Monday, 23 November, 2009 22:48:59
> Subject: Security threats to Israel from the UK
>
> You will be interested to know that we have ascertained with the Israeli
> authorities that the group tour leader from the UK of Muslim background was
> a security threat to Israel.
>
> He is also denied entry into several other countries including Egypt.
>
> We are working closely with the Israeli authorities to boycott the
> Palestinian war criminals identified in the recent Goldstone Report. All
> their goods and services are subject to a world-wide boycott at the present
> time.
>
> Yours faithfully,
>
> Batsheva Waley al-Mutawakil, B.LL, Ph.D (International Law)
> Director of Communications
> Boycott of Palestinian Goods and Services (BPGS)
>
> and
>
> Executive Vice-President
> Coalition Against Palestinian War Crimes
> London/Geneva
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

just received this in response to the email i circulated about the group that
were denied entry at Ben Gurion - so Batsheva Waley al-Mutawakil is a
reincarnation of the infamous charles edgbaston, right?? respond or ignore...?
martine



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: batshevawm <batshevawm@...>
To: Martine Miel <m.miel@...>
Sent: Monday, 23 November, 2009 22:48:59
Subject: Security threats to Israel from the UK



You will be interested to know that we have ascertained with the Israeli
authorities that the group tour leader from the UK of Muslim background was a
security threat to Israel.

He is also denied entry into several other countries including Egypt.

We are working closely with the Israeli authorities to boycott the Palestinian
war criminals identified in the recent Goldstone Report. All their goods and
services are subject to a world-wide boycott at the present time.

   Yours faithfully,


    Batsheva Waley al-Mutawakil, B.LL, Ph.D (International Law)
    Director of Communications
    Boycott of Palestinian Goods and Services (BPGS)

     and

    Executive Vice-President
    Coalition Against Palestinian War Crimes
    London/Geneva

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

________________________________

From: JfJfP@... [mailto:JfJfP@...]
Sent: 23 November 2009 19:33
To: JfJfP@...
Subject: please sign this open letter to Gordon Brown re the Goldstone report


Dear JfJfP signatory,



Below you will find the text of an open letter to Gordon Brown about the
Goldstone Report which we urge you to sign.



We are placing it in the Times on Tuesday 1st December and ask you, if you can
afford it, to contribute £25 or more to this end; and if you can't run to that,
contribute whatever you can. And if you can't contribute anything, please don't
be put off. Sign anyway.



This is not solely a JfJfP initiative - we've worked with IJV on it - and we are
hoping it will appear as supported by a number of Jewish groups as well as by
all the individual signatories we can muster.



Ask your Jewish friends and relatives who might be sympathetic to add their
names as well. If you would like us to approach them, on your behalf or
anonymously, please let us have their contact details.



Please reply by email to jfjfp@... (simply press reply) with

a) the names of those who would like to participate; and

b) the amount of money we can expect to receive from you



The deadline for adding names is noon on Sunday 29th November but as soon as
possible would assist us greatly.



We'd also appreciate payment as soon as possible, though not necessarily by the
deadline, by cheque or bank transfer.

Cheques payable to JfJfP and sent to: JfJfP, P O Box 46081, London W9 2ZF.

Bank transfer to sortcode 40-04-15, account 81517279 (account name Jews for
Justice for Palestinians) - if this method is used, please quote your surname
and initial, and let us know the amount and date by email so we can ensure the
transaction is processed correctly.



Thank you,

Richard Kuper

pp. JfJfP Executive





Open letter text



OPEN LETTER TO GORDON BROWN ON THE GOLDSTONE REPORT:

BRITISH JEWS DO NOT SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE



Dear Prime Minister,



We appreciate your Government's stated intention to build bridges with the
Jewish community in the light of responses to the Goldstone report. To achieve
this, it is vital for you to recognise that British Jews do not speak with one
voice on this matter.



We welcome the Goldstone Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza conflict as a key
document in the upholding of international law in situations of violent
conflict, and regret your Government's failure to endorse the Report and its
recommendations at the United Nations General Assembly.



We condemn the vilification of Richard Goldstone, an internationally acclaimed
jurist who has made a substantial contribution worldwide to the development and
maintenance of international humanitarian law, and his distinguished co-authors.



We note that the preparation of the Report was severely hampered by the refusal
of the Israeli authorities to respond to reasonable enquiries or to facilitate
access by the mission to Gaza or the West Bank and that it was only Egypt's
assistance which eventually allowed the Mission to gain access to Gaza. We
further note that the Report unequivocally condemns not just Israel's
devastation of Gaza but also Hamas's indiscriminate rocket attacks against
Israeli neighbourhoods and does not in any way deny Israel its right to
legitimate self-defence. We fully support its recommendation that both parties
conduct full investigations into the allegations of war crimes in the Report.



We believe Israel cannot afford, nor should it wish, to exempt itself from the
scrutiny of the international community on these matters. We consider that it is
the attempt to do so, rather than the Goldstone Report, that is damaging Israel.
We therefore urge you to endorse the Report at the next available opportunity.




Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications
disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jerusalem Syndrome


Akiva Eldar
Haaretz
November 23, 2009 - 12:00am
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1130000.html

Sometimes tourists show up at Jerusalem's mental health centers, convinced
that a voice from the heavens told them they were the messiah. The illness,
commonly known as Jerusalem Syndrome, usually passes once they have left the
city. However, Israelis, mostly public figures, have been afflicted with
this syndrome for the past 42 years, affecting their ability to distinguish
between reality and fantasy. Jerusalem has become the Disneyland of the
Jewish people.

For many of those affected by this disturbing disease, it extends beyond
Jerusalem. It begins with the transformation of an Arab village in the
middle of the West Bank into a "Jerusalem neighborhood," and ends with the
description of occupied territory in the heart of the West Bank, like Ariel,
as "a settlement bloc." First we shape a new reality for ourselves; then we
expect the entire world to adopt it, demand that our neighbors pay the cost,
and complain that we have no partner for peace.

What could they possibly want from us? That was the combined reaction of the
president, the mayor, the cabinet ministers and the head of the opposition.
After all, they said, Gilo is at the heart of the Israeli consensus. What
does that consensus mean? Reminder: In June 1967 Israel annexed to Jerusalem
some 70 square kilometers of West Bank territory, including 28 Palestinian
municipalities and villages that were never considered part of the city.
When Jordan controlled Jerusalem, it was six square kilometers, including
the Old City, whose territory is no more than a single square kilometer.

  Since 1967, some 30 percent of East Jerusalem land has been appropriated
for the construction of new neighborhoods for some 200,000 Israelis. Indeed,
there is consensus among Israelis that in a peace agreement that would
include exchange of territory, Gilo would remain under Israeli sovereignty.
But not in a unilateral step that would not be recognized by any other
country. Around the world, there is wall-to-wall agreement that East
Jerusalem is at best disputed territory; in the Arab world, the consensus is
that it is occupied territory.

The situation in the city since 1967 has perpetuated the deep chasm that
divides its two parts and the two peoples living in it, and separates the
empty slogans from the reality on the ground. Thus, for example, Jerusalem
Mayor Nir Barkat complained loudly about the Obama administration, which he
claimed discriminates between the residents of the city "on the basis of
religion and ethnicity." It is hard to imagine that Barkat is not aware that
by law, only Israeli citizens, or those entitled to citizenship on the basis
of the Law of Return, are entitled to purchase a plot of what is considered
state land. Since the Palestinians in East Jerusalem are city residents but
almost none are citizens of the country, they are not entitled to purchase
plots in a third of the lands that have been expropriated from them in order
to set up Israeli neighborhoods/settlements. The result: The residential
density in Arab neighborhoods is nearly double that in Jewish neighborhoods
(11.9 square meters per person compared to 23.8 square meters per person).

In a democratic society like the one in Israel, it is understood that the
unification of the two parts of the city carries with it equality for all
its residents. But in actuality, nearly half the Palestinian students in
East Jerusalem do not study in the municipal education system; some 9,000 of
them do not appear on the records of the city's education authorities, and
it is not known whether they receive any form of education. The Education
Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality have promised the Supreme Court that
they will build at least 645 classrooms in East Jerusalem to start making up
for the shortfall; more than 1,350 classrooms are needed. In practice, less
than 100 new classrooms have been built. To this day, filth, neglect and
unpaved roads clearly mark the border between the two peoples living in the
city.

Shimon Peres traveled to Egypt yesterday. For months Peres has advocated, in
Israel and abroad, a plan for a temporary Palestinian state and the
postponement of the debate over Jerusalem to better days. The consistent
Palestinian opposition to this idea does not appear to affect him. According
to our peace-loving president, since Jerusalem is at the core of Israeli
consensus, the Arabs must not only adjust their own consensus regarding
Jerusalem but also agree that in the meantime, until we agree to allow the
issue to be brought to the negotiating table, we should continue to behave
in East Jerusalem as though it is ours, and only ours.

Israeli conduct in Jerusalem, and the side effects that emerged as a result
of the criticism of the construction plans in Gilo, suggest that Jerusalem
Syndrome has now afflicted all of society. We can only hope that it is not
an incurable disease.

Please circulate widely!



Call for Support



The One Democratic
State Group -Gaza

"The One Democratic State Group is committed to
the struggle for Palestinian rights. These rights will never be realized
outside the framework of a unitary state with equality for all its citizens. For
too long this aim has been a vision. It is time to make it happen, and
the ODSG is at the forefront of that effort. They deserve our full
support."~ Ghada Karmi

In this time of despair and ever-growing violence that threatens to destroy the
Palestinian people, it is most refreshing to hear about a humanist and genuine
initiative to find a just solution for the Palestine question. It is most
amazing that it grew on the killing fields of Gaza, which bore the brunt of the
Israeli criminal policies.  It carries with it a hope that despite the
various Nakbas the Palestinian people have gone through, there is still a valid
possibility for Jews and Palestinians to share the land on the basis of equal
and human rights. This is the only way forward and it is in particular the
people of Gaza who can show us the way forward.~ Ilan Pape

"At a moment when ever more people are recognizing the
futility at again attempting to partition Palestine/Israel, and the failure of
the 'two-state solution,' there is an urgent need for a new vision to bring
about decolonization, equality and justice. The One Democratic State Group is
at the forefront of thinking, advocacy and action to bring about such a new
vision from within Palestine. Their important and courageous work inspires real
hope and deserves all our support."~ Ali
Abunimah

Please circulate widely

The ODSG, One Democratic
State Group, is a Palestinian non-violent popular resistance group based in
Gaza. We are Palestinian
activists, from various backgrounds, who have come together to further peace
with justice in the Middle East. We believe
that the One State Solution is the only viable option that guarantees
comprehensive peace in the Middle East. We
believe that justice and peace can be achieved in the context of a single
Democratic State that would include and benefit equally all current residents
of historic Palestine--after the return of Palestinian refugees--irrespective
of race, ethnicity or religion. We pledge to work actively towards this end.

We are also active in the
Palestine-initiated campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against
Israel.
These measures, similar to those applied to South Africa during the apartheid
era, are necessary to bring
an end to Israel's genocidal
policies towards Palestinians both within Israel
and throughout the Occupied Territories. We believe
that these non-violent measures should be maintained until Apartheid Israel
recognizes the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and
the establishment of a democratic state on Mandatory Palestine; a state for all
of its citizens.

As we are not an NGO, all our
funding comes from our own pockets. As our movement is now rapidly growing it
is becoming more difficult to financially sustain our projects and hire greatly
needed staff. Due to lack of funds we have been forced to freeze some of our
projects.

Our current projects include
the following:

1.      Organizing for the Gaza Freedom March (31 December 2009). We are
represented on the March Steering Committee.
2.      Collecting video testimonies of refugees
who survived the 1948 Nakba for an oral history project that will be posted at
Palestine Remembered.
3.      Working on the "Right to Read"
Campaign in partnership with the Free Gaza Movement. Challenging the siege by
shipping books by sea for Gaza
university students.
4.      Producing a documentary, Forbidden Dreams, and
copying thousands of a Palestinian-South African CD, Amandla Intifada.
5.      The  promotion of the one state solution and the boycott,
divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli Apartheid by:
Ÿ         Networking
to strengthen connections among people and groups in Gaza and with solidarity
activists around the
world.
Ÿ         Running
BDS workshops across the Gaza Strip.
Ÿ         Organizing
video conferences with activists, intellectuals and students based in the Arab
World, Canada, Europe, South Africa, and the US.
Ÿ         Conducting
media advocacy and writing articles in Arabic and English.

In order to keep ODSG
productively running, we are in need of your generous support and donations. We
invite you to visit our website, http://www.odsg.org/co/and join us in our work
toin an act of people to people solidarity, and anti-apartheid activism
for peace with justice.

You can make a donation via paypal through our website. If you are in the United
States
and would like to make a tax-deductible donation, contact us at
http://odsg.org/co/index.php/contact-us.html

onedemocraticstategroup@...

Through your help
we will be able to make our vision a
reality and thereby ensure that our children and grandchildren may live
together in more just and equal world.

The One Democratic State
Group
Gaza, Palestine





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I believe the football stadium is being partly funded by FIFA - a campaign
against the strictures should be taken up.Does anyone know anyone in the
football world?

Abe


Date: 19 November 2009
 
Time: 10:00 GMT

 Extensive Israeli Campaign Against Palestinian Civil Construction
Activities in Area C; New Demolition Orders Issued Against 60 Palestinian
Houses, Apartments and other Civilian Facilities in the West Bank

 Israeli Occupation Forces have escalated their systematic campaign against
Palestinian civilian construction activities in areas under their full
control according to the Oslo Accords signed by the government of Israel and
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993. Areas classified as
Areas C in the West Bank are currently subjected to extensive Israeli
campaigns aimed at undermining the Palestinian presence. Israel is also
expanding construction activities in settlements and the annexation of new
areas of Palestinian lands in Area C, including occupied East Jerusalem and
its surroundings. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly
condemns all these measures taken by Israel and stresses the legal status of
the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). PCHR calls upon the international
community to urgently and promptly take serious action to compel the
government of Israel, the occupying power, to put an end to all illegal
measures. The international community¹s inaction with respect to the
impunity granted to Israel encourages Israel to commit further violations of
International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.

 According to investigations conducted by PCHR, the Organization and
Construction Department of the Israeli Civil Administration issued 35 orders
to demolish or stop construction works in houses and other civilian
facilities in Areas C. In addition, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem
issued an order to demolish an apartment building of 25 flats in occupied
East Jerusalem. Approximately 275 individuals, including 180 children, live
in these houses and apartments. According to Palestinian sources, since the
beginning of 2009, Israel has issued approximately 2,300 demolition orders.

 Recently, Israel issued orders to demolish or stop construction works in
Palestinian houses or civilian establishment as follows:
On 8 November 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem issued a decision
to bulldoze an apartment building belonging to Sharhabil ŒAlqam in Tal
al-Foul quarter in Beit Hanina village, north of Jerusalem. ŒAlqam began
construction works in his apartment building in 2002 on an area of 500 m2.
The 7-storey building is composed of 25 residential apartments and was sold
to Palestinian families comprising more than 150 members.
On 12 October 2009, Israeli forces delivered notices to stop construction
works in 12 houses and in a bird farm in al-Salahat area in Roujib village,
east of Nablus.  Five of the threatened houses are resided by 33
individuals, including 22 children.
Also on 12 November 2009, Israeli forces delivered notices to 11 Palestinian
civilians to demolish or stop construction works in houses and
establishments in Um al-Kheir area to southeast of Yatta village, south of
Hebron.  The notices threaten 17 establishments, including residential
houses where 57 individuals, including 39 children, live. The majority of
the owners of the threatened establishments are members of the Bedouin
al-Hathalin tribe.  The owners of these establishments stated that notices
were delivered to demolish or stop construction works in establishments that
are between 50 and 300 meters to the north of the fence of ³Karme¹el²
settlement.
On 18 November 2009, Israeli forces delivered notices to demolish five
houses in ŒAzzoun village, east of Qalqilia.  The houses, home to 35
individuals, including 20 children, are located in the east of ŒAzzoun
village where the Israeli settlement of ³Ma¹ale Shamron² is being
established.
Israeli forces also delivered a notice to al-Bireh Municipality to stop
construction works in al-Bira Municipality¹s International Stadium under the
pretext of the lack of a building license. Sources from al-Bira Municipality
stated that the Israeli Civil Administration in ³Beit Eil² settlement
delivered a notice to the contractor to stop construction works in the
Stadium under the pretext of lacking a building license saying the project
is in Area C.

In light of the above, PCHR reiterates that:

First: according to International Humanitarian Law and numerous UN
Resolutions, the Palestinian West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and the
Gaza Strip are classified as occupied territory.

Second: the natural growth of the Palestinian families requires that these
families implement construction activities in order to meet their growing
living needs. Because of the complications of getting building licenses,
Palestinians are forced to carry out construction works above their houses
to meet their residential needs.

Third:  Settlement activities in OPT are illegal and constitute a war crime.
Israeli forces apply an apartheid system regarding construction works in
Palestinian villages on one hand and in Israeli settlements on the other.

PCHR strongly condemns Israel¹s recent measures and all settlement
activities and plans in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East
Jerusalem, and calls upon:
The High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill
their legal and moral obligations under Article 1 of the Convention to
ensure Israel's respect for the Convention in the OPT.  PCHR believes that
the conspiracy of silence practiced by the international community has
encouraged Israel to act as if it is above the law and to continue to
violate international human rights and humanitarian law, including continued
measures to create a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.
The international community to take urgent and prompt action in order to
compel the government of Israel to put an end to all settlement activities
in the OPT, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, and to dismantle Israeli
settlements, which constitute a war crime under International Humanitarian
Law.
The European Union/ EU member States to activate Article 2 of the
Euro-Israel Association Agreement, which provides that Israel must respect
human rights as a precondition for economic cooperation between the EU
States and Israel.  PCHR further calls upon the EU States to prohibit
importation of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the OPT.

 http://pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2009/119-2009.html

Israel razes Palestinian homes in Jerusalem
Published Wednesday 18/11/2009 (updated) 19/11/2009 15:06

Palestinians sit on a demolished house

Subject: Mohammad Othman Update

Today at Ofer prison, Mohammad's lawyer appealed Mohammad's continued
detention without charge, requesting he be released. While in
principal the military judge accepted the appeal, rejecting the
request for an extention of interrogation for another 72 hours, he
gave the prosecution until 6 pm on Monday to provide new evidence or
proceed with administrative detetnion. In practice this means that the
military has until tomorrow to decide if they want to push through
with placing Mohammad in administrative detention, somehting his
advocates and supporters have long feared. The military prosecution
has not provided new evidence through out the case, according to his
lawyer.

During the hearing Mohammad appeared in good spirits, bolstered by the
larger presence in the gallery which included reps from the German and
British consulates. He raised his fist on two occasions to send a
message of strength and resistance to those in the gallery.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

________________________________

From: humanrights-bounces+m.cushman=lse.ac.uk@...
[mailto:humanrights-bounces+m.cushman=lse.ac.uk@...] On Behalf Of
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Sent: 22 November 2009 11:56
To: Cushman,M
Cc: Human Rights Newsletter
Subject: [HumanRights] Um Salamuna and more


(Two actions at bottom)

Today over 150 Palestinians and internationals participated in an activity to
reclaim and plant olive trees on a threatened hill in an area called Um
Salamuna.  Um Salamuna already lost significant amount of its land to colonial
Jewish-only settlements like Efrata and Migdal Oz. The wall that includes the
settlements has not been completed in this area and is slated to zig-zag to
capture the hill we worked on to add it to the colonial settlement area that is
already stolen.  The village is one of over 20 villages and towns in the
Bethlehem area that lost land to these illegal colonial settlements.  In total
the Bethlehem district had already been shrunk to about 20% of its original
size.  This 20% is a concentration camp with few openings (that could be closed
at whim by the colonial occupiers) but 97% of its residents (including me) are
not even allowed into occupied Jerusalem (a mere five miles away).  On my way
out of the area, I stopped by to take some pictures (see
http://picasaweb.google.com/jchangcpa/UmmSalamunaTreePlanting?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqi\
4qLk6faskgE&feat=directlink# ) and talk with some of the occupation soldiers. 
Most would not talk to me.  A black (Ethiopian) soldier exchanged a few words
with me before his officer came and ordered me not to talk to him or other
soldiers (lest they get a glimpse of the war crimes they are engaged in!).  I
think these grass-root Palestinian activities are critical but they have to be
far better organized, planned, and managed.  There were no instructions and many
of the volunteers did not know what to do.  Representatives of the PA
(Palestinian authority who a friend jokes as standing Public Announcement) spent
much of their time talking to the media.  I urged them to speak to the people
assembled and to organize better/bigger activities and most importantly to
participate themselves (and their security staff) in planting and in clearing
the land of the rocks etc.

Many Palestinians want the PA to develop real influence instead of fictional
authority under occupation (and we are here talking about both the West Bank and
Gaza).  They have lots of resources at their disposal: most of all people they
could mobilize to organize and resist.  Our options are not really restricted to
endless useless negotiations or shooting home-made rockets.   It is time I
believe for many more activities like at Um Salamuna and far better organized
activities to build, grow, reclaim land, resist military orders, topple down
walls, and remove barricades (and those are just few examples of hundreds of
actions that could be done). It is time to real change in Palestine.  People are
ready for it.  They are just looking for direction, for real heroic leadership,
a leadership of actions not words, a leadership of substance not image, of rough
calloused hands not suits.  Many people I talk to here say that if the West Bank
Authority under Fatah and the Gaza Authority under Hamas will not or cannot
provide this kind of leadership then others should step forward.  The inability
of Hamas and Fatah to even agree on a modality of pluralistic representation
under occupation or to even lay out a clear program to achieve what they all say
are Palestinian constants ("thawabet" including and especially rights of
refugees to return to their homes and lands), this suggests they are not
stepping up to the plate and the only other alternatives (leftist groups) are
also divided and bickering. Could this period be similar to the period of
1933-1935 when a similar situation occurred and then came the general strike and
revolution of 1936-1939 to change the political landscape or maybe 1983-1986?
Perhaps those of us of all political factions and backgrounds, independents, and
all humans with a living conscience who see the injustice should start
mobilizing and working more. æáÇ íÛíÑ Çááå ãÇ ÈÞæã ÍÊì íÛíÑæÇ ãÇ ÈÃäÝÓåã

Walls & Water: Ripple Effects of the Occupation by Flora Fair
The West Bank town of Bethlehem begins to cool at dusk, and the streets surge
with people enjoying the mild evening air. Down the hill from Manger Street, the
city’s main drag, a small crowd lingers in the fading sunlight outside the
Bethlehem Hotel — a popular spot for Western tourists. Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, a
biologist and professor at Bethlehem University, leaves the hotel after giving a
lecture about the Israeli occupation. Qumsiyeh drives through the hillsides of
Bethlehem into the neighboring village of Beit Sahour. As American ‘80s music
plays on the car radio, he points to different areas and explains them: a new
Israeli settlement, an Arab village without any sign indicating its location, a
road used only by Palestinians, another meant only for Israelis…. More at
http://www.findingcanaan.com/home/2009/10/12/walls-water-ripple-effects-of-the-o\
ccupation/
Please give an example (even hypothetical) of using a combination of three
things from those three chapters to study a particular genetic condition:
Chapter 18 On Genetic testing in individuals and populations: Chapter 19 On
functional genomics; and Chapter 20 on Genetic manipulation

B'Tselem: Wastewater from settlements pollutes Palestinain town of Salfit
http://www.btselem.org/english/Video/20090111_Ariel_Sewage_in_Salfit.asp
Bantustans and the unilateral declaration of statehood by Virginia Tilley
"The irony is indeed that, through this maneuver, the PA is seizing -- even
declaring as a right -- precisely the same dead-end formula that the African
National Congress (ANC) fought so bitterly for decades because the ANC
leadership rightly saw it as disastrous. That formula can be summed up in one
word: Bantustan."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/opeds.shtml

Action 1: [This is one of hundreds of thousands of properties "grabbed" by the
logic of mmight=right; the continuing ethnic cleansing to create the racist
ideological state] Why is Israel laying claim to an Arab home in Jaffa?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1129744.html
Write to the Israeli company at company@... and
yaacov.brosh@...

Action 2: Build an email list of politicians, media people, and average people
in your area and send them regular issues and statements about the continuing
racism and ethnic cleansing. Participate and spread the word to them and othesr
on the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (http://www.BDSmovement.net
<http://www.bdsmovement.net/> ). The more we expose the truth, the closer the
inevitable day of freedom will come and in doing so you would be saving human
lives and livelihoods. And you are always welcome to come visit us in Palestine.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org <http://www.qumsiyeh.org/>
http://www.pcr.ps <http://www.pcr.ps/>

Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications
disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm
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IAF strikes Gaza after Hamas declares end to rocket fire
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1129746.html

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Excellent analysis of the contrast between the grassroots movement and the
PA.
Abe


Palestine: the other schism

http://www.benwhite.org.uk/2009/11/22/palestine-the-other-schism/

Ben White - 22 November 2009

While the Western world was marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the
Berlin Wall, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank were taking matters into
their own hands, physically breaking through two sections of Israel¹s
Separation Wall in Ni¹lin and Qalandia. As this was happening Ramallah¹s
political elite was busy digesting and assessing the latest developments
with regard to Mahmoud Abbas¹ future, the official peace process, and
prospects for elections.

There could be few starker illustrations of the way in which the priorities,
methods and assumptions of the PA and PLO leadership diverge from, and are
being challenged by, growing grassroots activism in the Occupied Territories
and internationally.

One of the most notable developments on the ground in recent years has been
the emergence of community-based nonviolent resistance groups focused on
Israel¹s Separation Wall. Popular committees in various West Bank villages,
acting under the auspices of the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, have for
years been holding weekly demonstrations against the Wall. Places like
Bil¹in, Jayyous, Ni¹lin, Budrus, Aboud, al-Ma¹sara, and al-Khader have been
the testing ground for this kind of popular resistance, which in some ways
is a throwback to the methods employed in the first Intifada in the late
1980s. Local leaders have been targeted by the Israeli military for
harassment, violent assault and detention. Nineteen Palestinians have been
killed during these demonstrations.

In parallel, the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement was born and
has grown. Called for by a large cross-section of Palestinian civil society
in 2005, it has since been taken up by solidarity groups worldwide in a
variety of forms, while on the ground, a diverse coalition ­ including
political factions, trade unions, and activists ­ makes up the BDS National
Committee.

Neither the anti-Wall nor the BDS campaigns are PA or PLO initiatives.
Indeed, the relationship between these grassroots movements and the
leadership has sometimes been strained. In his address to the Fourth Bil¹in
International Conference on Non-Violent Resistance in April, local leader
Iyad Burnat pointedly, if diplomatically, urged the PA to work more closely
with and provide material support to the ³citizens¹ resistance².

But expectations are low on that front, and activists have been further
disappointed by the PA/PLO¹s failure to capitalise on the International
Court of Justice¹s advisory opinion in 2004 that the Wall was in breach of
international law.

Parting ways

There is, of course, a context for the current state of affairs: the
transformation of the PLO from a national liberation movement into a
pseudo-government with the trappings of statehood. The language and
paradigms of ³resistance² and ³liberation² were replaced by a dependency
relationship on international donors and an open-ended peace process.

The peace process never had ³to be actually moving towards
statehood,²remarks Ali Abunimah, activist and co-founder of The Electronic
Intifada. ³It was about appearance, keeping on track; a vague language that
invoked movement.² The difference now, he maintains, ³is that they can¹t
even fake movement.² One consequence of this has been to highlight the
differences in approach, methodology, and assumptions between the PA/PLO
leadership on the one hand and the grassroots activism/BDS movement on the
other. The two sides are clearly divided over broad questions of legitimacy,
accountability and democracy.

But the PA leadership and the grassroots also diverge in their understanding
of how pressure can be applied to help the Palestinian cause. ³The biggest
gap right now,² according to Birzeit sociologist Lisa Taraki, ³is when we
talk about strategy and how to achieve justice in the end.² Abunimah puts it
more starkly: ³There is no room for BDS and popular resistance in the PA/PLO
paradigm. They are actually opposed to it, since their commitment is to
manage Palestinians under occupation.² Taraki argues that an ³economic
boycott, especially of settlement products² is not entirely incompatible
with the PA¹s political strategy, but concurs that ³the logic of BDS in
general is not compatible with the logic of negotiations.² This need not
necessarily be the case. Taraki notes that BDS can actually be used to
further meaningful negotiations, as in the case of South Africa. But in
practice, ³the PA has not yet decided to choose the path of pressure.² It
thinks solely in terms of diplomatic pressure: of the kind that the US, or
failing that the UN or EU, might be persuaded to exert on Israel. Popular
pressure as presented by the BDS movement ­ wielded through unions,
federations, students, organisations ­ is completely different.

A third important difference is in the articulation of political demands.
While the Palestinian political leadership continues to speak in terms of
nationalism and a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, the
discourse emerging from the popular resistance in the Occupied Territories,
and particularly the global BDS movement, is far more focused on the
question of rights. This does not mean that the latter is monolithically
supportive of a one-state solution. Many Palestinian leaders or groups
supportive of popular resistance and the BDS campaign have been careful not
to align themselves in this debate, even if some important intellectuals
have done so. Taraki describes this as ³one of the thorniest issues² that
the campaign ³hasn¹t been forced to face yet.² But it is not necessarily a
weakness: the language of rights is deliberately inclusive of both
positions.

State of flux

However, there is a danger of overstating the actual impact of popular
resistance and international solidarity on Palestinian policy.

Analyst Mouin Rabbani thinks its influence on official decision-making is
minimal. Abbas¹ u-turn over the Goldstone report, for example, had ³nothing
to do with public opinion² but resulted from pressure from Fatah¹s Central
Committee and the PLO¹s Executive Committee, whose members felt compromised
by his initial stance. The ³real decision-makers² in Palestinian politics
remain the politicians and factions, especially Fatah. Without denigrating
the upsurge in international Palestinian activism, or the work of people in
civil society and popular committees in Palestine itself, neither can
achieve much in the absence of a political leadership ³capable of mobilising
this vast potential of support and investing it politically.² All that can
be hoped for are ³small victories here and there without
ultimately making much of a difference.²

Others, like Abunimah, question whether the activists should focus at all on
influencing the policies of a leadership they consider to be unreformable.

Palestinian politics and the national movement are in a state of flux and
transition. The question of ³what comes next² as the PA crumbles in terms of
legitimacy and possibly even structure, cannot ignore the vacuum created by
what Abunimah describes as the ³deliberate destruction by the Oslo class of
whatever representative structures existed for Palestinians.²

There are calls for root-and-branch reform of the PLO in order to rebuild a
representative, legitimate body that can speak on behalf of Palestinians in
the diaspora and refugee camps, inside Israel, and in the Occupied
Territories. This sounds appealing, but would be a massively daunting
undertaking in practice.

Meanwhile, groups like the popular committees in the West Bank, Palestinian
civil society, and the global BDS campaign form an increasingly confident
and creative movement focused on rights, albeit one that is highly
decentralised and has yet to develop a coherent message and voice.

PS  Sorry for cross-posting - of the article anyway!  But it is worth reading
twice....



Deborah


To: justpeaceuk@yahoogroups.com
From: deborahmaccoby@...
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:06:25 +0000
Subject: [JustPeaceUK] Uri Avnery: "Federation: Why Not?"






Fascinating article by Uri Avnery, putting forward an idea that has been gaining
ground recently - Shlomo Sand has also suggested it: a compromise between the
one state and two state solutions - a Israel-Palestine federation that could
expand to include other Middle Eastern countries - first Jordan, then other
states, eventually forming a Middle Eastern Union on the lines of the EU. This
solution has also been put forward by Jeff Halper.

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1258646087/


Deborah

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_________________________________________________________________
Use Hotmail to send and receive mail from your different email accounts
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fascinating article by Uri Avnery, putting forward an idea that has been gaining
ground recently - Shlomo Sand has also suggested it:  a compromise between the
one state and two state solutions - a Israel-Palestine federation that could
expand to include other Middle Eastern countries - first Jordan, then other
states, eventually forming a Middle Eastern Union on the lines of the EU.  This
solution has also been put forward by Jeff Halper.

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1258646087/


Deborah

_________________________________________________________________
View your other email accounts from your Hotmail inbox. Add them now.
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394592/direct/01/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Gush Shalom <otherisr@...>
To: intl@...
Sent: Sunday, 22 November, 2009 10:15:59
Subject: [Gush_weekly] Gush Shalom writes to Ahava // Avnery on federation //
Fanatics and the army & the ease of dismantling settlements (Adam's blog)


www.gush-shalom.org
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/downloads/truth/Truth_Eng.pdf
English websitehttp://zope.gush-shalom.org/index_en.html

 
Press release
Gush Shalom to Ahava directors: read the writing on the wall – get out of the
Occupied Territories
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/press_releases/1258534724

Ad in Ha'aretz,  Nov. 20 20 09  
We shall
Welcome
The declaration
Of the
Free
State of
Palestine

weekly ads archive 
 http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/weekly_ad
                                    
                                        \
                                        \
  ~~~ 
 
Uri Avnery
 
Federation? Why Not
THESE DAYS mark the 5th anniversary of the murder of Yasser Arafat, and bring
back to me our last conversation
  Full  English text in the end 
 Avnery columns' archive  
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery
 
~~~
Fanatics and the army & the ease of       dismantling settlements
        On Adam's blog: http://adam-keller2.blogspot.com
 
 
                
 
        
  
 
 
 
 
   
~~~ות            
      
Uri Avnery
21.11.09
 permlink:  http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1258646087/
 
data &Daily updated occupationrelated reading 
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     Federation? Why Not? THESE DAYS mark the 5th anniversary of the murder
of Yasser Arafat, and bring back to me our last conversation in his Ramallah
compound, a few weeks before his death. It was he who brought up the idea of a
threefold federation – Israel, Palestine and Jordan. "And perhaps Lebanon,
too. Why not?" – the same as he did at our very first meeting, in Beirut, July
1982, in the middle of the battle. He mentioned the term Benelux – the pact
between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg that predated the European Union.
Lately, the term "federation" has come into fashion again. Some people believe
that it can serve as a kind of compromise between the "Two-State Solution", now
a world-wide consensus, and the "One-State Solution" that is popular in some
radical circles. "Federation" sounds like a miracle: there will be both "two
states for two peoples" and a single entity. Two in one, one in two.
THE WORD "federation" does not frighten me. On the contrary, I was already using
it in this context 52 years ago.
On June 2, 1957, my magazine, Haolam Hazeh, published the first detailed plan
for an independent Palestinian state that would come into being next to Israel.
The West Bank was then under Jordanian and the Gaza Strip under Egyptian
occupation. I proposed helping the Palestinians to get rid of the occupiers.
According to the plan, the two states, the Israeli and the Palestinian, would
then establish a federation. I thought that its proper name should be "the
Jordan Union".
A year later, on September 1, 1958, there appeared a document called "the Hebrew
Manifesto". I am proud of my part in its composition. It was a comprehensive
plan for a fundamental change of the State of Israel in all its aspects – a
kind of complete overhaul. In its readiness to re-examine the fundamentals of
the state and in the depth of the thinking involved, it has no parallel from the
founding of Israel to this very day. Among its authors were Nathan Yellin-Mor,
the ex-chief of the Stern Group, Boaz Evron, Amos Kenan and several others.
I was responsible for the chapter on Israeli-Arab peace. It proposed that a
sovereign Palestinian state would be set up next to Israel, and that the two
states would establish a federation, which would gradually assume more and more
jurisdiction. I had to invent a Hebrew word to replace the foreign term
"federation": "Ugda" (grouping) and suggested that it should be called "the
Jordan Federation" - "Ugdat ha-Yarden" in Hebrew and "Ittihad al-Urdun" in
Arabic. (To my sorrow, this use the term "Ugda" did not take root. Instead, the
army adopted it for a division, which is a grouping of regiments or brigades.)
On the morrow of the Six-Day War, after which the entire country between the
Mediterranean and the Jordan was under the control of the Israeli army, a new
political movement called "Israel-Palestine Federation" called for the immediate
creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel. The founders were, more or less,
the same people who had composed the "Hebrew Manifesto".
When this historic opportunity was missed and with the occupation becoming
gradually more and more oppressive, I abandoned the use of the term federation.
I sensed that it frightened both parties. Israelis were afraid that the word
covered a plot to establish a bi-national state – an idea that is rejected by
the overwhelming majority of Jewish Israelis. Palestinians were afraid that it
would serve as a disguise for a permanent Israeli occupation.
It should be remembered that the original partition plan adopted by the UN
General Assembly on November 29, 1947, did envision a kind of federation,
without using the term. It provided for the establishment of a Jewish state and
an Arab state, and a separate entity of Jerusalem, administered by the UN. All
these entities were to be parts of an economic union that would cover customs,
the currency, railways, post, ports, airports and more. This would have, in
practice, amounted to a federation.
THE MAIN problem with the word "federation" is that it has no agreed and binding
definition. In different parts of the world, it describes wildly different
regimes. The same is true for "confederacy".
No two countries in the world resemble each other completely, and no two
federations are the same. Every state and every federation has been shaped by
its particular historical development and specific circumstances, and reflects
the people that created it.
The word "federation" is derived from the Latin "foedus", treaty. Basically, a
federation is a pact between different states which decide to unite on agreed
terms. The USA is a federation, and so is Russia. What do the two have in
common?
The United States is, theoretically, a voluntary association of states. The
states have many rights, but the federation is headed by a single president with
immense powers. In practice, this is one state. When in 1860 the Southern states
tried to secede and set up a "confederacy" of their own, the North crushed the
"rebellion" in a brutal civil war. Every morning, millions of pupils in the
United States swear allegiance to the flag and to "One Nation Under God".
Russia, too, is officially a federation, but their use of the term has a very
different content. Moscow appoints the governors of the provinces, and Vladimir
Putin rules the country as a personal fief. When Chechnya tried to secede from
the "Russian Federation", it was crushed even more brutally than the confederacy
in the American civil war. (This does not hinder Putin from supporting two
seceding provinces of neighboring Georgia.)
Germany defines itself as a "federal republic ("Bundesrepublik"). It is composed
of "Länder" that enjoy a large measure of autonomy. Switzerland calls itself a
confederation in French and Italian ("Eidgenossenschaft" or "Oath Association"
in German) and its cantons enjoy their autonomy. But it is also a very unified
country.
It is generally supposd that a "federation" is a tighter association, while a
"confederacy" is a looser one. But in reality, these differences are very
blurred. It seems that Americans and Russians, Germans and Swiss, identify
themselves first of all with their united state, not with their own particular
province. (Except for the Bavarians, of course.)
The new Europe is for all practical purposes a confederacy, but its founders did
not name it thus. They chose the less definite "European Union". Why? Perhaps
they thought that terms like "federation" and "confederacy" were outdated.
Perhaps they considered such terms too binding. The term "union" does not commit
its members to anything specific, and they can fill it with whatever content
they all agree on and change it from time to time. If the "Lisbon agreement" is
finally ratified, the union will change again.
IT MAKES no sense, therefore, to discuss the idea of an Israeli-Palestinian
"federation" in general terms, without defining right from the beginning what is
meant by this. The same word, used by different people, can express completely
different and even contradictory intentions.
For example: I recently saw a plan for a federation here in which every person
would have the right to settle anywhere in either state while holding the
citizenship of one of them. I can hardly imagine that many Israelis or
Palestinians would embrace that. The Israelis would be afraid that the Arabs
would soon constitute the majority within Israel, and the Palestinians would
worry that Israeli settlers would take possession of every hilltop between the
sea and the Jordan.
In any discussion of federation, the matter of immigration looms large as an
ominous bone of contention. Would millions of Palestinian refugees be allowed to
return to Israeli territory? Would millions of Jewish immigrants be allowed to
submerge the State of Palestine?
The same is true for the matter of residence. Could a citizen of Palestine
settle in Haifa, and an Israeli citizen in Nablus, as a Pole can now settle in
France, a New Yorker in Miami, an inhabitant of canton Zurich in canton Uri?
EACH ONE of us who considers the idea of federation must decide what he or she
wants. To draw up a beautiful plan on paper, which has no chance at all of being
realized because it ignores the aspirations of both "partners" - or to think in
practical terms about real options?
In practice, a federation can come about only on the basis of a free agreement
between the two parties. This means that it can be realized only if both –
Israelis and Palestinians – consider it as advantageous to themselves and
compatible with their national aspirations.
In my opinion, a practical way to realize the idea could look like this:
Stage 1: A sovereign Palestinian state must come into being. This must precede
everything else. The occupation must end and Israel must withdraw to the Green
Line (with possible mutually agreed swaps of territory.) That goes for
Jerusalem, too.
Stage 2: The two states establish a pattern of fair relations between them and
get used to living side by side. There will be a need for real steps towards
reconciliation and the healing of the wounds of the past. (For example: the
creation of a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" on the South African model.)
On the practical level, fair arrangements of matters like movement between the
two states, the division of water resources etc. are put into place.
Stage 3: The two states start negotiations for the establishment of joint
institutions. For example: the opening of the border between them for the free
movement of people and goods, an economic union, a joint currency, a customs
envelope, the use of ports and airports, coordination of foreign relations, and
so on. There will be no automatic right for citizens of one state to settle in
the other. Each state will decide for itself on its immigration policy.
The two parties can jointly decide whether to invite Jordan as a third partner
to the proposed treaty.
Such a negotiation can succeed only if the population in each of the partner
states is convinced that the partnership will bring it positive benefits. Since
Israel is the stronger economically and technologically, it must be ready to
make generous proposals.
Stage 4: The more trust between the parties develops, the easier it will be to
deepen the partnership and to widen the powers of the joint institutions.
Perhaps, at this stage, conditions may be ripe for the founding of a wider
association of the entire region, on the lines of the European Union. Such an
association may include the Arab states, Israel, Turkey and Iran. The name I
suggested for it in the past was "Semitic Union". (Turks and Iranians are not
linguistically "Semitic" nations, but Islam is a Semitic religion and plays a
major role in their culture.)
This is a vision for the future, and it can be realized. To paraphrase Barack
Obama’s slogan, even if it has lost some of its luster: Yes, we can!
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Actually, a lot of us call JfJfP 'Jews for Justice' as it's shorter. But
I wouldn't take Plonkard too seriously. He obviously hasn't got anything
better to write about, for now....I feel a calm before the storm.....

Yes, JfJfP don't only represent anti-Zionists, but so what if it did?
Zionism used to be a minority position, and may it return to being that!
He's desperately trying to marginalise ( a sign that he feels
threatened) or demonise us, after all, anti-Zionism equals anti-Semitism....

Anyway, let's not waste energy worrying about what any of this lot says.
Just see it as an amusing diversion, after all, humour keeps the spirits
up....

I feel a song coming:

'Clean the floor with this week's JC, fa la la la la, la la la la,
'Tis no reason to be hasty, fa la la la la, la la la la,
Fill the bagels with a poison, fa la la la, fa la la la,
Thrown them at the JNF garden, fa la la la la, fa la la la.

O well, I can't be good at everything.....

Debbie

--- In JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com, Deborah Maccoby <deborahmaccoby@...>
wrote:

  > PS Note also the dig against Antony Lerman in the bit about the
Institute for Jewish Policy Research "recovering its lost but once
excellent reputation".....
  >
  > Deborah
  >
  > > To: justpeaceuk@yahoogroups.com
  > > From: deborahmaccoby@...
  > > Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:58:33 +0000
  > > Subject: [JustPeaceUK] Stephen Pollard: JC: "IJV and JfJfP
represent only anti-Zionist Jews"
  > >
  > >
  > > Appalling article by Stephen Pollard in the JC, in which he insists
that IJV and JfJfP (he doesn't even get our name right and calls us
"Jews for Justice") represent "only anti-Zionist Jews". Would anyone
like to respond, as I am writing a letter about Shlomo Sand and King David?
  > >
  > > http://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/22068/theres-no-need-gloom
  > >
  > > "To be fair, the peace rallies in January, at the height of
Operation Cast Lead, were a sign that supporters of Israel’s right to
defend herself from terror and to live in peace would not be cowed. And
the recent hard-hitting joint statement from the Board and the Jewish
Leadership Council, after David Miliband’s pusillanimous abstention at
the UN over the Goldstone report, showed that the mouse has started to
roar. And about time, too.
  > >
  > > A related theme is the question of who speaks for the community,
especially with regard to Israel. The likes of Independent Jewish Voices
and Jews for Justice claim that it’s wrong to assume that most of us
stand solidly behind Israel. At the moment, it’s only really anecdotal
evidence that dismisses the claims of such groups (which, despite their
claims to the contrary, I insist on regarding as representing only
anti-Zionist Jews). So it’s good news that, as we report this week, the
Institute for Jewish Policy Research — which is now recovering its lost
but once excellent reputation — is to conduct a survey on what exactly
we think about Israel."

  > > Deborah

These aside, there are a few good letters in this week's J-Crap. Thomas
Eisner writes in support of 'Dispatches', Sir Jeremy Beecham defends
Goldstone and Goldberg, (well, he speaks about considering the message
rather than demonising the messenger), Paul Miller criticises Mad Mel
and Jeff Lewis points out that while Miliband has been elected, what
gives the unelected Jewish Leadership Council the right to speak in his
name (re. Goldstone report)?

Debbie

--- In JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com, Deborah Maccoby <deborahmaccoby@...>
wrote:
  >
  >
  > There are two letters attacking Sand in this week's JC.  One is a
short one from our dear friend Jonathan Hoffman, asking why Moshe Yaalon
hads to cancel his visit to the UK for fear of arrest, but Shlomo Sand
was allowed into the UK!  Honestly, he really writes this - here's his
letter.
  >
  >
  > "How appalling that Israel's former Chief of Staff, Moshe Yaalon, who
was due to attend a charity dinner in this country - had to cancel his
visit to the UK for fear of arrest but that Shlomo Sand is not only
admitted, he is lauded.

  >
  > And how telling that George Galloway is already quoting from Sand's
book to support his anti-Israel views.
  >

  > Jonathan Hoffman,
  >
  > Co-Vice-Chairman, Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
  >
  > BM Box 1948
  >
  > LONDON WC1N 3XX"
  >
  >
  >
  > The other letter attacking Sand, by Joseph Feld, is quite long and I
can't be bothered to type it out, but it complains that Sand denies the
existence of King David (actually he doesn't; he agrees that the Tel Dan
Stele - which refers to "the House of David" provides support for the
assumption that David existed, but he agrees with the views of most
Israeli archaeologists that the glorious united kingdom of David and
Solomon was a myth).  I am writing a letter to the JC pointing this
out.  Feld makes the claim: "many, many people today can directly trace
their ancestry to David". As the only evidence at all of David's
existence is the Tel Dan Stele, this is a somewhat surprising assertion....

  > Deborah

What they need to do, is trace the genetic orgin of the Palestinians
back to Abraham, and that will justify them staying there....(I didn't
say Isaac as they are supposed to descend from Ishmael....but, biblical
stuff aside, as we know, many Palestinians descend from the original
Jews...).

If Hoffman is going to go on about Cohens, well, let's just chuck out
those Jews who aren't Cohens, then there will be room for the
Palestinian diaspora to return.....and we could check their DNA against
the Cohens. I bet it's similar!

Jewish unity? No thanks. Not with them, anyway.....(And if the CST want
unity, why did they bar  Naomi and I their meeting?!.....)

Debbie

--- In JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com, Mark Elf <mark.elf@...> wrote:
  >
  > Without even reading the book, the zionist arguments against it are
clearly
  > disingenuous, insanely racist and don't even make sense in some cases.
  >
  > Mark Gardener of the CST says something about a Jewish sense of unity or
  > oneness but what has that to do with genetics?
  >
  > Jonathan Hoffman reckons that 96 out of 127 Cohens have matching DNA with
  > each other.  That implies common ancestry but without checking
against the
  > past how do we know where it originated?
  >
  > And of course, there is the obvious point that even if Jews have a common
  > genetic origin back with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that still doesn't
  > justify the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians any more than it would
  > justify the ethnic cleansing of Jews from places other than the
middle east.
  >
  > On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 2:04 PM, Deborah Maccoby <deborahmaccoby@...
  > > wrote:
  >
  > >
  > >
  > >
  > > Dear all,
  > >
  > > To return to the Shlomo Sand debate: I've now read the book and
written a
  > > review of it for the ICAHD UK website, on this link (below). There
is an
  > > introduction and summary by the ICAHD UK webmaster, Rob Thorburn,
who asked
  > > me to write the review.
  > >
  > > I included one of Frank's points in my review - that Sand's alleged
  > > argument (which actually he is not saying at all) that modern Jews
have no
  > > genetic connection with ancient Jews and therefore Israel has no
right to
  > > exist, would imply that, if there were indeed a proved genetic
connection
  > > between modern Jews and ancient Jews, there would be total
justification for
  > > Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 to set up a majority
  > > Jewish State.
  > >
  > >
  > >
http://www.icahd.org/icahdukdev/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&site=UK&articl\
e=419
  > >
  > > Deborah
  > >
  >

Actually, whilst supporting Sand's thesis, Galloway argues, as most sane
people do, that the origins of the Jewish people have no bearing one way or
another on the right of Jewish to specifically Jewish statehood.

This is from a report on the Socialist Unity blog on a meeting that George
Galloway addressed:

****To those who believed that the Israeli state was the natural and just
creation for a Jewish people exiled from their homeland in biblical times
and wandering rootless ever since, Galloway said this was a fable, and a
ridiculous one at that. Highlighting a new book by the leading Israeli
historian Sholomo Sand, ‘The Invention of the Jewish People’, he said Jewish
claims to a 2,000 year old lineage that justified theft of Palestinian land
had about the same credabilty as the ‘descendents of the Romans, Normans,
and Vikings’ laying claim on Britain today.****
http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=4872

*http://tinyurl.com/ykymcyj*





On Sat, Nov 21, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Deborah Maccoby <deborahmaccoby@...
> wrote:

>
>
>
> There are two letters attacking Sand in this week's JC. One is a short one
> from our dear friend Jonathan Hoffman, asking why Moshe Yaalon hads to
> cancel his visit to the UK for fear of arrest, but Shlomo Sand was allowed
> into the UK! Honestly, he really writes this - here's his letter.
>
> "How appalling that Israel's former Chief of Staff, Moshe Yaalon, who was
> due to attend a charity dinner in this country - had to cancel his visit to
> the UK for fear of arrest but that Shlomo Sand is not only admitted, he is
> lauded.
>
> And how telling that George Galloway is already quoting from Sand's book to
> support his anti-Israel views.
>
> Jonathan Hoffman,
>
> Co-Vice-Chairman, Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
>
> BM Box 1948
>
> LONDON WC1N 3XX"
>
> The other letter attacking Sand, by Joseph Feld, is quite long and I can't
> be bothered to type it out, but it complains that Sand denies the existence
> of King David (actually he doesn't; he agrees that the Tel Dan Stele - which
> refers to "the House of David" provides support for the assumption that
> David existed, but he agrees with the views of most Israeli archaeologists
> that the glorious united kingdom of David and Solomon was a myth). I am
> writing a letter to the JC pointing this out. Feld makes the claim: "many,
> many people today can directly trace their ancestry to David". As the only
> evidence at all of David's existence is the Tel Dan Stele, this is a
> somewhat surprising assertion....
>
> Deborah
>
> > To: JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com <JustPeaceUK%40yahoogroups.com>
> > From: mark.elf@... <mark.elf%40gmail.com>
> > Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:43:15 +0000
> > Subject: Re: [JustPeaceUK] My review of Shlomo Sand's "The Invention of
> the Jewish People"
>
> >
> > Without even reading the book, the zionist arguments against it are
> clearly
> > disingenuous, insanely racist and don't even make sense in some cases.
> >
> > Mark Gardener of the CST says something about a Jewish sense of unity or
> > oneness but what has that to do with genetics?
> >
> > Jonathan Hoffman reckons that 96 out of 127 Cohens have matching DNA with
> > each other. That implies common ancestry but without checking against the
> > past how do we know where it originated?
> >
> > And of course, there is the obvious point that even if Jews have a common
> > genetic origin back with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that still doesn't
> > justify the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians any more than it would
> > justify the ethnic cleansing of Jews from places other than the middle
> east.
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 2:04 PM, Deborah Maccoby <
> deborahmaccoby@... <deborahmaccoby%40hotmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear all,
> > >
> > > To return to the Shlomo Sand debate: I've now read the book and written
> a
> > > review of it for the ICAHD UK website, on this link (below). There is
> an
> > > introduction and summary by the ICAHD UK webmaster, Rob Thorburn, who
> asked
> > > me to write the review.
> > >
> > > I included one of Frank's points in my review - that Sand's alleged
> > > argument (which actually he is not saying at all) that modern Jews have
> no
> > > genetic connection with ancient Jews and therefore Israel has no right
> to
> > > exist, would imply that, if there were indeed a proved genetic
> connection
> > > between modern Jews and ancient Jews, there would be total
> justification for
> > > Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 to set up a majority
> > > Jewish State.
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
http://www.icahd.org/icahdukdev/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&site=UK&articl\
e=419
> > >
> > > Deborah
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________________
> > > Got more than one Hotmail account? Save time by linking them together
> > > http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
> __________________________________________________________
> View your other email accounts from your Hotmail inbox. Add them now.
> http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394592/direct/01/
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

PS  Note also the dig against Antony Lerman in the bit about the Institute for
Jewish Policy Research "recovering its lost but once excellent reputation".....



Deborah

> To: justpeaceuk@yahoogroups.com
> From: deborahmaccoby@...
> Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:58:33 +0000
> Subject: [JustPeaceUK] Stephen Pollard: JC: "IJV and JfJfP represent only
anti-Zionist Jews"
>
>
> Appalling article by Stephen Pollard in the JC, in which he insists that IJV
and JfJfP (he doesn't even get our name right and calls us "Jews for Justice")
represent "only anti-Zionist Jews". Would anyone like to respond, as I am
writing a letter about Shlomo Sand and King David?
>
> http://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/22068/theres-no-need-gloom
>
> "To be fair, the peace rallies in January, at the height of Operation Cast
Lead, were a sign that supporters of Israel’s right to defend herself from
terror and to live in peace would not be cowed. And the recent hard-hitting
joint statement from the Board and the Jewish Leadership Council, after David
Miliband’s pusillanimous abstention at the UN over the Goldstone report, showed
that the mouse has started to roar. And about time, too.
>
> A related theme is the question of who speaks for the community, especially
with regard to Israel. The likes of Independent Jewish Voices and Jews for
Justice claim that it’s wrong to assume that most of us stand solidly behind
Israel. At the moment, it’s only really anecdotal evidence that dismisses the
claims of such groups (which, despite their claims to the contrary, I insist on
regarding as representing only anti-Zionist Jews). So it’s good news that, as we
report this week, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research — which is now
recovering its lost but once excellent reputation — is to conduct a survey on
what exactly we think about Israel."
>
>
>
> Deborah
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Got more than one Hotmail account? Save time by linking them together
> http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

_________________________________________________________________
Have more than one Hotmail account? Link them together to easily access both
  http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Appalling article by Stephen Pollard in the JC, in which he insists that IJV and
JfJfP (he doesn't even get our name right and calls us "Jews for Justice")
represent "only anti-Zionist Jews". Would anyone like to respond, as I am
writing a letter about Shlomo Sand and King David?

http://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/22068/theres-no-need-gloom

"To be fair, the peace rallies in January, at the height of Operation Cast Lead,
were a sign that supporters of Israel’s right to defend herself from terror and
to live in peace would not be cowed. And the recent hard-hitting joint statement
from the Board and the Jewish Leadership Council, after David Miliband’s
pusillanimous abstention at the UN over the Goldstone report, showed that the
mouse has started to roar. And about time, too.

A related theme is the question of who speaks for the community, especially with
regard to Israel. The likes of Independent Jewish Voices and Jews for Justice
claim that it’s wrong to assume that most of us stand solidly behind Israel. At
the moment, it’s only really anecdotal evidence that dismisses the claims of
such groups (which, despite their claims to the contrary, I insist on regarding
as representing only anti-Zionist Jews). So it’s good news that, as we report
this week, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research — which is now recovering
its lost but once excellent reputation — is to conduct a survey on what exactly
we think about Israel."



Deborah


_________________________________________________________________
Got more than one Hotmail account? Save time by linking them together
  http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Israel Is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its
History by Rich Cohen


Antony Lerman takes issue with a lop-sided critique of Israel

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/21/srael-real-rich-cohen-review

With its laboured, punning title, you might expect Rich Cohen's book to be a
propagandistic defence of Israel <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel> ,
perhaps arguing that, despite its detractors, the Jewish state is here to stay.
Refreshingly, however, Cohen has a different agenda. He asks whether "modern
Israel, meant to protect Jews, may have put them in greater danger than they
have known in 2,000 years", thereby calling into question the Zionist project.
"Zionists," he writes, "have made Jews vulnerable in a way they have not been
since the fall of the Second Temple." But he's not questioning the existence of
Israel: "I am for Israel . . . Israel does not need to be justified. It is."

1. Israel is Real
2. by Rich Cohen
3. 400pp,
4. Jonathan Cape Ltd,
5. £15.99

Cohen's central idea is that Judaism survived the destruction of the Second
Temple because, after the dispersion, a 1st-century rabbi, Jochanan ben Zakkai,
"turned the Temple into a book", but the Zionists "turned the Book back into a
temple, which is small and holy and ringed by walls".

....

"Israelis must find a way to detach their nation from their story, and live in
the here and now," Cohen concludes; "otherwise the Third Temple may go the way
of the other two." But despair about peace makes Israelis live all too much in
the present, shutting out the grim reality of what's happening beyond the Green
Line. Rather than "detach their nation from their story", Israelis need to be
brutally honest about the past as a precondition for reconciliation with the
Palestinians. This is what will keep nightmares of destruction at bay and
validate the compatibility between Rich Cohen's support for Israel and his
critique of Zionism.


Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications
disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

There are two letters attacking Sand in this week's JC.  One is a short one from
our dear friend Jonathan Hoffman, asking why Moshe Yaalon hads to cancel his
visit to the UK for fear of arrest, but Shlomo Sand was allowed into the UK! 
Honestly, he really writes this - here's his letter.



"How appalling that Israel's former Chief of Staff, Moshe Yaalon, who was due to
attend a charity dinner in this country - had to cancel his visit to the UK for
fear of arrest but that Shlomo Sand is not only admitted, he is lauded.



And how telling that George Galloway is already quoting from Sand's book to
support his anti-Israel views.



Jonathan Hoffman,

Co-Vice-Chairman, Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland

BM Box 1948

LONDON WC1N 3XX"



The other letter attacking Sand, by Joseph Feld, is quite long and I can't be
bothered to type it out, but it complains that Sand denies the existence of King
David (actually he doesn't; he agrees that the Tel Dan Stele - which refers to
"the House of David" provides support for the assumption that David existed, but
he agrees with the views of most Israeli archaeologists that the glorious united
kingdom of David and Solomon was a myth).  I am writing a letter to the JC
pointing this out.  Feld makes the claim: "many, many people today can directly
trace their ancestry to David". As the only evidence at all of David's existence
is the Tel Dan Stele, this is a somewhat surprising assertion....



Deborah




> To: JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com
> From: mark.elf@...
> Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:43:15 +0000
> Subject: Re: [JustPeaceUK] My review of Shlomo Sand's "The Invention of the
Jewish People"
>
> Without even reading the book, the zionist arguments against it are clearly
> disingenuous, insanely racist and don't even make sense in some cases.
>
> Mark Gardener of the CST says something about a Jewish sense of unity or
> oneness but what has that to do with genetics?
>
> Jonathan Hoffman reckons that 96 out of 127 Cohens have matching DNA with
> each other. That implies common ancestry but without checking against the
> past how do we know where it originated?
>
> And of course, there is the obvious point that even if Jews have a common
> genetic origin back with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that still doesn't
> justify the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians any more than it would
> justify the ethnic cleansing of Jews from places other than the middle east.
>
> On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 2:04 PM, Deborah Maccoby <deborahmaccoby@...
> > wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear all,
> >
> > To return to the Shlomo Sand debate: I've now read the book and written a
> > review of it for the ICAHD UK website, on this link (below). There is an
> > introduction and summary by the ICAHD UK webmaster, Rob Thorburn, who asked
> > me to write the review.
> >
> > I included one of Frank's points in my review - that Sand's alleged
> > argument (which actually he is not saying at all) that modern Jews have no
> > genetic connection with ancient Jews and therefore Israel has no right to
> > exist, would imply that, if there were indeed a proved genetic connection
> > between modern Jews and ancient Jews, there would be total justification for
> > Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 to set up a majority
> > Jewish State.
> >
> >
> >
http://www.icahd.org/icahdukdev/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&site=UK&articl\
e=419
> >
> > Deborah
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________________
> > Got more than one Hotmail account? Save time by linking them together
> > http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

_________________________________________________________________
View your other email accounts from your Hotmail inbox. Add them now.
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394592/direct/01/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Without even reading the book, the zionist arguments against it are clearly
disingenuous, insanely racist and don't even make sense in some cases.

Mark Gardener of the CST says something about a Jewish sense of unity or
oneness but what has that to do with genetics?

Jonathan Hoffman reckons that 96 out of 127 Cohens have matching DNA with
each other.  That implies common ancestry but without checking against the
past how do we know where it originated?

And of course, there is the obvious point that even if Jews have a common
genetic origin back with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that still doesn't
justify the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians any more than it would
justify the ethnic cleansing of Jews from places other than the middle east.

On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 2:04 PM, Deborah Maccoby <deborahmaccoby@...
> wrote:

>
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> To return to the Shlomo Sand debate: I've now read the book and written a
> review of it for the ICAHD UK website, on this link (below). There is an
> introduction and summary by the ICAHD UK webmaster, Rob Thorburn, who asked
> me to write the review.
>
> I included one of Frank's points in my review - that Sand's alleged
> argument (which actually he is not saying at all) that modern Jews have no
> genetic connection with ancient Jews and therefore Israel has no right to
> exist, would imply that, if there were indeed a proved genetic connection
> between modern Jews and ancient Jews, there would be total justification for
> Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 to set up a majority
> Jewish State.
>
>
>
http://www.icahd.org/icahdukdev/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&site=UK&articl\
e=419
>
> Deborah
>
>
> __________________________________________________________
> Got more than one Hotmail account? Save time by linking them together
> http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/186394591/direct/01/
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Eyad Bornat <majdarmajdar@...>
To: friends-of-freedom-and-justice-bilin@...
Sent: Fri, 20 November, 2009 17:05:43
Subject: [friends-of-freedom-and-justice-bilin] 1-Bil'in demo
20-11-2009--2-Undercovers arrest Palestinian youth at his place of work.


1-Bil'in demo 20-11-2009
http://www.bilin-ffj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=1
for the national leadership to keep fighting for the national principles. In a
reaction to recent announcements from the Israeli government regarding plans to
continue with the construction of 900 new housing units in the settlement of
Gilo, they protested against the expansion of illegal settlements in East
Jerusalem and the threat this expansion poses for the future Palestinian state
with East Jerusalem as its capital. The demonstrators marched to the Wall built
on Bil’in’s land, where the Israeli army, based on the other side of the
fence, responded to their presence by throwing tear gas bombs and shooting tear
gas canisters. Dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation.
In addition, residents of Bil’in were calling today for the end of the ongoing
arrest campaign, which escalated the day before, when a group of undercover
Israeli soldiers invaded the village and arrested a local youth, Mohammad Yassin
(20), who was targeted for his participation in the weekly demonstrations. They
entered the village in a civilian Isuzu pick-up, dressed like Palestinians, and
went directly to the workshop where Mohammad works. Before he was arrested, he
was beaten by the soldiers, as were his brother and mother. In addition to
Yassin, another 27 Bil’in residents were arrested for their involvement in the
demonstrations since the 23 June 2009. Among them is Adeeb Abu Rahma, who has
been held in detention for more than four months under a charge of
‘incitement’ – organizing demonstrations.

2-Undercovers arrest Palestinian youth at his place of work.
http://www.bilin-ffj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=1

In an escalation of the recent arrest campaign conducted by the Israeli military
in attempt to crush the popular struggle against the Wall in the village, an
undercover army unit invaded Bil'in this morning and arrested a local youth, 19
year old Mohammad Yassin.
In the morning hours of Thursday, 19 November 2009, a civilian Isuzu pickup with
undercover soldiers dressed as Palestinians, drove into the village of Bil'in,
searching for residents suspected of organizing and participating in the
village's weekly demonstrations. At around 9am, the soldiers arrived at the
garage where Yassin works and arrested him. The arrest involved the beating of
Yassin himself, as well as of his brother and his mother, who assumed that the
disguised soldiers were just random by-passers attacking their kin.

The use of the undercover army units to capture 'wanted' people that are
suspected of nothing else than participating in and planning of grassroots
demonstrations, represent an escalation of the arrest campaign the Army is
conducting against the residents of the village. In addition to Yassin, another
27 Bil'in residents were arrested for their involvement in the demonstrations
since the 23 June 2009. Among them, is also Adeeb Abu Rahma, who has been held
in detention for more than four months under a charge of 'incitement' – a
euphemism for organizing demonstrations.

Recently, Adv. Gaby Lasky, who represents Bil'in's detainees, was informed by
the military prosecution that the army intends to put an end to the
demonstrations through use legal procedures against demonstrators. Adv. Lasky,
stated today that "This is a blatant example of political persecution using
legal means, because the charges and the arrests are being carried out not for
legal purposes but with political motivations.  It is important to remember
that it is the state that is in contempt of a High Court of Justice ruling,
which affirmed that it were demonstrators who had justice on their side, and
instructed to move the route of the Wall in the area two years ago - something
that has not been done yet."

Thank you for you continued support,

Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder  of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin

Email- bel3in@...
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Mobile-(00972) (0) 598403676
www.bilin-ffj.org



   ----------

If you want to unsubscribe please send an email to
friends-of-freedom-and-justice-bilin-unsubscribe@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

'Jewish organisations have reacted angrily', it says. Well, not ALL
Jewish organisations. Some of us are very pleased! But the truth hurts
and noone likes to get caught out.

As they say, it's only a minority who've complained about it - the
Israel lobby itself!

I couldn't find anything on this Thursday night but saw it in the paper
and in the headlines which the JC sends out.

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/22054/dispatches-israel-lobby-film-the-reactio\
n

Debbie

Israel's Two-Tiered Justice System by Jonathan Cook
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35813

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

UCU President Alastair Hunter has written to the United Nations to
express support for the United Nations International Day of Solidarity
with the Palestinian People which is being held on 29 November. The
union's Strategy and Finance Committee passed a motion expressing
solidarity with the Palestinian people and noting that Israel continues
to commit illegal acts and to build settlements with impunity. You can
read the full motion, sent to the UN, here:
http://www.ucu.org.uk/international


Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications
disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

from Jewish Daily Forward

http://forward.com/articles/119192/
<blocked::http://forward.com/articles/119192/>
Threatening to shake the fragile structure of the American Jewish
federations' umbrella organization, one of the key partners for overseas
funding has turned down a proposed agreement on distribution of funds,
putting the system in a state of disarray.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee announced that it has
rejected a decades-old understanding that gave it only a quarter of all
money raised in the United States for overseas causes, while leaving the
lion's share for the Jewish Agency for Israel.

The decision illustrates not only a new phase in the competition between
the two agencies over dwindling American funds, but also their struggle
to reposition themselves in light of a changing philanthropic reality in
which fewer funds are available and some federations are beginning to
prefer direct giving to their favorite causes over contributions to a
managing agency.

While negotiations between JDC and the Jewish Agency over the
distribution of funds raised by federations had been going on for the
past 18 months, it was only in recent weeks that the dispute boiled
over. Days before the recent gathering of the Jewish Federations'
General Assembly, attempts to craft a new agreement reached an impasse.
In an unusual move, given the otherwise quiet manner that characterized
the negotiations, JDC made its disappointment public. In a November 12
letter addressed to Kathy Manning, chair of the Jewish Federations of
North America, JDC's president, Irv Smokler, wrote that his group would
not accept the latest draft agreement, and therefore, "reluctantly


Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications
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From Jewish Daily Forward
http://forward.com/articles/119191/


	 The speech represented a crowning moment of what has been a
complete rebranding effort by Nevzlin, 50, erasing his past as a Russian
oligarch who just narrowly escaped jail, convicted in absentia last year
in a Moscow courtroom to life in prison for ordering the murder of five
people. A recent article about him in Forbes magazine - which estimated
his wealth in 2004 to be $2 billion - was headlined, "The One Who Got
Away."

	 Israel, which has refused repeated attempts to extradite him to
Russia, has helped greatly in this transformation. He has become an
important philanthropist there, using his charity to fund projects that
promote "Jewish peoplehood" and to gain influence and respectability in
the process. This past September, he made a donation of $6 million to
establish the Museum of the Jewish People, a new iteration of Beit
Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv's Diaspora Museum.

I have no idea how robust and fair the Russian trial was but it should
raise questoins in th reporters mind (even if it didn't in Bibi's)



Mike


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....and there's also a new article by Jeff Halper on the ICAHD UK website:



"For all the risks it involves, a declaration of Palestinian statehood within
the 1967 borders – which would garner recognition from the vast majority of
states in the world – would seem a win-win proposition. At least it would break
the vessels of an impotent, ineffective and less than honest American-led “peace
process” that is going nowhere....."


http://www.icahd.org/icahdukdev/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&site=UK&articl\
e=420


Deborah


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