Two of us went on Friday to meet Alyn Smith, the Scottish Nationalist
MEP, who has just got back from a European Parliament fact-finding mission to Israel and Palestine. The mission was
announced on a Europa website (a link at the bottom leads to the mission’s programme, which was pretty good, but subsequent news about it seems to have been relayed only through an
Iranian news agency,
Electronic Intifada,
Al-Jazeerah, etc). This may be because the conclusions that the
MEPs brought back are uncomfortable, though unfortunately not surprising. Alyn Smith seems to have been brought up to speed on the situation by the five days of meetings and visits, and has come back with an admirable determination to try to find a positive Scottish contribution to the situation. First the very uncomfortable main points that he has brought back:
- The mission saw for themselves what the Palestinian solidarity movement has been saying for months: that the humanitarian situation on the West Bank, and especially in Gaza, is catastrophic. About Gaza they said:
Due to economic sanctions, almost all public institutions have shut down. The hospitals are overcrowded and receive neither money nor sufficient medicine. The public employees have not been paid for months. The doctors told us that some deadly injuries are not caused by traditional weapons but most likely by new experimental chemical weapons. More amputations than ever are necessary. They have not had the time to examine the dead bodies yet as they are busy dealing with the wounds of those who have survived.
(It’s not only economic sanctions that are strangling the PA. Probably more important is the large amount of customs revenue that the Israeli government is still “withholding”.) It’s impossible to imagine a situation so bad continuing indefinitely. But the MEPs didn’t forecast any success for the hopes of the Israeli government and the “international community” that the Palestinians will rise up and throw off the Hamas government. They believe that it is more likely that the situation will solidify support behind Hamas, which they acknowledge as the elected government. More likely is the prospect of civil war or a coup by Abbas, who is importing large quantities of arms into the Gaza strip, a situation that the US is “completely relaxed” about (to quote Alyn). You can’t imagine anything more likely to please Olmert and Bush.
- We couldn’t take any encouragement from his assessment of the political leadership on either (or, more accurately, any) side of the conflict.
- His opinion of EU policy was scathing. The attempt to route part of the PA payroll as aid through Abbas’s office makes no sense at all, either in the context of the Hamas boycott (which it undermines, as far as it is effective at all), or in the context of helping the PA continue to operate (which it is completely ineffective at doing, since the amounts involved are so small). I was particularly struck by his opinion about the Rafah checkpoint, the only route into Gaza that is (supposedly) not under Israeli control. Rafah is open under the supervision of EU monitors, which means that when they can’t reach it it stays closed (this happens often). And where are the monitors living–remember, this is a checkpoint between Gaza and Egypt? Why, in Ashkelon, of course! That way, their access to Rafah is entirely under the control of the IDF. According to Alyn, the head of the EU “Border Assistance Mission” didn’t bother even to try to justify this arrangement to the MEPs
Alyn hopes to call a meeting of “stakeholders” in the Scottish community very soon. I know that before he went he discussed the situation with at least the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities. He plans on a meeting in early December, at which he hopes to be an honest broker in starting a dialogue between the different stakeholders, in the hope that a distinctive Scottish position will emerge. It’s a conscientious and constructive move, but I can’t say I’m wildly optimistic about the chances of the dialogue being very helpful.
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November 16th, 2006
I went to a meeting today with this rather discouraging title, half-expecting a wild-eyed and disorganised presentation, even though friends had told me that it would be much better than that. (I can’t be the only one who felt that way, though; we have had two people sign off our mailing lists simply because the meeting was advertised on them.)
In fact, it was very good, with two speakers–one Israeli, one Palestinian– PowerPoint presentations, and a couple of films. I was only there part of the time and didn’t see the films, though we now have them on DVD. The presentation on the wall itself is now sadly routine, but what was new to me was a first-hand description of the non-violent demonstrations that have been regularly taking place at Bil’in (I’ve known about them for some time because of effective publicity from Gush Shalom). Like many villages along the route of the wall, Bil’in will be cut off from much (60%) of its farming land. The demonstrations there are important for several reasons: they are a continuing focus of resistance to the most visible symbol of the occupation; they show how effective non-violence can be, even against a state prepared to use extreme violence at any time; and they provide an opportunity and a practical example of Israelis and Palestinians organising and working together. As the Israeli speaker, Sarah Assouline, said “You can’t tell us that there is no partner for peace!”
About the violence: Sarah described how terrifying it is to face the police and the army at these demonstrations (adding that it was too terrifying for her!) People have been seriously injured at Bil’in and, in other places, have been killed in non-violent demonstrations against the wall. All the dead were Palestinians–the army doesn’t use live ammunition when Israelis are among the demonstrators, so that is one very important role that they can fulfil. But I still wouldn’t care to face the teargas, rubber bullets, and experimental riot control weapons that the army tries out at Bil’in.
When I talked to Sarah outside the meeting, she emphasised that she is a woman on a mission. The demonstrators are facing huge legal bills, even though they have an advocate who has been working for them for very little pay. They aren’t terribly good at advertising themselves–unlike Gush Shalom (see links) who they work with on the demonstrations. I don’t suppose the associations of their name can help much. But after seeing the presentation, I thought that what they are doing is important, and we should support them. How about doing a benefit for them–we could raise some money, show the films and tell people about Bil’in, and have a good time too?
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September 30th, 2006
I’ve collected together the responses mailed to SJJP during the first couple of days after the letter appeared. The mixture ranges, as you would expect, from “shame on you” to “good on you”. There were replies in the Herald in the several days following (here are the letter pages for 18th August and 21st August – I think there were others, but unfortunately the Herald doesn’t index more than two days back).
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August 22nd, 2006
Our letter appeared in full in the Herald today, with no fewer than 20 signatures! It was interesting to see how easy it was to get people’s responses and signatures, compared to previous times. Obviously that’s partly because the Lebanon war has been (and will continue to be) such a sharp crisis, but I think this might be the start of a lasting increase in people’s willingness to speak out for justice in the Middle East.
A number of factors combine to silence Jews in Britain who want to say “not in my name”, including (at least) a sense of loyalty, discomfort with the idea of being identified, a feeling of powerlessness, and fear of the reaction from within our own community. These form a powerful combination, but we’ve seen over the past week that if we can overcome our isolation we can get a lot of strength from one another. It would be nice to think that this is the beginning of a sustained campaign.
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August 17th, 2006
We only started organising for the demonstration a few days beforehand, so it was very gratifying to have a good turnout, a speaker (Barrie Levine, who gave an excellent speech), a banner, placards and leaflets. People joined the SJJP group from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and the far North. One supporter, in her eighties, made a 17-hour round trip to join us! She said, like many other people there, that sometimes you just have to act, and this war in Lebanon is such a time.
There was a lot of enthusiasm among the people behind our banner. Protesting against the Lebanon war has given us focus and energy, which have been hard to sustain in the last year in the face of the Gaza withdrawal and the remorseless grinding down of the OPT. No matter what the short-term results of the negotiations over the ceasefire resolution, there’s going to be a need for sustained campaigning for a long time to come. The response to today’s demonstration is a hopeful sign that we can do that.
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August 13th, 2006
So I’ve been putting off posting this, because I couldn’t figure out what to say about it. My first reaction was a sigh, “it goes on.” At some point, I almost stop being surprised. Almost.
I cannot grasp what anyone thinks they have to gain from this. All explanations of the Middle Eastern conflict stop making sense. There is no explanation that I can see anymore.
Shortages in Gaza continue, a ceasefire collapses, a soldier is kidnapped, dozens if not hundreds of Gazan civilians will die for that, a Hezbollah raid, IDF forces in Lebanon…where did it begin? Where will it end?
This didn’t begin with a soldier being kidnapped. This didn’t begin with a crisis in Gaza. This didn’t begin with Hamas being elected, or the intifada, or the collapse of the Camp David agreement, or with 1967. We can go back and back and back and talk about provokations and responses and never get anywhere.
What I will say is that this game of “capture a soldier, and we’ll starve 1.4 million civilians” is grossly mismatched. This game of “illegally occupy a land and a people for 40 years and expect them to be on good behaviour” is stupid. And goodness only knows what Hamas thinks it can stand to gain by blowing stuff up.
And the rest of the world…well, doesn’t really care. We carry on with our lives. We worry instead about oil prices, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll stop to think for a minute about why on earth the BBC is calling it an Israel crisis. I mean, the Isrealis aren’t the ones starving. No media bias there, of course.
There is the expected statement from Washington saying nothing much, just before the US pulled out their veto on regard for human rights a UN resolution condemning Israel’s Gaza incursion (Can’t link to the article because the Haaretz page is down).
Now Israel is “back” in Gaza. The scare quotes are because they were never really “out”. Unsurprising, given the support they get.
So call me a pessimist, but I don’t see an end. It just goes on.
More by
Johann Hari, columnist for the
Independent.
There’s a
Parliamantary Early Day Motion (EDM 2568) that calls for a cessation of violence in the Middle East:
‘That this House expresses grave concern about the escalating crisis in the Middle East that has now spread to Lebanon; notes that Israel’s disproportionate military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, including an air and sea blockade of Lebanon, attacks on the airport in Beirut on 13th July and the killing of at least 35 Lebanese civilians within the first 24 hours, risk provoking further regional conflict by seriously jeopardising the fragile political landscape in Lebanon; condemns Hizballah’s rocket attacks on Israel and the abduction of Israeli soldiers; urges the British Government to call for an immediate cessation of violence from all parties and to condemn the killing of all civilians on all sides; and calls on all sides to respect the other’s sovereignty and international law and to release all prisoners held illegally without trial as a means to end the current crisis.’
Write to your MPs and urge them to support
EDM 2568.
Technorati tags:
Middle East,
Israel,
Gaza,
Lebanon,
Politics
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July 17th, 2006
Jews for Justice for Palestinians published a full-page advert in the Times on Thursday, in a statement titled “What is Israel doing?”, expresses opposition to the Israeli response to the capture of Gilad Shalit, and which calls for opposition to the blockade. The statement was signed by 300 Jews in Britain, and you can view the formateed statement with a full list of signatories at their webpage. Here is the text of the statement.
See also Gideon Levy’s Haaretz op-ed piece, and the BBC article.
Technorati tag: Gaza
tags: Blockade, Solidarity author: avileh comments: No Comments
July 9th, 2006
The Gaza blockade continues. The UN warns that the Isrealis are will be worsening a humanitarian crisis if they do not restore the fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza that have been suspended for the last four days, depleting emergency supplies. Electricity and fuel are necessary to power water pumps, so failure to restore them will result in thirst and disease due to lack of clean drinking water. The Red Cross is negotiating with Israel to pursuade Israel to allow humanitarian aid, especially medicines and food into Gaza.
‘Under international law, Israel has the obligation to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza. It also has the duty to ensure that the vital supplies for the population, including food and medicine, are adequate’
Yesterday, Israeli troops seized a third of the Palestinian cabinet and a further 23 legislators, (democratically elected, remember) all of whom are members of Hamas. The Israelis claim that this is the response to a captured Isreali soldier and Hamas’s declaration of the end of a ceasefire.
Why don’t the Israelis and the international community see how disproportional and unjustified this response is? The blockade has created a situation where Gazans access to food, drinking water, medicine, electricity, and their salaries, has been cut without justification, as collective punishment for the election of Hamas. As predicted, the crisis that the Israelis caused did not result in “security”, but in a Hamas response to the occupation.
To put the Hamas response in perspective, the raid that the Isrealis are citing as cause for this latest closure of Gaza resulted in the death of one soldier and the capture of another. Compare this to the number of people who have died and will die as a result of malnutrition and illness that are directly caused by the blockade. For all that the Israelis cry “security reasons”, they are killing far more civilians than Hamas is, and all as part of illegal collective punishment.
Technorati tags: Hamas, Israel, Gaza
tags: Blockade, Hamas author: avileh comments: No Comments
June 30th, 2006
Despite the opposition to NATFHE’s motion on boycotting Israeli academics who do not publicly declare opposition to the occupation of Palestine, the motion passed narrowly at the NATFHE conference this past weekend. The motion has sparked some strong reactions.
Technorati tags: NATFHE, academic boycott
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May 30th, 2006
The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) has put forward a motion to boycott Israeli academic institutions, that is to be voted on at the NATFHE conference this weekend. Via Engage, here is the letter that was published in today’s Guardian in opposition to the academic boycot, which explicitely condemns the occupation:
‘We call on Natfhe to reject the motion that “invites” academics to blacklist Israeli “institutions and individuals” that do not “publicly dissociate themselves” from “Israeli apartheid policies”. The purpose of the apartheid analogy is not to shed light on the conflict but to mobilise an emotional vote for a blacklist. We oppose the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the daily violence that is necessary to sustain it, as we oppose campaigns to kill Israelis. We are for peace and mutual recognition between Israel and Palestine. But this boycott proposal would do more harm than good, if the aim is to bolster the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements.’
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May 28th, 2006
…should not threaten to sue Ahmadinejad.
‘A group of Israeli diplomats wants to sue Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide.
Lawyers are preparing to send a file on Mr Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, to the International Court of Justice.
… The UN convention defines genocide as the intent or actual destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.’
Incitement to genocide? Look, anti-semitism, like any other form of racism, is never ok. That said, Israeli dioplomats should check out the activities of their government and the
IDF. If you represent a government that routinely and systematically ennacts anti-Arab policies and violence, is “incitement to genocide” something you should be so eager to cry?
‘In 2004 the court ruled that parts of Israel’s West Bank “security barrier” that ran through Palestinian land were illegal.’
Quite.
On a separate note, JVP informs me that the “Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2006″ (HR 4681) passed the US House of Representatives and is now headed for the Senate. The bill would stop all funds that go to Palestinians, but as the PA has not directly received US funds for some years, the funds being stopped are not funds that would go to Hamas anyway — they’re funds that would go towards humanitarian aid for Palestinians. Cutting funds for humanitarian aid will on worsen the shortages in Gaza and the West Bank.
tags: Blockade, General author: avileh comments: No Comments
May 27th, 2006
- The Israeli Supreme Court has upheld a racist law that prevents Palestinian Arabs from living with Israeli Arab spouses or family.
- The Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has said that the ceasefire will be extended if the Israelis withdraw to the 1967 borders.
- A White House official is quoted as saying that Israel would “be willing to go bilateral” if Abbas dismantles terrorist organisations. However, Israel knows full-well that Abbas is in no position to do this because he does not control Hamas or Islamic Jihad; which casts doubt on the sincerity of the offer. Ehud Olmert was quoted on the radio as saying he was “willing to devote six to nine months to find a Palestinian partner” before going ahead with his unilateral plan for a withdrawal in the West Bank, thus making it clear that he is not engaging in a genuine negotiation with the Palestinian government.
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May 23rd, 2006
As
Gideon Levy points out yet again, not only has it caused a humanitarian crisis for which the Israeli government and the Quartet are responsible, but because it ultimately attracts support for Hamas and involves the Quartet in a diplomatic farce which it has now lost:
‘Two or three months and the “boycott” party of the Palestinian Authority ended. It was also an especially stupid masked ball: Hamas can now brandish a real achievement. Israel and the world have surrendered unconditionally, and the flow of money to the territories is being renewed.
The problem is that some of the masks have remained, and the foolishness continues: Israel and the world will not transfer monies “directly” to the Hamas government, but rather by means of a special “Hamas bypass” mechanism. This unnecessary mask will also be removed quickly.
What has Israel gained from this game? Nothing. It has only lost. The pictures of shortages and distress have been chalked up, and rightly so, to Israel. …
It is necessary to go back to the two eternal verities: First of all, the Palestinian people elected Hamas in democratic elections, which were held at the initiative of the United States and with Israel’s agreement; secondly, the state of Israel bears the responsibility for the fate of the population in the occupied territories. You wanted elections? Hamas was elected. You wanted to topple the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization? Here are the results. You want occupation? You have to pay the price. There is no way of escaping this.’
Collective punishment of the Palestinians is downright morally appalling, and we’ve seen that it doesn’t work.
The policies of the Israeli government and the Quartet have only served to strengthen support for Hamas. The more the Israeli government continues in its current policies of starving 3.5 million Palestinians, most of whom are living in what is essentially a prison (the occupied territories have no sea port or airport or free movemtn even within the occupied territories), the more Palestinians will turn to the extremism that seems to be fighting back.
There is one positive thing here, however: the blockade and the shortages it caused are finally being chalked up to Israel, instead of Palestinians suffering because of those policies.
Technorati tags: Hamas, Palestine, Israel, Middle East, Politics
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May 15th, 2006
Last night I went to a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) meeting at Euston on the crisis in the Territories. The
PSC organised a strong platform, with Tony Benn, Karma Nabulsi, Lindsey German and Tariq Ali amongst others. Plenty of strong feeling, but the big hall in the Friends’ Meeting House was only half full–maybe a couple of hundred people. Karma Nabulsi had a strong quote from one of her contacts in the OT:
“The silence of the West hurts more than the bullets of the Israelis”
Allowing for a degree of overstatement, it’s still an arresting thought. I’ll say something more about this “silence” in my post about today’s news. The most interesting and controversial speech was from Tariq Ali, who was kept to the end as a rousing finish. The
PSC obviously need him more than he needs them, as his speech was far from the party line. He was very emphatic that you couldn’t understand what is happening without understanding the Palestinian election, which he interpreted for our benefit: it’s because they realised that Oslo would never have given them a viable state (and also, to be fair to Tariq, because they were fed up with Fatah corruption). He didn’t say what would represent viability, though he allowed that a retreat to the 1967 borders would be “a first step” to towards a viable Palestinian state. His views on the future for the region were summed up in this wonderfully dogmatic line:
“Abandoning fantasy politics means a one-state solution”
Most of the speakers made complimentary (and often, I thought, condescending) reference to JfJfP (which is
organising a vigil on Monday night to protest at the
EU’s position).
The PSC is organising a national demonstration in London on May 20th against the blockade.
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May 10th, 2006
Cutting off aid to the Hamas-controlled PA is having a severe impact on Palestinians. The West Bank economy has been dependent on foreign aid since before the election, and the lack of aid now means that public-sector employees are not receiving wages, crushing the already fragile economy:
‘The World Bank estimates that only 12 per cent of the PA’s economic activity was ever internally generated. The rest came from outside, either through Palestinians earning wages in Israel or foreign donor support. When Yasser Arafat, then the Palestinian leader, launched the armed intifada in late 2000, Israel closed the checkpoints to the occupied territories, reducing the income from foreign earnings to a trickle. By the time Hamas won power in January’s general election, the PA was in debt to the tune of £451 million.’
Border closures that prevent Palestinians living in the West Bank from getting to their jobs in Jerusalem are also taking their toll, and have now sparked protest from the UN Relief and Works Agency:
‘Anders Fange, director of operations in the West Bank of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East … said: “I do understand the Israeli security considerations but the government of Israel should also live up to its obligations under international law to allow freedom of movement for U.N. personnel. This recent development impedes our work capacity at a time of increased need.”‘
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May 8th, 2006
There’s another excellent editorial by Gideon Levy.
‘Does anyone among our excellent artillery forces think about the great fear they are causing to the children upon whose homes they are launching their shells? Have they been shown pictures of the destruction they sowed, whether deliberately or not? No Qassam rocket justifies this terrible, disproportionate bombing, thousands of shells in a densely populated area, on its fields and occasionally on its homes; the echoes of this shelling did not reach Israel and did not interest anyone here. Last week we went to bombarded Beit Lahiya, in the row of houses that was shelled there, two dead and several wounded, this week in bombarded Beit Hanoun, three children wounded and dozens suffering from shock. ‘
The IDF response?
‘The IDF spokesman: [said] “The IDF operates to defend the citizens of the State of Israel, and in response carries out firing toward the sources and points of launching, while trying as much as possible to avoid hitting populated areas. Unfortunately, the terror organizations are exploiting the IDF’s sensitivity in regard to harming civilians, and deliberately operate near and from populated areas, using the Palestinian population as a ‘human shield.’”‘
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May 8th, 2006
Since Pesach, I have been thinking a lot about the ideas central to the seder: liberation of the oppressed, celebration that our basic needs are met and of our freedom, and sharing what we have with those less fortunate. I cannot help thinking about these ideas in the context of current events. There’s a post over at
IrrationalPoint’s blog about precisely this:
‘How is it possible to read [the Haggadah] and not think of people who are hungry, who are in need, and who are not free? Moreover, how can we discuss oppression in Jewish history, and then turn a blind eye to oppression in the modern world?
It is not, of course, only the human tragedies that involve Jews that we should be thinking of. Oppression and hardship do not, after all have a special Jewish dimension. There are many many places across the globe where people are hungry or in need, through war, irresponsible human activity, extreme poverty, or natural disasters: Darfur, New Orleans, Tibet, Nepal, Iraq, and countless other places.
Yet Jews cannot ignore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the deaths and hardship that have resulted, both directly — through suicide bombings or military attacks on civilians — and indirectly — through malnutrition in Gaza, for example.’
Updates on the Gaza crisis posted below.
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May 7th, 2006
I wrote on April 13th and 16th about the human disaster that can be predicted as a result of the EU, American and Israeli policy towards Hamas, and about the resolute silence in the media about it. The silence was broken on Tuesday night by a report on Channel 4 news (you can watch it again here) from Gaza, where hospitals are running out of essential supplies and people are dying as a result. It’s one thing to write about economic blockades, another to actually see a person with cancer or kidney failure, deprived of treatment and even of pain relief by this savage policy.
Do any of the people responsible for the EU policy actually think about what they are doing? I suppose the theory must be that if enough suffering is inflicted on the Palestinian people they will, in desperation, force Hamas to recognise Israel and thus allow the peace process to resume. This idea is wrong on at least three different counts
- First and most important, it is a form of collective punishment and therefore wrong by definition. The suffering is being inflicted on people regardless of their opinions, how they voted, whether they support violent action, or anything else about them. They are suffering because they are Palestinians.
- It won’t work in changing Hamas policies. Palestinians will only become more angry over the occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza, and more determined to defy it. There is a big debate in Hamas at the moment on how to proceed after the elections; this policy can only help the hardliners.
- If it did work, the long-term effect would be to hugely increase the bitterness of the Palestinians towards Israel and the occupation. How is that a basis for the reconciliation that is supposedly going to be the foundation for peace in the region?
We expect nothing better from the American and Israeli governments; we know how much they are influenced by humanitarian concern for the Palestinians. But the EU, which has claimed the higher ground in the past, has now joined them. It seems that “The International Community”, so keen in principle on the idea of democracy in the Arab world, is in reality prepared to go to any lengths to stamp it out when it actually happens.
There seems little we can do about this. At least sign the petition and write to your MEPs.
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May 4th, 2006
Today is Israeli Independence Day, the 58th anniversary of the declaration of the independence of the state of Israeli in 1948 by Ben-Gurion.
Via
Engage,
Hillel Schenker talks about attending a memorial service for the Israelis who have died in Israel’s wars since 1948, and marking Independence Day:
‘So we sat together, Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, musing about where we’re at. The second intifada and the violent Israeli response have left both people’s licking their wounds. [...]
We have lunch together, Israelis and Palestinians, sharing some felafel, humous and full, with pita bread and olives. I say that I will only feel capable of celebrating a really happy Israeli Independence Day when it will be accompanied by a Palestinian Independence Day. And I do believe that that day will come.
“Inshallah,” says Najat.’
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May 4th, 2006
It’s extraordinary how little attention the situation in the OT is getting just now. The Guardian carried a story entitled Gaza on the Brink of Implosion yesterday, but overall no-one seems to know or care what is going on as Israel, the US, and the EU impose a harsh collective punishment on the Palestinians because of the way they voted. An MEPs’ delegation to Israel-Palestine has denounced EU policy as likely to turn a crisis into a catastrophe.
There is at least now an online petition which you can sign to help build conciousness of the situation–I don’t think anyone is suggesting that it will itself do much to change policy. For a little more work, you can have a little more influence by writing to your MEPs (this page will tell you how to contact them). In London, two Conservative MEPs have been supportive!–who knows what the Scottish MEPs might say if we lobbied them effectively?
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April 16th, 2006
