UB Students for Justice in Palestine

Sabra and Shatila Massacre

2010-10-21T20:33:00.003-04:00

Hey all,
Last minute but tommorrow (October 22) is an event sponsored by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of WNY (ADC) entitled the "Sabra and Shatila Massacre 28 Years on". First-hand acccounts are being presented by Nabil Mohammad (survivor, ADC Organizer) and Don Wagner (eyewitness, Presbyterian Minister). It's in Knox 104, North Campus, UB at 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.

Gaza Aid Flotilla Attacks EMERGENCY PROTEST

2010-05-31T15:37:00.001-04:00

Dear all:

Yesterday, Israel attacked the Gaza aid flotilla bringing humanitarian supplies to besieged Gaza. The ships were carrying European diplomats, Middle Eastern Diplomats, and nobel laureates in addition to humanitarian aid. 14 people aboard the first ship were killed when Israeli special forces launched an all-out attack on the aid convoy involving navy vessels, army helicopters and paratroopers. Those who were not killed have been detained by Israeli authorities in Haifa, Israel.

Buffalo will be holding a protest in solidarity of those killed. Here is the information:

All Out to Defend Gaza
Denounce Israeli Attack and Massacre on Civilian Freedom Flotilla Bringing Humanitarian Aid to Gaza!
Demand U.S. Stop All Funding for Israel NOW!
The U.S.-Israeli Siege of Gaza is a Crime Against Humanity — End it Now!

Demonstrate Tuesday June 1, 4:30pm
Senator Schumer's Office
130 S. Elmwood

The Israeli military committed the crime of attacking a flotilla of civilian boats in international waters on May 31 and massacred civilians on board. The Freedom Flotilla of 7 ships, with about 700 people from around the world on board, was bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. The raid took place in international waters, with more than a dozen Israeli battleships surrounding the unarmed civilian ships. Israeli military commandos boarded and opened fire, killing 19 civilians and wounding dozens more. Israel is still refusing to fully report the numbers and identities.

This is a U.S.-backed Israeli crime that Obama remains silent about. The White House has said only that “The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained, and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.” The circumstances are the crime of the U.S.-Israeli siege of Gaza and the crime of collective punishment. The problem is U.S.-Israeli use of military solutions to political and humanitarian issues — just as the U.S. is doing internally with immigration.

We say NO! Join Buffalonians in denouncing the Israeli attack
and U.S. funding and protection for it.
Demonstrate June 1, 4:30pm Schumer's Office, 130 S. Elmwood

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ISRAELI ATTACKS ON THE GAZA AID FLOTILLA, SEE BELOW:

http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37423584/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVd-pAQ5X7M&feature=player_embedded

http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-navy-commandos-gaza-flotilla-activists-tried-to-lynch-us-1.293089

http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-i-regret-gaza-flotilla-deaths-but-israeli-troops-had-right-to-self-defense-1.293187

http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37423584/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

For video from various outlets:
http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=563

Live coverage on Al Jazeera English: http://www.facebook.com/l/87639;www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english

Boycott the Israel Ballet February 23rd

2010-02-19T12:29:00.004-05:00

In 2006, the Israeli Foreign Ministry launched the “Brand Israel” campaign “to show Israel’s prettier face” abroad, diverting global attention from the Palestinians. This campaign includes the Israel Ballet, described by the Israeli Consulate in New York as a “cultural representative of the State of Israel.” On Tuesday, February 23rd, the Israel Ballet will show the University at Buffalo the peaceful, pretty, Western face of Israel. But instead, we should be seeing the growing list of UN reports condemning Israel for human rights violations in the occupied territories and the systemic discrimination of the twenty percent Arab population in Israel.

With twenty percent of its citizens of Palestinian Arab descent, Israel claims to be a multi-racial democracy. Yet not a single Israel Ballet dancer, not a single member of its staff or directors, is Palestinian. It does not represent the twenty percent of Israelis who attend separate schools, receive less funding for education, and face discrimination in employment, in property purchases, in language, and in law. And it certainly does not represent the 1.5 million Palestinians who suffer intolerable conditions in Gaza, where 80% live off of UN food aid and over 40% are unemployed.

In January 2009, Israel Ballet founder Berta Yampolsky said, “Luckily, right now we don’t have to worry about war: despite our problems, this is a safe place; there’s no crime, and you don’t have to be afraid at night.” I wish I could say the same thing to the Palestinian child blinded earlier that month by white phosphorus shells Israel launched at his UN School, or the other 1417 residents of Gaza killed during Israel’s widely-criticized “Operation Cast Lead”: 1181 of them civilians, 313 of them children.

People of conscience around the world have endorsed a Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions to be applied against Israel to end its discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, to end its apartheid practices, to withdraw fully from all lands conquered in 1967, and to restore the rights of Palestinian refugees everywhere to either return to their homes or receive just compensation. In recognition of this campaign of non-violent action against Brand Israel’s state propaganda offensive, UB Students for Justice in Palestine calls on the university community to boycott the Israeli Ballet next Tuesday evening.

The Israel Ballet will perform at 8pm in the Center for the Arts, UB North Campus. Please email ubsjp48@gmail.com or call 518-364-2012 if you are interested in joining.

New Posts and Old Ghosts

2010-02-07T17:26:00.005-05:00

Hello fellow advocates for justice,

As you have probably noticed, our blog has not been updated as frequently as we would like. So to make up for this, UB SJP has decided that we will have a weekly update, each from a different member. These updates will cater to the personality of the blogger and will be about everything from current events to past conflicts, anecdotes of those who have lived under the occupation, poems, videos, etc. This way, you can learn more about those who belong to UB SJP and as well as our efforts.

UB SJP

***********************************************

The earthquake in Haiti and the overwhelming global support to its survivors has opened the world's eyes to the suffering of those who do not have access to world-class healthcare. While Haiti is being flooded by numerous global health associations, along with funding from various governments, Gaza still has yet to see the love and support from the global health community. However, this is not to say that Gaza does not have any help at all. In fact, Medecins San Frontiers (or Doctors Without Borders) has set up a field site that is helping those who still feel the effects of last year's Operation Cast Lead. MSF has created a youtube channel, which documents their efforts around the world and includes a profile on Gaza. Despite the help of their field staff and that of other humanitarian organizations, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Doctors in Palestine, both domestic and foreign, struggle to help their patients despite ambulances (and cars with the injured) being barred from crossing checkpoints without full inspections, violation of curfews, or just because the soldiers feel the person seeking healthcare may be a threat. Facilities either lack supplies, specialists, or have mediocre sterilization of their rooms and equipment.

These issues need to be addressed by the global community. The aftermath of Haiti's disaster has shown the compassion present worldwide for human suffering. It is time to extend that same compassion and drive to help to our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

Different aspects of the health care crisis in Gaza and other parts of Palestine will be discussed in greater detail in coming weekly updates. As for now, I leave you with MSF's video about Gaza.

Dr. Nummy

Action Alert: Tony Blair Protest

2009-10-03T23:50:00.002-04:00

There will be a protest of former UK Prime Minster Tony Blair outside Alumni Arena (Coventry loop) the day of his speech. The protest will start at 7pm and go until his speech is finished around 9pm.

Tony Blair is speaking at the University at Buffalo as part of the UB Distinguished Speakers Series.
He will paid a gross amount of money--150,000 according to his booking agent-- and will speak ironically about faith and activist foreign policy.

Tony Blair, along with Washington, helped organize crippling sanctions upon the Iraqi regime during the late 1990's, which directly led to the deaths of 100,000's of Iraqi children. The children died of contaminated water and malnutrition while the target, Saddam, continued to live the high life. Then in 2003, Tony Blair yet again punished the Iraqi people. He helped the Bush administration invade Iraq under false pretenses and crooked ideology. The conflict has created five million refugees and casualties range from 100,000 to 1.2 million.

He has since continued to justify his neo-activist foreign policy, along with its disastrous results. UB SJP is calling for all activists to boycott this speech.

Further information about the protest can be found here: Buffalo Activist.

If you would like to get involved, please email: ubsjp48@gmail.com

Tony Blair's speech will be October 7th at 8pm.

Universality of Human Rights: The Gaza War

2009-09-17T08:54:00.002-04:00

This op-ed was published September 17, 2009 in the New York Times.

Justice in Gaza by Richard Goldstone

I ACCEPTED with hesitation my United Nations mandate to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war and international human rights during Israel’s three-week war in Gaza last winter. The issue is deeply charged and politically loaded. I accepted because the mandate of the mission was to look at all parties: Israel; Hamas, which controls Gaza; and other armed Palestinian groups. I accepted because my fellow commissioners are professionals committed to an objective, fact-based investigation.

But above all, I accepted because I believe deeply in the rule of law and the laws of war, and the principle that in armed conflict civilians should to the greatest extent possible be protected from harm.

In the fighting in Gaza, all sides flouted that fundamental principle. Many civilians unnecessarily died and even more were seriously hurt. In Israel, three civilians were killed and hundreds wounded by rockets from Gaza fired by Hamas and other groups. Two Palestinian girls also lost their lives when these rockets misfired.

In Gaza, hundreds of civilians died. They died from disproportionate attacks on legitimate military targets and from attacks on hospitals and other civilian structures. They died from precision weapons like missiles from aerial drones as well as from heavy artillery. Repeatedly, the Israel Defense Forces failed to adequately distinguish between combatants and civilians, as the laws of war strictly require.

Israel is correct that identifying combatants in a heavily populated area is difficult, and that Hamas fighters at times mixed and mingled with civilians. But that reality did not lift Israel’s obligation to take all feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians.

Our fact-finding team found that in many cases Israel could have done much more to spare civilians without sacrificing its stated and legitimate military aims. It should have refrained from attacking clearly civilian buildings, and from actions that might have resulted in a military advantage but at the cost of too many civilian lives. In these cases, Israel must investigate, and Hamas is obliged to do the same. They must examine what happened and appropriately punish any soldier or commander found to have violated the law.

Unfortunately, both Israel and Hamas have dismal records of investigating their own forces. I am unaware of any case where a Hamas fighter was punished for deliberately shooting a rocket into a civilian area in Israel — on the contrary, Hamas leaders repeatedly praise such acts. While Israel has begun investigations into alleged violations by its forces in the Gaza conflict, they are unlikely to be serious and objective.

Absent credible local investigations, the international community has a role to play. If justice for civilian victims cannot be obtained through local authorities, then foreign governments must act. There are various mechanisms through which to pursue international justice. The International Criminal Court and the exercise of universal jurisdiction by other countries against violators of the Geneva Conventions are among them. But they all share one overarching aim: to hold accountable those who violate the laws of war. They are built on the premise that abusive fighters and their commanders can face justice, even if their government or ruling authority is not willing to take that step.

Pursuing justice in this case is essential because no state or armed group should be above the law. Western governments in particular face a challenge because they have pushed for accountability in places like Darfur, but now must do the same with Israel, an ally and a democratic state.

Failing to pursue justice for serious violations during the fighting will have a deeply corrosive effect on international justice, and reveal an unacceptable hypocrisy. As a service to the hundreds of civilians who needlessly died and for the equal application of international justice, the perpetrators of serious violations must be held to account.

Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor for war-crime tribunals on Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, is the head of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.

Action Alert: Demonstration next Wednesday the 9th End the Siege on Gaza!

2009-09-04T15:43:00.004-04:00

This coming Wednesday, UB SJP will be hosting an on-campus protest of the ongoing siege of Gaza. The protest will be at noon in Founders plaza right outside Capen hall.

Our reasons for protest are below:

The Israeli army has besieged the tiny coastal strip of Gaza for 26 months now, beginning July of 2007. UBSJP would like to help the International community force Israel to end the siege. As citizens of the United States, we have the most say. The US army supplied Israel with many of the arms used in the conflict, and with much of the money. In one year, the United States gives Israel more aid money than it does all of Africa, read ALL OF AFRICA! That is to the tune of 3 billion dollars. In addition, the US army has special deals with the Israeli defense forces and is given billions of dollars in government-funded loans approved by congress. We want to stop this funding until Israel has ended its siege on Gaza.

The Siege has carried on for 26 months, beginning in July of 2007. In January of 2009, the Israeli army began a three-week Military campaign entitled “Operation Cast Lead.” The figures below are from that attack.

Palestinians killed: 1417, 926 civilians of which over 400 were children.
Palestinians injured: 5,303
Israelis killed: 13
Israelis wounded: 518
Gazans displaced: over 50, 800
2 billion worth of damage to Gaza
4000 homes destroyed
400,000 left without running water
80 government buildings hit

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Israeli human rights group B’tselem, United Nations. These organizations have accused Israel of the following illegal actions:

Using Human Shields
Collective punishment
Near Starvation
Use of White Phosphorous in a densely populated area
Bombing of Red Crescent trucks
Killing of non-combatants and minors
Bombing of schools
Bombing of hospitals
Prohibiting access to medical care
Restricting movement
Lack of proportionality
Destruction of homes and property
Denial of emergency relief and humanitarian aid to the strip

The Israeli army has continued to besiege Gaza since the January offensive. Palestinians have not been able to leave, rebuild their homes, or restart their lives. They are forced to rely on smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border. Please come out to the protest and help stop this humanitarian catastrophe!

Palestinian PM Fayyad Inteverview with Israeli Newspaper Haaretz

2009-08-14T10:55:00.004-04:00

The following is an interview conducted by Haaretz correspondent Akiva Eldar of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad who in the past worked for the International Monetary Fund.

Israel's character is it's own business. It is not up to the Palestinians to define it, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Thursday, when asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

"Israel's character is Israel's business and nobody else's," Fayyad says in an interview with Haaretz.

"The character of Israel, as the total character that Israel would like to have, is Israel's own choice. It characterizes itself in the way that it wishes to characterize itself. Why raise it now? Why would you want to settle it now when we haven't settled anything else? Needless to say, however which way Israel decides to characterize itself as a product of the political system of Israel, is [up to] Israel. This condition wasn't mentioned in the Oslo Accords, and I see no room to set new conditions or preconditions for the negotiations. Until today all we received in exchange for recognizing the two-state solution and stopping the armed struggle was your recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the Palestinian people's representative," he says.

To see rest of article...click here.

Interview with Ilan Pappe

2009-08-02T17:26:00.002-04:00

Not to let anything be known before it should, here is a peak at the mind of Ilan Pappe, famous Israeli Historian and Faculty Professor at the University of Exeter.

Controversial historian Ilan Pappe left Israel last year after his endorsement of an academic boycott of Israel exposed him and his family to death threats. Now a professor in England, Pappe maintains that a cultural boycott on his homeland is the only way to end the occupation

Ayelet Negev Published: 03.15.08, 23:49 / [1] Israel News

Last summer, the Pappe family packed its belongings, rented out its spacious house in Israel and moved to Britain. Ever since his support of an academic boycott on Israel’s universities became public, historian Ilan Pappe, 54, has felt like public enemy number one. Pappe says he had received death threats by phone almost on a daily basis.

Did it not occur to you that calling for an academic boycott on Israel might incite the public against you?

“I supported the boycott because I believe that without pressure, Israel will not end the occupation. Even before then I reached the conclusion that the peace process enables Israel to stall for time. When in 2003 several international organizations approached me and asked whether I would support the boycott I replied positively.

“I believe that things would change only if Israel receives a strong message that as long as the occupation continues it would not be a legitimate member of the international community, and that until then its academics, doctors and authors would not be welcome. A similar boycott was imposed on South Africa. It took 21 years, but it eventually led to the end of Apartheid.”

Do you also call for an economic boycott of Israel?

“I am currently editing a book that compares the situation in Israel to the situation in South Africa, and I’m becoming convinced that there too, the economic boycott was less effective than the cultural one. As the son of German Jews, I know how important it is for our elites to be a part of Europe.”

Did you wholeheartedly support the boycott?

“No, you can’t wholeheartedly recommend a boycott of your society, especially when it includes you place of work, the Haifa University… The last thing I enjoy is being the person that holds up a mirror to his society’s face and says, ‘Look how ugly you are.’ Some people like to challenge and incite their neighbors. I’m not like that, I don’t write in order to annoy and I certainly don’t hate myself, and I also love many people in Israel. I did not commit treason.

“But, I’m a historian, and this is the truth the way I see it: The story of a victim and a victimizer. And the victim is the Palestinians. Without idealizing the Palestinians -victims are not necessarily nice people, but they are still victims.”

Pappe claims that his promotion at Haifa University has been blocked due to his political activity. “Provincial Haifa was unwilling to grant me the rank of a professor. I left for England as a doctor and in two days I climbed two ranks and became a faculty professor at the University of Exeter,” he states.

However, Haifa University President Aharon Ben-Zeev claims that the university applied only relevant considerations in the question of Pappe’s promotion. “We applied the regular criteria according to the university’s constitution: Not only the list and quality of publications, but other considerations pertaining to the contribution to the university, teaching and so on,” he explained.

Claims of ethnic cleansing

In an article published in the Israeli Mita’am Review for Literature and Radical Thought this week, titled “On the destruction of the Palestinian cities, spring 1948,” Pappe maintains that the claim that the Arab residents fled or left their homes willingly during the war is false, and that a policy of “cleansing” the area from Arabs was employed as part of a plan to establish a Jewish-only state.

Pappe made similar claims in his book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, which was published in England in 2006, in which he also presented testimonies of alleged massacres of Palestinians by Jewish soldiers.

These claims have been contested by many historians in Israel and abroad. Dr. Mordechai Bar-On, a research fellow at the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute and a former MK, calls Pappe “a propagandist, not a historian.” Bar-On said that “the term ethnic cleansing is a vicious one, because it has never been used prior to the wars in former Yugoslavia. Indeed, there were places where Arab were expelled… but to say that there was an evil plan since the inception of Zionism for a forceful transfer – this is simply wrong and vicious.”

However, Pappe insists that allowing the Palestinian refugees to return to Israel is the only thing that could secure peace in the region.

Would you be willing to vacate your home when they return to what used to be their villages near your house in Tivon?

“After years of working with refugees around the world and attending conferences on the right of return, I believe that no such notion exists on the Palestinian side. They want to return while understanding that they will live alongside the Jews. They don’t want to expel anyone. What turned me into a great lover of the Palestinians is the will of many among them to share the land with us. Even people in Hamas.

“The reason most of my friends in the territories voted for Hamas wasn’t because they didn’t want to share the land with the Israelis, but because they thought Hamas would be more effective in the struggle against the occupation.”

By using terror?

“They don’t consider this to be terror. Fatah and Hamas employ the tools of the weak, because they don’t have planes or tanks. They are as violent as the Israelis, no more or less, with only one difference: The difference between the violence of the occupier and the violence of those fighting occupation.”

An article you wrote titled “Genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank” was published in the Tehran Times about a month ago. Are you providing the enemy with weapons against us?

“On the contrary, I wish to speak to the people in Iran. A Jordanian newspaper wrote in its editorial a year ago that absurdly, I am Israel’s best ambassador in the Arab world, because they say – if such Israelis exist, maybe there’s hope for peace with the Jewish state.”

Would you like your sons to serve in the army?

“It’s their decision, but I preferred it if they didn’t. As long as Israel has an occupying army, a rather cruel army, I wouldn’t want them to be part of it… I don’t think there is one moral person in the world that supports what Israel stands for. And it pains me to say this. I truly love the country, I would very much like to live in it, but I very much dislike my state. Everything related to its policy against the Palestinians makes me very angry.”
Pappe denies being more sensitive to the suffering of Palestinians than to that of Israelis. “I’m shocked when I see the child who lost his leg in Sderot, and I’m shocked when I see a child killed in Gaza. But as long as Israel maintains its stance that the Palestinian issue can be resolved by force, the Palestinian side will respond with force.

“Once we realize that the only way is to relinquish some of out holy ideas, and once the Palestinians give up the idea of nationalism, and once they realize that there needs to be one state here that isn’t Jewish nor Palestinian, but a state of all its citizens, like in the US, we will have peace.”

Naqba denial in textbooks

2009-07-22T11:42:00.002-04:00

According to the Associated Press in Jerusalem, Israel has chosen to strike references to al-naqba from textbooks for Arab schoolchildren. The term is already absent from textbooks for Jewish children, but will now be absent from textbooks for Arab schoolchildren as well. This is a gross oppression of thought.

According to Education Minister Gideo Saar, in an address to the Israeli parliament: "No other country in the world, in its official curriculum, would treat the fact of its founding as a catastrophe." I in fact remember quite clearly learning about the oppression and murder of Native Americans in this country, the trail of tears specifically, and I also remember learning about slavery. So, I must disagree with Mr. Saar, there are countries which in their official curriculum teach the diverse opinions surrounding their founding (though, as Americans we still belittle the Native American genocide brought on by white colonization).

Furthermore, nationalist actions such as this only weaken efforts at reconciliation between the two sides. A Jewish child brought up ignorant of history will only be more likely to misunderstand an Arab child's fury on Israel Independence day, while an Arab child taught to ignore his own people's past will only feel hatred toward those who oppress the truth. There will be no reconciliation between the sides without understanding and there will be no understanding without proper education. Measures such as this should never be allowed and we here at UBSJP will do our best to promote both truths of May 14, 1948.

To see the AP article, click here: Israel cuts Palestinian narrative from texts

Palestinians reject any deal between Israel-US allowing for settlement growth to continue

2009-07-12T22:36:00.004-04:00

Reuters published today an article titled, "Palestinians reject any Israel-U.S. settlement deal." I find the title misleading as any casual observer would be led to believe the Palestinians are "rejectionists," a term used to negatively convey any Arab state who is "refusing" to negotiate with Israel. The article is actually discussing Palestinian discontent about a recent Maariv (Israeli newspaper) report, which stated that the US and Israel had come to an agreement allowing for the construction of 2,500 housing units in the West Bank. The report was denied by the US state department; however, Israeli officials have refused to comment on the report, neither denying nor confirming the Maariv report. Palestinians are reasonably concerned about such reports.

Over the years of the Oslo negotiations (the failed peace talks of 1993-2000), settlements increased by 78% at a previously unseen pace. This while the American public was flooded with reports of peace talks. The reason for such an increase in growth during peace talks is up to speculation. Gershom Gorenberg, a noted Israeli author, believes it is related to settlers fearing the end of settlements and thus rushing to complete construction, while Israeli authorities work parallel to the settlers to solidify West Bank land grabs and thus change "the realities on the ground," to quote from Taba. I agree with Gorenberg on why settlements have grown most prodigiously during peace talks and thus fear any peace talks, which do not begin on the condition that settlement growth stop. The peace talks would serve again to deflect attention away from the issue of settlements, while settlers grow untended in numbers, and peace talks amble along. Peace "talks," a favorite of the Western powers working to end the conflict, are never guaranteed to lead to peace (exhibit a: the Oslo years). Therefore, it is crucial that the realities on the ground do not change and the chance for a two-state solution is not lost.

The Palestinian negotiators seem to feel the same way: there is no negotiations with Israel without a stop to settlements. According to Saeb Erekat, "There are no middle-ground solutions for the settlement issue: either settlement activity stops or it doesn't stop." I still feel strongly that Reuters has however taken what is truly a reasonable Palestinian position (one shared by the US and its President) and made it out to be unreasonable, radical, and out of step with the US and Israel. Meanwhile, the US remains clear of any criticism for its hypocritical actions, and Israel appears to be the victim of Palestinian inflexibility,asking for a reasonable exemption: "we only want 'natural growth', Daddy Obama." In summary, Reuters has expertly crafted another article painting the Palestinians in negative light and avoiding strong criticism of Israeli intransigence on settlements.

One lesson for Reuters reporters: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.

Gaza: Two Palestinian girls stand on the balcony of their bullet riddled home

2009-07-06T11:22:00.003-04:00

Palestinian girls stand on the balcony of the ruined house in Rafa, hit during Israel's 22-day offensive against Gaza earlier this year, 2 July 2009 (Photo SAID KHATIB/AFP)

Israel's settlements are on shaky ground

2009-06-28T12:26:00.001-04:00

This opinion was published in the LA Times June 28, 2009. By Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director of Human Rights Watch.

The debate over Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is often framed in terms of whether they should be "frozen" or allowed to grow "naturally." But that is akin to asking whether a thief should be allowed merely to keep his ill-gotten gains or steal some more. It misses the most fundamental point: Under international law, all settlements on occupied territory are unlawful. And there is only one remedy: Israel should dismantle them, relocate the settlers within its recognized 1967 borders and compensate Palestinians for the losses the settlements have caused.

Removing the settlements is mandated by the laws of the Geneva Convention, which state that military occupations are to be a temporary state of affairs and prohibit occupying powers from moving their populations into conquered territory. The intent is to foreclose an occupying power from later citing its population as "facts on the ground" to claim the territory, something Israel has done in East Jerusalem and appears to want to do with much of the West Bank.

To see the rest of the article: LA Times.

Bibi comments on the Iranian protests

2009-06-22T12:03:00.004-04:00

Talk to the hand!

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (informally called Bibi) went on NBC's Meet the Press this past Sunday to talk Iran and peace efforts. He largely failed to communicate any new positions or say anything largely surprising. He did, however, make clear his deference to President Obama and subsequently, Israel's intent to wait for U.S. approval on action over the Iranian nuclear program.

However, I must point out Bibi's blind language. In concern to the danger of oppressive regimes: "There is no question we would all like to see a different Iran [Israel] with different policies. Remember, this is a regime that not only represses its own people. Andrei Sakharov, the great Russian scientist and humanist, said that a regime that oppresses its own people sooner or later will oppress its neighbors and, certainly, Iran [Israel] has been doing that." I am glad to see that Bibi owned up to Israel's oppressive policies in concern to the occupation and its own Arab citizens; oh, wait, he didn't, darn.

Furthermore, Bibi spoke on the domestic response to his Bar-Ilan University speech. He almost said what we would all like to hear: "What I am suggesting is that if we are asked to recognize the Palestinian state as the nation state of the Palestinian people, then the Palestinians should recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people who have been deprived of a land of their own and of security for so long." However, Bibi could not see through his own turnspeak and sadly ended the interview with such a backwards statement. Shouldn't Israel recognize a Palestinian people? Who have been deprived of their land and their safety for so long? I'll let you decide.

To see the interview and read the whole transcript, Click here: Bibi on Meet the Press.

All in a Day's Work: Beating and Torturing Children

2009-06-17T14:57:00.003-04:00

University at Buffalo Students for Justice in Palestine will occasionally publish articles of interest, which we believe will provide particular insight into the daily lives of Palestinians. The following article was published in Counter Punch and can be found here. Thanks to Professor Holstun of the University at Buffalo for alerting us to the article.

All in a Day's Work for the IDF
Beating and Torturing Children
By JONATHAN COOK, Nazareth.

The rights of Palestinian children are routinely violated by Israel’s security forces, according to a new report that says beatings and torture are common. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian minors are prosecuted by Israel each year without a proper trial and are denied family visits.

The findings by Defence for Children International (DCI) come in the wake of revelations from Israeli soldiers and senior commanders that it is “normal procedure” in the West Bank to terrorise Palestinian civilians, including children.

Col Itai Virob, commander of the Kfir Brigade, disclosed last month that to accomplish a mission, “aggressiveness towards every one of the residents in the village is common”. Questioning included slaps, beatings and kickings, he said.

As a result, Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the armed services, was forced to appear before the Israeli parliament to disavow the behaviour of his soldiers. Beatings were “absolutely prohibited”, he told legislators.

Col Virob made his remarks during court testimony in defence of two soldiers, including his deputy commander, who are accused of beating Palestinians in the village of Qaddum, close to Nablus. One told the court that “soldiers are educated towards aggression in the IDF [army]”.

Col Virob appeared to confirm his observation, saying it was policy to “disturb the balance” of village life during missions and that the vast majority of assaults were “against uninvolved people”.

Last week, further disclosures of ill-treatment of Palestinians, some as young as 14, were aired on Israeli TV, using material collected by dissident soldiers as part of the Breaking the Silence project, which highlights army brutality.

For the rest of the article, please click here.

Israeli PM concedes little in speech- BBC News

2009-06-15T09:58:00.001-04:00

Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East Editor

The fact that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu felt it necessary to make a speech at all about a Palestinian state shows that American pressure works.

US President Barack Obama has taken every opportunity he can to restate his view that the only chance of Middle Eastern peace lies with the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Had Mr Netanyahu been prepared to concede the principle of some form of statehood for Palestinians after the Israeli elections in February he might have emerged with a centre-right coalition rather than one dominated by the hard right.

But he did not feel he had to until the Americans indicated he should.

The Israeli prime minister's body language suggested that he was doing it under diplomatic duress.

One Israeli journalist observed that he looked like someone vomiting up the words "Palestinian state".

That was because the idea, however hedged around with conditions, is anathema to his ideology.

To see the rest of the article: BBC News

Action Alert: Buffalo News op-ed

2009-06-11T11:26:00.005-04:00

The Buffalo News published an editorial by Mitch Albom this morning, which questions if the Islamic world heard Obama's speech in Cairo. The article was written in response to a bombing this past week in Pakistan, which killed 40 Pakistanis in prayer, in their mosque. The author criticizes the whole Islamic worlds response to the incident:

"If something like that happened in America, we’d be talking about it for a year. Yet it happens in Pakistan, and I don’t see Muslim leaders around the world screaming for this to stop. I don’t see Arab world presidents or prime ministers or princes lamenting the bloodshed in speeches that call for an end to the violence.

"In fact, there’s not a whole lot beyond a few condemnations and the head-shaking acceptance that this is the way it is, the way it has been for centuries and the way it will be for the years to come. Eyes for eyes. Teeth for teeth. Murder in the name of God."

This generalized critique of the Islamic world stinks of American exceptionalism and ethnocentrism; exceptionalism in his "not here in America" attitude and ethnocentrism in his latent allusion to Islamic cultural savagery. Meanwhile, Mr. Albom gives Obama the status of a failed savior- the Western missionary who has tried so hard to save the doomed culture of the East; but was simply not listened to. It is this latent ethnocentrism that we must be on guard for.

The article went on to to blast Islamic fundamentalism without equally doing justice to other forms of religious fundamentalism: "Remember, Taliban sympathizers claim they are aligned with the purest and most stringent form of their religion. These aren’t atheists bombing mosques. These are people who consider themselves true believers. So true, they would kill for it." Now, the suicide bombing he was referring to was incredibly unjust, inhumane and disgusting; however, it is unfair to say that religious fundamentalism affects only Islamic society. This is a problem even here in the United States. Only a week ago, a Christian fundamentalist walked into a church and killed a doctor who performed late-term abortions. One conservative commentator appears to have condoned the murder! And in Palestine, Jewish Fundamentalists have for years violently attacked Palestinians. In one memorable case, a Jewish fundamentalist walked into a mosque during early morning prayers and shot over 30 Palestinians dead; this was in Hebron. There is no exception for the West; fundamentalism is an evil that permeates all religions, Western or Eastern.

In summary, Mr. Albom has not appeared to listen to Obama. The U.S. is not at war with Islam. There is no clash of Fundamentalism's; rather, it is only there if you choose to see it. This attitude will prove fatal if we continue to effect change across the Middle East through a modern form of "cultural imperialism." We cannot "bring democracy" to the Middle East; rather, we must work within the culutral attitudes prevalent in the area and listen to what the people want, not what we would like to see. This will bring change.

Renewed Call For an End to House Demolitions in the Jordan River Valley

2009-06-09T14:01:00.002-04:00

Amnesty International has reported the demolitions by Israeli authorities of the homes of 18 families in the Jordan River valley, a supposed security zone. The Palestinian families have lived in the area for over sixty years, and are fighting to stay. However, the Israeli authorities are taking increasingly severe measures to evict them-denying them access to water and confiscating their trailers and tractors. And while the Palestinians continue to be harassed, Israeli authorities continue to build up settlements in the very same area. These settlements, which are illegal under international law, continue to grow despite calls by the US president to freeze their growth. Without continued International pressure to stop these house demolitions, the ability of these farmers to resist eviction becomes increasingly more difficult.

Please click the following for more information: Palestinian homes at risk.

UBSJP will be creating a letter for our supporters to sign and send to those Israeli and International authorities who are in a position to act.

Hamas letter to Obama

2009-06-08T09:30:00.002-04:00

The following Hamas letter to Obama was sent out to subscribers of the institute for public accuracy listserv.

"As Obama was traveling to Cairo, the Palestinian group Hamas, which won the most recent Palestinian election, sent a letter to President Obama through the feminist peace group CODEPINK, which just had a delegation in Gaza. Here is the text of the letter:"

His Excellency President Barack Obama,
President of the United States of America.
June 3rd 2009
Dear Mr. President,

We welcome your visit to the Arab world and your administration's initiative to bridge differences with the Arab-Muslim world.

One long-standing source of tension between the United States and this part of the world has been the failure to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

It is therefore unfortunate that you will not visit Gaza during your trip to the Middle East and that neither your Secretary of State nor George Mitchell have come to hear our point of view.

We have received numerous visits recently from people of widely varied backgrounds: U.S. Congressional representatives, European parliamentarians, the U.N.-appointed Goldstone commission, and grassroots delegations such as those organized by the U.S. peace group CODEPINK.

It is essential for you to visit Gaza. We have recently passed through a brutal 22-day Israeli attack. Amnesty International observed that the death and destruction Gaza suffered during the invasion could not have happened without U.S.-supplied weapons and U.S.-taxpayers money.

Human Rights Watch has documented that the white phosphorus Israel dropped on a school, hospital, United Nations warehouse and civilian neighborhoods in Gaza was manufactured in the United States. Human Rights Watch concluded that Israels use of this white phosphorus was a war crime.

Shouldn't you see first-hand how Israel used your arms and spent your money?

Before becoming president you were a distinguished professor of law. The U.S. government has also said that it wants to foster the rule of law in the Arab-Muslim world.

The International Court of Justice stated in July 2004 that the whole of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem are occupied Palestinian territories designated for Palestinian self-determination, and that the Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal.

Not one of the 15 judges sitting on the highest judicial body in the world dissented from these principles.

The main human rights organizations in the world, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have issued position papers supporting the right of the Palestinian refugees to return and compensation.

Each year in the United Nations General Assembly nearly every country in the world has supported these principles for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. Every year the Arab League puts forth a peace proposal based on these principles for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Leading human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have also stated that Israels siege of Gaza is a form of collective punishment and therefore illegal under international law.

We in the Hamas Government are committed to pursuing a just resolution to the conflict not in contradiction with the international community and enlightened opinion as expressed in the International Court of Justice, the United Nations General Assembly, and leading human rights organizations. We are prepared to engage all parties on the basis of mutual respect and without preconditions.

However, our constituency needs to see a comprehensive paradigm shift that not only commences with lifting the siege on Gaza and halts all settlement building and expansion but develops into a policy of evenhandedness based on the very international law and norms we are prodded into adhering to.

Again, we welcome you to Gaza which would allow you to see firsthand our ground zero. Furthermore, it would enhance the US position; enabling you to speak with new credibility and authority in dealing with all the parties.

Very Truly Yours,

Dr. Ahmed Yousef
Deputy of the Foreign Affairs Ministry
Former Senior Political Advisor
to Prime Minister Ismael Hanniya

To see the full text of the letter, click here: Institute for Public Accuracy.

News of the Day

2009-06-05T11:55:00.006-04:00

News has circled around Obama's speech given yesterday; however, the world keeps turning, even while Obama sleeps. So, for news from the last day: The World Council of Churches is planning to focus on Gaza at a Church week in Bethlehem; the Grand Ole Party has given a grand ole response to Obama's speech-the US is being too evenhanded!; Israeli troops responded proportionately to Palestinian rock throwers-by shooting one of the demonstrators dead; Hamas says Obama's speech was no real change; the World Bank has yet again made clear that the occupation must end; Israeli (oops), Palestinian "security forces" killed Hamas militants in the West Bank; Israeli right wingers didn't like the big man's speech; Hizbullah continues to gain in popularity; Haaretz editorials continue to be wise; settlers have now named an outpost after Obama; Palestinians resist, yet again, efforts to stamp out their culture; and uhh...here are some more opinions on everything:

Ali Abunimah--Obama in Cairo:a Bush in sheep's clothing

David Ignatius: To make peace, Obama will have to make serious enemies

Stephen M. Walt (Why the middle initial, Steve?): Is the Israel Lobby getting weaker?

Obama's Speech in Cairo

2009-06-04T11:17:00.006-04:00

President Obama gave today what many have said is a critical speech to the Muslim World. Commentators on US television have debated back and forth what he should say, how he should say it and why he should say it. There has been much anticipation, and Obama, yet again, has seemed to carry through. He quoted the Koran, he praised the history of the Islam world, and he managed to not anger any particular group--a very "even-handed" speech. Read the speech here.

Most striking in Obama's speech, however, was his recognition of Palestinian suffering and the concept of "Palestine." To quote directly from his speech:

"On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations -- large and small -- that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own."

It remains to be seen if Obama will follow through on his promise to end the "intolerable" suffering of the Palestinian people; however, I am here to support him in any efforts to do so. Obama was not without critique, however, of both sides.

Obama reestablished the strong U.S. connection to Israel as "unbreakable"; however, he seemed willing to put pressure on Israel and criticize the governments unacceptable actions in relation to the occupation:

"And Israel must also live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society. Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be a critical part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress."

It would be surprising, to see any concrete action to stop Palestinian suffering in Gaza, though. There is already support building in Congress (as usual emanating from AIPAC)to oppose Obama's strong policies on a settlement freeze and any efforts that resemble support for Hamas (an end to the siege) would encounter unbearable opposition. And so goes the discussion in the US congress; however, I applaud the Presidents efforts to place America's interest in the conflict, ahead of Israels. This is change I can believe in.

Obama critiqued, as well, the Palestinians for using violence to achieve their means:

"Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign neither of courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That's not how moral authority is claimed; that's how it is surrendered."

In this regard, Obama's words hold great standing. Violence is not the answer.

I have been unfailing in my praise for President Obama's words; however, it is what he did not say about the conflict that I criticize. The word violence was attributed to Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims; but never once to America, never once to Israel. There was no criticism of Israeli violence against Palestinians; no change to the one-sided rhetoric that Palestinians must stop their violence; no change to the rhetoric that America is unsullied in its conduct of war in Iraq, and in Afghanistan; no apology for the lives past US diplomacy has taken. There were only demands for a stop to Middle Eastern, to Arab, violence. Am I asking too much that a President denounce his own countries previous (and current) actions in the Middle East? Maybe. Am I asking too much when I demand that he, at least, recognize the undiscerning Israeli attacks in Gaza? No.

President Obama, next time you make a speech about the Israel/Palestine conflict, I demand from you something. That you not only talk about the Palestinian and Israeli obligations, and their mutual suffering; but that you clearly attribute blame to Israel for the suffering and death of thousands of Palestinians.

For more information about his speech, see the reports in: Reuters, CNN, Al Jazeera.

News of the Day

2009-06-03T12:34:00.003-04:00

There were many noteworthy articles of interest today: signs that Congress is preparing to fight Obama on his Middle East Policy; Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman's pronouncement that Israel would not bomb Iran; the much-anticipated Obama speech in Cairo; worrying signs of increasing intra-Palestinian violence; the removal of .33% of Israeli West Bank roadblocks; however, least covered was the increasing settler violence amidst Israeli moves to close illegal West Bank outposts.

In the last several days, settlers have taken responsibility for numerous attacks upon both Palestinian civilians and IDF troops. The unwarranted attacks have consisted mainly of rock-throwing and blocking of roads. In one noteworthy incident, settlers set aflame several Palestinian fields in the northern West Bank. They subsequently left oil and nails along access roads to impede Palestinian firetrucks trying to put out the fires. These violent settler outbursts are in response to increasing Israeli government efforts to close illegal West Bank outposts. These outposts are typically manned by the most ardent of settlers, who believe it is sacred land. In a statement to reporters, a settler group said the attacks were "the price for harming our sacred land." Most exceptionally, the Israeli government has so far taken little action on illegal outposts; however, the government of Israel is expected to further broaden crackdowns on illegal outposts in repsonse to U.S. pressure. It is expected, of course, that this will result in only increased violence. Stay tuned.

And for a good editorial on why Obama should visit Gaza, see Benjamin at electronic intifada: Obama should visit Gaza.

Obama, Israel, and Settlements

2009-06-02T13:58:00.005-04:00

The following two articles highlight the Presidents new objective to freeze Israeli settlement growth. Obama has stated that freezing settlements is one of his top priorities and necessary if there is to be a peace agreement. He also appears ready to pressure Israel to accomplish his objectives. This is a significant change from Bush 43, who acquiesced to virtually all Israeli demands and tacitly supported "natural growth" in settlements. A battle between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama appears to be brewing, as Netanyahu and his government has adamantly opposed a full settlement freeze.

Obama Talks of Being 'Honest' With Israel
By: Helene Cooper

Published: June 1, 2009
New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama indicated on Monday that he would be more willing to criticize Israel than previous administrations have been, and he reiterated his call for a freeze of Israeli settlements.

“Part of being a good friend is being honest,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with NPR News. “And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also U.S. interests.

“We do have to retain a constant belief in the possibilities of negotiations that will lead to peace,” he added. “I’ve said that a freeze on settlements is part of that.”

To see the rest of the article: New York Times

Israeli Minister's Visit Aims to Calm Settlements Dispute
By: Glenn Kessler
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Washington Post

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak began a round of meetings with top U.S. officials yesterday in a bid to head off an increasingly sharp dispute between the United States and Israel over the expansion of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory.

To see the rest of the article: Washington Post

No Electricity in Gaza

2009-06-01T10:54:00.004-04:00

Living without electricity this week (the prior tenant at my apartment was disinclined to pay the electricity bill) has reminded me of what life must be like for the Palestinians living in Gaza. I have no ability to refrigerate or freeze products, I have no hot water, no television, no internet, no DVD's, no ability to charge my cellphone, and of course, no lights! My house is a mess as I just moved in; yet, as I work during the day, I can never clean it, since it is dark by the time I get home. Yet, my miseries are nothing compared to those Palestinians living in Gaza without any electricity, clean water, or even basic foodstuffs.

The lack of energy for Gaza (fuel and electricity could be used to manufacture rockets...) has left Palestinians jobless, as industry has collapsed under the weight of a crippling Israeli siege. The daily life of a Gazan is centered on the basics: waiting in line for bread, building a new home or outfitting the UNRWA supplied tent, taking care of the kids, and maybe working, if work can be found. There is no ability to cross the border one mile away and work in Israel. If blessed enough to own a field, it is often at serious risk that one farm it. Those same fields are under constant Israeli attention and farmers have consistently been subject to attack. But, back to life without electricity. During the January offensive, it was often noted in Western media that Israel was acting in a humane way--they alerted Palestinians with flyers and text messages to leave their homes. Not only was there no place to flee to (the gaza strip is the size of two D.C.'s), without electricity how does one charge a phone to receive a text message!??! Furthermore, there are the hospitals and the medical care- having power in a hospital less than 24hrs a days is unacceptable. It should be noted that Israel controls electricity for Gaza, as well as the fuel to run generators and electric plants based in Gaza. Limiting energy going to Gaza is collective punishment and under humanitarian law, an occupying power may not collectively punish the occupied for the resistance of a few. If one makes the argument that Gaza is not occupied, ask oneself: does controlling electricity, water, food, borders, airspace, radio waves, sewage, and coastal waters equal occupation? I believe the only answer is yes. End the siege on Gaza.

List other effects of life without electricity below...

World Bank, Palestinian, Israel debate water crisis in West Bank

2009-05-30T09:30:00.001-04:00

Xinhua article by David Harris, Huang Heng

JERUSALEM, May 27 (Xinhua) -- As many Palestinians in the West Bank living on just 15 liters of water per day, the World Bank believed "the water crisis has reached a humanitarian scale."

Pier Francesco Mantovani, the organization's lead water supply and sanitation specialist for the Middle East and North Africa, made the comment during an environmental conference in Jerusalem Wednesday after the World Bank published a report on the water situation in the Palestinian areas, with a focus on the West Bank.

According to the World Health Organization, the minimum quantity of water needed for short-term survival is 30 liters per capita per day.

To read the rest of the article, click here: Xinhua-World Bank Water Findings

Amnesty International Blames Israel for Breaking Truce With Hamas

2009-05-28T13:54:00.002-04:00

Amnesty International (AI), in its annual report on the Middle East released today, blamed Israel for breaking a six-month ceasefire with Palestinian group Hamas, and for grave breaches of Humanitarian law in its later offensive into the Gaza strip. Amnesty blamed Israel for having collectively punished the entirety of Gaza, and its civilians, with an 18-month crippling siege prior to the January conflict (that continues to this very day), and for a November fourth Israeli attack in Gaza, in which six Hamas fighters were killed. Israel had been expected in a June ceasefire agreement with Hamas to increase the amount of trucks let in to Gaza and to not instigate conflict. Israel did not live up to this agreement. Israel violated the ceasefire by first not diminishing its collective blockade of foodstuffs, medical supplies and building materials and second by invading Gaza on U.S. election day (November 4th).

In the ensuing debate in U.S. media over who started the conflict, blame repeatedly fell on the shoulders of Hamas. Even the U.S. President supported the Gaza offensive and blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire with renewed rocket attacks. It is refreshing to see an absolute refute of this "blame claim" by AI. Nevertheless, this does nothing to change the horrid conditions of Gaza.

Gaza continues to be under crippling Israeli siege. Products to rebuild the thousands of destroyed homes remain stuck at the border, along with simple foodstuffs such as couscous and pasta. The siege has been described as near-starvation of the Gazan people and many sick or injured have died at the hands of Israeli border authorities, waiting to leave Gaza to receive the medical treatment they desperately need. Hundreds continue to live in tents set up by UNRWA, and few have work to do. The Israeli authorities have created what has repeatedly been called a "concentration camp" or an "open-air prison," and yet, little continues to be done to relieve their perpetual suffering. It appears hopeless to rely on the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. to stop the suffering of Gaza's civilians. Instead, we must act ourselves. Act today by joining UB SJP and contribute to the cause of justice.

To be a part of UB SJP Email ubsjp48@gmail.com.

George Galloway in Buffalo?

2009-05-27T16:03:00.003-04:00

George Galloway is the brilliant British MP who has been advocating ferociously for the rights of Palestinians and Iraqis for years. For a good sample of his powers as a speaker, see his defense of the Lebanese against the Israeli onslaught of 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249JaIaubVw&feature=related.

He's now in the United States on a tour of solidarity with and fundraising for Gaza. I've heard a report that he may be visiting Buffalo soon. I'll post any developments I hear about.

Homeless in Gaza and a feat of clay

2009-05-27T12:53:00.004-04:00

Djallal Malti in GAZA CITY (AFP) — All of Amer Aliyan's hopes of rebuilding his life are placed in a carefully folded sheet in his wallet, a document that for the foreseeable future in Gaza is nothing but a worthless piece of paper.

"I'm waiting for the reconstruction, but I know it will take time," the 36-year-old says.

This is a gross understatement in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip where an Israeli blockade is preventing the rebuilding effort after the devastation caused by a brief but deadly war at the turn of the year.

Aliyan's house was one of several thousand destroyed during the massive 22-day onslaught unleashed by Israel on the Islamist Hamas-run Gaza in December in response to militant rocket and mortar fire from the enclave.

Since the end of the war, the unemployed dry cleaner has lived under canvas with his wife and five children in one of 93 tents set up on the outskirts of the Beit Lahiya refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The paper secreted inside his wallet is the official attestation that his home was destroyed, and it is a document that will entitle him to funds for rebuilding once the reconstruction starts.

But that is unlikely to begin any time soon, and until it does the thousands of Gazans who like Aliyan lost their homes in the war will just have to fend for themselves.

Reconstruction is a non-event not because there is a lack of demand. Some 4,100 houses was destroyed during the war, as were 48 government buildings, 31 police stations and 20 mosques, among others.

Nor is it for lack of money -- in coffers worldwide sit a whopping 4.5 billion dollars that donors pledged to the Palestinians in March, most of it towards reconstruction in Gaza.

The rebuilding is not able to get under way because of the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza in June 2007 when Hamas, a group pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state, seized the enclave in a deadly takeover.

The billions of dollars in pledges remain where they are because the international community refuses to release the money directly to Hamas, branded as a terror organisation by Israel and much of the West.

The blockade, under which only essential humanitarian goods are allowed into the territory sandwiched between Israel and Egypt, means building materials stay on the outside, as Israel says they can also be used to make rockets.

In a bid to get around these restrictions, Gazans have dug dozens of tunnels under the border with Egypt that are used to bring in supplies, including construction materials such as cement, paint and wood.

The resulting trade is brisk, but limited and dangerous. The hastily dug tunnels often collapse, burying smugglers alive. The Israeli military still targets them in occasional bombing raids.

Because of the blockade the price of building materials has skyrocketed. A bag of cement now costs 220 shekels (56 dollars, 40 euros) compared with 20 shekels previously.

But the cement is of low quality, according to Hadj Salim who operates one of the tunnels, and it cannot be used to mix construction-grade concrete.

Other vital materials such as the steel rods used to reinforce concrete in buildings are too long to fit through the tunnels, Salim says.

With construction at a standstill, the newly homeless residents of the Gaza Strip where the vast majority of the 1.5 million population depends on foreign aid have had to make do.

The fortunate have found temporary housing. Some stay with relatives in what is already one of the most densely populated places on earth. But people with nowhere else to go are living in tents.

"Those who can go with families, the others stay here. There's one 12-member family living in a store room and they're paying for that," says Khaled Abu Ali, who is in charge of administrative affairs at the tent camp.

Others have turned to innovative measures.

Jihad al-Shaer, 36, was living with his wife and five kids in his parents' Rafah home when he got the idea to build a house from clay bricks in December, before the war that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

"The idea came from houses I'd seen in Bangladesh and Pakistan," he says.

He finished their 80-square-metre (860-square-foot) house in February -- after the war -- and today proudly shows off the results.

"It's cool in the summer, warm in the winter and only cost me 3,000 dollars," he says.

The one-storey structure that seems to grow out of its sandy surroundings was happily blessed a few weeks ago with the birth of Shaer's first son after four daughters.

His idea caught on quickly in tiny Gaza, and in early May the territory's Hamas rulers announced they would offer the option of building houses out of clay for those who want it.

After weeks of searching, Aliyan has finally found temporary living quarters for the months -- or what some fear may become years -- until Israel lifts its blockade and reconstruction is finally able to begin in dusty Gaza.

He, his wife and their children have managed to rent a small space at the back of a bakery, next to the oven.

To see the original article: Agence France Presse

New Rules for Palestinian Study in Israel

2009-05-26T09:56:00.002-04:00

The Jerusalem Post reported that the High Court of Israel has accepted rules limiting Palestinian study in Israel. The rules come from the army and are as follows:

Only PhD and Masters students will be considered and only if there is no practical alternative to studying in Israel
Preference will be given to applicants to programs focusing on regional cooperation or developing coexistence and regional peace. The Education Ministry must testify as to the nature of the program
Palestinians will not be allowed to study professions that have the potential to be used against Israel.
The applicant will have to provide the army with a detailed request from a recognized academic institution explaining the grounds on which the institution wants him to study there
There will be no further examination if the applicant has a security or criminal record.
The army will take into account the age of the applicant and his personal status.
The army, at its own discretion, may refuse to consider an applicant even if the student meets the above criteria.

The High Court will allow for appeals based on the discretionary refusals; however, that is the only objection to the army rules. Numerous academics in Israel objected to the Army's foray into matters they felt were purely academic.

Settlement Freeze

2009-05-22T13:21:00.001-04:00

The Christian Science Monitor carried today a terrific piece covering efforts to freeze the growth of settlements. In it, there is discussion of the intricacies of a settlement freeze and the difficult of defining what exactly a settlement freeze should be. Israel agreed to a settlement freeze at the most recent Annapolis meeting; however, enforcing the freeze has never been successful. Successive U.S. administrations have agreed that settlements are an "obstacle to peace," though, only one President pressured Israel to freeze growth--Bush 41. In 1991, Bush 41 delayed loan guarantees to Israel until the elction of Yitzhak Rabin who immediately promised to freeze settlements. The U.S. acquiesced and settlement growth continued, albeit at a slower pace. It quickly ramped back up and throughout the Oslo years, 1993-1997, settlements grew at an alarming rate, by 78%. They now stand at 300,000 in the West Bank.

The Obama administration has taken this issue very seriously. In the most recent meeting between Israeli PM Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama; Obama impressed upon Netanyahu the seriousness of his administrations efforts to freeze settlement growth. At the moment, the U.S. and Israeli authorities are in discussions over what should be deemed a violation of the U.S.-Israeli agreement to freeze settlements.

Yossi Alpher, the coeditor of the online Israeli-Palestinian web op-ed forum Bitterlemons.org says "There's all sorts of loopholes. Are you going to deny them a new nursery school?" And the answer is emphatically Yes! The setttlers have chosen to live in the West Bank. They have chosen to live there for religious reasons (a minority, however an active, organized minority) and for financial reasons (the majority). Settlements are cheap, the loans for houses are low-interest, and the government subsidizes buildings. More relevant to my point, the settlements are a nice place to live. They are new, they have beautiful synagogues and they are very well protected. If we are to stop settlement growth, it must begin with making settlements unattractive to live in, even if that means denying settlers a nursery. They have chosen to live in territory deemed occupied, continue to harm the national security of Israel through their growth and thus should not be rewarded with a nursery school, a synagogue and a yeshiva. Rather, they should be punished with high housing prices, high-interest loans, and no public amenities. Give them the basics: water, electricity, food. But do not subsidize their education. They have chosen to disobey government regulations and therefore should not be helped, or more radically should be punished. If we are to freeze settlements, we must make them unattractive to live in. The question is, will the U.S. be able to pressure Israel to make settlements unattractive to live in?

Alpher continued on to say that "even the most dovish prime minister would have to point to American pressure" to justify enforcing a settlement freeze. He is right and I just hope that pressure is really coming; otherwise, we may not be able to save this fragile two-state solution that we dream of.

Our founding document

2009-05-20T00:19:00.000-04:00

I. MISSION: Part and parcel of the larger student movement sweeping university campuses across the United States, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, and community members centered at the University at Buffalo, and organized in accordance with democratic principles to promote justice, human rights, and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

II. GUIDING PRINCIPLES: As an advocacy group, SJP believes that key principles grounded in international law, human rights, and basic standards of justice, dictate concrete steps that will be fundamental to a fair and lasting resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Most important among those steps are:

• An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.

• The establishment of either a fully independent and viable Palestinian state in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or of one secular, democratic state over all of modern-day Israel and Palestine.

• An end to Israel’s system of apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as its system of discrimination against the Arab population within its own borders.

• A just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.

Just as SJP condemns the racism and discrimination underlying many of the policies of the state of Israel, SJP also categorically opposes any form of prejudice or discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. At the same time, SJP manifestly rejects attempts to equate principled criticism of Zionism, or of the character or policies of Israel, with anti-Semitism.

Furthermore, SJP condemns all acts of unlawful violence, or violence that indiscriminately targets civilians or civilian infrastructure, committed by either side in the course of the conflict.

Ultimately, SJP’s strength flows from the diversity of its membership, comprising individuals of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds and political orientations, all united under these stated principles in the struggle for peace and justice in Palestine.

III. CODE OF CONDUCT: SJP’s activities include educational events, film screenings, discussion forums, and demonstrations meant to promote awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and encourage activism in solidarity with their struggle. SJP will also initiate a campaign urging the University at Buffalo to divest from companies complicit in Israeli violations of human rights or international law. SJP will conduct only nonviolent actions, and rejects actions that violate its guiding principles, to which all individuals or groups acting as members, representatives, or sponsors of SJP are required to adhere. More broadly, SJP will work to link the pro-Palestine movement with other movements seeking political, social, economic, or environmental justice in the Middle East and across the world. To this end, SJP may elect to endorse the programs or activities of other organizations whose principles and objectives are consistent with its own.

University at Buffalo-Students for Justice in Palestine--WE HAVE A BLOG!!

2009-05-19T23:56:00.000-04:00

The students of the University at Buffalo chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (UBSJP) would like to announce the creation of a new blog. We will use this blog to further our efforts at the University at Buffalo to bring justice to the Palestinians.