From a distance, the struggle between Hamas and Fatah appears commonplace, a typical third world country's political scuffle over interpretation of democracy that went out of control, or simply a ‘power struggle' between two political rivals vying for international aid and recognition.
While I was being tackled by security guards at Washington's Convention Center during the AIPAC conference for unfurling a banner that asked "What about Gaza?," my heart was aching. I wasn't bothered so much by the burly guards who were yanking my arms behind by back and dragging me-along with 5 other CODEPINK members-out of the hall. They were doing their job.
What made my heart ache was the hatred I felt from the AIPAC staff who tore up the banner and slammed their hands across my mouth as I tried to yell out: "What about Gaza? What about the children?"
Dear President Obama,
I found your book ‘Dreams
from my Father' a moving and inspiring story of your own struggle
to find your identity and purpose in life. You found it for sure, and
today carry the hopes and dreams of so many people in our world.
We pray for you and your family. We wish you all
good health and happiness. You carry so much responsibility.
We hope you will change the policies of USA (both domestic and Foreign)
to people centred policies, based on the values and ethics which you
try to live out in your life.
Reports
by international human rights groups and from within Israel in recent
weeks have revealed the massive scale of war-crimes and other
violations of international humanitarian law, committed by Israeli
forces during their three-week offensive against the Gaza Strip earlier
this year. Despite this, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has
steadfastly stood by her insistence that the U.S.-backed Israeli
government has no legal or moral responsibility for the tragic
consequence of the war.
When
one speaks of or advocates non-violence, does he promote such an idea
because he believes that historically it has been a more effective
means of liberation, or is it purely because he thinks that it is a
more self-respecting means of struggle?
The appointment of Richard Goldstone to head a
United Nations fact-finding mission to the
Gaza
Strip represents an important first step toward ending Israel's
impunity from international law. Mr.
At a time when Western
governments refrain from using their power to stop Israel's ongoing
violations of international law, many civil society organizations
silently watch the moral corrosion of their governments. At the "Israel
Review Conference" in Geneva this month and the Russell Tribunal slated
for early 2010, however, civil society will use its power and call
Israel to account.
The
extent of Israel's brutality against Palestinian civilians in its
22-day pounding of the Gaza Strip is gradually surfacing. Israeli
soldiers are testifying to lax rules of engagement tantamount to a
license to kill. One soldier commented: "That's what is so nice,
supposedly, about Gaza: You see a person on a road, walking along a
path. He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify
him with anything and you can just shoot him."
On Friday I went to the anti-separation wall demo in Ni'lin in the West
Bank, the same village where International Solidarity Movement activist
Tristan Anderson was critically wounded last week. Several hundred
villagers were accompanied by Jewish Israeli activists (most with Anarchists Against the Wall ) and ISMers, plus a few journalists like me. The IDF started firing tear gas at us even before we got close to the wall.
Evidence of the scale of Israel's war crimes in its January onslaught on Gaza is becoming unanswerable.
