Gaza Mom

Apologies for the absence-was in the middle of moving, traveling, etc… and thank yous to those who left me comments on the Audacity of Hope Video!

I have been following the travails of the various flotilla attempts to sail to Gaza, the sabotage, the ban of BDS…and all I can say is, “the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice!”.

For me the flotillas have always been about so much more than “aid”. They are the most concrete example of how the actions of a few human beings can change, or attempt to change, a situation of such perverse injustice; they are the attempt to undermine the false rhetoric that Gaza’s siege is merely about food-and to demonstrate that it is instead mostly about the malicious appropriation of freedoms…to move, fish, farm, learn, love, build, and be.

In line with this, the following letter was delivered to the Greek Government on July 12, 2011 making it clear that the people of Gaza seek freedom and respect for their human rights, including their right to lead a dignified life, not charity. Seemingly deaf to their call, yesterday a spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Delavekouras, repeated the Greek Government’s “generous offer” to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza – instead of helping them gain the freedom that is rightfully theirs.

We, members of Palestinian civil society in Gaza, have been watching the actions your government has taken to block Freedom Flotilla 2 from setting sail towards the biggest open air prison – the Gaza Strip – to challenge Israel’s criminal blockade. Israel’s closure of Gaza has deprived us of things that most people take for granted, first and foremost, our freedom of movement. We are not allowed to pursue adequate health care or educational opportunities because we cannot travel freely. We are cut off from our families in other parts of the occupied territory and abroad; and we are not allowed to invite people to visit us in Gaza. Now, you have imported this restriction on the people whose main mission is to stand in solidarity with us.

The people of Gaza are not only in need of humanitarian aid because we are prevented from building our economy. We are not allowed to import raw materials or to export; our fishermen and farmers get shot at when attempting to fish or to harvest their crops. As a result of deliberate Israeli policy, 80% of our people have become food aid dependent, our infrastructure is in shambles, and our children cannot imagine a day when they will know freedom.

Your offer to deliver the cargo of the Freedom Flotilla entrenches the notion that humanitarian aid will solve our problems and is a weak attempt to disguise your complicity in Israel’s blockade.

We are so sorry not to accept your charity. The organizers and participants of the Freedom Flotilla recognize that our plight is not about humanitarian aid; it is about our human rights. They carry with them something more important than aid; they carry hope, love, solidarity and respect. Your offer to collude with our oppressors to deliver aid to us is totally REJECTED.

While it is clear that you have been under enormous political pressure to comply with the will of the Israeli regime, to collaborate with Israel in violating international law and legitimizing the siege, we refuse to accept your breadcrumbs. We crave freedom, dignity and the ability to make choices in our daily lives. We urge you to immediately reconsider and to let the Freedom Flotilla sail.

Finally we recognize the historical relations between our people and your country’s support for our legitimate rights. With this history in mind and your previous acknowledgment of the freedoms denied to us, we are calling on you to allow the freedom flotilla boats to leave for Gaza, thus challenging Israel’s illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip and illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

Sincerely,
Palestinian Network of NGOs (PNGO)
Representing over 60 non-governmental organizations in Gaza
www.pngoportal.net

Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza
General Society for Rehabilitation
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp
Ajyal Association, Gaza
Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat
Local Initiative, Beit Hanoun
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Middle East Children’s Alliance – Gaza office
Alshomoa Club for Women
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
General Union of Palestinian Syndicates
General Union of Palestinian Women
Palestinian Congregation for Lawyers
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
Union of Health Work Committees
Union of Synergies-Women Unit
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime
Palestine Sailing Federation
Fishing and Marine Sports Association
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students’ Union

For further information go to: freegaza.org

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A fantastic video shot by a group of Palestinian activists exposing the realities of the much heralded opening of Rafah Crossing, which has been closed for the third day in a row.

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I think I might have posted this before on Facebook, but its just so classic I had to do it again here on my blog! Its a video of Australian troops in Gaza in 1939 giving a display of surf rescue as the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s mobile unit transmits the scene to homes thousands of miles away. A small group of men take part in a sprinting race along the beach as Australian troops in uniform march along. The soundtrack plays an Australian wartime song referring to a “nasty nazi”.

AUSTRALIAN SURF MEN – IN PALESTINE

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OneWorld has produced a fantastic hit that has the haters in a rage. All proceeds go to supporting projects in Palestine. The song features an all star ensemble of musicians from around the world, and Coldplay has just announced on their Facebook page that they endorse the project. Check it out and pre-order on Itunes.

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Just as I was talking about not being complacent and gaining a clearer understanding of Gaza’s closure, Gisha, the Tel-Aviv based Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, today released an animated film questioning common perceptions about Israel’s disengagement from Gaza and the closure (as in, its not all its cracked up to be). The film is meant to challenge “commonly held belief that Israel no longer exercises control over Gaza and does not bear responsibility for what goes on there – an opinion voiced ever more strongly since the opening of Rafah”. The film also looks at the way in which the ongoing closure policy mainly harms the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

The film, created by animator Anna Shevchenko, is produced in the style of the “Geva newsreels” that were shown in Israeli movie theaters in the 1950s and 1960s.

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The big story of the week has been the much-acclaimed re-opening of the torturous Rafah Crossing.  It had been operating intermittently, if at all, and for limited categories of people for more than 4 years now.  For what seemed like eternity, the Mubarak regime- الله لا يردهم -, colluding with the United States and Israel to keep Gaza closed, had “conditioned” the re-opening of the crossing on a Fateh-Hamas reconciliation agreement, the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and a return to the much-maligned US-brokered AMA (Agreement on Movement and Access),  in which European monitors and live-video streams acted as proxies for Israel, who ultimately retained control over the crossing. 

There were some dark, dark times over the course of those four miserable years, and beyond, during which I and tens of thousands of others were prevented from entering our own homes over and over again, during which we were beaten and detained, humiliated and abandoned, when I wondered how would it ever end? How on earth could we as Palestinians find a way out of even this smallest and seemingly inconsequential dimension of our struggle, Rafah, this sole gateway, this portal, in and out of tortured little Gaza? How could such a routine aspect of life, movement, have become so impossible, yet made to seem so threatening, its stifling designed to seem so ordinary and justified? And why could no understand we we were mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, lovers, students and teachers…and we were tired like ordinary human beings get tired, of this miserable, hell. How could the status quo finally change? I can honestly tell you the last thing I expected was for an epic overthrow of Mubarak.

But back to Rafah.  Not to be a buzzkill or anything, but I think its time to break down the facts here. Its true that the crossing has been open on a more regular basis (6 days a week) and to a greater number of Gaza residents for visa-free travel (unless you happen to fall into the dreaded 18-40 “male security threat” age-range), and as anyone who has suffered long hours (or days or weeks or months) in the punishing heat or bone-numbing cold of this little corner of the world awaiting entry or exit can attest, this news should be celebrated.

But with access STILL limited to Palestinians in Israeli controlled population registry, the so-called re-opening of Rafah Crossing is simply return to status quo of years past.   Only Palestinians listed in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian population registry, carrying an Israeli-approved Gaza ID card, or hawia, can use Rafah Crossing. And those who do cross are still subject to arbitrary security screenings and possible denial of entry-or exit.

Translation:  Palestinians from the West Bank or East Jerusalem-even those with hawiat, Palestinians in refugees camps outside the Occupied Palestinian territories, “Filisteeniyit il-dakhil” aka 1948 Palestinians, or Palestinians abroad, are all still not allowed passage to Gaza through Rafah. This includes Palestinian families where one spouse possesses an ID, but the other does not, such as my own family, OR internally displaced Palestinians who live in Gaza but whose IDs were never approved by Israeli authorities (who are not allowed to exit). They number in the tens of thousands.

Additionally, according to the NGO Gisha, the expansion does not appear to include passage of goods, which are restricted to the Israeli-controlled crossings and subject to prohibitions on construction materials and export.

It also warrants reminding that while one border has been open, Gaza remains under tight maritime and aerial siege, and continues to be closed off to the rest of the Occupied Palestinians territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian’s cultural, economic, and academic capitals. Israel has a legal obligation to permit passage of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, recognized as a single territorial unit.

In addition, the deadly buffer zone along Gaza’s coastal borders, which juts up to 2km inland, preventing farmer’s from accessing their farm land, 1/3 of which exists in this zone, is still in place.

The collective result: development, prosperity, and possibility are stifled, as aid dependence rises. We should be under no illusions to the contrary. Gaza is still occupied, is still besieged.

Should be be thankful Rafah’s closure has eased? Absolutely. Should we be complacent, or simply settle for what we have? Absolutely not.

For more, check out GISHA’s “Gaza cheat sheet“, which breaks down the facts and figures and helps you understand what’s really behind the siege.

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One of a series of videos created by solidarity activists in NYC in preparation for the June flotilla to Gaza, the Audacity of Hope. A new one featuring Noura Erekat and I is coming soon.

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Much to comment on. I have been sadly observing, reading, contemplating recent events in Gaza, Palestine, the larger Middle East…here are my thoughts on the Goldstone about-face. A version of this op-ed was published in the Baltimore Sun on Monday April 2011.

On April 3, Judge Richard Goldstone, chairman of the fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict of 2009, published an op-ed in The Washington Post reconsidering one of the allegations in the report: that Israel intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians during the assault.

Judge Goldstone’s co-authors, Hina Jilani, Christine Chinkin and Desmond Travers, sharply disagreed with him in a statement issued in the Guardian on April 14. In it, they stood by the report in its entirety, saying “there is no justification for any demand or expectation for reconsideration of the report as nothing of substance has appeared that would in any way change the context, findings or conclusions…”

The report was the final product of an independent, international fact-finding mission established during the assault to investigate violations in connection with the conflict. It found that Israel had a policy of deliberately targeting civilians, willfully causing great suffering to protected peoples, using civilians as human shields, and using disproportionate force against civilians, willfully and wantonly killing and maiming people, and destroying property (the Dahiya Doctrine policy that was also applied in Lebanon in 2006). The Mission also concluded that the assault was collective punishment directed at “the people of Gaza as a whole” and was not solely a “response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right to self-defence” as the Israeli government claimed, due in part to statements by Israeli leaders themselves (‘destroy 100 homes for every rocket fired’ said Eli Yishai).

To recap: Two years ago, Israeli forces unleashed a torrent of U.S.-supplied war planes, tanks and naval ships, unloading tons of bombs and flesh-searing white phosphorus shells against the men, women and children of the besieged Gaza Strip. Its residents, of whom 800,000 are children and more than 80 percent U.N.-registered refugees, had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

“They destroyed everything living and beautiful and ordinary,” recalled my father, a retired physician who survived the onslaught, along with my mother, in the imposed darkness of their Gaza City home.

By the time the three-week assault known as Cast Lead had ended on Jan. 18, 2009, more than 1,400 Palestinians were dead. Around 5,300 remain permanently wounded. The attacks, planned more than six months in advance by the admission of Israeli politicians, targeted and destroyed critical infrastructure such as water treatment and electrical plants, farms and factories, schools, mosques and municipal buildings. More than 50,000 people were displaced.

Yet no one has been held accountable — unless you count one soldier who got 71/2 months for credit card theft and two soldiers who got suspended sentences for using a 9-year-old child as a human shield.

The Goldstone Report meant to accomplish accountability, reporting not only on the destruction and massacres committed during the Gaza attack but calling for an examination of the intent of senior leaders and for action against perpetrators of war crimes.

But Judge Goldstone’s op-ed is an affront to the rights of victims, both Palestinian and Israeli, and our desire — our right — to truth and justice.

Palestinians feel abandoned by Judge Goldstone. Here is a leading advocate for human rights giving every impression of deserting a civilian and refugee population — particularly the Samouni family, which lost 29 members over several terrifying days, but also Palestinians like Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, who was present when three daughters and a niece were killed by Israeli shelling.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to operate with complete impunity, killing 19 Palestinians in Gaza earlier this month. On Jan. 10, they shot dead a 65-year-old farmer tending to his land along Gaza’s border — a repeat of an incident I reported in September, when Israeli forces killed a 92-year-old shepherd, his 14-year-old grandson and his 17-year-old friend with a series of artillery shells, even though they were clearly visible (by the army’s own admission days later).

It merits reminding that the Goldstone Report had many other damning conclusions, including finding that the ongoing blockade of Gaza constitutes a violation of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power. The blockade deprives Palestinians of their most basic freedoms: freedom to build, to move in and out of one’s home to the rest of the occupied Palestinian Territories or to the world, to fish more than three miles out to sea, to marry who you want and live where you want, to study, to read, to farm, to build, to live, to prosper. It dysfunctionalizes life and cripples livelihoods.

There has been plenty written in the past two weeks about Judge Goldstone. Some say he buckled under pressure after being ostracized from the Jewish community. Some say he had a change of mind and others that he actually did not retract much.

One thing is certain: Though Judge Goldstone’s opinion may have changed on the deliberateness of Israel’s killings, the facts on the ground and the eyewitness testimonies one hears on every corner of the Gaza Strip have not. They are the greatest evidence.

The need to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and to implement the recommendations of the Goldstone Report have never been more salient. To quote Judge Goldstone himself, “the debate should continue, not attempt to be silenced.”

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Over the past few weeks, I was asked a lot of questions, but perhaps none more than -what about Palestine? Why aren’t the youth rising up there?

Besides the fact that Palestine is a different paradigm altogether-what with an Israeli occupying regime on one hand-and two pseudo non-sovereign governments on the other, we also have the precedent of Palestinians already having risen up-twice (first and second Intifadas) against the Israeli Occupation-and setting the example for the first truly democratic elections in the Arab Middle East in 2006, which in and of itself a monumental act of change by the people.

Still, Palestinians are rising up-again. This time it is to demand the end of Palestinian disunity whose effects are felt deep within Palestinians society and families everywhere. Of course how we got there is important-it was the result of the CIA and regional sabotage of the Palestinian unity government brokered in Saudi Arabia and elections that took place years earlier. Which goes to show, change isn’t easy, and its not always what you expect; but “power concedes nothing without a struggle”…

Nevertheless, this was history, and here we are today, two Palestinians governments, both of whose terms have expired; a blockade on Gaza; and a continuing and ever-more viscous occupation. Palestinians have had enough-and view the first step towards true liberation from the Israeli apartheid regime as Palestinians unity; getting our house in order; defeating the self-defeatism and apathy and disillusionment that has slowly engulfed Palestinian society. In line with this hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza City today, and hundreds more began camping out in Ramallah’s Manara Square, in anticipation of tomorrow’s planned March 15 protests for Palestinian Unity, according to fellow bloggers and tweeps.

Palestinian protesters call for unity of factions in Gaza City. Picture by Ibtiahl Aloul

Among the demands (besides the obvious call for Palestinian Unity and Reconciliation) are:

-The release of all political prisoners held by the government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
-Full democratic representation for Palestinians all over the world-Gaza Strip, West Bank, 48 territories, refugee camps, and in the Diaspora (*remember, based on the Oslo principles, only Palestinians with Israeli-issued Apartheid ID cards who were physically present in the Occupied Territories could vote; no refugees on the outside; not even Palestinians stranded due to border closures, as I was at the time of the presidential elections).
-A complete overhaul of the PNC’s structures and the establishment of new electoral procedures.

There are several groups involved in organizing the decentralized protests, including the March 15 Group (Gaza and West Bank), the June 5 Group (West Bank and Gaza), Youth for Change (Gaza) student groups, and Palestinians in diaspora. Many issues statements specifically decrying attempts by either Palestinian government (both of which have vowed to allow them to continue unhindered) to co-opt the protests and consider the protests a first step on the path to achieving true liberation from Israeli Apartheid:

We affirm that the March 15th movement is by the people for the people, and is independent of any political party or institutional backing. It is being organized by non-partisan youth groups who dream of a better future for their people.

We invite all Palestinians, and particularly Palestinian youth, to come down to the street on March 15th. We will only carry Palestinian flags, and chant and sing for freedom, unity, and justice. March 15th shall be the day we stand in unity to demand democratic representation for all Palestinians as an affirmative step in our struggle for Freedom from Israeli Apartheid.

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1

A media release from the Stop the Wall Campaign regarding tomorrow’s planed Palestinian unity protests…

March 15 protests: Palestinian youth for unity and PLO reform

Date: Tuesday, March 15 2011
Time: 1 pm
Place: Ramallah, al Manara and central squares, West Bank and Gaza cities

Palestinian youth, inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, have called for mobilizations which will take place in the main squares in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as in some cities around the world.

In their statements and calls, the March 15 Group (Gaza and West Bank), the June 5 Group (West Bank and Gaza), Youth for Change (Gaza) and student groups have all demanded for an end to the divisions within Palestinian politics, and in particular between the West Bank and Gaza. Moreover, they add in one of their statements:

“As youth we demand a radical solution and not the maintenance of the status quo. First of all, we demand that elections for a new National Council of the PLO are held and that they are implemented through an electoral mechanism that guarantees the participation of all parts of the Palestinian people around the world (the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians inside the Green Line, the refugees, and Palestinians in the Diaspora).

[...]This is our day to clearly demand elections for the Palestinian National Council as a beginning to reorganize our ranks internally and rebuild our national project with the aim of resisting Israeli oppression in all its forms.”

In their words, this mobilization is set to challenge the current mood of defeatism within parts of the Palestinian liberation movement and push for efforts on all levels to guarantee Palestinian inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, an end to Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid, as well as the right of the refugees to return to their homes.

They finally caution of attempts by some groups to endorse the activities of March 15 in the interest of partisan political goals.

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