Category: Features

One Voice in Gaza: normalization at its best!

5 December 2012 | The One Democratic State Group, Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine

It has come to our knowledge that One Voice, “an international grassroots movement that amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution” has started recruiting youth from The Gaza Strip. This is supposed to be part of its work “to forge consensus for conflict resolution and build a human infrastructure capable of mobilizing the people toward a negotiated, comprehensive and permanent agreement between Israel and Palestine that ends the occupation, ensures security and peace for both sides…” The movement recognizes that violence by either side will never be a means to end the conflict. (emphasis added). In its new Gaza initiative, One Voice “planned an intensive 36-hour training program in leadership skills and teamwork.”

The Palestinian Students Campaign for the Academic boycott of Israel, like Palestinian Youth Against Normalization, considers One Voice a normalizing organization since it ignores the reality which is Israel’s oppression and systematic discrimination against the Palestinian people in its three components: 1948, 1967, and the Diaspora. OV, amongst other organizations, targets Palestinian youth to engage them in dialogue with Israelis without recognizing the inalienable rights of Palestinians, or aiming to end Israel’s occupation, colonization, and apartheid.

We reiterate our commitment to the statement issued by Palestinian youth against normalization which was endorsed by almost all Palestinian youth and student organizations.

We consider One Voice to be an organization that aims to normalize apartheid and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that took place in 1948. One Voice Movement’s vision  is based on a “two-state solution”, without any commitment to international parameters — which assumes equal responsibility of “both sides” for the “conflict”, and suspiciously fails to call for Israel’s full compliance with its obligations under international law through ending its illegal military occupation, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights (particularly the right of return), and its system of racial discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens.

Some of the events organized by One Voice, like the One Million Voices, are sponsored by Israeli institutions (mostly from the private sector) and endorsed by mainstream Israeli political figures from parties including the Likud, Labour and Shas. These Israeli “partners” are unquestionably complicit in maintaining Israel’s occupation and other forms of oppression.

One Voice seems to ignore the fact that the reason why Palestinians and Israelis cannot get together is because the former are colonized and the latter are settler colonists. It also ignores the fact that Israel is an apartheid state, as former American president Jimmy Carter and anti-Apartheid activist and Nobel Laureate Desmund Tutu called it; a state that discriminates not only against the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but also against the 1.2 million Palestinians living in it as third class citizens.

We, Palestinian youth of Gaza, ask if One Voice trainers and leaders in Tel Aviv are willing to admit that the creation of the state of Israel was responsible for the continuing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people since 1948? That it illegally occupies the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and racially discriminates against the 1948 Palestinians in what the United Nations Special Rapporteur John Dugard described as, “the only remaining case after South Africa of a Western-affiliated regime that denies self-determination and human rights to a developing people and that has done so for so long”. A state responsible for ongoing house demolitions, illegal settlement expansions and the building of a monstrous Apartheid Wall — not to mention the collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza, who are subjugated to a brutal, medieval siege entering its fifth year?

The One Voice website never alludes to the children and teenagers killed by Israel in the last two genocidal wars against the Palestinians of Gaza. Or is that considered a form of “dialogue” between “two equal parties” engaged in a “conflict?” Will there be a reference to the violence of the colonizer; the fourth largest army in the world with more than 450 nuclear heads?  Will it state the fact that two thirds of the Palestinians of Gaza are refugees who were ethnically cleansed from the towns and villages where Israeli One Voice trainers and leaders live now?

Instead, One Voice is working on “building a mass grassroots movement that will amplify the voice of the moderates on both sides“, wanting to “show that there are partners for negotiations and peace on both sides” Where are the “two sides” of this “conflict?” Palestinian resistance is considered a “form of violence…(which) brings more violence and suffering to people on both sides! ” This is an issue of injustice around continuous dispossession and subjugation of one people by another people. Do we understand from One Voice that there was a “conflict” between the native Blacks of South Africa and the White supremacists of the apartheid regime?

The One Voice programme is one more arrogant attempt to equate the colonizer and colonized; oppressor and oppressed; victim and executioner. This is camouflaged by changing its name in Arabic to “Palestinian Voice!” We ask: will One Voice ever condemn Israel’s policy of apartheid and ethnic cleansing? Will it openly support the Palestinian right to self-determination?

We, therefore, consider One Voice projects in Gaza a continuation of a campaign of normalization that aims at whitewashing Israel’s tarnished image and does nothing but falsely creates the facade that there are actually two equal sides to “the conflict.” No wonder that tens of cultural and other civil society organizations in Palestine and the Arab World called One Voice “peace activities” as “camouflaging of Apartheid.”

We call on all Palestinian youth not to take part in this public relations charade that conceals a misleading political program that falls significantly short of international law tenets and the Palestinian national program.  We expect the Palestinian participants to withdraw their support for this movement that only serves to blind the Palestinian public and sidetrack it from struggling, with the solidarity of its international supporters, for its UN-sanctioned rights, for justice, equality and freedom.

Signed by:

The Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)

Progressive Student Union Bloc

Fateh Youth Organization

Islamic Bloc

Palestinian Student Labor Front

Union of the Palestinian Students struggle committees

Islamic League of Palestinian Students

The Palestinian Popular struggle Front Union

Union of the Palestinian Students struggle committees

Letter from ISM activist in Gaza

14th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Strip

Dear All. I am calling on all your support for the besieged people of the Gaza Strip.

Here in Gaza, more than 10 people have been killed so far in the Israeli operation named “Pillar of Defence” within the last 7 hours, including countless children such as 7-year-old child Ranan Arafat and an 11 month old baby. We’ve seen charred bodies of dead and injured children  pouring in to Al Shifa hospital of Gaza City and the other depleted hospitals around the Gaza Strip. 50 airstrikes all over the Gaza Strip so far. Deafening explosions shook us all as bombs landed close to us in the streets near the Universities. Huge explosions are landing all around us in Gaza City now as I write, some entire families have been injured. We can also hear the shelling of Israeli Gunships. Announcement of possible Israeli land invasion very soon.

More than 330 children were killed in the last bloody operation like this in operation Cast Lead, killing over 1400 in total: the vast majority civilians. We are reporting from hospitals, streets and bombed areas. How many, terrified in there homes will have their lives shortened by tomorrow, or after the days of airstrikes, tank shellings and Gunship missiles Israel has announced. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. MOVE. ACT NOW TO STOP ANOTHER GAZA BLOODBATH. INACTION AROUND THE WORLD HAS LEAD US TO THIS POINT. ACT NOW.
Adie

For more information on how to contact International activists in Gaza now please email: palreports@gmail.com

Palestinian Activists Shut Down Apartheid Road

By Jacob Singh and Leila James

 16 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A group of Palestinians shut down an Israeli-only highway to Tel Aviv today in the West Bank. International activists supported the Palestinians at today’s peaceable action, which blocked Route 443 for approximately thirty minutes.

Israeli border police puts his hands on a man at the action to shut down Route 443.

Fifty Palestinian and roughly ten international activists blocked the highway near Beit Ur, west of Ramallah during the demonstration, which was organized by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. The non-violent protesters held aloft Palestinian flags and placards in Hebrew and Arabic denouncing “settler terrorism”.

Also known as Modi’in Road, highway 443 is open to Palestinians only for a short section of its length. The vast majority of it is controlled by checkpoints to ensure that only those with Israeli citizenship are able to travel using it.

Demonstrators at Tuesday’s protest carry a banner saying “Stop Settler Terrorism.” Protesters successfully closed highway 443 to Tel Aviv for thirty minutes.

Responding to the roadblock, Israeli soldiers violently and forcefully broke up the protest. Soldiers injured five activists through the use of pepper-spray and a number of others through brute force. The soldiers also threw dozens of sound grenades directly at the feet of protestors, causing one to lose consciousness briefly.

The demonstration comes at a time of increased attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinian agricultural workers, particularly against those that have been taking part in the olive harvest. The last three weeks have seen violent attacks against Palestinian farmers and their land, including the burning of olive trees, the theft of harvested olives and group-invasion of villages in the agricultural areas around Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah.

A photojournalist wearing clearly identifying clothing was sprayed at close-quarters with capsicum-based pepper gas and a Palestinian protestor was kicked in the back of the neck by soldiers. He was detained for an hour and then released.

The demonstration ended when soldiers forced protesters away from the road. Protesters at the demonstration said that the violence shown by the Israeli military forces was a testament to the effectiveness of today’s action.

Jacob Singh and Leila James are volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

CALL TO ACTION — END THE JAMA’IN ROADBLOCKS – 16TH OCTOBER 2012

16TH OCTOBER 2012 – JAMA’IN VILLAGE – MORNING DEMONSTRATION

 

CONTACT 054 881 0651

 

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) calls on pro-Palestinian and peace activists from across the Occupied Territories to join Palestinians on 16th October to protest the roadblock preventing access to Jama’in Village. On this day, residents of Jama’in will remove an earthen mound that blocks access to their agricultural lands.

 

Jama’in is close to the illegal Tappuah settlement in the West Bank. There, settlers armed with automatic rifles, large dogs and blunt instruments regularly attack Palestinian agricultural workers and landowners. January saw over 100 olive trees chopped down and burnt by settlers, and at least two cars belonging to Palestinians were destroyed on the highway close to the Huwwara military checkpoint.

 

Access to agricultural land and particularly olive trees is essential for Palestinian villagers. Approximately eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the harvest provides between twenty and fifty percent of a farming family’s annual income. Holding a deep significance in Palestinian culture and the economy of the region, the olive harvest has become a matter of survival for rural Palestinians. It is because of this that the Israeli government and armed residents of its illegal colonies in the West Bank are attempting to disrupt access to agricultural lands.

 

Extremist settlers have launched a campaign of ‘price-tag’ attacks against Palestinians and their property as collective punishment for perceived anti-settlement legislation and activity by the Israeli government.  The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that violent attacks by settlers against Palestinians increased by more than fifty percent in 2011.

 

With a year-old roadblock preventing residents’ access to their fields, the people of Jama’in village request international activists join them in protesting the real-life consequences of Israeli occupation.

Update: ‘They are not the same as you’ – detention continues for Kufr Qaddoum prisoners

By Ben Greene, Ellie Marton, and Anna Conroy

17 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Majd and Abdelateef’s family, waiting for the brothers to appear.

On Monday 15th October, Palestinian political prisoners Majd and Abdulateef Obeid appeared before a military court for a third time. Their lawyer argued that, as four international activists arrested at the same time with the same evidence had previously been freed, Majd and Abdelateef should be released also.

In advance of the hearing, the Obeid family and their lawyer had been optimistic that Abdelateef would be freed, as he has no previous convictions, and there are legal precedents for challenging the detention of Palestinians where international activists on the same charges have been freed. Majd, as he had a previous conviction under similar charges, was expected at worst to receive a light sentence.

However, the military judge said that “Majd and Abdelateef are not the same as you” – referring to the two international activists present in the court. It was therefore ruled that Majd and Abdelateef’s detention would continue, pending a further hearing at an unconfirmed date in Ofer military court.

The outcome now looks bleaker than previously expected, as it appears that the military court has rejected the argument that Palestinian prisoners should be treated the same as international prisoners. This reflects the apartheid nature of the Israeli system of ‘justice’.

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Previous update published 11 October 2012:

UPDATE AND PETITION – 11th October 2012

Sign a petition demanding freedom for Majd and Abdelateef here.

Majd and Abdelateef Obeid’s case was due to be heard in court today, October 11th. However, Israeli military treatment of Palestinian lawyers at Salem court today led to strike action. Lawyers were protesting about being subjected to full searches when entering the military compound – Israeli lawyers also joined the strike in solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues.

Majd and Abdelateef arrived into the courtroom in handcuffs and leg shackles, wearing the same clothes that they were detained in three weeks ago. Their hearing went ahead without a lawyer present and they were informed that their detention would be extended until their next hearing date, which will be Monday 15th October.

International activists were initially prevented from entering the court, despite having prior permission. This is a typical tactic of the Israeli army to avoid international observation of the Israeli military justice system.

Please sign our petition highlighting the disparity of treatment between the international activists who were arrested and Majd and Abdelateef. The petition signatures will be presented to the judge at Monday’s hearing.

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Original article published 3 October 2012:

In advance of their hearing in military court tomorrow, Majd and Abdelateef Obeid’s mother Sahra Fayez Obeid has recounted to ISM the events of their arrest on the 21st September in the village of Kufr Qaddoum.

Neither Majd or Abdelateef attended the demonstration – they were both in their family home, which happens to be on the route of the demonstration. Abdelateef was eating lunch with his family, while Majd was asleep in the bedroom, when three Israeli Occupation Force soldiers attempted to enter the house with force. They pushed Sahra to the ground, forcing their way into the house. There were also a number of soldiers surrounding the property. Ignoring the pleas of the family to leave, they stated “we want the young men, not you”.

Finding Majd and Abdelateef, the soldiers grabbed them by the neck and marched them to an army jeep on the road outside. Both men were arrested in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. When the family followed the soldiers to the jeep, they were threatened and ordered back to their home at gunpoint. Faruq Obeid, the men’s father was told that if he did not leave, the soldiers would create an excuse to arrest him as well and keep him in jail.

The Obeid family have also been threatened that their home is classed as a Closed Military Zone during the weekly Friday demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum, and that male members of the family are at risk of arrest if they remain at home.

Majd and Abdelateef attended a five-minute military court hearing on the 30th of September, at which point their detention was extended and they were charged with endangering the lives of soldiers, throwing stones and with preventing the army from carrying out their military operations. Six soldiers testified against the two men, but the military presented no photographic evidence to back up their claims.

They await a second court hearing on the 4th of October, at which point their detention is likely to be extended once more, still without a conviction.

Majd, who is 20 years old, is a farmer and sweet-maker – as the olive harvest begins in Kufr Qaddoum, his absence will be felt greatly. Abdelateef is a 23 years old mechanic and was married just one week before his arrest – his new wife Maysam Nasek Obeid will attend the court hearing on 4th October, along with their mother Sahra and other family members.

Four international activists who were detained and arrested at the same time as Majd and Abdelateef were released unconditionally on the 30th September, following 48 hours in prison and 7 days under house arrest. They were detained under the exact same charges and “evidence”.

A three-tier justice system is applied by Israel in the territories that it occupies – favouring Israeli citizens first, international citizens second, whilst Palestinians face the harshest sentences, contrary to international human rights law and the Geneva Convention. The tactics of the Israeli military seem aimed at quashing resistance to the Israeli occupation in Kufr Qaddoum.