Category: In the Media

Arab American News: “Palestinian activist tours U.S., explains pain and suffering”

by Danielle Smith

For the past month, Palestinian activist Fida Qesta has toured the United States speaking about Nonviolent Resistance and the occupation of Palestine. After her stops in Detroit, Port Huron, Grand Ledge, Lansing and Ann Arbor, she will head to venues in New York. Her speaking tour in Michigan was sponsored by the Michigan Peace Team, a group affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Qesta said that she joined the International Solidarity Movement soon after she learned about the death of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year old American student who was killed on March 16, 2003. Rachel was murdered when an Israeli military bulldozer ran her over while she was trying to stop the demolition of a home in Rafah. Fida said that Rachel’s story meant a lot to the people of Rafah, to know that an American was risking their life for the Palestinian cause.

Qesta said, “I started working with ISM and then the Michigan Peace Team in Gaza. I was a Palestinian Coordinator in Rafah. It was a way I could share my experience with the world.”

Qesta’s family is one of the original tribes of Rafah. She is a Muslim woman of deep faith and prayer. She is courageous and full of hope. Presently she is a student of Languages at the Islamic University of Gaza.

In January of 2004, Israeli forces destroyed her family’s home, and they have remained homeless until this past February. Fida has served as an interpreter for MPT’s violence reduction teams in Rafah.

Qesta said, “My goal is to educate the American people about Palestine and explain what the reality truly is on the ground. I want to share the Palestinian experience with Americans.”

Two years ago Qesta was just trying to survive another day of the Israeli occupation, but the IDF was unrelenting.

In January of 2004 Qesta endured the tragic and senseless demolition of her home. Qesta wrote about it to her friends in the U.S. She said that writing helped her because she felt the truth was being told. She talked about January 2004. She said that the IDF came into Rafah again with fresh attacks. They demolished her neighbors’ homes. Tank tracks were everywhere and their loud engines screamed up and down the streets. A neighbor frantically ran to her house and told her family to leave now. Yet they couldn’t believe that their home would be demolished that night until the tanks rammed her home. Qesta ran out in her nightgown. Trying to keep up, her mom collapsed and just couldn’t get up again. She told Qesta to keep running and to leave her, but the Fida dragged her to a safer place.

In an interview with The Arab American News Qesta said, “The question I get the most is about Hamas being in power. The Palestinian people voted for Hamas and Hamas won the election. They were democratically chosen and that must be respected. The Palestinian Authority (P.A.) had corruption and they were not helping the people in need. They lost the people’s trust. The P.A. didn’t build houses for their people. We waited and waited and they just stole the money. People want an honest government and people believe Hamas will do good things. The American government needs to give Hamas a chance to show itself. They need to respect this democratic decision.

“Hamas’ slogan was ‘Rebuilding and Change,’ and I believe this was why they won. Now thousands of people are homeless and these families have no money or aid for any rebuilding. Since the beginning of 2004, my family had to move from house to house seven times. We had to rely on friends and family for shelter. I have two brothers, four sisters and my parents. It was hard because every house had new rules and it was never like your own home. People want help.

“America people can’t ignore the situation in Palestine. I think if they only knew what was really going on, they would help. Every year American taxpayers give Israel five billion dollars. And look at the poor Americans in this country. Your country needs this money more than Israel. The Israelis have money. The money just goes to weapons and causes more problems,” said Qesta.

Jeff Halper, Coordinator of the Committee Against House Demolitions said, “House demolitions have become the hallmark of the Occupation. Indeed, since 1967 Israel has demolished almost 12,000 Palestinian homes, leaving some 70,000 without shelter and traumatized. The systematic demolition of Palestinian homes is an attack on an entire people, an attempt to make the Palestinians submit to a mini-state – or worse, an “autonomous” set of islands under Israeli control. We need to struggle against the Occupation so that both our peoples will eventually enjoy the fruits of a just peace. ”

Qesta has enjoyed her time in the USA and said, “This is my first time in the United States and I can’t believe how big it is. It is a huge country with beautiful trees and most of the people I’ve met have very big hearts. I think average Americans need to understand that they need to give Palestinians a chance.”

Michigan Peace Team (MPT) empowers people to engage in active nonviolent peacemaking. It has been the only NGO able to repeatedly gain entry to Rafah. MPT had several peace-team members in Rafah during the 2004 incursions that demolished more than 2,500 homes .

Ynet: “Lawyer who filed suit against Almog to be deported”

by Vered Luvitch, 25th May 2006

Thc State Prosecution bars Attorney Kate Maynard, who submitted war crimes lawsuit in Britain against former Southern Command chief, from entering Israel, despite court’s recommendation against deportation

Going against a recommendation issued by the Tel Aviv District Court, the State Prosecution decided Thursday evening to bar British lawyer Kate Maynard, who was behind the war-crimes charges against retired Israeli Major-General Doron Almog, from entering Israel. Maynard was ordered by the Prosecution to return to the UK immediately.

Maynard, who specializes in human rights and international law, was behind the lawsuit to arrest Almog upon his arrival in Britain last September.

At the time, Almog was advised by the Israeli Embassy in London to not leave the plane and to return to Israel immediately.

Maynard arrived in Israel Wednesday night to take part in an academic seminar on International Justice. In wake of the State’s ruling to ban her entry, the British attorney decided not to submit another petition to court. She is set to return to Britain Thursday night.

Maynard was detained at the airport upon her arrival, and informed by security officers she will be deported to England.

Attorney Smadar Ben-Natan petitioned the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court on Maynard’s behalf to overturn the Interior Ministry’s decision to bar her from Israel, citing that Israeli law stipulates the interior minister can refuse foreign nationals entry only if he possesses concrete evidence that they constitute a security threat.

The Court initially allowed Maynard a limited stay in Israel till Sunday, although she had planned to stay longer, but later decided to turn the ruling into a recommendation to the state.

The State Prosecution, on its part, decided not to act on the Judge’s recommendation and to order Maynard to leave the country.

Maynard intends to take legal measures in Britain, in order to make sure her entry to Israel is not prevented in the future.

Maynard’s lawyer, Ban-Natan, said Thursday that “there is no legitimate reason to justify refusing her entry into Israel because her professional work is well-known, even if she is not a supporter of Israel,” she said.

“The state has reached new restriction limits by using security explanations to limit academic freedom of expression,” said Ben-Natan.”

IHT: “At the checkpoint, waiting for Palestine”

By Fareed Taamallah International Herald Tribune

QIRA, West Bank As the line behind me grew, I read a novel. The drivers behind me leaned on their horns. I advanced a few meters and returned to reading “Memory in the Flesh,” by the Algerian writer Ahlam Mosteghanemi, thinking of her presentation of the ravages of colonialism from the viewpoint of its victims, enjoying the passion of the language.

I was interrupted by the siren of an ambulance trying to get through the checkpoint with a patient. I moved my car a bit to let them pass.

The Zaatara checkpoint, where I was waiting, is one of dozens inside the occupied Palestinian territories, restricting the movement of people and goods. It’s the only passage between the northern and central West Bank.

This week, during Ehud Olmert’s first visit to the United States as Israel’s prime minister, he will claim that under his “convergence plan,” Israel will withdraw behind its wall, leaving most of the West Bank. But under Olmert’s plan, Zaatara, 27 kilometers inside the West Bank, and other checkpoints like it, will remain under Israeli control, dividing the West Bank into several “bantustans.”

I looked at the two young soldiers arrogantly manning the checkpoint, with dozens of people awaiting a sign from them. At last the soldier moved his finger. A taxi edged forward. The driver got out, still far from the soldier, holding the passengers’ identity cards. The soldier signaled to the driver to remove his T-shirt. Checking IDs takes 10 minutes per car. Palestinians are required to carry Israeli-issued identification cards to present at checkpoints inside the West Bank. If the soldier keeps the card, the Palestinian cannot travel.

Unfortunately, I must cross Zaatara to reach my office in the city of Salfit. I spend from 90 to 120 minutes daily at the checkpoint, despite living 8 kilometers from my office.

Wondering how I could best use this waiting time, and avoid the checkpoint’s tension, it struck me that I could read. For the last few months, I’ve carried books in my car.

I was staring at the soldier as he shouted at a woman holding a crying baby. He ordered her to dump her bag’s contents on the ground. Then he forbade her from crossing because she lives in Tulkarm, a city whose inhabitants are currently being collectively punished. A few youths were forced to sit for hours under the sun just because they are under 30 years old, or for trying to cross the checkpoint on foot.

While we waited in a long queue under searing heat, Israeli settlers in airconditioned vehicles bypassed the checkpoint in their special lane.

Israel says these measures are vital to stop suicide bombers from flooding into Israeli cities to terrorize the civilian population. But I can’t imagine a suicide bomber standing in a long line deep inside the West Bank, waiting for soldiers to check his ID and car. Determined people can always travel through the hills, avoiding the checkpoints.

Checkpoints are the most intimate contact between Israelis and Palestinians. This contact occurs over a barrel of a gun. An Israeli friend of mine told me the main Arabic phrases they teach in the Israeli Army are “Stop or I’ll shoot you”; “Go back”; and “Forbidden.”

At 9 a.m., it was my turn. The soldier waved me forward with his finger. As I do every day, I stepped out of my car to hand him my ID. On the side of the road, a soldier whose face was partially hidden beneath his helmet pointed an automatic rifle at me, his finger on the trigger. I opened the trunk and he returned my ID to me without a word.

I left the checkpoint wondering whether my generation will witness a day when Palestinians write novels about the old days of suffering under occupation, as Ahlam Mosteghanemi did. What stories will we tell about the checkpoints? Will they be stories of bitterness or steadfastness, pain or hope?

Fareed Taamallah, a peace activist, works as the coordinator for the Palestinian Central Election Commission for the district of Salfit.

USA Today op-ed: “Israel’s new plan: A land grab”

by Jimmy Carter

New Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has announced that Israel will take unilateral steps to establish its own geographical boundaries during the next four years of his administration. His plan, as described during the recent Israeli election and the formation of a new governing coalition, would take about half of the Palestinian West Bank and encapsulate the urban areas within a huge concrete wall and the more rural parts of Palestine within a high fence. The barrier is not located on the internationally recognized boundary between Israel and Palestine, but entirely within and deeply penetrating the occupied territories.

The only division of territory between Israel and the Palestinians that is recognized by the United States or the international community awarded 77% of the land to the nation of Israel and the other small portion divided between the West Bank and Gaza. Only about twice the size of Washington, D.C., Gaza is now a politically and economically non-viable region, almost completely isolated from the West Bank, Israel and the outside world.

West Bank dissected

The Olmert plan would leave the remnant of the Palestinian West Bank with the same unacceptable characteristics. Deep intrusions would effectively divide it into three portions. The prime minister has also announced that Israeli soldiers will likely remain in the Palestinian territory, which will be completely encapsulated by Israel’s control of its eastern border in the Jordan River valley.

It is inconceivable that any Palestinian, Arab leader, or any objective member of the international community could accept this illegal action as a permanent solution to the continuing altercation in the Middle East. This confiscation of land is to be carried out without resorting to peace talks with the Palestinians, and in direct contravention of the “road map for peace,” which President Bush helped to initiate and has strongly supported.

Although former prime minister Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government rejected the key provisions of the road map by the Quartet of negotiators — the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia — it has been endorsed unequivocally by the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel’s government had adopted carefully negotiated agreements at Camp David in 1978 and in Oslo in 1993. Israeli leaders Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres received Nobel Peace Prizes for these major steps toward peace, along with their Arab counterparts. The basic terms of both of these historic accords would also be violated by Olmert’s plan, as would all of the U.N. Security Council’s resolutions on which the agreements were predicated and the nation of Israel was founded.

What is the alternative to this ill-advised move toward the unilateral confiscation and colonization of a major portion of the West Bank?

A better course

Good-faith negotiations should be initiated under the auspices of the international Quartet with President Abbas. During recent days, Abbas has been making the rounds of international capitals calling for the opportunity to find a path to permanent peace in the Holy Land. Although the recently elected Hamas legislators will neither recognize nor negotiate with Israel while Palestinian land is being occupied, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has expressed approval for direct Olmert-Abbas peace talks. He said, “The problem is not the Palestinian side or its consent to negotiations. … If the (Palestinian) Authority chairman, as the elected president, wants to get the negotiations moving, we have no objection to that. If what Abu Mazen (Abbas) presents to the people as a result of negotiations serves its interest, then we too will redefine our position.”

Presumably, these talks would be monitored and orchestrated by the United States, and any successfully negotiated terms of the road map would subsequently be approved by both Israelis and Palestinians. Such approval of a final peace agreement was an important facet of the Camp David Accords.

It would be a mistake to underestimate the difficulty of finding a mutually acceptable agreement, but many Israelis, Palestinians and international representatives are familiar with what must be its ultimate basic terms. They include reasonable border compromises based on the swapping of land, which could leave a substantial number of Israeli settlers undisturbed on Palestinian land.

A mutual Israeli-Palestinian agreement would undoubtedly result in full recognition of Israel by all Arab nations, with normal diplomatic and economic relations, and permanent peace and justice for the Palestinians.

It would also remove one of the major causes of international terrorism and greatly ease tensions that could precipitate a regional or even global conflict.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter is founder of the non-profit Carter Center, advancing peace and health worldwide.

AP: “Church of Scotland: label settlement products”

AP article from Jerusalem Post, 24th May 2006.

The Church of Scotland has called on European authorities and the World Council of Churches to clearly identify products from illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands, a church official said Wednesday.

The decision by the church’s General Assembly, meeting in Edinburgh, came after delegates were informed that the church had no investments related to what it regards as oppression of the Palestinians.

The General Assembly last year asked the Church and Society Council to see whether concerns about Israel and the Palestinians had any implications for the church’s investment portfolio.

“The Church of Scotland doesn’t hold any relevant investment.” Morag Mylne, the council’s convener (chair), said in a telephone interview.

Mylne, who reported to the General Assembly on Tuesday, said the church advocated clear identification of products from illegal settlements to enable consumers to make informed choices.

The Church of Scotland, formerly the official church in Scotland, is a Presbyterian body.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) last year identified five companies in which it had investments in companies which it said contributed to “ongoing violence that plagues Israel and Palestine.”

The Church of England has also reviewed its investments in US-based Caterpillar Inc., but affirmed this year that it would discuss its concerns with Caterpillar rather than divest its shares.