“We Need an International Anti-Apartheid Campaign” presented by Jeff Halper, posted by Kathy,
Halper is the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a Professor of Anthropology at Ben Gurion University. Originally from Minnesota (US), he has lived in Israel since 1973. Jeff has researched and written extensively on Israeli society and is the author of the book Between Redemption and Revival: the Jewish Yishuv in Jerusalem in the nineteenth century, (Westview Press, 1991).
Halper gave this speech at the 2nd Bil’in International Nonviolence Conference, 19 April 2007.
A group of students at Harvard, including Jews and Israelis, calls for the Commander-in-Chief to be tried for war crimes
Even at Harvard University the former Commander-in-Chief, Dan Halutz, can’t find peace; a group of radical and pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, among them Jews and Israelis, is “hunting” for him. As a part of this “hunt,” the students, starting today, intend to hang posters of Halutz under the headline “Wanted for War Crimes” above a photograph of Halutz in uniform as Commander-in-Chief. Next to the photo is written, “General Dan Halutz was last seen at Harvard Business School, May 2007.”
Beneath is a detailed “indictment” against the former Commander-in-Chief stating, “Dan Halutz ordered the indiscriminate shelling of Lebanon last summer, in which more than 1,000 civilians were killed. Military planes under his command exploded homes and hospitals, ambulances and airports.”
The declaration continues: “The atrocities committed under his authority have been condemned around the world as war crimes. Halutz resigned from his position as Commander-in-Chief in January. Now he is hiding and padding his resume at Harvard Business School.” The end of the letter, in larger letters, reads: “If you find him, please contact the International War Crimes Court.”
An accompanying notice on the organization¹s website indicates that, “War criminal Halutz is moving around freely at Harvard.” The mediatized “hunt” for Halutz is being organized by an organization called “the Alliance for Justice in the Middle East,” whose members, in addition to pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, include a number of leftist activists, among them, as noted earlier, Jews and even some Israeli students, some of whom are from very well-known families in the country.
Can’t get to Halutz
They are organizing protests against IDF officers who come to study at the prestigious Harvard Business School. Incidentally, they are already aware of the anticipated arrival of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, General Moshe Kaplinsky, to the university this coming July and are planning a warm welcome for him as well. Their website details the “crimes” of every IDF officer coming to the university, his connections, the school in which he is coming to study, and how to reach him and irritate him.
Yesterday members of the forum created a new group on the website Facebook, which is essentially a social site within the university, and invited users to join. Facebook is one of the most popular sites among students worldwide. Members include lecturers, students, and faculty from Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and others.
The “manhunt” against Halutz, which involves hanging “Wanted” posters around the university and publicity on the internet, was supposed to begin yesterday. One of the organizers of the protest is Naor Ben-Yehoyada, who told Ma’ariv last night in a telephone conversation: “We distributed flyers to students on campus, but a security officer from the Business School, where he is studying, immediately approached us. He brought his superior, who asked — just like a Border Patrol officer — who is responsible for the group. He asked to see a permit to distribute flyers and ordered us to stop. This is not a deterrent; tomorrow we’ll continue distributing flyers.”
Ben-Yehoyada added: “We’ve already received one piece of hate mail in response, which says ‘Your protest is the gayest thing I’ve seen on the internet. I’m shocked that douch-bags like you even got in to Harvard.'” [Ben-]Yehoyada further explains: “We thought of trying to get to Halutz himself, but he is studying in a closed area that includes classrooms and a hotel, and no student has access to that area.”
Victoria’s Army, a division of Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!), delighted Mother’s Day shoppers in San Francisco on Saturday, May 12, with a fashion show outside Victoria Secret’s Union Square storefront. The fashion show was the second outing for the bold Victoria’s Secret Weapon Line, underwritten by generous grants from the Pentagon.
Tammy worked her Push ’Em Out Bra, made popular by the late Golda Meir (“there is no such thing as Palestinians), while Danielle showed off the wonders of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s own Total Control Boundary Reshaper (checkpoints and apartheid walls give you the contours you want).
Three types of Razor Wire bras help separate the welcome from the unwelcome and let you decide who gains access to your cleavage. Sarit modeled the bulletproof Secret Armor set, keeping soldier girls safe and sexy from Falluja to Nablus.
A crowd favorite was Secret Support, with it’s red, white and blue pullout option, offering you the security that the world’s only superpower can provide.
“Nothing’s more American than Mom, apple pie, and support for Israel,” intoned popular announcer DeeGee, to roars from captivated bystanders. “Who says apartheid can’t be sexy?”
It’s a little known fact that Mother’s Day is one of the busiest times of year for lingerie retailers. Another little known fact is that many of Victoria’s Secret’s bras, cotton panties and sleepware are made by an Israeli company called Delta Galil. Most of the cotton they use is grown in Israel or Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. The “Shop Israel” website administered by the Israeli embassy in the U.S. urges people who support Israel to buy Victoria’s Secret products. The Victoria’s Secret Weapon brochure includes a card shoppers can deliver to Victoria’s Secret staff, asking the company to stop contributing to the Israeli economy until Israel fulfills its obligations under international law.
QUIT!’s full-color catalogue is available for download, along with photos from the action and more information about Delta Galil and Victoria’s Secret, at http://www.QuitPalestine.org.
Two Israeli solidarity activists arrested on Nakba commemoration day by the ISM Media Crew, 18 May 2007
On May 18 2007, a demonstration commemorating the Nakba (the “Catastrophe,” when Israel forcibly displaced three quarters of a million Palestinians from their homes, massacred civilians, and the razing to the ground of hundreds of Palestinian villages) took place in the village of Um Salamuna near Bethlehem. Around 100 Palestinians, Israelis and internationals gathered for prayers near the settlement road cutting the village off from its land. The army, border police and riot unit showed up with around eleven jeeps and 60 well-armed men. The aim of the demonstration was to cross the settler road and reach the village’s land in a show of peaceful defiance against the many years of occupation and oppression.
Following speeches from Palestinian villagers and members of the public, in which they detailed their wishes for peace and justice for their people, we all started walking the short distance to the gate between the village and the road.
Basha, a Palestinian demonstrator, said, “We were stopped almost immediately by the special riot unit, who pushed us back with much force. Two Israelis were arrested for “violating” the closed military zone order that had been imposed. Much violence ensued on the part of the riot unit.”
Two flying checkpoints were setup on the main road and the entrance of village stopping Palestinian vehicles and the residents of the nearby villages of Umm Salamuna to join their right to protest against the occupation and the thief of the their land. A group of Palestinians walked down the hill around the checkpoint to reach the demonstration.
The Palestinian leaders of the demonstration decided that we were to turn our backs on the soldiers and march along the route of the wall back to the village. A number of people spontaneously began to destroy the infrastructure of the wall, in order to make it more difficult for the Israeli authorities to complete their work. Once again, we were confronted by a line of many soldiers. A short and rather peaceful confrontation ensued and the demonstration was then ended by the Palestinian organizers.
One organizer of the event said, “the demonstration was a great success: we managed to get our message across. We were there to defy the Occupation and we did so.”
Palestinians will again be joined next Friday by Israeli and international solidarity activists.
This Friday the theme of the demonstration in Bil’in was the Nakba. This week marked 59 years from the formal robbery of most of the Palestinian lands by the Israeli settler colonialists with blessing of the United Nation and the big imperial powers. We marched at noon on the road leading to the route of the separation fence – Palestinians from the village and the region; international activists; Israelis organized by the anarchists against the wall (AATW) initiative; and media workers of all kinds. Among the participants from Ramallah, were people of the Popular Democratic Front (of Naif Hawatme). One of them was old enough to remember the exchanging of texts between their journals and the Israeli anti-authoritarian anti capitalist (anti Zionist) journal Matspen….
Most of the marchers carried small placards – each with the name of one of the about 500 villages destroyed in 1948 by the Israeli expansionist forces.
When we arrived at the foot of the hill on its top is located the gate to the robed lands on the other side of the separation fence, we encountered a line of barbed wire and lot of soldiers half the way up the hill. Their commander declared with the loudspeaker that there is a military closed space just behind the barbed wire. He warned with retaliation and arrest people who will cross the line.
The people at the head moved aside the barbed wire spool and continued to advance – and got immediately a shower of tear gas canisters.
The tear gas detered most of the people who retreated a hundred meters and dispersed among the olive trees on the side of the road. A small group of comrades who succeeded to march up the hill got a special shower of tear gas and was forced to join the rest of us.
For more than two hours there were waves of people regrouping and advancing a bit, and showers of tear gas forcing us to retreat. At some point, olive trees in the groove were set on fire by the shooting of tear gas grenades, and demonstrators worked to extinguish the fire in spite of the tear gas.
In their efforts to disperse the demonstration soldiers even invaded the fringe of the built area of the village.
After the fires were extinguished the demonstration was ended. I could see one comrade carrying a 20 liter bucket full of tear gas canisters as a kind of trophy – a small part of the hundreds fired on us this day.
