Newsletter.

Howard Zinn,  professor, author, teacher, activist and a leader for social justice and peace,  died today, 1/27/10.  He was a giant lighthouse for many of us.

The author, poet and activist Alice Walker said ( Democracy Now, January 28, 2010 : "Well, my former teacher (Howard Zinn) was one of the funniest people I have ever known, and he was likelier to say the most extraordinary things at the most amazing moments.
I think I felt he would live forever. And I feel such joy that I was lucky enough to know him. And he had such a wonderful impact on my life and on the lives of the students of Spelman and of millions of people. We’ve just been incredibly lucky to have him for all these years, eighty-seven. That’s such a long time. Not long enough. And I’m just so grateful."

Noam Chomsky said about Howard Zinn “He’s made an amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture. He’s changed the conscience of America in a highly constructive way. I really can’t think of anyone I can compare him to in this respect.”
Chomsky added that Dr. Zinn’s writings “simply changed perspective and understanding for a whole generation.”
“He opened up approaches to history that were novel and highly significant,” Chomsky said. “Both by his actions and his writings for 50 years, he played a powerful role in helping and in many ways inspiring the civil rights movement and the antiwar movement.”

One of Howard Zinn's last public lectures at Boston University on Three Holy Wars in January 2010. From Democary Now. www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/1/8/howard_zinn_three_holy_wars

An article by Zinn from Common Dreams.org : A Just Cause, Not a Just War

January 4, 2010

On International Human Rights Day in 2008, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. Last year on the same day, December 10th, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our West Bank home. Abdallah was arrested for the same reasons he received the prize - his nonviolent struggle for justice, equality and peace in Israel/Palestine
.
My husband is a school teacher and farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil'in. When Israel built its apartheid wall here, it separated Bil'in from more than half of its land, in order to facilitate the expansion of the illegal settlement Mattityahu East. In response, Abdallah and fellow villagers began a campaign of nonviolent resistance. Every Friday for the past five years, we've marched, with Israeli and international supporters, to protest the theft of our land and livelihoods.

In September, 2007 Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the route of the wall in Bil'in was illegal and should be changed. Over two years later, the wall remains, unmoved. Many were discouraged, but Abdallah told them that the pressure of our campaign and international support could bring down the wall.

As the grassroots struggle grows here, the efforts to end our actions have intensified. The army has been instructed to use weapons against the protesters and arrest participants. Our beloved friend, Bassem Abu Rahmah, was murdered by Israeli soldiers as he tried to talk with them, while participating in a demonstration. Seventy-seven others have been arrested in violent night raids.

Among the other arrestees is Abdallah's cousin Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who, like Abdallah, never missed a demonstration and was never violent. Adeeb, a father of nine, has been in prison for five months, with no end in sight. Since the first time our home was invaded, our seven year-old daughter Luma has been waking up screaming, and five year-old Layan wetting her bed. Only our nine month-old son Laith still smiles and giggles, but I cry when he calls for his father.

Leaders like former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the leaders of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle, have visited our village. They stood with Abdallah at Bassem's grave last August. Mr. Tutu told us, "Just as a simple man named Gandhi led the successful nonviolent struggle in India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King led the struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in Bil'in are leading a nonviolent struggle that will bring them their freedom."
The afternoon before his arrest, Abdallah prepared a speech to be read on his behalf to the World Association for Human Rights since Israel would not allow him to travel to Germany for the ceremony. Abdallah wrote:

"I wish I could be with you to share in the joy of our colleagues receiving this year's prize and to celebrate with you the 20th anniversary of the removal of the Berlin Wall. But the occupation not only robs us of statehood, land, and so often of our lives, it also deprives us of many beautiful moments."

"My mother passed away in a hospital in occupied East Jerusalem, our historic capital, in August but the Israeli occupation refused me a permit to be with her. An Israeli friend held a mobile phone to my mother's ear so that I could say good bye to her and thank her for all the love she has given me. In the darkness of all these difficulties the occupation imposes on us, the solidarity of justice-seeking people like you all over the world gives us strength."
"Unlike Israel, we have no nuclear weapons, and no army, but we do not want or need those things. With your support and the justice of our cause, we will bring down Israel's apartheid wall."

Twelve hours after Abdallah was taken to a military jail from our home, I listened as President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize and spoke of "the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice." I thought of Bassem, Adeeb and my husband, and wondered if President Obama will take action to support our struggle for freedom.
 

December 29, 2009

Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a leader of the Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested at his home during a military operation in Ramallah by the Israeli Army on December 12.

FFIPP interns and members of faculty delegations know Abdallah Abu Rahmah well.  For the past two years, he has received our students and faculty at his home in Bilin and has taken them to see the Separation Wall on the village's land. 

Abdallah with FFIPP students and faculty in Bili'n

Abdallah is currently in military prison and is being charged with illegal weapons possession, in response to his creative exhibition of discharged tear gas canisters, bullets and sound grenades used by the Israeli military in Bil’in against non-violenet protestors. As many of our students and faculty have witnessed, the exhibition was created for educational purposes and does not have live ammunitions but only the remains of weapon used by  the Israeli Army.

In the last 20 years Israel confiscated more than 50% of Bil’in land for Israeli settlements and the construction of the separation wall. Supported by Israeli and international activists, Bil’in residents have peacefully demonstrate every Friday in front of the Separation Wall on their land for the past five years.
Under international law the confiscation of land in Bilin for the construction of the settlements on the village's land is illegal. The ongoing  construction of the Wall is also condemned by the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 2007 the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the government to reroute a section of its separation barrier that is on the village's land.

Abdallah's arrest appears to be part of an ongoing campaign conducted by the Israeli military to undermine the efforts of residents of Bil'in and leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, in an attempt to discourage them from continuing their non-violent struggle and spreading their non-violent, creative and inclusive struggle to other villages. Since June 2009, 31 residents of Bil'in have been detained by the Israeli military.  Recently, other leaders of the grassroots and non-violent Palestinian movement for the removal of the Wall and for freedom have been arrested, such as Jamal Juma and Mohamed Othman.

By imprisoning leaders of the non-violent struggle against the confiscation of Palestinian land, what is the message that the Israeli military intends to convey? If the leaders of this struggle, who work openly and jointly with Israeli and international peace activists, are taken away by the Israeli military, what options are left open to a new generation of Palestinians who desire to fight for their freedom and their dignity?

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who met with Abdallah Abu Rahma last summer during a visit to Israel, under the auspices of The Elders, a group of global leaders formed by former South African president Nelson Mandela,  condemned Abu Rahma's arrest and indictment.
Archbishop Tutu said that he and his fellow delegation members - who included former American president Jimmy Carter, former Irish president Mary Robinson and former  Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland - were "impressed by [Abdallah Abu Rahma] commitment to peaceful political action, and their success in challenging the wall that unjustly separates the people of Bil'in from their land and their olive trees." He called Abu Rahma's arrest and indictment "part of an escalation by the Israeli military to try to break the spirit of the people of Bil'in."

Abdallah Abu Rahma and members of the Elders delegation Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former American president Jimmy Carter, former Irish president Mary Robinson, Ela Bhatt  and former  Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland in Bilin

All of us who met with Abdallah Abu Rahmah in Bilin share Desmond Tutu's evaluation and condemnation.

We urge students and faculty to
1) Send a message of support and solidarity to the Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, http://www.bilin-village.org/
2) Request their release from Israel, http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Israel,
3) Ask President Obama to put pressure on Israel to release the leaders of the non-vilolent struggle Against the Wall and Settlements, http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
 

FFIPP-France letter to the French Parliament on Bili'n

Gaza Freedom March

From Women in Black
By Rochelle
Cairo
 
December 29, 2009

Dear Friends,

After 2 grueling days of travel I arrived in Cairo on Dec. 25 which seems like a few years ago. Despite tremendous international pressure on the Egyptian embassies and consulates world wide we have been refused entry to Gaza. The bus company that contracted with the Gaza Freedom March has been told by the government to cancel our trip. A small group of about 30 people from several countries decided to go to Al Arish, the northern Egyptian city nearest the Rafa border by public transportation to attempt to enter. They were met by the military police who placed them under house arrest there. They are being "detained" in their hotel and seem to be fine, not harmed, etc. It is likely that they will be sent back to leave the country.

Our 1361 delegates were supposed to meet for a big briefing at a large cathedral but the Egyptian government pulled the permit. Here you can be arrested for meeting with more than 6 people without a permit. So far we have held meetings in several hotels crammed packed with people. You can imagine how difficult it is to communicate under these circumstances.

A plan to rent dozens of faluccas, boats that sail on the Nile for a couple of hours was also stopped by the government. Hundreds and hundreds of us arrived planning to divide into small groups on the boats to allow us to communicate more easily and to put 1400 candles into the Nile to commemorate those who were killed last year in the massacre in Gaza, half of whom were children. Instead we held a huge demonstration with candles and banners and chants. We were surrounded by police but they were restrained and we dispersed with no trouble.

We then gathered a bit later for a large outdoor meeting infront of a government building to hear about next steps. I took on the responsibility of leading a group of people who like myself were unaffiliated, ie, not part of any contingents like faith based or artists or a particular country. We have named ourselves the Lost and Found but more formally just plain Free Palestine contingent. It is made up of about 18 people ranging in age from 22 to 77. We are from the US, Belgium, Bulgaria, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and Jordan. As a group leader I will go to a meeting to represent the group and then communicate with them via email and phone. It will make it a lot easier to meet and plan. There are several Plan B's afoot including creating an encampment infront of the UN here.

The French delegates seem like their government may be having more luck intervening with the Egyptians and they may be able to take busses to Al Arish tomorrow. Whether that happens, whether they will actually then get to Rafa, whether they will then get to Gaza - en shallah - it is in God's hands. I have gotten to know several of the French folks and if they go they have invited me and a few others to join because they have some extra seats. To be seen.

It is incredibly inspiring to be among hundreds and hundreds of activists from around the world who raise their voices as part of civil society to end the siege of Gaza and the occupation of Palestinians. Cairo has the dubious distinction of being the most polluted city in the world, the air is blue, it is a filthy, crowded, noisy city that never sleeps and pulses with a tremendous life force. The people are friendly and non-Arabs are still somewhat of an oddity.

The fact that it is almost midnight seems to have no relevance to the Egyptians who are in the streets all day and night. Shops never seem to close. I however, am not Egyptian and so I will eat my falafel and go to bed.

Here, at this moment, in this in a shabby hotel filled with peace loving people and never ending clouds of cigarette smoke I really do feel that the world is a better place waiting to happen.

I will keep you posted but may be out of internet access.

Thank you all for your support and good hearts.

To a future of what could be,

Rochelle             

By Mohammed Khatib
Mohammed Khatib is the secretary of Bil'in’s Village Council and a leading member of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements.
Published in the Nation on 9/11/09

A few weeks ago, in the dead of night, dozens of Israeli soldiers with painted faces burst violently into my home. If only they had knocked, I would have opened the door. They arrested me. My wife, Lamia, was left alone with our four children. My youngest, 3-year-old Khaled, woke up to the image of Israeli soldiers with painted faces who were taking his father away. He has not stopped crying since. A few nights ago he woke up in terror, sobbing: "Daddy, why did you let the soldiers take me?" That's the way our children sleep--in a constant state of fear.
Many Americans know that the Obama administration has been pushing the Israeli government to accept a freeze on settlement construction. What is not commonly known is that even as Israel negotiates with the United States, it has been taking steps, including my arrest, to crush the growing Palestinian nonviolent movement  opposing Israel's construction of settlements and the wall on Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Read Article

November 30, 2009

Part 1
www.youtube.com/watch
Part 2
www.youtube.com/watch
Part 3
www.youtube.com/watch
Part 4
www.youtube.com/watch
Part 5
www.youtube.com/watch

The enclosure in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Photography and art as a means of emancipation

Monday, November 30, 2009 at 5:00pm
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 5:00pm
Location:
University of Amsterdam, Spinhuis
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 185
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Description
Jerusalem - Bethlehem: The enclosure in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Photography and art as a means of emancipation.
In the framework of educational activities related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the principle of peace upheld by FFIPP within the academic community, our network has decided to combine photos from a Palestinian partner (the EJE, a French-Palestinian NGO based in Bethlehem) and photos from an Israeli collective of photographers named Active Stills, within the same exhibition.
This exhibition portrays both Palestinian and Israeli points of view on the enclosure and separation of two populations. The innovative and complementary approach shared by our two partners is based on a common conviction: photography and art can actively support social and political change. The images are a privileged medium of testimony, moreover, tools of mobilization and pacifist emancipation.
In February 2009, the EJE (Enfance, Jeu, Education) and her partner Anne Paquier (independent photographer) launched an educational project promoting the art of photography (technics, light, structure, message) for children of the Al Aroub refugee camp (near Bethlehem). In the aftermath of the project, cameras were made available for the children to give them the opportunity to capture their daily lives and dreams. Multiple themes were captured on camera: school, generations, Palestinian culture, daily life, earth, Palestinian symbols, etc. A selection of images made by these young photographers will be on display during the exhibition.
The other photos originate from an Israeli collective of photographers, called Active Stills, and demonstrate the enclosure and uprooting in and around Jerusalem. This collective similarly uses photography as a way of militant expression, and their images are integral to the fight against all forms of oppression, racism and violations of the fundamental liberties of mankind. The themes chosen by this group of 10 professional photographers - active in both Israel and Palestine - range from the denunciation of the Israeli occupation and the blockage of Gaza to the defence of women's rights, immigrants and asylum seekers in Israel. The exhibition furthermore displays a number of their photographs related to Jerusalem and its surroundings, taken from the "Jerusalem Dispossessed" brochure, made possible in cooperation with the ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions).
We invite and encourage everyone, especially the academic community, to come and see the exhibition, to highlight the issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict now more than ever, and act together with us for just peace.
 

By Nurit Peled Elhanan 14 October 2009

On Wednesday we – members of the Combatants for Peace movement, women of Mahsom [Hebrew: checkpoint or barrier] Watch, members of the Forum of Bereaved Families for Peace and writer David Grossman – attended a hearing at the High Court of Justice on the matter of the closing, due to lack of evidence, of the investigatory file on the killing of ten-year-old Abir Aramin about three years ago.
The hearing, which had been scheduled for eleven o’clock and then for nine o’clock and then for ten o’clock and then for one o’clock, began at two. Journalists ran to and fro in the corridor (Who died? A little girl? Really? Excuse me, sir, did your daughter die? Yes. Then you are Bassam Aramin? No, I am Rami Elhanan. Oh, sorry. So where’s that Aramin? And who are you? We are from Mahsom Watch. From what checkpoint? What are you doing here? And who are you? I am a friend. Of those Palestinians? Yes. How come? How can it be? Can I interview you? Did you too have a daughter who died? Really? When? How? What was her name? And after all that you are on their side?)  But at the end of the day no Israeli reported on what happened.
Salwa and Bassam Aramin are not Jews and they are not Israelis. They live under a cruel occupation and they have experienced all it has to offer: exile, imprisonment and the killing of their small daughter Abir by a rubber (coated metal) bullet that was allegedly fired from the rifle of a Border Guard soldier who was sitting in an armoured jeep and thrust the barrel of his rifle through the opening that was allegedly designed for that purpose and allegedly aimed and fired at the head of the girl who was standing beside her sister at a kiosk, allegedly buying candy during the break between the first class and the second. The projectile was removed from under the girl’s body and transferred to the authorities. The eyewitnesses, as well as the Border Guard soldiers, testified that there was no alleged danger to their lives and that the shooting was done – if it was done – in contravention of instructions. Two pathologists testified that it was probable that the fracture in Abir’s little skull could allegedly have been caused by a rubber bullet. The attending physician at the Hadassah hospital said that it was not a live bullet. The video of the reconstruction of the incident was not given to the defence counsel or to the court, because the soldiers who allegedly carried out the shooting, that is, who thrust the barrel of the rifle through the opening that had been made especially for that purpose, aimed and fired at the head of the girl Abir, were featured in the recording.
Counsel for the State, stammering, unprepared and unkempt, stood like a platoon commander in charge of new recruits with her back to the public and refuted the allegations: So they found a projectile. So what? Who knows how long it had been lying there? So people gave testimony, so what? They (those Arabs) can say anything, does that make it testimony? So nobody was throwing stones at that spot, so what? On a nearby street stones were thrown. If you were in my place, she laughingly says to Michael Sfard, Aramin's attorney, you would have made (tasty) morsels of them by now.
Morsels.
Judge Beinish reminds Sfard – twice – that there have been such incidents in the past and that soldiers have rarely been put on trial or even indicted, so it would be best to just forget it. The State Counsel, with a laugh: I had the pleasure of attending such trials.
Morsels. Pleasure.
But Salwa and Bassam Aramin have no choice but to seek justice in an Israeli court. They demand that the truth come to light in a court of the occupiers – of the killers. “So that I can rest and so that Abir can rest,” Salwa says to the journalists. The perfect crime, Jean-François Lyotard once wrote, is not only the killing but also the suppression of the testimony and the silencing of the voices of the victims. And the greatest injustice is to compel the victims to seek justice in the court of their tormentors.
As Judge Beinish implied in her comments to Sfard, the blood of Palestinians is cheap in this country. No one has ever been punished for killing Palestinians – children, adults, newborns, old people. The Jewish murderers are all walking among us, free and happy.
Those who have murdered our Israeli children, the Palestinian suicide bombers, have at least said “let me die with the Philistines”* [see below] and spared us any questions about their presence in the world. The murderer of Abir Aramin no doubt spent that very evening in a bar (Shit! What a nasty day! A little girl walked right into my crosshairs!), and will continue to spend many more evenings in many more bars, while Abir’s parents seek justice from the occupier, from the oppressor.
My 17-year-old son Yigal (Smadar's brother) sat in the courtroom all day with a shocked expression on his face. That night he took off for Auschwitz (on a tour that Israeli high school pupils go on) with his classmates.
For his sake I hoped, I prayed, I implored, I nearly shouted for the drowsy judges – Beinish, Arbel, Frocaccia – to find a spark of humanity, of motherly feelings, within themselves and to look into the eyes of Salwa, who never stopped crying, and at Bassam’s ashen face, and to say: the High Court of Justice sympathizes with you over the death of little Abir.
They didn't.
* Judges 16:30--And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.  (King James version)
Translated from Hebrew by George Malent

Nurit Peled-Elhanan is an Israeli peace activist, professor at Hebrew University, and is among the founders of the Bereaved Families for Peace. Elhanan's daughter, Smadar Elhanan, was the victim of a suicide bombing attack Ben Yehuda Street Bombing in Jerusalem on September 4, 1997

September 21, 2009.
Kobi Snitz, a long-time activist with the Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall, who was together with Rateb Abu Rahmeh on a FFIPP campus speaking tour in Fall 2007 on the non-violent struggle against the wall and confiscation of land in Bili'n, begins a 20 day prison term for an arrest in 2004 in which he tried to prevent a home demolition in the Palestinian village of Kharbatha, in the Ramallah District. He is the first Israeli activist to serve time for a demonstration in the Occupied Territories. His statement (from yesterday) is below:
Tomorrow I will start a 20 day prison term. It is a result of an attempt to prevent a house demolition in kharbatha. As you probably know 20 days is nothing compared to the time many Palestinian teenagers have to do. Unlike them, I did not have to do this. I refused to pay a fine and was therefore sent to jail.
throughout the long trial I had other opportunities to avoid prison but could not bring myself to admit guilt in any way or accept the sentence given me. I and the others who were arrested with me are guilty of nothing except not doing more to oppose the truly criminal policies of the state. To be forced to say otherwise is as demeaning as it is untrue. Compared to it 20 days in jail are a small price to pay.
The legal team headed by Gaby has been excellent as always and thanks also to Nir and Alon from Bimkom who supplied information about planning policies and regulations.
no pasaran!

September 2009 Newsletter

November 2009 Newsletter

The march will be held on January 1, 2010 in Gaza calling for the lifting of the siege on Gaza.
FFIPP will conduct an educational campaign on Gaza on campuses in North America and Europe and work with CODEPINK to get 100 students to the march.
Please contact us if you want to organize a Gaza event on your campus. FFIPP can arrange for speakers to be at your event.
For more information on the Gaza Freedom March see: CODEPINK

Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict by Richard Goldstone

Excerpts:
The Mission concludes that the conditions resulting from deliberate actions of the Israeli forces and the declared policies of the Government with regard to the Gaza Strip before, during and after the military operation cumulatively indicate the intention to inflict collective punishment on the people of the Gaza Strip. The mission, therefore, finds a violation of the provisions of Articles 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
From the facts gathered, the Mission found that the following grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention were committed by Israeli forces in Gaza: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. As grave breaches these acts give rise to individual criminal responsibility.
The Mission further considers that the series of acts that deprive Palestinians in the Gaza Strip of their means of subsistence, employment, housing and water, that deny their freedom of movement and their right to leave and enter their own country, that limit their rights to access a court of law and an effective remedy, could lead a competent court to find that the crime of persecution, a crime against humanity, has been committed.
In relation to the firing of rockets and mortars into Southern Israel by Palestinian armed groups operating in the Gaza Strip, the Mission finds that the Palestinian armed groups fail to distinguish between military targets and the civilian population and civilian objects in Southern Israel. The launching of rockets and mortars which cannot be aimed with sufficient precisions at military targets breaches the fundamental principle of distinction. Where there is no intended military target and the rockets and mortars are launched into civilian areas, they constitute a deliberate attack against the civilian population. These actions would constitute war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity.

See complete report
 

Why The Goldstone Report Matters

By Professor Richard Falk, 9/19/2009

Excerpt from the article:

"No credible international commission could reach any set of conclusions other than those reached by the Goldstone Report on the central allegations."

" The report recommends strongly that if Israel and Hamas do not themselves within six months engage in an investigation and followup action meeting international standards of objectivity with respect to these violations of the law of war, then the Security Council should be brought into the picture, being encouraged to consider referring the whole issue of Israeli and Hamas accountability to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "

"A fourth reason for Israeli worry stemming from the report, is the green light given to national courts throughout the world to enforce international criminal law against Israelis suspects should they travel abroad and be detained for prosecution or extradition in some third country. "

"The report is an historic contribution to the Palestinian struggle for justice, an impeccable documentation of a crucial chapter in their victimization under occupation. Its impact will be felt most impressively on the growing civil society movement throughout the world to impose cultural, sporting, and academic boycotts, as well as to discourage investment, trade, and tourism with Israel. It may yet be the case that as in the anti-apartheid struggle the shift in the relation of forces in the Palestinian favor will occur not through diplomacy or as a result of armed resistance, but on the symbolic battlefield of legitimacy that has become global in scope, what might be described as the new political relevance of moral and legal globalization. "

Richard Falk is a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University. He was a Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2001-04). He was also a member of the  United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories and a member of the Independent International Commission on Kosovo. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of The Nation and The Progressive, and Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Professor Falk is on the advisory board of FFIPP-USA.
To read  Professor Falk complete article on the Goldstone report see: Article

The “Elders”, Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu visit the Apartheid wall in Bil’in - Thursday, 27 August 2009
 
  Bil’in village, West Bank:  Former US president Jimmy Carter, Mrs. Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa visited the site of the Apartheid Wall on the land of the village of Bil’in.
  The Carters and Archbishop Tutu came to Bil’in together with their colleagues from The “Elders” delegation, former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland, former Irish president and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Indian human rights activist Ela Bhatt, and renowned businessmen Richard Branson and Jeff Skoll.
   Former president Carter pointed to the land on the other side of the wall where the settlement of Modi’in Illit is being built: “This is not Israel; this is Palestine and settlements must be removed from Palestinian land so that justice will be restored in the area.”
  Desmond Tutu encouraged the Palestinian activists: “ Just as a simple man named Ghandi led the successful non-violent struggle in India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela led the struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in Bil’in are leading a non-violent struggle that will bring them their freedom. The South Africa experience proves that injustice can be dismantled.” 
 
   The “Elders” placed symbolic stones on the monument commemorating Bassem Abu Rahme, a non-violent activist who was shot dead on the 17th April 2009 while attempting to speak with Israeli soldiers during a non-violent demonstration.  
    The Bil’in popular committee and their friends including Luisa Morgantini, the former vice president of the European Parliament, and Israeli activists welcomed the delegation and invited them to participate in Bil’in’s annual conference for non-violent popular resistance. The delegation met Raja Abu Rahme, the daughter of Adib Abu Rahme, a leading non-violent activist from Bil’in. Adib was arrested on 10th July during a non-violent demonstration and is being held in Ofer military prison. Raja told them about her father’s arrest and about the night raid arrests that the Israeli military began in Bil’in on 23rd June 2009.
    Bil’in will be holding its weekly demonstration tomorrow, on Friday, the 28th  August at 1:00 PM. The Palestinian village of Bil’in has become an international symbol of the Palestinian popular struggle. For almost 5 years, its residents have been continuously struggling against the de facto annexation of more then 50% of their farmlands and the construction of the apartheid wall on it.

In a celebrated decision, the Israeli Supreme court ruled on the 4 September 2007 that the current route of the wall in Bil’in was illegal and needs to be dismantled; the ruling however has not been implemented.
 

Mohammad Khatib, member of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements has been released-Tuesday, 18 August 2009
    

Tuesday, 18 August 2009: Mohammad Khatib, member of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements has been released on the condition that he report to a police station with a monitor every Friday until 5pm for the duration of his trial. 
He is available for interviews. 

     According to Mohammad, "The Israeli authorities are worried that the model of popular non-violent resistance is spreading. They are targeting the popular committees to try to crush it but they cannot destroy the spirit of the demonstrations in Bil’in with the arrests of individuals. The whole village is part of the non-violent resistance and the military would have to arrest the entire village to stop us from protesting against the Occupation and the theft of our land. Even then, when we all come out of jail, we would continue our struggle."

     Another leading Bil’in non-violent activist, Adeeb Abu Rahme, remains in detention since his arrest during a non-violent demonstration on July 10th. The latest wave of arrests and night raids on the West Bank village of Bil’in began on 23 June 2009. Both Adib Abu Rahme and Mohammad  Khatib are being charged with “incitement to damage the security of the area.”

   

To date, Israeli forces have arrested 26 people (most under 18). The last arrest took place on 15.08.09; Nashmi Mohammad Ibrahim Abu Rahma (age 14) was arrested near the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in village. 

Through Israel’s interrogation and intimidation tactics, some of arrested youth have ‘confessed’ that the Bil’in Popular Committee urges the demonstrators to throw stones. With such ‘confessions’, Israeli forces then proceed to arrest leaders in the community.
In Mohammad Khatib’s case this tactic failed when Khatib’s attorney, Gabi Laski, proved that a picture the prosecution claimed was of Mohammad throwing stones during a demonstration was taken when Mohammad was out of the country. The photograph was accompanied by a “confession” from one of the Bil’in youth that is currently in the military’s custody, claiming that the person in the picture was Mohammad Khatib.

    The Palestinian village of Bil’in has become an international symbol of the Palestinian popular struggle. For almost 5 years, its residents have been continuously struggling against the de facto annexation of more than 50% of their farmlands via the construction of the Apartheid Wall.
For more information call:  Abdullah Abu Rahme  (972) 599-107-069
Mohammad Khatib: (972) 59- 891-4541
 

August 13, 2009

We urge you to join FFIPP in calling for the immediate release of Mohammad Khatib, a leader of the non-violent resistance to the confiscation of land and the construction of the Separation Wall in the village of Bil'in. We ask the Israeli army to stop the harassment of Mohammad Khatib's family and call for the release of all the innocent persons from Bil'in who were arrested by the Israeli army.
Mr. Mohammad Khatib is a friend of FFIPP who has met with a number of FFIPP faculty delegations to Palestine/Israel and students from the FFIPP Internship for Human Rights and Just Peace who visited Bil'in. We know Mohammad as a principled man who is committed to non-violence and joint international, Israeli and Palestinian struggle for just peace.
Statement from the the Bil'in popular committee:
Bil'in village will hold a mass demonstration against the ongoing Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign on Friday, 14 August 2009 at one PM. Bil'in residents along with Israeli and international supporters will attempt to march to the village land beyond the Apartheid barrier.
At 2 AM on the 10 August 2009, Israeli forces raided the home of jailed member of the Bil'in popular committee, Mohammad Khatib. The heavily armed solders, their faces daubed with black paint, entered and "searched" the home now occupied by Mohammad's wife, Lamya, and their small children. The soldiers then ordered Lamya to take them to the house of Khatib's elderly father, Abdel Karim. Lamya repeatedly refused to cooperate. The soldiers proceeded to raid Mohammad's father's home and summoned him to appear for interrogation with the Israeli secret service (Shabak). While Abdel Karim was being interrogated by the Shabk the next day, an officer called his wife in front of him and threatened her with the arrest of her entire family.
The latest wave of arrests and Israeli night raids on the West Bank village of Bil'in began on 23 June 2009, To date, Israeli forces have arrested 25 people (most are under 18). Eighteen of the 25 remain in detention. Through Israel's interrogation and intimidation tactics, two of the arrested youth have 'confessed' that the Bil'in Popular Committee urges the demonstrators to throw stones. With such 'confessions', Israeli forces then proceed to arrest leaders in the community, including Adeeb Abu Rahme and Mohammad Khatib.
Abdullah Abu Rahme, coordinator of the Bil'in popular committee, states that "While the Bil'in committee does encourage residents, Israeli and international supporters to take part in demonstrations, we call for non-violent participation. The occupation forces in addition to using excessive and sometimes lethal violence against us have planted undercover agents to throw stones from the demonstrations on several occasions. Mohammad Khatib and Adeeb Abu Rahme, along with other leaders of the Palestinian popular struggle, are being targeted because they mobilize Palestinians to resist non- violently. Israel is stealing our land from us and then prosecuting us as criminals because we struggle non-violently for justice."
Mohammad Khatib will be taken in front of a military court this Thursday,13th August when the military prosecution will ask to prolong his detention for the duration of his trial. A similar request to hold popular leader Adeeb abu Rahme was granted by a military judge on July 21st. Adeeb has been in detention since his arrest during a non violent demonstration on July 10th. Both leaders are being charged with "incitement to damage the security of the area."
Lamya Khatib, whose husband and younger brother, Abdullah, are both currently imprisoned at Ofer military base, states: " It is obvious that the Israeli authorities will do all that they can to prevent Palestinians and Israelis from working together towards a just peace, but I know that Mohammed, Abdullah and I, and everyone in Bil'in, will continue our struggle for justice."
 

August 12, 2009
A report by Gisha, an Israeli not-for-profit organization, founded in 2005, whose goal is to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Gaza residents, describes how Israel deliberately brought Gaza's humanitarian infrastructure to the brink of collapse in advance of Operation Cast Lead via its policy of closure and limitations on the entrance of inputs for the water, sewage and electricity systems. During the offensive, bombing of infrastructure and shortages in critical resources caused these vital systems to collapse just when they were needed most, disconnecting water supply for half a million people, cutting central power supply for hospitals and di! sconnecting a million people from the electricity needed to pump water, remove sewage and heat homes. Since then, and despite international concern and scrutiny, rehabilitation efforts remain hampered by Israel's continued refusal to allow passage of items needed for repairs and maintenance and by continued restrictions on supply of industrial diesel funded by the EU for Gaza's power plant. The report details the repercussions on the lives of residents of the Strip, analyzes Israel's legal responsibility, and addresses the approval granted to the State's actions by the Israeli High Court of Justice.
Gisha is particularly troubled by the State's recent claim that there is no need for international investigations into Israel's activities in Gaza because, inter alia, the Israeli High Court of Justice actively reviews these activities and would intervene where necessary. Since late 2007, Gisha has filed three petitions in Israel's High Court of Justice challenging the deliberate weakening of Gaza's critical humanitarian infrastructure by restricting supplies to a "humanitarian minimum," calculated by military officials based on the number and type of humanitarian structures operating in Gaza in 2005. While the legal source of that "minimum" has never been revealed, the threshold of Israel's obligations to provide for the needs of Palestinian civilians in Gaza has been repeatedly lowered, substantially impacting every aspect of their daily lives and leading to a dangerous and worrisome erosion of their rights. At each stage, the High Court of Justice approved the supply cuts, under circumstances that raise questions about the ability or willingness of the Court to conduct meaningful judicial review of the activities of the military in the Occupied Territory in general, and in the Gaza Strip in particular.
To read the report go to: http://www.gisha.org/

By Eyad El-Sarraj
August 3, 2009
Where I live, optimism is often treated as a certifiable condition. But a recent meeting with Hamas leaders gives me hope for the future.

Long cast (sometimes with good reason) as narrow-minded and doctrinaire, the elected government of Gaza has begun to emerge from its bunker mentality and engage with the outside world. Israeli military strategists take credit for the shift. They want us to believe that last winter's massive attack, which left nearly 1,500 dead and caused billions of dollars in damage, broke the Islamic movement's will to resist.

Despite claims made by these theologians of brute force, it's actually an open hand rather than a closed fist that has made the difference. President Barack Obama has reached out to the Muslim world in a spirit of genuine reciprocity. Hamas takes seriously the words he uttered in Cairo: "There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground."

Two months after this historic speech, Hamas continues to wait for Washington to follow up words with deeds. Yet various well-informed Americans I have met during their visits to Gaza tell me that the ball is in the Hamas court. They say dialogue won't happen unless Hamas makes the first move and gives Mr. Obama something that he can sell politically.

I can understand the logic. Well-organized "pro-Israel" lobbying groups in the U.S. mock Mr. Obama as dangerously naïve. To rebut charges he's cozying up to terrorists, he needs to show that he's negotiating hard and extracting concessions from Hamas.

For its part, Hamas feels that it has already offered a great deal. "We've agreed to accept the 1967 borders, which leaves us with only 22 percent of historic Palestine," a Hamas minister told me. "But every time we compromise, we're seen as weak and asked to bargain away more."

This stand-off threatens to become a default mode - accomplishing nothing - for both sides. The task at hand is to work out a deal that would help build mutual confidence while giving Mr. Obama the momentum he needs to push ahead in his efforts to freeze and then dismantle settlements.

The Obama administration could break the impasse through intervening on an issue of critical importance to Hamas: the continued imprisonment of its democratically elected parliamentarians. Following the Hamas win in the 2006 legislative race, which independent observers certified as free and fair, Israel arrested 52 of these victorious candidates. Such blatant disregard for the rule of law helped empower those within Hamas who argued that violence was the only language that Israel understood.

Just as Israel received blessings from the Bush administration to expand settlements, so did it receive a green light to lock up Hamas politicians. Mr. Obama has disassociated the U.S. from the first policy. He should now disown the second.

In return for the release of the 36 parliamentarians still imprisoned, Hamas should pledge publicly to a package agreement that includes a total ban on attacks on Israeli civilians and an across-the-board cease-fire for five years. This will allow peace to put down roots and create space for the conflicting parties to negotiate a final-status solution.

Mr. Obama's eloquence, intelligence and decency are helping to regenerate a Middle East landscape ruined during the eight previous years of misrule. Current Middle East envoy George Mitchell brokered a historic peace deal for Northern Ireland by including Sinn Fein in the negotiations. Mr. Obama can break the looming logjam with a similar step. Action that brings Hamas to the table is vital, or else the good will resulting from the Cairo speech will dissipate as naysayers conclude that the American president, despite his fine words, is every bit as incapable of bucking congressional critics and the Israel lobby as his predecessors.

Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj is the founder and president of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and a commissioner of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights. He also serves as the president of FFIPP-International. His e-mail is eyadsarraj@gcmhp.net.

This article was published in the Baltimore Sun on August 3, 2009

Gaza, June 16, 2009

Dr. Eyad El Sarraj,  President of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, and President of the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-International, met today with ex-President Carter as part of a delegation representing civil, business and academic sectors. The gathering took place at the headquarters of UNWRA and intended to highlight the suffering of Palestinians in the context of an ongoing siege and in the aftermath of the Israeli war on Gaza.
 
President Carter expressed his solidarity with the residents of Gaza and voiced deep concern over the destructive impact of the war and the diverse negative consequences it produced. He also indicated his worries over the internal Palestinian, conflict hindering the peace process. Without an agreement between parties, he said that nothing will move forward.
 
President Carter went on to decry human rights violations inflicted by all groups, and demanded that all forms of abuse come to a halt.
 
Referring to President Obama, he applauded him for his genuine commitment to advance the peace process and establish a Palestinian state side by side with Israel.
 
For his part, Dr. El-Sarraj announced his personal gratitude for President Carter’s visit. Referring to the Israeli-Arab conflict, Dr. El-Sarraj suggested the most concise description of the choices ahead comes from the title of President Carter’s book,” Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.” In the book, the President both sounds a warning and lays out an agenda to achieve justice and peace.
 
Dr. El-Sarraj suggested that the siege represents a decision, not only by the Israeli government but also by the Bush administration, with support from Arab regimes. The time has come to revamp this policy via tangible changes on actions on the ground, not just words and slogans.
 
President Carter expressed his particular interest in the social and psychological well-being of Gazans who have endured a brutal war and a protracted siege.  He emphasized that Mrs. Carter intends to visit the Gaza Community Health Programme in August to see the mental health situation of Palestinians in Gaza.
 
 At the end of the meeting, the delegation thanked President Carter for his decision to come to Gaza and to once again give evidence of his abiding friendship.

Paki Wieland: June 6 -15, 2009 Updates

Please circulate widely, thanks, paki

June 6, 2009

Dear ones,

I am writing at the end of our first day of protest at the Rafah, Egypt border with Gaza.
With assistance from our friends here, we departed our house at 7 a.m. taking a route which avoided every checkpoint between al Arish and the border (about 25 miles), arriving at the border before _ and catching all the authorities off guard. We subsequently lived our first day supporting the myriad Palestinians who so desperately wanted to enter Gaza. There was Sami, a young pharmacist who éé days ago accompanied his sister-in-law into Egypt. He has come to the border for the past 21 days at the border, trying but unable to cross,A mother and her three daughters who are now Swedish citizens, waited patiently, but in the end were, as we all, turned away. Everyone was called at about 1:30 p.m. to turn in our passports. This was something new and hopes were raised that we would be allowed to enter Gaza. Earlier in the day we encountered a Palestinian American family who live near Dallas Texas. The couple went to the University in Texas, deciding to settle in the U.S. years ago in part because of the violence escellating inGaza at the time. This family of parents, and four children have generations of history in Gaza.
Read Updates.
 

From the Alternative Information Center (AIC), May 27, 2009

To read the whole article, click here.

The Carmel Academic Center in Haifa shut down the concentration in accounting within its Department of Business Administration because a majority of the students applying were Palestinian citizens of Israel. This was revealed in a news item reported on Israeli news Channel 10 on 24 May (in Hebrew only).
According to this report, just over one week before studies were to commence, the center administration announced that the accountancy concentration would not open. According to a student (S.), “I was told […] that the students for accounting did not pay tuition, and later that there were not enough students.”

Dr. Amos Baranes, a senior lecturer at the Carmel Academic Center and head of the Accounting Concentration, held a conversation about this decision with Gil Reshef, the entrepreneur behind the for profit Carmel center, which opened in the current academic year:

In this recorded conversation, Reshef said

“If it is a majority Arab, we can’t allow ourselves, because we can’t allow ourselves an institution that will be categorized as Arab. Haifa University has this image and has a big problem [as] it is perceived as a university of Arabs […] We are not funded (by the state) and if we will be seen as Arab, [students] will not come […]”

Shocked by this conversation. Dr. Baranes met with Carmel Academic Center President, Professor Yehezkel Taler, formerly the Deputy Chair of the Israel Council for Higher Education. The conversation was recorded:

Dr. Baranes: “Yesterday I had a conversation with Gil; Gil also raised the issue about which you spoke, the Jewish/Arab issue, that we shouldn’t be an Arab majority […]”

Taler: “Here there was also a problem.”

Dr. Baranes: “What?”

Taler: “Here there was also a problem. Of all those who registered, three were Jews, the rest Arab.”

A horrified Baranes turned to the Israel Council of Higher Education, which accredits all institutes of higher education in Israel, including the Carmel center. In a written response, the Council noted that “it was clarified beyond doubt that the college didn’t open the program due to financial considerations.”

However, when Carmel College President Taler learned that Dr. Baranes contacted the Israel Council for Higher Education, he removed Baranes from the center’s academic council and told him his future at the college is unclear. Taler told Baranes (in a taped conversation):

Taler: “I don’t want you there (Carmel’s academic council) […] I am not prepared that someone from the academic council will correspond with Ahmad Tibi (Dr. Tibi, Knesset member from the Ra’am Ta’al party) and the Israel Council for Higher Education.”

Carmel College’s website (in Hebrew only) provides a telephone number (*5745) that can be dialed only from the areas under Israel’s control. When calling this number, the AIC was told that no telephone number exists that can be dialed from abroad, and that no fax number is available. However, we found their email and fax number, which you may find below.

The Alternative Information Center encourages Palestinian, Israeli and international activists for justice to contact the Carmel Academic Center and the Israeli Council of Higher Education to protest this blatant case of institutionalized racism by the Carmel Academic Center, and the lack of an in-depth investigation of this case by the Israel Council for Higher Education.

Carmel Academic Center:

E-mail: carmelcam@carmel.ac.il
Fax: +972 (0)3 533-1645
Telephone: *5745 (For those able to call from areas under Israeli control)

Israel Council for Higher Education:

Secretariat of the Council
Fax: +972 (0)2 5679955
Telephone: +972 (0)2 5679911

Quality Assessment Unit:
adi@che.org.il
Fax: +972 (0)2 5611914
Telephone: +972 (0)2 5611914
 

* FFIPP Summer delegation to Palestine/Israel June 28 - July 9, 2009 for Faculty, Educators, and Students.

See for yourself the reality in Israel and the occupied West Bank. A member of the summer 2008 delegation has written "I think none of us could have fully imagined what we experienced by being there". An intensive twelve days of learning. More Information.   Brochure.

* FFIPP Summer Internships for Human Rights and Just Peace in Palestine/Israel for College Students, June 27 – July 30, 2009.

An orientation program and one month of volunteer work in a grassroots organization, a research organization, or a human rights organization in the occupied Palestinian territories or Israel. A summer 2008 intern wrote to us: "I learned more about the conflict in these 5 days of orientation as in the two years prior… Fantastic time…I worked for Rabbis for Human Rights, which in itself was a very educational experience". More inforamtion.  Brochure.

April 22, 2009

FFIPP-USA commends Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine,  Amherst, Massachusetts, for their successful campaign to persuade Hampshire College to divest from the Israeli occupation.

In the past two years FFIPP has brought a number Palestinian and Israeli visitors to Hampshire  College.

Rateb Abu, a lecturer at Al-Quds Open University and member of the popular committee against the wall in the village of Bilin, and Kobi Snitz, a lecturer at Bar Ilan University and member of Anarchists Against the Wall spoke together about the  non-violent struggle in Bilin against the Wall and Settlements

Hannah Safran, a lecturer at Emek-Yisrael College, founder of Women in Black, past coordinator of Isha L'Isha, the Haifa feminist center, and a member of the Coalition of Women for Just Peace in Israel and Ola Shtewee, legal department coordinator for the Palestinian-Israeli feminist group Kayan, spoke about common efforts of Israeli and Palestinian women to establish a just peace in Palestine/Israel.

Juliano Meir Khamis, director of the Freedom Theater in Jenin, who showed his film, Arna's Children.

We can only hope that FFIPP's events, along with others of a similar nature, have contributed to a heightened awareness of the destructive impact that investments in Israel's occupation have on the Palestinian people.

Congratulations Hampshire students!

Board of Directors FFIPP-USA
Judith Butler
Yoav Elinevsky
Arnon Hadar
John Womack
Raef Zreik

More information on Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).