Jan 9, 2003
1) A major victory for democracy and Jewish-Arab relations
2) Friday - Hebron Land Theft Action
3) Friday - Silent Walk for Peace, Jaffa-Tel Aviv
4) CO Uri Ya'akobi caught in the gears of military bureaucracy
5) Screening of the banned "Jenin Jenin"
6) The curious arrest of the Canadian activist
7) Clearing the road in Nablus
8) Small practical requests for help.
1) A major victory for democracy and Jewish-Arab relations As you probably heard already, the Supreme Court in Jerusalem today announced its decision to reinstate into the Israeli electoral process the major Arab political parties and leaders, who had been banned by the Central Election Committee - the National Democratic Assembly (Balad), its leader KM Azmi Bishara (Balad) and KM Ahmad Tibi of the rival Hadash-Ta'al. To a considerable degree, this victory for democracy may be attributed to the combined efforts of concerned Arab and Jewish citizens and citizen groups. Last Friday (Jan 3), no less than thirty-two Jewish and Arab have participated at an emergency meeting in the town hall of the town of Ya'fia, whose mayor Shawki Khatib is chair of the High Monitoring Committee - the leadership body of Israel's Arab citizens. That meeting initiated a widespread petition campaign and a joint Jewish-Arab rally which was held on January 7, 2003, in front of the Supreme Court building when the appeals against the CEC was presented. There had also been scores of protest vigils and marches by various groups, throughout the Arab towns and villages and in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
Moreover, in the Hebrew press there had been an enormous volume of articles, editorials and ads condemning the banning of the Arab parties (many of them taking strong exception to the views of Bishara and Tibi but nevertheless declaring that these views deserved the democratic right to be heard and be presented to the electorate).
None of that could have been taken for granted, even months ago. Indeed, in many earlier stages of the aggressive Arab-baiting campaign conducted over the past two years by the Likud and the extreme right, the mainstream liberals stood aloof and some of them actually joined in the attack on the Arabs. The change in attitude can be partly attributed to the right-wing majority on the CEC overplaying their hand - disqualifying the Arabs while approving the electoral candidacy of the notorious racist thug Baruch Marzel, disciple of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane of "throw out the Arabs" notoriety.
For its part, the Israeli Labor Party clearly realized that its chances of winning the elections (not rosy in any case) entirely depend on forming a strong anti-Likud bloc, of which the Arab voters and their political representatives must be a crucial and indispensable part. In effect, Labor Leader Amram Mitzna had returned to the policies of the late Yitchak Rabin, who had relied upon the parliamentary support of Arab parties (and paid with his life for it - at least, Rabin's reliance upon Arab support was the reason cited by Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir, when the police asked him to account for his heinous deed).
Deeper than all those reasons, there was a growing realization that the banning of the Arab parties would be an irrevocable step for Israel, with far-reaching consequences. A widespread boycott of the elections by Arab voters might have been followed by the creation of a separate Arab parliament, and ultimately to a separatist movement in the Arab-inhabited parts of Israel.
Veteran Galilee peace activist Amiram Goldin put it succinctly, when addressing the Jan. 7 rally: "Five months ago I heard that Arabs from a village near my home were suspected of involvement in the suicide bombing in which Omry, my son, was killed. I realized that we were standing at the very edge of the abyss. If Israel now bans the Arabs from participating in the elections, we will be stepping in".
Today, the Supreme Court has held Israeli society back from that edge - at least for the time being.
2) Friday - Hebron Land Theft Action
From: Fred Schlomka [mailto:fred@icahd.org]
Subject: UPDATE - Hebron Land Theft Action
Solidarity Demonstration and Tree Planting With Farmers in Seir (Hebron Area) tomorrow, Friday, January 10. Co-sponsored by: Bat Shalom, Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions,Rabbis for Human Rights, Ta'ayush, The Palestine Land Defence Committee, Gush Shalom Transportation:
Tel Aviv: 8:00 at the El Al terminal, Arlozorov Train Station.
Jerusalem: 9:00 parking lot of Gan HaPamon (Liberty Bell Park).
Estimated return - by 14:00.
Arik (RHR) 02-5637731 or 050-607034.
Liora (Bat Shalom) 02-563-1477 or 054-419241.Fred (ICAHD) 02-6245560 or 056-875893.
Ya'akov (ICAHD) 09-7670801; 09-7678457; 050-733276.
Last week, representatives from the above named organizations met with the Palestinian Governor of Hebron to exchange information and see how Israeli groups can work more effectively with our Palestinian counterparts. It was agreed to develop a series of joint actions, of which Friday's event will be the first. The action will include planting olive trees and a tour by of the area currently being developed for the expansion of Kyriat Arba.
The tour will be led by Musa Mahamreh and Abdul Hadi Hantash of the Palestine Land Defence Committee, Jeff Halper of ICAHD, and Rabbi Arik Ascherman of RHR, and members of the Christian PeaceMakers Team (CPT).
In the Hebron area, in addition to the well known issue of the "Settler Promenade," for whose sake dozens of houses are to be demolished, the government and settlers are in the process of stealing 1,500 dunams on either side of Rte 60. Some of you may recall that two years ago, settlers from Hebron/Kiryat Arba/Givat Harsina besieged the home of the Sultan Family for a week, claiming that their home was on land which was earmarked for "the long term development plan" of the Kiryat Arba settlement. On Tu B'Shvat (Jewish Tree Holiday) last year, RHR planted trees in the area after work began on a road to seal off the area. The work was stopped t the time, but resumed with a vengeance two weeks ago, and the IDF mounts guard as heavy equipment builds roads and walls. Any inquiries by residents as to what is being done are met with threats.
We finished up our tour of the Hebron area with a visit to our friends the Jabars, and commiserated with Jawdi and his family over the demolition of their home last week. The home had been an addition to his parents' home. His father, Abu-Jawad, looks out from his bed at the ruins. He is still in bed four months after the day when he ran to protect his granddaughter from a barrage of stones, being thrown on the house by settlers, and having had a bad fall. The Jabar home is overshadowed by a retaining wall, allowing the Givat Harsina settlement to be built on top of them, on land belonging to the family. A few years ago, even the military government's Civil Administration chief planner Shlomo Moskovitch told us that the retaining wall was a bad idea, allowing settlers to frequently throw stones at the Jaber home from above.
3) Friday - Silent Walk for Peace, Jaffa to Tel Aviv
From: Nicole Cohen-Addad
We can make a difference! Join us!
As violence escalates in the middle east our spirits decline. Terror and bloodshed breed fear
and anger which furthers daily violence. We search for an antidote.
We, as humans, can break the pattern by strengthening our humanity.
THE WALK is a wake up call. For those of us who feel powerless to change the reality of violence, we now have a way! The longest journey begins with one small step. We take many steps together as sons of Adam and Abraham.
As we walk, our hearts beat a common rhythm. Our smiles heal ancient wounds.
Is there an antidote to violence? We think there is.
Tomorrow, Friday, Jan 10AM (be on time please) we gather at "HaShnayim" park at the corner of Ehrlich and Yeffet Streets, Jaffa. We will walk through the Flea Market to
Salameh St., through Florentine to Neveh Tzedek (taking a break at around 12:00 at Susanne Dalal) . We will proceed via Allenby St. to King George St. and to Gan Meir. At Gan Meir we will have opportunities to share our experiences in small groups. We plan to finish at 2:00 PM.
There is a power in numbers. You count! The time is now.
Please bring water and a snack for yourselves and some money to help cover the cost of organizing these events.
Peace begins from within!
Further info: Shpatz –053-591073, Machmud-054-995974 or Nicole-054-806670, www.middleway.org
4)CO Uri Ya'akobi caught in the gears of military bureaucracy
A week ago, CO Uri Ya'akobi came out of his his sixth consecutive term in the military prison system (133 days in all) and was ordered to present himself once again at the army's Induction Center at Tel Hashomer, from where he had been sent to prison on the previous occasions.
Since then he was he was not imprisoned again, but rather had to present himself at the induction base day after day, and had a Kafkaesque series of meetings with officers and
officials, at which he was given conflicting messages - vague promises of release from the army interspersed with threats of new imprisonment.
He was twice interviewed by Colonel Dvorah Chassid, the Induction Base's commander. On the first occasion, she gave a rather friendly and sympathetic impression, but on the second was - rough and overbearing. Ya'akobi was told to see a "mental health officer", and was willing to
accept this way out, if the army deemed it more convenient - but was eventually told that there were "no grounds for a psychological discharge". Indeed, in the (entirely unprofessional) view of those who know him, young Ya'akobi is more sane than many of the country's political and
military decision-makers.
In one way, coming every day to base the base and then going home is less arduous than spending time behind bars. Still, the complete uncertainly is taking a toll of its own...
Now, Ya'akobi is ordered to present himself yet again at the Induction Center, on Sunday noon. His fellow CO Yoni Ben Artzi, now having ended his own accumulated term of 161 days, also has to present himself there - possibly to enter the same gauntlet.
There is no knowing if the treatment which Uri Ya'akobi endures is a deliberate attempt at psychological intimidating, or the result of confusion and indecision inside the military hierarchy. In both cases it is very advisable to have a new wave of protests flooding Colonel
Chassid's fax during the coming weekend, before Sunday noon when Ya'akobi and Ben Artzi are due to appear there again.
As before, you can use our sample letter or prepare your own text.
Colonel Deborah Chassid, Commander of Induction Base
Dear Madam:
I ask you to stop this futile and degrading behavior and at last give Ya'akobi - and other CO's who accumulated more than 90 days in prison - access to the "incompatibility committee", which has the authority to exempt these young men from military service and which already did so in previous cases.
There is no justification for your insisting upon forcing miltary service in an army of occupation upon these determined young men. No prison term, however long, will cause them to betray their beliefs.
Is there any better proof to the fact they are not suitable for military service than their prolonged prison terms, and their objection to violence in general and to occupation of other human beings ?
5) Screening of the banned "Jenin Jenin"
Ever since the Film Censorship Board (a remnant of British colonialism, still active in Israel under a law whose original was long since abolished in Britain itself) voted to ban Muhammad Bakri's "Jenin Jenin", a growing number of individuals and groups have started showing that 70-
minute film in defiance, to audiences interested in hearing the Palestinian side of what happened at Jenin when the Israeli armed forces invaded it last April. (Such screenings are perfectly legal, since the censorship's bans apply only to regular cinemas and not to loosely-
defined "private showings").
Former education minister Shulamit Aloni screened the film as part of her class in Tel-Aviv University, and another screening was the centerpiece of the "anti-occupation happening" organized by the Women's Peace Coalition two weeks ago.
Tonight (Thursday) it had been shown at Kibbutz Mizra and in the Hadash-affiliated Left Bank Club in Tel-Aviv. In the coming week, Tel-Avivians will have several more opportunities to see it, followed by at least one screening in Jerusalem.
Monday, Jan 13, at 6:00, at room 223, Gilman Bldg., Tel Aviv University - as part of a discussion on "The Meaning of Censorship", organized by Hakampus Lo Shotek, with Prof.
Anat Bilezky (Philosophy), Dr. Eyal Gross (Law), Prof. Adi Ophir (History & Philosophy of Science), Dr. Danny Rabinovitz (Sociology) and Prof. Miriam Rohana (Sociology).
Tuesday, Jan 14, 8:00 PM, at "Windows" Center 35 Trumpeldor St, Tel Aviv (Enterance fee 20 Shekels, screening followed by discussion with director Muhammad Bakri)
Thursday, Jan. 16, 7:00 PM at Kibbutz Artzi, 13 Leonardo Da Vinci St. Tel-Aviv Donation to cover rental fees 10-30 shekels ( sliding scale), screening followed by panel discussion with Rachel Giora (Noga Feminist Magazine), Adv. Dan Yakir (ACRI - Assoc. for Civil Rights); Yael Lerer
(Andalus Press); Moderator: Michal Pundak (Bat Shalom and New Profile).
Wednesday, Jan 22, 7:00at Notre Dame Centre, opposite the New Gate in the Old City Wall, Jerusalem, with a panel discussion be the Filmmaker Mahmud Bakri; Yuli Harometzinko
(Indymedia) and Adv. Neta Amar (Feminist Mizrahi activist); Moderator: Terry Greenblatt (Bat Shalom).
Meanwhile, copies of 'Jenin Jenin' - Arabic with Hebrew subtitles - can be purchased inside Israel from Yael Lerer.
To get a copy, send a check for NIS 100, made out to Andalus Press, to: Andalus, POB 53036, Tel Aviv 61530, andalus@andalus.co.il. A version with English subtitles is being prepared. Distribution outside Israel is handled by the Arabfilm Company (details from www.arabfilm.com).
And meanwhile, the Italian Women in Black have started a major campaign to collect funds for the women of Jenin, left destitute by that destructive invasion and its aftermath. (Details: Donne in Nero, Via IV Novembre, 149, 00197 Rome, Italy tel: 39-06 69950217/69200975, fax: 39-06 69950200, e-mail: dinperjenin@yahoo.it).
6) The curious arrest of the Canadian activist
Yesterday evening (January 8), plain-clothes detectives of the Jerusalem Police arrested Canadian activist Jaggi Singh, as he was about to meet a friend West Jerusalem. The police had prepared their ambush well in advance, evidently knowing from wire-tapping that Singh was coming there after spending the day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The Israeli friend he was coming to meet heard him yelling, and found him struggling with several tough-looking men - who waved police badges, stuffed Singh into a car and drove away. He was held incommunicado, not allowed to see Adv. Shmai Leibovitz, his Israeli lawyer, and by the time
you read this had probably already been put on a plane leaving the country.
The Montreal-based Singh is the latest in a long string of international peace and human rights activists denied entry into Israel and/or expelled since last April, when Interior Minister Yishai instituted the policy of regarding all such people as "collaborators with the Palestinian Enemy".
Singh originally arrived at the country on December 14 and was denied entry. Waiting at the airport was a dossier prepared against him by the Israeli security services; he was judged "undesirable" because of having participated in various anti-globalism protests and also in a demonstration against Binyamin Netanyahu during the latter's visit to Canada. Adv. Leibovitz had at the time managed to secure a permission from the Tel-Aviv District Court for him to stay
in country for one week, but only on condition that he avoid entering the Occupied Territories.
This condition Singh openly defied, stating that he had been invited to these territories by the Palestinians inhabitants who welcomed him, and that he did not recognize the state of Israel's right to regulate his entry into Palestinian territory and the length of his stay there.
At the time of his arrest and deportation, however, Singh had already been about to return to Canada anyway, and had a ticket ready for January 11. Still, his presence in the country, even for a few more days, seemed intolerable to the security people...
Despite their painstaking collection of information, the authorities seem unaware that Jaggi Singh is particularly interested in the issue of migrant workers and their conditions, and has investigated this issue both in Canada and in various other countries. By placing him at the
Ma'asiyahu Prison, among migrant workers caught in the raids of Israel's Immigration Police (recently established and already notorious), Singh got a unique opportunity to collect evidence which will undoubtedly figure in his upcoming articles.
7) Clearing the road in Nablus
Following is one of the eye-witness reports filed by Jaggi Singh, and which made the authorities so eager to get rid of him.
Nablus, Occupied Palestine (January 5, 2003). Over 200 residents of the West Bank city of Nablus cleared a path through a large earth-and-rubble Israeli road blockade today, using shovels, picks, bare hands, as well as a bulldozer. The action was supported by more than 30 activists of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as well as other international observers.
The blockade on Jerusalem Road - which consists of two separate wide and high mounds of packed earth, rubble, bricks and debris -- inhibits travel for residents of the Balata and Askar refugee camps into the city center of Nablus. The earth barriers were constructed by soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) three months ago, part
of the low-intensity siege of Nablus and its surrounding areas.
Today's direct action was supported by all the main political groups of Nablus, as well as local medical and education committees, and the Palestinian municipal authorities. Starting in the late morning, residents
arrived at the blockade, known as Al Moqata - located right at the site of Palestinian Authority buildings destroyed by Israeli bombs last spring.
Men, women and children all began to move away the earth and rubble, sometimes needing up to 20 people to push away large boulders. They were cheered on by singing and chanting onlookers. IOF forces, who strategically occupy the high ground around Nablus, stayed discreetly away from the action, although they were observed watching the
scene from atop the hills.
The mood of today's action was exuberant, especially when an earth-moving vehicle arrived to help clear the blockade. Later, a bulldozer finished the task, allowing space for cars to move through a portion of the blockade, as well as helping residents to more easily access their own city. As of this evening, the new access point is being widely used by taxis and cars in Nablus.
In the words of Saif Salem, a Palestinian member of the ISM in Nablus, "This action is helping to bring the city to life."
Today's action is the second time within the last month that city residents have removed some of the symbolic tools of IOF occupation. Less than three weeks ago, Nablus-area residents removed a one-tonne iron gate that divided the city of Nablus into two on Amman Road (parallel to Jerusalem Road). The gate was torn from its hinges, and thrown over a cliff into a nearby ravine. It has yet to be replaced.
The roadblock removals are important collective actions, but Nablus still remains a city very much under siege. There are checkpoints controlling access to and from the city, with no vehicles allowed to leave or enter without special permission. At the Huwarra checkpoint just outside Nablus, there are consistently long lines of Palestinians
waiting to enter or leave the city. Many people often have to wait for the entire day in the open air.
Within Nablus, a curfew is imposed each night at 6pm, while
unannounced checkpoints are set up at various locations in the city. Ambulances often have difficulty crossing these arbitrary blockades. According to Ha'aretz newspaper, a ten-day old baby died in an ambulance after not being able to cross a checkpoint to the local hospital in the early morning hours of January 2, 2003.
Meanwhile, as part of their almost nightly operations, IOF soldiers engage in home invasions and occupations as they attempt to arrest or kill the hundreds of Palestinians on their wanted lists from Nablus. IOF tanks, APCs and jeeps roam freely at night, and home demolitions are a frequent
occurrence.
8) Small practical requests for help.
From: Dan Barak
Over the past two years, members of the Kfar-Sava "Democracy, Once and for All" have been helping Bassam Shalach, a Palestinian worker assaulted and severely wounded in by racist thugs in the marketplace of Netanya.
Recently, his mental condition has drastically deteriorated, necessitating urgent mental treatment. An Arab psychiatrist in Israel agreed to provide this free of charge, and a permit to enter Israel was procured for him. However, there is a small practical problem: to get from his village to the the psychiatrist, under the prevailing conditions of roads closed to Palestinian traffic, considerable travelling by expensive taxis on back roads will be needed again and again.
The Salah family has no cash to pay for such repeated travelling. We are asking those who care to either give donations or to buy the olive oil produced by the family, some of which we have in storage.
Contact: Dan Barak 050-927072.
From: "Rabbis for Human Rights"
1. We have been requested to help provide blankets for residents of the refugee camps in the Nablus area. RHR will be happy to accept blankets or contributions for this purpose.
2. The olive oil produced by Palestinians this year comes to some 36,000 tons (This doesn't include oil left over from previous years.) The internal consumption is some 10,000 tons. This means there is a lot of oil to be sold, and Palestinians' access to outside markets is difficult! Keep the orders coming.
Rabbis For Human Rights Tel. 972 2 563-7731, Fax. 972 2 566-2815
9) Dancing in the rain at Sharon's farm
Report of the Rave Against the Occupation, Friday Jan 10.
Across that field and beyond the sheets of rain, it was possible to see the formidable defences of Ariel Sharon's sheep farm: a moat, now full of rushing flood water; beyond it, a high fence; beyond that, a patrol road with armed guards in a jeep... "This is one of the biggest private
farms in the country, and Sharon got it from the state for next to nothing. There is enough land here for a whole Kibbutz" remarked Meretz Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan, himself a member of a nearby Kibbutz. "Before 1948, Sharon's farm used to be a whole Palestinian village. When he got control over the land, he had the last Arab houses bulldozed, leaving no trace" said one of the anarchists.
Meanwhile, some of the organizers were working furiously under the driving rain. A huge plastic sheet with the words "Rave Against the Occupation" was dismantled, turned horizontal, lashed to the sound truck (parked at the side of the road) and secured to stakes driven into the
ground. A more or less sheltered space was created, and the loudspeakers boomed: "Attention, please! We are starting - rain or no rain! As you know, we have come here to hold a Party of Salute and Thanks-Giving for our Prime Minister, to thank him for two wonderful years.
Thank you for the peace, Mr. Sharon, and thanks a lot for the security! And now, we have been informed that the PM is right now in residence, in the house just behind the trees over there.
Surely we are not going to disappoint him. Dance - everybody is going to dance! Everybody!" And we did. When the hypnotic music began, feet started moving as if of themselves, and everybody joined in - also the old fogies who had come to observe and perhaps distribute a few
leaflets. The space under the improvised awning was far from enough, and many dancers spilled out into the rain and mud, dancing with abandon, discarding coats and sweaters as their bodies heated, dancing and dancing and dancing in defiance and abandon. (It did help that the rain was gradually slackening off.) Everything was abruptly cut off, by the policeman who climbed unto the truck and simply cut off the music. It seemed that we have broken the terms of the permit by dancing in a place some 30 metres distant from the originally designated spot. The fact that the original spot was ankle-deep in mud did not matter, a permit was a permit and its terms were precise.
The frustrated dancers were furious. "Police state! Police state!" they shouted, and "Rave - Yes, Occupation - no!". But there is no way to dance and hold a rave without music, and the sound equipment was in unbreakable police custody.
There was one thing left to do. "OK, they say we have to that field - let's go there, then, even without music! Let's get as close as we can!" called Shahaf, one of the young organisers. And several dozens did follow him, splashing through the heavy mud, shaking weary fists at the
security guards across the fence. Somebody had a sign: "We will not be sheep in Sharon's herd!".
The police followed immediately: "No further, no further! This is as far as your permit allows!". One long-haired Tel-Aviv youth did stride boldly forward - and urinated straight into the moat. "The police may tell me where to dance and where to demonstrate, but I will piss where I
please!".
Contact: lilachbivas@hotmail.com, dr.motte@drmotte.de
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Subject: Silent Walk for Peace. Jaffa-Tel Aviv , this Friday 10 2003
We walk together. We, Jews, Arabs and others, representing all walks of life join together in peace and walk silently in one powerful line. Silence speaks.
Military Postal Code 02718,
IDF, Israel
Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52
During the last months you, or officers under you charge, have sentenced young conscientious objectors to ongoing prison terms. After six consecutive terms CO Uri Ya'akobi had been, during the past week, repeatedly summoned to see yourself and other officials - without being given any clear idea of what plans you and the IDF command may have for him.
Subject: Helping the victim of lynching
Subject: Blankets and olive oil
(...) We have come to protest against the occupation - but first we had to contend with the elements. When our cavalcade arrived at the Prime Minister's farm in the Negev and we emerged from the cars, we found a real thunderstorm in progress, rare for this part of the country. There we were, all getting soaked together - anarchists who disdain all political parties as parts of a corrupt power structure, left-wing party activists who hoped to garner
some votes, and hundreds of young people who intended to have a good time and take a political stand in one and the same act, and the famous DJ Doctor Motte who had come
especially all the way from Berlin. The long preparations seemed futile, as the specially-designated field was fast becoming a quagmire into which the truck with the sound equipment could not possibly venture.
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