Posted By: Sammi Ibrahem Chair of West Midland PSC
Dear Friends,
Notwithstanding the exciting events in Egypt, notwithstanding Palestinian enthusiasm for the Egyptian revolt having succeeded thus far, events in Palestine continue to be the usual miserable ones. Just so that we don’t forget, the first item below is the compilation in Today in Palestine. Even if you go no further than the first 4-6 summaries, you will remember that occupation, colonization, the use of force are miserable matters that no people should have to endure.
Item 2 is the report of the Turkish Gaza flotilla probe. As you can imagine, its conclusions differ considerably from those of the Israeli probe. But, then, the Israeli committee that investigated the affair spoke to not a single Israeli soldier who had participated in the attack or passenger on the ship. Some investigation!
Item 3 is Uri Avnery’s take on the Egyptian tsunami, as he terms it. Avnery often makes exciting reading, as this piece shows.
Item 4 is a report on Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank celebrating the victory in Egypt.
Item 5 shows us that the protest did have leaders (if anyone doubted) and that they are not naive. They now vow to protect their revolution. May they succeed.
Item 6 takes us to other Arab countries where unrest has begun.
Where all this will end and how, no one knows. But we can hope that people will free themselves from dictatorial regimes, and bring better conditions to their people. We can only hope that they remember that not the country comes first (a nationalist cry) but that the people do, that the responsibility of governments is to first and foremost tend to the needs of their people.
A Turkish government inquiry into Israel’s raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American says Israeli soldiers shot five victims at close range.
Turkey released details of its formal inquiry into the May 31 incident Friday, hours after submitting the report to a United Nations panel investigating the incident. Eight Turkish citizens and a Turkish-American were killed when Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara.
Israel has insisted its soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked by activists on board. An Israeli inquiry into the raid last month cleared the military and government of any wrongdoing and said that the armed defense of Israel’s maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled coastal strip was justified under international law.
The Turkish inquiry report – a summary of which was released to journalists Friday – concluded that Israeli soldiers used excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate force on unarmed civilians. It said the raid was a blatant violation of international laws.
“The force used was not justified, it was excessive,” committee member Mithat Rende, a Foreign Ministry official, told reporters.
The report said Israeli soldiers fired live bullets from helicopters, killing two of the activists, even before they had rappelled on board. Five of the victims were killed from close range, it added.
Furkan Dogan, the 19-year-old Turkish-American, was lying wounded after being shot in the leg when he was kicked by two soldiers, who then shot him from close range execution-style, according to the summary.
Another activist, Cevdet Kiliclar, was killed with laser-guided weapons while taking photographs, the report said.
The commando raid sparked a wave of condemnation worldwide and lead to an easing of Israel’s blockade on the coastal territory. It further damaged already strained relations with Turkey, formerly one of Israel’s closest allies in the region. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and is demanding an apology and compensation for the victims before it says ties can return to normal.
In Jerusalem, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said he could not comment on the Turkish findings because he had not seen the report.
A report published last month after an internal investigation in Israel found that the Israeli soldiers who took part in the raid had acted in self-defense. It also determined that Israel’s three-and-a-half year blockade of the Gaza Strip does not break international law.
Palmor said Israel had submitted its own report to the UN and was waiting to hear what lessons could be learned so this doesn’t happen again.
Rende said Turkish investigators questioned more than 100 Turkish and foreign activists on board the flotilla in compiling the report, and also sought the opinions of international legal experts.
“Israel violated laws regarding the safety of navigation in open waters and the freedom to navigate,” Rende said, adding that the blockade of Gaza amounted to illegal collective punishment of 1.5 million people.
“Israel is responsible for the compensation of all damages and has to apologize,” he said.
“The Israeli forces carried out a well-planned and fully equipped attack, with the use of a special combat unit, kitted with frigates, helicopters, zodiacs, submarines, automatic weapons, laser-guided weapons, and modified paintball guns,” the Turkish inquiry read.
Rende said the excessive force caused panic among the activists forcing them to use their right to self-defense, even without firearms.
=========================
3. Uri Avnery Tsunami in Egypt
In my last article, I mentioned that I have warned of this
uprising. A gracious lady in Lahore, Pakistan, who seems to
remember by heart every word I have written in recent years
(in the English translation) sent me some excerps.
See below.
———————————————————–
Uri Avnery
February 12, 2011
Tsunami in Egypt
UNTIL THE very last moment, the Israeli leadership tried to
keep Hosni Mubarak in power.
It was hopeless. Even the mighty United States was impotent
when faced with this tsunami of popular outrage.
In the end it settled for second best: a pro-Western
military dictatorship. But will this really be the outcome?
WHEN CONFRONTED with a new situation, Obama’s first
response is generally admirable.
Then, it seems, second thoughts set in. And third. And
fourth. The end result is a 180 degree turn.
When the masses started to gather in Tahrir Square, he
reacted exactly like most decent people in the US and,
indeed, throughout the world. There was unbounded
admiration for those brave young men and women who faced
the dreaded Mukhabarat secret police, demanding democracy
and human rights.
How could one not admire them? They were non-violent, their
demands were reasonable, their actions were spontaneous,
they obviously expressed the feelings of the vast majority
of the people. Without any organization to speak of,
without leadership, they said and did all the right things.
Such a sight is rare in history. No sansculottes screaming
for blood, no cold-minded Bolsheviks lurking in the
shadows, no Ayatollahs dictating their actions in the name
of God.
So Obama loved it. He did not hide his feelings. He
practically called on the dictator to give up and go away.
If Obama had stayed this course, the result would have been
historic. From being the most hated power in the Arab
world, the US would have electrified the Arab masses, the
Muslim region, indeed much of the Third World. It could
have been the beginning of a completely new era.
I believe that Obama sensed this. His first instincts are
always right. In such a situation, a real leader – that
rarest of all animals – stands out.
BUT THEN came the second thoughts. Small people started to
work on him. Politicians, generals, “security experts”,
diplomats, pundits, lobbyists, business leaders, all the
“experienced” people – experienced in routine affairs –
started to weigh in. And, of course, the hugely powerful
Israel lobby.
“Are you crazy?” – they admonished him. To forsake a
dictator who happens to be our son-of-a-bitch? To tell all
our client dictators around the world that we shall forsake
them in their hour of need?
How na?ve can you get? Democracy in an Arab country? Don’t
make us laugh! We know the Arabs! You show them democracy
on a platter and they would not know it from baked beans!
They always need a dictator to keep them in shape!
Especially these Egyptians! Ask the British!
The whole thing is really a conspiracy of the Muslim
Brotherhood. Look them up on Google! They are the only
alternative. It’s either Mubarak or them. They are the
Egyptian Taliban, worse, the Egyptian al-Qaeda. Help the
well-meaning democrats to overthrow the regime, and before
you know it you will have a second Iran, with an Egyptian
Ahmadinejad on Israel’s Southern border, hooking up with
Hezbollah and Hamas. The dominos will begin to fall,
starting with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Faced with all these experts, Obama caved in. Again.
OF COURSE, every single one of these arguments can easily
be refuted.
Let’s start with Iran. The na?ve Americans, so the story
goes, forsook the Shah and his dreaded Israeli-trained
secret police in order to promote democracy, but the
revolution was taken over by the Ayatollahs. A cruel
dictatorship was replaced by an even crueler one. This is
what Binyamin Netanyahu said this week, warning that the
same is inevitably bound to happen in Egypt.
But the true Iranian story is quite different.
In 1951, a patriotic politician named Mohammad Mossadegh
was elected in democratic elections – the first of their
kind in Iran. Mossadegh, neither a communist nor even a
socialist, instituted sweeping social reforms, freed the
peasants and worked mightily to turn backward Iran into a
modern, democratic, secular state. In order to make this
possible, he nationalized the oil industry, which was owned
by a rapacious British company which paid Iran miniscule
royalties. Huge demonstrations in Tehran supported
Mossadegh.
The British reaction was swift and decisive. Winston
Churchill convinced President Dwight Eisenhower that
Mossadegh’s course would lead to Communism. In 1953 the CIA
engineered a coup, Mossadegh was arrested and kept in
isolation until his death 14 years later, the British got
the oil back. The Shah, who had fled, was put back on his
throne again. His reign of terror lasted until the Khomeini
revolution, 26 years later.
Without this American intervention, Iran would probably
have developed into a secular, liberal democracy. No
Khomeini. No Ahmadinejad. No talk about nuclear bombs.
NETANYAHU’S WARNINGS of the inevitable takeover of Egypt by
the fanatical Muslim Brotherhood, if democratic elections
were held, sound logical, but they are similarly based on
willful ignorance.
Would the Muslim Brothers take over? Are they Taliban-like
fanatics?
The Brotherhood was founded 80 years ago, long before Obama
and Netanyahu were born. They have settled down and
matured, with a strong moderate wing, much like the
moderate, democratic Islamic party that is governing Turkey
so well, and which they are trying to emulate. In a
democratic Egypt, they would constitute a legitimate party
playing its part in the democratic process.
(This, by the way, would have happened in Palestine, too,
when Hamas was elected – if the Americans, under Israeli
guidance, had not toppled the unity government and set
Hamas on a different course.)
The majority of Egyptians are religious, but their Islam is
far removed from the radical kind. There are no indications
that the bulk of the people, represented by the youngsters
in Tahrir Square, would tolerate a radical regime. The
Islamic bogeyman is just that – a bogeyman.
SO WHAT did Obama do? His moves were pathetic, to say the
least.
After turning against Mubarak, he suddenly opined that he
must stay in power, in order to carry out democratic
reforms. As his representative he sent to Egypt a retired
diplomat whose current employer is a law firm that
represents the Mubarak family (much as Bill Clinton used to
send committed Jewish Zionists to “mediate” between Israel
and the Palestinians.)
So the detested dictator was supposed to institute
democracy, enact a new liberal constitution, work together
with the very people he had thrown into prison and
systematically tortured.
Mubarak’s pathetic speech on Thursday was the straw that
broke the back of the Egyptian camel. It showed that he had
lost contact with reality or, worse, is mentally deranged.
But even an unbalanced dictator would not have made such an
atrocious speech had he not believed that America was still
on his side. The howls of outrage in the square while
Mubarak’s recorded speech was still being aired was Egypt’s
answer. That needed no interpreters.
BUT AMERICA had already moved. Its main instrument in Egypt
is the army. It is the army that holds the key to the
immediate future. When the “Supreme Military Council”
convened on Thursday, just before that scandalous speech,
and issued a “Communique No. 1”, hope was mingled with
foreboding.
“Communique No. 1” is a term well known in history. It
generally means that a military junta has assumed power,
promising democracy, early elections, prosperity and heaven
on earth. In very rare instances, the officers indeed
fulfill these promises. Generally, what ensues is a
military dictatorship of the worst kind.
This time, the communique said nothing at all. It just
showed on live TV that they were there – all the leading
generals, minus Mubarak and his stooge, Omar Suleiman.
Now they have assumed power. Quietly, without bloodshed.
For the second time within 60 years.
IT IS worthwhile recalling the first time. After a period
of turmoil against the British occupiers, a group of young
officers, veterans of the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, hiding
behind an elderly general, carried out a coup. The despised
ruler, King Farouk, was literally sent packing. He put to
sea on his yacht from Alexandria. Not a drop of blood was
shed.
The people were jubilant. They loved the army and the coup.
But it was a revolution from above. No crowds in Tahrir
Square.
The army tried first to govern through civilian
politicians. They soon lost patience with that. A
charismatic young lieutenant-colonel, Gamal Abd-al-Nasser,
emerged as the leader, instituted wide-ranging reforms,
restored the honor of Egypt and the entire Arab world – and
founded the dictatorship which expired yesterday.
Will the army follow this example, or will it do what the
Turkish army has done several times: assume power and turn
it over to an elected civilian government?
Much will depend on Obama. Will he support the move to
democracy, as his inclination will undoubtedly suggest, or
will he listen to the “experts”, Israelis included, who
will urge him to rely on a military dictatorship, as
American presidents have done for so long?
But the chance of the United States of America, and of
Barack Obama personally, leading the world by shining
statesmanship at a historic moment 19 days ago has been
wasted. The beautiful words have evaporated.
For Israel there is another lesson. When the Free Officers
made their revolution in 1952, in the whole of Israel only
one single voice was raised (that of Haolam Hazeh, the news
magazine I was editing) calling upon the Israeli government
to come out in support. The government did the opposite,
and a historic chance to show solidarity with the Egyptian
people was lost.
Now, I am afraid, this mistake will be repeated. The
tsunami is being viewed in Israel as a terrifying natural
catastrophe, not as the wonderful opportunity it is.
————————————————————
Excerps:
“But there is another thing that is being imprinted on the
minds of these millions: the picture of the miserable,
corrupt, passive Arab regimes. As seen by Arabs, one fact
stands out above all others: the wall of shame.
For the million and a half Arabs in Gaza, who are suffering
so terribly, the only opening to the world that is not
dominated by Israel is the border with Egypt. Only from
there can food arrive to sustain life and medicament to
save the injured. This border remains closed at the height
of the horror. The Egyptian army has blocked the only way
for food and medicines to enter, while surgeons operate on
the wounded without anesthetics.
Avnery, January 3, 2009.
“Many of the viewers see the rulers of Egypt, Jordan and
the Palestinian Authority as collaborators with Israel in
carrying out these atrocities against their Palestinian
brothers.
The security services of the Arab regimes are registering a
dangerous ferment among the peoples. Hosni Mubarak, the
most exposed Arab leader because of his closing of the
Rafah crossing in the face of terrified refugees, started
to pressure the decision-makers in Washington, who until
that time had blocked all calls for a cease-fire. These
began to understand the menace to vital American interests
in the Arab world and suddenly changed their attitude, ”
causing consternation among the complacent Israeli
diplomats”.
Avnery, January 10, 1009
HOWEVER, THE worst results of this war are still invisible
and will make themselves felt only in years to come Even
worse is the impact on hundreds of millions of Arabs around
us: not only will they see the Hamas fighters as the heroes
of the Arab nation, but they will also see their own
regimes in their nakedness: cringing, ignominious, corrupt
and treacherous.
The Arab defeat in the 1948 war brought in its wake the
fall of almost all the existing Arab regimes and the ascent
of a new generation of nationalist leaders, exemplified by
Gamal Abd-al-Nasser. The 2009 war may bring about the fall
of the current crop of Arab regimes and the ascent of a new
generation of leaders.
Avnery, January 17, 2009
=========================
4. Greetings all,
Please read below from Huwaida how the Palestinians have been celebrating the victory of the Egyptian people!
in solidarity
Donna
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: huwaida arraf
Date: Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 5:26 PM
Subject: [GazaFriends] The people have won!
The people have WON! Congratulations Egypt and everyone!
Friends,
As soon as the announcement was made that Hosni Mubarak had resigned, tens of thousands of Palestinians spontaneously took to the streets all throughout Gaza to rejoice with their Egyptian brothers and sisters, and with all who support freedom, democracy, and human rights. In other areas of Palestine people were also celebrating in the streets — Hebron, Nablus, Nazareth, Ramallah. I was chanting, cheering and dancing with the hundreds that spontaneously gathered in the Manara – the center of Ramallah. Families brought their children, even sleeping infants to share in the joy of a people’s victory. The energy was high; the spirit of the youth, unmistakeable. We filled the center square with the voices of a new generation that refuses to accept subjugation; that dares to dream of a life with dignity.
We chanted:
“Respects from Palestine to the people of Tunis and Egypt; you are leading the revolution”
“The people have brought down the regime” and
“We were not born to live in humiliation, we were born to live free!”
and to the Palestinian “leadership” in Ramallah and Gaza: “The people demand and end to the divisions!”
We sang the words of the famous Tunisian poet Abu al-Qasem al-Shabbi:
“If, one day, a people desires to live, then fate will answer their call.
And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall.”
It is truly a monumental moment in history. The Egyptian youth have shown the world that not even a brutal military dictatorship propped up by the only Superpower in the world can defeat the will of a people. Tunisians and Egyptians have ushered in a new era of people power that we are all a part of!
Being a member of the Free Gaza family, we know you believe this just as much as we do.
Free Gaza is now hard at work organizing, together with national networks and organizations around the world, Freedom Flotilla 2. In May 2011 we will sail again to confront the regime of blockade, occupation and injustice, carrying the spirit of Tahrir Square with us. While our port of call is Gaza, our destination is freedom, human rights and dignity for all Palestinians. Your support as part of this people’s movement is vital. Together we will let Israel know that we are tens of millions; that we are not going to allow Israel to continue to kill, main, and oppress with impunity; and that we are not going to back down to violence and intimidation. We are fighting for our collective futures and together we will win!
In solidarity, struggle, and with a renewed sense of hope,
Egyptians woke to a new era on Saturday after Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years in power came to an end, determined to ensure the army delivers civilian rule and prepared to use people power again if necessary.
In Tahrir Square, jubilant crowds celebrated while activists vowed to stay there until the Higher Military Council now running Egypt accepts their agenda for reform and meets their demands, which include an end to emergency laws used by Mubarak to crush opposition and dissent.
Mubarak end was swift, coming less than a day after he stunned protesters by insisting he would not step down despite widespread expectations that he was about to do so. He was the second Arab leader to be overthrown in a month after Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee his country in January.
In two communiques issued overnight, a core group of protest organizers demanded the dissolution of the cabinet Mubarak appointed on January 29 and the suspension of the parliament elected in a rigged poll late last year.
The reformists want a transitional five-member presidential council made up of four civilians and one military person to prepare for an election to take place within nine months, and of a body to draft a new democratic constitution.
The communiqué demands freedom for the media and syndicates, which represent groups such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, and for the formation of political parties. Military and emergency courts must be scrapped, the communique says.
“The army is with us but it must realize our demands. Half revolutions kill nations,” pharmacist Ghada Elmasalmy, 43, told Reuters. “Now we know our place, whenever there is injustice, we will come to Tahrir Square.”
Al Arabiya television said the army would soon dismiss the cabinet and suspend parliament. The head of the Constitutional Court would join the leadership with the military council, which was given the job of running the country of 80 million people.
With the threat of possible confrontation between the army and protesters now gone, Cairo residents took photographs of each other holding flowers with smiling soldiers at roadblocks to record the first day of a new post-Mubarak era.
People were buying bundles of state-owned newspapers proclaiming “The Revolution of the Youths forced Mubarak to leave” with pictures of celebrations to keep as treasured souvenirs of this landmark in Egypt’s history.
The army dismantled checkpoints on Saturday around Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the protest movement, and some makeshift barricades were being removed. Volunteers cleaned up while a carnival atmosphere lingered.
Egyptians were desperate to restore normality and get back to work after the upheaval damaged the nation’s economy.
“This is the start of the revolution, it’s not over yet, but I have to go back to work,” said Mohammed Saeed, 30, who was packing away his tent.
Mohammed Farrag, 31, who was also decamping after 18 days, said he believed stability was returning. “But, at the end of the day, we will not give up on Egypt as a civilian state, not a military state,” he said.
“If things move away from our demands, we will go into the street again, even if we have to die as martyrs.”
=====================
6, The Guardian,
February 12, 2011
Algerian protesters clash with police as Egypt fervour spreads•
400 arrested as officers enforce no-protest ban in Algiers
• Up to 5,000 protesters rally in Yemeni capital of Sana’a
• Arab leaders make concessions to avoid repeat of Egypt
Algerian riot police clash with protesters during an anti-government demonstration in Algiers. Photograph: Louafi Larbi/Reuters Algerian police have beaten back up to 2,000 demonstrators who tried to rally in central Algiers as aftershocks from the Egyptian revolution rumbled throughout the Middle East.
Demonstrations in Algiers quickly turned to running clashes with police who had been ordered by the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to enforce a no-protest ban. Police took up positions throughout the central city hours after the tumultuous scenes in Cairo, which are likely to have significant ramifications across the region.
Even before President Hosni Mubarak left the Egyptian capital, the 12-year regime of Bouteflika had been considered to be under most threat from the popular uprisings now galvanising the Arab states. Wedged alongside Tunisia, where President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was rolled 30 days ago and near Egypt, which fell on Friday, the unstable nation has many of the characteristics of both – a disenfranchised youth and rising prices of basic goods, such as sugar and cooking oil.
It also shares a large, pervasive security presence, authoritarian rule and a general sense that citizens are not benefiting from its wealth and resources.
Late in the afternoon, protesters briefly broke a cordon and officials say 400 were arrested by police – who vastly outnumbered them. Most were then released.
The demonstrations were organised, as they were in Yemen, nearly 4,000 miles away, where at least 5,000 people, mainly youths, rallied in the capital of Sana’a to call for Egypt-style reform. However they were swelled by spontaneous gatherings, which gave impetus to claims that other regimes may be nearing a tipping point.
In Sana’a, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who took office around the same time as Mubarak and has enjoyed largely unchecked power ever since, called an emergency meeting of his security chiefs and senior ministers hours after the 82-year-old Egyptian leader left Cairo.
Saleh has allowed demonstrations to take place for the past four weeks and has said he would not stand again as president when his current term expires in 2013. Protesters in Sana’a and the coastal city of Aden railed against food prices and poor services. But, as was the case elsewhere, lack of accountability in government was also a dominant theme.
Governments across the region have made a string of concessions as the events in Tunisia and Egypt unfolded, electrifying citizens who had become conditioned to the status quo of soaring prices, few job opportunities and almost no accountability among officials who enjoy far greater privileges than them.
In Jordan, King Abdullah, the reigning monarch of the almost 90-year-old Hashemite kingdom is yet to form a new government after sacking the prime minister and his ministers in late January – a move widely believed to have been inspired by the risk that the revolts may soon be felt there. Demonstrations against prices and services have taken place weekly since early December – before the Tunisian uprising – and have focused on broadly similar themes of disenfranchisement and limited means to bring about change.
Jordanians have historically seen the monarchy as benevolent and have not subjected it to the same degree of scrutiny as elected officials. However there is a growing inclination among the country’s young to see the legitimacy of the kingdom as conditional, not absolute.
King Abdullah last week struck a deal with Jordan’s opposition, in which he promised urgent political and economic reform, which would give the Muslim Brotherhood and a leftist bloc a greater say in state affairs.
“Any type of reform will help Jordan not reach the levels of Egypt,” said the secretary general of the Islamic Action Front (Muslims Brotherhood) Zaki bin Irsheid. “But what happened in Tunis and then Egypt has surprised everyone. No one expected that.
“A lot of people are comparing the French revolution to the Tunisian revolution. It changed Europe and this will change the Middle East.”
In Algeria and Jordan, youth comprise a large percentage of the population and feel more disadvantaged than the middle classes that stirred the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. More than 70% of Jordanians are aged under 30.
“There has been an awakening of political awareness among the young who have been waiting for solutions that have never come and are not really in the menu now,” said one senior western official. “They are saying: ‘Why should we carry on like this?’.
“There is a cronyist, lethargic, complacent political oligarchy that is resistant to reform. Government ministers are hamstrung by a system underneath them that doesn’t do what they say. The body politic is not responding.”
Syria too has been moved to respond to the fear of the rage against the regimes spreading its way. The Ba’athist state last week took the surprise step of unblocking the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Youtube, all of which had been used as subversive tools during the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has offered around $400m (£250m) in heating fuel subsidies to the county’s lower income earners.
The effects of the revolution have also been felt in Iraq, where the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has said he will not stand for a third term. Maliki has ordered three mega-generators to be installed in Baghdad to deal with the city’s chronic electricity shortage which sees much of the country get only three hours of supplied power a day during summer.
“He is terrified about electricity,” said one senior Iraqi official. “He is convinced that with the zeal alive in the region now, it will bring his government down if he doesn’t fix it.”
