NOVANEWS
Dear Friends,
Israel is now in throes about the ‘flytilla’ whose purpose, it was thought, and apparently is to some degree still thought in the ruling circles, was to cause commotion and a to-do at the airport. This is no more the purpose of the flytilla than bringing humanitarian aid is the main purpose of the flotilla. The aim of the flotilla is to break the blockade of Gaza. The aim or the flytilla is to break Israel’s hold on who can and who cannot enter the West Bank.
Anyone wanting to go to the WB to visit family, to tour, or for other normal reasons must go through Israel. It holds the keys to the WB, whether one flies in from Jordan or from the main airport in Israel, Ben Gurion. Israel does not allow people to enter the WB via Ben Gurion airport. The purpose of the flytilla is to challenge this. People were to come to the airport and state that they intended to go to the WB—some perhaps might not, might only go directly so that the security at the airport will never know.
In any event, I met today with a group of about 14 pro-Palestinian activists from France who arrived this morning and entered Israel with no problem at all. Interesting. I was delighted to know that they had had no problems entering, and was also somewhat surprised, pleasantly so.
Tonight there are only 5 items, and 2 of these are brief. I have to admit that between meeting with activists and keeping my ear to the radio for updates on the flightilla, I did not read much on the internet, even though I was curious to see how the foreign press was treating the flightilla. If the story is hot, it should be hotter yet tomorrow. We shall see.
Meanwhile, item 1 informs us of a new organization “Recognition Now.” It’s purpose is to oversee the rights of the Arabs in the Negev. The name comes from the fact that there are some 40 Arab villages in the Negev (and several more in the north) that are “unrecognized” by Israel. Neither the fact that most of these villages have been where they are prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, nor the fact that many of their males have served in Israel’s military has helped recognize them. Because they are unrecognized, they are denied all infrastructure—that is roads, electricity, running water, and also schools, medical clinics, etc etc etc. This is notwithstanding the fact that a Jew who wishes to establish a farm or other means of livelihood in the Negev is given all that is denied to the Bedouins—all the infrastructure, even though it be for a single family. The Bedouin villages are farming and animal husbanding communities. They together occupy not more than 2% of the Negev. But Israel wants them out. They are Israeli citizens and, quite naturally, want equality and recognition. Thus the new organization. I wish them much luck.
Item 2 is an announcement of an exhibit. Most of you will not see it, as it is in Israel. But the name and content is worth knowing: “We never finished 1948.” Indeed! How true.
In item 3 Amira Hass claims that Israel’s handling of the flotilla was “anything but smart.”
Item 4 is BBC’s report on the flytilla.
Item 5 is pure joy. It’s funny. It makes much the same point as Amira does, that the government’s conduct with the flytilla is anything but smart, however, Bradley Burston does it in an amusing way. Glad to give you something to enjoy for a change.
That’s it. Tomorrow will be an interesting day. Will report.
All the best,
Dorothy
——————————————-
1. [For information about unrecognized villages see The Association of Forty
http://www.assoc40.org/
“Unrecognized” Villages of the Naqab [‘Negev’ in Hebrew]
http://www.hic-net.org/document.asp?PID=580 ]
———————
From Recognition Now
Leaders within the Arab-Bedouins of the Negev have established a Public Committee for the Rights of Arabs in the Negev,
Recognition Now!
This committee includes Negev representatives of all Arab parties, leaders from the unrecognized villages, NGOs and community activists. Its aim, as its name indicates, is to protect and promote the rights of the Arab-Bedouins of the Negev.
Recognize Now will strive to receive recognition of:
· The unrecognized villages,
· The right to resources allowing an honorable livelihood,
· The right to villages planned to meet the community’s economic and cultural needs,
· The right to their lands, and –
· The right to dignity as citizens with equal rights
We will update you of the government’s policies and actions towards the Bedouin of the Negev, and of our actions to protect and promote the rights of our community. We will also inform you of any actions you can take to help us in our struggle for our rights.
Recognition Now calls out to the Government of Israel to take measures concerning the integration of the Arab-Bedouin community of the Negev into the region based on the principles of partnership, equality, human rights, and a future of prosperity for all the Negev residents.
Respectfully yours,
Halil El-Amour and Dr. Awad Abu-Friech, Recognition Now. recognizenow@gmail.com
מנהיגים בקהילה הערבית-בדואית בנגב ייסדו ועדה ציבורית לזכויות הערבים בנגב:
“הכרה עכשיו!”
בוועדה זו נציגות של המפגלות הערביות, מנהיגים מהקהילה ומהכפרים הבלתי מוכרים, ארגונים, ופעילים קהילתיים. מטרת הוועדה, כפי שמעיד שמה, היא להגן על, ולקדם את זכויות הערבים-הבדואים בנגב.
הכרה עכשיו יפעל לקידום ההכרה:
· בכפרים הבלתי מוכרים
· בזכות למשאבים שיאפשרו קיום בכבוד
· בזכות לתכנון השומרת על ערכי התרבות ומקורות הפרנסה של הקהילה
· בזכות לאדמותיהם
· בזכות לשוויון עם שאר אזרחי ישראל.
אנחנו נעדכן אתכם במדיניות ובפעולות המדינה כלפי המיעוט הערבי-בדואי בנגב, וכן בפעולות שאנו נוקטים בכדי להגן על, ולקדם את הזכויות של בני הקהילה שלנו. גם ניידע אתכם כיצד תוכלו לתמוך ולעזור במאבקנו זה.
“הכרה עכשיו” קוראת לממשלה לשלב את האוכלוסייה הערבית בנגב במרחב מתוך תפיסת שיתוף, שוויון, זכויות אדם, ועתיד של שגשוג לכלל תושבי הנגב.
בברכה, חליל אל-עמור ודר’ עוואד אבו-פריח, הכרה עכשיו. recognizenow@gmail.com
الاعتراف الان
Recognition Now
הכרה עכשיו
اللجنة الشعبية لحقوق العرب في النقب הוועד הציבורי למען זכויות הערבים בנגב
ص. ب 5730 بئر السبع ת”ד 5730 באר שבע
—
קיבלת הודעה זו מכיוון שאתה מנוי לקבוצה ‘NegevBedouin’ בקבוצות Google.
כדי לפרסם הודעות בקבוצה זו, שלח דוא”ל ל-NegevBedouin@googlegroups.com.
כדי לבטל את המינוי שלך לקבוצה זו, שלח הודעת דוא”ל ל-NegevBedouin+unsubscribe@googlegroups.cלאפשרויות נוספות, בקר בקבוצה זו בכתובת http://groups.google.com/group/NegevBedouin?hl=iw.om
=======================================
2. “WE NEVER FINISHED 1948”
THE CONTINUING CAMPAIGN OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE
A new project by the photographers collective Activestills
“For us, the ongoing Occupation is not merely an event arising out of the 1967 war, but a continuation of 1948, conceptually and militarily. That “we have not finished 1948,” a slogan commonly heard in Israel and attributed to Moshe Dayan, refers to the fact that half the population of the Land of Israel is now Palestinian. “
Opening on Monday 11.07.11 at 18:30, as part of the “Art&Activism Festival”
Tel Aviv Cinematheque – Sprinzak Street no 2, Tel Aviv
The event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=102038019891355
The event on the Cinematheque’s website:
http://www.cinema.co.il/movies/movie.asp?movieId=7191
The project was done with the collaboration of the Israeli committee against house demolitions
==================================================
3. Haaretz,
July 07, 2011
In dealing with flotilla, Israel is anything but smart
Outsourcing, aggressive and vocal diplomacy and ridiculous lies thwarted the flotilla, but they have not taken Gaza off the international agenda.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/in-dealing-with-flotilla-israel-is-anything-but-smart-1.371879
By Amira Hass
CRETE – Like an anti-Semitic caricature, Israel has extended its long tentacles around the globe in an effort to stop 10 decades-old ships from sailing to Gaza. Many Israelis interpreted this as a great victory.
The story could be read as follows: The Greek government wanted to save people whom it surely views as eccentrics and professional trouble-makers, even if naive, from a traumatic and perhaps even fatal experience. The Greek foreign minister rejected claims that Israeli pressure led his government to ban the flotilla’s departure. He explained that Greece wanted to prevent a “humanitarian disaster” in the event of a clash between the Israel Defense Forces and the protesters.
Indeed, a Greek police officer – one of those who tried (in vain ) to discover from passengers on the Tahrir who was piloting their ship – did not beat around the bush. We wanted to save you from the Israeli army, he told one of them. The Jew of the blood libel, of whom one must be wary, has been replaced by an Israeli navy commando.
In anti-Semitic caricatures, the cunning Jew is doomed to lose and his control over the world is fated to come to an end. But Israel’s government is revising the caricature and sketching a glorious victory. A war of attrition, in the form of mysterious breakdowns and unprecedented red tape by the Greek authorities, thwarted the flotilla’s original plan to anchor off the Gaza coast. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly thanked the Greek government, he knew full well what he was thanking it for.
We must now await future media leaks to know what exactly Greece received in exchange, other than closer military ties. Perhaps money, to complete the caricature?
This is a convenient time to be using pressure tactics. Greece’s socialist government is in a fragile situation, as the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are forcing the country to adopt an austerity plan that most of its people oppose. True, the fact that Greece has become a subcontractor of the Israeli army did not bring the masses into the streets, but there is no doubt about it: The sympathy of the Greek soldiers who arrested the Tahrir’s passengers and of the bureaucrats who delayed them was with the flotilla and with Gaza, not with their government’s orders. That’s all we need: another country whose government gets along well with Israel in complete opposition to popular sentiment.
The flotilla’s organizers added a term from the world of business and globalization to their description of Israel’s domination of the Palestinians. Israel, they said, was outsourcing the industry of the blockade on Gaza. In exchange for reward, a foreign government – Greece – took on an active role and adopted a deliberate policy of keeping the Gaza Strip one huge prison.
Logic dictates that a government whose policy validates anti-Semitic stereotypes ought to worry Israelis and Jews worldwide. But the Israeli government is doing what its voters want and believe in. For there is one stereotype that has not been recycled here: that of the wise Jew.
Outsourcing, aggressive and vocal diplomacy and ridiculous lies thwarted the flotilla, but they have not taken Gaza off the international agenda. If Israel – which knew full well that there was not one gram of explosives aboard the ships – had let them sail to Gaza, the flotilla would not have preoccupied the international media as it did.
Blocking the flotilla did not discourage the organizers, who are graduates of the anti-apartheid and anti-white supremacy struggles. Rather, it provided ample proof of how white Israel is. As a result, blocking the flotilla only increased their motivation to keep placing the Palestinians’ demand for freedom at the forefront of the international agenda.
=========================================
4 BBC 7 July 2011
Israel set for Gaza aid ‘flytilla’ as boats blocked
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14061848
Ben Gurion airport is on high alert for the arrival of the activists
Israel has stepped up security at Tel Aviv airport, ahead of the arrival of 500 pro-Palestinian activists, most of them French nationals, on Friday.
The so-called “flytilla” comes as the Greek authorities have blocked the sailing of an aid flotilla trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The moves come on the first anniversary of the 2010 Freedom Flotilla.
Nine Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the lead ship, causing an international outcry.
As a result, Israel eased its blockade on the impoverished Palestinian territory, allowing in more food and humanitarian goods.
Israel says the restrictions are necessary to stop weapons smuggling and to put pressure on Hamas, the militant Islamist group that has governed Gaza alone since 2007.
The UN has characterised the measures as the collective punishment of Gaza’s population of 1.6 million people.
‘Undesirable’
The Dignite is part of a 10-ship Freedom Flotilla II
Organisers of the Welcome to Palestine campaign, which the media has dubbed the “flytilla”, say it expects more than 500 activists to fly in from the US and Europe to spend a week visiting Palestinian families.
All are “non-violent pacifists”, the group said in a statement, dismissing Israeli media speculation about plans to stage protests or sit-ins at the airport.
However, a number of activists were turned back at Paris’s Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport as they tried to board a flight to Tel Aviv on the Hungarian airline Malev.
An airport spokesman told AFP news agency their reservations had been cancelled at the request of Israeli authorities who had issued a “list of undesirable persons”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered authorities to “act with determination, while trying to avoid unnecessary friction” with anyone taking part in a provocation, a statement from his office said.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the AFP news agency on Thursday that preparations were underway at Ben Gurion: “There is a large police presence in and around the airport to prevent any disturbances,” he said.
Boat blocked
Meanwhile, the Greek coast guard intercepted the lone remaining boat from a 10-ship aid convoy that has been trying to sail to Gaza since the end of June.
The French boat – Dignite al-Karama – was detained for “administrative reasons” on a refuelling stop in Crete, organisers said.
Israeli officials have dismissed as “ridiculous” claims by the organisers that Israel has sabotaged two ships – one Irish and one Swedish – and pressured the Greek authorities to block the sailings of the French yacht, as well as US and Canadian vessels.
The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators – the UN, US, EU and Russia – has urged activists to avoid a potential confrontation with Israel, pointing to last year’s deadly clashes on the Freedom Flotilla that left nine activists dead.
Israel increased sanctions on Gaza in 2006 after militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. It tightened them further still a year later when Hamas ousted rival Palestinian organisation Fatah from the territory.
Although the Islamist group won Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, it refuses to recognise Israel or to renounce violence and is designated in the West as a terror organisation.
Israel eased the restrictions last year in response to international pressure following the activists’ deaths.
=============================
5. Haaretz,
July 07, 2011
