Just 4 items tonight. One reason for so few is that I was in the OPT the whole day showing an activist from the States something of what it is like to be a Palestinian living under occupation. Spouse joined me. We mainly visited friends—Hani Amer at his pumping station, and 2 other families whom we are close to. All of these have had their fill of occupation.
Our trips are in the Salfit area, which saw a lot of action just after the wall started sprouting up, but which has been largely ignored for the past 4-5 years, with attention shifting more to Gaza and East Jerusalem . This doesn’t indicate that land is not being stolen from Palestinians in the Salfit area or that colonies are not blooming and growing bigger and bigger—mainly religious idealist colonies. It just means that for the moment attention is elsewhere. I suspect that once the smoke has died down in East Jerusalem , we’ll see more military and settler action in areas like those of Salfit. Ethnic cleansing will continue. Tons of homes in the area have demolition orders. Some have had them for years. No one knows when the actual act will take place. But the threat ever hangs over the families’ heads.
Not being at home kept me from the computer and the usual reading that I do. But there is also an additional reason for fewer items: I hope to encourage you to listen to Seymour Hersh speak on Iran (item 2). He confirms what I have been feeling for some time—that the Iran ‘threat’ is a propaganda trick not very different in purpose from the one that preceded the war in Iraq . Remember how we were warned about all those horrid WMDs that in the end we learned were non existent—but after thousands of Iraqis had been killed, and Iraq destroyed. There were those who benefited, too—arms manufacturers, banks, those who rebuilt what had been destroyed, or are rebuilding, and so on. But America lost over 400 young lives, plus many who returned home, like Vietnam veterans, with serious post traumatic stress symptoms. And Iraq lost many more lives and suffered destruction and war. Hersh brings evidence to show that the propaganda war prior to Iraq is once again being used, but this time against Iran . Unfortunately, notwithstanding all the evidence being that Iran is not on the way to making nuclear weapons, Hersh doesn’t trust Ehud Barak and Bibi Netanyahu any more than I do. Please listen (about 20 minutes) and distribute widely.
Item 1 is an appeal from the Rabbis for Human Rights for action to stop the eviction of a Palestinian family of 12 from a home that they have lived in over 40 years and are now being forced to leave in favor of Jews, who intend to move in.
Item 3 is ‘Today in Palestine ’ for November 22. More on it below, at item 3.
Item 4 is a sweet and sour read. Bradley Burston criticizes present government and Knesset policies but does it in a somewhat humorous way.
Please read this plea from the Rabbis for Human Rights to prevent the expulsion of the 12 members of the Sumarin family (including 5 children, a pregnant woman, and a grandfather on dialysis) from their home of over 40 years. They are being expelled to make way for a Jewish family. Dreadful.
Then, please write your letter or copy the letter the RHR provides and send it to the representative of the JNF in your country (emails addresses are furnished by the RHR).
I wrote, and hope that you will too. My brief letter is below.
Thanks for considering acting on this.
Dorothy
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Subject: Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto yourself.
Dear Mr. Stenzler,
As an Israeli Jew I was shocked to learn that the JNF is lending a hand to evicting a Palestinian family—the 12 members of the Sumarin family (including a pregnant woman, 5 children, and a grandfather on dialysis) from their home of over 40 years. Were anyone to do this to Jews we would shout and scream and tear our hair. I very much resent this being done to any human beings—Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, secular, or other. Please stop this terrible act. Now.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Naor
Herzliah, Israel,
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2. Forwarded by Amir M.M.
Seymour Hersh: Propaganda used ahead of Iraq war now being re-used over Iran ’s nuke program. Interview on Democracy Now
See also Hersh’s comments on the subject in his blog—but “also,” not in place of the video. In the video Hersh furnishes much much more information than in the article.
The initial reports sounds, for a change , promising—finally Israel is going to build homes in Arab villages inside Israel . But in fact the plan is shitty! If you read, you will understand why.
Again, the report on ‘Settlements pose biggest problem to Palestinian Agriculture’ gives statistics but does not state the result of this. One result is to do what Israel did to the portion of the land that became Israel : urbanized what had at one time been primarily agrarian. A fall out of the policy of urbanizing is that many heads of families who were farmers now become cheap labor for Israelis to exploit. Palestinian farmers tend to have large families, that have to be fed also after the land has been stolen.
Lots of other important reports—especially under political detainees and other prisoner news—but not only.
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4. If you have time, read also Bradley Burston’s Over Netanyahu’s New Israel, the B.S. light is on—criticism of the new bills and govmt attitude and policies—done lightly.
