NOVANEWS
Posted BY: Sammi Ibrahem
Chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign
-
Report: Israel used white phosphorus in latest Gaza attacks
-
U.S. Treasury says: There’s nothing to see on tax-exempt support for illegal settlements
-
Vittorio bore his burden to the land of pain
-
Turks mourn ‘Palestine’s son’
-
Bronfman’s Passover questions come 10 years too late
-
New project seeks to protect Gaza fishermen’s rights and livelihood
-
International Solidarity Movement committed to staying in Gaza following Arrigoni murder
-
Egyptian PM to make a solidarity visit to Gaza while the Mubaraks are not adjusting well to prison life
-
Kidnapped in Gaza
-
El-Haddad: Goldstone’s opinion might have changed, but the facts in Gaza have not
Report: Israel used white phosphorus in latest Gaza attacks
Apr 19, 2011
Philip Weiss
From Ahram. Speechless-making. A doctor in the Gaza justice department’s medical office says that injuries to bodies in Gaza, charred, torn, indicate that white phosphorus was used by Israel in latest attacks. Where is international law?
U.S. Treasury says: There’s nothing to see on tax-exempt support for illegal settlements
Apr 18, 2011 11:44 pm | Alex Kane
Investigative journalist and author Grant Smith‘s “Israel Lobby Archive” project gets a response from a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2007, which asked for access to internal Treasury Department records on programs to stop or investigate charitable funds going to illegal Israeli settlements. (Read the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy statement on the response here.)
The department responded, in so many words, that they don’t do anything about it, despite the very public nature of the problem:
Unfortunately, we were unable to locate or identify any responsive records pertaining to:
Internal reports about Treasury Department investigations triggered by public revelations that U.S. charitable funds flows used are used to illegally confiscate Palestinian lands and commit crimes overseas;
Meeting minutes of key Treasury Department 0fficials charged with combating money laundering conducted in Israel and the U.S. dealing with the Sasson report money laundering issues especially those with a focus on U.S. divisions of Hadassah, B’nai B’rith and other U.S. organizations managing WZO money laundering.
While the Treasury Department says it has “responsive information pertaining to Treasury Department programs designed to combat U.S. charitable money laundering to the West Bank,” the documents don’t say anything substantive on that topic. The documents attached to the request consist of already online presidential orders, like the prohibition on transactions with organizations designated by the U.S. as “terrorist” organizations.
But the Treasury Department is doing nothing about the (at least) hundreds of millions of tax-exempt dollars that flow to illegal settlements on occupied land. It is doing nothing about the New York-based Hebron Fund, which openly raises money for racist, extremist Israeli settlers who make the lives of Palestinians in Hebron hell. It is doing nothing aboutFriends of the Ateret Cohanim and Friends of Ir David, who are actively engaged in the colonization of Palestinian land in occupied Jerusalem.
Nothing to see here.
Alex Kane, a freelance journalist in New York, writes on Israel/Palestine and Islamophobia in the United States atalexbkane.wordpress.com, where this post originally appeared. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane.
Vittorio bore his burden to the land of pain
Apr 18, 2011
Mohammed Said AlNadi
Drawing of Vittorio Arrigoni by his friend Shahd Abu Salama
Vittorio, your memory will live on forever
I, as every Palestinian is, am in shock at the human capacity for atrocity. Until this moment, I still can’t believe that Vik was murdered here, in Gaza, in the land he loved the most, the land he heartily embraced.
I didn’t know Vik very well, but now we all do in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. Since I’m friends with most of the International Solidarity Movement activists, I used to see Vik around. However, every time, I would be taken aback by his humbleness and sense of humor.
Everyone who knew Vik said he was nothing but a compassionate human rights defender, an individual who left everything behind—his first homeland Italy (I say “first” because Palestine was his second country), his family, his friends, his luxurious life and came to Gaza to support, help and give the people of Gaza. He came to Gaza because he was of a clear conscience and a pure soul. He refused to stand still and watch like so many others did. He could have helped from afar, but he insisted to come, to see firsthand all the crimes Israel was committing against the civilian population of Gaza. He tirelessly documented Israeli violations against human rights in Palestine, including the Gaza war. He accompanied every fisherman, risking his own life so many times; he wiped away the tears on the faces of every child; he always was there for the poor.
Vik passed and left his memories indelibly inscribed in our hearts. He taught us how to love, care, defend and sacrifice for the sake of others. He set the whole world an inspiring example of real heroism.
On Vik’s birthday, I didn’t go to his party, but some of our mutual trusted friends bought a cake and went to his apartment to celebrate it. Guess what they found him doing on his own birthday? My friends told me he was crying because his father’s health condition was critical. Isn’t that rare? Who of us would do a similar thing nowadays? I assume very few. When he was supposed to be there for his father taking care of him, though painful to him, he bore this burden to the land of pain, Gaza, where he chose to belong.
One’s death is compensated for by the legacy he or she leaves. It is the comfort which spurs other followers to hold the torch again and continue on the path towards freedom and justice. Vik left behind a treasure of human principles and values for everyone who wants to be a human. “Stay Human,” the title of his book, alone would fill the world peace and justice.
Yes we are sorry, and we know we are not going to see him again, but his heroic deeds and honorable achievements will never die. His eternal memories will remain a source of inspiration to all of us. And if they managed to eliminate his body, they will never be able to kill his ubiquitous soul, and many others will take the same route.
Vik, you did a great job…much reverence to your soul…
Turks mourn ‘Palestine’s son’
Apr 18, 2011
Philip Weiss
Coverage of Vittorio Arrigoni’s funeral in theTurkish paper Hurriyet is extensive. Palestine’s Son is their headline. Thanks to Robert of Antalya.
Bronfman’s Passover questions come 10 years too late
Apr 18, 2011
Ilene Cohen
Here in Haaretz is Edgar Bronfman—philanthropist, international Jewish organizational leader, friend of Israel—offering a reconsideration of Passover that says it’s all right to criticize Israel: “Suporting Israel means questioning its policies.” Wading into such dangerous territory, he’s obviously glad to have David Grossman for cover, as Bronfman writes:
As we [Grossman and Bronfman] came to the end of our discussion we sat as two Jews – one from North America and one from Israel – who deeply care about our mutual fate as part of the Jewish people. He looked me in the eye and said that it was important for me to openly express my ideas about Israeli policies, and that it is vital for others who question to do the same.
Grossman’s comment resonated with me because Jews are a people of questioners. We emphatically question and discuss. That very Jewish form of engagement, however, is often seen as a threat rather than an asset when it comes to public discussions and criticism of Israel.
Yet, as Jews, we show that we care and are connected to each other by rigorous inquiry, not blind advocacy. Accordingly, I feel compelled to call upon Israel to redouble its efforts to bring about a two-state solution, especially as we enter spring and witness the Arab world in the midst of revolution and the possibility – however remote – of a blossoming democracy in Egypt.
Rather than being buoyed by these words—at this call for “questioners” to speak out—I find myself despairing. After all these years of occupation, with half a million Jewish settlers illegally occupying Palestinian land, with the checkpoints, the wall, and ethnic cleansing ongoing facts of life, after all the wars and threats of more wars—this is the best that Bronfman can come up with—that colonial Israel should “redouble its efforts to bring about a two-state solution.” (Math is not my strong suit, but even I know that 2 x 0 = 0, with 2 representing the “redoubling” and 0 representing the “efforts.”)
Given Bronfman’s importance in the Jewish world, his Passover homily might have been a startling, indeed a welcome, addition to the conversation a decade ago, but I am afraid that today its failure to reference any solid content renders it meaningless.
The Passover seder is based on the injunction to ask questions, and Bronfman could have laid out some serious questions for discussion. But, alas, even Edgar Bronfman is (still) afraid of telling the truth about Israel. That says it all. How sad.
New project seeks to protect Gaza fishermen’s rights and livelihood
Apr 18, 2011
Adam Horowitz
An Israeli naval ship sprays a Palestinian fishing boat with a water cannon off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (Photo: David Schermerhorn)
The Civil Peace Service Gaza is beginning a new project off the coast of Gaza to protect the rights of Gazan fisherman. The “Oliva,” a human rights monitoring boat, will launch Wednesday from the port of Gaza City with an international crew from Spain, the United States, Italy and Belgium to accompany Gazan fishermen within Palestinian waters and record violations of international law.
The press release announcing the project states:
Since Operation Cast Lead, access to fishing grounds has been unilaterally restricted by Israel to three nautical miles. This dramatic reduction of the 20-mile limit, which was agreed upon in the Oslo Accords, has resulted in the overexploitation of fishing grounds in which stocks are close to exhaustion. Fishermen are threatened by gunfire, confiscation of their boats and fishing tools, and arrest by the Israeli Navy which regularly launches attacks and incursions in Palestinian waters.
The press release also mentions that Vittorio Arrigoni was part of establishing the project (they will commemorate his life and work tomorrow at the kick off event). The issue of Gaza’s fishermen was central to Arrigoni’s recent work in Gaza. Here are two previously unpublished reports he wrote detailing the deadly conditions off the coast of Gaza. Arrigoni’s close friend Daniela Loffreda shared the reports with us and requested that we change the names of those mentioned to protect their identity:
Report 1: Yousef
20 year old Yousef is the last fisherman that was killed by the Israeli navy in 2010, on the 24th of September.
Yousef was sailing on a boat with three of his cousins opposite al-Sudaniya beach, north of Gaza City. They were fishing. While they were about 2 kilometers away from the beach, an Israeli gunboat approached at a distance of 100 meters and started heavily firing the fishing boat with a machine gun. There was no reason or any warning. Yousef was shot by a bullet in the chest. His relatives carried him to Kamal Odwan Hospital in Beit Lahia where he died soon after arrival.
This is what his uncle Ali, told some ISM activists during the wake:
“It was Yousef’s first experinece at sea as a fisherman. He would have married the next month. He didn’t speak about anything else, about the wedding party and about his new life. On the day of his death, the furniture was delivered to his new home.
In addition to Yousef, two members of our family have recently become disabled: Fadi and Bilal. They can not walk anymore because of the wounds inflicted on them by Israeli bullets while they were at sea fishing.
We raise our children just like the Israelis, as they aspire to have normal and possibly happy lives, get married and have families. Due to this desire for normality we die, going to work, trying to procure at sea what we need to feed our families.
Yousef was doing nothing wrong at sea. He did not commit a crime against Israel, he was just trying to build his future. He had no weapons with him, just a net. They could stop him if they wanted, instead they wanted to kill him.
We are under siege from every side, sea and air, Gaza is not a safe place wherever you are: at home, college, street, traveling by car and fishing at sea.
This is the punishment you get when you are born Palestinian.
We thank all people everywhere that show solidarity with the Palestinian people, who speak the same language of the oppressed who resist.
A father goes off to work in the morning and then comes back dead, a child goes off to school and then must make a trip to the morgue.
I thank all the people who give us support, but it’s not enough, you have to isolate Israel in every way within the international community and boycott it.
