Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

• Ads calling for end to aid to Israel return to Bay Area subways, buses

• My Nabi Saleh story

• Nabi Saleh not allowed to bury their beloved son in peace

• Gingrich comment that Palestinians are an ‘invented people’ enters primary debate

• Liberal pundits and Democrats are stifling conversation on failed peace process, AIPAC’s power, and push for war on Iran

• One day in the State of the Jewish People, a ‘light unto the Nations’

• Mira Nabulsi: Palestinian youth virtually commemorate the first Intifada on 24th anniversary

• ‘Huffpo’ gives Ginsberg platform to push for illegal covert war against Iran

• ‘NYT’ continues to fiddle with the Nakba

• Mustafa Tamimi is buried, Gaza is attacked, again.

Ads calling for end to aid to Israel return to Bay Area subways, buses

Dec 11, 2011

Henry Norr

Commuters headed for the BART platform at Civic Center station in San Francisco can’t miss
the campaign’s message.

The solidarity activists who have been challenging public-transportation riders in the Bay Areato take a new look at the Israel-Palestine issue are at it again.

Ads calling for “peace with justice and equality” and an end to the U.S. aid to Israel went up last week in a prominent location in the Civic Center station in San Francisco as well as on 15 AC Transit buses servicing the East Bay area. Over the last year the sponsors, led by the Northern California Friends of Sabeel, have paid for similar ads at major stations on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Muni subway systems as well as on other buses and cable cars. The local effort is part of a campaign that began in Chicago and has since spread to New York City; Washington. DC; Portland, OR; Albuquerque, NM; and Arizona State University

The Bay Area ads again feature photos of Jeff Halper, the Minnesota-born Israeli activist and professor, and Salim Shawamreh, a Palestinian construction supervisor born in Jerusalem, each of them holding a grandchild. Halper is co-founder and coordinator of the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD); Shawamreh’s Jerusalem home has been destroyed by Israeli wrecking crews, then rebuilt by volunteers organized by ICAHD, four times since 1998.

You can donate to help continue and extend the Bay Area ad campaign here.

AC Transit buses now carry the message through the streets of the East Bay.

My Nabi Saleh story

Dec 11, 2011

Alex Kane

A portrait of the Tamimi family. In the second row on the left is Mustafa, who died Saturday after suffering injuries at the hands of the Israeli army, who fired a tear-gas canister at his head. (Photo: Activestills)

As those who have traveled in Palestine know, everywhere you go you are greeted with incredible warmth and hospitality. My short time spent with the Tamimi family in the tiny village of Nabi Saleh was no exception. Now, this family is grieving over the needless death of 28-year-old Mustafa Tamimi, who was shot in the face at point-blank range by an Israeli soldier. Below are my reflections from a summer night in Nabi Saleh, where I met Mustafa.

It was another hot Ramadan day last August, and I had one day left to continue my reporting from the West Bank on Palestinian popular resistance and the UN statehood bid (see my article, “September uprising? Hopes, prospects and obstacles for Palestinian popular struggle,” in Mondoweiss here). I had spent two days reporting from the village of Beit Ommar, and then went to Ramallah, Nil’in and finally Nabi Saleh.

I didn’t know anyone there; Hassan Mousa, an activist from Nil’in, gave me a village resident’s phone number, and it was popular committee member Bashir Tamimi who I reached, who told me to come. I arrived in the early evening, and met a man, Iyad Tamimi, who spoke English extremely well. Most of the residents of Nabi Saleh come from the Tamimi family.

Iyad, a bald middle-aged man, took me to his house, and after talking, we figured out that his sister lived in the city I grew up in.  The call to prayer soon came, and Iyad, before leaving for the mosque, directed me to follow someone else to dinner. This was the home where Mustafa Tamimi lived.

There were no questions asked when I arrived to the house; I was a guest, I would eat a delicious meal with their family, and I would stay there overnight. The Tamimi family took me in with open arms, despite the fact that I barely spoke Arabic and was a stranger. This, I’m sure, is a common experience for those who visit Nabi Saleh.

After dinner, more and more people began to arrive. We migrated outside. We smoked nargileh, drank tea and talked politics. A Real Madrid v. Barcelona soccer game crackled over a radio. I peppered Iyad and Bashir with questions about Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian statehood bid, and their struggle against the occupation. Overlooking us were the uniform red-roofs of the nearby Halamish settlement, whose confiscation of a nearby spring in December 2009 had led the village to begin weekly demonstrations in the face of brutal Israeli army repression. But no matter; despite the constant reminder of the settlement, smiles and laughs abound. The Ramadan iftar is always a joyous occasion, in Nabi Saleh as elsewhere. The Israeli army and settlers they protect can’t stop that.

Mustafa was there. I didn’t speak with him too much that night, but the next morning he gave me and his mother a ride to Ramallah, and he showed me where to catch the bus to Jerusalem. Again, no questions asked; Mustafa was kind enough to make sure I knew where I was going.

Now, his mother won’t be able to catch rides with him anymore. Mustafa won’t be able to meet new people anymore.

But if there’s hope, it comes from the Tamimi family and others like them. The resistance against occupation continued today, with hundreds of mourners attending the burial of Mustafa. The Israeli army turned their tear-gas on them once again, and beat and arrested activists.

It’s clear Mustafa would be proud. His spirit will live on in his family.

Nabi Saleh not allowed to bury their beloved son in peace

Dec 11, 2011

Seham

Mourners at the funeral of Mustafa Tamimi were attacked today with teargas, women were beaten and 8 people were arrested, 2 were Israelis and 6 were international solidarity activists, one of the activists at the funeral wrote the following:

“IOF soldiers were savagely beating anybody within their vicinity, three or four soldiers at a time grabbing men and throwing them to the floor, kicking them violently and stamping on their heads. As I stood back from the scene taking photographs, a soldier suddenly lunged towards us entirely unprovoked and threw one of the ISM activists I was with against the barrier of the road, doubling him over it as his body crashed to the ground.” Read more here.

Also, an account of the violence in the Guardian here.

Pause for a moment and imagine the international outrage if this had occurred in Syria.  The UN would convene, the Arab League would impose more sanctions, Erdogan would make another speech. But alas it is Palestine and the only hope we have this will ever be addressed in any official capacity is for Matthew Lee from the Associated Press to bring it up with Victoria Nuland.  Nick Kristoff will ignore Palestine for the time being and reappear in a few months and ask if we found our Gandhi yet. Susan Rice will scowl down any attempt to criticize Israel over its insane violence. And, Obama will be increasing his financial and moral support to apartheid Israel on a daily basis until the election.

Yesterday activist Linah Alsaafin wrote an incredibly passionate piece on Electronic Intifada about the murder of Tamimi:

The images are tattooed forever inside my eyelids. A bloody pulp on one side of his face. The pool of blood rapidly increasing. (Mama, there was so much blood.) His mouth slightly open, lying supine on the cold road. His sister screaming, her face twisted in grief. The young men weeping, looking like little boys again.

I hate them for making us suffer

I loathe my enemy. I will never forgive, I will never forget. People who say such hatred transforms a person into a bitter cruel shell know nothing of the Israeli army. This hatred will not cripple me. What does that mean anyway? Do I not continue to write? Do I not continue to protest? Do I not continue to resist? Hating them sustains me, as opposed to normalizing with them. Their hatred of me makes reinforces the truth of their being murderous machines. My hatred of them makes me human.

I can’t sleep. The shock flows in and then dissipates, before flooding back in again. I see no justification is implementing such violence on a civilian population, no sense in the point-blank murder of a man whose rights are compromised, and whose land is colonized and occupied.

She was among those beaten today, she is pictured at the bottom of this pile of people that threw themselves on her to prevent her arrest.

(Photo: Activestills.org)

I recently told Linah that I felt Israelis now have her in their sights, she’s becoming a more visible and well known fixture at protests against Israel’s land theft. Here she is confronting Israeli soldiers on November 25, 2011:

I hope Linah makes a quick recovery from what transpired today, her anger is helping to sustain our struggle. Israel is right to fear her.

Below is a letter from activist Abir Kopty to Tamimi:

Dear comrade Mustafa

Last Friday, I wasn’t there… I couldn’t make it to Nabi Saleh and I regret.

I could not be there to stand with the brave people of Nabi Saleh in this difficult time, and I could not be there to say good bye.

Please forgive me Mustafa, when I first heard you were shot, and then saw the pictures, I had to struggle with my stomach feeling that you will not make it. And you did not. How would you survive tear gas canister shot in your face from 2 meters distance, and then delaying your treatment by the Israeli criminal army?

I remember your braveness during Nabi Saleh’s weekly rallies, facing the army with open chest. I apologize to you for not having your courage. Your life isn’t worth less than mine.

Today, Mustafa, we all cried during the protest we held in Ramallah. We decided first to make it silent, as a symbolic funeral. No one could remain silent, and we chanted like we never did.

It was the first demo I ever attended where most of the protesters were crying. Crying and screaming, crying and chanting, crying and singing.

Your murder Mustafa, made us feel so hopeless and powerless. We ask your forgiveness that we could not save your precious life.

Dear Mustafa, for the time being I’m afraid to make promises, as we have learned not to make promises bigger than us. I can only promise you that I will continue going to Nabi Saleh, I will not give up the hope, exactly as you didn’t. I promise you that your courage will keep inspiring me and giving me strength.

Rest in peace comrade.

Gingrich comment that Palestinians are an ‘invented people’ enters primary debate

Dec 11, 2011

Annie Robbins

Things are heating up. Gingrich’s incendiary comment perpetuating the myth Palestinians are an ‘invented people’ has made its way into the GOP primary debate and it appears this outrageous inflammatory lie could forge a path into mainstream American discourse.

Last night after the televised debate in Iowa, David Weigel reporting in Slate referenced this myth as a “knowledge-bomb.”

“The Israelis are getting rocketed every day,” snorted Gingrich. “We’re not making life more difficult. The Obama administration is making life more difficult.” Plus, he was right on the facts. “Palestinian did not become a common term until after 1977.” That’s the sort of knowledge-bomb that Republicans dream of dropping on Obama—they feel like this is right, but here’s a candidate who can say so.

Rest assured some neocons and their supporters will continue to clench onto this argument like a dog with a cherished bone.  This morning William A. Jacobson, Associate Clinical Professor at Cornell Law School writes on his blog:

Palestinian national identity as it currently is recognized was a reaction to the creation of Israel and most prominently the 1967 war when Israel captured territory controlled by Egypt and Jordan. Newt Gingrich is under fire for stating this truth.

……

The importance of Gingrich’s comment was that it skewered a false historical narrative which dominates the international debate and is used for the demonization of Israel and its chief supporter, the United States.

Newt was absolutely correct to say enough already with the falsehood. If it upset the Palestinians, well too bad. It’s about time a prominent political figure in the United States didn’t just voice support for Israel but did so in a historically accurate manner which addressed the false Palestinian narrative of perpetual victimization.

Let’s take a look at at where the framing of the fight between Gingrich and Romney breaks down (PDF)

SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH: 22:07:42:00 But can– can I just say one last thing? Because I didn’t speak for the people of Israel. I spoke as a historian who’s looked at the world stage for a very long time. I’ve known Bibi since 1984. I feel quite confident an amazing number of Israelis found it nice to have an American tell the truth about the war they are in the middle of and the casualties they’re taking and the people who surround them who say, “You do not have the right to exist, and we want to destroy you.”
GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: 22:08:04:00 I– I’ve known– I’ve– (APPLAUSE) I’ve also known Bibi Netanyahu for a long time. We worked together at– at Boston Consulting Group. And the last thing Bibi Netanyahu needs to have is not just a person who’s an historian, but somebody who is also running for president of the United States, stand up and say things that create extraordinary tumult in– in his neighborhood.
DIANE SAWYER: 22:08:29:00 Congresswoman–
GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: 22:08:29:00 And I’m president of the United States, I will exercise sobriety, care, stability. And make sure that in a setting like this, anything I say that can affect a place with– with rockets going in, with people dying, I don’t do anything that would harm that– that process. 22:08:47:00 And therefore, before I made a statement of that nature, I’d get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say, “Would it help if I said this? What would you like me to do? Let’s work together, because we’re partners.” I’m not a bomb thrower, rhetorically or literally.

It appears ‘the debate’, is not even being framed by these two candidates as an argument over whether this ‘invented people’ myth is fact or fiction! Ron Paul dealt with it, neither Gingrich or Romney even go there.  All of a sudden it now becomes about whether it should remain unspoken or not (as if this myth/lie has already been determined as a truth for these candidates.)

And here’s Romney again doubling down with his insane foreign policy positioning ofabdicating American foreign policy towards Israel . . . to Israel.  Does he really see that as a winning concept for most Americans. My head is spinning.

We’re in for a fight over Palestinian identity. Are the Democrats going to role over for the lobby on this one? That remains to be seen, but this is a fight we will win.

(Hat tip Alex Kane)

Liberal pundits and Democrats are stifling conversation on failed peace process, AIPAC’s power, and push for war on Iran

Dec 11, 2011

Philip Weiss

Judah Benjamin

On Friday Pat Lang’s national security site published an essay that a lot of folks are passing around. I don’t know who wrote it–the byline was the pseudonym J.P. Benjamin (at left)–but the familiarity with a lot of inside baseball suggests someone in the know.

The chronology could not really be clearer. In the immediate aftermath of the Knesset passage of the bill restricting funding for human rights organizations within Israel, followed by Secretary of State Clinton’s criticism that was extended to condemnation of the treatment of women in Israel, and the unprecedented official protest against the Israeli policy lodged by the US ambassador, there has been a strong and harsh backlash, obviously whipped up, assailing organizations and people in the US that have been critical of the Occupation, the Netanyahu government’s destruction of the peace process, and the right-wing within Israel. From the Ben Smith article in Politico on December 8 on the Center for American Progress and Media Matters for publishing critical material of current Israeli policy and its ideologues (“vitriol”), to Jennifer Rubin (who has openly called for the mass murder of Palestinians and has been protected by Washington Post editors and its publisher), to Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic (a former Israeli prison guard who has proclaimed himself the oracle on all matters pertaining to Israel and that criticism of him is ipso facto rejection of the Jewish State and ipso facto objectively anti-Semitic, encompassing perhaps his service in the Bush administration choir on links of Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein, etc.), et al (the usual suspects), there is a broad and systematic effort to limit discussion and debate about Israel and the Middle East that reflects the campaign inside Israel, including on the following subjects: the collapsed peace process and who is responsible; the complexities of the Arab Spring; the diplomatic rather than ultimate military path towards Iran; the emergence of Turkey and its chastising of Israeli policy on Gaza, especially after the killings on the Mavi Marmara; the influence of Likud through AIPAC and other organizations on the US political process, the US media and the US Congress; the rise of the new right around Islamophobia; the influence and role of Israel on US detainee policy and the militarization of domestic policing policy; the assault on Secretary of State Clinton for her remarks on the threats to democracy within Israel, as well as the nearly complete silence in the US from the Democratic Party, liberal intellectuals and pundits, defending her and the administration, as well as freedom for human rights groups within Israel; and the effort to discredit anyone operating outside the limits set by those that insist on the narrow spectrum of discussion, far different from within Israel itself.

Please read the articles below: Clinton criticism sparks Israeli anger, etc.

The articles can be found at the post.

One day in the State of the Jewish People, a ‘light unto the Nations’

Dec 11, 2011

Jerome Slater

What can be said any longer about Israel’s occupation and repression of the Palestinians? What may still be less known is the extent to which the poison of the occupation has inevitably and inexorably spread into Israel itself, into its political system and throughout its society and its institutions. Read Haaretz for a couple of weeks, and you will learn about the rapid growth of domestic Israeli authoritarianism, violence, racism, religious fanaticism, various forms of corruption and criminality, attacks on dissent, civil liberties and the judicial system, the accelerating decline in liberal and scientific education–and more.

For example, here are the headlines, summaries, and a few quotations from news stories and commentaries in just one day’s edition of Haaretz (November 30, 2011): “IDF freezes implementation of report calling for gender equality” “Publicly, the IDF announced support for recommendations drafted by special military committee, but in practice it has done very little to implement them….[because of] the religious establishment’s opposition.”

Sefi Rachlevsky: “It’s not for nothing that several leading rabbis prefer a firing squad than hearing women sing. From Jewish law they draw the assertion that the most severe of all transgressions is the useless spilling of seed. This is compared to murdering one’s children…The demons responsible for tragedies are born from Jewish seed that was wasted. This is the reason for the hiding and silencing of women, so as not to excite the men, which might lead to improper ejaculation.”

“Those who believe this are not a fringe group. Nearly 53 percent of first-graders classified as Jews now study in religious and ultra-Orthodox schools, and the prevailing theology in most of them teach these things as fact.”

“NGOs say Police Ignoring Sinai Human Smugglers’ Accomplices in Israel.” “Organizations say smugglers have contacts in Israel demanding ransom payments by relatives and friends in Israel to free fellow migrants from Sinai detention camps. Hundreds of would be migrants seeking to make their way to Israel are being held by smugglers in Sinai. Some have been the targets of extreme violence….In a report on the problem issued earlier this year based on the testimony of migrants who had made it to Israel last year: According to some of the testimonies, several victims were either murdered by the traffickers or were starved to death. 18 men were forced into slave labor…. The victims report not just physical abuse, but also psychological torture and humiliation. … Seven of the victims reported that the traffickers threatened to sell their organs for transplant. The police have not responded to Haaretz’s request for a response.”

“Ground Breaking survey shows 1 in 5 Israelis don’t have enough to eat.” Income of 19-20 percent of the families places them under the poverty line.

“Report Offers Chilling View of Israel’s Working Poor.” “More than half of the poor families in Israel have jobs, and that number has increased in recent years…[but] poverty among working families has deepened. Couples with more than two children will also be unable to escape poverty, even if both parents work – one full time and the other part-time – and receive minimum wage.” [According to one worker about to lose his home]: “It’s something that’s happening all over Israel, not just here. It feels like the state is giving up on people. They gave up on me.” “‘Talkback law’ passes first reading in Knesset.” Under the bill, Internet service providers could be forced to reveal the identity of the author of the offending content.

Zvi Bar-el: “Israel’s take on Arab Spring may undo peace with Egypt.” “The way of life in the Arab countries does not interest Israel. Peace, in its Israeli version, is made with leaders, preferably autocratic ones, and not with peoples. The leaders, so it is believed, will force the people to love Israel [despite] Israel’s policy in Jerusalem and the territories. If Israel wishes to ‘warm up” the peace, [demonstrators said], it will have to pay the price in Palestinian coin. This was not an “Islamist” demand….those who made this demand were completely secular. As usual, Israel is beginning to get ready the no-Egyptian-partner. He will be an Islamist, radical and anti-Semitic, who does not understand the doctrine of winking that Mubarak employed. Because of this no-partner, peace will collapse. After all, everyone understands what an Islamist threat is.”

“How Israel stigmatizes and mistreats AIDS sufferers.” “While AIDS sufferers in the West are treated with miracle drugs and can live normal lives, in Israel, those with the disease are stigmatized and given medicines that don’t work. While until three years ago it was possible to say that Israel stood at the forefront of science and treatment, I am sorry to say today that this is no longer true. And since AIDS patients in Israel are anonymous, they will not go out into the streets and won’t erect protest tents. It is our obligation as human beings, as a country, to change this policy. As Nelson Mandela said, our approach to AIDS reflects who we are as people.” (Dr. Itzhak Levi, Chairman of the Israeli Association for AIDS Medicine and director of the AIDS and sexually transmitted disease clinic at the Sheba Medical Center.)

One day’s stories. I must admit I have been a “liberal Zionist,” a supporter of the right and possible need for the Jewish people to have their own state. Just not this one. Can we start again?

Editor’s note. This piece appeared on Jerry Slater’s site several days ago.

Mira Nabulsi: Palestinian youth virtually commemorate the first Intifada on 24th anniversary

Dec 11, 2011

Allison Deger

Intifada graffiti in Ramallah.

Arabic reads: “we are the revolution.” (Photo: Abir Kopty)

December 9, 2011, marked the twenty-fourth anniversary of the first Intifada.  The day is typically not commemorated in Palestinian society; however, this year, #Intifada1 is trendingon Twitter and social network sites, where Palestinians around the world are remembering the first uprising, or “shaking off,” by tweeting about this time in Palestinian history.

The Twitter trend was started by Palestinian activist Ahmad al-Nimer to remind people of the popular model of the Intifada.  Al-Nimer affirms,  “the first intifada saved the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, as they for the first time took matters into their own hand, taking the street, and start protesting.”

Screen shot of #Intifada1 on Twitter.

The first Intifada is recognized for the active participation of a broad-based, cross-section of Palestinian society, over the six-year uprising (although the end date is much debated).  Former political prisoner and political activist with al-Haq, Ziad Hmaidan characterizes the time:

The First Intifada was a unique example of popular struggle, involving old and young generations, people from every social and cultural strata and of every political background. It was a joint struggle of students, workers, peasants, men and women as equal actors – the key role women had in the resistance has to be stressed – to scream for their freedom and their rights. Peaceful mass demonstration, raising the Palestinian flag, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, organizing strikes of private businesses and labor forces–even in historical Palestine (Israel)–and the development of an economy of resistance were the major tools [of the First Intifada].

To understand the impacts of the #Intifada1 Twitter trend, I interviewed Mira Nabulsi, a Palestinian researcher in the field of media representation and digital activism, with a specialized focus on the Arab region.

Social media researcher Mira Nabulsi. (Photo: Allison Deger)

Deger: How does the Twitter trend #Intifada1, started by Ahmad al-Nimar commemorate the first Intifada?

Mira Nabulsi: I think creating a hashtag should be looked at as part of a larger effort to commemorate and revive the first intifada not only as an era in our longer history of struggle but also as a culture and revolutionary state of mind. In practicality, a hashtag in the online social-verse would allow online activists and bloggers to generate relevant content in an organized fashion.

Palestinian youth movements are largely factionalized. What role does social media take in the context of on-the-ground mobilization which traditionally functions through political parties?

MN: Well, I think a lot could be said about that. I have been a social media user for few years and I have been closely observing how it helped networking people as well as disseminating a better knowledge about Palestine and what’s happening there on a daily basis. There is definitely a better online content on Palestine now than there ever was, and millions have access to that. But in addition, social media helped pushing for a stronger Palestinian voice and representation internationally which we were and still aren’t able to acquire on mainstream corporate media (because we all know how they function and who dominates them) but what social media also is doing and no one will be able to control is connecting Palestinian active youth in West Bank, Gaza, ’48 territories and the diaspora among themselves as well as with solidarity activists globally in a way that I think we will still see clearer in the future.

The discourse of such youth is definitely closer to that of the Palestinian movement throughout 60’s to late 80’s than it is to the Oslo front and their followers which in itself a great development (issues like refugees and the right of return are again fundamental and center to our struggle) especially as Oslo managed to highly depoliticize our people and youth.

I know a lot of the young people who are active online are also on the ground either politically or in community work. More and more youth are now aware of the importance of coupling online work with offline work, as well as supporting work on the ground with documentation and strengthening presence online and I see that happening nowadays more than before. Perhaps the Arab revolutions also had a great influence motivating those youth. My only concern is the gap between similar youth and the larger Palestinian population who are not as tech-savvy or intellectual and that is a big challenge for us.

In the late 1980s, at the time of the first Intifada, the West Bank and Gaza had been occupyed by Israel for twenty years. Today, after forty-four years of occupation, how is the Intifada understood?

MN: I think today people view the first Intifada with a lot of pride and sacredness, perhaps even romanticization–that we don’t see in the more contemporary Palestinian history and politics of the last twenty years. There are layers and layers of frustration and de-politicization that people have been experiencing since Oslo and until now, and there are many factors that could explain that from the failure of Oslo and Palestinian leadership, to the disappointment in the international community and Arab countries, to the lack of trust people feel towards parties after the division, and all reconciliation efforts going in vain. So it is particularly that [background] that makes the first Intifada a different experience. It was a time when the Palestinian people were able to stir the politics of the region and take matters into their own hands versus the helplessness we feel now..

An anniversary in its twenty-fourth year does not lend itself to become a year of renewed celebration, e.g. it’s not 20 years, or 25 years? Why do you think people are specifically looking back to the first Intifada at this time?

MN: First I think it’s important to clarify that to my knowledge the commemoration is not taking place on a very large popular scale in Palestine. As for the call to commemorate the 24th anniversary, that was made this last week online by some Palestinian youth. I think what they’re trying to do is to revive the revolutionary spirit of the first Intifada also as a model of popular resistance and civil disobedience that was used by many revolutionary movements around the world especially at this time with everything happening in our region.

Another important aspect is the memory and the oral history aspect, and this is something we as Palestinians and Palestinian activists honor a lot. Although there are many oral history projects that worked on the Nakba and the few years that followed Nakba, not as much exists on the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s, where the Palestinian civil society was able to mobilize the whole society around issues of prisoners, land theft, taxes,..etc. It is equally important that we learn this history because especially for those of us who were born in the 1980’s or early 1990’s the only political education we received on this level was what we heard from our families or older friends. The type of education and curriculum existing post-Oslo does not really deal with that, and here documenting, narrating and talking about those memories and histories becomes vital.

The Facebook event for commemorating the Intifada calls on “Palestinian bloggers in Palestine and in exile” to mobilze online.  What is the significance of this call in the context of an effort to delineate “Palestinian” as a territorial definition–such as in the U.N. statehood bid.

MN: Well it means exactly what you just said. It’s a call for duty for all of us whether inside or in the diaspora. As I just said those youth we’ve seen planning and organizing popular actions and protests in the last couple of years and more this year do not identify with Palestinian political parties and leadership–at least not in the state they’re in nowadays–and although we respect the struggles of all Palestinian factions throughout history and their right to be part of Palestinian leadership and representation, we don’t think they represent Palestinians every where or our aspirations for liberation and self-determination.

It is clear that those youth still consider themselves in the process of struggle for liberation and fighting Israeli oppression which touches all our aspects of life and NOT state-building like Mr. Fayyad says. Personally and I know many youth would agree with me, I refuse this approach Fayyad and PA is imposing on us especially at a time when their whole legitimacy is questioned.

The call clearly aims to unite all Palestinians regardless of where they live because our struggle is not for bantustans in the West Bank or Gaza but in our right to return, exist and mobilize all over Palestine and we refuse for this fragmentation to be imposed on our memory, history and identity, just like we refuse it on our lands. Palestine is not simply a territory and Mr. Fayyad cannot tell us who can be a Palestinian or not in his imaginary state.

Mira Nabulsi is a researcher, born and raised in Nablus, Palestine. She has worked at the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative (AMED) of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU), where she co-taught a course titled: “Comparative Border Studies, Palestine to Mexico”.

‘Huffpo’ gives Ginsberg platform to push for illegal covert war against Iran

Dec 11, 2011

Philip Weiss

Marc Ginsberg

The Democratic Party is in a shambles over the Iran question. Marc Ginsberg, former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco under Clinton, has just used the pages of the I-thought-it-was-liberal Huffington Post to try and undermine Leon Panetta’s reluctance to use force against Iran, and to push a policy of internationally illegal assassinations, sabotage, and covert war against Iran:

when the Secretary of Defense bares his understandable hesitations against the use of military force, which he did last Friday — no matter how meritorious they are — it only undermines the signals his administration is broadcasting…

More robust and coordinated covert action by western and Arab nations against Iran’s nuclear facilities must become an urgent priority. Mysterious computer viruses such as the Stuxnet worm, undeniably set back Iran’s spinning uranium enrichment centrifuges. But their success was short lived. Assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists may have created a climate of fear, but also have not prevented Iran from moving more quickly to its finish line.

Last week’s “accidental” explosion which destroyed one of Iran’s largest solid-fuel missile construction bases was a gift that may keep on giving. It not only killed a key Revolutionary Guard commander in charge of missile solid fuel rocket development, the explosion also compels Iran to rely more on liquid fuel missiles that are easier to detect on the ground via satellite surveillance.

The escalating use of stealth drones conducting surveillance above Iran is an indication that the administration is not reluctant to push the covert envelope. The question is what to do with the treasure trove of data the drone surveillance program yielded?

Accidents do happen. Bigger “accidents” are needed. Rather than relying further on economic sanctions, we need a more effective “accidents regime” that may do what economic sanctions have failed to do. Of course, Iran has demonstrated a huge tolerance for international isolation and economic pain. There is no assurance that escalating covert action will achieve a better outcome than economic sanctions… but its worth the risk given the stakes involved.

There are targets aplenty throughout Iran, including remote pipelines, ships bound for Iran supplying oil distillates, banking computer networks, and aviation facilities. And the regime has a lot of enemies, including many of its own citizens to do the dirty work. No return U.S. address needed.

‘NYT’ continues to fiddle with the Nakba

Dec 11, 2011

Allison Deger

Screen shot of NYT newest correction to Nakba article.

Last week, we reported on an article by the Learning Center, in the New York Times (NYT), where the NYT censored coverage of the Palestinian Nakba, due to “reader comments.” TheNYT removed the word “expelled” and other words from the description, altering the narrative of events–implying that Palestinian refugees fled, and were not driven out of their homes/villages by pre-state para-military groups.  The article also made alterations suggesting Arab armies invaded before the Zionist para-military attacks, rather than “soon” after, as originally reported.

Well, the NYT has once again augmented the same article–again due to reader comments–to now read: “British troops left, thousands of Palestinian Arabs were expelled or fled and Arab armies invaded Israel,” which the NYT offers as a “more neutral rendering of the sentence.”

The “correction” in the NYT articles now reads:

“Six months later, on May 14, 1948, Jewish leaders in the region formed the state of Israel. British troops left, thousands of Palestinian Arabs fled and Arab armies invaded Israel. In the Arab-Israeli War, Israel defeated its enemies. It was the first of several wars fought between Israel and its neighbors.”

This timeline contradicts  NYT coverage from 1947-49, and as Yousef Munayyer of the Palestine Center notes, “half the total refugees created during the Nakba were created BEFORE May 15th, 1948.”

The NYT‘s editorial changes to the Palestinian Nakba is not a new occurrence. Earlier this year, Munayyer wrote in “Picking apart the New York Times Zionist narrative on the Nakba . . . using the New York Times,” the NYT regularly prints a “distorted representation” of the Nakba. Munayyer begins with a May 2011 article by Ethan Bronner:

“After Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, armies from neighboring Arab states attacked the new nation; during the war that followed, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes by Israeli forces. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were also destroyed. The refugees and their descendants remain a central issue of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Munayyer then fact-checks Bonner against a NYT article titled “Palestine Jews Minimize Arabs: Sure of Superiority, Settlers Feel They Can Win Natives By Reason or Force,” from March 2, 1947:

“Whatever the degree of their superiority complex, however, the Jews are certainly confident of their ability to bring the Arabs to terms — by persuasion if possible, by might if necessary. The program of the largest terrorist group, the Irgun Zvai Leumi, is to evacuate the British forces from Palestine and declare a Zionist state west of the Jordan, and “we will take care of the Arabs.”

From an April 18, 1948 NYT article, Munayyer again fact-checks the NYT of today:

“According to reports telephoned from Nablus, that town and Jenin are crowded with refugees, among whom the rumor is circulating that the Jews are driving on Jenin. The Haganah said it had killed 130 Druse [sic] tribesmen yesterday when it seized Usha, a village east of Haifa.”

The NYT editorialized Nakba coverage shows that history is more of a comment on today’s politics, and less of an account of the past.

Mustafa Tamimi is buried, Gaza is attacked, again.

Dec 11, 2011

Seham

Grief as Mustafa Tamimi’s body is put in a car to Nabi Saleh
(Photo: Joseph Dana)

Mustafa Tamimi’s body has come out of the hospital (Photo: Joseph Dana)

Mustafa Tamimi carried through the streets of Ramallah (Photo: Joseph Dana)

Mustafa Tamimi

link to english.wafa.ps

No miracle yesterday in Nabi Saleh: Mustafa Tamimi murdered, Linah Alsaafin
Linah Alsaafin witnessed the murder of Mustafa Tamimi at the hands of the Israeli army who had invaded Nabi Saleh village.
link to electronicintifada.net