Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

• Wael Ghonim at Harvard: a key figure of the Egyptian revolution speaks truth to U.S. power
• Israel gives ‘price tag’ youth a new West Bank hilltop
• Book Review: ‘A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship’
• If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian
• Khader Adnan, 61 days on a hunger strike, near death
• Right wing to Rudoren: Are you now, or have you ever been, a Zionist?
• BDS interview fallout: Finkelstein ‘showed his own fear of the paradigm shift in discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’
• Hadad (mourning)
• Poland presses Israel over destruction of West Bank village supported by Polish charity
• Pro-Israel handbook explains how to attack professors and ‘co-opt’ students of color

Wael Ghonim at Harvard: a key figure of the Egyptian revolution speaks truth to U.S. power
Feb 16, 2012
Aurore Fauret

(Photo:  Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Hailed as a hero of the Egyptian revolution, Wael Ghonim is the Google manager who went missing during eleven days, early in the revolution, as a result of creating a Facebook pagethat fueled mass mobilization against Mubarak’s regime. One year ago, the page “We Are All Khaled Said”—in honor of a young man from Alexandria who tragically died at the hands of the police—rallied millions of Egyptians online and in the streets. Ghonim spoke to a packed and policed room at Harvard’s Kennedy School earlier this month, in the midst of turmoil in Egypt and escalating tension with U.S. aid agencies, to talk about his recent book, Revolution 2.0.
The moderator, David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard, reminds us of the current events surrounding Ghonim’s visit: the day before, 74 Egyptians were killed in Port Said following a football match, with several witnesses reporting that the violence was orchestrated by the police. Gergen asks the audience—seated in the building’s amphitheater-like entrance hall, predominantly composed of young students—to stand in a moment of silence.
As we all know, a great deal of change is underway in Egypt: the Muslim Brotherhood won the parliamentary elections last December, and presidential elections are scheduled for June. But a year after the revolution, Egypt is still experiencing social unrest and the military, which insists on managing the transition, is facing strong demands to give way to a civilian rule.
Meanwhile, Egypt-U.S. relations are suffering from a dispute over American non-governmental organizations. Members of pro-democracy groups such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) are brought to trial in Egypt and the U.S. is threatening to cut $1.5 billion in foreign aid. The involvement of these groups in the aftermath of the revolution points to yet another attempt at promoting a U.S.-centric conception of democracy abroad, one which is not well received in Egypt.
This visit is a chance for Wael Ghonim to “contribute,” he says. He insists that he is not speaking on behalf of anyone else—but in spite of this disclaimer, he is irresistibly, in the eyes of the audience, the quintessential insider. When a young student, standing first in line for the Q&A, asks Ghonim about the role of America in the revolution, he boldly reminds the audience of Hilary Clinton’s repeated statements of support for Mubarak, in the first few days of the uprising. “The U.S.,” he says, “was betting on the winning horse.” On U.S. interference in Egypt’s future, he is unequivocal: he wants the US to stay out of it and to do nothing. Ghonim is probably not the only Egyptian who feels that way—he tells us that the public is sensitive to U.S. interference and resents being told what to do by the superpower. Now, he goes on, he hopes that the U.S.’s relation with Egypt will be transformed into a relationship among equals. Perhaps recognizing the bravery of speaking with such honesty, in a place that breeds the country’s foreign policy-makers, a forceful round of applause ensued. Is that enough to indicate that the Harvard audience took serious note of what he had to say?
Ghonim insists several times on his uneasiness with being depicted as the hero of the revolution. For him, “change should not be personalized.” This is why he remained anonymous while managing the Facebook page, until he was detained and his identity was revealed.
This was also an occasion to address misconceptions about the Muslim Brotherhood. Rising to ask a question, one member of the audience, an older scholarly type, suggested—to sum up roughly—that Western political philosophy should guide Egypt’s transition away from fundamentalism and towards progress. Ghonim, to his great credit, replied with patience. Drawing from examples of colonialism, he explained that change cannot—that is, should not—be enforced on people. The Islamic party now needs to respond to Egyptians’ demands. If they do not deliver—especially in the economic realm, which is the greatest challenge ahead—then they will be replaced, Ghonim affirms.
He urges us to recognize that the biggest achievement of the revolution has been to allow for democratic turnover to take place. It is essentially irrelevant whether the Muslim Brotherhood or ElBaradei is in power—”Change should not be personalized.” And it is not for someone at Harvard, or anywhere in the U.S., to decide.
Being careful to note that it is easier for him to analyze his actions in hindsight—and insisting that there was no “master-plan”—Wael Ghonim provided some lessons on strategies of non-violent activism. He opted, he tells us, for non-confrontational actions—having people gather for “silence stands” in front of government buildings for example—to defeat the regime’s attempts at picturing its opponents like extremists. “We’re going to get all of our rights by being non-violent,” he continues, “by showing them that they are ugly (…) and we are civilized.” For him, these Ghandi-inspired tactics allowed the number of protesters to swell. It brought more people into the mainstream: “You should not try to avoid the mainstream, you should try to get the mainstream to adopt your ideas.”
Ghonim is fascinated by the online world, and—admitting to this as a cliché idealistic statement—sees the internet as a way to change the world. It is widely accepted that social media was a mobilizing force in the revolution. Yet, the former Google executive who self-identifies as a tech nerd, insists that technology is only a tool. “I don’t trust any tool, I trust the people behind the tool.”
These reflections on technology and social change are developed in his book, which David Gergen presents as an “instructive tale,” one, he told us, which he hopes will be studied here at Harvard. It is worth noting that all the proceeds of the book will go to Egyptian non-governmental organizations—for Ghonim, the indecency of reaping profits from his book is unambiguous (“People die and I become a millionaire?”).
Ghonim chooses to stay an optimist. The greatest challenge for Egyptian democracy is now to institutionalize the political participation of young citizens—the youth must now run for office, he tells us. But for him the generational change is inevitable: a brighter future awaits Egypt. Those who made the revolution will be “those who are ruling you [and they] are going to be,” he promises us, “accountable.”

Israel gives ‘price tag’ youth a new West Bank hilltop
Feb 16, 2012
Allison Deger

Migron. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

This week, a new outpost in the occupied Palestinian territories was offered as part of anexchange deal with settlers from the “price tag” hilltop youth in Migron. The Israeli press has called the approved plot of land the first new settlement in over a decade, despite a decade of unprecedented expansion in existing communities, and the proliferation of illegal outposts.
Migron is sitting on an eviction order from Israel’s high court, with a deadline of the end of March. However, the proposal to move the outpost to a nearby hilltop violates this court decision, by giving the settlers a 17-month extension. Peace Now’s Yariv Oppenheimer said the offer is “a way to ignore and violate the decision of the Supreme Court.”
Migron was stolen from Palestinian owners (a fact not disputed by the settlers), and this theft is rewarded with gifts of more Palestinian land, despite court rulings and violence.

Book Review: ‘A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship’
Feb 16, 2012
Annie Robbins

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) book  A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship offers a behind the scenes window into a continued struggle to give voice to a people whose cultural identity has been assaulted, ignored, hidden, repressed, attacked and stolen. However, the project behind the book began with a very different goal in mind.

Since 1988 MECA has sent more than $17 million in aid to children in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon, assisting local community organizations meeting children’s needs. The “Child’s View from Gaza” project began as another one of those efforts, as many of the drawings were created by participants of the Let the Children Play and Heal project. Initiated and run by Afaq Jadeeda (New Horizons) Center with support from MECA, Let the Children Play and Heal is a psychological support program designed to address the needs of Gazan children traumatized by the assault on Gaza. No one, certainly not MECA, or Afaq Jadeeda Center ever expected this art project, initiated to address children’s needs, to explode into a worldwide phenomena exposing Palestinian children’s visions to a worldwide audience. In addition, the episode dramatically demonstrated the influence local American Jewish organizations can have over how we, as Americans, are exposed to Palestinian people, as they police the discourse over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We have been shielded from Palestinian culture, their witness, their narrative, their stories, their art and their voice. The cultural assault of Palestinians has taken place on many fronts, from olive oil to the rhetorical erasure of their existence, throughout the mainstream media.
The censorship of Palestinian people within American society has permeated our culture in such profound ways that most people simply do not recognize either what’s behind it or how it’s done. Nothing I have read documents how this occurs better than MECA’s startling new book,  “A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship”which lays out in undeniable terms the kinds of mechanisms employed in the denial and erasure of Palestinian culture within American society.
Meca’s Founder and Executive Director Barbara Lubin:

When we first planned the exhibition at MOCHA, we expected that a few hundred people would see the show and attend the programs. Now, thanks to the efforts to make the show disappear and the power of those images to move people, they have been viewed by hundreds of thousands. Requests have come from people in countries around the globe saying they wanted to host the show. Crayons, pencils, and magic markers. Maybe they were right. Maybe the images are too dangerous to be seen.

Dangerous for whom you might ask? Dangerous to a carefully nurtured image of who is, or more precisely who is not,  the victim in the eyes of outsiders.
Bay Area residents will not be forgetting the abrupt cancellation of the “A Child’s View from Gaza” exhibit of art by Gazan children  at the Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland California (Mocha). “The news spread like WILDFIRE!“ and the community rallied.

Photo: SFnewsfeed

As a resident of the Bay Area I was looking forward to attending the opening at Mocha. The free exhibit, co-sponsored by nearly twenty local organizations,  featured special activities for children and families, including a cartooning workshop and poetry readings, and was sure to be attended at full capacity. Meca’s frequent events, as well as raising funds for the Maia project, Plant-a-Tree in Palestine, and Playgrounds  (to name a few) are always an opportunity for our local Palestinian solidarity activist community to unite and greet friends. I had already made plans with a couple of friends to commute. The news Mocha was under pressure to close the show right before the opening startled the community to the core and we rallied with letters to the museum expressing our support for the show. Then, as fast as you can say ‘censored’ we found out the exhibit was off…it was as if a lead hammer had descended and slammed the door shut once again. The overwhelming revulsion at the swift closure still sends chills down my spine, it reached the East Coast in a nanosecond and quickly spread to Europe and the Middle East.

MECA’s Gallery, 9.24, 2011 Photo:Dave Indybay.com

A Child’s View From Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship presents a step by step, page by page account of the unfolding drama. Walking us through events, told through the voices of participants, citizens and activists, the book is a testament to the sheer will and determination of MECA and the global solidarity community that guaranteed the show must and will go on. Palestinians will be heard, we will be their witness because the truth is being exposed.
The amazing art of Palestinian children that documents the horrors they experience and know all too well is included in the book of course. This is the same art that terrifies the San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Federation of the East Bay, the art that screams out in raw unfiltered expression. Page after page after page….buy it and support for The Middle East Children’s Alliance, be a witness.
My appreciation knows no bounds.
 

If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian
Feb 16, 2012
Deema Al-Saafin

Poster in solidarity with Khader Adnan (Photo: Activestills)

If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, the goals of his hunger strike would be granted to him by his 3rd day of hunger strike because if he was anything but Palestinian, he wouldn’t have to be on hunger strike for dignity, and dignity does not come after demanding it for three days.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he would have been given a change of underwear and a nail clipper while imprisoned.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, Ban Ki Moon would express his deep distraught at the state of which Khader is being kept in, a state which violates humanity, and the UN would insure that Khader’s capturer’s release him soon, and offer compensation and apologies to Khader and Khader’s government. But alas, Khader is Palestinian and the UN will only offer him a bag of rice if he gets lucky and Khader’s twelve governments are too busy seeking dubious reconciliation deals.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, his story would appear on every television news station with BREAKING in florescent colors written at the bottom of the screen. But alas, he is Palestinian, and Twitter is the only available source for up to date reports on Khader.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, his toddler daughters wouldn’t have to see him feet-shackled to a hospital bed and ask “Why does he look this way? Why can’t he come home with us?”
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, the European Union would hold high profile conferences in his name, brainstorming ideas to get him released as soon as possible. But alas, he is Palestinian, and the European Union would only take action in order to sugar coat their bias towards Palestinians.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he would be called “human” and not “bearded”. But alas, he is a Palestinian defending his non existent rights, therefore his appearance must be made mainstream to further imply the racist stereotype that portrays Palestinian defenders as terrorists.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, a human shield wouldn’t have been used to arrest him. But alas, he is Palestinian, and arrests like Khader’s (or kidnappings) made by the most moral army in the world, the Israeli military, are very frequent in Palestine, in which they break into homes in the middle of the night (or very early in the morning) and insult and harass the members of a household wretched from the shifty silence of the night, ignoring the screams of old women and young children that watch as their “wanted” family member is treated like a criminal by the Israeli military; grabbed violently and slammed into the back of a military jeep, not knowing why, or where, or how, or what-kept in complete ignorance until lawyers give them an update, which is always miserable news.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he wouldn’t be arrested on empty charges and any “secret” evidence that his capturer’s use against him would be shared with his lawyers. But alas, he is Palestinian and the practise of administrative detention is the most dreaded of all sentences, a military sentencing in which Israel indefinitely holds Palestinians without trial and without a charge,
and in which sentences can be renewed numerous times.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he would have received regular medical examinations, not only five since his hunger strike began 61 days ago. But alas, he is Palestinian and special permits by Israel must be obtained by doctors in order to make this happen, a blatant show of Israel’s indifference to Khader’s deteriorating health. Khader’s medical exams show that his immune system is on the verge of collapse, his kidneys are shut down and his body has begun to ingest itself. Israeli Prison Services are doing nothing to aid his critical condition and Khader has pushed away even vitamins, for dignity does not come in the shape of lettered minerals.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, the international community would have expressed its deep concern at the infringement of Khader’s rights and condemned Khader’s capturers for their violation of the humanitarian laws Khader has rights to, while holding Khader’s capturers’ government full responsibility and increasing pressure on them to release Khader.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he wouldn’t have received as much global support from human beings that believe in a world built on justice, freedom and dignity and the destruction of tyranny.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, Palestinian youth would not throw rocks at the Israeli military outside Ofer Military Court in his honor.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, fellow Palestinians in Israeli jails would not be on hunger strike in solidarity with him, even if it means being placed in isolation cells as “punishment”.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, his name would not have been chanted in various demonstrations across the world.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he wouldn’t resist Israel with the one thing they haven’t taken away from him: his empty stomach. But alas, he is Palestinian and when trampled on, beaten and humiliated, his only means of resisting is by what his oppressors cannot control.
If Khader Adnan was anything but Palestinian, he wouldn’t have reminded us of the road to freedom that is no springtime’s breeze. He wouldn’t have proved that life in chains is no life at all.
He wouldn’t have raised our heads as much.
This post originally appeared on Deema Al-Saafin’s blog thekfcmonument.

Khader Adnan, 61 days on a hunger strike, near death
Feb 16, 2012
Today in Palestine

Messages to Khader Adnan
Please take a moment to write a message of solidarity to Khader, his wife Randa and their children.  All messages will be bound and delivered to them shortly.  Let Khader and Randa’s children know what we think of their father, the hero.
http://khaderadnan.posterous.com/

Wife of Adnan: He is weak but not in a coma
The wife of hunger striker Sheikh Khader Adnan has said that he was adamant on continuing in his struggle to the finish but denied that he was in a coma.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk