gaza in my heart, and on my mind

3 minutes and 18 seconds of inspiration from Gaza

2009-08-09T13:09:00.001-04:00

Kites, Gaza, and the American Ghetto

2009-08-06T08:08:00.004-04:00

White phosphorous rockets rain down on Gaza

Gaza youth fly kites on Beit Lahiya beach

Somehow when I first saw the Kite photo, the White Phosphorous photo leapt into my mind. The skies of Gaza went from having lethal plumes of smoke rain down through them, to homemade kites sail up through them. Such is life, with juxtaposing experiences and realities. After being flooded with images of bombs, rockets raining down on Gaza I smiled to see kites sailing, free, up, through the sky. But then I remembered Gaza in 2006-- the image from the beach then imprinted in my mind is of Huda Ghaliya hysterical after an Israeli bomb killed some 7 members of her family who had gone to the beach for the day to escape Israel's bombing campaign.

But this is Gaza-- and I suppose it is similar to other places on earth shackled by war, occupation, colonization, violence, and oppression in its many forms. Every bit of the land holds feelings of love and beauty, history and hope-- but also deep loss, violence, and fear. All these feelings and experiences are interconnected, although some disproportionately realized. As George Santayana observes, "the world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms."

Alice Walker recently joined the Code Pink brigade on their mission to Gaza, and wrote poignantly and personally of her experience there. Walker grew up in Georgia during legal segregation in the States and wrote that she felt a "homecoming" upon entering Gaza. The experiences of Black Americans living in segregated Georgia's ghetto find commonality with those of Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza: life defined primarily (solely?) by nationality/race by an outside population; disenfranchisement; fear; movement and freedom limited by tangible physical boundaries; every positive action is one which breathes resistance and struggle. She discusses the pointed effort made by the Civil Rights movement to overcome hatred and work towards a common human spirit. It is this common spirit that somehow eludes our world leaders which we must continue to work towards realizing. Because it is there-- for those who are able, somehow-- surely through personal struggle, self-awareness, and a a deep sense of responsibility-- to rise above the "boxes" we put ourselves in which increase the divisions between us as people, above our own personal loss, the idea of "us" and "them"...the commonalities are evident, and they, hopefully, can lead us in learning to overcome these divisions of hatred which enable the most atrocious forms of violence.

Alice Walker did her part in visiting Gaza and, upon returning to the States and fulfilling a promise she made to a Palestinian woman she'd met during her trip, invited Oprah Winfrey to do the same. Let's see if Oprah's got it in her.

Gaza Today: August 6, 2009

2009-08-01T04:36:00.003-04:00

"The best place one could be on Earth"
(Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, EI)

Traumatized children struggle to rise again

(Mel Frykberg, EI)

Running Kites in Gaza

(Guardian, photos)

Israeli soldiers admit a "shoot first" policy in Gaza offensive

(Ian Black, Guardian)

Gaza Today: July 9, 2009

2009-07-09T12:14:00.005-04:00

Hamas' choice: Recognition or resistance in the age of Obama

(Ali Abunimah, EI-- excellent opinion piece, parts of the speech found here)

Life in Gaza after the Israeli invasion

(Peter Beaumant et al, Guardian-- video)

Gaza aid crew detained, threatened with deportation

(Mel Frykberg, EI)

Gaza activists still in Israeli jail

(al Jazeera English)

Israel's wall still deepening the divide

(Ben White, Guardian)

Six months later, no reconstruction in Gaza

(Rami Almeghari, EI)

Israel criticized for thwarting medical mission to the Palestinian Territories

(Vikram Dodd, Guardian)

Gaza Today: June 10, 2009

2009-06-10T22:40:00.002-04:00

Building new foundations from the ruins of old ones

(Rory McCarthey, Guardian)

Gaza: the destitute and the forgotten

(Inigo Gilmore, Guardian, film)

Gaza: No right to life

(Inigo Gilmore, Guardian film)

South African study: Israel practicing apartheid and colonialism

(Human Sciences Research Council, EI)

Gaza farmers brave Israeli bullets

(Rami Almeghri, EI)

Gaza Today: June 6, 2009

2009-06-06T13:31:00.004-04:00

Obama in Cairo: A Bush in Sheep's Clothes

(Ali Abunimah, Guardian)

Calm voice, big stick

(Uri Averny, Maan News)

Misery hangs over Gaza despite pledges of help

(Ethan Bronner, NYT)

Obama should visit Gaza

(Medea Benjamin, EI)

Haroubi's Tree is a Symbol of a People's Changing Fortunes

(Peter Beaumont, Guardian)

Gaza's emerging trash crisis

(Erin Cunningham, EI)

Palestinian farmers use permaculture to challenge occupation

(Sarah Irving, EI)

Death and destruction in Gaza neatly filed and documented

(Peter Beaumont, Guardian)

Despite Israel's efforts, Palestinian festival celebrates literature

(Sousan Hammad, EI)

"After all this...how can you still laugh?"

2009-04-29T23:33:00.003-04:00

Tonight I saw a documentary called "Arna's Children". It was incredibly moving, and like all Palestinian works of art both soulfully uplifting at times and crashingly depressing. But true. Through and through.

It is a documentary about Arna, a Jewish woman born in the late 1920s, early 1930s in Galilee who joins the Jewish Brigade (a Jewish military group which drove out the Palestinians and helped establish Israel) and then marries Salim (?) a Palestinian man. The documentary is fuzzy on her life post marriage, but begins with her as an old woman in Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, where she opens a theater for Palestinian children. Through art she helps the kids express their anger at their lives and the Israeli Occupation and find a way to resist the Occupation. The film starts around 1996 it seems. Jules, Arna's son and the film maker, returns to Jenin in 2002 after the Israeli incursion to see what has happened to his young friends. As is tragically predictable, Jules finds that three of the young boys Arna taught were martyred during the Intifada-- one killed by the Israelis during the incursion, two (I believe) joined militant groups and died during an operation.

The documentary shows the loss felt by the remaining friends at the death of the young men. It talks candidly about Palestinians' feelings on resistance and militancy. It's an incredibly good window into the complexity of life under Occupation. The experiences of Palestinians under Occupation are not monolithic, nor are the ways in which they process or cope with them. This is quite important to understand-- there is no one, single Palestinian experience, perhaps except that of Occupation...but this is responded to, dealt with, coped with, raged against, mourned in a multitude of ways. "Arna's Children" does really a fantastic job also of, without agenda, exposing the complexity of the history of Palestine. Arna was an Arab Jew who participated in the establishment of Israel, married a Palestinian, and lived her older years in Jenin working with the children of the camp. From that aspect alone, the film was phenomenal to watch. Two of the remaining boys speak of one friend, Yousef, who joined a militant group, and of the event that lead up to his joining it. A school had been bombed and Yousef found a 10 year old girl inside it, bleeding. He picked her up and ran her out, and she died in his arms. His friends say that after that something changed and hardened in him. I've read this before many times. In psychology, your body is able to buffer against stress through certain biological happenings. When your body can no longer buffer against this stress you "break down" in a sense and suffer severe stress or trauma. In literature I've read regarding suicide bombers there is generally one pinpointed event which breaks the person's ability to buffer against the stress of his/her existence, at which point they decide to carry out a violent act. I am not defending suicide bombing-- but it is of value to understand that it is not religious zeal, or insanity which can drive a person to undertake such an act. It's heartwrenching to watch the evolution, but is rooted in life events.

Of course, the film is heart breaking. It is racked with destruction-- emotional, physical, spiritual. The childhood lightness which dominates the first portion of the documentary gives way to an unbearably heavy reality of adulthood in Jenin. All I could think during the film was, what's the point? Helping children enjoy their childhood, fostering dreams within them of becoming the first "Palestinian Romeo" (like one kid says he wants to be) and then they grow up and into a reality which is worse and worse every single day. People respond differently to levels of psychological pressure and distress. Some reach their "breaking point" and are no longer able to, literally, bear the pressure of their life. Others manage to find and retain strength and go on to struggle and live.

There is one incredibly poignant moment in the film when Jules returns to Jenin, and he's speaking with a group of women and tells them he's heard the three boys were martyred. The women respond yes, with blessings for the boys and are so happy to see Jules again after he'd been gone 5 years, they are laughing and hugging him. Jules is so overcome with grief he looks at them and says, "But after all of this...how can you still laugh?" And the women respond, "This is our life!"

Destruction. Death.

That is their life. Interspersed with happiness and beauty, yes. But also with a disproportionate amount of loss.

It reminded me of a friend of mine in college who, also during the Intifada, turned to me and said, "I don't understand how Palestinians can still smile." These issues of resilience, continuity, struggle, they're fascinating and so so so so complex. Often for the sake of brevity and simplicity, we whittle them down to a few examples to represent a myriad of experiences. "Arna's Children" is a wonderful insight into the array of complexities that make up the Palestinian experience. If you have a chance, see it.

Gaza Lives on: April 28, 2009

2009-04-28T23:38:00.003-04:00

Boycott this Israeli settlement builder

(Abe Hayeem, Guardian)

Racism, boycott and a big dose of hypocrisy

(Isabelle Humphries, EI)

What credibility is there in Geneva's all-white walk out?

(Seumas Milne, Guardian)

Focus on Gaza

(a weekly update by al Jazeera on news items that have fallen out of the spotlight, al Jazeera)

UK campaigners score victory towards arms embargo

(Yasmine Khan, EI)

Efforts to track communicable diseases in Gaza

(IRIN, via EI)

Signs of worsening malnutrition among children

(IRIN, via EI)

"This is the next generation of Palestinian leaders"

2009-04-21T00:53:00.002-04:00

On Friday of last week, Dr. Mads Gilbert came to Barnard and shared with us his experience working in al Shifah Hospital in Gaza during Israel's war. It was extraordinary listening to him speak, watching his emotions range from fierce dedication to a humanitarian view, to awe and humility at his Gazan colleagues', to sombre quietude explaining exactly how a DIME explosive works, to visible heartache at the pictures he took and showed us of all the children he watched die over the two weeks he was in Gaza.

Dr. Gilbert is an emergency medicine doctor specializing in conflict medicine. He travels to Gaza often through NORWAC (the Norwegian Aid Committee, he's Norwegian) and spoke at length of the Norwegian people's commitment to Palestine and how traveling to work in Palestine for a stint is a kind of "right of passage" for Norwegian doctors. Dr. Gilbert began by introducing his presentation as an "eyewitness account, not a scientific presentation", as the data from Gaza has not yet been analyzed. He reminded the audience that this attack was not natural, not a tsunami or earthquake, but was manmade. His slides were comprised of heart wrenching photos of disfigured corpses in the hospital, young children who had survived, and their families. He told us that he was "urged" by the families of the deceased, disfigured, and maimed to show the world their photos, so we would all know what had happened. Dr. Gilbert encouraged us all to pick up the March 2009 special issue of the Lancet, which is all about health in Palestine (this is really groundbreaking, and I would really urge anyone remotely interested to try to get or read a copy of it).

Dr. Gilbert spoke about how Norway was occupied during WWII by the Germans, and how they are proud that they are no longer occupied. The Germans had labeled them terrorists for fighting back against their arms with homemade rockets...the analogy was not lost on us. He then wondered if perhaps Obama should go to Gaza, and tell the Palestinians there, "I am a Palestinian" just like JFK went to W. Berlin and told them "I am a German"...one of the seminal steps in bringing down the Berlin Wall...another wall nobody thought would ever come down.

Out of the blue, and within 30 minutes, on December 27 Israel killed 230 Palestinians. Dr. Gilbert said he'd been in West Beirut in 1982 and never thought he'd experience anything like that again...where Israel bombed people--laid siege on a city cutting off electricity, water-- and then bombed the rescuers who were altruistic enough to try to save lives. But then he went to Gaza.

Dr. Gilbert explained to us how DIME explosives work (Dense Inert Metal Explosives). It is an explosive made out of teungstun, and the only weapon that they know of which creates injuries like the ones he saw in Gaza and the ones that appeared before us on the screen. Limbs were torn off, with the bones splintered through. Abdomens would look slightly bruised but the victim would have experienced massive internal bleeding. However there is no remnants of the weapon-- no shrapnal. He said Israel used them in Gaza and Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and February and March 2008 in Gaza. These explosives, he reminded us, are developed, produced, and exported by the USA.

"If you bomb Gaza," Dr. Gilbert explained, "You have to kill children." It can be no other way in an area where 49% of the population is younger than 15 years old, and where the average age is 17.6 years old. DIME bombs basically produce an energy wave that literally tears people apart. The radius of the shockwaves are 5 meters from the central point of impact. Dr. Gilbert walked onto the middle of the stage and said if a DIME was dropped right there, himself and the first 4 rows of audience would be dead instantaneously. The fifth and beyond would suffer injuries.

Dr. Gilbert reminded the audience that on top of the 1434 deaths counted in Gaza during the war, 350 women experienced traumatic abortions and stillbirths. This could have been due to an injury or stress-induced from the war. At any given time in Gaza, 40,000 women are pregnant. And during the war, all delivery services were suspended because there weren't enough doctors to go around. All these things continue to happen during war-- women continue to give birth, need cesearians, have complications...

"Any medical system would have considered this a medical disaster," Dr. Gilbert remarked. "Even at Columbia hospitals, this would have been a huge challenge." Even with all the up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment and supplies available here. Israel has denied Gaza hospitals supplies for the past 2 years during its economic siege. Dr. Gilbert spoke so highly of the staff of al Shifah hospital, so many of whom he counts as close, close friends-- not just colleagues. One of which was killed while he was there. Another's house was bombed, his wife was missing and his daughters brought into the hospital. They survived. The next day his nephew (13yrs old) was brought in. He died within 10 minutes. "This is our life, here," the doctor told Dr. Gilbert-- part doctor, part taking care of your own family. He praised the staff who were also besieged and exhausted for their tireless dedication. They worked around the clock learning where the most recent strike had been to try to manage the flow of patients. He said, "If you want to learn about human dignity these days, you should go to Gaza. They never act like the animals they are treated as."

Dr. Gilbert explained that IDF tanks, when the ground invasion began, entered Gaza through the center of the Strip-- effectively splitting it in half, so overflowing hospitals could not move patients around to other hospitals. The ambulances were refused by the tanks to cross, even though they were chaperoned by the ICRC.

Dr. Gilbert put the death toll as follows:

3 Israeli civilians were killed during the war.

10 IDF soldiers were killed during the war.

1314-1500 Palestinians were killed during the war.

431 Palestinian children were killed during the war (of which Israel admits killing 189).

118 Palestinian militants were killed during the war according to the 3 major groups in Gaza.

What was the point of this war? Dr. Gilbert asked. According to Shimon Peres, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, it was to give "a strong blow to the people of Gaza so that they would lose their appetite for shooting at Israel. That's all." He said this at the January 14th AIPAC conference, and remarked he was "satisfied" with the outcome of the war.

"That's all."

Just over 1300 dead Palestinians.

"That's all."

oh, and $2 billion worth of property loss.

Dr. Gilbert said that the IDF destroyed anything that could provide protein for the starving population. "There was no electricity, the only thing that would light up the night was the burning of the bombs."

He showed a picture of a 5yr old boy from the Samouni family, whose right arm was fractured. He stared into the camera with void eyes. He looked completely numb. "This is the next generation of Palestinian leaders." Dr. Gilbert said.

On the medical side, Dr. Gilbert informed us that when people are cold, they bleed more-- because hypothermia sets in. And it was cold in Gaza because it was winter. It was made colder in the hospital because all the windows had been blown out by bombs. So stopping the bleeding of patients was even harder. The policy had to be, "If you could walk and talk you were sent home". There was no room in the hospital for those who were not critical.

Dr. Gilbert began to speak about the bodies and the bombs and you could feel the rage at the injustice rising within him as his voice got louder. In the case of Gaza, "the virus was not HIV or e. Coli-- it was bombing, man-made, and could have been stopped if it had been wanted, and then the bodies would have stopped." He said, "It was my duty to report, as a doctor. Were there journalists there? Yes, of course, 600. But they were Niggers, they have curly hair and are dark, and not to be trusted. They could be 'al kayda'!" (In case the sarcasm is lost in translation here due to a lack of writing ability on the part of the author, Dr. Gilbert was making the very sound point that the Western world and press cried out throughout the war that there were no journalists in Gaza because there were no Western journalists, and how racist that mentality is-- obviously Arabs, Palestinians moreover, cannot be trusted to accurately report what is happening in Gaza.)

Right now, 80% of Gaza lives below the UN poverty line. And 63% live below the extreme poverty line.

Dr. Gilbert said he has never participated in so many amputations. I wonder how this generation will grow up. There was one boy who lost both legs and both arms. What kind of life is that for a 14 year old boy? It's not a life. "Everyone had cardboard boxes for their amputations."

"In 1938, they would have worn yellow stars and been called Jews," he said of the Palestinians in Gaza.

And when he was asked about the illegal use of white phospherous, Dr. Gilbert replied, "The siege is the most illegal weapon used against Gaza. White phospherous is just a distraction."

Indeed. And it continues. Dr. Gilbert is working on a book due out at the end of the year on his time in Gaza called "Eyes in Gaza."

You can hear him reporting from Gaza here and here.

(In the 2nd one, note how the Arab journalist needs to confirm with Mads, "From your point of view as a foreigner..." because obviously his point of view, as an Arab, cannot be trusted)

Gaza lives on: April 9, 2009

2009-04-09T10:07:00.002-04:00

Gaza is still an open-air prison, says Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams

(Guardian)

Not an analogy: Israel and the crime of apartheid

(Hazem Jamjoum, EI)

Israeli exports hit by European boycotts after attacks on Gaza

(Rachel Shabi, Guardian)

More than 150,000 Gazans without tap water

(EI)

Motorola drops bomb fuse unit following boycott campaign

(EI)

Israel created 'terror without mercy' in Gaza

(Rory McCarthy, Guardian)

Gaza war crimes investigation

(3 short films by Clancy Chassay, Guardian)

Gaza Lives On: April 1, 2009

2009-04-01T17:49:00.002-04:00

Gaza Offensive: Israel says no war crimes committed
(Helen Pidd, Guardian)

Israel's most moral army
(Rachel Shabi, Guardian)

Report excoriates Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza
(Marian Houk, EI)

A brave man who stood alone. If only the world had listened to him.
(Robert Fisk, the Independent)

Israel may have deliberately attacked sewage infrastructure
(Marian Houk, EI)

Palestinian men bear trauma of war
(Zeina Awad, al Jazeera english)

Academics in Lebanon call for Israel boycott
(EI)

Belgian campaign targets bank financing Israeli settlements
(Adri Nieuwhof, EI)

New York kicks off boycott campaign against Motorola
(EI)

Gaza lives on: March 22, 2009

2009-03-22T20:10:00.003-04:00

Gaza war crimes claims gather pace as more troops speak out
(Peter Beaumont, Guardian)

'Shooting and Crying'
(Amos Harel, Haaretz)

Gaza: Nursing the Nightmares
(Clancy Chassay, Guardian, video)

Broad non-violent resistance to Zionism
(Ahmad Hijazi, EI)

Israeli siege kills another child patient in Gaza
(al Mezan, EI)

Gazans struggle for clean drinking water
(Mel Frykberg, EI)

IDF ceased long ago being the "most moral army in the world"
(Gideon Levy, Haaretz)

Gaza lives on: March 5, 2009

2009-03-05T21:15:00.003-05:00

Al Haq receives prestigious Geuzenpenning Prize
(Adri Nieuwhoif, EI)

Head of Palestinian Rights group banned from traveling to accept award
(Haaretz)

Waltz with Gaza
(film--Rory McCarthy, Guardian)

Palestinian health care 'ailing'
(BBC)

Sustaining global solidarity
(Jamal Juma', EI)

US to boycott UN racism conference
(al Jazeera English)

Gaza solid waste in dire straits
(EI)

Aid as a weapon
(Ben White, Guardian) (** really good)

Clinton condemns Israel's demolition of Arab East Jerusalem homes
(Rory McCarthy, Guardian)

The war in el Atatra
(photos, NYT)

Israel may face war crimes over Gaza
(Peter Beaumont, Guardian)

Proposal in Congress: No Gilad Shalit, no Gaza aid
(Haaretz)

Iran plans war crime trials for Israelis
(the Lede, NYT)

Month in Pictures: February
(EI)

gaza aftermath, day 39

2009-02-24T15:04:00.003-05:00

Robert Fisk: A fair point: Everyone is equal in their suffering in war
(Robert Fisk, Independent)

Palestinian olive oil bucks UK recession
(Guardian)

Israel and Hamas reject global call for arms embargo
(video, Guardian)

Jerusalem: no plans yet to raze Arab homes in area designated for park
(Haaretz)

"They killed me three times"
(Eva Bartlett, EI)

That's how we are. Singing and wrecking.

2009-02-23T16:43:00.002-05:00

Gideon Levy's take on Waltz with Bashir, 'Antiwar' film Waltz with Bashir nothing but a charade, is a devastatingly honest look at how self-centeredly the suffering in Waltz with Bashir is portrayed. Folman focuses nearly the entire movie on his own guilt and confusion about his role in Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, except for the last 30 seconds of the film (I won't give it away for those who haven't seen it, although the article does). It centers around his moral and conscious wrestling with his actions and his own Jewish history. Levy rightfully holds the bar for art higher than Folman in that the movie focuses solely on the Israeli experience of 1982, and not the Lebanese or Palestinian. War affects everyone who participates in it or survives it, however in the spirit of true engagement and critical thinking Folman's movie could have done more to focus on the suffering of those who bore the heaviest burden in 1982--the Lebanese and Palestinians. That said, my personal reaction is still that I expect very little from mainstream Jewish Israel in terms of addressing past wrongs in regards to Palestinians in particular and Arabs at large. Not because I don't think they should address these wrongs, but because the Gideon Levys and Ilan Pappes and Amira Hasses of Israel are few and far between-- those who take a meaningful and truly critical look at Israel's past and have the moral courage to say "it's not always about us-- a lot of the time, it's about them." Folman's film poked larger holes in the illusion of the IDF being the world's most "moral army" at a very critical moment (the film came out during the Gaza war), and those who saw Waltz probably were led to reflect not only on Lebanon, but Gaza. So I accept Folman's baby steps of retrospectivity. Maybe the baby steps will grow.

THIS is important

2009-02-23T16:25:00.003-05:00

Please take a minute today, and support US Campaign to End the Occupation in their effort to end military aid to Israel. Throughout Israel's war on Gaza, we were all aware that the majority of arms used against Palestinians were either manufactured in or bought from the United States-- just one more way the US (and those of us who are taxpayers in the US) was complicit in the horrendous attacks on Palestinians. We, in the States, have elected a man to office who has promised change and meaningful partnership in the international community. Let's help him begin his 4 years on the right foot-- by demanding Israel be held accountable for its misuse of weapons in the war.

It only takes a minute. If you feel comfortable doing so, please personalize the message. Let's flood his office.

I just sent my message, who will join me?

Hold Israel accountable for its actions.

gaza aftermath, day 37

2009-02-22T22:20:00.003-05:00

Suspend military aid to Israel, Amnesty urges Obama after detailing US weapons used in Gaza
(Guardian)

Student apathy is good for business
(Hicham Yezza, Guardian)

Global boycott movement marks its success
(EI)

Columbia U faculty: support academic freedom in Palestine
(EI)

Durban II drafts: Israel is a racist, occupying state
(Haaretz)

BBC staff to deliver 400 strong petition over Gaza appeal decision
(Guardian)

Egypt opens Gaza border crossing
(al Jazeera english)

Hamas refuses to free Israeli soldier in return for lifting Gaza blockade
(Guardian)

Boycotting Durban II?

2009-02-18T17:32:00.003-05:00

In April, Geneva will host Durban II-- the World Conference Against Racism. Obama's government has inserted itself onto the planning committee to ensure a hand in the creation of its guiding documents, but has not yet committed to going. Nice start to the "hope and change" administration-- potentially boycotting a conference about racism. The "controversy" that surrounds Durban II is that during the first Conference in South Africa in 2001, Israel was criticized to be a racist state employing Apartheid. And this was before Israel began constructing the Apartheid Wall. So naturally, Israel is a little nervous about a world conference discussing racism.

Indeed, Livni declared that, "Israel expects the free world not to participate in Durban II." But then again, the "free world" is just that--free. It is not made up of the countries still recovering from colonialism, those fettered by economic colonialism, or those under unmitigated occupation. It is the luxury of the "free world" to disengage from discussions of colonial history and racism. But do they have an obligation and duty to treat the "unfree world" with the respect of participating in a conference on Racism?

Yes.

Will they lower themselves off their high imperial horses to the level of the "unfree world" and participate meaningfully, in cooperative partnership?

We wait to see.

What a nice luxury it must be to have that distance from oppression to decide not to look in the mirror, as Barghouti urged them to, and see that the "free world" is indeed an oppressive force to others.

I hope Obama has the courage and moral clarity to send representatives to the Durban meeting, and participate in it meaningfully. Boycotting a conference on racism is neither hopeful, nor change.

gaza aftermath, day 32

2009-02-18T16:40:00.002-05:00

Did Egypt sabatoge deal over Gaza, Shalit?
(Amal Ghazal, EI-- interesting, read this one!)

Obama officials meet with US Jews to explain their Durban II policies
(Haaretz)

Israel Palestine revisited
(Geoffrey Aronson, Guardian)

Gaza's forgotten elderly
(from PCHR)

Chasing Mirages in the Middle East
(Hasan Abu Nimah, EI)

Hamas no, Human Rights yes
(Peter Tatchell, Guardian-- for more reading on Hamas and its ideology/founding I suggest "Hamas" by Khaled Hroub, he actually contradicts to some extent what Tatchell says)

Israel braces for wave of lawsuits
(Mel Frykberg, EI)

From Gaza with love
(Khaled Diab, Guardian)

Hamas murder campaign in Gaza exposed
(Guardian)

Behind the violence in Gujarat, Gaza and Iraq is the banality of democracy
(Pankaj Mishra, Guardian)

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, "This is what Gaza is left with."

2009-02-13T11:13:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of hearing Dr. Mustafa Barghouti speak about his recent visit to Gaza. Dr. Barghouti is a medical doctor, President and founder of the Union of Palestinian Relief Committees, and came in second place in the 2005 Palestinian national elections. He has been a continuously humane, clear, and articulate voice for Palestine in the recent years, presenting the kind of Palestinian face not often seen in American press. It was a pleasure to hear such an eloquent, and human response to the Palestinian reality. It was reminiscent of Edward Said...who Dr. Barghouti remembered at the beginning of his talk. The talk is supposed to become available online soon, at which point I will post it, but for now...some notes...forgive the length.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, "The Gaza War Crime: 12.27.08-1.18.09

Dr. Barghouti recently visited Gaza, and is speaking about what he saw and experienced there "out of a sense of duty and obligation." Israel wouldn't let him into Gaza, so he had to go to Egypt and cross through Rafah-- a trip that should have taken him an hour or two from Ramallah became an international trip. He said, for the first time in his life, he was so shocked by what he saw in Gaza, he could not speak about it for 4 days. The violence in Gaza "was not a war, it was unilateral actions" highlighting the vast imbalance of power between Gaza's military might and that of Israel. He noted that the media "describes civilians as women and children, as though men cannot just be civilians." He showed that, based on population sizes, the ratio of Palestinians who were killed in Gaza would be equal to nearly a quarter million Americans being killed (1,345 Palestinians in Gaza=247,489 Americans), and that on September 11, 2001 3,500 Americans were killed, and we all saw the reaction to that.

357 of Gaza's factories were destroyed. But, Dr. Barghouti pointed out, most were purposefully destroyed in the last 2 days of war, as Israeli soldiers were leaving the Gaza Strip. They laced the factories with dynamite and blew them up, "And I thought the Americans supported the private sector!" he quipped. Dr. Barghouti showed a series of photos of patients who had been burned by phosphorous bombs--at which many people could not look. One photo was of charred corpse of a baby maybe 8 months old. It didn't have any limbs. The remnants of the phosphorous bombs are still all over, reigniting at a touch. He commented on the new weaponry Israel has been testing on the people of Gaza (to be sold later to other countries if they prove "effective"). New bombs and bullets are chemically enriched. Here, he asserted, he was speaking as a physician. The DIME bombs work by eating the flesh and tissue of a person upon contact, eating through until it reaches the bone. "Dom Dom" bullets and bombs release a spray of chemical powder that burns the flesh upon contact and is released in such a manner that the powder lands on your skin each particle only a centimeter apart from the others, making it difficult to escape mass burning. They are still investigating whether Israel used depleted uranium or tungsten.

Dr. Barghouti showed a map of the buffer zone Israel has implemented inland of Gaza--a strip of land which runs all along Gaza's borders usurping 10-15% of land--a significant amount of which is agricultural land. Palestinians who enter this area (like farmers) are shot.

He revealed a heartwrenching strategy Gazan families used to minimize their casualties. As we know, many Gazans lost their homes and became homeless--taking refuge in schools and with relatives' whose homes were still functional. When these Gazans left their homes-- they would split up their children among different places of refuge, so that if one of the spots was hit not all of the family's children would die. He showed us slide after slide after slide of what Gaza looks like now-- which is literally a garbage dump. It looks like heaps and piles of garbage and rubble.

"This is what Gaza is left with," Dr. Barghouti remarked.

Regarding reconstruction, Israel is letting in neither cement nor glass--only food and medical supplies. When he asked why Israel would not let in glass (this is very needed as all the windows in buildings have been blown out...and the cement need is obvious) he was told "it is considered a strategic material"--meaning it could be used to make weapons, not windows.

Dr. Barghouti said he speaks so that "Nobody should say, 'We didn't know...'" He warned that a sewage flood was imminent. Of Israel's policies, he said, "This is not a move to the right, this is a move towards racism" and warned that these actions were not good for Palestinians OR Israelis. He asserted that "We, the Palestinians, will never accept to be slaves to an Occupation, or slaves to an Apartheid state." When asked what kind of government he would like to see in Israel, he half-joked he'd like Obama's government. He seemed cautiously optimistic by Obama's team, especially Mitchel's appointment, and said change won't come from Israel itself, it must come from outside pressure, namely the US.

On the Palestinian side, he noted that we need leadership, not government...that the rift between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is "a stupid fight for an Authority that doesn't have any authority because it is under Occupation." He said the Palestinians need to go back to unity, but they need to go back to democracy and hold another election (Abbas' term expired on Jan. 9--over a month ago, during the war).

In response to the question "What do you think Israel's proper response would have been to the 8000 rockets that hit Israel from Gaza?" Dr. Barghouti responded that he does not support in any way the rocket attacks, and he does not want the Israelis to be bombarded, but that he expects Israelis also to say they don't want Palestinians to be bombarded with F-16s--and that if Israelis are entitled to social and economic security, then Palestinians are too. These are human rules. Gaza has been under siege for 2 years-- isn't this also an act of war? He restated that Israel broke the ceasefire on Nov. 4th.

He argued strongly for the effectiveness and necessity of boycott and divestment movements around Israel-- noting that Hampshire College, again, is leading the way in this movement (Hampshire was the first US school to divest from Apartheid South Africa).

When asked about a two vs. one state solution, Dr. Barghouti was torn in that, "My heart says two states, but my head says one." Explaining that he feels one state is just, but very far off, and he wants two states so his daughter can stop living under apartheid as soon as possible.

He said that he understands, very much, psychologically that for Jews now, after enduring centuries of persecution--from the Holocaust to Russian pogoms to the Spanish Inquisition, "it is so difficult to accept that they are sitting in the chair of the oppressor. It is time to look in the mirror. It is you."

He ended by postulating, "Are we equal human beings entitled to equal rights? This is the only question. It is a human issue."

South Africa Bantustans vs. West Bank

2009-02-13T12:59:00.004-05:00

This is the only question

2009-02-13T12:06:00.003-05:00

I read the news about Palestine and Israel a lot. I read books, watch interviews, listen to others' opinions, write about my own, attend lectures on law and history, watch Israeli movies, watch Palestinian movies, read novels and poetry, and have arguments. And throughout all this, my views and stances are reaffirmed to me. I question myself and these views, listen to pro-Zionist arguments, and my opinions have evolved through these exposures, but have always remained firmly rooted in where they started: humanity and human rights. But sometimes, with all these opinions and historical facts and points and nuances, thoughts get jumbled and I am susceptible sometimes to the "complexity of subtleties" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that prevents some people from firmly coming down on one side or the other. And for this reason, I am so grateful for speakers and thinkers like Dr. Barghouti, who re-orient me, and clarify my thoughts.

It's not complicated, and it's not subtle.

When I say "one side or the other" I think it is generally interpreted as "Pro-Palestinian" or "Pro-Israel". What I mean here, and let me be clear, is that I am not on the "Pro-Palestinian" side-- I am on the side that believes that human rights, equality, and justice are applicable and deserved by every human and are not predicated on anything. This is the side that I am on. The other side predicates these values on other conditions. They are not absolutely, universally applied by this side.

No.

I know it is very, very, very difficult--psychologically and emotionally--for Jews to question Zionist ideals with which they have been brought up. I have seen numerous friends struggle with it. But it is imperative, of the utmost urgency, that these ideals be questioned. And it is so uncomfortable to question something this personal. Especially the Jews I roll with, who are very liberal, and largely see the world through a human rights paradigm and one of humanity. But this paradigm needs to be extended to Israel and Palestine-- not just to some extent, to the full extent. And when you start to feel a little uncomfortable, that's good. We should always feel uncomfortable when questioning assumed truths.

What Israel and Palestine comes down to is a grave injustice, not a myriad of complexities. An occupation--and anyone who has ever been to the West Bank, Gaza, or any refugee camp in any Arab country knows--is not subtle.

Dr. Barghouti spelled it out for us: If you believe that Israelis deserve security, economy, and peace, then (if you believe all people are equal), Palestinians also deserve security, economy, and peace. And it should not be predicated upon that of Israel. It is independently merited by the fact that Palestinians are human beings--no matter how hard the West and Israel try to deny us that label. We deserve peace because we are humans, not as some reward for giving up all our rights. And Israel and Jews absolutely deserve peace because they are humans--but not at the expense of that of Palestinians.

We stand and reaffirm, we are human--this is a human issue.

You either believe in equality for all people, or you don't. This is the only question. And it may be uncomfortable, but it's not complicated.

"It could have been worse."

2009-02-13T11:01:00.002-05:00

Often in defense of Israel's attacks on the Palestinians (and Lebanese), I have heard people backwardly praise Israel's "self-restraint" in the level of destruction and death they cause. That they have the capability of killing literally every person in Gaza, or razing every home, but chose not to, somehow is twisted into a moral stand by Israel.

So the next time someone tells you, "Well, the Palestinians are lucky, Israel could have made it much worse." Remind them that this is the same colonial logic used by Belgium in its cruel colonization of Congo, in which, "Fievez, an official of the Free State, noted that those who refused to collect rubber or else who did not meet their rubber quota, "I made war against them. One example was enough: a hundred heads cut off, and there have been plenty of supplies since. My goal is ultimately humanitarian. I killed a hundred people, but that allowed five hundred others to live."" ("Free State" was a colonial enterprise in the Congo-- for more readings on this and more on the Third World Revolution, I recommend "The Darker Nations" by Vijay Prashad. Lots of history we weren't taught in school.)

So Gaza could have been worse, and Congo could have been worse...although, look at the state it's in now...

gaza aftermath, day 27

2009-02-13T10:09:00.004-05:00

Gaza 2009: Culture of resistance vs. defeat
(Dr. Haider Eid, EI--very interesting piece about the Palestinian activist movement, give a read, and opinions/reactions if you have them...am interested to hear what people involved, or not involved, think..)

Hamas 'close to truce' with Israel
(al Jazeera english)

Hampshire College first in US to divest from Israel
(Friends of Sabeel)

No Peace for Israel
(Ali Abunimah, Guardian)

Two is better than one
(Shimon Peres, Guardian)

Jimmy Carter: Include Hamas in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
(Haaretz)

Go to Durban II
(Claude Kandiyoti, Haaretz)

PHILIP HAS BEEN RELEASED!!
"I was accused of being everything from an Israeli spy to a Hamas militant."
(Haaretz)

A 14 year old in Gaza asks, Why?

2009-02-10T18:29:00.005-05:00

Dr. Eyad El Sarraj is a psychiatrist in the Gaza Strip, and a founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, and is, in my eyes, a saint. A few weeks ago he wrote in the Boston Globe about his daughter's lack of understanding why this war happened. The work ahead of him, his staff, and the teams of community members they are training is tremendous and overwhelming.

On January 26, 2008, Dr. Sarraj wrote an Op-Ed in the Boston Globe asking why the stranglehold on Gaza was acceptable...why it was ok for Livni to spell out that it was "inconceivable that life in Gaza continues to be normal." And now, a year later, we are asking why Israel's attack on Gaza was "acceptable" and wonder that it is inconceivable that life in Gaza continues today.

Amidst the reports of trauma and death, people speak constantly in bewilderment of Palestinians' resilience. In my studies of mental health I have learned that two of the major sources of resilience are feeling you have control over your future-- that is actively resisting your stressful surroundings--and strong social networks. Palestine is a collectivist society, and much strength is drawn from large, closely knit family structures. Studies have found that one of the most frequently mentioned ways Palestinian children identify to contribute to the Palestinian resistance, is to attend school, educate themselves, and become professionals. I wonder where Noor, Sarraj's stepdaughter, will go to school now that Israel bombed hers.

Palestinians are indeed a incomprehensibly strong and resilient people. But resilience implies that there are difficult circumstances/environments against which to struggle and overcome. Palestinians don't want to be resilient...they want to live.