This collection of somber analysis &
inspiring action reports we send you while in Israel the attention is once
more captured by the presidential scandal. The too convenient
deal offered to Katsav would ensure that the now resigned
president would not face imprisonment for his sexual offences. A quite
spontaneous demonstration of women but also men drew tens of thousands,
filling Tel-Aviv's Rabin Square. Most speakers were in one way or
another "from the left" but the crowd was mixed - as became clear from
the booing by part of the audience when Liat Rosenberg connected different
kinds of oppression in a "too unmistaken way" (she even quoted directly
no-one else but Adam
Keller).
Analysis
Palestine: blood is in the air
Ran HaCohen -
Counterpunch - The Gaza Strip is "an independent state" just like any prison
cell is: a hermetically sealed cage, overpopulated by 1.3 million people; no sea
port or airport; no control over its own borders, waters, or airspace; even its
population database, not to mention water, food, electricity, gasoline, and
medical equipment, are all strictly controlled by Israel.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20891
Israel`s hollow declarations
Dror Etkes - Y-Net - Upon
the Sharm summit`s conclusion on Monday Prime Minister Olmert declared that
Israel has no intention of dictating the way of life in the Palestinian
Authority. It is indeed unpleasant to put a damper on such a rare joyous
occasion such as a four-way summit where such noble declarations are made, yet
the simple facts (which, unfortunately, very few people in Israel take the time
to confirm) do not quite match such declarations.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20879
The Dirty Word
Uri Avnery - gush-shalom.org - The
occupation was not on the agenda of this dark summit.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20884
Barghouthi: Widespread Israeli Attacks and Arrests Expose
Emptiness of Olmert’s ‘Goodwill Gesture’
George Rishmawi - IMEMC -
"Olmert’s ‘goodwill gesture’ to release 250 prisoners at the Sharm El Sheikh
meeting last Monday [is a mockery] when it arrests more than 90 people in 1 day,
and an average of 200 Palestinians per month.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20875
Envoy for the Quartet: when Tony Blair meets the real
world
Mohammad Kamaali - Looking at the realities of the Middle East
today and reviewing Blair`s contribution to the current mayhem, one is left
wondering whether this decision is born out of delusional thinking, sheer
cynicism, or is there any possible constructive utility in this
appointment?
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20890
Imminent crises: threats and opportunities
Noam
Chomsky - Znet - The United States is a global power, and its policies should
not be viewed in isolation. Going back half a century, the Eisenhower
administration identified three major global problems: Indonesia, North Africa,
and the Middle East—all oil producers, all Islamic. In all cases, the concern
was independent nationalism. The end of French rule in Algeria resolved the
North African problem. In Indonesia, the 1965 Suharto coup removed the threat of
independence with a huge massacre, which the CIA compared to the crimes of
Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. The “staggering mass slaughter,” as the New York Times
described it, was greeted in the West with unconcealed euphoria and relief. The
military coup destroyed the only mass-based political party, a party of the
poor, slaughtered huge numbers of landless peasants, and threw the country open
to Western exploitation of its rich resources, while the large majority tries to
survive in misery. Two years later, the major problem in the Middle East was
resolved with Israel’s destruction of the Nasser regime, hated by the United
States and Britain, which feared that secular nationalist forces might seek to
direct the vast energy resources of the region to internal development.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20896
Action
reports
Company involved in construction of Separation Wall finds
doors locked
"We, a group of autonomous women activists, have
protested against the Akerstein Company and its support for the Separation Wall.
We have acted at the Akerstein sales center at Herzlia Pituach - we have
inserted fast-drying glue into the locks of several entrance doors, sprayed red
stains on the outer walls and hanged on the walls posters explaining
why.
Six injured at the Bil`in weekly protest & how a new
refuser was born
Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC - 3 Israeli demonstrators
were detained, one of whom is current serving in the Israeli army. Upon being
detained, the man stated his military number, unit and name. Despite this he was
beaten up and held for approximately one hour. Upon his release, the man stated
that he was ashamed of what the army was doing in the area and vowed not to
return to service.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20877
A reservist refuser in prison
New Profile - CO
Eilam Oren was sentenced to 14 days in military prison for refusing to perform
reserve service in the Israeli military. Solidarity action recommended.
http://www.newprofile.org/showdata.asp?pid=1199
The Danger in Planting Twenty Trees
Sami Awad - «
Israeli Army in Full Force to Stop Nonviolent Action aimed at Preventing a
Sewage Dump from being created on Farm Land
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20806
At least about the shame I can do something
Arnon Lapid - Al Hatzafon - I knew already what occupation means. I
had gotten some lessons during two turns of reserve military duty in the
Territories, when I broke at night into the homes of sleeping families, pushed
out and scattered the meagre contents of their cupboards, and terribly
frightened babies and toddlers. A few years ago, when I visited Gaza with a
groups of journalists, I saw the terrible poverty and squalor, and the permanent
trace which the butt of a soldier`s rifle left on the shoulder of an an old
woman. But at Hawara I saw that you can always learn a bit more.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20728
In Rafah - thousands of Palestinians stuck without
humanitarian assistance
MEP Luisa Morgantini - press release - "I
call on the European Union and the whole international community not to stay
static in front of the Palestinian population which has been wounded for the
hundredth time. I call on them to put pressure on the Israeli government
instead, to immediately re-open all the border crossing points at the Gaza
Strip, in which Palestinian civilians are arbitrarily and unilaterally
imprisoned and forced to survive with no food, nor water and with a health
service on the verge of collapse.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20881
Gaza: from economic to humanitarian
disaster
Sonja Karkar - Znet - "This week UNRWA stated that 90% of
the Gazan population is on their food supplies aid program list. This number is
expected to rise as food aid remains stranded due to Israel’s border closures.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20841
The Imminent Threat of Expulsion: The Palestinians from the
South Hebron hills need your help
From Ehud Krinis, David Shulman
and Neve Gordon - While all eyes are on the crisis in the Gaza Strip, the
Palestinians who live in Susya, in the hills to the south of Hebron, are in
imminent danger of being expelled from their homes.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20800
UK trade union backs total boycott of Israel
UNISON media
team /Ronen Bodoni - UNISON website/Y-net - Despite the massive anti-boycott
campaign launched by the government of Israel, UNISON - the British union of
public sector workers - went ahead with its declaration of a boycott on Israel.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20725
New England Methodists Pursue Divestment to End Israeli
Occupation
Report and recommendations of the divestment task force -
"Over the past two years, the task force has examined many companies to
determine which ones support the Israeli occupation. The task force has compiled
an initial list of twenty companies from which it is recommending that United
Methodist churches and investment managers in the New England Conference divest.
Reasons for the divestment recommendations are provided for each company, and
those reasons are backed up with supporting documentation."
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=20805
