tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83106323925100922642024-03-26T09:18:24.062+02:00Life on Bir Zeit CampusA Regular Ode to the Hardships and Joy of Living as expatriates of our Countries of Citizenship in the Holy Land...as Falastiniyyas!AraBiathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06602849148784807820noreply@blogger.comBlogger269125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-38654181395673259172012-04-22T20:41:00.000+03:002012-04-22T20:41:29.462+03:00"Hunger strike a signal to world's oppressed"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>{I was fortunate and honored to have interviewed Khader Adnan on Wednesday, April 18th a day after his release from the Israeli Ramleh prison hospital.}</b></span></div>
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<b>Khader Adnan recounts his 66-day fast in Israeli jail that has made him a symbol of Palestinian resistance.</b><br />
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<i>When Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan called his mother at 11:30pm on Tuesday night, she burst into tears. "He told me, 'Mother I am on my way home,'" she said. “For the first time in months my heart was at ease again." For Palestinians, Khader Adnan has become a symbol of resistance and steadfastness, or sumoud, after he waged a 66-day hunger strike against the Israeli prison service. He began his hunger strike immediately after his violent arrest by Israeli soldiers on December 17, 2011. He was detained under what Israel calls "administrative detention", a policy adopted from the era of the British mandate. Under administrative detention, Israel can detain a prisoner for up to six months, renewable indefinitely, without ever charging the prisoner or presenting any evidence against them.</i><br />
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<i>There are currently more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, over 300 of those, in administrative detention. Adnan’s hunger strike, which eventually attracted international media attention and solidarity from around the world, inspired other administrative detainees to go on hunger strike. Hana Shalabi went on strike for 43 days before she was released and deported from her village in the West Bank to Gaza. Five others are now in the Ramleh prison hospital, including Bilal Thiab and Thaer Halahleh, who have not eaten for 52 days. After more than <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/201221715355300838.html">two months</a> without food, Adnan’s lawyer brokered a deal in February with Israeli officials that saw him <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/04/201241718432553231.html">released</a> on April 17. Coincidentally, that is the same day Palestinians commemorate Prisoners Day, which was marked this year by the open-ended <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/2012410123154923754.html">hunger strike</a> of 1,600 prisoners. </i><br />
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<i>Sahar Francis, director of the Ramallah-based rights group <a href="http://www.addameer.org/">Addameer</a>, saw Adnan's hunger strike as a catalyst for this current mass hunger strike movement. "I definitely think the successful hunger strike of Khader Adnan and his release was a main feature in inspiring the 1,600 prisoners to carry out this act now, which is a continuation of what they began in September 2011," he says. "It should be noted that a successful hunger strike depends a lot on internal support, international pressure from the EU and UN, and the policy of the Israeli prison authorities."
Khader Adnan, who was was reunited with his family just before midnight on Tuesday, after visiting the families of the prisoners in Arrabeh, seven of whom are serving life sentences, later spoke to Al Jazeera.</i><br />
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<b>Al Jazeera: You've undergone the most difficult experience of your life and have been separated for months from your family. Why did you first stop by the families of other prisoners before seeing your own, and how does it feel to be free again?</b><br />
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Khader Adnan: Every day we live through Prisoners’ Day and its special symbolism. I went to see the families of those imprisoned before seeing my own family as a token of appreciation for their support during my imprisonment and their enduring anguish at having loved ones behind the bars of the Israeli occupation.
My freedom is incomplete because of the prisoners who I've left behind. We salute all of the prisoners; Lina Jarbouni [the longest serving female prisoner], Sheikh Ahmad Hajj [the oldest prisoner on hunger strike], Omar Abu Shalalah, Jaafar Ezzedine, Hassan Safadi, and of course Thaer Halaleh and Bilal Thiab.
I was received by Bilal Thiab's mother in [the nearby village of] Kufr RaI and relayed to her his message of endurance and commitment to his hunger strike.<br />
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<b>After 66 days of refusing food, you spent 53 days recuperating. Did the treatment at the hands of the Israeli officers during your imprisonment improve after you ended your hunger strike?</b><br />
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No, not at all. Up until the last day in the prison hospital they would embark on ways to humiliate me, such as opening the door to stare at me whenever I would use the bathroom or shower.
When I was hunger striking, they would purposely eat and drink in front of me. They would insult me, call me a dog. One told me that they still haven't done anything to me yet. Their manners are so unscrupulous.
They tried to provoke me by repeating that my wife was unfaithful to me, and that my daughters were not mine. What else could they do? They banned the media from covering my case, proof that they are afraid of the truth.
Even after I ended my hunger strike, as I was being transferred from the hospital in Safad to Ramleh, they did so in a way so that no one could see me.
They kidnapped me and pushed me through an inner garage. My appeal was held in the hospital cafeteria! Is Israel that afraid of showing its true face to the world?<br />
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<b>How did you manage to find the resilience and strength in continuing your hunger strike, especially after the three times your family visited you?</b><br />
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[Hurried laugh] I don't know how I did it. All strength comes from God, and when I began my hunger strike I knew that it would be until freedom or death … sometimes I am puzzled myself!
Israel granted permission for my family to see me not out of the goodness of their own hearts, but because they thought that the sight of my family would be enough to pressure me into eating again. It achieved the opposite effect, and I was further inspired to challenge my jailers.
I've spent many sleepless nights from the pain my body was going through. However, my family's happiness, my people's happiness, and the free people's happiness all over the world made me forget that I've ever experienced pain throughout my hunger strike.<br />
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<b>Sixteen hundred Palestinian prisoners are on their third day of an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli jails demanding improved living conditions, including the right to family visits and the right to receive family photographs. Will this tactic succeed in translating a popular resistance movement outside of the prison walls amongst Palestinians?</b><br />
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My stance will always be with the prisoners, whether next to them, behind them, or in front of them. From the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to the '48 territories and the exile, every Palestinian is obliged to stand united.
We are all the children of the same cause, and one people living under the same occupation. I saw so much support from our family in 1948 Palestine, from the Palestinian doctors and nurses, the Palestinians in Haifa, the school girls from Nazareth who wrote an assignment on me … I will never forget their love.
The mass hunger strike is a signal to all oppressed and vulnerable people everywhere, not just Palestinians. It's a message to everyone suffering from injustice, under the boot of oppression. This method will be successful, God willing, and will achieve the rights of the prisoners.
I ask God to move the consciences of the free people around the world. I thank them all, especially Ireland, for they have stood by my hunger strike. I ask them to stand in solidarity with all the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in the past, present and future, with our tortured and oppressed people who live under the injustice of occupation day and night.<br />
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<b>As the Palestinian prisoner to go on the longest hunger strike and survive, how does it feel becoming a symbol not just for Palestinian steadfastness but for resistance among other oppressed people?</b><br />
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During my days in the [Meir Ziv] hospital in Safad, occupied pre-partition Palestine, I was reminded of the holiness and the glory of this land. Being close to the resisting countries of Lebanon and Syria all gave me further incentive to defy the Israeli prison authorities, which I don't recognise.
I have barely presented anything worth of value to the Palestinian cause. I work at a bakery and sell zaatar, and will continue to do so to remind every Palestinian that their roots are deeply entrenched in this land, among the olive trees and the zaatar.<br />
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Source: <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/20124205447499671.html">Al Jazeera</a></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-26099815458460185222012-04-06T22:03:00.001+03:002012-04-06T22:06:13.978+03:00Israeli forces attempt to arrest 2-year-old Palestinian child<span style="font-style:italic;">As published on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/israeli-forces-attempt-arrest-2-year-old-palestinian-child">Electronic Intifada</a> on Wednesday</span><br /><br />Mo’men Shtayeh probably owns a John Cena shirt, the WWE wrestler who the Palestinian kids hero worship, their shrill voices echoing in neighborhood streets of Cena’s catchphrase, “You can’t see me!” accompanied with waving a hand in front of their faces.<br /><br />Mo’men Shtayeh has seen and knows too much. There is a chance — nay, a probability — that due to witnessing the Israeli army’s brutality and severe oppression in his village of Kufr Qaddoum, Mo’men might have grown up to be a warmongering Islamist (or perversely, a Tea Partier).<br /><br />Mo’men Shtayeh represents a threat to the security of the Israeli racist occupying state. Apparently, it is well known that due to his savvy nature, Mo’men has been involved in drawing up specialized blueprints to attack enemy bases.<br /><br />So it all makes perfect sense that the most moral army in the world, the Israeli Defense Forces, the fourth strongest army, the upholders of the beacon of democracy and godly light, tried to arrest Mo’men on Monday, 2 April.<br /><br />The thing is, Mo’men is two-and-a-half years old.<br /><br />Murad Shtayeh, the coordinator of the popular resistance committeee in Kufr Qaddoum and the father of little Mo’men, told The Electronic Intifada that heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided his house on Monday at 5:30pm. Two soldiers remained outside, two others went in the house, shouting they were going to arrest Mo’men.<br /><br />“Mo’men was going inside the house,” Murad said, “when the soldiers suddenly took off from where they had been standing. They came running to the house like they were in a marathon, very fast and urgent, like a bunch of crazies.”<br /><br />The soldiers claimed that Mo’men had not a nuclear warhead, or a submachine gun, but the most dangerous item in the world — a slingshot.<br /><br />“Of course Mo’men didn’t have a slingshot in his hands!” scoffed Murad. “And even if he did, so what? He’s a kid.” For crying out loud.<br /><br />The soldiers were adamant that Mo’men hand over his slingshot (which he doesn’t own) because he was using it to aim at the soldiers. What’s more, they wanted Mo’men to hand himself over to them too.<br /><br />Bashar Shtayeh, Murad’s cousin, was also present at the scene. “The soldiers in the house drew their weapons and pointed them at the family,” he said, “threatening them that they would not leave unless Mo’men was handed over to them.”<br /><br />A loud, angry arugment persisted for half an hour between Murad, other villagers who had come to see what the commotion was all about, and the soldiers. The soldiers then left, having cemented yet another moral meltdown in the occupation’s history. Not that they had morals in the first place.<br /><br />But what of the toddler? Needless to say, Mo’men was terrified by what was going on around him.<br /><br />“What can I say, of course he’s affected by this,” Murad said. “He was very scared. He’s doing slightly better now.”<br /><br />Kufr Qaddoum began its weekly popular resistance protests in June 2011, against the encroaching illegal settlement of Qedumim that is built on the village’s land and to open the main village road that leads directly to Nablus.<br /><br />The Israeli oppression against Kufr Qaddoum doesn’t just happen on Fridays. It occurs on a daily basis.<br /><br />“Obviously, they thought this stunt — whether carried through or not — would serve as a punishment for us, but the truth is that it will not deter us from our protests,” Murad declared.<br /><br />“Every day and night we have five to seven soldiers in the village harrassing us. Sometimes they come in with their dogs and fetch cars and houses. Yesterday [Tuesday] at 9:30pm the soldiers set up a checkpoint on one of the inner streets of the village.”<br /><br />Mo’men Shtayeh, your little two-and-a-half-year-old self highlighted the absurdity, the idiocy, the shameful nature of the Israeli occupying army. May the force of John Cena be with you.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Editor’s Note: The family’s name is Shteiwi, not Shtayeh.</span>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-51987997002392869622012-03-28T13:37:00.003+02:002012-03-28T13:42:07.367+02:00Palestine: Inside the Home of Hana Shalabi<div style="font-weight: normal; "><i><a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestine-inside-home-hana-shalabi">Al Akhbar English</a> published my interview with Hana Shalabi's sister Zahra on Hana's 40th day of hunger strike</i></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><i><br /></i></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><i>On my <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/inside-home-hana-shalabi-her-pain-struggle-and-absence-are-deeply-felt">Electronic Intifada blog</a>, I wrote:</i></div><blockquote style="font-weight: normal; ">There are no words left after this. I picture Hana lying in a hospital bed, enduring an incredible amount of physical pain in addition to the taunts of the Israeli soldiers around her, who tell her over and over again that she will not survive, that she is not Khader Adnan, that the world does not care about her, that she will die alone and forgotten.<br /><br />I don’t want to immortalize her; I just want her to live.</blockquote><div style="font-weight: normal; "><i><br /></i></div><div style="font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div>By: Linah Alsaafin<br />Published Monday, March 26, 2012<div style="font-style: normal; "><br /><b>Burqin, Occupied West Bank</b> – A tent, decorated with the flags of Palestinian political factions and posters of 29-year-old Hana, adorns the front yard of the Shalabi family home. On the eve of Mother’s Day, the tent had received a steady stream of visitors since the morning. Teachers and students from Burqin’s secondary school, members from the village’s women and farmers’ societies, and mothers of Palestinian martyrs gave the family long-stemmed roses and flowers, enough to form a huge bouquet.<br /><br />Hana’s elderly mother Badia spends most of her days sitting inside the tent. She can’t stand being inside the house – it reminds her too much of Hana’s presence.<br /><br />For the past 40 days, Hana Shalabi has been on hunger strike, consuming only water. Being held under so-called administrative detention, an outdated policy that Israel uses frequently to arrest and hold Palestinians for an indefinite period of time under the pretense of security threats based on “secret evidence,” Hana hasn’t been formally charged with any crime. Her health is deteriorating rapidly and according to the last inspection carried out by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel last week she is at risk of “imminent death.”<br /><br />Zahra Shalabi leads the way into the small but immaculate house. Zahra begins talking earnestly about her sister Hana, who despite being nine years her junior is the closest to her.<br /><br />Hana’s elderly mother Badia can’t stand being inside the house – it reminds her too much of Hana’s presence.“Everything Hana did in this house now feels like a dream,” Zahra says, adding that “she would wake up in the morning and make tea or coffee for us both. Sometimes I can’t believe she is not here anymore.”<br />Hana is one of five Palestinians who have been rearrested by Israel after being released in the October prisoners’ release between Hamas and Israel, in violation of the deal’s conditions. Prior to her release in October, Hana had spent 25 months in prison under administrative detention, which can be renewed every six months.<br /><br />During the last family visit, Hana informed her mother that she would begin a hunger strike if her detention was renewed for the sixth time. When the prisoners’ deal came out, it was a welcome and joyous surprise.<br /><br />“We were all filled with immeasurable happiness,” recounts Zahra. “Hana couldn’t believe she was out of prison. We stayed up past midnight on the day she was released, just chatting and laughing so much. She told me stories about life in prison, the types of dinners she’d cook with the other female prisoners, the sanitary conditions of the cells, all in a joking way.”<br /><br />The four months between October and February were trouble-free days, bursting with dreams and ambitions. Hana loved to socialize and meet with people. She was busy with getting her papers in order to register for university, with her eyes set on enrolling at the American University in Jenin. She wanted to get her driver’s license, and later buy a car. She went on a shopping spree, buying new carpets and curtains for her bedroom, as well as new clothes since she couldn’t stand to wear the ones she owned before her imprisonment. Also she dreamed of getting married and of finding the perfect man to spend the rest of her life with.<br /><br />Hana is one of five Palestinians who have been rearrested by Israel after being released in the October prisoners’ release between Hamas and Israel.On February 16, at 2:30am, Zahra woke up to the sound of unusual noises outside the house. At first, she thought it was a few stray dogs, but then came the unmistakable rumble of an Israeli army jeep. Hana woke up in a frenzy, gasping “The Israelis, the Israelis!” She confusedly thought that the occupation soldiers had come for her brother Ammar, who spent two weeks in prison after the Palestinian Authority arrested him in 2009 on the baseless accusation of weapon possession. The thought of getting rearrested did not cross her mind until the Israeli commander called her name.<br />“She began jumping around like a caged bird,” Zahra says. “She was panicking, and kept repeating over and over again that she was not going to go with the soldiers because she didn’t do anything.”<br /><br />The soldiers raided the house, making the inhabitants sit on the floor. One soldier grabbed Hana, who tried to push him away. He began beating her. Another unit went upstairs to her brother Ammar’s house, and scared the children by charging in with police dogs.<br /><br />Clad only in light pajamas and prevented from dressing more moderately, Hana was taken outside in the cold by “Officer Shalom,” who interrogated her for five minutes. Shortly afterward, she was taken away and almost immediately began her hunger strike after being subjected to more beatings and forced to undergo a humiliating strip search in the presence of a male soldier.<br /><br />Posters of Hana are plastered inside the house. On one wall is a large framed picture of her martyred brother Samer, who was shot by Israeli soldiers in September 2005. The picture had a Fatah subheading denoting his membership of Fatah’s armed military wing, Al-Quds Brigades.<br /><br />When asked about Hana’s Islamic Jihad affiliation Zahra gives a small smile. “She’s not really Islamic Jihad. She doesn’t belong to any faction. When Israel imprisons you, their security services ask which political faction you belong to. Hana chose Islamic Jihad on a whim.”<br /><br />Israel offered Hana a reduced sentence of four months on March 3 after 17 days of her hunger strike but she was adamant that she would only break her strike if she was released immediately. Again, it should be noted that no one knows why she is being held or what the evidence against her is.<br /><br />“Is Hana Israel? Is she the US?” Zahra asks angrily.<br /><br />“Does she have missiles or rockets? Where is the threat to Israel? Why can’t we visit her? I know Hana, we grew up together. She has done nothing. It’s the biggest injustice for Hana to die in prison, because she is innocent. I am sure my sister will not make it through another seven days. My sister is dying,” Zahra says as she begins to cry.<br /><br />She continues by saying, “I would never place my enemy in my sister’s position. We remain steadfast despite the pain exploding within us. I would not wish this on anyone.”<br /><br />Israel offered Hana a reduced sentence of four months on March 3 after 17 days of her hunger strike but she was adamant that she would only break her strike if she was released immediately.The Shalabis appreciate the moral support that has come from not just Palestine, but all over the world. However, they want that support to turn into action, to secure the immediate release of Hana, as she languishes in the Israeli Me’ir Hospital in Kfar Saba, where she was transferred to on March 20. Every time there is a court hearing to assess Hana’s appeals the family’s nerves are stretched thin in a psychological tug of war, only to have their hopes plummeted after every trial postponement.<br />On Monday, March 19, Hana’s parents met with the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas at the PA compound al-Muqataa in Ramallah. They asked him to secure the release of their daughter. Abbas replied that he would do his best, but Zahra dismisses his claims.<br /><br />“Why does he call himself a president if he can’t use his diplomatic powers to release my sister? I don’t believe he is even trying. When Hana was arrested for the first time in 2009, ‘Captain Faisal’ the Israeli officer waved some papers in our direction when we demanded to know why she was getting arrested. He told us the PA gave him the secret file they had on her.”<br /><br />Zahra is a thin woman who has grown old before her time. Her eyes are pits of sadness and she unexpectedly breaks down into tears in the middle of talking levelly for long uninterrupted stretches. She has trouble sleeping at night, often dreaming of her sister coming toward her with her hands cuffed, imploring Zahra to get them off of her. She wakes up fitfully, and says that she feels her sister’s pain.<br /><br />“Her weakening heartbeat is my weakening heartbeat. Her stomach pangs are my own stomach pangs. If she dies, I hope she haunts the dreams of everyone who is responsible for her life, everyone who could have done something to secure her release but didn’t. The reality is that the world has failed Hana. What can we do other than put our faith and trust in God?”</div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-7742578754888415272012-03-26T00:40:00.002+02:002012-03-26T00:55:14.728+02:00Imperfect revolution: Palestine’s 15 March movement one year on<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/120323-march-15-protest.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 620px; height: 413px;" src="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/120323-march-15-protest.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span ><div style="text-align: center;">What was the 15 March movement really about?(Issam Rimawi / APA images)</div></span><i style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; "><br /></i><div><i style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">As published on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/imperfect-revolution-palestines-15-march-movement-one-year/11092">Electronic Intifada</a></i><div style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; "><br /></div><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">On 17 February 2011, a group of young activists gathered in one of </span><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/ramallah" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Ramallah</a><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">’s nondescript cafés to plan for a revolution. Some already knew each other, others didn’t. They Skyped with four activists from Gaza in a meeting that initially focused on translating efforts on social media to action the ground, with the aim of reigniting the Palestinian street into demanding its rights from the oppressors once again.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">This was the overture to the short-lived “15 March” movement, as it was dubbed by the local media after the event that took place on that day last year. The movement called for national reconciliation and used the rallying cry of ending the <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/hamas">Hamas</a>-<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/fatah">Fatah</a> division. Large protests took place in Gaza City and in Ramallah, where they were subsequently hijacked by Hamas and Fatah supporters and security forces, respectively. Many of the 15 March protesters were beaten up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">The movement petered out relatively quickly, and on the surface it seemed like that was that, just another unsuccessful minor chapter in Palestine’s history of factions, youth groups and political blocs. But who were the activists who called for the protest, and what was 15 March really about?</span><br /><br /><span><b>Breaking the mold</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Before the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, different activists had contemplated arranging a big event on a particular day. Hamas’ stronghold on the Gaza Strip and the <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/palestinian-authority">Palestinian Authority</a>’s control over the West Bank severely stifled freedom of expression and curtailed individual rights, creating a tense atmosphere not unlike that of a police state. Speaking out — however casually — against the wrong political faction would result in an arrest, a beating and threats. Youth activists were determined to break through the mold of autocratic rule by their own leadership, which they saw as an arm of the Israeli occupation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">As the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt played out, a few solidarity protests were organized by the activists in Ramallah. Demonstrators were beaten up and harassed by the Palestinian Authority’s preventive security forces. A protest or demonstration couldn’t take place in the West Bank without getting an approval or a license of some sorts from the PA. At the same time, many Facebook groups and pages against the Fatah-Hamas division and Israeli occupation began to appear, boasting tens of thousands of followers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Ebaa Rezeq, an activist from Gaza, found out about the initiative from blogs and Facebook, before friends asked her to be a part of the group. “They were only starting work by talking to drivers, salesmen, families at home, schools and universities, trade unions and associations,” she recalled. “It wasn’t about getting youth groups and activists recruited; it was about getting the public involved and this was one of the reasons why I believed in this movement.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Somehow, the date decided on for the protest was 15 March. The two main organizing groups with assertive roles were in Gaza City and Ramallah. Activists in Gaza decided to base the event around ending the division between Fatah and Hamas, which harmed them more than it did to the Palestinians in the West Bank.</span><br /><br /><span><b>A shallow slogan?</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">However, not everyone agreed that ending the division was the priority. Murad Jadallah, a member of the youth group Hirak Shababi al-Mustaqil (Independent Youth Movement) stated that there was no doubt the slogan “The people want an end to the division” was shallow to say the least. “It does not offer any implication as to what caused the division — which was the result of the absence of a unified national resistance strategy, not because there was one government in Gaza and another government in the West Bank — but at the same time it was a unifying slogan that that was easy for people to repeat.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Activist Fadi Quran concurs that the slogan, modeled after the famous Egyptian chant of “The people want the fall of the regime,” was a soundbite that the local media could carry more effectively. The group in Ramallah wanted something that addressed and unified all Palestinians, because, as Jadallah put it, the last twenty years of the “peace process” had solidified the reality into geographical splits and concessions, in addition to disenfranchising refugees from the political process. Therefore, the demand for Palestinian National Council elections was introduced, with every Palestinian regardless of where he or she is based having the right to vote.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“Calling for PNC elections was not something new,” Jadallah pointed out. “The Hirak Shababi or other youth groups didn’t invent this call. It is merely a translation of the political concept introduced at the beginning of the 1990s, ‘Reorganizing the Palestinian house.’ That time period demonstrated that the Palestinian house, the <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/plo">Palestine Liberation Organization</a>, had no democratic foundations as the mechanisms of decision-making were undertaken by an executive body within the PLO based on dictatorial ones.”</span><br /><br /><span><b>Hunger strike dynamics</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Two days before 15 March, a hunger strike and sit-in by the youth began at Manara Square in Ramallah’s city center. Activists got wind of news that Fatah, along with other political parties, was planning to co-opt the event. Therefore, a pre-emptive action was necessary in order to convey the message of PNC elections louder than the parties’ mantra.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Maath Musleh spent 21 days on hunger strike. There were initially nine hunger strikers, but dozens more slept at Manara Square. Some were politically affiliated, others were not. They were attacked on more than one occasion by PA security thugs, and had their tent burned down. Musleh achieved seniority in the tent set-up because of his commitment to the hunger strike, and was determined not to impose any kind of structural leadership in the tent. The hunger strikers began to form their own dynamics, and pushed forward two more demands: the release of all political prisoners held by Fatah and Hamas, and an end to the propaganda wars implemented by both factions against each other.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“There were some people in 15 March who were against our hunger strike,” Musleh said. “They were convinced we were in over our heads.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Tents were set up in the centers of <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/nablus">Nablus</a>, <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/bethlehem">Bethlehem</a>, Jenin and Gaza City. The coordination between the activists was poor and fragmented. Fadi Quran attributes that to what he calls the “tyranny of completely horizontal groups.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“We didn’t have a clear process for decision-making, which largely fell on those who were capable of pushing their ideas forward. In many cases that fell upon me, but I wouldn’t say it was leadership as much as tyranny, unfortunately — something I’m learning from.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">There were three different driving forces involved in 15 March: the hunger strikers, the other groups in the different cities, and the Ramallah-based group that numbered around thirty activists. As a result, there were a lot of demands coming from three dynamics without consulting each other first which contributed to obscuring the main message they had all set out to achieve, unity of all Palestinians through PNC elections.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“We learned that we couldn’t mobilize people by calling them to stand with us,” Quran said. “We have to introduce ourselves, make our plans known, what we stand for, what we were working on and towards. This much wasn’t even clear to the people within the group, so how were we supposed to let youth be part of something we still weren’t clear on?”</span><br /><br /><b><span>Media circus</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">The reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah was signed on 11 May, an empty gesture that changed nothing. Before that, five activists from 15 March met with PA president <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/mahmoud-abbas">Mahmoud Abbas</a>. As they entered the office, a media circus was waiting for them. The activists asserted that they would not speak in front of the cameras, thus blocking the media stunt, but which the PA still later used to create divisions by telling the protesters at Manara Square that the activists who met with Abbas saw themselves as leaders of the movement.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">None of the activists expected the meeting with Abbas to change anything. They presented him with their demands: PNC elections, an end to media incitement and the release of political prisoners, which they had a list of. Abbas was flippant in his reply, blithely telling them that the PA holds no political prisoners. Needless to say, the meeting was unproductive.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">The lack of strategy was telling, and that reflected in the disintegration of relations within the movement and between other groups. Mistrust, frustration, breakdown of communications, certain activists making decisions on behalf of the group without informing them beforehand were evident as a result of the absence of principles and values that were not firmly set at the beginning.</span><br /><br /><span><b>Maintaining momentum</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“We were lucky that Land Day [30 March] came,” reflected Musleh. “Then we had a protest for Prisoners’ Day on 17 April, which kept the momentum going. Every Friday we’d hike through the mountains to protest in <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/nabi-saleh">Nabi Saleh</a>, but mobilization was nonexistent.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">The Hirak Shababi activists knew that Manara Square wouldn’t transform into <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/tahrir-square">Tahrir Square</a> overnight. Palestinians are exhausted after more than six decades of suffering and sacrifice. Tensions between 15 March and Hirak Shababi accumulated, with the former accusing the latter of being politically affiliated and doubting its motives.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“Hirak Shababi has two features that explain why a year later, we’re still a movement whereas 15 March fell apart,” explained Jadallah. “Historically, Palestinian political parties derive their legitimacy and credibility from affiliation to a party or faction, and the experience of getting arrested by Israel. There was a fear on 15 March’s part of being swallowed up by Hirak Shababi, thus eliminating their qualities of leadership which were based on their English language proficiency, and their reliance on social media.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">One year later, the situation in Gaza remains dire. And freedom of expression is still repressed, according to Ebaa Rezeq: “In addition to receiving regular summons for interrogations, activists like Asmaa el Ghoul got a lot of death threats for writing critical articles about the situation. Mahmoud Abu Rahma [of the human rights group Al-Mezan] was stabbed by masked men for criticizing the resistance. It’s extremely dangerous to write while in Gaza.”</span><br /><br /><b><span>Breaking the fear barrier</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Over in the West Bank, the mood is more optimistic. The number of activists has grown, and 15 March broke the fear barrier that made people think twice before protesting in the street. Jadallah stressed how the need for continued coordination gave birth to other initiatives, such as Palestinians for Dignity (against Israeli-PA negotiations).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">The groundswell is not just in the West Bank. The 15 May (Nakba Day) protest commemorating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine was coordinated with Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with some of the protesters succeeding in crossing the borders to Palestine. Later on in the year, in Haifa, a group with a large followers’ base called Hungry for Freedom originated from the September-October general prisoners’ strike.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“The right message should be directed to the appropriate place,” Jadallah said. “We need to regain the situation of directly confronting the occupation because that will cost Israel dearly, as well as uniting all Palestinians.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">“There is a collective identity we’ve developed,” Quran said. “This identity may look very disintegrated on the surface but at its core is a collective entity of youth who disagree on many things but agree on much more essential values.” The question is how to preserve that. Following his recent arrest while taking part the third annual Global <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/open-shuhada-street">Open Shuhada Street</a> protest in <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/hebron">Hebron</a>, Israeli soldiers interrogated him about how the major protests were coordinated. “I know something is right when the Israelis are panicking about it,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">Regardless of all the accusations of being a failure, 15 March managed to bring the cause back to the rest of the Palestinians. The past year involved an ongoing process of experimentation, always subject to adaptation and evolution. The street has become a place of expression of people’s interests, and community organizing has built awareness and injected Palestinian society with the spirit of volunteerism and resistance that <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/salam-fayyad">Salam Fayyad</a>’s state-building policy managed to corrode. For all of the revolution’s imperfections and trials, Palestinian youth are putting us back on the course to liberation.</span></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-59982533109748952892012-03-16T13:39:00.003+02:002012-03-16T13:45:53.569+02:00Call to Action: Support Hana al-Shalabi as her health declines 4 weeks into hunger strike in Israel jail<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/Hana%2BShalabi.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 620px; height: 877px;" src="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/Hana%2BShalabi.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=4336">parents </a>of hunger-striking political prisoner <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/hana-al-shalabi">Hana al-Shalabi</a> have issued a call to all Palestinians to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/323531991038163/">protest this weekend</a> in support of their daughter who is on her 28th continuous day without food in protest at her detention without charge or trial by Israel:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">“We call upon the Palestinian National Authority, the Palestinian national factions, and all Palestinians to take to the streets on Saturday, March 17 and to demonstrate in support of our daughter Hana Shalabi and all administrative detainees.<br /><br />Pressure on the Palestinian street is imperative in achieving Hana’s immediate release, as well as support for her open hunger strike [that began on February 16, 2012]<br /><br />We as Hana’s family continue to support her hunger strike, and we want to let our daughter know that we are with her in every step of her hunger strike until she achieves her immediate release from the Israeli occupation jails.<br /><br />Finally, we call upon all administrative detainees to join Hana’s hunger strike until they achieve their own release and to put an end to the unjust Israeli policy of adminstrative detention, which violates human rights and international law.”</span></blockquote><br /><br /><b>Sharply deteriorating health<br /></b><br />Yesterday <a href="http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=116&ItemID=1429">Physicians for Human Rights-Israel</a> (PHRI) visited Hana and reported that her health had deteriorated significantly.<br /><br /><blockquote>“The second doctor’s second examination on 12 March indicated an additional deterioration in Ms. Shalabi’s condition, shown mainly in advanced muscle atrophy and wasting, additional weight loss, a significant reduction in blood sugar, severe dizziness and severe muscle pain, especially in her chest and back.”</blockquote><br /><br />Hana was violently re-arrested by Israel on February 16th after her release in the first half of the Hamas-Israel prisoner deal in October. She had spent 25 months on administrative detention, without ever being informed of the reason of her detainment and with no charges brought against her. Her hunger strike is one for freedom and dignity, which began immediately as a result of being horribly mistreated during her last arrest, which included a forced strip search by a male soldier, beatings, and later solitary confinement. She is held in HaSharon prison.<br /><br /><b>Amnesty International reiterates urgent concern<br /></b><br /><a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2012/en/5bab530b-94bf-423a-b8f1-79e92460a72b/mde150132012en.html">Amnesty International reiterated its concern</a> for Hana al-Shalabi’s condition following the examination by PHRI doctors. Earlier this month, Amnesty issued an <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/010/2012/en/9a8d1bb4-1286-488b-9574-279626a6b271/mde150102012en.html">urgent action alert</a> calling on people to contact authorities to demand Israel release Hana al-Shalabi and other so-called “administrative detainees” held without charge or trial by proper international standards.<br /><br /><b>Background on Hana al-Shalabi<br /></b><br /><a href="http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=452">Background</a> from Addameer<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-weight: normal; ">“On 23 February 2012 Ms. Hana Shalabi was given an administrative detention order for six months. On 29 February there was a discussion regarding her detention in Ofer military court. On 4 March the military court decided to reduce the detention period from six to four months, but without promising not to extend or renew it. As a result, Ms. Hana Shalabi announced she would continue to hunger strike until her release. On 7 March, an appeal hearing regarding the court’s decision was held at Ofer, and the military judge ordered the parties to try and reach a compromise by Sunday 11 March, but an agreement has not yet been reached.<br /><br />Administrative detainees’ protests are growing. Two additional administrative detainees, Bilal Diab and Thair Halahleh declared hunger strikes on 1 March, which they claim will continue until their release from administrative detention. On 3 March, two other administrative detainees declared hunger strikes until their release. Since the beginning of March, a number of administrative detainees have refused to acknowledge the military court and refused to participate in legal discussions of their cases. Due to Israel’s use of administrative detention, and the unwillingness of the military court to interfere in this practice, a hunger strike serves as a non-violent and sole tool available to administrative detainees to protest and fight for their basic human rights.<br /><br />Approximately 310 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention in Israeli prisons. Administrative detention allows Israel to hold detainees for indefinitely renewable six-month periods. The arrest is granted on the basis of “secret information” and without a public indictment. Therefore, administrative detainees and their lawyers cannot defend against these allegations in court.”</blockquote></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-16671311010442081382012-02-28T22:18:00.001+02:002012-02-28T22:21:37.845+02:00My Grandfather Passed Away and I was Denied the Right to See Him<div><i>As posted on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/my-grandfather-passed-away-and-i-was-denied-right-see-him">Electronic Intifada</a></i></div><div><span style="font-style: normal; "><br /></span></div>I’ll never forget the hilarious conversation we had back in the summer of 2005. The extended family went to the beach that day. As the sun went down, my father ordered an argilah, and whenever he’d break to continue a conversation, I’d take the pipe and draw a few puffs, much to the indignation of my mother. Seeing how my dad obviously didn’t object his fourteen-year-old daughter smoking an argilah, she appealed to my grandfather, who was sitting right next to me and pretended not to notice. At her request, however, he jumped into action.<br /><br />“Linah, I’m not satisfied with how you look,” his voice carried over half of Gaza’s beach. “You’re nothing but skin and bones. At your age, you should be bursting with life! A long time ago, young women used to be like this —” he made curvy shapes with his large hands — “and like this!” Another curvy motion. “You don’t eat enough. You have the body of a child.” He was really getting into his stride now, as I sank lower and lower in my seat, my cheeks flaming, highly aware of the stares from other people on nearby tables. “You should eat meat! Lots of meat! And fruits! Meat and fruit! And an assorted variety of nuts!” I wondered if the pilot in the F-16 plane above could see Sido’s wild gesticulations or possibly hear his voice. “Eat! Eat meat, fruits and nuts! Eat, so your breasts can grow! But smoking? NEVER!”<br /><br />I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry from sheer embarrassment. He just used the b-word, more common sounding in Arabic.<br /><br />“But you smoke,” I said in a tiny voice, desperate to gloss over my public humiliation.<br /><br />“I smoke because I’ve been doing it for years now, decades! Since I was a young man. It’s an addiction, I can’t stop it.”<br /><br />“There are nicotine patches you could wear on your arm.”<br /><br />“Whoever invented them is an idiot. They don’t work.”<br /><br />“Well, there are special types of gum you can chew —”<br /><br />He stared at me. “That’s a fine idea! An old man, chewing gum with his mouth open! Heheheh.”<br /><br />My grandfather, 84 year old Ibrahim Hasan Alsaafin, was older than the Zionist state of Israel when he died on Monday in the Khan Younis refugee camp, still yearning to return to his village of al-Fallujah 64 years on, a mere 15 miles away.<br /><br />On my way to Hebron last Friday for the third annual global Open Shuhada Street protest, the taxi I was in passed by a sign pointing right with the black letters of “Qiryat Gat” emblazoned on it. My heart caught in my mouth, and I craned my neck to hold that sign in my vision long after the taxi turned left.<br /><br />Qiryat Gat is the Judaized name for my village of al-Fallujah. My village became a Jewish-only settlement for Russian immigrants in the 1950s, and the site for one of Intel Corporation’s biggest manufacturing plants.<br /><br />Al-Fallujah was completely ethnically cleansed on March 1st, 1949 — a year after Israel’s so-called independence. Sido Ibrahim was a young man then, 19 or 20 years old, and fought with Egyptian paratroops against the terrorist Zionist guerrillas, who attacked the village with jet fighters and long range canons for six months. Most of the villagers fled, taking with them only their children, some even leaving the doors of their houses open. Sido, along with my great-grandmother Nabeeha, joined the scores of villagers in providing food and supplies to the Egyptian and local volunteers who were defending the village. Among the defenders was the Imam of the village Sheikh Hussein, who was killed when a jet fighter droped a bomb on his shelter. Five minutes before this happened, he threw the helmet he got from the Egyptians to my Sido, insisting that he has nothing to do with it, and as a young man Sido has more right to wear it becauze he represents the future.<br /><br />After six months of shelling and raids, the international community decided that al-Fallujah must be evacuated and remain under international control. Sido and my great-grandmother Nabeeha exchanged hugs and tears with the Egyptian fighters who dropped them off along with other civilians in Gaza in their trucks before returning back to Egypt. Sido did not forget to bring the land deeds with him, which we still keep, and my great-grandmother took the key with her, which we also still keep.<br /><br />I haven’t seen my grandparents for six and a half years, despite a distance of only sixty miles apart. In that sense, there is no difference had I been still living in England or the US. We were separated from each other by incomprehensible racist laws of an occupying military state, which sought to encircle our hearts with barbed wire. Gaza is only an hour’s drive away from Ramallah, the same distance as London is from Portsmouth, the same distance as Philadelphia is from Atlantic City.<br /><br />It kills me that I haven’t been able to see Sido. We live in the same small country, but a thousand and one hindrances kept us pinned to opposite sides. I’ve missed my grandparents so much. I wanted to dye my hair with henna again, something my grandmother always does. I wanted to look into her pea-green eyes and listen to her highly inappropriate delicious fairy-tales, which made me and my cousins curl our toes with delight when we were younger.<br /><br />I wanted to take pictures of them, to record Sido’s voice, complete a mini-project about oral history and to hear stories of al-Fallujah. When my mother was first pregnant with me, Sido saw her sucking on a lemon and told her she’d be having a girl. I dreamed about my visit, teasing Sido if he remembered how he was so upset I wasn’t named Nabeeha after his mother when I was born, claiming that now that my parents were in a western country they’d be naming their children infidel names. He stopped complaining after my mother explained to him that “Linah” was an Arabic name, mentioned in the Quran chapter 59 verse 5.<br /><br />It was always with a sense of pride and dignity that I tell people that my grandparents are from an era before the state of Israel came into being are still alive, and that they are still refugees. They are history in itself. They have lived through so many wars. I was so eager to document that from their point of view, and to get to know them more.<br /><br />Sido was a cantankerous man. His tempers were hugely fascinating and downright scary. Sometimes his rage would manifest itself by flinging meticulously prepared dishes of food. I recall helping one uncle scrape bits of food from the kitchen ceiling and window once. He had a loud gravelly voice and would strike the fear of God into someone quite easily. In the mornings he would sit cross-legged on a mattress, reading from the Quran out loud, pontificating every word. He was a strict disciplinarian, and as long as you weren’t at the receiving end of his temper or walking stick, the whole situation would become very comedic. Once he chased one of my cousins up on the roof with a hose, cursing his lineage and my cousin’s future descendants, as the rest of my cousins and uncles almost wet themselves from laughing so hard.<br /><br />At the same time, Sido had so much compassion and generosity in his heart. He loved babies, never in short supply in my family. It was a mark of honor when he called you to his room, where he would give his grandchildren sweets from a hidden stash. He would take out a clear plastic bag full of shekel coins from the folds of his white dishdasheh, and one by one would distribute them to us. Back then, you could buy so much stuff at the candy store with one shekel.<br /><br />I really wanted a recent memory of Sido and I. A photograph, a conversation, a touch.<br /><br />Sido died. A memory flitted in my mind’s eye. One summer, years ago, the electricity was off for hours. When it came back on again it was past midnight. Sido turned on the TV and leaned forward from his mattress, chuckling as he watched The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.<br /><br />Occupation has denied us of so much. The right to visit family. The right to <i>be </i>a family.<br /><br />Sido died, and I walked home in the late afternoon, willing myself not to bawl, a dull pain in the pit of my stomach. My eyes welled up when I thought of my dad, all alone in the UAE. My mother called my uncles earlier. One of them was crying so hard she couldn’t understand him. I called them later at night, and they seemed more calm. I asked to talk to my grandmother. The phone was passed from one room to the next, and I pressed my cell phone closer to my ear, listening to a world I couldn’t be in: a baby coughing, children murmuring, hushed voices, “It’s Abdullah’s daughter, talk to her.”<br /><br />The formal statement given when someone passes away. The formal reply. The tears ensued.<br /><br />“The pain in my heart, ya sitti, the pain in my heart!” my grandmother cried.<br /><br />“God give you strength,” I whispered.<br /><br />“This is life, people are born and people die, but the pain!”<br /><br />I can’t accept that the unfairness of the whole situation. I’m not talking about death, because that runs its natural course. I’m talking about the mini-diaspora within my own family. It gets so overwhelming sometimes to think that we can’t be together because of a screwball xenophobic government, a whole state that wills it so. It doesn’t make sense. The heartbreak and the anguish, the suffering and the despair is totally absurd when one considers the reason why we must experience all of this. I believe my skin color is appropriate, but my religion isn’t. I don’t speak the chosen language of Hebrew. That human beings should be the cause of the suffering of other humans based on some imperial ideology is unfathomable, when you really think about it. I can’t accept that, and I can’t do anything about it, and who cares anyway? My last name is not Levy or Goldberg or Schliemann. What are basic human rights to a Palestinian when you’ve become so dehumanized in the world’s eyes?<br /><br />My family wanted to go to Gaza last summer, but things simply didn’t work out. So we postponed it to January, but that also didn’t work out. I had firmly set it in my mind that this June, no matter what I <span style="font-style: italic; ">will </span>go to Gaza, inshallah. It is too late now.<br /><br />The hardest part was talking to my father, all alone without his wife or children to comfort him. It’s hard listening to your father’s sobs over the phone. He told me this:<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: normal; ">“Just two days ago, I was thinking of the fact that you are an hour’s drive away from your family and yet you cannot see them…I felt crushed under this feeling of injustice, but comforted myself by looking forward to next June when we can all meet again and you and your sister Deema will have the chance to see Sido…but he did not wait. Not only for me…Sido, my dad, was in a hurry …as he has always been…so he left us…but will never come back..and June will come to this world..but Sido will not be there..Allah Yerhamo…he spent his youth struggling to make us happy and to make us grow up to appreciate the love for our homeland, and instilled in us love of truth, justice and rightness..he loved your Mama, he always called her his 5th daughter. He loved you, Mohammad, Ahmad and Deema…I could see the joy in his eyes when I talked about you, and he always blamed me for not settling in Gaza…next to him.”</blockquote>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-61951765683593876842012-02-22T23:20:00.002+02:002012-02-22T23:24:20.896+02:00February 21st General Strike in Solidarity with Khader Adnan<i>As posted on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/february-21st-general-strike-solidarity-khader-adnan">Electronic Intifada</a></i><br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MNgEU-ru0JY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />Following up on a call by a Hebron-based blogger <a href="http://stolen-kharbshat.blogspot.com/2012/02/21-2-2012.html?spref=tw">for Tuesday, February 21st to be a general strike</a> throughout Palestine, students from Nablus’ An-Najah University have compiled the video above to assert that the strike will take place.<br /><br />Translated below is most of the post:<br /><br /><blockquote>In light of this frenzied competition [between the illegitimate Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip] the prisoner Khader Adnan has entered his 63rd day of hunger strike, and is at risk of dying as a martyr due to the severe deterioration of his health and the official Palestinian governments’ neglect of his case…<br /><br />How long will silence be the master of this situation? Our silence is enough! Are we not able to announce a general strike for one day in solidarity with Khader Adnan and all the freedom fighters in Israeli jails?<br /><br />I believe we are able to cause the Palestinian street to act and to make Tuesday 21st 2012 a day of general strike. All we have to do is pass on the message to biggest number of people and influential media stations outside the scope of social media. It is time to scream outside the walls of Facebook and Twitter, to pass on this message…it is the least we can do.<br /><br />In addition to solidarity with Khader Adnan, the goal of the strike is to pressure both Fateh and Hamas, as well as the media, to intervene and save his life and the lives of thousands of other prisoners.</blockquote><br /><br />Ola Tamimi (no relation to the Tamimis in the village of Nabi Saleh) was fed up with the sporadic protests and lack of concrete actions that excluded the majority of ordinary Palestinians.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">“I decided to call for a general strike because we need to do something effective, away from social media,” she told me. “Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike for 65 days now. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves for not undertaking more prominent actions.<br /><br />Since [the youth movement] March 15th, it became clear that there is a gap between the efforts of activists on social media and the Palestinian street, which is concerned primarily with their own daily lives.<br /><br />The idea behind the blog post was to break out of the Facebook and Twitter confines…for actions to translate successfully on the ground. We have to work towards making our statements, our online activities accessible to the street.<br /><br />On Saturday, after I came up with the idea, I printed out flyers and gave them to the neighborhood kids to pass out. It’s a good tactic; they came back after an hour empty-handed.<br /><br />I’d consider it a big achievement if the general strike takes place, even if it’s just for two hours [12-2pm]. I only care about if people are convinced with the idea behind the strike. If the store owner is convinced then what’s the point of having an official government statement? During the intifadas, people used to act as a collective whole without waiting for the government’s decision or an announcement.<br /><br />The most important thing is to break the fear barrier that people have that prevents them from protesting in the streets. For example, people in Hebron are scared to protest because of the previous experiences they’ve had with the Palestinian Authority. It’s the same everywhere. People have reached a state of depression, but it’s imperative that we keep on trying.”</span></blockquote><br /><br />As Khader Adnan enters his 66th day of hunger strike, protests are expected to take place at the central squares in the cities and towns in the West Bank (and hopefully Gaza), the same day that Israeli High Court hearing for his case will be held in Jerusalem, at 3pm.Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-57927735297817702502012-02-22T23:13:00.004+02:002012-02-22T23:20:28.421+02:00Video: Raymond McCartney, former Irish hunger striker in message of support to Khader Adnan<span style="font-style:italic;">As posted on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/video-raymond-mccartney-former-irish-hunger-striker-message-support-khader">Electronic Intifada</a></span><br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N6Bm7z402Ro" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />Raymond McCartney, the former Irish hunger striker and current Member of Northern Ireland’s Legislative Assembly for Sinn Féin is the latest from Ireland to send a message of solidarity to Palestinian political prisoner <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/khader-adnan">Khader Adnan</a>, who is entering his 63rd day of hunger strike protesting administrative detention, a policy started by the British and which is illegal under international law.<br /><br />McCartney, along with six other prisoners (Brendan Hughes, Tom McFeeley, John Nixon, Sean McKenna, Tommy McKearney and Leo Green) participated in what became known as the First Hunger Strike in 1980 in order to attain <a href="http://www.pittsburghirish.org/AOHDiv32/Hungerstrike.htm">political status</a> under the British occupation.<br /><br /><blockquote>After weeks of delays by the British in implementing the promised changes, and confusion among the prisoners and their supporters, it became apparent in January 1981 that was not to be granted. The prisoners, faced with no alternative, would be forced to embark on a new fast that would have widespread repercussions in Ireland and abroad.</blockquote>The Second Hunger Strike is the more famous one, with ten Irish prisoners hunger striking until death.<br /><br />Oliver Hughes, the brother of Francis Hughes who died in 1981 after 59 days of hunger strike, had sent <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-solidarity-khader-adnan-family-late-irish-hunger-striker-francis-hughes">his message of support</a> a few days earlier. <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-former-irish-hunger-strikers-message-khader-adnan-palestinian-prisoner-55">Tommy McKearney</a>, mentioned above, was the first of the former hunger strikers to record a message of solidarity.<br /><br />Raymond McCartney, who was on hunger strike for 53 days, says that he “understands what [Khader] is feeling at this particular moment in time, so our thoughts are with him and his family.”<br /><br />He goes on to say:<br /><br /><blockquote>"All of us here in Ireland in particular those elected representatives should be doing all what we can to put pressure on the Israeli government to release this man. He’s been held by a form of internment, again a tactic well known and understood by people in Ireland. We need to have this man released and we need to ensure that we don’t have a death in present of this Palestinian who is struggling for his human dignity and the dignity for all Palestinians."</blockquote><br />Khader Adnan was arrested from his home at 3:30am in front of his pregnant wife and two young daughters on December 17th. He has not been charged with anything, and as a result has embarked on a hunger strike since December 18th, using his stomach to protest the immoral administrative detention that the incongruent Israeli Prison System characterizes itself with.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action-Israel-End-use-of-administrative-detention%20">Amnesty International</a> reports:<br /><br />Administrative detention is a procedure under which detainees are held without charge or trial for periods of up to six months, which can be renewed repeatedly. Under administrative detention, detainees’ rights to a fair trial as guaranteed by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) are consistently violated.<br /><br />Khader Adnan is one of 309 Palestinians currently held in administrative detention by the Israeli authorities, including one man held for over five years and 24 Palestinian Legislative Council members. Hundreds of other Palestinian detainees and prisoners have joined Khader Adnan’s hunger strike.<br /><br />After 62 days of Khader Adnan hunger striking, the international community’s <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david/eus-shameful-silence-khader-adnan">silence </a>has been duly noted. Khader Adnan is a living legend, an icon of resistance and is determined to carry through with his hunger strike until he his released or charged, declaring that “My dignity is more precious than my food.”Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-37190787695820242812012-02-14T22:03:00.005+02:002012-02-15T21:11:10.254+02:00My Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Khader AdnanOn February 8th, a worldwide hunger strike was called for on Twitter in support of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who was on his 53rd day of hunger strike. <span style="font-weight:bold;">“My dignity is more precious than my food.”</span> This was his declaration, after he was arrested in front of his pregnant wife and two young daughters at 3:30 am. After he was beaten up inside the Israeli jeep on the way to the detention center. After his gastric disc problems were ignored. After Israeli interrogators smeared dirt from their shoes on his beard. After they obscenely insulted his wife, mother, and two daughters graphically. After he was tortured and placed in painful stress positions. After he was placed in isolation.<br /><br />All of this, and no charges were brought up against Khader Adnan. He was given four months of administrative detention, subject to being renewed anytime and for any period of time for no reason at all.<br /><br />Tonight he is entering his 60th day of hunger strike.<br /><br />I decided on Thursday, after the Twitter hashtag of #Feb9hungerstrike that I too would go on hunger strike, to really know what it feels like to be in solidarity with one who had been doing it for almost two months. My experiences are below.<br /><br /><b>2nd Day</b><br /><div>On Friday I went to the village of Qaryout for its second protest under the popular struggle umbrella. <a href="http://abirkopty.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/the-essence-of-apartheid-in-qaryout-village/">This post here</a> sums up the experience pretty well. The men of the village were very courteous and natural with me and my other two comrades, the only three Palestinian women to join their protest. In other words, no sexism!<div><br />Toward the end of the protest, where it became obvious that we couldn't pass through to plant trees in the stolen land as armed settlers added to the presence of the Israeli army, we began turning back to the village. A car was available, and my two comrades gratefully climbed in, but I wouldn't, out of sheer stubbornness. I didn't feel like I still had something to prove to the village men around me, but still. That wasn't the wisest decision to make. The situation in Qaryout is potentially volatile. The protesters are in the valley, with armed settlers on the hill on our left side edging closer to us. The Israeli army is in front of us. One small mistake, one tiny calculated action, and mayhem would ensue, no doubt leaving behind a bloodbath.</div><div><br />As it happened, that day one settler threw a rock at us. The protesters responded back with more rocks, which gave the Israeli army an excuse to tear gas the hell out of us, which in theory would provide perfect cover for the settlers to aim and shoot at us. </div><div><br />One of the men, Adham grabbed my arm as we fled to the other hill on our right. As we climbed the enormous hill. I vaguely realized I wasn't supposed to exert myself physically. I felt disconnected, my head and body two separate entities. I wasn't really aware of what was going on around me, and was only half listening to Adham.</div><div><br />"Watch out, you have to look where the canisters are falling...no, come this way quick before the gas gets to us..up, up quickly. Watch out! Don't slip!"</div><div><br />I looked up and was surprised at the clouds of toxic gas around us. I suddenly wanted to give up. What was the point anyway? I couldn't feel myself. All I wanted to do was just lie down on some green grass away from the mud and thorny bushes. Adham yanked my arm sharply and I began to focus again. I was so tired.</div><div><br />"I swear to God Linah, you're worth ten men," Adham said.<br />"Not 100?" I gasped as I ignored his outstretched hand and climbed over another rocky ledge.<br />"That too. Listen, when we get back to the village you're all having dinner at my mother's place."<br />"I'm fasting."<br />"Are you on hunger strike?"<br />"You're a quick one. Yes."<br />"You're not supposed to be on one if you're protesting. You're crazy."<br />"I'm exhausted."<br />"Just a little bit more, we've almost reached the trail."<br />I had a couple sips of coffee that morning. I forgot myself and also ate a few sunflower seeds one of the village boys tipped in my outstretched hand earlier that day.</div><div><br />After Qaryout, back to Ramallah, I went with one of my friends to the Red Cross building. We stood outside in the freezing cold holding up posters of Khader Adnan, with a fire burning in a grill someone had procured from somewhere, before ascertaining that a protest at 1pm the next day will take place in front of Ofer/Betunia prison.<br /><br /><b>3rd Day</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><blockquote><i><a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=460141">Biochemistry lecturer</a> at Birzeit University Munir Nasser said a build-up of acids would result in Adnan loosing his sight, and eventual kidney failure and coma.<br /><br />Health expert Dr. Amr al-Hussaini said his body would be vulnerable to infection as his immune system lost protein, while Al-Azhar University nutritionist Dr. Samir Radi warned Adnan's heart muscles could hypertrophy, leading to his death.</i><b><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></b></blockquote><br /></div><div>I woke up on the third day with my head swimming. I stayed in bed for fifteen more minutes, before I finally got up and began getting ready for work. Oh Jesus, I don’t think I can last the day. My legs were shaking and I had to sit back down again because they wouldn’t support my weight. Before I left the house, I stuffed a mini Snickers bar in my bag and some pastries stuffed with white cheese and za’atar my neighbor must have sent down. Just in case. If I felt like I couldn’t last through the day, then at noon I’d break my hunger strike. I was simultaneously angry and ashamed at myself. Barely three days and already I was succumbing to the pathetic whining of a weakling. What is 3 days compared 56 days?</div><div><br />At work, I kept busy and was only reminded of my empty stomach whenever I got up to walk around the office. I stared at my legs, willing them to stop shaking. The hours passed without incident and I felt good again. It was past noon and I was due to meet my mother at the taxi depot so we could go to Betunia/Ofer prison.</div><div><br />After a few terse phone calls (Mama doesn’t like to be kept waiting) I made my way to the taxis. During the ride, Mama echoed what I was thinking: “I hope there will be a lot of people there, مش قردين و حارس"</div><div><br />We got out of the taxi, and watched the clouds of tear gas and smoke from a burning tire rise through the air.<br />“They’ve already started with their fuckery?” Mama shook her head. [She didn’t say the word ‘fuckery’-that was my own translation of her G rated version of the word.]<br />We walked a few steps forward. Young men and women, mostly students from Birzeit University, were clustered on the sidewalks and the street, bending over coughing and wheezing from the tear gas they had just run from.<br />One girl came up to us and offered strips of alcohol.<br />“Do you know how many injuries there are?” I asked.<br />“Three so far. I have to find Fadel.” She left.<br />Mama and I took another few steps forward. The wind blew the remnants of tear gas from the last canister fired by the Israeli Border Police, standing like buffoons a hundred meters away.<br />“Iffee!” Mama raised her scarf to cover her nose. I tied her shawl around her lower face.<br />“Keep it up,” I ordered.</div><div><br />There were shabab near the Border Police who were throwing rocks at them, hiding behind trash cans. Another trash can whizzed past us, with the three young men behind it shouting cheerfully at everyone to get out the way. Tear gas canisters were fired again. We watched their course as they traveled up in the air before it became clear they were falling down on where we stood. We hurried back to where stacks of wooden crates shielded us and pressed up against the wall.<br />It went on like that for a bit. We’d advance, then retreat. Even when we weren’t advancing, just standing where we were, shots would still ring out. Rubber bullets now joined the tear gas canisters.</div><div><br />After a quiet lull, a different girl looked at me and said, “Let’s start chanting.”<br />I shrugged. “Ok. Get other people to gather around.”<br />“من بير زيت اعلناها/حضر نجمة بسماها!<br />نعم للجوع/ لا للركوع!"</div><div><br />We went further down the street, Mama treading on my feet.<br />“They know what they’re doing,” she hissed in my ear. “They want us to get closer and closer to them before they fire tear gas at us again.”<br />Sure enough, the rain of toxic gas began again. And this time we had no time to run as the canisters hit the ground all around our feet. Everyone began running, their backs to the Border Police who were still shooting tear gas, but that was the biggest mistake an amateur protester could make. You had to look to see where the canisters were falling, not run away blindly.<br />“Where do I go!” Mama gasped, her face buried in her shawl as the tear gas engulfed us.<br />I grabbed her arm and looked over my shoulder. “Just keep running.”<br />“Where!”<br />“Forward!”<br />“I can’t breathe!”<br />“Hold your breath and keep running!”</div><div><br />The dizziness was back. It wasn’t the effect of tear gas. We made it to some field, hidden from the view of the Border Police. The ground was rich and extremely muddy. I made Mama sit on a rock and shoved alcohol strips under her nose. Guys were lying on the ground choking and gasping for breath, their tears mixing with great rivulets of mucus streaming down their faces. One guy came over and gave half of his cotton swab which was doused with stronger alcohol to Mama. People were shouting from the street and across the field.<br />“Are you ok Hajjeh?”<br />“Do you need anything Auntie?”<br />“Aunt, do you need a medic?”</div><div><br />The last experience Mama had with tear gas was three years ago, during a protest one Friday in January. The Palestinian Authority security forces descended on protesters who were chanting for their terrorized and massacred brethren in Gaza, and tear gassed them in addition to beating them up. She came home that day with my older brother, shell-shocked expressions on their faces, their clothes absolutely reeking of gas.</div><div><br />I looked around me. Rubber bullets were still being fired. One guy close to us groaned.<br />“The villagers of Nabi Saleh are so damn lucky,” he half coughed half laughed. “They’re immune to this shit. They have it for breakfast, dinner, and supper. Ahh wallah I have to go there next Friday so I can get used to tear gas.”</div><div><br />We left the field and were back on the street again. Mama was a good distance behind me, the poor thing. She said she had a huge headache. “Don’t get too close,” she warned.<br /><br /></div><div>I wanted to pinch her cheeks. She really should come to Nabi Saleh.</div><div><br /></div><div>Suddenly, more rubber bullets were fired. I crouched behind a metal pole with others as the bullets ricocheted off the pole with metallic whines. We waited it out. By God we were going to have a protest here, to hammer home the point of why we were getting shot at and why the shabab were throwing rocks. I chanted,<br />يا خضر يا بطل| انت رمز المعتقل!<br />تحيتنا بحرارة| لاسرانا النوارة<br /><br />My head felt like it was going to explode. I felt like I had just ran a marathon, and my body was shaking again. After a few more rounds of tear gas, I made the first correct decision that day and quietly slinked back to the gas station where Mama was standing, and we went back to Ramallah, where oblivious people continued went about with their illusions of a proper life, made all the more exciting with the recent opening of a new KFC chain.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">"I started my battle offering my soul to God almighty and adamant to go ahead until righteousness triumphs over falsehood.<span style="font-weight:bold;">I am defending my dignity and my people’s dignity and not doing this in vain. </span><br /><br />"The Israeli occupation has gone to extremes against our people, especially prisoners. I have been humiliated, beaten, and harassed by interrogators for no reason, and thus I swore to God I would fight the policy of administrative detention to which I and hundreds of my fellow prisoners fell prey."</span></blockquote><br /><br />At home, I went straight to my bed before I could collapse on my feet. I lay down on my back and let my thoughts travel. My legs and right arm are not shackled. I haven’t been humiliated or placed in torturous stress positions. What a man Khader Adnan is. To possess even an ounce of his iron-willed resolve…I remembered the short clip on TV of him playing with his daughter, whose peals of laughter made me smile. She shouldn’t become an orphan at the age of four. My sister came in the room and raised her eyebrows.</div><div><br />“You’re still on hunger strike?!”<br />“Yeah, so bring me my laptop since I can’t move,” I said in an exaggerated weak voice.<br />“Get it yourself!” She obviously didn’t fall for it. Then, “Don’t you get hungry?”<br />“No, just dizzy.”<br />“That’s how I felt on Thursday. My legs were shaking.”<br />“Mine too, sometimes.”<br />“Imagine not having enough clothes to stay warm.”<br />“Ya haram.”<br />“Imagine not showering or taking a bath for 55 days.”<br />“I could do that. Imagine not changing your underwear for 55 days.”<br />“Mine would dissolve.”<br />We paused.<br />“You’re so disgusting!” I shouted as we both laughed our heads off. (I omitted the subsequent conversation on dissolving underwears for obvious reasons. And in the moment of comic relief, I should include that my sister, unlike me, still represents hope in securing marriage in the future so there’d be no use in tarnishing her reputation.)<br /><br />Later that night, my mother found out I hadn't been eating for the past three days. "I don't care what you do anymore. It's not like you listen to me anyway. But you have to drink something <i>ya habla.</i> Even he drinks water." She sighed waspishly when I didn't reply.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have so much respect for Khader Adnan. I have so much rage for the international community's complicit silence.<br /><br />After midnight, my light-headed self drank water and had a bowl of cereal. I didn't gorge myself, but I still felt sick. It's been two days now but I still drink more liquids than food.<br /><br />Khader Adnan is entering his 60th day on hunger strike. He has refused food since December 18th. He is staring death straight in the face. Tomorrow, Wednesday February 15th is a national hunger strike day for Palestinians that we will hope will spread to the wider world.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"It is time the international community and the UN support prisoners and force the State of Israel to respect international human rights and stop treating prisoners as if they were not humans.” <blockquote></blockquote></span></div></div><div>Khader Adnan. Palestine's living martyr. In the name of dignity, in the name of freedom, in the name of justice, you reminded us again what resistance is.</div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-89591745387302929592012-02-11T20:02:00.003+02:002012-02-11T20:21:45.945+02:00Al Jazeera English Doesn't Care About Khader Adnan<i>As posted on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/al-jazeera-english-doesnt-care-about-khader-adnan">Electronic Intifada</a></i><br /><br /><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/Khader-Adnan-310x415.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 415px;" src="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/Khader-Adnan-310x415.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>Palestinian prisoner <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/khader-adnan">Khader Adnan</a> has entered his 55th day of hunger strike. He has long passed the critical stage and is in danger of organ failure any moment now. In other words, Khader Adnan is dying.</div><div><br />The silence from international media is deafening. Much of the publicity highlighting Adnan’s case came from social media via Twitter and blogs.<br /><br />Does a young father of two arrested in the dead of night from his home, held under illegal administrative detention i.e. no charges have been brought against him, beaten and tortured during his interrogation, hunger striking since December 18th—a day after his arrest—not warrant headlines?<br /><br />Does his identity as spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad cloud the editors’ judgments? Does his long beard — <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/hunger-striker-khader-adnan-held-israel-shocking-condition-solidarity-grows">most of which has now fallen out due to the effects of starvation</a> — not make for sexy media attention?<br /><br />Yesterday a group of Palestinians called up Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem Bureau, demanding to know the reason for the bureau’s nonexistent coverage regarding Khader Adnan. Why Al Jazeera English? Why not the myopic BBC—<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/why-bbc-so-afraid-word-palestine/10886">who’ve recently proclaimed their censorship of the word “Palestine” from their music programmes</a>—or The Guardian or CNN? (The last one was a joke.)<br /><br />As an Arab news source with a bureau based in Jerusalem, Al Jazeera English holds the responsibility to report what is happening to Palestinians. Not only are they not covering the bombings in Gaza, but they are ignoring the ethnic cleansing happening under their noses in Jerusalem. They have also completely ignored the weekly, daily popular protests in Palestine, while at the same time attempting to present themselves as the voice of the people who are revolting against oppression in the Middle East.<br /><br />The litany of crimes that Israel commits on a daily basis against Palestinians is long and ranges from <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=459163">land theft</a>, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israel-cancel-plan-forcibly-displace-jahalin-bedouin-communities-2012-02-08">ethnic cleansing</a>, <a href="http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/component/content/article/28-news/4125-soldiers-invade-homes-in-hebrons-old-city">violence against men, women, and children</a>, <a href="http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7RjN4s4RLu%2bgZ6dblnywNf9JvNJ83NHgsWr2hgy6BD%2b6VuZuqQ1KeI2aQ6klZyw68RNpA8e8RLV%2fr0eNpT0piuSiI8mxqscwienIfTZAqT5I%3d">bi or tri-weekly bombing campaigns</a> on the besieged people of Gaza, <a href="http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18929">political arrests of dozens of Palestinians</a> on a weekly basis including children as <a href="http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ewyflGQ93vn4rcBlLPlPoSFm75F9BK4J%2bvh7wkiTWbtXInLiPIDEtiEZiT915wB53eog6StPplQG11bnmOEidfHpEP3%2flQG5MrH2S%2fCmse0%3d">young as 13 years of age</a> and <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/30/israel-high-court-rulings-undermine-human-rights">institutionalized</a> <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2012/02/07/police_say_jerusalem_monastery_desecrated/">racism</a> and <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/05/israel-end-restrictions-palestinian-residency">discrimination</a> that Palestinians face every day which prohibits them from living anything resembling a normal life. As a result many of us turn to blogs and twitter to find out what is happening which begs the question, what exactly is AJE correspondent Cal Perry being paid to report on in Palestine?<br /><br />Furthermore, while all political prisoners are a shame to the countries imprisoning them, what was the criteria that Al Jazeera used to determine that a self professed Egyptian Zionist, Maikel Nabil, was more worthy of coverage than a Palestinian anti-Zionist?<br /><br />Coverage of Maikel Nabil from Al Jazeera English:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2011/04/201141303521152172.html">Egptian blogger’s arrest stirs doubts</a><br /><a href="http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Mikael-Nabil">Maikel Nabil Live Blog</a><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2011/04/201141303521152172.html">Egyptian blogger’s arrest stirs doubts</a><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/10/2011101114545943900.html">Ministrial declared in case of Egyptian blogger</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5E9AzzZ7jg">Egyptian anti-military activist Maikel Nabil rejects pardon</a><br /><br /><div>Al Jazeera simply cannot state that Khader Adnan’s hunger strike is not news worthy as <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/003/2012/en/7b0b42b3-839b-48ec-b139-4ad0d5a96036/mde150032012en.html">international</a> <a href="http://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention/20120201_sharp_rise_in_administrative_detention">human rights</a> <a href="http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=116&ItemID=1377">organizations </a>have expressed alarm and condemnation over his detention and concern for his deteriorating health.<br /><br />The following conversation took place between one caller and a woman from Al Jazeera English Jerusalem office, in response to that caller’s question about why Khader Adnan has been receiving so little exposure from Al Jazeera English.<br /><br /><blockquote>“But there are other important stories we’re covering.”<br /><br />“But Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike for 54 days in administrative detention and he’s dying.”<br /><br />“But there are people dying everywhere.”<br /><br />The caller was then directed to the editor, who said:<br /><br />“With all due respect, it’s not up to you to tell us what to cover. I’m only accountable to my superiors in Doha.”<br /><br />The editor continued to say that there will be a <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/20122954750597454.html">story on the website</a> today so perhaps “you should wait before passing judgments.”<br /></blockquote><br />Did that mean that the caller should wait until Khader Adnan dies before he can get decent coverage?<br /><br />The caller then asked why there had been no TV reports, features, etc. The editor replied that there were more important stories around.<br /><br />Another caller had this conversation:<br /><br /><blockquote>“Hello, I’m wondering why Al Jazeera English hasn’t given the Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan who’s been hunger striking for 54 days any coverage?”<br /><br />“Who is this?”<br /><br />“It doesn’t matter. I want to know-“<br /><br />“WHO ARE YOU? I’ve been getting calls every five minutes from people asking about the same subject.”<br /><br />“Why does that matter? I-“<br /><br />“I need to know if I should make a list of people calling. I need to know if something is wrong.”<br /><br />“Of course there’s something wrong. Your coverage of Khader Adnan has largely been nonexistent.”<br /><br />[Speaking to someone in the room] “It’s another one of them, asking about Adnan.” [Addressing the caller] “You need to tell me who you are.”<br /><br />“Consider me a viewer of your network.”<br /><br />“Listen, you can’t do this. Who are you?”<br /><br />“Why are you getting defensive? I’m only asking why Khader Adnan hasn’t been getting any attention-“<br /><br />“Who are you? Tell me your name.”<br /><br />“So you’re interested in my name but not in Khader Adnan’s? The man has been on hunger strike for 54 days and-“<br /><br />A man took over the phone. “Hello, who is this?”<br /><br />“I’d rather remain anonymous. I want to know-“<br /><br />“Look, why should we bother to answer you if you won’t even give us your name? Ok, thank you.” [The line went dead.]</blockquote><br /><br />The disrespect and arrogance that Al Jazeera English has shown to Palestinians with the lack of coverage has been nothing short of shocking. If Al Jazeera cannot commit itself to doing actual reporting about the cruelty of the Israeli occupation on a daily basis against Palestinians then it would be best for them to move their office to Tel Aviv or head back home to Qatar.</div></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-84428607808988528742012-02-08T21:19:00.003+02:002012-02-08T21:46:26.211+02:00Khader Adnan: 53 days on Hunger Strike<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0Y9cnochFA/TzLPI6AGTEI/AAAAAAAAAJk/sNbrXTjhUyg/s1600/khaderadnan.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 260px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0Y9cnochFA/TzLPI6AGTEI/AAAAAAAAAJk/sNbrXTjhUyg/s400/khaderadnan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706851429747412034" /></a><br />From yesterday's <a href="http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=434">Addameer</a> report:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">Urgent Appeal: Khader Adnan’s Life at Risk as He Enters Day 52 of Hunger Strike</span><br /><br />Ramallah, 7 February 2012 – Addameer expresses its utmost concern about the health of Khader Adnan, who remains steadfast on Day 52 of his hunger strike in protest of being held in administrative detention and refuses treatment until his release. Despite his rapidly deteriorating condition, an Israeli military judge issued a decision today confirming his administrative detention order for a period of four months.<br /><br />In the court decision, Judge Dalya Kaufman claimed that after hearing the medical assessment of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) physician, Khader’s medical condition seems “acceptable” and provides no grounds for shortening or canceling the administrative detention order. This claim was made regardless of the questionable nature of the IPS medical assessment, given that Khader has refused to allow Israeli hospital staff to carry out his medical examinations. The last medical examination that Khader received was on 29 January, when Physicians for Human Rights doctors examined him. The doctors stated that in the event of organ failure, his condition could become life-threatening.<br /><br />During the confirmation hearing, the military judge also claimed that she ruled out alternatives to administrative detention due to Khader allegedly “hiding” from Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF), even though he was arrested from his own home. She further contradicted herself when noting that the secret file on which his administrative detention is based contains information that he is a high risk to Israeli security, while also admitting that this same material is not enough to bring actual charges against him. These contradictions reveal the highly arbitrary nature of Khader’s detention in addition to Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law, which permits limited use of administrative detention only in emergency situations, but does not allow for its use as punishment when there is not sufficient evidence for criminal procedures.<br /><br />On 6 February, Addameer lawyer Samer Sam’an was able to visit Khader in Zif Medical Center in Safad. Mr. Sam’an stated afterwards that Khader continues to refuse ingesting salt and vitamins. He also noted that Khader remains conscious and aware of his surroundings. Though Khader has categorically refused to allow any medical examinations by Israeli hospital staff, Israeli authorities continue to transfer him between multiple hospitals within Israel, which has made visits from his lawyers increasingly difficult.<br /><br />Immediately after being arrested on 17 December 2011, Khader began his hunger strike in protest of Israel’s consistent violations of human rights, including its policy of arbitrary detention, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment during and following his arrest and the violation of his right to be promptly informed of the charges against him. As punishment for his hunger strike, the IOF placed Khader in solitary confinement after his fourth day under interrogation and stated that they would ban him from family visits for the following three months. With no other means to protest these injustices, Khader responded by saying, “My dignity is more precious than food.” On 8 January 2012, Khader was issued a four-month administrative detention order. After being postponed several times, a court hearing took place on 1 February, during which Khader described the ill-treatment he experienced at the hands of the IOF.<br /><br />A group of Palestinian prisoners began a hunger strike in support of Khader on 2 February. Currently there are prisoners on hunger strike in Ofer, Megiddo and Ramon prisons. Khader is now the longest Palestinian hunger striker in history. He is one of 310 administrative detainees held in Israeli prisons and the third case in Addameer’s Prisoners at Risk campaign.<br /><br />Addameer holds the Occupation accountable for Khader’s deteriorating health and urges the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to put immediate pressure on Israel to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law in regards to arrest and detention of Palestinians. Addameer further appeals to the International Committee of the Red Cross to play its role in bringing attention to the multitude of violations committed by Israeli authorities. If Khader remains in administrative detention, it is surely a major threat to his life; to ensure his release, local and international coalitions must work rapidly to build a movement in his support. </blockquote><br /><br />Yesterday also marked the first time Khader Adnan's pregnant wife Randa and their two young daughters were able to visit him. Randa described Khader's physical appearance as "horrifying", and their four year old daughter asked why he looked like that and why he couldn't come home.<br /><br />From <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israel-denies-near-death-palestinian-hunger-striker-release">al-Akhbar English</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>“He is incredibly small and his clothes haven’t been changed and he hasn’t showered since being arrested. His nails haven’t been cut and there were blotch marks on his face and his teeth.”<br /><br />Despite the terrible state, Adnan remains conscience and is able to communicate.<br /><br />“She [Randa] said his mental state is still fine. He was very aware and he was able to speak to them,” the spokesman added.<br />His personal lawyer is currently prevented from visiting him, contrary to international law, though a lawyer from Addameer has been permitted to visit.<br /><br />A Physician for Human Rights doctor was due to inspect Adnan in jail on Wednesday to report on his conditions.<br /><br />Beyond 50 days hunger strikers are in serious danger of death due to organ failure. Infamous Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands died in 1981 after 66 days of refusing food in a protest at British rule over the country.<br /><br />Human rights group Amnesty International has called on Israel to either charge or release Adnan.<br /><br />“For years Israel has been using administrative detention to lock up Palestinian activists without charge or trial, said Ann Harrison, Amnesty's Deputy Director for the Middle East.<br /><br />“Military commanders can renew the detention orders repeatedly, so in effect detainees can be held indefinitely. The process violates their right to a fair trial which is guaranteed by international law Israel is obliged to uphold.”</blockquote><br /><br />More <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458693">reaction </a>from Randa:<br /><blockquote>The wife of the detainee, Randa Adnan, said her husband was being targeted for "assassination," but he’s in good spirits and determined to continue his strike against Israel's "illegitimate and inhumane policies."<br /><br />Randa was able to visit her husband Tuesday evening at Zeif hospital in Safad.<br /><br />“Adnan is being targeted for a slow process of assassination” she said. She says she was "shocked" at her husband's condition, and that he told her he feels he’s living the last moments of his life, she said.<br /><br />"A lot of the hair on his face and head has fallen off. He has not been allowed to shower or wash during all his time in detention, nor is he allowed to wear warm clothes in this cold weather."<br /><br />She added that "during my visit, my husband's heart swelled up and a medical crew neglected him for half an hour."</blockquote><br />Khader Adnan's father announced his hunger strike <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458276">in solidarity with his son</a>.<div><br /><br />Dozens of Palestinians in Ramallah and <a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/62956">Gaza</a> have gone on a hunger strike in solidarity with Khader Adnan.<br /><br />International media has largely ignored Khader Adnan's case, but <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/hunger-striker-khader-adnan-held-israel-shocking-condition-solidarity-grows">solidarity around the world</a> is growing.<br /><br /><a href="http://samidoun.ca/2012/02/take-urgent-action-day-53-of-khader-adnans-hunger-strike/">TAKE ACTION NOW!</a><br /><br /><blockquote>1.Call and demand the release of Khader Adnan, who has not been charged with any crime but instead is being held under Administrative Detention.<br />Call the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC (1.202.364.5500) OR your local Embassy (for a list, <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Sherut/IsraeliAbroad/Continents/North+America/">click here</a>).<br /><br />Call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209)<br /><br />Demand that Jeffrey Feltman bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel and raise the question of Khader Adnan’s administrative detention.<br /><br />2. Organize a protest outside your local Israeli Embassy (for a list, <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Sherut/IsraeliAbroad/Continents/North+America/">click here</a>).<br /><br />Post your local actions to the Khader Adnan facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Khader-Adnan/236953309725144<br /><br />Help us spread the word with social media after you take action.<br />Download this photo of Khader Adnan to use for your social media profile pictures and click on the suggested messages below and they will be automatically tweeted.<br /><br />Tweet Now: Take Action Now for #KhaderAdnan http://samidoun.ca/?p=133 #Palestine #Israel<br /><br />Tweet Now: I just called my local #Israel Embassy to demand #KhaderAdnan’s release. Join me now! ListofEmbassies: http://bit.ly/xoEzsS<br /><br />Tweet Now: Sign Petition to #FreeKhader hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner http://samidoun.ca/?p=116 #palestine #KhaderAdnan<br /><br />3. Other Actions<br /><br />To contact the authorities within Israel, see <a href="http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=428">Addameer’s appeal</a>.<br />Other ideas for actions and a letter-writing template can be found on this action alert from <a href="http://samidoun.ca/2012/02/take-action-for-hunger-striking-palestinian-prisoner-khader-adnan/">Samidoun (The Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network)</a>.<br />See Amnesty International’s <a href="http://bit.ly/zdTgx9">report </a>and <a href="http://bit.ly/wKa91K">appeal to action.</a><br />Khader Adnan, the father of two daughters and with a third child on the way, is a baker, a Masters student in Economics at Birzeit University, and a political activist. Khader, was arrested on December 17, 2011 by masked soldiers who raided his home in the middle of the night (the village of Arrabe near Jenin in the occupied West Bank). Between the 18th and the 29th of January 2012, he was subjected to almost daily cruel and inhumane interrogations. During interrogations, he was shackled to a crooked chair with his hands tied behind his back in a position that caused him back pain. He said that interrogators threatened him constantly and verbally abused him and his family.<br /><br />Khader was given a four-month administrative detention order on January 8, 2012. Khader’s interrogation period has ended but he refuses to accept the unjust system of administrative detention [<a href="http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=428">more details</a>], continuing his strike on the principle that such detention is a violation of his rights and identity. <a href="http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=293">Administrative detention</a>, a regular practice of the Israeli occupation, violates the internationally-recognized right to a fair trial. International standards for fair trial must be upheld for all political detainees, including those accused of violence, even under states of emergency. A military judge reviewed the administrative detention order on February 1, 2012 and is expected to inform lawyers of her decision later on this week.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Khader’s health is deteriorating rapidly and doctors don’t expect him to be able to survive for much longer.</blockquote></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-78359175240898638272012-02-07T21:46:00.002+02:002012-02-07T21:55:10.708+02:00Interview with Injured French Activist in Nabi Saleh<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q4jPZru-1Kk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />On Friday February the 3rd during the weekly popular resistance protests in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, Israeli border police fired tear gas canisters at head level directly at a group of unarmed protesters who were perhaps 25 to 30 meters away from the border police and who were merely chanting, nothing more. It should be noted that the border police are known for their vicious disproportionate and violent reactions to these kinds of protests, more so than the army itself. One tear gas canister lightly grazed the cheek of a Palestinian female protester, before hitting a French activist in the back of her head and, still propelled by its velocity, continued its course to hit a Dutch activist in his waist.<br /><br />The video above, shot by local activist Nariman Tamimi, clearly captures the moment and leaves no room for doubt as to what hit the French activist, contrary to the lies emitted from the IDF spokesperson and other Israeli officials on Twitter who initially and <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/israeli-army-harasses-press-crew-beats-btselem-female-volunteer-and-lies">outrageously claimed that the activist was injured from a rock</a> thrown by a Palestinian.<br /><br />Firing tear gas canisters at high velocity directly at unarmed protesters has become the staple of the Israeli army’s reaction in popular resistance protests. Two months ago, Nabi Saleh resident 28 year old Mustafa Tamimi was killed after an Israeli soldier opened the back door of the armored jeep and shot a tear gas canister at Mustafa’s face from a distance of three meters. The army has paid lip service to conducting its own investigation within the incident, which if carried out will be anything but impartial.<br /><br />Today I sat down with the French activist, 20 year old Amicie P. and her Palestinian fiancé Aram S. to discuss the details of the actions that took place yesterday. The injury seemed pretty serious at first, owing to the fact that there was a large amount of blood, so it was a huge relief to see Amicie sitting next to me casually smoking cigarette after cigarette with a bandage swathed around her head.<br /><br /><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6811948539_a66c1207da.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6811948539_a66c1207da.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Do you remember the moments right before the Israeli border police fired at us?<br /></span><br />Amicie: “I was discussing with Diederik [the Dutch activist who was injured in his waist] about when we were going to leave to Ramallah. We agreed to stay for five more minutes. I wasn’t aware of when I got shot. I just felt something hit my head. It hurt me so much. I fell down and couldn’t seem to get up. People were carrying me because I wasn’t able to stand on my feet and the Israeli [border police] were still shooting at us. I wasn’t able to run. The medic Muhanad Saleem was screaming at them to stop shooting.<br /><br />“I was really so afraid. I didn’t know if my injury was serious or not. I saw a lot of blood and thought of Mustafa and how he was killed in December.”<br /><br />Aram: “I have asthma. I inhaled a lot of tear gas and couldn’t think clearly. I tried to help her then found myself away from her. I went mad when I heard that she was taken to one of the Israeli jeeps but it turned out that that didn’t actually happen. I was afraid they were going to deport her because she didn’t have her passport with her.”<br /><br />Amicie: “The soldier asked if I were Palestinian. They wanted to take me inside one of the jeeps. They were shocked when they found out I was French. One of the soldiers panicked and took me behind from where the rest of the soldiers were standing, behind a jeep. I didn’t know if he wanted to arrest me or not but he wanted me to go inside the jeep.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Did the soldiers try to treat you?<br /></span><br />Amicie: “The soldiers tried to help me while I was waiting for the ambulance to come. They put some sort of liquid on my head—I think it was water—then tied a bandage on the wound. I was lying on the ground and was really scared because the soldiers were all around me looking down at me and holding their guns. They told me I was hit by a rock thrown by a Palestinian. It’s crazy because it’s so obvious that I wasn’t.<br /><br />“When I was in the ambulance one soldier kept opening the door to ask for my full name, many times. The soldiers were talking about how I wasn’t a Palestinian but French. I didn’t have my passport with me, so I only gave them my first name. I wasn’t treated inside the ambulance.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">You were taken to Ramallah Hospital. What happened there?<br /></span><br />Amicie: “I stayed at the hospital for only an hour. They took an x-ray of my head and stitched the wound up. I have to go back in another week for a check-up, and I might get the stitches removed by then.”</blockquote><br /><br />Amicie studies political science at the University Po Lyon back in France. As part of the program, students have to spend one year living and studying abroad in a foreign country. As her specialty is Middle East politics, Amicie came to Palestine August 1st 2011, where she enrolled in the Palestinian and Arabic Studies program at Birzeit University. Her visa expires in two weeks and she plans on going to France before coming back to Ramallah. She’s worried that in light of what happened on Friday she won’t or at the very least face a lot of trouble getting back in. When I asked her if she wanted to file a complaint against the Israeli army (or something similar) she expressed her frustration to me:<br /><br /><blockquote>“I really want to do something but I don’t know what. It’s great for media attention because I am French, an international but at the same time I don’t want to have future troubles with my visa.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Has any of the international media gotten in touch with you?<br /></span><br />“Only the French ones, like <a href="http://www.rue89.com/">Rue89</a>, radio network <a href="http://www.europe1.fr/">Europe1</a>, <a href="http://www.tf1.fr/">TF1</a>, <a href="http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/">Le Nouvel Observateur</a>.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">What was the reaction of your parents back in Lille?<br /></span><br />Amicie: “My mother was really shocked. She said I shouldn’t go to any more protests, because my injury could have been worse. The French consulate called me yesterday evening to tell me that some newspapers would be getting in touch with me, so it would be better for me if I told my family beforehand.”</blockquote><br /><br />Amicie met Aram at the UN bid for statehood rally in Ramallah back in September (“The two state solution is impossible,” she slipped in.) The two have attended other demonstrations in the city, but this was their first experience in a village involved with the popular struggle.<br /><br /><blockquote>Says Aram: “I’m so proud to know the people of Nabi Saleh. I can’t find the right words to describe the people; they’re so amazing. I didn’t feel like I was in a stranger’s home. They welcomed us and were so helpful. I felt like I was in my parent’ home. I want to go back and see them again, especially this old woman.”<br /><br />Amicie: “It’s really impressive to see how the villagers live like that every day. The demonstrations are dangerous but that doesn’t stop the children from participating. The Israeli army’s response yesterday was really aggressive.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Would you attend another Nabi Saleh protest?<br /></span><br />Amicie: [laughs.] “Maybe not this Friday. I’d like to, but I feel frightened after what happened to me.”<br /><br />Aram: “I’d go to another protest, but not with her. I don’t want to experience the feeling of almost losing her again. That feeling of 10, 12 minutes of not knowing whether she was going to be okay or not…I saw her kuffiyeh, all red from her blood. It’s crazy.”<br /><br />Amicie: “It’s crazy the Israeli army shoots right at the people. Crazy that they’re still doing that after what happened to Mustafa. In demonstrations in France, the tear gas is normally shot at the ground so it’s not dangerous.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">How do you see the situation in Palestine in five years time?<br /></span><br />Amicie: “In Nabi Saleh…I’d see the situation getting worse. I’m sorry, I know you wanted to end this on a positive note, but I’m pessimistic about these kinds of things. I feel like the majority of Palestinians don’t even care anymore [about resisting the occupation.]<br /><br />Aram: “It’s because people owe the banks a lot of money. Salam Fayyad’s [state-building] policy has changed Palestinian society for worse. Everyone is now into their own selves. We weren’t like this five years ago. After the experience in Nabi Saleh…I feel like Ramallah and Nabi Saleh are two different countries, even though they’re only twenty minutes away from each other!”</blockquote>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-52464570141893381322012-02-01T22:26:00.003+02:002012-02-01T22:43:31.956+02:00Messages of Support to Mustafa Tamimi's Family<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hF6UPoXUTBk/Tymj5EafmcI/AAAAAAAAAJY/ywdmxbjvgHk/s1600/Mustafa-Tamimi-28-248x300.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 248px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hF6UPoXUTBk/Tymj5EafmcI/AAAAAAAAAJY/ywdmxbjvgHk/s400/Mustafa-Tamimi-28-248x300.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704270603874179522" /></a><br /><div><br /></div>Martyrs are not numbers. It is essential for us and for supporters of the Palestinian cause to remember the stories behind the names and numbers.<br /><br />For this reason, we offering this space as a platform where your voices will be heard regarding the first martyr the village of Nabi Saleh has sacrificed.<br /><br />Write a message to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/336184763080666/">Mustafa Tamimi's family here</a>. We will collect, translate, and print them all into a journal which we will then present to Mustafa's family.<br /><br /><br />Let us not forget Mustafa.<br />On December 9th, 2011 <a href="http://chroniquespalestine.blogspot.com/2011/12/mustafa-tamimi-martyr-in-nabi-saleh.html">a freedom fighter was ruthlessly murdered</a> defending his village and the principles of freedom and justice which he fought and was previously imprisoned for by the Israeli occupation.<br /><br />Mustafa Tamimi, the 28 year old resident of the tiny village of Nabi Saleh, was shot by an Israeli soldier who opened the back door of the armored jeep and fired a tear gas canister directly to his face from a distance of 3 meters.<br /><br />Let us not forget Mustafa.<br />Villagers, locals, and other familiar activists remember Mustafa as one of the first to greet them in the village, before the popular protests started. He was the oldest of four brothers and one sister, and was engaged to be married the next month. He had the initial of his fiance tattooed on his chest, and was preparing to build another story above his parents' house to live with his future wife there, following the traditional norm.<br /><br />Let us not forget Mustafa.<br />The Israeli army has never been held accountable to the murder of Palestinian civilians. It continues to act with impunity and demonstrates a complete disregard for Palestinian suffering. 10 days after Mustafa's murder, three Israeli jeeps surrounded his parents' house, and 25 soldiers got out with the pretense to check the license of the car outside, but with the intention to arrest Mustafa's younger twin brothers. Mustafa's father shouted at them that if any arrests were to take place it would be over his dead body. The soldiers left. Let us not forget also the army spraying skunk water, firing tear gas, arresting activists, and beating people up <a href="http://palsolidarity.org/2011/12/mourning-mustafa-tamimi-as-israeli-soldiers-escalate-violence/">on the day of Mustafa's funeral</a>.<br /><br />Mustafa was killed on the 24th anniversary of the first Intifada, and the second anniversary of <a href="http://nabisalehsolidarity.wordpress.com/about/">Nabi Saleh's popular resistance protests</a>, which started after settlers from the neighboring illegal settlement of Halamish- built upon the village's land- further expropriated the main spring, al-Kaws.<br /><br />Let us not forget Mustafa. His murder only succeeded in strengthening the resolve of the Palestinians against occupation. Israel kills one, and a 100 rise up in his or her place.<br /><br />We ask you to show your support and love to Mustafa's family by writing messages of solidarity addressed to them either through this <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/336184763080666/">link</a> or to this email: lifeonbirzeitcampus@gmail.com. There are no guidelines to this, other than including your name and the city or country you are from.<br /><br />Let us not forget Mustafa.Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-1853587883749658542012-01-31T23:30:00.003+02:002012-01-31T23:42:54.114+02:00Jerusalem: Ethereal City, not City of Men<span style="font-style:italic;">In accordance with the online campaign (#Blog4Quds) of devoting January 16th to the 31st to blogging about Jerusalem, or Al-Quds, I've compiled below a few paragraphs taken from my academic papers.</span><br /><br /><br />What has made Jerusalem the object of such violent conflict and reverence through thousands of years? It is not a strategic locale to capture-- as it is exposed in the north-- nor a prosperous trade city, nor is it situated near a river or the sea, nor does it harbor any natural resources. To grossly generalize, the city is an amalgamation of holy sites and objects, which ironically has made it an epicenter for intolerance and brutality in contrast with its toted name of “City of Peace”, as when the Crusades killed 65000 in 1099 in the name of holy war, or when Hadrian completely destroyed the city in 130 AD as a result of the Jews revolting and causing unrest.<br /><br />The city is a mixture of myth and holiness, the basis of monotheistic religions, the location of destructive sieges and massacres, of invasion and piety, home to the splendor of a few chief architectural monuments and contrastive geography.<br /><br />The signs of Israeli permanence through its occupation and colonization are enough to make one feel fragmented and confused, as Israel is intent in siphoning off any remnants of Palestinian identity, but the fact of the matter is that it has ironically, refurbished the very definition of what it means to be a Palestinian, either living under the hands of the occupation or living in the diaspora. Much in the same way that Jews for centuries mourned Jerusalem, their Zion, and never failed to commemorate any aspect of it during occasions, their Palestinian counterparts inculcated Jerusalem as a romanticized symbol for the whole of Palestine into their children and future generations’ consciousness, always expressing hope that it will be theirs again.<br /><br /><br />Edward Said suggests in his article Invention, Memory, and Space: “People now look to this refashioned memory, especially in its collective forms, to give themselves a coherent identity, a national narrative, a place in the world, though, as I have indicated, the processes of memory are frequently, if not always, manipulated and intervened in for sometimes urgent purposes in the present” (p 179).<br /><br />Overall, the city of Jerusalem is contested not just in its corporeal being/physical space but in its imagery as well. There is no doubt of course that the cultural, religious, and historical significance the city holds is insurmountable but the grave error the people hold in their views towards it is the magnification and the blowing out of proportion of its representational value, to the extent that Jerusalem has ceased to become an “authentic” city and is closer to the belief of its celestial counterpart directly above it. Israeli narratives can paint a quasi-description of the city without mentioning the occupation, but the Palestinian accounts are steeped into the figurative envelopment that contains the occupation and religious discourse which are juxtaposed to each other. In order to gain a more profound and realistic understanding of Jerusalem, it must be exposed as a city of men on a ground level, and not one of a dominant ethereal icon.Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-36088088138145436722012-01-27T19:57:00.003+02:002012-01-27T20:08:11.904+02:00Israel’s interrogation of Islam Dar Ayyoub Tamimi, age 14: video reveals rights abuses<span style="font-style:italic;">As posted on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/israels-interrogation-islam-dar-ayyoub-tamimi-age-14-video-reveals-rights">Electronic Intifada</a></span><div><i><br /></i><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Mj9tWLvAC2Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />A year ago on January 23, 14-year-old Islam Dar Ayoub Tamimi was arrested at gunpoint after the Israeli army surrounded his house at around 1:30am. A few days before, on January 17, Islam’s house was one of many in the village of Nabi Saleh that were <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeEKgykwJB0">raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)</a>, where the soldiers then proceeded to take pictures of all males over the age of 12.<br /><br />A month later, Islam’s younger brother <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brnDwnd6f3k">eleven year old Kareem was chased down</a> and hauled off by the Israeli police where he was illegally interrogated for two hours before getting released.<br /><br />During his arrest, Islam was taken out of bed at gunpoint and violently taken to a military jeep, handcuffed and blindfolded. His brother Omar (who remains in detention after getting arrested during the <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/israels-interrogation-islam-dar-ayyoub-tamimi-age-14-video-reveals-rights">West Bank car protest on Israeli only roads</a> earlier this month) was beaten up as he tried to help Islam.<br /><br />According to an email interview with Israeli anti-occupation activist Jonathan Pollak:<br /><br /><blockquote><i>Islam was then taken to a military base in the nearby Jewish-only settlement of Halamish, where he was kept outside in the cold, still blindfolded and handcuffed, and was not allowed any sleep. He was then taken to a police station in the Mishor Edomim settlement for questioning, where he arrived at around 8:00 in the morning.<br /><br />He was asked to sign a document in Hebrew, but it was a (flawed) summery of his interrogation. This happened after he was finally allowed to see his lawyer, and he refused to sign it. The video shows that the Hebrew document was read to him in Arabic before he was asked to sign it.<br /><br />After his interrogation he was taken to Ofer, and then, a few days after to Rimonim prison (which is part of Hasharon prison complex), which is a detention center for minors. To the best of my knowledge, he was imprisoned together with other Palestinians, not Israel criminal prisoners.<br /><br />The judge didn’t admit Islam was under psychological pressure and felt threatened per se, but rather wrote that indeed his rights were violated (which in some cases, would have rendered his testimony inadmissible) but that in this specific case, from looking at the tape, it seems he was treated well during the interrogation and spoke of his own free will. [In other words] she believes that the impact of the violations on him, in this specific case, was not severe enough.<br /><br />Islam was released on 4 April 2011, after 71 days in detention, but remained under full house arrest. The conditions of his house arrest were changed at the beginning of the school year (in September) so that he is allowed to go to school. He still remains under partial house arrest.</i></blockquote><br /><br />The military judge, Major Sharon Livnin, ruled that Islam’s confession despite his <a href="http://popularstruggle.org/content/military-court-approves-illegal-interrogation-minor">unlawful interrogation was legitimate</a> enough to be used as evidence in the trial of Bassem Tamimi:<br /><br /><i>“In my opinion, the infringement on the defendant’s rights in this concrete case, did not amount to a violation of his right in a way that will sufficiently endanger his right to a fair trial […].”</i><br /><br />The <a href="http://popularstruggle.org/content/military-court-approves-illegal-interrogation-minor">Popular Struggle</a> website outlies some of the ways Islam’s rights were violated:<br /><br /><ul><li>The boy was arrested at gunpoint in the dead of night, during a violent military raid on his house.</li><li>Despite being a minor, he was denied sleep in the period between his arrest and questioning, which began the following morning and lasted over 5 hours.</li><li>Despite being told he would be allowed to see a lawyer, he was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.</li><li>He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning. <a href="http://popularstruggle.org/content/bassem-tamimis-trial-police-interrogator-admits-systematic-infringements-minors-rights">The testimony of one of his interrogators before the court</a> suggests that he believes Palestinian minors do not enjoy this right.</li><li>He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he “must tell of everything that happened.”</li><li>Only one of four interrogators who participated in the questioning was a qualified youth interrogator.</li></ul>At the beginning of a video documenting Islam’s interrogation in the presence of two interrogators (uploaded by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/PopularStruggleCC?feature=watch">youtube channel</a>), the boy asks if he will be allowed to go home soon. One of the interrogators barks at him, “Wait, we’re doing an interrogation here.” The one at the computer types in “student” as the other affirms that Islam is a reporter’s assistant. At 43 seconds, Islam asks again if he’s going to go home that night, explaining that he has an exam the next day.<br /><br />At 1:15, one of the interrogators accuses Islam that he along with other youth were throwing stones at Israeli army jeeps and participating in protests, which are “against the law” and (at 2:30) a “breach of public security.” The same interrogator (at 2:58) then proceeds to tell Islam that he has a right to see a lawyer, but that if he chooses not to answer any questions, that can be further used as solidified evidence against him in court. At 3:29 the interrogator says, “You’re a little boy. Inshallah [God willing] we’ll finish with the interrogation soon, but we want you to tell us all the right things. Understand? We’ll show you pictures of people throwing rocks, including you.”<br /><br />Almost half an hour later, a third interrogator joins the room. Islam is in the middle of explaining an injury to his leg sustained during one of the protests.<br /><br />At 4:40 Islam gives the name and age of one of the youths in the village. The third interrogator punches his hand into his fist. The video goes to another interval, where one of the interrogators cuts off Islam, who is in the middle of describing how the youth hide in houses when the army surrounds them, by calling them as mice. The third interrogator says in his rolling accent, “Like Tom and Jerry.” He then suddenly shouts, “Those poor things! Those unfortunates!”<br /><br />At 5:59, the same interrogator snaps at Islam not to breathe in his face. Islam replies that he hasn’t slept. At 6:39 the interrogator asks Islam what the job of the first “brigade” was, before snickering that he was going to catch the flu from Islam.<br /><br />At 7:05, another interrogator enters the room. At 7:30 Islam announces he wants to go home because of his school exams.<br /><br />At 7:50 one of the interrogators asks Islam how many people were in each brigade.<br /><br />At 8:28 Islam asks if the latest interrogator is the one responsible for taking him home.<br /><br />At 9:18, after almost three hours (2 hours and 42 minutes to be exact) of interrogation, the psychological stress becomes all too evident as Islam breaks down into tears. When asked why he’s crying, Islam replies that he’s afraid he’s going to fail his school year. He elaborates, “If I fail then the school won’t let me come back to repeat the year.”<br /><br />At 11:08 The interrogator asks, “What did he tell them?” Islam replies, his voice wobbling, “He told us to wait at the intersection and to take the cardboards to the shrine. We’d take them to Uncle Naji and Uncle Bassem without knowing what was in them. Motasem wanted to know what was in them so once he opened one and found gas masks.”<br /><br />At 11:39, a new addition is in the room: the only qualified female youth interrogator.<br /><br />At 12:43, the interrogator that rolls his R’s slaps Islam’s shoulders, saying “You’re happy that the officers got hit by stones, right?”<br /><br />At 13:35 the interrogators order Islam to raise his head and to sit up straight, telling him that it will all be over soon. Islam’s been in interrogation for more than four hours at this point.<br /><br />At 13:55 Islam asks when the interrogation will be over. One of the interrogators replies, “In half an hour. We have to first check if what you said is all true, and then we’ll see what will happen. I don’t want to see you here again.”<br /><br />At 14:35 the interrogator flicks Islam’s arms, which are resting his head, and tells him to raise his head up. “When the interrogator is in the room, raise your head up. Yell at him. And if possible, you beat him up!”<br /><br />The other interrogator shows Islam a photograph and asks him who the person in it is.<br /><br />After more than five hours of interrogation, Islam yawns and asks for the time. It’s 2:30 pm, answers the interrogator. Islam turns to the stoic female interrogator and tells her he hasn’t slept since yesterday.<br /><br />At 15:12, Islam is left alone with the female interrogator. He asks if it’s over yet. She replies, “in a little bit.” Islam then asks her if she’s Israeli or an Arab. She answers, “What do you think? I speak Arabic. I’m an Arab.”<br /><br />“What are you doing here?”<br /><br />“I work.”<br /><br />“You work as what?”<br /><br />“Just work.”<br /><br />At 16:52, Islam yawns, “Please God, take me home. I am so tired.”<br /><br />Islam’s unlawful interrogation was used to incriminate and arrest Bassem and Naji Tamimi, who are actively involved in Nabi Saleh’s weekly popular resistance protests, a couple of months later in March. Nabi Saleh began its protest back in December 2009, after settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish built upon the village’s land further expropriated the village’s main water supply and spring, Al-Kaws. Naji agreed to a plea bargain, and was subsequently sentenced to a year in prison plus a 20,000 shekel fine. Bassem refused to do the same, and has still not been sentenced, despite spending ten months behind bars since his arrest. When Islam was put on the stand in court in November 2011, he admitted that <a href="http://popularstruggle.org/content/main-witness-bassem-tamimi-trial-my-testimony-was-taken-under-duress">he had given false testimony</a> due to the immense pressure he was under before and during his interrogation.<br /><br />Back in late November last year, I sat with Bassem’s wife, Nariman Tamimi, who talked about her husband’s trial, the baseless charges against him, why Naji accepted the deal and Bassem didn’t, and the weekly protests in Nabi Saleh in the video below. She rejects labeling her husband or Naji as “leaders of the protests”, maintaining that this was the characterization given to them by the Israeli authorities in order to accuse them of the charges, as any child participating in the protests is capable of leading. She contents that she doesn’t “recognize the occupier’s right to exist to recognize the legitimacy of their courts” and that she attends the trials because she wants to see her husband who “is my best friend and partner.” When asked about Bassem’s morale, Nariman replies, “He’s always been so strong and optimistic. His spirits are so high and make you stronger, instead of the opposite.”<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v-VpIlz5zyA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Thanks to <a href="http://www.janbeddegenoodts.com/about/">Jan Beddegenoodts</a> for the video</span></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-69707143545945975942012-01-22T18:40:00.012+02:002012-01-25T11:57:26.609+02:00#OccupyBZU to #BZUProtestIt's a sign of the times we're living in when hashtags are perfectly acceptable as titles, and I'm sure there are countless thesis dissertations in progress attributing this as another significant regime-tackling phenomenons of social media. Suffice to say, it is increasingly obvious where people get much of their news from nowadays.<br /><br />Last week on Tuesday the 17th, a number of students from Birzeit University protested the totalitarian fixtures regarding tuition costs and financial measures introduced at the start of the second semester, which left 1200 students unable to continue their education because of the expensive costs. Dozens walked inside the administrative building, and were subsequently locked in by security. Thus, #OccupyBZU was commenced.<br /><br /><div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jmeXZCIGABU/Tx2LtJ05vGI/AAAAAAAAAI0/yDJ77LIHB2E/s1600/strike.jpg-large"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700866311169096802" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jmeXZCIGABU/Tx2LtJ05vGI/AAAAAAAAAI0/yDJ77LIHB2E/s400/strike.jpg-large" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3za_UA0aW4/Tx2RmhOV6wI/AAAAAAAAAJA/Op07m3XYWbU/s1600/strike2.jpg-large"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700872794260499202" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3za_UA0aW4/Tx2RmhOV6wI/AAAAAAAAAJA/Op07m3XYWbU/s400/strike2.jpg-large" /></a><br />One of my main problems with my time at Birzeit University was the lack of any concrete student activism, overtaken instead by the simulated scenes and atmosphere of a US high school as shown in Hollywood movies. That's all fine and dandy since not everyone wants to be at the forefront of tackling social change or even challenging Captain Israel to an arm-wrestling match, but when the circumstances are crying out for it, there is no excuse left to remain passive. The glory days of BZU were during the first intifada, the late 80's to the early 90's, where students were largely involved in peaceful resistance against the Israeli military occupation. One such demonstration was attending classes in empty buildings in defiance of Israeli military orders. Students were one of the important driving forces behind the mass protests and civil disobedience in Palestinian society. That of course didn't come without its sacrifices; another name for Birzeit University is the Martyrs' University/ جامعةالشهداء due to its thirteen students killed by Israel.<br /><br />The Oslo Accords can be explained as the reason for the students' growing detachment from politics, despite the student parties within the university itself being derivatives of Palestinian political parties. The second intifada ushered in armed resistance as the primary method of response against Israel's increasingly unbearable occupation, which contrary to the first intifada, isolated sectors of the Palestinian society from being a true popular uprising. Coordination with the other eight universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip became more difficult. Factionalism reared its ugly face following the US backed civil fighting between Hamas and Fateh back in 2006. Politics on campus became repressive, and used as a platform to trash talk the rival party. Some male students belonging to Hamas' Kutla Islamiyeh bloc were imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority. Instead of the students of the Fateh university Shabeeba group demanding their release, the act was further augmented by incendiary accusations and wholehearted support. These antics only managed to alienate a large number of students who find no representative as they are not affiliated to any political student party, and "student activism" took the role of proudly parroting each respective party's propaganda.<br /><br />The above serves as an explanation for the disillusionment concerning the possibility for any meaningful act to take place on campus. These protests against financial matters are hardly news. In fact, it is the norm at the beginning of every single semester. They always take the same cycle: Students protest, each student political party writes up a statement, get out their best throaty orator backed with factional music, and proceed to threaten the university's administration with calls of prolonged strikes. The whole thing lasts for a week, with actions escalating then diminishing as fast as if they never happened, without any success achieved. The same Spartan students go from building to building, classroom to classroom, informing the other students that classes have been suspended for the day, right under the nose of the professor. They order the students to leave the classrooms, leave the building, and join them in a demonstration in front of the administration building. Hardly anyone listens, and see this as an opportunity to hang out with friends. The buildings then get put on lock down for an indefinite time period, even if there are students and professors inside. Tires are burned at the gates of the university, the gates themselves get locked with chains brought from who knows where, and the student portal Ritaj becomes useless as it doesn't give out updates for whether there will be classes on this day or not.<br /><br />The point is that these drastic actions serve as a cry for attention, as their repetitive nature hardly achieve whatever demands the student parties champion out through the state of the art loudspeakers. But Tuesday, January the 17th excited a lot of people, myself included because it was the first time students staged a sit-in <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">overnight</span>. The following morning, more details began to emerge and were shared on Twitter.<br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>It turned out that students, contrary to initial thoughts, did not purposely mean to stay overnight in the administrative building. 76 students merely went inside to protest peacefully, and found themselves locked in by security after the administrative staff vacated the building. Allegedly, one security guard taunted the students by saying, "Let's see who's man enough to stay here for the night." The radiators were turned off, and the students spent the night without blankets or food, shivering as a storm raged outside. For those who had to use the bathroom, they were allowed outside but were prevented from going back in. As a result, 22 students were left inside the administrative building. The following morning, one student's health deteriorated rapidly but the administrative prohibited him from receiving immediate medical attention. The university dean Dr Khalil Hindi issued a media blackout on the whole situation.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>The most austere financial measure imposed was that a student's tuition had to be paid in full before the new semester begins, in order for the student to choose his/her own classes. This is outrageous to say the least. Tuition costs are usually paid in money installments twice a semester, in an attempt to alleviate some families' financial stresses. Non-elected Prime Minister Salam Fayyad may have succeeded in transforming the West Bank, and Ramallah specifically into a capitalist consumerism society, but Birzeit University doesn't host only the privileged rich kids. I remember one time taking a group of high school seniors from Jenin on a quick tour on campus, and one of the chaperoning teachers told me he couldn't afford to send his kids to Birzeit Uni because the tuition was more than his monthly salary. The university is suffering from financial losses because the Palestinian Authority owes it money from three years.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>10 students from Bethlehem University went on hunger strike also protesting the changed tuition policies, before #OccupyBZU even started. Speaking of "Occupy" (a word I don't like for apparent reasons) the hashtag was changed to #ProtestBZU because the administration accused the students of occupying the building--ignoring the fact that they were locked in-- thus painting the whole sit-in unfavorably as it is in their interests to do so.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>The protest seemingly had the support of the majority of the students, those affiliated with parties and those who were not. For once it wasn't an act pulled by Hamas, or Fateh, or the Left (Jabha). Some even went so far as to label it the Birzeit Spring:</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zo6kIl-Ys0U/Tx2VH69k7II/AAAAAAAAAJM/zNYxVXV732U/s1600/strrrike.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 187px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700876666640067714" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zo6kIl-Ys0U/Tx2VH69k7II/AAAAAAAAAJM/zNYxVXV732U/s400/strrrike.jpg" /></a> <i>More pictures</i> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150538501378917&set=a.10150279783578917.356198.148165103916&type=1&permPage=1"><i>found here</i></a></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>The protest continued for the next couple of days. The gates of the university were still closed, the students still inside the building. The university's workers' union tried to mediate between the demands of the students and the administration but found that the administration ignored the demands and flat out refused to even talk, let alone negotiate with a group of students who were not the official representative. When the student council finally announced their support for the locked in students, the administration still refused to talk. Even after a committee composed of representatives of all eight student parties as well as from the student council was agreed upon, the administration <i>still</i> refused to talk. Their arrogance is a staple in their job description. The bureaucratic system of Birzeit University is one of the worst I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. Other students brought tents and pitched them outside the gate, where they too staged a sit-in. The media blackout was still in place, with everyone getting updates and information from students on site tweeting away. Reports had it that Dr Hindi cut off the internet on campus, an act that Mubarak would have applauded...or in hindsight, maybe not.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Then on Saturday, a press conference was called at 10am. At 12pm was another press conference for the administration. The blackout was lifted. The vice president of the university denounced the protesting students as having an agenda. For their part, the students finally made the financial and academic demands public. This threw the whole protest into a different light, as some of the demands were pretty stupid, to put it bluntly. Speaking to other students, they told me that the behavior of the protesting students was far from angelic in directing their speeches towards the dean, as if he were a despicable despot. Regardless, if you're going to protest peacefully, willing to endure days of cold and mistreatment, then whatever you're protesting for should be worthwhile, practical, and most importantly, in the interests of the students themselves. Many found issue with the academic demands (seems like the sillier points, such as raising the number of times a student was allowed to fail a class before getting suspended permanently from three to five were omitted, see below) while the financial ones were more sensible.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><b>Financial Demands </b>(translated from <a href="http://blog.amin.org/dawabsheh/files/2012/01/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%AA-1.pdf">here</a>)<br /></div></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><ul><br /><li style="FONT-FAMILY: arial; FONT-SIZE: small">For every student to have the chance to pay his or her tuition in money installments throughout the semester, especially students who have previous debts and did not have the chance to register for this semester, and for them to register on the back of what they could pay according to their financial status, and to pay the rest of the tuition throughout the semester.<br /></li><br /><li style="FONT-FAMILY: arial; FONT-SIZE: small">To give preferential treatment to students with special and social needs and students who were prisoners in Israeli jails, and for them to register with ease through what is mentioned in point number one.</li><br /><br /><li style="FONT-FAMILY: arial; FONT-SIZE: small">For the university to restart the system of accepting cheques as a form of money installments or at least to find a new mechanism for paying tuition costs as agreed upon by the students and the administration.<br /></li><br /><li><span >To give scholarships to sibling students without going through the bureaucratic ladder, regardless of whether these students have already received financial aid or not.</span></li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:small;">To conduct a thorough survey among all students in order to see who is eligible for financial aid. This way financial aid will not go to students who don't need it, which has posed as an obstacle to the students who are in actual need.</span></li></ul><br /><br /><div><b style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Academic Demands</b><br /></div><br /><div><br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><li><span style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">To open the registration for classes (add/drop week) especially for students who were late in paying their tuition as stipulated in point number one, and to open sections</span></li></ul></div></div></div><br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><li>To reconsider the policy of transferring from one major to the next, which grows more complicated without any justification, without affecting the academic and educational level of the university.</li></ul><br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><li>To not give elevated courses to inexperienced or newly graduated teachers and to preserve the quality of academic level.<br /></li></ul><br /><br /><div>An agreement was reached on Sunday. The administration finally got off its high horse long enough to agree to all of the financial demands, but wouldn't agree to any of the academic ones pointing out it was beyond their reach to make changes regarding this aspect. Normal classes are set to resume on Tuesday, the 24th. </div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Meanwhile, five students from Bethlehem University have been hospitalized as a result of the hunger strike they started last Monday. More students have vowed to join in the hunger strike, raising the total to thirty students, seven who have been on strike since last week. </div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>From <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=454533">Ma'an News Agency</a>:</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The administration suspended classes last Tuesday, saying it could not ensure students' safety on campus because of the protests, which have included all-night sit-ins.<br /><br />The student senate, which is leading the protest, said it had tried to end the crisis by offering the university 40,000 Jordanian dinars ($56,400) from the Fatah movement to exempt students from tuition fee increases. It said the university had not responded to the initiative.</span></blockquote><br /><br />Instead of treating symptoms, the source of the sickness must be treated first. Birzeit students may have succeeded in achieving their financial demands, but what about the cause for the rise in tuition costs? It's not all down to the university's miserliness. The Palestinian Authority is in debt, plain and simple. It has done absolutely nothing to build and sustain a homegrown economy, relying instead on overwhelming foreign donor money. Austerity measures have recently been introduced, with citizens required to pay a minimum of a 5% tax increase and a maximum of 30%. The PA takes the billions of dollars it is granted by governments, and hardly invests them in community building projects or in Palestinian society in general, unless you count the mushrooming number of bars and expensive restaurants that cater to the elite. Dissolving the PA would pop the bubble of normalcy under occupation, and there'd be a good chance of Palestinians of finally realizing that their houses, cars, laptops-all on loans- and lifestyles they cannot afford are worth nothing while they are <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">still under Israeli occupation.</span><br /><br />So I call on all students in the West Bank to rise up, first against the parasitical PA, then against the occupation once and for all.Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-71252156344776963402012-01-21T20:08:00.001+02:002012-01-21T20:19:08.575+02:00Palestinians for Syria/تحية فلسطينية للثورة السورية<span style="font-weight:bold;">تحية فلسطينية للثورة السورية</span><br />21.1.12 يوم الغضب العالمي لنصرة الشعب السوري<br />ثورة سلمية.. ضد التدخل الأجنبي.. ضد الطائفية والفئوية..<br />منذ عشرة شهور يسير الشعب السوري نحو الحرية وثقتنا به لا تشوبها شائبة لذا نرى أن من واجبنا أن نحذره من خطر التدخل الأجنبي وأن نشد على أياديه للحفاظ على سلمية الثورة التي عودتنا منذ بدايتها على رفض الطائفية والفئوية.<br />منذ عشرة شهور يسير الشعب السوري نحو الحرية بثبات، رغم تعثر خطواته التي يقطعها إجرام نظام بشار الأسد بأسلحة كانت أولى بحرب تحرير أرضه المحتلة، أو يقطعها اختلاف من ائتمنهم الشعب السوري على تمثيله.<br />منذ عشرة شهور يسير الشعب السوري نحو الحرية يسقط في مسيرِه شهيدا من يسقط، دون أن يَحدّ القتل ومحاولة تفريق الصفوف من صموده البطولي.<br />منذ عشرة شهور يسير الشعب السوري نحو الحرية والعالم كله يُحلل شعارات مظاهراته وتحقق الفضائيات نسب المشاهدة المرتفعة فوق دماء شهدائه ويبيع الإعلام الكلام والصور عن حرب أهلية أو مؤامرة، ويتهالك على سورية من لم يدعموا يومًا الحرية والديمقراطية في شرقنا، معتقدين أن مؤامراتهم ونواياهم تنطلي علينا. ونحن على ثقة أن هذه المؤامرات ستتهاوى عند أقدام الشعب السوري العربي العريق، حالما يستعيد عافيته.<br />عشرة شهور ونحن نتفرج ونؤدلج الموقف ونتفادى مشاهدة الجثث الممثل بها والنساء اللواتي لا يتظاهرن خوفا من الرصاص وننتقي القناة التي سنشاهد فيها خبر استشهاد ثلاثين وسبعين ومئة سوريّةً وسوريًّا ونخجل من تضامننا البائس. . وعندما ينتهي كل يوم ثوري تنام عشرات الأسر السورية دون أحد أبنائها ودون أن يقاسمها ألمها أحد.<br />نحن نشطاء ومدونون فلسطينيون، وفي يوم التضامن العالمي مع الثورة السورية، نؤكد وقوفنا إلى جانب الشعب السوري الثائر. نرفض بشدة استخدامنا واستخدام قضية فلسطين كسجادة يكنس نظام الأسد جثث ثوار سورية تحتها ثم يدوس عليها أمام عيوننا جميعا. لنفكر عميقا بما يدور حول الثورة السورية وداخلها لكن لنترك التحليل المفرط والفذلكة جانبا لأن الثمن ليس أقل من دماء إخوتنا. لندعم الثورة السورية لتظل ثورة ترفض التدخل الأجنبي وتلفظ الطائفية وتحتفظ بسلميتها، فدون ثقتنا جميعا بها ودعمنا لها لن يكون لنا أي حق بالتنظير والمزاودة على <div>الشعب السوري الذي يُقتل كل دقيقة.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-weight:bold;">Palestinians for Syria</span><br /> <br />21/01/12 is the Global Day Of Rage For Syria<br /> <br />A peaceful revolution…a revolution against foreign intervention…a revolution against sectarianism and factions.This is the revolution of the Syrian people we know.<br /> <br />For ten months now the Syrian people have marched towards freedom and we have no doubt that they will achieve their liberation. For this reason we see it as a duty to warn them of the dangers of foreign intervention and to express our support for their peaceful revolution against sectarianism and factions.<br /> <br />For ten months the Syrian people have marched steadily towards freedom, despite the criminal oppression of Bashar al-Assad’s regime which uses weapons against its own people, instead of using them to liberate their occupied land, and despite the disagreements among their representatives whom the people gave trust in.<br /> <br />For ten months the Syrian people have marched towards freedom as martyr after martyr is sacrificed, which has only strengthened their resolve and steadfastness to continue their march.<br /> <br />For ten months the Syrian people have marched towards freedom as the world analyzes the meanings behind slogans raised in protests, and satellite channels have garnered more viewers with the increase in bloodshed and murders. The media sells to its viewers talks of a conspiracy or of a civil war, and many powers, sells us their support to freedom or democracy in the Middle East, when they never did. We are confident that these plots will fail and be crushed under the feet of the Syrian Arab People.<br /> <br />Ten months and we have avoided watching the disfigured bodies and the brave women who do not fear facing the live ammunition. Ten months and we chose which channel to hear from about the news of 30, 70, 100 martyrs of Syria, which made us ashamed from our miserable show of solidarity, as at the end of every day dozens of families lose their sons and daughters, with seemingly no one to share their pain with.<br /> <br />We, Palestinian activists and bloggers, on the Global Day of Rage for Syrian Revolution, stress our support for the brave revolutionary Syrians. We strongly reject manipulating the Palestinian cause as a cover under which the Syrian martyrs’ bodies are brushed under and stamped upon by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It is true we must think logically about the dynamics of the Syrian revolution, but we must put the overwrought analyses aside, because the cost is the blood of our Syrian brothers and sisters. We reiterate our support for the peaceful Syrian revolution and its rejection of foreign intervention amidst the threats of sectarianism, as without our solidarity and faith we have no right in theorizing and preaching to the Syrians who are being murdered one after the other.<br /> KLOLinahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-89531283453985454382012-01-20T01:29:00.002+02:002012-01-20T01:34:30.050+02:00Follow Up Protest for #No2NegotiationsIn a blatant demonstration of the Palestinian Authority’s colossal gap between the interests of itself and the people it claims to represent, unelected chief negotiator <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=452539">Saeb Erekat will meet up with his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Molcho</a> for the fourth round of talks in Amman, Jordan on January 25th. The announcement came barely a day after Palestinians protested against the farcical negotiations in front of the PA compound of al-Muqata’a in Ramallah.<br /><br />Nevertheless, the group Palestinians With Dignity have been quick to issue another statement out, calling for another protest this Saturday the 21st. It is clear that these protests are not reactionary, and will continue until all negotiations between the occupied and the occupier cease once and for all. Last week saw the arrest of a young man who participated in the protest by the PA security forces. He was <a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/62841">attacked and interrogated</a> before being released.<br /><br />In a true and classical behavior that characterizes Arab repressive governments who are merely puppets of western interests, will violence against protesters by the PA escalate?<br /><br />Below is the statement [emphasis not mine], with a link to a petition against negotiations at the bottom:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Last Saturday 14th of January, we stood in silence in front of the Presidential Compound (Muqata’a) in Ramallah demanding the immediate stop of the bilateral negotiations between Saeb Erekat and Yitzhak Molcho in Amman. The bitter cold did not stop us from protesting against the return to these fruitless talks. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has retreated from its earlier position that they will not return to negotiations, until settlement expansion is halted and all the political prisoners were released; this represents the bare minimum demands of the Palestinian people.<br /><br />The PLO’s reneging on their promise to the Palestinian people and <b>their return to negotiations implies that the leadership accepts the continued theft and seizure of Palestinian lands, legitimizes the ever-going attacks of the settlers, and furthermore undermines the Palestinian people in whole.</b><br /><br />As Palestinians youth, we do not see any benefits from these futile negotiations. We have grown weary of representatives that don’t represent us, a national consensus that does not include us, and an implied future pseudo-state that does not guarantee our rights; specifically the rights of the majority of Palestinians who are refugees and live in exile.<br /><br />It appears that our message last Saturday fell on deaf ears. The Palestinian leadership is still moving forward with negotiations, despite the Israeli occupation’s expansion of illegal colonies in the West Bank, the continued siege on Gaza, and Israel’s continued practice of the crime of Apartheid against Palestinians.<br /><br />Nevertheless, we have not been deterred from acting. We demand the Palestinian leadership bears its responsibility in defying all sources of foreign pressure to return to negotiations. <b>Instead of pursuing negotiations at this moment in time, we are in need of a resistance-based strategy. A strategy that begins with the unification of Palestinians and the political, economic, cultural and academic boycott of the apartheid state of Israel. We unequivocally demand that our leadership invests in its people, because when unified, together we can alter the balance of power to our favor.</b><br /><br /><b>On Saturday, January 21st at 1 PM</b> we will again protest at the doorsteps of the Presidential Compound (Muqata’a). <b>Join us on Saturday, and let us together stand tall with dignity and full of pride until our demands are met.</b><br /><br />Show your support by signing the following petition against negotiations:<br /><a href="http://www.aredaonline.com/petition_against_negotiations">http://www.aredaonline.com/petition_against_negotiations</a><br /><br />Palestinians for Dignity</span></blockquote><br /><br />Palestinian tweeps on the ground will be using the hashtag #No2negotiations for live updates.Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-49501715721920549262012-01-16T22:25:00.004+02:002012-01-16T22:36:14.730+02:00Open Letter from Taiseer Khatib: Raise Your Voice Against Apartheid<a href="http://abirkopty.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/47423505_family466.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 466px; height: 250px;" src="http://abirkopty.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/47423505_family466.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I’m bringing here a letter written and distributed by <a href="http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10142284-israeli-high-court-keeps-israeli-palestinian-spouses-apart?GoogleStatID=21http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/1.1615220">Taiseer Khatib</a>, from Akka (Acre).Taiseer, his wife Lana and two children, Yusra (3) and Adnan (4), are one of the thousands families that will have to live apart, after the approval of Israel high court’s <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/supreme-court-upholds-ban-on-palestinians-living-with-israeli-spouses-1.406812?localLinksEnabled=false">approval to the racist Citizenship Law</a>. They face now a real and ‘legalized’ threat of deportation of Lana back to Jenin.<br /><br /><blockquote>Dear friends,<br /><br />Those who are here and those who are spread all over the world, those in academic institutions, political parties, theatres, human rights organisations, students, workers, and everyone of You, please consider this email addressed to you personally.<br /><br />Some of you might be aware of the latest racist Israeli supreme court decision from yesterday, that threatens to separate tens of thousands of Palestinian family members apart. This decision in addition to 25 laws and laws proposals are designed to segregate and discriminate against the Palestinian minority inside Israel. These racist laws have one goal: to bring to a situation where this state, should be only for a Pure race: Jewish! The deportation can start with Palestinian spouses today who are married to Palestinians inside Israel, but tomorrow it will be the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Israel, if not all !<br /><br />Yes, i feel very pessimistic! Yes i feel that a deportation of my wife and its separation from me and from my children is real ! It is a black day in my life and the life of tens of thousands of people in my situation! Deportation had not only become real but legalized!<br /><br />I am writing to ask you to act in the name of humanity and human rights, which the Israeli supreme court had legalized a war against them, as it declared the war against us, we the “other”, it gave the green light for all security services to act in the name of LAW! The supreme court was the last shelter for defending human rights in Israel, and now it had shut its doors to Rights, and kept the Humans (Palestinians) out without any protection.<br /><br />Below you will find some articles explaining the current racist law and also some articles or interviews with me and my family, there is also the TV interview (in Hebrew). Please contribute your part in fighting Israeli racism and spread the word, articles, and all what you find in regard of this law to ALL your friends in your Email, social networks, facebeook, twiter, and others, in order to raise the awareness mainly in Europe and in US to what is going on inside the so called “Democratic” state of Israel. Please do not let it stop by your email, spread and make the voice loud against this racist and discriminative actions!<br /><br />To all of you who sent me emails, called, and express their solidarity with our case, i would like to say thank you, (especially my Israeli friends who denounced the law and told me, that the law doesn’t speak in their name, and that they feel ashamed of such a decision, for expressing solidarity with yourselves in the first level, and with me and my family on the second level, Racism against the Palestinians inside Israel, will not stop by them, it will continue further to the Jewish Israeli society, as it is becoming clear in the last period.<br /><br />I will end my email with a citation from the great intellectual Said:<br /><br />Remember the solidarity shown to Palestine here and everywhere… and remember also that there is a cause to which many people have committed themselves, difficulties and terrible obstacles notwithstanding. Why? Because it is a just cause, a notable ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights.”<br /><br />Edward Said<br /><br />I hope this just cause can get to as much as people as you can, as it is one of the last ways of fighting fascist decisions, raise your voice against the Apartheid!<br /><br />Yours<br /><br />Taiseer</blockquote><blockquote><br /></blockquote><a href="http://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Channel-2-Newscast/Article-71da7677c33d431017.htmarticles">http://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Channel-2-Newscast/Article-71da7677c33d431017.htm<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.adalah.org/eng/">http://www.adalah.org/eng/<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=451877">http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=451877<br /></a><br /><a href="http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10142284-israeli-high-court-keeps-israeli-palestinian-spouses-apart?GoogleStatID=21http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/1.1615220">http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10142284-israeli-high-court-keeps-israeli-palestinian-spouses-apart</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/supreme-court-thrusts-israel-down-the-slope-of-apartheid-1.407056">http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/supreme-court-thrusts-israel-down-the-slope-of-apartheid-1.407056</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DBCE686F-A556-42C4-9E2C-3696981F07AA.htm?GoogleStatID=21">http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DBCE686F-A556-42C4-9E2C-3696981F07AA.htm?GoogleStatID=21</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/1.1615220">http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/1.1615220<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.mideastyouth.com/2012/01/13/israeli-court-ruling-heightens-fears-for-palestinian-spouses-of-arab-citizens/">http://www.mideastyouth.com/2012/01/13/israeli-court-ruling-heightens-fears-for-palestinian-spouses-of-arab-citizens/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.arabhra.org/hraadmin/ProjectSpecific/NewsletterEmailContent.aspx?articles=1065&SelectedLanguage=1">http://www.arabhra.org/hraadmin/ProjectSpecific/NewsletterEmailContent.aspx?articles=1065&SelectedLanguage=1</a><br /><br /><a href="http://arabs48.com/?mod=articles&ID=88434">http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2012/01/120112_israel_palestine_citizenship.shtml<br />http://arabs48.com/?mod=articles&ID=88434</a><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>h/t to @AbirKopty</i></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-33697707858076211802012-01-15T19:44:00.008+02:002012-01-16T22:24:42.963+02:00Palestinians for Dignity: Saeb Erekat, Go Home<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DIcCxJZ8MDc/TxMVeJrNBvI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/6jqkRLQuT0o/s1600/zammir.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DIcCxJZ8MDc/TxMVeJrNBvI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/6jqkRLQuT0o/s400/zammir.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697921561291196146" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGHS5fxbiV9ie4tKJiK30PSq9I8gnHBeXmd4aRRGtI1xhQM7ieF2z-1ju_9Wwptd7lo8fESyAOKXIG_5hfhEDw0Q9M37anRT22hCPZ4zwrLpLbPangOy8xbgBYj7MWLlx-2Rb6QEvkg7U/s1600/zammir2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGHS5fxbiV9ie4tKJiK30PSq9I8gnHBeXmd4aRRGtI1xhQM7ieF2z-1ju_9Wwptd7lo8fESyAOKXIG_5hfhEDw0Q9M37anRT22hCPZ4zwrLpLbPangOy8xbgBYj7MWLlx-2Rb6QEvkg7U/s400/zammir2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697921779011138722" /><br /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IMu_uK9czBg/TxMV1bKMpzI/AAAAAAAAAIo/IbfFU_KZyP0/s1600/zammir3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IMu_uK9czBg/TxMV1bKMpzI/AAAAAAAAAIo/IbfFU_KZyP0/s400/zammir3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697921961121589042" /></a><br /><i>As posted on <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/palestinians-dignity-saeb-erekat-go-home">Electronic Intifada</a></i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>More pictures can be <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.348175538526090.92414.136633479680298&type=1">found here</a><br /></i><div><br /></div><div>Under the pouring rain, Palestinians for the first time took part in a protest right in front of the Palestinian Authority compound Al-Muqata’a, which has become to symbolize, as one of the more lavish foreign funded state-building projects, an illusion of authority under the Israeli occupation. In her article describing the PA’s <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/muqata-facade-palestinian-state">spatial organization of state structures</a>, Linda Tabar quotes an official who describes the Muqata’a as an image “of grandeur that creates the impression we have a state.”</div><div><br /></div>The protest, organized by a group of young Palestinians who called themselves Palestinians for Dignity, was against the farcical “negotiations about negotiations” currently taking place in Amman, Jordan between the PA represented by unelected chief negotiator Sa’eb Erekat (who incidentally, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011212135152355248.html">resigned his post after it was revealed that the Palestine Papers were leaked from his office</a> in 2011) and the Israeli delegation, headed by Yitzhak Molcho. A third meeting is expected to run today between the two sides, after the first two were conducted last week on January 3rd and January 10th respectively.<div><br />From the <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/palestinian-youth-call-ramallah-protest-against-israeli-palestinian-negotiations">statement released by the youth</a>, the ongoing negotiations have once again commenced without any pre-conditions:</div><div><br /><blockquote>Counting on the same fruitless and failing process of the past two decades, the negotiations contradict past PLO statements that have explicitly rejected negotiations until settlement expansion is frozen, borders are clearly referenced and defined, and the fulfillment of the release of all political prisoners.</blockquote></div><div><br />It has become increasingly obvious that the PA and its leadership have stopped pretending to sugarcoat their salient acts with their occupier, which does not reflect the interests of the Palestinians. In fact, twenty years of failed negotiations have only made the life of the average Palestinian more miserable as a result of the enhanced state of occupation they live in, as the rapid land grabs and construction of settlements are implemented with the full knowledge and even <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353631">blessing of the negotiating team</a> of the PA.</div><div><br />The statement continues, </div><div><br /><blockquote>Palestinian youth are fed up with illegitimate representation, a national consensus that does not unite them, and of a future state that does not guarantee the rights of the majority of the Palestinian people, in specific, Palestinian refugees in exile. We demand a strategy that is supported by political, economic, academic and cultural boycott of the Zionist entity, the strengthening of the steadfastness of the people, and preparation for direct elections to the Palestinian National Council (PNC) representative of Palestinians across the world.</blockquote><br />The protest didn’t say silent for long. In my opinion, Palestinian silent protests are an oxymoron. Pretty soon, abetted by the expressive posters, vigorous chants were shouted by those in attendance who numbered around one hundred. Plainclothes police once again “infiltrated” the protest, but their faces were familiar to many who were involved in the now obsolete March 15th youth movement.</div><div><br />Chants called for Saeb Erekat to go home, and asserted that the right of return was not for sale. One variation was that the blood of the martyrs was not going to be sold out. Negotiations and normalization were used interchangeably in the chants as in this context they were really synonymous after all. One popular chant was “Right of Return, Freedom, National Dignity/ عودة, حرية, كرامة وطنية” </div><div><br />The plainclothes police moved to the other side of the street, the side of the Muqata’a. They watched us from inside their cars and a couple even took pictures, which forcibly reminded me of the Israeli army during the weekly protests in the village of Nabi Saleh who carry out the same act. After an hour and a half, the protest was over, but not before the youth shouted that if the message today wasn’t heard by the PA leadership, then there will be more protests to follow.</div><div><br />Shortly afterwards, one young man from Tulkarem who participated in the protest (and who prefers to remain anonymous) was attacked and arrested by the PA security forces. His arrest lasted for two hours, including an hour of interrogation about the names of the people who were chanting against the PA.</div><div><br />There is no longer a psychological barrier of fear against the Palestinian Authority and its security forces. Their interests are to consolidate their elitist status while the majority of the Palestinians continue to suffer from a two-tiered tyranny: The Israeli occupation and its bestial policies, and the suppression and stifling rule of the main Palestinian parties, Fateh in the shape of the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We will not stand by anymore on the sidelines, as outdated so-called representatives negotiate our rights away with the same side that is continuously oppressing us. It is simply ludicrous, shameful, and outright embarrassing that these negotiations still occupy a space in the Palestinian political spectrum. Only free men and women negotiate, and for all their money, expensive cars and villas, and security coordinated travel permits, the Palestinian leadership is still at the end of the day occupied by Israel and its whims.<br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>UPDATE: The incident with the arrested young man, <a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/62841">Said al-Edreesy</a>, is now public</div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-76946429914184061942012-01-03T19:30:00.005+02:002012-01-08T00:03:52.925+02:00Nabi Saleh's Balloon Release for Gaza<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQYf6nsLSgZlsmJEcQ6PGBlm7bp06bFHHdvjmBUxjoDd6p2cvnsc5-CPqKqs54UFif5DAGD9-29iizMaFXxyMHF8rJFZNNSfftchYdCx88O2u4IXvnwad1ujpQBXZ4IvrQ_CZtdEbChsW/s1600/ballloons.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQYf6nsLSgZlsmJEcQ6PGBlm7bp06bFHHdvjmBUxjoDd6p2cvnsc5-CPqKqs54UFif5DAGD9-29iizMaFXxyMHF8rJFZNNSfftchYdCx88O2u4IXvnwad1ujpQBXZ4IvrQ_CZtdEbChsW/s400/ballloons.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693472437904550194" /></a><i> Photo by Oren Ziv/ActiveStills.org</i><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>My friend Amra Amra informed me that the Chicago Movement for Palestinian Rights were planning on commemorating the third year since the massacre on Gaza, which Israel dubbed as Operation Cast Lead, by <a href="http://smpalestine.com/2011/12/31/lifting-spirits-chicagos-balloon-release-for-gaza/">releasing balloons</a> with the name of <a href="http://palestineyouthvoice.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/victims-of-the-aggression-on-gaza-dec-27-08-jan-18-09/">each child killed</a> attached- a total of 344. One of the coordinators asked if we could possibly emulate the same action in Palestine.<br /><br />After some initial planning, we decided to take the balloons to the village of Nabi Saleh, as opposed to Qalandiya checkpoint, which separates the rest of the West Bank from Jerusalem. It was easier to coordinate with the villagers and a lot less hassle, especially on such short notice.<br /><br />Friday morning came. Along with a handful of other friends/activists, we got the balloons and managed to stuff them all in the back of a ford (mini-bus). As we got closer to Nabi Saleh, I was sick with worry about what the soldiers manning the yellow gate at the entrance to the village would do once they saw the balloons. I was scared they would open the back door and let the balloons fly away. I reached behind me and gripped the strings tightly. From experience, I know their maliciousness knows no mercy. We decided on a story: We were going to Beit Rima (the village just after Nabi Saleh) for a kid's birthday party. I nicknamed it, Operation Susu's Birthday.<br /><br />It was such a ridiculous situation. Ridiculous that we should be holding our breath just because of some balloons, ridiculous that these young soldiers had the power to do anything to us, ridiculous in that we were sitting uncomfortably with the balloons batting our faces, necks and shoulders, threatening to engulf us. This is occupation, when the gravity and tension weigh up against the absurdities and unnecessities, creating a split personality-one full of apprehension and anger, the other just seconds away from a good dose of hysterical hyena laughing.<br /><br /><br />Thankfully, nothing happened. They demanded to see the ID of the driver and the person sitting in the passenger seat. They opened the door and peered at each and every one of us. One soldier said, "Balloon?" but we ignored him. Then we passed. We all breathed audibly. We jumped out of the ford and walked through the village with the balloons. Kids outside in the cold morning were exclaiming, "I want a balloon!" We told them to come find us just before the protest started, still a few hours away. We went to one of the welcoming houses, and downstairs inside a room we got busy with work. We cut the papers with the names of the children of Gaza killed into strips, hole-punched them, and tied them to each balloon string. There were a lot of pictures taken, kids were careful not to be overly exuberant, and we had a great time. The kids asked what the strips of paper were, and we told them about the commemoration of the Gaza massacre.<br /><br />One medic, a regular in Nabi Saleh who's well-known by the villagers, took a stab at black humor. "So when you all get killed," he told the children in the room, "We'll remember your names by flying some balloons."<br />"Don't joke about this kind of stuff," I snapped. The kids however wanted to know more.<br />"Is Mustafa's name tied to one of the balloons?" 7 year old Rand asked, referring to Mustafa Tamimi, the young man killed after an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at his face a few weeks ago.<br />"Mustafa was 28 years old," the medic replied. "Did he look like a kid to you?"<br /><br />We talked about what was the best way to include the balloons in the protest. Should we have the kids go down the road in front of the soldiers before the demonstration began? The soldiers wouldn't fire tear gas at them, right? <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/flying-kites-tear-gas/10128">Of course they would.</a> We've all witnessed it more than once. The army fires tear gas at children singing and chanting. The parents shook their heads. It's safer if the kids were with the protest crowd; that way at least there will be people to protect and shield them once the Israeli occupation forces intensified their sadistic suppression of the villagers' basic rights.<br /><br />We decided to visit another favorite house of ours in the village. As we were making our way down the road we watched powerless, meters away, as two Israeli jeeps came hurtling up the road, before it kidnapped two international activists who were taking pictures of the village and of where Mustafa had fell.<br /><br />Protest time: Amra and I got the balloons, and I gave one to a kid so he could entice the other ones to come our way. They came running. They were so enthusiastic. It was perfect timing, as the demo passed by and swept them along. We went down the street chanting. We turned the bend and continued to where the soldiers with their jeeps and skunk truck were waiting for us. The kids were interspersed in the crowd, some in the front, most in the middle. We waited for the sky to rain tear gas. A few canisters were fired (a few being abnormal; usually dozens are fired from the onset). Instead, the skunk truck rumbled forward, its nozzle spraying that nasty stuff. We all ran back, and I noticed all the kids had scampered, using their common sense. Their ages were between 14 to 5 years old.<div><a href="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/405602_339161516094159_136633479680298_1353907_444915834_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 539px;" src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/405602_339161516094159_136633479680298_1353907_444915834_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><br />We didn't get to release the balloons all at the same time like planned, but it didn't matter. I realized how silly this part of the idea was. The soldiers don't differentiate between child, man, or woman. Getting the children together in a group to release the balloons at the same time in front of the soldiers was indeed a powerful and symbolic image, yet owing to the aggressive reality on the ground, it was not a feasible idea. It was impossible to replicate an identical event amidst the IOF, dodging tear gas canisters fired at our bodies, and running away from the skunk water. Still, the most important thing was that we got our message across, and that the kids had a blast.<br /><br />That's about how far the balloons went..the demo was ugly with a lot of tear gas, multiple arrests, skunk water sprayed numerously, and a couple of violent house raids which terrified the children inside. Sometimes I'd look up, chest constricting, and see the clouds of tear gas hanging over our heads, other times it would be clumps of balloons floating away. It made me think of ten year old <a href="https://www.popularstruggle.org/content/niilin-commemorates-three-years-slaying-eleven-year-old-protester-ahmad-mousa">Ahmad Mousa from Nilin</a>, shot and murdered by Israel in 2008. It made me think of 5 year old Jana singing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3m4JactE-I">Bombing Gas</a> to the tune of Jingle Bells.<br /><br />We don't teach our children to hate.<br /><br />That's all.</div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-85796916197578326412012-01-01T21:26:00.005+02:002012-01-01T21:43:46.309+02:00Happy New YearI don't know what I can write about the year 2011 that hasn't been written about here on the blog. My articles started to get published, I graduated, I found work, I met the most amazing, passionate young people who are more than friends and which our shared experiences created an unbreakable special bond, I fell in love with a whole village and its inhabitants, I witnessed the murder of a young man by the Israeli occupation, I carried home with me the disgusting skunk smell, I've laughed and cried with strangers, and so on.<div><br /></div><div>A new year doesn't mean much to me. It's just another day in the calendar, always on its cyclic move. I haven't been able to write beautiful posts about how this year personally affected me like how my dear friends have in <a href="http://palestineyouthvoice.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%83-%D9%88%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B%D8%9F/">this one</a> or <a href="http://abirkopty.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/goodbye-2011-welcome-2012/#more-646">that</a>. I can however say with full confidence, this is just the beginning. It's only the start. Our voices have reached out to so many. And we are such few in number. There is reason to be optimistic, reason to be hopeful, reason to believe my generation WILL make a change.<br /><br />May 2012 usher in a stronger permanent wave of popular resistance, an actual representative Palestinian government, the irrelevance of Hamas and Fateh, more BDS successes, the elimination of normalization events, the release of all Palestinian prisoners, justice to Mustafa Tamimi's family and the thousands before him, the right of return for the millions of Palestinian refugees, and accountability that will bring Israel down to its knees. Happy New Year! </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnEPYlDNfW5awlPHBCG_BUG7paec7Ir1FIiHrdzUFYv410Acel5vV3dfh_x3fRWcEb-sb23JNeUDWcM-RioCW2BF_ljSTcGHyK-MjJ19hMLoIwODGY0d_hbC2reT5QJTkMUwu4woqve0s/s1600/newyear.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnEPYlDNfW5awlPHBCG_BUG7paec7Ir1FIiHrdzUFYv410Acel5vV3dfh_x3fRWcEb-sb23JNeUDWcM-RioCW2BF_ljSTcGHyK-MjJ19hMLoIwODGY0d_hbC2reT5QJTkMUwu4woqve0s/s400/newyear.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692750540052991186" /></a><br /></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 12px;"><br /></span></span></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-36990780166437578842011-12-19T22:18:00.002+02:002011-12-20T09:53:39.149+02:00Memories of the First Intifada<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><i>I interviewed my strong wonderful mother <u>i</u><a href="http://lifeonbirzeitcampus.blogspot.com/2011/12/24-years-since-first-intifada.html">n response to #Intifada1</a> </i><br /><br />"We lived in a state of normalization. We had settlers coming to buy from Palestinian grocery stores. It was like we accepted the occupation. The occupation would always take and take and take, but there wasn't a strong enough reaction from the Palestinians. That is, until the intifada happened."<br /><br />This is how Mama starts off reminiscing about the first intifada, which exploded on December 9th twenty-four years ago. Her eyes are bright, and her voice is excitedly animated as she recalls random memories of the first three years of the intifada, which she witnessed from living in the Khan Younis refugee camp.<br /><br />My mother got married and moved from Ramallah to the Gaza strip where my dad's family were. In refugee camps, the action was always brewing due to a number of elements. People in refugee camps generally suffer more because of the memories of dispossession coupled with their current cramped and squalid living conditions weigh heavily on their shoulders. The refugees and their descendants live with the knowledge of having a bleak future, so even though resisting Israel by staging demonstrations, rock throwing, and spraying graffiti on buildings elicited a strong and disproportionate reaction from the Israeli Occupation Forces (Yitzhak Rabin's <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/force-might-and-beatings-indelible-images-first-intifada">Bone Breaking policy</a> comes to mind), the general attitude among these Palestinians was, "We already have it bad, how worse could it get?"<br /><br />Palestinians living in the cities had relatively more stable lives, so there was a lot more to lose. As Mama put it, "في المدن كان الخوف اكثر ولكن التضحية اقل"<br /><br />Mama kept emphasizing over and over how the intifada was a true popular uprising in every sense of the word. "It united people. Every house shared the same experience; every family had a martyr, a prisoner, an injured person. The best thing about the Intifada was that it broke the fear barrier and ended the barefaced normalization."<br /><br />"Everyone would participate," she continued. "Everyone! Men, women, children were all seen on the streets demonstrating. There was a harmonious unification of all the political factions. Statements would be released in the name of all factions, and they would all be in agreement about the time of strikes and protests."<br /><br />She remembers how at first, the Israeli soldiers would walk around in groups of three, four, or five. Once a soldier walked astray from his group and found himself inside a chicken coop. He was petrified, and literally pissed himself from fear. From that day on, there were now twelve soldiers in one group. </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on">Arrests were widepsread and common. One uncle got arrested once, my youngest uncle twice, and my dad three times. One of those arrests came three days after my brother was born. I asked Mama how badly that affected her, in her delicate position.</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on">She looked at me increduously. "I had just given birth, I was still in pain, what was I supposed to do? I told your dad 'God be with you' and that was that."<br /><br />I pressed her to divulge some personal experiences. She was silent for a moment, before suddenly bursting out laughing.<br /><br />"One time a group of soldiers barged into your grandparents' house and began asking each of your uncles what they did for a living. When they got to your father he replied, 'I sell chickens at the souk.' I wanted to laugh so badly. They believed him and thankfully left without destroying anything. They were known for going inside the kitchen and spilling the olive oil on the floor, mixing sugar with salt, ripping open the bags of flour...your grandmother and I were each wearing a <i>dayir </i>[a full black skirt with deep pockets] to hide all our gold in."<br /><br />"We were under curfew so many times. The soldiers would come rumbling in their tanks, not jeeps, and the whole house would shake like a leaf. They would announce the curfew in the early hours of the morning, always coupled with the foulest language ever. You son of a... and Your mother's..."<br /><br />I always find it a bit rich for my parents to stir up a World War III at home every time I announce my decision to go to the village of Nabi Saleh the next day for their weekly protests. They weren't some squares quaking from fear during the intifada. When Mama was 8 months pregnant with my older brother, she walked into the Nasser Hospital in the hopes of glimpsing those who were martyred or injured on that day. Doctors thought she was there to give birth but she shook her head and said, "No, no. I just want to have a look."<br /><br />I asked her if she could envisage another true popular uprising, another intifada. It doesn't make sense to me, how twenty four years later we are still more occupied than ever before and living under the most atrocious conditions. Of course, Salam Fayyad's economic normalization under the guise of "state-building institutions" is partly to blame, along with the Palestinian Authority's collaborative and corrupt nature and Hamas' self-centered sanctimonious interests. Before launching into yet another diatribe about the dangerous failure of this so-called Palestinian leadership, I'll end with Mama's answer.<br /><br />"Listen, after the on-going Arab revolutions, anything is possible. I for one had no hope in Egyptians revolting on a mass scale. But they did. Then I shared in the opinion that the Syrians were too depoliticized and wouldn't revolt, but they did. We had a huge chance of another intifada during the Gaza massacre in 08/09. But the PA brutally suppressed us. It just goes to show you that everyone cares only about the seat they hold. But a day will come, soon enough." </div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-27258568067689660342011-12-15T22:29:00.002+02:002011-12-15T22:40:38.266+02:00To Mustafa's MotherBelow is a letter written by one of the organizers of the Nabi Saleh popular protests, Bassem Tamimi. Bassem has been behind Israeli bars for the past nine months on ridiculous charges, and wrote this letter to the mother of Mustafa Tamimi, the martyr who was shot from a very close distance by a tear gas canister in his face a week ago.<br /><br /><a href="http://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/6485715199_d9c64f43ab_b3.jpg?w=200&h=301" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="http://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/6485715199_d9c64f43ab_b3.jpg?w=200&h=301" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate.<br />O beautiful mothers who have waited for their sons to return,<br />My beautiful sisters, which gave to the country what is most dear to the heart,<br />O most beautiful women dressed in mourning cloth,<br />For what do you want to sing and cry, what do you want of respect, loyalty, and order,<br />For when he gave the most precious, when the tender met the land’s call,<br />With tournament and sacrifice,<br />His soul went up to the heavens in splendor.<br />For this is the way of the free among the strain of the martyrs,<br />Of those who proceeded on the altar of freedom and redemption for Palestine.<br />For our belle Palestine the spirit pays a tribute and drenches the land with blood.<br />We comfort you and mourn you because you left like folding clouds in the sky,<br />So be our symbol who we seek its light.<br />Perhaps, my dearest sister, perhaps you are grasped in the perturbing sadness and in the numbness wounds,<br />Our blood defiled above the ground is a rose shining from behind the blockade,<br />A rose that lights the way for us to renew our path.<br />Mustafa’s blood writes; on the ground pregnant with the beloved; the opening anthem,<br />It is for Palestine that martyr fell after martyr, and when his hand captured the stone of the intifada (uprising) and victory,<br />The spirit of Umm Nizar ululated and Bakr sang.<br />We wont write about him or enrich him. As the doors of the heart leading to him and the reluctance of his songs with their hopes and aspirations announces his presence in us, and seek our presence in him.<br />On the walls we see his leaps,<br />On the ground we trace his footsteps,<br />In the fields we hear his whispering cry followed by a blessed stone that calls upon him,<br />We will remember him and will not forget him as he enriches us and we don’t enrich him.<br />God will bring him closer and purify him and grant him long life.<br />On our land pigmented with blood, in the village of redemption, the town of martyrs, the village of Nabi Saleh, the intifada of loyalty (uprising) opens the death laden.<br />Barbarians scatter snipers, invaders of death on the place and on the living,<br />To steal life and spread grief.<br />Earth groaned, when the murderers instilled the gas canister in Mustafa’s fragile flesh.<br />Leading his soul to the sky, to befriend the companions and prophets.<br />The seventh sky lights up and our mother, earth opens her heart to embrace his pure body to scent its ground with his blood.<br />On this day resistance is announced on the slopes, on the hills singing songs of revolutionaries for the land,<br />The voice announcing “we die for our people to live, Long live Palestine!”.<br />Do not shed tears Umm Mustafa, his soul embraces us to the spectra of freedom,<br />Through his eyes we will look on the horizon to our victory, the victory of blood over the sword. Dearest sister, it’s not easy or easy to self stand in such a situation, but with patience and faith you will come out from the circle of grief to reverence and honor that befit the presence of a martyr. So sleep in the skies Mustafa, and send Umm Nizar my greeting and tell her verily here we stay, like our olives trees resisting until we continue to be. Until we write the statement of victory, of a long desired life – humanitarian up to all the meanings of living of freedom, democracy, justice, human dignity and peace.<br />‘Peace be upon you the day you were born, the day you departed and the day you will be alive again’.<br />Greetings of peace to your mother and your father.<br />With warmth in my heart I dedicate this to you and to them.<br />Bassem Tamimi<br />Ofer prison.<br /><br /><br /><br />إلى آم المصطفى<br />بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم<br />يا أجمل الأمهات التي انتظرت ابنها وعاد يا أجمل الأخوات التي أعطت للوطن مهجة الفؤاد يا أجمل النساء التي ما نزوت في ثياب الحداد لكي ما تشائين من الغناء ومن البكاء لكي ما تشائين من الاحترام والوفاء ولكي ما تشائين من المديح ومن الثناء فحين أعطى أجزل العطاء لبى للأرض النداء بالبطولة والفداء فصعدت روحه إلى العلياء في بهاء فهذا نهج الأحرار من سلالة الشهداء من سبقوه ع…لى مذبح الحرية والفداء لا اجل فلسطيننا الحسناء تدفع الروح مهرا وتسقي الأرض بالدماء فلنا فيك العزاء لأنك رحلت كالغيم<br />الملفع في السماء فكن شراعنا الذي نلتمس به الضياء<br />.<br />لعلك يا أخت الروح في يقضة الحزن وغفوة الجراح ودمنا المستباح فوق الأرض وردة تلمع من خلف الحصار يضئ لنا الطريق لنجدد المسار فدم المصطفى يكتب على الأرض الحبلى بالأحباب الإحياء سفرا يقرأ فيه افتتاح النشيد فلأجل فلسطين سقط من الشهيد تلو الشهيد وحين قبضت كفه على حجرا الانتفاضة والنصر زغردت له روح ام نزار وغنى بكر لن نكتب عنه أو نرثيه فأبواب القلب تفضى إليه وتردد أغانيه وتحمل أماله وأمانيه تعلن حضوره فينا وتبحث عن حضورنا فيه فنرى على السور قفزته وعلى للأرض خطوته ونسمع في المدى صرخته حين يتبعه حجرا مباركا ينشده ويناديه سنذكره ولن ننساه فهو الذي يرثينا ولا نرثيه فالله يقربه<br />ويصطفيه وامتداد الحياة يجزيه<br />.<br />على راضنا المخضبة بدمنا في قرية الفداء بلدة الشهداء النبي صالح انتفاضة الوفاء تفتح كوة من حُسن الموت المحمل برابرة العصر<br />ليوزع قناصة الغزاة الموت على المكان والإنسان ليهب الحياة وترسيخ المعاناة تراب يئن يخضبه دم مصطفى حين يغرس ألقتله قنبلة الغاز في لحمه الطري فتصعد روحه إلى العلياء رفيق الصديقين والأنبياء يضئ سمائنا السابعة وتفتح أمنا الأرض قلبها لا احتضان طهر جسده لتعطر التراب من مسك دمه وفي يومه صهلت جيادنا المسرجة بالمقاومة على الروابي والسفوح تغني للأرض أغاني الثوار وتعلن بصوت دمه نموت ليعيش شعبنا وتحيا فلسطين<br />لا تبكيه يا أم مصطفى فروحه تأخدنا لنعانق أطياف حريتنا الحائرة ونطل من فضاء عينيه على أفق انتصارنا انتصار الدم على السيف فيا أخت الروح ليس الأمر سهلا ولا هينا على النفس الوقوف في مثل هذا الموقف ولكن بالصبر والإيمان نخرج من دائرة الحزن والفجيعة إلى مستوى الإجلال والإكرام الذي يليق بحضرة الدم والشهداء فنم في عليائك قرير العين يا حمامة سلامنا وأقرئ آم نزار مني السلام واخبرها إنا باقون هنا كأشجار زيتوننا نقاوم حتى نستمر في إن نكون ولنكتب في الأحمر القاني بيان انتصارنا للحياة المشتهاة التي نستحقها من بابها الإنساني صعودا إلى كل المعاني الحية من الحرية<br />والديمقراطية والعدالة والكرامة الإنسانية والسلام .<br />سلام عليك يوم ولدت ويوم رحلت ويوم تبعث حيا والسلام.<br />وسلام على أمك وأبيك ودفئ قلبي اهديهم وأهديك<br />.<br />باسم التميمي<br />سجن عوفرLinahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-21894589263125869502011-12-14T19:12:00.001+02:002011-12-14T19:14:18.510+02:00Solidarity with Razan Ghazzawi<div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">This is a statement by Palestinian bloggers and activists supporting all political prisoners of the Syrian Revolution, it reads:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">We, a group of Palestinian bloggers and activists raise our voices loud and clear in solidarity with all the prisoners of the Great Syrian Revolution. We stand with all the prisoners, activists, artists, bloggers and others, all who are shouting in the streets or on various platforms demanding freedom and justice, while decrying the huge amount on injustice and oppression practiced by the Syrian regime for more than four decades.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">We issue this statement in solidarity with all those Syrian activists, and with the blogger Razan Ghazzawi who was arrested on December 4th, on the Jordanian-Syrian crossing border. Razan was adamant in her support for the Palestinian cause. She was the first to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian bloggers who were not granted a visa to enter Tunisia in order to participate in the Arab Bloggers Conference. Razan posted a blog in 2008 during the massacre on Gaza titled, “The Idea of Solidarity with Gaza.” She wrote, “I understand when Cubans, Brazilians, and Pakistanies stand in solidarity with Gaza. But what I do not understand is when Syrians, Lebanese, Jordanians, and also Palestinians in exile stand in solidarity. What is the meaning of solidarity in this context?”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Not only do we stand in solidarity with Razan and the other prisoners, but we also affirm that our destiny is one, our concerns are one, and our struggle is one. Palestine can never be free while the Arab people live under repressive and reactionary regimes. The road to a free Palestine comes with a free Syria, in which Syrians live in dignity. Freedom to all of the prisoners in the Syrian regime’s cells. Long live the Syrian Revolution, free from dictatorship, sectarianism, and foreign intervention.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Signatories:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Abir Kopty<br />Abrar Agil<br />Ahmed Fahoum<br />Ahmed Nimer<br />Alaa Abu Diab<br />Ali Abunimah<br />Ali AlMasri<br />Ali Bari<br />Amal Murtaja<br />Amani Ighbaria<br />Amra Amra<br />Anas Hamra<br />Asmaa AlGhoul<br />Bashar Lubbad<br />Budour Hasan<br />Dalia Ghorab<br />Dalia Othman<br />Deema AlSaafin<br />Diana Alzeer<br />Doa Ali<br />Fidaa Abu Assi<br />Hala AlSafadi<br />Hamza Elbuhaisi<br />Hanaa Mahameed<br />Huwaida Arraf<br />Ebaa Rezeq<br />Irene Nasser<br />Jalal AbuKhater<br />Khaled AlShihabi<br />Linah AlSaafin<br />Maath Musleh<br />Maha Rezeq<br />Maisaa Azayzeh<br />Majd Kayyal<br />Mariam Al-Barghouti<br />Meera AlBaba<br />Mira Nabulsi<br />Mohamed Jaradat<br />Nader Al-Khuzundar<br />Nadine Darwish<br />Nalan Al Sarraj<br />Nihal ElAlami<br />Nisreen Mazzawi<br />Ola Anan<br />Osama Ghorab<br />Osama Shomar<br />Rasha Hilwi<br />Rowan Abu-Shahla<br />Saed Karzoun<br />Saleh Dawabsheh<br />Thameena Husary<br />Yusra Jamous</p></div><div></div>Linahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.com0