BDS: a Palestinian woman reaction on Isræls Naomi Chazan

By Samah Sabawi

Naomi Chazan, President of the new Israel (NIF) gave a speech in Marrickville NSW during her last Australian tour offers a criticism of the Palestinian civil society call for boycott divestments and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

Although she presented herself as a veteran peace activist, isrælske Chazan's mission was here in Australia allegedly promoting NIF. This is important because everything she said about the BDS should be understood within the framework of her mission – to collect funds and support and convince the Jews of the need to continue to invest in Israel through the NIF in Australia. This clear conflict of interest makes Chazans criticism of BDS far less credible.

Chazan named six reasons why she believed BDS was harmful:

BDS is not effective, because Israel has a very strong economy: South Africa's economy also upturn when the movement a boycott against the regime began in the late 1950s. Decades later the movement succeeded in bringing down the South African apartheid regime.

Many isrælske leaders, including Ehud Barak, Ben-Eliezer, Shimon Peres and others have already said that BDS is a ' strategic threat; ' what they mean of course is that it is a serious threat to the Isræl's system of occupation, legalized racial discrimination (equivalent to the UN definition of apartheid) and Denial of refugee rights. We need only look at millions of dollars the isrælske lobby groups in Western Nations, including Australia spending in efforts to sabotage the movement to know that it is actually effective. The fact that Chazan focused so much on the BDS in her Marrickville speech confirms this.

There is other evidence BDSS efficiency.

Deutsche Bahn withdrawal from isrælske rail project linking Tel Aviv with Jerusalem has been a turning point for the movement. It was the first time that a German Government-owned company withdrew from a isrælske project over concerns for violation of international law. The French company Veolia losses of billions of dollars worth of contracts due to his participation in illegal Jerusalem Light Rail project points also impressive success of BDS campaign, especially in Europe.

The rapidly growing list of superstars and prominent music bands heeding boycott of Israel makes Tel Aviv is very similar to the South African resort of Sun City during apartheid. The city was a key objective of the cultural boycott then.
University Johannesburg severance bond with Ben Gurion University of the latter's complicity in violating Palestinian rights is the most concrete victory to date for an academic boycott campaign.

And who have radical Trade Union support for BDS in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Belgium, India, Turkey and elsewhere.

BDS undermines the existence of the State of Israel: Requirements are clear – full equality in Israel for the Palestinian citizens of the State, an end to the occupation and an achievement of Isræls commitment to the refugees. If these demands are threatening to put a stop to Isræls existence, we have to ask what this really says about Israel?

A State that is truly democratic and built upon a foundation of Justice and equality, would not be threatened by demands for equality and an end to the occupation. Boycott does not put an end to South Africa's existence, they did not destroy it and certainly not ' delegitimize ' white: they only destroyed South Africa's system of injustice, inequality and racial discrimination.

BDS is actually "a code word for the one State solution" who defies isrælerne and Jews the right to self-determination: BDS does not aim for either a one or two State solution, but for Palestinian rights. One of these rights is for the Palestinians to be free in their own country without the yoke of isrælske occupation and system of racial discrimination. Whether it is in one State for two Nations or two sovereign, democratic States side by side has yet to be adopted. The movement is consistently neutral in this, regardless of the different personal political positions held by its various spokespeople.

BDS is counterproductive because it entrenches the victim mentality of those in Israel who believe that the whole world is against them, which inevitably forces right wing in Israel at the same time weakening the left: Right now, fanatical right takes over the entire isrælske society, but when boycott begin damage Isræls carefully nurtured public image, dissenting voices will become much more vocal, as happened in South Africa. Then, the current consensus in support of apartheid and colonial regime crack.

BDS is against academic freedom and singles out isrælske academics: Chazan is deliberately misleading in this respect. Like any relatively well-informed observer will know after seven years of the Palestinian academic boycott campaign and hundreds of articles written on it, the academic boycott is institutional in nature and therefore has never targeted individual isrælske academics. BDS has consistently been aimed against academic institutions because of their persistent and serious complicity in the planning, implementation and justifying Isræls violations of international law.

Chazans claims that isrælske academics are progressive and against the occupation has absolutely no foundation. In 2008, a petition drawn up by the four Jewish-isrælske academics calls the isrælske army to allow access at checkpoints by Palestinian academics and students to reach their educational institutions were distributed to all 9,000 isrælske scholars in the hope that most would sign this minimal expression of respect for academic freedom: only 407 out of 9,000 academic actually did.

BDS singles Israel: This criticism is so often quoted, that one has to ask about Chazan and other contamination in it want more action on other grounds or silence on the Palestinian cause. At least people are rising up against the tyrannical regimes and seeks change in almost every Arab State in the "Isræls neighborhoods." Some of these Governments are now subject to international sanctions, so why not Israel, which has for decades had defied the United Nations and violated international law?

An equally important question to ask here is, why not go for Palestinian rights? Yes, why are the Palestinians will be identified as the only people that can not be defended? We can speak for all other problems, so it is tendentious to propose to speak of Palestinian rights singles Israel unfairly.

The principled isrælske left the camp, which respects the equal rights for all Palestinian refugees to the UN-sanctioned rights and an end to colonial oppression (2004) should – and actually doing — invest his time challenging dets Government apartheid policies and the repression of the Palestinians instead of criticizing the Palestinian non-violent resistance model, which includes the BDS.

Chazans efforts to undermine the BDS must be seen in context. At the end of the day, Chazan going to Israel, where she is a privileged Jewish citizen with all his rights intact. She is part of and an enabler of establishment denies the Palestinians their basic rights and freedoms, and as such, she in a position to dictate to the Palestinians their methods match or act as gatekeeper for the international solidarity movement, do not preach to them what is allowed and what is not in standing with the Palestinians. As in all human struggle for freedom, justice and equality, to the right are those living behind the walls of the prerogatives, hindered by checkpoints and kept in captivity for the siege and military repression.

-Samah Sabawi is public advocate of Australian advocacy group Australians for Palestine. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

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Turkey's Gul: Hamas must recognise the Isræls right to exist (Reuters)

ISTANBUL (Reuters)-Turkey's President Abdullah Gul has urged the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas to recognise Israel's right to exist, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

In an interview a day after the United States's President Barack Obama gave a speech on the Middle East, yellow also hailed Obama's reference to the creation of a Palestinian State based on the Isræls the pre-1967 borders as "a very important step."

Turkey has considered Hamas as a key factor in the Middle East peace process, when it won the Palestinian elections in 2006.

Yellow said President Obama "has a point" when he said in his speech that Israel could not be expected to negotiate with a body that does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

Asked if he was willing to press Hamas on this issue, Gul said, "I have already advised them."

In a meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Ray in Ankara in 2006 Yellow said he told Ray, "you must be a rational" about recognise Israel's right to exist.

Gul said he believed Hamas was prepared to recognise Israel in pre-1967 borders, but want to happen at the same time with Isræls recognition of a Palestinian State.

Ankara's ties with former close ally Israel broke over its military operation in the Gaza Strip in 2008 and hostility was fueled by a isrælsk commando raid on the aid flotilla, which killed nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in May last year.

Turkey has demanded that Israel end its blockade of the Gaza Strip and its aggressive stance on the Palestinian issue has created tensions between Ankara and Washington.

The paper said Obama speech was interpreted by Turkish officials as a significant if nuanced change.

Yellow also welcome Obama promise on debt relief and aid to Egypt and Tunisia as they struggle in the wake of popular revolutions. But he said much larger scale "Marshall Plan" for the Middle East was necessary.

Such a fund should be run by the World Bank and drawing on contributions from countries in the region, as well as from traditional donors in the West, say yellow.

(Writing by Daren Butler)

 

Vittorio and Isræls attack on the intellectual Intifada

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By Lauren Booth
Additional Material; C Grayson
Additional research; Fouzi Slisli

The killing of Vittorio (Vik) Arrigoni in Gaza this week follows (too) closely, the murder of pro-Palestinian peace activist Juliano Mer Khamis in the West Bank. Juliano, 52, was shot dead outside the Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp on the West Bank on the 4th April. His documentary Arnas’s Children detailed the work of his mother in helping Palestinian children deal with the trauma of living under Occupation through the use of drama and self – expression.

Juliano untimely, bloody, end was one he had predicted three years ago on Israeli television.
Vittorio Arrigoni was found, this week, hung, by armed ‘fanatics’ in an apartment in Gaza. An end he would never, ever, have predicted.

There was worldwide condemnation for the killing of both men.

For friends of Vik, touched forever by his deep, smile filled voice, the pain of loss is made more acute by two factors. The first is the brutal manner of his death. For, Vik, was a gentle giant. A Samson in size and appearance, black curly hair about his rugged face. His arm muscles, there to scoop up a passing child, or wave the Palestinian flag at a moments notice, in the face of Israeli sniper fire, aimed at farmers attempting to harvest crops, or at fishing the coastal Gazan waters. That a man dedicated to non violent resistance should die in violence is bad enough.

Worse, far worse is this; that his avowed enemies the ‘Fascisti’ in Israel (as he would call the government there) seek to make political gains from a life lived in direct challenge to them. This, as much as the sight of that last, dreadful film showing his eyes taped and his face bruised, is a knife in the heart of all who loved or knew of him.

The headline ‘Italian peace activist killed by Palestinian extremists’ is an Israeli propagandists wet dream. A gift as potentially large in its political implications as the now inevitable retraction by the UN of the Goldstone report.

Why?

Two reasons. firstly, if nothing is done, and fast, Israel will use the momentum of these two machinated events, as an excuse to re-invade the Gaza Strip under the auspices of ‘terrorism and security’ issues.

Secondly, Israeli is seeking to end the growing momentum of the siege breaking movement and the increasing appeal of the ISM (International Solidarity Movement).

Which brings us to timing of both Juliano and Vittorio’s murders. Both men were respected for their creative work. Juliano, for inspiring a new generation of actors and writers in Jenin and for his film making on the subject of life under Occupation.  Vik for his award winning writings and broadcasts, on the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Both men were part of a new uprising, arguably, the most successful yet. The uprising that hurts Israel where it hurts most - in the TV studios of Europe and the US, right in the intelligentsia. Their impact on the Israel ‘fascisti’ machine was a phenomenon in the expanding worlds of twitter and facebook. They had voices like no others in this movement.

More, though. Vik was pivotal in the reformation of the ISM Gaza Group, the non violent resistance team, put on hold after the murders of two of its members by Israeli forces; Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie. After it became clear that Israel’s leaders had taken the decision not only not to ignore the human rights of internationals in the West Bank and Gaza (thus putting them on a par with Palestinians), but to actively target them. The ISM in Gaza took time to consider whether it could encourage, young activists to join them on the ever increasingly mission to accompany Gazans about their daily business. Human shield work. Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie’s deaths were part of a dedicated attack by Israel on the work of the increasingly effective ISM.

More recently, IOF commanders have been focusing their attention on the Freegaza Movements efforts to break the siege of Gaza by sea.

It is no coincidence then that both Juliano and Vittorio should die within two weeks. Both, at the hands of unknown Palestinian ‘cells.’ As they say on children’s TV - tell us boys and girls what’s wrong with this picture?

Israel’s supporters will doubtless feel affronted at the assertion that Vittorio was murdered by those almost certainly in the pay of the Jewish State. But they can’t have their dark ops cake and eat it too. Not this time. Too many of us have our eyes open to the filthy tactics employed by Israel every time they come under intellectual attack. And there is no doubt that Israeli Apartheid is losing traction by the day.

Still unsure who was behind Vittorio’s murder? Well, how often have the Israeli press lauded and applauded ‘covert ops’ in the Occupied Territories? Want some examples? Fine. In 1952, Shin Bet agents were sent undercover to spy inside Palestinian villages. Ten Jewish men assimilated into Arab communities in the early 1950s, marrying local women and starting families with them, were, all the while serving in the Shin Bet as "mistaarvim," literally- masqueraders. The men learned the Palestinian dialect, studied the Quran and espionage techniques in an Intelligence Corps base near Ramla. With a detailed cover story, they were sent into Palestinian villages and cities pretending to be refugees from the Nakba returning home.

Just this year, Israel has carried out an assassination in Dubai of a Hamas member (or as it was known in the British media - the ‘passports scandal’).

More recently, Mossad operatives have kidnapped a Palestinian engineer from the Ukraine, who is now, illegally held in an Israeli prison.

And what of the sadistic coercion that Palestinians with chronic illnesses have been subjected to by Shin Bet? Known in Gaza as treachery for treatment? A Palestinian patient requests a permit from the Israeli- Palestinian Civil Liaisons Department to be allowed to travel from Gaza to the West Bank or Israel for an operation. After exhausting efforts, patients receive permits and go to Erez. Prominent human rights centres report that Shin Bet officers, then attempt to coerce and entrap patients, to do dirty work for them in their home towns and villages in return for rapid and/or ongoing medial treatment.

Yes folks, spies-for-health.

Israel then, ‘has form’ when it comes to lying, murdering, and coercion, for its own ends.

As Hamas rounds up the perpetrators of this most recent, deadly crime, the Gaza grapevine is buzzing with the news that they will indeed be found to be, (as suspected from the get-go), Israeli collaborators.

Statements of denial from the ‘Salafis’ accused of the murder have already been issued. Despite the fact the Western media is still running with the story of their guilt.

There were statements from Tawid wal – Jihad and Ma’sadat al-Mujahedin  An excerpt from a statement read, “we strongly deny any responsibility for or connection to the kidnapping of the Italian (Vittorio Arrigoni)… Our statements are distributed exclusively through Shoumouk al – Islam, Attahadi Network and the Ansar al-Mujahideen Network…Any statement attributed to us that are not released through these channels, have nothing to do with us, even if they are published on Jihadi websites…”

So, who benefits from the killing of Vittorio Arrigoni? And what is the significance of the timing of his murder?

Israel.

Sure, the kidnappers’ video looked genuine at first. It had all the customary layout of the kind of ‘Jihadi’ videos that the tabloid press loves: the black flag of Islam, the Quranic verse in the introduction, footage of the kidnapped victim. But a small detail on the black flag, underneath the precious, Islamically untouchable phrase ‘There is No God, but God’ raises questions about the authenticity of the groups grasp on Islam. The extra words read something like “the Brigades of Muhammad Ibn Maslama.” This has been hard for experts to verify because the video is being systematically pulled off YouTube. But one thing is certain;

‘Jihadis’ never write ANYTHING on the flag besides La Ilaha Ila Allah.

Also unusual, was the lack of customary logos of the Jihadi media distribution channels: Shoumoukh al-Islam, Ansar al-Mujahideen, Global Islamic Media Front, etc.

You know what, right now, who cares?

Vik; friend, solidarity activist, hero, author, is dead and his enemy is making gains from his life. A life dedicated to the opposition of Israeli Fascism.

So what can, what should be done, must be the focus now, not only of his friends, but of all those who support the cause of Palestinian justice.

It was in 2008, as a passenger of the Freegaza, that Vittorio arrived in Gaza for the first time. I had the pleasure of being one of the activists arriving, alongside him on that day. During the weeks preceding the successful crossing all of the passengers had considered Israel’s possible tactics for stopping a sea channel from effectively opening up. Two options seemed most likely.

A massively violent boarding of the ships, incurring several deaths that would act as a warning to other potential voyagers not to sail

The option, I feared most. The use of on-the-ground collaborators to do Israel’s dirty work for them. A network of paid for ‘cells’ who would pick off activists one by one in the Gaza strip. Thus, both terrifying the solidarity movement AND providing Israel with some much needed beneficial headlines of the kind we have seen since Vik’s death.

We know all to well, the bloody massacre that took place last year on the Mavi Marmara, committed by Israeli forces.

Now, as the second Armada plans to chart the same course on or near the anniversary of that sailing, Israel is pulling out all the stops, in its efforts to stop, frighten, threaten and deter, hundreds more activists from taking action against their Apartheid state.

Israel's ambassador to Turkey, Gaby Levy, has just asked the Turkish government to help halt the flotilla movement saying their sailing would be a "provocation." Asked about the pressure, a Turkish foreign ministry official told Reuters: "We listened to the message given by the Israeli side and told them this is an initiative by civil society."

The official did not elaborate.

Strike one, for Israel.

But the efforts continued.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on EU ambassadors in Jerusalem saying "This flotilla must be stopped.”

And there’s more. On April 1, Netahyahu's office asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to stop the flotilla setting sail.

Netanyahu told Ban Ki-moon that the mission of ships was being organized by (guess who folks?) "Islamic extremist elements" intent on bringing about "a flare-up."

Then, on Wednesday, the morally bankrupt, Silvio Berlusconi, told Israel Radio, that he would work to prevent the next flotilla bound for Gaza, from sailing.

Berlusconi said that a peaceful Middle East is farther from reality now than it ever has been before, adding that Israel has no viable peace partner. He even asserted that Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that the West can trust, and that Israel should join the European Union.

The next day, Vik was kidnapped.

The same night, before any realistic negotiations could take place for his release, Vik was murdered.

Feeling sick yet? Yeah, me too.

Because this was a hit. A hit carried out to intimidate, to frighten off those who have already signed up for the next flotilla to Gaza and may be traveling there for the first time, those unsure of the exceptional good will and generosity of the people there. A good will Vik would tell you about.

If he were still here.

We mustn’t let the Israeli ‘fascisti’ succeed in their latest terror tactic. Early signs are that for all the pain Vik’s death has caused, all the tears that have flowed. that we, in the solidarity movement will only grow more determined, in light of this crime.

Since his death the ISM has reported a sharp rise in people wanting to go to Palestine.

Meanwhile, a Freegagza Movement contact, tells me that no one from the next convoy expected to include Turkish, Algerian, Scottish, Spanish, Dutch, Irish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Jordanian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Swiss, US, Canadian, British and French nationals, has pulled out as a result of Vik’s murder.

And now, the incredible news comes: Vik’s own mother will sail to Gaza on the next flotilla.

Agidea Prata told Italian news sources yesterday; “I want to see (the) Gaza that my son loved and sacrificed for, I want to meet the good people living there that my son Vik always talked about”.

Vittorio’s mother knew about the death threats Vittorio received from a right wing American group on their website. She also knew that he loved the people of Gaza with every ounce of his formidable strength, with his every smile, and his every waking moment.

Yesterday, organizers of the Free Gaza flotilla announced that the coming voyage to Gaza will be named “Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human” in honor of our fallen friend, Vittorio Arrigoni.

Now it’s time for the Palestinian leaders to pay a decent tribute to this great man. No. Scratch that. As Vik himself would say; it’s time for them to pay a decent tribute to ALL the fallen Palestinian martyrs.

What a great day it will be if in June, Agidea Prata, Vittorio’s mother, sails to Gaza to be met by a single, united, government.

Imagine it Vik. Abbas and Haniyeh side by side. One Palestine, one voice. One government able to stop Israel from infiltrating their midsts and murdering those who come in hope and solidarity. As my dear, wonderful, strong, funny, friend, Vik would say

‘Come ON!’

- Lauren Booth is a broadcaster and journalist - Mail on Sunday and Press TV, UK. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

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