Gush Shalom Update - Demo Against The Wall + More

GUSH SHALOM pob 3322, Tel-Aviv www.gush-shalom.org

[1] Demonstration against the Wall, A-Ram, Saturday Dec. 13

[2] Washington is responsible Gush Shalom ad, Ha'aretz, Dec. 5

[3] Olmert etc. - Avnery on the tides of public opinion

[4] Update: activist Radika Sainath out of detention

[5]"We are Air Force, not Mafia" - interview with the refuser pilots

[6] Online petition to support the refusers

[7] The West Bank checkpoints: report and analysis by Victoria Buch

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[1] Demonstration against the Wall, A-Ram, Saturday Dec. 13

The Monster Has Reached A-Ram

The builders of the wall of hatred are planning to carry out yet another crime against the peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The new crime is due to take place in the town of A-Ram.

A-Ram is located north of Jerusalem. 100,000 Palestinians, most of whom have Jerusalem identity cards, live in this area. Jerusalem is the center of business, educational, medical, and cultural life for all of these people.

Now their life is going to be destroyed: The wall will surround A-Ram on all sides; in order to enter or leave the town residents will have to pass through gates. The entire area will become one big prison.

This new part of the apartheid wall will separate A-Ram from Jerusalem. The wall is to be built in the middle of the major Jerusalem-Ramallah road, on the entire length of this central artery: one side of the road will be located in Israel; the other side will belong to the West Bank.

After the wall is built, a trip from A-Ram to Jerusalem, which now takes fifteen minutes, will take at least two hours.

The wall is inhumane. It will create a hothouse of hate. It constitutes a security danger.

While Sharon is speaking about "painful concessions", "unilateral action" and "the road map," the brutal occupation continues and gets worse day by day.

The work on the wall in A-Ram has not yet begun! We can still prevent it from being built!

This Saturday, December 13th at 12:30 we will join the residents of A-Ram for:

A mass Israeli-Palestinian protest on the wall's planned route in A-Ram. Join us so that we can expose this outrage to the world and so that we can prevent the wall from being built.

Together we will come together under the slogan:

The Wall Must Fall!

During the demonstration we will build a symbolic wall on the planned route of the wall of hatred, and school children will fell the wall which - if built - will separate them from their school The demonstration will take place regardless of the weather. Come with umbrellas.

We will meet at the commercial center of the French Hill in Jerusalem at 11:00 From Tel Aviv: The Arlozorlov Station at 9:30; From Jerusalem: Gan-HaPa'amon at 10:15. From Haifa at Solel Boneh at 8:15.

For more information: 056-709603

Gush Shalom/The Committee Against House Demolitions/The National Union of Arab Students/Hadash/Yesh Gvul/The Women's Coalition for a Just Peace/Ta'ayush - Arab Jewish Partnership

NB:We need volunteers for preparation work, who can meet in Jerusalem at around 10:00 and go to the site before the masses. Those able and willing to take part, please contact Shie at 053-727602.

[2]Washington is responsible

Gush Shalom ad, Ha'aretz, Dec. 5

Secretary of State Colin Powell is to meet with the initiators of the Geneva Accord. So is Paul Wolfowitz, the most right-wing official in the administration.

They are to be congratulated.

But moral encouragement for the Israeli and Palestinian peace forces is not enough, if at the same time the US administration is giving financial and diplomatic support to actions opposed to its official position: the building of the Separation Wall that destroys all chances for peace and the enlargement of the settlements at a frantic pace.

One tough hint from Bush would suffice to put an end to these provocations.

Bush, Powell and Wolfowitz: You cannot evade your responsibility!

Gush Shalom, Help us with donations to P.O.Box 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033, Phone 972-3-5221732. www.gush-shalom.org Requests for information about current actions: info@gush-shalom.org

[3] Olmert etc. - Avnery on the tides of public opinion

The Weathercocks Are Turning Uri Avnery 6.12.03

See...
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0312/S00091.htm

[4] Update: activist Radika Sainath out of detention

After 48 hours in custody, and after a stormy session in court where the state representatives tried once again to portray her as a "dangerous provocateur" and used abundantly the magic words "state security", activist Radika Sainath was let out of detention.

However, under the stiff conditions set by the judge, she must spend the rest of her stay in Israel (she is bound back to the US on the 12th) within the Tel-Aviv house of activist Ronen Edelman - still an imprisonment of sorts, even if in an environment far more comfortable and friendly than the detention cells at Ben Gurion Airport, where she spent the weekend in company with other "unwanted aliens" bound for deportation.

The judge also conditioned her release upon the posting of 30,000 Shekels (about $ 6,000) in bail, of which 5,000 Shekels ($1,000) had to be delivered in cash. It was a race against time to raise the sum from various Tel-Aviv activists and get her out of detention before the state representatives had the chance to appeal the judge's verdict to a higher court, as they threatened to do. Still, the money was collected, and Adv. Leibovitz picked her up from the cells and drove her to Tel-Aviv where the bunch of us welcomed her.

[5] "We are Air Force, not Mafia" - interview with the refuser pilots

The group of Israeli Air Force pilots who some months ago create a furor by their refusal to participate in missions involving "targeted killings" which often end in the killing of innocent civilians - and whose action seems to have contributed to a great reduction in the use of that measure - have now overcome their initial hesitation to give interviews to the international media. Several of them were interviewed on Ted Koppel's show "Nightline" on ABC-TV, which featured about a 12 minute segment on their act of refusal, and Chris McGreal of the British Guardian published an interview with other, last week.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1098456,00.html

[6] Online petition to support the refusers

With the court-martials of the six young refuseniks nearing their end, New Profile has launched an online support petition, which already bears several thousand signatures.

http://www.petitiononline.com/refuz/petition.html

[7] The West Bank checkpoints: report and analysis by Victoria Buch

From a speech by Victoria Buch of MachsomWatch, at the Peace Now vigil outside the prime minster's residence, Jerusalem, Nov. 29.

What Sharon means when he speaks of "State Security"

I am a member of a women's human rights organization named MachsomWatch. The organization monitors military checkpoints (CPs) that restrict the freedom of movement of Palestinians around the West Bank. We make an effort to increase the awareness of the Israeli and international public of what is happening there. Moreover, MachsomWatch attempts to act against human rights abuses at the checkpoints.

The activity is problematic, since the very existence of the multitude of checkpoints constitutes one large scale violation of human rights and soldiers who man the CPs act upon orders from their superiors. Still, now and then we succeed in helping by mediating between Palestinians and soldiers, or by procuring help in blatant cases which are not covered by the orders.

I should like to tell you about what we saw lately at CPs in the Nablus area and also to share with you some thoughts concerning the real objectives of the closure policy.

A large majority of the roadblocks do not separate Israelis from Palestinians, rather, they separate Palestinians from Palestinians. In particular, Palestinian towns such as Nablus are surrounded by a ring of CPs, which restrict motion between the town and the surrounding villages. The CPs make it difficult for the villagers to reach the town services, such as shopping-malls, hospitals, clinics, schools, work-places, etc.

Currently, in the Nablus area, the CPs are manned by elite paratrooper units. Their other assignment is to provide security for neighboring settlements.

Let me describe a "typical" roadblock. Two or three soldiers are stationed in the middle, their job is to check IDs. Palestinians wait at a distance behind a "holy" plastic barrier (I shall explain in a moment, why is it "holy").

Additional soldiers, serving as security cover, are stationed nearby. Frequently, their guns are pointed at the waiting queue. (We tried to argue with the soldiers in the past that scaring people by pointing guns is quite unnecessary, but we were unsuccessful.) And so the Palestinians wait, for one hour, for another.. and sometimes for much longer. A person arrives at the top of the line, and is summoned by the soldier. The ID is shown, sometimes the coat is opened to show "no explosives", an explanation may be requested as to where he or she is heading. And then, the 19-year-old soldier determines if the person can pass, according to the orders of that day.

I did not find much logic in these orders. One day, everybody passes, another, the CP is closed to everybody. For a while, students (young and healthy people) are allowed to pass, while the elderly and the sick are stopped. After several weeks the orders are reversed - everybody above some age, say 45 or 35, is let through, while students are not covered by the orders.

People who do not belong to the general categories permitted to pass have to produce special permits. Procuring such a permit from the DCO (District Coordinating Office) is no fun, and the number of different permits required by the authorities is constantly increasing. For example, a Palestinian with the hard-to-get work certificate in Israel must still obtain a "Permit to Pass a Roadblock".

Last week we observed the following scene.A Palestinian shows a paper indicating an appointment at a clinic in Nablus. "Why don't you travel in an ambulance?" asks the soldier. "Ambulances are expensive, I don't need one, I just need to get to a clinic". "Then you cannot pass, today only medical emergencies in ambulances are let through".

Sometimes a soldier decides that a Palestinian "looks suspicious". Then the Palestinian's ID is taken, and the ID number is fed via telephone to the Security Services computer. This is an amazingly slow computer. The ID owner waits (often for hours) at the CP until the security clearance arrives. Arguing with soldiers may result in a punishment of an extra wait for ID return, or worse.

This routine does not have a good influence on the soldiers' psyche. For us, it is painful to watch, how their young faces darken, their voices become rude, their body language - violent. These boys' first act as grown-ups is to to become agents of the occupation, and to acquire immense power over resentful and angry Palestinians. At the same time, the soldiers are afraid. The mixture is poisonous to their souls.

Today in the morning we encountered an especially nasty example at the Bet Furiq roadblock, in the form of an aficionado of order. This soldier devoted only a fraction of his time to checking IDs. As mentioned above, Palestinians are supposed to wait behind a plastic barrier. A Palestinian MUST NOT move beyond the barrier, even by a bit, unless summoned. The soldier may close the barrier for an indefinite time, "to teach a lesson". A significant fraction of soldiers' time is spent on yelling "The checkpoint is closed, move back! move back!". But that Bet Furiq soldier had more elaborate requirements. Palestinians were supposed to wait in a single file. Tired people who sat down on the roadside were requested to join the file.

In addition, his attention focused on two young men who had been detained and displayed nearby as a lesson. They were kneeling on the stony ground, with hands bound tightly behind their backs. They were supposed to turn their backs to the waiting line, and to lower their heads.

Now and then, the soldier checked if they maintained the "correct" position. It took us about an hour of phone-calls to secure their release. One of the detained told us that he has been "in position" for some five hours.

Another assignment of the soldiers is a man-hunt for people attempting to pass around the CP. These are Palestinians who according to the orders of the particular day cannot pass through the CP or the ones who are willing to endanger themselves to avoid the wait and the humiliation. This man-hunt is occurring in the vicinity of all roadblocks, but in Bet Furiq it had a new twist. For this purpose the soldiers were supplied with three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles, of the kind you can rent at Nitzanim Beach for recreational purposes.

We watched the soldiers returning riding on these vehicles, with the "catch" marching in front of them; they were met with congratulatory cheers from their colleagues at the CP.

And it can be much worse. Two weeks ago, a short time after we left the Bet Furiq CP, a 14-year old Palestinian boy was shot dead by a soldier. Soldiers claimed that he threw stones. This summary execution did not become in any a significant piece of news in Israel.

Once I asked a soldier - "What do you care? Why won't you let an Arab to go from one Arab place to another?" The soldier answered with full strength of his 19-year-old conviction: "Don't you understand? I am protecting the state of Israel! I am protecting you!"

The Chief-of-Staff of the IDF does not seem to have the same conviction. Recently, he managed to mumble that perhaps the policy of closure promotes anger and violence and thus endangers the State Security, rather than serving it.

Four ex-chiefs of the General Security Service (Shabak) did not mumble. They stated quite loudly that the oppressive and humiliating policies towards Palestinians, together with funding and development of settlements, are not the way to prevent terror. On the contrary, they bring Israel to a brink of an abyss, into existential danger.

Despite these statements by Israeli security experts, the roadblocks are still there, fully operational. Let us then ask what purpose do they serve in the policy of Sharon. Our public was told that the purpose is apprehending terrorists. This claim does not stand the test of reality. Since Sharon came to power, terrorism against Israeli citizens reached an unprecedented level. The terrorists, members of well-organized and well-funded groups manage to reach their destinations quite effectively. On the other hand, peaceful people do not manage to conduct their daily affairs, and are denied normal respectable life.

Another proposal: Sharon honestly thought that the roadblocks would help against terror, but now realized his error and embarked on the way of compromise and negotiations. Didn't we hear recently from him about the need for "painful concessions"? Aren't there negotiations in progress?

I am always amazed about the number of people in Israel who are willing to believe, again and again, in this optimistic fairy-tale. It is a deja-vu; the scenario is known in advance.

Pressure for negotiations mounts in Israel and abroad; Sharon declares he is willing to negotiate and compromise; a purely symbolic removal of some settlement outposts is carried out, and the closure noose is loosened slightly; negotiations with Palestinian Authority are initiated (and I think that Sharon keeps this powerless PA in existence so that he can set this farce going again and again), while on the ground, the occupation machine keeps grinding diligently; then an assassination of a Hamas or Jihad leader is ordered, or a similar provocation is carried out; a chain of terror acts against Israeli civilians ensues; Sharon declares "I wanted peace, but you see, there is nobody to negotiate with"; and the Israeli public repeats obediently "We wanted peace, but there is nobody to negotiate with".

Another possibility has been raised by some among the Israeli left, that Sharon aims at permanent settlement in the form of Bantustans, according to the old-time South African recipe. The Separation Fence marks the borders of the projected Bantustans. Sharon hopes to negotiate a permanent Apartheid system, relying on the PA's weakness.

I do not believe in this proposal, either. If you wish to establish a stable Bantustan, you do not begin by demolishing it. During his tenure, Sharon ordered systematic destruction of political and economic infrastructure in the densely populated Areas A of the Occupied Territories, which are the projected Bantustans. Recall destruction of the PA security forces, of the government structures and equipment, of agriculture, workshops, roads, lamp- posts...

Most of the Palestinians live now under the poverty line - 2$ per person per day. If you lock 3 million people behind fences in Bantustans, without viable economic and government infrastructure, and without a hope for better future, the result is escalating bloodshed. That much is should be clear to any reasonable person, as well as to the people who instituted the policy. Let us not kid ourselves - these are intelligent and determined people, capable of long term planning.

I believe that the Bantustans were planned by them as a "useful" transitional phase towards their real objective. So what is the objective? I think that the aim is quite obvious - the Greater Israel ("Eretz Israel HaShlema") from Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, in which the Palestinians will be supplanted by settlers. For Sharon and Mofaz, the Palestinians are a pest by definition - not potential partners for coexistence. When Sharon is talking about striving to uphold the security of the state, that is what he means. In other words, he aims to repeat, in a big way, the "exercise" of 1948.

Before 1948, there were many Palestinians around us, and then most of them disappeared. There may be people among us who, would claim that in 1948 it happened in the course of Israel's fight for existence. However that may be, now it is certainly not a war for existence, but rather a systematic policy of unrelenting and uncompromising nationalism.

This policy brings our country to the brink of existential abyss, just as the four ex- GSS heads said. And we had better do something about it, urgently.

Contct: Machsom Watch machsomwatch@hotmail.com

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If you do not really believe us and feel Gush Shalom is exaggerating then go to the following Haaretz page:

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/360916.html

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