Annapolis
Hypocrisy Hides
Occupied Palestine Reality
By Stephen Lendman
03 December, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Against
the sham backdrop of Annapolis, life in occupied Palestine is a daily
struggle to endure and survive what Edward Said once referred to as
Israel's "refined viciousness." This article addresses one
week of it no different than most others. It shows the road to peace
isn't through Annapolis nor can it be achieved without a willing partner
or with the legitimate Palestinian government excluded. Talks are futile
as long Israel spurns peace, violates international law, attacks Palestinian
civilians, seizes their land, destroys their homes, restricts their
movements, conducts targeted assassinations, denies them essential services,
and holds Gaza under a medieval siege in the world's largest open-air
prison while blaming the victims.
Unreported is that the West
Bank is also under siege that's been tightened in recent weeks on targeted
communities. Palestinian civilians are severely impeded especially in
their movement in and out of Jerusalem. Other communities affected include
Nablus, Tulkarm, Bethlehem, Jenin, Hebron and Ramallah. None of this
is reported in the mainstream.
Each week, the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights reports on conditions on the ground by documenting
Israeli human rights violations in the Territories. They're systematic,
unending and savagely brutal by a nation pretending to want peace in
the latest theatrics going nowhere. Against a backdrop of talks, photo-ops
and high-sounding rhetoric, here's the reality on the ground from November
22 to 28. It's much like most previous weeks and those yet to come.
It's why talk of peace is pretense, and the struggle continues. Here's
an unreported snapshot of life in occupied Palestine amidst all the
Annapolis hoopla:
The Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF):
-- killed 11 Palestinians
in Gaza and the West Bank; one victim was extra-judicially assassinated;
two others were killed by banned flechette shells that propel metal
fragments on detonation for maximum destructive effect against human
targets; an Israeli Air Force raid killed another five Palestinians
in Gaza early Saturday and wounded eight others as part of its regular
terror-inflicting operations the IDF complements with savagery on the
ground;
-- wounded 28 Palestinians,
including four children and an Israeli human rights defender; prevented
ambulances from reaching victims to provide medical aid and transport
to hospitals; one or more victims bled to death as a result;
-- conducted 12 incursions
into the West Bank and two into Gaza; targeted in the West Bank were
al-Bireh and the neighboring al-Am'ari refugee camp; Ramallah; Jenin
town and refugee camp; Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya; and Nablus
and neighboring Balata and Ein Beit al-Maa refugee camps; Gaza targets
included al-Shouka village, east of Rafah; in all cases, civilians were
victimized;
-- conducted air strikes
at locations in Gaza including against the Palestinian naval police
in Khan Yunis and Hamas' Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades military wing;
-- arrested 30 Palestinian
civilians in the West Bank plus 12 in Gaza making the total number of
arrests this year 2476 in the West Bank; year to date Gaza arrests weren't
reported but may be comparable in number to the West Bank; as many as
12,000 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons under deplorable conditions,
most are uncharged under administrative detention, and Israeli human
rights organization B'Tselem estimates 85% of them are subjected to
torture or abuse; Israel continues making more unreported illegal arrests
than the number of prisoners theatrically released; most are near the
end of their unjustified sentences;
-- destroyed one house and
razed 7 donums (about 2 acres) of agricultural land in Beit Hanoun in
northern Gaza;
-- destroyed buildings and
factories in the Gaza Erez industrial zone that remained after others
there were destroyed earlier;
-- allowed one patient to
die because she was denied access to treatment outside Gaza;
-- continued construction
of the illegal annexation wall in the West Bank on seized Palestinian
land;
-- used force to disperse
peaceful demonstrations protesting the wall's construction in Bal'eom
village, west of Ramallah, and al-Ma'sara, south of Bethlehem;
-- continued illegal West
Bank settlement activities;
-- allowed Israeli settlers
to continue attacking Palestinian civilians and their property; attacks
also injured 13 Palestinian civilians traveling in a minibus;
-- continued to violently
beat Palestinians attempting to bypass checkpoints to enter Jerusalem;
this happens mostly on Fridays when they wish to pray at the al-Aqsa
Mosque;
-- seized the homes of three
Palestinian families for use as military sites; and
-- Israeli settlers attacked
a Hebron school causing damage; they broke windows, uprooted trees,
demolished walls and tried to burn down the building; Settlers also
attacked a private home; they set fires, broke windows and damaged a
car and barnyard; in both instances, IDF forces were nearby but didn't
intervene as they almost never do in situations like this so settlers
can freely terrorize Palestinian civilians.
In addition, the IDF has
kept all Gaza border crossings closed for almost 17 months as part of
a total siege on the Territory. Rafah International Crossing bordering
Egypt is Gaza's only connection to the outside world, and it's been
closed since June 25, 2006. Currently, around 6000 Palestinians are
trapped on the Egyptian side unable to return home. Most have depleted
their funds and rely on spotty assistance. Deaths have resulted, now
at least 19 in number.
The result is a humanitarian
and economic disaster. The flow of essential food, medical supplies
and fuel as well as construction and other materials have been severely
impeded or stopped altogether. Conditions became especially severe after
the Israeli government declared Gaza a "hostile entity" on
September 19, 2007 and escalated further collective punishment measures.
Fuel supplies, already low, were cut again and are at critical levels.
In addition, plans were to scale back electricity December 2 until Israel's
Supreme Court ruled November 30 the action must be postponed for at
least a week pending a full presentation of the proposed operation.
The Court's directive stopped
short of an injunction halting the measure. Instead the justices said
they "assumed that until the required additional information and
necessary clarifications are received, the plan to limit electricity
to (Gaza) will not begin to be implemented."
Now a delay of at least three
weeks is likely because authorities have 12 days to provide the requested
information after which groups opposed have a week to file briefs with
their positions. At the same time, the Court approved the government's
plan for further fuel supplies cuts that attorney Hassan Jabarin, representing
the Adalah center for Arab minority rights in Israel, said "constitutes
serious harm to the basic principle of international humanitarian law."
He added that international law prohibits collective punishment for
any reason or using a civilian population for political purposes. Gaza
fuel supplies were already low, and further cuts threaten all aspects
of civilian life - health services, sewage disposal, drinking water
wells, transportation, commerce, industrial production, agriculture
and education.
Other collective punishment
measures include allowing only nine basic materials into Gaza. The result
is severe shortages of everything including vital supplies. Local markets
ran out of many goods and can't get banned ones. In addition, prices
have risen sharply and in some cases fivefold making them unaffordable.
People report being unable to get razors and shaving material, coffee,
diapers, printing paper or even shoes, socks, underwear, wool clothes
or jackets. Medical supplies are also exhausted so critical items like
life-saving drugs and oxygen aren't available.
Other banned items include
furniture, electrical appliances, headstone materials for graves and
cigarettes. Restricted also are fruits, milk and other dairy products.
In addition, severe restrictions have been imposed on fishing. This
affects 35,000 people in coastal communities, including 2500 fishermen
as well as 2500 support staff and their families. In addition, Palestinians
in Gaza aren't able to enter Israel or the West Bank for any purpose
including essential medical care unavailable in the Strip. The result
is predictable - needless deaths and great human suffering.
UNRWA Gaza field office director,
John Ging, expressed great concern about Israel's actions with comments
about "crushing sanctions, significantly adding to the human misery
and suffering of 1.5 million civilians in Gaza (that) are in fact counterproductive
to their stated purpose....You must be on the ground for days and weeks
to begin to appreciate the full horror of the situation....living conditions
continue their relentless downward spiral, to what can now only be described
as truly appalling."
Ging continued saying: "The
impact on the medical situation for those affected is quite simply atrocious
(with) essential drugs....in chronically short supply or have run out
altogether (and) 800 patients needing treatment abroad (can't) leave
Gaza (and are enduring great) physical suffering and mental anguish.
The food situation is equally bad (for 80% of Gazans)." UN "handouts"
can only provide 61% of their daily caloric intake to sustain life.
After two years of UN service
in Gaza, Ging added that the occupation caused the education system
to collapse with a 90% literacy and numeracy failure rate the evidence.
He also felt "compelled to discard the usual niceties of diplomatic
speak" for blunt talk about the appalling Israeli policy of collective
punishment and inhumane illegal sanctions against defenseless civilians
suffering hugely.
None of this was on the table
at Annapolis, and Ging's boss, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, didn't
raise them. Nor was the following discussed: the refugees' right of
return, ending the occupation, the rights of Palestinian Israeli citizens,
the annexation wall, dismantling West Bank settlements, Jerusalem as
the Palestinian capital or a legitimate integrated Palestinian state
and not one cantonized in the West Bank and separated from Gaza. The
so-called "peace process" instead demands that Palestinians
recognize Israel as a Jewish state; give up their right of self-defense
against the world's fourth largest military power; legitimize an ideology
of racism, ethnic cleansing and colonization; and have a Palestinian
security force be Israeli enforcers against the legal rights of their
own people.
Fatah Palestinian Authority
(PA) Security Force Repression Ordered by Quisling President Mahmoud
Abbas to Please Israel and Washington
Many thousands of Palestinians
in communities throughout Gaza and the West Bank took to the streets
on November 27 in peaceful protests against the sham peace offensive
they denounce. Demonstrations were organized by several political parties
and civil society organizations and were held in the West Bank cities
of Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and Nablus in defiance of a
Fatah-imposed ban on them. As a result, they were repressively met by
hundreds of Fatah security personnel. Fist fights broke out, dozens
were arrested, and police beat demonstrators with batons to disperse
them. They also used tear gas and fired indiscriminately in the air
and into crowds that responded by throwing rocks. One civilian died
from a gunshot to the chest. Thirty others were injured, some seriously.
Journalists covering the
event were also attacked, beaten, detained and prevented from doing
their jobs. In addition, the evening before (November 26) and throughout
November 27, demonstration organizers were arrested. Some were later
released. Others remain in custody. Similar protests also took place
around the region as Palestinian refugees and their supporters in other
Arab countries publicly demanded their right to return be honored according
to UN Resolution 194 Israel won't even acknowledge, let alone observe.
The scene in Gaza was another
story. Huge crowds of well over 100,000 (some estimates were 250,000)
assembled to protest and were addressed by the legitimate Hamas Prime
Minister, Ismail Haniyeh. He denounced the Annapolis talks saying they
"don't represent the Palestinian people." The sentiment in
the streets was powerful with chants of "No recognition of Israel,
America is the head of the snake," and cries calling Abbas a traitor
by tens of thousands of outraged and unrepresented people.
One woman summed up the prevailing
sentiment saying: "We don't want more alleged peace conferences,
which bring us more suffering. We prefer poverty to accepting shameful
peace." Others expressed similar views preferring to suffer than
to give up their legitimate rights long denied and won't be resolved
at Annapolis or what follows next. And their allies extend beyond Hamas.
They include Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Liberation Party, Palestinian
Liberation Organization-linked parties and responsible intellectuals
who believe real peace won't come through Annapolis or other sham processes
like it.
Life in the Occupied Territories
goes on where Palestinians won't accept surrender for peace. Their struggle
for freedom and justice continues. Israel remains defiant so expect
many more weeks on the ground like the last one. It's so future generations
can be free because past ones endured so much for them.
Ramallah Global Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Summit
Palestinians have allies
everywhere outside seats of power, and 300 of them gathered on November
22 in Ramallah. Activists, union members and NGO representatives came
to plan a global civil resistance campaign against Israel's repressive
occupation and rule. Their aim: an action plan for boycott, divestment
and sanctions that proved successful liberating India from Britain and
South Africa from white supremacist apartheid. Where negotiation fails,
pressure may succeed and conference participants see it as a priority
in the current environment.
The Palestinian NGO Network
(PNGO) convened the conference along with the OPGAI Coalition (Occupied
Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative), PACBI (The
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel)
and Stop the Wall (The Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign). Dr. Allam Jarrar
of PNGO called the conference an historic event 60 years after the Palestinian
Nakba. Now "we are beginning to revise the strategy of our struggle
for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among
them our rights to self-determination, independence and (right of) return.
The boycott campaign will re-vitalize popular resistance and restore
dignity" as well as dispel the myth that Palestinians can only
engage in negotiations that have never worked and won't now.
The balance of power can
only shift through sustained and effective pressure, and Stop the Wall
representative Jamal Jum'a believes that the BDS movement today is so
diverse and widespread the Zionist Lobby can't destroy it. Neither can
Annapolis obscure it. Only ineffective resistance can do it that must
be avoided. To prevent it, consensus was reached that building a civil
resistance campaign is crucial, and recommendations were made as follows:
They involve forming a Steering
Committee for the Campaign and more:
(1) The local Palestinian
BDS Campaign:
-- consumer boycott of Israeli
products by Palestinians; use of local alternatives instead; dialogue
with Palestinian companies to support them and expand employment of
the Palestinian work force;
-- educate by reviewing the
Palestinian curriculum to ensure its historic accuracy; enlist students
in the BDS campaign; urge the Ministry of Education to urge private
schools stop selling Israeli products and refrain from normalization
projects with Israeli organizations;
-- media awareness pressure
to stop advertising Israeli products; public awareness measures to support
the boycott; and
-- mechanisms for campaign
building and promotion by forming popular boycott committees to raise
public awareness, initiate action and build a popular culture supporting
boycott instead of normalization that's futile; pressure PA officials
to support the effort and express solidarity with other Global South
popular struggles to gain theirs in return.
(2) An Arab World Campaign
-- cooperate and coordinate
with other Arab world anti-normalization committees; lobby for reactivating
the Arab League boycott committee; inject BDS into the mainstream Arab
media; urge Arab investors to support the Palestinian economy; promote
Palestinian products in Arab countries.
(3) An International/Global
Campaign
-- an overall strategy to
challenge Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state and a colonial apartheid
one; the boycott to include targeting Israel's economy, academia, culture
and sports.
Success depends on building
alliances with unions, faith-based organizations and other potential
allies in the Arab world, throughout the Global South, and with marginalized
Global North communities. In addition an emphasis must be placed on
coordinating global activities and campaigns to build a worldwide BDS
effort.
On its web site, the Palestine
BDS Campaign targets Israel with punitive non-violent measures "until
it complies with international law and universal principles of human
rights." As representatives of Palestinian civil society, it "call(s)
upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience
(everywhere) to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives
against Israel (like) those applied (against apartheid) South Africa....for
the sake of justice and genuine peace." It must include an end
to occupation and colonization, granting Arab Israeli citizens equal
rights to Jews, and letting Palestinian refugees return to their homeland
as stipulated under UN Resolution 194.
These are fundamental principles
of international law applying to all nations. They're not negotiable,
and no nation gets a pass. Peace isn't possible until Israel goes along
and becomes a member in good standing in the world community. Up to
now, it's never been one. It's about time that changed, and it's hoped
an effective BDS campaign is the way to do it because other ways for
60 years haven't worked.
Stephen Lendman
lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected].
Also visit his blog site
at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to The Steve Lendman News and Information Hour on TheMicroEffect.com
Mondays at noon US Central time.
Leave
A Comment
&
Share Your Insights
Comment
Policy
Digg
it! And spread the word!
Here is a unique chance to help this article to be read by thousands
of people more. You just Digg it, and it will appear in the home page
of Digg.com and thousands more will read it. Digg is nothing but an
vote, the article with most votes will go to the top of the page. So,
as you read just give a digg and help thousands more to read this article.