[WCUSP] Fw: [HumanRights] Ibrahim Bornat, more settlements, video of settler attack and more

Mon Jun 16 10:35:31 EDT 2008

> Israel will build 1300 more housing units in the illegal
> colonies in
> East Jerusalem.  The US government over the past 6 decades
> had shifted
> its position from calling such settlement/colony activity
> "absolutely
> illegal", "illegal", "contrary to
> obligations under International law",
> "an obstacle to peace", "contrary to road
> map obligations", "a
> hindrance to peace", and finally "not helpful to
> the atmosphere between
> the Israelis and the Palestinians".  The atmosphere!!?
>  Let us look at
> the atmosphere: seven million Palestinian refugees and
> displaced people
> denied their right to return to their homes and lands, 93%
> of the
> Palestinian lands stolen in six decades of colonization,
> 600
> checkpoints, an apartheid wall, half a million colonists
> living on
> stolen Palestinian land in areas illegally occupied since
> 1967, an
> apartheid wall, denial of right of families to live in
> their own lands,
> literal economic starvation/strangulation of remaining
> people, and
> denial of right to medical services, education, (e.g. in
> Gaza), etc.
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> We
> learned that in the weekly Friday demonstration against the
> wall in
> Bil'in, the Israeli occupation army shot Ibrahim Bornat
> again, this
> time far more seriously.  Ibrahim was injured several times
> before. 
> Last year Ibrahim was shot in the head with a rubber-coated
> steel
> bullet in the demonstration that I attended in Bil'in
> last summer and
> we interviewed him in the hospital at the time.  This time
> he was shot
> in the femoral artery with more lethal bullets when he was
> challenging
> the illegal wall that separates his village from the
> village lands
> (even the Israeli supreme court ruled that this was unfair
> stealing of
> land). Ibrahim's brother Rani was shot by an Israeli
> sniper which left
> him paralyzed from the neck down.  Those in Ramallah area
> can donate blood
> for Ibrahim (blood type is AB+, please call Sarah at
> 0523991897)
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> Video of Friday's attack on Ibrahim:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF1ibN40FJE
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> Video of Last year's incident and interview with
> Ibrahim in the Hospital:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZB_hlziDKQ
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> People are taking more risks everyday.  What risk are we
> taking?
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> Here
> is another video of colonial youth living on stolen
> Palestinian lands
> attacking native Palestinians (BBC tries to spin it at the
> end). 
> Cameras provided by Israeli human rights group B'Tselem
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7451668.stm
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> (Commentary on this video): "Hitler youth in the West
> Bank"
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> http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/06/15/hitler-youth-in-the-west-bank/
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> Video: Israel lobby power in the US
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> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N294FMDok98
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> The Influence of Israel in Westminster
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> http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=13821
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> ACTION:
> Write and call media, politicians, and other decision
> makers.  Remember
> that "the squeeky wheel gets the grease" and more
> important that
> Silence is complicity.
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> ACTION ALERT from ISM for people in Europe (although
> talking points below can be used elsewhere): 
> On the 16th June, the European Union will be discussing the
> possible
> upgrading of relations with Israel. Please send this letter
> to your
> various representatives and express your concern at this
> measure while
> Israel continues to flaunt international law. For details
> of your
> representative please follow this link:
> http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=EN
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> Sample letter sent
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> I
> am writing to you now in order to express my profound
> concern about the
> possible upgrade of relations between the European Union
> and Israel and
> urge you to advocate for its rejection within the EU.
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> Israel's
> ongoing systematic violation of Palestinian human rights,
> its flaunting
> of both its international obligations and international law
> is well
> documented, as is its violation of commitments to  the EU
> itself.
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> As
> I understand it, under its 'European Neighbourhood
> Policy', the EU
> offers to neighbouring nations opportunities for political
> and economic
> co-operation. In turn, the EU expects these neighbouring
> states to
> respect and abide by EU values and practices, particularly
> those
> related to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. In
> the case of
> Israel, I am concerned that the EU may be offering
> opportunities for
> social and economic cooperation and integration, but
> abandoning its
> expectation that Israel will respect and practice the
> central
> principles of human rights and international law.
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> Israel has
> consistently and flagrantly denied the call for Palestinian
> national
> and individual rights, violated international law, defied
> even the most
> basic guidelines of the Road Map as discussed at the
> Annapolis summit
> in November 2007, and failed to uphold it obligations to
> the EU under
> the Barcelona Process. Let me give some specifics:
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>   - Israel
> has embarked on a siege of the Gaza Strip that has resulted
> in the
> denial of medical access, shortages of food, fuel and
> electricity and
> stands as a grave act of collective punishment. This siege
> has been
> imposed amidst Israeli attacks on Gaza which have shown
> clear disregard
> for civilian lives. Water has been severely restricted and
> polluted in
> the Gaza Strip, with the Mediterranean now receiving 50
> million litres
> of sewage per day because Gazans have no alternative.
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>   -
> Israel has continued construction in more than 100 of its
> illegal
> settlements in the West Bank and throughout so-called
> "Greater
> Jerusalem"
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>   - In the last six months, Israel has issued a call
> for bids on the construction of 847 new housing units in
> settlements
> throughout the West Bank and 1,300 units in East
> (Palestinian) Jerusalem
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>   - In the last six months, Israel has demolished more than
> 185 Palestinian structures, including 85 homes
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> - Israel continues to operate over 600 checkpoints,
> roadblocks, and
> other physical barriers to the movement of the Palestinian
> population.
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>   - Israel has still not complied with the 2004 ruling of
> the International Court of Justice that determined that it
> must stop
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> construction of the Wall, remove those parts already built,
> and provide reparations
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> - Through a series of restrictions, Israel has consistently
> hindered
> implementation of the Interim Association Agreement
> concluded between
> the EU and the PLO on behalf of the PNA
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>   - Israel is in direct
> violation of its Association Agreement with the EU
> regarding products
> produced by its illegal settlements. Despite the
> Association Agreement,
> Israel continues to export products to the EU as if they
> were
> manufactured and/or wholly obtained within Israel and to
> refund
> settlement businesses, using illegal subsidies, for import
> taxes paid
> by these settlement-based businesses in their export to the
> EU.
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> In
> light of Israel's systematic breach of European Union,
> international,
> and human rights obligations, agreements and laws, the
> EU's possible
> upgrade of its relationship with Israel can only be viewed
> as a reward
> to unlawful behaviour. Israel will certainly understand
> this upgrade as
> not just a condoning of its behaviour, but as a complete
> absence of
> consequences for its illegal and unethical policies and
> actions.
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> Moreover,
> by upgrading its relationship with Israel, the EU would be
> discarding a
> key incentive to Israel in proceeding with a just peace
> process. The EU
> has a vital opportunity here to play an active role in
> encouraging a
> just peace in the region; not by improving its relationship
> with Israel
> regardless of its violation of international law, but as a
> reward for
> its compliance with international and human rights law and
> EU
> agreements.
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> There is a great need for accountability at this
> critical juncture in EU-Israel relations. It is imperative
> that the EU
> make clear to Israel that the key to improving their
> relationship lies
> in embracing and implementing fully the goals and values of
> Europeans.
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> I
> thank you in advance for urging the EU to uphold fair,
> consistent and
> objective standards in its dealings with neighbour states
> and to decide
> against the upgrade of its relationship with Israel until
> it abides by
> international and human rights law and all EU agreements.
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> ==========================
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> Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
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> Join the August 8-10 meeting in Chicago:
> http://palestineconference.org
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> http://qumsiyeh.org
> http://justicewheels.org
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