Report from Mazim Qimseyeh--note Hillary's Jewish appointments in strategic posts

I will report briefly on my trip to Azerbaijan which coincided with the World Economic Forum and make a few comments about the latter/Davos event where PM of Turkey was insulted in order to to accomodate war criminal Shimon Peres (an article I wrote disrupted the Davos meeting in 2006 so I feel kinship ;-). I will add my experience being interrogated by Israeli security on my way back and give other relevant action links.

I was invited to Azerbaijan for the Winter Session of the NATO International School of Azerbaijan (a school that has ties to both NATO and the Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense). The conference discussed conflicts and role of NATO and other International agencies in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, the Former Yugoslavia, and the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. We heard from experts like the Azerbaijan Minister of Defense, Brig.General Klaus Wittmann (Previous director at NATO Defense College), Lt. Col. Alonso (US Marine now NATO Country Officer for Afghanistan), Afghanistan activist Noorullah Ahmadzai, NISA Executive Director Mikayil Yusifov and others. The students were extremely smart, interested and motivated. The presentations and the discussions were very informative. I was invited to speak about the issue of Palestine (with a response from a gentleman from Israel) and presented a few slides and facts/figures on the history of the conflict, forms of resistance, personal experiences, potential solutions, and our personal responsibility to advance a peaceful outcome (using tactics like those employed to transform Apartheid South Africa). I also learned a lot about other areas of the world and certainly appreciated the Azerbaijan hospitality. I only wished more Palestinians could join in the hundreds of similar events held around the world in which there have been in the past no representation of perspectives that may contradict the usually advocated narrative (i.e. Israel is good, Palestinian natives are bad). The students talked about our collective failures and responsibilities (all of us as individuals and nations) and how we might move forward to a more peaceful and prosperous world. I reflected on the state of affairs in Palestine and the lack of a coherent outreach to explain the realities that most of the Palestinians live under (the refugees, the dispossessed, the occupied etc).

On coming back to Palestine, I had not slept much since my flights (Baku-Istanbul-Amman) had poor connections and timing (arriving in Amman 2 AM). I stayed at the airport till dawn and headed to the bridge to cross into the occupied West Bank. My trip from Amman Airport to Bethlehem area (a distance of a mere 60 miles) took nearly 11 hours. We were delayed partly because of about 20 buses of Palestinian security personal returning from training in Jordan were put ahead of us. Also at one point on the Israeli entry area, they took my passport and asked me to wait. Every 20 minutes they came with a batch of Palestinian ID cards or passports and called out names (batches to let them go and batches to take to interrogation). After about 2.5 hours they called my name in the batch for interrogation. The questions I got asked all had answers to anyone who searches for my name on the Internet. Here are some samples:

Q: You have a US passport. How come?
A: I lived in the US for many years.
Q: So you married an American to get your passport?
A: No, I got it through my work.
Q: So you live there?
A: No, I moved back to live here.
Q: Why?
A: Because this is Palestine, our homeland.
Q: You are Christian?
A: and Muslim, and Jewish, and Buddhist, and others
Q: Are you joking?
A: No, I think there are elements of truth in all religions.
Q: But it says on your ID card that you are Christian?
A: You are the ones who issue these ID cards and you are the ones who put these things on them.
Q: What is the name of your son?
A: (I hesitated a bit but then thought they could find it on the internet anyway)
…. And on

I have been held and questioned before coming in and out while I studied in Jordan and the US. This one is the first in the last four months (since I relocated here so it was probably a reminder of who is “boss”). It is likely not going to be the last. But I am not bitter or angry and I remain extremely optimistic. Three years ago, I published an article titled “Boycott Israel” in the official Magazine of the World Economic Forum (held this time of year in Davos). The overreaction created lots of publicity and media coverage for us and the president of the WEF closed the magazine (cutting his income). The article with a summary of why Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanction are appropriate is still relevant today since Israel has not changed so please read it at: http://www.qumsiyeh.org/boycottisrael/ but then please act.

The elite leaders who gathered again in Davos did not learn the lessons (of bending over backwards to please Israel). Turkish Prime Minister stormed off the stage when Shimon Peres was allowed tto ramble on while Erdogan was not allowed to respond (see video and text at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/davos/7859417.stm). Zionist disrespectful attitudes still damage their own cause. My advice is still the same: the world needs to stop its double standards and treat Israel like any other country subject to International law. As I write this they are at a disarray over an economic crises that many of us in the peace groups have explained was coming (even back then in 2006 based on our understanding of the destructions caused by war economies and parasitic special interests). We can take cue from the World Social Forum and get common people to run their own affairs instead of expecting the elites with special interests to tackle world problems that they created. This even when they can’t seem to even be able to stop Israel from its ongoing attacks on a captive and impoverished concentration camp called the Gaza Strip. See this Israeli soldier call it what it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em2JB6eysQo
And here is a summary video on the Israeli Operation “Cast Lead" that happen with a wink and a nod from the so called “International community” (governments|).
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21852.htm

Israeli attacks on Gaza after Israel declared a “ceasefire” to its campaign of slaughter of Gaza civilians included so far:
-Israeli forces killed a Palestinian farmer in Khuza'a east of Khan Yunis on Jan 18
-Israeli forces killed a Palestinian farmer east of Jabalia on Jan 19
-Israeli naval gunboats shelled Gaza coast line causing severe damage to civilian homes and properties on Jan 21
-Israeli troops shot and injured a child east of Gaza City on Jan 22
-Israeli gunboat fire injured several Palestinian fishermen on Jan 22
-Israeli shelling set a Palestinian house on fire on Jan 22
-Israeli tanks fired on the border town of Al Faraheen, causing damage to homes and farms on Jan 24
- Israeli warplanes shelled the Rafah area near the border destroying homes and properties while claiming to target tunnels (most tunnels are used to bring in food and medicine and other basic necessities that Israel blockades)

The Israeli Professor Avi Shlaim wrote in the Guardian to challenge what he calls “the newspeak of Israeli propagandists” writing: "First, Hamas is the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people, not the corrupt regime led by Mahmoud Abbas. Second, Hamas spokesmen have repeatedly declared their readiness for a long-term ceasefire. Khalid Mish'al recently did so on these pages (Comment, 6 January). Third, Hamas has a solid record of observing ceasefires, while Israel has a consistent record of sabotaging them. Fourth, even during the ceasefire Israel did not lift its economic blockade of the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza, a form of collective punishment forbidden by international law. Fifth, the offensive unleashed in Gaza was illegal, immoral and unnecessary. If all Israel wanted was to stop rocket attacks from Gaza, all it had to do was to observe the ceasefire brokered by Egypt in June 2008."

Action 1: Watch the 60 minute video and send a thank you note
http://action.gazajustice.org/t/4436/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=963
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml.

Action 2: Associated Press Story: "The two men selected to serve as Hillary Clinton's deputy secretaries of state, Jacob Lew and James Steinberg, also filed financial disclosure forms. Lew, a former Clinton administration official who recently headed Citigroup's Alternative Investments unit, reported 2008 salary income of just over $1 million along with numerous investments, including between $50,000 and $100,000 in State of Israel bonds."....
Please write to the White House and news sources if you agree that there is a conflict of Interest in these appointments.

Action 3: Support Gaza, boycott the BBC (from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Movement)
http://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/index.php?option=com_petitions&view=petition&id=316

Action 4: Start your own BDS campaign. Here are some resources
http://www.pngo.net/
http://www.pacbi.org/
http://bdsmovement.net/

US professors call for Academic boycott
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059775.html

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org