Bethlehem is a buzz with security preparations for the Fatah conference on Tuesday. The local people I talked to either were indifferent or were worried about inability to reach school or work or do shopping during the days of the conference. The Fatah people I talked to are unsure of how this will go and what will happen. A big segment of the Fatah cadres who are real resistance fighters from abroad or underground will not be able to attend. It is suspicious that Israel is allowing so many others to enter and even facilitated a few to come from Gaza across the green lines to the consternation of Hamas which wanted Fatah to release its political prisoners from West Bank jails before allowing Fatah officials from Gaza to travel to Bethlehem. Fatah, the biggest and most well financed of the Palestinian factions, is certainly at a crossroads. In the time of Arafat, he managed by his sheer personality and charisma to keep the various political factions and trends together under one umbrella (even those supportive of violent resistance and those against it). When Arafat was president and Abu Mazen was prime minister, they did not get along. Farouk Kaddoumi recently dropped a bombshell by releasing a transcript he claimed showed Abu Mazen at a meeting in which Dahlan and Israeli leaders discussed assassinating Arafat. But rumers and stories of the past aside, the future is far harder to shape.
I have no way of predicting what will happen at the meeting Tuesday. I onoy wish peopel in power believe in the power of ordinary citizens and create more accountable and democratic forums. I had a fantasy that attendees would do what the first conventiuon of Palestinian women did in 1929: go the streets, challenge the occupation and demand self determination. Most of the people I talk to (of various political leansings) believe that this convention will instead likely validate the negotiations track taken during Oslo (many opposed these talks that are not based on human rights and International Law). In the unlikely event that this conference reinvigorates the resistance plank of Fatah, there are implicit and explicit Israeli threats which are taken seriously since Bethlehem and all its visitors are under Israeli brutal military occupation. If the convention tries to straddle the fences and to come up with an arrangement that attempts to satisfy everyone, then it will likely fail. But while Fatah is a core segment of our society, it is not all. And we must remember that Palestine is bigger than any of us. We Palestinians are in Lebanon, in the US, inside Palestine 1948, inside the West Bank, in Gaza, and everywhere. Palestine is in us regardless of political leanings (or even courage). Collectively, we are diverse, dynamic, and able to resurrect hope in the land where it is believed that Jesus was resurrected from the death. It is this larger Palestine that gives us hope.
The original Zionist blueprints are for control of the area between the Euphrates and the Nile. Here we are 130 years later and even the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean is roughly at parity between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. 30 years ago, Zionists had convinced most of the world that there was no such thing as Palestinians. Today most of the world and even Zionists themselves recognize that not only are there Palestinians but that indeed there is such a thing as Palestine. The Palestinian flag now flies around Palestine even inside the Green line. But no one denies that we are perhaps at the most dangerous turn since 1948 and history has not decided yet what will transpire. We can shape the future if we believe in ourselves and our people.
I am completing a book on history of civil resistance in Palestine. What is notable is that resistance has been sporadic with periodicity of 10-15 years between uprisings (beginning in 1891) . Further, the biggest challenges came not because of external factors but from within (especially our infighting and drive for dictatorial control). Similarly the biggest successes (and there have been many) were achieved from grass root movements when Palestinians joined hands and worked together (e.g. the beginning of the 1987 uprising). The net of our strengths and weaknesses has overall resulted in stalemate. This is miraculous considering that we were facing perhaps the best organized, best financed, and most ruthless colonization effort in the past three centuries.
We as Palestinians have unique advantages and disadvantages in our struggles for liberation. We must analyze these scientifically and act accordingly. For example we need to leverage the tremendous sympathy and solidarity of people around the world to produce power (e.g. through better managed campaigns of boycotts, divestments and sanctions). And as the geopolitical landscape shifts around us (e.g. due to the failure and shedding of militarism or the mistakes of Israel with Turkey), we do need to take advantage in strengthening our position? In my upcoming book I show by hundreds of examples that we were/are able to seize these opportunities in timely manner when we had/have a dynamic responsive society that can adapt without bureaucracy or dictatorship. For example, this happened when clan relations were shed in favor of political party affiliation or when younger generations took leadership on the ground during the 1987-1991 Intifada.
We Palestinians can indeed shape our future with choices we make everyday even in the context of existing power structures (and those are changing). Neither reckless bravado and useless 1960s rhetoric nor supine begging for endless negotiations will help us at this critical junction. These are times that demand new ways of thinking. Accountability need not mean immediate punishment of those who harmed or profited from our cause but as a minimum unleashing new blood to take new initiatives unencumbered by old baggage. We would do well (at the Fatah Convention or outside) to begin by working with younger and newly empowered generations on such ideas as one state for all its people (the original PLO consensus) or at least the Civil Society Call to Action of 2005. It won’t be easy but our history has not been easy. Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote (and thsi is applicable to all of us including those who will attend teh convention Tuesday): “Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.”
Those of you who would like to visit us in the Bethlehem are most welcome. Despite all, it is still the city of the prince of peace. And our change for peace begins with ourselves as individuals and communities.
In Peace - Salam
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a Villager at Home
http://qumsiyeh.org
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Palestinians in kite record bid
Thousands of Palestinian children turned out for the record bid
Palestinian children turned out in big numbers on a beach in the northern Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the world record for kite flying.
More than 6,000 children gathered to fly more than 3,000 kites, according to the United Nations, which organised it.
The previous record was set in Germany last year - when the Guinness Book of World Records says 967 kites took to the sky simultaneously.
Guinness says it has received an application from Gaza for inclusion.
The organisation did not send a judge to Gaza.
But Karolina Thelin, a spokeswoman, said there were other ways of verifying the feat.
The UN agency UNRWA says the Gaza children smashed the existing record, and a final tally of the number of kites flown will be released on Saturday.
A UN spokesman said: "The symbolism of thousands of children, in one of the world's most locked-up communities, creating beautiful kites, letting them soar upward, is truly beautiful."
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Organic food is no healthier, study finds
LONDON (Reuters) - Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.
Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:29pm EDT
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.
A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.
"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour, one of the report's authors.
"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority."
The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government's Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.
The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Simon Jessop)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Monday, July 27, 2009
"51 Documents: History of Nazi-Zionist Collaboration".
Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
-Izumi Shibiku
And the wind blows terribly in this land of apartheid. But the moonlight is getting brighter as more and more of the lies upon which the racism that nourished this injustice become exposed one after another. The Israeli ministry of transportation tries to erase more of the native names in favour of the made-up names. And the Israeli Education mi8nister wants even Arab children not to hear in their schools about the Nakba (the catastrophe of our ethnic cleansing). But people's memories and collective will (aided now by the internet and a strong oral tradition) are far stronger than military might and distortions. Thankfully more Palestinians (more humans in general) are speaking out. A good way to reach our brothers and sisters who happen to be Jewish is to tell them of a history hidden from them in the smokescreen of Zionist propaganda. A good example of this is Nazi-Zionist collaborations and incidents when the Zionist movement put its political interests ahead of interests of Jewish victims. This history is little known (or at least not as well known as the history of Mufti Husseini's dalliance with Hitler that the racist & corrupt Avigdor Lieberman wants to Israeli embassies to resurrect today).
I urge you to read Lenni Brenner's book "51 Documents: History of Nazi-Zionist Collaboration". Here is an example of a message to Nazi Germany in 1941 asking for alliance by a group led by a future Prime Minister of Israel and leadership of Likud: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story799.html
The Zionist Federation of Germany wrote in a letter to the new Nazi regime: "Zionism believes that a rebirth of national life, such as is occurring in German life through adhesion to Christian and national values, must also take place in the Jewish national group" (June 21, 1933 memo from The Zionist Federation of Germany, reprinted in Brenner, 51 Documents, p. 43). The Zionists also cooperated with the Nazis in the mid-thirties to facilitate Jewish immigration to Palestine while blocking other routes of escape. The details of one agreement were researched by Edwin Black (Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement: the Untold Story of the Secret Pact Between the Third Reich & Jewish Palestine, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1984). Even Yad Vashem (built on land overseeing the destroyed and ethnically cleansed |Palestinian village of Deir Yassin) acknowledges this agreement:
“Nazi Germany and the Jewish Agency concluded the "Ha'avara" (transfer) negotiations, allowing Jews immigrating to Palestine to deposit part of their assets in Germany and receive Palestine pounds upon arrival in Palestine. After three months of talks, the Zionist Federation of Germany, the Anglo-Palestine Bank, and the German economic authorities signed the agreement, which permitted the transfer of Jews’ capital from Germany to Palestine by immigrants or investors in the form of goods. The German authorities thereby partially removed a barrier that had greatly impeded the efforts of German Jews to emigrate to Palestine and, at the same time, increased the production and export of German goods. For the Zionists, the agreement facilitated immigration to Palestine by allowing Jewish emigres to salvage some of the value of their property as they left, and to meet one of the criteria for obtaining a certificate of immigration from the British authorities. For a time, the Ha'avara Agreement helped the Nazis in undermining the anti-Nazi boycott.”
After commencement of attacks on Jews (especially socialist and communist) under German control, the British, in the hope of easing the pressure for increased immigration into Palestine, proposed that thousands of Jewish children be admitted directly into Britain. Ben-Gurion, the recognized leader of labor Zionism at the time, was adamently opposed to the plan, telling a meeting of Labour Zionist leaders on 7 Dec. 1938:
"If I knew that it would be possible to save all the children in Germany by bringing them over to England, and only half of them by transporting them to Eretz Yisrael, then I would opt for the second alternative. For we must weigh not only the life of these children, but also the history of the People of Israel" (Lenni Brenner, The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir (Zed Books, 1984). cites as reference no. 23: Yoav Gelber, ' Zionist Policy and the Fate of European Jewry (1939-42)' Yad Vashem Studies, vol. XII, p. 199.)
See also “FDR, Ruth Gruber and me: Zionists stymie WWII rescue plan,” by Ronald Bleier October 2006 http://desip.igc.org/FDRGruberAndMe.html
And also these relevant articles
http://www.fantompowa.net/Flame/kasztner_intro.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/brenner05252005.html
I go over these and other issues of Zionism in Chapter 6 of my book which is now online here http://www.qumsiyeh.org/chapter6/
England occupied Palestine illegally at the time, had issued the infamous Balfour declaration, and had armed and supported Zionist militias. The Mufti did meet with HItler who made vague promises to allow self determination to people in the Arab world should he win the war (and asked the Mufti to make propaganda statements in support of Hitler to European Muslims). But ultimately which had more of an impact on the course of the war: that Mufti liason or the Zionsit deals to block Jewiosh immigration to any other country and cut deals with Hitler to leave only one exit to Palestine (to later participate in the ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians)? I think that is a question worth pondering especially by Jews.
Israeli racists share their views: http://www.alternet.org/world/141310/video:_young_cosmopolitan_israelis_share_their_shocking_racist_views/
Interesting article: Fascism Needs an Enemy by Ran HaCohen, July 20, 2009 http://original.antiwar.com/hacohen/2009/07/19/fascism-needs-an-enemy/
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2009.nsf/FilesByRWDocUnidFilename/SNAA-7QF9WC-full_report.pdf/$File/full_report.pdf
ACTION: PACBI Guidelines for Applying the International Cultural Boycott of Israel http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1045
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
http://qumsiyeh.org
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
-Izumi Shibiku
And the wind blows terribly in this land of apartheid. But the moonlight is getting brighter as more and more of the lies upon which the racism that nourished this injustice become exposed one after another. The Israeli ministry of transportation tries to erase more of the native names in favour of the made-up names. And the Israeli Education mi8nister wants even Arab children not to hear in their schools about the Nakba (the catastrophe of our ethnic cleansing). But people's memories and collective will (aided now by the internet and a strong oral tradition) are far stronger than military might and distortions. Thankfully more Palestinians (more humans in general) are speaking out. A good way to reach our brothers and sisters who happen to be Jewish is to tell them of a history hidden from them in the smokescreen of Zionist propaganda. A good example of this is Nazi-Zionist collaborations and incidents when the Zionist movement put its political interests ahead of interests of Jewish victims. This history is little known (or at least not as well known as the history of Mufti Husseini's dalliance with Hitler that the racist & corrupt Avigdor Lieberman wants to Israeli embassies to resurrect today).
I urge you to read Lenni Brenner's book "51 Documents: History of Nazi-Zionist Collaboration". Here is an example of a message to Nazi Germany in 1941 asking for alliance by a group led by a future Prime Minister of Israel and leadership of Likud: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story799.html
The Zionist Federation of Germany wrote in a letter to the new Nazi regime: "Zionism believes that a rebirth of national life, such as is occurring in German life through adhesion to Christian and national values, must also take place in the Jewish national group" (June 21, 1933 memo from The Zionist Federation of Germany, reprinted in Brenner, 51 Documents, p. 43). The Zionists also cooperated with the Nazis in the mid-thirties to facilitate Jewish immigration to Palestine while blocking other routes of escape. The details of one agreement were researched by Edwin Black (Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement: the Untold Story of the Secret Pact Between the Third Reich & Jewish Palestine, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1984). Even Yad Vashem (built on land overseeing the destroyed and ethnically cleansed |Palestinian village of Deir Yassin) acknowledges this agreement:
“Nazi Germany and the Jewish Agency concluded the "Ha'avara" (transfer) negotiations, allowing Jews immigrating to Palestine to deposit part of their assets in Germany and receive Palestine pounds upon arrival in Palestine. After three months of talks, the Zionist Federation of Germany, the Anglo-Palestine Bank, and the German economic authorities signed the agreement, which permitted the transfer of Jews’ capital from Germany to Palestine by immigrants or investors in the form of goods. The German authorities thereby partially removed a barrier that had greatly impeded the efforts of German Jews to emigrate to Palestine and, at the same time, increased the production and export of German goods. For the Zionists, the agreement facilitated immigration to Palestine by allowing Jewish emigres to salvage some of the value of their property as they left, and to meet one of the criteria for obtaining a certificate of immigration from the British authorities. For a time, the Ha'avara Agreement helped the Nazis in undermining the anti-Nazi boycott.”
After commencement of attacks on Jews (especially socialist and communist) under German control, the British, in the hope of easing the pressure for increased immigration into Palestine, proposed that thousands of Jewish children be admitted directly into Britain. Ben-Gurion, the recognized leader of labor Zionism at the time, was adamently opposed to the plan, telling a meeting of Labour Zionist leaders on 7 Dec. 1938:
"If I knew that it would be possible to save all the children in Germany by bringing them over to England, and only half of them by transporting them to Eretz Yisrael, then I would opt for the second alternative. For we must weigh not only the life of these children, but also the history of the People of Israel" (Lenni Brenner, The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir (Zed Books, 1984). cites as reference no. 23: Yoav Gelber, ' Zionist Policy and the Fate of European Jewry (1939-42)' Yad Vashem Studies, vol. XII, p. 199.)
See also “FDR, Ruth Gruber and me: Zionists stymie WWII rescue plan,” by Ronald Bleier October 2006 http://desip.igc.org/FDRGruberAndMe.html
And also these relevant articles
http://www.fantompowa.net/Flame/kasztner_intro.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/brenner05252005.html
I go over these and other issues of Zionism in Chapter 6 of my book which is now online here http://www.qumsiyeh.org/chapter6/
England occupied Palestine illegally at the time, had issued the infamous Balfour declaration, and had armed and supported Zionist militias. The Mufti did meet with HItler who made vague promises to allow self determination to people in the Arab world should he win the war (and asked the Mufti to make propaganda statements in support of Hitler to European Muslims). But ultimately which had more of an impact on the course of the war: that Mufti liason or the Zionsit deals to block Jewiosh immigration to any other country and cut deals with Hitler to leave only one exit to Palestine (to later participate in the ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians)? I think that is a question worth pondering especially by Jews.
Israeli racists share their views: http://www.alternet.org/world/141310/video:_young_cosmopolitan_israelis_share_their_shocking_racist_views/
Interesting article: Fascism Needs an Enemy by Ran HaCohen, July 20, 2009 http://original.antiwar.com/hacohen/2009/07/19/fascism-needs-an-enemy/
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2009.nsf/FilesByRWDocUnidFilename/SNAA-7QF9WC-full_report.pdf/$File/full_report.pdf
ACTION: PACBI Guidelines for Applying the International Cultural Boycott of Israel http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1045
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
http://qumsiyeh.org
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Britain 'should approach Hamas'
Map of Israel and Palestinian territories
In pictures: Gaza six months on
The UK government has come under rising pressure from MPs to start making contact with Palestinian group Hamas.
A Foreign Affairs Committee report also said it was "regrettable" UK-supplied military items were "almost certainly" used by Israel in the Gaza conflict.
The cross-party group, which monitors foreign policy, called on the EU to make relations with Israel conditional on its peace-making efforts.
Hamas was also criticised for its use of rockets on Israeli civilian targets.
'Ineffective strategy'
But committee chairman Michael Gapes said the committee saw "few signs that the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas" was effective.
He added that the government "should urgently consider engaging with moderate elements within Hamas" as it had with the political wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this year.
The wide-ranging report condemns Israel for the continuing growth of settlements and for its blockades around the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.
It was unacceptable, said Mr Gapes, to deny unrestricted access for humanitarian assistance.
And the report also called for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to declare whether it considered war crimes had been committed during the December 2008 to January 2009 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel.
Hamas came into criticism for its rocket attacks, but MPs concluded that Israel's military action in Gaza was "disproportionate".
Hamas supporters
Who are Hamas?
Mr Gapes said: "Rocket fire from Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian groups on civilian targets in Israel is unacceptable.
"It generates the risk of a renewed escalation in violence, and constitutes a central obstacle in the way of Israeli willingness to move forward towards a two-state settlement."
The report welcomed the endorsement by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a two-state solution to the conflict.
The committee added that the split between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was a central obstacle to creating a united and democratic Palestinian state, and called for elections that could be accepted by all parties.
Former prime minister Tony Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, was commended for "making an important contribution to Palestinian economic and institutional development".
But movement, access and administrative restrictions on the West Bank continued to represent a "major obstacle to further Palestinian economic development," it added.
Hamas takes its name from the Arabic initials for the Islamic Resistance Movement.
Designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU, it is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation.
No one wants to be branded war criminals with Israelis in Gaza. Finally, some pressure is put on Israel to deal realistically with Palestinians, e.g., stopping incursion of more Israeli settlers into the West Bank as if the West Bank were part of Israel. Some day Westerners will understand that to Middle Easterners, the creation of Israel was a crime against humanity. The whole Arab region rejected the U.N. partition plan and they, not Europeans or Americans or anybody else were the people most effected by the American and UK orchestrated U.N. partion of Palestine. In other words, democracy was totally absent in the decision to create Israel. And that deed has caused the disruption of a whole region for 61 years, not counting all the thousands of people killed needlessly to assuage European guilt.
In pictures: Gaza six months on
The UK government has come under rising pressure from MPs to start making contact with Palestinian group Hamas.
A Foreign Affairs Committee report also said it was "regrettable" UK-supplied military items were "almost certainly" used by Israel in the Gaza conflict.
The cross-party group, which monitors foreign policy, called on the EU to make relations with Israel conditional on its peace-making efforts.
Hamas was also criticised for its use of rockets on Israeli civilian targets.
'Ineffective strategy'
But committee chairman Michael Gapes said the committee saw "few signs that the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas" was effective.
He added that the government "should urgently consider engaging with moderate elements within Hamas" as it had with the political wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this year.
The wide-ranging report condemns Israel for the continuing growth of settlements and for its blockades around the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.
It was unacceptable, said Mr Gapes, to deny unrestricted access for humanitarian assistance.
And the report also called for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to declare whether it considered war crimes had been committed during the December 2008 to January 2009 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel.
Hamas came into criticism for its rocket attacks, but MPs concluded that Israel's military action in Gaza was "disproportionate".
Hamas supporters
Who are Hamas?
Mr Gapes said: "Rocket fire from Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian groups on civilian targets in Israel is unacceptable.
"It generates the risk of a renewed escalation in violence, and constitutes a central obstacle in the way of Israeli willingness to move forward towards a two-state settlement."
The report welcomed the endorsement by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a two-state solution to the conflict.
The committee added that the split between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was a central obstacle to creating a united and democratic Palestinian state, and called for elections that could be accepted by all parties.
Former prime minister Tony Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, was commended for "making an important contribution to Palestinian economic and institutional development".
But movement, access and administrative restrictions on the West Bank continued to represent a "major obstacle to further Palestinian economic development," it added.
Hamas takes its name from the Arabic initials for the Islamic Resistance Movement.
Designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU, it is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation.
No one wants to be branded war criminals with Israelis in Gaza. Finally, some pressure is put on Israel to deal realistically with Palestinians, e.g., stopping incursion of more Israeli settlers into the West Bank as if the West Bank were part of Israel. Some day Westerners will understand that to Middle Easterners, the creation of Israel was a crime against humanity. The whole Arab region rejected the U.N. partition plan and they, not Europeans or Americans or anybody else were the people most effected by the American and UK orchestrated U.N. partion of Palestine. In other words, democracy was totally absent in the decision to create Israel. And that deed has caused the disruption of a whole region for 61 years, not counting all the thousands of people killed needlessly to assuage European guilt.
Friday, July 24, 2009
North Korea 'executes Christians'
By Andre Vornic
BBC News
A cross and candle (file image)
North Korea views religion as a threat to its state ideology
Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.
The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat.
Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.
Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes.
A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border.
She was accused of distributing Bibles, spying for South Korea and the United States and helping to organise dissidents.
Her parents, husband, and children were sent to a prison camp.
Such reports are hard to verify, but North Korea is known to be intolerant of religion - it views any form of alternative social organisation as a competitor for its own, religion-like ideology.
The US government says just owning a Bible in North Korea may be a cause for torture and disappearance.
Pyongyang's position appears to have hardened on everything from human rights to defence policy and international relations in the last year or so.
It is thought this may be a way to shore up the government through Mr Kim's illness and the process of anointing his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as North Korea's next leader.
BBC News
A cross and candle (file image)
North Korea views religion as a threat to its state ideology
Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.
The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat.
Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.
Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes.
A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border.
She was accused of distributing Bibles, spying for South Korea and the United States and helping to organise dissidents.
Her parents, husband, and children were sent to a prison camp.
Such reports are hard to verify, but North Korea is known to be intolerant of religion - it views any form of alternative social organisation as a competitor for its own, religion-like ideology.
The US government says just owning a Bible in North Korea may be a cause for torture and disappearance.
Pyongyang's position appears to have hardened on everything from human rights to defence policy and international relations in the last year or so.
It is thought this may be a way to shore up the government through Mr Kim's illness and the process of anointing his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as North Korea's next leader.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The SF Jewish Film Festival is coming up. Rachel Corrie film included which Zionists are trying to shut down the event
from Bay Area International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
There is a film about Rachel Corrie playing and her mother, Cindy Corrie, who has been very active since her daughter’s death, is coming up to speak. Several Zionist organizations have given the film festival a lot of flack for the screening and are planning to demonstrate and try to shut down the event. The level of disrespect to Rachel’s mother and memory is profound but not surprising.
People and groups are mobilizing to have a presence there to oppose the Zionists who are trying to shut this movie down and Cindy’s Corrie from speaking. We hope everyone can turn up to the movie thisSaturday, July 25 and Tuesday, August 4 (see below).
The latest news is that the Festival has invited a speaker from SF Voice for Israel to speak before the film.
The film festival issued the following statement to defend itself:
http://fest.sfjff.org/sites/default/files/docs/SFJFF_statement_on_RACHEL.pdf.
Saturday, July 25 at 1:30pm at the Castro Theater in San Francisco
Tuesday, August 4 at 6:30pm at the Roda Theater in Berkeley.
Lets turn out in mass to show our outrage at this latest Zionist attempt at censorship!
bay.ijsn@gmail.com :: www.ijsn.net
There is a film about Rachel Corrie playing and her mother, Cindy Corrie, who has been very active since her daughter’s death, is coming up to speak. Several Zionist organizations have given the film festival a lot of flack for the screening and are planning to demonstrate and try to shut down the event. The level of disrespect to Rachel’s mother and memory is profound but not surprising.
People and groups are mobilizing to have a presence there to oppose the Zionists who are trying to shut this movie down and Cindy’s Corrie from speaking. We hope everyone can turn up to the movie thisSaturday, July 25 and Tuesday, August 4 (see below).
The latest news is that the Festival has invited a speaker from SF Voice for Israel to speak before the film.
The film festival issued the following statement to defend itself:
http://fest.sfjff.org/sites/default/files/docs/SFJFF_statement_on_RACHEL.pdf.
Saturday, July 25 at 1:30pm at the Castro Theater in San Francisco
Tuesday, August 4 at 6:30pm at the Roda Theater in Berkeley.
Lets turn out in mass to show our outrage at this latest Zionist attempt at censorship!
bay.ijsn@gmail.com :: www.ijsn.net
Rabbis held over 'kidney trade'
Unidentified detainees outside FBI offices in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday
Suspects were taken to the FBI office in Newark
Dozens of politicians, officials and five rabbis have been arrested in the US over alleged corruption, money laundering and human organ trafficking.
Three mayors from the state of New Jersey and two members of the state legislature were among more than 40 people detained.
Three hundred FBI agents raided dozens of locations across New Jersey and New York as part of a 10-year probe.
Cars carrying suspects were parked four deep outside FBI offices in Newark.
'Piece of the action'
Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini and Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez were among those arrested.
State legislators Harvey Smith and Daniel Van Pelt were also arrested.
Law enforcement officials say the investigation originally focused on a network they allege laundered tens of millions of dollars through charities controlled by rabbis in New Jersey and neighbouring New York.
It widened to include alleged official corruption said to be linked to a New Jersey construction boom.
Acting US Attorney, Ralph Marra, said: "It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of the action. The corruption was widespread and pervasive. Corruption was a way of life for the accused."
He said politicians had "willingly put themselves up for sale".
"These rings, led by clergymen, cloaked their extensive criminal activity behind a facade of rectitude," he added.
Jon Corzine, the Governor of New Jersey, said: "The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated."
Ed Kahrer, an FBI agent who has worked on the investigation from the start, said: "New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation.
"It has become ingrained in New Jersey's political culture," he said.
The BBC's Jane O'Brien says the money laundering ring reportedly spanned the US, Israel and Switzerland.
Prosecutors accuse one rabbi of dealing in human kidneys for transplant for a decade.
It's alleged that "vulnerable people" would give up a kidney for $10,000 (£6,000) and these would then be sold on for $160,000 (£97,000).
Christian leaders bilk their followers but this is a new low of Abrahamic religious corruption.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Victors revising history: Israeli textbooks to drop 'Nakba'
Palestinian surrendering in Ramle during 1948 war
The exile of Palestinians in 1948 is given little weight in Israeli textbooks
Israel's education ministry is to drop from an Arabic language textbook a term describing the creation of the state of Israel as "the catastrophe".
The Arabic word "nakba" has been used with Israeli-Arab pupils since 2007. It does not appear in Hebrew textbooks.
Education Minister Gideon Saar said no state could be expected to portray its own foundation as a catastrophe.
Israeli Arab MP Hana Sweid called the move an attack on Palestinian identity and collective memory.
The passage in question, which occurs in one textbook aimed at Arab children aged eight or nine, describes the 1948 war, which resulted in Israel's creation, in the following terms: "The Arabs call the war the Nakba - a war of catastrophe, loss and humiliation - and the Jews call it the Independence War."
There is no reason that the official curriculum should present the establishment of the state of Israel as a 'catastrophe'
Gideon Saar
Education Minister
Israel concern at UN use of Nakba
The sentence was introduced when Yuli Tamir of the centre-left Labour party was education minister.
Ms Tamir's successor in Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing administration, Mr Saar, said: "There is no reason that the official curriculum of the state of Israel should present the establishment of the state as a 'holocaust' or 'catastrophe'."
Mr Saar added that state education for children was not supposed entail the de-legitimising of that state.
"Including the term in the official curriculum of the Arab sector was a mistake, a mistake that will not repeat itself in the new curriculum, which is currently being revised," he concluded.
Correspondents say most Hebrew-language history books, especially when written for schoolchildren, focus on the heroism of Israeli forces in 1948 and gloss over the mass exile of Palestinians.
If it is mentioned at all it is attributed to a voluntary flight, rather than the deliberate expulsion which later revisionist historians claim to have uncovered from archive sources.
The term Nakba is usually applied to the loss suffered by millions of Palestinian refugees displaced by the 1948 war and subsequent conflicts; their fate remains a key factor in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
Jafar Farrah, director of Israeli-Arab advocacy group Moussawa, told the BBC that removing the word Nakba from textbooks would not stop Arabs from using it, but it would complicate relations.
Far-right members of the Israeli government are pursuing legislation to make it illegal in Israel to commemorate the Nakba, as Palestinians and their supporters do every 15 May.
Zionists getting desperate: Israel circulates Hitler photo to battle critics
By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
Reuters
Wednesday, July 22, 2009; 4:10 PM
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has ordered its diplomats to use an old photograph of a former Palestinian religious leader meeting Adolf Hitler to counter world criticism of a Jewish building plan for East Jerusalem.
Israeli officials said on Wednesday Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli ambassadors to circulate the 1941 shot in Berlin of the Nazi leader seated next to Haj Amin al-Husseini, the late mufti or top Muslim religious leader in Jerusalem.
One official said Lieberman, an ultranationalist, hoped the photo would "embarrass" Western countries into ceasing to demand that Israel halt the project on land owned by the mufti's family in a predominantly Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, annexing it as part of its internationally unrecognized claim to Jerusalem as its capital.
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Some diplomats opposed Lieberman's move, arguing it could earn Israel stiffer world criticism for seeming to sidestep the wider conflict it faces with the Palestinians who want East Jerusalem as capital of a future state, another official said.
Asked why Lieberman issued the order, a spokesman said: "because it's important for the world to know the facts" and would not elaborate.
The United States and Europe this week protested the plan by private Israeli developers to build 20 apartments on the land which Israel says was bought by an American-Jewish millionaire as well as Israel's threats to demolish Palestinian homes that could leave thousands homeless.
The controversy has complicated an Israeli rift with the U.S. over its refusal to meet President Barack Obama's demands to halt Jewish settlement building throughout the West Bank so that stalled peace talks may resume.
About half a million Israelis live in the settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas that are home to some three million Palestinians.
An official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government accused Lieberman of "political bankruptcy" in ordering the distribution of the Husseini-Hitler photograph.
"It's an old story that has its own circumstances and doesn't apply to the present," Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Jerusalem, and a relative of the late mufti, told Reuters.
Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust said Husseini supported Nazi Germany to try to win backing for Arab nationalistic goals and that he lobbied for the extermination of Jews in North Africa and Palestine.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)
You know that Israelis won't mention the fact that less than 2% of Jewish holocaust survivors elected to go to Israel and even those who went complain about the Israeli social security services for them. Israelis have been spoiled with decades of American blank check on Israeli policies and now they see that the old Zionist America stranglehold has weakened tremendously. Soon the world will know why Palestinians and most Middle East Arabs believe Israel to be an illegitimate state, one imposed on them by force by the West without democratic due process.
Reuters
Wednesday, July 22, 2009; 4:10 PM
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has ordered its diplomats to use an old photograph of a former Palestinian religious leader meeting Adolf Hitler to counter world criticism of a Jewish building plan for East Jerusalem.
Israeli officials said on Wednesday Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli ambassadors to circulate the 1941 shot in Berlin of the Nazi leader seated next to Haj Amin al-Husseini, the late mufti or top Muslim religious leader in Jerusalem.
One official said Lieberman, an ultranationalist, hoped the photo would "embarrass" Western countries into ceasing to demand that Israel halt the project on land owned by the mufti's family in a predominantly Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, annexing it as part of its internationally unrecognized claim to Jerusalem as its capital.
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Some diplomats opposed Lieberman's move, arguing it could earn Israel stiffer world criticism for seeming to sidestep the wider conflict it faces with the Palestinians who want East Jerusalem as capital of a future state, another official said.
Asked why Lieberman issued the order, a spokesman said: "because it's important for the world to know the facts" and would not elaborate.
The United States and Europe this week protested the plan by private Israeli developers to build 20 apartments on the land which Israel says was bought by an American-Jewish millionaire as well as Israel's threats to demolish Palestinian homes that could leave thousands homeless.
The controversy has complicated an Israeli rift with the U.S. over its refusal to meet President Barack Obama's demands to halt Jewish settlement building throughout the West Bank so that stalled peace talks may resume.
About half a million Israelis live in the settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas that are home to some three million Palestinians.
An official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government accused Lieberman of "political bankruptcy" in ordering the distribution of the Husseini-Hitler photograph.
"It's an old story that has its own circumstances and doesn't apply to the present," Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Jerusalem, and a relative of the late mufti, told Reuters.
Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust said Husseini supported Nazi Germany to try to win backing for Arab nationalistic goals and that he lobbied for the extermination of Jews in North Africa and Palestine.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)
You know that Israelis won't mention the fact that less than 2% of Jewish holocaust survivors elected to go to Israel and even those who went complain about the Israeli social security services for them. Israelis have been spoiled with decades of American blank check on Israeli policies and now they see that the old Zionist America stranglehold has weakened tremendously. Soon the world will know why Palestinians and most Middle East Arabs believe Israel to be an illegitimate state, one imposed on them by force by the West without democratic due process.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
France summons Israeli ambassador over Jewish settlement
www.chinaview.cn
2009-07-22 05:47:57
PARIS, July 21 (Xinhua) -- France has summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris to demand a halt of Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday.
Daniel Shek, the Israeli ambassador in Paris, "has now been summoned to the Foreign Ministry," Kouchner told a news conference. "He will be received this afternoon or tomorrow."
Kouchner stressed that the settlements were against both international and Israeli law, calling for a stop of those activities.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also reiterated "the need for a complete freeze" of building settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, after a working lunch in Paris with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
According to local media reports, Egyptian President Mubarak alluded to possible regional peace "initiatives." However, he doubted whether talks hosted by Egypt between Palestinian opponent Fatah and the Islamist Hamas would work by the end of next month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls and insisted Jews should be allowed to build homes anywhere they like in Jerusalem.
2009-07-22 05:47:57
PARIS, July 21 (Xinhua) -- France has summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris to demand a halt of Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday.
Daniel Shek, the Israeli ambassador in Paris, "has now been summoned to the Foreign Ministry," Kouchner told a news conference. "He will be received this afternoon or tomorrow."
Kouchner stressed that the settlements were against both international and Israeli law, calling for a stop of those activities.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also reiterated "the need for a complete freeze" of building settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, after a working lunch in Paris with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
According to local media reports, Egyptian President Mubarak alluded to possible regional peace "initiatives." However, he doubted whether talks hosted by Egypt between Palestinian opponent Fatah and the Islamist Hamas would work by the end of next month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls and insisted Jews should be allowed to build homes anywhere they like in Jerusalem.
Europe raises pressure on Israel to stop settlements
Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:10pm EDT
By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Germany, France and Sweden on Tuesday joined a widening group of Western nations pressing Israel to stop building settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank under a U.S.-led effort to resume stalled peace talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has resisted international calls to freeze building in occupied territory, seemed to show a sign of flexibility as a newspaper reported a secret plan to remove two dozen unauthorized settler outposts.
Israel has long pledged to dismantle hilltop outposts that it never approved, but has continued building larger settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, land it captured in a 1967 war, and where Palestinians want to build a future state.
Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he would not resume peace talks with Israel, stalled since Israel elected Netanyahu, a right-wing settler champion in February, unless all settlement construction stopped.
In Berlin, Ruprecht Polenz, a senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, was quoted as saying Israel ran the risk "of gradually committing suicide as a democratic state" if it did not stop the construction.
Polenz, head of the German parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, further told the Rheinische Post daily that "Israel is overlooking the fact that neither Palestinians nor Arab states will agree to a solution without East Jerusalem."
The French Foreign Ministry summoned Israel's ambassador, Daniel Shek, in Paris, to protest against a planned Israeli housing project for East Jerusalem, which Israel considers part of its capital and which Palestinians also seek to make their capital.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem shortly after its capture, in a move never recognized internationally.
THOUSANDS THREATENED WITH DISPLACEMENT
European Union president Sweden urged from Stockholm that Israel refrain from demolishing homes in East Jerusalem where thousands are threatened with displacement.
Jerusalem has emerged as a focal point of the settlement controversy since Israeli officials accused the U.S. State Department on Sunday of telling Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, Israel should suspend plans to build about 20 housing units in the city's eastern sector.
The United States has never confirmed it made this demand, but Netanyahu rejected it in televised remarks to his cabinet, a move analysts saw as capitalizing on broad popular support in the country for Israel's continued control of the disputed city.
Neither Netanyahu's office nor the Israeli army would comment on a report in the respected Haaretz daily that the military was preparing to "forcibly evacuate 23 illegal outposts in one day," in a plan drawn up with Netanyahu's knowledge.
The same Haaretz columnist disclosed plans to remove troops and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip before that pullout occurred in 2005.
Separately, a report by the Macro Center of the Israeli European Policy Network said settlements were receiving a larger share of government funding than municipalities inside Israel, and the settler population was also growing three times as fast.
"While Israeli municipalities as a whole receive 34.7 percent of their income from (the government) and obtain another 64.3 percent from their own income, settlement municipalities obtain 57 percent from the (government) and only 42.8 percent from their own income," the report said.
Second day of virus alert on my computer when I tried to access a negative Israeli news story
This virus alert only has happened when opening news reports of Israeli doings against Palestinians. Who knows what's been planted in our computers via the Intel chips made with Israelis overseeing Intel's specifications.
Life imitates art
Black scholar's arrest raises profiling questions
By MELISSA TRUJILLO (AP) – 35 minutes ago
BOSTON — Supporters of a prominent Harvard University black scholar who was arrested at his own home by police responding to a report of a break-in say he is the victim of racial profiling.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. had forced his way through the front door of his home because it was jammed, his lawyer said Monday.
Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home near campus after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."
By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.
"Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.
Gates — the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research — initially refused to show the officer his identification, but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.
"Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.
Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID — both with his photos — and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com
He was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance. An arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26.
Gates, 58, also refused to speak publicly Monday, referring calls to Ogletree.
"He was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification," Ogletree said.
Ogletree declined to say whether he believed the incident was racially motivated, saying "I think the incident speaks for itself."
Some of Gates' African-American colleagues say the arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge.
Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said he was stopped on campus by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.
"We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white," Counter said. "It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened."
The Rev. Al Sharpton said he will attend Gates' arraignment.
"This arrest is indicative of at best police abuse of power or at worst the highest example of racial profiling I have seen," Sharpton said. "I have heard of driving while black and even shopping while black but now even going to your own home while black is a new low in police community affairs."
Ogletree said Gates had returned from a trip to China on Thursday with a driver, when he found his front door jammed. He went through the back door into the home — which he leases from Harvard — shut off an alarm and worked with the driver to get the door open. The driver left, and Gates was on the phone with the property's management company when police first arrived.
Ogletree also disputed the claim that Gates, who was wearing slacks and a polo shirt and carrying a cane, was yelling at the officer.
"He has an infection that has impacted his breathing since he came back from China, so he's been in a very delicate physical state," Ogletree said.
Lawrence D. Bobo, the W.E.B Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard, said he met with Gates at the police station and described his colleague as feeling humiliated and "emotionally devastated."
"It's just deeply disappointing but also a pointed reminder that there are serious problems that we have to wrestle with," he said.
Bobo said he hoped Cambridge police would drop the charges and called on the department to use the incident to review training and screening procedures it has in place.
The Middlesex district attorney's office said it could not do so until after Gates' arraignment. The woman who reported the apparent break-in did not return a message Monday.
Gates joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious "university professors" positions at the school. He also was host of "African American Lives," a PBS show about the family histories of prominent U.S. blacks, and was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.
"I was obviously very concerned when I learned on Thursday about the incident," Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust said in a statement. "He and I spoke directly and I have asked him to keep me apprised."
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Clever and funny Amos & Andrew satirizes stereotyping
Amos & Andrew
Written and Directed by E. Max Frye.
Starring Samuel L. Jackson
and Nicolas Cage.
Loews Cheri.
By John Jacobs
Staff Reporter
GoodFellas, White Sands, Jungle Fever, and Patriot Games to name a few. He's also in two movies now playing, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 and Amos & Andrew, which also stars Nicolas Cage, from Raising Arizona.
Jackson's character in Amos & Andrew is Andrew Sterling, a black playwright who's finally begun to experience success. He was on the cover of Forbes magazine. His plays have been on Broadway. He's finally able to afford a BMW and a summer house on an island, the residents of which are all very wealthy and, well, very white. It's when he drives in to spend his first night in his new home that events take an interesting turn. A well-meaning, but racist couple sees him in his own house and thinks, "[Gasp!] Look! There's a thief in the neighbor's house! That's probably the son's BMW is in the driveway! This must mean . . . My God! He's been taken hostage! That must be it. We all know what a black man is doing in an expensive house, right? He's stealing the stereo." The instructional video for the Neighborhood Crime Watch on this island must be a tape of the LA riots.
This movie pokes fun at this more passive type of racism which most of us call "stereotyping." All of the white people in this movie (with the exception of Amos) are comically small-minded characters stuck in a racist frame of mind that distorts everything they see. Because of their gross misinterpretations of events, the plot gets wildly out of control. Although the movie is a comedy, it makes having such sweepingly negative stereotypes look as irresponsible as it really is.
What I thought was unusual was how clueless the neighbors were. Didn't they see the "For Sale" sign in the yard? Don't they gossip with other neighbors? (I thought about the last time I moved. I was ten years old and I found out about it when, at my neighbor's house, I overheard him talking about it on the phone.) But then it hit me. Of course! Most rich people have at least two sets of neighbors. It's a requirement, right? And they are too important to actually talk to each other. Try and talk to rich people. See if they don't, no matter how they respond, make you feel like a salted slug.
Anyway, the racists stop strolling and call the chief of police, who's running for commissioner. Politically gifted, he realizes that this is his lucky night. He does what any candidate for commissioner would do in an election year -- he goes hard-core. He and his backups stake out the house. The policemen are inept (it's not NYC, you know, just some snooty island), so I understood when one of them tripped headlong into Andrew's car, setting off the alarm. Sterling wakes up, of course, because no one can sleep through one of those things. He goes outside to check it out, but he can't hear the officer over his car alarm, so he points his alarm silencer at the car and . . . What happens? Let me just say that Sterling may enjoy hearing the pitter-patter of little feet in his house, even the pitter-patter of rain on his roof, but not the pitter-patter of bullets through his front door. Alarm silencers should be banned, maybe -- just like super-soakers.
Eventually, the chief tries to call the "hostage," discovering that, (whoops!) he and his officers have just shot up Andrew Sterling's house-the Andrew Sterling. This is where Amos comes in. Amos is that loser pothead you went to school with back in high school who was always in trouble, but here he's disguised as Nicolas Cage. Amos was arrested for "contributing to the delinquency of a minor." "She looked eighteen," he responds. Ha, ha. It's a very old joke, but a good one, I guess. The chief has another flash of genius. He gives Amos a choice, telling him that he'll go free if he plays the part of the hostage-taker. If he doesn't, he'll get sent to a real prison as a "career criminal," which he really isn't; he's just a loser. Amos says yes, but he isn't as stupid as he looks, or as you remember him to be from high school.
The chief wants to use him as a trophy, so Amos takes Andrew hostage and demands a million dollars and a helicopter. But the pair escape from the house without being seen, and get to talking. Andrew, Amos says, sees racism where there isn't any; there's just bad luck. But then Andrew tells the sad story of his father, who gave 40 years of his life to some company. When he died a few weeks after retirement, only the black janitor came to the funeral. They reach a tacit understanding that they both suffer from negative stereotypes: one is a "nigger" and one is a "career criminal."
Meanwhile, the policemen, the press, and federal agents have stormed the house. The result is a well-filmed scene of confusion. Blocks away, Andrew helps Amos escape in a stolen Mercedes. Amos heads in the direction of Florida to start, we assume, a new and crime-free life. Andrew Sterling also has his vague catharsis, and they all live happily, except for the chief of course, who will be ruined by the press in one of its classic frenzies.
For a few minutes before the movie, I was worried that Cage, as the main comical character, would upstage Jackson in his more serious role as Andrew. But that didn't happen. Both actors had very commendable performances. The screenplay is clever, and the movie is, overall, well-done, coherent, and funny. All the characters are believable, and the film is, if not a must-see, definitely worth seeing.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Israeli crackdown on Bil'in continues: Invasion in Bil'in on 19.07.2009
At 5:30am, shortly after the Palestinian and international activists returned to their houses after patrolling the village all night, villagers gave the alert that four Israeli Army Jeeps were driving toward the village. Shortly thereafter, Israeli soldiers raided the house of Abd Al Fatah Bornat whose son Muhammed Abd Al Fatah Bornat (age 21) they had arrested at 2am on July 17, 2009. His brother is also wanted by the occupation forces, but he was not at home this morning. The Army left without making any arrests.
A few minutes later, they reached the house of Emad Bornat whom they arrested. Villagers and Palestinian and international activists tried to block the path to the Jeep where the soldiers were about to take the victim. They were pushed back violently by the Army so that any attempt to de-arrest the victim was futile. As the Jeep with the victim inside was about to drive off, the activists marched in a chain in front of it, preventing its escape. Soldiers in a second Jeep then threw sound bombs and tear gas at the activists which made them disperse allowing the Jeep to escape. The three remaining Jeeps followed under a rain of rocks thrown by the villagers. They drove into the village while activists followed. After stopping at an intersection, soldiers took extensive video footage of all the activists. All the Jeeps then turned back and left the village with the victim.
The situation is extremely serious for Emad Bornat. He is currently under medical treatment after a very bad tractor accident. It is vital for him to continue receiving this treatment.
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
www.bilin-ffj.org
A few minutes later, they reached the house of Emad Bornat whom they arrested. Villagers and Palestinian and international activists tried to block the path to the Jeep where the soldiers were about to take the victim. They were pushed back violently by the Army so that any attempt to de-arrest the victim was futile. As the Jeep with the victim inside was about to drive off, the activists marched in a chain in front of it, preventing its escape. Soldiers in a second Jeep then threw sound bombs and tear gas at the activists which made them disperse allowing the Jeep to escape. The three remaining Jeeps followed under a rain of rocks thrown by the villagers. They drove into the village while activists followed. After stopping at an intersection, soldiers took extensive video footage of all the activists. All the Jeeps then turned back and left the village with the victim.
The situation is extremely serious for Emad Bornat. He is currently under medical treatment after a very bad tractor accident. It is vital for him to continue receiving this treatment.
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
www.bilin-ffj.org
Israel backs East Jerusalem housing construction despite U.S. opposition
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Jews have the right to build in an area annexed after the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians consider the land part of their future state.
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Batsheva Sobelman
10:44 AM PDT, July 19, 2009
Reporting from Cairo and Jerusalem -- Calling Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem indisputable, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today rejected U.S. demands to stop plans to build 20 Jewish-owned apartments in the eastern part of the city that Palestinians regard as key to their future state.
The decision to allow new housing on land annexed by Israel after the 1967 war probably will further agitate relations with the Obama administration, which has been pressuring Netanyahu to halt the expansion of settlements in hopes of reviving the Middle East peace process and enticing Arab nations to normalize relations with Jewish state.
The sensitivity concerning the project, proposed by a Jewish American millionaire, was highlighted over the weekend when Israeli officials said the country's ambassador to Washington, Michael B. Oren, was summoned to the State Department. But Netanyahu, referring to news reports about the U.S. opposition to the plan, was unwavering, saying that a united Jerusalem was the capital of Israel and that there would be no limits on Jewish construction.
While refusing to rule out natural growth in existing settlements, Israel has pledged not to build new settlements and not to confiscate more land. But Israel doesn't consider projects in East Jerusalem to be settlements, but rather legitimate expansions in a section of the city it captured in the Six-Day War.
"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and purchase [homes] anywhere in Jerusalem," Netanyahu told reporters at the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting. "I can only imagine what would happen if someone would propose that Jews could not live in certain neighborhoods of New York, London, Paris or Rome. There would certainly be a major international outcry. We cannot accept such a decree in Jerusalem."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Netanyahu's comments were a distraction from the peace process and that East Jerusalem, like the West Bank, would one day be freed from occupation to become part of a Palestinian state. Washington and the international community hold that Jewish expansion in disputed East Jerusalem is a major deterrent in solving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
"The job of the prime minister of Israel is to prepare his people for peace," Erekat said. "Settlements and peace are two parallels that do not go together. It is either settlements or peace."
For the last two months, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and special U.S. envoy George J. Mitchell have met several times to try to resolve what has turned into the most publicly pointed disagreement in years between Israel and Washington.
The Israeli activist group Peace Now said construction in East Jerusalem is not supported by all Israelis and "undermines the chances of the city becoming the joint capital of Israel and the future Palestinian state."
Conservative voices, however, fear that forgoing construction in East Jerusalem will only invite more outside pressure on Israel to curtail its rightful development within the city. Ophir Akunis, a Likud party member of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, said, "All countries in the world must understand that on the issue of Jerusalem, we will not receive dictates."
The project in East Jerusalem is funded by U.S. businessman Irving Moskowitz, who has backed a number of housing projects in the city. It calls for building 20 apartments on land that includes the old Shepherd's Hotel, which was originally constructed in the 1930s for the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Husseini. After the Six-Day War, the hotel became a courthouse under the Israeli Ministry of Justice. It has been empty for about 15 years. The Jerusalem Planning Committee, which approved Moskowitz's project, said copies of the proposal were given to the U.S. and British consulates.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in statement, "According to the High Court of Israel, Jews, Muslims and Christians alike can purchase land in all parts of the city of Jerusalem."
jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com
Eretz Yisrael means it's all ours. Even if we're most all European immigrant descended, we've got more right to Palestinian land than the Palestinians. Only we Jews get to force indigenous peoples out of their country so that we can live there--no one else in history has had this special right but we have it 'cause we're special.
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Batsheva Sobelman
10:44 AM PDT, July 19, 2009
Reporting from Cairo and Jerusalem -- Calling Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem indisputable, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today rejected U.S. demands to stop plans to build 20 Jewish-owned apartments in the eastern part of the city that Palestinians regard as key to their future state.
The decision to allow new housing on land annexed by Israel after the 1967 war probably will further agitate relations with the Obama administration, which has been pressuring Netanyahu to halt the expansion of settlements in hopes of reviving the Middle East peace process and enticing Arab nations to normalize relations with Jewish state.
The sensitivity concerning the project, proposed by a Jewish American millionaire, was highlighted over the weekend when Israeli officials said the country's ambassador to Washington, Michael B. Oren, was summoned to the State Department. But Netanyahu, referring to news reports about the U.S. opposition to the plan, was unwavering, saying that a united Jerusalem was the capital of Israel and that there would be no limits on Jewish construction.
While refusing to rule out natural growth in existing settlements, Israel has pledged not to build new settlements and not to confiscate more land. But Israel doesn't consider projects in East Jerusalem to be settlements, but rather legitimate expansions in a section of the city it captured in the Six-Day War.
"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and purchase [homes] anywhere in Jerusalem," Netanyahu told reporters at the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting. "I can only imagine what would happen if someone would propose that Jews could not live in certain neighborhoods of New York, London, Paris or Rome. There would certainly be a major international outcry. We cannot accept such a decree in Jerusalem."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Netanyahu's comments were a distraction from the peace process and that East Jerusalem, like the West Bank, would one day be freed from occupation to become part of a Palestinian state. Washington and the international community hold that Jewish expansion in disputed East Jerusalem is a major deterrent in solving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
"The job of the prime minister of Israel is to prepare his people for peace," Erekat said. "Settlements and peace are two parallels that do not go together. It is either settlements or peace."
For the last two months, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and special U.S. envoy George J. Mitchell have met several times to try to resolve what has turned into the most publicly pointed disagreement in years between Israel and Washington.
The Israeli activist group Peace Now said construction in East Jerusalem is not supported by all Israelis and "undermines the chances of the city becoming the joint capital of Israel and the future Palestinian state."
Conservative voices, however, fear that forgoing construction in East Jerusalem will only invite more outside pressure on Israel to curtail its rightful development within the city. Ophir Akunis, a Likud party member of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, said, "All countries in the world must understand that on the issue of Jerusalem, we will not receive dictates."
The project in East Jerusalem is funded by U.S. businessman Irving Moskowitz, who has backed a number of housing projects in the city. It calls for building 20 apartments on land that includes the old Shepherd's Hotel, which was originally constructed in the 1930s for the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Husseini. After the Six-Day War, the hotel became a courthouse under the Israeli Ministry of Justice. It has been empty for about 15 years. The Jerusalem Planning Committee, which approved Moskowitz's project, said copies of the proposal were given to the U.S. and British consulates.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in statement, "According to the High Court of Israel, Jews, Muslims and Christians alike can purchase land in all parts of the city of Jerusalem."
jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com
Eretz Yisrael means it's all ours. Even if we're most all European immigrant descended, we've got more right to Palestinian land than the Palestinians. Only we Jews get to force indigenous peoples out of their country so that we can live there--no one else in history has had this special right but we have it 'cause we're special.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Palestinians in pastry record bid
Attempt at world's biggest kunafa
The giant kunafa was eventually devoured by thousands of visitors
Bakers in the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus have attempted to set a record for the world's biggest kunafa - a local sweet pastry.
The sticky pastry was 74m (243ft) long and made from 700kg (1,540lb) of semolina flour and the same amount of cheese plus 300kg (660lb) of sugar.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was among the first to receive a slice before thousands of visitors tucked in.
Kunafa originates from Nablus but is renowned throughout the Arab world.
Organisers say they will now submit the results to the Guinness World Records.
Palestinian news agency Maan said that 170 bakers from 10 Nablus pastry shops had helped make the giant kunafa, which cost around $15,000 (£9,000).
The pastry was laid out on a tray which stretched across Nablus's main square and its measurements were certified by the Palestinian Standards Institute.
Peace message
Mohanad Rabi, a local businessman who helped to organise the attempt, said he is confident the record would be accepted. He said he did not know of any previous attempts.
Nablus leaders hope the event will help restore the image of the town, once the scene of frequent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces.
Occupying Israeli forces have only recently eased restrictions on the city, imposed for the past nine years.
"The message of today is that we want to live in peace," said Mr Rabi.
Although Israel has praised recent Palestinian efforts, it continues to carry out raids in Palestinian towns.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Army Invades Bil'in Again-One arrested, One injured.
1-Weekly Demonstration at Bil'in on July 17, 2009
Some 400 demonstrators, including international and Israeli activists joined today's peaceful demonstration against the Apartheid Wall. A group of drummers from the PFLP Ramallah lead into this demonstration. The protesters proceeded peacefully toward the Wall where they were soon met with a first series of tear gas and sound bombs. The people did not disperse but stayed close to the Wall chanting slogans. One international activist in the wheel chair was hit directly in the shoulder and the leg by tear gas, which slightly burned his clothes. He was not injured, however.
Like last week, the "bad smell" water was sprayed again but the group did not disperse in spite of it. Chanting continued while everyone was dodging the tear gas and "bad smell" water. The demonstrators remained gathered close to the wall for some 90 minutes while the occupation forces shot tear gas from two directions. Then the everyone returned back to the village. No one was injured or arrested today.
2-Army Invades Bil'in Again-One arrested, One injured.
On July 17 at 2am, jeeps full of soldiers invaded the village of Bil'in. After arresting Muhammed abde al fatah burnat (age 21) the soldiers tried removing him by foot to the military outpost. International and Palestinian activists blocked the path of the army units, demanding his immediate release. The army responded by hitting activists with their rifles, throwing percussion grenades, and spraying chemicals in activists' faces. Additional army units arrived to dislodge the activists from the path of the arrested boy. These soldiers began chasing activists and trying to arrest them.
In the process of being chased, one of the Palestinian activists was injured. He suffered a deep gash on his leg that may require stitches and some minor lacerations on one of his arms.
The village of Bil'in has had 60 percent of its farmland confiscated by the apartheid wall and has had weekly demonstrations for the last 5 years. Recently, it has been under constant raids from the army and over 15 boys have been arrested in the last three weeks.
3-Bil'in
Bil'in, a village of some 1,600 inhabitants located northwest of Ramallah, has been subject to repeated night raids and arrests of villagers for the past month. Since the construction of the Apartheid Wall in 2004, Bil'in has been holding weekly demonstrations against this Wall. The resistance to the military occupation is very strong in this village. Consequently, arrests of villagers involved are very frequent. These arrests occur in various ways, i.e. at Israel's borders when Palestinians attempt to travel, or locally in Bil'in at the Apartheid Wall, as well as during night invasions. In recent weeks, the occupation forces conducted night raids of houses in the village up to three times a week in the wake of the weekly demonstrations. During these operations, eight villagers and one international activist have been kidnapped. They are still in detention. The list of wanted Palestinians is steadily growing.
The occupation forces are constantly changing their strategy to suppress the resistance in Bil'in. On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, a flying checkpoint was erected between Bil'in and Safa, operating for some 2 hours. Arrests at Israel's border to neighboring Jordan, in particular, are increasing. At last week's demonstration on July 10, 2009, the "bad smell" water (Durban) was used to disperse the demonstrators. This weapon has not been used in Bil'in for over one year. Previously, this chemical weapon has been challenged in court, and the case was won against the Israeli Army.
The following Palestinians are currently being detained in connection with their active resistance against the military occupation:
Kamil Katib
Kaleel Yaseen
Mohammed Katib
Ouda Aburahma
Hammuda Yaseen
Mahsen Al-Katib
Majdi Aburahma
Adeeb Aburahma
Tamar Al-Katib
Souleiman Walidi
Mahmoud Issa Yaseen
Basel Bornat
Muhammed abde al fatah burnat
We welcome all of you to support the village of Bil'in in their resistance against the military occupation.
4-To all our supporters and friends,
Bi'lin is a small village that has been struggling against construction of the wall for the last 5 years. The Israeli occupation has resulted in the confiscation of sixty percent of the farmers' land. This year, occupation forces have invaded the village and taken away many of the villages' youth. Many people have also been injured at the weekly demonstration against the wall and one farmer was killed. Neighboring villages have also experienced raids, brutalization, and land confiscation.
Our demonstrations are joined by many internationals and Israeli activists who have come every week in solidarity with our cause to demand justice. We want your help to continue our non-violent struggle in Bi'lin and other villages. In order to maintain our resistance, we need financial, media, and advocacy assistance. This will help us remain steadfast on our land and to resist further efforts to drive us away. Send a message to the Israeli government in your own countries by demonstrating at Israeli embassies and demanding an immediate end to the occupation of our land.
Thank you for your continued assistance in our struggle. Please donate to our cause
Help Us Continue Our Struggle!
In additon to the help provided by our volunteers, we are always grateful for financial assistance. Many villagers have lost thier jobs, thier land and their ability to sustain themselves and their families.
In addition we are in urgent need of funds to continue our non-violent resistance and to spread Bilin's example to other villages. Please wire funds to the Friends of Freedom and Justice Society in Bilin using the bank information below:
BANK OF PALESTINE PLC
RAMALLAH BRANCH
RAMALLAH , WEST BANK, PALESTINE TERRITORIES
SWIFT CODE: PALSPS22
BANK NO : 89
BRANCH NO :458
BENEFICIARY NAME : FRIENDS OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
BENEFICIARY ACCOUNT NO: 222459
TELEPHONE NO : 022489129
ADDRESS : BILIN
--The Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bi'lin
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Mobile- (00972) (0) 598403676
www.bilin-ffj.org
Some 400 demonstrators, including international and Israeli activists joined today's peaceful demonstration against the Apartheid Wall. A group of drummers from the PFLP Ramallah lead into this demonstration. The protesters proceeded peacefully toward the Wall where they were soon met with a first series of tear gas and sound bombs. The people did not disperse but stayed close to the Wall chanting slogans. One international activist in the wheel chair was hit directly in the shoulder and the leg by tear gas, which slightly burned his clothes. He was not injured, however.
Like last week, the "bad smell" water was sprayed again but the group did not disperse in spite of it. Chanting continued while everyone was dodging the tear gas and "bad smell" water. The demonstrators remained gathered close to the wall for some 90 minutes while the occupation forces shot tear gas from two directions. Then the everyone returned back to the village. No one was injured or arrested today.
2-Army Invades Bil'in Again-One arrested, One injured.
On July 17 at 2am, jeeps full of soldiers invaded the village of Bil'in. After arresting Muhammed abde al fatah burnat (age 21) the soldiers tried removing him by foot to the military outpost. International and Palestinian activists blocked the path of the army units, demanding his immediate release. The army responded by hitting activists with their rifles, throwing percussion grenades, and spraying chemicals in activists' faces. Additional army units arrived to dislodge the activists from the path of the arrested boy. These soldiers began chasing activists and trying to arrest them.
In the process of being chased, one of the Palestinian activists was injured. He suffered a deep gash on his leg that may require stitches and some minor lacerations on one of his arms.
The village of Bil'in has had 60 percent of its farmland confiscated by the apartheid wall and has had weekly demonstrations for the last 5 years. Recently, it has been under constant raids from the army and over 15 boys have been arrested in the last three weeks.
3-Bil'in
Bil'in, a village of some 1,600 inhabitants located northwest of Ramallah, has been subject to repeated night raids and arrests of villagers for the past month. Since the construction of the Apartheid Wall in 2004, Bil'in has been holding weekly demonstrations against this Wall. The resistance to the military occupation is very strong in this village. Consequently, arrests of villagers involved are very frequent. These arrests occur in various ways, i.e. at Israel's borders when Palestinians attempt to travel, or locally in Bil'in at the Apartheid Wall, as well as during night invasions. In recent weeks, the occupation forces conducted night raids of houses in the village up to three times a week in the wake of the weekly demonstrations. During these operations, eight villagers and one international activist have been kidnapped. They are still in detention. The list of wanted Palestinians is steadily growing.
The occupation forces are constantly changing their strategy to suppress the resistance in Bil'in. On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, a flying checkpoint was erected between Bil'in and Safa, operating for some 2 hours. Arrests at Israel's border to neighboring Jordan, in particular, are increasing. At last week's demonstration on July 10, 2009, the "bad smell" water (Durban) was used to disperse the demonstrators. This weapon has not been used in Bil'in for over one year. Previously, this chemical weapon has been challenged in court, and the case was won against the Israeli Army.
The following Palestinians are currently being detained in connection with their active resistance against the military occupation:
Kamil Katib
Kaleel Yaseen
Mohammed Katib
Ouda Aburahma
Hammuda Yaseen
Mahsen Al-Katib
Majdi Aburahma
Adeeb Aburahma
Tamar Al-Katib
Souleiman Walidi
Mahmoud Issa Yaseen
Basel Bornat
Muhammed abde al fatah burnat
We welcome all of you to support the village of Bil'in in their resistance against the military occupation.
4-To all our supporters and friends,
Bi'lin is a small village that has been struggling against construction of the wall for the last 5 years. The Israeli occupation has resulted in the confiscation of sixty percent of the farmers' land. This year, occupation forces have invaded the village and taken away many of the villages' youth. Many people have also been injured at the weekly demonstration against the wall and one farmer was killed. Neighboring villages have also experienced raids, brutalization, and land confiscation.
Our demonstrations are joined by many internationals and Israeli activists who have come every week in solidarity with our cause to demand justice. We want your help to continue our non-violent struggle in Bi'lin and other villages. In order to maintain our resistance, we need financial, media, and advocacy assistance. This will help us remain steadfast on our land and to resist further efforts to drive us away. Send a message to the Israeli government in your own countries by demonstrating at Israeli embassies and demanding an immediate end to the occupation of our land.
Thank you for your continued assistance in our struggle. Please donate to our cause
Help Us Continue Our Struggle!
In additon to the help provided by our volunteers, we are always grateful for financial assistance. Many villagers have lost thier jobs, thier land and their ability to sustain themselves and their families.
In addition we are in urgent need of funds to continue our non-violent resistance and to spread Bilin's example to other villages. Please wire funds to the Friends of Freedom and Justice Society in Bilin using the bank information below:
BANK OF PALESTINE PLC
RAMALLAH BRANCH
RAMALLAH , WEST BANK, PALESTINE TERRITORIES
SWIFT CODE: PALSPS22
BANK NO : 89
BRANCH NO :458
BENEFICIARY NAME : FRIENDS OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
BENEFICIARY ACCOUNT NO: 222459
TELEPHONE NO : 022489129
ADDRESS : BILIN
--The Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bi'lin
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Mobile- (00972) (0) 598403676
www.bilin-ffj.org
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
OK, so the election route didn't work: Let's go back to brute force: Israel warships pass through Suez
Israeli submarine in Mediterranean, 5 May, 2008
The Israeli navy is reported to be "sending a message" to Iran
Two Israeli warships have sailed through the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Israeli and Egyptian officials say.
Israeli media described the passage of the two Saar class missile boats as a "message" to Iran.
Israel believes Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, something Iran denies.
Israeli officials say an Israeli submarine used the canal in June, returning on 5 July.
An Israeli official said deployment of the two ships was linked to the Israeli navy's "recent activities around the Red Sea".
Correspondents say that although Israel vessels regularly use the canal, the recent moves have - unusually - been publicised by the Israelis.
Shlomo Brom, of the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, said: "I believe (the news) was likely leaked on purpose in order to signal to Iran that Israel has the capability of reaching them."
Israel has said repeatedly that it will not rule out the possibility of taking military action against Iran over the nuclear issue.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit told the BBC that warships had the right to use the canal provided they had no aggressive intent towards Egypt.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Olympic hopeful opens NZ brothel
Prostitute in Sydney (file pic)
Prostitutes in New Zealand are not forced to walk the streets
An Olympic hopeful from New Zealand has opened a brothel in a bid to raise cash for a tilt at taekwondo glory in 2012.
Logan Campbell, 23, competed at Beijing in 2008, but has now opened a 14-room "gentleman's club" after becoming tired of seeking funding from his parents.
New Zealand decriminalised prostitution six years ago, and brothels are allowed to operate with few restrictions.
But NZ Olympic officials say Campbell's business venture may count against him when choosing a team for London 2012.
"Selection takes into account not just performance but also the athlete's ability to serve as an example to the youth of the country," Team NZ funding manager John Schofield told the country's Sunday Star Times newspaper.
Training schedule
Logan Campbell says he began looking for alternative ways of raising Olympic funding when he realised how difficult it was proving to raise adequate cash to make support his training towards a place at the London Olympics.
Logan Campbell (left) fights Sung Yu-Chi
Mum was hesitant but she met the girls, a couple came over to her house and she was sweet as
Logan Campbell
Competing in Beijing a year ago, Campbell lost to a Taiwanese fighter, Sung Yu-Chi, who eventually won a bronze medal.
Speaking to the Sunday Star Times, Campbell noted that his opponent was the equivalent of a "movie star" in his homeland.
His own costs leading up to Beijing totalled some NZ$150,000 (£58,000), much of it provided by his hard-working parents, Campbell noted.
To take the financial strain from his parents Campbell has gone into partnership with a Hugo Philiips, 20-year-old accountancy graduate, to set up what the pair insist is a "high-class" escort agency.
He hopes to take a couple of years off to work full-time on the new venture, before returning to training in 2011 with a NZ$300,000 Olympic kitty.
NZ PROSTITUTION REFORM ACT
Brothels allowed to operate
Up to four prostitutes can set up collective as equal partners
Advertising sale of sex legalised
Brothels require certificate and registration by court
Sex work subject to normal employment and health and safety standards
"When people think of a pimp they think of a guy standing around on a street corner with gold chains," he told the Sunday Star Times.
"Pimps are more tough-type guys. I'm an owner of an escort agency."
He accepts that his chosen profession carries with it a certain reputation.
"Mum was hesitant but she met the girls, a couple came over to her house and she was sweet as. She realised they were just normal people supporting their kids and stuff."
Friday, July 10, 2009
Bilin protesters continue to be attacked by Israeli troops
Two kidnapped and dozens suffered tear gas inhalation during the weekly Bil'in protest
Friday 10\7\2009
Two kidnapped and dozens suffered from gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest in Bil'in village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.
International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Bil'in and marched from the village center after the Friday midday prayers. The protesters demanded the halt of Israeli illegal settlements and construction of the wall.
Among the protesters were leaders and supporters of the Palestinian National Initiative, PNI, which they marked their 7th anniversary
As the protesters arrived at the wall, Israeli troops stationed at its gate fired a barrage of sound bombs, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. The soldiers also used what the villagers call the "bad smell" water (Darban). The "bad smell" Darban smell cause people to vomit and get miss oriented. Dozenes were teated for the effects of tear gas inhalation and cases of vomiting among them the Mustafa Al Barghouthi, General Secretary of the PNI and a Palestinian MP.
Because of the 5th anniversary for the international court of Justice , that deemed the Israeli Wall illegal, the local village committee against the Wall and settlements called for the popular nonviolent resistance to continue.
In related news, the Israeli military continued to invade the village of Bil'in . Troops kidnapped eight villagers and an international supporter this week. Local activists and international supporters responded to the nightly invasions by staying all night touring the village and stopping the military forces from kidnapping more civilians.
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
www.bilin-ffj.org
Friday 10\7\2009
Two kidnapped and dozens suffered from gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest in Bil'in village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.
International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Bil'in and marched from the village center after the Friday midday prayers. The protesters demanded the halt of Israeli illegal settlements and construction of the wall.
Among the protesters were leaders and supporters of the Palestinian National Initiative, PNI, which they marked their 7th anniversary
As the protesters arrived at the wall, Israeli troops stationed at its gate fired a barrage of sound bombs, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. The soldiers also used what the villagers call the "bad smell" water (Darban). The "bad smell" Darban smell cause people to vomit and get miss oriented. Dozenes were teated for the effects of tear gas inhalation and cases of vomiting among them the Mustafa Al Barghouthi, General Secretary of the PNI and a Palestinian MP.
Because of the 5th anniversary for the international court of Justice , that deemed the Israeli Wall illegal, the local village committee against the Wall and settlements called for the popular nonviolent resistance to continue.
In related news, the Israeli military continued to invade the village of Bil'in . Troops kidnapped eight villagers and an international supporter this week. Local activists and international supporters responded to the nightly invasions by staying all night touring the village and stopping the military forces from kidnapping more civilians.
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
www.bilin-ffj.org
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
The difference in America's response to government repression between China and Iran is due to Zionist control of America's media
China will not be politically attacked as was Iran by America's president and government because China is not an enemy of Israel while Iran is. The Chinese will get a veritable pass, a slap on the wrist perhaps, for their involvement in killings of demonstrators while the world witnesses a concerted effort by American and UK Zionist controlled governments to destabilize Iran. Our media information is not under open source and we are being selectively spoonfed information about the foes of Israel in order to further Israel's "security" phobia. The invaders want nobody to remember where they came from which was not as Jewish holocaust survivors (less than 2% opting to go to Israel) but as the 20th century's last European invaders of 3rd World countries.
Monday, July 06, 2009
And compare America's response to this with Iran: Jordan police beat unionists calling for end to Israeli imports
World Bulletin / News Desk
Jordanian police on Sunday clashed with protesters demanding an end to the import of all Israeli fruits and vegetables, in front the Ministry of Agriculture in Amman.
Monday, 06 July 2009 12:00
Jordanian police on Sunday clashed with protesters demanding an end to the import of all Israeli fruits and vegetables, in front the Ministry of Agriculture in Amman.
Organisers said "police arrested 11 people, including trade union leaders".
"We demand that the government bans imports of fruits and vegetables from the Zionist entity (Israel)," the 14 trade unions which organised the protest said in a joint statement.
Agriculture Minister Said Masri "should be sacked because he did not do anything to stop such imports and to protect national products," they added.
Protesters carried pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip in December-January. Israel killed 1434 Palestinians and more than 5000 only in that offensive.
Jordan signed a 1994 treaty with Israel although the latter does not end its decades of occupation on Palestinian territories.
Jordan imported 1,930 tonnes of Israeli fruits and vegetables since the beginning of this year, according to Agriculture Ministry.
Jordan hosts Palestinians whose families forced to flee Palestinian territories after Jewish militants started attacks, placing the kingdom at the heart of Israel occupation issue.
Jordanian police on Sunday clashed with protesters demanding an end to the import of all Israeli fruits and vegetables, in front the Ministry of Agriculture in Amman.
Monday, 06 July 2009 12:00
Jordanian police on Sunday clashed with protesters demanding an end to the import of all Israeli fruits and vegetables, in front the Ministry of Agriculture in Amman.
Organisers said "police arrested 11 people, including trade union leaders".
"We demand that the government bans imports of fruits and vegetables from the Zionist entity (Israel)," the 14 trade unions which organised the protest said in a joint statement.
Agriculture Minister Said Masri "should be sacked because he did not do anything to stop such imports and to protect national products," they added.
Protesters carried pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip in December-January. Israel killed 1434 Palestinians and more than 5000 only in that offensive.
Jordan signed a 1994 treaty with Israel although the latter does not end its decades of occupation on Palestinian territories.
Jordan imported 1,930 tonnes of Israeli fruits and vegetables since the beginning of this year, according to Agriculture Ministry.
Jordan hosts Palestinians whose families forced to flee Palestinian territories after Jewish militants started attacks, placing the kingdom at the heart of Israel occupation issue.
Over 140 killed in ethnic unrest in China--compare America's response to China vs. Iran
From Jaime FlorCruz
CNN Beijing Bureau Chief
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At least 140 people were dead and more than 800 others injured after weekend violence in China's far west Xinjiang region, the officials said Monday, according to state-run media.
The death toll was expected to climb, according to a regional government spokesman, as reported by China's official Xinhua news agency.
Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lock-down of the city.
By Monday, police had arrested several hundred participants, the Xinjiang Public Security Department said, according to Xinhua. Police were searching for about 90 other key figures.
"Traffic control was partially lifted Monday morning in parts of Urumqi ... but tension still exists in the city," Xinhua said. "Debris has been cleared from the roads and normal traffic has resumed. Workers are still pulling away damaged vehicles from the worst-affected roads in the city."
Most businesses in the area where the violence took place remained closed on Monday, Xinhua said.
State-run media reported that protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic on Sunday. The report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were.
But a witness in Urumqi told CNN that, soon after the protest started at about 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters "grew into easily over 1,000 -- men, women and children, all ethnic Uyghurs -- screaming and chanting."
Police arrived quickly and tried to control the swelling crowd by erecting barriers in the street, but "people pushed them over," the witness said. "They were throwing rocks at passing cars and buses." As the violence escalated, hundreds of riot police arrived, the witness said.
"They used tear gas and fire hoses to disperse the crowd. I saw fire trucks, ambulances, armed personnel carriers and what looked like tanks. I heard random gunshots."
Late Sunday, the witness said, Urumqi was in a lockdown, with hundreds of People's Liberation Army soldiers in the streets. He reported seeing riot police chasing protesters into alleys and rounding up many of them.
The witness speculated that the protest, which took place in the predominantly Uyghur-populated Bazaar district, may have been a reaction to racial violence in southern China.
The violence reportedly happened at a toy factory in Guangdong province, where many migrants, including Uyghurs, have moved in search of work. A massive brawl reportedly broke out between workers of Uyghur and Han nationalities. Two Uyghurs reportedly died. Video Watch more on the unrest in Xinjiang »
Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic group. China's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy. However, ethnic tensions run deep. Minority groups such as the Uyghurs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han nationalities.
"What was clear was, the Uyghur protesters were not happy," the witness in Urumqi said. "They broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police, and harassed what looked like Chinese of Han or Hui nationalities. I saw a Uyghur man kick a Han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds."
A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a dissident Uyghur group based in Munich, Germany, told CNN that Uyghur people in Urumqi and Xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles.
Dilxat Raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every Uyghur neighborhood in Urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in Guangdong's Shaoguan City.
After about 40 minutes -- during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in Guangdong's Shaoguan City a planned ethnic cleansing -- the Chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles, including tanks, carrying troops into Urumqi.
All Uyghurs were ordered off the streets, he said.
Sources in Kashgar said a "massive number" of Chinese People's Liberation Army forces entered that city as well, and that students were ordered to remain inside.
People were also arrested along roads leading to Urumqi, he said.
"According to the Chinese law, people have the right to protest peacefully," the World Uyghur Congress said in an appeal. "We call for attention to this kind of ethnic discrimination."
The government in Xinjiang blamed "foreign forces" for Sunday's rioting.
"The violence is premeditated, organized violent crime," said Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the equivalent of a governor. "It was instigated and directed from abroad and carried out by outlaws in the country."
Bekri accused the World Uyghur Congress of spreading rumors and inciting anger that led to the rioting, in a speech he gave over Xinjiang television.
The World Uyghur Congress is led by Rebuya Kadeer, a successful businesswoman of Uyghur ethnicity, who was detained in 1999 and accused of harming China's national security. She was freed on bail in 2005 and was allowed to leave for the United States for medical care. Bekri accused Kadeer of instigating the unrest via the Internet and said the fight at the Guangdong toy factory was exploited to incite ethnic strife.
"We should bear in mind that stability is to the greatest interest of all people in China, including the 21 million-plus people from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang," he said.
CNN Beijing Bureau Chief
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At least 140 people were dead and more than 800 others injured after weekend violence in China's far west Xinjiang region, the officials said Monday, according to state-run media.
The death toll was expected to climb, according to a regional government spokesman, as reported by China's official Xinhua news agency.
Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lock-down of the city.
By Monday, police had arrested several hundred participants, the Xinjiang Public Security Department said, according to Xinhua. Police were searching for about 90 other key figures.
"Traffic control was partially lifted Monday morning in parts of Urumqi ... but tension still exists in the city," Xinhua said. "Debris has been cleared from the roads and normal traffic has resumed. Workers are still pulling away damaged vehicles from the worst-affected roads in the city."
Most businesses in the area where the violence took place remained closed on Monday, Xinhua said.
State-run media reported that protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic on Sunday. The report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were.
But a witness in Urumqi told CNN that, soon after the protest started at about 5 p.m., hundreds of protesters "grew into easily over 1,000 -- men, women and children, all ethnic Uyghurs -- screaming and chanting."
Police arrived quickly and tried to control the swelling crowd by erecting barriers in the street, but "people pushed them over," the witness said. "They were throwing rocks at passing cars and buses." As the violence escalated, hundreds of riot police arrived, the witness said.
"They used tear gas and fire hoses to disperse the crowd. I saw fire trucks, ambulances, armed personnel carriers and what looked like tanks. I heard random gunshots."
Late Sunday, the witness said, Urumqi was in a lockdown, with hundreds of People's Liberation Army soldiers in the streets. He reported seeing riot police chasing protesters into alleys and rounding up many of them.
The witness speculated that the protest, which took place in the predominantly Uyghur-populated Bazaar district, may have been a reaction to racial violence in southern China.
The violence reportedly happened at a toy factory in Guangdong province, where many migrants, including Uyghurs, have moved in search of work. A massive brawl reportedly broke out between workers of Uyghur and Han nationalities. Two Uyghurs reportedly died. Video Watch more on the unrest in Xinjiang »
Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic group. China's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy. However, ethnic tensions run deep. Minority groups such as the Uyghurs complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority Han nationalities.
"What was clear was, the Uyghur protesters were not happy," the witness in Urumqi said. "They broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police, and harassed what looked like Chinese of Han or Hui nationalities. I saw a Uyghur man kick a Han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds."
A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a dissident Uyghur group based in Munich, Germany, told CNN that Uyghur people in Urumqi and Xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles.
Dilxat Raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every Uyghur neighborhood in Urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in Guangdong's Shaoguan City.
After about 40 minutes -- during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in Guangdong's Shaoguan City a planned ethnic cleansing -- the Chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles, including tanks, carrying troops into Urumqi.
All Uyghurs were ordered off the streets, he said.
Sources in Kashgar said a "massive number" of Chinese People's Liberation Army forces entered that city as well, and that students were ordered to remain inside.
People were also arrested along roads leading to Urumqi, he said.
"According to the Chinese law, people have the right to protest peacefully," the World Uyghur Congress said in an appeal. "We call for attention to this kind of ethnic discrimination."
The government in Xinjiang blamed "foreign forces" for Sunday's rioting.
"The violence is premeditated, organized violent crime," said Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the equivalent of a governor. "It was instigated and directed from abroad and carried out by outlaws in the country."
Bekri accused the World Uyghur Congress of spreading rumors and inciting anger that led to the rioting, in a speech he gave over Xinjiang television.
The World Uyghur Congress is led by Rebuya Kadeer, a successful businesswoman of Uyghur ethnicity, who was detained in 1999 and accused of harming China's national security. She was freed on bail in 2005 and was allowed to leave for the United States for medical care. Bekri accused Kadeer of instigating the unrest via the Internet and said the fight at the Guangdong toy factory was exploited to incite ethnic strife.
"We should bear in mind that stability is to the greatest interest of all people in China, including the 21 million-plus people from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang," he said.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
McKinney held in Israel, to be returned to U.S.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- who was aboard a ship the Israeli navy intercepted this week -- is in a detention center and will be returned to the United States, the U.S. Embassy said.
McKinney was among those on a ship that the Israeli Defense Forces said violated an Israeli blockade and crossed into Gazan waters on Tuesday.
The Israeli navy gained control of the ship and took McKinney and about 20 people into custody, said the Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group that sent the ship.
The group said the ship, which it calls Spirit of Humanity, was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
McKinney served six terms in the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Georgia and was the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee.
The ex-lawmaker is in the Givon immigration detention center in the central Israeli city of Ramle, the U.S. Embassy said.
She has been given deportation papers but has refused to sign them, the embassy said.
She will be held for three more days, assuming she does not sign the papers, and then will be sent back to the United States, the embassy added.
The location of others taken into custody was not immediately known.
The IDF said the ship, which it called the Arion, had been warned while at sea that it would not be allowed to enter Gazan waters "because of security risks in the area and the existing naval blockade."
The IDF said the cargo boat disregarded all warnings and entered Gazan coastal waters. An Israeli navy force intercepted, boarded and took control of the vessel, directing it toward Ashdod, Israel, the IDF said.
The boat's crew would "be handed over to the proper authorities," the military said.
Without naming who was on the boat, the IDF confirmed that the incident was the same detailed by the Free Gaza Movement.
According to the Free Gaza group, McKinney said, "This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip" before authorities confiscated cell phones.
Also aboard was Mairead Maguire, who co-founded a group that worked for peace in Northern Ireland. Maguire and co-founder Betty Williams received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for their work.
Free Gaza said the voyage is the eighth such trip the group has launched. Five succeeded, the group said, but the Israeli military stopped attempts in January 2008 and December.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Amnesty accuses Israel of using human shields in Gaza
By Leigh Baldwin – 3 hours ago
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Amnesty International on Thursday accused Israeli forces of war crimes, saying they used children as human shields and conducted wanton attacks on civilians during their offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The London-based human rights group also accused Hamas of war crimes, but said it found no evidence that the Islamist rulers of Gaza used civilians as human shields during the 22-day offensive Israel launched on December 28.
It also reiterated its call for an international arms embargo against Israel.
"Much of the destruction was wanton and resulted from direct attacks on civilian objects," Amnesty said in a study.
Israeli troops forced Palestinians to stay in one room of their home while turning the rest of the house into a base and sniper position, "effectively using the families, both adults and children, as human shields and putting them at risk," the group said.
"Intentionally using civilians to shield a military objective, often referred to as using 'human shields' is a war crime," Amnesty said.
It could not support Israeli claims that Hamas used human shields. It said it found no evidence Palestinian fighters directed civilians to shield military objectives from attacks, forced them to stay in buildings used by militants, or prevented them from leaving commandeered buildings.
However, the report did point out that Hamas and other armed groups fired hundreds of rockets into southern Israel. "Such unlawful attacks constitute war crimes and are unacceptable," said Donatella Rovera, who led an Amnesty mission to Gaza and southern Israel.
More than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died during the offensive Israel launched in response to rocket fire from Palestinian militants.
Amnesty said 300 children were among those killed.
"Hundreds of civilians were killed in attacks carried out using high-precision weapons, air-delivered bombs and missiles, and tank shells.
"Others, including women and children, were shot at short range when posing no threat to the lives of the Israeli soldiers," it said.
"Most of the cases investigated by Amnesty International of close-range shootings involve individuals, including children and women, who were shot at as they were fleeing their homes in search of shelter.
"Others were going about their daily activities. The evidence indicates that none could have reasonably been perceived as a threat to the soldiers who shot them and that there was no fighting going on in their vicinity when they were shot," the report said, adding that "wilful killings of unarmed civilians are war crimes."
From bush to bike - a bamboo revolution
The team at Zambikes with a finished bambo bike
A bamboo bicycle can take over a week to make by hand
By Kieron Humphrey
Lusaka
On the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, next year's crop of bicycles is being watered by Benjamin Banda.
"We planted this bamboo last year," he says, "and now the stems are taller than me. When it's ready we'll cut it, cure it and then turn it into frames."
Mr Banda, is the caretaker for Zambikes, a company set up by two Californians and two Zambians which aimed to build bikes tough enough to handle the local terrain.
Co-founder Vaughn Spethmann, 24, recalls how it all started with a game of football.
Racks of bamboo
Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world
"We were here on a university field trip and we organized a match against some locals. Afterwards we asked them what they did, and they said: 'Nothing'. They didn't have jobs.
"So we decided to come up with a business which would be a source of employment and provide a useful product."
That product was the rugged, bright yellow Zambike, assembled at the firm's smart red-brick workshop set in sun-browned farmland.
Other projects followed as the mechanics' skills improved: a sturdy cargo bike, a bike trailer and a bike-drawn "zambulance", now in use at 10 clinics around Lusaka.
Good vibrations
Meanwhile Santa Cruz-based bike designer Craig Calfee was experimenting with bamboo as a material for bike frames.
His prototypes proved that the strength and lightness of the plant made it a great substitute for metal.
As a bonus it had excellent vibration-dampening properties, making it comfortable for riding over long distances.
It was eye-catching too - Mr Calfee's stand was besieged when he unveiled his first bamboo frame at a bike show.
A bamboo bicycle
The bicycles are being targeted at the American market
Mr Calfee hatched a plan to manufacture the frames in developing countries, distribute them in the US and share the profits.
He had already set up a workshop in Accra, Ghana, and started looking for more bike producers, nicknamed "bambooseros".
The industry telegraph started humming and soon he was talking to Zambikes.
"We were so excited," says Mr Spethmann. "The thought of Zambian-made products being sold in the USA. That just doesn't happen."
There are many reasons why it's so unusual: capital is difficult to raise in Zambia; tools and raw materials - if available - are expensive; skilled labour is in short supply; and bureaucracy isn't.
In this context having a low-cost raw material on the doorstep is a godsend.
"And of course there's very little impact on the environment," says Dustin McBride, the other American on the Zambikes management team.
Growth market
Inside the workshop, bike mechanic Elastus Lemba is setting up treated bamboo pieces on a jig made from plumber's pipes and bicycle parts.
A bamboo bicycle being made
The bicycle-making process has little impact on the environment
It looks low-tech, but that's intentional.
Mr Calfee wanted a production process that did not require sophisticated machinery.
With wood glue holding the frame in place, Mr Lemba binds the joints using sisal - tough cord made from plant fibre soaked in epoxy.
Hand-making the frames in this way takes at least a week.
After a final sanding and coat of varnish, each batch of bamboosero bikes will be shipped to the USA, tested, fitted with wheels, pedals, handlebars and brakes, and put on sale.
So will the bike be a success?
Mr Calfee thinks so, based on all the enquiries and advance orders he has received.
"Hundreds of people have asked when they can buy one. From a bike messenger who wants an affordable fixie to a wealthy collector who wants one from each bamboosero location."
A bamboo bicycle being made
It was never just about bikes. We want to change lives
Mwewa Chikamba, Zambikes co-founder
He is convinced the price tag - $475 (£290) for road or mountain bike frames, and more than $900 (£550) for a finished bike - won't put people off.
"The only criticism I've had is that they might be too cheap.
"After all, buyers are helping to get self-sustaining businesses off the ground in developing economies, and they're getting a unique bike into the bargain."
The mood is optimistic at Zambikes too.
Operations co-ordinator Divilance Machilika, watches company cook Fabian Mumba taking a finished bamboo bike for a spin around the yard.
"I can see these selling well in America. They'll like them because they're natural," he says.
Mr Machilika lived in a tent on the site for a year while the workshop was being built.
A quick learner, he soon mastered construction skills and bike mechanics. Now he oversees day-to-day running of the workshop.
Benefit to the community
One of the founders, Mwewa Chikamba, says Mr Machilika is an example of what Zambikes wanted to achieve.
"It was never just about bikes. We wanted to give our workers practical skills and reward their dedication. We want to change lives," he says.
A worker with some sisal
Sisal is another plant used in the bamboo bike which is grown locally
Assistance is also offered in the form of business coaching or discretionary loans - Mr Machilika used one such loan to buy a plot of land.
"I want to build three houses there. I'll use the rent money to start other businesses and employ people myself."
Instead of charging interest, Zambikes asks staff to demonstrate that the investment made in them is benefiting their community.
Perseverance and an innovative approach to product design and working practices have helped Zambikes put down strong roots.
But in a business environment that leaves much to be desired, it is no surprise that they have not yet seen a profit.
If the bamboo bike shoots out of the shops as fast as Mr Calfee predicts, that may be about to change too.
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About Me
- Steve Lewis
- Prophesy bearer for four religious traditions, revealer of Christ's Sword, revealer of Josephine bearing the Spirit of Christ, revealer of the identity of God, revealer of the Celestial Torah astro-theological code within the Bible. Celestial Torah Christian Theologian, Climax Civilization theorist and activist, Eco-Village Organizer, Master Psychedelic Artist, Inventor of the Next Big Thing in wearable tech, and always your Prophet-At-Large.