Gazas unges manifest for forandring

Dette manifest af unge i Gaza blev først udgivet på Facebook og er nu oversat til 21 sprog. For yderligere baggrund se denne artikel fra Aljazeera.

Fuck Israel. Fuck Hamas. Fuck Fatah. Fuck FN. Fuck UNWRA. Fuck USA! Vi, de unge i Gaza, er trætte af Israel, Hamas, besættelsen, krænkelser af menneskerettigheder og ligegyldigheden fra det internationale samfund!

Vi ønsker at skrige og bryde denne mur af tavshed, uretfærdighed og ligegyldighed og larme lige så meget som de israelske F16 fly, når de bryder lydmuren, skrige med al magten i vores sjæl for at frigive denne enorme frustration, der er ved at ødelægge os på grund af denne fucking situation, vi lever i. Vi er som lus mellem to negle, der lever et mareridt i et mareridt. Der er ikke plads til håb, ingen plads til frihed. Vi er syge af at være fanget i denne politiske kamp. Vi er trætte af kulmørke nætter med flyvemaskiner brølende over vores hjem. Trætte af at uskyldige landmænd bliver skudt i bufferzonen, fordi de tager sig af deres jord. Trætte af skæggede fyre, der går rundt med deres våben, misbruger deres magt, og slår eller fængsler unge, der demonstrerer for det, de tror på. Trætte af skammens mur, der adskiller os fra resten af vores land og holder os fængslet på et stykke jord på størrelse med et frimærke. Trætte af at være portrætteret som terrorister, fanatikere med sprængstoffer i vores lommer og ondskab i vores øjne. Trætte af den ligegyldighed vi møder fra det internationale samfund, de såkaldte eksperter i at udtrykke bekymringer og udarbejde resolutioner, men kujoner når de skal håndhæve noget som helst, de har besluttet. Vi er trætte af at leve et lorte liv, hvor vi holdes fængslet af Israel, bliver tævet af Hamas og bliver fuldstændig ignoreret af resten af verden.

En revolution vokser inden i os, en enorm utilfredshed og frustration, som vil ødelægge os, medmindre vi finder en måde at kanalisere denne energi til noget, der kan udfordre status quo og giver os en form for håb. Den endelige dråbe, der fik vores hjerter til at skælve af frustration og håbløshed var, da Hamas kom til Sharek Youth Forum, den førende ungdomsorganisation (www.sharek.ps) den 30. november 2010 med deres geværer, løgne og aggressivitet, kastede alle udenfor, fængslede nogle og forbød Sharek i at arbejde. Et par dage senere blev demonstranter foran Sharek slået og nogle fængslet. Vi lever virkelig et mareridt i et mareridt. Det er svært at finde ord for det pres, vi er under. Vi overlevede knap Operation Cast Lead, hvor Israel meget effektivt bombede os sønder og sammen, de ødelagde tusinder af hjem og endnu flere liv og drømme. Det lykkedes dem ikke at slippe af med Hamas, som de ønskede, men det lykkedes at gøre os godt og grundigt bange og distribuere post-traumatisk stress syndrom til alle, for der var ingen steder at løbe hen.

Vi er unge med tunge hjerter. Vi bærer i os selv en vægt, som er så enorm, at det gør det vanskeligt for os at nyde solnedgangen. Hvordan nyder vi den, når mørke skyer maler horisonten og dystre minder kører forbi vores øjne, hver gang vi lukker dem? Vi smiler for at skjule smerten. Vi griner for at glemme krigen. Vi håber for ikke at begå selvmord her og nu. Under krigen fik vi den umiskendelige følelse af, at Israel ønskede at slette os fra jordens overflade. I de seneste år har Hamas gjort alt, hvad de kunne for at kontrollere vores tanker, adfærd og drømme. Vi er en generation af unge mennesker, der er vant til at stå ansigt til ansigt med missiler. Vi bærer med os, hvad der synes at være en umulig mission om at leve et normalt og sundt liv, og bliver knap tolereret af en massiv organisation, der har spredt sig i vores samfund som en ondsindet kræftsygdom, der forårsager kaos og effektivt dræber alle levende celler, tanker og drømme samt lammer folk med deres rædselsregime. For ikke at nævne det fængsel vi lever i, et fængsel skabt og opretholdt af et såkaldt demokratisk land.

Historien gentager sig i sin mest grusomme måde, og ingen synes at bekymre sig. Vi er bange. Her i Gaza er vi bange for at blive fængslet, afhørt, slået, tortureret, bombet, dræbt. Vi er bange for at leve, fordi hvert eneste skridt vi tager, skal være overvejet og velgennemtænkt til det urimelige. Der er begrænsninger alle vegne, vi kan ikke bevæge os, som vi ønsker, sige hvad vi vil, gøre hvad vi vil. Nogle gang føles det endda som om vi ikke engang kan tænke, hvad vi ønsker, fordi besættelsen har besat vores hjerner og hjerter på en så grusom måde, at det gør ondt og får os til at fælde uendelige tårer af frustration og raseri!

Vi ønsker ikke at hade, vi ønsker ikke at føle alle disse følelser, vi ønsker ikke at være ofre længere. DET ER NOK! Nok smerte, nok tårer, nok lidelse, nok kontrol, begrænsninger, uretfærdige begrundelser, terror, tortur, undskyldninger, bombninger, søvnløse nætter, døde civile, mørke erindringer, trøstesløs fremtid, hjerteskærende nutid, forstyrret politik, fanatiske politikere, religiøst bullshit, nok indespærring! Vi siger stop! Dette er ikke den fremtid, vi vil have!

Vi ønsker tre ting. Vi ønsker at være frie. Vi ønsker at være i stand til at leve et normalt liv. Vi ønsker fred. Er det for meget at forlange? Vi er en fredsbevægelse bestående af unge i Gaza og støtter udenfor, som ikke vil hvile, før sandheden om Gaza er kendt af alle i hele denne verden og i en sådan grad, at stiltiende samtykke eller larmende ligegyldighed ikke længere vil blive accepteret.

Dette er Gazas unges manifest for forandring!

Vi vil starte med at ødelægge den besættelse, der har fængslet vores sind og hjerter. Vil vi bryde fri fra denne mentale indespærring og genvinde vores værdighed og selvrespekt. Vi vil holde vores hoveder løftede, selv om vi vil møde modstand. Vi vil arbejde dag og nat for at ændre disse elendige forhold, vi lever under. Vi vil bygge drømme, hvor vi møder vægge.

Vi håber blot, at du – ja, du som læser denne erklæring lige nu! – vil støtte os. Skriv et besked på vores Facebook væg eller send en mail til freegazayouth@hotmail.com

Vi ønsker at være frie, vi ønsker at leve, vi ønsker fred.

GYBO Gaza Youth Breaks Out

FREE GAZA YOUTH

“The Israeli army is second to none, elite, humanitarian, heroic. Just don’t tell the Somali pirates”

Robert Fisk om de vestlige mediers utrolige følgagtighed over for Israel (ja, jeg kigger blandt andet på jer, JP og Politiken!):

I wasn’t personally at all surprised at the killings on the Turkish ship. In Lebanon, I’ve seen this indisciplined rabble of an army – as “elite” as the average rabble of Arab armies – shooting at civilians. I saw them watching the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinians on the morning of 18 September (the last day of the slaughter) by their vicious Lebanese militia allies. I was present at the Qana massacre by Israeli gunners in 1996 – “Arabushim” (the equivalent of the abusive term “Ayrab” in English), one of the gunners called the 106 dead civilians, more than half of them children, in the Israeli press. Then the Israeli government of Nobel laureate Shimon Peres said there were terrorists among the dead civilians – totally untrue, but who cares? – and then came the second Qana massacre in 2006 and then the 2008-09 Gaza slaughter of 1,300 Palestinians, most of them children, and then…

The amazing thing in all this is that so many Western journalists – and I’m including the BBC’s pusillanimous coverage of the Gaza aid ships – are writing like Israeli journalists, while many Israeli journalists are writing about the killings with the courage that Western journalists should demonstrate. And about the Israeli army itself. Take Amos Harel’s devastating report in Haaretz which analyses the make-up of the Israeli army’s officer corps. In the past, many of them came from the leftist kibbutzim tradition, from greater Tel Aviv or from the coastal plain of Sharon. In 1990, only 2 per cent of army cadets were religious Orthodox Jews. Today the figure is 30 per cent. Six of the seven lieutenant-colonels in the Golani Brigade are religious. More than 50 per cent of local commanders are “national” religious in some infantry brigades.

Link: The truth behind the Israeli propaganda

Bagslag

Til dem, der mener, at alt er OK og Israel bare gør, hvad Israel nu må gøre, vil jeg citere Citizen:

Medmindre Israel kan godtgøre, at konvojen udgjorde en umiddelbar trussel mod staten Israels sikkerhed, alternativt befandt sig i israelsk territorialfarvand og gentagne gange havde nægtet at efterkomme ordrer fra den israelske flåde, så er det endog meget svært at se, hvordan angrebet ikke skulle være i strid med så godt som samtlige folkeretslige konventioner om international skibsfart.

Nuvel, Citizen er måske lidt moderat. Her er en israeler, der ikke spæger sine ord:

Gaza flotilla drives Israel into a sea of stupidity

The Israeli propaganda machine has reached new highs its hopeless frenzy. It has distributed menus from Gaza restaurants, along with false information. It embarrassed itself by entering a futile public relations battle, which it might have been better off never starting. They want to maintain the ineffective, illegal and unethical siege on Gaza and not let the “peace flotilla” dock off the Gaza coast?

We are all in the chorus saying there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We are all part of the chorus claiming the occupation of Gaza has ended, and that the flotilla is a violent attack on Israeli sovereignty – the cement is for building bunkers and the convoy is being funded by the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood. The Israeli siege of Gaza will topple Hamas and free Gilad Shalit. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy, one of the most ridiculous of the propagandists, outdid himself when he unblinkingly proclaimed that the aid convoy headed toward Gaza was a violation of international law. Right. Exactly.

Five years ago, the noted Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who is a Jerusalem Prize laureate, after concluding his visit to Israel, said the Israeli occupation was approaching its grotesque phase. Over the weekend Vargas Llosa, who considers himself a friend of Israel, was present to see that that phase has since reached new heights of absurdity.

Og nu? Som modtræk til Israels angreb på nødhjælpskonvojen har Ægypten hævet blokaden og åbnet grænsen til Gaza:

Egypt opens Gaza border following IDF raid on aid flotilla

Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, letting Palestinians cross until further notice amid a storm of international criticism of Israel’s blockade of the enclave, officials in Egypt and Gaza said.

It is the only point on Gaza’s borders that is not fully controlled by Israel. Cairo, coordinating with Israel, has opened it only sparingly since Hamas Islamists, who are allied to Egypt’s opposition, seized control of Gaza three years ago.

Det forekommer rimeligt sikkert at konkludere, at uanset hvad, Israel har håbet på at opnå med denne aktion, er det ikke lykkedes for dem. Tværtimod. Og det er – midt i tragedien for de dræbte og deres familie – altid noget.

Breaking the Silence

Breaking the silence

Breaking the Silence er en israelsk soldaterorganisation, der har sat sig for at bryde det israelske samfunds hårdnakkede og selvvalgte tavshed om de ting, deres egne soldater foretager sig i de besatte områder.

Faklen.dk skriver Gry Waagner Falkenstrøm om et besøg i Hebron sammen med en soldat fra Breaking the Silence, der viser rundt i nutidens og fortidens forbrydelser:

Vi er på besøg hos Issa’ Amru, en palæstinensisk borger i Hebron og en af Ilans gode venner og samarbejdspartnere i oplysningsarbejdet, der ivrigt tegner et portræt af indbyggernes umulige hverdag. Der er nok af personlige historier til at underbygge med; den unge palæstinensiske mand, der blev tvunget af israelske soldater til at sidde på hug i solen, en 16-årig der blev banket. Den palæstinensiske kvinde der blev sparket af en soldat på gaden, en anden kvinde der blev nødt til at føde ved et checkpoint. Forskelsbehandling af palæstinensere og bosættere fra politiets side. Bosætternes daglige chikane af deres palæstinensiske naboer til de på et tidspunkt er tvunget til at flytte fra deres hjem. Den ødelæggende virkning, som checkpoints og muren har på almindelige palæstinenseres muligheder for at leve et normalt liv med landbrug, handel, uddannelse og job i andre dele af Vestbredden. “Folk skal vide, hvad der sker. Vi filmer de fleste konkrete episoder, og så håber vi på, at så mange som muligt ser de videoer, vi lægger ind på Youtube. Vi er desperate, men det er det eneste, vi kan gøre. Vi afleverer tit vores bånd til politiet, men jeg tager altid en kopi inden, for jeg ved godt, hvor de bånd havner”.  […]

En ung palæstinenser [gik] ud fra den port deroppe. Han havde et skarpt stykke glas bundet om hånden og prøvede at dræbe en soldat med det. Han blev lynhurtigt slået ned. En af de andre soldater skød ham på nært hold, mange gange. Jeg og nogle af mine venner kom løbende til, og vi prøvede at redde ham. Men så var det, at bosætterne havde fundet ud af, hvad der var sket, og de prøvede at få os væk fra ham og råbte, hvad fanden vi havde gang i. Da det ikke lykkedes, og vi stadig prøvede at redde fyren, angreb de os. De skubbede på os fra alle sider og maste os ned i ham, for på den måde at slå ham endeligt ihjel. Vi væltede rundt, og der var blod overalt. Efter lidt tid kom en ambulance og tog fyren med. Han var død for længst. Jeg kan huske, vi satte os under det træ og prøvede at vaske noget af blodet af os. Ude på vejen lå der en kæmpe blodpøl, og vi soldater, der havde prøvet at hjælpe, havde blod overalt. Efterfølgende hentede nogle af bosætterne musikanlægget fra festen, og så begyndte de hujende at danse rundt om blodpølen. Der tænkte jeg, hvad fanden laver du her. Hvordan kan virkeligheden være så sådan her?[…]

Separationspolitikken har aldrig hjulpet på palæstinensisk vold. Den medvirker tværtimod til at forværre situationen, så jeg tror det eneste, der kan hjælpe på spændingerne og sikkerheden her, er skridt for skridt at gøre en ende på denne apartheidstat og gøre det mere demokratisk. For som det ser ud nu, tror jeg kun, det er et spørgsmål om tid, inden den tredje intifada begynder.

Link: Breaking the Silence

Abbas-regimets tortur

Hvad skal man mene om Mahmoud Abbas, den israelske regerings “fredspartner”, som efter balladen for nogle år siden vippede Hamas-regeringen af pinden på Vestbredden?

Vel, naboerne til et han hans fængsler klager nu over, at de ikke kan sove om natten på grund af skrigene fra fanger, der bliver torteret i det fængsel, Abbas’ styrker kører i kvarteret:

A number of residents of al-Jabryat neighborhood in Jenin complained that they can no longer bear hearing the cries of prisoners being tortured in a neighboring prison that is run by the General Intelligence of Mahmoud Abbas.

Local residents said that a number of residents have actually moved out of the neighborhood because they could not sleep at night hearing those cries, saying that as the prisoners were being physically tortured in the said prison, they were being psychologically tortured.

“We cannot sleep at night because of the cries of the Hamas detainees. We have been like this for the past two years and everyday we say this problem will end tomorrow, but it seems this story is going take long,” said one of the residents of the neighborhood.

He also pointed out that the prices of property in the area around the General Intelligence headquarters have plummeted as a result.

Jeg tror godt, vi kan blive enige om, at der er et problem. Palæstina kan føje sig til den meget lange liste af arabiske lande, der formelig skriger på forandringer i det politiske liv. I dette tilfælde ville en mere åben og demokratisk regering jo nok desværre betyde en præsident, der er mindre velvilligt underdanig  overfor Israel, og som derfor vil være uspiselig for “verdenssamfundet”, der ikke synes på vej til at fravige princippet om, at Israel har carte blanche til alt.

Vel, måske med den nye regering  i USA … men vi skal nok ikke holde vejret.

Link: Residents of al-Jbaryat: we cannot sleep because of the cries of prisoners in PA (via Angry Arab)(Link fjernet, da det er overtaget af et kviklånsfirma)

Ezra Nawi – en israelsk helt (fortsat)

I forlængelse af dette indlæg fik jeg i dag et svar på min protest fra det israelske justitsministerium.

Den pågældende bureaukrat skriver blandt andet, at


1. Mr. Nawi arrives every week to southern mount Hebron area and recently also to
Etzion area and joins Palestinian residents there. Together with these Palestinian
residents he knowingly enters areas in close vicinity of Israeli settlements that are
closed military areas.
2. During these weekly occurrences, Mr. Nawi provokes the local residents.
Subsequently, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and the Israeli Police arrive, and are
confronted by Mr. Nawi who has often uses insults and sometimes even force
against members of the security forces.
3. Mr. Nawi was detained, arrested and investigated several times for his behavior and on March 19, 2009 was convicted of participating in a riot and assaulting two Police officers (Cr.C. (Jerusalem) 3246/07 The State of Israel v. Ezra Nawi). His case is scheduled for sentencing on July 1, 2009.

Problemet med flere af disse oplysninger er, ud over den simple omstændighed, at hverken  bosætterne eller den israelske hær har noget som helst at gøre i Hebron-området, at de ganske enkelt ikke passer. Jeg har derfor sendt justitsministeriet dette svar, som også er sendt til Support Ezra-kampagnen og den israelske ambassade i Danmark:

Thanks for your response.

I note that Ezra Nawi has been arrested and behaving the way you describe while protesting the illegal harassment of Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the Hebron area.

I also note that the settlers´ presence in the area is illegal according to international law, as installing part of your own civilian population in an area that you occupy is a war crime.

I also note that we are talking about settlements in the West Bank of Jordan, an area that Israel is currently illegally occupying and in which the Israeli military has no business whatsoever.

I also note that the events which led to Ezra Nawi´s conviction are described thus on Wikipedia, citing a considerable number of reliable sources:

“During the incident for which Nawi was charged, which was filmed and broadcast on Israel´s Channel 1, he can be seen non-violently resisting the demolition of the home before being taken into custody by members of the border police. Despite the video, which does not show Nawi violently resisting the police, he was found guilty on March 19, 2009 by an Israeli court of assaulting a police officer and participating in a riot, which scheduled sentencing for July 1.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Nawi)

I hereby conclude that Mr. Nawi´s conviction seems to be unfair, and if so he deserves a complete exoneration.

And the Palestinian population on the West Bank deserve that the Israeli army once and for all withdraws from an area where the have no business at all, and whose continued occupation is a crime against international law for which I hope all responsible Israeli leaders will one day stand
trial.

In the meantime, Mr. Ezra Nawi should be set free and, as I said, exonerated.

best regards,

For slet ikke at tale om, at de burde give ham en medalje for at påtale, hvad alt for mange af hans medborgere tier stille med.

Link: Free Ezra!

Ezra, en israelsk helt – opråb fra Noam Chomsky og Naomi Klein

Jeg har modtaget denne kampagnemail fra Jewish Voice for Peace:

Every so often someone comes along who is so brave and so inspiring that you just can’t sit by and remain silent when you learn they need your help.

We’re writing to you today about one of these rare people.

His name is Ezra Nawi.

You’ve probably never heard of him, but because you may know our names, now you will know his name.

Ezra Nawi is one of Israel’s most courageous human rights activists and without your help, he will likely go to jail in less than 30 days.

His crime? He tried to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins in the South Hebron region. These homes and the families who live in them have been under Israeli occupation for 42 years. They still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. They are continuously harassed by Jewish settlers and the military.

Nawi’s friends have launched a campaign to generate tens of thousands of letters to Israeli embassies all over the world before he is due to be sentenced in July. They’ve asked for your help.

His name is Ezra Nawi

His name is Ezra Nawi.

We keep saying his name because we believe that the more people know him and know his name, the harder it will be for the Israeli military to send him quietly to jail.

And Ezra Nawi is anything but quiet.

He is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic.

He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade.

He has dedicated his life to helping those who are trampled on. He has stood by Jewish single mothers who pitched tents in front of the Knesset while struggling for a living wage, and by Palestinians threatened with expulsion from their homes.

He is loved by those with little power, to whom he dedicates his life, and hated by the Jewish settlers, military and police.

Now that you know Ezra, you have a chance to stand up for him, and for everything that he represents. Especially now, as Israel escalates its crackdown on human rights and pro-democracy activists.

He needs you. His friends need you. Those he helps every day need you. So please send a letter to the Consulate, to the media, to your family and friends.

Take just a moment to write your letter. Do it now. And then share his name with a friend. Do it for Ezra Nawi.

Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Neve Gordon

Sammenhængskraft

Israel har netop fejret sin uafhængighedsdag, og i den anledning funderer Gideon Levy i Ha’aretz over den jødiske stats sammenhængskraft, eller rettere sagt, han fremmaner billedet af et nærmest på alle måder splittet samfund:

One-quarter of the Jewish state’s population is not Jewish, and one-fifth are members of the Arab nation. The language of the Arabs in Israel, their world, culture and viewpoints certainly do not allow them to be part of “the Israeli people.” Excluded, discriminated against, ostracized, alienated, and secluded in their towns and villages, they certainly are not part of the tribal campfire.

The same is true, but to a lesser extent, of the 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Among them, too, one can see trends of seclusion and sometimes even arrogance, alongside a measured integration by the second generation. They are all “Russians” rather than Israelis, and it’s doubtful whether this will change in the near future. Fact – even the “Mizrahim”, most of whom have lived here for around 50 years, are still a separate tribe. Possibly due to discrimination and other reasons, they have not found a respectable place in the country’s elite/

Don’t mention the exceptions, don’t talk about the two presidents, the two foreign ministers and the two chiefs of staff – the Jews of eastern origin, and in particular those from North Africa, have not made it here. They have not secured a place of equality two generations after arriving. Most of them live on the outskirts of large cities or in outlying development towns, and a there are still a great many more immigrants from North Africa in prison than in the top echelons.

Every Ashkenazi reader should ask himself how many of his friends are Mizrahim, and every Mizrahi Jew, how many of his friends are Ashkenazi. Let each of us examine whether it’s a matter of chance that we have not had a prime minister of Mizrahi origin. And how many members of the economic, defense, scientific, legal, media and cultural elites are Mizrahim?

The ultra-Orthodox Jews live in their own world, more so now than 50 years ago. You will barely see ultra-Orthodox families today in a secular environment. They have less in common with secular Jews than the secular Jews have with members of other peoples. A visit by a secular person to Mea She’arim is like an anthropological tour. The language, newspapers, customs, dress, culture and even the morals are different.

Levys konlusion? Perhaps not yet lost, but still 10 tribes.

Link: The 10 tribes

Israelske soldater: Vi dræbte ubevæbnede civile i Gaza

To israelske aviser kunne i går bringe en række øjenvidneberetninger fra soldater om årsskiftets aktion mod Gaza, hvor de fortæller om, hvordan de igen og igen og med fuldt overlæg dræbte ubevæbnede og uskadelige civile – ofte på direkte ordre fra deres officerer.

The Guardian fortæller:

One soldier described how an Israeli sniper shot dead a Palestinian mother and her children, adding that troops believed Palestinian lives were “very, very, less important than the lives of our soldiers”.

The accounts, published in two Israeli newspapers yesterday, gives rare insight into how the soldiers acted. It reinforces Palestinian accounts of disproportionate Israeli force and contradicts the Israeli military’s official version of events.

The accounts come from unnamed soldiers who were graduates of a pre-military course at Oranim Academic college, in Tivon, near Haifa. Their testimony was given in mid-February, and the transcript of the session was published this week.

Ha’aretz newspaper printed one infantry squad leader’s description of the shooting of unarmed civilians: “There was a house with a family inside … We put them in a room … a few days after there was an order to release [them]. There was a sniper position on the roof. The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn’t understand and went to the left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they had let them go and it was OK, and he should hold his fire and he … he did what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders.

“The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them … In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them.”

Link: Israeli troops describe shooting Gaza civilians