I am leaving, but I still have something to get off my chest. I leave with mixed feelings. Friends know that I will always be back. I am forced to leave and return, moving back and forth, between the East and the West, between oppression and resistance, occupation and freedom. Home is not a map, nor a birth certificate. It is, as Mahmud Darwish, the famous Palestinian poet, wrote, "your life and your cause bound up together. And before and after all of that, it is the essence of who you are." It is the essence of being a Palestinian. What do you feel more, Dutch or Palestinian? Journalists always ask me this question, and I always answer with a metaphor. Imagine, you have two children. You love both dearly. However, one of them was wounded. Logically, you give more attention to your wounded child, which, in my case, is my Palestinian background, hoping that this child is not permanently disabled. It moves even beyond this. Between the Israeli invasions of February and April, I was sick for two weeks. Asthma and bronchitis, which had been dormant in my system for a while, laid me low as Israeli troops invaded the Palestinian town of Ramallah overnight. Physically and politically, I was literally sick and tired. Penning the last sentence on yet another press release demanding that the international community take urgent action proved to be too much for my weakened immune system. Before I knew what was going on, I was sitting in a medical clinic next to the office, grasping for air, and waiting for a doctor to see me. "At least I had access to medical care," I thought. Apache helicopters, occasional shooting and other noises kept me from sleeping. I zapped CNN, BBC, and Sky News away to avoid hyperventilation. I did not watch IBA's English News. Too much, I heard the word "terrorist," less often the word "occupation." The weeks preceding, the massive invasion of Palestinian towns, cities and refugee camps had kept me busy - working, writing, calling, urging, requesting, convincing, and demanding, yes, demanding urgent action. "Inaction is complicity," screamed an unusually urgent statement issued by Amnesty International. Indeed, to remain silent is to condone. But the world remained silent. I wondered just how many people needed to get killed before I could press my demands again. I wondered how many more homes needed to be demolished, before I could demand compensation. I wanted to know when I could stop counting, lay my pen to rest and demand an end to impunity. If there is any place where one can prove that human rights are not applied universally, it is here. If there is any place where the world prefers to apply double standards, it is here. If there is any place where colonialism and apartheid are not yet dismantled, it is here. Still, against all odds, one must stay optimistic. It is too easy to be depressed by the current state of the world. I witnessed not only oppression but also resistance to oppression, not only injustice, but also brave people who struggle to end injustice. In other places, I have tasted the sweetness of freedom. Although, there is still much to do in South Africa, a major part of that struggle has been won, plain and simple because apartheid was and is doomed to fail. These experiences tell me that action should always be based on those possibilities glimpsed in a reading of history different from the customary painful recounting of human cruelties. What reasons do you give children who are denied their right to education? What reasons do you give pregnant women who cannot reach hospitals? What reasons do you give a farmer who cannot reach his crops? Dehumanization by way of political language has an anesthetizing effect and it paralyzes normal human empathy and disrupts moral inhibitions. Palestinians are human beings who just want to live their lives and that of their children on the land they inherited from their ancestors. Are they secure in believing that they will not be forcibly evicted? Are they secure in believing that their home will not be demolished or that their land will not be confiscated? My father was born in Nablus. My family still lives in Nablus. However, on travel documents, in computers of the Israeli Ministry of Interior, I am just a tourist with a travel permit, allowing only for a three months' stay here. - Arjan El Fassed was affiliated with LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, and is co-founder of the website The Electronic Intifada. He lived in ar-Ram, near Ramallah. Read More...
By: Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison
Date: 25/06/2008
×
Denied the Right to Go Home
(Hanan Ashrawi’s daughter telling her story) I am Palestinian - born and raised - and my Palestinian roots go back centuries. No one can change that even if they tell me that Jerusalem , my birth place, is not Palestine , even if they tell me that Palestine doesn't exist, even if they take away all my papers and deny me entry to my own home, even if they humiliate me and take away my rights. I AM PALESTINIAN. Name: Zeina Emile Sam'an Ashrawi; Date of Birth: July 30, 1981; Ethnicity: Arab. This is what was written on my Jerusalem ID card. An ID card to a Palestinian is much more than just a piece of paper; it is my only legal documented relationship to Palestine . Born in Jerusalem , I was given a Jerusalem ID card (the blue ID), an Israeli Travel Document and a Jordanian Passport stamped Palestinian (I have no legal rights in Jordan ). I do not have an Israeli Passport, a Palestinian Passport or an American Passport. Here is my story: I came to the United States as a 17 year old to finish high school in Pennsylvania and went on to college and graduate school and subsequently got married and we are currently living in Northern Virginia. I have gone home every year at least once to see my parents, my family and my friends and to renew my Travel Document as I was only able to extend its validity once a year from Washington DC . My father and I would stand in line at the Israeli Ministry of Interior in Jerusalem , along with many other Palestinians, from 4:30 in the morning to try our luck at making it through the revolving metal doors of the Ministry before noon – when the Ministry closed its doors - to try and renew the Travel Document. We did that year after year. As a people living under an occupation, being faced with constant humiliation by an occupier was the norm but we did what we had to do to insure our identity was not stolen from us. In August of 2007 I went to the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC to try and extend my travel document and get the usual "Returning Resident" VISA that the Israelis issue to Palestinians holding an Israeli Travel Document. After watching a few Americans and others being told that their visas would be ready in a couple of weeks my turn came. I walked up to the bulletproof glass window shielding the lady working behind it and under a massive picture of the Dome of the Rock and the Walls of Jerusalem that hangs on the wall in the Israeli consulate, I handed her my papers through a little slot at the bottom of the window. "Shalom" she said with a smile. "Hi" I responded, apprehensive and scared. As soon as she saw my Travel Document her demeanor immediately changed. The smile was no longer there and there was very little small talk between us, as usual. After sifting through the paperwork I gave her she said: "where is your American Passport?" I explained to her that I did not have one and that my only Travel Document is the one she has in her hands. She was quiet for a few seconds and then said: "you don't have an American Passport?" suspicious that I was hiding information from her. "No!" I said. She was quiet for a little longer and then said: "Well, I am not sure we'll be able to extend your Travel Document." I felt the blood rushing to my head as this is my only means to get home! I asked her what she meant by that and she went on to tell me that since I had been living in the US and because I had a Green Card they would not extend my Travel Document. After taking a deep breath to try and control my temper I explained to her that a Green Card is not a Passport and I cannot use it to travel outside the US. My voice was shaky and I was getting more and more upset (and a mini shouting match ensued) so I asked her to explain to me what I needed to do. She told me to leave my paperwork and we would see what happens. A couple of weeks later I received a phone call from the lady telling me that she was able to extended my Travel Document but I would no longer be getting the "Returning Resident" VISA. Instead, I was given a 3 month tourist VISA. Initially I was happy to hear that the Travel Document was extended but then I realized that she said "tourist VISA". Why am I getting a tourist VISA to go home? Not wanting to argue with her about the 3 month VISA at the time so as not to jeopardize the extension of my Travel Document, I simply put that bit of information on the back burner and went on to explain to her that I wasn't going home in the next 3 months. She instructed me to come back and apply for another VISA when I did intend on going. She didn't add much and just told me that it was ready for pick-up. So I went to the Embassy and got my Travel Document and the tourist VISA that was stamped in it. My husband, my son and I were planning on going home to Palestine this summer. So a month before we were set to leave (July 8, 2008) I went to the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, papers in hand, to ask 2 for a VISA to go home. I, again, stood in line and watched others get VISAs to go to my home. When my turn came I walked up to the window; "Shalom" she said with a smile on her face, "Hi" I replied. I slipped the paperwork in the little slot under the bulletproof glass and waited for the usual reaction. I told her that I needed a returning resident VISA to go home. She took the paperwork and I gave her a check for the amount she requested and left the Embassy without incident. A few days ago I got a phone call from Dina at the Israeli Embassy telling me that she needed the expiration date of my Jordanian Passport and my Green Card. I had given them all the paperwork they needed time and time again and I thought it was a good way on their part to waste time so that I didn't get my VISA in time. Regardless, I called over and over again only to get their voice mail. I left a message with the information they needed but kept called every 10 minutes hoping to speak to someone to make sure that they received the information in an effort to expedite the tedious process. I finally got a hold of someone. I told her that I wanted to make sure they received the information I left on their voice mail and that I wanted to make sure that my paperwork was in order. She said, after consulting with someone in the background (I assume it was Dina), that I needed to fax copies of both my Jordanian Passport and my Green Card and that giving them the information over the phone wasn't acceptable. So I immediately made copies and faxed them to Dina. A few hours later my cell phone rang. "Zeina?" she said. "Yes" I replied, knowing exactly who it was and immediately asked her if she received the fax I sent. She said: "ehhh, I was not looking at your file when you called earlier but your Visa was denied and your ID and Travel Document are no longer valid." "Excuse me?" I said in disbelief. "Sorry, I cannot give you a visa and your ID and Travel Document are no longer valid. This decision came from Israel not from me." I cannot describe the feeling I got in the pit of my stomach. "Why?" I asked and Dina went on to tell me that it was because I had a Green Card. I tried to reason with Dina and to explain to her that they could not do that as this is my only means of travel home and that I wanted to see my parents, but to no avail. Dina held her ground and told me that I wouldn't be given the VISA and then said: "Let the Americans give you a Travel Document". I have always been a strong person and not one to show weakness but at that moment I lost all control and started crying while Dina was on the other end of the line holding my only legal documents linking me to my home. I began to plead with her to try and get the VISA and not revoke my documents; "put yourself in my shoes, what would you do? You want to go see your family and someone is telling you that you can't! What would you do? Forget that you're Israeli and that I'm Palestinian and think about this for a minute!" "Sorry" she said," I know but I can't do anything, the decision came from Israel ". I tried to explain to her over and over again that I could not travel without my Travel Document and that they could not do that - knowing that they could, and they had! This has been happening to many Palestinians who have a Jerusalem ID card. The Israeli government has been practicing and perfecting the art of ethnic cleansing since 1948 right under the nose of the world and no one has the power or the guts to do anything about it. Where else in the world does one have to beg to go to one's own home? Where else in the world does one have to give up their identity for the sole reason of living somewhere else for a period of time? Imagine if an American living in Spain for a few years wanted to go home only to be told by the American government that their American Passport was revoked and that they wouldn't be able to come back! If I were a Jew living anywhere around the world and had no ties to the area and had never set foot there, I would have the right to go any time I wanted and get an Israeli Passport. In fact, the Israelis encourage that. I however, am not Jewish but I was born and raised there, my parents, family and friends still live there and I cannot go back! I am neither a criminal nor a threat to one of the most powerful countries in the world, yet I am alienated and expelled from my own home. As it stands right now, I will be unable to go home - I am one of many.
By: Dana Shalash for MIFTAH
Date: 26/10/2006
×
Ramadan Ended! Now What?
So today is the third day of Eid Al Fitr that all Muslims worldwide celebrate right after the culmination of the month of Ramadan. Not sure if it’s only me, but Ramadan seems to have lost its glory. Years ago when I was a child, people’s attitudes towards both Ramadan and Eid (festival) were way different than now. Maybe I have grown up to the extent that I see in them nothing but the mere fact that few arrogant relatives come for a visit for a couple of minutes, and everyone just sucks them up. It has been a gloomy day in deed. Being self-centered often times, I thought that my own family never enjoyed the Ramadan that other people celebrate. But the night prior to the Eid, I went for a drive to Ramallah with my uncle and three sisters, we toured around Al Manara and the mall a bit, and felt the legendary atmosphere. People were happy. That hit me; I am not accustomed to seeing them vividly preoccupied with the preparation for the big “day.” So I came back home and wrote to all my contacts wishing them a Happy Eid and expressed my astonishment and satisfaction to see promising smiles in the crowded streets of Ramallah. But the sad part was that I knew it was merely fleeting moments and that those smiles would be wiped off soon. Not only have my fears become true, but I was blind. Yes, blind. Or may be I just chose not to see it. May be I wanted to believe that we are actually happy. Would I miss Ramadan? NO. Not really. It has been made hell this year. While Ramadan is believed to be the holy month during which people get closer to Allah by fasting from food and drink all day long and focus on their faith instead, I am not pretty sure this was the case with us Palestinians. It was only a drug. Ramadan numbed our pain. We could handle both the Israeli and Palestinian political, economic, and security pressure knowing that the day of salvation was approaching; the Eid. But after the three days elapsed, then what? Now thousands of Palestinians are waiting for the next phase. It has been seven months now. Seven months, and thousands of the PA employees have not received their salaries. And two months elapsed with millions of students deprived form their right of education. I have three sisters and two brothers who do nothing but stay at home. They have not attended school from the very beginning of this term. It is both sad and frustrating that they have to “do the time” and pay a high price. Reading the news headlines on the first days of Eid is not healthy at all. It lessens the effect of the drug, and one starts to get sober. Sounds funny in deed, but that was the case. Few minutes ago, I surfed some of the blogs and came across few Iraqi bloggers writing on both Ramadan and Eid. If the titles did not mention “in Iraq,” I swear I could never tell the difference between Iraq and Palestine. The hunger, misery, constant killing, and lack of security are all Palestinian symptoms. I am speechless now; I can hardly verbalize the so many conflicting thoughts. Heaven knows how things would be like next Ramadan, but I would not speculate it already. It is not time to worry about it now, other issues are on stake; food, money, and education. Until then, there are a lot of things to sort out. By: Margo Sabella
Date: 27/07/2006
×
Children will Judge
Yesterday, I realized that I believe in love at first sight. Not the romantic kind, rather the sense of connecting with another human being without ever having to say a word. Indeed, the person I was so enthralled with last night was a five-month-old girl, who smiled at me and then hid her face in shyness. Those few moments of interacting with this baby lifted my spirits, but it also made me reflect in sadness about the fact that many children in this current conflict are robbed of their joy and their childhood. I often contemplate how mature Palestinian children seem. Sure, they play the childhood games that we all played in our day, but there is wisdom in their words that is eerily sobering. Their age defines them as children, but if you have a conversation with a Palestinian child, you will realize how much awareness she has of the world around her, of suffering in the next village, in Gaza, in Lebanon. She is a child that has empathy and understands that life, by nature, is wrought with all sorts of difficulties. A Palestinian child knows better; life is not as it is depicted in cartoons, where those who die are miraculously resurrected not once, but several times, where injuries are healed instantaneously, where death is a joke and life is a series of slapstick moments. A Palestinian child escapes into imagination, but she is never far removed from the reality of children and adults alike being indiscriminately shot outside her window, in her classroom, at the local bakery. Who would have thought that normal things, simply walking down the street to grab a falafel sandwich, could result in your untimely death? Perhaps the Israeli army mistook the falafel stand for a bomb-making factory, or an ammunition shop? Make no mistake about it; the Israeli military have made too many “mistakes” that there is obviously a pattern there, wouldn’t you think? A child that is robbed of the sense of security, therefore, is a child that is mature beyond her years. She knows that the bullets and the tank shells do not discriminate. Her father can shield her from the neighbor’s vicious dog, from the crazy drivers, he will hold her hand to cross the street, but he will not be able to capture a bullet in his hand like the mythological superheroes in blockbuster movies out this summer in theatres near you. He might be able to take the bullet for her though. But once gone, who will be her protective shield against the harsh reality of life that goes on in what seems the periphery of the conflict? And who will be there to share some of her joyous milestones; graduation, marriage, the birth of a child? Hers is a joy that is always overshadowed by a greater sorrow. Is it fair that 31 Palestinian children have died in a 31-day period? A child-a-day; is that the new Israeli army mantra? Khaled was just a one-year-old, Aya was seven, Sabreen was only three. What lost potential, what lost promise – who knows what Khaled would have grown up to be? An astronaut? A veterinarian? A philosopher? What about Aya; she could have become a fashion designer, a teacher, a mother. By what right has this promise been so violently plucked and trampled upon cruelly and without a moment’s hesitation on the part of the Israeli soldier, who heartlessly unleashed a fiery rain of bullets and shells on a neighborhood as if he is in a simulated video game and those who die are fictitious and unreal? Perhaps that is what he is made to believe, otherwise, who in clear consciousness is so willing to pull the trigger and with one spray of bullets destroy life, potential and rob joy? If you can see the smiling face of your own child, then how do you go out and unquestioningly take the life of others? If you value life, then how do you live with the burden of knowing that you have taken it so unjustifiably? Perhaps that is your perpetual punishment; the judgment of a child scorned is the harshest of them all.
By the Same Author
Date: 21/12/2005
×
Solana Exposes European Bias Towards Israel Once Again
The European Union threatened today to curb aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas wins next month's Palestinian Legislative Council elections. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, following his recent shelving of a report critical of Israeli policies in Jerusalem, said during a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that if Hamas won the elections, it would be "very difficult that the help and the money that goes to... the Palestinian Authority will continue to flow". The EU has a vested interest in the Palestinian Authority, which was allocated more than $340 million of aid money in 2005. However, the EU has also a vested interest in good relations with Israel. Relations between Israel and the EU have warmed recently, with Israel agreeing to allow EU representatives to monitor the crucial Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Solana's remarks come at a time when the EU backtracked on plans to publish a report highly critical of Israeli policy towards Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Leaked parts of the report accused Israel of sealing Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem from the West Bank as part of an overall effort to annex the city. The report was drafted by diplomats in East Jerusalem and Ramallah to encourage foreign ministers of the 25-member group to take a more aggressive policy towards Israeli violations of Palestinian rights in Jerusalem. The report accused Israel of boosting settlements in and around East Jerusalem, and also of using the route of its Wall to sever most of East Jerusalem's Palestinian residents from free access to the West Bank. It was Javier Solana who persuaded EU ministers on December 12 not to endorse the report, warning that its publication could undermine the EU's influence in the region. Germany and Italy were reported to have backed Solana's view of the report as 'one-sided', while Nordic countries were reported to have argued in favour of transparency. "There is a general election coming up in a few months' time," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency. "So we thought it was appropriate not to endorse or to publish the document, but instead to continue to make representations about our concerns in the normal way." However, Solana's remarks today highlights the EU's inconsistency in its relations vis-a-vis the Palestinians and the Israelis. Citing Palestinian and Israeli elections as a reason to shelve the EU report on Jerusalem, Solana shows disrespect of the Palestinian political process by threatening to withdraw funds in the event that the opposition wins the elections. With this, the EU continues to accommodate many of Israel's illegal policies. A recent human rights assessment by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) exposed a remarkable lack of coherence between the EU's legally correct declarative diplomacy and its operative diplomacy in its relations with Israel. The EU is tending towards forging new "understandings" and "practical arrangements" with Israel and the Palestinian Authority at the expense of international humanitarian and human rights law and facilitates the disregard of this body of law by Israel. The EMHRN report concluded that "the political echelon of the EU overlooks the necessity of ensuring respect for the rules of international humanitarian law to the construction of a viable and successful Palestinian state, and the achievement of respect for fundamental human rights throughout the region." As EI reported in March 2005, the EU has facilitated Israel's violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by deferring to them in its own dealings with Israel. EMHRN concluded that the existing climate of general disrespect for the law by states has helped engender the growing problems of human insecurity, lawlessness and unregulated political violence observed within the occupied Palestinian territories, and may soon make the establishment of a fully sovereign and viable Palestinian state impossible. EU missions In a clear sign of close relations, Israel agreed to EU monitoring of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, which opened last month. During his Israel visit this week, Solana will visit the Rafah border crossing. He will also visit the police headquarters of Gaza, in view of the launching in 2006 of another mission -- EUPOL COPPS -- which will monitor the Palestinian police. Code-named "EU BAM Rafah", the mission has been established on the basis of the "Agreement on Movement and Access" that was reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on November 15th. The aim of "EU BAM Rafah" is to bolster Israeli security control of people entering and leaving the Gaza Strip. It actively monitors, verifies and evaluates PA performance and acts to ensure that the PA complies with all applicable rules and regulations concerning the Rafah crossing point. The operational phase of EU BAM Rafah began on 25 November 2005 and includes 70 personnel from EU member states. The European Union is preparing an "EU Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories" due to start on 1 January 2006. Code-named EUPOL-COPPS, this mission will support the Palestinian Authority in establishing for Israel suitable policing arrangements. The mission will closely monitor the Palestinian police. The mission will coordinate with other international actors, such as Egyptian intelligence and the CIA, as well as those providing support to the Palestinian Ministry of Interior. EUPOL-COPPS will include approximately 33 personnel primarily seconded from EU member states. The operational phase of the Mission will begin on 1 January 2006. EUPOL-COPPS will have an initial duration of 3 years. Italy's role Diplomats said Italy was among EU member states which had argued against publishing the damning report about Israeli actions in Jerusalem. Italian foreign minister Gianfranco Fini said on December 12th: "On my initiative we discussed the political appropriateness of publishing the document on the situation in east Jerusalem." "At the end of the discussion," he added, "we decided not to publish it because it was thought politically inopportune to make official a document which would appear at a time which is very different from when it was [originally] drafted." Not only is Italy governed by a pro-Israeli cabinet. Recently, former finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was offered the position of finance minister in Italy, but rejected it. Netanyahu revealed that Carlo de Benedetti, one of Italy's leading industrialists has offered him the post, but that he declined and opted for staying in Israel. Interestingly, the EU border mission in Rafah is headed by an Italian, Major-General Pietro Pistolese. The European Voice, a Brussels-based weekly newspaper specialized in EU affairs, reported that "Israeli diplomats have warned that relations may be soured if the report was published." According to The Guardian, one EU diplomat said the report was "a little much". "Javier Solana made clear he thought it was very one-sided and unhelpful," the diplomat added. "As everyone knows, Israel and the Palestinian territories [sic] are on the eve of election campaigns which in both cases will have an enormous impact on consolidating the peace process... For this reason it appeared to my [European Union] colleagues that the publishing of the document could be exploited by those.. who have different objectives from those defined by the Road Map [peace process]," Fini said. Instead of severing ties with Israel, as Israel's conduct in terms of human rights and international law requires, the EU prefers to make the most significant upgrade of its ties with Israel in a decade. In the EU's operative diplomacy, it has failed to satisfy the obligation to refrain from facilitating Israel's violations of international law through deference or acquiescence. In the interest of preserving and expanding its privileged relations with Israel, in several notable instances the EU has violated this obligation with conspicuous intent. The EU can not knowingly allow its contractual relations with any third country to carry on in this manner without itself violating EU law and international humanitarian law. Arjan El Fassed is a cofounder of the Electronic Intifada.
Date: 05/07/2005
×
G8 and Disengagement: Palestine Needs Justice Not Charity
While rock stars made poverty the central issue in the world's biggest concert at the weekend, the world's most powerful leaders are under increasing pressure to do something concrete about it. This week the leaders of the G8 -- the US, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia -- meet in Gleneagles (Scotland), hosted by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair. G8 leaders have been called to end poverty by doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa. But while African poverty may feature in the G8 debate, other issues such as rising oil prices, climate change and Gaza disengagement may get more attention. Today, the leading British sherpa, Michael Jay, said the world leaders will start on Thursday morning with a debate on global economic problems and climate change. Then G8 leaders will gather for another session and have dinner, which will focus on the same problems but in an expanded format – together with some carefully chosen developing countries guests: India, China, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa. Among participants will be UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and heads of the World Trade Organisation, the International Energy Agency, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Then G8 leaders will discuss foreign political issues. Special attention will be given to the situation in the Middle East. Quartet special envoy for Israel’s disengagement plan and former World Bank president James Wolfensohn will give a speech at the summit to inform G8 leaders about his vision on the settlement of the conflict. US President George W. Bush said he wants the leaders to discuss "how we can all help the Palestinians improve their security, enhance the entrepreneurial spirit so people can see their lives improve." In talks with Crown Prince Abdullah, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was seeking backing for a "package of support" he wants G8 leaders to extend to Palestinians ahead of Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip. "We discussed the Middle East situation and I explained that we wanted to have an initiative at the G8 next week to help the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the disengagement," Blair told journalists. Two weeks ago, before G8 foreign ministers met in London to discuss the agenda, the members of the Quartet met and reiterated their support for the Wolfensohn's mission. He has been appointed to give an unilateral plan the guise of an international project. Government statements have only stated support for the "revival of the Palestinian economy", "reform", "anti-corruption efforts", "a comprehensive budget strategy" and "private sector job creation". But while G8 leaders discuss "aid packages" and "reform strategies" other developments on the ground render any progress impossible. The Quartet has failed to stop the construction of the Wall and the establishment of new and expansion of existing Israeli settlements. One year after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the Wall, later backed by a UN General Assembly resolution overwhelmingly adopted by 150 (including seven G8 members) - 6 votes (including the US) with 10 abstentions, the world has failed to ensure Israel comply with international law and dismantle the Wall. The Court stated that Israel is under an obligation to terminate its breaches of international law, to cease the works of construction of the Wall and to repeal or render ineffective forthwith all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto. The Court stated also that Israel is under an obligation to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the Wall. Moreover, the Court stated that all states, and so also the G8, are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction. Additionally, all States Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, including all G8 members, have the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention. Therefore, instead of providing charity to the Palestinian Authority or pay for the damage done by 38 years of Israeli occupation, the G8 should consider what action is required to bring to an end the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the Wall and the associated regime. Considering that the Court also concluded that "the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law," the G8 also need to consider what action it will take to bring an end to the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements. The current settlement construction mainly is taking place within areas surrounding Jerusalem, the Kiryat Sefer bloc, and also in Ariel, Kedumim, Karnei Shomrom, and Alfei Menashe. This is a blatant attempt by the Israeli government to try to force a new boundary on the Palestinians in the West Bank. This boundary will annex over 10% of the West Bank to Israel. At the same time, there is construction in the settlements that will remain outside the current route of the Wall, as well as construction of additional bypass roads. The massive construction in the settlements is officially approved by the government. The Israeli government is still spending millions of dollars every year to entice Israelis to move into the West Bank. Comparatively low housing prices, very generously subsidized mortgages, and a range of incentives offered by the Israeli government to people who move to the West Bank have all had a huge impact on the numbers of Israelis choosing to reside in the West Bank in the last three decades. Despite the fact that Israel is slated to evacuate its illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip, construction in the Strip continued even during the first quarter of 2005. While the Quartet and so the G8 continue to reaffirm the "two-state vision" and "the Roadmap" as "the best way to achieve a permanent peace and an end to the occupation," Israel has failed to comply with the demands from the overwhelming majority of the world population (150-6, with 10 abstentions -- canceling debt, doubling aid, or trade justice never got such an overwhelming majority). The only action left for the Quartet was an expression of "concern over settlement activity". Perhaps it is a coincidence. Israel spends more money on aid to Israel than aid to Africa. In 2003, Israel alone received $3.7 billion in aid from the United States. In contrast, Washington's annual African aid is $3.2 billion. Washington spends $200 million on "support [for] Palestinian political, economic and security reforms." However, $50 million of that money directly ends in Israeli hands to build terminals for people and goods at checkpoints surrounding Palestinian areas. Another $2 million for Palestinian health care was provided to Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, while the allocation of the rest of the money is tightly prescribed. The crisis in Palestine is a man-made crisis. Despite massive aid efforts, the unemployment rate in occupied Palestine is still devastatingly high. Poverty in the West Bank and Gaza is directly related to Israeli actions against Palestinians. With over 600 checkpoints, gates, earth mounds, trenches, flying checkpoints, roadblocks and, not least, the Wall, Israel has crippled all movement of people and goods and by doing so also inflicted a total collapse of the Palestinian socio-economic fabric. Instead of paying the price for political inaction or compensation for international failure, the G8 should force Israel to end the occupation. Even if the international community would double its total aid efforts and donate more then 2 billion US dollars per year, the poverty level would only decrease by about 10% according to World Bank studies. This clearly shows that the bilateral and multilateral aid methods are limited in scope and capacity, and could at best only alleviate parts of the human suffering that the Israeli occupation has created. What Palestinians need is the implementation of international law. Palestinians are not asking for charity but justice. Arjan El Fassed is one of the founders of The Electronic Intifada Date: 10/12/2004
×
'The Shouting Fence' puts audience between a wall and longing
Performance depicts suffering of Palestinians, Syrian Druze divided by Israel's separation barriers The Westergasfabriek Culture Park in Amsterdam provided a natural setting for a unique performance at the end of last month of "The Shouting Fence," a musical expression of emotions about the separation wall built in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Aimed at shedding light on the situation in Palestine regarding Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's separation wall, which divides Palestinians from Israelis, over 1,500 people provided their voices for this powerful choral performance. These groups included a professional choir named "The Shout," were directed by Orlando Gough and Richard Chew; the "Exile choir," "Trajecti Voces," "Utrechtse Studenten Cantorij," "Childrens' choir De Kickers" and 400 singers from various other national and local choirs. "In the shadow of the wall, in the shadow of the wall, we are waiting, we are waiting for peace, we are longing for peace," comes the chanting. It is at first a soft tone, whispering before gradually becoming louder and louder, merging into hundreds of voices shouting. Between what resembles concrete parts of the wall and the audience in the middle, inside a fence and barbed wire, on two sides of the arena two large groups of singers shout, sing and whisper. "The Shouting Fence" is a vocal story of a community split in two. The story is based on the Majdel ShamsDruze community. Following the 1967 war, Israel occupied and illegally annexed the Syrian Golan Heights. Majdel Shams is a community of 11,000 Syrian Druze. Israel decided to divide the valley into two parts and to prohibit any communication and any access to the Syrian Druze community residing on the other side of the valley. The families separated by this border have called it the "shouting valley," because it is the single means they have to communicate. On the Syrian side a platform has been built that can accommodate about 200 people. Across the cease-fire line, in front, about 110 meters away, is the bustling Druze village of Madjal Shams. The Druze from the village of Haddar on the Syrian side and the villagers of Madjal Shams across the fence, shout to each other through hand-held microphones. A lone United Nations post stands about 50 meters from the platform. The reality then of "The Shouting Fence" in 2004 is striking. Soon Israel will complete the construction of the wall built in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The wall will leave Palestinian families marooned. Villages and towns will be almost completely cut off. Despite the International Court of Justice ruling that the wall be torn down, construction is forging ahead. Palestinians have lost contact with their loved ones,lost access to their land and lost their work. When completed, close to 200,000 Palestinians will find themselves trapped in enclaves or closed military zones, with devastating consequences for their households. Their freedom of movement is severely restricted, making it impossible for many to get to their work places, schools or hospitals. Several thousand Palestinians have already been displaced by house demolitions, land confiscations and the effective cutting-off of towns and villages since the construction works began in 2002. "The Shouting Fence," directed by Peter Maissan, portrays the feeling of a need to communicate, mutual love and the feeling of frustration at not being able to connect. The 11 songs performed were written by well-known Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwiche, renowned Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said - who goes by the name of Adonis - and Gough of "The Shout" choir, who also composed the music together with Chew, and provided a range of solo and full-choir pieces. Gough, who is British, is one of the most important contemporary composers of ballet, theater, film and choir music in the United Kingdom. "The Shouting Fence" came about after Gough and Chew had seen a picture of a Syrian woman with a megaphone in 1999 and were moved to create the piece. Through the 11 parts of the performance it becomes clear what it means to be separated and still have the need to communicate. It is fitting that "The Shouting Fence" is to so heavily based on poetry written by Darwiche and Said. Both poets have been leaders of contemporary Arab poetry and both have written extensively about exile. They use simple vocabulary and plain, recurrent images: for example, an olive tree, shadow, desert, chains, lovers. From Darwiche's "Diaries of a Palestinian Wound," earlier performed and composed by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife, the choir in the Westergasfabriek Culture Park sang: "My homeland is not a suitcase and I am not a traveller. I am the lover and the land is the beloved. Our departed are the candles for the people to move in the night." The venue in the Culture Park, "De Gashouder" (Gasholder), a 3,000-square-meter structure erected on a former gas works complex, was the perfect location for "The Shouting Fence." Two large choirs stood on each side, separated by barbed wire fences, 20 meters from the audience in the middle. In this way, the audience directly experienced the attempts of the choirs to connect with each other. The audience represented the wall and barrier. From three sides, the two big choirs on either side and the exile choir in the back, voices sang together and alone, mixed and toward each other. Standin gi n the audience as part of the wall, it was simple to hear the frustrations of the people, the urge to meet and greet, to communicate and interact. Part of the intention of "The Shouting Fence" was to make the audience feel what the wall does emotionally to communities when they are separated. It made the audience understand that the wall is divisive and destructive. It also showed that whatever barriers are made, human beings will always find ways to connect through them, over them, across them or under them. This story was originally written for The Electronic Intifada, a web-based journal and information service on Palestine. The Daily Star reprints it with permission. Date: 11/06/2004
×
Cement and Corruption
Seven years ago, a Palestinian parliamentary panel conducted an investigation of the PA corruption. The nine-member panel of the Palestinian Legislative Council had, at the time, acted upon the Palestinian State Controller’s report that found that nearly half of the authority’s $326 million 1997 budget had been lost through corruption or financial mismanagement. The report of the PLC's Monitoring Committee exposed many official misgivings and abuses. The report was based on a former report by the Auditor's Office, which revealed a misuse of funds amounting to more than US$326 million, that is, 43 percent of the 1996 budget. Of this budget 35 percent was spent on security forces and 12.5 percent of the budget went to the Office of the President, which left only 9.5 percent of the budget for public allocation. It made certain recommendations and demanded action to correct these ills but they were not adhered to. The specialized committee decided that a new Palestinian government should have been formed and anyone found to be involved in the corruption scandal should be taken to court, irrespective of whether he was a minister, undersecretary or director-general. The report stated that "the committee recommends to the president of the Palestinian Authority to dissolve the cabinet and form a new one made up of technocrats and qualified people". It recommended that Civil Affairs Minister Jamil al-Tarifi, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Nabil Sha'th, and Transport Minister Ali Kawasmeh be brought to trial. Over six years since, Tarifi is still in the Cabinet and once more subject to parliamentary investigation for corruption. Shaath has never left the Cabinet and his position has been steadily advancing. Cement Gate Yesterday, the Palestinian Legislative Council held a debate in which Minister of Economy Maher Masri was accused of negligence and fraude. Members of the Council called for an investigation into allegations that Palestinian companies had been importing cement from Egypt for Israeli companies. One of the PA officials involved in the case is PA Civilian Affairs Minister Jamil Tarifi, whose family owns the Kandil Tarifi Cement Factory, one of the biggest in the West Bank. Two other companies involved in the scandal are Intisar Barakeh Company for General Trade and Yusef Barakeh Company for General Trade. Minister Masri admitted that some companies which had received import licenses from the Ministry of Economy had violated the law. He said he took measures to ensure that the transactions were stopped. He announced that all those involved in the scandal would be prosecuted. The scandal erupted following reports in the media that two Egyptian cement companies were exporting material to Israeli firms through Palestinian businessmen. Legislators Hassan Khraisheh, Sa'di al-Kranz, and Jamal Shati visited Jordan and interviewed the owners of the companies. They spoke with Jamil Tarifi, Maher Masri, Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei, Arafat's economic advisor Mohammad Rashid and other PA officials. The panel found that a German businessman imported on behalf of Israeli companies some 120,000 tons of cement from an Egyptian cement company. When the Egyptians found that the cement was imported to Israel they ordered the company to cut off its ties with the German company. The inquiry committee said that the German businessman found assistance from Palestinian companies that were ready to act as intermediaries. Several senior PA officials received bribes to issue licenses to several compnaies working on behalf of Israeli companies. Hassan Khraisheh, a member of the PLC team that investigated the case, said the entire cabinet should be held responsible for the corruption scandal. The Prime Minister, Cement and Channel 10 The inquiry committee was investigating whether a cement company owned by Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei's family had been selling cement to Israeli settlements. On 11 February, Israeli Channel 10 TV reported that the Al-Quds Cement Company was providing the materials to help build Israel's Apartheid Wall. Television footage also showed cement mixers leaving the Al-Quds company and driving to the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, just a few kilometres away. Qurei denied the claims. "I invite you and I invite the people who said this to come and check on the ground," Qurei told reporters after a meeting in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. The previous inquiry reports recommended that "the president of the Authority should issue his instructions to punish violators against whom there has been evidence of guilt and to punish them immediately and to take them to court in order to restore confidence between the Palestinian Authority and its people". None of these officials were put on trial. Responding to the reports in 1997, the PLC voted 51-1 in favor of dissolving Arafat's appointed 18-member limited self-rule cabinet. Soon after its publication in 1997, sixteen ministers gave letters to the president signaling their readiness to resign if he wished. Additionally, PLC-member Haider Abdel-Shafi resigned due to "frustration with the performance of the PLC and with the executive's total lack of concern for its recommendations", and added "that the PLC is a marginal body and not a true parliament". In the meantime, even as the PLC committee was conducting its investigation, the president appointed Tayeb Abd al-Rahim, General Secretary of the Presidential Office, to make a detailed inquiry into acts of corruption. The result has been yet another (secret) report. There are, then, three studies of corruption. The executive and the president refused to deal with the report of the PLC and ignored its recommendations. This case exposed the PLC in all its impotence. The current "cement scandal" will now be referred to the Palestinian attorney-general. No evidence was found that the cement was used in the construction of Israel's Separation Barrier but in construction of Israeli settlers' units in the occupied Palestinian territory. Contact us
Rimawi Bldg, 3rd floor
14 Emil Touma Street, Al Massayef, Ramallah Postalcode P6058131
Mailing address:
P.O.Box 69647 Jerusalem
Palestine
972-2-298 9490/1 972-2-298 9492 info@miftah.org
All Rights Reserved © Copyright,MIFTAH 2023
Subscribe to MIFTAH's mailing list
|