Archives February 2007-canpalnet-ottawa

A grassroots revolt is underway in Jewish communities throughout the world, a revolt that has panicked the elite organizations that have long functioned as official mouthpieces for the community. ... A growing number of Jews around the world are joining the chorus of concern about the deteriorating condition of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories as well as the inferior social and economic status of Israel's own Palestinian population.

Letters he received since the publication in November of "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" were largely supportive and included support from many readers who described themselves as U.S. Jews, said the former president.

A UN human rights investigator has likened Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories to apartheid South Africa and says there should be "serious consideration" over bringing the occupation to the international court of justice.

The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, written by 40 academics and activists, has gained the support of the Committee of Arab Mayors in Israel and other community leaders. The manifesto demands that Israel ' s 1.4 million Arab citizens receive equal treatment and insists the Arabs are an indigenous group with collective rights, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The latest rekindling of the peace process was nothing more than a few photo-ops for Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice and an official reaffirmation that the Palestinians “won't shed their terrorist ways.” What remained missing from the speeches made by Rice and Olmert as well as the news outlets that covered this week's events were Israel's responsibilities under the first phase of the roadmap. Phase one of the Roadmap does call upon the Palestinian people to recognize Israel and renounce violence. But it also calls upon Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including activity “needed” for natural growth.

The west needs to wake up and realise that time is no longer on the side of Israel and its policies of occupation, destruction and expansion. Time no longer favours the continuation of policies biased towards Israel. It will not serve the best interests of the west to support Israel while it continues to terrorise our people, occupy our land, violate our basic human and national rights and encroach on Muslim and Christian holy places. Such blind support has proven to be very costly for the west and will increasingly damage its vital interests.

... going over your work over the past six months, I have to add that you are lazy, a liar, and a cliché-ridden writer.

(THIS IS A MUST READ ARTICLE - Although Podur's criticism of Mitch Potter is somewhat excessive, the article does show how the Palestinians are given less space and how columnists often select words to favour the Israelis. Potter writes for the Toronto Star which is the only independent large circulation newspaper in Canada. Most newspapers in Canada, including the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and the National Post are owned by the Asper family of Winnipeg. The Aspers are Zionist Jews who defend all and any Israeli government actions including the bombing of Lebanon in the summer of 2006. In spite of the valid criticisms in this artible, Mitch Potter has done some fairly enlightening articles and the Star has some good columnists like Linda McQuaig, Haroon Sidiqui and Antonia Zerbisias (Jewish) who often present the Palestinian side - something you won't find in Asper papers. )

We came together to form the Not In Our Name (NION) network in Toronto, Ontario, during the summer of 2006, in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and Palestine against Israel's wars and in opposition to the complicity of the Canadian government with Israel's criminal actions.

Haaretz - Security forces demolish seven houses in Mt. Hebron villages

Security forces destroyed seven illegally constructed Palestinian houses and 13 other structures Wednesday on the southern slope of Mount Hebron in the West Bank.... Abdullah Harizat, a resident ....said the structures were built illegally because the residents of the village are not allowed to receive construction permits. "We ask, but they never give them to us. They say, 'this is state land.'"

CPNO - ACJC Condemns Creation of pro-Israel Caucus

The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians, a national umbrella organization of progressive Jewish groups and individuals, has condemned the creation of a parliamentary "Israel Allies Caucus" by the Harper Conservative government.

.... growing numbers of Israeli security experts are urging Jerusalem to overcome its misgivings and open a channel to Hamas. Retired Major General Shlomo Gazit, a former chief of military intelligence, called the three conditions laid down by Israel and its Western allies “ridiculous, or an excuse not to negotiate.”

“Only a country that suffers from an inferiority complex demands that everyone like it,” said Gazit, currently an analyst at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. “We must negotiate on concrete problems — not on declarative issues. I am in favor of starting negotiations today, while the violence continues, and to sign an agreement which will go into effect when it stops. Why should Palestinians stop fighting against us until they know we are willing to make an agreement?”

February 7, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper restated his support for Israel last night in a speech to a Jewish group, in which he said the Israelis "will always have a steadfast friend" in the Conservative government.

With an election looming, Harper reminded an audience of Jewish leaders and MPs that his party was willing to pay the political price for backing Israel wholeheartedly in last summer's Middle East conflict.

Guardian UK - Muslim protests as Israel digs at holy site

Israeli archaeologists began digging up a stone ramp near the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City yesterday, bringing immediate protests from Palestinians and condemnation from the king of Jordan.

(Comment - Nothing is sacred. If the Israeli government felt like tearing up the Vatican they would do it.)

Jerusalem Post - Canadian government forming pro-Israel lobby

The Canadian government is establishing an "Israel Allies Caucus" this week meant to mobilize support for the State of Israel and promote Judeo-Christian values amid a groundswell of Christian support for Israel around the world.

You know that things are serious when a parliamentary select committee puts out a call for sanctions against another sovereign state. Doubly so when that state is supposed to be one of Britain's key allies in the Middle East. Yet today the House of Commons international development committee is calling on the Labour government to press for sanctions against Israel over its treatment of the Palestinian people. Things must be pretty bad.

In Ar Ras village, south of Tulkarem, Occupation Forces have refused all applications for the permits that villagers are forced to use to access their land which has been isolated by the Apartheid Wall.