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Survey on the Impact of Israeli Measures
Main Findings of the Survey on the Impact of Israeli Measures on the Economic Conditions of the Palestinian Households
Press release – October 1


Caritas Jerusalem wishes to bring to the attention of all concerned individuals, governmental officials, religious leaders and donors the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinian people. This issue was recently demonstrated again in a comprehensive survey of almost 3,400 Palestinian households in the West Bank and Gaza done by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. This survey is the ninth in a series of such surveys and the trend for Palestinians continues to move farther down into the abyss of poverty and hopelessness. The figures used in the report are in New Israeli Shekels. This currency has depreciated more than 10% against the US dollar and over 60% against the EURO since September 2000. Therefore, the figures given actually reflect an even steeper drop in Palestinian purchasing power than the simple numbers illustrate.

For more information, please consult the following website which has the full English language report listed. http://www.pcbs.org/press_r/econ_9the.pdf
Report Summary
Main Findings of the Survey on the Impact of Israeli Measures on the Economic Conditions of the Palestinian Households

226,000 Palestinian households lost more than 50% of their usual income and about 22.6% of Households in Gaza Strip Suffered from Highly Critical Living Conditions


The PCBS (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics) conducted the 9th round of the survey on the impact of Israeli measures on the economic conditions of the Palestinian households. Data collection was conducted during the Second Quarter 2004.

The main objective of the survey is to continue monitoring the economic conditions of the Palestinian households and their standards of living as the Israeli measures continued against the PNA and the Palestinian people. This round of the survey is based on a random sample of 3,908 households, of which 3,398 households completed the interview. The completed interviews are distributed by region as 2,228 in the West Bank and 1,170 in the Gaza Strip.

Household’s income - Results indicate that the median monthly income in the Palestinian Territory has decreased from NIS 2,500 (620 USD/706 EURO) before Al Aqsa Intifada to NIS 1,600 (355 USD/289 EURO) during the 2nd Quarter 2004. This decrease varies by region. The median monthly income decreased in the West Bank from NIS 3,000 (744 USD/847 EURO) to NIS 2,000 (444 USD/361 EURO) while in the Gaza Strip it decreased from NIS 1,500 (372 USD/423 EURO) to NIS 1,200 (266 USD/216 EURO).


Results of the survey indicate that 59.7% (362,000 households) of the Palestinian households decreased their income during Al-Aqsa Intifada, of which 62.5% (226,000 households) lost more than 50% of their usual income during Al-Aqsa Intifada, while 63.3% (159,000 households) of the households decreased their income in the West Bank compared with 52.3% (67,000 households) in Gaza Strip.
The Income Sources - Results of the survey indicate that the main income source of the Palestinian households during 2nd Quarter 2004 was wages and salaries from the private sector, (30.7%), followed by wages and salaries from public sector employment (19.9%) and from households projects (14.2%).

Coping Strategies - The results indicated that during year 2003, 58.2% of the households (353,000 households) in the Palestinian Territory reduced there expenditure on basic needs, 59.5% in the West Bank and 55.4% in Gaza Strip.

The results indicate also that 78.0% of the households took various coping measures during year 2003 depending on the monthly family income. This was manifested in delaying payment of bills by 69.4% and reduced expenditure by 58.7%.

The survey indicates that 31.2% of the households in the West Bank can cope with the situation for more than one year, comparing with 26.8% in Gaza Strip. 22.6% of the households in Gaza Strip, and 11.7% in the West Bank suffered from highly critical living conditions.

Humanitarian aid - Results show that 21.2% of interviewed households (128,000 households) reported that they received humanitarian assistance during the 2nd Quarter 2004, of which 18.2% in the West Bank and 27.2% in Gaza Strip.

On the other hand, 71.8% of the households (435,000 households) reported that they need assistance, of which 71.7% in the West Bank and 71.9% in Gaza Strip. About 13.1% of the households receiving humanitarian aid reported that the total amount of assistance received is less than NIS 100, while 39.5% of them have received less than NIS 200, 58.2% have received less than NIS 300. However, the frequency of providing the assistance for households, PNA institutions (including Ministry of Social Affairs) are rated at the highest rank at 28.8%, then comes UNRWA by 25.6%, while relatives by 14.3%, and labor unions by 10.0%. The results reveal also that 52.8% of the total assistance is provided in the form of food supplies, and 28.6% in cash.

Priority Needs of Households - The results reveal that 38.4% of households reported the need for food as top priority during 2nd Quarter 2004, while 19.9 of households reported the need for work, and 18.9% of households expressed the need for money, and 9.0% of households expressed the need for education as their first priority, and 6.4% of households expressed the need for medicine as their first priority.

Access to Health Services - The results indicate that 45.3% of the households have access problem to health services because of the high cost of medical treatment, 40.1% due to the Israeli closure, 38.3% of households because of military checkpoint, and 8.9% of households because of the expansion and annexation wall.

As a social/pastoral organization of the Catholic Church working in the Holy Land since 1967, Caritas Jerusalem wishes to reiterate the need for immediate humanitarian interventions in the Palestinian territories. These should include job creation programs, micro-lending, short and long term medical assistance, humanitarian social assistance, assistance to secure needed medicines and tuition assistance.

-END-

For further information please contact:
Samuel Martin - Communications Officer – Caritas Jerusalem
communication@caritasjr.org Phone: +972 2 628 7574


----------------------
Caritas Jerusalem is a Catholic humanitarian organization engaged in relief, development and social service projects throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is part of Caritas Internationalis, a humanitarian network, which numbers 162 Catholic Member Organizations operating in 200 countries and territories.
If you do not wish to receive press releases from Caritas Jerusalem in the future or if you want to sign up to receive general news articles from Caritas Jerusalem, please inform Caritas Jerusalem at communication@caritasjr.org, phone: +972 2 628 7574

Unholy Alliance in the Holy Land
Reuven Kaminer


George W. Bush made another feeble attempt to show some sort of 'even handedness' between Israel and the Palestinians in his recent address to the United Nations. However, the very hard facts on the ground give daily evidence that Israel's hard line policy of intransigence towards the international community and international law is funded, sponsored and politically supported by the United States.

Israel is maintaining and even intensifying its policy of targeted assassinations from the air. Every few days we are informed by the Israeli army that ithas 'eliminated' such and such 'terrorists'. Both Israeli and Palestinian sources then confirm that additional Palestinians, including women and children, were killed or injured for just being in the vicinity. Targeted assassination has become a routine affair and the fact that Israel had 'progressed' to the use on different occasions of smarter and smarter bombs and even unmanned aircraft missiles for this purpose hardly evoked comment. This extra-judicial means of execution, whereby the Israeli army can kill almost any Palestinian any time and any place, has not caused a ripple in the U.S.-Israeli relationship - though there might have been a negative comment about this sort of activity filed away somewhere in the U.S. Department of State.

Sunday night, September 19, 2004, an Israeli army helicopter missile killed a 'Hamas militant' from the Shati refugee camp. Hospital sources reported that they treated six wounded bystanders who were returning from a mosque. (Ha'aretz, September 20, 2004) A rather routine affair: no need for all the complications related to identification and accusation, no need for a court, a judge or any trial.No prosecution, no deliberation, just plain execution. The technical basis for this sort of thing is the possession of an arsenal of smart bombs, since it would be impossible to maintain that an individual had actually been targeted unless Israel was using one of the high-precision smart bombs.

Just a day later, Ha'aretz correspondent, Aluf Benn reported (Ha'aretz, September 21, 2004) that the U.S. is selling 5,000 smart bombs to Israel.Benn lists the bomb sizes, including, "500 one-ton bunker busters, 2,500 'regular' one-ton bombs, 1,000 half 'tonners' and 500 quarter 'tonners'… [Israeli] government sources said that the deal did not face any difficulties, despite the use Israel made of U.S. made F-16's in some of the assassinations…the IDF used a one ton bomb to kill a senior Hamas officer, SalahShehada, in July 2002 an assassination that also took the lives of fifteen Palestinian civilians, including children."

This morning on Israeli radio, Ariel Sharon reiterated Israel's thinly veiled threats to assassinate Yasser Arafat 'at a time and a place that is convenient to us'. The U.S. President, for his part, preferred a more diplomatic approach and called on the world to stop supporting Arafat.The justification for the 'targeted elimination' of terrorists who were originally defined as 'ticking time bombs' now covers any and all Israeli enemies and opponents. This policy is conducted with the technical ordnance supplied to Israel by the United States. Sharon says that he has the right to assassinate Arafat whenever he sees fit.Sharon doesn't care if the international community will conclude that his threats are actually Washington's real policy towards the elected leader of the Palestinian people.

For Whom These Bunker Busters?

Washington is pushing the United Nations to take action against the Iranian plans to create nuclear fuel.The U.S. is trying to prevent Iran from developing its capacity to produce atomic energy for civilian purposes by arguing that the relevant scientific processes can also then be used to create atomic weapons.However, the Iranian steps seem to be well within the country's rights under the relevant international agreements. The U.S. and other countries refuse to be bothered by 'formalities', which support the Iranian position. But if the U.S. and its Western partners really wanted to speak to the heart of this matter, it would require them to address the very serious challenge of banning nuclear bombs from the entire Middle East. This involves, of course, the 'little problem' of the existence of a serious atomic stockpile of nuclear weapons in Israel.All eyes focus on the Israeli role, but not in the way that one would assume. The United States, instead of opposing the Israeli atomic arsenal, grants total and unqualified protection to Israel's atomic status, directly encouraging the atomic arms race in the region. The U.S. is now playing a new and very dangerous game. It is threatening Iran by proxy and considering a strike against it by surrogate.


After Iraq, the United States appetite for another land war in the region has been greatly diminished. But, the Bushites don't like to admit failure. "Some American analysts warn that the international community has only a year or two to stop the Iranian program from achieving self-sufficiency."So what can be done? "One concern is that Israel, a member of the International Atomic Energy that has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and is presumed to have nuclear weapons, may decide to take the matter into its own hands, if diplomacy fails from deterring Iran from becoming a nuclear power." The information is from an article, by International Herald Tribune correspondent, Graig S. Smith, who goes on to comment on the bunker busters supplied to Israel: "Those bombs could be used to destroy Iran's underground nuclear facilities." (IHT, September 22, 2004) Israel 'may take matters into its own hands.' But the Israeli hands are not empty – they hold United States bunker busters. It is just plain convenient for the United States to have in Israel an ally (an "enforcer") which operates beyond the borders of international legality. This is the essence of the 'special relationship' between the two countries


Jerusalem, September 22, 2004

Novedades en CSCAweb - nº 600



+ Información actualizada sobre la manifestación unitaria por la libertad de Palestina del 1 de octubre en Madrid

http://www.nodo50.org/csca

Let the people live! Let the children learn! Stop the wall in Ar-Ram!
A new project of the Sharon Government: A concrete wall is rapidly being
built to surround the Ar-Ram neighborhood from all sides. Tens of thousands
of people, the entire community of this East Jerusalem neighborhood (the
vast majority of whom are official residents of Jerusalem, paying municipal
taxes and holding "blue" Jerusalem IDs) will be closed inside a ghetto,
isolated from the rest of the world. The wall seriously disrupts the
recently begun school year. Educational institutions in Ar-Ram and in its
vicinity are on the verge of being closed down, as the wall prevents the
students and the teachers from reaching them.

Thus, for instance, "Al Yatim al Arabi", an institute which for the past
sixty years made sure that Palestinian orphans go through high-school and
learn a profession, is about to close down. About 95% of its students and
teachers - several hundreds strong - will be left on the other side of the
wall from the school. Once the wall is complete, the students will find
themselves in the streets, with no education and no professional training.

Is this the means of achieving security?
Come and protest against the suffocating wall!

On Monday, the 13 of September, we will go to Ar-Ram to take part in a
joint, Palestinian-Israeli rally against the wall. School children will
attend the rally describe their new "educational" reality.

Transportation:
Tel Aviv, Arlozorov Terminal, 10:15
Jerusalem, Liberty Bell Park, 10:50
Jerusalem, French Hill, Final No. 4 bus station on Bar Kochva St., 11:15

Bat Shalom, Shomrei Mishpat - Rabbis for Human Rights, ICHAD: The Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions, Ta'ayush: Arab-Jewish Partnership, Yesh
Gvul, Hadash-Communist Party of Israel

Sharon, gurú de la "guerra contra el terror"
Sharon, gurú de la "guerra contra el terror"

Naomi Klein
La Jornada
En el tercer aniversario del 11 de septiembre, el primer ministro israelí Ariel Sharon merece ser reconocido como el gurú espiritual de la "guerra contra el terror", afirma la autora. Y el gobierno del gurú busca dejar claro que Rusia e Israel están involucrados en la misma guerra contra "una amenaza global del terror islámico"


El presidente ruso Vladimir Putin está tan harto de que lo interroguen acerca de su manejo de la catástrofe en Beslan que el lunes pasado arremetió contra los corresponsales extranjeros. "¿Por qué no se encuentran con Osama bin Laden?, invítenlo a Bruselas o a la Casa Blanca y hablen con él", demandó, y añadió: "Nadie tiene el derecho moral de decirnos que hablemos con asesinos de niños".

Putin no es un hombre al que le guste que duden de él. Afortunadamente, para él, aún hay un lugar donde está a salvo de toda crítica: Israel.

El lunes, el primer ministro Ariel Sharon le dio una calurosa bienvenida al ministro del Exterior ruso Sergie Lavrov en el marco de una reunión para fortalecer los lazos en la lucha contra el terror. "El terror no tiene justificación, y es hora de que el mundo libre, decente y humanista se una y luche contra esta terrible epidemia", dijo Sharon.

Hay poco que argumentar. La esencia del terrorismo consiste en hacer que inocentes sean el blanco, en pos de sus metas políticas. Cualquier afirmación hecha por perpetradores respecto a que luchan por la justicia está moralmente en bancarrota y conduce al barbarismo de Beslan: un cuidadoso plan para masacrar a cientos de niños en su primer día de clases.

Sin embargo, el pésame por sí solo no explica las muestras de solidaridad hacia Rusia provenientes de los políticos israelíes. El ministro del Exterior israelí, Silvan Shalom, comentó que la masacre mostró que "no hay diferencia entre el terror en Beersheba y el terror en Beslan". Y la agencia AP citó a un funcionario israelí no identificado que dijo que los rusos "comprenden ahora que no se trata de un problema local de terror, sino parte de una amenaza global del terror islámico. Los rusos quizá escuchen nuestras sugerencias esta vez".

El mensaje subyacente es inequívoco: Rusia e Israel están involucrados en la misma guerra, una que no es contra los palestinos que demandan su derecho a un Estado, o contra los chechenos que demandan su independencia, sino contra "una amenaza global del terror islámico". Israel, como el estadista mayor, reclama el derecho a poner las reglas de la guerra. No sorprende que las reglas sean las mismas que Sharon usa contra la Intifada en los territorios ocupados. Su punto de partida es que los palestinos, si bien pueden plantear demandas políticas, en realidad sólo están interesados en aniquilar Israel. De esta creencia básica se desencadenan las demás. En primer lugar, toda violencia israelí contra los palestinos es un acto de autodefensa, necesario para la supervivencia del país. En segundo lugar, cualquiera que cuestione el derecho absoluto de Israel a erradicar a su enemigo es un enemigo. Esto se aplica a las Naciones Unidas, a otros líderes políticos, a periodistas, a activistas por la paz.

Queda claro que Putin ha estado tomando notas, pero no es la primera vez que Israel juega el papel de mentor. Hace tres años, el 12 de septiembre de 2001, le preguntaron al ministro de Finanzas israelí Benjamin Netanyahu en qué afectarían los ataques terroristas en Nueva York y Washington a las relaciones entre Israel y Estados Unidos. "Es muy bueno", dijo. "Bueno, no muy bueno, pero generará una inmediata simpatía". El ataque, explicó Netanyahu, "fortalecerá los lazos entre nuestros dos pueblos, porque hemos experimentado el terror durante tantas décadas, pero ahora Estados Unidos experimentó una masiva hemorragia de terror".

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Es del conocimiento común que el 11 de septiembre comenzó una nueva era de geopolítica, caracterizada por lo que generalmente se llama la Doctrina Bush: guerras preventivas, ataques contra "infraestructura terrorista" (o sea, países enteros), la insistencia en que el enemigo sólo entiende a través de la fuerza. De hecho, sería más preciso llamar a esta rígida visión del mundo la Doctrina Likud. Lo que ocurrió el 11 de septiembre de 2001 es que la Doctrina Likud, previamente usada sólo contra los palestinos, fue retomada por la nación más poderosa de la tierra y aplicada a escala global. Se podría llamar la likudización del mundo, el verdadero legado del 11 de septiembre.

Por likudización no me refiero a que haya miembros clave de la administración de Bush que trabajan a favor de los intereses de Israel a expensas de los intereses estadunidenses –el popular argumento de "lealtad doble". Lo que quiero decir es que el 11 de septiembre Bush emprendió la búsqueda de una filosofía política que lo guiara en su nuevo papel de Presidente de la Guerra, un trabajo para el cual para nada estaba calificado. Encontró esa filosofía en la Doctrina Likud, convenientemente proporcionada por los apasionados defensores del Likud, ya instalados en la Casa Blanca. No requirió mayor pensamiento.

Durante los siguientes tres años, la Casa Blanca ha aplicado a su "guerra contra el terror" global esta importada lógica con una escalofriante coherencia. Fue la política guía en Afganistán e Irak, y bien podría extenderse a Irán y Siria. No se trata simplemente de que Bush asuma que el papel de Estados Unidos sea proteger a Israel del hostil mundo árabe. Se trata de que le otorgó a Estados Unidos el mismo papel que juega Israel, incluso enfrentan la misma amenaza. En esta narrativa, Estados Unidos libra una batalla sin fin por su supervivencia contra fuerzas totalmente irracionales que no buscan más que su completa exterminación.

Ahora, la likudización llegó a Rusia. En la reunión con los corresponsales extranjeros, The Guardian informa que Putin "dejó claro que ve la iniciativa por la independencia chechena como la punta de lanza de una estrategia de los islamistas chechenos, ayudados por los fundamentalistas extranjeros, para socavar todo el sur de Rusia y hasta propiciar problemas con las comunidades musulmanas en otras partes del país. ‘Hay musulmanes a lo largo del Volga, en Tatarstan y Bashkortostan... Esto tiene todo que ver con la integridad del territorio ruso’, dijo." Antes sólo Israel estaba preocupado de que empujaran al mar.

Sí ha habido un drástico y peligroso incremento del fundamentalismo religioso en el mundo musulmán. El problema es que bajo la Doctrina Likud no queda espacio para preguntar por qué ocurre esto. No se nos permite señalar que el fundamentalismo crece en Estados fallidos, donde la infraestructura civil ha sido el blanco sistemático de la guerra, lo cual ha permitido que las mezquitas asuman la responsabilidad de todo, desde la educación hasta la recolecta de basura. Ha ocurrido en Gaza, en Grozny, en la ciudad de Sadr.

Sharon dice que el terrorismo es una epidemia que "no tiene fronteras ni bardas", pero este no es el caso. En todo el mundo, el terrorismo prospera dentro de las fronteras ilegítimas de la ocupación y la dictadura; pulula tras "las paredes de seguridad" levantadas por los poderes imperiales; cruza esas fronteras y escala esas bardas y explota dentro de los países responsables –o cómplices– de la ocupación y la dominación.

Ariel Sharon no es el comandante en jefe de la guerra contra el terror; ese dudoso honor lo mantiene Bush. Pero en el tercer aniversario del 11 de septiembre, merece ser reconocido como el gurú intelectual/espiritual de esta desastrosa campaña; un Yoda al que le gustan las armas, para todos los aspirantes a Luke Skywalker que andan por ahí entrenándose para sus épicas batallas del bien contra el mal.

Si queremos ver adónde nos lleva la Doctrina Likud nos basta con seguir al gurú a casa, a Israel –un país paralizado por el temor, que adopta políticas de parias, y que niega la brutalidad que a diario comete. Es una nación rodeada de enemigos y desesperada por tener amigos (a quienes define como aquellos que no le hacen preguntas, y, a cambio, ella generosamente les ofrece la misma amnesia moral).

Ese vistazo a nuestro futuro colectivo es la única lección que el mundo necesita aprender de Ariel Sharon.

Traducción: Tania Molina Ramírez. Copyright 2004 Naomi Klein

Demonstration
Arabic + English


جرافات الاحتلال تستمر بالعمل نهاراً وليلاً على تدمير اراضي قرية الزاوية لصالح جدار الفصل العنصري والمظاهرات التي يقوم بها اهالي القرية والقرى المجاورة تقمع ببشاعة، كما شاهدنا في المناطق السابقة (قنابل غاز، قنابل صوت، ورصاص مطاطي). لكن رغم كل هذا القمع تتواصل المظاهرات، ومئات السكان الفلسطينيين يشاركون فيها رغم القمع الشديد والاعداد المتزايدة من الجرحى.

طلعت المحكمة امر زمني بايقاف الاعمال في منطقة سلفيت فبالتالي يمكننا التركيز في الزاوية.



وجودنا في المظاهرات مهم جداً ويساعد السكان، كذلك يوطد العلاقات والتعاون معهم الشيء الذي يهمنا كثيراً، مع الاهالي بشكل خاص ومع اللجان الشعبية ضد الجدار في المناطق المحتلة عامةً. المظاهرات شعبية بدون عنف (من جانب المتظاهرين)، يشارك فيها كل الاهالي، من القرية والجوار، صغاراً وكباراً، رجالاً ونساءً.



المظاهرات تجري كل يوم فلذلك نريد ان نركب قائمة من النشيطين الذين يمكنهم بالمشاركة في ايام الاسبوع. المعنيين بالمشاركة يطلب منهم الاتصال مع عينت 3554815-052

يوم الاثنين 6-21، ستنطلق مجموعة من تل ابيب الى الزاوية. المعنيين بالمشاركة يطلب منهم الاتصال مع يرون 5100560-03

(النشيطين الذين يمكنهم المساعدة اعلامياً او اي مساعدة اخرى يطلب منهم الاتصال ايضاَ على نفس الرقم ).



* تابعوا عبر بريدكم الالكتروني المعلومات عن المظاهرات ضد الجدار الفاصل





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The bulldozers preparing the route of the separation fences continue their work in the village of A-Zawiya, and the construction is actively going on, day and night. The army suppresses the demonstrations of the inhabitants violently (mainly tear gas, but also shock grenades and rubber bullets), Yet, the protests are renewed daily, and hundreds of villagers are participating in them, in spite of the violence and injuries. In the area of Salfit and Iskaka, following an interim stop-order of the supreme court, the work is discontinued, allowing us to refocus our efforts on the area of A-Zawiya.

Our presence in these demonstrations is important to boost the morale of the villagers, to strengthen the solidarity and the partnership, with his village as well as with the movements of popular resistance throughout the Occupied Territories. These are non-violent popular demonstrations (from the protesters side), in which all the inhabitants of the village participate, as well as people from neighboring villages, young and adults, women and men.



The protests occur every day, and therefore we would like to compile a contact network of activists who can join during the week. If you can take a part, contact Einat - 0523554815/

On MONDAY - June 21 - we will try toget a group to A-Zawiya. Those who can come, please contact Yaron - 03-5100560

(People who can help with backup and communications are invited to call as well.)



Check your emails for updates.



Taayush / www.taayush.org

Against the Wall
Friends,

Demonstrations throughout the West Bank are increasing as Palestinians -- with Israeli and international help -- are trying to prevent construction of the so-called 'security wall'. Erection of the wall is not only illegal by international law, and not only destroys access to farmland, schools, hospitals and jobs, but it also ultimately damages Israeli security by intensifying the bitterness and hatred against Israel. The wall is not only bad for Palestine, it is bad for Israel, too.

Yesterday saw several major demonstrations against the wall. I attended the women's event at 'Aram, organized by Palestinian Women Against the Wall, Bat Shalom, and international women. We marched the 3 km (almost 2 miles) from the 'Aram to the Qalandia checkpoints, as we banged pots, pans, drums, blew whistles, and chanted slogans against the wall and for peace.

The army intelligently (and unusually) decided not to clash with the demonstrators, though four of us had an unpleasant run-in with soldiers who tried to prevent us from reaching 'Aram, and the busloads of participants had to use alternative routes and transport to get in.

To see 16 more photos, most by Dalit Baum, click into http://share.shutterfly.com/os.jsp?i=EeANWjlw2csWzqg&open=1

(you will have to sign in, but at no cost).



Real violence was directed at demonstrators who tried to prevent the wall from going up near Ariel, and the Israeli media covered this.



If you could come here and see the wall transform villages and towns into ghettoes – civilian populations entirely surrounded by 30-foot high gray concrete slabs, watchtowers set into it every few yards in which soldiers train automatic rifles through narrow slits, you would be horrified. How can we Jews create ghettoes for another people? Our security is not served by ghettoes, just as forcing Jews into ghettoes never served any security needs. The people inside are not violent animals that must be penned.



Last night, I watched an old Palestinian woman surveying with horror her family's olive trees that the army had cut down, shaving a swath on which the wall will rise. "Those stupid people," she said, careful not to name them, "If not for their stupidity, we could have lived in peace with each other."



Who is not a partner for peace?



Gila Svirsky

Jerusalem

________________________

Coalition of Women for Peace

www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org

_________________________

Leïla SHAHID concernant les élections européennes

Tarek BEN HIBA

Appel aux membres de la liste Euro-Palestine aux élections du

Parlement européen le 13 juin 2004

de la part de Leïla Shahid, Déléguée Générale de Palestine en France

Jamais la paix, le droit et la co-existence en Palestine et en Israël n’ont été aussi menacés qu’aujourd’hui. Le rôle des parlementaires européens qui seront élus le 13 juin 2004 est primordial dans l’élaboration d’une stratégie de protection des populations civiles et d’application du droit international qui permettra aux représentants légitimes des deux peuples de retourner à la table de négociation et de signer un accord de paix basé sur le respect des droits des deux peuples.

C’est pour cette raison que je lance, aujourd’hui, un appel solennel aux membres de la liste Euro-Palestine, persuadée de leur sens de responsabilité et de leur solidarité avec la lutte du peuple palestinien, pour qu’ils se retirent et qu’ils reportent leurs voix sur les candidats de leur choix qui défendent le droit en Palestine et en Israël. Votre campagne électorale a déjà contribué à inscrire la Palestine sur l’agenda de ces élections mais la multiplication des listes et des candidats ne peut que contribuer à affaiblir la solidarité avec la Palestine non à la renforcer.

Travaillons ensemble pour un soutien plus large et une solidarité plus active et plus efficace avec la Palestine et Israël.
Paris, le 8 juin 2004

Comunicado solidaridad con Palestina e Irak
>Good morning!.
>
> On behalf of Ustke and International International Civilian Campaign for
> Protection of Palestinian People -CCIPPP-, I am forwarding the Declaration
> of Solidarity with the Palestinian and Iraqi peoples passed by the
> International
> Conference of Trades Unions of Nations without States, held yesterday in
> Donostia (San Sebastian, Basque Country).
>
> The following is the English Version. In the attached document, you will
> find the french and spanish language versions as well as the english one.
>
> On behalf of USTKE and CCIPPP,
> we salute you from the Basque Trade Union LAB,
> organiser of the above mentioned Conference.
>
> Conatct
> CCIPPP, 21 ter rue voltaire 75011 Paris France;
> http://www.protection-palestine.org
> contact@protection-palestine.org
> --------
>
> Declaration of solidarity with the Palestinian and Iraqi peoples
>
> The First International Conference of Trades Unions of Nations Without
> State declares its absolute solidarity with the people and the working
> classes of Palestine, who, over the last few weeks, are again suffering a
> series of brutal attacks from the State of Israel, with a balance of
> hundreds of victims and desolation.
> We firmly condemn the colonialist policies of Israel, that day after day
> violate all the rights of the Palestinian people, among them the right to
> work and to a fitting life. The high rates of unemployment and poverty in
> Palestine are directly related to the extermination policy the State of
> Israel implements, preventing the Palestinian population from obtaining
> suitable means for their living and from developing their own economy.
> We cannot but strongly condemn the unconcern of the international
> community regarding daily events in Gaza and the occupied territories.
> Such a non-interventionist attitude and low-key criticism make it possible
> for Ariel Sharon to go ahead with his plans for turning Palestine into the
> world¹s biggest prison-camp.
> We appeal to working men and women all over the world, as well as to
> trades unions organisations, to keep in mind the Palestinian people and
> working classes, showing them their solidarity. Solidarity we extend to
> the Iraqi people, who suffer and resist under the ferocious multinational
> military occupation.
> From this meeting in Donostia-San Sebastian, we convey our fraternal
> solidarity to the Palestinian and Iraqi peoples.
>
> Donostia-San Sebastian (Basque Country). May 20th 2004.
>
> ---------
>
> IN FRENCH
>
> Communiqué de solidarité avec les peuples palestinien et iraquien
>
> La 1ère Conférence Syndicale de Nations sans Etat tient à manifester sa
> totale solidarité avec le peuple et la classe ouvrière de Palestine qui
> souffre ces dernières semaines une nouvelle série de brutales agressions
> sans précédent de la part de l¹Etat d¹Israël, causant centaines de
> victimes et la désolation.
> Nous dénonçons sans restriction la politique colonialiste d¹Israël, qui
> jour après jour viole tous les droits du peuple palestinien, entre autre
> le droit au travail et à une vie digne. Les taux élevés de chômage et de
> misère en Palestine sont directement liés à la politique d¹extermination
> pratiquée par l¹Etat d¹Israël, qui empêche la population palestinienne
> d¹accéder à des moyens de vie dignes et de développer une économie
> indépendante. Nous dénonçons de la façon la plus ferme la passivité de la
> communauté internationale face à ce qui arrive à Gaza et dans les
> territoires occupés. Cette attitude de non intervention et ce manque de
> critique permet à Ariel Sharon de poursuivre son but de convertir la
> Palestine en la plus grande prison du monde.
> Nous lançons un appel aux travailleurs et travailleuses du monde entier,
> ainsi qu¹aux organisations syndicales, afin de ne pas laisser dans l¹oubli
> le peuple et les travailleurs de Palestine, et à leur manifester notre
> solidarité. Une solidarité que nous exprimons également au peuple
> iraquien, qui souffre et résiste face à la féroce occupation militaire
> multinationale.
> Depuis Donostia, à l¹occasion de cette conférence, nous transmettons un
> salut solidaire et fraternel aux peuples palestinien et iraquien.
>
> Donostia, 20 mai 2004
>
>
>--
>Focus on the Global South (FOCUS)
>c/o CUSRI, Chulalongkorn University
>Bangkok 10330 THAILAND
>Tel: 662 218 7363/7364/7365/7383
>Fax: 662 255 9976
>Mobile: +6666109966 (in bangkok)
> +639167860215 (in manila)
>Email: marylou@focusweb.org
>Website: www.focusweb.org

A-RAM: THE STRUGGLE HAS ONLY BEGUN TODAY
[âéøñà áòáøéú úùìç ìôé á÷ùä / Hebrew version at request]

"Until three years ago, this road served seven Palestinian villages. Now
it is reserved for the settlers only. As you can see, all the side-roads
leading to Palestinian villages have been blocked. The villagers live
with this since the end of 2000, but now the Wall is being erected to
take away their fields."

Gush Shalom and Ta'ayush had heeded the call of the a-Ram population to
join their protest against the now imminent construction of the Wall
cutting through the middle of this suburb of East-Jerusalem.
Shai, an activist of the Jerusalem-Ta'ayush, displayed a thorough
knowledge of the subject during the guided tour of the Wall route, also
part of the program.

"Over there is Biddu. The people there are very persistent in their
courageous non-violent way of struggling against the Wall. Five people
were killed by the shots of the army, and more than 400 hundred wounded.
"The red roofs over there, that is the settlement Har Shmuel. The Wall is
designed to annex it to Israel, so it is curving all around to include it
at the expense of the Palestinian fields in the midst of which it was
erected.
"Ahead is the Ofer camp: hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the courts
where the army puts them on trial. Also the room where Administrative
Detention without trial is imposed.

At the hour, the bus radio tells of the latest in the pathetic
government crisis. What we have just seen and heard put a rather
different perspective on Sharon's "Gaza Disengagement Plan" which has
monopolized the headlines for so many months. Israel's occupation rule
over the West Bank is getter grimmer by the day, an occupation which is
37 years old today (two-thirds of Israel's total history!).

We arrive at the northern main entrance to a-Ram. A few border police at
the checkpoint are dithering about letting our four buses through,
calling on the radio for instructions from their superiors. We solve
their dilemma by piling out, and continuing on foot. Placards and banners
as well as Gush Shalom's popular two-flag signs are hastily unloaded and
taken up: "The Wall: Prison for Palestinians - Ghetto for Israelis" / "
The Wall is War!" / "Jewish-Arab Partnership" / "A-Ram is suffocated" /
"The Busharon Wall - paid for by the USA" / "Two-thirds of the people
under the poverty line."

A girl is wearing a T-shirt of the Brazilian Workers' Party, and near her
a monk in the distinctive habit of the Franciscans. An old woman activist
with a stick keeps up with the march, while those nearby create some
shadow for her with their signs. With a blazing sun above, Palestinian
children do a thriving business of selling icicles and cold drinks.

Ahead, the sound of drums and trumpets. The Palestinian march is led by
the orchestra of the local Palestinian boy scouts. The Israeli and
Palestinian demonstrators merge effortlessly and become one single march.

At an intersection, two parked cars become an improvised podium mounted
by Israeli and Palestinian speakers. Knesset Members Achmed Tibi and
Muhammad Barake make short impassioned speeches in Arabic, interspersed
with frequent clapping and the shouting of "Down With The Wall - Down
With The Occupation". Then representatives of the Palestinian Authority
and local dignitaries.

"Some 15000 inhabitants of a-Ram have left and moved into Jerusalem. It
is bad for the city; it is bad for them because they are living
overcrowded, paying high rents. Perhaps even it is not what Sharon
wanted, to have more Palestinians in Jerusalem but that is what he
achieved. The people have jobs in Jerusalem, businesses in Jerusalem,
their children studying in Jerusalem schools. We are in fact part of
Jerusalem. If an 8-meter high Wall is going to cut us off from Jerusalem,
what can we do?" says Sirchan Salayme, Mayor of a-Ram and longtime
partner in dialogue with Israeli peace activists.

"We have come here together, Israelis and Palestinians, to cry out: No to
a Wall which breaks up families, which denies people access to schools,
to jobs and to medical services, which cuts Palestinian al-Quds into
peaces. We are united in the struggle until the Wall falls, here and
everywhere", said Leena Dalashe of Ta'ayush.

"This Wall is a monster, a monster trampling on hundreds of thousands of
people, a monster erected by our government in our name. We say here to
Sharon: there can be no security for Israel is there is no security for
Palestine. If we deny the Palestinians the possibility of a viable
existence, we deny it also to ourselves" says Uri Avnery for Gush Shalom.

Most of the rally had past quietly, but towards the end a large border
police force is coming up from the south, with a threatening posture,
clubs and tear gas held ready. Several Palestinian youths pick up stones.
"No, no, don't give them a pretext" the Palestinian marshalls hold them
back. The rally ends as planned. The polices turn back with their
armament.

On the way back, we have still another installment of the guided tour,
climbing the hill overlooking Qalandia Checkpoint and getting a chilling
view of the fast-changing landscape. "As you see, the Wall has already
gotten to Qalandia. This road beneath us will have high walls on both
sides and become reserved only for the settlers. A-Ram, which is at
present the main depot for the whole West Bank, the place where the
containers come from the port of Ashdod and the merchandise shipped north
and south, will become an enclave, surrounded on all sides and connected
only through a very narrow passage to Ramallah. This is what they are
planning but it is not yet too late to stop them. The struggle has only
begun today", says Jamal Jum'ah of the Palestinian environmental group
Pengon. (Few experts more knowledgeable on the Wall than Jum'ah are to be
found outside the ranks of the Israeli armed forces.)

GUSH-SHALOM
[] Barghouti verdict - Gush Shalom activists thrown out of court
[] Avnery on government crisis: much ado about nothing

~~~

[] Barghouti verdict - Gush Shalom activists thrown out of court

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5 life times + 40 years for Barghouti
Gush Shalom activists, thrown out of court, call it:
"A predictable result of an unworthy procedure"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

âéøñà áòáøéú úùìç ìôé á÷ùä // photo's at the gush website soon

June 6, 2004 - day of reading the Barghouti sentence.
As before in the ridiculous procedures of the Marwan Barghouti trial Gush
Shalom activists were not allowed into the courtroom. Among them, former
Knesset Member Uri Avnery, historian Teddy Katz and a dozen more, people
of all ages, who could make it during working hours.
Prepared because of previous experiences, we immediately took from our
pockets the well-known signs "Barghouti - Talk Peace With Him; Don't
Imprison Him" and made a kind of a demonstration at the entrance to the
courtroom. Adam Keller started explaining to the crowding journalists and
cameras how ridiculous it is to treat a leader of the occupied
Palestinian people like this, instead of sitting with him around the
negotiations table, and that the predictable verdict concludes a
procedure unworthy of the state of Israel, which will turn Marwan
Barghouti into the Palestinian Nelson Mandela.
Then court security personnel broke into the "spontaneous press
conference", tearing the paper signs and with much violence forcing all
of us out of the building. One Gush Shalom activist, Yuval Halperin was
treated with special brutality: a security guard named Golan Ariel pushed
him down on the flour, twisting his arm behind his back and chokinh him
to the point of losing consciousness. Thereupon he was detained and taken
away behind a closed door. The rest of us sat down on the floor, refusing
to leave without him joining us. After some loud negotiating, Halperin
was led out of the closed room.
Gush Shalom lodged a complaint about the violence used against its
members with the police.

For what happened inside the courtroom where Barghouti was condemned to 5
life times + 40 years (sic!) see the Israeli press. NB: the first two
links include also a reference to the Gush Shalom action, mentioning
Avnery.

Jerusalem Post
cid=1086490414686>

Y-net(Hebrew / òáøéú)
>http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2927563,00.html<

Ha'aretz English


Ha'aretz Hebrew / òáøéú


Ma'ariv English


Ma'ariv Hebrew:


[] Avnery on government crisis: much ado about nothing

Uri Avnery
5.6.04

Hebrew at request & soon at the site
òáøéú òì ôé á÷ùä àå á÷øåá áàúø

To Drink from the Sea of Gaza

Perhaps Abe Lincoln was right that you can't fool all the people all
the time, but a lot of people can surely be fooled for a long, long time.
Just look at Ariel Sharon.
From the start, the "Disengagement Plan" was an exercise in deceit.
But the world is eager to be deceived. The world's statesmen take it
seriously, it causes violent storms in Israel, the media have a ball. All
this for a plan that has neither hands nor feet.
So what is the purpose of all this mayhem? Cynics might say: the
mayhem itself. It puts Sharon in center stage where he can continue to
play the master of events. Now the commotion has reached a climax.
The main aim of the exercise is to satisfy George Bush. The
president demanded a plan which will show him doing something for peace.
The more he gets sucked into the Iraqi quagmire, the more he needs to
prove that he is achieving something in our country. Especially since his
last baby - the "Road Map" - has died in its cradle.
Bush demanded that Sharon come up with a plan. No problem. Hocus
pocus, here is a plan, with a fine promising name: "Disengagement".
Speeches, meetings, a visit to the White House, exchanges of documents,
state visits, emissaries, Mubarrak, Abdallah, disputes, compromises, and
finally even a full-blown cabinet crisis. All this for a balloon full of
hot air.
The plan claims to have three aims: to get the settlers out of Gaza,
to turn the Strip over to Palestinian rule and to destroy the "terrorist
infrastructure" there.
This week, Sharon himself defined the first aim in an unequivocal
manner: "By the end of 2005, not a single Jew will remain in the Gaza
Strip!"
A resolute, bold and strong-willed statement, as befits a great
leader.
(In fact, this statement has a faintly anti-Semitic ring. If the
Palestinian government wants to invite peaceful Jews to live there, why
shouldn't they? Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to say: "No
settler will remain in the Gaza strip"? Never mind.)
But the crucial words in the statement were "by the end of 2005."
They are reminiscent of the classic Jewish joke about the Polish nobleman
who threatens his Jew with death if he does not teach his beloved horse
to r
ead and write. The Jew asks for three years to accomplish such an arduous task. When his wife hears
of it she exclaims: "But you know you cannot teach that to a horse!" The Jew calms her: "Three yea
rs is a long time. By t
hen, either the horse or the nobleman will have died."
In our country, eighteen months are half an eternity. The situation changes by the week. Befor
e the end of 2005, many things may happen: Bush may lose the election, catastrophe may overcome Ira
q, in our country blood
y events may reach such proportions as to obliterate any memory of the "plan".
Events this week made clear the central role that time plays in the "plan". Tzipi Livni, the M
inister for Immigration Absorption, worked hard to engineer a compromise between Sharon and his opp
onents. She reinvented
the egg of Columbus: the government will officially adopt the plan, but not the implementation of t
he plan. For some nine months, only "preparations" will be made. Not a single settlement will be ev
acuated. After that, th
e government will decide whether to evacuate any settlements at all, and, if so, which ones. (The o
pponents then demanded that the government continue to pour money into the settlements which are su
pposed to be evacuated.
)
The fact that everybody treated this proposal seriously speaks for itself. A plan that is supp
osed to be implemented next year might as well be postponed to the next century.
But let us examine the plan on its merits, as if Sharon really intended to put it into practic
e. He evacuates the settlements and demolishes them, the army leaves the Gaza Strip, some kind of P
alestinian administrati
on takes over.
Will this bring peace? Will this stop the attacks?
There is no chance that this would indeed happen.
The basic principle held by all Palestinian factions is that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip c
onstitute one integral territorial entity. This was stated explicitly in the Oslo Declaration and a
ll the following agreem
ents. Following this principle, Yasser Arafat has rejected all proposals of "Gaza First", unless th
ey include at least a significant part of the West Bank (Jericho, for example.)
Sharon knows this, and therefore he added to his plan an appendage: a small area on the northe
rn fringe of the West Bank will also be evacuated. Four small settlements are located there, and th
eir inhabitants are ver
y eager to leave (with generous compensation, of course). No Palestinian will take such an evacuati
on seriously.
There is not the slightest chance that the fighters of any of the Palestinian factions in the
"liberated" Gaza Strip will look quietly on, while Sharon realizes his designs in the West Bank: th
e annexation of 55% of
the West Bank to Israel ("settlement blocs", "essential security zones", "areas of special interest
to Israel", as the army planners put it), with the Palestinians corralled into small enclaves. Thi
s work is already going
on rapidly with the building of the monstrous "separation wall".
The "liberated" Gaza Strip will inevitably become a base of the
battle for the liberation of the West Bank. The Israeli army will react,
as usual, with all its might, invading, killing, destroying and
uprooting. If this does not do the job (as it did not up to now), Sharon
may cut off the supply of electricity, water and food. Since the Strip
will be isolated from the world, this is possible. But it will not
succeed, because the world will be watching, and the Americans cannot
afford this.
The military planners know this well, and have been inspired by a
new patent ides: to get the Egyptians involved.
Brilliant, or so it seems. The Egyptian regime lives on generous
American handouts - rewards for signing a peace agreement with Israel.
Congress, eager to please the Sharon government, recently threatened to
delay the payment of 200 million dollars to Egypt. It is therefore vital
for Husni Mubarrak to show the Americans that he is Sharon's ally.
But Mubarrak knows that he is walking a tightrope. Egypt's
connection with the Gaza Strip dates back more than 4000 years and has
had many ups and downs. The Egyptians ruled the Strip after the 1948 war
and do not like to be reminded of it. More than once, they tried to
control the Palestinian cause, and each time it ended with their
humiliation. President Gamal Abd-el-Nasser created the PLO in order to
thwart Yasser Arafat, but within a few years Arafat had taken it over.
President Anwar al-Sadat tried to become the guardian of the
Palestinians, only to be put to shame by Menahem Begin.
If the Egyptians now try to take over Gaza and obstruct the
Palestinians' fight for the liberation of the West Bank, they will be
considered collaborators and be exposed to attacks that may well spill
over into Egypt itself. Hamas has powerful allies there who won't step
back from violence.
Mubarrak will be very cautious about accepting responsibility in
Gaza, especially if Arafat is not involved. He knows well the curse
beloved by Arafat: "Go and drink from the sea of Gaza!"
Therefore, this whole plan is standing on its head. It has no basis
in reality. All in all, it is a recipe for the continuation of the war in
another form.
But no need to worry. Sharon is not really serious about it. He is
sure that before the time comes for the evacuation of even a single
settlement, either the horse will die or the Polish nobleman will forget
all about

enviado por omar :: 10:44 AM ::