april 2005

NEWS FROM PALESTINE

GAZA CITY, March 29, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Palestinian resistance movement Hamas is ready to join the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which groups together all the major Palestinian factions, according to one of its main leaders.

“Our decision to participate in the PLO is not new. It is a longstanding and clear decision,” Mahmmoud Al-Zahar told reporters Monday, March 28, after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmmoud Abbas in Gaza City.

Disagreements over the PLO charter and the size of Hamas’ representation in the council had delayed its incorporation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Progress, however, was made on these matters during inter-Palestinian talks that took place in Cairo in the middle of March, Zahar said.

“A committee grouping the general secretaries (of the Palestinian factions) was set up to look at this issue and the results have opened the way to the entry of Hamas and other factions into the PLO,” he said.

Earlier this month, Hamas announced that it would join the Palestinian political mainstream and stand in July parliamentary elections after years voluntarily in the cold.

Fatah was humiliated by a strong Hamas showing in recent municipal elections in the Gaza Strip, with Hamas securing 77 of the total 118 seats up for grasp, while Fatah got a meager 26.

The results indicate that Hamas could score big in the legislative election.

“Water Conservation, Conflict Resolution, and Renewable Energy in the West Bank,”

Professor Mary Kaldor
Professor David Held
Co-Directors
Centre for the Study of Global Governance
London School of Economics

27 March 2005

Dear Professors Kaldor and Held,

We are writing to you to voice our profound concern about a project for which your Centre has provided support, mainly through the administration of the Irfan Ali Mowjee Memorial Award and the partnership with Growing Sustainable Peace, the Jerusalem-based organisation sponsoring the project.  Moreover, Professor Kaldor is listed as an advisor to Growing Sustainable Peace.

We, Palestinian organisations active in environmental work and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)[1] believe that the project, entitled “Water Conservation, Conflict Resolution, and Renewable Energy in the West Bank,” is seriously flawed and particularly ill conceived and timed.  The project aims to “introduce innovative environmental technology to Palestinian small-scale farmers affected by the Separation Barrier.  In addition to its environmental goals, the GSP aims to engender trust and empower all the parties involved-key building blocks to conflict resolution.”[2]

We believe that there are several objectionable aspects to this project.  First, and especially in light of the recent advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declaring the Wall illegal, we think that the proper course of action for conscientious students and academics is to work with Palestinian farmers to bring it down, rather than assisting the victims to accommodate themselves to it.  It is public knowledge today that aside from its larger political implications and consequences, the Wall has not only entailed large-scale expropriation of agricultural land, but has also separated Palestinian farmers from their fields and source of livelihood.  It should be noted that the ICJ opinion made it clear that “the construction of the wall, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law," and declared that "Israel is under an obligation to return the land, orchards, olive groves and other immovable property seized from any natural or legal person for purposes of construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”[3]   

Furthermore, the ICJ ruling clearly declares that all states are under the “Obligation … not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction … [and] to see to it that any impediment, resulting from the construction of the wall, to the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end.”[4] It is therefore regrettable that the initiators of this project have conceived their plans in total disregard for the ruling of the highest international judicial body and for their legal and moral obligations stemming from it. 

Second, the project description indicates that “interruptions” to farming in the West Bank “exasperate[sic] [the] Israeli-Palestinian conflict and continue the downward spiral of trust deterioration.”[5]  We think that as prominent scholars you would recognise that this simplistic formulation of an extremely serious issue does not do a service to the search for truth. Even if we assume that the students who framed the issue in this way (totally avoiding acknowledgment of the West Bank as occupied territory) are naïve enough to believe that “interruptions” to farming in the Occupied Palestinian Territories “exasperate [exacerbate] the conflict,” we believe that your Centre, as a leading institution of academic excellence, should have been more critical in assessing the political implications and intellectual honesty of this project.  It should be obvious, after nearly four decades of Israeli colonial rule over the Palestinians, that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is the source of the “conflict” between the Palestinians and Israelis, and that the “interruptions” in farming originate in the occupation and will persist as long as it continues.  Put bluntly, we believe that palliative measures such as teaching farmers how to “increase agricultural water efficiency and promote environmental protection” in the face of large-scale theft of Palestinian land and water are politically suspect in that they accept the status quo, particularly the creation of the Wall, as a given. 

Third, the project is informed by another naïve idea that has serious political implications for the achievement of justice in Palestine.  Not only is the project viewed as part of “conflict resolution,” but it is also supposed to “engender trust and empower all the parties involved.”  We hope that you agree with us that helping Palestinian farmers accommodate themselves to the horrific implications of the Wall has nothing to do with conflict resolution or the achievement of peace with justice; neither does it help empower anyone, least of all the Palestinian victims of the occupation and the monstrous Wall. 

We sincerely hope that your Centre will distance itself from this project and from Growing Sustainable Peace, an ill-conceived and politically damaging initiative.

 Yours sincerely,

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
The Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
Ma’an Development Center
Health Work Committees
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees
Tulkarem Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall
Jenin Popular committees to Resist  the Apartheid wall
Qalqilya Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall
Salfeit Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall
Ramallah Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall
Jerusalem East Villages’ Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall
Bethlehem Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall
Hebron Popular Committees to Resist the Apartheid Wall

Greek Patriarchate in trouble over shady land deal.
By Danny Rubinstein©Ha'aretz

Last Friday evening Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox patriarch issued an urgent press release: "In light of the media reports regarding the sale of the Patriarchate's assets in Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Square in Jerusalem," read the statement, "I, Irineos I, patriarch of the Holy City, rigorously and absolutely deny, personally or in the capacity of my position, any connection with this fictitious transaction, about which we so far have no knowledge."

Irineos went on to say that he will sue anyone who claims otherwise, and that only the supreme body of the Patriarchate, the Holy Synod, is authorized to sell church assets.

This news release came in response to a main headline in Friday's edition of Maariv, which said that two groups of Jewish investors from abroad had purchased church assets in the Jaffa Gate plaza (Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Square), including the two long-standing Petra and Imperial hotels and a few stores.

According to the Maariv report, the church assets were sold by a young Greek named Nicholas Papadimas, who had received a power of attorney for this purpose. Representatives of the Patriarchate explained last weekend that Papadimas received a power of attorney to rent the church's properties, but not to sell them, so the sale, if there even was one, is not valid.

The nature of the transaction concerning the church's assets near Jaffa Gate is not clear, but one thing that is certain is that the report caused quite a stir in the Palestinian Authority, in Jerusalem's Christian community, in Jordan and even in Greece. Irineos' strident denial has not helped him.

Ever since the news item appeared five days ago, PA government and parliamentary committees have been investigating the affair. The Jordanian government has also asked to be included in the probe, and the Greek Foreign Ministry sent a special delegation to Israel, which spent the entire day yesterday in a series of meetings with Irineos and his officials.

"I will cooperate with any inquiry," said Irineos, while the Greek Foreign Ministry has issued an announcement that according to the information in its possession, "if any deal was transacted with those assets, it has no validity as it was conducted in violation of church laws and without the knowledge of the Holy Synod."

A very sharp response to the reports also came from Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

"This is a most dangerous affair," said Qureia, who in recent days has reiterated his demand to do everything to cancel the sale of the properties. "Israel is mistaken if she thinks she can change the Arab and Christian character of the Holy City by such measures."

Qureia lambasted all the activities aimed at "Judaizing Jerusalem" and the construction of the "racist separation wall" around it, which he feels is designed to oust all the Arabs from the city.

The plaza of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, adjacent to the Patriarchate, has been the site since Sunday of a series of demonstrations by members of the Christian Arab community, organized by the Christian Coalition action committee. Committee leaders have repeatedly announced that they will not rest or be silent until Patriarch Irineos is unseated. The committee, headed by Marwan Toubasi, Imad Awad and Dimitri Diliani, is raising the familiar demand to transfer the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem from the Greek priests to the Arab priests, claiming that "the Greek Patriarchate has become a branch of the Jewish Agency."

Most of the Christian churches in the Holy Land have undergone a process of Arabization in recent years, with local Arab clergy replacing foreign priests. Only the Orthodox Patriarchate continues to be controlled with a heavy hand by the Greeks, while the Arab priests ask rhetorically, "Did you bring the church lands with you on ships from Greece? These are the lands and the homes of our forefathers."

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is the oldest and richest in Israel. It owns extensive properties in every corner of Israel, in the neighboring countries and overseas, including in Greece. It is a kind of miniature kingdom controlled by the patriarch, above whom there is no higher authority. Only a few restrictions are placed on him by the 17 Greek priests, members of the Holy Synod, and the patriarch is effectively an omnipotent ruler concerning the church assets.

For years there have been news reports of corruption within the church and the involvement of powerful organizations in the fate of the Patriarchate's assets. Foreign governments, contractors and various intelligence services, tycoons and oligarchs meddle in the affairs of the church and its assets. Dozens of attorneys, both Israeli and foreign, work for the church, which is rife with power struggles and a strong undercurrent of chaos.

The current wave of scandals in the Patriarchate began in 2000, after the death of the previous Patriarch, Diadoros. Three senior priests waged a fierce campaign for the position of patriarch, who is elected by representatives of the church institutions. The election campaign was accompanied by threats, pressure, forged documents and worse. Metropolitan Irineos, who was finally chosen, was assisted in his campaign by a Greek citizen named Apostolos Vavilis, who later turned out to be a con artist with several identities and who had served time in prison for drug trafficking.

Vavilis, who even now is a fugitive wanted by Interpol, has been at the eye of the huge political storm in Greece in recent weeks, after it turned out he had connections with Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Orthodox Church in Greece and one of the most influential people in that country. Christodoulos apparently sent Vavilis to Jerusalem to help Irineos' election campaign.

The Greek media have been having a media fest with the story, intimating that Vavilis, who was married to an Israeli, might be a Mossad agent, and that he had dealings with the Israeli Defense Ministry and even sold Israeli military equipment to the Greek police.

After Irineos was elected patriarch in August 2001, he distanced himself from Vavilis and shortly thereafter hired a young Greek, namely Papadimas, who was living in Tel Aviv. Papadimas became Irineos' confidante in all matters concerning the Patriarchate's properties and finances. Three weeks ago Papadimas suddenly disappeared, along with his Israeli wife and their infant son.

At first the Patriarchate claimed that he had stolen millions of dollars. Then it turned out that he had not fled as a thief, but rather because he had become a victim of the squabbles within the Patriarchate and feared someone would harm him and his family.

Either way, Papadimas has been in hiding for the past few weeks, and is now suspected of being the man who sold the hotels and stores at Jaffa gate on behalf of Irineos to a group of Jews from abroad. Irineos is now a victim of the whole affair, and it is doubtful whether he will be able to recover from this scandal, as pressure increases for his ouster.

Just a few months ago, Irineos complained to the police that someone was trying to murder him. The police arrested a suspect, but he was released when the allegations against him were proven groundless.

Now Irineos will have to face extensive inquiries. The big winners now are his opponents, priests within the Patriarchate, who want to replace him. They seem to be close to their goal.

And when Gaza is empty Sharon will tell all the Palestinians to go in there, and close the West Bank to them and say, now you have your nation?(ed.JB)

Opinion polls consistently show a majority of Israelis favour leaving Gaza, which Israel has occupied - along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem - since 1967.(Note the phrasing there carefully as both West Bank and East Jerusalem were supposed to be under Palestine control,JB,ED.)

Mr Sharon proposes pulling out all settlers and the soldiers who protect them. Israel will maintain control of Gaza's external borders, air space and coastline.( "Palestine" will become a concentration camp.JB,ed.)

The settler movement on the West Bank, as well as Gaza, can be expected to continue their campaign against the disengagement plan on the streets of the country in the four months which remain . BBC World News

DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME? READ THIS:
AMERICANS TO PROTEST GAZA PULLOUT
http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?rpr/050411ga.htm
By The Washington Times 

Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he rejected the view that giving up Gaza would be the demise of Israel. "I think the Palestinians are entitled to have their independent state, and that's what they want," he said in a briefing with U.S. reporters Monday.11TH April 2005

May I?

May I sleep for a while?

Following the world’s lie,

Which I don’t know but I’ll try,

To know it’s fact before I die,

If the world is alive or did it die…

And will the justice and peace come to Palestine through the clear sky?

Then to think if the Palestinians’ tears stay or dry…

I would be happy, if God gives us freedom and take my eye…

I don’t know If I should wait or shall I go and cry…

Because we are prevented from our dear smile…

Which must spread through the huge world and shine…

At last,

I should talk and shouldn’t be shy…because my end with the occupation is to die,

“ the human should be treated well and be very high… from killing… destruction… even if he flee and fly…”

Tamer-the sad smile…

By Tamer a young boy living in Deheishe Refugee Camp

Vanunu Faces New Prison Term
Will They Bury Him?
By Mark Gaffney
3-24-5

Last week, the Israeli government indicted the former nuclear technician on 22 counts of violating restrictions it had imposed upon him last April. A hearing date has not yet been announced.

 

During the past year Vanunu has openly defied the Israeli authorities. Indeed, on the very day, last spring, when he completed his 18 year sentence for treason, Vanunu walked out of Ashkelon prison to the cheers of his supporters and immediately violated the government's restrictions by issuing a press statement on the nuclear issue.

 

Who would have guessed that this brave man would not only survive 18 years in a 6X9 foot windowless cell, eleven and a half of them in solitary confinement, not to mention near-continuous harassment by his handlers, but would emerge unbowed and unbroken, as plucky as ever? Vanunu's resiliency is amazing.

 

He has made it known that he wishes to leave Israel, settle in the US, and have a life. Yet, Mordechai has also refused to be muzzled. He is blessed with the gift of gab, and during the last year, in numerous interviews with the world press, he has been an articulate spokesperson for a nuclear-free Middle East. Vanunu has warned of the grave perils of a nuclear disaster. He has called upon the Israeli government to sign the NPT, open the country's nuclear sites to IAEA inspection, close down the aging and unsafe Dimona reactor, and take immediate steps in concert with other states in the region to establish a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ). Vanunu has also roundly condemned Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

 

All of this has alarmed the Sharon government. At a time when Israel's leaders have been threatening war on Iran for its alleged (but unproven) secret nuclear weapons program, the last thing they need is this pest Vanunu going around blabbing about Israel's enormous arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Mordechai is the mite under their skin, the irritant that keeps them scratching at the nuclear rash.

Last week Vanunu spoke out:

"I did not seek to harm Israel, but rather to warn of an enormous danger. I do not seek to harm Israel, now. I want to work for world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. I want the human race to survive."

 

He continued: "I'd like to address world leaders here for the Holocaust Museum ceremony. They have come to commemorate the Jewish holocaust which took place 60 years ago, but they must acknowledge that the threat of a future holocaust is the nuclear holocaust."

The Israeli government claims that despite Vanunu's 18 years in prison he remains in possession of nuclear secrets, and for this reason is still a threat to Israel's security. The claim is bogus, as Dan Ellsberg pointed out in his statement: "Mordechai Vanunu has no secret information. He has one huge secret which he revealed on April 21 last year. That after 18 years of imprisonment and solitary confinement and mistreatment a person can still come out sane, articulate, compassionate. This is the secret that no regime wants its citizens to know." He then added, "Mordechai is a prophet, and the scriptures say that prophets are never appreciated in their own country."

 

Ellsberg called on Israel to lift the restrictions on Vanunu: "At the time of the American revolution, when we freed ourselves from the British empire, we didn't retain any of their laws and regulations. The time has come for...Israel to also free itself from the State of Emergency regulations of the British Empire."

 

Israel has no first amendment and no Bill of Rights. The restrictions imposed upon Vanunu (prohibiting him from traveling abroad, contacting foreign citizens and media, and controlling his movement inside Israel) are based on the 1945 State of Emergency Regulations introduced by the British during the period of the Mandate. Since 1948 Israel has continued to operate under this antiquated legal structure, which allows the Israeli government to penalize individuals without trial, indefinitely. The regulations are used frequently to detain Palestinians. Nor have Israel's courts challenged the system. For example, in July 2004 Israel's Supreme Court rejected Vanunu's appeal of his restrictions.

ISRAELI ACADEMIC NEWS FROM HAARETZ:The chances of a young, talented person to become part of the Israeli academia and to reach achievements in his or her chosen field are smaller than ever. The libraries aren't growing, the dwindling number of advisors are too busy, and for budgetary reasons - because the university is fined for students who don't finish their degree in the minimal amount of time designated for it - the university wants the student to finish their studies as soon as possible. The student, who reached university after military service and must earn a livelihood, will find it difficult under those circumstances to complete a high-level masters or doctorate.

And if a student succeeds, the opportunities available to him here are nearly nil. Even if he gets a job as an instructor and assistant researcher, the chances are minimal that he will be transformed from a subcontracted worker earning minuscule wages under terrible working conditions into a lecturer and researcher on the university staff. As opposed to tenured faculty, the former do not get paid for the summer months and have to finance their own research and writing.

Hundreds of teachers are employed by the universities under scandalous conditions: they don't have a sabbatical fund, they can be fired at the drop of a hat, and they provide the universities cheap teaching hours.

That bad habit, which the universities call "junior staff" and an achievement of efficiency, is the absolute opposite of academic freedom and what is acceptable in the Western world as basic conditions for research. Those who fear for their job and are afraid of tomorrow will never know freedom of expression and creativity.

The students see the change and understand, albeit slowly, so they only began demonstrating last week. But they aren't merely worried about education. They are begining to express the understanding that the combination of the neo-liberalism that wants to privatize every public institution, and the disbursement of perks and the Likud's politicization, is to their detriment.

Ambulances transport Israeli troops
From correspondents in Jerusalem
March 30, 2005

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12698897%5E1702,00.html

THE Israeli army uses ambulances to move troops and weapons in operations against Palestinians, a violation of the Geneva Conventions, according to a private television station.
The 10 station's report today included interviews with several reserve soldiers whose faces were blocked out to protect their identity.

"I and other members of my unit saw soldiers with their weapons, bulletproof vests and helmets climbing into military ambulances," one of the reservists said.

"The use of ambulances is against the Geneva Convention which Israel has signed. Moreover, once ambulances are used for military objectives they become a legitimate target," said Doctor Rafi Waldman, a member of the organisation Doctors for Human Rights.

According to the report, the Israeli army began to use ambulances when there were no other armoured vehicles available.