INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

MAIL TO GAZA:

The Israeli blockade of Gaza continues despite outrage over the recent acts of piracy that the Israeli government has committed on relief ships bound for what has essentially become the world's largest prison camp. Amongst the many items that Israel refuses entry to Gaza is simple old mail. While Canada Post has decided to suspend delivery to Gaza the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has other thoughts, and some of their members plan to sail with a Canadian relief ship to Gaza along with mail directed there. Sort of an update to the old saying;

"Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night nor armed soldiers shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Here's the story from the Toronto Sun. >>>

CUPWCUPWCUPW
Gaza boat goes postal!
Postal Union backs Gaza boat, promises mail delivery

By Brian Lilley, Parliamentary Bureau

Last Updated: August 19, 2010 4:28pm
OTTAWA - Canada Post won’t deliver mail to the Gaza Strip any longer but the union representing the posties says they will.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says mail bound for Gaza will be delivered by their members aboard the Canadian boat for Gaza.

CUPW is one of many Canadian groups that have endorsed or are supporting an attempt to have a Canadian boat run the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

“It’s part of our campaign of boycott, divestment and sanction against the Israeli State to respect international law,” said CUPW president Denis Lemelin.

CUPW passed resolutions supporting the campaign, including one designating Israel an “apartheid state” in 2008.

“Cutting mail is adding more pressure to people,” said Lemelin, adding he’s backing the Gaza boat in the hope that it will break the blockade.

Israel and Egypt undertook a blockade of the Gaza strip in 2007.

Israel said it is continuing the blockade to ensure weapons do not enter the area. Hamas has used positions inside Gaza to launch rocket attacks on Israel, including a series of attacks earlier this month.

“Our national director will go to Palestine in November to see what’s going on,” Lemelin told QMI Agency.

CUPW has resisted attempts to loosen the monopoly that Canada Post holds on delivering mail in Canada or from Canada to international destinations.

Earlier this year the union launched a campaign to stop what they viewed as an attempt to allow competition in international mail delivery.

Yet when it comes to getting mail to the Gaza Strip, the union is calling on Canadians to send the mail via the Gaza boat.

“It’s different,” said Lemelin. “We are postal workers, we can help.”

Canada Post stops mail delivery in emergencies such as the Haiti earthquake or other natural disasters.

Mail delivery to Gaza was stopped after the man in charge of mail transfers was arrested by Israeli security forces. He has so far not been replaced by the local government.

The organizers of the Gaza boat hope to raise $300,000 to outfit a boat with supplies. On their website they say they will not allow Israel to stop them and declare that any attempt to board the ship will be an act of piracy that the Canadian government must protect them from.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has said that any ships attempting to take aid to Gaza should accept safe passage to Israeli ports where the goods will be inspected and passed on. The organizers of the boat reject that idea.

Other supporters of the Gaza boat include groups such as Independent Jewish Voices, Mohawk Traditional Council, Educators for Peace and Justice, a group of Toronto-area school teachers.

CUPWCUPWCUPW

Here's the original press release from CUPW. Note the reference to the group organizing the Gaza boat in Canada.

CUPWCUPWCUPW

Ottawa, August 12, 2010

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers wants mail delivered to Gaza.

Following an announcement by Canada Post that Israel Post has suspended mail delivery to Gaza, the union is encouraging people who wish to send mail to Gaza to get their mail onto the Canadian boat bound for the blockaded Palestinian territory.

“As postal workers, we know very well that cutting off mail creates suffering and hardship for people, who are isolated from their loved ones,” said Denis Lemelin, National President of CUPW. “How many more abuses will the people of Gaza have to endure?”

Numerous organizations are working together to endorse a Canadian boat to Gaza in the autumn. Others, including Independent Jewish Voices, have supported the idea of getting mail onto the boat.

“We are heartened by the growing international response to Israel’s cruel treatment of the Palestinian people,” said Lemelin, whose union has been at the forefront of condemning human rights abuses in the occupied territories. “We stand in solidarity with all efforts to break the blockade and end the indignities imposed on the Palestinian people by the state of Israel.”

What should you do if you want to send a letter to Gaza? Lemelin suggests contacting organizers at the website http://canadaboatgaza.org/

HUMOUR:

OOPS:

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-PALESTINE/ISRAEL:

ISRAELI PIRACY AND THE 'BESERKER CARD':

It's hard to describe the recent Israeli attack on the 'Gaza Flotilla' as anything but piracy. The legality of the Gaza blockade is disputed, but what is not disputed is that the attack too place in international waters (reports vary as to how far out it was). It is entirely possible that some of the Turks on board fought back against the assault, but the difference between Israeli pirates and Somali pirates can be seen in that the Somalis usually don't kill anyone even if the crews of the ships they attack also fight back. Reports on the total death toll vary, but it included at least nine people with many others wounded. Reports that are beginning to trickle out from people released from Israeli detention are, of course, wildly different from the claims of the Israeli military. The latter would be more believable if it wasn't sticking to its wild story that the soldiers boarding the ships began by "firing paintballs". Oh...I am really sure ! Perhaps forewarned by its intelligence services that the ships' cargoes had been thoroughly verified by independent observers Israel has not even tried to "plant" weapons in the seized goods. This, at least, would have been a more plausible lie than "paintballs". Once a silly claim has been made of ten enough , however, you have to stick to it no matter how absurd it is.

The world reaction has been immediate and vehement with demonstrations across the globe and condemnation from governments usually accustomed to toe a soft line with Israel. Those with residual sympathy for the Israeli government have reacted by claims that the military action was an ill-conceived mistake. Others have opined that the Israeli government is "insane".

I think both opinions are wrong. There are two countries in the world who have attacked US Navy ships and "gotten away with it". One is North Korea in 1968. The USS Pueblo is still held captive in North Korea. The other was Israel which sunk the USS Liberty in 1967- ironically in the same general area as the attack on the Gaza flotilla. Both Israel and North Korea have a long standing reputation for erratic and seemingly irrational actions, especially as they involve twisting the tail of the tiger. The only difference between world opinion of the two nations is that North Korea has no apologists (outside of tiny Stalinist sects- bizarrely enough most common in the USA). Nobody thinks North Korea makes "tragic mistakes".

Are Israel and North Korea "insane" ? Far from it. Crazy like a fox is a much better term. What both regimes want to project is the appearance of insanity, to give potential foes (and wavering friends !) the impression that they will lash out unexpectedly and violently with none of the usual considerations of costs and benefits. I call this the 'Beserker Card'. During the Middle Ages Norse warriors had a reputation for "going beserker" ie falling into a demented state where they would wildly attack without consideration of self preservation - or even of who was friend or enemy. They were certainly not the first to cultivate such a reputation. 'Celtic Fury' predated the Norse by almost a millennium. One has to wonder just how often this sort of thing really occurred and how widespread it as during military encounters because....the reputation of having such behavior is probably (certainly ?) a much more effective weapon in demoralizing an enemy than the act itself.

That is what I think is behind the Israeli actions during their recent act of piracy. I know it is impossible to prove, but it is a distinct possibility that the IDF were sent in with a deliberate tactical plan of creating an atrocity. It is at least more probable than paintballs. Whether such an action will backfire against its perpetrators is for the future to determine. To date the Israeli state has operated on a principle of "massive retaliation" ( or sometimes "massive aggression" )against its Palestinian foes. The relative death tolls say it all. This has failed to cow the Palestinians into submission. What the effect will be when the victims are internationals and the acts are group murder rather than individual murder I really don't know.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-ISRAEL/GAZA:

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GAZA:

Very many of the facts about the situation of Israel's war on Gaza are hard to come by. This is not just because of the desire of the media to look for image rather than substance. It is also a fact that Israel has done its best to deny the media access to the besieged area. Here from Z Communications is a story that asks questions about the situation and gives answers to the inquiring. It links to a much longer (37 pages) article that covers things not discussed below. Very good if you want to know more than the superficialities of the conflict.

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Special Update: Gaza Crisis Q&A by Stephen Shalom:
On December 27, 2008, Israel launched its assault on Gaza: Operation Cast Lead.

ZCom/ZNet has been has been addressing the rapidly worsening conditions by publishing numerous articles each day from diverse international writers. However, by far the most extensive piece so far is the very important Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) by Z's own Stephen Shalom.

Shalom's FAQ is an exhaustive analysis that collects in one place the most frequently asked questions about Israel's war on Gaza, along with succinct answers, including extensive footnotes and sources. All told Shalom includes 34 questions and answers.

Below are five randomly selected questions and their answers to indicate the type of treatment Shalom provides. We also list the 34 questions (without answers) - to show the full range of concerns Shalom addresses. We provide only this summary here, by email, because the total FAQ is too long to send.

You can access the whole FAQ online including all questions, answers, and extensive footnotes and references. You can navigate the FAQ by viewing only questions that interest you in any order you like, by assessing questions grouped by topic, or by simply reading through the whole thing, sequentially which we very highly recommend.

Click here to go straight to the full Q/A: http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20269
Brief Sample from Question and Answer on Gaza

By Stephen Shalom

1. Doesn't Israel have the right to defend itself and its population from rocket attacks?

Rockets from Gaza aimed at Israeli civilians violate international law.

But any assessment of whether Israeli military actions constitute lawful self-defense has to take account of the context and the question of proportionality.

The broad context is that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and unjust and Israel can't claim self-defense when Palestinians struggle by legitimate means to end the occupation. (In the same way, Japanese troops couldn't claim self-defense when they were attacked by guerrillas in occupied China or the occupied Philippines during World War II.)

The proper Israeli response to such Palestinian actions is not "self-defense," but full withdrawal from the occupied territories.

13. How can Israel be accused of terrorism since it doesn't intentionally kill civilians, and views all civilian deaths that it causes as regrettable accidents?

Keep in mind the official U.S. definition of terrorism: "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets."[36]Three points need to be noted here.

First, inflicting pain on civilians for political purposes has long been official Israeli policy. When Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier in June 2006, Israel responded by destroying Gaza's only power plant, causing massive suffering.[37] Israeli leaders have openly acknowledged that they intended to cripple Gaza's economy as a way to undermine support for Hamas. (That this is a foolish policy makes it no less immoral. That the governments of the United States, the European Union, and Egypt are complicit in the policy likewise makes it no less immoral.) Gazans have seen poverty and unemployment soar and their health and welfare decline as Israel has closed their borders, cut fuel and power supplies, and denied them their own tax revenues. Human rights groups[38] and United Nations officials[39] have condemned this policy of economic strangulation, deeming it "collective punishment."

When New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman writes that he hopes Israel is pursuing a strategy in Gaza of trying to inflict "heavy pain on Gaza civilians," he is endorsing a policy that is indistinguishable from the above-cited official U.S. government definition of terrorism.[40]

Second, over the years Israel has intentionally killed civilians. Among other instances, it has used lethal fire against demonstrators who posed no serious threat.[41] It has targeted and killed medical personnel and journalists.[42] And now it has targeted and killed civilian police and non-military government personnel in Gaza (as will be discussed below).

Third, even when civilians have not been specifically targeted, Israel has shown reckless disregard for the welfare of civilians, killing many. These are not "unfortunate accidents," but the result of willful, criminal negligence. It is true that in domestic law we distinguish between intentional and unintentional killing, with the former being a much more serious offense than the latter. But domestic law also recognizes that sometimes criminal negligence can be as condemnable as premeditation. As the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq correctly puts it, "the choice of targeted areas, methods of attack and the number of civilians killed and injured clearly indicate a reckless disregard for civilian life synonymous with intent."[43]

Consider the record before the current Israeli attack on Gaza. According to statistics from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, from the beginning of the second Intifada on September 29, 2000, until November 30, 2008, 2,990 Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli security forces. Of these, 1,382 were known not to be taking part in hostilities.[44] (During this same seven year period, Palestinian rockets or mortars from Gaza killed a grand total of 22 Israeli civilians.[45]) If these Palestinian rockets constituted terrorism and war crimes -- and they do -- how much greater were the crimes of the Israeli government?

And this is so whether Israeli officials express pro forma regret or instead declare, as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did in March 2002, "The Palestinians must be hit and it must be painful. We must cause them losses, victims, so they feel the heavy price."[46]
19. What were the terms of the June 2008 ceasefire with Israel?

In June 2008, after almost a year of military engagements and Israel's crippling blockade of Gaza, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire, also called a truce or lull or calm. The two sides would not speak to one another directly and so there was an Egyptian mediated understanding, whose terms were never formally written down. The Associated Press reported the terms as follows:

"The truce takes effect at 6 a.m. Thursday (11 p.m. EDT Wednesday) [June 19].

"All Gaza-Israel violence stops. After three days, Israel eases its blockade on Gaza, allowing more vital supplies in."

A week later, Israel further eases restrictions at cargo crossings.

"In the final stage, talks are conducted about opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt and a prisoner exchange to free Cpl. Gilad Schalit, held by Hamas-affiliated groups for two years."[60]

And although Israel tried to claim in December 2008 that the lull was of unlimited duration,[61] everyone (including the Israeli government in June 2008) referred to the lull as scheduled to last for six months, with hopes that it might be extended.[62] Hamas had wanted the lull to apply to both Gaza and the West Bank, but Israel refused.[63]

Various Palestinian armed groups -- though not Hamas -- had reservations about the lull, but they agreed to respect it. Islamic Jihad said, however, that while it would abide by the truce, it considered the West Bank and Gaza indivisible, so it reserved the right to retaliate from Gaza for an attack on its members in the West Bank.
31. Haven't the vast majority of those killed by Israel been, not civilians, but terrorists?

Not by a long shot. Obviously it is difficult to confirm the identity and activity of each person who was killed while the Israeli offensive is going on. This has led some human rights groups and aid agencies to report the number of women and children killed as an absolute minimum of the number of civilians killed. But as they have made clear,[109] this was not meant to suggest that this was the complete count of civilian casualties nor that any adult male killed was automatically a combatant.

As of January 14, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported 1,013 deaths, of which 40 percent were women and children.[110] The killing of numerous male civilians has been well-documented: in addition to police and government personnel, an anti-Hamas judge (and father of a Human Rights Watch consultant), medical staff, drivers, and many more.[111]

As of January 14, more than 4,500 were reported wounded, half of them women and children.[112] Moreover, many of the wounded will die because of a lack of timely and adequate medical care. Gaza's hospitals are overwhelmed and lack reliable power and sufficient supplies, ambulances are afraid to travel and Israel has blocked access by emergency medical vehicles.[113] According to Human Rights Watch, "Only four critically injured patients have been transferred to Israel since the start of the conflict," in part because Israel demanded financial guarantees for the medical costs of wounded Palestinians. Since the start of the ground campaign on January 3, transfers to Israel ended.[114]
33. Are Israelis unanimous in backing their government policy?

As in the United States, Israelis are often swayed by their government and a compliant media. On January 1, 2009, fewer than a fifth of the population supported advancing to an extensive ground war,[125] but once their leaders launched it, they endorsed it.

A poll published on January 15, showed 82 percent of Israelis don't think Israel has "gone too far" which means that almost the entire Jewish population is backing the war.[126] Almost. There have been many antiwar protests, most often in Arab areas, but sometimes including both Jewish and Palestinian Israelis. A demonstration numbering in the thousands took place in Tel Aviv on January 3.[127] A petition calling for an end to the IDF operation in Gaza and for a renewal of the truce with Hamas was signed by 500 residents of Sderot, the Israeli town bordering Gaza that has been on the receiving end of so many rockets.[128]

But there is no doubt that war-fever is running rampant in Israel. The Central Elections Committee has banned two Israeli Arab parties from running in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Even if the Supreme Court reverses this ruling, it is frightening that in addition to the rightwing parties, the two major government parties, Kadima and Labor, both voted for the ban.[129]
Below are all the FAQ questions.

Again, please go to the site to view whole FAQ online, with answers and sources.

1. Doesn't Israel have the right to defend itself and its population from rocket attacks?

2. While conquests in wars of aggression are clearly illegal, didn't Israel obtain the West Bank and Gaza as the result of a defensive war against an attack waged by neighboring Arab states?

3. Hasn't Israel withdrawn from Gaza, thereby ending its occupation?

4. Regardless of whether the occupation legally continues, didn't Israeli give up its settlements and its military bases in Gaza?

5. Why should Israel have an obligation to open its borders with or transmit electricty or fuel to Gaza? Doesn't it have the sovereign right to close its borders as it wishes?

6. Gaza shares a land border with Egypt. Why is Israel blamed for cutting off Gaza's borders?

7. Didn't Hamas just use the Israeli disengagement from Gaza as an opportunity to launch rockets at Israel without provocation?

8. How did Israel and the West react to Hamas's election victory?

9. How could Hamas be a partner for peace? Didn't they refuse the three U.S.-Israeli conditions: that they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and agree to accept all agreements previously accepted by the Palestinian Authority?

10. Hasn't Hamas refused to ever accept the existence of Israel?

11. Doesn't Hamas support Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Semitism?

12. Is Hamas a terrorist organization?

13. How can Israel be accused of terrorism since it doesn't intentionally kill civilians, and views all civilian deaths that it causes as regrettable accidents?

14. Isn't Hamas's firing of inaccurate rockets a violation of international humanitarian law?

15. Does the fact that Israel has killed civilians justify Palestinian attacks on civilians?

16. Didn't Hamas kidnap an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit?

17. Didn't Hamas launch a military coup against Fatah and the Palestinian Authority in Gaza?

18. Isn't Hamas just a pawn of Iran?

19. What were the terms of the June 2008 ceasefire with Israel?

20. What did the lull terms say about the smuggling in of weapons?

21. What happened during the lull?

22. Wasn't it legitimate for Israeli troops to go into Gaza to destroy a tunnel being used for a planned kidnapping?

23. Why was the lull not extended?

24. Can Hamas be trusted not to break truces and ceasefires?

25. Given the barrage of rockets that was launched from Gaza after the lull ended on December 19, did Israel have any alternative to a military attack?

26. If the cease-fire had been extended, couldn't Hamas have smuggled in rockets of longer and longer range until even Tel Aviv was vulnerable? Doesn't that mean that any new ceasefire would have had to include a provision to prevent weapons smuggling, and hence would have been unacceptable to Hamas?

27. What does it mean to say that Israel should have responded proportionately?

28. Since Hamas places its military assets in civilian areas, thus using the population as human shields, isn't Hamas responsible for all the harm to civilians?

29. Israel calls the homes it is planning to attack and drops leaflets warning civilians to get away from military targets. Doesn't that meet its obligation to protect the civilian population?

30. Has Israel been intentionally targeting civilians in Gaza?

31. Haven't the vast majority of those killed by Israel been, not civilians, but terrorists?

32. Aren't there many things we don't know yet? Shouldn't we reserve judgment until all the facts are in?

33. Are Israelis unanimous in backing their government policy?

34. What has the role of the United States been?

CARTOONS:

LATUFF ON ISRAEL'S WAR ON GAZA:

The Brazilian graphic artist Latuff is one of the best political cartoonists working in the world today. make sure to check out his website. Here's a selection of few of his recent work concerning Israel's war.

CANADIAN POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

PEACE ACTIVISTS OCCUPY CONSERVATIVE MP'S OFFICE:

Demonstrations are continuing every Saturday in Canada against Israel's war on Gaza. One of these today was in London Ontario where four peace activists occupied the offices of Tory MP Ed Holder. Here's the story from the Activist Magazine.

............................
Peace advocates occupy Conservative MP’s office demanding action on Gaza war crimes:
Written by Rick Telfer
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Four peace advocates in London, Ontario are at the office of London West Conservative MP Ed Holder demanding immediate action from the Canadian government to denounce the continuing massacre in Gaza.

They are determined not to leave willingly until Mr. Holder agrees to advocate that the minority Conservative government:

- call publicly and vigorously for Israel to accept the ceasefire proposed by
Hamas without further conditions or stalling;
- condemn the Israeli
aggression against Gaza for what it is—a war crime (as is the firing of Hamas
rockets into Israel);
- demand that Israel ensure the full and safe delivery
of humanitarian aid to the needy in Gaza and cease targeting relief workers and
emergency medical staff;
- demand that Israel end the collective punishment
of Gazans and lift the illegal blockade of the territory (failing which,
boycott-divestment-sanction measures against Israel must be coordinated by the
international community;
- immediately reverse its shameful opposition to the
recent UN Human Rights Council resolution condemning Israel's offensive in the
Gaza Strip and set up a probe into "grave" human rights violations by Israeli
forces against the Palestinians.

Wendy Goldsmith, a social worker, Beth Guthrie, a library reference specialist, David Heap, a professor, all three from People for Peace, London and Cory Morningstar, president of Council of Canadians London Chapter are outraged at Canada’s complicity with Israeli aggression and crimes against humanity, and deeply concerned over the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"If my family and my community were being bombed to pieces and incinerated by white phosphorous shells, I would hope that people in other countries would take a stand against such atrocities." remarked Cory Morningstar, mother of five. Wendy Goldsmith adds "As a social worker in London, my job is to keep children safe. Who is helping to keep the children of Gaza safe?"

"Thousands of people in London have been crying out for justice for Gaza," points out Beth Guthrie, who has helped organize rallies and other events over the last three weeks. "But our government has been ignoring Canadians and ignoring international law. This complicity has to end."

"All Conservative government offices have turned into mouthpieces for Israeli war criminals." comments David Heap. "There are 142 more Conservative MPs offices across the country where other Canadians should be taking their peaceful, persistent and creative protests."

.................................
Call directly: David 1-519-859-3579 or Wendy 1-519-281-5225 or Beth 1-519-281-5538. For updates or background, contact Rick at mobile@ricktelfer.ca. FRANÇAIS: pour des entrevues contacter David 1-519-859-3579, pour des nouvelles Rick at mobile@ricktelfer.ca. Media release: http://councilofcanadianslondon.wordpress.com/.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-ISRAEL/GAZA/CANADA:

ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVIST ON CROSS CANADA TOUR:

A tip of the Molly hat to Uli Diemer of the Radical Digressions blog for the following item. Jeff Halper, Israeli peace activist, coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and 2006 Nobel Peace prize nominee will be on a cross country tour of Canada during the next month to tell Canadians how they can participate in peaceful resistance to the Israeli siege of Gaza. Here is the news release

...........................

Nobel Prize Nominee and Israeli Peace Activist visits Canada on 'Gaza' tour :
January 12, 2009

Jeff Halper visits Canada with surprising, eye-witness revelations about Gaza.

Jeff Halper, an Israeli human rights activist, anthropology professor, coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize nominee will be in Toronto January 20 - 24 as part of a cross-Canada speaking tour.

In August of 2008, Halper arrived in Gaza by sea as the only Jewish-Israeli member of the Free Gaza Movement. "When we finally arrived in Gaza after a day and a half sail, the welcome we received from 40,000 joyous Gazans was overwhelming and moving," says Halper. "People sought me out in particular, eager, it seemed, to speak Hebrew with an Israeli after years of closure."

While in Gaza, Halper received honorary Palestinian citizenship, including a passport. He returned to Israel through the Erez checkpoint. Upon arrival, he was immediately arrested and jailed at the Shikma prison in Ashkelon, charged with violating a military order prohibiting Israelis from visiting Gaza.

Halper will be talking about how Canadians can participate in peaceful resistance against the Israeli siege of Gaza and occupation in the West Bank. He will be visiting universities, churches and Jewish community centres in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria.

The tour is sponsored by a national movement of progressive Canadian Jewish groups and others. Sponsors include Independent Jewish Voices Canada, United Jewish People′s Order, Yosher – Jewish Social Justice Network, Science for Peace, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Canadian Auto Workers, Kairos and the Canadian Arab Federation.

Toronto speaking dates:

Thursday, January 22nd, Ryerson University (TBA), 12:00 pm, Free

Thursday, January 22nd, The Winchevsky Centre, 585 Cranbrooke Avenue, 7:30 pm, TI

Friday, January 23rd, Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor Street West, 7:30 pm, TI

For interviews or more information contact:Sandra Ruch

416-716-4010

Sandra.ruch@rogers.blackberry.net

Halper′s main public appearances at other locations across Canada are as follows (please check with contact persons since details might change):

Halifax -

Tuesday, January 13 - place TBA

Further info: Larry Haiven, Cell: 902 240-2782, larry.haiven@gmail.com

Montreal -

Please contact Scott Weinstein, 514 289-9989, scottmontreal@yahoo.ca

Ottawa -

Sunday, January 18, University of Ottawa

Monday, January 19, Centre Block of Parliament. $10 fee,

Monday, January 19, Kailash Mital Theatre

Further info (including additional events): Diana Ralph 613 321-2765, ijv@magma.ca

Hamilton -

Wednesday, January 21, McMaster University

Further info: Harry Shannon, harry.s.shannon@gmail.com or David Cohen, 905 577-1029 david316@sympatico.ca .

Winnipeg -

Saturday, January 24, Rudolf Rocker Cultural Centre

Sunday, January 25, Canadian Mennonite U. Auditorium

Monday, January 26, University of Winnipeg

Monday, January 26, University of Manitoba

Further info: Mark Etkin, 204-955-1929, etkin@cc.umanitoba.ca

Vancouver -

Wednesday, January 28, at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver

Friday, January 30, University of British Columbia

Friday, January 30, Al-Salaam Mosque, 5060; Canada Way, Burnaby.

Further info: Sid Shniad, 604-314-5589, shniad@sfu.ca

Victoria - Thursday, January 29

Further info: George McFetridge, geomcfet@gmail.com

Bio - Jeff Halper

Jeff Halper is an Israeli human rights activist, anthropology professor, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a non-violent Israeli peace and human rights organization created to resist the Israeli occupation.

Born in the US, Jeff moved to Israel in 1973. For more than a decade, he worked for the municipality of Jerusalem as a community worker in the city's poor Mizrahi Jewish neighbourhoods. Eventually, having done research among Ethiopian Jews in the 1960s, he became the chairman of the Israeli Committee for Ethiopian Jews.

During his mandatory Israeli military service, Jeff refused to bear arms or serve in the occupied Palestinian territories. In 1997, he co-founded ICAHD to challenge Israel′s house demolition policies which have caused the dispossession of thousands of Palestinian families since 1967.

An anthropology professor, Jeff has taught at universities both in Israel and abroad. In addition to his many academic and political writings, he is the author of Between Redemption and Revival: The Jewish Yishuv in Jerusalem in the Nineteenth Century (Westview, 1991) and Obstacles to Peace, a resource manual of articles and maps on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, published by ICAHD.

His new book, An Israeli in Palestine (Pluto Press, 2008) describes Jeff′s evolution from a young Zionist immigrant into a staunch opponent of the occupation and champion of Palestinian human rights.

In 2006, Jeff was nominated by the American Friends Service Committee for the Nobel Peace Prize, together with the Palestinian intellectual and activist Ghassan Andoni.

Last year, he was the only Israeli Jewish participant in the maiden voyage of the two siege-breaking vessels of the Free Gaza Movement

For more information on the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, visit: www.icahd.org/eng

For more information contact:Sandra Ruch

Phone: 416-716-4010

Email: Sandra.ruch@rogers.blackberry.net

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-GAZA/USA:

GAZA: STOP THE VIOLENCE:

The final days of the Bush Administration are ticking to a close, but there is still time for the outgoing President to leave a "legacy" that inspires something besides contempt. The following petition from the Care2 site calls on you to email Bush and ask him to pressure Israel for a ceasefire.

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Gaza: Stop the Violence:‏
On Monday, Masouda al-Samouni lost her 10-month-old son to an Israeli missile attack. She had been preparing food for the baby when the missile struck. "He died hungry," she said.

With 1.5 million people, the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely crowded areas in the world, and Israeli artillery, tank and missile fire can easily cause civilian casualties and deaths.

Urge President Bush to pressure Israel to agree to a ceasefire. »

At least a quarter to one-third of deaths in the recent attacks have been civilians. Unlike other conflicts where there's a chance to flee the war zone, Gaza itself has become the war zone, and there's nowhere else for the population to go.

Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks, but this "war" is a disproportionate response, placing thousands of civilians at risk of injury and death.

So far, Israel has resisted international calls for a ceasefire. The United States has a special relationship with Israel. Let's use that goodwill to bring an end to the violence in Gaza. Please act today! »

Take action link: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Aejan/yY6h/AE57V
Thanks for taking action!

Samer

ThePetitionSite

P.S. There's a post in our Human Rights Cause Channel on the conflict in Gaza.

Check it out. »

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-CANADA/ISRAEL/PALESTINE:

JEWISH WOMEN OCCUPYING ISRAELI CONSULATE ARRESTED:

Earlier today a diverse group of 8 Jewish women occupied the Israeli Consulate in Toronto in protest against the Israeli war against the people of Gaza. A few hours later police arrived and arrested the eight. They were charged with "breach of the peace" and released. Here is their press release, courtesy of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). For further information contact one of their spokeswomen:

*Dr. Miriam Garfinkle

416-731-6605

mgarfinkle@sympathico.ca

*Cathy Gulkin

416-697-0768

cgulkin@rogers.com

*Judy Rebick

647-388-1053

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Jewish Women Occupy Israeli Consulate in Toronto:

Toronto: Wednesday January 8, 2009 Time: 10:25 am

A diverse group of Jewish Canadian women are currently occupying the Israeli consulate at 180 Bloor Street West in Toronto. This action is in protest against the on-going Israeli assault on the people of Gaza.

The group is carrying out this occupation in solidarity with the 1.5 million people of Gaza and to ensure that Jewish voices against the massacre in Gaza are being heard. They are demanding that Israel end its military assault and lift the 18-month siege on the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

Israel has been carrying out a full-scale military assault on the Gaza Strip since December 27, 2008. At least 660 people have been killed and 3000 injured in the air strikes and in the ground invasion that began on January 3, 2009. Israel has ignored international calls for a ceasefire and is refusing to allow food, adequate medical supplies and other necessities of life into the Gaza Strip.

Protesters are outraged at Israel's latest assault on the Palestinian people and by the Canadian government's refusal to condemn these massacres. They are deeply concerned that Canadians are hearing the views of pro-Israel groups who are being represented as the only voice of Jewish Canadians. The protesters have occupied the consulate to send a clear statement that many Jewish-Canadians do not support Israel's violence and apartheid policies. They are joining with people of conscience all across the world who are demanding an end to Israeli aggression and justice for the Palestinian people.

The group includes: Judy Rebick, professor; Judith Deutsch, psychoanalyst and president of Science for Peace; B.H. Yael, filmmaker; Smadar Carmon, an Canadian Israeli peace activist and others.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-ISRAEL:

ISRAELI ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WAR:

As the bombs continue to rain down on Gaza opposition to the Israeli government's actions continues to grow. Some Israeli citizens oppose the actions of their government as well, and amongst these are the Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall. The following story has been here, there and everywhere across the internet. I too the version below from the Polish anarchist news service Centrum Informacji Anarchistcznej.

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Palestine-Israel, more news of Anarchists against the Wall (AAtW) from a war zone:
Israel’s harshest assault on Gaza since 1967 - code named "Operation Cast Lead" - which began on Saturday morning and left over 250 Palestinians dead on its first day alone, was met with widespread condemnation around the world, including dissent within Israel itself.

Protest actions began already the day before Israel’s "Shock and Awe" aerial offensive, when activists demonstrated in the heart of Tel-Aviv, warning against the looming escalation and calling for peace talks with Gaza’s democratically elected officials. This demonstration, organized by the Coalition against the Siege on Gaza, was virtually ignored by the mainstream media.

On Saturday, December the 27th, as we learnt of the carnage and devastation Israeli warplanes inflicted that morning on Gaza’s already suffering, besieged population, AATW activists joined over a hundred angry protesters on a virtually-spontaneous demonstration in the city of Jaffa (many local residents have relatives in the Gaza strip, since a large part of Jaffa’s population were forced to flee to Gaza in 1948).

At the same time demonstrations broke out in dozens of cities and villages across the West Bank, as well as East Jerusalem, many resulting in clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli troops. Later that evening, AATW took part in a thousand-strong, Arab-Jewish protest march through the streets of Tel Aviv, along members of other organizations. The protesters led an emotionally-charged, energetic march from the Cinemateque Square to the Ministry of Defense (video), chanting "the occupation is terrorism" and carrying signs such as "Israel’s ministers are war criminals". On the way, demonstrators were attacked without provocation by Israeli Special Patrol Unit backed by aggressive mounted policemen. Further clashes took place on the Ministry of Defense’s lawn, when anarchists knocked down security fences and attempted to block traffic on Kaplan Street. Six demonstrators were arrested, all of which were released by a judge the next day.

On Sunday, December the 28th, as the number of dead in Gaza climbed closer to 300 on the second day of Israel’s attack, AATW activists joined a demonstration in the village of Ni’ilin against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Israeli forces opened fire on stone-throwing youth, killing one protester and leaving another in critical condition. Arafat Rateb Khawaja, 22 years old, was shot in the back with live ammunition, and died at 14:45 in Ramallah Hospital. Mohammed Kasim Khawaja, 20 years old, was shot in the forehead with live ammunition from close range, and remains in a condition of clinical death in Ramallah hospital.

Sunday, December the 29th, evening saw AATW take part in yet another charged demonstration in central Tel Aviv, with dozens of people calling for an end to the current military operation in Gaza and to the occupation in general. Protesters held placards saying "International intervention now!" and "Israelis & Palestinians oppose war".

Monday, December the 30th, saw an extremely charged funeral in Ni’ilin, followed by a day of clashes with the army, as well as hundreds of students voice their opposition throughout the campuses of Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem’s universities - all of which involved clashes with police and/or fascist counter demonstrators, as well as violent arrests.

Later that day demonstrators gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv, protesting Egyptian silence and collaboration with the Israeli offencive. The protesters were met by an extremely large contingent of border and riot police, which, when prodded by an inflamed crowed of passer-bys, used extreme violence to disperse the the demonstration. Six were arrested, all of them Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Later that afternoon, AATW members joined an Arab-Israeli protest against the atrocities in Gaza that took place in the city of Jaffa. Several hundred people raised Palestinian flags and shouted slogans of solidarity with Gaza’s population and support for the Intifada. The event culminated in a loud and disorderly march through the streets of Jaffa - at times blocking traffic - which was eventually dispersed without violence after being confronted with a large number of riot and border police reinforcements.

Tuesday 31 saw another hastily organized and enraged demonstration of about 200 people at the center of Tel Aviv. Despite the large presence of police, eggs and empty bottles were thrown at the protesters.

On Friday, January the 2d, early in the morning activists of the AAtW out smart the police, shortly blocked the road and staged a street theater of a "die in" at the entrance to the military air port of Tel Aviv - where the pilots and other high ranking are flayed daily to the far bases in the south and north for the daily war crimes. 18 comrades were arrested and the shamed police avenged by asking the court judge for three days jail time for them being dangerous and for "investigation". The judge order their stay in jail for the two days weekend (till Sunday morning).

Tel Aviv (Sdeh Dov airport) demonstration Friday 2.1.2008 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpeC...
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AATW *Press Release*

*Die-in Against the War in Gaza*
*18 activists from ’Anarchists Against the Wall" were arrested this morning, as they blocked the entrance to the Sde Dov air force base.*

*The demonstrators lay on the entrance road to the base and pretended to be dead in opposition to the killing in Gaza.*

About 20 activists from ’Anarchists Against the Wall’ arrived today, Friday morning, at 6am, to the air force base Sde Dov, and blocked the entrance to the base. The activists lay on the road and pretended to be dead, dressed in white and covered in red paint, representing the large amount of blood on Gaza’s streets. After about 10 minutes all of the activists to joined the die-in were arrested.

Ayala, one of the activists: "We pretended to be dead as an installation that is meant to illustrate to the IDF’s pilots the results of their actions in Gaza. A pilot who is at a height of thousands of feet, who aims toward a target, and presses a button, can ignore, forget or even not grasp that in this very instant he killed innocent people. We came here to remind this.*

Since the beginning of this war, the air force has bombed Gaza 300 times. In these bombings more than 400 Palestinians have been killed, hundreds of civilians. It is impossible to be against the bombing of civilians in Sderot without being against massive killing of citizens in Gaza.

International Laws of War obligate as much avoidance as possible from harming civilians. The Israeli air force’s bombings on heavily populated Gaza cannot but harm civilians and are a war crime. Every pilot that bombs Gaza bombs a civilian population and he is a war criminal.
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Because of too many arrested early in the morning we participated in joint demonstrations against the separation fence only in Jayyous - where lot of tear gas was used, and in Bil’in - which was again an experimental field for "low lethal means for crowd control". This Friday In Bil’in, the state force did another experiment with the noise machine and new bullets. In the experiment of the noise machine, it replaced at the beginning most of the state repression. For long time they did not use tear gas or shooting with rubber coated bullets in spite of intense barrage of stones thrown by the kids. It seems the state force main task - besides the experiment, was to prevent the recurring of the cutting of the separation fence as done on the Sunday demonstration against the war in Gaza.
SATURDAY, January the 3d
During the week was distributed the call for demonstration on Saturday in the name of the coalition of organizations against the war (in Gaza) - the Anarchists against the Wall initiative are in it:

"The killing in Gaza continues. Hundreds have been killed, thousands injured, air-strikes have caused utter devastation and entire families are left homeless.

Civilians in the south of Israel are being held captive by a government which lies to them and abuses them. Destruction and death in Gaza will not ensure their future, but rather lead to more violence and killings. Join us in protest this coming Saturday, 3.1.2009, in Tel Aviv. Together we will call out:
***Stop the Killing! No to the Siege! Yes to life for both peoples!
***In these dark days, let us stick to our message:
***Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies!
***Our demand: A full truce and the lifting of the siege on Gaza NOW!

Please note: For the past week mass arrests have been carried out amongst Palestinian citizens of Israel who are exercising their democratic right to protest. On Saturday, at 13:00, before the Tel Aviv demonstration, a mass protest rally will be held in Sakhnin by the High Committee of Arab Israelis against the killing in Gaza. Please make an effort to join - your presence is of the essence!”





At the evening, after the highest court forbidden the police from interfering with the content of the demonstration thousand of people converged in the city square - including many who participated at the early afternoon in the demonstration at Sakhnin in the north. Few hundreds participated in the anarchist block. The drumming circle was the center of the block all along the demonstration. Anarchist flags banners and chants were targeted along the route by rightists who failed to cause any disturbance.
Palestine-Israel, Rough translation of report on the murder in Ni’ilin in the Sunday 26-12-08 shooting, written for Btselem by an AAtW member
On Sunday, the 28/12/08 there was in Ni’ilin a demonstration in protest of the massacre in Gaza. Very fast the demonstration escalated into confrontations in few locations between the army & gendarmes that shoot bullets covered with rubber & tear gas and villagers that threw stones on the state force.





The biggest focus of confrontation was in the main entrance to the village, near the intersection between road 446 and road 4460, and there were concentrated lot of gendarmes. A second focus was a bit to the south-west of the 4460 in an olive plantation adjacent to the village houses. The most marginal building - a poultry, is already within the olive plantation and around it were confrontations. The soldiers were on one side of the poultry and the demonstrators - about 15-30 young villagers on the other side.





I stood near the second focus of confrontation, about 30-40 meters from the stone throwers.
For a long while the state force used tear gas and rubber coated bullets. [which are much less lethal - I.S] At a certain moment, the noise of shooting changed into that of non automatic live ammunition (based on my experience). I approached to the stone throwing people to warn them that the state force started to use live ammunition.





At that moment, the demonstrators stood behind a high pile of stones adjacent to the poultry and about 4-5 soldiers who were about 20 meter from them, were walking freely to and fro behind a low field wall ("terasa").





It was clear from their behavior they did not perceive any danger to their life*. The shooting of live ammunition (not upward in the air) continued for few minutes.





Because of the danger, after warning few of the youth there of the danger I started to retreat backwards looking all the time towards the confrontation. After about 5 meters of retreat one of the demonstrators was hit in his leg. I run to him and was the second to reach him. We carried him about 15 meters backwards, towards a team of para-medics who were there. About 30 seconds or less passed and we heard shouts about another casualty. I run back but half way I saw four people carrying a limp body - a person that was shut in his back and seemed dead. Later I learned it was Arafat Khauagha.





I looked at the location where the people were shot and I have seen another one shot at and collapsing. The people around him carried him and cried that he was shot at his head. Later I learned that his name is Muhamad Khawaga.





The fire continued. The head of the injured was covered with blood that was flowing in a big stream. The people who were carrying him were covered with his blood.





I run towards Arafat Khawaga and replaced one of these who carried him. I held his left shoulder and his head so it will not be shaken. My hand that held his shoulder and back was covered with his blood. Then, one of the youth replaced me. There was no ambulance at that place at the moment and he was evacuated in a car of one of the villagers. The ambulance arrived a minute later and evacuated the other three injured ones to the Ramallah hospital.
I will stress again that the use of live ammunition was not of short duration and was not because of any distress of the soldiers that could have been interpreted as threatening their live[**]. The duration of that shooting was along few minutes in which the soldiers were behind a cover with out retreating. In addition, a short distance from them there was a much bigger force - tens of border guard gendarmes, that had not come "to save them" - proving that no danger was felt there.





In addition, Araphat Khawaga was shot at his back, meaning his back was towards the soldiers while he was shot at - hardly any threat to them at all.
** The spokesperson of the Israeli army declare each time the state forces murder a Palestinian that "they were just protecting themselves as there was a threat on their lives..."
http://awalls.org/http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com/

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-CANADA/ISRAEL/GAZA:

HAMILTON RALLY AGAINST ISRAELI ATTACK ON GAZA:

As the Israeli attack on Gaza continues, in the hope of terrorizing the population of that blighted swatch of territory to abandon their support of Hamas rallies continue to be held across the world to protest this 100 to one (by death tolls- most of them undoubtedly Gazan civilians) disproportionate use of force. Here's the report on one, held in the Ontario city of Hamilton last Saturday. From the Linchpin website via the Ontario Anarchist Forum....

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Hamilton Rally to Defend Gaza:

On about 48 hours notice, at least 120 rallied and marched in opposition to the siege and bombardment of Gaza in Hamilton today, letting fellow citizens hear their outrage through chants, leaflets and local media outlets. “Defend Gaza,” an ad-hoc committee formed to organize against the Gaza siege, called the event. Other organizers in Hamilton arranged for buses to take people to Toronto's rally.

As the Israeli military begins a ground invasion, it was reported from the bull horn at the demonstration that local activists have recently lost family members in Gaza to Israeli military bombs. Right now, to stand with those calling for an end to this imperialist brutality is the least we can do. In the future, if strategies like divestment from Israel, diplomatic pressure and disentanglement from US empire are to be seriously implemented, we have our own work to do here at home to achieve a political system capable of taking these actions.

The Hamilton branch of Common Cause spoke briefly at the rally and endorsed the event, along with the Arab Women's League, Hamilton Palestinian Association, McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice, Canadian Arab Federation & others. Defend Gaza and will continue leafleting Monday at McMaster University and Tuesday at King and James. On Wednesday evening there will be an open forum to discuss further action.

Defend Gaza can be reached at defendgaza@gmail.com for further information.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-ITALY/SOUTH AFRICA/PALESTINE:

ANARCHIST COMMUNIST STATEMENT ON THE ATTACK ON GAZA:

The following is a public statement by the Italian Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici and the South African Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, via the Anarkismo website. It will undoubtedly be endorsed by other anarchist communist organizations in the next few days. It also undoubtedly expresses the views of most anarchists outside of the platformist organizations. What is valuable about this statement bis its clarity, its opposition to Israeli imperialism/colonialism without "taking sides" and pretending that something like Hamas is a legitimate vehicle of liberation. It also states plainly what the libertarian alternative is. Read on.

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The Gaza slaughter: Europe's hand is bloodied too:
International anarchist communist statement
We will continue to support the struggles and act of solidarity with the Palestinian people, supporting all those embryonic manifestations of self-determination that typify the struggles of whole villages in Palestine...

Hundreds of dead and thousands of injured, sacrificed on the altar of Zionist expansionism and fundamentalism. In Europe, the foreign ministers of every EU country talk about an "exaggerated", though "legitimate", reaction on the part of Israel, reversing the true situation with an operation that would make the most cynical illusionist feel proud by making the aggressor, the State of Israel, appear to be the victim.

They continue to pretend that they do not remember that Gaza - one of the most densely-populated regions with around one and a half million inhabitants, about half of whom are children - has been the object of a total embargo for years, an embargo which includes medicines and basic necessities and which is supported by the entire "civilized" western world, imposed by Israel and the West as a result of the Hamas election victory, thanks to the mixed electoral system of majority and proportional representation. Just as they pretend to forget that Hamas was once financed by Israel as a way of countering the PLO(Take this to heart and remember it-Molly)

Despite a 6-month truce, the embargo was not even slightly relaxed and not one of the Western powers even timidly suggested relaxing it. The State of Israel has returned to its strategy of military control over Gaza and the West Bank. All Europe's useless, hypocritical proclamations of a desire for peace systematically forget to mention that for 60 years Israel has been blithely violating countless UN resolutions and continues to occupy the territory militarily, with Israeli colonies spreading throughout Palestinian land day by day, building walls that segregate entire villages and prevent millions of refugees from returning to their land, uprooting olive groves and killing livestock, day after day humiliating anyone who tries to cross the segregation walls in order to go to work, to hospital or to school.

And not only that: they hide the fact that the truce was broken by the Israeli State on 4th November 2008 when its army killed a 22-year-old Hamas militant.

But aside from the false, hypocritical proclamations of pacifism, what is the reason for this unconditional support for such an aggressive, warmongering State by practically every major Western power?

As far as the USA is concerned, there is no doubt. Apart from the important strategic and territorial alliance that Israel represents for American imperialism in the Middle East, it also has to deal with the powerful US Jewish economic lobby, which is strong enough to bring about a strong influence on US foreign policy. And what is happening today comes across as a clear warning to the president-elect, Obama.

Europe has partially regained its unity on foreign policy and is probably playing the card of active diplomacy in order to strengthen its role in the Mediterranean and to warn the USA that it cannot act alone in the Mare Nostrum[1] area. But one must not forget arms sales, an area where States are always ready to hide the truth under the blanket of "State secrets" and support the orders of those companies who produce arms and support systems. And these businesses are never biased. They are quite happy to sell arms to opposing parties, as long as they can pay for them. Italy, for example, is one of the biggest arms suppliers to Iran and Lebanon, but has also supplied the Israeli army for years with arms technology through companies like Oto-Melara, Beretta, Borletti and Selenia. And the other countries in Europe do likewise.

Palestine is cynically used as an experimentation ground for deadly new technologies which are increasingly specialising in "urban warfare" and in which every arms company is interested: from US and Israeli companies to English, French, German, Italian, and so on.

So, in this tortured land where men, women and children, crushed by the wargames of the powerful, seem to have no future, new arms are tested, from cluster bombs to impoverished uranium bullets, the effectiveness of UAVs (pilotless aircraft) - able to launch remote controlled missiles - is studied, Achzarit tanks able to withstand landmines are experimented, Namer armoured vehicles with Continental Motors (US) or MTU (German) engines are tested, as is the efficacy of avant-garde systems such as Italian added protection and remote-controlled turrets mounted on Puma armoured vehicles, and Alenia's futuristic robotic war systems such as Sky-X, the first system in the world able to refuel pilotless aircraft in flight.

All this on the shoulders of a people who have always been used in clashes between States and others, cynically used even in the political clashes between the internal factions of one State, as in the case of Israeli political machinations connected with the electoral struggle both within the governing coalition between the hawkish Kadima, responsible for some of the most extreme acts - like the evacuation of the Strip proposed by the MK Yisrael Hasson - on the one hand and the Labour doves, in favour of a more measured approach, on the other, and between Kadima and the Likud super-hawks, increasingly moving towards ultra hardline positions.

We certainly do not expect the Arab and/or Islamic States to do anything, divided as they are or intent on strengthening their prestige and their influence in the area, even if it comes at the cost of the Palestinian people. Like the case of Iran, that uses the Palestinian tragedy to publicise itself as the only bulwark against the hated American imperialism and set itself up as the emerging power in the region.

But beyond all the international political conjecturing, the situation of the Palestinian population today seems bleak, with few prospects for reaching a solution that can give them a chance for a life with even a minimum of dignity, both from the point of view of social security and from that of guaranteeing respect of the minimum rights of survival.

Today perhaps the only guarantee that the Palestinian people may, as quickly as possible, find even a little respite and peace is that the marauders of all shapes and sizes - physically or ideologically thronging at their borders, or engaging in political speculation inside - reach a new, precarious balance.

The only real prospect for emancipation that we can glimpse in the near future is a growth and spread of the sort of self-organisation that many Palestinian villages practise, encouraged by the solidarity between Palestinian popular committees and initiatives such as Anarchists Against the Wall, involving internationalists from all over the world and anti-Zionist Israelis, who fight the arrogance of the Israeli settler colonists and the army that supports them using prevalently peaceful resistance. And it is not by chance that in these villages another road has been chosen and not the militarism of Hamas.

As class-struggle anarchists and libertarians we will continue to denounce Zionist settler colonialism as we denounce all forms of imperialism and fundamentalism that oppress the liberty and dignity of every people. We will go on denouncing the fact that huge swathes of the world's proletariat suffer under the oppression and misery that results from inter-imperialist clashes and the cynical political games of powerful local oligarchs who are in turn used, knowingly or unknowingly, as pawns in the international chessboard of imperialist disputes, marked with the blood of the proletariat.

We will continue to support the struggles and act of solidarity with the Palestinian people, supporting all those embryonic manifestations of self-determination that typify the struggles of whole villages in Palestine, convinced that only if they can free themselves of the malicious influences of all State or para-State oligarchies can the working men and women begin to hope for a more dignified life.
2 January 2009
Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (Italy)

Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (South Africa)

Note:1. Literally "our sea", used by the imperial Romans with reference to the Mediterranean. The suggestion is that the modern European powers want to control the Med as the Romans did 2,000 years ago.