Take Action Now: Help send off the Canadian Boat to Gaza!

--- Français ci-dessous ---


Let’s Create a Wave of Support for the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Any day now, the Canadian Boat to Gaza, ‘The Tahrir’, will set sail.

The culmination of almost a year of organizing and fundraising from coast to coast, the Tahrir will be part of an international Freedom Flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to a population that suffers daily from the illegal Israeli blockade and occupation.

The international "Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human" will include 10 ships, two of which are cargo boats carrying aid such as medical supplies, while the rest are passenger ships will carry hundreds of people, among them, politicians, writers, religious faiths representatives, people of arts and culture and activists. All participants are united in the commitment to nonviolence and freedom for the people of Palestine. Many TV crews will be also on board (CNN, NBC, Al-Jazeera, CBC-Radio Canada and others) as well as journalists sent by various world media outlets, both mainstream and independent.

The flotilla movement has already made a profound impact, but Israel’s blockade of Gaza is still in place. The Israeli military has threatened to attack the boats, preventing them from reaching Gaza on their humanitarian mission. And, shamefully, the Conservative government in Canada has called this mission “provocative”, siding with Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza. What is truly provocative is the Conservative government under Harper, and their ongoing uncritical support for Israel’s illegal activities such as abuse of human rights and the occupation of Palestine.

Where governments fail, the people step forward. That’s why we are asking you for your help at this crucial moment for the Freedom Flotilla II and the Canadian Boat to Gaza. Your help will make a difference. With you we can make sure the world is watching. This will help protect the Flotilla and will continue to bring the world’s attention to the cause of human rights of Palestine.

We are calling out for two specific things:

1. Local Actions:As Tahrir and the other boats of the flotilla depart towards Gaza we are calling on you to join a local action or help organize a send off event in your city or community early next week (preferably Tuesday or Wednesday).

Actions are planned in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Victoria, Halifax, and many other Canadian cities. Follow the local activist lists for details.

2. Raise the profile of Tahrir and the flotilla:

During the voyage: help us keep the Flotilla in a high profile. You could do a gathering like a vigil or a rally, but there are other options as well:

- A banner drop or leafleting in a high traffic area.
- A ‘phone in’ or a ‘tweet in’, sending messages to Canadian politicians urging them to support the Freedom Flotilla and to defend the Canadian citizens taking part.
- Coordinated tweeting, Facebook posting and blog posting. Stay tuned to our Facebook page, our twitter feed and our website to get up to date information and material that you can share through your networks.
- A ‘flash mob’ or some other kind of creative action to draw attention to the flotilla.

There is another important way you can help as well: make a donation to help maximize our emergency response capacities once the flotilla is on the water. Visit http://www.tahrir.ca to make your contribution today.

The Canadian Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla thank you for your continued generosity and solidarity. Together, we will achieve of our goal of contributing to freedom for the people of Palestine and the end of the blockade of Gaza.

*For 24/7 updates on the progress of the Freedom Flotilla and the Tahrir, be sure to follow us at twitter.com/CanadaBoatGaza , on Facebook like the page and check our website http://www.tahrir.ca *Send us information about your event at info@tahrir.ca


www.tahrir.ca
www.freedomflotilla.ca

------Français------


Agissons maintenant :
aidons le Bateau canadien à voguer vers Gaza

Créons une vague de soutien à la Flottille de la Liberté II pour Gaza.

D’un jour à l’autre, le Bateau canadien pour Gaza, le « Tahrir », mettra le cap sur Gaza.

Point culminant de près d’un an de travail d’organisation et de collecte de fonds d’un océan à l’autre, le Tahrir fera partie d’une Flottille de la liberté II qui acheminera de l’aide humanitaire à une population qui souffre quotidiennement en raison du blocus et de l’occupation israélienne, toutes deux illégales au plan du droit international.

La « Flottille internationale de la Liberté : Restons humains» comprendra 10 bateaux dont deux sont des cargos qui transporteront de l’aide tels des médicaments alors que les autres sont des navires de passagers transportant des centaines de personnes, dont des politiciens, des écrivains, des représentants de différentes confessions religieuses, des travailleurs des arts et de la culture et des militants. Tous et toutes sont unis dans un même engagement pour la non violence et pour la libération du peuple palestinien Plusieurs équipes de télévision seront également à bord (CNN, NBC, CBC-Radio Canada, Al-Jazeera, etc.) de même que des journalistes provenant de médias du monde entier, officiels et indépendants.

Certes le mouvement de la flottille a déjà créé un impact important, mais le blocus de Gaza est toujours en place. Les militaires israéliens ont menacé d’attaquer les bateaux pour les empêcher d’atteindre Gaza dans le cadre de leur mission humanitaire. Et, de façon honteuse, le gouvernement conservateur canadien a qualifié cette mission de « provocation », prenant parti pour Israël et son blocus illégal de Gaza. La véritable provocation, c’est plutôt l’appui inconditionnel du gouvernement conservateur de M. Harper aux activités illégales d’Israël dont les violations des droits humains et l’occupation de la Palestine.

Là où les gouvernements manquent à leurs responsabilités, les citoyens et citoyennes prennent le relais. C’est pourquoi nous demandons vous aide à cette étape cruciale pour la Flottille de la Liberté II et pour le Bateau canadien pour Gaza. Votre aide fera la différence. Avec vous à nos côtés, c’est certain, nous pouvons faire en sorte que monde entier regarde. Ceci aidera à protéger la Flottille et continuera d’attirer l’attention du monde sur la cause des droits humains des Palestiniens et Palestiniennes.

Nous vous lancons un appel pour deux choses

1. Actions locales:

Alors que le Tahrir et les autres bateaux de la flottille partent pour Gaza, nous vous encourageons à participer à une action organisée localement ou à aider dans l'organisation d'une action locale marquant le départ du bateau (préférablement en début de semaine prochaine, disons mardi ou mercredi).

Des actions sont prévues à Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Victoria, Halifax, ... Pour les informations détaillées sur ces actions, consultez vos listes locales.

2. Assurer la visibilité du tahrir et de la flottille:

Durant le voyage vers Gaza: aidez-nous à maintenir un haut niveau de visibilité pour la flottille. Vous pourriez organiser une vigile ou un rassemblement, mais d’autres actions sont également possibles

- Le déroulement d’une banderole ou une distribution de tracts dans un site achalandé ;
- Une campagne d’appels téléphoniques ou d’envoi de messages twitter aux politiciens canadiens, les enjoignant d’appuyer la Flottille de la Liberté II et de défendre les citoyens canadiens qui y participent ;
- La coordination twitter/facebook/blogs. Restez branchés sur notre page facebook, notre twitter et notre site pour demeurer à jour sur l’information et la partager avec vos réseaux.
- Une mobilisation éclair (flash mob) ou toute autre action créative pour publiciser la Flottille.

Votre aide peut prendre une autre forme significative : faites un don pour aider à renforcer notre capacité de réponse aux situations urgentes une fois que la Flottille aura pris la mer. Visitez http://www.tahrir.ca pour faire votre contribution dès aujourd’hui.

Le Bateau canadien pour Gaza et la Flottille de la Liberté II vous remercient de votre appui constant et de votre solidarité. Ensemble, nous atteindrons notre objectif de contribuer à mettre fin au blocus de Gaza et à permettre au peuple palestinien de vivre en liberté.

* Pour des mises à jour continuelles sur les progrès de la Flottille de la Liberté II et du Tahrir, ne manquez pas de nous suivre sur twitter.com/CanadaBoatGaza et visitez notre site web, http://www.tahrir.ca

* Faites-nous parvenir les informations sur vos événements à info@tahrir.ca


www.tahrir.ca
www.freedomflotilla.ca


~ Sofia Smith

Another day, Another Appeal!

Originally posted by Punks Against Apartheid on June 24, 2011 at http://punksagainstapartheid.com/2011/06/another-day-another-appeal/

 

Hello punks! The July 2nd concert inches ever closer, so with each day we want to bring you one more personal appeal from a fan of Jello’s to drive home the diverse voices calling on him to cancel his show in solidarity with Palestine, against apartheid and occupation.

Today, we bring you a short account written by Sylvia Posadas, a writer and musician from Queensland, Australia. Follow the jump to read it in full! And, as always, if you would like to submit an appeal yourself, in video, audio, or any other form, please send us a line! After several decades, it seems my path and Jello’s are diverging – despite denials, he’s spinning off to Israel to wallpaper over the apartheid crimes of the regime with his life work. Yes, I’m taking this personally. I’ve revelled in his songs for their abrupt condemnation of imperialism, its accomplices and crimes since the early 80s. His music was part of a fabulous repertoire which punctuated the critical strikes and struggle to reclaim the right to march from the police state of Joh Bjelke Petersen in Queensland Uber Alles, and the anti- apartheid campaign to liberate South Africa. Our community radio station, the legendary 4ZZZ, suffused our lives with punk.

While not so popular at paid gigs outside the city, the success and appeal of political songs by the likes of Jello, Chris Bailey of The Saints, The Clash and other punk innovators helped to inspire me to keep writing and performing them whenever I could.

Now, Jello’s ambivalence to BDS, the principled non-violent tactic of resistance chosen by Palestinians, impacts me like losing a best friend who after a lifetime of feigning solidarity, reveals they always secretly despised your politics.

As a child, one of my first records was an album of a musical revue from apartheid South Africa called ‘Wait a Minim!’. The songs hedge about the cruel regime in veiled, satiric terms, because the government imprisoned its critics on the notorious Robben Island. Nelson Mandela along with countless others – musicians, playwrights, actors, activists and authors – were banished to that miserable hellhole for years. Many thousands of Palestinian political prisoners too are incarcerated in Israeli dungeons since they dare to exercise their legal right under international law to resist the illegal Israeli occupation. These are the people, including 217 children, whom Jello betrays most heinously by disrespecting the Palestinian BDS call. Awaiting their freedom are mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children and family who are prevented often by Israel from visiting them, sometimes for many years. And there’s more treachery.

Palestinian people are relegated by the Israeli regime to the sub-human status of ‘demographic threat’. Through the deliverance of their birthright by imperial schemers into the hands of northern european invaders who will not countenance their return though it is guaranteed by international law, refugees are locked outside their ancestral domains. Their kin who avoided slaughter or expulsion from 1947 onward and who remain with their descendants in the Occupied Territories endure segregation, checkpoints, lack of basic rights, brutal military incursions, bombardments, blockades, harassment, exploitation, home demolitions, water and land theft and more. They share the fate of being born ‘children of a lesser god’ with Palestinians residing over the apartheid wall in the usurped state itself, under the thrall of a contemptuous, expansionist regime masquerading as did white South Africa as a democracy, impelled by discriminatory majority rule. While the real Israeli left supports universal human rights and BDS, the faux left staggers under a fatal cognitive dissonance which cannot resolve the contradiction of equal rights for all with the Zionist compulsion for a racist ethnoreligious state.

I’ve gigged in very diverse places, from large civic venues to tiny dance halls way out west, played pub punk and rock, classical, gypsy, blues, soul, latin and cocktail jazz. Yet I can’t imagine playing a gig against the express wishes of Aboriginal people, to be used as a poster child to benefit the delusional racism of several past gerrymandered, authoritarian regimes and acolytes which held sway over and discriminated against Australian indigenous people by virtue of the white settler colonial majority. I have seen firsthand what covert and overt racism means in the name of ‘peace’ for people of colour.

At this time, the refrain of Palestinian people subsisting under the boot crescendoes and cries for justice – that song is the roots of the blues and so too, punk. International musicians can be a powerful force for change by respecting Palestinian civil society’s call for boycott. Then the Palestinian song demanding justice, freedom and equal rights for all can be heard loud and strong.


~ reposted by Sofia Smith

Alice Walker: Why I'm sailing to Gaza

Author: Alice Walker; Originally posted on CNN on June 21, 2011 at

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/21/alice.walker.gaza/

 

Editor's note: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker will join an international flotilla of boats sailing to Gaza to challenge Israel's blockade of the territory. Here, Walker, best known for her 1983 novel "The Color Purple," explains why she will be taking part.

Why am I going on the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza? I ask myself this, even though the answer is: What else would I do? I am in my sixty-seventh year, having lived already a long and fruitful life, one with which I am content.

It seems to me that during this period of eldering it is good to reap the harvest of one's understanding of what is important, and to share this, especially with the young. How are they to learn, otherwise?

Our boat, The Audacity of Hope, will be carrying letters to the people of Gaza. Letters expressing solidarity and love. That is all its cargo will consist of. If the Israeli military attacks us, it will be as if they attacked the mailman. This should go down hilariously in the annals of history. But if they insist on attacking us, wounding us, even murdering us, as they did some of the activists in the last flotilla, Freedom Flotilla I, what is to be done?

There is a scene in the movie "Gandhi" that is very moving to me: it is when the unarmed Indian protesters line up to confront the armed forces of the British Empire. The soldiers beat them unmercifully, but the Indians, their broken and dead lifted tenderly out of the fray, keep coming.

Our boat will be carrying letters to the people of Gaza.

--Alice Walker

Alongside this image of brave followers of Gandhi there is for me an awareness of paying off a debt to the Jewish civil rights activists who faced death to come to the side of black people in the South in our time of need. I am especially indebted to Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman who heard our calls for help - our government then as now glacially slow in providing protection to non-violent protestors-and came to stand with us.

They got as far as the truncheons and bullets of a few "good ol' boys'" of Neshoba County, Mississippi and were beaten and shot to death along with James Cheney, a young black man of formidable courage who died with them. So, even though our boat will be called The Audacity of Hope, it will fly the Goodman, Cheney, Schwerner flag in my own heart.

And what of the children of Palestine, who were ignored in our President's latest speech on Israel and Palestine, and whose impoverished, terrorized, segregated existence was mocked by the standing ovations recently given in the U.S. Congress to the prime minister of Israel?

I see children, all children, as humanity's most precious resource, because it will be to them that the care of the planet will always be left. One child must never be set above another, even in casual conversation, not to mention in speeches that circle the globe.

One child must never be set above another, even in casual conversation, not to mention in speeches that circle the globe.

--Alice Walker

As adults, we must affirm, constantly, that the Arab child, the Muslim child, the Palestinian child, the African child, the Jewish child, the Christian child, the American child, the Chinese child, the Israeli child, the Native American child, etc., is equal to all others on the planet. We must do everything in our power to cease the behavior that makes children everywhere feel afraid.

I once asked my best friend and husband during the era of segregation, who was as staunch a defender of black people's human rights as anyone I'd ever met: how did you find your way to us, to black people, who so needed you? What force shaped your response to the great injustice facing people of color of that time?
I thought he might say the speeches, the marches, the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. or of others in the Movement who exhibited impactful courage and grace. But no. Thinking back, he recounted an episode from his childhood that had led him, inevitably, to our struggle.

He was a little boy on his way home from Yeshiva, the Jewish school he attended after regular school let out. His mother, a bookkeeper, was still at work; he was alone. He was frequently harassed by older boys from regular school, and one day two of these boys snatched his yarmulke (skull cap), and, taunting him, ran off with it, eventually throwing it over a fence.

Two black boys appeared, saw his tears, assessed the situation, and took off after the boys who had taken his yarmulke. Chasing the boys down and catching them, they made them climb the fence, retrieve and dust off the yarmulke, and place it respectfully back on his head.

It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off and put - without delay, and with tenderness - back on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try.

That is why I sail.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alice Walker. A longer version of this article will appear on Alice Walker's blog.

~ reposted by Sofia Smith

Sailing to Gaza/Cap sur Gaza

Veuillez diffuser largement - Please forward widely

--- Français ci-dessous ---


Athens, June 23, 2011

The international "Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human" is ready to sail within the next few days to Gaza expressing its solidarity in action with the Palestinian people.

The international "Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human" will include 10 ships, two of which are cargo boats carrying aid, while the rest are passenger ships carrying hundreds of people, among them, politicians, MEPs, writers, religious faiths representatives, people of arts and culture and activists. Many TV crews will be also on board (CNN, NBC, CBC-RC, Al-Jazeera, et.al.) as well as journalists sent by various world media and newspapers.

Our peaceful Flotilla will sail amidst threats from the Israeli government, which is unashamed to boast that it will stop the mission at all costs, even with violence, trying to remind us of the terrible events of last year's Flotilla.

Our peaceful Flotilla will sail on despite lies, pressure and blackmail from the Israeli government to the international community and to other governments in order to prevent by any means, administrative or repressive, the ships from sailing. Thus the Israeli government is trying to shift the political responsibility and the political cost of its own inhumane policy of occupation of Palestine, to the governments of other countries.

Our governments bear great responsibility, since they are avoiding making Israel accountable to observe international law, as well as they are avoiding necessary actions in order to protect their own citizens, which are unarmed and who are participating in this peaceful, humanitarian action.

"Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human" is holding a Press Conference on Monday, June 27, 12PM at ESIEA Hall (20 Akadimias Str. Athens).
In this press conference, which will be the last before sailing, will also participate internationally known individuals that will board the ships.

Info:
Ehab Lotayef: 514.941.9792 lotayef@gmail.com
Wendy Goldsmith: 519.619.6766 wendygoldsmith21@gmail.com

http://www.tahrir.ca/http://www.freedomflotilla.ca/


------Français------

Athènes, le 23 juin 2011

La «Flottille de la Liberté II - Rester humain»" est prête pour prendre la mer. La flottille internationale mettra le cap sur Gaza d’ici quelques jours exprimant de manière concrète sa solidarité avec le peuple palestinien.

La «Flottille de la Liberté II - Rester humain»" sera composée de dix navires, dont deux sont des bateaux de cargaison transportant de l’aide humanitaire, tandis que les autres sont des bateaux transportant des passagers (une centaine en tout). Parmi les passagers : des politiciens, des membres du parlement européen, des écrivains, des clergymans, des artistes et des militants. Plusieurs reporters des grandes chaînes de télévision seront également à bord (CNN, NBC, Radio-Canada, Al-Jazeera, et.al.) ainsi que des journalistes écrivant dans divers grands quotidiens.

Notre flottille pacifique naviguera malgré les menaces du gouvernement israélien. En effet, ce dernier affirme sans scrupules qu’il aura recours à tous les moyens à sa disposition pour arrêter la mission, incluant la violence, faisant peser sur nous le souvenir du sort terrible qu’a connu la flottille de l’année dernière.

Notre flottille pacifique naviguera malgré les mensonges du gouvernement israélien à notre sujet; notre flottille pacifique naviguera malgré les pressions et le chantage exercés par le gouvernement israélien auprès de la communauté internationale et des différents gouvernements afin qu’ils exercent à leur tour des pressions administratives ou des mesures répressives visant à empêcher les navires de prendre la mer. Ainsi, le gouvernement israélien tente de faire porter par les gouvernements d’autres pays la responsabilité politique de l’occupation de la Palestine ainsi que les coûts politiques de ses politiques inhumaines.

Nos gouvernements se sont fort mal orientés, car ils évitent d’exiger qu’Israël se conforme au droit international. De plus, nos gouvernements évitent de poser les actions qui s’imposent pour protéger leurs propres citoyens, qui sont pourtant désarmés et qui participent à une action pacifique et humanitaire.Conférence de presse de la «Flottille de la Liberté II - Rester humain»" lundi le 27 juin à midi au hall ESIEA (20 rue Akadimias, Athènes)
Participeront à cette conférence de presse, qui sera la dernière avant prendre la mer, des personnes connues internationalement et qui seront à bord des navires.

Info:Lorraine Guay: 514.278.1167 lorraineguay@videotron.ca
Denis Kosseim: 514.923.5594 denis.tahrir@gmail.com

www.tahrir.cahttp://www.freedomflotilla.ca/
~ Sofia Smith

Media coverage of the Canadian Delegates / Couverture de presse entourant le départ de la délégation canadienne

As they departed from Montreal and Toronto the Canadian delegates got a lot of media attention in both French and English media.

Le départ des délégué-e-s de Montréal et de Toronto, a retenu l'attention de plusieurs média francophone et anglophone.


Radio-Canada:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/audio-video/pop.shtml#urlMedia=http://www.radio-canada.ca/Medianet/2011/CBF/DimancheMagazine201106191008_2.asx

Metro Toronto:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/local/article/894525--filmmaker-s-anxiety-inspires-flotilla-doc

Le Devoir:
http://www.ledevoir.com/international/actualites-internationales/325890/embarquement-pour-gaza

The Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1011462--toronto-residents-prepare-to-set-sail-for-gaza

Radio-Canada:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/International/2011/06/19/005-flotille-blocus-gaza.shtml

CTV:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110619/freedom-flotilla-boat-canadians-gaza-110619/

Other CBG / Autres sur le bateau:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/National/2011/06/17/002-flotille-gaza-canadiens.shtml
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/17/gaza-flotilla-canadians.html
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/canada/article/893211--canadians-on-gaza-trip-expect-help-from-feds



For more information on the Canadian boat to Gaza, please go to Tahrir.ca




~ Sofia Smith

The blockade *is* illegal no matter what Israel claims!

An expert legal opinion on International Maritime Law and the Gaza blockade

Ambassador Craig Murray is a former Alternate Head of the UK Delegation to the United Nations Preparatory Commission on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.  He was deputy head of the teams which negotiated the UK's maritime boundaries with France, Germany, Denmark (Faeroe Islands) and Ireland.
 

As Head of the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he was responsible for giving real time political and legal clearance to Royal Navy boarding operations in the Persian Gulf following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, in enforcement of the UN authorised blockade against Iraqi weapons shipments. 

Ambassador Craig Murray is therefore an internationally recognised authority on maritime jurisdiction and naval boarding issues.

His analysis of the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the right of the Gaza flotilla to sail.

"The legal position is plain.  A vessel outwith the territorial waters (12 mile limit) of a coastal state is on the high seas under the sole jurisdiction of the flag state of the vessel.  The ship has a positive right of  passage on the high seas.  The coastal state can regulate economic activity exploiting the resources of the seas and continental shelf up to 200 miles, the extent of the continental shelf, or the agreed boundary, but there is no indication of fishing, oil drilling or analagous economic activity in this case.  The vessel is entitled to free passage."

"This right of free passage is guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, to which the United States is a full party.  Any incident which takes place upon a US flagged ship on the High Seas is subject to United States legal jurisdiction.  A ship is entitled to look to its flag state for protection from attack on the High Seas."

"Israel has declared a blockade on Gaza and justified previous fatal attacks on neutral civilian vessels on the High Seas in terms of enforcing that embargo, under the legal cover given by the San Remo Manual of International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea."

"There are however fundamental flaws in this line of argument.    It falls completely on one fact alone.  San Remo only applies to blockade in times of armed conflict.  Israel is not currently engaged in an armed conflict, and presumably does not wish to be.  San Remo does not confer any right to impose a permanent blockade outwith times of armed conflict, and in fact specifically excludes as illegal a general blockade on an entire population."

"It should not be denied that Israel suffers from sporadic terrorist attacks emanating from Gaza.  However this does not come close  to reaching the bar of armed conflict that would trigger the right to impose a limited naval blockade in terms of San Remo.  To make a comparison, in the 1970's and 1980's the United Kingdom suffered continued terrorist attack from the Irish Republican Army, with much more murderous impact causing many more deaths than anything Israel has suffered in recent years from Gaza.  However nobody would seek to argue that the UK would have had the right to mount a general naval blockade of the Republic of Ireland in the 1970's and 1980's, even though the Republic was undoubtedly the base for much IRA supply and operations.  Justifications of Israeli naval action against neutral civilian ships by San Remo is based on special pleading and an impossibly strained definition of the term
"armed conflict". "

For more information Craig Murray can be reached at  craigmurray1710@btinternet.com

www.tahrir.ca

---Français---

Le blocus est illégal quoi qu'en dise Israel:

AVIS LÉGAL CONCERNANT LE DROIT MARITIME INTERNATIONAL

L'ambassadeur Craig Murray a été chef suppléant de la délégation britannique à la Commission préparatoire des Nations Unies sur la Convention des Nations Unies sur le droit de la mer. Il a également été directeur adjoint de l'équipe qui a négocié les frontières maritimes du Royaume-Uni avec la France, l'Allemagne, le Danemark (îles Féroé) et l'Irlande.

En tant que chef de la Section maritime du Foreign Office et du Commonwealth, il était responsable de fournir en temps réel les autorisations juridiques et les approbations politiques liées aux manœuvres d’accostage de la Royal Navy dans le Golfe Persique suite à l’invasion irakienne du Koweït, dans le cadre de la mise en application du blocus autorisé par l’ONU sur les cargaisons d'armes irakiennes.

L'ambassadeur Craig Murray est une autorité mondiale sur le droit maritime et sur les questions d'arraisonnement des navires.

Voici son analyse du blocus israélien de Gaza et du droit de la flottille de Gaza d'appareiller :

« Sur le plan légal, la situation est claire. Un navire qui se trouve hors des eaux territoriales (limite des 12 milles marins) d'un État côtier se trouve en ​​haute mer et sous la juridiction exclusive de l'État duquel il bat pavillon. Le navire dispose du droit de passage en haute mer. L'État côtier concerné peut réguler l'activité économique et exploiter les ressources de la mer et du plateau continental jusqu'à une distance 200 milles marins, jusqu'à la fin du plateau continental, ou à l'intérieur d’une frontière convenue. Mais dans le présent cas, il n’y a aucune indication de pêche, de forage ou d'autre activité économique. Le navire a donc le droit de libre passage ».

« Le droit de libre passage est garanti par la Convention des Nations Unies sur le droit de la mer dont les États-Unis sont signataires. Lorsqu'un incident survient en haute mer sur un navire battant pavillon des États-Unis, l’incident tombe sous la compétence des États-Unis. Un navire est autorisé à faire appel à la protection de l'État du pavillon du navire contre les attaques en haute mer ».
                                                             
« Israël a imposé un blocus sur Gaza et a justifié ses précédentes attaques meurtrières contre des navires civils neutres en haute mer en s’appuyant sur la couverture juridique du Manuel de San Remo sur le droit international applicable aux conflits armés en mer ».

« Mais l’argument est faussé à la base et il perd toute substance à la lumière d’un seul fait central: San Remo ne concerne que les blocus mis en application dans le cadre de conflits armés. Présentement, Israël n'est pas engagé dans un conflit armé et dit ne pas rechercher le conflit armé. San Remo ne confère aucunement le droit d'imposer un blocus permanent hors du cadre d'un conflit armé, et de fait, il exclut spécifiquement l'application qu'il considère comme illégale d'un blocus à une population entière ».

« Il ne s'agit pas de nier qu'Israël subit des attaques terroristes sporadiques émanant de la bande de Gaza. Mais cela est loin d'atteindre le niveau d'un conflit armé pouvant engendrer le droit d'imposer un blocus naval limité selon les critères de San Remo. À titre de comparaison, l'impact meurtrier des attaques de l’Armée républicaine irlandaise (IRA) sur le Royaume-Uni durant les années 1970 et 1980 a été bien plus lourd et a causé beaucoup plus de morts que toutes les pertes infligées par Gaza à Israël. Malgré cela, il ne viendrait à l'idée de personne de soutenir que le Royaume-Uni aurait eu dans les années 1970 et 1980 le droit d'imposer un blocus naval général contre la République d'Irlande, même s’il était évident qu'elle constituait la base opérationnelle et d'approvisionnement de l'IRA. Les arguments avancés par Israël pour légitimer ses actions maritimes contre des navires civils neutres en vertu de San Remo sont fondés sur un plaidoyer de justification et sur une définition restreinte à l’excès du terme « conflit armé ».

Pour de plus amples informations, veuillez contacter Craig Murray à craigmurray1710@btinternet.com.

www.tahrir.ca

Message from the Canadian Boat to Gaza

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Thanks to all of you, in a few short weeks, the Tahrir will be sailing with Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human.   Thirty delegates from across the country are preparing themselves for a difficult but necessary voyage and we are continuing to work with our international partners to organize and coordinate every aspect of the project.  We are also assembling a dedicated group of volunteers across the country who will remain in Canada, supporting the launch of the flotilla, tracking and communicating with the Tahrir once it sets sail and handling media and public actions regionally and nationally. 

Some of you (like us) may have heard via media reports that we are the subject of a lawsuit.  We wish to inform you that we have not been served notice and that our plans are and will be progressing normally and legally towards our goal of reaching Gaza.

To date, we have raised around $340,000 through generous donations made by you and others like you.  Despite recent media claims, we reaffirm that all money raised was donated by Canadian individuals and communities across the country, no government support and no tax benefits either.  This is the sign of a true civil society initiative that every contributor believes in, beyond any doubt.

The Canadian Boat To Gaza

---Français---(Veuillez diffuser largement)
Encore quelques semaines, continuez à appuyer le Bateau pour Gaza!

Chers ami-e-s,
 
Dans quelques semaines, et ce grâce à vous, le Tahrir va naviguer avec la Flottille de la liberté II – Rester humains. Une trentaine de délégué-e-s du Québec et du Canada se préparent actuellement pour un voyage difficile mais nécessaire. Nous continuons à travailler avec nos partenaires internationaux à l’organisation finale de tous les aspects du projet. Nous avons aussi mis sur pied une équipe de bénévoles qui resteront ici pour appuyer la flottille, notamment en maintenant la communication avec le Tahrir durant son voyage, en assurant les liens avec les médias et en coordonnant les actions publiques qui s’organiseront un peu partout au pays.
 
Vous avez peut-être entendu parler d’une poursuite légale pour empêcher le bateau de partir. Sachez que celle-ci ne nous arrêtera pas et que nous continuons à nous préparer afin d’atteindre notre objectif, Gaza, d’ici la fin juin.
 
Jusqu’à maintenant, nous avons recueilli environ 340 000$ en dons provenant de gens comme vous. Contrairement à des affirmations diffusées par certains medias, nous réaffirmons que tout cet argent a été donné par des citoyens et des citoyennes, des organisations communautaires et syndicales, sans appui gouvernemental ni exemption fiscale. Il s’agit donc d’une initiative citoyenne authentique à laquelle toutes ces personnes croient fermement.
 
En plus du bateau lui-même, qui absorbe la majeure partie des coûts, il y a plusieurs autres dépenses incontournables pour un projet d’une telle importance et d’une telle difficulté. Il nous faut notamment de l’équipement de communication qui doit être plus sophistiqué que prévu afin de répondre aux besoins des médias qui seront à bord et éviter les possibles interférences israéliennes. Nous devons aussi assumer des coûts pour le combustible, les réparations, l’équipement de sécurité, etc. Rappelons aussi que nous avons dû prendre un bateau plus gros que prévu afin de permettre à plus de personnes de participer à l’opération et d’envoyer plus d’aide humanitaire à Gaza.
 
Pour toutes ces raisons, nous avons besoin de 50 000$ supplémentaires pour assumer tous les coûts du projet. Nous vous prions donc de contribuer à nouveau au Bateau pour Gaza afin que le Tahrir et ses passagers puissent naviguer en toute sécurité et avec tout l’équipement nécessaire à un tel voyage.
 
Nous comptons sur votre appui dans cet ultime effort. La population de Gaza nous attend. Si vous n’avez pas encore contribué, nous vous prions de le faire maintenant. Si vous pouvez faire une contribution supplémentaire, n’hésitez pas. Et bien sûr, demandez à vos amis, votre famille et à vos collègues de contribuer. Les dons peuvent être effectués par le biais notre site Internet à www.tahrir.ca.
 Ensemble, nous allons y arriver! 
 
L’équipe du Bateau canadien pour Gaza      

Other than the boat, which is the major expense, there are many large costs associated with a project of this magnitude and sensitivity, such as communications equipment (which needed to be of much higher grade than originally planned to accommodate media needs and operate as efficiently as possible, in the face of Israeli interference), fuel, repairs, safety equipment, etc.  We would also like remind you that we bought a bigger boat than was originally planned, allowing more Canadians to participate and more humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza.

With this we still need another $50,000 to fulfill the project's needs.  We are asking you to continue contributing to the Canadian Boat to Gaza so the Tahrir and its passengers can sail with all the necessary equipment and security devices needed for this difficult trip.

We count on your backing in this final push towards our common goal.  The people of Gaza are waiting for us.  If you can dig into your pockets one more time, please do.  If you haven't yet, now is the time.  In any case, please ask your family, friends and co-workers to donate as well.  Donations can be made online at our website at www.tahrir.ca.  

Together we will make it.


~ reposted by Sofia Smith

The Keffiyeh

Originally pOSTED BY @earthtonadine on JUNE 10, 2011 at http://bit.ly/iCuPJF

Keffiyeh (كوفية) is a traditional headdress typically worn by Arab men made of square cloth, usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles.

The keffiyeh became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the 1936-1939 revolt against British colonialism. Jews of Palestine also wore the keffiyeh. Now what is it a symbol of?

Urban Outfitters recently stopped selling keffiyehs after a pro-Israel activist complained about it; the store issued a statement that “the company had not intended to imply any sympathy for or support of terrorists or terrorism.”

Caroline Glick, my favorite person on Earth (sarcasm), equates the Palestinian keffiyeh with the fascist wearing of brown shirts. I had to laugh out loud at that one. This is what the keffiyeh has come down to:

As a Palestinian, it is quite irritating to watch the keffiyeh turn into a symbol of “terrorism.” It is also quite irritating to watch the keffiyeh turn into a fashion statement when it means so much more. On twitter, I asked Palestinians and non-Palestinians “What does the keffiyeh represent in your eyes?”

@SoulFYA: To me, the keffiyeh is dignity. Humanity with its head up. The struggle on its feet and marching forward. It’s persistence in the face of defeat. Steadfastness and dedication to Palestine, this is what the keffiyeh means to me.

@JamilSbitan: Resistance and Palestinian identity.

@the_medstar: It’s a sense of identity, nostalgic and a reminder that we will never forget Palestine. Wear it with pride like Yasser Arafat did.

@adamhudson5: To me, the keffiyeh represents Palestinian nationalism and solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation.

@hamzah_1992: It stands for my solidarity with the Palestinian people, and for all those who are oppressed from all corners of the world.

@Zinvor: In the West, the keffiyeh has unfortunately turned into a hipster fashion statement.

@ToastAndBanana: Struggle against foreign occupiers, a symbol of independence in a way, definitley one of strength.

@MagnusREriksen: Dignity

@Hala_Ab: It’s part of your identity as a Palestinian.

@dream23fb: represents resistance against the Zionist project of erasing Palestine.

@YasirTineh: It’s my ID-card, It represents me as a Palestinian, The Struggle for Palestine, A culture that is rich in customs, Our Resistance and Our Love.

Leila Khaled, [in]famous Palestinian woman

Not Taking No For an Answer. Kevin Neish, The Mavi, and the Freedom Flotilla...Take II

Written by Miles Howe and originally posted by the Halifax Media Coop at http://bit.ly/kCI0WP


Neish on the Mavi, Holding a Passenger List from an IDF Commando's Backpack. Photo by culturesofresistance.com

It has been just over a year since Kevin Neish bore witness to the Israeli Defence Force-orchestrated massacre of nine activists aboard the Turkish ship MV Mavi Marmara, events that shocked the world, and brought an end to last year's Freedom Flotilla and its attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Since his return to Canada, Neish has indefatigably criss-crossed the seemingly endless expanses of this nation, speaking to thousands.

At each stop Neish has narrated the harrowing 30 minutes of Iara Lee's footage of the attack upon the Mavi. His decision to relive these moments through video, night after night, has been instrumental in raising funds so that Canada might sail it's own ship, christened the Tahrir, alongside the Mavi, in the quickly-approaching Freedom Flotilla II. The Tahrir's crew, myself included, would undoubtedly welcome Neish's leadership, and mechanical skills, aboard the vessel. But Neish has a prior engagement.

“When I was in Be'er Sheva prison in Israel,” says Neish, “after I was kidnapped by the Israelis...the fellow prisoners that were in there with me...they seemed impressed with the fact that a Canadian would travel halfway around the world to join them. They almost ordered me to join them on the Mavi Marmara, and I agreed, not knowing that there was going to be a Canadian ship.”

Last December, the Mavi returned on her own steam back to Turkey from Israel, where she had been held against Turkish demands since the massacre occurred. Neish was part of a crowd that numbered in the tens of thousands, on hand to welcome the Mavi back home.

The Mavi exists now in that rare-air where inanimate objects, otherwise emotionless, become focal points of remembrance and spirit. She is a mobile shrine to martyrs, and very much a link between the Turkish people, indeed the world's people, and the desire for an end to Palestinian oppression.

“They sailed her back into Istanbul.” says Neish. “Back into the Golden Horn of the Bosphorus. She was surrounded by I don't know how many ships. Everybody was blowing their horns. People were screaming on the gang-rails. There were thousands of people at this park where she pulled up...I don't know what support was like before, but now, it's just a blanket of support from Turkey. The people are 100% behind the Palestinian people.”

“They had 10,000-20,000 people a day, lined up to see that ship.” he continues. “There was this huge line, ten or fifteen people wide, running all the way down the street, just waiting to walk through the ship. People crying...many people crying...just walking through and stopping and crying. They had all the spots where the martyrs had fallen marked with descriptive banners, showing who they were and where they fell.”
For a week in Istanbul, Neish met up with other Mavi survivors. He mentions that he was constantly recognized on the street, treated to the hospitality that befits a returning, if unwitting, hero.

Back in Canada however, the reception has been mixed. According to Neish, the average Canadians he has met on his tours have been outwardly kind, understanding, and supportive of ending Palestinian oppression. Not so the Harper government, who apparently have no interest whatsoever in the crimes against humanity that occurred aboard the Mavi.

“The Harper government, I'm sure they'd have been just as happy if I was still stuck in prison.” says Neish. “No one from the government has approached me. No one's asked me a question. No one's come near me. The only official report I made was for the Turkish government. They asked me to make a report about Geneva Convention violations. I made a two page report for them, and they took my report and presented it to the UN. It's pretty embarrassing when they do it, but my own government doesn't even ask me what happened.”

There have also been threats against his life from less-than-reputable sections of Canadian society.
“The Zionists...one of them sent me a death threat.” says Neish. “He emailed me a death threat while I was still on the ship under attack by the Israelis. I saved that email and sent it to the media...My daughter has gotten some off-emails and some threats. Just low-lives...people lashing out.”

Lockstep Canadian media has also at times been less than kind to Neish, questioning his credibility, and his intentions. But after being besieged on the high seas by the IDF, the bluster of the 'yellow journalists' at the National Post, and elsewhere, must seem like the toothless mewling of so many paper tigers.

“It's good that they're angry.” says Neish. “I wouldn't want the mainstream, right-wing, press to be ignoring what we're doing. It's good that they have to respond...And to some degree, hopefully, it will give us something of a platform. Every time they write an editorial like that, you would think, if fair is fair, they would print a letter from one of us...as a response.”

As for John Baird and his recently-released warning to the crew of the Tahrir, Neish has some blunt words of advice.

“Just ignore John Baird.” says Neish. “What if Rosa Parks had listened to the John Bairds of her day, and had not sat in the front of the bus, where would we be today? What if the John Bairds of the day had had their way with the Freedom Riders going into Mississippi and Alabama?”

“Harper and his gang are a throwback to the race days of apartheid, and Jim Crow laws. They're going to order their citizens what to do...We're in a situation where we really have to count on people to act on their own instincts, on their own moral beliefs, and not try and follow the line of the main media, and the government.”

Kevin Neish, the Mavi Marmara, the Tahrir, me, and the international contingent of peaceful activists that make up the Freedom Flotilla II, sail for Gaza to break Israel's illegal blockade at the end of June.



~ reposted by Sofia Smith

Twitter Censor-Caged Occupied Palestine

Originally posted by occupiedpalestine at http://bit.ly/mIey8Q

On May 20, 2011
On this day we posted on this weblog the blogpost:  Twitter Death for Occupied Palestine.
Twitter suspended the account of occupiedpalestine. Also twitter unsuspended it again a few days later with the message that we had been tweeting “unrelated tweets” into a “trending topic”. This trending topic was the #MESpeech and discussing or posting #Palestine related news or resources is definitly not unrelated at all. But hence, twitter is to be added to the Free Speech killers as Facebook the new online checkpoint, for indiscriminately censoring specific tweeps or hashtags from use or trending or worse than that, allowing tweeps to tweet but exclude them from worldwide searches and thus trending.

The concept of twitter and it’s hashtags implicates, that when someone is interested in a specific topic, she or he goes after the hashtag, uses a monitor or looks for tweeps using those to follow. But excluded from this, no tweep can find a co-tweep to exchange knowledge, opinion or just conversate about it. Which is at least the destinated use of twitter to “social network”.

But as  all experienced (pro) Palestine bloggers/posters know, whenever we hit the topic PALESTINE we are deleted very quickly, restricted or removed. Especially on Facebook we even get errorpages which have literally the names: roadblock.php and checkpoint.php.  Speaking about #Sarcasm…

May 22, 2011 : Ynet Publishes a “Web War Declaration”YNet published an article to call all pro-zion Israelis to “webduty” (again) and announced a “Web War declaration” in which “recruits” are called to do their duty to influence people aka sustain the hasbara.

This also not new. Amir Gissin, Director Public Affairs (Hasbara) Department Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem posted on July 22 on the website of www.standwithus.com — an pro-Israel advocacy organization a previous call which was immediately reported by Electronic Intifada .  Head hasbara  issued in the same months a tool named Megaphone, to “weapon” online pro-israeli activists to save hasbara and sustain dying romatic myths about Israel  preventing them from a digital and even global awakening or even meltdown!

On the same day – because we are not to chicken to engage in an offer to a digital sparring-party, we launched an answer: The Digital Intifada 3.0, no live rounds like Israel uses to oppress or even literally silence to death people which protest the regime, but plain bytes of truth, with a load of resources, handbooks, howto’s and history. Hence, this whole blog is designed as an archive for we know, if we just post links, GIYUS and company will censor or complain themselves anywhere to get something removed from the web.

The latest example is the GIYUS efforts on Youtube on the song of Oneworld, even trying to shut up passionate Human Rights & Justice Lovers from singing, and within one day thousands of “dislikes” were pushed on the song and of course Facebook was the first to destroy the initiative by removing all links, blocking them as well on which we replied with this post:  Checkpoint “HaSefer Bli Paneem” (Book without Face) Can’t Stop “One World” From Singing for Palestine!

In the  cage…
Now it seems, #Palestine or Palestine loving mankind, again, is being harressed by restrictions, and the siege on Palestine is not only physical in the occupied territories but extended to Cyberspace as well, restricting the freedom of movement of bytes by excluding tweeps from being visible in searches.  We regard this a very lame act of censorship for the Internet is designed to exchange knowledge, data, communication and these kind of free speech killers oppose everything what the Internet stands for.

An Insult…
It is also a great insult to anyone seeking information, offering them a limited censored selection of tweets, posts or links, or block even a whole  topic from trending at all. We do not live in the ages of stone it’s 2011!

So we want to Announce…
We are waiting for quick removal of this restriction and new online otser ( curfew) on twitter. Because even if we have to go throw bottles in the sea with news, you can not stop us anyway. There is a movement going on of people, who ARE interested in the truth, in both sides, or just seeking all information and it is a severe violation of the right and freedom of speech to restrict people of (re)posting, links or articles which were  -by the way- already covered by mainstream media in the first place!

Request
We ask you to retweet and repost our links as much as possible.
This blog is covering all news about Palestine available over 24 hours a day and covering almost all news from reliable sources as well as posts live from the ground of Palestine in an effort for Justice and Humanright in Palestine, and as well as Palestine deserves Justice and truth, you deserve it also so we are putting huge efforts in maintaining the spreading of facts in hope the global awakening and the truth will win. Palestine is not waiting on a next remark “Wir haben es nicht gewusst…“

Join us, let the #DigitalIntifada go on and spread the news for the sake of Palestine, it’s people, it’s refugees, the martyrs and the children… which are our future.

THIS is what Zionism looks like: The Ethnic Cleansing of Negev - in pictures

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY OCCUPIEDPALESTINE AT HTTP://BIT.LY/IDRIDM

SPECIAL TOPIC

While the world is commemorating the victims and atrocities of WorldWar II, Israel celebrates it’s “Independance” and commemorates “HaShoah” (The Holocaust), the world is in silence as it is concerned to “Al Nakba” (The Catastrophe) which hunts Palestinians now for 63 years and ongoing… even today. But, for Palestinians no memorial for  Israel even made it  forbidden to commemorate the Nakba itself.  This Silence of the world on these atrocities itself and even ignorance about a specific  Israeli law about the so called  ” Nakba Law  ” encourages even more racism…

When not silenced in media, Israeli’s hasbara (propaganda) machine has endless and tireless reasons why it commits demoitions.

But it is quite simple, forget all details. For there are no legitimate reasons for these crimes it is about just 1 thing:  ethnic cleansing.  The zionist plan implicates ethnic cleansing of Palestine from the med to the River Jordan a “Greater Israel”, no exclusions.

While media covers now and then – but only in the mid-east or if you research well – the structural demolitions in the West-Bank, the devastation of bombings of Gaza, the ongoing demolitions of homes in the Negev, belonging to Bedouin remains on to the headlines… Al Araqib has been demolished for the 8th time, the 9th time, the 10th time, etc etc.

And again, the world is in ignorance and silence, while Israel is committing this ethnic cleansing now on daily basis on Palestinians, even in the desert.

Because pictures say more than a thousand words, below an impression of the violence, the devastation, the way “Israel” pushes it’s troops, soldiers, police, trucks, caterpillars, bulldozers, horses and materials into bedouin villages, how they destroy and demolish, violate and even wound people, and finally leave the homeless bedouin again… time after time again.

It is about time, these atrocities are stopped by the world, so share the word and the pictures.

More information:

• An extensive map of  destroyed and even vanished, leveled down to earth andEthnically Cleansed villages inside “Israel “can be found here.
• For a description of each village, for testimonies, videos, pictures and resources:Tracing all that remains since Nakba
• For more information and news updates about the structural ethnic cleansing by Israeli Occupation : Special Topic: Ethnic Cleansing
• For activism go to the website of  a group of concerned Arab and Jewish residents of the Negev : Dukium

Background of the Negev Bedouin

Before 1948, it is estimated that 65,000 to 90,000 Bedouins lived in the Negev area (Falah 1989).

The main source of livelihood for this semi-nomadic population was cattle, herds, rain-fed agriculture, and commerce (Yiftachel 2004; Meir 1997). During Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, 80 to 85 per cent of the Naqab Bedouins population became refugees. Like other indigenous peoples, the Naqab-Negev Bedouins underwent forced relocation – the 11,000 that remained inside Israel’s borders were moved in the 1950s and 60s from their ancestral lands into a restricted zone called the Siyag (closure), located in the northeastern Negev and known for its low agricultural fertility (Hamdan 2005; Yiftachel 2004).

This area constituted only 10 percent of the Bedouins land prior to 1948 (Abu Sa’ad 2004). Joining the six tribes already residing in this area were twelve additional tribes from various areas of the Negev. Because no permanent buildings (stone or concrete) were permitted by the authorities in the Siyag, most residents were forced to erect shacks and tents.
The Negev Bedouins, like the rest of the Arabs remaining within Israel’s borders, lived under military rule until 1966. During this time, Bedouin life was dramatically transformed: “From controllers of the desert region, they became fringe dwellers of a growing, modernizing Beer-Sheva city region” (Yiftachel 2004, p. 12). With less space for agriculture and grazing, their source of livelihood was disrupted. In addition, because of restrictions imposed by the military government, they were not permitted to compete with the Jewish labor market of the new Israeli State.

During these 18 years, the processes of dislocation, subsequent sedentarization and partial modernization worked to destroy the indigenous Bedouins culture and way of life. In fact, this was the Israeli policy:

“We should transform the Bedouins into an urban proletariat… Indeed, this will be a radical move which means that the Bedouin would not live on his land with his herds, but would become an urban person… His children would be accustomed to a father who wears trousers, does not carry a Shabaria [the traditional Bedouin knife] and does not search for vermin in public. This would be a revolution, but it may be fixed within two generations. Without coercion but with governmental direction… this phenomenon of the Bedouins will disappear”.

(Moshe Dayan, Ha’aretz interview, 31 July 1963).

Today, the Negev Bedouins number approximately 190,000 people. This population can be divided into two groups, based on their living arrangements. Approximately 50 per cent of the Bedouins population lives in a large numbers of unrecognized villages. These villages do not appear on Israeli maps or governmental planning documents, have no road signs indicating their existence, and are denied basic services and infrastructure, including paved roads, water, garbage collection, electricity, and schools and the people living there have no municipality so they cannot participate local election and therefore the government does not allocate part of the budget it allocates to every other citizen in Israel.

It is illegal to build permanent structures in these villages – those that do so risk heavy fines and home demolitions. A typical village consists of between 60 to 600 families – a population of between 500 and 5000 – living in tents and shacks (Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages Report 2003). Some of these villages existed before the establishment of the Israeli State, and others were created in accordance with Military Government’s orders in the 1950s and 60s. Many residents of these villages, who received permission from the State to live in certain areas during the 1950s, are now, more than 50 years later, receiving expulsion orders and seeing their homes demolished.
The other half of the Bedouin population is concentrated in eight government-planned townships set up since the 1960s in the Siyag area: Hura, Kseifa, Laquia, Arara, Rahat, Segev-Shalom and Tel-Sheva and the new township of Tarabin (southern ofRahat). While these townships were intended to create the conditions necessary to provide basic services to this population and are heavily subsidized, they were planned without giving any consideration to the traditional Bedouin way of life.

Consequently, the forced urbanization of this population has been disastrous: unemployment is high, and the Bedouins townships rank among the country’s ten poorest municipalities. In short, “the planned towns evolved quickly into pockets of deprivation, unemployment, dependency, crime and social tensions” (Yiftachel 2004). The Bedouins no longer had the space to raise crops and livestock to support themselves which caused further economic distress. Additionally, the Bedouin townships lack the infrastructure that similar Jewish settlements in the Negev have: except for the largest city, Rahat, these towns lack sources of employment, public transportation, banks, post offices, public libraries, and places of entertainment (Abu-Sa’ad 2004).

The Pictures