Secretive Oregon AIPAC fundraiser attended by Oregon Politicians

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Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller

Published: 03 May 2012 03 May 2012

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About eighty protesters in Portland yet again protested the annual Oregon American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) gathering on April 29th. This year's event was marked by an even greater amount of paranoia and secrecy by AIPAC: the event was not widely announced, the keynote speakers were not promoted, the media was not invited, people who tried to attend were arbitrarily refused entry, and the guests were subjected to searches of purses and metal detectors after passing checks by police and AIPAC security.

AIPAC is one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the United States and promotes right-wing hard-line policies in support of Israel. Former Israeli Knesset member Avraham Burg described AIPAC as "a kind of a filter which filters only darkness through it, rather than light through it. And I would like to see the alternative American Jewry, which is expressed through the liberalism and humanism and civil rights and a total commitment toward peace, as the one which expresses me." AIPAC is currently promoting aggressive sanctions and support for military action against Iran.

According to one of the few websites promoting the event, the keynote speaker was Eli Groner, Israel's Minister for Economic Affairs to the U.S. Eli Groner gave up his U.S. Citizenship to work for his true love, Israel. He is a big supporter of the Bush's neo-con "war on terror" saying of Bush "here is a man who understands that the price of liberty is, indeed, eternal vigilance." Groner also lives in Gush Etzion, a block of illegal Israeli settlements that are built on Palestinian land. In short, the perfect poster child for AIPAC: An American born Israel loyalist, in favor of aggressive neo-con ideology, living on stolen Palestinian land.

We were encouraged by the many expressions of support we received from cars passing by. Even a city bus honked in support. The few that cursed us and gave the finger were usually coming into the event.

Many protesters commented that even fewer people and politicians seemed to be attending the AIPAC event. Unfortunately, because the media refuses to cover the event or do any investigative reporting, we will probably never know of all the politicians who attended, what speeches they gave, or what AIPAC was telling them.

We do know that Senator Ron Wyden attended and spoke to the crowd and so did Congresswoman Susan Bonamici. We know that Oregon Secretary State Kate Brown, a regular, also attended. We know that Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz attended and so did the Mayor of Beaverton Denny Doyle. We also know that many Oregonians would like to know who else attended and what Wyden and Bonamici said to the audience. Unfortunately, a veil of secrecy hides their remarks.

One visibly angry member of the AIPAC crowd tried to get police to take down our largest "tower of peace" sign which proclaimed "No War On Iran." He claimed the sign blocked traffic. The police informed him that they had looked at the sign and determined it wasn't a problem.
The annual AIPAC meeting is a direct expression of what is wrong with powerful special interest lobbies, how politicians fail to meet the real needs of their constituents, and how the media continues to fail to work for the public interest and inform the public on these politically important lobby events.

The protesters also noted the large number of luxury cars with people coming to fete AIPAC: pearlescent Buicks and dark bodied Lexuses. If ever one wanted to get a sense of the 1% working against the legitimate needs and moral compass of the 99%, this event gave it. Why do supposedly progressive politicians like Kate Brown insist on going to events showcasing right wing ideology? Perhaps that is why American politics keeps drifting right.

References:

Eli Groner, A statement of American values ,http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=243311

Facts on Gush Etzion
http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/gush-etzion

Amy Goodman interview with Avraham Burg, http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/12/former_speaker_of_the_israeli_parliament
Photo 3 The Tower of Peace

Justice requires action to stop subjugation of Palestinians

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Written by Desmond Tutu Desmond Tutu

Published: 02 May 2012 02 May 2012

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Justice requires action to stop subjugation of Palestinians

By Desmond Tutu, special to the Tampa Bay Times

Published Monday, April 30, 2012

A quarter-century ago I barnstormed around the United States encouraging Americans, particularly students, to press for divestment from South Africa. Today, regrettably, the time has come for similar action to force an end to Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territory and refusal to extend equal rights to Palestinian citizens who suffer from some 35 discriminatory laws.

I have reached this conclusion slowly and painfully. I am aware that many of our Jewish brothers and sisters who were so instrumental in the fight against South African apartheid are not yet ready to reckon with the apartheid nature of Israel and its current government. And I am enormously concerned that raising this issue will cause heartache to some in the Jewish community with whom I have worked closely and successfully for decades. But I cannot ignore the Palestinian suffering I have witnessed, nor the voices of those courageous Jews troubled by Israel's discriminatory course.

Within the past few days, some 1,200 American rabbis signed a letter — timed to coincide with resolutions considered by the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) — urging Christians not "to selectively divest from certain companies whose products are used by Israel." They argue that a "one-sided approach" on divestment resolutions, even the selective divestment from companies profiting from the occupation proposed by the Methodists and Presbyterians, "damages the relationship between Jews and Christians that has been nurtured for decades."

While they are no doubt well-meaning, I believe that the rabbis and other opponents of divestment are sadly misguided. My voice will always be raised in support of Christian-Jewish ties and against the anti-Semitism that all sensible people fear and detest. But this cannot be an excuse for doing nothing and for standing aside as successive Israeli governments colonize the West Bank and advance racist laws.

I recall well the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in which he confesses to his "Christian and Jewish brothers" that he has been "gravely disappointed with the white moderate … who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action;' who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom. ..."

King's words describe almost precisely the shortcomings of the 1,200 rabbis who are not joining the brave Palestinians, Jews and internationals in isolated West Bank communities to protest nonviolently against Israel's theft of Palestinian land to build illegal, Jewish-only settlements and the separation wall. We cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand as relentless settlement activity forecloses on the possibility of the two-state solution.

If we do not achieve two states in the near future, then the day will certainly arrive when Palestinians move away from seeking a separate state of their own and insist on the right to vote for the government that controls their lives, the Israeli government, in a single, democratic state. Israel finds this option unacceptable and yet is seemingly doing everything in its power to see that it happens.

Many black South Africans have traveled to the occupied West Bank and have been appalled by Israeli roads built for Jewish settlers that West Bank Palestinians are denied access to, and by Jewish-only colonies built on Palestinian land in violation of international law.

Black South Africans and others around the world have seen the 2010 Human Rights Watch report which "describes the two-tier system of laws, rules, and services that Israel operates for the two populations in areas in the West Bank under its exclusive control, which provide preferential services, development, and benefits for Jewish settlers while imposing harsh conditions on Palestinians." This, in my book, is apartheid. It is untenable. And we are in desperate need of more rabbis joining the brave rabbis of Jewish Voice for Peace in speaking forthrightly about the corrupting decades-long Israeli domination over Palestinians.

These are among the hardest words I have ever written. But they are vitally important. Not only is Israel harming Palestinians, but it is harming itself. The 1,200 rabbis may not like what I have to say, but it is long past time for them to remove the blinders from their eyes and grapple with the reality that Israel becoming an apartheid state or like South Africa in its denial of equal rights is not a future danger, as three former Israeli prime ministers — Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert and David Ben Gurion — have warned, but a present-day reality. This harsh reality endured by millions of Palestinians requires people and organizations of conscience to divest from those companies — in this instance, from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett Packard — profiting from the occupation and subjugation of Palestinians.

Such action made an enormous difference in apartheid South Africa. It can make an enormous difference in creating a future of justice and equality for Palestinians and Jews in the Holy Land.

Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, is archbishop-emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa.

Israeli military closes Gaza shelling investigation

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Written by BBC News BBC News

Published: 02 May 2012 02 May 2012

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B'Tselem says the lack of charges highlights the need for an independent Israeli investigation mechanism

The Israeli military has closed an investigation into the killing of 21 members of a Palestinian family during its offensive on Gaza in 2009.

Witnesses said Israeli troops had told the Samouni clan to stay in a house, out of their way, and later shelled it.

But the military advocate general found the claims of war crimes "groundless".

Israeli rights group B'Tselem said it was "unacceptable" no-one was found responsible for an action that led to the killing of "uninvolved civilians".

Israel says the three-week offensive was launched in response to repeated rocket attacks on Israeli territory. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, as well as 13 Israelis.

Bulldozed
On 4 January 2009, infantry soldiers from the Israeli army's Givati Brigade ordered about 100 members of the Samouni clan to gather inside one of their houses in the al-Zaytoun district of Gaza City.

The next morning, when a few members of the family tried to leave the house, the military fired a missile or shell at them, killing one person and wounding two others, according to B'Tselem.

"The way the army has exempted itself of responsibility for this event... is intolerable”

Yael Stein B'Tselem
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In pictures: Gaza's Samouni Street
A few seconds later, the military fired two more shells or missiles which hit the house directly, causing it to collapse on its occupants, the group said. Twenty further people died, including nine children and many women.

According to testimony given to the Haaretz newspaper by soldiers who were present, the Givati Brigade's commander called in missile strikes on the house after concluding from aerial photographs that armed combatants were inside.

Despite repeated requests by the Red Cross and other humanitarian and human rights groups, the army prevented the removal of the injured people from the house for two days.

After the wounded persons were finally evacuated on 7 January, troops demolished the house with the dead bodies inside, B'Tselem said. The bodies were only recovered from under the debris after the army withdrew from Gaza about two weeks later.

B'Tselem subsequently filed a complaint with the Israeli authorities about the incident, but on Monday evening it received a letter from the military advocate general's office saying its investigation had been closed.

'God will punish killers'
The attack on the civilians, "who did not take part in the fighting", was not done knowingly and directly, or out of haste and negligence "in a manner that would indicate criminal responsibility", the letter said.

A military statement issued at the same time did, however, say it was making changes to "ensure that such events will not happen again".

B'Tselem said the letter did not detail the findings of the investigation or provide reasons behind the decision to close it.

"It is unacceptable that no one is found responsible for an action of the army that led to the killing of 21 uninvolved civilians, inside the building they entered under soldiers' orders, even if this was not done deliberately," said Yael Stein, B'Tselem's head of research.

"The way the army has exempted itself of responsibility for this event, even if only to acknowledge its severity and clarify its circumstances, is intolerable.

"Shirking the responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of other civilians and the immense damage caused by Operation Cast Lead demonstrates yet again the need for an Israeli investigation mechanism that is external to the army," Mr Stein added.

Salah Samouni, a survivor whose two-year-old daughter was among those killed, told the Associated Press: "We are talking about a crime against civilians.

"We know that God above will punish the killers. If they escaped trial, they can't escape God's punishment," she added.

B'Tselem said only three indictments had so far been filed against Israeli soldiers who took part in the Gaza offensive - for theft of a credit card from a civilian, for use of a nine-year-old child as a human shield, and for "manslaughter of an anonymous person".

Major olive producing village ordered to uproot 1,400 olive trees by May 1

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Written by Allison Deger Allison Deger

Published: 29 April 2012 29 April 2012

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Villagers relaxing in Deir Istiya, 2009. (Photo: Genevieve Long)

Earlier this week, Israel ordered Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya, a major West Bank olive producing village, to uproot 1,400 trees by the end of this month. By comparison, this order is 400 more trees than the total number uprooted in all of 2011.

"This is the largest order for uprooting trees that the farmers of Wadi Qana have ever been given," said the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS). And Amal Salem, 63, from Deir Istiya, but now living in St. Louis says unearthing olive trees effects everyone in the village, "When I visited last year, every house I went to has had uprooted trees."

Amal's family has farmed olive for five generations.  It was their livelihood, and afforded her to attend school in Cairo. "I went to school because of the olive trees. I went to school because in Cairo because of the trees. My father had no other income but the olive trees." In Amal's family, Israeli authorities uprooted 300 trees of her 83-year old uncle's land. Amal described them as ancient growth, "1,000 years old," stemming from the Roman period. The day the bulldozers arrived, her cousins protested, clinging to the trees, although they were uprooted regardless. But within a day or two, her family proudly re-planted what was unearthed. Yet Amal's uncle has night terrors from this incident, stirring over the sight of seeing his child nearly smashed by a bulldozer.

Since the Mamluk period, Deir Istiya has been one of the largest olive producing regions in the West Bank. But, even with 10,000 dunums of agricultural land, the village's full farming capacity is weakened by Israel's military and civilian occupation. Nearby, eight settlements are built on, or adjacent to, a total of 15,000 dunums of Palestinian land. "From my parents' house we can see were they built a settlement on our land," says Amal. And from the outposts, wastewater seeps into and is illegally dumped into a natural spring used by Palestinians producing olives.  Amal says the wastewater flows down from the settlements like a river, "but it isn't a river." At times, the wastewater overflows from the dumping site to onto Palestinian orchards. Last fall, over 100 trees in Deir Istiya were destroyed by flooded wastewater.

Additionally, the settlers themselves cause problems to Deir Istiya's farmers through acts of harassment and violence, including arson to agricultural lands and "price tag" attacks. Amal has seen them holding guns a schoolchildren and earlier this year, settlers desecrated a mosque during a wave of price tag actions sparked by the demolition of an illegal Israeli outpost.  And devastatingly, Amal says a few years ago a settler ran over one villager with a car.

Today IWPS held an action in support of the farmers and released the following statement:

On April 25, 2012 nine farmers of Deir Istiya, Salfit were given orders to uproot 1400 olive trees in the Wadi Qana agricultural area by May 1, 2012. This is the largest order for uprooting trees that the farmers of Wadi Qana have ever been given. Most of the trees were planted approximately 5 years ago on privately owned Palestinian property. The orders, placed on retaining terraces, rocks and fences in the vicinity of the trees, state that if the farmers do not uproot their trees they will face punishment which could, according to Deir Istiya mayor Nazmi Salman include large fines and imprisonment.