This is a call for action on behalf of our friend, Dr Mazin B. Qumsiyeh
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- Written by AUPHR AUPHR
- Published: 08 March 2010 08 March 2010
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Mazin is a Palestinian American citizen who lived in the US for 29 years before returning to Palestine nearly two years ago. He received his higher education in the US and served as a faculty member in schools of medicine at the Universities of Tennessee, Duke and Yale. He has also written several books, the most recent of which is Hope and Empowerment: A History of Popular Resistance in Palestine.
While working in the US as an academic, clinician and researcher, Mazin gave hundreds of talks, participated in many vigils and protests, and spoke out for human rights, justice and equality in Israel/Palestine. Moving to Palestine, he continued the same activities (though under the more difficult conditions of military occupation) while teaching at two universities (Bethlehem and Birzeit) and helping to establish a masters program in biotechnology.
His home town, Beit Sahour (the Sheperds Field) is in the district of Bethelhem and is well known for its history of nonviolent resistance. The 70% Christian and 30% Muslim town has a highly educated middle class (over 300 PhD holders in a population of 12,000) and very limited resources.
The Bethlehem district is surrounded by Israeli settlements and military installations on three sides. The 130,000 Bethlehem residents now have access to only 20% of the original land of the district. And more than half those residents are refugees (from 1948) or displaced people (from post-1967 settlement activities).
Now the settlers, protected by the Israeli military, want to build a settlement in the only remaining area of Bethlehem (to the east) and the people of Beit Sahour are increasing their nonviolent resistance. Their first prayer vigil was attacked while the Lutheran priest was leading them in prayer (see video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4he1vayLrfo).
Being a member of the committee that organized that vigil and another peaceful event a week later, Mazin was targeted. An Israeli officer warned him not to participate and threatened him saying he knew Mazin was leaving to the US for a lecture tour.
On March 2nd, the day after Mazin left for the US, the Israeli military invaded his neighborhood at 1:30 AM and demanded to see him, terrorizing his mother, sister and wife. They told the military he was already out of the country but would be happy to go talk to them when he returned, if need be. But the military left a paper that demanding he appear at their offices on Monday, March 8th.
His travel plans and commitments are such that it is impossible to change this schedule and return earlier than March 11. He fears he will be arrested on trumped up charges or held in “administrative detention” for up to 6 months without charge, especially since the crackdown on peaceful protests in Palestine has recently escalated.
Israeli Embassy in US:
Ambassador Michael Oren
Embassy of Israel
3514 International Drive, NW, Washington DC 20008
Telephone:
(202) 364-5500 Fax:
(202) 364-5423
E-mail:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Consulate General of Israel
to the Pacific Northwest
456 Montgomery St, Suite 2100
San Francisco, CA 94104
Telephone: 415-844-7500 Fax: 415-844-7555
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
· U.S. Department of State
2201 C
Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
· Main Switchboard: 202-647-4000 / Comment Line: 202-647-6575 or 202-647-5291
US Embassy in Israel:
Ambassador James B. Cunningham
U.S. Embassy,
Israel
71 Hayarkon Street, Tel
Aviv
ISRAEL
Israeli minister of justice:
Min. of Justice Yaakov NEEMAN
Salah -a - Din 29
P.O.Box 49029
Jerusalem 91490
ISRAEL
‘Ajami’ passed over at Oscars, co-director says he "does not represent Israel" . . .
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- Written by JTA with Jpost section JTA with Jpost section
- Published: 08 March 2010 08 March 2010
- Hits: 3066 3066
"Ajami" was a joint production of two young Israeli filmmakers, Scandar Copti, a Christian Arab, and Yaron Shani, a Jew. It was Israel’s top drawer at the box office in the past year.
Just hours before the Oscars ceremony, Copti said he was not representing Israel.
“I am not the Israeli national team and I do not represent
Israel,”
Copti said in an interview on Israel's Channel 2. “It is an
extremely
technical thing, that’s how it works in the Oscars. It says ‘Israel’
because the funding comes from Israel. There’s a Palestinian director,
an Israeli director, Palestinian actors and Israeli actors. The film
technically represents Israel, but I don’t represent Israel.”
"The film 'Ajami' was produced and received an Oscar nomination thanks to funds from the State of Israel, which Scandar Copti now tries to renounce," Livnat said. "Without the state's support, Copti would not be walking on the red carpet tonight."
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat criticized Copti's remarks.
In the JPOST:
http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=170393
“Support for a film should not be granted unless the editors, producers, directors and actors sign a declaration of loyalty to the State of Israel, its symbols and its Jewish-democratic values,” he said.
‘Ajami’ passed over at Oscars
LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Israel's half-century jinx at the Oscars continued and three Jewish-themed films were passed over, but "The Jew Hunter" took home an award.
The Israeli entry “Ajami,” a gritty film about the Jewish-Arab tensions in the mixed quarter of Jaffa, lost out Sunday for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards to Argentina's entry, "The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)," directed by Juan José Campanell.
Three Jewish-themed films vying for the best picture nod -- "Inglourious Basterds," "A Serious Man" and "An Education" -- also missed out. And Quentin Tarantino lost in the directing category, despite high praise for "Inglourious Basterds," a brutal counterfactual fantasy in which a band of Jewish GIs scalps German soldiers and assassinate Nazi leaders.
"Inglourious Basterds" did win the first award of the night, with Christoph Waltz taking the Oscar for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter," the terrifyingly and hilariously meticulous German colonel charged with capturing the Jewish soldiers.
"Oscar and Penelope, that's an uber-Bingo," said Waltz in his acceptance speech, referencing the award being presented by the sultry actress Penelope Cruz and invoking one of the Austrian actor's classic lines in the movie.
Co-host Steve Martin also drew laughs with a Hans Landa joke during the night's opening segment: "[You] played a Nazi obsessed with finding Jews in 'Inglourious Basterds,' " Martin said, as he opened his arms to the crowd. "Well Christoph ... the mother lode."
It was the third consecutive Oscars in which an Israeli film nominated for best foreign language film left empty-handed -- the Lebanon war-themed films “Beaufort” and “Waltz with Bashir” were considered leading contenders before being passed over in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
"Ajami" was a joint production of two young Israeli filmmakers, Scandar Copti, a Christian Arab, and Yaron Shani, a Jew. It was Israel’s top drawer at the box office in the past year.
Just hours before the Oscars ceremony, Copti said he was not representing Israel.
“I am not the Israeli national team and I do not represent Israel,” Copti said in an interview on Israel's Channel 2. “It is an extremely technical thing, that’s how it works in the Oscars. It says ‘Israel’ because the funding comes from Israel. There’s a Palestinian director, an Israeli director, Palestinian actors and Israeli actors. The film technically represents Israel, but I don’t represent Israel.”
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat criticized Copti's remarks.
"The film 'Ajami' was produced and received an Oscar nomination thanks to funds from the State of Israel, which Scandar Copti now tries to renounce," Livnat said. "Without the state's support, Copti would not be walking on the red carpet tonight."
Israel approves more construction in West Bank settlement in celebration of Joe Biden's visit
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- Written by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
- Published: 08 March 2010 08 March 2010
- Hits: 3021 3021
[It is absolutely no accident that Israel announces new settlement expansion just as Vice President Biden visits Israel. This kind of behavior has been done by Israel again and again: if the US administration shows any signs of seriously moving the "peace process" forward which necessarily means that Israel must change its behavior, Israel sticks the US President's nose in his utter lack of power and inability to change Israel's behavior. This is the signal Israel gives this week, embarrassing (if, indeed, he can be embarrassed) Vice President Biden and the entire Obama administration by expanding these pernicious settlements when Biden travels to Israel.]
Approval to build 112 new flats in Beitar Illit comes despite Israeli government's partial curbs on settlement construction
Binyamin Netanyahu gives a televised press conference in Jerusalem
Binyamin Netanyahu had imposed a series of curbs on further settlement construction. Photograph: Sebastian Scheiner/AP
The Israeli defence ministry today authorised further construction in a Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank.
The decision came prior to the arrival in Israel of the US vice-president, Joe Biden, who is expected to announce a new round of indirect peace talks.
Approval for 112 new flats in Beitar Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement near Bethlehem, was given despite a 10-month partial curb on settlement construction announced by the Israeli government under heavy US pressure in November.
The decision to approve the building work appeared to be an attempt to appease members of Israel's rightwing coalition government. It was greeted with dismay by Palestinian officials.
Joe Biden and George Mitchell arrive to kick-start Israeli-Palestinian talks
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- Written by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
- Published: 07 March 2010 07 March 2010
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Indirect negotiations mark first return to "peace process" since Gaza war
George Mitchell meets Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem yesterday as he began a round of regional talks lasting four months. Photograph: Moshe Milner/EPA
The US vice-president, Joe Biden, is due in Israel tomorrow for an American diplomatic initiative to start indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The new round of so-called "proximity talks" could be announced as early as tomorrow, but there is scepticism on both sides about the chance of any agreement. George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, will shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders for four months hoping to find common ground. Although the talks are low-key, they mark the first return to a peace process since Israel's war in Gaza more than a year ago.
Read more: Joe Biden and George Mitchell arrive to kick-start Israeli-Palestinian talks
Taher Herzallah: Heckling Israeli ambassador at UCI was right
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- Written by Taher Herzallah Taher Herzallah
- Published: 06 March 2010 06 March 2010
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A third-year political science major at UC Riverside and originally from Gaza
Today, our American civil rights movement is praised worldwide for its humanism, righteousness, and courage. But, it was not always this way.
The same leaders we now hold in high esteem were once labeled as rabble-rousers for their principled and unpopular stands. It is no surprise then, that those who stand today against one of the greatest injustices of our time are similarly labeled. I am in a worldwide movement advocating for the indigenous Palestinian population and opposing the apartheid policies of Israel. The United Nations has condemned Israeli actions with more resolutions than any other nation.
I know the pain of Israel's brutal military tactics firsthand. Three members of my immediate family were killed in Gaza last year during "Operation Cast Lead," in which more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed and more than 5,300 wounded.
Since then, Israel has launched a massive propaganda campaign to transform its image from a war machine to a victimized democracy. Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, represents the face of this campaign. During his recent appearance at UC Irvine, I took a stand against Oren and the brutal state he represents. I spoke out well within the bounds of my right to free speech and in the peaceful, nonviolent manner adopted by the likes of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Since that day, I, along with the other protestors, have been dubbed by the media as the "Irvine 11."
Today, there are those who see my actions as beyond the exercise of free speech. They reason that regardless of the content of Oren's speech, it was unacceptable to interrupt him. Since he was an invited guest, he should have been granted respectful silence. I know and agree that not all speech is protected and acknowledge that the First Amendment can be restricted according to time, place, and manner. But UCI's, and now UC Riverside's, threats to suspend or even expel us for our actions are unfounded and inconsistent not only with the incident in question, but also with the long American history of protesting public and controversial figures.
Read more: Taher Herzallah: Heckling Israeli ambassador at UCI was right