Help Requested! Lutheran World Federation's Augusta Victoria Hospital struggling in East Jerusalem

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Written by Peace Not Walls Peace Not Walls

Published: 13 August 2014 13 August 2014

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Help Requested! Lutheran World Federation's Augusta Victoria Hospital struggling in East Jerusalem

Call your representatives!

Dear Peace Not Walls Network,
 
I am writing regarding the cash crisis that Augusta Victoria Hospital is experiencing due to the lack of payments from the Palestinian Authority for the patients that the PA refers to AVH.  Augusta Victoria Hospital is struggling to continue to keep the AVH doors open in order to treat cancer patients from Gaza and the West Bank, and now also wounded from Gaza.  Your advocacy is needed!
 
USAID was very close in the spring to sending funding to the PA, earmarked for AVH and other East Jerusalem hospitals.  However, at the last minute, the funding was halted due to issues with the peace process and the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas. 
 
We got some relief on July 26th when we received 9.5 million Euro from the EU.  However, this only covered a portion of the PA's bills.  The PA still owes AVH/LWF over 20 million USD, and, since the PA continues to refer cancer patients and others to AVH, the amount owed by the PA to AVH is increasing by over 2 million USD each month.  This is not sustainable for AVH and the need for funding is urgent.
 

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Whole villages have been wiped off the map: my visit to Khuza'a

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Written by Dr. Mona El-Farra, MECA Director of Gaza Projects Dr. Mona El-Farra, MECA Director of Gaza Projects

Published: 13 August 2014 13 August 2014

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Donate for Gaza! Click Here!

Dear Friends,
 
I’m writing now from my home, but I still feel dizzy from shock and nauseated by the sights and smells on my visit to Khan Younis and Khuza’a.
 
Yesterday I decided to use the opportunity of the ceasefire to visit my family in Khan Younis. I especially wanted to see my sister who had open heart surgery before Israel’s assault. I hadn’t seen her for 36 days. I’m lucky that I have enough fuel in my car to drive 24 kilometers (15 miles) so I struck out towards the south.
 
I drove down Salaheddin Road and passed rubble from mosques, houses, and factories. Some buildings were destroyed completely and some partially. Later on in my drive, I saw dozens of big trees uprooted and smashed, fruit trees destroyed and farms and gardens decimated and ruined. The Israeli bombs were aimed to destroy the infrastructure, to destroy Gaza’s economy. Even the main cookie factory was targeted and destroyed.
 
I passed UN trucks distributing food to people in long lines. This siege and assault by the Israelis has made everyone in the Gaza Strip live as a refugee, missing basic needs and struggling to survive.
 
When I drove up to my family’s place in Khan Younis, it was a very emotional moment. We’ve lost many family members and, excuse me, my friends, I’m not going to talk about this meeting because every family in Gaza is going through the same thing.
 

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Judge Borman steps down from the case of Rasmea Odeh

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Written by Rasmea Defense Committee Rasmea Defense Committee

Published: 13 August 2014 13 August 2014

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PRESS STATEMENT: For Immediate Release | Rasmea Defense Committee

Press contact: Hatem Abudayyeh, 773.301.4108, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Judge Borman steps down from the case of Rasmea Odeh

Today, Judge Paul D. Borman removed himself from the case of Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh.  Earlier this month, the judge stridently denied a defense motion calling on him to step down.  The motion claimed that his life-long support for the state of Israel—whose arrest, torture, and conviction of Odeh for alleged Jerusalem bombings in 1969 is at issue in this case—would not allow for a fair trial.  Odeh has pleaded not guilty to the charge of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, and vehemently refutes the Israeli convictions, which were based on a forced confession after extended periods of vicious physical and sexual torture.  

Borman refused the motion, dismissing defense arguments about his decades of trips to and fundraising for Israel, claiming his “religious convictions” did not bring his impartiality into question.

According to supporters, Borman was falsely covering Zionist ideology with Judaism. “We opposed Judge Borman not because of his Jewish faith, but because of his decades of support for the state of Israel,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for Odeh’s defense committee.  “Rasmea overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s. She has committed no crime and the government has no case. We need a judge willing to listen to a defense that puts Israel on trial for its crimes against Rasmea, and against all Palestinians.”

In an unexpected turn of events, Borman admitted his financial ties to Israel “could be perceived as establishing a reasonably objective inference of a lack of impartiality in the context of the issues presented in this case.” Defense claims of pro-Israel bias are vindicated, and Borman has removed himself.  The case has been randomly re-assigned to U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain.

Supporters of Odeh hail this as a victory for the defense, but are re-doubling efforts to win justice for Rasmea.

Abudayyeh continued: “This case is a political attack on the Palestine liberation movement, and that means we need a political defense as much as a legal defense. Thousands of people from across the country are fighting for Rasmea, demanding that the government drop the charges against her. If they don’t, we are still going all out for Detroit, to fill the courtroom every day of the trial.”

A status hearing in front of Judge Drain is still planned for Tuesday, September 2nd, in Detroit, and the Rasmea Defense Committee is calling for supporters to pack the courthouse and call the prosecutors to demand that they drop the charges on that day.  The date of the actual trial will be rescheduled.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People's Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples' Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.

A Fact and Background Check on Benjamin Netanyahu: Master of Lies, King of Incitement

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Written by Gilbert Schramm Gilbert Schramm

Published: 12 August 2014 12 August 2014

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            As the direct fighting in Gaza slowly subsides, the struggle for peace and justice in Palestine will increasingly take place in the media. The argument over what caused this horrific episode and what it really means is the next battleground. Since the Israeli position depends almost solely on the statements made by the Israeli government, and since so many of Israel’s more obvious lies have come directly from Prime Minister Netanyahu himself, a background and fact check of this key player should be the order of the day.

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