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From Bil'in to Birmingham: A Missing Link in Support for Palestinian Human Rights

Details: Written by DAVE HIMMELSTEIN DAVE HIMMELSTEIN; Published: 21 September 2006 21 September 2006; Hits: 6810 6810

While Bil'in has become emblematic of non-violent resistance, it is far from alone, as pointed out by Mohammed Khatib, secretary of the Bil'in village council and resistance committee member. During an interview in France last fall, he mentioned Budrus as another "notable" example of resistance, attributing Bil'in's visibility to operational originality and media coverage. Khatib sees the presence of supporters from abroad as natural and inherent in the situation: "It is the international community which created the state of Israel, and, through its tribunals, has also condemned the construction of the wall, settlement activity and the Occupation. Together we must make Israel comply with international law."

A mighty thread connects Birmingham with Bil'in. The organic outrage which was channeled into, and given form by, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, is the same passion that sustains the International Solidarity Movement, Ta'ayush, Gush Shalom, Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement, Holy Land Trust, and others.

Torture in Iraq 'worse than under Saddam'

Details: Written by Guardian Unlimited Guardian Unlimited; Published: 21 September 2006 21 September 2006; Hits: 6838 6838

Torture in Iraq is worse now than it was under the regime of Saddam Hussein and "is totally out of hand", according to a United Nations investigator.

"The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein," said Manfred Nowak, a UN special investigator on torture, at a press conference in Geneva.

He said government forces, private militia and terrorist groups were all involved.

Why Israel will never Truly let go of Gaza

Details: Written by Tanya Reinhart in The Independent Weekly (Adelaide, Australia) Tanya Reinhart in The Independent Weekly (Adelaide, Australia); Published: 21 September 2006 21 September 2006; Hits: 6706 6706

Whatever the fate of the captive soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army’s war in Gaza is not about him.

As senior security analyst Alex Fishman reported, the army was preparing for an attack months earlier and was constantly pushing for it, with the goal of destroying the Hamas infrastructure and its Government. The army initiated an escalation on June 8 when it assassinated Abu Samhadana, a senior appointee of the Hamas Government, and intensified its shelling of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Fishman reported recently that the army is worried that what threatens to bury this huge military and diplomatic effort is reports of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Hence, the army would take care to let some food into Gaza. From this perspective, it is necessary to feed the Palestinians in Gaza so that it would be possible to continue to kill them undisturbed.

Deadly harvest: The Lebanese fields sown with cluster bombs

Details: Written by Patrick Cockburn in Nabatiyeh Patrick Cockburn in Nabatiyeh; Published: 21 September 2006 21 September 2006; Hits: 6855 6855

[Jewish Peace News Commentary: Even saying that the fields are sown with cluster bombs is an understatement, since the bomblets are embedded in trees, are on roofs, are everywhere outdoors...And because they are small, it's hard to see them before it's too late. This is beyond enraging and horrifying. I can't conjure up any kind of rational thinking which would allow the meting out of such punishment on anyone. - RG]

The war in Lebanon has not ended. Every day, some of the million bomblets which were fired by Israeli artillery during the last three days of the conflict kill four people in southern Lebanon and wound many more.

The casualty figures will rise sharply in the next month as villagers begin the harvest, picking olives from trees whose leaves and branches hide bombs that explode at the smallest movement. Lebanon's farmers are caught in a deadly dilemma: to risk the harvest, or to leave the produce on which they depend to rot in the fields.

Worlds apart: Israeli Apartheid

Details: Written by Chris McGreal Chris McGreal; Published: 20 September 2006 20 September 2006; Hits: 6880 6880

Israelis have always been horrified at the idea of parallels between their country, a democracy risen from the ashes of genocide, and the racist system that ruled the old South Africa. Yet even within Israel itself, accusations persist that the web of controls affecting every aspect of Palestinian life bears a disturbing resemblance to apartheid. After four years reporting from Jerusalem and more than a decade from Johannesburg before that, the Guardian's award-winning Middle East correspondent Chris McGreal is exceptionally well placed to assess this explosive
comparison. Here we publish the first part of his two-day special report

Its backers question how anyone can accuse them, as Jews at the end of a long line of persecuted generations, of racism, or in any way of resembling the old Afrikaner regime. But for years, much of South Africa's Jewish population and successive Israeli governments made their own pact with apartheid - a deal that exchanged near silence by most South African Jews on a great moral issue for acceptance, and clandestine cooperation between Israel and the Afrikaner government that drew the two countries into a hidden embrace.

Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights

From Bil'in to Birmingham: A Missing Link in Support for Palestinian Human Rights

Torture in Iraq 'worse than under Saddam'

Why Israel will never Truly let go of Gaza

Deadly harvest: The Lebanese fields sown with cluster bombs

Worlds apart: Israeli Apartheid

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