Showing posts with label Mairead Maguire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mairead Maguire. Show all posts

Saturday, 13 September 2014

Mustafa Barghouti on Operation Protective Edge

by Stephen Lendman

Barghouti is special. He's important. He's multi-faceted. He's a man for all seasons. He's a physician, political activist, and human rights champion.

He supports nonviolent resistance. He's a Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) co-founder. He currently serves as secretary-general.

PNI aims to build Palestinian unity. It does so in struggling for self-determination. It does it by promoting democratic values.

Barghouti is a Palestinian Legislative Council/PLO member. He's a former presidential candidate. Israel rigged Abbas' 2005 election to deny him.

He was harassed while campaigning. He was intimidated. He was arrested. He was expelled from East Jerusalem.

He was excluded from Nablus and Gaza. He was prevented from  competing fairly against Israel's preferred choice.

Israel rigged things for Abbas. He lacked legitimacy from day one in office. He has none now.

Barghouti is genuine. He's polar opposite Abbas. He's a grassroots democracy advocate.

He's president of the Palestinian Medical Relief Committee. It provides health and community services for over one million Palestinians annually.

He heads the Health Department Information and Policy Institute. It's a Ramallah-based think tank. It specializes in policy research and planing for the Palestinian healthcare system.

He co-founded the Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People. He formerly served as Palestinian People's Party general-secretary.

He's an Oxford Research Group associate. It's dedicated to developing effective methods for positive change on security issues through non-violent means.

Barghouti is well-known. He enjoys worldwide respect. Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mairead Maguire nominated him for the 2010 award.

She was "inspired by the life and work of Dr. Barghouti whose commitment to nonviolence, in his personal and public life, is truly in the Ghandian spirit."

Honoring Barghouti "would be a recognition of not only his great spirit of peace and nonviolence, but also the Palestinian Nonviolent Movement, which gives us all hope for the future of Palestine, Israel and the Middle East Community," she explained.

Britain's parliament passed a motion. It paid tribute to his nomination.

It cited his "invaluable role…in organizing and encouraging Palestinian civil society in the fundamental principles of non-violence."

It acknowledged "the tirelessness of his activities in the face of so many seemingly insurmountable obstacles that face all Palestinians living under Israeli occupation whether that be in the West Bank or imprisoned in Gaza."

In 2010, France awarded Barghouti its Legion of Honor (Legion d'Honneur). Napoleon established it in May 1802.
It was the first modern-day order of merit. It's France's highest honor. It's awarded for excellent civil or military service.

Throughout Operation Protective Edge (OPE), Barghouti debunked the official narrative.

He denounced Israeli high crimes. He separated myths from reality.
War didn't start in Gaza, he said. It began in the West Bank. It had nothing to do with Hamas rockets.  
Israel bears full responsibility. It does so for state-sponsored terrorism.

The dominant narrative called it self-defense. Justifiable Palestinian resistance is called terrorism.

During OPE, Israel rampaged throughout the territories. It did so multiple times daily.

It terrorized West Bank/East Jerusalem communities. It invaded over 3,000 homes.

It ransacked them. It destroyed many. It stole money and other personal possessions.

It used tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live fire against peaceful Palestinian demonstrators.
It arrested over 1,000 Palestinians. They included parliamentarians doing their jobs.

Nearly three dozens are lawlessly imprisoned. They languish in Israel's gulag. Conditions are brutal.
Torture is official Israeli policy. Horrific abuses are commonplace.

OPE was much more than war on Hamas. It was war on Palestine. It was collective punishment writ large.
Dozens of families were annihilated to the last man, woman and child.

"Entire neighborhoods…were completely eliminated within 24 hours," said Barghouti.

Eight hospitals were attacked. So were clinics, ambulances and healthcare workers. Palestinian journalists were murdered in cold blood.

Obama and other world leaders ignored Israeli aggression. They defended its right to mass murder and destroy.
"(N)ot a single word" supported Palestinians' right of self-defense, said Barghouti.

"The Palestinians are the ones whose land has been occupied for 47  years, who have been forced into displacement and refugee status since 1948, (and who suffer) from a system of apartheid, discrimination and segregation created by the Israeli occupation."

Yet nothing is said in their behalf. Reality is turned on its head.

Israeli suffering is considered unique. Extreme Palestinian misery is ignored.

They dehumanized. Their lives and well-being aren't important. They faced the world's fourth most powerful army.
They did so with light arms and ineffective rockets. Israeli began OPE. It did so lawlessly.

Palestinians were victimized. It wasn't the first time. It won't be the last.

Instigators are called victims. Real ones are called perpetrators and terrorists.

Civilians suffer most in all wars. Palestinians suffer under the longest occupation in modern memory.

Palestine's longstanding struggle affects Israel, said Barghouti. "Israelis will never be free as long as we are not free," he stresses.

What's been ongoing for decades must stop, he says. "(I)mpunity and reality must be exposed."

Enough is enough! No longer can longstanding injustice continue. Things must change. The official Israeli narrative must be challenged.

"Please see the reality," says Barghouti. "Look at the facts."

Truths must replace fiction. Peace, equity, and justice can't wait.

The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) champions Palestinian peace and stability. It deplores militarism, war and other forms of violence.

It calls human rights laws inviolable. It wants violators held accountable.

On September 9, Barghouti addressed PSC members. He did so in London. He discussed what he saw and experienced in Gaza.

"Thank you for everything you have done for Palestine and Gaza," he said.

"We have been watching the demonstrations. What you have done has given the people a great amount of moral support and I hope you can continue with this, because it is very important."


"(S)olidarity work" is vital, he stressed. "(W)e have a very, very big fight ahead of us."

No one can comprehend what happened without living it.

"No footage, no speech, no camera, no television can really show the reality that you can see with your own eyes," he said.
"Please go there if you can. It's so important for you to know the reality, and (vital) for (Gazans) to see you there."
"What happened is beyond description. Even describing it as an act of disproportionality is an insult to humanity. Describing it as an imbalance of power is also an insult."
"After slaughtering thousands of people and destroying thousands of homes and to speak about reconstruction and to immediately allow Israeli companies to make a profit from this is also an insult to humanity."
"What happened in Gaza, as has happened before in the West Bank is nothing but war crimes and crimes against humanity."
"What happened was nothing but massacres against the civilian population and Israel couldn't have done that without a feeling of impunity and without having impunity from international law, and this couldn't have happened if so many Western world leaders hadn't been complicit in what happened."

They support Israeli genocidal high crimes against peace. They ignore Palestinian suffering.

They do virtually nothing to relieve it. They let business as usual continue. Status quo conditions remain.

After endless days of meaningless discussions, Barghouti expressed disgust with "diplomatic talk."

He showed pictures of what he saw. It exceeded some of the worst WW II devastated areas in some places, he said.

"This was not about one house being destroyed and the house next to it being destroyed," he explained.

"This was intentional bombardment by the Israeli army and navy and air force to destroy whole neighborhoods."
Shujaya was completely destroyed. "It was a town. It was was a city with 150,000 people…"
"Every house, every clinic, every mosque, every building was destroyed."
"Even a home for people with disabilities was destroyed. The destruction was beyond belief, and it is there for people who want to see."
"Huge buildings, of five, six, seven, eight storeys were completely destroyed."
"I have never seen even in films such a level of devastation. I saw one bomb which caused a half a square kilometer hole in the ground."

The toll throughout Gaza was horrific, said Barghouti. It was devastating. It's catastrophic. It includes:
"18,000 homes and buildings destroyed completely, 41,000 houses partially damaged, 145 schools, eight hospitals, 13 health centers damaged."
"180 mosques damaged, 71 destroyed completely. Even cemeteries were bombarded, 10 bombarded, nine Muslim cemeteries, one Christian cemetery."
"They bombarded the graves." The bones of the dead became visible. "The amount of explosives they used was beyond description."
Tens of thousands of Gazans lost virtually everything. Their homes, belongings, money, papers, photos, passports, and memories unable to "be brought back even if there is reconstruction."
"That is what (Israel) did to people." It "insult(ed) humanity." It mass  murdered Palestinians in cold blood.
Nearly half million Gazans lost their homes and personal possessions. Their loved ones are lost forever. Many still live in shelters. "In huge numbers."
"I almost cried when I was asked to see a girl in one of these shelters."
"She has cancer which has taken away her sight and she was half paralyzed. Her mother was with her also."
"She had to be inside the room with 50 other people. Very hot, very humid, no showers, no clean water."
That's what happened to these people when they went into these shelters."
"We found evidence of scabies, and gastroenteritis and hepatitis."
"Some people decided to live in the rubble rather than in the shelters, because it was so humiliating to live without any privacy."
"Sometimes they still find people who are dead under the destruction."
"Towers, high rises, they were all destroyed. Huge devastation."
"This building hosted 80 families. In two minutes, it was destroyed."
"There was a man, 82 years old, who told me he spent all his life building a house and a family."
"He had a house with four storys and 28 sons and daughters and grandchildren."
"He went to pray during Ramadan, one evening. He came back. The house was completely destroyed, his wife was killed."
"All the 28 sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters were killed."
"91 families were completely annihilated. 91 families were scratched from the civil records in these attacks."
If Gaza's population matched America's, "you('d) (have had) 400,000 killed and 1,934,000 injured, almost two million."
"(H)ow can a country that claims to be…civilized…that has a very special relationship with the United Kingdom, that keeps speaking about the right to defend itself, ask them, how can they be allowed to" commit mass murder and destruction with impunity.
Shrapnel from its explosives cut everything. It's "all over the place."
"It includes very dangerous material. Tungsten and other material that is carcinogenic, and depleted uranium."
UN safe haven refugees were willfully attacked. Israel blamed Hamas for its own crimes.
It used prohibited weapons. They included "(d)ime bombs, tungsten, depleted uranium," white phosphorous that burns skin to the bone, flechettes and others.

Israel wanted maximum destruction, deaths and injuries. Civilians were willfully targeted. It's official Israeli policy.
IDF attacks "destroyed water networks, sewage systems," said Barghouti. "They destroyed the only electricity station in Gaza."
"And they created epidemics. Up until now, in the best case scenario, people in Gaza have electricity for only six hours a day."
"What would you do if you could not have showers every day because the water is so saline?"
"What would you do in a place where 90% of water sources are polluted and salinated, and not good for human use?"
"The devastation is unbelievable. They attacked 36 ambulances. They killed 22 first aid and health providers. They devastated eight hospitals."
"They killed 18 journalists and attacked seven UNWRA schools. They killed five people in Shifa hospital."
"Two disabled women were killed in a disabled centre. 450 factories were destroyed. Farms were destroyed."
"Today there is no meat in Gaza, because all the sheep were killed in the attacks."
"The soil is so covered in chemicals that it's not good for human use, for farming."
"Israel attacked Gaza in 2006, in 2008, in 2013 and in 2014. In 2014, there was one hundred times more destruction and more explosives than in all three previous wars."
"Why? Because they are testing the world. They are testing you. They are testing every single person in humanity to see how much you can tolerate."
"This is what the fascists did before. The fascists tested humanity to see how much it would resist and now it is time to resist Israel."

Fascism grips Israel. Democracy is pure fantasy. Palestinians have no rights.

Gazans face slow-motion genocide. An entire population is up for grabs. World leaders able to make a difference do nothing. They support Israel's killing machine.

Israel "tried to dehumanize us as Palestinians," said Barghouti. "First they tried to dehumanize Hamas, then all Palestinians. Netanyahu even has the guts to try and compare Hamas with ISIS."

It's totally unacceptable to let Israel claim self-defense. "This is not self-defense," said Barghouti. "This is offense."
"Israel shouldn't be allowed this level of impunity. Enough is enough. We have to take them to the International Criminal Court. The PLO must immediately sign the Rome Statute and take Israel to the ICC."

"(T)his inhumanity can't continue. There's only one way out." Boycott, divest, sanction, isolate and prosecute Israeli officials for high crimes against peace.

"(D)ismantle this occupation and this apartheid" once and for all. Afford Palestinians justice they've long been denied.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

posted by Steve Lendman @ 3:25 AM
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Wednesday, 29 May 2013

REPORT FROM SYRIA BY MAIREAD MAGUIRE

Posted on May 27, 2013 by


Report and Appeal to the International community to support a process of dialogue and reconciliation in Syria between its people and Syrian government and reject outside intervention and war.
By Mairead Maguire,
Nobel peace laureate.
Spokesperson for Mussalaha International
Peace delegation to Lebanon/Syria, May, 2013,

After a 10 days visit to Lebanon and Syria, leading a 16 person delegation from 8 countries, invited by Mussalaha Reconciliation Movement, I have returned hopeful that peace is possible in Syria, if all outside interference is stopped and the Syrians are allowed to solve their own problems upholding their right to self-determination.

An appeal to end all violence and for Syrians to be left alone from outside interference was made by all those we met during our visit to Syria. We have tried to forward it to the International community in our Concluding Declaration(l).

During our visit we went to refugee camps, affected communities, met religious leaders, combatants, government representatives, opposition delegations and many others, perpetrators and victims, in Lebanon and Syria.

1. Visits to refugee camps: In Lebanon we visited several refugee camps, hosted by Lebanese or Palestinian communities. One Woman said: “before this conflict started we were happy and had a good life (there is free education, free healthcare, subsidies for fuel, in Syria ,) and now we live in poverty”. Her daughter and son-in-law (a pharmacist and engineer) standing on a cement floor in a Palestinian refugee camp, with not even a mattress, told us that this violence had erupted to everyone surprise’s and spread so quickly they were all still in shock, but when well armed, foreign fighters came to Homs, they took over their homes, raped their women, and killed young males who refused to join their ranks, so the people fled in terror.They said that these foreign fighters were from many countries like Libyans, Saudis, Tunisians, Chechens, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Emiratis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Turkish, Europeans, Australian, and these gangs are financed and trained by foreign governments. They attach suicide vests around peoples’ bodies and threaten to explode them if they don’t do what they are told. One refugee woman asked me ‘when can we go home’? (To my great delighted a few days later in Damascus I met a woman working on a government programme which is helping refugees to return to Syria and over 200 have returned to date).
Religious and government leaders have called upon people not to flee Syria and it is to be hoped many will heed this call, as after seeing so many Syrian refugees living in tents and being exploited in so many ways, including sexually, I believe the best solution is the stability of Syria so its people feel safe enough to stay in Syria.If refugees continue to flee Syria then surrounding countries could be destabilized, causing the domino effect and destabilizing the entire Middle East.

Many people have fled into camps in surrounding countries like Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon, all of whom are trying to manage the huge influx of Syrian refugees. Although the host countries are doing their best to cope they are overwhelmed by refugee numbers. (UNHCR’s official figure of refugees is 1,5 millions).Through our meetings we have been informed that Turkey invites Syrian refugees into the country and forbid them to go back home. It is documented that Syrian refugees in Turkey and Jordan are mistreated. Some young Syrian refugee girls are sold for forced marriage in Jordan. From Ohchr reports we know that more than 4 million Syrians are displaced inside their own country, living in great need.

A representative from Red Cross, told us that there is freedom to do their work throughout Syria for all Ngo and the Syrian Red crescent in co-ordination with the Ministry of Social affairs and under such dire circumstances, they are doing their best, providing services to as many people as possible. However there is a great shortage of funds for them to cope with this humanitarian tragedy of refugees and internally displaced population. The economic sanctions, as in Iraq,are causing great hardship to many people and all those whom we met called for them to be lifted. Our delegation called for the lifting of these illegal US-led sanctions that target the Syrian Population for purely political reasons in order to achieve regime change.

2- Hospitals: We visited the hospitals and saw many people injured by shootings, bombings, and armed attacks. A moderate Sunni Imam told me how he was abducted by jihadists, who tortured him, cut off his ear, tried to cut his throat, slicing his legs, and left him for dead. He said when he goes back to his mosque they will slaughter him. He told us”these men are foreign fighters, jihadists from foreign countries, well armed, well trained, with money, they are in our country to destroy it. They are not true Muslims but are religious extremist/fundamentalists terrorizing, abducting, killing our people”. The government spokesman also confirmed that they have in detention captured foreign fighters from 29 countries, including Chechens, Iraqis, and many others.The Ministry of Health showed us a documentary on the terrible killings by Jihadists and the terror caused by theseforeigners with thekilling of medics and destruction of medical infrastructure of the Syrian State whichhas made it difficult to answer the needs of the population.

3- Meeting with Opposition: Our delegation participated in an open forum with many representatives of internal opposition’s parties. One political opponent who was in prison 24 years under the Assad (father) regime, and has been out for 11 years, wants political change with more than 20 other internal opposition components, but without outside interference and the use of violence. We met with ‘armed’ opposition people in a local community who said they had accepted the governments offer of amnesty and were working for a peaceful way forward. One man told me he had accepted money from Jihadists to fight but had been shocked by their cruelty and the way they treated fellow Syrian muslims considering them as not real Muslims. He said foreign Jihadists wanted to take over Syria, not save it.

The 10thMay a part of our delegation headed to Homs, invited by the opposition community of Al Waar city where displaced families from Baba Amro, Khalidiyeh and other rebel’s strongholds seek refuge. The Delegation saw all the conditions of this city and is studying a Pilot Project for Reconciliation and peaceful reintegration between this community and the surrounded non rebel communities (Shia and Alaouites) with whom 15 days ago an agreement of non belligerence has been signed through the auspices of Mussalaha.

4 – Meeting with Officials: Our Delegation met, and spoke, at the Parliament, and also with the Governor, Prime Minister and 7 other Ministries. We were given details of the new Constitution and political reforms being put in place, and plans for elections in 2014. Government Ministers admitted that they had made mistakes in being slow to respond to legitimate demands for change from civil community but these were now being implemented. They told us when the conflict started it was peaceful for change but quickly turned into bloodshed when armed men killed many soldiers.
In the first days soldiers were unarmed but when people started asking for protection the government and military responded to defend the people and in self defence.

When we enquired from the Prime Minister regarding the allegation that the Syrian Government had used Sarin gas, he told us that as soon as news came from Aleppo that allegedly gas had been used, his government invited immediately the UN to come into investigate, but heard nothing from them. Most recently however, a UN investigator, High Commissioner Carla Del Ponte, has confirmed that it was rebels, not Syrian government, who used Sarin gas. During meeting with Justice Minister, we requested that a list of 72 non-violent political dissidents currently detained be released. The justice Ministersaid after checking those listed were indeed non-violent political dissidents, he would, in principal, agree to the release of these nonviolent detainees. He also informed us thatthey do not implement the death penalty and it is hoped that when things settle in Syria they will move to have the death penalty abolished. We also asked the Justice Minister (an international lawyer) about Syrian Government’s Human rights abuses, namely the artillery shelling into no-go areas being held by jihadists and armed opposition. The Minister accepted those facts but alleged that the Government had a duty to clear these areas. We suggested there was a better way to deal with the problem than artillery shelling but he insisted that the government had responsibility to clear the areas of rebel forces and this was the way in which they were doing it

The Ministers and Governor said that President Assad was their President and has their support. There were many people we spoke to who expressed such sentiments. However, some young people said they support the opposition but in order to protect the Unity of Syria from outside destruction, they will support the government and President Assad, until the election next year and then they will vote for the opposition. They said the Doha Coalition in Qatar does not represent them and that no one outside Syria has a right to remove President Assad but the Syrian people through the elections next year. The journalists in Syria are in great danger from the religious extremist/fundamentals,and during my visit to a television station a young journalist told me how his mother was killed by jihadists and he showed me his arm where he had been shot and almost killed.

5- Meeting with religious leaders: We attended in the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus a prayer gathering led by the Grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr. Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun and the Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham with the delegate of Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X Yazigi, and clerics of all traditions. The Assembly prayed for the peace and unity of Syria and the non-interference of outsiders in their country. They stressed the conflict in Syria is not a religious conflict, as Muslims and Christians have always lived together in Syria, and they are,(in spite of living with suffering and violence much of which is not of their own making), unified in their wish to be a light of peace and reconciliation to the world. The Patriarch said that from the Mosque and Christian churches goes out a great movement of peace and reconciliation and asked both those inside and outside Syria, to reject all violence and support the people of Syria in this work of dialogue, reconciliation and peacemaking.

The Muslim and Christian Spiritual Leaders are very conscious if the religious extremist/fundamentalists gain momentum and control Syria, the future of those who are not supportive of fundamentalists like moderate Muslims, Christians, minorities, and other Syrians is in great danger. Indeed the Middle East could loose its precious pluralistic social fabric with the Christians, like in Iraq, being the first to flee the country. This would be a tragedy for all concerned in this multi-religious, multi-cultural secular Syria, once a light of peaceful conviviality in the Arab world.

AN OVERVIEW:

Following many authorized reports in the mainstream Medias and our own evidences I can stress that the Syrian State and its population are under a proxy war led by foreign countries and directly financed and backed mainly by Qatar who has imposed its views on the Arab League. Turkey, a part of the Lebanese opposition and some of the Jordan authorities offer a safe haven to a diversity of jihadist groups, each with its own agenda, recruited from many countries. Bands of jihadists armed and financed from foreign countries invade Syria through Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon porous frontiers in an effort to destabilize Syria. There are an estimated 50,000 foreign jihadist fighters terrorizing Syria.Those death squads are destroying systematically the Syrian State infrastructures (Electricity, Oil, Gas and water plants, High Tension Pylons, hospitals, schools, public buildings, cultural heritage sites and even religious sanctuaries). Moreover the country is submerged by snipers, bombers, agitators, bandits. They use aggression and Sharia rules and hijack the freedom and dignity of the Syrian population. They torture and kill those who refuse to join them. They have strange religious beliefs which make them feel comfortable even perpetrating the cruelest acts like killing and torture of their opponents. It is well documented that many of those terrorists are permanently under stimulant like Captagon. The general lack of security unlashes the terrible phenomenon of abduction for ransoms or for political pressure. Thousands of innocents are missing, among them the two Bishops, Youhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, many priests and Imams.
UN and EU economic sanctions as well as a severe embargo are pushing Syria to the edge of social collapse. Unfortunately the international media network is ignoring those realities and is bent on demonizing, lying, destabilizing the country and fueling more violence and contradiction.

In summary: the war in Syria is not as depicted a civil war but a proxy war with serious breaches of International laws and the Humanitarian International laws.. The protection of the foreign fighters by some foreign countries among the most powerful gives them a kind of an unaccountability that pushes them with impunity to all kind of cruel deeds against innocent civilians. Even war conventions are not respected incurring in many war crimes and, even, crimes against Humanity.
CONCLUSION:

During our visit to Syria, our delegation was met with great kindness by everyone and I offer to each one who facilitated or hosted our Delegation my most sincere feelings of gratitude. We witnessed that the Syrian people have suffered very deeply and continue to do so. The entire population of 23 million people are under tremendous threat of continued infiltration by foreign terrorists. Many are still stunned by the horrors and suddenness of all this violence and worried their country will be attacked and divided by outside forces, and are all too aware that geopolitical forces are at work to destabilize Syria for political control, oil and resources. One Druze leader said ‘if westerns want our Oil – both Lebanon and Syria have oil reserves – let us negotiate for it, but do not destroy our country to take it’. In Syria memories of next door Iraq’s destruction by US/UK/NATO forces are fresh in people’s minds, including in the minds of the one and a half million Iraqis who fled Iraqi’s conflict, including many Christians, and were given refuge in Syria by the Syrian Government.

The greatest hope we took was from Mussalaha, a non political movement from all sections of Syrian society, who have working teams throughout Syria and is proceeding through dialogue to building peace and reconciliation. Mussalaha mediates between armed gunmen and security forces, help get release of many people who have been abducted, and bring together all parties to the conflict for dialogue and practical solutions. It was this movement who hosted us, under the leadership of Mother Agnes-Mariam, Superior of Saint James’ Monastery, supported by the Patriarch Gregory III Laham, head of the Catholic Hierarchy of Syria.

This great civil community movement building a peace process and National Reconciliation from the ground up, will, if given space, time, and non-interference from outside, help bring Peace to Syria. They recognize that there must be an unconditional, all inclusive political solution, with compromises and they are confident this is happening at many levels of society and is the only way forward for Syrian peace.

I support this National Reconciliation process which, many Syrians believe, is the only way to bring Peace to SYRIA and the entire Middle East. I am myself committed to this peaceful process and hope that the International Community, the Religious and Political Leaders as well as any person of good will help Syria to bypass violence and prejudice and anchor in a new era of Social peace and prosperity. This cradle of civilizations where Syria occupies the heart is an enormous spiritual heritage for humanity, let us strive to establish a non war zone and proclaim it an OASIS of Peace for the Human Family.

MAIREAD MAGUIRE
Nobel peace laureate.
http://www.peacepeople.com
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Friday, 29 June 2012

All We Are Saying is NO More War and let it begin with Syria

by Eileen Fleming
Thursday, June 28th, 2012  

vanunu
Mairead and Mordechai Vanunu, in east Jerusalem
Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire knows that a peaceful and just society can be achieved only through nonviolent means and that the path to peace lies in each of our hearts.

(BELFAST / Florida) – On 25 June 2012, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire issued the call for ‘NO to War in Syria’ and for an all inclusive dialogue to solve the conflict.

Her history proves “that a peaceful and just society can be achieved only through nonviolent means and that the path to peace lies in each of our hearts.”

A Little History of Mairead Corrigan Maguire:

In 1976, in Belfast, thousands of ordinary people throughout Northern Ireland, led by mostly women, demonstrated for an end to the killings known as “The Troubles” which began in 1969. By 1998, over thirty-four hundred people were killed in the crossfire of a brutal war against British colonial interests, revolutionary republicanism, and a revolt against the age-old, oppressive bigotry and fanaticism of religious ideologies.

On August 10, 1976, Máiread Corrigan Maguire’s two nephews and one of her nieces, all little children, were killed on a Belfast street corner.
“A British army patrol shot and killed an IRA gunman, Danny Lennon, whose car then plowed into the sidewalk, killing the children, and severely injuring Mairead’s sister Anne, who died several years later. In a land soaked with blood, their deaths came as a severe shock. Suddenly, thousands of people began to say, “Enough is enough. The killing and violence have to stop.”
Máiread, Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, organized weekly peace marches and demonstrations were attended by over half a million people throughout Ireland and England.

Máiread understands “that a peaceful and just society can be achieved only through nonviolent means and that the path to peace lies in each of our hearts.”

Fueled by her faith, Maried, a lone voice of wisdom, compassion and common sense stood on the streets of Belfast and said “No — No to the IRA, No to the UDA and LVF (the Ulster Defence Association and the Loyalist Volunteer Force, unionist/ loyalist paramilitaries), No to the British government’s emergency laws and interrogation centers and human rights abuses, No to injustice, bigotry, discrimination, No to any desecration of human life and dignity.’

In Belfast during the 1980′s and early 90′s, Máiread’s vision of non-violence was dismissed, ridiculed, and ignored, while those who called for retaliatory vengeance and violence were applauded. From the start, Maried understood that her dream had to reach beyond the narrow boundaries of North Ireland to embrace a non-violent future for all humanity.

After a year of political negotiations, a breakthrough settlement was reached on Good Friday 1998, bringing Northern Ireland to an Easter dawn of peace.

Maried and Betty were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for what had once been unimaginable became reality and Maried continues to envision the unimaginable: justice and peace in Israel Palestine.

It was during my November 2008 trip to Israel Palestine when I met Mairead Maguire:

The Ongoing NAKBA and Vanunu
Read more…

Mairead Maguire’s 25 June 2012 statement:

People around the world are deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in Syria.

While we are being presented with some perspective of what is occurring on the ground to the people of Syria, the door seems closed to others.

We search for voices we can trust, voices which point to a peaceful, lasting solution to the conflict. We search for truth because it is truth which will set the Syrian people free.

Truth is difficult to find, so through the haze of conflicting narratives we must inevitably hear the voices and wisdom of men and women of peace in Syria.

Many may believe that there is a fight going on in Syria for ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’.

We can be seduced into thinking there is a magic wand or instant formula to mix that will create a democratic country, but there are none.

If it is a democracy a people want they must strive for it in their own way.

It is said the Greek idea of democracy was that people would be equally valued.

This is something every society has to strive for at every point in its history; it itself is a ‘revolutionary’ concept and a nonviolent revolutionary action.

Strive to value everyone equally. It is an idea, a motivation for a better world that doesn’t require blood; it requires the hard work of people and the nurturing of a community spirit; a constant growing of peace and it starts within each human heart.

Who are the voices of peace in regard to the crisis in Syria?

Many of them we cannot hear from where we are standing. They are the mothers and father and children who want to leave their homes to walk to market or to school without fear. They are the people, who have been working hard for Syria, for the idea of Syria as a secular and modern country.
There are some Syrian voices that have been heard consistently since the beginning of the crisis. Many of them are anonymous and they speak to us about injustices and atrocities. Numbers are given and fingers are pointed. The blame may be apportioned correctly or it may not.

Everything is happening too quickly; commentators and politicians are making decisions with haste and looking only in one corner for support for their certainty. But in the heat of the madness of violent ethnic/political conflict we must listen and ask questions and hear and speak with some uncertainty because it is certainty that can take a people and a country in a rush to war.

The face of the Mufti of Syria is hardly known in the western world, but if we have learned anything from past conflict, it is the importance of all inclusive dialogue.

He and many other Syrians who have peace in their hearts should be invited to sit with a council of elders from other countries, to tell of their stories and proposals for ways forward for the Syrian people.

The United Nations was not set up to provide an arena for the voices and games of the powerful; rather it should be a forum for such Syrian voices to be heard.

We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the Syrian people and find peaceful ways forward in order to stop this mad rush towards a war the mothers and fathers and children of Syria do not want and do not deserve.

We all know there are Imams, priests and nuns, fathers, mother, young people all over Syria crying out for peace and when the women in hijabs shout to the world after a bombing or a massacre in Syria ‘haram, haram’ let us hear and listen to them.

We are sure there are many heroes in Syria among them, Christian Patriarchs, Bishops, Priests, and religious.

A modern hero of peace, one whose name we do know and whose voice we have heard is Mother Agnes Mariam*.

 Mother Agnes Mariam
In her community her voice has been clear, pure and loud. And it should be so in the West. Like many people in Syria she has been placed in life threatening situations, but for the sake of peace she has chosen to risk her own existence for the safety and security of others. She has spoken out against the lack of truth in our media regarding Syria and about the terror and chaos which a ‘third force’ seems to be spreading across the country.

Her words confront and challenge us because they do not mirror the picture of events in Syria we have built up in our minds over many months of reading our newspapers and watching the news on our televisions.

Much of the terror has been imported, we learn from her.

She can tell us about the thousands of Christian refugees, forced to flee their homes by an imported Islamist extreme. But Mother Agnes Mariam’s concerns, irrespective of religion, are for all the victims of the terror and conflict, as ours must be.

In all our hearts we know War is not the answer for Syria (Nor for Iran).
Intervention in Syria would only make things worse.

I believe all sides are committing war crimes and the provision of arms will only results in further death. The US/UK/NATO and all foreign governments should stay out of Syria and keep their funding and troops out of Syria.

We should support those Syrians who work for peace in Syria and who seek a way of helping the 22 million or so people of Syria to resolve their own conflict without furthering the chaos or violence.

*Mother Agnes Miriam of the Cross is a greek-Catholic (Melkite) nun of Lebanese / Palestinian descent and has lived and worked in Syria for 18 years. She restored the ancient ruined monastery of St. James the Mutilated at Qara, in Homs province where she founded an order which serves the local and wider community. In 2010 the monastery welcomed 25,000 visitors both Syrian and international. http://www.maryakub.org/index_en.html

-Mairead Maguire

The Peace People, 224 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GE, Northern IrelandPhone: 0044 (0) 28 9066 346 Email: info@peacepeople.com

www.peacepeople.com
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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Israel Deports Peace Laureate


By Mel Frykberg

RAMALLAH, Oct 4, 2010 (IPS) - Irish Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire was deported from Israel Tuesday after spending more than a week in detention at Tel Aviv Airport as she attempted to fight the deportation order.

Last week four Israeli security men tried to force the Nobel Peace prize winner to board an airplane after she arrived in the country as part of the Nobel Womens' Initiative (NWI) delegation to Israel and Palestine.

Maguire put up fierce resistance and stated she would fight the deportation through an Israeli court. She was supported by the captain of the airplane on which she was to be deported after he witnessed the event and refused to allow any passengers to be forcefully boarded against their will.

Following an urgent appeal by her lawyer to an Israeli district court the deportation was temporarily halted. While the Petah Tikva district court ordered the Israeli authorities to return Maguire's personal effects to her, it upheld the deportation order.

Her lawyer then filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court, but this court too upheld the deportation while accusing the internationally renowned human rights campaigner of indulging in propaganda.

This was not Maguire's first experience with being deported from Israel. Four months earlier she was deported after the humanitarian flotilla from the Free Gaza movement was intercepted in international waters by Israeli navy commandos as it tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Nine activists were shot dead.

The Nobel Laureate, along with hundreds of other international activists, was forcibly taken to Israel's Ashdod Port from where they were subsequently deported, and warned they would not be able to enter Israel again for ten years.

This was her second participation in a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza. Maguire had also previously taken part in a non-violent protest against Israel's separation barrier in the village of Bili'in near Ramallah, making her a target of the Israeli authorities.

Maguire is not deterred. She has reiterated her determination to pursue peace wherever she sees children suffering following her experiences in her native Northern Ireland. Three of her nephews, all young boys, were killed during a targeted assassination carried out by British security forces. Their mother (Maguire's sister) committed suicide shortly afterwards.

Maguire's subsequent work in helping the peace process in Northern Ireland earned her a Nobel Peace Prize. In 2006 Maguire together with sister laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Betty Williams established NWI. The women decided to bring together their extraordinary experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality.

"We believe peace is much more than the absence of armed conflict. Peace is the commitment to equality and justice; a democratic world free of physical, economic, cultural, political, religious, sexual and environmental violence and the constant threat of these forms of violence against women -- indeed against all of humanity," read a statement released by NWI to journalists in Ramallah.

The NWI delegation visited Israel and Palestine to meet with Israeli and Palestinian women in an effort to further the cause of peace in this troubled region and to try and bridge the yawning chasm between the two communities.

IPS spoke with activist, author, performer, and NWI's executive director Jaclyn Friedman about her experiences and impressions during the tour.

"We decided it was important to continue with our work in the region despite Maguire's incarceration. We also believe as mothers and women we have a unique perspective on conflict and are concerned about the security of women here due to the political situation and cultural constraints," Friedman told IPS.

"One of our primary objectives was to see how we could support a coalition of Palestinian and Israeli women in an effort to improve their lives and strengthen non-violent protest. We met with a large group of Palestinian women in Ramallah who are working for change through social services and job training."

NWI also met with Israeli and Arab women at Isha La Isha Feminist centre in Haifa which is trying to change Israeli society by fighting for the emancipation of women.

One of the issues which concerns Friedman is the status of women in Gaza as honour killings and the marrying off of young Gazan girls to old men continues.

In the West Bank Friedman believes that institutionalised discrimination against Palestinian women can be helped by the Palestinian Authority (PA) being held more accountable.

"Holding municipal elections and implementing programmes to increase the participation of Palestinian women in governance would help build up a true democracy in Palestine," said Friedman.

She acknowledged being shocked at seeing the living conditions in the West Bank first-hand.

"As an American Jew, witnessing the impact of the occupation on the daily lives of Palestinians was tough. Conditions are far harsher than I had been led to believe.

"This is another area we can offer support by lobbying our governments and speaking out against the occupation through the American media. It is imperative that the international community hold Israel accountable for its actions and war crimes," Friedman told IPS.

However, the activist was also uplifted by witnessing Israeli and Palestinian women working together and managing to bridge the huge political and geographical divide between the two communities to a certain degree.

"Despite the militaristic culture here and the endless conflict, the ability of these women to work together has been inspirational and given me some hope for the region and for its future." (END)
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Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate resists deportation from Israel

Mairead Maguire has been barred from entering Israel as a result of her participation in the Rachel Corrie Gaza-bound aid ship in June.


Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire refused to board a U.K.-bound flight on Tuesday after being barred by security from entering Israel.

Maguire's entry was barred due to her participation in an attempt to violate Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip aboard the aid ship Rachel Corrie in June. The vessel was intercepted and boarded by the Israeli Navy and led to Ashdod harbor, with Maguire being deported from Israel, along with the ship's other passengers.

Prior to her deportation, Maguire signed a document stating she would refrain from entering Israel again.
Mairead Maguire standing alongside the aid ship MV Rachel Corrie, May 12, 2010.
Israeli authorities prevented the Irish Nobel laureate from entering the country upon her arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday, proceeding to escort Maguire to a U.K.-bound flight.

However, Maguire resisted her deportation, causing a scene and refusing to board the flight. The flight's captain then declared he would allow her to board the plane, finally bringing security Israeli authorities to decide that the Nobel laureate would remain in the country until the following day.

On Wednesday the British embassy is expected to send a delegate to escort Maguire to the United Kingdom.
Maguire won the 1976 peace prize for her work with Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

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