PALESTINIANS’ WHITE KNIGHT BLOTS HIS ESCUTCHEON

Via MCS

- 19. Nov, 2010

At last, here was a British leader who believed in justice for the cruelly oppressed.

By Stuart Littlewood

“Nick Clegg: we got it wrong on Israel”, screamed the Jewish Chronicle headline, following the Deputy Prime Minister’s speech to the Lib Dem Friends of Israel on 11 November.

From champion of the vulnerable to betrayer in one bound! Nick Clegg, Britain’s new deputy prime minister, is surprisingly agile.

Betrayal started with Sheffield Forgemasters, a well-respected company in Clegg’s own constituency, who were promised a government loan to enable them to compete for large contracts in the nuclear industry. This was cancelled as soon as the new government was formed with Clegg as deputy prime minister.

He had no shame fouling his own doorstep.

Before the election Clegg’s party, the Liberal Democrats, pledged to scrap university tuition fees and free graduates from crippling debt, but he has abandoned this too instead of putting up a fight. Millions are disgusted.

Now the betrayal extends to the question of justice for the Palestinians and the arrest of war criminals.

So brave then…

Nick Clegg was, until recently, regarded by many in the struggle as one of the Palestinians’ “white knights”.

In January 2009, at the height of Israel’s murderous blitz on Gaza, he rode to the rescue and railed against the British government.

“Gordon Brown, like Tony Blair, has made British foreign policy effectively subservient to Washington,” he thundered. “Brown must stop sitting on his hands. He must condemn unambiguously Israel’s tactics…

“He must lead the EU into using its economic and diplomatic leverage… The EU is by far Israel’s biggest export market, and by far the biggest donor to the Palestinians. It must immediately suspend the proposed new cooperation agreement with Israel until things change in Gaza…”

Bravo, Clegg.

He added: “Brown must also halt Britain’s arms exports to Israel, and persuade our EU counterparts to do the same… I want an immediate suspension of all arms exports from the EU.”

Eleven months later there was no improvement and he wrote in the Guardian about the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza and how “the legacy of Operation Cast Lead is a living nightmare…”

What, he asked, had the British government and the international community done to lift the blockade? “Next to nothing… It is a scandal…”

At last, here was a British leader who believed in justice for the cruelly oppressed.
He again pricked the EU with his lance. “At the same time as exercising leverage over Hamas, it should make clear that the web of preferential agreements which now exists between the EU and Israel … will be brought into question if there is no rapid progress.”
He finished by asking: “What will be the state of Gaza’s drinking water by next December? Of the health of its children? Of the economy?”

Well, next December is almost here. And we know the answer to Clegg’s questions. Bad, very bad, and appalling.

Naturally, the stooges Clegg had unhorsed hit back and he was soon on the receiving end of Nile Gardiner’s bile in the Telegraph, 21 April 2010, headed “Nick Clegg’s Israel-bashing is sickening”.

“While Nick Clegg has made it a personal mission to publicly whip the Israelis for defending their own country,” wrote Gardiner, “he has remained remarkably silent in the media about Iranian backing for terrorist groups, Tehran’s calls to wipe Israel off the map, and the massive levels of hatred directed at Israel from within the United Nations.”
Gardiner was also unhappy that Clegg hadn’t gone into print “warning against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, or calling for an end to the persecution of Israel by Islamist states.”
Tehran of course did not threaten to wipe Israel off the map, and if Clegg had no hard evidence of Iran’s nuclear ambitions military-wise, why should he comment?

Gardiner lambasted Clegg for his “sneering condescension towards Israel”, which undermined a close British ally while encouraging Israel’s enemies. “There is an important distinction between a free, democratic society like Israel, acting in self-defence, and brutal terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hizbollah. Clegg’s drawing of moral equivalence between the two sides is both sickening and offensive.”

Gardiner, a foreign affairs analyst based in Washington and a Conservative think-tank jockey, supported the war on Iraq. Clegg opposed the war so clearly the dagger had to be plunged in a few more times. The next month Gardiner attacked again.

“Clegg seems obsessed with dredging up the spectre of the Iraq war and accusing Britain’s intelligence services of complicity in torture, which only serves the interests of Britain’s enemies,” moaned Gardiner, also accusing him of demonizing Israel, “one of our only friends in the region”.

He’s so right about that last bit. With “friends” like Israel it can be lonely out there.
“Nick Clegg is the first major party leader to run for prime minister on an anti-British ticket,” continued Gardiner, trying hard to inflict electoral damage. “He is filled with a self-loathing for his nation and its institutions… I cannot think of a candidate for prime minister in recent memory who has accused his own country of involvement in torture…”
Well, at least this knight wasn’t in hock for his armour and horse to the pro-Israel lobby. Or so we thought.

…And so weak and wobbly now

Following the general election in May Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, became deputy prime minister in the Conservative-led coalition government.

David Cameron squirming in his boots after he admitted he called Deputy PM Nick Clegg “a joke”

The Conservative Party, it has been revealed, is a highly influential pro-Israel hot-house in which 80 per cent of Conservative MPs including their leader, David Cameron, like to bask.

As Cameron’s new lieutenant we can only suppose that Clegg was initiated by being put under intense pressure to tug the forelock, bend the knee and take an oath of allegiance to Cameron’s paymasters.

First sign was at the Liberal Democrats’ conference in September when Clegg attended a Friends of Israel fringe meeting but cold-shouldered the Friends of Palestine.

Then, earlier this month, he favoured the Friends of Israel again by speaking at their annual dinner. Guests included the chief rabbi. Clegg began by saying: “Chief Rabbi, it is hard to exaggerate the esteem in which you are held by British people of all faiths and of none.”

That set the sickly tone. He reminded his audience that, in 2007, the Liberal Democratic Party conference passed a motion condemning the proposed academic boycott of Israel.
The sucking-up continued with an apology for campaigning in the past so vigorously for the rights of Palestinian victims without broadcasting equally loudly and equally clearly “an awareness of the security challenges faced by Israel and of the right of Israel to defend itself against the threats that it continually faces”. He now wanted to make this clear:

Israel’s right to thrive in peace and security is non-negotiable for Liberal Democrats. No other country so continually has its right to exist called into question as does Israel, and that is intolerable. There can be no solution to the problems of the Middle East that does not include a full and proper recognition of Israel by all the parties to the conflict.

Those words might have been written by Israel’s chief propagandist, Mark Regev.
Then Clegg came to the bogus peace negotiations. “Whatever the UK can do … to support the Americans in furthering the peace process – whatever we can do, not only must be done, but will be done.”

Right now the Americans are bribing the psychopaths with even more death-dealing toys to play with if they’ll suspend settlement building for another measly three months, what happens after that being left up in the air. Is this what Clegg and his coalition partners are so eager to support?

“The EU can and should use its economic clout to put pressure on both sides; to encourage Israel to restrict its settlement building programme and to push all Palestinians into recognizing Israel’s right to exist.” Reduce Israel’s settlement building? The legal position requires nothing less than a permanent end to it. Clegg is letting Israel off the hook. And there’s no more talking of suspending the EU-Israel trading agreements.
If “recognition” of their enemy is to be wrung from the Palestinians, which borders is Clegg talking about? It stands to reason there can be no such recognition while the jackboot of brutal occupation is on the Palestinians’ throat. Unless Clegg understands that, he understands nothing.

The same goes for renouncing violence. Israelis use a thousand times more violence than Palestinians. Demanding, as the West’s cut-throats regularly do, that the resistance movement renounces violence without requiring the same from Israel, is an insult to everyone’s intelligence.

Clegg then turned to the vexed question of universal jurisdiction, under which all states that signed up to the Geneva Conventions are under a solemn obligation to seek out and prosecute or extradite those suspected of grave breaches of the Conventions and bring them justice, regardless of nationality.

Clegg announced:

It is right that people suspected of such crimes should be held accountable by the courts. But the framers of the legislation never intended local magistrates to be able to issue politically motivated arrest warrants of people visiting the UK without reasonable grounds for doing so.
The issuing of such warrants should be a matter for one of central government’s senior law officers, not for local magistrates. This will strike the right balance between upholding Britain’s great traditions of respect for universal human rights and avoiding accusations based on poorly justified grounds against visitors to the UK.

This is nonsense. For a start, no magistrate issues a warrant without seeing compelling evidence. Furthermore, 51 Liberal Democrat MPs – the overwhelming majority of Clegg’s party – recently signed an early day motion in Parliament opposing any change in the law. Disregarding their wishes, Clegg has decided to support the Conservative plan to put matters into the hands of the director of public prosecutions, a move calculated to guarantee that any decision to hunt down and detain wanted criminals is strictly political.
As a consequence, Israel’s warmongers will be allowed to come and go as they please and continue their atrocities against Gaza’s women and children, and very soon against Iran’s and (again) Lebanon’s.

Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit : www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk

More Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg on Britain’s Future – Newsweek

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Report: 278 Children Exposed to Torture, Beating, Sleep Deprivation in “Israeli” Occupation Prisons

Ramallah, Alintiqad

"Every time we try to sleep, they wake us up by beating us with the butts of their rifles. For three days. They locked us in the toilet without allowing in any food or water until we had to drink flush toilet water. They would put off their cigarette heels into our legs and yell at us continuously." This is the statement of the child captive "Mohammed Tarik Mokheimer", whose hometown is Beit Oure, close to Ramallah. He was arrested this year in July.

A sixth grader, the child Mokheimer was arrested with his classmate "Mohammed Ridwan" on charge of stoning a military patrol. They were then transported to an investigation centre in "Benjamin Settlement", where they were locked in a toilet for three days. They were kept nude and were offered no food or drink.

The mother says, "On the day of his arrest, Mohammed was late for home, so the whole family went searching for him, but we didn't find him. At 1:30 a.m., his classmate's father informed us that his son (Mokheimer's classmate) "Mohammed Ramadan" had been arrested."

The mother was perplexed in the first place; "Mohammed hasn't become 13 yet, and he has no knowledge of what a detention is and how it is, so how can they arrest children?" She added, "Nevertheless, parents and neighbors have assured me that his detention won't last and that he'll be back soon."

Continuous Torture:

The Next day, the family informed the Detainee Club of the detention of their child in a trial to hear any news of him or his classmate. The family commenced reflecting all possible cases and questioning the circumstances of their child detention until the Detainee Club informed them of the date of his trial hearing.

His mother proceeds, "I had never thought I was going to see my son like that, standing behind the bars with his hands chained, afraid, and looking on his sides every minute as if someone was after him. I tried to talk to him, but I was forbidden. He would look at me and cry all the time, and after having issued a series of charges, the court prolonged his detention."

The mother, who didn't know what exactly happened to her child, sensed that something unusual had happened. She was anxious and uneasy all the time, and she was looking for an answer to what happened to him. What she sensed had turned out to be true, for Mohammmed and his classmate were exposed to the most terrible kinds of torture; that was discovered later on through a report issued by the Ministry of the Detainees and Affairs of the Liberated.

Nude in Toilet:

Hiba Mosalha, the advocate of the Ministry of Detainees, has visited both detainees. She says, "Firstly I thought that Mohammed was exaggerating, but I spotted traces of torture on their bodies. The soldiers would put off their cigarette heels into their (children) legs, their toenails were gone because of harsh beating;" she said adding "While they were talking, they seemed scared that what occurred to them at the beginning of their arrest might be repeated."

In the statement the advocate reported, child Mohammed says, "We were arrested on Road 443 by the Separation Wall close to the village, and our whole bodies were severely beaten up with rifles and kicked until we fell down.

Afterwards the soldiers chained us, blindfolded us, and transported us to "Benjamin Settlement", which is close to the village."

There, the children were locked in the toilet and were forced to take off all of their clothes. For two days they were kept nude in the toilet without any food or drink, where the soldiers turned on the cold air conditioner all the time.

Child Mokheimer points out that the soldiers offered them no food or drink at all; thus, they suffered intense thirst and had to drink toilet water. They suffered intense cold because of being nude for two days with no cover or mattress, and every time they tried to sleep, the soldiers would wake them up immediately.

Mokheimer also pointed out that the most terrible thing that happened to them was when the soldiers entered the toilet, urinated on their heads and faces instead of using the toilet, and once done; they laughed and mocked at the two child detainees. Besides, one of the soldiers was photographing the incident.

Advocate Mosalha added, "After all this torture, the children were transported to an investigation centre, where they "forced" to confess doing things they hadn't really done upon fear of being tortured again." She proceeded that the incident of Mohammed Mokheimer and Mohammed Ridwan "isn't the only one even though it is the most horrible."

Through her meeting with the children, she heard a number speak about deprivation of sleep and eating for hours and days, in addition to being forced to sign certificates written in Hebrew and with contents the children didn't know. They were also beaten up harshly by the soldiers and weren't allowed to meet their private lawyer.

Systematic Policy:

With respect to Mosalha, torture of children detainees has become a systematic policy for the (Israeli) occupation soldiers in order to make children confess charges they have not committed, and so the soldiers would imprison them as long as possible.

With regard to official statistics, the occupation authorities hold more than 6700 Palestinian prisoners, among who are 287 children under the age of eighteen. According to the International Movement for Defense of Children, approximately 700 Palestinian children are imprisoned in the (Israeli) occupation prisons yearly.

In statements of a hundred child captive, the movement observed that 81% were beaten and kicked and that 26% were exposed to phantasmagoria; whereas 12% were threatened with sexual assault, and 4% of those were indeed sexually assaulted.

Families demand that prisoners are relocated to closer to home

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

"... Syria is in a win-win situation ... Hezbollah does not consider the 'tribunal' a genuine threat..

Via Ftiday-Lunch-Club

Oxford Analytica: excerpts:

"... Saad al-Hariri's tactic of biding his time in responding to the STL tensions, hoping for a regional solution, has become unsustainable amid an escalating crisis. He has therefore toughened his position, reiterating his support for the STL. Hariri cancelled a November 3 cabinet meeting, most likely to head off a vote on the issue of 'false witnesses', whereby Hizbollah and its allies have been pushing for an investigation that might discredit the STL -- and implicate officials close to Hariri....

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has shown signs of shifting towards the opposition, although has not yet voted against Hariri on anything substantial. However, the risk that he and his bloc (nine to eleven MPs) might do so on this issue may be contributing to the prime minister's delays. The delays probably serve Jumblatt's interests as well, since he can maintain an ambiguous stance without alienating either side. In response to Hariri's decision to cancel a cabinet meeting, Hizbollah and its allies boycotted the last National Dialogue session on November 4. There is a possibility of further cancellations and boycotts, threatening institutional paralysis.

Regional Situation. The domestic crisis has been compounded by the inability of regional players to reach a deal on how to respond to the indictments. There have been mixed signals as to whether the regional entente regarding Lebanon still holds ...Yet both sides have repeatedly stated that the agreement is still in place....

However, given the shifting messages, the strength of any regional agreement on the stability of Lebanon is questionable, increasing the risk that it will collapse when the indictments are issued. The intransigent position taken by Hizbollah and Hariri's decision to persist in his support for the STL leave little room for domestic negotiation. Rumours are circulating about a possible military takeover by Hizbollah in the event of the indictment of its members. Yet this would be a last resort and remains unlikely:

Hizbollah's threats of a violent backlash are probably intended to persuade the international community to withdraw its support for the STL. Violent clashes are likely to be part of this strategy to increase pressure, both on foreign players and on Hariri.... Clashes following the indictments are unlikely to be significant enough to represent a game-changer.

Soft coup? Hizbollah might consider a 'soft' takeover involving its ministers and those of its allies resigning, calling for a new government, and paralysing Hariri's cabinet. Such a move could lead to the collapse of the government.The balance in parliament could possibly shift in favour of the opposition, if Jumblatt's bloc and several allies of Hariri's March 14 coalition who are close to Syria could be persuaded to join it. March 14 has 72 seats, and requires 64 for a majority; the opposition currently holds 56. A change of the balance in parliament would strengthen Hizbollah's position in negotiations for the next government. Even if Hizbollah does not form a government (and even if the government does not collapse), such a move could paralyse governmental institutions, making them unable to comply with the STL's demands.

Syria. Either scenario requires Syria's support. However, Damascus has been very vague in its position regarding possible responses to the STL; Syrian officials openly oppose the STL, while maintaining their support for Hariri's government and political stability in Lebanon. Syria has similarly asserted its commitment to the Saudi-Syrian agreement while maintaining its strategic alliance with Iran....,

Syria is in a win-win situation. Despite its declared support for Hariri's government, his destabilisation may be in its interest. Moreover, the more threatening Hizbollah becomes, the more Riyadh believes an alliance with Syria is necessary. Syria could choose to take no significant action in the event of a takeover or government destabilisation....,

it is likely that Hizbollah will refrain from resorting to any drastic action. This is largely because the STL has no means of enforcing its decisions on the ground. Should it issue arrest warrants, Hariri will be reluctant to act on them, since he has lost most of his political clout and it could amount to political suicide. The individuals indicted are not likely to need to travel where they would be at risk of arrest. The fact that Hizbollah has been so vocal in its opposition to the tribunal and rejected Hariri's early attempts to find a compromise (such as his offer to declare the indicted members 'rogue elements' of the movement) suggests that it may not consider the tribunal a genuine threat, beyond politics ...

While it might see an opportunity to weaken its opponents by withdrawing from government, Hizbollah's strategy may instead be to preserve the current arrangement, and continue to use the issue of the STL to weaken the government further and to embarrass Hariri. It could also use the issue as a pretext to challenge UN resolutions relating to Lebanon..."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 8:57 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

"Nothing short of FULL LIBERATION of Palestine is acceptable!"

In this essay I would reflect on why as an exiled Palestinian, I do not believe that putting an end to zionism is an ideal solution to the Palestinian problem. Supporting "equal rights", supporting “one person, one vote”, constitutes support for the occupiers' illegitimate privilege to impose their presence in a land they conquered by war and terrorism, looted and destroyed, holding on the estate of -survivors forced into exiled -“absentees”.

“Equal rights” and the deceptive expression “one person, one vote” would finalize the conquest of Palestine. This finalization of the theft of a foreign land, would be a grave violation of the fundamentals of ethics regulating human interaction.

Worse, it would be an irreversible step backwards into the dark ages, insofar that it would constitute the first jurisprudential invalidation of most fundamentals of International Law pertaining to sovereignty and wars of aggression and conquest. Centuries of modest, painstaking progress, would be thrown out the window. The Thirteen Century Magna Carta, the Seventeenth Century Westphalia treaty, the Twentieth Century Nuremberg Principles, are the cornerstones of International Law, prohibiting Wars of Aggression, and regulating occupation.

“Equal rights”, and “one person one vote” sends the clear message to bullies, “criminals, thieves, that they get away with MURDER…. Literally” !

It is a carte blanche for bullies and aggressors to do what they like, steal, kill, colonize, rape, oppress, torture...

And that is one of the reasons why any future decision on the status of ILLEGAL COLONIZERS in Palestine should be a PALESTINIAN DECISION; they, and ONLY they, can choose whether or not, to allow some of their tormentors to stay, or not, and in which legal parameter this can happen.

The term “negotiation table” has been abused to be merely the place where the Palestinians gradually and systematically loose everything there is to loose, and they just keep on participating and giving.

This moral and legal masquerade of “Equal Rights” and “One person, one vote” is not, and never will constitute a solid basis for a lasting peace. Peace existed before the arrival of the Jewish Zionist invasion, and will exist after they leave. Palestine's sovereignty is not on the negotiation table.

Rather naively, some believe that the only solution for the Palestinian tragedy would be to de-zionise "israel". I could not disagree more.

Abandoning Zionism could potentially become even more detrimental than militant Zionism, to Palestinians' inalienable Rights, and to the Holy Land of Palestine. It would just consolidate Zionist aims, just give it a softer name. The endorsement and support of the so called “anti-zionists” to the imposed presence of “Israelis”, literally gives the “coup de grace” to Palestine.

Our allies who support the permanent stay of Jewish zionist in the land of Palestine (providing they abandon Zionism), do not realize that by doing so they are finishing the job neatly for the zionists and putting the cherry on the zionist-project pie; by giving them the approval and moral justification to keep hold of land and property acquired by unethical and illegal means

The lawsuits on behalf of Jewish people who lost property in Europe during WW2 are ongoing, almost seventy years after, yet many of our supporters cringe at the fact that we are entitled to the same, because the reinstatement and total restoration of our rights would effectively mean a full restitution of land and property from the Jewish zionist colonizers back to the original and legitimate Palestinian owners.

For me as a Palestinian as it ought to be for anyone who cares for Justice and Peace, the idea that there would be a "right" for some people to keep land and property acquired by military conquest and ethnic cleansing of genocidal proportion, is not only a regressive monstrosity, but it is also in full contravention with a set of laws emerged precisely out of WW2, and in full contradiction with any sense of moral principles.

God is not a real estate agent, nor is God a warlord, hence the "right" of Jewish colonizer is simply non-existent, whether they brandish the racist "zionist" ideology, or the pseudo-religious "God-chosen" dogma, or whether "Post-zionists" collect the "benefits" of Ariel Sharon’s atrocities against the indigenous Palestinians and environmental destruction of Palestine, the Holy Land.

Anyone who does not virulently refute the base of such non existent "right" to keep stolen land and property, is facilitating and justifying future wars of aggression and conquest, followed by colonial settlements and genocide against peaceful indigenous population.

This is nothing less than celebrating barbarity, rewarding criminality and obliteration of the very essence of human morality which mankind had worked hard to foster its progress over millennial.

When those who incessantly declaim the words "Holocaust never again" justify such lopsided views which lay the ground for future wars and genocide, the contradiction and hypocrisy becomes staggering!

Are people really so naïve and oblivious, as to not realize that by supporting “Equal Rights, one person-one vote, and by supporting the consolidation of Israelis in Palestine, even under a post-Zionist attire, de-facto corresponds to... a full support -quasi unconditional support, of the Zionist enterprise, and its ideological core which deems colonising Palestine as a “Divine and historical right” for the Jewish people ?

What does the notion of Justice, social responsibility, fair dealing mean if we are to equate criminals with victims in terms of rights to ownership of stolen property?

To advocate in favour of supposed "equal rights" between a criminal and his victim, where the criminal escapes punishment for his crimes, and is rewarded with the keeping of the loot of his aggression including total participation in decision and law making in the land occupied, is an assassination of the concept of justice, on which peaceful Civilization is built and needs to prosper


Accepting the mere declaration of abandoning Zionism and the announcement of equal rights for both without holding those responsible into account, is an utter betrayal of Palestine and the Palestinians.

The aims and rights of Palestinians are not defined by some change of zionist regime, or some vacuous declaration of abandonment of zionism. Our aim is the strict, legally and morally necessary, FULL Liberation of Palestine, and the restoration of all our rights.

During almost a century since they began to invade Palestine, the Judeo-Zionists would have had enough time to begin to notice their own crimes, and begin to exhibit signs of remorse, of respect and willingness to behave like decent human beings. Had they embraced the hospitable people of Palestine, rather than methodically annihilating them, they might have had a chance to be accepted and forgiven. Not any more, they have lost that opportunity.

Furthermore, in the context of shifting balance of power, the rest of the world begins slowly to wake up to the truth, and the Muslim world will certainly not remain lethargic forever.

People of the world are opening their eyes to the alarming level of zionist infiltration in their own affairs; governments manipulations, media control, financial corruption It is not going to be a pleasant reckoning.

Even decades of deception do not prevent karma.

Unrelenting zionist blackmail of mass genocide and world annihilation, will not bring them much support, but rather bring the world to stand up like the brave Palestinians and STOP this madness once and for all. Indubitably, the world will regurgitate those who drive for its annihilation, Samson-ists and Armageddon-ists. The world will unite and rid itself of this Frankenstein.

In the end, zionists and their associates will not find many to shed tears for them, nor will they find many open doors to welcome them. The only open doors will be the EXIT doors of expulsion out of Palestine.

Time, perhaps another couple of thousand years, might help them to learn the lesson, bring them to their senses, back into humanity.

Then and only then, only when animated by peaceful intentions, can they try to knock at Palestine's doors again. Not now, and not for a long time.

In other word, with time it became evident that the only possible outcome is the unconditional, FULL LIBERATION of Palestine!

Nahida Izzat: "I am -Jerusalem born- Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 40 years. I was forced to leave my homeland, Palestine at the age of seven during the six-day war.

I am a mathematician by qualification but art is one of my favourite pastimes, I love hand-made things, so I make dolls, cards, and most of my own clothes.

I also write poetry, and participate in dialogues with known and unknown friends as I believe that communication is the first step of understanding, I believe in building bridges not walls.

My shy and extra sensitive nature hinders me from public speaking, so I try to compensate for my shortcomings by writing! I started writing about three years ago when my friends insisted

I should write about my memories, experiences, and my feelings as a Palestinian. So I self published two books (I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story) [Biographical information: Growing Gardens for Palestine]

In case you missed it:

• Who is trying to bluff Palestinians?


• I Stand with Truth


• Oxymoron of a “Jewish Bi-national” State!


• Some Thoughts on Resistance


• A Strategy of Liberation

Egypt: "The US is not respecting our sovereignty ... and listening to 'chaos-spreading' experts"

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

"Egypt has accused the United States of meddling in its internal affairs, after Washington called for international monitors to observe the country's upcoming parliamentary elections. In a strongly worded statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Thursday the U.S. is acting like an "overseer" and not respecting the country's sovereignty. Cairo expressed dismay about a November 2 meeting in Washington between U.S. President Barack Obama's national security advisors and a group of American foreign policy analysts pushing for political reform in Egypt.  The Foreign Ministry described the bipartisan Egypt Working Group as aiming to "spread chaos in the Middle East."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 8:31 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Ethnically Cleansing East Jerusalem

 by Stephen Lendman

Jerusalem is the epicenter of a decades long struggle. For Jews, it's politically important as their capital, a national and religious center, as well as symbolic of Judaism's revival and prominence. For Christians, it's where Jesus lived and died, and for Muslims, it's their third holiest site (the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque) after Mecca's Sacred Mosque and the Mosque of the Prophet in Madina.

In June 1967, Israel occupied the city. On July 30, 1980, the Knesset introduced the Jerusalem Law, officially annexing it as Israel's unified capital. However, on March 1, 1980, UN Security Council Resolution 465 declared that:

"all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant (Fourth Geneva) violation....and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East."

On July 4, 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICC) ruled that "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development (and) have been established in breach of international law."

However, nothing thereafter changed. Settlements expanded exponentially, including on stolen East Jerusalem land. Israel plans to Judaize it by replacing Arabs with Jews, law or no law, because unenforced ones are meaningless.

On November 7, Haaretz writer Nir Hasson headlined, "Full Haaretz expose/How the state helped right-wing groups settle East Jerusalem," saying:

Israel "used a controversial law to transfer East Jerusalem assets to the rightist organizations Elad and Ateret Cohanim without a tender, and at very low prices."

To date, Elad settled 500 Jews in 15 Silwan sites. Ateret Cohanim brought 60 Jewish families and hundreds of yeshiva students to the Old City's Muslim Quarter, an area they're determined to control.

In support, Israel transferred hundreds of assets to them, as well as millions of shekels for security, including surveillance cameras and fences that separate settlers from Palestinians. Authorities also licensed Elad to manage the historic City of David tourist site.

In 1992, the Knesset passed a law requiring all state agencies to hold public tenders on which any citizen may bid, with certain defined exemptions, including expanding agricultural areas and promoting tourism. However, Elad and Ateret Cohahim were "exempted from tender" for all 11 assets they got, authorities abusing the 1950 Absentee Property Law to do it.

It pertains to persons "who, at any time during the period between (November 29, 1947) and (May 19, 1948) ceased to exist," and no longer owned Israeli property legally. However, at least for some of the 11 seized assets, owners live in the West Bank, "which is not under the jurisdiction of Israeli law."

Attorney Shlomo Lecker, involved in one of the cases, said: "These are not people who moved to an enemy country. Instead, these are cases in which we've decided to annex property without annexing the people who left it. Thus, two attorneys general recommended that this law not be applied to East Jerusalem."

Haaretz's full expose can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/full-haaretz-expose-how-the-state-helped-right-wing-groups-settle-east-jerusalem-1.323312?localLinksEnabled=false&utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=a19fb514b1-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

Ethnically Cleaning Silwan

Silwan is an Arab village adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City, extending along the Kidron Valley alongside the eastern slopes of Jabal al-Mukaber, another Arab community. Home to about 45,000 people, it's one of 28 Palestinian villages incorporated into East Jerusalem. For years, settler encroachment fueled controversy and conflict. So does the area's historical importance, archeology used for displacement to legitimize Jewish claims.

Excavations have already claimed large tracts of Silwan land. The militant right-wing settler group Elad, funded largely by US donors, controls them. Its web site tells its own version of history. It also conducts tours to convince visitors of its Jewish origin.

For their part, Palestinians are contesting, explaining their important history. Different versions fuel conflict, Haaretz writers Nir Hasson and Jonathan Lis, on October 12 headlining, "Life in Silwan: Unbearable for Jews and Palestinians alike," saying:

"The pattern of Jewish settlement (there) is unlike anywhere else, with some 70 Jewish families (around 500 people) in 15 locations, islands among tens of thousands of Palestinians. The resulting friction requires the presence of dozens of security guards and surveillance cameras."

Palestinians complain about their presence and heavy-handed police tactics. The Association of Civil Rights in Israel said settlers carry weapons, Jewish/Arab relations thus tense over shootings, deaths and arrests. Moreover, Palestinian homes are being demolished for planned parks, open spaces, restaurants, boutique hotels, and Jewish-only housing.

Al-Bustan is a Silwan neighborhood, across from the Jerusalem's Old City. Home to about 1,500 residents, they're threatened with displacement, the Municipality of Jerusalem claiming no permits were issued to build in areas designated for open space and a archeological park.

On February 22, 2009, they were ordered out in 72 hours to make way for expanding Israel's City of David archeological site, a Jewish heritage project involving removing Palestinians whose history goes back centuries. Residents contested their right to stay, the Al Bustan Popular Committee (BPC) working with lawyers in Israeli courts. Nonetheless, demolition orders are issued and in other city neighborhoods, part of Israel's systematic Judaization process.

In October, police posted notices on five Al-Bustan homes, calling them illegal and subject to demolition. In addition, BPC's leader, Fakhri Abu Diab, said "a large force of Israeli border guards ransacked the area, using homes as vantage points to fire tear gas canisters, stun grenades, and rubber bullets in all directions" after protests broke out.

Many Silwan homes have been demolished, many more threatened. Moreover, residents are regularly attacked, prompting protests and clashes. B'Tselem explained that East Jerusalem Palestinians face discriminatory housing and construction policies, forcing them to build without permits (on their own land), thereby subjecting them to demolitions. Protests, violence and arrests follow, children affected like adults.

On October 25, Palestine Monitor writer Charlotte Silver headlined, "Children The New Target In Silwan Ethnic Cleansing Campaign," saying:

Daily, "Jerusalem police and security forces have filled the streets of Silwan....patrolling (them) on foot and in cars. This past week alone," 23 residents were arrested, including at least six children, aged eight to 12. The charges are always the same - stone throwing, whether or not true. Yet they're arrested, detained, beaten, terrorized and tortured like adults. In some cases, serious injuries result, requiring hospitalization.

Defence for Children International/Palestine (DCI) Section Report

In October, DCI issued a Detention Bulletin headlined, "Mass arrests in Silwan, East Jerusalem," saying:

Information on the arrest of 17 Silwan children was collected, "although lawyers and fieldworkers for DCI-Palestine estimate that the overall number of children arrested....in October is considerably higher."

In recent weeks, confrontations between Palestinians and settlers, their private security guards, and police escalated. Further tensions erupted over plans to displace Al-Bustan residents for a recreation park. Children are always affected. Hundreds are arrested annually, some as young as or younger than 12. Nearly always it's for stone throwing, yet they're detained in violation of Fourth Geneva's Article 76, requiring minors be given special treatment, besides other provisions to safeguard protected persons.

In October, 256 children were arrested, aged 12 - 15. Prosecutions and detentions usually follow. Bara' R., aged 13, is typical. On October 13, he was arrested in Silwan for throwing stones.

"At around 5:00PM, (he) was standing in front of his sister's house with some friends when they were attacked by 10 men in plain clothes, who were apparently Israeli security forces. (He) then reports being dragged into a nearby mosque by the men. (They) started firing weapons and tear gas at people outside the mosque. Baha's hand were tied behind his back and his shirt was pulled up over his eyes to prevent him from seeing."

"A short time later, (he) was put in an Israeli military vehicle and kicked and slapped." He was then transferred to Al Mascobiyya interrogation center in Jerusalem for questioning. Baha confessed "because I was so terrified because they beat me when they arrested me and because I was alone in the interrogation room."

He was luckier than others. At 11:00PM, he was released and fined 5,000 shekels, about $1,400, a huge sum for poor Palestinians, perhaps too much to pay, meaning their property or possessions may be taken instead.

DCI/Palestine covered several other arrests. In all cases, children were accused of stone throwing. Their hands were painfully shackled behind their backs. They were dragged, beaten, forced to confess and sign documents in Hebrew, denied food, water and toilet privileges for long periods, and overall terrorized during interrogations. Some were fined and released, others detained.

On October 15, police and Silwan residents clashed. About 15 Palestinians were injured, including one child. Most were struck by rubber-coated bullets, able to cause injuries and at times kill.

"According to local sources, the confrontations took place after Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at worshippers" during prayer time. Residents threw rocks in response. "In a related incident, Israeli border police officers physically assaulted and injured a man at a flying checkpoint erected at one of Silwan's entrances." He was taking his son to the hospital, suffering from pepper gas inhalation.

On October 23, DCI/Palestine sent a 14 page report to the EU Subcommittee on Human Rights on how Palestinian children are treated in detention. It highlighted "the continued use of ill-treatment and torture during the arrest and interrogation" process.

Other information included:

-- international law violations;

-- evidence that over 42% of children are held with adults;

-- over half receive inadequate food, water and shelter;

-- most are denied family visits during the first three months of detention;

-- telephone privileges are prohibited; and

-- most are subjected to torture and other forms of abuse.

A Final Comment

Israel's long range Jerusalem plan is total Judaization, making the city its exclusive capital, denying the Palestinians rightful claim to its eastern portion for its own. As a result, ethnic cleansing systematically continues, villages like Silwan targeted by home demolitions, dispossessions, and assaults against residents defending their land and property.

In some ways they do it creatively. In 2008 for example, when 88 houses were ordered demolished for a City of David archeological park, residents erected a large tent for prayer, meetings, children's activities, and community events. In October, Jimmy Carter met with village leaders in it. Last year, the Wadi Hilwah Information Center was established to counter settler propaganda with its own historical narrative.

Determined, sustained, organized resistance is the best antidote to repression and injustice, what Palestinians have heroically done for decades, including the men, women, and children of Silwan.

In her August 18, 2010 Palestine Monitor article, Elena Hogan's title described it metaphorically headlining, "When David Becomes Goliath." In fact, long struggles at times end that way. Why not in Silwan, in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, occupation-free self-determination an achievable goal.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

posted by Steve Lendman @ 4:23 AM  

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Al-Qaeda’s Christian Massacre — Aiding and Abetting the Occupation of Palestine

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Maidhc Ó Cathail

If we are to believe the voice on those Osama bin Laden tapes, the elusive al-Qaeda leader cares deeply about Palestine. Yet the actions of the terrorist network he supposedly still directs all too often belie its statements of concern for their “brothers” under Israeli occupation.

The massacre of Iraqi Christians at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad also makes one wonder about claims that the group has “a great sense of timing.” The slaughter of Catholic Mass-goers occurred just one week after church leaders from across the Middle East had forcefully condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

More than 200 members of 14 different churches had gathered in Rome for a papal synod to address concerns about Christian emigration from the region. However, as one commentator observed, “Time and again, they turned the discussions … towards the Palestinian question.”

In their final communiqué, the bishops urged the international community to apply UN Security Council resolutions and take “the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories.” Significantly, they charged the Israeli occupation with causing tensions that have led to the exodus of Christians from the Middle East.

In a follow-up news conference, the archbishop in charge of the committee that drafted the communiqué, Cyrille Salim Bustros, rejected any biblical justification for the Zionist project. “The concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians,” he said. “Sacred scripture should not be used to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestine.”

Not surprisingly, Tel Aviv was none too pleased with this serious challenge to the legitimacy of the self-described Jewish state. The following day, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon issued a statement condemning the bishops. The synod, he said, had been “hijacked by an anti-Israel majority,” turning it into “a forum for political attacks on Israel in the best history of Arab propaganda.” In particular, his government was “appalled” by Archbishop Bustros’ “outrageous comments,” describing them as “a libel against the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”

One week later, the Anti-Defamation League sought to enlist Pope Benedict XVI to Israel’s side. Expressing condolences over the Baghdad killings, ADL leaders asked the pope to “join together to eliminate all terrorism in the name of religion” and “to use the Church’s moral authority to prevent Israel from being made a pariah by its enemies.”

But with the Israeli occupation under such censure from Rome, it was a rather odd time for avowed supporters of the Palestinian cause to slaughter Catholics in the Middle East. Indeed, many Iraqi Muslims harbour “suspicions” about the shadowy al-Qaeda front’s targeting of “essentially non-players” in the country’s post-invasion sectarian strife.

Indeed, if anyone benefited from the church massacre it was Israel. Reminiscent of the Zionist underground’s attacks on Iraqi Jews in the 1950s, this assault on the Christian minority was clearly designed to encourage them to flee the country where they had lived in relative peace and prosperity for two millennia.

The removal of a Christian presence from the Muslim-dominated region would eliminate the model of coexistence as a viable alternative to the “clash of civilisations” view of the world. “By focusing attention on a direct and eternal conflict between the West and Islam,” M. Shahid Alam argues in his new book, the clash thesis aims “to acquit Israel of serving as the chief source and conduit of this conflict.”

Moreover, the massacre lent plausibility to the Israeli narrative on why Christians are leaving the Middle East. In a 2006 report by the hawkishly pro-Israel Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, titled “The Christian Exodus from the Middle East,” senior fellows Jonathan Adelman and Agota Kuperman concluded: “The single greatest cause of this emigration is radical Islam.”

Ironically, it was a representative from Baghdad at the synod who had suggested a way to encourage Middle East emigrants to return to Palestine. Armenian Archbishop Emmanuel Dabbaghian proposed that every bishop should make an annual visit to the Holy Land. “The influx of pilgrims to the Holy Land,” he said, “would convince the inhabitants who have emigrated to return to their homeland.” Given the apprehension about “the Arab demographic threat,” such a development would be viewed with trepidation in Tel Aviv.

“Israel, the Jewish State, is predicated on a decisive and stable Jewish majority of at least 70 percent,” Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, wrote in a 2009 article in Commentary magazine. “Any lower than that and Israel will have to decide between being a Jewish state and a democratic state.” Still, it’s an improvement on the “at least 80 percent Jews” that David Ben-Gurion said would be necessary for “a viable and stable state” on the eve of the premeditated ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

In contrast to al-Qaeda’s efforts to drive a wedge between Islam and Christianity, the solidarity between the world’s two largest religions in Palestine poses a real threat to the Israeli occupation.

Sabeel, an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians, in its “Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism,” affirms “that Palestinians are one people, both Muslim and Christian” and rejects “all attempts to subvert and fragment their unity.”

Couldn’t the Baghdad church massacre also be seen as an attempt to “subvert and fragment” Palestinian unity? With “brothers” like al-Qaeda, who needs enemies?

Comment:

If exists, Al-qaeda is a CIA/Mossad creation

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Israeli Ghajar ‘withdrawal’ is a PR stunt

Posted on November 19, 2010 by rehmat1

The Zionist-regime’s announcement on Wednesday to ‘withdraw’ its occupation forces from the northern part of the tiny strategic village of al-Ghajar and hand-over its control to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – is nothing but another PR stunt. The so-called ‘withdrawal’ is no different than the lie Israel used to cover its defeat at the hands of Hizbullah fighters in 2000 and 2006. Under UNIFIL control, the northern part, will be under Israeli control for strategic and water-supply purposes with the added benefit that the international community will bear the cost of protecting the Zionist entity from possible Hizbullah attacks to recapture the territory which was re-stolen from Lebanese people in Summer 2006 by the Zionazi forces. The UNIFIL has been proven to be infiltrated by Israeli agents

The three water sources which the European Zionist leaders considered a “must” to be part of their plan to create an illegal state on Arab land – were the Litani River, the Hasbani River and the Wazzani Springs. The first one is located entirely in Lebanon and comes from the valley of Beqaa, where its springs are near the city of Baalbek, coming from the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Mount Lebanon ranges. It flows through the Beqaa, fills up the lake of Qaroun and shortly after turns west and heads toward the Mediterranean Sea. It is about 106 miles long in total and it is the largest river in Lebanon. The Hasbani and Wassani both origin from South Lebanon and flow southwards. They are contributors to the Jordan river.

The al-Ghajar village is situated at the Israel-Lebanon border where Hizbullah fighters gave a good-beating to the invading Jewish army during the 34-day war in 2006. The village is a great source of water-supply for the Jew-settlers in the occupied Palestine. It is located on the banks of Hasbani river and Jews have been profiting from stealing water from its Wassani springs, which they bottle and sell it in many foreign countries.
The Zionist plan is to divide the village, which lies between southern Lebanon and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, into two. While the northern part (with native Arab population) will be governed by UNIFIL, the southern part (occupied by illegal Jew-settlers) will remain under Israeli control.

Ghajar was considered part of Syria until after the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel captured the village and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move which has not been recognized by the international community.

In 2000, when Israel ended its occupation of south Lebanon after 22 years, the UN determined that the northern part of the village was in Lebanon and Israeli troops evacuated the area. Israel re-occupied the northern part of the village during its war against Lebanon’s resistance movement of Hezbollah in 2006.

MP Fayyad: “Israeli” Ghajar Withdrawal, Not Serious Until Implemented

MP Hachem: Withdrawal from Ghajar, Political Maneuver

“Israel” to End North Ghajar Occupation

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Samir Geagea's 'greens'...

Samir Geagea's 'greens'...

'the 'environment' is very big on Geagea's agenda ... but Hezbollah stands in the way'

"... Twenty-eight years after the Sabra and Shatila massacres, the president of Lebanon's only golf course is still having to deny the bodies are buried there. Bayan Nuwayhed al Hout, author of "Sabra and Shatila: September 1982," told CNN she's convinced the bodies of victims of the massacres lie beneath the golf course.

"I'm positive that dozens of people were buried there with the help of bulldozers," she said. "The bulldozers were used to get rid of the dead bodies."Robert Fisk, a journalist who wrote "Pity The Nation" about the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, maintains the number buried is even higher."There are perhaps 1,000 murdered Palestinian civilians under the golf course (of course, these hapless souls will have to be added to the tallied 2000 innocent Palestinians & Lebanese slaughtered by Samir Geagea' Audubon-Society-like thugs, and overseen by the master killers of Ariel Sharon!) near Beirut airport, dumped there by Israel's Phalangist allies after the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres," Fisk wrote in the British newspaper The Independent."No one will dig them up. Golfers play without reflecting upon what lies beneath the verdant 18th hole."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 6:23 PM

A MUST WATCH, The link between Chabad and EDL‏

By Nahida

If good Jewish people are serious about combating and preventing the come-back of antisemitism, they must NOT sleep or feel rested UNTILL the supremacist Jewish groups and ideologies are exposed, shamed, defeated and abandoned once and for all.

Surfing (Chabad) rabbi - Nachum Shifren inciting hatred against Islam and Muslims, at EDL Demo in London

Rabbi Nachum Shifren talks to the BBC , 23rd Oct 2010

This "israeli" citizen Rabbi is a Tea Party activist, a Southern California native, he is running for office ( senate candidate) in Los Angeles’s .

He was a kibbutz volunteer, and in 1977 made "aliya" . Shifren served in the IDF and received a degree in Combat Fitness Training at the Wingate Institute for Sports.

Shifren attended Toras Chayim Yeshiva in Jerusalem and Yeshivat Tomchei Tmimim in Kfar Chabad, where he received his rabbinical ordination in 1990.

US ‘Surfing Rabbi’ causes stir by joining far-right march

Students Protest IDF Soldiers Campus Visit - OFFICIAL



Posted to Chabad News on November 15 2010

=================================

Quotes by Attorney Alan Dershowitz:

"The enemies of the Jewish people focus on campuses . . . . that’s why Chabad’s presence on campuses today is crucial . . . to inoculate students against the anti-semitism and apathy, and to make young people proud of being Jewish.”

Chabad houses on college campuses we are seeing a revolution in American university education which has been stimulated by Chabad. A major revolution!"

"We cannot rest until there is at least one Chabad shliach on every major college campus in the world"

“Chabad has taught us how to have Judaism without the "oy," but with the joy.”

listen to Alan Dershowitz's address, or read his speech below.

This is how the supremacist Chabads infiltrate and takeover the minds of young Jewish children

++++++++++++++++++++

Manchester Lubavitch Youth Minyan Llandudno Trip

Posted to Chabad News on November 15 2010

Manchester Lubavitch youth Minyan fun filled Shabbaton at Chabad Retreat Centre in Llandudno.

Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Weinman, Rabbi of the Manchester Lubavitch Youth Minyan, together with his wife Chaya, accompanied by four students of Yeshivas Lubavitch Manchester, took a group of 35 boys aged between 14 and 17 to the Chabad Retreat Centre in Llandudno for a fun filled Shabbaton.

The boys enjoyed a lively Friday night Service. They kept up the singing and dancing whilst telling stories and experiences until the early hours of Shabbos morning. After an uplifting shabbos morning service and a delicious shabbos lunch the boys were able to appreciate the beautiful Llandudno scenery with a walk.

After shabbos had ended, they, played various sports at a nearby leisure centre, followed by a Melavah Malkah back at the Retreat Centre.

The weekend was organised by Mr Gav Cohen.

Posted to Shlichus on November 15 2010

Chabad Confronts Anti-Israel Activism on Campuses

by R.C. Berman - Lubavitch.com

Jeremy Izfo may soon be analyzing debt-to-earnings ratios of Fortune 500 companies, but today the economics major at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, is looking at Chabad on Campus's bottom line.

“There are other places that promote hanging out with Jewish people, but Chabad takes a different route. Everyone knows that Chabad is the place to go to be involved with Jewish life,” said Izfo.

The number of Chabad centers on Canadian campuses has doubled over the last five years. Today, 19 campuses benefit from Chabad representatives on site. Another eight are served by Chabad centers in the area. For Canadian university students facing growing anti-Israel sentiment and harassment from pro-Palestinian activists, Chabad's more visible presence on campus is welcome.

“There's a lot of tension between Muslim and Jewish students. We are small in number, but we have a lot of pride, and we make sure everyone knows who we are,” Izfo said.

Posters plastered around Carleton depict a mockup of an Israeli helicopter dropping bombs on a teddy-toting Palestinian toddler. The student council is run by pro-Palestinian representatives. Professors make no secret of their anti-Israel leanings. Even apolitical Jewish students feel uncomfortable and confused.

“The propaganda's logic is backwards, but convincing,” said Mrs. Yocheved Boyarsky, Chabad representative at Carleton and Ottawa U. “Students come to Shabbos dinner with us despite a very anti-Israel outlook. We encourage them to think, to question, and to see the issue through the broader view of history.”

In Ottawa, Jewish students represent only two percent of the student body. But group size does not seem mitigate the threats and taunts. York University, a commuter college near the Jewish community in Toronto, is one of the top ten universities attended by Jewish students in Canada. Yet the feeling on campus is stridently, sometimes violently anti-Israel. Last year, Jewish students at York were forced to barricade themselves inside the Hillel offices when an angry mob chased them: “Die, Jew, die, Get the hell off campus!” they screamed.

Brenda Grinsaft, a psychology major at York, is reluctant to overstate the threat. She feels safe at York, but “there is hostility” toward Jewish students. “Chabad is where Jewish students can go to feel comfortable being Jewish and proud of it,” Grinsaft said.

Countering the anti-Israel activism, Chabad at York is offering an encore round of “The Land and the Spirit” course. A probing look at the centrality of Israel to Judaism developed by the Jewish Learning Institute, the course helps students who want to understand the Jewish claim to the land of Israel, Chabad at York co-director Chanah Leah Bekerman explains.

Even students raised in traditional Jewish homes are not immune to pro-Palestinian pressure on campus. “A lot of students have parents who support Israel, actively, financially. And we have a lot of students who are pro-Israel. But a number of them are not. It is more popular to take a lefty, 'pro-peace' stand,” said Mrs. Basya Feldman, Chabad representative at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dr. Gil Troy, a history professor at McGill University in Montreal and author of Why I am a Zionist told Lubavitch.com that a lot is riding on the countersteps to the toxic propgaganda. “At university campuses in Canada and in the U.S., many future leaders are being educated in poisoned environments, where Israel is portrayed as the bad guy.”

Chabad's response is less about shouting down and in-your-face protests than about teaching students to connect with their own heritage, and understand the Jewish claim to the land.

Chabad at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, directed by Rabbi Moshe and Rivky Goldman, introduced the J-Learn program this year, a series of mini-courses to help students acquire fundamental knowledge of Judaism. Mrs. Goldman expanded her Girls Club to offer Jewish women on campus evening classes about Judaism in a sorority-like atmosphere. Despite anti-Israel bullhorn tactics, Rabbi Goldman finds students open to different opinions.

“Canadians are polite. When I speak on Friday night, there is a greater chance that people will listen, take it seriously,” Rabbi Goldman said.

Prof. Troy promotes advocacy in his literature, but he also values Chabad's approach. “Studies show that if you have a strong connection to Judaism, you will have a strong connection to Israel.” Chabad, he explains, “creates a spiritual conversation and a cultural conversation, getting the issue away from politics,” which helps achieve the ultimate goal: supporting the Jewish homeland.

“You can't do Jewish without embracing Israel.”

The toughest time for Jewish university students on campus in recent years has been the annual “Israel Apartheid Week,” which often goes hand in hand with harassment of Jewish students. Founded in Toronto, IAW spread to 40 cities, 14 of which are in Canada.

In preparation for IAW last year, students at York University brainstormed for ideas to counter the darkness with light. They organized a Mitzvah Marathon at York, where student—Jewish and non-Jewish, alike—filled out cards, pledging to perform good deeds. They sold brownies with proceeds that went to Chabad Terror Victims Project of Israel.

Chabad at Ottawa U hosted a similar program to encourage students to perform a mitzvah. They set out a table filled with mitzvah opportunities against a backdrop of the Western Wall, right alongside the IAW row of tables.

“A lot of students tell us they felt comforted and encouraged to walk by and see our table during the week of hatred,” said Mrs. Boyarsky. Performing mitzvot is more than a nicety, a comfort zone among the vitriol. “Historically, Jews have been victorious over threats to their existence by strengthening their performance of mitzvos and staying with the Torah.”

In case you missed it:

• Chabad and US zionist Law-makers
• NO... This is not a Synagogue
• Chabad around the world

--

nahida

zionists ‘get the hell out of Palestine’
~ Helen Thomas

To defeat the aggressors is not enough to make peace durable. The main thing is to discard the ideology that generates war. ~ Ludwig von Mises

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says . . . I'll try again tomorrow. ~ Anne Henninghake