Tag Archives: Divestment

Nakba 2014 commemoration: 66 years of Israeli ethnic cleansing

May 15 marks Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) day. In 1948, over 780,000 Palestinians were forcibly driven from their homeland by Zionist paramilitary terrorist squads under the protection of the British. Over 500 Palestinian villages were depopulated & destroyed. Nakba day follows the day Zionists celebrate as Israeli “independence” day. That is a linguistic deceit to mask the political barbarism of Nakba.

More than 7 million Palestinian refugees, one of the largest refugee communities in the world, continue to live in exile & in refugee camps, while 5 million Palestinians are living in Gaza, called “the world’s largest open air prison.”

On the 66th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, join the campaign for Palestinian justice & say no to Israeli apartheid, colonialism, & occupation. Support the Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel by boycotting Israeli products (barcode beginning 729); support the right of return for all Palestinian refugees, the end of the military occupation of the West Bank, & the end of the siege of Gaza; support the cultural boycott of Israel; demand “No military aid to Israel!”

(Photo of Nakba in 1948 from http://rehmat1.com/)

New attacks on Palestinians worshipping at al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem

Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas threatened last week to dismantle the PA & dump the Oslo Accords if the phony peace talks with Israel fail. Abbas is, of course, just blowing hot air but it’s impossible to think of a single down side to his threat. The Oslo Accords formalize the terms of Palestinian surrender to Israeli apartheid & employ the PA as enforcers against intifada without meaningful jurisdiction over occupied territory: they establish a bantustate solution; legitimize Israeli occupation & terrorism of Gaza & the West Bank; facilitate Zionist settlements.

This past week an estimated 125,000 tourists poured into Jerusalem to celebrate Easter & Passover. Many of these “tourists” are Zionists (including Christian Zionists) & come as provocateurs. The al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem (per the Oslo Accords) is a focus of Israeli aggression against Palestinians. Worshippers from the West Bank & Gaza are restricted access & no males under 50-years-old are allowed to pray there but must instead kneel on the public pavement in adjacent areas. It is frequently under attack by Israeli soldiers. So that’s the first place the pious pilgrims head for to stir up more violence against Palestinians.

Zionists have fabricated quite a mythology about the religious history of the al-Aqsa site & Judaism to get around the mosque that’s been there over 1,300 years. There are even knuckleheaded Christian evangelists who claim the site has a history for Christianity. Soon enough Scientology will be laying claim to the site.

On Monday, April 14th, five Zionist “worshippers” smuggled a goat through strict bag inspections at al-Aqsa, intending to re-enact an ancient Passover sacrifice ritual. Does anyone seriously believe you can smuggle a live goat past military checkpoints or that their intentions were religious!? It was an attempt at the political level of a frat house prank to disrespect & make a mockery of the mosque. Strict inspections administered by Israeli authorities apparently only apply to Palestinians.

This past Wednesday, 1,000 Israeli special forces & a sniper squad escorted buses of these pious tourists to al-Aqsa. To believe they were going there to worship would tax credulity beyond redemption. The military story is that “fierce clashes erupted” when they responded to “stones & firecrackers” lobbed by Palestinians with stun grenade canisters & rubber-coated bullets. At least 20 Palestinians were injured & dozens were arrested. The pious tourists were apparently hussled back on to their buses safely & we can only wish some of them caught some buckshot up their butts while boarding.

This travesty is apartheid; it is the legacy legitimized by the Oslo Accords & enforced by the PA. Support the right of Palestinians to worship at al-Aqsa; support Palestinian justice by honoring the boycott of all Israeli products (barcode beginning 729); supporting the cultural boycott of Israel; & demanding “No military aid to Israel!”

(Photo of Abbas blowing hot air from Israel National News)

Israeli bombing & ethnic cleansing in Gaza

This photo of a Palestinian responding to the Israeli bombing of a smuggling tunnel (earlier this month) captures the breadth & barbarism of Israel against Gaza–which is at once a siege of constant bombings & an embargo on vital human needs like medicine & foods. Palestinians are forced to build underground tunnels to smuggle what Israel won’t allow claiming Gaza uses much of the stuff to build bombs–though Israel has never been able to explain how books, paper, blankets, penicillin, aspirins, antibiotics, chocolate, spices, & other vital products are used in constructing heavy artillery. Such an embargo is however extremely effective in ethnic cleansing.

There are concentrated periods, often lasting several days & weeks, of Israeli bombing in Gaza but it never really ends. Drone sorties are most often triggered by Israeli claims of rocket attacks from Gaza. It’s become difficult for Israel to explain why thousands of alleged rockets have caused so little property damage & no casualties (including injuries from shrapnel) directly related to a rocket in the past several years. Zionist ideologues do not know shame but you have to hand to hand it to them for inventiveness in war & malice. They claim the lack of death & destruction is due to the massive civil defense infrastructure they built up in southern Israel near Gaza. They have bomb shelters, the noisy Red Dawn siren system, & the vaunted Iron Dome missile shield against rockets from Gaza. That means they never have to produce a single piece of evidence for the alleged rocket barrage.

There’s no question Israel sets off that noisy siren system & ushers people into bomb shelters to scare the hell out of them & justify the war footing against Gaza. It’s also likely some Palestinians in Gaza attempt to send over makeshift bombs loaded with blankets & oregano. But isn’t that Iron Dome working for Israel? Can’t the damn thing thwart such artillery?

Israel also claims it’s targeting Hamas military sites in Gaza. That doesn’t explain why they took out a washing machine factory in a refugee camp, a metal shop, schools, & homes; killed many civilians; injured dozens of others; & are keeping the people of Gaza under a reign of terror.

According to B’Tselem & the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, two Israeli human rights groups, there is a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians injured or killed by gunfire near Israel’s apartheid wall encircling Gaza. Since December, B’Tselem documented 55 Palestinians injured near the fence–43 of them by live ammunition & two by tear gas canisters. There have also been several fatalities, including children & a mentally ill woman, but there is no reliable figure on how many. Mind you, they were all killed within Gaza on farm lands considered off-limit zones to the Israeli military. The military claims they were sabotaging the fence but that’s as believable as thousands of rockets bombarding Israel.

Support Palestinian justice by boycotting all Israeli products (barcode beginning 729), supporting the cultural boycott of Israel, & demanding “No military aid to Israel!”

(Photo by Hatem Omar/AP)