1-Jaggi Singh Nabbed in Jerusalem
2-Canadian Human Rights Activist Kidnapped by Undercover Israeli
Forces
3-ISM Activist speaking in Oakland
4-Jewish Americans Renounce Right to Israeli Citizenship
5-we need your urgent interference
6-STOP THE WALL!
7-Countdown to Muwasi- Chris - Rafah
8-They shot a reporter
9-Airport Stories - Carolyn Gelenter
1-Jaggi Singh Nabbed in Jerusalem
Montreal, January 8th 2003 -- Jaggi Singh, a Montreal based activist and organizer, was kidnapped today in Jerusalem by a group of undercover Israeli police officers. He was on his way to visit a friend, and was arrested as he arrived at his friend's apartment. Jaggi traveled to Israel and the Occupied Territories on the invitation of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The ISM is a Palestinian-led movement which brings together Palestinians and Internationals to fight the Israeli occupation through non- violent direct action.
Jaggi was also providing written and audio reports to various independent news organizations and activist networks about the situation on the ground in the Occupied Territories.
Jaggi's kidnapping comes after his trip to the Occupied Territories had ended and as he prepared to leave Israel. He planned return to Canada on January 11th. When Jaggi first arrived in Israel in mid- December, he was refused entry to the country. He refused to be refused andwas immediately detained; he spent two days fighting an illegal deportation from Israel. Israel has refused 10,000 internationals over the past 2 years.
After winning a court battle with the assistance of Israeli lawyer Shamai Leibowitz, Jaggi was granted entry into Israel with the condition that he leave the country by December 23rd. The judge also barred him from entering the Occupied Territories. This condition, imposed by the Tel Aviv District Court, is illegal according to Canadian and International Law. Israel has no has absolutely no legal authority over the Palestinian Territories and therefore cannot decide who is allowed entry and who is not.
Jaggi is currently being held at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, an Israeli Jail notorious for torturing Palestinians. No details are being released as to the nature of Jaggi's charges -- if any are being laid -- or how long he will be held.
Today's nabbing illustrates the lengths to which the state of Israel will go to silence voices critical of the occupation.
Please call the following numbers and urge the Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs to intervene politically and pressure the Israeli government to ensure that Jaggi is released swiftly and returns home safely.
===> The Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv: Phone: +011-972-3-636-3300 Fax: (011 9723) 636-3380 E-mail Address: taviv@d...
===> The 24/7 Operations Center at the
Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa: Phone: 1-800-267-6788 or 613-944-6788.
===> Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham's
Office: 613-995-1851
You can also call the Russian Compound at
+011-972-2-539-1340 ask for Shimi Marciano.
For more information please email Stefan at
christoff@t... or Andrea at andrea@t...
For more information about the International
Solidarity Movement, check out the website: http://www.palsolidarity.org. ==============================================================2-Canadian Human Rights Activist Kidnapped by Undercover Israeli Forces 8/1/2003 West Jerusalem
Canadian activist Jaggi Singh was ambushed and forced into an unmarked vehicle and taken to an unknown location by 3 Israelis wearing plain clothes today when he arrived for a pre-arranged visit with a friend in West Jerusalem.
His friend, `Jonathan', released this report:
"Jaggi was supposed to visit me this evening, after spending the day at Yad Vashem. He called me to let me know that he would arrive at my house in 15 minutes. His arrival was somewhat eventful. I heard him yelling, and ran out to see three people in plain-clothes stuffing him into a car, which had been parked just outside my house.
They showed me police badges, refused to give their names, and drove a car with plates 47-213-15. I will call a lawyer."
His attorney, Shamlai Leibovitch, and the Canadian Consulate have been contacted.
Jaggi arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on December 14th and was initially refused entry by Israeli officials for `security reasons'. His attorney took his case to court and Jaggi was eventually given a one week visa with the condition that he not enter the occupied territories.
Jaggi is from Montreal, Canada and traveled to the occupied territories to write about the realities of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Jaggi is well known in Canada and abroad for speaking out against injustice in the many forms it takes.
For more information call Jonathan at 972 2 563 2363 or Smalai Leibovitch at 972 64 414 505 ==============================================================3-ISM Activist speaking in Oakland
For anyone who's interested, on January 12 there will be an event with several ISM speakers in Oakland. The address is 552 Crofton Ave, near Lake Merritt.
From 5 to 6 there will be a potluck dinner, and from 6 to 8 speakers will be presenting on the situation in Palestine. The audience is a group of returned Peace Corps volunteers. All are welcome! Thanks, Adam ===============================================================4-Jewish Americans Renounce Right to Israeli Citizenship; Reject Israel's Policies as "Barbaric"
In a letter to the Israeli government, nearly 60 Jewish Americans have renounced their legal right to Israeli citizenship to dissociate themselves from Israel's "barbaric" policies towards the Palestinians. While support for Israel among most American Jews continues to be nearly reflexive, a number of Jewish groups have sprung up as a result of growing concern about Israel's violations of Palestinian human rights. Groups such as Jews Against the Occupation and Not in My Name, for instance, condemn the harsh military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank and protest against the collective punishment of Palestinians.
The letter, originally circulated in England, goes further by declaring that the legal right to citizenship, bestowed on all Jews everywhere by Israel's "Law of Return," is "morally wrong." It notes that "the very people who should have most right to a genuine 'return'" [the Palestinians] are excluded, having been "forced or terrorised into fleeing" their homes. Finally, the letter expresses hope for a democratic future and "solidarity with all those who are working for a time when Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip can be lived in by people without any restrictions based on so-called racial, cultural, or ethnic origins."
LETTER:
We are Jews, born and raised outside Israel, who, under srael's "law of return," have a legal right to Israeli residence and citizenship We wish to renounce this unsought "right" because:
1) We regard it as morally wrong that this legal entitlement should be bestowed on us while the very people who should have most right to a genuine "return," having been forced or terrorised into fleeing, are excluded.
2) Israel's policies towards the Palestinians are barbaric -- we do not wish to identify ourselves in any way with what Israel is doing.
3) We disagree with the notion that Zionist emigration to Israel is any kind of "solution" for diaspora Jews, anti-Semitism or racism -- no matter to what extent Jews have been or are victims of racism, they have no right to make anyone else victims.
4) We wish to express our solidarity with all those who are working for a time when Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip can be lived in by people without any restrictions based on so-called racial, cultural, or ethnic origins.
We look forward to the day when all the peoples of the area are enabled to live in peace with each other on this basis of non-discrimination and mutual respect. Perhaps some of us would even wish to live there, but only if the rights of the Palestinians are respected. To those who consider Israel a "safe haven" for Jews in the face of anti-Semitism, we say that there can be no safety in taking on the role of occupier and oppressor. We hope that the people while the very people who should have most right to a genuine "return," having been forced or terrorised into fleeing, are excluded of Israel and their leaders will come to realize this soon. ================================================================5-we need your urgent interference.................
From: Issa Samandar [mailto:ldc@p-ol.com] Dear friends the village of Al-Daba' in Qalqilya district is facing now huge destruction that will destroy everything in the way of the Israeli bulldozers, near the "WALL" ...... the following will be destroyed if the bulldozers are not stopped:42 houses --an area of 600 -700 dunums of agricultural land- the mosque- the shared mixed elementary school (Al- Daba' and Ras Atiyyeh) of 132 schoolchildren.
we urge all people with conscious to interfere against this new attack of Israel on Palestinian citizens.......................the implementation is even in contradiction of the map and the military order which were issued before one month. that order had put the destruction distance of about 50 meters away from the " WALL"...but now they have entered about 500 meters inside the village itself.......... the village has 250 habitants...... LDC is warning that this is "ethnic cleansing" ..and our fear of the isolated small villages to be deported has become more clear...... this is not about politics only but it is crossing all parameters of human behavior.........and all human rights and international laws...... we are tired to mention always that these activities are in contradiction of international laws........since the "guardians " are still sleeping......we only wish that people facing these atrocities will still keep some hope in their minds and spirits.........please send, now, messages of support for the village of Daba' to the following addresses demanding for intervention: 1- American Consulate ,Jerusalem Email: keenme@state.gov Fax: +972-(0)2-6277230 2- European Union Office , Jerusalem I-mail: mailto@delwbg.cec.eu.int Fax: +972-(0) 2 - 5326249 3- UN Special Coordinator Office, Gaza I-mail: unsco@palnet.com Fax: + 972- (0) 8 - 2820966 ===============================================================6-STOP THE WALL!
Latest News from the Apartheid Wall Campaign January 2003 The Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network's (PENGON) Apartheid Wall Campaign is a national and international mobilization effort to stop the massive operation by the State of Israel to confiscate and destroy hundreds of thousands of dunums of Palestinian land by the creation of the Apartheid Wall, which if completed will bring to the Israeli annexation of some 10% of the West Bank. Bulldozers, land razing and tree uprooting are a daily scene, as are the handing out of devastating land confiscation and house demolition orders by the Israeli military.
The Wall is a tragic "advancement of the closure and siege policy and will leave thousands of families landless, jobless, hungry, and hopeless. The image of cities and villages encircled by checkpoints, by-pass roads, and settlements is now being accompanied by an 8- meter high concrete wall with trenches, electric fences, sensors, cameras, and armed watchtowers. The prospects of a completed wall are horrific.
We estimate that at the current rate Israel is working, the Wall could be completed by the end of 2003. To date, less than 4 kilometers of the expected minimum 350 kilometers of the actual Wall has been built but destruction for the groundwork of the Wall, marked by land confiscation and razing, is taking place on a massive scale and there are tens of communities today that need support to safeguard their lands from total destruction. ================================================================7-Countdown to Muwasi- Chris - Rafah
Humor has become a little more prominent today. Probably because the Muwasi action is tomorrow and we're all really stressed about it. I think, also, that we're starting to realize that, yes, the Occupation is horrible, but you have to deal with the reality of it somehow, and humor does a great job of it. So we were all joking around today (I made a comment about it being Saturday night and hitting the gay bars of Rafah).
We did more planning for Muwasi today. We also had a few moments throughout the day where we heard that there were tanks entering the city in the neighborhood where we were at yesterday. Each time was a false alarm; they left as soon as they came.
We haven't seen any sort of retaliation for the attack on the illegal settlement in the West Bank yesterday. One interesting bit of fallout from it, though. Many of the ISM people here are "peace" type activists (you know… the conflict could be solved if the Israelis and the Palestinians could just talk to one another). One of them, Carla (from Seattle) made an interesting comment. She said that she opposes all attacks on civilians, but soldiers are attackers and that assaults on them are justified (presumably as self-defense). She then took it a step further and said that settlers are attackers, too, and although she wouldn't promote going after settlers, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
It's nice to see this sort of realization. Obviously it would be great if the conflict could be ended peacefully, but that's simply not going to happen. That doesn't mean that the Palestinians should overwhelm and kill all Israelis, just that Palestinians, as people dispossessed of their land, have the right to self-defense. At the minimum, that includes going after settlers who continue to take their land.
Tomorrow's Muwasi. In all honesty, I'll be quite pleased if I don't have to treat any gunshot wounds. ===============================================================8-They shot a reporter.
Two hundred meters away and they grazed the back of his head. One centimeter lower and we're attending his funeral instead of visiting his hospital room. He's going to be fine. He was in very good spirits in the hospital, but I'm still really pissed. Let me take it from the top.
We went to the meeting spot about one kilometer away from the checkpoint where we met up with the villagers. We had apparently been misinformed: 100-200 people want to come with us, but almost all wanted to see us in action before joining us. So, we had five women with flags there. No matter, though, these five women along with big bags of medical supplies would accompany us. We also had local reporters as well as the Refuters news agency there with us. We began walking towards the checkpoint.
We made it about half of the way there when we got our first notification that we weren't welcome: a rifle shot off to our right. We ignored the warning shot and continued. They Israeli Occupation Forces fired several more shots, each progressively closer. One of them was so close that the bullet kicked up a small stone that bounced along the ground and hit me lightly on my right ankle. With each shot, we stopped for a few seconds and then proceeded slowly. Finally the IOF had had enough and fired the nearly fatal shot.
We were scared and angry at that point, and further reflection has made me even angrier. As we approached the checkpoint, we seemed to have more power than the IOF. Obviously they're the ones with the guns, jeeps, tanks, helicopter, F-16s and training, but on our side we had world opinion. We were escorting older women while carrying medical supplies and world opinion simply wouldn't stand for a bloodbath. The IOF wanted to get rid of the media in order to tip the scales their way. Of course, they couldn't shoot an international media member, because that would be a huge story, so they went after a local Palestinian reporter. Their sharpshooter grazed his head (intentionally or unintentionally, meaning they may have meant to kill him), and all of the media immediately took off (not that I blame them). Now we were just a bunch of activists with a few video cameras,which clearly gave the IOF the advantage. They used this man as a pawn in their game.
They were so determined to keep residents and medical supplies out of Tel Sultan that they shot and nearly killed a reporter.
After this we tried talking to them with our bullhorn. After several minutes of this while we continued slowly approaching, they responded over their loudspeaker. Naturally, they told us that we couldn't come through and that we should turn around and go back. We refused and the situation came to a standstill.
After a while they sent a jeep out to negotiate with us. Angela (from New York) went out and came back several times.
After a standstill in negotiations and a few more warning shots the Palestinians and we decided to back off and go home. The whole thing took about two hours.
I got about an hour and a half of it on tape.
American cops in riot gear will never frighten me again.
Although this poor man was shot and we didn't get through, the action was in many ways a success. We showed the villagers that we are serious and aren't going to run at the first sign of danger. We also showed the IOF the same thing. This sets us up for a more successful run at it in the future. Furthermore, it helps build our reputation in the community, which will make it much easier to help the city now that they know we're not Israeli collaborators.
Naturally, we're all sad and pissed about what happened, but this was still a good action.
Hopefully, this will be the most excitement we see today, inshallah. There's a good chance that won't be the case, though.
There was a jeep scouting in Hiasalaama, a neighborhood that is right up against the Egyptian border (the apartheid wall hasn't been built this far yet). This usually me and that they're demolishing houses that night. Of course, it's 10:00 PM and they haven't cut power to the city like they always do when enacting these sorts of things, so who knows? There have been several extended periods of gunfire in the distance (maybe one or two kilometers away), but n othing too close. It's mostly been M-16's along with occasional fire from the heavy machine guns on the tanks. There is also at least one Apache helicopter in the sky, but that isn't too out of the ordinary.
We got going to our houses late tonight and it was already dark as we were moving through Hiasalaama. At one point we actually had to duck a few bullets. I think this is the first time that I've been shot at, rather than been given warnings. Yes, it's as unpleasant as you think. I'm going to have a few words with our coordinator tomorrow.
I'm exhausted from today's action and I'm going to bed early. I really hope I sleep through the night.
Tomorrow we're meeting up with people from the World Social Forum. The Porto Alegre people are having a conference in Ramallah and tomorrow they'll be in Gaza City for a demonstration in which we'll take part. Should be no problem after today. Chris Rafah, Occupied Palestine ===================================================================9-Airport Stories - Carolyn Gelenter
last time i sat down to write a report i was interrupted by a call to go out on the streets of nablus because there were tanks in askar refugee camp and some people were being held by the idf. that seems like another lifetime.
i am now back in london and apart from the fact that it is snowing for the first time in 10 years, there is nothing here that will disturb my writing tonight. i did not bother finishing my last report about the goings-on in nablus as i have read several reports about the situation from others. there is a lot of news reports about nablus and gaza and i have to say that media seems to be reporting if not on the side of the palestinians, certainly not favourably towards the israeli's either. there is a definite shift here in the media reporting.
i thought i would mention a couple of airport stories and also write a little about my reflections after leaving palestine. when i left nablus and got back to jerusalem, i got into a taxi with two americans. one had cuban ancestry and the other indian. i mention this because they were not white skinned but they did hold american passports. when they arrived at ben gurion their bags were confiscated and they were told they would not get them back until they left the country.
they were given 800 ns each as compensation. the airlines and insurance companies had tried to intervene on their behalf but were told it was under the jurisdiction of israeli security.
as some of you know i also had a humorous airport story of my own. when i arrived at ben gurion i made the mistake of telling the security officer when she asked if i had any relatives in israel that i had been married to an israeli but had been divorced for 25 years. she asked if i had lived in israel and again i replied that i had 25 years ago. she insisted that i must have a security number. no manner of convincing from me that i did not want a bloody security number (which in fact means i am an israeli citizen and must have an israeli passport) was enough to stop her from ringing her officer who then relayed my security number back to her. this was stamped in my australian passport as she informed me that i must go to the ministry of the interior and pick up my israeli passport! i told her that i didn't want an israeli passport. i told her that as an australian i couldn't hold dual nationality (a white lie but i thought i would give it a try) give up your australian passport she told me! no! i said. i am divorced i said. according to their records there was no record of my divorce, which is an interesting dilemma for my ex husband who has subsequently remarried 3 times! she told me if i didn't want the passport i could go with my divorce papers and present them to the ministry. who carries their divorce papers around with them! she finally let me in with the words that if i didn't pick up my passport i would be in big trouble when i tried to leave. after speaking to a few people (thankyou susan) i decided i would take a chance and not spend a precious day at the ministry trying to chase up a bloody passport i didn't even want. i had no trouble at the airport - i will come back to this later. but when i reached passport control the security officer informed me that as i didn't have a visa in my australian passport and that i should have an israeli passport because i had an id number she couldn't let me leave the country. i have to say i did think this was rather funny given that if they knew what i had been up to i think they would have happily bundled me on the next plane to anywhere.
after about 10 minutes i managed to convice her that i would go straight away to the israeli consulate in london and get my israeli passport there. before i come to israel next time, i plan to apply for a british passport which i am also entitled to and lie through my teeth.
on a more serious note i didn't get hassled at all at the airport although theresa who left the week before got body searched and all her bags were also thoroughly searched. i couldn't see any pattern. maybe it is random, or maybe a particular answer to a question triggers off the need for a search, it is really difficult to say. if you get a blue sticker you have no worries.
finally some reflections on my time in nablus. maybe this is not the sort of thing you wish to put out on the ism lists? i know there is so much going on there and it is really really terrible. but maybe it is also good to hear how people feel and think when they have a little distance from the situation? if you do not want this to go out then feel free to edit this email, even though i know it is not something you normally do. but if you feel it is not relevant then i completely understand if you wish to delete this part of the email before you send it out.
of course my passport story is a funny story but behind lies the real intent of the racist and facist state of israel. those like myself who are born jewish and have very tentative ties to israel are entitled to a homeland there, whilst others born in that land are unable to move about freely, or return to their land of birth. but i also think that this situation is not so far removed from germany or britain for example, who choose now to exlude the most vulnerable people from all parts of the world claiming refuge. this is not to excuse the israeli state. indeed i witnessed a situation of apartheid, i experienced the fascist nature of the israeli army and truly the words ethnic cleansing are not out of place in what is happening there.
but i also see that it is on a continuum of what is going on all over the west. what happens to many people when they arrive in israel and are immediately deported at the airport for example is what happens to vulnerable people from all parts of the globe, except to people from the west of course, who apply for refuge in fortress europe or other parts of the western world. of course we are not directly in a situation of war either - but i am positive that if western governments could justify bringing in more brutal security measures - even more so than the new anti terrorist laws - they would happily see roadblocks and checkpoints and armed soldiers roaming the streets of london.
i spent some days in nablus and a few days in jerusalem and bethlehem. i left feeling incredibly hopeless and distressed. most of the people i spoke to in israel who were doing work with palestinians, were not israeli born.
many of the soldiers are deeply brutalised and see all palestinians as potential terrorists. yet some of them were open to listening. when soldiers spoke to me about how they had no choice, i always responded by saying there is always a choice. of course those words, i have no choice, were deeply embedded in my psyche from having read much literature about the holocaust and it is impossible not to make a connection between what the israeli soldiers said and what the nazi's had said 60 years before. but it is important for me to understand the bigger picture of the development of consciousness, the use of power and oppression and not to see things in simple black and white. for we are all capable of behaving just as the nazi's did and just as the israeli's are doing today. if i were brought up amongst racist propaganda and got to carry a semi- automatic machine gun slung around my neck at 18 years of age, i would also abuse my power. i am no different from them although i would like to think myself capable of being one of those small minority of incredibly courageous people who for some reason are able to rise above the processes of socialisation, who refuse to serve or who maintain links with palestinians across physical divides and risk of arrest. it is important to keep understanding in all this horror and desparation, not to excuse or condone, but to understand. for if i lose my sense of understanding then i lose my ability to maintain my humanity. and for me it became most important to keep seeing the humanity in these young soldiers, for it is easy to become like them in these situation - to want to steal their guns and shoot them. watching them embarrass and humiliate and shout for no reason other than the person they are doing this to is not a person to them, but a potential terrorist, whether they are 2 or 9 months pregnant or 82. of course not all the soldiers behaved like this, but shamefully many did.
so it is not a story of hope or optimism. i cannot stop thinking about these experiences. i hang on to the few glimmers of hope that i did manage to salvage amongst all this brutality. meeting with palestinian women who called me their sister and after i explained i was jewish and was indeed their sister, their acceptance and hospitality offered to me was a real privilege and a reason to hope. the few israeli women i met who get up at some ungodly hour of the morning before work to go and do checkpoint watch. the soldier who walked around the holocaust museum with myself (the daughter of a holocaust survivor), a german judge who was our guide and who had converted to judaism and had been living in israel for 12 years, a christian chaplain and a muslim, all walking around a museum filled with a story of horror and despair, with a possibility of hope that we could walk together and discuss our differences and that if we had the time we could figure a way forward in all this pain and devastation.
but i have to say mostly i felt an overwhelming sense that for the time being it is not possible to find a path of peace. the israeli government will not let israeli's into the occupied territories or palestinians into israel and there is a tiny minority of people who risks their lives to cross this divide.but somehow if i can maintain an honesty and be as real as i can not to pretend then maybe i can salvage hope. and mostly i believe i have a responsibility to use my privilege to try and raise awareness in britain. i am really glad that i went - it was an amazing and never to be forgotten experience. perhaps i made little difference, sometimes the international presence helps, sometimes not. but i will never forget what i witnessed there or the brave people that i met. my promise to myself and to them,is to keep real and keep doing those little things together with others that may someday add up to more than peace, but a different world based on values of love, sharing and tenderness towards all. in solidarity and heartfelt wishes to all the wonderful people i met, carolyn
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