Do bloggers have any influence in changing authoritarian regimes? Egyptian Blogger, Journalist, and activist Wael Abbas is a thorn in the side of the government and got month a million people read his blog. but is he just gaining celebrity status, or is he making a real difference?
Archive for January, 2010
As former JVP board member Penny Rosenwasser said:
Our beloved Howard Zinn died yesterday of a heart attack in Los Angeles; he was 87. What a huge loss for us as Jews, as progressives, as human beings who care deeply about the world and the people in it.
Zinn was a founding member of JVP’s Advisory Board and he was a tremendous supporter of our work and vision for justice and full equality in Israel and Palestine. He spoke out on behalf of the Shministim, Israel’s young conscientious objectors who waited in jail for refusing to serve the occupation. He spoke frankly about the intolerable subjugation of millions of Palestinians, and how it hurt both peoples. And he stood up for the full humanity of all people everywhere.
He always spoke the truth with humor and and with hope. How lucky we were to share this world and this time with him.
As Zinn wrote in his autobiography, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train” (1994), “From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than ‘objectivity’; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it.”
We were all his students, and we at JVP will continue to do our best to live up to his lessons.
Jewish Voice for Peace
Los Angeles, US, January 28, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – This week, a screening of “Avatar” erupted into a small ruckus in a U.S. suburb when one moviegoer loudly announced that the Palestinians should learn from this movie what to do to the Jews, causing a commotion and angering others in the audience.
The opinionated moviegoer was Juliano Mer-Khamis. Born in Nazereth to a Jewish mother and Arab father, he is an accomplished actor of many years, a filmmaker as well as a political activist who is very outspoken against the occupation.
Mer-Khamis confirmed the incident and added in the newspaper Maariv: “No one dares to make the real analogy. ‘Avatar’ is one of the bravest films made. It portrays the occupation, but people aren’t making the analogy. Many would like to be like the blue people but don’t understand the meaning. This is why people got angry at the movie theater. It is no secret that I think the Israelis are occupiers and the Palestinians occupied. Israel sits forcefully on lands that belong to others and this is exactly what the movie is talking about.”
Israel has accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of inciting “anti-Semitism” by making remarks on the war crimes committed against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
A new report prepared by the foreign ministry in Tel Aviv charges that although Erdogan has stresses that anti-Semitism is “a crime against humanity,” he “indirectly incites and encourages” it in Turkey, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
“In our estimate, ever since his party took power, Erdogan has conducted an ongoing process of … fashioning a negative view of Israel in Turkish public opinion,” through endless talks of Palestinian suffering, repeatedly accusing Israel of war crimes and even “anti-Semitic expressions and incitement,” read the report.
The seven-page report written by the Center for Political Research has already been distributed to Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.
“For Erdogan and some of those around him,” the report claimed, “there is no distinction between ‘Israeli’ and ‘Jewish,’ and therefore, [their] anti-Israel fervor and criticism become anti-Jewish.”
“Turkey today, under the leadership of the AKP [Erdogan's Justice and Development Party], is different from the Turkey with which Israel forged a strategic relationship in the early 1990s,” the report concluded.
Relations between Israel and Turkey began to deteriorate after Erdogan publicly slammed Israel over its late 2008 incursion into Gaza and charged the regime with committing “barbarian” acts against the Palestinian civilians.
Saturday 30th of January 2010 02:13:17 AM
* IHH, Ahmet Emin +90 530 341 19 34
* Free Gaza Movement, Eliza Ernshire +44 754 011 22 94
[Istanbul, Turkey, 28 January 2010] Today the Free Gaza Movement and
the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH), announce a joint venture, sending
10 boats in the spring of 2010 to the besieged Gaza strip.
Organizations from Greece, Ireland and Sweden have also promised to
send boats to join the flotilla with the Free Gaza movement and
Mr. Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the IHH said, “We sail in the spring
to Gaza, and our last port is freedom; freedom for the 1.5 million
Palestinians denied the right to rebuild their society. We will never
stop sailing until Israel’s siege is lifted.”
Two cargo ships will be part of the flotilla, one donated by the
Malaysia-based Perdana Foundation and one from IHH. Both will be laden
with building supplies, generators and educational materials that
Israel prohibits from entering Gaza since their brutal attack on the
civilian population a year ago.
The many passenger boats accompanying the cargo ships will carry
members of Parliament from countries around the world as well as
high-profile journalists and human rights workers.
According to the chair of the Free Gaza Movement, Huwaida Arraf, “The
illegal blockade on Gaza and Israel’s continued intransigence make a
mockery of international law. If our governments will not take a
stance to stop Israel’s abuse of the Palestinian people, global civil
society is showing that we will.”
The Free Gaza movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to Gaza
in August 2008. These were the first international boats to land in
the port in 41 years. Since then, seven more voyages boarded
Parliamentarians, human rights workers, and other dignitaries to
witness the effects of Israel’s draconian policies on the civilians of
Gaza. The last three voyages were illegally stopped by the Israeli
navy when, in December, 2008, they rammed the DIGNITY in international
water, turned back the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY by threatening to shoot all
on board, then hijacking the SPIRT on July 1, 2009, kidnapping the
passengers and throwing them into prison for a week. http://www.freegaza.org.
Since 1992, the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH) has provided
humanitarian assistance to civilians who have been victims of war or
natural disasters all over the world. One of IHH’s main objectives is
to take necessary steps to prevent any violations against civilian
basic rights and liberties. IHH aims at providing relief help so
communities can resume their daily life and stand on their own feet,
as well as strengthening leadership and institutions of communities
that have been made dependent on aid. http://www.ihh.org.tr
Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement calls on the State of Israel to fully open Gaza’s crossings and to allow the real victims of the closure – 1.5 million human beings – the freedom of movement necessary to realize their dreams and aspirations.
Sixty-five years ago, Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops. Peter Lavelle asks his guests what the legacy of the Holocaust is today. Is its memory being abused? Does Israel use Holocaust as a blackmail weapon? Norman Finkelstein and Israel W. Charny discuss the issue in a heated debate.
Knesset members visiting Krakow surprised to see ads against opposition chairwoman, defense minister on number of bulletin boards across city
Israeli leaders continue are still wanted in Europe, but not in a positive way: Knesset members visiting Poland for ceremonies marking International Holocaust Day were surprised to see ads against Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni in the city of Krakow on Tuesday evening.