A Celtic Message To Palestine

Celtic FC supporters' solidarity with left-wing causes is thought to stem from historic prejudice and exclusion faced by Catholic immigrants in Glasgow [GALLO/GETTY]


Football Fans Known For Identifying With Left-Wing Irish Causes Express Solidarity With Hunger Strikers In Israeli Jail.

By Andrew McFadyen
Last Modified: 13 Jun 2012 14:33
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

Glasgow, United Kingdom - On the final day of the Scottish football season, one of the biggest crowds in Europe turned up to watch Celtic FC being crowned champions.

Nearly 60,000 fans danced and sang as their heroes demolished Edinburgh club Heart of Midlothian 5-0. Anthems such as "You’ll Never Walk Alone" and "The Celtic Song" mingled with tributes to players past and present.

Then something different happened. For a few minutes, in one corner of the stadium, a flurry of Palestinian flags flew proudly amidst the green and white colours of the home supporters.

A banner appeared reading: "Dignity is More Precious than Food."

This display of support for Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails was organised by members of the Green Brigade, a well-known "ultras" group who describe themselves as left-wing, anti-racist and anti-sectarian.

"We did this in solidarity, to raise awareness and because it's the right thing to do. We want Palestinians to know we are thinking about them and encourage Scottish civil society to look at the injustice in Palestine." - Celtic FC 'Green Brigade' spokesman

An unnamed spokesman told the "We are all Hana Shalabi" website: "We did this in solidarity, to raise awareness and because it's the right thing to do. We want Palestinians to know we are thinking about them and encourage Scottish civil society to look at the injustice in Palestine."

Palestinian and Basque flags have been flown at Celtic Park since at least the 1980s. Celtic's identification with left-wing causes is said to reflect the sometimes bitter experience of the Scots-Irish community from which it sprang.
 
For most of the 20th century, Irish immigrants to Scotland faced prejudice and discrimination. Catholics were excluded from skilled trades and denied jobs in many of Glasgow's shipyards and engineering workshops.

Celtic's great rivals, Rangers, the club of the Scottish Protestant establishment, reflected this intolerance with their own sectarian signing policy - refusing to enlist Catholic players - a policy which continued well into the 1980s.

Historian David Potter, who has written over 20 books about Celtic, told Al Jazeera that their success "provided a rallying point for the Irish community and gave them their self-respect".

Many Celtic fans today regard the Palestinian struggle for national freedom and equality as similar to their own.

Potter commented: "Ulster and Israel are similarly artificially created states. They were created by the British as an attempt to retain their influence, even if this was at the expense of naked and brutal suppression of those who disagreed."

On the other side of the city, Rangers fans fly the Israeli flag alongside the Union Jack.

Some Ulster Unionists make a connection between their own minority status on the island of Ireland and Israel, standing alone against its foes in a hostile region.

Other Rangers supporters fly the Star of David as a tribute to the club's former Israeli defender, Avi Cohen, who died tragically young in a motorcycle accident in 2010.

However, Alasdair McKillop from the Rangers Supporters Trust says the Israeli flags at Ibrox are largely a manifestation of the tit-for-tat dynamics of Glasgow's intense football rivalry.

He told Al Jazeera: "I don't think many Rangers fans would list 'support for Israel' if you asked them what they thought it meant to be a Rangers fan. But in the world of Rangers and Celtic, every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

The sporting significance of this cultural divide is likely to grow, as Palestine's national team attempts to qualify for major tournaments and Israel looks forward to hosting the UEFA Under-23 Championship in 2013.

Palestine was accepted as a FIFA member in 1998, after the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Nabhan Khraishi, spokesman for the Palestinian Football Association, said they are "using sport to deliver a message to the world".

A national team is a powerful symbol among a nation without a state, but progress has been difficult. In 2009, three Palestinian footballers, Ayman Alkurd, Shadi Sbakhe and Wajeh Moshtahe were among those killed during the bombing of Gaza.

"We are asking international organisations to pressure Israel to allow us freedom of movement ... We are appealing to all sports clubs to stand with us." - Nabhan Khraishi, PFA spokesman

The National Stadium and the offices of the Palestinian Football Association were also destroyed.

"We are facing harassment from the Israelis," Khraishi told Al Jazeera. "Our players - and even our technical teams - are not allowed to move freely between Gaza and the West Bank, and are held up at international borders."

When Palestine played their first competitive home international last year, an Olympic qualifier against Thailand, eight Gaza-based players were stopped from making the short journey to Ramallah for the match.

"We are asking international organisations to pressure Israel to allow us freedom of movement," said Khraishi. "We are appealing to all sports clubs to stand with us."

Amir Ofek, press attache at the Israeli embassy in London, denied that Israel was deliberately targeting players. He told Al Jazeera that "almost-daily missile attacks" launched on Israel from Gaza were the only reason for imposing travel restrictions on Palestinians.

He added that Israel had the right to control who and what entered the Palestinian territories because of the security situation - and that it had to conduct checks to stop materials being brought in that could potentially be used for "hostile activity".

Most pressing of all is the case of Palestinian footballer, Mahmoud Sarsak, whose life is said to be at grave risk after beginning a hunger strike on March 19.

Sarsak is one of 300 Palestinian prisoners being held under "administrative detention", a procedure used to hold suspects for potentially unlimited time without trial.

He has been in Israeli custody since July 2009, when he was detained at a checkpoint as he travelled from his home in Gaza to join the Palestinian national squad for a match at the Balata Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank.

The recent wave of hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners has mobilised widespread support and cut across differences of faith and geography. There are now wider calls from civic Scotland for a sporting boycott of Israel.

Pauline McNeill, a former member of the Scottish parliament and a prominent pro-Palestinian activist, told Al Jazeera that UEFA should reconsider its decision to hold its Under-23 Championship in Israel in 2013.

"Nelson Mandela said the sporting boycott was hugely significant in breaking the Apartheid Regime in South Africa," she said. "I believe it is time to make a stand that this is unacceptable. Amongst other things I believe that UEFA should not endorse the actions of Israel by playing the tournament in Israel as if it's just business as usual."

The new Scottish football season kicks-off in August. There are growing fears that Mahmoud Sarsak may never play again.

Palestina Amore

Some Italians Have Made It Their Mission To Mobilise Support On Behalf Of The Palestinian Cause.

Submitted By "Sayf Maslul" 

Al Jazeera World 
Last Modified: 23 Nov 2011 08:17 
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

On May 31, 2010, an Israeli military raid on an aid flotilla sailing to the blockaded Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of 19 unarmed peace activists, prompting international condemnation over what was perceived as a brutal and unjustified use of force.

Five of those killed were Italian nationals who were part of the humanitarian mission attempting to break the blockade by delivering goods and construction materials to the occupied Palestinian territory. Israeli sanctions on Gaza since 2001 have led to widespread poverty and rampant unemployment there.

But the deadly attack on the flotilla has only served to further motivate Italian supporters of the Palestinian cause. 

The Palestine Forum, a network of Italian committees and associations, is pushing for greater political support for the Palestinians, while the Rome Palestinian Solidarity Network is continuing to organise a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli products.

"If I speak of Zionism as a colonialist ideology supported by imperialist countries, then the struggle against Zionism is not only a Palestinian struggle. It is mine, yours and ours." Mila Pernice, a journalist and member of the Palestine Forum

Mila Pernice, a journalist and presenter with Citta Apera, a radio channel in Rome, and a member of the Palestine Forum, says the network is gaining public support.

"We offer political support more than just humanitarian or cultural support. In the past few years we've succeeded in getting more people to be part of our activities. The Forum has helped raise awareness and mobilise people," she explains.

"Why do we support the Palestinian cause? Because it's an obvious injustice happening before the entire world. And because we are against imperialists and colonialists. If I speak of Zionism as a colonialist ideology supported by imperialist countries, then the struggle against Zionism is not only a Palestinian struggle. It is mine, yours and ours."

Rossana Platone, a retired teacher, witnessed the events that led to the birth of Israel and, along with her left-leaning family, initially supported the Israeli government. But her stance changed during the 1967 war.

"The occupation of Palestinian land and the successive colonisation of this land were the reasons why I changed my point of view," she explains.

She is now part of a group called Stop Agrexco in Rome which encourages a boycott of Israeli agricultural products, particularly those from the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Agrexco is the company that exports most of Israel's food products to Italy.

She says the pro-Palestinian movement has received a "positive response from many people," but that she is also aware of the limits of their actions: "We don't think we can change the world by distributing leaflets. But small things can make a difference. We are not in the government. We don't have the power to change things. Each helps in their own way. But we are realistic about what we can achieve."

Don't Let Them Destroy The Revolution

An Activist In The OWS Movement, Who Has Been Closely Working With Egyptian Activists, Urges Obama To Break The Silence. 

Submitted By "Sayf Maslul"

By Anonymous Activist 
Last Modified: 21 Nov 2011 10:36 
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

President Obama, where are you? Are you not watching the same images that the world is watching of the massacres in Tahrir? Are you too busy preparing for Thanksgiving to take a minute to make a strong statement about what's happening in a country in which your government has invested so much money and support? 

Are you not outraged at the brutal suppression of pro-democracy protesters by the military junta in Egypt? If so, why have you offered no meaningful condemnation of the attempt to crush a revolution that has so inspired millions of Americans? After all, their encouragement to Occupy Wall Street might actually wind up saving your presidency.

During the fateful 18 days in January and February when Egyptians took to the streets by the millions to topple Hosni Mubarak, you remained largely silent, refusing to call directly for democracy until it was clear that young Egyptians would not be denied their wish to be free of his three-decade-long rule.

In the months since then, as thousands of Egyptians have been attacked, imprisoned, sexually assaulted and murdered by their government, the United States has not merely remained silent, but has continued to provide crucial diplomatic, economic and military aid to the regime responsible for these crimes.

Now that the facade of a democratic transition has been ripped away and Egyptians are once again battling the military government in Tahrir Square for the future of the country, your administration remains as quiet as it was in the early days of the revolution. Such silence is both morally indefensible, and politically and strategically disastrous for the US. The march for freedom in Egypt cannot be stopped, and when Egyptians finally rid themselves of the military government and establish a democratic system, the US will have few friends in Egypt, or the Arab world more broadly, if it is seen as having supported the military rather than the people at this pivotal moment.

Mr President, if you have any moral backbone left, you must immediately issue a strong condemnation of the violence unleashed by the Egyptian military on its people, suspend all military and diplomatic aid and relations with the Egyptian government until it stops attacking peaceful protesters, releases the 12,000-plus citizens jailed since Mubarak's ouster, and commits to handing over power to a transitional civilian government as soon as parliamentary elections are completed. 

Moreover, as Egypt's main global sponsor, it is up to you to press other Western allies and supporters of the Egyptian government to develop a clear and strong policy in support of a rapid transition to democracy and apply the full weight of international diplomatic, economic and legal pressure on the military junta towards that end.

Anything less will be a stain on the US that will haunt your administration, and the country more broadly, for years to come.

The world is watching, Mr President - not just Tahrir Square, but 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It would be nice if you could show even a glimmer of the courage exhibited by this weekend's martyrs of Tahrir. Given the stakes involved and the power of the US to help Egyptians achieve the democracy they so deserve, if you can't, you will have surrendered whatever legitimacy still remains to you as a leader who can bring hope and inspire change to a world that has rarely been as in need of both.

The author of this article is an activist with the Occupy Wall Street movement who has also spent time in Egypt working with pro-democracy activists over the last year.

Solidarity With The Egyptian Patriots

They will not force us
And they will stop degrading us
And they will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on


Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end, we have to
Unify and watch our flag ascend, so come on
[Courtesy Of "Muse"]

Egyptian's In Solidarity With U.S. Protestors

Compiled By "CavalierZee" 

Egyptian's March To Tahrir Square In Solidarity With U.S. Protestors

Thousands of Egyptian's rallied in Tahrir Square on Friday, October 28, 2011, voicing  their displeasure with Egypt's Supreme Council Of The Armed Forces (SCAF).

Activists then proceeded from the Tahrir Square to the U.S. Embassy, to display their solidarity with America's Occupy Oakland Movement .

Pictures of the protest are below:


The man in Shades and dark shirt is holding a sign that reads:


"Tahrir, Occupy Wall Street [OWS], Occupy Oakland, Greece, London, Sydney ---> Same Goal."




The highest held sign (below) reads: 




"Occupy Oakland  and Tahrir Are Comrades"






“From Egypt To Wall Street, Don't [Be] Afraid, Go Ahead.”




 

"Tahrir Square, Occupy Oakland, OWS ---> One Hand"



'From Tahrir To Occupy Oakland and USA One Case, One Goal: Social Justice For All. Fuck Police."

Criminalising Palestinian Solidarity

Palestinian solidarity activists making their voices heard are alleged to be supporting 'terrorism', as if an entire nation of people can be generalised as criminals [GALLO/GETTY]


Campaigning Against Israeli Apartheid Has Resulted In 23 Palestinian Solidarity Activists Facing US Federal Grand Jury.

By Maureen Murphy
Last Modified: 27 Jun 2011 12:31
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

The United States government has criminalised the Palestinian people, and now it is increasingly treating US citizens who stand in solidarity with Palestine as criminals as well - including those courageously putting their lives on the line to break the siege on Gaza.

I am a Palestine solidarity activist in the US, and one of 23 US citizens who have been issued with a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury as part of what the government has said is an investigation into violations of the laws banning material support to foreign "terrorist organisations".

None of us have given money or weapons to any group on the State Department's foreign terrorist organisation list. But what many of us have done is participate in or help organise educational trips to meet with Palestinians and Colombians resisting the US-funded military regimes they live under.

The goal of these trips is to learn about the human rights violations happening in these places and to bring those stories back home to the US, to educate people and to organise to change US foreign policy for the better.

Warranting An Investigation

Travel for such purposes should be protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. But a year ago the US Supreme Court decided in Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project to dramatically expand the government's definition of what constitutes material support for a foreign terrorist organisation.

Now the government considers travel to places like the West Bank and Colombia to be a predicate or justification for opening up an investigation and issuing search warrants to raid activists' homes and seize their belongings. Political speech if made in a "coordinated way" can be construed as material support.

Travel to Colombia was the initial pretext for the investigation into the 23 of us, but it expanded to travel to Palestine. This was confirmed with the recent discovery of files accidentally left behind by the FBI in one of the homes raided last September.

The file includes dozens of questions that the FBI wanted to pose to activists - many of them focused on travel to Palestine and Colombia, two asking activists to name every person they know who has ever travelled to the Middle East or South America.

Civil liberties groups including the Center for Constitutional Rights have decried Holder v. HLP because it imposes guilt on people by association and criminalises "activities like distribution of literature, engaging in political advocacy, participating in peace conferences, training in human rights advocacy, and donating cash and humanitarian assistance, even when this type of support is intended only to promote lawful and non-violent activities".

The investigation into the 23 of us is viewed by many as a test case for Holder vs. HLP. Conviction of a violation of the material support laws means a prison sentence of up to 15 years - and what happens with our case will set a precedent for many social justice movements in the US. But it will particularly - and perhaps more immediately - impact Palestine solidarity activists who campaign to end US aid to Israel and in support of the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.

Palestine Solidarity Movement In The US At Risk

The Palestine Solidarity Movement has gained significant ground in the US in the past few years. Consciousness of the oppressive nature of the Israeli apartheid regime has been raised in the wake of Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon - when the phrase "Dahiyeh doctrine" was coined to describe Israel's wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure. The winter 2008-09 invasion and air attacks on the trapped civilian population in the Gaza Strip further exposed Israel's cruelty, and the execution of nine humanitarians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla last year showed that Israel knows no bounds - and that the impunity it enjoys needs to end before the next massacre is perpetrated.

Activists in the US play a key role in efforts to bring Israel's war crimes and occupation to an end, as the US government bankrolls the Israeli military with our tax dollars, and shields Israel from accountability through diplomatic bullying and the veto at the UN Security Council.

For these reasons, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement in the US, while still young, is especially significant. The movement is rooted in a rights-based approach and aims to compel Israel to respect international law.

Such efforts to hold Israel to account are viewed as enough of a threat that the US State Department this month reiterated its commitment to "counter head-on efforts of de-legitimisation" regarding Israel.

"Our diplomatic engagement with Israel in multilateral affairs is rooted in a core commitment by President Obama," the State Department's Esther Brimmer told Zionist thinktank Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 

"President Obama and this administration have worked tirelessly, in both word and deed, across the UN system, to ensure that Israel's legitimacy is beyond dispute and that Israel has the opportunity to contribute fully to all institutions to which it belongs," she added.

Siege-Breaking Activists May Be Next
It is US policy to block Palestinians from all avenues to justice at the UN level, by foiling the Goldstone report on war crimes in the Gaza Strip or preventing any censure of Israel for last year's massacre of flotilla activists. But this week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has given Israel the green light to attack the second Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

The State Department also issued a statement on the second flotilla- which will include approximately fifty Americans - in which it warned that "delivering or attempting or conspiring to deliver material support or other resources to, or for the benefit of, a designated foreign terrorist organisation, such as Hamas, could violate US civil and criminal statutes and could lead to fines and incarceration".

Hamas, which is the ruling party in the Gaza Strip and which won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in 2006, is on the US State Department's unilateral foreign terrorist organisation list - along with every other major Palestinian political party besides Fatah (though its armed wing is on the list). This means that the US has essentially criminalised the entire Palestinian people and the parties which represent them - except for those that collude with the Israeli occupation.

The State Department's foreign terrorist organisation list is a politically motivated register, not reviewed by any court, and inclusive of pretty much every liberation movement resisting regimes bankrolled and supported by the United States.

Prosecution for violations of the material support law is also blatantly political. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey (John Ashcroft's successor), former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and a former homeland security secretary and national security advisor are (as far as I know) not being investigated for material support for foreign terrorist organisations after they spoke in support of an Iranian opposition group on the state department's list at a conference organised by the group last year.

Obama On The Wrong Side Of History

It is also not lost on any of the 23 of us whose freedom is on the line that, had this material support statute been in place when President Obama was an anti-apartheid campus divestment activist, he too would have been vulnerable to prosecution.

At the height of the South Africa anti-apartheid movement, the US State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organisation the African National Congress - the party led by Nelson Mandela (he founded its armed wing) and which guided the solidarity movement in the US. Mandela was only removed from US "terrorism watch list" in 2008, aged 89.

Now that the international movement to bring apartheid in Palestine to an end has claimed more and more victories, Israel finds itself increasingly isolated. Just as the US was amongst the last to support apartheid in South Africa, it will be among the last to support apartheid in Palestine up to the bitter end - and those who oppose it will face an increasing backlash.

While President Obama, who wrote the introduction to Mandela's most recent autobiography, was on the right side of history when it came to apartheid in South Africa, he is on the wrong side of today's anti-apartheid struggle. Furthermore, US citizens who have dedicated their lives to fighting for what is right are being criminalised on his watch.

Maureen Clare Murphy is managing editor of The Electronic Intifada and a Palestine solidarity activist based in Chicago.

You can follow her on Twitter: @Maureen_70

For The Love Of Egypt

When Besieged Palestinians Danced

The relationship withstood many difficult events that followed, including the defeat of 1967 (where the rest of historic Palestine was lost), the death of Nasser, and the signing of the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel. Saddat was an anomaly, Palestinians argued. Camp David was the exception, they said. Mubarak was not Egypt.

By Ramzy Baroud
April 1, 2011
Courtesy Of "Iviews"

A dear friend of mine from Gaza told me that he hadn't slept for days. "I am so worried about Egypt, I have only been feeding on cigarettes and coffee." My friend and I talked for hours that day in early February. We talked about Tahrir Square, about the courage of ordinary Egyptians and about Hosni Mubarak's many attempts to co-opt the people's revolution. We were so consumed by the turmoil in Egypt that neither of us even mentioned Gaza. 

The siege on Gaza - and on the whole of Palestine - is a constant factor that unites most Palestinians. However, the genuine solidarity that the people of the Gaza Strip felt when Egyptians took to the streets on January 25 surpassed even the political urgency around the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Ordinary Gazans danced the night away when Mubarak was removed from power on February 18. Although lifting the siege is a Palestinian priority, those who raised Egyptian flags, shed tears and subsisted on coffee and cigarettes for nearly three weeks were hardly making the connection between the siege and Mubarak. While Mubarak was loathed to the core - his decision to block the Rafah border at a critical time victimized thousands - the bond that united Egypt to Palestine runs much deeper than the sins of a senile dictator, or even a terrible siege. 

The story, in fact, starts well before 1948, the year of the Palestinian Nakba. Egypt and Palestine have for long reflected the state of the other: in defeat and triumph, in despair and hope. The valiant youth of Egypt are now the harbingers of hope for their country, for Palestine and for the entire region, although things haven't always been so promising. 

Al-Nakba represented heartbreak to the collective conscious of Arabs, but Palestinians and Egyptians were affected the most.

In 1948, Arab armies entered into a halfhearted battle in Palestine. They were under-equipped, with only a limited mandate provided by self-serving leaderships. Most Palestinian villages were already depopulated by Zionist militias. The local resistance was mercilessly smashed, and the roads out of Palestine were filled with weary refugees. The Arabs were defeated. Ordinary Egyptians fumed as their Palestinian brethren were humiliated and Palestine was lost. 

The defeat in 1948 led to serious introspection in Egyptian society. The internal crises, the poverty and the lack of social justice could no longer be ignored. Following the defeat of the Egyptian army in the south of Palestine, Egypt quickly descended into turmoil, and was on the verge of revolution. There was little in the way of funds to be channeled to Gaza's sizeable refugee population. Much of Egypt's wealth was squandered by King Farouk on his own family. Indeed, the misery in Gaza was an extension of the suffering in Egypt, and in some strange way, the failed Egyptian military intervention in southern Palestine had much to do with the revolution that followed in Egypt in 1952. 

Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who toppled the monarchy and became Egypt's president, was an officer in the Egyptian army in 1948. He crossed into Gaza from Sinai by train in order to defend Palestine. He was stationed in Fallujah, a village located to the north of Gaza. His unit repeatedly tried to recapture some of the lost areas in the south, even when military wisdom pointed to the unfeasibility of such an effort. When it was discovered that many Egyptian army units were being supplied with purposely-flawed weapons, shockwaves spread throughout the army, but it was not enough to demoralize Nasser and a few Egyptian soldiers. They stayed in the Fallujah pocket for weeks, and their resistance became the stuff of legend. 

The building in which Nasser and his unit stayed still stands in today's Israel. It is surrounded by fences, like a surrealistic piece of living art. Nasser returned to Egypt after a territorial swap - Fallujah for the small town of Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza, which was under Israeli control at the time. Bitterness, anger and grief accompanied him on his way back to Cairo, also through Gaza.

Nasser marched to Cairo, and in 1952, along with a few army officers, he overthrew the king and his government. Palestine was cited by Nasser as a key reason behind his rebellion. The defeat of Palestine had signified all the ills that afflicted Egypt under the King and his royal family.

Palestinians, especially those in Gaza, saw in Nasser a hero and liberator. And why wouldn't they? He was the man they waved to as he passed by Gaza with his fellow officers following the Fallujah battle. It was a rare moment of pride and hope when the officers crossed with their weapons, and huge crowds of refugees flooded the streets to greet them. The refugees adored Nasser and they placed framed photographs of him in their tents and mud houses.

This is merely one episode to demonstrate the intrinsic, almost organic relationship between Egypt and Palestine. The relationship withstood many difficult events that followed, including the defeat of 1967 (where the rest of historic Palestine was lost), the death of Nasser, and the signing of the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel. Saddat was an anomaly, Palestinians argued. Camp David was the exception, they said. Mubarak was not Egypt. Indeed, the siege was seen as dishonoring a legacy that Palestinians are determined to remember with fondness. Egypt stands for shared history, for heroism and sacrifice.

On March 24, the Middle East Monitor reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister, Dr Nabil El Arabi had sent a message to his counterpart in Gaza a few days earlier. In the letter he stated that lifting the Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza - supported by the discredited Mubarak regime - was a priority for the new government in Cairo: "We are acting to open the border at Rafah and facilitate an easing of life for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

El Arabi's position is consistent with the wishes of the Egyptian people, a position that was necessitated by the historic solidarity between both nations. It is for similar reasons that Palestinians didn't get much sleep for 18 days, a period of waiting that culminated in a rare moment of joy when Egyptians won their freedom. In that moment, Gaza was Cairo, Egypt was Palestine, and both peoples were one.

*****

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is "My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story" (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com.

Senate Democrats Back American Muslims

 Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat


Hill Hearing Comes Some Three Weeks After Republicans Heard About Radicals

By Seth McLaughlin
8:15 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Courtesy Of "The Washington Times"

Less than three weeks after a much-criticized House Republican hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims, Senate Democrats countered Tuesday with a hearing of their own — this one focusing on protecting the civil rights of Muslims.

The two hearings highlight the chasm between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate on the issue of balancing the religious and civil rights of Muslims against the need to protect the country against radical offshoots of Islam.

“We should all agree that it is wrong to blame an entire community for the wrongdoing of a few,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin said in his opening remarks Tuesday. “Guilt by association is not the American way, and American Muslims are entitled to the same constitutional protections as every other American.”

The Illinois Democrat said that while Muslims compose less than 1 percent of the American population, they account for 14 percent ofDepartment of Justice (DOJ) religious discrimination cases and about 25 percent of religious discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

But Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, said he was “perplexed” by the direction of the hearing, adding, “If we’re concerned about the most egregious religious hate crimes, then I wonder why we’re not talking about crimes against Jews and Christians.” He pointed to the most recentDOJ statistics that show almost 72 percent of the hate crimes were anti-Jewish, 8.4 percent were anti-Islam, and 6.4 percent were anti-Christian.

“The point here is all bigotry is to be condemned, but we’re only credible if we’re principled in our condemnation,” he said. “Selective indignation is not helpful.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, agreed that religious freedom must be protected, but argued that efforts to recruit and radicalize young Muslims in Americans can’t be ignored.

“The front lines of this war are at our own backdoor — in our own neighborhoods,” he said. “So to the American Muslim community, I will stand with you as you practice your religion and exercise your rights under the Constitution, but I’m asking you to get into this fight as a community.”

The back-and-forth reflects the opposing stances of party leaders and came less than a month after Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican, came under fire for holding a House Homeland Security Committee hearing to investigate the effect radical Islam is having on Muslims living in the United States.

Mr. King has maintained his stance, saying that political correctness won’t stop him from doing everything in his power to protect the country from another terrorist attack.

Heading into the Senate hearing, Mr. King told Fox News that the meeting made no sense to him because it would simply help to perpetuate the “illusion that there’s a violation of civil rights of Muslims in this country.”

Mr. Durbin returned fire minutes into Tuesday’s hearing, highlighting a statement from Mr. King in which he said, “There are too many mosques in this country.” He also pointed to comments from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a possible Republican candidate for president, who said the nation is “experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization.”

“Some have even questioned the premise of today’s hearing that we should protect the civil rights of American Muslims,” Mr. Durbin said. “Such inflammatory speech from prominent public figures creates a fertile climate for discrimination.”

Corey Saylor, the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), thanked Mr. Durbin for demonstrating “true leadership in seeking to reinforce the rights of a minority faith” and rebutting “the violent extremists who claim Islam cannot get fair treatment in America.”

The Justice Department, in a statement released Tuesday said it is “actively working” to protect American Muslims, as well as members of the Arab, Sikh and South Asian communities, from threats and violence directed at them because of their religion or ethnicity.

The department said that since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington it has investigated more than 800 attacks or threats against persons perceived to be Muslim or to be of Arab, Middle Eastern, or South-Asian origin, with 46 convictions to date.

“Today I Am a Muslim Too”

Rally In Times Square

By Sheila Musaji
Posted Mar 6, 2011
Courtesy Of "The American Muslim"

Today, Russell Simmons led a demonstration in Times Square to protest upcoming Congressional hearings on radicalization within the Muslim community, arguing that the hearings threaten to single out one religious group unfairly. **

Estimates vary from about 500 to 1,000 people who turned out for this demonstration in spite of heavy rain.

The demonstration was called ‘Today I am a Muslim Too” and was organized by a coalition of over 75 interfaith, nonprofit, governmental, and civil liberties groups. **

The program began with the singing of the US national anthem by Anam Chaudhry, a 17-year-old opera student and Pakistani immigrant who pointedly wrapped herself in an American flag. **

“It’s our job to stand up and protect them because if they go, we’re next—blacks, Jews.” Russell Simmons

“The rights that we take for granted for ourselves are only as good if we fight for those same rights for others.” Russell Simmons

“To single out Muslim-Americans as the source of homegrown terrorism and not examine all forms of violence motivated by extremist belief, that my friends is an injustice.” Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding

American Muslims are loyal Americans “also concerned about radicalism.”I call on Mr. King to “to hold hearings into radicalism and not into Muslims.” Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

“My concern is that if the perception that in the Arab-Muslim world that Muslims are under attack, the perception among the youth here that Muslims are under attack by their own members of Congress, by their own government, this helps radicalize people. And we need to reverse that cycle of radicalization.  That is why I suggest if he wants to have hearings, have it around radicalization and extremism, because that’s our common enemy.”  Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

“I am a Muslim but I love this country as much as any Christian or Jew loves his country.  We are here today because we love this country. We are here today because we want to see America remain the most powerful and the most beautiful country in the world.”   Imam Shamsi Ali

“I want to say to the Peter Kings of the world: We will not take your xenophobic behaviour.” Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) (one of two Muslims in Congress)

“You Peter King as a Congressman should know better. You Peter King are responsible to represent everyone in your district. You have Muslims in your district also. Shame on you Peter King for doing this.” NY Councilman Daniel Dromm

“Targeting one community takes us back to an era similar to what happened with the Japanese after World War II, what happened under the McCarthy era. We’re spreading fear and hatred rather than tolerance and justice.”  DRUM Executive Director Monami Maulik

PHYSICAL RALLY AND VIRTUAL RALLY

In addition to the physical rally in Times Square, Russell Simmons, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kim Kardashian, Rachel Roy and others unite on Twitter to create virtual rally in support of religious freedom.  **

“By making this a virtual rally artists, actors, fashion designers and other influencers, that are unable to attend the event in Times Square can help us reach tens of millions of other people with their following. It’s my prayer that this effort will start a process to eliminate the horrible sickness that is islamaphobia that is so prevalent in this country today.” Russell Simmons
Kim Kardashian, tweeted:  ‘Today I am a Muslim too’ **

Earlier in the day U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and Rep. Peter King appeared on CNN.  Ellison said that he will“challenge the basic premise” of upcoming congressional hearings on domestic Islamic radicalization.  He said the hearings will fuel the idea that “America is at war with Islam.”  “I do agree we should deal with radicalization, and violent radicalization.”  He also said “It’s absolutely the right thing to do for the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee to investigate radicalization.  But to say we’re going to investigate a religious minority, and a particular one, I think is the wrong course of action to take.”  You can see video of this discussion on CNN here

A COUNTER DEMONSTRATION

A few blocks away, a smaller demonstration in favor of Rep. King’s hearings took place at the same time.  It was planned by the Liberty Alliance.

The tone of this demonstration was very different.

“I want to tell Imam Rauf and Imam Shamsi Ali and all of the rest of them up there that I am not a Muslim today,” Gilinsky said. “Yesterday I wasn’t a Muslim. Today I’m not a Muslim. I’m not going to be a Muslim for even 24 hours, Imam Rauf, and I’m not going to be a Muslim tomorrow. 

You will not convert me.” Beth Gilinsky of the Jewish Action Alliance

“We let our guard down.  We thought that we were so nice and people would come here and just become like us but you know what, people hate us for what we have.  What Congressman King is doing is phenomenal. That he has the guts, the fortitude to stand up and do this. He’s not against Islam. He’s not against Muslims. He’s against radicals, including those immigrants “coming in quietly and breeding up and implementing laws here and there,” while pledging allegiance to the Koran, rather than the American Constitution.”  Bill Byrne, member of 9/11 Hardhats

“And we’re requesting all Muslims—if you don’t help us we have no other option: we have to stop immigration of all Muslims. That should be our ultimate solution.”  “God bless America!”  Arish Sahani

I am attempting to obtain information about the Liberty Alliance, and have found little so far.  Thissnippet:  Tim Brown, spokesman for Liberty Rocks, one of 28 organizations supporting Mr. King’s effort, under the umbrella group Liberty Alliance.  And, a press release by the Liberty Alliance which includes this list This press release is sponsored by the Liberty Alliance,  and is endorsed by the Coalition to Honor Ground Zero; Liberty Rocks; Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam; 9/11 Families for a Secure America; Blue Collar Corner, Sudan Freedom Walk; American Maronite Union, Indian American Intellectuals Forum; Namdaari Sikh Foundation; Center for Security Policy; Dr. Herbert London of the Hudson Institute; One Jerusalem; Secure America Now; Alliance for Iranian Women;  Caucus For America; Americans for Peace and Tolerance; Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force; Traditional Values Coalition;  Faith McDonnell, Director of Religious Liberty Programs, Institute on Religion and Democracy; Center for Policy Research in American Education, Women United International; Alliance for Interfaith Resistance, Resist Jihad; United West;  Florida Security Council;  Americans for a Safe Israel; Shalom International; Act for America St. Louis, MO area; and many other organizations.   And, this from World Net Daily about the anti-Sharia demonstration in front of the White House this week: Meanwhile, a band of conservative organizations calling themselves the Liberty Alliance Coalition assembled in Washington’s Lafayette Park and denounced the attempt to advance Shariah in the United States.    

The coalition is headed by Center for Security Policy Director Frank Gaffney.  ( I wrote about this pro-Sharia/anti-Sharia “event” on TAM in an articleAnjem Choudary/Islamic Thinkers “March for Sharia” Does Not Represent American Muslims. )

We Are All Egyptians

Insisting On Their Humanity

‘The Plight Of The Palestinians’

By Ramzy Baroud
Dec. 16, 2010
Courtesy Of "The World News Trust"

When a copy of William A. Cook’s latest book, The Plight of the Palestinians arrived in my mailbox, I initially felt a little worried.

The volume, featuring the work of over 30 accomplished writers, is the most articulate treatise on the collective victimization of Palestinians to date. From Cook’s own introduction, ‘The Untold Story of the Zionist Intent to Turn Palestine into a Jewish State,’ to Francis Boyle’s summation of ‘Israel’s Crimes against the Palestinians,’ it takes the reader through an exhaustive journey, charting the course of Palestinian history prior to and since al-Nakba, the Catastrophe of 1947-48.

Still, I feared that something might be missing in this noble and monumental undertaking: Palestinian people’s own responses to the cruelties they’ve suffered. Would Palestinians be presented yet again as merely poster-child victims, eager for handouts?

The photograph on the cover was telling: a kindly old man with a white beard, who could have been any Palestinian or Middle-Eastern grandpa, is lovingly touching the hair of a toddler. The two are crouching before a small, stained tent. Al-Nakba was still recent, and the two Palestinians, separated by two generations appear tired and haggard as they are caught in this hopeless scene. Yet, somehow the grandfather insists on preserving his right to love his grandson. This insistence on one’s humanity has been the key strength which has allowed the Palestinian people to preserve their struggle and resistance before the wicked arm of occupation and oppression for nearly 63 years.

Do most academics know this? Do they truly comprehend what it is that makes an old man from a West Bank village face the brutality of Jewish settlers, year after year, as he returns to harvest his few remaining olive trees? Or a Palestinian woman from Gaza who keeps coming back to hold a vigil before the Red Cross office with a framed photo of her once-young son, now ailing in some Israeli jail?

What keeps them going is something that cannot be dissected scientifically or analyzed intellectually. It can only be felt, experienced, and partially understood. This understanding is essential, for without it much more time and effort would be wasted, discounting the most important component in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the Palestinian people.

Some intellectuals, although well-intentioned, often conflate the understandable weakness of the current Palestinian leadership and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people. They write about both entities as if they are one and the same. One of the best authors on Palestine rightly pointed at the huge discrepancies of power between Palestinians and Israel, noting that such an imbalance could not possibly lead to an equitable platform for negotiation. To demonstrate the point, the author refers to Palestinians as “almost totally powerless people,” negotiating with a “powerful occupier.”

But the Palestinian people are currently negotiating with no one. Their representatives merely represent themselves and their own interests. It is important that we preserve that distinction -- between the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Palestinian people, who have held on to their rights for so many years, and unleashed two of the greatest expressions of people’s power and resolve: the First Uprising of 1987 and al-Aqsa Intifada of 2000. A whole population taking on the self-celebrated “greatest army in the Middle East” is hardly “powerless.” The Palestinian people have printed themselves on the practical discourse of this conflict, and they have proved themselves to be powerful players in determining their own fate.

Jeff Halper, the Director of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, understands this fact well. The peace and justice activist has spent decades working for a just settlement to the conflict, a journey that’s allowed him to work with numerous Palestinians. He has thus grasped something many politicians have intentionally or inadvertently missed. “Until they -- the Palestinian people as a whole, not the PA -- say the conflict is over, it's not over.” He further states, in a recent article entitled ‘Palestine 2011,’ that “Israel and its erstwhile allies have the ability to make life almost unbearable for the Palestinians, but they cannot impose apartheid or warehousing.”

Halper is correct, and history has repeatedly validated his assertion. There are limits to the power of the “powerful occupier.” It can kill, confiscate, destroy and burn, but it can never force the other into submission. Thus to speak of Palestinian victimization without discussing their collective resistance presents an incomplete version of the story.

The Plight of the Palestinians turned out to be an essential read, and a full and authoritative discourse. It offers a grim and detailed story of suffering and the ‘slow motion genocide’, which is important in order to appreciate the harshness of the Palestinian experience. Without this, one can never understand the anger, resentment and pain that are shared by several generations of Palestinians, in Palestine and in the Diaspora.

‘The Human Tragedy’ is laid bare in Part I. Every paragraph confronts the reader with gory details. But if such violence is the reality of the history of this conflict, why do many people understand it differently? The answer lies in Part 2: ‘Propaganda, Perception and Reality’. It starts with a quote, the Israeli Mossad’s own pre-2007 slogan: “By way of deception, thou shalt do war.” It seems that such a slogan has defined Israeli official conduct. However, civil society cannot be misled forever, and the powerful initiatives carried out by ordinary people around the world are what give Part 3 its value. ‘Rule by Law or Defiance’ is an uplifting introduction to activist efforts, with topics ranging from ‘The Russell Tribunal on Palestine’ to the ‘Necessity of the Culture Boycott.’

The Plight of the Palestinians is not just another chronicle of the history of a defenseless nation. While it is an unhesitant acknowledgment of that reality, it is far from being a celebration of victimhood. Rather, it documents the logical evolution from suffering to resistance.

In the essay, ‘Does It Matter What You Call It?’ two of my personal favorite authors, Kathleen and (late) Bill Christison write: “Palestinian resistance does figure in this dismal story. In the same small village where one is uprooting his family, others are building....”

It is the very balance between destruction and rebuilding, despair and hope, occupation and perseverance that makes the Palestinian people powerful. Their power cannot be demonstrated in numbers, but it can be felt, experienced, and understood. The Plight of the Palestinians: A Long History of Destruction spreads the seeds of understanding, which is so essential to any meaningful and lasting change.

--Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com.