Madison Rafah Journal

Brett Lieberman and Nathan Guttman, The Forward, Aug 28, 2008

Denver — Former president Jimmy Carter’s controversial views on Israel cost him a place on the podium at the Democratic Party convention in late August, senior Democratic operatives acknowledged to the Forward.

Breaking with the tradition of giving speech time to living former presidents, convention organizers honored Carter with only a short video clip highlighting his work with Hurricane Katrina victims and a brief walk across the Pepsi Center stage.

The sidelining of Carter was driven by recognition in the Obama camp and among Democratic leaders that giving the former president a prominent convention spot might alienate Jewish voters.

“What more could we do to diss Jimmy Carter?” said a Democratic official who was involved in deliberations on how to handle the former president’s presence at the convention. The treatment Carter received, the official added, “reflects the bare minimum that could be done for a former president.”

Although Carter says limiting his presence at the convention was his idea, denying him a speaking opportunity ends a two-year struggle for the party over how to deal with the controversial former president. Since Carter published a book in November 2006 accusing Israel of practicing apartheid against the Palestinians, Democrats have been trying to distance themselves from the former president and to convince Jewish activists that he does not represent the party line.

(Read on …)

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, August 30th, 2008

Activities during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver this week were non-stop and frenetic—and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation was in the thick of it all thanks to your generous support!

US Campaign DNC headquarters at Progressive Central.

On Monday, we set up our DNC headquarters at Progressive Central, a five-day forum sponsored by our friends at Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and The Nation. While we were there, we had hundreds of substantive discussions with Members of Congress, Congressional candidates, leaders of local party committees, and delegates to the convention—exactly the type of people who we need to educate in order to change policy.

Almost everyone with whom we talked responded positively and enthusiastically to our campaign to challenge military aid to Israel, a theme which fits in nicely with PDA’s motto “Healthcare Not Warfare”.

In the evening, we tabled with Friends of Sabeel—Colorado, one of the more than 255 member organizations of the US Campaign, at a panel discussion sponsored by Just Foreign Policy. Check out the nice shout-out we got from Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, plugging our work on a future broadcast of Free Speech TV.

(Read on …)

The number of patients who have died in the Gaza Strip due to the year-long Israeli siege has reached 240, as one more patient dies today

Rula Shahwan, IMEMC News, 22 August 2008

File 2008

Medical sources reported the death of a 2-year-old infant as his parents were banned from leaving the Gaza strip to seek the needed medical treatment for their child.

Hundreds of patients in Gaza are liable to die if they do no get immediate life-saving treatment. As the siege continues there remains a serious shortage of medical supplies available.

Israel has blocked the Gaza Strip tight since Hamas won the elections in January 2006, yet some Palestinian patients and students were allowed to move between Gaza Strip and Egypt through the Rafah terminal, the only passage for Gazans to the outside world.

Since Hamas took over the government in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Israel tightened the siege on the Gaza Strip and made it harder for Palestinians to move. The restrictions include movement of people and products to and from the Gaza Strip.

(Read on …)

Two veiled women wave to fellow Palestinians who boarded a boat off the coast of Gaza City (AFP)

AFP, 24 August 2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Two boats from Cyprus carrying 44 pro-Palestinian activists docked in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after Israel allowed them through its tight blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.

The boats set sail on Friday from the east Mediterranean island carrying activists from 17 countries, including Israel, determined to highlight the blockade of Gaza where the Islamist Hamas movement has ruled since June 2007.

The boats sailed through choppy grey seas and into Gaza City's main port, where they were greeted by thousands of people waving Palestinian flags, many of them motoring around the harbour in boats.

Crowds lining the shore chanted "God is great!" and "No, no, to the siege!" as dozens of young men dived into the murky waters of the harbour and swam towards the flag-decked boats.

(Read on …)

THE FREE GAZA MOVEMENT, Aug-22-2008

Forty-six international human rights workers are now sailing to Gaza through international waters with one overriding goal: to break the Israeli siege that Israel has imposed on the civilian population of Gaza. Any action designed to harm civilians constitutes collective punishment (in the Palestinians’ case, for voting the “wrong” way) and is both illegal under international law and profoundly immoral. Our mission is to expose the illegality of Israel’s actions, and to break through the siege in order to express our solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza (and of the occupied Palestinian territory as a whole) and to create a free and regular channel between Gaza and the outside world.

Israel claims that since the “disengagement” in 2005 it no longer occupies Gaza. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international human rights organizations reject this claim since Israel still exerts effective control over Gaza. As an Occupying Power, Israel has a responsibility for the well-being of the people of Gaza under the provisions of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel has abused its control and responsibilities by wrongfully obstructing vital supplies and humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.

As Israel’s 41-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip defies international consensus, and because Israel has grossly violated its obligations, we do not recognize Israel’s right to stop us outside its own territorial waters, which we will not be approaching. To remove any “security” pretense that Israel may raise, we have had our boats inspected and certified by Cypriot authorities that they carry no arms or contraband of any kind. We have invited Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to join us on our voyage and, in fact, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has itself told us the Israeli government “assume[s] that your intentions are good.”

We are human rights activists, invited to visit Gaza by our Palestinian partners, and each of us has vowed to do no violence, in either word or deed. If Israel chooses to forcibly stop and search our ships, we will not forcibly resist. Such a search will be under duress and with our formal protest. After such a search, we fully expect the Israeli navy to stand aside, as we continue peacefully to Gaza. If we are arrested and brought to Israel, we will protest and prosecute our kidnapping in the appropriate forums. It is our purpose to show the power that ordinary citizens of the world have when they organize together to stand against injustice. Let there be no doubt: the policies of repression against the civilian population of Gaza represent gross violations of human rights, international humanitarian law, and constitute war crimes. The goal of our voyage is to break the illegal siege on the people of Gaza as a step toward ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

(Read on …)

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
The Associated Press, 21 Aug 2008

LARNACA, Cyprus – Cyprus will allow two boats carrying members of a U.S.-based activist group to sail for Gaza in defiance of Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, authorities here said Wednesday.

The two wooden sailboats have passed a safety inspection, Cyprus' Merchant Shipping Director Serghios Serghiou said.

He said the boats have also been given safety certificates from Greece, where the vessels are registered.

We have not prohibited the departure of the boat, Serghiou told The Associated Press.

Protest organizer Paul Larudee said the boats – the 21-meter Free Gaza and 18-meter Liberty – will set sail around midnight tonight from Larnaca port for the estimated 30-hour trip.

Members of the Free Gaza protest group said some 40 activists from 16 countries, including 81-year-old Catholic nun Anne Montgomery, will attempt to break the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza last year in a bid to set a precedent for others to follow.

(Read on …)