Madison Rafah Journal

Israeli and foreign peace activists protest in Tel Aviv

AFP, January 2, 2010

TEL AVIV — Hundreds of Israeli pacifists, both Arabs and Jews, marched in central Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest against the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.

The demonstrators — estimated at more than 1,000 by organisers of the march — chanted slogans urging "liberty and justice for Gaza" as they marked the first anniversary of Israel's war on Gaza.

They called for the lifting of the blockade on the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave and accused Israel of carrying out "war crimes" in the territory.

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Organizers Say Egypt Offer to Allow 100 into Gaza Not Sufficient

Democracy Now! December 30, 2009

Hundreds of activists with the Gaza Freedom March are staging continued demonstrations and sit-ins in Cairo to protest the Egyptian government's refusal to allow them to cross the border into Gaza. Organizers say an offer by Egyptian authorities this morning to allow just 100 members of the group to go to Gaza was not sufficient. More than 1,300 people from over forty countries are in Cairo as part of the Gaza Freedom March. We go to Cairo to speak with Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada. [includes rush transcript]

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Palestinian children at Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp outside the Lebanese city of Tripoli

Rita Daou, Agence France Presse, Dec 6, 2009

BEIRUT (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's visit to Beirut on Monday casts the spotlight on the plight of nearly 300,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who fear they are doomed to be refugees for life.

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Charly Wegman, Agence France Presse, Dec 2, 2009

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel last year stripped a record number of Palestinians of their Jerusalem residency status, and the accompanying freedom of movement and insurance benefits, government figures revealed on Wednesday.

In 2008, a total of 4,577 Palestinians lost the so-called "blue ID," the Israeli identification card that entitles holders to national insurance and freedom of movement throughout the country, according to the interior ministry which issues the cards.

By comparison, 8,558 Jerusalem Palestinians lost their residency status between 1967, when Israel captured the Arab eastern part of the city, and the end of 2007, the figures showed.

Palestinians living in east Jerusalem, which Israel later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community, hold Israeli IDs but not passports.

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AFP/File – Palestinians fill bottles and containers with water at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)

Agence France Presse, Nov 21, 2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Water in the Gaza Strip is so salty that it is unfit for human consumption, a Palestinian official in charge of water supplies inside the besieged coastal territory said on Saturday.

"The water is no longer fit for human consumption, with analysis and international studies showing that just 10 percent of water in the Gaza Strip is usable… threatening the lives of Palestinians," Munzir Shiblak warned.

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Israel settlements use more than four times as much water as Palestinians and the absence of a peace agreement is stalling negotiations to improve the situation.

Joshua Mitnick, The Christian Science Monitor, November 19, 2009

Auja, West Bank

The Hmoud family once prospered in this arid Palestinian farm village by cultivating banana and eggplant crops, earning enough to send a son abroad for medical school and to build a house with a showy staircase and a two-story window.

But drought has decimated the spring that is Auja's only agricultural water source, and fields once filled with palm trees are now empty. Village residents have been forced to find work in the greenhouses near Jewish settlements that are hooked up to Israeli water mains.

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Doyle signed a bilateral trade agreement between Israel and Wisconsin on research and development, with a strong focus on water technology

John Schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov 17, 2009

Following intervention by Gov. Jim Doyle, the University of Wisconsin System on Tuesday backed down in a funding dispute with Milwaukee-area legislators over control of the state's efforts to catalyze jobs and investment in the fast-growing water technology sector.

The Madison-Milwaukee feud – involving Wisconsin's two biggest regional economies – centered on a recent decision by UW System to hire a $99,428-a-year consultant based in Madison to develop water-driven development strategies across the state, including Madison.

The UW System position infuriated Milwaukee-area business leaders and legislators, who accused UW System officials in Madison of hijacking an initiative that was born in Milwaukee: creating a hub of research and industry in the $400 billion-a-year global sector for technologies that clean, conserve, recycle and deliver drinkable water.

In a conference call from Tel Aviv, Israel, where the governor is leading a state trade mission that centers almost exclusively on water technology, Doyle said he withdrew funding for the UW System consultant, Jeff Smoller. Doyle said he was surprised to learn that Smoller regarded his new job as part of a statewide economic development mission – a view that would usurp the work of the state Department of Commerce, Doyle said.

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November 7, 2009

I have hope that someday in the near future more and more Palestinians and Israelis will come together to nourish a genuine friendship. We met Bassam, a Palestinian who lost his daughter to Israeli violence, as well as his friend Rami, an Israeli who lost his daughter to Palestinian violence. They set a wonderful example of how through dialogue and compassion, true peace could become the common denominator of belief. I made a friend for life with a wonderful Jewish woman on the delegation. Jenny and I took off for two days to go to Beit Dajan-Nablus, my father’s hometown, to meet my cousins for the first time. We passed through 11 checkpoints in two days. We were interrogated by armed Israeli soldiers asking detailed
questions about the people we’re meeting and what we will have for dinner! Jenny’s support got me through it and we had a fabulous time meeting my grandma, aunts, and cousins. As a Jewish American and a Palestinian American, Jenny and I are very proud to have made that journey together.

“We must turn to civil society for action to end the Israeli Occupation since our governments are failing” said Nora, a spokeswoman for the Sabeel Center. The U.S. government must change its position and pressure Israel to drop its racist and discriminating policies for the two people to live in harmony, a message all the Israelis and Palestinians we’ve heard in the Holy Land share. The international community is distracted with abstract issues and the over use of the term “Peace”. What we need and want is “real peace”. The facts on the ground suggest that Israel has no intentions for creating a just solution. Israeli occupiers, settlers and soldiers, confiscate lands, houses, parking lots, and buildings belonging to Palestinian families at any time without legal backing. Laws against the Palestinians are created on the spot! It’s almost impossible for the Palestinians to challenge such policies or the path of the wall that’s stealing more of their land.

Hebron’s old city is occupied with terror. Settlers walk by with guns. Checkpoints block the roads of Palestinians to their homes and schools. A Palestinian woman is not allowed to use her main front door because it opens to a road that’s been blocked to Palestinians by the Israeli military for security reasons. Although the land and buildings on both sides of the road belong to Palestinians, she is forced to use a side door to get into her home. Settlers invaded the upper level of buildings in downtown Hebron where Palestinians have their shops and markets. They are intimidating, armed, and aggressive, throwing garbage, stones, water, urine, and plastic chairs and other objects down below to drive Palestinians out. A member of the Christian Peacemakers had counted 250 elementary age students at a check point in
Hebron one day. Each one was stopped and searched as they made their way to school.

There is a lot more to report. I’m tired, extremely sad, and I can’t wait to get out of here. The brutal occupation is obvious. Where is the international outcry?

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