Madison Rafah Journal

Success in the Irish talks was the result not just of determination and time, but also a very different United States approach to diplomacy.

ALI ABUNIMAH, The New York Times, August 28, 2010

Chicago

GEORGE J. MITCHELL, the United States Middle East envoy, tried to counter low expectations for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by harking back to his experience as a mediator in Northern Ireland.

At an Aug. 20 news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing the talks that will begin this week, Mr. Mitchell reminded journalists that during difficult negotiations in Northern Ireland, “We had about 700 days of failure and one day of success” — the day in 1998 that the Belfast Agreement instituting power-sharing between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists was signed.

Mr. Mitchell’s comparison is misleading at best. Success in the Irish talks was the result not just of determination and time, but also a very different United States approach to diplomacy.

The conflict in Northern Ireland had been intractable for decades. Unionists backed by the British government saw any political compromise with Irish nationalists as a danger, one that would lead to a united Ireland in which a Catholic majority would dominate minority Protestant unionists. The British government also refused to deal with the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, despite its significant electoral mandate, because of its close ties to the Irish Republican Army, which had carried out violent acts in the United Kingdom.

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Colombia Support Network, August 12, 2010

Colombia Support Network and the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project invite you to contact United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to urge him to remove Alvaro Uribe-Velez from the panel of inquiry into the May 31, 2010 Israeli attack on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced that he had named Colombia's former President Alvaro Uribe-Velez to be the Vice-Chair of a U.N. Panel of Inquiry into the May 31 Israeli attack on a six-ship humanitarian flotilla bringing aid to Gaza. Alvaro Uribe is particularly unqualified to be a member of this commission, much less its Vice-Chair, for the following reasons:

1. His government presided over the murder of thousands of innocent non-combatants, many of them kidnapped and later killed by the military and presented as "guerrillas killed in combat." This phenomenon became known as "false positives", a "positive" being Colombian military lingo for a killed guerrilla. When a common grave with some 2,000 bodies was discovered next to a military base in the town of Macarena, Uribe's response was to praise the military—likely responsible for these deaths—and criticize the human rights workers who brought the mass grave's existence to light.

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Dear Members and Friends of MRSCP,

Once again, the Rachel Corrie Ramadan Soccer Tournament in Rafah is at hand. The organizers are again seeking donations to cover the cost of the tournament. MRSCP is making a donation to this event and encourages you to do the same.

Below is the appeal for the tournament, followed by an article about it from the Palestine Chronicle. We thank you for your support of this important activity.

Thanks,
Barb O.

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Interfaith Peace Initiative, July 30, 2010

A compelling new list of "Global Actions to End the Israeli Occupation" is available through the Interfaith Peace Initiative at http://www.interfaithpeaceinitiative.com/globalactions.pdf. It demonstrates clearly that the era of ignoring Israel's excesses and its abuse of human rights has ended. The world will no longer be silent. The tide has turned.

In 2009, the Interfaith Peace Initiative posted a 44-page list of actions by countries and organizations around the world designed to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. On May 31, 2010, Israel's military raid on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip generated widespread global anger and opposition. It was followed by marches, demonstrations, declarations and plans for new flotillas by many groups around the world. The list has been updated, and now fills 88 pages, including actions by businesses, governments, labor unions and religious and consumer organizations. Among these are many Jewish and Israeli groups. Readers may obtain more information about each action using links provided.

Throughout history, regimes built on oppression and apartheid have failed. If the determined and creative actions documented in the new list are sustained, Israel's oppression of Palestinians cannot last. The Interfaith Peace Initiative wishes to celebrate the courage and initiative shown by countless individuals and organizations who have finally said, "Enough!" Special thanks should go to the committee of Ann Arbor Quakers who first initiated the list (piag_@mac.com) in the hope it would inspire others to action. The massive global surge of resolve reflected in the new report will hasten an end to Israel's occupation so a just peace may finally prevail.

Agence France Presse, 27 Jul 2010

ANKARA – British Prime Minister David Cameron Tuesday urged Israel to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip, slamming the current state of the Palestinian enclave as a "prison camp."

"Let me be clear that the situation in Gaza has to change… Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp," he said in a speech to a business association during a visit to Turkey.

Speaking later after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Cameron defended his description, saying that "even though some progress has been made we're still in a situation where it's very difficult to get in, it's very difficult to get out…

"We've long supported lifting the blockade of Gaza," he said.

Cameron however acknowledged Israel's security concerns, pointing to rocket attacks from Gaza, run by the radical Palestinian group Hamas, on Israel.

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Palestinian children at the Oxfam water project in Gaza. (Neil Ashour)

Sarah Irving, The Electronic Intifada, 7 July 2010

For the last year Mark Buttle has been the coordinator for the "WASH cluster," the group of aid organizations working on water, sanitation and hygiene in the Gaza Strip. A chartered water engineer, Buttle has worked for a development-oriented nongovernmental organization (NGO) for more than a decade, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has been based in Gaza since May 2009. He spoke to The Electronic Intifada contributor Sarah Irving about the challenges faced by international agencies working in Gaza.

Sarah Irving: What are the typical activities your job entails?

Mark Buttle: It's all about getting people around the table. We have a coordination meeting every week or two and people are invited to attend so that everyone knows who's doing what, where, and they can exchange information. We've been prioritizing developing a contingency plan for the water sector, working out what the water sector needs to do in the event of a worst case scenario.

SI: What is the biggest problem the water sector faces?

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Request by a lawyer in Gaza for an exit permit to reach her studies in human rights and democracy in the West Bank is denied by the Israeli Supreme Court

Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, July 8, 2010

The Supreme Court yesterday rejected a petition submitted on behalf of Ms. Fatma Shatif, a human rights lawyer from Gaza, seeking to attend her Master’s studies in human rights and democracy in the West Bank. In a short verdict, the judges wrote that they had decided not to intervene in Israel's policy, thereby permitting the continuation of the sweeping ban imposed by Israel since 2000, on the passage of students from Gaza to the West Bank for the purposes of reaching academic studies. Earlier in the proceedings, in its response to the petition, the State informed the Court that even under its “new” Gaza policy, there would not be an easing of restrictions on the passage of people to and from Gaza and that Israel will continue to permit travel only in “humanitarian and exceptional” cases, mainly relating to medical needs.

"It is not clear what Israel gains by preventing a talented young lawyer, against whom it makes no security claim, from deepening her understanding of human rights and therefore contributing to the development of a robust Palestinian civil society", said Dr. Nomi Heger of Gisha, who argued the case. "I regret that the court declined to follow its own case law and evaluate Ms. Sharif's request in the framework which the court itself established in 2007, namely the need to consider exceptions to the general ban".

Ms. Sharif, who studied law in Gaza, currently works as a lawyer at the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, a non-partisan organization whose goal is to promote human rights and democracy in the Gaza Strip. Ms. Sharif has worked for the last five years to defend human rights, including in a project to defend women against violence at the Center for Women’s Legal Research and Consulting. Since there is no relevant academic program in Gaza, Ms. Sharif enrolled in studies at Birzeit University, with the intention of returning to Gaza at the end of her studies, where she has a job waiting for her at Al Mezan. The Israeli authorities refused her request, on the grounds that she does not meet Israel’s criteria for exit from Gaza – “humanitarian and exceptional instances", only.

Ms. Fatma Sharif: "Exchange of knowledge and expertise is critical to the self-fulfillment of people, in order to develop civil society in Gaza, especially where the subject is democracy and human rights. There will be no real improvement in Gaza until all persons – including students, families, workers, and patients – are able to travel freely".

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