Condemn Police Violence Against Palestinian Protesters
On Saturday the Toronto police violently suppressed protesters democratic right to protest Israel’s starvation and slaughter in Gaza.
Take one minute to email Toronto mayor Olivia Chow and deputy mayor Amber Morley. Morley also represents the City on the Toronto Police Services Board. Let them know you expect them to call on Toronto police to tell them to drop the charges and respect people’s right to peaceful assembly.
‘We Jews are just arrested; Palestinians are beaten’: Protesters in Germany
quote:
Free speech under attack in Germany
Palestinian protesters seem to be bearing the brunt of police crackdowns on protests in Germany – “We Jews are just getting arrested, the Palestinians are being beaten,” Hefets says. One example was the brutal arrest of a hijab-wearing protester at a sit-in in Berlin central station this past weekend, which was captured on video and posted to social media channels.....
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Monday that the Civil Administration, an agency in the Defense Ministry, has declared 170 dunams (42 acres) of land surrounding the Herodium archaeological site in the West Bank region of the Etzion Bloc as “state land,” meaning land that is not privately owned and can be used for various purposes, including settlement development.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-appropriates-42-acres-in-west-banks...
Yet there are those who continue with their two-state fantasy. And not uttering a peep about holding Israel accountable for these land grabs and violation of international law.
If the two state solution is a "fantasy" what solution would be more realistic?
How can there be a two-state solution when one side has created facts on the ground that make a viable and contiguous second state impossible.
For a permanent peace to be established facts on the ground will obviously have to change. How can a permanent peace be established without facts on the ground changing?
How can facts on the ground change when the entity in control of the ground doesn't want them to change? You think it's like turning a faucet on and off?
..how can there be peace when....
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Every conversation is a quiet cry for comfort, an attempt to hold onto pieces of our lives.
The Gaza Strip has never felt as cramped or unlivable as it does now. Streets here in Rafah – Gaza’s southernmost city – are filled with makeshift tents.
We constantly stumble over one another as we walk.
After approximately 180 days of war, people have become somewhat desensitized.
Death is a daily occurrence.
Families can be wiped out entirely – or almost entirely. Anyone who remains alive will have to search for a new place to live and keep on looking for food after burying their loved ones.
The death toll is so high that we have been numbed.
Tears have dried.
Instead, we exist in a perpetual state of survival. Every moment is consumed by the urgent need to persevere during the ceaseless onslaught.....
How can facts on the ground change when the entity in control of the ground doesn't want them to change? You think it's like turning a faucet on and off?
In the past during peace negotiations with Palestinian leaders Israeli leaders have agreed to change the facts on the ground. Israel removed settlements in Gaza. Unfortunately Palestinian leaders chose to walk away from negotiations instead of continuing to negotiate.
Untrue. Negotiations continued at Taba in 2001 and Israel presented a take it or leave it offer in 2008. All the while illegal settlement activity has continued. Revealing Israel's true intent.
INVESTIGATION: The Palestinian Struggle for Labor Rights in Israel
We talked to Palestinian workers whose underpaid labor provides part of Israel’s low-cost workforce. Their stories of organizing amid ethnic cleansing shed light on how this work is a crucial lifeline for Palestinians — now severed by the devastation of war.
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Hatem Abu Ziadeh’s face beams with pride as he recounts how several years ago his Israeli employer in one of Israel’s illegal settlements was forced to give him his job back after he was fired for organizing a union among the Palestinian workers.
Ziadeh, a fifty-four-year-old who lives in the Ramallah-area town of Birzeit in the occupied West Bank, has worked as a car mechanic for more than two decades at the Zarfaty garage, an auto repair shop located in Mishor Adumim, the industrial zone of Israel’s megasettlement Ma’ale Adumim. Like all of Israel’s 279 settlements built in the Palestinian territory, Ma’ale Adumim is considered illegal under international law.....
Untrue. Negotiations continued at Taba in 2001 and Israel presented a take it or leave it offer in 2008. All the while illegal settlement activity has continued. Revealing Israel's true intent.
If Palestinian leaders support entering into negotiations with Israel to establish a permanent peace agreement they should publicly support entering into negotiations with Israel to establish a permanent peace agreement.
If Israeli leaders supported a two state solution, they would end their illegal settlement activity.
'We Can't Stop Them Committing Genocide'
https://twitter.com/CPMacL2088/status/1775120695225135368
"Our political systems are rotten. There is no leverage. The bond between the people and the political class is completely broken.
They don't care about the people they only care about the billionaires who are in charge of them and the media."
'That's how it goes. Everybody knows...' L Cohen
If Israeli leaders supported a two state solution, they would end their illegal settlement activity.
Many Israeli leaders don’t view it as being illegal. Personally I oppose it but many people say it is legal since the borders are contested. People with this viewpoint say it is legal because the borders are contested and Palestinians don’t want to sign a permanent peace deal with Israel. Just ask the Russians about their idea of what is legal or illegal in Ukraine is and you’ll get some understanding of the position taken by some Israelis. Unfortunately some Israelis believe that since Palestinians don’t want to sign a permanent peace deal with Israel and instead want to destroy Israel, Israel should enlarge its territory for security reasons. I think the way to oppose this is to support establishing peace negotiations aimed at establishing a permanent peace.
Chris Hedges: A Genocide Foretold
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/04/02/chris-hedges-a-genocide-foretold/
"The genocide of Gaza is the final stage of a process begun by Israel decades ago.
Anyone who did not see this coming blinded themselves to the character and goals of the apartheid state."
It is illegal. That some Israeli believe it isn't doesn't make it legal. And to believe it's for security reasons is simply laughable and you know it. If it was for security it would be for military use, not for settlement. And then there's the separate issue that any entity that truly believed in a two state solution would not be taking and settling the other state's land. No justice, no peace.
Extra land provides more security when a country is very small like Israel is. The distance between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea is just 18 miles or 29 kilometres.
Even though it is the only solution most diplomats think is realistic or plausible, most Israelis and most Palestinians oppose a two state solution and instead they both support their side controlling all the land between the river to the sea. Both sides are choosing war over diplomacy.
Many Israeli leaders don’t view it as being illegal. Personally I oppose it but many people say it is legal since the borders are contested. People with this viewpoint say it is legal because the borders are contested and Palestinians don’t want to sign a permanent peace deal with Israel. Just ask the Russians about their idea of what is legal or illegal in Ukraine is and you’ll get some understanding of the position taken by some Israelis.
I think you have made a breakthrough here by admitting that the Israeli government position on settlements is just as wrong as the Russian government position on Ukraine. Both are wrong and illegal, and all reasonable people including you should condemn both equally.
Extra land provides more security when a country is very small like Israel is. The distance between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea is just 18 miles or 29 kilometres.
“Extra land”? You mean settlements, which you will do anything to avoid addressing, or a military zone? What about the distance between Israel and the Jordan River for a Palestinian state and its security?
Many Israeli leaders don’t view it as being illegal. Personally I oppose it but many people say it is legal since the borders are contested. People with this viewpoint say it is legal because the borders are contested and Palestinians don’t want to sign a permanent peace deal with Israel. Just ask the Russians about their idea of what is legal or illegal in Ukraine is and you’ll get some understanding of the position taken by some Israelis.I think you have made a breakthrough here by admitting that the Israeli government position on settlements is just as wrong as the Russian government position on Ukraine. Both are wrong and illegal, and all reasonable people including you should condemn both equally.
I have always opposed the settlements. I have also opposed Russia’s invasion. I have also oppose Hamas’s violence against Israel. I support solving these political problems through diplomacy and relying on international law and not relying on war as a form of diplomacy. Diplomacy requires adversaries negotiating with each other in good faith. Hamas, Likud, Putin, and their likeminded allies unfortunately want to use war to their advantage and they don’t want to negotiate in good faith.
Extra land provides more security when a country is very small like Israel is. The distance between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea is just 18 miles or 29 kilometres.
“Extra land”? You mean settlements, which you will do anything to avoid addressing, or a military zone? What about the distance between Israel and the Jordan River for a Palestinian state and its security?
I believe a permanent peace agreement should be established that insures that the area between Israel and the Jordan also has permanent peace and security. I think the most feasible solution seems to be a two state solution whereby a permanent peace is established for everyone. I also agree that Israelis and Palestinians could possibly agree to another type of permanent peace agreement.
..1st one must deal with reality. there is no leap frogging into peace. and there is no coming back from this that is bodes well for palestinians. not unless israel goes through a revolution. elections won't cut it.
The area around al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, following an Israeli massacre. Omar IshaqDPA via ZUMA Press
What kind of "revolution?"
..start with reality. the zionest intent. what is the zionest intent. it certainly is not peace.
Children work to feed their families in Gaza
Azzam looks pale and sad as he tries to sell some homemade biscuits.
At the age of 8, he has to provide income for his family, who have been uprooted from their home.
The family lived in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, and fled to the southern city of Rafah during the early stages of the current genocidal war. Their home is among the many buildings that Israel has destroyed in Beit Hanoun.
“All I want is to go back to Beit Hanoun and build our home again,” Azzam said.
Before the war, Azzam’s father ran a store selling cellphones. The family had to leave that business and so much else behind.
Azzam is the eldest of three children.
Each morning his mother wakes up early to cook biscuits on a fire. Azzam then takes them to a market area so that he can sell them there.
Azzam’s father is unable to help sell the biscuits as he is busy searching for water. That involves queuing for hours and carrying large containers.
The working day is long. Azzam starts at 8 am and he doesn’t get back to his parents until the evening.
He makes approximately $8 per day, sometimes less.
It is a meager sum considering that the prices of food and other essentials have soared over the past six months. His family can only eat one meal per day.
“I get very tired,” Azzam said. “But I feel happy if I sell all the biscuits.”......
..a cookie cutter policy. israel and the us are trying to do the same for palestine. palestinians also get no voice no vote.
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Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre says the transitional council is essentially a front for U.S. interests, and warns there will be “inevitable war crimes” if foreign troops are deployed to Haiti. “It’s a terrible situation, but I think the idea that there’s a Haitian-led solution coming is actually a false one,” says Pierre. We are also joined by Kim Ives, editor of the English section of Haiti Liberté, who says Haiti is in the midst of a “revolutionary process,” led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier. Ives says that far from being a gang leader, Chérizier has built a coalition to fight the criminal groups in the country and was central to the ouster of Ariel Henry. “They always have to demonize, criminalize the people’s resistance, and that’s what we’re seeing today when they try to put all the armed groups of Haiti’s popular classes into one bag called 'the gangs,'” says Ives......
Extra land provides more security when a country is very small like Israel is. The distance between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea is just 18 miles or 29 kilometres.
“Extra land”? You mean settlements, which you will do anything to avoid addressing, or a military zone? What about the distance between Israel and the Jordan River for a Palestinian state and its security?
I believe a permanent peace agreement should be established that insures that the area between Israel and the Jordan also has permanent peace and security. I think the most feasible solution seems to be a two state solution whereby a permanent peace is established for everyone. I also agree that Israelis and Palestinians could possibly agree to another type of permanent peace agreement.
Blah, blah, blah. When cornered, just say you’re for world peace.
..start with reality. the zionest intent. what is the zionest intent. it certainly is not peace.
So you think for there to be peace Israel has to have a “revolution” that removes the “zionest intent?” How likely is that? I think basically what you’re saying is that the chances for peace are very slim.
Do you also think Palestinians also have to go through a “revolution” to remove their “intent” in order for there to be a possibility of peace?
Blah, blah, blah. When cornered, just say you’re for world peace.
You’re opposed to peace? How do you think peace should be established between Palestinians and Israelis?
..apr 1st.
Around 12 pm on April 1, a group of 26 students entered Simcoe Hall – the seat of U of T’s governance — and gathered outside President Meric Gertler’s office. The students posted signs directing staff to leave the building, and loudly declared that they planned to “occupy” the space. The group of students has secured a promise of a response from U of T admin, but 17 are planning to spend the night outside of President Gertler’s office in protest.
The group, which a participant identified as UofT Occupy for Palestine (O4P), concurrently released a statement on Instagram with three primary demands: that the university divest its endowment and pension plan from companies providing “military goods or services” to the Israeli government, publicly disclose the names of all companies that U of T invests in, and terminate all partnerships with institutions operating in or supporting settlements outside Israel’s internationally recognized border.
The protesters proceeded to sit along the hallway outside of Gertler’s office, on the second floor of Simcoe Hall. Holding signs and with a Palestinian flag hanging out the windows, the protesters chanted slogans like “Not a penny, not a dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes” and “Free, free Palestine.”......
Israel’s destruction of Gaza exceeds 18.5 billion US dollars
In a joint report released on April 2, the United Nations and the World Bank revealed that the damage and destruction to essential infrastructure in Gaza inflicted by the genocidal Israeli war in just its first four months is estimated to be worth around USD 18.5 billion.
The report, financed by the European Union (EU), and titled the ‘Interim Damage Assessment Note’, states that the destruction in Gaza since October is “unprecedented.”
According to the report, approximately 62% of all homes in Gaza, or 290,820 housing units, have been damaged or completely destroyed. This has resulted in over a million Palestinians rendered homeless. Damage and destruction to homes and residential buildings alone accounts for 72% of the total damage costs, at an estimated value of USD 13.3 billion.
Around 19% of the total damage costs are of Gaza’s public infrastructure to provide water, health, and education to its people. Commercial and industrial buildings account for 9% of total damage costs.
Furthermore, the report found that the population in Gaza is suffering from a massive and widespread lack of access to healthcare, as a result of 84% or more of the health facilities either completely destroyed or partially damaged. Additionally, the report says that even the ones that are still intact are either not being operated at all or to their full capacity due to the acute shortage of electricity, fuel and water throughout the Gaza strip.
Gaza’s education system has been completely decimated, with all of Gaza’s 625,000 students out of school. The cost of damages to education infrastructure amounts to USD 341 million, with an estimated 56 school facilities destroyed, and 219 partially damaged......
Israel must be made to pay reparations for everything including the cost of finally removing themselves and their illegal occupation from Palestine.
Israel must be made to pay reparations for everything including the cost of finally removing themselves and their illegal occupation from Palestine.
Are you talking about just Gaza and the West Bank? Obviously Israelis aren't going to remove themselves from their country Israel as many of their enemies have dreamed of and violently fought for for over 75 years. Should reparations also be paid for what happened on Oct 7th?
The Palestinian break-out from 'the world's largest open-air concentration camp' and subsequent casualties resulting are what they are.
Even before this greatest genocide, compare the body count laid at the feet of the Palestinian resistance vs the Apartheid occupation's share and you will find Palestinians easily constitute a mountain next to an Israeli molehill.
Gaza War Chronicles (&vid)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66YZuwQvA64
With Mouin Rabbani and Bassam Haddad.
Israel must be made to pay reparations for everything including the cost of finally removing themselves and their illegal occupation from Palestine.
Are you talking about just Gaza and the West Bank or all of the area “from the river to the sea?”
Al-Quds Day mobilization takes on new importance amid Israel’s genocide of Gaza
Around the world, mass mobilizations have already begun to mark International Al-Quds Day, an annual event in support of the Palestinian struggle which was declared by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979. Al-Quds Day is held on the last Friday of Ramadan.
This year, as Israeli forces have been carrying out genocide on the Gaza Strip for the six month in a row, Al-Quds Day mobilizations are set to be the largest in decades. Even countries like the United States, where Al-Quds Day has not been widely commemorated, the growing Palestine solidarity movement will mobilize across the nation.
Al-Quds Day was first observed in Iran in 1979, shortly after the Iranian revolution, as a day in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
It was formulated to oppose Israel’s Jerusalem Day, with Al-Quds being the Arabic name for Jerusalem. Israel declared Jerusalem Day in 1968, following the Six-Day War of 1967, to celebrate its occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“For many years, I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel which today has intensified its savage attacks against the Palestinian brothers and sisters, and which, in the south of Lebanon in particular, is continually bombing Palestinian homes in the hope of crushing the Palestinian struggle,” said Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, in declaring Al-Quds Day......
Hundreds of thousands in Yemen rallied for Al Quds day. Photo: Screenshot
The struggle for a free Palestine is an inspiration for Indigenous resistance everywhere.
20 Pomona College Students Arrested After Occupying President’s Office
Protests over Israel’s assault on Gaza continue across the globe. In California, 20 students at Pomona proteste protesting the removal of a mock Apartheid Wall that had been built on campus. The students were also calling for Pomona College to divest from companies aiding Israel’s occupation.
Toronto Commemorates International Quds Day
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/04/08/723279/Toronto-Commemorates-Int...
"Quds Day rallies and marches are being held in cities across Canada. Participants in the rallies are calling for an immediate end to Israel's genocide in the Gaza Strip. Our correspondent Camila Escalante reports from Toronto."
Keep on keeping on! Free Palestine! End the Occupation! End Canadian complicity! Stop the Genocide! Cancel Apartheid Israel!
..note the not calling for a 2 state solution. not condemning hamas.
Public Sector Unions: Canada Must Suspend Arms Trade with Israel
As Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza, which has resulted in a devastating number of civilian deaths, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are calling on the Canadian government to immediately suspend the trade of arms and military equipment with Israel.
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Moreover, we reiterate our calls on the Canadian government:
University of Michigan students walk out of class, challenge proposed ban on disruptions
University of Michigan students protesting a proposed policy banning any activity deemed disruptive walked out of class on Thursday, a day after the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan advised the university's president in a letter to drop the proposal or "substantially re-write it."
The protest follows a wave of challenges from students opposing the proposal unveiled by the university on March 27, which came after a school honors ceremony was interrupted by a student demonstration. That demonstration was planned by the Tahrir Coalition, a coalition of student groups advocating for the university to pull out of investments they claim are linked to Israel's military actions in Gaza. The students cite investments made by the university in companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
more from above. a few hundred. no small matter.
quote:
By 12:15 p.m., a few hundred people appeared at the university Diag, a central outdoor spot on the Ann Arbor campus. An Instagram post by SAFEUmich, which describes itself as a Palestinian advocacy group, promoted the walkout.
The post reads, "Show admin that their suppression will not stop us from calling for divestment from companies profiting off the genocide of Palestinians! No more lies, no more threats, we’ll disrupt till you divest!"
Attorneys with the ACLU of Michigan on Wednesday wrote in a seven-page letter addressed to U-M President Santa Ono that adopting the "vague and overbroad" policy risks "chilling a substantial amount of free speech and expression."
"We recognize that the University has an interest in carrying out its operations without major disruptions; however, in attempting to achieve that goal, the proposed policy sacrifices far too much," they wrote......
Jewish and decolonial
For a decolonial Jewish voice – As decolonial Jewish activists, we understand the extent to which our society is structured by its colonial and racial history. As Jews, we do not forget that it is European nation-states that orchestrated our destruction, that of our histories and cultures. That it was they who turned the Jew into a parasite, a foreigner within the state, thereby justifying the persecution and extermination of Europe’s Jews. That it was also them who caused the uprooting of Jews from their societies in Arab and Muslim countries, by pitting the colonized against one another and supporting the Zionist nationalist and colonial project.
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Tsedek! brings together Jews of different origins and backgrounds, both believers and atheists. For us, the creation of an ethnocracy is not a prerequisite for Jewish emancipation and self-determination. We are reclaiming a Jewish identity by combining it with an anti-racist struggle and by proposing a cultural alternative that emphasizes the preservation of Jewish cultures and solidarity with other historically oppressed groups and minorities. Our Jewishness is built around shared traditions, joy, the pursuit of social justice and the repair of the world, which rests on three pillars: justice, peace and truth.
For an internationalist activism against colonialism, fascism, and imperialism – We wish to fight alongside those who are challenging the economic, political, and symbolic violence that neo-colonial France continues to exert on the world, particularly in its overseas territories and in Africa. French and European immigration policies, and the xenophobic treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, are yet another illustration of Western coloniality. From Calais to Lesbos, borders, walls and barbed wire kill, and we stand by migrants and undocumented workers......
..from above.
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Overcoming the instrumentalization of antisemitism – In France and elsewhere, conservative pro-Israel organizations and state institutions claiming to fight antisemitism continue to conflate “Jew” and “Zionist” by presenting any criticism of Zionism, the occupation, or Israeli apartheid as intrinsically antisemitic. We refuse to let the fight against antisemitism be diverted from its egalitarian objective to become a tool of authoritarian governance that targets Muslims, the left and human rights organizations in particular. We refuse to be the moral guarantor of a state that persecuted and exterminated our own people. The security or rights of Jews must not be used to justify policies that discriminate against other minorities or limit freedom of expression, as we have seen with the banning of demonstrations in support of Palestinian people, the deprogramming of activists at public conferences, or the expulsion of imams.
Against state-sponsored Islamophobia – Contemporary European nationalism is structured around Islamophobia, and it is the figure of the Muslim that today represents otherness and the intruder. The increasingly normalized theory of the great replacement legitimizes the persecution of post-colonial immigrant populations, refugees, and non-white asylum seekers. The conspiracy theories that characterize antisemitism are now also mobilized against Muslims, accused of wanting to destabilize and divide our societies. Collective memory must not turn a blind eye to the analogies between today’s Islamophobia and last century’s antisemitism, nor to the way in which the fixation on an imaginary « Islamo-leftism » echoes the Judeo-Bolshevism of the first half of the 20th century. In the face of state racism, we fight alongside our comrades targeted by Islamophobia.....
..last one. it's such a great analysis. so much clarity.
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For an end to apartheid and occupation in Israel-Palestine
The state of Israel is an offshoot of European colonialism, and owes its existence to the dispossession of Palestinians and the denial of their rights – Neither a « religious conflict » nor a « civilizational struggle,” Israel-Palestine is a colonial situation. The oxymoron « Jewish democracy » designates nothing more than a sham democracy, reserved exclusively for Jews. Therefore, only a genuine process of decolonization will achieve justice and equality. Today, two blocs with radically unequal strength and means are pitted against one another: on the one hand, a supremacist, colonial state that flouts international law and benefits from the support of the Western powers; on the other, a colonized, oppressed and dispersed population, whose acts of resistance are seen as illegitimate. We stand by the Palestinians and Israelis who are fighting for a truly democratic alternative, which would grant the same rights to all the inhabitants of the region, from the river to the sea.
The anti-racist struggle can only be anti-Zionist – Zionism integrates and extends the racial logics of European modernity. It seeks to make Jews white, to emancipate them using the same mechanisms that have historically been used to oppress them. In this process, non-European Jews are candidates for whiteness, and Palestinians constitute a foreign and unassimilable body. We will not turn a blind eye to the racism of the Zionist enterprise – which also has Jewish victims – because we believe it is important to replace the discourse opposing Jews and non-Jews, which benefits the Israeli regime, with an analysis of the settler/indigenous relationship......
epaulo13 wrote:
As Jews, we do not forget that it is European nation-states that orchestrated our destruction, that of our histories and cultures. That it was they who turned the Jew into a parasite, a foreigner within the state, thereby justifying the persecution and extermination of Europe’s Jews.
End quote.
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“The Jew” was never “turned into a parasite.”
