Important Information Regarding The Current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
GAZA - Emergency Dossier
a. Gaza: Barbarism in Full Swing, by François Lazar
b. "We in the 1948 Territories Show Our Full Support and Solidarity with Our People in Gaza" - Interview with Thaer
c. Interview with Palestine National Council (PNC) Member Salah Salah
d. Declaration [on Gaza] of the General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA), Workers Party of Algeria (PT) and Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OUSA)
2) Palestine: Table of Contents of Issue No. 35 of Dialogue Review: For a One-State Solution, For the Right of Return [see attached pdf of new issue]
3) Link to -- and two brief excerpts from -- a Must-Read article published in Fourth International Newsletter No. 34 (new series - No. 305), July 15, 2014 titled "About the Current Situation in Palestine: Gaza Under the Bombs and the Threat of a Ground Invasion by the Israeli Army"
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1) GAZA - Emergency Dossier
a) Gaza: Barbarism in Full Swing
By F. Lazar
[Reprinted from the July 23, 2014 issue of Informations Ouvrieres (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the Independent Workers Party (POI) of France.]
July 20 was presented as the bloodiest day in the "two camps" since the beginning of the Israeli offensive.
The Shejayia neighborhood in the north-east of Gaza was shelled for several hours in a row, according to witnesses, preparing what was also a bloody setback for the ground troops of the Israeli army.
If we were to judge by the nature of the victims, these "two camps" are composed, on the one hand, by heavily armed soldiers who set out to liquidate everything in their path, and, on the other hand, by Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, who are at the forefront of the list of victims.
On July 22, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights announced that more than 600 Palestinians had died, over 80% of whom were civilians, including 130 children.
What is happening today in Gaza is a new offensive in the deliberate policy of the Israeli State to terrorize the Palestinian population, beginning with the children. Since the beginning of the "Operation Border Protection" offensive, the Israeli army has killed twice as many children as combatants, with forty-five schools having been bombed.
On July 16, four children playing on a beach in Gaza were killed by targeted gunfire from an Israeli warship. Many experts cited by the press agree that the high-precision equipment utilized excludes the possibility of any error.
The Israeli war machine has also severely injured more than 4,000 people since July 8, in a situation where there are no longer any bandages, disinfectants, or beds in the overcrowded hospitals, which are themselves the object of bombings, as was the case of the largest hospital in Gaza, Al-Alqsa, where four people were killed in a bombing.
The spokesperson of the Israeli army justified this bombing, as usual, stating that the population had been warned by text messages and leaflets, and had the opportunity to escape.
But escape to go where?
Added to these deadly bombings is the psychological warfare against civilians, including the seizure of phone numbers by the Israeli secret services. What's involved is massacring and terrorizing the Palestinian people.
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b) "We in the 1948 Territories Show Our Full Support and Solidarity with Our People in Gaza" - Interview with Thaer
[Note: The following interview with Thaer, a Palestinian activists born and raised in the 1948 Territories, was conducted by Jean-Pierre Barrois and was published in the July 16, 2014 issue of Informations Ouvrières (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the Independent Workers Party (POI) of France.]JPB: Can you please introduce yourself?
Thaer: My name is Thaer. I'm a Palestinian political activist born and raised in the 1948 Territories (known by the international community as Israel).
JPB: In the '48 Territories, and especially in Galilee in the North of Israel, there are daily clashes between the Palestinian population -- particularly the youth -- and the forces of repression of the Zionist State.
Thaer: Yes, and as your readers certainly know the main reason of the clashes between the Palestinian people and the Israeli police is the brutal murder of Muhammed Abu Khdeir (who was 16 years old) from Jerusalem. But what should be understood is that this assassination was the spark that set the fire in a political situation marked by the racism and the economic and social gap between the Israelis and the Palestinians. These are the reasons why the clashes have taken place.
At the same time, the collective punishment of the Palestinian people was no surprise. This is how Israeli policy is made. We have seen this collective punishment in the West Bank and now in Gaza.
JPB: Are you saying that it is the Palestinian people as such, wherever they live, who are being targeted? Are you saying that it is the very existence of the Palestinian people which is at stake?
Thaer: Absolutely. It's also important to point that the clashes in the '48 Territories started before the ones in the West Bank. And it should be noted that those who got arrested in the last weeks are the same ones who got released in the Shalit deal in 2011. It shows that nobody was randomly arrested and that "the list was prepared in advance," as a friend from Ramallah told me.
JPB: How did that movement that started in the West Bank spread to the '48 Territories? How does the population get organized?
Thaer: What happened and is still happening in the '48 Territories is that some movements organized protests in solidarity with the clashing people in Jerusalem Those protests in different villages and cities ended up blocking the main roads in Israel. The Israeli police was called in. They invaded those cities and villages and clashed with the protesters. Most of the people who are joining the clashes are youth, but most of them are not "politicized" and are not activists in general. The protests are being organized by independent political movements. But when the clashes start, the people themselves are the leaders.
In the '48 Territories, popular committees have been established. They aim to protect the villages and the cities from suspected attacks. Those committees consist of youth and people who are volunteering to stay up the whole night in the main entrances of their cities and villages.
Such activities are reminiscent of the First Intifada.
JPB: Where did the main clashes take place?
Thaer: In Nazareth, Um Al-Fahm, Acre, Jaffa, Arraba, Sakhnin, Tamra, Shefa'amr and in many other places.
JPB: What about the victims?
Thaer: First there were 115 arrests. At least 40 to 50 of them were minors. Later, the number rose to 200; several people were arrested in their homes during night raids. It's important to point that this is the biggest wave of arrests in the '48 borders since the Second Intifada in 2000.
As I already said, the policy of Israel is collective punishment. Just to give you one example: Yesterday, two Palestinian workers pulled over to fix their car near Haifa. An Israeli settler ran over them with his car and killed two of them. One of them was from Tulkarem (West Bank), the other was from Jaffa ('48 border).
And now it is the Gaza population that is being massacred. We, the people and the movements in the '48 Territories show our full support and solidarity with our people in Gaza, who are daily suffering from siege and bombing. Launching campaigns and protesting is the minimum we can do. We also call upon our comrades in Europe to launch campaigns and raise awareness about what's going on in Gaza, and to put pressure on their countries to stop supporting the occupation.
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c) Interview with Palestine National Council (PNC) Member Salah Salah
[Reprinted from the July 23, 2014 issue of Informations Ouvrieres (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the Independent Workers Party (POI) of France.]
Question: Why do the Zionists decide to attack Gaza now?
Salah Salah: You know, it is not the first time that the Zionist forces attack Gaza. They have been doing this regularly from time to time. Not only in 2009 and in 2012, but even before Hamas was founded, in both 1967 and 1956. However, now the Zionist movement is by far more aggressive than ever before. They bombard homes and demolish buildings to attack and kill the people who are living inside, and this way many families have been completely wiped out.
The Zionists are making use of Hamas as a pretext to their war, claiming that it's against terrorism they are fighting. However the true aim for this barbarian and destructive attack has -- from my point of view -- the following objectives:
1- To affirm the division between the Gaza strip and the West Bank geographically and politically.
2- To test the reaction of the new regime in Egypt, and whether it still continues and mediates as before, or if it has changed?
3- To check what new weapons and resources the Palestinian resistance is in possession of.
In addition to this, the Zionists were very anxious about the mass demonstrations and strikes, in Al-Khalil, Jerusalem and the '48 borders. They wanted these protests to come to a halt and not develop into a third Intifada. And we noticed that this possibility took another direction, and turned into solidarity with Gaza and supporting the fight there, instead of leading and organizing an intifada in all of the historic area of Palestine (West Bank, Gaza, '48 area)
Question: What is the situation in Gaza exactly?
Salah Salah: What the Zionists are surprised by is the amount and degree of weapons that the Palestinian factions are in possession of. It is not easy for the Israelis to continue, they are darkening their casualties, and placing the media under strong control, not permitting them to publish anything.
The Palestinian situation is stronger than expected, and this is why the Palestinians dare to put forward their conditions to a cease fire, and not like before when the enemy was attacking and other countries (mainly Egypt) were mediating, primarily on the terms of Israel.
Now the Zionists put forward their conditions for a ceasefire, but so do the Palestinians. Now the Israelis can attack, but so can the Palestinians. The situation has changed, and it is not like before when the Palestinians were just crying and asking for help.
At the end of this war the siege will be lifted, many prisoners will be released, and a new balance of force will be established. And so, the Zionists will think it over a thousand times before attacking Gaza once again.
Question: What about the International reaction?
Salah Salah: At the governmental level, mainly USA and Europe, the situation is incredibly bad, as usual, as these imperialists, who helped establishing Israel and since then have sustained it, have taken the side of Israel once again.
However, as for the people of the international community, the situation has changed. I appreciate that large demonstrations, strikes, mass movements, actions in solidarity with the Palestinians and rejection of the (Israeli) massacres have taken place all over the world. This means that the public opinion is beginning to realize the reality of the Zionist racist regime (Israel).
Question: According to you, what is the solution?
Salah Salah: The solution to a cease fire is this: That the Zionist attacks be brought to an end, that the siege be raised, that the prisoners be released, and that the demolished houses and infrastructure will be reconstructed.
And finally there is the solution of considering again the original Charter of PLO, mainly the paragraph that talks about one Palestine Democratic state, with one citizenship, where the refugees can return to their homeland, and where there is no distinction between religion, race, color or any other differences we might have as people. So we can put an end to war, live all together, in peace, and guarantee a bright future for our children.
Question: And Mahmoud Abbas?
Salah Salah: As he is the president of the Palestinians (PLO and the Palestinian Authority), he should be concerned about the Palestinians. From his long experience of negotiations he should reach to the conclusion that Israel does not want peace and that they will not agree to the Palestinians gaining their independent State. He must therefore stop this and turn to other options, starting from the first step: To hold a meeting for all the Palestinian Factions and discuss all the possible alternatives, reaching a new strategy to face the Zionist State.
(Posted by: dialoguereview@yahoo.com)
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d) Declaration of the General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA), Workers Party of Algeria (PT) and Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OUSA)
[Reprinted from the July 23, 2014 issue of Informations Ouvrieres (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the Independent Workers Party (POI) of France.]
We, the undersigned -- General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA), Workers Party of Algeria (PT) and Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OUSA, in its French acronym) -- are outraged by the criminal actions carried out by the Zionist entity in Gaza and we declare: The Zionist terrorist hordes are carrying out the extermination of the Palestinian people in a war of genocide. It is a war against civilians, mostly children, women and the elderly, with the active support of the governments of the major powers and the UN.
We reiterate our strong condemnation of this war of terrorism implemented by the racist and criminal Zionist State.
The U.S. and European governments -- which all too often speak about human rights and freedom as the rationale for intervening in the internal affairs of sovereign countries, including intervening militarily, sowing chaos and barbarism -- are complicit in a crime against humanity; they are complicit in the extermination of 500 Palestinians, in the killing of entire families. Thousands of wounded are also threatened with death because of the lack of medicines, while hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been expelled from their homes, and basic infrastructure has been massively destroyed. Most of the Arab regimes and the Arab League are complicit and guilty by their silence and submission to the sponsors of the Zionist State, thus encouraging a war of genocide against the Palestinian people.
We -- the UGTA, the PT and the OUSA -- reaffirm our full support to the Palestinian people in their struggle to recover their legitimate rights, the right to resist the occupier, and the right to defend themselves. We call on workers, youth, trade unions, and political parties committed to the rights of peoples and freedom -- in the Maghreb, the Mashreq, and around the world -- to act in unity to demand the unconditional end to the war of extermination against the Palestinian people.
We urge people the world over to demonstrate their active solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, martyred by the constant bombardment, by land, sea and air, by the terrorist Israeli army, with the explicit support of its U.S. and European sponsors.
We salute the heroic resistance of the Palestinian people, who are resisting the atrocities committed by the Zionist State, who are reaffirming their national unity, with all its historical components, in Gaza, in the occupied territories, in the 1948 borders, and in the refugee camps.
We welcome the popular mobilization on all continents for the defense of the Palestinian people, who are facing the threat of extermination.
We express our agreement with the official position of the Algerian government, which is faithful to the traditions of the people of Algeria. We urge the government to continue and intensify its active political support to the Palestinian cause at a regional and international level, to end the war of extermination, and strengthen its aid and assistance to the Palestinian people in its struggle for the recovery of its right to exist, to land and to freedom.
We -- the UGTA, the PT and the OUSA -- have decided to coordinate actions in solidarity with the Palestinian people and, in this context, we are organizing a joint rally to denounce the genocide and to support the Palestinian people. It will be held this week in Algiers, at the headquarters of the UGTA trade union federation.
Down with racist and genocidal Zionism, its sponsors and its Arab allies! Long live the resistance of the Palestinian people!
-- Algiers, July 21, 2014
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2) Palestine: Table of Contents of New Issue (No. 35, June-July 2014) of Dialogue Review: For a One-State Solution, For the Right of Return
[Note: See attached cover page in jpg of new issue; to receive a pdf of Issue No. 35, just send us a note. Also go to www.dialogue-review.com for back issues.]
- Presentation
- The searing hypocrisy of the West, by Susan Abulhawa
- Open Letter to Mahmoud Abbas: No Surrender!
- The battle over Palestine is raging -- and Israel is losing: Ali Abunimah on his new book
- In the absence of absence: A Palestinian family endures, and resists, the Israeli occupation, by Basil AbdulRazeq Farraj
- Who's afraid of the right of return? by Alma Biblash
- Ethnic Cleansing by Other Means, by Ilan Pappe
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3) ALSO, A MUST-READ:
- About the Current Situation in Palestine: Gaza Under the Bombs and the Threat of a Ground Invasion by the Israeli Army -- reprinted from Fourth International Newsletter No. 34 (new series - No. 305), July 15, 2014
http://socialistorganizer.org/ivckd
Two Brief Excerpts . . .
But 20 years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, it has been proved that the solution of "two States" is no solution at all; in fact, it is has led precisely to the concrete situation facing the Palestinian people today: On the one side, you have an Israel State whose very essence is to assert that there are no limits to its declared inalienable right to colonize all of Palestine, and on the other hand, you have "territories" (West Bank and Gaza), which are a veritable open-air prison, totally subjected to the policy dictates of the Israeli government. . . .
The perpetrators of the lynching [of young Palestinian, Mohamed Abou Kdheir, who was burned alive by six Israelis living in the territories occupied in 1967] were described as "Jewish extremists." But are they not the product of a society founded on the very denial of the existence of Palestinians on the historic land of Palestine? This negation takes the form of a continuous policy of "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians, in continuity with the 1948 Nakba and the partition of Palestine. The current situation is the direct product of the implementation of the Two-State perspective, which can only take the form of a dominant, armed-to-the-teeth, named Jewish State and a rump Palestinian "State," as defined in the Oslo Accords of 1993. These Accords led to the creation of a Palestinian Authority whose primary mandate was to control the Palestinian masses on behalf of the Israeli Army. Twenty years later, according to an article published in Haaretz on July 9, 2014, only 10% of the Palestinian population support Abbas, who has literally "sunk" because of his collaboration with Israel. . . .
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