The Opinion Makers: Debate, Discussion and Analysis on the Israeli assault on the Flotilla of boats seeking the break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip

Columnists Ali Younes and Ray Hanania discuss and debate the controversy surrounding the Israeli assault on the flotilla of boats seeking to bring food and medicine to the 1.5 million besieged civilians living in the Israeli occupied Gaza Strip which resulted in the murder of nine civilians killed by Israeli storm troopers who dropped in on the boats in the dead of night from attack helicopters.

The world is calling for an independent investigation but Israel insists on conducting the investigation themselves. View this episode of the weekly online video program "The Opinion Makers" at:

http://vimeo.com/user3471011/videos

Or get more information at the web site

www.TheOpinionMakers.com

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Legal rights group ADALAH to represent political prisoners arrested by Israeli military in Gaza boat raid

NEWS UPDATE

1 June 2010

Adalah to Represent Arab Political Leaders and Free Gaza Movement Activist Arrested from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla at Detention Hearings Today

Today, 1 June 2010, the Magistrates' Court in Ashkelon, Israel will hold a hearing at 13:30 pm to extend the detention of Sheikh Raed Salah, the Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel (north); Sheikh Hamad Abu Daabes, the Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel (south); Mr. Muhammed Zeidan, the Chairman of the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel; and Ms. Lubna Masarwa of the Free Gaza Movement and Al Quds University. These four individuals were arrested from the Marmara boat, part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was attacked by the Israeli navy yesterday. Adalah Attorneys Hassan Jabareen and Orna Kohn will represent them.

Contact:

International Media Coordinator, Gaby Rubin, gaby@adalah.org, 0528-332-430

Adalah (“Justice” in Arabic) is an independent human rights organization and legal center based in Israel. It works to promote and defend the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians living under occupation in the OPT before Israeli courts. Visit our website: www.adalah.org

Principles that should guide Palestinian and Israeli Peace

These are some principles I have fashioned that I hope will become the basis for establishment of Yalla Peace Parties throughout the world to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

1-We can disagree about the past with passion and emotion and still come together for a great future together. We do not have to deny each other's narratives about the past, or challenge them, on order to agree on a mutual future of peace and compromise. This is the first step. Stop using the past as a bludgeon to attack the other side, while closing a blind eye to similar conduct among our own peoples.

2-We apply one principle of fairness, justice, morality to achieve compromise looking within ourselves to find and correct the fault. Israelis must be able to denounce the killing of Palestinians before they can denounce the killing of Israelis. Palestinians must be able to denounce the killing of Israelis before they can denounce the killings of Palestinians.

3-We resist the temptation to blame people for the actions of individuals, and resist the temptation to respond in anger and in kind. This is not about people but rather about politics and government policies that have gone wrong and feed on the suffering, tragedy and confusion of our peoples.

4-We set aside the old paradym of Israelis versus Palestinians and instead define our movement as moderates versus extremists. We use the M Word proudly and reject those who seek to deny it as a means of distracting eyes from their own extremist ways and views.

5-We embrace two-states, Israel and Palestine, and deal with the issues after we achieve a real peace and two states. We create two states on the basis of the bigger principle and later negotiate the final borders, the sharing of Jerusalem, compensation and resettlement of the Palestinian refugees, the dismantling of which specific settlements, the swap of land, etc. Create two states so that Israel and Palestine become equal partners at the negotiating table rather that seeking to achieve the unachievable through an imbalance with Israel as the subjugator and Palestine as the subjugated.

6-We strive to see the bigger picture and not get drawn in to the battle over the "pebble." We see that peace based on compromise is the answer to past violence and terrorism. We don't allow one disagreement to discourage us from seeking the bigger agreement of peace.

7-We resist the rhetoric of hatred. We stop stereotyping Israelis and Palestinians. We reject hate speech, denial of the suffering of others. Palestinians must stop enabling or advocating Holocaust revisionism or questioning the Holocaust. israelis must stop questioning the existence of Palestinians or the facts that they lost many homes and lands as civilians in the 1947-48 war.

8-We view criminal acts (violence, terrorism, all acts of physical injury) not as the consequences of a people but rather as the result of individual conduct. Terrorism and violence must be treated as criminal acts not an excuse to persecute or demonize any other people.

9-We do not allow violence and terrorism to derail compromise and recognize that the more successful we become in reaching peace based on compromise and two-states, the extremists will push harder until it is too late with more violence, and violence of the most despicable kind including suicide bombings and military massacres.

10-We view violence of the past in its context not as a means of defining the future. The massacres in the Gaza Strip are horrendous but the answer is not to respond with violence, but rather to build peace to prevent future events from re-occurring. The same with violence against Israelis. We treat them as horrific incidents, not blanket condemnation of an entire people.

11-We stop blaming others and begin to address the challenges among ourselves. Palestinians stop blaming Israelis and Israelis stop blaming Palestinians. Instead, Palestinians look into themselves and identify their errors, mistakes, misconduct and change them. Israelis look into themselves and identify their errors, mistakes, misconduct and change them.

12-We accept that Peace is the answer and that both sides have injured each other.

-- Ray Hanania

www.YallaPeace.com

American Muslims for Palestine: Obama did not go far enough

President Obama must recognize
the illegal occupation of Palestine

(CHICAGO, JUNE 3, 2009) - President Barack Obama is touring the Middle East this week outlining his administration's plans for peace in that region. It's ironic that his speech to the Muslim world on Thursday in Egypt occurred on the eve of the 1967 Six Day War, which many point to as the cause of the current conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.

Obama has been leaning on Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to cease settlement expansion in the West Bank. It's a promising stance, but it doesn't go far enough to address all the issues Palestinians face on a daily basis.

To adapt a phrase from the Clinton administration, “It's the occupation, stupid.”

The United States has to recognize and articulate the truth that Israel's occupation of Palestine is illegal and is in violation of United Nations resolution 242, which firmly states Israel was not allowed to gain territory through war and that it must withdraw from the occupied territories.

For more than four decades, Palestinians have been paying a heavy price because of Israel's expansionist policies. The Six Day War displaced more than 350,000 Palestinians, adding to the already staggering number of people who were made refugees in 1948. Today, refugees and their descendents number more than 7.8 million; 40 percent of the world's refugees are Palestinians.

The Israeli Defense Force, on several occasions, has waged indiscriminate attacks as a form of collective punishment against innocent civilians, such as in the 2002 massacres in Jenin and Beit Hanoun and most recently in Gaza, where more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed and more than 5,300 were wounded. For nearly three years, Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza, brining the region's economy to a standstill and causing major food and medicine shortages. More than 400,000 people have no access to potable water.

A May 27 report, “West Bank Movement and Access Update,” by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, offered other grim statistics about the realities Palestinians face because of the occupation:

* Since 1967, Israeli authorities declared more than 30 percent – 676 square miles – of the West Bank – as closed military zones or nature preserves, prohibiting access to Palestinians, according to the United Nations.
* In a six-month period ending in March 2009, UN officials counted 634 checkpoints and other obstacles impeding Palestinians' free movement in the West Bank.
* Since 1967, 150 Israeli settlements have been constructed on 3 percent of the West Bank, further fragmenting the area to which Palestinians have access. In the last quarter of 2008, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported the new or ongoing construction of nearly 4,000 new housing units in West Bank settlements, a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2007. The Israeli Ministry of Housing has plans for an additional 73,000 settlement units.
* The majority – 87 percent - of the West Bank Barrier, which Palestinians refer to as the Apartheid Wall, snakes through the West. Furthermore, Israel has closed to Palestinians the land between the Wall and the Green Line (1948 boundaries). Palestinians, whose homes lie in the newly closed areas, must obtain permits from the Israeli Defense Forces in order to remain. The permits are largely denied.

The trends seen in the last year alone have “resulted in a contraction of the overall space available for Palestinian development and a decrease in the degree of control that Palestinians have over that space,” the report concluded. “The movement of Palestinians within the West Bank remains highly constrained.”

Obama is urging Israel to freeze settlements, because "part of being a good friend is being honest,” he said this week. The American Muslims for Palestine applaud Obama for his stance on settlements. However, AMP believes honest dialogue must also include heavy pressure on Israel to end the occupation or risk losing their U.S. funding. Without the financial incentive, Israel will continue to ignore Obama's requests as it has ignored international law for the past 42 years.

Kristin Szremski
Director of Media and Communications
American Muslims for Palestine
10101 S. Roberts Road, Suite
Palos Hills, IL 60465
708.598.4267 office

Chicago women and children hold silent protest for Gaza

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact: Amani Ghouleh 708.601.3713
January 19, 2009

Chicago Women and Children in a Silent Protest
For Peace and Justice in Palestine

CHICAGO, IL – Women from different Human Rights organizations, along with other ethnic and religious groups, will gather in support with the victims of Gaza at 1:00 pm Monday, January 19, 2009, at the Federal Plaza. Attendees are expected to come from all across Illinois and some neighboring states.

Approximately 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli attacks on Gaza began 23 days ago, with over 5,000 injured, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the International Red Cross. Over 300 of the dead are children, almost 100 are women, and 49% of the injured are women or children; these figures are from the United Nations.
Coordinated National Days of Action in Memory
of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
People all across the United States will celebrate the life, legacy, and birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated by a racist's bullet on April 4th, 1968. Dr. King was one of the foremost leaders of the Black civil rights movement in this country, an organizer extraordinaire for peace and justice, and an eloquent orator who challenged racism, injustice, and oppression everywhere.

Monday, January 19, 2009
1:00 PM
Federal Plaza, 50 W. Adams St.
(Adams and Dearborn Streets, downtown Chicago, IL.)
Press Conference Speakers for January 19th, 2009. 1:30 PM
Christina Abraham -- CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director
Gihad Ali – Letter to Obama
Deanna Othman -- to speak about relatives in Gaza

Chicago Radio show brings Palestinians and Israelis together on "Say Something Nice" day

I have invited two guests on my show this morning, Fadi Zanayed, president of the Chicago Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and David Steiner, president of the Chicago Chapter of the American Friends of Peace Now. Zanayed is Palestinian and Steiner is Israeli.

Over the past few weeks, it has been disheartening to watch and listen as some leaders in the Arab community and also in the mainstream Jewish American community, spew hatred and vicious rhetoric blaming others for the unspeakable crimes against women, children and innocent people in the Gaza Strip and in the Israeli towns near Gaza. Instead of leadership, some of these organizations have been denouncing fiercely the crimes committed against their people, but have either remained silent or have justified the carnage and immoral conduct committed against the others.

Both sides are committing crimes, and the worst crime is when the people on either side pretend their side is not committing a crime but scream and cry about the crimes committed only against their people.

That is complicity in the carnage and that needs to stop.

Today on my Radio Chicagoland program (WJJG 1530 AM Radio) I am asking callers, especially Arab and Jewish listeners, to call in and say something nice about the "other side." To show not that the other side is right but that their side has a remaining sense of morality in a conflict filled with a vicious war of words of "moral equivalency."

Innocent people are dying in a conflict that has raged on for more than 100 years. No one incident started anything. The facts so the claims on both sides are untrue. And when people lie or they close their eyes to the truth, they are also participating in the inhumanity that is taking place today.

Our government leaders are failing and are also playing politics on the spilled blood of innocent people. It's up to us, the people, to take the lead and say and do something to force them to do the right thing.

If you are not in the Chicagoland area to hear the show live on the radio this morning between 8 and 9:30 am, you can go to the web site and listen online, including on the live video streaming option,

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Gaza Bombing affects Illinois family

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
January 8, 2009
Contact: Amani Media 708.601.3713

GAZA BOMBING AFFECTS ILLINOIS FAMILY

CHICAGO, IL - Mr. Adel Filfil, a salesman who lives in Northbrook, grew up in Gaza, and just came back from visiting family there a week before Israel launched it’s latest attack on Gaza. He says he just found out that one of his nephews was killed and another was injured in the latest string of bombings on Jabalia in the Gaza strip.

“My nephew was shot in his neck and killed by the Israeli army man when he went looking for food for his family. Another nephew was injured when an Israeli air strike missile hit the mosque where he, his father and four brothers were praying on January 6th. ”

Mr. Filfil says he’s been so worried about the dangerous situation, that he can’t even sleep thinking about his family.

“Not even one house in Jabalia is left without destruction. My sister’s family of seven are living in one room after one side of their house was bombed and using wood as the only source of heat for warmth and cooking. They don’t know when or where to get any humanitarian relief. ”

Everyone is suffering in Gaza, Filfil says “I can’t do anything for them but pray this is going to end soon. The situation in Jabalia was not much better when I was there two weeks ago. With the siege on Gaza, the electricity, water and gas were out most of the week.”

Mr. Adel Fifil will be available for interviews at the Press Conference.

Press Conference: Situation in Gaza
Friday, January 9, 2009
3:30 PM
Daley Plaza, 50 W Washington St.
Chicago, Illinois

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Chicago Arabs protest Gaza war crimes Friday 3 PM in front of the Tribune building

For more information Contact;
Amanin Ghouleh 708.601.3713

Protest To Stop The Mascare in Gaza

Arab American along with other ethnic, religious and human rights organizations have stepped forward to protest the inhumane killing of Palestinians in Gaza and Israeli war crimes and violation of international rules.

Israel continues to escalate the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza; leaving Gaza civilians bleeding to death, while clinics, mosques, schools and hundreds of home were destroyed. Since Saturday 12/27/08, over 350 Palestinians are dead and more than 1600 injured.

With the siege continuing, there is no where to go and nothing is safe. Skies raining with Israeli missiles created horrific scenes of bodies, many of whom are women, children & elderly. Scenes such as five sisters dead while sleeping and four children with their mother dead while having breakfast, all the result of Israeli missiles strikes.

A peaceful demonstration and rally will take place on:

Date: Friday, January 2, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Place: Meet at Tribune Plaza 435 N. Michigan Ave, then March to Israeli Consulate

Sponsored by (list in formation): American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago Chapter, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), ANSWER Chicago, Arab American Action Network (AAAN), Comite Anti-Militarizacion (CAMY), Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism (CCAWR), Fight Back! Newspaper, International Solidarity Movement (ISM)-Chicago, Islamic Community Center of Illinois (ICCI), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)-Chicago, Mosque Foundation, Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation, National Boricua Human Rights Network, Palestinian American Community Center, Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG)-Chicago, United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)-Chicago

Palestinian Christians under Israeli Occupation commemorate Christmas in Shepherd's Field near Bethlehem

Press Release: Wednesday and Thursday Events in the Lands of the Shepherds

Contacts
Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh: Tel 0598939532
George Rishmawi Tel 0599833888

The Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People, and the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) and Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies are honored to invite you to join the Shepherds' Nights, a two-day festival and series of activities which will be held in Beit Sahour, the Shepherds Field.

Wednesday Dec 24, Artistic and cultural evening at the YMCA football field (famous artists, children activities and more). A Christmas service at 5 PM, and program starts at 6 PM for Children, and at 7 PM for adults.

Christmas Thursday Dec 25, Candle Procession titled “Light a Candle for the Land of the Shepherds” starting from the Greek Orthodox Shepherds' Field at 4 PM and ends at Ush Ghrab (Note: Transportation from Ush Ghrab after the march will be available). Bethlehem area is now surrounded on three sides by Israeli settlements and by the segregation wall. The only remaining side to the East at Ush Ghrab has been targeted by settlers who “visit” it every two weeks to insist on building yet another colonial settlement on Palestinian land contrary to International law.

This will be the 41st year that citizens of area of Bethlehem (including Beit Sahour) celebrate these holidays under Israeli occupation. We are reminded that when Jesus was born, this land of the shepherds was also occupied by a foreign army. That came to an end and this occupation will come to an end. Join us as we pray and work for peace and celebrate the birth of the prince of peace.

Arab Christian comedians organize fundraiser for Arab Christian member of the Israeli Knesset Oct 8 Oak Park, Illinois

The only Chicago area performance of the INFIDELS OF COMEDY Arab Christian Comedy Tour in Oak Park at the Arts Center on Wednesday October 8, 2008 at 6 :30 PM, a fundraiser for Nadia Hilou an Arab Christian member of the Israeli Knesset.

Attached is the press release, but it might be the only time you'll see Christian Arab comedians coming together to help a Christian Palestinian woman who is running for re-election in the Israeli Knesset with the Labor Party. This event will also help support Mar Elias Campus which is a branch of the University of Indianapolis in Ibillin in the Galilee. You can get information and tickets online at www.InfidelsofComedy.com.

Please pass it along if you can and I hope you come out to see my comedy and the comedy of two other Christian Arab comedians Nasry Malak and Maria Shehata.

Thanks
Ray hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com
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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ray Hanania
312-933-9855
www.InfidelsofComedy.com
August 3, 2008


Christian Arab Comedians highlight fundraiser for Nadia Hilou Christian Arab member of Israel’s Knesset October 8


Chicago – A unique troupe of Christian Arab standup comedians will be the featured entertainment at a fundraiser to be held for the Honorable Nadia Hilou, a Christian Palestinian Arab member of the Israeli Knesset with the Labor Party on Wednesday October 8, 2008 at the historic Oak Park Arts Center.

The evening will feature an overview of the challenges facing Christian Arabs in the Middle East, support of the peace process and the upcoming elections in Israel this Fall.

The comedy group, called the Infidels of Comedy, was formed by Christian Arab comedians Nasry Malak, Maria Shehata and Ray Hanania. Malak, from New York, and Shehata, originally from Ohio, are Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians. Hanania is Antiochian Orthodox Christian raised Lutheran and from Chicago.

The fundraiser will also support the Mar Elias Branch Campus in Ibillin, Galilee in the Holy Land, a branch campus of the University of Indianapolis, Indiana which offers a Christian Arab Education.

“The peace process for me is also very important,” Hilou said, former head of Social Workers for Peace and Justice in Israel.

“We have very good relations with the Palestinians and we work closely with them on joint projects. We cannot close our eyes to the difficulties but we have no other solution. In the end, there must be two states for two people siude by side in peace.”

Hilou was first elected to the Knesset in 2006. She is one of only 17 women in the Knesset, and one of only two Christian members of the Knesset. Hilou is a social worker by profession focused on the development of children, challenges facing women and the protection of the family.

The event will be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at the Arts Center in Oak Park, Illinois, 200 N. Oak Park Ave., (708-366-3981) with doors opening at 6:30 PM. Tickets for the fundraiser, which includes a presentation by Knesset Member Hilou and the Infidels of Comedy American premiere performance, are $40 per person. They can be purchased online at the comedy web site www.InfidelsofComedy.com or through the organizers listed below.

“The Schools are revolutionary, the faculty and student body is Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. It is a place where all religions meet and interact on equal footing, where the value of each human being comes before their form of religion,” said Susan Drinan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mar Elias Campus.

“The students learn, play and work together, they learn respect and tolerance instead of hate. The school represents ideas and interests for a better future for all faiths, and offers a chance for Christians to remain in the Holy Land. The Mar Elias Schools are the model, the best example for how lasting peace can be achieved.”

Tickets are $40 each.

For More Information, contact:

Ray Hanania, 312-933-9855 cell, 708-403-1203 home Susan Drinan, 630-653-8309 Order tickets online at www.InfidelsofComedy.com

EVENT INFO

Wednesday Oct. 8, 2008, 6:30 PM – 10 PM

Benefits: Fundraiser for the Honorable Nadia Hilou, member of the Israeli Knesset, Labor Party. Social worker and advocate for peace.

Also, support Mar Elias Branch Campus of the University of Indianapolis, Indiana located in Ibillin in the Galilee in the Holy Land.

Location: Arts Center of Oak Park, 200 N. Oak Park Ave, 708-366-3981

The Arts Center is a magnificent neoclassical building, an architectural gem, inside and out. Large lobby reception area, 700 seat auditorium with spacious dressing rooms and the Ernest Hemingway Museum.

Entertainment: the Christian Arab Comedy Troupe “The Infidels of Comedy” featuring Nasry Malak, Maria Sehata and Ray Hanania.

Tickets are $40 each.
# # #

Middle East podcasts: Ray Hanania interviews Suzanne Manneh ont he rise of Palestinian/Arab Hip-Hop

PODCAST INTERVIEWS
with Ray Hanania
Go to podcast? Interview with Suzanne Manneh on the phenomena of Palestinian and Arab Hip-Hop artists. May 28, 2008. Manneh discusses the rise of hip-hop as a form of creative social protest and expression for Palestinian and Arab youth not just in the United States but also in the Middle East. Go to Podcast Blog?

Ray Hanania's Middle East focused Interview Podcasts: Suzanne Manneh, a feature writer and reporter with the New American Media discusses a recent feature story she wrote on Palestinian and Arab hip-hop and its growing popularity as a form of expression on social and political issues for Middle Easterner youth in the Arab World and in the United States. The interview hosted by Ray Hanania was conducted May 28, 2008. Here is the link to Suzanne's feature at New America Media. This podcast is sponsored by the National Arab American Times newspaper at www.AATimesNews.com and by the National Arab American Journalists Association at www.NAAJA-US.com. Ray Hanania can be reached at www.hanania.com. Hanania also does podcast interviews on Mainstream American topics which are hosted by RadioChicagoland at www.RadioChicagoland.com.

New book challenges Arabs and Muslims to defeat extremism to win a Palestinian State

New book challenges Arabs and Muslims to defeat extremism to win a Palestinian State

Chicago -- Palestinians need to overcome the growing movement of secular and religious extremists in their own community before they can be strong enough to overcome the challenges from Israel and create their own independent Palestinian State, says award winning journalist Ray Hanania in a new book "The Catastrophe: The One-State Solution is the No-State Solution. How Palestinians can stand up to the extremistsand create a Palestinian State."

Hanania, whose writings "define the moderate Arab voice," is an outspoken critic of extremism in the Arab and Muslim community.

Consistently denouncing violence on both sides, Hanania argues in his book that Israelis and Palestinians each face an uncertain future as the extremist secular left partners with the fanatic religious right to use violence prevent peace based on compromise, to advance the so-called "One-State Solution," and to exploit Palestinian suffering as a means of preventing them from the only viable option for statehood, the creation of a Palestinian State in the context of a Two-State Solution.

"We are watching as Palestine is being erased not just from the maps but from reality as Israel's government exploits the failures of our leadership and the uncontrolled emotions of our people," Hanania argues.

"Palestinians are being held hostage by these extremists and fanatics on the left and the right who reject any compromise and who live in a dream of the past that has become our nightmare. To save our people, we must reject the rejectionists, embrace compromise and recognize the reality of our situation in the hopes of someday rebuilding a dream that is the cornerstone of justice."

In the book, Hanania also argues that Palestinians must regain the principled moral stand and cannot succumb to the emotions of their failures over the past 60 years of Israel's existence, writing:

"Being honest about one's mistakes -- and failures -- and acknowledging the reality of history, rather than its myths, is a crucial step towards lifting oneself out of defeat. You cannot make something "better" if you do not honestly acknowledge that things are "bad" or you attempt to do so from a "bad" position. Only those who are "better" can make a situation better. Improve it. Correct it. Bring it back to the moral center.

"But just being 'better,' as a relative statement, is not good enough. You are either pregnant or you are not pregnant. There is no in-between. The road to pregnancy is pregnancy. The road to peace is peace. Either Palestinians have a state or they don't have a state. You either support peace or you don't support peace. Those who use violence to achieve 'peace' are not seeking peace at all. The use of violence is in and of itself a rejection of peace. Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims must answer this important issue correctly. We must clean our own house first before we can insist on cleaning out the houses of others, our 'enemies.' We cannot demand justice from others when we deny justice to others in our actions, in our arguments in our beliefs. Doing so is to deny justice to ourselves."

The book is available directly from the author through his web site at http://www.hanania.com/.

"The Catastrophe"
238 Pages, softcover 7 x 9 trade
$24.95
Ray Hanania Enterprises
PO Box 2127
Orland Park, IL., 60462

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Kucinich -- one of few reasoned voices on 60th Anniversay of 1948 war

Please write Congressman Dennis KUCINICH a message of support at http://kucinich.house.gov/Contact/

Congressional Record, April 22, 2008, Page: H2522

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleagues in Congress in celebrating Israel's accomplishments over the past 60 years. I am happy to be co-sponsor of this congratulatory resolution. However, like many Israelis and Palestinians, I have concerns about Israel's future, its stability, its security and the prospect for peaceful coexistence for both Palestinians and Israelis. One of those concerns relates to the ongoing lack of resolution on the dispossession of Palestinian property and the dislocation of Palestinians after Independence. It must be remembered that about 700,000 Palestinians became exiled. Much Arab property was appropriated. And about 500 Arab villages were destroyed. On December 11, 1948, the United Nations passed Resolution 194, affording Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes in Israel, or to compensation for their property should they choose not to return. To this day, the mandate of U.N. Resolution 194 has not been fulfilled. Unfortunately, this failure remains as one of the most significant barriers to the realization of a two-state negotiated solution.

I am also concerned for those Palestinians who did not flee and who became Israeli citizens after Independence. According to the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, today there exist 20 Israeli laws which explicitly discriminate against the Palestinian minority in Israel, who constitute 20 percent of its population. In its 2005 Annual Report, the U.S. State Department said that ``[There is] institutionalized legal and societal discrimination against Israel's [Arab] Christian, Muslim and Druze citizens. The government does not provide Israeli Arabs with the same quality of education, housing, employment and social services as Jews.''

Finally, Israel has a right to security and a right to defend itself. Accordingly, I am concerned that the 40 year military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem has been and continues to be brutal and unjust and undermines the security of Israel. It is a fact that the government of Israel continues to support the construction of settlements on Palestinian land, perpetuating the consequences of dispossession and exile. Additionally, I am concerned that the government of Israel has increased the number of checkpoints which destroy a viable Palestinian economy and a vibrant civil society. I am concerned that the Israeli government has erected a wall, often on Palestinian land, that divides Palestinians from Palestinians, rather than divide Israel from the West Bank. As stated by Judge Elaraby of the International Court of Justice in his 2004 Advisory Opinion on the legality of Israel's separation barrier, ``The fact that occupation is met by armed resistance cannot be used as a pretext to disregard fundamental human rights in the occupied territory.'' This conundrum of a dialectic of conflict further separates Israelis and Palestinians alike from hopes for peace.

H. Con. Res. 322 eloquently states the many reasons why I celebrate Israel's accomplishments and I sincerely wish it a bright future. I only wish to add that, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many Israelis and Palestinians as well, Israel's future will be bright only if it includes an open dialogue with Palestinians, a respect for human rights and international law, and a society built on coexistence and tolerance. Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace with justice and I encourage the United States government to help Israel achieve that so the joy of future anniversaries will be unalloyed.

I support the resolution in the spirit of reconciliation to which we must all inevitably turn, to achieve peace and justice with our brothers and sisters from whom we may be estranged.

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Iraqi Shi'ite militia slaughter Palestinians there

For immediate release
Media contacts: Ali Alarabi
Phone: 312-593-0575
Shia death squads murder Palestinians in Iraq.

Palestinians in Iraq are facing gradual extermination by Shias militants who are supported by Iran.Chicago

Palestinian Doctor Layla Ali Taha and her young daughter were brutally killed yesterday by Shia death squads in their apartment in the area of Zayounah, in Baghdad

Dr. Layla and her daughter were attacked and stabbed with knives until death , then their attackers burned their bodies and the entire apartment.This heinous crime comes as part of systematic extermination campaign of Palestinians by Shia death squads, who are supported by Iran, according to reports from Iraq.

Dr. Layla's and her young daughter charred remains will be brought to mosque for prayer and burial in the Baladiyat area tomorrow.

Palestinians in Iraq are facing more hardship and extreme danger because they are Palestinian Arabs and non Shia Iraqis. Palestinians who have been living in Iraq for over 60 years, since 1948,have never been allowed to own property, or have IDS, and have no Iraqi citizenship, or any other citizenship.

In the past 5 years, Palestinians were targeted by Shia militants and death squads for extermination and murder campaign designed to drive them off out of the country.

Thousands of Palestinians have fled Iraq thus far, many were taking by Latin American countries, as far as Chile and Brazil, and some European countries. Arab countries have refused to admit those refugees in their countries, thus, perhaps inadvertently,helping Israel in keeping the Palestinian refugees as far as possible from the Middle East.Palestinian in Iraq are living in mortal fear of being identified as Palestinians , and those who live outside the Palestinian ghetto, are being murdered when their neighbors identify them as Palestinians thus bringing Shia death squads to brutally kill them as in the case of Dr. Layla Taha.

Most of the remaining 14000 Palestinians who are trapped in Iraq are living in the Ghetto in the Baladiyat area in Baghdad , in addition to another 1000 Palestinian live in the city of Mousel.

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Israeli Supreme Court rejects international rule of law in Gaza Strip

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE
30 January 2008

In response to Supreme Court’s rejection of petition against fuel and electricity cuts:

Gisha and Adalah: “This decision sets a dangerous legal precedent that allows Israel to continue to violate the rights of Palestinians in Gaza and deprive them of basic humanitarian needs, in violation of international law.”

Today, 30 January 2008, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition by ten Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations to stop Israel from cutting supplies of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as part of a governmental decision authorizing punitive measures against the population of Gaza. The petitioners had argued that cutting fuel and electricity supplies constitutes forbidden collective punishment and violates the prohibition in international law against deliberately targeting civilians. The fuel cuts, which have forced Gaza’s only power plant to reduce production of electricity, have severely disrupted the functioning of vital humanitarian services, including hospitals, water wells, and sewage pumps.

The court’s decision allows the state to proceed with its plan to cut electricity sold to Gaza directly by Israel’s Electric Company from 7 February 2008. Gaza is already experiencing a 20% electricity deficit, which is forcing rolling blackouts in hospitals and other vital humanitarian institutions. The petitioners submitted extensive documentation showing that cuts in supplies of electricity and the industrial diesel needed to produce electricity will necessarily mean longer and more frequent power outages across Gaza, from which vital humanitarian institutions will not be spared.

At the last hearing held on Sunday, 27 January 2008, utility officials from Gaza were prevented from attending the hearing, in violation of the state’s commitment to the court. The state offered oral testimony by a military official, unsubstantiated by affidavit as required, claiming that the cuts would not harm humanitarian needs.

According to Sari Bashi, Director of Gisha: “This is an unprecedented decision authorizing collective punishment in its most blatant form. The court ruling relies on unsubstantiated declarations by the military and ignores the indisputable and well-documented evidence of harm to civilians caused by the fuel and electricity cuts – with no legally valid justification.”

According to Hassan Jabareen, General Director of Adalah: “According to the Supreme Court’s decision, it is permitted to harm Palestinian civilians and create a humanitarian crisis for political reasons. This constitutes a war crime under international criminal law.”

For more information: Noga Eitan, Gisha spokeswoman: 0547-533644, Sari Bashi, Gisha Director, 054-8172103; Adalah Attorney Fatmeh El-’Ajou: 050-907-2729; Rina Rosenberg, International Media, Adalah: 052-849-8807, or 04-950-1610, ext. 118.


Background

Currently, the Gaza Strip is suffering from a 20% deficit in electricity. During the winter, the demand for electricity in the Gaza Strip is approximately 240 mega-watts or more per day, depending on the weather. Currently, Gaza is receiving 120 mega-watts sold by Israel and 17 megawatts supplied by Egypt to Rafah. Gaza’s power plant is able to produce 80 megawatts per day, but the restrictions imposed on the supply of industrial diesel sold to Gaza limits the power plant to generating just 55 megawatts. As a result, the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company (GEDCO) is unable to provide the electricity needed to operate hospitals, water pumps and schools, and so institutes rolling blackouts across main lines. Some humanitarian institutions have back-up generators, but the restrictions on the supply of diesel have disrupted the operation of the generators, too.

Israel controls Gaza’s borders and does not allow Gazans to purchase fuel except via Israeli-controlled crossings.

The petition was submitted on 28 October 2007, the day that Israel cut supplies of petrol (benzene), diesel, and industrial diesel to Gaza. Residents of Gaza purchase fuel from an Israeli company and receive it via Israeli-controlled crossings.

A prior decision of the Supreme Court temporarily prevented Israel from cutting supplies of electricity sold to Gaza by Israel’s Electric Company. Today’s court decision allows the direct electricity cuts to be implemented on 7 February 2008.

The organizations which petitioned the Supreme Court are:
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights-Gaza
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme
B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Al–Haq
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

-- Julia FitzpatrickHuman Rights Advocacy FellowAdalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in IsraelP.O. Box 510Shafa'amr 20200, IsraelTel: +972-4-950-1610 ext. 117Fax: +972-4-950-3140E-mail: julia@adalah.org
www.adalah.org/eng/index.php

Israeli-Palestinian Journalists address journalism issues Monday Dec. 3 in Jerusalem

Israeli and Palestinian Journalism Conference
Ambassador Hotel, Sheikh Jarrah, Off Nablus Road (at the
intersection for the police department)
It is a few blocks north of the American Colony Hotel ... the number there is
541-2222

Journalists from the print media and Internet media address their experiences, your background, what you have learned about covering the Middle East, describe your beat, what you look for, what challenges you might face and how you deal with them ... any
examples of great stories, tough stories, stories you can't get to do because of barriers ... things you would like to see change, etc. (Humor is always good)

Our purpose is not to get into a political debate, but obviously, as we all know, politics is the world in the Middle East so it will surely inject itself into the discussion. But the purpose is to focus on professional journalism, and also introduce journalists together, Palestinians and Israelis.

------------------- Program ------------------
NAAJA EVENTS
SPJ-Arab Journalists

Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
Ambassador Hotel, Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem
1st Floor Conference Room

Sponsored by NAAJA, SPJ-Arab Journalists

PANEL 1: Internet Media: Strategies and Challenges facing Internet News Web and
Blog sites
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 12-2:30

- Moderator, Charley Warady, co-host, Israelisms, an online weekly audio blog of
life in Israel (Confirmed)
- Alan Abbey, Former editor, YnetNews.com, one of the most popular English
language news sites from Israel (Confirmed)
- Khaled Abou-Aker, Editor, AMIN.org, a center for Palestinian, Israeli and
Middle East opinion (Confirmed)
- Elizabeth Cohen, MidEastYouth.com one of the highest ranked Middle East news
blogs on the Internet (Confirmed)
- Fadi Abu Sada, Director Palestine News Network, an online news agency
(Confirmed – or a representative if he is not allowed to cross from Bethlehem)
- Sherif Hedayat, standup comedian, online video producer


PANEL 2: Traditional Media: Strategies and Challenges facing coverage of the
Palestine-Israel Conflict
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 2:45-5:30

- Moderator: Ray Hanania, syndicated columnist, SPJ-Arab Journalists coordinator, and Arab Writers Group Syndicate manager.
(Confirmed)
- Steve Linde, managing editor, The Jerusalem Post, editor at Israel Radio.
Linde has worked at the Jerusalem Post for the past 10 years and 18 years at
Israel Radio. (Confirmed)
- Lisa Zilberpriver, reporter Haaretz Newspaper. (confirmed)
- Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Jerusalem Bureau (Confirmed)
- Joel Greenberg, Middle East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune (Confirmed)
- Zaki Abu Al-Halaweh, correspondent for al-Quds Newspaper (Confirmed)
- Issa Sharbati, correspondent for al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper (Confirmed)

The event is open to the public. We encourage you to have lunch at the
Ambassador Hotel prior to the conference.

end

Israeli occupation fueling dwindling Christian Arab population, ATFP report shows

Press Release
Capitol Hill Briefing Attributes Dwindling Palestinian Christian Population To The Effects Of The Israeli Occupation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rafi Dajani
Phone: 202-669-5888

Washington, D.C., November 1, 2007 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) and The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) held a Capitol Hill briefing this week featuring four Christian mayors of Palestinian towns in the West Bank. The panel focused on the causes for the population decrease of the Palestinian Christians to below 2 percent of the population, attributing it mainly to the economic stresses resulting from Israeli occupation measures such as checkpoints and the route of the separation barrier, a vast majority of which is built on occupied Palestinian land.

The mayor of Bethlehem, Dr. Victor Hanan Jubrail Batarseh, referred to the wall as ‘a snake’, saying, it has ‘strangled the community; economically, psychologically, and educationally’ causing the Palestinian Christians to emigrate.

The economic strangulation has led to nearly 70% of the West Bank population living under the poverty line, said the mayor of Birzeit, Mr. Yousef Nasser. He continued saying, “Unemployment has risen 200% due to the check points,” which not only inhibit the movement of people but also shipments of produce. Mr. Nasser stressed the need for the removal of the checkpoints in order for the economy to improve. Without an improved economy, the Christian population will continue to decrease. This is why Dr. Batarseh stressed the need for peace , asking for a ‘bridge of love,’ to be built, not a ‘wall of separation.’

“Historically, it has been easier for the Palestinian Christian population to emigrate due mainly to family ties in the West, although Palestinian Muslims are emigrating in significant numbers too if they are able,” said ATFP executive director Rafi Dajani who moderated the panel. “Emigration of either community has nothing to do with religious tensions between the two communities and attempts to portray it as such are meant to deflect blame away from the main reason, the Israeli occupation.”

end

Israel denies Christian Arab clergy entrance to West Bank

Israel Denies Re-entry Visas to Holy Land Arab Christian Clergy

23-Sep-07
The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF)
Toll free at +1-866-871-HCEF (4233)

The Israeli Government has rescinded its policy of granting re-entry visas to Arab Christian ministers, priests, nuns and other religious workers who wish to travel in and out of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, according to information provided to the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) by Christian clergy in Jerusalem.

Until now, re-entry visas were normally granted in Israel by the Israeli Government to Arab Christian religious workers in the Holy Land, and clergy traveled relatively freely to and from points overseas, including the United States.

However, HCEF has been informed that Arab Christian church workers will henceforth have to apply for re-entry visas at Israeli consulates abroad each time they travel outside the areas of Israeli control.

Since visa applications submitted to Israeli missions abroad are normally not acted upon for months after they are filed, his new Israeli policy means that religious personnel will no longer be able to move freely between their parishes in the occupied territories and any points out side of those areas.

Christian church workers normally travel frequently between their parishes and their churches’ offices in Jerusalem. Some also must travel often to countries outside the region, including the United States.

Many of the clergy and other church workers in the occupied Palestinian territories are from nearby Jordan; the new Israeli policy will prevent them from visiting their families there.

Indeed, that has already happened. Rev. Fares Khleifat, a pastor and the only Greek Melkite priest in Ramallah, traveled to Jordan for several days in mid-September; when he tried to return to his parish on September 14, he was stopped at the Israeli border, and his valid, multiple-entry visa was canceled.

Forced to remain in Jordan, he has been effectively deported from the Holy Land by the Israeli government, and his parish now has no priest.

The new Israeli policy makes it unlikely that any Arab Christian priests, ministers or other religious workers from the Holy Land will be able to attend HCEF’s Ninth International Conference, scheduled for October 26-27 in Washington.

Christian personnel based in the Holy Land have participated in all eight previous conferences of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation.

http://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/mod/news/ID/16/SubMod/NewsView/NewsID/1849.cfm