Follow-up on Omar, Land Day, And More: Free The
Palestinians
26 March 2010
By Mazin
Qumsiyeh
On Wednesday, the Popular Committee Against the
Apartheid Wall and Settlements in Beit Sahour hosted a
gathering of over 100 town people and guests
(including Nabil Shaath of Fatah Central Committee) to
brief them on what is going on at Ush Ghrab with the
military watch tower erected. The discussion revolved
around the popular resistance. We explained the nature
of our activities and it was made clear that even
though the mayor would prefer that we limit our
activities to just being in the park, that the
committee has monthly schedule of events that we would
like people to participate in. The next two popular
resistance events here will be 1) a march from the
Nativity square in Bethlehem to Rachel's tomb area
(Sunday at 11:30 AM), 2) land day events in Ush Ghrab
throughout the site beginning at 10 AM to 2 PM on
Tuesday (in Beit Sahour).
Land day will be commemorated in hundreds of cities
around the world on March 30th as a day to promote
boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (act in your area
please) as it has been since the first land day in
1976 when Palestinians inside the Green Line
(Palestine of 1948) rose-up against the
continued unfair land expropriation. My wife, who does
not yet have a Palestinian ID card, was thus able to
travel to Nazareth area and brought pictures and
stories of the beauty of the stolen lands of the
Galilee where my maternal grandmother comes from. The
greenery and the richness of the
soil reminded me of my grandmother's stories about how
idyllic rural village life in Palestine was before
1948 and the ethnic cleansing that followed. We also
had a press conference with Omar Ala'Eddin who was
abused by the Israeli soldiers. Amira Hass attended
the conference and reported the story in Haaretz
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159294.html ).
Omar's case was highlighted today in the weekly
demonstration in Al-Masara also attended by Imam
Tamimi (for this and previous events mentioned and
other activities of the popular committees, see new
short video posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqGLXs3ahUs
and our earlier video of Omar at the Hospital at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcMMyRkKAhM ). The
Israeli military doctor that Omar was brought to see
was merely making fun of him. When Omar would try to
show him bruises on his side, the "doctor" would look
at his arm and so on and telling him to shut up. This
is not the first or the last Palestinian to be treated
that way. In fact I was reminded by a friend that
another Omar was also beaten, this one a young
journalist from Gaza of exactly the same age as our
friend Omar from Al-Masara (see story in Haaretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999330.html)
The idea that there is a serious conflict between the
Obama administration and the extremist Israeli
apartheid government is only PR efforts. The US voted
against four resolutions dealing with Israel at the
United nations Human Rights Council. Even the
resolution that simply reiterated the internationally
recognized right of self-determination for
Palestinians was voted against (45 countries voted
for, no abstentions, US against; i.e. unanimous with
the exception of the US). The US continues to cow-tow
to a noisy lobby in Washington that claims to
represent Jews (see their self-definitions and claim
of importance here http://www.aipac.org/about_AIPAC/default.asp
). But a new poll of American Jews shown very
interesting results that are contrary to what AIPAC
and its supporters claim http://www.jstreet.org/page/new-poll-of-american-jews-views-israel
So we MUST keep pressuring the Obama administration,
keep writing, and keep ACTING. In good news, Britain
took the modest step of expelling an Israeli
"diplomat" (a Mossad agent) over the forgery by
Israeli intelligence of British passports while
violating International law by extrajudicial
executions. Let us hope more countries follow. I also
got this from Code Pink that put a smile on my face
and showed that few dedicated individuals can make a
difference (imagine such action wherever US officials
appear):
"On Monday morning, just days after we marched for
peace with thousands in DC, CODEPINK issued a fake
press release from The American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) calling for the freeze of Israeli
settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Many
media outlets bought it including CSPAN, which
showcased this "breaking news" during Hillary's
Clinton's speech to AIPAC. Most commentators noted
that our fake release forced AIPAC to say it was not
against settlements, thus putting AIPAC at odds with
the White House and the State Department. Later that
night, CODEPINK activists interrupted Israeli PM
Benjamin Netanyahu during his keynote speech at the
AIPAC gala dinner. Rae courageously stood on a table a
few feet away from the podium to unfurl a banner that
read: "Netanyahu: Build Peace Not Settlements." While
most of Congress still bows in fear before AIPAC,
CODEPINK stands up for a peaceful and just future for
both Palestinians and Israelis. We can't wait for our
government to lead the way; we need to join the
Palestinians, Israelis and international activists
around the world who are using Boycott, Divestment &
Sanctions (BDS) to pressure Israel to respect human
rights and international law.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a
villager at home http://www.qumsiyeh.org Popular
Committee to Resist the Apartheid Wall and
Settlements-Beit Sahour Professor, Bethlehem and
Birzeit Universities Chairman of the Board,
Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People,
http://www.pcr.ps
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