COOP e Nordiconad interrompono la commercializzazione dei prodotti delle colonie nei territori palestinesi occupati

A seguito della campagna di pressione della coalizione italiana contro la Carmel-Agrexco, due importanti catene italiane di supermercati, COOP e Nordiconad, hanno dichiarato la sospensione della vendita dei prodotti Agrexco, principale esportatore di prodotti agricoli da Israele e dalle colonie israeliane illegali nei Territori Palestinesi Occupati.

Fonte Stop Agrexco Italia

Israeli court to hear civil case over death of Rachel Corrie in Gaza

An Israeli court today is to begin hearing a civil suit brought against the Israeli government over the death of Rachel Corrie, the US activist who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza seven years ago. (...)
Corrie, who was born in Olympia, Washington, travelled to Gaza to act as a human shield at a moment of intense conflict between the Israeli military and the Palestinians. On the day she died, when she was just 23, she was dressed in a fluorescent orange vest and was trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home in Rafah. She was crushed under a military Caterpillar D9R bulldozer and died shortly afterwards. (...)

fonte The Guardian

time flies

... and I don't write so often ...
I just came back from Palestine, a very short staying in Ramallah and Jerusalem to attend a National Conference of the Palestinian MoEHE (Ministry of Education and Higher Education)... meeting new colleagues, teachers and students, dinners with very old friends and loosing some other friends ...
Ramallah is growing up somehow, becoming bigger with the same contradictions of the "5 stars prison" (as Amira Hass call it); and the magic Dome of the Rock and the small streets of the old town where I like to walk without knowing where to go, I can really loose myself there and forget everything.
Everything has changed, absolutely nothing changed.

Na'vi in Palestine

The village of Bilin reenacted James Cameron's new film Avatar during todays weekly demonstration. Five Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were painted blue, with pointy ears and tales, resembling the Avatar characters. Like Palestinians, the Avatars fight imperialism, although the colonizers have different origins. The Avatars presence in Bilin today symbolizes the united resistance to imperialism of all kinds.




Siamo i Na'vy e questa è Pandora (in italiano)

Israel withholding NGO employees' work permits

The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.

In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967, the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working.

Organizations affected by the apparent policy change include Oxfam, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends (a Quaker organization). (...)

Fonte Amira Hass per Haaretz

don't forget Gaza

Gaza Freedom March participants confronted by Egyptian security on the banks of the Nile. International Gaza Activists have been denied access to the Erez border crossing, and some groups have been confined to their lodgings, bus stations and embassies under threat of deportation. Thanks to Konda Mason for this footage.

To Gaza, with love

La marcia a Gaza promette di essere un evento storico! Arriveranno centinaia e centinaia di attivisti provenienti da più di 35 paesi. A Gaza, la società civile si sta mobilitando e stima la partecipazione in decine di migliaia di palestinesi. Tutte e tutti insieme per dire che l'assedio di Gaza deve finire!
Anche tu puoi partecipare da lontano alla Gaza Freedom March: invia una tua foto, un messaggio o un disegno con la delegazione ECCP Italia (Coordinamento europeo per la Palestina).
Per portare la solidarietà di tutta l'Italia alla popolazione di Gaza, verrà composto uno "striscione mosaico" con foto, messaggi e disegni. Contribuisci anche tu con un tassello!
Partecipare è semplice:

1. Prepara un tassello per lo "striscione mosaico". Per esempio:
   - scatta una tua foto, anche con un cartello (vedi sotto alcuni esempi);
   - scrivi un breve messaggio per la gente di Gaza;
   - fai un disegno originale.
   Dà spazio alla tua creatività!
   
2. Invia il tassello per email all'indirizzo: agazaconamore@gmail.comIndirizzo e-mail protetto dal bots spam , deve abilitare Javascript per vederlo

Se vuoi fare di più, organizza un evento per raccogliere tasselli da inviare.

Ogni tassello sarà prezioso per far sapere a Gaza che non è sola. Invialo oggi!

Fonte Actionforpeace

no more walls

20 anni fa cadeva il muro di Berlino... ma sono ancora tanti i muri da abbattere (grazie a Benedetto che ce li ricorda nel suo blog con il post Another brick in the wall).

... a lavorare, allora ...

Nilin marking 20 years to the fall of the berlin wall by taking down the wall on their land

20 years to the fall of the Berlin wall

- Demonstrators toppled 8 meters tall concrete wall in Ni'ilin
The protest in Nilin was held today to mark the 20th anniversary to the fall of the Berlin wall, which has been declared an international day of action against Israel's barrier.
The 300 demonstrators managed to topple a part of the eight meters tall concrete wall that cuts through the village's land. The concrete wall in Ni'ilin - five to eight meters (15 to 25 feet) in hight has only recently been laid on the path of the wall cutting through Ni'ilin's lands, in addition to the already existing electronic barrier and razor-wire.
Since the Wall was built to allow more land to annexed to the nearby settlements rather than in a militarily strategic manner, demonstrators have been able to repeatedly dismantle parts of the electronic fence and razor-wire surrounding it. The section of the Wall in Nilin is the only place along the route of the barrier where a concrete wall has been erected in an attempt to deal with the civic, unarmed campaign waged by the village in protest of the massive land theft that will enable the expansion of the illegal settlements of Modi'in Il'it and Hasmonaim.
Since Israel began its construction in the year 2002, This is the first time demonstrators succeed in toppling a part of Israel's barrier which is a concrete wall. One of the demonstrators, Moheeb Khawaja, said during the protest: "Twenty years ago no one had thought the monster that divided Berlin into two could be brought down, but in only two days in November, it did. Today we have proven that this can also be done here and now. It is our land beyond this wall, and we will not give up on it. We will win for a simple reason - justice is on our side."

Can the Muppets Make Friends in Ramallah?

This season’s episodes of “Shara’a Simsim,” the Palestinian version of the global “Sesame Street” franchise, were filmed in a satellite campus of Al-Quds University, a ramshackle four-story concrete structure that houses the school’s media department and a small local television station. The building sits in an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, not far from the edge of the Israeli settlement Psagot. (...)

Fonte The New York Times Magazine

ciao Abu Nizar ...

Il cielo è di tutti

Qualcuno che la sa lunga
mi spieghi questo mistero:
il cielo è di tutti gli occhi
di ogni occhio è il cielo intero.

È mio, quando lo guardo.
È del vecchio, del bambino,
del re, dell'ortolano,
del poeta, dello spazzino.

Non c'è povero tanto povero
che non ne sia il padrone.
Il coniglio spaurito
ne ha quanto il leone.

Il cielo è di tutti gli occhi,
ed ogni occhio, se vuole,
si prende la luna intera,
le stelle comete, il sole.

Ogni occhio si prende ogni cosa
e non manca mai niente:
chi guarda il cielo per ultimo
non lo trova meno splendente.

Spiegatemi voi dunque,
in prosa od in versetti,
perché il cielo è uno solo
e la terra è tutta a pezzetti.

Gianni Rodari


... I'm sure you're in the sky now and you're looking at us with your smile ... ciao!

Un calcio alla guerra

Il 26 ottobre ad Al Ram, a nord di Gerusalemme in territorio palestinese, si è svolta l’amichevole di calcio Giordania-Palestina. Davanti a diecimila spettatori giocavano 22 donne. “Uno storico evento” dice Jibril Rajoub, presidente dell’Associazione calcistica palestinese. Nel suo programma, spiega al New York Times, è previsto l’inserimento delle donne in tutti i ruoli per “distruggere per sempre l’idea che le signore possono fare solo le segretarie”.

Tra i sogni di Rajoub c’è quello di invitare la nazionale femminile degli Stati Uniti: secondo lui servirebbe a migliorare i rapporti tra i due paesi più di qualsiasi visita di George Mitchell, l’inviato speciale per il Medio Oriente dell’amministrazione Obama. Lo sport è “il modo giusto per dimostrare che stiamo cercando la pace e l’indipendenza”, conclude il presidente. Anche se, per adesso, una partita con la squadra israeliana forse è ancora prematura.

Intanto questa si è conclusa due a due.

Fonte Internazionale online

After Being Evicted From Their Home, Families’ Temporary Tent Is Destroyed By Israeli Authorities

On Tuesday the Israeli authorities dismantled the tent and took away the remaining possessions of the Al-Ghawi family who had been camping outside the home they were evicted from in August. (...)
The Ghawi family was evicted from their home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem in August this year and the same day a family of Israeli settlers took occupancy. The Ghawi’s had since set up a tent on the pavement opposite where they’d been living whilst petitioning their eviction. The family was given the house in 1956 by the UN agency UNRWA after being forcibly removed from their original home in West Jerusalem. The Israeli Authorities now claim the land the house is built on belongs to a Jewish family dating back to the Ottoman Empire though know legal documentation has ever materialized to verify this claim. (...)

fonte Palestine Monitor

Beato chi riposa in pace

Ogni tanto telefono ai Samouni, a Gaza, per salutarli. Quando un automatico “Come va?” scivola dalle mie labbra, immediatamente me ne rammarico.

Amira Hass su Internazionale

Il rapporto Goldstone delle Nazioni Unite

Il rapporto Goldstone in italiano, l'inchiesta della Missione delle Nazioni Unite presieduta da Richard Goldstone che ha verificato crimini di guerra e violazioni dei diritti umani a Gaza compiute dall'esercito israeliano e da Hamas.
Nel rapporto si chiede il deferimento di Israele dinanzi al tribunale internazionale per i crimini di guerra.
La reazione di Israele ha avuto come risultato l'allineamento degli USA e per un certo periodo
anche dell'Autorità Palestinese, che poi dinanzi alla reazione della società civile palestinese ha fatto marcia indietro.
Staremo a vedere che succede ...

BDS Marathon

Israeli arrests of Palestinian human rights activists aim at stopping grassroots activism and the global call for Israeli accountability in front of international courts and through boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) campaigns. We therefore call on all people all over the world to let Israel know: “If you want to arrest the BDS movement, you have to catch us all!”

What’s the BDS Marathon? – Two days of non-stop BDS activities around the globe!

Save your time slot now!

Participation is simple:

1) Organize an event activity during Friday and Saturday 16/17 October 2009 and let us know at: freemohammad@stopthewall.org
2) Stop the Wall will publish a time table with all planned activities.
3) We will put you in touch with the activists mobilizing before and after you. If your activity and access to internet/phone allows, you will be able to directly take over from the previous activity and hand over to the next action.

You may organize activities such as protests, leaflets handouts, street actions, speaking events, video screenings, book readings, powerpoint presentations, radio/TV programs, internet actions, a twitter campaign, a fax blitz…Be creative!

For activist material to make your event a success, contact freemohammad@stopthewall.org

For more information about Mohammad Othman, see: http://freemohammadothman.wordpress.com/

For more information about the repression of the communities affected by the Wall see: http://stopthewall.org/activistresources/2019.shtml

Inshallah Beijing!

Ghadir sogna che qualcuno le compri delle scarpe da corsa. Nader si allena sperando che un missile non gli piova sulla testa. Zakia non ottiene il permesso di allenarsi in una piscina in territorio israeliano.
Sono gli atleti della squadra olimpica palestinese che si allena a Gerico per prendere parte alle Olimpiadi di Pechino. Inshallah, se Dio vuole, perchè molte difficoltà devono essere superate prima di arrivare in Cina.
La difficoltà più grande è rappresentata dal fatto di gareggiare per una nazione che ancora non esiste, la Palestina, e che non ha I mezzi per supportare I propri atleti.
"Inshallah Beijing!" è la storia della loro avventura olimpica.

Ghadir dreams that at last someone will buy her some running shoes. Nader trains while hoping that a missile doesn't land on him. Zakia hasn't got a permit from the military authorities to get to the swimming pool.
They are athletes belonging to the Palestinian team who leave Jericho in July 2008 to take part in the Beijing Olympic games. Inshallah, God willing. Because a lot of difficulties must be overcome before reaching China.
First and foremost, the difficulty in competing for a country that doesn't exist yet – Palestine – and that doesn't have the means to support its athletes. It won't be easy to adapt because the war is not just at home: the athletes carry it inside them.
Getting to Beijing is already a victory.

full movie here
now @ Al Kasaba international film festival 2009

Palestinian villagers plant on land threatened by Israeli settlement expansion

On the morning of Saturday 3 October 2009 villagers from At-Tuwani in the South Hebron hills, supported by Israeli and international peace activists, carried out a successful planting action in Khelli valley, on the edge of the village. (...)
At-Tuwani villagers, ranging in age from 4 to late 70s, dug and planted in the field. In total between 50 and 60 people took part in the work: Palestinian villagers, Israelis and internationals. They cleared the field adjacent to the one expropriated last year, and planted 36 edible cactus plants. Because of the lack of water in the area it was necessary for the villagers to bring in a truck with water for the fledgling plants.
Despite a heavy presence of Israeli police, border police, army, and the attendance of the DCO, the work was completed without interruption.

Photos available here: http://bit.ly/wRhml

Fonte Operation Dove

Gaza Tunnels

Zouheir Alnajjar, a Collective Journalism contributor who lives in Gaza, takes us through the secret tunnels that connect Gaza and Egypt - a common route for smuggling under the border.
The tunnels beneath the Egyptian border have become a common way for Palestinians to attain items that they cannot due to the Israeli restrictions on imports into the Gaza Strip. Some of these items, like medicine or cigarettes, are relatively innocuous, but weapons and rocket parts are also smuggled through the tunnels, making them a target for Israel's IDF forces.
Collective Journalism, Current's citizen journalism program, works by combining perspectives from around the world to create a picture of the world we live in.

fonte Current TV

Jerusalem Diary: Monday 21 September

"Two pandemics are running wild all over the world," he says. "The first is swine flu, the second is 'settlement psychosis'."

fonte BBC News, Middle East, Tim Franks