Madison Rafah Journal

“Do You Have Family Here?”

Interfaith Peace-Builders, October 29, 2009

As expected, all 31 delegates went through passport control at Ben Gurion airport in Israel with no hassles. Except for me.

I am a U.S. citizen, and yet I was questioned by four different airport officers.

Racial profiling? My name is Amal Othman, my country of birth is Jordan, and my parents are Palestinian refugees. I handed my American passport to the young Israeli officer and right away, she asked me for my father’s full name. Without any hesitation, she got up out of her booth, and said: “follow me”. I took a deep breath, smiled, and walked behind her. I was so relieved when I noticed Mike (one of IFPB leaders) walking right next to me. We were escorted to a waiting area, and it did not take long before I was called in for questioning.

What is your father’s full name? What is your mother’s full name? Where were they born? What is your “hamoula” (clan) name? How old are they? Where do they live now? Have you been to Israel before? Do you have family here? Why did you come here? With whom? How did you become a U.S. citizen? And the questions continued.

I was then taken to a different waiting area, with lots of other people, mostly Arabs, a Turkish couple, and an Asian woman. We, Mike and I, waited for a while, perhaps 15 minutes or so. I was then called by another officer who took me to a different room, questioned me again, same exact questions. (Read on …)

Ilene R. Prusher, The Christian Science Monitor, Oct 27, 2009

Jerusalem – Since the 1950s the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been the mainstream voice of the Jewish-American community and its efforts to strengthen support for Israel in Washington.

Along comes J Street, a young upstart founded last year, in part as an answer to AIPAC – perceived by many progressive American Jews to have a clear right-wing tilt, and hardly representative of those want to see a much more aggressive push towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

J Street, in the thick of its first national conference in Washington that began Sunday and concludes Wednesday, has attracted 1,500 attendees – above and beyond what its organizers expected. Perhaps more interestingly, it has attracted the attention of the highest levels of government and diplomacy, and has the blogosphere buzzing about what it all means for the future of US-Israel relations.

National Security Adviser General James Jones, one of the most senior US officials to address the conference, told J Street participants Tuesday that the Obama administration believes that “Israeli security and peace are inseparable.” But what’s been particularly noticeable is who among beltway powerbrokers is not making his way over to the conference at the Grand Hyatt. Missing is Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the US appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After several weeks of indecision on whether to accept the invitation, Mr. Oren announced last week that he would not attend. The subtext of that decision was that J Street’s policies were not in line with Netanyahu’s, though they do appear to closely reflect the viewpoints on a two-state solution endorsed by Obama. (Read on …)

Patrick Moser, Agence France Presse, Oct 27, 2009

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of denying Palestinians adequate access to water while allowing Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank almost unlimited supplies.

Israel, the human rights group said, restricts availability of water in the Palestinian territories “by maintaining total control over the shared resources and pursuing discriminatory policies.”

“Israel allows the Palestinians access to only a fraction of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank while the unlawful Israeli settlements there receive virtually unlimited supplies,” Amnesty researcher Donatella Rovera said in a report.

Israel consumes four times more water than Palestinians, who use an average of 70 litres (16 gallons) a day per person, according to the report entitled: “Troubled waters – Palestinians denied fair access to water.”

Amnesty said the “inequality” is even more pronounced in some areas of the West Bank where settlements use up to 20 times more water per capita than neighbouring Palestinian communities which survive on barely 20 litres (5.28 gallons) of water per capita a day. (Read on …)

Ilene R. Prusher, The Christian Science Monitor, Oct 23, 2009

Jerusalem – In the first ruling of its kind, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the Israeli army on Thursday to allow Palestinians to travel on a West Bank road they had been banned from using.

The case, filed by the Association for Human Rights Israel (ACRI) on behalf of 22 Palestinian villages in the area south of Hebron, is being hailed by human rights activists as a victory in their battle against segregated roads in the occupied West Bank. While most West Bank roads are open to both Israelis and Palestinians, a few major ones are closed to Palestinian traffic, leading critics to decry them as “apartheid” roads.

A spokeswoman for ACRI said that it was the first time that the Supreme Court had ever ruled on road closures imposed by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Following the outbreak of violence in the second intifada in September 2000, the IDF closed roads in many areas in what it said was a move to protect Israeli citizens, including both Jewish settlers and passing Israeli motorists. Approximately 10 of these roads remain closed, ACRI says.

“The Supreme Court never made a decision before relating to a particular place where Palestinians are banned from driving on a road just for being Palestinians,” said Nirit Moskovich of ACRI. The group is disappointed, however, that the Supreme Court did not seize the opportunity to make a ruling on segregated roads in general, she added.

“In our petition, we put great emphasis on the fact that the entire notion of prohibiting public resources to people based on their ethnic or national identity is forbidden and should be outlawed,” Ms. Moskovich said. “But the Supreme Court did not refer to that at all in their decision. It was based on the circumstances of that particular case.” (Read on …)

Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service, October 16, 2009

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 14 (IPS) – A U.S. decision to stall Security Council action against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for war crimes during the 22-day conflict in Gaza last December has come under heavy fire both from inside and outside the United Nations.
Addressing the Security Council Wednesday, the chair of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz of Egypt urged the powerful 15-member political body to “seriously consider and act upon the recommendations” of the U.N. Fact Finding Mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone.

But the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama says the charges of war crimes in the Goldstone report, which was released last month, should be within the purview of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, not the Security Council in New York.

Despite reservations by Western nations, the Council agreed to hold a special meeting Wednesday on the Middle East: a meeting which provided member states with an opportunity to discuss the Goldstone report and focus on the serious violations of international human rights during the Gaza conflict, both by Israel and Hamas.

“That President Obama is receiving the Noble Peace prize after his failure to speak out during the Gaza war, and after his administration’s protection of a state that has committed war crimes, is an abomination,” Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, told IPS.

The number of Palestinians killed during the conflict is estimated at between 1,387 and 1,417, mostly civilians, compared with four Israeli fatal casualties in southern Israel and nine soldiers killed during fighting, four of whom died as a result of friendly fire. (Read on …)

Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza
Written by Caryl Churchill & directed by Andy Somers

Potluck supper 5:30 pm (bring a dish to pass)
Announcements 6:30 pm
Play and discussion following

Seven Jewish Children is Caryl Churchill’s response to the situation in Gaza in January 2009. (Read on …)

Leaked memo from President Mahmoud Abbas accuses White House of buckling under pressure from Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas shake hands while Barack Obama looks on at in New York last month. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP

Rory McCarthy, The Guardian, 13 October 2009

Jerusalem — Palestinian political leaders have expressed acute disappointment in the Obama administration, saying their hopes that it could bring peace to the Middle East have “evaporated” and accusing the White House of giving in to Israeli pressure.

The unusually frank comments come in an internal memo from the Fatah party, led by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but reflect a broader frustration among Palestinian politicians that Washington’s very public push for peace in the Middle East has yet to produce even a restarting of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

“All hopes placed in the new US administration and President Obama have evaporated,” said the document, which was leaked to the Associated Press news agency. (Read on …)