[NuovoLaboratorio] [GushShalom] Enormous crowd "Get out of G…

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Autore: Paola Manduca
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Oggetto: [NuovoLaboratorio] [GushShalom] Enormous crowd "Get out of Gaza andstart talking"

>GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - www.gush-shalom.org/
>
>International release
>
>[] The rally - enormous crowd, contradictions on the podium
>
>[] 'If I may be permitted a prophecy' - the new optimism of Uri Avnery
>
>[] Supreme Court injunction puts temporary halt to mass demolition of
> houses in Rafah
>
>                ###

>
>[] The rally - enormous crowd, contradictions on the podium
>
>Saturday night, May 15, Rabin Square Tel-Aviv. For the first time in
>years, peaceminded Israelis were out on the street in force - not in an
>event masquerading as a memorial and apologizing for making political
>statements. Still, we were in an event with whose program (rather, an
>uneasy compromise between two different programs) we had fundamental
>disagreement.
>The huge square started filling long before the scheduled time, and by
>8pm the crowd was spilling off into the adjacent streets. These people
>were motivated by two major events of the past two weeks: the so-called
>referendum, held by Sharon among the registered members of the Likud
>Party, which had the intolerable result that some fifty thousand people -
>less than one percent of the Israeli citizen body - decided a major
>national issue, and that the settlers and extreme right acquired an
>effective veto even over a partial and half-hearted withdrawal such as
>the one proposed by Sharon. Hard upon this came the shock of the
>unexpected blows suffered by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
>The army learned the hard way that invading Palestinian towns and refugee
>camps inside armoured vehicles does not always render the Israeli forces
>completely immune. The general public came up with the word "Lebanon",
>which for Israelis carries the same connotations as "Vietnam" for
>Americans.
>All in all, the planned rally was being treated as a major event even
>before it took place. The rightwingers who demanded that it be canceled
>out of "respect for the fallen soldiers", merely helped to publicize the
>event.
>
>While striving very hard to present a common front, and declare itself
>"the voice of the majority" the coalition of political parties and
>mainstream extraparliamentary groups which initiated the rally had a
>fundamental difference to cover up. Some accepted the basic framework of
>Sharon's "unilateral withdrawal from Gaza"; others advocated renewal of
>negotiations with the Palestinians touching upon the West Bank as well as
>Gaza, and aimed at achieving not only withdrawal but also peace. The
>compromise slogan eventually chosen: "Leave Gaza and Start Talking".
>
>Still, on the podium covered with this slogan, the difference immediately
>became evident whith speakers contradicting each other.
>- Ami Ayalon, former Shabak head turned peacemaker: "I believe in the
>sincerety of Sharon. We must not treat the settlers as enemies.
>Settlements can only be evacuated by one who feels great pain and
>empathy." (This did not go well on the audience, and there were some
>angry mutterings.)
>- Tsali Reshef of Peace Now: "We have not the slightest trust in Sharon.
>We know that he wants to withdraw from Gaza in order to keep the West
>Bank. But just as he was forced to give up Gaza, we will force him to
>give up the West Bank. Ofra and Beth-El [near Ramallah] and Kedumim [near
>Nablus] will be evacuated just like the Gaza settlements! Yes, they will!"
>(applause).
>- Reserve General turned businessman Yom-Tov Samiya: "Our armed forces;
>bought a lot of time for the political echelon to make a plan, but they
>can't do it forever. I support Sharon's concept of limited withdrawal
>from Gaza and a small part of the West Bank; the alternative is headlong
>flight like from Lebanon, which will encourage terrorism." (He got a very
>scattered applause, quite a few people felt that such a person - who
>initiated the concept of destroying Rafah houses to widen the "security
>belt" - should not have been on the podium.)
>- Yosi Beilin, initiator of "Geneva" and head of the Meretz/Yachad Party:
>"Those who refuse peace have tried everything, targeted killings which
>are not always very targeted; re-invading the West Bank and Gaza;
>destroying fields and groves and houses - 1800 houses destroyed; burning
>the fact of defeat into the other side's consciousness and doing it again
>and again and again. The one thing which they did not try is to make
>peace. Those who say that there is no partner are those who don't want to
>talk!" (The biggest applause of the evening.)
>- Amir Peretz, trade-union leader and head of the One People Party: "In
>1977, the electorate toppled the Labor Party rule, and brought the Likud
>to power; but they did not do it in order to help the Greater Israel
>ideology; they did it because they felt second-class citizens. But the
>money did not go to the slums; it went all to the settlements. We should
>end the cruel occupation, we should disengage from Gaza, but that is not
>all; we should re-engage with Israeli society, with the values of
>humanity and social justice."
>- And of course, the inevitable Labor Party leader, Shimon Peres: "There
>had been very much talk of a Unity Government [no mention of his own
>eagerness to become once more Foreign Minister!]. But what is needed is a
>Unity Policy. We are not here a demonstration of the left. We are a
>demonstration of the majority. The government represents only a minority."
>- And then, a surprise speaker: "My name is Eliezer Bidu, I live in the
>settlement of Omarim, south of Hebron. I went there fourteen years ago
>because I was promised 'quality of life' for my family. What a quality of
>life! A few months ago our car was shot at. A bullet passed near the head
>of my baby son. I can't sleep at night, I want to get out of there. Not
>to live guarded by soldiers day and night, on disputed land among
>neighbors who hate me. I want to live in the real Israel, and I am not
>the only one."
>
>All this time, the radical groups who have been excluded from the podium,
>were busy among the enormous crowd, adding the points which none of the
>speakers made. On the day before the rally, organizers announced that
>signs advocating refusal will be banned - but in practice nobody stopped
>Courage to Refuse and Yesh Gvul from holding up "It will not end if you
>don't refuse!", while the Refuser Parents Forum collected a considerable
>number of signatures in support of the six imprisoned refusers. We
>ourselves were busy distributing Gush Shalom leaflets: "It should be said
>in clear words: Arafat is the partner; an agreement without his signature
>has no value; he is the only one who can convince his people to a
>compromise." And people were flocking around the Gush Shalom stall,
>taking up the "Truth Against Truth" brochure (now alo available in
>English!) as well as last-minute stickers "Destruction of Rafah - War
>Crime" and "Philadelphi Route - a Death Trap."
>
>The whole spectrum of moderate and radical groups were there with stalls
>and stickers: Women's Peace Coalition, the Geneva Initiative, the
>Communist Youth, the Ayalon-Nusseibeh plan, the Labor Youth, Ta'ayush,
>Yachad Youth, Socialist Workers League, MachsomWatch, the Working and
>Studying Youth, Chadash, the Anarchists ("two states for two people is
>two states too many"). The newly-founded "Shuvi" women were collecting
>signatures on their petition for withdrawal from Gaza (reportedly they
>already flooded the email of the PM's office). The "Daber" initiative
>told about collecting testimonies of soldiers who had served in the
>territories, while "All for Peace" are initiating a peace radio, to begin
>with through the internet.
>
>And there was a forest of signs, official and unofficial; printed and
>hand-made: Evacuating settlements is choosing for life / Get out of ALL
>the territories / The Likud is disengaged from the people - Elections
>Now! / Stop the Apartheid Wall / The Likud is Against Peace and Against
>the Poor / There is a partner / Life is cheap - settlements are expensive
>/ Right or Left? History will prove that we were RIGHT to have LEFT [this
>one originally English] / We buried our sons - save those still alive /
>The life of our sons is more important than the settlements / Dear
>settlers, come back home.
>
>A man in a wheelchair was wheeling himself energetically through the
>crowd, on his chest a sign: "More money for the handicapped - less for
>the territories. How long will we get 1201 shekels (appr. $250) per
>month? A young Yachad supporter collected signatures against the plan of
>the Tel-Aviv municipality to turn the Rabin Square into a parking lot.
>"If you don't sign, where will you demonstrate next year?"
>
>
>For photos and what the press wrote:
><http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/427546.html>
>Hebrew
><http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/427334.html>
>
><http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&
>cid=1084599616754&p=1078397702269>
>
><http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=7372>
>Hebrew
><http://www.maariv.co.il/channels/1/ART/712/658.html>
>
>
>[] 'If I may be permitted a prophecy' - the new optimism of Uri Avnery
>
>Uri Avnery
>15.5.04
>
>Hebrew at request & soon at the site:
>http://www.gush-shalom.org :Ú·¯È™ ÚÏ ÙÈ ·—˜” ý ·—¯Â· ·ý™¯
>
>
>            Busharon: The Countdown

>
>      The strange creature named the Busharon is in serious trouble.
>      The front half of this animal - George W. Bush - is having trouble
>with nude photos. Not only those of the hapless Iraqi prisoners, with the
>exuberant female soldier pointing at their genitals, but also of Bush
>himself, whose nakedness was exposed for all to see.
>     The savior of the Iraqi people from a cruel tyrant, the gallant
>leader bestowing democracy on Mesopotamia, the representative of Western
>civilization fighting against barbarism - has himself been exposed as a
>cruel barbarian.
>     Let no one kid himself: this is not a case of a few sadists, male
>and female, who happened to find themselves in one place. It is already
>clear that there was systematic abuse of prisoners - keeping them naked,
>humiliating them sexually, sending in vicious dogs which probably bit
>them, preventing them from sleeping, keeping them shackled in painful
>positions for a long time, covering their heads with filthy hoods,
>threatening them with electrocution - all these were photographed. But
>there can be little doubt that with such an attitude towards the
>prisoners, much worse torture was applied but not photographed.
>     It is now quite clear that this is applied as standard procedure for
>"softening" up prisoners. Not only in this prison, not only in all the
>other prisons in Iraq, but also in Afghanistan, in the devil's island of
>Guatanamo and all the other places where such defenseless victims, most
>of them quite innocent people who were picked up by accident, are
>imprisoned. Meaning: this was a matter of policy, coming from the highest
>level.
>     The soldiers, male and female, who happily let themselves be
>photographed in these pornographic scenes are certainly detestable, but
>anyone familiar with military life knows that this was not a private
>initiative. Such acts cannot go on for a long time, with many hundreds of
>pictures shot, without the whole chain of command being involved.
>     Every simple soldier is influenced by the spirit of his commanders,
>at least up to the level of the brigade. Its commander in turn is
>influenced by the spirit of his superiors, up to and including the Chief-
>of-Staff. In this case, it has been proven that the Pentagon chiefs and
>the Secretary of Defense knew the facts long ago. The investigating
>general did not find any written order, but such orders are always
>conveyed orally, and sometimes by a mere gesture or a wink.
>      These soldiers, most of them from decent homes, behaved as people
>do in lynch mobs, and for the same reason: the denial of the humanity of
>other races, which are considered sub-human. Racism turns the members of
>the master-race themselves into sub-human beings.
>     George Bush lost his world with the publication of these photos. He
>could have fired the whole chain of command, from the Secretary of
>Defense down to the prison commander. He didn't, of course.
>     All the moral arguments attempting to justify his war against Iraq
>have come crashing down. No democracy, no liberation, no civilization.
>Nothing is left except the naked aggression of cynical and cruel robber
>barons, just like the henchmen of Saddam Hussein.
>     If I may be permitted a prophecy: this week starts the countdown to
>the end of the career of George W.

>
>     The animal's rear end - Ariel Sharon - is also in great trouble.
>     This started with the rejection of the "Unilateral Disengagement"
>plan by the Likud members, a tiny part of the population, manipulated by
>the settlers. Since then Sharon has been prowling around like a caged
>predator. He has no majority among his ministers and members of
>parliament (they are bound by the party referendum), he is unable to form
>another government (the MPs of his party will not allow it), he is unable
>to fulfil his promise to President Bush (and has made Bush look
>ridiculous).
>     He has begun to blabber about "other plans" that he is forming -
>reminding one of Groucho Marx's joke: "Those are my principles. If you
>don't like them, I have others."
>      If Sharon had really intended to leave Gaza, he would have done it
>at once and without the hullabaloo, fixing a strict timetable and without
>changing the details every few days. He would have including in his plan
>the evacuation of the "Philadelphi Axis", the narrow strip a few hundred
>yards wide between Gaza and Egypt, which demands a human sacrifice almost
>every day.
>     A week after the Likud referendum, two terrible blows were
>delivered. An armored vehicle carrying a large quantity of explosives
>entered Gaza city in order to blow up buildings, and was hit by a
>roadside bomb planted by Palestinian guerillas. It exploded, tearing the
>six soldiers to pieces. The day after, the very same thing happened on
>the "Philadelphi Axis": an armored personnel carrier full of explosives,
>which was sent there to blow up tunnels under the border, was hit by a
>Palestinian rocket and blew up with its five crew members.
>     The power of each of the two explosions was such that body parts
>were scattered over hundreds of meters. The whole country saw on TV how
>Israeli soldiers crawled on all fours, filtering the sand with their bare
>hands in order to gather the body parts of their comrades. The media
>competed in the orchestration of a necrophile hysteria, with endless talk
>about "body parts" interlaced with scenes of funerals.
>     It was impossible to ignore the direct connection between the Likud
>referendum's rejection of the withdrawal and the death of the soldiers.
>This was expressed in the most simple way by the actor Shlomo Vishinsky,
>whose son Lior was killed in the second vehicle, when he blamed the
>members of Likud for the death of his son.
>     For the first time, the Israeli public saw the real picture of Gaza:
>not "terror", not "terrorists", but a classic guerilla war, with the
>whole population taking part in the struggle against the occupation
>forces. Today's Gaza, tomorrow's West Bank.
>     In such a struggle, we cannot win. One can kill Palestinians
>wholesale, destroy whole neighborhoods, as is happening now. But one
>cannot win. The public is beginning to understand that. The "Zionist
>Left", so it seems, is also waking up from its 4-year coma.
>     Israel will leave the Gaza Strip, as it left the "Security Strip" in
>South Lebanon. The similarity between the two strips is so obvious, that
>banal headlines proclaim it in all the media.
>     If I may be permitted a second prophecy: this week starts the
>countdown to the end of the career of Ariel Sharon.

>
>[] Supreme Court injunction puts temporary halt to mass demolition of
> houses in Rafah
>
><http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/427462.html>
><http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&
>cid=1084599617096>
><http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=7374>
>
># Sharansky and the New Antisemitism, by Adam Keller -
> http://otherisrael.home.igc.org/sharansky.html
>
> (more articles of The Other Israel May issue accessible via
> http://otherisrael.home.igc.org/contents.html)
>
>*** Ongoing struggle ***
>
> how to link up with anti-Wall struggle, refusnik news etc.
>
>#Against the Wall
> contact addresses daily struggle / eye-witness reports
>
>#Refusniks (prisoner addresses & links to constantly updated sites)
> updated refusniks lists / support to five long-time incarcerated
>
>
>#Against the Wall
>
>*
>•ÂÎÁ™ ÈÂÓÈÂÓș ·ÎÙ¯ÈÌ ÓýÈÓÈÌ Ú"È ”ÁÂӔ ϙýÌ ÚÌ
>ýÈÈ·È 064-604172 isichel@???
>ý¯È— 050-607034 info@???
>
>Day to day presence at villages threatened by route of wall.
>Contact:
>Ivy Sichel 064-604172 isichel@???
>Arik Asherman 050-607034 info@???
>
>*
>Daily eye-witness reports from the Occupied Territories:
>http://www.machsomwatch.org
> (Israeli women monitoring the checkpoints)
>http://www.palsolidarity.org/pressreleases/pressreleases.php
> (internationals throughout OT)
>
>
>#Refusniks
>
>Constantly-updated refusniks lists:
>
>
>English - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
>Hebrew / Ú·¯È™ - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/prison/
>
>English - http://www.newprofile.org/default.asp?language=en
>Hebrew / Ú·¯È™ - http://www.newprofile.org/
>
>For the latest news about the five:
>http://www.refuz.org.il/News.html
>
> Letters of support to
> Noam Bahat / Haggai Mattar / Matan Kaminer
> AGAF BET
> Maíasiyaho Prison
> P.O.B 13
> Ramla - Israel
>
> Adam Maor / Shimri Tzameret:
> Hermon Prison
> P.O.B 4011
> KFAR MíRAR - Israel
>
>
>--
>http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (Ú·¯È™/Hebrew)
>http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
>http://www.gush-shalom.org/arabic/index.html (selected articles in Arabic)
>
>with
>\\photos of recent actions
>\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad
>\\the columns of Uri Avnery
>\\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle
>\\position papers & analysis (in "documents")
>\\and a lot more
>
>N.B.:
>On the Gush Shalom website links for
>Articles and documents in German, French and Spanish
>
>In order to receive Gush Shalom's Hebrew-language
>press releases mail to:
>gush-shalom-heb-request@???
>+ NB: write the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
>
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>
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>pob 3322
>Tel-Aviv 61033
>Israel
>
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>
>Please, add your email address where to send our
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>
>_______________________________________________


Paola Manduca, Prof.
Dipartimento di Biologia Sperimenale, Ambientale ed Applicata
Università di Genova
4°piano, Palazzo delle Scienze
26, C.Europa
16132, Genova
Tel.& Fax 0039-010-353 8240
Email man-via@???