Gaza, Palestine

The farmers are harvesting wheat by hand. Although it's April 2013, it may as well be the stone age.  As the occupying forces of the Israeli military control all aspects of life here, these people are prevented from using tools. A scythe may, after all be a terrorist's weapon. As is often the case in Palestine, reality is turned on its head. The aging peasants, some in traditional folk dresses are juxtaposed with armored vehicles, observation blimps, and soldiers in combat gear stationed a mere 150 meters away.

The boys show off their hip-hop dance moves, forgetting for a moment that the view outside the classroom shows evidence of last November's  bombing campaign. For the innocence of childhood to be replaced by the trauma of a cruel and  willful destruction is criminal. 

April 17 is Palestine Political Prisoners Day. The little girl is awaiting the day that her brother will be released from prison. Since 2000 more then 8,000 children have been detained.

Springtime in Budapest

I am visiting relatives in Pomaz, a small and ancient village just outside Budapest. I look out the window upon awakening, and I am stunned to see the results of an overnight massive snowfall. As tomorrow is Easter Sunday, there should be no doubt that human behaviour-induced global climate change is very much upon us.

Aging Gracefully

A Bleak Brussels Spring Morning

The Floor of My Friend's Studio in Brussels

Russell Tribunal on Palestine Provides the Legal Tools to Dismantle Israeli Apartheid

The concluding session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine took place in Brussels, March 16 -17, 2013. The RToP was launched in Brussels in 2009 in the spirit of British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who established the International War Crimes Tribunal to investigate crimes committed in Vietnam and judge them according to international law.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine was set up to examine violations of international law that prevent the Palestinian people from exercising their fundamental human rights, including the right to a sovereign state. The aim of the RToP is thus to examine the various responsibilities that lead to the continued occupation of Palestine by Israel and the factors which maintain the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law that permit the oppression to continue.

Presenters in Brussels included, Pierre Galand, General Coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Belgium; Denis Banks, Co-founder of the American Indian Movement, USA; Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, Northern Ireland; Cynthia McKinney, Former member of US Congress, 2008 presidential candidate for Green Party, USA; Roger Waters, Founding Member of Pink Floyd, songwriter, bass guitar player and vocalist, United Kingdom; Leila Shahid, Ambassador of Palestine to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Palestine; Fadwa Barghouti, Activist and lawyer and wife of imprisoned Palestinian political leader, Marwan Barghouti, Palestine; José Antonio Martin Pallin, Emeritus Judge, Supreme Court, Spain; Ronald Kasrils, Writer, anti-apartheid activist, former SNC minister, South Africa; John Dugard, Former Special Rapporteur for both UN Commission on Human Rights and International Law Commission, South Africa; Michael Mansfied, Professor of Law, practicing human rights lawyer, UK; and Angela Davis, Political activist, scholar and author, United States.

The first RToP session took place in Barcelona on March 1-3, 2010 and investigated the complicity of The European Union and it's member states in perpetuating Israel's violations of international law with respect to Palestine. The jury concluded that the EU did not honor it's own laws pertaining to arms exports to Israel and through inaction in face of expanding illegal settlements. The second session was in London on November 20 - 22, 2010 and it examined international corporate complicity in maintaining these human rights violations. Corporations have legal obligations to ensure they do not cooperate with Nations that violate international laws. Many do with impunity. The third session took place in Cape Town November 5 - 7, 2011 and dealt with the question of whether or not Israeli practices were in breach of the prohibition against the crime of Apartheid. After examining the evidence of daily life in Palestine, Israel was found to have created an institutional system that dominates and oppresses one racial group over an other - in breach of the international law against the crime of Apartheid. The fourth session was in New York City on October 6 - 8, 2012. It dealt with presenting evidence of US complicity and continuing failures by the UN that effectively emboldens Israel in its expanding occupation and subjugation of Palestine. The massive unconditional US military aid to Israel and it's reflexive veto of UN sanctions in response to Israel's responsibilities to uphold law was seen as bankrolling and maintaining the ongoing colonial project. The UN's inaction further reinforces a culture of impunity which enables Israel to destroy Palestinian society to further the aggressive expansion of its own State.

In Brussels, The RToP called for the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel for crimes committed against Palestine. It calls further for the reconstitution of the UN Special Committee on Apartheid and a special session of the UN General Assembly on Israeli Apartheid. Importantly, the RToP also recommends the establishment of an international committee of former political prisoners to campaign on behalf of Palestinian political prisoners.

In the spirit of the Stéphane Hessel, recently deceased Honorary President of the RToP, French resistance fighter, Nazi camp survivor, contributor to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and lifelong human rights advocate, the call went out for all members of civil society to redouble efforts to ensure that Israel upholds its responsibilities to the international community of Nations by ending crimes against the Land and People of Palestine. Towards this aim, the Russell Tribunal fully endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

Roger Waters - who has been decrying The Wall for some time now, expressed the next steps succinctly: "We have won the argument and now we, civil society, have to force States, institutions and international organizations to take action."

Or as I cheekily sang to Mr. Waters, a line I improvised from one of his legendary tunes, "We don't need no Occupation."

John Max Soos
Psychologist and Social Justice Advocate based in Vancouver, attended the final session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Brussels. March 16-18, 2013

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Still Stands Shoulder to Shoulder

John Baird, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs is confirmed to deliver a keynote address at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy meeting taking place March 3 – 5, 2013 in Washington, DC. His presence there further cements the Harper Government’s uncritical   support of Israel in face of its deteriorating record of massive human rights violations in Occupied Palestine. 

“Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with Israel,” said Mr. Baird in November 2012. His invitation to address AIPAC reflects that this Government’s position has not altered in face of Israel’s widening breaches of international and humanitarian law against the People and Land of Palestine.

AIPAC, according to their own literature, is America's leading pro-Israel lobby working to enact public policy that enhances the US-Israel relationship. In fact, AIPAC wields powerful influence over the US political system to ensure that Israel's illegal, violent and racist human rights violations in Palestine can continue unchecked.

In contravention of international law, segregated, Jewish-only settlements continue to proliferate on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The indigenous Palestinians are being forcibly displaced while their homes, olive groves and access to water are severely restricted.  Over 600,000 colonial settlers, under watch of heavily armed Israeli occupation forces ensure that a policy of illegal land theft and population transfer continues unabated. 4 million Palestinians are now living under an illegal, military occupation. Settler violence against Palestinians is increasing alarmingly – up 149% between 2009 and 2011. Just yesterday, February 23, 2013, at least 25 Israeli settlers, some armed with machine guns and escorted by Israeli forces, attacked and injured eight Palestinians including three children in Qasra village, south east of Nablus.

The illegal separation wall continues to divide Palestinian communities, cuts Palestinians off from their agrarian land, and by snaking ever deeper into occupied Palestinian territory, annexes additional Palestinian land and grafts it onto a continually expanding Israel.

Peacefully demonstrating against these internationally condemned assaults on human rights and dignity are routinely responded to with tear gas, live fire and incarceration. Samer Issawi is refusing food and dying in an Israeli prison as he protests his illegal incarceration - held without charges and without a trial under so-called “administrative detention”.  On February 24, 2013, news is surfacing that 30 year-old, Arafat Jaradat died while under Israeli interrogation. He was arrested Monday and preliminary reports shockingly describe signs of beatings on his chest, shoulders, lacerations on the back, broken ribs and a fractured skull.

Palestinians living in Gaza continue to be traumatized by a punishing land and sea blockade imposed by Israel and as a result of regular violent military incursions involving the air force, navy and ground troops. Since the November 2012 ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli forces have injured 74 Palestinians and killed four Palestinians. There have been no Palestinian violations of the ceasefire.

These colonial atrocities continue in large measure because AIPAC helps ensure that the world community remains impotent whenever it wishes to censure Israel and hold it accountable to its international obligations. The US reflexively vetoes UN Resolutions critical of fundamental Israeli human rights violations in Palestine. Canada is significantly complicit on account of it's uncritical support of these policies, which further emboldens Israel’s illegal and aggressive behaviours.

John Baird’s presence at the upcoming AIPAC conference is disturbing in light of comments he recently made about Canada-Israel relations. “Simply put, Israel is worthy of our support because it is a society that shares so many values with Canada – freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.” While these values may be enjoyed by a segment of Israeli society, they are definitely not extended to Palestinians residing in Israel, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

For many Canadians, the Harper Government's unconditional acceptance and encouragement of Israel's deepening apartheid practices against the People and Land of Palestine is morally and legally contemptible. It is time for Canada to accept that human rights are universal and uphold them for all people.

We ask that Mr. Baird speak the truth at the upcoming AIPAC policy convention in Washington and raise his voice to demand an end to the illegal occupation and blockade of Palestine, and not just voice the customary racist, Islamophobic, pro-occupation rhetoric.

“Israel has no greater friend in the world than Canada”, says John Baird. In that case – it’s this Government’s duty to ensure that Israel upholds international law and extends human rights equally to all residents of the Holy Land. It is the basis of a just and lasting peace - and a value that Canada can be proud to proclaim.