Argentinos rumbo a #Gaza Entrevista en TVC Neuquen Canal 4

Fuente: Yoko Vidal Carril

Abbas urges Israel to reciprocate recognition

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that Israel should recognize a Palestinian state "in response to our people's recognition of Israel's right to exist," the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reported.

In a speech to the Dutch parliament, Abbas reiterated his commitment to the two-state solution, which he said must be achieved through talks and not violence.

"To accomplish this goal I am calling on the Israeli government to accept the references for talks including the principles that were set by [US] President [Barack] Obama."

Abbas added: "Our main objective is to hold talks with Israel to reach peace."

The president urged Israel to recognize a Palestinian state on land occupied in 1967, noting that Palestinians had already recognized Israel's right to exist.

Palestinians were not trying to isolate or delegitimize Israel, Abbas said.

"On the contrary. Because we did not get the approval of the Israeli government on the references of the peace process and to stop settlement building, we will continue with our attempt to gain recognition of a Palestinian state as a member of the United Nations."

The president said 117 countries had recognized Palestine as an independent state, and urged those who had not "to do so as soon as possible."

The Palestinian leadership is committed to democracy, transparency, accountability, human rights and freedom of expression, he added.

Abbas also reiterated his commitment to previously signed agreements with Israel.

Regarding the reconciliation agreement recently signed between Hamas and Fatah, Abbas said national unity was the "sole path to the two-state solution."

However the Palestine Liberation Organization was the body authorized to negotiate with Israel, not the government, he noted.

Source:maannews.net

Gaza

Más de 60 años de ocupación y limpieza étnica
La Franja de Gaza es un territorio de 360 Km2, donde viven actualmente 1,5 millones de palestinos. Gaza acogió gran parte de los refugiados palestinos expulsados de sus tierras desde noviembre de 1947. Esto modificó completamente su estructura demográfica, y hoy es uno de los territorios del mundo con más densidad de población.

Con el armisticio de 1949 Gaza quedó bajo control militar egipcio. Las posibilidades de trabajo para la población eran ínfimas y las condiciones en los campos de refugiados muy duras. Así, no es incomprensible  que los primeros movimientos de resistencia surgieran en los campos de refugiados de este territorio. Los movimientos vinculados a los Hermanos Musulmanes encontraron ya desde sus inicios apoyo en la desesperación de la población de Gaza, que veía en el movimiento una forma de lucha anticolonial y un camino para la subsistencia. También cuajarán con éxito los movimientos de resistencia marxista, panarabistas y nacionalistas a partir de los años cincuenta y sesenta.

Después de la guerra de los seis días, en 1967, Gaza como el resto de los territorios ocupados, quedó bajo ocupación israelí, en lo que llamaron territorios bajo custodia. Las primeras políticas después de la guerra fueron dirigidas a continuar la expulsión iniciada en 1947. Los 590.000 palestinos que vivían en Cisjordania y los 380.000 que vivían en la Franja de Gaza, ponen en evidencia la dimensión y la dificultad de esta política. Las revueltas palestinas en los campos de Jabbalya en 1971, paran parcialmente los procesos de expulsión en Gaza. Paralelamente el gobierno de Israel, iniciaba una política de asentamientos en los territorios ocupados e imponía un régimen militar que reprimió con contundencia cualquier tipo de oposición a la ocupación.

La economía de la faja de Gaza pasa a depender en 1967, exclusivamente de Israel y del apoyo de la comunidad internacional. Israel impuso en los territorios ocupados un sistema capitalista de libre mercado que le permitió establecer una relación neocolonial mediante la cual podía adquirir mano de obra a bajo coste y comercializar bienes de consumo en los territorios, sin realizar ningún tipo de inversión, ni creación de infraestructuras que permitiesen una mejora de las condiciones de vida de la población palestina. En 1971, el 50% de los trabajadores de Gaza tenían que cruzar diariamente los controles militares de Israel, superar el llamado “mercado de esclavos” para poder trabajar una jornada en Israel sin ningún tipo de seguridad o derecho laboral, a sueldos miserables; eso sí, mejores respecto a los que podían ganar en otros territorios vecinos. Las políticas represivas, las dificultades de trabajar y la fuerte densidad demográfica continuaran siendo factores determinantes en el futuro de Gaza.

En el año 1987, había 850.000 refugiados en la Franja con una mediana de edad de 27 años. En este contexto podemos situar el estallido de la primera Intifada en sus campos de refugiados y su extensión al resto de los territorios ocupados. Un levantamiento civil no violento de resistencia a la ocupación, al que Israel contestó con el uso de la fuerza militar provocando numerosos muertos y heridos entre la población palestina, especialmente en la Franja de Gaza. Los toques de queda, las órdenes de clausura de edificios públicos, las demoliciones de viviendas y de otros bienes, tuvieron fuertes consecuencias en las condiciones de vida de la población, especialmente en el terreno de la educación, la salud, y los servicios sociales. Asimismo se explica en ese momento el crecimiento y la formación de grupos bajo la bandera del Islam político como Hamas o la Jihad Islámica, y su política de resistencia a la ocupación.

El inicio del proceso de paz, la creación de la ANP, y la ayuda internacional creó ciertas esperanzas en las duras condiciones de vida de la población palestina. A pesar de eso, las ayudas y el proceso de paz, se vieron condicionados por la retórica de la seguridad de Israel, y se invirtió en cuerpos policiales, y en establecer mecanismos de control más que en la mejora de las condiciones de vida de la población palestina, que seguía viviendo las duras condiciones y bajo la violencia impuesta por la ocupación.

A pesar de que los acuerdos de paz prohibieron explícitamente cualquier tipo de acción que modificara la realidad en los territorios ocupados, en Gaza, por ejemplo, la población de colonos en 1996 había aumentado un 62%. Y entre 1967 y 2005, los colonos judíos robaron la tierra y el agua a expensas de la población local. Al mismo tiempo, durante el proceso de paz,  Israel dependía cada vez menos de los trabajadores palestinos y empieza a aislar el territorio de Gaza, bajo el pretexto de controlar la resistencia armada, que incluía a menudo atentados suicidas de los grupos islamistas, construye a mediados de los noventa un muro de alambre electrificado y torres de vigilancia que convierten Gaza en un campo de prisioneros.

Después del fracaso del proceso de paz en el año 2000, la política de represión en los territorios ocupados se acentúa. En la Franja de Gaza, la dificultad de mantener los asentamientos, su hostilidad hacia los palestinos y su protección en un territorio densamente poblado, explica el plan de “desconexión” impulsado por Ariel Sharon, realizado en 2005 con la evacuación de unos 9000 colonos de la franja. La colonización y la “desconexión” vino acompañada de destrucciones de tierras cultivables y de árboles. Se calcula que sólo entre junio de 2006 y mayo de 2007, las fuerzas israelíes destruyeron unos 12.900 dunums de terreno agrícola, además de arrancar 2.775 árboles en Cisjordania.

Gaza continua bajo ocupación ya que todas las fronteras por tierra mar y aire siguen controladas directamente o indirectamente por Israel. Incluido el paso de Rafah, dónde Egipto tiene el control e Israel tiene amplios poderes de observador. Esta situación, sigue violando el IV convenio de Ginebra y gran parte de los tratados internacionales. Al mismo tiempo ha impuesto una dura restricción al acceso al mar reduciendo cada vez más el espacio dónde los pescadores de la Franja puedan desarrollar su actividad, hasta el punto de inutilizara casi por completo, -a día de hoy el limite permitido desde la costa es tan solo a tres millas náuticas- , causando el aumento del paro, una crisis de grandes dimensiones en este sector y cortando importantes suministros alimentarios a la población.

La victoria de Hamas en las elecciones democráticas legislativas de 2006, llevan a Israel y a la comunidad internacional a establecer un bloqueo sobre Palestina, en oposición a la voluntad popular salida de las urnas. Los enfrentamientos entre las facciones palestinas, llevan a Fatah a controlar Cisjordania. Hamas, mantendrá su poder en la franja de Gaza, hecho que costará la imposición de un bloqueo total por parte de Israel, que la dejará sin los principales suministros vitales. Desde el 12 de junio de 2007 está prohibida la entrada en Gaza de materias primas, artículos comerciales no humanitarios, y equipos esenciales para el mantenimiento del sistema de cloacas y la red de suministros de agua. En noviembre de 2007, se habían perdido 3500 puestos de trabajo a causa del cierre de 438 empresas de construcción.

En diciembre de 2008 y enero de 2009, Israel, atacó la franja de Gaza, en una operación militar dónde murieron 1400 palestinos, la gran mayoría civiles, y numerosas infraestructuras, viviendas, y edificios públicos de ciudades y pueblos palestinos quedaron destruidas. El informe emitido por la comisión de investigación de Naciones Unidas, dictaminó que en el ataque se habían producido crímenes de guerra y de lesa humanidad, además de violar numerosos tratados de Derecho Internacional. Las recomendaciones del informe y las investigaciones por crímenes de guerra y lesa humanidad han caído en el olvido diplomático y político, dónde los estados y por consiguiente las organizaciones internacionales no han desarrollado respuestas contundentes y las autoridades de Israel siguen impunes.

El cierre total de las fronteras de Gaza, impide aún a día de hoy las posibilidades de reconstrucción, suministro y desarrollo del territorio palestino. El relator especial de Naciones Unidas sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en los territorios ocupados, ha señalado como el bloqueo impide la entrada de materiales para la reconstrucción. Ha denunciado también las restricciones del suministro energético y las graves consecuencias económicas que comporta y ha denunciado la política de construcción de un muro subterráneo para destruir la red de túneles que actualmente sirven de salvavidas humanitario ante el bloqueo. Eso sucede en Gaza, pero Cisjordania sigue bajo ocupación, separada por un muro que separa a la población palestina de sus tierras, de sus familias, y está totalmente fragmentada por numerosos controles militares internos y colonias. Hoy en día hay  más de 4.5 millones de refugiados palestinos, y la población palestina que vive en Israel, sufre una fuerte discriminación social.

Las iniciativas de la sociedad civil para romper el bloqueo a Gaza, se han visto también atacadas con la máxima violencia por parte de Israel, como es el caso del la Flotilla por la libertad. La débil respuesta de la comunidad internacional, deja tan solo en manos de la sociedad civil, la presión a sus gobiernos y a las organizaciones internacionales para poner fin a más sesenta años de limpieza étnica en Palestina.

En palabras de  Ilan Pappe, en el pasado, el mundo libre se enfrentó a situaciones tan peligrosas como las de Sudáfrica y Serbia, tomando decisiones y sanciones fuertes y firmes. Sólo una seria y permanente presión de los gobiernos occidentales a Israel les enviaría el mensaje de que la estrategia de la fuerza y la política de opresión no son aceptadas, ni moral ni políticamente, por el mundo al que Israel quiere pertenecer. Y afirma cómo, las iniciativas de paz, han centrado sus esfuerzos pacificadores en la solución de la dimensión territorial del conflicto olvidando completamente cuestiones fundamentales como la culpabilidad, la restitución de los derechos o la justicia.

Fuente:rumboagaza.org

Abu Marzouk: We rejected the Israeli conditions for a prisoner-exchange deal

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Deputy political bureau chairman  of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk has said that his  movement had rejected the “unjust offer” tabled by  the German "mediator" on the prisoners’ exchange  deal because he bowed to Israeli occupation conditions. He told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper  published on Monday that Gerhard Conrad adopted  the Israeli occupation government’s conditions, which  he described as “unjust and unfair”. He added that the Israeli occupation stringent position  is understood but for the German middleman to adopt  such a position it is “unacceptable”. Abu Marzouk stressed that there would be no return to  the German mediator because he did not assume his  role properly and failed. The Hamas leader said that the prisoners’ exchange deal was now in the hands of Egypt, highlighting that  his movement was interested in concluding the deal but  in accordance with national, honorable conditions. Meanwhile, an unidentified Egyptian source told the  same paper that Israel should display “positive  stands”. He held the Israeli government responsible  for not concluding the exchange deal, adding that  Tel Aviv should be more flexible and not to table extremist  positions, which it knows in advance would not be accepted by Hamas. Source:palestine-info.co.uk

Law of the jungle

Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinians with impunity, while the Israeli police or army either ignore incidents of violence or abet them, writes Saleh Al-Naami

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Despite the cold in this mountainous region, a group of young men gathered on the outskirts of the town of Al-Moghayer east of Ramallah in the centre of the West Bank. These youth are intent on preventing Jewish settlers from burning the town mosque again after they set it ablaze for the first time three weeks ago. Threats by settlers that they will continue these attacks moved the group of youth to risk their lives and volunteer to foil the settler plots.

If conditions were normal, there would be no need for these young men to risk their lives. The arsonists belong to an organisation that is well known to Israeli security agencies, namely the "Boys from the Hills", which Israeli media calls the "thugs wing" of Jewish settlers in the West Bank. This is the seventh mosque that this group has torched in the West Bank, but neither the Israeli police nor the army has arrested any members of this known group.

Other indicators of blatant collusion by Israeli security agencies were uncovered by Israeli television recently, namely that the Israeli police have information that members of the group have burned down mosques and intend on setting more on fire based on a religious edict by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, the director of Youssef Hai Religious School near Nablus. Nonetheless, the rabbi was not arrested or held accountable. Also it was revealed that the Israeli Ministry of Education grants the private schools headed by Shapira more than $200,000 annually, although the curricula being taught there is based on religious heritage as interpreted by Shapira, while all the students and graduates at these schools belong to the Boys from the Hills gang.

Israeli security agencies, especially the police, ignore complaints by Palestinians who are attacked by the Boys from the Hills and other Jewish groups. As well as torching mosques, the Boys from the Hills also attack Palestinian villages, and Palestinian villagers complain that gang members poison water wells in Palestinian villages and towns. In order to damage agricultural crops, they release herds of pigs to roam the fields and pollute water sources in rural areas.

Reports by Israeli human rights groups point a finger directly at Israeli security agencies for providing an environment conducive to violating the rights of Palestinian citizens in the occupied territories, and encouraging settlers to attack them. "Lately, the state of Israel has been aiding settlers who relentlessly attack Palestinians in the occupied territories," wrote Boaz Okon, an Israeli human rights activist, in Yediot Aharonot. Okon described the way law and judicial agencies handle attacks on Palestinian civilians as judicial "apartheid", stating that Israeli conduct towards the Palestinians reminds him of the actions of European settlers towards black slaves in bygone eras.

Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli thinker, accused the Israeli army of becoming mere "armed militia cronies to Jewish settlers". In an article published in Haaretz newspaper, Benvenisti -- who previously served as deputy mayor of occupied Jerusalem -- said that at a time when Jewish settlers enjoy all their rights, including being defended by the Israeli army, the Palestinians do not enjoy this privilege although international law obligates Israel to defend people who are under its occupation.

Criticism of the army and police and their role in encouraging settlers to attack Palestinians is spreading, including among prominent reserve army generals who have criticised the army and its complicity. General Shlomo Gazit, who previously headed the army's intelligence unit, stated in an article published in Maariv newspaper that the Israeli army deals with animals in a better manner than it does the Palestinians.

Israeli human rights groups have revealed that Israeli judicial and police agencies exercise blatant discrimination between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, in a way that promotes continued attacks on Palestinians. According to a report by the Israeli group "�There is Law", some 99.7 per cent of charges against Palestinians in Israeli military tribunals result in guilty verdicts. Meanwhile, only 10 per cent of complaints by Palestinian citizens in the West Bank filed with Israeli police about attacks by Jewish settlers result in charges against perpetrators. Some 90 per cent of these complaints conclude without any charges.

"The manner by which Israeli police and judicial agencies handle Palestinian complaints about acts of violence by settlers against them is essentially negligent, indifferent and unprofessional," according to the report. It added that during the first 11 months of last year, the police investigated 299 reports of violence by settlers against Palestinians, and a third of the complaints were about attacks against Palestinians, including beatings, shootings, use of non-firearm weapons, or stone throwing. The report stated that more than 80 per cent of these complaints were closed without charging any settlers.

The document added that altogether about 90 per cent of investigations were closed without filing charges. About 83 per cent were closed because the perpetrator was not found, while seven per cent of complaints were not even investigated because the police officers that were contacted could not find the forms for filing a complaint.

Meanwhile, 96 per cent of reports by Palestinians about settlers uprooting olive groves in the West Bank were closed without charges, and in most cases Palestinians are unable to file complaints against settlers with the Israeli police because there are no Israeli police stations in Palestinian residential areas since they are only located in settlements. The document continued that many times when Palestinians file reports against settlers, members of the police refuse to receive or handle them. Palestinian citizens are also sometimes asked to present documentation that they do not possess, and therefore the complaint is ignored.

The human rights report documented several forms of negligence in handling Palestinian complaints. Some 42 per cent of affidavits by Palestinians were written in Hebrew, which makes it impossible to verify if the police officer wrote down what they said accurately or not. Many times police officers refuse to go to the location where the attack took place, and when they do they do not speak to key eyewitnesses. The report added that in most cases the police do not exert any effort to investigate the identities of Jewish suspects or confront them with the Palestinians who filed the complaint against them.

The report comes on the heels of an admission by General Yuval Bazak, the director of the Combat Theory Development Division in the Israeli army, that the Israeli army assists settlers to commit "crimes" against unarmed Palestinian civilians. In an interview with Yediot Aharonot, Bazak said that the Israeli army has turned a blind eye to the activities of settlers during decades of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which made settlers believe they are above the law. He stressed that the law being exercised in the West Bank is the law of the jungle, asserting that this belief was nurtured by the unusual relationship between settlers and the army. Bazak revealed that the army does not deal with settlers as if it were an authority responsible for implementing the law, but that the relationship between the two is based on a "close friendship".

He added that as a result of this "friendship", the Israeli army has not played its role in thwarting attacks by settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, and that the army has covered up these crimes and has been lenient with the perpetrators.

Source: Al-Ahram

Rabbi Israel Domb explains the Neturei Karta & Jews United Against Zionism Movement – Full Documentary

Source:occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

NOAM CHOMSKY: The West Is Terrified of Arabic Democracies”

Noam Chomsky is one of the major intellectuals of our time. The eighty-two-year-old American linguist, philosopher and activist is a severe critic of US foreign and economic policy. Ceyda Nurtsch talked to him about the Arabic spring in its global context

Q: Mr. Chomsky, many people claim that the Arab world is incompatible with democracy. Would you say that the recent developments falsify this thesis?

Noam Chomsky: The thesis never had any basis whatsoever. The Arab-Islamic world has a long history of democracy. It’s regularly crushed by western force. In 1953 Iran had a parliamentary system, the US and Britain overthrew it. There was a revolution in Iraq in 1958, we don’t know where it would have gone, but it could have been democratic. The US basically organized a coup.

False friends: Iran’ democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh during a visit in the US in 1951, two years before the CIA’s coup d’état that ousted him

In internal discussions in 1958, which have since been declassified, President Eisenhower spoke about a campaign of hatred against us in the Arab world. Not from the governments, but from the people. The National Security Council’s top planning body produced a memorandum – you can pick it up on the web now – in which they explained it. They said that the perception in the Arab world is that the United States blocks democracy and development and supports harsh dictators and we do it to get control over their oil. The memorandum said, this perception is more or less accurate and that’s basically what we ought to be doing.

Q: That means that western democracies prevented the emergence of democracies in the Arab world?

Chomsky: I won’t run through the details, but yes, it continues that way to the present. There are constant democratic uprisings. They are crushed by the dictators we – mainly the US, Britain, and France – support. So sure, there is no democracy because you crush it all. You could have said the same about Latin America: a long series of dictators, brutal murderers. As long as the US controls the hemisphere, or Europe before it, there is no democracy, because it gets crushed.

Q: So you were not surprised at all by the Arab Spring?

Chomsky: Well, I didn’t really expect it. But there is a long background to it. Let’s take Egypt for instance. You’ll notice that the young people who organized the demonstrations on January 25th called themselves the April 6th movement. There is a reason for that. April 6th 2008 was supposed to be a major labour action in Egypt at the Mahalla textile complex, the big industrial centre: strikes, support demonstrations around the country and so on. It was all crushed by the dictatorship. Well, in the West we don’t pay any attention: as long as dictatorships control people, what do we care!

“Efforts to create democracy”: On 6 April 2008 Egyptian workers, primarily in the state-run textile industry, striked in response to low wages and rising food costs. Strikes were illegal in Egypt, and the protests were eventually crushed

But in Egypt they remember, and that’s only one in a long series of militant strike actions. Some of them succeeded. There are some good studies of this. There is one American scholar, Joel Beinen – he is at Stanford – he has done a lot of work on the Egyptian labour movement. And he has recent articles and earlier ones, in which he discusses labour struggles going on for a long time: those are efforts to create democracy.

Q: Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, claimed to cause a domino effect of freedom with his policy of the “New Middle East”. Is there a relation between the uprisings in the Arab world to the policy of George W. Bush?

Chomsky: The main theme of modern post-war history is the domino effect: Cuba, Brazil, Vietnam… Henry Kissinger compared it to a virus that might spread contagion. When he and Nixon were planning the overthrow of the democratically elected Allende in Chile – we have all the internal materials now – Kissinger in particular said, the Chilean virus might affect countries as far as Europe. Actually, he and Brezhnev agreed on that, they were both afraid of democracy and Kissinger said, we have to wipe out this virus. And they did, they crushed it.

Today it’s similar. Both Bush and Obama are terrified of the Arab spring. And there is a very sensible reason for that. They don’t want democracies in the Arab world. If Arab public opinion had any influence on policy, the US and Britain had been tossed out of the Middle East. That’s why they are terrified of democracies in the region.

Q: The well-known British Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk recently stated that Obama and his policy is irrelevant for the developments in the region…

Chomsky: I read the article, it’s very good. Robert Fisk is a terrific journalist and he really knows the region well. I think what he means is that the activists in the April 6th movement don’t care about the United States. They have totally given up on the US. They know the United States is their enemy. In fact in public opinion in Egypt about 90 per cent think that the US is the worst threat that they face. In that sense the USA is of course not irrelevant. It’s just too powerful.

Q: Some criticize the Arab intellectuals for being too silent, too passive. What should the role of the Arab intellectual be today?

Chomsky: Intellectuals have a special responsibility. We call them intellectuals because they are privileged and not because they are smarter than anyone else. But if you are privileged and you have some status and you can be articulate and so on we call you an intellectual. And it’s the same in the Arab world as anywhere else.

Source:intifada-palestine.com

Un Picasso en Palestina

Un lienzo cubista de Pablo Picasso, "Buste de femme" (1943), es desde hoy la obra de más valor y la primera del pintor español que se expone en Territorio Palestino Ocupado.

La modesta Academia Internacional de Arte de Palestina, ubicada en la ciudad cisjordana de Ramala, albergará el cuadro durante un mes, custodiado por dos policías, uno a cada lado.

Allí se congregaron esta tarde unas doscientas personas para participar en el acto de inauguración, que contó con la presencia del primer ministro palestino, Salam Fayad, que no estaba previamente anunciada.

Decenas de jóvenes artistas, expatriados y familias interesadas en el arte hacían cola en la escalera de acceso al edificio donde se expone el óleo, valorado en siete millones de dólares (casi cinco millones de euros).

Los policías sólo permitían el paso de dos en dos para presenciar por espacio de medio minuto esta deconstrucción de una figura femenina en la que priman los tonos grises y verdes.

"Buste de femme" (Busto de mujer, en francés) ha sido cedido durante un mes por el museo Van Abbe de Eindhoven (Holanda) en el marco del proyecto "Picasso en Palestina", que irá acompañado de una serie de debates en torno a la obra y vida del genio malagueño.

La elección fue obra de los estudiantes de la Academia, consultados sobre qué pieza del centro holandés preferían ver en suelo palestino.

"Y votaron Picasso", explica a Efe el motor de la iniciativa, Jaled Hurani.

Con unas dimensiones de un metro de alto por ochenta centímetros de ancho, "Buste de femme" es la joya más preciada del museo holandés, que lo había cedido previamente a Sao Paulo (Brasil), y ahora, también un símbolo.

"Palestina está en el mapa (...) Esto significa e ilustra nuestra preparación para tener un Estado propio", señaló Fayad en el acto de presentación.

O, como dijo el director del museo Van Abbe, Charles Esche: "Una de las formas de afectar a la ocupación es comportarse como si de hecho hubieras superado la ocupación. Quizás este proyecto es uno de los primeros pasos hacia esa meta de establecer un museo de arte contemporáneo en Palestina".

El intercambio de piezas de arte es práctica común entre museos de todo el mundo, pero Cisjordania no es un lugar cualquiera, sino un territorio bajo ocupación israelí jalonado por unas quinientas barreras al movimiento en el que cualquier desplazamiento se convierte en una suerte de envite al azar.

"Todo el proyecto es sobre los obstáculos para traer Picasso a Ramala", resume Hurani, director artístico de la Academia.

El retrato picassiano fue fletado de Amsterdam a Tel Aviv (no hay en territorio palestino aeropuertos ni accesos que no estén controlados por Israel) para viajar desde allí hasta Ramala, bajo la protección de una compañía de seguridad privada israelí.

"Tenemos que crear un Estado antes de traer una obra así. Un aeropuerto, transporte, tasas... no tenemos esto, desgraciadamente. La compañía de seguros tuvo que leerse los Acuerdos de Oslo para ver si es peligroso traer aquí un Picasso y eso toma meses. Luego recurrimos a otro seguro porque era arriesgado", lamenta Hurani.

La Academia necesitó dos años para gestionar la solicitud de la obra, en parte por las revueltas en el mundo árabe, que retrasaron la operación.

"Picasso en Palestina" estará apuntalado con una serie de diálogos académicos en torno a la figura y obra de Picasso que tendrán lugar mañana y pasado mañana en centros palestinos de Jerusalén, Ramala, Birzeit y Gaza.

Una combinación de arte y compromiso, como recordaron los presentes, muy presente en la vida de uno de los grandes maestros del trazo.

"Creo que si Picasso estuviera vivo, estaría aquí mismo", sentenció Esche.

Fuente:palestinalibre.org

Nasrallah: Hezbollah members confess to spying for CIA

BEIRUT (AFP) -- Two Hezbollah members have confessed to working for the US Central Intelligence Agency and a third is still under interrogation, the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday.
"When the Israeli enemy failed to infiltrate Hezbollah, it turned to the most powerful intelligence agency," Nasrallah said in a closed-circuit television speech broadcast in Lebanon, referring to the CIA.

"Our investigation has found that... intelligence officers [in the CIA] have recruited two of our members separately, whom we shall not name out of respect for the privacy of their families," he added.

Nasrallah also said the group was investigating whether a third member of the party had been recruited by the CIA, Israel's Mossad or the intelligence service of a European country.

The United States blacklists Hezbollah, arguably the most powerful armed force in the Arab world, as a terrorist organization.

The Syrian and Iranian backed Shiite movement last fought a war with Israel in 2006.


Source:maannews.net

Israel PM agrees to return to 1967 borders

 TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to peace talks based on 1967 borders on the condition that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and solve the Palestinian refugee issue outside of Israel's borders.

Netanyahu announced the position to US presidential Middle East adviser Dennis Ross, and acting envoy for the Middle East David Hale, both of whom Netanyahu met with last week, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Thursday.
Netanyahu also reportedly issued his stance to EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and special envoy for the Middle East Quartet Tony Blair, in meetings held this week, the Israeli daily stated.
Netanyahu reportedly said during a cabinet meeting Sunday, that “the discussion on the number of the Israelis and the Palestinians in the area that is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is irrelevant and not real, what I care about is to have a Jewish majority within Israel’s borders that will be set.”
However, a statement released by Netanyahu's office deny these claims, saying that “the report is untrue and Netanyahu’s stance concerning 1967 borders is clear, Israel will not return to these borders.”
The Palestinian leadership plans to ask the United Nations in September to recognize a Palestinian state within 1967 borders, a move opposed by the US and Israel.
The EU has stressed that it would prefer both sides to return to the negotiating table, with member states divided on how they plan to vote on the resolution.
In May, Netanyahu rejected US President Barack Obama's proposal to base peace negotiations on the 1967 borders, claiming them to be "indefensible."
Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967.

Source: maannews.net

Netherlands embraces Israel tighter, squeezing out human rights

Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

(Yossi Zamir /Newscom )

While Israel continues its ruthless occupation and oppression in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Syria’s Golan Heights, the right-wing government of the Netherlands plans to deepen its economic collaboration with Israel instead of holding it accountable for its violations of international law.

Maxime Verhagen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation set out the Dutch government’s newest plans to strengthen political and economic relations with Israel in a 14 June speech in Haifa (“Innovation Nations Promoting Stronger Relations Between The Netherlands And Israel In A Changing Middle East”).

Verhagen announced policies in Israel about which the Dutch government had apparently not even informed parliament, The Electronic Intifada discovered.

Putting business before human rights

Trade and investment are forces for peace, Verhagen argued in his speech, “So when I say we want to strengthen economic relations with Israel, I also mean the Palestinian Territories. We believe this will help create a peaceful and prosperous Palestinian state.”

Verhagen urged Israel to allow normal trade between Gaza, the West Bank and third countries. But most of his speech was concerned with praising Israel and offering more rewards — not merely economic, but political as well.

Verhagen highlighted the long-standing Dutch-Israeli ties in the areas of research and development, academia and business. The collaboration covers high-tech industries, water, agrifood and horticulture.

For example, Verhagen talked about his visit to Better Place, an Israeli company which is building transport infrastructure in settlements and on Jewish-only roads in the occupied West Bank, as an investigation by The Electronic Intifada found last year. Verhagen pointed out that Better Place is “now preparing an electric taxi service between Amsterdam and Schiphol airport which will become operational in 2012.”

The Dutch government offered to share expertise in respect to the newly-discovered gas fields off the coast of Haifa and Gaza, said Verhagen. This offer could potentially embroil the Netherlands in pillage of Palestinian natural resources.

Verhagen spoke about his efforts to encourage Israeli technology firms to work in the Netherlands and encouraged Israeli firms to “to showcase Israeli agritechnology for the European public.”

Israel has made “green technologies” or what critics call “greenwashing” an integral part of its propaganda strategy to divert attention from human rights abuses.

Legislators surprised by “Dutch-Israel Cooperation Council”

To crown the strengthening of ties, Verhagen announced the inauguration of the Dutch-Israeli Cooperation Council — an initiative of Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal — by January 2012.

The Electronic Intifada asked Labor Party Member of Parliament Frans Timmermans to comment on the creation of the council.

Apparently Rosenthal had not informed the Dutch parliament, because Timmermans immediately requested Rosenthal to clarify his plans in parliament, a request that was turned down by the minister. Only when MP Alexander Pechtold of the D66 party seconded the request for information, did Rosenthal promise to deal with the issue in a few months.

Netherlands endorses Israeli position on refugees

Regarding the peace process, Verhagen laid out policies that were similar to those recently announced by US President Barack Obama. But on the question of refugees’ rights he went considerably further than Obama in openly endorsing Israel’s refusal to accept Palestinian refugees’ right to return home:

“Their large-scale return to Israel is not a realistic option as this would jeopardize the Jewish character of the State of Israel. It would also undermine the very reason of being of a Palestinian state. The refugees should be offered an acceptable settlement, including compensation for those who will not be able to go back.”

Strong criticisms

Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dries van Agt heavily criticized Verhagen for praising Israel as “a modern democracy founded on the rule of law.”

Such a democracy would “not violate international law,” van Agt told The Electronic Intifada, whereas the State of Israel repeatedly “ignores UN resolutions and disdains the International Court of Justice and the international treaties. Verhagen rejoices [at the sight] of even more intimate collaboration with Israel.”

Van Agt added “It seems it does not matter to him [Verhagen] that ‘his’ Israel continues its refusal to meet the demands of the EU like releasing the stranglehold on Gaza.”

The former Dutch prime minister — who has himself faced stinging criticism from pro-Israel groups for his support of Palestinian human rights — pointed out that Verhagen “pleads for the resumption of the peace process and talks piously about the two-state solution without a word about the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land. He even avoids the term ‘occupation’ when he speaks about the Palestinian territory. Instead of expressing fraternal warnings he smothers all Israel’s evil policies in hugs.”

Also reacting to the speech, United Civilians for Peace chairperson Farah Karimi told The Electronic Intifada that her organization “welcomes the call on Israel to ensure that the occupied Palestinian territories will be opened for all humanitarian and economic goods, for commerce and exports.”

UCP is a coalition of the Dutch donor organizations ICCO, Cordaid and Oxfam-Novib, and peace organization IKV Pax Christi.

Karimi added “The ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel since 2007, refusing entry to the majority of humanitarian goods, is a breach of international humanitarian law, and in my view, simply morally unacceptable. But it can also contribute to further escalation of the conflict. The Palestinians have suffered enough; they have the same rights to a decent life, to a livelihood, to health care and education as any Israeli.”

Netherlands sets aside commitment to human rights

In October 2010, a right-wing minority government came to power with the support of the anti-Islamic Party for Freedom, known by its Dutch initials PVV. As part of its official policy statement, the new government agreed with the PVV to “further invest in the relationship with the State of Israel.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal made clear what this intention entailed when he threatened to cut the funding of the Dutch grant-giving organization ICCO for its support of The Electronic Intifada, citing its reporting on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

Last year, Rosenthal told the Dutch-language daily newspaper De Volkskrant that the two pillars of his policy are stability and security. Human rights was “a third pillar, but you cannot always, constantly be concerned with human rights” (Rosenthal wil netwerk ambassades reorganiseren,” 12 December 2010).

Rosenthal’s lack of concern about human rights violations by Israel was painfully clear in a debate in parliament on 14 June. Previous Dutch governments joined the international community in condemning extrajudicial killings by Israel, but under questioning from opposition MPs, Rosenthal bluntly denied that Israel even carries out such killings (“Human rights no longer Dutch priority,” Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 15 June 2011).

Deputy Prime Minister Verhagen’s speech in Haifa indicates that willful blindness to Israel’s actions is now well-established policy.

Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate based in Switzerland.

Source: occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com