Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: From Gaza to Jerusalem: JVP Statement on the Escalation of Violence, March 25, 2011

 From Gaza to Jerusalem: JVP Statement on the Escalation of Violence, 
March 25, 2011
Any act of violence, especially one against civilians, marks a profound 
failure of human imagination and causes a deep and abiding trauma for 
all involved. In mourning the nine lives lost in Gaza and the one life 
lost in Jerusalem this week, we reject the pattern of condemning the 
deaths of Israelis while ignoring the deaths of Palestinians. We do not 
discriminate. One life lost is one life too many--whether Palestinian or 
Israeli.
Within the context of 44 years of the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the 
West Bank, and East Jerusalem, in the past two years (January 31, 2009 
to January 31, 2011, starting just after Operation Cast Lead), over a 
thousand Palestinians have been made homeless by home demolitions, 
hundreds have been unlawfully detained, and over 150 men, women and 
children have been killed by the IDF and settlers, according to the 
Israeli human rights group B’tselem.(1) Many acres of Palestinian land 
have been taken and orchards uprooted by armed settlers. Countless hours 
have been lost at checkpoints, often fruitlessly, while Palestinians 
attempted to get medical care, jobs, and access to education. One and a 
half million Gazans have been living with a limited food supply, lack of 
electricity and dangerously toxic sewage.
This is occupation: daily, persistent acts of structural violence. All 
in the service of a government that constantly expands illegal Israeli 
settlements on land that rightfully belongs to Palestinians.
These acts don't reach our headlines because they are so habitual, so we 
learn not to see them. But Palestinians live them and their profound 
consequences everyday, and we must keep that in mind, even as we ponder 
the terrible events of the past few weeks:(2)
     * A person or persons, (we don't know who), bombed a bus stop in 
Jerusalem, injuring 30 and killing 1 Israeli civilian;
     * An Israeli bombing killed 3 children and an older man in Gaza;
     * A person or persons, (we don't know who), murdered 5 members of a 
family, including three children, in Itamar, an Israeli settlement in 
the West Bank;
     * The Israeli government suddenly tightened the siege of Gaza and 
escalated military attacks, killing a total of 11 Palestinians and 
injuring more than 40 since mid-March;(3)
     * Palestinians fired over 50 shells and rockets from Gaza into 
civilian areas in southern Israel.
These terrible acts of violence remind us that to end the Israeli 
occupation our best hope is supporting the inspiring nonviolent 
Palestinian movement for change, in the form of unarmed protests every 
Friday in places like Bil’in, Ni'lin, Sheikh Jarrah, and the Global 
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. This is a movement that 
respects life, that is part and parcel of the nonviolent democratic 
people's movements we have been inspired by throughout the Arab world, 
that welcomes the solidarity and support of Israeli and international 
believers in equality and universal human rights.
This is a movement that fundamentally subverts the logic of armies, 
revenge-fueled “price tags”, and armed struggle. And it is a movement 
that may well do what no other government to date has done-- pressure 
Israel to be accountable to international law and therefore help create 
conditions for truly meaningful negotiations.
Because it is so powerful, it is no surprise that the right to engage in 
nonviolent resistance, a foundational component of any functioning 
democracy, is under attack in Israel. Human rights activists are being 
detained or imprisoned. Bills to criminalize the BDS movement, or harass 
human rights organizations, are working their way through the Knesset.
Just this week:
     * The very act of publicly commemorating the Nakba, a crucial 
nonviolent act of Palestinian remembrance, was essentially criminalized 
in Israel by the Knesset.(4)The Knesset also passed a law allowing small 
communities in the Galilee and Negev to discriminate against anyone 
wanting to reside there who does not fit in with the community’s 
“socio-cultural” character.(5)
     * The Knesset also held hearings to assess whether the “pro-Israel, 
pro-peace” group J Street was sufficiently pro-Israel.(6)
     * The IDF announced a new military intelligence-gathering unit 
solely dedicated to monitoring international left-wing peace and human 
rights groups that the army sees as a threat to Israel. The department 
will work closely with government ministries.(7)
     * Dozens of Israeli soldiers raided the home of Bassem Tamimi, Head 
of the nonviolent Nabi Saleh Popular Committee , and beat his wife and 
daughter while arresting him presumably on charges of "incitement" and 
"organizing illegal demonstrations."(8)
As the Israeli government increasingly deploys anti-democratic measures 
and military repression, we at Jewish Voice for Peace are redoubling our 
efforts to support the best hope- a nonviolent Palestinian-led 
resistance movement in which we all work together to nurture life, 
justice and equality. We invite you to join the movement.
(1) B'tselem: Fatalities after operation "Cast Lead"
(2) The Guardian, March 23: Israeli-Palestinian tensions: a timeline
(3) Alternative Information Center, March 23: Israel's Military 
Escalation in Gaza
(4) Jerusalem Post, March 23: Nakba Bill passes Knesset in third reading
(5) +972 Magazine, March 22: Knesset passes segregation bill
(6) New York Times, March 24: U.S. Group Stirs Debate On Being "Pro-Israel"
(7) Ha'aretz, March 21: Military Intelligence monitoring foreign 
left-wing organizations
and +972 Magazine, March 22: Military Intelligence monitors 
"de-legitimization"
(8) Popular Struggle, March 24, 2011: Israeli Soldiers arrest Bassem 
Tamimi, Coordinator of Nabi Saleh Popular Committee
JVP

 civilian areas in southern Israel.
Aha. So we know who.