Plunder Blog! Is there anything the "civil society" can do about Gaza to avoid "business as usual"?
Every day that goes by I feel more angry and frustrated. Is there anything we can do? what can we do to stop all of this?
At this rate of murder by the time Obama will be in office we will have 500 murdered kids...
Please give me some suggestions of effective non-violent action we MUST use against Israel NOW! Should we start a collective hunger strike? should we all lock urselves up in chains in front of the Israeli Embassies worldwide? Should we try to start a serious economic boycott, like the one that was launched, and arguably successfully, against South Africa for much much less than this? What Israel is doing in Gaza HAS NO HISTORICAL PRECEDENT. Think about it and suggest some way to ACT!
A few colleagues in Italy produced a document trying to collect lots of signatures to have Israeli leadership accountable in front of International law... By now you know what I think of the real chances of anything like that. However is better than doing nothing than the attitude of "business as usual" that seems to be gaining the stage. That would be the single most immoral thing that each one of us could do...business as usual...
I copy here the document. It is in Italian for the time being. It must be translated in many languages. Is there any one of my Plunder Blog friends that is interested in trying to do it in his own language? It would be a good way to spend half an hour not in "business as usual"....
APPELLO PER DEFERIRE GOVERNANTI E ALTI COMANDI MILITARI DI ISRAELE ALLA CORTE PENALE INTERNAZIONALE DELL’AJA I sottoscrittori del presente appello chiedono che i membri del Governo e gli alti comandi militari dello Stato di Israele vengano deferiti alla Corte Penale Internazionale dell’Aja per crimini contro l’umanità. I gruppi dirigenti di quel Paese si sono resi responsabili dell’imprigionamento per 18 mesi di un intero popolo, privato di cibo, acqua potabile, energia elettrica, medicinali, assistenza medica, possibilità di lavoro. I governanti israeliani, e i loro generali hanno poi scatenato una guerra areea, navale e terrestre contro uno tra i territori a più alta densità demografica: un’aggressione, che per le sue modalità e motivazioni, non ha precedenti in tutta la storia contemporanea. A oggi siamo a un migliaio di morti, di cui buona parte civili, donne, e soprattutto bambini… È un genocidio a cui gran parte del mondo assiste con una indifferenza che getta un’ombra di barbarie sul nostro avvenire. La critica legittima o l’ostilità nei confronti di Hamas viene utilizzata da governi e dirigenti come una cinica giustificazione degli assassinii di massa posti in essere da Israele, come un alibi per non intervenire, o per esprimere posizioni di falsa equidistanza. La comunità internazionale può intervenire in Jugoslavia, in Kossovo, in Afganistan, in Iraq, dovunque non si contrastino gli interessi degli USA. A Gaza no. Davanti all’azione di Israele, l’Occidente tace. Oggi, come ha taciuto in passato.Ma la politica discutibile o francamente sbagliata di Hamas (che tuttavia è legittimato a esercitare un potere in Palestina sulla base di libere elezioni certificate da osservatori indipendenti internazionali, e che dunque rimane un interlocutore ineludibile per affrontare la crisi in corso) non può giustificare in alcun modo i massacri. Israele da decenni si comporta come una potenza eslege, che viola le risoluzioni dell’ONU, che agisce in sprezzo della diplomazia internazionale, con l’appoggio sempre più incondizionato degli USA, e, sovente, il silenzio-assenso dell’Europa.Noi sappiamo di non avere il potere politico né giuridico di trascinare i capi politici e militari israeliani davanti al Tribunale Penale. In questi giorni abbiamo sperimentato sino all’angoscia l’inettitudine, l’indifferenza, la miseria morale del ceto politico europeo e mondiale; e la complicità attiva o passiva di troppi intelletuali. Ma noi vogliamo parlare agli spiriti liberi, all’intelligenza, all’umanità di milioni di persone che non trovano né udienza né rappresentanza nei partiti e nei Parlamenti. Attorno al nostro Appello intendiamo dar vita a una rete di voci che mostri l’opinione dei popoli del mondo tenuta nascosta da media asserviti e senza onore. Noi vogliamo tenere accesa una fiaccola di verità, che oggi isoli l’azione criminale di Israele, e domani possa portare la classe dirigente di quel Paese a rendere conto dei propri delitti.Raccogliamo migliaia e migliaia di firme! Traduciamo l’appello in tutte le lingue e facciamolo girare per il mondo! 12 gennaio 2008Piero Bevilacqua (Università di Roma, Sapienza), Angelo d’Orsi (Università di Torino), Romano Luperini (Università di Siena), Gianni Vattimo (già Università di Torino) Per adesione: appelli@historiamagistra.it
Keywords:
About Ugo
A widely published, and internationally known legal scholar, does interdisciplinary work with economics, anthropology and social studies. He is a frequent contributor to the Italian daily Newspaper Il manifesto where he writes on issues of globalization and...
Causes Ugo Mattei Supports
Peace, Liberation,Equality. I support the Italian Independent Newspaper Il Manifesto www.ilmanifesto.it...
One Pertinent Suggestion
Encourage Hamas to stop sending missiles into Israel.
Israel has turned, according
Israel has turned, according to reports from Human Rights Watch and most major news sources, to the use of White Phosphorus. Of course, this is not new. The Israeli military used it against Lebanon, and the US used it in Iraq, and it has a long history of being used in Vietnam, WW1, and so on... Israel originally denied they were using it, now they are not answering, but the reports coming off the ground and pictures of explosions seem pretty suggestive. There is no absolute ban on it, but it is heavy contested and widely acknowledged to be a serious threat to civilian populations, especially in dense areas. In fact, the US' own field manuals/textbooks for military conflict in whether or not it can be used. If the Israeli government is using white phosphorus, while this in no way should paint them any different from any other power that has used it over the years, it does undermine the argument from apologists for the Gaza attacks that Israel is solely bent on eradicating Hamas as efficiently and with as little civilian casualties as possible. I'd be interested to hear the arguments from apologists for the turn to these tactics. In my own mind, this is not a Jewish issue, or a Palestinian issue, or a Zionist/anti-Zionist issue - it is simply a human issue, about the way we want to wage war, and what we will allow ourselves to do to each other, and will we put any limits on our desires and fears or will we simply prove their is nowhere we will not go. I've pulled the info off of wikipedia on the damage that W.P. causes below for anyone interested. White phosphorus can cause injuries and death in three ways: by burning deep into tissue, by being inhaled as a smoke, and by being ingested. Extensive exposure in any way is fatal. Effects of exposure to WP weapons... Incandescent particles of WP cast off by a WP weapon's initial explosion can produce extensive, deep (second and third degree), burns. Phosphorus burns carry a greater risk of mortality than other forms of burns due to the absorption of phosphorus into the body through the burned area, resulting in liver, heart and kidney damage, and in some cases multi-organ failure.[26] These weapons are particularly dangerous to exposed people because white phosphorus continues to burn unless deprived of oxygen or until it is completely consumed. In some cases, burns are limited to areas of exposed skin because the smaller WP particles do not burn completely through personal clothing before being consumed. According to GlobalSecurity.org, quoted by The Guardian, "White phosphorus results in painful chemical burn injuries"[27] . Exposure and inhalation of smoke... Burning WP produces a hot, dense white smoke. Most forms of smoke are not hazardous in the kinds of concentrations produced by a battlefield smoke shell. Exposure to heavy smoke concentrations of any kind for an extended period (particularly if near the source of emission) does have the potential to cause illness or even death. WP smoke irritates the eyes and nose in moderate concentrations. With intense exposures, a very explosive cough may occur. However, no recorded casualties from the effects of WP smoke alone have occurred in combat operations and to date there are no confirmed deaths resulting from exposure to phosphorus smoke. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has set an acute inhalation Minimum Risk Level (MRL) for white phosphorus smoke of 0.02 mg/m³, the same as fuel oil fumes. By contrast, the chemical weapon mustard gas is 30 times more potent: 0.0007 mg/m³ [28]. Oral ingestion...The accepted lethal dose when white phosphorus is ingested orally is 1 mg per kg of body weight, although the ingestion of as little as 15 mg has resulted in death.[29] It may also cause liver, heart or kidney damage.[26] There are reports of individuals with a history of oral ingestion who have passed phosphorus-laden stool ("smoking stool syndrome")[29]
Meanwhile, back in the USA
As Gaza consumes our imagination, things are looking grim for the future in the US. Obama wants to eventually get rid of Guatanamo, but only once he puts a legal structure in place that will admit evidence obtained through torture / bush-style interrogation techniques, has just argued (against US' most recent intelligence reports) that Iran is racing towards nuclear weapons, and seems to be into thinking that a big part of economic stimulus will come through tax cuts, all while the Treasury tells us that lots more bailouts are going to be needed despite fact that banks aren't lending and financial giants like Citibank are set to make huge profits this year and give enormous bonuses and cutting wage-earner jobs, and the military is going to begin carrying out a much mroe visible domestic role in goverance... It is heartbreaking to watch a system so sick and degraded and not seeming to have the ability to reflect and begin to heal itself, despite all the hopes and opportunities that seemed to for a moment be open with the end of the Bush regime...
Professor Avi Shalaim addresses issue of rockets into Israel
Leading Israeli Scholar Avi Shlaim: Israel Committing “State Terror” in Gaza Attack, Preventing Peace
interview with Avi Shlaim on Democracy Now
". . .AMY GOODMAN: Professor Avi Shlaim, Israel says the reason it has attacked Gaza is because of the rocket fire, the rockets that Hamas is firing into southern Israel.
AVI SHLAIM: This is Israeli propaganda, and it is a pack of lies. The important thing to remember is that there was a ceasefire brokered by Egypt in July of last year, and that ceasefire succeeded. So, if Israel wanted to protect its citizens—and it had every right to protect its citizens—the way to go about it was not by launching this vicious military offensive, but by observing the ceasefire.
Now, let me give you some figures, which I think are the most crucial figures in understanding this conflict. Before the ceasefire came into effect in July of 2008, the monthly number of rockets fired—Kassam rockets, homemade Kassam rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip on Israeli settlements and towns in southern Israel was 179. In the first four months of the ceasefire, the number dropped dramatically to three rockets a month, almost zero. I would like to repeat these figures for the benefit of your listeners. Pre-ceasefire, 179 rockets were fired on Israel; post-ceasefire, three rockets a month. This is point number one, and it’s crucial.
And my figures are beyond dispute, because they come from the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. But after initiating this war, this particular table, neat table, which showed the success of the ceasefire, was withdrawn and replaced with another table of statistics, which is much more obscure and confusing. Israel—the Foreign Ministry withdrew these figures, because it didn’t suit the new story.
The new story said that Hamas broke the ceasefire. This is a lie. Hamas observed the ceasefire as best as it could and enforced it very effectively. The ceasefire was a stunning success for the first four months. It was broken not by Hamas, but by the IDF. It was broken by the IDF on the 4th of November, when it launched a raid into Gaza and killed six Hamas men.
And there is one other point that I would like to make about the ceasefire. Ever since the election of Hamas in January—I’m sorry, ever since Hamas captured power in Gaza in the summer of 2007, Israel had imposed a blockade of the Strip. Israel stopped food, fuel and medical supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip. One of the terms of the ceasefire was that Israel would lift the blockade of Gaza, yet Israel failed to lift the blockade, and that is one issue that is also overlooked or ignored by official Israeli spokesmen. So Israel was doubly guilty of sabotaging the ceasefire, A, by launching a military attack, and B, by maintaining its very cruel siege of the people of Gaza.. . "
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/14/leading_israeli_scholar_avi_shlaim...
(Avi Shlaim, a professor of international relations at Oxford University who served in the Israeli army in the mid-1960s. He is the author of numerous books, most notably The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. His latest book is Lion of Jordan: King Hussein’s Life in War and Peace. Avi Shlaim is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on the Arab-Israeli conflict.)
An economic boycott
we must organize a world wide economic boycott against Israel and Israel's largest supporter, the U.S.A.
Start by cutting your personal use of FUEL OIl. Work towards a 50% DECREASE THIS WEEK.
1. Walk, use public transport, car pool, half fill your tank with gas or simply top it off so every gasoline consumer is not filling up their tank every time they go to the gas pumps, run errands with a planned route,
and whatever other ways you can come up with
2.check to see if oil is the source of electricity for your home and office & if you have a tank of home fuel oil reduce your use at home and/or work. Turn down thermostat, dress warmly, insulate around windows and doors, turn off lights and appliances not in use! and other ways that you can.
3. Talk with friends and neighbors about cooperative efforts that can be made. Talk to organizations at universities to see if there is an interest.
4.Volunteer to town/city council or county/province seat to work on fuel reduction committee for town/city and neighborhoods.
etc.
5.Organize a teach in.
6.Write Letters to : newspapers, radio stations, tv stations, your government representatives, etc.
I'll put this list on my blog and add more as I think of them. Please let me know your ideas!!!