Socialist Project | E-Bulletin No. 219
19 May 2009

Rafeef Ziadah

Enormous resources have been marshaled by conservative and Zionist organizations in an attempt to silence criticism of the Canadian government’s unwavering support for Israel. The first few months of 2009 have seen a concerted campaign to shut down Palestine advocacy in Canada. Such examples include:

1. cutting funding to the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) due to the organization’s outspoken criticism of the government during the war in Gaza;
2. banning posters for the annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) in several Ontario university campuses; and
3. a smear campaign against the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) for daring to discuss the issue of an academic boycott of Israel.

This is not an exhaustive list. The Canadian government also banned George Galloway, who was scheduled to speak about his trip to Gaza, in the same period. Artist Reena Katz was recently “disassociated” from the Koffler Centre of the Arts in Toronto, which was exhibiting her artistic work. Koffler “disassociated” with Katz for her activities with Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW): her exhibit was on the Toronto Jewish Community, not related to Palestine at all.

Palestine advocates have always had to live with harassment, false accusations, and smears. All these vastly intensified after the latest Israeli assault against the captive people of Gaza that left over 1400 people dead, including 430 children, and thousands of homes and public infrastructure destroyed in an already devastated and besieged area. This direct response to a growing international solidarity movement in support of Palestinian human rights is an attempt to demonize the movement and curtail its ability to do public organizing and campaigning.

This article answers the false accusations made against Palestine advocates, documents three cases of harassment and violation of free expression (CAF, IAW, and CUPE), and argues that free expression for Palestine advocates is an issue that should be taken up by all who are concerned about free expression.

[Read the article]

May 18, 2009
Press Release

The Concluding Observations of the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) that were published on Friday, 15 May 2009, are highly critical of Israel. One of the principal subjects of concern noted by the Committee is that not even one criminal investigation has been initiated based on more than 600 complaints of torture and ill treatment submitted against General Security Service (GSS) interrogators since 2001.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) submitted alternative reports to the Committee and briefed its members during their meeting with NGOs. PCATI wishes to emphasize that the Concluding Observations reflect the harsh reality and the allegations made in the numerous complaints of torture which regularly reach our office. PCATI calls on the State of Israel to adopt the Committee’s recommendations and, first and foremost, legislate a law that explicitly outlaws torture, places investigations of torture complaints under an independent and impartial body and brings to justice all those who violate the absolute prohibition of torture, a basic principle of international law.

CAT Concluding Observations on Israel:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/cobs/CAT.C.ISR.CO.4.pdf

Reports submitted to CAT by PCATI:
http://www.stoptorture.org.il/he/node/1415

For additional details and for interviews please contact:

Yoav Loeff, PCATI Spokesperson
Tel: 972-54-3368434
yoav@stoptorture.org.il

H/T

Related:
COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE CONCLUDES FORTY-SECOND SESSION

– Trafalgar Square, London – 16th May 2009 / hat tip

For Israeli national and Anarchists Against the Wall activist Ronnie Barkan, 32, joining the nonviolent Palestinian struggle against the occupation is the obvious choice of humanity over nationalism. He describes his experiences of peaceful demonstrations that have turned ugly, and how Israelis and Palestinians are standing side by side to fight oppression

theguardianweekly
Friday May 15th 2009

A lot of my friends tell me it’s dangerous to come to the West Bank, and that the vast majority of Israelis are brainwashed and think all Palestinians are terrorists. I keep responding that it is dangerous because there are Israeli soldiers here. When I cross over into the West Bank – and sometimes I come here on my scooter, so I’m totally exposed – the only people I’m afraid of are the Israeli soldiers, who are armed and dangerous. Very dangerous actually.

My friends don’t believe me when I say this, but when such a horrible incident like 31-year-old Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma’s death here in Bil’in [on 17 April], or when my good American friend Tristan Anderson was critically injured; when you show them video footage of all this, some still try to deny it and come up with all kinds of excuses, but some people are genuinely shocked by what they see.

[Read the article]

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April 2009, pages 13, 15
Special Report
By Delinda C. Hanley

AS SOON as Israeli authorities granted a Gaza entry permit to Bill Corcoran, president and CEO of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), he was on the next plane out. When he returned to Washington, DC, still stunned by the devastation he had seen in Gaza, Corcoran spoke at an informal lunch co-hosted by Foundation for Middle East Peace and the Middle East Institute on Feb. 23.

Corcoran entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing. As he drove into what was once a middle-class residential neighborhood of Beit Hanoun, he recalled, “I was looking at the aftermath of a tsunami. Two-story homes that you or I would have lived in comfortably were totally demolished. Their former occupants are living in tents in their rubble, with no water, sewage or electricity.”

[Read the report]

Related:
Erin Cunningham: Gaza families down to a meal a day