Montrealers Denounce Israeli Apartheid

Boycott Israeli Apartheid Banner in Downtown Montreal [Photo: Ron Saba Montreal Planet Magazine]

On Saturday, December 16th, 2006 Palestinian solidarity activists gathered on St. Catherine street in downtown Montreal to draw attention to a 2005 appeal from over 170 Palestinian civil-society organizations to, "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights."

Distributing information to curious Montrealers strolling downtown Montreal, members of the International Solidarity Movement [ISM] and Tadamon! appealed to curious onlookers to support the Palestinian call to boycott Israel.

Click HERE to Download / Listen to the report from EI.

This audio report was produced by Stefan Christoff of Tadmaon! for broadcast on CKUT Radio, 90.3fm in Montreal & Internet distribution through Electronic Intifada.

No More Taking Sides

Once again I turn to a great radio show on NPR called Speaking of Faith. I heard the story of Robi Damelin who lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper and the story of Ali Abu Awwad who lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they've decided to understand the other side — Israeli and Palestinian — by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace. They don't want to be right; they want to be honest.

Listen to the show which runs about 53 minutes (.MP3 or Real Audio) and then feel free to comment.

I know that a re-United Palestine, secular and for all of it's people will not be easy, but it is something we NEED to do. It is the only way out of this mess...

Israel's High Court Legalizes Assassination

Yup, Israel...(the only democracy in the Middle East) has just legalized assassinations of it's political opponents...nice, eh? Already some 500 Palestinians have been "sentenced" since the year 2000...now, it's legal well at least according to Israel's High Court. I just wanna know what they've been smoking.

Of course this decision will help all of those Israeli military officers in defending themselves against a slew of war crimes lawsuits filed against them in foreign courts.

Read the story

They Were Just Kids

I cried for 5 minutes this morning when I saw the pictures.

The other day I read the story on Laila's blog...but couldn't get my mind around the atrocity of it until today when I visited Asad al Nimr's blog. I'm warning you that the pictures are a gruesome disfigurement of what should be three angelic children.

As some have speculated I fear that this was a "false flag" operation (see: Operation AJAX) meant to stimulate infighting amongst the Palestinian population.

Not only should Palestinians stand together, all peace loving human beings should stand together and condemn this atrocity and any to come.

Together - One People

Thanks for the picture Naughton321

Kofi Annan - Final Speech as UN Secretary General

Today, Kofi Annan has made his final speech as UN secretary general, calling on the US not to lose sight of its core principles in its fight on terror.

"No nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over others," Mr Annan said, urging the US to respect human rights in its "war on terror". Click here to read more...

"Israel needs a wake up call": An interview with Ilan Pappe

When I ordered my copy of "ONE COUNTRY" Amazon suggested a second book to order at the same time and I did called,"The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" by Ilan Pappe. The link below is to an interview with Ilan Pappe by a fellow blogger Christopher Brown. Please take a moment to read it as an addition to my post ONE COUNTRY.

"Israel needs a wake up call": An interview with Ilan Pappe

ONE COUNTRY

I truly believe that Palestine is meant to be an example to the world of 'unity': Unity of religion, language and a unity point of East/West culture and ideology. And I am glad to find out now that I'm not the only ONE.

I have just discovered the book ONE COUNTRY: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse by Ali Abunimah, a fellow Palestinian now living in the US who among many things is a cofounder and editor of the website Electronic Intifada.

About the Book
As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on with relatively new leadership on both sides, we are led to ask what has become a perennial yet only more urgent question -- will this conflict ever be resolved in a way that will finally bring peace to the region? This fall, Metropolitan Books published one of the most controversial approaches to a resolution. Noted expert on the topic and the son of Palestinians who fled the country in 1948, Ali Abunimah makes the radical argument that what is needed is one state shared by Palestinians and Israelis in his new book, ONE COUNTRY: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Metropolitan Books; November 2006).

Clear-eyed, sharply reasoned, and compassionate, ONE COUNTRY revives an old and neglected idea of sharing the country. Although living together might seem impossible, Abunimah shows how Israelis and Palestinians are by now so intertwined -- geographically and economically -- that no kind of separation can lead to the security Israelis need or the rights Palestinians must have. He reveals the bankruptcy of the two-state approach, takes on the objections and taboos that stand in the way of a binational solution, demonstrates that sharing the territory will bring benefits for all, and asserts that the country can remain a homeland for both Jews and Palestinians. The absence of any other workable option can only lead to ever-greater extremism; it is time, Abunimah suggests, for Palestinians and Israelis to imagine a different future and a different relationship.

More urgent than ever, ONE COUNTRY is a provocative approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and one that is certain to cause a stir on all sides.

I believe it takes great courage to end the current cycle of: fear > hatred > war > terrorism > fear > hatred > war ....etc. The only way to get off this track is to try something different...a FREE and re-United Palestine, a secular country for ALL.

Buy the book in Canada
Buy the book in the U.K.
Buy the book in the United States

In the beginning...

NOTE: I feel that my blog has gone too far into the political realm which was never my intention. As part of my effort to bring things back to my story of a Palestinian living in exile I give you this post and hope you will understand my sadness (and sometimes anger) over having to leave my ancestral home because of faulty politics, please consider this a new beginning.

Call me Abu-Issa. I was born in Jerusalem, Palestine in the mid-60's (vagueness for my protection). This is a picture of the hospital I was born into the world from. The Augusta Victoria Hospital which is on the Mount of Olives just East of the Old City. I like this picture because it shows the hospital in the winter with a light dusting of snow something which I have grown very accustomed to here in my new home, Montreal, Canada.

The Augusta Victoria Hospital was formally a German hospice.  Named after
the wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who visited Jerusalem in 1898 and
built the hospital for German Pilgrims. You can see the Judea Desert in the
background of this photo, behind the photographer would be a breathtaking
view of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem's visual centerpiece. Since 1950
the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) has been a project of the Lutheran World
Federation. It's main task has been to provide services for Palestinian
Refugees in cooperation with UNRWA, the United Nations agency that has
been responsible for the refugee-programs in the region since 1948. Today,
the hospital continues to develop services for the Palestinian community,
mostly on a charitable basis.

The sad truth is that I have never been back to this hospital, ever, not even
for the birth of my younger brother (there was an Israeli curfew in effect at
the time, which will be another story for another post). The work they  do
there is invaluable to the people of Palestine. (And please note that when
I say "the people of Palestine" I mean ALL the people of Palestine:
Muslims, Christians and Jews). You can support their work by contacting
them here:

Augusta Victoria Hospital
P.O. Box 19178
Jerusalem 91191

A Step Closer to Peace

It started with the overwhelming midterm win by the Democrats in Washington, then with the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, now John Bolton has decided to step down as US Ambassador to the United Nations. Not that he was ever actually the fully endorsed UN Ambassador.

The next big question is who will replace him? Another neo-con or how about a Muslim?? Now that would be fantastic wouldn't it, a Muslim representing the United States at the UN.

Well, it is a serious consideration. Zalmay Khalilzad, the current US Ambassador for Iraq is one of those being considered. The Afghan-born Mr. Khalilzad would be the first Muslim-American to hold the post and in my mind would certainly represent the new (changing) face of the U.S. to the world. Considering that Islam is not only the world's second largest religion, it also is the second largest in the U.S. and is growing at the fastest rate and that more than three-quarters of American Muslims were born there, Khalilzad would be the best choice. And I can just imagine what the Islamophobists like Michele Malkin would say..."they're taking over", "run for your lives!".

Seriously, it would certainly disarm the Jihadist argument against the United States, wouldn't it?

Read more here and then let me know what you would think of a Muslim representing "The West".