More allies in the struggle against Zionisim!

The tide is definately turning...watch the lunatic Zionists call these people self-hating, anti-semites...

As Jews around the world observe the Jewish New Year, a new Jewish group honors the holiday by denouncing Israel and Zionism. The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) launches this week, with a month of actions and events in over eight countries and the release of its founding charter.

This growing network of Jews, with local network affiliates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Israel, India, Morocco, Mexico and Argentina, was formed to join the struggle for justice in Palestine and the Middle East and challenge the Zionist censorship of Palestinian and other resistance to Zionism. IJAN seeks to rekindle a long Jewish tradition of participation in struggles for liberation and against exploitation and oppression.

"We intend to contribute to a growing international voice that challenges Zionism and its claim to speak on behalf of Jews worldwide; Israel and the Zionist ideology upon which it was built does not speak for us, nor does it reflect our vision of a just and safe world," says IJAN organizer Sara Kershnar. "The movement against Zionist apartheid must be as uncompromising as was the movement against South African apartheid. Anti-Zionism is part not only of the movement against racism but also the movement against war. We are convinced that we speak to a great unexpressed, in fact censored sentiment of support for this perspective, including among Jewish people."

More here and here

"Tribe"

From the guy who brought you "Traitor" and "T-head" here is "Tribe". The most interesting part of this whole thing is where they discuss how Jews in the US have began to question the Zionist project for Israel. I think we're doing our jobs, keep up the critical discussions and campaigns and lets stay away from the emotional cheer leading we see at certain college campuses.

Bottom Line: The Issue is Zionism!

I have no idea why some pro-Palestine activists and intellectuals (including some I greatly respect, like Prof. Norman Finkelstein and Prof. Noam Chomsky) continue to advocate for the two-state solution in Palestine. Actually, I think I know why. I think they see the one-state arrangement as an idealistic solution which will never happen, so one might as well support a feasible resolution, even if it's not perfect. Right? Wrong!

Jonathan Cook's recent article makes some great points on this issue.

Excerpts below:

I want instead to address Neumann’s central argument: that it is at least possible to imagine a consensus emerging behind two states, whereas Israelis will never accept a single state. That argument, the rallying cry of most two-staters, paints the one-state crowd as inveterate dreamers and time-wasters.

The idea, Neumann writes, “that Israel would concede a single state is laughable. … There is no chance at all [Israelis] will accept a single state that gives the Palestinians anything remotely like their rights.”

According to Neumann, unlike the one-state solution, the means to realizing two states are within our grasp: the removal of the half a million Jewish settlers living in the occupied Palestinian territories. Then, he writes, “a two-state solution will, indeed, leave Palestinians with a sovereign state, because that’s what a two-state solution means. It doesn’t mean one state and another non-state, and no Palestinian proponent of a two-state solution will settle for less than sovereignty.”

There is something surprisingly naive about his arguing that, just because something is called a two-state solution, it will necessarily result in two sovereign states. What are the mimimum requirements for a state to qualify as sovereign, and who decides?

True, the various two-state solutions proposed by Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and George Bush, and supported by most of the international community, would fail according to Neumann’s criterion because they were not premised on the removal of all the settlers.

But an alternative two-state solution requiring Israel’s withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders might still not concede, for example, a Palestinian army -- equipped and trained by Iran? -- to guard the borders of the West Bank and Gaza. Would that count? And how likely does Neumann think it that Israel and the US would grant that kind of sovereignty to a Palestine state?

...

Still, do these arguments against the “practicality” of Neumann’s genuine two-state arrangement win the day for the one-state solution? Would Israel’s leaders not put up an equally vicious fight to protect their ethnic privileges by preventing, as they are doing now, the emergence of a single state?

Yes, they would and they will. But that misses my point. As long as Israel is an ethnic state, it will be forced to deepen the occupation and intensify its ethnic cleansing policies to prevent the emergence of genuine Palestinian political influence -- for the reasons I cite above and for many others I don’t. In truth, both a one-state and a genuine two-state arrangement are impossible given Israel’s determination to remain a Jewish state.

The obstacle to a solution, then, is not about dividing the land but about Zionism itself, the ideology of ethnic supremacism that is the current orthodoxy in Israel. As long as Israel is a Zionist state, its leaders will allow neither one state nor two real states.

Full article here

Do Something!

Do Yesi and I have your attention now?

Can you please put your hookah down, stop reading about Brittany Spears, take a break from the Wii, prick your bubbles (Orange County, Santa Clara, etc.) AND do something!

Do anything.

I have a strong feeling NONE OF US (including myself) are doing EVERYTHING we CAN for our brothers and sisters (in faith but more so in humanity) in Gaza.

You don't know where to start? You're not sure how YOU can make a difference?

Donate (Every dollar matters)

Islamic Relief - $10 million emergency appeal for humanitarian crisis
Al-Awda - You will need to specify that your donation is intended specifically for Gaza

Send a Letter to Your Elected Officials

Jewish Voice for Peace - They've even got a form letter available for you!

Sign a Petition

Avaaz - Help them obtain 150,000 signatures ASAP

Take it to the Streets

ANSWER - Protests planned in 10 cities, including Orange County and San Francisco, thus far!

Say a Prayer

Yes, it's the least you can do. It should be done in conjunction with any/all of the above. Say a prayer for the residents of Gaza as well as all other victims of oppression in Apartheid Israel and elsewhere.

This is much too easy. Do something!

UCI Exonerated of "Anti-Semitism" Label

So your kids can go to UCI and feel safe that the label of "America's Most Anti-Semitic Campus" is not applicable- here at MSNBC and OC Register has a copy of the OCR letter issued today.

There was a email circulating with the letter of the report from OCR stating that simply, the University has done a great job at maintaining an environment welcoming to all. That they have done what they could faced with incidents that were negative and wrong.

Whats more is that this has shown that the MSU at UCI has been exonerated and is within its right to free speech.

This leads one to wonder what the "hell Zionist Organization of America" wanted out of this whole thing. They referred callers to their East coast office which was closed today- no wonder- the report makes them look like fools yelling fire in a crowded theater.

Basically the Zionist Organization of America is a trying to paint a picture of something that just isn't- that UCI is a breeding haven for antisemitism- and if this tactic worked, it would force the University to shut down events aimed at the policies and practices of Israel and criticism of Zionism, because of the "Jewish" association of the two topics. Hence, college activism against Israel and Zionism would come to a complete full stop- which is what the ZOA ultimately wants.

Now, thats what the ZOA wants, what about Chuck Devore? The Irvine Assembly member- who is probably a nutcase in his own way, but seriously he is the elected official for Irvine, they couldnt elect some one who was half decent and at most neutral, next thing you know Devore will be coming out and saying- "there's to many Moslem's in Irvine"- many of the UCI Muslims are from Irvine, Chuck, I dont think they will be contributing to your campaign or voting for you when they are doctors, rich engineers, business owners etc.

Dedicated to All Students Fighting For Justice

This week, many universities will see their Muslim Student Associations, Arab Student Unions, Students for Justice and Peace, International Solidarity Associations, etc. hosting events dedicated to exposing the injustices that are occurring on a daily basis to Palestinians and Arab Israelis at the hands of a theo-democracy aided and supported unconditionally by the United States government.

There will be lectures by intellectuals from all different ethnic and religious backgrounds speaking out for justice, for fairness, for equality, for humanity.

There will be supporters from all different groups, religious and non-religious, who believe that all people, no matter what their faith tradition, ethnic background, political preferences, or physical features, should be treated as humans. They will urge their classmates to listen to the message of tolerance, equality, and respect.

There will also be protestors – Zionists who believe that the “Holy Land” is the birthright of the Jewish population and that Israel, as a nation, has a right, not only to exist, but to expel non-Jews, namely Muslim and Christian Palestinians from their homes and establish settlements that have been deemed by the international legal community to be illegal.

These protestors don’t see Palestinians as human beings, with families, birthdays, soccer balls, toys, goals, aspirations, first loves, favorite ice cream flavors, glowing smiles, memories, family photos, keepsakes, role models, corner markets, tea cups and saucers, music and dancing, shining eyes.

They dehumanize the Palestinians, take away their dignity and their dreams, take away their history and their future, take away their education and their careers and their families and turn them into animals, unfeeling, spiteful, hateful, barbaric, vicious, as if every Palestinian who has ever walked the face of the earth is a slobbering, rabid dog, destined to attack, feared, loathed, spat upon, abandoned and left to wander and die.

This is the way with all supporters of injustice. They are all the same, no matter who they are persecuting. This is not just unique to the Palestinians. The Native Americans were savages, as were the Africans. The Asians were mysterious and sly, conspiring and not to be trusted. The Italians, the Irish, the Eastern Europeans, the Russians, the Aboriginees, the Hispanics. They have ALL been dehumanized.

The Jewish population has also been stripped of their humanity in the past. After the Holocaust, however, the Jewish population made sure that they would not fall prey to oppression ever again. They remind us in magazine advertisements, in lobbyist groups, in the creation of the Anti-Defamation League, in Holocaust Remembrance Day. They remind us of their humanity, of their daily suffering at the hands of brutal oppressors.

They remind us that the world sat by idle while they were stripped of their livelihoods, their families, birthdays, soccer balls.... In an attempt to recapture some of that humanity , members of the Jewish community around the world read the names of those who lost their lives in the Holocaust, to give their life a voice, a heartbeat, a soul.

However, their slogan, “Never Again” cannot be monopolized by the Jewish population. “NEVER AGAIN” is for us all. I pray to God that the Jewish people of this world never experience the oppression and deadly scourge of hate that they dealt with prior to and during World War II. I pray that they never experience ANY oppression or injustice at all. But they also can’t dish it out on anyone else. At all. Ever. Especially since they know what it’s like.

This week is not just about Palestinians. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about humanity. It’s about every human being given the chance to allow his heart to sing and his soul to take flight and his mind to extend past the bounds of imagination. It’s about supporting the idea that NO ONE should be able to take ANYONE’S humanity away from them, ever.

To all the students and organizations sponsoring this week’s events, I dedicate my prayers to you. You are the lights in the darkness, the beacons of hope for the future, the strength in this time of global weakness and temerity. Stand firm and never waver.

To all those who come out to show your support for justice and humanity in Palestine, I applaud you for being bold enough to stand up for what is right in a world that blurs the lines and allows hypocrisy to plague the landscape of our world and policies.

To all those who come out in protest of these events, I quote our current President, “Bring it on!” Every time you protest events that seek only justice, equality, and the freedom to live without fear, torture, terrorism, and dehumanizing policies, you show your true colors – the blackness of your soul.

Keep protesting, keep dehumanizing, keep supporting injustice – it only makes our job that much easier. To quote Eminem (wow, I’m on a role), “I’m glad cuz they feed me the fuel that I need for the fire to burn, and it’s burnin’” and we will continue to return until justice reigns supreme for all and humanity is a staple for every person on the face of the earth.

A Democratic Israel- an oxymoron?

"Why then does the U.S. government continue to fully support a country whose very identity and institutions are based on ethnic and religious discrimination that victimize its own citizens?"

That is an amazing question. I can not even begin to explain why we in the United States continue to support a country that has broken more UN resolutions then Saddam, or why we in the West continue to believe the lie that Israel is the only Democracy in the Middle East- if elections make a nation democratic then by all means we have more democracies in the Middle East then we readily admit to- but unfortunately democracy is not just about having elections. It is about freedoms and rights that are protected, it is about institutions and civil structures.

For those of you who do not know, Israel is a Jewish state, and any who are not Jewish are second class citizens. If we in the West continue to feed into the this idea and support a state that is not truly in line with Democratic principles then we are fooling ourselves and setting up for a catastrophe of great magnitude.

We can not champion democracy in the Middle East- ARAB NATIONS- and continue to hold Israel as a exemption. If Israel is to be truly considered a liberal democratic society then it needs to be held to higher standards then we currently hold it as. We can not lower the bar for this nation or any other. Israel has to be criticized and brought into line with all liberal democracies. No more special treatment.

Get rid of the Pharaoh in Egypt along with the Prince of Israel.

Read more about the second class status of non-Jews in Israel.