Antony Loewenstein

The following statement is released:

Egypt has announced that the Rafah border into Gaza will be closed over the coming weeks to the 1,300 international delegates attempting to march in solidarity with the people of occupied Palestine. A historic march will still take place on the anniversary of Israel’s horrific Cast Lead massacre that killed over 1,400 people one year ago. The powerful and diverse collaboration of international support must now choose its response to this horrific injustice. Will you stand waiting permission at the gates of Gaza? We say that you need not wait; if Egypt will not open their border, then the time for action is now. We encourage and support the escalation of non-violent direct action. It is up to you to take the next steps. It is no surprise that Egypt is not allowing the march to continue, so the natural progression towards a victory over this injustice is creative tactical escalation. If you cannot march on the roads then set up camp and sleep in them instead, fast in solidarity with the people who are dying of starvation, refuse to be stopped by their temporary boundaries. We can look to the lessons, the creativity, and the determination of our sister and brothers from historical resistance movements. We are the voice of the voiceless, the arms of those physically held captive, the eyes of those blinded by hate. There are those of us who resist because we have no choice, we resiist to live. And there are those of us who know that no one is free until we are all free, and we use our bodies and the privilege of out relative freedom to resist oppression in all its forms.

There is no time for words without action. Here in Bil’in, we will be demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza, and all those trying to enter. Do not stop at Rafah to break the siege of Gaza.

Thank you for you continued support,

Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice – Bilin

I’m currently travelling to the middle east.
Normal programming will resume shortly.

American Jewish magazine the Forward asks a number of prominent Jews to assess the decade’s news. Most contributors talk about the wonders of the Gaza war and related delights, but this entry is a notable exception:

After years of building slowly, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has gained real traction. The BDS conference at Hampshire College in November — which drew students from 40 campuses — marked a watershed in anti-occupation activism in the United States. BDS proponents — many of them Jewish — are picking up a time-honored, non-violent protest tool as they seek meaningful action against the 42-year-old occupation. Charges that these are “antisemitic” efforts to “delegitimize Israel” mischaracterize a multifaceted movement for human and civil rights. As BDS keeps growing, the Jewish community is going to have to grapple seriously with the issues this movement raises.

Alisa Solomon is an associate professor at Columbia University’s Journalism School and a contributing editor to WBAI’s weekly radio program “Beyond the Pale.”

Life in Gaza must go on:

Last Thursday marked the end of a one-week film festival in Gaza City. The Palestinian Film Forum, an independent Palestinian community organization, sponsored the event with 33 films produced in six Arab Gulf states. Ranging from documentaries to educational and short films, this is the first film festival in Gaza since Israel placed the territory under a tight blockade more than 30 months ago. Held at Gaza City’s al-Meshal Cultural Center, the films were attended by scores of Palestinians from across the tiny coastal territory.

Why Hedy Epstein, a Jewish, anti-Zionist survivor of Nazi Germany, is going on the Gaza Freedom March:

There are several reasons why I’m going. One of them is to let the people in Gaza know that there are people out there in the world who care about them, who are concerned about them, who are worried about them, unlike the governments of many countries, who seem to be asleep or at least not paying any attention to what is going on in Gaza.

“As long as Tehran can cast the issue as one of imperialists trying to deny their rights to nuclear technology, Iran gets the support of a significant swath of the developing world,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow for nonproliferation with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

Israeli peace group Gush Shalom published the following statement in Haaretz on 25 December:

A year after

“Cast Lead”:
Hamas in Gaza -

Stronger than before.
Gilad Shalit -

Not yet home.
Our standing in the world -

Deteriorated catastrophically.
The appalling Gaza blockade -

Going on.

No Qassams –

No IDF incursions.
And talk about

Cast Lead 2.

I recently visited Indonesia’s Aceh province, a devoutly Muslim territory.

What is the situation five years after the devastating tsunami?

Progress on the Gaza front and access via the Egyptian border:

Gaza Freedom March congratulates the Government of Egypt on its change of policy to allow international missions into Gaza during December with the decision to allow the Viva Palestina convoy to go into Gaza on December 27, 2009.

Organizers of Gaza Freedom March were told on December 20, 2009 by Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials that no international missions would be allowed to enter Gaza during December, including the Gaza Freedom March, because of serious security conditions at the border.

Today, December 23, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told Gaza Freedom March organizers said that the decision had been made to alter its policy because of the “humanitarian assistance” nature of Viva Palestina.

Since the Gaza Freedom March is also bringing in humanitarian assistance items valued at tens of thousands of dollars and the border is now considered safe, Gaza Freedom March will make a formal request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 24, that that Government of Egypt reconsider the request of the Gaza Freedom March for entry of its 1360 delegates from 42 countries into Gaza through the Rafah crossing on December 27.

Marchers and their friends have been flooding Egyptian embassies throughout the world with calls and emails. Embassies throughout Europe, the United States and Canada have told callers that they have been flooded with telephone calls from persons asking that the Gaza Freedom March be allowed into Gaza.

The kibbutz adapts to capitalism and re-defines the nature of a supposedly socialist Jewish state:

Niva Lanir writes in Haaretz that global patience over Israel is withering:

…The world has grown tired of us, and although it may be asleep, sometimes it kicks in its sleep. In the meantime, they should start checking how many and which Israeli companies are registered as suppliers of Marks & Spencer.

The (probably) illegitimate President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sits down with Britain’s Channel 4 reporter Jon Snow:

Snow’s description of his interview is interesting:

To make up for our long journey to find him the presidents aides had setup a grandiose setting for our interview. The gorgeous shrine of the great 14th Century Persian poet Hafeez.

A platform was built, flowers were arranged even chocolates and stuffed dates were on hand. There’s always the fear that the stuffed dates are going to get the better of you and lead to a soft soap encounter.

You don’t see Ahmadinejad in the first flash of his arrival at the shine. A phalanx of other men obliterate his presence and then there he is in his open neck shirt and jacket and he’s sitting in front of me.

He admits to some trouble. Dismisses any question of a nuclear deadline or threats of UN sanctions and whatever the trouble has been at home he seems oblivious of the rising discontent.

But he’s probably right in claiming that nothing very dramatic is going to happen at home at least in the immediate future.