Antony Loewenstein

We should never forget that the Palestinian Diaspora remains in limbo across the Middle East, desperate to find normality in any land, long denied by Israel and the Arab states.

Jordan is a key example.

The latest weekly edition of Gaza Gateway, the invaluable source of news about the Gaza Strip (written in Israel):

The closure of the Gaza Strip is tight enough to make life difficult for residents, but fences and checkpoints don’t prevent viruses from passing through, as became apparent earlier this month. Despite predictions that the closure of Gaza might protect it from exposure to the Swine Flu, the virus was identified in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, and already some 185 people have been diagnosed as infected, 13 of whom have died.

Not only has the closure of Gaza failed to protect it from the virus, but the restrictions on the passage of equipment and fuel are making it difficult to contain the virus’s spread.

During the military operation last winter, 15 hospitals and 34 medical institutions were damaged, and their repair has not been possible due to Israel’s refusal to allow building materials into the Gaza Strip. While Israel boasts of permitting increased quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza, it continues to restrict the entrance of medical supplies, claiming security risks. Thus, Israel is making it difficult to send batteries needed for the UPS systems that protect sensitive hospital equipment during the frequent power outages and is limiting the supply of additional medical supplies, such as X-ray equipment.

The Swine Flu, however, known for its tendency to breach borders, is not treated like other illnesses, and Israel has allowed 6,000 vaccinations purchased by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah into Gaza. The vaccinations are destined for Gaza residents who participated in the pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj) and for the medical professionals treating patients diagnosed with the virus. It is estimated that more than 400,000 vaccinations are needed for people in high risk groups.

Allowing vaccinations through to Gaza residents is surely a nice public relations photo opportunity, but preventing the outbreak of an epidemic requires appropriate sanitary conditions and infrastructure, too. Frequent and extended blackouts (8 hours a day, 4 days a week), due to Israel’s refusal to allow the transfer of the required amount of industrial diesel to the Gaza power station, interfere with the proper functioning of local hospitals. Hospitals rely on back-up generators during the power outages, but limitations on their power production interferes with the heating and ventilation systems that are vital for maintaining proper air-pressure.  Likewise, the ongoing shortage of gas limits the ability to run hospital washing machines needed for basic hygiene. This past week, only 34% of the gas needed by Gaza residents was supplied (518 tons out of the 1,500 tons needed per week).

Amira Hass in Haaretz on Israel’s fear of non-violent resistance to the occupation:

There is an internal document that has not been leaked, or perhaps has not even been written, but all the forces are acting according to its inspiration: the Shin Bet, Israel Defense Forces, Border Police, police, and civil and military judges. They have found the true enemy who refuses to whither away: The popular struggle against the occupation.

Over the past few months, the efforts to suppress the struggle have increased. The target: Palestinians and Jewish Israelis unwilling to give up their right to resist reign of demographic separation and Jewish supremacy. The means: Dispersing demonstrations with live ammunition, late-night army raids and mass arrests. Since the beginning of the year, 29 Palestinians have been wounded by IDF snipers while demonstrating against the separation fence. The snipers fired expanding bullets, despite an explicit 2001 order from the Military Adjutant General not to use such ammunition to break up demonstrations. After soldiers killed A’kel Srour in June, the shooting stopped, but then resumed in November.

Since June, dozens of demonstrators have been arrested in a series of nighttime military raids. Most are from Na’alin and Bil’in, whose land has been stolen by the fence, and some are from the Nablus area, which is stricken by settlers’ abuse. Military judges have handed down short prison terms for incitement, throwing stones and endangering security. One union activist from Nablus was sent to administrative detention – imprisonment without a trial – while another activist is still being interrogated.

Back in July, I visited the occupied city of Bethlehem and spent time at the world-renowned university there.

Now, Br Peter Bray,Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University (and from New Zealand), has sent out an end of year missive outlining the reality of life in an occupied city. It may have a holy history, but in 2009 life for Palestinians there is still controlled by the Israeli army:

Greetings as we move towards the celebration of Christmas in this holy place.

I greet you after being here just over a year. I find it difficult to believe that the time has passed so quickly. I have said to many people when I reflect back that I have been so involved in such a different life that I have never been bored at any stage of this past year.

I consider myself to be so blessed to have the opportunity to be here and engaged with these wonderful young people. They are so inspiring and have such a zest for life in the midst of the restrictions and challenges they face on a daily basis.
In a recent interview I was asked how what we are doing here at Bethlehem University connects with what St De La Salle did in France some three hundred years ago. My response was that De La Salle was committed to work for the young people of his day to give them a sense of hope and a purpose in their lives. I see a close connection in what we are doing here. One of the key elements of what we are doing is being a beacon of hope for these young people who in so many ways find the oppression and restrictions disempowering them. To stand in solidarity with them and walk with them is a great demonstration that we have hope and faith in them.
Because of the restrictions and oppression of this occupation it is so easy for these people to drift into a position of thinking they are forgotten and abandoned. That is why it is so important for us to stand together with them and show that they are not abandoned or forgotten. I think being here and encouraging others to come and visit us, shows these young people that there are people who care about them and are willing to tell their story.

There have been numerous occasions when I have walked with students who have felt overwhelmed by their conditions and yet come back to Bethlehem University because it gives them life and hope. Students know that when they step onto campus that they are safe and cared for. Thus we are creating an oasis of peace for them which so many of them treasure because so much of their life lacks that.
The journey through this year has brought me to a much deeper understanding of myself because I have had to confront so many of my own limitations and prejudices and find ways to be here in a culture which is so different to what I have been used to. It has been a humbling experience but has also led me to be very conscious of the comment De La Salle made at the end of his life when reflecting on his life’s work: “Lord, the work is yours!” I have become so aware how I might do the planting or watering, but it is God who gives the increase.

I have been so fortunate to be in the brothers’ community here at Bethlehem University. There is a Palestinian brother here and me from New Zealand. The other seven brothers are all from various places in the United States. There is an extraordinary spirit in the community and I find it a great support and a source of life and companionship. I am having a hard time trying to educate them and they are still writing funny and leaving letters out of words, but I will keep trying!

In the time I have been here the political situation has worsened significantly. I sense the noose is tightening around the neck of the Palestinian people and the restrictions are become more intense. Just recently the father of a former Executive Vice President died and people who had worked for many years with the Vice President wanted to go to the funeral to show their respect for him. However, the funeral was in East Jerusalem, some seven or so kilometres away, and they could not get a permit to go. For so many of them Bethlehem has become a prison out of which they can rarely move. Some have not been into Jerusalem for several years.

I was at a meeting recently where eight of us from various Palestinian Universities met with the deputy Secretary of State of the USA, the person immediately below Hilary Clinton. One of our biggest needs is to get qualified faculty, particularly getting people with doctorates to come through the wall. His response was to urge us to find ways to collaborate with Israeli Universities to improve what we do. The Palestinian National Authority has a boycott of Israeli Universities in place because the whole issue of academic freedom is a myth when Palestinian faculty cannot travel to work with others in their field. Al Quds University admitted that for fifteen years they had rejected the call and tired to work with Israeli Universities. However, after fifteen years they had come to the conclusion it was a big mistake because of the way they have been abused and taken advantage of while being restricted in all sorts of ways that disadvantaged them. They have now joined the boycott and are speaking strongly about the need for the occupation to end and for Palestinian Universities to have the freedom to be Universities!

It has been a real eye-opener for me and when I challenged the deputy about the injustice of the system that is imposed on us he had no answer but encouraged us to work within the restrictions. My call was not to find ways to live with the restrictions but to remove them! I’m loosing faith in the Obama promise as I see the Israeli government playing with the USA and thumbing its nose at the rest of the world.

I don’t know how closely you have followed the case of the Bethlehem University students Berlanty Azzam, a 21 year old girl from Gaza who was at Bethlehem University from 2005 after getting permission to cross Israel in 2005 into the West Bank. She decided to stay and has studied at Bethlehem University for almost four years. She was within weeks of graduating when she was stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint in Palestinian. There she was detained, blindfolded, handcuffed and deported back to Gaza. We worked with a group of human rights lawyers in Israeli (Gisha) to take the Military to court in an effort to bring Berlanty back to Bethlehem so she could finish her study. In spite of international pressure which has amazed us, the Israeli military were not prepared to give an inch and the High Court refused her permission to return. It is amazingly unjust when both the military and the High Court acknowledge that she is not a security risk. I was at the court hearing and had the chance to talk at some length with her about her treatment by the Israeli military. She had permission to be out of Gaza from 9.00am until 8.00pm to attend the hearing. When the decision was handed down I spoke to her by phone and she was very disappointed but amazingly resilient. She was determined that this set-back was not going to destroy her future. I so admired her spirit and the extraordinary way she responded to the restrictions on her. It is being involved with such young people that is truly inspiring.
Br Jack has attempted to keep people aware of the issue and asked for support for Berlanty. There has been an overwhelming response from all parts of the globe. I am particularly pleased with the responses of people from around the world who have written to members of Parliament, to the Israeli embassy, to Israeli ministers etc protesting the injustice of how Berlanty has been treated. Thank you if you have taken up Berlanty’s cause and helped put pressure on the Israeli military. If you have not been aware of her case there is a section of Bethlehem University website devoted to the material where you could catch up on what has happened. (www.bethlehem.edu)
I have told a number of people that last weekend I really felt like a Palestinian! On two occasions I was refused entry through a checkpoint. The young soldiers refused to accept my documents to allow me to pass. Despite trying to argue with them about the validity of what I had they would not let me pass. In the end they had the guns! On both occasions I had to find another way around but it made me very aware of what the Palestinians endure constantly.
During my wanderings this year a number of people expressed a desire to support Bethlehem University financially. I am very grateful to all those people who have contributed to help Bethlehem University. We are faced with significant financial difficulties and any support is greatly appreciated. I am very conscious of the fragile nature of the finances at Bethlehem University and have never worked in an organization where 69% of the operating budget comes from fund raising! So thank you for your ongoing support.

During the course of this year I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of people who have been particularly supportive of what we are doing at Bethlehem University. I have attached some photographs which may be of interest. We had Rosalyn Carter here earlier in the year and I walked with her along part of the Abraham Path which we, along with several other groups, are involved in developing. She is an amazing person. I hope to get her and her husband (Jimmy, I think his name is!) back to Bethlehem University when they are across for one of their frequent visits to the area.

I also had the chance, when I was in Ireland, to have some time with the President of Ireland, Dr Mary McAleese, another remarkable woman. She has offered to come to Bethlehem University when she visits the area. When she finishes as President in two years time she and her husband are going to do voluntary work in various parts of the world. What she committed herself to do was to come to Bethlehem University and spend some time here working with faculty, staff and students. She is a lawyer and very keen on finding ways for people to be empowered and find resolution to issues that divide. It will be wonderful when she can bring her expertise and her standing to Bethlehem University.
You may also recognise the man in white! He was also very supportive and made special mention of Bethlehem University during his visit to this area.

It is really special to celebrate Christmas in this place where the whole Christian era all began. I still have to pinch myself to realise that I am here where Mary and Joseph walked these hills and where Jesus was born. We are preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ here at Bethlehem University. We have a special celebration of midnight mass with the Papal Nuncio leading the celebration. He is our chancellor and is wonderfully supportive of what we are doing. That is followed by a reception for all who come along. Last year after it was all over and the place had been cleaned and set right, about 3.30am on Christmas morning, one of the other brothers and I walked down to the grotto in the Church of the Nativity. I still have amazing memories of being down there in the grotto on Christmas morning and taking in what we were celebrating. If all goes well I will do the same again this Christmas.

Be assured that as we celebrate Christmas in this holy place that I will remember in a special way all of the people who support Bethlehem University in all sorts of special ways, through prayer, standing in solidarity with us and then financially. We are deeply grateful for whatever way you can find to support us. We step out in faith and believe that God is guiding us in what we are doing for these wonderful young people.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
With special Christmas blessings
Br Peter Bray

The invaluabe Global Voices website – highlighting the work of bloggers across the globe – is turning five.

Here’s why it’s become so essential in our understanding of the non-Western world.

Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, a Jew and participant with his family of the Gaza Freedom March:

I want to break the blockade, I want to see the damage done by the weapons from my tax dollars, and I want it understood: Israel does not kill in my name. I want to follow words with action, and that’s why me and my family are going to Gaza

The Viva Palestina movement into Gaza has been busy this year.

Now, it’s returning:

British Member of Parliament George Galloway has leveled strong criticism at Arabs over their inaction and failure to play a role in organizing aid convoys to the besieged Gaza Strip.

“It is a shame that this convoy [Lifeline 3] is coming from Europe and not from the Arab countries,” Galloway told reporters upon his arrival at Damascus International Airport.

He said that Lifeline 3 charity convoy is a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip on the first anniversary of the Israeli onslaught against the coastal sliver.

Gideon Levy in Haaretz on the Jewish state’s uncanny ability to cause terrorism:

It is not difficult to understand the agonizing decision facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers. It would be very hard to accept a negative decision on their part. Gilad Shalit must be freed at any cost, all the more so because the actual cost is lower than the one bandied about by those who oppose the release.

We’re dealing with the release of hundreds of Palestinians, about one-tenth of the Palestinians in prison. Some of them are political prisoners for all intents and purposes; some are women and youths.

The most murderous of them have, for the most part, already served long sentences. The overwhelming majority of them will not return to terrorist activity; rather they will want to spend the remainder of their life in freedom.

Yes, there will be more and more terrorists in the future, with or without the hundreds of released prisoners, if the occupation and abuse of the Palestinian people continues. This is the real infrastructure of terror, and it does not depend on those who will be released in the deal.

One generation of Palestinians after another will fight in its own way for its liberty and breed more and more terrorists. The only really effective way to reduce terror, if not to prevent it altogether, is to stop its operating engine – the occupation.

Glenn Beck’s year of wild conspiracies, paranoid delusions and cynical lies.

A reader writes:

I noticed all the hate mail you receive on your website. One of the funniest allegations was that you’re paid by Arabs to spread propaganda [ed: for the record, I have never received any money from Arab governments or organisations]. Do any of these extremists realise that millions of (documented and undocumented) lobby dollars fill the pockets of politicians, journalists and media personalities? Do any of them provide evidence put out by respected unbiased organisations that contradict what you say? I think it’s the case of the upset mafia wife when her husband gets taken away by the cops. She knows he’s in the mafia but she turns a blind eye and when the shit hits the fan she can’t beleive it.

I’m sure the people of Palestine are devastated at this news:

The Palestinian Authority canceled the Miss Palestine beauty pageant.

The PA said it postponed the Dec. 26 event in Ramallah indefinitely because it coincides with the anniversary of the start of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, the Palestinian Ma’an News Service reported Monday.

The announcement earlier this month of the pageant, sponsored by the Trip Fashion Company, drew the ire of Hamas and other fundamentalist Islamic organizations.

Some 58 Palestinian women from the West Bank and inside Israel were to compete by modeling four dresses—but not swimsuits, in deference to Muslim sensibilities. Some of the judges were to come from the Palestinian Authority’s information and culture ministries.

The contest was not affiliated with any international pageants.

Perhaps the PA would like to focus on more important things, like, er, democratic elections.

Aside from the Gaza Freedom March, another group of internationals are aiming to enter Gaza before the end of the year. Northern Ireland’s Londonberry Sentinel reports:

A group of Londonderry men are set to join thousands of humanitarian activists in Palestine this New Year for a huge protest against the treatment of the people of Gaza by Israel.

Jonathan Crockett, Danny Doyle, Eddie McBride, Derek McChrystal and Eanna O’Donaghaile are on the final leg of an epic trans-European journey as part of a convoy of 150 vehicles carrying 500 people from all over the world to help relieve what they describe as “the harsh siege placed on Gaza by the Israeli government.”

The Londonderry contingent now travel to Egypt via the Arab countries of Syria and Jordan where they will deliver an ambulance full of medical supplies to the people of Gaza.

Their arrival shortly after Christmas will coincide with the Gaza Freedom March – a protest to mark the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians – killed by Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip one year ago.

The protest is being backed by many well-known international figures including the Respect MP and one-time Celebrity Big Brother contestant George Galloway who the local men met on thier travels.

Participants in the protest will include Pullitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, leading US legal advocate Michael Ratner.
High profile critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza – Gore Vidal, Noam Chomsky, John Pilger and Naomi Klein – are all backing the event.

In a letter to the Londonderry Sentinel dispatched upon their departure from Istanbul the local participants stated: “Do we seriously believe that our show of solidarity and the deliverance of medical/educational aid will dramatically change the situation in Gaza? We can only wish for this.

“In reality, the most 150 vehicles carrying 500 people from all corners of the world can do is alleviate the harsh siege placed on Gaza by the Israeli government, demonstrate to Palestinians that people from as far away from Derry and Malaysia actively support them, and finally, clench a strong fist of resistance to the Israelis to remind them that what they have done and continue to do is wholly inacceptable in any one’s books; and that the tide of justice will inevitably catch them.”

They added: “So, now as we pull in the end a long day of travelling, we are all glad to get a rest before heading for the Syrian border tomorrow.

“If all goes well, we will be allowed into the Gaza strip on the 27th December and we will be able to complete what we started in Derry so long ago.

“As we sluggishly drive into the outskirts of the Istanbul after a long day, what lifts me most is not the sight of a new city, but the amazing sight of hundreds of people at 4am on a Thursday morning waving Palestinian flags at us.”

In the New Statesmen Jewish Australian journalist Antony Loewenstein wrote: “Visiting Gaza in July, I found a devastated territory unable to breath or rest until its people are allowed to live normal lives in freedom.

“I was haunted by the comments of Nafez Abu Shaban, the head of the burns unit at al-Shifa Hospital, who told me Israel’s use of white phosphorous ‘was not a war; it was a holocaust.’”

Mr Loewenstein has written for The Washington Post, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and Israeli paper Haaretz.