[GushShalom] Against the Iraq War / Against maltreatment of refusers / + more

Sun Feb 9 22:48:49 IST 2003

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     Gush Shalom
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International release
Feb 9, 2003

1) Sat Feb.15, 6.00 pm Tel-Aviv demonstration against the Iraq War
2) 'Once there were targeted killings' - Gush ad
3) 'War with a smell' - Uri Avnery
4) Wedn. Supreme Court answers joint appeal against Settler Promenade
5) Petition 'Free the Prisoners of Conscience'
6) New Friday vigil in front of the house of Finkelstein
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1) Sat Feb.15, 6.00 pm Tel-Aviv demonstration against the Iraq War

Gush Shalom together with other organizations calls for 
(day of the worldwide campaign against the war)

***No to the War Against Iraq! Yes to Living in Peace and Justice in the Middle East!***

The American attack against Iraq is getting closer, and all the peoples of the Middle East, including us - Israelis and Palestinians - are 
going to pay its price: death, destruction and more wars. And still, the Israeli public is indifferent towards it, and perceives it as a 
natural disaster which cannot be prevented. It is time to raise our voice against it, for the sake of all of us, for our future in the Middle 
East.
On Saturday, 15 February, dozens of demonstrations will be held in cities throughout the world, against a futile military attack for the 
sake of control over oil and other dubious aims.
Ta'ayush has invited all the movements, political parties and organizations to join a mass Arab-Jewish demonstration on that same 
day. Let's express our opposition to the world's sheriff, who seeks to inflame the middle east. Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and 
Israelis, let's express our demand to live here together, in peace and justice.

On February 15th we will hold a demonstration in Tel Aviv, from 18:00. 
More details will follow soon - please reserve the day!

2) 'Once there were targeted killings' - Gush ad

Gush statement of the week
published on the website and in Ha'aretz Hebrew, Friday edition (Feb. 07, 2003)

òáøéú áàúø / For Hebrew
www.gush-shalom.org

Once there were
Targeted killings.
Now there are
Killings everywhere.

Once they demolished
A house here, a house there.
Now they demolish
Houses everywhere.

Sharon & Co. 
Do not serve Israel.
They serve 
The settlers.

They babble about peace,
They prattle about security,
They want transfer.

Gush Shalom,
Help us with donations to
P.O.Box 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033,

3) War with a smell - Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery's latest column

òáøéú áàúø / Hebrew
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/article231_heb.html

Uri Avnery
8.2.03

 		The Smell of War

     This is not a war about terrorism.
     This is not a war about weapons of mass destruction.
     This is not a war about democracy in Iraq.
     This is a war about something else.

     As for terrorism: Saddam Hussein is a cruel dictator, but the idea that he might be connected with Osama bin Laden is ridiculous. 
Sadam heads the Iraqi section of al-Baath, a very secular party. Bin Laden is an Islamic Fundamentalist, and al-Kaida aims at the 
destruction of all secular regimes in our region. The official who invented this particular lie is either an ignoramus or a cynic who 
believes that one can fool all the people at least some of the time.
      As for weapons of mass destruction: the USA supported Saddam when he used deadly poison gas against the Iranians (and their 
Kurdish allies in Iraq). At the time, America was interested in stopping the Iranians. Today there are chemical and biological weapons 
in most of the countries of this region, including Egypt, Syria and Israel, and one of them has nuclear arms.
     As for democracy: Americans don't give a damn. Some of their best friends in the Islamic world are dictators, some more, some 
less cruel then Saddam. As the old American adage goes: "He is a son-of-a-bitch, but he is our son-of-a-bitch."
     If so, what is the war about?
     In one word: oil.
     There is a strong smell of oil in the air. Without smelling it, one cannot understand what is going on. But once one grasps what it is 
all about, the actions of Bush & Co., while cynical and hypocritical, are utterly logical.
     These, then, are the American war aims:
     # To take over the immense oil reserves of Iraq, among the world's biggest.
     #To ensure American control of the nearby huge Caspian Sea oil reserves 
     # To reinforce indirect American control of the oil in all the Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran.
     Control of most of the worlds oil reserves will free the Americans, at long last, from the whims of the oil market. Their hand, and 
theirs alone, will be on the tab. They, and they alone, will fix the prices of oil all over the world. If they will want prices to rise, they will 
rise. If they will want them to go down, they will go down. With one single movement of the hand, they will be able to deal a crushing 
blow to the economies of Germany, France and Japan. No country in the world will be able to stand up to them in any matter. No 
wonder that Germany and France oppose the war. It is directed against them. 
     It follows that the Americans do not intend to enter Iraq, establish democracy and leave. The very idea is ridiculous.
     The US enters Iraq in order to stay there, for years and decades. Its physical presence in the Arab and Muslim world will create a 
new geo-political reality.
     Of course, this is not the first time that a great empire uses its military power to promote its economic dominance. History is full of 
examples. Indeed, one could say that all of history is an example. But there has never been a super-power like the US, with no rival 
left, using its immense military might in order to ensure its domination of the world economy for generations to come. 
     From this point of view, the coming war on Iraq – a "small" war, militarily – will have historic significance.  
     For sure, Bush will try to set up some native Iraqi government, in order to disguise and lend some legitimacy to the American 
occupation. There are any number of volunteers, ready to serve as Quislings. Then again, Bush may prefer some new Saddam 
Hussein, a dictator appointed by them.
    But war is war. War usually starts with a well-prepared plan, but even the "best" plan, backed by the mightiest military power, can 
go awry. The Arab masses may rise against their American-supported, corrupt, lackadaisical governments. The Turks may perpetrate 
a massacre in the north of Iraq in order to break the Kurds once and for all, and no one can know how this will end. The holy places of 
the Shiites in the south of Iraq, next to Iran, may cause trouble.
     How will this affect Israel? Or, to use the old phrase: "Is it good for the Jews?"
      The relations between Bush and Sharon are almost symbiotic. In Sharon's view, the massive presence of the US in our region 
strengthens Israel and will enable him to implement his hidden agenda.
     But, as one says in Hebrew, "the fat tail of the sheep has a thorn in it". The permanent occupation of Iraq turns the US into a kind 
of "Arab" power, with a vital interest in the stability and tranquility of the region. It will want to prevent by all means chaos in the Arab 
countries – before, during and after the war.
     Sharon and his generals are, on the contrary, interested in as much chaos as possible, in order to use it to "transfer" millions of 
Palestinians to the other side of the Jordan. There is a definite conflict of interest between Bush as Sharon.
     Sharon, an extremist but prudent person, knows that he must not under any circumstances infuriate Bush. He will act cautiously. 
He has lots and lots of patience and lots and lots of stubbornness. He will try to obtain from Bush permission to transfer (at least 
some) Palestinians, to murder of Arafat ("If Sadam, why not Arafat?) and to break the Palestinian people.
      Bush, on the other hand, will want Israel to stay quiet, very quiet. At thee time, he may use the Israel threat in order to ensure that 
the Arabs, too, will stay quiet, very quiet. He will threaten the Arab rulers, who are mortally afraid of an uprising of their peoples, that if 
they do not behave, he will let Sharon off the leash. 
     Is all this good for Israel? From the economic, social and security points of view, the answer is negative. We are entering an era of 
adventurism, with the adventurer No. 1 at the helm of our state. The earth will shake in our region, and nobody can foresee the dangers 
approaching us. Only one thing is certain: this will not bring peace.
     I do not belong to those who can speak about war with equanimity. I have seen war, I know its face. I see the thousands who will 
be killed, the tens of thousands that will be wounded and maimed, the hundreds of thousands that will become refugees, the ruined 
families, the sea of tears and human suffering. 
     I join the millions all over the world the say NO.

4) Wedn. Supreme Court answers joint appeal against Settler Promenade

Yesh Gvul took the initiative, and Gush Shalom is among the sponsors, to appeal to the Supreme Court over the government plan to 
create an Arab-free 'Settler promenade' connecting the Kiryat Arba settlement with the settler enclaves inside Hebron. Now you are 
asked to attend the High Court hearing which will be this Wednesday (Feb. 12),  at 8:00 AM.

5) Petition 'Free the Prisoners of Conscience'
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	ybronner at post.tau.ac.il (Yigal Bronner)
Subject:        	Free the Prisoners of Conscience!

Dear friends and supporters of the conscientious objectors,

The abuse of the conscientious objectors continues. The Israeli military
is sentencing them to repetitive prison terms, with no end in sight.
We must step up the campaign to release these courageous prisoners
of conscience.

Below is a short petition we plan to publish in Israeli press soon.
Please read and sign by sending a message to conscienceobjector at yahoo.com

Mention your name, first and then last in the subject of the message.
In the message ad title and institutional affiliation, if applicable.

Please spread the petition widely. We need as many signatories as possible.

Please note: The success of this campaign depends to a large extent on the
funds we gather to support it. Placing an ad in a leading daily is very
expensive.
PLEASE, in addition to signing, contribute towards covering the cost
($10, $25, $50, $100, $200... $1,000).

[Information how to contribute follows the petition.]

Free the Prisoners of Conscience!

The State of Israel has been consistently abusing a group of young men who
have refused to be conscripted on grounds of conscience. While religion
continues to be a reason for exempting young men from army or national
service, conscientious objection is considered a serious crime. Despite the
fact that these objectors have announced their willingness to serve the
state through some kind of civil service, the military, led by Menachem
Finkelshtein the head military prosecutor, is punishing these young men
again and again for the same "offence."

It seems that there is no limit to the abuse: eleven young men have been
sitting in jail for terms that just keep getting longer, and there is no
end in sight. Finkelshtein wants to try them over and over again, until
they break or give in. As far as he is concerned, these men can rot in jail
forever. Finkelshtein has also created a committee of "experts" whose job
it is to determine that not one of the young men is a "true" conscientious
objector; every single one, the committee proclaimed, is lying and thus
deserves to sit in jail.

These prisoners of conscience refuse to serve in an army that
systematically violates the human rights of the Palestinian people. Yoni
Ben-Artzi, the most veteran prisoner, has sat in jail for almost 200 days.
By contrast, the soldier who killed a 95-year-old Palestinian woman was
sentenced to 35 days in prison.

Names of the prisoners days in jail

Yoni Ben-Artzi 196 days Dror Boymel 166 days Uri Ya'acobi 134 days
Haggai Matar 112 days Yoni Yekhezkel 111 days Matan Kaminer 84 days
Hillel Goral 70 days Noam Bahat 70 days Adam Maor 70 days
Shimri Tzameret 38 days Avshalom Ben-Zvi 21 days

We, the undersigned, demand an end to this abuse and the immediate release
of these prisoners of conscience.

[To sign email to:conscienceobjector at yahoo.com]

To contribute, please pay online or send a check.

Contribute Online:
To make a credit card contribution to support the prisoners of conscience,
go to www.refusersolidarity.net and click on the DonateNow button
on the left hand side of the screen. Under Allocation, select "Shministim
Petition".

Fill out the form and the donation will be used to pay for the ad and petition
in support of the objectors.

Contribute by Check outside Israel:
You can also write a check made out to "Refuser Solidarity Network",
write "Shministim" in the memo line, and mail it to:

RSN
PMB 206
2859 Central St
Evanston, IL 60201

Contribute by Check in Israel:
You can also write a check made out to "Yesh Gvul" and mail to:
Bronner
POBox 8384
Jerusalem 91083

6) New Friday vigil in front of the house of Finkelstein

At the initiative of The Refusers' Parents Forum; all supporters of the refusniks invited.
Contact: Anat <matar at post.tau.ac.il>, Smadar <snehab at netvision.net.il>

In support of the occupation resisters! 
In protest against the repeated imprisonment of draft resisters!

We will hold a weekly vigil near the military attorney general's home. 

We'll make it clear to Menachem Finkelstein that these repeated sentences are unacceptable!

We'll tell him that conscientious objectors are not devoid of human rights!

Every Firday, starting next Friday, 14 February, at 2:30 pm, we will remind the military attorney general the number of 
days these refuseniks have spent in military prisons. 

Address:  12 Halevi St., Petach Tikva. 
Meeting point for car-owners, and those who need a ride: Arlozorov Railway Station (terminal El-Al)  at 2.00 pm

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Protest repeated and unlimited imprisonment of draft resisters at: http://www.petitiononline.com/091202/
---
The film 'Jenin Jenin' with Hebrew subtitles can be purchased from Yael Lerer.

To get a copy, send a check for NIS 100. and mail it to:

Andalus
P.O. Box 53036
Tel Aviv 61530

For English undertitling contact: 
info at arabfilm.com / www.arabfilm.com
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On our site:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)

\\photo's - of action or otherwise informative 
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English 
\\the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
\\and an archive full of interesting documents

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Articles and documents in French
Articles and documents in Spanish

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 President Bush has agreed that war should be the very last resort.  Let's hold him and his administration to those words, by signing:

    	http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/
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