GPJA NEWSLETTER #269, January 8, 2009

MOBILISATION AGAINST ISRAELI MASSACRE IN GAZA.

12 noon Aotea Square, Saturday 10th January for a march to US consulate.

• Bring old shoes for yourself and others.

• Spread the word among family, friends and workmates

• Posters/leaflets are available from Unite Union office, 6A Western Springs Road, Morningside.

• Street stalls. If you have time to help over the next few days on a street stall call Derwin Ph 3786304 derwin_thomas[at]hotmail.com

GIVE TALKBACK RADIO A CALL

Advertise march and give key facts to counter Zionist spin. Mention the GPJA website. RADIO LIVE 0800 723 465; ZB TALKBACK 0800801080; RADIO WATEA WED NIGHT 8-11PM 09 2570603

BOYCOTT ISRAELI GOODS AOTEAROA

The Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign Aotearoa

EMAIL DISCUSSION ON THE BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN

FROM SHAHAR’S FATHER

Hi Johan, Please allow me a few personal words. What is going on in Gaza is very sad, we hate every moment of it, having said this please remember that for 8 years the Hamas is bombing Innocent civilians in the south of Israel, we tryed talking, fighting and at the end even left the Gaza strip one sided, nothing helped, so the Israeli government had to go and do what it had to do in order to stop the bobbing and killing of Innocent civilians in the south of Israel, any govrnment would have done the same to protect its people.

Non of us like war, all we want is to live and let live, but with Hamas (who the Palestinians elected as there government) and other terrorist organizations it does not work some times.

Hope this make some sense to you.

On a personal note, dragging Shahar in to this makes no sense, but if this is your way I respect it, one note, please remember you are facing a 21 year old girl who came to your country to play sports, for hundreds of years sports has been a way to promote peace and understanding between people, she has respect to your people country and culture, but she is on her own in a remote location and I hope you will treat her accordingly.

Thanks, Dovik Peer, Shahar Peer's father

REPLY FROM JOHN MINTO, GPJA

Kia ora Dovik, Thanks for the note and for taking the time to write.

What is going on in Gaza is an outrage. We see the source of the problem being not home-made rockets fired by Hamas but the reign of terror suffered by Palestinians over the past 60 years after being driven out of their homes and off their land. They are now under military occupation on the West Bank and suffering a massacre in Gaza. I agree with the 10,000 Israelis who marched in the last few days calling for "Stop the killing - Stop the seige - End the occupation"

I appreciate you don't want war but for Israel to continue its de-facto apartheid policies towards Palestinians in Israeli and the occupied territories is a recipe for war. The old saying "no peace without justice" is as true now as ever.

We are not holding a candle for Hamas or its policies. I think its election to power was an act of desperation from a desperate people whom the world had abandoned.

The protest is not directed at Shahar personally but is part of an international call to boycott Israel till it abandons its policies of discrimination. Just as a consensus developed that this was the best way to bring outside pressure for change in South Africa so that consensus has now developed that this non-violent force for change must be brought to bear on Israel.

Shahar has a high profile in Israel and she could make a positive difference were she to speak out alongside the 10,000 Israelis who marched in recent days.

Regards, John Minto

FROM YAEL

I have received these newsletters for some time. I am passionate about global justice. I want to protest against Israel’s disproportionate and horrendous response to the ongoing aggression from an Islamist minority in Palestine. But by bullying and intimidating an Israeli tennis player in New Zealand seems in microscale reflective of what has long been going on between Israel and Palestine. Unfortunately, what you despise most in the ‘enemy’ is what will be present in your own actions here. Your protest will be effective in making her a victim of your own agitation for power over travesty. Leave her alone and take the protest to the true representatives of the government. I won’t be part of this particular action.

Yael

REPLY FROM MIKE TREEN, GPJA

Hi Yael, The decision to support the international call to boycott Israel completely was not an easy one. We are aware of the impact of such boycotts on individuals – academics, sportspeople, businesses – some of who may oppose the policies of their government.

It grows out of a recognition that six decades after the establishment of the state of Israel the right of return of the refuges guaranteed by the United nations has not been achieved.

It is recognition that 4 decades after the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza they remain imprisoned territories without self-determination.

The Israeli state completely controls all movement into and out of these territories as well as movement within them. It assassinates whoever it decides is guilty. It imprisons thousands without trial. Two generations of Palestinian have grown up in these conditions. Israel refuses to give up control. It continues to build settlements on the West Bank. It is building a so-called separation wall imprisoning Palestinians and preventing movement. Settlers have their own roads. Water and electricity is controlled for their benefit.

Even inside Israel the discrimination against Palestinian citizens is flagrant. Spending on Jewish Israeli education per head is six times that for Palestinian Israeli’s.

This reality, in Israel and the greater Israel incorporating the occupied territories and Gaza, is what makes the Israeli state an apartheid state. That was not true in 1948. It wasn’t true in 1967. But it is true today.

All adult Jewish Israeli citizens serve in the military and directly or indirectly take responsibility for ensuring that this occupation continues.

The body politic has moved progressively to the right and the official discourse in the state of Israel is now whether its own Palestinian citizens should be encouraged to leave. "I will also be able to approach the Palestinian residents of Israel, those whom we call Israeli Arabs, and tell them, 'Your national solution lies elsewhere,'" says the so-called moderate Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.

There is no solution available within an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue alone. The relationship of forces is simply too disproportionate. Most importantly Israel has had an effective international impunity. This has allowed it to defy the UN resolutions to allow the refugees to return and withdraw from the occupied territories.

That impunity has to end with the people of the world saying we will isolate everything to do with Israel until there is not one soldier or settler forcibly occupying Palestinian land and the refugees have the right to return.

For New Zealand that means not welcoming sportspeople. It means Auckland University ending its partnership ties with Technion, an Israeli University. It means stopping Rakon from sending components used in all Israeli smart bombs. It means getting the NZ Super fund to stop investing in Israeli companies. It means cancelling Veolia’s train contract until it stops building train networks from Israel to illegal settlements.

It is a sad a regrettable fact that we have come to this position. Many people will be hurt. But nothing that happens to the official or unofficial representatives of the apartheid state can compare to the imprisonment and destruction of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state.

Mike

ANNOUNCEMENTS

2009 NATIONAL PEACE WORKSHOPS

The 2009 National Peace Workshops, the national gathering for people interested in peace, social justice and human rights, will be at the Quaker Settlement in Whanganui in mid or late March - the date is currently being finalised, and will be available soon. The theme of the 2009 NPW is 'Promoting peace through active non-violent resistance' and the main focus will be participatory discussion with Maori, Pacific and Pakeha contributors who have experience of community and individual non-violent resistance, and/or non-violent direct action in Aotearoa and overseas. Preliminary information about the National Peace Workshops, including the programme outline, venue and accommodation options, is available at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/npw09.htm

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