Uri Avnery on the assassination of Sheikh Yassin / 22.3.04 Avnery: "It is Worse than a Crime, it is Stupid!" "This is worse than a crime, it is an act of stupidity!" commented Gush Shalom activist Uri Avnery on the assassination of Sheikh Admed Yassin. "This is the beginning of a new chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It moves the conflict from the level of a solvable national conflict to the level of religious conflict, which by its very nature is insoluble. "The fate of the State of Israel is now in the hands of group of persons whose outlook is primitive and whose perceptions are retarded. They are incapable of understanding the mental, emotional and political dimensions of the conflict. This is a group of bankrupt political and military leaders who have failed in all their actions. They try to cover up their failures by a catastrophic escalation. "This act will not only endanger the personal security of every Israeli, both in the country and around the world, but also the existential security of the State of Israel. It has grievously hurt the chances of putting and end to the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Muslim conflicts." Avnery mentioned that in the early 1980s the occupation authorities encouraged the founders of Hamas, hoping that they would create a counter-weight to Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Even after the start of the first intifada, the army and the security services gave preferential treatment of Hamas. Sheikh Yassin was arrested only a year after the outbreak. "There seems to be no limit to the stupidity of our political and military leaders. They endanger the future of the State of Israel."

22/03/04
Hundreds of peace activists took part in a spontaneous demonstration against the assassination
of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, which was held opposite the Ministry of Defense in Tel-Aviv,
a few hours after the event.
The demonstration was called by Peace Now, and Gush Shalom activists participated
together with members of other organizations.
The demonstrators shouted in Hebrew "Sharon resign - we don't want you anymore!"
Posters said:
"The assassination of Yassin - a gift to Hamas", "Sharon: you are playing with our lives",
"Sharon liquidates the security of Israel", "It won't end if we don't refuse",
"Sharon has no solution - enough of the occupation, negotiations now", "Sharon: from Kibia to The Hague".
(Kibia is a Palestinian village were an army unit under the command of Sharon perpetrated a massacre in 1953.)

Uri Avnery 27.03.04 Three Generals, One Martyr Five hundred black- and white-bearded Hamas members were sitting opposite me. Venerable sheikhs and young people. On the side, some rows were occupied by women. I was standing on the stage, talking in Hebrew, with the crossed flags of Israel and Palestine on my lapel. As I have recounted already several times, it happened like this: at the end of 1992, the new Prime Minister, Yitzhaq Rabin, expelled 415 Islamic activists - mostly Hamas members - to the Lebanese border area. In protest, we put up tents opposite the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. There we spent 45 days and nights - Israeli peace activists (who were later to found Gush Shalom) and Arab citizens of Israel, mostly members of the Islamic movement. Most of the time it was very cold, and some days our tents were covered with snow. There was a lot of debate in the tents, the Jews learning something about Islam and the Muslims something about Judaism. The expelled militants themselves vegetated for a year in the hilly landscape, between the Israeli and Lebanese armies. The whole world followed their suffering. After a year they were allowed back, and the Hamas leaders in Gaza organized a homecoming reception for them in the biggest hall in town. They invited those Israelis who had protested against the expulsion. I was asked to make a speech. I spoke about peace, and in the intermission we were invited to have lunch with the hosts. I was impressed by the friendly attitude of the hundreds of people who were there. Undoubtedly, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and the spokesman of the expellees, Dr. Abd-al-Aziz al-Rantissi (who became Sheikh Yassin's successor last week) would have been present, too, if they had not been kept in prison. I recount this experience in order to point out that the picture of Hamas as an inveterate enemy of all peace and compromise is not accurate. Of course, 10 years of bloodshed, suicide bombings and targeted assassinations have passed since then. But even now, the picture is much more complex than meets the eye. There are different tendencies in Hamas. The ideological hard core does indeed refuse any peace or compromise with Israel. They consider it a foreign implantation in Palestine, which in Islamic doctrine is a Muslim "wakf" (religious grant). But many Hamas sympathizers do not treat the organization as an ideological center but rather as an instrument for fighting Israel in pursuit of realistic objectives. Read the full article Read more articles and documents

3 years ago it was known as "Barak's Generous offers". Today its name is "The Separation Wall" The plan remains the same: Grabbing maximum land, while driving the Palestinians out. The same people who swallowed whole-heartedly the lie: "Barak offered the Palestinians everything, but they preferred war" are now eating the second serving: "The fence is not political. It is a security measure."

The Israeli government claims
the Separation Wall is "Just about security.
Is this really the case?
What political agendas are served by the Separation Wall?
Click for facts about these security claims.

All you want to know about the Separation Wall

Refusers Parents' Forum

"Slouching towards hell"
By Ahmed Bouzid
President of Palestine Media Watch
YellowTimes.org Guest Columnist
(YellowTimes.org) – Imagine if someone had submitted to the Los Angeles Times
a well-crafted op-ed that rationally and calmly argued the following:
if only the Arabs of 1948 had united more tightly,
had planned more carefully,
and had done a better job enrolling strategic and powerful allies to their cause,
Israel as a Jewish state would never have seen the light of day,
and we would have never had to endure one of the most thorny and tragic problems in modern history<-
the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Imagine if such an op-ed had been submitted to the opinion editors
at the Los Angeles Times.
Do you think the Los Angeles Times would have published such a piece?
And if by some freak accident it had published it,
how long do you think the opinion editor who made the decision
to publish would have survived in his or her job?
Read the full article

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IDF soldier
Do not commit war crimes!
War crimes will haunt you all your life, anywhere on Earth.
There is no statute of limitation for war crimes:

Download, print and distribute:
The soldiers pocket guide on war crimes. (Hebrew only)

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A diary of Palestinian people under occupation,
letters and reports of ISM activists
who are here to help and witness.

Last updated at 15/04/03

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Know When To Say No:Refusal in Jewish HeritageKnow When To Say No: Refusal in Jewish Heritage By Shamai Leibowitz, Attorney-At-Law

The full, in depth testimony of Haggai Matar.
The testimony is a grave accusation against the Israeli occupation.
The court martial trial of draft resisters Haggai Matar, Matan Kaminer, Shimri Tzameret,
Adam Maor and Noam Bahat will resume next Monday, 14th July.
These five young men refuse to enlist since they regard the service in the IDF as opposed to their conscience.

add Refusnik Watch to your site

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The first absolutely sincere Israeli eye-witness testimony on what actually happened in Jenin. an interview with one of those who did it and are proud of it. It was published in Yediot Aharonot, Israel's most widely circulated tabloid paper, on May 31, 2002. Apart from the shocking revelations, this is also a startling human document. After publication - and in spite of it - the unit to which the man belongs received an official citation for outstanding service from the army command. Read the Full interview

Join the Caterpillar campaign The purpose of this campaign, is to stop the sales of Caterpillar heavy bulldozers to the Israeli army. These bulldozers are used by the Israeli army for wide scale demolition of Palestinian homes.

A Flash Presentation of Barak's "Generous Offers". This will help you know the facts and thereby break the Myth download (right click on the link and choose save target as...) and distribute. Barak's "Generous Offers"

The full report of Human Rights Watch on Jenin Elaborate reports, articles and pictures, describing damage and vandalism by the Israeli army, to civil institutes throughout the West-bank. See for yourself if this is a "war against terror", or something completely different. Recent updates: 25/04/02 - Rammallah 26/04/02 - Educational TV 27/04/02 - Al-Naser TV studios, Ramallah 28/04/02 - many pictures of vandalism in various Ramallah offices We are interested in more material, especially photos. Please send any relevant material to webmaster "Hell Made in Israel" - The continued diary of Kawther Salam - Describing the impossible daily life of a Palestinian, a Woman, a reporter under brutal Israeli occupation. Last Update - 27/07/02 Pictures of graffiti of threats and hate. Contact Kawther Kawther's Appeal to the Democratic countries An example of a Jewish response to Kawther's story. Kawther was finally allowed to leave Israel on Monday, July 29, she crossed the Alenby Bridge to Jordan. This is the continuing diary of Kawther salam in Europe: "The Daily Life of Kawther Salam"