Fr. Ben Urmston
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2007

Christians and Muslims Invited to Work for World Peace

In his first encyclical God is Love, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that Mary, the mother of Jesus, "is a woman who loves." Mary brought the love of God to her cousin Elizabeth and to John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb. Mary recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and tells her Son. At the Cross Mary stays with her Son. After the Resurrection as they wait for the Holy Spirit Mary prays with the apostles.Mary is our mother today and brings us God's love and reconciliation. "Teach us to know and love God so that we too can become capable of true love and be fountains of living water in the midst of a thirsting world." Pope Benedict XVI tells us that the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that "anyone who needs me, and whom I can help is my neighbor. Despite being extended to all humankind, neighbor is not reduced to a generic, abstract and undemanding expression of love, but calls for my own practical commitment here and now." Recently the Cincinnati Catholic Telegraph recounted how Julie Hagerty, a former student of mine here at Xavier, went across the ocean and across faith boundaries to connect with Muslims in Kosovo.

Recently Muslim scholars of the world wrote an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other Catholic leaders emphasizing how central love of God and love of our neighbor is to each of our faiths. The scholars invited Catholic and Muslims who together are more than half the world's population to work together for peace. (See www.acommonword.com) Christian scholars responded with Loving God and Neighbor Together (www.yale.edu/faith) "When anyone or anything besides God commands our ultimate allegiance-a ruler, a nation, economic progress, or anything else-we end up serving idols and inevitably get mired in deep and deadly conflicts."

In my own prayer I make acts of love to the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit and am conscious of their love of me. I make acts of love to Mary who can bring all of us together despite our different faiths, cultures, and philosophies. I also make acts of love to my fellow religious, my family and friends in this life and the next, those who oppose or disagree with me. Such acts of love take the edge off any differences I experience.

Fr. Joe Mulligan with the Michigan Peace Team on the West Bank

December Report #1: Understanding Annapolis

Recent news reports about Israel and Palestine told of protests in Gaza and the West Bank against the Annapolis conference. The reports we have seen left the impression that West Bank demonstrations were minor. Here, on the ground, they appeared significant. The demonstrations, nonviolent in nature, resulted in many casualties at the hands of Fatah-affiliated security forces, tragically including the death of 37-year-old Hisham Barad'I in Hebron. Ghassan Bannoura, our close friend here, a news reporter with the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC), was kidnapped by these security forces, held for four hours, and beaten. The kidnappers threatened to kill Ghassan if he took any pictures of the demonstration. While detained, he received injuries to his arm, leg, and back. Hundreds more journalists and nonviolent demonstrators were attacked and detained by these forces at similar demonstrations across the West Bank.[1][1]

Why would Fatah, supposedly the representatives of the Palestinian people, forbid nonviolent demonstrations, and then beat up its own people for holding them? Perhaps they do not want the world to see that the majority of Palestinians want fundamental human rights granted by international law, and do not agree that Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has the authority to negotiate them away. Unfortunately, those negotiating at Annapolis do not appear to feel it is necessary to use international law, or even the basic human rights such law protects, as a starting point from which to reach the final agreement.

A joint open letter to negotiating parties at the Annapolis conference by a number of Palestinian civil society organizations addresses the practical impact that international law should have on the outcome of the peace talks.[2][2] The letter outlines some of the major issues that Palestinians feel are not, and can never be, up for negotiation: "The fundamental rights of the Palestinian people are matters of binding international law, not political bargaining chips. Their implementation must not be left to Israel's beneficence, but rather established as the foundation of any just and durable solution to the conflict."[3][3]

If the negotiating parties do not treat these issues as the fundamental human rights guaranteed under international law that they are, the leaders at Annapolis will fail to promote the peace of which they speak.

In 1988, the Palestine National Congress voted to annul sections of the Palestine National Covenant that deny Israel's right to exist. Israel objected that the written constitution of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) still called for the destruction of Israel. Palestinians pointed out that the PNC vote involved a major concession on their side-they relinquished any claim to sovereignty over 78% of Palestinian land, including areas conquered by Israel in 1948 that the UN had allotted to the Palestinian state. In return, they asked Israel to recognize that Palestinians had an equal right to a state and a normal life with self-determination and justice. More recently, Hamas has rejected the PNC vote, leading some Israelis to question whether a Hamas government would make peace with Israel. Others point out that, since winning Palestinian elections, Hamas has become more pragmatic.[4][4]

According to a recent survey of Palestinians conducted by Dr. Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, two-thirds to three-fourths of Palestinians will support a two-state solution, but only if the three core components, all supported by international law, are met:

  1. "that the borders of a future Palestinian state would be based on the 1967 lines with a one-to-one land swap where negotiated"[5][5] [presuming minor land swaps of equal value. Note that this condition implies the removal of most or all of the Jewish settlements.][6][6]
  2. "A Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem with sovereignty over the holy places"
  3. "A solution for the refugees based on UN General Assembly Resolution 194." [7][7]

Unfortunately, because of the reality of life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), there is little hope that Israel will be willing to comply with international law on any of the above three components. Some of this reality we will attempt to summarize below:

First, on Borders, Settlements, and the Wall: Since 1967, Israel has occupied the Palestinian Territories. Throughout the forty years of the occupation, Israel has established 207 settlements, all of them illegal according to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its civilian population into occupied territory. These settlements are currently home to over 470,000 settlers, and control over 57% of the West Bank, including essential agricultural and water resources.[8][8]

In 2002, Israel began construction of what it has referred to as a "separation" or "security" barrier - a 25-foot high concrete wall that annexes 12.8% of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The wall incorporates 69 settlements, effectively joining them to Israel. The wall, together with Israeli-occupied military zones along the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, will eventually encircle all of the West Bank.[9][9]

More than 1/3 of the settlements in the OPT are built on privately-owned Palestinian land, and thus in flagrant violation even of Israeli law;[10][10] all are in violation of Geneva conventions. In a July 2004 decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the annexation wall which Israel was building, because of its route inside the 1949 Armistice Line (the Green Line), was illegal, and should be dismantled immediately.[11][11] Today, its construction still continues.

Because of the above evidence, and because George Bush sent a letter to then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in April 2004 accepting the major settlement blocs Israel has established around Jerusalem, Palestinians are doubtful that the negotiators at Annapolis will comply with international law regarding the wall and the settlements. In the letter, Bush states, "in light of new realities on the ground ... it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949."[12][12] Congress voted 407-9 to support the president's letter.[13][13]

Second, on the right of return for refugees: Another fundamental issue for the Palestinians, also a basic human right, is the right for refugees of war to return to their original home. According to U.N. resolution 194, passed in December 1948, all refugees must be allowed to return and have their homes, lands, and other property restored to them.[14][14] In 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were forced out of or fled their homes during the Arab-Israeli war after the creation of the Israeli state. Still sixty years later, none of them have been allowed to return home.

Israel's official position surrounding the Annapolis conference has been that Palestinians will have a right to "return" to their newly created state of Palestine - not to their original homes in what is now the State of Israel.[15][15] It is aware that if it allowed Palestinians to return to their original homes and villages, which some families had lived in for hundreds of years, Israel would no longer be an ethnically or religiously Jewish-majority state.

Lastly, on Jerusalem: In 1967, Israel began occupying East Jerusalem, an act that is illegal according to Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Today, East Jerusalem is home to almost 200,000 Israeli settlers, in fourteen Israeli settlements.[16][16] On November 30, just two days after the Annapolis conference, Ehud Olmert affirmed his position that Israeli sovereignty on the occupied city of Jerusalem would not be compromised.[17][17]

Any negotiations should establish a timeline for implementing rights under international law - not negotiate away the rights themselves. If a final negotiated solution is not based on the articles of international law detailed above, it will make the agreement void according to Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which states that "a treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law."[18][18]

We conclude with a quote by Jeff Halper, the coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions:

"In the end, the Palestinians may get 80-90% of the West Bank, but they do not get a viable state. They will have sterile swatches of territory whereas Israel retains control of the borders, movement of people and goods both within the Palestinian state and between it and the countries around, much of the country's arable land, almost all its water, the Palestinians' airspace and even control of their communications.â?¦ There will be a Palestinian state. Israel has an urgent demographic need to get the almost four million Palestinians of the occupied territories off its hands. It might even attempt to "swap" a couple hundred thousand Israeli Arab citizens of the Galilee Triangle under the pretense of giving the Palestinians more land. The crucial question is: will it be a viable state? If it's true that Olmert intends that Israel permanently retain the settlement blocs, an Israeli "greater" Jerusalem and effective control of the entire country to the Jordan River, then we will merely be substituting a sophisticated form of apartheid for occupation. The devil is in the details."[19][19]

For resources about Palestinian and Israeli opinions about Annapolis, polls, articles, speeches, go to the Jewish peace group Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, http://btvshalom.org/resources/annapolis_conference.shtml. See also the website of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org , for news and analysis about the Palestinian situation.

Happy 4th of July from Shalom Center

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights -- that among these are life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness -- that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. . . "

And then came a list of specific abuses by the King. Are the abuses still applicable today? There is a passage of Deuteronomy (17: 14-20) called Perek HaMelekh, the Passage of the King, that still applies today. Indeed, it is probably the most ancient root of the Declaration of Independence. It proclaims a constitutional monarchy of Israel, making the king responsible to God, Torah, the Levites, and the people as a whole, and with explicit limits on his powers.

The Passage on a King: Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 "If, when you have entered the land that YHWH [Yahh, the Breath of Life] your God is giving you, and you possess it and settle in it, should you say: I will set over me a ruler like all the nations that are around me--you may set, yes, set over you a ruler that YHWH your God chooses; from among your kinfolk you may set over you a ruler, you may not place over you someone so alienated that he does not feel that you are kin to him.

Only: he is not to multiply horses [cavalry, an army for aggressive war] for himself, and he is not to return the people to Mitzrayyim/ (Tight and Narrow Place) Egyptian slavery in order to multiply horses, since YHWH has said to you:You will never return that way again! (Egypt used to export war horses.)

And he is not to multiply wives for himself, that his heart not be turned-aside, and silver or gold he is not to multiply for himself to excess.

But it shall be:when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write himself a copy of this Teaching in a document, before the face of Levitical priests.

It is to remain beside him; he is to read out of it all the days of his life, in order that he may learn to have-awe-for YHWH his God, to be-careful concerning all the words of this Teaching and the deep-carved laws, to observe them, that his heart not be raised above his kinfolk, that he not turn-aside from what-is-connective, to the right or to the left; in order that he may prolong (his) days over his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

As for songs of Hallel (slightly edited) :O beautiful for patriot's dream That sees beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam? Undimmed by human tears!

America, America, God shed Her grace on thee, And crown thy good with sisterhood, Beyond each shining sea!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw; Confirm thy soul in self control, Thy liberty in law! Like the US Constitution, present international law, (and a new world constitution! BJU)

A few years ago, for July 4 I wanted to highlight the passage in the prayer-book when we celebrate the collapse of King Pharaoh in the Red Sea before the power of YHWH, the ruach ha'olam, mighty wind of the universe. As the chant goes, "Yahh yimlokh l'olam va'ed! - The Breath of Life will reign forever and beyond [blowing away all other kings]." So I went fumbling in the dark in Elat Chayyim's library to find a prayer-book that might have the "Yahh yimlokh" in transliteration as well as Hebrew. My hand fell on the Reconstructionist prayer-book of 1953. It fell open in my hand -- I swear!! -- to a page where there was an order-of-service for Independence Day. On it was a quote from the Declaration plus two verses of "America." The second --- non-national -- goes like so (slightly edited): -- "Our parents' God, to Thee, Author of Liberty, To Thee I sing. Long may our lands be bright With freedom's holy light! And bring us forth from warring night -- Great God, Our King!

The richest outpouring comes from simply sharing the community's thoughts on what we would write in our own Declaration today.

AND - I can't resist also sending these thoughts of my own along those lines:

Shalom, Rabbi Arthur Waskow

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for the peoples of the earth to declare - our interdependence with each other and with all the life-forms of the planet, and our independence from efforts by any powerful and reckless national government to create a new and global Empire; Then a decent respect to the opinions of Humanity requires that we declare the causes that impel us to rise beyond the present Powers of the earth and to embody our planetary community in new social, political, and economic forms.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

  • That all human beings are born with equal dignity and worth, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights:
    • to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; to the sharing of community; to a rhythm of worthy work and shared rest that frees time for family, neighborhood, citizenly service, and spiritual reflection; to a life-sustaining share of the earth's abundance; to peace among all peoples; and to a responsible relationship amidst the whole web of life upon this planet.
    • That governments, corporations, and other institutions are founded solely to secure these rights and uphold these responsibilities, deriving their just powers from the consent of those they govern and whose lives they shape.
    • That whenever any government, corporation, or other institution becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right, the duty, of the people to alter it and to establish new institutions, laying their foundations on such principles and organizing their powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety, freedom, peace, and happiness.
    • Experience teaches us that so long as the public channels of discussion and election are free and open, it is both wise and prudent to use these means to repair the institutions that control our lives.
    • But experience also shows us that when these avenues of change are closed, controlled by entrenched corporations and the wealthy few, then the nonviolent use of strikes and purchasing campaigns, sit-ins and teach-ins, massive rallies and spiritual vigils, becomes necessary to secure the rights and meet the responsibilities of the people.
    • The present government of the United States has violated our rights, broken our laws, thwarted our hopes, and blocked many of the paths to change.

Within the United States, its actions are concentrating undemocratic power in the hands of invasive investigative institutions, the super-rich, and a few favored corporations.

In the world at large, its actions are concentrating undemocratic power in a small group of gigantic global corporations and its own military.

In the planet of our birth, its actions are protecting the corporations that poison earth and air and water, and threaten us with the climate crisis of global scorching.

To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world: [And then invite people once again to call out their own list of abuses by those who rule over us.]

  • With blessings of freedom, justice, shalom, salaam, peace, and healing of the earth by Rabbi Arthur Waskow -
    • THE PEACE OF ABRAHAM, HAGAR, & SARAH: SHARING SACRED SEASONS, 2007
    • WE CALL FOR A NATION-WIDE FAST ON OCTOBER 8, 2007 TO DISCOVER THE TRUE AMERICA;
    • TO MOVE FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY, FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE

A Call from the Tent of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah

America stands in great danger of becoming addicted to violence, at home and overseas.

Pervasive violence in American culture, society, and policy is expressed in mass murders like those at Columbine and Virginia Tech; in daily murders on the streets of our cities; in physical and sexual abuse in families and communities; in the obsession of our media with grotesque violence; in our government's decision to wage an unnecessary, morally abhorrent, and disastrous war; in its effort to make torture a legitimate instrument of policy; indeed, most lethal of all, in the ecocidal violence we are imposing on the earth itself.

We must begin transforming our culture, our public policy, and our lives -- turning from conquest to community, from violence to reverence.

To mark this transformation of our inner selves and our society, we call Americans of all faiths and communities to join one practice of renewal and transformation that all our traditions share: a fast.

Even when on the official holiday of Columbus Day we lift up what we call the "discovery" of America, the deeds we are actually remembering were infused with conquest and violence. So we intend to transform that day (this year October 8) to become a day when we Americans can 'discover' our own true selves, our own best selves.

So we call for millions to fast from food from sunrise to sunset on October 8, and to connect that physical fast with sharing our food with the hungry and with a cultural, emotional, and political fast from acts and spectacles of violence.

In an America more religiously diverse than in the past, more expressive of the Infinite faces of the Holy One, all our religious traditions cry out for peaceful solutions to the problems that we face, whether as individuals or communities or as a society. Yet in each of our communities, some have responded to the earthquake of change in which we are living by turning our different approaches to the Holy One into occasions for suspicion and hostility, contempt and rage, pressure and triumphalism, even for violence.

We are members of The Tent of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah - Jews, Christians, and Muslims who have learned deeply from and with each other to face and transcend the dangers of violence between our communities.

This fall, the sacred seasons of many of our communities overlap into a shared season of sacred self-assessment and self-transformation.

So we encourage our many diverse ethical, spiritual, and religious communities to choose their own ways of drawing on their specific sacred seasons this fall, to help us all turn from violence to peacemaking. For various communities, these nearby times include the entire month of Ramadan (and the Night of Power, commemorating the first revelation of the Quran, on the night of October 8); the High Holy Days and Sukkot; Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, October 2; the Feast Day of Francis of Assisi, October 4; Worldwide Communion Sunday and Pavarana / Sangha Day, October 7. Some communities of the First Nations have already begun to observe Columbus Day itself with practices that transform its meaning.

While we encourage us all to observe our own specific practices of self-renewal, we also take joy in uniting to designate October 8 as one day of focus for us all, So we call on all Americans to set aside that day during this season of shared sacred time -

A day when we commit ourselves to turn from conquest to community, from violence to reverence --

A day when we come together, sharing with each other our different forms of prayer, reflection, and sacred study;

Turning our attention from material domination to spiritual depth and communal sharing;

Fasting from food from dawn to dusk, and together at sunset feeding each other and especially the hungry;

Fasting from the excesses of consumption that do violence to each other and the earth,.

Fasting that day from the culture of violence -- and to that end, we invite all our media to refrain from airing and all Americans to refrain from watching or joining in productions, practices, and images that glorify or normalize violence.

Setting forth in public vigil our determination to turn from conquest to community, from violence to reverence.

The earthquake of change around us and within us can inspire fear, despair, rage - or exaltation. Together, we can celebrate the seeds of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual creativity in each of us; comfort each other from the fear, rage, and despair that might otherwise consume us; and reject the impulse to express our fears through violence.

Among us, some might focus on one or another aspect of healing the violence that pervades our lives:

  • Ending the shattering of Iraqi and American lives. Generously offering American funds - but not control - for international and interreligious bodies to assist Iraqis in making peace and rebuilding their country, while swiftly bringing safely home all American troops.
  • Ending the epidemics of murder on our streets and schools. Providing in all our neighborhoods decent jobs with a living wage and livable hours, with time for family nurture, reflective rest, and community service -- to replace the despair, the rage, and the guns that have led to epidemics of murder.
  • Ending the use or facilitation of torture, and reaffirming habeas corpus and other avenues by which those who claim denials of their human rights can seek their vindication.
  • Acting against.the ecocidal violence that is now threatening earth and humankind alike, by making sustainable energy sources fully available to all, calming the growing climate crisis, encouraging simplicity in life-paths, and making sure there is living-space for all the life-forms in God's creation.
  • Healing our media from the normalization of grotesque and obscene violence.
  • Ending the physical and sexual abuse that has disfigured many of our families and communities, and restoring them as homes for loving compassion.

We see the Day of Discovering the True America as a beginning, not an end; the seed, not the flower or the fruit. In choosing a day to sow this seed together, we can see the profound power that arises when we decide to change ourselves, can help each other make the harvest happen.

Are There Not Ten Decent People in Gaza?

As a veteran of World War II, a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the World, I think the US should demand that the Israeli government abandon plans to reduce electricity and fuel deliveries to Gaza. We lose our soul when we give unconditional support to immoral and illegal acts by the Israeli government.

On Sept. 20, 2007 the Israeli government has announced draconian new measures to reduce electricity and fuel deliveries to Gaza, and six Israeli human-rights organizations have joined in protesting.

The reason given for the new measures is as a response to continuing rocket attacks against the Israeli town of Sderot. These attacks are reprehensible and contemptible, but collective punishment upon an entire civilian population is profoundly immoral.

It is true that a majority of Gazans voted for Hamas, and that Hamas has not prevented and may have sponsored the rocket attacks on Sderot. But even in the years when the Israeli Army sat directly in Gaza and could be present on every inch of land it wanted, these rocket attacks were ongoing.

Hamas has also proposed a cease-fire, and a number of leading Israeli intellectuals (reports the Israeli newspaper Haaretz) have signed a petition calling for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to negotiate a cease-fire with Hamas.

The signatories of the petition include the novelists Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua, David Grossman, Meir Shalev, Judith Katzir, Eli Amir, Savyon Liebrecht, Yehoshua Sobol and Dorit Rabinyan.

The petition, titled "Agreement with [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas, cease-fire with Hamas," reads: "Israel has in the past negotiated with its worst enemies ... Now, the appropriate course of action is to negotiate with Hamas to reach a general cease-fire to prevent further suffering for both sides."

One of the Torah stories of which Jews have been proudest is that Abraham protested against God's own Self, when God planned to destroy S'dom and Gomorrah. Abraham demanded that "Shall not the Judge of all the world do justice?" and God finally agreed that if there were even no more than ten decent people in S'dom, it would not be destroyed.

Does anyone claim there are not even ten decent people in Gaza?

Try to imagine that after the 2004 US election, in response to the devastation brought upon Iraq by the US attacks, the world had gotten together and put a blockade on crucial civilian needs of the American people. Suppose the world had said, "The American people has reelected the government that devastated Iraq. So now the American people must suffer the full consequences."

Please read below the statement by six Israeli human-rights organizations about the new blockade.

With hopes for peace -- shalom, salaam - and determination to keep seeking it; for as the rabbis taught, the meaning of the Psalmic saying, "Seek peace and pursue it" is that we must pursue peace even when it is running away from us.

PRESS RELEASE September 20, 2007
B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Right in the Occupied Territories
Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Physicians for Human Rights
Public Committee against Torture in Israel
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights

Israeli rights groups condemn proposed state sanctions against Gaza civilians:
Cabinet decision will impose collective punishment on a civilian population, lead to grave breach of International Law

Seven Israeli human rights organizations jointly warn that yesterday's Cabinet decision to limit the electricity and fuel supply to the Gaza Strip and to further restrict movement in and out of Gaza will exacerbate the existing humanitarian crisis there. In addition, the sanctions constitute a grave breach of the foremost principle of international humanitarian law: the obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians. In addition, the decision is liable to constitute a violation of one of the absolute prohibitions of international law: the ban on collective punishment. The coalition believes that these sanctions will also not prevent armed groups from launching rocket attacks on Israeli communities.

The Israeli Cabinet's claim that the proposed sanctions will not affect the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is false. Limiting the electricity supply will drastically reduce the functioning capacity of hospitals and health clinics. In addition, limited electricity will reduce Gaza's water pumping system, and will cripple its sewage system and water supply. Thus, the Cabinet's decision not to cut Gaza's water supply is not a humane gesture because the other sanctions will effectively diminish it in any case.

The human rights organizations urge the Cabinet to reverse its decision to impose collective punishment on the Gaza Strip - a grave violation of international humanitarian law.

The coalition of human rights groups consists of: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel; Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights; B'Tselem - the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories; Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement; HaMoked: The Center for the Defense of the Individual; Physicians for Human Rights; The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.

Cluster Bombs Victory!

"Because our victories on Capitol Hill are few and far between, it's important for us to take time to celebrate them and to reaffirm the power of our collective action to change policy even if our ultimate goal is still far away. That's why the Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation is thrilled to let you know that after one and a half years of advocating for the restriction of the export of cluster bombs, we've achieved our goal! President Bush signed the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY2008, which included the Foreign Operations Bill. Section 646(b) of the Foreign Operations Bill reads:
"During the current fiscal year, no military assistance shall be furnished for cluster munitions, no defense export license for cluster munitions may be issued, and no cluster munitions or cluster munitions technology shall be sold or transferred, unless-

  1. the submunitions of the cluster munitions have a 99 percent or higher tested rate; and
  2. the agreement applicable to the assistance, transfer, or sale of the cluster munitions or cluster munitions technology specifies that the cluster munitions will only be used against clearly defined military targets and will not be used where civilians are known to be present."

Ever since Israel saturated Lebanese civilian areas with U.S.-made cluster bombs in the final days of last summer's war-resulting in civilian casualties to this day-the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has joined other organizations in calling for restrictions on their export. We've participated in days of action, encouraged our Congressional District Coordinators to form delegations to meet with their Members of Congress to discuss this issue, and on June 11-one day after our mobilization on Capitol Hill protesting 40 years of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip-we sent more than 300 citizens from 30 states to Capitol Hill to lobby in person on this and other issues. Our collective efforts have paid off and we're thrilled that the United States won't be exporting cluster munitions to Israel or any other country to be used against civilian targets again!"

Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq

Report Finds Dire Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq By Damien Cave The New York Times Monday 30 July 2007 Amman, Jordan - Poverty, hunger and public health continue to worsen in Iraq, according to a report released today from Oxfam International, which demands more humanitarian aid from abroad and calls on the Iraqi government to immediately decentralize the distribution of food and medical supplies.

The report, a compendium of research from the United Nations, the Iraqi government and non-profit organizations that Oxfam works with or funds, offers little original data, but it provides one of the most comprehensive pictures to date of the humanitarian crisis within Iraq, and what it describes as a slow-motion response from Iraq's government, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.

The report states that as many as four million Iraqis are in dire need of help getting food, many of them children; 70 percent of the country now lacks access to adequate water supplies, up from 50 percent in 2003, and 90 percent of the country's hospitals lack basic medical and surgical supplies. One survey cited in the report, completed in May by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, found that 43 percent of Iraqis live in "absolute poverty," on less than $1 a day.

Education for Peace in Iraq (EPIC) adds to the reports: "The ongoing war in Iraq is one of the most well-known conflicts in the world today. But it is also the least-known humanitarian disaster.

  • Iraqis now represent the third-largest displaced population in the world, with over 2 million displaced within Iraq and another 2.2 million refugees in other countries.
  • More than 500,000 Iraqi refugees are children, of whom only 60,000 go to school.
  • A shocking 92% of children within Iraq suffer learning problems, mostly due to the climate of fear. 4 million Iraqis - 15% - regularly cannot buy enough to eat.
  • 28% of children are malnourished.

The U.S. can help displaced Iraqis and assist countries caught up in the worst crisis the region has seen in 60 years. But that might not happen if Members of Congress don't hear from constituents. It's time to tell Congress we care about what happens to innocent civilians in Iraq, and the millions of refugees who have fled to other countries. Together, we have an opportunity to generate life-saving assistance for innocent Iraqis affected by this conflict."

Private Corporations in Iraq

Private Contractors Outnumber US Troops in Iraq By T. Christian Miller The Los Angeles Times Wednesday 04 July 2007 (slightly abbreviated and condensed)

New US data show how heavily the Bush administration has relied on corporations to carry out the occupation of the war-torn nation. The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government's capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.

More than 180,000 civilians - including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis - are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State and Defense department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Including the recent troop buildup, 160,000 soldiers and a few thousand civilian government employees are stationed in Iraq.

"These numbers are big," said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar who has written on military contracting. "They illustrate better than anything that we went in without enough troops. This is not the coalition of the willing. It's the coalition of the billing." The numbers include at least 21,000 Americans, 43,000 foreign contractors and about 118,000 Iraqis - all employed in Iraq by U.S. tax dollars, according to the most recent government data.

But there are also signs that even those mounting numbers may not capture the full picture. Private security contractors, who are hired to protect government officials and buildings, were not fully counted in the survey, according to industry and government officials.

"We don't have control of all the coalition guns in Iraq. That's dangerous for our country," said William Nash, a retired Army general and reconstruction expert. The Pentagon "is hiring guns. You can rationalize it all you want, but that's obscene."

Although private companies have played a role in conflicts since the American Revolution, the U.S. has relied more on contractors in Iraq than in any other war, according to military experts. Contractors perform functions including construction, security and weapons system maintenance.

Critics worry that troops and their missions could be jeopardized if contractors, functioning outside the military's command and control, refuse to make deliveries of vital supplies under fire. At one point in 2004, for example, U.S. forces were put on food rations when drivers balked at taking supplies into a combat zone.

That census, provided to The Times under the Freedom of Information Act, shows about 130,000 contractors and subcontractors of different nationalities working at U.S. and Iraqi military bases.

Last month, USAID reported about 53,000 Iraqis employed under U.S. reconstruction contracts, doing jobs such as garbage pickup and helping to teach democracy. In interviews, agency officials said an additional 300 Americans and foreigners worked as contractors for the agency.

State Department officials said they could not provide the department's number of contractors. Of about 5,000 people affiliated with the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, about 300 are State Department employees. The rest are a mix of other government agency workers and contractors, many of whom are building the new embassy. "There are very few of us, and we're way undermanned," said one State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We have significant shortages of people. It's been that way since before [the war], and it's still that way."

The companies with the largest number of employees are foreign firms in the Middle East that subcontract to KBR, the Houston-based oil services company, according to the Central Command database. KBR, once a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., provides logistics support to troops, the single largest contract in Iraq.

Middle Eastern companies, including Kulak Construction Co. of Turkey and Projects International of Dubai, supply labor from Third World countries to KBR and other U.S. companies for menial work on U.S. bases and rebuilding projects. Foreigners are used instead of Iraqis because of fears that insurgents could infiltrate projects.

KBR is by far the largest employer of Americans, with nearly 14,000 U.S. workers. Other large employers of Americans in Iraq include New York-based L-3 Communications, which holds a contract to provide translators to troops, and ITT Corp., a New York engineering and technology firm.

The most controversial contractors are those working for private security companies, including Blackwater, Triple Canopy and Erinys. They guard sensitive sites and provide protection to U.S. and Iraqi government officials and businessmen. Security contractors draw some of the sharpest criticism, much of it from military policy experts who say their jobs should be done by the military. On several occasions, heavily armed private contractors have engaged in firefights when attacked by Iraqi insurgents. Others worry that the private security contractors lack accountability. Although scores of troops have been prosecuted for serious crimes, only a handful of private security contractors have faced legal charges.

The number of private security contractors in Iraq remains unclear, despite Central Command's latest census. The Times identified 21 security companies in the Central Command database, deploying 10,800 men. However, the Defense Department's Motsek, who monitors contractors, said the Pentagon estimated the total was 6,000.

Both figures are far below the private security industry's own estimate of about 30,000 private security contractors working for government agencies, nonprofit organizations, media outlets and businesses. Industry officials said that private security companies helped reduce the number of troops needed in Iraq and provided jobs to Iraqis - a benefit in a country with high unemployment.

"A guy who is working for a [private security company] is not out on the street doing something inimical to our interests," said Lawrence Peter, director of the Private Security Company Assn. of Iraq. Not surprisingly, Iraqis make up the largest number of civilian employees under U.S. contracts. Typically, the government contracts with an American firm, which then subcontracts with an Iraqi firm to do the job.

Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, a contractors' trade group, said the number of Iraqis reflected the importance of the reconstruction and economic development efforts to the overall U.S. mission in Iraq. "That's not work that the government does or has ever doneâ?¦. That's work that is going to be done by companies and to some extent by" nongovernmental organizations, Soloway said. "People tend to think that these are contractors on the battlefield, and they're not."

The Iraqis have been the most difficult to track. As recently as May, the Pentagon told Congress that 22,000 Iraqis were employed by its contractors. But the Pentagon number recently jumped to 65,000 - a result of closer inspection of contracts, an official said. The total number of Iraqis employed under U.S. contracts is important, in part because it may influence debate in Congress regarding how many Iraqis will be allowed to come to the U.S. to escape violence in their homeland. This year, the U.S. planned to cap that number at 7,000 a year. To date, however, only a few dozen Iraqis have been admitted, according to State Department figures. Kirk Johnson, head of the List Project, which seeks to increase the admission of Iraqis, said that the U.S. needed to provide a haven to those who worked most closely with American officials. "We all say we are grateful to these Iraqis," Johnson said. "How can we be the only superpower in the world that can't implement what we recognize as a moral imperative?"

The Back Story Information in this article is based in part on a database of contractors in Iraq obtained by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public access to government records. The database is the result of a census conducted earlier this year by the U.S. Central Command. The census found about 130,000 contractors working for 632 companies holding contracts in Iraq with the Defense Department and a handful of other federal agencies.

The Times received the database last month, four months after first requesting it. Because the Freedom of Information Act law requires an agency to provide only information as of the date of the request, the census is based on figures as of February. During interviews, Pentagon officials said the census had since been updated, and they provided additional figures based on the update.

  • Contractors in Iraq There are more U.S.-paid private contractors than there are American combat troops in Iraq.
  • Contractors: 180,000 U.S. troops: 160,000
  • Nationality of Contractors 118,000 Iraqis; 43,000 non-U.S. foreigners; 21,000 Americans
  • Top Contractors: Company: Kulak Construction Co. Description: Based in Turkey, supplies construction workers to U.S. bases Total employees: 30,301
  • Company: KBR, Based in Houston, supplies logistics support to U.S. troops Total employees: 15,336
  • Company: Prime Projects International : Based in Dubai, supplies labor for logistics support; Total employees: 10,560
  • Company: L-3 Communications : Based in New York, provides translators and other services Total employees: 5,886
  • Company: Gulf Catering Co. Based in Saudi Arabia, provides kitchen services to U.S. troops Total employees: 4,002
  • Company: 77 Construction Based in Irbil, Iraq, provides logistics support to troops Total employees: 3,219
  • Company: ECC Based in Burlingame, Calif, works on reconstruction projects Total employees: 2,390
  • Company: Serka Group Based in Turkey, supplies logistics support to U.S. bases Total employees: 2,250
  • Company: IPBD Ltd. Based in England, supplies labor, laundry services and other support Total employees: 2,164
  • Company: Daoud & Partners Co. Based in Amman, Jordan, supplies labor for logistics support; Total employees: 2,092
  • Company: EOD Technology Inc Description: Based in Lenoir City, Tenn., supplies security, explosives demolition and other services Total employees: 1,913
  • Note: Data are as of February, 2007 which is most current available. Approximate - numbers rounded Sources: U.S. Central Command, Times reporting; Paul Duginski Los Angeles Times.

In Outsourced US Wars Contractor Deaths Top 1,000

By Bernd Debusmann Reuters Tuesday 03 July 2007

Washington - The death toll for private contractors in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has topped 1,000, a stark reminder of the risks run by civilians working with the military in roles previously held by soldiers. A further 13,000 contractors have been wounded in the two separate wars led by the United States against enemies who share fundamentalist Islamic beliefs and the hit-and-run tactics that drain conventional armies. The casualty toll is based on figures the U.S. Department of Labor provided to Reuters in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act and on locally gathered data.

The department said it had recorded 990 deaths - 917 in Iraq and 73 in Afghanistan - by the end of March. Since then, according to incident logs tallied by Reuters in Baghdad and Kabul, at least 16 contractors have died in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. Those killed in Iraq between March 31 and today included four contractors from the Philippines killed in a rocket strike on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone compound, a frequent target of attacks.

The Labor Department's statistics put the number of wounded in Iraq between March 1, 2003 and March 31, 2007 as 10,569. The corresponding figure for Afghanistan, from September 2001 to March 2007, is 2,428. Deaths and injuries among the growing ranks of civilians working in war zones are tracked on the basis of claims under an insurance policy, the Defense Base Act, which all U.S. contracting companies and subcontractors must take out for the civilians they employ outside the United States. In Iraq, their number is estimated to be close to 130,000 - not much less than the 157,000 U.S. troops presently deployed to the country. Their work ranges from driving fuel trucks, cooking meals and cleaning toilets to servicing advanced weapons systems and guarding senior U.S. officials.

The contractor death toll compares with 3,577 U.S. military deaths in Iraq and 342 in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. That means that on average, since the two conflicts began in 2001 and 2003 respectively, one civilian contractor is killed for every four members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Still More Applicants Than Jobs

Despite the risks, there is no shortage of those wanting to work in the war zones, lured by high pay and, in some cases, a sense of adventure. "There are more applicants than there are jobs," said Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association, a trade group for more than 30 private security companies. "That's been the case from the beginning and it is still true, even though pay has gone down because there is a lot of competition."

Neither the Pentagon nor any other U.S. government agency keeps a precise tally on the number of private security companies active in war zones - a fact that is drawing increasing complaints from Congressional critics who say there is not enough oversight and little accountability. By some estimates, the number of private security companies in Iraq and Afghanistan has swollen to almost 300, both U.S. and foreign corporations. One of the richest contracts awarded since the U.S. invaded Iraq went to Aegis, a British firm involved in intelligence-gathering.

Contrary to common perceptions, the majority of civilian contractors in the war zones are not Americans - and foreigners have done most of the dying as the U.S. accelerated outsourcing functions previously performed by soldiers. The Labor Department declined to give details of the nationalities of the contractors it listed as killed or wounded, saying that doing so would "constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" under the U.S. Privacy Act.

But at a Congressional hearing in May, Joseph McDermott, the Assistant Inspector General for Iraq, quoted Labor Department statistics as saying that of 900-plus contractors killed by the end of April, 224 were U.S. citizens. Officials say the majority of contractors are Iraqis and people from developing countries as far apart as Chile and Nepal, Colombia and India, Fiji and El Salvador. Filipinos make up one of the largest single groups.

Vietnam Becomes Jesuit Province

This July, The Jesuit Spiritual leader, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., will visit Vietnam to establish the nation as a full-fledged Province of the East Asia and Oceania Assistancy of the Society of Jesus. Jesuits initially came to Asia during a period of intense missionary work in the 17th century, and remained a presence there until the suppression of the Society in 1773. Jesuits returned to Vietnam in 1953 when some of the Jesuit missionaries expelled from China were invited to serve the Chinese community in Vietnam. In 1955 the Saigon government sounded out then Jesuit Father General Janssens about the possibility of a Jesuit University in Saigon. The plan did not materialize; instead, the Jesuit delegate proposed a Pontifical Seminary in the city of Dalat.

In 1956 the first Jesuits arrived in Saigon; one year later they took on responsibility for the Pontifical Seminary in Dalat. Their apostolic activities continued until 1975 when political upheavals prevented the foreign missionaries from remaining in Vietnam. In 1975, there were 11 Jesuit priests, 10 scholastics, 1 Brother, 4 novices and 15 candidates. Currently, Vietnam boasts 134 Jesuits: 38 priests, 45 scholastics, 20 Brothers, 31 novices and 150 candidates. A Communist nation is not without religion.

Letter to G-8 Nations

On May 31 the presidents of the Catholic bishops' conferences of the US, England and Wales, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Russia sent a letter to the heads of state of seven of the world's wealthiest nations, asking them "to take bold action on global poverty, health care, climate change, and peace and security" at the G-8 summit June 6-8 in Germany: "We urge you to act out of the moral obligation that we all share for the well-being of every human person, but also because replacing despair with hope in Africa will lead to a more secure world for all nations.. .global climate change is of particular concern to people of faith who are committed to protecting God's creation. .The costs of initiatives to prevent and mitigate the harmful consequences of climate change should be borne more by richer persons and nations who have benefited most from the harmful emissions that fueled development and should not be placed on the shoulders of the poor. . .The G-8 must intensify efforts. for full implementation of the UN mandate to strengthen the peacekeeping force in Darfur. The government in Khartoum must accept deployment of an enlarged peacekeeping force, and it must press all parties in Sudan to adhere to a ceasefire and respect international humanitarian law. . .In communion with Pope Benedict XVI we call on the international community to 'continue to work for the substantial reduction of both the legal and the illegal arms trade, the illegal trade of precious raw materials and the flight of capital from poor countries.'"

Are We Hurting Ourselves as well as Palestinians?

When we abandon our principles and ignore our moral conscience, it weakens us as well as the world community. Jewish Voice for Peace introduced a stockholder resolution at an annual corporation meeting. Joe Carr followed the CEO's report with a question: "Looking down at the board and executives, almost exclusively rich white men, I was overwhelmed with outrage. I was facing capitalist war criminals, the epitome of the evil I've dedicated my life to resist, and I have to speak to them. After a 20-minute presentation on how great CAT is from the CEO, I got up to ask my question. Here is a paraphrase of what I said: "I've spent a considerable amount of time in Israeli occupied Palestine, and I was there four years ago with my 23-year-old friend Rachel Corrie. I watched as an Israeli soldier intentionally crushed her to death with one of our (I had to speak as a shareholder) bulldozers. I also witnessed Israel use our equipment to systematically destroy Palestinian homes and farmland, and build the atrocious and illegal wall of separation and annexation, and a series of settlements and roads that have created one of the most brutal systems of segregation and apartheid the world has ever known. We know full-well what this equipment is being used for, and yet we continue to profit from the destruction and murder in Palestine. Why do you continually refuse to consider ceasing sales to Israel? Why have you refused to meet with the Corrie family or members from the broad coalition of groups calling on us to stop these sales which violate international and US law, and stop this relentless murder and endless destruction?"

Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, demands of the their Israeli government to reopen immediately the border crossings to the Gaza strip, which are its vital lifeline. It was the state of Israel which decided to keep in its hands all the keys for entry into and exit from the Gaza Strip, and deny to Gazans the right to have a direct contact with the outside world by land, sea and air. As long as this is the policy implemented by the Government of Israel, it is legally and morally obliged to keep open the border crossings, completely regardless of the identity of the government holding power in the Strip. Ehud Olmert and all his ministers, the old and the new, will bear the full responsibility for the grave humanitarian results of continuing to keep the passages closed.

Those who refused to talk to the Palestinian National Unity Government, will now have to talk to two rival Palestinian governments. Unlike the vain boastings of politicians and commentators who play games of 'divide and rule', this will be far more difficult and complicated, and all of us will have to endure unnecessary suffering " Israel and its citizens, as well as the Palestinians and the entire region.

Three months ago, we had the chance of talking to the Palestinian National Unity Government, and through it to all the factions and parties active in the Palestinian public, on the basis of the peace initiative adopted by the Arab League. A visible advance towards peace and an end to the occupation could have strengthened those Palestinians who seek a political solution " and there are such in both Fatah and Hamas. With a visible fruit for the political road, the military wings and armed militias would have been less eager for hasty acts of force. Both the suffering of the Israelis in Sderot and the death and destruction of the internal fighting in Gaza might have been avoided.

Instead, the government of Israel has engaged in open and blunt efforts to foment civil war among the Palestinians. Ministers and senior military officers repeatedly spoke of sending arms to Muhammad Dahlan and his troops, presenting them to their people as despicable collaborators. Directly, the death and destruction in Gaza over the past week are the work of Palestinian factions which acted irresponsibly and caused great damage to their own people but the government of Israel is not without blame. Those who push their neighbors to civil war cannot avoid responsibility even when the results are not as expected.

A Cry for Help

"Sunday, June 10th, people from around the country will gather in Washington, DC, to protest 40 years of Israel's illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The economic, military and political support from Washington has made it possible for this brutal occupation to continue. We will be in the nation's capital to call on Congress to set a new direction for U.S. policy in the region.

This mobilization is taking place as the crisis in Gaza gets worse: 46% of the population is hungry, and unemployment has grown from 30% in 2000 to 71% in 2007, while 80,000 security personnel and civil servants have not been paid for months. The internal divisions in Gaza are fanned by U.S. policies, which undermine the unity government elected by the Palestinian people. At the same time, there is an extremely serious situation in Lebanon as, according to the Associated Press, "The Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp is ringed by hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, in place to storm the camp and prevent militants from fleeing." It is estimated that 1/2 of the 30,000 Palestinians in this camp have fled, leaving 15,000 still facing this danger.

United for Peace and Justice is working with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation on this timely effort. Without a just peace for all of the people in the region, there will be no end to the fighting and suffering. And without an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories, there will be no peace throughout the entire region.

A group of about 20 prominent activists in the African-American community have issued an open "Letter to Black America on Palestinian Rights and June 10th March & Rally."

Jewish Voice for Peace is organizing a Jewish contingent to march in the demonstration on June 10th.

One of the rally speakers is Cindy Corrie of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice. Cindy's daughter Rachel was killed by the Israeli army in March 2003 while she stood to nonviolently protect the home of a Palestinian family from being demolished.

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

There is much in our light graced story from 2006. For me, part of the light graced story is former President Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, a timely book by a dedicated person. If you haven't read it, pray for spiritual freedom, and try to appreciate President Carter's experience and perspective. You may not agree with the title or every word in the book, but it's worth reading, discussing, and acting upon.

Recently the former President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate wrote the following to the Washington Post: A New Chance for Peace?
By Jimmy Carter The Washington Post Thursday 18 January 2007

I am concerned that public discussion of my book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" has been diverted from the book's basic proposals: that peace talks be resumed after six years of delay and that the tragic persecution of Palestinians be ended. Although most critics have not seriously disputed or even mentioned the facts and suggestions about these two issues, an apparently concerted campaign has been focused on the book's title, combined with allegations that I am anti-Israel. This is not good for any of us who are committed to Israel's status as a peaceful nation living in harmony with its neighbors.

It is encouraging that President Bush has announced that peace in the Holy Land will be a high priority for his administration during the next two years. On her current trip to the region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called for an early U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian meeting. She has recommended the 2002 offer of the 23 Arab nations as a foundation for peace: full recognition of Israel based on a return to its internationally recognized borders. This offer is compatible with official U.S. policy, previous agreements approved by Israeli governments in 1978 and 1993, and the "road map" for peace developed by the "quartet" (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations).

The clear fact is that Israel will never find peace until it is willing to withdraw from its neighboring occupied territories and permit the Palestinians to exercise their basic human and political rights. With land swaps, this "green line" can be modified through negotiations to let a substantial number of Israeli settlers remain in their subsidized homes east of the internationally recognized border. The premise of exchanging Arab territory for peace has been acceptable for several decades to a majority of Israelis but not to a minority of the more conservative leaders, who are unfortunately supported by most of the vocal American Jewish community.

These same premises, of course, will have to be accepted by any government that represents the Palestinians. A March 2006 poll by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah found 73 percent approval among citizens in the occupied territories, and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has expressed support for talks between President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and pledged to end Hamas's rejectionist position if a negotiated agreement is approved by the Palestinian people.

Abbas is wise in repeating to Secretary Rice that he rejects any "interim" boundaries for the Palestinian state. The step-by-step road-map formula promulgated almost three years ago for reaching a final agreement has proved to be a non-starter -- and an excuse for not making any progress. I know from experience that it is often more difficult to negotiate an interim agreement, with all its future uncertainties, than to address the panoply of crucial issues that will have to be resolved to reach the goal of peace.

Given these recent developments and with the Democratic Party poised to play a more important role in governing, this is a good time to clarify our party's overall policy in the broader Middle East. Numerous options are available as Congress attempts to correlate its suggestions with White House policy, and there is little doubt that the basic proposals of the Iraq Study Group provide a good foundation on which Democrats might reach something of a consensus (recognizing that individual lawmakers could still make their own proposals on details). This party policy would provide a reasonable answer to the allegation that Democrats have no alternatives of their own to address the Iraq quagmire.

A key factor in an Iraq policy would be strong demands on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to cooperate in ending sectarian violence, prodded by a clear notice of plans for troop withdrawals. A commitment to regional cooperation, including opportunities for Iran and Syria to participate, would be beneficial in assuring doubtful Iraqis that America will no longer be the dominant outside power shaping their military, political and economic future.

Although Israel's prime minister has criticized these facets of the Iraq Study Group's report, the most difficult recommendation for many Democrats could be the call for substantive peace talks on the Palestinian issue. The situation in the occupied territories will be a crucial factor, and it would be helpful for both the House and Senate to send a responsible delegation to the West Bank and Gaza to observe the situation personally, to meet with key leaders and to ascertain the prospects if peace talks can be launched.

I am convinced that, with bipartisan support, this is a good opportunity for progress."

The writer was the 39th US President and is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. His most recent book is Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.

Probably it would be better to read the book before you read the following from the concluding chapter: "Israel's continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land. In order to perpetuate the occupation, Israeli forces have deprived their unwilling subjects of basic human rights. No objective person could personally observe existing conditions in the West Bank and dispute these statements. Two other interrelated factors have contributed to the perpetuation of violence and regional upheaval: the condoning of illegal Israeli actions from a submissive White House and U.S. Congress during recent years, and the deference with which other international leaders permit this unofficial U.S. policy in the Middle East to prevail. There are constant and vehement political and media debates in Israel concerning its policies in the West Bank, but because of powerful political, economic, and religious forces in the United States, Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned or condemned, voices from Jerusalem dominate in our media, and most American citizens are unaware of circumstances in the occupied territories. At the same time, political leaders and news media in Europe are highly critical of Israeli policies, affecting public attitudes. Americans were surprised and angered by an opinion poll, published by the International Herald Tribune in October 2003, of 7,500 citizens in fifteen European nations, indicating that Israel was considered to be the top threat to world peace, ahead of North Korea, Iran, or Afghanistan. The United States has used its U.N. Security Council veto more than forty times to block resolutions critical of Israel. Some of these vetoes have brought international discredit on the United States, and there is little doubt that the lack of a persistent effort to resolve the Palestinian issue is a major source of anti-American sentiment and terrorist activity throughout the Middle East and the Islamic world." (pp. 208-210).

Jewish Peace Groups

The US Jewish peace group below among others makes a good point about silence.

"The discussion must begin, then, regardless of the hesitation of others in our community, regardless of the reticence of the Administration, regardless of the status quo approach of most of our elected officials. How do we get the Israeli- Palestinian conflict to the top of the agenda? How do we convey the viability of negotiations and diplomacy with all of Israel's neighbors -- the Palestinians, Lebanon, and Syria alike? How do we open up the conversation within the Jewish community in order to explore options to militarism and Israeli isolationism? How do we begin to suggest flexibility in our approach to the Palestinians?

We recognize that if there is no conversation, then there will be no solution. These are hard questions, and the exchange we spark will not always be pleasant. This is what Brit Tzedek has been about since its very inception, though. We recognize that if there is no conversation, then there will be no solution. Please, join us in re-opening the discussion; it's the first step toward peace.

*The concept of "God wrestling" comes from the story of Jacob's struggle with a man, understood to be an angel sent by God, in chapter 32 of Genesis. Jacob struggles not to defeat his opponent but rather to receive a divine blessing. The conversation among American Jews about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict likewise demands wrestling in the hope of being blessed with peace.

  • Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, 11 E. Adams Street, Suite 707, Chicago, IL 60603

VANCOUVER JEWISH GROUP SUPPORTS NORMAN FINKELSTEIN

June 21, 2007 Vancouver, British Columbia

On the eighth of June, DePaul University in Chicago denied tenure to one of the world experts on the Israel/Palestine conflict, Norman G. Finkelstein. There's been a great uproar on campus and worldwide because it is well known that Prof. Finkelstein's contract was terminated as a result of intervention from outside the university, and ultimately because of the power of his ideas.

In a book entitled, The Holocaust Industry, Dr. Finkelstein argues that since 1967 Zionist organizations and certain Jewish leaders have capitalized on the memory of the Holocaust to generate wealth and power for themselves and to silence criticism of Israel's [war] crimes against Palestinians.

Professor Finkelstein's ideas are dangerous, and he has paid the price, losing his position in academia despite his tremendous intellectual productivity -- 5 books in 12 years.

We, Jews for a Just Peace, write this statement because we are disturbed by the events at DePaul. We have been impressed by Dr.Finkelstein's incisive analysis and passionate defense of human rights and international law in the context of Israel/Palestine. We take this opportunity to share our thoughts about the relationship between his dismissal and the struggle to which we are committed.

Prof. Finkelstein's case reveals some of the contours of academic freedom in North America. Without denying the specificity of this situation, his dismissal confirms the growing consensus that sustained criticism of Israel and the Israel Lobby represents a risk for scholars, not to mention journalists and others.

The fact that an academic of Dr. Finkelstein's calibre worked as an adjunct professor for over a decade before finally landing a tenure-track position is even stronger evidence for this assertion. Terminating Prof. Finkelstein's contract is meant to set an example, to scare other scholars into biting their tongues.

To the extent that this occurs, we are saddened. However, we are certain that many scholars will be inspired by his courage. In addition, Prof. Finkelstein's vulnerability leads us to reflect on the importance of research that is produced by networks of scholars, activists and others who support each other and cannot be so easily dismissed.

Although we recognize that Dr. Finkelstein himself may suffer hardship as a result of this decision, we are confident that he knew the risks of his work, and that he will continue. We also believe that in the future his writing will be taken even more seriously, since people around the world will recognize that only
powerful ideas could provoke such a desperate attack.

As an organization focusing on human rights, we recognize continuities between an attempt to silence a professor and the conditions that make it difficult for marginalized people all over the world to express their political beliefs. Prof. Finkelstein's dismissal leads us to reflect on Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza who risk more than tenure when they choose to speak truth to power.
 

We recall that scholars tend to study what they love. Although Dr.Finkelstein is a formidable critic of Israeli policies, and certain Jewish leaders and organizations, we believe his work is inspired by a great passion for justice and a desire to see the institutions he criticizes become worthy of our respect.

At this historical moment, we applaud Dr. Finkelstein's supporters among the faculty and students, and call on DePaul University to reverse this unfortunate decision and grant Prof. Finkelstein the tenured appointment that he richly deserves.

Finally, we stand in solidarity with Dr. Norman Finkelstein, confident that his analysis will continue to illuminate our work in the years to come.

Yom Shamash, on behalf of Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver, B.C.

So-called Israel-US "Peace Plan"

Henry Siegman, the director of the US/ Middle East Project, served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 1994 to 2006, and was head of the American Jewish Congress from 1978 to 1994.
EXCERPT: "The Middle East peace process may well be the most spectacular deception in modern diplomatic history. Since the failed Camp David summit of 2000, and actually well before it, Israel's interest in a peace process - other than for the purpose of obtaining Palestinian and international acceptance of the status quo - has been a fiction that has served primarily to provide cover for its systematic confiscation of Palestinian land and an occupation whose goal, according to the former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, is 'to sear deep into the consciousness of Palestinians that they are a defeated people'." http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n16/sieg01_.html

London Review of Books

LRB Vol. 29 No. 16 dated 16 August 2007 | Henry Siegman The Middle East Peace Process Scam

Henry Siegman

When Ehud Olmert and George W. Bush met at the White House in June, they concluded that Hamas's violent ousting of Fatah from Gaza - which brought down the Palestinian national unity government brokered by the Saudis in Mecca in March - had presented the world with a new 'window of opportunity'.[*] (Never has a failed peace process enjoyed so many windows of opportunity.) Hamas's isolation in Gaza, Olmert and Bush agreed, would allow them to grant generous concessions to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, giving him the credibility he needed with the Palestinian people in order to prevail over Hamas.

Both Bush and Olmert have spoken endlessly of their commitment to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but it is their determination to bring down Hamas rather than to build up a Palestinian state that animates their new-found enthusiasm for making Abbas look good. That is why their expectation that Hamas will be defeated is illusory. Palestinian moderates will never prevail over those considered extremists, since what defines moderation for Olmert is Palestinian acquiescence in Israel's dismemberment of Palestinian territory. In the end, what Olmert and his government are prepared to offer Palestinians will be rejected by Abbas no less than by Hamas, and will only confirm to Palestinians the futility of Abbas's moderation and justify its rejection by Hamas. Equally illusory are Bush's expectations of what will be achieved by the conference he recently announced would be held in the autumn (it has now been downgraded to a 'meeting'). In his view, all previous peace initiatives have failed largely, if not exclusively, because Palestinians were not ready for a state of their own. The meeting will therefore focus narrowly on Palestinian institution- building and reform, under the tutelage of Tony Blair, the Quartet's newly appointed envoy.

In fact, all previous peace initiatives have got nowhere for a reason that neither Bush nor the EU has had the political courage to acknowledge. That reason is the consensus reached long ago by Israel's decision-making elites that Israel will never allow the emergence of a Palestinian state which denies it effective military and economic control of the West Bank. To be sure, Israel would allow - indeed, it would insist on - the creation of a number of isolated enclaves that Palestinians could call a state, but only in order to prevent the creation of a binational state in which Palestinians would be the majority.

The Middle East peace process may well be the most spectacular deception in modern diplomatic history. Since the failed Camp David summit of 2000, and actually well before it, Israel's interest in a peace process - other than for the purpose of obtaining Palestinian and international acceptance of the status quo - has been a fiction that has served primarily to provide cover for its systematic confiscation of Palestinian land and an occupation whose goal, according to the former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, is 'to sear deep into the consciousness of Palestinians that they are a defeated people'. In his reluctant embrace of the Oslo Accords, and his distaste for the settlers, Yitzhak Rabin may have been the exception to this, but even he did not entertain a return of Palestinian territory beyond the so- called Allon Plan, which allowed Israel to retain the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank.

Anyone familiar with Israel's relentless confiscations of Palestinian territory - based on a plan devised, overseen and implemented by Ariel Sharon - knows that the objective of its settlement enterprise in the West Bank has been largely achieved. Gaza, the evacuation of whose settlements was so naively hailed by the international community as the heroic achievement of a man newly committed to an honourable peace with the Palestinians, was intended to serve as the first in a series of Palestinian bantustans. Gaza's situation shows us what these bantustans will look like if their residents do not behave as Israel wants.
Farm Bill 2007

Want to find out more and get involved? See www.farmandfoodproject.org Over 350 organizations have endorsed a common approach to the 2007 US farm bill. Help all farmers not just the larger superfarms. Put a limit on how much subsidy one farm can receive, say, $250,000. Give a fair price to the farmer through the non- recourse loan system set by the Secretary of Agriculture. If the farmer receives a fair price, there would be no need for huge subsidies. (Scroll down to Food and Farming under Economic Democracy on this web-site) Protect farmland and educate a new generation of farmers. Help minority farmers to credit, insurance, and conservation programs. Support rural communities with education and health services. Lessen illnesses related to diet. Eliminate hunger in a land of plenty, especially of farm workers. Protect the environment. Follow Bread for the World's proposal regarding Food Stamps. Considering the huge war expenditures, the US can afford to give the needy enough to last until the end of the month. These 350 organizations call for a new direction in farm and food policy--one that takes the patchwork of existing programs that serve too few and creates instead a system advances the interests of all US citizens. Farm bills are renewed every five years. This is your chance to help everyone until 2012.

Modern Day Slavery

What is modern slavery? For many people, the image that comes to mind when they hear the word slavery is the slavery of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We think of the buying and selling of people, their shipment from one continent to another and the abolition of the trade in the early 1800s. Even if we know nothing about the slave trade, it is something we think of as part of our history rather than our present. But the reality is slavery continues TODAY.

Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'.

Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practised. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women from eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race.

What is slavery? Common characteristics distinguish slavery from other human rights violations. A slave is: forced to work -- through mental or physical threat; owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse; dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as 'property'; physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement.

What types of slavery exist today? Bonded labour affects millions of people around the world. People become bonded labourers by taking or being tricked into taking a loan for as little as the cost of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt, many are forced to work long hours, seven days a week, up to 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shelter as 'payment' for their work, but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed down for generations.

Early and forced marriage affects women and girls who are married without choice and are forced into lives of servitude often accompanied by physical violence.

Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruited by individuals, governments or political parties and forced to work -- usually under threat of violence or other penalties.

Slavery by descent is where people are either born into a slave class or are from a 'group' that society views as suited to being used as slave labour.

Trafficking involves the transport and/or trade of people -- women, children and men -- from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into slavery conditions.

Worst forms of child labour affects an estimated 126 million** children around the world in work that is harmful to their health and welfare.

Summary: Forms of slavery that exist today: bonded labor-As defined by the International Labor Organization, bonded laborer refers to a worker who renders service under conditions of bondage arising from economic considerations, notably indebtedness through a loan or advance. When debt is the root cause of the bondage, the implication is that the worker (or dependents or heirs) is tied to a particular creditor for a specified or unspecified period until the loan is repaid (ILO, 2001) Debt bondage may be distinguished by a relatively short duration of obligation, while bonded labor is a derivation of traditional forms of agricultural serfdom.

Forced labor--ILO Convention No. 29: all work or service that is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered herself or himself voluntarily. There are seven major categories of forced labor: 1. Slavery and Abductions 2. Compulsory Participation in Public Works Projects 3. Mandatory forced labor in Remote Areas 4. Bonded Labor 5. Involuntary Labor Resulting from Trafficking in Persons 6. Domestic Workers in Involuntary Labor Situations 7. Prison Labor and Rehabilitation Through Work

Other forms of Forced labor: Early and forced marriage; slavery by descent by virtue of birth. People enslaved often as bonded slaves, give birth to children who inherit the bond and the status as slaves along with their parents; trafficking, UN: "The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" Child labor.

  • Read David Batstone, Not for Sale, The Return of the Global Slave Trade-and how we can fight it
  • Follow the food chain, the contract suppliers to the beginning of the product. The Amazing Change coordinates the work of those who verify the slavery.

2007 is the 200th anniversary of William Wilberforce's British parliamentary victory to end the British transatlantic slave trade. Wilberforce was well off, had great charm, was a gifted speaker, a fine singer and his best friend, William Pitt was Prime Minister. He had the world at his feet. God called him to a more important mission. "God has laid before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of morals." This was at a time when Britain was the leading slave-trading nation in Europe. Slavery supported one of Britain's most profitable industries. Wilberforce's life was threatened by slave-ship captains, he was cold-shouldered by royalty and endured all sorts of attempts at character assassination. Wilberforce pursued his goals for forty-six years. Finally, the House of Commons passed the bill abolishing the slave trade by 283 votes to 16. "Well, Henry,' Wilberforce said to his colleague Thornton that evening, "what shall we abolish next?" [I suggest all of us abolish war, poverty, unemployment, modern slavery, to name a few.]