.: GAZZELLA :.

CONCERT 4 PALESTINE NEWSLETTER #1, JULY 21, 2004
———————————————————————-

THIS JUST IN…

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly – by 150 votes to 6 – to demand that Israel dismantle its ‘security wall’ on Palestinian land. The European Union states voted in favor. The ‘coalition of the willing’ that voted against were Israel, the USA, Australia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.

‘We regret the rush to adopt this resolution,’ said US deputy ambassador James B. Cunningham. ‘A durable solution is only to be found in a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.’ In other words, we should leave the Palestinians and the world’s fourth largest military power – backed by the world’s global superpower – to ‘work it out among themselves.’

The US ambassador’s advise comes at a time when, according to a new British government report, ‘facts on the ground [meaning Israeli settlement expansion and construction of the wall] may make a viable two- state solution almost impossible.’

A report on the UN resolution from Electronic Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2935.shtml
The British government’s facts-on-the-ground report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1265655,00.html

———————————————————————-

AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

Before the UN vote, British parliamentarian Gerald Kaufman (who also happens to be Jewish) wrote that ‘The Bush Administration, seeking to win Jewish votes from the Democrats, would veto any resolution condemning the Israeli Government.’

Kaufman says it’s time Israel were treated like apartheid South Africa – with an international boycott and a ban on arms sales. ‘Economic sanctions and an arms ban are the only way of breaking the impasse. Such a policy brought down apartheid in South Africa. Obtaining sanctions and a weapons ban today will not be easy. That is all the more reason why a strong campaign needs to be mounted as soon as possible.’

Concert 4 Palestine wants to be part of that campaign. Everyone remembers the Mandela concert in London in 1988, which symbolized global determination to end apartheid. The concert we have in mind serves much the same purpose – to affirm once more that militarism, colonialism and racism belong in the garbage can of history.

Read Gerald Kaufman’s article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1259150,00.html

———————————————————————-

SO WHEN’S THE CONCERT?

Our site, concert4palestine.org, is not organizing the concert. The decision to hold a global concert for Palestine will be made by people with far more power and influence than us. In the meantime, we’re doing two things.

* First, we encourage everyone to endorse our appeal to the music world to organize the global concert. We now have close to 20,000 votes on the board. That’s a tiny proportion of the number of people who would vote if they knew about our site (so email our URL – http://www.concert4palestine.org – to all your friends!)

* Second, we encourage all those who play or enjoy music of any kind to organize a Concert 4 Palestine in their town or city. No need to raise money, no royalties to pay – just display a banner saying “Concert4Palestine.org” and you’re away. We’ll publicize whatever you do.

Remember, the Mandela concert started small. The breakthrough came when the group Simple Minds committed themselves to play a major concert at Wembley stadium. The BBC agreed to televise the event …and the rest is history.

Convincing major music artists to ‘come out’ against the Israeli occupation will not be easy. We’re here to help.

Read about the Mandela concert: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/awards/wembley88.html
What happens to artists who speak out: http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Guardian/0,4029,1265642,00.html
Have you voted yet?

http://www.concert4palestine.org/appeal/

———————————————————————-

BAD NEIGHBORS BUILD BAD FENCES

Anyone with a backyard and a bully for a neighbor can understand the July 9 opinion of the World Court on Israel’s ‘security fence.’ The Court said Israel has the right to protect the life of its citizens but cannot do so by building a wall outside its borders, on Palestinian land. That is against international law.

Israel threw up the usual smokescreen, claiming that the Court had challenged Israel’s ‘right to defend itself.’ And, naturally, the Israel lobby accused the judges of anti-Israel bias.

But it was good to see that mainstream media were generally uneasy about branding the World Court a cove of anti-semitism. Nevertheless, the opinion-makers managed to find the ‘right balance’ – by reminding readers/viewers/listeners that ‘the wall has reduced the number of terrorist attacks on Israel.’ As if that were the issue.

Like all good mainstream journalists, they avoided the obvious: Why doesn’t Israel build its ‘fence’ along the 1967 border? and, If Israel had a plausible defense for the wall, why did it boycott the World Court hearings?

The World Court opinion (see ‘Press release 2004/28′ half-way down the
page):
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/iwhats.htm
Read Tanya Reinhart’s analysis on Electronic Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2915.shtml
…and a textbook example of mainstream media disinformation: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Peter_Worthington/2004/0
7/12/536321.html

———————————————————————-

ISRAEL LOBBY UPSET

The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles is upset with Concert 4 Palestine. In a press release, it complains that our ‘clever but devious website’ is ‘one-sided’(!) and serves to ‘aid and abet the forces of terrorism in the Holy Land’.

Dear Wiesenthal Center: we are aiding and abetting the Palestinian people’s legal and human rights, which Israel has trampled on with impunity for decades. If anything, it is your center that is aiding terrorism – for example, by claiming that Palestinian children killed in the Occupied Territories are ‘tragically caught in the crossfire’. Who do you think you are kidding? It is shameful to see the Wiesenthal Center – supposedly a human rights organization – whitewashing the Israeli military’s amply-documented war crimes.

Read the Wiesenthal Center press release: http://www.wiesenthal.org/social/press/pr_item.cfm?ItemID=9432
Facts about Israeli war crimes: http://www.concert4palestine.org/amnesty/

———————————————————————-

SCOTTISH SUPPORT FOR THE CONCERT

Some much better news from Scotland: A member of the Scottish Parliament, Pauline McNeill, likes the idea of a global Concert for Palestine – so much so that she’s introduced a motion calling on the Parliament to officially endorse our campaign. That would be the first ‘institutional endorsement’ of Concert 4 Palestine and, we hope, the first of many. The motion is seconded by 28 members of the 130-member Scottish chamber and should go to a vote soon.

Read more here: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2817.shtml
You can thank Pauline McNeill by writing to: pauline.mcneill.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

———————————————————————-

AMERICAN JEWS AGAINST SHARON

In the US, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace has mounted a campaign with the engaging slogan of ‘Bring the settlers home to Israel’. Its website carries statements by prominent American Jews, including this from Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold, of Harvard University: ‘Unless Israel gives up its settlements and makes peace with its neighbor, I fear that its very future is threatened.’

The alliance supports the unofficial ‘Geneva accord’, signed by Palestinian and Israeli negotiators last year, which calls for a negotiated, two-state solution.

The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace website: http://www.btvshalom.org/ The Geneva accord, as summarized by JAJP: http://www.btvshalom.org/geneva/ga_summary.shtml
Jews for justice:

http://www.concert4palestine.org/jews/