ONCERT 4 PALESTINE NEWSLETTER
#1, JULY 21, 2004
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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
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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
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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/
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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
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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/
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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
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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/
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