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A Mideast Bond, Stitched of Pain and Healing

Pain and suffering can be great levellers.  Childhood innocence does not so quickly succumb to the ridiculous divisions of ideological barriers. Put the two together and a Palestinian and a Israeli in hospital recovering from horrific injury can be friends.The New York Times has a moving story today:

A Mideast Bond, Stitched of Pain and Healing.

As we enter a new year, and another decade, that is set ot be marked by the intrusion of terror into all our lives, it is good to see there can be hope. Young Marya (she's is Palestinian, from Gaza, paralysed by an Israeli missile) and Orel (he is an Israeli Jew, from Beersheba and, and survived a major brain injury from an Hamas rocket attack) have been drawn together in the most unlikely of ways, but so have their families:   

In a way, a friendship between two wounded children from opposing backgrounds is not that surprising. Neither understands the prolonged fight over land and identity that so divides people here. They are kids. They play.

But for those who have spent time in their presence at Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem, it is almost more powerful to observe their parents, who do understand. They have developed a kinship that defies national struggle.

“The wounds of our children, their pain, our pain, have connected us,” noted Angela Elizarov, Orel’s mother, one recent day as she sat on a bed in the room she shares with her son. Next door is Marya, her 6-year-old brother, Momen, and their father, Hamdi Aman. “Does it matter that he is from Gaza and I am from Beersheba, that he is an Arab and I am a Jew? It has no meaning to me. He sees my child and I see his child.”

Marya's father lost many of his family in the attack that wounded her. He us often asked by religious Jewish volunteers at the hospital how he can live among the people whose army destroyed his family. His answer is clear:

“I have never felt there was a difference among people — Jews, Muslims, Christians — we are all human beings,” he says. “I worked in Israel for years and so did my father. We know that it is not about what you are but who you are. And that is what I have taught my children.”

And the message seems to be heard:

... Asher Franco, an Israeli Jew from Beit Shemesh who has been coming to the hospital for six months for his daughter’s treatments, was a recent visitor. They greeted each other warmly. A manual worker and former combat soldier, he was asked about their friendship.

“I was raised as a complete Zionist rightist,” he said. “The Arabs, we were told, were out to kill us. But I was living in some fantasy. Here in the hospital, all my friends are Arabs.” Ms. Elizarov, Orel’s mother, noted that in places like Alyn Hospital, political tensions do not exist. Then she said, “Do we need to suffer in order to learn that there is no difference between Jews and Arabs?”

I am challenged to get closer to those who suffer, to hear their story, and let it challenge my deepest preconceptions in this new year.

Arab Christians - "The Forgotten Faithful"

A moving piece on Arab Christians in the National Geographic:

Arab Christians — National Geographic Magazine.

The Forgotten Faithful
Followers of Jesus for nearly 2,000 years, native Christians today are disappearing from the land where their faith was born.

Its worth a read to discover the people so many have never heard of, to hear their stories and to realise how complex the problems of the Holy Land are.

.... For anyone living in Israel or the Palestinian territories, stress is the norm. But the 196,500 Palestinian and Israeli Arab Christians, who dropped from 13 percent of the population in 1894 to less than 2 percent today, occupy a uniquely oxygen-starved space between traumatized Israeli Jews and traumatized Palestinian Muslims, whose rising militancy is tied to regional Islamist movements that sometimes target Arab Christians. In the past decade, "the situation for Arab Christians has gone rapidly downhill," says Razek Siriani, a frank and lively man in his 40s who works for the Middle East Council of Churches in Aleppo, Syria. "We're completely outnumbered and surrounded by angry voices," he says. Western Christians have made matters worse, he argues, echoing a sentiment expressed by many Arab Christians. "It's because of what Christians in the West, led by the U.S., have been doing in the East," he says, ticking off the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. support for Israel, and the threats of "regime change" by the Bush Administration. "To many Muslims, especially the fanatics, this looks like the Crusades all over again, a war against Islam waged by Christianity. Because we're Christians, they see us as the enemy too. It's guilt by association." ...

A step towards Peace

With the Pope doing some importance confidence building in the Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, King Abdullah of Jordan having just been to Washington, and President Obama planning his three days Peace Building mission in early June, Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel heads to the US this week.

Before I turn my mind to things local ( Seeking Peace in Luton -- and Multicultural UK  ), on which more soon, I wanted to make my plea for whoever might read this, that he hear and be heard. I work on the basis that what happen in the Middle East impacts us here in Luton, and what happens here can make a difference there. That is Glocal thought  ( Global, Local = Glocal ).

King Abdullah has been making some strong statements in an interview with the Times. ( 

King Abdullah: 'This is not a two-state solution, it is a 57-state solution' )  with a report here (  Netanyahu meeting with Obama decides Mid-East’s future, says Abdullah ).

On the Pope's visit: 

"I said to His Holiness that this is the right time. You’re coming here on a spiritual pilgrimage with a message of peace … as a signal of hope for what we’re planning to do on the political aspect. It is all part of one major effort. This is a critical crossroads that we need to take advantage of."

And on the need for action now:

We are sick and tired of the process. We are talking about direct negotiations. That is a major point. We are approaching this in a regional context. You could say through the Arab peace proposal. The Americans see this as we do and I think the Europeans.

What we are talking about is not Israelis and Palestinians sitting at the table, but Israelis sitting with Palestinians, Israelis sitting with Syrians, Israelis sitting with Lebanese. And with the Arabs and the Muslim world lined up to open direct negotiations with Israelis at the same time. So it’s the work that needs to be done over the next couple of months that has a regional answer to this — that is not a two-state solution, it is a 57-state solution.

That is the tipping point that shakes up Israeli politicians and the Israeli public. Do you want to stay Fortress Israel for the next ten years? The calamity that that would bring to all of us, including the West? This has become a global problem. We are saying to the Israelis that this is an issue that is far bigger than you Israelis and the Palestinians. This is where I think the Obama Administration gets it. I am very, very concerned about having a conference in six months' time, and another one in a year’s time, that doesn’t work. I think we’re going to have to do a lot of shuttle diplomacy, get people to a table in the next couple of months to get a solution.

And if there is no movement:

We’re going to have a war. Leading up to the Lebanese war, I said there was going to be a conflict with Israel. I said it four or five months before. I said it would happen either in Lebanon or Gaza. It was Lebanon. In November, I said there would be another war in Lebanon or Gaza. I thought it would happen when Obama was in office but was surprised by it happening a month earlier. If we delay our peace negotiations, then there’s going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12 to 18 months — as sure as the other conflicts happened.

So that’s the alternative — to have another round of war, and death and destruction. But its implications now resonate far beyond the Middle East region. There are other challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have a lot more on our plate to deal with. If the call is in May that this is not the right time or we are not interested, then the world is going to be sucked into another conflict in the Middle East.

And on Jerusalem:

It is not an international problem, it is an international solution. Jerusalem unfortunately has been a symbol of conflict for so many centuries. From the start of this new century what we desperately need is for Jerusalem to become a symbol of hope. How do you encourage the three monotheistic religions to make Jerusalem into a pillar for the future of this century? I am sensing a lot more maturity and understanding in these troubled times of cultural and religious suspicions that Jerusalem could be a binder that we need.

This is the sort of thinking that is needed. And that is certainly the Biblical hope - a city that is a model of Peace, a city hosting a Banquest for all nations. 

Goals for a visit to the Holy Land!  I posted the other day on what he needs to aim for on this trip. By all accounts he has done well so far. Next step Israel.

On the Presidents three days Peace Building mission: Obama: Making a bold bid for peace?

Goals for a visit to the Holy Land!

Time suggested this morning Five Things the Pope Must Do on His Mideast Visit:

The weeklong visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories that begins Friday presents the most challenging and highly charged foreign mission to date for the 82-year-old Pope. With every step he takes and word he utters on this fragile land, the stakes are extra large for Benedict. He will indeed get to pray at Christianity's ancient holy sites, but success will by gauged along five very current objectives as complex as the region's troubled history.

They are:
1. Repair his own image.
2. Bridge Civilisations
3. Reassure the Jews
4. Push Peace in the Middle east
5. Don't forget the Christians

That seems like a pretty full agenda. Since he has arrived these two reports  suggests he is on track:

Pope Says He Has ‘Deep Respect’ for Muslims   In the NYT quotes him meeting most in one small soundbyte:

“Friends, unlike the pilgrims of old, I do not come bearing gifts or offerings .... I come simply with an intention, a hope: to pray for the precious gift of unity and peace, most specifically for the Middle East.”

And in the Times : Pope says Church can help bring peace to Middle East

“[This visit] gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community". He added: “Religious freedom is, of course, a fundamental human right, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of every man and woman will come to be increasingly affirmed and defended, not only throughout the Middle East, but in every part of the world. “I come to Jordan as a pilgrim, to venerate holy places that have played such an important part in some of the key events of biblical history."
 

If he manages to avoid any more of the messes that have rather littered the way since he became Pope, the Pope can build a lot of confidence. A shallow feel-good factor is helpful; some gestures that bring a deep sense of trust and engagement would be invaluable.    

Questions for a Jewish State?

Some key things have been going on regarding Israel, Palestine and the future of peace negotiations in the past couple fo weeks.

The Palestine Chronicle reported in mid April:  Israel Wants Recognition as 'Jewish State  Basically Israeli Prime Minister had told President Obama's envoy to the region that for peace to be possible:

"Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognize Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples." 

Benjamin Netanyahu repeated that this past Monday: : Israel: Recognition of 'Jewish state' is crucial was in the Jerusalem Post.

The New York Times quickly reported Palestinian Authority President as dismissing the idea: Abbas Rejects Calling Israel a Jewish State . 

“I do not accept it,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech in Ramallah, in the West Bank. “It is not my job to give a description of the state. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic — it is none of my business,”

Some have called this a negotiating position to persuade Israel to grant a Palestinian State, but it is more than that. It touches the core of what Israel is, and in doing so the heart of the Palestinians objection to Netanyahu's request. The issue is not if Israel should exist, but what sort of nation it is:

In an attempt to bolster the Palestinian argument, Mr. Erekat on Monday produced a copy of a letter signed by President Harry S. Truman on May 14, 1948. In its original form, it recognizes the provisional government of the new Jewish state, but the typed words “Jewish state” in the second paragraph have been crossed out and replaced with the handwritten “State of Israel.”

Shlomo Avineri, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Mr. Erekat was misinterpreting the American president’s intention. According to Mr. Avineri, the Truman letter had been prepared hours before Israel declared its independence, before the new country had chosen its name.

It was later corrected by a Truman adviser, Clark M. Clifford, after the declaration of independence in order to call the country by its name, not to deny its Jewish character, Mr. Avineri said.

The Palestinian position is further outlined here in the Palestine Monitor:  Recognizing the Jewish State of Israel.  Noting that Israel had been the one who gained most out of the latest Annapolis negotiations, they expressed suprise that Israel was so oposed to the Annapolis, except that: 

... This time however, a new word has been added to the mix – the state of Israel is to be a Jewish one. Only after first recognizing the ‘nature’ of Israel’s state can Palestinians return to the struggle for their recognition in any sense.

To those unfamiliar with the conflict or the numerous attempts at its resolution, the idea of recognizing Israel as a Jewish State seems uncontroversial, even logical. Israel is seen, at home and abroad, as a home for Jews and a place where they enjoy universal citizenship. ‘What is wrong with recognizing that?’ people ask

A much better question to ask is, ‘Hasn’t the Palestinian leadership, through the PLO, already recognized Israel’s right to exist for fifteen years? If so, why should they now be demanded to recognize a specific nature of the state?’

What should Israel be:  "a homeland for the Jewish people" or a "Jewish state"?

The issue has been going on since the emergence of Zionism and the idea of a state for the Jews in the context of the British Balfour Declaration of 1917. This was accepted by the League of Nations which adopted the British Mandate of Palestine after World War I, which was "in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."  (as quoted from Israel - Wikipedia) The complexities of the discussion are summarised in wikipedia's  Homeland for the Jewish People article. In the end it is not just about whether the Jewish nation is a good thing, but then what it is that constitutes Jewishness?  Is it primarily religious, ethnic or cultural. 

(A quick note on Wikipedia's reliability in such a controversial topic. This is often questioned, as well as its editorial policy; my simple answer is that wikipedia is what its contributors make it, and if you feel left out, get in there and change it!  If the subject is a contested one then the alternative views will be apparent in the "discussion" area, accessed via a tab above the article, and next to the edit tab. I will always have a look there if I have a question.)

It has primarily been the  "a homeland for the Jewish people" though always tending to the "Jewish state". That concept of recognition of it as a Jewish state which has always been there but usually unspoken, has now entered the realm of negotiation with the Palestinians and wider community of Arab nations.

The question comes down to who belongs there, and on what basis?  Of a population of about 7.4 million people, of which approximately 5.57 million / 75% belong to the majority Jewish ethnoreligious group. Arabs constitute about 20%; 82% being Muslim, 9% Christian and 9% Druze. The position of the Arab-Israelis (though only 15% would self-identify by that name, nearly half preferring Arab Palestinians). At the moment these are citizens, but what would become of the place of the Arab, whether Muslim or Christian or Druze, in a Jewish state? The issues become even more critical when the position of the other categories of Arabs who do not have Israeli citizenship: Palestininan residents of occupied East Jerusalem (in Israel but with no Isreali citizenship); Palestinian residents of the occupied territories; and finally Palestinian refugees from Israel living in the occupied territories or abroad. The Palestinian Monitor article above briefly looks at the lot of each.    

Two years ago ago Avraham Burg, former Knesset speaker and former head of the Jewish Agency, wrote in Haaretz:  "to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. It's dynamite."   ( Burg: Defining Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end)
He later retracted the statement, but his earlier and more recent statements have been as critical. He spoke out importantly  during Israel's invasion of Gaza earlier this year: Can the Jewish People Survive Without an Enemy?  challenging  the way that "the central defining metaphor for Israel remains the Holocaust, and to move on it is crucial that they  break the power of that metaphor." I commented on it here.

A few months later the issue came up at the Annapolis Peace Conference, when the two state solution was first formally discussed by Israel and the Palestinians. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert demanded that the Palestinian "accept Israel's permanent existence as a Jewish state."

 Daniel Pipes, US conservative commentator, wrote at the time   Accept Israel as the Jewish State?

Raising this topic has the virtue of finally focusing attention on what is the central topic in the Arab-Israeli conflict – Zionism, the Jewish nationalist movement, a topic that typically gets ignored in the hubbub of negotiations. Since nearly the birth of the state, these have focused on the intricacies of such subsidiary issues as borders, troop placements, armaments and arms control, sanctities, natural resources, residential rights, diplomatic representation, and foreign relations.  ...

... Arab recognition of Israel's Jewish nature must have top diplomatic priority. Until the Palestinians formally accept Zionism, then follow up by ceasing all their various strategies to eliminate Israel, negotiations should be halted and not restarted. Until then, there is nothing to talk about.
 

The position of the Arab Israeli's has always been in question, but has in recent years been under attack.  An article in Haaretz in March 2007 looks at one major step on the way to a Jewish State: A racist Jewish state. It begins:

Every day the Knesset has the option of passing laws that will advance Israel as a democratic Jewish state or turn it into a racist Jewish state. There is a very thin line between the two. This week, the line was crossed. If the Knesset legal counselor did not consider the bill entitled "the Jewish National Fund Law" as sufficiently racist to keep it off the agenda, it is hard to imagine what legislation she will consider racist.

The Israeli Lands Commission had been prohibited from discriminating against Arab citizens in land allocation. That changed in March 2007 when Members of Knesset voted to allow discrimation against Arabs:

In 1995 the Supreme Court rescued the state from callously discriminating against its Arab citizens through the Ka'adan case, which prohibited the Israel Lands Administration from discriminating against non-Jews by leasing land through the Jewish Agency. Since then the attorney general has stated that such discrimination is unacceptable - also when it is carried out through the Jewish National Fund. The MKs were unable to accept this egalitarian ruling, and on Wednesday a large majority of 65 voted in favor of a preliminary reading permitting such discrimination.

There has been some modification of this policy to soften its edges ( see Jewish National Fund ) it seems to remains the case that the JNF retains land for Jewish citizens.

Now following the recent elections the new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called for a loyalty oath to be administered to all citizens, including Arabs. Israel's foreign minister refuses to ease harsh tones  This will place them under enormous pressure.   What will become of those who do not sign?  In the future will Arabs be consigned to the new Palestinian State, leaving the Jewish state to its own future?  And when does that constitute a step from racism to ethnic cleansing? While I reject the use of the big words like ethnic cleansing and even more, genocide in popular speak, we must never loose sight of the reality and real possibility.

It was with all this going on that the recent UN Conference on Racism was boycotted by Israel and the US. I mentioned that here: Untold Stories: Past, Present and Future.   That conference concluded and the Palestinian view is here: UN Meeting Adopts Anti-Racism Declaration.  Its a shame that with real issues to be discussed some of the nations that need to be at the table are unable to face criticism of their policies. In the light of the above we have a long way to go.  

I still believe that however  idealistic it may be, a one state solution is the only peaceful and just answer.  So does  Antony Lerman in the Guardian this week:   Israel-Palestine is already a de facto single state.

So, what does reconciliation look like?  And how do we get there?

Untold Stories: Past, Present and Future

Silly business going on in regard to the UN conference on racism, with the US, Germany, Australia and others boycotting, Britain and France attending, and the President of Iran the only national leader so far scheduled to speak.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Boycott-hit racism forum to open.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said she was "shocked and deeply disappointed" by the boycotts."A handful of states have permitted one or two issues to dominate their approach to this issue, allowing them to outweigh the concerns of numerous groups of people that suffer racism and similar forms of intolerance," AFP news agency quoted her as saying.

The UN's first conference on racism in the South African city of Durban eight years ago was marred by anti-Semitic comments from some non-governmental organisations. There was also an unsuccessful attempt by some states to equate Zionism with racism.

Now, many Western countries are uncomfortable with the address by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the only major leader to accept an invitation to the forum.

The Durban Review Conference, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, 20-24 April 2009,, will evaluate progress towards the goals set by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Call Zionism racism or what you will, its still a nationalism and all nationalism tends to evil, and the treatment of Palestinians in Israel and in the occupied territories / Palestine is unjust and at times involves the contravention of human rights. International standoffs like this is what you get when one nation is not held to account for its wrong by other powerful nations. Everything gets distorted, and places where truth telling and even answers might take place become a farce. 

 

Holocaust Rememberance day  (which is different to Holocaust Memorial Day, and the main occasion when the Jewish community and Israel remember the Shoah) starts at 6pm today. Once again, lest it be said that ReconciliationTalk is biased, let me say very clearly, the Jews have suffered. Holocaust denial is no answer. The stories need to be told and honoured by all.

The NYT marks that with  a story of stories being told of the slaughter of Jews in the Soviet Union from 1941. New Looks at the Fields of Death for Jews and ther are links to Yad Vashems page on those stories. The Untold Stories  As ever they are sadness itself.

The stories need to be told, whether those of the past or the present, and we need international understanding to prevent stories in the future. This UN conference is surely such an opportunity.  I am saddened that Barack Obama has not been able to see a way forward.

I ned with the quotation one hits as you surf around the YadVashem site:

“Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe" (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5)

What hope for peace in the Holy Land?

With Israeli parties still seeking to form a  coalition, the real issue seems to be, what will be the impact of a government that is further to the right than we have yet known in Israels history? 

Open Democracy look at the trend:  Israel’s rightward shift: a history of the present  and tend to despair at the hopes for peace.

Meanwhile the ceasefire in Gaza is not resolved, and the volume of words over war crimes are increasing, with Amnesty now accusing both sides of abuse of foreign supplied weapons and calling for a halt to arms supply.  Israel-Hamas arms embargo urged

Ben White in a column in the Guardian on Friday reported on what has been happening on the West Bank while eyes have been diverted. The real Israel-Palestine story is in the West Bank.  Arrests of non violent demonstrators against the separation wall,  further restrictions on Palestinian movement, and seizing of a large area of Palestinian land near Bethlehem to expand the settlement.

He suggests that any hope for a two state solution is gone:

...  now the two-state solution has completed its progression from worthy (and often disingenuous) aim to meaningless slogan, concealing Israel's absorption of all Palestine/Israel and confinement of the Palestinians into enclaves.

The fact that the West Bank reality means the end of the two-state paradigm has started to be picked up by mainstream, liberal commentators in the US, in the wake of the Israeli elections. Juan Cole, the history professor and blogger, recently pointed out that there are now only three options left for Palestine/Israel: "apartheid", "expulsion", or "one state".

The path of the wall,, and the number of Palestinians it directly and indirectly affects, continues to make a mockery of any plan for Palestinian statehood. Jayyous is just one example of the way in which the Israeli-planned, fenced-in Palestinian "state-lets" are at odds with the stated intention of the quartet and so many others, of two viable states, "side by side". As the World Bank pointed out (pdf), land colonisation is not conducive to economic prosperity or basic independence.

In occupied East Jerusalem meanwhile, Israel has continued its process of Judaisation, enforced through bureaucracy and bulldozers. The latest tightening of the noose in Ar-Ram is one example of where Palestinian Jerusalemites are at risk of losing their residency status, victims of what is politely known as the "demographic battle".

It is impossible to imagine Palestinians accepting a "state" shaped by the contours of Israel's wall, disconnected not only from East Jerusalem but even from parts of itself. Yet this is the essence of the "solution" being advanced by Israeli leaders across party lines. For a real sense of where the conflict is heading, look to the West Bank, not just Gaza.

His reference to an article by Juan Cole is worth reading: Right Wing Sweeps Israel; Racialist Avigdor Lieberman Kingmaker Two State Solution Dead, Challenge to Obama

What hope for peace?

The Wounds of Gaza

I have read - and seen - some awful stuff about what happened in Gaza but this is the worst so far. Two UK doctors who made it into Gaza during the bombing and assault record their medical and other observations in The Lancet website. 

The Wounds of Gaza | The Lancet Global Health Network.

The wounds of Gaza are deep and multi-layered. Are we talking about the Khan Younis massacre of 5,000  in 1956 or the execution  of 35,000 prisoners of war by Israel in 1967? Yet more wounds of the First Intifada, when civil disobedience by an occupied people against the occupiers resulted in massive wounded and hundreds dead?  We also cannot discount the 5,420 wounded in southern Gaza alone since 2000. Hence what we are referring to below are only that of the invasion as of 27 December 2008,

Over the period of 27 December 2008 to the ceasefire of 18 Jan 2009, it was estimated that a million and a half tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza Strip. Gaza is 25 miles by 5 miles and home to 1.5 million people. This makes it the most crowded area in the whole world. Prior to this Gaza has been completely blockaded and starved for 50 days.  In fact since the Palestinian election Gaza has been under total or partial blockade for several years.

On the first day of the invasion, 250 persons were killed.  Every single police station in Gaza was bombed killing large numbers of police officers. Having wiped out the police force attention was turned to non government targets.  Gaza was bombed from the air by F16 and Apache helicopters,  shelled from the sea by Israeli gunboats and from the land by tank artillery. Many schools were reduced to rubble,  including the American School of Gaza, 40 mosques, hospitals, UN buildings, and of course 21,000 homes, 4,000 of which were demolished completely. It is estimated that 100,000 people are now homeless.

The report details aspects of the use of phosphorus bombs, with a form of phosphorus that remains until moved, when it bursts into flame; cluster bombs; depleted uranium; fuel air explosives; and critically in a note following the main article the apparent use of tungsten which is highly carcinogenic.

[Spotted on Ben Whites blog:  Report from Gaza on Lancet website. Some of Ben's earlier posts are shocking too but this scores for its clinical precision.]

Just out in the LA Times is In Gaza town, a bitter aftermath looking a number of apparent war crimes. The BBC's Panorama programme at the beginning of this week (repalys in BBC iPlayer here must be seen). I wept throughout it.

Report earlier in the week indicated that: Palestinians Press for War Crimes Inquiry on Gaza . 

For the sake of all, not least Israel, these things must be investigated properly. They must be dealt with. That is, if they want peace. To be honest I sometimes doubt that. 

Update on Phil Rizk; the fruit and the cost of non-violent protest

Two updates on Phil Rizk from Christianity Today's blog.

One I missed on Wednesday: Philip Rizk freed in Egypt.

And one this morning: Update: Philip Rizk Describes His Detainment

Besides these and other articles based on the same interviews, there is a good article here that seeks to anayse the story:  Widespread critique of Egypt for the arrest of the German-Egyptian humanitarian activist Philip Rizk.

I quote from that article:

Philip organized his march with a group of only 14 young people. His arrest has garnered attention for his march that he would never have achieved if he had not been arrested. His arrest has also resulted in discussions about humanitarian aid to Gaza and human rights in Egypt that would not have happened without his arrest. Egyptian security authorities have thus done his case a great favor that in all likelihood was completely unintended.

The story shows the poor calculations and responses of the Egyptian authorities concerning the effects of hampering activities that many people in and outside Egypt sympathize with. Not or insufficiently considering the consequences of media reporting in the West results in Egypt's poor image in the West. That is a shame and is also something that is not needed. A lot of the reporting about the arrest of Philip Rizk was highly emotional and often not accurate or lacking context. Egyptian authorities could have avoided a lot of this negative media fall-out by immediately providing the official reasons for Philip's arrest. They could also have responded immediately with information about government aid to Gaza and why they are so cautious about private aid to Gaza. Instead the authorities and most Egyptian media outlets chose to remain silent, thus making them co-responsible for the negative reporting that we have now seen about Egypt.

If Egypt wants to avoid negative publicity as many officials say they do, then they should consider changing the criminal procedures act, providing relatives of people who are arrested with reasons for their arrest and regulating aid from non-government initiatives, not stopping citizens from seeking humanitarian support for Gaza.

Phil is committed to non-violent protest. He just made a documentary about non-violent protest by Palestinians. He was protesting non-violently about Gaza, and was arrested for it. Thousands have responded and shown their solidarity on the web, by email and letters, and many have joined demonstrations outside embassiest. It seems to me that this is a wonderful example of the power of simple actions to achieve big ends. Peaceful action is so much less costly than war in terms of economics and lives. Its cost though is that which Phil paid.

Asking questions about the abduction of Phil Rizk

Can I encourage all UK citizens to use the means open to them to protest the abduction of Phil Rizk by the Egyptian State Security police. (see my previous two posts for details)

You can ask your MP (Member of parliament) to draw a matter to the attention of and ask a question of a government minister, in this case the Foreign Secretary. If you do that they should forward the question to the minister, who if they get enough people doing that will have to take the matter to the ambassador of the nation concerned.  Your MP should write back to you, and will also have the responsibility of writing back to you when they get a reply from the minister. That bit can take time, but you can be sure that the government will have heard and hopefully do something.

MP's can only take up issues for their constituents.  If you are not sure who your MP is, search here - all you need is a postcode.  Make sure you include your name and postal address. You will need to be on the electoral register, which you should be if you have lived there since last September. 

My own letter included:

Dear ....

I would like to ask you to ask the Foreign Secretary to investigate and question the Egyptian Ambassador about the unlawful abduction of Philip Rizk by the Egyptian State Security Police.

Philip Rizk is a German – Egyptian citizen, a journalist and postgraduate student living in Egypt, and was arrested along with others on this last Saturday 7th February evening while leading a march in support of Gaza. As his fellow marchers were released, Philip was rushed pushed into a van and driven away at speed by Egyptian State Security. They are now holding him, and have since searched the family’s flat without warrant, and apparently sought to abduct his father.

Philip is an activist committed to non-violent resistance, and did not commit any other crime than being a passionate supporter of the human rights of the Palestinian people. He recently lived in Gaza for two years, and worked as project officer for the British based Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. No longer with that organisation he has remained in close touch with the people of Gaza and during the assault on Gaza wrote movingly in his blog Tabula Gaza of the suffering of people there, people he knew. He has been frustrated at the continued lack of international action in recent weeks, seeing how even the provision of international aid has become a political football, and also discontented at the stance of the Egyptian government. He recently completed a short documentary, "This Palestinian Life”, telling stories of lives of people from both the West Bank and Gaza.

The most up to date information is on a Facebook group,  Support and Prayer for the Safe Release of Philip Rizk. You can access it without being a member of facebook. Rizk's friend Ben White (who writes occasionally in the Guardian and New Statesman) is also compiling quite a lot of updated info on his blog.

While Rizk is not a UK citizen he carries a German passport, and is known to many in the UK. His abduction means one less informed voice for a region that needs all the truth tellers it can find.

Thank you so much for your help,

Peter Adams

Feel free to use my words ... but remember, if you use your own words, make sure you ask your MP to "to ask the Foreign Secretary to investigate and question the Egyptian Ambassador"

US citizens or others will need to find the best mechanism in their political system.