[antiwar-van] Letter and Information on Middle East Conflict

[Cathy Woods]

This is a letter I received from Svend Robinson, MP for Burnaby-North,
regarding his recent trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
He can be reached at: Robinson.S at parl.gc.ca. as well as information from
Israeli soldiers who are in increasing numbers stepping forward to publicly
announce their refusal to serve in the occupied territories of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip.

OTTAWA
June 2nd, 2002

Dear Friend,

I am writing in response to your words of support following my visit to Israel
and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last month.  Messages I have received
from across the country, and the many messages from my constituents in
Burnaby-Douglas, have given me strength and renewed determination to continue
speaking out for peace and justice, and in solidarity with both the
Palestinian
people and the many courageous Israelis who have condemned the brutal and
dehumanising policies of the Sharon government.  

I am angered at the failure of the federal Liberal government to take a
strong,
principled stand at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on the Middle
East.  Indeed, it was Canada's shameful vote to oppose the human rights
mission
of Mary Robinson, [one of only two countries on the 53 member Commission to do
so, the other being Guatemala], and subsequent vote to oppose condemnation of
Israel's military aggression that led me to travel to the region myself.  

I have long spoken out for justice for the Palestinian people, as well as
for a
secure Israel in the pre-1967 borders.  During the first intifada in the late
1980's I travelled to the West Bank and Gaza and stayed in a refugee camp in
support of the Palestinians. In 1990, prior to the outbreak of the war in the
Gulf, I travelled to Iraq and while there met with Palestinian leader Arafat. 
I have long been appalled at the squalid conditions in the Palestinian refugee
camps, and the humiliation and despair and hopelessness they must endure. 
Collective punishment, land expropriations, home demolitions, extra-judicial
killings and the daily
humiliation of the Palestinian people were brutally exacerbated by the recent
Israeli military offensive.  Far from making Israel a safer place, Sharon's
policies have had the opposite effect.  Israeli writer Gideon Levy spelled it
out eloquently in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz:

"What is the infrastructure of terrorism if not the occupation, the despair
and
the hatred?...The nation wanted war, and it got what it wanted.  Within a few
days we succeeded in sowing hate in the heart of every Palestinian and it will
not soon fade.  The tens of thousands of Palestinians who are imprisoned in
their homes after an unbearable year and a half, who are frightened by the
sounds of gunfire and the rumbling of the tanks; the bodies that continue
to be
brought to the hospitals without letup; the mass arrests and the general
destruction - these are now generating fierce resentment against us.  The
world, with the exception of the United States in the meantime, is again
treating us like lepers, and public opinion in the Arab states is threatening
to push their leaders into an all-out war.  

This is the balance of blood and terror of this operation, which has not a
thing to be said to its credit, other than it satisfies the feelings of a
public that is terrified by the terrorist attacks."

Canada must take a much stronger stand, including in the following areas:

·Supporting the call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and others for immediate deployment of an
International Protection Force in the Occupied Territories, with Canadian
participation
·Substantial Canadian development aid to assist the Palestinian people to
rebuild their shattered infrastructure 
·Demanding that Israel end its obstruction of the missions of Mary Robinson
and
the UN Inquiry into the violence and possible war crimes in Jenin;
particularly
look into the blocking of ambulances and medical supplies to civilians,
including mothers in labour and those needing kidney dialysis.
·Calling upon Israel to immediately fully respect the 4th Geneva Convention on
the status of civilians in the territories illegally occupied by Israel since
1967; Canada has a legal obligation as a signatory to the Convention to ensure
that it is honoured

·       Speak out strongly against any extension of the "war against
terrorism"
to Iraq, whose people have already suffered terribly from the impact of
economic sanctions

At the root of this conflict is the occupation.  It must end.  Israel must
fully withdraw from all land seized in 1967, including the West Bank, Gaza and
East Jerusalem.  The Palestinian people must have their viable state, and it
must peacefully co-exist with the state of Israel.  The Israeli Barak proposal
of 2000, described by Assaf Oron, one of the organisers of the Israeli
military
refusenik movement as "...pitiful, completely controlled Bantustans in between
our settlements and bypass roads..." was totally unacceptable.  The illegal
settlements must be disbanded and there must be an equitable response to the
refugee issue.  It is shameful that the number of settlers has doubled since
the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. 

Imagine the anguish of Palestinians who watch their homes being demolished as
new settlements are built on their lands.  This is why I confronted the
Israeli
soldiers at the military checkpoint outside Ramallah, why I asserted that they
had no legal authority to block me as they were on Palestinian land.

I was deeply moved by the courage, the anguish and the pain of the
Palestinians
I met, as well as the brave and eloquent Israeli peace activists. 

 In addition to meeting with Palestinian activists such as Dr. Hanan
Ashrawi, I
met in Tel Aviv with Peace Now activists including Members of the Israeli
Knesset, and leaders in the peace movement Gush Shalom, with whom I attended a
large peace rally at Rabin Square. 

The leadership of those military reservists who are refusing to serve in the
Occupied Territories, in the movement Courage to Refuse "Ometz Lesarev"
[www.seruv.org.il] is truly inspiring.  As one of these "refuseniks" recently
wrote before serving a 28 day prison term:  "...I will not serve in your army.
..this army does not exist to bring security to the citizens of Israel; it
exists to guarantee the continuation of the theft of Palestinian land.  As a
Jew, I am repelled by the crimes this militia commits against the Palestinian
people."

Again, I want to thank you for contacting me to voice your support.  It means
so much to me.  And let me assure you that I will continue to speak out on
these fundamental issues of principle, despite the vilification to which I
have
been subjected by many in the media and attacks from some of my own caucus
colleagues.  To those who accuse me of taking sides, I have said that I plead
guilty.  I do take the side of life over death, of peace over war, of justice
over tyranny and dehumanisation, and of the oppressed over
the oppressor.  

Sincerely yours,

Svend J. Robinson, MP
Burnaby-Douglas

******************

 From: http://www.couragetorefuse.org/default.asp?content=action

Dear friend of peace in the Middle East,

The time has come.

After months of intensifying violence, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of
innocent Israelis and Palestinians, Israeli soldiers in increasing numbers are
stepping forward to publicly announce their refusal to serve in the occupied
territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

With their own eyes, they have seen the reality of occupation. They have been
confronted by "commands and directives that had nothing to do with the
security
of our country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over
the Palestinian people." And now these soldiers have declared that they
will no
longer help to "dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people."
[please visit www.seruv.org and www.yesh-gvul.org for more information about
these refusers.]

Their courage, their willingness to speak out publicly at great risk to
themselves and their families, has breathed new life into the Israeli peace
movement. Suddenly, there is hope that a broader, deeper conflagration can be
avoided, to break the cycle of violence and find a way to a secure peace for
both Israelis and Palestinians. But they cannot do it by themselves. They need
the help of Jews from around the world, and especially American Jews. They
need
our voices of support and our material assistance. 

Yes, the time has come. The time has come for us to listen closely to our
consciences, to gather up our courage, and to publicly declare our support for
the growing ranks of military resisters in Israel. Yet even that is not
enough.
It is time for us to publicly declare, with those resisters, that if there is
ever to be security and peace, there must be an Israeli withdrawal from the
Occupied Territories.

We believe that this is a crucial moment, a potential turning point. What we
say now, what we do now, could help transform a "window of opportunity" (in an
otherwise very grim moment) into an unstoppable momentum towards peaceful
co-existence. We choose to stand with those Israelis and Palestinians who
follow a path of peace, and we believe that it is necessary to stand with them
publicly and proudly. We hope you feel the same way.

Our first step was to publish a full page ad in the Chicago Reader on March 14
announcing our campaign, and listing Chicago-area Jews who have joined the
campaign. We will now embark on a series of ads, tours of refusers (in May, in
Chicago, the Midwest, San Francisco and New York City), and direct support for
the refusers. While this campaign has been initiated from Chicago, we fully
plan to support activities around the country by providing high quality ads
and
other resources, and by acting as a "portal" for support of the refusers
movement in Israel. 

For a secure and lasting peace, 

Courage to Refuse - Combatant's Letter 
 From website: http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp

Articles and Links to Middle East Conflict: 
http://www.seruv.org.il/linksEng.asp





www.creativeresistance.ca 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/antiwar-van/attachments/20020602/45e401aa/attachment.html>