winter09/10 palestine NEWS 1 £1.50 / €2.00 ISSN 1477-5808 Winter 2009/10 The world says... INSIDE: PSC/Viva Palestina Netanyahu’s freeze Who profits? Homestay holidays convoy arrives Mustafa Barghouti Chris Cox Polly Basak page 5 page 8 page 10 page 16 Palestine Solidarity Campaign Box BM PSA London WC1N 3XX tel 020 7700 6192 email [email protected] web www.palestinecampaign.org 2 palestine NEWS winter09/10 Contents 3 Ten Years of intifada and solidarity Betty Hunter reflects on what a mass movement can achieve 4 Amongst the ruins Victoria Brittain reports on the destruction and trauma in Gaza 5 Breaking the siege! The PSC/Viva Palestina convoy’s heroic journey 6 Farmers vs bullets Eva Bartlett talks to Gazan farmers driven from their land 7 Gaza news Egypt’s underground tunnel, Livni arrest warrant, Amnesty report 8 Netanyahou’s freeze — a new bluff Mustafa Barghouti examines Israel’s attempts at mass deception Cover photo: “Free Gaza” 10 Who profits from the occupation? written in candles in Bern Chris Cox investigates who is making money from misery Credit: Codepink 12 Armageddon — straight ahead Rabbi Arik Ascherman relates his horror at events in Sheikh Jarrah ISSN 1477 - 5808 13 An unfair fight Hatem Abu Ahmad on inequality before the law in Jerusalem Also in this issue... 14 Christian soft Zionism page 25 Bernard Kilroy looks into a common Christian mindset 15 Workers’ rights in the Jordan Valley Chris Cox reports on a battle for fair treatment 16 Homestay holidays — a great way to visit Polly Basak describes staying in a Palestinian home 17 The Exodus myth de-bunked Raymond Deane reviews Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People 18 Lessons in citizenship John Yandell assesses PSC’s invaluable resource for schools A bereaved Gaza artist expresses 19 Trade union links his grief in paint Nablus firefighters in the UK, British trade unionists in Palestine 20 Campus watch Check out Sharen Green reports on the case of Berlanty Azzam and other university news our new improved 21 BDS — a key strategy website Momentous successes achieved by the boycott campaign 22 In Brief Get Lowkey in the charts, no power for Palestinians, Gaza tunnel deaths, censorship, human rights award, and more… 26 Mobilising support nationwide Members support the convoy, lobby supermarkets, host talks, and more… 28 Arts and Reviews An extraordinary embroidered dress, Rachel Shabi’s Not the Enemy – Israel’s Jews from Arab Lands, Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza, Susan Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin, Peter Mortimer’s Camp Shatila, the Jerusalem Underground Project Visit our website and keep up palestine NEWS Palestine Solidarity Campaign to date on issues surrounding A Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) publication. Palestine. PSC’s website provides Campaigning against the oppression and PSC does not necessarily agree with all opinions dispossession suffered by the Palestinian people details of all of the latest campaigns expressed in the magazine. and events. It also has daily news E-mail: [email protected] Supporting the rights of the Palestinian updates and extensive searchable people and their struggle to achieve these directories of articles on Palestine. The editorial team rights including the Right of Return in line with The site’s resource section provides Editor: Gill Swain UN resolution 194 many downloadable documents, Deputy editor: Hilary Wise including maps and pictures. There’s Victoria Brittain, Chris Cox, Ben White, Isabelle Promoting Palestinian civil society in the also a comprehensive list of media Humphries, Polly Basak interests of democratic rights and social justice contacts, so each time you hear Design and layout biased reporting on Palestine, you Mulberry Design Opposing Israel’s occupation and its aggression against neighbouring states can promptly complain to the right If you would like to contribute or respond to one people! of the articles in this issue please write to: Opposing anti-semitism and racism, including The Editor, Palestine News, Box BM PSA, the apartheid and Zionist nature of the Israeli www.palestinecampaign.org London WC1N 3XX state winter09/10 EDITORIAL palestine NEWS 3 Ten years of intifada and solidarity By Betty Hunter in support of justice for the Palestinian people. This means being clear about our he triumphant, if delayed, entry objective to change government policy by of the Viva Palestina/Palestine building a mass movement based upon Solidarity Campaign Gaza Convoy our political platform of self determination, Tthrough Rafah has succeeded for sovereignty, right of return of the refugees the third time since the Israelis’ “Operation and Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital. Cast Lead” in breaking the illegal and When the second intifada started in inhumane siege of Gaza. This act of September 2000 the PSC was a small solidarity, together with the International grouping of 350 members, some in Gaza Freedom March, demonstrates how London and others in the admirable much can be achieved by ordinary people branches which had held steadfast during everywhere. It is the huge efforts made by the difficult years, in Brighton, Durham, people around the world in the Gaza and Sheffield and Cardiff. boycott campaigns which show the people Since then a new era of international of Palestine that they are not forgotten. solidarity with the Palestinian cause has The refusal of world leaders, including President Obama, to begun. PSC members and the elected leadership have worked hold the Israeli government to account for its actions, despite the together to build the current broad, mainstream organisation of continual settlement building and the Goldstone report cataloguing almost 4,500 members, over 40 branches and prestigious patrons the war crimes committed in December 2008 and January 2009, from all walks of life who use their influence and their experience contrasts shamefully with the response across the world as in promoting our cause. The support of 18 national trade unions people of conscience, seeing the reality of Israel’s oppression and and our work with them has resulted in a political shift at the TUC aggression, reacted in their millions with demonstrations, student and in the trade union movement similar to the support given to the occupations, educational meetings and boycott campaigns. anti-apartheid movement. The reality of a mass boycott campaign Last autumn the PSC decided to strengthen its previous support moving from settlement goods to all Israeli goods and taking up of the Viva Palestina convoys to make participation and building of divestment and sanctions can be achieved in 2010. the convoy a major part of our work for Palestine this winter. Our PSC has won this significant support because we are a aim was to give practical help to the people of Gaza, to demonstrate membership organisation open to all (except racists) with our political support for them and to use the experience to help accountability. However we value the work of other campaigning build a stronger solidarity movement. groups or whose supporters are a particular milieu and have worked Building on the immense work done at the time of the attacks on with many on events and campaigns where this can be done on a Gaza, branches and individuals have raised awareness and support principled basis. Over the last nine years we have worked with and while raising money for medical, educational and food aid as well as promoted the work of faith and community groups such as BMI, consciousness (see p26). We hope that the convoy and the reports JFJFP, Amos Trust, those with very specific political aims such as which the participants bring back will be an inspiration to many ICAHD UK, BRICUP, those with party political affiliations and many more people around Britain to become actively involved in solidarity others. We hope to continue with this unity in the coming year as the with Palestine and the Palestinian people. situation in Palestine demands absolute commitment to the rights of Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur to the UN, repeated in the Palestinian people. December the conclusion which his predecessor John Dugard In Britain it is now possible to challenge the myth of Israeli came to: namely that as world leaders have reneged on their duty victimhood previously so entrenched in the public consciousness to uphold and implement international law it is up to civil society and PSC has helped create a new awareness of the history of to create movements which will bring change. Falk cited the Palestinian oppression and dispossession. The coming year will international breaking of the Gaza siege and the BDS campaign as be one of increased pressure on the Palestinians to accept new “the only meaningful significant challenges to Israel’s violations of borders, land loss and loss of refugee and sovereignty rights. The its obligations as the Occupying Power of the Gaza Strip under the future of Jerusalem is in jeopardy. PSC has a responsibility to the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Charter.” Palestinian people to build an effective mass solidarity movement The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has always taken seriously and we know that our members and branches will continue to work its responsibility to build the broadest mainstream movement for that end. PSC PATRONS John Austin MP Tony Benn Rodney Bickerstaffe Victoria Brittain Barry Camfi eld Julie Christie Caryl Churchill Jeremy Corbyn MP Bob Crow William Dalrymple Revd Garth Hewitt Dr Ghada Karmi Bruce Kent Lowkey Karma Nabulsi Ilan Pappe Corin Redgrave Keith Sonnet Ahdaf Soueif Baroness Tonge of Kew John Williams Ruth Winters Dr Tony Zahlan Benjamin Zephaniah 4 palestine NEWS REPORTS winter09/10 Amongst the ruins From Victoria Brittain, Gaza City he Erez crossing from Israel into Gaza is almost deserted these days, apart from the many soldiers who guard Tit. In the empty parking lot there’s a tent plastered with pictures of Gilad Shalit, manned by keen advocates of a prisoner swap and a few passing diplomats or aid officials.