Brasil: Fueling Aggression, Financing Apartheid

Yesterday, a rainy day here in Palestine that saw the Al-Ghawi family tent blown over by winds as they continue their months-long protest against their unjust eviction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, marked the one year anniversary of the end of the Israeli war on Gaza. Over 1,400 people were killed, thousands more injured, and the infrastructure left in ruins during the course of Israel's 22-day aggression, nicknamed "Operation Cast Lead".

Of notoriety were Israel's Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - or drones -, such as the Predator and the Heron, which not only carried out reconnaissance missions crucial to Israeli's deadly "targeted strikes", but which were also used for bombing missions in the Strip, resulting in a high number of civilian casualties. Amnesty International claims that many drones dropped bombs containing small, cube-shaped shrapnel that did considerable physical damage on contact; a Syrian film-maker told me this July that he met many Gazans who had limbs amputated from this type of shrapnel, though they were at a considerable distance from the site of bomb impact.

In December, the Israelis signed at $91 million contract with the British RAAF to supply drones in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Increased drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been blamed for hundreds of civilian deaths over the past year. The Heron TP, or Eitan, a newer, beefed-up version of the Heron, which can carry more than a ton of ordnance and which is thought to have been developed for war with Iran, was also "battle-tested" in Operation Cast Lead.
(Brasilian soccer star Ronaldo greets Shimon Peres in Brasil)

Unfortunately, now the Brazilian government has ignored the demands of national and international civil society groups calling for the ban of arms purchases from Israeli defense groups, and instead has signed a deal for $350 million to buy the Heron UAV, the same model used in the Gaza affair, for use by the Brazilian police. In November, Lula met with Israeli President Shimon Peres, accompanied by Israeli Defence officials and Elbit Systems and Israeli Aerospace Industry officials, to discuss the arms purchase. The Brazilian government justified the purchase on the pretext of fighting drug trafficking on its extense borders and gang activity. A few weeks prior to the November visit, Brazilian police claim that a helicopter was shot down over a favela in Rio de Janiero using a "short-range rocket". Poverty, gang wars, and ruthless policing have killed thousands in the Brazilian slums. Brazil will be host to the coming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic games, security for these events being another pretext for the deal.

When the first three UAVs arrive in Brazil by April 2010, they will be the first to be employed by a police force. The implications are worrisome. Not only will drones – possibly armed with bombs – be patrolling the skies over the Amazon, their presence over the favelas reaffirms the military presence in Brazil’s most marginalized communities, to the detriment of more just and lasting social solutions. Furthermore, the mammoth deal not only legitimizes Israel’s criminal use of these instruments of death in the occupation and repression of Palestinians, Brazil’s money lends key support to Israel’s economy. The Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, born in Palestine, has been working with civil society groups and governments around the world to stop funding Israeli Apartheid in Palestine, similar to the South African boycott movement of the 1980s. The BDS movement is such a threat to the Israeli economy that dozens of non-violent Palestinian activists have been the targets of threats, harassment and detention. In September, after meeting with Norwegian officials, Stop the Wall Youth Coordinator and BDS activist Mohammad Othman was detained by the Israelis, though no charge was pressed against him. Citing “ethical concern”, the Norwegian government had recently dropped its plans to invest a pension fund in Elbit Systems, maker of Israeli drones and security cameras for the Apartheid wall. Othman was released on January 13th.

Becoming a world leader requires not just military and economic strength. By militarizing the slums of Rio and supporting the occupation of Palestine, Brazil is losing the moral high ground. Grassroots organizing is key to ending the Israeli occupation and building true solidarity between the peoples of the Global South.

Bill and George (and the world's) Excellent (Haitian) Adventure

At the Ramallah house party Friday night, I was drunk out of my mind when I started getting nauseous. But I assure you it wasn't because I had been wine-tasting and goat cheese-eating all day, followed by a bout of binge-drinking whisky-sours and nursing (another few) bottles of merlot. It was a classic case of politically-motivated nausea. In my case, this sickness sometimes manifests itself as diarrhea, but now I just wanted to blow chunks.

As it happens, a participant in the Friday night revelries was a worker with a generic international NGO that works here in Palestine, helping to "formalize business relations between Israeli and Palestinian companies" (read: "normalization of occupation") and "promote investment by multinationals into Palestine" (read: "exploit that cheap labor pool created by 27% unemployment in the West Bank, and more than 60% in Gaza"). I almost bit a chunk out of my glass listening to her. Trying my best to listen to her, I changed the subject to the "horrfying" (I believe those were my words, with added drama) earthquake in Haiti.

"Oh yes," came the chipper reply,"now we're hoping to open offices there as soon as possible."

And so it begins (or continues). The restructuring of and profiteering from Haiti. As I continued binging, somewhere in Washington, DC, two dudes were hammering out their high school thesis on Haiti's history and restructuring. Published on January 16th in the New York Times, Bill Clinton and George Bush's op-ed spelled out the vision for a new Haiti, in quite open terms.

"It’s a long road to full recovery, but we will not leave the Haitian people to walk it alone. When the rebuilding begins, we will need even more support to make Haiti stronger than ever before: new, better schools; sturdier, more secure buildings that can withstand future natural disasters; solutions that address the inequalities in health care and education; new, diverse industries that create jobs and foster opportunities for greater trade; and development of clean energy.

There are great reasons to hope. For the first time in our lifetimes, Haiti’s government is committed to building a modern economy..."

We won't let Haitians walk alone. Of course not. Unfortunately for the bleeding-heart liberals and neo-con revisionists, Haiti has been trying desperately to walk alone since the Spanish conquista. From the rebellion of the indigenous Taino under Anacoana, to the swords of L'Ouverture and Dessalines, to the image of a crucified Charlemagne Peralt who resisted the U.S. 1915 invasion, to democratically-elected Aristide, Haiti has been trying to be independent. Following the second Aristide coup, the UN had to send in a hugely unpopular and highly expensive pacification force so that black Haiti wouldn't "walk alone."

According to Peter Hallward of the Guardian, "since the late 1970s, relentless neoliberal assault on Haiti's agrarian economy has forced tens of thousands of small farmers into overcrowded urban slums," creating what my nausea-inducing fellow party-goer may deem a cheap labor pool for multinationals. (By the way, Dagan, that Hawaiian Red Dirt shirt you gave me in New York and was subsequently stolen in Egypt - along with my glasses! - was made in Haiti. But thanks anyways. I know, I'm an ungrateful bastard.) Many build their precarious homes on tree-less slopes, tree-less partially due to a crushing UN oil embargo that caused fuel shortages in the 1990s, forcing people to cut down the forest. Haiti rivals the Bahamas for the Western Hemisphere's highest AIDS index.

Bill and George even say that, India aside, Haiti has the most NGOs per capita working on its soil. How is it that so many NGOs haven't been able to stop three-quarters of Haiti's population, prior to the earthquake, from surviving off less that $2 a day? Why has billions in foreign aid been poured into Haiti and yet not much has changed?

Below the mundane and tiresome "humanitarian" goals lie the more nefarious stuff. Naomi Klein reported on a article from the Heritage Foundation, entitled "Things to Remember While Helping Haiti." Some things we have to remember, they say, are:

"While on the ground in Haiti, the U.S. military can also interrupt the nightly flights of cocaine to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from the Venezuelan coast and counter the ongoing efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to destabilize the island of Hispaniola. This U.S. military presence, which should also include a large contingent of U.S. Coast Guard assets, can also prevent any large-scale movement by Haitians to take to the sea in dangerous and rickety watercraft to try to enter the U.S. illegally... Congress should immediately begin work on a package of assistance, trade, and reconstruction efforts needed to put Haiti on its feet and open the way for deep and lasting democratic reforms...The U.S. should implement a strong and vigorous public diplomacy effort to counter the negative propaganda certain to emanate from the Castro-Chavez camp. Such an effort will also demonstrate that the U.S.’s involvement in the Caribbean remains a powerful force for good in the Americas and around the globe."

The Heritage Foundation posted that on January 13th, as Cuban medics were already on the ground and before Haitians scarcely knew what had hit them. Klein mentions that we shouldn't look at articles like this as "conspiracy theory", because it has happened in the past, and she documents it pretty well in "The Shock Doctrine". We'll help the Haitians walk, alright; emaciated and on crutches, but they'll walk. As long as they stop rebelling against racism and imperialism and for independence, we'll continue to provide aid, and we'll make a nice profit in the meanwhile.

I say, yes, let's help Haiti. But it's more than just pouring in money and feeling good about ourselves. We have to fight imperialism and the free-market system that touts 'democracy' without economic justice, that divides us into rich and poor, black and white. Long after the immediate effects of the January 12th earthquake wear off, it seems as though Haiti will be caught up in a much bigger, and potentially more deadly, political and economic earthquake, unless we stand up in solidarity for Haiti's popular struggles for self-determination.

(Ah, enough ranting. I'm going back to play Grand Theft Auto IV, my window into the real world.)

Update: Natasha sent a great video. Thanks!

"La repressión israelí se intensifica"

For all you beautiful Spanish speakers:

"La historia muestra que los movimientos palestinos siempre han intentado la vía pacífica antes que la militar, pero ésta siempre ha sido diezmado por Israel en la ocupación de Palestina."

Artículo en Kaosenlared.net: http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/represion-israeli-contra-movimiento-palestino-intensifica

Israeli Army Enters Ramallah to Arrest International Activist

Once again, the impunity of Israel. As has been mentioned before, the wave of repression against Palestinian activists has increased in the past few months. There was Mohammad Othman, Abdallah Abu Rahma and Jamal Juma, three high profile arrests of Palestinian non violent activists starting in September. There was the killing of the three men in Nablus's city center. The weekly demonstrations against the wall met with repression (yet, in spite of this same repression, more and more villages are forming Popular Committees Against the Wall).

And to top it off, international activists who are supporting these movements are being targeted. On December 18th, the Israeli Occupation Forces arrested Ryan Olander, a Minnesota resident who had been supporting displaced Palestinians who had been evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. Olander has been in prison ever since.

Last night at 3am, the Israeli army entered Ramallah, the principal city in the West Bank, drove with armored tanks into the main square, and arrested the International Solidarity Movement's Media Coordinator, Eva Nováková. Below is a copy of the report sent out this morning:

"Just before 3am the Israeli Army invaded Ramallah. They moved towards the area near Al Mannara. Outside the home of ISM Media Coordinator Eva Nováková, the army occupied rooftops, with several armored personnel carriers in the street. After beating on the door of her apartment, soldiers woke her neighbours, then broke down her door. Ten soldiers entered the flat, demanding identification from Eva and her housemates and questioning all of those present. All those inside the house were questioned about their names and activities. Soldiers also searched the apartment, claiming they were looking for weapons. According to witnesses when Eva was identified the immigration police arrived to take her away. Eva was only allowed to change her clothes in the presence of a soldier. She was then taken from her apartment. Her current whereabouts are unknown. The raid lasted around ten minutes.A local person said 'You think you are safe in your own house, but they come in the night and bring terror into your home'."

The issue of course, is that if Israel is arresting the observers, what does that mean for the Palestinian movement which they are principally trying to undermine? What will come next for a Palestinian non-violence movement struggling to survive in the face of so much repression? (Bono wrote in a NYTimes opinion piece that he is hoping for a 'Palestinian Gandhi' in the new decade.)

Please pass the word on. Come on out and support the Palestinian struggle!

UPDATE (30 minutes later): Eva was just informed that she will be deported today.

Enduring the Freeze in Sheikh Jarrah

Actually, despite the title of this entry, Palestine has had a pretty warm winter. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that while liberal Europeans were suffering through the heavy winter (serves you right!), young couples were basking in the sun on Tel Aviv's Mediterranean beaches. I'd like to say I'm working on my tan, but I'm slacking.

However, if my stuffy nose and watery eyes are proof, nights can be chilly. Especially if you're a Palestinian living in Sheikh Jarrah, in East Jerusalem. A small neighborhood north of the Old City, on the Ramallah-Jerusalem route taken by bus #18, Sheikh Jarrah is ground zero for Israeli expanisionist plans and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. A small group of international solidarity activists huddle around the fire outside the makeshift tent of the Al-Ghawi family, set up and destroyed (five times) since August 2, 2009.


That day, 53 Palestinians from two families (the Al-Ghawi and Hanoun families) were violently evicted from their houses by Torah-wielded and rock-throwing settlers, a number of them of French and American dsecent. Some looked like your regular old stoned out hippies sporting NorthFace backpacks. (Occupation isn't carried out by hulking monsters with big fangs; it's the apparent normality of it that scares you.) Since then, a number of young couples pushing Prospect Park-style super baby carriages have occupied the home, celebrating Hannukah with a giant Menorah on the rooftop, smugly overlooking the Al-Ghawi family across the street, sipping a coffee or tending to their baby. The settlers are watched 24 hours-a-day by private guards and police, while solidarity activists hold their own 24-hour vigil against settler attacks.

Nearby, from outside the Al-Kurd family home, occupied in December of 2009, you can peer through the window and (creepily, I admit) watch the (even creepier) young settlers bed down for the night on mattresses amidst strewn clothes and furniture. It more resembles a college dorm. And that's the salt on the wound: these settlers aren't 'settling' in just yet; they are keeping the Al-Kurd family out until this month's hearing in a Jerusalem court. Meanwhile, Mr. Al-Kurd receives guests in his tent, located inside the compound, and we watch, nonplussed, as the settlers side-step the tent and into the house. It's in your face.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was given to 28 families in 1956, following an agreement between the UN and the Jordanian government, then in control of Jerusalem and the West Bank. The families had been refugees of the earlier 1948 expulsion of Arabs from Palestine. However, after the 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesseth Yisrael Association presented claims that the land was historically Jewish and thus, sought the eviction of the Palestinian families. A secret agreement between the two parties' lawyers allowed for legal recognition of Jewish ownership of the land, and Palestinians as protected tenants, which has used to evict families considered mere "tenants". Other Ottoman-era documents disprove original Jewish ownership.

Historical documents aside, there is open suspicion that settlers want this land in order to form a continuum of Jewish ownership over East Jerusalem, stretching from the Old City to Hebrew University and onto the West Bank settlements, which would effectively cut off the Old City to Northern Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhoods. Evictions, coupled with house demolitions and restriction on building permits for Palestinians, are the tool to complete this plan. Immediately southeast of Sheikh Jarrah, in Wadi Hoz and Silwan and neighboring communities, Palestinians are being silently pushed out.

Though Jerusalem's Palestinians (ironically considered "citizens" of Israel, compared to their West Bank counterparts) comprise of close to 35% of the city's population, only 5-10% of the municipal budget is spent in their areas, according to a confidential EU report published last year.

While settler violence in Sheikh Jarrah - including stonings, knifings, spray painting and harassment - continues unstopped, many Palestinians and activist have been detained. Every Friday, Israeli activists supporting the evicted families try to march to Sheikh Jarrah but are stopped, gassed and cuffed. One international activist, Ryan Olander, from Minnesota, has been in jail for 3 weeks, pending deportation.

Last night, the settlers had friends over for what I imagined to be a delicious Shabbat dinner. It was hard to stomach seeing the happy smiles and warm hugs exchanged at the doorstep, especially as the al-Ghawi family watched this tragicomedy unfold from the street outside their own home. Mr. al-Ghawi's was shaking with rage as he hassled them in Hebrew. Some settlers looked away, while others yelled back and hustled their sleeping babies upstairs.

Just a few days ago, Defense Minister (the title 'Minister' sounds so esteemed; can we use 'Thug'?) Barak declared that building permits for the West Bank settlements will be allowed to be issued, reneging on the administration's proposed 10-month 'freeze', already 6 weeks into effect. This would allow constructions on homes to be built the day the 'freeze' ends. It's all a joke. The West Bank settlements continue to expand and East Jerusalem is slipping away. All the while, Middle East 'envoys' and 'negotiators' express 'dismay' or 'regret' that Israel is continuing its expansionist plan. Tony Blair, a frequent guest at the American Colony Hotel (fitting for Blair, I believe), has only to walk 200 meters from the hotel to see what is really happening every day (and night) in Sheikh Jarrah, but the clown is obviously too busy pulling in the cash from his lecture series.

Meanwhile, for what it's worth, we'll continue to come out, endure the 'freeze' and bear witness to Israel's ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem. You can support by writing a letter to your representatives asking them to demand Israel remove the illegal settlers from the Sheikh Jarrah families' homes. For more information, you can see the International Solidarity Movement's website: www.palsolidarity.org
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