Medea Benjamin's Blog, page 22

Senator Harry Reid and Guns: Time to Take a Stand

Medea Benjamin

When CODEPINK, MoveOn and representatives of other organizations marched into Senator Harry Reid’s DC office on Tuesday, December 18, they wanted a simple answer to a simple question: Does the Senator support a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity clips, such as the legislation proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein and supported by President Obama and Vice President Biden? It would seem like a no-brainer for the Senate Majority Leader to fall in line with the leadership of his party in backing a modest bill that would ban the sale of weapons that are only good for mass murder. Unfortunately, Reid’s senior policy advisor Kasey Gillette was unable to give an answer.

While there is a lot of talk in Democratic circles about Republicans standing in the way of sensible gun laws, a hidden secret is that the Democratic Senator leader from Nevada, who is key to getting gun control legislation passed in this country, has been as pro-gun

as most Republicans.

In the past, Reid has touted the rights of gun owners and eagerly sought the NRA’s endorsements, contributions and praise. In 2004, Reid was one of the rare Democrats to be endorsed by the NRA. In 2009 he sought to please the powerful lobby by supporting a controversial bill to allow gun owners with concealed weapon permits to cross state lines. The legislation, which was vehemently opposed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, fell just two votes short of the 60 votes needed. The NRA, however, was delighted that Reid had supported the bill and allowed it to be brought to the floor for a vote.

In 2010, when Reid was engaged in a bitter re-election campaign against Republican Sharron Angle, the NRA refrained from endorsing, but contributed to Reid’s campaign and reminded voters of his pro-gun record. An NRA letter to its Nevada members touted that Reid “opposed the Obama administration’s interest in reinstating the assault weapons ban, halting momentum; helped pass a law that allows gun owners to carry firearms in national parks; voted against the District of Columbia’s gun ban; voted for legislation to allow pilots in commercial airline cockpits to be armed.” It also noted that Reid was instrumental in passing legislation halting lawsuits that were attempting to hold gun manufacturers and dealers responsible for weapons used in criminal acts.

NRA head Wayne LaPierre called Senator Reid “a true champion of the Second Amendment” and said “no one has been a stronger advocate for responsible gun ownership than him.”

After the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shootings in July 2012, Senator Reid blocked any debate about gun control, insisting that the Senate schedule was “too packed” to spend time on it.

After this latest tragedy at Sandy Hook that left 20 children dead, Reid took a timid step forward, saying it was time to “engage in a meaningful conversation and thoughtful debate about how to change laws and culture that allow violence to grow.” Hinting at a softening of his position, he said that as we discuss how best to protect our nation’s children, “every idea should be on the table.”

But for the gun control advocates in his office on Tuesday, Reid’s faint-hearted call for reform was not nearly enough. With alarm clocks in hand, they said the time for discussion was long past; they wanted action. They said it was time for Senator Reid to stand up to the NRA and to use his leadership to protect our children, not the gun manufacturers.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been making the same demand. “Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough,” he said. “We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership — not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response.”

In a move that seems to heed the call for action, President Obama just appointed Vice President Joe Biden to lead a task force on new gun laws. Senator Dianne Feinstein said she will introduce legislation early next year to ban the sale of new assault weapons, as well as big clips, drums and strips of more than 10 bullets. Even Virginia’s Mark Warner, one of the few staunch pro-gun Senate Democrats, reversed course to back restrictions on assault weapons, declaring that “the status quo is not acceptable anymore.”

With 20 children dead, President Obama insisting that preventing gun violence will be a second-term policy priority, and Harry Reid not facing re-election until 2016, perhaps the Senator will now be willing to stand up to the NRA? The clock is ticking.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of www.codepink.org and www.globalexchange.org. She is author of the recent book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

Why not warmth in Afghan duvets?

by Dr. Linda Sartor

15th December, 2012

Kabul–The Afghan Peace Volunteers are a group of young people in Afghanistan who are committed to learning about and practicing Gandhi’s nonviolence.  Many of them live in a house in Kabul.  I had met this inspiring group when I visited Kabul in the spring of 2011 with an organization based in the USA called Voices for Creative Nonviolence.  In mid-November, I had the opportunity to return to Kabul and spend a month living, working and playing with the group.

Because of rampant corruption in Afghanistan, the Afghan Peace Volunteers believe that donations always come with attachment to special interests and thus they do nothing to raise funds for themselves.  Yet they had voluntarily provided for a sewing course for poor women in Kabul who could come to the house.   Out of this sewing course project grew the idea of paying a living wage to the women for sewing duvets and then giving those duvets away to the very poor in the Kabul area.  Funds for this project go directly to the project, paying for the supplies and the sewing of the duvets.

On the day I rejoined the Afghan Peace Volunteers in Kabul, they were set to distribute 150 duvets to about 50 destitute families in Kabul. What a fun adventure!  I was sitting in the front seat of a taxi behind a truck that was piled high, watching Faiz and Ali grinning as they rode along atop the tall tower of colorful duvets down the dusty, bumpy street.  Tears came to my eyes as I thought of describing this moment in writing.  I hope that I can even capture a fraction of the joyful spirit that I felt.

Ali on top of the pile of duvets on the truck,

with me watching in the background

The day’s adventure began with loading of the duvets.   These are like quilts that are thick, like sleeping bags filled with synthetic wool.  150 duvets turned out to be a very big pile that was challenging to fit on the truck.  The crew piled the duvets layers deep, as high as they could reach.  Then Faiz climbed on top.  Ali climbed partway up and the rest of the crew continued to carry out piles of two or three at a time while Faiz and Ali spread them on top higher and higher.  Once they got that tall pile strapped down they started another the same way and then we were soon off to take the duvets to a house where they would be distributed to some of the poorest people of Kabul.  At least 28 children died last year in Kabul due to the winter cold, so families were very grateful for these gifts.

Unloading the truck was another challenging team effort.  I sat down with mostly burqa-covered women and watched as the men and youth carried the loads into the yard.  The young man of the house we were at spoke with me.  He had had the opportunity to learn English in a program that provided lessons for free.  He had only been able to complete high school level education because his father died and he now needed to take care of his mother and younger sister.  They had two goats and two sheep tethered in the back yard and a few chickens roaming free.  The male goat was quite nasty toward any of the men carrying duvets if they got too close to him, but at one point one of the chickens jumped up and roosted on the goat’s back for a while.  That was very sweet to see.

Once the duvets were stacked in two piles—one pile inside the house as well one that had been stacked outside–a coordinator began reading from the list of families who were to receive them.  He called out their names and the number of duvets they were to receive and the men and boys would carry those back outside the gate and onto the street followed by the women and children who would then bundle them up in whatever way they could so they could carry these large loads on their heads or in their arms.

As we were driving away it was fun to see the women and families walking down the street in this way–the colorful duvets standing out in contrast to the brown colors of the street and the sky all around them.

I was moved by how we can all reach out to one another in the global human family. We can watch a video clip of this duvet project at ‘Y not warmth in Afghan duvets?’

Those interested to find out more about the project can go to http://vcnv.org/the-duvet-project or write to theduvetproject@gmail.com

In addition to her travel as a peacekeeper and citizen diplomat, Dr. Linda Sartor teaches in the Graduate Leadership Program at St. Mary’s College in California and guides vision quest experiences with Rites of Passage (ritesofpassagevisionquest.org).  She was part of a delegation with Voices for Creative Nonviolence (vcnv.org), visiting the Afghan Peace Volunteers in Kabul.

Update from Gaza from David Schmererhorn

By: David Schermerhorn (B-D-S)

It was a very full week in Gaza with several visits each day to farmers, professors, doctors, etc. There was a huge demonstration the day before Abbas went to the UN to seek special State status. Hamas had opposed the move in the past but agreed to support it this time. For the first time there were Fatah flags and pictures of Abbas evident everywhere among the demonstrators – possible harbingers of reconciliation between the two factions.

And everywhere I went the brief war with the Israelis was viewed as a victory by the Palestinians -from apolitical elders to a 7 year old girl who read a poem she had written celebrating the victory. For the first time Palestinian rockets had landed with some regularity and a little more accuracy in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. Score: 6 Israelis dead vs.165 Palestinians plus hundreds wounded. Victory may be in the eye of beholder but for the people of Gaza this was their win.

A few days after I left there was an even larger demonstration marking the 25th Anniversary of Hamas and the return for the first time since childhood of Khaled Meshal, the titular leader of Hamas who survived an Israeli assassination attempt some years ago. In the past he had offered more moderate proposals as the basis of negotiations with Israel than the Gaza leadership proposed. However, now elections are pending for leadership of all the Palestinians. The purported victory by the Gaza Hamas during Operation Pillar of Defense followed by the success at the UN has encouraged a more militant stance by possible contenders in the upcoming political battles. The ever-accommodating positions taken by Abbas with encouragement of Israel and the US have only led to expanding settlements and increasing subjugation of the Palestinians. Ironically the recent rise in Hamas’s fortunes and lowered status of Fatah may encourage reconciliation between the two factions. Israel has already declared that such unification would relegate Fatah to the pariahs of “terrorist states” with dire consequences.

The US continues to defer to Israel in this regard and refuses to hold open talks with Hamas. It even threatens US citizens with criminal charges for dealing directly with the duly elected representatives of Palestinians. In the meantime heads of other states have recently visited Gaza. Ceasefires are negotiated through the Egyptians. Qatar has promised 400 million USD to the people of Gaza. We are becoming marginalized as a credible arbiter in future negotiations over land and refugee issues. The Israelis ignore our appeals for restraint. And we refuse to speak with the most viable segment of the Palestinians. Until we declare a Declaration of Independence from Israel we cannot expect regard or credibility from the Palestinians or from the Arab world.

In the meantime famers are still being shot at a/o killed as they approach the barrier to tend their fields. A group of the Internationals met with a farm family in southern Gaza. A memorial tomb featuring a picture of Vik had a prominent location in their garden.

Their home was a few hundred yards from the barrier fence that had been built by the Israelis. Fields that they had traditionally tended were off limits because of their proximity to the barrier. Under the vague terms of the ceasefire they should be able to tend the land right up to the barrier but reports had been received of attacks on other farmers who had dared approach the barrier. Some of the farmers and internationals approached the fences. IOF Jeeps and other military vehicles quickly scurried to the area opposite us. Some took up firing positions but no shots were fired. Several of the internationals were prepared to approach closer to the fence but were dissuaded by a Palestinian who said that the

Israelis might be reluctant to fire on us for PR reasons, however they were sure

to take revenge of sorts after we were gone. So we stopped about 200 yards off,

waved a salvo of V for Victories and left.

By the time I left Gaza 4 fishing boats had been captured and crews taken briefly to Ashdod. Through Mahfouz Kabariti, President of the Palestine Sailing Federation, I went with Henry Norr on the boat that is being considered by Gaza’s Ark for purchase and refitting.

I first met Mahfouz in 2008 when I reached Gaza 3 times by boat. I was never sure of his official title but he was an outstanding facilitator who managed to provide us with fuel, parts and provisions on each trip. I went to his home for lunch during my latest visit. A bomb that hit an adjoining lot at 2:00 am had blown out all the windows. The blast was so great he thought his house had been hit but no one in his family was hurt.

I noticed 5 Laser sailboats stacked atop each other in his front yard. I had last seen them at dockside in Larnaca, Cyprus where we had hoped to load them onto the deck of the Dignity and take them to Gaza. We were unable to take them and for the next 3 years they languished in Larnaca. Only recently arrangements were made to transport them via Egypt to Gaza. Mahfouz now has the essentials for a Gaza sailing school and has begun classes with the aid of two sailing coaches.

The potential Gaza’s Ark ship is a 24-meter trawler, built in Egypt around 2000 with a V-shaped hull. This is the common length for the larger boats since anything longer triggers more stringent crew and equipment regulations. As with most of the fishing boats it could use a new coat of paint. However, the engine and deck equipment ran smoothly throughout my 10-hour trip. The crew consisted of a captain and 3 deck hands, plus a second captain who would take command when the next shift came aboard in the evening while the fish were off-loaded and the ship was refueled back at dockside.

There is discussion about moving the engine aft towards the stern to provide more storage space. The plan is to load the ship with products generated in Gaza and then attempt to sail into international waters to one or more foreign ports where buyers had been previously found. The Israelis could not credibly stop the ship in the name of security since it would be leaving not approaching Gaza.

Realistically the chance of success is not great since the Israelis would be sure to justify its arrest for lack of an export license or some equally specious assertion. In that event it would become a media opportunity to demonstrate again to the world the continuing efforts by Israel to stifle any trade potentials by the Palestinians as part of their war of attrition.

But judging by the overwhelming UN vote to grant special status to the Palestinians and the appalled reaction to new settlement expansions the world has grown tired of Israel’s continuing intransigence. Only the US, Israel and 7 other nations voted against the UN resolution (including 4 microstates that can barely be found in the Pacific at high tide). The Israelis have announced a policy of “Mowing the Lawn” every few years to cut down weapon potentials by the Palestinians. Each of these efforts is personified by the US’s F-16′s that

destroy their homes, schools and children. The growing outrage against US policies does not need to be encouraged by anti-Islamic videos produced by California crazies when our iconic weaponry delivers death and destruction with blatant disregard to the consequences.

As we approached the 6-mile limit an Israeli boat fired a few shots from about 150 yards, blew its horn and went on its way. Perhaps they saw this grumpy grey haired observer and thought better of it.

There is an Israeli natural gas rig located about 8 miles off shore. When we entered Gaza by boat in 2008 we passed less than a mile from it and could see the structure quite clearly. This time we could get no closer than 3 miles. But it was possible to see outlines of the rig. There are now 3 very large cranes rising from the platform not observed previously. Also a smaller platform that I have no recollection seeing on previous trips. Their efforts have clearly increased which may well explain their ban on fishing boats within miles of its location for security reasons. The real likelihood of horizontal drilling to the larger

natural gas deposits in Gaza is another possible factor in their actions.

Under the terms of the current ceasefire fishing boats are allowed to operate 6 miles

from shore as opposed to the 3-mile limit imposed in recent years. However within the past days there were reports that the old 3-mile limit has been reinstituted.

The trawler I was aboard dragged its nets along the sandy bottom for a couple of hours before hauling it in. The catch was primarily small – 6-8″ – fish collectively known as bream, some shrimp, an occasional small octopus, and a variety of unidentified miscellaneous. In 2008 there were always some bigger fish but more significantly the amount taken with each haul was 5 to 10 times larger. Each take now was greeted more with resignation than jubilation. Clearly the fishery has collapsed. The 20-mile limit provided by the Oslo Agreement must be restored to remedy the situation. Which will take place some time after the last settlement has been removed.

Typical of Palestinian hospitality the crew shared shrimp and a delicious 16” mystery fish that had been cooked on the engine’s exhaust pipe. It would be hard to find a better meal at sea.

The following day I went with Theresa McDermott to see the ruins of the Al Jazeera Club. Dr. Khamis Elessi, head of the Rehab Center at Elwafa Medical Hospital, is on the board of Al Jazeera. I have stayed in touch since meeting him in 2008. The Club is dedicated to working with Disabled Athletes many of whom train to compete in Paralympian events. There are roughly 150 members. The Club had been located on the second floor of a building housing a bank that was the target of a bombing attack.

The Club was totally obliterated. Shards of bicycles, weight machines, treadmills were all that were left. A hole through the floor revealed where the bank had once been located.

Dr. Khamis took us to a nearby soccer field used by the Club. He spoke of fund raising to build a new location for the Club just beyond the field. That way in-door and out-door activities would be located side by side. And there would be no rent. Talk of turning lemons into lemonade…

I suggested he contact Mahfouz, whom he did not know, about the possibility of using the Lasers as part of their activities. I later confirmed with Mahfouz that with minor adjustments the Lasers could be fitted for amputees or those with other disabilities. The two  planned to speak with each other about the possibilities.

After driving 5 hours from Cairo to the border at Rafah the Egyptians would not let us into Gaza. Our “tour Leader” was a 40-year-old Palestinian born in Egypt and currently living in London. She had lost 22 relatives to Israeli attacks over the years and wanted to make a brief return visit.

When the Egyptians rebuffed us after a seven-hour wait at the border she offered to organize a tunnel crossing for those interested. 8 of us agreed immediately. A German from Munich declined saying he had to discuss with his wife first. In any case we switched

cars a couple of times, turned off cell phones and entered a barely hidden tunnel entrance for the crossing. The tunnels are about 2.5 feet wide. I could generally stand up, though banged my head a few times when I should have ducked. Lighting was adequate. Footing pretty good. The walls were braced with various building materials. We were through in 10 to 15 minutes and were plopped into cars that drove quickly away from the entrance.

On my return I went with only one other person. About half way through we were confronted by 3 20-year olds who demanded money. I had already paid the organizer and just pushed past them in my best Leo fashion. When we had almost reached the end our guide called for us to stop and stay close to the wall. A woman in her late 20′s hurried past us on the way to Gaza carrying a small baby.

The drive back to Cairo was the white-knuckle event of the trip. I am convinced our driver (20ish) had never been given the car keys before and decided to make up for lost time. It was only when flocks of sheep or military roadblocks loomed out of the night that we dropped below 150 kilometers (You do the mph math but it was FAAST). I entered some sort of Zen Zone, found my place in the Universe and opened my eyes again at the appropriately named Lotus Hotel in Cairo.

Judging from the news I did well to spend my last Cairo night at the airport. I did stay for a few hours in Tahrir Square for the Matinee but things really picked up that night at the Presidential Palace that is on the way to the airport. Thousands of anti-Marsi protesters surrounded the Palace. Several died.

On the evening of my return to Seattle I joined a group of Palestinian supporters, including a previous shipmate, Kit Kittredge, caroling near Westlake Center. Following the familiar music of Ode To Joy or We Wish You A Merry Christmas, etc. we sang revised verses urging the listeners to Boycott Israeli Products or decry the policies of Apartheid. Again and again our transient audience applauded our message. It was an encouraging response. The tide of opinion is slowly turning but must continually be encouraged.

B-D-S

International Nonviolent Peace Activists Accompany the Farmers at the “BUFFER ZONE” Imposed Unilaterally by Israel

By: Maria del Mar Fernandez

In spite of one of the stipulations of the ceasefire agreement of November 21, 2012 between the Palestinian Government of the Gaza Strip and Israel, in which it was agreed that there would not be  restrictions for farmers to work their land there, and that fishermen could fish up to 6 miles from the coast, the question is that Israel has not respected either of these commitments and has been attacking fishing boats arresting fishermen and destroying boats  and has repeatedly attacked and injured farmers.

That is why, a group of 14 solidarity activists have accompanied today the famers to their lands in Khuza’a, close to Khan Younis in the central Gaza Strip to try to prevent these attacks of occurring and if so, to monitor them.

Before our arrival, the farmers had tried to go to their lands alone by 8.30 a.m. and have told us that they were shot by Israeli soldiers that arrived immediately in tanks, bulldozers and jeeps and prevented them of working.

When we have arrived, we have deployed along the lands to be sowed at 100 meters from the separation fence. We were from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and US and wore yellow and orange coats to advise of our presence.

Shortly after our arrival, Israeli  jeeps have appeared and the soldiers have descended from them,  ordering the farmers and us to abandon the zone immediately. We have replied that we all were unarmed civilians and that according to the Ceasefire Agreement the farmers were exerting their right to work their land. We’ve told them as well the different countries we were from and that we were not going to abandon. They have insisted that we were closer than 100 meters and that we had to go away.  After about half hour exchanging messages, we retired some 10 meters. In the meantime, the farmers were working behind us who were standing between them and the soldiers, with a tractor on which there was also an international accompanying the farmer.  The farmers have sowed their land with wheat seeds.

When today’s work has ended at about 12.30pm, 7.5 dunams (a little less than one Ha) had been sowed and we have all  left with high spirits.

Tomorrow Tuesday, we’ll return there to continue our task of solidarity to farmers.

Israel and Palestine: Who is The Victim and Who Is the Aggressor?

By Ann Wright



The Israeli characterization of themselves as “victims” is refuted by their violent, inhuman and unjust treatment of the Palestinians whom they refer to as the “aggressors.” Indeed, the Israeli government is the true aggressor and the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are the victims.

::::::::

Sometimes the absurdity is more than you can take. I was in Gaza for five days, arriving less than a week after the Israeli military pounding of Gaza that killed 180 and wounded over 1,000 Palestinians. Six Israelis were killed by rockets fired from Gaza during the eight days of conflict.

On TV shows broadcast to a U.S. audience, Israeli officials and supporters in the U.S. such as Alan Dershowitz, said with straight faces while reading from the Israeli government script, that 7 million Israelis were the “victims” and the 1.7 million in Gaza were the “aggressors” in the latest round of large-scale Israeli military attacks on Gaza and the responding rockets fired from Gaza. Many Americans know so little about the conflict that they believe the Palestinians are always the “aggressor’” and that Israel is always the “victim” of unjustified Arab hatred and hostility.

What is seldom mentioned on US television shows is that the “victim” has the biggest military in the region with the most advanced air, land and sea forces, has nuclear weapons (which, by the way, they have never allowed to be inspected) and an annual $3 billion dollar military aid gift from the United States.

The “aggressor” has no air force, no ground force and no naval force, and the various militias in Gaza use primarily $150 rockets made by hand from tubes and propellant smuggled across or under the border with Egypt.

The American audience hears the “victim” relying on the charge that the “aggressor” hides its rockets in civilian areas to justify the incredible disproportionate use of force and the targeting of the “aggressor’s” non-military civilian infrastructure such as civilian government buildings, including virtually all police stations, civilian vehicle depots, and government documentation facilities for travel documents and property deeds and the council of ministers office, as well as schools, and sports fields.

Most Americans don’t realize that the “aggressor’s” land is very small — only 25 miles long and five miles wide, and very densely populated. There is little space where there are no civilians. In fact, virtually the only area with no civilians is the Israeli declared no-go zone, 1,000 meters (3,000 feet or 10 football fields) into Gaza land that has been cleared of homes and agricultural crops to give the Israeli Defense Forces a “kill” zone where anyone who comes into the area is shot.

Many Americans never bother to think how strange it is that the “victim” could have the power to have instituted a land-and-sea blockade on the “aggressor,”  in which the “victim” directly controls access to the “aggressor’s” land on three out of four borders, including the sea, and strongly influences control on the fourth border (Egypt).

The “victim” claims that its blockade of the “aggressor” is simply a means of keeping out weapons from the territory, but the blockade has always included a stark limitation on food and materials allowed into Gaza, and also a ban on almost all exports from the aggressor, crippling the economy, while having no connection to weapons imports.

Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the victim’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, explained the rationale of the blockade: “The idea is to put the ‘Aggressors’ on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”

A 2008 study by the “victim’s” Ministry of Defense of the minimum daily humanitarian food needs of the “aggressor” revealed that the “victim” allowed in to the aggressor’s territory substantially less than the minimum daily amount of food needed by the population.

Among the items the “victim” prohibited being imported into the aggressor’s territory from 2006 until June 2010 were notebooks, cilantro, sage, jam, chocolate, French fries, dried fruit, fabrics, and toys. With the international condemnation of the “victim’s” June 2010 murder of nine international activists on the Freedom Flotilla, the “victim” was forced to allow more products in the “aggressor’s” land.

The “victim” still restricts imports of basic construction materials, despite a shortage of approximately 250 schools and some 71,000 housing units, and restricts travel between the two territories of the “aggressor.”

On the eve of “victim’s” November 2012 military attack on the “aggressor” — Operation Pillar of Defense — the “aggressor’s” population had lower per capita incomes than they did in the 1990s.

The “victim’s” navy keeps the small fishing fleet of the “aggressor” penned in to the shore and regularly wounds if not kills “aggressor” fishermen and steals fishing vessels, using the excuse that weapons may have been brought in by sea, yet not one fisherman has ever been charged with weapons smuggling. The “victim” continues to break the current ceasefire almost daily by shooting at fishermen.

The “victim’s” self-declared formal “no-go” or “kill” zone inside the aggressor’s territory covers more than 3% of the total land area and another 14% within which entry is effectively restricted due to a real risk of gunfire, thereby excluding 35% of the land suitable for farming from use by the aggressor farmers. The “victims” routinely shoot “aggressors” who are not even in the “kill” zone.

The “victim’s” military routinely drives tanks and bulldozers into the “aggressor’s” land, purposefully making deep, destructive ruts in fertile land.

The “victim” has imprisoned 4,700 of the “aggressors” as prisoners, including 300 minors under the age of 18. Most have no charges filed against them. The “aggressor” has no “victims” as prisoners.

While the “victim” repeatedly cites “aggressor” statements that it doesn’t recognize the “victim’s” state, for the past 60 years the “victim’s'” senior governmental leaders have stated unequivocally that they want the “aggressors” eliminated.

In a 1956 Knesset speech, the “victim’s” Prime Minister David Ben Gurion said: “If I believed in miracles, I would pray that Gaza would be washed down into the sea.”

The “victim’s” Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said in 1993: “If only it [Gaza] would just sink into the Sea.” In the victim’s slang, “go to Gaza” means “go to hell.”

The “victim’s” Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai stated: “We must blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure, including roads and water.”

The “victim’s” transport minister and member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, on 11 November 2012 said: “We must detach from Gaza in a civilian manner — electricity, water, food, and fuel — and transition into a policy of deterrence, just like in Southern Lebanon.”

Avi Dichter, the “victim’s” Minister of Home Front Defense said: “There is no other choice, Israel must carry out a formatting action in Gaza, actually format the system and clean it out, the way we did in Judea and Samaria during Operation Defensive Shield.”

A member of the “victim’s” parliament, the Knesset, Michael Ben-Ari says, “Brothers! Beloved soldiers and  commanders — preserve your lives! Don’t give a hoot about Goldstone! There are no innocents in Gaza, don’t let any diplomats who want to look good in the world endanger your lives[;] at any tiniest concern for your lives — Mow them!”

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of the “victim’s” former Chief Rabbi and spiritual leader of the Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has said: “The army has got to learn from the Syrians how to slaughter and crush the enemy.”

Gilad Sharon, the son of the “victim’s” former prime minister Ariel Sharon, in the Jerusalem Post: “The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences.” We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima — the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.” (for references see here.)

The “aggressor” government is cited for refusing to accept the “victim’s” three conditions for talks: that it recognize the “victim,” renounce violence, and agree to accept all agreements previously accepted.

Yet, the “victim” and its main ally, the United States, have refused to recognize an independent state for the “aggressors” with the victim and Washington most recently voting against UN non-member state status for the “aggressor.”

Neither the “victim” nor its ally the United States has renounced violence, and nonviolent protests by the “aggressor” against the “victim’s” occupation have been brutally repressed by the “victim.” When the World Court found the “victim’s” construction of the apartheid wall in the occupied West Bank of the “aggressor” to be in violation of that convention, the “victim” refused to remove it and the United States supported its refusal.

The “victim” signed the Oslo Accords which state that “The two sides view the aggressor’s West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period,” and yet has pursued a violent policy of separating Gaza from the West Bank.

The “aggressor’s” government has indicated on numerous occasions that it was willing to accept an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, along with a truce.

The “victim” claims it can’t trust the “aggressor” government to maintain cease-fires. Yet a study found that from 2000 to 2008, it was the “victim” that “overwhelmingly kills first after a pause in the conflict,” and that this pattern “becomes more pronounced for longer conflict pauses,” with the “victim” unilaterally having interrupted 96% of the periods of nonviolence that lasted longer than a week and 100% of the periods of nonviolence lasting longer than nine days.

In June 2008, a six-month truce was arranged between the “victim” and the “aggressor,” and was broken by the “victim” on the night of Nov. 4-5, 2008. In the next 22 days, the “victim” killed 1,440, wounded more than 5,000 and left homeless 50,000 aggressors. In contrast, 11 “victims” were killed, five by their own military in friendly fire incidents.

In November 2012, a draft proposal for a long-term cease-fire, with mechanisms to ensure compliance, had been agreed to by a negotiator for the “victim” and by the “aggressor’s” deputy foreign minister, and was submitted to Ahmed al-Jabari, the “aggressor’s” militia chief, and to the “victim’s” Israeli security officials for their consideration. Jabari, who had authorized the negotiations, received a copy of the proposal the day he was assassinated by the “victim’s” specific targeting of him through an air strike that destroyed his car and burned him alive.

The Israeli characterization of themselves as “victims” is refuted by their violent, inhuman and unjust treatment of the Palestinians whom they refer to as the “aggressors.” Indeed, the Israeli government is the true aggressor and the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are the victims.

For a list of questions to test your knowledge about Gaza and Israel, please take the “Gaza Quiz” by Stephen Shalom.

Author’s Website: www.voicesofconscience.com

Author’s Bio:

Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia.She has made 4 trips to Gaza, including one week ago following the Israeli 8 day attack on Gaza.  She is the co-author of the book “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.” (www.voicesofconscience.com).

Israel’s Lesson to Palestinians: Build More Rockets?

Medea Benjamin

Eman El-Hawi, a smart and perky 24-year-old business student from Gaza got teary when she told our delegation about what she witnessed during the eight days that Israel pounded Gaza. “I saw the babies being brought into the hospital, some dead, some wounded. I couldn’t believe Israel was doing this again, just like four years ago. But at least this time,” she said with pride, “we struck back.”

The fight was totally disproportionate. Israeli F-16s, drones and Apache helicopters unleashed their fury over this tiny strip of land, leaving 174 dead, over one thousand wounded, as well as homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and government buildings damaged and destroyed. On the Palestinian side, crude Qassam rockets left six Israelis dead and caused little damage. But for many Palestinians, it was a perverse kind of victory.

If the Israeli government was trying to teach the Palestinians a lesson with this latest pummeling, the unfortunate lesson many learned was that the only way to deal with Israel is through firepower. We asked people why this round of violence lasted only eight days, unlike the 22-day attack in 2008. Some credited the Arab Spring that has created a new wave of pro-Palestinian public sentiment that governments have to respond to—especially in Egypt where the ceasefire was brokered. But others believed the Israelis backed down because Palestinian rockets had reached into the heart of Israel.

“It’s not that we want to kill Israelis but we want them to know we are not helpless,” said Ahmed Al Sahbany, an engineering student. “We want them to know that when they attack us mercilessly, when they treat us like animals, we will fight back.” A rap song by a West Bank group called “Strike, Strike Tel Aviv” that came out during the fighting was a hit among many of the Palestinian youth.

Many young people we talked to were dismissive of peace talks with Israel. They say the Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank has been talking to the Israelis for 18 years and all they have achieved is a new brand of apartheid, with bypass roads, separation walls, expanding settlements, Jerusalem ethnically cleansed, 500-600 checkpoints, and the continued siege of Gaza.

This latest round of attacks is just a continuation of the daily attacks we live with here in Gaza every day,” said youth leader Majed Abusalama. “Israeli soldiers shoot at our fishermen and confiscate their boats just for fishing in waters that belong to us. Israeli soldiers shoot at our farmers when they try to farm their lands that are close to the border, lands that belong to our farmers—our land!” In fact, a week after the ceasefire, our delegation visited a group of farmers in Rafah who were still unable to farm a good portion of their land. One of them, hobbling around in a cast, had just been shot in the leg, without warning, for venturing too close to the fence that separates Israel and Gaza.

Raji Sourani, a lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, a group that meticulously documented the crimes committed during the 8-day war, lost his normally calm demeanor when speaking to our delegation about Obama and the US Congressional support for what they called Israel’s right to defend itself. “How can Obama say Israel is defending itself when we are the real victims? We are the target of this dirty war, just like we were the last time in 2008, just like we are every day,” Sourani shouted. “The Israelis practice the law of the jungle with full legal immunity and no accountability.”

Sourani was happy with the vote that gave Palestine a seat at the UN because it showed that Israel and the US were opposed by most of the rest of the world. But he said the UN seat would only be meaningful if the Palestinian Authority used it as an opportunity to take Israel to the International Criminal Court, something the Western powers are pressuring them not to do.

The most poignant indictment of Israel and the Western powers came from Jamal Dalu, the shopkeeper whose home in Gaza City was demolished by an Israeli bomb that left 12 dead, including his wife and four children. Looking around at the wreckage that was once his home and family, he faulted President Obama for giving Israel the green light to carry out its attacks. “Obama, you say you want to teach us about democracy and the rule of law. Is this what you mean by democracy? Is this the rule of law?” he repeated over and over.

“I really don’t understand what the Israelis and their backers in the United States want,” said Sourani, throwing up his hands in despair. “They want us to vote, and when we do they refuse the recognize the winner. They say they want a two-state solution, but keep building settlements that make two states impossible. But if we say we want to live in a single, democratic state, they say we want the destruction of Israel because we produce lots of babies and will outnumber them. Honestly, I don’t know what they really want, but I can tell you this: the way things are right now can’t last forever, and time is running out.”

The delegation brought funds from Americans to support the Shifa Hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent, and took up collections to help the Dalu family and a disabled group called the Al Jazeera Club whose building had been destroyed. The funds, and the gesture of solidarity, was much appreciated, especially since the US government is giving $3 billion a year to support Israel’s militarism. Also appreciated is the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign that is providing a nonviolent means for people around the world to challenge Israeli policy.

“Please don’t wait for the third Israeli round of attacks,” said Hala Ashi, a 24-year-old whose home was badly damaged and whose neighbor was killed, “and help show us, the youth of Gaza, that violence is not the answer.”

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of www.codepink.org and www.globalexchange.org . She was recently part of an Emergency Delegation to Gaza.

We Want It to Stop

by Kathy Kelly

December 2, 2012

On November 15, 2012, day three of the recent eight day bombardment of Gaza, Ahmed Basyouni and his family were watching news of the attacks on TV in their home in the eastern section of Beit Hanoun. He and his wife assured his older children that they would be safe because they lived in a calm area where there are no fighters. Two of his younger sons were asleep in the next room.  While they were talking, at approximately 10:35 pm, the Israeli Air Force fired three rockets from a U.S.-provided F-16 bomber into a nearby olive grove.  Ahmed’s house rocked, all his windows shattered, electricity went out plunging the family in darkness, and Ahmed’s fifteen year old son Nader screamed  from the next room that his brother was dead.

When Ahmed went into the room, he saw, with horror, that it was true.  A fleck of shrapnel from the rocket had killed his youngest son, eight year-old Fares Basyouni.  Fares had been completely decapitated but for a strip of flesh from the side of his face. The child’s blood covered the ceiling, the walls and the floor.

Fares’s father and mother spoke softly about their murdered son. “He was a kind boy, sometimes naughty,” said Ahmed, “but very kind.”  Fares’s mother told us that he was crazy about food.  He would finish his breakfast and announce that he was ready for seconds.  And he loved to play.  Once he completed his homework, he was ready for games.  “He was the life of the house,” the father added. “Now the home seems so quiet.”

Across the road, the home of Jamal Abdul Karim Nasser is uninhabitable.  The ruins of the home face directly onto the missile crater.  Young relatives explained to us that shrapnel from the missiles had killed Odai Jamal Nasser, age 15.  We were standing on the edge of the crater when Odai’s brother Hazem, age 20, asked us into what remained of his home.

The missile explosions had shattered every window, and done extensive damage to walls and floors.

Hazem and his family had been sleeping in a hallway, so as to be safer from attack, when suddenly the house was falling down on top of them.  “My father’s arm and head were bleeding,” said Hazem, “and he was looking for a flashlight to check on the children.”  Hazem’s mother took the two youngest sons out of the house and headed for their uncle’s home. Hazem’s father suddenly realized that the son sleeping next to him, Hazem’s brother Odai, was dead.  Hazem’s other younger brother, Tareq, started crying out for help and then lost consciousness.  After calling for an ambulance Hazem’s father began heading for the nearby mosque to seek help.  But the mosque was ablaze.  They waited ten agonizing minutes for the firemen to arrive.  The moment the firemen arrived, so did another rocket, injuring several of the first responders.

Only after Tareq was safely at the hospital did Hazem’s father dare tell his mother that her son Odai was dead. The burial was the following day.

“Our area was safe,” said Hazem, “and we couldn’t imagine that this would happen.  It was very strange.  No one could believe that the Israelis would target our area.” He paused before adding, “They want to clear everything.”

This memory will always be with Hazem.  “I will remember what happened to my brother and my house and that will affect my choices in the future.”  He asked us to tell this story to others. “Ask them to look at our suffering and how we are slaughtered every day,” he urged, speaking softly.

Outside the home, as we spoke, young men had arrived with a donkey, a cart, and plastic buckets.  They were filling the buckets with chunks of debris from the Nasser’s front yard and dumping the buckets into the cart before refilling them.  They estimated it will take a week to clear all of the wreckage and debris that surrounds the Nasser home and covers every floor inside.

We asked the young workers, most of whom were relatives of the Nasser family, and most of whom had known Fares Basyouni, if they had any messages they’d like us to convey to people who might see the photos we’d taken or read our account of what happened to this neighborhood on November 15th.

Mohamed Shabat, age 24, who hopes one day to become a journalist, quickly replied:  “We want to stop the killing of Palestinians.”

Photo caption:  young men from Beit Hanoun tell visitors what happened when Israeli rockets hit their neighborhood on November 15, 2012, killing two children

Kathy Kelly (Kathy@vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)

Photo credit  Johnny Barber

Truth and Trauma in Gaza

by Kathy Kelly

December 1, 2012

 

Dr. T., a medical doctor, is a Palestinian living in Gaza City.  He is still reeling from days of aerial bombardment. When I asked about the children in his community he told me his church would soon be making Christmas preparations to lift the children’s spirits.  Looking at his kindly smile and ruddy cheeks, I couldn’t help wondering if he’d be asked to dress up as “Baba Noel,” as Santa Claus.  I didn’t dare ask this question aloud.

“The most recent war was more severe and vigorous than the Operation Cast Lead,” he said slowly, leaning back in his chair and looking into the distance.  “I was more affected this time. The weapons were very strong, destroying everything. One rocket could completely destroy a building.”

The 8-day Israeli offensive in November lasted for fewer days and brought fewer casualties, but it was nonstop and relentless, and everywhere.

“At 1:00 a.m. the bank was bombed, and everyone in the area was awakened from sleep.  Doors were broken and windows were shattered.  There was an agonizing sound, as if we were in a battlefield.”

“The bombing went on every day.  F16 U.S. jets were hitting hard.”

“This is more than anyone can tolerate.  We were unsafe at any place at any time.”

U.S. media and government statements are full of accounts about the scattershot Hamas rocket fire that had taken one Israeli life in the months before the Israeli bombing campaign.  The U.S. government demands that the Gazans disarm completely.  Due to simple racism and a jingoistic eagerness to get in line with U.S. military policy, Western commentators ignore the bombardment of Gazan neighborhoods which has caused thousands of casualties over just the past few years. They automatically frame Israel’s actions as self-defense and the only conceivable response to Palestinians who, under whatever provocations, dare to make themselves a threat.

“Any house can be destroyed.  The airplanes filled the skies,” Dr. T. continued.  “They were hitting civilians like the one who was distributing water.”  The Palestine Centre for Human Rights report confirms that Dr. T is discussing Suhail Hamada Mohman and his ten year old son, who were both killed instantly at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 18, 2012 in Beit Lahiya while distributing water to their neighbors.

Dr. T. then mentioned the English teacher and his student killed nearby walking in the street.  The PCHR report notes that on November 16, at approximately 1:20 p.m., Marwan Abu al-Qumsan, 42, a teacher at an UNRWA school, was killed when Israeli Occupation Forces bombarded an open space area in the southeast section of Beit Lahia town.  He had been visiting the house of his brother, Radwan, 76, who was also seriously wounded.

And Dr. T. mentioned the Dalu family.  “They were destroyed for no reason. You can go visit there.”

The next day, I went to the building north of Gaza City where the Dalu family had lived.

In the afternoon on Sunday, November 18, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet fired a missile at the 4-story house belonging to 52-year-old Jamal Mahmoud Yassin al-Dalu. The house was completely destroyed as were all inside.  Civil Defense crews removed from the debris the bodies of 8 members of the family, four women and four children aged one to seven.   Their names were:

Samah Abdul Hamid al-Dalu, 27;

Tahani Hassan al-Dalu, 52;

Suhaila Mahmoud al-Dalu, 73

Raneen Jamal al-Dalu, 22.

Jamal Mohammed Jamal al-Dalu, 6;

Yousef Mohammed Jamal al-Dalu, 4;

Sarah Mohammed Jamal al-Dalu, 7;

Ibrahim Mohammed Jamal al-Dalu, 1;

On November 23rd, two more bodies were found under the rubble, one of them a child.

The attack destroyed several nearby houses, including the house of the Al-Muzannar family where two civilians, a young man and a 75year-old woman, also died.  They were: Ameena Matar al-Mauzannar, 75; and

Abdullah Mohammed al-Muzannar, 19.

One banner that hangs on a damaged wall reads, “Why were they killed?”  Another shows enlarged pictures of the Dalu children’s faces.

Atop the rubble of the building is the burned wreckage of the family minivan, flipped there upside down in the blast.

The Israeli military later claimed it had collapsed the building in hope of assassinating an unspecified visitor to the home, any massive civilian death toll justifiable by the merest hint of a military target.  Qassam rockets killing one Israeli a year are terrorism, but deliberate attacks to collapse buildings on whole families are not.

“All Palestinians are targeted now,” a woman who lives across the street told us. Every window in her home had been shattered by the blast.  She had been sure it was the end of her life when she heard the explosion. She had covered her face, and then, opening her eyes, seen the engine from the neighbor’s car flying past her through her home.  She pointed to a spot on the floor where a large rocket fragment had landed in her living room. Then, looking at the ruins of the Dalu building, she shook her head. “These massacres would not happen if the people who fund it were more aware.”

Mr. Dalu’s nephew Mahmoud is a pharmacist, 29 years of age, who is still alive because he had recently moved next door from his uncle’s now-vanished building to an apartment that he built for himself, his wife and their two year-old daughter who are also alive.  With his widowed mother and several neighborhood women, he and his wife had been preparing to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.  A garland of tinsel still festoons a partly destroyed wall.  The blast destroyed much of his home’s infrastructure, but he was able to shepherd his family members and their guests out of the house to safety.  Several were taken to the hospital in shock.

“I don’t know why this happened to us,” Mahmoud says.  “I am a pharmacist.  In my uncle’s house lived a doctor and a computer engineer. We were just finishing lunch.  There were no terrorists here.  Only family members here.   Now I don’t know what to do, where to go. I feel despair.  We are living in misery.”

“Any war is inhuman, irreligious, and immoral,” my friend, Dr. T., had told me.

Dr. T. is afraid that Israel is preparing a worse war, one with ground troops deployed, for after its upcoming election.  “We are hopeful to live in peace.  We don’t want to make victims. We love Israelis as we love any human being.”

“But we are losing the right to life in terms of movement, trade, education, and water.  The Israelis are taking these rights; they are not looking out for the human rights of Palestinians.  They only focus on their sense of security.  They want Palestine to lose all rights.”

Election logic aside, Israel has already violated the ceasefire – at any time the missiles and rockets could start raining down once more. Year round, that is what it means to live in Gaza.

I decided not to bring up the Santa Claus question and instead thanked him for his honest reflections and bade him farewell.

 

Kathy Kelly (Kathy@vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)

 

Photo credits:  Johnny Barber

Egyptians Stand Up to President’s Power Grab

Egyptians Stand Up to President’s Power Grab

Medea Benjamin

Ramah Casers is an Egyptian mother and graphic designer who lives in Cairo. On Tuesday, November 27 she was standing at the entrance to Tahrir Square holding a simple, hand-written sign that read, “I am an Egyptian citizen and I will not let my country become a dictatorship once again.” She had come to the plaza with her young daughter, who was proudly helping to hold the sign. “I was in this same Tahrir Square during the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak but I haven’t been back since then,” Ramah told me. “I didn’t think any of the mobilizations called during the last two years were that critical. But for this one, I had to be here. This is about the life or death of our revolution.”

Ramah was one of the hundreds of thousands of people filling Tahrir Square to protest the decree issued five days earlier by President Morsi giving himself power to make decisions that could not be challenged by the judiciary.

The decree came just one day after the November 22 Gaza ceasefire agreement between the Israeli government and Hamas, an agreement brokered by Morsi that sent his international prestige skyrocketing. Perhaps the president deemed this a good time to make a move. After all, the transitional process had been dragging on for almost two years and Morsi found himself in pitched battles with both the judiciary branch and his political opponents. The democratically elected lower house of parliament and the first constitution-drafting committee had been dissolved by court orders, and there was speculation that the courts would soon try to disband the upper house of parliament and the Constituent Assembly, the body that is writing the nation’s new constitution. There has also been considerable political opposition to the Constituent Assembly. Many accused Morsi of stacking it with Islamists who had no expertise in constitutional law, leading a number of members to withdraw in protest.

Morsi’s declaration was a complicated one, as it included some positive things for Egypt’s revolutionaries. It removed the unpopular Prosecutor General who was a Mubarak-era holdover and opened up the possibility for the retrial of recently acquitted officials implicated in violence against demonstrators. But outrage was sparked by the proviso that all presidential decisions be immune from judicial review until the adoption of a new constitution.

The president’s insistence that this measure was merely temporary was not reassuring, especially to many of the nation’s lawyers. “This is not about whether you like or trust Morsi; it’s about basic democratic values. We can’t allow a precedent that puts inordinate powers in the hands of a single individual and relieves him of all judicial oversight,” said Cairo attorney Khalid Hussein.

The opposition mobilized immediately. Some headed straight to Tahrir Square to begin a camp out and on Tuesday, merely five days after the decree had been issued, the people responded with a mass mobilization.

Some of those flocking to the plaza had been opposed to Morsi from the beginning. “I was always wary of the Muslim Brotherhood,” one young man wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt told me. “I never wanted to see our society being run by a bunch of religious people. But they were more organized that we secular folks were, and they outmaneuvered us.” Others had no problem with Morsi or the Muslim Brotherhood until this latest power grab. “I didn’t vote for Morsi but I supported him as the duly elected president in a process that I considered the first free and fair election in my lifetime,” said Ahmed Mafouz, a 50-year-old engineer who was in the square with his wife. “But this move makes me think that he wants to become another Mubarak, and I just can’t let that happen.”

While many in the square were chanting “Morsi must go,” Mafouz was more moderate in his demands. “I don’t say that he has to leave power, but he has to rescind this decree that would give him dictatorial powers, and show that he will represent all the people, not just one sector,” said Mafouz.

“The ability of the Egyptian people to mobilize in this post-Mubarak era is astounding,” said Tighe Barry, an American with the peace group CODEPINK, as he looked around at the huge crowd that had packed the square so tightly you could barely walk. “I was in Egypt under Mubarak. In those days people were brutally beaten and thrown in jail for simply protesting. Now they come out en masse—young, old, men, women, religious, secular. It’s like a human tsunami.” Most people in the square did not seem connected to a political party; they gathered as individuals who felt a real stake in their country’s future. “This is a living revolution, a world-class example of grassroots democracy in action,” said Barry. “The world has much to learn from the Egyptians.”

During the revolution almost two years ago, those protesting in Tahrir Square were putting their lives at risk. The plaza was ringed by military tanks. Police, mostly undercover, were beating people up at the entrances to the square. Tear gas, rubber bullets and sometimes live ammunition from snipers atop buildings left many dead and injured. The government even sent thugs on camels racing through the packed square, crushing and terrifying the crowd.

Now, there was not a policeman or a soldier in sight. The square belonged to the people.

But the recent gathering had been threatened with a difference kind of violence—clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi supporters. During the week several headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, had been set on fire and a young Brotherhood member was killed. Deepening the tensions, the Muslim Brotherhood had called for a pro-Morsi rally on the very same day as the opposition rally. At the last minute, they wisely decided to cancel it to avoid further violence.

Despite a few minor clashes, Tuesday’s mobilization had a festive atmosphere, with fiery speeches, drumming and chanting, while vendors hawked everything from Egyptian flags to baked sweet potatoes. People pitched tents all over the square, determined to make this an ongoing protest.

While clashes with pro-Morsi forces had been avoided, there was a group in the square who did not feel safe: women. Some of the women complained bitterly about being groped and harassed by young men. “When we were in the square during the revolution this was the safest place for women in all of Egypt, in terms of harassment from the men,” a young student named Nada Bassem told me. “Women even slept in the square without problems; everyone took care of each other. Now, this can be a dangerous place for women.” While there was a decent representation of women during the day, as the night wore on, few remained. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to make this square—and all of Egypt for that matter—safe for women,” Nada insisted.

Another issue casting a pall over the entire political scene is a miserable economy inherited from the Mubarak regime, one that has only worsened since the revolution. The chaos of the uprising dried up the flow of tourists, previously a considerable source of income, and many foreign investments. The country faces a massive budget deficit, crumbling infrastructure, soaring unemployment and rapidly declining foreign currency reserves. News of the decree and pictures of subsequent protests sent the stock market tumbling to its lowest rate since the revolution. And a controversial IMF deal that will probably lead to significant price increases could spark much more massive—and perhaps violent—protests.

But those gathered in Tahrir Square seemed steeled for the task ahead. “Don’t discount this country or this revolution,” said a young protester as she took a breadth from leading a cluster of protesters in boisterous anti-government chants. “We put Morsi in power and if we have to, we will take him out. We have people power and we will make this nation the greatest democracy on earth.” The crowd roared in approval.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of CODEPINK (www.codepink.org) and Global Exchange ( www.globalexchange.org ).

Drones Create Enemies – Testimony by Medea Benjamin

November 16, 2012

I recently returned from leading a US delegation of 34 Americans to Pakistan, looking at the results of US drone attacks. We found that drones are actually jeopardizing our security by spreading hatred of Americans and sowing the seeds of violence for decades to come. Drones help extremists recruit more discontented youth. In the tribal society of Waziristan where the drones are attacking, we learned that people who have lost their family members in these deadly attacks are bound by the Pashtun honor code — Pashtunwali — to retaliate and seek revenge.

While for the most part we were received with great hospitality, we found intense anger over the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and what people perceived as a cavalier attitude towards their lives. “To Americans, we are disposable people; our lives are worth nothing” an angry young man told me. At a meeting with the Islamabad Bar Association, we were confronted by a group of lawyers yelling, “Americans, go home. You are all a bunch of terrorists.”

A June 2012 Pew Research poll found that 3 out of 4 Pakistanis considered the US their enemy. With a population of over 180 million, that means 133 million people! Surely that cannot be good for our national security. When Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was asked why there was so animosity towards the United States, she gave a one word answer: drones.

Suspending drone strikes won’t automatically make us loved or stop Islamic radicals, but continuing the strikes only exacerbates the problem. Whether in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia—Al Qaeda, the Taliban or Al Shabab may be callously killing innocent people, local police and armed forces, but by capitalizing on the fear of drones and the intrusion of Westerners, they cast themselves as defenders of the people.

The US Use of Drones Is Setting a Dangerous Precedent

The US is using drones as if it were the only country to possess them. But the overwhelming US dominance is coming to an end, with the technology falling into the hands of other nations, friends and foes alike.

According to a GAO report, by 2012 more than 75 countries have acquired drones. Most of these are for surveillance and reconnaissance missions but many countries—including Israel, Britain, France, Russia, Turkey, China, India and Iran—either have or are seeking weaponized drones.

Israel is the world’s leading exporter of drones, with more than 1,000 sold in 42 countries. China is producing some 25 different types of drones. Iran has already begun deploying its own reconnaissance drones and weapons-ready models are in the works. In October the Iranian government announced a new long-range drone that can fly 2,000 kilometers; just weeks ago, an Iranian drone launched by Hezbollah flew in Israeli airspace for three hours, beaming back live images of secret Israeli military bases before being shot down by the Israeli military.

A 2012 GAO study reported that “certain terrorist organizations” have acquired small, more rudimentary drones, such as radio-controlled aircraft that are available through the Internet. But if terrorists were able to equip these drones with even a small quantity of chemical or biological weapons, it could produce lethal results.

The proliferation of drones should evoke reflection on the precedent that the US is setting by killing anyone it wants, anywhere it wants, on the basis of secret information. Other nations and non-state entities are watching—and are bound to start acting in a similar fashion.

Surveillance Drones at Home

Here at home, the use of surveillance drones is about to explode thanks in large measure to the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus. Self-described as “industry’s voice on Capitol Hill”, this group of fifty lawmakers has close ties with the powerful industry lobby group: the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).

The Caucus not only pushes to lift export restrictions, but also to relax regulations that limit the use of drones domestically. It pushed through legislation that requires the FAA to fully integrate drones into US airspace by September 15, 2015.

Some police departments have already applied for—and received—permission to test out various kinds of drones. From Miami to Houston to Mesa Country, Colorado, police departments have drones that can be equipped with tasers, stun batons, grenade launchers, shotguns, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.

These drones can also be outfitted with high-powered cameras, thermal imaging devices, license plate readers, and laser radar. In the near future, they might add biometric recognition that can track individuals based on height, age, gender, and skin color and will soon have the capacity to see through walls and ceilings.

All the pieces appear to be lining up to introduce routine aerial surveillance into American life—a development that would profoundly change the character of public life in the United States. This is especially worrisome since our privacy laws are not strong enough to ensure that the new technology will be used responsibly and consistently with democratic values.

Drones at home also pose a threat to our safety because the technology is still in its early stages and many drones don’t have adequate “detect sense and avoid” technology to prevent midair collisions. In 2009, the Air Force admitted that more than a third of their drones had crashed. In August 2012 a drone in Afghanistan collided with a C-130 cargo plane, forcing it to make an emergency landing.

In June 2012 the military’s largest drone, the Global Hawk, did not crash in some far-flung overseas outpost but right here in southern Maryland. The aircraft, valued at $176 million, was on a Navy test mission when the ground pilot lost control. Luckily, it crashed into a marsh, not a residential neighborhood.

The way forward

The burden is now squarely on Congress and the public to push back against the proliferation of drones as a military and law enforcement tool.

Peace groups such as CODEPINK, Voices of Creative Non-Violence, and Catholic Workers are part of a growing movement protesting at US bases where lethal drones are remotely operated and at the headquarters of drone manufacturers. Faith-based leaders are questioning the morality of killer drones.

More and more, people of conscience are calling for international guidelines to curb robotic warfare, as the world community has done in the case of land mines and cluster bombs.

We are calling on friends in Congress to act as a counterweight to the pro-drone Caucus and the drone lobby. We need congresspeople who will stand up to a lethal presidential policy run amok, who will advocate on behalf of the privacy and safety of Americans at home, and on behalf of the rule of law overseas, who will demand that the CIA revert to being an intelligence-gathering agency, who will say that after 10 years of waging a war on terror by terrorizing people, it’s time to try another way—a way that includes speeding up the US troop exit from Afghanistan, stopping the deadly drone strikes, promoting peace talks and helping to educate and provide economic opportunities to people in the conflict regions.

The response to the brutal shooting of 15-year-old Pakistani Malala Yousefzai points in that direction. While the police undertook a nationwide search for her aggressors, Malala’s shooting awoke Pakistani’s silent majority who are saying “Enough” to Taliban threats and oppression. Pakistanis organized rallies throughout the country; girls everywhere, even in SWAT Valley where Malala was shot, expressed their determination to return to school; fathers vowed to protect the schools themselves; and citizens delivered one million signatures to the government demanding free and compulsory education.

Right now, less than half of Pakistani children are enrolled in school; in the tribal areas the figures are less than 20 percent, and only one in five students is female. The numbers are even worse in Yemen and Somalia.

For the cost of one Hellfire missile, we could educate 750 children a year. For the cost of one Predator drone, we could send 37,000 children to school. What a great way to fight extremism, build a better future for the youth of these nations, and make ourselves safer by winning the hearts and minds of the people. Schools not drones should not just be a catchy slogan, but a radical shift away from a 10-plus year failed policy of endless war towards one based on making peace with our Muslim neighbors.

Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, is cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK.