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Bay Area Jews Condemn Israeli Killing of Hamas Leader
Bay Area Jews Condemn Israeli KIlling of Hamas Leader
A MEDIA ADVISORY
From: JEWS FOR A FREE PALESTINE For more information, contact: reouncealiyah [at] yahoo.com
Bay Area Jews Condemn Israeli Killing of Hamas Leader
Local Jewish Activists Call for International Courts to Investigate Extrajudicial Killing
A Bay Area Jewish group, Jews for a Free Palestine, is calling on the international community to investigate and prosecute the Israeli government for the illegal killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Yassin was killed at dawn today as he left the mosque, where he was attending the morning prayer, near his home in Gaza city. It is believed seven other worshippers were also killed when Israel Air Force helicopters fired several missiles at a car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the Islamic group.
“This act of violence against a civilian population underlines Israel’s disregard for international and humanitarian law and undermines any confidence in Israeli proclaimed aspirations for peace”, said Dr. Susan Greene, a JFFP member. “Yet again, the path to peace has been blocked by Israeli provocations.”
The Jewish activists are calling upon the international community and courts to investigate the killing of Yassin and prosecute those responsible for what they refer to as an “extrajudicial assassination.”
The policy of extra judicial targeted assassinations, officially adopted by the Israeli government, has so far served only to increase tensions in the region and create more casualties among Palestinian civilians. According to an Israeli women’s peace organization, Bat Shalom, since September 2000, at least 326 Palestinians have been killed in assassination attacks. The peace group documents that 160 of those killed were innocent bystanders, including 25 women and 36 children (http://www.batshalom.org).
“The apache helicopters and the missiles that killed Yasin and the other worshippers were made in the U.S.A,” said M.C. Ettinger, a JFFP member from San Francisco, “The U.S. gives billions of dollars to Israel, so the responsibility for ending Israeli terror belongs to the American people. And because this violence is carried out under the false pretense of protecting the Jewish people, Jewish Americans have a double responsibility to speak out against it.”
“We condemn the killing of civilians and the use of airstrikes against civilian populations. This was a brutal, illegal and cowardly act,” said Samantha Liapes, a Jews for a Free Palestine member. “How could an elderly paraplegic man in a wheelchair constitute a threat to one of the biggest military powers in the world. The Bush Administration’s ‘no comment’ about this killing carried out with American weapons and American aid might as well be a vote of confidence and support.”
Yassin was considered a moderate Hamas leader who managed to preserve the unity of the movement and prevent it from fragmenting into smaller, more radical groups. Many view today’s attack as further efforts on the part of the Israeli government to dismantle any viable Palestinian state or Palestinian leadership. Already, leaders throughout the world, including officials in France, Germany and Great Britain have officially condemned the action as illegal and a blow to peace efforts.
“We support the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people against Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine”, said Libbey Goldberg, a JFFP member from San Francisco. “This appalling act of violence on the eve of an alleged withdrawal from the Gaza strip, makes it clear that Sharon is more interested in withdrawing from diplomatic engagement than from Gaza.”
##30##
From: JEWS FOR A FREE PALESTINE For more information, contact: reouncealiyah [at] yahoo.com
Bay Area Jews Condemn Israeli Killing of Hamas Leader
Local Jewish Activists Call for International Courts to Investigate Extrajudicial Killing
A Bay Area Jewish group, Jews for a Free Palestine, is calling on the international community to investigate and prosecute the Israeli government for the illegal killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Yassin was killed at dawn today as he left the mosque, where he was attending the morning prayer, near his home in Gaza city. It is believed seven other worshippers were also killed when Israel Air Force helicopters fired several missiles at a car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the Islamic group.
“This act of violence against a civilian population underlines Israel’s disregard for international and humanitarian law and undermines any confidence in Israeli proclaimed aspirations for peace”, said Dr. Susan Greene, a JFFP member. “Yet again, the path to peace has been blocked by Israeli provocations.”
The Jewish activists are calling upon the international community and courts to investigate the killing of Yassin and prosecute those responsible for what they refer to as an “extrajudicial assassination.”
The policy of extra judicial targeted assassinations, officially adopted by the Israeli government, has so far served only to increase tensions in the region and create more casualties among Palestinian civilians. According to an Israeli women’s peace organization, Bat Shalom, since September 2000, at least 326 Palestinians have been killed in assassination attacks. The peace group documents that 160 of those killed were innocent bystanders, including 25 women and 36 children (http://www.batshalom.org).
“The apache helicopters and the missiles that killed Yasin and the other worshippers were made in the U.S.A,” said M.C. Ettinger, a JFFP member from San Francisco, “The U.S. gives billions of dollars to Israel, so the responsibility for ending Israeli terror belongs to the American people. And because this violence is carried out under the false pretense of protecting the Jewish people, Jewish Americans have a double responsibility to speak out against it.”
“We condemn the killing of civilians and the use of airstrikes against civilian populations. This was a brutal, illegal and cowardly act,” said Samantha Liapes, a Jews for a Free Palestine member. “How could an elderly paraplegic man in a wheelchair constitute a threat to one of the biggest military powers in the world. The Bush Administration’s ‘no comment’ about this killing carried out with American weapons and American aid might as well be a vote of confidence and support.”
Yassin was considered a moderate Hamas leader who managed to preserve the unity of the movement and prevent it from fragmenting into smaller, more radical groups. Many view today’s attack as further efforts on the part of the Israeli government to dismantle any viable Palestinian state or Palestinian leadership. Already, leaders throughout the world, including officials in France, Germany and Great Britain have officially condemned the action as illegal and a blow to peace efforts.
“We support the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people against Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine”, said Libbey Goldberg, a JFFP member from San Francisco. “This appalling act of violence on the eve of an alleged withdrawal from the Gaza strip, makes it clear that Sharon is more interested in withdrawing from diplomatic engagement than from Gaza.”
##30##
For more information:
http://www.renouncealiyah.us
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I'm so glad you guys have the courage to denounce Sharon. I have written the Israeli Consulate asking them to do the same, but they don't seem too eager. Anyway, clarity of vision is difficult right now and so is having the bravery to speak out. So, I am glad to see this post ... yours, Mangonessa
""“How could an elderly paraplegic man in a wheelchair constitute a threat to one of the biggest military powers in the world. The Bush Administration’s ‘no comment’ about this killing carried out with American weapons and American aid might as well be a vote of confidence and support.”"""
How Brave is the Israeli Government who kills a paraplegic old man in a wheel chair who has just come from prayer?
And to Kill others besides, with bombs from the safety of their Apache Helicopter cockpit.
Who are the real victims in this Palestinian Struggle for freedom that began in Sept. 2000?
For Details:
Click Here >> http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/deaths.html
How Brave is the Israeli Government who kills a paraplegic old man in a wheel chair who has just come from prayer?
And to Kill others besides, with bombs from the safety of their Apache Helicopter cockpit.
Who are the real victims in this Palestinian Struggle for freedom that began in Sept. 2000?
For Details:
Click Here >> http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/deaths.html
"A Bay Area Jewish group, Jews for a Free Palestine,"
This is directly from the Hamas Charter:
."..nevertheless, the Hamas has been looking forward to implement Allah’s promise whatever time it might take. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)."...
This is directly from the Hamas Charter:
."..nevertheless, the Hamas has been looking forward to implement Allah’s promise whatever time it might take. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)."...
For more information:
http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/docume...
I find political Islam as distasteful as political Judiasm
(Zionism). But it's the Jews who have the power in Palestine, and
that power is (and has been at least since 1948) used to make
Palestine into a living hell for its indigenous inhabitants. This
hellish situation is what drives many Palestinians into the arms of
groups like Hamas, at least to the point of sympathizing with its
actions if not actively supporting them.
Moreover, the Israeli state had a lot to do with building up groups like Hamas as rivals to the left, secular Palestinian groups in the first place. This was happening, ironically, around the same time their U.S. allies were building up the forces that later gave birth to al Qaeda in order to destroy the secular, left-nationalist government of Afghanistan and the secular left of Arab and Islamic countries in general. (Whether the later consequences of these policies are cases of "blowback" or something more sinister is open to debate.)
One can only hope that any acts of retaliation by Palestinians – Islamicist or otherwise – will be directed at persons who are materially involved in supporting ZIonist terrorism, and not against the general population of the offending countries or even against Jews in general. Unfortunately, if groups like Hamas had that kind of consciousness, they wouldn't have been built up by Israel in the first place.
You have probably used terms like "antisemite", "antisemitic" or "antisemitism" hundreds of times on these boards. Since you are obviously an expert on the subject, could you provide a reasonably useful definition of those terms?
This is a serious question, not a rhetorical one. Without a definition, it's hard to argue over the applicability of those terms, or even to decide whether it matters if someone or something is "antisemitic"!
If anyone else thinks they have a useful definition of those terms, or can point to one, I'd be interested in seeing that, too!
This is a serious question, not a rhetorical one. Without a definition, it's hard to argue over the applicability of those terms, or even to decide whether it matters if someone or something is "antisemitic"!
If anyone else thinks they have a useful definition of those terms, or can point to one, I'd be interested in seeing that, too!
Here are the definitions of "antisemitism" that I gleaned from gehrig's references:
- hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
- 1. Hostility toward or prejudice against Jews or Judaism. 2. Discrimination against Jews. (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
- Opposition to, or hatred of, Semites, esp. Jews. (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)
- the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people (WordNet 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University)
- the strong dislike or cruel and unfair treatment of Jewish people (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
- hate or strong dislike of Jews, or actions that express hate or dislike of Jews (Cambridge Dictionary of American English)
By the way, many Jews — including a large number of Zionists as well as anti-Zionists — are hostile to Judaism. By one of the definitions above, that makes us all antisemites.
I think that the term antisemitism is not useful, except as a way of dismissing the views of certain people without refuting them. If one is concerned with describing social reality, one should instead use expressions like "hostility toward Jews", "prejudice against Jews", "discrimination against Jews", etc.
Re: It's interesting that aaron cares more about disputing the use of the term "anti-semite" than he does about battling against actual anti-semites.
Given the relative power in the world of Jewish bigots and anti-Jewish bigots, I find it reasonable to put most of my efforts into fighting the former.
BTW, I would applaud the killing of Ariel Sharon even if he were blind and in a wheelchair. Same goes for any number of United Snakes war criminals as well.
My previous comment was a response to another comment that disappeared while I was writing the response!
You do not have to be anti-Semitic to be against something that is wrong.
It is wrong to oppress 4,000,000 people, If we are going to be for freedom, We must be for freedom for all, not just the Israeli’s.
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW, If the Road Map that is backed by the U.S., U.N., E.U., and Russia is to work...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..
Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be compensated and helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
It is wrong to oppress 4,000,000 people, If we are going to be for freedom, We must be for freedom for all, not just the Israeli’s.
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW, If the Road Map that is backed by the U.S., U.N., E.U., and Russia is to work...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..
Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be compensated and helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
" We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW"
There already is one!!! The borders exist from the East Bank of the Jordan River, and to Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia...
There already is one!!! The borders exist from the East Bank of the Jordan River, and to Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia...
the river and the sea. It has been occupied by colonialist invaders.
" We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW"
There already is one!!! The borders exist from the East Bank of the Jordan River, and to Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia...
The Palestinian People in Question are the ones who were born and have lived in the West Bank and Gaza all their lives.
Why should they have to move to Jordan just because there happen to be some Palestinians living in Jordan?
That would be like saying All the Jews in Israel Proper should move to the U.S. or Europe just because there happen to be some Jews living in the U.S. and Europe.
If the Jews can just decide to have the State Of Israel in 1948 even though at that time the Arabs were a majority in the Area that today covers Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
You would think that some 4,000,000 or so Palestinians could choose to have a State in 22% of this land (West Bank and Gaza) since the Palestinians in this said area are in the Majority.
There already is one!!! The borders exist from the East Bank of the Jordan River, and to Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia...
The Palestinian People in Question are the ones who were born and have lived in the West Bank and Gaza all their lives.
Why should they have to move to Jordan just because there happen to be some Palestinians living in Jordan?
That would be like saying All the Jews in Israel Proper should move to the U.S. or Europe just because there happen to be some Jews living in the U.S. and Europe.
If the Jews can just decide to have the State Of Israel in 1948 even though at that time the Arabs were a majority in the Area that today covers Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
You would think that some 4,000,000 or so Palestinians could choose to have a State in 22% of this land (West Bank and Gaza) since the Palestinians in this said area are in the Majority.
Look, this guy advoated the murder of Jews. Not "Israelis" not "Zionists" but Jews. It's in the Charter of Hamas, spouted daily in their propaganda, etc. etc. etc. How the left can ally itself with these sort of anti-Semitic right-wing religious nuts is completely insane.
What are you saying here, that it's OK to execute someone without a trial, and ten innocent bystanders with him, just because you don't like his opinions? Is that what you're saying? Be specific.
You are correct Gehrig. It is not "the left" but the extreme left that is allying itself with the most reactionary elements possible in the name of "anti-imperialism." I still consider myself part of the broad left but would never march with Hamas supporters. I think that views like mine are marginalized at sites like this but not in the broader community of the Israel-Palestine peace movement where most of us are not "anti-Zionists." Americans for Peace Now is one example, but there are plenty of others.
If you don't like Hitler, the only alternative is to dismantle the Third Reich.
>"All Zionists are alike."
All Zionists, by definition, support a racist state. Sharon is not the problem. Israelis are not the problem. Zionism itself is the problem. changing the hood ornament does not change the make of the car.
>"All Zionists are alike."
All Zionists, by definition, support a racist state. Sharon is not the problem. Israelis are not the problem. Zionism itself is the problem. changing the hood ornament does not change the make of the car.
If we would give the Palestinian People their State in the Whole of the West Bank and Gaza, you would take away their reason of fighting for their land and freedom.
Then Israel could use its effort to guard their 1967 Border and if they killed or detained Palestinians who wanted to bring harm to Israel it would then be seen a true self defense.
But as long as the Palestinians are under Israeli Occupation and Oppression the Palestinians to many i.e. the far left as People fighting for their survival and freedom.
Then Israel could use its effort to guard their 1967 Border and if they killed or detained Palestinians who wanted to bring harm to Israel it would then be seen a true self defense.
But as long as the Palestinians are under Israeli Occupation and Oppression the Palestinians to many i.e. the far left as People fighting for their survival and freedom.
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