Gideon Levy remembers Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was murdered yesterday / Ha' aretz

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Written by Gideon Levy and Jewish Peace News Gideon Levy and Jewish Peace News

Published: 05 April 2011 05 April 2011

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From Jewish Peace News:

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/gideon-levy-remembers-juliano-mer-khamis-an-arab-a-jew-a-human-being-1.354100

"Juliano Mer-Khamis was one of the most talented theater actors to ever emerge here was also the most courageous of them."

Gideon Levy remembers Juliano Mer-Khamis: An Arab, a Jew, a human being


A little over a month ago, Juliano Mer-Khamis stood on the stage of his Freedom Theater at the edge of the Jenin refugee camp.

Directing his remarks at the young, noisy group of children making its first-ever visit to a theater, he said: "This is a dangerous show, with subversive messages. Whoever talks will be thrown out of the hall."
Juliano Mer-Khamis March 29, 2006.   

Juliano Mer-Khamis in Tel Aviv, March 29, 2006.
Photo by: Daniel Tchetchik

A hush came over the audience. For the next 75 minutes, I watched one of the loveliest, most stylish, political plays I had ever seen.

None of the children interrupted the show, with the exception of one infant who burst into tears at the sight of the servant hanging on a rope.

The Freedom Theater presents "Alice in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll. Directed by Juliano Mer-Khamis, with Udi Aloni as playwright.

I first saw Mer-Khamis in another time and another place. It was in the late 1980s, when he stood for a number of days in the front yard of the Israel Fringe Theater festival in Acre, his naked body dipped with oil as part of a one-man show that knew no end. Years later I caught "Arna's Children," a brilliant film which he co-directed with his dying mother, Arna Mer, the founder of the theatre in Jenin and the daughter of the doctor who cured malaria in Rosh Pina. It is arguably the most moving film ever created about the Israeli occupation.

Since then, I have met him on numerous occasions, always in the camp. This tall, strapping, handsome man who oozed charisma, a Jew and an Arab on account of his parents - perhaps a Jew in the eyes of the Arabs and an Arab in the eyes of the Jews - decided to devote his life to Jenin, where he lived as an Israeli and as a human being. One of the most talented theater actors to ever emerge here was also the most courageous of them.

The seven bullets extinguished the light of courage that he radiated. "Jule was murdered," a trembling voice belonging to a refugee camp resident on the other end of the phone told me. My voice also trembled.

Goldstone headed to Israel in July, hosted by Israeli minister criticized in Gaza report for advocating collective punishment

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Written by Adam Horowitz Adam Horowitz

Published: 05 April 2011 05 April 2011

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Ynet is reporting that Richard Goldstone will be headed to Israel in July to tour Sderot and other Israeli towns effected by missile fire from Gaza. Mind you, Goldstone had wanted to visit these towns all along as part of the fact-finding mission into Operation Cast Lead and Israel refused to allow him to enter the country. Now, after his infamous Washington Post op-ed, Israel is waiting for him with open arms.

It's not clear whether Goldstone will actually actively participate in Israeli hasbara efforts around the report, but it is worrisome that he seems open to possibily undermining it within the UN. Ynet reports:

(read the rest on MondoWeiss)

Land Day Remembered

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Written by MIFTAH MIFTAH

Published: 31 March 2011 31 March 2011

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Thirty-five years ago, six Palestinians from the Galilee in what is now northern Israel lost their lives in a bid to protect their land from confiscation. Today, Palestinians everywhere commemorate what has come to be known as Land Day.

Since that day, March 30, 1976, thousands of other Palestinians have lost their lives defending the same cause. At the time, Israeli authorities seized and expropriated 5,500 acres of land from Palestinian villages in the Galilee to expand Jewish settlements in the area. Residents of the villages organized a general strike and peaceful demonstrations in protest of the expropriations and the ongoing confiscation and settlement of Palestinian land.

Israeli authorities, wanting to quell any sign of nationalism and resistance, cracked down hard on the protesters, shooting and killing six men. Nearly 100 others were injured and over 300 people arrested that day.

Land Day has since been marked as a day of remembrance for those who were killed and also a day of protest against Israel’s ongoing policy of Palestinian land expropriation. Land Day also marks the first time Palestinians who remained inside the Green Line after Israel was established rose up in unison against Israel’s expansionist policies.

Today, Palestinians continue to fight for their land despite international calls for a settlement to the conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state. With the separation wall in the West Bank continuing to grow and taking huge chunks of occupied Palestinian land with it, Palestinians everywhere are acutely aware that the events which set Land Day into motion are still in play today. Still, we remember the fallen and all those before and after them who vowed to defend Palestine and we renew that vow with each anniversary.

Israel may build artificial island off Gaza Strip coast

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Written by Conal Urquhart in Jerusalem Conal Urquhart in Jerusalem

Published: 30 March 2011 30 March 2011

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[Israel's will do and consider almost ANYTHING except for ending the occupation and oppression of their Palestinian cousins]

Israel may build artificial island off Gaza Strip coast

Environmentalists says plans, which also include hotels and a marina, are 'complete madness' and warn public to be sceptical


Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu is said to approve of the £6.2bn proposals. Photograph: Getty Images

Israel is considering plans to build an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip to house a sea and airport, and encourage tourism in the area.

Yisrael Katz, the Israeli minister for transport, said the plan had been under consideration for many months and had been encouraged by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. He said it would also relieve Israel of the obligation to be the transit point for goods into the enclave.

The Gaza Strip has no sea port and its airport was destroyed. The area is the sixth most crowded place in the world. Since 2007, Israel, which controls the majority of Gaza's borders has only allowed limited kinds of goods into Gaza and allowed very few exports out. Gazans have got round restrictions by smuggling goods from Egypt through tunnels.

Katz said he expected the island would be under international control for at least 100 years to ensure Israel's security. "We have built models and there are many entrepreneurs who are interested and prepared to invest billions and make money," he told Israel Army Radio

A spokesman for the Israeli ministry of transport said the main aim of the plan was to improve the quality of life for Palestinians in Gaza while ensuring Israel's security. "The island would be three square miles and it would be linked to Gaza with a three mile-long bridge which could take vehicles, trains and pipes for oil and gas. The island would have hotels, tourist areas, a marina with yachts and an airport and a seaport."

He estimated that the project would cost up to $10bn (£6.2bn), create 100,000 jobs and take up to 10 years to complete.

Environmentalists and Palestinian officials, however, described the venture as "fantasy" and "madness", and accused the minister of political opportunism.

A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection said they had not been consulted about the project. Previous plans for a deepwater port in the Gaza Strip have stalled, partly because of Israel's security concerns, but also because any developments could cause massive damage to the whole coast of Israel.

Gidon Bromberg, director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, described the project as "complete madness".

"This sort of thing makes no sense whatsoever," he said. "The environmental implications would be felt along the coast of Gaza and Israel. Even the building of a marina caused a two-mile scar of beach erosion in Israel which the developer's planning had not predicted. The public should be very sceptical."

Ghassan Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, said that if Israel wanted to improve the lives of Palestinians there were lots of simpler measures they could take. "This is pure fantasy and it is not the concern of Israel. If they want to help Palestinians, they must end the siege on Gaza, and allow the reintegration of the West Bank and Gaza and the establishment of a Palestinian state. Then they are welcome to make proposals."