Helen Thomas Deserves Praise
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- Written by Paul Findley Paul Findley
- Published: 08 June 2010 08 June 2010
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Fearless, decent seeker-of-truth Helen Thomas, 89, the preeminent challenger of political power for a half-century as dean of White House correspondents, has resigned her position with Hearts Newspapers. She acted in the wake of controversy that erupted when she told reporters "Jews should get the hell out of Palestine." While speaking plainly on behalf of the rule of law in Occupied Palestine, her message was submerged when reporters gave it an anti-Semitic twist by quoting words out of context.
It is a sad finale to an unprecedented career in aggressive, constructive journalism. In her departure from the White House newsroom, America is the loser. The Washington press corps contains few with Thomas' talent in challenging power close-up.
The fiascos start when Thomas made an extemporaneous burst of passion at a White House briefing in late May. She declared, "Jews should get the hell out of Palestine." When asked where they should go, Thomas said they should "go home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else." Her intent was unmistakable: Jews are unlawfully residing in Occupied Palestine and should leave. She made no reference to Jews in pre-1967 Israel, where all Jews can lawfully reside.
Out-of-context reports on her comments stirred angry controversy. Several commentators failed to report the words "America and everywhere else." This left Thomas' quoted words suggesting only Poland and German, countries identified with extermination camps for Jews in World War II, as the only destinations for those Thom would expel. The warped reports led Diane Nine, her longtime literary agent and friend, to cut ties. She was uninvited after agreeing to be commencement speaker at a Washington, D.C. high school, and was falsely smeared as a bigot and anti-Semite by leaders of Jewish organizations. Time columnist Joe Klein wanted her moved from her traditional front row seat to the back at future White House news briefings. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who served President George W. Bush, told reporters she should be fired by employer Hearst Newspapers or at least lose her White House credentials.
Attempts to link Thomas' outburst to Nazi crematories are contemptible. In denouncing Thomas, Klein and others mention only Poland and Germany as places Thomas wants Jews now in Palestine to go. If they included "America and everywhere else," as Thomas actually stated, the attempted linkage of past Holocaust crematories would be blurred if not lost.
True to her reputation, Thomas spoke up for human rights, the fundamental property rights of Palestinians that are violated at an ever-rising pace in Occupied Palestine by the government of Israel, with no serious opposition from the United States, Israel's main benefactor. Thanks to an intimidated U.S. media, most Americans are unaware of the plight of Palestinians, who are all Arab and mostly Muslim. Almost all Jews who live in what is left of Palestine are euphemistically called "settlers" by U.S. media, not as unlawful occupiers. By residing in Palestine, they violate international law, Geneva Accords, and clear stipulations of the UN Charter. The rare exceptions are a handful of Jews who belong to a peaceful, independent sect.
This dark, undeserved cloud over the reputation of an unrelenting grand champion of human rights will have a silver lining if it awakens the American people to their own quiet, complicit role in Israel's sustained violation of Palestinian rights.
I offer unique credentials in defending Thomas. Although a lifelong admirer, I first met her in October 2009 at a dinner in Washington. When I greeted her, she addressed me as They Dare to Speak Out Findley, using the title of my bestseller book published in 1985. At my invitation she spoke this past April to a capacity, enthusiastic crowd at Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois. While hosting her at dinner the previous evening, I found her a delightful, warm, compassionate human being dedicated to equal justice for all.
For her edifying outburst, Helen Thomas should be congratulated, not condemned. It could prove to be one of her finest contributions in our nation's often-faltering quest for justice.
Paul Findley resides in Jacksonville, Illinois. He served 22 as a U.S. representative from Illinois. He is the author of a highly praised biography, A. Lincoln: The Crucible of Congress and four books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the latest being a memoir tentatively titled, Taking the High Road: Confronting Bias, Bigotry, War. It is scheduled for publication next spring by Lawrence Hill Books.
American Tristan Anderson critically hurt in West Bank protest is back in US
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- Written by LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
- Published: 08 June 2010 08 June 2010
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With the world's attention again aroused by tensions in the Middle East, Tristan Anderson quietly came home from Israel last week in a wheelchair and without the sight in his right eye, the use of the left side of his body or his short-term memory.
By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO —
With the world's attention again aroused by tensions in the Middle East, Tristan Anderson quietly came home from Israel last week in a wheelchair and without the sight in his right eye, the use of the left side of his body or his short-term memory.
The San Francisco Bay area photojournalist was seriously injured when he was struck in the forehead with a tear gas canister while covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the West Bank. After undergoing 15 months of surgeries and rehabilitation for traumatic brain injuries, he returned to his parents' house in Grass Valley on Wednesday, two days after nine activists were killed during a raid by Israeli naval commandos on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
"He is horrified, like any of us are," said Anderson's partner, Gabrielle Silverman, who was steps away from him when he was hurt and is acting as his spokeswoman because his ability to communicate remains compromised. "Tristan was just very upset and worried about the dead and injured. All of this really hits very close to home for us"
The reality is, though, that Anderson, 39, who used to photograph protests for the left wing website indymedia.us, already had enough of his own worries: chronic headaches, an inability to walk or to complete simple tasks. In the week before he left Tel Aviv, accompanied by Silverman, his parents and a medical escort, he started developing seizures.
"The injury still dominates all aspects of life," SIlverman said, noting that Anderson still requires full-time physical and occupational therapy.
Anderson, of Oakland, was critically injured during a Palestinian protest over Israel's West Bank separation barrier in the village of Naalin in March 2009. The Israeli military said at the time that some of the 400 protesters threw rocks at troops who responded with riot gear.
Silverman said she, Anderson and four other people "were relaxing and hanging out away from main body of the crowd" at the tail end of the protest when he was hit by the canister. He did not see who fired it.
In January, Israel's Justice Ministry decided that no indictments would be filed against police in the case because an investigation determined there was no criminal intent to harm Anderson. His family has filed an appeal on his behalf.
The family also has filed a civil lawsuit against the Israeli military to cover his medical care and lost wages, Silverman said.
"Tristan, at times, is very insightful and really the best person to ask, and sometimes it's very difficult to get anything coherent out of him," she said. "If you ever tried to work with a television blaring nearby, this is a little how I imagine life is for him all the time."
Silverman said it is too soon to know whether Anderson would use his experience to speak out against Israel's military blockade of Gaza and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
"We feel like he is ready to re-enter the world again," she said. "It's not going to be easy for any of us, specially for Tristan, but it is going to be a life and we are going to try to make a go of it. Some things are going to have to happen in baby steps."
Shot Australian says Israelis left him to bleed
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- Written by Norman Hermant Norman Hermant
- Published: 07 June 2010 07 June 2010
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The Australian shot during last week's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla says Israeli soldiers left him to bleed on the deck after a bullet hit an artery in his leg.
Ahmed Luqman was shot twice during the raid and lost so much blood he nearly died. His condition meant he was one of the last activists deported from Israel.
He is now in an Istanbul hospital, from where he gave an interview to the ABC.
Mr Luqman said he was on the back deck of the flotilla flagship the Mavi Marmara, running to get inside, when he saw a laser sight settle on his leg.
Then he was down.
"I obviously knew that I'd been shot when I could see a bullet on the floor and a puddle of blood," he said.
"Blood just pissing out of my leg, from two holes. You put two and two together, and it looks like you've been shot."
The first bullet tore through his leg, partially severing his femoral artery. Another shot hit near his knee.
Israel says its troops were justified in opening fire after being attacked by a small band of violent activists, but Mr Luqman says that is simply fiction.
"None of us know anything about fighting and none of us intended to fight. [We're] peaceful people," he said.
He denied any of the activists were looking for a confrontation and said some simply responded defensively when the Israelis opened fire.
"Me for one, I'm not part of that. I was just trying to get into the cabin and [was] just shot, like most of the other people who were just shot for nothing," he said.
As bad as the assault was, the aftermath, says Mr Luqman, was worse.
"I've just been left there to lay down on the ground and just friggin' bleed, and I can't believe it," he said.
"Many of the soldiers that came up, picked up my passport because it was a different colour, looked at it, chucked it on the ground next to me and said, 'Ah, you're Australian'."
Mr Luqman says Israeli soldiers refused him any sort of medical attention.
"They made me walk, without a stretcher, and climb all the stairs on my own without any assistance, and I passed out like three or four times just getting up the stairs on my own," he said.
Mr Luqman's wife Jerry was with him. The nursing student helped keep him alive as his blood drained out.
Later, as other activists were deported, she chose to remain in detention in Israel to stay with her husband. She says the harsh treatment did not end on the ship.
"Their treatment of us was just completely unacceptable. I've never met anyone whose heart has become so hard and so black in my life," she said.
Both husband and wife say despite everything it was worth it to put the Gaza blockade back in the headlines.
"It is definitely worth it and we'd like to go again. We don't care and if they take me, if they kill me in the process, I'm ready for that," Mr Luqman said.
Mr Luqman's condition is improving. Both he and his wife say right now all they want is to get home to Queensland's Gold Coast as soon as possible.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jerusalem Fund.
Putting names to faces: the 9 victims of Israel's attack
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- Written by Lawrence of Cyberia Lawrence of Cyberia
- Published: 07 June 2010 07 June 2010
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A brief introduction to the nine people shot dead on 31 May 2010, by Israeli soldiers who
attacked the Turkish vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara, as it attempted to transport humanitarian aid to
the Gaza Strip.
(Follow the link for photos and more links)
1. Ibrahim Bilgen, 61, an electrical engineer from Siirt. Member of the Chamber of Electrical
Engineers of Turkey. Ran as a Saadet (Felicity) Party candidate in the Turkish general election of
2007 and the Siirt mayoral election of 2009. Married with 6 children.
2. Ali Haydar Bengi, 39, ran a telephone repair shop in Diyarbakir. Graduate of Al-Azhar
University, Cairo (Department of Arabic Literature). Married to Saniye Bengi; four children -
Mehunur (15), Semanur (10) and twins Mohammed and Senanur (5, pictured below).
3. Cevdet Kiliçlar, 38, from Kayseri. A graduate of Marmara University's Faculty of
Communications; formerly a newspaper journalist for the National Gazette and theAnatolia
Times. For the past year he was a reporter and webmaster for the Humanitarian Relief
Foundation (IHH). Married to Derya Kiliçlar; one daughter, Gülhan, and one son, Erdem.
See him participating in an IHH African relief projecthere. See his Flickr photoshere.
4. Çetin Topçuoglu, 54, from Adana. Former amateur soccer player and taekwondo champion,
who coached Turkey's national taekwondo team. Married to with one son, Aytek.
See Çetin Topçuoglu's Facebook pagehere.
His wife, Çigdem Topçuoglu (below, right), was also aboard the Mavi Marmara, but survived.
5. Necdet Yildirim, 32, an IHH aid worker from Malatya. Married to Refika Yıldırım; one
daughter, Melek, aged three.
6. Fahri Yaldiz, 43, a firefighter who worked for the Municipality of Adiyaman. Married with
four sons.
7. Cengiz Songür, 47, from Izmir. Married to Nurcan Songür; six daughters and one son. (link -
8. Cengiz Akyüz, 41, from Iskenderun. Married to Nimet Akyüz ; three children - Furkan (14),
Beyza (12) and Erva Kardelen (nine).
9. Furkan Dogan, 19, in his senior year at Kayseri High School where he was awaiting the
results of his university entrance exams; hoped to become a doctor. Loved chess. Son of Dr.
Ahmet Dogan, Assoc Prof at Erciyes University. A Turkish-American dual national, with two
siblings.
Israel rejects UN call for international inquiry into flotilla raids
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- Written by Harriet Sherwood in Gaza City, Adam Gabbatt and agencies Harriet Sherwood in Gaza City, Adam Gabbatt and agencies
- Published: 07 June 2010 07 June 2010
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Amabassador to US dismisses Ban Ki-moon's suggestion but says Israel is willing to work with Washington
The UN secretary general called today for a multinational investigation of Israel's raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine dead but the proposal was swiftly rejected by the Israelis.
Ban Ki-moon proposed that the inquiry be headed by the former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer and include representatives from Turkey – under whose flag many of the ships in the aid convoy sailed – Israel and the US, an official from Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said.
But Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, told Fox News: "We are rejecting an international commission. We are discussing with the Obama administration a way in which our inquiry will take place."
Netanyahu discussed the proposal for a multinational panel with Ban in a telephone call yesterday but told cabinet ministers from his rightwing Likud party today that Israel was exploring other options, political sources said.
Ban's proposal came after Israel risked a fresh wave of international condemnation yesterday by detaining a boat carrying humanitarian aid attempting to break the blockade of Gaza and forcibly diverting it to the port of Ashdod. Israel has said that most of those aboard the MV Rachel Corrie will be deported today.
Israeli leaders have spoken publicly about setting up an internal inquiry with foreign observers into the interception of the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara last week.
A statement on the UN's website said Ban held telephone discussions with the prime ministers of Turkey and Israel on "options for moving forward with the investigation called for by the United Nations security council". Last week, the council called for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation".
Five days after the botched assault on a six-boat flotilla ended with Israeli troops shooting dead eight Turkish activists and one US citizen, naval commandos boarded the MV Rachel Corrie in international waters about 20 miles from the coast of Gaza.
Yesterday's operation was mounted despite growing calls for Israel to ease significantly its siege of Gaza. The US, Israel's staunchest ally, pointedly repeated that the blockade was "unsustainable and must be changed" – a call Netanyahu again rejected. Israel said it had met no resistance in stopping the 1,200-tonne Rachel Corrie.
However, Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement, an organisation behind the flotilla, said passengers and crew had four times refused to accede to Israeli demands to voluntarily divert to Ashdod, resulting in the raid.
"There's no way that 20 people are going to resist a fully armed force," she said. "The fact that Israel boarded a civilian boat in international waters is a violent act."
She expected that the 11 passengers – including the Nobel peace laureate Máiread Corrigan – and nine crew would be treated "with kid gloves. The world is watching". There had been no contact with the boat since early yesterday, she added.
Tomorrow, Britain will say £19m in aid will be given to refugees in Gaza. The money, to be spent on healthcare, education and other services, will be announced by the international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell. It will go to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), on which about 70% of Gazans rely to meet their basic needs.
The support comes amid heightened international concern about Israel's blockade. The latest detention of a ship bound for Gaza came as the last of the Turkish citizens wounded in last week's assault on the Mavi Marmara was repatriated. It coincided with a warning from the UN's commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, that Israel's embargo was illegal. "International humanitarian law prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and it is also prohibited to impose collective punishment on civilians," Pillay said.
According to Israeli military accounts, commandos boarded the Rachel Corrie – named after an activist crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 – from naval vessels alongside rather than winching troops from helicopters as happened in Monday's operation.
The boat, carrying medical supplies and construction materials, was towed into Ashdod. Israel said it would unload the aid and transfer it to Gaza.
The passengers – from Ireland and Malaysia – would be immediately deported, Ygal Palmor, spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, said.
Israel has spent the past five days struggling to contain a diplomatic crisis. Relations with its regional ally Turkey have sunk to an unprecedented low.
Autopsy reports on the dead activists yesterday revealed that five had gunshot wounds to the head. The US joined the growing international chorus for the siege to be eased. Yesterday the Free Gaza Movement said it was planning another flotilla. "We will continue until we break the siege of Gaza," Berlin said.