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Below is a letter that was printed on April 30th, 2004 by the Berkeley Daily Planet. I have added links, photos, and further commentary.
Letter to the Editor:
Since there has been much discussion of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict here, I think it would be helpful to bring folks up-to-date on what is happening on the ground.
The Israeli policy of assassination of political opponents continues unabated, with now a threat to kill President Arafat. This has been Israeli policy for years-- to attack any kind of resistance, across the political spectrum, armed or not. Leaders have been subject not only to murder, but more often to arrest (administrative detention without trial), torture, and sometimes expulsion. This is old news.
What might be considered new is the explicit support that has now come from U.S. officials, with Bush’s announcement refusing to condemn the killing of Palestinian leaders and announcing that it sees no need for Israel to cede land that it conquered in the 1967 war. And it officially stated that it did not recognize the right of Palestinian refugees, nearly a million of whom were forced off their land in 1948, to return to their homeland. Bush’s announcement enshrines the crime that land can be taken by force, of forced ethnic cleansing. This is nothing less than a prescription for endless conflict, for it precludes any possibility of reconciliation, of justice, and real peace. (Regrettably, Senator John Kerry has stated he is in full support of these Bush/Sharon positions, see his words on "Meet the Press" on April 18th here)
Yet there remain signs of hope. Even as the Israeli military continues the building of the apartheid wall (see more on the wall here) inside the West Bank it is being met by demonstrators, mostly unarmed, facing down their opponents that threaten their livelihood. (And it is gaining international attention, see this article by Tanya Reinhart, here) Ordinary Palestinians, men, women and youth (see the story of a youth tied to the top of a jeep used as a "human shield" by the Israeli military in the Israeli Daily "Haaretz", here and see photo below), have taken enormous risks in continuing these protests against the confiscation of their land and crops and homes. (On April 25th, while American women were marching for their rights in D.C., the women of the Palestinian village of Biddu were also marching for their rights to live on their land, and opposing the Apartheid Wall, and were confronted with the brutality of the Israeli military, see photo below ) Over the last few months, many have been arrested, some have been beaten, some shot at with live ammunition and some have died, yet others continue the struggle. What’s more, they have been joined by internationals, including Israelis, two of whom have been shot and seriously wounded by the Israeli military in the last few months (Gil Nima’ati was shot in the legs with live ammunition, see the story here) .
Here in Berkeley we also see signs of hope. In a newspaper that dares to let people of all perspectives express themselves and their support or dissent of official U.S. policy. And one week after a powerful protest in Oakland against using our taxes for occupation of Palestine there is a cultural celebration that packed La Pena to the rafters with music and generous support for a West Bank village called Deir Ibzia (see more on Deir Ibzia). We take heart from such things and continue to resist and continue to celebrate the possibility of a new reality.
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