Showing posts with label apartheid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apartheid. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas from Bethlehem

“It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-the-little-ghetto-of-bethlehem#sthash.LPTIdjdD.dpuf

The little town of Bethlehem now lies behind one of Israel's apartheid walls:




This is one of Israel's many illegal apartheid walls. They are used to control Palestinian movement, separate Palestinian communities from each other and from the farm land that supports the communities, and to separate Palestinian and Israeli people from each other. The walls that have been built within the West Bank, as shown on this map, clearly demonstrate the on-going land grabs that Israel has been involved with in the illegally occupied territory. Through the use of these walls, which funnel the movement of Palestinian people towards Israeli controlled check points, Israel effectively "controls all Palestinian borders, all imports and exports, and all movement between towns and cities." Please see:  http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/2014/10/it-is-up-to-us-to-be-change.html, for a view of the wall around Gaza, compete with automated guard tower.

Israel makes a point of identifying itself as a Jewish State, and as such, it discriminates equally against Christian and Muslim Palestinian people, as we see in the quote below:

"Residents of Beit Jala (a neighborhood in Bethlehem) held their last weekly mass Friday (1.24.14) in an area threatened by Israel's separation wall as locals awaited a decision from Israel's Supreme Court on an appeal to halt the land seizure.

"Around 60 Palestinians, internationals and representatives of the Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran churches gathered on an olive tree-covered hilltop in the Cremisan Valley to pray for a halt to Israel's separation wall, which is set to annex the entire lush green area north of Beit Jala."
 From:  http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=667741

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Read about how Bethlehem became a ghetto here:
http://threecupsofnescafe.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas-world-from-bethlehem.html


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"The Holy Land is Coveted.  It is profoundly walled.  Few outsiders realize to what extent."

Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed.  On Foot Through the Holy Lands. National Geographic, December 2014.


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In the spirit of the season, please also visit our post, Jesus of Palestine.

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Merry Christmas from the little ghetto of Bethlehem - See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-the-little-ghetto-of-bethlehem#sthash.LPTIdjdD.dpuf~~~  

Take Action!

Write the President: Why does the US support and arm ethnic cleansing?

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A special thank you to Sophia Ponders of, The Truth- Muslims, Christians and Jews Together for Palestine, for help with this post.

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Boycott for Peace! 
 
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“It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-the-little-ghetto-of-bethlehem#sthash.LPTIdjdD.dpuf
“It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-the-little-ghetto-of-bethlehem#sthash.LPTIdjdD.dpuf
“It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-the-little-ghetto-of-bethlehem#sthash.LPTIdjdD.dpuf
“It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/merry-christmas-from-the-little-ghetto-of-bethlehem#sthash.LPTIdjdD.dpuf

Friday, November 21, 2014

Freedom of Religion





"The Christian--be he Protestant or Catholic--the infidel, the Mohammedan, the Jew, the Deist, has not only all his rights as a citizen, but may have his own form of worship, without possibility of interference from any policeman or magistrate, provided he do not interrupt, in so doing, the peace and tranquility of the surrounding neighborhood."

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Robert Baird (speaking of US settler communities in the1840's) quoted in 'Religious Pluralism in America,' by William R. Hutchinson.

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Here in the US we have long valued, not only freedom of religion, but also the separation of church and state.

In 1791 the First Amendment of the US Constitution was passed guaranteeing the freedom of religion.  In 1940 freedom of religion was also affirmed by all our state governments.
http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/americapedia/americapedia-bill-of-rights/first-amendment/free-exercise-clause/

And while our important ideal of the separation of  church and state may not be so clearly spelled out in the Constitution, it is an ideal that we have long held as sacred as freedom of religion. Together these ideals form the underpinnings of American democracy. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States

While we in the US may have on going debates on the proper extent of  the separation between church and state, we are clear that there must be freedom of religion and a separation of church and state.  However, the same can not be said for a country that we support with 4 billion in military aid each year, and with the power of our veto at the UN.

Israel has very clear discriminatory laws, that favor people who are Jewish by heredity or conversion.  Conversion, however is a tricky and arbitrary businesses. Not everyone who wants to convert is allowed to. 

First of all, take a look at this list of Israeli discriminatory laws:
http://www.onepalestine.org/resources/Israeli_Apartheid_Laws.html
If you are inclined to read something a little more in depth and referenced, here it is:
http://www.itisapartheid.org/laws.html
Here is a great little video that shows how the discriminatory laws play out in East Jerusalem:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=660366467405165&set=vb.594845157290630&type=2&theater


And then there is the whole arbitrary business of conversion, discussed here from a Jewish perspective:  http://forward.com/articles/195883/israeli-jews-who-arent-jewish-in-eyes-of-rabbis-fa/?p=all  So we see, Israeli laws discriminate against those who are not legally Jewish under Israeli law.  But even if you have been Jewish all your life, Israel is not necessarily going to accept you as a Jew and allow you to reap the benefits of their discriminatory laws.  If you are Palestinian, however, the outcome is much worse.

As Americans, we must ask ourselves, according to our own beliefs and laws, now that we know what is really going on, how can we possibly continue to support Israel?  How can we continue to support a country that does not believe in religious freedom nor in the separation of church and state?







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Take action!  Check out our Boycott List!

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If you enjoy reading, check out our other blog posts about books:
http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/search/label/book

We also have a little page just for quotes:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Quotes.for.Transformation/ 

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Boycott for Peace! 
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Sunday, October 5, 2014

It is up to us to be the change!

 

 

This is happening today, and every day, until we change it!





The Palestinian people are being concentrated behind walls for the purpose of illegal land grabs and for the exploiting of their oil and gas reserves as well as other resources without their permission and without adequate compensation.  In addition, Gaza is used as a testing ground for weapons that Israel sells for profit.  

 Palestinian land, which has been maintained sustainably through grazing and small traditional family farms and orchards, is in a long, slow, and on-going process of being cleared of Palestinian people for illegal Israeli corporate and military development. 

Removing the people from their traditional homelands, lands they have occupied without dispute for at least 10,000 years, allows their oppressors to maintain an ethnic majority and the false appearance of democracy. 

This is colonialism, pure and simple, and it is alive and well in our world, today.


It is up to us to be the change!


Boycott for Peace!

http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/boycott4peace
http://www.pinterest.com/boycott4peace/pins/

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This is available as a meme you can share publicly on the facebook page, in the photo section on the facebook group, Boycott for Peace.  The link is directly above. 

The facebook meme has no accompanying text. It is meant to be a conversation starter, on your own page, or in a group.  It is hoped that it will help form bridges between the Palestinian cause and other justice movements.  

Thank You!
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Monday, September 29, 2014

Water + Oil = Apartheid

The California Oil & Gas Industry uses and contaminates 2 million gallons of water every day. https://www.facebook.com/350.org/photos/a.136077452707.110998.12185972707/10152587066627708/?type=1&fref=nf

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Meanwhile  "Searing drought spurs California to tap Israeli R&D:"
 http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.584474
 
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None the less, much of the bottled water on the market comes from California:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-bottled-water-comes-california-200816657.html 

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And Israel is stealing Palestinian oil and gas: 
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6331-israel-is-stealing-palestinian-oil-and-gas  

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IDF's Gaza assault is to control Palestinian gas, avert Israeli energy crisis:


To more clearly understand how this all adds up to apartheid please see our posts on war crimes.  Please boycott all bottled water to whatever extent you can.  And park your car, at least one day a month.  We can be the change!