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  1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Wed, 13 Mar 2024 18:20:00 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>Education</category><category>Media</category><category>Events</category><category>Gaza</category><category>SAFE</category><category>Academic Freedom</category><category>Pluto Press</category><category>Statements</category><category>Politics</category><category>Activism</category><category>West Bank</category><category>Action Items</category><category>hebron</category><title>Students Allied for Freedom and Equality</title><description></description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>106</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-1459290962765625379</guid><pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:12:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-28T18:54:23.691-04:00</atom:updated><title>Viewpoint on IDF Campus Visit Protest</title><description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In an effort to contain growing outrage over Israel’s overt disregard of international law and human rights, the Israeli military has launched a PR campaign in which it sends its former soldiers all over the United States to speak about their personal experiences. Last Wednesday, Ann Arbor bore the dubious honor of providing the platform for a military with a history of war crimes to rationalize its actions.&lt;br /&gt;
  2. &lt;br /&gt;
  3. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; At 4 p.m., students, faculty, staff, and community members seated themselves in the League&#39;s Henderson room where the two Israeli soldiers would soon speak. At 4:05 when the first soldier began his narrative, the room was full to capacity.  As the first soldier, Omer, started speaking, nearly all of the event’s attendees stood up, taped their mouths shut and revealed red shirts bearing the names and ages of children killed during the Gaza invasion.  Omer continued to give his presentation to a sea of red-garbed, silent protestors and went on to claim that Israel goes out of its way to avoid targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure when engaging in counter-terrorism. terrorism. He spoke of how proud he was to have served in an army with a moral code that preserves human life. About fifteen minutes into Omer’s speech, the protestors stood up in unison and filed out in utter silence. As they walked out, two students held up signs that read: “We stand today for those who have been silenced” and “Stand with us against injustice and walk out on oppression.” At this, several of the remaining attendees also rose and left.  By 4:20 the room was nearly empty, with only a handful of people still seated.&lt;br /&gt;
  4. &lt;br /&gt;
  5. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The events’ attendees were protesting the presence of representatives from Israel’s military, called the Israel Defense Forces, which is accused of war crimes by the United Nations and condemned by major human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israel&#39;s own B&#39;Tselem.  Early last year, Israel caused global outrage with its aerial bombardment and armed invasion of the impoverished Gaza Strip in 22 days during December 2008-January 2009, killing over a thousand civilians including more than 300 children.  In the three-week war, Israel destroyed nearly all of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza, even attacking a UN hospital and Red Cross ambulances, despite the fact that medical vehicles, personnel, and buildings are protected under international law.  In addition, Israel&#39;s military shelled the U.N. Works and Relief Agency&#39;s compound in Gaza City, which stored and distributed food aid and medicine for the entire population of the Gaza Strip.&lt;br /&gt;
  6. &lt;br /&gt;
  7. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; According to a UN inquiry, the Gaza campaign intended to destroy the civilian economic output of the Strip and exacerbate the suffering of a populace that has already endured a four-year long siege by Israel. This siege continues to block basic supplies like pasta, paper, and shoes from entering Gaza, and has brought the local economy to a near standstill.  The siege is condemned by both the United Nations and leading international human rights organizations as illegal because it engages in collective punishment and uses starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.&lt;br /&gt;
  8. &lt;br /&gt;
  9. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In late May of this year, Israeli Special Forces stormed a humanitarian flotilla heading for Gaza while it was still in international waters.   The flotilla was carrying aid including medicines, wheelchairs, school supplies, and children&#39;s toys, aiming to break the siege of Gaza and to bring the world’s attention to the disproportionate suffering of Palestinian civilians. The flotilla was crewed by over 600 activists from 37 nations, including a Nobel Laureate, a holocaust survivor, and several members of European parliaments. The Israeli military went on to kill nine activists aboard the flotilla and injure dozens more with automatic weapons.&lt;br /&gt;
  10. &lt;br /&gt;
  11. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In an effort to contain the international fallout from Israel&#39;s actions, the Israeli government has launched what is essentially an international propaganda campaign.  This campaign attempts to shift attention away from recent events by focusing on Israel’s technological and biomedical achievements, its humanitarian aid to other countries, and a framing of the flotilla massacre and Gaza invasion in terms of &#39;self-defense&#39;.  Ann Arbor was the latest stop in this rebranding campaign.  Moreover, the soldiers present Wednesday were not merely representatives of a military that has committed war crimes, they themselves could be traced back to the violence.  The organizing group StandWithUs described the second soldier present on Wednesday, Shai, as a member of the “elite Givati infantry brigade.”  This brigade was investigated by the Israeli Military Police for an airstrike during the Gaza invasion that targeted a civilian home, killing 21 civilians, including women and children, and wounding 19 more.&lt;br /&gt;
  12. &lt;br /&gt;
  13. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; On Wednesday, the silence spoke clearly: the justification of atrocities will not be welcomed at Michigan. Similarly, the international community’s continued outrage with Israel’s government signifies the approach of a day when the audience willing to listen to its self-exonerations will also disappear.</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2010/10/viewpoint-on-idf-campus-visit-protest.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-158042411016889788</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:28:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-24T14:53:48.800-04:00</atom:updated><title>IDF Campus Visit Protest Video</title><description>&lt;object height=&quot;250&quot; width=&quot;313&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/VPDkq2JHfA0?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/VPDkq2JHfA0?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; height=&quot;250&quot; width=&quot;313&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2010/10/idf-campus-visit-protest-video.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-8811484024661993312</guid><pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:45:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-02-22T10:46:53.759-05:00</atom:updated><title>End Israeli Apartheid Week 2010</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: x-small;&quot;&gt;Students Allied for Freedom and Equality presents:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  14. &lt;b style=&quot;color: black; font-family: georgia,serif;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: x-large;&quot;&gt;End Israeli Apartheid Week&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  15. &lt;i style=&quot;color: #cc0000;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;A week of art, education, and resistance&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;February 22-25, 2010&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  16. &lt;br /&gt;
  17. &lt;br /&gt;
  18. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Examining Israeli Apartheid through Art&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  19. &lt;i&gt;with Toby Millman&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  20. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Monday, February 22nd, 7-8:30pm&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  21. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;South Quad Ambatana Lounge&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  22. Toby will present her artwork, which highlights the struggles Palestinians endure under Israel&#39;s military occupation of the West Bank.&amp;nbsp; Her unique style provides a different perspective on the conflict that forces people to reevaluate their preconceived notions about Israel/Palestine.&lt;br /&gt;
  23. &lt;br /&gt;
  24. &lt;br /&gt;
  25. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc0000;&quot;&gt;Painting the Separation Wall&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  26. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Tuesday, February 23rd, 5pm&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  27. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Diag&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  28. Many Palestinians and human rights activists resist the West Bank separation wall that encloses them through art, painting murals and statements on the wall which often cuts them off from their land, their families, and their homes.&amp;nbsp; Join SAFE in painting our own mural to symbolize such segregation and resistance.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  29. &lt;br /&gt;
  30. &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;Film Screenings: Jenin, Jenin &amp;amp; Remnants of a War&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  31. &lt;i&gt;in collaboration with Lebanese Students Association&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  32. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Wednesday, February 24th, 8pm&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  33. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Dana Building, Room 2024&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  34. During the Israeli army&#39;s Operation Defensive Wall operation in the city of Jenin in the West Bank in 2002, the city was sealed and the operation ended with Jenin flattened and scores of Palestinians dead.&amp;nbsp; For &lt;i&gt;Jenin, Jenin&lt;/i&gt;, Mohamed Bakri interviews Jenin residents in the aftermath on what they experienced and witnessed during the operation, giving a revealing look into life under Occupation and how it affects the state of mind of the occupied.&lt;br /&gt;
  35. &lt;br /&gt;
  36. &lt;i&gt;Remnants of a War&lt;/i&gt; takes an intimate look into the lives of brave Muslims and Christians, Sunni and Shia, women and men of Southern Lebanon as they work to make their land safe again after the 2006 Israeli invasion. The film is a primer on the cluster munition problem, and a portrait of a people struggling to make a living and return the land to their fellow Lebanese.&lt;br /&gt;
  37. &lt;br /&gt;
  38. &lt;br /&gt;
  39. &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc0000;&quot;&gt;Holding the State Accountable: Peoples&#39; Struggles for Civil Rights&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  40. &lt;i&gt;in collaboration with Black History Month 2010, MSA Peace &amp;amp; Justice Commission, University Housing, Office of Cultural Awareness and Diversity Education, South Quad MPA, Black Student Union, and Multi-Ethnic Student Affair&lt;/i&gt;s&lt;br /&gt;
  41. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;Thursday, February 25th, 7pm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  42. &lt;b style=&quot;color: #009900;&quot;&gt;South Quad Ambatana Lounge&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  43. Israel&#39;s systematic colonization, intimidation, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians is just another example of a highly militarized State denying people their right to freedom, self-determination, and civil rights. This panel explores the similarities and differences in the experiences African Americans, South Africans, Palestinians, and Native Americans face as they continue to struggle for the most basic human rights.</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2010/02/end-israeli-apartheid-week-2010.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-2237298719364091431</guid><pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:54:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-02-22T10:44:34.893-05:00</atom:updated><title>Israel: UN &#39;detached from reality&#39; for adopting Goldstone report</title><description>Israel on Friday rejected a United Nations General Assembly resolution urging an investigation into a report saying war crimes were committed in Gaza, and condemned the world body vote as &quot;completely detached from realities&quot;. &lt;br /&gt;
  44. &lt;br /&gt;
  45. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said in response to Thursday&#39;s vote that Israel &quot;maintains the right to self-defense&quot;, and would &quot;continue to act to protect the lives of its citizens from the threat of international terrorism&quot;. &lt;br /&gt;
  46. &lt;br /&gt;
  47. (&lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126213.html&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/11/israel-un-detached-from-reality-for.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-3120782993026215283</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-03T22:01:27.852-05:00</atom:updated><title>Greenwald on Gideon Levy: Ongoing U.S. efforts to protect and coddle Israel</title><description>The latest Haaretz column by the outstanding and courageous Israeli columnist, Gideon Levy, is entitled &quot;America, Stop Sucking Up to Israel,&quot; and it highlights one of the most bizarre political facts:&amp;nbsp; criticism of Israeli actions is far more tolerated and permitted in Israeli political discourse than it is in America&#39;s.&amp;nbsp; It&#39;s simply inconceivable that any establishment journalist or national politician would ever echo Levy&#39;s scathing indictments of Israel&#39;s conduct and his calls for the U.S. to apply serious pressure and even threats to coerce changes in Israeli behavior.&lt;br /&gt;
  48. &lt;br /&gt;
  49. (&lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/11/02/levy/index.html&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/11/greenwald-on-gideon-levy-ongoing-us.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-152394233051404194</guid><pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:27:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-03T21:57:04.199-05:00</atom:updated><title>Judge Goldstone&#39;s letter to the sponsors of the US Congressional resolution condemning his report --</title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;gmail_quote&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;gmail_quote&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;gmail_quote&quot;&gt;published in Tikkun Magazine &lt;br /&gt;
  50. &lt;br /&gt;
  51. The Honorable Howard Berman&lt;br /&gt;
  52. Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs&lt;br /&gt;
  53. &lt;br /&gt;
  54. The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen&lt;br /&gt;
  55. Ranking Member, House Committee on Foreign Affairs&lt;br /&gt;
  56. &lt;br /&gt;
  57. October 29, 2009&lt;br /&gt;
  58. &lt;br /&gt;
  59. Dear Chairman Berman and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen,&lt;br /&gt;
  60. &lt;br /&gt;
  61. It has come to my attention that a resolution has been introduced in the Unites States House of Representatives regarding the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which I led earlier this year.&lt;br /&gt;
  62. &lt;br /&gt;
  63. I fully respect the right of the US Congress to examine and judge my mission and the resulting report, as well as to make its recommendations to the US Executive branch of government. &amp;nbsp;However, I have strong reservations about the text of the resolution in question – text that includes serious factual inaccuracies and instances where information and statements are taken grossly out of context.&lt;br /&gt;
  64. &lt;br /&gt;
  65. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;gmail_quote&quot;&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/20091102084338810&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;
  66. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/11/judge-goldstones-letter-to-sponsors-of.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-8461594994976825703</guid><pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:07:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-31T16:23:30.413-04:00</atom:updated><title>Six Questions for Desmond Travers on the Goldstone Report</title><description>&lt;div xmlns=&quot;&quot;&gt;by Ken Silverstein, published in Harper&#39;s Magazine&lt;i&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
  67. &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  68. &lt;br /&gt;
  69. &lt;i&gt;Desmond Travers was one of the four members of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which produced the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/world/middleeast/23goldstone.html?_r=3&amp;amp;scp=1&amp;amp;sq=goldstone&amp;amp;st=cse&quot;&gt;controversial Goldstone Report&lt;/a&gt;. Travers is a retired Colonel of the Army of the Irish Defence Forces. His last appointment was as Commandant of its Military College. He also served in command of troops with various UN and EU peace support missions. I recently spoke to Travers by phone about the report. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  70. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div xmlns=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;1. Were you surprised by the criticism of the report?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  71. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div xmlns=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  72. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div xmlns=&quot;&quot;&gt;There was a lot of criticism even before the report came out, primarily against individuals, especially Justice Richard Goldstone. So we were not unduly surprised by the whinging when the report was released, except for the intensity and viciousness of the personal attacks. Justice Goldstone has publicly invited the critics, especially within the U.S. government, to come forward with substantive evidence of incorrect or inaccurate statements. But there has been no credible criticism of the report itself or of the information elucidated in it.&lt;br /&gt;
  73. &lt;br /&gt;
  74. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://harpers.org/archive/2009/10/hbc-90006003&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;) &lt;br /&gt;
  75. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/six-questions-for-desmond-travers-on.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-9199098504392788928</guid><pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:06:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-31T16:21:21.405-04:00</atom:updated><title>Gaza Report Author Asks U.S. to Clarify Concerns</title><description>by Sharon Otterman, published in The New York Times &lt;br /&gt;
  76. &lt;br /&gt;
  77. Richard Goldstone, the lead author of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The report (PDF, large file)&quot;&gt;United Nations report&lt;/a&gt; that found evidence of war crimes committed by &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/israel/index.html?inline=nyt-geo&quot; title=&quot;More news and information about Israel.&quot;&gt;Israel&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hamas/index.html?inline=nyt-org&quot; title=&quot;More articles about Hamas.&quot;&gt;Hamas&lt;/a&gt; during last winter’s &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/gaza_strip/index.html?inline=nyt-geo&quot; title=&quot;More news and information about the Gaza Strip.&quot;&gt;Gaza&lt;/a&gt; war, challenged the Obama administration in an interview broadcast Thursday to explain what it has called serious concerns about his report.&lt;br /&gt;
  78. In the interview &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/2009102231620859900.html&quot; title=&quot;Al Jazeera Interview&quot;&gt; on Al Jazeera&lt;/a&gt;, Mr. Goldstone, a South African jurist, said that the official American response to the 575-page report had been ambivalent. The Obama administration, he said, “joined our recommendation calling for full and good-faith” domestic investigations of the alleged crimes in both Israel and Gaza, “but said that the report was flawed.”&lt;br /&gt;
  79. “But I have yet to hear from the Obama administration what the flaws in the report that they have identified are,” Mr. Goldstone said. “I mean, I would be happy to respond to them, if and when I know what they are.”&lt;br /&gt;
  80. &lt;br /&gt;
  81. (&lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/world/middleeast/23goldstone.html?_r=4&amp;amp;scp=1&amp;amp;sq=goldstone&amp;amp;st=cse&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/gaza-report-author-asks-us-to-clarify.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-4417334042876069080</guid><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:28:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-26T11:36:22.022-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Disillusioning interview with founder of J Street</title><description>J Street, purporting to be the leftist answer to AIPAC, is a relatively new lobbying group in Washington.  However, this interview with its founder shows that the lobby group espouses many of the same values as AIPAC, values which result in US policies that prolong the dispossession of Palestinians.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;J Street&#39;s Ben-Ami On Zionism and Military Aid to Israel&lt;br /&gt;by Jeffrey Goldberg, published in the Atlantic&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jeremy Ben-Ami of the liberal lobbying group J Street is the man of the moment: The group&#39;s upcoming conference in Washington has become a source of great controversy for many reasons. I interviewed Ben-Ami yesterday by telephone, and here is an edited transcript of our conversation. In our talk, he showed that he learned a bit about triangulation during his years in the Clinton White House.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/10/j_streets_ben-ami_on_being_a_z.php&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-disillusioning-interview-with.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-1556024705932032017</guid><pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:53:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-26T11:28:45.893-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Israel&#39;s attacks will lead to its isolation</title><description>by Gideon Levy, published in Ha&#39;aretz&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Israel has been dealing one blow after another to the rest of the world. While China has still not recovered from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman&#39;s absence from the reception at its Tel Aviv embassy - a serious punishment for China&#39;s support for the Goldstone report - France is licking its wounds after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu &quot;vetoed&quot; a visit by the French foreign minister to Gaza. And Israel has dealt another blow: Its ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren, will boycott the conference next week of the new Israel lobby J Street.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1122812.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/israels-attacks-will-lead-to-its.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-8716888004674576700</guid><pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:50:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-26T11:26:05.525-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Goldstone dares US on Gaza report</title><description>The January-December war on Gaza left about 1,400 Palestinians dead and prompted a UN-led investigation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goldstone dares US on Gaza report&lt;br /&gt;Published by Al Jazeera English&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Richard Goldstone, the jurist who authored a UN report accusing Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity during its war on Gaza, has challenged the US to justify its claims that his findings are flawed and biased.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goldstone told Al Jazeera on Thursday that he had not heard from the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, about the flaws Washington claims to have identified in the report.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910224044179743.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/goldstone-dares-us-on-gaza-report.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-7959067201299909746</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T16:12:03.718-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Goldstone on the Goldstone Report</title><description>My mission - and motivation&lt;br /&gt;by Richard Goldstone, published in the Jerusalem Post&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Five weeks after the release of the Report of the Fact Finding Mission on Gaza, there has been no attempt by any of its critics to come to grips with its substance. It has been fulsomely approved by those whose interests it is thought to serve and rejected by those of the opposite view. Those who attack it do so too often by making personal attacks on its authors&#39; motives and those who approve it rely on its authors&#39; reputations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255694838474&amp;amp;pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-goldstone-on-goldstone-report.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-1594840384203585751</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:04:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T16:07:57.961-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Our exclusive right to self-defense</title><description>by Larry Derfner, published in the Jerusalem Post&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Virtually all of Israel is now speaking in one voice against the Goldstone report, against any attempt to blame us over the war in Gaza. We&#39;ve honed our message to a sharp point and, inspired by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu&#39;s performance at the UN, we&#39;re delivering it with just the right tone of outrage:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How dare anyone deny us the right to self-defense! How dare anyone deny us the right to fight back against terrorism!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254861893834&amp;amp;pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-our-exclusive-right-to-self.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-5718652129414739204</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:58:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T15:59:50.594-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Last Straw for the Palestinian &quot;Authority&quot;?</title><description>by Saree Makdisi, published in the Huffington Post&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If there were any lingering doubts concerning the status and integrity of the Palestinian National Authority -- and its so-called President, Mahmoud Abbas (&quot;so-called&quot; because his term of office, such as it was, expired almost a year ago) -- they were surely dispelled once and for all by its decision to drop its support for a UN resolution that would have referred the Goldstone Report on Israel&#39;s post-Christmas 2008 attack on Gaza to the UN Security Council.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saree-makdisi/last-straw-for-the-palest_b_309585.html&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-last-straw-for-palestinian.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-6299820022313160866</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:52:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T15:56:32.982-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Warmonger Wins Peace Prize</title><description>by Paul Craig Roberts, published in Counterpunch&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It took 25 years longer than George Orwell thought for the slogans of 1984 to become reality.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery,” “Ignorance is Strength.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I would add, “Lie is Truth.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Nobel Committee has awarded the 2009 Peace Prize to President Obama, the person who started a new war in Pakistan, upped the war in Afghanistan, and continues to threaten Iran with attack unless Iran does what the US government demands and relinquishes its rights as a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts10092009.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-warmonger-wins-peace-prize.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-3439604122277519302</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:48:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T15:50:47.674-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Seeking Solutions in Palestine</title><description>by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, published in the Michigan Daily&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since his address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt, President Barack Obama has called on Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank, rightfully identifying the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements as one of the primary roadblocks to peace. But under the leadership of right-wing politician Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has rebuffed Obama’s request, claiming a “fundamental right” to expand existing settlements and, in some instances, grant new building permits to Jewish settlers. &lt;/p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://michigandaily.com/content/viewpoint-seeking-solutions-palestine&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-seeking-solutions-in-palestine.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-649857548793614226</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:39:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T15:44:26.012-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: Israeli official: No peace deal for many years</title><description>msnbc.com news services&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;JERUSALEM - Israel&#39;s powerful foreign minister Thursday said he would tell a visiting U.S. Middle East envoy that there was no chance of reaching a comprehensive peace deal with the Palestinians for many years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peacemaking policy in Israel is decided by the prime minister&#39;s office, and not the foreign ministry. But Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman carries significant weight in Israeli decision-making, and his is a sentiment common among confidants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33221116/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa%20target=&quot; _blank=&quot;&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-israeli-official-no-peace-deal.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-1079001578784300180</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:18:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-10-20T17:13:46.650-04:00</atom:updated><title>Article: The Trial of Israel’s Campus Critics</title><description>&lt;p&gt;by David Theo Goldberg and Saree Makdisi&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains one of the most visible political issues on campuses around the nation. A rising level of concern about the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory (now in its fifth decade), as well as the precarious position of Israel&#39;s beleaguered Palestinian minority, have been countered by increasingly strident, even furious, attempts to silence or stifle criticism of Israeli policy on American college campuses. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/sept_oct_09_goldberg_makdisi&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/article-trial-of-israels-campus-critics.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-2395648672901427527</guid><pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:03:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-26T11:03:40.380-04:00</atom:updated><title></title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yYiirLTCmo8/ScuZRt50zWI/AAAAAAAAARY/sspySeJRURQ/s1600-h/gview.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 400px;&quot; src=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yYiirLTCmo8/ScuZRt50zWI/AAAAAAAAARY/sspySeJRURQ/s400/gview.png&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317512314699959650&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yYiirLTCmo8/ScuZRt50zWI/AAAAAAAAARY/sspySeJRURQ/s72-c/gview.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-7019722231641496683</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:11:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-16T21:23:25.061-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Events</category><title>Dr. David Wesley Lecture</title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yMm7hVU78n0/Sb77RvVmBSI/AAAAAAAACVY/2J0UKjBaOfw/s1600-h/wesley2%282%29.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 387px;&quot; src=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yMm7hVU78n0/Sb77RvVmBSI/AAAAAAAACVY/2J0UKjBaOfw/s320/wesley2%282%29.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313960892527150370&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/03/dr-david-wesley-lecture.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yMm7hVU78n0/Sb77RvVmBSI/AAAAAAAACVY/2J0UKjBaOfw/s72-c/wesley2%282%29.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-9086521984065687286</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:39:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-02-15T23:18:37.408-05:00</atom:updated><title>Norman Finkelstein</title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yYiirLTCmo8/SZjhc8SRT1I/AAAAAAAAARA/YBRrmz2ADQk/s1600-h/Finkelstein_web.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 371px; height: 310px;&quot; src=&quot;http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yYiirLTCmo8/SZjhc8SRT1I/AAAAAAAAARA/YBRrmz2ADQk/s400/Finkelstein_web.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303236448564105042&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, Jewish Voice for Peace-Detroit, and&lt;br /&gt;American Jews for a Just Peace-Detroit present..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;&quot; &gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Norman Finkelstein&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Internationally renown scholar and author will speak on  &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;The Israel-Palestine Conflict:  &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;What We Can Learn From Gandhi  &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Tuesday, February 17, 2009 • 7:30 pm&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Rackham Amphitheater, Fourth Floor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255);&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;915 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1070&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Norman Finkelstein has authored numerous books and articles on the Israel-Palestine conflict and related issues, including &quot;Beyond Chutzpah: On the Abuse of Anti-Semitism and the Misuse of History&quot;, now available as an updated edition with a new preface; &quot;The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (2nd ed.) ; and &quot;Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict&quot;, (new revised ed.).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finkelstein received his PhD in Political Science from Princeton University and has held faculty positions at Brooklyn College, Rutgers University, Hunter College, New York University, and DePaul University.  He was denied tenure at DePaul after interference by Alan Dershowitz.  On May 23, 2008, Finkelstein was denied entry to Israel and deported because of suspicions that &quot;he had contact with elements &#39;hostile&#39; to Israel.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;For more info: Andrew Dalack or Bre Arder at ajdalack@umich.edu  or barder@umich.edu respectively</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/02/students-allied-for-freedom-and.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yYiirLTCmo8/SZjhc8SRT1I/AAAAAAAAARA/YBRrmz2ADQk/s72-c/Finkelstein_web.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-8233555379090130961</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:11:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-01-17T15:13:12.708-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Education</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Gaza</category><title></title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;mxb&quot;&gt;     &lt;h1&gt;      UN accuses Israel over phosphorus     &lt;/h1&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;                                                                                 &lt;!-- S BO --&gt; &lt;!-- S IIMA --&gt;             &lt;div&gt;     &lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45379000/jpg/_45379618_uncompoundafp466b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fire at the UN compound in Gaza City (15 January 2009)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;466&quot; /&gt;     &lt;div class=&quot;cap&quot;&gt;Mr Ging said the fire caused by the phosphorus was very difficult to extinguish&lt;/div&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;          &lt;br /&gt;      &lt;!-- E IIMA --&gt; &lt;!-- S SF --&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;first&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;The head of the UN aid agency in Gaza has accused the Israeli military of firing what was believed to be white phosphorus shells at its compound.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;John Ging told the BBC that in spite of discussions with the Israeli liaison, &quot;three rounds that emitted phosphorus&quot; hit a corner of the Gaza City facility. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Israel&#39;s military said all weapons it used complied with international law. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phosphorus shells are legal to use as a battlefield obscurant, but are banned from use where civilians may be harmed. &lt;!-- E SF --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Human Rights Watch says it has observed &quot;dozens and dozens&quot; of white phosphorus shells being fired by Israel at the Gaza Strip - a heavily populated civilian area where its use is prohibited. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;!-- Inline Embbeded Media --&gt;  &lt;!--  This is the embedded player component --&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;videoInStoryC&quot;&gt;  &lt;div id=&quot;emp_7831579&quot; class=&quot;emp&quot;&gt;&lt;embed type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; src=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/2_8_6928_7030/player.swf&quot; style=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;embeddedPlayer_7831579&quot; name=&quot;embeddedPlayer_7831579&quot; bgcolor=&quot;#000000&quot; quality=&quot;high&quot; wmode=&quot;default&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; flashvars=&quot;config=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/config/default.xml?v11&amp;amp;playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Femp%2F7830000%2F7831500%2F7831579.xml&amp;amp;embedReferer=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7835364.stm&amp;amp;embedPageUrl=/2/hi/middle_east/7831424.stm&amp;amp;config_settings_autoPlay=false&amp;amp;config_settings_showPopoutButton=false&amp;amp;config_plugin_fmtjLiveStats_pageType=eav2&amp;amp;config_plugin_fmtjLiveStats_edition=International&amp;amp;preroll=http://ad.doubleclick.net/pfadx/bbccom.live.site.news/news_middleeast_content;sectn=news;ctype=content;news=middleeast;referrer=2himiddle_east;slot=companion;sz=512x288;tile=6&amp;amp;companionSize=300x30&amp;amp;companionType=adi&amp;amp;config_settings_suppressItemKind=advert, ident&quot; height=&quot;179&quot; width=&quot;256&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/div&gt;    &lt;!-- caption --&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;caption&quot;&gt;UN accuses Israel over phosphorus&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- END - caption --&gt; &lt;/div&gt;  &lt;!-- end of the embedded player component --&gt;  &lt;!-- END of Inline Embedded Media --&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Palestinian medical officials said they had treated large numbers of casualties with unusual burns that were extremely painful to treat and could be consistent with exposure to white phosphorus (WP). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Israeli military has declined to comment on specific munitions used during the 20-day offensive, but said any its weapons were used in compliance with international law. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is no way independently to explain the contradiction between both sides&#39; reports, as Israel has prevented international journalists from entering Gaza since its offensive began on 27 December. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&#39;Relentless bombardment&#39;&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In an interview with the BBC, Mr Ging, director of operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), said the area surrounding its compound had been under &quot;relentless artillery and tank bombardment all night and all day&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some rounds, Mr Ging said, had struck a part of the compound where about 700 residents of nearby blocks of flats were taking shelter. Three people were injured in the bombardment. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;!-- S IINC --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;203&quot;&gt;  &lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;   &lt;td width=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;5&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;   &lt;td class=&quot;sibtbg&quot;&gt;   &lt;div class=&quot;o&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_white_phosphorus_claim/html/1.stm&quot; onclick=&quot;window.open(&#39;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_white_phosphorus_claim/html/1.stm&#39;, &#39;1232043149&#39;, &#39;toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=600,height=530,left=312,top=100&#39;); return false;&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_white_phosphorus_claim/img/laun.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;   &lt;div class=&quot;pva&quot;&gt;Evidence of white phosphorus munitions used in Gaza, HRW says &lt;/div&gt;   &lt;img src=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;2&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;pva&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_white_phosphorus_claim/html/1.stm&quot; onclick=&quot;window.open(&#39;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/middle_east_white_phosphorus_claim/html/1.stm&#39;, &#39;1232043149&#39;, &#39;toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=600,height=530,left=312,top=100&#39;); return false;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/icons/open_icon.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;13&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;49&quot; /&gt;In pictures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;        &lt;/td&gt;  &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;  &lt;!-- E IINC --&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Then an hour later, in spite of our protests and real-time discussions with the Israeli liaison, three rounds that emitted phosphorous struck the other corner of the compound,&quot; he added. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The compound is Unrwa&#39;s main distribution hub in Gaza and Mr Ging said the shells set alight part of a warehouse in which there were stored thousands of tonnes of food and medicine, and the workshop area. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fires then threatened to engulf five fuel tankers, which had been due to be sent out that morning, but could not leave because it was too dangerous outside. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;When the fires broke out, five of our brave staff dashed down there and moved the trucks out of the area, so we avoided a massive explosion,&quot; he said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mr Ging told CNN the fire was very difficult to extinguish because the smoke from WP becomes toxic if water is used. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Following the incident, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - in Israel to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip - expressed his &quot;outrage&quot; and demanded a full explanation from the Israeli government. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The defence minister said to me it was a grave mistake and he took it very seriously. He assured me that extra attention will be paid to UN facilities and staff and this will not be repeated,&quot; Mr Ban said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the compound had been targeted after militants had opened fire from there. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologise for it,&quot; he said. &quot;I don&#39;t think it should have happened and I&#39;m very sorry.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&#39;Indiscriminate&#39;&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;White phosphorus sticks to human skin and will burn right through to the bone, causing death or leaving survivors with painful wounds which are slow to heal. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The international convention on the use of incendiary weapons says it should not be used where there is a possibility of hitting civilians. An Israeli military spokesman said it was investigating the reports, but reiterated earlier assurances about the legality of its weaponry. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;                    &lt;!-- S IBOX --&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;231&quot;&gt;     &lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;                &lt;td width=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;5&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;                &lt;td class=&quot;sibtbg&quot;&gt;                                                                                               &lt;div&gt;     &lt;div class=&quot;mva&quot;&gt;    &lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;13&quot; width=&quot;24&quot; /&gt;    &lt;b&gt;The Israeli military may be using legal weapons, but it is using the weapons in an illegal manner&lt;/b&gt;   &lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;13&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;23&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;         &lt;/div&gt;                                                                     &lt;div class=&quot;mva&quot;&gt;  &lt;div&gt;Marc Garlasco&lt;br /&gt;Human Rights Watch&lt;/div&gt;   &lt;/div&gt;                                                                        &lt;div class=&quot;o&quot;&gt;                                &lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;2&quot; width=&quot;226&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                           &lt;/div&gt;                                                 &lt;div class=&quot;miiib&quot;&gt;&lt;!-- S ILIN --&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;arr&quot;&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;&quot; href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7823078.stm&quot;&gt;Israel denies banned weapons use&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- E ILIN --&gt;&lt;!-- S ILIN --&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;arr&quot;&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;&quot; href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4442988.stm&quot;&gt;Weapon on the edge&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- E ILIN --&gt;&lt;!-- S ILIN --&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;arr&quot;&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;&quot; href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4441902.stm&quot;&gt;Q&amp;amp;A: White phosphorus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- E ILIN --&gt;&lt;!-- S ILIN --&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;arr&quot;&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;&quot; href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7830302.stm&quot;&gt;Eyewitness: Gaza&#39;s medical crisis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- E ILIN --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;                                    &lt;/td&gt;            &lt;/tr&gt;     &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;             &lt;!-- E IBOX --&gt;            &lt;p&gt;White phosphorus is permitted on the battlefield to make smoke screens to allow troops to move undetected, and also to impede infrared anti-tank weapons. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But its use in the densely populated areas of central Gaza City would be &quot;unlawful&quot;, as it dispersal would be indiscriminate and could put civilians at risk, says Human Rights Watch military analyst Marc Garlasco. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The Israeli military may be using legal weapons, but it is using the weapons in an illegal manner,&quot; Mr Garlasco told the BBC News website. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said he had observed dozens and dozens WP shells used by the Israeli army over Gaza since 27 December, both ground-burst shells and air-burst, scattering distinctive burning lumps of phosphorus which left white smoke trails. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;We are absolutely certain this is white phosphorus, this is the singular, unique visual signature of white phosphorus on the battlefield. Not only have I seen it for myself but I have checked with US artillery,&quot; Mr Garlasco added. &lt;/p&gt;Mr Garlasco also examined a press photograph which showed a burning lump of matter in the UN compound. He said it &quot;definitely appeared&quot; to be WP, but that the photo was not detailed enough to say with complete certainty. &lt;!-- E BO --&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/01/un-accuses-israel-over-phosphorus-mr.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-6412575391023683356</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-01-17T15:10:55.924-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Education</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Gaza</category><title></title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;mxb&quot;&gt;     &lt;h1&gt;      Israel &#39;to announce ceasefire&#39;     &lt;/h1&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;                                                                                 &lt;!-- S BO --&gt; &lt;!-- S IIMA --&gt;     &lt;table align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;226&quot;&gt;    &lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;    &lt;div&gt;     &lt;img src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45386000/jpg/_45386166_school_fire226b_afp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;UN workers inspect damage inside a UN-run school hit on 17 January.&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;170&quot; hspace=&quot;0&quot; vspace=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;226&quot; /&gt;     &lt;div class=&quot;cap&quot;&gt;A large number of civilians have died in the three weeks of conflict&lt;/div&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;    &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;   &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;         &lt;!-- E IIMA --&gt; &lt;!-- S SF --&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;first&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Israeli cabinet is set to back an end to offensive military activities in the Gaza Strip, three weeks after attacks began, the BBC understands. &lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Israel&#39;s leaders are expected to approve a ceasefire at a meeting later on Saturday, after which PM Ehud Olmert will address the nation, sources said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The sources said the ceasefire deal did not involve Hamas.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is not clear how Hamas will respond; its officials say the group will ignore any truce unless its demands are met.  &lt;!-- E SF --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ahead of the move violence continued in Gaza, with 50 Israeli air strikes overnight. Rocket fire from Hamas militants also continued. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;About 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the violence began on 27 December. Thirteen Israelis - three civilians and 10 soldiers - have been killed during the campaign. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&#39;H-Hour&#39; &lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Israeli move comes amid intense diplomacy aimed at ending the conflict.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Israeli sources told the BBC&#39;s Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, that Mr Olmert would announce an end to offensive military operations from &quot;H-Hour&quot;, the exact timing of which is not yet clear. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mr Olmert was expected to link the move to Israel having achieved its goal of curtailing rocket fire from Hamas-linked militants, the sources said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If rocket fire continued after &quot;H-Hour&quot;, Israel would respond, the sources said. If there was a single incident, Israel would hit back surgically. If there were more attacks Israel would go back on the offensive, they said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The sources stressed that this was a unilateral action by Israel. How Hamas responds remains to be seen.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hamas insists that any ceasefire must involve Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza and an immediate lifting of the Israeli blockade. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;UN strike&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The announcement came on the 22nd day of violence in Gaza.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;United Nations officials said two children, aged five and seven, were killed when Israeli tank fire hit a UN school where hundreds had taken shelter in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;John Ging, the Unrwa chief in Gaza, told the BBC that there was &quot;nowhere safe in Gaza&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;I&#39;m ashamed of this - there&#39;s international legal responsibility to protect civilians in conflict, and we&#39;re not doing it,&quot; Mr Ging said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, told the BBC that Israel was waiting for more information on what happened. &lt;/p&gt;The Israel military said Hamas fired seven rockets into Israel on Saturday; there were no casualties.   &lt;!-- E BO --&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-to-announce-ceasefire-large.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-2533395267653877403</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:19:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-01-14T17:19:59.520-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Activism</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Events</category><title>Demonstrate for an end to Israel&#39;s assault on the people of Gaza</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span&gt;Wednesday&lt;/span&gt;, January 14th at 8pm Outside the Michigan Union on State St. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:130%;&quot;&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#009900;&quot;&gt;Demonstrate for an end to Israel&#39;s assault on the people of Gaza &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;   &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;&quot;  &gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000000;&quot;&gt;Demand an unconditional and immediate cease-fire and total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center; font-family: verdana,sans-serif;&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff0000;&quot;&gt;The Michigan is located at &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 153, 0);&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(0, 153, 0);&quot;&gt;530 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1308&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;&lt;b style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 153, 0);&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(0, 153, 0);&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;&lt;b&gt;*******Notice********&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;&lt;b&gt;Please do not bring the flags of any political parties&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:#000000;&quot;  &gt;We support an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in  Gaza, in addition to a complete&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;withdrawal of all Israeli Occupying Forces from the Gaza Strip. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-size:85%;&quot; &gt;We support an immediate and unconditional end to Israel&#39;s illegal siege of the Gaza Strip and demand that all border crossings be opened for the purposes of humanitarian aid and economic freedom.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;font-family:arial black,sans-serif;&quot; &gt;We support a comprehensive halt to all United States military aid to Israel. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:78%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial black,sans-serif;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: verdana,sans-serif;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000000;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:6;&quot;&gt;ARMBANDS FOR JUSTICE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: times new roman,serif;font-size:6;&quot; &gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: times new roman,serif;font-size:6;color:#ff0000;&quot;  &gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000000;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;                                                           &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;/div&gt;  &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;&quot;  &gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#009900;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#000000;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Black armbands will be distributed campus-wide for people to wear in support of an unconditional and immediate cease-fire and total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;. They will be distributed by members of the Action Gaza committee and will be available at the informational tables set up near the posting wall in Mason Hall TODAY, Wednesday, January 14 from 10 AM to 4 PM. Armbands will also be distributed at TODAY&#39;s demonstration in front of the Michigan Union from 8 PM to 10 PM.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wear your armbands daily until a ceasefire is issued. When people ask about your armband, talk to them about the atrocities being committed in Gaza, the devastatingly disproportionate attacks upon the Palestinian people and Israel&#39;s blatant abuse of human rights and repeated violations of international law. If you would like to get an armband, please contact Kamelya Youssef at &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:kyoussef@umich.edu&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;kyoussef@umich.edu&lt;/a&gt;.</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/01/demonstrate-for-end-to-israels-assault.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4674888439181951769.post-3255824421843858631</guid><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:59:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-01-07T23:00:42.701-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Education</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Gaza</category><title>Israel Puts Media Clamp on Gaza</title><description>&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;&lt;nyt_byline version=&quot;1.0&quot; type=&quot; &quot;&gt; &lt;/nyt_byline&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;byline&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;By &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/ethan_bronner/index.html?inline=nyt-per&quot; title=&quot;More Articles by Ethan Bronner&quot;&gt;ETHAN BRONNER&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;           &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;JERUSALEM — Three times in recent days, a small group of foreign correspondents was told to appear at the border crossing to &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/gaza_strip/index.html?inline=nyt-geo&quot; title=&quot;More news and information about the Gaza Strip.&quot;&gt;Gaza&lt;/a&gt;. The reporters were to be permitted in to cover firsthand the Israeli war on &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hamas/index.html?inline=nyt-org&quot; title=&quot;More articles about Hamas.&quot;&gt;Hamas&lt;/a&gt; in keeping with a Supreme Court ruling against the two-month-old Israeli ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;Each time, they were turned back on security grounds, even as relief workers and other foreign citizens were permitted to cross the border. On Tuesday the reporters were told to not even bother going to the border. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;And so for an 11th day of &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/israel/index.html?inline=nyt-geo&quot; title=&quot;More news and information about Israel.&quot;&gt;Israel&lt;/a&gt;’s war in Gaza, the several hundred journalists here to cover it waited in clusters away from direct contact with any fighting or &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/palestinians/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier&quot; title=&quot;More articles about Palestinians.&quot;&gt;Palestinian&lt;/a&gt; suffering, but with full access to Israeli political and military commentators eager to show them around southern Israel, where Hamas rockets have been terrorizing civilians. A slew of private groups financed mostly by Americans are helping guide the press around Israel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;Like all wars, this one is partly about public relations. But unlike any war in Israel’s history, in this one the government is seeking to entirely control the message and narrative for reasons both of politics and military strategy. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;“This is the result of what happened in the 2006 Lebanon war against &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hezbollah/index.html?inline=nyt-org&quot; title=&quot;More articles about Hezbollah&quot;&gt;Hezbollah&lt;/a&gt;,” said Nachman Shai, a former army spokesman who is writing a doctoral dissertation on Israel’s public diplomacy. “Then, the media were everywhere. Their cameras and tapes picked up discussions between commanders. People talked on live television. It helped the enemy and confused and destabilized the home front. Today, Israel is trying to control the information much more closely.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;The government-commissioned investigation into the war with Hezbollah reported that the army had found that when reporters were allowed on the battlefield in Lebanon, they got in the way of military operations by posing risks and asking questions. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt; Maj. Avital Leibovich, an army spokeswoman, said, “If a journalist gets injured or killed, then it is Central Command’s responsibility.” She said the government was trying to protect Israel from rocket fire and “not deal with the media.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;Beyond such tactical considerations, there is a political one. Daniel Seaman, director of Israel’s Government Press Office, said, “Any journalist who enters Gaza becomes a fig leaf and front for the Hamas terror organization, and I see no reason why we should help that.” &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;Foreign reporters deny that their work in Gaza has been subject to Hamas censorship or control. Unable to send foreign reporters into Gaza, the international news media have relied on Palestinian journalists based there for coverage. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;But it seems that many Israelis accept Mr. Seaman’s assessment and shed no tears over the restrictions, despite repeated protests by the Foreign Press Association of Israel, including on Tuesday.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;A headline in Tuesday’s issue of Yediot Aharonot, the country’s largest selling daily newspaper, expressed well the popular view of the issue. Over a news article describing the generally negative coverage so far, especially in the European media, an intentional misspelling of a Hebrew word turned the headline “World Media” into “World Liars.” &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;This attitude has been helped by supportive Israeli news media whose articles have been filled with “feelings of self-righteousness and a sense of catharsis following what was felt to be undue restraint in the face of attacks by the enemy,” according to a study of the first days of media coverage of the war by a liberal but nonpartisan group called Keshev, the Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;The Foreign Press Association has been fighting for weeks to get its members into Gaza, first appealing to senior government officials and ultimately taking its case to the country’s highest court. Last week the justices worked out an arrangement with the organization whereby small groups would be permitted into Gaza when it was deemed safe enough for the crossings to be opened for other reasons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;So far, every time the border has been opened, journalists have not been permitted to go in.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt; On Tuesday, the press association released a statement saying, “The unprecedented denial of access to Gaza for the world’s media amounts to a severe violation of press freedom and puts the state of Israel in the company of a handful of regimes around the world which regularly keep journalists from doing their jobs.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;At the same time that reporters have been given less access to Gaza, the government has created a new structure for shaping its public message, ensuring that spokesmen of the major government branches meet daily to make sure all are singing from the same sheet.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;“We are trying to coordinate everything that has to do with the image and content of what we are doing and to make sure that whoever goes on the air, whether a minister or professor or ex-ambassador, knows what he is saying,” said Aviv Shir-On, deputy director general for media in the Foreign Ministry. “We have talking points and we try to disseminate our ideas and message.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt; Israelis say the war is being reduced on television screens around the world to a simplistic story: an American-backed country with awesome military machine fighting a third-world guerrilla force leading to a handful of Israelis dead versus 600 Gazans dead.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;Israelis and their supporters think that such quick descriptions fail to explain the vital context of what has been happening — years of terrorist rocket fire on civilians have gone largely unanswered, and a message had to be sent to Israel’s enemies that this would go on no longer, they say. The issue of proportionality, they add, is a false construct because comparing death tolls offers no help in measuring justice and legitimacy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;There are other ways to construe the context of this conflict, of course. But no matter what, Israel’s diplomats know that if journalists are given a choice between covering death and covering context, death wins. So in a war that they consider necessary but poorly understood, they have decided to keep the news media far away from the death. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;John Ging, an Irishman who directs operations in Gaza for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org&quot; title=&quot;More articles about the United Nations.&quot;&gt;United Nations&lt;/a&gt; Relief and Works Agency, entered Gaza on Monday as journalists were kept out. He told Palestinian reporters in Gaza that the policy was a problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-size:85%;&quot;&gt;“For the truth to get out, journalists have to get in,” he said. &lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://umsafe.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-puts-media-clamp-on-gaza.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Team SAFE)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>

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