Palestine – Features

(source: Human Rights Newsletter)

 Photo above is of Mahfoutha Shtaya, 65 year old who “inspired us when she stood up to Israeli soldiers and settlers in 2004 when they were uprooting hundreds of olive trees in her village-the source of her community’s livelihood. Alone and defenseless, she clung to one of the few trees left standing. Her action spoke out powerfully against the wanton destruction and its disastrous effects for an already suffering people”

My mother says I should have worn long sleeves for the Palestinian olive trees sometimes do not want to part with their fruits without a bit of resistance.  But somehow I feel the few minor scratches are a badge of honor and the least I owe our beloved trees.

The whole year, we look forward to these days. My sister, wife, mother, and I harvested the olive trees sometimes silently, sometimes talking about mundane things, and rarely speaking of things of consequence.  But thoughts are another story.  My thoughts wonder to the Palestinians who lost their olive groves to the colonial settlement activity (over 1 million trees have been uprooted).  The picture of the old women hugging her tree that was being cut by the Israeli occupiers flashes through my mind (above).  I am reminded of my deceased father during such time. I feel at peace with the sorrow and anger overwhelmed by emotions of gratitude and serenity under the old olive trees. The olive harvest is after all a ritual that borders on an act of worship (and maybe it is).

Read More »Palestinian olives

South Africa’s Condemnation of Israeli Air Strikes on Gaza

The Media Review Network (MRN) and The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) acknowledges Government’s condemnation of the latest air strikes by the Israeli defence force on the desperate and destitute people of Gaza.

This statement is a step in the right direction towards restoring the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self determination and independence The severity of the seige imposed upon the Gazan people is such that mere political rhetoric and lip service cannot bring about the much needed relief to end the tragic unfolding of this humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions. In addition the illegal Zionist regime in occupied Palestine will be building another wall, this time along the border with Egypt, to ensure that no African illegal work or asylum seekers enter the Zionist entity. This is clearly discriminatory and racist.

We believe that it is time  the South African Government steps in line with the Tripartite Alliance, who have been supporting the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the racist, illegal Zionist regime.

We sadly note the perilous position of the Palestinian people is rapidly deteriorating as a result of the inhuman siege imposed by the Occupying Force. Short of some decisive  action by the our Government, the dangers faced by the beleaguered Palestinians will be compounded beyond measure.

Ibrahim Vawda
Senior Researcher,
Media Review Network
Tell: 012 374 6987
Cell: 072 295 0088
E-mail: webmaster@mediareviewnet.com

Nabeweya Malick                                                                                                                                     
Public Affairs & Media,
Muslim Judicial Council    
Cape Town
Cell: 083 408 1157
E-mail: pro@mjc.org.za 

Read More »Joint press release

By Rick Rozoff

(source: Media Monitors Network)

"In 1884, the major European powers gathered at the Berlin Conference to divide up those parts of Africa that had escaped colonization and to create a consortium to dominate and exploit an entire continent and its peoples…The anti-colonial struggles after the Second World War put an end to that enforced order, but 126 years later there are ominous indications that the former colonial masters are nostalgic for their past power."

The world’s oldest extant military bloc (formed 61 years ago) and the largest in history (twenty eight full members and as many partners on five continents), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, counts among its major member states all of Africa’s former colonial powers: Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium.

After World War II and the groundswell of anti-colonial sentiment throughout Africa and Asia, the European powers were forced to withdraw from most of the African continent, though Portugal retained its possessions until the 1970s. Read More »Nato africoms partner in military penetration of Africa

Asmal’s groundbreaking call for targeting Israel’s legitimacy

By Iqbal Jassat – Chairperson: Media Review Network

While Kader Asmal’s opinion piece “World must deny legitimacy to Israel” [Mail & Guardian, June 25] was welcomed as a breathtakingly courageous call for action against the Zionist entity, unsurprisingly it has also elicited raging howls of complaints from the usual suspects.

However, what I do find quite intriguing is the personal attack David Saks of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies hurls at Asmal.  His insulting response as an apologist for Israel is reflective of the increasing difficulty spin-doctors for the usurpers of Palestine have in countering credible and sound analysis.

Accusing Asmal of falsehood and of “standard anti-Israel polemic” and then himself indulging in emotive rhetoric without any reference to the key components of Asmal’s brilliant argument to bring an end to Palestinians’ long ordeal, is a total cop-out!

Asmal, a veteran of the struggle against apartheid and having been closely associated with legal probes into violations of international law by Israel following its invasion of Lebanon in 1980 and the Sabra and Shatila massacres of hundreds of defenceless Palestinian refugees, cannot neither be dismissed as “ignorant”, nor of having a “jaundiced approach”.

Read More »Better late than never