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1902 18th St NW • Washington, DC 20009 | (800) 368-5788 • Fax: (202) 265-4574   ACTION ALERT May 6, 2013 Contact: news_editor@wrmea.org     Help us to prevent Forty thousand Israeli Bedouin citizens from being forcibly removed from their homes › Economic/Social Justice, General | Rabbi Arik Ascherman ‏| 03.05.13 “I am certain that the world will judge the Jewish State by what it will do with the Arabs”  Chaim Weizmann – The First President of Israel I apologize in advance that this is not a calm and reasoned appeal, as you are accustomed to receive from human rights organizations. This is an emotional appeal asking you to help save the soul of our country. Act Now! By: Arik Ascherman I truly believe that history will judge all of us on how we act in the coming days. The enormity of the impending moral disaster is perhaps greater than any I have dealt with in the 18 years I have been working for Rabbis For Human Rights. I need you to take a few minutes of your time to prevent that disaster. Please click here to help us to prevent Forty thousand Israeli Bedouin citizens from being forcibly removed from their homes, wrenched from their way of life and sources of income, and forced to live in artificially created townships that have become centers of unemployment, poverty, crime, poverty and despair. Forty Thousand. Please click here, to read our background information and position paper. Additional information from The Association For Civil Rights in Israel can be found by clicking here. Please click here to write a letter to Israeli government ministers Livni and Lapid urging them to pull back from the brink. Please feel free to write additional letters to Prime Minister Netanyahu, your country’s Israeli Ambassador, and your nation’s government officials responsible for foreign policy. From the moment that I first understood our government’s intentions, I have not been able to get out of my head the final scene of “Fiddler on the Roof,” as the Jews of Anatevka are expelled from their homes. Watch it for yourselves, starting at 2 hours and 36 minutes. I imagine the residents of El-Araqib saying goodbye to the generations buried in their cemetery, and the residents of numerous villages giving one last longing look at their lands. I imagine the Bedouin soldier serving in the IDF returning his uniform after taking a furlough to help his family pack. At least as likely, I imagine 40,000 Bedouin battling the special police force to be created to enforce this plan, and eventually being forcibly herded into the “Pale of Settlement,” where they will be allowed to live. I see the hatred in young people’s eyes, rising incidents of skirmishes between Jews and Bedouin, and the headlines mourning declining investments and rising unemployment for Jew and Arab alike. As we are warned in this week’s Torah portion, “If you reject My Laws and spurn “My rules,….I will wreak misery upon you…” (Leviticus 26: 15-16) The bottom line is that successive Israeli governments have desired for years to move the Negev Bedouin out of villages where they have lived before the creation of the state, or in some cases from villages into which Israel had forcibly moved them during the first years of the state. The goal has also been to take over their lands. Fear mongers have told the Israeli public that the Bedouin are criminals who will take over the Negev if they are not stopped. The truth is that, if the Bedouin were granted a fair opportunity to prove their land claims, and were they to win every claim, they would hold on to 5.4% of the Negev. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation is scheduled to vote on Monday whether or not to send the latest plan to the Knesset to make it into law. Our ask is very simple. “Don’t approve this, or any other proposal that steals land and hope. Build a better future together with the Bedouin” Beyond the enormous moral implications almost impossible to grasp, there is self interest as well. The additional tension, strife and social problems will drive away investments, and discourage people from living in the Negev. When Sheikh Sayekh al-Touri watched that scene of the Jews of Anatevka being expelled from their homes. He exclaimed, “They did to the Jews just what the Jews are trying to do to us!” However, I was always taught that we are a people commanded to learn from our own oppression how NOT to treat others, and how NOT to repeat history, “For you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.” And so, I also have an alternative vision in my head. It is one of Jews and Bedouin working together for the good of theNegev. It is one in which we will merit the blessing of this week’s Torah portion,”You shall observe my laws and faithfully keep My rules, that you may live upon the land in security, the land shall yield is fruit and you shall eat your fill…”(Leviticus 23:18-19), because we will remember that even the Covenant between God and the Jewish people does not mean that the land belongs to Arab or Jew, “For the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with me.”(Leviticus 25:23) If we act fairly and justly to Jew and Bedouin alike, we will be truly living the Torah’s command: “You shall proclaim freedom throughout the land for ALL its inhabitants.” (Leviticus 25:10) Please act now (link). Your decision at this moment could influence whether Israel ignores the moral lessons of our own history and perpetuates strife, or whether Israel acts according to the precepts of justice and fairness at the heart of our Jewish tradition, and promotes a better future for both Jews and Bedouin in the Negev. Shaova Tov! Arik “Therefore beware, so runs the warning, from making human rights in your own state conditional on anything other than on the basic humanity which every human being as such bears within him/her by virtue of being human. Any suppression of these human and civil rights opens the gate to the indiscriminate use of power and abuse of human beings to the whole horror of Egyptian mishandling of human beings that was the root of abomination of Egypt.” Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Exodus 22:20 The time has come for an equitable resolution of Bedouin rights in the Negev. Any worthy resolution must preserve the following principles: It will be arrived at only with real involvement from the Bedouin community institutions. Full recognition for all existing villages, even if that means altering the national zoning plan. Acceptance of the ownership claims made in the 1970’s. Diversity of settlement types, not just towns or large villages. Integration of the community in planning and finding solutions. Developing the Negev equally – for all its residents.

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Our friends at the United Palestinian Appeal asked us to send this to our list.

1902 18th St NW • Washington, DC 20009 | (800) 368-5788 • Fax: (202) 265-4574 ACTION ALERT May 2, 2013 Contact: news_editor@wrmea.org     April showers bring May flowers!   The first annual UPA Spring Walk and Picnic for Palestine is this Saturday, May 4th, just four days away.   The day's events include a leisurely walk around Lake Fairfax in Reston, Virginia, a picnic barbecue, live music and a raffle for Palestinian items (olive oil, embroidery and more).   Registered attendees will receive a Spring Walk t-shirt. Children aged 5 and under can register for free. All proceeds from the walk will support UPA programs in the West Bank, Gaza, and Palestinian refugee camps throughout the Middle East.   UPA Spring Walk and Picnic for Palestine Saturday, May 4th 9 am to 2 pm Lake Fairfax Park Reston, Virginia Cosponsored by:     George and Rhonda Salem David Joubran 1330 New Hampshire Avenue NW Suite 104 | Washington, DC 20036 US

Memorial Service to Remember Richard H. Curtiss
(June 13, 1927-Jan. 31, 2013)

Several people have called asking for details about the memorial service for Richard H. Curtiss, retired Foreign Service officer and co-founder and executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, who died Jan. 31, 2013.

We will celebrate his life with friends, colleagues and fellow peace activists:

When: 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 16

Where: St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 3001 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016.

There is street parking nearby or paid parking in the Washington National Cathedral’s underground parking garage.

Please don’t bring flowers—just your good memories to share. We hope to tape the service—as well as the reception (with light refreshments) in the church’s adjoining Nourse Hall, when friends will have the opportunity to share their memories—and post it on our Web site at a future date.

Thank you for the deeply moving notes we’ve received from community leaders, Washington Report readers, writers and former interns, as well as those from Foreign Service friends and neighbors. We printed just a few in our “In Memoriam” article on pp. 20-25 Washington Report April 2013. (Don’t forget—if you are a subscriber you can read the current issue on your Tablet, phone or computer. Go to www.wrmea.org and log right in. If you have any trouble viewing the current issue you can email webmaster@wrmea.org for immediate assistance.) We have also posted many of your messages on our Web site. We thank so many of you for sending gift subscriptions to libraries to honor his life’s work.

Al-Jazeera Arabic’s “Min Washington,” hosted by Abderrahim Foqaraa, will broadcast a piece about Richard Curtiss and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs on Tuesday, March 19. Check your local listing for time.

Read Messages We've Received From Near and Far.

We thank so many of you for sending "donations to the magazine or" gift subscriptions to libraries to honor his life’s work.

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Urge President Obama to view 5 BROKEN CAMERAS
and experience the REAL West Bank
on his trip to Palestine/Israel - Send him a letter!

5 BROKEN CAMERAS, a remarkable documentary film nominated for an Academy Award, focuses on the years-long nonviolent struggle of the people of Bi’lin in the West Bank to keep the Israeli Separation Wall from cutting through their olive orchards and bisecting their town. It was co-directed by a West Bank Palestinian and a Jewish Israeli. The film demonstrates the brave resilience of the people of Bi’lin and the challenges for Palestinians living in the West Bank in the face of the Israeli occupation. 

President Obama is traveling to Palestine/Israel on March 20, 2013. This is an opportunity for him to experience firsthand the effects of the occupation on Palestinian residents of the West Bank. We urge the President to prepare for his trip by viewing 5 Broken Cameras with his family, and while he is there, to visit some of the many communities that are severely affected by the occupation, such as Bi’lin and Hebron, to notice illegal Israeli settlements dominating hilltops across the West Bank, and to see how the "separation barrier" has divided communities and cut farmers off from their orchards.

Our hope is that after these experiences, President Obama will promote changes in U.S. foreign policy that support international law and human rights in Palestine/Israel.

Send a letter to the President

Click here to link to the White House comments page to send the prepared letter below, or to send your own message.

• When you get to the White House comments page, enter your Name, Email and Zip along with a Subject. Then you can copy and paste the letter below into the message space, or send your own comments. The Subject that you enter might be "Toward a just peace in Palestine/Israel" or something similar. 
• At the bottom of the page before you click on "Submit" button, you need to exactly enter a two-word challenge phrase that will appear in a CAPTCHA panel. Don't worry if you fail the challenge the first time, sometimes the challenge phrase is impossible to read - you can try again or click on the "Get a new challenge" button until you succeed.

Toward a just peace in Palestine/Israel, 
Israel Divestment Campaign

Dear President Obama,

Perhaps, like many of us, you saw Ben Affleck name 5 Broken Cameras as one of the feature-length documentaries nominated for an Academy Award. This remarkable film was co-directed by a West Bank Palestinian and a Jewish Israeli. Everyone who has seen it has been deeply moved as they observed the reality of life under occupation. We hope that you will take the time to watch it with your family before you leave for your trip to the Middle East in March.

While you're there, we urge you to spend some of your time in the West Bank, not only in Ramallah, but also in the village of Bi'lin that is featured in 5 Broken Cameras. There you will see how Israel's "separation barrier" cuts these farmers off from their land, a phenomenon repeated all over the West Bank. Be sure to visit Hebron too, where an Israeli military checkpoint blocks the main street. Little children have to go through the checkpoint every day just to go to school. Let your eyes wander up the slopes of the hills as you drive around the West Bank and take note of how the illegal Jewish settlements dominate practically every hilltop. If you go to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, you will pass Aida Refugee Camp. As you drive by the .71 square kilometer enclosure, think about the almost 5,000 Palestinian refugees that have been languishing there for close to 65 years. 

Your speech in Cairo in 2009 was eloquent, but it is time to move past eloquent words and demonstrate to the Arab world – and all of us – that you understand and care about the real life circumstances of people there, Palestinians as well as Israelis. It is time to do more than meet with heads of states and political bureaucrats. It is time to meet with and listen to the people on the ground and with the members of civil society who are organizing nonviolently for social justice. In other words, it is time to earn that Nobel Peace prize that you were awarded.

Thank you.

Free Samer Issawi

Samer Issawi, 33, has been detained without charge for more than seven months by Israeli authorities. He was released from prison in October 2011 as a part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap and detained again without charge on July 7, 2012. Issawi has been on hunger strike since August 2012 to protest his detention. He is now in critical condition: losing his vision, vomiting blood and lapsing in and out of consciousness.

http://www.facebook.com/events/224195164390966/

GLOBAL CALL IN DAY TO FREE SAMER ISSAWI!

1. Call President Barack Obama at 1-202-456-1111
2. Call U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at 1-202-647-4000 or the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at 1-202-647-7209
3. Join the Twitter campaign at 11 AM PST/2 PM EST/9 PM Palestine Time to demand the release of Samer Issawi. Follow @samerissawi1 for the hashtag to use.
4. For updates on the worldwide campaign, follow “The Free Samer Issawi Campaign” on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Free-Samer-Issawi-Campaign/194111744067340>.

For more information see:

• Al Awda’s Action alert: <http://www.al-awda.org/alert-samerissawi.html>;
• Alison Weir’s article “AP and Amnesty International: Are you just waiting for him to die?” published in CounterPunch and TruthOut in February 2013: http://ifamericansknew.org/media/issawi.html;
• Letters from The League of Arab States to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
• Delinda Hanley’s article “International Conference Demands Freedom for Prisoners of War Held by Israel,” published in the March 2013 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs p. 16-17.