Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October 2014, pp. 48-49
Southern California Chronicle
Experts at Levantine Center Assess Damage From Israel’s 50-Day Rampage on Gaza
By Pat and Samir Twair
The anger was palpable in the Levantine Cultural Center Aug. 27 as panelists discussed the aftermath of Israel’s 50-day rampage across Gaza. Audience members visibly shared a respite from the resentment which had built up over nearly seven weeks of watching a one-sided war as they listened to speakers Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, co-founder and president of KinderUSA, Estee Chandler of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), UC Irvine Professor Mark LeVine and Rabbi Aryeh Cohen. UCLA law professor Asli Bali was the moderator.
“Two thousand Gazans are dead, 10,000 homes are unlivable and 190 mosques have been destroyed,” stated Dr. Al-Marayati. “Palestinians feel victorious simply because they are alive. Survivors, especially the wounded, are facing possible infection, disease or death due to the lack of potable water and are exposed to sewage as well as the danger caused by a lack of healthcare. There are no psychological facilities to treat children suffering from trauma. Palestinians are not allowed to access Israel’s healthcare system, one of the best in the world.
“There will be more attacks,” she predicted, “and each new attack on Gaza will be increasingly more deadly.”
After briefly describing JVP’s mission, Chandler noted, “People are always asking ‘Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?’” Her answer: “The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is the Palestinian Gandhi.”
Professor LeVine commented that large parts of Gaza now look like Dresden of 1945. Noting that the Israelis cruelly described the bombing of Gaza as mowing the lawn, LeVine said an American general had commented that this wasn’t just mowing the lawn, it was more like uprooting the top soil. LeVine, author of One Land, Two States (available from Middle East Books and More), does not envision a one-state solution, but instead suggests a shared overlapping state.
Rabbi Cohen pointed out that most Israeli government ministers are secular, but have chosen to use religious rhetoric to explain actions in Gaza. “We need to start thinking outside the war,” he said. “We need to pressure Congress that the first reaction shouldn’t be a military one. We need to emphasize diplomacy based on human rights.”
Professor Bali said the U.S. and Israel will neutralize any criminal court venues that attempt to try Israel for war crimes. “BDS is the final and best option,” she opined. “Voting with dollars is just as effective as a political vote, if not more so.”
L.A. Activists on the Go
Israel’s relentless Ramadan assault on Gaza mobilized a broad spectrum of Los Angeles progressive groups to stage protests on the travesty of justice and human rights. On Aug. 15, they met on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall for a press conference to protest a meeting of the L.A. City Council’s intergovernmental relations committee to consider a resolution that recognized Israel as a victim of Hamas’s rockets. After the conference some 15 irate activists testified on the absurdity of the resolution.
In the meantime, phone calls and e-mails objecting to the resolution had flooded council members, and the resolution was indefinitely postponed.
On Aug 16, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)-L.A. hosted a gathering of local progressive organizations to begin a united campaign to boycott Hewlett Packard (HP). The assembled representatives of 16 groups agreed that HP was a perfect candidate for a coalition action. Not only does the technical giant provide most computers to the Israeli military, but its biometric identity cards also track movements of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In the U.S., HP provides the same technology for the prison system, immigration enforcement and surveillance of civilian populations.
The new coalition includes BDS-LA, al-Awda, American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, along with Stop the LAPD Spying, the Anti-Racist Network, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) and the Long Beach Network. For more information: visit <www.israeldivestmentcampaign.org/hp-boycott-campaign-socal>.
On Aug. 18, activists from JVP, CODEPINK, Friends of Sabeel and American Muslims for Peace simultaneously protested at the Los Angeles offices of California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to object to the Senate’s unanimous support for Israel. In Feinstein’s office four were arrested for refusing to leave until their demands were met to join the U.N. and its call for a full investigation of Israel’s brutal Operation Protective Edge.
On Aug. 23, the Israeli-owned Zim vessel Haifa approached the Port of Long Beach. Earlier that week another Zim ship, the Piraeus, wasn’t able to unload its cargo in Oakland for three days (see p. 18). The Haifa was greeted at 6 a.m. by hundreds of Block the Boat Coalition protesters objecting to any Zionist boat unloading its cargo at a U.S. port. As in Oakland, the Longshore and the Warehouse Union (ILWU) stood in solidarity with Palestinian unions.
At Last, a Gaza Lawsuit
Orange County attorney Akram Abusharar filed a lawsuit Aug. 5 in Santa Ana against Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to “cease all military aid to the Israeli government.” The Anaheim-based lawyer further asked that Kerry and Hagel “deny Israeli military officers entry by declaring them persona non grata.”
Earlier that week, Israel had bombed Abusharar’s family home in Gaza and nearly 30 of his family members barely missed being killed by U.S.-supplied munitions. His father died April 20 as a result of the Israeli siege, which prevented him from receiving critical medical treatment. The complaint states that Kerry and Hagel have repeatedly violated laws including the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, a measure that bans military equipment transfer to nations that grossly violate human rights.
Orange County court officials sent Kerry and Hagel a 60-day summons requesting they reply to the complaint. A trial date has not been set, but the lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Andrew J. Guilford.
Actor Jay Abdo Needs Help
After a rough first three years in the U.S., Syrian actor Jay Abdo is achieving remarkable success in Hollywood.
He just finished hefty roles in two major feature films but fears his good luck will run out if Homeland Security doesn’t grant him an extended travel document. He arrived in the U.S. months after the Syrian revolution began in March 2011 to join his artist-attorney wife, Fadia Afashe, who was studying on a post-graduate grant in Minneapolis.
The two applied for political asylum and settled in Los Angeles. It was touch and go financially in the U.S. In Syria, Abdo was one of the country’s top 10 actors, under the name Jihad Abdo, starring in 43 films and countless soap operas. In Hollywood, he didn’t get a call back for more than 100 auditions. Finally, he was delivering pizzas for a living.
At that time, Abdo met Nick Raslan, a producer who recognized his talent. Raslan was making a film with Werner Herzog titled “Queen of the Desert” starring Nicole Kidman as the early 20th century archaeologist Gertrude Bell. Miraculously, Abdo was cast as Fattouh, Bell’s guide in the Arab world. He was set to work on location in Morocco in December, but the Syrian dissident was unable to obtain a visa.
Herzog sadly told Abdo he would have to re-cast the role if he didn’t get the visa. At the last minute, Abdo met a Moroccan diplomat who was familiar with his acting stardom in the Arab world and granted him a courtesy visa. The actor had similar visa problems in June, when he was assigned to location in Jordan for the same film.
More recently Abdo was cast as Dr. Haddad in “A Hologram for the King,” starring Tom Hanks. Both films will be released in 2015. His breakthrough included two roles for films on location in China and South Africa, but he was unable to accept the jobs because he did not have a travel document from Homeland Security.
Asked what it was like to work with Kidman and Hanks, Abdo replied, “Both were down to earth, filled with positive energy, professional at all times and wanted to know more about Syria.”
Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles.
