From: •••@••.••• (by way of Hans Sinn <•••@••.•••>) Subject: [nonviolentpeaceforce] Fwd: (Fwd) INTERNATIONAL GROUP ATTACKED AT EREZ ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: "neta_golan" <•••@••.•••> Date sent: Wed, 26 Dec 2001 14:55:03 -0000 Grassroots International Protection for Palestinians (GIPP) INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT December 26, 2001 For Immediate Release INTERNATIONAL GROUP ATTACKED AT EREZ [Erez] Ninety foreign civilians traveling on a solidarity visit to Gaza were blocked entry by the Israeli military at Erez today, after being processed and given initial permission to enter. The international group was comprised of American, Belgian, British, and French citizens. Protesting the Israeli Army decision not to let the group enter Gaza, where they were scheduled to tour Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah, including the refugee camps, and meet with Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi, Director of the Red Crescent, one half of the group decided to walk through Erez. With hands up in the air the group proceeded to walk, but were met with a violent Israeli response. Soldiers began firing shots and then descended upon the group, punching the men and body-slamming the women. The internationals sat down to try to avoid injury, but to no avail. All of the personal cameras in the group were confiscated and a number of cameras were broken. Israeli soldiers also verbally threatened to shoot and kill all of the foreign civilians. Members of the group were then dragged and forcefully thrown onto their tour bus. Two French civilians were detained. "We were going to Gaza to support the Palestinian people, and to conduct a fact-finding mission so as to present more objective information to the media and to our fellow patriots at home. We were also carrying with us humanitarian supplies for the people of Gaza. Expressing our right to freedom of movement, not just for ourselves, but also for the Palestinians who are kept caged in Gaza, we decided to cross the checkpoint in order to complete our visit. All of a sudden, shots were fired directly over our heads and we were descended upon by soldiers, who were punching, pushing and throwing us to the ground. We sat down to avoid their blows, but they kept hitting, kicking and pushing. When the soldiers noticed that we were filming the attack, they took and broke our cameras and confiscated our film. Finally, they started dragging us, one by one, and threw us on the bus, where we were kept under guard by Border Police. Many of us sustained injuries, including cuts and bruises, and at least three people require medical attention." (Statement by the international group) The entire group will lodge formal complaints through their respective embassies. For more information, please contact Huwaida at 052-642-709 or Samir 055-385-257. Christine Schweitzer * Scheteligsweg 2 * 22111 Hamburg ***************************************************** From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Institut_f=FCr_Globale_Friedensarbeit?= <•••@••.•••> Subject: Thoughts on the current situation of Israel and Palestine Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 14:38:30 +0100 Dear friends of peace work, I send you two texts, the first is from Sabine Lichtenfels, spiritual teacher and co-founder of Tamera. She actually is, with a group of young people from the Youth School for Global Learning, on a journey to Jerusalem - they there will join peace activities organised from "women in black" and others. The second is an appeal from the peace movement in Israel. May these thoughts join with others and may peace prevail on earth! With greetings Barbara Kovats STOP THE KILLING - SOS FOR NEW COMMUNITIES Thoughts on the current situation of Israel and Palestine Sabine Lichtenfels, Tamera/Portugal Christmas 2001 Everyday countless innocent victims die. Every mother who watches her child die suffers the same pain regardless what religion or skin colour she belongs to. Everyday we see countless children die. They could be our children. This insanity of killing must come to an end. An Israeli mother cries the same tears for her son as a Palestinian mother, an American the same as an Afghan. All over the world mothers see their sons go into a war for purposes they no longer understand since they are the purposes of other people and other powers. Is this insanity still the consequence of an age-old war of religions, started by the patriarchy fighting the holy sources of life? The legend of the Old Testament tells us that it was God who forbade human insight together with sexuality by driving humans from paradise. What kind of dishevelled god man put at the height of creation! That was the beginning of a cruel development. From then on men had to suppress other religions, confiscate land and knowledge and destroy female sources. Priests had to fight against sensuality, against the old knowledge of life, against body culture and plant knowledge. They had to take the women's key - which they needed for life themselves - by force. They had to demonise, torture and hunt women in order to unfold their male power. The earth can be owned by no one. Just as a woman can never be owned. The earth will provide for those who are willing to cooperate. We women will love those who protect and care for all life on earth. We came to love our sons, our men and all life, not to destroy or hate any life. Support a voice for peace which is recognised worldwide - stand up against a system which considers the massacre of humans and animals normal. We can not watch in silence when innocent beings in Chechnya, Afghanistan or Angola are sacrificed for the interest of the global economy. We, also, cannot be silent about the quiet genocide taking place under the eyes of the world in Palestine. We have to accept that the Palestinian suicide assassinations result from the desperation of having their land, their water, their olive trees, their work and their housing stolen from them. Have we ever looked into the faces of the ones who are dying now every day? Or the faces of the ones who perform this killing in the name of a higher cause? Are we aware that for the large part they are almost children who hope for love, for a home, for true religion and for truth? Now they believe the lies they were taught. Not terrorists but the existing systems of power and manipulation make up the net of global violence. The terror of individual assassins is a reaction to the terror of those systems. Therefore we cannot leave it to governments and parties to end the violence; they will not do it. Those killing each other now could be friends. Originally they carried within them the same life, the same love, the same longing for comfort and faith as all of us. They were all cheated of these ideals. There will not be peace on earth as long as we create enemies. Together we have to find ways of leaving a system that persistently reproduces violence. All who agree to this have to join forces for a powerful worldwide movement regardless of political party, religion or race. The globalisation of violence has to be answered by the globalisation of peace. Let us begin with creating new self-sufficient systems . villages of peace and hope. When young Israelis and Palestinians begin this together it will be hard to target them; our brothers will no longer know who to shoot. The situation on this planet challenges us to develop self-sufficient systems that offer an answer to human questions: the need for home, for food, for beauty, for love and sexuality, for religion and meaning. It is the global SOS to find ways of life which can generate true non-violence through trust and truth, through the protection each individual can find in community. Those who reconnect to the living being of the earth will feel the hunger and the joy, the suffering and the bliss of plants, animals and humans. New habitats shall be created for all of them together. It is now time to rediscover the universal sources of healing and self healing - the organism, both of the earth and the human being. As valuable as breathing, community is part of a fulfilled, healthy and organic life. The SOS call is the call for new community. Never have we been so close to the urgent need of developing new ways of life which satisfy our deepest primary longings and needs. Inner peace is the key to peace in society. Part of that is protection and safety in the community of humans, animals and plants. Everybody wants to trust and be embedded into a meaningful life. The holy ghost and the healing power flow along the pathways of trust. From there springs a very different compassion and political action. Keywords for the new lifestyle are: cooperation with nature instead of exploitation, truth-telling in love, protection and caring for all life, reconnection with the divine aspect of all things, bringing together spiritual and political action, to step away from complicity and indifference towards the cruelty occurring everyday in front of our eyes. Together, let us stop believing in our helplessness. May we free the sources within us so that divine power and knowledge of love can act again through us. In the name of love, in the name of our children, in the name of all creation - Shalom and Salaam! Sabine Lichtenfels, Christmas 2001 -------------------------------------------------- The following is an appeal that we are sending to you - from Palestine, and we ask that you distribute it as widely as possible - wherever you think it might be seen, and responded to. Local press, church magazines, schools, perhaps as an advertisement in a newspaper... the message needs to get out, and for this we need your help. For more information please call Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi on 972 50 254218 With kind regards, The Palestine Monitor Appeal to the World The situation in Palestine is verging on that of a humanitarian crisis. The Palestinian population, 3.2 million people, is currently under the worst siege in their entire history. -- People are unable to move between Palestinian villages and towns, and goods cannot be transported. -- Large parts of many cities and villages are under 24 hour, or dusk-to-dawn curfews; tanks and armoured personal carriers sit in the streets, outside homes. -- A shortage of supplies is being reported in some areas, including gas and food. -- Sewage and garbage remains uncollected, presenting a public health crisis. -- Vaccinations and primary health care systems are paralysed, and epidemics are possible -- Patients in need of kidney dialysis and cancer treatment cannot receive it; in addition to this, 30 Palestinians have died after being denied access to medical care, and numerous women have given birth at the Israeli military blockades. -- Most universities and schools are not functioning. -- More than 50% of the population is unemployed; furthermore many employed people are unable to get to their places of work. -- Heavily armed Israeli soldiers arbitrarily occupy civilians1 homes. -- Israeli soldiers make armed raids into areas under Palestinian Authority, shooting people in their homes, and arresting others. Palestinians are being punished through a combination of occupation, military aggression & siege. During the past 14 months the Israeli army has killed 924 Palestinians and 25,000 others have been injured which is 1% of the population. 2,000 people have become permanently disabled. Without your actions the situation can only worsen. We call on you to contact your representatives to prevent this humanitarian crisis from becoming a disaster. ----- IGF - Institut für Globale Friedensarbeit (Institute for Global Peace Work), Monte do Cerro, P-7630 Colos, www.tamera.org •••@••.•••, Tel: +351-283 635 3-06, Fax: -74
