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This is the definition of solidarity: Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine

Defending Israel from Goldstone is very hard work.

Right wing Zionists are out in force these days, defending their state against the findings of the Goldstone Commission, that Israel (as well as Hamas) is guilty of serious war crimes as a result of its actions during the merciless assault on Gaza last winter. But it is very hard for them to defend Israel without simultaneously defending Hamas. The Israeli government is saying that the Goldstone report is unfair because Israel was defending itself, and a people acting in self defense should not have to worry about a few excesses. To expect Israel not to commit war crimes while defending itself is to expect it to fight with one hand tied behind its back.

That's a lot to take in, but there's a parallel logic to it, right? What then might Hamas say? A people under siege have a right to resist don't they? And if their only means of resistance breaks a few roofs, kills a few civilians, and causes some trauma, then so be it. To expect Hamas not to commit war crimes while resisting the siege of its people is to expect it to fight with one hand tied behind its back. If Israel is allowed to defend itself by any means necessary, denying this right to Palestinians is a double standard.

I think we can all agree that its better to have rules in place so that things like un-targeted rocket attacks on communities in southern Israel aren't thought of as "any means necessary." And so that white phosphorous, dime ammunition, rampant drone attacks, child casualties in the hundreds and civilian casualties above a thousand, attacks on UN facilities, bombs dropped on families and civilian police, demolished schools, and bulldozed homes, industries and farmland are not thought of as "any means necessary" either.

One day, a day postponed by the self-absorbed collaborators in the Palestinian leadership, Israel and Hamas will face international scrutiny for their actions. Those actions will be measured up to international standards and shown to be shamefully lacking. Hamas will need to take responsibility for its rockets and Israel will have to take responsibility for a lot more, but the proper thing for both parties to do is accept their transgressions. What they shouldn't do is mock international law and basic moral decency, but such is the way of the ultra right wing Zionists.

Even Hamas has kept its mouth shut this time.

- Update: Larry Derfner, blogging at the Jerusalem Post website, does a great job on this very point. Please check it out.

Olives Under Occupation

I only have two comments about this video:

1. I'd love to see an Israel defender try to explain the systematic uprooting and outright stealing of Palestinian olive trees.

2. Michael Sfard is an incredible defender of Palestinian rights and if Israel ever ends up steering out of its tailspin it will owe him a big thank you.

We must do what the international community will not.

The Goldstone report has landed with a thud. Israel was trashing it before it even came out, and did all it could to stop it from even being carried out. The US immediately called it biased and refused to even consider the allegations of Israeli war crimes contained within it. And now Israel has twisted the arm of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to ensure that the Goldstone report's findings will not be considered by the United Nations until at least next year. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Imagine being a Gazan right now. Not an ounce of concrete has entered the Strip. Not one of the three billion dollars that the international community has materialized. Palestinian children are returning to bombed out schools while Israel blocks the UN from reconstructing those schools or even replenishing basic educational supplies. Food, water, electricity are all in short supply due to the ongoing and completely inhumane siege. And now, to add another insult to the injuries of the past 60 years, every single governing body capable of pushing for justice for Gazan civilians has caved to Israel's bluff. Even the Palestinian Authority has abandoned the people it is supposed to serve, dropping a petition to investigate war crimes for the possibility of finally securing a new cell phone service. This is the height of cynicism.

But one could also imagine being a West Bank citizen right now. 5 years after it was ruled illegal, the Apartheid Wall is still being built, still stealing land and water resources, still uprooting olive trees to be sold to Israelis, from discriminatory Tel Aviv to illegal Ariel. The night raids continue unabated, people in wheelchairs are teargassed, non-violent protesters are shot and killed or jailed and tortured, and an entire population is denied the basic freedoms of movement and work and democracy and dignity that we in the west take for granted every day. The acceptance of non-violence has produced no gains, Fatah and the PA have, through their countless capitulations, earned none of the rewards they promised for Palestinians, the Obama administration that had built up such hope with its speeches and phone calls and visits to Cairo, has proven to be as spineless as its predecessor was mendacious. Justice, or even an easing of injustice, is nowhere in sight.

So is it any wonder that people are increasingly frustrated? Israel certainly hasn't changed its behavior, the PA has exposed itself as Israel's subcontractor, international governments have made no effort to help Palestinians, and the United States has literally squashed the possibility of achieving justice through international law. All the regular avenues of justice are closed. Where else is there to turn? Who will stand up for Palestinian rights?

It grows more apparent with each passing disappointment that the only way to put pressure on Israel is to boycott its products and institutions, divest from its companies and financial institutions, and sanction its government. People of conscience around the world, who see all preferred avenues of justice slammed shut in front of them, must now put their money where their mouths are. Not a dollar to support the bombing of civilians in Gaza. Not a dollar to support the blockade, not a dollar to shoot fishermen off the coast, not a dollar to arrest children and torture adults. Not a dollar to enable occupation, land theft, illegal walls and uprooted olive trees or to support discrimination, Jim Crow laws, and the oppression of minorities.

We must not treat Israel as a legitimate democratic state until it becomes one by ending the occupation, accepting its refugees, and engaging in meaningful democratic reforms.