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Palestine’s reality: Al Nakba commemoration and the right of return or the return of the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement?

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By Ahmad Moussa | American Herald Tribune | May 8, 2016

A recent conversation on security and peace between former security personnel of Saudi Arabia and Israel respectively, two weeks before Al Nakba commemoration shows that the attitude of the past on Palestine remains after 68 years.

Al Nakba is a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the Palestinians on May 15th, 1948. This is a day to remember the displacement and dispossession of 750,000 Palestinian people into refugee camps in neighboring countries; generations of whom continue to reside in these camps, others are scattered across the world in diaspora and many more internally displaced.

As the Palestinians across the world are on the verge of commemorating these events that happen to continue today in a process that is a form of incremental genocide, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) has recently engaged two former security personnel of Saudi Arabia and Israel respectively in a conversation related to security and peace in the Middle East.  Setting aside that the said institute is a think tank that was founded by pro-Israel political figures, it is no surprise for Palestinians that an institution of this kind hosts such a choice for a duo to discuss the two topics of peace and security when both entities are serious human rights violators as well as exporters of terrorism and war; especially in the direct or indirect connection to Palestine and the Palestinians.

First and foremost, the timing of the said conversation between the two representatives of the security apparatuses of both entities reminds us that understanding the historical context is truly important for understanding the contemporary circumstances. As the events and planning took place leading up to the execution of the Nakba of 1948, there was an annulled agreement that took place prior known as the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement of 1919. This was an agreement that was signed at the Paris Peace Conference between Emir Faisal of Hejaz and Chaim Weizmann who was leader of the World Zionist Organization eventually leading to him becoming the first President of Israel. This agreement is significant in the fact that it reminds the Palestinians about the enabling and co-conspiring of the Arabs in the region and the role they played against the interests of the Palestinians; an example of which is the following:

Dr. Weizmann argued that Palestine was designed to solve “a world-wide problem” and therefore “the rights which the Jewish people has been adjudged in Palestine do not depend on the consent, and cannot be subjected to the will of the majority of its present inhabitants.” He maintained that “the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate have definitely lifted Palestine out of the context of the Middle East and linked it up with the world-wide Jewish community and the world-wide Jewish problem.” Thus the Zionists refused to let the British grant the Palestine Arabs any role in setting immigration quotas or in influencing other aspects of the development of the Jewish national home. Weizmann’s contempt for the first Arab delegation to London was apparent in his one discussion with them at the Colonial Office, in which he adopted the attitude “of a conqueror handing to beaten foes the terms of peace.”

Today’s Saudi Arabia’s role in relation to the nature of its engagement with the State of Israel, represents the same co-conspiring agenda and essence of the Faisal-Weizmann agreement under the guise of peace and security- in pursuit of self interest and Zionist led terror against the Palestinians. For example, during the latest military campaign against the Gaza Strip by the State of Israel known as Operation Protective Edge- Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasised the fact that “renewed relations” were built as a result of Saudi Arabia along with other Gulf countries engaging in security cooperation to quell the Palestinian resistance during those events.

Furthermore, the rise of the Islamic State and their reign of terror in the region has unsettling connections with these two entities. The Islamic State’s rise and political patterns in the region are leaning towards the affirmation of the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement given that this group’s reign of terror has not targeted any of these entities and have the same enemies that are “branches of the same tree”. Moreover, the group wants to abolish the Sykes-Picot Agreement which in many ways has been historically perceived as having been in the way and the obstacle of the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement. Most importantly, aside from the damage and destruction the Islamic State has done to the Palestinians both in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State is attempting to exploit the Palestinian cause which also serves the Saudi-Israeli security interests.

And yet, with all this historical context at hand, including the horrendous human rights records of both Saudi Arabia and Israel along with an already outrageous military expenditure towards the State of Israel by the United States- the United States is granting Israel the largest military aid package in history, while simultaneously, Saudi Arabia is receiving a 15 billion dollar military arms package deal from Canada.

In Jeff Halper’s new book “War against the People” he sharply states: “In an endless war on terror, we are all doomed to become Palestinians.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is a political entity that enables this doom. It is an institute with residues of the pro-Israel lobby that played a pivotal role in dragging the United States into founding the global war on terror that has produced more global insecurity, the rise of the Islamic State and a push for war against Iran with no end in sight- all whilst simultaneously continuing the memoricide and erasure campaign against Palestine and the Palestinians through a nostalgic revivalism of what was embedded within the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement- demonstrated through this latest discussion between the Saudi-Israeli security personnel. This is what Palestine is trying to show the world. This is part in parcel of the Nakba in continuum.

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Marking Al-Nakba 68: Events Around the World for Palestinian Return

Samidoun | May 8, 2016

Events and actions are being organized around the world to mark the 68th anniversary of the Nakba, the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and lands in order to create a Zionist settler-colonial state on the land of Palestine. These events both remember over 68 years of Palestinian struggle, steadfastness, and resistance, but also support the ongoing struggle for Palestinian refugees’ return and the liberation of Palestine.

The imprisonment of Palestinians has always been a tool of the colonial project in Palestine, meant to maintain occupation, apartheid and oppression and criminalize the existence and resistance of Palestinians. From the martial law imposed in 1948 on the Palestinians who remained in the 78% of historic Palestine occupied at that time, to the imprisonment of 7,000 Palestinian political leaders, journalists, and freedom fighters today, the imprisonment of Palestinians and their leaders has always been part and parcel of the Nakba.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is directly involved in Nakba events in several cities internationally and supports mobilizations around the world on this critical day. Numerous events will be taking place throughout occupied Palestine and in the refugee camps of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

This list focuses on international events organized by Palestinian communities in exile and diaspora and solidarity movements. In order to add your city’s event to the list below, please email samidoun@samidoun.net or message us on Facebook. This page will be updated regularly!

AUSTRALIA

nakba-sydneySydney

Saturday, 14 May – Palestine Will Be Free Panel, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1558629097769523/
12 pm, part of the Socialism for the 21st Century Conference, University of Sydney.

Sunday, 15 May – Commemorating the Nakba Demonstration: 68 Years On, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1402030143429918/
1 pm, Town Hall, Sydney. Organized by Palestine Action Group Sydney

Brisbane

Friday, 13 May – Al Nakba 2016 Vigil. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1528327857474082/
nakba-southafrica6 pm, King George Square, Brisbane. Organized by Justice for Palestine Brisbane.

SOUTH AFRICA

Johannesburg

Sunday, 15 May – Nakba 1948: Palestinian Catastrophe and Israeli Ethnic Cleansing
1 pm, Zoo Lake, Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg. Organized by Women’s Boat to Gaza, BDS South Africa, Media Review Network, Palestine Solidarity Alliance, South African Jews for a Free Palestine, Food for the Soul

SPAIN

nakba-madridMadrid

Saturday, 14 May – Performance at School of Decolonization. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1557093397918178/
5:00 pm, Puerta del Sol, Madrid.

Saturday, 14 May – Demonstration followed by performances, dance and Palestinian, African and Latin American food. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1557093397918178/
6:00 pm, Glorieta de Marques de Vadillo – General Ricardos – Luisa Munoz, followed by La Kupula sala.

Sunday, 15 May – Nakba demonstration for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1557093397918178/
1:30 pm, Puerta del Sol, Madrid.

Sunday 15 May – Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
5:30 pm, Recinto Ferial, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain.
Includes collaborative mural, debate with Majed Dibsi, Palestinian journalist and political analyst, theatrical action, photo exhibition. Organied by Madrid Para Todos, the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, CJA and Alco Sanse en Lucha

nakba-barcelonaBarcelona

11 May – 15 May – Series of events organized by the Coalició Prou Complicitat amb Israel (CPCI). Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1613965512264082/

Wednesday, 11 May – Seminar: Why is it important to break ties with Israel? Ways toward a just peace. 7 pm, Aula Magna, Faculty of Geography and History, University of Barcelona. With Raji Sourani, Riya Hassan, and Blanca Campos. Moderated by David Bondia and joined by Catalan municipalities who have adopted BDS.

Thursday, 12 May – Raji Sourani at Catalonia Parliament. 4 pm, Parliament of Catalonia.

Friday, 13 May – Hope Award to recognize individuals and groups defending Palestine. 7 pm, Palau Robert, Passeig de Gracia 107, Barcelona. Organized by the Palestinian Community of Catalonia, and hosted by actress Rosa Boladeras.

Saturday, 14 May – Film Screening, “The Land Speaks Arabic.” 6 pm, La Sedeta, Carrer de Sicilia 321, Barcelona, with the participation of Riya Hassan, BNC. Organized by Sodepau and Association Helia.

Sunday, 15 May – Demonstration for Palestine – Long live Palestine! 6 pm, Plaza Catalonia.

nakba-berlinGERMANY

Berlin

Sunday, 15 May – Nakba Day Demonstration, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/226921581019252/
3:00 pm, Karl-Marx-Platz, Berlin. Organized by the Nakba-Tag-Bundnis

Stuttgart

Saturday, 7 May – Palestine Nakba Day
1 pm – 6 pm, Schlossplatz, Stuttgart. With speakers George Rashmawi, Shir Hever, Attia Rajab, Reiner Weigand, Annette Groth, and performers Aeham Ahmed, Muhammad Tamim, Yalla Dabke. Organized by Palestine Solidarity Committee Stuttgart and the Palestinian Community of Stuttgart.

NETHERLANDS

nakba-netherlandsRotterdam

Saturday, 14 May – Demonstration in Commemoration of the Nakba. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/701962599944259/
2 pm – 4 pm, between Markthal and Hoogstraat, organized by Palestijnse Gemeenschap Nederland, Aidoun-Group Nederland, al Awda, Palestijnse Vrouwenunie, het Samenwerkingsverband Rotterdam voor Gaza and Nederlands Palestina Komitee

Groningen

Saturday, 14 May – Demonstration in Commemoration of the Nakba
1 pm – 3 pm, on the Grand Market by the town hall, organized by Palestijnse Gemeenschap Nederland, Aidoun-Group Nederland, al Awda, Palestijnse Vrouwenunie, het Samenwerkingsverband Rotterdam voor Gaza and Nederlands Palestina Komitee

Den Haag

Event TBA, http://www.palestina-komitee.nl/agenda/1226

nakba-amsterdamNijmegen

Event TBA, http://www.palestina-komitee.nl/agenda/1226

Amsterdam

Saturday, 14 May – Demonstration in Commemoration of the Nakba
1 pm – 4 pm, on the Dam and the Spui, organized by Palestijnse Gemeenschap Nederland, Aidoun-Group Nederland, al Awda, Palestijnse Vrouwenunie, het Samenwerkingsverband Rotterdam voor Gaza and Nederlands Palestina Komitee

Sunday, 15 May – Forum on the Nakba, 1948-2016. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1107523392631820/
3 pm, International Institute for Research and Education, Lombokstraat 40, Amsterdam. With speakers Mohammed Matter, Hatem Bazian, Amin Abou Rashed, Mohammad Altamary, Sami Shabib and Saleh Salayma, Sarah, and Khouloud Ajarma. Organized by Back to Palestine

DENMARK

nakba-copenhagenCopenhagen

Series of events from May 9-May 15
Organized by the Nakba Initiative (Democratic Palestine Committees in Denmark, Boykot Israel, FN Forbundet, Human Rights March, Palaestina Orientering) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1701774023414034/, https://www.facebook.com/events/231959850498870/

Monday, 9 May  – Palestinian film screenings, 5 pm – 9 pm,  Verdenskulturcentret, Norre Alle 7, 2200 Norrebro

Tuesday, 10 May – History of Al-Nakba – presentation by Professor Nur Masalha of the University of London,  7 pm – 9:30 pm, Verdenskulturcentret, Norre Alle 7, 2200 Norrebro

Wednesday, 11 May – Palestinian culture and music, with dabkeh dance and traditional music performed by Nassim al-Dogom, 6 pm – 9 pm, Verdenskulturcentret, Norre Alle 7, 2200 Norrebro

Friday, 13 May – Demonstration for justice for Palestine, remembering the Nakba of 1948.  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/231959850498870/ , 3 pm – 5 pm,  Radhusplads, Copenhagen. With speakers: Trine Petrou Mach, Bilal al-Issa, Gerd Berlev, and music with Nassim al-Dogom,

nakba-brusselsBELGIUM

Brussels

Saturday, May 14 – Rally to Commemorate the Palestinian Nakba, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1062648220458440/
1 pm – 4 pm, Place de la Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium. Organized by the Palestinian Community of Belgium.

Maasmechelen

Sunday, 15 May – Movie Screening for Al-Nakba: 5 Broken Cameras. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/629274427223623/
6:30 pm, Valkeniersplein 19B, Maasmechelen. Organized by the Palestine Committee Maasmechelen.

Antwerp

Sunday, 15 May – Silent Wake to Commemorate Al-Nakba, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1720577544889621/
7:00 pm, Koning Albertpark, Kiosk, Antwerp, Belgium. Organized by Antwerp for Palestine.

FRANCE

nakba-marseilleMarseille

Saturday, 14 May – What Road for Palestine? Marking the Palestinian Nakba, discussion with Khaled Barakat. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1735832763364560/
6:30 pm, Manifesten, 59 Rue Thiers, 13001 Marseille. Organized by the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) Aix-Marseille and Generation Palestine Marseille

Lyon

Saturday, 14 May – Demonstration to Support the Palestinian People, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1564176307216565/
2:30 pm, Place Bellecour, 69002, Lyon

SWEDEN

Stockholm

Friday, 13 May – Palestinian Family Dinner and Evening Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1689505781301901/ 7 pm – 10 pm, Byblos Restaurant, Storgatan 75, Huvudsta Centrum. Organized by the Palestinian Association in Stockholm.

Saturday, 14 May – Palestinian Cultural Festival 2016, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/490506727788987/
11:30 am – 6 pm, Hallunda Folkets Hus, Borgvagen 1, 145 69 Norsborf (Stockholm)

Malmo

Sunday, 15 May – Demonstration in memory of the Nakba, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/890420817746611/
12:30 pm, Gustav Adolfs Torg, Malmo. Organized by Malmo Palestine Network

Sunday, 15 May – Public Meeting on Palestinian Right of Return
3 pm, Studieframjandet, Ystadgatan 53 (following demonstration). Organized by Group 194

15mayITALY

Milan

Friday, 6 May – Nakba – The Catastrophe after 68 Years. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1062237983822251/
7:30 pm, CSOA Lambretta, Milan. Featuring a speech by Rajeh Zayed and concert by Al-Raseef. Organized by UDAP (Arab Palestinian Democratic Union.)

Sunday, 15 May – Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/777360559031857/
3 pm, Piazza Gabrio Rosa, Milan. Organized by Fronte Palestina, Palestina Rossa, Global Campaign to Return to Palestine

Redona

Monday, 16 May – Nakba 1948-2016, the Catastrophe Continues  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1720129394926553/
8:30 pm, Qoelet di Redona. Presentation by Nandino Capovilla, Pax Christi. Presented by Gruppo Iabbok.

PORTUGAL

nakba-lisbonLisbon

Tuesday, 17 May – 68 Years of Nakba, Solidarity with Palestine. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1678654302395719/
6:30 pm – 8 pm, Espaco Bento Martins, J.F. Camide, Largo das Pimenteiras, 6A (Junto ao Colegio Militar). Speeches by Hikmat Ajjuri, Pezarat Correia, Jorge Cadima.

AUSTRIA

nakba-viennaVienna

Saturday, 14 May – Groovy Palestine, Alternative Music from Palestine on Nakba Day, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/605375089624773/
7 pm, OKAZ, Gusshausstrasse 14/3, 1040 Vienna. Includes discussion and performance by Jowan Safadi, Palestinian musician, followed by DJ sets by Kolonel Blip, El Captagon and Neva-i Solomon. Organized by OKAZ, Österreichisch Arabisches Kulturzentrum

IRELAND

Belfast

Thursday, 12 May – BADIL Speaking Tour on Palestinian Refugees
Time and Location TBA. More info: http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/nakba-week-badil-speaking-tour-on-palestinian-refugees. Organized by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Sunday, 15 May – Tesco, Stop Trading With Israel Nakba Vigil 2016. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1738915249676703/
2 pm, Tesco, 2 Royal Ave, Belfast. Call on Tesco to boycott Israeli goods.

nakba-limerickCork

Monday, 9 May – BADIL Irish Speaking Tour on Palestinian Refugees. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/124262787978021/
7 pm, Quay Co-Op, 24 Sullivan’s Quay, Cork. With speakers Lubnah Shomali and Nidal al-Azzah from BADIL. Organized by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Tour info: http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/nakba-week-badil-speaking-tour-on-palestinian-refugees

Limerick

Tuesday, 10 May – BADIL Irish Speaking Tour on Palestinian Refugees. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1603383736655913/
7 pm, Perys Hotel Limerick, Glentworth Street, Limerick. With speakers Lubnah Shomali and Nidal al-Azzah from BADIL. Organized by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Tour info: http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/nakba-week-badil-speaking-tour-on-palestinian-refugees

Dublin

nakba-dublinWednesday, 11 May – BADIL Speaking Tour on Palestinian Refugees. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1804239273138237/
6:15 pm, Academy Plaza Hotel, 10-14 Findlater Place, Dublin. With speakers Lubnah Shomali and Nidal al-Azzah from BADIL. Organized by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Tour info: http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/nakba-week-badil-speaking-tour-on-palestinian-refugees

Saturday, 14 May – March and “Moving Gallery” for Palestinian Refugees. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1157920480940081/
2 pm – 3 pm, St. Stephen’s Green (Grafton St Entrance), Dublin 2. March down Grafton St to the Spire. Organized by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Derry

Friday, 13 May – BADIL Speaking Tour on Palestinian Refugees.
7 pm, UNISON Building, Clarendon St, Derry. With speaker Lubnah Shomali from BADIL. Organized by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

nakba-valdiviaCHILE

Valdivia
Wednesday, 11 May- Al-Nakba, 68 Years of Exile. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1403070739992193/
6 pm, Sala Auditorium, Austral University of Chile, Valdivia, Chile. With speaker Karmach Elias, Nakba survivor born in Palestine in 1948. Organized by Arab Youth for Palestine Valdivia.

CANADA

Montreal, Quebec

nakba-montrealSaturday, 14 May – Nocturnal Demonstration to Commemorate the Nakba; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1522138648094029/
7 pm – midnight, Station Metro Mont-Royale, Montreal. Organized by Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU), Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – UQAM (SPHR-UQAM) and Tadamon

Sunday, 15 May – Palestinian commemoration festival, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/927354794008542/
11 am – 5 pm, Concordia University, 1455 boulevard de Maisonneuve W., Montreal. With Palestinian cultural show, dance, music and children’s activities.

Toronto

Tuesday, 10 May – Personal stories of Palestinian Nakba Survivors. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1539654333004677/
7 pm, Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham St, Toronto. Part of the North America Nakba Tour, organized by Free Palestine Movement and Al-Awda Coaliation and co-presented in Canada by the Palestinian Canadian Congress and Canada Friends of Sabeel.

nakba-torontoSunday, 15 May – Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/214844732229034/
2 pm – 5 pm, Celebration Square, Mississauga. Organized by the National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba 68 – Toronto

Sunday, 15 May – Toronto Palestinian Film Festival Nakba Commemoration, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/997858870282775/
2 pm, Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham St, Toronto. Film Screening of Encounter with a Lost Land with director Maryse Gargour over Skype. Organized by TPFF, Palestinian Canadian Congress, Students for Justice in Palestine – Ryerson.

Winnipeg

Sunday, 15 May – Commemoration of Al-Nakba 1948-2016, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/487890394740895/
1 pm – 4 pm, Memorial Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Including commemoration, community voices, Palestine dance, flag making and film screening. Organized by Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Canadian Palestinian Association, Canada Palestine Support Network, Independent Jewish Voices, Peace Alliance Winnipeg

nakba-winnipegOttawa

Sunday, 8 May – Personal Stories of Palestinian Nakba Survivors. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/966654723404454/
7 pm, Ben Franklin Place, Chamber Hall, 101 Centrepoint Dr, Ottawa. Part of the North America Nakba Tour, organized by Free Palestine Movement and Al-Awda Coaliation and co-presented in Canada by the Palestinian Canadian Congress and Canada Friends of Sabeel.

Kitchener

Wednesday, 11 May – The Exiled Palestinians. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1708770512722607/
6:45 pm, Forest Hill United, 121 Westmount St. E., Kitchener, Ontario. Part of the North America Nakba Tour, organized by Free Palestine Movement and Al-Awda Coaliation and co-presented in Canada by the Palestinian Canadian Congress and Canada Friends of Sabeel.

London, ON

Thursday, 12 May – Personal Stories of Palestinian Nakba Survivors. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1609037986088608/
7 pm, MAC Youth Centre, 366 Oxford St E, London. Part of the North America Nakba Tour, organized by Free Palestine Movement and Al-Awda Coaliation and co-presented in Canada by the Palestinian Canadian Congress and Canada Friends of Sabeel.

UNITED STATES

nakba-ny
New York

Sunday, 15 May – Nakba Day March for Resistance and Return, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1720235081568888/
1:30 pm, Rally at City Hall Park before march over Brooklyn Bridge to Cadman Plaza for activities. Organized by NY4Palestine coalition.

Chicago

Sunday, May 8 – Nakba commemoration, with speakers, and entertainment and a children’s program, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/510727702462408/
1:30 pm – 6:30 pm, speakers including Dr. Ahmad Tibi, Debkeh performances, Palestinian food and fashion show; Prayer Center of Orland Park, 16530 104th Ave, Orland Park, Illinois. Hosted by American Muslims for Palestine – Chicago.

nakba-minneapolisMinneapolis

Sunday, 15 May – Al-Nakba Protest. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/260517614279372/
1 pm, Loring Park, Minneapolis. Initiated by Anti-War Committee with many endorsers.

Oakland/Bay Area

Sunday, 15 May – George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/551591961667213/
4 pm, Uptown Auto Body and Fender, 401 26th Street, Oakland. Remember the Nakba, Black Panthers and Indigenous Resistance. Art exhibition and performance highlighting a multimedia exhibition, curated by Greg Thomas. Organized by Art Forces and AROC.

Baltimore

nakba-oaklandSunday, 15 May – Nakba Day 2016 – Performances by Ryan Harvey and Kareem Samara. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/232554823767805/
6 pm, Location TBA. Check Facebook, organized by Baltimore – Palestine Solidarity.

Tampa

Saturday, 14 May – Still Walking: Nakba 68, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1717651068510404/
5 pm – 8 pm, Joe Chillura Courthouse Square. 600 E Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL. Street theatre and reenactment of the Nakba of 1948. March from Joe Chillura Courthouse Park past Jose Marti Park, to the Immigration Statue in Centennial Park.

Knoxville

Sunday, 15 May – Nakba Day Poetry Reading. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1695026577430712/
12 pm, Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee. Palestinian poetry read by friends, poets and community members.

nakba-sandiegoSan Diego

Saturday, 14 May – Commemorating 68 Years of Al-Nakba. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1585392255108855/
5 pm, Balboa Park, 1549 El Prado, San Diego. Includes Palestinian dinner, talk by Dr. Jamal Nassar, music by Naima Shalhoub, testimonies of Nakba survivors. Organized by Nakba Committee (includes Jewish Voice for Peace, KARAMA, BDS San Diego, PAWA SD and CAIR)

Albuquerque

Saturday, 7 May – Commemorating Al-Nakba with Nadia Ben-Youssef. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/488400578020681/
11 am – 1:30 pm, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, 202 Harvard Drive SE, Albuquerque. With speaker Nadia Ben-Youssef of Adalah.

UK

List of activities below via Palestine Solidarity Campaign Nakba Week Schedule. Additional events below.

nakba-weekTue 3 – Dr. Christos Giannou, A Surgeon in the Siege of Shatila, Guilford

Tue 3 – Prof. Manuel S. Hassassian, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Milton Keynes

Wed 4 – Mahmoud Zawahra, Nottingham

Fri 6 – Film screening: The Lab (dir. Yotam Feldman), Wolverhampton

Fri 6 – Mahmoud Zawahra, Cardiff

Sat 7 – Prof. Karma Nabulsi, Palestine, Freedom of speech and Prevent, Luton

Sat 7 – Nakba presentation, Bradford upon Avon

Sat 7 – Tower Hamlets-Jenin Friendship Association Stall for Nakba, London E3

nakba-london1Sat 7 – Nakba commemorative vigil, Hereford

Sat 7 – Sabrina Tucci, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, Birmingham

Sat 7 – Nakba stall, Bradford

Sun 8 – Sponsored Walk for Palestine, Bristol 

Sun 8 – Olive & PSC present- Palestine: A Journey Through The Culture, London NW10

Sun 8 – Nakba Week stall, Peterborough

Mon 9 – Live music, poetry & film screening, Tatreez Cafe, London N16

Mon 9 – Tim Sanders and Mahmoud Zawahra, Tower Hamlets, London E2

Mon 9 – Film Screening: Nakba, Bristol

Mon 9 – Eat for Palestine, Fundraiser, Norwich

Tue 10 – Nakba, Round Table Discussion with Prof. Karma Nabulsi, Parliament

Tue 10 – Film screening: Jaffa, the Orange’s Clockwork (dir. Eyal Sivan), London W4

Tue 10 – Screening of Miko Peled, The General’s Son, London SW9

Awad-Abdul-fattah-11th-May-1Tue 10 – Mahmoud Zawahra, Oxford Town Hall

Wed 11 – Film screening: Five Broken Cameras, Wellingborough

Wed 11 – Awad Abdelfattah (National Democratic Assembly / Balad), London N15

Wed 11 – Kate Cargin, Living Under Military Occupation, Norwich

Wed 11 – Dr Khader Abu-Hayyeh, Nakba survivor, Hastings

Thu 12 – Haya al Farra (Palestinian Mission), Darlington

Thu 12 – Jafar Ramini, The Catastrophe that is Palestine, Salisbury

Thu 12 – Film screening: Life in Occupied Palestine (by Anna Baltzer, JVP), Exeter

Fri 13 – Film screening: The Time That Remains (dir. Elia Suleiman), SOAS, London WC1

Fri 13 – The Israel lobby and the European Union, Report Launch, London NW1

Fri 13 – Film screening: When I Saw You (dir. Annemarie Jacir), Shrewsbury

Fri 13 – Film screening: Palestine Blues (dir. Nida Sinnokrot), Hereford

Sat 14 – Day-School Conference: Prof Nur Masala, Awad Abdelfattah & more, London WC1

Sat 14 – Palestinian Forum in Britain, Nakba anniversary protest, London W8

Sat 14 – Remember the Nakba in quiet contemplation, Lancaster

Sat 14 – Nakba commemoration, Sheffield Town Hall

nakba-tubeSat 14 – Mahmoud Zawahra, Portsmouth

Sat 14 – Friends of Al Aqsa: Palestine Exhibition and Fun Day, Edinburgh

Sat 14 – The Nakba: Palestine Exodus, Video Conference with survivors, Bristol 

Sat 14 – Nakba stall, Kettering

Sun 15 – Nakba stall, Northampton

Sun 15 – Interpal: Nakba Tube Trail, London E17

Sun 15 – Nakba Day, Lest We Forget, Kingston upon Thames

Sun 15 – Rafeef Ziadah, We Teach Life Sir album launch, Birmingham

Sun 15 – Nakba Day Vigil, Manchester

Sun 15 – Nakba Day, ‘Registered Alive’, with Maxine Peake, Ahmed Masoud & more, London N1

Islington

nakba-islingtonFriday, 13 May – Evening for Palestine. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/942198729227447/
7 pm, Hargrave Hall, Hargrave Road, Islington. Palestinian music, food, short film and talks by Palestinian youth. Organized by CADFA.

Manchester

Saturday, 14 May – Nakba Day Commemoration. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1140770009308235/
12 pm – 9 pm, Piccadilly Gardens, Live Feed from Gaza, talks, music, drama and poetry. 9 pm, Film screening and music.

London

Monday, 16 May – Book Launch and Seminar, “Mapping My Return, A Palestinian Memoir,” by Salman Abu Sitta. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/210407026005655/
6:30 pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, London. Organized by Palestinian Return Centre and Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Saturday, 21 May – Nakba Narratives 2016 Annual Dinner. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1595195460797894/
6 pm, Royal Nawaab London. Annual dinner for Interpal with speakers Majdi Aqil, Ang Swee Chai, Yvonne Ridley, Ibrahim Hewitt.

Cambridge

Monday, 16 May – Nakba Talk – One Democratic State with Awad Abdelfattah and Karl Sabbagh. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/580838385418582/
7:30 pm, Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge. Event chaired by Dr Ruba Salih (Reader at SOAS) and supported by One Democratic State (ODS) and Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , | Leave a comment

Israel forces open fire on Palestinian farmers in southern Gaza

Ma’an – May 8, 2016

GAZA – Israeli forces on Sunday morning opened fire on Palestinians farmers in the southern Gaza Strip, local sources said.

Locals told Ma’an Israeli forces deployed east of Khan Yunis opened fire on farmers, preventing them from reaching their lands. No injuries were reported.

An Israeli army spokesperson said they could not confirm the incident.

The incident comes after Israeli forces targeted the southern region of the small Palestinian territory with airstrikes for four consecutive days beginning Wednesday evening. Several were injured and a Palestinian woman was killed by Israeli shelling.

Israel said airstrikes were launched in response to Palestinian resistance groups targeting its troops with mortar rounds in an attempt to thwart Israeli military excavation activities in search of Hamas-made tunnels. However, Israel’s regular incursions inside Gaza’s border areas were perceived by many as the instigator of the hostilities.

The exchange was seen as an unusual escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip since a 2014 ceasefire was brokered after Israel’s devastating 50-day assault on the besieged coastal enclave that left some 2,200 dead and 11,000 injured.

Hamas, Gaza’s de facto ruler, had widely observed the 2014 ceasefire; Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yalon in March said Hamas “hasn’t fired a bullet” since the war, and following Thursday’s hostilities, Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli army officer as saying that Hamas had even been instrumental in preventing terrorist attacks and rocket fire directed at Israel.

However in the almost two years since the ceasefire was declared, regular violations have been committed on the Israeli side.

Israeli bulldozers frequently enter Gaza territory, carrying out land-leveling and excavation operations while accompanied by military vehicles, with four such incursions recorded by the UN between April 26 and May 2.

On a near daily basis, the Israeli army fires “warning shots” on Palestinian fisherman, farmers, and shepherds entering the Israeli-enforced “buffer zone,” implemented after Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip a decade ago.

Due to the high frequency of the attacks, live fire often goes unreported.

While Israel typically cites security concerns when targeting Palestinian agricultural areas, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights has reported in the past that fishermen are often targeted when they pose no threat.

Approximately 35 percent of Palestinian agricultural land in Gaza is inaccessible without high personal risk, according to the center.

In 2015, Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen at least 139 times, killing three, wounding dozens, and damaging at least 16 fishing boats, according to the UN Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Israeli forces also regularly open fire on Palestinian protesters during Friday demonstrations held along Gaza’s border, with injuries sustained by live fire and rubber-coated steel bullets reported nearly every week. At least 25 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in Gaza clashes since the beginning of October, according to UN documentation.

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Extremist settlers attack Palestinian human rights activists in Hebron

Ma’an – May 8, 2016

HEBRON – A group of extremist Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked two Palestinian human rights activists in the Tel Rumeida area in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, video footage showed.

Human Rights Defenders spokesperson Badee Dweik told Ma’an that settlers attacked Emad Abu Shamsiya and Yasser Abu Markhiya, who work with the group’s Hebron office. The two were taking footage of extremist settlers carrying rods near Palestinian homes in Tel Rumeida in Hebron’s Old City.

Abu Shamsiya, who serves as coordinator of the group in Hebron, said the settlers “were preparing to attack and intimidate Palestinian residents, especially children,” and that he rushed toward the scene with Abu Markhiya after they heard children screaming.

Their video shows a group of three settlers, two boys and one adult, begin to pass by. The adult settler can be heard saying in Hebrew, “if you take footage of me I’m going to kill you.” The children approach Abu Shamsiya and Abu Markhiya and order them to put down the camera before the adult strikes Abu Shamsiya.

“They punched me and broke my camera,” Abu Shamsiya told Ma’an, highlighted that Israeli soldiers were watching when the settlers attacked him and his colleague without intervening.

Dweik told Ma’an that attacks by Israeli settlers and Israeli soldiers against activists attempting to document settler attacks on Palestinian residents have increased recently, especially after footage captured by Abu Shamsiya in March of an Israeli soldier shooting and killing Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif while he was lying motionless on the ground stoked widespread international criticism.

A day after release of the video, Israeli settlers gathered outside the home of Abu Shamsiya in Hebron to threaten him.

Tel Rumeida — where Shamsiya’s house is located and the site both Saturday’s incident and al-Sharif’s killing — has long been a flashpoint for tensions between Palestinians and Israeli settlers and military, and is location to an illegal Israeli settlement.

Mistreatment of Palestinians in the Hebron area has been common since the city was divided in the 1990s after a US-born Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, massacred 29 Palestinians inside the Ibrahimi Mosque.

The majority of the city was placed under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, while the Old City and surrounding areas were placed under Israeli military control in a sector known as H2.

The area is home to 30,000 Palestinians and around 800 Israeli settlers who live under the protection of Israeli forces. Hebron residents frequently report attacks and harassment by the settlers carried out in the presence of the forces.

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Video | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reporters Without Borders – not independent but “strictly linked to US foreign policy”

By Graham Vanbergen | TruePublica | May 4, 2016

Reporters Without Borders has published the latest 2016 report on press freedom where Britain has fallen yet again with the organisation making the following statement about press freedom in Britain:

“Terrorist attacks have led to the adoption of draconian security legislation. The government reacted to the London public transport bombings in 2005 with a Terrorism Act the following year that restricts freedom of expression. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) adopted in 2000 allows the authorities to obtain the phone records of journalists in cases of threats to national security. Worse still, despite a law protecting the confidentiality of sources, the police have since 1984 been able to ask the courts to order media outlets to hand over unpublished journalistic source material “in the interests of justice.”

It is hardly surprising that Britain has fallen 4 places in 2016 behind such countries as; Tonga, Belize, OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States), Samoa, Ghana, Suriname, Namibia, Jamaica, with Burkino Faso and Botswana just behind, given recent legislative actions by the Conservative government since 2010.

The Guardian revealed in January 2015 that the British intelligence agency GCHQ described journalists as a “potential threat to security” and that huge quantities of emails of many journalists were among  interceptions that went as far back as 2008. It was only the result of the Edward Snowden leaks that as many as 70,000 emails from journalists captured by Britain’s surveillance agency became known.

On the 15th October, Gordon Raynor, Chief Reporter at The Telegraph said– “Investigative journalism will be stopped dead in its tracks and local newspapers may be driven out of business when new laws restricting Britain’s free press come into force next month.” He continues – Media organisations face “the most substantial threat to press freedom in the modern era” as a result of the “menacing” laws passed in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry.

An independent report into the implications of the Crime and Courts Act, which came into force on November 3, says that The Telegraph’s landmark investigation into what turned out to be the most explosive political scandal in decades over MPs’ expenses would have been all but impossible under the new regime.

Britain sitting at number 38 flatters reality.

‘Freedom of Press’ is published by the US-based Freedom House, an NGO established in 1941 that has been ranking countries worldwide since 1980 in relation to democracy, human rights and press freedom. In May 2014 it reported that Britain has slipped down the global rankings for freedom of the press to 36th place.

According to Freedom House, “only 13 percent of the world’s population enjoys a free press—that is, where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal or economic pressures.” Although Britain is ranked as safe in press freedom terms one has to wonder given the very heavy handed behaviour by the government at The Guardian over the Snowden files and state surveillance over journalists more widely.

Meanwhile, without any sense of shame, US President Obama, the leader of the ‘free-world’, having presided over continual declines in press freedom sees the USA drop to a pitiful 41st place has the Whitehouse Briefing Room release the following statement (first paragraph):

“On World Press Freedom Day, we thank the journalists around the world without whom democracy could not flourish and whose courageous work helps hold authorities to account. These are the men and women who work to ensure that debate on public issues can be, in the words of Justice William Brennan, “uninhibited, robust, and wide open.”

One glaring component missing from all these so-called press freedom reports is that the biggest economic trade deals in the history of humanity are due to be signed in 2016 …. in total secrecy. In the EU, the European Commission is making the secret Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal even more secret than any normal person would think possible by the introduction of a new rule last year that means politicians can only view (some selected) TTIP text in a secure ‘reading room’ in Brussels. That is, of course, only after their mobile phones, memo pads, and pens have been taken away and two guards ominously placed in the room to ensure no notes are taken. And even then only after signing confidentiality agreements that threaten prosecutions for any leaks.

In the US, the same ‘reading room’ exists. As The Independent reports:

“In the basement of the US capitol, there is a room, a locked soundproof room, and the only people allowed in this room are US senators, and they can’t bring their assistants, they can’t bring their phones, they can’t even take notes in there. Inside this room is not the codes for our nuclear weapons, it’s not CIA files, it’s not the documents that tell us an alien landed in Roswell. No, in this room is the text of a trade deal (TTIP).”

Press freedom?? This type of secrecy, designed by corporations and the unelected politicians of the EU Commission would have made Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany proud. The EU Commission have now become completely independent of the politicians who represent the 508 million citizens of the 28 nation bloc where millions sign petitions and protest on the streets, get arrested and/or fined in their thousands and yet remain unheard. This is extreme press freedom censorship in every sense of the word. It says something when citizens have to rely on people like Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Edward Snowden for any real information on the matter – and both of them are in hiding from British and American police.

And so we come back to RWB who that as it turns out, is financed by none other than the US Congress and by various agencies tied to the US government – who coincidentally are conducting the talks on TTIP.

As GlobalResearch reports: “If we go to the RWB website to find who stands behind these self-anointed judges of world press freedom, we find nothing. Not even their board of directors are named, let alone their financial backers. Their annual published Income and Expenditure statements give no clue who stands behind them financially. RWB’s former Secretary General Robert Menard admitted that the budget for the organization was provided by “US organizations strictly linked with US foreign policy.”

Unfortunately, Reporters Without Borders are pretty much in the same boat as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists amongst many others who have thoroughly important sounding names but in the end prove to be little more than propagandists for their masters.

We asked Reporters Without Borders why there had been no mention of TTIP in any of their reports. At the time of publication, we have received no reply.

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Deception, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , , | Leave a comment

8-10 million Iranians died over Great Famine caused by the British in late 1910s, documents reveal

A document in the American Archives, reporting the widespread famine and spread of epidemic disease in Iran, estimates the number of the deceased due to the WWI famine to be about 8-10 million.

By Sadegh Abbasi | Khameini.ir | November 4, 2015

One of the little-known chapters of history was the widespread famine in Iran during World War I, caused by the British presence in Iran. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Britain became the main foreign power in Iran and this famine or–more accurately–‘genocide’ was committed by the British. The document in the American Archives, reporting the widespread famine and spread of epidemic disease in Iran, estimates the number of the deceased due to the famine to be about 8-10 million during 1917-19 (1), making this the greatest genocide of the 20th century and Iran the biggest victim of World War I (2).

It should be noted that Iran had been one of the main suppliers of food grains to the British forces stationed in the empire’s South Asian colonies. Although bad harvests during these two years made the situation worse, it was by no means the main reason why the Great Famine occurred. Prof. Gholi Majd of Princeton University writes in his book, The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, that American documents show that the British prevented imports of wheat and other food grains into Iran from Mesopotamia, Asia, and also the USA, and that ships loaded with wheat were not allowed to unload at the port of Bushehr in the Persian Gulf. Professor Majd argues that Great Britain intentionally created genocide conditions to destroy Iran, and to effectively control the country for its own purposes. Major Donohoe describes Iran of that time as a “land of desolation and death” (3). But this event soon became the subject of a British cover up.

Britain has a long record of its several attempts to conceal history and rewrite it in their own favor. The pages are filled with conspiracies that were covered up by the British government to hide its involvement in different episodes that would tarnish the country’s image. One of the clear examples is the “Jameson Raid”; a failed coup against Paul Kruger’s government in South Africa. This raid was planned and executed directly by the British government of Joseph Chamberlain under the orders of Queen Victoria (4) (5). In 2002, Sir Graham Bower’s memoirs were published in South Africa, revealing these involvements that had been covered up for more than a century, focusing attention on Bower as a scapegoat for the incident (6).

The records that were destroyed to cover up British crimes around the globe, or were kept in secret Foreign Office archives, so as to, not only protect the United Kingdom’s reputation, but also to shield the government from litigation, are indicative of the attempts made by the British to evade the consequences of their crimes. The papers at Hanslope Park also include the reports on the “elimination” of the colonial authority’s enemies in 1950s Malaya; records that show ministers in London knew of the torture and murder of Mau Mau insurgents in Kenya and roasting them alive (7). These records may include those related to Iran’s Great Famine. Why were these records that cover the darkest secrets of the British Empire destroyed or kept secret? Simply because they might ‘embarrass’ Her Majesty’s government (8).

A famine occurred in Ireland from 1845 until 1852 which killed one fourth of the Irish population. This famine was caused by British policies and faced a large cover up attempt by the British government and crown to blame it on ‘potatoes’ (9). The famine, even today, is famous in the world as the “potato famine” when, in reality, it was a result of a planned food shortage and thus a deliberate genocide by the British government (10).

The true face of this famine as a genocide has been proven by historian Tim Pat Coogan in his book The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy published by Palgrave MacMillan (11). A ceremony was planned to take place in the US to unveil Coogan’s book in America, but he was denied a visa by the American embassy in Dublin (12).

Therefore it becomes obvious that Britain’s role in Iran’s Great famine, which killed nearly half of Iran’s population, was not unprecedented. The documents published by the British government overlook the genocide, and consequently, the tragedy underwent an attempted cover-up by the British government. The Foreign Office “handbook on Iran” of 1919 mentioned nothing related to the Great Famine.

Julian Bharier, a scholar who studied Iran’s population, built his “backward projection” estimation of Iran’s population (13) based on reports from this “handbook” and, as a result, ignored the effect of the Great Famine on Iran’s population in 1917. Bharier’s estimations were used by some authors to deny the occurrence of the Great Famine or to underestimate its impacts.

By ignoring Iran’s Great Famine in his estimations, Bharier’s work faces four scientific deficiencies. Bharier does not consider the loss of population caused by the famine in his calculations; he needs to ‘adjust’ the figure of the official census in 1956 from 18.97 million to 20.37 million, and this is despite the fact that he uses the 1956 census as his primary building block for his “backward projection” model. He also ignores the official growth rates and uses his personal assumptions in this regard, which is far lower than other estimates. Finally, although Bharier frequently cites Amani’s estimates (14), in the end Bharier’s findings contradict those of Amani; notably Bharier’s population estimate for 1911 is 12.19 million while Amani put this figure at 10.94 million.

Despite deficiencies in the population estimates offered by Bharier for the period of the Famine and its earlier period, his article offers useful data for the post-Famine period; this is because these figures are generated from 1956 backward. That is to say, numbers generated from 1956 to 1919 are thus credible because they do not include the period of famine. Moreover, this portion of Bharier’s data is also true to that of the American Legation. For example, Caldwell and Sykes estimate the 1919 population at 10 million, which is comparative to Bharier’s figure of 11 million.

Gholi Majd was not the first author to refute Bharier’s figures for this period. Gad G. Gilbar, in his 1976 article on demographic developments during the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, also considers Bharier’s estimates inaccurate for the period.

In an apparently biased review of Majd’s work, Willem Floor confirms Bharier’s model (15), despite its apparent deficiencies, and takes a mocking tone toward the well- documented work of Gholi Majd to undermine the devastation caused by the British-instigated famine in Iran, to the point of total denial of the existence of such a genocide. Floor also offers inaccurate or untrue information to oppose the fact that the British deprived Iranians from honey and caviar in the north, as he argues caviar was haram (religiously prohibited), while no such fatwa has ever existed in Shia jurisprudence and all available decrees assert that caviar is halal or permissible under the Islamic law. There was a rumor made up by Russians at the time, saying that Caviar was haram and Britain made full use of this rumor.

Another criticism made by Floor was to question why Majd’s work does not use British archival sources. A more important question is why Majd should have used these sources when they totally ignore the occurrence of the famine in Iran. The fact that Majd used mainly US sources seems to be reasonable on the grounds that the US was neutral toward the state of affairs in Iran at the time, and made efforts to help by feeding them (16).

*Sadegh Abbasi is a Junior M.A. student at Tehran University. As a student in history he has also worked as a contributor to different Iranian news agencies.

References

1. Majd, Mohammad Gholi. The Great Famine & Genocide in Iran: 1917-1919. Lanham : University Press of America, 2013. p.71: https://books.google.com/books?id=5WgSAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA71&lpg.

2. Sniegoski, Stephen J. Iran as a Twentieth Century Victim: 1900 Through the Aftermath of World War II. mycatbirdseat.com. [Online] 11 10, 2013. [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://mycatbirdseat.com/2013/11/iran-twentieth-century-victim-1900-aftermath-world-war-ii/.

3. Donohoe, Major M. H. With The Persian Expedition. London : Edward Arnold, 1919. p. 76.

4. Nelson, Michael and Briggs, Asa. Queen Victoria and the Discovery of the Riviera. London : Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2007. p. 97: https://books.google.com/books?id=6ISE-ZEBfy4C&pg=PA97&lpg.

5. Bower, Graham. Sir Graham Bower’s Secret History of the Jameson Raid and the South African Crisis, 1895-1902. Cape Town : Van Riebeeck Society, 2002. p. xii: https://books.google.fr/books?id=VFYFZKRBXz0C&pg=PR23&lpg.

6. Ibid. p. xvii.

7. Cobain, Ian, Bowcott, Owen and Norton-Taylor, Richard. Britain destroyed records of colonial crimes . The Guardian. [Online] 03 17, 2012. [Cited: 10 10, 2015.] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/britain-destroyed-records-colonial-crimes.

8. Walton, Calder. Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence, the Cold War, and the Twilight of Empire. New York : The Overlook Press, 2013. p. 15: https://books.google.fr/books?id=f2cjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT15&lpg.

9. Warfield, Brian. History Corner: The Great Irish Famine. wolfetonesofficialsite.com. [Online] [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.wolfetonesofficialsite.com/famine.htm.

10. Britain’s Cover Up. irishholocaust.org. [Online] [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.irishholocaust.org/britain’scoverup.

11. Coogan, Tim Pat. The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

12. O’Dowd, Niall. Proving the Irish Famine was genocide by the British. IrishCentral. [Online] 08 06, 2015. [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.irishcentral.com/news/proving-the-irish-famine-was-genocide-by-the-british-tim-pat-coogan-moves-famine-history-unto-a-new-plane-181984471-238161151.html.

13. Bharier, Julien. A Note on the Population of Iran, 1900-1966 . Population Studies. 1968, Vol. 22, 2.

14. Amani, Mehdi. La population de l’Iran. Population (French Edition). 1972, Vol. 27, 3: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1529398.

15. Floor, Willem. Reviewed Work: The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, 1917-1919 by Mohammad Gholi Majd . Iranian Studies. Iran Facing the New Century, 2005, Vol. 38, 1.

16. Fecitt, Harry. Other Theatres of War. westernfrontassociation.com. [Online] 09 29, 2013. [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/great-war-on-land/other-war-theatres/3305-dunsterforce-part-1.html.

Related:

Iran as a Twentieth Century Victim: 1900 Through the Aftermath of World War II

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Book Review, Deception, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

‘EU Stays Silent on Erdogan Press Crackdown’

Sputnik – May 8, 2016

Two journalists from Turkey’s leading newspaper Cumhuriyet have been sentenced to five years in prison for revealing state secrets, but the case against them is purely political since the footage they published only confirmed what everybody already knows about Ankara’s activities in Syria, Turkish journalist Zeynep Oral told Radio Sputnik.

Two prominent Turkish journalists, Can Dudar and Erdem Gul, were sentenced on Friday to five years ten months and five years in prison, respectively, for publishing footage that appears to show Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) smuggling arms to opposition groups in Syria.

However, the charges of terrorism and espionage that were levied against them are baseless because the supposed state secret that they divulged has been well known for some time, Zeynep Oral, President of PEN Center Turkey and a columnist for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, told Radio Sputnik.

“In fact both Can Dudar and Erdem Gul were put on trial for spying and terrorism, for attempting to put down the government and so many things, they were even prosecuted as terrorists, but the court acquitted them of all of these.”

“They are only being punished for what they have written. The court insisted that they have revealed ‘state secrets.’ Those secrets are not secrets; everybody knows about them, there are tons of publications about them, it’s not a secret any longer, this has already been published before.”

Oral believes that the current state of journalism in Turkey is the worst she’s seen in her 45-year career, and has resulted from the government’s political interference in the media and arbitrary use of the court system.

“I have lived through three different military coups and in none of them was it so bad. At least when you had the military coups you knew what you could write, what was forbidden to write, what was not forbidden to write, what was permissible.”

“Now there is uncertainty, you can be prosecuted for anything you write. The same article can be written by different names and one will be prosecuted and the other will not be prosecuted. For me this is a completely political court case, it has nothing to do with justice,” Oral said.

At first the Turkish government claimed the trucks were only taking humanitarian aid to Syria, then changed their story and said they were providing arms for the Turkmen in Iraq.

“Then the Turkmen said no, we’re not receiving any arms from the Turkish government.”

“Then Mr. Erdogan declared, ‘I shall not let them go free, they’ll have to pay for this.'”

“I think the court obeyed the orders of Mr. Erdogan.”

Oral said that while Turkey has a secular constitution, religion has been playing a greater role in political under the current government.”In the last ten years we have made a lot of concessions in the field of secularism. The education is being changed, the law system is being changed. The president of the parliament is saying, ‘we should change our constitution and take away secularism.'”

“All the resonances are becoming more and more religious. Of course, for me, that is unacceptable, not understandable, it’s a counter-revolution I would say.”

Turkey has recently become important to Europe “for the first time” because of its deal over the migrant crisis, but while the EU expresses concern about authoritarianism there, it will not interfere in support of European ideals regarding human rights, particularly freedom of expression, Oral said.

“They are ready to do anything to save their profits, their territory, I won’t say their ideals.”

“Profits and benefits are more important than ideals, these days, for the EU.”

May 8, 2016 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , | Leave a comment