Category Archives: Viva!

..جنين…..التنسيق الامني

نادية حرحش

لم يمر الا اياما معدودة، لنرى بام اعيننا النتائج الحقيقية لتوصيات المجلس المركزي الفلسطيني الذي ندد وهدد واعلن ضمن اعلاناته التعبوية الكثيرة وقف التنسيق الامني مع الاحتلال.ليشهد المجتمع الفلسطيني وقياداته والعالم دبابات الاحتلال وجيشها والياتها تقتحم جنين وتهدم البيوت وتقتل وتشرد وتحاصر على مرأى ومسمع العالم بلا اي تردد . وكأن ابواب المدينة تفتح على مصراعيها من اجل عرضهم العسكري الاجرامي بترحاب امني منسق بجدارة.

ومقابل هذا ، في الجهة الاخرى من الحضيض الامني الفلسطيني ، الذي لم يعد حتى من داع للحديث او التأويل او تحليل في مدى التنسيق وفاعليته للاحتلال . كان هناك الاخفاق الاعلامي الفلسطيني الذي فشل بجدارة عن نقل الحدث بشفافية او وضوح او حتى معلومة حقيقية . كان الاعلام الفلسطيني مرة اخرى ، مجرد كربونة قد اعيد استهلاكها عن الاعلام الاسرائيلي ، فتناقل الحدث بمأساوية تضاهي الحدث نفسه.

في نهاية الامر تبين ان التنسيق الامني بلا ادنى شك ، هو تنسيق لخدمة الاحتلال ، وان…

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ArabLit in Australia: A Conversation with Amal Awad

To help inaugurate Hend Saeed’s new venture, Arabic Literature in Australia, we’re featuring a conversation between Saeed and Palestinian-Australian author Amal Awad:

Hend Saeed: A new generation was born in Australia, or any other Western countries, from Arab Parents (Muslims) and some of them, face the identity issues, especially women. You were born in Australia from Palestinian parents; how do you identify yourself?  How did you find balance between the two worlds?

Amal Awad: That’s an important question. One of the major differences I perceived in my research was how different the Arab women in the Middle East were compared to women like me, who are of Arab heritage but grew up in the west. The women in the Arab world weren’t afflicted with identity issues; religion and culture were often quite blended. In Australia, however, a lot of us have experienced identity confusion. We have one foot in Australia, one in the homeland of our parents.

I identify as being Palestinian-Australian in a Muslim family. I prefer not to use these labels as much nowadays. I have at different times in my life identified very strongly as Palestinian; I’ve identified very strongly as a Muslim woman; and while I am still those things, I don’t want to be defined by them. There is so much more to us than our identity labels.

HS: From Courting Samira (2010) to Beyond Veiled Clichés (2016), did you find any change in Arab women’s situations from the time you wrote Courting Samira to writing Beyond Veiled Clichés and does it make a difference if women are living in an Arab or Western country?

AA: Well Courting Samira is a fiction book, more specifically chick-lit. It’s a light-hearted exploration of a young Muslim woman in Australia looking for love, but also purpose in her life, when she has spent most of her life being a people-pleaser and thinking she doesn’t have the same options as everyone else. I wrote it in my 20s, at a time when I was trying to make sense of what’s it like to be that fish out of water – a religious woman in a western society, and the balancing act this involves. But really, it’s a very universal story about learning to love yourself, explore your own life potential, and find joy in it.

Beyond Veiled Clichés is a very different kind of exploration. It’s non-fiction and features the voices of many women from around the world, sharing their real-life experiences. The similarity is that, although it’s non-fiction and a serious book, it’s also about trying to make sense of life and how you fit into it, as part of a culture and/or religion, and as an individual.

I think Arab people in general are only under greater scrutiny and criticism over time, so writing Beyond Veiled Clichés was important to me. I wanted the real-life stories of Arab women to be out in the world, to have a place amid all of the negativity.

But at the heart of all of my writing is a desire to deep-dive into human experiences, ideas and pathways. How do we live and what makes us feel whole?

HS: How does Beyond Veiled Clichés deal with the veil?

AA: It’s funny, the book is called Beyond Veiled Clichés because I was very focused on writing about the lives of Arab women more generally, beyond the veil that seems to define us in the eyes of many. I have been critical of the focus on the veil but it became clear that it needed to be covered in depth, so I have included a chapter on this.

The women I met with usually had opinions on hijab and niqab, both variations of the veil many Muslim women wear. For the Muslim women in Australia who wear hijab, it was clear that for many of them, it was an important aspect of their faith, and that they felt it was part of their identity as Muslim women in the west. For women overseas, there was a similar commitment to hijab, but those who don’t wear it for whatever reason often expressed concern about what the rise in conservative dress meant for their societies. More than one woman talked about a grandmother or other elder who refused to wear hijab, seeing it as a step backwards.

The interesting thing is how interchangeable the veil is; it can be at once a form of liberation or a source of oppression. The conditions of the society, its attitude towards women, and how women themselves see their place in society all shape the energy of that moment. This is why, in history, the veil – which itself doesn’t change much beyond being something that can be either very trendy or deeply forbidding in its nature – can symbolise different things.

For the women in Australia, the veil was their choice. More often than not this would be the case, generally speaking. But the same can’t be said for the Arab world where there would be greater pressure in some societies to dress conservatively.

So it’s not a simple case of liberation or oppression. And the question is, how much is the embrace of the veil a barometer for where a society sits? There is just too much emphasis on women as barometers for society.

HS: In one your interviews you said, “I do think it is up to Arab women themselves to tell their stories, they don’t need a westerner to come in and save the day and say I am going to give you a voice”.  And based on your book Beyond Veiled Clichés there are amazing women. Wwhy do you think this is happening? Does the western media want to keep Arab Muslim women in a particular image?

AA: I’m not sure if the media is creating the image or mirroring what people believe about Arab women – it’s a combination of both. The prevalent image of the ‘Arab woman’ is that of a veiled woman, kohl-lined eyes peeking out from a heavily veiled face, looking frightened or enticingly exotic. These are extreme images and both exist and both define how people around the world view Arab women.

Not all Arab women wear a veil, and those who do don’t necessarily wear the veil the same way. Many Arab women aren’t Muslim; those who are Muslim are not necessarily religious, in the same way a lot of Christian or Jewish women might not be religious even if they identify as being in those faiths.

A major issue is how we are not perceived as fully-functioning, fully human beings. Whether we’re perceived as victims or heroines, we seem to exist in extremes in the minds of others, devoid of normal lives, depth of feeling, desires that don’t revolve around men and wider culture and society.

Amal Awad is journalist, screenwriter and author. She is a columnist for SBS Life and The New Arab and has written for ELLE, Frankie, Daily Life, Sheilas and Junkee. Amal has also worked as a producer for ABC Radio National. Amal is the author of four books. Her latest is a non-fiction book called Beyond Veiled Clichés – The Real Lives of Arab Women. You can read an excerpt online. 

Hend Saeed loves books and has a special interest in Arabic literature. She had published a collection of short stories and recently started “Arabic Literature in English – Australia.” She is also a translatore, life consultant, and book reviewer.

‘UNRWA shouldn’t be held hostage to politics’

As the U.S. slashes the Palestinian refugee agency’s budget, Netanyahu is urging it be abolished altogether. Some believe that shuttering UNRWA would somehow make the Palestinian refugee problem extinct. ‘Not true,’ says the agency’s director in Washington.

Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah receive monthly food rations from an UNRWA distribution center, January 23, 2017. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah receive monthly food rations from an UNRWA distribution center, January 23, 2017. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

The Trump administration announced this week that it had cut by more than half its contribution to the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian refugees.

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The agency provides life-saving assistance to 80 percent of the population in Gaza, food assistance for over a million Palestinians throughout the region, and schools for over half a million children.

Trump’s announcement of the funding cuts first came in a series of tweets in which he lamented getting “no appreciation or respect” from the Palestinian leadership, and its rejection of the his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “With the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?” Trump tweeted in early January.

To better understand what is at stake and why some are taking advantage of this moment to advocate eradicating the agency altogether, +972 Magazine spoke with Elizabeth Campbell, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office in Washington. The interview has been edited for clarity.

Palestinians put a lock on the gate of UNRWA's offices in Hebron to protest cuts expected as a result of the American funding reduction, January 17, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Palestinians put a lock on the gate of UNRWA’s offices in Hebron to protest cuts expected as a result of the American funding reduction, January 17, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Do we know yet when this decision would take effect, and how soon it would impact the agency?  

The decision has already been made. UNRWA received $60 million from the United States and at this time has no information that there will be any additional funding forthcoming. It is more than an 80 percent cut over last year’s funding. It is already impacting the Agency in every possible way, since the United States was the largest donor. We are mobilized and responding by asking every citizen who cares about helping to keep 525,000 kids in school to donate to UNRWA.

Israel has taken the U.S. funding cuts as an opportunity to renew its demand that UNRWA be dismantled and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, ultimately take responsibility for Palestinian refugees. Why does Israel want that, and what would the consequences be?  

UNRWA is mandated by the majority of the UN’s member states to provide assistance and protection to five million refugees. To change this mandate, the members of the UN would need to revise UNRWA’s mandate. UNHCR is unable and unwilling to otherwise take responsibility for Palestine refugees. The two main reasons that people argue for this is because they think that UNHCR does not recognize refugee descendants and thus the Palestine refugee issue would become extinct. This is not true. UNHCR does recognize descendants of refugees under its protection. The second reason that people argue for this solution is that they believe that UNHCR can resettle Palestine refugees into third countries. UNHCR does resettle some refugees into third countries, but less than one percent of the total. It is unlikely that Palestine refugees would be resettled.

Many reports indicate that Gaza, in particular, could be hardest hit by these cuts. What are the implications for a population that is largely dependent on outside aid for its survival?  

Yes, that is true. Gazans are heavily dependent on UNRWA as a source of employment and as a service provider. The Agency is the second largest employer, with a staff of about 13,000 refugees. UNRWA runs the majority of the schools in Gaza and provides life-saving assistance to 80 percent of the total population. If UNRWA closed in Gaza it would be devastating.

Yarmouk residents gathered to await a food distribution from UNRWA in January 2014. (Photo by UNRWA)

Residents of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria await a food distribution from UNRWA in January 2014. (Photo by UNRWA)

What about elsewhere in the Arab world?

More than one million refugees are dependent on UNRWA for food assistance. In 2016 our clinics absorbed 9 million visits. This is all in addition to the education program I mentioned earlier. If UNRWA fails to raise $500 million in 2018, these institutions and programs are at stake.

There have been several funding crises at UNRWA in recent years. How do you go about achieving long-term stability for an agency that, by definition, is meant to be temporary?

We are actively pursuing a wide variety of new funding mechanisms, including with the World Bank.  We are asking new donors to step up and to contribute and existing donors to do more. We are also launching a campaign to highlight the needs of Palestine refugees and to ask citizens across the globe to donate now to address this existential crisis.

What next for UNRWA?

UNRWA is and will remain an independent humanitarian agency and it should not be held hostage to achieve any political objectives. UNRWA has educated over two million refugees, provided jobs for hundreds of thousands more, and offered access to basic health care. De-funding UNRWA will result in the collapse of these civilian institutions, uprooting vulnerable people, and punishing innocent children who seek only to secure an education for their future.

Israeli army considering taking control of Palestinian areas in Jerusalem

PNN/ Jerusalem/

Israeli military forces are considering taking control over Shu’fat refugee camp and Kafr Aqab areas, according to information obtained by Israeli daily Haaretz.

Whilst the proposed  plan is still unknown, army officials said the decision has been motivated by an increase in unrest and violence in East Jerusalem.

The two areas are currently under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem municipality but are physically cut off from the city as a result of the separation wall.

There are approximately between 100,000 and 150,000 residents in Kafr Aqab and the Shu’fat refugee camp; they carry Israeli identity cards and have residency status in Israel.

Donald Trump contradicts aide on Mexico border wall

Chief of staff will not last long after taking to press and saying he helped change Trump’s mind. No one controls Trump, not even himself.

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US president says plans have ‘never changed or evolved’, despite remarks by chief of staff

Donald Trump has contradicted his chief of staff over proposals for a wall along the southern US border with Mexico, tweeting that his opinion on a wall “has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it”.

On Wednesday evening, the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, said the US president’s views on immigration and a border wall had “very definitely changed” after Trump had been briefed on the subjects.

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FBI investigates whether Russia banker used NRA to fund Trump campaign – report

NRA shilling for Russia! OMG! Charlton Heston rolling in grave!

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Banker with links to Putin faces questions over whether he funneled money through NRA, amid scrutiny over gun rights group’s Russia ties

The FBI is investigating whether a Russian banker with close ties to Vladimir Putin funneled money through the National Rifle Association to support Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, it was reported on Thursday.

Foreign contributions to American political campaigns are illegal.

Continue reading…

History professor predicts Mueller will reveal Trump crimes that will ‘shock the nation’ — and force GOP to impeach

Historian Allan Lichtman is known for making accurate predictions — and he’s more certain than ever that President Donald Trump will be impeached this spring.

The American University history professor has correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1984, including Trump, and he has recently updated his book, The Case for Impeachment, that was released in April — before the president fired FBI director James Comey and special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed.

“There’s as strong a case of obstruction of justice as there was against Bill Clinton on a vastly more important matter than a blue dress,” Lichtman told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Remember, virtually every Republican voted for an obstruction article against Bill Clinton.”

He said the special counsel investigation almost certainly had more damning evidence of illegal cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia, which he said would soon be revealed.

“It’s a conspiracy,” Lichtman said. “I believe we have the tip of the iceberg of what the special counsel knows about the relationship between Trump and the Trump team and the Russians. There’s a fair chance that the reason they were covering up all of those calls from then to be national security adviser with the Russians was to cover up a possible quid pro quo, the Russians will help us and in turn we’ll ease those sanctions. Why else make those calls and why else lie about them?”

The historian said the public had already seen strong evidence of obstruction, but he said there’s plenty of reason to predict charges on a “host of crimes” — some of them deadly serious — related to a Russian conspiracy.

“I wouldn’t keep saying collusion isn’t a crime,” Lichtman said. “Of course not, but taking things of value from foreign nationals is a crime, aiding and abetting illegal computer hacking is a crime, negotiating as a private citizen with a hostile foreign power with which there is disputes is a crime. If this is serious enough, and I’ve taken a lot of flak for that, I think there even could be charges of treason. After all, Russia was waging war against us — not a war with bombs and bullets, but a cyber attack, an online attack designed to destroy democracy.”

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who has compared Trump to Stalin, told MSNBC that he still wouldn’t vote to impeach the president — but Lichtman said the public would eventually see evidence that would force Republicans to act.

“Talk about premature — how could he know whether or not he would vote to impeach when a case hasn’t been made yet?” Lichtman said. “He hasn’t been impeached and there hasn’t been a trial in the Senate. I think Mueller — and this is my prediction — is going to come up with findings that are going to shock the country, not only involve conspiracy with Russia but could involve serious financial crimes.”

ICE deporting activists not because of legal status, but due to political work

In the past month, at least four prominent undocumented immigrant activists and community leaders have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The timing of these arrests is no coincidence: this is a strategic and retaliatory move by the Trump administration meant to silence movement leaders and dissuade others from engaging in political work.

Last Thursday, ICE detained Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, during a routine check-in. A few days later, Jean Montrevil, the organization’s co-founder, was deported to his home country of Haiti. Even more recently, ICE detained Eliseo Jurado, whose wife Ingrid Latorre has taken sanctuary in a Colorado church. You may have also heard of Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist who heads Northwest Detention Center Resistance (NWDCR), an undocumented-led movement that aims to dismantle the deportation and detention machine. In December, Villalpando received a notice to appear in immigration court, where she later received a deportation order. Villalpando says she is being targeted by ICE not because of her “immigration status, but [because they’re] against my political work.”

Since Trump’s election and inauguration, immigrants have mobilized in response to this administration’s attacks on our welfare and wellbeing. The number of sanctuary churches has doubled in the past year, with colleges and universities, restaurants and businesses, and cities and states also declaring themselves safe spaces for migrants. Rapid response teams and community defense groups formed to serve as first-responders in cases of illegal and inhumane immigration enforcement activities. Since September, DREAMers have lobbied and fought for a path to citizenship, refusing to accept the rescission of the program that protected them from deportation. Targeting these activists is a way to repress their movements and demobilize migrant communities, yet organizers insist they will not be silenced.

Asked by Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman if she sees a connection between her case and those of Ragbir and Montrevil, Villalpando responsed, “Absolutely, absolutely. We believe this is a clear targeting of people that have dared to not only question the system, but to fight the system, that we are outspoken, that we are public about it, that we’re not afraid. And it’s obviously clear that they’re going after us right now.” There is no doubt about it: targeting immigrant activists is a tool to silence political opponents and undermine pro-immigrant movements. At the same time, it’s important to remember the U.S. government has a long history of targeting activists and that this strategy is usually reserved for organizers and communities of color. In 1927, Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born black nationalist and the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was deported by the U.S. government on falsified mail fraud charges. The FBI targeted Garvey through its COINTELPRO program, which also surveilled and monitored Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panther Party, and Puerto Rican independence groups like the Young Lords. Activists who refuse to say silent in the face of oppression are a threat to this country’s very foundation. This is why they’re targeted.

This Friday, a coalition of immigrant rights organizations is hosting a demonstration in support of the detained activists in Washington, D.C. The event’s Facebook page reminds us “retaliation is a core tactic of the racist Trump administration that has suppressed dissent and political free speech since his inauguration.”

Immigrants are not taking these attacks sitting down, but rather are mobilizing to show Trump that we will not be silenced. Join us.

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