حوًلوا كرت المؤن إلى جواز سفر!!!

محمد خليف

من يريد اختصار معاناة اللاجىء الفلسطيني في بلدان الشتات والتشتيت العربي، فله أن يقرأ قصة ذلك الفلسطيني الذي قضى ماتيسر من حياته بين (الطائرات والمخيمات) مسافرا في الجو هربا من ظلم بني جلدته على أرض عروبته ممنوعا من عبورالمطارات من المحيط الى الخليج، ليحط به المقام في كانتونات اللجوء البائسة محاصرا، مهددا، ملاحقا، بين أزقة المخيمات، مصطفا على طوابير التحقيق الذي لم ينته منذ نكبته،  فتهمته معروفه ووثيقة ادانته -  يحملها  في حقيبيته منذ طرد من قريته.  أكتب هذه الكلمات بينما يعتصرني ككل فلسطيني ألم وحسرة، ونحن نتابع مايجري  في لبنان الشقيق من تراشق اعلامي وسياسي ونيابي عنوانه (الحقوق المدنية للاجئين الفلسطينيين بلبنان) ففي الوقت الذي نجحت فيه اسرائيل في تحويل قضية فلسطين من قضية وطن سلب، وشعب شرد، الى قضية حواجز، وتجميد استطيان وخلاف حول المحادثات مباشرة أو عبر وسطاء، تزامنا مع هذا الحال الذي وصلنا اليه يواصل العرب نجاحاتهم في انتزاع ما تبقى من انسانية اللاجىء مصرين ومتفقين  – ومن النادر أن يتفقوا -  على حصاره في مخيمات اللجوء والنسيان، والحجة هي رفض التوطين، والحفاظ على هوية الفلسطيني، فهل الفقر والجوع والمنع من الحقوق والحريات وسائل مساعدة على الصمود، أم أنها وصفة للضغط عليه ودفعه دفعا للتسليم، وهل ملايين العرب الذين يحملون جوازت سفر أجنبية وأوروبية نسوا  بلادهم، وقبل هذا وبعده، ألم يحمل كل اليهود جوازات سفر أجنبية وأوروبية استغلوا مزاياها ليحشدوا من أجل تأسيس كيانهم في فلسطين؟ ليست دعوة للتوطين، فأصلا هذا المصطلح لم يعد قائما في ظل تحول العالم الى قرية صغيرة، ذابت فيها الجنسيات لصالح العمل والبناء والانتماء  وخدمة المجتمع بغض النظر عن الجنسية والهوية، وقد كفلت كل الشرائع الانسانية الحقوق المدنية للانسان هذا من الناحية الانسانية، أما لو ناقشنا الأمر من الناحية السياسية التاريخية وجارينا السؤال القائل لماذا تتحمل الدول العربية مسؤولية ماتسببت به اسرائيل؟ وسلمنا أنها المسؤولة عن معاناتهم، فمن المسؤول عن منع الفلسطيني من القتال والنضال من أجل عودته لبلاده، وإن كان منحه حقوقه (يهدد أمن البلد) فمن المسؤول عن حصاره وعزله لأكثر من 62 عاما دون حق في التعليم أو العمل ليجمع مايعينه على مغادة المخيمات غير لآسف على عمره الذي ضاع فيها، وليريح ويستريح. العيب كل العيب ليس على اللاجىء المحاصر بل على الذين بدلا من أن يجتمعوا ليضعوا خطط مواجهة الخطر الاسرائيلي المحاذي لهم، والاعداد  لمواجهته ودعم صمود ماتبقى من الشعب الفلسطيني في الداخل صمام الأمان للأمة، بدل أن يقوموا بذلك يجتمعوا لمواجهة أي تشريع يخفف من خنقه، ويمنحه أملا بحياة كريمة تعينه على مواصلة نضاله من أجول العودة، فإن كان تمكين اللاجىء من العيش كإنسان يهدد أمنكم، فإن مواصلة خنقه وعزله وحشره في المقابر البشرية يهدد بغضب وانفجار عارم  لن تقف حدوده عند أسوار المخيمات. هي دعوة لوكالة الأونروا وللمجتمع الدولي لتحويل بطاقة اللاجى (كرت المؤن) إلى جواز سفر معتمد لتمكين اللاجىء  من الحصول على حقوق مدنية برعاية دولية ،وفتح المجال له للفرار من المقابر البشرية إلى فضاء رحب  يتمكن فيه من لملمة جراح غربته وإعادة ترتيب أوراق نكبته ليخطط للعودة ، ويستعد لها ، ولكن بكرامة وحرية ، وانسانية. • إعلامي مقيم في لندن • مقال خاص بـ"ألوان نيوز"

http://alwannews.com/?action=post&postid=144&sms_ss=facebook

Statement Condemning Disciplinary Action Against The Irvine 11

Statement Condemning Disciplinary Action against the Irvine 11 and the Recommendation to 
Suspend the UC-Irvine Muslim Student Union

by the

US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI)

www.usacbi.org
uscom4acbi@gmail.com

On the 8th of February, 2010, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren visited the University of California, Irvine (UCI) to give a lecture on US-Israeli relations. During his speech, a number of UC students, all of them Arab or Muslim, stood up to voice their opinions on the ambassador�s presence and message given its support for Israel�s war crimes and racist policies. Oren was interrupted about ten times and immediately after each interruption, students were removed from the hall by security and police.

On July 4th, 2008, former president George Bush gave a speech in Charlottesville, Virginia about the naturalization of United States citizens. Nine times throughout the president�s speech, anti-war protesters shouted demands for Bush�s impeachment. Despite the repressive legislation and policies of the Bush administration that included numerous attacks on civil rights and liberties, the idea that interrupting a speaker to express a political opinion is a legitimate right was seen as so unremarkable that even Bush himself noted, "We believe in free speech in the United States of America," following the interruptions.

After Oren�s speech in California, eleven UC students are facing disciplinary actions including suspension and even expulsion. Most recently, UCI�s director of student housing issued a recommendation to suspend the Muslim Student Union at UCI, a registered student body, as punishment for the protest by these ten individuals.[1]

Following President Bush�s speech, the anti-war protesters walked away along with the rest of the audience members. None were demonized or criminalized, let alone arrested.

The recommendation to suspend the MSU reflects the practice of selective punishment on university campuses. On February 11, 2008, scholar, and writer Norman Finkelstein spoke at California State University, Northridge. Members of the Jewish Defense League attended this talk and interrupted the provost's introduction, one of them shouting, "Good one, Harry. The Nazi loves you." They jeered throughout and aimed cameras at the audience, while issuing a steady stream of vitriol at Finkelstein, including: "You're a sick puppy," "Don't call yourself a Jew," and "Holocaust denier!" One young woman in attendance, a CSUN student wearing a kuffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity and resistance, was ordered, "Go hang yourself with your scarf! The members of the Jewish Defense League were allowed to interrupt Finkelstein at CSU-Northridge, expressing blatant hate speech throughout and facing no consequences during or after Finkelstein�s presentation.

The United States Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) condemns the censorship and silencing of free speech at UC Irvine and the criminalization of protest by students such as the �Irvine 11� who challenge pro-Israel rhetoric. There is a double standard which insists that one can protest the words of the President of the United States of America and the policies of the US government, but one cannot voice disapproval of an ambassador�s speech on behalf of a foreign state. Israel has continued to commit massacres and engage in collective punishment of Palestinian civilians, most recently in the war on Gaza in 2008-09 and the massacre of relief workers in 2010, and its occupation and apartheid policies have been denounced by the international community and deemed in violation of international law. The demonization of the Irvine 11 reflects the promotion of Israeli exceptionalism and impunity and the criminalization of Arab and Muslim political speech which has permeated the American university system in defiance of principles of racial and religious equality and time-honored traditions of civil disobedience. This gross injustice undermines the fundamental values of academic freedom, critical thinking, and freedom from discrimination, all of which are presumably the hallmark of higher learning and democratic society.

As Israel�s hermetic siege on Gaza�s 1.5 million population � constituting collective punishment � cannot be justified, nor can the collective punishment of a student group and its entire membership including hundreds of Muslim students, staff and faculty in response to acceptable forms of protest enacted by a handful of individuals be defended. The purpose of such disciplinary action, much like the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, seeks to break the will of students daring to speak out against injustice and set an example to intimidate others who would engage in protest of occupation and racism. Students, minorities, and disadvantaged groups have historically engaged in challenges to official narratives that distort history and perpetuate the status quo; we support the right of Irvine 11 and others to protest one-sided or racist narratives supported by the establishment.

Yet the UC administration has not been willing to take a neutral and fair stance, let alone stand on the side of justice and against racial and religious discrimination. As UC President Mark Yudof has publicly stated, �It is difficult for me to separate my public role as President of a state university from my private life as a Jewish man who is active in Jewish causes and a strong defender of Israel.� In addition, pro-Israel off-campus groups such as the Zionist Organization of America and the Jewish Federation�Orange County have gone on record calling for punishment of the Irvine 11. Academic freedom is not reserved just for those who have the support of powerful lobby groups. We believe in a robust and progressive definition of academic freedom, one which upholds the right to challenge dominant narratives and live in freedom and equality.

The recommendation to suspend the MSU, if adopted, will instill fear in the student population and silence open debate, defeating the purpose of a university campus as a place where the status quo is examined and change is demanded when necessary. A clear message will be heard across California and the United States: rights of free speech do not apply to criticism of the state of Israel. USACBI calls upon the Chancellor of the University of California, Irvine to reverse this unjust decision on appeal and restore the integrity of the academy, lest UCI be memorialized as the university that silences dissent and chills student activism.

Red light fine is so high?

FAQ # 15:  Why is the fine so high in 

California ?  Are there exceptions?

Answer:  When defendants raise that question in court, the judges explain that the State legislature set the fine so high (current top fine is approx. $400) in order to strongly deter drivers from running red lights.  They also usually quote figures, provided by the local police, which say that accidents here are down 10 - 20% as the result of the cameras.  But on the east coast, where the fines are just $50 to $75 (and the tickets do not carry a "point"), the police there have been publishing similar accident reduction figures.  Evidently, at least on the east coast, a much smaller penalty has been equally effective in getting drivers to behave.  Draw your own conclusion as to why, absent a greater deterrence value, California's penalty needs to be so many times harsher. 

Not all camera tickets cost $400 (or more).  Until Aug. 2008, the City of LA cited its rolling right turns under Subsection (b) of CVC 21453, instead of (a), which resulted in a much-lower fine - $159 including all fees.  (For info about LA's formerly-reduced fine and the difference between (a) and (b), see the LA City Documents page.)  And a few judges in other cities offer reduced fines to defendants with rolling right tickets. 

Another web: 

Ticketassassin

P.O. Box 120012

San Diego CA, 92112

What are they saying about Flotilla?

"US silence abt condition of US citizens detained by Israel alarming Just coz they r not detained in Iran doesnt mean US Govt shld care less."

"Israeli spin. Video showing weapons on board to be sling shots and marbles. Injured are more likely the passengers since no faces are seen."

"No U.S. condemnation of flotilla massacre. Looking forward to lots more people hating us for our freedom!"

"Advice to Israel: when in hole, stop digging."

"Israel's attack on a civilian ship sailing in international waters 120 kilometres from the [Israeli] shores".

" appreciation and gratitude for the courageous Turkish role and a tribute to your martyrs' blood " http://bit.ly/9xiOgI #flotilla"

"All of the activists were kidnapped in international waters during Israel's raid on the flotilla of aid vessels from the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish NGO IHH in the early hours of Monday morning."

"Potato Peelers Justify the Flotilla Massacre

Each time Israeli officials and spokespersons open their mouths they spread lies, hate and crimes."

"What Israel did was wrong deadly wrong and your statements and decisions in the UN Security Council and in statements from the White House, and State Department shows a callus disregard for the lives of innocent people. That when it comes to Israel, America is always on standby, ready to defend, and cover any and all Israeli war crimes and ready to make sure that Israel continues with its defiance of the world community in defiance of the world community."

A Jew can grow his beard in order to practice his faith

A Jew can grow his beard in order to practice his faith 

But when Muslim does the same, he is an extremist and terrorist! 

A nun can be covered from head to toe in order to devote herself to God, 

right? 

But, then, if a daughter of Muslim-Ummah does the same, why is she 

oppressed? 

When a western woman stays at home to look after her house and kids she is 

respected by the entire society because of sacrificing her life to her 

house 

But when a Muslim woman does so by her will, they say, "she needs to be 

liberated"! 

Any girl can go to university wearing what she wills and have her rights 

and freedom? 

But when a Muslim Girl/Lady wears Hijab, they prevent her from entering 

the university! 

When a child dedicates himself to a subject, he has potential and talent.. 

But when he dedicates himself to Islam he is hopeless! 

WHY 

When a Jew kills someone, religion is not mentioned, but when a Muslim is 

charged with a crime, it is Islam that goes to trial! 

< BR>When someone sacrfices himself to keep others alive, he is noble and 

everyone respects him. 

But when a Palestinian does that to save his son from being killed, his 

brother's arm being broken, his mother being raped, his home being destroyed, 

and his mosque being violated --- He gets the title of 'terrorist'! Why? 

Because he is a "Muslim"! 

When there is trouble, we accept any solution available, right? However, 

if the solution lies in Islam, we refuse to take a look at it. 

When s omeone drives a perfect car in an improper manner, no one blames 

the car.... 

But when any Muslim makes a mistake or treats people in a bad manner - 

people say "Islam is the reason"!

Without giving a glance at Islamic laws, people believe what the 

newspapers say. 

But question what the Holy QURAN says!