Sam Bahour serves on the Advisory Board of Cafe Intifada.
Emma Rosenthal Cafe Intifada -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [epalestine] The natives' time is cheap / `I don't really care' / Caravan for Palestine Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 23:57:54 +0200 From: Sam Bahour <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear friends, Very mixed feeling these days. A little hard to explain. Many of the new Ministers appointed last week are friends. For years, we were in the same trenches calling for more responsive government, better strategic planning, and better leadership. Then overnight, literally, they are Ministers. But there is a catch. The cabinet is being framed as a short term, 3 month affair. Also, the government is being labelled, even by Palestinians as a technocrat leadership. It is as if these political positions, called Ministers, were ripped of their political connotations overnight. Something is drastically wrong with this equation. Personally, I see this latest political algebra as a last ditch effort from FATAH, the ruling party, to save it from itself. The damage caused in the mis-management of state affairs has left FATAH and the government in near ruins. Three months will not be enough time to make a proper damage assessment, assuming these new Ministers are provided the tools to do so. Nevertheless, as we absorb this awkward phase of our struggle, we will give all the support possible to the new leadership. But today, after 10 years of mis- management, support will mean just that, and not blind allegiance. While we all want better government, we cannot accept it at the cost of our freedom, be it us in Palestine or Palestinians in refugee camps abroad. Tonight, I took my daughter Areen to a concert at the Ramallah Cultural Palace in Ramallah, the MODENA CITY RAMBLERS <http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/gabo_music_mcr.html> from Italy. It was great. While watching in joy as Areen clapped away, even trying to sing along in Italian, I internally wept for those kids in Rafah, Jenin, Nablus and elsewhere, that see no "normal" evenings. I keep thinking about 10-yr old Iman in Gaza, killed by an Israeli commander who felt it was necessary to "confirm the kill" by emptying his rife in to her body. Reform is just not going to make it far as long as military occupation is alive and well. While Israel's Apartheid Wall is closing in on us, turning our cities into open-air ghetto prisons, what we need are not political blinders put on PhD Minister's, but PhD Minister's ready to manage the state building process alongside the last chapter of our struggle for freedom. As Bush and Rice become all the more creative, calling for a "viable," "contiguous," "sustainable," "contiguous viable," etc Palestinian State, our eye remains on the prize. A full and complete end to occupation, as defined in International Law, which leads to the sovereign State of Palestine. Anything less will be harshly tossed in the waste bin of history. A few items of interest below. Reform whipped, Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign http://www.stopthewall.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The natives' time is cheap By Amira Hass Haaretz 23 February 2005 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543643.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- `I don't really care if they don't know who I am here' By Noam Ben-Ze'ev Musician Khaled Jubran, born in the Galilee and living in Jerusalem, doesn't `do' Israel Khaled Jubran, a composer and oud player who lives in Jerusalem, returned from a concert in Cairo last week, where he performed before a sold-out audience at the old conservatory, built in the 1920s. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543668.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caravan for Palestine: Call for the organization of local comittees Call for the organization of local comittees A great and ambitious project is under construction in France. A caravan constituted by more than 100 vehicles will leave Strasbourg (seat of the European Parliament) on July 4, 2005 and will reach Jerusalem on July 19. 75 persons (about 20 vehicles) are already registered for the journey, whose route passes through great cities like: Geneva, Bologna, Ancona, Patras, Athens, Thessalonica, Istanbul, Ankara, Damas and Amman... The team is a melting pot of people who believe in the power of human relationships and solidarity. We are convinced that the application of international law is the key to resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. We decided to travel just under this simple and consensual demand in order to forget our disagreements on the Palestinian questions, and to make it possible for the civil society to be united and strong. The project is meant to meet the population, to call out for media cover, and to exercise pressure on governments. All these purposes can only be reached if the movement is well-known and supported by the civil society all over the world... and, obviously, all the more, in the countries visited by the Caravan. If you want to help joining good wills and energies in your country, you can do a lot for the Caravan, for Palestine and for the future of mankind. For a better organization, we need contacts in the countries we cross. So we are looking for associations, parties or individualities who engage themselves to organize the event in each town. We can not still ask for precise events. We have thought about a maximum of communication with local media (radio, newspaper), maybe kind of concerts, demonstrations or popular dialogues. But the events in your town will be mostly planned by the "local committee" (formed by all those who want to help in solidarity). If it is possible, it would be kind of you (the committees) to plan our accommodation too. But it is even more important that some people in your country are prepared to accompany the Caravan to Syria, Jordan, and why not... Palestine. The caravan will be growing up on the road and you are welcome in this adventure. Planned schedule: Day 1 : Strasbourg - Geneva (July 5) Day 2 : Geneva - Bologna (6) Day 3 : Bologna - Ancona - Patras (7) Day 4 : Patras - Athens (8) Day 5 : Athens (9) Day 6 : Athens - Thessalonica (10) Day 7 : Thessalonica - Bosphor (11) Day 8 : Bosphor - Istanbul (12) Day 9 : Istanbul - Ankara (13) Day 10 : Ankara - Cappadocia (14) Day 11 : Cappadocia - Alep (15) Day 12 : Alep - Damas (16) Day 13 : Damas - Amman (17) Day 14 : Amman - Alleby Bridge - Jerusalem (19) Our next meeting is in Paris on the first week-end of April (2nd and 3rd) . If you want to attend it, you will be welcome. We are strongly waiting for answers from you. Please tell us if you want to participate in that great adventure for human rights and particularly in solidarity with the Palestinian people, or just if you know some people who would be interested. Give us as much information as possible about contacts and local possibilities. The more numerous we are and the more media attention we awake, the more successful the caravan will be. You can find more information on our website: http://caravane.palestine.free.fr <http://caravane.palestine.free.fr/> Our charter is already translated into 15 languages. See you soon. Fraternally yours, Caravane pour la Palestine For any info, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything about this list: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/epalestine To unsubscribe, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. 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