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First I want to make clear that many many lesbian feminists and queer people of all kinds, in America, in Israel, in the occupied territories, around the world, are working very hard to stop the violence against Palestinians in Gaza and in Israel, to stop the use of violence by militias or state military on either side. In an earlier post, I expressed my anger at friends who were not doing enough as American Jews to lessen the suffering of Palestinian civilians and by so doing ensuring the greater possiblity of what they claim to want--safety.
I want to thank Sherril and Dorothy and all the others who keep me in the loop of every day events in Palestine/Israel and always Hannah and Dalia. Here I offer you two more moments of a people's bravery, thanking Dorothy N. who forces us to see with different eyes as do the dissenting journalists of Haaretz.

Call for Solidarity - Please Forward!

Silencing and Violence Against Students Protesting at an International Political Conference - the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Tuesday, December 18

This evening (18//12/07) the Hebrew University held a public conference entitled " Can Democracy Overcome Terror? Democracy Fights Terror With One Hand Tied Behind It's Back. When, Why and How Must This Hand Be Untied ", with the participation of the former President of the High Court of Justice Prof. Aharon Barak, President of the Hebrew University Prof. Menachem Megidor, and Efraim Halevi, former Head of the Mossad and the Head of the Center for Strategic Studies. Flayer distributed in the audience stated: " Democracy's hands are "tied" by international humanitarian law. Untying this hand means legitimizing violations of basic human rights in the form of torture, collective punishments, and war crimes. " and further: "Presenting international humanitarian law as restrictions to military effectiveness endangers us all". We protest the fact that the university provides a stage for legitimization of sever violations of human rights and academic protection to torture and collective punishment. As Aharon Barak spoke of the "balance" between "security" and "international humanitarian law" in Israel, including in his rulings on the Separation Wall and separation of families, it was our moral duty to protest against the daily violations of human rights and security, often backed by the rulings of Aharon Barak.
We insist on our right to protest against anti-democratic conferences in a public university, sponsored by education budgets. Conferences discussing democracy cannot give stage to white men of the ruling elite, while completely excluding people whose rights are being actively violated.
We protest against the verbal and physical violence inflicted on us when university's security officers dragged us outside the conference hall by force, refused to identify themselves and held us illegally, even though we had asked to leave the campus.
We are dismayed at the violence of the public who demanded to activate force even before the security officers did so. As women were dragged on the floor, the public was applauding.
We demand accountability from the President of the Hebrew University Prof. Menachem Megidor and the former President of the High Court of Justice Prof. Aharon Barak, as in their presence verbal and physical violence was activated against women who expressed their protest in a democratic manner. They continued speaking of democracy. Unlike the version of some news services, we did not "leave the hall quietly" but the security officers dragged us by force, at the sound of the crowd's applause. This conduct reflected fairly the reason to our protest: the false "balance" between security and human rights is in fact a deliberate and systematic crushing of elementary human rights, from the freedom of speech to the right to life. Today, 5 students are at risk of the disciplinary committee and sanctions of the university.Please forward this call.

To join radical activity at the Hebrew University: students5justice@gmail.com