Israeli Apartheid Week 2014

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Israeli Apartheid Week this year is February 24 through March 2. IAW is the annual event to educate Americans about the reality of the situation in Israel/Palestine. Some events are planned across the state include film showings and panel discussions. Since the week overlaps with the end of African American History Month, there are also events planned to celebrate both African Americans and Palestinians.Educating Americans about Israel/Palestine has always been an uphill battle. The facts have been out there, but the media, academia and government have ignored all but a single narrative. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Israeli Legal System – Designed for Discrimination

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Taiser Khatib, a Palestinian Israeli citizen, met his wife in the West Bank. It could have been a one of a kind American fairy tale romance: love at first sight, engagement, wedding, two young children, two working parents. It could have been, but for one huge difference. The couple is one of an estimated 26,000 to 30,000 couples with one spouse a Palestinian Israeli citizen and the other a stateless Palestinian born in the Occupied Territories. Because of a recent Supreme Court decision, all of those families face permanent separation. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Two Jewish Men

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January 27 is the UN designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was liberated. Two Jewish men, who had survived months in that hell, finally tasted freedom that day, and went on to teach the world the lessons of the Holocaust.These men moved on to become authors and speakers; both are intelligent, thoughtful, and well-spoken, yet have arrived at very different conclusions about what the lessons of the Holocaust actually are.This enigma has puzzled me for years: how can two people with such similar backgrounds and experiences come away with such different viewpoints? What could explain the differences in their views?In the case of Elie Wiesel, the paragon of human rights champion, who protested against South African Apartheid, delivered food to starving Cambodians, and said that although the world knew what was happening in the Nazi concentration camps people did nothing. “That is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.” Yet when it comes to Palestinians he can’t quite see their suffering and humiliation. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | The Destruction of the Mamilla Cemetery: Desecration of a Sacred Site

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The Ma’man Allah (Mamilla) Cemetery was the oldest Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem with graves dating back to the seventh century, comprised of 33 acres and tens of thousands of graves. After 1948 the Israeli ministry that maintained the site reassured world leaders that this important religious site would be cared for in perpetuity.Less than fifteen years later, in the 1960s a park was built in part of the cemetery and a parking lot covered another part. These were followed by a school, football field, underground parking garage, and road. Electrical wires were laid in other sections.The final few acres were dug up just before the beginning of Ramadan, in the middle of the night (as can be seen on the CNN video: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2010/08/13/vo.cemetery.demo.cnn.html) so that Israel can build the Museum of Tolerance in conjunction with the Simon Wiesenthal Center in the United States.Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases.An enormous amount of knowledge was lost with the destruction of the Mamilla Cemetery, according to St. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | The Gaza Freedom Flotilla

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As I write this the Israeli Navy may be surrounding, boarding, detaining the crew and passengers of, and possibly disabling the six ships left in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. (Two ships have experienced suspicious mechanical problems.) Israel has said that the ships are a “provocation,” and that therefore it has a right to stop the mission. But this attempt to break the siege on Gaza, like many previous attempts, is non-violent, unarmed, and bringing humanitarian aid. The cargo of the ships include banned items like wheelchairs and dental equipment, food and school supplies – items banned by Israel in their attempt to break the will of the Palestinians living in Gaza.      The ships are traveling through international waters and plan to dock in Gaza. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | A refugee story

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Among the documents that my husband kept for many years was a customs form, now yellowed and fading, with one corner torn where it had been folded. It is dated April 28, 1948, and on it in Arabic and French was written proof of everything my father-in-law, his wife, and three-year old child could bring with them when they fled Jaffa – nothing. The Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. The weeks preceding April 28 became increasingly alarming. Continue Reading