Jewish Voice for Peace? Really??

It is the privilege of Palestinians to decide who should stay in their homeland and who not.

(LONDON) - It appears that, yet again, Anti-zionist Jewish organizations are trying to silence Palestine's supporters, to frame the debate, to secure the future of their brethren in occupied Palestine and to steer the course of Liberation of our Homeland

I would invite people to hear a Palestinian voice, here:

A strategy of liberation requires emancipation

* No decent human-being would demand to live on STOLEN land and still claims to have a fiber of morality.

* No decent human-being could claim that the perpetrator should have the same rights as the victim while claiming to be a humanist.

* Palestinians are under no obligation to hold back their march for freedom, to curtail their aims or to smother their rights for the sake of accommodating and not offending their Jewish supporters.

* Palestinians are always grateful and appreciative of the hard work and dedication of all their supporters whomever they are, however, Palestinians have NO obligation to adopt the aims and objectives of the anti-zionist Jewish supporters instead of their own.

* Dismissing the Palestinian voice as radical, reactionary, intolerant, or unreasonable, and requiring instead the Jewish-anti-zionist stamp of approval to have legitimacy to speak for Palestine, is preposterous and contradicts basic concepts of human rights and does not do justice to Palestinians.

* Palestinians have the ultimate right to choose their vision for their future, of a FREE and sovereign Palestine including the type of government, the writing of constitution, the construction and implementation of their legal and juristic system, which stems from and corresponds to their ethics and reflects and protects their culture.

* Palestinians have the ultimate right to make the final decision on who is allowed to stay in liberated Palestine and who is not, using the legal procedure of their own choice.

* The future of the Palestinian struggle and the aim of liberation of Palestine should not be designed to shield the occupier from paying the full price of his crimes; including the punishment of all those who participated in transgression, and the deportation of the illegitimate Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who colonized Palestine forcefully and were engaged in acts of aggression against Palestinians including serving in the IOF.

* All refugee and their descendents have the unconditional right to come back home, they as the rightful indigenous owners are also entitled to the reinstatement of ALL confiscated (stolen) land and property, compensation for all their losses over the many years of exile and they are also entitled to Palestinian citizenship wherever they are.

* The aims and aspirations of most Palestinians are not confined to the change of zionist regime or the vacuous declaration of abandonment of zionism by the Jewish-zionist occupiers, but rather to the FULL Liberation of Palestine and the restoration of all their rights.

* It is the privilege of Palestinians to decide who should stay in their homeland and who not.

* After a century of terror, theft and crimes; had the Zionist shown any signs of remorse, respect or willingness to be decent guests, had they embraced with open arms the hospitable people of Palestine rather than destroying them with fire-arms; they might have had a chance to be accepted and forgiven. Not any more, as far as I am concerned. They have lost that opportunity.

As a Palestinian, I see the role of any "Jewish voice for peace" who sincerely desire to contribute to the Liberation of Palestine and justice for Palestinians, and who desire to be identified through their contributions "as Jews", then their role ought to be focused on cleaning their own house before sorting other people's houses; i.e. that is to exclude any major role in influencing, leading or directing the Solidarity and/or Liberation Movement of Palestine.

Through taking a leading role in campaigning to blacklist publications, label intellectuals and limit the spectrum of debate by censoring topics which they deem "controversial"; by framing the debate they act against intellectual integrity, box Palestinians and their supporters mentally and knowingly or not act as gatekeepers. They force people to self-censorship to avoid been accused of antisemitism; hence preventing them from acquiring, sharing or discussing information freely that would allow them to make their own informed decisions.

Palestinians' grievances against the zionist theft of their land do by no means justify antisemitism accusations, Palestinians and their supporters are no lesser human beings, they are well capable to sieve through information and make their own evaluation, henceforth it is completely unacceptable that some of our anti-zionist Jewish supporters try to dictate to Palestinians:

who they should accept as a supporter and who should they boycott;

what speaker to invite and whose lecture to avoid;

who they should consider progressive and who can be labeled reactionary;

what religion and religious group are above all criticism and what faith is deemed to be "backward looking and inherently unable to deliver progress";

what books should be read, and which articles should be thrown away;

what narrative of events should be adopted as "reasonable" and which should be considered a "conspiracy theory";

what chapter of history should be seen as a "dogmatic unquestionable religion"; and which one should be seen as "hoax" or as a "useless hateful rumors";

what course of action should be taken and which one should be dismissed a "distraction";

Furthermore, when censorship is practiced, when some books become forbidden and certain speakers are silenced, it appears to any self-respecting free-thinker that their brain, their ability to analyze and evaluate are being demeaned and patronized.

Rather than wasting their energy campaigning to ostracize or silence some of the most outspoken allies and honest supporters of Palestine, they should rather direct their efforts towards their OWN communities where the rot is anchored and festering: where supremacist ideologies reign supreme, chauvinistic anti-humanist beliefs flourish, delusional concepts entrenched and fostered, and criminal Mossadic activities thrive, and where mossers are ostracized and sayanim are promoted.
This ought to be our Jewish allies' battlefield.

It is only in this specifically Jewish frame of activity, that separate organizations identified as exclusively Jewish can affect significant change and eventually their claim to speak in the name of their Jewishness be vindicated.

“To smile when confronted with the most severe oppression, is an act of Resistance rooted in unparalleled beauty.”

* The aims and aspirations of most Palestinians are not confined to the change of zionist regime or the vacuous declaration of abandonment of zionism by the Jewish-zionist occupiers, but rather to the FULL Liberation of Palestine and the restoration of all their rights.

Through taking a leading role in campaigning to blacklist organizations and publications, label intellectuals and limit the spectrum of debate by censoring topics which they deem "controversial"; by framing the debate they act against intellectual integrity, box Palestinians and their supporters mentally and knowingly or not act as gatekeepers. They force people to self-censorship to avoid been accused of antisemitism; hence preventing them from acquiring, sharing or discussing information freely that would allow them to make their own informed decisions.

Nahida Izzat is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian refugee who has lived in exile for over forty two years, after being forced to leave her homeland at the tender age of seven in 1967, during the six-day war. She has a degree in mathematics, but art is one of her favorite pastimes. She loves hand-made things and so makes dolls, cards, and most of her own clothes. She also writes poetry, participates in written dialogues and believes in building bridges, not walls.

She started writing when her friends insisted she should write about her memories, experiences and feelings as a Palestinian.When she did it all came out sounding—she was told—like poetry! So she self-published two books: I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story.

If you like poetry and are intrigued by the notion of helping the Palestinian people and learning more, you can purchase Nahida's books, I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story by visiting:

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4thWorldChild June 22, 2011 10:45 pm (Pacific time)

Nahida, I agree that it all depends on what your definition of anti-"Semitism" / Judeophobia is. So let me tell you what my definition is NOT: it is not Helen Thomas. Helen Thomas was right in saying that the Jews have no business occupying Palestine.(Although I wish she had chosen different countries than Germany and Poland to tell the Jews to go back to.) It is NOT people who examine and scrutinize Judaism, which I agree should be held up to the magnifying glass just like any other religion. And it sure as hell is not people who expose the crimes of Israel!!!! If that were anti-Semitism/ Judeophobia, I would be guilty of it myself. Now let me say what I WOULD call anti-Semitism: certainly former KKK-leader David Duke, to start off with. Michael Hoffman, the 'revisionist Historian' who denies the existence of the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews and who also claims that white indentured servants had it worse than African slaves in colonial America. RebelNews.com, the website for news on the Middle East that actually states in the writers' submission section: if you would like to write for us, and you are NOT JEWISH, please get in touch. Those are just 3 examples, I could keep going...the point is that all of these people/ organizations, whose distaste for Jews is longstanding and apparently goes far deeper than just the issue of Israel, are now speaking on behalf of Palestine, and just as Juks (the one person who actually understood my comment) said, if you take racists and people with savage and upsetting viewpoints into your fold, YOUR viewpoint is going to come into question. And that's why I said, it depends on what you want.

moe schneid June 18, 2011 1:58 pm (Pacific time)

Anybody whor works for Salem-News, anybody who does any business with Salem-News, such as newspaper vendors,advertisers etc. shoud be ashamed of themselves.

Editor: Thanks for reading, and be sure to tell the media that you prefer Genocide. That's our beef...

exilem June 8, 2011 1:03 pm (Pacific time)

@ Yitzchak Goodman June 7, 2011 2:14 pm. Before you cover yourself with ridicule, it would be wise to watch a neutral documentary about Spain when it was ruled by the Moors. But in the meantime you can wrap this in your Totafot: Muslims brought enlightenment and tolerance (it was called Convivencia) and science to Spain, so much that this period is recognized to be the origin of the Italian Renaissance. Ethnic Cleansing was the fact of the Christians who slaughtered the Muslims and burned millions of Islamic books. This was Ethnic Cleansing and destruction of an enlightened and peaceful culture. Indeed the Caliphe did not even have an army, just a few mercenary soldiers. No wonder pro-, contra- and crypto-zionists are salivating at the idea that Muslims were Ethnically Cleansed and their culture eradicated, in Spain, because it reminds them their own salacious horrors they indulge themselves with, in Palestine since almost a century.

But for a start, just watch the documentary. Actually to anyone who likes Spain, or who simply likes to discover some aspects of knowledge that are generally suppressed, i suggest to watch this well crafted documentary.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-768956312207897325andq=when
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4312980342283025421andq=empire
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7502243539190558658andq=empire
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=94144204270367302andq=empire

Anonymous June 8, 2011 12:21 pm (Pacific time)

Yitzchak Goodman commenting June 7, 2011 2:14 pm (Pacific time) asks “was Spain a "STOLEN land" when it was ruled by Muslims?” Answer: April 30 of 711, over 1,000 years ago, Berber leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed at Gibraltar and by the end of the campaign most of the Iberian Peninsula (except for small areas in the north-west such as Asturias and the Basque territory) were brought under Islamic rule. Less than seven decades ago, with the blessings of a rapidly growing Zionist United States political stronghold and a Zionist-controlled United Nations, a large portion of areas around Palestine was seized by Zionists, so as to form an ‘ethno and religious’ centric state under the premise that an unseen authority (Jehovah) gave some legal title to the ground, via a alleged “Promise” of more than a millennium ago to who, actually? Hence, developed the “Right of Return” ideology touted today by the State of Israel. Israel is proof positive of the absurd irrationality of our modern world, in that so many supported the Zionist illusion and delusion sixty years ago, and do now. Outcome: the global community suffered more dispossessed people [Palestinians] based on a whacky Christian-Jewish Zionist power base supporting decades of pre-1948 terror tactics of the Zionist Irgun and a Jewish Army with substantial money sent from the United States; as is still occurring, but now it is directly to the government of Israel in its present Zionist form. As an American citizen, I am not meant to be conscripted as a harem-member to the Israeli elite, over here in the U.S. working my American arse off to help send billions of dollars to Israel so Zionists can buy-off my Congress and President, among other God-forbidden things they use the money to do. Give me a divorce, already. I'm tired of whoring myself, thank to my so-called elected officials basically pimping me, so as to pay taxes to support the irrational, delusional Zionist power-base of Israeli elites.

exilem June 7, 2011 3:40 pm (Pacific time)

Gene @ June7,2011 1:21 pm is a good illustration of the Zionist "average Joew", in as much he unapologetically exhibits archetypal delusions of superiority coupled with aggressive war-mongering froth. These are the characteristics of the nefarious alliance of Judeo-centric networks, who are robbing and corrupting our governments and our nations. Jewish thugs are no different from any other thugs: they make threats of violence and destruction, killing and bloodletting, they operate by deception and are devoid of conscience. This cowardly little Judeo-Zionist creep by the moniker of "Gene" makes threats equivalent to another Judeo-Zionist little creep, namely Martin van Creveld who made the following threat in 2003: Quote: "We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force…. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under" end quote. Gene and his Jewish acolytes ought to stick his head out of his behind, because the world will not be ruled by these Judeo-centric psychopaths, and before you know it, this world will unite against that which is NOT chosen, but has chosen itself to be the enemy of mankind. So you wanna kill millions, hey? Poor shmuck, your "little shitty" occupation entity and its savage, psychopathic Jewish population is off to a cold, bleak awakening. And you can take my words to your money-lending/money-laundering Jewish banksters. Addendum: don't ridicule yourself by spitting at me your old and worn smear-word "anti-semite", because my entire family was incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps; as per Palestinians Muslims, they have no connection whatsoever with what happened during WW2, whilst many of your Jewish brethren collaborated with the Nazis to further Zionism. For example in 1938 Ben Gurion stated: quote: "If i knew it was possible to save all the children in Germany by taking them to England, and only half of the children by taking them to Eretz Israel, i would chose the second solution" end quote.

Yitzchak Goodman June 7, 2011 2:14 pm (Pacific time)

Was Spain a "STOLEN land" when it was ruled by Muslims?

Gene June 7, 2011 1:21 pm (Pacific time)

Nahida:
Stick to math.
The simple fact is that if you can't compromise, then you will continue to be at war. And if your desire is the elimination of Israel, then I wish you good luck, but I should warn you that any such accomplishment will likely go hand in hand with millions, and possible tens of millions of dead Muslims (together with millions of dead Jews).
Quite a humanist you are....

Editor: That's interesting, are you reading a different story Gene? Nothing like putting words in someone's mouth I guess; Nahida doesn't reference eliminating Israel, she doesn't talk about anything remotely close. In case you missed it, the whole point of this widely read piece is that there needs to be compromise. Once again a person on the side of Zionism has to come along and basically make up their own version of what they just read. The desire is for peace and an end to the killing and theft of land, surely that isn't too much to ask for.

proudZionist June 7, 2011 12:45 pm (Pacific time)

Um, was there a Palestinian 100 years ago? Just curious which arab lyer will say there was...thanks for demonstrating your unfettered hate. I wish all you would be so honest! At least we all agree peace is not an option. Good luck in Syria!(If assad we Israeli prime minister maybe that would make both me and ex Jordanians happier:)

nahida June 7, 2011 8:36 am (Pacific time)

4thWorldChild June 5, 2011 4:50 pm It all depends on what is your definition of anti-Semitism: a) Zionist Jews, freely give the label of anti-Semitism label to ALL non-zionists who dare to criticize “israel” and its crimes B) Soft zionists Jews, accuse anti-zionists Jews who dare to expose and campaign against “Israel” crimes of anti-Semitism c) Anti-zionists Jews, accuse fellow anti-zionists Jews and also non Jews who question the supremacy that stems from the concept of “chosen-ness” within their communities, and accuse them of anti-Semitism as soon as they dare to examine Judaism with critical eye, criticising some aspects of it, some beliefs, attitudes or behaviours . I personally reject the idea that critical and logical analysis of Judaism can be called anti-Semitism; I believe that Judaism, like all other religions/ ideologies, should NOT be above scrutiny, rational criticism or disagreement. ONE STANDARD FOR ALL is my motto . Furthermore, when a pro-Palestinian person like Helen Thomas is seen as controversial and deserves to be boycotted because she dared to say what EVERY Palestinian feels and what every moral person find logical and reasonable, which is “invaders and occupiers have no right to forcibly stay in the land they occupied by violence” . Jewish anti-zionist groups demand from us that we view such a person (who in many cases are Jews themselves; like Israel Shamir, Gilad Atzmon, Paul Eisen, Helen Thomas etc… ) who either dare to look critically at the supremacy within some Jewish groups or to quote and disapprove of problematic verses from the Talmud, or to examine or expose the powerful influence of Jewish-zionists in many countries. . They demand that we brand such people as an anti-Semite, and they insist that Palestinians should boycott them, and not listen to their arguments, I find this condescending attitude completely deplorable and unacceptable. Why don’t they challenge them with facts, if they have any, or logical arguments rather than trying to silence them? What are they afraid of? .

Juks June 6, 2011 9:58 pm (Pacific time)

Wow, I think a lot of people simply didn't understand what 4thWorldChild wrote. He isn't saying anti-occupation equates to racism. He's saying that if you take racists and people with savage and upsetting viewpoints into your fold, YOUR viewpoint is going to come into question. It's simple logic. Jewish Voice for Peace wants to remain as uncontroversial as possible while keeping to the facts, and in turn, this leads to some censorship. If you're trying to prove a point and the crazy guy no one trusts starts shouting "HE'S RIGHT, BELIEVE HIM!" then people are going to shy away from your point. People like Colli simply did not understand his point.

morbo June 6, 2011 8:10 pm (Pacific time)

So what if the Jews decide to expel you? What are you going to do about it? Cry like a little girl? I can't wait to see.

Editor: Are you mad?

Colli June 6, 2011 6:24 pm (Pacific time)

Nahida: We ARE all one people it is simply that some of us don't know it yet. Why men must always seek out someone they perceive as lesser individuals I do not understand, yet, it appears that this is the case. An old saying that too many have forgotten is "A man never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child". May the people of the world stoop to help the children of Palestine so that we might all stand tall together. Blessings on you Nahida. Colli

4thWorldChild June 5, 2011 9:21 pm (Pacific time)

Of course I know you are Semitic...

Editor: You're done.

Matt Johnson - Malibu June 5, 2011 9:21 pm (Pacific time)

I have to agree, Nahida's work is always meaningful and I love her ability to be direct, yet always graceful. Salaam

Colli June 5, 2011 7:11 pm (Pacific time)

4thWorldChild: I beg to differ. To speak out against oppression is not racist. To desire that the children of the world can fall asleep unafraid and wake to a good meal is not racist. To make note that small and relatively infrequent offenses by a few generate huge frequent retaliation by massive forces is not racist. To speak against genocide when and where ever it occurs is not racist. If one gets shocked after plugging in 250 different GE toasters and then speaks out against the danger inherent in GE toasters, that is not racist. Salem-News is simply calling them like they see them. They are for equality and fairness for all. Watch the news, read the paper, visit Palestine and see what really goes on there, look-up the definition of brotherhood in the dictionary but for the sake of humanity, don’t validate retaliating for a slap in the face with a planeload of phosphorus bombs. You may be correct in saying that Salem-News is heavily focused on the Israel/Palestine conflict but when you take the time to really understand what innocent non-combatants are suffering at the hands of pseudo-storm-troopers, why they are so seemingly focused becomes clear. It eats at their guts, as I would think it would for any compassionate human being.

Colli

Donia Mili June 5, 2011 6:52 pm (Pacific time)

It is about time I read such a conscious, truthful, and concise article about this topic, rarely addressed if ever, and written by a Palestinian woman. Ya aichek ya Nahida...

4thWorldChild June 5, 2011 4:50 pm (Pacific time)

It depends on what you want. Do you want broader support for the Palestinian liberation cause? Do you want more people to see and agree with your side, people who are not currently seeing the injustice that is being committed? Or do you want to alienate those people, and in doing so, strengthen their allegiance to Israel? If you accept people like David Duke, former head of the Ku Klux Klan who has lately been speaking on behalf of Palestine, as a legitimate spokesperson, then you will alienate many who might otherwise have become allies. It is your decision who to embrace as part of the movement, but in doing so, be aware that there are consequences on the wider stage. If you embrace those who espouse anti-"Semitic" (in the anti-Jewish sense)views, then you may end up doing more damage to the Palestinian liberation cause than good, because that association will validate the Zionists' claim that anti-Zionism does indeed equal anti-Semitism. I don't think the Jewish anti-Zionists who ask you to disassociate from anti-Semitic voices are trying to control your movement so much as warn you that even if THEIR allegiance to Palestine will not be affected by these associations, others will be. Of course, aligning yourself with actual anti-Semites will obviously also upset the Jews within the Palestinian liberation movement, and I don't really understand why you would want to do that to people who are, in fact, working within their own community to make Jewish people aware of the truth. But even if you don't care about how it affects them, be forewarned that it will most likely backfire on Palestine in the end, and cause public opinion to swing back much further towards wholeheartedly supporting Israel.

Editor: Do you know about the clause in all of the nice Israeli 'civil rights' laws that stipulates how said measure will not supersede existing laws and rules from '50 and '51? These are the things that give Palestinians pause when evaluating alliances from Israel, from everything I understand. Do you know that Nahida and other Palestinians are also Semitic? This words represents cultures that evolved in this part of the world, it doesn't mean 'Jewish' or 'Zionist'. Now I have railed pretty hard against Duke though I do understand he is very different today, however a guy who ever aligned himself with the KKK is pretty hard to take. I have carried artwork from our friend Carlos Latuff who is hated by Zionists, that reads 'Palestinians don't need any fucking Nazi's' and that pretty much covers it. Nahida and myself and our dozens of writers who indulge this subject are humanitarians, and we concentrate on educating people about the liberation of the oppressed, and it doesn't really matter who we are talking about. I have recently been putting energy into the Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka and all of those people accuse Salem-News.com of being a 'terrorist' organization because we deplore the slaughter of at least 40k human beings, some of whom were LTTE (Tamil Tigers) and even more recently, I wrote on behalf of the slaughtered Genocide victims in Uzbekistan and that was Muslim on Muslim (sort of) and I hate the UK's role in victimizing the poor battered people of Northern Ireland. We are anti-oppression and we stand against military occupation. Beyond that we're Baskin Robbins for days, 31 flavors, follow me? Nobody has anything to do with racists and that anti-racist viewpoint is exactly what leads us to be critical of Israel. So don't try to turn it around on us, or incorrectly portray efforts to save Israel's victims with some strange philosophy that is against Jewish people. That is so far from reality that these days we just smile and go on. For the record Salem-News.com has a ton of readership in Israel and many people praise us. Stop conjuring up imagery that doesn't exist, that is my advice. Oh, and 'stay human'.

Anonymous June 5, 2011 3:26 pm (Pacific time)

Excellent writing.

mch June 5, 2011 12:39 pm (Pacific time)

Jewish and Zionist idiot racism and embrace of mythology doesn't validate Palestinian idiot racism or embrace of mythology. Victims, like Palestinians or in earlier times, Jews, do NOT get a free pass at determining the fate of their victimizers or other people in the way, as is attempted here above.

Tariq Khan June 5, 2011 3:16 am (Pacific time)

Spot on Nahida. Beautifully argued.

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