Sunny Hundal Exposed

Props to Dr Xiang for exposing this ne'er good doer (I'd use more colourful language but my mum would beat me silly). There are 3 posts on this guys and his behaviour leaves alot to be desired.

Here are the posts:

Sunny Hundal - the Islamophobe, Proudly Flies the Flag for Israel

Sunny Hundal - Pro-Israeli Stooge

Sunny Hundal - Silent Regarding Israeli Human Rights Violations

I must say that after reading these posts about Sunny Hundal I've shocked at his behaviour and at how he can support Israel even when Israel commits acts of injustice against the Palestinians whose only crime is that they were born Palestinian.

I urge everybody to please contact Sunny Hundal to give him your views, or post on his blogs, websites or Guardian 'comment is free'.

He can be contacted at sunny@pickledpolitics.com.

We can't allow this media-bias to continue and should try our utmost to take on such Islamophobic journalists.

Brilliant Documentary by Channel 4 and CTVC

A mind blowing, objectional, inspirational expose on the 'Battle of the Holy Land' and its impact upon the Palestinian's plight. This documentary exposed the racist state of Israel for what it truly is and the injustices and oppression endured by the Palestinians since the illegal occupation of Palestinian terrotories as well as East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is considered by the international community to be illegally occupied by Israel, in contravention of several binding UN Security Council Resolutions.

Read more on the documentary here:

I urge all readers to take some action and email/call Channel 4 and CTVC in humble gratitude for objective, balanced coverage of the true ongoings in the Middle East. The choice of presenter - Paddy Ashdown - was particularly inspiring and refreshing for his objective and informative presenting - finally a presenter and researcher who does not have an ulterior motive and is not driven by a pro-Israeli agenda.

Thank channel 4 and CTVC NOW as no doubt the pro-Israeli community have already complained in numbers, exploiting the anti-semitism card. Don't just lobby the media when they are bias and tar us as extremists and fanatics - lobby them in the postive too! Credit where credit is due! Well done Channel 4 and CTVC!

Contact Channel 4:

Tel: 0845 076 0191
Email:

Contact CTVC:

tel: +44 (0)20 7940 8480
email: info@ctvc.co.uk

Trust MPACUK to cover the documentary and try to convert it into positive action for readers (aka political and media lobbying): http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/3668/64/

And Jonathan Fryer has made a very interesting and informative post on his blog:
http://jonathanfryer.wordpress.com/2007/05/19/paddys-battle-for-the-holy-land/

Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG)

A letter from Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) to The Guardian in support of the boycott. (The Guardian leader opposed the boycott but got alot of complaints from readers):

We welcome the courageous decision of the National Union of Journalists to boycott Israeli goods (Letters, April 23). Given Israel's contempt for international law, with the complicity of the US and UK governments, pressure has to be increased by civil society if justice is to be achieved. A boycott of Israeli goods is a legitimate form of grassroots action and is particularly appropriate as Israel is destroying the Palestinian economy. Such a boycott has been called for by Israeli peace organisations.

As a result of its illegal occupation, Israel is able to flood the Palestinian market with its products, while preventing Palestinian farmers from growing and trading their own. We believe Israel's actions betray Jewish ethical traditions - the cutting down of olive and fruit trees is prohibited by Jewish law. The continuing occupation and exploitation of Palestinian land is a major obstacle to peace for Israelis and Arabs alike which has global implications for world peace.

Deborah Fink, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, Mike Cushman, Sylvia Finzi, Tony Greenstein, Ruth Tenne, Deborah Maccoby, Prof Moshe Machover, Mike Marqusee - Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods

----------------------------

This article about J-BIG highlights things we should all be actively doing:

Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods - A Spearheading New Initiative

"...the viability of a future Palestinian economy depends significantly on its trading opportunities."

The latest report of the International Development Select Committee regarding the Occupied Palestinian Territories (31 January 2007) makes for very distressing reading. [...]

In order to challenge the stronghold Israel has on Palestine and its fledgling economy, a group of Jewish and Israeli residents in Britain was set up as a subsection of the campaign undertaken by Boycott Israeli Goods – BIG. The new group, J-BIG, is an outcome of the deep frustration Jewish peace activists feel towards the inaction displayed by the Jewish community and its liberal wing with regard to Israel's repressive occupation of Palestinian land. J-BIG members believe that Israel's policies "constitute a betrayal of the best trends in Jewish ethical tradition" and operate a form of racism which is reminiscent of South African Apartheid [...]

J-BIG's campaign however, is not focused on one-off events. It is in the process of launching an ongoing campaign which will put pressure on supermarkets by informing them and their customers about Israel's violation of human rights in the Occupied Territories, and of Israel's use of unethical and exploitative methods in marketing the produce of its illegal settlements in the West Bank - taking advantage of Palestinian labour and produce. In addition, J-BIG members will be requesting supermarkets to clearly label all goods which originate from the West Bank and Israel in order to help consumers make an ethical choice.

An additional aim of J-BIG is to promote Palestinian produce, especially extra virgin, organic, olive oil which is marketed by Zaytoun in accordance with the Fair Trade's code of practice. [...]

On a political level, members of J-BIG have joined the wider campaign for abolishing the special trade and economic benefits granted to Israel as part of its trade agreement with the European Union . Indeed a significant number of British MPs appear to support this campaign. In February 2007 an Early Day Motion (EDM) submitted to Parliament by Derek Wyatt notes that Israel "has routinely prevented the free movement of Palestinian goods and people and has withheld Palestinian funds from their people...... These and other grievous human rights abuses represent a clear breach of Article Two of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which calls for adherence to human rights." [...]

Being an Israeli-born citizen I hope, like the rest of my colleagues, that our campaign of boycotting Israel's produce of repression and "fruits of injustice" will successfully spearhead a grass roots action within the Jewish community against a brutal occupation which seeks to stamp out the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for nationhood.

full article: http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/42134
more info: http://s188604020.websitehome.co.uk/...-israeli-goods

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of a crime....a slap in the face for the International community!

Nothing is more disturbing than seeing the glorification of criminal activities, one would think that such acts would only be restricted to common crooks who hold scant regard for the rule of law. Yet the Zionist Federation of the UK is doing precisely that, they are celebrating what they are calling the 40th anniversary of the "re-unification" of Jerusalem.

In reality it is, sadly, the 40th anniversary of the illegal occupation of Jerusalem, which Israel continues to occupy in defiance of UN resolutions and international law.

The legal position on Jerusalem is well known and undisputable. East Jerusalem is considered by the international community to be illegally occupied by Israel, in contravention of several binding UN Security Council Resolutions. In these resolutions, the United Nations Security Council has also called for no measures to be taken to change the status of Jerusalem until a final settlement is reached between the sides: declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital is an attempt to change this status, and is thus a violation of these Security Council resolutions.

Yet despite this we see continuous settlement expansion and increased hardship for Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem making it harder for them to live in their home city...in short implicit ethnic cleansing.

The sickening part is that all this is happening for all the World to see yet no Western Government pays anything more than lip service to this grave situation.

The celebration by the Zionist Federation is a slap in the face of Western Democratic Values... it stands for 40 years of injustice, occupation and racism and they should be ashamed of themselves!

Israeli Animals in Action

A clip from "Dispatches: The Killing Zone" (Channel 4 UK), showing perhaps one of the most tragic of several documented cases of Palestinian civilian casualties of Israel's 'war on terror' - even though this victim, a schoolgirl shot through the head while sitting in class in a UN-run school in Gaza, survives her injuries. When she awakes from coma she and her family find out the brain injury she suffers has made her blind.

This video truly is sickening. I can barely type after witnessing the brutality inflicted upon the Palestinians. Words cannot express how I am feeling right now. May Allah help us help them, Ameen.

Foreign Policy isn't THAT bad...is it?

I came across this on a blog which seems to be run by dogs - little bulldogs that is:

Finally, we have the very vocal MPACUK. In a piece today they blame our foreign policy for radicalising young Muslims (something which we know not to be true because most of these Muslims were involved with Al Muhajiroun pre-9/11). They also blame the Mosque leaders for not doing anything. At least we can agree on the latter.

What I find interesting is that people only seem to think that after 9/11 foreign policy became an issue.

Puh-lease!

Israeli occupation of Palestine has been going on for decades and some politicians have backed Israeli. Now I'm pretty sure that has something to do with foreign policy.

It worries me that alot of people on this earth do not seem to find anything wrong with what Israel is doing. The Palestinians don't have a voice. I bet some Non-Muslims and Muslims don't even consider it a problem - now that is disturbing.

We need vocal groups like MPACUK to say something - the killings of the Palestinians can't continue in silence anymore - we have do something. It's time to rise up and live up to the title that Allah gave us - Muslim.

It's time for those that have an ounce of humanity in them to stand them. Because if we don't stand for something, we'll fall for anything.

Crazy dude arrested - Muslims don't care because he's crazy!

Check out this video that I found on this blog



This blogger* thinks that Zulfi Bukhari (from MPACUK) was making an incorrect point, but I agree with Mr Bukhari - Abu Izzadeen is nothing but a loudmouth who no one actually listens to.

But the media love talking about/to him - he's nothing to the Muslim community! He doesn't represent anyone, and he just goes on about stuff that nobody really gives a flying hookah about.

To have arrested him, like Mr Bukhari said, will not go down well within the Muslim community - what great steps we're taking towards helping Muslims to "integrate"

*this blogger has the funkiest views on the Middle East Conflict - he thinks is Israel is good! lol! how stupid can someone be? May Allah help the Palestinians through their suffering and pain. Ameen

Who's the Terrorist?

When I witness true, uncensored expose's of the Israeli aggression, illegal occupation, humiliation and torture upon the innocent, defenceless Palestinian people I thank God for all I have and pray for those poor defenceless souls. The Zionist lobbies have mastered the propaganda war and rarely, if ever, are we embraced with the true terror inflicted upon the Palestinians.

This is a political Arab rap performed by the Palestinian hip hop group called DAM. They sing about the struggle of the Palestinian people and highlight the oppression they experience every single day

Check it out:

If only I could use my Kufi as a weapon...

Speaking of others, I just want to make my way back to Mad Mel. No I haven't got a personal grudge against her (although it may seem it at times).

The reason I bring up Mad Mel is because, not only does she have wacky views when it comes to the environment, but she thinks that the Israelis are the victims!

Here's one of her latest articles:

As Hamas screams for yet another round of attacks against Israel, and claims responsibility for volleys of at least twelve Kassam rockets and eight mortar rounds fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip this morning, HonestReporting.com points out the astounding-if-it-wasn’t-so-routine fact that, while the western media insist that the Palestinians have maintained a ‘cease-fire’ against Israel for the past five months, the following Palestinian terrorist incidents have taken place:


• Islamic Jihad terrorist captured near Tel Aviv after his bomb belt fails to detonate

• Palestinian bride arrested on suspicion of planning to carry out suicide bombing

• 3 Israelis injured in shooting attack near Modi’in

• Hamas calls for further kidnappings of Israeli soldiers

• Israeli cars shot at in West Bank

• Israeli civilian wounded in West Bank drive-by shooting

• Arrests prevent huge Hamas-planned car bomb in Tel Aviv

• Egypt arrests would-be Hamas suicide bomber near Israeli border

• Palestinian rockets hit Sderot home; several Israelis treated for shock


Indeed, as in this typical Associated Press story, the media claim the existence of this Palestinian ‘cease-fire’ while in the very same story recording the never-ending Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. The inescapable implication of this systematic and mind-twisting denial of Palestinian military aggression and equally systematic concentration on Israeli measures to counter it is that such Palestinian attacks aren’t considered to be attacks at all because their targets are Israelis, whose own self-defence is thus characterised falsely as aggression. Thus Israeli victimisation and Palestinian aggression continue to be airbrushed out of the moral equation, and Israel continues to be wickedly demonised in the eyes of the western world.

How dare she say that Palestinian aggression is airbrushed?! If anything, the injustices committed by the Israeli soldiers are airbrushed.

I swear, sometimes I feel like shoving a kufi down that woman's throat - but then that would be a waste of a good kufi.

All it took was an email....

I'm so pleased alhamdulillah, all it took was an email!

I bet you're wondering what I'm on about - well, it's regarding this action alert by MPACUK that WideAwake put up (here's the link).

Basically, the BBC were wrong in saying that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel when it isn't, and alhamdulillah, people who cared decided to do something.

And this was the BBC's response:

Thank you for your e-mail.

'Football Focus' regrets any offence caused by the film broadcast ahead of the Israel v England football match. The purpose of the piece was to look at the state of football in Israel and particularly Tel Aviv, where the European Championship qualifying game was being held.

It was while comparing the young, vibrant city of Tel Aviv with the more historic Jerusalem that our reporter Damian Johnson inadvertently referred to it as the capital.

We re-iterate our apologies.

Please be assured that your feedback has been fully registered on our daily audience log which is made available to the production team involved and senior BBC management.

Thank you, once more, for taking the time to contact the BBC.

Regards
BBC Information

I say, if we get more people to voice their concerns we could (insha'allah) get the BBC to admit their mistake publicly. I'm just so pleased - because it shows to all those pacified Muslims who think that nothing can be done, that no, something can be done, only and only by the Will of Allah ofcourse, but all that Allah asks if us is to take the step and He will bring the victory.

So, next time you see a campaign worth running, go for it, because if it's for a good cause then victory is yours! Allahukbar!

Action Alert! Defend Defenders of Palestine!

I couldn't help but jump (literally yes!) with joy when reading this. UK journalists boycott Israel over ‘IDF aggression in Gaza.’ Thank God for open minded people in the world (note they are prob all non-muslim in the NUJ) who strive to fight for the defenceless and uphold truth and justice in the world. I stopped estatically jumping with joy and glee when pondering when the heck Muslims will activate and defend the defenders of Palestine ...

National Union of Journalists of Britain and Ireland decides to boycott Israeli products in protest of Second Lebanon War and ‘Israeli aggression in Gaza’; calls on UK government to impose sanctions on Israel

The resolution, which passed by a vote of 66 to 54 (man was that a tight vote!), called for a boycott of Israeli goods “similar to those boycotts in the struggles against apartheid South Africa led by trade unions and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to demand sanctions be imposed on Israel by the British government and the United Nations."

The announcement of the passage of the resolution drew a combination of applause and gasps, the Guardian said.

According to the Guardian, the NUJ national executive committee has been instructed to support organizations including the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Justice in Palestine and the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, the Guardian reported.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3387995,00.html

Was doing some research on the net to see how I could thank the NUJ for brave stance to uphold human rights and condemn Apatheid Israel ... when I came across more info on the MPACUK site: http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/3551/34/(man are they good with these things! Who says they are racist and ineffective!).

Remember, the pro-Israeli Zionist lobbies will be all over this and will already have mobolised to try and somehow overturn this. Doing a quick google search, I've found that over 20 blogs had already attacked the NUJ (they were pro-Israeli, racist blogs such as Harry's Place http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/ and Little Green Footballs: http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php )

... and sadly but inevitably I couldn't see a single Muslim blog / forum / that had carried this alert & applauded the NUJ.

Get to emailing now please!

generalsecretary@nuj.org.uk (the General Secretary)

DGS@nuj.org.uk (the deputy)

BBC Reporter Excecuted Or Not?

I posted an ALERT last week about the kidnapping of Alan Johnston. Just read this:

'We killed BBC reporter', Palestinian group says
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3388215,00.html

BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been killed by an al-Qaeda affilated Palestinian organization, according to an internet statement obtained by Ynetnews. The statement was signed by the Palestinian Jihad and Tawheed Brigades, an organization named after an Iraqi al-Qaeda group.

Responding to the statement, the BBC said it is "aware of these reports -- but we have no independent verification of them. We are deeply concerned about what we are hearing -- but we stress, at this stage, it is rumour with no independent verification."

In the message, the group said the British and Palestinian governments were responsible for Johnston's killing.

''The whole world knows of our just cause in demanding the release of our prisoners, who are waiting under the fire of the occupation," the statement began. "Our demand was that all of those who are responsible for the journalist... release our prisoners who are being held in the prisons of the occupation," it continued.

"The whole world made so much noise about this foreign journalist, while it took no action over our thousands of prisoners," the declaration said.

I pray this is just sick rumours and the BBC reporter is alive and safe. The Palestinians are no doubt living hell on Earth and my heart goes out to them. They see no way out of their misery and are reduced to desparate measures to defend themselves and make themselves heard. But this reporter was a friend to the Palestinian people - I've read his stuff and man is it good. He reported the truth from the Mid East and exposed the Israeli aggressors and the conditions the Palestinians lived under. So why oh why would a Palestinian group do this? Unless the rumour mill has started to smear and condmen the Palestinians altogether....

Norman Finkelstein: Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel" is a hoax!

This is very interesting:

Shortly after the publication of the book The Case for Israel, Norman Finkelstein accused its author, Alan Dershowitz of "fraud, falsification, plagiarism and nonsense", claiming that Dershowitz had plagiarized Joan Peters's controversial book From Time Immemorial. Finkelstein expanded his findings in a book entitled Beyond Chutzpah. Dershowitz has denied the charges. Former Harvard president Derek Bok exonerated Dershowitz of the plagiarism charges,while Amherst professor Sayres Rudy claimed that the charges were justified.

Continue reading about their heated discussion here: The Dershowitz-Finkelstein affair

Here's are two clips of a nice chat between these two guys (I love a good argument :p)
I'd upload the videos onto the blog but I don't know how to upload google videos :(

Part 1: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1899267555870962994&q=finkelstein+dershowitz


Part 2: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=247803848714490692&q=finkelstein+dershowitz

Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad - Contentions 11

Props to Brother Haseeb for posting this.

These are the latest Contentions by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad.

My favourite: Peace without justice is not peace at all

I think this is so true in the modern day. I mean there are so many Muslims who are happy with the lives they live, or are too busy 'perfecting' themselves to care about children in Darfur, Palestine and even in our own backyards.

The older generations of Muslims have failed us, not the great Muslims of the past, I mean Muslims in their 40s or above. They allowed the atrocities to continue while they concentrated on their own needs. We as human beings need to do something. There are so many good organisations (Muslim and non-Muslim) out there who are doing something like: MCB, MPACUK, ISB (although ISB really sucks :p) and Stop the War! . We, too, need to stand up

Say: My Lord has enjoined justice, and set upright your faces at every time of prayer and call on Him, being sincere to Him in obedience; as He brought you forth in the beginning, so shall you also return.
Surah Al-Araf, Verse 29

Action Alerts Need Actioning!

Sign BBC petition for Alan Johnston's release!

Arab Media Watch urges its members and the public to join the thousands, including journalists and media personalities, who have signed the BBC's online petition urging that abducted Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston be freed quickly and unharmed. It has now been over three weeks since his abduction, with no word on his whereabouts or condition.

If you would like to add your name to the petition, please click on:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/6518185.stm

While AMW condemns all forms of attacks, harassment and censorship of the media, the particular absurdity of this abduction is that Alan, as one of the few Western journalists still based in the Gaza Strip, has brought much-needed attention to the deteriorating situation in the territory over the past three years, and provided valuable and insightful perspectives that are often lacking among other media outlets," said AMW chairman Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi.

"AMW has consistently made the case that there are nowhere near enough correspondents based in the occupied Palestinian territories, and that this hampers the depth and objectivity of coverage. Alan's reports often have a qualitative edge because he is based at the heart of the conflict he is covering, rather than the relative comfort, safety and detachment of Israel," Nashashibi added.

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BBC Make False Offensive Claims About Jerusalem

Sick and tired of bias, inaccurate, unobjective reporting by the media? Then do something about it today. MPACUK are undergoing a campaign demanding the BBC publicly apolgise and correct an false, offensive statement made by BBC Sport's correspondance on 24.03.07 during the Football Focus program at 12.10BST. The reporter inaccurately describes Jerusalem as Israel's capital - this is not only inaccurate and dismiss international law where neither east or west Jerusalem is considered Israel's capital but is also offensive to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation every day.

How dare they! I don't pay my licence fees for such reporting so I complained on numerous occasions via phone calls and emails and have urged friends and family do the same. It's not good moaning and grumbling from the sidelines - this is a typical example of when an injustice is done we can make a change via simple yet effective means - lobbying!

So get to complaining people:

To make a complaint via the internet click on this link.

Or call the BBC directly on 08700 100 222

*Remember the clip was televised as part of BBC Sport coverage called ‘Football Focus - Feature: Israel in Focus’ on BBC1 at 12.10BST on the 24th March 2007.
The BBC must ensure that such a mistake is not made again as it is erroneous, misleading and offensive to many people who are struggling to uphold the rights of Palestinians under occupation.
For more information on the United Nations position on the status of Jerusalem click here.



p.s Happy Easter to those celebrating. Mmmmmmm....man do I love Easter and the chocolates as a result of the festivity!

Israeli Thugs Beat Palestinian Man & Family

Another day, another Palestinian life destroyed by Israeli aggressors and murderers.



Soldiers violently attack Palestinian man in his home: August 25th, 2006

There were two cameras filming most, if not all, of the following incident. A few soldiers are easily recognizable by Human Rights Workers (HRW) given the number of times they have been present while soldiers have been invading numerous Palestinian homes.

At approximately 5:15 PM, an HRW posted at the Tel Rumeida checkpoint heard yelling and screaming coming from up the hill. The HRW moved up the hill, and a Palestinian woman was able to point out the house and medical facility from which the screams were issuing. The HRW asked Israeli soldiers immediately inside the building’s door what was going on. They refused to answer, and the soldiers physically prevented the HRW from entering the house. At this point, Dr. Taysir, the building’s owner, broke free from the soldier who was holding him, and pulled on the HRW’s arm while begging him to enter. The HRW managed to enter the door, and saw two, elongated contusions high on Dr. Taysir’s left arm. While being pushed out once again, the HRW negotiated with the soldiers to leave the door open on the condition that he remain outside.

Shortly thereafter three more HRWs arrived. The HRWs managed to enter the building. Three HRWs demanded access to Dr. Taysir, who was now out of sight, while a fourth video taped the encounter. Dr. Taysir could be heard yelling and crying out in pain from a room further in the house. The HRWs attempted to move past the soldiers in order to prevent further injury to Dr. Taysir, but were repeatedly forced back. The soldiers refused to explain why the doctor’s home had been entered, why he had been struck, or why the HRWs could not see him. Throughout this time, the soldiers were physically and verbally aggressive towards the HRWs, repeatedly shoving them towards the door, and yelling at them to get out, shut up, etc.

At this point, an Israeli major arrived with approximately six more soldiers. The major entered the building and began speaking with Dr. Taysir’s brother, who had observed some, but not all, of the incident; this conversation is filmed almost entirely. The major spoke briefly to the soldiers already on site, who quickly became considerably less aggressive toward the HRWs. After approximately ten minutes, the major and all soldiers departed the house without speaking to anyone else. The HRWs then videotaped interviews with both Dr. Taysir and his brother regarding the incident.

Dr. Taysir told the HRWs that he gone to open the door for the soldiers when almost immediately they began shoving him around and pinned him against a wall by pressing on his chest. The doctor told the soldier not to push him, and the soldier responded by punching him in the temple. Other soldiers joined in, and Dr. Taysir received blows to his arms, legs, and torso. At least two blows, those to his left arm, were strikes with the butt of a rifle; these injuries are documented with video.

Seeing that Dr. Taysir was being attacked, a female patient who was present attempted to intervene, putting herself between the doctor and the soldiers. She was struck by a soldier, and fell unconscious. The patient was later placed on a medical exam table with an oxygen feed to help her recover, where she was videotaped (with permission) by the HRWs. Dr. Taysir’s adult daughter was also beaten at some point during the encounter, though the events are not clear to us what happened. Dr. Taysir and his brother both stated repeatedly that soldiers used and regularly use foul language towards him and his family, including his wife and small children.

Later that evening, before sunset, soldiers could be seen on the roof of Dr. Taysir’s house. HRWs were standing on their own roof, and when they looked in the direction of the soldiers, the soldiers used their arms in a gesture to say ‘F***you’ to the HRWs. The soldiers were laughing the entire time. The HRWs did not respond.

Spectating

I wanted to to write something to express how I feel when witnessing images and coverage on TV about the Middle East. This poem sums it though...

Sitting on the sidelines of life I see so much but do so little,

A spectator of a spectacular film I watch on enthralled,

I feel their emotions, their pain, their happiness,

I feel so ready to say what it is that they’re doing wrong and am silent when I see the right,

I am weak I know as I sit there watching the big screen ,

Just not ready for my close-up yet,

Not ready to jump in,

A spectator of a spectacular film I watch on enthralled,

I feel myself getting weaker as I sit there not ready to peel my eyes off the screen I sit there not alone as it seems,

If I did I would see what’s on the screen is actually reality,

Its physicality staring back at me with those questioning eyes wondering where I have been,

So dead and numb to life all these years,

There is no strength inside me I have sat too long,

Waiting, hoping that it wasn’t the truth,

But it is.

"Reach Out To Israel, Arabs Urged"

I don't think everybody needs to be told as to what is going on in Palestine. Our mothers are being raped there this very second, and another one of our brothers just got shot in the head.

But I can't believe that Arab countries are being asked to reach out to Israel! Below is the article from the BBC

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called on Arab nations to reach out to Israel.

Ms Rice was speaking in Jerusalem after three days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders.

She said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to meet every two weeks.

Ms Rice also said there was a "path of co-operation" with the new Palestinian unity government.
The secretary of state was speaking on the eve of the opening of an Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

'Complex' issues

Ms Rice urged Arab nations to take a more active role in regional peace efforts, although she said the presence of the militant Hamas faction in the Palestinian government made the issues "more complex".

"The Arab states must be reaching out to Israel... to show Israel that they accept its place in the Middle East," she said.

Ms Rice said there could be co-operation with the new Palestinian unity government but stressed again that Hamas must renounce violence.

Hamas has refused to adhere to three key international demands to recognise Israel, renounce violence and honour previous peace agreements.

Ms Rice said Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas would meet regularly and that she would attend some of the meetings.

"They achieved something, which is the very regularised meetings between the two of them, in which they will not just talk about their day-to-day issues, but also about a political horizon," she said.

Ms Rice said it was "not inconceivable" for a peace deal to be reached before the end of US President George W Bush's tenure.

But she added: "We're not yet at the... [stage] of final status" negotiations.

I can't believe this - it's like they're saying "why don't you Arabs do more? - it's all your fault".

Yes the Arab nations should do more - they should help their Palestinian brothers and sisters by forcing the Western countries to see that they can't be paid up (as so many of the arabs have already) and that they want Israel to no longer exist - everyone can live in Palestine in peace. If it was possible in the past then surely it is possible now.

The part that really made my blood boil though was when Condoleeza Rice said:

"The Arab states must be reaching out to Israel... to show Israel that they accept its place in the Middle East," she said.

Israel is murdering innocent people day in and day out. The only crime of the Palestinians is that they are Palestinians.

But how do we stop this? How can we end the killing of the Palestinians?

The answer lies in our mental ressurection. We shouldn't stay oblivious to the butchering of the Palestinians. It's our foreign policy (along with America's ) which allows Israel to get away with murder.

Change the foreign policy, then you change the future of the Palestinans to something that they can look forward to.

Our mosques and our MPs have too long allowed injustice to prevail - now we have to hold them to account and show Allah that we are Muslims who do care and want to please Him.

If we politically activate then we can ensure that Palestinians get the justice that they deserve.

Victory to the Intifada

Interpal has been targeted again by pro-Israeli lobbies Muslims are in no position to counter. We are a million light years away of even competing! I learn Natwest has decided to close the bank accounts of Interpal – the biggest and probably the most effective Palestinian charity.

The closure is likely to cause untold disruption to Interpals delivery of humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, Lebanon & Jordan and comes at a time when the hardship and destitution in the region has reached an unprecedented level. Importantly it is likely to deprive 6,000 Palestinian children of their monthly relief assistance for many months to come. http://www.aqsa.org.uk/news_detail.aspx?newsid=1086

Today they try to close down the biggest and best Palestinian charity, tomorrow it will be smaller charities and finally the Israelis will have starved the Palestinians from their land. http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/3475/64/

Back in 2003 Interpal were targeted by the Jewish Board of Deputies – they mobilized so fast and furiously that they managed to convince British Authorities that Interpal were linked to ‘funding terrorist activities in Palestine’ – their accounts were frozen immediately surprise surprise. However after a thorough investigation by the Charities Commission – they were cleared of the charges and even sought a libel case (and get this) won a notorious public apology from the JBOD…Woop woop!

To make a difference in this check out these sites: MPACUK, Friends of Al-Aqsa.

The smallest action can make the biggest of differences. Make that call today.

Victory to the Intifada

Zero Tolerance To Israel!

After a long exhausting day of shopping, cleaning, cooking and some more cleaning (man I sound like a nag!), I put my feet up with a cuppa. The lil' brother was intently gazing at the TV screen and I dared ask who was playing tonight. 'England'. He then kinda stuttered 'VS Israel - IN Israel.'

So it was that match on tonight, I had forgotten all about it amidst my busy yet
uneventful day. I can't quite explain the feeling I had watching the interviews of some of the England players with the beautiful scenic view of a beach in Israel. Images of the Gaza strip, Palestine flashed by; the blood, the bullets, bulldozers destroying homes of the defenceless, children attempting to defend their homes by throwing stones at shooting tanks .

My blood was boling - another example of injustice directed towards the Palestinian people. A people who have been occupied, persecuted, humiliated, and terrorised for over 50 years.

The occupation of Palestinian land by Israel is illegal. Apartheid Israel should never have been allowed to be included in Euro 2008, especially seeing that Palestinian footballers are not allowed excluded from international football.

Whatever happened to 'kicking racism out of football' ! Guess it's just a fancy slogan
to allude the public as this is evident contradiction...Israel operates an entrenched system of racial Apartheid against its own non-Jewish occupants and has been illegally occupying Palestinian land.

The sporting boycott was an integral tool in the movement against South African Apartheid...Although protests were planned for this match; they didn't have much impact unfortunately...

Now I've not seen many Muslims or pro-Palestinian activists in large numbers protest against this (and by this I mean the average, pacified, Muslim) 'cos a big up to those that have been inundating the appropriate body's via emails and calls! It's definitely worth a shot to still voice your disgrace:

* Write to the Football Association to complain about Israel's inclusion in Euro 2008 and England's qualifier match with Israel in Tel Aviv on the 23rd March: Football Association, 25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA.

* Complain to the FA at info@thefa.com or call them on 02077454999. You could copy in UEFA at info@euro2008.com

* Please also write to Kick Racism out of Football about the inclusion of Apartheid Israel in Euro 2008 while Palestinian footballers are excluded from international football. Email them at www.kickitout.org or email their chairman Lord Herman Ouseley at hermanouseley@aol.com

And I will leave you with this beautiful, heart aching poem I found from this superb website: (Be warned - tissues may be needed)

A tale too familiar to talk about,
A tale too hard to explain:
A family of six sitting down for dinner,
They barged in and quartered my home,
They took away my future;
My two sisters were held at gunpoint and stripped of their dignity.
A family of four,
My father left.
He had to join the freedom fighters.
A family of three.

So now,
Since the soldiers crashed my house,
We cook for five.
So now,
We do their laundry,
And for all I know,
This could be the same soldier who killed Ali.
Ali was my older brother,
He was only 15 years old.
Shot, dead, point blank range.
We were only playing catch,“Oh, I didn’t have my safety on” as he smiled.

They call it the Holy Land, but it is blood filled.
They call it their homeland,
They say it was meant to be theirs.
They say it was their right.
Olive trees uprooted and houses quarted.
Palestine shall find its days of freedom and peace.

They own our damn media,
America receives the crooked story,
How about I walk into a village and open fire upon a bunch of long side-burned punks,
Would they hear it in America then?
Of course Americans would.
Is that what it takes to be put on the media?!

Israeli soldiers,
I want to destroy them,
For what they did to my familiy,
For what they did to Ali,
For what they did to my land.

The Jewish media,
I want to see it fall,
For what they are doing to the American people,
For not saying what is really happening,
For not showing Americans what is true,
For Palestine,
For me,
But better yet,
for freedom,
Please end the oppression.

But yet,
I am too young.
Too young to understand what really goes on.
All I know is that when I was seven,
They destroyed my familiy,
All I know is that when I was seven,
They occupied my house and oppression took over my land.
All I know is that when I was seven,
My brother was murdered,
All I know is that when I was seven,
My father left us and told me to be strong,
All I know is that when I was seven,
I saw my sisters being taken away from me,
Disrespected and unfaithfully touched,
All I know is that when I was seven,
They ruined my life,
And that is when my life flashed before my eyes,
And said to me,“You are a special child;
Spread what you know,
Because you are a living example ofPalestine’s struggle.”
May God help us all,
Amen.