Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Yoav Shamir - Flipping out - Checkpoint - Defamation


http://www.yoavshamirfilms.com

"Yoav Shamir is an Israeli documentary filmmaker most noted for the films Checkpoint and Defamation. Shamir's films have received awards from independent film festivals including Best Feature Documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Best International Documentary at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and the Golden Gate Award for Documentary Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival.[1] Shamir's viewpoint of Israeli political policies in his documentaries made him a focal point of criticism and garnered accusations of anti-semitism. His latest film, 10% - What Makes A Hero? - A Documentary, is focused on the premise that a small minority of people, less than 10%, will always fight for what is just regardless of circumstance."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoav_Shamir

Flipping out (2008)

Flipping Out is a 2008 documentary film directed by Yoav Shamir describing the drug use of Israeli men and women in India.[1] It follows Israeli soldiers who take their discharge bonus and travel to India, where 90 percent will take drugs and around 2,000 will eventually need professional help after experiencing drug-induced mental breakdowns, or "flipping out".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipping_Out_(film)



Defamation (2009)


"The film examines whether anti-Semitic has become an all purpose label for anyone who criticizes Israel and the possibility that some Jews' preoccupation with the past -- i.e., the Holocaust -- is preventing progress in the here and now. Shamir decided to make this film after a critic of an earlier
film accused him of antisemitism."






Checkpoint (2003)

"Checkpoint (original title: Machssomim) is a 2003 documentary film by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir, showing the everyday interaction between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians at several of the regions Israel Defence Forces checkpoints."





Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Yonatan Shapira on the Estelle bound for Gaza





Yonatan Shapira, an activist from Israel, speaks about his involvement on Freedom Flotilla as a crew member of Estelle (Published 19 October OmniaWeb TV)


Estelle crew were beaten during the attack and by interrogators
http://www.gazaark.org/2012/10/22/release-estelle-crew-were-beaten-during-the-attack/

Canadian Jim Manly still in detention
Montreal; 20121022 - 22h00

As Jim Manly, former Canadian  MP (1980-88) and retired United Church Minister, continues to be detained in Israel with many of the other crew members of the Estelle, without any news about when he will be released.  This despite freeing the Greek, Italian and Spanish citizens who were on the Estelle and the release of Israeli activists after being detained and charged.


Elik Elhanan, one of the Israelis released, said that excessive force and tasers were used against them and that a Greek MP was beaten by Shabak Security Service interrogators.

"I am now on my way home, but I keep thinking of my shipmates, my fellow activists from abroad who are still imprisoned under harsh conditions and undergo  interrogation by the Shabak Security Service, among them Parliament Members from several countries," said Elik Elhanan, one of the Israeli activists who had sailed aboard the Gaza-bound Swedish ship "Estelle". Today, the court ordered his release and that of two other detained Israelis, Yonatan Shapira and Reut Mor. "At first they tried to charge us with all kinds of very serious felonies, such as 'aiding the enemy'. The court rejected this out of hand. Today they tried an article on the law books called "Attempted infiltration into a part of the Land of Israel which is not part of the State of Israel" (sic). But the court threw out this charge, too". The detained activists were represented by Attorney Gaby Lasky and her team, who have considerable experience with Human Rights cases.

The released detainees were cheerfully greeted by peace activists who arrived at the courtroom, among them Elik Elhanan's  parents - Rami Elhanan and Nurit Peled-Elhanan, who is the daughter of the late Major General Matti Peled. Smadar Elhanan, Elik's sister, was killed in a suicide bombing at the center of Jerusalem – a harsh experience which made surviving family members all the more determined to strive for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, so as to prevent further casualties on either side.

"They used a completely disproportional amount of force against us" continues Elhanan. "When the Navy arrived to take us over, Yonatan Shapira counted no less than fifteen vessels surrounding us on all sides. Large and small ships and boats, a ship carrying a helicopter, as well as the Zodiacs of the Naval Commandos. Fifteen armed naval vessels against one small civilian boat carrying games for the children of Gaza. We must have disturbed very much the Navy and those who give orders to the Navy."

"These testimonies increase our concern for Jim and continue to raise the question why aren't the Canadian government and the opposition NDP doing more to secure his release?"  Said Eva Manly, Jim's wife.

www.tahrir.ca
info@tahrir.ca




Roee Idan, 'Estelle' activist: We were tasered', 21 October 2012,
Pro-Palestinian activist accused INF soldiers of using stun guns while seizing Gaza-bound vessel
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4294718,00.html




20 October 2012, Russia Today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWQZksYEJyo



Yonatan Shapira

Combatants for Peace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combatants_for_Peace

Rabbi Brant Rosen, 'My Lunch with Yonatan Shapira'
http://rabbibrant.com/2010/05/05/my-lunch-with-yonatan-shapira/

Why we sailed to Gaza - A Conversation with Mairead Maguire and Yonatan Shapira
http://rabbibrant.com/2010/10/14/why-we-sailed-to-gaza-a-conversation-with-mairead-maguire-and-yonatan-shapira/


Yonatan Shapira’s testimony from the Jewish Boat to Gaza, September 29th, 2010

http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/09/yonatan-shapiras-testimony-from-the-jewish-boat-to-gaza/





Saturday, August 25, 2012

Photos from Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi event at Balmain, Sydney

Photos of Sahar Vardi and Micha Kurz, Balmain Uniting Church, Sydney, 15 August 2012



























Senator Nick Xenophon, 'Adjournment: Palestine', Hansard: Senate, Canberra, Thursday 23 August 2012


Senator XENOPHON (South Australia) (19:03): I rise to speak tonight about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. If this were a simple issue with a straightforward answer, I would not be discussing it. And Mr President, I wish that were the case. The human cost of this conflict has been horrific. As well as creating millions of refugees, many thousands of people have been killed and injured.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, as of January this year there are more than one million registered refugees in the Gaza Strip and there are more than 700,000 in the West Bank. Registered refugees in surrounding Jordan, Lebanon and Syria totalled close to three million. According to the United Nations, since 2007 when the blockade in Gaza intensified, Israeli forces have killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and injured almost 8,000. More than a quarter of these were women and children. During the same period, more than 170 Palestinian civilians have died working in the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt and more than 300 have been injured. Attacks launched from Gaza have killed 37 Israelis and injured 380.
This week, I met a group of people who have a passionate interest in this issue. They were able to give me some insight about what it is like to live in these areas. Jessica Morrison, the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network's executive officer, told me about her visit to Jerusalem in January last year and her dismay when she came face to face with the Israel separation barrier. In some places, this wall, which surrounds the West Bank, is eight metres high. I urge the chamber to consider for a moment the Berlin Wall. At its highest, the Berlin Wall was 3.6 metres tall. We are talking about a concrete barrier all around the West Bank which in some places is twice as high as the Berlin Wall. It is indeed hard to imagine. Ms Morrison explained to me her absolute dismay when she came face to face with this wall and the emotional turmoil it stirred up in her. She told me: The concrete towered over my head. I just wept. It represents the biggest failure of humanity.
This week I also met Micha Kurz, a bright young Israeli man advocating for a solution to the conflict. As part of his compulsory service with the Israeli army, he manned checkpoints. He told me:
Israelis stand at checkpoints and decide if Palestinians get to go to school or work that day, whether or not they will get to cross through to go to the shop or see their family.
It did not sit well with him. He and a group of friends founded an organisation they called Breaking the Silence. It aims to give Israeli army veterans a voice and to create an understanding of the realities of controlling a civilian population.
Sahar Vardi, a 22-year-old Israeli woman, was also kind enough to meet with me this week. Ms Vardi spent two months in prison and three months in detention for refusing to complete compulsory military service. She said she felt too strongly against what the Israeli army was doing to participate in it. Ms Vardi was born and raised in Jerusalem and became an activist when she was just 13.

So how does a 13-year-old girl advocate for peace in a region in such deep turmoil? She said she mainly did it by escorting Palestinian farmers to their land which they otherwise could not reach because of settler violence. You may be wondering the same thing I did: how on earth does a 13-year-old get to do this? The answer, Mr President, is simple—with words. Ms Vardi explained that the presence of an Israeli who could speak with the Israeli soldiers in Hebrew to let them know the farmers had every legal right to access these lands they owned was usually enough. This demonstrates just how powerful dialogue can be.
It is widely agreed that dialogue is an important part—in fact the key part—of finding a lasting solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict. I agree with Harold Zwier, who I met with as well. Mr Zwier works with the Australian Jewish Democratic Society based in Melbourne. He said to me, 'There is a general, though not universal, view that engaging with the complex issues which underlie the conflict means moving beyond the rhetoric, slogans, anger, blame and propaganda towards dialogue.' Getting to that point is proving difficult, to say the least. Mr Zwier raised legitimate concerns about the Palestinian Authority negotiating on behalf of residents of Gaza and the West Bank for a solution that the majority of Palestinians would be comfortable with.
There is much discussion about the Israeli settlements. Palestinian advocates understandably want to focus on the fact that these settlements are illegal. I believe that the most important thing to focus on, however, is the consequences these settlements are having. Most significantly, these settlements are undermining the possibility of working towards a two-state solution. In the words of UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, 'It makes it increasingly difficult for Israel's international friends to defend the Israeli government's actions'. The Australian government is a friend to Israel and will always be a friend to Israel, as will the Australian people. But sometimes friends need to tell each other the truth. I note that Senator Carr, the Foreign Minister, made this point today in question time, and I agree with him. I like to think that all of us could agree with him. In response to a series of questions he said:
I underline this point: you will not have a secure peace in the Middle East, you will not have security for the state of Israel and you will not have an end to the accumulated decades of suffering while keeping the people of Palestine trapped in poverty and without schools and without medical aid. We all want a two-state solution, and this is part of that.
That related to AusAID assisting in terms of schools, in terms of medical aid, in terms of lifting those people of Palestine out of their extreme poverty. The truth in my mind is that the creation of new settlements and the expansion of existing settlements is preventing any possibility of working towards a solution. It is time for a settlement freeze. The complex issue of settlements for me was best summed up by Reverend Jim Barr, who was also part of the group I met. He is president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network and he said, 'If Israel won't dismantle the settlements, the settlements will ultimately dismantle Israel.'

This issue is so complex and multifaceted it is impossible to break it down into all its parts tonight, but I do also want to touch on demolition orders. I am talking about the government of Israel demolishing Palestinian homes and property. According to the United Nations, in 2011 more than 1,000 Palestinians—at least half of them children—were displaced because of these demolitions. In 2011, Israeli forces destroyed 222 Palestinian owned homes, two classrooms and two mosques. And I am advised that there are currently demolition orders on nine villages in the area of the South Mount Hebron hills, including Susiya. I am told one of these villages is home to an Australian government funded clinic. I believe these demolitions have to stop. However, what I have real reservations about is boycotts. I think they distract from the real issues, and I note a report in the Australian yesterday on the front page about anti-Semitic anger and hatred. I repudiate that completely. I think we need to move away from a dialogue that leads to anger and hatred and stirs up sentiment on both sides. That is negative and destructive. Boycotting Israeli chocolate shop Max Brenner, I believe in my mind, does not achieve anything useful. It just creates more anger and more hatred and it simply distracts from the real issues.
There are lots of different possibilities to moving forward on this issue. I was very impressed with the group of people I met with earlier this week. I feel there are some important first steps after speaking with them. I believe the wall needs to fall, just as the Berlin Wall did over 20 years ago. I believe that new settlements have to stop. And, most importantly, dialogue has to start. Quite frankly, it is impossible to articulate the complexity of this conflict in such a short time, but the key is we must not give up. People like Micha Kurz, Sahar Vardi, Harold Zwier, Reverend Jim Barr and Jessica Morrison must not give up. And the Australian government must not give up on playing its part to working towards a lasting peaceful solution.


.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Lessons for Australians on Israel and Palestine


Updated 20 August 2012

1. Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi speaking on Triple J's 'The Hack' (ABC Radio)
Thursday 16 August 2012 (radio interview) 
19:12-25:00


To ensure 'balance' The Hack prepared the following report after the segment on Micha and Sahar:
Josh Dishon, Australian from Melbourne who served in the IDF 2009-2012 
Abby Guy 
25:00-29:00


2. Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi speaking to Catherine Zengerer on The Wire.  Lessons for Australia from two Jewish-Israeli peace activists.

Radio interview (Adelaide, 8 August 2012)



3. 'Israelis say why they campaign to free Palestine' (11 August 2012)
Interview by Ryan Mallet-Outtrim with the Green Left Weekly

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Israeli peace activists - Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi speak in Sydney





Other Sydney events with Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi

Sun 12 Aug 2.30 pm
Holy Trinity Anglican Church
cnr Seaview & Herbert Sts Dulwich Hill NSW 2203


Sun 12 Aug 5.30 pm
An Afternoon Tea discussion with Progressive Israelis – Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardihosted by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society
Micky’s Cafe- 268 Oxford st, Paddington


Mon 13 Aug 6.30 for 7.00 pm
Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, 280 Pitt St Sydney CBD

www.ajds.org.au

Other Australian events (6-30 August)
Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne


A brief overview of the speakers: Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi

Come and listen to two exciting and young members of the Israeli peace movement!

Micha Kurz is 31 years old.  He was a former soldier turned peace activist.  He helped co-found - Breaking the Silence - a group of former Israeli soldiers that collects hundreds of testimonies describing the realities of controlling the Palestinian civilian population under military rule.

Sahar Vardi is 23 years old.  She is a conscientious objector and has spent time in prison on multiple occasions by taking a stand against serving in the Israeli armed forces, whilst it continues to occupy Palestinian lands. 

The visit of Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi to Australia has been organised by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society.


Biographies of Micha Kurz and Sahar Vardi

Micha Kurz was born and raised in Jerusalem. After more than 10 years training teenagers as community leaders with the National Youth Movement, Micha worked extensively with new immigrant communities in Israel, mainly youth from Ethiopia and the Caucasus. He went on to implement one of the first leadership training programs with Bedouin youth in Israel. At 19 Micha was drafted to the Israeli Military as a combat soldier, and after 3 years stationed in the Palestinian city of Hebron he attained rank of Master Sergeant and received an honourable discharge.

As a result of his experiences in the army, Micha co-founded “Breaking the Silence” in 2004 with a small group of soldiers from his unit. The organisation of former Israeli soldiers has since grown to collect hundreds of testimonies describing the realities of controlling a civilian population under military rule. It serves as a moral mirror to Israeli society. Breaking the Silence has been instrumental in ongoing debate around occupation and military policy within Israeli society. 


Micha went on to travel and began meeting with grassroots community organisers internationally, recognising that effective local community organising is often the best strategy to deal with political inaction. In 2009 he returned to his home city and launched Grassroots Jerusalem and its Merkaz Al Kul (Centre for All), a project that maps social inequalities, justice issues and environmental problems together with community projects that address them in and around the Jerusalem area. Micha has spoken internationally, including with Jewish and Palestinian communities in the United States and Europe. His efforts to link Palestinian and Israeli grassroots leadership with supporting communities in the Diaspora are geared towards weaving a common strategy for realistic lasting peace and justice in Jerusalem. 




Sahar Vardi has lived in Jerusalem her whole life. At 15 she began working with Ta'ayush (Living Together) a movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership through concrete joint action. Much of Ta'ayush’s work focuses on accompaniment for West Bank agricultural communities facing settler and military violence. At 18 Sahar was conscripted to the Israeli Military and refused to serve. She spent several months in Military Prison for her

conscientious objection and wrote at the time,


"I realize that the soldier at the checkpoint is not responsible for the wretched policy of the oppressor towards civilians, I am unable to relieve that soldier of responsibility for his conduct … I mean the human responsibility of not causing another human being to suffer.” Sahar has worked with "New Profile" for more than 7 years as a group leader for Israeli youth programs aimed at demilitirisation and addressing the social cost of conscription. At 19, she became assistant to progressive Jerusalem City councillor Meir Margalit, an outspoken critic of Jerusalem's discriminatory city planning regime that has impoverished Palestinian communities and led to hundreds of home demolitions in the city. Sahar went on to work with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and has guided hundreds of international NGO, religious and government missions to Jerusalem. In 2010 she launched a Human Rights and non-violence education program at universities across Israel and this year became Israeli Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee where she is developing and implementing a demilitarisation and equal rights program with Israeli partner organisations.



Sahar and Micha co-host a weekly radio program in Jerusalem discussing current affairs and community action in the Holy City.



Discussion topics


*What are everyday people doing to get on with living respectfully alongside one another considering the long term political stalemate? Focusing on grassroots initiatives for peace and justice in Jerusalem.


*Democratic dialogue around conscription and military policy within Israeli society - what does it look like? Why is it important? Is it permitted and is this changing? Including engaging Jewish communities abroad in such dialogue.

*Demilitarisation and nonviolence in the context of a conscript society. What are the effects of the ongoing occupation and conscription on Israeli society?
The speakers can also give a thorough 20-30 minute factual overview of the current geo-political situation and historical context.

Further Links

Shministim

Breaking the Silence: Israeli soldiers talk about the occupied territories

Ta’ayush

Grassroots Jerusalem

New Profile

Hearing the Words of an Israeli Soldier, Daily Kos, 21 July 2011

Israeli Activists Criticize US House for Considering Resolution Condemning Goldstone Report on Israeli War Crimes in Gaza, Democracy Now, 3 November 2009


Video testimonies



Micha Kurz, ‘Why I break the silence’, 21 April 2011
video catalog number: 54524, unit: Nahal Brigade
A soldier explains his decision to speak up about his service in the occupied territories

Micha Kurz, ‘We’re living dishonestly’, 21 April 2011

video catalog number: 63912, unit: Nahal Brigade

place: West Bank
Israelis live a normal life because Palestinians are forced to live an abnormal, violent one -- but ultimately, Israelis must pay a price.

Micha Kurz, ‘Better he gets hurt than me’, 20 April 2011
When you're looking for a terrorist, the best protection is to use a human shield.

Micha Kurz: Grassroots Jerusalem, Uploaded 13 November 2009



Testimonies Operation “Cast Lead”, Uploaded 20 January 2010




Sahar Vardi@Tree of Life Conference on Israel/Palestine, 11 November 2011


Update 5 August 2012

Sahar Vardi, March of the Flags, Mondoweiss, 22 May 2012

The March of the Flags ('Jerusalem Day') is an extreme right wing march of settlers, and is the culmination of Jerusalem Day.

March of the Flags 2012

March of the Flags 2011

[Examples of blind racism in the 2011 March of the Flags in East Jerusalem.  Uploaded 2 June 2011 - Chant "Death to Arabs".  See also chant "Death to Arabs" in Malha Mall Jeruslaem, uploaded 19 March 2012]

March of the Flags 2012
10 year old Palestinian boy fleeing an Israeli border policeman.  The boy had held a Palestinian flag.  A settler had grabbed the flag off the boy and the boy tried to grab it back.  The border police man then ran after the boy.  Sahar stood in the way between the border police man and the boy.





Video of Sahar protecting Palestinian boy - Uploaded 21 May 2012


'For second straight year, marchers chant anti-Arab slogans during Jerusalem Day', Haaretz, 21 May 2012



Sahar Vardi, V Radio, USA, 2012 Radio interview [Good interview with Sahar]




Other images of the: Protest against Jerusalem Day, Flickr, East Jerusalem, 20 May 2012


Nabi Saleh protests - by Scottish peace activists, 18 May 2012




Palestinian woman, Nabi Saleh, Flickr, 18 May 2012







http://www.ajds.org.au/