WAWA/WeAreWideAwake is my Public Service to America as a muckracker who has journeyed seven times to Israel Palestine since June 2005.
WAWA is dedicated to confronting media and governments that shield the whole
truth.
We who Are Wide
Awake are compelled by the "fierce urgency of Now" [Rev MLK, Jr.] to raise
awareness and promote the human dialogue about many of the crucial issues of our
day: the state of our Union and in protection of democracy, what life is like
under military occupation in Palestine, the Christian EXODUS from the Holy Land,
and spirituality-from a Theologically Liberated Christian Anarchist
POV.
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." George Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
"My aim is to agitate & disturb people. I'm not selling bread, I'm selling yeast." Unamuno
"Imagine All the People Sharing All the World." John Lennon
"If enough Christians followed the gospel, they could bring any state to its knees." Father Philip Francis Berrigan
"You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down." Tom Petty
"If I can't dance, it's not my revolution." Emma Goldman
"We have yet to begin to IMAGINE the power and potential of the Internet." Charlie Rose, 2005
Only in Solidarity do "We have it in our power to begin the world again" Tom Paine
"Never doubt that a few, thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
"You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
DO SOMETHING!
Photo of George shown here and in web site banner courtesy of Debbie Hill, 2000.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that, among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. -July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence
HomeBlogApril / May 2012 May 15, 2012: Power Of and To: Nonviolent Political Prisoners and People of Conscience
May 15, 2012: Power Of and To: Nonviolent Political Prisoners and People of Conscience
May 15, 2012: Power Of and To: Nonviolent Political Prisoners and People of Conscience
Maybe Israel dodged a
bullet on the 64th anniversary of Al Nakba Day Read more... , which was nearly a
month after 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners' began a hunger strike, which
ended Monday night upon
reaching an agreement with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) to attain certain
core demands.
Two of the hunger strikers have not eaten for 78 days and that's eight days
longer than IRA prisoner Bobby Sands, when he died on his strike in 1981.
Bilal
Diab and Thaer Halahleh have said they will not start eating again until their
administrative detentions are lifted. Both men are members of Islamic Jihad,
but they were never charged with anything, and it's still not clear why they're
still being held or if, they will be released.
Among the demands raised in the collective hunger strike, included an end to the IPS’ abusive use of isolation for “SECURITY” reasons.
Juan E.
Méndez, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment told the UN General Assembly’s third
committee-which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural affairs- that
punishment by solitary confinement amounts to torture:
“Segregation, isolation, separation,
cellular, lockdown, Supermax, the hole, Secure Housing Unit… whatever the name,
solitary confinement should be banned by States as a punishment or extortion
technique.
“Social isolation is one of the harmful elements of solitary confinement and
its main objective. It reduces meaningful social contact to an absolute
minimum. A significant number of individuals will experience serious health
problems regardless of the specific conditions of time, place, and pre-existing
personal factors”.
“Indefinite and prolonged solitary
confinement, in excess of fifteen days, should also be subject to an absolute
prohibition,” the expert said noting that scientific studies have established
that some lasting mental damage is caused after a few days of social isolation.
[1]
A few weeks after his freedom of speech
trial began, Vanunu explained why Israel tortures by solitary confinement:
Palestinian prisoners also called for an end
to administrative detention, a practice in which Israel holds prisoners
indefinitely without charge or legal recourse. Administrative detention will
continue and Israeli authorities claim the practice will be reviewed.
During my January 2006 trip to Ramallah, I
met with Ala Jaradat, spokesman for ADAMEER[Arabic for conscience] and he informed me:
"Since 1967, 650,000 to 700,000 Palestinians have been
arrested and detained. That totals 20% of the total population and 80% of all
adult Palestinian males have been arrested.
"Most of these arrests occur after
midnight when large numbers of IDF storm into neighborhoods or refugee camps,
horrifying everyone and arresting anyone 14 years or older. Sometimes they
storm into business offices and arrest the breadwinners of the families without
any charges.
"These arrests and detentions are based
on military orders; we live under a kind of Marshall Law which rules every
aspect of Palestinian life: where we live, our license plates that restrict our
movement and limited voting rights. Under these military orders the Israeli
government is free to hold anyone eight days without accusations or charges.
They can hold anyone up to 180 days for interrogation and up to 60 days without
benefit of a lawyer.
"The Israeli government never agreed to
the Second Geneva Convention, the Knesset never ratified it, and when it comes
to the Occupied Territories they totally ignore it. Israel is the only State
that approved torture of detainees. I know there are dictators who use torture,
but Israel is the only State that supported torture until 1999. That is when
International, Israeli and Palestinian pressure groups forced the issue and
Barack was confronted about it when he visited the United States.
"The IDF will round up and arrest
family members and use threats against their relatives to force confessions.
The interrogations lead to Military Trials which is theoretically like court
with three Judges presiding but only one is required to have an education and a
law degree is not at all necessary. The Military Commander appoints the
translators, issues all orders, assigns the judges, and has total control. One
appeal is allowed, but if the judges are settlers the Palestinian is in deep
shit!
"Administrative Detentions are issued
by the Military Commander for a period of six months and the reason is always
labeled ‘Security’ and the charges can be renewed indefinitely. One Palestinian
spent eight years under Administrative detention and hundreds have endured four
or more years. Today fifty are being held for the past four years. They may be
released for a day or two and then they are rearrested because they are social
or political activists but reasons are not given by the Israeli government.
"At any given moment 10% of those in prison are under Administrative
Detention. There are currently 8,000 prisoners and 800 of them are under
Administrative Detention. The government does not have to inform anyone about
these arrests except the Red Cross and only if they are imprisoned over two
weeks, but most arrests go unreported.
"Any Palestinian under the age of 16 is
tried as an adult, but for an Israeli Jew it is 18 years of age. Under 12 years
old the child can be arrested but not detained. Over 12 they can be arrested,
detained, interrogated, prosecuted and sentenced for throwing stones.
"Most of the Israeli Jews that are
imprisoned are in for violent crimes against society and they are mixed in with
the Palestinian population. The guards encourage them to do what ever they want
to do against the Palestinian population. This is an open invitation by the
Israeli government to incite violence and terror in the prison system. We have
sworn affidavits from Palestinians claiming it was the guards who encouraged
the violence inflicted upon them.
"In August 2004 the Palestinians went
on a hunger strike to raise awareness of this problem and the Minister of
Health who is responsible for them stated publicly: 'Our hospitals are off
limits to them They can all starve themselves to death.'
"No human rights organizations are
allowed access to the prisoners. Only lawyers and the Red Cross can visit them
but have no access to the facilities where they are detained.
"The methods
and photos from Abu Grahib and Guantanamo were no shock to any Palestinian who
had been in prison between 1967 and the ‘80’s. All the methods used in Abu
Grahib were normal procedures against Palestinians. In 1999 Internationals,
Palestinians and Israelis for human rights threatened a boycott against Israel
and that is what forced the Supreme Court to address the torture issue. They
did not ban torture and the General Prosecutor can choose not to prosecute
those who still use it." [2]
Palestinian civil
society and human rights organizations have called
for intensifying the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to
target corporations profiting directly from the Israeli prison system.
In particular, to
be taken to account is G4S, the world’s largest international security
corporation, which helps
to maintain and profit from Israel’s prison system, for its complicity with
Israeli violations of international law.
Please clickhereto sign onto the demand that G4S ends its involvement in the Israeli prison systems violations of Palestinian human rights.
"HOPE has two children.The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine
"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust." - Aquinas
Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
" In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."-Mother Teresa
“You cannot talk like sane men around a peace table while the atomic bomb itself is ticking beneath it. Do not treat the atomic bomb as a weapon of offense; do not treat it as an instrument of the police. Treat the bomb for what it is: the visible insanity of a civilization that has ceased...to obey the laws of life.”- Lewis Mumford, 1946
The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership....a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace, and to the improvement of the human condition. The attributes upon which we must draw are the human attributes of compassion and common sense, of intellect and creative imagination, and of empathy and understanding between cultures." - William Fulbright
“Any nation that year after year continues to raise the Defense budget while cutting social programs to the neediest is a nation approaching spiritual death.” - Rev. MLK
Establishment of Israel
"On the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations." - May 14, 1948. The Declaration of the Establishment of Israel