From: Benjamin Merhav <ben.merhav@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 9:57 AM
Subject: MY 507th OPEN MESSAGE TO ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL
To: uspcn@uspcn.org
MY 507th OPEN MESSAGE TO ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL
The article/statement/accusation call below is a "A Call for the Disavowal of the Racism and Antisemitism of Gilad Atzmon" by a group of Palestinian intellectuals(see : http://uspcn.org/2012/03/13/granting-no-quarter-a-call-for-the-disavowal-of-the-racism-and-antisemitism-of-gilad-atzmon/ ). When I first read this headline I said to myself : "congratulations ! Palestinian intellectuals are exposing and rejecting zionist impostors, at long last !", but no, upon reading the full statement I became very disappointed. The first question that comes to mind is why attack only Gilad Atzmon ? Does this statement excludes Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein ,Uri Avnery and all the other zionist impostors ?
The expected response to my disappointment is actually within the anti-Atzmon statement itself, namely, that the attack on him is only because of his attack on Jewish groups who claim to support the Palestinian cause. Well, it is true that Gilad Atzmon is a zionist impostor, meaning that he is loyal to zionism while purporting to support the Palestinian cause, but this is not what the statement is accusing him of ! Atzmon's accusers, the authors of the statement, themselves are captives of zionist impostors of the Chomsky-Finkelstein-Avnery variety because they ignore the basic zionist big propaganda lie - a lie on which the entire zionist ideology rests - that there is a "Jewish nation" the homeland of which is Zion/Eretz Israel (Palestine). If you take away this foundation of zionism, the whole zionist ideology, together with the zionist apartheid regime of Israel, falls apart like a house of cards !
Therefore, any group of people who are not religious Jews, yet calling themselves Jews must be zionist because the only alternative definition to the term Jew - i.e. a religious Jew, like Christian, Muslim etc. - is the zionist definition, namely, a member of the "Jewish nation". This is indeed why Chomsky, Finkelstein, Avnery and their ilk insist on "the two states solution" so as to preserve the zionist apartheid regime of Israel which they call "the Jewish state" (rather than the zionist state). Supporting them, as the authors of the accusing statement seem to have done, is supporting zionism, not Palestinian liberation, and certainly not the return of the Palestinian refugees and their families to their homes and lands, no matter how big a picture of the Palestinian flag they display above their statement/accusation.
"Granting No Quarter: A Call for the Disavowal of the Racism and Antisemitism of Gilad Atzmon
For many years now, Gilad Atzmon, a musician born in Israel and currently living in the United Kingdom, has taken on the self-appointed task of defining for the Palestinian movement the nature of our struggle, and the philosophy underpinning it. He has done so through his various blogs and Internet outlets, in speeches, and in articles. He is currently on tour in the United States promoting his most recent book, entitled, 'The Wandering Who.'
With this letter, we call for the disavowal of Atzmon by fellow Palestinian organizers, as well as Palestine solidarity activists, and allies of the Palestinian people, and note the dangers of supporting Atzmon's political work and writings and providing any platforms for their dissemination. We do so as Palestinian organizers and activists, working across continents, campaigns, and ideological positions.
Atzmon's politics rest on one main overriding assertion that serves as springboard for vicious attacks on anyone who disagrees with his obsession with "Jewishness". He claims that all Jewish politics is "tribal," and essentially, Zionist. Zionism, to Atzmon, is not a settler-colonial project, but a trans-historical "Jewish" one, part and parcel of defining one's self as a Jew. Therefore, he claims, one cannot self-describe as a Jew and also do work in solidarity with Palestine, because to identify as a Jew is to be a Zionist. We could not disagree more. Indeed, we believe Atzmon's argument is itself Zionist because it agrees with the ideology of Zionism and Israel that the only way to be a Jew is to be a Zionist.
Palestinians have faced two centuries of orientalist, colonialist and imperialist domination of our native lands. And so as Palestinians, we see such language as immoral and completely outside the core foundations of humanism, equality and justice, on which the struggle for Palestine and its national movement rests. As countless Palestinian activists and organizers, their parties, associations and campaigns, have attested throughout the last century, our struggle was never, and will never be, with Jews, or Judaism, no matter how much Zionism insists that our enemies are the Jews. Rather, our struggle is with Zionism, a modern European settler colonial movement, similar to movements in many other parts of the world that aim to displace indigenous people and build new European societies on their lands.
We reaffirm that there is no room in this historic and foundational analysis of our struggle for any attacks on our Jewish allies, Jews, or Judaism; nor denying the Holocaust; nor allying in any way shape or form with any conspiracy theories, far-right, orientalist, and racist arguments, associations and entities. Challenging Zionism, including the illegitimate power of institutions that support the oppression of Palestinians, and the illegitimate use of Jewish identities to protect and legitimize oppression, must never become an attack on Jewish identities, nor the demeaning and denial of Jewish histories in all their diversity.
Indeed, we regard any attempt to link and adopt antisemitic or racist language, even if it is within a self-described anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist politics, as reaffirming and legitimizing Zionism. In addition to its immorality, this language obscures the fundamental role of imperialism and colonialism in destroying our homeland, expelling its people, and sustaining the systems and ideologies of oppression, apartheid and occupation. It leaves one squarely outside true solidarity with Palestine and its people.
The goal of the Palestinian people has always been clear: self determination. And we can only exercise that inalienable right through liberation, the return of our refugees (the absolute majority of our people) and achieving equal rights to all through decolonization. As such, we stand with all and any movements that call for justice, human dignity, equality, and social, economic, cultural and political rights. We will never compromise the principles and spirit of our liberation struggle. We will not allow a false sense of expediency to drive us into alliance with those who attack, malign, or otherwise attempt to target our political fraternity with all liberation struggles and movements for justice.
As Palestinians, it is our collective responsibility, whether we are in Palestine or in exile, to assert our guidance of our grassroots liberation struggle. We must protect the integrity of our movement, and to do so we must continue to remain vigilant that those for whom we provide platforms actually speak to its principles.
When the Palestinian people call for self-determination and decolonization of our homeland, we do so in the promise and hope of a community founded on justice, where all are free, all are equal and all are welcome.
Until liberation and return.
Signed:
Ali Abunimah
Naseer Aruri, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Omar Barghouti, human rights activist
Hatem Bazian, Chair, American Muslims for Palestine
Andrew Dalack, National Coordinating Committee, US Palestinian Community Network
Haidar Eid, Gaza
Nada Elia, US Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Toufic Haddad
Kathryn Hamoudah
Adam Hanieh, Lecturer, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London
Mostafa Henaway, Tadamon! Canada
Monadel Herzallah, National Coordinating Committee, US Palestinian Community Network
Nadia Hijab, author and human rights advocate
Andrew Kadi
Hanna Kawas, Chair person, Canada Palestine Association and Co-Host Voice of Palestine
Abir Kobty, Palestinian blogger and activist
Joseph Massad, Professor, Columbia University, NY
Danya Mustafa, Israeli Apartheid Week US National Co-Coordinator & Students for Justice in Palestine- University of New Mexico
Dina Omar, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine
Haitham Salawdeh, National Coordinating Committee, US Palestinian Community Network
Sobhi Samour, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London
Khaled Ziada, SOAS Palestine Society, London
Rafeef Ziadah, poet and human rights advocate"
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I ask every reader to send immediately protest messages to the following email addresses, and with a copy to my email address (ben.merhav@gmail.com).
" I protest the continuous torture of the Australian citizen Benjamin Merhav by sleep deprivation and his daughter and son by psychiatric torture in Melbourne, Australia.
This torture is perpetrated against Benjamin Merhav directly by the clandestine arm of the State of Israel (the zionist Gestapo), and indirectly by the same culprit against Benjamin's daughter and son.
I demand that the Australian government instruct ASIO to protect these Australian citizens, and stop these terrorist crimes by a foreign government on Australian soil immediately !"
2. to ICJ-Australia and ICJ Secretariat (email president@icj-aust.org.au,chair@icj-aust.org.au,sec-gen@icj-aust.org.au,
info@icj.dk,info@icj.org ) a message along the following lines :
"I protest your refusal to investigate Benjamin Merhav's complaint against the Australian government's approval of ASIO's violation of the rule of law in Australia, regarding the continuous torture in Melbourne of himself, his daughter and his son , all Australian citizens, by the clandestine arm of the State of Israel (the zionist Gestapo).
I demand your immediate intervention to protect these Australian citizens, to stop the perpetration of these terrorist crimes In Australia, and to end these violations of the rule of law by the Australian government in Australia."
3. to the PCHR and to all the Palestinian leaders in occupied Palestine ( email english@palestine-info.co.uk ;
pchr@pchrgaza.org ) message along the following
lines :
"I protest the betrayal of Benjamin Merhav by Raji Sourani to the zionist Gestapo's torture.I demand Sourani's replacement on the ICJ and on FIDH with a honest Palestinian patriot who would initiate protest action against the torture of Benjamin Merhav, his daughter, and his son by the zionist Gestapo in Australia.
I demand that the Palestinian leaders encourage Palestinians and their supporters to protest this ongoing terrorist torture by the zionist Gestapo, and to demand that it should stop immediately."
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DISBAND NOW THE ZIONIST APARTHEID REGIME OF ISRAEL !
A JUST SOLUTION TO THE ZIONIST CONFLICT IN PALESTINE CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT FIRST DISBANDING THE ZIONIST APARTHEID REGIME OF ISRAEL !
FOLLOWING THE DISBANDING OF THIS RACIST REGIME, A DEMOCRATIC, NON-RACIST STATE, TO WHICH ALL THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES WOULD BE INVITED TO RETURN, SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED ON THE ENTIRE AREA OF HISTORIC PALESTINE !
THIS SHOULD BE WRITTEN INTO THE PLATFORM OF THE BDS MOVEMENT NOW, AS THE PURPOSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF THE ZIONIST APARTHEID REGIME OF ISRAEL !
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