Sorry Mrs. Jennings[i], who is the occupier...! By: Mohamed S. Kamel In response to Marline Jennings’ message[ii]
Sorry Mrs. Jennings[i],
who is the occupier...!
In response to Marline Jennings’ message[ii]
By: Mohamed S.
Kamel*
Montreal, May 15th,
2010
62 years today a country was established in the
Middle East, and named itself Israel. But what was before and what came after does
not come to many people’s attention.
For thousands years, there were people living on
that land and called themselves Palestinians.
They have their own culture and built their own life while enjoying
peace and harmony between the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity
and Islam).
These people’s life has been disrupted many times by
invasion from the east and the north as well.
Each invader was looking for a reason or another to get this piece of
land, sometimes for trade and other times for hate.
History stated, and history doesn’t lie, in the late 19th century
European Jewish leaders started to look for what they called "A Jewish
state". They got many offers from
European leaders and the British offered Uganda then Argentina as a Jewish homeland. But in 1906, the Zionist congress decided
that the Jewish homeland should be Palestine[iii].
So, they chose Palestine, but what about the people
living there? That is what every single human being would call an Occupation.
Millions of Palestinians forced out of their land
and denied the right to exist. Millions have
been living in diaspora for 62 years. All this history, you tried to summarize in
a fight between Gaza and Israel. I never
thought that the Israeli propaganda could affect the common sense of
intellectual people[iv].
Do I have to tell you what is the meaning of
raising generations of people in diaspora, in tents while the occupier enjoys
their homes?
You don’t have to listen to my voice or to any
Palestinian voice, listen to William A. Cook’s[v]
article called Born in Deception[vi]
“...Control and manipulation of events regarding Palestine has been and
continues to be the modus operandi of the Zionist leaders of the state of
Israel....”.
Or read Ilan Pappe’s[vii]
monumental book “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine”[viii]
“....The final master plan was called Plan D (Dalet in Hebrew) following
plans A, B, and C preceding it. It was to be a war without mercy complying with
what Ben-Gurion said in June, 1938 to the Jewish Agency Executive and never
wavering from later: "I am for compulsory transfer; I do not see anything
immoral in it." Plan D became the way to do it. It included forcible
expulsion of hundreds of thousands of unwanted Palestinian Arabs in urban and
rural areas accompanied by an unknown number of others mass slaughtered to get
it done. The goal was simple and straightforward - to create an exclusive
Jewish state without an Arab presence by any means including mass-murder....”
And after all this, can a reasonable individual
consider calling Israel an apartheid as an act of ANTISEMITISM, that is not
what Yakov Rabkin[ix] agreed with, in his article “Calling Israel
apartheid has nothing to do with Jews and antisemitism[x]” “....The purpose of Queers against Israeli
Apartheid (QUAIA) is to expose the founding principles of the Zionist state
Israel as akin to South African apartheid. Indeed, Desmond Tutu, a civil rights
veteran from South Africa deems the Israeli case to be even worse. Israeli
mainstream media have come to use the word apartheid, and the daily Haaretz has
repeatedly called Israel “a racist state” in its editorials. Even Israel ‘s
Defence Minister Ehud Barak has used the A-word. Why do our local Zionists have
to be “more Catholic than the Pope”?...”
Refusing to call Israel’s apartheid is in line with
the Israeli government defending their soldier’s war crime acts[xi],
“...The groups included B'Tselem, Gisha, Adalah, the Association of Civil
Rights in Israel and Rabbis for Human Rights. Adalah, which works on Arab minority
rights within Israel, said the bill was "a dangerous step" against
human rights groups. The bill "seeks to restrict the freedom of expression
and freedom of association of these organisations", it said...”[xii]
An Israeli writer Tzvia Greenfield wrote in Israel’s
paper Haaretz “Israel's choice: Make peace or disappear” stating “...Israel,
on the other hand, continues to control the Palestinians and the territories by
force. And in order to maintain its Jewish identity, it also has no intention
whatsoever of granting them equal civil rights. One does not have to be a
critical intellectual to understand that this internal contradiction, in a
state that considers itself advanced, Western and democratic, is untenable....”[xiii]
Were any of these quotes said by a Palestinian or a
pro-Hamas terrorist as you clamed? None.
All of them are quoted from American, Canadian, Jewish and Non-Jewish
and even from Israeli citizens.
Did our soldiers, whom died in France defending the
French people’s right to fight against the occupation, perform acts of
terrorism? Didn’t we defend the right of the Vietnamese against USA invasion of
their land? And didn’t we support South Africans against apartheid?
Mrs. Jennings, for sure it is apartheid and it will
end as the South African apartheid regime did.
I hope that when it happens we will find you on the side of truth not
defending propaganda from the occupiers and lies from the supporters of the occupation.
Mrs. Jennings can’t we call it the biggest robbery of
the 20th Century...!
Mrs. Jennings, I hope that you recognize who the
occupier is?
* Mohamed S.
Kamel: is an engineer and a recognized project manager professional (PMP), a
freelance writer, the editor of I.N. Daily, co-founder of the Canadian Egyptian
for Democracy (CEFD), Alternative Perspective Media (APM-RAM) and the ex-president
and co-founder of the Canadian Muslim Forum (FMC-CMF), could be reached at public@mohamedkamel.com
Mrs. Jennings message
From:
JenniM8@parl.gc.ca [mailto:JenniM8@parl.gc.ca]
Sent:
March-12-10 10:28 AM
Subject:
RE: Response to Mr. Igantieff's statement on Israeli Apartheid Week
Dear Mr. Kamel:
Thank you for your recent letter regarding the decision to condemn Israeli
Apartheid Week.
Let me first say that I am greatly concerned by the
deepening violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip and I lament the suffering on
all sides that this mounting instability has caused.
I believe that Israel has an undeniable right to defend
itself against attacks, and to exist in peace and security. However its
citizens have endured years of rocket attacks which regularly result in
injuries and deaths. What is worse is that these attacks are now being carried
out by the elected government of Gaza, whose stated goal is the complete
destruction of Israel. By wasting their time and resources on rockets instead
of helping their people, the leaders of Hamas have proven that they deserve to
be called a terrorist organization. Their deliberate targeting of Israeli
citizens only confirms this.
It horrifies me that so many civilians in Gaza are trapped
in the middle of this conflict. While Israel has attempted to stop the attacks
on its citizens by only targeting the Hamas terrorists who carry them out,
there have been a regrettable number of civilian deaths in Gaza. By choosing to
end a ceasefire after regularly breaking it, Hamas has ill-served the residents
of Gaza who seek only peace.
Israel has demonstrated that it recognizes the negative
impact their attacks on military installations in Gaza have on the residents of
Gaza. Unlike the Hamas government, which aims for and celebrates the deaths of
Israeli civilians, the Israeli government has made every effort to avoid
killing Gazan civilians. Israel continues to allow humanitarian aid to enter
Gaza, and has been treating some casualties from Gaza in their own hospitals.
There is no question that Canada has a responsibility to
assist the innocent victims of this conflict and to ensure that basic
humanitarian assistance is available to those who need it. This terrible cycle
of violence has imperilled lives on both sides of the border and must be
peacefully resolved through a durable ceasefire. The basis of a lasting peace
is surely the mutual recognition by both states of the right of the other to
exist. Unfortunately, until Hamas removes the destruction of Israel from their
founding principles, it is difficult to see how this peace can be achieved.
Canada must stand ready to assist and ensure that basic
humanitarian assistance reaches those who need it. I will be pushing the
federal government to do everything in its power to assist the victims of this
conflict.
On the subject Israeli Apartheid Week, I would like to make
it clear that I respect the preservation of the right to free speech for any
and all Canadians. However, I also realize that all rights are subject to reasonable
limitations. While Canadians are free within the bounds of our law to express their
opinions, it is unacceptable for this freedom of speech to be at all
detrimental or hurtful to the party concerned. If this is the case, the
expression and speech of those causing such harm must be carried out in a more
productive way.
The activities planned for Israeli
Apartheid Week will single out Jewish and Israeli students. They will be made to feel ostracized and even physically threatened in
the very place where freedom should be paramount – on a university campus. As
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff recently stated: “Let us be clear: criticism
of Israeli government policy is legitimate. Wholesale condemnation of the State
of Israel and the Jewish people is not legitimate. Not now, not ever.”
Thank you for sharing your views with me on this
important issue.
Sincerely,
The Honourable Marlene Jennings,
P.C., M.P.
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohamed Kamel Original Message
From: Mohamed Kamel
[mailto:public@mohamedkamel.com]
Sent: March 6, 2010 11:11 PM
To: Ignatieff, Michael - M.P.
Cc: Duceppe, Gilles - député; Layton, Jack -
M.P.
Subject: Response to Mr. Igantieff's statement
on Israeli Apartheid Week
Right
Hon. Michael Ignatieff
Leader
of the Liberal Party and Leader of the official Opposition
It is with a great disappointed that I received the Liberal party statement in regard to the Israeli Apartheid Week and for that matter, your ceaseless pandering to the pro-Israel lobby.
I just
would like to remind you of your oath as a lawyer, and your role as a law
professor. But your comments do not reflect reality on the ground in the
region. Furthermore, they contribute nothing to bringing an end to the
Israel-Palestinian/Arab conflict, ill serving Canada's vital international
interests in a world of new geo-political/economic realities and for what
should be obvious reasons.
As Bishop Desmond Tutu, who certainly knows apartheid when he sees it, has repeatedly declared, Israel is an "apartheid state." In fact, he has described the plight of Palestinians as much worse than that of his people under apartheid in South Africa.
I will close my message with quote from a human rights student, Mr. Gary Keenan:
“.....If you aspire to make a difference in this world and our country, you should have the moral integrity and courage to do what is right by standing shoulder to shoulder with the victims, not the victimizers...”
Yours sincerely,
Mohamed
S. Kamel, ing., PMP
Human
Rights Activist
______________________________________________________
Liberal Party statement
Liberal Party statement
For
Immediate Release
March
1, 2010
Statement by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff regarding Israeli Apartheid Week
OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement today:
“On university campuses across the country this week, Israeli Apartheid Week will once again attempt to demonize and undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state. It is part of a global campaign of calls for divestment, boycotts and proclamations, and it should be condemned unequivocally and absolutely.
Apartheid is defined, in international law, as a crime against humanity. Israeli Apartheid Week is a deliberate attempt to portray the Jewish state as criminal.
The activities planned for the week will single out Jewish and Israeli students. They will be made to feel ostracized and even physically threatened in the very place where freedom should be paramount -- on a university campus.
Let us be clear: criticism of Israeli government policy is legitimate. Wholesale condemnation of the State of Israel and the Jewish people is not legitimate. Not now, not ever.
The very premise of Israeli Apartheid Week runs counter to our shared values of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of nationality, race or creed. It is an attempt to heighten the tensions in our communities around the tragic conflict in the Middle East.
On behalf of the Liberal party of Canada and the Parliamentary caucus, I urge all Canadians to join with us in condemning Israeli Apartheid Week, and to reject, in principle, all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance, both within this country and around the world.”
-30-
Contact:
Press Office
Office
of the Leader of the Opposition
613-996-6740
[i] The Honourable Marlene Jennings, P.C., is an M.P., member
of the Canadian Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Montreal, Quebec
[ii] Copied at the end of the article
[iii] For detailed historical facts, read my article written in
May 2008, copy attached.
[ix] Professor of history at the
University of Montreal; his recent book is A Threat from Within: A Century of
Jewish Opposition to Zionism (Fernwood) was nominated for the Governor General
Award. He can be reached via e-mail at: yakov.rabkin@umontreal.ca
posted by Mohamed S Kamel @ 10:29 PM
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