We met two guys from the Parent's Circle

Hello, this is Y from the Palestine Peace Solidarity, a group based in Seoul, Korea which promotes peace and security for the people of Palestine.

On 24th of August, we had two very special guests from the Parent's Circle, a network composed of families that have lost one or more of their family members due to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and thus promotes a halt to the occupation by employing peaceful means.

One of the guests was Aaron from Israel, who introduced himself as a Zionist who lost his son who was serving his last week as occupation force in Lebanon. Aaron said that although his son opposed the occupation, his son thought it was his duty to serve his country. However, after burying his son, Aaron went on to oppose the occupation by means of picketting in front of the Israeli defence ministry along with other bereaved family members. This was the time that he realized that the bereaved ones receive respect and thus have the power to influence and make changes: Isreal withdrew from Lebanon shortly after that.

Ali from Palestine also began telling his story;his mother used to serve a leading role in the PLO and so had got into resistance movements from very young age. This had brought him into jail, along with his mother and other siblings, leaving only his father and his two little sisters at home. He told us that he and his collegues' fasting for 17 days in prison led to the release of 5,000 of the prisoners that were so called 'political criminals' shortly after the Oslo Treaty was signed. While he said that this was the first time that he ever realized that nonviolent movements can bring about change, he mentioned that 280 'extremists' including himself were relocated and thus could not go home which made him think that any kind of peace treaty is of no use when it cannot let him go home, cannot give him the peace of mind.

He went on telling that not long after that, his older brother, his 'everything' was killed by the occupying Israeli troops. He said he felt so many different feelings including rage or want for revenge back then, while deep down, he knew that revenge could not change anything.

This was when the Parent's Circle came over to his mourning house and shared tears and pain with them - a time when Ali had seen Israli tears for the first time. So the both of them had intepreted their losses as the Israeli occupation undermining people's peace and security, thus having to oppose it through peaceful means. They kept emphasizing peace and harmony, when Camilo from another peace activist NGO asked Aaron whether he thought the Israeli govt should first stop building additional settlements and free political prisoners before talking about peace or harmony, Aaron replied that since most, if not all, of the turmoil in the region owes itself to occupation, calls to end the occupation would naturally solve other problems when the occupation is stopped (on which many of our group could not agreeon entirely..)

When asked another question regarding the politcal issues such as 1,2,or 3 state solution/the Q of Jerusalem/refugees, Aaron said that most/all of the political matters had been already settled apon in so many different treaties and negociations, just that they are not being implemented. He went on by saying that altho he himself and most of his fellows believe that the 2 state solution would be the best answer, the Parents' Circle as a whole does not bear any political stance in particularand that their role is to peacefully advocate a strong will to end the occupationby which the various political answers can be implemented.

Personally, it was my first time talking for such a long time (abt 3 hrs) with Palestine/Isreali and it certainly was a view-widening experience, although it would have been better if we could hear more of Ali..

Free Palestine: Koreans' Solidarity Protest for Palestine, Jan.10, 2009

PERMANENT PEACE TO PALESTINE!!

Korean Action For Palestine: Dismantle the Occupation Wall and Stop the Military Occupation of Palestine

Dismantle the Occupation Wall and Stop the Military Occupation of Palestine

Silence allows savagery to flourish, and solidarity makes space for hope.

In 2006, we are still living in an age of barbarism. In 2001, America and the UK invaded Afghanistan. Five years have passed and still the people of Afghanistan live in fear. Then, America and the UK invaded Iraq in 2003 to bring freedom and peace, and now the only freedoms left in that country are the freedom for American capital to use Iraqi oil as it pleases and for Iraqis to die without regard to age or gender.

On June 28, 2006, more than 60 years into their military occupation, Israel amplified its brutal attacks on the Palestinians in Operation Summer Rain. Roads and power plants have been destroyed, and Palestinians have been prevented from going outside. From the end of June until October, over 300 Palestinians were killed and over 1,500 were arrested. Thousands were wounded and hundreds have sustained permanent injuries.

We should accurately identify Israel’s slaughter and savagery, without letting the tragedies of the Holocaust blind us to continuing injustice. The lesson is not that one nation, formerly repressed, should be allowed to continue to repress others, but rather that there can be no excuse for one people to inflict cruelty on another people.

Shortly after the commencement of Operation Summer Rain, Israel invaded Lebanon once more on July 12, 2006. Despite the rhetoric, this invasion is simply the latest in a series of Israeli invasions of Lebanon, such as Operation Litani in ’78, Operation Peace for Galilee in ’82, Operation Accountability in ’93, and Operation Grapes of Wrath in ’96. Though this latest is called Operation Just Reward, it has manifested itself through unjust punishments of the Lebanese.

When the strong rule the weak, when the world serves to profit only the rich, this is called the age of barbarism.

When the distinctions between the strong and the weak disappear, when humanity moves according to the basic fundamental principles of cooperation and solidarity, this is called the age of enlightenment.

We are at a crucial moment of decision, in which people must choose between savagery and humanity.

Israel was established in 1948 under the auspices of British imperialism, and now the Israeli government oppresses and evicts the Palestinians from their land without end and with the approval and aid of US imperialism. Millions of Palestinians are now scattered over the world, unable to return to their homeland where their parents are buried and where their memories remain.

The remaining Palestinians have been posed with the choice: leave or submit. But they have chosen neither to leave nor submit, and in response to their legitimate right to resist military occupation under the Geneva conventions, Israel began work on the Separation Wall. Also known as the Apartheid Wall, it encloses Palestinian residential districts in concrete and barbed wire. Israel has plans to permanently annex the areas surrounding the wall. The cumulative effects of these actions are to deprive Palestinians of normal lives, of their family and neighbors, as well as of their remaining arable land and water resources. Israel has essentially created a prison out of their land, aided by the design of Oslo.

Qalqiliya, home to tens of thousands in the northern West Bank, is a typical example. Israel has built the wall around its edges, and there is now only one checkpoint through which people are allowed to pass to enter and exit the city. In addition, Qalqiliya’s economy has been ruined by Israeli sanctions, which prevents farmers from importing or exporting.

Palestine has yielded and compromised on countless occasions in the past 60 years, but received only suppression and death in return. Accordingly, to the Palestinians, fighting against Israel is a matter of living—in life, one can walk the streets freely. Though the sky, sea, and land are blocked, though the democratically elected government faces is being rendered incapacitated though Israeli, American, and EU offensives, the Palestinians continue to resist.

We create history with our own hands and feet.
Just as American history began with the genocide of the Native Americans, Israel’s history began with the slaughter and expulsion of the Palestinians. These two countries occupy Palestine with bullets and tanks, money and media, and they above all others are responsible for what has occurred. We want peace, not war, but we want a peace based on a popular outcry for justice, stemming from the voices of those who would end their repression and suffering, and not a peace based on the silence of the weak.

Today was the Fourth National and International Week against the Apartheid Wall. While Israeli and American money and power continue to write the pages of history, we met today to write the history of hope with our hands and feet. If they are engines of despair, we are humans creating hope.

We who maintain hope in this age of savagery demand the following of Israel and the United States.
- Cease construction on the wall and remove those parts already built.
- Cease Israeli military attacks against the Palestinians, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
- Ensure freedom and peace for all those living on the land of historical Palestine, regardless of race, religion, or nationality.

November 9, 2006
By the participants of the Fourth National and International Week Against The Apartheid Wall

New strategies...

From Democracy Now (www.democracynow.org):

Palestinian Gathering at Targeted Home Prevents Israeli Airstrike
In the Occupied Territories, the Israeli military called off a planned air strike on the Gaza home of a wanted militant Sunday after hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the home to protect it. Hamas activist Nizar Riyan described the scene.

Nizar Riyan: "In the beginning hundreds of people gathered and in less than an hour, there are thousands gathered on the roof. Now the men and woman are taking shifts, meaning the women came this morning and said, 'We will be here during the day and you cover during the night'. Now, our sisters sitting on top of the roof and said now go and get some rest inside the house. This approach initiated by our people, whether they are men or women, is a great approach that will break the strength of the (Israeli) F-16 planes."

An Israeli spokesperson called the Palestinian action “a cynical exploitation of our attempt to avoid harm to civilians.” But Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said the tactic had broken new ground and would be used to stop future Israeli attacks.

Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh: "Israel will not break our will and we will stand together for a long path, starting by what has happened here today at this house, to Protect our house, our children, our women and our elderly."