‘Welcome to Palestine’ campaign responds to Israel’s denial of entrance to international visitors who support human rights

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

‘Welcome to Palestine’ campaign responds to Israel’s denial of entrance to international visitors who support human rights

Bethlehem and Jerusalem, July 7, 2011 - The Israeli authorities are escalating attacks on anyone they suspect of participating in the peaceful events of the ‘Welcome to Palestine’ campaign. Israeli authorities sent hundreds of names to airline companies telling them to deny travel to individuals on the list. Several people on the list who had booked flights were sent letters from airline companies cancelling their reservations ‘based on a request from the Israeli authorities.’ We call on all airline companies not to accept such provocative, blackmailing, and illegal actions by the Israeli government. Ominously, Israeli Prime minister has directed the interior security minister that the Israeli authorities must ‘act with determination’ towards those who do make it to Ben Gurion Airport.

The visitors coming from the US and Europe on Friday are committed to the principles of international and humanitarian law and believe strictly in nonviolence. They were invited by dozens of Palestinian civil society organizations and groups.  They have stated that the only way to visit and work with Palestinians is by passing through Israeli border controls. They have declared their commitment to pass these border controls in an orderly, peaceful and fully transparent way.

Before stepping onto the airplanes, the visitors will have passed through meticulous security procedures at the various airports of origin and will pose no threat in any way. The propaganda efforts to paint human rights advocates as ‘hooligans’ and even ‘violent’ (an attempt to demonize and dehumanize them in order to justify violence against them) is simply not credible and indeed ridiculous. We are pleased that this episode further exposes Israeli policies towards anything or anyone relating to ‘Palestinians’ as dictatorial, racist, and criminal and not complying with basic elements of democracy or human rights.

Visitors traveling between countries have rights under international law and bilateral travel agreements. Our foreign visitors insist that they must be treated with respect in the same manner Israeli citizens receive when traveling to their countries.  Those who had reservations cancelled will exercise their right of protest including bringing legal cases in their own countries. We will also bring legal cases in Israeli courts under our continued attempt to expose the racist policies of the Israeli government.

Several peaceful protests will be held at airports throughout Europe on the 8th of July and we urge all civilized people throughout the world to protest these undemocratic moves to silence free speech and legal travel. We ask the media to insist on access and fair reporting on Israeli tactics that are against basic human rights of international solidarity activists before, during and after they arrive at the Israeli airport. We demand Israel publishes all instructions given to their ‘border control officials’ regarding visitors who intend to visit Palestinians.

The "Welcome to Palestine" campaign has been successful in exposing Israeli attempts to isolate and imprison Palestinians and prevent international visitors from coming to find out what is really happening on the ground.

Friday 8 July 2011 at 10 AM in Bethlehem Peace Center, located in Nativity Square, we will have a Press Conference to announce further steps we will take and to answer any questions. 

Twitter: #PalSpring
Facebook: Welcome to Palestine

Contact information:

Bethlehem: Fadi Kattan, press.welcometopalestine2@gmail.com   +970 (0) 595 754 100 or Skype welcome.palestine

Jerusalem: Nikki or Laura, sergioyahni@gmail.com , +972 2 624 1159 or +972 2 624 1424

Berlin: Sophia Deeg, sophia_deeg@yahoo.de, +49(0) 30 88 007761, +49 (0) 1799878414.  13:00  Press briefing; beginning 13:30 news center, including (if possible) direct contact with the travelers as they land at Ben Gurion airport.  Filmbühne am Steinplatz, Hardenbergstr. 12, Berlin Charlottenburg. 

Paris:  Nicolas Shahshahani, bienvenuepalestine@orange.fr +33 (0)1 42 94 39 94 and +33 (0) 6 73 38 24 84. The press office will answer questions from the media around the clock. 

UK: Sofiah Macleod, july8@scottishpsc.org.uk, +44 (0)131 620 0052 or + 44 (0) 7401631658, Skype: scottishpsc.

USA/Germany: Elsa Rassbach, elsarassbach@gmail.com, +49 (0) 30 326 01540, +49 (0) 170 738 1450, Skype: elsarassbach

Website

http://palestinejn.org/palestinianspring

AlJazeera English Story:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/07/201175145243628145.html

Challenging Israeli Apartheid Staring at Ben Gurion airport

http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/challenging-israeli-apartheid-starting-at-ben-gurion-airport.html

Congressman Schiff Statement on the Future of the Arab Spring and Syria

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Contact: Maureen Shanahan (202) 225-4176

Schiff Statement on the Future of the Arab Spring and Syria

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) spoke on the House Floor about the future of the Arab Spring and the situation in Syria.  See below for a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video.

Mr. Schiff: Mr. Speaker, there are moments in the lives of nations when existing order is suddenly revealed as bereft of legitimacy and no longer viable. The wave of unrest spreading across the Arab world, touched off by the self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor tired of petty humiliation by a corrupt government, has exposed the rot of decades of caprice, corruption and incompetence. That this one man's desperate act could lead to the downfall of the governments of Tunisia, Egypt and, perhaps Yemen, is testament to the pent up frustration of millions of people who are denied the basic rights and economic opportunity that we take for granted here in the West.

But it is in Syria, where the future of the Arab Spring seemingly hangs in the balance and where the security services have acted with the least restraint and maximum violence. Like marauding armies of old, select units of military and security services, troops have been moving from city to city in a quest to quash the ever-spreading demonstrations that have become a feature of life in Syria.

Derra, a town of some 75,000 lying near the border with Jordan, has emerged as one of the centers of the Syrian uprising against the 40 years of rule by the Assad family. Army and security forces have repeatedly assaulted the town and surrounding villages, killing hundreds of civilians and arresting anyone suspected of taking part in demonstrations against the regime.

On April 29 in the village of Jiza, the Syrian secret police rounded up anybody it thought was involved with the protests, including Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, who had gone to watch the demonstration with other members of his family. For a month, Hamza family waited for him to return, worried but hopeful he would be released unharmed.

It was not to be.

On May 30, his mutilated body was returned to them. He had been tortured, subjected to repeated electric shocks, and whipped with cables. His eyes were swollen and black, and there were identical bullet wounds where he had been apparently shot through both arms, the bullets lodging in his belly. On his chest was a deep, dark burn mark. His neck was broken and parts of his body were cut off.

Hamza Ali al-Khateeb was 13 years old.

Video of the boy's shattered body has been seen by millions on television and the internet, and Hamza, like the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself alight, has become a symbol to his countrymen and the world of the depravity and illegitimacy of a regime that would torture its own children to death.

Our ability to bring additional economic pressure on Syria is limited. Its economy is already under immense strain. It is small, weak and isolated. Political pressure in the form of a U.N. Security Resolution condemning the violence and crackdown has been blocked by Russia and China, and there's dread over what will happen when Assad falls.

Given the internal divisions between Sunni and Shi`ia Muslims, Christians and Druse, the confessional and sectarian splits are as pronounced as in Lebanon, the potential for large scale violence as great as Iraq. The dangers are real, but the promise of what began in Tunisia and is now materializing in Egypt and elsewhere is also real. People of courage can determine their own destiny and it need not be one of hereditary dictatorship, kleptocracy or lack of opportunity and stagnation.

In the Arab world as elsewhere, people should be free to choose their own government to represent them and to chart a path of peace with their neighbors. To conclude otherwise means that we relegate tens of millions of people to suffer of capricious ruthlessness of their despots for generation after generation or we're willing to trade the illusion of stability for the harsh reality of their suffering. That’s not the choice we made for ourselves 235 years ago and it is not one that we should presume to make for others.

Bashar al-Assad is a ruthless tyrant whose time has passed and who clings to power by only by virtue of brutal force. Our role and that of the international community should be to work with Syrian opposition figures and others to advance a negotiated transition to a new Syrian government that will represent all Syrians and prevent the trading in of one set of thugs for another.

The Arab Spring cannot be allowed to fail because of brutal repression, the specter of religious fanaticism, a fear of the unknown or the cynicism born of unmet expectations.

The region's many millions must have the freedom to write a new chapter for themselves and their posterity.

I thank the Speaker and yield back the balance of my time.

-30-

U.S. Comedian Ronnie Khalil Tests Egypt's Free Speech Boundaries With First Stand-Up Show Since Revolution

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U.S. Comedian Ronnie Khalil Tests Egypt's Free Speech Boundaries With First Stand-Up Show Since Revolution

CAIRO -- July 5, 2011 -- Ronnie Khalil remembers sitting in his California apartment watching the Egyptian revolution on television. He remembers the horrific images of a van barreling down a crowded street, while men on donkeys and camels wielded sticks and swords at peaceful protesters. He wondered if his family was safe and if his friends were alive. The last thing Ronnie was thinking about was how to make this all funny. Ronnie Khalil is a well-known Egyptian-American comedian and co-founder of the Middle Eastern Comedy Festival in Los Angeles. But six months after the revolution, with Egypt's future still in doubt, Ronnie knows one thing for certain: the country is in desperate need for a laugh. On July 6th, Ronnie will be headlining the "Freedom of Funny" Tour, the first stand-up comedy show in Cairo since the revolution at the El Sawy Culturewheel.  Not surprisingly, Ronnie was also the last comedian to perform before the revolution, holding an underground comedy show just weeks before, where he addressed topics such as sexual harassment and women's rights. During the Cairo event, Ronnie will announce his candidacy for "Bresident of Egypt," a humorous reference to Middle Easterners sometimes confusing English letters. He will also unveil his plan for a "New Egypt." Ronnie and his fellow comedians, all local Egyptians, will have the difficult task of making light of the revolution, while testing out the new limits of freedom of speech, mostly with regards to politics.  "It'll be interesting to perform in a country where I was always forbidden to talk about Egyptian politics and let loose a bit," says Khalil. "I've saved more than 30 years of Mubarak jokes, though my 1991 joke about him wearing MC Hammer pants might be a little outdated."

Ronnie Khalil is an Egyptian-American comedian who has headlined across four continents, taped comedy specials in the Middle East and Australia. He is co-Founder of the Middle Eastern Comedy Festival in Los Angeles and has been seen on ABC News, NPR, Air America, CNN, FOX news, the European News Channel, Al Jazeera, and more. ### NOTE TO MEDIA: Interviews and high resolution photos are available upon request. Media can also attend the event with prior permission.  Please contact producers@mideastcomedyfest.com.