Tuesday, February 3, 2009

RETRIBUTION Pakistan Daily: "Palestinian human rights activist Raji Al-Sourani has disclosed Wednesday that at least 86 Israeli military officers were now wanted by a number western courts for their role in the holocaust in the Gaza Strip. He said that a number of lawsuits were filed by international human rights organizations against Israeli military officers before courts in Britain, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Spain over their role in the brutal war on Gaza, underlining that 86 of those officers were now wanted by those courts." IPS: "Now that former U.S. president George W. Bush is an ordinary citizen again, many legal and human rights activists in Europe are demanding that he and high-ranking members of his government be brought before justice for crimes against humanity committed in the so-called war on terror. 'Judicial clarification of the crimes against international law the former U.S. government committed is one of the most delicate issues that the new U.S. president Barack Obama will have to deal with,' Wolfgang Kaleck, general secretary of the European Centre for Human and Constitutional Rights told IPS. U.S. justice will have to 'deal with the turpitudes committed by the Bush government,' says Kaleck, who has already tried unsuccessfully to sue the former U.S. authorities in European courts. 'And, furthermore, the U.S. government will have to pay compensation to the innocent people who were victims of these crimes. Kaleck and other legal experts consider Bush and his highest-ranking officials responsible for crimes against humanity, such as torture." Alertnet: "Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende ordered on Monday an independent commission to examine the government's decision to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Netherlands did not send troops into Iraq but supported the U.S. push to invade Iraq because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction, which was later found to be unjustified. Dutch critics of the war say the government put the country, which is hosts several international courts, at legal risk. Balkenende, whose coalition government had long resisted opposition calls to hold an investigation, told a news conference that questions over the issue were a distraction from more immediate concerns, such as the state of the economy." It is generally believed in Holland that the Dutch support for the Iraq war was bought with the appointment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as chief of NATO. 11:38:23 AM

OPEN LETTER TO MR. HARUKI MURAKAMI "村上春樹氏への公開書簡 エルサレム国際ブックフェア参加と「エルサレム賞」受賞のキャンセルを求めます。 私たちは、来る2月15日から20日にかけてエルサレムで行われる第24回エルサレム国際ブックフェアに、あなたが参加され、「エルサレム賞」を受賞されることになっているとのニュースを聞き、大変にショックを受けています。" Palestine Forum: "Open Letter to Mr. Haruki Murakami We ask you to withdraw from the Jerusalem Book Fair and receipt of the 'Jerusalem Prize'. We have heard the news that you are going to participate in the 24th Jerusalem International Book Fair from 15th to 20th February, and will be awarded the 'Jerusalem Prize'. We are terribly shocked. We ask you to seriously reconsider the social and political significance of a world-famous author such as yourself participating in the book fair, which is fully supported by the Foreign Ministry of Israel and the City of Jerusalem, and receiving the award from the mayor of Jerusalem, when Israel has just taken more than 1300 precious lives, injured more than 5300 people, including 500 who are seriously wounded, and destroyed a tremendous number of lives in Gaza and thus committed a series of war crimes. What we are particularly concerned about is the purpose of the 'Jerusalem Prize', being to praise one's contribution to 'individuals' freedom in society'. This concept is in total contradiction of Israel's criminal acts such as massacre, collective punishment, blockade policy, construction of settlements and building of the 'separation wall' in East Jerusalem that are effectively eliminating Palestinians' freedom. If you receive the 'Jerusalem Prize' it will contribute to a false image of Israel respecting 'individuals' freedom in society' which will be portrayed and spread by the media. We fear that the unimaginable devastation of humanity which Israel has inflicted continuously and systematically upon Palestinians will be disregarded and Israel's actions will be accepted Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, has said there was 'a prima facie case' that Israel gravely breached the Geneva Conventions during its 22-day campaign in gaza. Citizens' groups in Europe are preparing to bring the persons responsible before an international tribunal. To avoid the recurrence of this massacre, which reminded us of the Warsaw Ghetto, the international community has to acquit the moral obligation, and send the message 'Do Not Allow, Condone or Forget Massacre' to defiant Israel. We regard the receipt of the 'Jerusalem Prize' as obviously contradicting this cause. Furthermore, Mr. Nir Barakat, who was elected mayor of Jerusalem in November last year, is supporting the continued expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, just as his predecessors. Making Jerusalem the capital, the annexation of East Jerusalem and the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem are all in violation of international law, but Israel claims these to be accomplished facts. This results in keeping true peace far away, and not only in Jerusalem but all Palestinians in the occupied territory become victims of the apartheid policy. We would have to say that Palestinians' 'individuals' freedom in society' is completely suppressed by Israel. Hence receiving the 'Jerusalem Prize' from the mayor of Jerusalem, Mr. Barakat who is in charge of this oppression, contributes towards hiding and vindicating Israel's apartheid policy all the more. We believe that this is not your intention. Please turn your attention to the Palestinians, who are being denied their freedom and dignity as human beings and resisting by surviving everyday life. We would humbly ask you to consider the effects your receipt of the 'Jerusalem Prize' would have, what sort of message the world would receive in this Middle East situation, what kind of propaganda value it could have to Israel and the possibility of aggravating the critical situation Palestinians are facing." The above letter is informative for all Murakami fans, but when it was posted in the Livejournal Murakami Community the post was removed. I guess to help further the 'individual's freedom in society'. YNet: "The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award traditionally bestowed upon authors whose work has dealt with human freedom, society, politics, and government." So Murakami will definitely be making a political statement. Unless, of course, he condemns the war crimes of Israel in his acceptation speech and stresses the freedom of the Palestinian people. 11:20:34 AM

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