Sahar Vardi spoke in November 2014 at the Tree of Life Conference in Cambridge, MA. She describes her own observations, along with her personal experience as a refusenik, of Israel's pervasive militarism. Also discussed: defects in the vaunted proposed 12-month deadline resolution at the UN, and in the recent call for EU recognition of Palestine.
Vardi coordinates the Israel program for the American Friends Service Committee, focusing on countering the militarization of Israeli society. She has been promoting coexistence since working as a small child with her Israeli father planting trees in Palestinian villages. Conscripted into the Israeli Defense Forces at age 18, she was imprisoned for her refusal to serve. Prior to her work with the AFSC, Sahar worked with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity moment, protesting Israelâs eviction of Palestinians from their homes.
The big news out of Palestine in recent weeks is the rumored move by the UN Security Council to vote on a resolution setting a 12 month deadline to achieve a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement which calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied West Bank and Gaza by the end of 2017. The draft was formally put forward by Jordan at the behest of of Mahmoud Abbas, the so-called leaders of the Palestinian authority. Sound good? Well, hold on. The more trusted voices of the Palestinian people are sounding serious notes of caution which we want to explore today.
We begin with Ali AbuNimah of the Electronic Intifada:
"...This resolution tries to do exactly the same thing [that the Zionists always wanted], except in a more legally binding and therefore dangerous manner. It makes the claim that 'a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means, based on an enduring commitment to mutual recognition, freedom from violence, incitement and terror, and the two-state solution.'
"It insists that the entire question of Palestine be reduced to the question of the 1967 occupation and that merely ending this occupation would effectively end all Palestinian claims.
"The resolution uses vague, deceptive and in some places outright dishonest language that would enshrine in international law the âliberalâ Zionist two-state solution and deal a devastating blow to Palestinian rights, particularly the right of return for refugees. The places it speaks about ârightsâ relate to the Palestinian âright to self-determinationâ â a vague formula which has come to mean in effect a bantustan state and no more. ..."
Before concluding our broadcast this week, we mention one more critical voice to add concerning the recent call for recognition of the State of Palestine by European countries. That is the voice of Miko Peled, whom we have featured on This Week In Palestine in the past. Peled is an Israeli author and journalist.
This Week In Palestine (a weekly part of Truth and Justice Radio) is an award-winning three-quarter-hour segment of news from Palestine and discussion of issues relevant to the Palestinians' struggle for freedom from Israel's brutal military occupation and colonization of their homeland. It speaks from the point of view of Palestinians and those who care about them.
It's a regular part of Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org; TJR's website, truthandjusticeradio.org, has a link to This Week In Palestine archives back thru 1-6-2008; earlier editions are obtainable from radio4all.net or by navigating through our playlists. (At this important time, TJR has been airing a lot of Palestine coverage IN ADDITION to that provided by This Week In Palestine.) We hope you'll write to us at tjr@bluebottle.com if you rebroadcast our work, or have questions or comments.
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