new this week on peacepalestine

["mary" <humdrum2 at libero.it>]

· Academic Boycott of Israel takes off! The Association of University Teachers (AUT) in the UK voted in its Council meeting today to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities and to disseminate to all its chapters our Call for Boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This historic decision, which sets a landmark precedent, stands as a major achievement in the struggle to attain a just peace in our region. Finally, boycotting Israeli institutions, as a morally and politically sound response to Israel's crimes, is on the mainstream agenda in the west; and no one can ignore it now.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/academic-boycott-of-israeli.html

· Marines disembark in Israel Hundreds of US Marines riding hovercrafts stormed ashore the beaches of Nitzanim Wednesday as part of joint maneuvers being quietly held between the US and Israeli militaries.

 http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/marines-disembark-in-israel.html

· General Closure on the West Bank April 21, 2005 IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
General closure on the West Bank In accordance with a decision by the political echelon and in light of the security assessment, a general closure will be imposed on the WestBank, effective tonight and for the duration of the Passover holiday.
Throughout the duration of the closure humanitarian cases will behandled and approved by the District Coordination and Liaison offices.

So, you're thinking, Jewish Holiday = Palestinian Punishment and you are once again correct. What does the General closure (temporary, but unilaterally enforced and only against the Palestinian people, and not the Jewish settlers in Occupied Palestinian Territory) mean?

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/general-closure-on-west-bank_22.html

· US soldiers in Iraq - wounded and hidden Pike and veterans' advocate Rieckhoff both said the Pentagon has employed a raft of techniques to manage domestic perceptions of the war. The Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines "perception management" as "actions to convey and/or deny selected information and indicators" to influence "emotions, motives, and objective reasoning." Although the dictionary describes such techniques only as they apply to foreign audiences, the Pentagon has come under fire for employing some pretty aggressive techniques at home, too.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/us-soldiers-in-iraq-wounded-and-hidden.html

· Guess who said it To What Extent Is a 'Two-State Solution' the Proper Formula for Resolving the Arab-Israeli Conflict?

This is a sensitive question, especially since the idea of a "two-state solution" has now become widely accepted as the pathway for resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. But given demographic trends, is it actually realistic to believe that there is adequate space between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea for two, independent, viable states? For example, the area of the Gaza Strip is 365 square kilometers; it contains today a population of about 1.3 million Palestinians. That figure will double in one generation. Is it possible to imagine that, when 2.5 million Palestinians live in Gaza in the year 2025, they will be able and willing to focus their national energies -- economically, culturally, and so on -- within this limited space? Perhaps it is neither wise nor just to premise the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on this assumption.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/guess-who-said-it.html

· nuclear free Europe, USA permitting The Al-Awda Italia list has printed out an endless list of American military bases and facilities on Italian soil. One hundred and thirteen of them. One hundred and thirteen pieces of the USA, operating in complete sovereignty, are located on our soil. As Susanne wrote, this is how they liberated us. If that weren’t bad enough, The US stores its nuclear weapons here: we’re talking about Weapons of Mass Destruction. Not some Starbucks caffès.

 http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/we-want-nuclear-free-europe-usa.html