[Sosfbay-discuss] Report on the Wallach Sister's Powerful Event at De Anza

[Brian Good]

       Thursday night the Wallach sisters
Darlene and Donna gave an emotional presentation on Gaza to a
standing-room-only crowd of 100 people at De Anza College.  They
showed video showing Israeli gunboats shooting close across the bows
of a Palestinian fishing boat, aggressively throwing wakes, and
firing powerful water cannons into the wheelhouse.  They said the
water from these cannons has a strong chemical odor.



     They said that in 2006 the Israelis
arbitrarily imposed a 6-mile fishing limit at the Gaza coast, while in most of the world a 12-mile limit is
recognized.  In 2008 14 Palestinian  fishermen were killed by Israeli
gunboats illegally entering  Palestinian waters, and recently another
was shot and wounded.


     They report that Israeli soldiers
destroyed Palestinian houses and farms to create a buffer zone along
the border, and that they shoot at or near farmers who enter their
own fields.   One doctor told them that soldiers shoot at his house
every day, and one farmer has been unable to farm for 5 years because
of the shooting.  They stood on the fields with their hands up,
calling for the Israelis to stop shooting near them.



     The blockade has been oppressive.  278
people died unnecessarily because they could not get across the
border for needed medical treatment in Israel; 33,000 factory workers
lost their jobs because supplies and components can't get through. 
Lack of building materials has led to overcrowded schools with 40
students in a class, and double schedules.  Supplies to keep sewage
plants operating properly can not be obtained.


     In the incident when the Israelis kidnapped Darlene at sea, the Israelis held the three boats for ten days, 
When they were returned, expensive GPS units had been stolen, and one
of the engines had been damaged.

    The fishermen were threatened that if
they have international observers on their boats again, the boats
will be confiscated.  Darlene commented that conditions in jail were
better for her than conditions in Gaza, which she described as "an
open air prison".  She had 24-hour electricity, hot and cold
water, and three meals a day.  The Gazans are lucky to get 6 hours of
electricity a day.  The banks closed in November, bringing the
economy to a halt.  The Israelis are holding 12,000 Palestinian
prisoners.  Some are held in pits in the ground in cold weather,
sometimes in combat areas.



    Darlene reacted angrily to a question
about creating a Ghandian campaign of nonviolent resistance.  She
said that the everyday life of the Palestinian people was nonviolent
resistance.  Audience members recommended the book "The Israel
Lobby" by Mearsheimer and Walt, political scientists at the
University of Chicago and Harvard, and  "West Bank Story,"
a comic film about a romance betweenDavid and Fatima.

    My whole life I have avoided
confronting this issue because it's inconvenient and unpleasant, and
it didn't seem to have anything to do with me. It was important to see the talk in a room full of other people; I "knew" most of that they said from having read stuff on the internet, but it didn't sink in. I
recognize that my reaction was much like that of people who don't
want to think about the dishonesty of the official 9/11 reports.  I think the Wallachs felt impelled to get involved because the issue does involve them, just as my personal experiences forced me to do something about getting to the truth of 9/11. I
thank the Wallach sisters for their courage and dedication to what's
right, and I thank them for shocking me out of my wilful ignorance.  


    A followup presentation by Barbara
Lubin is happening this Thursday at the San Jose State Engineering
Auditorium (near 7th and San Fernando) at 7:00 pm.  


http://www.southbaymobilization.org/index.php




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