Hamas, the militant Palestinian organisation, attempted to conduct secret talks with the Israeli leadership in the protracted run-up to the recent war in Gaza - with messages being passed from the group at one stage through a member of prime minister Ehud Olmert's family.

Confirmation of attempts to establish a direct line of communication between Hamas and Israel - and the willingness of senior figures in Hamas to contemplate direct negotiations - fundamentally alters the narrative of the build-up to the war in Gaza which claimed more than 1,300 Palestinian lives and led to about a dozen Israeli deaths.

Most remarkable is the story of the involvement of a member of the prime minister's family in the passing of messages to Olmert about the case of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Although the Observer is aware of the identity of the family member and full details of the role played, it has agreed to protect anonymity. Gershon Baskin, a veteran Israel peace activist, was at the centre of attempts to open negotiations. Baskin was in touch with senior members of Hamas, Israeli officials and Olmert, via the member of his family.

Over two years, from the kidnap of Shalit, which triggered Israel's economic blockade of the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million residents right up to the days before Israel launched its three-week long assault, Hamas officials expressed a willingness to talk to Israel directly about the kidnap, conditions for a new ceasefire and the ending of the blockade.

The motivation - from Hamas's side - stemmed from a growing frustration with the role of Egypt as an intermediary over key issues between the two sides, especially in relation to ceasefires.

Baskin, who has a long background in encouraging Israeli-Palestinian contacts, believes that the failure to pursue the overtures was a lost opportunity that contributed to the outbreak of conflict.

"Three times since Shalit's kidnapping [in June 2006 during a cross border raid out of Gaza] there has been the suggestion of opening a back channel through me. The first time that Hamas suggested to me opening a secret back channel was not long after Shalit's kidnapping."

According to Baskin, that offer was immediately rejected by the office of Olmert who said Israel did not negotiate with terrorists. His contacts, said Baskin, were two-fold. On the Hamas side, his contact was a senior figure whom he met in Europe, who was close to the organisation's leaderships both in the Syrian capital Damascus and the local leadership in Gaza. His liaison with the Hamas official focused on two issues: opening secret and direct contacts, and linking the prisoner exchange for Shalit's release to the renewal of the ceasefire and the ending of the economic siege on Gaza.

Baskin's "messenger" to Olmert on the Israeli side was the family member. "I was getting messages to Olmert through [this person]. And what I was getting back from Olmert through the same route was: 'We don't negotiate with terrorists'."

As part of this communication, which went on sporadically for months, Hamas offered a video proving Shalit was still alive, which would be supplied, the organisation said, in exchange for the release of some women and other minor prisoners from Israeli jails. Olmert's response - said Baskin - was that they did not need the video as Israel had already established that the soldier was alive. While that was rejected, the contact did, however, lead to a letter from Shalit to his father.

It was a channel of communication that was abruptly closed, allegedly when Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet intercepted members of Hamas discussing the identity of the Olmert family member involved in passing on the messages, infuriating Olmert.

A year after the first contacts, Baskin told the Observer, he had been given approval to pursue an informal effort to open secret direct contacts, co-ordinating with Ofer Dekel, the official appointed by Olmert as his "special representative" to head efforts for Shalit's return.

This time, however, it was Hamas's turn to block the opening of the secret negotiations - rejecting the linking of the prisoner exchange with the cease-fire and the end of the siege.

Baskin persisted with his dealings with Hamas, communicating with his contact through scores of emails, some passed on to the leadership in Syria and Gaza. While some hardliners, he readily admits, were not willing to initiate contacts - including Said Siam, the interior minister killed during Operation Cast Lead, and Mahmoud Zahar, who served as foreign minister - Baskin was able to reach other Hamas figures by email and text message - among them Hamas moderate and sometime spokesman Ghazi Hamad.

By now, Baskin admitted, his efforts to mediate between the two sides were largely his own initiative as he found himself increasingly shut out of the Israeli efforts to negotiate Shalit's release. He attempted too to use the Olmert "family member".

Two years after his first contacts through the Olmert family - and with war looming - Baskin said he tried to use his contact again. "I only involved [the person] one more time. I was desperate to get a message to Olmert." This time, however, he was told bluntly that he would "need to find another messenger". He told the Observer: "At this point war had already been decided on."

With the conflict only two weeks away Baskin arranged a meeting with his key Hamas contact in Europe, which resulted in another offer to link Shalit to the lifting of the ceasefire. Nobody on the Israeli side replied to the final offer.

Artists to end the occupation is a new website, a collective of artists, writers and musicians united in their effort to raise awareness regarding the Israeli occupation and its corollary the violations of human rights.

Please visit, become a member and help in whichever way you can. It is the collective effort which will bring results. In the US there is a deliberate and systematic black-out and outright distortion of the reality of the occupation. Human rights violations go unreported and worse, get justified unless they are perpetrated by the Palestinians who are labelled "terrorists". When they try to resist even by non-violent means they are shot at and killed under the cover of complete darkness and away from the public eye. This can no longer continue. Just like in cases of injustice elsewhere in this case too, the public must be informed and must act to put an end to it by promoting peaceful coexistence on the basis of the shared and equal humanity of all. We can longer remain silent for silence in situations of injustice is complicity and a stand on the side of the oppressor. Enough is enough Ya Basta.

Well, it seems that the EU has been in a deep coma for the last 42 years. The illegal annexation of East Jerusalem began and was officially announced immediately after the war in 1967. Since then, homes were demolished land was exproriated and a ring of settlements was built to surround East Jerusalem and sever its connection to the West Bank in an effort to realize the declared goal of Israel to reduce the percentage of Palestinians in this part of the city from 100% (in 1967) to 28%. All this has been going on in the open with the tacit and implicit support of western governments.

It is good to see that the EU is finally emerging from its coma. Would it take the next step and move to impose sanctions on Israel for its illegal activity? Or would it simply be happy decrying those acts and life goes on?

Freeman speaks out on his exit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2009
1:26 PM


CONTACT: International Solidarity Movement
Ulrika Jenson (English and Swedish) - +972 598 521 158
Teah Lunqvist (English and Swedish) - +972 598 531 036
Sasha Solanas (English), ISM Media Office - +972 549032981

Oakland Man Shot by Israeli Forces in West Bank
NI'LIN VILLAGE, West Bank, Palestine - March 13 - An American citizen has been critically injured in the village of Ni'lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a tear-gas canister.

Tristan Anderson from Oakland, California, USA, 37 years old, is being taken to the Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is unconscious and has been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He sustained a large hole in his forehead where he was struck by the canister.

"The Israeli soldiers were standing on the hill looking over us firing tear-gas canisters straight into the crowd," reported Ulrika Jenson, an International Solidarity Movement volunteer from Sweden. "Tristan was hit and fell to the ground. He had a large hole in the front of his head and his brain was visible. I tried to stop the bleeding, but he was bleeding heavily from the head, nose and mouth."

Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration against the construction of the annexation wall through the village of Ni'lin's land. Another resident from Ni'lin was shot in the leg with live ammunition.

"Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can be shot up to 500 meters," stated Teah Lunqvist, another ISM volunteer from Sweden. "I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed."

I just could not resist. A little laugh, bewilderment and incredulity. Enjoy.

The newspaper Haartez (Israel) has published a series of articles: testimonies of Israeli soldiers, describing and detailing their behavior during the Gaza massacre in December-January. Lax rules, chaos and lack of accountability seem to have been the modus operandi.

Just like the behavior of US soldiers in Iraq some put the blame on a "few bad apples" absolving the commanders and a prevalent culture which create the conditions to allow abuses (crimes is more appropriate) to happen.

Today, Haaretz published an article describing this culture prevalent among the Israeli army. This culture and attitude among what many Israel-apologists refer to as the "most moral army" show to what extent the rot has penetrated and spread. It is not a few "rotten apples" it is more like a truck load of rotten apples.

What I find disturbing in this is the fact that an Israeli newspaper is publishing articles exposing the mentality and culture of wanton destruction and hate, yet here in the US and many other places critcism of Israel and its policies and behavior with regards to Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular is labeled anti-semitic and is completely absent from public discourse.

After reading the testimonies and this article I could not help but wonder what distinguishes an army (any army) which allows and permits such behavior from so-called "terrorists"? Is there really any distinction other than the fact that an army serves a state and states hold the monopoly on the use of violence?

Despite all appearances to the contrary, this blog is not only about politics and the Middles East. Lately that is what I have been mostly posting because of a sense of urgency and outrage.

Just recently I have become aware of a project undertaken by a good friend of mine here on ipernity "Charp". The project maybe of interest to all who appreciate Art discussions, philosophy and poetry but I must add that the blogs are in French. I hope many of you especially the francophones would find the blogs interesting and be frequent visitors.

You can find more about the project here.

They banned the wrong George

Erik Wallenberg wonders about the mix-up in Canada where the government allowed in a known war criminal, but kept out a leading opponent of war.

March 27, 2009

George Galloway speaking at a 2008 protest of George W. Bush's visit to London (Davide Simonetti)

IT SEEMS that the Canadian government, and the immigration ministry in particular, has gotten their Georges confused. Though how you could confuse a bumbling idiot with a Texas drawl for an erudite Scotsman with an oratory of the first degree, is hard to imagine.

George W. Bush was granted safe passage to Calgary earlier this month for a speaking engagement that netted him some $400-a-plate to talk about his eight years in the White House--God only knows what anyone would want to hear him talk about. Meanwhile, George Galloway was branded an "infandous street-corner Cromwell" by Alykhan Velshi, spokesperson for Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney, and refused entry into the country.

I guess it should be obvious that the Canadian government, headed by Bush wanna-be Stephen Harper, would make room for a war criminal of the highest order and have nothing but contempt for a "street-corner" politician who actually represents the beliefs of those who elected him, not to mention the majority of Canadians who want Canadian involvement in the occupation of Afghanistan to end (and who protested Bush's fist speaking engagement and trip outside the U.S. since leaving office).

Galloway was asked to travel to Canada to speak about the war in Afghanistan. Certainly the Canadian government would rather not have him there speaking against an occupation that Canadian troops are carrying out. But the official reason for his being barred from entering the country is his unabashed support for Palestinians' right to resist occupation in any way they see fit--namely by giving aid to Hamas for the people of Palestine.

In fact, Galloway, when questioned on this, said, "We can only come to the aid of the Palestinian people and give that aid to the democratically elected government. This is something that will not change, no matter how many governments around the world in however many conflicts try to choose other peoples' representatives."

Galloway, who traveled to Gaza recently with the Viva Palestina convey, brought aid and international attention to the Israeli siege that has laid waste to the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, should have gone the way of Bush long ago, but maintains a hold of power by undemocratic parliamentary maneuvers.

It is truly an upside down world when a government can allow a war criminal like George W. Bush--who more than any other single figure in the world has been directly responsible for the deaths and displacement of literally millions of people--to enter the country to rake in more cash and tell more lies, while keeping out George Galloway, who has devoted his life to organizing relief and humanitarian aid, telling the truth and speaking up for ordinary people.

It's time to turn this world right side up and decide--as George Galloway has--that "this is not something I'm prepared to accept."

Source: socialistworker.org/2009/03/27/they-banned-the-wrong-george

Israeli army investigators concluded that no war crimes have been committed during the massacre of Gaza !!! Instead and as usual the soldiers who related stories of killing civilians are accused of basically lying: no such incidents took place. This leaves Ehud Barak to conclude that the Israeli army is still " 'the most moral army in the world' "!!!

Well I suppose that 1400 people killed half of whom are women and children, the bombed hospitals, schools and mosques as well as countless homes, the paramedics killed and ambulances prevented from reaching the injured, the white phosphorous, the siege and starving of the whole Gaza population are all figments of the imagination. Those "never happened". Nobody saw the images of the destruction. The doctors and reporters made up all those stories to tarnish the reputation of this "most moral army".

If this is what morality means then please keep your morality: I have no need for such morality. It is the same kind of morality which defines the murderer and the killer who in his/her mind has a legitimate reason and a perfectly rational one to kill. There is no morality in killing. There is no moral army and there is no pure instrument of death.

A.N.