Leonard Cohen Legitimises the Nakba

Protests at the Leonard Cohen concerts in Dublin and Belfast have been organised by various organisations such as the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (http://www.ipsc.ie) to protest against the musicians intention to play later this year in Tel Aviv, Israeli contolled Palestine.

In July 2005 almost 200 Palestinian civil society organisations called for a "Boycott, Divesment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with international Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights". Since 2005 Israels regime has become even more hateful and cruel, with the Seige on Gaza still not being lifted. The aparthied wall has been condemned as illegal by the UN and yet Arabs are still unhoused for its continued construction. More people are being unhoused for building developments in the West Bank. More and more checkpoints have been set up, breaking human rights laws. 2009 began with another slaughter of Palestinain civilians by Israeli armed forces, backed by the USA finacially and with weapons, that left 1,300 murdered, 0ver 400 of whom where women or Children and 86% o whom were declared civilians. News later revealed that innocents has been slaughtered intentionally. During this slaughter houses, hospitals, schools and mosques where attack with phospherous gas, which is illegal.

It is based on this that Leonard Cohen has been called upon to cancel his Tel Aviv appearence. At nearly every performance this year, different organisations have organised protests outside his shows, as letters from many orgainsations where ignored. To further add insult to the cause of Palestinian human rights, Leonard Cohen cancelled his Palestinian date instead.

A letter signed by 4 Jewish academics wrote

"You will perform for a public that by a very large majority had no qualms about its military forces' onslaught on Gaza... You will perform in a state whose propaganda services will extract every ounce of mileage from your presence... And you are telling the Palestinians ...that their suffering doesn't matter."

IPSC echoes that call.

In further news, as we already know in the latest elections Israel elected a Right Wing, more so anti Palestinian party. The education minister in this regime has decided that the word Nakba should be dropped from text books. Despite the fact that the word only appears in the book aimed at Arab Israeli citizens.

The passage in question, which occurs in one textbook aimed at Arab children aged around eight or nine, describes the 1948 war, which resulted in Israel's creation, in the following terms: "The Arabs call the war the Nakba - a war of catastrophe, loss and humiliation - and the Jews call it the Independence War.

Furthermore, despite the fact that Israel celebrates this every year, the new regime is trying to pass a bill that will make it illegal for the Arab Israelis to mourn this day in commemeration of the Nakba every May 15th. More Racist rule from Binyamin Netanyahu's regime.

Also, I have been trying to follow the story in Honduras, which is something I will blog about if I can educate myself further. However one thing that does bear mentioning is All EU countries pulled out their diplomats from Honduras within days or weeks apppearently. However when Israel was slaughtering the people of Gaza Hugo Chavez was the only leader with the testicular fortitude to remove his Israeli ambassador. That is a bit dissapointing.

God Bless
Peace