Disclaimer: The views expressed on this webpage and posts are not necessarily those of Al-Bushra or its owners or volunteers, but are solely those of the individual authors. Al-Bushra does not compensate the authors for their contributions and takes no responsibility for the articles and their contents.

This webpage is a contribution from Al-Bushra website looking, with you , our Dear Friends, for Justice, Peace and TRUTH.

Pray with us and stand with the TRUTH, which is the best World Wide interest.

• Open Letter to the Israelis and friends of Israel

Dear Israeli friend, just use your judgments. You cannot empty Palestine from Arab Muslims and Arab Christians who want to live a decent life and real future of peace and justice. YOU CANNOT KILL THE SOUL, THE SPIRIT AND THE WILL OF SAMSON. He will return one day...make from him your friend before he returns, it will be too late for him and for you then...By Dr. Fr. Labib Kobti, San Francisco
• Jerusalem what is the TRUTH?

A webpage that could help you to find out, yourself, through witnesses on the ground in the Holy Land about what is really happening.
• Cities had become mass prisons

Ignoring the TRUTH of what is happening to Jerusalem is forgetting that JERUSALEM belongs to all of us -- Jews, Christians and Muslims -- as our Holy City. From the Counsel of the Catholic Patriarchs of the Orient General Secretary Delivered on October 18, 1996.
• Jerusalem is in DANGE
• United Nation, Non-Profit organizarions and Human Rights Organizations world wide as well the Palestinian Human Rights activists ( Jewish, Muslims and Christians), assert that Israel is acceerating the confiscation of identity cards from Palestinian residents of Jerusalem (Muslims and Christians alike) stripping them of the right to live in their own homeland.This letter was sent on October 10th, 1996 to the Catholic Bishops World Wide sent by fax from the Commission for Justice and Peace, in Jerusalem.
• Report from the Interantional Labor Organisation in Geneva

Israel's closure of the occupied Arab territories and construction of new Jewish settlements produced greater economic and social hardship among Palestinians last year.
• I saw the TRUTH!!

There is one and only one obvious purpose, to place a settlement squarely in between Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the wilderness of Judea, in order to cut off any potential access to the eastern portion of Jerusalem from the West Bank, to geographically eliminate the possibility of East Jerusalem becoming a Palestinian capital.A letter to President Clinton from Rev. Dr. A. Dale Truscott, Senior Pastor, Zion Lutheran Church, Ann Arbor, MI (443 Sumark Way, Ann Arbor, MI 48103), commenting on Har Homa, Abu-Ghneim
• Living and dying in Terra Santa

Among the images of my visit to the holy sites were the scenes of abject poverty, massive oppression, collective punishment, radical fear and the tragic losses endured, in particular, by the Christians of this region. Among the many losses were human life in death, a quality of life in economic deprivation, along with a loss of a sense of personhood and national identity. From Rev. Adam Forno, a Catholic American Parish priest at St. Joseph Parish, 1620 Third St. Rensselaer, N.Y. 12144.
• Palestinain Rights

When our parish pilgrimage left for the Holy Land last month, most of us pilgrims had the average American viewpoint on the Middle East: basically pro-Israeli. When we returned after 12 days in Israel, our views were changed and were much more sympathetic to the Palestinians. From Fr. Peter Daly, a Roman Catholic Priest from St. John Vianney Parish in Prince Frederick, MD.
• My views are based on my own eye and ear

As a Roman Catholic Lawyer and Professor of International Human Rights who has been in the Holyland three times in recent years and examined Israel-Palestine from top to bottom from a human rights standpoint, I affirm the observations of Fr.Peter Daly... Most Americans do not realize their (and their government's) blind and unquestioning support of Israel is in fact helping Israel create conditions for the demise or at least disappearance of the Christian Church in the land of Jesus. From Dr. H. Victor Conde Irvine, California
• The hidden Israeli pain

I know that Israelis are living in pain...Their future is coexistence with the Palestinians. Their future is mutual acceptance. Their future is returning justice back to the Palestinian people so they have their own rights to build up their own society and security. This is the guarantee for the future of the Israeli society. From Fr. Emile Salayta, director of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Back from Israel-Palestine, I want to inform my fellow Americans

Imagine how kids might grow up having experienced their father or older brother got arrested and beaten up for no reason? From Mohammad Nabulsi : 100543.1603@CompuServe.
• Stand with TRUTH and work for JUSTICE

The situation represents thousands of peace loving people who are innocent of any wrong doing against Israel. Their only desire is to live in peace with Israel. From Fr. Emile Salayta, General Director, Latin Patriarchate Schools
• An American Christian Experience of Israel

I am an American Christian who is working with the churches in the Holy Land and I need to go to Jerusalem several times a week. I have an American passport and I have a valid visa for Israel and I have an apartment in an autonomous town. But sometimes I have trouble getting through the checkpoint into Jerusalem and sometimes I have been harassed at the checkpoint coming back.By Betty Jane Bailey Bethlehem and Jerusalem
• Travel and Truth:A Volunteers' Experience in PalestineThis summer, to the dismay of friends and family, I travelled to Palestine as a volunteer to teach Palestinian children, teen, and adults. In addition I witnessed the truths about this Mid-East conflict that we in the west are deprived of. I felt the fear and mistrust of both the Israelis and Palestinians-and their respective fights for survival. By Crystal Procyshen,czapro@sprynet.com
• All countries should be equal infront of the same law

When the Clinton 2 started to see the Israel settlements especially at Har -Homa/ Abu-Ghneim in East Jerusalem and other settlements as legal, to speak about disputed Territories and not Occupied Terrritories, and accepted the security for Peace of Netanyaho and vetoed the UN resolutiuons, it showed clearly that they do not beleive on the Justice of the International Community who voted for the Resolutions that the USA denied. By Crystal Procyshen,czapro@sprynet.com
• 50 Years of Continued Suffering

About 3.5 million Palestine refugees continue to live under difficult conditions while waiting for a just solution to their problem. A report from UNRWA ( a United Nation Organization)
• Israel at 50, Other voices

As we walked around, Dad recalled the day, Oct. 30, 1948, as the Arab irregulars were withdrawing and most everyone from the village crowded into the town church. The bombing from the Israeli forces came closer and closer until finally a loud voice said, "He who wants to live, let him come out." They rushed outside with hands held high. The Israeli soldiers occasionally shot at those coming out of the church, killing some, wounding others. By Sam Hussaini quo0ted in The Washington Post April 26, 1998 Outlook Section.
• Violence against Arabs

Ms. Gradstein focussed on two young Palestinian women who have taken an apartment in the western Jerusalem neighborhood of Al-Musrara. Gradstein characterised this as a "Jewish" neighborhood. She should have mentioned that, prior to 1948, Al-Musrara and many other western Jerusalem neighborhoods were Arab, and that the property in them was seized from its owners without compensation, and their Arab inhabitants expelled. This includes many of western Jerusalem's most desirable and expensive "Jewish" areas such as Old Katamoun, Al-Baq'a, Romema as well as others. From Ali Abunimah: ahabunim@midway.uchicago.edu
• ACJ SOUNDS ALARM ON ISRAELI ACTIONS IN JERUSALEM

By approving a new plan to expand the municipality of Jerusalem, the Israeli cabinet has once again acted rashly, ignoring both the spirit and the letter of the Oslo accords, and flouting both international law and UN Security Council resolutions. From Raafat Dajani ACJ
• Amnesty condemns Israelis and Palestinians for rights abuses By Robert Fisk

Torture and death in custody, arbitrary arrest and detention without trial, executions and unfair trials by both Israelis and Palestinians; five years after the Oslo Agreement, could there be a more wretched indictment of the "peace" between Israel and the PLO than the report Amnesty International publishes this morning? Read The Independent September 9, 1998
• Jesus and Christendom seen by the Israeli Jewish society and education system

Until some few years ago, it was possible to study about "The New Testament" in the israeli jewish schools ( "N.T." between inverted commas, as Jews do NOT believe in the NEW Covenant and refuse to consider the Thorah an "OLD" one) . Recently, all study and mention of the "New Testament" were cancelled. By Dr. Fr. Peter Madros, Jerusalem, Palestine
• Losing faith, The View from the East

An apartheid-like situation is taking legal cover as Israeli settlers fall under different laws than Palestinians living in the same geographic area. The settlers have the freedom to travel, they pay less for water and electricity and are treated differently by the Israeli police than Palestinians. By DAOUD KUTTAB
• After demolishing Palestinian's home, Israel bulldozes his orchard

They destroyed my house because they said I didn't have a permit to build it, but what permit do I need to cultivate my own land," Jaber shouted as an army bulldozer tore through the orchard.Agence France Press
• Amnesty condemns Israel and Palestinians

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has accused both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority of widespread abuses of human rights, including detention without charge, torture and unfair trials. Amnesty International
• The Issue of Palestinian Refugees: Present and Future

Palestinian refugees are denied the protection enjoyed by virtually all other refugees in the world. It is not only peculiar, but positively deplorable, that all refugees in the world should enjoy the right of protection represented by efforts to return them to their homelands while refugees alone are deprived of this right. By Mahmoud al-Khatib
• Unequal Lives

If proof were needed that the Israeli government sees Palestinians as being less human than Jews and less worthy of protection, here it is.Unfortunately this double standard is often reproduced in the way incidents are reported by the media, especially in the United States. Ali Abunimah commenting on "Report: Police Go Easy on ISRAELI Settlers"
• Land confiscations inside the 1948 territories

This means that Palestinians cannot built any longer on their own land and that the Misgav council can expropriate them under all kinds of pretexts "of public interest" (read: interest of the Jews).By Christine Prat
• Freedom to Travel ,The View From The East

"How many Palestinians can count on the wife of an Israeli official to obtain their freedom to travel?" he asked. "Right now more than 2 million Palestinians are unable to travel from the West Bank to Gaza. They can't use the airport and entry to Jerusalem or Israel is strictly forbidden. If you are sincere about your call for dialogue, your effort should be focused on ensuring the freedom of movement for all Palestinians," he told the Israeli panelist. By DAOUD KUTTAB
• Middle Eastern welcome ,The View from the East

Her husband has been imprisoned for 46 months for the crime of being the head of Bir Zeit University's student union. He is held in an Israeli prison inside Israel (a violation of the Geneva Convention, which forbids occupying powers to transfer prisoners out of the occupied areas).By DAOUD KUTTAB
• ISRAEL AND SOUTH AFRICA IN THEIR OWN WORDS, by Ali Abunimah, October 25, 2000

In late 1984 protests by South African blacks against high rents turned into a national uprising against Apartheid. The white South African government responded with brutal force, eventually declaring a state of emergency. This did not quell the protests, which continued for months and  years. Thousands of blacks were killed, injured and imprisoned. All along,  the South African government claimed it was engaged in a "reform" process which would have given blacks some autonomy under total white control. The program involved forcibly moving millions of blacks off their land and  into "homelands." Sound familiar? It did to me, and so do the quotes from South African officials back in 1984-85, when they are placed next to what we are hearing from Israel's government today. I have organized them  roughly by category.
• Israel's apartheid | 1, 2, 3

Although Israel's Arab population has grown from 150,000 in 1948 to almost 1 million today, Arab communities have been systematically denied the right to expand beyond their 1948 boundaries. At the same time, Israel has continued to confiscate private Arab land. Not surprisingly, the disproportionate amount of Arab land expropriated recently to build the Trans-Israel Highway was one of the major grievances that pushed Israeli Arabs to protet from September 2000
• BEYOND GRADUAL CHANGE IN SOUTH AFRICA; Peaceful Struggle Is Futile

Mbeki's article would make a very good analysis of the present situation if you replace "Botha" with "Barak,"  "Blacks" with "Palestinians," "Whites" with "Israelis" and "reforms" with "the peace process." For "Communists" feel free to insert "Fatah," "Hamas" or any other of the groups Israel blames for all the problems.
• Shin Beth Chief: apartheid in territories

The former leader of Shin Beth, Israel's domestic security agency, warned
the government Monday against the emergence of a system of apartheid in the
Palestinian territories.
• Up in arms against apartheid, By Abdul-Jawwad Saleh

Under a racist colonial policy of separation, the Israeli occupation forces are digging deep trenches in bypass roads to prohibit the Palestinians from using them to escape imprisonment...The colonisers, backed by the army, are impoverishing and starving the population of the rural areas, preventing the population from harvesting their olive crops
• Satyagraha to End Apartheid in Palestine, By  Arjan El Fassed (A link)

In 1993 the world witnessed the beginning of the end of apartheid in South Africa, vindicating names like Mandela, Tutu, Biko, and the millions of others who fought tirelessly in that struggle. Yet the same year saw a new beginning, a new life for an apartheid regime in Palestine, hailed and supported as a peace process - the Oslo Accords.
• Israel and the Apartheid

 Israel's ties with South Africa seem to be especially disturbing to many who follow Israel's international activities. Perhaps it is natural that Israel has been castigated more harshly for its arms sales to South Africa than for its sales to other countries: first, because there has been for a decade an arms embargo against South Africa; and second, because of the unsurpassed criminality of the white regime and the uses to which it puts the Israeli-supplied weapons.
• Apartheid and Israel: similarities, Ali Abunimah

Can observers of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict learn from the experience of apartheid-era South Africa and its transition to democracy? Does a nascent student movement for divestment from Israel indicate that Israel's policies towards Palestinians may be the next target for activism inspired by that which helped end apartheid?
• Israeli Apartheid: Some Parallels by Ahmed Bouzid

 Raphael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli army during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, said the following: "I don't understand this comparison between us and South Africa. What is similar here and there is that both they and we must prevent others from taking us over. Anyone who says that the blacks are oppressed in South Africa is a liar. The blacks there want to gain control of the white minority just like the Arabs here want to gain control over us. And we, too, like the White minority in South Africa, must act to prevent them from taking us over. I was in a gold mine there and I saw what excellent conditions the black workers have. So there is separate elevators for Whites and Blacks, so what? That's the way they like it."
• Israeli Apartheid And Terrorism: Part 1, The Reality Edward S. Herman

If Jews in France were required to carry identification cards designating them Jews (even though French citizens), could not acquire land or buy or rent homes in most of the country, were not eligible for service in the armed forces, and French law banned any political party or legislation calling for equal rights for Jews, would France be widely praised in the United States as a "symbol of human decency" (New York Times) and paragon of democracy?
• International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid

Needless to say, Israel did not ratify or even just sign this Convention.The reason for that will be evident.
• The only alternative By Edward Said

I first visited South Africa in May 1991: a dark, wet, wintry period, when Apartheid still ruled, although the ANC and Nelson Mandela had been freed. Ten years later I returned, this time to summer, in a democratic country in which Apartheid has been defeated, the ANC is in power
•  GHOSTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA By Meron Benvenisti

What is being done in the territories is simply forbidden. To safeguard against such acts, people have established laws and norms; those who wish to return to the norms current a century ago ought not to be surprised
when they are treated as pariahs - indeed, as ghosts from bygone days
• MANDELA'S FIRST MEMO TO THOMAS FRIEDMAN, By Arjan El Fassed, March 30, 2001

If you consider the 1967 occupied territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life. Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised
as private property because it can be confiscated.
• Inside the Other Wilaya, SOUTH AFRICA AND ISRAEL, by Edward Said,March 30, 2001

As was the case in South Africa, we cannot be ambiguous about making it clear to Israelis that our fight does not envision driving them out of the Middle East altogether: we cannot turn the clock back to pre-1917 or pre-1948 days. But we can assure them, as Mandela regularly did the white South African community, that we want them to stay and share the same land with us on an equal basis. There is therefore an appeal to be made to Israelis on the grounds of civil, human and political rights for all the peoples of Palestine.
• Israel should learn from the Boers, Liz McGregor, May 17, 2001 The Guardian

Israel and the old South Africa illustrate the dangers of the state based on ethnicity, where there is the notion of a particular ethnic group which prospers at the ex pense of the perceived lesser races. Apartheid South Africa was, like modern Israel, born of a strong sense of religious destiny and experience of persecution. Afrikaners believed they were God's chosen people and saw the success of the Great Trek away from British rule in the Cape as a sign of God's favour. Their displacement of other tribes in pursuit of their destiny was, they believed, sanctified by God. Their subsequent suffering in the Boer war concentration camps instilled a deep sense of victimhood.
• Israeli Apartheid And Terrorism: Part 1, The Reality Edward S. Herman, Dec. 2001

In the mainstream Israeli press there have been a number of articles comparing Israel's discriminatory policies with those in South Africa, sometimes unfavorably to Israel.
• A Personal Witness, by Francis A. Boyle, Recommended

I returned to the same suite and reported to the Delegation: "A bantustan. They are offering you a bantustan. As you know, the Israelis have very close relations with the Afrikaner Apartheid Regime in South Africa. It appears that they have studied the bantustan system quite closely. And so it is a bantustan that they are offering you."
• THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

The following petition written by two leading South African Jews in the ANC and the anti-Apartheid  movement (and signed by additional 224 South African Jews including Ms. Nadine Gordimer):
We take note of the fact-finding report by members of South Africa's Parliament who visited the Middle East in July 2001. Their report observes: "It becomes difficult, particularly from a South African perspective, not to draw parallels with the oppression experienced by Palestinians under the hand of Israel and the oppression experienced in South Africa under Apartheid rule".
• South Africa and Israel: Reflection

Archbishop Desmond Tuto, observed during Christmas visit to Jerusalem, December 25, 1989: " I am a black South African, and if I were to change the names, a description of what is happening in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank could describe events in South Africa." (From Israeli daily Haaretz, cited in Palestine Perspectives, January/February 1990).
• Apartheid in the Holy Land, Desmond Tutu, April 29, 2002

In our struggle against apartheid, the great supporters were Jewish people. They almost instinctively had to be on the side of the disenfranchised, of the voiceless ones, fighting injustice, oppression and evil. I have continued to feel strongly with the Jews. I am patron of a Holocaust centre in South Africa. I believe Israel has a right to secure borders.

Other Interesting pages:

• A must see photo
• Head of Christian Churches Stand on the Issue of the Middle East
• I dare to speak out
• Jerusalem! What is the TRUTH?
• Latin Patriarchate stand on the Middle East Issues
• NoApartheid
• Quotations that speak by themselves
• Religious Leaders STATEMENTS on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflicts
• Updates
• The Vatican Stand on the Issue of the Middle East
• The US Catholic Church Stand on the Issue of the Middle East


Main Page
Jerusalem2000