'Israeli War Crimes' signs to go on u.s. buses

[freepalestine]

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[URL="http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Campaign-to-End-the-Israeli-Occupation/108102704441"]US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#) URGENT - Vote to allow "Israeli War Crimes" signs to go on Seattle Metro buses. It's neck-and-neck and we need votes! AIPAC and the ADL are mobilizing to stop it!


'Israeli War Crimes' signs to go on Metro buses




by ALLEN SCHAUFFLER / KING 5 News
Posted on December 17, 2010 at 6:19 PM
Updated yesterday at 7:25 PM

oJ2cPWsYpQA
Metro considers changing policy over anti-Israeli bus ads (http://www.king5.com/home/Metro-bus-ad-policy-possibe-change--112288674.html)


SEATTLE – "Israeli War Crimes," the enormous advertisement reads. "Your tax dollars at work."

To the right of the image is a group of children -- one little boy stares out at the viewer, the others gawk at a demolished building, all rebar and crumbled concrete.

It's an ad you'll be seeing soon on a handful of Metro buses in downtown Seattle.

A group calling itself the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign has paid King County $1,794 so that 12 buses will carry that message around town, starting two days after Christmas. That's December 27: the two-year anniversary of Israeli attacks on Gaza, aimed at stopping rocket attacks and weapons smuggling.

Ed Mast, a Seattle man who is a spokesperson for the group, says it’s not meant to be an anti-Israel message, but a message designed to generate discussion and awareness.

"I wouldn't say it's an anti-Israel message any more than any complaint about a country is anti-that country. We would like Israel to stop violating human rights. We would like Israel to give equal rights to its Palestinian citizens and its Palestinian subjects who live under occupation," said Mast.

At the Pacific Northwest office of the Anti-Defamation League, the ad campaign is seen quite a bit differently.

"We're dismayed," says Community Director Hilary Bernstein, who calls the bus-born advertisement grotesquely one-sided. "Citizens young and old will be seeing this sort of propaganda, this very one-sided distortion. It's unfortunate."

So, is the side of a public bus the right place for this kind of attack? Are the issues that regularly inflame one of the most flammable hot-spots in the world appropriate fare for people strolling the sidewalks of Seattle?



As far as King County is concerned, it's not really up to them what appears on the side of their buses, as long as it fits specific guidelines regarding:

Pornography
Alcohol
Tobacco, and
As long as the images and material used don't interfere with public safety or insult specific groups to the point that a riot could be incited, vandalism could occur or public safety could be threatened.
King County Metro Transit spokesperson Linda Thielke acknowledges some people will be offended by the campaign, but that is not enough to prevent the rolling billboards from hitting the streets.

"As a government, we are mindful of the provisions in state and federal constitutions to protect freedom of speech. So, we can't object these campaigns simply because they offend some people," said Thielke.

The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign has targeted their advertising so that the buses carrying their message will run mostly on Seattle routes.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Israeli-War-Crimes-signs-to-go-on-Metro-buses-112108154.html

[freepalestine]

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/hs331.snc4/41781_108102704441_2686_q.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Campaign-to-End-the-Israeli-Occupation/108102704441?ref=mf)
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US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#) An update on the situation in Seattle, with video. If you have not, PLEASE influence the mini-poll embedded there by clicking YES. At this hour, anti-Palestinian groups are pushing hard to kill the bus ads.




<H1 class=entry-title>King County councilman calls for review of proposed bus signs </H1>


by LINDA BRILL / KING 5 News
KING5.com
Posted on December 20, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Updated Monday, Dec 20 at 5:24 PM

'Israeli War Crimes' signs to go on Metro buses (http://www.king5.com/news/local/Israeli-War-Crimes-signs-to-go-on-Metro-buses-112108154.html)


SEATTLE – King County Councilman Peter von Reichbauer is calling for a review of proposed advertising on Metro buses that blasts Israel and the U.S., claiming U.S. tax dollars support war crimes.
Von Reichbauer says the ads could incite violence.
"I know hate when I see it," he said. "A number of people in King County see hate in this advertisement."
E-mails have been pouring into von Reichbauer's office since KING 5 broke the story of the planned ad campaign. He's asked Metro to reconsider.
Although Metro attorneys say the ads are covered by the First Amendment, they are now reviewing their policy on non-commercial advertising.
The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign is paying Metro $1,800 to run the ads, attempting to get its message out on the street.
"Reaching them through these paid advertising methods tends to frame the message as something we should all be caring about. Is it inflammatory? The intention is not to inflame. It is to educate and raise awareness," said Ed Mast of SMAC.
"We don't need to see a public transportation system be a medium for a message of hate," said von Reichbauer.
It's not clear if the ad campaign will run as scheduled. It was supposed to roll out on Dec. 27. Metro is scrambling to re-assess its advertising policies before next week.
[URL]http://www.king5.com/news/local/King-Co-calls-for-review-of-Israeli-War-Crimes-bus-signs-112200884.html

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Do the ADL seriously think that criticism of Israel which makes no references to Jews or Judaism is anti-Semitic? If so that's a massive fail right there.

[Dimentio]

Do the ADL seriously think that criticism of Israel which makes no references to Jews or Judaism is anti-Semitic? If so that's a massive fail right there.

That isn't the issue at all. That is just the excuse.

[Burn A Flag]

Yeah of course not, several famous communists were ethnic Jews. Luxembourg, Trotsky, Bela Kun, etc.

[Rafiq]

Don't forget marx ;)

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

That isn't the issue at all. That is just the excuse.

Elaborate, please?

[blake 3:17]

The ADL and the Zionist lobby in North America would like to criminalize or severely restrict free speech about questions of Israel and the Palestinians.

Restrictions have been placed in many Canadian institutions on Israeli Apartheid Week. All levels of government have been involved. There was an attempt to ban Deborah Ellis' Three Wishes from schools in Toronto. Info here: http://www.ifex.org/canada/2006/03/16/pen_canada_urges_toronto_school/

Organizations have been developed to fight both for Palestinian rights and to defend free speech on the issue. A few very principled Zionists have defended the right to free discussion, which is to be commended.

Bnai Brith and the CJC didn't oppose Al Jazeerah Canada last year. I think they understand that calling everything you don't like anti-Semitic is ultimately self destructive.

[RadioRaheem84]

Do the ADL seriously think that criticism of Israel which makes no references to Jews or Judaism is anti-Semitic? If so that's a massive fail right there.

But how do people even fall for that canard? I just don't get it.

How did the ADL and other pro-Israel organizations even rationalize such an assertion?

[Chairman Wow]

Do the ADL seriously think that criticism of Israel which makes no references to Jews or Judaism is anti-Semitic? If so that's a massive fail right there.

While the ADL was established as civil rights group and did do good work fighting antisemitism and bigotry from the likes of the Klan and work against neo-Nazism, nowadays they seem to simply be a mouthpiece for Zionist interests in the United States, shouting down any criticism of Israel (from the left also) with claims of anti-Semitism.

[progressive_lefty]

I'm waiting for the day when the ADL preclaims that the very notion of democracy itself is anti-semitic. Or the day when anti-semitic is in fact anti-semitic...

[ckaihatsu]

Dear Friend,

Two years ago, Israel launched a horrific attack on the 1.5 million besieged people of the Palestinian Gaza Strip. In an all-out assault that shocked the conscience of millions around the globe, Israel killed approximately 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, in the course of 22 days of brutality.

I just signed a petition sponsored by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a national coalition working to collect 22,000 signatures in 22 days, on a petition to the Obama Administration to:
1. Demand that Israel end its illegal siege of the Gaza Strip, and
2. Stop blocking the international community from holding Israel accountable for its actions.

Please join me and help the US Campaign to reach its goal in 22 days:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5424




Take Action: Gaza Besieged, Israel Unaccountable Two Years after "Cast Lead"

Dear Chris,

Two years ago today Israel launched a horrific attack, codenamed "Operation Cast Lead," against the 1.5 million besieged people of the Palestinian Gaza Strip. In an all-out assault that shocked the conscience of millions around the globe, Israel killed approximately 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians [1 [ http://www.btselem.org/english/statistics/casualties.asp?sD=27&sM=12&sY=2008&eD=18&eM=01&eY=2009&filterby=event&oferet_stat=during ]], in the course of 22 days of brutality.

Although a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely held since then, Israel continues to collectively punish Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip through an illegal siege, and its leaders have not been held to account for what the Goldstone Report [2 [ http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf ]] documented to be violations of human rights and international law, war crimes, and possible crimes against humanity.

In the next 22 days, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation seeks* to collect 22,000 signatures* *on a petition to the Obama Administration*. We call on it to:

*1.* Demand that Israel *end* its illegal siege of the Gaza Strip, and
*2.* *Stop* blocking the international community from holding Israel accountable for its actions.

*Help us reach our goal and spread the word today.*

Three weeks ago, on Human Rights Day, the State Department told us that there is a "single universal standard that applies to every country, including our own. We apply it to Israelis," and that it views "Palestinians as being human beings under the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] and entitled to these rights" (our camera recorded [ http://youtube.com/watch?v=LeZHAeo3bK4 ] these remarks).

* You can help us hold the Obama Administration to its words today by signing our petition and spreading the word.*

We need to hold the Obama Administration accountable because its policies don't match its rhetoric. State Department spokesperson Robert Wood infamously refused to answer whether the United States considered pasta--an item denied to Palestinians under Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip--a "dual-use item."

The United States, as revealed in a State Department cable [3] posted by Wikileaks, has also been colluding with Israel to deflect further damage to Israel's image from the Goldstone Report, rather than hold it to the "single universal standard that applies to every country."

*Help us end the Obama Administration's hypocrisy* on human rights and on its policies toward Israel and the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip by signing our petition right now.

In hope for a new year where U.S. policy actually upholds Palestinian rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Josh Ruebner
National Advocacy Director
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation


Take Action:

1. *Sign our petition to Pres. Obama: End Siege of Gaza, Hold Israel Accountable
*
2. Learn more about CodePink's February 2011 trip to Gaza

3. Learn more about the March 2011 U.S. Boat to Gaza

4. Advocate to end the siege of Gaza, in person, at the US Campaign/IFPB Mar. 2011 Grassroots Advocacy Training/Lobby Day in DC

[blake 3:17]

Palestinians pursue 'Plan B' after failed talks

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/50625000/jpg/_50625112_010920272-1.jpg The flags of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador waved in a Ramallah school
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12099625?print=true#story_continues_1) Israel and the Palestinians (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm)


Going nowhere fast? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11948166)
'Off the record' views from officials (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11959693)
Q&A: Resuming direct talks (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11038890)
Mid-East talks: Where they stand (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11138790)


Peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis have reached an impasse over the thorny issue of Jewish settlements. As Washington searches for a way forward, the Palestinians are taking things into their own hands by pursuing a "Plan B", asking countries to recognise an independent Palestinian state. The BBC's Yolande Knell reports from Jerusalem.
As the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas laid the symbolic cornerstone for a new embassy in Brazil on Friday, he hoped the greater significance of the act would be noted.
In recent weeks the South American nation and its neighbours, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador, have all officially recognised Palestine as an independent state within 1967 borders - that is to say the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
Uruguay says it will do the same in 2011 and Palestinian officials suggest at least another two countries are lined up to follow suit, though they are not saying which.
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12099625?print=true#story_continues_2) “Start Quote


This is revitalising and re-consecrating a principle that emanates from international law and all the agreements that we've signed before.”
End Quote Nabil Shaath Palestinian negotiator
As the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict with Israel have dimmed once again, the Palestinians say they are pursuing new and alternative diplomatic options.
"Since all the peace process has been based on the 1967 borders we are asking countries to recognise us on these borders," says Palestinian negotiator, Nabil Shaath, who has accompanied Mr Abbas on his trip.