Monday, February 2, 2009
American Jews for a Just Peace re Gov't of Israel's War on Palestinians
Today is Day 14,903 of the Maintenance of the Immoral (and Illegal) West Bank Settlements and more than 40 years since the start of the immoral (and illegal) occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Micah.6:8 “He has told you, O man, Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God
I attended the Founding Conference of American Jews for a Just Peace last August and have been active in it since that time. For more information and to join, go to www.ajjp.org
On Sunday, the organization issued this Call to Action in response to the continuing war of the Government of Israel on Palestinians with which I am in agreement.
February 1, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF AMERICAN JEWS ISSUES
STATEMENT AGAINST ISRAEL’S WAR ON PALESTINE
American Jews for a Just Peace, a new alliance of progressive and predominantly Jewish activists working in the United States working to ensure equal rights, safety, and dignity for all the people of historic Palestine, today issued the following statement:
Israel's recent War on Gaza resulted in worldwide, popular condemnation. Perhaps this marks an important turning point in the relationship between Israel and the world community. We will not stand by while Israel instigates a war, annihilates civilian infrastructure, targets civilian shelters, blocks medical teams from reaching victims, uses chemical weapons, such as white phosphorous, on civilians, prevents medical equipment from entering the war zone, cuts off fuel, electricity and running water, and forcibly prevents civilians including children from escaping their carnage. These are only the latest in a long and shameful history of violent, illegal and immoral actions taken by the government of Israel against the Palestinian people over the last 61 years. They are not the actions of a state that respects international laws or norms. On the contrary, they are actions of a rogue state that flouts international law while justifying its atrocities by invoking the suffering of our forebears.
These atrocities have been fully supported by the U.S. government, which, in this last war, ran diplomatic interference for Israel. This allowed Israel to destroy as much of Gazan society as it could before the new U.S. administration took office.
In the wake of this illegal war, AJJP expresses our outrage and pledges to support all efforts that are aimed at ending Israel's Occupation and undoing the apartheid system that it has constructed. The ongoing illegal occupation and ever-expanding illegal settlements of now some 450,000 Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is a clear violation of the 4th Geneva Convention. This Occupation is an obstacle to peace, as is the apartheid system of separation and oppression that is the organizing structure of life and resources in Israel/Palestine. U.S. tax dollars and foreign policy goals continue to support what is fundamentally an undemocratic and racist system of government that serves to sustain and deepen the ongoing ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine.
For all of these reasons, as Jews of conscience, we reach out to all other activists in the United States and around the world to work together to end, once and for all, these atrocities, which Israel claims to commit in our names.
Dedicated to working with all like-minded groups to build an effective, worldwide movement, American Jews for a Just Peace calls for:
• immediate suspension of all U.S. military aid to Israel pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act;
• the U.S. Congress to open an investigation into possible war crimes as well as violations of the Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts in the war on Gaza;
• businesses and individuals to refuse to purchase Israeli-made products that originate in or support Jewish settlements in Occupied Palestine and the apartheid system of racial separation and oppression in Israel/Palestine;
• the Israeli government to sign the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid that was adopted by the United Nations in 1973, or explain its refusal to do so to the world community;
• the Israeli government to end the blockade and siege of Gaza and allow unhindered access to all humanitarian aid organizations as well as international journalists;
• efforts by all activists and to promote awareness of and resistance to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which continues through the ongoing blockade, siege, displacement, annexation, and Israeli state-sponsored terror.
Toward these ends, AJJP calls on the human rights and global justice community to engage in coordinated actions to bring the apartheid policies and criminal activities of the Israeli government to an end. We support all strategies, up to and including acts of non-violent civil disobedience. We will continue to support Palestinian civil society groups. AJJP activists will sponsor teach-ins, write op-ed articles, engage in viral outreach campaigns, ask businesses and individuals to join our boycott, visit our legislators, contact U.S. officials, place paid advertisements, sponsor public demonstrations and vigils, show films, present speakers and exhibits and poetry readings and street theater, and otherwise pledge to be widely and creatively visible and vocal in building the international movement for justice and peace in Israel/Palestine.
Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18) - this is the major principle of the Torah.”
Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A "JUST PEACE" IS COMING
A funny thing happened on the treadmill this past Tuesday. I was able to read every word of every article on the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis, every word.
Why?
It suddenly struck me. I had, what is it, an epiphany.
There is going to be a “just peace” in the region.
I knew something was happening when I heard President Obama’s inaugural speech.
I thought, of course, that much that he was directing to Americans was directed to Americans.
Not really. He was talking to all the peoples of the world.
Hear, O Israel, what President Obama said and see if the words don’t sound as they came straight out of the Torah and Judaic teachings:
And when he was talking those outside the United States, he was not just talking to poor nations and Muslim nations, he was talking to the Palestinians and the Israelis.
I grow more convinced each day that this person will take steps to ensure that the brutality of the continued occupation of a people allowed to continue for 42 years will not be allowed to stand.
This was confirmed last Friday when he appointed George Mitchell to mediate the conflict in Israel/Palestine.
Listen to what he said in addition to the standard Hamas must not fire rockets that Israel must re-open the border crossing into the Gaza Strip "to allow the flow of aid and commerce."
Also, in his interview, Obama said that Israel was a "strong ally of the United States" and that he "will continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount. But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side."
Yes they will, my friends, or else.
And listen to what George Mitchell said, referring to his experience in Northern Ireland, which led to the 1998 Good Friday agreement, "I formed the conviction that there is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended. Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings; they can be ended by human beings."
The terms of resolving this conflict have been known for decades: move back to the 1967 Green Line, end the occupation, close the settlements, “Tear Down That Wall”, East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State, allow Palestinian access to water, bring in an international force for security, economic trade agreements, right of return (some return and some reparations).
The floodgates of criticism of the Government of Israel as being the barrier to a just peace have opened.
The Sixty Minutes segment with Bob Simon last Sunday was a powerful condemnation of the occupation of the West Bank. The title was that time may be running out for the two state solution.
Many observers believe that the Government of Israel by allowing the illegal and immoral building of the settlements has foreclosed the possibility of a two state solution.
Without a two-state solution, there are three remaining options, according to Bob Simon:
The Government of Israel has little time left – it must end the inhuman blockade and collective punishment of Gaza and allow an international force in to keep the peace. The next step to show good faith would be the immediate eviction of the 600 Jewish settlers from Hebron.
Those would be positive signs that the Government of Israel intends to negotiate in good faith a two-state solution.
Barring that, there will eventually be one democratic state of the West Bank, Gaza and the State of Israel.
In any event, I can now read the news from that region again because I am convinced that a “just peace” is coming for the Palestinians and the Israelis!
Why?
It suddenly struck me. I had, what is it, an epiphany.
There is going to be a “just peace” in the region.
I knew something was happening when I heard President Obama’s inaugural speech.
I thought, of course, that much that he was directing to Americans was directed to Americans.
Not really. He was talking to all the peoples of the world.
Hear, O Israel, what President Obama said and see if the words don’t sound as they came straight out of the Torah and Judaic teachings:
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up
for expedience's sake.
And when he was talking those outside the United States, he was not just talking to poor nations and Muslim nations, he was talking to the Palestinians and the Israelis.
And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.
And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
I grow more convinced each day that this person will take steps to ensure that the brutality of the continued occupation of a people allowed to continue for 42 years will not be allowed to stand.
This was confirmed last Friday when he appointed George Mitchell to mediate the conflict in Israel/Palestine.
Listen to what he said in addition to the standard Hamas must not fire rockets that Israel must re-open the border crossing into the Gaza Strip "to allow the flow of aid and commerce."
Also, in his interview, Obama said that Israel was a "strong ally of the United States" and that he "will continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount. But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side."
Yes they will, my friends, or else.
And listen to what George Mitchell said, referring to his experience in Northern Ireland, which led to the 1998 Good Friday agreement, "I formed the conviction that there is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended. Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings; they can be ended by human beings."
The terms of resolving this conflict have been known for decades: move back to the 1967 Green Line, end the occupation, close the settlements, “Tear Down That Wall”, East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State, allow Palestinian access to water, bring in an international force for security, economic trade agreements, right of return (some return and some reparations).
The floodgates of criticism of the Government of Israel as being the barrier to a just peace have opened.
The Sixty Minutes segment with Bob Simon last Sunday was a powerful condemnation of the occupation of the West Bank. The title was that time may be running out for the two state solution.
Many observers believe that the Government of Israel by allowing the illegal and immoral building of the settlements has foreclosed the possibility of a two state solution.
Without a two-state solution, there are three remaining options, according to Bob Simon:
The Government of Israel could try ethnic cleansing, drive the Palestinians out of the West Bank, or they could give the Palestinians the vote. That would be the democratic option but it would mean the end of the Jewish state. Or they could try apartheid - have the minority Israelis rule the majority Palestinians, but apartheid regimes don't have a very long life.
The Government of Israel has little time left – it must end the inhuman blockade and collective punishment of Gaza and allow an international force in to keep the peace. The next step to show good faith would be the immediate eviction of the 600 Jewish settlers from Hebron.
Those would be positive signs that the Government of Israel intends to negotiate in good faith a two-state solution.
Barring that, there will eventually be one democratic state of the West Bank, Gaza and the State of Israel.
In any event, I can now read the news from that region again because I am convinced that a “just peace” is coming for the Palestinians and the Israelis!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Jeff Halper - A Boat Voyage to "Break the Siege of Gaza"
Jeff Halper is about to embark on a boat voyage to "break the siege of Gaza" organized by the Free Gaza Movement and involving 40 activists from all over the world.
Jeff believes this is a very meaningful means of resistance, highlighting the ongoing Occupation -- and especially the terrible situation in Gaza -- and Israel's responsibility.
He would also appreciate your distributing the statement to your networks, newspapers, etc.
What a courageous advocate for social justice and a just peace!!
AN ISRAELI JEW IN GAZA: A STATEMENT BY JEFF HALPER
In another few days, I will sail on one of the Free Gaza movement boats from Cyprus to Gaza. The mission is to break the Israeli siege, an absolutely illegal siege which has plunged a million and a half Palestinians into wretched conditions: imprisoned in their own homes, exposed to extreme military violence, deprived of the basic necessities of life, stripped of their most fundamental human rights and dignity. The siege violates the most fundamental principle of international law: the inadmissibility of harming civilian populations. Our voyage also exposes Israel’s attempt to absolve itself of responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. Israel’s claim that there is no Occupation, or that the Occupation ended with “disengagement,” is patently false. Occupation is defined in international law as having effective control over a territory. If Israel intercepts our boats, it is clear that it is the Occupying Power exercising effective control over Gaza. Nor has the siege anything to do with “security.” Like other elements of the Occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Israel has also besieged cities, towns, villages and whole regions, the siege on Gaza is fundamentally political. It is intended to isolate the democratically-elected government of Palestine and break its power to resist Israeli attempts to impose an apartheid regime over the entire country.
This is why I, an Israeli Jew, felt compelled to join this voyage to break the siege. As a person who seeks a just peace with the Palestinians, who understands (despite what our politicians tell us) that they are not our enemies but rather people seeking precisely what we sought and fought for – national self-determination I cannot stand idly aside. I can no more passively witness my government’s destruction of another people than I can watch the Occupation destroy the moral fabric of my own country. To do so would violate my commitment to human rights, the very essence of prophetic Jewish religion, culture and morals, without which Israel is no longer Jewish but an empty, if powerful, Sparta.
Israel has, of course, legitimate security concerns, and Palestinian attacks against civilian populations in Sderot and other Israeli communities bordering on Gaza cannot be condoned. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel, as an Occupying Power, has the right to monitor the movement of arms to Gaza as a matter of “immediate military necessity.” As activists committed to resisting the siege non-violently, I have no objection to the Israeli navy boarding our boats and searching for weapons. But only that. Because Israel has no right to besiege a civilian population, it has no legal right to prevent us, private persons sailing solely in international and Palestinian waters, from reaching Gaza – particularly since Israel has declared that it no longer occupies it. Once the Israeli navy is convinced we pose no security threat, then, we thoroughly expect it to permit us to continue our peaceful and lawful journey into Gaza port.
Ordinary people have often played key roles in history, particularly in situations like this where governments shirk their responsibilities. My voyage to Gaza is a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people in their time of suffering, but it also conveys a message to my fellow citizens.
First, despite what our political leaders say, there is a political solution to the conflict, there are partners for peace. The very fact that I, an Israeli Jew, will be welcomed by Palestinian Gazans makes that very point. My presence in Gaza also affirms that any resolution of the conflict must include all the peoples of the country, Palestinian and Israeli alike. I am therefore using whatever credibility my actions lend me to call on my government to renew genuine peace negotiations based on the Prisoners Document accepted by all Palestinian factions, including Hamas. The release of all political prisoners held by Israel, including Hamas government ministers and parliamentary members, in return for the repatriation of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, would dramatically transform the political landscape by providing the trust and good-will essential to any peace process.
Second, the Palestinians are not our enemies. In fact, I urge my fellow Israeli Jews to disassociate from the dead-end politics of our failed political leaders by declaring, in concert with Israeli and Palestinian peace-makers: We refuse to be enemies. Only that assertion of popular will can signal our government that we are fed up with being manipulated by those profiting from the Occupation.
And third, as the infinitely stronger party in the conflict and the only Occupying Power, we Israelis must accept responsibility for our failed and oppressive policies. Only we can end the conflict.
In the Israeli conception, Zionism was intended to return to the Jews control over their own destiny. Do not let us be held hostage to politicians who endanger the future of our society. Join with us end the siege of Gaza, and with it the Occupation in its entirety. Let us, the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, declare to our leaders: we demand a just and lasting peace in this tortured Holy Land.
(Jeff Halper, the head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, was a nominee for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He can be reached at jeff@icahd.org.)
Jeff believes this is a very meaningful means of resistance, highlighting the ongoing Occupation -- and especially the terrible situation in Gaza -- and Israel's responsibility.
He would also appreciate your distributing the statement to your networks, newspapers, etc.
What a courageous advocate for social justice and a just peace!!
AN ISRAELI JEW IN GAZA: A STATEMENT BY JEFF HALPER
In another few days, I will sail on one of the Free Gaza movement boats from Cyprus to Gaza. The mission is to break the Israeli siege, an absolutely illegal siege which has plunged a million and a half Palestinians into wretched conditions: imprisoned in their own homes, exposed to extreme military violence, deprived of the basic necessities of life, stripped of their most fundamental human rights and dignity. The siege violates the most fundamental principle of international law: the inadmissibility of harming civilian populations. Our voyage also exposes Israel’s attempt to absolve itself of responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. Israel’s claim that there is no Occupation, or that the Occupation ended with “disengagement,” is patently false. Occupation is defined in international law as having effective control over a territory. If Israel intercepts our boats, it is clear that it is the Occupying Power exercising effective control over Gaza. Nor has the siege anything to do with “security.” Like other elements of the Occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Israel has also besieged cities, towns, villages and whole regions, the siege on Gaza is fundamentally political. It is intended to isolate the democratically-elected government of Palestine and break its power to resist Israeli attempts to impose an apartheid regime over the entire country.
This is why I, an Israeli Jew, felt compelled to join this voyage to break the siege. As a person who seeks a just peace with the Palestinians, who understands (despite what our politicians tell us) that they are not our enemies but rather people seeking precisely what we sought and fought for – national self-determination I cannot stand idly aside. I can no more passively witness my government’s destruction of another people than I can watch the Occupation destroy the moral fabric of my own country. To do so would violate my commitment to human rights, the very essence of prophetic Jewish religion, culture and morals, without which Israel is no longer Jewish but an empty, if powerful, Sparta.
Israel has, of course, legitimate security concerns, and Palestinian attacks against civilian populations in Sderot and other Israeli communities bordering on Gaza cannot be condoned. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel, as an Occupying Power, has the right to monitor the movement of arms to Gaza as a matter of “immediate military necessity.” As activists committed to resisting the siege non-violently, I have no objection to the Israeli navy boarding our boats and searching for weapons. But only that. Because Israel has no right to besiege a civilian population, it has no legal right to prevent us, private persons sailing solely in international and Palestinian waters, from reaching Gaza – particularly since Israel has declared that it no longer occupies it. Once the Israeli navy is convinced we pose no security threat, then, we thoroughly expect it to permit us to continue our peaceful and lawful journey into Gaza port.
Ordinary people have often played key roles in history, particularly in situations like this where governments shirk their responsibilities. My voyage to Gaza is a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people in their time of suffering, but it also conveys a message to my fellow citizens.
First, despite what our political leaders say, there is a political solution to the conflict, there are partners for peace. The very fact that I, an Israeli Jew, will be welcomed by Palestinian Gazans makes that very point. My presence in Gaza also affirms that any resolution of the conflict must include all the peoples of the country, Palestinian and Israeli alike. I am therefore using whatever credibility my actions lend me to call on my government to renew genuine peace negotiations based on the Prisoners Document accepted by all Palestinian factions, including Hamas. The release of all political prisoners held by Israel, including Hamas government ministers and parliamentary members, in return for the repatriation of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, would dramatically transform the political landscape by providing the trust and good-will essential to any peace process.
Second, the Palestinians are not our enemies. In fact, I urge my fellow Israeli Jews to disassociate from the dead-end politics of our failed political leaders by declaring, in concert with Israeli and Palestinian peace-makers: We refuse to be enemies. Only that assertion of popular will can signal our government that we are fed up with being manipulated by those profiting from the Occupation.
And third, as the infinitely stronger party in the conflict and the only Occupying Power, we Israelis must accept responsibility for our failed and oppressive policies. Only we can end the conflict.
In the Israeli conception, Zionism was intended to return to the Jews control over their own destiny. Do not let us be held hostage to politicians who endanger the future of our society. Join with us end the siege of Gaza, and with it the Occupation in its entirety. Let us, the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, declare to our leaders: we demand a just and lasting peace in this tortured Holy Land.
(Jeff Halper, the head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, was a nominee for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He can be reached at jeff@icahd.org.)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Archbishop Desmond Tutu statement on Beit Hanoun May 29, 2008
I have nothing to add and there is nothing I need to add to what Archbishop Desmond Tutu says below.
From Wikipedia
From Friends of Sabeel – North America
http://www.fosna.org/TutuStatementGazaMay2008.htm
Statement by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Leader of the High Level Fact-Finding Mission into events at Beit Hanoun on 8 November 2006
Press Conference, Gaza, 29 May 2008
We were appointed by the Human Rights Council as a fact-finding mission to investigate the attack on November 8 2006 in Beit Hanoun which left 19 people dead. We have a three point mandate: the assessment of the situation of victims, addressing the needs of survivors and to make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against any further Israeli assaults. The mission returns to Geneva tomorrow and we will be reporting to the Human Rights Council at its session in September, so these are impressions on our part for it is to the Council first that we are obliged to present our report.
We have tried three times in 18 months to secure the cooperation of the Israeli Government to no avail, and in the end we were forced to come to Gaza through Egypt.
We want to begin by thanking the Government of Egypt for their facilitation of our mission. We also want to thank all of the United Nations personnel for their logistical support. We want to say thank you also to the UN in Egypt and to the Secretariat of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for their efficient and friendly help, as well as to the interpreters who have assisted us. We want to thank all the people we have met here in Gaza, members of NGOs, but especially the survivors and victims of the attack itself. I also want to express my deep appreciation to Professor Christine Chinkin, my co-expert on this mission.
All we had heard about the conditions in Gaza - the deprivation, the sense of despair, the lack of economic activity – had not prepared us for the stark reality we saw. We saw a forlorn, deserted, desolate and eerie place. Hardly any pedestrians as would be the case in a more normal setting.
We were struck particularly by the absence of the sounds of children shrieking and playing. Usually, when there is a convoy in a normal situation, children will rush out to wave, to be funny and to laugh. We saw none of this. There was no hustle and bustle as in a normal urban setting. There are hardly any vehicles on the road because of the scarcity of fuel. We saw more donkey and horse-drawn carts.
We are in a state of shock, exacerbated by what we subsequently heard from the victims and survivors of the Beit Hanoun massacre. For us, the entire situation is abominable. We believe that ordinary Israeli citizens would not support this blockade, this siege if they knew what it meant for ordinary people like themselves. No, they would not support a policy which limits fuel supplies or automatically cuts off the electricity supply. They would not support a policy which jeopardizes the lives of ordinary men and women in hospital, that cuts off water and food from hospitals jeopardizing the lives of babies. No, they would not support a policy that results in what happened in Beit Hanoun on 8 November 2006, when a mother scooped up the brains of her baby lying with its skull cracked open by an Israeli shell, the same mother rushing out into the street to find her son staring at his bowels hanging out and then seeing him scoop them up and shove them back into his abdomen. No, they would not.
As a matter of principle, Profesor Chinkin and I wanted to go to Israel to hear directly from the Israeli authorities their version of the events. We wanted to meet any other interested parties and NGOs. But we also wanted to go to Sderot to meet with victims and survivors of the Qassam rockets. We care about all people. That is why we told Mr Haniyeh that the firing of those rockets is a gross violation of human rights, and asked for them to stop the firing.
We are the descendents of Abraham: Jews, Christians and Muslims. We revere the teaching of scripture. And so we call on Israel to end the siege, the blockade.
Why?
First, because it is a gross violation of human rights. In terms of the scripture that Jews and Christians alike invoke, the blockade is contrary to the teaching of those scriptures. Those scriptures speak about a God: a God of the Exodus, a God notoriously biased in favour of the weak, of the oppressed, of the suffering, of the orphan, of the widow, of the alien. And this God will not be mocked! The God who sided with the slaves against the Pharaoh, the God who sided with Naboth against King Ahab, who sided with Bathsheba's husband against King David. The God who came down to deliver the Israelites from their bondage, who was not deaf to their cries, not blind to their plight, who knew their suffering, is the same yesterday, today and forever!
The siege is contrary to the Jewish tradition of siding with the oppressed. In South Africa, the most outstanding stalwarts in our fight against apartheid were often Jews. People like Helen Suzman, people like Joe Slovo. Almost instinctively, Jews must be on the side of freedom, justice and peace.
The siege must stop because it is not in the interests of Israelis. There can be no justice, no peace, no stability, not for Israel, not for the Palestinians, without accountability for human rights violations. This includes accountability for the human rights violations which occured in Beit Hanoun on 8 November 2006. Israel has admitted that it made a mistake, but this falls far short of accountability and due redress for victims and their families. Accountability applies also to those firing rockets into civilian areas of Israel. The culture of impunity on both sides must end!
True security and peace will not come from the barrel of a gun. It will come through negotiation: negotiation not with your friends. Peace can come only when enemies sit down and talk. It happened in South Africa. It happened more recently in Northern Ireland. It will happen here too.
Please, please, Israelis and Palestinians: for the sake of your children, for the sake of your future, for your sake , for God's sake, for all our sakes. Please, please end the injustice and sit down and talk to one another. It is possible for Israelis and Palestinians to live amicably side by side in two sovereign, viable states.
There can be no peace, there can be no security, there can be no freedom in isolation. Israelis and Palestinians will be free, will be secure, will prosper only together.
My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity – especially on the situation in Gaza - shames us all. It is almost like the behaviour of the military junta in Burma.
Gaza needs the engagement of the outside world, especially of its peacemakers.
Finally, to you our brothers and sisters in Gaza: you will be free. Your isolation and loneliness will end. We want you to know that we are with you, and we will come back to celebrate with you your freedom!
From Wikipedia
Beit Hanoun is a city on the north-east edge of the Gaza Strip
with a population of 32,000. It is administered by the Palestinian Authority. It is located by the Hanoun stream, just 6 kilometers (4 mi) away from
the Israeli town of Sderot.
This town is also notable for the Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident where 19 Palestinians were killed by IDF shelling. According to Israeli authorities it
was in response for its use as a base from which Palestinian militant groups
have fired Qassam rockets into the northern Negev towns like Sderot, as well as the former Gush Katif settlements.
In December 2006, the UN appointed a fact-finding commission led by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu to investigate the attack. However, Tutu and the other members were not granted permission to travel by Israel and the investigation was cancelled.
From Friends of Sabeel – North America
http://www.fosna.org/TutuStatementGazaMay2008.htm
Statement by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Leader of the High Level Fact-Finding Mission into events at Beit Hanoun on 8 November 2006
Press Conference, Gaza, 29 May 2008
We were appointed by the Human Rights Council as a fact-finding mission to investigate the attack on November 8 2006 in Beit Hanoun which left 19 people dead. We have a three point mandate: the assessment of the situation of victims, addressing the needs of survivors and to make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against any further Israeli assaults. The mission returns to Geneva tomorrow and we will be reporting to the Human Rights Council at its session in September, so these are impressions on our part for it is to the Council first that we are obliged to present our report.
We have tried three times in 18 months to secure the cooperation of the Israeli Government to no avail, and in the end we were forced to come to Gaza through Egypt.
We want to begin by thanking the Government of Egypt for their facilitation of our mission. We also want to thank all of the United Nations personnel for their logistical support. We want to say thank you also to the UN in Egypt and to the Secretariat of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for their efficient and friendly help, as well as to the interpreters who have assisted us. We want to thank all the people we have met here in Gaza, members of NGOs, but especially the survivors and victims of the attack itself. I also want to express my deep appreciation to Professor Christine Chinkin, my co-expert on this mission.
All we had heard about the conditions in Gaza - the deprivation, the sense of despair, the lack of economic activity – had not prepared us for the stark reality we saw. We saw a forlorn, deserted, desolate and eerie place. Hardly any pedestrians as would be the case in a more normal setting.
We were struck particularly by the absence of the sounds of children shrieking and playing. Usually, when there is a convoy in a normal situation, children will rush out to wave, to be funny and to laugh. We saw none of this. There was no hustle and bustle as in a normal urban setting. There are hardly any vehicles on the road because of the scarcity of fuel. We saw more donkey and horse-drawn carts.
We are in a state of shock, exacerbated by what we subsequently heard from the victims and survivors of the Beit Hanoun massacre. For us, the entire situation is abominable. We believe that ordinary Israeli citizens would not support this blockade, this siege if they knew what it meant for ordinary people like themselves. No, they would not support a policy which limits fuel supplies or automatically cuts off the electricity supply. They would not support a policy which jeopardizes the lives of ordinary men and women in hospital, that cuts off water and food from hospitals jeopardizing the lives of babies. No, they would not support a policy that results in what happened in Beit Hanoun on 8 November 2006, when a mother scooped up the brains of her baby lying with its skull cracked open by an Israeli shell, the same mother rushing out into the street to find her son staring at his bowels hanging out and then seeing him scoop them up and shove them back into his abdomen. No, they would not.
As a matter of principle, Profesor Chinkin and I wanted to go to Israel to hear directly from the Israeli authorities their version of the events. We wanted to meet any other interested parties and NGOs. But we also wanted to go to Sderot to meet with victims and survivors of the Qassam rockets. We care about all people. That is why we told Mr Haniyeh that the firing of those rockets is a gross violation of human rights, and asked for them to stop the firing.
We are the descendents of Abraham: Jews, Christians and Muslims. We revere the teaching of scripture. And so we call on Israel to end the siege, the blockade.
Why?
First, because it is a gross violation of human rights. In terms of the scripture that Jews and Christians alike invoke, the blockade is contrary to the teaching of those scriptures. Those scriptures speak about a God: a God of the Exodus, a God notoriously biased in favour of the weak, of the oppressed, of the suffering, of the orphan, of the widow, of the alien. And this God will not be mocked! The God who sided with the slaves against the Pharaoh, the God who sided with Naboth against King Ahab, who sided with Bathsheba's husband against King David. The God who came down to deliver the Israelites from their bondage, who was not deaf to their cries, not blind to their plight, who knew their suffering, is the same yesterday, today and forever!
The siege is contrary to the Jewish tradition of siding with the oppressed. In South Africa, the most outstanding stalwarts in our fight against apartheid were often Jews. People like Helen Suzman, people like Joe Slovo. Almost instinctively, Jews must be on the side of freedom, justice and peace.
The siege must stop because it is not in the interests of Israelis. There can be no justice, no peace, no stability, not for Israel, not for the Palestinians, without accountability for human rights violations. This includes accountability for the human rights violations which occured in Beit Hanoun on 8 November 2006. Israel has admitted that it made a mistake, but this falls far short of accountability and due redress for victims and their families. Accountability applies also to those firing rockets into civilian areas of Israel. The culture of impunity on both sides must end!
True security and peace will not come from the barrel of a gun. It will come through negotiation: negotiation not with your friends. Peace can come only when enemies sit down and talk. It happened in South Africa. It happened more recently in Northern Ireland. It will happen here too.
Please, please, Israelis and Palestinians: for the sake of your children, for the sake of your future, for your sake , for God's sake, for all our sakes. Please, please end the injustice and sit down and talk to one another. It is possible for Israelis and Palestinians to live amicably side by side in two sovereign, viable states.
There can be no peace, there can be no security, there can be no freedom in isolation. Israelis and Palestinians will be free, will be secure, will prosper only together.
My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity – especially on the situation in Gaza - shames us all. It is almost like the behaviour of the military junta in Burma.
Gaza needs the engagement of the outside world, especially of its peacemakers.
Finally, to you our brothers and sisters in Gaza: you will be free. Your isolation and loneliness will end. We want you to know that we are with you, and we will come back to celebrate with you your freedom!
Friday, June 6, 2008
ITISAPARTHEID.ORG
Here is a message I received from Richard Colbath-Hess.
I would like to encourage you to visit http://www.itisapartheid.org/ , the website home we have created for an anti-apartheid campaign. We hope to heighten awareness of, and eventually end, the current apartheid existing in the Israeli Occupied Territories.
To give you some context for this campaign, the Sabeel Conference on "The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel: Issues of Justice and Equality” was held in Boston last fall. The keynote speaker was Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an internationally acclaimed Nobel Peace prize laureate.
You can read some comments and thoughts about this conference elsewhere in this blog including the following:
The conference was an amazing success – it sold out with over 900 attending. You think there would have been extensive coverage from the press (there was a small article buried in the Globe). The fact is, if the media covers anyone who speaks out about the Israeli government’s human rights abuses, they are attacked as anti-Semitic. The Nation Magazine recently wrote an article on how this stifling of dissent is tantamount to the new McCarthyism.
I would like to encourage you to visit http://www.itisapartheid.org/ , the website home we have created for an anti-apartheid campaign. We hope to heighten awareness of, and eventually end, the current apartheid existing in the Israeli Occupied Territories.
To give you some context for this campaign, the Sabeel Conference on "The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel: Issues of Justice and Equality” was held in Boston last fall. The keynote speaker was Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an internationally acclaimed Nobel Peace prize laureate.
You can read some comments and thoughts about this conference elsewhere in this blog including the following:
“But saying that it is similar to South Africa misses an important point - the Government of Israel's form of Apartheid is WORSE than what the white Africaaners imposed on the blacks; i.e., in South Africa there were no collective punishments (like destroying a power plant), there were no separation barriers (walls, fences), no destruction of land, no destruction of trees (olive or others), there were no closures and roadblocks, there was freedom of movement, there were no separate roads, no separate license plates, the Africaaners hired the blacks to work for them allowing them to earn a living whereas the Government of Israel uses laborers who are brought in from other countries, and there was a benign condescending attitude of the ruling class for the oppressed and no concerted effort to work towards their eventual removal from the land.”
The conference was an amazing success – it sold out with over 900 attending. You think there would have been extensive coverage from the press (there was a small article buried in the Globe). The fact is, if the media covers anyone who speaks out about the Israeli government’s human rights abuses, they are attacked as anti-Semitic. The Nation Magazine recently wrote an article on how this stifling of dissent is tantamount to the new McCarthyism.
"When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200-or-so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa." Jimmy Carter 2006It is in this context that http://www.itisapartheid.org/ campaign was created. The purpose of the ITISAPARTHEID.ORG web site is to use the tools of the internet and ingenuity of its readers to spread the word about Apartheid in the Israeli Occupied Territories. Web savvy people sometimes refer to this as Viral Marketing or a Guerrilla Marketing campaign. Since the media by and large ignore or are afraid to print the truth, the job of the web site is to get the word out in other ways. You can help by putting ITISAPARTHEID.ORG everywhere you can think of.
“Israel has created in the Occupied Territories a regime of separation based on discrimination, applying two separate systems of law in the same area and basing the rights of individuals on their nationality. This regime . ..is reminiscent of .. .the apartheid regime in South Africa.” Israeli Human Rights Group B’tselem, 2002
I hope you are impressed with the web site. The facts on the web site are meticulously researched. The site is based on getting good info out to the public. When the conservatives (in the US) started to label the media as “liberal”, it stuck because they said the lie enough. So by putting the truth -- www.Itisapartheid.org everywhere we can think of -- it will make the truth as available as the air we breathe. I really encourage you to check out the site and join the campaign.
“Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.”Nelson Mandela 2001
Thank you for your anticipated interest and support. If you would like any further information, I invite you to contact me.
Richard Colbath-Hess, LICSW
Maserve@bluebottle.com
79 Amory Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 354 6471
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Is the Government of Israel Engaging in Appeasement too, Mr. Bush
President George W. Bush said this in the Knesset.
Here is an excerpt from an article in this morning’s Boston Globe
To repeat, here is what President George W. Bush said in the Knesset.
Here is a summary of the Bush foreign policy. Recognize that the other side is wrong, has no justification for its actions, is the epitome of absolute evil and should never be talked to. Never negotiate. Soon it will show its true nature and kill one of our citizens or soldiers at which time we will retaliate massively with all the military might available.
So he made that comment in the Knesset which has for the last year been negotiating with Syria (and Hamas also?).
I am truly at a loss as I try to understand why he would make such a statement where he made it? I really do not think he is stupid (although I have thought for years that those in the Bush administration have so little self-confidence they are terrified to negotiate with an adversary so they come out shooting). I really do not think he is a fool. Who would have written this? Could it be a John Hagee follower – someone hoping to speed up the days of the "Rapture”? Why would he read such inane comments?
Will a member of the media ask President George W. Bush today if he believes that the Government of Israel is engaging in the false comfort of appeasement?
The end of the Bush administration cannot come soon enough!
So we applaud the courageous choices Israel's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction. …. Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
Here is an excerpt from an article in this morning’s Boston Globe
Israelis, Syrians in peace talks
Seen as effort to halt growing clout of Iran
By Ethan Bronner, New York Times News Service May 22,
2008
JERUSALEM - Israel and Syria announced yesterday that they were engaged in negotiations for a comprehensive peace treaty through Turkish mediators, a sign that Israel is hoping to halt the growing influence of Iran, Syria's most important ally, which sponsors the anti-Israel groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
Senior Israeli officials from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office and their Syrian counterparts were in Istanbul, where both groups had been staying separately, at undisclosed locations, since Monday. The mediators shuttled between the two. Syria and Israel have not negotiated this seriously in eight years.
Syria's motives are clear: It wants to regain the Golan Heights captured by Israel in the 1967 war and to reestablish a relationship with the United States, something it figures it can do through talks with Jerusalem. For Israel - which has watched the Palestinian group Hamas take over Gaza and gain ground in the West Bank, and the Lebanese group Hezbollah display raw power in Beirut in recent weeks - an effort to pull Syria away from Iran could produce enormous benefits. An announcement yesterday of a peace deal that gives Hezbollah the upper hand in Lebanon's government probably added to Israel's sense of urgency on the issue.
The American government opposed Israeli-Syrian negotiations because they feared that such talks would reward Syria at a time when the United States is seeking to isolate it for its backing of Hezbollah and its meddling in Lebanon, Bush administration and Israeli officials said. The United States yielded when it became clear that Israel was determined to go ahead, they said.
The talks come less than a week after President Bush, speaking to the Israeli parliament, created a stir by criticizing those who would negotiate with "terrorists and radicals." Bush's remarks have become an issue in the American presidential campaign because they were widely perceived as a rebuke to Senator Barack Obama, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
To repeat, here is what President George W. Bush said in the Knesset.
So we applaud the courageous choices Israel's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction. …. Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
Here is a summary of the Bush foreign policy. Recognize that the other side is wrong, has no justification for its actions, is the epitome of absolute evil and should never be talked to. Never negotiate. Soon it will show its true nature and kill one of our citizens or soldiers at which time we will retaliate massively with all the military might available.
So he made that comment in the Knesset which has for the last year been negotiating with Syria (and Hamas also?).
I am truly at a loss as I try to understand why he would make such a statement where he made it? I really do not think he is stupid (although I have thought for years that those in the Bush administration have so little self-confidence they are terrified to negotiate with an adversary so they come out shooting). I really do not think he is a fool. Who would have written this? Could it be a John Hagee follower – someone hoping to speed up the days of the "Rapture”? Why would he read such inane comments?
Will a member of the media ask President George W. Bush today if he believes that the Government of Israel is engaging in the false comfort of appeasement?
The end of the Bush administration cannot come soon enough!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Razzle Dazzle 'em Part 3 - John McCormack and Bernard Law
Razzle Dazzle ‘em –Part 3 – John McCormack and Bernard Law
And today on the treadmill of the Jewish Community Center I read the obituary of the courageous Sister Cathering Mulkerrin and again the words and the melody of Razzle Dazzle ‘em resounded in my head. Last November I applied it to the Government of Israel, yesterday to President George W. Bush and today to two of the past heads of the Catholic Church in Boston.
What a universal ecumenical message!! You can Razzle Dazzle ‘em whether you are Jewish, Protestant or Catholic.
Reprinted below are excerpts from the obituary not, however, in the same order as printed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn5-VN3SH1o&feature=related
(This is not a spoiler but keep in mind that Roxie murdered her lover in cold blood and here she is on trial for that crime.)
BILLY Roxie, you got nothing to worry about.
It's all a circus, kid.
A three ring circus.
These trials- the whole world- all show business.
But kid, you're working with a star, the biggest!
Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate.
Give 'em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather 'em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?
What if your hinges all are rusting?
What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?
Razzle dazzle 'em
And they’ll never catch wise!
Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous
Row after row will crow vociferous
Give 'em the old flim flam flummox
Fool and fracture 'em
How can they hear the truth above the roar?
Throw 'em a fake and a finagle
They'll never know you're just a bagel,
And they'll beg you for more!
Give 'em the old double whammy
Daze and dizzy 'em
Back since the days of old Methuselah
Everyone loves the big bambooz-a-ler
Give 'em the old three ring circus
Stun and stagger 'em
When you're in trouble, go into your dance
Though you are stiffer than a girder
They'll let you get away with murder
Razzle dazzle 'em
And you've got a romance
Give 'em the oldRazzle Dazzle
Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Show 'em the first rate sorceror you are
Long as you keep 'em way off balance
How can they spot you've got no talent
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em
And they'll make you a star!
And today on the treadmill of the Jewish Community Center I read the obituary of the courageous Sister Cathering Mulkerrin and again the words and the melody of Razzle Dazzle ‘em resounded in my head. Last November I applied it to the Government of Israel, yesterday to President George W. Bush and today to two of the past heads of the Catholic Church in Boston.
What a universal ecumenical message!! You can Razzle Dazzle ‘em whether you are Jewish, Protestant or Catholic.
Reprinted below are excerpts from the obituary not, however, in the same order as printed.
Again, if you do not know the song, watch this clip from the movie:Sister Catherine Mulkerrin, who repeatedly pressed Roman Catholic church leaders in Boston to warn parishioners about priests who had been accused of exually abusing children, has died. She was 73. Sister Catherine died Saturday at Bethany Health Care Center in Framingham after a 24-year battle with cancer, said Sister Joanne Gallagher, spokeswoman for their religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Boston. Sister Catherine received allegations of clergy abuse and dealt directly with victims while working as assistant director of the Boston Archdiocesan Office for Victims of Abuse from 1992 to 1994. She said she received allegations against more than 100 priests in that period. Many of her memos to her supervisors later were released as part of lawsuits filed against the archdiocese by alleged victims.
"She really confronted the Archdiocese of Boston six years before the sexual abuse scandal broke out . . . I think that she was incredibly brave to do that," said Sheila Boyle, 60, of Malden, an editor and author who received a settlement from the church after she was abused by a now-defrocked priest. Boyle said the nun's sensitive and compassionate handling of sexual abuse victims avoided subjecting them to additional psychological trauma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn5-VN3SH1o&feature=related
(This is not a spoiler but keep in mind that Roxie murdered her lover in cold blood and here she is on trial for that crime.)
BILLY Roxie, you got nothing to worry about.
It's all a circus, kid.
A three ring circus.
These trials- the whole world- all show business.
But kid, you're working with a star, the biggest!
Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate.
Give 'em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather 'em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?
What if your hinges all are rusting?
What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?
Razzle dazzle 'em
And they’ll never catch wise!
"I know I sound like a broken record," according to one memo from Sister Catherine that was released in 2002, "but we need to put in church bulletins 'It has come to our attention a priest stationed here between 19XX and 19XX may have molested children - please contact . . . ' "
She said in a deposition that archdiocese leaders ignored her repeated concerns that priests accused of sexual abuse were allowed to return to parish work without the kind of supervision she had recommended.
Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous
Row after row will crow vociferous
Give 'em the old flim flam flummox
Fool and fracture 'em
How can they hear the truth above the roar?
Throw 'em a fake and a finagle
They'll never know you're just a bagel,
Razzle dazzle 'em"I expressed concern, consternation. What are we thinking of? What are you thinking of?" Sister Catherine said in a deposition released April 8, 2003, about her conversations with Bishop John McCormack, her boss who handled sexual abuse complaints involving priests as an aide to Cardinal Bernard Law, then head of the archdiocese.
She said in the deposition McCormack told her he was trying to address her concerns. He later said through a spokesman he was following policy, but acknowledged he made mistakes during his time in Boston.
And they'll beg you for more!
Give 'em the old double whammy
Daze and dizzy 'em
Back since the days of old Methuselah
Everyone loves the big bambooz-a-ler
Give 'em the old three ring circus
Stun and stagger 'em
When you're in trouble, go into your dance
Though you are stiffer than a girder
They'll let you get away with murder
Razzle dazzle 'em
And you've got a romance
Give 'em the oldRazzle Dazzle
Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Show 'em the first rate sorceror you are
Long as you keep 'em way off balance
How can they spot you've got no talent
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em
And they'll make you a star!
Law resigned in 2003 (Blogger’s Note - to take a position as archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome and eventually to become a member of eight Vatican departments).
McCormack became bishop of New Hampshire in 1998.
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