Sawt al Niswa | صوت النسوة - Palestine

Statement of Solidarity from the Middle East | #BlackLivesMatter

Lamia Moghnie — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 22:00:00 +0000

Sawt al Niswa

Statement of Solidarity

12/8/2014

We the undersigned groups and individuals in the Middle East and North Africa stand in solidarity with the ongoing protests across the U.S., led by Black communities, following the killing of Mike Brown by officer Darren Wilson and the decision by a Grand Jury that Wilson is innocent of any crime. Brown’s death is not the first, and has been followed by many other fatal shootings of people of color by U.S. police. We condemn this violence against Black communities and people of color in all its forms.

We stand in support of the grassroots movement to bring justice to communities of color facing police violence with the complicity of the judicial system. The militarization of the police and its destructive interventions in communities of color has pushed many activists/thinkers to highlight the links between U.S wars and occupations inside its borders, and outside it.

It is horrifying to live in a world where Black mothers have to teach their Black sons to avoid beingshot by the police for no reason, or for holding a toy gun, for asking for help, for wearing a hoodie; and for black women to be violently policed,harassed and murdered in their homes and in the streets. In the face of such crimes without impunity,in the face of colonization and multiple oppressions of indigenous peoples and communities of color, their anger is justified. We stand in solidarity with people resisting the U.S. white supremacist capitalist regime through boycotts, protests, civil disobedience, as well as through continuing processes of decolonization and resistance that are not as visible to us.

Such solidarity also necessitates that we acknowledge anti-Black racism in the Middle East and North African countries, the marginalization of Black Arabs, as well as the identification with whiteness by many Arabs, and the exploitation of Asian and African workers by the aggressive economies within the Gulf countries particularly, as well as across the Arab region. We remain engaged in changing our realities through fighting racism, classism and marginalization.

We the undersigned groups and individuals wish to honor the legacy of Black power and the civil rights movement in emancipation and equality, and its influence in supporting many of the national emancipation efforts within our region, and in reminding us that systems of oppression will always be dismantled. Black communities are not alone. Their lives matter, and their longing for justice must be granted by ending the constant violation based on gender, race and class.

We admire those individuals and groups mobilizing against injustice in U.S cities and streets, through individual and group initiatives; we salute their anger and their heroic determination in demanding justice and peace.

Signatures:

Sawtalniswa community - lebanon

Lebanon Socialist Forum - lebanon

Lebanon Anti Racism Movement - lebanon

Lebanon Radical Beirut- Lebanon

Revolutionary Left Movement - Syria

Beirut Walls - Lebanon

Sedighe Dolatabadi Women's Library, Iran

Red Zone - Anarchists from Greece and Syria

Individual signatures:

Delaram Ali

Elnaz Ansari

Amir Yaghoubali

Emad Borghei

Sawsan Abdulrahim

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عن يلي صار ب ٥ حزيران ٢٠١١

Lamia Moghnie — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:01:05 +0000

Mozzom 2011

Farah Salka فرح سلكا

كان لازم يكون في مسيرة للحدود اللبنانية من بعد ١٥ ايار ٢٠١١ تزامناً وتضامناً مع كل التحركات التانية يلي عمبتصير بغزة والجولان والضفة الغربية لفلسطين المحتلة (يلي كلن محتلين للتذكير) ومصر وذلك نهار ٥ حزيران ٢٠١١ ويلي هي كمان ذكرى-النكسة-

وما شي جديد، تم منع المسيرة بآخر يوم من قبل السلطة اللبنانية، منعاً باتاً. يعني بظرف كم ساعة تركب شي مية حاجز جيش من بيروت وطول الخط جنوباً لتفتيش كل السيارات (المشبوهة) والباصات يلي ممكن كانوت طلعلو شي فلسطيني/ فلسطينية مجنون/ة ناوي/ة ي/توصل على الحدود.

كم شغلة مفيد التنويه عنها بخصوص هيدا الاجراء وكم قصة صارت بهيدا النهار:

١- يلي بدو يوصل على حدود، بحاجز أو مئة، حيوصل، بقدرة إلهية أو بشرية حيوصل، بالسيارة أو على رجليه بدو يوصل

٢- القضية مبارح ما كانت بس قضية فلسطينية بحبو فلسطين وبدهم/هن يوصلوا عالحدود، وما كانت بس قضية عيل الشهداء يلي سقطو ب ٢٥ ايار، وما كانت بس قضية لاجئين ولاجئات صرلن ٦٣ سنة مشردين بلبنان وممنوعين من العودة عفلسطين، وكمان ممنوعين من الروحة عالحدود حتى ليشوفو فلسطين. القضية فيها كتير قصص ثانية أبرزها إنو في كثير لبنانية ومش بس فلسطينية قرفوا وإختنقوا من السياسات والتصرفات العنصرية من قبل الجيش اللبناني وحزب الله تجاه الفلسطينية، فالنشاط والتحركات ماكانت بس من “الفلسطينية”.

٣- العديسة: في مجموعة من الشباب والشابات الفلسطينيين/ات واللبنانيين/ات وصلو عالحدود، يعني هل التحضيرات والحواجز ولإستنفار الأمني ما فادوا بشي، بدهن يوصلوا ووصلوا، ورفعوا علم فلسطين والحطات وشارات النصر بوج إسرئيل وعالحدود! الجيش والمخابرات بعدهم لهلق عم يحققو ويحللو كيف هيدا الشي صار. الصدمة مش سايعتهم.

٤-ألوف الجنود يلي كانو بالشوارع نهار الأحد، كلهن على بعضهن كانو واقفين كرمال ٢٠ أو ٣ واحد منا مش أكثر وما قدرو يوقفو حدا من إنو يعمل يلي براسو /راسا.كأنو الجيش اللبناني عندو رعب مستشري بلاوعي تبعولو من “الفلسطيني”. ا.ل. ه. ل. ع.

٥- برج الشمالي: كانت أعداد العالم يلي متجمعة على باب المخيم كثيرة ونصبوا خيمة وعملو عصيان مدني قدام الجيش، وكانوا (الجيش) قاطعين الطريق على إنو العالم تفوت عالمخيم، ليطلعو وبعدين بمبادرة كثير رائعة، وبيقرروا إنو يروحو يفسرو للجيش إنو مشكلتهم مش معهم ولا بدهم يتصادمو معهم وكل همهم يرجعوا عا فلسطين ويروحوا يزورو الحدود بهيدا النهار مش أكثر ولا أقل، فا بتجي إم الشهيد محمد يلي ما صرلو أسبوعين مستشهد وبتروح عند رئيس الجيش يلي يبيأمر وبينهي ببرج الشمالي وبتقدملو باقة ورود قدام كل المتجمعين لتعبرلو عن كل هيدول القصص:

شو بيعمل؟؟بيرفضهاوبيقول إنو ممنوْع من إستلامها، فبتحطهم عالأرض!

بعد هيدا المشهد المزري، قعدنا مع إم الشهيد، وسمعناها عم تحكي..كل شي شايفة سامعة أو عارفة إنو في شي اسمو قوة بالدنيا ما مرأ علي بحياتي متل العنفوان والنفس والطاقة يلي كانو عام يطلعو منها لهيدي الانسانة..ما طبيعي. كل الفخر..ما بتذكر ابنها إالا ووجهها عم يضحك.. مش حزنانة ولا شبر.. وعيونها بتضخ قوة هي وعم تحكي.

٦-عين الحلوة: شباب صغار عمر أكبر واحد فيهم/هن ١٥ سنة إنمنعوا من إنو يضهرو من المخيم أو يعملو أيا تحرك بهيدا النهار، كلمة ممنوع بتجي بالتزامن مع كلمة فلسطيني بلبنان ممنوع تاكل ممنوع تشرب ممنوع تتنفس ممنوع تتحرك وممنوع تشتري ممنوع تورث ممنوع تتحكم ممنوع تسافر وأهم شي إنو طبعاً ممنوع تعمل ردة فعل على كل هالممنوعات.

وآخيراً وليس آخراً الشعب الفلسطيني جبار و رح يبقى.

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hereandthere/من هنا وهناك

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Discrimination, death, injustice and boundaries: May 15, RIP

sara — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Sawtalniswa

Mirna Haydar

The more i get involved the more i know i am limited by boundaries and an invisible power that ties my ambitions to the ground. When i was young, i used to fly in my dreams and i felt the will to make me become the change i wanted to see, act and make and create.

So i got engaged and i acted and the more i did the more i felt the frustration, the disgust, and the abuse of my ambitions. Look at what happened yesterday: Nakba, the return of the Palestinians, the return of Justice, and the return of order in the world. But nothing was returned, instead it returned to where we were: chaos and catastrophes, more injustice. Stones against bullets. Hands against snipers. Unfairness instead of fairness. Voices against the silence on injustice.

What about the ignorance of some religious “leaders” who caused the crowd to rage and therefore die? i am enraged as i write as you are when you read this, but i rage on my responsibility. i hate that the protestors died. i hate that all that was mentioned internationally is that “siyadet israel” was abused and not humans souls.

Not Zeinab Karnib, not the 15 year-old child who wore for the last time the clothes her mother ironed and washed for her. Nothing human in this humanity! Nothing just nothing logical like the words i am trying to use to express my rage and sorrow over these victims. i was programmed to say may their souls rest in peace, where and how i do not know, but i do know that no matter what the costs are, i will continue to rebel and revolt through all means possible, rebelling and revolting against these injustices.

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hereandthere/من هنا وهناك

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International Solidarity: The Power to Create Something Better

Lamia Moghnie — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:05:00 +0000

Lina Myritz

International solidarity is crucial because the plight of Gaza’s 1.5 million impoverished and isolated inhabitants is not a domestic problem, not a natural disaster, not a mistake. It is the perfectly logical consequence of generations of ugly craftsmanship on the part of foreign diplomats, politicians and businessmen – all profiteering from the brutal colonisation of the Palestinian people. As citizens of corrupt and hypocritical countries or simply as human beings on this earth informed of the basic facts on the ground, we are all obliged to act. And this is just what the crew of the Freedom Flotilla has done.

There is no shortage of knowledge about the situation. If one wishes to know, it is easy to find out that the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on this planet, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, of which over half are children. It is, likewise, easy to learn that Gaza is surrounded by 12-meter high walls and subject to a crippling blockade since June 2007. The economy is virtually non-existent, with sky-high rates of unemployment and 70% of people living under the internationally established poverty line (2009). After Israel’s military onslaught Operation Cast Lead in December 2008, over 1,400 Palestinians were slaughtered. Since then, the blockade has only hardened. Almost a third of homes have no running water, others making do with a few hours per day. Sewage treatment centers are not functioning, crops fail because of under-irrigation, and hospitals struggle to deal with regular and prolonged power cuts.

All of this is public knowledge. And yet while the Palestinian people are being forced to make impossible decisions – surrender or die, leave forever or remain incarcerated – most of the elites in the rest of the world are doing their best to support Israel while claiming to be reasonably critical of its momentary exaggerations. As a European, I feel sick at the thought of the free-trade agreement, the continued arms trade, how aid money time after time rebuilds what Israel has destroyed without an incriminating word, how Israel was welcomed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) just a couple of weeks ago, or the innumerable other investments and exchanges that characterize the EU-Israeli relationship. It is not that the governing powers in Europe or the United States do not know how to engage in practical, useful solidarity. It is just that they picked sides a long time ago and all else is lip-service to public opinion.

I was born with blood on my hands but this is not about guilt, it is about the will and the power to create something better. We cannot wait for our governments, or our NGOs, or our celebrities to free Palestine. It is up to us. The people on the ships should rightly be celebrated as heroes and solidarity actions should be undertaken, but we cannot stop there. Their action was devised to do what sweet-talking politicians claiming to represent them would not do: Break it – something simple and good for the people of Gaza, the only thing one can and must do when faced with an unrighteous blockade of all that is life. They did this as an example, not to be put on a pedestal, but so that more people would join them and invent their own ways of dismantling the great but surmountable building-blocks of occupation. Their recipe is working! In the wake of the Israeli brutality, Turks are storming the Israeli embassy, Swedish dockworkers are blocking Israeli ships from leaving or entering the ports, US students are voting for divestment, and people all over the world are on the streets screaming out their fury. Is it sad that this only happens after foreign activists are killed, rather than when thousands of Palestinians are slaughtered? Of course. It’s disgusting. But let’s not waste time analyzing it, let’s use it. And while we’re at it, let’s swivel the focus to what actually is at stake.

The Freedom Flotilla is not and must not become a phenomenon apart from the rest of the struggle, but an extension of it. Much like the daily struggle of the Palestinian people in Palestine, in all its various and inspiring manifestations, must not be something we just admire from afar and write beautiful texts about but something that we actually learn from and let it direct us to similar bravery and steadfastness.

I woke up this morning, not so worried any more, because the so-called little people, of which I am a proud member, take action every single day: When going to their shops and shunning, sabotaging or shoplifting Israeli goods; when tirelessly writing e-mails, phoning, picketing or blocking companies that persist in dealing with Israel; when dismantling weapons and preventing the take-off of planes headed for Israel; when teaching their children the true meanings of words like terror, self-defence and collateral damage, words like justice, solidarity and freedom; when getting up every morning to a new day of navigating checkpoints, invasions, arrests. Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere are already fighting the fight each and every single day. But we must show them that they are not struggling alone and we must at least try to match the immense risks that they take to preserve dignity and life.

The murdered members of the Freedom Flotilla, and above all the thousands of Palestinian martyrs who have been slaughtered both before and after the boarding of the Mavi Marmara, will have died in vain if we simply stand still and gape in awe at their courageous actions. Theirs is a call to up the ante, to take bigger risks and feel the tide turning in favour of justice. Theirs is a vision of the world in which grandmothers are not afraid to go to jail for a while if that’s what it takes, in which workers and students strike, consumers carefully read labels, and toddlers learn how to riot as naturally as they learn how to walk. Theirs is a vision of a world in which the movement grows every time one of us is killed. So, whatever your motivation, use it! Guilt, love, fury, sorrow – I guess they’re all fine as long as they lead you somewhere you want to go.

I want to go to a free Palestine and I want my friends to come too, bloody hands and all!

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البنت فلسطينية

Lamia Moghnie — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:45:17 +0000

امل كعوش

http://meiroun.blogspot.com/

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Join the olive harvest campaign 2010

sara — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:00:00 +0000

source unknown

ISM

Join the olive harvest campaign 2010

29August 2010

At a time of increasing settler violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to participate in the 2010 Olive Harvest Campaign at the invitation of Palestinian communities.

The olive tree is a national symbol for Palestinians. As thousands of olive trees have been bulldozed, uprooted and burned by Israeli settlers and the military – (over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000) – harvesting has become more than a source of livelihood; it has become a form of resistance.

The olive harvest is an annual affirmation of Palestinians’ historical, spiritual and economic connection to their land, and a rejection of Israeli efforts to seize it. Despite efforts by Israeli settlers and soldiers to prevent them from accessing their land, Palestinian communities remain steadfast in refusing to give up their olive harvest

International and Israeli volunteers join Palestinians each year to harvest olives, and this makes a big difference. It has proven in the past to help limit and decrease the number and severity of attacks and harassment. The presence of activists can reduce the risk of extreme violence from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army and supports Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihood. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent intervention and documentation and this practical support enables many families to pick their olives. In addition The Olive Harvest Campaign also provides a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Palestinian families in their olive groves and homes.

The campaign will begin on the 8th or 9th of October and run for approximately 6-8 weeks, depending on the size of the harvest . We request a minimum 2 week commitment from volunteers.

Training:

The ISM will be holding mandatory two day training sessions every Wednesday and Thursday. Please contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.

Ongoing campaigns:

In addition to the olive harvest, there will also be other opportunities to participate in grass-roots, non-violent resistance in Palestine.

In occupied East Jerusalem, ISM activists have been staying in Sheikh Jarrah, where the Hanoun and Ghawe families, evicted from their houses by Israeli police and settlers, maintain a presence, and the Al-Kurd family endure constant harassment from settlers who have occupied part of their home . We will continue to support the initiatives of families who face evictions or demolitions in all Palestinian neighborhoods in order to resist the ongoing ethnic cleansing om Jerusalem.

ISM maintains a presence in Hebron and is making regular visits to the nearby village of Al Buwayra where settlers have terrorized villagers in recent weeks with regular attacks, including the unprovoked assault of two ISM activists. In recent weeks the Israeli army has used brutal violence to suppress the regular demonstration for the opening of Shuhada street. They have shut down local shops and made numerous arrests of Palestinians and international activists in attempts to thwart the demo, sometimes also fabricating crimes and prosecuting activists leading to fines, bans and spells in jail.

We also have an apartment in Nablus from where we work on a number of projects including resisting demolitions in the village of Izbet Tabib, documenting the rioting and olive tree-burning of settlers and attending the weekly demonstration in Iraq Burin where the military have been illegally firing tear gas canisters directly at protesters.

Other regular demonstrations ISM participate in include those in the village of Bil’in where rubber bullets have been used to disperse unarmed protestors and a campaign of legal persecution has been waged against key protest organizers in an attempt to repress the grassroots nonviolent resistance movement.

ISM activists have also been attending weekly demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall, the annexation of Palestinian land and the construction of illegal settlements in Al Ma’sar, An Nabi Saleh, Al Walaja and Beit Ummar.

Come! Bear witness to the suffering, courage and generosity of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.

Experiencing the situation for yourself is vital to adequately convey the reality of life in Palestine to your home communities and to re-frame the debate in a way that will expose Israel’s apartheid policies; creeping ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem as well as collective punishment and genocidal practices in Gaza.

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أي فخر في مواكب الفخر؟

Pascale Ghazaly — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Gay Pride - Tel Aviv

نضال - أصوات

لفت أنظاري مقالان في الإعلام الفلسطيني عن موكب الفخر في تل أبيب وحيفا. الأول في موقع “معاً” والآخر في موقع “بكرا”. وفي قراءتي للمقالين، شعرت أنني أشهد تغييراً في اللغة واللهجة المستعملتين لوصف الحدث ومَن فيه. لم تُستعمل تسمية سلبية للمثلين والمثليات بل اعتمد المقالان صفة سرد أو تقرير إيجابي للمشاركة في مواكب الفخر الإسرائيلية. في خبر “معاً” المترجم إلى الإنجليزية، تطور نقاش مع المعلقين/ات حول رفض الفلسطينين للمثليين/اث جنسياً مقابل تقبل الإسرائيلين لهم/ن. كان من ربط الجدار بالاضطهاد المثلي وكان من رفض الربط بين صور الاضطهادات المختلفة ورهاب المثلية. بينما قابل موقع “بكرا” الناشطة سميرة (من مجموعة “أصوات”) واستعرض مشاركتها ومسيرة نضالها وكلماتها في موكب الفخر في حيفا وصور ودارت ردود الفعل في الموقع من رفض هذا “الانحلال” و”الانصياع” الى تصرفات وصفت “بمقرفه” أو “منبوذة”. ولكن الأغرب في الموضوع أنّ الخبر المنشور في موقع “بكرا” لم يتطرق الى حقيقة مشاركة الناشطة الأصواتية في الموكب البديل الذي رفع شعارات تضامن مناهضة لحصار غزة، ما يشوه حقيقة هذه المشاركة ورسالتها المنشودة. فقد رُفعت في هذه المسيرة البديلة شعارات تندد بالإحتلال والعنصرية الإسرائيلية خلافا للموكب العام الذي يتجاهل هذه القضايا وبالتالي انتقدت هذة المسيرة موكب الفخر العام. من هنا، فإنّ تغطية موقع “بكرا” للحدث خاطئة بعض الشيء وتظهر الناشطة الأصواتية الجريئة سميرة كمثلية على الطريقه الإسرائيلية وبهذا تُنكل وتشوه حقيقة مقولتها السياسية. ليس موضوع مقالي محاولة تفسير هذه البلبلة المعتمدة أو غير المعتمدة (موضوع ممكن بحثه في مقال أخر)، إنما أود أن أطرح أسئلة عامة حول المشاركة الفلسطينية في مواكب الفخر الإسرائيلية.

وهذه الأصوات هي بمثابة جانب من نقاشنا اليوم كمثليات فلسطينيات. تدفعني هذه المقالات وردود الفعل عليها الى التساؤل عن ماهية صورة مشاركتنا في مواكب الفخر الإسرائيلية؟ كيف نُصور أنفسنا في هذه المواكب وكيف يُصور الغير مشاركتنا؟ وهذه أسئلة مهمه ولربما تقع أهميتها في أننا موجودات داخل دوامة من التساؤلات. البعض منا لا يسأل والبعض الآخر يتسائل لماذا الفخر أصلاً ولماذا لا أشعر بالفخر؟ وما هو هذا الشعور بالفخر الذي يُسوّق ويُسلّع لنا كسلعة مثلية عالمية؟

للتطرق إلى هذه الأسئلة والنقاش فيها، أقترح أن يكون محور الحوار على مُستويين: الفلسطيني-الإسرائيلي هو الأول والثاني هو التواصل العالمي العولمي (وممكن الحديث عن المستوى الشرق-أوسطي، لكن هذا يتطلب مقالاً كاملاً بحد ذاته).

أبدأ من المحور العالمي والعولمي:

أساساً وأولاً، يجب سرد السيرورات المختلفة التي من بذورها نبتت أشجار الفخر- أي مواكب الفخر. ظهر موكب الفخر الأول كمظاهرة إحتجاجية لحملة الاعتقالات العنيفة البوليسية لمثليي الجنس في فندق ستونوول في مدينة نيويورك عام 1969. وباتت الجاليات المثلية عالمياً تحيي ذكرى مظاهرات ستونوول. لهذا السبب، ما زال البعض اليوم يربط مواكب الفخر بالنشاط السياسي لأحرار الجنس. ويربط البعض الآخر النشاط المثلي بأهمية الشهرة والظهور المثلي العلني. الإشهار كما يعتبره الكثيرون هو فعل سياسي نشاطي فيه يخرج المثليين من “الخزانة” لإعلان الرغبات الجنسية والمواقف الاجتماعية بصورة علنية. مرّ أكثر من أربعين عاماً على وقائع ستونوول وتحولت الأغلبية من مواكب الفخر الى حفلات ومهرجانات أسبوعية قائمة ليلاً ونهاراً، تتراقص فيها الأجساد لعيون المشاركين والزوار وكاميراتهم. فكثيراً ما نلاحظ الغياب البطيء للتحرك السياسي في مواكب الفخر وقد يُساهم البطء التدريجي في تصوير هذا التلاشي على أنه “طبيعي جداً”. لهذا لا يلاحظه الكثير وإن لوحظ يعتبَر أنه “تقدم” و”تنور”.

فكان على سبيل المثال النقاش الأخير في مدينة تورنتو الذي صرحت فيه اللجنة التنظيمية لموكب الفخر برفض شعارات تندد بنظام الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي، وهو حدث مركزي أعيد فيه طُرح الحوار والتساؤلات عن هشاشة المقولة السياسية في مواكب الفخر. وكانت لي مقالة سابقة قد تطرقت فيها إلى مصطلح رهاب المثلية-السياسية عقب قرارات اللجنة المنظمة أطالب فيه بإعادة النظر في مكانة مواكب الفخر على خريطة أو خرائط الصراعات المثلية والهويات المثلية. وكانت ردود فعل الكثيرين من المثليين/ات أفراداً وجماهيراً مثيرة ومؤثرة حيث قامت مجموعة “كويرز ضد الأبارتهايد الإسرائيلي” بتنظيم اجتماعات ومظاهرات ضمت فيها أصواتاً مركزية من الجالية المثلية في تورنتو نددت فيها بقرارات اللجنة التنظيمية وكان القرار الأخير الذي نشرته اللجنة والصحف في تورنتو هو تراجع الأخيرة عن حظر استعمال المصطلح “نظام الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي”. ولربما هذا “الانتصار” هو بمثابة انتصارات عبثية إذ فيها تناقض مبطن. فهل نهلل للجنة رفضت الوجود السياسي والكيان المهمش ونعتبر هذا انتصاراً للقضية المثلية أو الفلسطينية؟ طبعاً الصورة هي دائماً مركبة ومعقدة أكثر مما نتصور. فالرفض الأساسي مهم لتحليله ولربما أكثر من التراجع نفسه. وإذا أردنا تحليل التراجع فحذاري من تصور الأمور وكأنها سارية باتجاهاتٍ سياسية عادلة. وطبعاً ما يؤكد هذا الحدث هو أهمية العمل على كشف القوى الفاعلة خلف هذه القرارات وهي بأغلبها قوى تستضعف المستضعفة وتجُرها الى التيار النيوليبيرالي السائد عالمياً اليوم.

لكن الأسئلة الأهم هنا التي تتطلب قراءة مطولة لتاريخ وحيثيات مواكب الفخر ورموزها عالمياً ومحلياً هي: ما هي صورة مشاركتنا المحلية لمواكب الفخر وما هي الرسالة المحلية والعالمية التي نهتفها عالياً؟ هل هي رسالة عالمية رافضة للقوى المحلية أو رسالة منبثقة من الصرعات المحلية كالعنصرية ونظام الأبوية والتهميش والاحتلالات؟ وهل لهذه التأثيرات المحلية المركزية في صياغة حياتنا اليومية تأثير عالمي؟ وهل ينبغي أن يكون لها تأثير عالمي ومحلي؟ لماذا لا نضع في أجندة مواكب الفخر العالمية أصواتنا المحلية؟ وهل هناك إمكانية للاتحاد مع تيارات قد هُمشت من قبل قطارات مواكب الفخر الثقيلة بدلاً من الإنجرار والتسارع للإلتحاق بهذه القطارات السريعة؟

قد يكون المحور الثاني هو الأهم هنا ولكنه نابع من تساؤلات السابق وهو السياق الفلسطيني-الإسرائيلي. ويعيدني هذا إلى المقالات الصحفية المذكورة أعلاه والى هذه الأحداث المتتالية لظهور مثليين/ات فلسطينين/ات في مواكب الفخر الإسرائيلية. كانت لمجموعة أصوات مشاركات علنية سابقة بحضور روضة مرقص إلى مواكب الفخر الإسرائيلية وقد حملت هذه المشاركه صوتاً أخر يفاقم التعقيدات في صراعاتنا كنساء مثليات ومهمشات في دولة استعمارية. ولكن هذه المشاركة كانت ضئيلة رغم وقع صوتها القوي. اليوم تشارك نساءنا ورجالنا الفلسطيون/ات في مواكب الفخر كأفراد تتلاشى وجوههم/ن وسمارهم/ن مع الأعلام الإسرائيلية وألوان القوس. ومن هنا يُطرح السؤال، “كيف نفرض وجودنا من دون كتم أصواتنا المعبرة عن موقعنا وعن تاريخنا وحتى حياتنا اليومية؟” إحدى الاقتراحات التي فكرت فيها هي إمكانية رفض مشاركتنا في مواكب الفخر نهائياً لأنها، أولاً، تمثل جزءاً غير كامل مطلقاً منا وثانياً، تهمش هذه الأجزاء المهيمنة على حياتنا كفلسطينيين مواطنين في دولة إسرائيل وكنساء نصارع مؤسسات وطنية ذكورية لا بل من خلال تهميش هذه العوامل تتعزز القوى السائدة في الخطاب الإسرائيلي الداخلي والخارجي عن “ديموقراطية” الدولة و”صيانتها” حقوق الفرد محاطةً ببحر من دول “فاشية”. فها هنا نرى المثليين/ات الفلسطينيون/ات يسيرون على خطى الإسرائيليين، جنباً الى جنب، يتبادلون الابتسامات مع جنود، مستعمرين، يمينيين ويساريين، عنصريين، ملحدين ومتديين تحت شعارات “كلنا في الهوا سوا”. أي هوا وأي سوا عندما تستغل الحركات الصهيونية الأمريكية والكندية والأوروبية مثلاً تواجد العرب الفلسطينيين في مواكب الفخر الفلسطينية لترويج سياساتهم المعادية للشرق أو للفلسطينيين أو للعرب أو الإسلام؟

أرفض أن أحكم على أصدقائي وصديقاتي المشاركات/ين في مواكب الفخر هذه لأنني أعرف أهمية مشاركتهن الشخصية والاجتماعية ومساهمتهن في إظهار وجودهن على المستوى المحلي. ولكن هل من الممكن عرض قضية المثلية السياسية على الساحة الفلسطينية أولاً؟ وهل بإمكان المثلية السياسية أن تطور صورة تحليلية واضحة تكشف معادلة الاضطهاد الذكوري والاحتلالي الذي يعمل دائماً بصورة شائكة ومتشابكة؟ هل يمكن للعمل النسوي المثلي أن يسير بالخطاب القومي والنضالي إلى مستويات أخرى رائدة على خارطة العمل السياسي؟ هل من الممكن أن نقاطع مشاركتنا مع مسيرات احتفالية إسرائيلية مثلية ونضع منهاجاً للعمل على مشاركتنا على الساحة السياسية النسوية الفلسطينية، في الداخل وفي الضفة وغزة؟ ومن هنا، ندفع العمل السياسي الفلسطيني العام الى حيز عادل أكثر وشمولي أكثر؟ أود أن أفتح هذه الأسئلة للنقاش!

‏30‏ حزيران‏، 2010

روابط متعلقه:موقع بكرا:

http://www.bokra.net/Article.aspx?id=915880

موقع معاً بالإنجليزية:

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291318

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A Call for Submissions: Palestinian Fairies Project

Pascale Ghazaly — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Share and exchange stories of Palestine and womenhood

Sara Emiline AbuGhazal

Sawt Al Niswa is launching a new page that seeks to explore the intersections between Palestine and Womanhood. We’re looking for all sorts of submissions, written and otherwise ( film, poetry, photography, and music etc.), to express your reflections and experiences in this area.

There are a lot of different angles that you can approach this from; we’re looking to add more richness to the subject of Palestine Woman-ness by collecting a diversity of ideas, approaches and artistic interpretations. Some ideas for topics include: Palestinian Women Oral History, BDS and feminism, Women and Resistance… there are plenty of interesting and unique ideas in our heads about this subject, because all of us here in one way or another have experienced it in intense ways. We just need to develop these ideas so that others can see, hear or read them and we can make some fairies magic ;)

Writings can be submitted in Arabic, English or French.

Submissions should be sent to tamara@sawtalniswa.com or editor@sawtalniswa.com. Please drop us an email if you’d like to have a conversation about this. Perhaps you have some thoughts as to how we should go about the project, feel something tickling in your gut when you hear about these two issues being patched together and you want to talk about it, questions about submissions etc…

Find the official description of the Palestinian Fairies Project here

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hereandthere/من هنا وهناك

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What's Music Got To Do With It

Pascale Ghazaly — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:00:00 +0000

www.maxkeiseronfacebook.com

Maya Mikdashi

The arguments have become familiar. We want to enjoy life; music is not political; dancing should unify us, not divide us. We can’t keep being the sacrificial lamb of the Palestinian cause. Aren't you Lebanese? Are you an Islamist? Don’t you like rock and roll music, coca-cola, and dancing under the stars at open-air raves? Aren’t you for the freedom of expression? Are you (gasp) intolerant?

The questions that the debate whether we, in Lebanon, should join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel engenders have nothing to do with liking music, being fanatical, or censorship. The issue is not a band that played a concert in Tel Aviv, had a stopover in Cyprus, and continued on to Beirut. It is not that this same band performed the week the Israeli state attacked a flotilla of peace activists trying to break the criminal blockade of Gaza, an area of land that is home to over 1.3 million Palestinians and has been placed under siege for over three years. The question is not whether or not we can, or should, empathize with Palestinians living within a settler colony. The question is not if we have to be political. The question is: Can we afford not to be political? Can we absolve ourselves of responsibility towards each other as citizens and residents of Lebanon, as Arabs, or as human beings in the name of music and a good time? And if and when we do absolve ourselves of responsibility, what kind of politics are we engaging in? When we surrender politics to the politicians, what are we doing?

The political permeates every aspect of our lives. From the moment we wake up in particular neighborhoods in, for example, Beirut to the moment that our maid brings us our evening snack and puts our children to sleep, we are engaged in politics. This engagement continues as each of us drives in his or her car to locations that are close by, when we pass by the myriad unkempt children and disabled adults standing in highways selling their sadness, maneuver through a security checkpoint in a politician’s neighborhood, and as we sweat in long pants during the hot summer in a failed attempt to avert the unwanted verbal and physical advances of men on the Manara who know they are not accountable to anyone. Politics is about the struggle over life, how we live it, where we live it, who gets to live a livable life, and who gets to live. We are political because we are alive. Depoliticization is a political process, it is a tactic of a power that aims to separate the messiness of shared life into compartments such as “culture,” “government,” “economy,” “personal life,” “government,” and, my personal favorite, “civil society.” Once segregated into neat, independent packages, we are told that our “political” involvement begins, and ends, at the level of government. Depoliticization comes with neoliberalism, an ideology that masks its praxis being claims to be a “way of life.” The idea that Liberalism is a way of life or that it is simply “good values” has historically fueled capitalist expansion, colonialism, and the imperial notion that western history is at once the telos and the unfolding of world history. More recently, neoliberalism has been the ideology driving the perversion of human rights discourse to justify the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the banning of the headscarf in France, and the reinvigoration of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world.

One does not have to engage in an ideological analysis to see that art, and in this case, music, is anything but apolitical. When U2 announced that it would not play any concerts in apartheid South Africa, they were making a statement. When Elton John refused to heed to the boycott of South Africa and played concerts in that country, he was also making a statement. Playing a concert in an apartheid state is a statement. When international artists perform in Israel after a BDS campaign has been launched and after they have been asked to join it in solidarity with the oppressed, their performance lends legitimacy to a political regime that openly calls for the continued occupation of Palestinian lands, legal and infrastructural apartheid, and the expulsion of indigenous populations outside the state’s borders. Perhaps musicians who play venues in Israel today are ignorant about the political situation. But is ignorance an excuse? Today, people with access to information have to consistently choose to remain ignorant of current events. Furthermore, ignorance about structural oppression, ongoing settler colonialism, and apartheid, is a luxury of power that contributes to violence against those that are not powerful. Neutrality in the face of gross inequality and oppression is the most insidious form of partisanship towards the powerful. Every act of boycott is a statement against the status quo.

Lebanese event organizers who invite artists that perform in Israel are not breaking any laws. But they are making a statement as to the normalization of ties with Israel and they are not supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions initiative. People who want to attend these events are entitled to spend their leisure time however they want. But they too are making a statement as to the normalization of Lebanese ties with Israel and they, too, are choosing to not support the BDS campaign. If the choice for artists is between profiting monetarily from apartheid oppression and making a statement by not performing in Israel, for patrons, the choice is between allowing those who profit monetarily from apartheid to continue to profit monetarily from your own money. The calculations are simple. If enough people decide that they will not patronize performances by artists who also perform in apartheid Israel, either the event organizers will need to cater to this new reality or, imagine, we could actually force international artists to choose to either play in Lebanon or in Israel. Imagine Lebanon being “happening” enough to be a rival of Israel in terms of what is known as the “cultural scene” or the “summer circuit.” Imagine us being more effective than the hollow regimes that rule the Arab Middle East.

When I engage in an act of boycott against DJ Tiesto, I am also making a statement that I refuse to entrust the entire arena of politics, and the question of Lebanon’s relationship with Israel, to politicians that I know are corrupt, sectarian, and inefficient. I am making a statement that I refuse to normalize ties with a state that has invaded my country three times in the years that I have been alive, displaced over a million of my fellow citizens and destroyed tens of thousands of their homes as recently as 2006, and denies the right of return to over 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. I do not have a gun. I do not have a political party. I have a choice; to allow artists who break the boycott to profit from me or not. I make that choice because I cannot accept the logic that my life, or a Palestinian life, is worth less than an Israeli life. I make that choice because I refuse racism and the violence that it licenses.

My decision to boycott musicians who do not adhere to the BDS campaign is not because I am anti- Israel or because I am pro-Palestine. You can blame Palestinians for all of Lebanon’s problems and still take a stance against apartheid. If you are against the logic of racism and its articulation as settler colonialism, then you are also against apartheid. Apartheid is a technology of rule that has been operationalized in many different countries in different historical contexts, and will continue to be operationalized as long as it continues to be normalized. We should be demanding that artists refuse to be complicit in this system. Boycotts work. Today, sixteen years after the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, we should not expect less of the world. And we definitely should not expect less of ourselves.

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Voices (Aswat) of Anger and Solidarity

Azadeh Faramarziha — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 20:40:12 +0000

Sawt al Niswa

Guest Contributor

On May 31, Israel massacred 10 international activists and injured nearly 30 on international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. About 650 international activists, from 44 countries around the world, were heading towards Gaza Strip carrying humanitarian aid including scooters for disabled people, medicine, toys, and basic foods. The Free Gaza flotilla’s mission was to break the four years of Israeli blockade and siege on Gaza Strip. The prolonged siege has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the long-term consequences of this siege are yet to be fully captured or realized. Everyday children, elderly, or people with various illnesses die from lack of basic health-care, medicine, or malnutrition. In December and January of 2008-2009 Israel committed a massive bombardment on Gaza resulting in nearly 1,500 killed and some thousands injured. Earlier in 2006, before and after the Israeli offense in Lebanon, Israel was also involved in more killing of Gaza civilians.

We thus understand from Israeli Army actions, government communications and mainstream global media, that Palestinian, Lebanese, and currently International bodies are all “disposable” and “killable” without any regret. While many people worldwide mourn the death of their family members, loved ones and/or colleagues, the majority of Israelis choose to uncritically accept the official government and arm line that Israel was the victim of a “terrorist” attack by peace activists.

Aswat, Palestinian queer women group, condemns the Israeli military attacks on the Freedom Gaza flotilla and call people all over the world to exercise their right to protest the apartheid regime in Israel and elsewhere.

As Palestinians we feel that targeting supporters for our families, friends, and fellows in Gaza is targeting our struggle for abolishing racism, inequalities or violence.

As queer women we strongly feel repulsed by the masculine military attacks on unarmed activists who could not escape these attacks while on boats in the middle of the sea. As women we are also disgusted by the sexist, chauvinist and racist language used by Israeli Knesset Members against MK Haneen Zoabi in the Israeli Knesset describing her as a “traitor” and “Trojan horse”. Ms. Haneen Zoabi was in the ship when the Israeli Army attacked and she witnessed the killing of activists and was heard in television shouting in Hebrew and English to the Israeli Army that “we are civilians” and “we have killed and injured people” on the ship. Ms. Haneen Zoabi was also told in the Knesset Assembly by MK Yohana Palsner to “go back to Gaza and see how they treat unmarried 38 year old women”. This language is not only racist towards Gazan women and men, but also sexist by highlighting the fact that she is an unmarried woman as if this is the sole aspect of Ms. Zoabi’s identity or life. As women who reject to be told what to do and how to do it, we find MK Palsner’s humiliating and disrespectful speech to be the very cause of our resistance to patriarchy, heteronormativity, homophobia or sexism.

Aswat sends condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the massacre and wishes those who were injured full recovery. We also send a message of solidarity to the people in the Gaza Strip, to international activists who were in the Freedom Gaza flotilla and to all the protestors worldwide mobilizing in the streets or online against the Israeli Army and government and their propaganda campaign.

Aswat

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