Will Areas A & B become Palestine?

                There is a deliberate diabolical policy in Apartheid Israel to make Areas A & B in Palestine the permanent borders of the future State of Palestine.  This policy will allow Apartheid Israel to keep the illegal settlements without a peace agreement and will continue the status quo of the occupation.  Palestinians must resist this conniving and unacceptable manipulation of Palestine’s future.

                The Oslo Agreement, which was signed on September 13, 1993 at the White House, and subsequent agreements between Apartheid Israel and Palestine divided the West Bank into Areas A, B and C.   Area A is controlled by the Palestinian Authority and includes security-related and civilian issues in Palestinian urban areas.  Area B only allows Palestinian control over civilian matters but leaves security to the apartheid soldiers.  Area C is exclusively controlled by Apartheid Israeli authorities and includes the illegal settlements, the Jordan valley region, borders and by-pass roads between Palestinian towns.  This in effect created a Swiss cheese omelet except the egg whites and yoke have been separated.  Does this remind anyone of Apartheid South Africa?

                Final status negotiations on the issues of East Jerusalem, borders and the right of return were to be address by May, 1996 and concluded by May, 1999 according to the Oslo Agreement.  Here we are in 2012 and these issues have never been formally addressed.   Apartheid Israel has made excuses throughout the 19 years since the Oslo Agreement to delay final status talks.

                It is apparent that all along that the carving of the West Bank into Areas was a diabolical attempt by Apartheid Israel to only give limited authority to the Palestinians in Areas A & B.   Apartheid-in-Chief Benjamin Natanyahu is now considering giving the Palestinian Authority more control over Area B to carry out this plan.  But this is strategically done at this time to accomplish two other goals.

                The first is to keep the Palestinians talking about how to start the peace talks.  In January, 2012 the Palestinians and Israelis have been discussing how to start up the stalled peace talks in Amman, Jordan at the invitation of King Abdullah.   By keeping the Palestinians talking, the Apartheid-in-Chief can appease the Quartet of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and the United States—especially President Barack Obama.   By giving the Palestinians more control over Area B, the Apartheid-in-Chief is not giving anything more than what has been in the diabolical plans of Apartheid Israel.

                The second goal of the Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu is to keep Fatah and Hamas from reconciling.  By giving President Abbas and Fatah more control in the West Bank as a way to lure him into continuing to talk, Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu drives a wedge between Fatah and Hamas.   Hamas has called upon the Palestinian Authority to withdraw from any talks with the Israelis because talks are useless.  I agree.  See my article: “No Negotiations with Apartheid Israel - Let it Self-Destruct!”  http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-negotiations-with-apartheid-israel.html.

                The ultimate goal of Apartheid Israel is to call Areas A & B a Palestinian State and call the conflict over.  Already, the military checkpoints are being called “terminals” or “crossings” which is an obvious reference to a border.   The goal is reinforced when Apartheid Israel refuses to even freeze settlement building in occupied Palestine.   The illegal settlements are in Area C and under the control of Apartheid Israel.   Israel does not have and never had the intention of relinquishing control over Area C.

                President Abbas must remain steadfast and not succumb to Israeli bribes.  He must not accept any further control over Area B so as enticement to remain in endless talks that lead to an endless occupation of Palestinian land.  Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu cannot give the Palestinians what they are by right entitled to.  If Palestinians hold out long enough, the demographics will be such that Palestinians will be in the majority in Israel, West Bank and Gaza by 2016.  Apartheid Israel cannot sustain a political system as a minority governing another people who hold a majority.   Just as the South Afrikaans could not maintain the apartheid system in South Africa, Israel will not be able to maintain its apartheid system in Israel and in Palestine.  

((c) Fadi Zanayed.  This article may be republished or sited as long as the author and site are included as the reference.) 

مناطق أ و ب لتصبح فلسطين؟

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. محدودة كما هو قدرتي على قراءة اللغة العربية،أنا لا يمكن أن تضمن دقة الترجمة)


               هناك سياسة متعمدة الشيطانية الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل لجعل المناطق A و B في فلسطين الحدود الدائمة للدولة الفلسطينية المستقبلية. وهذه السياسة تسمح اسرائيل للحفاظ على الفصل العنصري والمستوطنات غير الشرعية من دون اتفاق سلام ، وسوف يستمر الوضع الراهن للاحتلال. ويجب على الفلسطينيين مقاومة هذا التلاعب تواطؤها وغير مقبول لمستقبل فلسطين.


                اتفاق أوسلو ، الذي تم التوقيع عليه في 13 سبتمبر 1993 في البيت الأبيض ، والاتفاقات اللاحقة بين اسرائيل وفلسطين الفصل العنصري يقسم الضفة الغربية إلى مناطق ألف وباء وجيم منطقة يسيطر على السلطة الفلسطينية ويشمل الأمن ذات الصلة والقضايا المدنية في المناطق الحضرية الفلسطينية. منطقة B يسمح فقط للسيطرة الفلسطينية في المسائل المدنية ، وإنما يترك للجنود الأمن الفصل العنصري. وتسيطر منطقة C حصرا من قبل السلطات الإسرائيلية ، ويتضمن الفصل العنصري والمستوطنات غير الشرعية ، ومنطقة وادي الأردن والحدود والطرق الالتفافية بين المدن الفلسطينية. هذا في الواقع خلق أومليت الجبن السويسري باستثناء بياض البيض ونير انفصلوا. لا أذكر أي شخص من هذا الفصل العنصري في جنوب أفريقيا؟


                مفاوضات الوضع النهائي حول قضايا القدس الشرقية ، والحدود وحق العودة ليكون عنوان بحلول شهر مايو ، 1996 والتي أبرمتها مايو ، 1999 وفقا لاتفاق أوسلو. نحن هنا في عام 2012 ولم يتم معالجة هذه القضايا بشكل رسمي. جعلت الفصل العنصري في جميع أنحاء إسرائيل الذرائع 19 عاما منذ التوقيع على اتفاق أوسلو على تأجيل محادثات الوضع النهائي.


                فمن الواضح أن كل جانب أن ينحت من الضفة الغربية الى مناطق كان محاولة من جانب اسرائيل الشيطانية الفصل العنصري لإعطاء سلطة محدودة فقط للفلسطينيين في المناطق أ و ب. الفصل العنصري في ورئيس بنيامين نتنياهو تدرس حاليا منح السلطة الفلسطينية مزيد من السيطرة على المنطقة باء لتنفيذ هذه الخطة. الاان هذه الاستراتيجية في هذا الوقت لتحقيق هدفين آخرين.


                الأول ، هو ابقاء الفلسطينيين يتحدث عن كيفية بدء محادثات السلام. في كانون الثاني ، 2012 وقد تم الفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين مناقشة كيفية بدء محادثات السلام المتوقفة في العاصمة الأردنية عمان بدعوة من الملك عبد الله. عن طريق الحفاظ على الفلسطينيين الحديث ، لا يمكن للنظام الفصل العنصري في واسترضاء رئيس اللجنة الرباعية المكونة من الاتحاد الاوروبي وروسيا والامم المتحدة والولايات المتحدة ، خصوصا الرئيس باراك أوباما. من خلال منح الفلسطينيين المزيد من السيطرة على المنطقة باء ، والفصل العنصري في والرئيس هو عدم اعطاء أي شيء أكثر من ما تم في الخطط الشيطانية لإسرائيل الفصل العنصري.


                الهدف الثاني من الفصل العنصري نتنياهو في والرئيس هو الحفاظ على حركة فتح وحماس من المصالحة. من خلال إعطاء الرئيس عباس وفتح المزيد من السيطرة في الضفة الغربية كوسيلة لاستدراجه الى مواصلة الحديث ، والفصل العنصري في ونتنياهو رئيس محركات اسفين بين فتح وحماس. ودعت حماس السلطة الفلسطينية على الانسحاب من أي محادثات مع الاسرائيليين لان المحادثات عديمة الفائدة. وأنا أتفق. انظر مقالتي : "لا مفاوضات مع إسرائيل الفصل العنصري -- ليكن التدمير الذاتي!" http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-negotiations-with-apartheid-israel.html.


                الهدف النهائي لإسرائيل الفصل العنصري هو الدعوة الى مناطق A و B و الدولة الفلسطينية ، وندعو للصراع انتهى. بالفعل ، يجري استدعاء الحواجز العسكرية "محطات" أو "المعابر" وهو إشارة واضحة إلى الحدود.ويتعزز هذا الهدف عندما الفصل العنصري وترفض اسرائيل حتى تجميد بناء المستوطنات في فلسطين المحتلة. المستوطنات غير القانونية في المنطقة (ج) والخاضعة لسيطرة إسرائيل الفصل العنصري. اسرائيل ليس لديها أبدا وكانت لديه النية للتنازل عن السيطرة على المنطقة (ج)


                ويتعين على الرئيس عباس الثبات وعدم الاستسلام للرشاوى الإسرائيلية. يجب عليه أن لا يقبل أي سيطرة على مزيد من المنطقة باء وذلك الاغراء بالبقاء في محادثات لا نهاية لها التي تؤدي إلى احتلال لا نهاية لها من الأراضي الفلسطينية. يمكن الفصل العنصري في ورئيس نتنياهو لن يعطي الفلسطينيين ما هي عليه من قبل بعنوان حق. إذا كان الفلسطينيون الصمود طويلا ، وسوف تكون هذه التركيبة السكانية بأن الفلسطينيين سوف تشكل أغلبية في اسرائيل الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة بحلول عام 2016. يمكن الفصل العنصري اسرائيل لن تتمكن من تعزيز نظام سياسي كأقلية تحكم شعبا آخر الحاصلين على الأغلبية. تماما كما لا يمكن الأفريكانية جنوب الحفاظ على نظام الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا ، ان اسرائيل لن تكون قادرة على الحفاظ على نظامها العنصري في إسرائيل وفلسطين.
(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

No Negotiations with Apartheid Israel - Let it Self-Destruct!

            Hamas has called upon the Palestinian Authority to boycott talks with Apartheid Israel. I agree.

            I consider myself a moderate, having called for the recognition of Israel as early as 1980 during my college days.  I gave the Apartheid State of Israel every consideration but peace came to the doorsteps but it has never entered the door.

            Apartheid Israel continues to delay any final status talks.  It never wants to discuss the status of Jerusalem, its borders and the right of return.  Why? Apartheid Israel delays peace because its internal politics does not allow it to accept peace.  Israel Is controlled by its minority, by the apartheid settler mentality, by the ultra-orthodox religious right wing fanatics.  The structure of Israel’s structure of government is that no one political party is capable of garnishing a clear majority in the Apartheid Knesset.  Therefore only coalition governments have governed Apartheid Israel, leaving each governing party to be at the mercy of the minority parties within the coalition.  

            With this governmental structure, Apartheid Israel is incapable of wanting peace!  Therefore, negotiations with Apartheid Israel are delusional.

            Apartheid Israel keeps demanding additional conditions upon the Palestinians that it knows the Palestinians will not accept.  After numerous demands upon the Palestinians, Apartheid Israel now wants the Palestinians to recognize it as a “Jewish State.”   Additionally, Apartheid Israel wants to restart negotiations without any preconditions.  It does not want to stop its illegal settlement building, does not want to negotiate the status of Jerusalem and does not want to discuss its borders.  It wants to leave these issues to final status talks that never materialize because it continues to put obstacles to those talks.

            With this mentality, Apartheid Israel is incapable of wanting peace! Therefore, negotiations with Apartheid Israel are delusional.

            Additionally, Apartheid Israel believes it can continue the status quo of its apartheid policies without any consequences.  Apartheid Israel rules two peoples with different discriminatory laws—apartheid.  Apartheid Israel builds by-pass roads for Jews only—apartheid.  Apartheid Israel builds a separation wall—apartheid.  Apartheid Israel has created Palestinian enclaves and ghettos and surrounded them with walls or electronic wired fences—apartheid.  Apartheid Israel cannot sustain these apartheid practices for long.

There are many indications that exposing the Apartheid State of Israel will be effective to change the status quo. The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement is taking hold.  One good example is the bankruptcy of Agrexco, Apartheid Israel’s leading flower exporter, which was targeted for boycott by more than 20 organizations in Europe in 13 countries.  The Methodist Church had passed an “anti-Israel” motion demanding a boycott of goods from “illegal” settlements. Pension funds are divesting from companies that do business with Apartheid Israeli settlements. Cultural events are in Apartheid Israel are being boycotted.  Many musicians are boycotting Apartheid Israel. [1]

“The international campaign to boycott Ahava beauty products has recently won the support of a Dutch parliamentarian and an Israeli peace group. During the past few months, activists in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Israel, the United States and the Netherlands have campaigned against the sale of Ahava products because of the company’s complicity in the Israeli occupation.”[2]

With the growing BDS movement that will increase month by month, Apartheid Israel will not be able to sustain its apartheid practices.  Therefore, negotiations with Apartheid Israel are not necessary.  Israel will self-destruct.

There are other indications that Apartheid Israel will self-destruct.  The Apartheid Israeli has passed laws that allow Jewish communities to decide who they want to exclude from their community an obvious way to segregate Palestinians from Jews.  Public buses that transport ultra-Orthodox Jews make women sit in the back of the bus.  Apartheid Israel has passed laws that require loyalty oath to the “Jewish and democratic” state pitting the left and right political parties against each other. [3]

Therefore, when Hamas calls upon the Palestinian Authority to boycott negotiations with Apartheid Israel, there are many reasons why this advice should be accepted.   Negotiating with Apartheid Israel is a waste of time.  Let us let time bring Apartheid Israel to abandon the occupation.

---

[1] IS BDS Working?  Giulio Meotti  August 31, 20111 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4115718,00.html

[2] Boycott of Ahava Dead Sea products makes an impact Adri Nieuwhof The Electronic Intifada 

2 December 2009  http://electronicintifada.net/content/boycott-ahava-dead-sea-products-makes-impact/8563

[3] Israel approves loyalty oath, October 10, 2010 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/10/2010101013028364300.html

ضرب اسرائيل حيث يضر اقتصاديا

"التفكير من خلال مربع"

( قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية لقراءةالكلام والقليل جدا، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة الترجمة، وأنا لا تقدم سوىأنها على سكن لقرائي. )

ونحن ندخل عام 2012 ، نحن الفلسطينيين ، جنبا إلى جنب مع انصار لدينا ، والحاجة إلى البدء في التفكير "من خلال" مربع. وأقول "من خلال" مربع لمسيرتنا من خلال الاستقلال لا يختلف عن مسيرة جنوب افريقيا للاطاحة نظام الفصل العنصري وليس خلافا لمسيرة الهند للإطاحة استعمار بريطانيا العظمى.يمكننا أن نتعلم أيضا من الأميركيين الأفارقة في نضالهم من أجل المساواة العرقية. يمكننا أن نتعلم من ما فعلوه ، وفي الوقت نفسه ، أن تكون خلاقة أيضا.
في جنوب أفريقيا ، تحمل نيلسون مانديلا أكثر من 27 عاما من السجن لجلب الدعم الدولي ضد نظام الفصل العنصري الأبيض في جنوب افريقيا.المهاتما غاندي ألهم شعبه على الثورة ضد الإمبراطورية البريطانية الاستعمارية من المشي أكثر من 240 كيلومتر من المحيط إلى جعل الملح ، الذي كان حتى ذلك يمكن استيرادها من انكلترا في التعريفات الجمركية المرتفعة جدا. نظم الدكتور مارتن لوثر كينغ مقاطعة في شركة الحافلات لسياسات العزل ومسيرة لسلمى ، ألاباما للاحتجاج على القيود المفروضة على حقوق التصويت للأميركيين من أصل أفريقي. أدى كل من هؤلاء القادة لحقوق الإنسان بفعل ما كان الأكثر عملية لبيئتهم.الفلسطينيون بحاجة إلى أن تفعل الشيء نفسه.هناك أولئك الذين يريدون مقاطعة المنتجات الإسرائيلية بسبب الفصل العنصري والممارسات العنصرية للدولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل عبر تأشيرة دخول للفلسطينيين. بينما أتفق مع هذا الرأي مع تلك التي تعيش خارج فلسطين ، ويمكن لتلك التي تعيش في فلسطين ليس مقاطعة البضائع الإسرائيلية تماما الفصل العنصري. السبب هو أن نظام الفصل العنصري قامت به اسرائيل للفلسطينيين يعتمد كليا على بضائعها.اسرائيل ، من خلال خنق انها تعقد على غزة وانها نحت تصل من الضفة الغربية ، وقد فعلت ذلك عن طريق تدمير الصناعة الفلسطينية والحياة الزراعية. المستوطنون يدمرون الفصل العنصري بساتين الزيتون من قبل مئات الافدنة.وبسبب هذا الاعتماد على السلع والبضائع الإسرائيلية ، يمكن للفلسطينيين في فلسطين ليس تماما مقاطعة جميع البضائع الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي. أنه ليس من العملي. لذا ، علينا أن نفكر من خلال مربع. نحن بحاجة إلى مقاطعة البضائع محدودة من الفصل العنصري اسرائيل لدفع رجال الأعمال الإسرائيليين والمجتمعات الزراعية لتصبح خائفة.قيل لي من قبل أحد الأصدقاء في غزة انه اذا كان يريد الخيار ، وانه يحتاج الى الحصول عليها من المزارعين الإسرائيليين الذين توفيرها لسكان غزة. أجبته يمكن أن تذهب من دون خيار لمدة أسبوع أو اثنين؟ تخيل لو أمرت الفلسطينيين ، وقال نعم أنا أمر ، محلات البقالة على التوقف عن شراء الخيار وبعد ذلك بعيدا مع الفلسطينيين لم الخيار من احتياجاتها الغذائية. ماذا سيحدث للمزارعين خيار الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل؟ فإن الخيار تتعفن في مستودعاتها. وهذا خيار دفع المزارعين إلى الإفلاس. سوف تخرج من المزارع التجارية. ثم لا يمكن للفلسطينيين الأسبوع التالي المقاطعة ثم الموز أو أي منتج آخر الذي يتم توفيره من قبل إسرائيل الفصل العنصري. وسوف يتم في الأسبوع التالي قاطعوا منتج آخر الإسرائيلية... وهلم جرا.تخيل مدى قلق الأعمال الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي والمجتمعات الزراعية والتي يمكن أن يتساءل من ناتجها سيكون المستهدف.هذه هي خطة بسيطة. فمن غير العنيفة. هذا ما هو مطلوب لتغيير الوضع الراهن.إذا كان الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي الأعمال والمجتمعات الزراعية سعداء مع الوضع الراهن ، فإن الوضع الراهن لن يتغير. لدينا لتغيير الوضع الراهن.الفلسطينيون في فلسطين بحاجة إلى المقاطعة ، ولكن المقاطعة واحد أو العديد من المنتجات في وقت واحد. دعونا دفع الشركات الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي والمجتمعات الزراعية مجنون.علينا أن نكون مبدعين. نحن بحاجة إلى مساعدة أنفسنا. نحن بحاجة إلى السيطرة على مصيرنا. علينا أن نفكر من خلال مربع.(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

I cried, will you cry! بكيت، وسوف تبكي!

I cried, will you cry!   بكيت، وسوف تبكي!

The Lowe’s Controversy—Moving Forward

                Three weeks after the home improvement store Lowe’s offended the American-Arab community by pulling its ad from the TLC channel show All American Muslim and after a lackluster response by the national American-Arab organizations, we need to look at how the “community” needs to act now to prevent future affronts.  The problem with our community is that we are reactionary rather than "preventionary” community. Yes, this is a new word which means that we have to take action now to prevent any further politician, corporation or any other person from affronting our community.  We need to make the next perpetrator of racism an example of why such action will not be tolerated.

  

              Our community has mandated confronting and preventing discrimination to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) which is celebrating its 31^st year, having been founded by Senator James Aburizk (D-SD   1973-1979) in 1980 after FBI agents dressed up like Arab oil sheiks to “sting” members of Congress. Outraged at this negative portrayal of American-Arabs, Senator Aburizk went around the US and organized ADC chapters in major cities. I was at the founding meeting in Chicago in 1980 and served as the Chicago Regional Director in 1984 and Chicago Chapter President in 1988-1990 and again in 2009.

            ADC enjoyed many victories and was very successful in combating discrimination in the 1980s. During that time, ADC confronted discrimination head on.  One notable campaign in 1988 involved the Nomad doll. The book A Short Course in International Marketing Blunders shows how a US corporation’s (Coleco) attempt to ethnically stereotype American-Arabs caused its downfall.

What landed on Coleco, however, wasn’t the issue of shelf life. It was the issue of ethnic stereotyping engendered in the Nomad, one of Rambo’s most ruthless enemies==a burnoose-wearing, obviously Arab figure described in its package insert as ‘dangerous, cold, unstable, and treacherous’ with ‘an intimate knowledge of sabotage.’ In short, the Nomad action figure embodied everything people thought they knew about real Arabs.

The outrage was deafening, with Arab-American community activist groups and others demanding the toy be removed from store shelves.  And newspapers across the country reported on planned boycotts and anti-Coleco media campaigns.[1]

                ADC organized a massive campaign across the country which helped bring “Coleco—once the King of Toys and global marketer of Scrabble and Parchesi board games” out of business.[2] The campaign involved demonstrations in front of Toys R Us stores and a more effective telephone campaign that sent hundreds if not thousands of calls into the Coleco headquarters complaining about the insidious attempt to stereotype American-Arabs.  ADC taught an American corporation a lesson in the 1980s and “prevented” other corporations from manufacturing another racist toy.

                This lesson, however, was short lived as the first and second Gulf Wars and 911 perpetuated further negative stereotypes against American-Arabs.  Additionally, ADC’s stance during the first Gulf War in which its position was that Iraq’s invasion into Kuwait was an internal Arab matter for which the US and the world should not get involved hurt ADC’s stance and funding. As a result, ADC ‘s prestige as the premier American-Arab organization suffered.  Consequently, ADC has not fought the good fight against discrimination since.

                Now in 2011, ADC needs to go back to its roots.  ADC gained prestige by combating discrimination head on, i.e. Coleco.  The incident with Lowe’s was not confronted with the same pizazz and fervor as ADC confronted discrimination in the 1980s. Back then, computers were not widespread; the internet, and consequently email, was not a part of our lives; and cell phones were still too premature.  Yet, ADC responded instantaneously (within a week, which was good in those days).  With the Lowe’s, ADC’s response was at best lukewarm—calling for demonstrations by the second weekend.  

                While the NY Times on December 23, 2011 issued an excellent editorial which called Lowe’s decision to pull its ad a foolish judgment call,[3] it was not because of any American-Arab outrage.

                ADC needs to follow-up on this issue.  It needs to meet with Lowe’s officers and present a program to educate the American public about Muslims and Arabs and present Lowe’s with the bill.  Lowe’s has to rectify its image with Muslims and Arabs by combating the Islamophobia that has engulfed the American mainstream.

                Additionally, ADC needs to develop a rapid response committee of American-Arab activists who will respond to text messages instantaneously whenever discrimination rears its ugly head again—and it will.  In this age of lighting communications, ADC needs to respond quickly to get its message across.  The AT&T commercial which pokes fun at other wireless networks for disseminating information that is 42 seconds old is a reflection on how fast communication is moving in this second decade of the 21^st Century.  

                In retrospect, ADC should have sent a text message to its committed activist such as the following 159 character message within hours of the Lowe’s controversy:

Call Lowes 1-8004456937 press 4 then 3 and complain about its pulling ad from All American Muslim Show. Tell them you will not shop there unless ad is replaced

                I communicated this text message to an ADC staff member—but nothing was done. 

                Now let us understand what we need to do to move forward—to be a “preventionary” force.  ADC needs to identify 100-200 of its very active members who will be willing to act immediately whenever it receives an “action alert” text message from the national ADC office.   Additionally, these members must be committed to get 10 relatives and friends to so act.  Had Lowe’s received a  1,000 telephone calls within hours of its decision to pull the ads, it may have rescinded its decision or at the very least it would have put ADC in a better bargaining position to have Lowe’s help ADC fight the Islamophobia that created this controversy.

                Additionally, ADC executives need to read Saul D. Alinsky’s book Rules For Radicals.   Although written prior to his death in 1972, Allinsky’s book provides out of the box thinking for organizing campaigns for social justice.   ADC needs to be creative, spontaneous and enthusiastic in meeting its mission to confront discrimination against American-Arabs just as it did in the 1980s.  


(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)

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[1]A Short Course in International Marketing Blunders, p. 136 http://books.google.com/books?id=zz1L3nnNmMcC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=Nomad+doll+ADC&source=bl&ots=ZU717vjtr-&sig=2auUpAu2PZj2raunSxYkip5sjvo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Fev1TrukA8eSgwf8tpH-AQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Nomad%20doll%20ADC&f=false (See also 1998 - Coleco Nomad was one of Rambo's antagonists from this mid-eighties line of action figures. The Arab community protested the stereotypical portrayal of an Arab as a terrorist and were successful in having the figure pulled.  http://www.bigredtoybox.com/cgi-bin/toynfo.pl?condolindexI know the controversy was in 1988 or there about, not 1998 as this site states.)

[2] Supra

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/opinion/an-all-american-misstep.html?_r=1

HITTING ISRAEL WHERE IT HURTS---ECONOMICALLY

"Thinking through the box!"

As we enter 2012, we Palestinians, along with our supporters, need to start thinking “through” the box. I say “through” the box because our march through independence is not unlike that of the South Africans march to overthrow apartheid and is not unlike India’s march to overthrow the colonization of Great Britain.  We can also learn from African Americans in their struggle for racial equality. We can learn from what they did and at the same time, be creative as well.

In South Africa, Nelson Mendala endured over 27 years of prison to bring international support against the White Apartheid Regime in South Africa. Mohandas Gandhi inspired his people to revolt against the imperialist British empire by walking over 240 miles to the ocean to make salt, which theretofore had to be imported from England at a very high tarriff. Dr. Martin Luther King organized boycotts at a bus company for its segration politices and march to Selma, Alabama to protest the restrictions on voting rights of the African-Americans.   Each of these human rights leaders led by doing what was most practical for their environment.

Palestinians need to do the same.

There are those who want to boycott Apartheid Israeli products because of the apartheid practices of the Apartheid State of Israel visa via the Palestinians. While I concur with this sentiment with those that live outside of Palestine, those that live in Palestine cannot totally boycott Apartheid Israeli goods. The reason is that Apartheid Israel has made the Palestinians totally depended on its goods.

Israel, through it’s strangle hold on Gaza and it’s carving up of the West Bank, has done this by destroying Palestinian industry and agricultural life. The Apartheid settlers are destroying olive groves by the hundreds of acres.

Because of this dependency on Israeli goods, Palestinians in Palestine cannot totally boycott all apartheid Israeli goods. It is not practical.  Therefore, we need to think through the box. We need to boycott limited goods from Apartheid Israel to drive the Israeli business and farming communities to become scared.

I was told by a friend in Gaza that if he wanted a cucumber, he needed to get it from an Israeli farmer who supplied it to the Gaza residents.  I replied can you go without cucumbers for a week or two? Imagine if Palestinians ordered, yes I said ordered, their grocers to stop buying cucumbers and then Palestinians did away with cucumbers from their dietary needs.  What will happen to the cucumber farmers in Apartheid Israel? The cucumber will rot in their warehouses. This will drive the cucumber farmer into bankruptcy.  The farmer will go out of business.  Then the following week Palestinians can then boycott bananas or any other product that is supplied by Apartheid Israel. And the following week another Israeli product will be boycotted…and so on.

Imagine how worried the Apartheid Israeli business and agricultural communities will be wondering which of their product will be targeted.

This is a simple plan. It is non-violent. It is what is needed to change the status quo.

If the Apartheid Israeli business and agricultural communities are happy with the status quo, the status quo will not change.  We have to change the status quo.

Palestinians in Palestine need to boycott, but boycott one or several products at a time. Let’s drive the Apartheid Israeli businesses and agricultural communities crazy.

We have to be creative. We need to help ourselves. We need to take control of our destiny. We need to think through the box.


( © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)