Il presidente della Repubblica dopo la cerimonia farà un breve giro tra gli stand e poi ripartirà per Roma. Israele ospite d'onore della XXI edizione del Salone. All'esterno contestazione di 'Free Palestine'

Torino, 8 mag. (Adnkronos) - Il capo dello Stato Giorgio Napolitano è giunto al Lingotto di Torino per inaugurare la 21esima edizione della Fiera del Libro. Israele è l'ospite d'onore della manifestazione, una scelta oggetto nei giorni scorsi di polemiche.

Si registra, infatti, già la prima contestazione davanti al Lingotto da parte di un gruppetto di esponenti dell'assemblea 'Free Palestine'. I manifestanti sono stati allontanati di qualche centinaio di metri dalle forze dell'ordine. I dimostranti hanno srotolato uno striscione con la scritta 'No al colonialismo sionista Stato unico per arabi e ebrei in Palestina boicotta Israele boicotta la Fiera del Libro 2008'.

"Siamo in una situazione vergognosa - attacca Anna Musini, rappresentante di 'Free Palestine' - in cui stanno restringendo gli spazi di democrazia. E' gravissimo che Israele possa tirare fuori i suoi simboli, mentre i palestinesi no. Ai palestinesi che sono gli oppressi è impedito tutto mentre agli oppressori tutto è concesso". Oltre allo striscione si vede anche una bandiera del Partito comunista dei lavoratori.

Ad accogliere il capo dello Stato, al suo arrivo, il ministro uscente alle Politiche giovanili Giovanna Melandri e le massime autorità locali, il sindaco Sergio Chiamparino e i presidenti di Provincia e Regione Antonio Saitta e Mercedes Bresso insieme al presidente della Fiera Rolando Picchioni.

Il presidente della Repubblica dopo la cerimonia di inaugurazione farà un breve giro tra gli stand della Fiera e poi ripartirà per Roma.

(ANSA) – 10:30 - TORINO, 8 MAG - Un gruppo di simpatizzanti dell'associazione Free Palestine ha cercato di esporre uno striscione davanti al Lingotto di Torino, ma le forze dell'ordine lo hanno impedito per ragioni di sicurezza. Ci sono stati attimi di tensione verbale e poi una decina di manifestanti è stata spostata in una via laterale, in via Spotorno, dove è stato possibile aprire lo striscione su cui c'é scritto "No al colonialismo sionista, stato unico per arabi ed ebrei in palestina. Boicotta Israele, boicotta la fiera del libro 2008".

Durante la contestazione, un simpatizzante di Israele ha lanciato imprecazioni contro il gruppo filopalestinese ma è stato subito bloccato dalla polizia che non gli ha permesso di raggiungere i manifestanti di Free Palestine

Indymedia: tutti a Torino contro la Fiera

La bandiera di Israele bruciata a Torino durante la manifestazione per il primo maggio

MILANO — «Israele non è un ospite d'onore. Palestina libera!». Con questa parola d'ordine, il sito piemontese di lndymedia, collettivo di informazione antagonista, lancia una manifestazione di protesta contro la Fiera del Libro e chiede adesioni per il concentramento in corso Marconi, previsto per le 14 del io maggio. Una chiamata alla protesta che, è il timore degli organizzatori, potrebbe finire con altre bandiere israeliane bruciate in piazza. Il questore di Torino ha vietato i presidi fissi nella zona del Lingotto. Anche perché all'inaugurazione è atteso il capo dellò Stato Giorgio Napolitano. Anche lui nel mirino delle proteste: «Dal presidente della Repubblica ai governi di questi anni — spiega Indymedia — dalle istituzioni locali a quelle militari o commerciali, l'alleanza strategica con Israele non viene mai messa in discussione. E ora di scendere in piazza».

(Fonte: Corriere della Sera, 4 Maggio 2008 )

La polemica - A Scienze Politiche confronto sulla "pulizia etnica in Palestina". L'associazione Italia-Israele al rettore: "date voce all'intolleranza"

ROMA — È di nuovo polemica sulla Fiera del Libro che si aprirà giovedì prossimo a Torino. Al centro, il contro- convegno organizzato, lunedì e martedì all'Università, dai fautori del boicottaggio della manifestazione culturale del Lingotto per protestare contro il Paese ospite, Israele. Il titolo dell'evento antiisraeliano, costruito da Free Palestine e ospitato a Scienze politiche, è già di per sé un programma: si discute delle «democrazie occidentali e la pulizia etnica in Palestina» praticata, sostengono gli organizzatori, da Israele.

Ma è la presenza di un personaggio controverso come Tariq Ramadan, che non solo è il promotore del boicottaggio insieme a intellettuali come Gianni Vattimo ma è anche unanimemente riconosciuto come uno dei più importanti ideologi dell'islamismo fondamentalista molto vicino ad Hamas, a scatenare la protesta israeliana.

Ieri l'associazione Italia-Israele ha scritto al rettore dell'Università Ezio Pellizzetti: «Stupisce — scrive il vicepresidente Emanuel Segre Amar — che un'Università fortemente impegnata nel processo di dialogo tra israeliani e palestinesi abbia accettato di essere la sede di un evento che esprime fin dal titolo una posizione massimalista e aggressiva nei confronti dello Stato d'Israele. Ospitando Ramadan, già giudicato “indesiderabile” da diversi atenei, come quello di Bologna, l'Università di Torino dà voce a un messaggio di estrema violenza e intolleranza politica e culturale».

E intanto è proprio uno degli attivisti più impegnati nel boicottaggio di Israele, Gianni Vattimo, a far litigare ferocemente due giornalisti che saranno tra i protagonisti della Fiera: Fiamma Nirenstein e Gad Lerner. Il casus belli è l'ultima puntata dell'Infedele condotto da Lerner in cui Vattimo dà della fascista alla neo deputata del Pdl («e lo trovo un complimento perché è molto peggio»).

La Nirenstein, che accusa Lerner di non averla difesa o di non aver almeno spiegato che cosa stesse succedendo, ha annullato un incontro della Fiera in cui insieme a Lerner avrebbe dovuto presentare un libro del demografo dell'Università ebraica di Gerusalemme Sergio Della Pergola: «Sarò all'inaugurazione, ma non intendo sedermi con chi non reagisce a casa sua alla peggiore delle diffamazioni gratuite nei miei confronti, oltretutto da parte di una persona notoriamente squilibrata sull'argomento mediorientale». Lerner non parla e risponde con la trascrizione della sua replica a Vattimo. Ma la presenza della Nirenstein è definitivamente annullata.

Gianna Fregonara

(Fonte: Corriere della Sera, 3 Maggio 2008 )

Fatti ci indignano ma non ci preoccupano

ROMA, 1 mag. (Apcom) - Dura condanna dei "gesti di vandalismo" avvenuti a Torino dove esponenti di centri sociali hanno bruciato bandiere israeliane, arriva da Riccardo Pacifici, presidente della Comunità ebraica di Roma, che definisce "coloro che a Torino hanno compiuto questi gesti vandalici, estremisti al pari di rappresentanti di Hamas nei territori palestinesi".

"I lavoratori israeliani ringraziano - sottolinea ironizzando Pacifici, interpellato da Apcom - la festa del primo maggio a quanto pare vale solo per una certa categoria di persone. Se si tratta di difendere il diritto di lavoratori israeliani - prosegue - i promotori di questa vergognosa iniziativa non contano nulla. Ma nulla di nuovo sul fronte occidentale".

Non manca da parte di Pacifici anche un messaggio di solidarietà "umana e politica" a Fausto Bertinotti, anch'esso contestato a Torino: "probabilmente contestato - afferma- per aver assunto negli ultimi anni posizioni per esempio sull'esistenza e la sicurezza di Israele, nonchè dichiarazioni sulla prevenzione di attentati terroristici e questo, come già espresso da svariati mesi, da parte nostra, è un fatto che abbiamo apprezzato e guardato con molta attenzione. Per questo, sentiamo il dovere umanamente e politicamente di esprimergli la nostra solidarietà".

Ritornando sui fatti di Torino, il presidente della Comunità ebraica romana sottolinea come "l'azione dei contestatori sia il normale epilogo di un percorso che grazie al cielo i cittadini italiani hanno punito severamente e quindi il fatto non ci preoccupa, anche se ci indigna, perchè siamo confortati dal sapere che oggi il Parlamento italiano, sia il nuovo Governo che l'opposizione, è un governo che condivide certi tipi di valori". Il presidente della comunità ebraica richiama il discorso di ieri di Gianfranco Fini, quando ha parlato di "riconoscere il valore del 25 aprile e per tanti cittadini italiani quello del primo maggio. Un passo importante - aggiunge - per traghettare l'Italia e il partito di centrodestra a un partito conservatore di stile europeo".

Pacifici ricorda l'importanza di alcuni "temi importanti per il paese", come per esempio "il rispetto del Patto Atlantico, l'appartenenza alla Nato, l'amicizia con l'America e quello che sta più a cuore alla comunità ebraica, l'amicizia con lo stato e i cittadini di Israele, ma anche il riconoscimento di quelle forze e organizzazioni che anche per la controparte palestinese faticosamente stanno cercando di raggiungere un accordo di pace che possa veder nascere, entro la fine dell'anno, uno stato palestinese democratico a fianco di uno stato di Israele sicuro e con confini riconosciuti. Un traguardo - ha concluso Pacifici - che solo con la volontà di tutto il paese e di tutta l'Europa si può raggiungere isolando gli estremismi, rappresentati da Hamas nei territori palestinesi, e in Italia da quelli che a Torino hanno compiuto questi gesti di vandalismo".

(Alice News, 1 maggio 2008 )

Fiera del Libro, bruciate le bandiere di Israele e Usa

L’episodio si è verificato al termine del corteo per il Primo maggio. I centri sociali: «Vergogna nel pensare che la Fiera voglia onorare questo paese»

TORINO - Due bandiere israeliane e una americana sono state bruciate a Torino da esponenti dei centri sociali e dell’associazione Free Palestine come forma di protesta per la scelta di invitare Israele come Paese ospite alla Fiera del Libro che si aprirà al Lingotto giovedì 8 maggio prossimo. L’episodio si è verificato al termine del corteo per il Primo maggio.

I manifestanti, che hanno anche lanciato dei fumogeni, hanno voluto denunciare le uccisioni di civili palestinesi da parte dell’esercito israeliano e hanno ribadito la loro ferma opposizione alla presenza della cultura di Israele alla Fiera del Libro. Sull’episodio sta indagando la Questura di Torino. Per sabato 10 maggio Free Palestine ha indetto un’altra manifestazione di protesta per il boicottaggio della Fiera del libro intitolata «Da che parte stare noi lo sappiamo».

Il motivo della protesta lo spiega un portavoce dei Centri sociali:«Proviamo vergogna nel pensare che Torino e la Fiera vogliano festeggiare e onorare questo paese che non smette di sopraffare e ferire mortalmente la sovranità di un altro paese». Subito dopo arriva la prima reazione: Claudia De Benedetti, dell’Unione delle Comunità ebraiche italiane (Ucei), definisce il gesto «un atto di incivilita», di «censura culturale» e lo stesso presidente dell’Unione, Renzo Gattegna, invita a impedire che l’appuntamento di Torino «si svolga in un’atmosfera di ostilità e di pregiudizio».

Per Pier Ferdinando Casini «Bruciare le bandiere di Israele è un atto di oltraggio non solo a quel popolo, alla sua storia e alle sue sofferenze ma all’intera civiltà occidentale, quindi anche a noi stessi».

La Stampa.it

Haitham Sabbah, Mary Rizzo and Gilad Atzmon are very pleased to announce their new site. Palestine Think Tank. It is a site containing news, analysis, art and more to further the cause of justice for Palestinians. It concentrates on many aspects of the resistance, but also focuses on the issues affecting the entire Middle East. Please visit us at www.palestinethinktank.com, share this news with those who might be interested, and if you have a blog or site, consider linking to us. We also have a forum for those interested in interactive communication.

Together with us are some of the most insightful and talented writers, activists and artists around. Contributors include Khalid Amayreh, Ramzy Baroud, Adib Kawar, Ernesto Paramo, Wael Al Saad, Nadia Hasan, Iqbal Tamimi, Richard Jones, Nahida Izzat, Razan Al Ghazzawi, Khaled Islaih, Steve Amsel, Ben Heine and many more. www.palestinethinktank.com contains both original material and material from other sources that we believe deserves to be considered.

We are people from different backgrounds who live in different countries. We speak different languages and believe in different religions, or even believe in no religion at all.

These differences are not a problem to any of us.

Differences are what makes the world a wonderful place because everyone is unique. It allows us the possibility to learn more about the world and gain insights we would never have access to otherwise.

Celebrating our differences, we understand that there is a belief that unites us and unites all the people involved in creating this website. It is the belief that Zionism is wrong. Zionism is racism. For Zionism to happen, it means the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of the land of Palestine. We accept nothing about Zionism as being positive, yet we believe there are some people who don’t know exactly what Zionism is, and therefore assume it is something different than an ideology, and therefore, is beyond criticism.

We wish to educate those who don’t know what Zionism is so that they are able to see how damaging it is and how it is a just cause to stop it. We hope www.palestinethinktank.com will be a space for free discussion and wide-ranging analysis.

We believe that the just struggle of the Palestinian people is the greatest liberation struggle of our times, and we aim to render service to their cause through presenting as many aspects of their history, culture and struggle as we can. We intend to give space to many Arab voices as well, since the full realisation of the potential of people in the entire Arab world has been hindered for far too long by the “International Community”. It is far easier to promote an idea of “the Arab” that cleanses Israel and the West from all responsibility for the instability and lack of progress that in some cases is evident than to listen to the complex arguments and reasoning that people from these countries and who understand the history of the Arab World are able to present.

We hope to be able to provide a site full of valid content that is at the service of the Palestinian people especially. Their steadfastness is an inspiration to all mankind, and to those of us in particular who feel close to their cause or are Palestinian, it is a message of love, hope and humanity that we hope we are worthy of.

Content of www.palestinethinktank.com is intellectual property of the authors. All material that does not appear in this site as the original source will always be credited for authors and source.

The material here may be reproduced elsewhere, but we request that you kindly cite our source and post a link to the page on www.palestinethinktank.com from where it was taken. We will also build up our links and community as time develops, so that we can all work towards our goal with the energy and imagination required.

www.palestinethinktank.com contains a forum, which is a space to discuss arguments related to the Middle East. We hope that it will allow all of us to broaden our horizons, engage in constructive debate and present a social network that will be useful to all of us.

www.palestinethinktank.com will be in two languages, in English predominantly, and Arabic.

We accept original articles as well as suggestions for material published elsewhere.

Au moment où Israël, soutenu par les gouvernements occidentaux, s'apprête à célébrer avec faste le soixantième anniversaire de sa création (*), et alors que les Palestiniens, bouclés dans des ghettos, n'ont jamais été aussi opprimés, nous rediffusons un article, écrit en août 2003, qui conserve, malheureusement, toute son actualité.
L'Etat d'Israël a été fondé, en 1948, sur un crime que les victimes palestiniennes ont appelé "Nakba", "catastrophe". Cela s'est traduit par l'expulsion brutale de près de 90% des natifs palestiniens hors de chez eux. Nous pensons qu'il n'y aura aucune paix possible aussi longtemps qu'Israël ne reconnaîtra pas ses torts et ne rendra pas aux Palestiniens ce qu'il leur a extorqué par la force durant ces soixante années.
Alors que la situation des Palestiniens s'est dangereusement aggravée, du fait de l'étranglement maintenu par l'occupant israélien, nos gouvernements devraient avoir la décence de refuser de participer à ces célébrations. Et les journalistes devraient avoir enfin l'honnêteté de dire la vérité sur l'apartheid pratiqué par Israël vis-à-vis des Palestiniens, et de la répéter jusqu'à ce qu'une solution conforme au droit international soit apportée à cette tragédie.

Later Days

To Peace and Solidarity

This was on CBC news. Check out IfAmericanKnew

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Billions of aid dollars pledged to the Palestinians to bolster peace talks with Israel are having a muted economic impact because of Israeli restrictions on travel and trade, the World Bank said on Sunday.

The lending agency told donor nations in a report that per capita income in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 2008 would be static, if not lower, despite the $7.7 billion in aid pledged to the Palestinians in December.

The World Bank said modest gains in economic growth in the occupied West Bank, where Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas's government holds sway, were not sufficient to offset the "severe contraction" seen in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip after the Islamist group's takeover in June from more secular Fatah forces loyal to Abbas.

"While the PA (Palestinian Authority) has moved ahead with its economic reforms, albeit slowly, there has been little progress on relaxing movement and access constraints," the bank said in the report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

The World Bank said the impact of these restrictions, including hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, "cannot be overestimated."

Abbas responded to Gaza's takeover by sacking a Hamas-led unity government and by appointing his own administration in the West Bank.

Western aid, frozen after Hamas won control of the Palestinian Authority in January 2006 elections, has since resumed to Abbas's government to bolster final-status peace talks launched with Israel in November.

But those talks have shown little sign of progress and Israel has balked at removing major West Bank checkpoints and roadblocks, arguing that they are necessary to stop suicide bombers from reaching its cities. Palestinians call the obstacles collective punishment.

While the International Monetary Fund has projected growth of 3.0 percent in 2008, the World Bank said: "Taking into account population growth, it can be concluded that under the current movement and access restrictions, per capita incomes will drop or remain the same."

The World Bank said Israel's tightened cordon of the Gaza Strip has "considerably eroded whatever private sector backbone remained in the economy, and in a manner that is progressively more difficult to reverse."

The bank, citing business associations in Gaza, said the current restrictions have led to the suspension of 96 percent of Gaza's industrial operations.

Following a recent visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel announced plans to remove 61 barriers in the West Bank. But a U.N. survey subsequently found that only 44 of the 61 obstacles had been removed and that most of them were of little to no significance.

(Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source

***Before you go ahead and read below, please watch this heart-wrenching video (linked below) which is the final footage of Fadel Shana and other bystanders who were killed with him:

Video: final footage of Reuters journalist killed in Gaza

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3764160.ece

Fadel Shana was killed on Wednesday as he filmed an Israeli tank dug in about a kilometer (1,000 yards) away. A medical examination and X-rays showed several 3 cm (inch) -long spikes, known as flechettes, in the 23 year old's body.

The last few seconds of video shot on Shana's tripod-mounted camera show the tank firing, then a mid-air explosion consistent with the burst of a missile. The camera was shattered in the explosion that killed Shana. Black metal darts were embedded in his body armor, which bore a fluorescent strip reading "PRESS".

Shana's soundman, Wafa Abu Mizyed, was wounded in the arm and two teenage bystanders were also killed in the incident. A Reuters car carrying "TV" and "Press" markings was destroyed.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1632826120080417

***A petition has been created to put pressure on the news agency he used to work with so that they can pressure Israel to inquire into the death of Fadel himself and of the 3 bystanders***

http://www.petitiononline.com/fapril08/petition.html

Please take a minute to sign the above petition and forward to everyone and anyone.

***Video: Tributes to slain Reuters cameraman***

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=80522&videoChannel=1

Thank You
Kind Regards

Against the backdrop of continuing violence between Hamas militants in Gaza and the Israeli army, two young women, an Israeli and a Palestinian, have agreed to exchange letters via the BBC website.

Mona is an English Literature graduate who works as a freelance translator in the northern Gaza Strip. Just a few kilometres separate her from Anav, a university student who spends part of her time in Sderot.

---

Dear Mona,

I have been working in Sderot since August 2007.

Anav does not discuss politics with her Arab university friends

Life in Sderot is life in a war-zone. For over seven years, the people of Sderot and the western Negev have lived with rocket fire from Gaza daily, and the rocket terror worsens each month.

I work at the Sderot Media Center. Our aim is to raise awareness of this reality both in Israel and internationally.

I chose to work here because the residents of this city under fire need support.

I used to sleep in Sderot until I heard the whoosh of the Qassam rockets over the roof a couple of times.

The bomb shelter is downstairs, and I cannot make it down within 15 seconds of the siren sounding.

So for my sanity and safety, I decided it would be best to sleep outside Sderot in a neighbouring kibbutz during the nights I spend in the area.

I feel very fortunate that I have this option to leave when I want because the families of Sderot are not able to do so.

Do I see Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace? No

Most of the residents are financially tied to the area and are on the lower economic scale.

Sderot is a warm and tight-knit community of rooted families who have lived in the city for several generations.

It is not unusual to find a family of grandparents, children, and grandchildren all living on the same street.

I was born in Jerusalem, but I moved to the United States with my family when I was two. I grew up in the USA in Maine, which is on the Canadian border. Maine is a beautiful state surrounded by lakes and forests and wildlife.

I left this peaceful way of life after I graduated high school four years ago and moved to Israel.

Growing up, it was always clear to me that I would come back to Israel.

Reading the Biblical stories of my ancestors and their life in Israel two thousand years ago gave me a sense of a homeland that was finally accessible to me.

As a family, we would also visit Israel every year. My mom is Israeli and she has a lot of family here.

Do I see Palestinians and Israelis living side by side in peace? No. I am very cautious of the word peace, because it is an abstract idea that has different meanings for people of different cultures.

Peace as I understand it, is based on love and mutual respect - and most importantly respect for an ideology and belief that is different from your own.

People expect Israel to give away land and then there will be instant peace.

Years of educating Palestinian children to hate and terrorize Israeli civilians cannot be reversed by simply giving away land.

The Gaza Strip was given away with the idea that there would be peace, but the Qassam terror has only increased dramatically since the disengagement.

I would like to ask you Mona, what is it like living in Gaza? What was your education like when you were growing up? What is your family like?

I look forward to hearing from you and send you warm regards.

Anav.

---

Dear Anav

It is very kind of you to write from Sderot.

Mona has lost a grandfather and a brother in the conflict

Before I tell you about life in Gaza, I would like to tell you that I am originally from what is now the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

My family left with thousands of others after 1948 and my grandfather was one of many killed in fighting the Israelis.

My grandmother is still alive. She tells in detail how peaceful life was before the Israeli thugs attacked.

I grew up during the first Intifada [Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule 1987-1993].

I can't remember how many times the Israeli forces attacked my home, but I remember one time hiding under my bed, trembling with fear.

I have three younger brothers who are all at school. I used to have four - my brother Amer was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in 1992. He was 12 years old.

Scenes of blood and death are fixed in my mind. I have to say, Israel taught us how to hate it, no-one else.

Is life in Sderot a war-zone?! Then what words should I use to describe Gaza?

If you contrast the weaponry of Israel with Hamas - you see Hamas' resistance is symbolic, nothing more

Life in Gaza is like hell.

Israel killed more than 60 people in Gaza on Saturday 1 March alone. Many were civilians and children.

Are there any similarities between the power of the weapons that do this - and Hamas' home made Qassam rockets?

How many people have they killed since Hamas started launching them? How many houses have they destroyed?

If you contrast the two, I think you can see that Hamas' manner of resistance is symbolic, nothing more than that.

When Israel dismantled its illegal settlements and disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005, I was happy that I would finally be able to visit my friend who lives in the middle of the Strip whenever I wanted.

But Israel didn't leave us peace, it left us sonic booms. The occupation forces use this to shatter our nerves. The sound of the aircraft is so loud it can break windows.

How would you feel if someone else controlled your every movement? How would you feel if you didn't have the right to move inside your country; if you were prevented from travelling abroad for study; if the cost of food and fuel was determined by someone else closing your borders; if you spent most of your nights in darkness?

I had severe headaches last month because I spent several hours studying by faint candlelight.

Why are we punished with darkness? Why are patients prevented from having medicine?

It is our land and we have the right to dismiss anyone who shows aggression towards us.

Shelling has been going on while I have been writing this. I just heard my mother asking "What will happen tonight"?

I hope your night is quiet.

Warmest regards,

Mona.

Anav Silverman, a young Israeli woman who works in Sderot and Mona Yousef, a young Palestinian woman in Gaza, exchange letters for a second time via the BBC website.

Mona is an English Literature graduate who works as a freelance translator in the northern Gaza Strip. Anav is studying English literature and political science at Bar Ilan university. She works part time in Sderot's media centre.

Read their first letters

---

Dear Mona,

I hope it is more quiet for you when you read this.

War is devastating to all and I have been going through this hellish experience myself this past year.

I want to tell you that from my side in Sderot I see the same kind of pain, trauma and death that you described in your email.

Hamas's resistance is not "symbolic" for the Israelis living in southern Israel.

Take Osher Twito. This eight year-old boy can no longer walk because shrapnel from a rocket explosion severed his left leg, which had to be amputated.

Sderot was once a city of 24,000 people. These "homemade rockets" have forced close to 5,000 people to relocate elsewhere in Israel over the past seven years.

Although the weaponry of Palestinian terror groups may be crude and inexpensive, it has wreaked devastation for the Israelis in this region, as any advanced military weaponry would.

I know this may be difficult to believe based on the way Israel is presented in the Arab world, but the Israeli army does not intend nor want to kill innocent Palestinian women and children. The IDF enters Gaza to eliminate the terrorists who terrorise Israelis.

I feel your pain at the innocent lives taken in this warfare. And remember that most of the rockets are launched from civilian areas like schoolyards and hospitals.

Do you believe that the Jewish people have a right to live in this land? Do you recognise Israel as a Jewish state?

It is very difficult to target Palestinian terrorists when they use women and children as human shields.

Hamas times its rocket fire so that Jewish children will be the most likely targets. It fires Qassam rockets early in the morning when they go to school and in the afternoon when their parents pick them up.

This "symbolic" war by Hamas is not being waged solely against our soldiers, but against us - the Jewish people.

You say your family originally came from Ashkelon. I am curious, where did your great-great-great grandparents originally come from? How long had they been here?

I too have family who were displaced. My grandmother left Poland because of the growing fear of Nazi control. She managed to escape to Israel but her entire family was killed in the Holocaust before they could join her. She never went back to Poland.

Do you believe that the Jewish people have a right to live in this land? Do you recognise Israel as a Jewish state?

I know that Ashkelon to you is al-Majdal. If the Hebrew names of these cities are not recognised and the Jewish presence in this land not tolerated among the Arabs - how do you conceive that there will be peace with Israel?

Outside the conflict, I was wondering what English books you like reading? This year, Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, is one of my favourites. I can't decide if Heathcliff is truly a villain!

Best wishes and keep well,

Anav

---

Dear Anav,

It is pleasure to write to you again.

Yes, it is more quiet now in terms of military attacks.

Heathcliff is a victim of his tyrannical society, but when he is in power, he becomes a victimiser himself. Do you notice, the victim always becomes the bully when he has control?

I don't care where my great-great-great grandparents came from, or when. History is full of migration and the movement of peoples, including yours.

After three thousand years living around the world, suddenly you remembered your homeland!

You said your family came to Palestine because of the spread of Nazism, to escape the Holocaust.

Why should we Palestinians have to pay the price of others' crimes? If the Nazis killed your grandmother's family, why do you kill us in return?

I don't mean you personally of course, but the Israeli state.

If we had had advanced weaponry... it would have become a war between two nations - with no mention of terrorism

How can I accept the existence of a state which has occupied our land for 40 years, an occupation which has resulted in so many Palestinians being killed?

On terrorism... why is launching "crude and inexpensive" weaponry on the children of Sderot considered terrorism, when F16s and Mercava tanks killing children inside their homes in Gaza is not?

Samar and Samah were two sisters, aged 13 and 23, who were together at home in Gaza when an Israeli shell killed them last month. They weren't resisting anyone.

I think the term "terrorism" is connected to a level of sophistication in the weapons used. If we had had advanced weaponry, this whole thing would have been managed differently. It would have become a war between two nations - with no mention of terrorism.

Another point, what do you call the prevention of food and medical supplies entering the Gaza Strip? Is this not a kind of terrorism?

Peace is always possible everywhere if attention is paid to it, and if rights are returned to people who have lost them. I believe in peace, as we are exchanging letters.

I think peace is what makes us human. You, the Jew, and I, the Arab Muslim, are humans, so there is place for peace.

But can you tell me why Israel closes the borders and prevents people from travelling?

Don't you think that the international community (the UN) handles the conflict unfairly - and has actually made it worse?

Do you see this as a struggle for survival, between me and you?

My favourite English novel is Heart of Darkness for Joseph Conrad. Don't you think, colonialism in all ages has the same ideology?

Do you like Shakespeare? Hamlet is one of my favourites. Every time I read it I discover that he has a new problem.

Best wishes,

Mona

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