Budrus Trailer – Excellent example of Gandhian Non-Voilent Movement

 “It takes a village to unite the most divided people on earth.” Nonviolent resistance to Israeli policy in the Palestinian territories.

 It is a story of “Palestinian victory by unarmed popular resistance.” “The framing of the film is about the route of the barrier, but the movie is about community organization, how the villagers connect with Israeli activists, and the role of women. It is about capturing the imagination of what’s possible”

A Demonstrator dressed as a figure of the movie ‘Avatar’, shouts slogans against Israel’s separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. Israel says the barrier is needed for security, but Palestinians consider it a land grab. Opponents of Israel’s contentious separation barrier in the West Bank scored a long-awaited victory Thursday when the government began rerouting the enclosure to eat up less of a Palestinian village that has become a symbol of anti-wall protests and the site of frequent clashes. Bernat Armangue / AP Photo

Palestinian protesters have added a colorful twist to demonstrations against Israel’s separation barrier, painting themselves blue and posing as characters from the hit film “Avatar.”

The demonstrators also donned long hair and loincloths Friday for the weekly protest against the barrier near the village of Bilin.

They equated their struggle to the intergalactic one portrayed in the film.

Israel says the barrier is needed for its security. Palestinians consider it a land grab.

The protests have become a symbol of opposition. They often end in clashes with Israeli security forces involving stones and tear gas.

The “Avatar” protest comes a day after the Israeli government began rerouting the enclosure to eat up less of the Palestinian village.
Source: miamiherald.com

Norway divestment from Isreal firm due to illegal separation wall building activities (By all international laws, its a illegal confiscation of land from Palestine). This is the root cause of all the turmoil.

Read the story here:

Israel summons Norway envoy to protest divestment from arms firm
By Amira Hass and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press

The director general of the Foreign Ministry, Yossi Gal, on Thursday summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Israel, Jakken Bjørn Lian, to protest Norway’s decision to pull all of its investments from the Israeli arms firm Elbit.

Following the meeting, the Foreign Ministry relayed that, “Israel will consider further steps of protest in the future.”

Norway’s finance minister, Kristin Halvorsen, announced at a press conference in Oslo earlier in the day that the divestment was due to Elbit’s involvement in the construction of the West Bank separation fence.

According to a political source in Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry had planned to issue a harsh statement of condemnation immediately after the announcement, but following the meeting with Lian the ministry decided to tone it down.

The explanations for the divestment provided by the Norwegian envoy at the meeting were apparently the reason for the ministry’s moderation of its response.

At the press conference, Halvorsen said the decision was based on the recommendation of Norway’s Ministry of Finance council on ethics, whose role is to ensure that government investments abroad meet ethical guidelines.

“We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” said the minister. She said the shares were sold secretly ahead of the announcement.

Elbit manufactures a monitoring system installed on several parts of the separation fence.

The recommendation submitted by the Ministry of Finance council on ethics stated that it considered “the fund’s investment in Elbit to constitute an unacceptable risk of complicity in serious violations of fundamental ethical norms.”

The council is thus explicitly referring to a 2004 International Court of Justice ruling, stating that the separation fence represented a breach of international law.
Israel erected the fence following a wave of Palestinian terror attacks at the height of the second intifada; it says the barrier is a necessary measure to stop Palestinian suicide bombers and protect settlers. The Palestinians oppose the fence’s route, saying it is designed to grab land they want for a future state.

Palestinian as well as Israeli anti-occupation groups, aided by Norwegian leftists, have all protested extensively against Norwegian involvement in companies involved in West Bank development and construction over last two years, which have seen an increase in Norway’s investment in Israeli firms.

Norway’s pension fund is invested in 41 different Israeli companies.

A research project by the Coalition of Women for Peace called “Who profits from the occupation” found that almost two thirds of those firms are involved in West Bank construction and development.

Click here to read the story at haaretz.com
haaretz.com

“They say time heals, but each day is more difficult than the last,” says Ayelet Modoh, 37.

Ten Israeli soldiers died during the conflict, while between 1,100 and 1,400 Gazans are estimated killed, although views vary as to how many were civilians.

“The ceasefire is not indefinite. We are still afraid in our hearts.”

~BBC

For More, Please click the link below:
Uneasy recovery for Sderot and south Israel

Israel has authorised a one-off shipment of hundreds of tonnes of cement and building materials to the heavily embargoed Gaza Strip.

~ BBC

For More, click the link below
Israel to allow cement into Gaza.