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January
5, 2002
Edward
Said
Is
Israel More Secure Now?
January
4, 2002
CG Estabrook
Anti-War
= Anti-Globalization
Jordan
Green
What's
Changed in New York
January
3, 2002
Walt Brasch
Exit
Cheney, Enter Ridge
Mokhiber
and Weissman
The
10 Worst Corporations
of 2001
Robert
Hunter Wade
America's
Empire Rules an Unbalanced World
Shahid
Alam
Is
There an Islamic Problem?
January
2, 2002
Ross Regnart
Patriot
Act Redefines the Mob as "Terrorist Associates"
John Chuckman
The
Republicans' Secret Plan X
David
Vest
Turn,
Turn, Turn
January
1, 2002
Kathy
Kelly
Iraq's
New Year
December
31, 2001
John Absood
An
Alternative to War in Iraq
Ramzi
Kysia
Iraq
Goes Radioactive
December
28, 2001
John Chuckman
Observing
George Bush
Suren
Pillay
Civilian
Bodies
Aaron
Lehmer
Inviting
Future Terrorism
December
27, 2001
Patrick
McNamara
Palestinian
Children Bear Brunt of Mideast Violence
Nelson
Valdés
A
Possible Scenario on the Location of bin Laden
Jensen
and Mahajan
Remember
the Afghan Dead
Philip
Farruggio
A
New Year's Resolution
Ramzi
Kysia
The
People of the Valley
December 26, 2001
John Chuckman
In
Praise of the Unspeakable
Sam Bahour
2002:
Year of the Twos
December 25, 2001
Jennifer Loewenstein
Israel's
Human Rights Record
December 24, 2001
Sam Bahour
It
Happened One Morning
Yair Khilou
Why I Resisted
Being Drafted into the Israeli Army
Michael
Chisari
War
as Diversionary Tactic
Cockburn/St. Clair
Enron
and the Green Seal
A Photographic Journal of Life
in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann
Resources:
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Seattle and Beyond
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War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a History of
Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden and Bush
Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype
of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh on
Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em
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and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
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January
5, 2002
Kifah:
The Movie Star that Israel Killed
By Mark Schneider
Ever meet a movie star? I almost did.
Before our delegation left Colorado for
Palestine several of us went and saw a new movie documentary
called "Promises." The plot was simple: A Jewish Israeli
man wanted to see if he could create relationships between Israeli
and Palestinian children. Seemingly a simple proposition - after
all, they are neighbors, right? And yet, he did succeed, sort
of.
Kifah was one of the child stars of the
film. Made about three years ago, Kifah was just 9 years old.
With the filmmaker's prodding, the Palestinian children decided
to host a meeting with two secular Jewish Israeli twin boys.
All the Palestinian kids lived in Dehaisheh
refugee camp - located near Bethlehem. All these Palestinian
refugees came from villages located in present-day Israel. Some
villages remain, though Israeli settlers occupy the Palestinian
homes; many villages were bulldozed by Israel - to try to eliminate
any history of the massive Palestinian presence in present day
Israel.
In the film, the gathering of Israeli
and Palestinian kids was magical because kids are kids. They
shared food and stories, wrestled and made a promise: to keep
the relationships going.
Fast-forwarding a few years later in
the film, the filmmaker went back to see if the relationships
still existed. Several of the Palestinian children called the
Israeli twins but never got their calls returned. It was heart-breaking.
More heart-breaking, though, was before
the film fast-forwarded. At the original meeting of all the children,
one of the Palestinians kids, one that gave off the toughest
exterior, began sobbing after their "promise" had been
made. Why? As tears rolled down his cheeks he said that he feared
that soon after the filmmaker left them all alone their Palestinian-Israeli
friendships would wither away.
The filmmaker, knowing this scenario
was quite likely, openly sobbed. The camera panned around the
Palestinian children's living room and hovered briefly at each
child's face. One of them was Kifah.
Yesterday I visited Dehaisheh refugee
camp and got excited at the thought of maybe meeting one of the
Palestinian stars of the film. When I asked the refugee camp
guide if the children still lived in Dehaisheh, she paused. Most
were off in school. Then, almost matter-of-factly, she told me
that one of the film's stars, Kifah, had been killed two months
ago.
With a few other children, Kifah went
to the Bethlehem checkpoint, the only way to for Palestinians
that live around Bethlehem to visit East Jerusalem, the capitol
of Palestine. The children began throwing stones and the soldiers
responded with live ammunition. Kifah, which means "Struggle"
in Arabic, was killed instantly.
In the 3 weeks I've been here, with my
international status, I've freely traveled through this checkpoint
more than 10 times. In two massive marches, one on Christmas
and the other on New Year's Eve, hundreds of internationals supported
over a thousand Palestinians in their attempt to travel to Al-Quds
(East Jerusalem). All of the Palestinians were denied entry,
stopped by dozens of Israeli soldiers. From Bethlehem to Jerusalem
it's about 7 miles. From Dehaisheh Refugee camp it's about 8
miles.
Out of a population of 12,000, Kifah
is the 9th martyr from Dehaisheh camp to be killed in this Intifada.
Like all the 900 Palestinian martyrs of this Intifada, there
is a poster, widely circulated, of young Kifah. His smile is
a small one.
For now I'll try to find Kifah's poster,
one I can keep of a film star I almost met.
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