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DR, RANIA MASRI'S SPPECH AT 'CRISIS IN GAZA AND WEST BANK: CONTEXT AND ACTION' FORUM
Aug. 21, 2014
Watch and Listen: http://youtu.be/hHAmAULY23U
It’s about time more than one diaspora Palestinian spoke equally fearlessly, forcefully, loud and clear, unapologetically, powerfully and correctly and with pride in support of the Palestinian Resistance group Hamas besieged in Gaza. It’s long, long overdue.
Those who march behind genocide should be ashamed of themselves, not those who fight for what is right.
The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall — Che Guevara
Bravo! Ms. Masri, you fill our hearts with pride. Long Live Palestine!
Excerpts from Ms. Rania Masri’s speech:
95% of the Israelis supported the offensive against Gaza. This is the fourth assault on the Palestinians in Gaza. The hate that is being spewed by Israelis against Palestinians in recent months, have reached historical levels.
Israelis are openly calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. They are using that language of “Ethnic Cleansing.” They are openly calling for genocide.There was an article that was published twice in The Times of Israel, entitled: Genocide is permissible.
Now, for a community to be openly calling for such things, it means it has gone beyond even the shame of justifying murder, and for them to do this, means that they have truly embraced racism.
We need to reaffirm we are all Palestinians. 80% of the people in Gaza are Palestinians. They are refugees from 1948.
An occupied population has a right to retaliate by any means necessary to defend itself, according to international law.
“Even if, even if the Palestinian Resistance launched the first rocket (which it did not), it would not be a provocation. It would legally be a retaliation.”
We need to recognize that.
So I will not apologize for the rockets or the tunnels.
I am proud of our men who have fought in Palestine and I am proud of our men who fought in Lebanon and beat the Israeli military in 2006.
I refuse to separate the deaths of our children and our women from our men, that implies that to kill our men is acceptable.
They are the bravest and most courageous. I support and salute our men and their death is a murder.
That is the context the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza have shown us.
If we were actually the terrorists, what would the cry from the so-called international community be ? There’d be an uproar.
We don’t have a truce. We have a 72 hours ceasefire and they are asking for disarming Hamas. Hello! We first disarm the criminals, no ?
I am ashamed to say we have traitors in the Arab world supported by the U.S. government and unfortunately Mahmoud Abbas, who for godsake we should stop calling the President because his term expired years ago.
What has been demanded by Hamas is the full human rights of the Palestinians.
We Palestinians are demanding an arms embargo on the State of Israel. It is asking for “the reasonable.”
We are asking for the criminals to be tried. We are asking for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Criminal Justice (ICJ).
We need to end the impunity that is afforded to the State of Israel.
We are also asking for Sanctions to be placed on the State of Israel. They have committed crimes. They should pay.
We are asking for the end of Apartheid. Apartheid is defined as having policies of segregation and expropriation of land… a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race…..
This is verbatim what the Israeli government does. It is worse than Apartheid South Africa… says Archbishop Desmond Tutu… So we use that word legally.
Everything that has been happening to Palestinians in Gaza, has happened to South African.
We are asking for it to be ended through out the land of Palestine.
So long as Israel exists under the form of Apartheid, no, I do not support its right to exist, and I am not ashamed to say it. Does that mean I want Israeli jews to be thrown into the sea? No , it does mean that I want human rights to be applied equally and unconditionally to all the people. Which means we have a right to return to our villages.
They have failed in breaking the spirit of the Palestinians. Hamas did not raise a white flag. They have demanded the end of the siege. Everything that has been happening to Palestinians in Gaza, has been happening to Palestinians in the West Bank and Palestinians in Israel.
So how do we do it? The tools that are afforded to us are several. First and foremost Boycotts. We ask for economic, cultural and academic Boycott of Israel. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Movement (BDS) has become such a powerful force that the Israeli government equates it to the resistance network which they define as Hamas and Hezbollah. And I thank them for that compliment, …. we must build on it. We are supported from within Israel by a small group led by a man who I am proud to call a comrade, courageous Israeli Historian Ilan Pappe .