MozhganSavabieasfahani

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 10:40 a.m.

It is good to see more people publically speak out against wars in the Middle East. U.S./Israel have promoted war and devastation of the population and the environment ever since they got to the area. In Ann Arbor (previously a stronghold of Zionist propaganda) a hand full of human rights activists have gained enough confidence to publically speak out and support boycott of Israel. I, for my part, thank you and I promise to never relent until safety is brought to and justice is done for Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans, and all the rest of people in the Middle East who have suffered immeasurably in the hands of occupiers and murderers. Even the generations to come, in Iraq, Palestine Lebanon etc, have been effected by U.S./Israels warmongering in the region. All of us (human rights activists) will fight to get the stories of the victims of U.S./Israel out in to the media. Our aim is to inform American public of the injustices that is being done in their name and with their money. Let us see what America really wants to supportmurder and rape, or justice and equality and freedom of speech? I put my money on the latter Boycott Israel NOW!

bedrog

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 10:35 a.m.

boycott...by the way, how many of those 'vigorous 'coop boycott campaigns were successful? we had 2 in ann arbor and they both flopped horribly...as you are well aware.

bedrog

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 9:26 a.m.

stunh...indeed. by the way, gaza has another door with muslim egypt that is also closely guarded. how come that never comes up with 'mozhgan' and 'blaine'?

demistify

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 9:25 a.m.

So, Mozhgan finds the real Holocaust (6 million Jews and a comparable number of non-Jews murdered by the Nazis and their cohorts, including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) boring and passe. More recently, she cannot even be bothered to mention the Sudanese genocide (2 million Blacks in the South and half-a-million in Darfur murdered by the Arab dictatorship). More millions killed in other parts of Africa (Rwanda, Congo, Uganda, Somalia) are also unworthy of notice. She patriotically glories in the Iranian theocracy and in the international terrorism it sponsors (Hizbollah, Hamas). Instead, she mourns the Palestinian terrorists killed while doing their thing and is indignant that Israel dares resist them. Yes, Mozhgan, Never again should mean "never again against anyone -- including Jews."

stunhsif

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 8:55 a.m.

Shame on you for using the word "Holocaust". What is happening to the Palestinians is self inflicted because of their aggression toward Israel.

bedrog

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 8:20 a.m.

moderators...glad mozhgan/joumana ( the same person, as you are aware)/blaine coleman and their handful of followers have been given their little day in the sun so they cant continue to claim bias in your reportage... in any case a far better approach to all this are the 'you tube' entries WE CON THE WORLD ( about the bogus 'narrative' of that supposed 'peace ship') and "only Israel'..about the hypocrisy of these so-called peace lovers ( whose 'narrative' is really about jihadist apologetics. boycott of israel is a dead issue in ann arbor,and utterly ineffectual elsewhere.. and it's corpse rot accelerates locally with every fevered post like this letter.. p.s.one tiny fact check...more muslims in palestinian areas, afghanistan, iraq, somalia, yemen etc etc are killed by fellow believers than by 'zionists' and western infidels on their worst day. word!

antikvetch

Wed, Jul 21, 2010 : 7:10 a.m.

I feel that this awesomely relevant topic should also be exposed to the good people of Boise. If it is relevant here, it is relevant there. National education for this issue is key. Perhaps an extended field trip is in order......

Roadman

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 7:04 p.m.

Thanks again for the editorial. "Let Israel do as Israel does." That was the quote of Neal Elyakin commenting on the Gaza invasion that led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians in 2009. Send e-mails to the Mayor and all City Council members voting to appoint Elyakin that you will vote against them this election cycle for this clinker of an appointment. Elyakin chaired a recent local 60th anniversary celebration of the founding of the State of Israel. This festivity was attended by the Mayor. Israel's own respected human rights organization B'tselem joined Amnesty International in investing the war crimes in Gaza following the incursion by the Israel Defense Forces in 2008-09. The U.N issued the Goldstone Commission report which found credible evidence of not only war crimes but also crimes against humanity. The 452-page report, authorized by Justice Goldstone, a Jewish Zionist from an Israeli ally - South Africa - who has been a key supporter of war crimes prosecutions worldwide - contains accounts of horrific episodes of brutality reminiscent of the Nazi SS, including: (A) firing an artillery shell into a mosque filled with worshippers, killing 15 persons; (B) shooting of unarmed civilians; (C) using civilians as human shields; (D) actively destroying food sources to Gazans. Several weeks ago the Israel Defense Forces, under heavy international pressure, indicted IDF soldiers on various charges, including multiple counts of homicide. B'tselem comemnted the charges did not go far enough. The American press barely covered this story. It is only through the effforts of vigorous and fair journalism that the systematic perpetration of genocide can be exposed and pressure be brought to bear on nations such as Israel, who have litle respect for human rights.

MozhganSavabieasfahani

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 4:30 p.m.

Thank you all for so many supportive comments. Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission (aahumanrightscommission@gmail.com) has also been asked repeatedly to honor the Palestinian Civil Societys call for boycott of Israel. They have declined to even discuss it in their meetings. It is utterly shameful. And now Mr. Neal Elyakin (an active supporter of the racist state of Israel) has been appointed, by Ann Arbor mayor (Mr. John Hieftje) to this commission. I encourage all of you who care for human rights and are eager to end U.S./Israels wars in the Middle East, to please contact Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission at the Email above, and put pressure on them to do the right thing and offer the city council of Ann Arbor a resolution to boycott Israel at once. Before more people are murdered and tortured by U.S. and Israel in the Middle East.

Joumana

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 3:17 p.m.

Top Cat, I'm sure hooded men in Abu Ghraib with electric wires tied to their genitals would not appreciate your undermining of their plight. Don't monopolize suffering.

Top Cat

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 2:08 p.m.

It's a shame that the author and others have so twisted the meaning of the word "holocaust". The Nazis made a conscious decision to exterminate the entirety of the Jewish people. There is absolutely nothing going on today in the Mideast, Iraq of Afghanistan that is comparable.

HHM

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 12:12 p.m.

Palestinian civil society calls for international solidarity with boycotts, divestment and sanctions, (BDS) a movement which is growing rapidly. (www.pacbi.org/ www.bdsmovement usacbi.wordpress.com/) These are the same non-violent resistance tactics that MLK used in our own civil rights movement to overcome institutionalized segregation. These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel: 1. Ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall; 2. Recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and 3. Respect, protects and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194. It is important for civil society across America to rise up and remind our national leadership that Thomas Jefferson declared all people, not just Americans, entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that governments are instituted to secure these rights and derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Palestinians want nothing less than anyone else, freedom, justice, and equality in the Holy Land.

Joe

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 11:39 a.m.

Thanks for writing this.

Mary Rizzo

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 9:19 a.m.

This is a very interesting and reasonable article, and the call to focus more on the efforts made to put a focus on important matters that should be of concern to everyone is a call that should be heeded. It is vital that people are aware of global issues and this is equally true when the issue can affect everyone. Awareness of the realities facing millions of people today, and our involvement in that by means of selective consuming, can indeed affect the lives not only of those millions, but the lives of those who make these choices to assist in something that can only be described as the author has done it, a modern day Holocaust of innocent people. Thanks for printing this editorial!

DrD

Tue, Jul 20, 2010 : 7:32 a.m.

I agree with this opinion 100%. It's sad to see that our own local news sources are filtering the content so one-sided. I know for a fact that there are persistent demonstrations all around town that don't get reported on. We have to appreciate that we are a diverse community that should be recognized and educated. If there is any news relevant to my family, friends, or co-workers, I try bring up a discussion with them about it. If nobody is informed about what is going on then the ignorance persists. What's the point of having news then? We should stop hiding behind labeling "sensitive" issues and start calling things as they are - Retaliating to an aggression is a defense, not the other way around. If we don't cover the news about local protests by our own Ann Arbor-ites, "conspiracy theories" about the media's agenda is no longer a theory -it's a fact.