say you want to travel the world. how do you make it happen?

and no. things are not as simple as pack and leave :)

tiny infinity

my lovely midnight hour - the good the bad. and the ugly

you just realize. ugly feelings every now and then are a must for those who struggle to stay humane..

there are plenty of options actually. you can shut yourself up. not allow yourself to feel at all. this way you can be sure it'll never get you good or bad. you'll never get a taste of the beauty all around. and you'll probably never sense the ugliness. you survive

you can let it all in. the more you inhale the more you resent the ugliness that comes along. this results in giving in at some point and you tart numbing yourself. so the good doesn't interest you. the bad and ugly just pass by..and you survive

in the end. you must let it all in. the good. the bad and the ugly. the good will feel so darn good. it'll hit you hard and stimulate more good - both ways - and it will certainly be worth taking full dosage of the bad and the ugly.
surviving is not enough


oh and. commas are seriously too messy

what do you think we might see

a mon etoile

while we are sleeping..

http://www.standupforjerusalem.org/index.php?action=list_videos

tomorrow

inhale.

widget reporting

so she has been wandering around. a lot.
but she's not in the mood to talk about it. yet.

be well

vivre en ville

wandering around the streets of amman has been my job for the past 6 years, it kills me to think that i'll soon have to get a 'real' job which requires that i sit in the same spot, 8 hours/day, 5 days/week.

don't you people find that ridiculous ?
i mean, i want to wander around the globe for God's sake...

so, whatever i saw, felt, heard, sniffed, tasted, fell in love with, and gathered during those years would certainly be useful to someone - as it is now very useful to my cousins - it might introduce some forgotten person, period, or place for all i know,and then there's the sad sad fact that i forget..i don't want to forget any of it.

so im gonna have to start documenting,
and who knows,
mayb one day,
i'll be documenting a largers raduis..around 6378.1 Km ?

oh and :)

so much for the speechless blog!

one eye opener

NESTLE'S INVESTMENT IN ZIONISM:

Employing 224,541 people in 479 factories worldwide, Nestle is not only Switzerland's largest industrial company but also the world's largest food company. (1) This corporate prominence means that what Nestle does sets an example for thousands of aspiring businesses. According to the Swiss-Israeli chamber of commerce, one of the most important examples Nestle has set is that it is advantageous to invest in Israel. (2) Nestle began investment in Israel in 1995 by buying 10% of Israeli food maker Osem Investments. Two years later Nestle increased its ownership, at a cost of $140 million, to 50.1% giving it the controlling share. (3) A January 2002 agreement between the Swiss and Israeli governments to avoid double taxation for Swiss companies that produce in Israel and sell in Europe led Nestle to announce in September 2002 vast expansion in Israel that will pour $80 million more into the Israeli economy. (4)

Nestle's main presence in Israel is in Sderot, a settlement founded in 1951 one kilometer from the Gaza Strip to accommodate an influx of Sephardic Jews in and to spread Jewish presence uniformly throughout Israel. (5) Sderot is built on the lands of the Palestinian town Al-Najd, which was ethnically cleansed in 1948. (6) Today Sderot is home to 23,000 Jewish immigrants from Morocco, Ethiopia, and the former Soviet Union, half of whom came in the last ten years. (7) Like many sites for immigrant settlement, or "development zones" as they are known to the Israeli state, Sderot lacks basic facilities that make for a comfortable living. It has the highest unemployment rate in Israel (10%) and a full 30% of the children living in Sderot depend on private and government charity. (8) 25% of the recent immigrants' children do not finish school. (9)

Enter Nestle: Jointly with Osem, Nestle already runs a 700 m2 factory in Sderot, and last year the company announced that it intended to open a 1,700 m2 research and development center there. (10) Such operations provide a decent wage and living in an other-wise poverty-stricken town. They, also, enable the Israeli government to continue to import Jews who will fill the land of Israel while denying Palestinians their right of return. In 2002 Nestle received a grant for 24% of the $5.6 million cost from the Israeli government, which offers various incentives to encourage investment in development zones. (11) The Israeli government gives these grants, funded in turn by US economic assistance, to companies that can help it solve the difficult social problems accompanying mass absorption of ethnically distinct groups. At the same time, building in development zones means building over the remains of Palestinian habitation. When the old stone buildings and stubborn cactus plants are covered over, so, too, it is hoped, are the grounds for a Palestinian history and right of return. In total, Nestle currently has over 4000 Israeli employees at 11 plants, with the following all in "development zones":Tzabar Salads (an Osem subsidiary) plant in Kiryat Gat (on the former site of Palestinian village Iraq al-Manshiyya, destroyed by Israelis after 1948); a ready-baked cakes factory in Ahihud; and a logistics center will be built in Nachsholim (Al-Tantura) (12)

But Nestle's benefits to the Israeli economy don't stop with just factories and jobs. The Research & Development center in Sderot is considered particularly beneficial to Osem's growth as it " gives [Osem] advantages in technological know-how and increased export opportunities through Nestle's distribution network." Consequently, Osem's shares are growing five times faster than the rest of the Tel Aviv stock market. (13) Also, Nestle's investment in Osem has meant that its products can reach a global market which is necessary not only to continued growth of the company but to its very survival in a time of deep local recession caused by the Intifada. Osem's sales turnover in 2001 was $460 million, of which 15% came from exports (14).

Furthermore, Nestle-Osem contributes to community development through numerous charity projects. "Schools receive assistance through the Join the Industry project which introduces various aspects of Israeli industry to the classroom. Senior managers visit schools and teach classes about their industry. Schools are also welcome to visit the Company's factories. Students receive guidance from Osem's executives" (15).

These educational projects relieve the Israeli government of having to furnish a budget for educational advancement. At the same time, because they are carried out by a private company, they can be directed to the benefit of Jewish Israelis only. It is through such private efforts that the Israeli state can claim to act democratically - treating all its citizens equally - while Palestinians are flagrantly discriminated against.

Detractors from a boycott against Nestle point to the factory Nestle has on PA territory, in the Karni industrial zone in Gaza (16). Many companies active in Israel employ low-skilled Palestinian labor, finding it advantageous to use a captive resident population that is at once socially deprived (no insurance or union), politically oppressed, and able to provide its own food and board (17). The opening of Nestle's factory in Karni, in spring 2000, should be understood in this context of abetting and benefiting from an apartheid system of social rights.

In sum, Nestle builds on stolen Palestinian lands, covers up the ruins, provides jobs and opportunities that realize the Zionist goal of a purely Jewish presence in Israel and then sells the products of such an apartheid system abroad so that the Israeli economy can flourish while spending vast amounts on the oppression of Palestinians demanding their rights. No wonder Nestle received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1998 the Jubilee Award, "the highest tribute ever awarded by the State of Israel in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to strengthen the Israeli economy." (18)

A CONSISTENT CORPORATE CRIMINAL:

Since 1977, Nestle has been the subject of an international boycott for its deceptive promotion of artificial baby milk as a superior alternative to mother's milk. Artificial baby milk can harm babies because it does not contain the natural antibodies which a mother's milk provides, and because it is extremely expensive causing many mothers to mix it with too much water resulting in mal-nutrition. Also, in many places the water used to dilute it is not potable. Once a mother starts giving her baby formula, her own supply of milk dries up. Nestle provides free packages of formula in hospitals with the result that many babies never even get a chance to start nursing. In 1984 the boycott forced Nestle to agree to abide by the World Health Organization's International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. However, when it was discovered that the company has not abided by its promise, the boycott was re-launched in 1988. It continues vigorously to this day. (19)

Nestle has also attracted criticism for its use of genetically modified ingredients, and for its cocoa and coffee-buying policies which encourage slavery. For example, Nestle purchases cocoa from the Ivory Coast where cocoa plantations use child slavery. (20) Most recently, the company has been implicated in lobbying against vaccination of livestock during the British Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in 2001. (21)

Does Nestle ever recognize corporate responsibility for human suffering caused by its management and production practices? In 2000, Nestle donated $20 million to Holocaust reparations funds, saying, " As the legal successor of [Nazi] corporations, Nestlé nevertheless accepts its moral responsibility to help alleviate human suffering, all the more so since this injustice was committed in the Company's domain." (22) Such commitment to redressing wrongs visited on one sector of humanity makes Nestle's hypocritical exploitation of Palestinian factory workers and investment in the apartheid structure of Israel all the more worthy of attack.

WHAT DO WE DEMAND FROM NESTLE?

A "consumer-driven company" like Nestle must have its finger close to the pulse of consumers' demands (23) Nestle's corporate administration should know that Arabs and people of conscience throughout the world condemn Nestle's economic and moral support for a corrupt, racist social system. Nestle must close its factories in Israel and sell its shares of Osem until Israel acknowledges the Palestinian right of return and right of nation on all historical Palestine. If consumers in countries where Osem's products are marketed today boycott these products, then Osem's Israeli factories will be rendered "under-productive" and face closure. If Nestle knows that it cannot ever produce enough in Sderot/al-Najd, Kiryat Gat/Iraq al-Manshiyya, Nachsholim/Al-Tantura to cover the costs of business lost in the Arab world and abroad, then it will have no choice but to divest from Israel.

Arabs are not alone in their boycott of Nestle. In addition to the groups mentioned above who boycott Nestle for other, laudable, reasons, Britain's largest union, UNISON and a major Christian group, Christian Aid, have added Nestle to their boycott of Israel goods.(24) Nestle's Israeli adventure began only after the thawing of the Arab boycott in 1993, so let the company know that our objections to Israel have not been reduced by the "peace process" but rather increased.

HOW TO BOYCOTT NESTLE?

Nescafé, Taster's Choice, Hills Bros, Cerealac, Nido, Fitness & Fruit, Appleminis, Cheerios, Chocapic Cornflakes (in some countries), Shreddies, Golden Grahams, Trix, Perrier, Poland Spring, Deer Park, Calistoga, Sohat, Vittel, Pure Life, Carnation, Libby's, Nesquik, Maggi, Buitoni , Milkybar, KitKat, Quality Street, Smarties, Oreo, After Eight, Lion, Aero, Polo, Toll Hosue Morsels, Crunch, L'Oréal, Alcon Eyecare, Goobers, Mint Royal, Nerds, Oh Henry!, Rowntree, Rolo, Del Monte Real Fruit Bar, Minute Maid, Petit Gervals, Contadina, Alpo, Purina, Tidy Cats, Meow Mix, Mighty Dog, Friskies, Felix, Stouffers

Be sure to write a letter or e-mail to Nestle Headquarters letting them know of your objection to their support for Israel.
http://www.nestle.com/Data/ContactUs/index.asp

Or
Nestlé USA, Inc.
800 North Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
Telephone: 1-818-549 60 00
Fax: 1-818 549 69 52
Nestlé Consumer Services:
Direct Telephone: 1-818 549 6818

1) http://www.nestle.com/all_about/at_a_glance/index.html

2) Swiss Embassy - Tel Aviv, "Economic relations with Israel,"
http://www.eda.admin.ch/telaviv_emb/e/home/comeco/econo.html

3) "Nestle to Set Up Research Center in Israel," Kosher Today, Dec 26, 2000,
http://www.koshertoday.com/weekly%20news%20archives/2000/122600.htm

4) "Stories of Success II," Israeli Ministry of Industry,
http://www.moit.gov.il/root/Hidden/ipc/advantagesstories2.html#osem ;
Tal Muscal, "Treasury: Swiss companies plan to expand investments here," Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2002,
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2002/01/24/Digital/Digital.42264.html

5) Janine Zacharia, "Rockin' Moroccans," in The Jerusalem Report, Jan. 7,1997,

http://www.jrep.com/Info/10thAnniversary/1997/Article-1.html.

6) Palestine Remebered.com, "Najd,"
http://netfinity2.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Najd/

7) Yedid - Citizens' Rights Center, "Background,"
http://www.yedid.co.il/whatwedo/crc/sderot.html.

8) Gvanim Association, "Background,"
http://www.gvanim.org.il/info/english/welcome.htm

9) Yedid, op cit.

10) "Rockin' Moroccans," op cit.; Mir Arielli, "Economy More
Threatening Than Rockets," March 19, 2003,
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=1365

11) "Nestle Applies for Grant," in ATID, March 3, 2002,
http://www.atid-edi.com/bw3-3-02.htm

12) Ibid.; "Union upgrades Osem to Buy," TheMarker.com, Sept. 23, 2002,
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/tech/themarker/10043621.html;
"Incentives to Invest in Israel," Israel Export Institute,
http://www.export.org.il/IsraelExportInstitute/buildagate/general2/dat
a_card.php3?NewNameMade=10&ValuePage=Prod; Elmer Winter,
"How to Make Money in Israel," Committee for Economic Growth for Israel March
Newsletter, (March 8, 1999), http://www.cegi.org

13) Osem to invest $80m in new development region plants," Sept. 2002,
http://www.israeltrade.org.au/comnews0902.html#ciii2

14) "Union upgrades Osem to Buy," op cit.

15) Osem to invest $80m," op cit.

16) Vered Sharon-Rivlin, "Marketing 2001 - Ups and downs for Israel's top tier execs" Globes, Dec. 30, 2001,
http://www.globes.co.il/serveEN/globes/special_temp.asp?fid=1652

17)http://www.community.nestle.com/mosaic.asp?pays=16

18) Haggay Etkes,"Nestle, Pepsi-Cola, Japan Tobacco To Open Plants in Karni Industrial Zone," Globes/Israel's Business Arena, April 30, 2000,
http://www.tobacco.org/articles/country/israel/?&total_count=147&starting_at=100

19) BT'selem, "Builders of Zion: Human Rights Violations of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories Working in Israel and
and in the Settlements," Sept. 1999, http://www.btselem.org/

20) From the Virtual Israel website, quoted by Friends of Al-Aqsa,
http://www.aqsa.org.uk/flyers/boycott.html

21) Baby Milk Action,
"The Nestle Boycott," http://www.babymilkaction.org/pages/boycott.html

22) http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jun01/response24062301.asp

23) Corporate Watch, Nestle Profile,
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/food_supermarkets/nestle/
Nestle_Profile.rtf

24) "Nestlé: Solidarity Contribution of CHF

25)Million to US Settlement," Corporate Web-Site, August 28, 2000
http://www.ir.nestle.com/home-frameset.asp?largeur=800 25)
William Echikson, "Nestle: An Elephant Dances ,"Business Week, Dec. 11, 2000,
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_50/b3711064.htm

27) FelicityArbuthnot, "Boycott Israeli outlaws," The Guardian May 29, 2002,
http://www.cpa.org.au/garchve5/1093boycott.html

Contacts again

Nestlé USA, Inc.
800 North Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
Telephone: 1-818-549 60 00
Fax: 1-818 549 69 52
Nestlé Consumer Services:
Direct Telephone: 1-818 549 6818
Direct Fax: 1-818 549 63 30
http://www.nestle.com/Data/ContactUs/index.asp

are we human?

disturbia...

on so many different levels

October 2008 in Akka (Acre)
Course of Events
Updated 14 October 2008

"Co-existence is a catch-phrase. After all, Akka is a
city such as Ra'anana, Kfar Saba and Haifa, that must
maintain its Jewish identity. I don't think there is a
dispute. Akka is the Galilee capital, thousands of
years of Jewish history. We are here in order to
preserve the Jewish identity, fortify its spirit and to
withstand this national challenge."

Rabbi Yossi Stern, head of the Akka "Hesder" Yeshiva
Caption: Akka resident's car, 11 October 2008

October 2008 in Akka
Timeline of Events
Tuesday, 7 October
Abbas Zakour, an Arab member of Knesset (Islamic Movement) and a resident of Akka
sends a letter to the Minister of Public Security, Avi Dichter, demanding that the police place
mobile patrols in Arab and Jewish friction areas in Akka. He warns of a disaster on Yom
Kippur (the holiest Jewish holiday; the Day of Atonement) after the violent events in the past
years on this day in Akka. His request is refused.
Wednesday, 8 October (Yom Kippur eve) around 12 midnight
Tawfik Jamal, a 48-year-old Arab citizen of Israel from Akka, rides in his car to the house of relatives, the Sha'aban family, who live in the eastern part of the city, to pick up his daughter. The daughter helped the family prepare cakes for a wedding ceremony planned to be held the following week. Jamal drove slowly and quietly with no radio or speakers turned on. His 18-yearold
son and the son's 20-year-old friend were also in the car. Jewish youth attacked the car with stones after he parked it and entered his relatives' home from which he called the police. "Me, my son and his friend were close to death by a hairbreadth," said Jamal.

Fifteen people were besieged in the Sha'aban family home, surrounded and attacked by a
large group of Jewish individuals, while the police stood aside. A rumor spread in the old city
of Akka that one of the besieged people was killed and that people were called to help them
escape. Simultaneously, the police were negotiating with the Jewish rioters to rescue the
besieged family in order to prevent further conflict between the Arab and Jewish residents.
After a few hours, the family members were rescued. The hundreds of agitated Arab youth
returned to the old city, and on the way back, a few of them through stones at cars and shops
in the city's Ben-Ami street.

Thursday, 9 October
After Yom Kippur ended, a large group of Jewish residents, estimated at 1,500, gathered
around the train station in the eastern and northern parts of the city. The chief of the northern
district police, major general Shimon Koren, reported two riot centers, one between Strauss
junction and "Magen David" junction in the eastern part of the city, and the other in the Wolfsson
neighborhood, north of the Akka bus station. The Jewish rioters threw stones, clashed with the
police and attacked Arab passersby.
Ten rioters were arrested and a few people were injured.Hundreds of Jewish rioters closed
in on the Abu-Ataba family house,located on Ehad Ha'am Street.They threw stones at the home and damaged it, and at the same time,they called out, "Death to the Arabs". Some of the family members were injured.
That night police commissioner Inspector General Dudi Cohen met the leaders of the Arab
and Jewish communities in Akka. After the meeting, he said that, "it is important to call for
total calm. Everyone must examine themselves and restore peace and quiet. We need to reach
a state of calm in the city, and let life return to its path." Leaders of the Arab public issued
statements to calm down the situation as well, but representatives of the Jewish community
did not. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni also
demanded that peace be restored, but to date, no Israeli official had denounced the violent
actions of the Jewish residents.

Friday, 10 October
During the riots after the holiday, at least eight people were injured. Repeatedly, Jews were injured while colliding with police forces, while the Arabs were injured by Jewish offenders. Five
hundred police were stationed in the city. Despite statements made by the police that their intent
was to prevent further riots in the eastern neighborhoods, the rioters were not driven away
but they continued assaulting Arab citizens who that lived in the area.The police cleared away a few gatherings of rioters near the "Eshkol" school, where the protesters threw stones on a few Arab cars and homes. Ten people were arrested.The Jewish crowd attacked the Hamad family
home, near the West Galilee College; the Barghouti home located on Hayozrim Street; and another Arab family house on Ehad Ha'am Street.Two other Arab family homes in Harav Lopez and Ramhal Streets were burned down.Akka mayor Shimon Lankri announced the cancellation of the Akka Alternative Theater Festival which is held annually in the city. The festival was due to open on 15 October. The mayor stated that, "considering the anger and infringement of the religious rights of the residents conducting the festival would be in bad taste." On the previous evening, the mayor had called on Israelis to come to the festival. The festival's cancellation came after Jewish rioters demanded it as an economic sanction against the city's Arabs.

Riots in the northern neighborhoods took place in Alkalai, Ben Shushan and Ehad Ha'am
Streets. In these areas of the city, there is a Jewish majority; about twenty Arab families live
there in total. The Jewish rioters gathered in the streets and cried "Death to the Arabs". They
attacked Arab family homes trying to make their inhabitants flee; they damaged the homes
and set them on fire. The riots continued: trees and garbage cans were set on fire in the
streets. A text message distributed to Jewish residents called to boycott Arab tradesmen and
shopkeepers.
Around midnight, three Jewish residents were arrested while trying to damage an Arab
family's house. The violent clashes resumed in the eastern neighborhood. Twelve rioters were
arrested.

Saturday, 11 October
Arab public representatives issued a statement in which they condemned Jamal, the driver of
the car, for driving on Yom Kippur. The driver publicly apologized before a session of the Knesset's Interior Committee.The representatives of the Jewish community in Akka, the mayor and the city's rabbi, declined to accept the apologies. Riots continued. The mayor demands more arrests.
A petition is circulated on the Internet to which many Arab and Jewish artists and academics have signed on. The petition calls for the Akka Alternative Theatre Festival to be held as planned.

At nightfall, a Jewish mob burns down another house of an Arab family. The police confront the
Jewish law-breakers.Sunday, 12 October Several Arab women and children who have been
evacuated from their homes try to return in order to take clothes and supplies but fail to do so. The
Arab families demonstrate in front of City Hall; Jewish lawbreakers come there and attack them.

Mayor Lankri changes his position and declares: "I'm glad the Arab leadership is condemning this grave incident."During the last four days of confrontations, 54 people were arrested, half Jews and half Arab citizens. Systematically, the courts release most of the Jewish detainees, while the time of
detention for the Arab detainees is extended. The Minister of Science, Culture and Sport, Galeb Majadle,announced that he opposes the



postponement of the Akka Festival. In an interview to Ynet, the chief of the northern district
police Shimon Koren states that those who are disrupting public order are Jewish: "We know
who they are and we'll get them." He made it clear that even when the riots end, arrests will
continue: "We have evidence and we will file indictments."
In response to these violent events, the head of the "Hesder" Yeshiva, Rabbi Yossi Stern
promised to build a new campus for the Yeshiva in town as soon as possible: "Akka is the
national test in the struggle for the character of the State of Israel," he declares.
Monday, 13 October
Police arrest and interrogate the son of Tawfik Jamal, the Arab citizen of Israel who drove in
the Jewish neighborhood on the eve of Yom Kippur and who was blamed for causing the
riots although he was attacked and his life was in danger.
Later, the police released Mr. Jamal's son and arrested Mr. Jamal himself. He is being
interrogated and his detention was extended by the court. The police claim that he is
suspected of driving beyond the speed limit, endangering human life and hurting "religious
sentiments" when driving on Yom Kippur in a Jewish neighborhood.
Hurting the feelings of others and driving on Yom Kippur are not criminal offenses.
Tuesday, 14 October
Solidarity committees for the Arab residents of Akka, initiated by Jews and Arabs, are
visiting the city.
The riots against Arab citizens in Akka receive Arab and international attention around the
world. Arab public leaders demand a neutral independent investigation committee and not
one appointed by the state. "We have learned the lesson of October 2000," Arab leaders
declared.
There is still no solution for the Arab families forced to flee from the eastern neighborhood
during the nights of riots. Most of them are still staying in hotels and at relatives' houses. The
police are not acting to bring them back to their homes.

October 2008 in Akka
Attacks by Jewish extremists on Arab citizens in recent years Violent harassment by Jews against Arab residents of the city of Akka did not start on Yom Kippur eve 2008. The wave of attacks and intimidation already started in 2002, just before a religious Yeshiva school was established in the city and Jewish settlers moved in. A few of the many documented events are listed below:
2002:
Lawyer Madikha Ramal’s car is set on fire following a bomb explosion in Netanya.
2005:
The homes of three Arab families on Alkalai Street are set on fire: the Ramal, Sha'aban and
Khalaile families.
2007:
In the same neighborhood, Subhi Morsi is attacked and his car is set on fire.
8 April 2008:
Jewish extremists set Ramal’s house on fire again. Molotov cocktails are thrown into the
house while the family members are asleep.
23 April 2008:
“Al-Manshiya” mosque is vandalized by four Jewish youth living in the neighborhood.
During the interrogation, they admit to an attempt to burn down another Arab family's house
a few months ago.
Since 2002, slogans like “Death to Arabs” are permanently tagged over the neighborhood’s
walls and inside the elevators of apartment buildings.


October 2008 in Akka
Testimonies from families who were attacked
The Ali Family
Walid and Tamam Ali and their three children have lived on Lopez Street since 1976. On 9
October 2008, at around 19:30, they saw a mass of people – about three hundred –
approaching their house. Within seconds the crowd started throwing stones and shouting
'Death to the Arabs', 'Leave this place and our country', and similar slogans. A barrage of
heavy stones (pieces of pavement) damaged the doors of the house and the windows,
including a large glass door in the living room. The attack lasted for around 30 minutes.
Everything within the house was shattered, and the mob closed in on the house. Tamam Ali,
the mother, lost consciousness due to a drop in her blood pressure caused by the events.
The Ali family called the police multiple times, always receiving the same reply: the police
know about what is occurring and would do something but the whole city is in shambles.
However, the police never came, and eventually the Ali family called their relatives to ask
them to come and assist them in escaping.
Walid Ali's brother and nephew arrived in their car but could not enter their street because the
police had put a barrier at the street's entrance and were not allowing anyone to pass. After
about one and a half hours of asking the police, two Arab police on guard finally agreed to let
them enter the street as well as to accompany them to home of the Ali family. Together they
helped the family members leave the house; the mother was in a bad physical condition and
the rest of the family was in a state of shock. Throughout the rescue, the mob outside kept
throwing stones and swearing, and began cheering that they "succeeded" in driving the family
from its house.
After the family left the house, the crowds dragged Ali's car into the middle of the street,
turned it over and went on throwing stones at it as well as the house. Later that evening, one


of the Jewish neighbors called the police and said that the mob had set fire to the car. Later
that night the police sent six officers to guard the house's entrance.
On Friday, the next morning, the eldest son of the family, along with a friend, came to the
house to fetch some clothes, money and several other things. The moment they reached the
house, dozens of Jewish rioters approached them and threatened that they would hurt them if
they did not leave immediately. They yelled and swore at them, calling them "dirty Arabs".
The two teenagers were scared and left immediately without taking anything. On their way
out, one of the neighbors – a department manager in the city hall – told the crowds: "Drive
them away. Don't let them stay here. We don't want Arabs in this neighborhood and not in
our country either. This is our country." The policemen who witnessed all of this did not
interfere. That evening, the son's car was also set on fire while the police watched.
On Saturday, the next evening, the mobs set fire to the whole house, again while the police
watched. Several Jewish neighbors called the fire brigade. Despite the fact that the fire station
is located very close to the house, it took the brigade around 15 minutes to arrive.
On Sunday evening, the boys returned again, trying to take some school books and uniforms
for the younger son from the house. They found most of the house had been burned down,
and no electricity. They could not assess the damage because of the lack of electricity. The
neighbors informed them that before the mob had set fire to the house they had stolen many
things from inside.

The Sa'adi Family
Hana and Jalal Sa'adi live in a house on 9/3 Yosef Gadish Street in Akka's Eastern Quarter.
The couple have three daughters aged 7, 6 and 3 and half years old. Hana also has two sons
from her previous marriage: Tamer Zaidan (24) and Omri Zaidan (20). On 9 October, the
family, including the two sons and three daughters, was at home when a violent Jewish mob
appeared outside.
The mob forced open the house gate, destroyed the garden and broke the blinds on the living
room window and the glass window on the porch. The family called the police multiple times
but received no assistance; the police did not come to aid or evacuate the family. After the
mob left, Hana fled on foot to the police to ask for help, first from an officer who responded
by telling her "to learn her lesson", and then at the police station, where she was told to return
home with no police escort, being promised that a YASAM (riot police) unit would be sent
immediately. Hana returned home on foot, despite the danger involved. She waited for hours
for the police unit to arrive.
The next day, the Jewish mob appeared at the house again. Around nine o'clock in the
evening, people began to throw rocks at the house while cursing and yelling racist slurs,
causing extensive destruction to the house and scaring and traumatizing the entire family.
After around twenty minutes a YASAM unit arrived and told the occupants to prepare for a
rescue-evacuation. They were evacuated in a police vehicle, while the rioting mob hurled
rocks at the vehicle.
The vehicle arrived at the station, where the adult members of the family were notified of
their arrest. The girls were put into the custody of family members. The next day, 11 October,
Hana, the mother, was released at 2 o'clock in the afternoon but Jalal, Tamer and Omri were
kept under arrest.
The three, in addition to five Jewish residents who had been arrested, were brought before a
judge in the Kiryon Magistrate's Court. Subsequently all of the Jewish detainees were
released but the detention of the three Arab detainees was extended and they remained
imprisoned. While the family members were trapped in the house, they received no police
assistance, and thus they threw stones back at the rioters in order to keep them away. This
was the reason given for the arrest and detention of the adult males in the family. This pattern
was repeated in the other assault cases: the police arrested the victims of assault together
with the perpetrators, and then in court the perpetrators were set free while the victims'
detention was extended.

The Rammal Family
On 8 October, the members of the Rammal Family were removed from their home in Alkalai
Street in Akka under police protection because they feared that their lives were in danger.
They have been moving to different locations since then and so far have been unable to return
home. In an interview with Arab journalists the mother, Ronza Rammal, criticized the
powerlessness of the police against Jewish extremists who are creating a regime of terror by
attacking Arab families in the area. She emphasized that she and her children live in
extremely difficult circumstances, wandering from house to house without their most basic
belongings.
Her daughter, Walaa, asked all institutions and responsible individuals to interfere quickly
and to solve the family’s problems by letting them return to their home. Currently they are
living in a two-room apartment in Wolfsson with ten inhabitants.
On Sunday 12 October, Walaa asked the police to escort her to her home in order to pick up
clothing and other necessary items for the family. The police refused to accompany her,
declaring “We are not your taxi drivers.” However, after the family insisted, the police agreed
to their request and two police cars accompanied the taxi in which the family traveled. At the
entrance to Alkalai Street, they encountered a threatening mob of Jews shouting “Death to the
Arabs!” and the police immediately withdrew, requesting that the family retreat.
Ronza Rammal says that these attacks have one goal, “to drive us out of our neighbourhood,
and to make the Arabs leave Akka. But we will remain in Akka, where we were born, in spite
of the violence directed against us,” she insisted.

The Halaila Family
The Halaila family was removed from their home in Alkalai Street by the police on 10
October after their daughter was attacked by Jewish rioters. The mother and her four
daughters currently have nowhere to live. On 12 October, she approached the Akka
Municipality ask for help and to find a solution for her problem.
In an interview, Mrs. Halaila said: “Our situation is extremely grave. The children do not go
to school, we have no clothes, we do not go to work. We asked the Municipality to provide
us, as it is obligated to, with temporary living quarters. We also asked to be escorted to our
neighborhood in order to collect our necessities and clothing.” On 12 October they tried to
return home, but were attacked and chased away by Jewish rioters.
The Sha'aban Family
The Sha'aban family’s home on Alkalai Street was attacked, vandalized, and subsequently
burned down by Jewish rioters. The police helped the family to leave but did not protect the
house.

The Morsi Family
On 11 October, Jewish rioters attacked the home of Soubhi Morsi in the Al-Manshiya
neighborhood in the eastern part of Akka. “They destroyed everything. It just shows how
much hatred has been buried inside them for years,” said Morsi in an interview. The attack
left the house completely burned down.
The Barghouti family’s home in the eastern part of Akka, in HaYotsrim Street, was attacked
damaged and set on fire several times during the riots.
12
Akka, October 2008
“Activities to Judiaze Akka”
The latest events in Akka are part of a trend that has not received public attention: a
widespread attack by the national right-wing groups on mixed Jewish-Arab cities.
It is worth reading the racist calls to boycott Arab businesses in Akka together with the call to
settle in Led (Lod) in 2002. These calls have produced results and one can see the connection
between them and the activities of extremists in Jaffa-Tel Aviv. In recent years the national
right-wing party called “the Seeds of the Settlements” have concentrated in Led, Ramla,
Akka, Jaffa, and other areas at ‘demographic risk’ and they are being encouraged by the local
authorities to carry out ‘social work’ in the areas. Today there are around 200 yeshivas in
Akka in addition to around 1000 settler-extremists.
The Ometz (Courage) Group
This group in Akka was established by Jewish settlers, graduates of yeshivas in the West
Bank towns of Hebron, Kedumim, and south of Mount Hebron. One of the founders is Ishai
Rubin, who was born and raised in the ‘ideological’ settlement of Elon Moreh. Rubin and his
friend David Cohen had initially planned to join a new settlement on one of the hills around
Hebron, but decided to move to Akka instead.
In 1997 a group of young families settled in Akka, with the intention of strengthening the
process of “Judiazation of the city”. More and more young settlers are moving to the mixed
towns who are members of the national religious movement mainly focusing on ‘social
issues.’ Some of them see this as an important ideal in and of itself. Others view it as a means
of increasing the financial support among Israeli Jews. Their leader is Rabbi Nachshon
Cohen, formerly of the Hebron Yeshiva in the Beth Romano settlement in Hebron. In an

interview with journalists from Ha'aretz, he declared: “There is no doubt at all that the
settlement of Yesha is as vital as that of Misgav Am or Kiryat Shmona.”
The National Unity Party is active in Jaffa. A conference in April 2008 devoted to the
‘settlement’ of Ramla was initiated by the nationalist right-wing party, the religious Amichai
group and the Komemiut movement (established after the withdrawal from Gaza). The illegal
actions of these settlers, which appear to be supported by the government, are similar to that
undertaken in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
These young settlers are carrying out "social missions”, intended to judiaze Israeli society
and to reinforce hostility against the Arabs. They recruit residents by promising nationalreligious
families the chance to improve their quality of life by moving to mixed cities in
communities within Israel with economic support from the State.
According to the Head of the Hesder Yeshiva in Akka, Rabbi Yossi Stern:
"Akka is a national test. Akka today is Israel in 10 years’ time. What happens in Akka today
is what will happen in Israel. We are the vanguard. We respect the State, and we must, by
every possible means, be strong and stand firm for its honour.
Co-existence is a slogan. Ultimately Akka is a town like Raanana, Kfar Saba, or Haifa, and
must safeguard its Jewish identity. I think everyone would agree that Akka is the capital city
of Galilee, of thousands of years of Jewish history. We are here to preserve that Jewish
identity and to reinforce that spirit, to stand for our nation’s honour.
There were plenty of houses for sale here, and the situation was that either Arabs would buy
them, or that we would bring yeshiva students to live in them. Recently another 30 families
from the group have come in. Today, we are constructing a large community of settlers, and
creating permanent housing for them." (Channel 7).
The yeshiva is located on the site of an old synagogue in Kiryat Wolfsson. It is intended to
block access to Arab residents in the area, and to contribute to the ‘Judiazation’ of the city.
Thus the apartments in which the yeshiva students live are in buildings and areas in which all
or most of the residents are Arabs.

Economic boycotts – not the first time
A petition recently disseminated among Jewish residents calls for the boycott of Arab
tradesmen and businesses in the city. A new Internet site has been set up, specifically to
encourage these sanctions: www.akko.txt.co.il
During the riots, flyers were distributed – “Jews don’t buy from Arabs”. An important rabbi
endorsed the boycott. Other boycotts were also organized following the events of October
2000, and for almost a whole year Jewish citizens purchased very little from shops in Akka’s
Old City and rarely visited the area. A similar boycott was attempted following the violent
events at the end of Simchat Torah two years ago but failed.
Arab businesses in Akka are suffering as a result, yet the Municipality has cancelled the
Alternative Theatre Festival – one of the best sources of income for Arab tradesmen in the
Old City.
14
Four ongoing processes are underway to ‘Judiaze’ the mixed towns:
a) Making life more difficult for Arab citizens, instituting discriminatory practices with
regards to providing services, marginalizing Arabs in order to encourage them to
leave;
b) Erasing all signs of Arab identity including the destruction of historic buildings and
inscriptions, and street names and names of historic sites in Arabic;
c) Acquiring buildings and property through government-owned companies in
accordance with laws targeted at the ‘Judiazation’ of cities, not allowing families to
inherit property, and making squatting and other forms of control of property easier.
All of this is supported by unlimited financial contributions from wealthy Jews
abroad;
d) Rehabilitating some of the neighborhoods; turning them into artists’ quarters,
galleries, and tourist projects without the inclusion of any Arab citizens.

when you cant, it means you wouldn't,it means you couldn't and you shouldn't.

but then it is.he is.she is and they are.

so you are,you will and you must.


best regards