Michael in Palestine

Trip to Gaza Delayed!

2011-01-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

OK, (in the vein of discretion being the better . . .): I've decided to post pone my trip with CodePink to Gaza. Unrest appears to be enveloping Egypt and we probably couldn't make our way across Sinai to cross from Rafa anyway.

Stuck in Colorado

2011-01-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

Snow storm canceled flights to New York. Will try again tomorrow. Will miss "Day of Rage" in Cairo on Friday Jan 28th.

Onward to Gaza!

2011-01-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 25, 2010

CONTACT:

Michael Rabb
2002 18th Street
Boulder CO 80302
720-837-9674
Michael.rabb1@gmail.com

Local activist attempts entry into Gaza this week

[Cairo] – This Sunday Michael Rabb of Boulder, Colorado will join a 20-person group of activists from around the world will attempt entry into the besieged Gaza strip this week via the Rafah Crossing. The CODEPINK-led delegation, which will deliver humanitarian aid and attend meetings with Palestinian organizations and United Nations representatives, is part of an international movement calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza.

Michael, a 30-year resident of Boulder, and semi-retired from his telecommunications consulting practice, says he has found a new avocation as “Palestinian liberation advocate.” Michael also traveled to Palestine (West Bank) last summer with Inter-Faith Peace Builders to witness Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. “I hope our group, organized by CODEPINK, can bring some attention to the plight of the Palestinians caused by Israel’s illegal and immoral regime of military occupation, colonization and apartheid.”

The blockade, enforced by Israel since 2006, severely restricts the entry of food, fuel, medical supplies, and other necessities into the Gaza Strip. The situation has worsened dramatically since the Israeli offensive ‘Operation Cast Lead’ in December 2008 and January 2009. Much of the destroyed infrastructure has yet to be rebuilt because of the scarcity of building materials due to the blockade. CODEPINK co-founder and delegation organizer Medea Benjamin says, “The blockade is illegal and immoral, and our delegation is one more attempt to break the siege. We call on governments around the world to join with citizen's movements like ours to condemn Israeli war crimes and demand justice for the Palestinians."

Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is the focal point of Arab and Islamic radicalization. The release of the “Palestine Papers”, documents leaked to Al Jazeera, reveal Israel’s intransigence and lack of interest meaningful peace negotiations. Recent events in the region, e.g., the Facebook revolution in Tunisia, and now public demonstrations in Egypt and Yemen, have focused world attention on non-democratic, oppressive regimes in the Middle East.

CODEPINK, a women-led peace group, has led eight successful delegations to Gaza to witness the destruction caused by 2008-2009 Israeli military offensive and the ongoing blockade. This delegation, which will attempt to cross into Gaza Sunday, January 30th, is made up of writers, professors, Peace Corps volunteers, medical professionals, and filmmakers. Local Boulder delegation participant, Michael Rabb, speaks to the delegation’s importance saying, “It’s in America’s vital interest to promote human and civil rights (and democracy) in the Middle East and particularly in Palestine. We go to Gaza in the face of Israel’s record of atrocity and belligerence. America needs to wake up and stop supporting and enabling Israel’s awful behavior. America should support the recognition of Palestine as legitimate nation state.”

Tunisian Dominoes

2011-01-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

This is Roger Cohen's column, "Tunisian Dominoes" that appeared in the NY Times on Thursday, Jan 20:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/opinion/21iht-edcohen21.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1295630495-wGH18uRzsXQG79LqFyihyQ

Here's my comment:

To the Editor:

refer to: GLOBALIST
Tunisian Dominoes?
By ROGER COHEN
Published: January 20, 2011

There’s another domino in the region that Roger Cohen doesn’t mention. The Arabs in Palestine continue to suffer under the iron fist of Israel’s illegal and immoral regime of military occupation, colonization and apartheid. It’s quite obvious, with its human and civil rights abuses of Palestinians, Israel is no true democracy.

Israel has enforced its occupation and military rule on Palestine for over 43 years. 17 years after Oslo, and two years after Cast Lead on Gaza, Israel has stiffed the Obama administration’s attempt to restart meaningful peace negotiations. Israel has dropped any pretense of wanting peace or willingness to live within its boundaries. Israel has turned up the volume on settlements in the occupied territories and continues to suffocate Gaza.

Yet what do we do in the face of this unbelievable record of atrocity, belligerence and aggression? We say, here, Israel, take another $3 Billion in aid this year, and while we’re at it could you use some more military stuff, say another $500 Billion in missiles, planes, tanks, etc. to keep the Palestinians suppressed.

Cohen is right: “Arab democracy is threatening to a host of vested interests and glib clichés.” But it’s not just “Arab klepto-gerontocracies” that democracy threatens. Israel is an oppressive, non-democratic regime that is the focal point of Arab and Islamic radicalization.

It’s in America’s vital interest to promote human and civil rights (and democracy) in the middle east and particularly in Palestine. President Obama should not veto the UN’s resolution to recognize Palestine as an actual nation state. Let another functioning democracy begin.

--
Michael Rabb
2002 18th St
Boulder CO 80302
michael.rabb1@gmail.com
cell: 720-837-9674

Tolerance in LA

2010-12-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

Sunday,December 5, 2010 vigil at the Museum of Tolerance.

tolerance at the Museum of Tolerance - page 2

2010-09-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

tolerance at the Museum of Tolerance

2010-09-27T21:04:00.001-07:00

photo album

2010-08-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

click on this link for a few photos of our trip to Palestine:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Michael.rabb1/MichaelInPalestine#5503993736004796290

Michael in Palestine Press Release

2010-08-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release
August 12, 2010

CONTACT: Michael Rabb
720-837-9674
michael.rabb1@gmail.com

Local Resident, Returns from Interfaith Delegation to Israel and Palestine

Palestinian and Israeli youth share perspectives on peace and hope for the future

Photos available upon request or at www.ifpb.org/del34/photos.html (credit: Interfaith Peace-Builders)

Washington, DC — Michael Rabb, a retired US Navy pilot, engineer and resident of Boulder, has just returned from a unique delegation to Israel and Palestine. Mr. Rabb along with twenty other participants from the US, Canada and Italy, landed in Tel Aviv on July 26 for the two-week journey through the conflict zone.

Participants on the delegation explored issues relevant to young people in Palestine/Israel, including efforts to educate and empower future generations working toward a just resolution to the conflict. Two thirds of the Palestinian population and one third of the Israeli population are under the age of 25. More than just numbers, youth in Israel/Palestine play important roles in community development, lead nonviolent struggles for justice, and work together across national lines towards reconciliation. They are also among the conflict’s most tragic victims.

The delegates met with more than 15 Israeli and 18 Palestinian groups representing a wide segment of both societies in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. A special focus was on the work of nonviolent activists and other peace-builders working to create a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.

Co-sponsored by Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB) and the American Friends Service Committee – Great Lakes Region (AFSC), this delegation was the 34th organized by IFPB since 2001, successfully educating more than 500 North American citizens about the Middle East and deepening their understanding of its conflicts through eye-witness experiences.

Michael Rabb travelled to the region with IFPB this summer “to see the “‘facts on the ground’ and gain a better understanding of the issues in the Palestine-Israel conflict.” Michael attended graduate school at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and has worked for communications companies in the area including his own voicemail and telephone equipment company based in Boulder. Currently he is employed part-time with an information technology consulting firm as IT Systems Project Manager including work on projects at Denver and Los Angeles airports. Michael is a member and volunteer in a number of peace and human rights organizations including Amnesty International, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, and Habitat for Humanity. Michael and his wife, Jeanne, have lived in Boulder Colorado for the past 30 years. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.

“Break the silence,” says Michael Rabb. “When the Nazis gassed the Jews, the world was silent. Now the world is silent while the Israelis harass, humiliate and steal land from the Palestinians. Our IFPB delegation in Israel and Palestine, witnessed, first hand, Israel’s illegal, immoral and cruel occupation, colonization and apartheid. This regime is causing the systematic and state-sponsored destruction of a people and it’s culture. In international law these acts are defined as ‘genocide.’”

Michael Rabb looks forward to discussing his trip directly. He can be reached at 720-837-9674 (phone) or mchael.rabb1@gmail.com (email).

Mr. Rabb is the 7th resident of Colorado to join an Interfaith Peace-Builders delegation to Israel-Palestine. Previous participants may also be available for interview upon request.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Interfaith Peace-Builders and the American Friends Service Committee believe in the power of eye-witness experience and transformation. Given the opportunity to speak directly with Israelis and Palestinians, delegates return to North America better informed, more energized, and with a deeper understanding of the possibilities for true justice in the Middle East.

Begun as a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in 2000, Interfaith Peace-Builders mission is to give US citizens the opportunity to see and understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firsthand and to empower these citizens to educate their local communities and advocate for better US foreign policy when they return to the US. Learn more at: www.ifpb.org.

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. To learn more about the AFSC’s work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, please see: http://www.afsc.org/israel-palestine/.

back in boulder

2010-08-08T06:45:00.000-07:00

back home, here's perspective: the zionist enterprise called the State of Isarel and Ameicans generally, are remarkably unconscious of the people (the Palestinians) who have been kicked out of the country and have been suffering in refugee camps for 60 years. We must do something to wake up and stop the genocide.

headed home

2010-08-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

schwarma sandwich in Ramallah, video conference with students in Gaza, sunset on Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, airport security at Ben Gurion Airport.

Aug 1 Nablus & Hebron

2010-08-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

toured Balata refugee camp near Nablus a Palestinian town in the West Bank about 1.5 hours north of Jerusalem. in Belata 25,000 pepople are living in a warren of apartment buildings; basically a slum. The ghetto is home for three generations of Palestinians who fled the coastal plains during the 1948 War. In April 2002 Israeli planes, tanks, and bulldozers targeted Nablus and Balata killing dozens of civilians. 67% (7.1 million people) of all Palestinians are refugees or IDPs. Toured the old city of Hebron and visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs where the world's three great monothestic religions share a holy site where Abraham, Issac, and Jacob and their wives are believed to be buried. We met with militant Jewish settler with pistol on his belt. He explained the Biblical justification for the Jews settling and confiscating land in Hebron. He described the conflict as essentially religious "with Moslems hating Christians more than Jews". Israel's regime of occupat

Music of War

2010-07-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

yesterday we made it to the crossing point at the border between Israel and Gaza near Sederot. Saw tanks patrolling the no-man's land. Visited Israeli kibbutz 3 miles away saw bomb shelters built to protect from Kassam rockets. got presentation from Israeli woman who has experienced the terror of the rockets but has turned against the war. She says the bombing of civilians imprisoned in Gaza is awful but does not rise to the level of genocide.

left brain right brain blog:

2010-07-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

http://leftbrainrightbrainproductions.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/the-music-of-war-with-link-to-video-blog/

spectacular first day

2010-07-28T02:27:00.000-07:00

Started with sunrise on Dome of the Rock seen from MT of Olives - unbelievable! ! THEN tour of east Jerusalem - Saw separation wall - then visited battleground near Bal'in where protesters have been killed - then back through Ramallah and Kalandia check point where Israeli army made us wait to cross into East Jerusalem - then wonderful Palestinian concert Open air in Tomb of Kings! - resistance songs!

East Jerusalem

2010-07-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

Staying at Holy Land Hotel. Hiked up MT Olive and watched sunrise on Dome of the Rock.

Orientation

2010-07-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

IFPB doing great training and orientation for our trip. Stayed with Steve and Marie France @ their house in Cabin John. Great hosts! Leave this evening from IAD on British Airways.

DC

2010-07-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Downtown DC -- millions of boy scouts -- I'm doing National Gallery.

IFPB began as a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in 2000. Interfaith Peace - Builders mission is to give US citizens the opportunity to see and understand the Israeli - Palestinian conflict firsthand and to empower these citizens to educate their local communities and advocate for better US foreign pollicy when they return to the US.

Start trip, start blog

2010-07-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Heading out to DC tonight: redeye to IAD.