We sent this into the Kingston Whig today, not much chance of it being published. If you find the letter or the documentation interesting, please feel free to forward as far and wide as you like. The best defence is offence, and that's our kid....




A BRUTAL LESSON

Education for aid workers - Israeli-style.



It’s a parents’ worst nightmare to find out on the news that their son has been shot, in this case with a ‘rubber’ bullet, care of the Israeli army.



My son Victor, a KCVI graduate, and now University of Toronto student specializing in International Relations, decided to visit the Middle East this summer for a first hand look after taking courses on the History of Israel and the Politics of the Middle East. After travelling solo for awhile in Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, he decided that he could learn more, and possibly do some good, by working with an NGO.



After a short period of training he went to the West Bank village of Ni’lin, where the local villagers, supported by Israeli Peace activists and internationals, are protesting the building of a section of the ‘Separation’ wall that, conveniently, will separate the villagers from their fields, which will end up on the ‘Israeli’ side of the fence, even though the wall is far away from the Israeli Border.



There have been constant demonstrations and a particularly big one last Thursday, July 10, commemorating the anniversary of The Hague ruling which declared the Apartheid Wall illegal. The Israeli army has laid siege to the town, and our son was one of their victims, taking a ‘rubber’ bullet to the shoulder, apparently while trying to deliver food and medicine to the besieged villagers. We got that news by e-mail, as he was concerned that we might hear something on the news. A few days later, watching CBC National news, we were surprised to see Victor, and to learn that he had been hit a second time, this time on the knee. It sounds like it rains rubber bullets in that area.



Anyone of Irish heritage probably knows everything there is to know about ‘rubber’ bullets. They were developed for riot control, are made of rubber, and are meant to be fired from a distance and bounced off the ground to hit the legs, causing superficial damage. At short range, fired directly, they can be lethal, with the excuse of ‘an accident’ always available. For use in the occupied territories, Israel prefers a harsher version - a blunt metal cylinder coated by a hard rubber shell. The bullet is mounted in a special canister that fits on the muzzle of an US-manufactured M-16 assault rifle.



I suppose the normal reaction of any parents who hear that their son has been shot, not once, but now twice, would be marching orders home on the first outgoing plane, but the more we read about the “Wall,” and the behaviour of the Israeli occupation forces, the more outraged we become. Any activist in any corner of the planet who is fighting in difficult and dangerous circumstances for some shreds of freedom and dignity is some mother’s son or daughter, and though we might wish we were there instead of him, with what we now know, we can only applaud his courage and example.



And we would like to make it perfectly clear that our son is not in danger from Hamas, Hezbollah or any of the Bush/Harper bogeyman. The only danger he faces is from the Israeli army. As he wrote in one of his last e-mails

“Hey Parents,
“…. I've been trying to stay safe but Israeli soldiers have very little respect for the sanctity of human life. We didn't make it into Ni’lin yesterday and Israel lifted the curfew today so we're going to go in today because they will probable reimpose the curfew after the village starts demonstrating again…”



And it seems there are no consequences for abuses - the army polices the army, and anyone who gets killed can easily be defined, post-mortem, as a ‘terrorist,’ or ‘collateral damage,’ or an ‘accident’ as in the case of Rachel Cory, the American peace activist. The bulldozer operator who drove over her ‘didn’t see her’. Even when they bombed a UN post that had been in the same location for 25 years, killing 4 UN monitors, including Kingston resident Canadian Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, with powerful patrons they pretty much got off with ‘oops sorry, wrong map.’ It appears to me, however, that they just don’t like neutral observers, whether UN, NGO, or independents, or independent journalists.

While my son was standing up to Israeli rubber bullets, live fire, tear gas and sound bombs in Ni’lin, Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer was returning from London, where he had just been awarded the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. His award citation reads, “Every day, he reports from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. His homeland, Gaza, is surrounded, starved, attacked, forgotten. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless.”

Omed, with an escort from the Dutch embassy, had to cross through Israeli Border Controls to return to Gaza He was taken inside by Shin Bet Security officers while the unsuspecting Dutch officials were kept waiting outside, and beaten within an inch of his life. No reason, no explanation – the normal pattern.



Canadians are proud of their role in the struggle against the South African apartheid regime – we picketed, boycotted, pushed for disinvestment, and, to give credit where credit is due, Brian Mulroney stood up to Margaret Thatcher on the issue. Faced, however, with the more militarized, murderous apartheid system that Israel is illegally trying to impose on the Palestinians, Canadians, with a few honourable exceptions, are quite simply missing in action.



I would suppose that this inaction is largely due to the media blockade of any serious analyses about living conditions in the occupied territories, Israeli defiance of international laws etc. I’ve certainly learned quite a bit, from my son and from the web, that I did not know. Again, from our son:



It has all been very interesting and educational. The Israelis shoot live ammunition at kids, they harass and detain them needlessly, raid Palestinian houses at night, and make it impossible to work - some farmers are barred from going to their fields or they can only go once a week. Being here induces a level a rage I have rarely felt but I am also so thankful for the experience and I am learning so much more than I ever could from books.



The end solutions may be complex, but the injustice, the brutality of the occupation, the extent of the land and water grab, the absolute contempt for international laws is very clear, and much more murderous than anything the South Africans did. The South African regime killed an average of 400 people per year; while the Israelis, with their constant harassment and penchant for dropping high powered explosives into heavily populated areas, have killed about 600 Palestinians per year over the years of defiance. http://www.btselem.org/English...alties.asp



The only remedy is to educate ourselves. Our son has taught us that the reality on the ground is much grimmer and more abusive than what has been portrayed by our mass media, where the usual presentation is of two ignorant armies clashing by night, and the only response - ‘what’s to be done’. The reality is unarmed peasants and children confronting a modern military replete with the latest American weapons, and a brutal willingness to use them to defend their illegal settlements.



I would encourage people of good will to at least inform themselves of the reality Palestinians have been living with for many years, with the acquiescence and patronage of the most powerful governments of the world. Knowledge is power, and brings the responsibility to act.



We can’t wait to get Victor home, safe, but we are very proud of our son.







Yours Truly

Robert MacDiarmid

Kingston, Ontario

Votes: +2

Dear Robert,

My name is Alex Mayer and I'm a 4th year student at Queen's University. I'm also a former classmate of Alan's at KCVI and knew Victor from afar. I have read every news article I could find regarding his situation. Sadly, your comment, left here on a message board with fewer than 250 hits, is far more illuminating than anything coming out of the world press. I have taken it upon myself to write a letter to Peter Miliken's office, urging him to bring the issue to the attention of our politicians. Our prime minister must hold the Israeli government accountable for the lawless behavior of its border patrol, which saw Victor physically assaulted at a peaceful women's rally in opposition to the 'Separation Wall', and the lack of due judicial process that is threatening to deport him back to Canada against his will. I hope to inform as many KCVI graduates as I can regarding Victor's situation, in the hopes that an outcry from our community can bring our political leadership to its senses. We as Canadians should all be more than 'a little irked' when a bright, promising individual like your son is shot at for carrying out humanitarian work on behalf of the world's most besieged and forgotten communities.

Whatever transpires, I'm grateful for the anecdotal information that Victor's sacrifices have brought to light, and wish him and your family all the very best.

Warm regards,
Alex Votes: +1

I had said I didn't think there was much chance of the letter being published - it was a fairly harsh letter - but the Whig's Frank Armstrong did become interested and wrote 2 excellent articles of his own - excellent, not because they were about our son, but because there was context and background information that someone playing it safe would not have included. I believe that they're the best articles on the occupation that I've seen in the mainstream press

Just having something somewhere was important to us. The Israelis could have treated Victor much more harshly and didn't, the original charges of 'Assaulting a Police Officer' were dropped because, i am convinced, of the publicity, which all sprang from the original articles in the Whig. Before that, nobody was interested.

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1127585
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1129417

Our since thanks to Frank Armstrong and the Whig

Robert MacDiarmid. Kingston, Ontario




Votes: +0