Bil'in & Nabi Saleh Protest Against Israeli Blood Diamonds

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Saturday June 26, 2010 22:23

by TD - Free Palestine Campaign

Hypocrisy and doublespeak at the heart of the Kimberly Process

Yesterday, yet again, protestors in Nabi Salah were subjected to merciless Israeli violence with one youth injured and ambulanced away for treatment. This time, however, the perpetrators were repeatedly challenged by a brave, brave woman: Huwaida Arraf, who blocked with her body two Israeli Occupation Forces soldiers from firing killer, high velocity tear gas projectiles at some stone throwing youth. With telling truth she informed them that the the demonstration was over and their continued presence was designed to provoke and intimidate and for them to go home - her pleas were in vain as the IOF made continuous terrorising forays on foot and jeep into the village until late into the evening.

Nabi Saleh

Prior to the protest, at the cermony in the village square honouring the many Palestinians jailed for inordinate periods of time by Israel for resisting the Occupation, she urged people of live conscience worldwide to boycott Israeli blood diamonds as the cut diamonds are the foundation of the Israeli economy and amount to some $20 billion in exports annually. In a 29th March 2010, Electronic Intifada article, Sean Clinton, current chair of the Limerick branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign highlighted how the diamond industry hoodwinks the public by "playing up benefits accruing to poorer countries through the Kimberly Process – the stated aim of which is to eliminate ‘blood diamonds’ - while simultaneously hiding the fact that Israel, a state that has militarily occupied Palestine for more than 40 years, is the world’s biggest beneficiary of the diamond industry. What Mr. Clinton’s article reveals is the hypocrisy and doublespeak that lie at the heart of the Kimberly Process, which claims to be “a tracking system for the export and import of rough diamonds to prevent the exploitation of diamonds for illicit purposes such as war and inhumane acts”. Yet the Process only applies to “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments”. This narrow definition of what constitutes a ‘conflict diamond’ lets states, such as Israel, that export polished diamonds and regularly commit war crimes completely off the hook and gives an utterly false impression to consumers that all Kimberly Process certified diamonds are ‘bloodless’. The article also reveals complicity with Israeli Apartheid at the highest levels of the World Diamond Council, as Israel currently chairs the Kimberly Process, while diamonds account for over 30% of Israel’s total manufacturing exports - worth nearly $20 billion in 2008" http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/ipsc/displayRe...D=307

In Bil'in, a similar protest was held focusing on the Israeli blood diamonds issue with head of the popular Committee; Iyad Burnat calling for a global boycott from people with active conscience.

Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American human rights activist who co-founded the International Solidarity Movement and is currently chair of the Free Gaza Movement, she was on board Challenger 1, one of the six siege-breaking ships ferrying desperately needed humanitarian supplies to Gaza when the flotilla was murderously attacked in international waters by Israeli commandos on 31st May 2010 - nine other human rights activists aboard the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara were murdered in cold blood, . Huwaida witnessed the terrorist attack on the Marmara before her own ship was boarded and its passengers and crew subjected to Israeli savagery. In August 2008, Huwaida was on the Free Gaza boats that sailed from Cyprus to Gaza, the first boats to challenge Israel's closure of the Strip and dock in Gaza Port in over 40 years. She has since lead 4 other successful solidarity missions to Gaza with the Free Gaza Movement. In February 2009 Huwaida was part of a National Lawyers Guild delegation that traveled to Gaza to document possible Israeli violations of international law and war crimes that may have been committed during Operation Cast Lead.

For another video with over 1.3 million views, showing this strong woman confronting violent IOF soldiers, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQyIKyd2gqA

Huwaida Arraf: Nabi Saleh