[Peace] Fwd:[ANSWER]: Commission of Inquiry on U.S.-backed Israeli W

[jencart]

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The Other Apartheid:
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO INVESTIGATE U.S.-BACKED ISRAELI  WAR CRIMES IN PALESTINE

*WHY A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY?

Day after day, as Israeli ?Defense? Forces continue to 
kill, attack and humiliate the Palestinian people in a 
brutal occupation, the U.S. Government lays the blame for  the conflict and responsibility for peace on the 
Palestinians. It arrogantly insists on "reform" of all 
Palestinian institutions, the overturn of the Palestinian 
leadership and an end to all Palestinian resistance to 
occupation. The powerful combination of U.S. policy?s vast  diplomatic support, arming and funding of Israel and the  corporate media?s wildly distorted portrayal of the 
occupation creates mass confusion about the situation for  people in the U.S.

The Commission of Inquiry is being titled ?The Other 
Apartheid? as a comparison to the apartheid policies faced  by Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories and 
within the 1948 border of Israel, and to those faced in 
South Africa.  This is clearly a policy that comes from 
the top levels of the Israeli governemnt with the full 
support of the United States, just as the U.S. and Israel  supported the now-overthrown apartheid regime in South  Africa.

Few people in the U.S. realize that the U.S.-backed 
Israeli occupation breaks dozens of international laws and  human rights conventions. Even fewer know of the 
dispossession of the Palestinian people to make way for  the state of Israel, or of the long history of Palestinian 
resistance.

*WHAT IS THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY?

The Commission of Inquiry to investigate U.S.-Backed 
Israeli War Crimes in Palestine will hold an opening 
hearing in New York City on Saturday, October 5.  Major  hearings will follow on the West Coast in San Francisco 
and Los Angeles, and then in cities around the country and  the world. 

At these hearings, we will present an indictment charging  the state of Israel and the United States with conspiring  and acting in a common course of conduct to commit the  most serious crimes of apartheid and crimes of occupation,  war crimes and crimes against humanity in violation of all  international norms and standards, and of U.S. law. They  will stand charged before the jury of the world--including  experts, communities and the people of all countries. 
After hearing and seeing evidence first hand of Isrraeli  war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against  peace--and, very importantly, U.S. collusion in those 
crimes--a judgment will be issued in the name of the 
people.

This summer, activists from across the U.S. and 
internationally are initiating a grassroots research and 
information gathering effort to collect information and 
evidence of U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes against the 
Palestinian people. 

We are gathering a vast body of evidence that will include  witnesses from Palestine with first hand accounts of 
atrocities; information collected by the A.N.S.W.E.R. 
fact-finding delegation that visited the West Bank, Gaza  Strip and inside 1948 Israeli; new video images from 
besieged lands, including Ramallah, Jenin, occupied East 
Jerusalem and Gaza; and assessments from experts in legal,  medical and other fields.

Presentation of testimony will include video footage, 
expert witnesses, photo displays, written reports, and in  some cities live video and audio feed bringing testimony 
from people in the Occupied Territories.

Research will be gathered in many areas to support the  charges of the Commission of Inquiry?s indictment, 
including inhumane treatment of civilians and prisoners, 
deliberate destruction of the Palestinian economy, deny