Group opposes relations with Israel, protest planned By Alastair Lee Bitsoi Navajo Times July 17, 2014 WINDOW ROCK – Concerned citizens like Melanie Yazzie oppose President Ben Shelly’s developing partnership with Israel and they are gathering today to express their opposition in front of the Navajo Nation Council Chamber. Yazzie, an American studies and anthropology graduate student at the University of New Mexico, has visited the Middle East, specifically the Gaza Strip where Israeli forces have killed hundreds and hurt thousands of Palestinians with airstrikes. As of Wednesday, fatalities in the 10- day conflict, called Operation Protective Edge, stands at 213 with 1,450 wounded, according to Al Jazeera English. Though there are talks of a cease-fire proposal, this is the third time in six years that Israeli forces have launched an attack. “The intense violence that Israel wages against Palestinians in the West Bank and West Jordan is hard to describe,” Yazzie said. Her May 2011 trip to Palestine was part of her graduate studies fieldwork that examined the Palestinian perspective of the conflict that dates back to 1937. She said it doesn’t make sense for Shelly to continue his talks with Israeli officials because of how Navajo Nation citizens and their government are controlled by a colonizer – the U.S. government. In December 2012, Shelly traveled to Israel and met with Ayoob Kara, the Israeli deputy minister of the development for Negev and Galil. They discussed agricultural development and future opportunities to use Israel’s technology in agro-business. Deswood Tome, an aide to Shelly, who is Navajo and part Israeli, said he doesn’t understand why citizens like Yazzie oppose nation-to-nation partnerships. “Their concerns are that the state of Israel is oppressing Palestinian people,” Tome said. “The state of Israel is protecting its people – very clear and simple.” Tome explained that it’s important for the public to understand that the nation’s engagement with Israel is about learning their agro-business technology and methods. He also said the partnership is an opportunity for job growth. Shelly’s trip to Israel was not a government sponsored but was funded by private businesses, organizations and churches, according to Tome. Andrew Curley, a freelance reporter for the Navajo Times and an organizer of the July 17 protest, explained that the demonstration is to express grievance with Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. “The Navajo Nation has business dealings and investments with a government that is abusing minority people, which it has control over,” Curley said. “Coming from people who suffered abuse and government reprisal, we should be the first people to say that this is wrong.” Curley is lobbying the Council and the Nabikiyati Committee to pass a bill that would ask the Navajo public to vote on the tribe’s dealings with Israel. With the Nabi’ki’yati’ Committee convening today for a special meeting, Yazzie, Curley and other concerned citizens will voice their opposition to Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians, as well as Shelly’s talks with the state of Israel. They will gather in front of the chamber from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. According to language in the draft bill, the state of Israel is in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions that call for the immediate halt of Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The proposed bill also calls for a referendum of a majority of Navajo voters to amend provisions of the Navajo Nation Code that would ban business dealings and investment with Israel until it complies with the U.N. Security Council resolutions. Navajo Nation presidential candidate Moroni Benally, who will be at demonstration, added that the Navajo Nation should not support the “aggressive violent attacks against Palestinians” in part because the Navajo Nation is in a similar position. “Ben Shelly and his staff don’t understand or see the parallels between the Navajo Nation and Palestine,” Benally said. “The Navajo Nation is supporting a state that is hurting countless thousands of people.”
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 21:09:45 +0000
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