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01 M. Warschawski: Antizionismus gleich Antisemitismus?
From: "Antiimp Koord" <aik@antiimperialista.org>
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Ist Antizionismus gleich Antisemitismus?
Podiumsdiskussion mit Michel Warschwaski, Israel

Kritik an der israelischen Politik wird oft mit Antisemitismus
gleichgesetzt. Eine Podiumsdiskussion untersucht diese Frage und ihre
Hintergründe.

Zionismus ist die politische Bewegung, die sich die Errichtung eines
exklusiv jüdischen Staates im historischen Palästina zum Ziel
setzte. Heute steht er für die Ausweitung des israelischen Staates zu
Lasten der palästinensischen Bevölkerung (vgl. Duden).

Das orthodoxe Judentum und die jüdische Arbeiterbewegung lehnten den
Zionismus nach seiner Entstehung ab. Vor dem Hintergrund des
nazistischen Genozids gewann er massiv an Unterstützung. Heute wird er
oft mit dem Judentum als solches gleichgesetzt. Viele jüdische
Friedensaktivisten und die palästinensische Bewegung bekämpfen ihn als
rassistische Ideologie.

Mit:

Michel Warschawski, Alternative Information Center, Israel,
www.alternativenews.org
Susanne Jerusalem, Gemeinderätin für die Grünen Wien, www.gruene.at
Dr. Ariel Muzicant, Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (angefragt),
www.ikg-wien.at
Mustafa Hadi, Palästinensischen Gemeinde Österreich,
www.palaestinensische-gemeinde.at/

Moderation:
Antiimperialistischen Koordination: www.anttimperialista.org/de

Sonntag, 12. Jänner 2003, 18:30
Afro-Asiatisches Institut, Türkenstraße 3, 1090 Wien

Eine Veranstaltung der Antiimperialistischen Koordination und der
Palästinensischen Gemeinde.

**************************************
Antiimperialistische Koordination (AIK)
PF 23, 1040 Wien, Österreich
Tel / Fax +43 1 92 02 083
aik@antiimperialista.org
www.antiimperialista.org

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02 *REMEMBER THE COLOUR OF YOUR SHOES*
From: "UNHCR UNHCR" <unhcr2008@hotmail.com>
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*REMEMBER THE COLOUR OF YOUR SHOES*

My friends,

In this message I'll speak about the procedures of the UNHCR. So if
you are not interested in refugee's issues or human rights, it's
better for you not to waste your time on this message.

First I would like to make it clear that I don't criticise the UNHCR
for personal interests. My target is to discuss the procedures of the
UNHCR publicly, to find what is not good and to change it and hope
that it will improve its performance in helping all refugees.

I have had a lot of experience as a registered refugee with the UNHCR
in Lebanon with good understanding of our problems as refugees, and of
the UN 51 convention. From all I have learned, I think that if we want
to improve the situation of the refugees in the world for better. We
must start with UNHCR'S procedures and clear up the misunderstandings
of the meaning of UN 51 convention, also what the UNHCR actually exist
to do!

I have spoken a lot about this in the past, and there is more to be
said in the future. My idea is that we can improve the situation of
refugees in the world by improving the procedures of UNHCR, not by
just spending more money! My friends, all the time they tell you that
there are financial shortages in the UNHCR and please make donations!
We, the refugees would like to tell you that this is not the real
problem, the problem for refugees at the moment is to find some one
who is ready to listen to our voice and to understand our problems
with the UNHCR procedures and to help us to change these procedures.

To spend money anywhere and for any reason, there must be good
strategies with good procedures, without these all the money in the
world means nothing. I hope to look at the procedures in public
discussion, to find what is not good and to change it on behalf all
refugees everywhere in the world. I know that some of you have a big
desire to help the refugees, and some of you don't have spare money to
donate. I'll give you the chance to help by sending E-mails to open
discussion on our real problems as refugees, and this will cost you
nearly nothing but it will be a big help, this brings the eyes of the
world to our problems and makes the UNHCR know that they can get away
with nothing, that they are under scrutiny. This sort of help is worth
more than millions of dollars wasted doing the wrong thing.

PREPARING FILES FOR THIRD COUNTRY RESETTLEMENT

I want to talk here about what they call at the UNHCR: Preparing files
for 3-country resettlement, from my own experience and my own
understanding about this particular procedure. To apply for this
procedure, I met one of the staff at the UNHCR in Beirut (Hella) and
she asked me many questions about my past life in Iraq. What really
surprised me was that she concentrated on some information about my
early life when I was a small child, only five years old, she asked me
the name of my first school that I had gone to 35 years ago!!! I
didn't remember all the names of my schools and the all the places I
had worked in my life!!! Oh my god who can I remember names and dates
after 35 years? So she gave me two days to remember these information,
She told me "Go home, relax, try to remember and write the information
down on paper" That means that this information is very important!!!

Unfortunately it was hard for me to remember some of this information
but I tried my best. After 2 days I met Hella again and I gave her the
information, she said that it was OK, but I told her that I also want
to include all the information about my life here in Lebanon for six
years. Especially what had happened with the UNHCR, I really wanted
that in my file, because I conceder the threats I had had from UNHCR
itself and from some people on the net, as security concerns according
to the UN 51 convention. Unfortunately she refused to include all
these information in my file because it was not possible for her to
put in the file that a member of staff of the UNHCR had threatened me,
for my activities on the net!!!

Now you could say that it is a personal problem between me and the
UNHCR, and I agree with you, it is their job to put all the
information in my file specially about my recent life not only about
when I was 5 years old!!! I am telling you this so you can understand
what the UNHCR can do and does do, to hurt refugees and the kind of
the thinking behind the people who are supposed to be helping us. It
was very strange that they concentrated on my life 35 years ago and
they are in ignorance of what I'm really doing now and who I am, I
find this very strange.

My friends the big problem now for refugees with third country program
is the terrorist threat and all the countries have many concerns about
this program because they are afraid the terrorists will use it to
access countries in the west like USA, Canada and Australia. So the
information in any refugee's file will be used to determine if this
refugee has a good reason to join the program and he poses no
terrorist threats. So how is it possible that my name of my first
school (35 years ago) will help me when my recent life doesn't!!! It
looks like someone interviewing you for to determine whether you are
terrorist or not, can find out the truth by asking you the colour of
your shoes on the first day, at your first school, when you were a
little child!!!

Yes my dear friends, this is the situation now and these are the
procedures of UNHCR! So I advice any one of you to register the color
of your Childs shoes worn on the first day in his first school!
Because that will determine if he is a terrorist or not after 35 years
or more!!! LOL. Notice, they heard in the news that the terrorists
used shoes as bombs to explose airplanes!

I think now the UNHCR needs to hire shoe shines to examine your shoes,
because they discovered that the colour of the shoes that you wore 35
years ago will determine your criminal instincts more than what you
doing in you recent daily life!!!!!!!!!! DON'T YOU FIND THIS FUNNY!!!.

OK, we have joked for little, now we will start to speak seriously.

My friends I'm speaking here about procedures that will affect the
lives of millions of human beings (Refugees and asylum seekers) I'll
tell you what the procedures are in detail, so you will know every
thing.

First step: Filing the file. Any one who wants to submit an
application must fill in a file with questions and write his own story
with many details and he must do this in his own hand and he doesn't
have the right to bring any paper already written, I mean that there
is no way for any refugee to write his story on paper before he comes
to the office and to put it in his file, but he has the right to put
any document in his file with approval of the staff of UNHCR, and
these documents must be official documents.

These are the procedures: Now maybe you will say "Where is the problem in
this procedure?"

Ok, I'll tell you what the problem is: You must realize that not every
one can read and write, and it's hard for some one who can't do either
to write their own name. I have been in UNHCR office many times in my
life, I noticed this problem with my own eyes, there are lots of
people who do not know how to read and write.

One time I helped a man from Sudan by writing his story in his file!!!
Because he never had the chance in his life to learn reading and
writing, I think you probably know that this is common in Africa and
Asia. Also even if they can write a bit, some people would just not be
good at writing the whole story about themselves, which could be a
problem as your life may depend on this file. I heard lots of
complaints from many people because of this.

You may think 'Well this is normal procedure we can't change it' but
the problem is afterward, in the future! After the asylum seeker
finish's filling in his file, they will give him an appointment for an
interview, for anytime between 6-18 months (This changes over the
years). Here I want to bring your attention to one important point:
Not all the asylum-seekers are refugees, but they will have the same
time for their interview, no matter what their needs are.

Let me to tell you what that means: In the UN 51 convention, it states
that every one who submits an application for refugee status, will
have international law protection as an asylum seeker and some help
like shelter, and health care and more, and he has these rights until
the UNHCR has reached a decision about his application.

The problem here in Lebanon is that none of these rights exist at
all. So that means in the time between the first day that he submitted
his application until he has the result, a period of around a year
(Some times more) the asylum seekers have nothing in the way of help
at all. The point is what will happen to an asylum seeker who has real
concerns with real needs like security concerns or medical
attention??? The answer is: he could die!!!

That is because this system doesn't have any procedure to help the
asylum seekers, or at least to find out who deserves to have refugee
status within a short reasonable time. My friends, since the UNHCR
doesn't have the ability to help all of the asylum seekers or refugees
in Lebanon, they must have some kind of procedures to shorten the
period of asylum seekers waiting for help.

At this first step we have 2 points that we need to understand well:
1) Not all refugees have the ability to write.
2) There aren't any procedures able to help the asylum seekers, or to
tell the difference, between refuges and asylum seekers.

So we need to change the existing procedures to make it better for
helping asylum seekers and improve the performance of UNHCR, for that
I have 2 suggestions:

A. That it must be possible for any one who has needs, to apply for
refugee status with UNHCR, to reach the office of UNHCR, and to have a
file from the office freely available with full instruction about how
he can fill in the file, with good and clear explanations of all the
procedures that he will have go through to have refugee status.

About the help that he will have from the UNHCR as an asylum seeker
and as a refugee if he will have recognition as a registered refugee
with UNHCR. In simple language that they must tell: What is means to
be an asylum seeker and refugee.

The asylum seeker must have the right to take this file with him to
have the chance to fill it with proper way that he thinks it's good
for him, for example he can use a typewriter or PC facilities for a
period of 1 week. My friends, I have heard complaints from many
asylum seekers, directly, in the media or on the net about one
point. They think that they didn't get recognition as refugees because
they didn't do a good job of writing their files, I'll explain more
about this point later.

When the asylum seeker returns his file with all the documents that he
has as proof for his case, it has to be done within one week of his
interview. At the moment the file must be reviewed by one of the staff
of UNHCR on the same day (they must be fast readers in the UNHCR
office), to determine the time that this asylum seeker has for his
interview according to these points:

* The authenticity of his documents for his case.
* Security concerns that he has.
* Medical emergency needs.

The asylum seekers should have an appointment for their interview
based upon good understanding of their cases and real needs.

I'm sure this will work with all the new procedures that I'll suggest
in the future.

This is another suggestion:

B. The asylum seekers don't fill in the file by themselves, it should
be done by the staff of the UNHCR directly on the PC (Like they do now
in the interview) not hand written at all, like it is at present. At
the same time an appointment can be given for another interview, like
in point A. But the Asylum seeker and the refugees must have the right
to read their own files at any time (For reasons that I'll explain
after).

My friends, if you have the chance to look at the files of the
refugees in the UNHCR'S office you will go crazy, I have had the
chance to see some files with my own eyes, one of them is my file. Try
to imagine that these files are written by different people, some of
them never had the chance to go to school, some have only primary
learning only and some don't have the ability to write anything
legible So many times I say to myself, 'GOD help UNHCR to read these
files' Believe me it's a very hard job, so why we aren't they using
new technology to do this job!!!

My target for all of this is to help asylum seekers, refugees and the
UNHCR staff to do their job well, and for that we all need to
understand the procedures, so let me to tell you again a summery of
the procedures: ~ The asylum seekers need to fill in a file and have
an appointment for an interview with one of the UNHCR staff, to check
out about the information that the asylum seeker had put in the file,
after this within a period of one month the applicant should have the
result of his application (approval or rejection)~

These are the procedures, it looks simple and easy and good! But the
reality is not like this! I told you about the first step (Filling in
the file) and now I'll tell you about the second step:

Second step: The interview.

This step comes after a long period of waiting and often suffering for
months (Some time more than one year). In this interview the asylum
seeker will meet with one of the staff of the UNHCR. The interview
will go like this: The asylum seeker be asked the same questions he
was asked before in his file (Exactly the same) but the only
difference this time is that at the first interview he wrote the
answers in his file and now he answers vocally and the employee will
type it on to the PC (Funny) and like I noticed in my own file, they
will print the answers on paper to put it in his file. As you see all
that time spent waiting and suffering only to meet a typewriter!!!
Funny!!!

Maybe all this is only to make the answers easier to read, you will
also notice that she (The interviewer was one woman in my case) tells
the asylum seeker, Can you see how we will write everything down for
you and it will go to be assessed by a committee to get a result, Now
if you go back to the suggestion which I made before, it would be best
to save time and to do a good job the first time round. I can't
understand why the asylum seeker needs to write a file that no body
will read afterwards, and why he needs to wait all that time?! Don't
you think that it's better to meet one of the staff at the beginning
and save all of that time and do the job well in the first place?

If the UNHCR work with these suggestions, the result will be good for
helping the asylum seekers in 2 ways:

* To identify the asylum seeker in real need of help.
* To save a lot of waiting time and do it right in the beginning.

Now we reach the third step: The result.

If the application is rejected, the asylum seeker has the right to
appeal within 2 weeks (It was 1 month before, but they shortened it)
he has to go through the whole interview again!

If the result is positive and they recognize his application, they
will tell him bring 2 photos (Now they take 2 photos before) and then
keep coming every 2 weeks to look at the announcement board outside to
see if their number is there or not, that means if they want him for
any thing they will put his number with instructions on the
announcement board outside the office (These procedures are subject
for change all the time now, I have explained much in my previous
messages) and that also means, the information will be there if he has
a chance with the third country resettlement program (I explained
about it at the beginning of this message)

** Fourth step: The third country resettlement.

Some countries that accepted (Hosting) refugees found that it's not
possible to do so for a long period of time or to give refugees a
chance to be integrated in the community where they live (this is in
second countries) so the solution for this problem can be either of 2
ways:

1) The voluntary repatriation of refugees to the country of origin if
possible.)
2) Find third country ready to accept the refugee and integrate him
into the community in this country, this is called; Third country
resettlement program.

Now I'll tell you about this program:

Millions of refugees have spent many years waiting to have a chance to
go on this program, when the time comes and the lucky refugee has an
appointment with one of the UNHCR staff for an interview to discuss
third country resettlement. In this interview they will ask him the
same questions again (Like I explained before in this message) the
target of this interview is to remind the refugee about what is in
their file.

They called this procedure: Preparing the file for third country
resettlement program. When this preparation is finished the UNHCR will
give it to the representative from the country that has offered a
chance for the refugee to settle, and that offer depends on the
information in his file, also they will want to interview him.

Over the last six years I have noticed that not all refugees have the
same chance to have this interview with the representative of third
countries resettlement. Some of refugee's complain about the fact that
the information in their files is different to their real cases! It is
not only the refugees that think this but also some countries noticed
this also, so they hired some people from a specific organization to
interview refugees and rewrite the stories of refugees as preparation
for the representative that will interview the refugees for a final
decision. In Lebanon the ICMC does this job for America, and that
really proves what I said about improving the procedures of the UNHCR,
especially with writing the files for the refugees.

That is the end of the procedure with the files, but before I end this
message I need to bring one more important point to your attention
about all these procedures. The files include information about the
life of the refugee in their first country (Their home or the country
of origin) and refugees have 2 interviews only, the first interview is
about his life in his home country, and the second to prepare files
for third country resettlement!! Apparently there is no interview
about the life of the refugee in the second country. I found it very
strange that the UNHCR helps the refugee in the second country
generally, but the UNHCR doesn't ask the refugees about their life in
the country they are presently living in!!

Actually there is something important missing here, it should be
important to include information about how the refugee is living now.
I think maybe there should be three interviews in the procedures of
UNHCR, something like this:

1) About the life of the refugee in his original country.
2) About his life in the second country (Where he lives now).
3) About preparing his file for third country.

The interviews 1 & 3 do exist now but interview number 2 is missing!
This interview must happen directly after the refugee has
recognized. In this interview the UNHCR must tell him about what it
means to be a refugee and what kind of help he can expect from the
UNHCR, they must tell him the procedures of this help, and ask him
about his life here and his problems and how they can help him.

They should also ask him if he has specific problems, like medical
problems or any security concerns, I don't understand how it is
possible for any one to help someone without asking him about his
problems.

All this doesn't happen now! All they do now is to tell him that he
has been recognized as a refugee and he must go and wait until they
will contact him in an unspecified time!!!!

My friends this period of time in the life of refugees is very
important this unspecified time can be more than 10 years and it is a
very hard and dangerous time. I don't want to speak more about this as
I have talked of it before in my previous message and I refer you to
my message: Hizb Allah, UNHCR and the Dinosaurs

You can find it here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osam/message/19 if
you are interested to know more about the life of refugees.

My friend the conclusion is that we need to make some changes in the
procedures of the UNHCR, to improve the performance and efficiency of
these procedures. We, the refugees would like to tell you that we
don't need your money, as much as we need your understanding and your
cooperation to help us with changing these procedures.

You have the right to do this because the UNHCR belongs to all the
community, and you are all members of the same community of humanity,
this is what democracy is all about! we are talking about human
rights. You are able to insist they make these changes, please just
remember these procedures affect the lives of millions of human
beings. You all have a voice; please use it to help more people on
this earth to live their life in peace and dignity, with the freedom
to care for their own families in a safe place without oppression and
fear.

My friends, every member of our community has the right to us his
voice in helping other members because it's our life and we share it
on the planet EARTH. Please just remember that:

YOUR VOICE IS YOUR FREEDOM.

If you like to use your voice in helping millions of humans (Refugees)
you have the chance to contact those people:

ecu@un.org, inquiries@un.org, Hqpr00@Unhcr.Ch,
yves.de.san@undp.org.lb, registry@undp.org.lb, lebbe@unhcr.ch,
djemalim@unhcr.ch, lebanon@un.int, ka@wcc-coe.org

If you like more public address just contact me and I'll provide you
with hundreds of E-mails that belongs to people working with refugees:
friendforrefugees@yahoogroups.com

Thank you for your patience in reading to the end of this message.
THE TRUTH WARRIOR
OSAM ALTAEE
http://www.geocities.com/osam63

**

PS: After I finished my message, I found this article on the net with
statement from MR. Ruud Lubbers the High Commissioner for
Refugees. Some questions came in my head with big desire to find the
answers, not only for these questions but for more and I tried to find
the answer for more than one year by now! I tried to contact
MR. Lubbers with many messages but without any success.

I hope that we all will find the answers for these questions in the future:

1) How possible that UNHCR ask asylum seekers don't know reading and
writing to write in their files?

2) Why the UNHCR ignore to include in refugees' files important
information about recent life of refugees?

3) What kind of procedures or system that UNHCR have to help refugees
to "that their voice is heard"? Is it with declaring wars on refugees
whom using the net as one way to help refugees show their real
problems?! http://www.geocities.com/unhcr636

4) Do you mean by this: "that their potential developed, and that
their role is fully recognized," that you will give the refugees the
chance to discus the procedures of UNHCR, to explain how its effect
their lives and to have some role in improving these procedures?

5) Could you please tell us the relation between" The reluctance of
donors to support the work of UNHCR is shortsighted" and "If we cannot
offer adequate protection and programmes for refugees" does that mean
the procedures of UNHCR are not enough to provide protections for
refugees by itself, but only if it combine with financial support?

And for example, do you think that UNHCR need to pay money to some
government that refused to respect 51 conventions and to give the
minimum protection that the refugees need, like Lebanese government?!

We are all hope that we will have the answer for these questions. Just
hope!

"We must ensure that their voice is heard, that their potential is
developed, and that their role is fully recognized," said Lubbers, who
was to be in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday to present UNHCR's annual
Nansen Refugee Award. This year's award is going to the owners,
captain and crew of the Norwegian container vessel "Tampa," which
rescued more than 400 asylum-seekers, including women and children, in
the Indian Ocean last August.

Lubbers said World Refugee Day should "prompt us to redouble our
efforts to find lasting solutions for the millions of refugees and
displaced people who are still searching for a future. My goal as UN
High Commissioner for Refugees is to help them find it. To do so, we
focus on three so-called durable solutions - repatriation to their
homeland; possibilities to live in the country of first asylum; or
resettlement to a third country."

But to provide those solutions, UNHCR requires international support,
he added. "Frankly, we need a lot more help than we have been
getting. The reluctance of donors to support the work of UNHCR is
shortsighted. If we cannot offer adequate protection and programmes
for refugees, as well as some hope of durable solutions, refugee camps
can become breeding grounds of despair. Desperate refugees often go on
the move, falling prey to human smugglers and traffickers and fuelling
criminal networks. Providing solutions for them halts rising crime,
prevents new violence and can be crucial for global security. Thus, we
must work together to find solutions for refugees."

http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-headlines/markup/msg00476.html

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Redaktionsschluss: Montag, 6.1.2003, 22:00 Uhr
Diese Ausgabe hat Albert Brandl
zusammengestellt


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