Thursday, March 31, 2011
All We Need To Know About Racist Israeli Politics
One:
Young Israelis are moving much further to the right politically, according to a survey to be released Thursday.
The study found that 60 percent of Jewish teenagers in Israel, between 15 and 18 years old, prefer “strong” leaders to the rule of law, while 70 percent say that in cases where state security and democratic values conflict, security should come first. A similar picture emerges in the 21 to 24 age group.
The comprehensive survey was conducted on behalf of Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation, in cooperation with the Macro Center for Political Economics, by the Dahaf Institute.
According to the authors, the report shows a strengthening of Jewish-nationalist beliefs among Jewish youths, and a clear weakening of the importance given to the state’s liberal-democratic base.
Among Jewish youths, support for the definition of Israel as a Jewish state as the most important goal for the country grew from 18.1 percent in 1998 to 33.2 percent last year, the survey reports. At the same time, there has been a consistent drop in those who back the importance of Israel’s identity as a democratic country – from 26.1 percent in 1998 to 14.3 percent in 2010.
Support for Israel to eventually live in peace with its neighboring countries also fell significantly, from 28.4 percent 12 years ago to 18.2 percent last year. This is the third such survey of young people conducted by the two organizations in the past 12 years.
The study was carried out in July 2010, among a representative sample of Jewish and Arab youth. It included 1,600 participants, 800 aged 15-18 and 800 21-24, which is considered a relatively large group.
The right wing enjoyed a clear majority of support among the young people surveyed. Among Jews, the numbers stood at 57 percent and 66 percent for the two age groups respectively, while those who said they considered themselves to be left wing made up only 13 percent and 10 percent of those respondents.
The support for the right rose overall from 48 percent to 62 percent during the study’s 12-year period, while support for the left fell from 32 percent to 12 percent.
As to the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, 755 of the Jewish respondents said they do not believe negotiations will lead to peace, and most prefer that the present situation continue.
Two:
As Palestinians commemorate Land Day, the anniversary of an uprising against Israel’s land confiscation, a report from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released a report showing Israel’s settlement project is rapidly escalating.
Thirty-five years on from the uprising, in which six young protesters were killed by Israeli forces, Palestinians constitute almost half of the population of the Palestine under the British Mandate, but have access to less than 15 percent of the land, the PCBS report said.
Israel’s separation wall has confiscated around 733 square kilometers of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, the report notes. Israel says the wall was built to prevent attacks, but its route runs deep inside the West Bank, often as far as 22 kilometers, according to UN reports. Land between the wall and the Green Line has been used for illegal Israeli settlements and military bases.
PCBS found that in 2010, Israel built 6,794 Jewish-only housing units on occupied Palestinian land, four times more than in 2009.
Israel is considering building an artificial island with sea and air ports off blockaded Gaza, as a long-term solution to shipping goods into the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, the transport minister said.
Yisrael Katz told Army Radio on Wednesday he wants an international force to control the island for “at least 100 years” and for unloaded cargo to be brought into Gaza along a 4.5-km (3-mile)-long bridge with a security checkpoint to prevent arms smuggling.
“The Israeli military would continue the naval blockade, but in a more localised way,” he said.
Katz said he had pitched the project to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told him to put together a plan, which “has been under examination for many months” by experts.
A spokesman for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority described the idea as “pure fantasy” and an attempt by Israel “to divert attention from the real problems of Gaza resulting from the Israeli siege”.
http://www.revoltoftheplebs.com/categories/occupied-palestine/all-we-need-to-know-about-racist-israeli-politics/
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Zionism’s history, real and imagined
Jerry Slater's magnum opus on the history, present and future of Zionism has led to a large volume and variety of debate. He offers a lengthy defense of the creation and existence of a Jewish State despite recognizing the inherent injustice forced upon the indigenous Palestinian population. He concedes that this unfairness, which has taken the form of dispossession, military occupation and inequality, has been egregious and intolerable, but argues that it theoretically could have been kept to an acceptable level and could possibly be reduced to such level in the future. I think there are some serious flaws in his analysis that deserve attention.
First, Jerry thoroughly analyzes the history of Zionism as a prelude to making his case for the two-state solution as exclusive remedy for the conflict. I have no quarrel with this procedure, but rather than sticking to actual historical facts -- the events that Palestinians have had to live with over the past century -- he relies upon a parallel history of what might have been had Zionism reached its ends through less onerous means. He understands that "relocation" of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians was necessary to pave the way for a Jewish State, but theorizes that the trauma could have been reduced if only the Israelis had settled for the 55% of the land designated for them by the United Nations, thereby reducing the number of Palestinians living in the Jewish State; those Palestinians were offered bribes to leave their ancestral homeland; and those that refused were subject to "compulsory relocation" in an “essentially nonviolent” manner with the bribe money stuffed in their pockets.
This fantasy strikes me as poorly conceived and completely implausible. Jerry assumes that “the international community” and “Jewish supporters of Israel” would “surely” have financed this plan, but who would have implemented it? Ethnic cleansing most definitely was not part of the UN partition plan. He estimates that 50,000 Palestinians would have refused the bribes; how would they have been expelled “essentially nonviolently”? If Arab armies had tried to intervene to stop compulsory relocation, who would have fought them?
Even more importantly, so what? Why is Jerry bothering to conjure up a vision of a kinder and gentler nakhba? Where we go from here depends on what happened, not flights of imagination. Palestinians and the rest of the world have been living with the consequences of what really did happen, and the future must be guided by those realities.
Necessity of a Jewish State
Jerry's most oft-repeated theme is that the long history of worldwide anti-Semitism made a Jewish State a necessity. He expertly disposes of most commonly heard pre-Holocaust justifications for the Jewish State in Palestine: biblical history, territorial rights, Balfour/League of Nations. But then, he claims that the exigencies of the Holocaust committed by Europeans gave rise to a Jewish right, borne of necessity, to dispossess Palestinians. He recognizes the injustice in that, but accepts that the Palestinians just have to live with it for the greater good. Jerry also argues that even today, Jews are uniquely vulnerable to outbreaks of anti-Semitism, so much so that they need more protection than other groups, many other groups, who seem, I guess superficially, to have it quite a bit rougher today.
I'm not sure any Palestinians would consider this argument to be "irrefutable," as he claims it to be, but let's bypass this issue for the time being. What I would like to address is the logical leap he makes with virtually no analysis whatsoever. If Jews truly are as uniquely imperiled as he says, and certainly they were far more imperiled at the time of Israel’s founding, Jerry simply assumes that having “their own state” was an obvious remedy that requires little or no elaboration. He concedes that Israel has not been a safe place for Jews for 63 years of its existence, but speculates that it might become a safe haven in the future he envisions of a "fair" two-state agreement.
Consider this hypothetical. If a young woman has to walk to work through a high crime area at night, purchasing a car might be a reasonable way to provide much-needed protection. However, if she’s a chronic drunk or terrible driver or the only car she can afford is a used Ford Pinto, this “solution” actually increases the chances that harm will come to her. So it is with Israel. Because of the manifest unfairness on the Zionist plan to take another people’s land for a Jewish State. and the even worse execution of that plan, causing catastrophe to an innocent indigenous population, Israel has always been one of the least safe places on Earth for Jews. Jerry’s insistence that it was an “irrefutable” argument in the post-World War II era that Jews needed their own state makes about as much sense as saying it is irrefutable that the young woman in my hypothetical needs a Pinto. At most, he can argue that Jews required special protection at that time, and still require the promise of such protection should there be another outbreak of virulent anti-Semitism (a point much more debatable than irrefutable). But the creation of a Jewish State by European immigrants who had dispossess people who have lived there for centuries was a frying pan into the fire (or perhaps fire into the frying pan) solution, confirmed by the last 63 years of insecurity.
One State v. Two State
My biggest objection to Jerry's analysis is the fratricidal tone he takes with respect to one-state proponents, foreseeing dire consequences if they continue in their supposed folly. He claims that people who advocate for one truly democratic state are consigning Palestinians to perpetual misery in the current status quo. In his view, preference for one state implies “giving up” on two, and “condemn[ing Palestinians] to live indefinitely under Israeli occupation and repression.”
Once again, he offers no analysis to support this logical leap. If by some miracle Israel followed Jerry’s prescription and made genuine moves toward ending the occupation and creating a Palestinian state, how many one-staters would stand in the way and demand that Palestinians refuse that option and continue to suffer under occupation until they achieve deliverance to the one-state promised land? In a comment, Jerry claims to find it “appalling that many here, from the comfort of their own homes in the US or Europe, want to insist that the Palestinians just must maintain their maximal current demands, even if the practical consequence of doing so is to ensure a continuation of the occupation.” Who is presuming to insist that the Palestinians take any particular position? Who is insisting on a choice between one state or a continuation of the occupation? If anyone is insisting on anything, Jerry is insisting that Palestinian citizens of Israel accept permanent second-class status, and that Palestinians under occupation or in the Diaspora affirm the legitimacy of their own dispossession and the delegitimization of their right of return guaranteed under international law.
Jerry also insists that one-staters hold their tongue. Why should those of us who feel that a Jewish State, especially one with Israel’s awful history rather than the alternative history Jerry has imagined, is an anachronism whose continued existence cannot be ethically defended, refrain from voicing our opinion? Sure, the Palestinians living under occupation are much worse off than those living as second-class citizens, but demanding the kind of equal citizenship rights we take for granted here in the U.S. is not an obstacle to their relief. If anything, casting a spotlight on this overriding injustice is more likely to propel progress toward ending the far greater misery of the occupation than it is to retard it. If there is a growing chorus of one-staters, might not Israel become more flexible in easing the occupation or more amenable to a genuine two-state solution, in order to head off the more “extreme” solution of true democracy? Some prominent Israeli politicians have made a similar argument, that Israel faces a choice between two states and one apartheid state.
When the African National Congress opposed apartheid, it demanded full and equal rights, not simply relief from the worst aspects of apartheid. Demanding full and equal rights for Palestinians, which in my view is inconsistent with the notion of a Jewish State, might be an excellent way to move American and western public opinion. Moreover, Israel is refusing to abide by what has long been a worldwide consensus in favor of the 2ss not because of one-state proponents, but because it wants to keep holding as much territory as possible. Jerry has no basis for his bitter criticism of one-staters’ imagined willingness to sacrifice Palestinians on the altar of a "quixotic quest." If he wants to defend his two-state position, fine, though I’m not at all convinced, but I do wish he would reconsider his overheated attacks on people who don’t find him all that irrefutable.
Finally, Jerry has the good sense to direct his ire not at Palestinians themselves but at their supporters who enjoy comfort and security, but his reasoning is equally applicable to Palestinians who advocate for one democratic state, who must be committing the same grave errors. Jerry is fond of making points with old jokes, so let me give it a try - please excuse the morbid taste. The Nazis catch two Jews hiding in the forest and bring them before a firing squad. One starts crying and begging for his life. “On your mark!” More sobbing, more begging. “Get set!” The other Jew turns and says, “Shh! Don’t make trouble.” The nakhba is 63 years old. For the last 43 years, Israel has inflicted a brutal military occupation on Palestinians. No Israeli government has made bona fide overtures toward ending the occupation, much less giving Palestinian citizens equal rights. Things are getting worse and the current government may be the worst of all. And Jerry is turning to Palestinians and their supporters who demand the full measure of what should be guaranteed to them as universal human rights and says, “Shh! Don’t make trouble.” One-staters might disagree with you, Jerry, but they’re not the problem.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/03/zionisms-history-real-and-imagined.htmlTurkey's Fallout With Israel Deals Blow to Settlers
Ottoman archives show land deeds forged |
| by Jonathan Cook |
| A legal battle being waged by Palestinian families to stop the takeover of their neighborhood in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers has received a major fillip from the recent souring of relations between Israel and Turkey. After the Israeli army's assault on the Gaza Strip in January, lawyers for the families were given access to Ottoman land registry archives in Ankara for the first time, providing what they say is proof that title deeds produced by the settlers are forged. On Monday, Palestinian lawyers presented the Ottoman documents to an Israeli court, which is expected to assess their validity over the next few weeks. The lawyers hope that proceedings to evict about 500 residents from Sheikh Jarrah will be halted. The families' unprecedented access to the Turkish archives may mark a watershed, paving the way for successful appeals by other Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank caught in legal disputes with settlers and the Israeli government over land ownership. Interest in the plight of Sheikh Jarrah's residents peaked in November when one couple, Fawziya and Mohammed Khurd, were evicted from their home by an Israeli judge. Mr Khurd, who was chronically ill, died days later. Meanwhile, Mrs Khurd, 63, has staged a protest by living in a tent on waste ground close to her former home. Israeli police have torn down the tent six times and she is facing a series of fines from the Jerusalem municipality. The problems facing Mrs Khurd and the other residents derive from legal claims by the Sephardi Jewry Association that it purchased Sheikh Jarrah's land in the 19th century. Settler groups hope to evict all the residents, demolish their homes and build 200 apartments in their place. The location is considered strategic by settler organizations because it is close to the Old City and its Muslim holy places. Unusually, foreign diplomats, including from the United States, have protested, saying eviction of the Palestinian families would undermine the basis of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The help of the Turkish government has been crucial, however, because Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire when the land transactions supposedly took place. Israel and Turkey have been close military and political allies for decades and traditionally Ankara has avoided straining ties by becoming involved in land disputes in the occupied territories. But there appears to have been an about-turn in Turkish government policy since a diplomatic falling-out between the two countries over Israel's recent Gaza operation. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, accused his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert, of "lying" and "back-stabbing", reportedly furious that Israel launched its military operation without warning him. At the time of the attack, Turkey was mediating peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. Days after the fighting ended in Gaza, Mr Erdogan stormed out of a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, having accused Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, of "knowing very well how to kill." According to lawyers acting for the Sheikh Jarrah families, the crisis in relations has translated into a greater openness from Ankara in helping them in their legal battle. "We have noticed a dramatic change in the atmosphere now when we approach Turkish officials," said Hatem Abu Ahmad, one of Mrs Khurd's lawyers. "Before they did not dare upset Israel and put us off with excuses about why they could not help." He said the families' lawyers were finally invited to the archives in Ankara in January, after they submitted requests over several months to the Turkish consulate in Jerusalem and the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv. Officials in Turkey traced the documents the lawyers requested and provided affidavits that the settlers' land claims were forged. The search of the Ottoman archives, Mr Abu Ahmad said, had failed to locate any title deeds belonging to a Jewish group for the land in Sheikh Jarrah. "Turkish officials have also told us that in future they will assist us whenever we need help and that they are ready to trace similar documents relating to other cases," Mr Abu Ahmad said. "They even asked us if there were other documents we were looking for." That could prove significant as the Jerusalem municipality threatens a new campaign of house demolitions against Palestinians. Last week, Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the recent issuing of dozens of demolition orders in Jerusalem "ethnic cleansing." Palestinian legal groups regularly argue that settlers forge documents in a bid to grab land from private Palestinian owners but have great difficulty proving their case. Late last year the Associated Press news agency exposed a scam by settlers regarding land on which they have built the Migron outpost, near Ramallah, home to more than 40 Jewish families. The settlers' documents were supposedly signed by the Palestinian owner, Abdel Latif Sumarin, in California in 2004, even though he died in 1961. The families in Sheikh Jarrah ended up living in their current homes after they were forced to flee from territory that became Israel during the 1948 war. Jordan, which controlled East Jerusalem until Israel's occupation in 1967, and the United Nations gave the refugees plots on which to build homes. Mrs Khurd said she would stay in her tent until she received justice. "My family is originally from Talbiyeh," she said, referring to what has become today one of the wealthiest districts of West Jerusalem. "I am not allowed to go back to the property that is rightfully mine, but these settlers are given my home, which never belonged to them." A version of this article originally appeared in The National, published in Abu Dhabi. |
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS IN PALESTINE
By Dr. Alan Sabrosky
President Obama in particular acts as if he were mesmerized by all this. He has all the power, but acts as if he were powerless. He can make things happen if he chooses to exert himself, yet has ended up positioning himself as a supplicant to Israel and pretending ignorance of Palestinian realities. He thinks and speaks, but does nothing of substance that Israel does not want him to do.
The Indictment
So let us look at those uncomfortable truths, politically unspeakable at least in the US but not necessarily elsewhere, and frequently discussed openly in many non-governmental forums, just so we all appreciate where we stand:
- Gaza, Mr. Obama, Gaza. It holds three-fourths of the Palestinians under a government that electorally beat the faction that supports that Israeli puppet you call the Palestinian Authority. Deal with Gaza, deal with Hamas who governs there, or forget it: you are not dealing with Palestinians. You have got to know this. Why be in denial?
- There is no two-state solution, and never has been one, so long as Israel held US support in its political palm. Look at the maps of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, look at the Israeli settlements and Israeli military protection for them in place, and the Wall – the Wall, Mr. President, longer & higher than the now-defunct Berlin Wall – and embattled Gaza. Just where and how do you think you will find a Palestinian state acceptable to Israel that has even a shred of the trappings of legitimacy and sovereignty that the now-defunct Bantustans had in apartheid-era South Africa?
- The settlements are critical, and you, Mr. Obama, come across as a failure or a Zionist tool, or both together. Does projecting this image please you? And if you did not have the balls to force a halt to Israeli settlement expansion, much less the creation of new settlements, how do you expect to find the courage to dictate the removal of those settlements, without which there is no Palestinian entity of any kind in the West Bank, alone or not?
- You can be pro-peace or pro-Israel, but not both together, and all of the rhetoric to the contrary, all of the money AIPAC and its confederates spend on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, all of the media attention Israel commands, cannot alter this essential reality. Why do you persist in playing to AIPAC, J Street, and the rest of the Hasbara crew, avowed or not?
Just why do you feel obliged to let your Administration's foreign policy staffing look like it was arranged by the Israeli Government? There are many experts in foreign policy, and in the Middle East, with US citizenship and no loyalty to a foreign government. Why are they not in your Administration? You have many Israeli partisans in your Administration, but where are your American partisans?
The Conundrum
And you, Mr. President, few of your predecessors have come into office with such high expectations and high hopes, and seen them squandered in such a short time. None of your predecessors since Carter signaled a willingness to view the Middle East through something other than an Israeli prism, and even Carter lacked John Kennedy’s willingness to stand up to Israel. Your speech in Cairo signaled a stance on this issue in the tradition of Kennedy and Carter, and it went nowhere at all.
I understand the constraints, dealing with a Congress that does not now seem to contain a single person in either party in either House willing to stand up to the Jewish lobby. But are you so blind, so ignorant, so lacking in courage that you cannot and will not go directly to the American people? Do you like being cast as a laughing-stock and a weakling in public by Israel and its supporters? Do you like being an “Uncle Tom” to the Zionists?
Now, I do not care greatly for Obama as a person, nor anything at all for his domestic political agenda, but appearances notwithstanding, it would be wrong to dismiss him as simply a fool or a puppet. A fool or a puppet would never have made the Cairo speech two years ago in the first place. No politician anywhere enjoys taking the lead, and then looking behind, finding no one in support and clouds of criticism, and then having to back down from so public a stance. The egos of the breed cry out against such exercises in futility.
The same applies in part to some in his Administration, and to others, I suspect, in the Congress. Those who are Jewish, especially with dual Israeli citizenship, need no prompting to follow the Zionist agenda; that agenda is their agenda, heart and mind. The so-called Christian Zionists, mostly evangelical Protestants, are much the same, although for very different theological reasons, some of which ought to make Jewish Zionists more than a little nervous. And there are those in this and previous Administrations who have made their own Faustian bargain with AIPAC and its cohorts in the service of their own ambition.
But there are many in both houses of the Congress, and more within the armed services and the bureaucracy, who do not fit comfortably into any of these categories. Those in the Congress in particular have been bribed, blackmailed or bullied into submission, servility or silence, and few if any can be happy with their situation. Most simply make the best of an uncomfortable bargain, trading their own continuation or advancement in office for their support of Israeli ambitions, and their silence when confronted by Israeli crimes.
Yet this is a potential weakness in the edifice of Zionist influence and control in the US, and it should and must be our task to focus on that political battlefield, and not simply shuttle trucks and ships toward Gaza in the hope that some will get through the Israeli blockade. The remainder of the series that follows, Palestine and the United States: A Battle Lost, A War to Win, which has been completed and will be published in the coming weeks, is one attempt to define the parameters of a strategy to do precisely that. Executed properly, it and others like it may be a first step toward the saving of both the United States and Palestine.
http://www.opinion-maker.org/2011/03/uncomfortable-truths-in-palestine/Imagine if......
Struck smiles as he is charged with torturing a Palestinian youth
If a 15-year-old African-American minor was abducted by a 28 year white man – after chasing the youth down in an open field in an ATV; if the man had stripped the youth and beat him with the butt of a rifle; if all this happened after the same white man slapped the youth and killed the newborn puppy of the black youth in a separate incident; if such a heinous, racially motivated crime occurred in the United States – reminiscent of the darkest times of Jim Crow – the American people would react with complete disgust, anger and bewilderment that such racist cruelty could still exist. Presumably, the man would be thrown in jail for a long time:
- Kidnapping in the first degree is a class A felony and brings a punishment of up to 30 years in prison
- Aggravated battery is a class B felony and can result in a fine of $20,000 and probation or up to 10 years in prison. Elevated aggravated assault would earn up to 40 years in prison and a fine of $50,000
- Intent to cause grievous bodily harm brings a prison sentence of between 6-30 years, a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five year probation
- Three counts of assault – a class D felony – would land the man in prison for three years and slap him with a $30,000 fine.
All told the maximum sentence could be somewhere around 100 years in prison and a fine of over $100,000. Now imagine that the youth woke up woke up – after being beaten unconscious – and found himself naked, bound, injured and alone in the middle of a field. Presumably, such disgusting, racially motivated crimes would be harshly punished in the United States. As a democracy that holds equality as a core principle, such crimes would be universally condemned and the perpetrator would likely face the maximum sentence.
Now flash to Israel, where a 28 year old settler named Zvi Struck was convicted of this exact crime. In an initial confrontation, Struck slapped the 15-year-old Palestinian victim and killed the boy’s baby goat by kicking the animal. In a subsequent confrontation – on Palestinian land – Struck chased down the boy from the village of Kusra in his All-Terrain Vehicle and kidnapped him, beat him and left him unconscious and tied up in a field. The judge in the case noted that Struck undoubtedly harmed the 15-year-old in a “grievous manner” and that he “reviewed the medical records and the difficult photographs that were taken of the complainant immediately after the event, and I cannot avoid expressing disgust and deep shock over the signs of terrible trauma that the minor suffered.”
After being convicted of these crimes, Struck requested a lenient sentence from the judge because the man who kidnapped, beat and tortured a 15-year-old Palestinian claimed to be a “law-abiding citizen with no prior convictions.” The judge after being overwhelmed by the physical evidence pointing at Struck handed down a sentence – not of 100 years in prison and not a $100,000 fine – of 18 months imprisonment, 1 year of probation and a fine of 50,000 NIS ($14,100).
In the United States, such a crime would be met with a public outcry demanding justice for the assaulted and tortured boy. The criminal responsible would see his face and name rightfully tarnished for years behind the bars of an unforgiving jail cell. In the United States, 18 months in prison is hardly fair for one of the charges that Struck was charged with, much less all four. But Struck did not commit his racially motivated crimes in the United States. He is a settler in Palestine, convicted by Israeli courts that rarely convict settlers of any crimes. Yesh Din, an Israeli Human Rights Organization, recently reported that 90% of complaints filed by Palestinians against Israeli citizens are dismissed. In this context, it is a miracle that Struck was convicted at all.
Unfortunately, Struck is not the only case. Settler violence is common and unlimited. Moreover, this sort of settler terrorism is not only granted general immunity by the Israeli courts (Struck’s rare case aside), but it is committed under the watchful eyes of the Israeli military and is becoming increasingly popular among Israelis. In a Ynet-Gersher survey, 46% of the 504 Israelis polled supported settler terrorism under the guise of ‘price tag violence;’ only 33% said that such terror was never acceptable.
Imagine if this happened in your town and you saw the perpetrator that tortured a youth smiling in the paper. What would your reaction be, knowing that this smiling, smug terrorist would soon be released back into the community? If it was your son that was kidnapped and tortured, and you saw this man smiling in the courtroom, would you consider 18 months in prison to be an appropriate sentence?
Photo from Ynet
http://notesfromamedinah.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/imagine-if/Why Israel’s Diamonds should be labeled Blood Diamonds
“Diamond industry funds Israel’s war machine with some US $1 billion yearly.” -Shir Hever, Israeli economist. Israel is the world’s largest exporter of diamonds, processing approximately 50% of all diamonds distributed throughout the world. Yet the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, the process to verify the origin of rough diamonds and ensure they come from conflict free zones, does not classify Israel as a conflict zone, despite the fact that the diamond industry has contributed to Israel’s war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
This is why the Global Palestine Solidarity launched a petition to broaden the Kimberly Process’ definition of “conflict zone” to include localities other than only those gripped by rebel violence.
Sign the petition here.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Nearly half of Israeli Jews support settler ‘price tag’ attacks against Palestinians
Poll: 46% in favor of 'price tag'
Ynet 28 Mar -- Ynet-Gesher survey conducted after Itamar massacre shows nearly half of Jewish public believes extreme rightists' actions against Palestinians are justified ... While most seculars oppose "price tag" activities (36% in favor, 57% against), most traditional, national-religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews believe these actions are justified (55%, 70% and 71%, respectively) ... About 76% of the seculars and 66% of the traditional Jews believe the rabbis have the power to prevent the "price tag" activities, while the national-religious and haredim say the rabbis are incapable of doing so.
46% of Jewish Israelis support settler “price tag” terror, Congress blames Palestinians for incitement / Max Blumenthal
The one-two punch of settler “price tag” attacks carried out under the watch of the army and with the encouragement of state-funded religious nationalist rabbis is common all over the West Bank. Most Jewish Israelis view the army with reverence, and are reluctant to criticize its conduct under any circumstance. And though settler violence is considered a matter of controversy in Israeli society, a new poll shows that a staggering number of Israelis support the pogroms meted out by fanatical settlers against defenseless Palestinians.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settler vandalism, harassment reported in south
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) -- Villagers said ultra-orthodox settlers chopped down dozens of fruit trees in fields belonging to a Palestinian farmer from the southern West Bank village of Husan, in the latest incident of apparent settler vandalism. Jabir Taha Hamamra told Ma‘an that he was surprised Monday morning when he walked into his fields to discover several trees had been chopped down ... Destroyed by the vandals, Hamamra said, were 25 olive trees, two almond trees, one fig tree, and four walnut trees.
In Yatta, a collection of towns in the southern West Bank, dozens of settlers were reported to have assaulted a group of shepherds east of the population center. Israeli military patrols were seen nearby the group, which gathered in the Al-Bweib agricultural area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373048
Settler car strikes child near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 28 Mar -- For the third time in the past month, an Israeli settler driving in the West Bank struck a Palestinian south of Hebron, but [this time] did not drive away. Though the first two incidents were hit-and-runs, Monday's accident saw the settler remain in the area until police arrived and initiated an investigation. The incident occurred near Tarama village west of Hebron early in the morning, as the as yet unidentified young girl was on her way to school.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372980
Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Beit Ummar to be fenced in from south
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 27 Mar 22:04 -- For a third day in a row, Israeli forces appeared in large numbers around the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar, installing road gates and fence posts in a move residents fear will close them in and stifle the population center. Local activist Mohammad Ayyad Awad ... said the installations were part of Israeli military preparations to fence the town in, and prevent residents from accessing the surrounding areas ... According to his observations, Awwad said the fence would stretch 150 meters along the town's southern flank, closing it off from the Bethlehem-Hebron road, and would have a height of at least seven meters. Metal gates, he added, were being installed on the street leading from the town to the cemetery. Last week a settler opened fire on Beit Ummar residents at a funeral procession as they walked to the cemetery, injuring two, one critically.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372901
Arrest raid targets Beit Ummar, 14 detained
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 28 Mar 16:30 -- Israeli forces detained 14 Palestinians overnight from the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar, as construction of military road blocks and a fence surrounding one side of the residential area continue. Local activist Muhammad Ayyad Awad estimated that 150 Israeli soldiers entered the town during the campaign, which began at 2:30 a.m., as soldiers entered homes with sniffer dogs and took residents. Twelve of the 14 taken were identified, seven of them under the age of 18, one of whom was only 15 years old ... In the early morning hours, as workers tried to leave the town via the bus and service taxi station at the southeastern entrance of the area, Awwad said, confrontations erupted. The activist said Israeli forces were preventing buses and taxis from collecting passengers, stranding workers in the town.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372965
Day after evacuation, Bedouin get demolition notes
TUBAS (Ma‘an) 28 Mar -- A third set of warnings was delivered to the Bedouin of ‘Ein Al-Hilwa on Monday morning, notifying residents that their tent homes and animal shelters would be demolished. The herding community lives next to Al-Malih, a village whose nearest neighbor is a site declared as an Israeli military training ground, in the northern Jordan Valley. The entire valley-area has recently included in a list of areas where control would not be handed over if a Palestinian state were created in the West Bank and Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373002
3 demolition orders issued in Samra
28 Mar 06:49 -- Early this morning, the occupational Civil Administration came to Samra community, in the Northern Jordan Valley, to give 3 Bedouin families demolition orders. Abed Awad Daraghmeh, Mayoub Mohamad Amer and Fozi Abed Awad Daraghmeh were given only three days to remove their houses and leave the area, after what the army will come to destroy the houses. Samra is a small community located between Hadidiya and ‘Ein Il Hilwe, two villages that receive constant occupation aggression and displacement.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=201:3-demolition-orders-issued-in-samra&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Military jeep set alight with Molotov in ‘Ein Aluza
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 28 Mar 01:07 -- Eyewitnesses have reported that a Molotov cocktail was hurled at a military jeep in the ‘Ein Aluza district of Silwan tonight, with Israeli forces responding with heavy barrages of gas and sound bombs. Residents in the area also claim to have heard the sound of live ammunition. No injuries have been reported as yet.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14087
Clashes in ‘Ein Silwan Street
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 28 Mar 18:15 -- Clashes have erupted in ‘Ein Silwan Street between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces stationed at settler-occupied properties on the edge of Wadi Hilweh district. Israeli forces have fired tear gas grenades at the youth, who have responded by throwing stones and shouted messages against the settlement and demolition policies in Silwan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14100
Druze keep tabs on Syria unrest
Ynet 28 Mar -- The residents of the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights became Israeli residents overnight. Ever since that moment, 44 years ago, many have dreamt of the day they would go back to living under Syrian sovereignty. The recent whirlwind sweeping through Syria – and the biggest challenge Bashar Assad has had to face since taking power 11 years ago – has raised many speculations among family members living on the other side of the border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048856,00.html
Israel builds town to ensure the Arabs won't rear their heads / Roi Maor
28 Mar -- The State of Israel is building a town in the country’s north. Its purpose: to make sure "the Arabs won’t rear their heads" and to "put them in proportion." Anybody objecting to this goal should "go live with the Palestinians" and is "harming Israel’s security."
http://972mag.com/israel-builds-town-to-ensure-the-arabs-wont-rear-their-heads/
Interview: Mapping the disappearance of a nation / Adri Nieuwhof
28 Mar -- Malkit Shoshan's The Atlas of the Conflict -- Israel-Palestine won the annual book design competition in the "Best Books from all over the World" category at the Leipzig Book Fair in Germany on 18 March. To produce the book, Shoshan, an Israeli architect and designer who was brought up in a Zionist context, painstakingly mapped the creation of Israel, which erased Palestine in the process. The atlas is the result of her determination to understand the full scale of the creation of one nation and the disappearance of another.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11881.shtml
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
VIDEO: Is Nuri El Okbi a Bedouin version of Australia's indigenous land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo? / Amos Roberts
28 Mar -- Professor John Sheehan, an Australian authority on native title compensation, certainly thinks he could be. ['terra nullius' ('nobody's land'), mentioned in the article, is the doctrine which allowed the whites to claim what is now Australia] He’s currently helping Nuri in his struggle to reclaim land taken from his family by the Israeli authorities 60 years ago. Despite living in the Negev Desert for hundreds of years, long before modern-day Israel was even formed, Bedouin who want to live on their ancestral land are being accused by Israel of ‘trespassing’ ... The Israeli government says the Bedouin do not qualify as indigenous people, and it’s just enforcing laws it inherited from the British and the Ottomans WATCH
[You might also want to watch the Aboriginal group Yothu Yindi and their video "Treaty Now" about their land rights struggle, which was partly successful. Their lead singer was Australian of the Year in 1993, and the song 'Treaty Now' hit #1. So success can happen... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7cbkxn4G8U ]
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2011-03-28/al-arakib-is-nuri-el-okbi-a-bedouin-version-of-australias-indigenous-land-rights-campaigner-eddie-mabo/
Mighty Israel and its quest to quash Palestinian popular protest / Amira Hass
Haaretz 28 Mar -- The military has delegated its best soldiers, investigators and judges to safeguarding Israel against the organizer of Nabi Saleh's popular uprising ... We met several times in the past two weeks - in Ramallah, not in Nabi Saleh. Facing the suppression of that village's weekly demonstrations is a challenge best reserved for the experienced. Huge quantities of tear gas, rubber-coated bullets flying between buildings, gas canisters with (illegally) extended ranges, beatings, shovings and home invasions - this is what the Israel Defense Forces employs against the small village of 500. Since the demonstrations began in 2009, 155 of the residents have been injured, 40 percent of whom are children. Thirty-five houses have been damaged in the process of dispersing demonstrations, and seven caught fire.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/mighty-israel-and-its-quest-to-quash-palestinian-popular-protest-1.352248
16 Israeli activists detained in south Hebron hills
[with photo] AIC 28 Mar -- Recent weeks have been characterized by ever increasing cooperation between Israeli settlers and the army. This cooperation was forged in order to conduct an ongoing attack on Palestinians throughout the entire West Bank using violence, shooting, vandalism and the sowing of fear ... In response to this situation, activists from Ta’ayush and Solidarity Sheikh Jarrah conducted a protest and solidarity action in the south Hebron Hills this past Saturday, 26 March ... Almost immediately the soldiers began detentions, detaining 16 activists, both women and men. The detentions were forceful and violent, and some of the detainees were beaten while all were handcuffed. http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3461-16-israeli-activists-detained-in-south-hebron-hills-protest-
On Land Day, 30 March 2011, join international efforts to stop the Jewish National Fund
IOA 29 Mar -- The Palestinian BDS National Committee has called for a Global Day of Action to commemorate Palestinian Land Day. Palestinian Land Day is the annual commemoration of the 1976 general strike and marches against massive land expropriation by Israel in which six Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others were jailed and wounded. Since then it has been a day to recall many decades of Palestinian resistance to historic and on-going displacement and dispossession. A key pillar of the colonization of Palestine -- from the founding of the State of Israel to the present -- has been the ... Jewish National Fund (JNF). The JNF enjoys charity status in over 50 countries. This is despite its role in the on-going displacement of indigenous Palestinians from their land, the theft of their property, the funding of historic and present-day colonies, and the destruction of the natural environment. (Download the Stop the JNF Campaign fact sheet)
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2011-03-28/on-land-day-30-march-2011-join-international-efforts-to-stop-the-jewish-national-fund/
Join new campaign to boycott Israeli diamonds
AIC 27 Mar -- Global Palestine Solidarity has launched a petition urging the Kimberley Process to widen its definition of conflict diamonds to include all diamonds that fund human rights violations. Israeli economist Shir Hever: "Diamond industry funds Israel’s war machine with some US $1 billion yearly."
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3456-join-new-campaign-to-boycott-israeli-diamonds-
Swiss rights group to protest Peres visit to the country
GENEVA, (PIC) 28 Mar -- More than 20 human rights groups in Switzerland will gather in Geneva on Monday to protest a visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres to the country. They have been working to prosecute Peres over war crimes he committed in the 2008-2009 war on Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
IOF
Israeli forces enter Nablus overnight
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 28 Mar -- Despite a total security hand-over to Palestinian Authority forces in early 2010, an Israeli military patrol entered Nablus Monday morning, making a tour of the center and Old City. Palestinian sources in the city said no detentions were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372981
Soldier suspected of humiliating Palestinian kids
Ynet 28 Mar -- Videos found in staff-sergeant's phone show Palestinian children being ordered to act out movements to popular Israeli children's song, army says. Additional photos show soldier pointing rifle at blindfolded man's head -- Military Police are holding a criminal investigation against a soldier suspected of recording Palestinians in humiliating situations, Ynet learned Monday ... An indictment against R. is forthcoming. Military Police say they have succeeded in finding the Palestinian man shown in the photos and that they would soon question him, but that the children in the videos have not yet been found.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048907,00.html
One-day-old Palestinian baby inspected at checkpoint
JENIN, 27 Mar (WAFA) – A Palestinian one-day old baby was inspected and forced through X-ray search by Israeli forces stationed in a checkpoint at Barta‘a al-Sharqiya, a village northwest of Jenin, north of the West Bank. Mohammad Omrah, the baby’s father, was escorting his wife and newborn back from the hospital one day after the birth in his car, but they were held back for over an hour under the rain at the checkpoint ... He continued "after putting the baby through the X-ray device, they held us outdoors in the cold and rain. My wife was forced to leave the car for inspection, although she had had a caesarean operation the day before. She was also held for half an hour before we were allowed to pass."
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=76277
Gaza attacks
Bombing of Khuza‘a facilities
[with photos] ISM 26 Mar -- Khuza‘a is a village located in the southern Gaza Strip, in the Khan Younis governorate, near the border with Israel. It is a quiet place inhabited mainly by farmers. On the night of March 21st a warehouse used by the local authority to maintain vehicles and materials needed to provide essential services to citizens was bombed and destroyed ... The house of the family of Samir an-Najjar is adjacent to the bombed site. The bomb destroyed the shack where they kept four sheep killing them all, it also created cracks in some of the columns and supporting walls, and destroyed the septic tank. Half a day after being destroyed by the bomb the septic tank was filled with earth to create a passage in the midst of the debris to one of six children, shot in the head by a bullet during the Israeli attack Operation Cast Lead and confined to a wheelchair. During the night of the bombing the family needed to go to hospital where sedatives were administered to the daughter in shock. The night after the bombing the children were crying in their sleep and waking up with horrible nightmares.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/03/17188/
Israel warns Palestinians against rocket attacks
JERUSALEM (AP) 28 Mar -- Israel's prime minister is warning Gaza militants of a military retaliation if they resume firing rockets at southern Israeli communities. Benjamin Netanyahu says it must be clear that Israel will not tolerate "a drizzle of rockets and missiles" on its cities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
'Israel's response to rocket fire too soft'
Ynet 28 Mar -- IDF officers avoid criticizing government but claim Israel may pay the price for the way it chose to respond to the firing of rockets from Gaza. Hamas has emerged stronger from the recent conflict, some officers say ... "After Operation Cast Lead a very clear equation was created whereby the IDF responds disproportionately to any violation of the state of calm. This was the way and the message was conveyed to the other side," one officer said. "Ever so often there were attempts to test us but a harsh response together with deterrence achieved by the operation had sent the message until the next time."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048579,00.html
Iron Dome system deployed in south but might not stay
Haaretz 28 Mar -- The army deployed its Iron Dome anti-missile defense system for the first time yesterday, temporarily positioning one battery north of Be'er Sheva just as the Negev had its first day free of rocket or mortar fire in more than a week. The Israel Defense Forces is planning on keeping its two anti-missile batteries mobile for now, leaving open the possibility of stationing them on the northern border as well as in the south.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/iron-dome-system-deployed-in-south-but-might-not-stay-1.352203
Siege
OPT: UNRWA hobbled by unwieldy customs procedures on Gaza border
RAMALLAH, 28 Mar (IRIN) - Israeli trucker Nazar Zarro hoists himself up into the cab of his articulated lorry loaded with emergency flour supplies bound for UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) food distribution centres in the Gaza Strip. Zarro makes the 100km trip from Israel’s Ashdod port to Kerem Shalom crossing - where the borders of Gaza, Israel and Egypt meet - five days a week. The emergency flour rations will be loaded and unloaded eight times - part of a complex system of Israeli security procedures - until they reach food insecure families in Gaza.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92300
US surgeons land in the Gaza Strip for charity work
GAZA, (PIC) 28 Mar -- The Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza has received a delegation of American surgical specialists from the University of California in a bid to cover some of the medical deficit in the besieged Gaza Strip. The urologists are scheduled to remain in the Strip to carry out advanced surgical operations over the next five days and have already taken necessary tests ahead of the operations.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Gaza crossing
GAZA (Ma‘an) -- Israel informed Palestinian liaison officers at the last operating Gaza crossing that 210-220 truckloads of goods would be permitted into the coastal enclave on Monday ... UN monitors have said the current import level is at some 40 percent of what imports were before Israel imposed its siege on Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372944
Goods: needs vs. supply Feb 26-Mar 27
Industrial fuel: need vs. supply Feb 26-Mar 27
Detention
Knesset merges 4 bills pertaining to Hamas prisoners' rights
The Knesset's Internal Affairs Committee has decided to merge four bills dealing with Hamas prisoners rights in order to advance the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit. During the meeting, the soldier's grandfather, Zvi Shalit, asked MK Danny Danon not to dub the bill "the Shalit bill" and asked it only be implemented after Gilad's release.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048824,00.html
IPS refuses to remove Palestinian prisoner's tumor
GAZA, (PIC) 27 Mar -- The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has refused to remove a cancerous growth from a Palestinian man held in the Gilboa prison, the Tadhamon international rights group has reported. Tariq al-Aasi from the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus was diagnosed with colon cancer two years ago and has since suffered from a lack of hemoglobin and weight loss, Tadhamon researcher Ahmed al-Beitawi said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Militias loyal to Abbas detain municipality chief
NABLUS, (PIC) 28 Mar -- Security militias loyal to de facto Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas detained Omar Eshtiye, the head of the municipal council of Til village in Nablus, locals reported. They said that Eshtiye was summoned for interrogation but was taken into custody when he showed up.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Call for action: April 17th Palestinian Prisoners Day
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) Gaza calls for a global day of action to draw attention to Palestinian political prisoners who are illegally detained in Israel. April 17th marks the Palestinian Prisoners Day, a day in commemoration of the 5834 Palestinians who are currently (as of February 1st, 2011) held in Israeli prisons. No less than 221 of them are children and 798 of them are serving life sentences. We call upon you to organize events on April 17th or during that week in your countries to oppose Israel’s numerous violations of human rights and international law concerning Palestinian prisoners.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/03/17230/
Occupied Palestine from A to Z: Canaan of Palestine / Reham Alhelsi
27 Mar -- "Ya Abu Nidal, lahhiq ibnak, lahhiq darak, hurry up, the soldiers are raiding your home and want to take your son Nidal." A neighbour came running to tell Canaan who was ploughing the land and tending the olive and almond trees. In a matter of seconds, Abu Nidal was running all the way down the hill towards the village and his home. Neighbours, relatives and other villagers were standing outside his home, some trying to talk to the Israeli occupation soldiers
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=76282
Refugees
Majority of Palestinian voices still being ignored / Rich Wiles
27 Mar -- At the heart of Palestine’s struggle is the refugee case, which remains almost a taboo subject in many forums including in the seemingly endless and fruitless 'Peace Process’, which seems on the verge of what one can only hope is a final collapse. Time and again, in speeches and in op-eds around the world, 'pro-Palestinian' commentators speak of 'over 40 years of Occupation’ as if the unjust colonial appropriation of 78% of Palestinian land pre-1967 were somehow morally different from the occupation of the remainder of Palestine. Similarly, the estimated three quarters of a million Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed from their homes during al-Nakba and the 7 million or so Palestinians who were born as refugees following these events are treated as political lepers whose insistence upon their rights, including the Right of Return,is regarded as quixotic and even malicious.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=76268
Racism / Discrimination / Repression of dissent
New bill takes aim at leftist groups
Ynet 28 Mar -- Likud MKs propose that any group petitioning High Court must present list of donors from past three years. 'Judges can now be sure hostile groups won't make their way into court under guise of public-interest,' they write
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048650,00.html
Hebrew University to discipline students for screening Jenin, Jenin film
AIC 27 Mar -- The board of Hebrew University summoned representatives of the university’s Hadash Party to a hearing before the Dean of Students last week. The hearing was for Hadash's screening of the film Jenin, Jenin, and is yet another act by Hebrew University in actively collaborating in Israel's repression of the Palestinian people.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3458-hebrew-university-to-discipline-students-for-screening-jenin-jenin-film-
Zuabi: Revoking my parliamentary privileges is political persecution
Haaretz 28 Mar -- Knesset voted to revoke Arab MK Hanin Zuabi's privileges after she participated in Gaza aid flotilla last year; High Court debates petition submitted by Zuabi to have her privileges reinstated.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/zuabi-revoking-my-parliamentary-privileges-is-political-persecution-1.352331
Media
Israel, right or wrong / Paul Balles
26 Mar -- A staunch defender of anything Israel does, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen feeds Jewish paranoia, distorts Palestinian history and attacks Israel’s critics.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/03/israel-right-or-wrong/
Politics / International
Abbas would give up US aid for Palestinian unity
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) 28 Mar -- An aide to the Palestinian president says Mahmoud Abbas is making a heavy push for reconciliation with Hamas and is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid if that's what it takes to forge a Palestinian unity deal. [and the large amount in EU aid?]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_reconciliation
Fatah: Abbas awaiting Hamas response
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) -- There has yet to be a response from Hamas following a meeting between party members and President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, member of the Fatah central committee Nabil Sha‘th told Ma‘an ... Abbas, who leads the Fatah party, met with Hamas officials to discuss a proposed trip to Gaza and efforts to mend internal Palestinian division by way of the formation of a unity government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373027
Abbas moves on PLO constitution amendments
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 28 Mar -- President Mahmoud Abbas asked the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization to convene the body's Constitution Committee, government news agency WAFA reported. He advised the committee that it should draw up amendments to the PLO charter by the end of September.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373078
Report: Turkey brokering Hamas-Israel truce
TEL AVIV (Ma‘an) 27 Mar -- An Israeli news site quoted official sources saying that Turkey has been brokering a limited truce between Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel, in a bid to put an end to recent border escalations. Israeli news website Inyan Merkazi said the Turkish Prime Minister himself was heading the negotiations, saying a meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gaza resistance leaders and Israeli officials was held on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372869
Israel questions Argentina over Buenos Aires attacks
BBC 27 Mar -- Israel has demanded an explanation from Argentina over reports it proposed to Iran it would stop investigating two bombings if trade ties improved. Argentina, Israel and the US have blamed Iran for the bombings of the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Iran has denied involvement in the bombings
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12876932
Swiss president announces plan to break Gaza siege
GAZA, (PIC) 23 Mar -- Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey has announced her country is developing a project to open up all crossings to the Gaza Strip, which has been suffocating for the last five years from an Israeli blockade. She also said if Egypt would agree to open the Rafah crossing to bring in building materials and commodities, her country would be ready to restore it. The statements came Monday during a meeting with several high-profile politicians in Europe staged by the European-Palestinian relations council. [have not seen this story confirmed independently of the Hamas site PIC]
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/03/24/swiss-president-announces-plans-to-break-gaza-siege/
Iraq
Sunday: 11 Iraqis killed, 18 wounded
At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in attacks across the country. In Baghdad, a bomb exploded near a food ration warehouse in Iskan, wounding nine people. One person was killed and three others were wounded in a blast in Yarmouk. A person was wounded during a blast in Jihad. A sticky bomb wounded four in Qadisiya. In Mosul, seven people were killed in a home invasion. Gunmen killed a man during a drive-by shooting. One policeman was wounded in a grenade attack. Police liberated two children and arrested their kidnappers. Gunmen killed a police colonel late last night in Ramadi. In Kut, the body of a policeman was found. Two al-Qaeda cells were captured in Babel province.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/27/sunday-11-iraqis-killed-18-wounded/
U.S.
"A story about lost and broken things": Mohammad Jawad, a child in Guantánamo, and the lawyer who fought for him / Andy Worthington
27 Mar -- Every now and then, someone in the mainstream media cuts through the general -- and shameful -- indifference about Guantánamo, publishing a powerful story that should change hearts and minds. This is the case with a feature in the latest issue of GQ by Michael Paterniti about one of the more notorious cases of cruelty at Guantánamo -- that of the teenage prisoner Mohammed Jawad, released in August 2009 -- although it will probably do no more than awaken a few more people to the gross injustices perpetrated at Guantánamo, and elsewhere in the "War on Terror," by the Bush administration.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=76260
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Mossad behind attacks?
This is with reference to the recent acts of terrorism that have been perpetrated in Israel. The first was the murder of a settler family and the other the bus bombing in Jerusalem. One has to wonder about the timing of these two supposedly unconnected events for which no Palestinian faction has taken responsibility and no suspects have been arrested. Although the Israeli government has accused Palestinian “terrorists” of being responsible, they have no proof or evidence to substantiate their claims. Can these be false flag operations committed by the Israeli government, or Mossad to deflect attention from Israel’s illegal settlements that are inviting mounting international condemnation? A globally isolated Israeli leadership is desperate to win some measure of sympathy from the world community. For a long time, the world was turning a blind eye to the Israeli crimes because of the Nazi crimes against the Jews. However, after Operation Cast Lead and the brutal attack on the Mavi Mara, world opinion has tilted in favor of the Palestinian cause.
One cannot rule out the possibility of the Israeli government resorting to some terror tactics to drum up worldwide sympathy. It is not the first time that Mossad has turned to terrorism to further the Israeli government’s cause. And it would not be the last time either.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
81 Reasons Why Gaza Has The Right To Self-defense
March 26, 2011 "Scoop" -- Seventy-nine of them can be found in United Nations Security Council Resolutions “directly critical of Israel for violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international terrorism, or other violations of international law.” (1)
Number 80 can be found in the Goldstone Report (2), the recommendations of which have yet to implemented some 18 months after its submission to the Human Rights Council, and Paragraph 1912 of which stresses “all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention."
Has that happened? Clearly not. (3)
The most compelling reason number 81, can be found in the United Nations Charter, Article 52 which states: “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.” (4)
There would also be a Reason 82, but for the United States power of veto exercised in the Security Council in February 2011. (5)
If the international community has abandoned its responsibilities towards Palestinians, and particularly towards Gaza, as the above examples over the last 63 years plus this map of Palestinian territories so graphically illustrate, what else is left to Gaza but self-defense?
Click for bigversion
Israel and its chorUS disingenuously cite Israel’s right of “self-defense” to justify not only Israel’s disproportionate military response to Gaza - and Palestinians’ - genuine right to self-defense, but also to attempt to disguise Israel’s blatant land-theft from existing citizens.
Contrast the “newcomers” in Israel, for example, to many of those who in recent years have arrived in Australia. The latter have been considered illegal immigrants and incarcerated in off-shore islands or desert detention camps –the subtle distinction being that (i) those latterly arriving in Australia sought refuge from repressive regimes whereas the Israeli immigrants came from European and North American democracies…(enough said, perhaps) and (ii) unlike Australia’s (and New Zealand’s) immigrants, who now accept the existing population’s rights to their existing property, culture and citizenship, Israel’s immigrants bulldoze and destroy the homes of existing residents to build their own in their place, not only rendering thousands homeless but also destroying historic, economic and culturally-important sites such as religious buildings, olive groves, farms, and cemeteries – and now legislating that they also be of the jewish religion in order to have citizenship.
Is not our perception of the wrongness of such actions why New Zealanders, for instance, just spent thirty years redressing such wrongs in their own country, through the Waitangi Tribunal? Is not our perception of the wrongness of such discrimination why we all fought to end similar structural apartheid in South Africa?
In the past week, Israel has killed at least 10 people and seriously wounded scores more in in Gaza in sustained military attacks with sophisticated weaponry targeted at civilians, a week in which so-called ‘rocket’ attacks from Gaza (into traditional Palestinian territory) have not caused any Israeli deaths, or physical injury. Yet Israel on Wednesday threatened “After barrage of rocket and mortar fire, Vice Premier Shalom says Israel may have to consider wide operation in Gaza; Minister Limor Livnat: Operation Cast Lead 2 may be in order.” (6)
After a cosy telephone chat to US President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday said from Moscow that “Israel’s reaction to rocket attacks will be measured” (7) – but by what, is the question...caesium, perhaps?
US Secretary of Defense Robert now waits in Israel for Netanyahu’s return, discussing with his Israeli counterpart Barak how to ensure Israel maintains its ‘qualitative military edge’ in ‘a period like now when Israeli-US security relations were so strong.’ (8)
Obama in South America while his troops hammer Libya, insisting that the US role will be minor, Netanyahu in Moscow proclaiming the same for Gaza…this arms’ length war-mongering to give an appearance of moderation makes me very suspicious – to paraphrase Shakespeare, “Methinks they doth protest too much.”
A quick glance at the map reveals US, British and EU troops in the midst of massive military operations in oil-rich Libya from the west, Israel launching sustained military attacks against a potentially-unified Gaza/Palestine from the east and north – and slap bang in the middle, a very desirable waterway in the middle of a country which recently overthrew its USrael-friendly president, but which has yet to establish a categorically different regime…and whose military rulers have not opened the Rafah Crossing into Gaza, but today reiterated their prior commitment “ to Egypt's international treaties in an early message to reassure Jerusalem and the United States,” according to the Jerusalem Post’s reporting of Thursday’s meeting in Cairo between Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby, and Rafi Barak, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official.
Yes, on any reading of the situation, Gaza certainly does have good cause for concern about their security and territorial integrity.
In the face of continuing military attacks against civilian targets and the absence of any meaningful and/or enforceable UN Security Council Resolution to protect them, and of any meaningful assistance from the international community in preventing Israel's ongoing use of force, they have every legitimate reason to resort to self-defense, under Article 52 of the UN Charter.
References (1) http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/01/27/rogue-state-israeli-violations-of-u-n-security-council-resolutions/
(2) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf
(3) Amnesty International UK et al (2008) The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/conflict_disasters/downloads/gaza_implosion.pdf, and Amnesty International UK et al (2010) Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Siege http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/conflict_disasters/downloads/dashed-hopes-continuation-gaza-siege-301110-en.pdf Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2010) The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip: Collective Punishment of the civilian population http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/2010/Illegal%20Closur.pdf UNICEF, UNRWA and Minister of Education and Higher Education (2010) Palestinian children deprived of basic rights to education http://www.unicef.org/media/media_56025.html ; UNDP (2010) One Year After GAZA Early Recovery and Reconstruction Needs Assessment http://unispal.un.org/pdfs/GazaRecovery0510.pdf; OCHA (2010) Farming without Land, Fishing without Water: Gaza Agriculture Sector Struggles to Survive http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/gaza_agriculture_25_05_2010_fact_sheet_english.pdf
(4) Charter of the United Nations Chapter V11 Article 52 http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml
(5) http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37572&Cr=palestin&Cr1
(8) http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=213706
Julie Webb-Pullman (click to view previous articles) is a New Zealand based freelance writer who has reported for Scoop since 2003. She was selected to be part of the Kiwi contingent on the Viva Palestina Convoy - a.k.a. Kia Ora Gaza. Send Feedback to julie@scoop.co.nz
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27769.htmCopyright (c) Scoop Media
Israel calls UN’s Falk “an embarrassment” for calling them on their crimes
By Prof Lawrence Davidson
On 23 March 2011 the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the United Nations Rapporteur Richard Falk (Professor Emeritus of 
This is not a particularly startling or rare point of view. There are many well versed Israelis, including several reporters for Haaretz (such as Amira Hass and Gideon Levy), who would probably agree with Falk’s position. There are millions of people around the world who are willing to actively boycott Israel due to, in part, its illegal settlement policies. And, the UN Human Rights Council itself has, in the past, repeatedly condemned Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank of Palestine.
Nonetheless, Israeli officials found Falk’s statement highly insulting. Soon after the Rapporteur made his presentation to the Human Rights Council, Israel’s envoy to the UN mission in Geneva, Aharon LeshnoYaar,labeled Falk an "embarrassment to the United Nations." He went on to explain that "Israel doesn’t participate (sic) with Falk" and that when Falk speaks in a UN venue he, Yarr, "leaves the room." (As an aside, Ambassador Yaar does not like a number of Americans. For instance, he does not like the documentary film maker Michael Moore because the man makes his money in a capitalist society while being critical of aspects of capitalism. According to Yaar, that makes Moore a hypocrite).
It would seem that in order to be a good diplomat, a reliable representative of your government, you have to be able to twist facts in a juvenile way. You know, in the way kids manipulate information to excuse some bad act, even when they have been caught at it in real time. Ambassador Yaar’s behavior is a good example of this. The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed resolutions condemning Israeli behavior toward the Palestinians over 20 times. Given that record you can safely apply the old saying, "where there is smoke there is likely to be fire." Yet, how do loyal diplomats like Yaar react? They often: 1. Yell loudly and repeatedly that the fellow pointing out their sins is bias. So, he is anti-Semitic (alas, Dr. Falk is Jewish), and that is why he keeps pointing fingers in our direction, Or, 2. The other guy made me do it. Those Palestinians (allegedly) hit me first. How come you never yell at them? Or, 3. (Particularly in the case of Israel) God made us do it and so, if you don’t like it, go argue with God. And, finally, when the fellow who has seen you commit the nasty deed over and again insists that you are the culprit, you get up and run out of the room with your hands over your ears.
While Yaar and the rest of the Israeli establishment engage in these practices and complain about the bias of their critics, the consequences of their governmental policies is to institute bias against the Palestinians wherever they exercise authority. In the recent past there hasbeen a spate of such actions . Thus, the Israeli Knesset has recently passed two bills along these lines. One, known as the "Nakba Bill," institutes a fine on "local authorities and other state-funded bodies for holding events marking the Palestinian Nakba Day…." Nakba is the term the Palestinians, who constitute more than 20% of Israel’s citizens, use for the catastrophe that led to there loss of a homeland as a consequence of the creation of Israel. The other bill "formalizes the establishment of admission committees to review potential residents of Negev and Galilee towns that have fewer than 400 families." The bill is designed to keep such towns wholly Jewish by preventing Palestinians from taking up residence. As one Arab Israeli noted, "this is a racist law, a law against Arabs."
Yaar makes no reference to this sort of bias, but only to the alleged bias of those who point out Israeli bias. No doubt, over time, diplomats and politicians come to believe their own excuses. Like naughty children, they don’t know what double standards mean, and end up creating an alternate world of fabrications. Unlike most children who eventually grow up, professionals like Yaar come to dwell in this alternate world more or less at will. In fact, the ability to do so has been part of the standard job description for a career in diplomacy and politics for a very long time. Back in 1909 the Austrian satirist Karl Kraus asked "How is the world ruled and how do wars start?" His answer was, "Diplomats tell lies to journalists and then believe what they read" (Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 2001, p. 445, #18).
Almost at the same time as Ambassador Yaar was describing Richard Falk as an "embarrassment to the United Nations," Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Israeli member of the Knesset, debating the racist laws cited above, told his Jewish colleagues the following, "You must read Jewish history well and learn which laws you suffered from…Do you need an Arab on the stand to remind you of your history?" The Knesset’s reaction? Loud and repeated yelling about how bias and insulting Tibi was. "Go back to Ramallah" they told him.
Now, just who is an embarrassment to the United Nations, an organization which began its life back in the late 1940s by, among other things, the issuance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Is it Richard Falk, a man who has dedicated his entire professional life to the fight for a better world, governed by humane laws? Or is it Aharon LeshnoYaar and the political establishment he represents? For anyone beyond childhood, and with accurate information, the answer ought to be obvious.
http://www.opinion-maker.org/2011/03/who-is-embarrassing-the-united-nations/