12 sept 2016
Justice Minister addresses topic of removal of inciting material from social media while speaking at the 16th World Summit of the International Institute for Counter Terrorism; '2016-model terrorism needs to be met with a 2016-model response.'
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked spoke Sunday at the 16th World Summit of the International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC), revealing aspects of the cooperation between the Israeli government and social media companies.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth (Ynet's sister publication), Israel has filed 158 removal-of-content requests with the social media giant Facebook, and 13 removal requests from video-sharing and streaming site YouTube (owned by Google). Facebook has complied with 95 percent of the government's requests, while YouTube has complied with 80 percent.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked spoke Sunday at the 16th World Summit of the International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC), revealing aspects of the cooperation between the Israeli government and social media companies.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth (Ynet's sister publication), Israel has filed 158 removal-of-content requests with the social media giant Facebook, and 13 removal requests from video-sharing and streaming site YouTube (owned by Google). Facebook has complied with 95 percent of the government's requests, while YouTube has complied with 80 percent.
Israeli lawmaker Ayelet Shaked’s now deleted Facebook posting calling for genocide of the Palestinians.
The minister, however, said that the war against online incitement is far from over. "This is an impressive statistic, but we understand that the quantity of incitement on the web is much greater, and we need to continue and increase our efforts, and this we will do," promised Shaked. "The pages that were removed at our request were receiving widespread circulation all the time, and each moment they were on the air they (were getting) additional shares, comments, and 'likes'—so such a page of incitement is in fact a continual 'growth engine' for terrorism if it's not cut down. Erasing pages identified with terror organizations has, as far as we are concerned, brought about satisfactory results."
Shaked added, "In the past few years, with the development of social networks, (another kind) of warfare – digital warfare – has been added (to the battlefield), and we need to cut terrorism from another one of its 'oxygen tubes': Incitement on social media. Digital and economic warfare are no less important than the militarily fight against terrorism. The Ministry of Justice, headed by myself, is at the helm of the fight (in these two arenas). 2016-model terrorism needs to be met with a 2016-model response."
The minister, however, said that the war against online incitement is far from over. "This is an impressive statistic, but we understand that the quantity of incitement on the web is much greater, and we need to continue and increase our efforts, and this we will do," promised Shaked. "The pages that were removed at our request were receiving widespread circulation all the time, and each moment they were on the air they (were getting) additional shares, comments, and 'likes'—so such a page of incitement is in fact a continual 'growth engine' for terrorism if it's not cut down. Erasing pages identified with terror organizations has, as far as we are concerned, brought about satisfactory results."
Shaked added, "In the past few years, with the development of social networks, (another kind) of warfare – digital warfare – has been added (to the battlefield), and we need to cut terrorism from another one of its 'oxygen tubes': Incitement on social media. Digital and economic warfare are no less important than the militarily fight against terrorism. The Ministry of Justice, headed by myself, is at the helm of the fight (in these two arenas). 2016-model terrorism needs to be met with a 2016-model response."
L to R: Gilad Erdan and Ayelet Shaked
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan (Likud) met with several heads of Facebook on Monday to request that the global social media platform remove all posts in which words such as ‘Intifada,’ ‘Nazis,’ ‘stabbings,’ ‘shahids, ‘death to Jews’ and ‘death to Arabs’ appear, claiming that such language incites terrorism.
Due to a rise in independently executed “lone wolf Intifada” terrorist attacks over the past few months, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan (Likud) are due to meet with Facebook Vice President of Public Policy Joel Kaplan, Facebook Head of Global Policy Management Monica Bickert and Facebook’s Head of Policy and Communications Jordana Cutler on on Monday.
They are meeting in an effort to contain and minimize online anti-Semitic incitement. The two ministers were looking to do so by having Facebook remove such terms as “Intifada,” “Nazis,” “stabbings,” and “shahids,” “death to Jews” and “death to Arabs,” which they claim can and do incite terrorism.
Law enforcement bodies in Israel have been working with Facebook representatives over the past few months in an effort to monitor inciting content. So far, Facebook’s response has been largely positive and accommodating, removing many posts Israel’s law enforcement has deemed hateful, though there have also been instances when it did not.
Currently, Facebook adheres to its own rules and regulations regarding issues of hate speech and freedom of speech, only removing posts that it deems as inciting. Such content includes: calls to commit murder, abduction, and other crimes, as well as posts that celebrate them. Despite this, Facebook does allow users to post things which include, for instance, instructions on how to become a shahid, instruction videos explaining how to carry out a stabbing attack and imams delivering inciting and hateful sermons.
As a result of Facebook adhering to its own regulations surrounding freedom of speech, MKs like Revital Swid (Zionist Union) have begun promoting bills to force Facebook to remove posts the State of Israel found to incite group hate. The bill stipulates the attorney general could issue an order companies like Facebook or Google to remove content that constitutes a criminal offense and a real threat to the safety of an individual, the public or that state.
Shaked: Israel is engaging in ‘a defensive democracy’
Shaked and Erdan also met with several heads of Facebook Six months ago, during which they stressed the link between online incitement and carrying out recent acts of terror. Regarding this claim, it should be noted that while many believe individual attacks are personally motivated, some have begun to view one-time terrorists as part of a larger scheme, lead by terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which have become better at covering their tracks.
“We are engaging in ‘defensive democracy,’” said Shaked. “It would have been better if such a law wouldn’t have been necessary, and internet services providers would act more responsibly. Terrorist groups are now using the internet in unacceptable ways, and we have to halt them quickly and efficiently by updating our existing legislation. Israel is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and it cannot fall back on legislation concerning hurtful content.”
Erdan added that “A large part of the terrorists during the last wave were inspired by acts of incitement on the web. Unfortunately, since Facebook seems to be in no hurry to remove inciting content on its own, and since only some of the police’s requests to remove such content are accepted, this law is essential to allow law enforcement the necessary tools to remove content that could lead to terrorism and murder.”
UN Anti-Semitism conference finds 60% of hate posts from US
Reflecting the large-scale of online hate speech, a recent UN conference dealing with digital anti-Semitism recently found that some 250,000 anti-Semitic posts are made public across social media platforms every year.
The conference was lead by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon (Likud) and US ambassador Samantha Power. It included senior academics, international media companies and fellow ambassadors. Participants discussed the influence that online, anti-Semitic incitement has on the public, ways to monitor such actions and using advanced technology to combat it.
Vigo CEO Raviv Tal, whose company monitors and looks into social media phenomena, gave presentation on the subject at the conference. He noted that every hour, an average of two anti-Semitic posts are put up that call for violent action against Jews, which represent 7% of all anti-Semitic posts, and another 18% of anti-Semitic posts depict Jews as devil worshippers. 75% of anti-Semitic posts were found to be written by young, white men, 60% of anti-Semitic content is written in the US, 25% in Europe and the rest in Arab countries.
Anti-Semitism was found to be the third largest form of group anti-black hatred and homophobia. Despite their prevalence, though, social media platforms do not remove hateful posts targeting entire groups unless an official complaint is filed. Tal explained that according to their data, social media networks tend to ignore such complaints, since hate-mongering posts are likely to generate more traffic, which in turn creates more income for the company that supplies them with a public platform.
(Some) Related: Israeli lawmaker’s call for genocide of Palestinians gets thousands of Facebook likes
MP Ben Ari calling for killing Palestinians
Israeli Soldiers Publish Dozens Of Pictures, Posts, Calling For Murdering Arabs
Extremist Israeli academic calls for extermination of Palestinians
Mothers of all Palestinians must be killed: Israeli MP
Terrifying Tweets of Pre-Army Israeli Teens
Bombing of Gaza children gives me “orgasm”: Israelis celebrate slaughter on Facebook
Israel buys tweets to promote Gaza escalation
Gilad Sharon calls for "complete destruction of Gaza"....."like Hiroshima"
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan (Likud) met with several heads of Facebook on Monday to request that the global social media platform remove all posts in which words such as ‘Intifada,’ ‘Nazis,’ ‘stabbings,’ ‘shahids, ‘death to Jews’ and ‘death to Arabs’ appear, claiming that such language incites terrorism.
Due to a rise in independently executed “lone wolf Intifada” terrorist attacks over the past few months, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan (Likud) are due to meet with Facebook Vice President of Public Policy Joel Kaplan, Facebook Head of Global Policy Management Monica Bickert and Facebook’s Head of Policy and Communications Jordana Cutler on on Monday.
They are meeting in an effort to contain and minimize online anti-Semitic incitement. The two ministers were looking to do so by having Facebook remove such terms as “Intifada,” “Nazis,” “stabbings,” and “shahids,” “death to Jews” and “death to Arabs,” which they claim can and do incite terrorism.
Law enforcement bodies in Israel have been working with Facebook representatives over the past few months in an effort to monitor inciting content. So far, Facebook’s response has been largely positive and accommodating, removing many posts Israel’s law enforcement has deemed hateful, though there have also been instances when it did not.
Currently, Facebook adheres to its own rules and regulations regarding issues of hate speech and freedom of speech, only removing posts that it deems as inciting. Such content includes: calls to commit murder, abduction, and other crimes, as well as posts that celebrate them. Despite this, Facebook does allow users to post things which include, for instance, instructions on how to become a shahid, instruction videos explaining how to carry out a stabbing attack and imams delivering inciting and hateful sermons.
As a result of Facebook adhering to its own regulations surrounding freedom of speech, MKs like Revital Swid (Zionist Union) have begun promoting bills to force Facebook to remove posts the State of Israel found to incite group hate. The bill stipulates the attorney general could issue an order companies like Facebook or Google to remove content that constitutes a criminal offense and a real threat to the safety of an individual, the public or that state.
Shaked: Israel is engaging in ‘a defensive democracy’
Shaked and Erdan also met with several heads of Facebook Six months ago, during which they stressed the link between online incitement and carrying out recent acts of terror. Regarding this claim, it should be noted that while many believe individual attacks are personally motivated, some have begun to view one-time terrorists as part of a larger scheme, lead by terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which have become better at covering their tracks.
“We are engaging in ‘defensive democracy,’” said Shaked. “It would have been better if such a law wouldn’t have been necessary, and internet services providers would act more responsibly. Terrorist groups are now using the internet in unacceptable ways, and we have to halt them quickly and efficiently by updating our existing legislation. Israel is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and it cannot fall back on legislation concerning hurtful content.”
Erdan added that “A large part of the terrorists during the last wave were inspired by acts of incitement on the web. Unfortunately, since Facebook seems to be in no hurry to remove inciting content on its own, and since only some of the police’s requests to remove such content are accepted, this law is essential to allow law enforcement the necessary tools to remove content that could lead to terrorism and murder.”
UN Anti-Semitism conference finds 60% of hate posts from US
Reflecting the large-scale of online hate speech, a recent UN conference dealing with digital anti-Semitism recently found that some 250,000 anti-Semitic posts are made public across social media platforms every year.
The conference was lead by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon (Likud) and US ambassador Samantha Power. It included senior academics, international media companies and fellow ambassadors. Participants discussed the influence that online, anti-Semitic incitement has on the public, ways to monitor such actions and using advanced technology to combat it.
Vigo CEO Raviv Tal, whose company monitors and looks into social media phenomena, gave presentation on the subject at the conference. He noted that every hour, an average of two anti-Semitic posts are put up that call for violent action against Jews, which represent 7% of all anti-Semitic posts, and another 18% of anti-Semitic posts depict Jews as devil worshippers. 75% of anti-Semitic posts were found to be written by young, white men, 60% of anti-Semitic content is written in the US, 25% in Europe and the rest in Arab countries.
Anti-Semitism was found to be the third largest form of group anti-black hatred and homophobia. Despite their prevalence, though, social media platforms do not remove hateful posts targeting entire groups unless an official complaint is filed. Tal explained that according to their data, social media networks tend to ignore such complaints, since hate-mongering posts are likely to generate more traffic, which in turn creates more income for the company that supplies them with a public platform.
(Some) Related: Israeli lawmaker’s call for genocide of Palestinians gets thousands of Facebook likes
MP Ben Ari calling for killing Palestinians
Israeli Soldiers Publish Dozens Of Pictures, Posts, Calling For Murdering Arabs
Extremist Israeli academic calls for extermination of Palestinians
Mothers of all Palestinians must be killed: Israeli MP
Terrifying Tweets of Pre-Army Israeli Teens
Bombing of Gaza children gives me “orgasm”: Israelis celebrate slaughter on Facebook
Israel buys tweets to promote Gaza escalation
Gilad Sharon calls for "complete destruction of Gaza"....."like Hiroshima"
11 sept 2016
Palestinian refugees leaving a village near Haifa, June 1948
Turning Israeli settlers into victims is the prime minister's most staggering act of chutzpah yet. The only mass ethnic cleansing that took place here was in 1948, when some 700,000 Arabs were forced to leave their lands.
Israel knows a thing or two about ethnic cleansing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows a thing or two about propaganda. The video he posted on Friday proves both points. Here’s the real thing — yet another record for Israeli chutzpah: The evacuation of settlers from the West Bank (which has never happened, and presumably never will) is ethnic cleansing.
Yes, the state that brought you the great cleansing of 1948 and that has never, deep in its heart, given up on the dream of cleansing, and that never stopped carrying out methodical microcleansings in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, in the area of Ma’aleh Adumim and in the Negev, too — that state calls the removal of settlers ethnic cleansing. That state compares the invaders of the occupied territories with the children of the land who clung onto their lands and homes.
Netanyahu proved once more that he is the real thing, the most authentic representative of the “Israeliness” that created reality for itself: Turning night into day, shamelessly and without any sense of guilt, without inhibition.
In Israel, many people, perhaps a majority, will buy these goods. The settlers of the Gaza Strip became “expellees,” their removal “deportation.” Not only is an aggressive and violent action — settlement — legitimate, but its agents are victims.
The Jews as victim. Always the Jews, only the Jews. An Israeli prime minister less brazen and arrogant than Netanyahu would not dare to utter the term “ethnic cleansing,” given the plank in his own eye. Few propaganda campaigns would dare go so far. Yet occasionally, reality intrudes.
And the reality is razor-sharp. The only mass ethnic cleansing that took place here was in 1948. Some 700,000 human beings, the majority, were forced to leave their homes, their belongings, their villages and the land that had been theirs for centuries. Some were forcibly expelled, put on trucks and removed; some were intentionally frightened into fleeing; still others fled, possibly unnecessarily. They were never allowed to return, save for a few, even if only to recover their belongings.
Being barred from returning was worse than the expulsion. It is what proved that the cleansing was intentional. Not a single Arab community remained between Jaffa and Gaza, and all the other areas are scarred with the remains of villages, the vestiges of life. That is ethnic cleansing — there’s no other term for it. More than 400 villages and towns were wiped off the face of the earth, their ruins covered over by Jewish communities, forests and lies. The truth was concealed from Israeli Jews and the descendants of the deportees were forbidden to commemorate them — neither monument nor gravestone, to paraphrase Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
The number of settlers now exceeds the number of expellees. They invaded a land that was not theirs, with the support of successive Israeli governments and the opposition of the entire world, and they knew that their enterprise was built on ice. They and the Israeli governments not only crudely violated international law, which earns no respect in Israel. They also broke Israeli law, with the support of a subjugated judiciary.
Land theft is even a violation of the law practiced in Israel and the territories. When Israelis, and the world, began to become accustomed to this situation, to accept it as inevitable, along comes the prime minister and takes his chutzpah up one more level: The settlers are actually victims. Not the ones they expelled, not the ones they disinherited of their land. In the reality according to Netanyahu, the settlements that were built for the purpose of precluding arrangements with the Palestinians are not an obstacle, and he equates them with the she’erit haplita — the remnants of the Palestinians that remained in Israel, to borrow a term from the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Language can be twisted to any use, propaganda to any moral perversion. Farewell, reality, you’re not relevant here anymore.
Turning Israeli settlers into victims is the prime minister's most staggering act of chutzpah yet. The only mass ethnic cleansing that took place here was in 1948, when some 700,000 Arabs were forced to leave their lands.
Israel knows a thing or two about ethnic cleansing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows a thing or two about propaganda. The video he posted on Friday proves both points. Here’s the real thing — yet another record for Israeli chutzpah: The evacuation of settlers from the West Bank (which has never happened, and presumably never will) is ethnic cleansing.
Yes, the state that brought you the great cleansing of 1948 and that has never, deep in its heart, given up on the dream of cleansing, and that never stopped carrying out methodical microcleansings in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, in the area of Ma’aleh Adumim and in the Negev, too — that state calls the removal of settlers ethnic cleansing. That state compares the invaders of the occupied territories with the children of the land who clung onto their lands and homes.
Netanyahu proved once more that he is the real thing, the most authentic representative of the “Israeliness” that created reality for itself: Turning night into day, shamelessly and without any sense of guilt, without inhibition.
In Israel, many people, perhaps a majority, will buy these goods. The settlers of the Gaza Strip became “expellees,” their removal “deportation.” Not only is an aggressive and violent action — settlement — legitimate, but its agents are victims.
The Jews as victim. Always the Jews, only the Jews. An Israeli prime minister less brazen and arrogant than Netanyahu would not dare to utter the term “ethnic cleansing,” given the plank in his own eye. Few propaganda campaigns would dare go so far. Yet occasionally, reality intrudes.
And the reality is razor-sharp. The only mass ethnic cleansing that took place here was in 1948. Some 700,000 human beings, the majority, were forced to leave their homes, their belongings, their villages and the land that had been theirs for centuries. Some were forcibly expelled, put on trucks and removed; some were intentionally frightened into fleeing; still others fled, possibly unnecessarily. They were never allowed to return, save for a few, even if only to recover their belongings.
Being barred from returning was worse than the expulsion. It is what proved that the cleansing was intentional. Not a single Arab community remained between Jaffa and Gaza, and all the other areas are scarred with the remains of villages, the vestiges of life. That is ethnic cleansing — there’s no other term for it. More than 400 villages and towns were wiped off the face of the earth, their ruins covered over by Jewish communities, forests and lies. The truth was concealed from Israeli Jews and the descendants of the deportees were forbidden to commemorate them — neither monument nor gravestone, to paraphrase Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
The number of settlers now exceeds the number of expellees. They invaded a land that was not theirs, with the support of successive Israeli governments and the opposition of the entire world, and they knew that their enterprise was built on ice. They and the Israeli governments not only crudely violated international law, which earns no respect in Israel. They also broke Israeli law, with the support of a subjugated judiciary.
Land theft is even a violation of the law practiced in Israel and the territories. When Israelis, and the world, began to become accustomed to this situation, to accept it as inevitable, along comes the prime minister and takes his chutzpah up one more level: The settlers are actually victims. Not the ones they expelled, not the ones they disinherited of their land. In the reality according to Netanyahu, the settlements that were built for the purpose of precluding arrangements with the Palestinians are not an obstacle, and he equates them with the she’erit haplita — the remnants of the Palestinians that remained in Israel, to borrow a term from the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Language can be twisted to any use, propaganda to any moral perversion. Farewell, reality, you’re not relevant here anymore.
In response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Friday video equating the Palestinian leadership's desire for a Jew-free state to be ethnic cleansing, the Palestinian president lashed out in reply.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed on Sunday night Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin's Netanyahu's online video that claimed that opposing the presence of Jews in the West Bank is support of ethnic cleansing. Abbas said, "The government of Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing and deliberately killing—acts that have exposed it to international criticism all over the world."
The president criticized Israeli policy, "We are not isolated, like the Israeli government is trying to present us. The government of Israel is the actually isolated one in the international stage because it isn't interested in continuing on the path of peace, continues the settlement industry and damages the holy sites."
Netanyahu's video, which he released in English on Friday via his Facebook page, shows him explaining, "The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There's a phrase for that: It's called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous." Abbas has stated that a future Palestinian state would not permit a single Israeli settler to live within its borders.
After viewing the video clip that was circulated on social media, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said at a briefing in Washington that the Israeli leader's words were "inappropriate and unhelpful."
"We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful," she said.
Trudeau added in her briefing that the United States feels the settlement policy raises "real questions about Israel's long-term intentions in the West Bank."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed on Sunday night Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin's Netanyahu's online video that claimed that opposing the presence of Jews in the West Bank is support of ethnic cleansing. Abbas said, "The government of Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing and deliberately killing—acts that have exposed it to international criticism all over the world."
The president criticized Israeli policy, "We are not isolated, like the Israeli government is trying to present us. The government of Israel is the actually isolated one in the international stage because it isn't interested in continuing on the path of peace, continues the settlement industry and damages the holy sites."
Netanyahu's video, which he released in English on Friday via his Facebook page, shows him explaining, "The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There's a phrase for that: It's called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous." Abbas has stated that a future Palestinian state would not permit a single Israeli settler to live within its borders.
After viewing the video clip that was circulated on social media, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said at a briefing in Washington that the Israeli leader's words were "inappropriate and unhelpful."
"We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful," she said.
Trudeau added in her briefing that the United States feels the settlement policy raises "real questions about Israel's long-term intentions in the West Bank."
Whoever supports the idea of evacuating my five children, a third generation in Ofra, from their home, supports a criminal act
Op-ed: Every words in Netanyahu's 'ethnic cleansing' video was accurate. The vision of two states for two people includes the creation of a 'judenrein' area, a territory where no Jew can set foot.
A short video in which every word is accurate and sharp. And the words connect to sentences. And the sentences, with the melody they are pronounced in, create a full picture. And the picture makes sense: It's Bibi at his best.
It's been a long time since I was so thrilled with Bibi. Not the hesitant, scared Bibi, who seeks to please, but the Bibi who shoots the truth and infiltrates minds and hearts. Supporting the two-state idea means supporting ethnic cleansing. The vision of two states for two people, which US President Barack Obama has made such an effort to advance, includes the creation of a "judenrein" area. That's what you call a territory where no Jew can set foot.
One can call it evacuation, one can also call it disengagement or realignment, even a peace process – but at the end of the day there is a reality. The language laundering cannot blur reality. We have already met this reality in the horrible injustice of expelling 5,000 Jews from Gush Katif and turning Gaza into a place where no Jew can set foot.
Whoever supports the idea of evacuating my five children, a third generation in Ofra, from their home, supports a criminal act. That is what you call the transfer of 100,000 people – grandparents, parents and children. My children are the children of the mountain. Their right to continue to live in the place they were born in is as strong the right of the children of Ein Yabrud, the neighboring village.
Any place Israel has withdrawn from, allowing the Palestinians to control it, has become a place Jews should not enter. Every day I pass by a sign – white letters on a bright red background – warning Jews not to enter Area A. Israeli Arabs pass the sign and enter Ramallah freely. Why? Because while the sign talks about Israelis, what it really means – below the political correctness – is that Jews are barred from entering.
Why? Because a Jew who accidentally enters Ramallah will return to his family in a coffin. Are there areas in Israel where Arabs are barred from entering? No. Is there an area in Israel where Palestinians are barred from entering? No.
Every day hundreds of thousands of Palestinians come to work in Israel, and every Friday thousands of Palestinians are allowed to enter the Temple Mount. Are there places in Judea and Samaria, in areas controlled by Israel, that Palestinians are barred from entering? No. Every day tens of thousands of Palestinians seeking an honest living enter the joint industrial zones and even the settlements.
I have never entered Ramallah, but Ramallah residents enter Ofra. Because under Israeli rule there is coexistence, and under the rule of Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Abbas there is a duel.
I believe the conflict in the Middle East can be solved and that days of peace will arrive, but real peace cannot be based on a transfer, neither of Arabs nor of Jews.
Op-ed: Every words in Netanyahu's 'ethnic cleansing' video was accurate. The vision of two states for two people includes the creation of a 'judenrein' area, a territory where no Jew can set foot.
A short video in which every word is accurate and sharp. And the words connect to sentences. And the sentences, with the melody they are pronounced in, create a full picture. And the picture makes sense: It's Bibi at his best.
It's been a long time since I was so thrilled with Bibi. Not the hesitant, scared Bibi, who seeks to please, but the Bibi who shoots the truth and infiltrates minds and hearts. Supporting the two-state idea means supporting ethnic cleansing. The vision of two states for two people, which US President Barack Obama has made such an effort to advance, includes the creation of a "judenrein" area. That's what you call a territory where no Jew can set foot.
One can call it evacuation, one can also call it disengagement or realignment, even a peace process – but at the end of the day there is a reality. The language laundering cannot blur reality. We have already met this reality in the horrible injustice of expelling 5,000 Jews from Gush Katif and turning Gaza into a place where no Jew can set foot.
Whoever supports the idea of evacuating my five children, a third generation in Ofra, from their home, supports a criminal act. That is what you call the transfer of 100,000 people – grandparents, parents and children. My children are the children of the mountain. Their right to continue to live in the place they were born in is as strong the right of the children of Ein Yabrud, the neighboring village.
Any place Israel has withdrawn from, allowing the Palestinians to control it, has become a place Jews should not enter. Every day I pass by a sign – white letters on a bright red background – warning Jews not to enter Area A. Israeli Arabs pass the sign and enter Ramallah freely. Why? Because while the sign talks about Israelis, what it really means – below the political correctness – is that Jews are barred from entering.
Why? Because a Jew who accidentally enters Ramallah will return to his family in a coffin. Are there areas in Israel where Arabs are barred from entering? No. Is there an area in Israel where Palestinians are barred from entering? No.
Every day hundreds of thousands of Palestinians come to work in Israel, and every Friday thousands of Palestinians are allowed to enter the Temple Mount. Are there places in Judea and Samaria, in areas controlled by Israel, that Palestinians are barred from entering? No. Every day tens of thousands of Palestinians seeking an honest living enter the joint industrial zones and even the settlements.
I have never entered Ramallah, but Ramallah residents enter Ofra. Because under Israeli rule there is coexistence, and under the rule of Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Abbas there is a duel.
I believe the conflict in the Middle East can be solved and that days of peace will arrive, but real peace cannot be based on a transfer, neither of Arabs nor of Jews.
10 sept 2016
In a video message broadcasted on Friday, PM Netanyahu termed Palestinian calls for the complete removal of Jews from a future Palestinian state 'ethnic cleansing'; US State Department calls the comments 'inappropriate and unhelpful.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said the Palestinians wanted to form a state devoid of a Jewish population and termed it "ethnic cleansing", drawing sharp criticism from the United States.
In a video message, Netanyahu said in reference to the removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, "The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There's a phrase for that: It's called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has stated that a future Palestinian state would not permit a single Israeli settler to live within its borders.
After viewing the video clip that was circulated on social media, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said at a briefing in Washington that the Israeli leader's words were "inappropriate and unhelpful."
"We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful," she said.
Most countries view Israeli West Bank settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel rejects this, saying Jews have been living in the territory for thousands of years.
Trudeau added in her briefing that the United States feels the settlement policy raises "real questions about Israel's long-term intentions in the West Bank."
Last week, after Israel approved the building of 284 new housing units in West Bank settlements, the United States said the policies could expand settlements in a "potentially unlimited way."
US officials said the criticism from the US State Department marked the first time it has suggested in public that Israel may be moving towards unlimited settlement expansion on land the Palestinians seek for their state.
The US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the latest language was unusually strong but reflected a change in tone rather than any major shift in US policy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said the Palestinians wanted to form a state devoid of a Jewish population and termed it "ethnic cleansing", drawing sharp criticism from the United States.
In a video message, Netanyahu said in reference to the removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, "The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There's a phrase for that: It's called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has stated that a future Palestinian state would not permit a single Israeli settler to live within its borders.
After viewing the video clip that was circulated on social media, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said at a briefing in Washington that the Israeli leader's words were "inappropriate and unhelpful."
"We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful," she said.
Most countries view Israeli West Bank settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel rejects this, saying Jews have been living in the territory for thousands of years.
Trudeau added in her briefing that the United States feels the settlement policy raises "real questions about Israel's long-term intentions in the West Bank."
Last week, after Israel approved the building of 284 new housing units in West Bank settlements, the United States said the policies could expand settlements in a "potentially unlimited way."
US officials said the criticism from the US State Department marked the first time it has suggested in public that Israel may be moving towards unlimited settlement expansion on land the Palestinians seek for their state.
The US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the latest language was unusually strong but reflected a change in tone rather than any major shift in US policy.
9 sept 2016
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Today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted another of his English language videos about the conflict. This one said that those who want to create a Palestinian state are seeking “ethnic cleansing” of Jews from the occupied territories, and some enlightened countries are supporting this program.
Yet the Palestinian leadership actually demands a state with one precondition: No Jews. There’s a phrase for that, it’s called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous… Some otherwise enlightened countries even promote this outrage. Ask yourself this, would you accept ethnic cleansing in your state, a territory without Jews, without Hispanics, without blacks? Since when is bigotry a peace?… I think what makes peace impossible is intolerance of others. |
And the State Department was quick to slam the prime minister today, and it included descriptions of the actual ethnic cleansing, that of Palestinians. Shades of a new assertiveness by the Obama administration in its waning days?
MS [Elisabeth] TRUDEAU: So we have seen the Israeli prime minister’s video. We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful.
Settlements are a final status issue that must be resolved in negotiations between the parties. We share the view of every past U.S. administration and the strong consensus of the international community that ongoing settlement activity is an obstacle to peace. We continue to call on both sides to demonstrate with actions and policies a genuine commitment to the two-state solution.
We have repeatedly expressed our strong concerns that trends on the ground continue to move in the opposite direction. Let’s be clear: The undisputed fact is that already this year, thousands of settlement units have been advanced for Israelis in the West Bank, illegal outposts and unauthorized settlement units have been retroactively legalized, more West Bank land has been seized for exclusive Israeli use, and there has been a dramatic escalation of demolitions resulting in over 700 Palestinian structures destroyed, displacing more than 1,000 Palestinians.
As we’ve said many times before, this does raise real questions about Israel’s long-term intentions in the West Bank.
QUESTION: So you’re not a big fan of the video, I take it?
MS TRUDEAU: Correct.
QUESTION: So have you made your – not you personally, but has the Administration made its feelings clear to – other than your comments just now to the Israelis?
MS TRUDEAU: Yes. We are engaging in direct conversations with the Israeli Government on this.
QUESTION: And I mean, is there anything that you can do? I mean, he said this; he apparently believes it and it’s a pretty strong sentiment. You – even though disagree with it, I mean, what have you asked him to do? I mean, have you asked him to walk it back at all or --
MS TRUDEAU: I’m not going to get into our diplomatic discussions. What I would say is: unhelpful, it’s inappropriate. We’ll have our conversation with our Israeli allies and friends and we’ll see where that goes….
Notice the reference to Israeli house demolitions and displacement of 1000 Palestinians. That’s a start.
Thanks to Yakov Hirsch and Scott Roth, who tweeted: “@IsraeliPM are you a serious person? All evidence suggests you’re not.”
MS [Elisabeth] TRUDEAU: So we have seen the Israeli prime minister’s video. We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful.
Settlements are a final status issue that must be resolved in negotiations between the parties. We share the view of every past U.S. administration and the strong consensus of the international community that ongoing settlement activity is an obstacle to peace. We continue to call on both sides to demonstrate with actions and policies a genuine commitment to the two-state solution.
We have repeatedly expressed our strong concerns that trends on the ground continue to move in the opposite direction. Let’s be clear: The undisputed fact is that already this year, thousands of settlement units have been advanced for Israelis in the West Bank, illegal outposts and unauthorized settlement units have been retroactively legalized, more West Bank land has been seized for exclusive Israeli use, and there has been a dramatic escalation of demolitions resulting in over 700 Palestinian structures destroyed, displacing more than 1,000 Palestinians.
As we’ve said many times before, this does raise real questions about Israel’s long-term intentions in the West Bank.
QUESTION: So you’re not a big fan of the video, I take it?
MS TRUDEAU: Correct.
QUESTION: So have you made your – not you personally, but has the Administration made its feelings clear to – other than your comments just now to the Israelis?
MS TRUDEAU: Yes. We are engaging in direct conversations with the Israeli Government on this.
QUESTION: And I mean, is there anything that you can do? I mean, he said this; he apparently believes it and it’s a pretty strong sentiment. You – even though disagree with it, I mean, what have you asked him to do? I mean, have you asked him to walk it back at all or --
MS TRUDEAU: I’m not going to get into our diplomatic discussions. What I would say is: unhelpful, it’s inappropriate. We’ll have our conversation with our Israeli allies and friends and we’ll see where that goes….
Notice the reference to Israeli house demolitions and displacement of 1000 Palestinians. That’s a start.
Thanks to Yakov Hirsch and Scott Roth, who tweeted: “@IsraeliPM are you a serious person? All evidence suggests you’re not.”
7 sept 2016
A Jerusalemite citizen was arrested and investigated by Israeli police after breaking into his home in Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem for a Facebook post.
Jawad Abu Mayala has posted last Saturday on his Facebook account a verse of the holy Quran reading "Every soul will taste death,” before driving towards al-Khalil where he decided to spend the night there.
On Sunday morning, Abu Mayala called his son-in-law to inform him that he will spend a second day in al-Khalil.
However, he was surprised that Israeli police forces stormed his house in Silwan in that night and summoned his wife for investigation over his last Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Israeli police contacted him and demanded to turn himself in at the nearest military checkpoint in al-Khalil.
Abu Mayala refused the Israeli order and decided to turn himself in at Salah al-Din police station in occupied Jerusalem. During the investigation, he was questioned about his last Facebook post as Israeli police thought that he was planning to carry out an attack against Israeli targets.
The Israeli police officer threatened to impose a fine of 30 thousand shekels if he posts similar verses.
More than 200 Palestinians were arrested since October 2015 over Facebook posts. Most of the reported arrests were carried out in occupied Jerusalem.
Jawad Abu Mayala has posted last Saturday on his Facebook account a verse of the holy Quran reading "Every soul will taste death,” before driving towards al-Khalil where he decided to spend the night there.
On Sunday morning, Abu Mayala called his son-in-law to inform him that he will spend a second day in al-Khalil.
However, he was surprised that Israeli police forces stormed his house in Silwan in that night and summoned his wife for investigation over his last Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Israeli police contacted him and demanded to turn himself in at the nearest military checkpoint in al-Khalil.
Abu Mayala refused the Israeli order and decided to turn himself in at Salah al-Din police station in occupied Jerusalem. During the investigation, he was questioned about his last Facebook post as Israeli police thought that he was planning to carry out an attack against Israeli targets.
The Israeli police officer threatened to impose a fine of 30 thousand shekels if he posts similar verses.
More than 200 Palestinians were arrested since October 2015 over Facebook posts. Most of the reported arrests were carried out in occupied Jerusalem.