FlotillaHyves1
  • Front Page
  • Home
  • UNRWA & Refugees
    • UNRWA & Refugees 2019 >
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2018
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2017
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2016
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2015
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2014
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2013
      • UNRWA & Refugees 2012
  • Palestinian Education
    • Palestinian Education 2019 >
      • Palestinian Education 2018
      • Palestinian Education 2017
      • Palestinian Education 2016
      • Palestinian Education 2015
      • Palestinian Education 2014
      • Palestinian Education 2013
      • Palestinian Education 2012
  • Palestinian Economy
    • Palestinian Economy 2019 >
      • Palestinian Economy 2018
      • Palestinian Economy 2017
      • Palestinian Economy 2016
      • Palestinian Economy 2015
      • Palestinian Economy 2014
      • Palestinian Economy 2013
      • Palestinian Economy 2012
  • Palestinian water
    • Palestinian water 2019 >
      • Palestinian water 2018
      • Palestinian water 2017
      • Palestinian water 2016
      • Palestinian water 2015
      • Palestinian water 2014
      • Palestinian water 2013
      • Palestinian water 2012
  • Palestinian Gas
    • Palestinian Gas 2019 >
      • Palestinian Gas 2018
      • Palestinian Gas 2016/17
      • Palestinian Gas 2015
  • Internet
    • Internet 2019 >
      • Internet 2018
      • Internet 2017
      • Internet 2016
      • Internet 2015
      • Internet 2014
      • Internet 2013
      • Internet 2012
  • Fire in and across Palestine
    • Fire in and across Palestine 2019 >
      • Fire in and across Palestine 2018
      • Fire in and across Palestine 2017
      • Fire in and across Palestine 2016
      • Fire in and across Palestine 2015
      • Fire in and across Palestine 2014
      • Fire in and across Palestine 2013
  • Palestinian New Buildings
    • Palestinian New Buildings 2019 >
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2018
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2017
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2016
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2015
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2014
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2013
      • Palestinian New Buildings 2012
  • Boycott Israel
    • Boycott Israel 2019 >
      • Boycott Israel 2018
      • Boycott Israel 2017
      • Boycott Israel 2016
      • Boycott Israel 2015
      • Boycott Israel 2014
      • Boycott Israel 2013
      • Boycott Israel 2012
  • New Weapons
    • New Weapons 2019 >
      • New Weapons 2018
      • New Weapons 2017
      • New Weapons 2016
      • New Weapons 2015
      • New Weapons 2014
      • New Weapons 2013
  • Jews vs Zionism
    • Jews vs Zionism 2018 >
      • Jews vs Zionism 2017
      • Jews vs Zionism 2016
      • Jews vs Zionism 2015
      • Jews vs Zionism 2014
      • Jews vs Zionism 2013
      • Jews vs Zionism 2012
  • Breaking the Silence
    • Breaking the Silence
    • Breaking the Silence 2018
    • Breaking the Silence 2017
    • Breaking the Silence 2016
    • Breaking the Silence 2015
    • Breaking the Silence 2014
  • Church
    • Church 2019 >
      • Church 2018
      • Church 2017
      • Church 2016
      • Church 2015
      • Church 2014
      • Church 2013
      • Church 2012
  • US America
    • US America 2019 >
      • US America 2018
      • US America 2017
      • US America 2016
      • US America 2015
      • US America 2014
      • US America 2013
      • US-America 2012
  • Saudi Arabia
    • Saudi Arabia 2019 >
      • Saudi Arabia 2018
      • Saudi Arabia 2017
  • Syria
    • Syria 2019 >
      • Syria 2018
      • Syria 2017
      • Syria 2016
      • Syria 2015
      • Syria 2014
      • Syria 2013
      • Syria 2012 >
        • Syria 2012 nov
        • Syria 2012 oct
        • Syria 2012 sept
  • Egypt
    • Egypt 2019 >
      • Egypt 2018
      • Egypt 2017
      • Egypt 2016
      • Egypt 2015
      • Egypt 2014
      • Egypt 2013
  • Lebanon
    • Lebanon 2019 >
      • Lebanon 2018
      • Lebanon 2017
      • Lebanon 2016
      • Lebanon 2015
      • Lebanon 2014
      • Lebanon 2013
      • Lebanon 2012
  • Jordan
    • Jordan 2019 >
      • Jordan 2018
      • Jordan 2017
      • Jordan 2016
      • Jordan 2015
  • Iran
    • Iran 2019 >
      • Iran 2018
      • Iran 2017
      • Iran 2016
      • Iran 2015
      • Iran 2014
      • Iran 2013
      • Iran 2012
  • Iraq
    • Iraq 2019
  • Yemen
  • Turkey
    • Turkey 2019 >
      • Turkey 2018
      • Turkey 2017
      • Turkey 2016
      • Turkey 2015
      • Turkey 2014
      • Turkey 2013
      • Turkey 2012
  • Freedom Flotilla
    • Freedom Flotilla 2017-18 >
      • Freedom Flotilla 2016
      • Freedom Flotilla 2015
  • Mavi Marmara
    • Mavi Marmara 2015 >
      • Mavi Marmara 2014
      • Mavi Marmara 2013
      • Mavi Marmara 2012
      • Mavi Marmara 2011
  • UK-Britain
    • UK-Britain 2019 >
      • UK-Britain 2018
      • UK-Britain 2017
      • UK-Britain 2016
      • UK-Britain 2015
      • UK-Britain 2014
      • UK-Britain 2013
      • UK-Britain 2012
  • The Netherlands
    • The Netherlands 2018 >
      • The Netherlands 2017
      • The Netherlands 2016
      • The Netherlands 2015
      • The Netherlands 2014
      • The Netherlands 2013
      • The Netherlands 2012
  • Anti Semitism?
    • Anti Semitism? 2019 >
      • Anti Semitism? 2018
      • Anti Semitism? 2017
      • Anti Semitism? 2016
      • Anti Semitism? 2015
      • Anti Semitism? 2014
  • "Nice" Rabbis
    • "Nice" Rabbis 2019 >
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2018
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2017
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2016
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2015
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2014
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2013
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2012
      • "Nice" Rabbis 2009
  • Pictures/names of martyrs
26 dec 2018
Israeli occupation: More of the same in 2019
Picture
On 13 December, shortly after two Israeli soldiers had been shot dead outside an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, Yaakov Katz, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post tweeted the following: “They celebrate death and we celebrate life. That is the core of this conflict”.

Katz’s tweet encapsulated the dehumanization of Palestinians, and utter denial about the reality of occupation and colonialism, that is unfortunately all too common amongst Jewish Israelis.

The occupied and occupation

"Incitement", "brainwashing", "religious fervor", "extremism", "social media", "family problems" – variations on familiar refrains are trotted out, time and time again. Anything to avoid facing an equation familiar to every colonial power throughout history: The occupied always reject occupation.

It's doubtful whether Katz, or any of the other apartheid apologists, ever imagine what it must be like to be a Palestinian in the West Bank, to have so much of your life controlled by a soldier’s whim and a general’s decision. Your house? Demolished. Your child? Shot dead. Your colleague? Jailed.

Israeli politicians and "security" officials tell us that Palestinian youth are fed a diet of hatred and incitement – at schools, in mosques, and online. But Palestinian children do not need to be taught to hate when settlers attack them on their way to school, or when Israeli soldiers shoot their classmates, or when military judges jail their parents. Living under occupation is its own education – and it lasts a lifetime.

It is hard to understate the extent to which Israel’s colonial occupation degrades and brutalizes Palestinians. Their homes and properties can be taken. Their bodies can be tortured. Their lives can be extinguished. And all of the above with total impunity.

In its daily activities, the "Israel Defense Forces" is, first and foremost, above all else, a colonial army.

A military regime

According to former officers, “the number of soldiers the army needs to keep in the West Bank amounts to more than half, and occasionally two thirds, of its regular forces engaged in operational duties.” And 80 percent of those forces “are involved in direct protection of the settlements”.

Of the 14 Israelis killed by Palestinians this year, seven were uniformed soldiers, and seven were settlers – all were killed in the occupied Palestinian territory. According to Israeli authorities’ own figures, out of 330 “terrorist attacks” in October (a category that includes throwing Molotov cocktails at occupation forces), not a single one was “executed within the Green Line”.

Yet rather than draw the obvious conclusions from the above data – namely, that a military regime dedicated to protecting a settler population and apartheid system will necessarily engender a dynamic of revolt and repression – Israel only knows how to double down on occupation.

Over the second week of December, for example, many Israelis have complained that the army’s “deterrence has been lost”, with demands from politicians and settlers for fresh collective punishment policies.

These include further limits on freedom of movement for Palestinians, home demolitions, sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, and, in addition, a boost to the colonization of Palestinian land through settlement expansion and outpost authorization.

The only concern for Israeli authorities weighing up such options – especially the military and bodies like the Shin Bet – is an anxiety not to upset the "equilibrium" to which so many resources are dedicated: Enough repression to subdue resistance, but not enough to provoke a wider uprising.

2019: A wider revolt

Though Israeli analysts have fretted over a ‘spike’ in violence in the West Bank, the odds are currently stacked against an intifada.

As Mouin Rabbani wrote back in 2015, “observations that the Palestinians have not had it so bad since 1948 should reference not only the various indicators that would lead one to suggest another uprising is imminent, but also those factors that together conspire against renewed rebellion”.

The absence, in Rabbani’s words, of “an organisational infrastructure that can once again channel popular fury and mobilize, organize, and sustain a new Palestinian intifada”, remains.

Looking ahead to 2019, the next year promises more of the same. Israel will go to the polls in April, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not want to be outflanked to his right by Jewish Home; the settlers urging a crackdown on Palestinians may be granted their wish.

On the other hand, keen to avoid an election season dominated by a wave of Israeli casualties in the West Bank, Netanyahu will also be inclined to heed the warnings from army and intelligence officials regarding fueling a wider revolt.

The status quo is thus likely to prevail – barring, of course, an unexpected development – which means more occupation and periodic, but limited, escalations. And all the while, the Israeli government will assure us that there is no partner for peace, the Palestinians teach their children to hate, and that to even dare breath the word "apartheid" is nothing but an antisemitic lie.

- Ben White is the author of  Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide and Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy. He is a writer for Middle East Monitor. His article was published in the Middle East Eye.

23 dec 2018
Erdogan: Israeli PM heading 'state terror'
Picture
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said the Israeli prime minister is heading "state terror", responding to his tweet attacking the Turkish army.

Speaking at a mass opening ceremony in Istanbul's Arnavutkoy district, the Turkish President said: "Erdogan is the voice of oppressed and you [Benjamin Netanyahu] are the voice of oppressors. You are conducting state terror."

"Israel has no right to accuse anyone without accounting for its own sins, crimes against humanity, massacres and destruction," he said.

On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his Twitter account, attacked Turkish president over Turkey's counter-terror operation and Cyprus issues.

Social Media Giants Continue to Collaborate with Israel’s Illegal ‘Cyber Unit’
Picture
The State Attorney’s unit operates outside the law to censor Facebook & YouTube posts; 2017 saw 500% increase in posts censored as a result of Cyber Unit’s action.

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel continues to demand that Israel’s state attorney’s office shutter its “Cyber Unit” which – in collaboration with major social media outlets such as Facebook and YouTube – is illegally censoring user content.

Adalah sent an initial letter [pdf] on 2 August 2017 to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, State Attorney Shai Nitzan, and Cyber Unit director Haim Vismonsky demanding that they immediately cease the illegal operations of the state attorney’s Cyber Unit.

The state responded [pdf] on 11 November 2017, claiming that the unit operates in accordance with instructions from the attorney general and state attorney, according to an orderly work procedure. State authorities also noted that requests to remove content are made only when there is a public interest justifying such action, and that the activity of the unit stems from its statutory duty as an enforcement body to prevent the commission of criminal offenses. The state also noted that it not actually removing the posts but rather requesting that social media outlets take this action.

WHAT NOW?

In a follow-up letter issued to the same respondents on 21 November 2018 by Adalah Attorneys Rabea Eghbariah and Fady Khoury, Adalah stressed that the state’s response failed to address the constitutional and legal flaws inherent in the Cyber Unit’s activities.

The state attorney’s authority in such issues is limited to the possibility of retroactively appealing to the courts and bringing suspects to trial. The court is the only body authorized to determine whether a particular social media post constitutes a crime and to order punitive measures.

It is immaterial whether the removal of content is actually carried out voluntarily by a private body such as content providers. The Cyber Unit’s proactive approach constitutes a procedural act that must confirm to the principles of constitutional and administrative law.

Israel’s dramatic increase in online censorship in 2017, without any legal authorization and in violation of a series of basic principles in constitutional and administrative law, raises the real concern of a potential spillover of state censorship of protected publications.

ADALAH DEMANDS THAT ISRAEL’S CYBER UNIT:

Immediately cease submitting requests for the removal of social media content, since doing so violates fundamental principles of constitutional and administrative law;

Immediately transmit for our review a copy of the work procedure according to which the Cyber Unit submits requests for removal of content based on the public’s right to know.

WHAT IS THE CYBER UNIT?

The Cyber Unit began operation during the second half of 2015 and is responsible for “dealing with cyberspace enforcement challenges” via censorship of social media posts. This censorship – conducted in collaboration and coordination with social media outlets, including U.S.-based giants Facebook and YouTube – entails the removal of content added by users, restriction of access to certain websites, and outright blocking of users’ access to these sites.

The number of Cyber Unit requests to remove content skyrocketed in 2017.

Data provided by the unit revealed that in 2016 it submitted 2,241 content removal requests; of these, 1,554 were removed, and 162 were partially removed. In 2017, however, the Cyber Unit submitted 12,351 content removal requests – an increase of more than 500% percent; 85% of the requests ultimately led to the full removal of the concerned posts and another three percent led to partial removal.

Cyber Unit clerks and administrative officials decide for themselves, within the framework of an alternative enforcement system, if a certain instance of expression “is incitement to violence and terror, and support of a terror organization” or is a “forbidden publication towards public servants in the framework of their jobs.” However, Israel’s state attorney is usurping authority – reserved for the judicial branch – illegally and without any legal authorization. The Cyber Unit cannot impose sanctions based solely on suspicion.

Page:  13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.