3 aug 2015
by Gideon Levy
Israelis stab gay people and burn children. There isn’t a shred of slander, the slightest degree of exaggeration, in this dry description. True, these are the actions of a few.
True, too, that their numbers are increasing. It’s true that all of them – all the murderers, everyone who torches, who stabs, who uproots trees – are from the same political camp. But the opposing camp also shares the blame.
All those who thought that it would be possible to sustain islands of liberalism in the sea of Israeli fascism were shown up this weekend, once and for all. It’s simply not possible to cheer for the brigade commander who shoots a teenager, and then be shocked by the settlers who set a family on fire; to support gay rights, and hold a founding conference in Ariel; to be enlightened, and then pand+er to the right and seek to partner with it. Evil knows no bounds; it begins in one place and quickly spreads in every direction.
The first breeding ground of those who torched the Dawabsheh family was the Israel Defense Forces, even if the offenders didn’t serve in it. When the killing of 500 children in the Gaza Strip is legitimate, and doesn’t even compel a debate, a moral reckoning, then what’s so terrible about setting a house on fire, together with its inhabitants? After all, what’s the difference between lobbing a fire bomb and dropping a bomb? In terms of the intention, or the intent, there is no difference.
When the shooting of Palestinians becomes an almost daily occurrence – two more have already been killed since the family was burned: one in the West Bank, another on the border of the Gaza Strip – who are we to complain about the fire throwers in Duma? When the lives of Palestinians are officially the army’s for the taking, their blood cheap in the eyes of Israeli society, then settler militias are also permitted to kill them. When the IDF’s ethic in the Gaza Strip is that it is permitted to do anything in order to save one soldier, who are we to complain about right-wingers like Baruch Marzel, who told me this weekend it was permissible to kill thousands of Palestinians in order to protect a single hair from the head of a Jew. Such is the atmosphere, such is the result. Original responsibility for it goes to the IDF.
No less to blame, of course, are the governments and politicians who vie with each other over who can suck up the most to the settlers. Whoever gives them 300 new homes in exchange for their violence at the flagship settlement of Beit El is telling them not only that violence is permissible, but also that it pays. It is already hard to draw the line between throwing bags of urine at police officers and fire bombs into people’s homes.
Also to blame, of course, are the law enforcement authorities, starting with the Judea and Samaria District Police – the most ridiculous and scandalous of all police districts, and not by chance. Nine Palestinian homes were torched in the past three years, according to B’Tselem. How many people have been prosecuted? None. So what happened in Duma on Friday? The fire was simply better, in the eyes of the arsonists and their minions.
Their minions also include the silent, the forgiving and all those who think the evil will remain forever within the confines of the West Bank. Their minions also include the Israelis who are convinced that the People of Israel is the chosen people, and as a result is permitted to do anything – including torching the homes of non-Jews, with their inhabitants inside.
So, too, many of those who were shocked by the act, including figures who have visited the victims in Sheba Medical Center, outside Tel Aviv – the president, the prime minister, the opposition leader and their aides – imbibed the racist, infuriating “You have chosen us from all the peoples” with their mothers’ milk.
At the end of a terrible day, it is this that leads to the burning of families whom God did not choose. No principle in Israeli society is more destructive, or more dangerous, than this principle. Nor, unfortunately, more common. If you were to examine closely what is concealed beneath the skin of most Israelis, you would find: the chosen people. When that is a fundamental principle, the next torching is only a matter of time.
Their minions are everywhere, and most of them are now tsk-tsking and expressing dismay at what happened. But what occurred couldn’t have not happened; what happened was dictated by the needs of reality, the reality of Israel and its value system. What happened will happen again, and no one will be spared. We all torched the Dawabsheh family.
Published by Haaretz newspaper.
Israelis stab gay people and burn children. There isn’t a shred of slander, the slightest degree of exaggeration, in this dry description. True, these are the actions of a few.
True, too, that their numbers are increasing. It’s true that all of them – all the murderers, everyone who torches, who stabs, who uproots trees – are from the same political camp. But the opposing camp also shares the blame.
All those who thought that it would be possible to sustain islands of liberalism in the sea of Israeli fascism were shown up this weekend, once and for all. It’s simply not possible to cheer for the brigade commander who shoots a teenager, and then be shocked by the settlers who set a family on fire; to support gay rights, and hold a founding conference in Ariel; to be enlightened, and then pand+er to the right and seek to partner with it. Evil knows no bounds; it begins in one place and quickly spreads in every direction.
The first breeding ground of those who torched the Dawabsheh family was the Israel Defense Forces, even if the offenders didn’t serve in it. When the killing of 500 children in the Gaza Strip is legitimate, and doesn’t even compel a debate, a moral reckoning, then what’s so terrible about setting a house on fire, together with its inhabitants? After all, what’s the difference between lobbing a fire bomb and dropping a bomb? In terms of the intention, or the intent, there is no difference.
When the shooting of Palestinians becomes an almost daily occurrence – two more have already been killed since the family was burned: one in the West Bank, another on the border of the Gaza Strip – who are we to complain about the fire throwers in Duma? When the lives of Palestinians are officially the army’s for the taking, their blood cheap in the eyes of Israeli society, then settler militias are also permitted to kill them. When the IDF’s ethic in the Gaza Strip is that it is permitted to do anything in order to save one soldier, who are we to complain about right-wingers like Baruch Marzel, who told me this weekend it was permissible to kill thousands of Palestinians in order to protect a single hair from the head of a Jew. Such is the atmosphere, such is the result. Original responsibility for it goes to the IDF.
No less to blame, of course, are the governments and politicians who vie with each other over who can suck up the most to the settlers. Whoever gives them 300 new homes in exchange for their violence at the flagship settlement of Beit El is telling them not only that violence is permissible, but also that it pays. It is already hard to draw the line between throwing bags of urine at police officers and fire bombs into people’s homes.
Also to blame, of course, are the law enforcement authorities, starting with the Judea and Samaria District Police – the most ridiculous and scandalous of all police districts, and not by chance. Nine Palestinian homes were torched in the past three years, according to B’Tselem. How many people have been prosecuted? None. So what happened in Duma on Friday? The fire was simply better, in the eyes of the arsonists and their minions.
Their minions also include the silent, the forgiving and all those who think the evil will remain forever within the confines of the West Bank. Their minions also include the Israelis who are convinced that the People of Israel is the chosen people, and as a result is permitted to do anything – including torching the homes of non-Jews, with their inhabitants inside.
So, too, many of those who were shocked by the act, including figures who have visited the victims in Sheba Medical Center, outside Tel Aviv – the president, the prime minister, the opposition leader and their aides – imbibed the racist, infuriating “You have chosen us from all the peoples” with their mothers’ milk.
At the end of a terrible day, it is this that leads to the burning of families whom God did not choose. No principle in Israeli society is more destructive, or more dangerous, than this principle. Nor, unfortunately, more common. If you were to examine closely what is concealed beneath the skin of most Israelis, you would find: the chosen people. When that is a fundamental principle, the next torching is only a matter of time.
Their minions are everywhere, and most of them are now tsk-tsking and expressing dismay at what happened. But what occurred couldn’t have not happened; what happened was dictated by the needs of reality, the reality of Israel and its value system. What happened will happen again, and no one will be spared. We all torched the Dawabsheh family.
Published by Haaretz newspaper.
14 july 2015
A rally was staged by CODEPINK and Jewish Voice for Peace organizations in protest at Israel’s violation of Palestinians’ rights and aggression on Gaza.
The rally-goers protested outside of the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) National Summit.
For far too long, CUFI had influenced American foreign policy to support Israel’s extreme violations of Palestinian human rights.
The protesters lifted Palestinian flags and banners reading “Free Palestine”; “End the occupation of Palestine” and “Netanyahu is a war criminal.”
The demonstrators paid tribute to the souls of the Palestinian civilians who were murdered in last summer’s Israeli offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Spokesperson for the rally slammed the Israeli occupation for committing horrendous crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly, but not exclusively, in besieged Gaza.
The rally-goers protested outside of the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) National Summit.
For far too long, CUFI had influenced American foreign policy to support Israel’s extreme violations of Palestinian human rights.
The protesters lifted Palestinian flags and banners reading “Free Palestine”; “End the occupation of Palestine” and “Netanyahu is a war criminal.”
The demonstrators paid tribute to the souls of the Palestinian civilians who were murdered in last summer’s Israeli offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Spokesperson for the rally slammed the Israeli occupation for committing horrendous crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly, but not exclusively, in besieged Gaza.
8 july 2015
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28 may 2015
File photo of the 'Rafah Collective' - a Gaza based football club during a training session
Tomorrow, FIFA will come to a decision on whether they will suspend Israel's football association after the Palestinian Football Federation filed a complaint on Israeli abuse towards Palestinian footballers. For years, Palestinian footballers have been subject to physical harassment, including beatings, detentions and chanting racist abuse in football matches. Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) has joined Palestinians and Israeli peace groups to support the suspension of Israel's football association. They reiterated the need to bring justice to the many Palestinian players that have had their passion for football demonised by the fascist sentiments in Israeli football, along with their previous activism in regards to the issue.
The head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter met an IJV activist, Jeff Halper who briefed Blatter on some of the abuses Palestinians have received which include Palestinian players being detained by the Israeli government on the way to matches and denying entry to players from Gaza meeting their colleagues in the West Bank. Israeli fans have also been taking part in this abuse, with shooting two teenage Palestinian players in the leg and even a whole team, Beitar Jerusalem that denies any Palestinian players, while their fans ritually abuse Palestinian players on other teams chant "death to Arabs" in matches.
Below is the full text of issues IJV briefed Sepp Blatter on:
Tomorrow, FIFA will come to a decision on whether they will suspend Israel's football association after the Palestinian Football Federation filed a complaint on Israeli abuse towards Palestinian footballers. For years, Palestinian footballers have been subject to physical harassment, including beatings, detentions and chanting racist abuse in football matches. Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) has joined Palestinians and Israeli peace groups to support the suspension of Israel's football association. They reiterated the need to bring justice to the many Palestinian players that have had their passion for football demonised by the fascist sentiments in Israeli football, along with their previous activism in regards to the issue.
The head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter met an IJV activist, Jeff Halper who briefed Blatter on some of the abuses Palestinians have received which include Palestinian players being detained by the Israeli government on the way to matches and denying entry to players from Gaza meeting their colleagues in the West Bank. Israeli fans have also been taking part in this abuse, with shooting two teenage Palestinian players in the leg and even a whole team, Beitar Jerusalem that denies any Palestinian players, while their fans ritually abuse Palestinian players on other teams chant "death to Arabs" in matches.
Below is the full text of issues IJV briefed Sepp Blatter on:
- The Israeli government has regularly detained members of the Palestinian team from traveling to international bouts. Last week, not hours after Israeli leaders promised Blatter to facilitate travel, they detained a leading player, Sameh Maraabah.
- The Israeli Football Association has refused to take even the smallest steps to curb racism in Israeli football. The most egregious behaviour is by the team Beitar Jerusalem, which has an open policy of not hiring Arab or Muslim players, even from abroad. Its fans are sadistic and insulting to Palestinian players on other teams and regularly chant "Death to Arabs" after Beitar goals.
- The Israeli government regularly prevents players from Gaza from joining team-mates on the West Bank, and has deliberately jailed others, holding one player incommunicado and without charges or trial for three years.
- Two teenaged Palestinian players were shot in the legs and feet by the Israeli Defence Forces, a particularly targeted punishment for soccer players. Needless to say, they will never play serious soccer again.
- Three team members were killed in the 2012 Operation Cast Lead and the team's soccer stadium in Rafah, Gaza and the federation's headquarters were bombed during that incursion.
- A teenaged Palestinian soccer star, Mohammed al-Qatari received an IDF bullet straight to the chest while protesting Israel's last war in Gaza.
19 may 2015
In an interview with the Gaza-based Alresalah Newspaper, the Jewish professor Norman G. Finkelstein said that "Hamas has generally put forth reasonable goals, but it relies exclusively on armed struggle."
He declared his total support to mass nonviolent resistance, such as organizing a huge demonstration, coordinated with the international solidarity movement, to pass through the Erez checkpoint.
Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. He currently teaches at Sakarya University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkey. Finkelstein is the author of ten books that have been translated into 50 foreign editions.
The Palestinians must, according to him, take advantage of their biggest external asset: the huge reservoir of support they have around the world.
Speaking about the improvement in Hamas-Europe relations, Finkelstein said that it is a difficult process, because of the hostility toward, and fear of, Islam in Europe. However, as he said, if Hamas articulates reasonable goals, and engages in mass nonviolent civil resistance, and if it coordinates its efforts with the international solidarity movement, it could perhaps win over a lot of European public opinion to the Palestinian cause.
Regarding the peace process resumption, he stated that "there has never been a peace process. There is an annexation process that uses the “peace process” as camouflage."
The current phase of the “peace process” began with the Oslo agreement in 1993. At the time, there were 250,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories. Two decades later, there are more than 550,000 settlers.
That captures the essence of the “peace process”—its purpose was to facilitate Israel’s absorption of the West Bank, he continued.
Professor Finkelstein strongly criticized both Egypt and Saudi Arabia's support to Israel during Gaza aggression.
The Arab League met only once, and effectively supported the pro-Israel ceasefire proposal put forth by al-Sisi, he pointed out.
"At the popular level—whether it be Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain—the various Arab peoples are now preoccupied with their own domestic catastrophes. The Palestine cause no longer commands the moral authority it once enjoyed."
According to Finkelstein, the US hopes to use Egypt, Jordan, and the PA to squeeze the Palestinian people in submission, while al-Sisi is more interested in an alliance with Israel.
Speaking about PA role, he said that the PA is any longer committed at this point to ending the occupation. On 13 September 1993, the Palestinian Authority, he continued, ceased to be a resistance movement and became an agent of the occupation.
"The PA recruited a mercenary army by offering poor Palestinians in refugee camps a relatively privileged life of a job and a car if they agreed to arrest and torture other Palestinians for Israel."
The international community sucked all the talent out of the Palestinian community by creating NGOs in Ramallah that produce worthless reports during the day on the Palestinian economy (Palestine does not have an economy; it survives on charity), and enjoy Ramallah’s restaurants and entertainment at night, he concluded.
He declared his total support to mass nonviolent resistance, such as organizing a huge demonstration, coordinated with the international solidarity movement, to pass through the Erez checkpoint.
Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. He currently teaches at Sakarya University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkey. Finkelstein is the author of ten books that have been translated into 50 foreign editions.
The Palestinians must, according to him, take advantage of their biggest external asset: the huge reservoir of support they have around the world.
Speaking about the improvement in Hamas-Europe relations, Finkelstein said that it is a difficult process, because of the hostility toward, and fear of, Islam in Europe. However, as he said, if Hamas articulates reasonable goals, and engages in mass nonviolent civil resistance, and if it coordinates its efforts with the international solidarity movement, it could perhaps win over a lot of European public opinion to the Palestinian cause.
Regarding the peace process resumption, he stated that "there has never been a peace process. There is an annexation process that uses the “peace process” as camouflage."
The current phase of the “peace process” began with the Oslo agreement in 1993. At the time, there were 250,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories. Two decades later, there are more than 550,000 settlers.
That captures the essence of the “peace process”—its purpose was to facilitate Israel’s absorption of the West Bank, he continued.
Professor Finkelstein strongly criticized both Egypt and Saudi Arabia's support to Israel during Gaza aggression.
The Arab League met only once, and effectively supported the pro-Israel ceasefire proposal put forth by al-Sisi, he pointed out.
"At the popular level—whether it be Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain—the various Arab peoples are now preoccupied with their own domestic catastrophes. The Palestine cause no longer commands the moral authority it once enjoyed."
According to Finkelstein, the US hopes to use Egypt, Jordan, and the PA to squeeze the Palestinian people in submission, while al-Sisi is more interested in an alliance with Israel.
Speaking about PA role, he said that the PA is any longer committed at this point to ending the occupation. On 13 September 1993, the Palestinian Authority, he continued, ceased to be a resistance movement and became an agent of the occupation.
"The PA recruited a mercenary army by offering poor Palestinians in refugee camps a relatively privileged life of a job and a car if they agreed to arrest and torture other Palestinians for Israel."
The international community sucked all the talent out of the Palestinian community by creating NGOs in Ramallah that produce worthless reports during the day on the Palestinian economy (Palestine does not have an economy; it survives on charity), and enjoy Ramallah’s restaurants and entertainment at night, he concluded.
4 may 2015
Breaking the Silence, an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers, harshly slammed the Israeli army for its operational policy during last summer’s aggression on Gaza, saying it led to “immense and unprecedented harm to the civilian population and infrastructures in the Gaza Strip,” Monday reported the Israeli daily Haaretz.
According to WAFA, the organization’s report, which contained testimonies of 60 Israeli soldiers and officers who fought in Gaza last summer, said the testimonies “are indicative of a general principle that governed the entire military operation: minimum risk to the Israeli forces, even if it meant civilian casualties.”
The group said that the army adopted a principle that “anyone found in an IDF area, which the IDF had occupied, was not a civilian. That was the assumption,” one of the soldiers told Breaking the Silence.
An infantry soldier said also any home which Israeli forces entered and used would be destroyed afterward by large D9 bulldozers. “At no point until the end of the operation … did anyone tell us what the operational usefulness was in exposing the houses,” he was quoted by Haaretz.
“During a conversation, the unit commanders explained that it wasn’t an act of revenge. At a certain point we realized this was a trend. You leave a house and there’s no longer a house. The D9 comes and exposes it.”
Another soldier said, “There was one senior commander who really loved the D9 and was really in favor of flattening; he worked a lot with them. Let’s just say that anytime he was in a certain place, all the infrastructures around the building were totally destroyed – nearly every house had a shell in it.”
Another infantry soldier also recalled an incident in which a force identified two suspicious figures walking in an orchard, only a few hundred meters away. The lookouts couldn’t immediately identify them, so a drone was sent up to take a look. It was two women walking through the orchard, talking on cell phones. “The aircraft took aim at these women and killed them,” he said.
According to the soldier, reports Haaretz, the fact that the women were carrying only cell phones was reported to the battalion commander. “Despite this, in the reports written afterward, the women were classified as terrorists – lookouts who were operating in the area.” “[The tank commander] left and we moved on. They were counted as terrorists. They were shot, so it’s clear they were terrorists,” he said.
Haaretz revealed other reports of shooting at civilians. A woman who was clearly unstable and posed no threat was reportedly ordered by the battalion commander to walk westward, toward an area where tanks were stationed. When the woman approached the tank force, she was machine-gunned to death.
Another soldier who fought in northern Gaza spoke of an old man being shot when he approached a force one afternoon. Previously, the forces had been briefed to look out for an older man who might be carrying grenades. “The guy who was in the [guard] position – I don’t know what came over him; he saw a civilian, shot him, and didn’t hit him so well. The civilian was lying there writhing in pain,” the soldier said.
Meanwhile, an Armored Corps soldier said that after the death of a fellow platoon member, the platoon commander announced they would fire a volley of shells in his memory. “Fire like they do at funerals, but with shells and at houses. It wasn’t [firing] in the air. You just chose [where to fire]. The tank commander said, ‘Choose the house that’s furthest away, it will hurt them the most.’ It was a type of revenge,” he said.
Another Armored Corps soldier said that after three weeks of fighting, a competition developed between the members of his unit – who could succeed in hitting moving vehicles on a road that carried cars, trucks and even ambulances.
“So I found a vehicle, a taxi, and I tried to shell it but missed,” he recalled. “Two more vehicles came, and I tried another shell or two, but couldn’t do it. Then the commander came and said, ‘Yallah [which means come on], stop it, you’re using up all the shells. Cut it out.’ So we moved to the heavy machine gun,” he added.
He said he understood he was firing at civilians. Asked about it, he said, “I think, deep inside, it bothered me a little. But after three weeks in Gaza, when you’re firing at everything that moves, and even things that don’t move, at a psychotic pace, you don’t really … good and bad get a little mixed up and your morality starts to get lost and you lose your compass. And it becomes like a computer game. Really, really cool and real.”
See also: Special UN Report: 2014 Israeli Assault on Gaza Hit 7 UNRWA Schools
DCI-Palestine: Israel Willfully Targeted & Murdered Gaza Children
AP Investigation: 89% of "Protective Edge" Victims Were Civilians
VIDEO: Gaza City's Devastated Al-Shuja'eyya Suburb
According to WAFA, the organization’s report, which contained testimonies of 60 Israeli soldiers and officers who fought in Gaza last summer, said the testimonies “are indicative of a general principle that governed the entire military operation: minimum risk to the Israeli forces, even if it meant civilian casualties.”
The group said that the army adopted a principle that “anyone found in an IDF area, which the IDF had occupied, was not a civilian. That was the assumption,” one of the soldiers told Breaking the Silence.
An infantry soldier said also any home which Israeli forces entered and used would be destroyed afterward by large D9 bulldozers. “At no point until the end of the operation … did anyone tell us what the operational usefulness was in exposing the houses,” he was quoted by Haaretz.
“During a conversation, the unit commanders explained that it wasn’t an act of revenge. At a certain point we realized this was a trend. You leave a house and there’s no longer a house. The D9 comes and exposes it.”
Another soldier said, “There was one senior commander who really loved the D9 and was really in favor of flattening; he worked a lot with them. Let’s just say that anytime he was in a certain place, all the infrastructures around the building were totally destroyed – nearly every house had a shell in it.”
Another infantry soldier also recalled an incident in which a force identified two suspicious figures walking in an orchard, only a few hundred meters away. The lookouts couldn’t immediately identify them, so a drone was sent up to take a look. It was two women walking through the orchard, talking on cell phones. “The aircraft took aim at these women and killed them,” he said.
According to the soldier, reports Haaretz, the fact that the women were carrying only cell phones was reported to the battalion commander. “Despite this, in the reports written afterward, the women were classified as terrorists – lookouts who were operating in the area.” “[The tank commander] left and we moved on. They were counted as terrorists. They were shot, so it’s clear they were terrorists,” he said.
Haaretz revealed other reports of shooting at civilians. A woman who was clearly unstable and posed no threat was reportedly ordered by the battalion commander to walk westward, toward an area where tanks were stationed. When the woman approached the tank force, she was machine-gunned to death.
Another soldier who fought in northern Gaza spoke of an old man being shot when he approached a force one afternoon. Previously, the forces had been briefed to look out for an older man who might be carrying grenades. “The guy who was in the [guard] position – I don’t know what came over him; he saw a civilian, shot him, and didn’t hit him so well. The civilian was lying there writhing in pain,” the soldier said.
Meanwhile, an Armored Corps soldier said that after the death of a fellow platoon member, the platoon commander announced they would fire a volley of shells in his memory. “Fire like they do at funerals, but with shells and at houses. It wasn’t [firing] in the air. You just chose [where to fire]. The tank commander said, ‘Choose the house that’s furthest away, it will hurt them the most.’ It was a type of revenge,” he said.
Another Armored Corps soldier said that after three weeks of fighting, a competition developed between the members of his unit – who could succeed in hitting moving vehicles on a road that carried cars, trucks and even ambulances.
“So I found a vehicle, a taxi, and I tried to shell it but missed,” he recalled. “Two more vehicles came, and I tried another shell or two, but couldn’t do it. Then the commander came and said, ‘Yallah [which means come on], stop it, you’re using up all the shells. Cut it out.’ So we moved to the heavy machine gun,” he added.
He said he understood he was firing at civilians. Asked about it, he said, “I think, deep inside, it bothered me a little. But after three weeks in Gaza, when you’re firing at everything that moves, and even things that don’t move, at a psychotic pace, you don’t really … good and bad get a little mixed up and your morality starts to get lost and you lose your compass. And it becomes like a computer game. Really, really cool and real.”
See also: Special UN Report: 2014 Israeli Assault on Gaza Hit 7 UNRWA Schools
DCI-Palestine: Israel Willfully Targeted & Murdered Gaza Children
AP Investigation: 89% of "Protective Edge" Victims Were Civilians
VIDEO: Gaza City's Devastated Al-Shuja'eyya Suburb
8 mar 2015
Women in Black, a Jewish non-governmental organization, on Saturday staged a sit-in in the Austrian capital Vienna condemning the Israeli Separation Wall in the West Bank and Israel's apartheid policy against the Palestinian people.
The sit-in is part of activities of the annual Israel Apartheid Week which started on March 1 and ends today Sunday, March 8.
The participants lifted banners slamming Israel's apartheid policy and demanding an end to the construction of the Separation Wall, according to Anadolu news agency.
The participants also distributed brochures to raise awareness of the Palestinian cause in general and the Israeli apartheid policy in particular.
For his part, Samuel Felber, 52, member of The Jewish Voice, a non-governmental anti-Zionism organization, said that he ran away from Israel to Austria because he “refused to serve in the Israeli army and kill unarmed Palestinians”.
He also pointed to the Israeli apartheid policy including establishing checkpoints and enforcing military laws against Palestinian civilians while enforcing civilian laws on settlers, residing in occupied lands; let alone the Apartheid Wall.
Israel started to build the Wall in 2002 to separate the West Bank from 1948 Palestinian lands under the pretext of preventing Palestinian attacks in these areas during al-Aqsa intifada (uprising) in 2000.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2005 that the Wall is "illegitimate".
The Israel Apartheid Week was first launched in February 2005 in Toronto University in Canada by a group of students in coordination with pro-Palestinian activists, and after the huge success in attracting the attention of local and international media, the events started to spread throughout the globe and now 250 cities participate in this week on annual basis.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistic more than 50,000 Jerusalemites are deprived from living in Occupied Jerusalem and are isolated in the West Bank on the other side of the Wall.
The sit-in is part of activities of the annual Israel Apartheid Week which started on March 1 and ends today Sunday, March 8.
The participants lifted banners slamming Israel's apartheid policy and demanding an end to the construction of the Separation Wall, according to Anadolu news agency.
The participants also distributed brochures to raise awareness of the Palestinian cause in general and the Israeli apartheid policy in particular.
For his part, Samuel Felber, 52, member of The Jewish Voice, a non-governmental anti-Zionism organization, said that he ran away from Israel to Austria because he “refused to serve in the Israeli army and kill unarmed Palestinians”.
He also pointed to the Israeli apartheid policy including establishing checkpoints and enforcing military laws against Palestinian civilians while enforcing civilian laws on settlers, residing in occupied lands; let alone the Apartheid Wall.
Israel started to build the Wall in 2002 to separate the West Bank from 1948 Palestinian lands under the pretext of preventing Palestinian attacks in these areas during al-Aqsa intifada (uprising) in 2000.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2005 that the Wall is "illegitimate".
The Israel Apartheid Week was first launched in February 2005 in Toronto University in Canada by a group of students in coordination with pro-Palestinian activists, and after the huge success in attracting the attention of local and international media, the events started to spread throughout the globe and now 250 cities participate in this week on annual basis.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistic more than 50,000 Jerusalemites are deprived from living in Occupied Jerusalem and are isolated in the West Bank on the other side of the Wall.
8 feb 2015
Hundreds of rabbis from the four corners of the world have slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for acting against the international law.
Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) submitted an open letter by as many as 400 rabbis from across the world to the Israeli premier, criticizing his policies toward Palestinians.
The rabbis called on Netanyahu to halt razing to the ground Palestinian homes in the occupied territories, saying that Netanyahu’s policies toward Palestinians are in contradiction to “international law.”
“Thousands have been forced to build without permits, and great human suffering is caused when hundreds of homes are demolished each year,” the letter stated.
It was in reaction to Netanyahu’s recent decision to destroy some 400 newly-built Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank.
The move by the Israeli premier came after the British newspaper Daily Mail in a report alleged that the European Union had funded the construction of the homes, according to Israeli media.
Tel Aviv claims that the EU should have asked for its permit for the construction.
On February 6, a spokesman for the EU, whose name was not mentioned in the reports, defended its funding for the Palestinian homes.
In addition, Shadi Othman, a communications officer at the Office of the European Union Representative in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, told the Daily Mail a day earlier that the project “is part of the work done to build the future Palestinian state.”
“Palestinians have a right to live there, build schools there, have economic development,” Othman added.
On January 23, James W. Rawley, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator, voiced concern over Israel’s recent spate of demolitions in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
“Some of the demolished structures were provided by the international community to support vulnerable families. Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel’s obligations under international law,” Rawley added.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently announced that in 2014, “according to OCHA figures, the Israeli authorities destroyed 590 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C (in the West Bank) and East Jerusalem, displacing 1,177 people -- the highest level of displacement in the West Bank since the OCHA began systematically monitoring the issue in 2008.”
Israel’s settlement policy
The developments come amid widespread global condemnation of Israel’s land grab policies. Tel Aviv has approved a series of plans for new settler units in East al-Quds in recent months.
The European Union has often criticized Israel for building thousands of settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Upward of half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds, in 1967.
The Israeli settlements are considered to be illegal by much of the international community because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) submitted an open letter by as many as 400 rabbis from across the world to the Israeli premier, criticizing his policies toward Palestinians.
The rabbis called on Netanyahu to halt razing to the ground Palestinian homes in the occupied territories, saying that Netanyahu’s policies toward Palestinians are in contradiction to “international law.”
“Thousands have been forced to build without permits, and great human suffering is caused when hundreds of homes are demolished each year,” the letter stated.
It was in reaction to Netanyahu’s recent decision to destroy some 400 newly-built Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank.
The move by the Israeli premier came after the British newspaper Daily Mail in a report alleged that the European Union had funded the construction of the homes, according to Israeli media.
Tel Aviv claims that the EU should have asked for its permit for the construction.
On February 6, a spokesman for the EU, whose name was not mentioned in the reports, defended its funding for the Palestinian homes.
In addition, Shadi Othman, a communications officer at the Office of the European Union Representative in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, told the Daily Mail a day earlier that the project “is part of the work done to build the future Palestinian state.”
“Palestinians have a right to live there, build schools there, have economic development,” Othman added.
On January 23, James W. Rawley, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator, voiced concern over Israel’s recent spate of demolitions in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
“Some of the demolished structures were provided by the international community to support vulnerable families. Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel’s obligations under international law,” Rawley added.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently announced that in 2014, “according to OCHA figures, the Israeli authorities destroyed 590 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C (in the West Bank) and East Jerusalem, displacing 1,177 people -- the highest level of displacement in the West Bank since the OCHA began systematically monitoring the issue in 2008.”
Israel’s settlement policy
The developments come amid widespread global condemnation of Israel’s land grab policies. Tel Aviv has approved a series of plans for new settler units in East al-Quds in recent months.
The European Union has often criticized Israel for building thousands of settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Upward of half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds, in 1967.
The Israeli settlements are considered to be illegal by much of the international community because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
27 jan 2015
The Israeli military has dismissed 43 soldiers for publicly criticizing the Tel Aviv regime’s crimes against Palestinians.
Press TV reports, via Al Ray, that the 43 male and female reserve soldiers, who were members of the Israeli army’s spying unit, were fired on Monday after they refused to “continue serving the system which affects the rights of millions of people.”
In a letter published by Israeli media in September of 2014, the soldiers wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top army chiefs that they could no longer serve in the unit because they did not want to participate in the injustices committed against Palestinians.
The signatories also criticized the “political persecution” which their spying activities involved. The letter was reportedly written a few weeks after Israel’s devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip, this past summer.
Press TV reports, via Al Ray, that the 43 male and female reserve soldiers, who were members of the Israeli army’s spying unit, were fired on Monday after they refused to “continue serving the system which affects the rights of millions of people.”
In a letter published by Israeli media in September of 2014, the soldiers wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top army chiefs that they could no longer serve in the unit because they did not want to participate in the injustices committed against Palestinians.
The signatories also criticized the “political persecution” which their spying activities involved. The letter was reportedly written a few weeks after Israel’s devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip, this past summer.
18 jan 2015
Picture from protest
A protest this week in New York City was accompanied by the submission of a petition to the New York City Council demanding that the Council cancel an upcoming all-expense-paid hasbara trip to Israel, funded by the deep-pocketed political advocacy groups 'Jewish Community Relations Council' and 'United Jewish Appeal'.
The City Council of New York is considered one of the most progressive in the country, having publicly taken a stand against the targeting of mosques by law enforcement throughout the city, and urging tolerance instead of Islamophobia.
But over a dozen members of the City Council have accepted all-expense-paid trips to Israel beginning February 15th, sponsored by Zionist organizations, whose stated purpose is to bring international visitors, particularly US politicians, to Israel in order to "see things from an Israeli perspective". These trips are considered 'hasbara', which is the Hebrew for public relations, and is often referred to by anti-apartheid activists as a type of Zionist propaganda that whitewashes and downplays the Israeli occupation and takeover of Palestinian land.
Representatives of the forty community groups that signed on to the petition gathered in the freezing cold outside New York's City Council to deliver their message this week. The protest was led by Jewish Voice for Peace, and included representatives from the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Direct Action Front for Palestine, and Jews Against Islamophobia.
The City Council members who have been identified as accepting the free hasbara trips to Israel are Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Mark Treyger, Brad Lander, Antonio Reynoso, David Greenfield, Rafael Espinal, Darlene Mealy, Mark Levine, Helen Rosenthal, Corey Johnson, Ritchie Torres, Andrew Cohen, Donovan Richards, Eric Ulrich, and James Van Bramer.
Almost a year ago, in February 2014, the Mondoweiss blog exposed the JCRC as being behind anti-boycott legislation in the New York and other state legislatures, as well as leading the opposition to a boycott of Israeli goods by a coop grocery store in Brooklyn. The legislation in question has targeted academic organizations, like the American Studies Association, who have taken a stand in support of the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement. The legislation has been passed in several states, and it strips the organizations of their funding and status.
The Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement is an international movement aimed at pressuring Israel economically to end its occupation of Palestinian land, and allow for equal rights for all people living in the land of historic Palestine, as well as calling on Israel to adhere to international law and signed treaties and conventions.
David Galarza, a Puerto Rican activist, spome at the rally in the freezing rain, and, according to Mondoweiss, "likened the four boys killed on the beach in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge to the four girls who died in the bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama; where, he wondered, was Charlie Hebdo-style solidarity in the case of the murdered Baker children? Photographs of the two bombings [Gaza beach and Birmingham church] were held up as Galarza declared his identification with the eight victims, alternating Palestinian and African-American names."
A protest this week in New York City was accompanied by the submission of a petition to the New York City Council demanding that the Council cancel an upcoming all-expense-paid hasbara trip to Israel, funded by the deep-pocketed political advocacy groups 'Jewish Community Relations Council' and 'United Jewish Appeal'.
The City Council of New York is considered one of the most progressive in the country, having publicly taken a stand against the targeting of mosques by law enforcement throughout the city, and urging tolerance instead of Islamophobia.
But over a dozen members of the City Council have accepted all-expense-paid trips to Israel beginning February 15th, sponsored by Zionist organizations, whose stated purpose is to bring international visitors, particularly US politicians, to Israel in order to "see things from an Israeli perspective". These trips are considered 'hasbara', which is the Hebrew for public relations, and is often referred to by anti-apartheid activists as a type of Zionist propaganda that whitewashes and downplays the Israeli occupation and takeover of Palestinian land.
Representatives of the forty community groups that signed on to the petition gathered in the freezing cold outside New York's City Council to deliver their message this week. The protest was led by Jewish Voice for Peace, and included representatives from the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Direct Action Front for Palestine, and Jews Against Islamophobia.
The City Council members who have been identified as accepting the free hasbara trips to Israel are Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Mark Treyger, Brad Lander, Antonio Reynoso, David Greenfield, Rafael Espinal, Darlene Mealy, Mark Levine, Helen Rosenthal, Corey Johnson, Ritchie Torres, Andrew Cohen, Donovan Richards, Eric Ulrich, and James Van Bramer.
Almost a year ago, in February 2014, the Mondoweiss blog exposed the JCRC as being behind anti-boycott legislation in the New York and other state legislatures, as well as leading the opposition to a boycott of Israeli goods by a coop grocery store in Brooklyn. The legislation in question has targeted academic organizations, like the American Studies Association, who have taken a stand in support of the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement. The legislation has been passed in several states, and it strips the organizations of their funding and status.
The Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement is an international movement aimed at pressuring Israel economically to end its occupation of Palestinian land, and allow for equal rights for all people living in the land of historic Palestine, as well as calling on Israel to adhere to international law and signed treaties and conventions.
David Galarza, a Puerto Rican activist, spome at the rally in the freezing rain, and, according to Mondoweiss, "likened the four boys killed on the beach in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge to the four girls who died in the bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama; where, he wondered, was Charlie Hebdo-style solidarity in the case of the murdered Baker children? Photographs of the two bombings [Gaza beach and Birmingham church] were held up as Galarza declared his identification with the eight victims, alternating Palestinian and African-American names."
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