29 oct 2014
The White House is in damage control after an anonymous Obama administration official was quoted in the Atlantic calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "chickenshit," while a second told the magazine that the Israeli leader was a "coward" when it came to Iran.
"Certainly the comments in the article do not represent the administration's view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counter-productive," Alistair Baskey, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.
According to congressional sources, White House officials are reaching out to key lawmakers who deal with the U.S-Israel relationship to deny that the bruising quote came from the White House -- leaving the explicit suggestion that a State Department official was responsible for the remark. White House officials told lawmakers that press secretary Josh Earnest would denounce the quote at today's daily briefing.
"They're reaching out to us and letting us know that they're outraged," a House aide told Foreign Policy. Another congressional aide said officials attempted to "make clear that the quote didn't come from the White House and that White House officials weren't happy about it."
Denying involvement, a State Department official said, "That quote did not come from any senior State Department official, period."
The flap began after the Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg quoted an anonymous U.S. official saying Netanyahu is a "chickenshit" prime minister, whose only concern is his political survival.
"The good thing about Netanyahu is that he's scared to launch wars," the official said. "The bad thing about him is that he won't do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he's interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He's not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he's not [Ariel] Sharon, he's certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He's got no guts." The other official told Goldberg that the Obama administration doesn't take Netanyahu's threat of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities seriously.
The remarks reflect the latest turbulence in the U.S.-Israel relationship following the high-profile snubbing of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon last week -- a move prompted by the minister's blistering public criticisms of the Obama administration's efforts to forge peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Baskey added that despite the "extremely close" relationship between the U.S. and Israel, the two sides do not agree on every issue. "For instance, we have repeatedly made clear the United States' longstanding view that settlement activity is illegitimate and complicates efforts to achieve a two-state solution," Baskey said.
Goldberg's article prompted a defiant response from the Israeli prime minister's office on Wednesday. "Netanyahu will continue to uphold the security interests of Israel and the historical rights of the Jewish people in Jerusalem, and no amount of pressure will change that," the office said.
In a sign of how urgently the administration has sought to put out this fire, congressional aides said White House officials didn't even wait for a response from the Hill before trying to do pre-emptive damage control. "Sometimes there are conflicts and we have to reach out to them. They're reaching out to us on this to totally disown it," said the aide. "They're trying to control the narrative."
Passing blame for the quote onto officials at the State Department could be difficult given the White House's tight rapport with Goldberg, who has been granted broad access to the Oval Office and multiple exclusive interviews with the president.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki denounced the remarks. "We think such comments are inappropriate and counterproductive. I spoke with [Secretary of State John Kerry] about this this morning and he certainly feels strongly that a war of words is not productive from either side."
Coming just days before the midterm elections, Republicans seized on the comments. "He either condones the profanity and disrespect used by the most senior members of his administration, or he does not," said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "It is time for him to get his house in order and tell the people that can't muster professionalism that it is time to move on."
Meanwhile, the dovish pro-Israel group J Street defended the spirit of the anonymous official's remarks. "Sometimes when a friend sees a friend go off on the wrong path, there is a duty to sound a warning," said Alan Elsner, vice president of communications for the group. "Netanyahu, for narrow political reasons, has thrown in his lot with the settler movement and is leading the country in a disastrous direction which alienates Israel from its friends and supporters across the world, puts more and more obstacles in the path to a two-state solution, and will ultimately threaten Israel's democracy."
"Certainly the comments in the article do not represent the administration's view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counter-productive," Alistair Baskey, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.
According to congressional sources, White House officials are reaching out to key lawmakers who deal with the U.S-Israel relationship to deny that the bruising quote came from the White House -- leaving the explicit suggestion that a State Department official was responsible for the remark. White House officials told lawmakers that press secretary Josh Earnest would denounce the quote at today's daily briefing.
"They're reaching out to us and letting us know that they're outraged," a House aide told Foreign Policy. Another congressional aide said officials attempted to "make clear that the quote didn't come from the White House and that White House officials weren't happy about it."
Denying involvement, a State Department official said, "That quote did not come from any senior State Department official, period."
The flap began after the Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg quoted an anonymous U.S. official saying Netanyahu is a "chickenshit" prime minister, whose only concern is his political survival.
"The good thing about Netanyahu is that he's scared to launch wars," the official said. "The bad thing about him is that he won't do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he's interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He's not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he's not [Ariel] Sharon, he's certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He's got no guts." The other official told Goldberg that the Obama administration doesn't take Netanyahu's threat of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities seriously.
The remarks reflect the latest turbulence in the U.S.-Israel relationship following the high-profile snubbing of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon last week -- a move prompted by the minister's blistering public criticisms of the Obama administration's efforts to forge peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Baskey added that despite the "extremely close" relationship between the U.S. and Israel, the two sides do not agree on every issue. "For instance, we have repeatedly made clear the United States' longstanding view that settlement activity is illegitimate and complicates efforts to achieve a two-state solution," Baskey said.
Goldberg's article prompted a defiant response from the Israeli prime minister's office on Wednesday. "Netanyahu will continue to uphold the security interests of Israel and the historical rights of the Jewish people in Jerusalem, and no amount of pressure will change that," the office said.
In a sign of how urgently the administration has sought to put out this fire, congressional aides said White House officials didn't even wait for a response from the Hill before trying to do pre-emptive damage control. "Sometimes there are conflicts and we have to reach out to them. They're reaching out to us on this to totally disown it," said the aide. "They're trying to control the narrative."
Passing blame for the quote onto officials at the State Department could be difficult given the White House's tight rapport with Goldberg, who has been granted broad access to the Oval Office and multiple exclusive interviews with the president.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki denounced the remarks. "We think such comments are inappropriate and counterproductive. I spoke with [Secretary of State John Kerry] about this this morning and he certainly feels strongly that a war of words is not productive from either side."
Coming just days before the midterm elections, Republicans seized on the comments. "He either condones the profanity and disrespect used by the most senior members of his administration, or he does not," said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "It is time for him to get his house in order and tell the people that can't muster professionalism that it is time to move on."
Meanwhile, the dovish pro-Israel group J Street defended the spirit of the anonymous official's remarks. "Sometimes when a friend sees a friend go off on the wrong path, there is a duty to sound a warning," said Alan Elsner, vice president of communications for the group. "Netanyahu, for narrow political reasons, has thrown in his lot with the settler movement and is leading the country in a disastrous direction which alienates Israel from its friends and supporters across the world, puts more and more obstacles in the path to a two-state solution, and will ultimately threaten Israel's democracy."
Quotes from senior Obama administration figures damn Israeli prime minister as ‘chickenshit’ over stance on settlements and peace with Palestinians
US relations with Israel have plunged to new depths of bitterness and hostility as senior officials in the Obama administration decried Binyamin Netanyahu as a “chickenshit prime minister”, “coward” and a man more interested in his own political survival than peace.
The furious assessment delivered in anonymous but no-holds barred comments in an interview with the American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic underline a state of anger with Netanyahu that is characterised as “red hot”.
The remarks are particularly telling in having been made to Goldberg, a Washington insider who has interviewed both Obama and Netanyahu, and who warned US-Israeli relations were in a “full-blown crisis” that could only get worse after the midterm elections.
Speaking to the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – a few hours after the comments were revealed, Netanyahu angrily insisted he was “under attack simply for defending Israel”, adding that he “cherished” Israel’s relationship with the US.
“When there are pressures on Israel to concede its security, the easiest thing to do is to concede,” he said. “You get a round of applause, ceremonies on grassy knolls, and then come the missiles and the tunnels.”
The Obama officials’ comments underline the dismal state of relations between the Obama administration and Netanyahu after a series of damaging announcements by Israel – including again this week – regarding its determination to push ahead with settlement building in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The temperature of relations plunged again last week when Israel’s defence minister, Moshe Yaalon, was pointedly snubbed by senior administration officials during a visit last week to Washington, which itself followed a public warning from the White House that Israel risked alienating its “closest allies”.
Despite the deepening frustration in Washington, Netanyahu continued to hit back over the latest settlement announcement, saying US criticism was “detached from reality”, even on the eve of the publication of the latest remarks.
“The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,” said one official quoted in the Atlantic. “The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars. The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states.
“The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts.”
In a more diplomatic and public statement on the recent settlement announcements, the US national security council spokesman Alistair Baskey insisted the US would continue to criticise Israel.
“There are times when we disagree with actions of the Israeli government and we must raise our concerns, such as our concerns about Israel’s settlement policy,” he said. “We raise these concerns as a partner who is deeply concerned about Israel’s future and wants to see Israel living side by side in peace and security with its neighbours.”
In comments designed to further sting Netanyahu, who has expended huge diplomatic effort on attempting to derail any deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, another official suggested the White House no longer believed Netanyahu would launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran to prevent it obtaining nuclear weapons.
“It’s too late for him to do anything,” the official said. “Two, three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it’s too late.”
A White House spokesman sought to distance the administration from the remarks, insisting they were “inappropriate and counter-productive”, adding Netanyahu and Obama have “forged an effective partnership”.
The comments are the latest in a series of high-profile spats between Washington and Netanyahu’s government. Relations began their sharp decline when defence minister Yaalon accused the US secretary of state, John Kerry, of being “obsessive and messianic” in his pursuit of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. Later, in off-the-record remarks, Kerry warned that Israeli risked becoming “an apartheid state”.
On Wednesday Netanyahu told the Knesset: “I am not prepared to make concessions that will endanger our state. Understand, our national interests, topped by security and the unity of Jerusalem, are not what top the interests of those anonymous forces attacking us, and me personally. I am under attack simply because I am defending the State of Israel. If I didn’t stand firm on our national interests, I would not be under attack.
“I respect and cherish the deep connection with the United States. Since the establishment of the state, we’ve had our arguments and then some. We have seen time after time, year and year, support rising among the American public. The strategic alliance between the stances is continuing and will continue.”
Responding to the remarks in the Atlantic late on Tuesday night, Israel’s far-right economics minister, Naftali Bennett, used his Facebook page to call for Washington to renounce the comments: “If what was written [in The Atlantic] is true, then it appears the current administration plans to throw Israel under the bus.
“The prime minister is not a private person but the leader of the Jewish state and the whole Jewish world. Such severe insults towards the prime minister of Israel are hurtful to millions of Israeli citizens and Jews all over the world.
“Instead of attacking Israel and forcing it to accept suicidal terms, it should be strengthened. I call on the US administration to renounce these coarse comments and to reject them outright.”
US relations with Israel have plunged to new depths of bitterness and hostility as senior officials in the Obama administration decried Binyamin Netanyahu as a “chickenshit prime minister”, “coward” and a man more interested in his own political survival than peace.
The furious assessment delivered in anonymous but no-holds barred comments in an interview with the American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic underline a state of anger with Netanyahu that is characterised as “red hot”.
The remarks are particularly telling in having been made to Goldberg, a Washington insider who has interviewed both Obama and Netanyahu, and who warned US-Israeli relations were in a “full-blown crisis” that could only get worse after the midterm elections.
Speaking to the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – a few hours after the comments were revealed, Netanyahu angrily insisted he was “under attack simply for defending Israel”, adding that he “cherished” Israel’s relationship with the US.
“When there are pressures on Israel to concede its security, the easiest thing to do is to concede,” he said. “You get a round of applause, ceremonies on grassy knolls, and then come the missiles and the tunnels.”
The Obama officials’ comments underline the dismal state of relations between the Obama administration and Netanyahu after a series of damaging announcements by Israel – including again this week – regarding its determination to push ahead with settlement building in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The temperature of relations plunged again last week when Israel’s defence minister, Moshe Yaalon, was pointedly snubbed by senior administration officials during a visit last week to Washington, which itself followed a public warning from the White House that Israel risked alienating its “closest allies”.
Despite the deepening frustration in Washington, Netanyahu continued to hit back over the latest settlement announcement, saying US criticism was “detached from reality”, even on the eve of the publication of the latest remarks.
“The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,” said one official quoted in the Atlantic. “The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars. The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states.
“The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts.”
In a more diplomatic and public statement on the recent settlement announcements, the US national security council spokesman Alistair Baskey insisted the US would continue to criticise Israel.
“There are times when we disagree with actions of the Israeli government and we must raise our concerns, such as our concerns about Israel’s settlement policy,” he said. “We raise these concerns as a partner who is deeply concerned about Israel’s future and wants to see Israel living side by side in peace and security with its neighbours.”
In comments designed to further sting Netanyahu, who has expended huge diplomatic effort on attempting to derail any deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, another official suggested the White House no longer believed Netanyahu would launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran to prevent it obtaining nuclear weapons.
“It’s too late for him to do anything,” the official said. “Two, three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it’s too late.”
A White House spokesman sought to distance the administration from the remarks, insisting they were “inappropriate and counter-productive”, adding Netanyahu and Obama have “forged an effective partnership”.
The comments are the latest in a series of high-profile spats between Washington and Netanyahu’s government. Relations began their sharp decline when defence minister Yaalon accused the US secretary of state, John Kerry, of being “obsessive and messianic” in his pursuit of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. Later, in off-the-record remarks, Kerry warned that Israeli risked becoming “an apartheid state”.
On Wednesday Netanyahu told the Knesset: “I am not prepared to make concessions that will endanger our state. Understand, our national interests, topped by security and the unity of Jerusalem, are not what top the interests of those anonymous forces attacking us, and me personally. I am under attack simply because I am defending the State of Israel. If I didn’t stand firm on our national interests, I would not be under attack.
“I respect and cherish the deep connection with the United States. Since the establishment of the state, we’ve had our arguments and then some. We have seen time after time, year and year, support rising among the American public. The strategic alliance between the stances is continuing and will continue.”
Responding to the remarks in the Atlantic late on Tuesday night, Israel’s far-right economics minister, Naftali Bennett, used his Facebook page to call for Washington to renounce the comments: “If what was written [in The Atlantic] is true, then it appears the current administration plans to throw Israel under the bus.
“The prime minister is not a private person but the leader of the Jewish state and the whole Jewish world. Such severe insults towards the prime minister of Israel are hurtful to millions of Israeli citizens and Jews all over the world.
“Instead of attacking Israel and forcing it to accept suicidal terms, it should be strengthened. I call on the US administration to renounce these coarse comments and to reject them outright.”
28 oct 2014
More than one hundred American feminist scholars have sent an open letter to U.S President Barack Obama calling on him to drop charges against the Palestinian ex-prisoner Rasmea Odeh for hiding information about her time in Israeli jails.
A statement issued by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah, on Monday, said that the Palestinian ex-prisoner Rasmea Odeh, 67, is to be brought to court on November 4 for not giving account of her time in jail when entering US territories twenty years ago, and when obtaining US citizenship ten years ago.
The US Department of Justice arrested Odeh, from Lifta village near occupied Jerusalem, for hiding information about her detention in 1969 in Israeli jails for ten years before being released in a swap deal.
In their open letter, the feminist scholars pointed out that Odeh was subjected to 45 days of sexual and physical torture while in detention, saying that her sentence was based on a confession she made in the midst of weeks of torture.
In the US, Rasmea settled in Chicago where she became the associate director of the Arab American Action Network, a social service and community organization. There, she established the Arab Women’s Committee that promotes leadership among Arab immigrant women, challenges systems of oppression that impact Arab women’s lives and secures a positive and safe political, economic, social, and cultural environment for Arab women and their communities.
In 2013, the Chicago Cultural Alliance granted Rasmea its Outstanding Community Leader Award in recognition of her devotion of “over forty years of her life to the empowerment of Arab women.”
Now, Rasmea is being persecuted again for not giving account of her time in jail on her naturalization application in 2004.
On 22 October 2013, the US Department of Justice arrested Rasmea Odeh at her home in Chicago. The Department of Justice alleges that Odeh failed to disclose, on her naturalization application, that she had served time in Israeli jail – even though her sentence was based on a confession she made in the midst of weeks of torture.
Rasmea faces up to ten years in US prison, fines up to $250,000 and potential deportation and de-naturalization.
The criminal charges she faces for alleged immigration fraud in the US are politically motivated.
Rasmea Odeh has suffered enough already. When the Israeli military arrested her, they also arrested her family members shortly after her arrest and destroyed her family’s home. Odeh’s 1969 conviction in Israel was determined by a court system that systematically abuses Palestinians’ rights, has a record of torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian women, men, and children, and convicts Palestinians at a rate of 99.74 percent, according to the letter.
The feminist scholars called in their open letter on the Department of Justice to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.
“We extend our deepest support to Rasmea in the face of injustice. We recognize her as a leader in the international struggle to empower women and end violence against women. We recognize the pain and suffering she endured in Israeli prisons and we honor her for testifying before a United Nations Committee in Geneva as a survivor of sexual torture.”
Odeh defense committee has called on the Palestinian and Arab community in the US to attend her trial in large numbers to show wide support for the Palestinian ex-prisoner.
Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, is a Minneapolis anti-war activist who is in Detroit to organize support for Rasmea Odeh. “We are doing a huge amount of outreach locally and nationally to make sure the courtroom is filled with supporters of Rasmea each and every day of the trial,” said Sundin.
http://english.palinfo
A statement issued by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah, on Monday, said that the Palestinian ex-prisoner Rasmea Odeh, 67, is to be brought to court on November 4 for not giving account of her time in jail when entering US territories twenty years ago, and when obtaining US citizenship ten years ago.
The US Department of Justice arrested Odeh, from Lifta village near occupied Jerusalem, for hiding information about her detention in 1969 in Israeli jails for ten years before being released in a swap deal.
In their open letter, the feminist scholars pointed out that Odeh was subjected to 45 days of sexual and physical torture while in detention, saying that her sentence was based on a confession she made in the midst of weeks of torture.
In the US, Rasmea settled in Chicago where she became the associate director of the Arab American Action Network, a social service and community organization. There, she established the Arab Women’s Committee that promotes leadership among Arab immigrant women, challenges systems of oppression that impact Arab women’s lives and secures a positive and safe political, economic, social, and cultural environment for Arab women and their communities.
In 2013, the Chicago Cultural Alliance granted Rasmea its Outstanding Community Leader Award in recognition of her devotion of “over forty years of her life to the empowerment of Arab women.”
Now, Rasmea is being persecuted again for not giving account of her time in jail on her naturalization application in 2004.
On 22 October 2013, the US Department of Justice arrested Rasmea Odeh at her home in Chicago. The Department of Justice alleges that Odeh failed to disclose, on her naturalization application, that she had served time in Israeli jail – even though her sentence was based on a confession she made in the midst of weeks of torture.
Rasmea faces up to ten years in US prison, fines up to $250,000 and potential deportation and de-naturalization.
The criminal charges she faces for alleged immigration fraud in the US are politically motivated.
Rasmea Odeh has suffered enough already. When the Israeli military arrested her, they also arrested her family members shortly after her arrest and destroyed her family’s home. Odeh’s 1969 conviction in Israel was determined by a court system that systematically abuses Palestinians’ rights, has a record of torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian women, men, and children, and convicts Palestinians at a rate of 99.74 percent, according to the letter.
The feminist scholars called in their open letter on the Department of Justice to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.
“We extend our deepest support to Rasmea in the face of injustice. We recognize her as a leader in the international struggle to empower women and end violence against women. We recognize the pain and suffering she endured in Israeli prisons and we honor her for testifying before a United Nations Committee in Geneva as a survivor of sexual torture.”
Odeh defense committee has called on the Palestinian and Arab community in the US to attend her trial in large numbers to show wide support for the Palestinian ex-prisoner.
Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, is a Minneapolis anti-war activist who is in Detroit to organize support for Rasmea Odeh. “We are doing a huge amount of outreach locally and nationally to make sure the courtroom is filled with supporters of Rasmea each and every day of the trial,” said Sundin.
http://english.palinfo
