Wednesday, July 14, 2010
You bet they do
Giora Eiland's conclusions on the takeover of the Gaza-bound flotilla are as ineffectual as those he provided four years ago after investigating the abduction of Gilad Shalit.
Clinton urges Turkey: Don't sever dialogue with Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged her Turkish counterpart on Monday to continue dialogue with Israel, deeming the relationship between the two Middle Eastern countries crucial to the future of the region
Secretary of State holds 45-minute conversation with Davotuglu, affirms U.S. commitment to helping deal with PKK.Read more
Despite Israeli blockade, innovation thrives in Gaza
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Israeli colonization means life of poverty for W. Bank children
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Israel's New 'Video Game' Executions: Killing by remote control
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Pink Floyd duo outshine Kate Moss at Palestine charity gig
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Jordanians to deliver Gaza aid overland via Egypt
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Israeli fascistic MK Ben-Ari: Sink Libyan Ship
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Land theft, destruction and ethnic cleansing
Approval is part of plan to build a total of 250 apartment units in Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood, despite Obama administration's characterization of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as settlements.
Israel To Expropriate 30 Dunams Near Hebron
The Israeli Authorities decided to illegally expropriate 30 Dunams of Palestinian lands that belong to villagers of Beit Ola, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli bulldozers raze 4 east Jerusalem buildings (AP)
AP - Israeli bulldozers destroyed at least two homes and two other buildings in contested east Jerusalem on Tuesday, resuming the demolition of Palestinian property after a halt aimed at encouraging peace talks.
Monday, July 12, 2010
What a rapist who investigates his own rape case would find? She made me do it..
The New York Times: Israeli Military Finds Flotilla Killings Justified
TEL AVIV — An Israeli military investigation into its naval takeover of a Gaza-bound flotilla six weeks ago found that it was plagued by errors of planning, intelligence and coordination but that the killings of nine Turks on board were justified, according to an official summary of the findings released Monday.Read more
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Don't laugh, it's serious! And you guessed it right. The writer is Ethan -my-son-joined-the IDF-Bronner. And while you're at it, check the comments. No one is byuing the crap..
The only exit is via the rooftops..The sealed life of Palestinians in Hebron
n 2000, the army closed Shohada Street , in Hebron , to Palestinians and sealed the entrances to the houses on the street. To leave her home, Malka Kafisha had to climb up through the roofs of neighboring houses.
Israel says won't let Libyan aid ship reach Gaza
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Harvesting under fire
Foreigners acting as human shields have been helping farmers in Gaza harvest their crops.
About 30 per cent of Gaza's arable land is on the border with Israel and the area has been declared a buffer zone by the Israeli army.
Palestinian farmers risk being shot with live fire for working their fields.
Nicole Johnston reports from Bani Salah.
Israeli Border Police Deliberately Destroy Crops
Israeli border police destroyed several Palestinian fields in Al Baqa'a Valley just east of Hebron on July 6, 2010, directly impacting the livelihood of more than one hundred Palestinians. Landowners said that Israeli border police and the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO), responsible for the coordination of Palestinian civilian affairs in Area C, began implementing the destruction at around 8:30am. Israeli authorities, with the assistance of hired labor, damaged fields of vegetables and destroyed the irrigation systems of those fields.
When international peace activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams arrived in the area at 11:30am, about 20 workers hired by the Israeli border police and DCO had cut and disposed of the irrigation pipes laid in two fields. The fields each measured 10 dunams (approximately 40 acres) and included tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, and beans. In addition to dismantling the irrigation pipes, the workers also cut the twines that were holding up each tomato plant. A matriarch of the family, Aratiki Karim, said, "These tomatoes are for the kids, for the babies, to feed the kids and to sell them to buy other food for the kids." The Palestinian farmers had planted the tomato plants nearly three months ago and the tomatoes were only 20 days from being ready for market.
The border police, DCO, and hired laborers then moved to another field further along Route 60 in the Al Baqa'a Valley to perform the same procedure. The border police blocked the junction between the residential zone and the nearby fields, shooting tear gas and sound bombs to prevent Palestinians from going to the area where the hired workers were removing more irrigation pipes.
Several women and children suffered from tear gas inhalation and required hospitalization. Badran Mohammed Jabber, looking out onto his destroyed fields uttered in exasperation, "I have spent 43 years under the Israeli reign of terror. I have lived my life in fear, I never know what the Israelis will do tomorrow. They have destroyed my land, they have destroyed my life, and these fields are my life."
This is not the first time Israeli authorities have destroyed crops and irrigation equipment in the Al Baqa'a Valley.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The settlements' devastating impact on the environment and the Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank
"Occupied" Pollution
- Domestic waste water flowing down the middle of a road at the edge of Revava
- Waste water flowing out of the incomplete Revava sewage plant. It flows down into a nearby valley.
- Read more
Robert Fisk: CNN was wrong about Ayatollah Fadlallah
(Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah in his Beirut office in 2009)
I might have guessed it. CNN has fired one of its senior Middle East editors, Octavia Nasr, for publishing a twitter – or twatter in this case, I suppose – extolling Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah of Lebanon, calling him "one of Hizbollah's giants whom I respect a lot".
Well, he wasn't Hizbollah's man, but no matter. He was definitely a giant. A man of immense learning and jurisprudence, a believer in women's rights, a hater of "honour crimes", a critic of the theocratic system of government in Iran, a ... Well, I'd better be careful because I might get a phone call from Parisa Khosravi, who goes by the title of CNN's "senior vice president" – what these boss types do or what they get paid for their gutless decisions I have no idea – who said this week that she had "had a conversation" with Nasr (who'd been with the company for 20 years) and "we have decided that she will be leaving the company"Read more
Jewish student caught painting Swastikas on her own door then claiming Anti-Semitic Attack
Creating a false flag anti-semitic attack to get sympathy!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Christian Zionism in the UK, Christians must love and defend Israelis, preaches church mission, Stuart Littlewood
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Netanyahu & AIPAC: Still Reigning Champs!
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Ex-CIA chief: Secrecy after attack on Syrian nuclear plant unjustified
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Israel’s Nukes Harm US National Interests, John Mearsheimer
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B.S
The good news: "Netanyahu to give peace process a 'robust push". The bad news, any rational person privy to the ideology and makeup of the Israeli government knows this not serious. And yet, after their meeting, Barak Obama, the US president, has publically supported his Israeli interlocutor, saying he believed Binyamin Netanyahu would take "risks for peace" and praised the Israeli prime minister for easing the blockade on the Gaza Strip. Obama also called for "direct talks" between Israelis and Palestinians irrespective of the continued illegal settlements. All of which begs two questions: How does a defunct and discredited diplomatic process continue to masquerade as a success despite its utter failures? And why the US and its Western allies continue to finance and pamper it when it creates more instability and conflict than peace and progress? The short answer is bullshit.
Azmi Bishara
But we're not fooled
Azmi Beshara
What Arabs who look admiringly to Ankara do not understand is that Turkey's leaders act in concordance with Turkish public sentiment, not to save Arab dignity, writes Azmi Bishara
Poor IDFs..The occupation must be boring.Let's dance!
Speaking to Israeli daily Haaretz, former soldier and founder of Israeli organization Breaking The Silence Yehuda Shaul said of the video, "I see it mainly as a reflection of your loss of sensitivity as a soldier, of boredom, of the nothingness in which you find yourself. It's an entertaining way of reducing the boredom. But what mainly drives me crazy is that it's causing such an uproar in the media. "In Hebron there are Palestinian families who have to climb a ladder in order to leave the house, because their street has been defined as a sterile street, and the story we see is soldiers dancing in the street for a video clip. Mainly it seems absurd to me."
BTW, here's the video:
Surprise surprise
AP - The head of the Arab League says indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians are failing and sees no chance for a shift to direct negotiations.
Palestinians brace for US pressure after Netanyahu's White House visit
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Behind Turkey and Israel's Not-So-Secret Meeting, Rannie Amiri
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How about turning it back, thieves?
After Israel attacked the Turkish “Marmara” solidarity ship trying to send humanitarian and medical supplies to Gaza, and killed nine nonviolent activists before towing the ship to Haifa, Haifa mayor, Yona Yahav, presented a plan that aims at turning the ship into a floating hotel.
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Turkey 'entitled' to act over flotilla raid
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Riz Khan - How do allies become enemies?
A look at the state of US-Turkish-Israeli relations in the wake of the flotilla raid.
Palestinian healthcare paralysed by separation wall
Video
Gaddafi charity to send Gaza aid boat
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Presbyterian Peace Fellowship To Partner With "Jewish-Ship-To-Gaza"
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Investigation: Who was aboard the Mavi Marmara?
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IKEA furnishing the occupation
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Israeli Government Officials Rebuffed At ILWU Local 10 In San Francisco
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Palestinians face being walled by Israeli "security barrier"
Read more-The Guardian
Netanyahu: “Settlement Activities To Resume By The End Of September”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that he will not renew the so-called settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank after it expires at the end of September.
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Ireland blocks EU data sharing with Israel
DUBLIN -- Ireland blocked a European Union plan to allow sharing of European citizens' personal data with Israel over concerns that Israeli officials could not be trusted with the information.
Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern on July 6 formally objected to the EU’s recognition of Israel’s data protection standards, which would have allowed the exchange of personal information, forcing a full debate of the proposal at a committee hearing.
A spokesman for Ahern said the Irish government had the “gravest concern” that information supplied to Israel could be used to forge passports for use by intelligence agencies.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman taking a stand
If true, a rather remarkable political act by two very mainstream actors (and one Jew):
Hollywood actors Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman backed out of attending this year’s annual Jerusalem Film Festival, which is set to kick off this coming Thursday, following the international outcry over Israel’s attack on a Turkish-led flotilla that attempted to break the Gaza blockade on May 31, The Jerusalem Post learned Monday.
According to Cinematheque associate director Yigal Molad Hayo, while neither gave the political climate as a direct reason for canceling their participation in the festival, “it became quite clear that this was the reason,” he said.
“Meg Ryan was supposed to come here, it had all been closed with her people,” said Molad Hayo, adding “a day after the flotilla incident we got an email saying she was not going to attend, and although they claimed it was because she was too busy, it was clear to me that it probably had something to do with what had happened.”
In addition to Ryan, who has starred in such movies as Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally and, more recently, Kate and Leopold, Molad Hayo said that the Cinematheque had also reached “advanced negotiations” with Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman.
“We were very close to reaching an agreement with him, then the flotilla happened and correspondence was ended,” said Molad Hayo.
Ryan and Hoffman are not the only high-profile names to decline participation in this year’s festival.
Prince Albert of Monaco, son of legendary actress Grace Kelly, was also slated to attend.
“I’d already made arrangements for a tribute to Grace Kelly to appear in the festival program,” said Molad Hayo, adding that he believed Prince Albert’s cancellation could have come from pressure in his own country not to make an official visit to Israel at this time.
“I think they believed it could have been very negative for him and even dangerous,” he said.
“We must learn from the Nazi tactics”, says Israeli judge
“We must learn from the Nazi tactics,” Retired Israeli Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto said recently during a conference discussing ways to improve the State of Israel’s PR efforts in the world. The meeting, which was held last week in the English capital, was attended by some 150 senior Jewish legal experts. Ben-Itto said during the conference that Israel should adopt the tactics used by the Nazis after they distributed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Refusing to reach a compromise and continuing their battle in the courts although they had no proof of the protocols.
“I thought about it, about our ‘hasbara’, and nothing is working because our story is complicated and the world is used to a sound bite,” she explained.
“I have reached the conclusion that we must use these tactics in courts worldwide, just like the Nazis – with all distinctions – used the courts to spread their message.”
What IKF soldiers are told about fighting Arabs
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli group made up of former soldiers who detail the horrendous acts in the West Bank under occupation.
One of the founders, Yehuda Shaul, 27, tells Haaretz that the IDF rarely has any intention of seriously investigating itself:
What’s really disturbing about Operation Cast Lead is not the ordinary soldiers. The true problematic situation is the general policy, that they tell soldiers ‘Go in and shoot, you’re at war – whatever moves should be taken down.’ They were also told ‘Don’t fire on women and children,’ but when you tell the the air force that before entering a neighborhood you survey the area and any man, even if he’s unarmed, is a legitimate target, that’s problematic.
The criminal waste of time will go on. Thanks Obama
"The "warm" and "sympathetic" reception, albeit a little forced, including the presidential dog, Bo, the meeting of the wives, with the U.S. president accompanying the Israeli prime minister to the car in an "unprecedented" way, as the press enthused, cannot obscure reality. The reality is that Israel has again managed to fool not only America, but even its most promising president in years."
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Exposed: The truth about Israel's land grab in the West Bank
As President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet, a report reveals 42 per cent of territory is controlled by settlers
Jewish settlers, who claim a divine right to the whole of Israel, now control more than 42 per cent of the occupied West Bank, representing a powerful obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state, a new report has revealed.
The jurisdiction of some 200 settlements, illegal under international law, cover much more of the occupied Palestinian territory than previously thought. And a large section of the land has been seized from private Palestinian landowners in defiance even of an Israeli supreme court ruling, the report said, a finding which sits uncomfortably with Israeli claims that it builds only on state land.
Drawing on official Israeli military maps and population statistics, the leading Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, compiled the new findings, which were released just as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived in Washington to try to heal a gaping rift with US President Barack Obama over the issue of settlements.
Hasbarapocalypse — Leaked Frank Luntz memo: Israeli public diplomacy in US on Flotilla failed dismally
The Israel Project (TIP), an American Hasbara outfit, commissioned Republican political consultant Frank Luntz to examine the effectiveness of Israel’s public diplomacy in the US on the Flotilla debacle. TIP gave the memo to the Prime Minister’s Office, where someone promptly leaked it to Chico Menashe, Channel Ten TV News diplomatic affairs correspondent.
Luntz’s findings are grim. Here’s a summary:
- 56% of Americans agree with the claim that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza;
- 43% of Americans agree with the claim that people in Gaza are starving;
- [Only] 34% of Americans support the Israeli operation against the Flotilla;
- [Only] 20% of Americans “felt support” for Israel following announcement of easing of Gaza closure. Read more-Coteret (thanks vza)
To know the enemy and its backers: US Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank
HAR BRACHA, West Bank — Twice a year, American evangelicals show up at a winery in this Jewish settlement in the hills of ancient Samaria to play a direct role in biblical prophecy, picking grapes and pruning vines.
Believing that Christian help for Jewish winemakers here in the occupied West Bank foretells Christ’s second coming, they are recruited by a Tennessee-based charity called HaYovel that invites volunteers “to labor side by side with the people of Israel” and “to share with them a passion for the soon coming jubilee in Yeshua, messiah.”
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Obama: "My closeness to the Jewish American community propelled me to the U.S. Senate"
During the interview Wednesday, when confronted with the anxiety that some Israelis feel toward him, Obama said that "some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion."
"Ironically, I've got a Chief of Staff named Rahm Israel Emmanuel. My top political advisor is somebody who is a descendent of Holocaust survivors. My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate," Obama said.
‘Haaretz’ says Obama caved because Netanyahu applied ‘hidden pressure’ in Chicago
"A week has gone by and things have turned around. Netanyahu is king. The White House is welcoming him with flowers, smiles and unprecedented affability. Blair House, Oval Office, press conference. The man who was anathema in March is given a royal reception in July. After a long period during which the president of the United States and the prime minister of Israel were adversaries, they are now falling all over each other.
And this is not just atmosphere, not just manners and politeness. Netanyahu is extracting from Obama a series of diplomatic achievements: an unambiguous commitment to Israel's unique needs, acknowledgment that Israel has to defend itself from the violent neighborhood in which it lives, a promise not to detract from Israel's defense capability. And by implication: recognition of Dimona. Recognition of the Iranian threat. Recognition that the way to Israeli-Palestinian peace is through direct talks."
Monday, July 5, 2010
Beirut, I Love You (I Love You Not). Winner of "Best Film - International" Award at the Swansea Bay Film Festival UK - 2010*
Beirut, I Love You (I Love You Not), a Beirut-ish tribute to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Amelie Poulain, is a short film by "An Orange Dog Productions" about (fleeting) love & the little pleasures in life, all set and in relation with the very inspiring city of Beirut.
The film has already been selected in:
- The Swansea Bay Film Festival - UK (2010) (Winner)
- The International Youth Film Festival - UK (2010)
- The International Film Festival of Egypt (2010)
- The Lebanese Film Festival of Montreal, Canada (2010)
- The SOAS Cultural Event, UK (2010)
- The Creative Commons Salon in Beirut, Lebanon (2010)
- The Creative Commons Salon in Amman, Jordan (2009)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Crescent city: The Islamic supercity of the Future by Daniel Dociu
In the news from Electronic Intifada
Elena Kagen, Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein
In 2003, an untenured professor at DePaul University named Norman Finkelstein accused Dershowitz of plagiarism. Dean Kagan ordered an investigation the following year. The investigation completely cleared Dershowitz, concluding that no plagiarism had occurred."
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Israel: A Failing Colonial Project
| The Palestinians expelled from their lands in 1948 did not go away . |
By M. Shahid Alam
Increasingly, despite its early military and political successes, it appears unlikely that Israel can endure for long as a colonial project.
In order to firmly secure its existence – as firmly as that is possible for any state – a settler state has to overcome three challenges. It has to solve the native problem; break away from its mother country; and gain the recognition of neighboring states and peoples. It can be shown that Israel has not met any of these conditions.
Consider Israel’s native problem. In 1948, in the months before and after its creation, Israel appeared to have solved its native problem in one fell swoop. It had expelled 80 percent of the Palestinians from the territories it had conquered. In addition, with the rapid influx of Arab Jews, Palestinians were soon reduced to less than ten percent of Israel’s population.
So, had Israel licked its native problem for good? Not really.
The Palestinians inside Israel pushed back with a high natural rate of growth in their numbers. As a result, despite the continuing influx of Jewish immigrants, the Palestinian share in Israel’s population has grown to above 20 percent. Increasingly, Jews in Israel see Israeli Arabs as a threat to their Jewish state. Some are advocating a fresh round of ethnic cleansing. Others are calling for a new partition to exclude areas with Arab majorities.
The Palestinians expelled from Israel in 1948 did not go away either. Most of them set up camp in areas around Israel - the West Bank, Gaza, southern Lebanon and Jordan. In 1967, when Israel conquered Gaza and the West Bank, it could expel a much smaller fraction of the Palestinians from these territories. In consequence, with more than a million additional Palestinians under its control, Israeli had recreated its native problem.
Jordan is not Palestine (contrary to what Israeli crooks want the naive to believe)
| Jordan absorbed many Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 |
George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, has recently expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in the stalled "peace process".
But it may be time for Mitchell to move aside, as Geert Wilders, the leader of the Netherlands' third-largest party, seems to have found a 'creative solution' to the conflict: Jordan should be renamed Palestine and become a homeland for the Palestinians.
The plan to turn Jordan into a Palestinian homeland and to give Israel complete control over the historic land of Palestine is regularly rehashed by the Israeli right whenever there is international pressure, however minimal, on Israel to stop its expansionism.
Last month, around half of the 120-member Israeli knesset, submitted "a two states for two peoples on both sides of River Jordan" proposal for discussion. In practice the proposal entails an expulsion of Palestinians to Jordan so that the kingdom becomes a de facto Palestinian homeland.
The forceful revival of what has historically been referred to as the "Jordan option" comes amid growing international pressure over the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The fulfillment of the right wing dream of turning Jordan into Palestine cannot happen without a gradual or mass expulsion of Palestinians from Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, along with the use of force against Jordanians.
It presents, therefore, a scenario of continuous war and conflict that cannot possibly end Israel's "Palestinian problem".
But even though this 'vision' cannot be easily fulfilled without resorting to all out war, it must be taken seriously as it offers an excuse to force yet more Palestinians from their homeland.
Over the years, two variations of the "Jordan option" have developed. The first is based on "transferring" the Palestinian population of the East Bank and even Israel "proper" to Jordan, where the Palestinian homeland is to be established. The second scenario is based on establishing a Palestinian state in Jordan, which would also include the Arab-populated areas of the West Bank.
Both options have been rejected, but the proposals have remained alive as a stick with which to threaten the Palestinians and the Jordanians and to counter perceived threats or the international community's verbal support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. In other words, Israeli leaders use the "Jordan option" whenever Israel is in time of crisis.
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Iraq's nostalgia for Saddam
Arabs and Israelis misread Turkey
"There was also a stream of fanciful notions about Turkey’s newfound role in the Arab world, based on its stance on Gaza: Whether it was Prime Minister Erdogan or Turkey itself, we were seeing a new latest “Saladin,” or champion of Palestine. There was a rush to judgment about Turkey that saw the country’s red flag raised, applause delivered, and praise offered.
This week, Turkey is in the news again, but it won’t generate flag-waving in the Arab world. Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu, met “secretly” with an Israeli minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, in Switzerland. For those who were hailing Turkey so vociferously, it should be apparent that Ankara has its national interests, and carefully calibrates these interests and the policies used to achieve them.
Phalange party opposes bid to grant Palestinians rights
The American public would welcome a 'reset' with Israel : Mike Perry
"American historians have an uneasy relationship with (Wooddraw) Wilson. They extol his ideals and quote his speeches, but view him as impressively ineffective. At key points in his presidency (particularly at its end), Wilson proved incapable of transforming his ideas into political programs. An avowed anti-colonialist, he issued a menu of international principles (his “Fourteen Points”) that committed America to the spread of democracy and support for self-determination.
It was his greatest moment, but it was only a moment. Arriving in Versailles for the conference he hoped would endorse his program, Wilson spent his time slumming with imperialists. They listened carefully to his fine talk on self-determination then sent him packing. Having misjudged Europe, Wilson then misjudged America, supposing his fellow citizens would agree to his vision for a new international order.
Wilson’s campaign to make America the guarantor of this new order failed, destroying first his health and then his legacy. Misjudging others is forgivable, misjudging your own people is not. Woodrow Wilson was president alright but he didn’t know of what. Thus Wilson and perhaps Barack Obama.
In mid-April, the Obama administration held a first-ever nuclear security summit in Washington to “establish a more cohesive international legal framework that would make it easier to prevent nuclear terrorism.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to attend, citing concerns that he would come under pressure to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Then, when Obama urged all nations to sign the NPT, Israel said it would refuse.
It’s important to note that Israel is not the only nuclear “refusenik.” It is joined by Pakistan and India. A fourth country, North Korea, acceded to the treaty, then broke it. That is to say, while it might seem politically wise to promote an equal standard for all states on the nuclear issue, the simple truth is that simply signing the NPT will not guarantee compliance or limit proliferation. Iran has signed the treaty, but it is unclear whether the Iranians are in the process of breaching it.
But what Israel has done is different. Pakistan and India have told the world of their weapons, while North Korea at least had the good sense to withdraw from an agreement it would not keep. Israel refuses to speak of its nuclear stockpile, refuses to be a part of the treaty and avows that it is a special case. Additionally, Israel’s defense of its position suggests that it believes that signing a flawed treaty is worse than not signing one at all. Put another way, Israel argues that since other nations ignore (or violate) agreements, it gives them the right to do the same."
Read moreIt's obvious, go talk to the Islamists: Rami khoury
| |
"This nagging issue just will not go away: How do local or foreign governments best deal with leading Islamist groups in the Middle East and South Asia? Do you engage, negotiate with, ignore, or actively fight politically and militarily against Hizbullah, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban and other such groups that range widely along the spectrum of cultural and political activism and occasional armed militancy?
Since the rise of this generation of Islamists, native and Western governments alike have adopted two major strategies: politically containing movements like the Muslim Brotherhood by allowing them to have limited representation in toothless parliaments; and opposing or fighting more powerful movements like Hamas, Hizbullah, the Taliban and others that use military force for various reasons.
Read more-The Daily StarNYT: Nudge on Arms Further Divides the U.S. and Israel
WASHINGTON — It was only one paragraph buried deep in the most plain-vanilla kind of diplomatic document, 40 pages of dry language committing 189 nations to a world free of nuclear weapons. But it has become the latest source of friction between Israel and the United States in a relationship that has lurched from crisis to crisis over the last few months.
At a meeting to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in May, the United States yielded to demands by Arab nations that the final document urge Israel to sign the treaty — a way of spotlighting its historically undeclared nuclear weapons.
Israel believed it had assurances from the Obama administration that it would reject efforts to include such a reference, an Israeli official said, and it saw this as another sign of unreliability by its most important ally. In a recent visit to Washington, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, raised the issue in meetings with senior American officials.
(Thanks Pitirre)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Kurds/Israel connection
Idan Ofer, the chairman of the Israel Corporation, visited Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan a month ago - reports the French Jewish website JSS and Intelligence Online.
JSS revealed that Ofer, accompanied by six businessmen, flew from an unidentified European city on May 27 to meet with senior Kurdistani officials, including Vice President Kosrat Rasul Ali and Prime Minister Barham Salih.
The visit was to show support for the Kurdish people and help develop economic ties between Kurdistan and Israel.
Ofer is interested in investing in developing oil installations in Kirkuk, reported JSS, as well as building refineries in conjunction with European and Asian partners. Kurdish officials view worsening Turkish-Israeli ties as an opportunity to strengthen their relations with Israel.Now they tell us. Ehud Barak in Haaretz on the goal of the first Lebanon war, in 1982, when Israel smashed Beirut to bits and destabilized an entire society, and thousands of people were killed, including many Americans
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Israel Eyes Lebanon's Offshore Gas Reserves
In all regional disputes, big or small, Israel will invariably threaten or implement violence. It is the preferred method of conflict resolution. The recent discovery of natural gas reserves in Lebanese territorial waters, and Israel’s claim to them, is no exception. It didn’t take long for Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau to raise the prospect of war. That is, if Lebanon attempts to prevent his country from exercising full control over the field despite portions apparently falling within Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone.
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Solidarity and BDS
Israeli ambassador furious after court clears five residents who caused £180,000 damage to Brighton arms factory, ruling they committed offense to prevent more serious crime.
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Queers Against Israeli Apartheid refuse to be silenced
On the morning of 25 May, the Board of Pride Toronto held a press conference on the lawn outside its offices to announce that the phrase "Israeli Apartheid" would be censored from the upcoming 2010 Pride Parade. The decision, aimed at banning the Toronto-based activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from the parade, set off a firestorm in the community. Savannah Garmon comments for The Electronic Intifada.
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U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, "Open Letter in Support of the Boycott of Arizona"
Naomi Klein: "In April 2007, special immigration agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, working along the Mexican border, went through an intensive eight-day training course put on by the Golan Group. The Golan Group was founded by ex-Israeli Special Forces officers and boasts more than 3,500 employees in seven countries. 'Essentially we put an Israeli security spin on our procedures,' Thomas Pearson, the company's head of operations, explained of the training course, which covered everything from hand-to-hand combat to target practice to 'getting proactive with their SUV.' The Golan Group, now based in Florida but still marketing its Israeli advantage, also produces X-ray machines, metal detectors, and rifles. In addition to many governments and celebrities, its clients include ExxonMobil, Shell, Texaco, Levi's, Sony, Read more
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Methodists vote for settlements boycott | Karen Burke
The Methodist Church voted on Wednesday to boycott products from Israeli settlements recognised as illegal under international law at its annual Conference in Portsmouth. It took the decision following a call from a group of Palestinian Christians, a number of Jewish organisations, both within Israel and worldwide, and the World Council of Churches.
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Dweezil Zappa (son of Frank) Cancels Israel dates
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CNN on the growing cultural boycott
Saying that Elton John has "stuck by his guns" certainly sounds different in this context.
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One West Bank Town’s ‘Unarmed Courage’, Ellen Massey
Ayed Morrar is just one man. A quiet man, of small stature, whose kind but intense eyes look out from behind wire-rimmed glasses. But he is a man who has become the face of the Palestinian non-violent resistance movement. Morrar is the central figure in the recently released film Budrus, about the people of the Palestinian village of Budrus in the West Bank who persistently, and peacefully, resisted the encroachment of Israel’s "security" wall on their historical lands.
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Art helps student Emily Henochowicz who lost eye in Gaza protest
POTOMAC, Md. — The left lens of Emily Henochowicz's black-framed eyeglasses is covered in tape that bears a black-and-white pattern she drew in marker. The design obscures her eye socket, but a faint scar is visible underneath where a tear gas canister fired by Israeli border police crushed several bones and took her left eye.
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Israel's plan for the West Bank and Jerusalem: Empty the land of its inhabitants and bring in more settlers
Peace Now and Meretz launch a campaign against Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who recently backed a plan to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in Silwan to make way for a tourist center.
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Yossi Sarid: Jerusalem needs mayor who will divide it
Peace Now conference slams plan to demolish Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem, says Barkat 'handing capital to settlers'.
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Israel steps up forced evictions of West Bank Palestinians
Amnesty International has urged the Israeli authorities to halt forced evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank after a recent spate of military eviction orders were served on Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley.Amnesty International has urged the Israeli authorities to halt forced evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank after a recent spate of military eviction orders were served on Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley. Seventeen families in the Jordan Valley area are at imminent risk of forced eviction after being issued with eviction orders last week.
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UN chief says Israeli settlements 'undermine trust' (AFP)
AFP - Israeli settlement building in the Occupied Territories is undermining trust in the peace process, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said in a letter made public Thursday.
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Home demolitions, arrest raids as Israel implements Jerusalem "Master Plan"
Barkat's "Master Plan" for the city includes accelerated Palestinian home demolitions, illustrated by his recently-announced plan to destroy 22 homes in Silwan, a neighborhood already ravaged by frequent house demolitions and takeovers of homes by armed Jewish settlers under protection from Israeli forces. "Earlier this week, after several years of controversy," reported the Palestine Monitor on 26 June, "the city formally approved an incendiary plan to raze 22 homes in the al-Bustan block of Silwan to make way for tourist sites and urban development ... Jewish development companies have wedged settlers into the Palestinian neighborhood and funded archaeological digging where Palestinian buildings once stood" ("Israelis, Internationals Take Action Against Silwan Demolitions").
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Deleting The East
Three months ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “spat in Obama's eye” by timing high-level diplomatic visits with the announcement of sweeping development plans in East Jerusalem. Now history repeats itself as Jerusalem announced its intention to implement an even more ambitious master plan, giving Israelis unprecedented residency rights in the prospective Palestinian capital. And once again, Bibi is off to Washington. Written by Michael Carpenter.
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Jerusalem Expulsions, JONATHAN COOK
Israeli human-rights groups and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, have condemned a decision by Israel to expel four Palestinian politicians from East Jerusalem by the end of this week. The Israeli government revoked their residency rights in Jerusalem a few weeks ago, after claiming they were “in breach of trust” for belonging to a “foreign parliament”, a reference to the Palestinian Legislative Council.
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Ir Amim: Price Tag In Silwan
The latest intention of realizing the three-year-old eviction and sealing order against Beit Yohanatan, located in the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem, led Knesset member Uri Ariel to express his deep concern for the value of equality in the face of the law: in parallel to the eviction and sealing orders against Beit Yohanatan, Ariel demanded that the city destroy hundreds of Palestinian houses in Silwan that also have had demolition orders served against them.
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Friday, July 2, 2010
Why Turkey is looking East
1 July 2010
It stems from higher national interests that have accumulated since the mid-1970s, i.e. after Turkish troops entered parts of Cyprus in 1974 and after Turkey hosted the summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in 1976.
Success in this area will depend on several factors including mutual economic interests, the need of the region to create a positive balance to counter extremist groups, and a concerted move away from political hegemony, polarisation and the policies of axes and military or ideological alliances. Does the Turkish shift toward the East mean that Turkey has abandoned the West? Is this shift transitory and governed by the interests of the ruling Justice and Development Party? Is this rapprochement with the Arab world contradictory to American and Israeli interests or not? And are Arabs prepared for this rapprochement?
To begin with, Turkey has never been distant from the Arab region. Ottoman Turkey maintained strong relations with the Arab world over four centuries until the Caliphate fell and the Republic of Ataturk was founded in 1923. It was the Ataturk Republic that moved the country in a Westward direction. Consequently, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1952. Turkey was also the first Muslim country to recognise Israel in 1949.
After 80 years, however, Turkey has begun to realise that there are limitations to what it can obtain from the West. The door to the European Union appears locked. The growing power of Iraqi Kurds may lead to the emergence of a Kurdish state in the Kurdish Triangle in Iraq, Iran and Turkey. The shifts push Turkey back in the direction of the Arab world.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Is Gilad Shalit a prisoner of war?, Ali Abunimah
In a stunt labelled the "True Freedom Flotilla" Gabriella Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the UN, other diplomats and Zionist activists set sail last week on New York's Hudson River towards UN headquarters. Their goal was to draw attention to Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas four years ago as he was enforcing Israel's occupation and blockade of the Gaza Strip. Shalev reportedly carried an "aid" package containing underwear, eyeglasses and food intended for Shalit. Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Zionist umbrella group that organised the event, complained that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been prevented from visiting Shalit, while Israel allegedly allows "some 15,000 to 18,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid" into the besieged Gaza Strip each week.
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Israeli radicalism foremost obstacle to peace
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Head of Israel fleet raid probe threatens to resign
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Turkey twice barred Israel from airspace
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No World Cup in Gaza as Strip drowns in darkness
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Israel confiscates medical appliances donated by Norway
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West Bank poverty 'worse than Gaza'
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Bill to outlaw boycott
The bill not only prohibits boycotts of legal Israeli institutions, but also of settlement activities and products. It seeks to impose fines on Israelis who "promote boycotts" and transfer the fines to boycotted organisations.
Read more-The Guardian
South American natives in Palestine: Solidarity As A Weapon
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Bedouin Families Face Further Expulsions
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IKF razes Palestinian buildings in Occupied Jerusalem
Israeli occupation police escorted bulldozers of the Israeli-controlled municipality of Jerusalem on Tuesday as they leveled Palestinian buildings and installations in Isawiye town, occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources said that the bulldozers leveled pens and greenhouses along with other installations east of Isawiye and bulldozed land near to them.
Tens of occupation policemen encircled the town from various areas, erected road barriers, and banned traffic in and out of it during the demolition process.