Saturday, January 30, 2010Breaking the Silence exposes humiliation of Palestinians, violence and theft by IDF soldiers Palestine Note 1/30/2010 Anti occupation group Breaking the Silence published a new set of testimonies, this time from female soldiers who served in recent years in the Palestinians territories. These include stories of humiliation, systematic violence, cruelty and theft by IDF soldiers. The Palestinians who were harmed by those acts were innocent civilians, or in the worse cases illegal workers in Israel or stone-throwers. They weren’t suspect of any terrorist activity against Israelis. You can read some of the testimonies on Ynet (A good word to Israel’s most popular news site for posting the story in English as well. I wonder what people would have said if it was published on mainstream US media). On the Hebrew version of the article, you can also hear one of the testimonies. Even though we heard such stories before, some of the stuff is not easy to read or listen to. It seems that in some IDF units, hurting Arabs became a way to gain respect and admiration of fellow soldiers. Some female soldiers, suffering from a lower statue to begin with, apparently did their best to show they don’t fall short from men in this field. This comes from one of the testimonies: "A female combat soldier needs to prove more...a female soldier who beats up others is a serious fighter...when I arrived there was another female there with me, she was there before me...everyone spoke of how impressive she is because she humiliates Arabs without any problem. That was the indicator. You have to see her, the way she humiliates, the way she slaps them, wow, she really slapped that guy."more..e-mail
The grand Zionist façade Shahid Alam, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/30/2010 Assertions without substance, prejudice without apology, violence without regret; these are the foundations of the Zionist dream of Israel. On 12 January, The New York Times carried an article by David Brooks on Jews and Israel. It so caught my eye that I decided to bring it to my class on the economic history of the Middle East. I sent my students the link to the article and asked them to read it carefully and come to class prepared to discuss and dissect its contents. My students recalled various parts of the New York Times article, but no one explained its substance. They recalled David Brooks’ focus on the singular intellectual achievements of American Jews, the enviable record of Israeli Jews as innovators and entrepreneurs, the mobility of Israel’s new class of innovators, etc. One student even spoke of what was not in the article or in the history of Jews -- centuries of Jewish "struggle" to create a Jewish state in Palestine. But they offered no insights on Brooks’ motivation. Why had he decided to brag about Jewish achievements, a temptation normally eschewed by urbane Jews? In my previous class, while discussing Edward Said’s critique of Orientalism, I had discussed how knowledge is suborned by power, how it is perverted by tribalism, and how Western writers crafted their writings about the Middle East to serve the interests of colonial powers. Not surprisingly, this critique had not yet sunk in.more..e-mail
To be Israeli today Larry Derfner, The Jerusalem Post, Israeli Occupation Archive 1/14/2010 We’re at war with the Middle East, with Europe, with liberal Jews in the Diaspora and with a pathetically small handful of dissenters at home. We trust no one. We see anti-Semites everywhere. We’d like to build an Iron Dome over this whole country to keep the world out. It’s nice to know that the economy’s good, or relatively good, and that the hi-tech sector is a miracle, that we’re the “start-up nation.” There’s a lot of economic opportunity in this country for well-educated, shrewd, hard-working people (or well-educated, shrewd, hard-working Jews, anyway). There’s great wealth in Israel, a whole class of rich people. That’s a change, and a good one. I can’t say I’m inspired by it, because there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of trickle-down from all that wealth, but prosperity, even if it’s spread narrowly, is a good thing. A positive thing. Other than the economy – the rise of the nouveau-riche and the staving off of recession – everything else in national life, everything else that comes to mind when you think “Israel” or “being Israeli” – is negative. Being Israeli today is about being against. Against Palestinians. Against people who criticize the way we treat Palestinians. Against Muslims in general. That’s it. That’s what it means to be Israeli, ever since the intifada started a decade ago and we concluded that no Arab could be trusted. Except for its hi-tech image, this is all Israel stands for anymore – being against this one, against that one and against anyone who isn’t against them, too.more..e-mail
Floods bring more misery for tented communities in Gaza Electronic Intifada: 29 Jan 2010 - OCCUPIED GAZA STRIP (IRIN) - Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza made homeless by Israel's 23-day military assault on the Gaza Strip which ended just over a year ago, are still in tents and damaged buildings; cold weather and recent flash floods have exacerbated their plight, say aid workers and the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
"Together we can end this occupation" Electronic Intifada: 29 Jan 2010 - The Israeli military recently dropped hundreds of leaflets warning Palestinian residents from the village of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip not to travel within 300 meters of the border -- the distance of Israel's so-called "buffer zone." In response, local activists marched to and nonviolently demonstrated inside the "buffer zone" against the illegal action. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre recently spoke with demonstration organizer Saber Zanin.
"Our community is at risk": An interview with Ittijah's Ameer Makhoul Electronic Intifada: 29 Jan 2010 - Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community Based Associations, was founded in 1995 in response to a widely felt need for increased cooperation and exchange between Palestinian Arab organizations in Israel. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof recently interviewed Ameer Makhoul, the general director of Ittijah.
the last oranges In Gaza: 25 Jan 2010 - “Children don’t lie. Slap them in the face and they tell you what they know,” Sameh*, a night watchman, says. The 18 year old was on night shift at Maowwiya elementary school north of Attatra’s Salateen street, Beit Lahiya, when the Israeli land invasion began. Three days after the 18 January 2009 ceasefire, still shaken from his experience, Sameh recounted how the Israelis occupied the school and used it as a prison and interrogation centre, before bombing it. A year later, the blast holes still gape through the school’s walls and the missing floor has not been replaced. “It was around 8am, January 4th, the first morning of the ground...
Eight Children Hospitalised in Nabi Saleh Siege Palestine Monitor: 30 Jan 2010 - Around twenty residents of Nabi Salah village were injured during Friday's demonstration, directed mainly at the Hallamish settlement which occupies the village's farmland and primary water source. Most of those injured were children not participating in the protest, tear gassed and fired upon with rubber bullets as they sheltered in a nearby house. Although yesterday was only the fourth protest of its kind, Nabi Salah has fast become a hub of the popular struggle, adopting the non-violent principles of its sister movements in Bilin and Ni'lin. Following on from the fractious scenes of the previous week, which saw six arrests and several serious injuries, around 200 villagers and activists approached the IDF positions waving flags and chanting demands for the return of their land, annexed by settlers. The protest begins peacefully. Hallamish settlement in the background. Photo by Renee Lewis They were met with volleys of tear gas, sound bombs...
Obama Now Focusing on Domestic Concerns Palestine Chronicle: 29 Jan 2010 - By George S. Hishmeh – Washington DC Considering the serious economic woes that many Americans faced last year, and are still facing, President Barack devoted most of his first State of the Union address before a joint session of the Congress on how he hopes to turn the situation around. As anticipated, foreign policy played a second fiddle to the nation’s other domestic concerns overshadowing other serious international problems – - U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and probably Yemen, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, just to cite a few. The first impression one gets is that the Arab and Muslim worlds have been taken for a ride by Obama. What has been disappointing to date has been the feeling that Obama’s stance in this respect does not appear to be much different than any of his predecessors. The high hopes that Arabs and Muslims, particularly Palestinians, had especially after his historic speech in Cairo are now almost shattered. All recall his pledge at Cairo University last year that he was “firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.” He had told a large appreciative audience there that he was seeking “a new beginning” between the United States and the Arab and Muslim worlds where they can “share common principles –– principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” But Obama has hardly done so in his first...
Settlers Seek to Recruit Indian Immigrants Palestine Chronicle: 29 Jan 2010 - By Jonathan Cook - Nazareth The Israeli government is reported to have quietly approved the fast-track immigration of 7,000 members of a supposedly “lost Jewish” tribe, known as the Bnei Menashe, currently living in a remote area of India. Under the plan, the “lost Jews” would be brought to Israel over the next two years by right-wing and religious organisations who, critics are concerned, will seek to place them in West Bank settlements in a bid to foil Israel’s partial agreement to a temporary freeze of settlement growth. A previous attempt to bring the Bnei Menashe to Israel was halted in 2003 by Avraham Poraz, the interior minister at the time, after it became clear that most of the 1,500 who had arrived were being sent to extremist settlements, including in the Gaza Strip and next to Hebron, the large Palestinian city in the West Bank. Dror Etkes, who monitors settlement growth for Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, said there were strong grounds for suspecting that some of the new Bnei Menashe would end up in the settlements, too. “There is a mutual interest being exploited here,” he said. “The Bnei Menashe get help to make aliyah [immigration] while the settlements get lots of new arrivals to bolster their numbers, including in settlements close to Palestinian areas where most Israelis would not want to venture.” The government’s decision, leaked this month to Ynet, Israel’s biggest news website, was made possible by a ruling in 2005 by Shlomo Amar,...
Is Obama's Magic Fading? Palestine Chronicle: 29 Jan 2010 - By Ali Younes - Washington DC For those who had hoped that President Obama's first State of the Union speech would bring some vigor to troubled Middle East peace process, or bringing a new strategy to close Guantanamo Bay they were dealt a major disappointment in last night speech. In fact, these two issues were the furthest thing on Obama mind during his 70- minute long speech, the longest of all his speeches ever since he held a public office. President Obama used his first State of Union speech to address the mounting pressure on his administration to stabilize the economy amid a historic 10% high unemployment rate for the last month of December and a yearly average of 9.3% high a rate that was not seen since Regan was in office in 1982 and 1983. The speech, understandably so, was geared toward domestic audience. This is because the president had taken the helm of the presidency amid a steep recession and found his presidency plunged in worsening economic crises in the banking industry and other key industries such as the car and health insurance industries. The tone of speech was not Obama’s usual. It was deliberately subdued, a departure from his oratorical style on the campaign trail. Perhaps Obama’s advisers were careful not to set the American people’s expectations too high with another ornamental speech that focuses more on style and delivery and less on substance and reality. Reality, as it came to be was president Obama’s biggest enemy...
Sunday, January 31, 2010The kangaroo Uri Avnery, Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2010 George Mitchell looks like a kangaroo hopping around with an empty pouch. He hops here and he hops there. Hops to Jerusalem and hops to Ramallah, Damascus, Beirut, Amman (but, God forbid, not to Gaza, because somebody may not like it). Hops, hops, but doesn"™t take anything out of his pouch, because the pouch is empty. So why does he do it? After all, he could stay at home, raise roses or play with his grandchildren. This compulsive traveling reveals a grain of chutzpah. If he has nothing to offer, why waste the time of politicians and media people? Why burn airplane fuel and damage the environment? The declared aim of Mitchell is to "get the peace process going again." How? "Get the two sides to return to the negotiating table." There is a naive American belief that all the problems of the world could be solved if only the parties would sit down at the table and talk. When reasonable people talk to each other, they will eventually arrive at a solution. The trouble with this is that the people responsible for the fate of nations are not, in general, reasonable people. They are politicians with passions and prejudices and constituencies, who are driven by the mood of the masses. When one is dealing with a 130-year old conflict, the naïve belief in the value of talk borders on folly.more..e-mail
Iran And Obama’s State Of The Union Address: Back To The Future? Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, The Race for Iran 1/30/2010 In a State of the Union address that devoted less time or attention to foreign policy than any recent counterpart, President Obama provided disturbing evidence as to the ongoing strategic regression of his administration’s Iran policy. Obama has moved, during just one year in office, from relatively forward-leaning expressions of interest in engaging Iran on the basis of “mutual interests” and in an atmosphere of “mutual respect” to rhetoric reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s description of an “axis of evil” (North Korea, Saddam Husayn’s Iraq, and the Islamic Republic of Iran) in his 2002 State of the Union address. Last night, Obama equated Iran’s nuclear activities with North Korea’s nuclear weapons program—even though there is no doubt that North Korea has built nuclear weapons and no evidence that the Islamic Republic has done so or even tried to do so. (For good measure, the President effectively put the status of Iranian women in the same category as that of their Afghan sisters. While one can take issue with restrictions still in place on Iranian women, the educational, professional, and social standing of women in the Islamic Republic is among the highest in the greater Middle East and clearly superior to the status of women in Afghanistan.) There was no mention of engaging Tehran in last night’s speech. Instead, the emphasis—as during George W. Bush’s administration—was on isolating and punishing Iran. With regard to the nuclear issue, in particular, Obama said that “as Iran’s leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: They, too, will face growing consequences.” (Departing from his prepared text at this point in the speech, the President added starkly: “That is a promise.”)more..e-mail
Britain’s Jewish Chronicle warns Gordon Brown: change UK law to accommodate Israeli war criminals or you are finished Gilad Atzmon, Redress 1/31/2010 Britain’s Jewish Chronicle is apparently stupid enough to unveil the ferocity of Zionist lobbying within the British government and its corridors of power. The Jewish newspaper is happy to outline the relentless measures that are being taken by Jewish lobbyists in order to Zionize the British legal system and the values underlying it. One can assume the supporters of Israel in Britain are anything but happy with Britain’s magistrates being able to implement universal jurisdiction laws – laws that allow local magistrates to issue arrest warrants for high profile foreign visitors accused of war crimes. The rabid Zionist Jewish Chronicle is obviously outraged because universal jurisdiction puts most of the Israeli political and military echelon at severe risk. Last month former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livini cancelled her visit to Britain over fears that arrest warrants would be issued in connection with accusations of war crimes under laws of universal jurisdiction. Israeli flag superimposed on UK flagHow long will it take before the British people say no to Israeli and Zionist infiltration of their politics, laws and values? Surely, universal jurisdiction is not a bad thing. It is actually an ethically-based idea that is there to prevent world leaders from abusing their powers and committing crimes against humanity. It is also there to prosecute war criminals and to stop them from celebrating their crimes. Yet, it is not very surprising that the only political lobby in Britain that acts against such a set of universal laws is the Zionist lobby.more..e-mail
"Redeeming" the land: from kibbutzniks to Hilltop Youth Electronic Intifada: 1 Feb 2010 - After the 1967 war the value of the kibbutz -- instrumental in defining territory for the Jewish State of Israel -- as a frontline force had become obsolete. The then burgeoning settler movement soon came to replace the kibbutz as a central colonizing body. Occupying Palestinian land and cultivating it to be inhabited by exclusively Jewish communities, the strategies of settlers are not much different than early kibbutzniks. Carmelle Wolfson writes.
the last oranges In Gaza: 25 Jan 2010 - “Children don’t lie. Slap them in the face and they tell you what they know,” Sameh*, a night watchman, says. The 18 year old was on night shift at Maowwiya elementary school north of Attatra’s Salateen street, Beit Lahiya, when the Israeli land invasion began. Three days after the 18 January 2009 ceasefire, still shaken from his experience, Sameh recounted how the Israelis occupied the school and used it as a prison and interrogation centre, before bombing it. A year later, the blast holes still gape through the school’s walls and the missing floor has not been replaced. “It was around 8am, January 4th, the first morning of the ground...
Lasting Agriculture Versus Lasting Occupation Palestine Monitor: 1 Feb 2010 - The village of Battir, North West of Bethlehem, was once a haven for farmers. Its rich soil, water resources and favourable climate produced abundant harvests of olives and vegetables. But since the start of the occupation, Battir's 4,000 inhabitants have faced tremendous difficulties. The farmland of Battir. The village straddles B and C areas, falling under administrative and military Israeli control. It is surrounded on one side by the separation wall and on the other by two settlements, Bitay Illet and Walja. If the settlements continue to expand at their current rate, they will soon merge, further isolating Battir. The village is one of fourteen such ‘blockations' in the West Bank. Available land has been steadily decreasing since 1949, when the Israeli Government began building a railroad through the village. Despite these restrictions, Battir's farmers retain faith that with determination and effective use of their natural resources, the good years...
European Parliamentary Delegation visited Gaza Palestine Monitor: 1 Feb 2010 - The biggest European Parliamentary Delegation comprised of 55 MEPs and MPs from across Europe visited Gaza between 14 and 18 January 2010. The visit was prepared by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza and The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC). As Gaza strip has been suffering for years through a deadly siege and devastating War; the living conditions remain disastrous. Both of the organizers believe it is crucial to continue highlighting the devastation and not allow humanitarian disaster to be shrouded to serve a political end. The visit aimed at exposing to the parliamentarians to the real conditions in the Gaza Strip so they can raise the issue in their countries and national parliaments. They have carried out a very comprehensive tour across the Gaza Strip and met Egyptian officials during their visit. General Director of the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), Majed al Zeer represented the centre in...
Reclaiming Water in Qarawat Bani Hassan Palestine Monitor: 1 Feb 2010 - End of December, accompanied by soldiers, Israeli settlers driving bulldozers started carrying out significant construction works in the area where is located the Neweitef Al – Majur spring, central source of water for farming the land of the nearby West Bank town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the Salfeet governorate, 30 km southwest of Nablus. Moeen Rayyan, Media Coordinator of the PGFTU (Palestine General Federation of Trade Union) works in Nablus, but he was born in Qarawat Bani Hassan and frequently returns to his native town to visit his family. He immediately reached the area when the bulldozers arrived where the springs are located and he was there on another occasion when several dozen of teens from the nearby outpost rushed to the area. He had the chance to take photos of this second incident. Settlers carrying out construction works in the area where is located the Neweitef Al –...
Drones and Death: The Israeli Connection Palestine Chronicle: 1 Feb 2010 - By Ed Kinane Drones are remote-controlled airborne robots. They come in all shapes and sizes. These unmanned high-tech weapons are remarkably versatile. From thousands of feet in the air some reportedly have heat-detecting and surveillance instrumentation that can distinguish between an automatic weapon that has been recently fired and one that hasn’t. Unlike the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine, most US Americans are oblivious to drones. But we’d better wake up. Drones are poised to become tools of domestic surveillance. The Houston police are now secretly experimenting with drones. Col. Kevin Bradley, local Hancock Airbase drone commander, looks forward to having drones used for domestic police work (18 Dec.’09 Syracuse Post-Standard). ACLU please take note. In Upstate New York we’re beginning to learn about the Reaper drone in our midst – “piloted” via satellite out of Hancock on the outskirts of Syracuse. Syracuse’s Reaper now flies surveillance and assassination missions over Afghanistan. The Pentagon proudly describes the Reaper as a “hunter/ killer.” But the US isn’t alone in developing and deploying drone technology. I became aware of Israel’s use of drones during its December 2008/January 2009 invasion of Gaza. Israel deploys two types of hunter/killer: the “Hermes,” produced by Elbit Systems Ltd, and the “Heron,” produced by the government-owned Israeli Aerospace Industries. Recently – by Googling “Israeli drones” -- I learned that Israel pioneered the drone and that Israel purveys that cutting edge weaponry throughout the world. As far back as 1982 Israel used drones against Syria. In...
Mitchel is Kangaroo; Obama is Hamlet Palestine Chronicle: 1 Feb 2010 - By Uri Avnery - Israel George Mitchel looks like a kangaroo hopping around with an empty pouch. He hops here and he hops there. Hops to Jerusalem and hops to Ramallah, Damascus, Beirut, Amman (but, God forbid, not to Gaza, because somebody may not like it). Hops, hops, but doesn’t take anything out of his pouch, because the pouch is empty. So why does he do it? After all, he could stay at home, raise roses or play with his grandchildren. This compulsive traveling reveals a grain of chutzpah. If he has nothing to offer, why waste the time of politicians and media people? Why burn airplane fuel and damage the environment? The declared aim of Mitchell is to “get the peace process going again”. How? “Get the two sides to return to the negotiating table”. There is a naïve American belief that all the problems of the world could be solved if only the parties would sit down at the table and talk. When reasonable people talk to each other, they will eventually arrive at a solution. The trouble with this is that the people responsible for the fate of nations are not, in general, reasonable people. They are politicians with passions and prejudices and constituencies, who are driven by the mood of the masses. When one is dealing with a 130-year old conflict, the naïve belief in the value of talk borders on folly. Decades of experience indicate that negotiations are useless if one of the parties is...
Gaza, One Year Later Palestine Chronicle: 1 Feb 2010 - By Alex Kane – Beit Hanoun One year after Israel's ferocious assault, Dr. Mustafa El-Hawi, a professor at Al-Aqsa University, traveled by bus to attend a protest against the continuing Israeli siege of Gaza. As the bus passed by still-devastated areas of Beit Hanoun, in the northeast of the 25-mile-long coastal strip, the U.S.- and British-educated El-Hawi reflected on those terrifying days. “I spent 20 or 21 days living in the basement with my children and with three families of my neighbors. They were staying with us with no access to water or electricity, so we set fire in order to cook and just to feed my children,” El-Hawi says. El-Hawi, 51, lives in the densely packed Gaza City neighborhood of Tel Hawwa, which Israeli troops and tanks invaded in January 2009. “During that time, we don’t sleep, we don’t have access to proper medicine, to anything. We are expecting to die any time.” Arriving in Beit Hanoun in the morning of Dec. 31, El-Hawi joined about 600 Palestinians and 85 internationals to mark the one year anniversary of the “Gaza massacres” that killed almost 1,400 Palestinians. The group attempted to march to the Erez border crossing with Israel, where about 1,000 demonstrators had gathered on the Israeli side, also protesting the siege. The Gaza group could come no closer than half a kilometer, however, for fear they would be shot by Israeli forces. El-Hawi says his children were traumatized from being in a war zone. As for the rest...
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