Uri Avnery, 23 January 2010
THE BUSINESS is registered in the name of Binyamin Netanyahu. But the reality is different.
Netanyahu has never been more than a slick patent medicine salesman. That is a type that appears frequently in American Westerns and sells an elixir that is good for everything: against the flu and against tuberculosis, against heart attacks and against lunacy. The main weapon of the vendor is his tongue: his stream of words builds castles in the air, blows up glistening bubbles and silences all doubt.
Since the election almost a year ago, his biggest (literally) achievement has been the setting up of a cabinet: 30 ministers and a bunch of deputies, most of them without any perceptible duties, some of them in charge of ministries for which they are the most unsuited of all possible candidates. From then on his main occupation has been the one in which he is most adept: political survival.
In this governmental zoo, the one really important creature is the Liebarak – a two-headed monster that terrifies all the other animals. This animal is 50% Lieberman, 50% Barak, 0% human.
WHEN LIEBERMAN first appeared on the stage, many looked on him with disdain. Such a person, they decided, has no chance in Israeli politics.
For ten years, he has been under investigation by the police on suspicion of corruption, receiving money from mysterious foreign sources and more.
Moreover, in the eyes of many Israelis, he is the most un-Israeli figure imaginable. They have tagged him permanently as a “new immigrant”, even though he has been here for over 30 years. They consider his outward appearance, body language and dialect as blatantly “un-Israeli”, belonging to someone who is “not one of us”. How can Israelis vote for such a person?
Lieberman is a settler based in Nokdim, a settlement near Bethlehem, and the settlers are not popular in Israel. He is openly racist, a hater of Arabs who despises peace, a man whose declared aim is to rid Israel of the Arabs. True, there is in Israel (as in any country) a lot of silent racism, partly unconscious, but this racism is denied. Israelis – it was believed – will not vote for an outright racist.
The last elections put an end to this belief. Lieberman’s party won 15 Knesset seats, two more than Barak’s party, and became the third biggest Knesset faction. Not a few “real” Israeli youngsters, Sabras through and through, voted for him. They saw him as a good address for their protest vote.
The establishment was not too upset. OK, so there was a protest vote. In every Israeli election campaign there appears an election list from nowhere that wilts the next day, like the gourd of the prophet Jonah. Where are they all now?
But Lieberman is not General Yigael Yadin, who created the Dash party, or Tommy Lapid, the leader of Shinui. He is a man of brutal power, lacking any scruples, a man ready to appeal – as Joseph Goebbels put it – to the most primitive instincts of the masses.
We may yet see in Israel a coalition of all the malcontents and the angry, as the Bible says about David when he fled from King Saul: “And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves around him, and he became a captain over them.” (1 Samuel 22:2). Lieberman’s home turf is the community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who have not been absorbed into Israeli society and who live in a spiritual and social ghetto. They may be joined by other sectors: the settlers, the Oriental Jews who feel that the Likud betrayed them, young people who see him as a man who expresses openly what they believe in secret: that the Arabs should be expelled from the state, and from the entire country.
Lieberman’s un-Israeli appearance may yet turn out to be an advantage for him. A person who is so un-Israeli may become the ideal leader of a camp united by its hatred of the “elites”, the Supreme Court, the police, the media and the other pillars of Israeli democracy.
The police investigations, too, may elevate him in the eyes of this public. They believe that he is being persecuted by the hypocritical elites. The dark cloud of suspicion did not deter Netanyahu from giving him control of both the Ministry of Police and the Ministry of Justice, the two ministries charged with upholding the rule of law, which are now under the direction of his lackeys.
This danger should not be underrated. Other historical leaders of his ilk were at first considered clowns and ridiculed, before they came to power and wrought havoc.
BUT THE second head of the Liebarak is more dangerous than the first. The danger of Lieberman lies in the future. The danger of Ehud Barak is immediate and real.
This week, Barak did something that should turn on a another red light. On the demand of Lieberman, Barak accorded the Settlers’ college in Ariel the status of a university.
Unlike the “foreign” Lieberman, Barak comes from the epicenter of old-time Israel. He grew up in a kibbutz, was a commander in the elite “General Staff commando” and speaks perfect Hebrew with the right intonation. As a former Chief of Staff and a present Minister of Defense, he represents the might of the most formidable sector in Israel: the army.
Lieberman has not yet succeeded in hurting the chances of peace, except by talking. Barak has acted. I once called him a “peace criminal”, in contradistinction to a “war criminal” – though nowadays many would accord him this distinction, too.
The fatal blow dealt by Barak to the chances of peace came after the 2000 Camp David conference. To recount briefly: when he was elected in 1999 with a landslide majority, on the wave of enthusiasm of the peace camp and with the help of clear peace slogans (“Education instead of Settlements!”), he induced Presidents Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat to meet him at a summit conference. In a typical mixture of arrogance and ignorance, he believed that if he offered the Palestinians the chance to found a Palestinian state, they would give up all their other claims. His offers were indeed more far-reaching than those of his predecessors, but still far from the minimum acceptable to Palestinians. The conference failed.
Coming home from Camp David, he did not make the usual announcement (“Much progress has been achieved and negotiations will continue…”), nor an unusual one (“Sorry, I was wrong, I had no idea!”) Rather, he coined a mantra that has since become the center of the national consensus: “I have turned every stone on the way to peace / I have offered the Palestinians everything they could ask for / They have rejected everything / We Have No Partner For Peace.”
This declaration by the leader of the Labor Party, who often calls himself “the head of the peace camp”, dealt a mortal blow to the Israeli peace forces, who had hoped so much from him. The vast majority of the Israelis believe now with all their heart that “we have no partner for peace”. Thereby he opened the way for the ascent to power of Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu.
Throughout his time in office, Barak established and enlarged settlements. On his orders, the Commanding Officer of Central Command issued a permit for a radio station of the settlers (which has lately started to broadcast, after a long delaying fight by Gush Shalom against it.) In this respect, too, he has trumped Lieberman. His decision about the Ariel university fits into this pattern.
“WAIT A MINUTE!” a sensible person may ask. “What has this to do with Barak? He is the Minister of Defense, isn’t he, and not the Minister of Education!”
Ariel is occupied territory. In the occupied territories, the army is the sovereign power. Barak is in charge of the army. The directive to upgrade the Ariel College was given by Barak to the commanding officer. As Yossi Sarid, a former Minister of Education, pointed out, the “Ariel University Center” is the only civil university in the democratic world set up by the army.
An Israeli academic institution has to go a long way before being accorded university status by the competent authorities. There are many colleges in Israel, far more outstanding than the Ariel College, which aspire to this status. In the occupied territories, a general’s approval is enough.
This fact throws light on the unprecedented Israeli invention: the Eternal Occupation.
An occupation regime is by its nature a temporary situation. It comes into being when one side in a war conquers territory of the other side. The occupying power is supposed to rule it, under detailed international laws, until the end of the war, when a peace agreement must decide the future of the territory.
A war may last some years, at most, and therefore the occupation is a temporary matter. Successive Israeli governments have turned it into a permanent situation.
Why? At the outset of the occupation, the then Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan, discovered that the occupation is really an ideal situation. It gives the occupier absolute power without any obligation to accord the inhabitants any citizenship rights whatsoever. If Israel were to annex the territories, it would have to decide what to do with the population. That would create an embarrassing situation. The inhabitants of East Jerusalem, which was formally annexed to Israel in 1967, did not receive citizenship, but only the status of ”residents”. Successive Israeli governments have been afraid that the world would not accept a “democratic” state in which a third of the population have no rights.
A status of occupation solves all these problems. The inhabitants of the occupied territories have, de facto, no rights whatsoever – neither national, nor civil, nor human. The Israel government builds settlements wherever it sees fit, also contrary to international law, and now it is setting up a university, too.
(Lately an original proposal was put forward by Sari Nusseibeh, the president of the Palestinian al-Quds University in annexed East Jerusalem: the Palestinians should demand that Israel annex all the occupied territories, without demanding citizenship. Nusseibeh hopes, so it seems, that in the long run Israel would not be able to withstand international pressure and would be compelled to accord them citizenship, and then the Palestinians would already be the majority in the state and able to do what they want. I appreciate Nusseibeh very, very highly, but feel the gamble would be too risky.)
THE SPANISH government has already declared a boycott of the Ariel college and cancelled its participation in an international architectural competition run by Spain.
I hope that more governments and academic institutions will follow this example and declare a boycott on this “university”.
True, the Liebarak couldn’t care less. This two-headed monster is indifferent to boycotts. But an academic institution cannot be indifferent to a boycott by its peers around the world. And if the Israeli academic community does not rise up against this prostitution of its ideals by the setting up of a university of the settlers under military auspices – it is inviting a boycott on all Israeli universities.
Source:
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Israel seeks to deport East Jerusalem man for spending too many years in U.S.
By Amira Hass
The Interior Ministry is demanding that a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem be deported for having spent too many years in the United States. Elias Khayyo - who holds no foreign citizenship - has been detained for three weeks at Givon incarceration facility in Ramle with other people deemed illegal residents and slated for deportation.
Khayyo, 41, was born in East Jerusalem and currently resides in the Christian Quarter of the Old City, where his parents also live. He says he has no relatives in America, nor a home, property or employment there.
The Interior Ministry, however, maintains that his permanent residency in Israel was revoked in January 2006, due to Khayyo having lived in the U.S. from 1998 to 2005 and receiving permanent-residence status there. Khayyo received bachelor's and master's degrees in biology over two extended stays in the U.S. He is now working as a translator in Jerusalem.
The ministry claims Khayyo resided abroad for more than seven years, and that he returned to Israel in 2005 as a tourist by presenting U.S. travel documents.
Khayyo was detained at the Qalandiyah checkpoint on January 10 while en route from Ramallah to Jerusalem, and his identity documents and mobile phone were confiscated. He was instructed to sign unspecified documents but refused, stating that the documents in question were written only in Hebrew.
Khayyo was then transported to Givon by members of the Oz task force against immigration violations. Once there, he was informed that papers had been filed for his deportation from Israel.
From his incarceration, Khayyo told Haaretz by phone that he had studied in the U.S. from 1990 to 1996, then returned to Jerusalem. He replaced his expired ID card with a new one, and did not encounter problems with Israeli authorities.
After capturing and annexing East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel granted Palestinian residents living there permanent residency - a status based on the Law of Entry to Israel," even though they and their families didnot enter Israel, but were born in Jerusalem.
In 1998 Khayyo returned to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree. He married a U.S. citizen and began the naturalization process to receive citizenship. The day after the September 11, 2001 attacks he was dismissed from his job - in his view, due to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment. In 2002, he and his wife divorced. Khayyo comes from a Christian family. His mother, Elizabeth, is of Armenian descent, whose family survived the genocide in Turkey.
In 2005 Khayyo decided to return to Jerusalem. He said he had sought to have his Israeli-issued travel documents extended, but was told by the Israeli consulate in Philadelphia that due to his possession of a U.S. Green Card he had to enter Israel as a tourist, and have his American travel document stamped with an Israeli visa, valid for three months. Consulate authorities told him his status vis-a-vis Israel would be taken care of once in the country.
In 1995, under Haim Ramon, the Interior Ministry began taking a harder line against East Jerusalem Palestinians, revoking the permanent-residence status of many of those living outside the municipal borders of Jerusalem (often due to policy-created housing shortages) and those living abroad.
In 2000, after a long public campaign against the new measure, then-minister Natan Sharansky told the High Court of Justice that the Interior Ministry would return to its pre-1995 policy, and vowed to reinstate the permanent-residence status of those East Jerusalemites for whom it had been revoked, as long as they had been living again in the city for at least two years.
After returning to his Jerusalem home, Khayyo contacted an attorney and understood from him that he fell within Sharansky's category of Jerusalemitee entitled to permanent residency status.
The Interior Ministry maintains that his ID card was revoked in 2006, though Khayyo had used it throughout the four years since then without complications.
Attorney Nabil Izhiman, whom Khayyo contacted when placed into the immigration authorities' custody, petitioned the Administrative Court to issue a preliminary order to prevent Khayyo's deportation and the revocation of his residency. For now, the deportation has been postponed.
Source:
"How many Jews who live in the U.S. came here with Israeli passports and have lived in the U.S. many years? Does the same law apply to them? Not that Israeli Civil law is legitimate in "territories occupied") "
World isn't buying Israel's explanations anymore
"Your situation isn't good," said a high-ranking European diplomat recently. "No one believes Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and we don't want any connection with [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman. Only a dramatic and surprising diplomatic move, like [former prime minister] Ariel Sharon's disengagement, will change the impression."
A few hours later, Time magazine published an interview with U.S. President Barack Obama, in which he expressed disappointment with Israel's unwillingness to make "bold gestures" toward the Palestinians.
In a speech at a conference not long ago, an Israeli diplomat serving in a European capital touted Israel's hoary PR line, distinguishing between "the only democracy in the Middle East" and its autocratic Arab neighbors.
"We share common values," the Israeli told the Europeans. To his surprise, a member of the audience stood up and replied to him: "What common values? We have nothing in common with you."
In diplomatic conversations, Europeans are critical of Israel because of the Gaza blockade, the construction in the Jewish settlements, the home demolitions in East Jerusalem, the pervasive loathing of the right-wing government and even the social gaps and the way Israel is moving away from the European welfare-state model.
The Netanyahu-Lieberman government is nearly always described as "hard-line" in the foreign media. This is not entirely fair: The government of Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni went to war in Lebanon and Gaza and built thousands of apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement blocs - many more than did Netanyahu, who has refrained from employing military force and has declared a 10-month freeze on settlement construction. But they liked the Kadima government because Olmert and Livni made the right noises about their desire for peace and a final status agreement, whereas they don't believe Netanyahu when he talks about "two states for two peoples." The fact that Olmert and Livni achieved nothing in the negotiations makes no difference. It's the intentions that count.
Netanyahu and his aides have answers to the accusations against Israel. The blame for the Gaza blockade lies squarely with the Palestinians, who chose Hamas to reign over them and kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. "You are worrying about the humanitarian rights of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. You should be worrying about one Israeli who is being held there," Netanyahu's people tell UN representatives.
In East Jerusalem, the government is hiding behind Mayor Nir Barkat and the planning and construction institutions, which are approving building plans for Jews and home demolitions for Palestinians. And for the diplomatic stagnation, it is blaming Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is refusing to renew the talks.
There is one little problem: The world isn't buying Israel's explanations and it isn't prepared to condemn Palestinian obduracy. Obama has split the blame for the stagnation between the two sides and has also taken some of it upon himself ("We raised expectations").
American envoy George Mitchell's appeal to the members of the Quartet that they urge Abbas to return to talks, has gone unanswered. This week he completed another frustrating visit to the region, with zero results.
Obama's approach - to "park" the diplomatic process for lack of achievements and to concentrate on domestic issues - has not surprised Netanyahu. Three months ago, a senior Israeli official said the Obama administration would probably put off the Israeli-Palestinian problem to his second term, explaining: "Now they're weak, they have unemployment and the economic crisis, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, and they aren't emerging from that. They don't have the strength to complete an agreement. In the meantime, the maintenance will continue."
U.S. officials are hoping talks will be renewed within six months. The main thing is that there be some negotiations. They have no expectations of more than that.
Disturbing scenario
The Palestinian Authority is conducting a campaign to isolate Israel, based on the Goldstone report and the hatred for the Netanyahu government. Political scientists Shaul Mishal and Doron Mazza are calling it "the white intifada," which is aimed at enlisting international support for a unilateral declaration of independence in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. In a document they distributed last week, they warn of Israeli complaisance and present a disturbing scenario: The Palestinians declare independence, and Israel refuses to recognize it and is faced with a boycott. Regardless of whether it yields or reacts with force, Israel cannot win, and will also lose control of the process. Therefore the two scholars recommend a preemptive diplomatic move.
Diplomatic isolation can be costly. Former Foreign Ministry director general Gideon Rafael wrote in his memoirs that in the summer of 1973, he felt that the diplomatic stagnation, which was perceived as something taken for granted, and perhaps even desirable, was liable to become "a death trap."
Former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat cut Israel off from its friends in the Third World, proposed a peace initiative to the Americans and was rejected. He then raised the demand for the return of the Sinai Peninsula in the UN Security Council and came up against an American veto.
In his book, "Destination Peace: Three decades of Israeli Foreign Policy, a Personal Memoir" (published in English by Littlehampton Book Services, 1981), Rafael wrote that Israel rejoiced in the veto and did not realize that closing the diplomatic door left Egypt with only one option - war.
In the coming weeks Israel apparently will request an American veto in the Security Council again, in order to bury the Goldstone report. Netanyahu is planning a fourth meeting with Obama, concerning the nuclear security conference in Washington on April 12 and perhaps even before then. The agenda will center on Iran - or "the new Amalek," as Netanyahu called it in Auschwitz on Wednesday. The question is whether alongside his demand that Obama take action against Iran, Netanyahu will also tell him that in exchange, Israel will take some sort of initiative vis-a-vis the Palestinians. This would be in an attempt to persuade the world to believe him and ameliorate Israel's increasing diplomatic isolation.
Source:
A few hours later, Time magazine published an interview with U.S. President Barack Obama, in which he expressed disappointment with Israel's unwillingness to make "bold gestures" toward the Palestinians.
In a speech at a conference not long ago, an Israeli diplomat serving in a European capital touted Israel's hoary PR line, distinguishing between "the only democracy in the Middle East" and its autocratic Arab neighbors.
"We share common values," the Israeli told the Europeans. To his surprise, a member of the audience stood up and replied to him: "What common values? We have nothing in common with you."
In diplomatic conversations, Europeans are critical of Israel because of the Gaza blockade, the construction in the Jewish settlements, the home demolitions in East Jerusalem, the pervasive loathing of the right-wing government and even the social gaps and the way Israel is moving away from the European welfare-state model.
The Netanyahu-Lieberman government is nearly always described as "hard-line" in the foreign media. This is not entirely fair: The government of Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni went to war in Lebanon and Gaza and built thousands of apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement blocs - many more than did Netanyahu, who has refrained from employing military force and has declared a 10-month freeze on settlement construction. But they liked the Kadima government because Olmert and Livni made the right noises about their desire for peace and a final status agreement, whereas they don't believe Netanyahu when he talks about "two states for two peoples." The fact that Olmert and Livni achieved nothing in the negotiations makes no difference. It's the intentions that count.
Netanyahu and his aides have answers to the accusations against Israel. The blame for the Gaza blockade lies squarely with the Palestinians, who chose Hamas to reign over them and kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. "You are worrying about the humanitarian rights of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. You should be worrying about one Israeli who is being held there," Netanyahu's people tell UN representatives.
In East Jerusalem, the government is hiding behind Mayor Nir Barkat and the planning and construction institutions, which are approving building plans for Jews and home demolitions for Palestinians. And for the diplomatic stagnation, it is blaming Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is refusing to renew the talks.
There is one little problem: The world isn't buying Israel's explanations and it isn't prepared to condemn Palestinian obduracy. Obama has split the blame for the stagnation between the two sides and has also taken some of it upon himself ("We raised expectations").
American envoy George Mitchell's appeal to the members of the Quartet that they urge Abbas to return to talks, has gone unanswered. This week he completed another frustrating visit to the region, with zero results.
Obama's approach - to "park" the diplomatic process for lack of achievements and to concentrate on domestic issues - has not surprised Netanyahu. Three months ago, a senior Israeli official said the Obama administration would probably put off the Israeli-Palestinian problem to his second term, explaining: "Now they're weak, they have unemployment and the economic crisis, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, and they aren't emerging from that. They don't have the strength to complete an agreement. In the meantime, the maintenance will continue."
U.S. officials are hoping talks will be renewed within six months. The main thing is that there be some negotiations. They have no expectations of more than that.
Disturbing scenario
The Palestinian Authority is conducting a campaign to isolate Israel, based on the Goldstone report and the hatred for the Netanyahu government. Political scientists Shaul Mishal and Doron Mazza are calling it "the white intifada," which is aimed at enlisting international support for a unilateral declaration of independence in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. In a document they distributed last week, they warn of Israeli complaisance and present a disturbing scenario: The Palestinians declare independence, and Israel refuses to recognize it and is faced with a boycott. Regardless of whether it yields or reacts with force, Israel cannot win, and will also lose control of the process. Therefore the two scholars recommend a preemptive diplomatic move.
Diplomatic isolation can be costly. Former Foreign Ministry director general Gideon Rafael wrote in his memoirs that in the summer of 1973, he felt that the diplomatic stagnation, which was perceived as something taken for granted, and perhaps even desirable, was liable to become "a death trap."
Former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat cut Israel off from its friends in the Third World, proposed a peace initiative to the Americans and was rejected. He then raised the demand for the return of the Sinai Peninsula in the UN Security Council and came up against an American veto.
In his book, "Destination Peace: Three decades of Israeli Foreign Policy, a Personal Memoir" (published in English by Littlehampton Book Services, 1981), Rafael wrote that Israel rejoiced in the veto and did not realize that closing the diplomatic door left Egypt with only one option - war.
In the coming weeks Israel apparently will request an American veto in the Security Council again, in order to bury the Goldstone report. Netanyahu is planning a fourth meeting with Obama, concerning the nuclear security conference in Washington on April 12 and perhaps even before then. The agenda will center on Iran - or "the new Amalek," as Netanyahu called it in Auschwitz on Wednesday. The question is whether alongside his demand that Obama take action against Iran, Netanyahu will also tell him that in exchange, Israel will take some sort of initiative vis-a-vis the Palestinians. This would be in an attempt to persuade the world to believe him and ameliorate Israel's increasing diplomatic isolation.
Source:
Friday, January 29, 2010
Jerusalem is starting to resemble Tehran
By Yossi Sarid
After I heard the version of the police I concluded that the police and we, "the anarchists," were at two different demonstrations. For more than three hours we stood at the outskirts of Sheikh Jarrah - not a stone was thrown, not an arm raised, not a worshiper attacked, not a settler's home broken into. But for the police's disproportionate use of force and its false arrests, as a means of punishment and score-settling, one could say the demonstration was calm and orderly.
The coarsest slogan to be seen was "Fascism shall not pass," so familiar from hundreds of previous protests, and so ineffective: Fascism has clearly passed through many, many obstacles and roadblocks.
Another sign had the great honor of being tossed into a police van together with the person holding it: "Jews and Arabs don't want to be enemies." It will be submitted to the judge as evidence corroborating the anarchistic character of the entire demonstration. Indeed, in such a delicate and explosive place as Jerusalem it's best not to wave such subversive slogans, which disturb the peace.
In my long years of demonstrating I have never seen a protest so restrained, so not in need of a permit according to any rational interpretation of the law. Not every police officer - yea, not even every brigadier general - is authorized to declare it illegal. If the police views Friday's demonstration as a criminal act then the democratic right to demonstrate has been destroyed and Jerusalem begins resembling Tehran. Already it is not entirely clear whether what we have is the Israel Police or the Yisrael Beiteinu Police.
Since leaving active political life I have not attended demonstrations despite repeated requests; after all, there is no shortage of reasons to demonstrate in these parts. I told myself - I've paid my protesting dues, time to make way for the next generation. But Nitzan Horowitz and Ilan Ghilon and Shelly Yachimovich and Daniel Ben Simon are social-welfare-oriented MKs, and the removal of Palestinian families from their homes is not a social-welfare issue.
This time I could not refuse. All citizens, not just public figures, have a duty to resist. And so, on Friday afternoon the retired demonstrators came and filled the little square. The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah isn't over, it's just beginning. More Palestinian families are slated for transfer, and one cannot trust this government, the mayor of Jerusalem or even the city's judges to do the right thing.
When the judges rule in favor of the settlers the latter stop mocking them and celebrate the confirmation of their position; but when they rule against them, they blow them a giant raspberry. Months ago the High Court of Justice ordered the demolition of Beit Yonatan, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, and it is as if it never happened. It's only when they agree with the decision that they follow it.
The cabinet ministers may be unaware that in their folly they are affirming the Palestinian right of return de facto. If Palestinians who have been in their homes since 1948 can be driven out and replaced with Jewish families on the grounds of ownership from time immemorial, then Nasser Gawi can return to his home in Sarafind (Tzrifin), using the same argument. Now Gawi sits in a tent with his large family next to the home in Sheikh Jarrah they were thrown out of. As a two-time refugee he watches the settlers in the rooms that still hold the smell of his family's means - and Sarafind calls to him.
He is not alone: The Arabs of Jerusalem, too, would be glad to return to their homes in the West Jerusalem neighborhoods of Talbieh, Bak'a and Katamon. And don't tell us, prime minister and your cabinet colleagues, that it is not you who are making this dangerous journey from Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem to Sheikh Munis, in Ramat Aviv, but rather Irwin Moskowitz and his wife Cherna.
Source:
After I heard the version of the police I concluded that the police and we, "the anarchists," were at two different demonstrations. For more than three hours we stood at the outskirts of Sheikh Jarrah - not a stone was thrown, not an arm raised, not a worshiper attacked, not a settler's home broken into. But for the police's disproportionate use of force and its false arrests, as a means of punishment and score-settling, one could say the demonstration was calm and orderly.
The coarsest slogan to be seen was "Fascism shall not pass," so familiar from hundreds of previous protests, and so ineffective: Fascism has clearly passed through many, many obstacles and roadblocks.
Another sign had the great honor of being tossed into a police van together with the person holding it: "Jews and Arabs don't want to be enemies." It will be submitted to the judge as evidence corroborating the anarchistic character of the entire demonstration. Indeed, in such a delicate and explosive place as Jerusalem it's best not to wave such subversive slogans, which disturb the peace.
In my long years of demonstrating I have never seen a protest so restrained, so not in need of a permit according to any rational interpretation of the law. Not every police officer - yea, not even every brigadier general - is authorized to declare it illegal. If the police views Friday's demonstration as a criminal act then the democratic right to demonstrate has been destroyed and Jerusalem begins resembling Tehran. Already it is not entirely clear whether what we have is the Israel Police or the Yisrael Beiteinu Police.
Since leaving active political life I have not attended demonstrations despite repeated requests; after all, there is no shortage of reasons to demonstrate in these parts. I told myself - I've paid my protesting dues, time to make way for the next generation. But Nitzan Horowitz and Ilan Ghilon and Shelly Yachimovich and Daniel Ben Simon are social-welfare-oriented MKs, and the removal of Palestinian families from their homes is not a social-welfare issue.
This time I could not refuse. All citizens, not just public figures, have a duty to resist. And so, on Friday afternoon the retired demonstrators came and filled the little square. The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah isn't over, it's just beginning. More Palestinian families are slated for transfer, and one cannot trust this government, the mayor of Jerusalem or even the city's judges to do the right thing.
When the judges rule in favor of the settlers the latter stop mocking them and celebrate the confirmation of their position; but when they rule against them, they blow them a giant raspberry. Months ago the High Court of Justice ordered the demolition of Beit Yonatan, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, and it is as if it never happened. It's only when they agree with the decision that they follow it.
The cabinet ministers may be unaware that in their folly they are affirming the Palestinian right of return de facto. If Palestinians who have been in their homes since 1948 can be driven out and replaced with Jewish families on the grounds of ownership from time immemorial, then Nasser Gawi can return to his home in Sarafind (Tzrifin), using the same argument. Now Gawi sits in a tent with his large family next to the home in Sheikh Jarrah they were thrown out of. As a two-time refugee he watches the settlers in the rooms that still hold the smell of his family's means - and Sarafind calls to him.
He is not alone: The Arabs of Jerusalem, too, would be glad to return to their homes in the West Jerusalem neighborhoods of Talbieh, Bak'a and Katamon. And don't tell us, prime minister and your cabinet colleagues, that it is not you who are making this dangerous journey from Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem to Sheikh Munis, in Ramat Aviv, but rather Irwin Moskowitz and his wife Cherna.
Source:
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Holocaust remembrance is a boon for Israeli propaganda
By Gideon Levy
Israel's bigwigs attacked at dawn on a wide front. The president in Germany, the prime minister with a giant entourage in Poland, the foreign minister in Hungary, his deputy in Slovakia, the culture minister in France, the information minister at the United Nations, and even the Likud party's Druze Knesset member, Ayoob Kara, in Italy. They were all out there to make florid speeches about the Holocaust.
Wednesday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and an Israeli public relations drive like this hasn't been seen for ages. The timing of the unusual effort - never have so many ministers deployed across the globe - is not coincidental: When the world is talking Goldstone, we talk Holocaust, as if out to blur the impression. When the world talks occupation, we'll talk Iran as if we wanted them to forget.
It won't help much. International Holocaust Remembrance Day has passed, the speeches will soon be forgotten, and the depressing everyday reality will remain. Israel will not come out looking good, even after the PR campaign.
On the eve of his departure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Yad Vashem. "There is evil in the world," he said. "Evil must be stamped out at the beginning." Some people are "trying to deny the truth." Lofty words, said by the same person who only the day before, not quite in the same breath, uttered very different words, words of true evil, evil that should be extinguished at the start, evil that Israel is trying to hide.
Netanyahu spoke of a new "migration policy," one that is evil through and through. He malevolently lumped together migrant workers and wretched refugees - warning that they all endanger Israel, lower our wages, harm our security, make us into a third-world country and bring in drugs. He zealously supported our racist interior minister, Eli Yishai, who has spoken of the migrants as the spreaders of diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, AIDS and God knows what else.
No Holocaust speech will erase these words of incitement and slander against migrants. No remembrance speech will obliterate the xenophobia that has reared its head in Israel, not only on the extreme right, as in Europe, but throughout government.
We have a prime minister who speaks about evil but is building a fence to prevent war refugees from knocking at Israel's door. A prime minister who speaks about evil but shares the crime of the Gaza blockade, now in its fourth year, leaving 1.5 million people in disgraceful conditions. A prime minister in whose country settlers perpetrate pogroms against innocent Palestinians under the slogan "price tag," which also has horrific historical connotations, but against whom the state does virtually nothing.
This is the prime minister of a state that arrests hundreds of left-wing protesters against the injustices of the occupation and the war in Gaza, while time grants mass pardons to the right-wingers who demonstrated against the disengagement. In his speech yesterday, Netanyahu's equating Nazi Germany with fundamentalist Iran was no more than cheap propaganda. Talk about "degrading the Holocaust." Iran isn't Germany, Ahmedinejad isn't Hitler and equating them is no less spurious than equating Israeli soldiers with Nazis.
The Holocaust must not be forgotten, and there is no need to compare it with anything. Israel must take part in the efforts to keep its memory alive, but in doing so it must show up with clean hands, clean of evil of their own doing. And it must not arouse suspicion that it is cynically using the memory of the Holocaust to obliterate and blur other things. Regrettably, this is not the case.
How beautiful it would have been if on this international day of remembrance Israel had taken the time to examine itself, look inward and ask, for example, how it is that anti-Semitism has reared its head in the world precisely in the past year, the year after we dropped white-phosphorous bombs on Gaza. How beautiful it would have been if on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu had declared a new policy for integrating refugees instead of expulsion, or lifted the Gaza blockade.
A thousand speeches against anti-Semitism will not extinguish the flames ignited by Operation Cast Lead, flames that threaten not only Israel but the entire Jewish world. As long as Gaza is under blockade and Israel sinks into its institutionalized xenophobia, Holocaust speeches will remain hollow. As long as evil is rampant here at home, neither the world nor we will be able to accept our preaching to others, even if they deserve it.
Source:
Israel's bigwigs attacked at dawn on a wide front. The president in Germany, the prime minister with a giant entourage in Poland, the foreign minister in Hungary, his deputy in Slovakia, the culture minister in France, the information minister at the United Nations, and even the Likud party's Druze Knesset member, Ayoob Kara, in Italy. They were all out there to make florid speeches about the Holocaust.
Wednesday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and an Israeli public relations drive like this hasn't been seen for ages. The timing of the unusual effort - never have so many ministers deployed across the globe - is not coincidental: When the world is talking Goldstone, we talk Holocaust, as if out to blur the impression. When the world talks occupation, we'll talk Iran as if we wanted them to forget.
It won't help much. International Holocaust Remembrance Day has passed, the speeches will soon be forgotten, and the depressing everyday reality will remain. Israel will not come out looking good, even after the PR campaign.
On the eve of his departure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Yad Vashem. "There is evil in the world," he said. "Evil must be stamped out at the beginning." Some people are "trying to deny the truth." Lofty words, said by the same person who only the day before, not quite in the same breath, uttered very different words, words of true evil, evil that should be extinguished at the start, evil that Israel is trying to hide.
Netanyahu spoke of a new "migration policy," one that is evil through and through. He malevolently lumped together migrant workers and wretched refugees - warning that they all endanger Israel, lower our wages, harm our security, make us into a third-world country and bring in drugs. He zealously supported our racist interior minister, Eli Yishai, who has spoken of the migrants as the spreaders of diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, AIDS and God knows what else.
No Holocaust speech will erase these words of incitement and slander against migrants. No remembrance speech will obliterate the xenophobia that has reared its head in Israel, not only on the extreme right, as in Europe, but throughout government.
We have a prime minister who speaks about evil but is building a fence to prevent war refugees from knocking at Israel's door. A prime minister who speaks about evil but shares the crime of the Gaza blockade, now in its fourth year, leaving 1.5 million people in disgraceful conditions. A prime minister in whose country settlers perpetrate pogroms against innocent Palestinians under the slogan "price tag," which also has horrific historical connotations, but against whom the state does virtually nothing.
This is the prime minister of a state that arrests hundreds of left-wing protesters against the injustices of the occupation and the war in Gaza, while time grants mass pardons to the right-wingers who demonstrated against the disengagement. In his speech yesterday, Netanyahu's equating Nazi Germany with fundamentalist Iran was no more than cheap propaganda. Talk about "degrading the Holocaust." Iran isn't Germany, Ahmedinejad isn't Hitler and equating them is no less spurious than equating Israeli soldiers with Nazis.
The Holocaust must not be forgotten, and there is no need to compare it with anything. Israel must take part in the efforts to keep its memory alive, but in doing so it must show up with clean hands, clean of evil of their own doing. And it must not arouse suspicion that it is cynically using the memory of the Holocaust to obliterate and blur other things. Regrettably, this is not the case.
How beautiful it would have been if on this international day of remembrance Israel had taken the time to examine itself, look inward and ask, for example, how it is that anti-Semitism has reared its head in the world precisely in the past year, the year after we dropped white-phosphorous bombs on Gaza. How beautiful it would have been if on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu had declared a new policy for integrating refugees instead of expulsion, or lifted the Gaza blockade.
A thousand speeches against anti-Semitism will not extinguish the flames ignited by Operation Cast Lead, flames that threaten not only Israel but the entire Jewish world. As long as Gaza is under blockade and Israel sinks into its institutionalized xenophobia, Holocaust speeches will remain hollow. As long as evil is rampant here at home, neither the world nor we will be able to accept our preaching to others, even if they deserve it.
Source:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
U.S. and France lend voice to UN outcry over settlements
Israeli allies throw weight behind condemnation of east Jerusalem house demolitions.
What was meant to be a general debate on the Middle East turned into a diplomatic onslaught on Wednesday night as the United Nations' top body took aim at Israeli policies in east Jerusalem.
France and the United States were among several nations to voice support for Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, who opened the Security Council session with heavy criticism of Israeli house demolitions in the Arab-populated eastern half of Jerusalem.
Over 100 houses had been destroyed in the last three months in the eastern part of the city, which Israel formally annexed in 1980, he said.
The UN number two went on to voice dismay over the treatment by settlers of West Bank Palestinians, who he said had suffered 107 separate in the past three months attacks - a result of the 'price tag' strategy employed by rightwing Israeli activists, who retaliate violently against every eviction of settlers by the government.
Israel's settlement policy also drew censure from France, one of the Security Council's five permanent members, along with the U.S., China, Russia and the United Kingdom.
"Settlements are a significant obstacle to peace," French Ambassador Gerard Araud told the council. "There will never be peace until all settlement construction is halted."
Despite Israeli promises to freeze settlement building in the West Bank, construction continued, Fernandez-Taranco said.
The Argentine diplomat also accused Israel of obstructing shipments of aid and building materials to the Gaza strip, whose borders are subject to strict controls by the Israeli and Egyptian governments.
Nor did Israel's closest ally, the United States, shy away from criticism. Alejandro Wolf, the second most senior American delegate at the UN, told the assembled diplomats that the U.S. opposed all settlement building in east Jerusalem and condemned house demolitions.
In response, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, said:
"Incomplete and one-sided briefings do nothing to advance peace and the Council has a duty to listen to both sides."
She added: "Sessions of the Security Council are no substitute for direct negotiations between the two sides."
Israel has for some time attempted to restart high-level talks with the Palestinians - but President Mahmoud Abbas has so far refused to return to the negotiating table until Israel freezes all construction in the West Bank, including in east Jerusalem.
Source:
What was meant to be a general debate on the Middle East turned into a diplomatic onslaught on Wednesday night as the United Nations' top body took aim at Israeli policies in east Jerusalem.
France and the United States were among several nations to voice support for Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, who opened the Security Council session with heavy criticism of Israeli house demolitions in the Arab-populated eastern half of Jerusalem.
Over 100 houses had been destroyed in the last three months in the eastern part of the city, which Israel formally annexed in 1980, he said.
The UN number two went on to voice dismay over the treatment by settlers of West Bank Palestinians, who he said had suffered 107 separate in the past three months attacks - a result of the 'price tag' strategy employed by rightwing Israeli activists, who retaliate violently against every eviction of settlers by the government.
Israel's settlement policy also drew censure from France, one of the Security Council's five permanent members, along with the U.S., China, Russia and the United Kingdom.
"Settlements are a significant obstacle to peace," French Ambassador Gerard Araud told the council. "There will never be peace until all settlement construction is halted."
Despite Israeli promises to freeze settlement building in the West Bank, construction continued, Fernandez-Taranco said.
The Argentine diplomat also accused Israel of obstructing shipments of aid and building materials to the Gaza strip, whose borders are subject to strict controls by the Israeli and Egyptian governments.
Nor did Israel's closest ally, the United States, shy away from criticism. Alejandro Wolf, the second most senior American delegate at the UN, told the assembled diplomats that the U.S. opposed all settlement building in east Jerusalem and condemned house demolitions.
In response, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, said:
"Incomplete and one-sided briefings do nothing to advance peace and the Council has a duty to listen to both sides."
She added: "Sessions of the Security Council are no substitute for direct negotiations between the two sides."
Israel has for some time attempted to restart high-level talks with the Palestinians - but President Mahmoud Abbas has so far refused to return to the negotiating table until Israel freezes all construction in the West Bank, including in east Jerusalem.
Source:
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thank Members of U.S. Congress for Asking President Obama to End the Blockade in Gaza
Washington, D.C.
January 26, 2010
http://www.adc.org/
Last Thursday, 54 Members of the House of Representatives led by Congressman Ellison of Minnesota and Congressman McDermott from Washington State signed a letter to President Obama asking his Administration to lift the blockade on Gaza. In the letter to President Obama, the 54 Members of Congress said "the unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East Peace." Click here to read the full letter.
ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said "Now is the time to hold our elected Officials accountable to work for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. These 54 Members should be recognized for their courage in attempting to bring an end to the unfair treatment of the Palestinian people."
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) urges you to recognize and thank these 54 US House Representatives for exhibiting leadership by contacting them TODAY. Please see below for the list.
###
NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non sectarian and non partisan, is the largest Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980, by former Senator James Abourezk to protect the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38 chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in the country, and members in all 50 states.
The ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI), which was founded in 1981, is a Section 501(c)(3) educational organization that sponsors a wide range of programs on behalf of Arab Americans and of importance to all Americans.
__________________________________________
Contact:Haythem Khalil, media@adc.org, 202-244-2990
January 26, 2010
http://www.adc.org/
Last Thursday, 54 Members of the House of Representatives led by Congressman Ellison of Minnesota and Congressman McDermott from Washington State signed a letter to President Obama asking his Administration to lift the blockade on Gaza. In the letter to President Obama, the 54 Members of Congress said "the unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East Peace." Click here to read the full letter.
ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said "Now is the time to hold our elected Officials accountable to work for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. These 54 Members should be recognized for their courage in attempting to bring an end to the unfair treatment of the Palestinian people."
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) urges you to recognize and thank these 54 US House Representatives for exhibiting leadership by contacting them TODAY. Please see below for the list.
Name State Phone #
Raul Grijalva AZ (202) 225- 2435
Barbara Lee CA (202) 225- 2661
Bob Filner CA (202) 225- 8045
Diane Watson CA (202) 225- 7084
Fortney Pete Stark CA (202) 225- 5065
George Miller CA (202) 225- 2095
Jackie Speier CA (202) 225- 3531
Lois Capps CA (202) 225- 3601
Loretta Sanchez CA (202) 225- 2965
Lynn Woolsey CA (202) 225- 5161
Michael M. Honda CA (202) 225- 2631
Sam Farr CA (202) 225- 2861
Jim Himes CT (202) 225- 5541
Bruce D. Braley IA (202) 225- 2911
Andre Carson IN (202) 225- 4011
John A. Yarmuth KY (202) 225- 5401
James P. McGovern MA (202) 225- 6101
John Tierney MA (202) 225- 8020
John W. Oliver MA (202) 225- 5335
Michael E Capuano MA (202) 225- 5111
Stephen F. Lynch MA (202) 225- 8273
William D. Delahunt MA (202) 225- 3111
Donna F. Edwards MD (202) 225- 8699
Elijah E. Cummings MD (202) 225- 4741
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick MI (202) 225- 2261
John Conyers MI (202) 225- 5126
John D. Dingell MI (202) 225- 4071
Betty McCollum MN (202) 225- 6631
James L. Oberstar MN (202) 225- 6211
Keith Ellison MN (202) 225- 4755
David E. Price NC (202) 225- 1784
Bill Pascrell, Jr. NJ (202) 225- 5751
Donald M. Payne NJ (202) 225- 3436
Rush D. Holt NJ (202) 225- 5801
Eric Massa NY (202) 225- 3161
Maurice D. Hinchey NY (202) 225- 6335
Paul Tonko NY (202) 225- 5076
Yvette D. Clarke NY (202) 225- 6231
Marcy Kaptur OH (202) 225- 4146
Mary Jo Kilroy OH (202) 225- 2015
Earl Blumenauer OR (202) 225- 4811
Peter A. Defazio OR (202) 225- 6416
Chaka Fattah PA (202) 225- 4001
Joe Sestak PA (202) 225- 2011
Glenn C. Nye VA (202) 225- 4215
James P. Moran VA (202) 225- 4376
Peter Welch VT (202) 225- 4115
Adam Smith WA (202) 225- 8901
Brian Baird WA (202) 225- 3536
Jay Inslee WA (202) 225- 6311
Jim McDermott WA (202) 225- 3106
Gwen Moore WI (202) 225- 4572
Tammy Baldwin WI (202) 225- 2906
Nick J Rahall II WV (202) 225- 3452
###
NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non sectarian and non partisan, is the largest Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980, by former Senator James Abourezk to protect the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38 chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in the country, and members in all 50 states.
The ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI), which was founded in 1981, is a Section 501(c)(3) educational organization that sponsors a wide range of programs on behalf of Arab Americans and of importance to all Americans.
__________________________________________
Contact:Haythem Khalil, media@adc.org, 202-244-2990
U.S. lawmakers to Obama: Press Israel to ease Gaza siege
Fifty-four members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to ease the siege of the Gaza Strip.
The letter was the initiative of Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, both of whom are Democrats. Ellison is the first American Muslim to ever win election to Congress.
McDermott and Ellison wrote that they understand the threats facing Israel and the ongoing Hamas terror activities against Israeli citizens but that "this concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."
"We ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts," they wrote, adding that the siege has hampered the ability of aid agencies to do their work in Gaza.
The congressmen urged Obama to pressure Israel to ease the movement of people into and out of Gaza, especially students, the sick, aid workers, journalists and those with family concerns, and also to allow the import of building materials to rebuild houses. Israel has warned that such materials would be used to rebuild Hamas infrastructure and not civilian homes.
Ellison has harshly criticized the House of Representatives decision to reject the Goldstone report, arguing that the report "only presents facts and raises recommendations for the future." He cast doubt that members of Congress who voted to reject the report even took the time to read it and that the rejection hurt the Obama government's role as an honest broker in the Middle East conflict.
In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington responded to the letter: "The Israeli position is that the Hamas government in Gaza does not meet the conditions set forth by the international community and the Quartet. And as long as Hamas continues to attack Israel with missiles and other means, Israel will not open the border crossings. With this, Israel is doing everything possible to ensure that humanitarian aid enters Gaza in a controlled manner so that it is ensured that the population receives what it needs, including medical care in Israel. But Israel will not allow a neighbor that calls for its destruction to enjoy the benefits of an open border."
Also, a letter signed by 33 members of Congress was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise the issue with Israel of students from Gaza who are having difficulty studying at universities in the West Bank due to the lack of free passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"Ensuring that students from Gaza have access to higher education in the West Bank promotes U.S. foreign policy interests by investing in the future of the region," the letter states.
The State Department responded to the letter: "Education is a fundamental right and a force for moderation. The Secretary responds to all Congressional correspondence as appropriate."
Source:
The letter was the initiative of Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, both of whom are Democrats. Ellison is the first American Muslim to ever win election to Congress.
McDermott and Ellison wrote that they understand the threats facing Israel and the ongoing Hamas terror activities against Israeli citizens but that "this concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."
"We ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts," they wrote, adding that the siege has hampered the ability of aid agencies to do their work in Gaza.
The congressmen urged Obama to pressure Israel to ease the movement of people into and out of Gaza, especially students, the sick, aid workers, journalists and those with family concerns, and also to allow the import of building materials to rebuild houses. Israel has warned that such materials would be used to rebuild Hamas infrastructure and not civilian homes.
Ellison has harshly criticized the House of Representatives decision to reject the Goldstone report, arguing that the report "only presents facts and raises recommendations for the future." He cast doubt that members of Congress who voted to reject the report even took the time to read it and that the rejection hurt the Obama government's role as an honest broker in the Middle East conflict.
In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington responded to the letter: "The Israeli position is that the Hamas government in Gaza does not meet the conditions set forth by the international community and the Quartet. And as long as Hamas continues to attack Israel with missiles and other means, Israel will not open the border crossings. With this, Israel is doing everything possible to ensure that humanitarian aid enters Gaza in a controlled manner so that it is ensured that the population receives what it needs, including medical care in Israel. But Israel will not allow a neighbor that calls for its destruction to enjoy the benefits of an open border."
Also, a letter signed by 33 members of Congress was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise the issue with Israel of students from Gaza who are having difficulty studying at universities in the West Bank due to the lack of free passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"Ensuring that students from Gaza have access to higher education in the West Bank promotes U.S. foreign policy interests by investing in the future of the region," the letter states.
The State Department responded to the letter: "Education is a fundamental right and a force for moderation. The Secretary responds to all Congressional correspondence as appropriate."
Source:
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Israel must comply with UN, probe Goldstone allegations
Next week the deadline expires for both Israel and Hamas to investigate the Goldstone report's accusations regarding violations of the laws of war and perhaps even the commission of war crimes during Operation Cast Lead. On November 3, 2009 the United Nations General Assembly approved by a large majority a resolution directing the organization's secretary general to report to the plenum on the conclusions of these investigations within three months, after which the Security Council is to take up the matter.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only a few days left to halt Israel's slide down the slippery slope of its fight to bring down the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. As Haaretz revealed last week, the decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in October to ask the United Nations Human Rights Council to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report followed a threat by Shin Bet security service head Yuval Diskin to "turn the West Bank into a second Gaza." The deferment caused a great deal of damage to Abbas' already shaky status with the Palestinian public, and did not lift the heavy cloud of suspicion hanging over Israel.
Instead of wasting the little remaining time with further attacks on the credibility of Judge Richard Goldstone, the prime minister would be well advised to heed the advice of several public figures, among them former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, a former justice minister, and immediately appoint a state commission of inquiry. The U.S. administration also is urging the Israeli government to treat the UN General Assembly resolution with appropriate gravity, and warning that in the absence of an internal inquiry the United States will find it difficult to stop the snowball of the Goldstone report.
Even if the prime minister is convinced that the UN has it in for Israel, he must respect the organization's resolutions. How can he demand the international community's enforcement of the UN resolutions on Iran while Israel itself is violating that body's resolutions? But an Israeli investigation is needed not only out of fear of the International Criminal Court and of the arrest of Israelis abroad; the Israeli public has the right to know whether the country's leaders and military obeyed the laws of war and moral principles during the operation in Gaza. That is the way to avoid the next Goldstone report.
Source:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only a few days left to halt Israel's slide down the slippery slope of its fight to bring down the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. As Haaretz revealed last week, the decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in October to ask the United Nations Human Rights Council to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report followed a threat by Shin Bet security service head Yuval Diskin to "turn the West Bank into a second Gaza." The deferment caused a great deal of damage to Abbas' already shaky status with the Palestinian public, and did not lift the heavy cloud of suspicion hanging over Israel.
Instead of wasting the little remaining time with further attacks on the credibility of Judge Richard Goldstone, the prime minister would be well advised to heed the advice of several public figures, among them former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, a former justice minister, and immediately appoint a state commission of inquiry. The U.S. administration also is urging the Israeli government to treat the UN General Assembly resolution with appropriate gravity, and warning that in the absence of an internal inquiry the United States will find it difficult to stop the snowball of the Goldstone report.
Even if the prime minister is convinced that the UN has it in for Israel, he must respect the organization's resolutions. How can he demand the international community's enforcement of the UN resolutions on Iran while Israel itself is violating that body's resolutions? But an Israeli investigation is needed not only out of fear of the International Criminal Court and of the arrest of Israelis abroad; the Israeli public has the right to know whether the country's leaders and military obeyed the laws of war and moral principles during the operation in Gaza. That is the way to avoid the next Goldstone report.
Source:
Museum explores 'hidden history' of Muslim science
An exhibition that has just opened at the Science Museum is celebrating 1,000 years of science from the Muslim world.
From about 700 to 1700, many of history's finest scientists and technologists were to be found in the Muslim world.
In Christian Europe the light of scientific inquiry had largely been extinguished with the collapse of the Roman empire. But it survived, and indeed blazed brightly, elsewhere.
From Moorish Spain across North Africa to Damascus, Baghdad, Persia and all the way to India, scientists in the Muslim world were at the forefront of developments in medicine, astronomy, engineering, hydraulics, mathematics, chemistry, map-making and exploration.
A new touring exhibition, hosted by the Science Museum in London, celebrates their achievements.
Salim Al-Hassani, a former professor of engineering at Umist (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) is a moving force behind the exhibition, 1001 Inventions.
He calls it "edutainment": a series of displays devoted to different aspects of science meant to be both educational and entertaining.
"We hope to inspire the younger generation to take up a career in science and technology and to be interested in improving the quality of societies," he says.
Mix of cultures
Visitors to the exhibition will be greeted by a 20 ft high replica of a spectacular clock designed in 1206 by the inventor Al-Jazari.
It incorporates elements from many cultures, representing the different cultural and scientific traditions which combined and flowed through the Muslim world.
The clock's base is an elephant, representing India; inside the elephant the water-driven works of the clock derive from ancient Greece.
A Chinese dragon swings down from the top of the clock to mark the hours. At the top is a phoenix, representing ancient Egypt.
Sitting astride the elephant and inside the framework of the clock are automata, or puppets, wearing Arab turbans.
Elsewhere in the exhibition are displays devoted to water power, the spread of education (one of the world's first universities was founded by a Muslim woman, Fatima al-Fihri), Muslim architecture and its influence on the modern world and Muslim explorers and geographers.
There is a display of 10th Century surgeons' instruments, a lifesize model of a man called Abbas ibn Firnas, allegedly the first person to have flown with wings, and a model of the vast 100 yard-long junk commanded by the Muslim Chinese navigator, Zheng He.
Outside the main exhibition is a small display of exhibits drawn from the Science Museum's own collection.
They include a 10th Century alembic for distilling liquids, an astrolable for determining geographical position (and the direction of Mecca - important for Muslims uncertain which way to face when praying).
Also on display is an algebra textbook published in England in 1702, whose preface traces the development of algebra from its beginnings in India, through Persia, the Arab world and to Europe.
Dr Susan Mossman, project director at the museum, says: "There is a whole area of science that is literally just lost in translation.
"Arabic and Muslim culture particularly is a little-known story in Britain. This is a real opportunity to show that hidden story."
She says the hands-on exhibition suits the museum's style, which she describes as "heavy-duty scholarship produced in a user-friendly way and underpinned by academic research".
She adds: "We are opening people's eyes to a new area of knowledge - a cultural richness of science and technology that has perhaps been neglected in this country."
Intellectual climate
There is one big question the exhibition does not address: why, after so many centuries, did the Muslim world's scientific leadership falter? From the 16th Century onwards it was in Europe that modern science developed, and where scientific breakthroughs increasingly occurred.
Prof Al-Hassani has his own theory, though there are others. Science flourished in the Muslim world for so long, he believes, because it was seen as expanding knowledge in the interests of society as a whole.
But in the later Middle Ages, the Muslim world came under attack from Europeans (in the Crusades) and the Mongols (who sacked Baghdad in 1258) and the Ottoman Turks overran the remnants of the Byzantine empire, setting up a formidably centralised state.
The need for defence against external enemies combined with a strong centralised government which put less value on individuals' scientific endeavour resulted in an intellectual climate in which science simply failed to flourish, he says.
The free exhibition runs from 21 January to 25 April with a break between 25 February and 12 March.
Source and Video
From about 700 to 1700, many of history's finest scientists and technologists were to be found in the Muslim world.
In Christian Europe the light of scientific inquiry had largely been extinguished with the collapse of the Roman empire. But it survived, and indeed blazed brightly, elsewhere.
From Moorish Spain across North Africa to Damascus, Baghdad, Persia and all the way to India, scientists in the Muslim world were at the forefront of developments in medicine, astronomy, engineering, hydraulics, mathematics, chemistry, map-making and exploration.
A new touring exhibition, hosted by the Science Museum in London, celebrates their achievements.
Salim Al-Hassani, a former professor of engineering at Umist (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) is a moving force behind the exhibition, 1001 Inventions.
He calls it "edutainment": a series of displays devoted to different aspects of science meant to be both educational and entertaining.
"We hope to inspire the younger generation to take up a career in science and technology and to be interested in improving the quality of societies," he says.
Mix of cultures
Visitors to the exhibition will be greeted by a 20 ft high replica of a spectacular clock designed in 1206 by the inventor Al-Jazari.
It incorporates elements from many cultures, representing the different cultural and scientific traditions which combined and flowed through the Muslim world.
The clock's base is an elephant, representing India; inside the elephant the water-driven works of the clock derive from ancient Greece.
A Chinese dragon swings down from the top of the clock to mark the hours. At the top is a phoenix, representing ancient Egypt.
Sitting astride the elephant and inside the framework of the clock are automata, or puppets, wearing Arab turbans.
Elsewhere in the exhibition are displays devoted to water power, the spread of education (one of the world's first universities was founded by a Muslim woman, Fatima al-Fihri), Muslim architecture and its influence on the modern world and Muslim explorers and geographers.
There is a display of 10th Century surgeons' instruments, a lifesize model of a man called Abbas ibn Firnas, allegedly the first person to have flown with wings, and a model of the vast 100 yard-long junk commanded by the Muslim Chinese navigator, Zheng He.
Outside the main exhibition is a small display of exhibits drawn from the Science Museum's own collection.
They include a 10th Century alembic for distilling liquids, an astrolable for determining geographical position (and the direction of Mecca - important for Muslims uncertain which way to face when praying).
Also on display is an algebra textbook published in England in 1702, whose preface traces the development of algebra from its beginnings in India, through Persia, the Arab world and to Europe.
Dr Susan Mossman, project director at the museum, says: "There is a whole area of science that is literally just lost in translation.
"Arabic and Muslim culture particularly is a little-known story in Britain. This is a real opportunity to show that hidden story."
She says the hands-on exhibition suits the museum's style, which she describes as "heavy-duty scholarship produced in a user-friendly way and underpinned by academic research".
She adds: "We are opening people's eyes to a new area of knowledge - a cultural richness of science and technology that has perhaps been neglected in this country."
Intellectual climate
There is one big question the exhibition does not address: why, after so many centuries, did the Muslim world's scientific leadership falter? From the 16th Century onwards it was in Europe that modern science developed, and where scientific breakthroughs increasingly occurred.
Prof Al-Hassani has his own theory, though there are others. Science flourished in the Muslim world for so long, he believes, because it was seen as expanding knowledge in the interests of society as a whole.
But in the later Middle Ages, the Muslim world came under attack from Europeans (in the Crusades) and the Mongols (who sacked Baghdad in 1258) and the Ottoman Turks overran the remnants of the Byzantine empire, setting up a formidably centralised state.
The need for defence against external enemies combined with a strong centralised government which put less value on individuals' scientific endeavour resulted in an intellectual climate in which science simply failed to flourish, he says.
The free exhibition runs from 21 January to 25 April with a break between 25 February and 12 March.
Source and Video
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Muslim cemetery in West Bank vandalized hours after Jews seen in area
A Muslim cemetery near the West Bank town of Nablus was vandalized on Tuesday just hours after Jewish worshippers were seen in the vicinity.
Food remnants were left on a number of graves, three tombstones were damaged, and anti-Arab graffiti was spray-painted elsewhere in the Muslim cemetery in the Palestinian town of Awarta.
The discovery was made hours after Israel Defense Forces soldiers, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Israeli settlers were seen entering the cemetery.
Some Jewish scholars believe that Ithamar and Eleazar, two sons of Aaron the High Priest, and Pinhas, Eleazar's son, are interred at the Awarta cemetery.
Israelis are forbidden from entering Awarta, although the IDF occasionally organizes group trips for which it provides security.
On Tuesday a large contingent of Orthodox Jews and Israeli settlers made a pilgrimage to the site under the protection of IDF troops.
Awarta residents were startled to discover Wednesday morning that the Muslim tombstones alongside the Jewish gravesites were desecrated.
A fact-finder with B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, interviewed local residents and photographed the damage left behind at the cemetery.
One section featured graffiti written in Russian, which said: "Arabs are gay. I f---ed your mother and your father and your donkey."
Source:
Food remnants were left on a number of graves, three tombstones were damaged, and anti-Arab graffiti was spray-painted elsewhere in the Muslim cemetery in the Palestinian town of Awarta.
The discovery was made hours after Israel Defense Forces soldiers, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Israeli settlers were seen entering the cemetery.
Some Jewish scholars believe that Ithamar and Eleazar, two sons of Aaron the High Priest, and Pinhas, Eleazar's son, are interred at the Awarta cemetery.
Israelis are forbidden from entering Awarta, although the IDF occasionally organizes group trips for which it provides security.
On Tuesday a large contingent of Orthodox Jews and Israeli settlers made a pilgrimage to the site under the protection of IDF troops.
Awarta residents were startled to discover Wednesday morning that the Muslim tombstones alongside the Jewish gravesites were desecrated.
A fact-finder with B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, interviewed local residents and photographed the damage left behind at the cemetery.
One section featured graffiti written in Russian, which said: "Arabs are gay. I f---ed your mother and your father and your donkey."
Source:
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Israel blocking NGO efforts with tourist visas
By Amira Hass
The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.
In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967, the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working.
Organizations affected by the apparent policy change include Oxfam, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends (a Quaker organization).
Until recently, the workers would register with the international relations department at the Social Affairs Ministry, which would recommend the Interior Ministry to issue them B1 work permits. Although the foreign nationals are still required to approach the Social Affairs Ministry to receive recommendations to obtain a tourist visa, the Interior Ministry is aiming to make the Ministry of Defense responsible for those international NGOs and also requiring them to register with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.
Foreign nationals working for NGOs had understood they would receive a stamp or handwritten note alongside their tourist visa, permitting them to work "in the Palestinian Authority." Israel is refusing work visas to most foreign nationals who state that they wish to work within the Palestinian territories, such as foreign lecturers for Palestinian universities and businessmen.
Israel does not recognize Palestinian Authority rule in East Jerusalem or in Area C, which comprises some 60 percent of the West Bank. The NGO workers say they've come to believe that the new policy is intended to force them to close their Jerusalem offices and relocate to West Bank cities. This move would prevent them from working among the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, defined by the international community as occupied territory.
The organizations fear the new policy will impede their ability to work in Area C, whether because Israel doesn't see it as part of the Palestinian Authority or because they will eventually be subjected to the restrictions of movement imposed on the Palestinians. Such restrictions include the prohibition to enter East Jerusalem and Gaza via Israel, except with specific and rarely obtained permits; and prohibition to enter areas west of the separation fence, except for village residents who hold special residency permits and Israeli citizens.
One NGO worker told Haaretz that the policy was reminiscent of the travel constraints imposed by Burmese authorities on humanitarian organizations, albeit presented in a subtler manner.
NGO workers told Haaretz that they had been informed by the COGAT official that a policy change was forthcoming, as early as July 2009. When a number of them approached the Interior Ministry in August to renew their visas, they found that their applications had been submitted to a "special committee." They were not told who constituted this committee, and had to make do with a "receipt" confirming that they had submitted the request. The workers said the tourist visas they received differed from each other in duration and travel limitations, and surmised from this that the policy has not been entirely fleshed out.
Latest in a series of steps
A number of NGO workers who spoke with Haaretz voiced deep apprehensions about having to submit to the authority of the Defense Ministry. The groups are committed to the Red Cross code of ethics, and therefore see being subjugated to the ministry directly in charge of the occupation as problematic and contradictory to the very essence of their work.
Between 140 and 150 NGOs operate among the Palestinian population. Haaretz could not obtain the exact number of foreign nationals they employ.
The new limitations do not apply to the 12 organizations that have been active in the West Bank prior to 1967. Those groups, which include the Red Cross and several Christian organizations, were registered with the Jordanian authorities.
The new move by the Interior Ministry is the latest in a series of steps taken in the last few years to constrain the movement of foreign nationals in the West Bank and Gaza, including Palestinians with family and property in the occupied territories. Most of those who have been effected are nationals of countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, especially Western states. Israel does not apply any similar constraints on citizens of the same countries traveling within Israel and West Bank settlements.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the only relevant authority empowered to approve the stay of foreign citizens in the Palestinian Authority is the coordinator of government activities in the territories. "The Interior Ministry is entrusted with granting visas and work permits within the State of Israel. Those staying within both the boundaries of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are required to secure their permits accordingly," the ministry said.
"Recently, a question was raised on the issue of visas granted to those staying in the Palestinian Authority and in Israel, as it transpired that they spend most of their time in the PA despite having been provided with Israeli work permits," the statement continued. "The matter is under intense discussions, with the active participation of the relevant military authorities, with a view to finding the right and appropriate solution as soon as possible"
Source:
The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.
In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967, the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working.
Organizations affected by the apparent policy change include Oxfam, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends (a Quaker organization).
Until recently, the workers would register with the international relations department at the Social Affairs Ministry, which would recommend the Interior Ministry to issue them B1 work permits. Although the foreign nationals are still required to approach the Social Affairs Ministry to receive recommendations to obtain a tourist visa, the Interior Ministry is aiming to make the Ministry of Defense responsible for those international NGOs and also requiring them to register with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.
Foreign nationals working for NGOs had understood they would receive a stamp or handwritten note alongside their tourist visa, permitting them to work "in the Palestinian Authority." Israel is refusing work visas to most foreign nationals who state that they wish to work within the Palestinian territories, such as foreign lecturers for Palestinian universities and businessmen.
Israel does not recognize Palestinian Authority rule in East Jerusalem or in Area C, which comprises some 60 percent of the West Bank. The NGO workers say they've come to believe that the new policy is intended to force them to close their Jerusalem offices and relocate to West Bank cities. This move would prevent them from working among the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, defined by the international community as occupied territory.
The organizations fear the new policy will impede their ability to work in Area C, whether because Israel doesn't see it as part of the Palestinian Authority or because they will eventually be subjected to the restrictions of movement imposed on the Palestinians. Such restrictions include the prohibition to enter East Jerusalem and Gaza via Israel, except with specific and rarely obtained permits; and prohibition to enter areas west of the separation fence, except for village residents who hold special residency permits and Israeli citizens.
One NGO worker told Haaretz that the policy was reminiscent of the travel constraints imposed by Burmese authorities on humanitarian organizations, albeit presented in a subtler manner.
NGO workers told Haaretz that they had been informed by the COGAT official that a policy change was forthcoming, as early as July 2009. When a number of them approached the Interior Ministry in August to renew their visas, they found that their applications had been submitted to a "special committee." They were not told who constituted this committee, and had to make do with a "receipt" confirming that they had submitted the request. The workers said the tourist visas they received differed from each other in duration and travel limitations, and surmised from this that the policy has not been entirely fleshed out.
Latest in a series of steps
A number of NGO workers who spoke with Haaretz voiced deep apprehensions about having to submit to the authority of the Defense Ministry. The groups are committed to the Red Cross code of ethics, and therefore see being subjugated to the ministry directly in charge of the occupation as problematic and contradictory to the very essence of their work.
Between 140 and 150 NGOs operate among the Palestinian population. Haaretz could not obtain the exact number of foreign nationals they employ.
The new limitations do not apply to the 12 organizations that have been active in the West Bank prior to 1967. Those groups, which include the Red Cross and several Christian organizations, were registered with the Jordanian authorities.
The new move by the Interior Ministry is the latest in a series of steps taken in the last few years to constrain the movement of foreign nationals in the West Bank and Gaza, including Palestinians with family and property in the occupied territories. Most of those who have been effected are nationals of countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, especially Western states. Israel does not apply any similar constraints on citizens of the same countries traveling within Israel and West Bank settlements.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the only relevant authority empowered to approve the stay of foreign citizens in the Palestinian Authority is the coordinator of government activities in the territories. "The Interior Ministry is entrusted with granting visas and work permits within the State of Israel. Those staying within both the boundaries of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are required to secure their permits accordingly," the ministry said.
"Recently, a question was raised on the issue of visas granted to those staying in the Palestinian Authority and in Israel, as it transpired that they spend most of their time in the PA despite having been provided with Israeli work permits," the statement continued. "The matter is under intense discussions, with the active participation of the relevant military authorities, with a view to finding the right and appropriate solution as soon as possible"
Source:
U.S. indicts three Israelis in international bribery case
The United States Justice Department indicted three Israeli businessmen Tuesday for allegedly attempting to bribe the defense minister of an African country in order to secure a multimillion-dollar contract to supply his country with military equipment. 19 other businessmen were indicted in the same case.
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Floods in the Gaza Strip force hundreds to flee
Flooding has forced more than 100 people from their homes and farms in Gaza after heavy rains hit the area.
Security services worked through the night to evacuate families from the area of Wadi Gaza, south of Gaza city.
At least 12 people were injured in the flooding which destroyed scores of homes and inundated animal pens.
Hamas, in control of the Gaza Strip, said the flooding is a "humanitarian disaster", and declared a state of emergency in the area.
"The flooding of Wadi Gaza endangers the lives of citizens because there are built up homes, farmlands and livestock pens that are completely flooded," said Mohammed al-Agha, the minister of agriculture.
The flooding cut off roads and washed away a bridge linking Gaza city to the south of the territory.
Flood waters reached three metres (9ft) in some places.
On Monday seven people were killed in the region when heavy rains caused the worst flash floods seen in a decade.
Two cars were swept off roads in Israel, killing two people.
A British tourist was killed when the Nile river boat he and his wife were travelling on capsized.
In Egypt four others were killed in the Sinai desert and port towns to the north and south of the desert.
Source:
Security services worked through the night to evacuate families from the area of Wadi Gaza, south of Gaza city.
At least 12 people were injured in the flooding which destroyed scores of homes and inundated animal pens.
Hamas, in control of the Gaza Strip, said the flooding is a "humanitarian disaster", and declared a state of emergency in the area.
"The flooding of Wadi Gaza endangers the lives of citizens because there are built up homes, farmlands and livestock pens that are completely flooded," said Mohammed al-Agha, the minister of agriculture.
The flooding cut off roads and washed away a bridge linking Gaza city to the south of the territory.
Flood waters reached three metres (9ft) in some places.
On Monday seven people were killed in the region when heavy rains caused the worst flash floods seen in a decade.
Two cars were swept off roads in Israel, killing two people.
A British tourist was killed when the Nile river boat he and his wife were travelling on capsized.
In Egypt four others were killed in the Sinai desert and port towns to the north and south of the desert.
Source:
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Diskin to Abbas: Defer UN vote on Goldstone or face 'second Gaza'
The request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the United Nations Human Rights Council last year to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report followed a particularly tense meeting with the head of the Shin Bet security service, Haaretz has learned. At the October meeting in Ramallah, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told Abbas that if he did not ask for a deferral of the vote on the critical report on last year's military operation, Israel would turn the West Bank into a "second Gaza."
Diskin, who reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened to revoke the easing of restrictions on movement within the West Bank that had been implemented earlier last year. He also said Israel would withdraw permission for mobile phone company Wataniya to operate in the Palestinian Authority. That would have cost the PA tens of millions of dollars in compensation payments to the company.
A PA official close to Abbas told Haaretz that Diskin came to the Muqata compound in Ramallah in October with a foreign diplomatic delegation, and that a senior Israel Defense Forces officer made similar threats to other PA leaders at around the same time.
The Shin Bet said in response that it does not comment on Diskin's schedule or meetings.
Abbas told a Palestinian commission of inquiry investigating the vote's deferral that he accepted responsibility for the decision, and denied that his choice was a result of outside pressure.
Commission chairman and PA legislator Azmi Shuaibi told Al-Watan TV at the time that in a three-hour session Abbas admitted to the panel that he had made a mistake in asking the UN body to defer the vote and said he was sorry that the affair had been exploited for political ends.
Thirty-three of the UN council's 47 members supported the PA's initial endorsement of the Goldstone report. The matter was slated to be transferred from the UN General Assembly to the Security Council, when to the surprise of diplomats on all sides the PA delegation agreed at the last moment to defer the vote until March 2010.
The Goldstone commission recommended that Israel be given until March to complete an independent inquiry into its conduct during the offensive and to try any figures suspected of war crimes. Failure by either Israel or Hamas to conduct an open inquiry into their conduct would result in the case being referred to the International Criminal Court.
The United States is now seeking to persuade Israel to conduct such an investigation, and to release its findings on a number of incidents in which civilians were killed during the fighting.
Source:
Diskin, who reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened to revoke the easing of restrictions on movement within the West Bank that had been implemented earlier last year. He also said Israel would withdraw permission for mobile phone company Wataniya to operate in the Palestinian Authority. That would have cost the PA tens of millions of dollars in compensation payments to the company.
A PA official close to Abbas told Haaretz that Diskin came to the Muqata compound in Ramallah in October with a foreign diplomatic delegation, and that a senior Israel Defense Forces officer made similar threats to other PA leaders at around the same time.
The Shin Bet said in response that it does not comment on Diskin's schedule or meetings.
Abbas told a Palestinian commission of inquiry investigating the vote's deferral that he accepted responsibility for the decision, and denied that his choice was a result of outside pressure.
Commission chairman and PA legislator Azmi Shuaibi told Al-Watan TV at the time that in a three-hour session Abbas admitted to the panel that he had made a mistake in asking the UN body to defer the vote and said he was sorry that the affair had been exploited for political ends.
Thirty-three of the UN council's 47 members supported the PA's initial endorsement of the Goldstone report. The matter was slated to be transferred from the UN General Assembly to the Security Council, when to the surprise of diplomats on all sides the PA delegation agreed at the last moment to defer the vote until March 2010.
The Goldstone commission recommended that Israel be given until March to complete an independent inquiry into its conduct during the offensive and to try any figures suspected of war crimes. Failure by either Israel or Hamas to conduct an open inquiry into their conduct would result in the case being referred to the International Criminal Court.
The United States is now seeking to persuade Israel to conduct such an investigation, and to release its findings on a number of incidents in which civilians were killed during the fighting.
Source:
Thursday, January 14, 2010
US editor at Palestinian agency fights Israel entry ban
Malsin is awaiting the court ruling on his expulsion
A US citizen working as an editor for a the Palestinian news agency Maan is appealing against Israel's refusal to allow him entry at Tel Aviv airport.
Jared Malsin has been detained since he returned from a holiday in Prague on Tuesday evening, his colleagues said.
Israeli security officials said security concerns had arisen when he was questioned, and the Interior Ministry had refused him entry.
Maan said a court hearing due on Thursday has been postponed to Sunday.
It said the decision could "only be explained as a retaliatory measure for his reporting on Palestine".
Mr Malsin, who Maan says is Jewish, is the English language editor for the news agency.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabin Hadad said Mr Malsin had been denied entry because he had refused to answer during questioning.
She said issues related to Mr Malsin's visa "could have been solved if he had co-operated," said Ms Hadad.
Incorrect visa
An official report on the questioning, which Maan said it had received from the court, accused Mr Malsin of failing to arrange the correct visa, but did not give details.
It said he was suspected of "exploiting the fact that he is Jewish to gain a visa".
This was apparently on the basis that, when seeking a visa extension previously, he had told Interior Ministry officials he was exploring the option of emigrating to Israel, but had written articles critical of the country.
By law Jews from around the world are eligible to emigrate to Israel.
The report also said Mr Malsin had refused to give the name of the friend he said he lived with in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, called the decision "unacceptable".
"Israel cannot hide behind the pretext of security to sideline journalists who have done nothing more than maintain an editorial line that the authorities dislike," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, the New York based organisation's co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that allegations that the decision was because of Mr Malsin's journalism were "simply absurd".
Mr Malsin and his partner, Faith Rowold, both in their twenties, were detained and interrogated for eight hours on trying to re-enter Israel after a holiday in Prague, Maan said.
It said that Ms Rowold was expelled early on Thursday morning, while Mr Malsin was granted a court hearing and allowed to stay until a verdict was reached.
Hearing postponed
A court hearing scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until Sunday.
George Hale, one of Mr Malsin's colleagues at Maan, said they had both been in the region for two years, Mr Malsin working for Maan and Ms Rowold volunteering for the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem.
Mr Hale said Mr Malsin was well known to Israeli military and government officials, who he spoke to regularly, and had even been offered access to Israeli military facilities in the West Bank.
"It's preposterous, this is a guy who a month ago was invited to tour a military base in a settlement," said Mr Hale.
He said Mr Malsin, a graduate of Yale University, had initially come to Israel on the Birthright programme, which funds visits to Israel for young Jewish Americans.
Mr Malsin had never overstayed a visa, except for his most recent one, which was a few days overdue and that he had been told by officials this did not matter, Mr Hale said.
Foreign nationals working or volunteering with Palestinian organisations in the West Bank often complain of difficulty obtaining visas.
Many are present on three-month tourist visas, which do not provide permission to work and may not be extended.
Maan news agency says it "scrupulously maintains its editorial independence and aims to promote access to information, freedom of expression, press freedom, and media pluralism in Palestine".
Source:
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Every Reason To Be Grateful
Today I heard a song that made me stop and think.
Yes you heard me right. I am going to tell you my story about what is going on right now.
The song had three lines in it that made me think.
God is Great.
Beer is Good.
People are Crazy.
I am going to talk about God is Great.
A little over three years ago I meant someone who has helped me more than anyone could expect.
My life has changed greatly. I own my own mobile home. Without there help I could not be where I am at today. I now have a car which I could not afford to buy without there help. Not just that but recently my car cost about nine hundred dollars to fix and they gave me the money to fix it.
You must understand that I am on a fixed income.
They do not have the money to really do this but yet they helped me no matter how it caused them some problems.
Not to mention that they helped me redo my cabinets and repaint the outside plus helped me with getting carpet installed which I needed badly to make this place look decent.
May God bless that person.
I hope someday I can repay every cent that they helped me with.
Thank you God for sending this person into my life.
Yes you heard me right. I am going to tell you my story about what is going on right now.
The song had three lines in it that made me think.
God is Great.
Beer is Good.
People are Crazy.
I am going to talk about God is Great.
A little over three years ago I meant someone who has helped me more than anyone could expect.
My life has changed greatly. I own my own mobile home. Without there help I could not be where I am at today. I now have a car which I could not afford to buy without there help. Not just that but recently my car cost about nine hundred dollars to fix and they gave me the money to fix it.
You must understand that I am on a fixed income.
They do not have the money to really do this but yet they helped me no matter how it caused them some problems.
Not to mention that they helped me redo my cabinets and repaint the outside plus helped me with getting carpet installed which I needed badly to make this place look decent.
May God bless that person.
I hope someday I can repay every cent that they helped me with.
Thank you God for sending this person into my life.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Obama blowing threatening winds at Israel
Barack Obama at the White House on Friday. To what extent can he use U.S.-Israel loan guarantees to influence Netanyahu's policy?
U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, who is coming to Israel next week, suggested in an interview with the U.S. public television network PBS that Washington might withhold loan guarantees to Israel.
When this was interpreted as a hint meant to pressure Israel, "clarifications" poured forth from the American capital. Mitchell wasn't threatening, he was only giving a hypothetical response to the interviewer's question about the options for pressure that were available to the administration. The White House itself sent a message to the effect of, "We didn't want to threaten, only to speed up the negotiations."
The precise words and their precise meaning do not matter. The reality is that President Barack Obama is frustrated and that threatening winds are blowing from the White House toward Israel. There is a big gap between Obama's peace speeches and his Nobel Peace Prize on one hand and his inability to produce a tangible achievement on the other. And while he speaks about peace and reconciliation, he himself is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan as their fallen comrades' coffins continue to arrive back in the U.S. The question is whether they knew what they gave their lives for.
Recent talk about the Obama administration being "tired" of Israel is undoubtedly an expression of frustration with the fact that the quarter from which the Americans had expected the most has so far yielded nothing.
The threat of withholding loan guarantees recalls the commander of the British forces during the British Mandate, General Evelyn Hugh Barker, who ordered the Jews punished by "striking at their pockets." This approach did not keep the organized Jewish community from driving out the British and founding an independent state. Come what may, one thing is clear - U.S. military aid and its support of Israel in the UN Security Council will not be impaired under any circumstances.
In light of the Iranian threat we should remember how important it is to Obama to cooperate with the moderate Muslim states and to see a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to prevent another war from breaking out in the region.
Our grumbling that Obama is pro-Arab is not fair. Perhaps he doesn't admire us like some of his predecessors, but his policy does not deviate by one millimeter from theirs. The United States has never recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Succeeding administrations have consistently adhered to the demand for a return to the 1967 borders, with minor border adjustments related to security. They have also consistently objected to the settlements and have warned us many a time that they would not finance any settlement evacuations.
Mitchell is coming to the region to take the negotiations out of the freezer. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have made a commitment to a peace process based on two states for two peoples, but so far he has done nothing except to declare a freeze in construction in the settlements for 10 months and not a single day beyond. What that means exactly is not clear. It's neither an evacuation nor proof that the government wants and is capable of evacuating tens of thousands of settlers. As in "Saving Private Ryan," Washington, Cairo and Amman are working together to save Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is in deep now with his construction of a separation fence between his country and the Gaza Strip, which is deeply damaging to the status and power of Hamas. At a time like this Israel cannot make do with "freezing construction for 10 months." It sounds like a joke.
Mitchell's visit is extremely important for renewing the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He may bring with him a plan that Israel will not be able to say no to without damaging American interests. According to one knowledgeable source Jerusalem is preparing efforts to resume the talks and understands that the government is bound to them. After all, it was Netanyahu's government that drafted the two-states-for-two-peoples promissory note.
In the current domestic political situation Netanyahu could obtain the broadest parliamentary support in Israel's history - almost 80 Knesset members will support beginning vigorous negotiations aimed at reaching a settlement and drawing permanent borders, with the active involvement and assistance of the United States.
Enough already with the shticks and the tricks, it's time to show leadership.
Source:
Foreign Ministry official: Lieberman wants to keep Israel-Turkey ties cold
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is trying to stop Defense Minister Ehud Barak from visiting to Turkey next week, in order to keep up the recent tensions between the two allied countries, Foreign Ministry sources said.
Barak was scheduled to leave for Turkey on Sunday to meet with his counterpart and the foreign minister there, in an attempt to improve deteriorating relations.
Tensions were renewed on Monday, after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Israel was endangering world peace by using exaggerated force against the Palestinians, breaching Lebanon's air space and waters and for not revealing the details of its nuclear program.
Also Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador in Israel for clarification regarding a recent television drama depicting actors dressed as Shin Bet officers who kidnap babies.
Just three months ago, a similar diplomatic instance occurred between the two countries after Turkey aired the controversial television drama Ayrilik ("Separation") which featured actors dressed as Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children.
During the meeting, Turkey's ambassador was seated in a low sofa, and facing him, in higher chairs, were Ayalon and two other officials - an arrangement carried out at Lieberman's orders.
A photo-op was held at the start of the meeting, during which Ayalon told the photographers in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a
lower chair and we are in the higher ones, that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."
According to Foreign Ministry sources, Lieberman is now looking to "heat things up" before Barak's trip, so as to torpedo attempts to mend the tensions.
"We get the sense that Lieberman wants to heat things up before Barak's visit," a senior Foreign Ministry source said. "All of the recent activities were part of Lieberman's political agenda."
The Turkish government was expected to give a warm welcome to Barak, who alongside Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer was looking to bring the allies' relations back to stability.
The Foreign Ministry sources surmised that Lieberman's efforts were aimed at preventing Turkey from resuming its role as mediator in Israel's peace talks with Syria.
Turkey PM: Israel is endangering world peace
The Foreign Ministry earlier Monday hit back at Erdogan over his remarks, saying: "Israel is careful to respect Turkey and seeks continued proper ties between the countries, but we expect reciprocity," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling Erdogan's remarks an "unbridled tongue-lashing".
"The State of Israel has the full right to protect its citizens from the missiles and terror of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Turks are the last who can preach morality to the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces."
At a press conference with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Erdogan called on the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel over its nuclear program in the same way that the international community has been dealing with Iran.
"Israel never denied that it has nuclear weapons," said Erdogan. "In fact, it has admitted to such."
"Those who are cautioning Iran must also caution Israel," Erdogan declared. "If we fail to display a fair attitude in this region, the problems will hit not only the region, but will spread elsewhere as well. The unrest of the Middle East is the unrest of the world."
Until recently, Turkey had been a solid ally of Israel's from the Muslim world. However, Ankara has taken a stance against Israel over last year's war in the Gaza Strip, leading to a deterioration of ties.
"Is the Israeli government in favor of peace or not?" Erdogan said. "Gaza was bombed again yesterday. Why?... There were no rocket attacks."
Erdogan was referring to an Israel Air Force strike Sunday on a rocket-launching ground in central Gaza, where three Islamic Jihad militants posing to fire at Israel were killed. Approximately four mortar shells were also fired from Gaza toward the western Negev on Sunday.
"As Turkey, we can never remain silent in the face of Israel's attitude... They have disproportional capabilities and power and they use them," Erdogan said.
"They do not abide by UN resolutions," he added. They say they will do what they like. We can in no way approve of such an attitude."
During the press conference, Erdogan also declared that Ankara stood behind Beirut's efforts to join the United Nations Security Council.
Hariri termed Israel as an enemy of Lebanon and a danger to its stability.
The meeting between Erdogan and Hariri came after Lebanese army anti-aircraft guns on Monday fired on Israeli fighter jets violating Lebanese airspace in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese army source said.
"The army's anti-aircraft guns fired at four enemy Israeli planes that were overflying the Marjayoun area in southern Lebanon," the source who requested anonymity said.
"In the past two days the Israeli overflights over Lebanon have intensified, and Lebanon have advised the United Nation about the repeated and increased violations," said the source.
Israel argues that the overflights are necessary, despite their being in violation of UN Resolution 1701 that ended a devastating war in 2006 between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
According to Israel, the overflights into areas near its border are to monitor what it describes as massive arms smuggling by Hezbollah, which is also a violation of the UN resolution.
Lebanon however is insisting that the UN stop the Israeli overflights.
Source:
Barak was scheduled to leave for Turkey on Sunday to meet with his counterpart and the foreign minister there, in an attempt to improve deteriorating relations.
Tensions were renewed on Monday, after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Israel was endangering world peace by using exaggerated force against the Palestinians, breaching Lebanon's air space and waters and for not revealing the details of its nuclear program.
Also Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador in Israel for clarification regarding a recent television drama depicting actors dressed as Shin Bet officers who kidnap babies.
Just three months ago, a similar diplomatic instance occurred between the two countries after Turkey aired the controversial television drama Ayrilik ("Separation") which featured actors dressed as Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children.
During the meeting, Turkey's ambassador was seated in a low sofa, and facing him, in higher chairs, were Ayalon and two other officials - an arrangement carried out at Lieberman's orders.
A photo-op was held at the start of the meeting, during which Ayalon told the photographers in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a
lower chair and we are in the higher ones, that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."
According to Foreign Ministry sources, Lieberman is now looking to "heat things up" before Barak's trip, so as to torpedo attempts to mend the tensions.
"We get the sense that Lieberman wants to heat things up before Barak's visit," a senior Foreign Ministry source said. "All of the recent activities were part of Lieberman's political agenda."
The Turkish government was expected to give a warm welcome to Barak, who alongside Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer was looking to bring the allies' relations back to stability.
The Foreign Ministry sources surmised that Lieberman's efforts were aimed at preventing Turkey from resuming its role as mediator in Israel's peace talks with Syria.
Turkey PM: Israel is endangering world peace
The Foreign Ministry earlier Monday hit back at Erdogan over his remarks, saying: "Israel is careful to respect Turkey and seeks continued proper ties between the countries, but we expect reciprocity," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling Erdogan's remarks an "unbridled tongue-lashing".
"The State of Israel has the full right to protect its citizens from the missiles and terror of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Turks are the last who can preach morality to the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces."
At a press conference with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Erdogan called on the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel over its nuclear program in the same way that the international community has been dealing with Iran.
"Israel never denied that it has nuclear weapons," said Erdogan. "In fact, it has admitted to such."
"Those who are cautioning Iran must also caution Israel," Erdogan declared. "If we fail to display a fair attitude in this region, the problems will hit not only the region, but will spread elsewhere as well. The unrest of the Middle East is the unrest of the world."
Until recently, Turkey had been a solid ally of Israel's from the Muslim world. However, Ankara has taken a stance against Israel over last year's war in the Gaza Strip, leading to a deterioration of ties.
"Is the Israeli government in favor of peace or not?" Erdogan said. "Gaza was bombed again yesterday. Why?... There were no rocket attacks."
Erdogan was referring to an Israel Air Force strike Sunday on a rocket-launching ground in central Gaza, where three Islamic Jihad militants posing to fire at Israel were killed. Approximately four mortar shells were also fired from Gaza toward the western Negev on Sunday.
"As Turkey, we can never remain silent in the face of Israel's attitude... They have disproportional capabilities and power and they use them," Erdogan said.
"They do not abide by UN resolutions," he added. They say they will do what they like. We can in no way approve of such an attitude."
During the press conference, Erdogan also declared that Ankara stood behind Beirut's efforts to join the United Nations Security Council.
Hariri termed Israel as an enemy of Lebanon and a danger to its stability.
The meeting between Erdogan and Hariri came after Lebanese army anti-aircraft guns on Monday fired on Israeli fighter jets violating Lebanese airspace in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese army source said.
"The army's anti-aircraft guns fired at four enemy Israeli planes that were overflying the Marjayoun area in southern Lebanon," the source who requested anonymity said.
"In the past two days the Israeli overflights over Lebanon have intensified, and Lebanon have advised the United Nation about the repeated and increased violations," said the source.
Israel argues that the overflights are necessary, despite their being in violation of UN Resolution 1701 that ended a devastating war in 2006 between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
According to Israel, the overflights into areas near its border are to monitor what it describes as massive arms smuggling by Hezbollah, which is also a violation of the UN resolution.
Lebanon however is insisting that the UN stop the Israeli overflights.
Source:
High cost of leaving ultra-orthodox Judaism
"The kids, that's the highest cost," says Ido Lev, 30, who hasn't seen his two children for five years.
It's hard to imagine the software engineering student, now wearing jeans and a checked shirt, in the black hat and suit of the ultra-orthodox Jew he used to be.
It is seven years since he walked out of his home, cut off his curly side locks in a public toilet and slept in a shopping mall for a week.
Israel's ultra-orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim, make up roughly 10% of the population. Most live their lives in voluntary isolation from the secular world.
Men tend to spend their days studying the Jewish scriptures, which are the primary focus of education for both genders.
Posters on the walls of ultra-orthodox areas pass on community news, as many residents shield themselves from what they see as the secular influence of television and radio.
Images of women are banned, and anyone driving on the Jewish Sabbath is likely to have stones thrown at their car.
Every detail of life is determined by religious observance, says Mr Lev, "even how you put on your shoes".
Angry rejection
Those who choose to leave know little about the world they are entering.
"They are like aliens," says Irit Paneth of the organisation Hillel, which offers practical help to former Haredim.
They often do not know how to open a bank account, use the internet, find work and rent an apartment, she explains, or how to operate socially in the secular world.
And they can face angry rejection from the community they leave behind. Mr Lev says his wife's family have stopped him seeing his children, fearing he will persuade them to leave the community.
But he says he has no regrets, although he is still battling for access.
His marriage had been arranged by his family; now he has a girlfriend. "I found out what love is. That makes it very complicated, but very joyful," he says.
In the first few months after he left, he says he "felt like a drunk from all the freedom".
Another member of Hillel, Chani Ovadya, 28, says she and her parents did not speak for a year after she left the religious way of life.
She had secretly rented a flat and moved her clothes, a few at a time, before she left home.
"It was the hardest year of my life, and I didn't have my parents and family who I love with me, so it was even worse," she says.
Her demure long skirt gone, she is clad in a tight, low-cut shirt, spiky heels and tailored trousers and now rides a motorbike and studies engineering.
"As a religious woman, the most you can be is a teacher," she says. "Now I am following my dreams."
'In between worlds'
Ms Paneth stresses that Hillel does not persuade people to leave, but merely provides practical help and emotional support to those who decide for themselves to do so.
"For years, most of them live in between worlds," says Ms Paneth.
"They don't really belong to the secular world - they definitely don't belong any more to the ultra-orthodox world," she says.
Ms Paneth believes the 2,000 or so people Hillel has helped in the past decade are "the tip of the iceberg", and that numbers are growing as the internet makes the secular world more accessible.
Anthropologist Sarit Barzilai has studied former Haredim.
She explains that closed ultra-orthodox areas were formed after Israel was created because their immigrant residents wanted to preserve their traditional way of life.
The fear of secular society is so strong that if a son or daughter chooses to leave, for parents it can be "the end of the world", she says.
If one child leaves, it can harm the marriage prospects of their brothers and sisters, or influence siblings to make the break too, she explains.
In one case she knows of, a father told his daughter he would rather kill her than see her become secular. She eventually committed suicide.
'Impossible dilemma'
"It breaks people's hearts," says Rabbi Noson Weisz, who teaches at Aish HaTorah, an ultra-orthodox yeshiva, or seminary, close to the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites.
He articulates what he describes as an "impossible dilemma" for parents if a child wants to leave.
"Every child is my child and I love them… I think if I can only hang on to this child he'll get over whatever his problem is, but while he's going through this, if I have him in the house, what kind of influence will this have on my other children?"
But he says he would never advise parents to completely cut off contact.
He says ultra-orthodox society is broader than its stereotype and includes many people who work in professions in the secular world.
If people leave, this means the community has failed them.
He says he has only known four or five cases of people leaving in three decades of work, while he has seen thousands of Jews move from secular to religious lifestyles.
In the school's prayer hall, young men rock back and forth over leather-bound books, while others debate points of scripture.
For them, there is an enriching life, focused on family, community and meaning, to be found here.
"There are 613 laws that we live by, but I would look at it as 613 possibilities and ways of connecting to God," says British student Michael Mann.
And Mr Lev agrees there is value in ultra-orthodox life for some people.
"Maybe to people outside it looks like a cult, maybe a little primitive," he says, but he believes it can be "a happy community" and a "very beautiful place".
"But if you don't have the faith inside, it's like a jail."
Source:
It's hard to imagine the software engineering student, now wearing jeans and a checked shirt, in the black hat and suit of the ultra-orthodox Jew he used to be.
It is seven years since he walked out of his home, cut off his curly side locks in a public toilet and slept in a shopping mall for a week.
Israel's ultra-orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim, make up roughly 10% of the population. Most live their lives in voluntary isolation from the secular world.
Men tend to spend their days studying the Jewish scriptures, which are the primary focus of education for both genders.
Posters on the walls of ultra-orthodox areas pass on community news, as many residents shield themselves from what they see as the secular influence of television and radio.
Images of women are banned, and anyone driving on the Jewish Sabbath is likely to have stones thrown at their car.
Every detail of life is determined by religious observance, says Mr Lev, "even how you put on your shoes".
Angry rejection
Those who choose to leave know little about the world they are entering.
"They are like aliens," says Irit Paneth of the organisation Hillel, which offers practical help to former Haredim.
They often do not know how to open a bank account, use the internet, find work and rent an apartment, she explains, or how to operate socially in the secular world.
And they can face angry rejection from the community they leave behind. Mr Lev says his wife's family have stopped him seeing his children, fearing he will persuade them to leave the community.
But he says he has no regrets, although he is still battling for access.
His marriage had been arranged by his family; now he has a girlfriend. "I found out what love is. That makes it very complicated, but very joyful," he says.
In the first few months after he left, he says he "felt like a drunk from all the freedom".
Another member of Hillel, Chani Ovadya, 28, says she and her parents did not speak for a year after she left the religious way of life.
She had secretly rented a flat and moved her clothes, a few at a time, before she left home.
"It was the hardest year of my life, and I didn't have my parents and family who I love with me, so it was even worse," she says.
Her demure long skirt gone, she is clad in a tight, low-cut shirt, spiky heels and tailored trousers and now rides a motorbike and studies engineering.
"As a religious woman, the most you can be is a teacher," she says. "Now I am following my dreams."
'In between worlds'
Ms Paneth stresses that Hillel does not persuade people to leave, but merely provides practical help and emotional support to those who decide for themselves to do so.
"For years, most of them live in between worlds," says Ms Paneth.
"They don't really belong to the secular world - they definitely don't belong any more to the ultra-orthodox world," she says.
Ms Paneth believes the 2,000 or so people Hillel has helped in the past decade are "the tip of the iceberg", and that numbers are growing as the internet makes the secular world more accessible.
Anthropologist Sarit Barzilai has studied former Haredim.
She explains that closed ultra-orthodox areas were formed after Israel was created because their immigrant residents wanted to preserve their traditional way of life.
The fear of secular society is so strong that if a son or daughter chooses to leave, for parents it can be "the end of the world", she says.
If one child leaves, it can harm the marriage prospects of their brothers and sisters, or influence siblings to make the break too, she explains.
In one case she knows of, a father told his daughter he would rather kill her than see her become secular. She eventually committed suicide.
'Impossible dilemma'
"It breaks people's hearts," says Rabbi Noson Weisz, who teaches at Aish HaTorah, an ultra-orthodox yeshiva, or seminary, close to the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites.
He articulates what he describes as an "impossible dilemma" for parents if a child wants to leave.
"Every child is my child and I love them… I think if I can only hang on to this child he'll get over whatever his problem is, but while he's going through this, if I have him in the house, what kind of influence will this have on my other children?"
But he says he would never advise parents to completely cut off contact.
He says ultra-orthodox society is broader than its stereotype and includes many people who work in professions in the secular world.
If people leave, this means the community has failed them.
He says he has only known four or five cases of people leaving in three decades of work, while he has seen thousands of Jews move from secular to religious lifestyles.
In the school's prayer hall, young men rock back and forth over leather-bound books, while others debate points of scripture.
For them, there is an enriching life, focused on family, community and meaning, to be found here.
"There are 613 laws that we live by, but I would look at it as 613 possibilities and ways of connecting to God," says British student Michael Mann.
And Mr Lev agrees there is value in ultra-orthodox life for some people.
"Maybe to people outside it looks like a cult, maybe a little primitive," he says, but he believes it can be "a happy community" and a "very beautiful place".
"But if you don't have the faith inside, it's like a jail."
Source:
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Israel considers giving legal status to two illegal West Bank outposts
After four and a half years of government promises to destroy the two West Bank settlements of Hayovel and Harsha, the High Court of Justice said yesterday that it intends to examine conditions on the ground there, potentially paving the way for their formal recognition.
The High Court of Justice's deliberation over these settlements has become a symbol of other petitions to the court concerning illegal West Bank construction. The petition in question, filed by Peace Now in 2005, called on the government to enforce a demolition order for the nine homes that constitute Hayovel, which is actually an outpost of the settlement of Eli, and the seven homes in Harsha, east of the Talmonim bloc.
The state originally informed the High Court that the structures were illegal and would therefore be razed, but added that their demolition would be carried out according to a priority list drafted by the security apparatus. Since the government kept dragging its feet, the High Court judges asked it a year ago to set a timetable for the demolition.
Since the formation of the Netanyahu government, settlement leaders aided by ministers Moshe Ayalon and Limor Livnat have exerted consistent pressure on the Justice Ministry to find legal justification for preserving the houses in question.
Their pressure reaped rewards with yesterday's government announcement that before the demolition is carried out, the state intends to examine whether the areas fall under the category of state land, or are whether they are under private Palestinian ownership.
The state also said that even if the outposts are razed, it would need another six months to complete the evacuation of residents there, due to the fact that law enforcement agents are bogged down these days by monitoring the settlement freeze.
The announcement means in effect that the demolition will be postponed to an unspecified date, and may never be carried out at all.
If the investigation reveals that the area is indeed state land, the government may choose to retroactively authorize the homes, as it did on numerous occasions across the West Bank. If the land is privately owned by Palestinians, the state will be forced to either raze the structures or find some other creative solution to allow them to remain.
Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer said in response: "The government of Israel is thumbing its nose at the rule of law and granting immunity to illegal building by settlers."
"On the same day that the Civil Administration destroyed 14 Palestinian buildings, the settlers are again being granted a judicial gift, as the process changes from evacuation to authorization. The defense minister ensures protection of the status of the Supreme Court within the Green Line - but decides to ignore the law and submit to settler pressure beyond it."
Source:
The High Court of Justice's deliberation over these settlements has become a symbol of other petitions to the court concerning illegal West Bank construction. The petition in question, filed by Peace Now in 2005, called on the government to enforce a demolition order for the nine homes that constitute Hayovel, which is actually an outpost of the settlement of Eli, and the seven homes in Harsha, east of the Talmonim bloc.
The state originally informed the High Court that the structures were illegal and would therefore be razed, but added that their demolition would be carried out according to a priority list drafted by the security apparatus. Since the government kept dragging its feet, the High Court judges asked it a year ago to set a timetable for the demolition.
Since the formation of the Netanyahu government, settlement leaders aided by ministers Moshe Ayalon and Limor Livnat have exerted consistent pressure on the Justice Ministry to find legal justification for preserving the houses in question.
Their pressure reaped rewards with yesterday's government announcement that before the demolition is carried out, the state intends to examine whether the areas fall under the category of state land, or are whether they are under private Palestinian ownership.
The state also said that even if the outposts are razed, it would need another six months to complete the evacuation of residents there, due to the fact that law enforcement agents are bogged down these days by monitoring the settlement freeze.
The announcement means in effect that the demolition will be postponed to an unspecified date, and may never be carried out at all.
If the investigation reveals that the area is indeed state land, the government may choose to retroactively authorize the homes, as it did on numerous occasions across the West Bank. If the land is privately owned by Palestinians, the state will be forced to either raze the structures or find some other creative solution to allow them to remain.
Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer said in response: "The government of Israel is thumbing its nose at the rule of law and granting immunity to illegal building by settlers."
"On the same day that the Civil Administration destroyed 14 Palestinian buildings, the settlers are again being granted a judicial gift, as the process changes from evacuation to authorization. The defense minister ensures protection of the status of the Supreme Court within the Green Line - but decides to ignore the law and submit to settler pressure beyond it."
Source:
Israelis reject George Mitchell loan guarantee 'threat'
Israeli officials have shrugged off a suggestion that the US could withhold loan guarantees to pressure Israel over the Middle East peace process.
The finance minister said Israel did not need the guarantees, while the prime minister accused the Palestinians of holding up peace negotiations.
US envoy George Mitchell said this week the US could withhold loan guarantees to extract concessions from Israel.
The guarantees allow Israel to raise money cheaply overseas.
'Doing fine'
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz reacted by saying the Israeli economy was doing well.
"We don't need to use these guarantees," he was quoted by Israeli media as saying.
"We are doing just fine. But several months ago we agreed with the American treasury on guarantees for 2010 and 2011, and there were no conditions."
In response to Mr Mitchell's comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: "Everyone knows that the Palestinian Authority is refusing to renew the peace talks, while Israel has taken important and significant steps to kickstart the process."
Palestinian officials say Israel must completely halt settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it occupied during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war, before negotiations can resume.
Since he came to office in 2008, President Barack Obama has focused closely on trying to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks moving, but with little success.
Mr Mitchell, who is due to return to the Middle East this month in his latest attempt to restart negotiations, was asked on Wednesday in an interview with America's PBS how the US could bring pressure to bear on Israel.
"Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel," he said.
Precedents
He noted that support for the guarantees had been reduced in 2003, but added that no sanctions were being considered and that he preferred persuasion.
Former US President George W Bush's administration whittled down backing for the guarantees after Israel built part of its security barrier inside the West Bank.
In 1991, $10bn of loan guarantees were withheld under former President George H W Bush to pressure Israel over the peace process.
The Israeli comments on the loan guarantees came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signalled a shift in the US approach by saying that agreeing the borders of a future Palestinian state would deal with Palestinian concerns about settlement building.
Both sides should resume peace talks as soon as possible and without preconditions, she said.
But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat played down the chances of peace talks, citing settlements.
The Israeli government has refused Palestinian demands for a complete halt to settlement building.
It has limited building work for 10 months in the West Bank, but not in East Jerusalem.
Source:
The finance minister said Israel did not need the guarantees, while the prime minister accused the Palestinians of holding up peace negotiations.
US envoy George Mitchell said this week the US could withhold loan guarantees to extract concessions from Israel.
The guarantees allow Israel to raise money cheaply overseas.
'Doing fine'
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz reacted by saying the Israeli economy was doing well.
"We don't need to use these guarantees," he was quoted by Israeli media as saying.
"We are doing just fine. But several months ago we agreed with the American treasury on guarantees for 2010 and 2011, and there were no conditions."
In response to Mr Mitchell's comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: "Everyone knows that the Palestinian Authority is refusing to renew the peace talks, while Israel has taken important and significant steps to kickstart the process."
Palestinian officials say Israel must completely halt settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it occupied during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war, before negotiations can resume.
Since he came to office in 2008, President Barack Obama has focused closely on trying to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks moving, but with little success.
Mr Mitchell, who is due to return to the Middle East this month in his latest attempt to restart negotiations, was asked on Wednesday in an interview with America's PBS how the US could bring pressure to bear on Israel.
"Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel," he said.
Precedents
He noted that support for the guarantees had been reduced in 2003, but added that no sanctions were being considered and that he preferred persuasion.
Former US President George W Bush's administration whittled down backing for the guarantees after Israel built part of its security barrier inside the West Bank.
In 1991, $10bn of loan guarantees were withheld under former President George H W Bush to pressure Israel over the peace process.
The Israeli comments on the loan guarantees came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signalled a shift in the US approach by saying that agreeing the borders of a future Palestinian state would deal with Palestinian concerns about settlement building.
Both sides should resume peace talks as soon as possible and without preconditions, she said.
But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat played down the chances of peace talks, citing settlements.
The Israeli government has refused Palestinian demands for a complete halt to settlement building.
It has limited building work for 10 months in the West Bank, but not in East Jerusalem.
Source:
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