News
International Middle East Media Center
Soldiers Attack Protestors Demanding A Main Road Opened In Hebron
IMEMC – 26 Jun 2010 – On Saturday evening, Israeli soldiers violently attacked dozens of protestors demanding the army to open the Al Shuhada Street, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli soldiers and settlers violently attacked the nonviolent protestors.
Israeli official during informal talks: “Jerusalem was promised by God to the Jews”
IMEMC – 26 Jun 2010 – Deputy Israeli Prime Minister Dan Meridor held an ‘informal meeting’ with Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Friday, during which he quoted the late Pope John Paul II as saying, “ Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, but was promised only to the Jews”.
Detainee Suffers Fractured Spine During Transfer To Court
IMEMC – 26 Jun 2010 – Detainees at the Ofer Israeli detention facility demanded human rights groups to intervene and save the life of detainee Maher Rajoub, 33, from Dour south of Hebron, after he suffered a fractured spine while being transferred to court.
Gaza’s only remaining power station shut down Saturday; causing widespread blackout
IMEMC – 26 Jun 2010 – With the besieged population of the Gaza Strip facing severe electricity shortages, the one operational power station that was not bombed by Israeli forces last year shut down early Saturday morning due to a lack of fuel.
G8 leaders: Gaza situation unsustainable
IMEMC – 26 Jun 2010 – At a meeting of the world’s top sovereign economic powers in Toronto, Canada on Saturday, the ‘G8’ countries issued a statement saying the “ current arrangements are not sustainable and must be changed”, in reference to Israel’s three-year long siege on the Gaza Strip that has imprisoned its population and caused extreme hardship.
Qassam Fighter Killed Gaza
IMEMC – 26 Jun 2010 – The al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, reported that one of its fighters was killed on Saturday morning during a mission in central Gaza.
Blackout crisis in Gaza intensifies
6/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Gaza’s only power station stopped operating overnight, its chief engineer announced Saturday. Kan’an Obeid, head of the power authority in Gaza, held Prime Minister Salam Fayyad responsible for the crisis “because he did not pay for industrial fuel bought from Israel despite the fact that people in the besieged enclave continued to pay….
Israeli forces close off West Bank village
6/26/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – The Israeli army declared a northern West Bank village a closed military zone Saturday, preventing entry to journalists and residents, witnesses said. Onlookers told Ma’an the Iraq Burin village south of Nablus was the closed in anticipation of a rally and said a large deployment of soldiers was seen in the area. An….
Israeli forces shut down Hebron demonstration
6/26/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces forcefully shut down a protest Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, onlookers said. Demonstrators chanting slogans in Arabic, Hebrew, and English called on Israel to reopen Shuhada Street to Palestinians. The army prevented the Palestinian and international activists from reaching the road, which was closed for about an….
Israeli forces detain Tulkarem siblings
6/26/2010 – Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained a brother and sister from the Iktaba village in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem on Thursday, family members said. Diyaa Ali Dadu, 26, was detained at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank with his grandmother, his father told Ma’an. The grandmother was later released….
Israeli forces kill Egyptian smuggler, detain 2
6/26/2010 – Al-Arish – Ma’an – Israeli forces shot and killed an Egyptian smuggler on Saturday, injuring another and detaining two attempting to smuggle drugs into Israel near the Sinai border. The four infiltrators crossed into Israel from Egypt where they were spotted by Israeli forces, who opened fire in response, according to Egyptian intelligence reports received from Israel….
Traders say Rafah tunnel industry down
6/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Several of Gaza’s tunnels have been shut down temporarily as traders search the market for goods following Israel’s decision to allow certain previously banned products in, tunnel owners say. Abu Ahmad, who supervises three tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, says the industry has seen a sharp drop both in import and profit. Other….
Man found hanged in Qalqiliya apartment
6/26/2010 – Qalqiliya – Ma’an – The body of a man was found hanging in his apartment on Friday evening in northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya, Palestinian security sources told Ma’an. Identified only by the initials FZ, sources said the victim was found hanged by a rope. Police and the general prosecution have launched an investigation to determine….
Egypt angry after Zahhar remarks on unity deal
6/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has expressed anger over comments reportedly made by senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar over its role in Palestinian reconciliation, an official told Arabic-language media on Saturday. Zahhar’s charge was allegedly leveled at Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit during an interview with an Egyptian newspaper, saying the ministry was “not authorized….
Erekat: Israel must choose settlements or peace
6/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli deputy premier Dan Meridor entered a heated debate on Friday in New York, with the PLO official warning of the need to reach a peace deal by the end of 2010.”If by the end of this year we do not have a two-state solution….
Fatah rebuffed direct talks with Hamas, source says
6/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas refuses to ratify a unity deal because Fatah declined direct talks on comments to the Egyptian-backed proposal, a source close to the party told Ma’an Friday. Hamas had urged Fatah to discuss the agreement before signing the deal in Egypt, calling for “more accurate and reassuring talks,” which were rebuffed by the….
Sha’ath: Lifting siege more important than unity
6/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Fatah leader Nabil Sha’ath on Saturday said bringing an end to Israel’s blockade “is more important than unity, elections or any other matter.” “Gaza is being destroyed forever [by the siege] and so is the Palestinian state,” Sha’ath told the Saudi daily Al-Watan.”What happened in Gaza is a serious crime. It is….
Abbas vows to crack down on corruption
6/26/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday ratified an anti-corruption law billed as a major step toward transparency following a series of corruption scandals and the dismissal of his chief of staff earlier this year.”This law will be applied to all departments and bodies of the Palestinian Authority. Every official will be held accountable….
McChrystal damages Afghanistan effort
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – Steve Clemons , publisher of the Washington Note, talks with Rachel Maddow about the damaging effects of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s behavior on American efforts in Afghanistan.
Israel army kills Egyptian on border
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – New York – The Israeli army shot dead an Egyptian bedouin man who was allegedly attempting to bring drugs across Israel’s sensitive Sinai desert border on Saturday, according to news reports. According to Reuters, another bedouin…
G8: Gaza blockade unsustainable
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – World economic powers oppose siege New York – The Group of Eight (G8) world economic powers said on Saturday that Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip is “unsustainable.” The countries – the US, Britain, France, Germany,…
Times reports on anti-Zionist resurgence among US Jews
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – New York – The New York Times reported on Friday on an apparent resurgence of anti-Zionist views among american Jews. Members of the anti-Zionist ulra-Orthodox Jewish sect Neturei Karta demonstrate in Jerusalem on 9 June 2005. […
US: Turkey must prove commitment to West
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – New York – The United States warned Turkey that it must prove its commitment to the West after the country’s vote against a UN resolution for tightened sanctions against Iran. President Barack Obama meets with Turkish…
Fatah official de-links Gaza siege from political unity
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – New York – In an apparent departure from his party’s leadership, a senior Fatah official was quoted on Saturday saying that lifting the siege of Gaza is “is more important than unity, elections or any other…
Thousands protest ‘police torture’ in Egypt
Palestine Note 26 Jun 2010 – New York – Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets on Friday against what they say is the systematic use of torture by their government’s police and intelligence forces. Egyptians protest police torture in Cairo on…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (10-16 June 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Israel: We’ll not free ’mega-terrorists’
Jeruslalem Post 27 Jun 2010 – Noam Schalit: ’We will not return home without Gilad.’
Palestinian family fears Gaza expulsion
Jeruslalem Post 27 Jun 2010 – Fearing expulsion to Gaza, Palestinian family stays home in Jenin
Landau: Israel would defend off-shore gas find with force
Jeruslalem Post 26 Jun 2010 – “We will not hesitate to use our force and strength to protect not only the rule of law but the international maritime law”
Is Israel arming in Saudi Arabia?
Jeruslalem Post 26 Jun 2010 – Reports claim IAF helicopters were preparing an attack on Iran
Patriots in the best sense of the word
Jeruslalem Post 26 Jun 2010 – Rather than ’delegitimizing’ Israel, hundreds of groups supported by New Israel Fund emphatically legitimize Israel’s claim to its place among Western liberal democracies
G-8: Gaza situation not sustainable
Jeruslalem Post 26 Jun 2010 – Leaders support Israel’s flotilla inquiry, call for Schalit’s release.
IDF kills smuggler at border
Jeruslalem Post 26 Jun 2010 – Injured from smuggling party brought to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.
Racing Palestinian girls speed into record book
Ha’aretz – Eight Palestinian women are participating in the popular car race called ‘Speed Test’ in the West Bank.
Hamas: We won’t let Red Cross visit Shalit because we can’t reveal his location
Ha’aretz – Finance Minister: Shalit’s fate won’t be decided by protesters; Shalit’s parents urge PM to ‘pay the price’ to free their son.
Supreme Court rejects joint petition to free Immanuel fathers
Ha’aretz – Judges say compromise deal struck by attorney Ram Caspi and former Shas leader Arye Deri cannot be allowed to undermine original ruling against school segregation.
Mullen to make unplanned stop in Israel after Afghanistan visit
Ha’aretz – U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speaks to IDF Chief of Staff on a weekly basis on a secure line connecting their respective offices.
World leaders at G8 summit: Current Gaza tensions unsustainable
Ha’aretz – Leaders of world’s 8 top industrial democracies meet in Canada for G8 summit, to be followed by 20-nation meet.
IDF kills Egyptian narcotics smuggler on border
Ha’aretz – IDF troops open fire on a group of Bedouin narcotics smugglers who approached the Israel-Egypt border and refused to stop when prompted.
‘Iran lawmakers to join Lebanon Gaza-bound aid ship’
Ha’aretz – Ships with Iranian aid for Gaza left this month but it was not clear if they would unload in Egypt., Seven machines donated by Norwegian agency confiscated en route to…
Erekat to Meridor: Without two-state solution by year’s end, ‘you will sweat’
Ha’aretz – Palestinian chief negotiator tells Deputy Prime Minister that Israel has two choices: ‘settlements or peace.’
‘Mossad chief Meir Dagan to step down’
Ha’aretz – Dagan, who has been Mossad director since 2002, requested another year but was refused, Channel 2 news reported.
Italy: Hamas treatment of Shalit shows its terrorist nature
Ha’aretz – Human Rights Watch: Hamas violating international law; Hamas: Shalit talks have been frozen for six months
Gaza sinks in complete darkness
26 Jun 2010 – Gaza, June 26, (Pal Telegraph) One can not predict when the crisis of electricity in the Gaza Strip will ever end, it began with the Israeli bombing of Gaza’s only power plant only four years ago to render the damage of two generators out of three which operate the whole power plant, and on yesterday evening the halt of this…
Report: Israel seizes oxygen machines donated to PA
Uruknet June 26, 2010 – Israel confiscated seven oxygen machines en route to hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza based on the claim that there was a chance the generators attached to the machines would not be used for medical purposes, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported Saturday. According to Ma’an, the Ramallah-based health ministry said that the generators, which…
Blackout crisis in Gaza intensifies
Uruknet June 26, 2010 – Gaza’s only power station stopped operating overnight, its chief engineer announced Saturday. Kan’an Obeid, head of the power authority in Gaza, held Prime Minister Salam Fayyad responsible for the crisis “because he did not pay for industrial fuel bought from Israel despite the fact that people in the besieged enclave continued to pay for it.”…
PROFILES IN COURAGE , HUWAIDA ARRAF AND ADAM SHAPIROTWO SPECIAL PEOPLE, ONE SPECIAL CAUSE
Uruknet June 26, 2010 – The growth of this wonderful young couple is directly tied to the growth of the International Solidarity Movement. They met in Jerusalem while volunteering for an organisation called Seeds of Peace. He, Adam Shapiro, a ‘nice Jewish boy’ from Brooklyn, she, Huwaida Arraf, A Palestinian-American from Detroit. They were wed shortly afterwards and have been…
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (17-23 June 2010)
Uruknet June 26, 2010 – Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (17 — 23 June 2010):
Christian-Muslim relations in Palestine
Uruknet June 25, 2010 – …According to Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, “The last 5 years have been very difficult for all the Palestinians – Muslims and Christians”. Gaza Baptist Church is one of only three churches serving the 4,000 Christians living among the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million inhabitants. Hanna explains how the siege united the community. Because…
The Austrian System Media and Zionist Propaganda
Uruknet June 25, 2010 – …In 2002 I expelled from my house which was declared a military base, and until today I live in Austria as a result of the Israeli campaign of genocide and ethnical cleansing against Palestine and Palestinians. I will never forgive Israel or forget my house, family, and Palestine. Eight years without seeing my mother, brothers,…
Netanyahu remains a prisoner of the Right
The National 26 Jun 2010 – On Thursday, the Israeli PM’s party approved a motion to renew settlement building in the West Bank. The premier’s approval of the motion shows he is trying to appease his base, even though it may put him in conflict with the US.
Racing Palestinian girls speed into record books
The National 26 Jun 2010 – Palestinian women are speeding into the record books by competing in an all-female car racing team — the Speed Sisters.
Halutz Slams Government for being Dragged into Retaliation rather than Initiating
WAFA – TEL AVIV, June 26, 2010 (WAFA)- Former Israeli army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz gave a speech Saturday in which he expressed disappointment with ‘where the state is headed’. Halutz also condemned the
World Leaders at G8 Summit: Current Gaza Tensions Unsustainable
WAFA – TORONTO, June 26, 2010 (WAFA)- The leaders of the world’s eight top industrial democracies on Saturday called the current tensions in Gaza ‘unsustainable,’ the Israeli daily Haaretz
Week in Review- Blockade ‘Loopholes’ Beginning to Show [June 20 – June 26]
Relief Web 26 Jun 2010 – Source: MIFTAH
More than 60 solidarity activists boost Wadi Rahal protest
Stop The Wall – When the demonstration reached the Wall, a large number Occupation Forces were waiting and prevented the demonstrators from continuing on their way to the confiscated lands of Wadi Rahal behind the Wall. With gunpoint, the Occupation Forces ordered the march to leave the site. [
IOF burns large areas of olive trees to suppress Ni’lin protest
Stop The Wall – the Occupation Forces, who were stationed behind the Wall’s cement blocks, fired tear gas at the demonstrators and opened the gate of the Wall to chase the protesters after have been inhaling gas in unsuccessful efforts to arrest them.
Halutz headed for political career?
YNet News – Former IDF chief slams government for ‘being dragged into retaliation rather….
Lebanon: Israel can only threaten
YNet News – Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri responds to Minister Landau’s vow to defend….
US denies secret talks with Hamas
YNet News – White House rejects Al-Quds Al-Arabi report saying officials asked group to keep….
US: Turkey must show commitment to West
YNet News – Obama aide says US questioning Turkey’s vote against Iran sanctions, rhetoric on….
Congresswoman: Hezbollah joining Mexican drug cartels
YNet News – Sue Myrick demands Homeland Security probe of terror group’s presence on….
Meridor, Erekat argue on Washington stage
YNet News – Israeli, Palestinian statesmen trade accusations on stalled peace process at….
Shalits prepare to hit road
YNet News – Four years and three days after being abducted to the Gaza Strip, the family of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is set to embark on a 12-day march from its home in …….
Iranian exiles demand tougher sanctions
YNet News – An Iranian exile group, backed by international politicians, said on Saturday that much stiffer sanctions would have to be imposed on Tehran if world powers hoped to …….
Noam Shalit: No reason for optimism
YNet News – A night before the Shalit family begins its march on Jerusalem, Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, urged Israelis to join the family in the struggle …….
G8: Gaza situation unsustainable
YNet News – The leaders of the world’s eight top industrial democracies called the current tensions in Gaza “unsustainable, while urging Iran to do more to respect human rights. …….
IDF kills Egyptian smuggler
YNet News – An IDF spokeswoman says border guards shot and killed an Egyptian infiltrator suspected of smuggling drugs into Israel. The spokeswoman said Saturday that the man …….
Iran: Gaza delegation to go on Lebanon ship
YNet News – Iranian lawmakers protesting Israel’s blockade of Gaza plan to travel on an aid ship that plans to leave from Lebanon, an official said on Saturday. Lebanon said …….
Palestinian Information Center
Egypt prevents Jordanian aid from entering Gaza
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Egyptian authorities prevented a Jordanian aid convoy from entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing point on Saturday.
Abu Zuhri: Zaki statement reflects Egyptian bias
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said that the statement by Husam Zaki, the Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, reflected Cairo’s biased stand in favor of Fatah faction.
Abbas ready for direct negotiations with Israel
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Mahmoud Abbas stated that he was ready to go into direct negotiations “on condition of progress in the issues of security and borders, which are being discussed under indirect negotiations.”
Zionist settlers planning to hire security company to expel Jerusalemites
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – A group of Zionist settlers in occupied Jerusalem announced plans to hire a private Israeli security company to carry out orders to expel four Palestinian families in the Jerusalem township of Silwan.
Mizan center calls on UN to end Israel’s crimes of torture in Palestine
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Al-Mizan center for human rights on Friday appealed to the UN to activate its convention against torture and put an end to Israel’s crimes of torture in the occupied Palestinian lands.
Hamas slams Egypt’s inflexibility towards reconciliation issue
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum deplored Egypt’s unjustified inflexible position towards his Movement’s remarks on the reconciliation paper.
Lebanon rejects Israel’s threats to control gas fields in its territorial waters
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Lebanon strongly denounced the threats made by Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau about the use of force to control gas fields in international waters in the east of the Mediterranean.
Anti-wall marches persist despite IOF quelling
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked different peaceful anti-wall marches on Friday in West Bank villages. Injuries and breathing problems were reported during the attacks.
March in Aqsa Mosque in protest at Israel’s decision to exile Hamas MPs
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – Palestinians participated in a march after Friday prayers in the main courtyard of the Aqsa Mosque in protest at the Israeli military decision to exile four Palestinian lawmakers from Jerusalem.
IOF soldiers abduct daughter of businessman, serve demolition notice
PIC 26 Jun 2010 – IOF stormed the home of Palestinian businessman Ali Al-Dadu in Tulkarem city and kidnapped his daughter Yasmin after confiscating a number of personal computers in the house.
Palestinian says women’s rights forgotten in Gaza
LA Times 27 Jun 2010 – Activist Naila Ayesh says political and economic upheaval in the territory has forced women to give priority to more immediate needs, such as finding work and providing for their families. Naila Ayesh’s path to becoming a Muslim activist for women’s rights began when she miscarried in an Israeli detention center in 1987 after being arrested for belonging to a Palestinian student union.
Syria under Bashar Assad is open and closed
LA Times 26 Jun 2010 – The former eye doctor who succeeded his father 10 years ago has not matched liberal economic policies with political reforms. And his security services are on the watch for criticism of the regime. After delivering a lecture on the increasing role of private banks in Syria, economist Mohammed Ayman Maydani got an uncomfortable request from members of the audience to elaborate on a brief reference he made to corruption in the country’s private and public sectors.
Iranian Lawmakers Plan a Voyage to Gaza
New York Times 26 Jun 2010 – Despite Israel’s naval blockade, and an available land crossing, Iranian lawmakers say they’ll sail on a ship from Lebanon.
On Religion: A Resurgence for American Jews Who Reject Zionism
New York Times 25 Jun 2010 – A decades-long effort to separate Israel from Jewish identity is gaining momentum among a faction of American Jews.
Israelis, Internationals Take Action Against Silwan Demolitions
Palestine Monitor – Hundreds of Israelis joined Palestinians and international peace activists in the streets of Silwan, East Jerusalem yesterday in protest against the decision to destroy 22 Palestinian homes. The historic show of support coincides with UN and US condemnation of the Municipality’s provocative scheme. Written by Michael…
Why does U.S. soccer fall short?
Mondoweiss – Wikipedia says that Americans coined the term “soccer mom” in 1995. That’s 15 years ago. Those kids so assiduously ferried to sylvan suburban fields are now in their 20s. And the young American team was beaten by Ghana today, a country a tenth our size, soundly (…
A tale of two schools
Mondoweiss – When plans were announced in February 2007 to open the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), New York City’s first dual-language Arabic public school, ugly anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia reared its head. Yesterday, the New York Times profiled a Brooklyn-based Hebrew language charter school. There has been…
’NYT’ story on anti-Zionists says their ’dual loyalty’ prophecy has come to pass
Mondoweiss – This piece on the renewal of American anti-Zionism, by Samuel G. Freedman in the Religion column of the New York Times, includes the usual disclaimer, and some religious hokey-pokey too, but it is fair and important. I wonder if Freedman is not secretly sickened by the…
US tax dollars at work in Egypt
Mondoweiss – This is where US tax dollars are spent: propping up a ruthlessly violent Egyptian regime that doesn’t respect human rights, civil society, and democracy: at Foreign Policy , Soha Abdelaty reports on the tyranny of Egypt’s emergency laws.
Internet is undermining the authority & status of academics and journalists before our eyes
Mondoweiss – Yesterday I did a post about the humiliation of Jews and Palestinians that quoted Geoffrey Wawro’s new book , and a passage in which Wawro wrote that Hitler’s party won a majority in the 1932 elections in Germany. Within an hour or two I got two notes,…
Farewell, l’hitraot, wa masalaam
BBC – Heavenly olive oil and other tales in Tim Franks’ final diary after three years as correspondent in Jerusalem
This Light Is Always Red
Antiwar.com – SHEIKH SA’AD, East Jerusalem — A traffic light, yet no traffic at all. In fact, a traffic light‚Ķ for pedestrians only. And even they move little. There are restrictions on walking out of this village (pop. 3,000). The 1,200 villagers who carry Palestinian identity papers have…
’Let Them Eat Coriander!’
Antiwar.com – Jonathan Cook on Gaza’s slow starvation
Articles
A Call for Livable Futures
Rela Mazali, Huffington Post, Israeli Occupation Archive6/25/2010
What to do when the country I live in totally loses its compass? Totally loses its shame? What to do when the regime that collects my taxes uses them to deploy its high-tech military, armed to the teeth, against activists sailing to oppose a criminal siege? When this country’s politicians authorize soldiers to shoot-to-kill into a deck-bound crowd? And then tell me they are protecting me? What to do when the governments of the world are too deeply implicated to hold this regime, this country accountable?
I have watched government after government in Israel present itself as a respectable, normal member of the club of developed countries; open, democratic, cultured and liberal. Israel recently launched a major “re-branding” campaign, emphasizing diversity, richness, creativeness, to divert attention away from its warring belligerence. Israel’s leaders are deeply committed to keeping up their positive self-image.
I have noted the special privileges granted time and again on the pretext of this image. The US awards Israel billions every year for “defense” in the form of planes, missiles, guns and ammunition. Just this May, the organization of so-called developed countries (OECD) granted Israel full membership, after years of Israeli lobbying. Israel bases its equal footing in such clubs on its claim to democracy.
It is time for us all to hold it to that claim. Accountable. Not only privilege-able. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to end the occupation, reject, and actively remove, Israel’s mask of “business as usual.”
Each of us, each of you, can draw the line through BDS and act as a caring, responsible citizen of the world. To end Israel’s 43-year-old occupation. To end the unacceptable, criminal siege of Gaza. To end racist laws and policies inside Israel, openly targeting the Palestinian citizens of Israel. To end more than sixty years of ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people. — See also:Sourcemore..e-mail
Shalit, for example
Uri Avnery, Ma’an News Agency6/26/2010
I am composing these lines while looking through the window at the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and thinking about the young man who is being held not far from this sea, a few dozen kilometers from here.
Can Gilad Shalit look out on the same sea through his window? Does he even have a window? How is he? How is he being treated?
He has been in captivity for four years and one day today, with no end in sight.
Shalit has become a living symbol — a symbol of Israeli reality, of the inability of our leaders to make decisions, of their moral and political cowardice, of their inability to analyze a situation and draw conclusions.
If there had been an opportunity to free Shalit through military action, the Israeli government would have seized it eagerly.
So much is obvious, because the Israeli public always prefers solving a problem by force than doing anything that might be interpreted as weakness. The rescue of the hostages at Entebbe in 1976 is considered one of the most glorious exploits in the history of Israel, even though there was only a hair’s breadth between success and failure. It was a gamble with the lives of the 105 hostages and the soldiers, and it was successful.
In other cases, though, the gamble did not succeed. Not in Munich in 1972, when they gambled with the lives of the athletes, and lost. Not in Ma’alot in 1974, when they gambled with the lives of the schoolchildren, and lost. Not in the attempt to free the captured soldier Nachschon Wachsman in 1994, when they gambled with his life, and lost.
If there had been any chance of freeing Shalit by force, they would have risked his life, and probably lost. Fortunately for him, there has been no such chance. So far.more..e-mail
Israelis, Internationals Take Action Against Silwan Demolitions
Palestine Monitor: 26 Jun 2010 – Hundreds of Israelis joined Palestinians and international peace activists in the streets of Silwan, East Jerusalem yesterday in protest against the decision to destroy 22 Palestinian homes. The historic show of support coincides with UN and US condemnation of the Municipality’s provocative scheme. Written by Michael Carpenter. Photography by Rebecca Fudala. “The state of Israel has taken a bad path in the last several decades, and we are here to say that not all Israelis support it.” Said Shira Wilkof, one of seven principle organisers of the Israeli-led protests in Sheikh Jarrah. This week they lent their support to the people of Silwan. Speaking just before the march began, she explained, “This is going to be one of the biggest demonstrations in one of the most sensitive and complex neighbourhoods where I would say some of the most evil occupation is taking place. For me, this is an historic event,…
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
To subscribe, please write to OccupationNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OccupationNews/join
The New Dark Age 