11 july 2013
A file photo of an Israeli company that produces armor for military vehicles
A massive budget deficit in Israel has forced its military to slash USD 1.9 billion in spending through a series of cuts and a reorganization of its forces.
The military on Wednesday unveiled a series of proposed cuts and reorganizations that would lay off 3,000-5,000 career soldiers by 2018, retire old military equipment such as Patton tanks and M109 artillery cannons, and shut several air squadrons and naval units .
Army representatives and the Israeli parliament’s defense budget committee are to convene in the Knesset for a major hearing on July 21, prior to the final voting deadline on the national budget on July 31.
The Chief of General Staff of the Israeli military, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, said the army’s plan, which also includes the construction of a new division at Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, would see seven billion shekels (some USD 1.9 billion) cut over the coming five years.
Israel’s 2013 budget, which passed a first vote in the Knesset in May, calls for peeling the military budget by three billion shekels (some USD 820 million), down to 58.4 billion shekels (USD 16.148 billion).
The Israeli military has come under fire over a recent purchase of a sixth Dolphin-class submarines, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, for a base fee of USD 500 million.
The army also drew criticism after it indicated it may seek three squadrons of the US-made F-35 fighter jets at roughly USD 150 million per unit. The purchase, along with all of the additional costs of outfitting and maintaining the new planes, could cost Israeli taxpayers up to USD 15 billion.
Discontented Israelis have been staging mass demos in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest against the regime's economic plans and the painful austerity measures.
The planned rise in income and value-added taxes, as well as cut in welfare benefits come as Israelis, according to the International Monetary Fund, are struggling with high rates of poverty.
A massive budget deficit in Israel has forced its military to slash USD 1.9 billion in spending through a series of cuts and a reorganization of its forces.
The military on Wednesday unveiled a series of proposed cuts and reorganizations that would lay off 3,000-5,000 career soldiers by 2018, retire old military equipment such as Patton tanks and M109 artillery cannons, and shut several air squadrons and naval units .
Army representatives and the Israeli parliament’s defense budget committee are to convene in the Knesset for a major hearing on July 21, prior to the final voting deadline on the national budget on July 31.
The Chief of General Staff of the Israeli military, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, said the army’s plan, which also includes the construction of a new division at Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, would see seven billion shekels (some USD 1.9 billion) cut over the coming five years.
Israel’s 2013 budget, which passed a first vote in the Knesset in May, calls for peeling the military budget by three billion shekels (some USD 820 million), down to 58.4 billion shekels (USD 16.148 billion).
The Israeli military has come under fire over a recent purchase of a sixth Dolphin-class submarines, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, for a base fee of USD 500 million.
The army also drew criticism after it indicated it may seek three squadrons of the US-made F-35 fighter jets at roughly USD 150 million per unit. The purchase, along with all of the additional costs of outfitting and maintaining the new planes, could cost Israeli taxpayers up to USD 15 billion.
Discontented Israelis have been staging mass demos in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest against the regime's economic plans and the painful austerity measures.
The planned rise in income and value-added taxes, as well as cut in welfare benefits come as Israelis, according to the International Monetary Fund, are struggling with high rates of poverty.
10 july 2013
A woman was kidnapped in Salfit in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, relatives and police said.
Sanaa Malayta was walking to a shop near her home, with her 9-year-old sister-in-law, when two men jumped out of a car and abducted her at knife-point, her brother-in-law Sameer Malayta said.
The car, a silver Mazda, had Israeli license plates and drove toward Israel, he told Ma'an.
The brother-in-law said the family has no adversaries and is shocked by the incident.
Police confirmed the incident but declined to give any further details.
Sanaa Malayta was walking to a shop near her home, with her 9-year-old sister-in-law, when two men jumped out of a car and abducted her at knife-point, her brother-in-law Sameer Malayta said.
The car, a silver Mazda, had Israeli license plates and drove toward Israel, he told Ma'an.
The brother-in-law said the family has no adversaries and is shocked by the incident.
Police confirmed the incident but declined to give any further details.
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US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden
Fugitive US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden says the United States and Israel created the Stuxnet computer virus to sabotage Iran’s nuclear energy program. In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel published on Monday, Snowden, who has been holed up in a Moscow airport since June, said the US National Security Agency and Israel “co-wrote” the malware to infiltrate Iran’s nuclear facility networks in 2009 and 2010. The whistleblower said that the virus was used to change the speed of thousands of gas-spinning centrifuges. |
Snowden said that the NSA has a “massive body” called the Foreign Affairs Directorate, through which it cooperates with other entities like Israel on security matters.
Earlier in March 2013, a research by a group of independent legal experts at the request of NATO described the cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities as an “act of force.”
“Acts that kill or injure persons or destroy or damage objects are unambiguously uses of force” and likely violate international law, the research read.
Iranian experts detected and neutralized the malware in time, averting any extensive damage to the country's industrial sites and resources.
In June 2012, The New York Times revealed that US President Barack Obama had secretly ordered the cyber attack with the Stuxnet computer virus.
In addition, a report published by the Washington Post in the same month said that the US and Israel had jointly created the computer virus Flame -- a Stuxnet-like espionage malware -- to spy on Iran.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Earlier in March 2013, a research by a group of independent legal experts at the request of NATO described the cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities as an “act of force.”
“Acts that kill or injure persons or destroy or damage objects are unambiguously uses of force” and likely violate international law, the research read.
Iranian experts detected and neutralized the malware in time, averting any extensive damage to the country's industrial sites and resources.
In June 2012, The New York Times revealed that US President Barack Obama had secretly ordered the cyber attack with the Stuxnet computer virus.
In addition, a report published by the Washington Post in the same month said that the US and Israel had jointly created the computer virus Flame -- a Stuxnet-like espionage malware -- to spy on Iran.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Israeli police on Tuesday rescued an ultra-Orthodox soldier who was attacked by a group of his coreligionists in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood, a spokesman said.
"Police rescued an ultra-Orthodox soldier who had taken refuge inside a building in Mea Shearim after being attacked by dozens of haredim," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, using the Hebrew word for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The soldier had taken refuge inside a building in the middle of the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood after he was attacked by people throwing stones and called for help.
But when the police arrived, they too came under attack by stone-throwers who tried to stop them from rescuing the soldier, Rosenfeld said.
"Police were also attacked by 100-150 haredim who threw stones at them to prevent them from entering the building," he said.
The soldier was rescued unharmed and four of the stone-throwers were arrested, he added.
The incident came as a national debate rages over the issue of ultra-Orthodox Jews serving in the army.
The Israeli government on Sunday approved a draft law which would spell the end of a system which has seen tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox exempted from military service.
The bill, which is vehemently opposed by the ultra-Orthodox community, must now pass three readings in parliament before becoming law.
It seeks to amend the current situation in which ultra-Orthodox men have automatically been exempted if they are studying in religious seminaries, or yeshivas.
Military service is compulsory in Israel, with men serving three years and women two.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up roughly 10 percent of Israel's population of just over eight million.
"Police rescued an ultra-Orthodox soldier who had taken refuge inside a building in Mea Shearim after being attacked by dozens of haredim," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, using the Hebrew word for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The soldier had taken refuge inside a building in the middle of the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood after he was attacked by people throwing stones and called for help.
But when the police arrived, they too came under attack by stone-throwers who tried to stop them from rescuing the soldier, Rosenfeld said.
"Police were also attacked by 100-150 haredim who threw stones at them to prevent them from entering the building," he said.
The soldier was rescued unharmed and four of the stone-throwers were arrested, he added.
The incident came as a national debate rages over the issue of ultra-Orthodox Jews serving in the army.
The Israeli government on Sunday approved a draft law which would spell the end of a system which has seen tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox exempted from military service.
The bill, which is vehemently opposed by the ultra-Orthodox community, must now pass three readings in parliament before becoming law.
It seeks to amend the current situation in which ultra-Orthodox men have automatically been exempted if they are studying in religious seminaries, or yeshivas.
Military service is compulsory in Israel, with men serving three years and women two.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up roughly 10 percent of Israel's population of just over eight million.
An excavation volunteer on July 9 displays the remains of a Sphinx found in northern Israel
Part of an ancient Egyptian king's unique sphinx was unveiled at a dig in northern Israel on Tuesday, with researchers struggling to understand just how the unexpected find ended up there.
The broken granite sphinx statue -- including the paws and some of the mythical creature's forearms -- displayed at Tel Hazor archaeological site in Israel's Galilee, is the first such find in the region.
Its discovery also marks the first time ever that researchers have found a statue dedicated to Egyptian ruler Mycerinus who ruled circa 2,500 BC and was builder of one of the three Giza pyramids, an expert said.
"This is the only monumental Egyptian statue ever found in the Levant - today's Israel, Lebanon, Syria," Amnon Ben-Tor, an archaeology professor at the Hebrew University in charge of the Tel Hazor dig, told AFP.
"It is also the only sphinx of this particular king known, not even in Egypt was a sphinx of that particular king found."
Ben-Tor said that besides Mycerinus's name, carved in hieroglyphics between the forearms, there are symbols reading "beloved by the divine souls of Heliopolis".
"This is the temple in which the sphinx was originally placed," Ben-Tor said of Heliopolis, an ancient city which lies north of today's Cairo.
Tel Hazor, which Ben-Tor calls "the most important archaeological site in this country," was the capital of southern Canaan, founded circa 2,700 BC and at its peak covering approximately 200 acres and home to some 20,000 Canaanites. It was destroyed in the 13th century BC.
"Following a gap of some 150 years, it was resettled in the 11th century BC by the Israelites, who continuously occupied it until 732 BC," when it was destroyed by the Asyrians, Ben-Tor said.
He said the find was approximately 50 centimeters long, and estimated the entire statue was 150 centimeters long and half a meter high".
How, when and why it reached Tel Hazor remains a mystery.
"That it arrived in the days of Mycerinus himself is unlikely, since there were absolutely no relations between Egypt and this part of the world then," said Ben-Tor.
"Egypt maintained relations with Lebanon, especially via the ancient port of Byblos, to import cedar wood via the Mediterranean, so they skipped" today's northern Israel, he said.
Another option is that the statue was part of the plunders of the Canaanites, who in the late 17th and early 16th century BC ruled lower Egypt, the expert said.
"Egyptian records tell us that those foreign rulers... plundered and desecrated the local temples and did all kinds of terrible things, and it is possible that some of this looting included a statue like this one".
But to Ben-Tor the most likely way the sphinx reached Tel Hazor is in the form of a gift sent by a later Egyptian ruler.
"The third option is that it arrived in Hazor some time after the New Kingdom started in 1,550 BC, during which Egypt ruled Canaan, and maintained close relations with the local rulers, who were left on their thrones," he said.
"In such a case it's possible the statue was sent by the Egyptian ruler to king of Hazor, the most important ruler in this region."
Shlomit Blecher, who manages the Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin, was the archaeologist who actually unearthed the finding in August 2012.
The statue's incrustation was meticulously removed over a period of many months by the excavation's restorer, before the intricate carvings and hieroglyphics were fully visible.
"It was the last hour of the last day of the dig," she told AFP of the moment of the find. "We all leapt with joy and happiness, everyone was thrilled."
"We hope the other pieces are here and that we find them in the near days," she said.
Ben-Dor said the statue was most likely deliberately broken by new occupiers at Tel Hazor in an act of defiance to the old rule.
Finding the sphinx was "unexpected," said Ben-Tor, "but fits" archaeological facts and findings. "When you're in a bank, you find money," he said.
To Ben-Tor, however, the true coveted find would be archives buried somewhere on Tel Hazor that could serve as an inventory to the ancient city's content.
"I know there are two archives," he said. "We already have 18 documents from two periods, the 17th and 14th century BC. If I found those archives, people would come running here."
Part of an ancient Egyptian king's unique sphinx was unveiled at a dig in northern Israel on Tuesday, with researchers struggling to understand just how the unexpected find ended up there.
The broken granite sphinx statue -- including the paws and some of the mythical creature's forearms -- displayed at Tel Hazor archaeological site in Israel's Galilee, is the first such find in the region.
Its discovery also marks the first time ever that researchers have found a statue dedicated to Egyptian ruler Mycerinus who ruled circa 2,500 BC and was builder of one of the three Giza pyramids, an expert said.
"This is the only monumental Egyptian statue ever found in the Levant - today's Israel, Lebanon, Syria," Amnon Ben-Tor, an archaeology professor at the Hebrew University in charge of the Tel Hazor dig, told AFP.
"It is also the only sphinx of this particular king known, not even in Egypt was a sphinx of that particular king found."
Ben-Tor said that besides Mycerinus's name, carved in hieroglyphics between the forearms, there are symbols reading "beloved by the divine souls of Heliopolis".
"This is the temple in which the sphinx was originally placed," Ben-Tor said of Heliopolis, an ancient city which lies north of today's Cairo.
Tel Hazor, which Ben-Tor calls "the most important archaeological site in this country," was the capital of southern Canaan, founded circa 2,700 BC and at its peak covering approximately 200 acres and home to some 20,000 Canaanites. It was destroyed in the 13th century BC.
"Following a gap of some 150 years, it was resettled in the 11th century BC by the Israelites, who continuously occupied it until 732 BC," when it was destroyed by the Asyrians, Ben-Tor said.
He said the find was approximately 50 centimeters long, and estimated the entire statue was 150 centimeters long and half a meter high".
How, when and why it reached Tel Hazor remains a mystery.
"That it arrived in the days of Mycerinus himself is unlikely, since there were absolutely no relations between Egypt and this part of the world then," said Ben-Tor.
"Egypt maintained relations with Lebanon, especially via the ancient port of Byblos, to import cedar wood via the Mediterranean, so they skipped" today's northern Israel, he said.
Another option is that the statue was part of the plunders of the Canaanites, who in the late 17th and early 16th century BC ruled lower Egypt, the expert said.
"Egyptian records tell us that those foreign rulers... plundered and desecrated the local temples and did all kinds of terrible things, and it is possible that some of this looting included a statue like this one".
But to Ben-Tor the most likely way the sphinx reached Tel Hazor is in the form of a gift sent by a later Egyptian ruler.
"The third option is that it arrived in Hazor some time after the New Kingdom started in 1,550 BC, during which Egypt ruled Canaan, and maintained close relations with the local rulers, who were left on their thrones," he said.
"In such a case it's possible the statue was sent by the Egyptian ruler to king of Hazor, the most important ruler in this region."
Shlomit Blecher, who manages the Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin, was the archaeologist who actually unearthed the finding in August 2012.
The statue's incrustation was meticulously removed over a period of many months by the excavation's restorer, before the intricate carvings and hieroglyphics were fully visible.
"It was the last hour of the last day of the dig," she told AFP of the moment of the find. "We all leapt with joy and happiness, everyone was thrilled."
"We hope the other pieces are here and that we find them in the near days," she said.
Ben-Dor said the statue was most likely deliberately broken by new occupiers at Tel Hazor in an act of defiance to the old rule.
Finding the sphinx was "unexpected," said Ben-Tor, "but fits" archaeological facts and findings. "When you're in a bank, you find money," he said.
To Ben-Tor, however, the true coveted find would be archives buried somewhere on Tel Hazor that could serve as an inventory to the ancient city's content.
"I know there are two archives," he said. "We already have 18 documents from two periods, the 17th and 14th century BC. If I found those archives, people would come running here."
9 july 2013
Israel's District Court in Jerusalem issued a decision to allow settlers to obtain information on Palestinian land owners through the Land Registry (Tabo) for the first time since the occupation of the West Bank 46 years ago.
Haaretz Hebrew-language newspaper reported on Tuesday, that Israeli occupation has prevented settlers access to information on Palestinian landowners due to fraud land transactions made by settlers in order to seize the lands, especially the lands whose owners living outside the Palestinian territories.
Israeli organizations headed to the court and demanded an access to information on the owners of the lands located near the settlements in order to purchase them for settlement expansion purposes.
The court's judge issued a decision allowing settlers to obtain information and such decision will give the chance for settlers to reveal the identity of the Palestinian owners and therefore expanding the settlements in Ramallah, Jordan Valley and Tulkarem.
It's worth mentioning that a senior officer in the "Israel's Civil Administration was convicted a year ago of leaking information about the Palestinian land for settlers who forged documents in order to control Palestinian land.
Haaretz Hebrew-language newspaper reported on Tuesday, that Israeli occupation has prevented settlers access to information on Palestinian landowners due to fraud land transactions made by settlers in order to seize the lands, especially the lands whose owners living outside the Palestinian territories.
Israeli organizations headed to the court and demanded an access to information on the owners of the lands located near the settlements in order to purchase them for settlement expansion purposes.
The court's judge issued a decision allowing settlers to obtain information and such decision will give the chance for settlers to reveal the identity of the Palestinian owners and therefore expanding the settlements in Ramallah, Jordan Valley and Tulkarem.
It's worth mentioning that a senior officer in the "Israel's Civil Administration was convicted a year ago of leaking information about the Palestinian land for settlers who forged documents in order to control Palestinian land.
Haaretz newspaper revealed a new Israeli court verdict allowing the Jewish settlers to have access to the registry information of the real estate owned by the Palestinians. The newspaper stated on Tuesday that this verdict was issued by the Israeli central court in occupied Jerusalem and it allowed the settlers to see and copy the real estate deeds which are archived by the Israeli land authorities.
This Israeli decision replaced an earlier one that had been in force for 46 years and banned access to any information on Palestinian real estate to prevent forgery crimes by the settlers.
This court decision also took place following a petition filed last year by Jewish groups with the central court demanding a permission to have access to Palestinian real estate information in order to buy and annex the properties near their settlements.
This Israeli decision replaced an earlier one that had been in force for 46 years and banned access to any information on Palestinian real estate to prevent forgery crimes by the settlers.
This court decision also took place following a petition filed last year by Jewish groups with the central court demanding a permission to have access to Palestinian real estate information in order to buy and annex the properties near their settlements.
A public survey conducted by the Israeli government about the political mood of the Palestinian street in the West Bank showed that Hamas is more popular and stronger than Israel had thought. The Israeli official survey highlighted that head of Hamas's political bureau Khaled Mashaal is very likely to win any future presidential election against president Mahmoud Abbas.
A public survey conducted by the Israeli government about the political mood of the Palestinian street in the West Bank showed that Hamas is more popular and stronger than Israel had thought. The Israeli official survey highlighted that head of Hamas's political bureau Khaled Mashaal is very likely to win any future presidential election against president Mahmoud Abbas.
The Israeli military central command said, in turn, that the Palestinian authority does not find adequate support to get out of its economic crisis.
The central command also expressed its fears that thousands of jobless young men in the West Bank would keep wandering the streets and engaging in clashes with soldiers and settlers.
The Israeli military central command said, in turn, that the Palestinian authority does not find adequate support to get out of its economic crisis.
The central command also expressed its fears that thousands of jobless young men in the West Bank would keep wandering the streets and engaging in clashes with soldiers and settlers.
A public survey conducted by the Israeli government about the political mood of the Palestinian street in the West Bank showed that Hamas is more popular and stronger than Israel had thought. The Israeli official survey highlighted that head of Hamas's political bureau Khaled Mashaal is very likely to win any future presidential election against president Mahmoud Abbas.
The Israeli military central command said, in turn, that the Palestinian authority does not find adequate support to get out of its economic crisis.
The central command also expressed its fears that thousands of jobless young men in the West Bank would keep wandering the streets and engaging in clashes with soldiers and settlers.
The Israeli military central command said, in turn, that the Palestinian authority does not find adequate support to get out of its economic crisis.
The central command also expressed its fears that thousands of jobless young men in the West Bank would keep wandering the streets and engaging in clashes with soldiers and settlers.
Puppet in El-Hakawati Theater
Israeli authorities have taken action to shut down and censor two theaters – one Palestinian-run, and one Israeli – for performing cultural theater performances that Israel considers to be critical of its political agenda and policies.
The affected theaters are the El-Hakawati Puppet Theater in East Jerusalem, and the Khan Theater in West Jerusalem.
The Puppet Theater was scheduled to begin this summer with a festival (the 19th annual El-Hakawati Puppet Festival), but the Israeli minister of internal security, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, shut down the festival by claiming that the El-Hakawati Puppet Theater was somehow connected with the Palestinian Authority. The theater owners vehemently deny that any of their funding came from the Palestinian Authority, and have opened their account books publicly to verify this fact.
The puppet festival was supposed to open on June 22nd, featuring Palestinian, Nordic, French and Turkish puppeteers. But the ruling by Aharonovitch prevented the festival from taking place as planned. Over 1300 Israelis, including many actors, directors and artists, signed a petition condemning the shutdown of El-Hakawati Puppet Festival and Theater.
A write for the Israeli 972 Magazine reports, “One can find many Israeli theater actors amongst the signatories on the petition, including playwrights and directors such as Itay Tiran, Yehosuha Sobol, Norman Issa, Einat Weitzman and more. Hadash MK Dov Khenin also wrote to Aharonovitch, demanding the warrant be rescinded.”
According to the 1993 Oslo Accords which created the Palestinian Authority, the Authority is not allowed to engage in any activity in areas under Israeli control, including east Jerusalem, where the theater is located. Although Israeli authorities have violated the Oslo Accords hundreds of times through the creation and expansion of settlement colonies on land owned by Palestinians and designated as Palestinian under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority has been prevented from engaging in any activity in Jerusalem, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still live.
The Israeli Khan Theater was challenged by the deputy mayor of Jerusalem David Hadari for its plan to stage a performance of the play 'My Name is Rachel Corrie' on July 7th. Hadari called on the municipality to cut off funding for the theater if they decided to go forward with the performance.
However, performers went ahead with the show, which is based on the life of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed at the age of 23 in 2003 in southern Gaza, while standing in the way of an Israeli armored bulldozer, to try to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family's home.
Although the performances faced censorship for different reasons and using different means, the actors and other artistic staff have connected the two events, saying that they indicate a pattern by Israeli authorities to stifle artistic expression that is critical of the regime.
Some critics have also connected these events with the unsolved murder of the director of the Jenin Freedom Theater in 2011. The Jenin Freedom Theater, the most famous theater in Palestine, is located in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank. It was founded by an Israeli and a Palestinian with a focus on using theater as a means of resisting the daily realities of life under military occupation. The directors encouraged children in the refugee camp to get involved in theater in order to express themselves and their frustrations through art.
In 2011, the theater's co-founder, Israeli Juliano Mer-Khamis, was gunned down in Jenin, and his killers have not yet been found. Two months after his murder, Israeli forces raided the theater, and abducted and interrogated his co-workers.
Israeli authorities have taken action to shut down and censor two theaters – one Palestinian-run, and one Israeli – for performing cultural theater performances that Israel considers to be critical of its political agenda and policies.
The affected theaters are the El-Hakawati Puppet Theater in East Jerusalem, and the Khan Theater in West Jerusalem.
The Puppet Theater was scheduled to begin this summer with a festival (the 19th annual El-Hakawati Puppet Festival), but the Israeli minister of internal security, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, shut down the festival by claiming that the El-Hakawati Puppet Theater was somehow connected with the Palestinian Authority. The theater owners vehemently deny that any of their funding came from the Palestinian Authority, and have opened their account books publicly to verify this fact.
The puppet festival was supposed to open on June 22nd, featuring Palestinian, Nordic, French and Turkish puppeteers. But the ruling by Aharonovitch prevented the festival from taking place as planned. Over 1300 Israelis, including many actors, directors and artists, signed a petition condemning the shutdown of El-Hakawati Puppet Festival and Theater.
A write for the Israeli 972 Magazine reports, “One can find many Israeli theater actors amongst the signatories on the petition, including playwrights and directors such as Itay Tiran, Yehosuha Sobol, Norman Issa, Einat Weitzman and more. Hadash MK Dov Khenin also wrote to Aharonovitch, demanding the warrant be rescinded.”
According to the 1993 Oslo Accords which created the Palestinian Authority, the Authority is not allowed to engage in any activity in areas under Israeli control, including east Jerusalem, where the theater is located. Although Israeli authorities have violated the Oslo Accords hundreds of times through the creation and expansion of settlement colonies on land owned by Palestinians and designated as Palestinian under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority has been prevented from engaging in any activity in Jerusalem, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still live.
The Israeli Khan Theater was challenged by the deputy mayor of Jerusalem David Hadari for its plan to stage a performance of the play 'My Name is Rachel Corrie' on July 7th. Hadari called on the municipality to cut off funding for the theater if they decided to go forward with the performance.
However, performers went ahead with the show, which is based on the life of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed at the age of 23 in 2003 in southern Gaza, while standing in the way of an Israeli armored bulldozer, to try to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family's home.
Although the performances faced censorship for different reasons and using different means, the actors and other artistic staff have connected the two events, saying that they indicate a pattern by Israeli authorities to stifle artistic expression that is critical of the regime.
Some critics have also connected these events with the unsolved murder of the director of the Jenin Freedom Theater in 2011. The Jenin Freedom Theater, the most famous theater in Palestine, is located in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank. It was founded by an Israeli and a Palestinian with a focus on using theater as a means of resisting the daily realities of life under military occupation. The directors encouraged children in the refugee camp to get involved in theater in order to express themselves and their frustrations through art.
In 2011, the theater's co-founder, Israeli Juliano Mer-Khamis, was gunned down in Jenin, and his killers have not yet been found. Two months after his murder, Israeli forces raided the theater, and abducted and interrogated his co-workers.
8 july 2013
The peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan were not conditional on acceptance of the definition 'Jewish state' and there has never in history been the demand that an outside party sign on to the definition of the character of the other party.
By Oudeh Basharat
Prepare the stalls! The Middle Eastern bazaar, as Henry Kissinger dubbed the Arab-Israeli negotiations, is coming. And there's nothing better than conducting them in a tent, as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suggesting − so that the sand will remind us that the desert is the same desert.
And while the stalls of the others will include all the latest innovations in the marketplace, such as recognition and normalization, Netanyahu's merchandise won't change: from the demand for recognition of a Jewish state, to continued construction in the settlements, and up to stories from his happy childhood − 2,500 years ago − in Judea and Samaria, the places where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Solomon, Isaiah and Jeremiah walked.
And when asked for a gesture − for example, releasing Palestinian prisoners, a kind of special offer to attract buyers − he refuses. The defenders say that there's no contradiction between the state's Jewish nature and its democratic nature. To that there is no more suitable reaction than the duck speech made by Netanyahu himself: "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then what is it?"
Well, the quacking is with us in all walks of life, from institutionalized discrimination to the plan to uproot the last of the Bedouin tents in the Negev. At the moment our duck is quacking in the guise of a monstrous highway in Beit Safafa in southeast Jerusalem. Another scene from the film "Avatar."
That's why the issue is not the title "Jewish state," it's the implementation. And before anything else, it's the bad intentions. One hadith (proverb) of the prophet Mohammed says: "Deeds are examined by the intentions behind them." And when good intentions are absent, and when decency wanders to distant lands, every word is superfluous. In 1948 the United Nations decided to establish two states. The decision was based on the right to self-determination of both peoples, but they were not talking about establishing states whose essence is contrary to the principles of the civil state.
We can assume that in their worst nightmares the authors of the UN resolution didn't dream that future generations would use the term "Jewish state" as a tool to cause the failure of any progress towards peace. The proof of that is that the leaders of the country over the years, while they regretted the fact that the Arabs did not recognize the state, did not demand the addition of any word to define it.
Moreover, the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan were not conditional on the acceptance of the definition "Jewish state." Today, when the entire Arab world declares its recognition of Israel and even its willingness to normalize relations with it, Netanyahu is demanding, as an ultimatum, an upgrading of that recognition.
In addition, there has never in history been the absurd demand that an outside party sign on to the definition of the character of the other party. Did the Soviets, during the Cold War, condition any agreement with the Americans on recognition of their communist character?
The absurdity is even more blatant: Israel is placing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas − who needs permission from the occupation officer each time he crosses the threshold of his home to leave it − in charge of the wording of Israel's definition. Among other things, Abbas has to confirm that the Arab citizens of the state will be counted as present absentees when the identity of the state is defined. That they will function in their homeland as "foreign of face and hand and tongue," as Abu Tayeb al-Mutanabbi said 1,000 years ago.
But do not despair. When Mahmoud Abbas recognizes this absurd demand on Tuesday, Netanyahu will complain that the hardhearted Arabs don't attach the word "habibti" (my dear friend) after the word Israel. No doubt he will want to change the name of the state to "Israel Habibti" in the Arabic language.
Incidentally, the duck speech that Netanyahu delivered a year ago was directed at former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A president who was mainly a curse to his people, even before he was a curse to others. Ahmadinejad has left the stage, but ducks will always quack.
Prepare the earplugs; when the quacking gets louder, peace fades out.
This Op-Ed was Originally Published on Haaretz
By Oudeh Basharat
Prepare the stalls! The Middle Eastern bazaar, as Henry Kissinger dubbed the Arab-Israeli negotiations, is coming. And there's nothing better than conducting them in a tent, as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suggesting − so that the sand will remind us that the desert is the same desert.
And while the stalls of the others will include all the latest innovations in the marketplace, such as recognition and normalization, Netanyahu's merchandise won't change: from the demand for recognition of a Jewish state, to continued construction in the settlements, and up to stories from his happy childhood − 2,500 years ago − in Judea and Samaria, the places where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Solomon, Isaiah and Jeremiah walked.
And when asked for a gesture − for example, releasing Palestinian prisoners, a kind of special offer to attract buyers − he refuses. The defenders say that there's no contradiction between the state's Jewish nature and its democratic nature. To that there is no more suitable reaction than the duck speech made by Netanyahu himself: "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then what is it?"
Well, the quacking is with us in all walks of life, from institutionalized discrimination to the plan to uproot the last of the Bedouin tents in the Negev. At the moment our duck is quacking in the guise of a monstrous highway in Beit Safafa in southeast Jerusalem. Another scene from the film "Avatar."
That's why the issue is not the title "Jewish state," it's the implementation. And before anything else, it's the bad intentions. One hadith (proverb) of the prophet Mohammed says: "Deeds are examined by the intentions behind them." And when good intentions are absent, and when decency wanders to distant lands, every word is superfluous. In 1948 the United Nations decided to establish two states. The decision was based on the right to self-determination of both peoples, but they were not talking about establishing states whose essence is contrary to the principles of the civil state.
We can assume that in their worst nightmares the authors of the UN resolution didn't dream that future generations would use the term "Jewish state" as a tool to cause the failure of any progress towards peace. The proof of that is that the leaders of the country over the years, while they regretted the fact that the Arabs did not recognize the state, did not demand the addition of any word to define it.
Moreover, the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan were not conditional on the acceptance of the definition "Jewish state." Today, when the entire Arab world declares its recognition of Israel and even its willingness to normalize relations with it, Netanyahu is demanding, as an ultimatum, an upgrading of that recognition.
In addition, there has never in history been the absurd demand that an outside party sign on to the definition of the character of the other party. Did the Soviets, during the Cold War, condition any agreement with the Americans on recognition of their communist character?
The absurdity is even more blatant: Israel is placing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas − who needs permission from the occupation officer each time he crosses the threshold of his home to leave it − in charge of the wording of Israel's definition. Among other things, Abbas has to confirm that the Arab citizens of the state will be counted as present absentees when the identity of the state is defined. That they will function in their homeland as "foreign of face and hand and tongue," as Abu Tayeb al-Mutanabbi said 1,000 years ago.
But do not despair. When Mahmoud Abbas recognizes this absurd demand on Tuesday, Netanyahu will complain that the hardhearted Arabs don't attach the word "habibti" (my dear friend) after the word Israel. No doubt he will want to change the name of the state to "Israel Habibti" in the Arabic language.
Incidentally, the duck speech that Netanyahu delivered a year ago was directed at former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A president who was mainly a curse to his people, even before he was a curse to others. Ahmadinejad has left the stage, but ducks will always quack.
Prepare the earplugs; when the quacking gets louder, peace fades out.
This Op-Ed was Originally Published on Haaretz
Graffiti: 'Death to Arabs'
Restaurant in capital systematically suffers attacks by teens vowing revenge for business's employment of Arabs; graffiti found Sunday by employees
The caption "Death to Arabs" was spray painted on the door of a Jerusalem restaurant Sunday, apparently due to the fact that the restaurant hires Arab employees. Maor Ventura, a manger at the restaurant, said that on Saturday night, "at 1 am I closed the place. As the cameras show, 10 minutes later someone came in and sprayed the door. In the morning we realized it said 'Death to Arabs.' Police came by… and we went to file a complaint.'"
A cleaning crew from the municipality had cleaned the graffiti before police had arrived.
On Friday, a group of assailants made it to the area and threw stones at customers. "Within a minute, some 60 clients asked for their bill wanting to leave," Ventura said, "and it was all based on racism, because we hire Arabs." He added that "approximately two months ago, on a Friday evening, a group of about eight to 10 religious guys came to the area, as our cook, mostly Arabs, were sitting outside. One of the teens realized the cook was an Arab and started to curse at him. The cook asked them to leave and then they started to beat him as they were crying out 'Death to Arabs.'
Restaurant in capital systematically suffers attacks by teens vowing revenge for business's employment of Arabs; graffiti found Sunday by employees
The caption "Death to Arabs" was spray painted on the door of a Jerusalem restaurant Sunday, apparently due to the fact that the restaurant hires Arab employees. Maor Ventura, a manger at the restaurant, said that on Saturday night, "at 1 am I closed the place. As the cameras show, 10 minutes later someone came in and sprayed the door. In the morning we realized it said 'Death to Arabs.' Police came by… and we went to file a complaint.'"
A cleaning crew from the municipality had cleaned the graffiti before police had arrived.
On Friday, a group of assailants made it to the area and threw stones at customers. "Within a minute, some 60 clients asked for their bill wanting to leave," Ventura said, "and it was all based on racism, because we hire Arabs." He added that "approximately two months ago, on a Friday evening, a group of about eight to 10 religious guys came to the area, as our cook, mostly Arabs, were sitting outside. One of the teens realized the cook was an Arab and started to curse at him. The cook asked them to leave and then they started to beat him as they were crying out 'Death to Arabs.'
Rock thrown at restaurant
"When we tried to break the fight, but they attacked us too, and vowed to take revenge on us for hiring Arabs," Ventura noted, adding that the teens said that as long they continued to hire Arabs they will come back for revenge. Muhamad, who works as a cook at the restaurant, told Ynet: "There is no explanation for this except racism, and that's unfortunate. I've been working with Jews for years, and this is not the first time I've come across racism. I don’t think police are helping."
The restaurant's employees said that police were called in at every incident but that each time officers arrived after the assailants had left the scene. Police have yet to comment. The Jerusalem municipality reported that the issue is under investigation and will be looked into in coordination with the police.
Related stories:
"When we tried to break the fight, but they attacked us too, and vowed to take revenge on us for hiring Arabs," Ventura noted, adding that the teens said that as long they continued to hire Arabs they will come back for revenge. Muhamad, who works as a cook at the restaurant, told Ynet: "There is no explanation for this except racism, and that's unfortunate. I've been working with Jews for years, and this is not the first time I've come across racism. I don’t think police are helping."
The restaurant's employees said that police were called in at every incident but that each time officers arrived after the assailants had left the scene. Police have yet to comment. The Jerusalem municipality reported that the issue is under investigation and will be looked into in coordination with the police.
Related stories:
Clashes at Kotel
Some 5,000 ultra-Orthodox girls, dozens of haredi teens cause police to move Women of the Wall to distant prayer area. Women of the Wall: Police succumbed to haredi bullying
Thousands of haredim prevented the Women of the Wall from praying at their usual spot in the women's section at the Western Wall on Monday.
Some 5,000 ultra-Orthodox girls and dozens of haredi youths gathered at the site in an attempt to disrupt the monthly prayer. The women were then moved to a different location.
The youths shouted out hate slogans in order to drown out the women's prayer. Eggs and water bags were hurled at the women. Police detained two people for questioning.
Leslie Zacks, director of the Women of the Wall organization, said in response, "Today police succumbed to haredi bullying and put us at the back of the bus again. Had we arrived without the police escort we would have been able to secure a spot near the Kotel as we've done for the past 24 years." Reform movement leader Rabbi Gilad Kariv condemned the acts. "Israel Police have violated the court ruling allowing the Women of the Wall to pray and have rewarded a small group of haredi provocateurs and rabbis engaged in spreading hatred," he said.
"Israel Police have forgotten that they have a duty to safeguard freedom of religion at the Western Wall and not lock up worshippers." Kariv called on the cabinet secretary and relevant ministers to intervene. Jerusalem's acting mayor Yossi Deutsch (United Torah Judaism), who was among the protest's organizers, said: "The Western Wall is a place that unites the Jewish people. It's a shame that on the first day of the Month of Av a group of women would come here and divide the people."
Recent months have seen police step up enforcement against Women of the Wall and detain several women who broke the High Court ruling in the case. This has sparked outrage among non-Orthodox Jewish factions who called on the government to intervene. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked Jewish Agency chief Natan Sharanksy with finding a solution that would be acceptable to all parties involved. Sharanksy has formed a plan to expand the prayer area by dozens of meters and divide it to three sections: one for men, one for women and one where all are free to worship.
Some 5,000 ultra-Orthodox girls, dozens of haredi teens cause police to move Women of the Wall to distant prayer area. Women of the Wall: Police succumbed to haredi bullying
Thousands of haredim prevented the Women of the Wall from praying at their usual spot in the women's section at the Western Wall on Monday.
Some 5,000 ultra-Orthodox girls and dozens of haredi youths gathered at the site in an attempt to disrupt the monthly prayer. The women were then moved to a different location.
The youths shouted out hate slogans in order to drown out the women's prayer. Eggs and water bags were hurled at the women. Police detained two people for questioning.
Leslie Zacks, director of the Women of the Wall organization, said in response, "Today police succumbed to haredi bullying and put us at the back of the bus again. Had we arrived without the police escort we would have been able to secure a spot near the Kotel as we've done for the past 24 years." Reform movement leader Rabbi Gilad Kariv condemned the acts. "Israel Police have violated the court ruling allowing the Women of the Wall to pray and have rewarded a small group of haredi provocateurs and rabbis engaged in spreading hatred," he said.
"Israel Police have forgotten that they have a duty to safeguard freedom of religion at the Western Wall and not lock up worshippers." Kariv called on the cabinet secretary and relevant ministers to intervene. Jerusalem's acting mayor Yossi Deutsch (United Torah Judaism), who was among the protest's organizers, said: "The Western Wall is a place that unites the Jewish people. It's a shame that on the first day of the Month of Av a group of women would come here and divide the people."
Recent months have seen police step up enforcement against Women of the Wall and detain several women who broke the High Court ruling in the case. This has sparked outrage among non-Orthodox Jewish factions who called on the government to intervene. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked Jewish Agency chief Natan Sharanksy with finding a solution that would be acceptable to all parties involved. Sharanksy has formed a plan to expand the prayer area by dozens of meters and divide it to three sections: one for men, one for women and one where all are free to worship.
7 july 2013
Young protesters burn a hand-made Israeli flag during a demonstration in Tunis, May 6, 2013
Tunisians have held an anti-Israel protest in the capital to demand a ban on the normalization of ties with the Israeli regime.
The protesters marched on the National Constituent Assembly in Tunis on Sunday, setting fire to the Israeli flag and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
The demonstrators want the constitution to include a bill that criminalizes the normalization of relations with Tel Aviv.
Activists are concerned that the new draft constitution does not include the ban.
They say those parts have been eliminated by Tunisian lawmakers under pressure from foreign elements.
In previous protests, the demonstrators called for the maintenance of Article 27 of Tunisia’s old constitution in the new charter. The Article reads, “All forms of normalization with Zionism and the Zionist entity is a crime punishable by law.”
Tunisia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel. Protesting Israel’s response to the Second Intifada, Tunis broke off ties with the Zionist regime in 2000.
In March 2012, the leader of the ruling Islamic party Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi ruled out normalizing ties with Israel.
“Tunisians’ problem is with Zionism, not with Judaism,” Ghannouchi said.
Tunisians have held an anti-Israel protest in the capital to demand a ban on the normalization of ties with the Israeli regime.
The protesters marched on the National Constituent Assembly in Tunis on Sunday, setting fire to the Israeli flag and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
The demonstrators want the constitution to include a bill that criminalizes the normalization of relations with Tel Aviv.
Activists are concerned that the new draft constitution does not include the ban.
They say those parts have been eliminated by Tunisian lawmakers under pressure from foreign elements.
In previous protests, the demonstrators called for the maintenance of Article 27 of Tunisia’s old constitution in the new charter. The Article reads, “All forms of normalization with Zionism and the Zionist entity is a crime punishable by law.”
Tunisia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel. Protesting Israel’s response to the Second Intifada, Tunis broke off ties with the Zionist regime in 2000.
In March 2012, the leader of the ruling Islamic party Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi ruled out normalizing ties with Israel.
“Tunisians’ problem is with Zionism, not with Judaism,” Ghannouchi said.
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An Israeli swimming pool in the southern city of Bir al-Saba (Beer Sheva) refused entry to a Palestinian citizen of Israel, in the latest documented example of blatant racism in public accommodations.
Tahir Marisat, a teacher in one of the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Naqab (Negev) region, went to the Beer Sheva Country Club with a friend and asked to buy a ticket. Marisat was told by the clerk that the pool was only for residents of the city. Marisat, who studied in Bir al-Saba and has lived there for 11 years, is originally from the town of Tamra in the north of the country, but has not changed the address on his identity card. |
After being refused entry the first time, Marisat went back a second time and recorded on video the exchange of him being again denied entry. Marisat is told firmly “go home” and that the local residents only policy was “new.”
That exchange, in Hebrew, can be seen in the Channel 10 report at the top of this post.
“A specific population” The “Orly and Guy” program on Israel’s Channel 10 sent an undercover investigative reporter to the club to test whether it does indeed discriminate between Jews and Arabs.
The Jewish reporter was able to buy a ticket even though his place of residence was Netanya, a northern city far from Bir al-Saba. When the reporter asked about the policy of only selling tickets to local residents he was told by the desk clerk that the policy only applied to a “specific population.”
The video of the Channel 10 report included audio of this exchange recorded by the undercover reporter as he purchased a ticket. It is translated from the original Hebrew:
Undercover reporter: “How much is it?”
Pool clerk: “Seventy-five. Are you a soldier?”
Undercover reporter: “Uh - no. Is there any problem with me not being from Beer Sheva ?”
Pool clerk: “No.”
Undercover reporter: “No?”
Pool clerk: “It’s not aimed at you.”
Undercover reporter: “It’s not aimed at me? What does that mean?”
Pool clerk: “It’s for a specific population.”
Undercover reporter: “Do lots of Bedouins come here?”
Pool clerk: “Yes.”
Undercover reporter: “OK, thank you very much.”
Family turned away for being Arab Marisat told Channel 10, “When I was there a woman came, with her children, with her husband, to come into the pool. An Arab woman, with her husband, and they didn’t let her in. She went back and her children started asking ‘why aren’t we going in?’”
After being caught red-handed implementing a blatantly racist policy, the club told Channel 10 that it “permits entry to any person who purchased an annual subscription, with no difference of color, sex, and religion.”
When it comes to day passes, of the type Marisat and the undercover reporter sought to purchase, the club claimed “entry is permitted only to Beer Sheva residents, regardless of their ethnic origins.”
To this, program host Orly Vilnai commented, “we saw that this was untrue.” And her co-host Guy Maroz observed, “They’re blaming the lowest ranking person!”
The program also noted that the mayor of Bir al-Saba did not respond to a request for comment even though the club is a municipal pool.
The exposure of segregation at the Beer Sheva Country Club follows other similar incidents in recent months including:
That exchange, in Hebrew, can be seen in the Channel 10 report at the top of this post.
“A specific population” The “Orly and Guy” program on Israel’s Channel 10 sent an undercover investigative reporter to the club to test whether it does indeed discriminate between Jews and Arabs.
The Jewish reporter was able to buy a ticket even though his place of residence was Netanya, a northern city far from Bir al-Saba. When the reporter asked about the policy of only selling tickets to local residents he was told by the desk clerk that the policy only applied to a “specific population.”
The video of the Channel 10 report included audio of this exchange recorded by the undercover reporter as he purchased a ticket. It is translated from the original Hebrew:
Undercover reporter: “How much is it?”
Pool clerk: “Seventy-five. Are you a soldier?”
Undercover reporter: “Uh - no. Is there any problem with me not being from Beer Sheva ?”
Pool clerk: “No.”
Undercover reporter: “No?”
Pool clerk: “It’s not aimed at you.”
Undercover reporter: “It’s not aimed at me? What does that mean?”
Pool clerk: “It’s for a specific population.”
Undercover reporter: “Do lots of Bedouins come here?”
Pool clerk: “Yes.”
Undercover reporter: “OK, thank you very much.”
Family turned away for being Arab Marisat told Channel 10, “When I was there a woman came, with her children, with her husband, to come into the pool. An Arab woman, with her husband, and they didn’t let her in. She went back and her children started asking ‘why aren’t we going in?’”
After being caught red-handed implementing a blatantly racist policy, the club told Channel 10 that it “permits entry to any person who purchased an annual subscription, with no difference of color, sex, and religion.”
When it comes to day passes, of the type Marisat and the undercover reporter sought to purchase, the club claimed “entry is permitted only to Beer Sheva residents, regardless of their ethnic origins.”
To this, program host Orly Vilnai commented, “we saw that this was untrue.” And her co-host Guy Maroz observed, “They’re blaming the lowest ranking person!”
The program also noted that the mayor of Bir al-Saba did not respond to a request for comment even though the club is a municipal pool.
The exposure of segregation at the Beer Sheva Country Club follows other similar incidents in recent months including:
- A group of children with cancer being barred from a swimming pool for being Arab
- The Israeli theme park Superland segregating Arab and Jewish children on separate days.
- Palestinian families were turned away from a resort near the Dead Sea as Europeans, Israelis and dogs were allowed to enter freely.
A pipeline delivering gas from Egypt to Israel burns following an attack on September 27, 2011, near the town of al-Arish in the northern Sinai.
A section of an Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Israel and Jordan has been blown up in the Lehfin area south of the city of al-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula.
The attack on the gas pipeline occurred early on Sunday on two points on the pipeline and started fires, according to Egyptian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The fires were extinguished, but the flow of gas was disrupted, they added.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The pipeline was attacked several times in 2011 and 2012, but this was the first time the energy link was attacked this year.
According to the results of an opinion poll conducted by Synovate for Press TV and published in October 2011, an overwhelming majority of Egyptians oppose the terms of the country's gas deal with Israel.
In the poll, seventy-three percent of the respondents said they were opposed to gas exports to Israel. Only 9 percent said they approved of Egypt supplying gas to Israel, and 12 percent had no opinion.
The issue of supplying gas to Israel has always been a contentious topic for Egyptians, who view Israel as an enemy and oppose engaging in any form of business with it.
Egypt had to agree to supply gas to Israel as one of the main economic conditions of the US-sponsored 1979 peace treaty between the two sides.
According to a $2.5 billion export deal with Tel Aviv signed in 2005, Israel receives around 40 percent of its gas supply from Egypt at an extremely low price.
A section of an Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Israel and Jordan has been blown up in the Lehfin area south of the city of al-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula.
The attack on the gas pipeline occurred early on Sunday on two points on the pipeline and started fires, according to Egyptian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The fires were extinguished, but the flow of gas was disrupted, they added.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The pipeline was attacked several times in 2011 and 2012, but this was the first time the energy link was attacked this year.
According to the results of an opinion poll conducted by Synovate for Press TV and published in October 2011, an overwhelming majority of Egyptians oppose the terms of the country's gas deal with Israel.
In the poll, seventy-three percent of the respondents said they were opposed to gas exports to Israel. Only 9 percent said they approved of Egypt supplying gas to Israel, and 12 percent had no opinion.
The issue of supplying gas to Israel has always been a contentious topic for Egyptians, who view Israel as an enemy and oppose engaging in any form of business with it.
Egypt had to agree to supply gas to Israel as one of the main economic conditions of the US-sponsored 1979 peace treaty between the two sides.
According to a $2.5 billion export deal with Tel Aviv signed in 2005, Israel receives around 40 percent of its gas supply from Egypt at an extremely low price.
Fighter jet crashes at sea opposite Gaza coast; pilot, navigator manage to evacuate, parachute to waters
An Israeli Air Force fighter jet crashed at sea opposite the Gaza coast Sunday. The pilot and navigator managed to evacuate and parachuted to the waters, where they were found by the IDF 669 unit and taken for treatment.
During the flight the aircraft's engine shut down. The IAF is investigating the incident.
The F-16 took off Sunday afternoon at Israel's south. During the flight, the pilot and navigator noticed the engine had shut down and reported on the radio that they were abandoning the aircraft.
An Israeli Air Force fighter jet crashed at sea opposite the Gaza coast Sunday. The pilot and navigator managed to evacuate and parachuted to the waters, where they were found by the IDF 669 unit and taken for treatment.
During the flight the aircraft's engine shut down. The IAF is investigating the incident.
The F-16 took off Sunday afternoon at Israel's south. During the flight, the pilot and navigator noticed the engine had shut down and reported on the radio that they were abandoning the aircraft.
Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the Knesset foreign affairs committee, said that if he was the Israeli premier he would issue orders to invade the Gaza Strip immediately. In remarks broadcast on Saturday by the Hebrew radio, Lieberman stated that a state of fake and false calm as he described is prevailing in Gaza, and the Hamas Movement uses this calm to build up and develop its military capabilities.
As for the peace process, Lieberman stressed that his party Yisrael Beiteinu strongly opposes any concessions to be made by his government in order to revive the political talks with the Palestinian side, pointing out that the news reports that talked about Israeli intentions to make goodwill gestures towards the Palestinians were untrue.
Lieberman also commented on the events taking place in Egypt and said that Egypt's stability is very important to Tel Aviv, expecting that jihadist groups in the Sinai Peninsula might take advantage of the unstable situation in Egypt to undermine Israel's security.
As for the peace process, Lieberman stressed that his party Yisrael Beiteinu strongly opposes any concessions to be made by his government in order to revive the political talks with the Palestinian side, pointing out that the news reports that talked about Israeli intentions to make goodwill gestures towards the Palestinians were untrue.
Lieberman also commented on the events taking place in Egypt and said that Egypt's stability is very important to Tel Aviv, expecting that jihadist groups in the Sinai Peninsula might take advantage of the unstable situation in Egypt to undermine Israel's security.
6 july 2013
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In line with local municipal tradition, young, old arrived at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square Friday to battle each other, scorching heat with water pistols, balloons, using square's fountain as ammunition!
Tel Aviv's annual water battle has returned. Like every summer, Friday afternoon saw hundreds of Tel Avivians of all ages swarm to the city's Rabin Square. They came armed with squirt guns, water balloons, buckets and heavy water canons. At 3 pm, when the bell was sounded, all mayhem broke loose. Learning the lesson from years past, those attending where requested to leave their electronic devices at home, less they fall victim to water's destructive capabilities. The event is held now nine years in a row and its organizers go to great lengths to stress before participant that every water oriented weapon and water dispersing mean is encouraged. |
Avner Goren, one of the organizers, told Ynet: "The water battle is held every year as an attempt to overcome the heat. It began as a group who just wanted to have some fun and then last year some 2000 people showed up.
We know we are wasting water, and hence we only use water from the fountain which is undrinkable. "But remember," he stresses, "leave your phone at home!" The battle itself is anything but a focused direct assault; rather it is a everyone against everyone free-for-all lasting until the late evening.
We know we are wasting water, and hence we only use water from the fountain which is undrinkable. "But remember," he stresses, "leave your phone at home!" The battle itself is anything but a focused direct assault; rather it is a everyone against everyone free-for-all lasting until the late evening.
Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich
An Israeli minister has urged maintaining friendly relations with Egypt following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian military.
"It is really important for Israel to keep Egypt as its friend and to maintain a peaceful border," Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said on Saturday.
He also said that Tel Aviv’s intelligence sources had good cooperation with Egypt under Morsi.
Earlier, former Israeli minister of military affairs, Gabi Ashkenazi, downplayed the developments in Egypt, saying Morsi's ouster did not pose any immediate danger to Tel Aviv.
"I think the Egyptian army is too busy [with domestic issues] to deal with anything that is outside of Egypt, so I don't think there's any danger at the moment," he said.
He also said the Morsi government was "reasonable" in its ties with Tel Aviv as it did not renege on the Camp David Accords and launched a crackdown on underground supply tunnels between the Sinai Peninsula and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
On July 3, the Egyptian Army ousted Morsi and suspended the country's constitution.
The army announced new parliamentary elections and declared the head of Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as the interim president of Egypt.
Israel, which signed a peace accord with Egypt in 1979, has refused to comment on the crisis in North African country.
An Israeli minister has urged maintaining friendly relations with Egypt following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian military.
"It is really important for Israel to keep Egypt as its friend and to maintain a peaceful border," Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said on Saturday.
He also said that Tel Aviv’s intelligence sources had good cooperation with Egypt under Morsi.
Earlier, former Israeli minister of military affairs, Gabi Ashkenazi, downplayed the developments in Egypt, saying Morsi's ouster did not pose any immediate danger to Tel Aviv.
"I think the Egyptian army is too busy [with domestic issues] to deal with anything that is outside of Egypt, so I don't think there's any danger at the moment," he said.
He also said the Morsi government was "reasonable" in its ties with Tel Aviv as it did not renege on the Camp David Accords and launched a crackdown on underground supply tunnels between the Sinai Peninsula and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
On July 3, the Egyptian Army ousted Morsi and suspended the country's constitution.
The army announced new parliamentary elections and declared the head of Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as the interim president of Egypt.
Israel, which signed a peace accord with Egypt in 1979, has refused to comment on the crisis in North African country.
Palestinians in coastal city of Akka north of 1948-occupied Palestine on Friday organized a demonstration to protest the escalation of racist attacks carried out by teams of the Israeli municipality and police against the city's residents. The last of these attacks was the detention of the Palestinian citizen Khaled Zakour without any justification, in addition to the ongoing use of violence and tear gas against women and children.
MK Hanin Zoabi, who participated in the demonstration, said the Israeli police "turns a blind eye to the murderers and gangsters who always escape without being arrested or prosecuted", and held the Israeli police full responsibility for the acts of violence in the Arab milieu.
She added: "Until now, the police have not been able to arrest the killer of a young man from Akka who was murdered in front of the police station. Although we have been following-up the case with the Minister of Internal Security for more than a year, the killer has not been arrested yet."
Ahmed Ouda, a member of Akka municipal team, said that Israeli municipal teams last week took part in more than four acts of violence against Arab citizens.
MK Hanin Zoabi, who participated in the demonstration, said the Israeli police "turns a blind eye to the murderers and gangsters who always escape without being arrested or prosecuted", and held the Israeli police full responsibility for the acts of violence in the Arab milieu.
She added: "Until now, the police have not been able to arrest the killer of a young man from Akka who was murdered in front of the police station. Although we have been following-up the case with the Minister of Internal Security for more than a year, the killer has not been arrested yet."
Ahmed Ouda, a member of Akka municipal team, said that Israeli municipal teams last week took part in more than four acts of violence against Arab citizens.
The Israeli media joined the incitement campaign against Hamas and the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip and called on the Gazans to revolt against Hamas as happened in Egypt. Haaretz newspaper stated on Saturday that what is happening in Egypt should encourage the Palestinians in Gaza to take to the streets to demand more stability, development and freedom.
Israeli officials as well as Palestinian figures from Fatah had expressed their satisfaction with Egypt's military coup against president Mohamed Morsi and said that what happened in Egypt strengthened their positions against Hamas.
Israeli officials as well as Palestinian figures from Fatah had expressed their satisfaction with Egypt's military coup against president Mohamed Morsi and said that what happened in Egypt strengthened their positions against Hamas.
Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the Knesset foreign affairs committee, made on Friday a provocative tour in Wadi Hilwa neighborhood, south of the Aqsa Mosque. Palestinian sources said that director of Elad settlement society David Perry accompanied Lieberman during the tour under tight military and police protection.
The Israeli officials visited during their tour Ir David outpost located at the entrance to the neighborhood and an excavation site in Wadi Hilwa.
The sources affirmed that Lieberman's visit raised the ire of the Palestinian natives of Wadi Hilwa, which prompted him to end his tour sooner.
Israeli sources, in turn, said that Lieberman carried a message of support from the Knesset right wing to the Jewish settlers in Silwan and gave financial aid to the settlement outposts in the district.
The sources noted that a delegation of wealthy American Jews had paid a visit to Silwan district a week ago and met with the director of Elad society.
They added that the American Jews pledged to increase their financial support for the settlers in Silwan and work on seizing more Palestinian real estate.
The Israeli officials visited during their tour Ir David outpost located at the entrance to the neighborhood and an excavation site in Wadi Hilwa.
The sources affirmed that Lieberman's visit raised the ire of the Palestinian natives of Wadi Hilwa, which prompted him to end his tour sooner.
Israeli sources, in turn, said that Lieberman carried a message of support from the Knesset right wing to the Jewish settlers in Silwan and gave financial aid to the settlement outposts in the district.
The sources noted that a delegation of wealthy American Jews had paid a visit to Silwan district a week ago and met with the director of Elad society.
They added that the American Jews pledged to increase their financial support for the settlers in Silwan and work on seizing more Palestinian real estate.
Israeli Likud Knesset member Tzachi Hanegbi declared on Friday that the Israeli interest requires an Egyptian authority that has good relationship with the US administration. The Israeli MK stated that Israel is eager to have neighboring Egypt stable, but close to the USA and away from religious ideology.
Hanegbi said on Friday that the military coup carried out by the Egyptian army in Egypt was good news for Israel.
Several Israeli analysts noted that Israeli authorities have expressed satisfaction with the Egyptian military coup that ousted the Egyptian freely elected President Mohamed Morsi.
Meanwhile, Israeli security officials have grown increasingly anxious about the security situation in Sinai after the Egyptian military coup.
Hanegbi said on Friday that the military coup carried out by the Egyptian army in Egypt was good news for Israel.
Several Israeli analysts noted that Israeli authorities have expressed satisfaction with the Egyptian military coup that ousted the Egyptian freely elected President Mohamed Morsi.
Meanwhile, Israeli security officials have grown increasingly anxious about the security situation in Sinai after the Egyptian military coup.
Alice Walker, author of the initial statement that sparked controversy in US
Prominent African Americans affirm 'Jim Crow' analogy in Israel's treatment of Palestinians
A group of leaders in the African-American community have published an open letter supporting a statement by author Alice Walker comparing Israel's treatment of Palestinians to the treatment of African Americans during the 'Jim Crow' era of segregation and legal discrimination.
In their letter, the African-American leaders point to the Israeli military occupation, denial of the rights of Palestinian refugees, the over fifty discriminatory laws in Israel that severely restrict the rights of Palestinians living inside Israel, and reports by both the U-N Special Rapporteur and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu that compare the treatment of Palestinians with the treatment of black South Africans living under the apartheid regime.
The open letter is published in its entirety below:
On May 29th, novelist Alice Walker issued an open letter calling upon Alicia Keys to cancel her scheduled concert in Israel. The letter has created an immense stir, as those who wish to ignore the situation facing the Palestinians hasten to draw a false wall between the experiences of African Americans under Jim Crow and Palestinians today, attacking Alice Walker's person in the process, in major media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the Daily News and the New York Post. In signing this letter, we affirm the accuracy of parallels drawn between the experience of African Americans in the U.S. under Jim Crow and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The reality of the Palestinian situation is nothing short of horrendous. Israel has refused to comply with United Nations resolutions calling for a withdrawal to the Green Line of 1967; no recognition has been given by Israel of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, in clear violation of international law and precedent; Palestinian land has been consistently seized by the Israeli government since 1948, often under the false pretense of security reasons; Palestinian citizens of Israel face de facto and de jure discrimination, including several dozen laws discriminating against them, and inferior education resources; a so-called separation wall has--again in violation of international law--been established through and around Palestinian lands.
The list of the discriminatory treatment Palestinians face, which fits the definition under international law of “the crime of apartheid,” seems endless. UN Special Rapporteur and South African John Dugard made comparisons between Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and apartheid in a 2007 report, as has famed South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who traveled the world advocating for a boycott of South Africa under apartheid. More recently the former South African ambassador to Israel sent a letter condemning Israel for its “replication of apartheid.” A 2012 report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, while also drawing attention to conventions on apartheid, framed Israel’s treatment of both its Palestinian citizens, and those living under military rule in the occupied territories, in terms of segregation and racial discrimination.
We stand against bigotry and racism in all their forms, and wish to express that the treatment Palestinians face shares much in common with what African Americans experienced under Jim Crow segregation in the USA. Apartheid is not a system limited to South Africa between 1948-1994. Apartheid was established as a universal crime by the international community in 1973 and again in 2002. but it is a system whose origins can be found in Jim Crow segregation and in settler colonies established by Europe around the world.
We stand by Alice Walker’s analogy between Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the Jim Crow segregation in the United States that many of us experienced, and struggled against through the civil rights movement. It is therefore no surprise to us, that, in response to Israel’s systematic discrimination, our acclaimed sister Alice Walker has urged Ms. Keys to employ the time-honored, peaceful method of boycott and to cancel her upcoming concert in Israel.
Signed,
Felicia Eaves, co-chair, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Bill Fletcher Jr., African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa
Hon. Rev. Dr. Kwame Abayomi, Ret., City Council - Baltimore, MD
Adisa Alkebulan, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, San Diego State University
Ajamu Baraka, Human Rights Activist
Carl Bloice, Journalist
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke Sociology Department
Rev. Carolyn L. Boyd, Adjunct Pastor - Plymouth Congregational UCC, Washington DC (Author, The Five Steps To Forgiveness) (Host, Higher Ground) (Host, What's at Stake, Spiritually)
Dr. Gloria Brown, Director of Racial-Ethnic Ministry, East Ohio Conference, The United Methodist Church
Pastor Heber Brown, III, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church (Baltimore, MD)
Minister Pamela. Y. Cook, Sojourner Truth Community
Angela Y. Davis
Thadious Davis, Professor, English, University of Pennsylvania
Rev. Diane Ford Dessables, M.Div., MS
Aaron Dixon, author of "My People are Rising: Memoir of a Black Panther Party Captain"
Dr. Rhone Fraser
Angela Gilliam, Faculty Emerita, The Evergreen State College
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, Senior Minister, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
LisaGay Hamilton, actress
Rev. Dr. Lora Hargrove, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Rockville, MD
Dr Lynette A. Jackson
Maurice Jackson, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, Georgetown University
James Jennings
Robin D.G. Kelley, Professor of History, UCLA
Gerald Lenoir, Executive Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Heidi R. Lewis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Feminist & Gender Studies, Colorado College
Darnell L. Moore, Writer, activist, and a member of the first US Delegation of LGBTQ scholars and activists to Palestine
Rev. Joi R. Orr
Reverend Chris Pierson
Charles "Cappy" Pinderhughes, former Lt. of Information, New Haven Black Panther Party
Barbara Ransby, historian, author and activist
Russell Rickford, Assistant Professor of History, Dartmouth College
Lynn Roberts, African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa
Jamala Rogers, Organization for Black Struggle
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Beverly Guy-Sheftall
Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Filmmaker, Writer, Activist
Robyn C. Spencer
Tabitha St. Bernard
Bill Strickland, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Aisha Truss-Miller
Ralph B. Watkins, ItsTheChurch
Brandon West
Johnny E. Williams, Department of Sociology, Trinity College
Emira Woods, Co-Director Foreign Policy in Focus- Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC
Rev Dr Jeremiah A Wright, Jr, Pastor Emeritus, Trinity UCC - Chicago
Prominent African Americans affirm 'Jim Crow' analogy in Israel's treatment of Palestinians
A group of leaders in the African-American community have published an open letter supporting a statement by author Alice Walker comparing Israel's treatment of Palestinians to the treatment of African Americans during the 'Jim Crow' era of segregation and legal discrimination.
In their letter, the African-American leaders point to the Israeli military occupation, denial of the rights of Palestinian refugees, the over fifty discriminatory laws in Israel that severely restrict the rights of Palestinians living inside Israel, and reports by both the U-N Special Rapporteur and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu that compare the treatment of Palestinians with the treatment of black South Africans living under the apartheid regime.
The open letter is published in its entirety below:
On May 29th, novelist Alice Walker issued an open letter calling upon Alicia Keys to cancel her scheduled concert in Israel. The letter has created an immense stir, as those who wish to ignore the situation facing the Palestinians hasten to draw a false wall between the experiences of African Americans under Jim Crow and Palestinians today, attacking Alice Walker's person in the process, in major media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the Daily News and the New York Post. In signing this letter, we affirm the accuracy of parallels drawn between the experience of African Americans in the U.S. under Jim Crow and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The reality of the Palestinian situation is nothing short of horrendous. Israel has refused to comply with United Nations resolutions calling for a withdrawal to the Green Line of 1967; no recognition has been given by Israel of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, in clear violation of international law and precedent; Palestinian land has been consistently seized by the Israeli government since 1948, often under the false pretense of security reasons; Palestinian citizens of Israel face de facto and de jure discrimination, including several dozen laws discriminating against them, and inferior education resources; a so-called separation wall has--again in violation of international law--been established through and around Palestinian lands.
The list of the discriminatory treatment Palestinians face, which fits the definition under international law of “the crime of apartheid,” seems endless. UN Special Rapporteur and South African John Dugard made comparisons between Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and apartheid in a 2007 report, as has famed South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who traveled the world advocating for a boycott of South Africa under apartheid. More recently the former South African ambassador to Israel sent a letter condemning Israel for its “replication of apartheid.” A 2012 report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, while also drawing attention to conventions on apartheid, framed Israel’s treatment of both its Palestinian citizens, and those living under military rule in the occupied territories, in terms of segregation and racial discrimination.
We stand against bigotry and racism in all their forms, and wish to express that the treatment Palestinians face shares much in common with what African Americans experienced under Jim Crow segregation in the USA. Apartheid is not a system limited to South Africa between 1948-1994. Apartheid was established as a universal crime by the international community in 1973 and again in 2002. but it is a system whose origins can be found in Jim Crow segregation and in settler colonies established by Europe around the world.
We stand by Alice Walker’s analogy between Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the Jim Crow segregation in the United States that many of us experienced, and struggled against through the civil rights movement. It is therefore no surprise to us, that, in response to Israel’s systematic discrimination, our acclaimed sister Alice Walker has urged Ms. Keys to employ the time-honored, peaceful method of boycott and to cancel her upcoming concert in Israel.
Signed,
Felicia Eaves, co-chair, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Bill Fletcher Jr., African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa
Hon. Rev. Dr. Kwame Abayomi, Ret., City Council - Baltimore, MD
Adisa Alkebulan, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, San Diego State University
Ajamu Baraka, Human Rights Activist
Carl Bloice, Journalist
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke Sociology Department
Rev. Carolyn L. Boyd, Adjunct Pastor - Plymouth Congregational UCC, Washington DC (Author, The Five Steps To Forgiveness) (Host, Higher Ground) (Host, What's at Stake, Spiritually)
Dr. Gloria Brown, Director of Racial-Ethnic Ministry, East Ohio Conference, The United Methodist Church
Pastor Heber Brown, III, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church (Baltimore, MD)
Minister Pamela. Y. Cook, Sojourner Truth Community
Angela Y. Davis
Thadious Davis, Professor, English, University of Pennsylvania
Rev. Diane Ford Dessables, M.Div., MS
Aaron Dixon, author of "My People are Rising: Memoir of a Black Panther Party Captain"
Dr. Rhone Fraser
Angela Gilliam, Faculty Emerita, The Evergreen State College
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, Senior Minister, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
LisaGay Hamilton, actress
Rev. Dr. Lora Hargrove, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Rockville, MD
Dr Lynette A. Jackson
Maurice Jackson, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, Georgetown University
James Jennings
Robin D.G. Kelley, Professor of History, UCLA
Gerald Lenoir, Executive Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Heidi R. Lewis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Feminist & Gender Studies, Colorado College
Darnell L. Moore, Writer, activist, and a member of the first US Delegation of LGBTQ scholars and activists to Palestine
Rev. Joi R. Orr
Reverend Chris Pierson
Charles "Cappy" Pinderhughes, former Lt. of Information, New Haven Black Panther Party
Barbara Ransby, historian, author and activist
Russell Rickford, Assistant Professor of History, Dartmouth College
Lynn Roberts, African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa
Jamala Rogers, Organization for Black Struggle
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Beverly Guy-Sheftall
Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Filmmaker, Writer, Activist
Robyn C. Spencer
Tabitha St. Bernard
Bill Strickland, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Aisha Truss-Miller
Ralph B. Watkins, ItsTheChurch
Brandon West
Johnny E. Williams, Department of Sociology, Trinity College
Emira Woods, Co-Director Foreign Policy in Focus- Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC
Rev Dr Jeremiah A Wright, Jr, Pastor Emeritus, Trinity UCC - Chicago
