31 july 2013
Critics of a new Israeli army recruitment campaign say it’s designed to fragment the Palestinian community and make it more difficult to obtain their rights.
Leaders of Israel’s Palestinian minority have accused the Israeli authorities of intensifying efforts to push Christian and Muslim communities into conflict, as part of a long-running divide-and-rule strategy towards the country’s Palestinian citizens.
The allegations have been prompted by a series of initiatives to pressure Christian school-leavers into the army, breaking the community’s blanket rejection of the Israel army draft for the past 65 years.
Leaders from the Palestinian community, Christian and Muslim, who have spoken against this new enlistment effort have been called in for investigation by Israel’s secret police. In an Orwellian inversion, they have been accused of “incitement to violence.”
The issue first came to prominence last October when the defense ministry quietly staged a conference close to Nazareth, the effective capital of Palestinians in Israel, to promote military service among Christians.
The participation of three local clergymen in the conference sent shock waves through the Muslim and Christian communities.
The move was seen as a prelude to launching a more general recruitment drive among Palestinian Christians. Currently both Christians and Muslims, comprising nearly a fifth of Israel’s population, are exempt from conscription.
Instilling “Zionist values”
In an apparently related step in July, a Christian in Nazareth whose brother is an official in the defense ministry announced the establishment of a Christian-Jewish party. Municipal elections are due in late October.
The movement, which also runs an enlistment forum to encourage Christians to serve in the army, has paired with a far-right Jewish group, Im Tirtzu.
Im Tirtzu has been behind various McCarthyite campaigns, including pressuring Israeli universities to dismiss staff seen as left-wing; lobbying to strengthen “Zionist values” in the school curriculum; and seeking penalties for Israeli nongovernmental organizations supporting the rights of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Officials in Nazareth have warned that their city is at risk of becoming a flash-point for inter-communal fighting if Israel continues to stir up sectarian tensions.
Dominated by its Christian institutions but with a two-thirds Muslim majority, Nazareth has been struggling to temper sectarian divisions since the late 1990s. That was when the Israeli government promoted a provocative project to build a mosque next to the city’s main Christian pilgrimage site, the Basilica of the Annunciation.
Israel’s Palestinian Christians, numbering 125,000, or about nine percent of the Palestinian minority, are mostly located in Nazareth and its surrounding villages.
Divide and conquer
The issue of military service is an especially contentious one for the Palestinian minority, said Azmi Hakim, leader of the Greek Orthodox community council in Nazareth.
Most Palestinian citizens refuse to join the army because they reject the role of the Israeli military in oppressing other Palestinians and in enforcing an occupation that violates international law. However, there are strong objections on other grounds.
“Israel has tried to use military service as a way to break us up as a national group since the state’s earliest days,” Hakim said. “It wants us to be weak, separate religious communities incapable of organizing and demanding our rights.”
The Druze community, of a similar size to the Christian one, has been conscripted into the army since the 1950s. As a consequence, Israel designated the Druze a national group distinct from the rest of the Palestinian minority, and created a separate education system to inculcate “Zionist values.”
Israel has also persuaded some Bedouins to volunteer as army trackers. Otherwise, only a tiny number of Christians and Muslims request to have their exemption waived — in most cases, according to scholar Rhoda Kanaaneh, in the hope of accruing extra financial benefits related to army service.
Abir Kopty, a former Nazareth councilor, said that Israel had long tried to instill in Christians an insecurity towards their Muslim neighbors.
“Israel’s goal is to make Christians feel like a vulnerable minority and that they will be safer only if they have been trained by the army and have a gun. We hear Christian youngsters who consider enlistment saying things like, ‘I want to protect myself and my family,’” she said.
In similar fashion, Druze youths have been known to turn their weapons on Christian and Muslim neighbors when disputes have arisen. In one notorious incident, in 2003, Druze soldiers fired an anti-tank missile at a church in the village of Rama in the Galilee (“Communal pitfalls,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 6-12 March 2003).
Sectarian campaign
The pro-enlistment conference held in October was arranged by Ehab Shlayan, a career officer in the Israeli military from Nazareth who was recently appointed as “adviser on Christian issues” in the defense ministry.
It was staged in Upper Nazareth, a city established on Nazareth’s lands in the 1950s as part of Israel’s project to “Judaize the Galilee,” the area where the Palestinian community in Israel is concentrated. The mayor, Shimon Gapso, an ally of Avigdor Lieberman’s far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, helped sponsor the event.
Palestinian leaders said Gapso’s role was entirely cynical.
Last year Gapso described Nazareth as a “nest of terror” and called on the government to cut all funding to the city. He argued that Nazareth’s residents should be expelled to Gaza.
In recent years he has angrily denounced the growing trend for families from Nazareth, many of them Christian, to move to his city, with much of the migration spurred by land shortages that have made it increasingly difficult to build in Nazareth.
Palestinians now comprise as much as a quarter of Upper Nazareth’s population, but Gapso has publicly declared they are unwelcome. He recently erected large Israeli flags at all entrances to the city “so that people will know Upper Nazareth is a Jewish city.”
Gapso’s antipathy towards the Palestinian minority has demonstrably included Christians. In winter 2010 he banned Christmas trees from all public buildings, and has refused to allow the establishment of a church in his city.
Recent reports revealed that he secretly appointed a “settlement adviser” – Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, a settler from Hebron – on ways to bring extremist religious Jews to the city in the hope of driving out Palestinian residents “Mysterious ‘adviser on settlement affairs’ no. 13 on Habayit Hayehudi slate,” Haaretz, 11 January).
“Good Arabs”
News of the conference on recruiting Christian community members was revealed on social media a short time after it was held in October. More than 120 Christian teenagers were reported to have attended, mostly drawn from the local Greek Catholic and Maronite scout groups.
However, the fact that three senior clergy from Nazareth took part and spoke in favor of Christian enlistment has caused particular consternation.
They include 39-year-old Bishop Jibril Nadaf, from the Greek Orthodox community, the largest Christian denomination in Israel, and Father Masoud Abu Hatoum, of the Greek Catholic community.
Nazareth’s Greek Orthodox council, an elected body that represents the community’s interests in the city, immediately issued a statement denouncing Nadaf’s participation. A short time later the patriarch in Jerusalem, Theophilus III, barred Nadaf from entering the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation.
According to church officials, Theophilus will announce Nadaf’s relocation to Jerusalem in the next few weeks.
Azmi Hakim said Israel had been trying to find a way to recruit Christians to the army – to sever them from the 80 percent of the minority who are Muslim – since the state’s creation. The chief obstacle, he said, had been finding a religious leader who would give the initiative the stamp of the church’s approval.
“Now they think they have a way to split the Christian community by using Nadaf’s authority to justify an enlistment drive,” he said. “But only the council can speak for the community.”
Nadaf has also been criticized by Palestinian members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, including MK Haneen Zoabi from the Balad party and MK Muhammad Barakeh from Hadash. Both have called for his dismissal.
So far Nadaf has remained defiant. He stated in June: “We want young Christians to be completely integrated into Israeli society, and this means also carrying an equal share of the burden. Our future as a Christian minority is wrapped up in the future of the State of Israel” (“Arab pastor: Our future is with Israel,” Israel Today, 9 July).
Nadaf’s mention of “sharing the burden” was a reference to a government campaign to justify continuing to deny Palestinian citizens their rights unless they either serve in the military or perform an equivalent civilian service.
Nadaf has since received public calls of support from government ministers, most notably from the justice minister Tzipi Livni and the interior minister Gideon Saar.
Activists harassed
Likud MK Miri Regev, who heads the Knesset’s interior committee, this month criticized the Palestinian MKs’ intervention, calling them “Trojan horses in the Knesset.” She accused them of “incitement against a Christian priest who encourages young Christians to enlist in the IDF [Israel’s military].”
The Israeli publication Ynet reported that the police had received “a green light” to question the MKs for possible incitement (“Arab MKs to be questioned on suspicion of incitement,” Ynetnews.com, 3 July).
Those who have led opposition to the conference have found themselves called in for interrogation by the police and Israel’s domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet. They have been warned that they are under investigation for “incitement to violence.”
Hakim said he had been called for interrogation on three occasions since he and the council denounced Nadaf.
He was also phoned by the Shin Bet two hours before the council met to issue its statement: “They warned me, ‘This is bigger than you or the council.’ They told me not to get involved.”
He has faced a hate campaign and death threats ever since the council issued its statement. “Shortly afterwards, I received an anonymous phone call identifying my children, my place of work and my home address. I was told people would come for me, to behead me,” he said.
He has repeatedly complained about a Hebrew hate site on Facebook created in his name. Despite repeated complaints to the police, nothing appears to have been done to remove the page.
Azmi Hakim, the Greek Orthodox community leader in Nazareth, was required to sign a statement that he would not approach or contact Nadaf but has refused to sign another stating that he would not mention his name.
Abir Kopty was also called for interrogation after writing a blog post in Arabic and English criticizing those who participated in the conference.
The Shin Bet have demanded of all those brought in for interrogation an unexpected condition: that they agree to provide a DNA sample.
Suhad Bishara, a lawyer with the Adalah legal center for the Arab minority in Israel, said the requirement to submit to a DNA test was illegal in both Hakim and Kopty’s cases.
This month Adalah sent a letter to the attorney general saying there was no basis for an investigation of either of them. Bishara said: “This is clearly a free speech matter and the investigations are a transparent attempt to intimidate and silence them.”
New Jewish-Christian party
In an apparent sign that Israeli officials are now keen to push ahead with enlistment, a new Jewish-Christian party was established in Nazareth this month called “Sons of the New Testament.”
The founder, Bishara Shilyan, a 58-year-old former merchant navy captain, has several sons who volunteered for the army. His brother, Ehab Shilyan, works for the defense ministry as an adviser on Christian issues.
Bishara Shilyan, who refers to himself as an “Arabic-speaking Israeli Christian,” told the New York-based Jewish weekly the Algemeiner Journal: “We live in Israel, and I feel a part of the state and the Jewish People. Israel belongs to the Jews, and we are part of it.”
The campaign is reported to have already increased enlistment among school leavers. According to the Maariv newspaper, 90 Christians joined the Israeli military in recent months, a threefold increase from 2010.
Shilyan’s party has sought to play on Christian fears of what it describes as a growing “Muslim threat” in the region, as Islamic movements struggle for power in neighboring countries such as Egypt and Syria. “People see what’s happening now in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria,” Shilyan told the Times of Israel. “They understand where we’re living” (“New Christian Arab party calls for IDF enlistment,” 10 July 2013).
That message was echoed in an editorial in The Jerusalem Post, which rallied to Bishop Nadaf’s side: “Trying to survive under the Muslim thumb inside Israel’s Arab sector, Christians have kept a low profile, striven to give no offense and toed even the most extremist line to evince loyalty and avoid risk. … Those young Christians now eager to break the cycle should be encouraged, not discouraged” (“Father Nadaf,” 26 June).
Shilyan’s forum has been coordinating with the defense ministry in arranging regular meetings with Israeli Jewish Knesset members. The Israeli military recently announced that it had made Christian conscription easier at the nearest office in the Galilee, in Tiberias.
Shilyan is among those arguing that the Israeli military could increase enlistment numbers if it stopped assigning Christians to the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion, where they serve alongside Bedouin soldiers.
Sectarianism
The Israeli military also has a poor track record in its treatment of Palestinian soldiers. It was recently widely reported that, under pressure, the military had finally agreed to allow non-Jewish soldiers killed in action to be buried in the same cemeteries as Jewish soldiers, although they will be kept in separate rows.
The matter came to a head on Memorial Day this year because the chief of staff, Benny Gantz, following traditional practice, laid a wreath on the grave of the last Jewish soldier to have been killed over the past year. As a result, he overlooked a soldier whose Jewishness was in doubt.
According to some observers, Shilyan has received support from a small group of Palestinian Christians based in the nearby town of Kafr Yasif who have adopted Christian Zionist positions. This has led to suggestions that the party may be receiving funds from Christian Zionist groups in the United States.
Hakim said the government’s latest efforts to recruit Christians to the army were a continuation of its meddling in Nazareth in the late 1990s, in what has come to be known as the “Shihab al-Din affair.”
In the run-up to the arrival of Pope John Paul II for the millennium celebrations in Nazareth, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead to a group of Muslims to build a large mosque in a square in front of the Basilica of the Annunciation, the destination for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. The square is the resting place of Shihab al-Din, a nephew of the Crusaders’ nemesis, Saladin.
The decision surprised observers, both because the mosque threatened to overshadow the Basilica and because it required unprecedented Israeli state recognition of Muslim claims to restitution of property confiscated in the 1948 war.
As the Muslim group took over the site, tensions escalated and by Easter 1999 violent clashes between Muslims and Christians were reported on front pages around the world.
Israel later reneged on its promises to the Muslim group and in 2003 demolished the foundations of the mosque that were under construction (“Divide and destroy,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 3-9 July 2003).
Widely-held suspicions in Nazareth are that the government sought to inflame sectarian violence in Nazareth at that time, shortly before peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership at Camp David in 2000, to help strengthen Israel’s case that only it could be entrusted to look after the holy sites in Jerusalem in a final-status agreement.
Accounts from Camp David suggest that Israel’s prime minister at the time, Ehud Barak, remained adamant that Israel should have exclusive sovereignty over the al-Aqsa compound of mosques in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Longstanding policy
The latest moves to recruit Christians to the army echo earlier efforts by Israeli officials, as part of a policy that sought to undermine the Palestinian population’s cohesion and its national identity.
A key figure among the Christians in the state’s early years was George Hakim, the Greek Catholic bishop for the Galilee.
According to Hillel Cohen, author of Good Arabs, a book about early collaboration by Palestinian leaders, Hakim sold church lands close to Nazareth in the early 1940s to Jewish pre-state organizations. He also established a Christian militia during the 1948 war.
It was therefore perhaps unsurprising that he and many of his followers, unlike most other refugees, were allowed to return from exile in Lebanon at the end of the war in 1949.
Hakim went on to transform the Catholic Scouts into a Zionist youth movement opposed to the Communist party, a joint Jewish-Arab party popular among Israel’s Palestinian citizens. It was then the only non-Zionist political movement allowed.
In 1958 Hakim considered signing an agreement with the army similar to that of the Druze leadership, but found little support among the wider Christian community. A photograph in Good Arabs shows Hakim seated next to Druze leader Sheikh Amin Tarif at an Israeli military parade for Independence Day in 1959.
The logic of Israel’s moves to recruit the Christians and Druze was explained in 1965 by Shmuel Toledano, the prime minister’s Arab affairs adviser: “The communal frameworks of religious and linguistic groups should be fostered, except for the Muslim, and the individuality of each and every separate community should be consolidated.”
Recent events highlight that this policy formulated in the state’s early years – to use sectarian differences to isolate the largest Palestinian community, of Muslims, from their Christian and Druze compatriots – holds to this day.
With Palestinian communal solidarity seen as a serious threat to the state’s Jewishness, Israel would prefer to push Muslims, Christians and Druze into open conflict.
Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilizations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). His new website is jonathan-cook.net.
Leaders of Israel’s Palestinian minority have accused the Israeli authorities of intensifying efforts to push Christian and Muslim communities into conflict, as part of a long-running divide-and-rule strategy towards the country’s Palestinian citizens.
The allegations have been prompted by a series of initiatives to pressure Christian school-leavers into the army, breaking the community’s blanket rejection of the Israel army draft for the past 65 years.
Leaders from the Palestinian community, Christian and Muslim, who have spoken against this new enlistment effort have been called in for investigation by Israel’s secret police. In an Orwellian inversion, they have been accused of “incitement to violence.”
The issue first came to prominence last October when the defense ministry quietly staged a conference close to Nazareth, the effective capital of Palestinians in Israel, to promote military service among Christians.
The participation of three local clergymen in the conference sent shock waves through the Muslim and Christian communities.
The move was seen as a prelude to launching a more general recruitment drive among Palestinian Christians. Currently both Christians and Muslims, comprising nearly a fifth of Israel’s population, are exempt from conscription.
Instilling “Zionist values”
In an apparently related step in July, a Christian in Nazareth whose brother is an official in the defense ministry announced the establishment of a Christian-Jewish party. Municipal elections are due in late October.
The movement, which also runs an enlistment forum to encourage Christians to serve in the army, has paired with a far-right Jewish group, Im Tirtzu.
Im Tirtzu has been behind various McCarthyite campaigns, including pressuring Israeli universities to dismiss staff seen as left-wing; lobbying to strengthen “Zionist values” in the school curriculum; and seeking penalties for Israeli nongovernmental organizations supporting the rights of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Officials in Nazareth have warned that their city is at risk of becoming a flash-point for inter-communal fighting if Israel continues to stir up sectarian tensions.
Dominated by its Christian institutions but with a two-thirds Muslim majority, Nazareth has been struggling to temper sectarian divisions since the late 1990s. That was when the Israeli government promoted a provocative project to build a mosque next to the city’s main Christian pilgrimage site, the Basilica of the Annunciation.
Israel’s Palestinian Christians, numbering 125,000, or about nine percent of the Palestinian minority, are mostly located in Nazareth and its surrounding villages.
Divide and conquer
The issue of military service is an especially contentious one for the Palestinian minority, said Azmi Hakim, leader of the Greek Orthodox community council in Nazareth.
Most Palestinian citizens refuse to join the army because they reject the role of the Israeli military in oppressing other Palestinians and in enforcing an occupation that violates international law. However, there are strong objections on other grounds.
“Israel has tried to use military service as a way to break us up as a national group since the state’s earliest days,” Hakim said. “It wants us to be weak, separate religious communities incapable of organizing and demanding our rights.”
The Druze community, of a similar size to the Christian one, has been conscripted into the army since the 1950s. As a consequence, Israel designated the Druze a national group distinct from the rest of the Palestinian minority, and created a separate education system to inculcate “Zionist values.”
Israel has also persuaded some Bedouins to volunteer as army trackers. Otherwise, only a tiny number of Christians and Muslims request to have their exemption waived — in most cases, according to scholar Rhoda Kanaaneh, in the hope of accruing extra financial benefits related to army service.
Abir Kopty, a former Nazareth councilor, said that Israel had long tried to instill in Christians an insecurity towards their Muslim neighbors.
“Israel’s goal is to make Christians feel like a vulnerable minority and that they will be safer only if they have been trained by the army and have a gun. We hear Christian youngsters who consider enlistment saying things like, ‘I want to protect myself and my family,’” she said.
In similar fashion, Druze youths have been known to turn their weapons on Christian and Muslim neighbors when disputes have arisen. In one notorious incident, in 2003, Druze soldiers fired an anti-tank missile at a church in the village of Rama in the Galilee (“Communal pitfalls,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 6-12 March 2003).
Sectarian campaign
The pro-enlistment conference held in October was arranged by Ehab Shlayan, a career officer in the Israeli military from Nazareth who was recently appointed as “adviser on Christian issues” in the defense ministry.
It was staged in Upper Nazareth, a city established on Nazareth’s lands in the 1950s as part of Israel’s project to “Judaize the Galilee,” the area where the Palestinian community in Israel is concentrated. The mayor, Shimon Gapso, an ally of Avigdor Lieberman’s far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, helped sponsor the event.
Palestinian leaders said Gapso’s role was entirely cynical.
Last year Gapso described Nazareth as a “nest of terror” and called on the government to cut all funding to the city. He argued that Nazareth’s residents should be expelled to Gaza.
In recent years he has angrily denounced the growing trend for families from Nazareth, many of them Christian, to move to his city, with much of the migration spurred by land shortages that have made it increasingly difficult to build in Nazareth.
Palestinians now comprise as much as a quarter of Upper Nazareth’s population, but Gapso has publicly declared they are unwelcome. He recently erected large Israeli flags at all entrances to the city “so that people will know Upper Nazareth is a Jewish city.”
Gapso’s antipathy towards the Palestinian minority has demonstrably included Christians. In winter 2010 he banned Christmas trees from all public buildings, and has refused to allow the establishment of a church in his city.
Recent reports revealed that he secretly appointed a “settlement adviser” – Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, a settler from Hebron – on ways to bring extremist religious Jews to the city in the hope of driving out Palestinian residents “Mysterious ‘adviser on settlement affairs’ no. 13 on Habayit Hayehudi slate,” Haaretz, 11 January).
“Good Arabs”
News of the conference on recruiting Christian community members was revealed on social media a short time after it was held in October. More than 120 Christian teenagers were reported to have attended, mostly drawn from the local Greek Catholic and Maronite scout groups.
However, the fact that three senior clergy from Nazareth took part and spoke in favor of Christian enlistment has caused particular consternation.
They include 39-year-old Bishop Jibril Nadaf, from the Greek Orthodox community, the largest Christian denomination in Israel, and Father Masoud Abu Hatoum, of the Greek Catholic community.
Nazareth’s Greek Orthodox council, an elected body that represents the community’s interests in the city, immediately issued a statement denouncing Nadaf’s participation. A short time later the patriarch in Jerusalem, Theophilus III, barred Nadaf from entering the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation.
According to church officials, Theophilus will announce Nadaf’s relocation to Jerusalem in the next few weeks.
Azmi Hakim said Israel had been trying to find a way to recruit Christians to the army – to sever them from the 80 percent of the minority who are Muslim – since the state’s creation. The chief obstacle, he said, had been finding a religious leader who would give the initiative the stamp of the church’s approval.
“Now they think they have a way to split the Christian community by using Nadaf’s authority to justify an enlistment drive,” he said. “But only the council can speak for the community.”
Nadaf has also been criticized by Palestinian members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, including MK Haneen Zoabi from the Balad party and MK Muhammad Barakeh from Hadash. Both have called for his dismissal.
So far Nadaf has remained defiant. He stated in June: “We want young Christians to be completely integrated into Israeli society, and this means also carrying an equal share of the burden. Our future as a Christian minority is wrapped up in the future of the State of Israel” (“Arab pastor: Our future is with Israel,” Israel Today, 9 July).
Nadaf’s mention of “sharing the burden” was a reference to a government campaign to justify continuing to deny Palestinian citizens their rights unless they either serve in the military or perform an equivalent civilian service.
Nadaf has since received public calls of support from government ministers, most notably from the justice minister Tzipi Livni and the interior minister Gideon Saar.
Activists harassed
Likud MK Miri Regev, who heads the Knesset’s interior committee, this month criticized the Palestinian MKs’ intervention, calling them “Trojan horses in the Knesset.” She accused them of “incitement against a Christian priest who encourages young Christians to enlist in the IDF [Israel’s military].”
The Israeli publication Ynet reported that the police had received “a green light” to question the MKs for possible incitement (“Arab MKs to be questioned on suspicion of incitement,” Ynetnews.com, 3 July).
Those who have led opposition to the conference have found themselves called in for interrogation by the police and Israel’s domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet. They have been warned that they are under investigation for “incitement to violence.”
Hakim said he had been called for interrogation on three occasions since he and the council denounced Nadaf.
He was also phoned by the Shin Bet two hours before the council met to issue its statement: “They warned me, ‘This is bigger than you or the council.’ They told me not to get involved.”
He has faced a hate campaign and death threats ever since the council issued its statement. “Shortly afterwards, I received an anonymous phone call identifying my children, my place of work and my home address. I was told people would come for me, to behead me,” he said.
He has repeatedly complained about a Hebrew hate site on Facebook created in his name. Despite repeated complaints to the police, nothing appears to have been done to remove the page.
Azmi Hakim, the Greek Orthodox community leader in Nazareth, was required to sign a statement that he would not approach or contact Nadaf but has refused to sign another stating that he would not mention his name.
Abir Kopty was also called for interrogation after writing a blog post in Arabic and English criticizing those who participated in the conference.
The Shin Bet have demanded of all those brought in for interrogation an unexpected condition: that they agree to provide a DNA sample.
Suhad Bishara, a lawyer with the Adalah legal center for the Arab minority in Israel, said the requirement to submit to a DNA test was illegal in both Hakim and Kopty’s cases.
This month Adalah sent a letter to the attorney general saying there was no basis for an investigation of either of them. Bishara said: “This is clearly a free speech matter and the investigations are a transparent attempt to intimidate and silence them.”
New Jewish-Christian party
In an apparent sign that Israeli officials are now keen to push ahead with enlistment, a new Jewish-Christian party was established in Nazareth this month called “Sons of the New Testament.”
The founder, Bishara Shilyan, a 58-year-old former merchant navy captain, has several sons who volunteered for the army. His brother, Ehab Shilyan, works for the defense ministry as an adviser on Christian issues.
Bishara Shilyan, who refers to himself as an “Arabic-speaking Israeli Christian,” told the New York-based Jewish weekly the Algemeiner Journal: “We live in Israel, and I feel a part of the state and the Jewish People. Israel belongs to the Jews, and we are part of it.”
The campaign is reported to have already increased enlistment among school leavers. According to the Maariv newspaper, 90 Christians joined the Israeli military in recent months, a threefold increase from 2010.
Shilyan’s party has sought to play on Christian fears of what it describes as a growing “Muslim threat” in the region, as Islamic movements struggle for power in neighboring countries such as Egypt and Syria. “People see what’s happening now in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria,” Shilyan told the Times of Israel. “They understand where we’re living” (“New Christian Arab party calls for IDF enlistment,” 10 July 2013).
That message was echoed in an editorial in The Jerusalem Post, which rallied to Bishop Nadaf’s side: “Trying to survive under the Muslim thumb inside Israel’s Arab sector, Christians have kept a low profile, striven to give no offense and toed even the most extremist line to evince loyalty and avoid risk. … Those young Christians now eager to break the cycle should be encouraged, not discouraged” (“Father Nadaf,” 26 June).
Shilyan’s forum has been coordinating with the defense ministry in arranging regular meetings with Israeli Jewish Knesset members. The Israeli military recently announced that it had made Christian conscription easier at the nearest office in the Galilee, in Tiberias.
Shilyan is among those arguing that the Israeli military could increase enlistment numbers if it stopped assigning Christians to the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion, where they serve alongside Bedouin soldiers.
Sectarianism
The Israeli military also has a poor track record in its treatment of Palestinian soldiers. It was recently widely reported that, under pressure, the military had finally agreed to allow non-Jewish soldiers killed in action to be buried in the same cemeteries as Jewish soldiers, although they will be kept in separate rows.
The matter came to a head on Memorial Day this year because the chief of staff, Benny Gantz, following traditional practice, laid a wreath on the grave of the last Jewish soldier to have been killed over the past year. As a result, he overlooked a soldier whose Jewishness was in doubt.
According to some observers, Shilyan has received support from a small group of Palestinian Christians based in the nearby town of Kafr Yasif who have adopted Christian Zionist positions. This has led to suggestions that the party may be receiving funds from Christian Zionist groups in the United States.
Hakim said the government’s latest efforts to recruit Christians to the army were a continuation of its meddling in Nazareth in the late 1990s, in what has come to be known as the “Shihab al-Din affair.”
In the run-up to the arrival of Pope John Paul II for the millennium celebrations in Nazareth, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead to a group of Muslims to build a large mosque in a square in front of the Basilica of the Annunciation, the destination for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. The square is the resting place of Shihab al-Din, a nephew of the Crusaders’ nemesis, Saladin.
The decision surprised observers, both because the mosque threatened to overshadow the Basilica and because it required unprecedented Israeli state recognition of Muslim claims to restitution of property confiscated in the 1948 war.
As the Muslim group took over the site, tensions escalated and by Easter 1999 violent clashes between Muslims and Christians were reported on front pages around the world.
Israel later reneged on its promises to the Muslim group and in 2003 demolished the foundations of the mosque that were under construction (“Divide and destroy,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 3-9 July 2003).
Widely-held suspicions in Nazareth are that the government sought to inflame sectarian violence in Nazareth at that time, shortly before peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership at Camp David in 2000, to help strengthen Israel’s case that only it could be entrusted to look after the holy sites in Jerusalem in a final-status agreement.
Accounts from Camp David suggest that Israel’s prime minister at the time, Ehud Barak, remained adamant that Israel should have exclusive sovereignty over the al-Aqsa compound of mosques in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Longstanding policy
The latest moves to recruit Christians to the army echo earlier efforts by Israeli officials, as part of a policy that sought to undermine the Palestinian population’s cohesion and its national identity.
A key figure among the Christians in the state’s early years was George Hakim, the Greek Catholic bishop for the Galilee.
According to Hillel Cohen, author of Good Arabs, a book about early collaboration by Palestinian leaders, Hakim sold church lands close to Nazareth in the early 1940s to Jewish pre-state organizations. He also established a Christian militia during the 1948 war.
It was therefore perhaps unsurprising that he and many of his followers, unlike most other refugees, were allowed to return from exile in Lebanon at the end of the war in 1949.
Hakim went on to transform the Catholic Scouts into a Zionist youth movement opposed to the Communist party, a joint Jewish-Arab party popular among Israel’s Palestinian citizens. It was then the only non-Zionist political movement allowed.
In 1958 Hakim considered signing an agreement with the army similar to that of the Druze leadership, but found little support among the wider Christian community. A photograph in Good Arabs shows Hakim seated next to Druze leader Sheikh Amin Tarif at an Israeli military parade for Independence Day in 1959.
The logic of Israel’s moves to recruit the Christians and Druze was explained in 1965 by Shmuel Toledano, the prime minister’s Arab affairs adviser: “The communal frameworks of religious and linguistic groups should be fostered, except for the Muslim, and the individuality of each and every separate community should be consolidated.”
Recent events highlight that this policy formulated in the state’s early years – to use sectarian differences to isolate the largest Palestinian community, of Muslims, from their Christian and Druze compatriots – holds to this day.
With Palestinian communal solidarity seen as a serious threat to the state’s Jewishness, Israel would prefer to push Muslims, Christians and Druze into open conflict.
Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilizations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). His new website is jonathan-cook.net.
Naftali Bennett talks to students at a pre-military religious school, north-east of Ashkelon on January 20, 2013
The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called on Israel to investigate remarks made by Israel's Economy and Trade Minister, which made claims about killing Palestinians.
Naftali Bennett, leader of the far-right Jewish Home partner, commented to Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot following news of a Palestinian prisoner release that: "If you catch terrorists, you have to simply kill them."
"I've killed lots of Arabs in my life – and there's no problem with that," he went on to say.
The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that based on these confessions, "the Israeli government has to open a transparent and legal investigation into these remarks and allow Palestinian rights advocates to follow the investigation."
The ministry urged Palestinian, Israeli and international rights organizations to take Bennet's remarks seriously and hold him accountable.
On Tuesday, the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States strongly condemned the "racist" remarks and called for international action.
"It is extremely alarming that a public Israeli official at the ministerial level calls for murder and utters explicitly racist remarks without being held accountable."
The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called on Israel to investigate remarks made by Israel's Economy and Trade Minister, which made claims about killing Palestinians.
Naftali Bennett, leader of the far-right Jewish Home partner, commented to Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot following news of a Palestinian prisoner release that: "If you catch terrorists, you have to simply kill them."
"I've killed lots of Arabs in my life – and there's no problem with that," he went on to say.
The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that based on these confessions, "the Israeli government has to open a transparent and legal investigation into these remarks and allow Palestinian rights advocates to follow the investigation."
The ministry urged Palestinian, Israeli and international rights organizations to take Bennet's remarks seriously and hold him accountable.
On Tuesday, the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States strongly condemned the "racist" remarks and called for international action.
"It is extremely alarming that a public Israeli official at the ministerial level calls for murder and utters explicitly racist remarks without being held accountable."
Naftali Bennett.
I can't wait for the liberal Zionists to wrap their arms around this one! Economy and trade minister Naftali Bennett, a key coalition partner in Netanyahu's government, drops the veil. David Sheen mentioned this in his post on racism yesterday. Here is the Jerusalem Post's report on the rightwing leader's comments during a Cabinet meeting about releasing Palestinian prisoners:
According to Yediot Aharonot, Bennett said, “If you catch terrorists, you simply have to kill them.”
National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror reportedly responded by saying that “this is not legal.”
Bennett then allegedly retorted, “I have killed lots of Arabs in my life – and there is no problem with that.”
Amnon Be’eri-Sulitzeanu, co-executive director of the Abraham Fund Initiatives, told The Jerusalem Post that it is unacceptable that Bennett generalizes that all Arabs are terrorists and that “in no country would they allow a minister to speak about its citizens using this kind of language.”
In any other country, such a minister would be dismissed, he said.
Furthermore, Be’eri- Sulitzeanu finds it problematic that nobody is complaining about this.
“He cannot talk like this about citizens of the state,” he said. “We are not at war with all Arabs, but with some of them.”
I can't wait for the liberal Zionists to wrap their arms around this one! Economy and trade minister Naftali Bennett, a key coalition partner in Netanyahu's government, drops the veil. David Sheen mentioned this in his post on racism yesterday. Here is the Jerusalem Post's report on the rightwing leader's comments during a Cabinet meeting about releasing Palestinian prisoners:
According to Yediot Aharonot, Bennett said, “If you catch terrorists, you simply have to kill them.”
National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror reportedly responded by saying that “this is not legal.”
Bennett then allegedly retorted, “I have killed lots of Arabs in my life – and there is no problem with that.”
Amnon Be’eri-Sulitzeanu, co-executive director of the Abraham Fund Initiatives, told The Jerusalem Post that it is unacceptable that Bennett generalizes that all Arabs are terrorists and that “in no country would they allow a minister to speak about its citizens using this kind of language.”
In any other country, such a minister would be dismissed, he said.
Furthermore, Be’eri- Sulitzeanu finds it problematic that nobody is complaining about this.
“He cannot talk like this about citizens of the state,” he said. “We are not at war with all Arabs, but with some of them.”
A Palestinian man waves th national flag of Palestine to protest against the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements
Iranian commander Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri says the Zionist regime of Israel is struggling with different problems and is fated to collapse.
“With the serious and complicated crises [at present] it won’t be long before the fake and occupying Zionist regime [of Israel] faces collapse,” said Iran’s Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff in a Wednesday statement.
He made the remarks ahead of the International Quds Day slated for Friday. In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Quds Day, calling on Muslims to mark the annual occasion by holding street rallies.
Jazayeri said Quds Day was the global symbol of solidarity against Zionism and “the US and Zionists will ultimately have no choice but to accept the reality of their defeat.”
“One of the reasons for the great concern of the US and Zionists over the Islamic Awakening is due to the issue of Palestine because if democratic governments come to power in the region there will be no room for the presence of occupiers,” Jazayeri added.
The Iranian commander stated that the Israeli regime continues to exist because of widespread support by the US, Western countries and global Zionism, noting, “However, if there is a united view among regional countries, there is nothing that the US can do and the land of Palestine will be restored to the Palestinians.”
Iranian commander Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri says the Zionist regime of Israel is struggling with different problems and is fated to collapse.
“With the serious and complicated crises [at present] it won’t be long before the fake and occupying Zionist regime [of Israel] faces collapse,” said Iran’s Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff in a Wednesday statement.
He made the remarks ahead of the International Quds Day slated for Friday. In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Quds Day, calling on Muslims to mark the annual occasion by holding street rallies.
Jazayeri said Quds Day was the global symbol of solidarity against Zionism and “the US and Zionists will ultimately have no choice but to accept the reality of their defeat.”
“One of the reasons for the great concern of the US and Zionists over the Islamic Awakening is due to the issue of Palestine because if democratic governments come to power in the region there will be no room for the presence of occupiers,” Jazayeri added.
The Iranian commander stated that the Israeli regime continues to exist because of widespread support by the US, Western countries and global Zionism, noting, “However, if there is a united view among regional countries, there is nothing that the US can do and the land of Palestine will be restored to the Palestinians.”
Aharonvich: Gun permit will now require doctor, psychologist exam
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said, "Anyone who wishes to obtain a license to bear arms will have to undergo an exam by a family physician and a psychologist. If they do not pass the psychological exam, they will have to undergo an exam by a psychiatrist."
He said this during discussions at the Internal Affairs Committee on reducing weapons headed by MK Miri Regev. He added that currently there more than 290,000 weapons in the hands of the public, and that the goal was to reduce this number.
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said, "Anyone who wishes to obtain a license to bear arms will have to undergo an exam by a family physician and a psychologist. If they do not pass the psychological exam, they will have to undergo an exam by a psychiatrist."
He said this during discussions at the Internal Affairs Committee on reducing weapons headed by MK Miri Regev. He added that currently there more than 290,000 weapons in the hands of the public, and that the goal was to reduce this number.
Frusrated ambassadors: Stop disrespecting us
Over 100 heads of Israeli missions worldwide – including ambassadors and consuls – sent a sharp missive Tuesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid regarding the continuing struggle of Foreign Ministry employees over their work conditions.
In the letter, copies of which were sent to government ministers, the employees took credit for the addition of Hezbollah to the EU’s list of terror groups, and expressed strong objections to the “sense of disrespect from those who appointed us.”
Over 100 heads of Israeli missions worldwide – including ambassadors and consuls – sent a sharp missive Tuesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid regarding the continuing struggle of Foreign Ministry employees over their work conditions.
In the letter, copies of which were sent to government ministers, the employees took credit for the addition of Hezbollah to the EU’s list of terror groups, and expressed strong objections to the “sense of disrespect from those who appointed us.”
Travelers witness haredi families running around monument in memory of fallen soldiers who died in '97 helicopter disaster 'as if it were a local swimming pool'
A couple from Jerusalem that visited the monument in memory of the fallen soldiers who died during the 1997 helicopter disaster near reported to have witnessed two haredi families playing in the monument's pond.
"My wife and I were passing near She'ar Yashuv and I wanted to show her the new monument for the helicopter disaster. We went in and we saw the memorial pond, which is part of the monument, with the names of the 73 fallen soldiers engraved, and in it kids spraying water as if it were the local swimming pool," said Ido Ben Porath.
"We came closer and saw a group of two haredi families… there were little children in there, boys and fathers, and they were all running around as if it were a water park." Ben Porath added that he and his wife, as well as another passerby, went over to the families and asked "'Do you know where you are?' I wanted to tell them that helicopters crashed here, but I quickly realized they were well aware of where they were and realized it was a monument.
"We mentioned respect, memory, loss – but they wouldn’t listen. They said they would do whatever they wanted. The haredi father said, 'we pay taxes, we can do whatever we want.'" In 1997, two Sikorsky CH 53 helicopters crashed over Kibbutz She'ar Yashuv in northern Israel, claiming the lives of 73 soldiers and officers.
A couple from Jerusalem that visited the monument in memory of the fallen soldiers who died during the 1997 helicopter disaster near reported to have witnessed two haredi families playing in the monument's pond.
"My wife and I were passing near She'ar Yashuv and I wanted to show her the new monument for the helicopter disaster. We went in and we saw the memorial pond, which is part of the monument, with the names of the 73 fallen soldiers engraved, and in it kids spraying water as if it were the local swimming pool," said Ido Ben Porath.
"We came closer and saw a group of two haredi families… there were little children in there, boys and fathers, and they were all running around as if it were a water park." Ben Porath added that he and his wife, as well as another passerby, went over to the families and asked "'Do you know where you are?' I wanted to tell them that helicopters crashed here, but I quickly realized they were well aware of where they were and realized it was a monument.
"We mentioned respect, memory, loss – but they wouldn’t listen. They said they would do whatever they wanted. The haredi father said, 'we pay taxes, we can do whatever we want.'" In 1997, two Sikorsky CH 53 helicopters crashed over Kibbutz She'ar Yashuv in northern Israel, claiming the lives of 73 soldiers and officers.
Cabinet condemned, during its meeting in Ramallah Tuesday, chaired by Dr. Rami Hamdallah, the Prime Minister of the caretaker government, neglected Israel's decision to deny EU's officials from entering West Bank's areas, as well as the disruption of projects that the European Union wants to establish in favor of the Palestinians in areas classified as "C" and the Gaza Strip, the Cabinet considered the resolution as an additional obstacle in the face of the developmental projects and the Palestinian economy in areas classified as "C" and in the areas.
In this context, Cabinet asked the international community to put an end to the Israeli obstacles that directly affect various aspects of life in Palestine, and to oblige Israel to the international law and to stop the depletion of Palestinian resources and disruption of the sustainable development.
Cabinet stressed that the government is working on developing the Palestinian economy by advancing and strengthening the role of youth in the community, and reducing unemployment in collaboration with the private sector and civil society institutions by creating more opportunities in many areas, most importantly in education in order to facilitate the lives of the Palestinian citizens in the suffocating financial crisis. In addition to providing a unique investment environment based on the provision of many privileges to investors and to work on the implementation of three industrial zones in Jericho, Bethlehem and Jenin.
Furthermore, Cabinet condemned occupation forces and settlers' violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the delivery of many demolition notifications by occupation forces to citizens in Hebron, the random shooting at people and the injury of one in Gaza, the frequent storming of settlers into Al-Aqsa mosque and the destruction of Palestinian vehicles in Al-Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.
In a related context, Cabinet renewed its demand of the international community and human rights organizations to immediately intervene and save the lives of prisoners on hunger strike especially Jordanian prisoners, and called for the international community to compel Israel to release them, as well as veteran prisoners, children and women especially the ill. Cabinet considered that the release of prisoners from Israeli prisons enhances the chances of a just peace in the region.
In this context, Cabinet asked the international community to put an end to the Israeli obstacles that directly affect various aspects of life in Palestine, and to oblige Israel to the international law and to stop the depletion of Palestinian resources and disruption of the sustainable development.
Cabinet stressed that the government is working on developing the Palestinian economy by advancing and strengthening the role of youth in the community, and reducing unemployment in collaboration with the private sector and civil society institutions by creating more opportunities in many areas, most importantly in education in order to facilitate the lives of the Palestinian citizens in the suffocating financial crisis. In addition to providing a unique investment environment based on the provision of many privileges to investors and to work on the implementation of three industrial zones in Jericho, Bethlehem and Jenin.
Furthermore, Cabinet condemned occupation forces and settlers' violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the delivery of many demolition notifications by occupation forces to citizens in Hebron, the random shooting at people and the injury of one in Gaza, the frequent storming of settlers into Al-Aqsa mosque and the destruction of Palestinian vehicles in Al-Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.
In a related context, Cabinet renewed its demand of the international community and human rights organizations to immediately intervene and save the lives of prisoners on hunger strike especially Jordanian prisoners, and called for the international community to compel Israel to release them, as well as veteran prisoners, children and women especially the ill. Cabinet considered that the release of prisoners from Israeli prisons enhances the chances of a just peace in the region.
30 july 2013
Tamil protesters outside the Sri Lankan consulate in Toronto, May 2009
Towards the end of 2008, I joined thousands in Toronto to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza. Like people all over the world, we called for an immediate end to the war. At York University, where I was a student, we mobilized the campus to defend Palestinian rights.
A few months later, bombs were falling on my own people — in the Vanni region of northern Sri Lanka. And once again, we hit Toronto’s streets in protest.
I realized then that even though our homelands are oceans apart, Palestinians and Tamils have much in common.
Through the “war on terror,” the Israeli and Sri Lankan armies have waged war on civilian populations.
The Rome-based Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has commissioned an independent report [PDF] that finds the Sri Lankan state guilty of bombing hospitals, humanitarian operations and even government-declared “safe zones,” in clear violation of international humanitarian law (“Preliminary report,” January 2010 [PDF]).
A United Nations report estimates that from January to May 2009, between 40,000 and 75,000 persons were killed (“Report of the secretary-general’s panel of experts on accountability in Sri Lanka,” 31 March 2011).[PDF]
The Sri Lankan government’s own statistical data reveal that almost 147,000 persons remain unaccounted for: no one knows if they are held in prison, injured, or dead (“146,679 Vanni people missing within a year of war: Bishop of Mannaar,” TamilNet, 12 January 2011).
Major arms supplier
But there are more direct connections.
Israel has been a major arms supplier to Sri Lanka’s government, as well as providing it with strategic military advice. With permission from the United States, Israel has sold Sri Lanka consignments of Kfir jets and drones.[PDF]
Israel has also supplied the Dvora patrol boats to Sri Lanka, which have been used extensively against Tamils (“Sri Lanka learns to counter Sea Tigers’ swarm tactics,” Jane’s Navy International, March 2009 [PDF]).
And Israel has also provided training to the Special Task Force, a brutal commando unit in the Sri Lanka police.
The similarities don’t end there. Both Palestinians and Tamils have been subjected to a process of settler-based colonialism.
In the 1980s, Israel offered advice to Sri Lanka as it built Sinhala-only armed settlements in the eastern province, which aimed to create buffer zones around Tamil-majority populations (the Sinhalese are the ethnic majority of Sri Lanka) (“Sinhala academic blames US-UK axis for genocide in Tamil homeland,” TamilNet, 15 April 2012).
The strategy employed was the same as Israel’s in the West Bank: to destroy the local population’s claim to national existence and render invalid any political solution based on popular sovereignty.
Just like in Palestine, land seizures and settlement programs in Sri Lanka are fragmenting the Tamil people’s national and social coherence throughout their historic homeland in the north and east of the island. As exiled journalist and human rights worker Nirmanusan Balasundaram wrote earlier this year, the effect is to undermine any possibility of creating a contiguous national homeland (“Sri Lanka: The intentions behind the land-grabbing process,” Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, 30 April 2013).
Sham dialogue
Within the occupied West Bank, this process takes place against the backdrop of “dialogue,” which more and more Palestinians see as a sham as Israeli settlements spread across their land. After the 2009 war, the Sri Lankan government used the rhetoric of “reconstruction” and “redevelopment” to obscure its process of rapid colonization.
For Tamils, “post-war development” has become another form of counter-insurgency warfare, whereby Sinhala settlements, state-led militarization and the open gerrymandering of constituencies all threaten the Tamils’ historic relationship to their homeland.
The Palestinian experience — in particular, the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993 — has been instructive for Tamils.
An international agreement with India foresees Sri Lanka holding elections this September for a Northern Provincial Council, supposedly another gesture of reconciliation. The US is backing the election, despite serious reservations within Tamil civil society and the diaspora.
The council, if elected, would provide Tamils with only the perception of self-determination — similar to the experience of the Palestinian Authority — while the military occupation continues to dominate every aspect of civilian life. The council’s powers would remain under the control of the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, and its governor would be a direct appointment of the Sri Lankan president (see “Much ado about nothing,” Colombo Telegraph, 21 April 2013).
Regardless of the façade of self-government, the crime of apartheid remains a fact of life for Tamils in Sri Lanka, as it does for Palestinians under Israeli rule.
Sri Lanka’s treatment of the Tamils in the north and east of the island meets the definition of apartheid contained in the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
Apartheid involves the domination of one racial or ethnic group over another. The convention is not restricted to the particular manifestation of apartheid in South Africa or to majorities being oppressed by minorities. Instead, it condemns practices that resemble apartheid — of which there is more than one version.
Without a doubt, there are critical differences between the oppression faced by Palestinians and the oppression faced by Tamils (and by black South Africans, for that matter). Nevertheless, both Israel and Sri Lanka are characterized by discrimination, repression and territorial fragmentation through stolen land.
The unitary Sri Lankan state structure constitutionally places all power of the state exclusively in the hands of the Sinhalese people, while denying Tamils equal access to education, their own language, their land, and self-determination.
Common experience
In light of this common experience, the Palestinian and Tamil peoples are enduring a slow — but relentless — genocide. The massacres in Gaza and the Vanni were carried out to kill civilians, cause serious bodily and mental harm, and impose conditions of life that produce partial and gradual physical destruction — all with little meaningful opposition from global capitals. Both can be considered cases of genocide, as it is defined by the United Nations.
In the case of Sri Lanka, as long as it uses the language of “reconciliation,” it will continue to pursue the same strategy and enjoy praise from major powers.
But the realization of our peoples’ aspirations does not depend on the whims of foreign governments. It rests with the Tamil people — as the aspirations for a liberated Palestine rest with the Palestinians — and the support of a mobilized and engaged international solidarity movement. By supporting each other’s struggles, and by learning from each other’s histories, we can get one step closer to a more just world.
For both Palestinians and Tamils, the attacks of 2008 and 2009 were part of a broader history of dispossession, occupation and genocide. Our people have a lot in common in the struggle for peace and justice. In fact, our oppressors appear to have lots in common too.
Krisna Saravanamuttu is an activist based in Toronto, Canada. He is a member of the steering committee of the Canadian Peace Alliance, and is the spokesperson of the National Council of Canadian Tamils. Follow him on Twitter: @KrisnaS85.
Towards the end of 2008, I joined thousands in Toronto to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza. Like people all over the world, we called for an immediate end to the war. At York University, where I was a student, we mobilized the campus to defend Palestinian rights.
A few months later, bombs were falling on my own people — in the Vanni region of northern Sri Lanka. And once again, we hit Toronto’s streets in protest.
I realized then that even though our homelands are oceans apart, Palestinians and Tamils have much in common.
Through the “war on terror,” the Israeli and Sri Lankan armies have waged war on civilian populations.
The Rome-based Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has commissioned an independent report [PDF] that finds the Sri Lankan state guilty of bombing hospitals, humanitarian operations and even government-declared “safe zones,” in clear violation of international humanitarian law (“Preliminary report,” January 2010 [PDF]).
A United Nations report estimates that from January to May 2009, between 40,000 and 75,000 persons were killed (“Report of the secretary-general’s panel of experts on accountability in Sri Lanka,” 31 March 2011).[PDF]
The Sri Lankan government’s own statistical data reveal that almost 147,000 persons remain unaccounted for: no one knows if they are held in prison, injured, or dead (“146,679 Vanni people missing within a year of war: Bishop of Mannaar,” TamilNet, 12 January 2011).
Major arms supplier
But there are more direct connections.
Israel has been a major arms supplier to Sri Lanka’s government, as well as providing it with strategic military advice. With permission from the United States, Israel has sold Sri Lanka consignments of Kfir jets and drones.[PDF]
Israel has also supplied the Dvora patrol boats to Sri Lanka, which have been used extensively against Tamils (“Sri Lanka learns to counter Sea Tigers’ swarm tactics,” Jane’s Navy International, March 2009 [PDF]).
And Israel has also provided training to the Special Task Force, a brutal commando unit in the Sri Lanka police.
The similarities don’t end there. Both Palestinians and Tamils have been subjected to a process of settler-based colonialism.
In the 1980s, Israel offered advice to Sri Lanka as it built Sinhala-only armed settlements in the eastern province, which aimed to create buffer zones around Tamil-majority populations (the Sinhalese are the ethnic majority of Sri Lanka) (“Sinhala academic blames US-UK axis for genocide in Tamil homeland,” TamilNet, 15 April 2012).
The strategy employed was the same as Israel’s in the West Bank: to destroy the local population’s claim to national existence and render invalid any political solution based on popular sovereignty.
Just like in Palestine, land seizures and settlement programs in Sri Lanka are fragmenting the Tamil people’s national and social coherence throughout their historic homeland in the north and east of the island. As exiled journalist and human rights worker Nirmanusan Balasundaram wrote earlier this year, the effect is to undermine any possibility of creating a contiguous national homeland (“Sri Lanka: The intentions behind the land-grabbing process,” Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, 30 April 2013).
Sham dialogue
Within the occupied West Bank, this process takes place against the backdrop of “dialogue,” which more and more Palestinians see as a sham as Israeli settlements spread across their land. After the 2009 war, the Sri Lankan government used the rhetoric of “reconstruction” and “redevelopment” to obscure its process of rapid colonization.
For Tamils, “post-war development” has become another form of counter-insurgency warfare, whereby Sinhala settlements, state-led militarization and the open gerrymandering of constituencies all threaten the Tamils’ historic relationship to their homeland.
The Palestinian experience — in particular, the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993 — has been instructive for Tamils.
An international agreement with India foresees Sri Lanka holding elections this September for a Northern Provincial Council, supposedly another gesture of reconciliation. The US is backing the election, despite serious reservations within Tamil civil society and the diaspora.
The council, if elected, would provide Tamils with only the perception of self-determination — similar to the experience of the Palestinian Authority — while the military occupation continues to dominate every aspect of civilian life. The council’s powers would remain under the control of the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, and its governor would be a direct appointment of the Sri Lankan president (see “Much ado about nothing,” Colombo Telegraph, 21 April 2013).
Regardless of the façade of self-government, the crime of apartheid remains a fact of life for Tamils in Sri Lanka, as it does for Palestinians under Israeli rule.
Sri Lanka’s treatment of the Tamils in the north and east of the island meets the definition of apartheid contained in the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
Apartheid involves the domination of one racial or ethnic group over another. The convention is not restricted to the particular manifestation of apartheid in South Africa or to majorities being oppressed by minorities. Instead, it condemns practices that resemble apartheid — of which there is more than one version.
Without a doubt, there are critical differences between the oppression faced by Palestinians and the oppression faced by Tamils (and by black South Africans, for that matter). Nevertheless, both Israel and Sri Lanka are characterized by discrimination, repression and territorial fragmentation through stolen land.
The unitary Sri Lankan state structure constitutionally places all power of the state exclusively in the hands of the Sinhalese people, while denying Tamils equal access to education, their own language, their land, and self-determination.
Common experience
In light of this common experience, the Palestinian and Tamil peoples are enduring a slow — but relentless — genocide. The massacres in Gaza and the Vanni were carried out to kill civilians, cause serious bodily and mental harm, and impose conditions of life that produce partial and gradual physical destruction — all with little meaningful opposition from global capitals. Both can be considered cases of genocide, as it is defined by the United Nations.
In the case of Sri Lanka, as long as it uses the language of “reconciliation,” it will continue to pursue the same strategy and enjoy praise from major powers.
But the realization of our peoples’ aspirations does not depend on the whims of foreign governments. It rests with the Tamil people — as the aspirations for a liberated Palestine rest with the Palestinians — and the support of a mobilized and engaged international solidarity movement. By supporting each other’s struggles, and by learning from each other’s histories, we can get one step closer to a more just world.
For both Palestinians and Tamils, the attacks of 2008 and 2009 were part of a broader history of dispossession, occupation and genocide. Our people have a lot in common in the struggle for peace and justice. In fact, our oppressors appear to have lots in common too.
Krisna Saravanamuttu is an activist based in Toronto, Canada. He is a member of the steering committee of the Canadian Peace Alliance, and is the spokesperson of the National Council of Canadian Tamils. Follow him on Twitter: @KrisnaS85.
Naftali Bennett.
When Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected as Israeli Prime Minister in January 2013, many political pundits predicted that we could now expect to see a kinder, gentler Knesset. Other analysts, myself included, feared that the new crop of legislators would be even crueler and more racist than their predecessors. An overview of the past six months would sadly seem to confirm the prognostications of the pessimists.
To believe that with the ultra-Orthodox parties cut out of the coalition, level-headed leadership would ensue requires one to consciously ignore the endless stream of supremacist statements by top politicians from the largest parties in the government: Likud, Yesh Atid and HaBayit HaYehudi. Public comments made by parliamentarians in the last 24 hours alone perfectly encapsulate the frightening lows that this country's leaders have sunk to.
Yesterday, on July 29, 2013, Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that the leader of HaBayit HaYehudi, Israel's Minister of Industry Trade and Labor and of Religious Affairs Naftali Bennett said, "I've killed many Arabs in my life and there's no problem with that." Asked to clarify his statement, Bennett's spokesperson told 972 Magazine that he was speaking not of all Arabs, but of Arab militants who are captured -- in other words, prisoners of war.
Today, July 30, 2013, the ultra-Orthodox website BeHadrei Hadarim reported that David Lau, who began a ten-year term as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel less than a week ago, castigated Jewish youth for watching sports broadcasts, since the players are just "niggers". News site Maariv NRG uploaded a YouTube video that contained an audio file of Lau making the racist statements.
The first English-language Israeli news site to run the story, Ynet, completely buried the lead of the story -- the rabbi's revolting racism - and focused instead on his aversion to sports. Worse still, they intentionally mistranslated the word he used, "kushim", which means niggers, as "black men", which in Hebrew is actually "shchorim", or "anashim shchorim".
Bennett saw fit to respond to Lau's statement over Facebook, not condemning him for saying them, but rather condemning "the media" for "hounding" Lau. Bennett termed the comments "jovial", "marginal" and "insignificant" and announced his support for Lau.
The anti-Arab and anti-African racism of Israel's top political and religious leaders is not reserved for the realm of words alone. The government continues apace with its dual human removal projects: the Prawer-Begin plan to dispossess Bedouin Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel of their lands, so that they can be appropriated for Jewish settlements; and the Yishai-Saar plan to expel all African asylum-seekers from the country.
The objectives of the Netanyahu government are no secret: to reduce the number of non-Jewish people living in the country and to reduce the amount of land that the remaining non-Jewish people live on. Confident of the ability to carry out these plans, Israel's political and religious leaders make no attempt to hide the hate that lies behind them.
When Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected as Israeli Prime Minister in January 2013, many political pundits predicted that we could now expect to see a kinder, gentler Knesset. Other analysts, myself included, feared that the new crop of legislators would be even crueler and more racist than their predecessors. An overview of the past six months would sadly seem to confirm the prognostications of the pessimists.
To believe that with the ultra-Orthodox parties cut out of the coalition, level-headed leadership would ensue requires one to consciously ignore the endless stream of supremacist statements by top politicians from the largest parties in the government: Likud, Yesh Atid and HaBayit HaYehudi. Public comments made by parliamentarians in the last 24 hours alone perfectly encapsulate the frightening lows that this country's leaders have sunk to.
Yesterday, on July 29, 2013, Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that the leader of HaBayit HaYehudi, Israel's Minister of Industry Trade and Labor and of Religious Affairs Naftali Bennett said, "I've killed many Arabs in my life and there's no problem with that." Asked to clarify his statement, Bennett's spokesperson told 972 Magazine that he was speaking not of all Arabs, but of Arab militants who are captured -- in other words, prisoners of war.
Today, July 30, 2013, the ultra-Orthodox website BeHadrei Hadarim reported that David Lau, who began a ten-year term as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel less than a week ago, castigated Jewish youth for watching sports broadcasts, since the players are just "niggers". News site Maariv NRG uploaded a YouTube video that contained an audio file of Lau making the racist statements.
The first English-language Israeli news site to run the story, Ynet, completely buried the lead of the story -- the rabbi's revolting racism - and focused instead on his aversion to sports. Worse still, they intentionally mistranslated the word he used, "kushim", which means niggers, as "black men", which in Hebrew is actually "shchorim", or "anashim shchorim".
Bennett saw fit to respond to Lau's statement over Facebook, not condemning him for saying them, but rather condemning "the media" for "hounding" Lau. Bennett termed the comments "jovial", "marginal" and "insignificant" and announced his support for Lau.
The anti-Arab and anti-African racism of Israel's top political and religious leaders is not reserved for the realm of words alone. The government continues apace with its dual human removal projects: the Prawer-Begin plan to dispossess Bedouin Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel of their lands, so that they can be appropriated for Jewish settlements; and the Yishai-Saar plan to expel all African asylum-seekers from the country.
The objectives of the Netanyahu government are no secret: to reduce the number of non-Jewish people living in the country and to reduce the amount of land that the remaining non-Jewish people live on. Confident of the ability to carry out these plans, Israel's political and religious leaders make no attempt to hide the hate that lies behind them.
Israeli military expert Amos Harel said the security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian authority precludes the outbreak of a new intifada (uprising) or any resistance activities in the West Bank. In a TV interview on Monday, Harel stated that the last two years have been the quietest in terms of security in the West since the six-day war in 1967 thanks to the security cooperation between Israel and the PA which prevented the outbreak of popular intifada during the last mid-decade.
He also expressed his belief that there are constant orders for the resistance in the West Bank to launch attacks against Israel at every opportunity, but the strong pressure made by the Israeli army and the PA security forces has paralyzed most of the activities of the armed wing of Hamas.
Since several years, Hamas has had no leader for its armed wing in the West Bank because its activists are arrested immediately by the Israeli and PA security forces whenever they try to do something, he added.
He underlined that Israel agreed on resuming its talks with the PA in order to achieve a number of goals in its favor, most importantly, the level of security coordination with the Palestinians, noting that there are five PA security units working diligently to maintain security in the West Bank.
He also expressed his belief that there are constant orders for the resistance in the West Bank to launch attacks against Israel at every opportunity, but the strong pressure made by the Israeli army and the PA security forces has paralyzed most of the activities of the armed wing of Hamas.
Since several years, Hamas has had no leader for its armed wing in the West Bank because its activists are arrested immediately by the Israeli and PA security forces whenever they try to do something, he added.
He underlined that Israel agreed on resuming its talks with the PA in order to achieve a number of goals in its favor, most importantly, the level of security coordination with the Palestinians, noting that there are five PA security units working diligently to maintain security in the West Bank.
A., 15, spit on by haredi man for dressing immodestly
En route to pick up little sister, 15-year-old girl wearing tank top, skirt spat on by haredi man after refusing to walk behind fence. Before spitting on her, haredi man says: You're immodest, there are people studying Torah here
Ashdod police have began investigating a new case of haredi exclusion of women from the public sphere in the mostly secular city. A., a 15-year-old girl and her mother complained that a haredi man asked the girl not to walk by a yeshiva located in the city center, and even spat on her because of the way she was dressed. "I will continue to walk in my neighborhood like I'm used to," she defiantly told Ynet Monday.
The girl was walking along the street Monday, as she does everyday, to pick up her 6-year-old little sister from kindergarten. At a distance of a kilometer and a half away from her home, the girl – who wore a tank top and a skirt – was approached by a haredi man who yelled at her: "Walk behind the parking lot's wall"
At first, A., did not understand what he was talking about, and asked the man "Why?" to which he replied "Because you're immodest, there are people studying Torah here." A., who did not want to confront the man picked up her pace and defiantly told him "I'm not going to," to which he answered "Why are you so stubborn?" and then spat on her. According to the mother, "the two girls were completely shaken by what happened. When they arrived home they called and told me what happened." She could not believe something like that could happen in her city.
"The kindergarten and the yeshiva are on the same street in a secular part of the city. We have been going to this kindergarten for a year without a single incident and without anybody saying anything. "It never crossed our minds that there is something or someone to fear, because in Ashdod we have haredi neighborhoods which secular residents respect by not entering during Shabbat and only in modest attire. But this is a completely different story."
The girl said "I wasn't scared, but I wanted to get home as fast as possible because my little sister was with me and I didn’t want anything else to happen. Even when I went back to the place to meet my mom and the cops I wore the same clothing, I dare them to tell me what to do." Police who arrived at the scene failed to locate the suspect, but stressed they are treating the incident with the utmost severity and promised to make additional efforts to locate the man.
En route to pick up little sister, 15-year-old girl wearing tank top, skirt spat on by haredi man after refusing to walk behind fence. Before spitting on her, haredi man says: You're immodest, there are people studying Torah here
Ashdod police have began investigating a new case of haredi exclusion of women from the public sphere in the mostly secular city. A., a 15-year-old girl and her mother complained that a haredi man asked the girl not to walk by a yeshiva located in the city center, and even spat on her because of the way she was dressed. "I will continue to walk in my neighborhood like I'm used to," she defiantly told Ynet Monday.
The girl was walking along the street Monday, as she does everyday, to pick up her 6-year-old little sister from kindergarten. At a distance of a kilometer and a half away from her home, the girl – who wore a tank top and a skirt – was approached by a haredi man who yelled at her: "Walk behind the parking lot's wall"
At first, A., did not understand what he was talking about, and asked the man "Why?" to which he replied "Because you're immodest, there are people studying Torah here." A., who did not want to confront the man picked up her pace and defiantly told him "I'm not going to," to which he answered "Why are you so stubborn?" and then spat on her. According to the mother, "the two girls were completely shaken by what happened. When they arrived home they called and told me what happened." She could not believe something like that could happen in her city.
"The kindergarten and the yeshiva are on the same street in a secular part of the city. We have been going to this kindergarten for a year without a single incident and without anybody saying anything. "It never crossed our minds that there is something or someone to fear, because in Ashdod we have haredi neighborhoods which secular residents respect by not entering during Shabbat and only in modest attire. But this is a completely different story."
The girl said "I wasn't scared, but I wanted to get home as fast as possible because my little sister was with me and I didn’t want anything else to happen. Even when I went back to the place to meet my mom and the cops I wore the same clothing, I dare them to tell me what to do." Police who arrived at the scene failed to locate the suspect, but stressed they are treating the incident with the utmost severity and promised to make additional efforts to locate the man.
29 july 2013
"Not worried about a disengagement." The Stern family
Israel is about to resume negotiations with Palestinians, but construction in West Bank continues unabated as demand for housing rises. Yaacov and Rachel Cohen are about to move to settlement of Bat Ayin: future evacuation, they say, is not a consideration
Aviva and Jeremy Stern, along with their three children, relocated last week straight from New York to the West Bank. The decision to move was made in the backdrop of efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the result of which may well be the forced evacuation of settlements such as their new home - Efrat.
But the Sterns are not alone: While Washington, Ramallah and Jerusalem are gearing to resume peace talks after a three-year stalemate, a rise in demand for housing in the territories has been reported as well as the and arrival of new settlers.
Aviva Stern is not worried about the possibility of disengagement from the territories: "It's not something we took under consideration when we decided to move here, and it's not a concern for us at the moment," she said.
"We always knew we'd live in Israel, and after seeing Efrat and the kind of community here, we decided that this is home." Asked if the family had any general concerns about the move, Stern said, "Maybe a few years ago there were people who were worried about the situation in Israel, which seems much more turbulent when you look at it from America. But here it's peaceful, and everyone is calm."
'Don't believe the rumors'
Yaacov, 47, and Rachel, 43, Cohen are planning to move from the community of Nof Ayalon in centeral Israel to Bat-Ayin, a settlement in Gush Etzion. "When we came here from America we believed and still do that Israel is our home," the couple explains. "There were always painful sacrifices and doubts, but we really trust that we are moving to a place that is ours, and that we will stay here for good."
Israel is about to resume negotiations with Palestinians, but construction in West Bank continues unabated as demand for housing rises. Yaacov and Rachel Cohen are about to move to settlement of Bat Ayin: future evacuation, they say, is not a consideration
Aviva and Jeremy Stern, along with their three children, relocated last week straight from New York to the West Bank. The decision to move was made in the backdrop of efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the result of which may well be the forced evacuation of settlements such as their new home - Efrat.
But the Sterns are not alone: While Washington, Ramallah and Jerusalem are gearing to resume peace talks after a three-year stalemate, a rise in demand for housing in the territories has been reported as well as the and arrival of new settlers.
Aviva Stern is not worried about the possibility of disengagement from the territories: "It's not something we took under consideration when we decided to move here, and it's not a concern for us at the moment," she said.
"We always knew we'd live in Israel, and after seeing Efrat and the kind of community here, we decided that this is home." Asked if the family had any general concerns about the move, Stern said, "Maybe a few years ago there were people who were worried about the situation in Israel, which seems much more turbulent when you look at it from America. But here it's peaceful, and everyone is calm."
'Don't believe the rumors'
Yaacov, 47, and Rachel, 43, Cohen are planning to move from the community of Nof Ayalon in centeral Israel to Bat-Ayin, a settlement in Gush Etzion. "When we came here from America we believed and still do that Israel is our home," the couple explains. "There were always painful sacrifices and doubts, but we really trust that we are moving to a place that is ours, and that we will stay here for good."
Moving to Alei Zahav. The Greenbaums
The Cohens were drawn to Bat-Ayin's open spaces, quiet, and tight knit community, all at an affordable cost. "There's nowhere else in Israel that could provide us with this quality of life at this price," they say. "The possibility of a future disengagement never crossed our minds. We believe it won't happen."
Another couple, Hai and Meirav Greenbaum, are preparing to move to the village of Alei Zahav in the West Bank - an even more volatile location, having been deemed by the Palestinians as outside the settlement blocks Israel wishes to retain. The Greenbaums are concerned with the possibility of a future forced evacuation and the loss of any funds they invest in their new home, but are resolute in their decision to move: "We are people of faith, and the issue is not personal but one that concerns the entire Jewish people," Meirav states. "As far as we are concerned, Alei Zahav is a place that should be settled. And we're going to settle there."
The Cohens were drawn to Bat-Ayin's open spaces, quiet, and tight knit community, all at an affordable cost. "There's nowhere else in Israel that could provide us with this quality of life at this price," they say. "The possibility of a future disengagement never crossed our minds. We believe it won't happen."
Another couple, Hai and Meirav Greenbaum, are preparing to move to the village of Alei Zahav in the West Bank - an even more volatile location, having been deemed by the Palestinians as outside the settlement blocks Israel wishes to retain. The Greenbaums are concerned with the possibility of a future forced evacuation and the loss of any funds they invest in their new home, but are resolute in their decision to move: "We are people of faith, and the issue is not personal but one that concerns the entire Jewish people," Meirav states. "As far as we are concerned, Alei Zahav is a place that should be settled. And we're going to settle there."
28 july 2013
Eritrean refugees hold press conference in protest of 'willful emigration' directive, allegedly allowing detained asylum seekers to leave voluntarily. 'In Israel they call it willful emigration, but with no alternative, there is nothing willful about it. To deport us to Eritrea is to sentence us to death,' migrant says
In a press conference held in south Tel Aviv Sunday, organizers from Tel Aviv's Eritrean community spoke of the dangers the 14 Eritreans who left Israel as part of the 'willful emigration' directive faced. According to organizers, contact with those who returned to Eritrea has already been lost and their whereabouts are no longer known, while others have already been jailed or have been forcefully enlisted into an army service indefinitely.
"Our lives and the lives of our children are in danger," a representative of the community warned regarding the fate of those who will return to Eritrea as part of the new directive – according to which infiltrators and asylum seekers who are held in detention facilities can choose to leave Israel if they return to their home country.
"Our brothers were expelled from the Israeli prison where they were detained indefinitely and were completely in the dark regarding their fate," said Davit Demoz, an asylum seeker who arrived in Israel three years ago from Eritrea.
"In Israel they decided to call it 'willful emigration' – but when there is no alternative, there is nothing willful or free about it. We don't believe they really agreed to this. The government of Israel took advantage of their (the detainees') condition and now their lives are in danger. To deport us to Eritrea is to sentence us to death," he said. "We beg the Israeli government – protect us," Demoz pleaded.
In a press conference held in south Tel Aviv Sunday, organizers from Tel Aviv's Eritrean community spoke of the dangers the 14 Eritreans who left Israel as part of the 'willful emigration' directive faced. According to organizers, contact with those who returned to Eritrea has already been lost and their whereabouts are no longer known, while others have already been jailed or have been forcefully enlisted into an army service indefinitely.
"Our lives and the lives of our children are in danger," a representative of the community warned regarding the fate of those who will return to Eritrea as part of the new directive – according to which infiltrators and asylum seekers who are held in detention facilities can choose to leave Israel if they return to their home country.
"Our brothers were expelled from the Israeli prison where they were detained indefinitely and were completely in the dark regarding their fate," said Davit Demoz, an asylum seeker who arrived in Israel three years ago from Eritrea.
"In Israel they decided to call it 'willful emigration' – but when there is no alternative, there is nothing willful or free about it. We don't believe they really agreed to this. The government of Israel took advantage of their (the detainees') condition and now their lives are in danger. To deport us to Eritrea is to sentence us to death," he said. "We beg the Israeli government – protect us," Demoz pleaded.
At the end of June, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein authorized the new directive, which has since garnered the criticism of human rights groups which argue that it is impossible to claim that decisions taken by jailed refugees constitute free will.
Representatives of the Eritrean community launched a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, requesting that the new directive be canceled and that the deportation of asylum seekers back to Eritrea be stopped.
According to Hebtum Mahar, another Eritrean asylum seeker, the majority of those who returned to Eritrea are currently detained and the fate of the rest is unknown.
"Refugees who return are held in a Facility #5, adjacent to the Asmara (Eritrea's capital) airport. It is known as one of the toughest facilities in the country. They're interrogated and even tortured there, because in Eritrea, lodging an asylum request in an another country is considered treason," Mahar said.
Representatives of the Eritrean community launched a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, requesting that the new directive be canceled and that the deportation of asylum seekers back to Eritrea be stopped.
According to Hebtum Mahar, another Eritrean asylum seeker, the majority of those who returned to Eritrea are currently detained and the fate of the rest is unknown.
"Refugees who return are held in a Facility #5, adjacent to the Asmara (Eritrea's capital) airport. It is known as one of the toughest facilities in the country. They're interrogated and even tortured there, because in Eritrea, lodging an asylum request in an another country is considered treason," Mahar said.
Saharonim detention center. Negev.
"During the last decade, there have hardly been any deportations of Eritreans, especially in democratic and developed countries," Mahar stressed. "Most countries understand that you cannot deport an Eritrean back to his country, but the State of Israel has failed to understand that."
Hunger, mass enlistment
Reports published by various international organizations and Western governments regarding the situation in Eritrea paint a grim picture of a dictatorship with little regard for human rights and in which the last free elections were held only 15 years ago.
According to some of the reports, prison terms without trial are prevalent, as is lack of freedom of movement, hunger, a general lack of welfare and public services, and mass enlistment into the army for an indefinite period of time.
Emanuel Demena, another Eritrean asylum seeker in Israel, said he was forced to serve a three-year prison sentence in an Eritrean prison after requesting to be released from 12-year mandatory military service. Eritrea is considered to have one of the highest percentage of refugees, and in accordance with international law, Israel is banned from deporting Eritrean nationals, despite the fact that the two countries have diplomatic relations. On the other hand, in recent years, Israel has failed to examine the validity of asylum requests, and senior Israeli officials contend that the situation in Eritrea is far better than reports claim and that the majority of asylum seekers from the country are in fact migrant workers who infiltrated into Israel in search of employment.
"In Eritrea, anyone who thinks differently or expresses a different opinion is arrested and then disappears," Demoz noted. "The families don't know where their loved ones were taken and whether they will ever see them again. Also, everyone must enlist into the army without knowing when they will be released. In the army, soldiers are the government's slaves." An August 2011 report penned by the British government determined that Eritreans who return to their country were arrested and detained without trial, and forced to undergo torture, which in some cases resulted in death.
According to several reports, the number of asylums seekers who receive positive responses to their asylum requests is above 80% in European countries. The only countries to refuse refugees were Libya, Egypt and Malta, and the whereabouts of those refused refugee status is unknown. According to Israeli Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA), there are currently 55,000 infiltrators and asylum seekers living in Israel. Some 40,000 of them are from Eritrea and the remaining 15,000 are from Sudan. Since June 2012, according to the amendment to the Infiltration Prevention Act, some 2,000 such asylum seekers and infiltrators are held in detention facilities to which they were admitted without trial for a period of three years.
"During the last decade, there have hardly been any deportations of Eritreans, especially in democratic and developed countries," Mahar stressed. "Most countries understand that you cannot deport an Eritrean back to his country, but the State of Israel has failed to understand that."
Hunger, mass enlistment
Reports published by various international organizations and Western governments regarding the situation in Eritrea paint a grim picture of a dictatorship with little regard for human rights and in which the last free elections were held only 15 years ago.
According to some of the reports, prison terms without trial are prevalent, as is lack of freedom of movement, hunger, a general lack of welfare and public services, and mass enlistment into the army for an indefinite period of time.
Emanuel Demena, another Eritrean asylum seeker in Israel, said he was forced to serve a three-year prison sentence in an Eritrean prison after requesting to be released from 12-year mandatory military service. Eritrea is considered to have one of the highest percentage of refugees, and in accordance with international law, Israel is banned from deporting Eritrean nationals, despite the fact that the two countries have diplomatic relations. On the other hand, in recent years, Israel has failed to examine the validity of asylum requests, and senior Israeli officials contend that the situation in Eritrea is far better than reports claim and that the majority of asylum seekers from the country are in fact migrant workers who infiltrated into Israel in search of employment.
"In Eritrea, anyone who thinks differently or expresses a different opinion is arrested and then disappears," Demoz noted. "The families don't know where their loved ones were taken and whether they will ever see them again. Also, everyone must enlist into the army without knowing when they will be released. In the army, soldiers are the government's slaves." An August 2011 report penned by the British government determined that Eritreans who return to their country were arrested and detained without trial, and forced to undergo torture, which in some cases resulted in death.
According to several reports, the number of asylums seekers who receive positive responses to their asylum requests is above 80% in European countries. The only countries to refuse refugees were Libya, Egypt and Malta, and the whereabouts of those refused refugee status is unknown. According to Israeli Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA), there are currently 55,000 infiltrators and asylum seekers living in Israel. Some 40,000 of them are from Eritrea and the remaining 15,000 are from Sudan. Since June 2012, according to the amendment to the Infiltration Prevention Act, some 2,000 such asylum seekers and infiltrators are held in detention facilities to which they were admitted without trial for a period of three years.
A political commentator says by blacklisting the military wing of Hezbollah, Europe has given the Israeli regime leeway to freely continue its policy of “genocide and eternal expansion,” Press TV reports.
“As regards Europe and Lebanon ... those idiots in Europe listed Hezbollah and therefore have given Israel the chance to attack Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,” the London-based political analyst and commentator Rodney Shakespeare told Press TV.
“Europe has sold out to the Zionists and has given the opportunity to Israel to attack Hezbollah. And Hezbollah is the one group which has actually fought al-Qaeda,” Shakespeare added.
Last Monday, the EU added Hezbollah's military wing to the bloc's list of "terrorist organizations."
The decision was made after hours of discussions by the bloc’s 28 foreign ministers at its monthly meeting, following intense diplomatic pressure by Washington and Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah rejected EU’s decision in a Tuesday statement, saying the union was bowing to pressure from the US and the Israeli regime.
Referring to the planned resumption of US-backed talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, Shakespeare said the negotiations were only aimed at buying Tel Aviv time to build more settlements.
“The truth is that Zionist Israel is an expanding entity and therefore it cannot say where any border will be until it gets to its ultimate aim, which is to be in Syria, right the way through Lebanon, down to the Nile and across the River Euphrates,” he added.
The Palestinian-Israeli talks were halted in September 2010 over disagreements on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
On July 25, Israeli Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom said the talks may resume in Washington next week.
Most Palestinian factions have condemned the decision by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas to restart talks with the Israeli regime.
“As regards Europe and Lebanon ... those idiots in Europe listed Hezbollah and therefore have given Israel the chance to attack Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,” the London-based political analyst and commentator Rodney Shakespeare told Press TV.
“Europe has sold out to the Zionists and has given the opportunity to Israel to attack Hezbollah. And Hezbollah is the one group which has actually fought al-Qaeda,” Shakespeare added.
Last Monday, the EU added Hezbollah's military wing to the bloc's list of "terrorist organizations."
The decision was made after hours of discussions by the bloc’s 28 foreign ministers at its monthly meeting, following intense diplomatic pressure by Washington and Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah rejected EU’s decision in a Tuesday statement, saying the union was bowing to pressure from the US and the Israeli regime.
Referring to the planned resumption of US-backed talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, Shakespeare said the negotiations were only aimed at buying Tel Aviv time to build more settlements.
“The truth is that Zionist Israel is an expanding entity and therefore it cannot say where any border will be until it gets to its ultimate aim, which is to be in Syria, right the way through Lebanon, down to the Nile and across the River Euphrates,” he added.
The Palestinian-Israeli talks were halted in September 2010 over disagreements on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
On July 25, Israeli Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom said the talks may resume in Washington next week.
Most Palestinian factions have condemned the decision by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas to restart talks with the Israeli regime.
Netanya: Haredim attack another haredi for looking at woman
A 55-year-old haredi man from Netanya sustained moderate to severe injuries after being attacked by an anonymous group in Kiryat Sanz. It is suspected that the victim was standing at a bus stop in the neighborhood on Saturday night and looked at a pregnant woman. A group of haredim that noticed began to beat him.
The attackers then put the man in their vehicle, where they continued to assault him. They then threw him out onto the street. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. Police are working to locate the suspects.
A 55-year-old haredi man from Netanya sustained moderate to severe injuries after being attacked by an anonymous group in Kiryat Sanz. It is suspected that the victim was standing at a bus stop in the neighborhood on Saturday night and looked at a pregnant woman. A group of haredim that noticed began to beat him.
The attackers then put the man in their vehicle, where they continued to assault him. They then threw him out onto the street. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. Police are working to locate the suspects.
Israel Finkelstein, a noted Israeli archeologist and academic at Tel Aviv university, questioned the Jewish claims about the discovery of King David palace in Khirbet Qeiyafa, west of occupied Jerusalem, expressing his belief that the finds belong to an ancient Arab civilization. Finkelstein said that it could be true that the site discovered dates back to the eighth or tenth century BC, but it could be built in that period by the Palestinians, the Arab Canaanites or other peoples in the region.
He said he believes that the site was probably built by other ancient kingdoms in the region, especially since there is no conclusive physical evidence suggesting it is the palace of King David.
Israeli archeologists had claimed to have discovered the site of King David Palace in Khirbet Qeiyafa, according to Jerusalem Post newspaper.
They also said that the diggings have been going on for seven years at the site and revealed two huge Jewish buildings, a palace and a storehouse.
He said he believes that the site was probably built by other ancient kingdoms in the region, especially since there is no conclusive physical evidence suggesting it is the palace of King David.
Israeli archeologists had claimed to have discovered the site of King David Palace in Khirbet Qeiyafa, according to Jerusalem Post newspaper.
They also said that the diggings have been going on for seven years at the site and revealed two huge Jewish buildings, a palace and a storehouse.
Weinstein tells protesters from south Tel Aviv camped outside his home 'you're not alone'
Several dozen south Tel Aviv residents held a protest outside the home of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in Herzliya on Saturday and demanded that he act for the safety of Israeli citizens affected by the wave of crime involving migrants. Weinstein stepped out to talk to the protesters and told them, "You are not alone in this struggle." The protesters demanded that tougher measures be put in place to fight infiltration into Israel and protested Weinstein's decision to release a Sudanese actor suspected of stealing a pair of bicycle.
They held up signs that read "We are refugees in our own neighborhoods."
Shlomo Maslawi from the South Tel Aviv Executive Committee slammed the AG's decision. "We are here because several days ago you ordered the release of two infiltrators to our neighborhood," he said. Weinstein told the protesters that the cases they mentioned were unique. "The government's policy is pretty clear, the Justice Ministry and attorney general support this policy. We must do things wisely and humanely."
He promised the demonstrators that he would come see them in south Tel Aviv to talk about the issue in further detail.
Earlier this month, Weinstein updated a procedure, which allows the prolonged arrest of asylum seekers and infiltrators from Sudan and Eritrea, even if they are suspected of relatively minor offenses, and without sufficient evidence to prosecute them.
Several dozen south Tel Aviv residents held a protest outside the home of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in Herzliya on Saturday and demanded that he act for the safety of Israeli citizens affected by the wave of crime involving migrants. Weinstein stepped out to talk to the protesters and told them, "You are not alone in this struggle." The protesters demanded that tougher measures be put in place to fight infiltration into Israel and protested Weinstein's decision to release a Sudanese actor suspected of stealing a pair of bicycle.
They held up signs that read "We are refugees in our own neighborhoods."
Shlomo Maslawi from the South Tel Aviv Executive Committee slammed the AG's decision. "We are here because several days ago you ordered the release of two infiltrators to our neighborhood," he said. Weinstein told the protesters that the cases they mentioned were unique. "The government's policy is pretty clear, the Justice Ministry and attorney general support this policy. We must do things wisely and humanely."
He promised the demonstrators that he would come see them in south Tel Aviv to talk about the issue in further detail.
Earlier this month, Weinstein updated a procedure, which allows the prolonged arrest of asylum seekers and infiltrators from Sudan and Eritrea, even if they are suspected of relatively minor offenses, and without sufficient evidence to prosecute them.
Car of Migdal Haemek mayor set afire
Gasoline was poured on the car of Migdal Haemek Mayor Eli Barda and it was set afire by unknown arsonists. Damage was caused to its hood. The Central Unit of the Northern Police is investigating the incident.
Gasoline was poured on the car of Migdal Haemek Mayor Eli Barda and it was set afire by unknown arsonists. Damage was caused to its hood. The Central Unit of the Northern Police is investigating the incident.
J'lem warehouse set on fire, nationalistic motive investigated
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a building in Jerusalem. As a result, a warehouse was burned to the ground, and a nearby balcony was partially burned. There were no reported injuries. Police estimate that the background to the event is nationalistic. Firefighting services extinguished the fire.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a building in Jerusalem. As a result, a warehouse was burned to the ground, and a nearby balcony was partially burned. There were no reported injuries. Police estimate that the background to the event is nationalistic. Firefighting services extinguished the fire.
27 july 2013
Netanya: 25-year-old stabbed, moderately wounded
A 25-year-old was moderately injured after being stabbed in his upper torso during a brawl in the city. MDA paramedics evacuated him to a local hospital.
The police have begun their investigation.
A 25-year-old was moderately injured after being stabbed in his upper torso during a brawl in the city. MDA paramedics evacuated him to a local hospital.
The police have begun their investigation.
26 july 2013
Health Ministry: Polio virus found in 7 people in Israel's south
The Health Ministry identified the polio virus in seven people in Israel's south. The ministry suspects 10 other people might be carrying the virus.
The Health Ministry identified the polio virus in seven people in Israel's south. The ministry suspects 10 other people might be carrying the virus.
Former commander of the US Central Command James Mattis
Former commander of the US Central Command James Mattis has said that he ‘paid a military security price every day’ over the American support for the Israeli regime.
On Thursday, the Times of Israel quoted Mattis as saying last week, “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom (Central Command) because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel.”
The retired US commander made the comments at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado in response to a question regarding the talks between the Tel Aviv regime and the Palestinian Authority.
Mattis further slammed the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, stating that the situation in Israel is “unsustainable.”
The chances for an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians “are starting to ebb” due to the settlement activities, Mattis said.
On Thursday, Israeli Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom said the talks may begin in Washington next week.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has rejected a proposal by US Secretary of State John Kerry for the resumption of the talks, saying it “considers the Palestinian Authority’s return to negotiations with the occupation to be at odds with the national consensus.”
The Palestinian-Israeli talks were halted in September 2010 over disagreements on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority had previously demanded that Israel cease all settlement activities before talks can be resumed. The Tel Aviv regime has refused to do so.
An American General Warns Israeli Right
Last weekend, Marine Corps General James Mattis, the recently retired leader of U.S. Central Command and a man known inside the White House for his sharp opinions (which is one reason he’s no longer leading Central Command) issued a very sharp opinion about Israel’s future.
Speaking at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado, Mattis warned Israel that time was running out for it to reverse its West Bank settlement project.
“We have got to find a way to make the two-state solution that Democrat and Republican administrations have supported, we’ve got to get there,” he said. “And the chances for it, as the king of Jordan has pointed out, are starting to ebb because of the settlements and where they’re at, are going to make it impossible to maintain the two-state option.”
After blaming the lack of peace squarely on the settlements, he went a step further, and raised the incendiary question of apartheid: “If I’m Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote — apartheid. That didn’t work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a country.”
Mattis has homed in on the precise issue that alienates liberal-minded Americans and Israelis: the West Bank double standard.
Although Israel, within its 1967 borders, is a democracy in which Arabs have legal and voting rights, the West Bank is a two-tiered political entity: Jewish settlers in Hebron have the rights of Israeli citizens, but their Arab neighbors — people who sometimes live mere yards away — are under military occupation, without the same rights. This is a politically and morally untenable arrangement, and Mattis was right to call it out.
He was wrong to blame the lack of peace solely on Israel — the Palestinians have rejected one compromise offer after another, and the Gaza Strip, which would make up about half the future Palestinian state, is under the control of Hamas, which seeks Israel’s elimination — but he isn't wrong to identify the settlements as an enormous impediment to compromise.
Mattis is also conveying conventional Pentagon wisdom, and this is why the settlers, and their advocates in the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ought to be paying close attention, because they can't forever stand against the opinions of men like Mattis (who, by the way, couldn't be considered “anti-Israel” by any stretch of the imagination).
Mattis went on to make another assertion that Netanyahu’s cabinet ought to heed: “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of Centcom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can’t come out publicly in support of people who don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians." He went on to say that John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state who's trying to restart peace talks, "is right on target with what he’s doing. And I just hope the protagonists want peace and a two-state solution as much as he does.”
Arab rulers who complain about U.S. support for Israel to generals like Mattis are playing their American counterparts a bit: It’s very hard to imagine the Saudis and the Emiratis and the Kuwaitis and the Jordanians not taking American help — or not providing bases to the U.S. — because they’re upset by settlements.
The Arabs uniformly fear and loathe Iran more than they fear and loathe Israel. Still, it's true that American military commanders wouldn’t have to sit through quite so many lectures about Palestinian rights if there was movement on the peace process. It's also true that men like Mattis make their own weather — that is, whether he’s right or wrong, this is what he believes, and it would be foolish for the Israelis, a dependent power, to ignore the feelings of powerful American generals.
What Israeli army generals know — and what many of their political leaders don’t seem to recognize — is that Mattis's views are commonplace in the American defense establishment. The Israeli right can only ignore this reality for so long without doing its country permanent damage.
Jeffrey Goldberg is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is the author of "Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror" and winner of the National Magazine Award for reporting. He has covered the Middle East as a national correspondent for the Atlantic and as a staff writer for the New Yorker.
Former commander of the US Central Command James Mattis has said that he ‘paid a military security price every day’ over the American support for the Israeli regime.
On Thursday, the Times of Israel quoted Mattis as saying last week, “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom (Central Command) because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel.”
The retired US commander made the comments at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado in response to a question regarding the talks between the Tel Aviv regime and the Palestinian Authority.
Mattis further slammed the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, stating that the situation in Israel is “unsustainable.”
The chances for an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians “are starting to ebb” due to the settlement activities, Mattis said.
On Thursday, Israeli Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom said the talks may begin in Washington next week.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has rejected a proposal by US Secretary of State John Kerry for the resumption of the talks, saying it “considers the Palestinian Authority’s return to negotiations with the occupation to be at odds with the national consensus.”
The Palestinian-Israeli talks were halted in September 2010 over disagreements on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority had previously demanded that Israel cease all settlement activities before talks can be resumed. The Tel Aviv regime has refused to do so.
An American General Warns Israeli Right
Last weekend, Marine Corps General James Mattis, the recently retired leader of U.S. Central Command and a man known inside the White House for his sharp opinions (which is one reason he’s no longer leading Central Command) issued a very sharp opinion about Israel’s future.
Speaking at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado, Mattis warned Israel that time was running out for it to reverse its West Bank settlement project.
“We have got to find a way to make the two-state solution that Democrat and Republican administrations have supported, we’ve got to get there,” he said. “And the chances for it, as the king of Jordan has pointed out, are starting to ebb because of the settlements and where they’re at, are going to make it impossible to maintain the two-state option.”
After blaming the lack of peace squarely on the settlements, he went a step further, and raised the incendiary question of apartheid: “If I’m Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote — apartheid. That didn’t work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a country.”
Mattis has homed in on the precise issue that alienates liberal-minded Americans and Israelis: the West Bank double standard.
Although Israel, within its 1967 borders, is a democracy in which Arabs have legal and voting rights, the West Bank is a two-tiered political entity: Jewish settlers in Hebron have the rights of Israeli citizens, but their Arab neighbors — people who sometimes live mere yards away — are under military occupation, without the same rights. This is a politically and morally untenable arrangement, and Mattis was right to call it out.
He was wrong to blame the lack of peace solely on Israel — the Palestinians have rejected one compromise offer after another, and the Gaza Strip, which would make up about half the future Palestinian state, is under the control of Hamas, which seeks Israel’s elimination — but he isn't wrong to identify the settlements as an enormous impediment to compromise.
Mattis is also conveying conventional Pentagon wisdom, and this is why the settlers, and their advocates in the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ought to be paying close attention, because they can't forever stand against the opinions of men like Mattis (who, by the way, couldn't be considered “anti-Israel” by any stretch of the imagination).
Mattis went on to make another assertion that Netanyahu’s cabinet ought to heed: “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of Centcom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can’t come out publicly in support of people who don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians." He went on to say that John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state who's trying to restart peace talks, "is right on target with what he’s doing. And I just hope the protagonists want peace and a two-state solution as much as he does.”
Arab rulers who complain about U.S. support for Israel to generals like Mattis are playing their American counterparts a bit: It’s very hard to imagine the Saudis and the Emiratis and the Kuwaitis and the Jordanians not taking American help — or not providing bases to the U.S. — because they’re upset by settlements.
The Arabs uniformly fear and loathe Iran more than they fear and loathe Israel. Still, it's true that American military commanders wouldn’t have to sit through quite so many lectures about Palestinian rights if there was movement on the peace process. It's also true that men like Mattis make their own weather — that is, whether he’s right or wrong, this is what he believes, and it would be foolish for the Israelis, a dependent power, to ignore the feelings of powerful American generals.
What Israeli army generals know — and what many of their political leaders don’t seem to recognize — is that Mattis's views are commonplace in the American defense establishment. The Israeli right can only ignore this reality for so long without doing its country permanent damage.
Jeffrey Goldberg is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is the author of "Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror" and winner of the National Magazine Award for reporting. He has covered the Middle East as a national correspondent for the Atlantic and as a staff writer for the New Yorker.
25 july 2013
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Press TV has conducted an interview with David Duke, a former member of the House of Representatives from Louisiana. |
2 killed after car explodes near Yarkonim Junction
Two people were killed not far from the Yarkonim Junction apparently after the car they were in exploded.
The circumstances of the event still remain unclear, but after the explosion the car was ablaze. Firefighting forces are currently working to extinguish the blaze.
Police: Device caused car to explode
An initial police investigation revealed that a massive explosive deceive was what caused the car to explode not far from the Yarkonim Junction and leave two people dead.
The identity of the victims is still unknown. As a result of the explosion the car was completely incinerated.
Two people were killed not far from the Yarkonim Junction apparently after the car they were in exploded.
The circumstances of the event still remain unclear, but after the explosion the car was ablaze. Firefighting forces are currently working to extinguish the blaze.
Police: Device caused car to explode
An initial police investigation revealed that a massive explosive deceive was what caused the car to explode not far from the Yarkonim Junction and leave two people dead.
The identity of the victims is still unknown. As a result of the explosion the car was completely incinerated.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children stand near hats lined up on a wall ahead of the wedding ceremony of Shalom Rokeach, the grandson of the Chief Rabbi of Belz, Yissachar Dov Rokeach, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2013
By: Elise Brezis Translated from Calcalist (Israel).
Before the 2013 Israeli Knesset election, Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, asked, Where's the money? Ever since his March 2013 appointment as minister of finance, he has been trying to find it, but to no avail. There's simply no money left in the state coffers, as demonstrated by the cabinet-approved draft budget.
If you look for the money in the short term, you may find some crumbs here and there — possibly even some graves to tax, as previously proposed by Lapid. However, at the end of the day, there is no money to be found because the Israeli economy is not growing, despite the politicians' insistence otherwise. They say that the economy is growing annually by 3%, but this growth rate hardly reflects the true picture.
If you take Israel's economic growth, which is based on the increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and subtract from it the country's 2% annual population increase, then you will find that, at best, the Israeli economy is growing by a mere 1% annually.
The Israeli economy's most serious problem is low productivity. Though some of us work long hours, when all is said and done, we are not efficient enough. Why? According to certain studies, employee job permanence undermines efficiency. Other studies point the finger at the “typical Mediterranean worker" who is said to lack an efficient work ethic. Let's be honest — who does not know at least one co-worker whose dismissal would have little effect on output levels? I suggest that rather than relying on the notorious tax evasion “informer” mechanism, the finance ministry set up an apparatus that would allow employees to propose ideas for streamlining work procedures.
The second burden on the Israeli economy is the high birth rate. While Israel's population growth currently stands at 2% annually, the population growth rate in the ultra-Orthodox community is around 7%. The outcome of this rapid population growth is that we give birth to more children than we can support. In the past, the average expenditure per child was rather small. On a poor continent such as Africa children generate income, however, in the Western world considerable sums of money are invested in raising a child. Thus, a substantial part of the government budget has to be allocated to that end. If we wish to ensure rapid economic growth, then this requires a high capital growth rate. The annual population growth of 7% in the ultra-Orthodox community is unsustainable.
If you're wondering how these issues are related to the draft budget — well, it is quite simple. If you review the budget, you will notice separate chapters dedicated to the regular budget and others dealing with the development budget. If you are interested in budget allocation by ministry, this is also explicitly outlined. Yet, if you are looking for the governmental allocation for each sector, you will not find it. Let me present here some preliminary estimates of budget allocation by sector, with the hope that the Ministry of Finance will follow suit and make the relevant data public.
Given total government expenditures of 390 billion shekels ($106.5 billion), and taking into consideration government spending on security, transportation and infrastructure, it turns out that the allocation to the ultra-Orthodox sector totals some 40 to 80 billion shekels ($11 to $22 billion). At the same time, the receipts collected from the ultra-Orthodox sector, including VAT and income tax, may be put at 15 billion shekels ($4 billion). It may be concluded that the net allocations to this sector top 45 billion shekels ($12.3 billion). Although this is a rather rough estimate, it is true to reality.
It is surprising then that the Ministry of Finance keeps this data under wraps while publicizing the 1.5 billion shekels ($400 million) directly funneled to the rabbinical colleges. If you're wondering where the money is, the answer may be: It is being expended on a population that is not participating in the production chain.
What about the workers organized in labor unions? Are they, too, getting more than they contribute? Of course not. The issue of the labor unions has nothing to do with the state budget. Rather, it concerns the question of equal opportunity. The relatively high wages enjoyed by organized workers are outrageous. The income disparity between two workers doing the same job is certainly not fair. As noted, the issue of organized workers and unequal wages does not concern the state budget. All the same, it is an inequitable situation with which the Ministry of Finance should deal.
The fact that the opportunity for real change has been missed is most disappointing, all the more so since the finance minister has been given a rare public mandate to make a difference. The minister of finance should not have raised the income tax — he should cut expenditures that do not contribute to economic growth.
By: Elise Brezis Translated from Calcalist (Israel).
Before the 2013 Israeli Knesset election, Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, asked, Where's the money? Ever since his March 2013 appointment as minister of finance, he has been trying to find it, but to no avail. There's simply no money left in the state coffers, as demonstrated by the cabinet-approved draft budget.
If you look for the money in the short term, you may find some crumbs here and there — possibly even some graves to tax, as previously proposed by Lapid. However, at the end of the day, there is no money to be found because the Israeli economy is not growing, despite the politicians' insistence otherwise. They say that the economy is growing annually by 3%, but this growth rate hardly reflects the true picture.
If you take Israel's economic growth, which is based on the increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and subtract from it the country's 2% annual population increase, then you will find that, at best, the Israeli economy is growing by a mere 1% annually.
The Israeli economy's most serious problem is low productivity. Though some of us work long hours, when all is said and done, we are not efficient enough. Why? According to certain studies, employee job permanence undermines efficiency. Other studies point the finger at the “typical Mediterranean worker" who is said to lack an efficient work ethic. Let's be honest — who does not know at least one co-worker whose dismissal would have little effect on output levels? I suggest that rather than relying on the notorious tax evasion “informer” mechanism, the finance ministry set up an apparatus that would allow employees to propose ideas for streamlining work procedures.
The second burden on the Israeli economy is the high birth rate. While Israel's population growth currently stands at 2% annually, the population growth rate in the ultra-Orthodox community is around 7%. The outcome of this rapid population growth is that we give birth to more children than we can support. In the past, the average expenditure per child was rather small. On a poor continent such as Africa children generate income, however, in the Western world considerable sums of money are invested in raising a child. Thus, a substantial part of the government budget has to be allocated to that end. If we wish to ensure rapid economic growth, then this requires a high capital growth rate. The annual population growth of 7% in the ultra-Orthodox community is unsustainable.
If you're wondering how these issues are related to the draft budget — well, it is quite simple. If you review the budget, you will notice separate chapters dedicated to the regular budget and others dealing with the development budget. If you are interested in budget allocation by ministry, this is also explicitly outlined. Yet, if you are looking for the governmental allocation for each sector, you will not find it. Let me present here some preliminary estimates of budget allocation by sector, with the hope that the Ministry of Finance will follow suit and make the relevant data public.
Given total government expenditures of 390 billion shekels ($106.5 billion), and taking into consideration government spending on security, transportation and infrastructure, it turns out that the allocation to the ultra-Orthodox sector totals some 40 to 80 billion shekels ($11 to $22 billion). At the same time, the receipts collected from the ultra-Orthodox sector, including VAT and income tax, may be put at 15 billion shekels ($4 billion). It may be concluded that the net allocations to this sector top 45 billion shekels ($12.3 billion). Although this is a rather rough estimate, it is true to reality.
It is surprising then that the Ministry of Finance keeps this data under wraps while publicizing the 1.5 billion shekels ($400 million) directly funneled to the rabbinical colleges. If you're wondering where the money is, the answer may be: It is being expended on a population that is not participating in the production chain.
What about the workers organized in labor unions? Are they, too, getting more than they contribute? Of course not. The issue of the labor unions has nothing to do with the state budget. Rather, it concerns the question of equal opportunity. The relatively high wages enjoyed by organized workers are outrageous. The income disparity between two workers doing the same job is certainly not fair. As noted, the issue of organized workers and unequal wages does not concern the state budget. All the same, it is an inequitable situation with which the Ministry of Finance should deal.
The fact that the opportunity for real change has been missed is most disappointing, all the more so since the finance minister has been given a rare public mandate to make a difference. The minister of finance should not have raised the income tax — he should cut expenditures that do not contribute to economic growth.
An Israeli soldier sleeps as young ultra-Orthodox Jews pray on Tisha B'Av at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, July 16, 2013
By: Nadav Perry for Al-Monitor Israel Pulse
The most frightening man in the state of Israel is probably professor Dan Ben-David of Tel Aviv University. Ben-David, a renowned economics lecturer, is actually a pleasant and affable individual, but the message he bears should be disquieting for any Israeli concerned with the future of his country. As executive director of the Taub Center of Social Policy Studies, Ben-David goes around the lecture circuit and meets people all over the country, illustrating with the help of diagrams and dry statistical data the extent to which the survival of the state of Israel cannot be taken for granted.
The data reveals the annual rate of increase in the number of Israelis who do not participate in the workforce. They are not listed as unemployed because they're not even looking for work. Most of them are ultra-Orthodox. As the percentage of ultra-Orthodox in the population grows — and it has been growing steadily and speedily — the percentage of productive Israelis participating in the workforce grows smaller. Ben-David concludes that given the current state of things, the Israeli economy will soon no longer be able to continue to support the non-working ultra-Orthodox population. Quality of life in Israel is relatively high, but it could have been far higher had there not been an entire sector that has — for years — refrained from joining the job market out of a rigid religious ideology. Unless a radical change takes place, Israel is marching toward the edge of an abyss. The system that has been in place for 65 years simply cannot be viable for much longer.
The public debate in Israel regarding the integration into society of the ultra-Orthodox Jews hardly deals with this issue. The focal point is always “sharing the [military] burden” — the same worn slogan that has long since become a sure springboard for any secular politician wishing to gain popularity. The last one to make use of it was the Yesh Atid chairman, Finance Minister Yair Lapid. Since forming his party at the beginning of 2012, Lapid was careful to declare that he has nothing against the ultra-Orthodox and that, unlike his late father — former Knesset member Tommy Lapid, who headed the Shinui party in the previous decade — his party would not be anti-clerical. The plan for drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army, which he presented at the start of the election campaign, focused first and foremost on getting the ultra-Orthodox into the job market and only then integrating them into military and national service.
But then — somewhere in the middle of the campaign — Yesh Atid faced a crisis. The polls indicated a decline in support and the strategic advisers decided to hone the message. Lapid, who up until then had spoken about a variety of issues on the agenda, started focusing on the ultra-Orthodox and repeating the “shared burden” refrain. This move paid off when he raked in 19 Knesset seats in the elections in January 2013, becoming the head of the second largest party, after the Likud. Today, too, even as he is attacked for an austerity budget which he has been pushing as finance minister, Lapid still gets positive feedback whenever he criticizes the ultra-Orthodox. In virtually every speech he delivers from the Knesset podium, a significant part of his comments is devoted to attacking the ultra-Orthodox. That’s his comfort zone.
On July 23, the Knesset gave initial approval to the government’s plan, led by Yesh Atid’s cabinet member, Minister of Science and Technology Yaakov Perry, for drafting ultra-Orthodox men into the military. Public attention was focused on the blatant provocations acted out by some ultra-Orthodox Knesset members during the stormy debate. But all the shouting notwithstanding, data presented in his Knesset speech by ultra-Orthodox Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri stood out. According to his data, since the beginning of the year, the rate of ultra-Orthodox enlistment has dropped 30%. After years of a slow, quiet increase in the number of ultra-Orthodox who don uniforms, the trend has turned around. This occurred at the same time as the public debate on the issue was heating up and Yair Lapid was enjoying his meteoric rise. The more Lapid spoke about ultra-Orthodox enlistment, the more the number of recruits declined.
In recent months, since the formation of the new government which raised the “shared burden” banner, there has been a rise in attacks by members of the ultra-Orthodox community on those among them who decide to trade in their religious studies at the yeshiva (religious institution) for military service. In several recent incidents, policemen were forced to extricate soldiers wearing kipas (skullcaps) who were attacked while walking around ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. These phenomena did not exist a year ago. The “shared burden” campaign benefited Yair Lapid, but diminished the chance that equality would be achieved.
It is worth believing ultra-Orthodox Knesset member Meir Porush of Yahadut HaTorah, when he chained himself to the Knesset podium and declared that this is how yeshiva students would be led — in chains — if forced to enlist. The firm stand against the government was the basis of the ultra-Orthodox ethos even before the State of Israel was established, when the Jews were scattered in communities throughout Europe. It was only three years ago that dozens of ultra-Orthodox parents in the West Bank settlement of Immanuel opted to obey their rabbis and go to jail rather than comply with the instructions of a secular court regarding the integration of Sephardic schoolgirls into the local religious seminary.
The ultra-Orthodox have earned the Israeli street’s hostility toward them after decades of isolation and seclusion. There’s no justice in their continued refusal to take part in efforts to sustain and advance the State of Israel. But an attempt to resolve a generations-old problem by brandishing a sword, and with forcefulness, will achieve the opposite result.
Instead of fighting them, it would have been better to move forward slowly, in cooperation with the ultra-Orthodox, to achieve the declared goal. The alternative of the continued ultra-Orthodox isolation and the status quo is simply too dangerous for Israel.
Nadav Perry is a contributor for Al-Monitor's Israel Pulse. Channel 10's political correspondent, he regularly hosts Rafi Reshef's news magazine as well as his own weekly political talk show, writes political columns for Globes (Israel's financial daily) and hosts Radio Tel Aviv's daily political program.
By: Nadav Perry for Al-Monitor Israel Pulse
The most frightening man in the state of Israel is probably professor Dan Ben-David of Tel Aviv University. Ben-David, a renowned economics lecturer, is actually a pleasant and affable individual, but the message he bears should be disquieting for any Israeli concerned with the future of his country. As executive director of the Taub Center of Social Policy Studies, Ben-David goes around the lecture circuit and meets people all over the country, illustrating with the help of diagrams and dry statistical data the extent to which the survival of the state of Israel cannot be taken for granted.
The data reveals the annual rate of increase in the number of Israelis who do not participate in the workforce. They are not listed as unemployed because they're not even looking for work. Most of them are ultra-Orthodox. As the percentage of ultra-Orthodox in the population grows — and it has been growing steadily and speedily — the percentage of productive Israelis participating in the workforce grows smaller. Ben-David concludes that given the current state of things, the Israeli economy will soon no longer be able to continue to support the non-working ultra-Orthodox population. Quality of life in Israel is relatively high, but it could have been far higher had there not been an entire sector that has — for years — refrained from joining the job market out of a rigid religious ideology. Unless a radical change takes place, Israel is marching toward the edge of an abyss. The system that has been in place for 65 years simply cannot be viable for much longer.
The public debate in Israel regarding the integration into society of the ultra-Orthodox Jews hardly deals with this issue. The focal point is always “sharing the [military] burden” — the same worn slogan that has long since become a sure springboard for any secular politician wishing to gain popularity. The last one to make use of it was the Yesh Atid chairman, Finance Minister Yair Lapid. Since forming his party at the beginning of 2012, Lapid was careful to declare that he has nothing against the ultra-Orthodox and that, unlike his late father — former Knesset member Tommy Lapid, who headed the Shinui party in the previous decade — his party would not be anti-clerical. The plan for drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army, which he presented at the start of the election campaign, focused first and foremost on getting the ultra-Orthodox into the job market and only then integrating them into military and national service.
But then — somewhere in the middle of the campaign — Yesh Atid faced a crisis. The polls indicated a decline in support and the strategic advisers decided to hone the message. Lapid, who up until then had spoken about a variety of issues on the agenda, started focusing on the ultra-Orthodox and repeating the “shared burden” refrain. This move paid off when he raked in 19 Knesset seats in the elections in January 2013, becoming the head of the second largest party, after the Likud. Today, too, even as he is attacked for an austerity budget which he has been pushing as finance minister, Lapid still gets positive feedback whenever he criticizes the ultra-Orthodox. In virtually every speech he delivers from the Knesset podium, a significant part of his comments is devoted to attacking the ultra-Orthodox. That’s his comfort zone.
On July 23, the Knesset gave initial approval to the government’s plan, led by Yesh Atid’s cabinet member, Minister of Science and Technology Yaakov Perry, for drafting ultra-Orthodox men into the military. Public attention was focused on the blatant provocations acted out by some ultra-Orthodox Knesset members during the stormy debate. But all the shouting notwithstanding, data presented in his Knesset speech by ultra-Orthodox Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri stood out. According to his data, since the beginning of the year, the rate of ultra-Orthodox enlistment has dropped 30%. After years of a slow, quiet increase in the number of ultra-Orthodox who don uniforms, the trend has turned around. This occurred at the same time as the public debate on the issue was heating up and Yair Lapid was enjoying his meteoric rise. The more Lapid spoke about ultra-Orthodox enlistment, the more the number of recruits declined.
In recent months, since the formation of the new government which raised the “shared burden” banner, there has been a rise in attacks by members of the ultra-Orthodox community on those among them who decide to trade in their religious studies at the yeshiva (religious institution) for military service. In several recent incidents, policemen were forced to extricate soldiers wearing kipas (skullcaps) who were attacked while walking around ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. These phenomena did not exist a year ago. The “shared burden” campaign benefited Yair Lapid, but diminished the chance that equality would be achieved.
It is worth believing ultra-Orthodox Knesset member Meir Porush of Yahadut HaTorah, when he chained himself to the Knesset podium and declared that this is how yeshiva students would be led — in chains — if forced to enlist. The firm stand against the government was the basis of the ultra-Orthodox ethos even before the State of Israel was established, when the Jews were scattered in communities throughout Europe. It was only three years ago that dozens of ultra-Orthodox parents in the West Bank settlement of Immanuel opted to obey their rabbis and go to jail rather than comply with the instructions of a secular court regarding the integration of Sephardic schoolgirls into the local religious seminary.
The ultra-Orthodox have earned the Israeli street’s hostility toward them after decades of isolation and seclusion. There’s no justice in their continued refusal to take part in efforts to sustain and advance the State of Israel. But an attempt to resolve a generations-old problem by brandishing a sword, and with forcefulness, will achieve the opposite result.
Instead of fighting them, it would have been better to move forward slowly, in cooperation with the ultra-Orthodox, to achieve the declared goal. The alternative of the continued ultra-Orthodox isolation and the status quo is simply too dangerous for Israel.
Nadav Perry is a contributor for Al-Monitor's Israel Pulse. Channel 10's political correspondent, he regularly hosts Rafi Reshef's news magazine as well as his own weekly political talk show, writes political columns for Globes (Israel's financial daily) and hosts Radio Tel Aviv's daily political program.
An ultra-orthodox Jew casts his ballot during the election for Israel's two chief rabbis in Jerusalem on July 24
Two rabbis backed by ultra-orthodox parties were elected on Wednesday to serve as Israel's chief rabbis for the next 10 years, an official announcement said.
It said Yitzhak Yossef was elected Sephardi chief rabbi and David Lau the Ashkenazi chief rabbi.
The responsibilities of the chief rabbis include the country's rabbinical courts and regulating the food supervision industry.
Wednesday's election, held in a Jerusalem hotel, involved a 150-strong electoral college of religious and secular officials including mayors of the main cities.
Yossef is the son of Ovadia Yossef, founder and spiritual leader of the opposition ultra-orthodox Shas party, which has 12 seats in parliament.
Lau, who also drew on ultra-orthodox support, is himself the son of an Ashkenazi former grand rabbi.
For the first time, 10 women were members of the electoral college, despite women not being represented in rabbinical courts or in the grand rabbinate.
The institutions over which the grand rabbis preside have a major bearing on the lives of Israeli Jews in a country where the separation of church and state does not exist.
Jews cannot marry or divorce without rabbinical approval, and those seeking to marry must present proof of their Jewish heritage before rabbinical courts.
This stipulation has meant that many thousands of secular Jews or those unable to prove their Jewishness have gone abroad to be married in civil ceremonies instead.
Two rabbis backed by ultra-orthodox parties were elected on Wednesday to serve as Israel's chief rabbis for the next 10 years, an official announcement said.
It said Yitzhak Yossef was elected Sephardi chief rabbi and David Lau the Ashkenazi chief rabbi.
The responsibilities of the chief rabbis include the country's rabbinical courts and regulating the food supervision industry.
Wednesday's election, held in a Jerusalem hotel, involved a 150-strong electoral college of religious and secular officials including mayors of the main cities.
Yossef is the son of Ovadia Yossef, founder and spiritual leader of the opposition ultra-orthodox Shas party, which has 12 seats in parliament.
Lau, who also drew on ultra-orthodox support, is himself the son of an Ashkenazi former grand rabbi.
For the first time, 10 women were members of the electoral college, despite women not being represented in rabbinical courts or in the grand rabbinate.
The institutions over which the grand rabbis preside have a major bearing on the lives of Israeli Jews in a country where the separation of church and state does not exist.
Jews cannot marry or divorce without rabbinical approval, and those seeking to marry must present proof of their Jewish heritage before rabbinical courts.
This stipulation has meant that many thousands of secular Jews or those unable to prove their Jewishness have gone abroad to be married in civil ceremonies instead.
By Daoud Kuttab
The city of Jerusalem has many diplomatic missions that have the official title of consulate general. These include the US, most Western European and Scandinavian countries, as well as Turkey.
These diplomatic missions report directly to their capitals and they are not accountable officially to their counterparts from their country's diplomatic missions in Israel and, more recently, in Ramallah.
This practice has been going on since the Turkish rule in Palestine and the region in the 19th century.
After the creation of Israel in 1948 these missions continued to operate mostly in East Jerusalem (some, like the Americans, owned property in West Jerusalem) and they have continued to work after the June 1967 occupation.
While these missions mostly served the Palestinian community politically, culturally and consular wise, the only difference after 1967 was that these missions widened their (mostly consular) services to all the population of Jerusalem. The US consulate in East Jerusalem continued to provide consular and cultural services while the building owned by the Americans in West Jerusalem's Agron Street became the residence of the US consul-general and later housed caravans that provided space for USAID officials working in the Palestinian areas.
American citizens who lived in the Greater Jerusalem area as well as the rest of the West Bank (both Israelis and Palestinians) were restricted to the Nablus Road consulate in East Jerusalem for their consular affairs.
Despite numerous calls by congress to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the executive branch in Washington was able to apply the waiver provided in the congressional law to insist on maintaining the status quo.
As long as the status of Jerusalem was among the final status agenda items, the US refused to determine who the holy city belongs to.
US diplomatic officials, therefore, refrained to specify a country of birth when it came to anyone who was born in Jerusalem, whether of a Jewish-Israeli background or a Palestinian-Arab background.
The politically correct US mission in Jerusalem refused to assign the country of birth to those born in Jerusalem as either Israel or Palestine. Instead they came up with a clever diplomatic side step. Under country of birth, American consular officials put "Jerusalem".
For some time this diplomatic compromise worked, until theUS congress passed a law and a patriotic Israeli-American couple wanted to have their child's birth listed as Jerusalem, Israel.
US officials refused, saying this was in the executive branch's decision-making power as it, and not the legislative branch, decides foreign policy.
The angry Israeli-American suggested that Americans be given the choice of listing their country of birth as either Jerusalem or Israel.
Again the US State Department and White House refused, feeling that this choice can't be given to a Palestinian whose country of birth can't be legally stated as Palestine and, therefore, listing only Israelis born in Jerusalem as being born in Israel would clearly discriminate against Palestinians.
Every passport officer in the world would know (if the idea had been approved) that if they see someone listed as being born in Jerusalem they are in fact ethnically Palestinian.
The US State Department refused the request and the case was brought to the US court of appeals.
The US court of appeals for the District of Columbia, which reviewed the case of Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky filed by his parents against the US secretary of state, ruled on July 23 that "Jerusalem-born Americans, whether supporters of Israel or supporters of Palestine, may not use their passports to make a political statement". It also reaffirmed that the executive branch and not the legislative branch of the US government decides such issues.
The pro-Israel lobby, which has a greater stranglehold over congress than the White House (especially a second term president), will undoubtedly be unhappy with this ruling.
The timing of this decision is crucial as the issue of Jerusalem will surely be a major topic of discussion if the expected negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are launched in the coming weeks and months.
The wisdom of the US court to keep out of a volatile conflict such as the Palestinian-Israeli one, and an even more sensitive issue of Jerusalem, is welcomed.
The city of Jerusalem has many diplomatic missions that have the official title of consulate general. These include the US, most Western European and Scandinavian countries, as well as Turkey.
These diplomatic missions report directly to their capitals and they are not accountable officially to their counterparts from their country's diplomatic missions in Israel and, more recently, in Ramallah.
This practice has been going on since the Turkish rule in Palestine and the region in the 19th century.
After the creation of Israel in 1948 these missions continued to operate mostly in East Jerusalem (some, like the Americans, owned property in West Jerusalem) and they have continued to work after the June 1967 occupation.
While these missions mostly served the Palestinian community politically, culturally and consular wise, the only difference after 1967 was that these missions widened their (mostly consular) services to all the population of Jerusalem. The US consulate in East Jerusalem continued to provide consular and cultural services while the building owned by the Americans in West Jerusalem's Agron Street became the residence of the US consul-general and later housed caravans that provided space for USAID officials working in the Palestinian areas.
American citizens who lived in the Greater Jerusalem area as well as the rest of the West Bank (both Israelis and Palestinians) were restricted to the Nablus Road consulate in East Jerusalem for their consular affairs.
Despite numerous calls by congress to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the executive branch in Washington was able to apply the waiver provided in the congressional law to insist on maintaining the status quo.
As long as the status of Jerusalem was among the final status agenda items, the US refused to determine who the holy city belongs to.
US diplomatic officials, therefore, refrained to specify a country of birth when it came to anyone who was born in Jerusalem, whether of a Jewish-Israeli background or a Palestinian-Arab background.
The politically correct US mission in Jerusalem refused to assign the country of birth to those born in Jerusalem as either Israel or Palestine. Instead they came up with a clever diplomatic side step. Under country of birth, American consular officials put "Jerusalem".
For some time this diplomatic compromise worked, until theUS congress passed a law and a patriotic Israeli-American couple wanted to have their child's birth listed as Jerusalem, Israel.
US officials refused, saying this was in the executive branch's decision-making power as it, and not the legislative branch, decides foreign policy.
The angry Israeli-American suggested that Americans be given the choice of listing their country of birth as either Jerusalem or Israel.
Again the US State Department and White House refused, feeling that this choice can't be given to a Palestinian whose country of birth can't be legally stated as Palestine and, therefore, listing only Israelis born in Jerusalem as being born in Israel would clearly discriminate against Palestinians.
Every passport officer in the world would know (if the idea had been approved) that if they see someone listed as being born in Jerusalem they are in fact ethnically Palestinian.
The US State Department refused the request and the case was brought to the US court of appeals.
The US court of appeals for the District of Columbia, which reviewed the case of Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky filed by his parents against the US secretary of state, ruled on July 23 that "Jerusalem-born Americans, whether supporters of Israel or supporters of Palestine, may not use their passports to make a political statement". It also reaffirmed that the executive branch and not the legislative branch of the US government decides such issues.
The pro-Israel lobby, which has a greater stranglehold over congress than the White House (especially a second term president), will undoubtedly be unhappy with this ruling.
The timing of this decision is crucial as the issue of Jerusalem will surely be a major topic of discussion if the expected negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are launched in the coming weeks and months.
The wisdom of the US court to keep out of a volatile conflict such as the Palestinian-Israeli one, and an even more sensitive issue of Jerusalem, is welcomed.