22 june 2013
Arab Knesset member Mohamed Baraka said that the killing of a Jewish settler suspected as an Arab man by an Israeli policeman on Friday reflected that there are racist orders given to Israeli policemen and soldiers to kill Arabs easily and arbitrarily. Baraka stated that the Israeli claim that the Jewish victim was shouting "Allahu Akbar" in order to justify his killing vindicated that such expression is an enough reason for the Israeli security and military units to kill a Palestinian Arab.
He demanded the Israeli occupation authority and its security and military institutions to stop what he described as the slow massacre that targets the Palestinian Arabs, especially that the Jewish settlers encourage the opening of gunfire at the Palestinian natives in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
An Israeli policeman shot dead a Jewish settler on Friday morning at the Aqsa Mosque's western wall (Al-Buraq wall) mistaking him for a Palestinian Arab, according to the police account.
"There was a Jewish guy, an Israeli guy, who was in the bathroom area," the police added
The police claimed that the Jewish man, 46, shouted for some reason 'Allahu Akbar' when a policeman spotted him and fired several fatal shots at him.
The killer policeman told investigators that he thought the man was pulling something from his pocket as he shouted and was about to attack him.
He demanded the Israeli occupation authority and its security and military institutions to stop what he described as the slow massacre that targets the Palestinian Arabs, especially that the Jewish settlers encourage the opening of gunfire at the Palestinian natives in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
An Israeli policeman shot dead a Jewish settler on Friday morning at the Aqsa Mosque's western wall (Al-Buraq wall) mistaking him for a Palestinian Arab, according to the police account.
"There was a Jewish guy, an Israeli guy, who was in the bathroom area," the police added
The police claimed that the Jewish man, 46, shouted for some reason 'Allahu Akbar' when a policeman spotted him and fired several fatal shots at him.
The killer policeman told investigators that he thought the man was pulling something from his pocket as he shouted and was about to attack him.
21 june 2013
An Israeli security guard shot dead a Jewish visitor at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, on Friday, apparently mistaking him for a Palestinian militant.
"There was a Jewish guy, an Israeli guy, who was in the bathroom area," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
"He for some reason shouted 'Allahu Akbar'," Rosenfeld said. "A security guard drew his weapon and fired several shots at the suspect... He died from his wounds a few moments ago."
The shooting took place shortly before 8 a.m. as the plaza in front of the Wall filled with worshipers for morning prayers ahead of the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown.
The site was closed to the public for at least an hour afterwards.
Paramedic Zeevi Hessed told news website NRG that his team rushed to the scene as reports of a shooting came in.
"When we reached the place, we saw him lying at the Western Wall plaza," he said. "He had been shot in several parts of his body... Sadly there was nothing we could do but declare him dead."
Rosenfeld said that an investigation had been opened into the shooting.
Public radio quoted the private security guard as telling police investigators that he thought the man, 46, was pulling something from his pocket as he shouted, and was about to attack him.
It said that police found nothing suspicious on the man's person.
Privately-owned Channel 10 TV said the dead man was believed to be mentally disturbed.
It cited witnesses as saying that the guard fired between seven and 10 bullets and that the fire was unjustified and that the man appeared to be a harmless eccentric.
Rosenfeld said the circumstances were still unclear.
"We're looking into the background: why the security officer opened fire and what the motives were of the guy, the 46-year-old -- it's very strange behavior."
The Western Wall is venerated by Jews as the last remnant of the wall supporting the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Above it is the compound housing the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the compound is a deeply sensitive location where clashes frequently break out between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli forces.
Jews are not allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
"There was a Jewish guy, an Israeli guy, who was in the bathroom area," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
"He for some reason shouted 'Allahu Akbar'," Rosenfeld said. "A security guard drew his weapon and fired several shots at the suspect... He died from his wounds a few moments ago."
The shooting took place shortly before 8 a.m. as the plaza in front of the Wall filled with worshipers for morning prayers ahead of the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown.
The site was closed to the public for at least an hour afterwards.
Paramedic Zeevi Hessed told news website NRG that his team rushed to the scene as reports of a shooting came in.
"When we reached the place, we saw him lying at the Western Wall plaza," he said. "He had been shot in several parts of his body... Sadly there was nothing we could do but declare him dead."
Rosenfeld said that an investigation had been opened into the shooting.
Public radio quoted the private security guard as telling police investigators that he thought the man, 46, was pulling something from his pocket as he shouted, and was about to attack him.
It said that police found nothing suspicious on the man's person.
Privately-owned Channel 10 TV said the dead man was believed to be mentally disturbed.
It cited witnesses as saying that the guard fired between seven and 10 bullets and that the fire was unjustified and that the man appeared to be a harmless eccentric.
Rosenfeld said the circumstances were still unclear.
"We're looking into the background: why the security officer opened fire and what the motives were of the guy, the 46-year-old -- it's very strange behavior."
The Western Wall is venerated by Jews as the last remnant of the wall supporting the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Above it is the compound housing the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the compound is a deeply sensitive location where clashes frequently break out between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli forces.
Jews are not allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Israeli and PA Preventive Security forces have stormed on Thursday different parts of Dura west of al-Khalil. Israeli patrols along with PA Preventive Security vehicles have roamed different parts of Dura town in al-Khalil in total provocation to the residents' feelings in light of the escalated Israeli demolition orders in the area, local sources said.
The sources added that the raid by Israeli and PA forces of the area classified as area C under full and exclusive Israeli control according to Oslo, caused tension and intimidation among the residents as they think the occupation is hiding some plans for them and will enlist the help of the PA security to implement them.
The sources added that the raid by Israeli and PA forces of the area classified as area C under full and exclusive Israeli control according to Oslo, caused tension and intimidation among the residents as they think the occupation is hiding some plans for them and will enlist the help of the PA security to implement them.
Europe must take a firmer line with Iran over its controversial nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday at the start of a working meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
"We need to exert pressure on them. We're not talking about political spin but about the spinning of centrifuges," he said in remarks communicated by his office.
"It must stop and I think it is up to Europe to join the United States and Israel and all the other elements in the international community in demanding a halt to Iran's nuclear program," he said in what appeared to be a rebuke.
Ashton's visit comes just six days after the election of moderate Hassan Rowhani as Iran's new president in what analysts have said could soothe tensions with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.
But Israel has refused to be mollified, with Netanyahu earlier this week warning the world not to "be tempted to ease pressure on Iran."
In response, Ashton acknowledged the importance of consulting with Netanyahu about the situation in Iran after the elections, the premier's office said.
"The real test regarding the elections in Iran will be if Iran changes its policy and stops enriching uranium, removes the nuclear material and closes the illegal nuclear facility at Qom," Netanyahu said.
Speaking later on Thursday, Netanyahu said the greatest threat facing Israel "is that the most dangerous weapons in the world fall into the hands of the most dangerous regimes in the world - especially one regime.
"We cannot allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons," he said at the closing panel of Shimon Peres's Presidential Conference.
"The test is not what they say, but what they do," he continued, and called on the international community to "keep up the pressure and keep to those demands."
Iran has been slapped with successive rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and also unilateral measures by the European Union and the United States.
The sanctions initially only targeted the nuclear and defense industries but then started to hurt the wider economy, causing concern among ordinary Iranians and even the leadership.
Netanyahu also took the opportunity to reiterate that only if Palestinians accepted a Jewish state and the "right of the Jews to live in their ancient homeland as a sovereign people" would a peace agreement be possible.
Earlier in his remarks to Ashton, Netanyahu also urged Europe to take steps to add Lebanon's Hezbollah movement to its list of international terrorist groups.
"I hope that elements in Europe who refuse to declare Hezbollah to be a terror organization will change their minds and I hope there will be a European consensus on that," he said, describing such a move as "the right thing to do."
So far, the 27-nation bloc has failed to reach agreement on whether to blacklist the Shiite militia, which would subject the group to an asset freeze, with experts meeting on the issue in Brussels on Wednesday.
Britain is openly in favor, but France and Italy are reluctant, fearing a negative impact on Lebanon where Hezbollah is the leading political group, and a possible backlash against the UN peacekeeping force in the south of the country.
Netanyahu and Ashton were also to discuss US peace efforts in a meeting which comes the day after she met President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
Netanyahu said that a renewal of direct negotiations without pre-conditions was "the right thing to do" and insisted on Israel's willingness to start immediately. "I hope that President Abbas is also ready," he said.
Direct talks broke down just weeks after they were started in September 2010 in a dispute over settlements.
A Palestinian demand that Israel freeze settlement construction and accept the 1967 lines as the basis for negotiations before resuming direct talks has been rejected by Israel as an unacceptable "pre-condition."
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who arrives in the region next week for his fifth visit since February, has been locked in an intensive bout of shuttle diplomacy in the hope of achieving a breakthrough, although there is no evidence of such so far.
"We need to exert pressure on them. We're not talking about political spin but about the spinning of centrifuges," he said in remarks communicated by his office.
"It must stop and I think it is up to Europe to join the United States and Israel and all the other elements in the international community in demanding a halt to Iran's nuclear program," he said in what appeared to be a rebuke.
Ashton's visit comes just six days after the election of moderate Hassan Rowhani as Iran's new president in what analysts have said could soothe tensions with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.
But Israel has refused to be mollified, with Netanyahu earlier this week warning the world not to "be tempted to ease pressure on Iran."
In response, Ashton acknowledged the importance of consulting with Netanyahu about the situation in Iran after the elections, the premier's office said.
"The real test regarding the elections in Iran will be if Iran changes its policy and stops enriching uranium, removes the nuclear material and closes the illegal nuclear facility at Qom," Netanyahu said.
Speaking later on Thursday, Netanyahu said the greatest threat facing Israel "is that the most dangerous weapons in the world fall into the hands of the most dangerous regimes in the world - especially one regime.
"We cannot allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons," he said at the closing panel of Shimon Peres's Presidential Conference.
"The test is not what they say, but what they do," he continued, and called on the international community to "keep up the pressure and keep to those demands."
Iran has been slapped with successive rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and also unilateral measures by the European Union and the United States.
The sanctions initially only targeted the nuclear and defense industries but then started to hurt the wider economy, causing concern among ordinary Iranians and even the leadership.
Netanyahu also took the opportunity to reiterate that only if Palestinians accepted a Jewish state and the "right of the Jews to live in their ancient homeland as a sovereign people" would a peace agreement be possible.
Earlier in his remarks to Ashton, Netanyahu also urged Europe to take steps to add Lebanon's Hezbollah movement to its list of international terrorist groups.
"I hope that elements in Europe who refuse to declare Hezbollah to be a terror organization will change their minds and I hope there will be a European consensus on that," he said, describing such a move as "the right thing to do."
So far, the 27-nation bloc has failed to reach agreement on whether to blacklist the Shiite militia, which would subject the group to an asset freeze, with experts meeting on the issue in Brussels on Wednesday.
Britain is openly in favor, but France and Italy are reluctant, fearing a negative impact on Lebanon where Hezbollah is the leading political group, and a possible backlash against the UN peacekeeping force in the south of the country.
Netanyahu and Ashton were also to discuss US peace efforts in a meeting which comes the day after she met President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
Netanyahu said that a renewal of direct negotiations without pre-conditions was "the right thing to do" and insisted on Israel's willingness to start immediately. "I hope that President Abbas is also ready," he said.
Direct talks broke down just weeks after they were started in September 2010 in a dispute over settlements.
A Palestinian demand that Israel freeze settlement construction and accept the 1967 lines as the basis for negotiations before resuming direct talks has been rejected by Israel as an unacceptable "pre-condition."
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who arrives in the region next week for his fifth visit since February, has been locked in an intensive bout of shuttle diplomacy in the hope of achieving a breakthrough, although there is no evidence of such so far.
20 june 2013
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Press TV has conducted an interview with Dr. Kevin Barrett, with the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance from Wisconsin, to shed more light on Zionist settlers’ protests against the austerity measures implemented by the Tel Aviv regime.
What follows is a rough transcription of the interview. Press TV: Dr. Barrett, why does Israel..., it appears to have money when it comes to its sophisticated military but when it comes to social programs, Tel Aviv seems to have problems now, wanting to spend the money on the programs that the people are demanding? Barrett: Well, I think that you have put your finger on it exactly. Israel has invested in the military industrial security complex, it has put all its chips in that basket and there is a limit to |
how far you can build an economy by simply building weapons and technologies for killing and forcibly controlling people.
Now I think that our guest was absolutely right that Israel is indeed one of the most, economically, unequal societies on earth as reflected in all statistics and I do not think that there is any disagreement about that but he is absolutely wrong in denying that Israel is not an apartheid state.
Even President Carter, a very middle of the road and moderate political figure, wrote a book called, Peace not Apartheid, pointing out that of course Israel is an apartheid state.
Where there are ‘Jews only’ roads, ‘Jews only’ neighborhoods; laws saying that, you know, Jews will be paid from all over the world to come to Israel whereas non-Jews have been ethnically cleansed and put in concentration camps.
The Gaza strip is the world’s largest concentration camp. There are concentration camps still in Lebanon, in Jordan, there are Palestinian refugees now numbered more than seven million around the world. These are rightful citizens of Israel-Palestine.
In the 1948, a brutal genocidal ethnic cleansing was perpetrated as the Israeli defense forces, at that time they were a terrorist group, the Stern Gang and so on, went around murdering people, bayoneting men, women and children, killing thousands, many thousands of people; strafing the boats and caravan as people tried to flee.
This mass murder drove, some say, as many as a million people out of Palestine and those are rightful citizens of the state of Israel-Palestine, they have still been ethnically cleansed.
If you are not a Jew in Palestine, or call it occupied Palestine AKA Israel, you are a second class citizen at best.
Press TV: Dr. Barrett you seem to have a comment on what our guest said in London.
Barrett: Well, in a sense he is right. Peace would greatly improve the economy and standards of living for everyone in the occupied Palestine.
But the only way to have peace is to have at least a modicum of justice and that means undoing the 1948 genocide and certainly the 1967 war of aggression.
Every country in the world recognizes that the occupied territories do not belong to Israel and that Israel does not have the right to settle even one person on those territories and yet they have settled half a million people there.
So as long as that is going on, obviously there is going to be legitimate resistance. People, who are occupied, legally, under international law have the clear and inarguable right to resist occupation, militarily if necessary.
So yes, we need peace but the only way to peace is through justice.
Press TV: Ok Dr. Barrett sorry for interrupting you but I want to look at, again, this economic aspect of things.
The United States is giving Israel approximately 8.5 million dollars a day in military aid.
I want to talk about a population of just over 7.5 million, it would appear that with that aid and other aids, that that would be more than enough for this entity to sustain itself and not be experiencing this economic pressure.
Why do you think..., what is the bottom reason that you think that Israelis are, actually, now experiencing these austerity measures?
Barrett: Well, this is kind of a paradox, is not it?
As you said the US is giving seven million plus, a day to Israel. That is actually a low estimate, it does not count all kinds of hidden subsidies.
If you, actually, add up everything that US is spending on Israel as a Christian Science Monitor article did about several years ago; they found that the US taxpayer has subsidized Israel to a total of well over a trillion dollars, probably close to two trillion dollars.
The US is throwing tidal waves of money at this last settler colonial state in the world. The others: South Africa and French Algeria and, you know, British Rhodesia, have all been dismantled but we have got one last settler colonial state in the world, the US taxpayers propping it up. For the details on that go to: Ifamericansknew.org.
So why cannot Israel manage to have a prosperous economy when it is being massively subsidized by the American taxpayers?
Well, I think it is again because they are focusing entirely on the military and security end of things and the military spending kills economies.
There is a great website called: realeconomy.com that shows that, actually, every dollar spent on the military is vastly worse for the economy than even just spending that dollar by having people dig holes and fill them up again would be, because military spending has a long list of negative economic effects.
So if you build a country’s economy on nothing but the military, as Israel has, you are digging your own grave and those who live by the sword, die by the sword and Israel is very close to dying by the sword.
Press TV: What about that Dr. Barrett? Israel is no different from any other country in the world experiencing these economic downturns?
Barrett: Well, this is actually quite humorous to hear the guest saying that it is a two-way traffic. That is that the US is getting back something from Israel, he cannot say what.
Well, yeah we are getting a lot of cheap Chinese artwork sold by Mossad agents, who come over here and pose as art students.
We know that before 9/11, 200 Mossad agents were over here tracking the alleged 19 hijackers’ every move, they were caught while they were celebrating the destruction of the World Trade Center, they were identified as Mossad agents, they were sent back to Israel and they confessed on Israeli TV that they were sent to New York to “document the event”.
So yes, here in America we are getting something for that trillion plus dollars that we have given to Israel.
We are getting the World Trade Center blown up in order to create an Israeli-style security state here and to destroy our constitution, to be a basically an occupied country.
The US is an Israeli occupied territory right now post 9/11. September 11th was plotted by Project for the New American Century and the neo-conservatives to turn America to war against Israel’s enemies forever.
That is what we are getting for the trillion dollars we have handed to Israel as a tax on America.
Press TV: Well, Dr. Barrett some political and military analysts are saying that with more and more Israelis taking to the streets and, actually, trying to put pressure on the government there, that there is a higher possibility that Israel could initiate another war or confrontation in order to sidetrack or sideline the domestic demands and try to bring the sense of unity amongst the people in fighting a common enemy.
Your take on that Sir?
Barrett: Yes, the Israelis have been doing this forever. Israeli society is fractious, disunited, made up of a lot of groups that do not get along very well.
Even the Sephardic Jews, who were brought under false pretenses and settled in Israel, have been widely mistreated.
We have had the Ethiopians sterilized, others, Moroccan Jews were subjected to horrific radiation experiments that left incredible damage on the health of these people.
So yes, it is a very disunited society and the only way they can try to bring together their so-called Jewish state, is by trying to unite everybody in hatred of their common enemy, which is, basically, all of the people of the region that they are part of and to a lesser extent, the entire world.
They are always talking about how the whole world hated them and so on and so they have been starting wars and creating attacks, they even create a lot of false flag attacks, precisely in order to distract their own people from the conditions in the country including the economic troubles.
And I would not be surprised if Netanyahu’s recent decision to attack Syria, his efforts to escalate the war on Syria and his endless and tireless efforts to try to start a war with Iran and then drag the US into it to do his own fighting for him; might escalate, given these economic problems and these protests in Israel.
Press TV: We are just about out of time but Dr. Barrett how do you see this?
Is this just systematic of an elitist system showing more and more its true colors as far as the way it is treating the difference between the haves and haves not?
Barrett: Yes, as I said earlier it is one of the most unequal societies in the world, not even counting the ethnic victims huddling in concentration camps, drinking water polluted with sewage, getting white phosphorus dropped on them, having their children shot down on a regular basis for sport by the IDF troops.
So it is a terribly unequal situation and the only answer the way to restore peace and prosperity to occupied Palestine is peace with justice and that means, it’s very simple, it means right of return, allowing all Palestinian ethnic cleansing victims to be first class citizens of a united Israel-Palestine.
Once that happens they can stop wasting all their money on these outlandish military and security measures and they can build a vibrant economy and lead the whole Middle East to prosperity.
Now I think that our guest was absolutely right that Israel is indeed one of the most, economically, unequal societies on earth as reflected in all statistics and I do not think that there is any disagreement about that but he is absolutely wrong in denying that Israel is not an apartheid state.
Even President Carter, a very middle of the road and moderate political figure, wrote a book called, Peace not Apartheid, pointing out that of course Israel is an apartheid state.
Where there are ‘Jews only’ roads, ‘Jews only’ neighborhoods; laws saying that, you know, Jews will be paid from all over the world to come to Israel whereas non-Jews have been ethnically cleansed and put in concentration camps.
The Gaza strip is the world’s largest concentration camp. There are concentration camps still in Lebanon, in Jordan, there are Palestinian refugees now numbered more than seven million around the world. These are rightful citizens of Israel-Palestine.
In the 1948, a brutal genocidal ethnic cleansing was perpetrated as the Israeli defense forces, at that time they were a terrorist group, the Stern Gang and so on, went around murdering people, bayoneting men, women and children, killing thousands, many thousands of people; strafing the boats and caravan as people tried to flee.
This mass murder drove, some say, as many as a million people out of Palestine and those are rightful citizens of the state of Israel-Palestine, they have still been ethnically cleansed.
If you are not a Jew in Palestine, or call it occupied Palestine AKA Israel, you are a second class citizen at best.
Press TV: Dr. Barrett you seem to have a comment on what our guest said in London.
Barrett: Well, in a sense he is right. Peace would greatly improve the economy and standards of living for everyone in the occupied Palestine.
But the only way to have peace is to have at least a modicum of justice and that means undoing the 1948 genocide and certainly the 1967 war of aggression.
Every country in the world recognizes that the occupied territories do not belong to Israel and that Israel does not have the right to settle even one person on those territories and yet they have settled half a million people there.
So as long as that is going on, obviously there is going to be legitimate resistance. People, who are occupied, legally, under international law have the clear and inarguable right to resist occupation, militarily if necessary.
So yes, we need peace but the only way to peace is through justice.
Press TV: Ok Dr. Barrett sorry for interrupting you but I want to look at, again, this economic aspect of things.
The United States is giving Israel approximately 8.5 million dollars a day in military aid.
I want to talk about a population of just over 7.5 million, it would appear that with that aid and other aids, that that would be more than enough for this entity to sustain itself and not be experiencing this economic pressure.
Why do you think..., what is the bottom reason that you think that Israelis are, actually, now experiencing these austerity measures?
Barrett: Well, this is kind of a paradox, is not it?
As you said the US is giving seven million plus, a day to Israel. That is actually a low estimate, it does not count all kinds of hidden subsidies.
If you, actually, add up everything that US is spending on Israel as a Christian Science Monitor article did about several years ago; they found that the US taxpayer has subsidized Israel to a total of well over a trillion dollars, probably close to two trillion dollars.
The US is throwing tidal waves of money at this last settler colonial state in the world. The others: South Africa and French Algeria and, you know, British Rhodesia, have all been dismantled but we have got one last settler colonial state in the world, the US taxpayers propping it up. For the details on that go to: Ifamericansknew.org.
So why cannot Israel manage to have a prosperous economy when it is being massively subsidized by the American taxpayers?
Well, I think it is again because they are focusing entirely on the military and security end of things and the military spending kills economies.
There is a great website called: realeconomy.com that shows that, actually, every dollar spent on the military is vastly worse for the economy than even just spending that dollar by having people dig holes and fill them up again would be, because military spending has a long list of negative economic effects.
So if you build a country’s economy on nothing but the military, as Israel has, you are digging your own grave and those who live by the sword, die by the sword and Israel is very close to dying by the sword.
Press TV: What about that Dr. Barrett? Israel is no different from any other country in the world experiencing these economic downturns?
Barrett: Well, this is actually quite humorous to hear the guest saying that it is a two-way traffic. That is that the US is getting back something from Israel, he cannot say what.
Well, yeah we are getting a lot of cheap Chinese artwork sold by Mossad agents, who come over here and pose as art students.
We know that before 9/11, 200 Mossad agents were over here tracking the alleged 19 hijackers’ every move, they were caught while they were celebrating the destruction of the World Trade Center, they were identified as Mossad agents, they were sent back to Israel and they confessed on Israeli TV that they were sent to New York to “document the event”.
So yes, here in America we are getting something for that trillion plus dollars that we have given to Israel.
We are getting the World Trade Center blown up in order to create an Israeli-style security state here and to destroy our constitution, to be a basically an occupied country.
The US is an Israeli occupied territory right now post 9/11. September 11th was plotted by Project for the New American Century and the neo-conservatives to turn America to war against Israel’s enemies forever.
That is what we are getting for the trillion dollars we have handed to Israel as a tax on America.
Press TV: Well, Dr. Barrett some political and military analysts are saying that with more and more Israelis taking to the streets and, actually, trying to put pressure on the government there, that there is a higher possibility that Israel could initiate another war or confrontation in order to sidetrack or sideline the domestic demands and try to bring the sense of unity amongst the people in fighting a common enemy.
Your take on that Sir?
Barrett: Yes, the Israelis have been doing this forever. Israeli society is fractious, disunited, made up of a lot of groups that do not get along very well.
Even the Sephardic Jews, who were brought under false pretenses and settled in Israel, have been widely mistreated.
We have had the Ethiopians sterilized, others, Moroccan Jews were subjected to horrific radiation experiments that left incredible damage on the health of these people.
So yes, it is a very disunited society and the only way they can try to bring together their so-called Jewish state, is by trying to unite everybody in hatred of their common enemy, which is, basically, all of the people of the region that they are part of and to a lesser extent, the entire world.
They are always talking about how the whole world hated them and so on and so they have been starting wars and creating attacks, they even create a lot of false flag attacks, precisely in order to distract their own people from the conditions in the country including the economic troubles.
And I would not be surprised if Netanyahu’s recent decision to attack Syria, his efforts to escalate the war on Syria and his endless and tireless efforts to try to start a war with Iran and then drag the US into it to do his own fighting for him; might escalate, given these economic problems and these protests in Israel.
Press TV: We are just about out of time but Dr. Barrett how do you see this?
Is this just systematic of an elitist system showing more and more its true colors as far as the way it is treating the difference between the haves and haves not?
Barrett: Yes, as I said earlier it is one of the most unequal societies in the world, not even counting the ethnic victims huddling in concentration camps, drinking water polluted with sewage, getting white phosphorus dropped on them, having their children shot down on a regular basis for sport by the IDF troops.
So it is a terribly unequal situation and the only answer the way to restore peace and prosperity to occupied Palestine is peace with justice and that means, it’s very simple, it means right of return, allowing all Palestinian ethnic cleansing victims to be first class citizens of a united Israel-Palestine.
Once that happens they can stop wasting all their money on these outlandish military and security measures and they can build a vibrant economy and lead the whole Middle East to prosperity.
Arab Knesset member Ahmed Al-Tibi said the price tag attacks that are launched by Jewish settlers on the Palestinian natives and their property in the occupied Palestinian lands are the result of the racist laws that were sanctioned by the Israeli government. Tibi made his remarks in a UN conference held on Wednesday in Beijing on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"Israel pursues a racial discrimination policy against the Arab minority in the 1948 occupied lands and does not deal with them as citizens with equal rights; therefore, we appeal to the UN members as states and organizations to pressure the Israeli government and help the Arab minority, the rightful owner of land, in its struggle against the wave of racism," Tibi stated.
He affirmed that the Israeli government started to study proposals and draft laws that would worsen the situation against the Arabs such as the military service law, the oath of loyalty to the Jewish state and the abolition of the Arabic language as an official language.
The lawmaker noted that one of the most dangerous plans prepared by the Israeli government against the Palestinians in the 1948 occupied land is its intention to displace thousands of Bedouin families from their villages in the Negev area and seize their lands.
"Israel pursues a racial discrimination policy against the Arab minority in the 1948 occupied lands and does not deal with them as citizens with equal rights; therefore, we appeal to the UN members as states and organizations to pressure the Israeli government and help the Arab minority, the rightful owner of land, in its struggle against the wave of racism," Tibi stated.
He affirmed that the Israeli government started to study proposals and draft laws that would worsen the situation against the Arabs such as the military service law, the oath of loyalty to the Jewish state and the abolition of the Arabic language as an official language.
The lawmaker noted that one of the most dangerous plans prepared by the Israeli government against the Palestinians in the 1948 occupied land is its intention to displace thousands of Bedouin families from their villages in the Negev area and seize their lands.
16 june 2013
Demonstrators protest outside Israel’s Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s home in Tel Aviv on June 15, 2013
Hundreds of people have once again taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against a controversial plan to export natural gas and economic problems facing the Israeli regime.
The protesters marched on Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s home on Saturday night.
The demonstrators also blocked Namir Road, one of Tel Aviv’s main highways. The protesters carried placards reading, Stop the gas theft.
The protesters say gas exports would see every Israeli household losing USD 832 annually.
One of the protest organizers said, “We are protesting the hijacking of the gas, and we demand this action will be discussed by the Knesset. It is a critical economic matter that would affect the next 50 years and that is why we demand a transparent and public debate.”
Discontented Israelis almost regularly take to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest against the regime’s economic plans and the painful austerity measures, which would raise income and value-added taxes and cut welfare benefits.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Israelis face high rates of poverty.
Hundreds of people have once again taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against a controversial plan to export natural gas and economic problems facing the Israeli regime.
The protesters marched on Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s home on Saturday night.
The demonstrators also blocked Namir Road, one of Tel Aviv’s main highways. The protesters carried placards reading, Stop the gas theft.
The protesters say gas exports would see every Israeli household losing USD 832 annually.
One of the protest organizers said, “We are protesting the hijacking of the gas, and we demand this action will be discussed by the Knesset. It is a critical economic matter that would affect the next 50 years and that is why we demand a transparent and public debate.”
Discontented Israelis almost regularly take to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest against the regime’s economic plans and the painful austerity measures, which would raise income and value-added taxes and cut welfare benefits.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Israelis face high rates of poverty.
15 june 2013
Speaker of the Palestinian legislative council Aziz Dweik said that the latest remarks voiced by Danny Danon, Israel's deputy war minister, were racist and reflected serious intents to carry out the plan of the alternative homeland for the Palestinian people. Dweik made his remarks in response to Danon's recent statement to an Israeli TV channel in which he said that the Palestinian dream about a two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank was a delusion and would not come true.
Danon also said that the Palestinians would live in isolated cantons in the future under the administration of Jordan, while the Jewish settlers would live in the West Bank as citizens.
"There is no doubt that this tale is out of context, although we have been hearing for a long time about a confederation with Jordan," speaker Dweik said in a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC).
"I believe that these remarks, albeit out of context, reflect that the Zionist negotiation team really want to create a [Palestinian] confederation with Jordan and flout the concept of the Palestinian state with full sovereignty, and this is a kind of blatant aggression against the holy city which Israel seeks to take away from the Palestinian territories," Dweik added.
"These remarks have exposed not only the real image of Israel, but also everyone negotiating with it, and this situation poses a very serious threat to the Palestinian cause, whose responsibility was assigned to the wrong people unfortunately," he emphasized.
The speaker also said that US secretary of State John Kerry is on a dirty mission in the region aimed at helping the Israelis to fulfil their Zionist project on the Palestinian land through implementing their transfer plan against the Palestinians.
Danon also said that the Palestinians would live in isolated cantons in the future under the administration of Jordan, while the Jewish settlers would live in the West Bank as citizens.
"There is no doubt that this tale is out of context, although we have been hearing for a long time about a confederation with Jordan," speaker Dweik said in a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC).
"I believe that these remarks, albeit out of context, reflect that the Zionist negotiation team really want to create a [Palestinian] confederation with Jordan and flout the concept of the Palestinian state with full sovereignty, and this is a kind of blatant aggression against the holy city which Israel seeks to take away from the Palestinian territories," Dweik added.
"These remarks have exposed not only the real image of Israel, but also everyone negotiating with it, and this situation poses a very serious threat to the Palestinian cause, whose responsibility was assigned to the wrong people unfortunately," he emphasized.
The speaker also said that US secretary of State John Kerry is on a dirty mission in the region aimed at helping the Israelis to fulfil their Zionist project on the Palestinian land through implementing their transfer plan against the Palestinians.
13 june 2013
Israeli TV, Channel 1, aired an interview with Israeli deputy Defense Minister, Member of Knesset (MK) Danny Danon, who said that there will never be a Palestinian State, and that the Palestinians are "settlers", should be part of Jordan.
During the interview, Danon said that “the Public should not be misled”, as Israel would never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, whether the United States sends envoys or not, whether it presents initiatives or not.
When asked if Israel would “annex” the West Bank, Dannon said that Israel will not do so, but will continue its settlements activities “on vacant lands in the West Bank”, and will act onto turning the Palestinian areas into “settlements”.
“Jews in the West Bank aren’t settlers anymore, they are citizens of the state of Israel”, the Israeli official said, “Israel will turn the Palestinians into settlers under Jordanian authority, and this is that…”
He further stated that several Israeli members of Knesset agree with his opinions despite the fact they do not go public about them.
Talking to Channel 1, deputy Knesset spokesperson Dr. Ahmad Tibi, leader of Ta'al Party, stated that the statements of Dannon are very serious and dangerous.
“Dannon is the most ‘truthful extremist’ in the Israeli government of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu”, Tibi said, “Unlike other officials, he does not hide the dangerous intentions and plans of the Israeli government; he does now hide his extremist ideology”.
Dr. Tibi added that many Israeli government ministers and officials, including Netanyahu himself, agree with the opinions of Dannon, and are deliberately placing obstacles in front of U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and any official or government that tries to restart peace talks.
Furthermore, Knesset Member, Ofer Shelah, of Yesh Atid (There Is Future) party, stated that “Israel is becoming the new South Africa”, the Maan News Agency have reported.
“What Dannon is saying is similar to what white settlers used to say in South Africa” Shelah stated, “Jewish settlements in the West Bank are a major obstacle to any peace agreement, the Israeli occupation corrupts the Israeli society”.
During the interview, Danon said that “the Public should not be misled”, as Israel would never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, whether the United States sends envoys or not, whether it presents initiatives or not.
When asked if Israel would “annex” the West Bank, Dannon said that Israel will not do so, but will continue its settlements activities “on vacant lands in the West Bank”, and will act onto turning the Palestinian areas into “settlements”.
“Jews in the West Bank aren’t settlers anymore, they are citizens of the state of Israel”, the Israeli official said, “Israel will turn the Palestinians into settlers under Jordanian authority, and this is that…”
He further stated that several Israeli members of Knesset agree with his opinions despite the fact they do not go public about them.
Talking to Channel 1, deputy Knesset spokesperson Dr. Ahmad Tibi, leader of Ta'al Party, stated that the statements of Dannon are very serious and dangerous.
“Dannon is the most ‘truthful extremist’ in the Israeli government of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu”, Tibi said, “Unlike other officials, he does not hide the dangerous intentions and plans of the Israeli government; he does now hide his extremist ideology”.
Dr. Tibi added that many Israeli government ministers and officials, including Netanyahu himself, agree with the opinions of Dannon, and are deliberately placing obstacles in front of U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and any official or government that tries to restart peace talks.
Furthermore, Knesset Member, Ofer Shelah, of Yesh Atid (There Is Future) party, stated that “Israel is becoming the new South Africa”, the Maan News Agency have reported.
“What Dannon is saying is similar to what white settlers used to say in South Africa” Shelah stated, “Jewish settlements in the West Bank are a major obstacle to any peace agreement, the Israeli occupation corrupts the Israeli society”.
Burning the Israeli flag will count as an act of "terrorism" according to the new bill
Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights revealed details of the so-called "Anti-Terror Bill" submitted by Tzipi Livni to the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation. Ahmad al-Bitawi, a researcher at the Foundation, confirmed that in case the bill is approved by the Israeli Knesset, it would replace the "national state of emergency regulations".
The law, introduced in 2010 by the Israeli Justice, Foreign and War ministries and the Shin Bet, particularly targets Palestinians and the indigenous Arab population in Israel, Bitawi said.
Bitawi confirmed that this law strengthens Shin Bet powers and legalizes the administrative detention. It does not only target those “convicted of terror attacks”, but also those who express support, allows confining “suspects” up to 30 days without granting them the right to any legal representation, he explained.
For his part, Asim Assida a specialist at the Foundation reported that, under the new law, persons who even express support to groups labeled by Israel as “hostile” or “terrorist” could be convicted as "terrorist", including charity groups who are affiliated to these groups.
It also considers financial support or show of sympathy to these organizations as an “act of terror”, he added.
According to this law, the Israeli War Ministry is entitled to declare any organization as "terrorist" without giving a chance to the "suspects" to defend themselves or to appeal against the decision, he added.
Under this law, any Palestinian who throws a cigarette that causes fire could be labeled as "terrorist,” he continued
Such simple charge could lead to the imprisonment of the accused up to three years, he explained.
Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights revealed details of the so-called "Anti-Terror Bill" submitted by Tzipi Livni to the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation. Ahmad al-Bitawi, a researcher at the Foundation, confirmed that in case the bill is approved by the Israeli Knesset, it would replace the "national state of emergency regulations".
The law, introduced in 2010 by the Israeli Justice, Foreign and War ministries and the Shin Bet, particularly targets Palestinians and the indigenous Arab population in Israel, Bitawi said.
Bitawi confirmed that this law strengthens Shin Bet powers and legalizes the administrative detention. It does not only target those “convicted of terror attacks”, but also those who express support, allows confining “suspects” up to 30 days without granting them the right to any legal representation, he explained.
For his part, Asim Assida a specialist at the Foundation reported that, under the new law, persons who even express support to groups labeled by Israel as “hostile” or “terrorist” could be convicted as "terrorist", including charity groups who are affiliated to these groups.
It also considers financial support or show of sympathy to these organizations as an “act of terror”, he added.
According to this law, the Israeli War Ministry is entitled to declare any organization as "terrorist" without giving a chance to the "suspects" to defend themselves or to appeal against the decision, he added.
Under this law, any Palestinian who throws a cigarette that causes fire could be labeled as "terrorist,” he continued
Such simple charge could lead to the imprisonment of the accused up to three years, he explained.
Israeli military sources claimed, on Thursday evening {June 12 2013] that gunmen opened fire at a settlement bus driving, close to the Huwwara military roadblock, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The Bus driver stated that he heard a number of live rounds, and that dozens of soldiers rushed to the scene, and found some bullet holes, no injuries.
The army then closed the area, declared it a military zone and started a search campaign.
In other news, Israeli Ynet News reported that two Israeli settlers have been apprehended by the army on suspicion of throwing stones at a house in Burin Palestinian village, near Nablus.
The army then closed the area, declared it a military zone and started a search campaign.
In other news, Israeli Ynet News reported that two Israeli settlers have been apprehended by the army on suspicion of throwing stones at a house in Burin Palestinian village, near Nablus.
11 june 2013
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights Richard Falk
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights has condemned the Israeli regime for its long-time occupation of Palestinian territories and violation of the human rights of the Palestinians.
Richard Falk made the remarks on Monday while presenting his latest report at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“Forty-six years ago today Israel's occupation of Palestine began. Six days of war has turned into 46 years of occupation,” Falk told the Geneva forum.
He described the treatment of “thousands of Palestinians detained or imprisoned by Israel” as being “extremely worrisome,” and called for an international inquiry into the situation of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
He said there are 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli custody at the moment and 750,000 Palestinians have gone through detention in Israeli jails since the regime’s occupation of the Palestinian territories began in 1967.
The Israeli violations were happening on a “massive scale,” and included detention without charges, “torture and other forms of ill, inhumane and humiliating treatment,” solitary confinement and the denial of family visits, the UN rapporteur said.
Falk, who visited Gaza in December 2012, also called on the Tel Aviv regime to end the blockade of Gaza, which he said is a “collective punishment of 1.75 million Palestinians.”
“With 70 percent of the population dependent on international aid for survival and 90 percent of the water unfit for human consumption, drastic and urgent changes are urgently required if Palestinians in Gaza are to have their most basic rights protected,” he added.
The representatives of the Israeli regime and the United States were absent as the UN rapporteur made his comments.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights has condemned the Israeli regime for its long-time occupation of Palestinian territories and violation of the human rights of the Palestinians.
Richard Falk made the remarks on Monday while presenting his latest report at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“Forty-six years ago today Israel's occupation of Palestine began. Six days of war has turned into 46 years of occupation,” Falk told the Geneva forum.
He described the treatment of “thousands of Palestinians detained or imprisoned by Israel” as being “extremely worrisome,” and called for an international inquiry into the situation of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
He said there are 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli custody at the moment and 750,000 Palestinians have gone through detention in Israeli jails since the regime’s occupation of the Palestinian territories began in 1967.
The Israeli violations were happening on a “massive scale,” and included detention without charges, “torture and other forms of ill, inhumane and humiliating treatment,” solitary confinement and the denial of family visits, the UN rapporteur said.
Falk, who visited Gaza in December 2012, also called on the Tel Aviv regime to end the blockade of Gaza, which he said is a “collective punishment of 1.75 million Palestinians.”
“With 70 percent of the population dependent on international aid for survival and 90 percent of the water unfit for human consumption, drastic and urgent changes are urgently required if Palestinians in Gaza are to have their most basic rights protected,” he added.
The representatives of the Israeli regime and the United States were absent as the UN rapporteur made his comments.
9 june 2013
Dozens of Jerusalemites demonstrated on Saturday evening in Jerusalem city against the Israeli Festival of Lights, which started last week. The demonstration was launched from Al-Aqsa Mosque towards the Wad Street, right down to the Damascus Gate. Clashes took place between the Jerusalemites and the Israeli settlers who flocked to the city to join the Festival of Lights.
The Palestinian protestors raised the Palestinian flags, confirming that despite all the Israeli attempts to falsify the culture and history of Jerusalem, the Arab identity of the city will never change.
The Festival of Lights was organized by the Jerusalem Development Authority, with the participation of the Jerusalem Municipality and a number of Israeli ministries; as the ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, in the streets and alleyways of the city of Jerusalem
Meanwhile, Hebrew sources revealed the intention of the Israeli occupation authorities to hold an international car race in the occupied city of Jerusalem this weekend.
According to what was published; Israel ended the preparations for the organization of the Formula 1 race, which will take place on Thursday and Friday in the occupied city of Jerusalem with the participation of the Ferrari World team, under the sponsorship Kaspersky Company specialized in computer protection programs.
Between ten to thirteen Ferrari cars are expected to participate in the race, which will be launched from the neighborhoods in the western part of Jerusalem towards the eastern part, in the vicinity of the Old City wall.
For its part; the Jerusalem's Sports Federations Group asserted that the Ferrari race comes within the framework of the Judaization plans implemented by the occupation in the city of Jerusalem.
The group pointed out that the race will take place with the participation of world players such as Giancarlo Fisichella, adding that these players are taking part in the race without being aware of Israel's Judaization schemes, violations, attacks and abuses against the Jerusalemites and their properties.
The Palestinian protestors raised the Palestinian flags, confirming that despite all the Israeli attempts to falsify the culture and history of Jerusalem, the Arab identity of the city will never change.
The Festival of Lights was organized by the Jerusalem Development Authority, with the participation of the Jerusalem Municipality and a number of Israeli ministries; as the ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, in the streets and alleyways of the city of Jerusalem
Meanwhile, Hebrew sources revealed the intention of the Israeli occupation authorities to hold an international car race in the occupied city of Jerusalem this weekend.
According to what was published; Israel ended the preparations for the organization of the Formula 1 race, which will take place on Thursday and Friday in the occupied city of Jerusalem with the participation of the Ferrari World team, under the sponsorship Kaspersky Company specialized in computer protection programs.
Between ten to thirteen Ferrari cars are expected to participate in the race, which will be launched from the neighborhoods in the western part of Jerusalem towards the eastern part, in the vicinity of the Old City wall.
For its part; the Jerusalem's Sports Federations Group asserted that the Ferrari race comes within the framework of the Judaization plans implemented by the occupation in the city of Jerusalem.
The group pointed out that the race will take place with the participation of world players such as Giancarlo Fisichella, adding that these players are taking part in the race without being aware of Israel's Judaization schemes, violations, attacks and abuses against the Jerusalemites and their properties.
7 june 2013
By: Moses Gold
A Jewish baby died after choking on his mother’s breast milk just minutes after going through a ritual circumcision procedure, according to hospital officials in Israel.
The incident happened while the baby’s family were celebrating the circumcision. The baby was rushed to the hospital, but died a week after the incident.
A rescue worker of United Hatzalah of Holon, who arrived at the scene, performed CPR on the baby. The baby was taken to Wolfson Hospital in critical condition. The initial investigation determined that the baby suffocated while his mother was attempting to breastfeed while the child was crying.
"When I arrived in the synagogue, the baby was blue, without a pulse and not breathing," Yehuda Mizrahi, head of the United Hatzalah branch in Bat Yam, said. "I immediately began performing CPR, and within minutes, I was joined by other paramedics. After about 20 minutes, the baby’s pulse returned. The ambulance then took the baby to the hospital," Mizrahi added.
"The incident happened about an hour after the circumcision, during a party held in celebration of the event.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel also conducted an investigation in order to clarify the details of the case. The initial results do not show any link between the circumcision and the baby’s death.
The mohel, who performed the circumcision, is a veteran certified mohel. The mohel, also accompanied the family to the hospital.
Related:
Circumcision is Biblical rite of passage
Police investigate baby's death after circumcision
A Jewish baby died after choking on his mother’s breast milk just minutes after going through a ritual circumcision procedure, according to hospital officials in Israel.
The incident happened while the baby’s family were celebrating the circumcision. The baby was rushed to the hospital, but died a week after the incident.
A rescue worker of United Hatzalah of Holon, who arrived at the scene, performed CPR on the baby. The baby was taken to Wolfson Hospital in critical condition. The initial investigation determined that the baby suffocated while his mother was attempting to breastfeed while the child was crying.
"When I arrived in the synagogue, the baby was blue, without a pulse and not breathing," Yehuda Mizrahi, head of the United Hatzalah branch in Bat Yam, said. "I immediately began performing CPR, and within minutes, I was joined by other paramedics. After about 20 minutes, the baby’s pulse returned. The ambulance then took the baby to the hospital," Mizrahi added.
"The incident happened about an hour after the circumcision, during a party held in celebration of the event.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel also conducted an investigation in order to clarify the details of the case. The initial results do not show any link between the circumcision and the baby’s death.
The mohel, who performed the circumcision, is a veteran certified mohel. The mohel, also accompanied the family to the hospital.
Related:
Circumcision is Biblical rite of passage
Police investigate baby's death after circumcision
Israeli soldiers patrol next to the border fence on border with Syria, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Fearful that the Syrian civil war, jihadist terrorists or Lebanese Hezbollah fighters will spill into Israel, the country’s military engineers are rushing to complete their latest “smart fence,” this one in the occupied Golan Heights. Here along the tense boundary with Syria, fighting raged Thursday as Syrian rebels and government forces battled for control of a crossing in the latest violent incident that is inching the Syrian war closer to Israeli-held territory.
As the threat of spillover mounts, Israel is replacing an old, broken-down fence — so low that a goat could hop over it — with an intimidating steel barricade. The fortification features concertina and razor wire, touch sensors, motion detectors, infrared cameras and ground radar.
When the 45-mile fence is finished in the coming months, Israel will have taken another big step in surrounding itself with barriers. Rather than tearing down old walls, Israel is rebuilding and bolstering its ring of ground fortifications, even as old threats such as Palestinian suicide bombers have receded and new ones such as a potential nuclear-armed Iran arise.
The Israelis build the world’s most sophisticated fences, drawing international delegations that want to see the latest in barrier technology. But some Israelis worry that the fences are a metaphor for weakness as much as they are for strength and that the barriers have increased a sense of isolation.
“For me, the message is clear: The idea of peace with our neighbors is going away, and the fences are a symbol of that reality,” said retired Brig. Gen. Nachman Shai, a member of the Israeli parliament and a former chief spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli military commanders say the fences work, offering protection against crowds of protesters and incursions by gun smugglers, illegal migrants and enemies who travel on foot. At the same time, they concede that in the battlefield of today and tomorrow, the barriers do little to protect Israel from long-range rockets fired from Lebanon, Iran or the Gaza Strip.
Last month, while on an official visit to China, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked a tourist site that reminded him of home.
“Just like the Chinese protected themselves and defended themselves with the Great Wall,” Netanyahu said, “so we will continue to defend ourselves on the southern border, the Golan Heights and on all fronts.”
‘Fortress Israel’
The Israeli fence network is almost complete — in the north, along the Lebanon border, where the militant organization Hezbollah is the threat; to the northeast, along the Golan Heights boundary with Syria; to the south, abutting Egypt’s lawless Sinai Peninsula.
Israeli military engineers are drawing up plans for a final stretch along the peaceful border with Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.
The fence line — and the accompanying watch towers, patrol roads, intelligence centers and military brigades — stretch across vast deserts to snowy mountains, along river valleys and into the Mediterranean surf.
Fearful that the Syrian civil war, jihadist terrorists or Lebanese Hezbollah fighters will spill into Israel, the country’s military engineers are rushing to complete their latest “smart fence,” this one in the occupied Golan Heights. Here along the tense boundary with Syria, fighting raged Thursday as Syrian rebels and government forces battled for control of a crossing in the latest violent incident that is inching the Syrian war closer to Israeli-held territory.
As the threat of spillover mounts, Israel is replacing an old, broken-down fence — so low that a goat could hop over it — with an intimidating steel barricade. The fortification features concertina and razor wire, touch sensors, motion detectors, infrared cameras and ground radar.
When the 45-mile fence is finished in the coming months, Israel will have taken another big step in surrounding itself with barriers. Rather than tearing down old walls, Israel is rebuilding and bolstering its ring of ground fortifications, even as old threats such as Palestinian suicide bombers have receded and new ones such as a potential nuclear-armed Iran arise.
The Israelis build the world’s most sophisticated fences, drawing international delegations that want to see the latest in barrier technology. But some Israelis worry that the fences are a metaphor for weakness as much as they are for strength and that the barriers have increased a sense of isolation.
“For me, the message is clear: The idea of peace with our neighbors is going away, and the fences are a symbol of that reality,” said retired Brig. Gen. Nachman Shai, a member of the Israeli parliament and a former chief spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli military commanders say the fences work, offering protection against crowds of protesters and incursions by gun smugglers, illegal migrants and enemies who travel on foot. At the same time, they concede that in the battlefield of today and tomorrow, the barriers do little to protect Israel from long-range rockets fired from Lebanon, Iran or the Gaza Strip.
Last month, while on an official visit to China, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked a tourist site that reminded him of home.
“Just like the Chinese protected themselves and defended themselves with the Great Wall,” Netanyahu said, “so we will continue to defend ourselves on the southern border, the Golan Heights and on all fronts.”
‘Fortress Israel’
The Israeli fence network is almost complete — in the north, along the Lebanon border, where the militant organization Hezbollah is the threat; to the northeast, along the Golan Heights boundary with Syria; to the south, abutting Egypt’s lawless Sinai Peninsula.
Israeli military engineers are drawing up plans for a final stretch along the peaceful border with Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.
The fence line — and the accompanying watch towers, patrol roads, intelligence centers and military brigades — stretch across vast deserts to snowy mountains, along river valleys and into the Mediterranean surf.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) claimed that they have prevented 27 kidnapping attempts targeting their soldiers organized by Palestinians since the beginning of this year, Ha'aretz newspaper reported on Friday. The newspaper reports in its Friday edition that newly released data reveals that the first kidnapping attempt that took place this year was similar to a previous one that took place last year in 2012.
According to the paper, Israeli forces are worried about the kidnapping of their soldiers on the Israel-Syrian borders, where there is current unrest. Leaders are afraid of attacks similar to those that were carried out against UNIFIL troops last March.
A senior official in the IOF told Ha'aretz that the majority of these attempts were carried out by Hamas members.
He added that the Palestinian “militants” were more eager to kidnap Israeli soldiers in order to swap them with Palestinians in Israeli jails. "We have to stay on alert as long as there are such attempts," he said.
The data reported by the newspaper showed that the Israeli troops had thwarted an attempt to kidnap an Israeli soldier during the Rosh Hashanah celebration. The attempt had been planned by Islamic Jihad members who have been arrested during the process.
The newspaper claimed that some of the attempts were thwarted during the planning stages, whilst others were not prevented until much later.
In order to test the preparedness of their soldiers, Israeli forces have been testing them and recommending that they patrol in groups.
Leaders of the forces have issued orders to confront any kidnapping attempts and asked the soldiers to carry out replicas of such attempts in order to test their readiness.
A number of procedures have been suggested, including not travelling alone on public transport on the highways.
According to the paper, Israeli forces are worried about the kidnapping of their soldiers on the Israel-Syrian borders, where there is current unrest. Leaders are afraid of attacks similar to those that were carried out against UNIFIL troops last March.
A senior official in the IOF told Ha'aretz that the majority of these attempts were carried out by Hamas members.
He added that the Palestinian “militants” were more eager to kidnap Israeli soldiers in order to swap them with Palestinians in Israeli jails. "We have to stay on alert as long as there are such attempts," he said.
The data reported by the newspaper showed that the Israeli troops had thwarted an attempt to kidnap an Israeli soldier during the Rosh Hashanah celebration. The attempt had been planned by Islamic Jihad members who have been arrested during the process.
The newspaper claimed that some of the attempts were thwarted during the planning stages, whilst others were not prevented until much later.
In order to test the preparedness of their soldiers, Israeli forces have been testing them and recommending that they patrol in groups.
Leaders of the forces have issued orders to confront any kidnapping attempts and asked the soldiers to carry out replicas of such attempts in order to test their readiness.
A number of procedures have been suggested, including not travelling alone on public transport on the highways.
Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported that the Israeli ministers will received on Thursday a bill that aims to fight "terrorism", before the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs approves it next Sunday. According to the newspaper, the law, the preparation of which took four years, is designed to fight what is considered by the occupation authorities to be Palestinian "terrorism"
The law includes hundreds of articles prepared by the Former attorney general of Israel Menachem Mazuz, the current Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and the Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri, Yediot Aharonot said.
It revealed the bill aims to abolish the Emergency Regulations of 1945 and to replace them with new instructions.
The law also deals with trials, periods of imprisonment, investigation and confiscation of property related to "terrorism", in order to hit the economic infrastructure that enables the "terrorist" elements to move among the population, the paper added.
The law includes hundreds of articles prepared by the Former attorney general of Israel Menachem Mazuz, the current Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and the Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri, Yediot Aharonot said.
It revealed the bill aims to abolish the Emergency Regulations of 1945 and to replace them with new instructions.
The law also deals with trials, periods of imprisonment, investigation and confiscation of property related to "terrorism", in order to hit the economic infrastructure that enables the "terrorist" elements to move among the population, the paper added.
6 june 2013
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Activists disrupted a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pointing to his role in authorizing the 2008-2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza that killed around 1,400 people, including women and children.
Olmert was invited to speak at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., where he was asked to share his opinion on Israel-Palestine relations, Syria's civil war, and Israel's tension with Iran. During Olmert's speech, community and student activists stood up, revealed facts, statistics, and personal experiences relating to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and then walked out the conference hall. |
A young audience member wearing a black Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) shirt called out, "I'm appalled that the Wilson Center would host a war criminal such as yourself. Be sure that the international community will hold you accountable for your war crimes." He walked to the back of the room, where another young man holding a Palestinian flag joined him.
Olmert continued with his speech when another young man in a SAIA shirt interrupted and shouted, "To hell with you! Free my people, free Palestine!" Olmert laughed and questioned the young man's identity, "doesn't look like a Palestinian," Olmert said.
Then, a female activist shouted and marched off, followed by another young woman, who screamed, "Shame on Woodrow Wilson for inviting a war criminal! This is disgusting!". A woman wearing a T-shirt reading "Olmert is a murderer," talked about her personal experience and cited the death toll in the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead, and shouted, "You're a murderer! You talk about peace? You could have prevented that!" while being forced to leave the hall.
One of the activists said that this protest intended to draw attention to Olmert's long history of violating Palestinian rights and to remind Olmert and his supporters of the long series of crimes and oppression on the Palestinians and that the Palestinians won't be silenced.
"It was really important for us to make it clear to Ehud Olmert and the Woodrow Wilson Center that we would not allow a criminal to be honored in a way that deliberately normalizes and denies his crimes," said Lena Ibrahim, a Palestinian student based in D.C.
It's worth mentioning that in 2009, such disruption accrued when Olmert was invited to the University of Chicago to speak about peace and responsibility.
Olmert continued with his speech when another young man in a SAIA shirt interrupted and shouted, "To hell with you! Free my people, free Palestine!" Olmert laughed and questioned the young man's identity, "doesn't look like a Palestinian," Olmert said.
Then, a female activist shouted and marched off, followed by another young woman, who screamed, "Shame on Woodrow Wilson for inviting a war criminal! This is disgusting!". A woman wearing a T-shirt reading "Olmert is a murderer," talked about her personal experience and cited the death toll in the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead, and shouted, "You're a murderer! You talk about peace? You could have prevented that!" while being forced to leave the hall.
One of the activists said that this protest intended to draw attention to Olmert's long history of violating Palestinian rights and to remind Olmert and his supporters of the long series of crimes and oppression on the Palestinians and that the Palestinians won't be silenced.
"It was really important for us to make it clear to Ehud Olmert and the Woodrow Wilson Center that we would not allow a criminal to be honored in a way that deliberately normalizes and denies his crimes," said Lena Ibrahim, a Palestinian student based in D.C.
It's worth mentioning that in 2009, such disruption accrued when Olmert was invited to the University of Chicago to speak about peace and responsibility.
5 june 2013
Bibi wants to do to “his” African refugees what FDR did to the refugees of the S.S. St. Louis
Bibi Netanyahu’s government has engaged in some hare-brained schemes in its day. But this one takes the cake. Yediot Achronot reports today that an unnamed African country has been approached to accept up to 25,000 African refugees who’ve fled to Israel over the past few years. These individuals, who have rights as refugees under international conventions, would be forcibly expelled by Israel to this secret place. Given this plan would violate international law, most legal observers predict the Supreme Court will pour cold water on the plan.
But even if it does, it will allow Bibi to tell his right-wing anti-refugee voters that he did what he could to rid Israel of this “pestilence.”
In return for accepting Israel’s riff-raff, this African haven for the poor and oppressed would receive military and agricultural assistance from Israel. In any other circle this would be known for what it is: bribery. In Israel it passes for statecraft. Bibi uses these techniques any time he needs a vote in the United Nations (Bulgaria) or wants to reward a country for allowing Israel to kidnap someone as it did with Ukraine (Dirar Abusisi).
Haaretz says these expelled folk would be treated more like chattel than refugees. That won’t do. I have one stellar idea that would help frame this project in the proper humanitarian context. As it would be less expensive to send these refugees to their new home by ship than by plane, I suggest Bibi take a few old freighters out of mothballs. I have the perfect new names for a few of these ships: the SS. St. Louis, Exodus, maybe even Altalena. This would commemorate the Jewish connection with these poor refugees and further sensitize the Israeli conscience to their plight.
Bibi Netanyahu’s government has engaged in some hare-brained schemes in its day. But this one takes the cake. Yediot Achronot reports today that an unnamed African country has been approached to accept up to 25,000 African refugees who’ve fled to Israel over the past few years. These individuals, who have rights as refugees under international conventions, would be forcibly expelled by Israel to this secret place. Given this plan would violate international law, most legal observers predict the Supreme Court will pour cold water on the plan.
But even if it does, it will allow Bibi to tell his right-wing anti-refugee voters that he did what he could to rid Israel of this “pestilence.”
In return for accepting Israel’s riff-raff, this African haven for the poor and oppressed would receive military and agricultural assistance from Israel. In any other circle this would be known for what it is: bribery. In Israel it passes for statecraft. Bibi uses these techniques any time he needs a vote in the United Nations (Bulgaria) or wants to reward a country for allowing Israel to kidnap someone as it did with Ukraine (Dirar Abusisi).
Haaretz says these expelled folk would be treated more like chattel than refugees. That won’t do. I have one stellar idea that would help frame this project in the proper humanitarian context. As it would be less expensive to send these refugees to their new home by ship than by plane, I suggest Bibi take a few old freighters out of mothballs. I have the perfect new names for a few of these ships: the SS. St. Louis, Exodus, maybe even Altalena. This would commemorate the Jewish connection with these poor refugees and further sensitize the Israeli conscience to their plight.
Retired judge Nissim Yeshaya
Retired magistrate Nissim Yeshaya makes inflammatory remark while hearing appeal in the case of rape of 13-year-old girl.
A judge in Tel Aviv sparked outrage on Wednesday after he reportedly remarked, during an appeals hearing on a rape case several days ago, that some women enjoy rape.
Nissim Yeshaya later apologized for his remark.
Yeshaya, who served on the bench of the Tel Aviv District Court from 1993 to 2009, has retired but was leading a panel that was hearing an appeal on Monday when he said aloud that “there are women that enjoy rape,” bringing the room to sudden silence, Army Radio reported.
According to a lawyer present at the scene, Yeshaya “didn’t really understand what he said and didn’t understand why everyone was quiet.”
The complicated hearing involved the case of a 13-year-old Israeli girl who was raped by four Palestinian teenagers from the Shuafat refugee camp six years ago.
The four were captured, convicted and imprisoned, but the terms of their imprisonment were changed by the Defense Ministry, which later ruled that rape not be treated as a “hostile act” — that is, an act of political aggression. Such a ruling could lead to a reduced sentence. The Defense Ministry oversees criminal cases involving West Bank Palestinians.
The victim was in court to appeal the Defense Ministry’s decision and was described as being “upset and very hurt,” but she said that she didn’t think that Yeshaya’s remark was said out of “malice or evil.”
Her lawyer told Army Radio that “the problem is that state of mind, that thought, that prejudice against the victims of sexual assault. It’s the tip of the iceberg when judges trip up in their language and give expression to what is in their hearts.”
Yeshaya later officially apologized for his remark. The Courts Administration said in a statement that “things were said” during the heated debate but there was “no intention to hurt or belittle rape victims,” adding that Yeshaya would be summoned to clarify what happened.
On Wednesday Culture Minister Limor Livnat, who also heads the ministerial committee for the advancement of women, called on court administrator Judge Michael Shpitzer to ban Yeshaya from future participation on legal panels.
“The judge’s statement was appalling and outrageous,” she said. “It is difficult to assess the total harm it caused, which may deter other sexual assault victims, present and future, from reporting attacks.”
Retired magistrate Nissim Yeshaya makes inflammatory remark while hearing appeal in the case of rape of 13-year-old girl.
A judge in Tel Aviv sparked outrage on Wednesday after he reportedly remarked, during an appeals hearing on a rape case several days ago, that some women enjoy rape.
Nissim Yeshaya later apologized for his remark.
Yeshaya, who served on the bench of the Tel Aviv District Court from 1993 to 2009, has retired but was leading a panel that was hearing an appeal on Monday when he said aloud that “there are women that enjoy rape,” bringing the room to sudden silence, Army Radio reported.
According to a lawyer present at the scene, Yeshaya “didn’t really understand what he said and didn’t understand why everyone was quiet.”
The complicated hearing involved the case of a 13-year-old Israeli girl who was raped by four Palestinian teenagers from the Shuafat refugee camp six years ago.
The four were captured, convicted and imprisoned, but the terms of their imprisonment were changed by the Defense Ministry, which later ruled that rape not be treated as a “hostile act” — that is, an act of political aggression. Such a ruling could lead to a reduced sentence. The Defense Ministry oversees criminal cases involving West Bank Palestinians.
The victim was in court to appeal the Defense Ministry’s decision and was described as being “upset and very hurt,” but she said that she didn’t think that Yeshaya’s remark was said out of “malice or evil.”
Her lawyer told Army Radio that “the problem is that state of mind, that thought, that prejudice against the victims of sexual assault. It’s the tip of the iceberg when judges trip up in their language and give expression to what is in their hearts.”
Yeshaya later officially apologized for his remark. The Courts Administration said in a statement that “things were said” during the heated debate but there was “no intention to hurt or belittle rape victims,” adding that Yeshaya would be summoned to clarify what happened.
On Wednesday Culture Minister Limor Livnat, who also heads the ministerial committee for the advancement of women, called on court administrator Judge Michael Shpitzer to ban Yeshaya from future participation on legal panels.
“The judge’s statement was appalling and outrageous,” she said. “It is difficult to assess the total harm it caused, which may deter other sexual assault victims, present and future, from reporting attacks.”
4 june 2013
The Israeli regime has decided to send thousands of African migrants to an undisclosed country in an attempt to stem the influx of migrants.
According to a court document made public on Monday, an Israeli lawyer said that a deal was reached with an unidentified country to absorb the migrants. The lawyer stated that the absorption of the migrants would be “gradual.”
Tally Kritzman-Amir, an immigration law expert at the Academic Center for Law and Business in Tel Aviv, said, "It is possible to transfer the migrants to a third country," adding, "but the primary responsibility to the rights of the refugees still lies with Israel."
Later on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We have stopped the infiltration phenomenon into Israel. Last month only two infiltrators entered Israel, compared to more than 2,000 a year ago. Now we are focused on the infiltrators leaving."
Over the past eight years, some 60,000 African migrants, mostly from Eritrea or Sudan, have entered Israel via Egypt.
Israel has built a fence along the border with Egypt to prevent the influx of migrants. Last year, it offered cash to the migrants to leave voluntarily.
According to a court document made public on Monday, an Israeli lawyer said that a deal was reached with an unidentified country to absorb the migrants. The lawyer stated that the absorption of the migrants would be “gradual.”
Tally Kritzman-Amir, an immigration law expert at the Academic Center for Law and Business in Tel Aviv, said, "It is possible to transfer the migrants to a third country," adding, "but the primary responsibility to the rights of the refugees still lies with Israel."
Later on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We have stopped the infiltration phenomenon into Israel. Last month only two infiltrators entered Israel, compared to more than 2,000 a year ago. Now we are focused on the infiltrators leaving."
Over the past eight years, some 60,000 African migrants, mostly from Eritrea or Sudan, have entered Israel via Egypt.
Israel has built a fence along the border with Egypt to prevent the influx of migrants. Last year, it offered cash to the migrants to leave voluntarily.
3 june 2013
Israel intelligence services, the Mossad and Shin Bet, have seen a 26-percent increase in their budget under the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's term in office.
Figures released by Israel’s Finance Ministry show that the Mossad and Shin Bet spent nearly a total of USD 1.63 billion (NIS 6.042 billion) in 2012, according to a Monday report by the Israeli Daily, Haaretz.
The unclassified data, which did not detailed the allocation of the funds between the two intelligence services or how the money was used, showed the two services also spent about USD 1.52 billion (NIS 5.63 billion) in 2011.
This is while in 2008, the last year Ehud Olmert served as Israel’s prime minister, the total spending of the two secret services reached about USD 1.29 billion (NIS 4.78 billion).
These figures reflect a 26 percent increase in the annual budgets of the Mossad and Shin Bet over the four years of Netanyahu’s term, based on actual spending figures, with the biggest increases taking place at 10 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, in 2010 and 2011.
The money has been used by the Mossad to recruit operatives using fake passports to carry out assassination missions against Palestinians and in other countries.
Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet security services operate under the authority and supervision of the prime minister and not the defense minister.
According to the law, the budgets of the Shin Bet and Mossad are included under the framework of the general reserves in the state budget. They are described in the budgetary section as “an objective within the framework of the Prime Minister’s Office,” the report said.
Figures released by Israel’s Finance Ministry show that the Mossad and Shin Bet spent nearly a total of USD 1.63 billion (NIS 6.042 billion) in 2012, according to a Monday report by the Israeli Daily, Haaretz.
The unclassified data, which did not detailed the allocation of the funds between the two intelligence services or how the money was used, showed the two services also spent about USD 1.52 billion (NIS 5.63 billion) in 2011.
This is while in 2008, the last year Ehud Olmert served as Israel’s prime minister, the total spending of the two secret services reached about USD 1.29 billion (NIS 4.78 billion).
These figures reflect a 26 percent increase in the annual budgets of the Mossad and Shin Bet over the four years of Netanyahu’s term, based on actual spending figures, with the biggest increases taking place at 10 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, in 2010 and 2011.
The money has been used by the Mossad to recruit operatives using fake passports to carry out assassination missions against Palestinians and in other countries.
Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet security services operate under the authority and supervision of the prime minister and not the defense minister.
According to the law, the budgets of the Shin Bet and Mossad are included under the framework of the general reserves in the state budget. They are described in the budgetary section as “an objective within the framework of the Prime Minister’s Office,” the report said.
2 june 2013
The former U.S. President Bill Clinton, war criminal and smoker of Monica Lewinsky’s cigars, will receive a half million dollars as “honorary” from the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in order to join their festive evening to mark the 90 birthday of President Shimon Persky, known as Shimon Peres, which will be held on June 17 at Peres Academic Center for “peace” at Rehevot in the central district of israel, about 20 km south of Tel Aviv, and to give 45 minute lecture during festive evening.
According to the hebrew edition of Themarker.com (Haaretz) published today June 2 2013, former U.S. President Bill Clinton will receive half a million dollars to give a 45 minutes lecture at the Peres academy for “peace” in Israel, what has caused much embarrassment to both the president and the JNF, which contributed the half million dollars to fund a lecture by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The newspaper pointed out that the amount was collected by the World Jewish National Fund from more than 40 countries to finance this festive occasion. The newspaper added that the amount had been agreed in advance with former president Clinton to secure his presence at the festive occasion to take place on June 17, 2013.
Besides American participants who were invited to the academic center, there are many rich israeli guests who were invited in order to raise funds for the center. Each israeli guest to the event must pay NIS 3,000 (about 626 EUR) for the invitation. Last Friday, Yossi Sarid, in the parliament for the leftist Meretz party, revealed to Haaretz “how each invitee has to pay NIS 3,000 to enter the event instead of donating the same amount to fund scholarships for disadvantaged students”. Sarid also described a conversation between him and the chairman of the JNF, a certain Kligman, which showed that Kligman apparently did not know how much money had been spent on the event.
Update: President Clinton attended the Vienna Life Ball this year and apparently also in past years. Because of the issue at hand and because the former president has some renown for asking outrageous speaker fees, I asked the organizers of the Life Ball event if and what they had paid Mr. Clinton for his attendance. I received the following statement from their spokeswoman:
As we are a charity, we do not pay ever since a celebrity to attend Life Ball. We are collaborating with the Clinton Health Access Initative since 2007 in the fight against HIV/AIDS, same as we do with amfAR – The Foundation for AIDS Research (spokesperson this year Fergie), the Elton John AIDS Foundation (spokesperson this year Sir Elton John and David Furnish), UNAIDS (spokesperson this year Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).
According to the hebrew edition of Themarker.com (Haaretz) published today June 2 2013, former U.S. President Bill Clinton will receive half a million dollars to give a 45 minutes lecture at the Peres academy for “peace” in Israel, what has caused much embarrassment to both the president and the JNF, which contributed the half million dollars to fund a lecture by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The newspaper pointed out that the amount was collected by the World Jewish National Fund from more than 40 countries to finance this festive occasion. The newspaper added that the amount had been agreed in advance with former president Clinton to secure his presence at the festive occasion to take place on June 17, 2013.
Besides American participants who were invited to the academic center, there are many rich israeli guests who were invited in order to raise funds for the center. Each israeli guest to the event must pay NIS 3,000 (about 626 EUR) for the invitation. Last Friday, Yossi Sarid, in the parliament for the leftist Meretz party, revealed to Haaretz “how each invitee has to pay NIS 3,000 to enter the event instead of donating the same amount to fund scholarships for disadvantaged students”. Sarid also described a conversation between him and the chairman of the JNF, a certain Kligman, which showed that Kligman apparently did not know how much money had been spent on the event.
Update: President Clinton attended the Vienna Life Ball this year and apparently also in past years. Because of the issue at hand and because the former president has some renown for asking outrageous speaker fees, I asked the organizers of the Life Ball event if and what they had paid Mr. Clinton for his attendance. I received the following statement from their spokeswoman:
As we are a charity, we do not pay ever since a celebrity to attend Life Ball. We are collaborating with the Clinton Health Access Initative since 2007 in the fight against HIV/AIDS, same as we do with amfAR – The Foundation for AIDS Research (spokesperson this year Fergie), the Elton John AIDS Foundation (spokesperson this year Sir Elton John and David Furnish), UNAIDS (spokesperson this year Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).
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So the question remains, if the Life Ball organizers, a private charity which is funded by private donors as well as government subventions, is able to engage the former president at no cost, why is the Peres Academic Center for “Peace”, a private charity which is funded by private donors as well as government subventions, which has far more influential backers than the Life Ball could ever dream of, and which collects money on the back of the Palestinian people purportedly to “make peace”, squandering a half million dollars for a speech of perhaps half an hour by the same former president?
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Israelis in Tel Aviv demonstrate against the regime’s occupation of Palestinian land, June 1, 2013
Protesters in Tel Aviv call for the Israeli regime’s withdrawal from the Palestinian territories it has occupied since 1967.
The protesters marched from the ministry of military affairs to the headquarters of the ruling Likud Party on Saturday night.
Dov Khanin, one of the organizers of the protest, said the regime’s occupation of the Palestinian land is “dangerous, malign and expensive.”
“The immense sum of money invested in building and securing the settlements and constructing apartheid walls, means less to welfare and education,” Khanin said.
Israel continues with its expansion of illegal settlements in Palestine.
On Thursday, the Tel Aviv regime announced the approval of 300 new illegal settler units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations says the settlements are illegal because the Palestinian territories were captured by Israel in the war of 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.
Protesters in Tel Aviv call for the Israeli regime’s withdrawal from the Palestinian territories it has occupied since 1967.
The protesters marched from the ministry of military affairs to the headquarters of the ruling Likud Party on Saturday night.
Dov Khanin, one of the organizers of the protest, said the regime’s occupation of the Palestinian land is “dangerous, malign and expensive.”
“The immense sum of money invested in building and securing the settlements and constructing apartheid walls, means less to welfare and education,” Khanin said.
Israel continues with its expansion of illegal settlements in Palestine.
On Thursday, the Tel Aviv regime announced the approval of 300 new illegal settler units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations says the settlements are illegal because the Palestinian territories were captured by Israel in the war of 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.
1 june 2013
Pressure from an Israeli law office calling itself Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, publicly boasted on Thursday of its behind-the-scenes success in persuading the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to grant the pension fund giant TIAA-CREF permission to withhold a divestment shareholder resolution from shareholder voting, a press statement said on Friday.
The statement by “We Divest,” a US-based coalition of human rights groups, said the proposed resolution would have asked TIAA-CREF to divest from companies engaging in egregious human rights violations, including those significantly supporting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
TIAA-CREF had previously disclosed that the Israel Law Center had threatened to sue TIAA-CREF if the SEC were to decline to grant a “no action” letter and shareholders had approved the resolution, its aid.
The Israel Law Center’s rationale was that the divestment resolution called for an unlawful “boycott.”
“Neither the US nor New York State “anti-boycott” laws cited by the Israel Law Center have been interpreted or enforced to bar divestment from equities in companies supporting human rights violations or for other socially motivated reasons. Nor do these laws bar human rights boycotts,” said the statement.
“The protected status of socially and rights-based boycotts and divestment actions is a fundamental right of political activism under the American constitution. Israel has no constitutionally protected free speech rights, and in fact has outlawed the advocacy of boycotts called to end the Israeli occupation,” it added.
Barbara Harvey, Legal Counsel for the We Divest Campaign said: “The Israel Law Center’s threat to sue TIAA-CREF should it obey a decision by a federal regulatory agency and honor a shareholder vote is an act of ‘lawfare.’ While the SEC’s issuance of a ‘no-action’ letter provided TIAA-CREF an end-run around shareholder democracy, Shurat HaDin’s threat was an act of intimidation designed to dissuade the use of democratic processes to resolve issues.”
Rabbi Alissa Wise, National Coordinator of the We Divest Campaign said: “Nothing in the SEC ruling forbids a vote. TIAA-CREF’S refusal to submit the human rights resolution to a democratic vote is shamefully disrespectful of shareholders’ rights.”
We Divest is a national, coalition-led initiative by Adalah-NY, the American Friends Service Committee, Grassroots International, Jewish Voice for Peace, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and the US Palestinian Community Network.
The statement by “We Divest,” a US-based coalition of human rights groups, said the proposed resolution would have asked TIAA-CREF to divest from companies engaging in egregious human rights violations, including those significantly supporting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
TIAA-CREF had previously disclosed that the Israel Law Center had threatened to sue TIAA-CREF if the SEC were to decline to grant a “no action” letter and shareholders had approved the resolution, its aid.
The Israel Law Center’s rationale was that the divestment resolution called for an unlawful “boycott.”
“Neither the US nor New York State “anti-boycott” laws cited by the Israel Law Center have been interpreted or enforced to bar divestment from equities in companies supporting human rights violations or for other socially motivated reasons. Nor do these laws bar human rights boycotts,” said the statement.
“The protected status of socially and rights-based boycotts and divestment actions is a fundamental right of political activism under the American constitution. Israel has no constitutionally protected free speech rights, and in fact has outlawed the advocacy of boycotts called to end the Israeli occupation,” it added.
Barbara Harvey, Legal Counsel for the We Divest Campaign said: “The Israel Law Center’s threat to sue TIAA-CREF should it obey a decision by a federal regulatory agency and honor a shareholder vote is an act of ‘lawfare.’ While the SEC’s issuance of a ‘no-action’ letter provided TIAA-CREF an end-run around shareholder democracy, Shurat HaDin’s threat was an act of intimidation designed to dissuade the use of democratic processes to resolve issues.”
Rabbi Alissa Wise, National Coordinator of the We Divest Campaign said: “Nothing in the SEC ruling forbids a vote. TIAA-CREF’S refusal to submit the human rights resolution to a democratic vote is shamefully disrespectful of shareholders’ rights.”
We Divest is a national, coalition-led initiative by Adalah-NY, the American Friends Service Committee, Grassroots International, Jewish Voice for Peace, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and the US Palestinian Community Network.