22 june 2015
Protesters march in central Tel Aviv, blocking roads and calling out 'A violent cop must be locked up!' after decision not to prosecute policeman filmed beating Ethiopian soldier.
Hundreds of Israeli Ethiopians returned to the streets of Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon to continue their protest against discrimination after the attorney-general decided not to prosecute a police officer documented beating an Ethiopian soldier.
Protesters marched from the Azrieli Center on Kaplan Street, blocking it in both directions and calling out "A violent cop must be locked up!" So far, there have only been mild confrontations between protesters and police, and only one person has been arrested.
The Ethiopian community's protest broke out last month after security footage was released showing a police officer beating IDF soldier Damas Pakada, who is of Ethiopian descent. Several large demonstration took place since, the biggest of which was on May 4, when clashes broke out between protesters and police.
"The decision to close the investigation (against the police officer) proved that Ethiopians in Israel have no basic human rights," Yaiyo Avraham, one of the protest's organizers, told Ynet. "We will fight for our rights following the cowardly decision of the attorney-general and consider turning to international courts because here we are not getting justice."
Former Yesh Atid MK Shimon Solomon told Ynet that "Our main problem is that the court is disconnected from our suffering. We need to cry out. We are not new immigrants, this is our country. A country that was established on the ruins of racism, and that is why all of the people of Israel need to cry out with us. We need to say we can no longer keep our heads down and be nice. The court cannot protect the guilty. There isn't one person here who hasn't experienced racism. We need to protest and demand change. We have a responsibility to heal this country of racism."
Former Yesh Atid MK Shimon Solomon told Ynet that "Our main problem is that the court is disconnected from our suffering. We need to cry out. We are not new immigrants, this is our country. A country that was established on the ruins of racism, and that is why all of the people of Israel need to cry out with us. We need to say we can no longer keep our heads down and be nice. The court cannot protect the guilty. There isn't one person here who hasn't experienced racism. We need to protest and demand change. We have a responsibility to heal this country of racism."
The committee, which was formed by Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino after the beginning of the Ethiopian community's protest, released its findings on Monday. While the committee does include representatives of the community, some of them resigned in protest when the committee started its probe. The committee examined 300 criminal cases and did not find evidence of discrimination or violations of rights of youths from the Ethiopian community.
"The committee placed special emphasis on the involvement of teens and youth from the community in its extensive examination of hundreds of cases," the committee's report said. Among the committee's recommendation was to further clarify procedures and guidelines on handling youth, as well as placing an emphasis in policemen's training on gaps in worldview and language existing between them and some members of the community. To that end, the committee also recommended to assign police officers who speak the Amharic language to all police stations, as well youth investigators who speak Amharic in areas where there is a large presence of the Ethiopian community.
The committee further recommended providing forms in Amharic and other languages spoken by minorities both at police stations and online so members of these minorities who are not fluent in Hebrew would be able to file a complaint against police officers when the need arises. Another recommendation called to increase transparency on disciplinary action taken against police officers, by informing the complainants of the findings of the investigation made against those officers. The report noted that "the committee members expect support from the community and its trust to finish the process."
Police said Monday that these recommendations require additional manpower and finances.
Hundreds of Israeli Ethiopians returned to the streets of Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon to continue their protest against discrimination after the attorney-general decided not to prosecute a police officer documented beating an Ethiopian soldier.
Protesters marched from the Azrieli Center on Kaplan Street, blocking it in both directions and calling out "A violent cop must be locked up!" So far, there have only been mild confrontations between protesters and police, and only one person has been arrested.
The Ethiopian community's protest broke out last month after security footage was released showing a police officer beating IDF soldier Damas Pakada, who is of Ethiopian descent. Several large demonstration took place since, the biggest of which was on May 4, when clashes broke out between protesters and police.
"The decision to close the investigation (against the police officer) proved that Ethiopians in Israel have no basic human rights," Yaiyo Avraham, one of the protest's organizers, told Ynet. "We will fight for our rights following the cowardly decision of the attorney-general and consider turning to international courts because here we are not getting justice."
Former Yesh Atid MK Shimon Solomon told Ynet that "Our main problem is that the court is disconnected from our suffering. We need to cry out. We are not new immigrants, this is our country. A country that was established on the ruins of racism, and that is why all of the people of Israel need to cry out with us. We need to say we can no longer keep our heads down and be nice. The court cannot protect the guilty. There isn't one person here who hasn't experienced racism. We need to protest and demand change. We have a responsibility to heal this country of racism."
Former Yesh Atid MK Shimon Solomon told Ynet that "Our main problem is that the court is disconnected from our suffering. We need to cry out. We are not new immigrants, this is our country. A country that was established on the ruins of racism, and that is why all of the people of Israel need to cry out with us. We need to say we can no longer keep our heads down and be nice. The court cannot protect the guilty. There isn't one person here who hasn't experienced racism. We need to protest and demand change. We have a responsibility to heal this country of racism."
The committee, which was formed by Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino after the beginning of the Ethiopian community's protest, released its findings on Monday. While the committee does include representatives of the community, some of them resigned in protest when the committee started its probe. The committee examined 300 criminal cases and did not find evidence of discrimination or violations of rights of youths from the Ethiopian community.
"The committee placed special emphasis on the involvement of teens and youth from the community in its extensive examination of hundreds of cases," the committee's report said. Among the committee's recommendation was to further clarify procedures and guidelines on handling youth, as well as placing an emphasis in policemen's training on gaps in worldview and language existing between them and some members of the community. To that end, the committee also recommended to assign police officers who speak the Amharic language to all police stations, as well youth investigators who speak Amharic in areas where there is a large presence of the Ethiopian community.
The committee further recommended providing forms in Amharic and other languages spoken by minorities both at police stations and online so members of these minorities who are not fluent in Hebrew would be able to file a complaint against police officers when the need arises. Another recommendation called to increase transparency on disciplinary action taken against police officers, by informing the complainants of the findings of the investigation made against those officers. The report noted that "the committee members expect support from the community and its trust to finish the process."
Police said Monday that these recommendations require additional manpower and finances.
Following the overwhelming operative in Jerusalem Sunday, where a Palestinian teenager was shot after stabbing Israeli border guard, Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled permissions to enter “Israel” for the people of Si’ir village near Hebron and 500 others.
A number of Palestinian youths in response to the operative are ripping off the permissions which they received for the month of Ramadan, after Israeli authorities relaxed the procedures to get it and allowed men over 40 to go to Jerusalem without it.
Israeli authorities every year ease the process of obtaining permits for Palestinians to boost its economy, exploiting thousands of Palestinians who dream of going to the occupied capital of Palestine.
However, after the operative yesterday, Palestinian youngsters, some of them who received the permit for the first time in their lives, raised the slogan “Palestine is more precious than an Israeli permit,” Boycotting Israeli authorities.
Activists started a campaign on Facebook called “Rip off your permit” saying that they ” do not need Israeli permission to enter their own occupied land.”
The reaction as well came after Palestinians on Facebook condemned the operative in Jerusalem, after they deducted Israeli authorities will cancel their permits and demolish the opportunity to go to Jerusalem, saying that “the martyr’s blood is more expensive.”
A number of Palestinian youths in response to the operative are ripping off the permissions which they received for the month of Ramadan, after Israeli authorities relaxed the procedures to get it and allowed men over 40 to go to Jerusalem without it.
Israeli authorities every year ease the process of obtaining permits for Palestinians to boost its economy, exploiting thousands of Palestinians who dream of going to the occupied capital of Palestine.
However, after the operative yesterday, Palestinian youngsters, some of them who received the permit for the first time in their lives, raised the slogan “Palestine is more precious than an Israeli permit,” Boycotting Israeli authorities.
Activists started a campaign on Facebook called “Rip off your permit” saying that they ” do not need Israeli permission to enter their own occupied land.”
The reaction as well came after Palestinians on Facebook condemned the operative in Jerusalem, after they deducted Israeli authorities will cancel their permits and demolish the opportunity to go to Jerusalem, saying that “the martyr’s blood is more expensive.”
21 june 2015
The largely unknown leader of the ISIL terrorist group, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, confirmed in the photo with Senator John McCain
An American political commentator believes that the United States and Israel are undoubtedly the world’s “two leading terrorist organizations.”
“There really can be no serious doubt that the United States and Israel are the two leading terrorist organizations in the world which is the reason why the Department of State has to made incoherent claims such as that Iran is classified as a terrorist organization,” said American philosopher James Fetzer.
He made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday when asked to comment on an annual report by the US State Department that has accused Iran of supporting international terrorist groups, including those militant groups fighting against ISIL terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
The report, however, makes almost no mention of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, which are widely believed to be the main supporters of terrorists in the Middle East. The US itself stands accused of financing and arming militants in the region.
Fetzer said “the United States created the ISIS (ISIL), the United States is sponsoring the ISIS, the United States has opposed the United Nations’ declaration that ISIS is a terrorist organization.”
He also stated that “[Senator] John McCain [Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services] flew to Syria and was photographed with the leader of ISIS who is recognized as a Mossad agent.”
“The latest reports in fact have two high ranking advisers of ISIS, also Mossad agents being captured by American Special Forces in Iraq, which must have been inadvertence of the United States is supporting ISIS, which is widely known in Washington and it’s John McCain’s army,” he added.
“The United States is a great sponsor of terrorism as is Israel, which occurs repeatedly around the world. We should be supporting Syria and Iran and not attacking them or seeking to undermine them,” Fetzer noted.
Comment: Al Baghdadi , is in fact the french Citizen with the real Name Simon Elliot, mother and father French ( Mediterranean Jews ).
An American political commentator believes that the United States and Israel are undoubtedly the world’s “two leading terrorist organizations.”
“There really can be no serious doubt that the United States and Israel are the two leading terrorist organizations in the world which is the reason why the Department of State has to made incoherent claims such as that Iran is classified as a terrorist organization,” said American philosopher James Fetzer.
He made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday when asked to comment on an annual report by the US State Department that has accused Iran of supporting international terrorist groups, including those militant groups fighting against ISIL terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
The report, however, makes almost no mention of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, which are widely believed to be the main supporters of terrorists in the Middle East. The US itself stands accused of financing and arming militants in the region.
Fetzer said “the United States created the ISIS (ISIL), the United States is sponsoring the ISIS, the United States has opposed the United Nations’ declaration that ISIS is a terrorist organization.”
He also stated that “[Senator] John McCain [Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services] flew to Syria and was photographed with the leader of ISIS who is recognized as a Mossad agent.”
“The latest reports in fact have two high ranking advisers of ISIS, also Mossad agents being captured by American Special Forces in Iraq, which must have been inadvertence of the United States is supporting ISIS, which is widely known in Washington and it’s John McCain’s army,” he added.
“The United States is a great sponsor of terrorism as is Israel, which occurs repeatedly around the world. We should be supporting Syria and Iran and not attacking them or seeking to undermine them,” Fetzer noted.
Comment: Al Baghdadi , is in fact the french Citizen with the real Name Simon Elliot, mother and father French ( Mediterranean Jews ).
Yisrael Beytenu leader tells Ynet government has no vision, no direction, and no plan; he believes elections will take place in the spring 2016.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman strongly attacked his former political partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, saying in the wake of two recent terror attacks that Israel has lost its deterrence.
"I think that there has been a loss of deterrence. My position was very clear before and after Operation Protective Edge, and unfortunately the government did not accept my opinion. We see today's reality," he said. "There is no deterrence," the former foreign minister stressed.
"On the contrary, they are succeding at deterring us. We are buying peace from them at the cost of them restoring their terrorist infrastructure."
During an interview with Ynet on Sunday, Lieberman repeated his assessment that Netanyahu's fourth government will fall apart by the end of 2015 and that he believes the next elections will be held in the spring of 2016.
He also claimed that he had no need to act to topple the government: "They are doing it all by themselves, and they're doing it pretty well. I look at the different parts (of the government) and how it works there, mainly in the committees and the plenum. There's no chance, it will not last. I think Israel has no choice. It is not a matter of Yisrael Beytenu. This is a government with no vision, no direction, and no plan. Its only program is to survive and survive and survive and therefore, there is no choice."
Last week, opposition member hinted during a tour of Ma'aleh Adumim with his faction that the construction of 1,000 housing units there may cause him to join the government.
"The mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim welcomed us and as usual the whining started that for five or six years not a single unit has been approved. Before the elections, the prime minister and all the senior ministers visited there and promised. Elections are over, there is no sign of life, and then they ask, 'Why don't you join the government? Why aren't you in the coalition?'
"So I laughed and said in front of the cameras: 'I'm telling you, how much did Likud get here? 50 percent in the elections? Yisrael Beytenu did not get 50 percent, but we also visit after the elections. When the prime minister signs the approval of 1,000 housing units, then come to me and we will have something to talk about."
Lieberman went on to say that Netanyahu's government "hurts the most important population group in the State of Israel that we represent. Those who serve in the army, do reserve duty, work and pay taxes. We saw the Finance Committee discussing canceling benefits to those who served in the army and comparing their benefits to the rest of the population. We saw the same thing with the criteria for daycare centers when both parents work - it was canceled.
"Also attacked were equality in the national burden, conversion - all those issues. I'm not even talking about the fact that this government is not prepared to build in Jewish neighborhoods - in Jerusalem or in the settlement blocs," he added.
Lieberman also slammed reports of indirect behind-the-scenes talks with Hamas on a long-term ceasefire, "On the one hand, Hamas has taken responsibility for the murder of the Israeli who went to the spring. On the other hand, I hear that we are negotiating a five-year truce with Hamas, which is in fact a surrender to terrorism, it's trying to buy peace at any price.
"I have not heard that we are responding. Hamas took responsibility here, saying that the terrorist is part of the same cell that is named for the cell that murdered the three boys in Gush Etzion. What is our response aside from searching the area? Nothing at all. In Gaza, they are digging tunnels, building fortifications, manufacturing missiles and we are simply doing nothing. You have to give the nation direction, there must be a vision," he concluded.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman strongly attacked his former political partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, saying in the wake of two recent terror attacks that Israel has lost its deterrence.
"I think that there has been a loss of deterrence. My position was very clear before and after Operation Protective Edge, and unfortunately the government did not accept my opinion. We see today's reality," he said. "There is no deterrence," the former foreign minister stressed.
"On the contrary, they are succeding at deterring us. We are buying peace from them at the cost of them restoring their terrorist infrastructure."
During an interview with Ynet on Sunday, Lieberman repeated his assessment that Netanyahu's fourth government will fall apart by the end of 2015 and that he believes the next elections will be held in the spring of 2016.
He also claimed that he had no need to act to topple the government: "They are doing it all by themselves, and they're doing it pretty well. I look at the different parts (of the government) and how it works there, mainly in the committees and the plenum. There's no chance, it will not last. I think Israel has no choice. It is not a matter of Yisrael Beytenu. This is a government with no vision, no direction, and no plan. Its only program is to survive and survive and survive and therefore, there is no choice."
Last week, opposition member hinted during a tour of Ma'aleh Adumim with his faction that the construction of 1,000 housing units there may cause him to join the government.
"The mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim welcomed us and as usual the whining started that for five or six years not a single unit has been approved. Before the elections, the prime minister and all the senior ministers visited there and promised. Elections are over, there is no sign of life, and then they ask, 'Why don't you join the government? Why aren't you in the coalition?'
"So I laughed and said in front of the cameras: 'I'm telling you, how much did Likud get here? 50 percent in the elections? Yisrael Beytenu did not get 50 percent, but we also visit after the elections. When the prime minister signs the approval of 1,000 housing units, then come to me and we will have something to talk about."
Lieberman went on to say that Netanyahu's government "hurts the most important population group in the State of Israel that we represent. Those who serve in the army, do reserve duty, work and pay taxes. We saw the Finance Committee discussing canceling benefits to those who served in the army and comparing their benefits to the rest of the population. We saw the same thing with the criteria for daycare centers when both parents work - it was canceled.
"Also attacked were equality in the national burden, conversion - all those issues. I'm not even talking about the fact that this government is not prepared to build in Jewish neighborhoods - in Jerusalem or in the settlement blocs," he added.
Lieberman also slammed reports of indirect behind-the-scenes talks with Hamas on a long-term ceasefire, "On the one hand, Hamas has taken responsibility for the murder of the Israeli who went to the spring. On the other hand, I hear that we are negotiating a five-year truce with Hamas, which is in fact a surrender to terrorism, it's trying to buy peace at any price.
"I have not heard that we are responding. Hamas took responsibility here, saying that the terrorist is part of the same cell that is named for the cell that murdered the three boys in Gush Etzion. What is our response aside from searching the area? Nothing at all. In Gaza, they are digging tunnels, building fortifications, manufacturing missiles and we are simply doing nothing. You have to give the nation direction, there must be a vision," he concluded.
Ahead of meeting with French FM Fabius, in the region to propose peace initiative, prime minister says way to reach agreement with Palestinians is only through negotiations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will "fiercely reject" any attempts to impose "international dictates" on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, on a two-day visit to the Middle East, was due to meet Palestinian leaders in the West Bank before seeing Netanyahu later in the day.
France has said it will propose a resolution in the United Nations Security Council with a framework for negotiations toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, providing backing to the talks by Arab leaders, the European Union and UN Security Council members.
"The way to reach an agreement is only through negotiations and we will fiercely reject attempts to impose international dictates," he told his weekly cabinet meeting.
Netanyahu said that attacks against Israelis will continue with any international proposal that does not take Israel's security concerns into account.
"They are trying to shunt us toward indefensible borders, ignoring what will happen on the other side," Netanyahu said.
Early Sunday, a Palestinian assailant stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem's Old City. The policeman shot the attacker, critically wounding him, before collapsing and being rushed to a hospital. On Friday, a Palestinian shot an Israeli hiker to death in the West Bank. Fabius is coming to the region to sound out leaders about a planned Security Council resolution that aims to restart peace talks after a more than year-long lull.
Palestinian officials and French diplomats have said the proposal would call for basing the borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state on the lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War.
It also would set a two-year deadline for an agreement. Israel rejects a return to its pre-1967 lines, saying they are indefensible. It also opposes deadlines. Two decades of talks brokered mainly by the United States have failed to produce a two-state solution. The latest peace push, led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, fell short in April 2014 after nine months of tense negotiations and the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian positions remain vast.
Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama said the absence of a peace process and conditions raised by Netanyahu on Palestinian statehood would make it hard for the United States to continue to defend Israel at the United Nations.
The Palestinians have sounded circumspect on Paris' moves.
"We want the decision to include an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, and a timetable for negotiations and implementation," President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters on Tuesday.
"If the initiative contains what we need, then it will be welcome, and if it does not, then it will not be welcome and there is no need for it."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will "fiercely reject" any attempts to impose "international dictates" on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, on a two-day visit to the Middle East, was due to meet Palestinian leaders in the West Bank before seeing Netanyahu later in the day.
France has said it will propose a resolution in the United Nations Security Council with a framework for negotiations toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, providing backing to the talks by Arab leaders, the European Union and UN Security Council members.
"The way to reach an agreement is only through negotiations and we will fiercely reject attempts to impose international dictates," he told his weekly cabinet meeting.
Netanyahu said that attacks against Israelis will continue with any international proposal that does not take Israel's security concerns into account.
"They are trying to shunt us toward indefensible borders, ignoring what will happen on the other side," Netanyahu said.
Early Sunday, a Palestinian assailant stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem's Old City. The policeman shot the attacker, critically wounding him, before collapsing and being rushed to a hospital. On Friday, a Palestinian shot an Israeli hiker to death in the West Bank. Fabius is coming to the region to sound out leaders about a planned Security Council resolution that aims to restart peace talks after a more than year-long lull.
Palestinian officials and French diplomats have said the proposal would call for basing the borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state on the lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War.
It also would set a two-year deadline for an agreement. Israel rejects a return to its pre-1967 lines, saying they are indefensible. It also opposes deadlines. Two decades of talks brokered mainly by the United States have failed to produce a two-state solution. The latest peace push, led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, fell short in April 2014 after nine months of tense negotiations and the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian positions remain vast.
Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama said the absence of a peace process and conditions raised by Netanyahu on Palestinian statehood would make it hard for the United States to continue to defend Israel at the United Nations.
The Palestinians have sounded circumspect on Paris' moves.
"We want the decision to include an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, and a timetable for negotiations and implementation," President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters on Tuesday.
"If the initiative contains what we need, then it will be welcome, and if it does not, then it will not be welcome and there is no need for it."
20 june 2015
French Foreign Minister: Continued Israeli settlement is a road block to peace
At the start of his Middle East tour in Cairo, Laurant Fabius offered a statement regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Fabious criticized Israel's settlement policy, saying the settlements policy is illegal under international law, and a major obstacle to peace.
He continued to say that Israel's security must be a consideration; however Palestinian rights must be recognized.
Fabious will arrive in Israel on Sunday, and is expected to push a new French imitative to restart peace talks in the region in meetings with Netanyahu and Abbas.
At the start of his Middle East tour in Cairo, Laurant Fabius offered a statement regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Fabious criticized Israel's settlement policy, saying the settlements policy is illegal under international law, and a major obstacle to peace.
He continued to say that Israel's security must be a consideration; however Palestinian rights must be recognized.
Fabious will arrive in Israel on Sunday, and is expected to push a new French imitative to restart peace talks in the region in meetings with Netanyahu and Abbas.
19 june 2015
A new initiative currently underway, takes students who are meant to fly abroad on different delegations, and requires them to undergo a minimum of 10 hours of public diplomacy training. The effort is meant to combat the de-legitimization of Israel abroad.
Students who go on youth delegations abroad are now required to undergo training in Hasbara and public diplomacy. The first course is currently underway, and is attended by students who will be sent to Germany, China and France.
The decision to conduct the training was made in the Education Ministry after operation Protective Edge, as criticism of Israel and its policies grew around the world, and due to the recent discussion surrounding the boycott movement.
The youth delegations are made up of students who fly to international competitions and from now own must undergo a minimum of 10 hours of training, during which they will learn about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the policies of the State of Israel, and will be equipped with tools to deal with bodies who "seek to delegitimize Israel and her image." The lessons will take directed, and so at the end of the course every group will be assigned a task specific to the country they will be visiting.
Osher Anijar, a 9th grade student from Rabin high school in Eilat, is set to fly to Germany, as part of a student exchange program. Her and her friends from the exchange are taking part in the first course. "Until now we learned about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, about the Arab countries and Israel's borders," she says. "They explained to us that its important to give a good first impression. We were shown videos which show how Israel is seen in the world." Do the lessons help?
"Very much, my knowledge was expanded and that’s important. I personally have a problem speaking in front of people, sometimes I stutter, and the lessons gave me more confidence. I hope I can represent my country proudly," she says. The National Coordinator of Youth Leadership, Hadara Rosenblum said: "The decision after Protective Edge, where students who flew abroad where met with questions like what is happening in Israel?
What is happening in Jerusalem? They where asked about the security barrier, and the country's border. In the end of the day these students who fly abroad do represent Israel, they fill an important task in Israeli hasbara, sometimes without even knowing it. So it is important that they leave here with the necessary knowledge to deal with the tough questions."
Students who go on youth delegations abroad are now required to undergo training in Hasbara and public diplomacy. The first course is currently underway, and is attended by students who will be sent to Germany, China and France.
The decision to conduct the training was made in the Education Ministry after operation Protective Edge, as criticism of Israel and its policies grew around the world, and due to the recent discussion surrounding the boycott movement.
The youth delegations are made up of students who fly to international competitions and from now own must undergo a minimum of 10 hours of training, during which they will learn about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the policies of the State of Israel, and will be equipped with tools to deal with bodies who "seek to delegitimize Israel and her image." The lessons will take directed, and so at the end of the course every group will be assigned a task specific to the country they will be visiting.
Osher Anijar, a 9th grade student from Rabin high school in Eilat, is set to fly to Germany, as part of a student exchange program. Her and her friends from the exchange are taking part in the first course. "Until now we learned about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, about the Arab countries and Israel's borders," she says. "They explained to us that its important to give a good first impression. We were shown videos which show how Israel is seen in the world." Do the lessons help?
"Very much, my knowledge was expanded and that’s important. I personally have a problem speaking in front of people, sometimes I stutter, and the lessons gave me more confidence. I hope I can represent my country proudly," she says. The National Coordinator of Youth Leadership, Hadara Rosenblum said: "The decision after Protective Edge, where students who flew abroad where met with questions like what is happening in Israel?
What is happening in Jerusalem? They where asked about the security barrier, and the country's border. In the end of the day these students who fly abroad do represent Israel, they fill an important task in Israeli hasbara, sometimes without even knowing it. So it is important that they leave here with the necessary knowledge to deal with the tough questions."
Israel practices religious terrorism against both Islam and Christianity since its occupation of Palestine in 1948, member of the Islamic-Christian support committee of Jerusalem and holy sites in Palestine Father Manuel Musalam said.
The Israeli "religious terrorism" includes the deliberate crimes carried out against both Muslims and Christians and their property, in addition to attacking Islamic and Christian holy sites, he continued.
On Thursday, Israeli fanatics set fire to the Church of the Multiplication on the Sea of Galilee.
Material damage was inflicted on the church, while Hebrew graffiti was found, reading “the false gods will be eliminated”.
In addition to religious terrorism, Israel is systematically practicing ethnic cleaning against Muslims and Christians, Father Musalam said.
Israeli attacks against holy sites mainly aim to forcibly displace Palestinian Muslims and Christians, he continued.
“If they destroy our mosques and churches, we will re-build them but we will never leave our homeland.”
Father Musalam strongly condemned the continued silence of the Christian world towards the Israeli deliberate attacks against holy places in occupied Palestine.
The Israeli "religious terrorism" includes the deliberate crimes carried out against both Muslims and Christians and their property, in addition to attacking Islamic and Christian holy sites, he continued.
On Thursday, Israeli fanatics set fire to the Church of the Multiplication on the Sea of Galilee.
Material damage was inflicted on the church, while Hebrew graffiti was found, reading “the false gods will be eliminated”.
In addition to religious terrorism, Israel is systematically practicing ethnic cleaning against Muslims and Christians, Father Musalam said.
Israeli attacks against holy sites mainly aim to forcibly displace Palestinian Muslims and Christians, he continued.
“If they destroy our mosques and churches, we will re-build them but we will never leave our homeland.”
Father Musalam strongly condemned the continued silence of the Christian world towards the Israeli deliberate attacks against holy places in occupied Palestine.
'You killed six million Jews. You want to kill another one?' says Israeli photographer to Austrian police coming to escort him off flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv after argument broke out over overweight luggage.
An Israeli passenger was arrested on an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, telling Austrian police officers who came to remove him from the plane, "You killed six million Jews. You want to kill another one?"
That comment was preceded by cursing in Hebrew. This led the Austrian policemen take the passenger - well-known photographer Yossi Davidov - off the flight to a holding cell, along with his three photographer companions.
The plane debacle delayed the flight by over an hour. According to witness statements, the trouble began when Davidov and his companions began arguing with flight attendants over bringing camera equipment onto the flight. The flight attendants believed that the equipment was overweight, and thus needed to be checked in.
Davidov, who is a known figure among Israel's Buchari Jewish community, reportedly said: "You don’t like us because we are Jews," to Austrian police, who removed him from the flight. He also told police he only spoke Hebrew, and thus doesn’t understand them, but then he began speaking English after he was cuffed.
In a video filmed on board the plane, Davidov and friends can be seen being forcibly led off the plane, and into a squad car.
The captain then announced to passengers that "Due to an unruly passenger, a delay of 45 minutes or more is expected."
There were more than 220 passengers aboard the aircraft at the time, who decried Davidov's actions as embarrassing to Israelis. "I felt really embarrassment when they announced that an Israeli is causing a disturbance," said a passenger named Galit. Davidov's lawyer, Rueven Leviev, said in response: "My client was in Vienna to film an event in the Buchari Jewish community.
At 12 am he called me and told me that he was detained with three other photographers. I don’t justify his actions, however, when he got on the plane there was a Muslim flight attendant with a headscarf, and it seems that she saw a necklace with a Jewish Star of David on his neck, and decided to get back at him. He was travelling with cameras worth tens of thousands of dollars and always boards with them. Only on this plane was he specifically not allowed to bring the cameras on board, and he got mad." He continued: "He is from a very well known family in the industry and expressed remorse over the incident.
He was taken in for questioning and charged with attacking an officer, and causing a disturbance on a flight. After the intervention of the head of the Buchari community in Vienna, he was released with a 100 Euro fine. My client is very sorry for what happened, and would not repeat this behavior again." Austrian Airlines also responded to the incident: "We regret the behavior of certain passengers, which caused a delay of an hour and 20 minutes to Austrian Airlines flight OS859 from Vienna to Tel Aviv.
In every case where passengers arrive with overweight luggage, as was the case here, they are pointed towards the overweight baggage counter, where we try and help as much as possible."
"Due to the fact that some of these passengers' baggage was fragile, the crew offered that if there is space available on the flight, the baggage could be stored aboard, or in the luggage compartment, however, the passengers refused to send their excess luggage to the luggage compartment, chose to not follow the crew's instructions, the instructions that are meant to maintain the safety of all passengers on board, and began causing trouble.
Furthermore, these passengers were removed from the aircraft while being escorted by airport security. We are saddened by these situations and our primary focus is the safety of the flight and all passengers aboard," the airline continued.
An Israeli passenger was arrested on an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, telling Austrian police officers who came to remove him from the plane, "You killed six million Jews. You want to kill another one?"
That comment was preceded by cursing in Hebrew. This led the Austrian policemen take the passenger - well-known photographer Yossi Davidov - off the flight to a holding cell, along with his three photographer companions.
The plane debacle delayed the flight by over an hour. According to witness statements, the trouble began when Davidov and his companions began arguing with flight attendants over bringing camera equipment onto the flight. The flight attendants believed that the equipment was overweight, and thus needed to be checked in.
Davidov, who is a known figure among Israel's Buchari Jewish community, reportedly said: "You don’t like us because we are Jews," to Austrian police, who removed him from the flight. He also told police he only spoke Hebrew, and thus doesn’t understand them, but then he began speaking English after he was cuffed.
In a video filmed on board the plane, Davidov and friends can be seen being forcibly led off the plane, and into a squad car.
The captain then announced to passengers that "Due to an unruly passenger, a delay of 45 minutes or more is expected."
There were more than 220 passengers aboard the aircraft at the time, who decried Davidov's actions as embarrassing to Israelis. "I felt really embarrassment when they announced that an Israeli is causing a disturbance," said a passenger named Galit. Davidov's lawyer, Rueven Leviev, said in response: "My client was in Vienna to film an event in the Buchari Jewish community.
At 12 am he called me and told me that he was detained with three other photographers. I don’t justify his actions, however, when he got on the plane there was a Muslim flight attendant with a headscarf, and it seems that she saw a necklace with a Jewish Star of David on his neck, and decided to get back at him. He was travelling with cameras worth tens of thousands of dollars and always boards with them. Only on this plane was he specifically not allowed to bring the cameras on board, and he got mad." He continued: "He is from a very well known family in the industry and expressed remorse over the incident.
He was taken in for questioning and charged with attacking an officer, and causing a disturbance on a flight. After the intervention of the head of the Buchari community in Vienna, he was released with a 100 Euro fine. My client is very sorry for what happened, and would not repeat this behavior again." Austrian Airlines also responded to the incident: "We regret the behavior of certain passengers, which caused a delay of an hour and 20 minutes to Austrian Airlines flight OS859 from Vienna to Tel Aviv.
In every case where passengers arrive with overweight luggage, as was the case here, they are pointed towards the overweight baggage counter, where we try and help as much as possible."
"Due to the fact that some of these passengers' baggage was fragile, the crew offered that if there is space available on the flight, the baggage could be stored aboard, or in the luggage compartment, however, the passengers refused to send their excess luggage to the luggage compartment, chose to not follow the crew's instructions, the instructions that are meant to maintain the safety of all passengers on board, and began causing trouble.
Furthermore, these passengers were removed from the aircraft while being escorted by airport security. We are saddened by these situations and our primary focus is the safety of the flight and all passengers aboard," the airline continued.
18 june 2015
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Does Israel operate an apartheid system? The question is highly fraught and provokes strong emotions on both sides. Pro-Palestinian activists argue that it does; defenders of the Israeli state argue that this is a fallacy. Most neutral arbiters agree that there are certainly elements of apartheid, particularly in the separation of roads and transport systems in the Occupied West Bank, even if the entirety of the state cannot accurately be described as such.
The comparison to South Africa under apartheid is one that is being made more and more frequently, though, as the separation between Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the West Bank becomes more entrenched. It is cited frequently by proponents of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, who advocate isolating Israel as a way to |
apply pressure to end the occupation and seek a two-state solution, in the same way that pressure was applied to apartheid South Africa in the 1980s.
This week, the Israeli parliamentarian Tzipi Livni visited Britain to attend a Fortune summit for powerful women. Livni, who was foreign minister during the 2008-9 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, has in the past had to use diplomatic immunity to travel to the UK, after activists had a warrant for her arrest issued over alleged war crimes. Now, she is a member of parliament for the left-leaning Zionist Union, opposing the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu. She argues in favour of the two-state solution and a renewed peace process with the Palestinians. It is believed that the staunchly pro-Israel British government applied special status to her again to allow her visit to go ahead without fear of arrest.
Part of her visit was spent debating with supporters of the BDS movement. In early June, the National Union of Students voted in favour of a boycott of Israel. This week, Livni appeared at a student event. In response to questions about Israel's hard line right-wing government, she responded that there is a difference between the state of Israel and a specific administration. She argued that supporting the boycott is a "collective punishment" that will not change the government's policies.
Livni repeated the description of the BDS movement as "collective punishment" when she appeared on the BBC's Newsnight programme. She told presenter Evan Davis that, "BDS is not about two states, two people; they are against the state of Israel", although she also said that the movement was not big enough to be a major worry. Davis asked Livni if she had supported the equivalent movement in apartheid South Africa. "We are not in the same situation," she responded. The presenter said that he was not asking whether it was the same, merely whether it was the right approach.
Livni evaded the question, saying that she agreed with sanctions on Iran. "What about South Africa?" Davis asked for a third time. Finally Livni responded: "Yes, I did [agree]. But those were different, because there is no apartheid in Israel." Later in the conversation, Davis asked whether she found it depressing that the comparison to South Africa keeps being made. "Yes, it is frustrating as an Israeli," she said. "While I can criticise the Israeli government's policy, I cannot accept the idea that Israel is becoming an apartheid state."
Yet, for all Livni's denials, the comparison to South Africa is not going anywhere, and it is not just made by proponents of the BDS movement in the west, but by the same South Africans who fought against apartheid in their country. The Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of the most prominent people to make the case that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is comparable to South Africa. He first made the case in a series of newspaper articles in 2002. Since then, he has maintained that the international community should divest support from Israel until the territories are no longer occupied.
"I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of apartheid," he wrote in an open letter in 2010. "I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school and college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the apartheid government."
Other prominent South African anti-apartheid activists have also spoken out in recent years against Israel's policies in the West Bank, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Arun Gandhi, Ahmed Kathrada, and Ronnie Kasrils (who is Jewish). In 2012, Baleka Mbete, the chairman of the ANC, went so far as to say that the situation is "far worse than apartheid South Africa."
Clearly, the apartheid comparison is sticking to Israel, and as systems of segregation in the Occupied West Bank become more entrenched the description is becoming increasingly accurate. One recent government pilot project that was pulled after an international outcry involved segregated buses for Palestinians and Jewish settlers; it is difficult to argue that this is not reminiscent of apartheid. Tzipi Livni's evasiveness, and that of other apologists, can't disguise the obvious apartheid facts on the ground.
This week, the Israeli parliamentarian Tzipi Livni visited Britain to attend a Fortune summit for powerful women. Livni, who was foreign minister during the 2008-9 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, has in the past had to use diplomatic immunity to travel to the UK, after activists had a warrant for her arrest issued over alleged war crimes. Now, she is a member of parliament for the left-leaning Zionist Union, opposing the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu. She argues in favour of the two-state solution and a renewed peace process with the Palestinians. It is believed that the staunchly pro-Israel British government applied special status to her again to allow her visit to go ahead without fear of arrest.
Part of her visit was spent debating with supporters of the BDS movement. In early June, the National Union of Students voted in favour of a boycott of Israel. This week, Livni appeared at a student event. In response to questions about Israel's hard line right-wing government, she responded that there is a difference between the state of Israel and a specific administration. She argued that supporting the boycott is a "collective punishment" that will not change the government's policies.
Livni repeated the description of the BDS movement as "collective punishment" when she appeared on the BBC's Newsnight programme. She told presenter Evan Davis that, "BDS is not about two states, two people; they are against the state of Israel", although she also said that the movement was not big enough to be a major worry. Davis asked Livni if she had supported the equivalent movement in apartheid South Africa. "We are not in the same situation," she responded. The presenter said that he was not asking whether it was the same, merely whether it was the right approach.
Livni evaded the question, saying that she agreed with sanctions on Iran. "What about South Africa?" Davis asked for a third time. Finally Livni responded: "Yes, I did [agree]. But those were different, because there is no apartheid in Israel." Later in the conversation, Davis asked whether she found it depressing that the comparison to South Africa keeps being made. "Yes, it is frustrating as an Israeli," she said. "While I can criticise the Israeli government's policy, I cannot accept the idea that Israel is becoming an apartheid state."
Yet, for all Livni's denials, the comparison to South Africa is not going anywhere, and it is not just made by proponents of the BDS movement in the west, but by the same South Africans who fought against apartheid in their country. The Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of the most prominent people to make the case that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is comparable to South Africa. He first made the case in a series of newspaper articles in 2002. Since then, he has maintained that the international community should divest support from Israel until the territories are no longer occupied.
"I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of apartheid," he wrote in an open letter in 2010. "I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school and college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the apartheid government."
Other prominent South African anti-apartheid activists have also spoken out in recent years against Israel's policies in the West Bank, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Arun Gandhi, Ahmed Kathrada, and Ronnie Kasrils (who is Jewish). In 2012, Baleka Mbete, the chairman of the ANC, went so far as to say that the situation is "far worse than apartheid South Africa."
Clearly, the apartheid comparison is sticking to Israel, and as systems of segregation in the Occupied West Bank become more entrenched the description is becoming increasingly accurate. One recent government pilot project that was pulled after an international outcry involved segregated buses for Palestinians and Jewish settlers; it is difficult to argue that this is not reminiscent of apartheid. Tzipi Livni's evasiveness, and that of other apologists, can't disguise the obvious apartheid facts on the ground.