3 aug 2016
Committee recommends limiting use of Tasers, equipping police with body cameras and handing out harsher punishments to racist officers, but these were removed from its report; police: Recommendations already being implemented in the field.
Recommendations made concerning the Israel Police by a committee detailing the widespread institutionalized and racial discrimination against Ethiopian Jews have been removed from the committee's report.
The report, headed by the Ministry of Justice's director general, Emi Palmor, was compiled following extensive meetings with leaders, experts and representatives of the Ethiopian community in Israel.
It contains 53 practical recommendations meant to combat racism against Israelis of Ethiopian descent and help integrate them further into society. The recommendations deal with a wide variety of fields, including law enforcement, education and the media.
The report also contains 15 recommendations concerning the Israel Police, which include limiting the use of Tasers and increasing supervision over them, equipping police officers in areas with a large community of Ethiopian Jews with body cameras, and handing out harsher punishments to police officers who are found to be racist.
But these 15 recommendations were left out of the report, leaving it with only 38 recommendations.
This caught some in the Ministerial Committee for the Advancement of Ethiopian Immigrants by surprise, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who heads the committee, as well as Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked.
Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and other senior police officers who appeared in front of the ministerial committee knew of the changes to the report. The recommendations to the Israel Police were removed from the report the night before, apparently due to pressure from Erdan.
The Israel Police was furious with the report, claiming it was slandering the force while the recommendations it entails are already being implemented in the field.
Those of Ethiopian descent who also attended the meeting, among them some members of the committee that compiled the report, threatened to leave in protest. "The commissioner refuses to accept these recommendations because of his ego," they accused, "Other ministries have also had reforms, and yet they accepted the report and are willing to implement it."
Shlomit Berhanu, a social activist and a member of the committee, said she did not understand the police's objections, as it was a full partner in the inquiry process and in compiling the recommendations. "The claim that they are already implementing these recommendations in practice is detached from reality," she said.
In response to the outrage, the prime minister announced that he will convene a meeting next week to discuss the recommendations concerning the Israel Police.
The police, meanwhile, said it did not pressure the committee to remove the recommendations concerning the force from the report.
"We didn't wait for the committee's report to act, and we've already been operating in the field for a year now, of our own initiative, to restore the relationship of trust with the Ethiopian community," the police said in a statement. "The report adopted our existing work plan, and the reason the recommendations were left out of the report is because these measures are already being implemented. The prime minister asked us to present our work plan in an additional meeting—and so we shall do."
Racism against Ethiopian national service volunteers
Also this week, during a session of the Knesset's Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, the head of the Authority for National-Civic Service, Sar-Shalom Jerbi, reported that some of the institutions enjoying the volunteer work of girls doing national service are discriminating against those of Ethiopian descent.
Jerbi, however, refused to reveal which institutions did not accept girls of Ethiopian origin to volunteer with them, but said the displays of racism occurred in several institutions, and did not come from one group or another.
"A situation in which there is no punishment to discrimination against Ethiopian immigrants cannot be," said committee chairman and Ethiopian immigrant MK Dr. Avraham Neguise.
"Let me tell you something astounding," Jerbi responded. "The National-Civic Service directly funds 60-70 Israelis girls of Ethiopian descent out of its own pocket because some of the places they've been sent to will not fund them due to different and far fetched reasons. I've made a personal decision to not allow a situation whereby a national service volunteer from the Ethiopian community is left without a solution, so I provide the funds for them. This situation pains me."
Sources familiar with the issuesaid that the volunteers of Ethiopian descent were politely rejected from working in villages for at-risk youth, NGOs aiding sick people, and others—solely because of the color of their skin.
"We're creating special programs for girls from the Ethiopian community who need them," Jerbi said. "Like improving their matriculation grades and life prep courses, so they could have an easier time joining the Israeli work force or studying."
Jerbi also claimed that "different officials demanded that I retract my statements and are even threatening me—I don't intend to take back my statements, because I exposed the truth."
Recommendations made concerning the Israel Police by a committee detailing the widespread institutionalized and racial discrimination against Ethiopian Jews have been removed from the committee's report.
The report, headed by the Ministry of Justice's director general, Emi Palmor, was compiled following extensive meetings with leaders, experts and representatives of the Ethiopian community in Israel.
It contains 53 practical recommendations meant to combat racism against Israelis of Ethiopian descent and help integrate them further into society. The recommendations deal with a wide variety of fields, including law enforcement, education and the media.
The report also contains 15 recommendations concerning the Israel Police, which include limiting the use of Tasers and increasing supervision over them, equipping police officers in areas with a large community of Ethiopian Jews with body cameras, and handing out harsher punishments to police officers who are found to be racist.
But these 15 recommendations were left out of the report, leaving it with only 38 recommendations.
This caught some in the Ministerial Committee for the Advancement of Ethiopian Immigrants by surprise, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who heads the committee, as well as Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked.
Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and other senior police officers who appeared in front of the ministerial committee knew of the changes to the report. The recommendations to the Israel Police were removed from the report the night before, apparently due to pressure from Erdan.
The Israel Police was furious with the report, claiming it was slandering the force while the recommendations it entails are already being implemented in the field.
Those of Ethiopian descent who also attended the meeting, among them some members of the committee that compiled the report, threatened to leave in protest. "The commissioner refuses to accept these recommendations because of his ego," they accused, "Other ministries have also had reforms, and yet they accepted the report and are willing to implement it."
Shlomit Berhanu, a social activist and a member of the committee, said she did not understand the police's objections, as it was a full partner in the inquiry process and in compiling the recommendations. "The claim that they are already implementing these recommendations in practice is detached from reality," she said.
In response to the outrage, the prime minister announced that he will convene a meeting next week to discuss the recommendations concerning the Israel Police.
The police, meanwhile, said it did not pressure the committee to remove the recommendations concerning the force from the report.
"We didn't wait for the committee's report to act, and we've already been operating in the field for a year now, of our own initiative, to restore the relationship of trust with the Ethiopian community," the police said in a statement. "The report adopted our existing work plan, and the reason the recommendations were left out of the report is because these measures are already being implemented. The prime minister asked us to present our work plan in an additional meeting—and so we shall do."
Racism against Ethiopian national service volunteers
Also this week, during a session of the Knesset's Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, the head of the Authority for National-Civic Service, Sar-Shalom Jerbi, reported that some of the institutions enjoying the volunteer work of girls doing national service are discriminating against those of Ethiopian descent.
Jerbi, however, refused to reveal which institutions did not accept girls of Ethiopian origin to volunteer with them, but said the displays of racism occurred in several institutions, and did not come from one group or another.
"A situation in which there is no punishment to discrimination against Ethiopian immigrants cannot be," said committee chairman and Ethiopian immigrant MK Dr. Avraham Neguise.
"Let me tell you something astounding," Jerbi responded. "The National-Civic Service directly funds 60-70 Israelis girls of Ethiopian descent out of its own pocket because some of the places they've been sent to will not fund them due to different and far fetched reasons. I've made a personal decision to not allow a situation whereby a national service volunteer from the Ethiopian community is left without a solution, so I provide the funds for them. This situation pains me."
Sources familiar with the issuesaid that the volunteers of Ethiopian descent were politely rejected from working in villages for at-risk youth, NGOs aiding sick people, and others—solely because of the color of their skin.
"We're creating special programs for girls from the Ethiopian community who need them," Jerbi said. "Like improving their matriculation grades and life prep courses, so they could have an easier time joining the Israeli work force or studying."
Jerbi also claimed that "different officials demanded that I retract my statements and are even threatening me—I don't intend to take back my statements, because I exposed the truth."
1 aug 2016
The Palestine News Agency WAFA, on Monday, monitored incitement and racism published in the Israeli media against Palestinians and Arabs between June 15 and 21 July, 2016.
The 296 issue of the report, reviewed a number of articles and op-ed published by Israeli writers and journalists, which incite against Palestinians and Arabs both directly and indirectly.
Maariv newspaper published a racist article on July 7 by Michael Kleiner, in which he attacked Arab member of the Israeli Knesset Hanin Zoabi as a woman and aan Arab and promoted stereotypical ideas about Arabs.
He asked if the 47-year-old Syria-born single woman would have been allowed to apply makeup, leave the house without a head cover, join protests, wave flags or board a Turkish flotilla, establish a career, receive a salary and appear on media outlets if she was still in Syria, or would she be busy taking care of homeless children that she birthed after being forced to marry an old man and fighting with her husband’s younger wife that was recently added to the family?
Kleiner said that Zoabi is lucky that Jews rejected the Uganda plan and returned to their ancestor’s land where they paved roads, built universities in Jerusalem and Haifa and established a western country where Zoabi can were pants, fight for the rights of women and homosexuals and express her extreme and violent ideas under the pretext of freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, Ze’ev Kam criticized, in a video published on July 19 on NRG website, Arab member of the Knesset Yousef Jabarin, who said that Israel assassinated former leader Yassir Arafat.
Kam said, “There is an Arab member in our Knesset who is extremely jealous of Zoabi and he wishes to receive the same media attention that the former receives. His name is Yousef Jabarin. You do not know him, but he is doing everything possible to gain fame.”
Kam asked Jabarin about the evidence, which supports his groundless claims. The Israeli journalist described Jabarin’s claims as part of Palestinian culture which promotes lies.
NRG website also published an article by Sara Cohen in which she attacked the Israeli army radio station for broadcasting poems by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
She said, “Darwish’s war is the word and his narrative is the Palestinians. The problem lies when we adopt his narrative and mock the words that we do not understand.”
She warned against upholding art, culture, and diversity, which give right to expelling Jews through the use of knives and gunfire.
The 296 issue of the report, reviewed a number of articles and op-ed published by Israeli writers and journalists, which incite against Palestinians and Arabs both directly and indirectly.
Maariv newspaper published a racist article on July 7 by Michael Kleiner, in which he attacked Arab member of the Israeli Knesset Hanin Zoabi as a woman and aan Arab and promoted stereotypical ideas about Arabs.
He asked if the 47-year-old Syria-born single woman would have been allowed to apply makeup, leave the house without a head cover, join protests, wave flags or board a Turkish flotilla, establish a career, receive a salary and appear on media outlets if she was still in Syria, or would she be busy taking care of homeless children that she birthed after being forced to marry an old man and fighting with her husband’s younger wife that was recently added to the family?
Kleiner said that Zoabi is lucky that Jews rejected the Uganda plan and returned to their ancestor’s land where they paved roads, built universities in Jerusalem and Haifa and established a western country where Zoabi can were pants, fight for the rights of women and homosexuals and express her extreme and violent ideas under the pretext of freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, Ze’ev Kam criticized, in a video published on July 19 on NRG website, Arab member of the Knesset Yousef Jabarin, who said that Israel assassinated former leader Yassir Arafat.
Kam said, “There is an Arab member in our Knesset who is extremely jealous of Zoabi and he wishes to receive the same media attention that the former receives. His name is Yousef Jabarin. You do not know him, but he is doing everything possible to gain fame.”
Kam asked Jabarin about the evidence, which supports his groundless claims. The Israeli journalist described Jabarin’s claims as part of Palestinian culture which promotes lies.
NRG website also published an article by Sara Cohen in which she attacked the Israeli army radio station for broadcasting poems by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
She said, “Darwish’s war is the word and his narrative is the Palestinians. The problem lies when we adopt his narrative and mock the words that we do not understand.”
She warned against upholding art, culture, and diversity, which give right to expelling Jews through the use of knives and gunfire.
31 july 2016
From left, Halima and Hadiba Kayed, the first wife of the father of administrative detainee Bilal Kayed, and Bilal's mother, respectively, at home this month.
Israel may not be Nazi, nor even a fascist state. Yet it is a member of the same terrible family, the family of evil states. Just consider these acts of evil perpetrated by the state...
After we’ve cited nationalism and racism, hatred and contempt for Arab life, the security cult and resistance to the occupation, victimhood and messianism, one more element must be added without which the behavior of the Israeli occupation regime cannot be explained: Evil. Pure evil. Sadistic evil. Evil for its own sake. Sometimes, it’s the only explanation.
Eva Illouz described its signs (“Evil now,” Haaretz, July 30). Her essay, which challenges the idea of the banality of evil, considers the national group as the source of the evil. Using philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s concept, she finds a “family resemblance” between the Israeli occupation and history’s evil regimes. This similarity does not mean that Israel is Nazi, nor even fascist. And yet it is a member of the same terrible family, the family of evil states. It’s a depressing and brilliant analysis.
The evil that Illouz attributes to Israel is not banal, it cannot happen anywhere, and it has political and social roots that are deeply embedded in Israeli society. Thus, Illouz joins Zeev Sternhell, who warned in his impressive and resounding essay about the cultural soil out of which fascism is now growing in Israel (“The birth of fascism,” Haaretz Hebrew edition, July 7).
But alongside these analyses, we must also present a brief history of evil. We must present the instances that combine to create a great and horrific picture, a picture of Israeli evil in the territories, so as to stand up to those who deny the evil. It is not the case of the individual – Sgt. Elor Azaria, for example, who is being tried for the death of a subdued Palestinian assailant in Hebron – but the conduct of the establishment and the occupation regime that proves the evil. In fact, the continuation of the occupation proves the evil. Illouz, Sternhell and others provide debatable analyses on its origins, but whatever they are, it can no longer be denied.
One case is like a thousand witnesses: the case of Bilal Kayed. A young man who completed a prison term of 14.5 years – his entire sentence – without a single furlough, without being allowed to at least say goodbye by phone to his dying father; a clear sign of evil.
About six weeks ago, Kayed was getting ready for his release. A representative of the Shin Bet security service – one of the greatest agencies of evil in Israel – even showed him a photograph of the home his family had built for him to stir him up even more ahead of his release. And then, as his family waited impatiently for him at the crossing point and Kayed grew ever more excited in his cell, he was informed that he was being thrown into administrative detention for at least another six months, without trial and without explanation.
Since then, he has been on hunger strike. He is cuffed to his bed. His family is not allowed to see him. Prison guards never leave his room and the lights are not turned out for a moment. Evil.
Only evil can explain the state’s conduct toward Kayed – only an evil state acts this way. The arbitrary announcement, at the last moment, of a senseless detention is abuse, and the way he has been treated since then is also abuse.
Only evil can explain the detention last week of another young man, Hiran Jaradat, whose brother Arif (who had Down syndrome) was killed in June and whose father died two days ago. He is under arrest for “incitement on Facebook” and was not released to attend his father’s funeral. Evil.
The continuation of the detention of poet Darin Tatur – evil. The destruction of the tiny swimming pool that the residents of Khirbet Tana in the northern West Bank had built for themselves – evil. The confiscation of water tanks from a community of shepherds in the Jordan Valley in the July heat – evil.
A great many of the decisions of the occupation regime that decides the fates of individuals, families, communities, villages and cities cannot be explained without evil. The list is as long as the occupation. The extortion of sick people from Gaza to enlist them as collaborators, the blockades on cities and towns for weeks, the Gaza blockade, the demolition of homes – all evil.
Banal or not, its existence must be acknowledged and it must be recognized as one of the most influential values in Israel. Yes, there is an evil regime at work in Israel, and therefore it is an evil state.
Israel may not be Nazi, nor even a fascist state. Yet it is a member of the same terrible family, the family of evil states. Just consider these acts of evil perpetrated by the state...
After we’ve cited nationalism and racism, hatred and contempt for Arab life, the security cult and resistance to the occupation, victimhood and messianism, one more element must be added without which the behavior of the Israeli occupation regime cannot be explained: Evil. Pure evil. Sadistic evil. Evil for its own sake. Sometimes, it’s the only explanation.
Eva Illouz described its signs (“Evil now,” Haaretz, July 30). Her essay, which challenges the idea of the banality of evil, considers the national group as the source of the evil. Using philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s concept, she finds a “family resemblance” between the Israeli occupation and history’s evil regimes. This similarity does not mean that Israel is Nazi, nor even fascist. And yet it is a member of the same terrible family, the family of evil states. It’s a depressing and brilliant analysis.
The evil that Illouz attributes to Israel is not banal, it cannot happen anywhere, and it has political and social roots that are deeply embedded in Israeli society. Thus, Illouz joins Zeev Sternhell, who warned in his impressive and resounding essay about the cultural soil out of which fascism is now growing in Israel (“The birth of fascism,” Haaretz Hebrew edition, July 7).
But alongside these analyses, we must also present a brief history of evil. We must present the instances that combine to create a great and horrific picture, a picture of Israeli evil in the territories, so as to stand up to those who deny the evil. It is not the case of the individual – Sgt. Elor Azaria, for example, who is being tried for the death of a subdued Palestinian assailant in Hebron – but the conduct of the establishment and the occupation regime that proves the evil. In fact, the continuation of the occupation proves the evil. Illouz, Sternhell and others provide debatable analyses on its origins, but whatever they are, it can no longer be denied.
One case is like a thousand witnesses: the case of Bilal Kayed. A young man who completed a prison term of 14.5 years – his entire sentence – without a single furlough, without being allowed to at least say goodbye by phone to his dying father; a clear sign of evil.
About six weeks ago, Kayed was getting ready for his release. A representative of the Shin Bet security service – one of the greatest agencies of evil in Israel – even showed him a photograph of the home his family had built for him to stir him up even more ahead of his release. And then, as his family waited impatiently for him at the crossing point and Kayed grew ever more excited in his cell, he was informed that he was being thrown into administrative detention for at least another six months, without trial and without explanation.
Since then, he has been on hunger strike. He is cuffed to his bed. His family is not allowed to see him. Prison guards never leave his room and the lights are not turned out for a moment. Evil.
Only evil can explain the state’s conduct toward Kayed – only an evil state acts this way. The arbitrary announcement, at the last moment, of a senseless detention is abuse, and the way he has been treated since then is also abuse.
Only evil can explain the detention last week of another young man, Hiran Jaradat, whose brother Arif (who had Down syndrome) was killed in June and whose father died two days ago. He is under arrest for “incitement on Facebook” and was not released to attend his father’s funeral. Evil.
The continuation of the detention of poet Darin Tatur – evil. The destruction of the tiny swimming pool that the residents of Khirbet Tana in the northern West Bank had built for themselves – evil. The confiscation of water tanks from a community of shepherds in the Jordan Valley in the July heat – evil.
A great many of the decisions of the occupation regime that decides the fates of individuals, families, communities, villages and cities cannot be explained without evil. The list is as long as the occupation. The extortion of sick people from Gaza to enlist them as collaborators, the blockades on cities and towns for weeks, the Gaza blockade, the demolition of homes – all evil.
Banal or not, its existence must be acknowledged and it must be recognized as one of the most influential values in Israel. Yes, there is an evil regime at work in Israel, and therefore it is an evil state.
The Justice Ministry's internal committee tasked with reviewing racism aimed at Ethiopians submits its report to the PM, stating it expects all of its recommendations to be implemented; 'The Ethiopian public is about to boil over,' warns a member of the community.
A report by a Justice Ministry’s committee detailing the widespread institutionalized and racial discrimination against Ethiopian Jews was officially submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday.
Among its recommendations, the report states that the changes it suggests to be made in the public education system should be implemented beginning with preschool.
The report, headed by the Ministry of Justice's director general, Emi Palmor, was compiled following extensive meetings with leaders, experts and representatives of the Ethiopian communities.
Focusing, among other topics, on their treatment under the public education system, Ethiopians spoke of a pattern of discrimination at the hands of educators, including being turned away from public schools due to “underachievement,” in addition to stories of parents who refrained from sending their children to activities that included Ethiopian children.
Other complaints focused on the fact that Ethiopian children are referred much more to the special education system, instead of working to keep them within the general population and education system, and that welfare workers are much more likely to decide on removing Ethiopian children from their homes as opposed to other children, while being unable to help lower the rate of Ethiopian minors’ involvement in criminal activity.
The current report offers recommendations on how to best address these issues, suggesting more effort needs to be made to strengthen the Ethiopian community from an early age, in a similar manner to the recommendations put forth by the Biton Committee, which focused its energy on promoting Mizrahi Jews.
As such, the Palmor report states that kindergarten libraries be stocked with age-appropriate books on children from different cultures and various skin colors, while also introducing the children to dolls with different skin tones.
The report also stresses that educators are underprepared and misinformed about matters of racism, recommending that their continued education programs focus more on introducing them to Ethiopian heritage and on how to prevent racism in their classrooms.
Since Netanyahu is the head of the Ministerial Committee on the integration of Israeli Citizens of Ethiopian Origin, the report was turned over to his office for review. The ministerial committee is expected to adopt the report’s conclusions in full.
Heads of the Ethiopian community have warned that if the report’s suggestions are not adopted in full, they will return to the streets and protest the decision.
Speaking before the committee, a member of the Ethiopian community said, “We have an obligation to our community to make it absolutely clear that this is the government’s last chance.”
He continued by saying that the committee “should not make the mistake of thinking that we will be satisfied with empty slogans, when in reality the Ethiopian public is about to boil over.”
Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog's advisor Shlomit Berhanu, who took part in the committee’s discussions and who herself is a member of the Ethiopian community, said that “implementing the report’s recommendations would heal the deep rift and lack of trust in our society.”
Palmor also voiced her desire that the government decide to move ahead with her committee’s recommendations. “The fact that the report has already gained the approval of many government ministries and the local municipalities that contributed to it, as well as the approval of leading social activists, all add to its chances of bringing about a substantial change,” she said.
A report by a Justice Ministry’s committee detailing the widespread institutionalized and racial discrimination against Ethiopian Jews was officially submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday.
Among its recommendations, the report states that the changes it suggests to be made in the public education system should be implemented beginning with preschool.
The report, headed by the Ministry of Justice's director general, Emi Palmor, was compiled following extensive meetings with leaders, experts and representatives of the Ethiopian communities.
Focusing, among other topics, on their treatment under the public education system, Ethiopians spoke of a pattern of discrimination at the hands of educators, including being turned away from public schools due to “underachievement,” in addition to stories of parents who refrained from sending their children to activities that included Ethiopian children.
Other complaints focused on the fact that Ethiopian children are referred much more to the special education system, instead of working to keep them within the general population and education system, and that welfare workers are much more likely to decide on removing Ethiopian children from their homes as opposed to other children, while being unable to help lower the rate of Ethiopian minors’ involvement in criminal activity.
The current report offers recommendations on how to best address these issues, suggesting more effort needs to be made to strengthen the Ethiopian community from an early age, in a similar manner to the recommendations put forth by the Biton Committee, which focused its energy on promoting Mizrahi Jews.
As such, the Palmor report states that kindergarten libraries be stocked with age-appropriate books on children from different cultures and various skin colors, while also introducing the children to dolls with different skin tones.
The report also stresses that educators are underprepared and misinformed about matters of racism, recommending that their continued education programs focus more on introducing them to Ethiopian heritage and on how to prevent racism in their classrooms.
Since Netanyahu is the head of the Ministerial Committee on the integration of Israeli Citizens of Ethiopian Origin, the report was turned over to his office for review. The ministerial committee is expected to adopt the report’s conclusions in full.
Heads of the Ethiopian community have warned that if the report’s suggestions are not adopted in full, they will return to the streets and protest the decision.
Speaking before the committee, a member of the Ethiopian community said, “We have an obligation to our community to make it absolutely clear that this is the government’s last chance.”
He continued by saying that the committee “should not make the mistake of thinking that we will be satisfied with empty slogans, when in reality the Ethiopian public is about to boil over.”
Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog's advisor Shlomit Berhanu, who took part in the committee’s discussions and who herself is a member of the Ethiopian community, said that “implementing the report’s recommendations would heal the deep rift and lack of trust in our society.”
Palmor also voiced her desire that the government decide to move ahead with her committee’s recommendations. “The fact that the report has already gained the approval of many government ministries and the local municipalities that contributed to it, as well as the approval of leading social activists, all add to its chances of bringing about a substantial change,” she said.
22 july 2016
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has compared the broadcast of poetry by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish on Israeli radio to glorifying Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” the Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Israeli army radio broadcast works by the iconic Palestinian writer as part of its “University on Air” program, including Darwish’s famous poem “Identity Card,” which drew the ire of Lieberman and other Israeli officials.
Ma’an News Agency reports that, in a meeting with Army Radio chief Yaron Dekel, Lieberman said that broadcasting the poem contravened the station’s mission to “strengthen solidarity in society, not to deepen rifts, and certainly not to offend public sensibilities.”
Lieberman added that Darwish’s poems could not “be part of the Israeli narrative program” aired on the station, adding: “By that same logic, we can also add to the Israeli narrative Mufti al-Husseini, or broadcast a glorification of the literary merits of ‘Mein Kampf,’” referring to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in the 1920s and 1930s — whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu controversially blamed in October for the Jewish holocaust.
“Identity Card,” written in 1964, details the indignities of life subjected to the bureaucracy of the Israeli occupation, and includes the lines “I do not hate people/Nor do I encroach/But if I become hungry/The usurper’s flesh will be my food,” presumably the part targeted by Lieberman.
According to the Ministry of Defense statement, Lieberman said that there was “a big difference between freedom of expression and freedom of incitement.”
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit called Lieberman “to remind him he has no authority to intervene in Army Radio’s programming.”
Born in Moldova, Avigdor Lieberman is one of the only foreign ministers in the world who does not live in territory officially recognized as his own country.
Originally under suspicion over charges of money-laundering and bribery, Lieberman was formally indicted in December of 2012, on lesser charges of fraud and breach of trust.
His party was recently the focus of a corruption probe within the Israeli political spectrum, and, more recently, Lieberman’s life was threatened with an assassination attempt.
On Wednesday, Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev called the broadcast of Darwish’s poems “dangerous,” adding that Army Radio “cannot allow itself to glorify the anti-Israel historical tale, as Mahmoud Darwish is not an Israeli, his poems are not Israeli, and they go against the main values of Israeli society.”
Darwish, who died in 2008, is also known as Palestine’s national poet, and stands as one of the most prominent figures of modern Palestinian literature. He has long been criticized by Israeli political figures for his stance against the occupation.
On Tuesday, Israeli army radio broadcast works by the iconic Palestinian writer as part of its “University on Air” program, including Darwish’s famous poem “Identity Card,” which drew the ire of Lieberman and other Israeli officials.
Ma’an News Agency reports that, in a meeting with Army Radio chief Yaron Dekel, Lieberman said that broadcasting the poem contravened the station’s mission to “strengthen solidarity in society, not to deepen rifts, and certainly not to offend public sensibilities.”
Lieberman added that Darwish’s poems could not “be part of the Israeli narrative program” aired on the station, adding: “By that same logic, we can also add to the Israeli narrative Mufti al-Husseini, or broadcast a glorification of the literary merits of ‘Mein Kampf,’” referring to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in the 1920s and 1930s — whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu controversially blamed in October for the Jewish holocaust.
“Identity Card,” written in 1964, details the indignities of life subjected to the bureaucracy of the Israeli occupation, and includes the lines “I do not hate people/Nor do I encroach/But if I become hungry/The usurper’s flesh will be my food,” presumably the part targeted by Lieberman.
According to the Ministry of Defense statement, Lieberman said that there was “a big difference between freedom of expression and freedom of incitement.”
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit called Lieberman “to remind him he has no authority to intervene in Army Radio’s programming.”
Born in Moldova, Avigdor Lieberman is one of the only foreign ministers in the world who does not live in territory officially recognized as his own country.
Originally under suspicion over charges of money-laundering and bribery, Lieberman was formally indicted in December of 2012, on lesser charges of fraud and breach of trust.
His party was recently the focus of a corruption probe within the Israeli political spectrum, and, more recently, Lieberman’s life was threatened with an assassination attempt.
On Wednesday, Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev called the broadcast of Darwish’s poems “dangerous,” adding that Army Radio “cannot allow itself to glorify the anti-Israel historical tale, as Mahmoud Darwish is not an Israeli, his poems are not Israeli, and they go against the main values of Israeli society.”
Darwish, who died in 2008, is also known as Palestine’s national poet, and stands as one of the most prominent figures of modern Palestinian literature. He has long been criticized by Israeli political figures for his stance against the occupation.
21 july 2016
Rabbi Levinstein
300 rabbis across Israel signed a letter in solidarity with Rabbi Levinstein despite referring to LGBT people as 'perverts;' Levinstein invited to clarify his comments at the defense ministry; Rabbis; 'We reject the attempt to shut the mouths of rabbis in Israel.'
Hundreds of rabbis have come out in support for for the Religious-Zionist Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the head of a distinguished IDF preparatory yeshiva found himself at the center of conrtoversy following comments labelling LGBT people ‘perverts.’
The Rabbis penned a letter which was published on Wednesday night stating: “There is no place for legitimizing these phenomena or this behavior which celebrates a lifestyle contrary to human morality and the path of the Torah.”
“The love toward every human being from Israel and the obligation to show respect to every person cannot be used as a reason to twist the religious truth or to cut corners regarding forbidden acts,” the rabbis wrote. “It is the duty of a rabbi in Israel to deal with all religious or moral matters in a clear fashion as teachers in Israel. In this vein, we reject the attempt to shut the mouths of rabbis in Israel,” the letter continued.
One of the people who initiated the petition said that he wanted to express his opposition for comments made by Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett who this week criticized Rabbi Levinstein and claimed that his remarks against the gay community did not represent religious Zionism.
“We find it difficult to understand how a politician - however talented - can take it on himself to exclude rabbis who have shaped religious Zionism for many years, who have educated thousands of students who have become role models.”
Three hundred rabbis across the country signed the declaration along with respected educators and heads of Yeshivas, Hebrew learning centers and IDF preparatory yeshivas.
300 rabbis across Israel signed a letter in solidarity with Rabbi Levinstein despite referring to LGBT people as 'perverts;' Levinstein invited to clarify his comments at the defense ministry; Rabbis; 'We reject the attempt to shut the mouths of rabbis in Israel.'
Hundreds of rabbis have come out in support for for the Religious-Zionist Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the head of a distinguished IDF preparatory yeshiva found himself at the center of conrtoversy following comments labelling LGBT people ‘perverts.’
The Rabbis penned a letter which was published on Wednesday night stating: “There is no place for legitimizing these phenomena or this behavior which celebrates a lifestyle contrary to human morality and the path of the Torah.”
“The love toward every human being from Israel and the obligation to show respect to every person cannot be used as a reason to twist the religious truth or to cut corners regarding forbidden acts,” the rabbis wrote. “It is the duty of a rabbi in Israel to deal with all religious or moral matters in a clear fashion as teachers in Israel. In this vein, we reject the attempt to shut the mouths of rabbis in Israel,” the letter continued.
One of the people who initiated the petition said that he wanted to express his opposition for comments made by Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett who this week criticized Rabbi Levinstein and claimed that his remarks against the gay community did not represent religious Zionism.
“We find it difficult to understand how a politician - however talented - can take it on himself to exclude rabbis who have shaped religious Zionism for many years, who have educated thousands of students who have become role models.”
Three hundred rabbis across the country signed the declaration along with respected educators and heads of Yeshivas, Hebrew learning centers and IDF preparatory yeshivas.
Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
“In light of the recent public discussions regarding the remarks of Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein and other rabbis,” read the letter, “we wish to express our support to every rabbi who expresses his rabinical opinion which stems from faith in the Torah, impartially and without apologies.”
The rabbis concluded their letter pledging that they will continue to express their religious opinion on every matter which demands it, without fear, in fulfillment of their public responsibilities, “on behalf of the silent majority - religious and nonreligious.”
Despite the talk, Yedioth Ahronoth was informed that Rabbi Levinstein was invited on Thursday morning to speak with the chief of staff of the defense ministry, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam to clarify matters. The meeting is expected to take place in the Kiryah in Tel Aviv where Maj. Gen. Adam is likely to demand that Levinstein retract his comments.
The defense ministry, together with the education ministry, finances the IDF preparatory Yeshiva. However, officials have claimed that even if Levinstein does not apologize, there are no legal grounds on which finances can be withheld.
“In light of the recent public discussions regarding the remarks of Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein and other rabbis,” read the letter, “we wish to express our support to every rabbi who expresses his rabinical opinion which stems from faith in the Torah, impartially and without apologies.”
The rabbis concluded their letter pledging that they will continue to express their religious opinion on every matter which demands it, without fear, in fulfillment of their public responsibilities, “on behalf of the silent majority - religious and nonreligious.”
Despite the talk, Yedioth Ahronoth was informed that Rabbi Levinstein was invited on Thursday morning to speak with the chief of staff of the defense ministry, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam to clarify matters. The meeting is expected to take place in the Kiryah in Tel Aviv where Maj. Gen. Adam is likely to demand that Levinstein retract his comments.
The defense ministry, together with the education ministry, finances the IDF preparatory Yeshiva. However, officials have claimed that even if Levinstein does not apologize, there are no legal grounds on which finances can be withheld.
19 july 2016
Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog warned, recently, of “growing hatred and racism” being incited by right-wing politicians in the state of Israel.
“We are on the verge of an uprising of hatred, racism, darkness and upcoming killings and assassination based on the overwhelming internal hatred here,” Herzog said during a speech at a Zionist Camp parliamentary bloc session on Monday, according to Press TV/Al Ray.
“We hear hatred at every turn, whether it is directed toward women by military rabbis, by Ashkenazi Jews against Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews against Ashkenazis.”
The 55-year-old chairman of the Labor Party further blamed the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prevalence of the rising fascist discourse in Israel.
“This way the seeds of the uprising of hatred are planted, which will lead to a civil war. This hatred is being carried out by the full support and cover of those in charge,” Herzog said.
“Whoever heads this administration remains silent about the uprising of hatred, without working against it, ending it, taking steps against its leaders, or preventing those behind it from receiving funding,” he went on to say.
Earlier this month, Herzog denounced the passage of a controversial law compelling Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reveal the sources of their public foreign funding. The measure has come under fire from left-wing groups as an attack against the critics of Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Herzog slammed the legislation, titled the “NGO Transparency Law,” for “symbolizing the budding fascism that is rising and flourishing in Israeli society.”
Critics argue that the bill targets human rights groups critical of the Israeli administration’s policies, and does not affect right-wing and pro-settlement NGOs.
“We are on the verge of an uprising of hatred, racism, darkness and upcoming killings and assassination based on the overwhelming internal hatred here,” Herzog said during a speech at a Zionist Camp parliamentary bloc session on Monday, according to Press TV/Al Ray.
“We hear hatred at every turn, whether it is directed toward women by military rabbis, by Ashkenazi Jews against Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews against Ashkenazis.”
The 55-year-old chairman of the Labor Party further blamed the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prevalence of the rising fascist discourse in Israel.
“This way the seeds of the uprising of hatred are planted, which will lead to a civil war. This hatred is being carried out by the full support and cover of those in charge,” Herzog said.
“Whoever heads this administration remains silent about the uprising of hatred, without working against it, ending it, taking steps against its leaders, or preventing those behind it from receiving funding,” he went on to say.
Earlier this month, Herzog denounced the passage of a controversial law compelling Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reveal the sources of their public foreign funding. The measure has come under fire from left-wing groups as an attack against the critics of Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Herzog slammed the legislation, titled the “NGO Transparency Law,” for “symbolizing the budding fascism that is rising and flourishing in Israeli society.”
Critics argue that the bill targets human rights groups critical of the Israeli administration’s policies, and does not affect right-wing and pro-settlement NGOs.
The Israeli Knesset approved Monday the draft law that would enable Israeli lawmakers to expel Arab members of parliament.
Haaretz newspaper revealed that opposition members rejected revisions filed against the controversial bill that demanded to suspend and not expel Arab Mks.
According to the bill, a majority of 90 MKs in the 120-seat Knesset would have the power to expel a fellow lawmaker from the parliament “for incitement to racism or supporting an armed struggle against Israel.”
A request to oust an MK will first be presented to the Knesset speaker, who will discuss the request with the Knesset Committee. If at least 75% of the committee members support the request, it will be brought to a vote in the Knesset plenum.
The expelled lawmaker will be allowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The draft law is controversial and many rights groups have criticized it as an anti-democratic law that targets Arab MKs.
In February, three Arab MKs were deprived from attending the Knesset sessions for two and four months.
Haaretz newspaper revealed that opposition members rejected revisions filed against the controversial bill that demanded to suspend and not expel Arab Mks.
According to the bill, a majority of 90 MKs in the 120-seat Knesset would have the power to expel a fellow lawmaker from the parliament “for incitement to racism or supporting an armed struggle against Israel.”
A request to oust an MK will first be presented to the Knesset speaker, who will discuss the request with the Knesset Committee. If at least 75% of the committee members support the request, it will be brought to a vote in the Knesset plenum.
The expelled lawmaker will be allowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The draft law is controversial and many rights groups have criticized it as an anti-democratic law that targets Arab MKs.
In February, three Arab MKs were deprived from attending the Knesset sessions for two and four months.
