19 aug 2013
Lapid on benefit cuts: Parents responsible for children, not state
Finance Minister Yair Lapid referred to cuts in child allowances to go into effect on Friday. On his Facebook page he wrote, "When a person brings children into the world, he is responsible for them. The state should not support them, or parents." Lapid added, "This was one of our main election promises and now it comes to fruition... It has been proven repeatedly that child allowances do not get people out of poverty, they perpetuate poverty. There is only one thing that allows families to get out of poverty – that is work."
Finance Minister Yair Lapid referred to cuts in child allowances to go into effect on Friday. On his Facebook page he wrote, "When a person brings children into the world, he is responsible for them. The state should not support them, or parents." Lapid added, "This was one of our main election promises and now it comes to fruition... It has been proven repeatedly that child allowances do not get people out of poverty, they perpetuate poverty. There is only one thing that allows families to get out of poverty – that is work."
Settlement on Israel's Jewish, democratic identity to be drafted
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni appointed Prof. Ruth Gavison to draft a constitutional document which aims to regulate contradictions pertaining to Israel's dual identity as both a Jewish and democratic State.
Livni's decision follows social and legal controversies which stemmed from said dual identity.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni appointed Prof. Ruth Gavison to draft a constitutional document which aims to regulate contradictions pertaining to Israel's dual identity as both a Jewish and democratic State.
Livni's decision follows social and legal controversies which stemmed from said dual identity.
Ruin in Cairo
Jerusalem launching campaign to urge Europe, United States to support military-backed government in Egypt, New York Times reports. 'What’s the alternative? it’s army or anarchy,' says Israeli official
"We’re trying to talk to key actors, key countries, and share our view that you may not like what you see, but what’s the alternative?” the official explained. “If you insist on big principles, then you will miss the essential — the essential being putting Egypt back on track at whatever cost. First, save what you can, and then deal with democracy and freedom and so on.
“At this point,” the official added, “it’s army or anarchy.”
On Saturday, the New York Times quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Israel and Egyptian Defense Minister General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi have been in close contact.
These same diplomats say that Israel assured Egypt it did not have to worry about the US threat to cut its enormous aid package to that country.
The US is in no hurry to stop its aid to Egypt, which would severely damage its relations with the Egyptian army, the report said. The Egyptians allow the Americans to move their military forces, quickly and almost without warning, over Egyptian skies and the Suez Canal, which is a necessity for its activities in the war on terror in the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and the area of Israel and the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the arms supply to Egypt may be compromised in the course of pressure on the interim leadership in Cairo to stop the violence in the country.
"Exporting arms to Egypt may be influenced by steps we may take. Soon the EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss the situation," Merkel announced in an interview for a German TV channel.
Also Saturday, the European Union said it was reexamining its relations with Egypt. France and Britain called for Europe to send a strong message on the escalating crisis in Egypt, urging the EU to review its relations with Cairo.
The French presidency said in a statement that after talks by telephone, President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister David Cameron agreed "on the seriousness of the violence of recent days and on the need for a strong European message."
On Sunday, 38 Muslim Brotherhood detainees were suffocated to death by tear gas fired at them as they tried to escape trucks that drove them to a detention facility. According to reports, the detainees held a security officer hostage. Security forces rescued him and said he sustained serious injuries.
Jerusalem launching campaign to urge Europe, United States to support military-backed government in Egypt, New York Times reports. 'What’s the alternative? it’s army or anarchy,' says Israeli official
"We’re trying to talk to key actors, key countries, and share our view that you may not like what you see, but what’s the alternative?” the official explained. “If you insist on big principles, then you will miss the essential — the essential being putting Egypt back on track at whatever cost. First, save what you can, and then deal with democracy and freedom and so on.
“At this point,” the official added, “it’s army or anarchy.”
On Saturday, the New York Times quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Israel and Egyptian Defense Minister General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi have been in close contact.
These same diplomats say that Israel assured Egypt it did not have to worry about the US threat to cut its enormous aid package to that country.
The US is in no hurry to stop its aid to Egypt, which would severely damage its relations with the Egyptian army, the report said. The Egyptians allow the Americans to move their military forces, quickly and almost without warning, over Egyptian skies and the Suez Canal, which is a necessity for its activities in the war on terror in the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and the area of Israel and the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the arms supply to Egypt may be compromised in the course of pressure on the interim leadership in Cairo to stop the violence in the country.
"Exporting arms to Egypt may be influenced by steps we may take. Soon the EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss the situation," Merkel announced in an interview for a German TV channel.
Also Saturday, the European Union said it was reexamining its relations with Egypt. France and Britain called for Europe to send a strong message on the escalating crisis in Egypt, urging the EU to review its relations with Cairo.
The French presidency said in a statement that after talks by telephone, President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister David Cameron agreed "on the seriousness of the violence of recent days and on the need for a strong European message."
On Sunday, 38 Muslim Brotherhood detainees were suffocated to death by tear gas fired at them as they tried to escape trucks that drove them to a detention facility. According to reports, the detainees held a security officer hostage. Security forces rescued him and said he sustained serious injuries.
Soldier collapses during training; in serious condition
Soldier, 20, who made aliyah from US to enlist in army admitted in ICU after collapsing during running practice
A 20-year-old IDF soldier collapsed during training at a base in central Israel on Sunday. He was rushed to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in very serious condition.
The IDF said the family was notified and that the Medical Corps is checking whether medical officials had cleared him for running. The mother's soldier, who lives in the United States, is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday.
The soldier made aliyah a year ago finding a home at Kibbutz Malkia in the Upper Galilee. He enlisted in the army three months after arriving in Israel and was assigned to one of the Nahal Brigade's top units.
On Sunday, he participated in a daily running practice and collapsed for an unknown reason. His fellow comrades administered initial care and the base's medical staff was later called in.
The Medical Corps is now checking the soldier's medical history for any special conditions and looking into the possibility the collapse was caused by dehydration due to heat exhaustion.
It is also being checked whether medical personnel were consulted on holding Sunday's run and whether the soldier had enough sleep prior to the practice. The IDF has halted morning training in the wake of heavy heat this time of year. Combatants are allowed to train from sunrise until about 8 am or 9 am or in the evening.
Avi Ben Efraim, who runs Kibbutz Malkia's pre-army program said that the soldier was a lone soldier who came to Israel in a special program and described him as a "serious guy."
He said that the soldier's brother had also come to Israel to serve in the army and completed his IDF service a year ago. The soldier had spent the weekend at the kibbutz, Ben Efraim said. "He looked fine, we didn't notice anything unusual."
Last year, several soldiers died after collapsing during training. Yehoshua Hefetz from the Combat Engineering Corps died of a heart defect during military screening tests in April. Two months earlier, Corporal Dvir Mor died from an infection during basic training.
Related stories:
Soldier, 20, who made aliyah from US to enlist in army admitted in ICU after collapsing during running practice
A 20-year-old IDF soldier collapsed during training at a base in central Israel on Sunday. He was rushed to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in very serious condition.
The IDF said the family was notified and that the Medical Corps is checking whether medical officials had cleared him for running. The mother's soldier, who lives in the United States, is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday.
The soldier made aliyah a year ago finding a home at Kibbutz Malkia in the Upper Galilee. He enlisted in the army three months after arriving in Israel and was assigned to one of the Nahal Brigade's top units.
On Sunday, he participated in a daily running practice and collapsed for an unknown reason. His fellow comrades administered initial care and the base's medical staff was later called in.
The Medical Corps is now checking the soldier's medical history for any special conditions and looking into the possibility the collapse was caused by dehydration due to heat exhaustion.
It is also being checked whether medical personnel were consulted on holding Sunday's run and whether the soldier had enough sleep prior to the practice. The IDF has halted morning training in the wake of heavy heat this time of year. Combatants are allowed to train from sunrise until about 8 am or 9 am or in the evening.
Avi Ben Efraim, who runs Kibbutz Malkia's pre-army program said that the soldier was a lone soldier who came to Israel in a special program and described him as a "serious guy."
He said that the soldier's brother had also come to Israel to serve in the army and completed his IDF service a year ago. The soldier had spent the weekend at the kibbutz, Ben Efraim said. "He looked fine, we didn't notice anything unusual."
Last year, several soldiers died after collapsing during training. Yehoshua Hefetz from the Combat Engineering Corps died of a heart defect during military screening tests in April. Two months earlier, Corporal Dvir Mor died from an infection during basic training.
Related stories:
18 aug 2013
Military Prison 6. Cellmates told me how siblings needed school books the family couldn’t afford
On Friday, Channel 2 News aired a story of unique importance, offering a glimpse into the world of financial difficulties awaiting Israeli soldiers. A soldier from the notorious Kfir Brigade, which is often accused of brutal treatment of Palestinians, testified that 9 out of 10 soldiers need financial support, and a Knesset report indicated that thousands of soldiers desert yearly for financial reasons.
I first met these soldiers when I was in prison myself for refusing the draft, about 10 years ago. One after the other my cellmates would talk about poverty in their homes, how their parents were ill and could not afford medicine, how their siblings needed school books that the family was unable to pay for. They would reenact the arguments they had with their commanding officers, trying to get their superiors’ consent to allow them some time off so they could work and support their families. None felt bad about their choice to desert when there was no other way to help out back home or to cover their own personal debts. If anything, they detested the army for forcing itself upon them, for not offering them the help they needed and then criminalizing their acts of survival.
Often since I got out of prison I was asked by friends and journalists if other soldier-inmates were hostile toward us conscientious objectors. I would always tell the stories of soldiers’ poverty and answer with a question: do you think these soldiers still care enough about the army to be mad at me for refusing?
A recent report by the Knesset Research and Information Center indicates that 14,000 soldiers were imprisoned in 2012. More than 70 percent of these soldiers were sentenced for short-term or long-term desertion; according to Channel 2 a majority of desertions was economically-motivated. Military service is mandatory in Israel (with several exceptions) and it pays very little: 350 NIS a month, 700 NIS for a combatant. The latter is less than $200 a month, about a seventh of the minimum wage in the labor market; even if you take into consideration the services provided by the army, it is still way too little to actually live off.
In the report, Nilly Green, who served as a kind of social security agent (Mashakit Tash) for soldiers, testified that nine of out 10 of the rank-and-file soldiers were in need of assistance due to financial difficulties, and that commanding officers would often slip money into their soldiers’ backpacks. Green served in the Kfir Brigade, which operates almost solely in the occupied territories and is notorious for repeated reports of brutality toward Palestinians. A former commander on a navy ship said that 60 percent of his soldiers required help, and that he would buy them equipment they needed from his own pocket. This is the same navy that enforces the maritime blockade on Gaza, preventing fishermen from making a decent living.
A former combatant who was forced to desert testified he would take any kind of temporary work, and that he felt like “you fight in Gaza and Hebron and then you have to go fight for your home.” Another combatant said he could not afford to buy a sandwich when traveling cross-country to his base.
The IDF spokesperson sent Channel 2 the following response: “IDF is the people’s army and as such it serves as a mirror to the Israeli society, including its social and financial difficulties, and many efforts are put into assisting soldiers and their welfare. More than 400 million NIS are invested in soldier welfare every year, a figure which has grown in recent years due to the deepening of social gaps and the economic hardships in the Israeli society.”
On Friday, Channel 2 News aired a story of unique importance, offering a glimpse into the world of financial difficulties awaiting Israeli soldiers. A soldier from the notorious Kfir Brigade, which is often accused of brutal treatment of Palestinians, testified that 9 out of 10 soldiers need financial support, and a Knesset report indicated that thousands of soldiers desert yearly for financial reasons.
I first met these soldiers when I was in prison myself for refusing the draft, about 10 years ago. One after the other my cellmates would talk about poverty in their homes, how their parents were ill and could not afford medicine, how their siblings needed school books that the family was unable to pay for. They would reenact the arguments they had with their commanding officers, trying to get their superiors’ consent to allow them some time off so they could work and support their families. None felt bad about their choice to desert when there was no other way to help out back home or to cover their own personal debts. If anything, they detested the army for forcing itself upon them, for not offering them the help they needed and then criminalizing their acts of survival.
Often since I got out of prison I was asked by friends and journalists if other soldier-inmates were hostile toward us conscientious objectors. I would always tell the stories of soldiers’ poverty and answer with a question: do you think these soldiers still care enough about the army to be mad at me for refusing?
A recent report by the Knesset Research and Information Center indicates that 14,000 soldiers were imprisoned in 2012. More than 70 percent of these soldiers were sentenced for short-term or long-term desertion; according to Channel 2 a majority of desertions was economically-motivated. Military service is mandatory in Israel (with several exceptions) and it pays very little: 350 NIS a month, 700 NIS for a combatant. The latter is less than $200 a month, about a seventh of the minimum wage in the labor market; even if you take into consideration the services provided by the army, it is still way too little to actually live off.
In the report, Nilly Green, who served as a kind of social security agent (Mashakit Tash) for soldiers, testified that nine of out 10 of the rank-and-file soldiers were in need of assistance due to financial difficulties, and that commanding officers would often slip money into their soldiers’ backpacks. Green served in the Kfir Brigade, which operates almost solely in the occupied territories and is notorious for repeated reports of brutality toward Palestinians. A former commander on a navy ship said that 60 percent of his soldiers required help, and that he would buy them equipment they needed from his own pocket. This is the same navy that enforces the maritime blockade on Gaza, preventing fishermen from making a decent living.
A former combatant who was forced to desert testified he would take any kind of temporary work, and that he felt like “you fight in Gaza and Hebron and then you have to go fight for your home.” Another combatant said he could not afford to buy a sandwich when traveling cross-country to his base.
The IDF spokesperson sent Channel 2 the following response: “IDF is the people’s army and as such it serves as a mirror to the Israeli society, including its social and financial difficulties, and many efforts are put into assisting soldiers and their welfare. More than 400 million NIS are invested in soldier welfare every year, a figure which has grown in recent years due to the deepening of social gaps and the economic hardships in the Israeli society.”
“I was jailed for having financial problems” soldier tells Channel 2 (screenshot)
So how do Israel’s young deal with growing financial hardships in face of compulsory military service? Many find ways to avoid military service altogether. Some, in extreme cases, turn to looting or taking bribes, while others openly refuse service and go to prison due to the state’s violation of its obligation to defend civilians from poverty. Both of these groups are the exception to the rule.
At its core, the question of payment for military service – especially in the face of rising prices, growing poverty amongst hard working families and an ongoing collapse of the state’s welfare, housing and healthcare systems – is linked to the current crisis in Zionism, one which I referred to as a choice between militarism and solidarity: will we as Israelis fight to reestablish the old racist and militarist contract in which Jews’ service in the army buys them a certain (and quite minimal, at times) level of social security, or will we choose to form alliances of all poor, working and middle classes – Arab and Jewish alike – to form a new system of solidarity, equality and a fair economy?
Read more:
Solidarity vs. militarism: The Zionist contract and the struggle to define J14
So how do Israel’s young deal with growing financial hardships in face of compulsory military service? Many find ways to avoid military service altogether. Some, in extreme cases, turn to looting or taking bribes, while others openly refuse service and go to prison due to the state’s violation of its obligation to defend civilians from poverty. Both of these groups are the exception to the rule.
At its core, the question of payment for military service – especially in the face of rising prices, growing poverty amongst hard working families and an ongoing collapse of the state’s welfare, housing and healthcare systems – is linked to the current crisis in Zionism, one which I referred to as a choice between militarism and solidarity: will we as Israelis fight to reestablish the old racist and militarist contract in which Jews’ service in the army buys them a certain (and quite minimal, at times) level of social security, or will we choose to form alliances of all poor, working and middle classes – Arab and Jewish alike – to form a new system of solidarity, equality and a fair economy?
Read more:
Solidarity vs. militarism: The Zionist contract and the struggle to define J14
from Video
Soldier documents unsanitary visitors wandering through food trays. IDF Spokesperson Unit says base in process of pesticide, medical personel work to prevent sanitation risks to soldiers
Soldiers serving in the Nachshonim base near Rosh Ha'ayin were shocked to discover cockroaches roaming around the base mess, near food trays. One of the soldiers documented the unsightly premises and sent to Ynet.
Soldiers in the base said they decided not to have lunch or dinner in the mess that day.
"I know it's hot," one of them said, "but the base has been infested with cockroaches for so long that they've made it to the kitchen and near our food. There's no reason why we should ask our parents to bring us food from home or that we buy food in the canteen."
"In other bases, where there are senior officers, no kitchen sergeant would let this happen. The kitchen would be closed immediately," another soldier in the base said. According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, "over the past few weeks, the base has underwent pesticide, which is expected to continue until all pests are removed. Medical personnel in the command have tended to the phenomenon and will continue to look after it so as to prevent sanitation risks to the soldiers."
Soldier documents unsanitary visitors wandering through food trays. IDF Spokesperson Unit says base in process of pesticide, medical personel work to prevent sanitation risks to soldiers
Soldiers serving in the Nachshonim base near Rosh Ha'ayin were shocked to discover cockroaches roaming around the base mess, near food trays. One of the soldiers documented the unsightly premises and sent to Ynet.
Soldiers in the base said they decided not to have lunch or dinner in the mess that day.
"I know it's hot," one of them said, "but the base has been infested with cockroaches for so long that they've made it to the kitchen and near our food. There's no reason why we should ask our parents to bring us food from home or that we buy food in the canteen."
"In other bases, where there are senior officers, no kitchen sergeant would let this happen. The kitchen would be closed immediately," another soldier in the base said. According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, "over the past few weeks, the base has underwent pesticide, which is expected to continue until all pests are removed. Medical personnel in the command have tended to the phenomenon and will continue to look after it so as to prevent sanitation risks to the soldiers."
|
|
The chief beneficiaries are going to prove to be Israel
Israel and the global banking and energy cartels are behind the deteriorating crises across the Middle East as they are the key beneficiaries of the destruction of regional states, a political analyst tells Press TV. “The chief beneficiaries are going to prove to be Israel, the international bankers who always make monies off of war, and finally the international multi-national energy consortiums who will profit by the destruction of these indigenous countries,” said Mark Dankof in a Sunday interview. |
Dankof pointed to the role of Takfiris in the Thursday attack in Lebanon and the ongoing crisis in Syria as “a confluence and a congruence of interests” of Israel and some Persian Gulf monarchies.
“The fact of the matter is that these Takfiris are clearly being utilized by Israel and by Zionist interests. It’s the same coalition behind this in Lebanon that is up to no good in Syria,” the analyst said.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that Takfiri groups were behind the car bomb attack, which left 24 people dead in southern Beirut.
Dankof argued that the recent scheme has targeted the Hezbollah Movement in Lebanon, the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.
“The fact of the matter is that these Takfiris are clearly being utilized by Israel and by Zionist interests. It’s the same coalition behind this in Lebanon that is up to no good in Syria,” the analyst said.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that Takfiri groups were behind the car bomb attack, which left 24 people dead in southern Beirut.
Dankof argued that the recent scheme has targeted the Hezbollah Movement in Lebanon, the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.
A new initiative to market Israel to American Jews is expected to cost up to $300 million annually, three times the Birthright budget. But a cheaper project for both Americans and Israelis that could bolster Israel’s image much more effectively is not on the table: Ending the occupation.
The Jewish Agency is reportedly developing its priciest campaign ever to connect Jews and Israel and it’s going to cost a lot of money. The budget is expected to reach $300 million per year in the next five years, The Forward reported. The massive operation is expected to launch in 2014 and concentrate on four main elements: Israel Education, Israel Experiences, Israel Engagement on College Campus and Aliyah (immigration) of Young Adults (All things already being pursued heavily by “pro-Israel” groups for decades)
According to a report on the eJewishphilanthropy website, the Jewish Agency expects one third of the funding to come from the Israeli government – meaning Israeli taxpayer money – and will apparently dwarf Birthright, whose annual budget is a mere $100 million, and which similarly, also draws a third of its budget from Israeli taxpayers.
The project is being coined ”The Prime Minister’s Initiative” even though Netanyahu’s office hasn’t actually endorsed it. But as the Jewish Agency’s U.S.-based fundraising chief, Misha Galperin, told the Forward: “This is the interest and the direction the prime minister wants to move in.” Well, that’s a relief. We wouldn’t want millions of dollars spent in the American Jewish community on programs that Netanyahu wasn’t behind, right?
The Jewish Agency is organizing a meeting in October to flesh out the campaign’s strategies with Israeli government representatives, heads of Jewish organizations and foundations, and a bunch of affluent donors. I can pretty much guarantee that no one in that room will represent an anti-occupation view or even one critical of Netanyahu’s government – despite the fact that these are views held by many American Jews, both those engaged and not engaged.
The choice to coin the campaign “The Prime Minister’s Initiative” is bizarre and quite telling. Apparently the organizers are interested in branding all programming regarding Israel in the U.S. as coming directly from Netanyahu and his government – not Israel, the country/society. I mean, why not coin it as “pro-Israel” as these programs usually are? Are we to understand that the Jewish Agency and the others involved in this overpriced operation are more interested in promoting the prime minister of Israel than the country itself?
It is also interesting timing, considering the fact that the government official in charge of promoting Israel’s image on social media platforms has been warned to halt his activities due to complaints of racist and incendiary language. Daniel Seaman, appointed by Netanyahu to head Israel’s digital public diplomacy, posted a comment during Ramadan that read:
Does the commencement of the fast of the Ramadan means that Muslims will stop eating each other during the daytime?
He also wrote a response to a demand by the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, for an end to new settlement expansion that read: “Is there a diplomatic way of saying ‘Go F*** yourself’?”
When you also take into consideration the comments made recently by Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett that if you catch terrorists you simply have to kill them and that he’s killed plenty of Arabs in his life without any problem; or Upper Nazareth mayor’s statement that he will never allow the establishment of an Arab school in his town as long as he is mayor, so as to keep Israel purely Jewish (followed by his op-ed in Haaretz asserting that if anyone thinks he’s racist then so is Zionism) - or the myriad of racist comments and actions taken against African asylum seekers (i.e. “cancer in our body“) [PDF] then it seems pretty obvious why it will require so much dough to promote Israel among American Jews: It ain’t easy marketing this place, especially with this government in power.
But will it bother American Jews that the Israeli government is forking over a third of the budget for this program? According to Hillel’s vice president for marketing and communications, Ellen Goldstein, not at all:
Goldstein said that she is not concerned about potential objections to pro-Israel programming on campuses in the United States being funded directly by the Israeli government. “The student who goes on Birthright doesn’t care where their free trip is coming from,” Goldstein said. “I imagine it would be similar to that.”
And there you have it. Why should there be any conflict of interest whatsoever in promoting Israel with money coming directly from the partisan Israeli government? As long as it’s free, why should they care?
A couple of questions to keep in mind: Who gives the Jewish Agency, a few right-wing Israeli government officials and some “leading” (read: outdated and conservative) American Jewish organizations the mandate to take all this money and do as they please with it? Most of these people were appointed, not elected, so their legitimacy is in question. And what about the Israeli citizens’ say in all this, whose taxes are paying for a portion of it? While most Israelis may not oppose this initiative or the notion of “pro-Israel” programming as much as me, I’ll bet many would prefer their money be spent differently.
And lastly and most obviously – With everything Israel is doing to entrench itself deeper in occupation and settlements, isolating itself in world, and with all the contempt and racism coming out of the echelons of Israeli government officials and bodies, wouldn’t the money be better spent, by say, ending the infrastructure of military occupation?
The Jewish Agency is reportedly developing its priciest campaign ever to connect Jews and Israel and it’s going to cost a lot of money. The budget is expected to reach $300 million per year in the next five years, The Forward reported. The massive operation is expected to launch in 2014 and concentrate on four main elements: Israel Education, Israel Experiences, Israel Engagement on College Campus and Aliyah (immigration) of Young Adults (All things already being pursued heavily by “pro-Israel” groups for decades)
According to a report on the eJewishphilanthropy website, the Jewish Agency expects one third of the funding to come from the Israeli government – meaning Israeli taxpayer money – and will apparently dwarf Birthright, whose annual budget is a mere $100 million, and which similarly, also draws a third of its budget from Israeli taxpayers.
The project is being coined ”The Prime Minister’s Initiative” even though Netanyahu’s office hasn’t actually endorsed it. But as the Jewish Agency’s U.S.-based fundraising chief, Misha Galperin, told the Forward: “This is the interest and the direction the prime minister wants to move in.” Well, that’s a relief. We wouldn’t want millions of dollars spent in the American Jewish community on programs that Netanyahu wasn’t behind, right?
The Jewish Agency is organizing a meeting in October to flesh out the campaign’s strategies with Israeli government representatives, heads of Jewish organizations and foundations, and a bunch of affluent donors. I can pretty much guarantee that no one in that room will represent an anti-occupation view or even one critical of Netanyahu’s government – despite the fact that these are views held by many American Jews, both those engaged and not engaged.
The choice to coin the campaign “The Prime Minister’s Initiative” is bizarre and quite telling. Apparently the organizers are interested in branding all programming regarding Israel in the U.S. as coming directly from Netanyahu and his government – not Israel, the country/society. I mean, why not coin it as “pro-Israel” as these programs usually are? Are we to understand that the Jewish Agency and the others involved in this overpriced operation are more interested in promoting the prime minister of Israel than the country itself?
It is also interesting timing, considering the fact that the government official in charge of promoting Israel’s image on social media platforms has been warned to halt his activities due to complaints of racist and incendiary language. Daniel Seaman, appointed by Netanyahu to head Israel’s digital public diplomacy, posted a comment during Ramadan that read:
Does the commencement of the fast of the Ramadan means that Muslims will stop eating each other during the daytime?
He also wrote a response to a demand by the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, for an end to new settlement expansion that read: “Is there a diplomatic way of saying ‘Go F*** yourself’?”
When you also take into consideration the comments made recently by Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett that if you catch terrorists you simply have to kill them and that he’s killed plenty of Arabs in his life without any problem; or Upper Nazareth mayor’s statement that he will never allow the establishment of an Arab school in his town as long as he is mayor, so as to keep Israel purely Jewish (followed by his op-ed in Haaretz asserting that if anyone thinks he’s racist then so is Zionism) - or the myriad of racist comments and actions taken against African asylum seekers (i.e. “cancer in our body“) [PDF] then it seems pretty obvious why it will require so much dough to promote Israel among American Jews: It ain’t easy marketing this place, especially with this government in power.
But will it bother American Jews that the Israeli government is forking over a third of the budget for this program? According to Hillel’s vice president for marketing and communications, Ellen Goldstein, not at all:
Goldstein said that she is not concerned about potential objections to pro-Israel programming on campuses in the United States being funded directly by the Israeli government. “The student who goes on Birthright doesn’t care where their free trip is coming from,” Goldstein said. “I imagine it would be similar to that.”
And there you have it. Why should there be any conflict of interest whatsoever in promoting Israel with money coming directly from the partisan Israeli government? As long as it’s free, why should they care?
A couple of questions to keep in mind: Who gives the Jewish Agency, a few right-wing Israeli government officials and some “leading” (read: outdated and conservative) American Jewish organizations the mandate to take all this money and do as they please with it? Most of these people were appointed, not elected, so their legitimacy is in question. And what about the Israeli citizens’ say in all this, whose taxes are paying for a portion of it? While most Israelis may not oppose this initiative or the notion of “pro-Israel” programming as much as me, I’ll bet many would prefer their money be spent differently.
And lastly and most obviously – With everything Israel is doing to entrench itself deeper in occupation and settlements, isolating itself in world, and with all the contempt and racism coming out of the echelons of Israeli government officials and bodies, wouldn’t the money be better spent, by say, ending the infrastructure of military occupation?
Israeli authorities deported three French citizens for their Arab surnames and activism within the French communist party. Alternative Information Center (AIC) reported Sunday that "the three activists are part of a delegation of young communists who visit Palestine and Israel yearly to meet with progressive activists from both societies to increase awareness of the issues they face in struggling for a just peace,"
Upon arrival at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, the three were detained because of their origins and interrogated for thirteen hours. They were subsequently transferred to the airport's detention centre and deported to France the following morning, accompanied by an official ban on returning to Israel.
As delegation members noted, "the only traces they leave are the fingerprints taken from them by the Israeli authorities,"
They added that "such racist treatment is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, and that their determination to continue fighting for justice for the Palestinian people will not be diminished by such acts of racist and arbitrary deportation.
Upon arrival at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, the three were detained because of their origins and interrogated for thirteen hours. They were subsequently transferred to the airport's detention centre and deported to France the following morning, accompanied by an official ban on returning to Israel.
As delegation members noted, "the only traces they leave are the fingerprints taken from them by the Israeli authorities,"
They added that "such racist treatment is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, and that their determination to continue fighting for justice for the Palestinian people will not be diminished by such acts of racist and arbitrary deportation.
Peace Activist Miko Peled says the United States has been maintaining Israel as the “bully” of the Middle East through billions of dollars of military aid to Tel Aviv.
“The current political climate in the US is such that no American politician can refuse anything Israel asks for. The Israeli lobby is so strong in the US that pretty much any request that Israel makes is almost guaranteed to be accepted,” he said in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday.
Peled made the remarks as American and Israeli officials discuss a surge in the US military aid to Israel as the two sides are in negotiations over a new 10-year military aid package.
Under an existing aid agreement between Washington and Tel Aviv signed in 2007, $30 billion of American taxpayers’ money is currently flowing to Israel, Defense News reported.
However, concerned with increasing US arms sales to countries in the region, the Israelis are asking Washington for a surge in its advanced military aid.
“Israel is not threatened by anyone right now. In fact, it’s surrounded by countries that either have no military capability or countries that are friendly with whom they have a peace agreement,” the activist said.
“But Israel continues to build this massive arsenal of arms because they want to maintain its ability to be the bully in the neighborhood, to be the bully of the Middle East,” he said.
“It allows them to attack Lebanon, It allows them to continue oppress the Palestinians, to execute horrific crimes against Palestinians using these arms,” Peled added.
The US annual military aid to Israel has been elevated from $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion through 2017 under the existing agreement but the scope of the increase in the US Foreign Military Financing levels demanded by Israel is not clear yet.
“The current political climate in the US is such that no American politician can refuse anything Israel asks for. The Israeli lobby is so strong in the US that pretty much any request that Israel makes is almost guaranteed to be accepted,” he said in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday.
Peled made the remarks as American and Israeli officials discuss a surge in the US military aid to Israel as the two sides are in negotiations over a new 10-year military aid package.
Under an existing aid agreement between Washington and Tel Aviv signed in 2007, $30 billion of American taxpayers’ money is currently flowing to Israel, Defense News reported.
However, concerned with increasing US arms sales to countries in the region, the Israelis are asking Washington for a surge in its advanced military aid.
“Israel is not threatened by anyone right now. In fact, it’s surrounded by countries that either have no military capability or countries that are friendly with whom they have a peace agreement,” the activist said.
“But Israel continues to build this massive arsenal of arms because they want to maintain its ability to be the bully in the neighborhood, to be the bully of the Middle East,” he said.
“It allows them to attack Lebanon, It allows them to continue oppress the Palestinians, to execute horrific crimes against Palestinians using these arms,” Peled added.
The US annual military aid to Israel has been elevated from $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion through 2017 under the existing agreement but the scope of the increase in the US Foreign Military Financing levels demanded by Israel is not clear yet.
A Bedouin man was shot dead in a Negev village on Sunday.
Family members told Ma'an that Jabir Jirjawi, 44, was evacuated to a Beersheba hospital after being found in the village of Shaqib as-Salam.
Doctors pronounced him dead shortly after arriving.
Israeli police have opened an investigation into the incident and suspect the man was shot as part of a clan feud.
Segev Shalom resident shot to death
Resident of the southern Bedouin town of Segev Shalom was shot and killed. He was evacuated by car to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, where he received treatment in the trauma room. Despite medical efforts, he was pronounced dead. The circumstances behind the event are still unclear.
Family members told Ma'an that Jabir Jirjawi, 44, was evacuated to a Beersheba hospital after being found in the village of Shaqib as-Salam.
Doctors pronounced him dead shortly after arriving.
Israeli police have opened an investigation into the incident and suspect the man was shot as part of a clan feud.
Segev Shalom resident shot to death
Resident of the southern Bedouin town of Segev Shalom was shot and killed. He was evacuated by car to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, where he received treatment in the trauma room. Despite medical efforts, he was pronounced dead. The circumstances behind the event are still unclear.
17 aug 2013
Natasha Baker, Al Arabiya
The BBC is due to cut comments made by violinist Nigel Kennedy about “apartheid” in Israel when it broadcasts his concert, performed with Palestinian artists as part of the Proms musical festival, on British television channels next week.
The concert, held at London’s Royal Albert Hall last week, featured 17 musicians from the Palestine Strings, the troupe performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons alongside Kennedy.
Kennedy likened the situation in Israel to apartheid in South Africa.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a bit facile to say it but we all know from experiencing this night of music tonight that giving equality and getting rid of apartheid means there's a chance for amazing things to happen," said Kennedy.
The decision to cut Kennedy’s comment was made due to “editorial reasons,” they removed because of “the way it fitted in with the program, ” a BBC spokesperson told Al Arabiya English.
“Nigel’s comment to the audience at his late-night prom on August 8 will not be included in the deferred BBC 4 broadcast on August 23 because it does not fall within the editorial remit of the proms as a classical music festival.”
Kennedy has previously refused to play concerts in Israel, but has participated in the Palestinian-run Jerusalem Festival in East Jerusalem.
In 2007 he told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: “It’s no coincidence. I became aware of the Palestinian story while I was a student in New York. My girlfriend then was Palestinian, and, through her, I began to familiarize myself with and understand the problem even before the [separation] wall and the other atrocities.
“She had to return home every year or she would lose her citizenship, and, like it was for all of us students, that wasn't exactly her thing. Then I understood that it was simply a way to harass the Palestinians and prevent them from studying,” he added.
Kennedy dedicated his performance at the Proms to Palestinians, according to his introduction.
“The concert tonight is very emotional, because I am performing for people who are imprisoned, to give them two hours of fun and show them that the world has not forgotten about them,” he said.
Dressed in popular Palestinian garments, the players from the Palestinian orchestra played a specially-curated fusion of classical work with Arab and folk music alongside the celebrated violinist.
The BBC is due to cut comments made by violinist Nigel Kennedy about “apartheid” in Israel when it broadcasts his concert, performed with Palestinian artists as part of the Proms musical festival, on British television channels next week.
The concert, held at London’s Royal Albert Hall last week, featured 17 musicians from the Palestine Strings, the troupe performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons alongside Kennedy.
Kennedy likened the situation in Israel to apartheid in South Africa.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a bit facile to say it but we all know from experiencing this night of music tonight that giving equality and getting rid of apartheid means there's a chance for amazing things to happen," said Kennedy.
The decision to cut Kennedy’s comment was made due to “editorial reasons,” they removed because of “the way it fitted in with the program, ” a BBC spokesperson told Al Arabiya English.
“Nigel’s comment to the audience at his late-night prom on August 8 will not be included in the deferred BBC 4 broadcast on August 23 because it does not fall within the editorial remit of the proms as a classical music festival.”
Kennedy has previously refused to play concerts in Israel, but has participated in the Palestinian-run Jerusalem Festival in East Jerusalem.
In 2007 he told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: “It’s no coincidence. I became aware of the Palestinian story while I was a student in New York. My girlfriend then was Palestinian, and, through her, I began to familiarize myself with and understand the problem even before the [separation] wall and the other atrocities.
“She had to return home every year or she would lose her citizenship, and, like it was for all of us students, that wasn't exactly her thing. Then I understood that it was simply a way to harass the Palestinians and prevent them from studying,” he added.
Kennedy dedicated his performance at the Proms to Palestinians, according to his introduction.
“The concert tonight is very emotional, because I am performing for people who are imprisoned, to give them two hours of fun and show them that the world has not forgotten about them,” he said.
Dressed in popular Palestinian garments, the players from the Palestinian orchestra played a specially-curated fusion of classical work with Arab and folk music alongside the celebrated violinist.
|
|
US and Israeli officials are discussing a surge in the US military aid to Israel as the two sides are in negotiations over a new 10-year military aid package.
Under an existing aid agreement between Washington and Tel Aviv signed in 2007, $30 billion of American taxpayers’ money is currently flowing to Israel, reported Defense News. However, Israelis are concerned with increasing US arms sales to countries in the region and are asking Washington for a surge in its advanced military aid. According to Defense News the new package would extend through 2027 and would focus on “a full spectrum of Israeli concerns, including military |
modernization needs, new threats from regional instability and the erosion of Israel’s so-called qualitative military edge (QME) due to US arms sales in the Mideast.”
The US annual military aid to Israel has been elevated from $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion through 2017 under the existing agreement but the scope of the increase in the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) levels demanded by Israel is not clear yet.
An unnamed US official has told Defense News that QME assessments, which have never been explicitly considered in long-term FMF agreements between Washington and Tel Aviv, would be applied to the 2018-27 aid package.
At a press conference during his visit to Israel in March, President Barack Obama said he had agreed to begin discussions with Israel over extending military aid to Tel Aviv.
“Our current agreement lasts through 2017, and we’ve directed our teams to start working on extending it for the years beyond,” Obama said.
The US annual military aid to Israel has been elevated from $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion through 2017 under the existing agreement but the scope of the increase in the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) levels demanded by Israel is not clear yet.
An unnamed US official has told Defense News that QME assessments, which have never been explicitly considered in long-term FMF agreements between Washington and Tel Aviv, would be applied to the 2018-27 aid package.
At a press conference during his visit to Israel in March, President Barack Obama said he had agreed to begin discussions with Israel over extending military aid to Tel Aviv.
“Our current agreement lasts through 2017, and we’ve directed our teams to start working on extending it for the years beyond,” Obama said.
United States defense equipment is selling like hotcakes in the Middle East, and Israel is concerned. In light of its neighbors' growing military arsenals, the country is imploring the U.S., their premier benefactor, to raise their rations so they can be sure to maintain military dominance in the region.
U.S. and Israeli officials are in initial negotiations over a new 10-year military aid package.
As Defense News reports Thursday, the package, which would extend through 2027, is focusing on a "full spectrum of Israeli concerns, including military modernization needs, new threats from regional instability and the erosion of Israel's so-called qualitative military edge (QME) due to U.S. arms sales in the Mideast."
Under the existing $30 billion aid agreement, signed in 2007, the need for Israel to maintain an "edge" over their regional adversaries was not directly accounted for. The updated, more "holistic" approach - according to Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the U.S. - will ensure the relative superiority of Israel's arsenal will become codified in the agreement.
Reporting on what they describe as "Washington's decades-long, de facto commitment to Israel's QME," Defense Newscontinues:
Oren mentioned "very large [US] contracts to the Middle East" that "raise the question of armies having capabilities similar to our own and how we make sure we can maintain our QME." Nevertheless, the Israeli envoy said Israel is not raising objections to such sales.
Latest available data by the US Congressional Research Service lists $91.9 billion in new US arms agreements to the Near East from 2008 through 2011.
"We understand that if America doesn't sell these weapons, others will," Oren said. "We also understand the fact that each of these sales contributes to hundreds or thousands of American jobs. And we have an interest in a strong and vital American economy." Israel is also asking that the new accord account for defensive measures such as the nearly $2 billion spent fortifying its borders with Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
This news comes as the U.S.'s extensive military aid to neighboring Egypt has come under fire following the Egyptian military's ongoing massacre of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
The U.S. provides roughly 1.6 billion dollars, including 1.3 billion dollars in sophisticated weaponry, in annual aid to Egypt.
Plans to begin discussions for the new aid package were initially announced during U.S. President Barack Obama's recent trip to Israel. "We've directed our teams to start working on extending it for the years beyond," Obama said in a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
U.S. and Israeli officials are in initial negotiations over a new 10-year military aid package.
As Defense News reports Thursday, the package, which would extend through 2027, is focusing on a "full spectrum of Israeli concerns, including military modernization needs, new threats from regional instability and the erosion of Israel's so-called qualitative military edge (QME) due to U.S. arms sales in the Mideast."
Under the existing $30 billion aid agreement, signed in 2007, the need for Israel to maintain an "edge" over their regional adversaries was not directly accounted for. The updated, more "holistic" approach - according to Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the U.S. - will ensure the relative superiority of Israel's arsenal will become codified in the agreement.
Reporting on what they describe as "Washington's decades-long, de facto commitment to Israel's QME," Defense Newscontinues:
Oren mentioned "very large [US] contracts to the Middle East" that "raise the question of armies having capabilities similar to our own and how we make sure we can maintain our QME." Nevertheless, the Israeli envoy said Israel is not raising objections to such sales.
Latest available data by the US Congressional Research Service lists $91.9 billion in new US arms agreements to the Near East from 2008 through 2011.
"We understand that if America doesn't sell these weapons, others will," Oren said. "We also understand the fact that each of these sales contributes to hundreds or thousands of American jobs. And we have an interest in a strong and vital American economy." Israel is also asking that the new accord account for defensive measures such as the nearly $2 billion spent fortifying its borders with Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
This news comes as the U.S.'s extensive military aid to neighboring Egypt has come under fire following the Egyptian military's ongoing massacre of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
The U.S. provides roughly 1.6 billion dollars, including 1.3 billion dollars in sophisticated weaponry, in annual aid to Egypt.
Plans to begin discussions for the new aid package were initially announced during U.S. President Barack Obama's recent trip to Israel. "We've directed our teams to start working on extending it for the years beyond," Obama said in a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Remains of the inscription
Supreme Court forced Rakefet to allocate Zubeidats with lot after board found them 'socially incompatible.' Saturday morning home sprayed with 'no loyalty – no citizenship' inscription
Graffiti has been found in the Rakefet community in northern Israel, sprayed on the home of Fatna and Ahmed Zubeidat, an Arab couple who won a Supreme Court appeal against the community that refused their bid to purchase a lot due to "social incompatibility."
The house, currently under construction, has been defaced with an inscription reading "no loyalty – no citizenship."
"Last time we visited the construction site, yesterday, the inscription wasn't there," Fatna said.
Supreme Court forced Rakefet to allocate Zubeidats with lot after board found them 'socially incompatible.' Saturday morning home sprayed with 'no loyalty – no citizenship' inscription
Graffiti has been found in the Rakefet community in northern Israel, sprayed on the home of Fatna and Ahmed Zubeidat, an Arab couple who won a Supreme Court appeal against the community that refused their bid to purchase a lot due to "social incompatibility."
The house, currently under construction, has been defaced with an inscription reading "no loyalty – no citizenship."
"Last time we visited the construction site, yesterday, the inscription wasn't there," Fatna said.
Magen David grafitti on construction site
A Rakefet resident who noticed the graffiti notified the police, which launched an investigation. In September 2011 the Supreme Court ruled the Rakefet's admission board must allocate the Arab couple with a lot in the community's premises within 90 days. The couple appealed the court in 2007 after the Jewish National Fund's appeal board failed to aid them. The Zubeidas' appeal noted that after marrying in 2006, the couple wished to establish a home in a small, spacious community which offers a high quality of living.
They filed a bid for a lot in Rakefet, and were asked to undergo an admission process in accordance with the community's procedures. At the end of the procedure they were notified they were found socially incompatible and their bid was rejected. Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justices Edna Arbel and Elyakim Rubinstein ruled in the couple's favor.
Related stories:
A Rakefet resident who noticed the graffiti notified the police, which launched an investigation. In September 2011 the Supreme Court ruled the Rakefet's admission board must allocate the Arab couple with a lot in the community's premises within 90 days. The couple appealed the court in 2007 after the Jewish National Fund's appeal board failed to aid them. The Zubeidas' appeal noted that after marrying in 2006, the couple wished to establish a home in a small, spacious community which offers a high quality of living.
They filed a bid for a lot in Rakefet, and were asked to undergo an admission process in accordance with the community's procedures. At the end of the procedure they were notified they were found socially incompatible and their bid was rejected. Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justices Edna Arbel and Elyakim Rubinstein ruled in the couple's favor.
Related stories:
The IDF is examining the possibility the mortar shells landed near the Israeli-Syrian border, after several loud explosions have been heard in the Golan Heights.
16 aug 2013
King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and wife Queen Sylvia
Royal couple receive keffiyeh with anti-Israeli inscription from Iraqi refugee during tour of Sweden
During a tour of Sweden to celebrate 40 years of the reigning royals, King Carl Gustaf and his wife, Queen Sylvia, visited the neighboring area of the city of Sundsvall. There they were approached by a man who identified himself as an Iraqi refugee, and who gifted them with hand made keffiyehs, the traditional Arab scarf, as a thank you for allowing him to start a new life in Sweden. He then asked them to pose for the camera with the scarves.
Unbeknownst to the royal couple, however, the keffiyehs were adorned with an anti-Israeli inscription: "Al Aqsa is ours and is not their temple." This fact that came to light only after the photo was published, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The pictures caused ripples of reaction throughout Sweden. Pro-Palestinian organizations expressed satisfaction with the support the royal couple showed with regards to the Palestinian right over Jerusalem, while others riled at the fact that the King and Queen—even unwittingly—served as a part of Palestinian propaganda.
"On their visits to various parts of the land, the royal couple meets many people," said Bertil Ternert, spokesperson of the Swedish royal house, to Yedioth Ahronoth. "In this case, the man placed the keffiyehs on the King and Queen so quickly, that there was no possibility to take the scarves off before the couple posed for the camera. Shortly after the photo opportunity the King and Queen took off the keffiyehs. We want to stress that the acceptance of this gift holds no political statement of any kind."
This is not the first embarrassing incident for King Carl Gustaf. In a book the royal house tried desperately to prevent from being published, his escapades with several lovers were revealed, as well as his frequent visits to striptease clubs.
Along with other incidents, this caused a significant drop in the support of Swedish citizens for the monarchy. About a quarter of Swedes today support revoking the royal institution altogether, and more than half of the country's citizens express desire for the King to pass the throne to his daughter, Princess Victoria.
Royal couple receive keffiyeh with anti-Israeli inscription from Iraqi refugee during tour of Sweden
During a tour of Sweden to celebrate 40 years of the reigning royals, King Carl Gustaf and his wife, Queen Sylvia, visited the neighboring area of the city of Sundsvall. There they were approached by a man who identified himself as an Iraqi refugee, and who gifted them with hand made keffiyehs, the traditional Arab scarf, as a thank you for allowing him to start a new life in Sweden. He then asked them to pose for the camera with the scarves.
Unbeknownst to the royal couple, however, the keffiyehs were adorned with an anti-Israeli inscription: "Al Aqsa is ours and is not their temple." This fact that came to light only after the photo was published, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The pictures caused ripples of reaction throughout Sweden. Pro-Palestinian organizations expressed satisfaction with the support the royal couple showed with regards to the Palestinian right over Jerusalem, while others riled at the fact that the King and Queen—even unwittingly—served as a part of Palestinian propaganda.
"On their visits to various parts of the land, the royal couple meets many people," said Bertil Ternert, spokesperson of the Swedish royal house, to Yedioth Ahronoth. "In this case, the man placed the keffiyehs on the King and Queen so quickly, that there was no possibility to take the scarves off before the couple posed for the camera. Shortly after the photo opportunity the King and Queen took off the keffiyehs. We want to stress that the acceptance of this gift holds no political statement of any kind."
This is not the first embarrassing incident for King Carl Gustaf. In a book the royal house tried desperately to prevent from being published, his escapades with several lovers were revealed, as well as his frequent visits to striptease clubs.
Along with other incidents, this caused a significant drop in the support of Swedish citizens for the monarchy. About a quarter of Swedes today support revoking the royal institution altogether, and more than half of the country's citizens express desire for the King to pass the throne to his daughter, Princess Victoria.
An Israeli organization said on Thursday that it has secretly flown 17 Yemeni Jews to "Israel". According to WALLA news website, a Jewish Agency with the help of the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried out a secret operation to move 17 Yemeni Jews from Yemen to "Israel".
The Hebrew website noted that some 151 Jews have been deported from Yemen since 2009, and that since the beginning of this year 45 Yemeni Jews were moved to Israel.
30 other Jewish Yemenis were taken to Britain last August as political refugees. They were then deported to Argentina and then to the Israeli state.
The Hebrew website noted that some 151 Jews have been deported from Yemen since 2009, and that since the beginning of this year 45 Yemeni Jews were moved to Israel.
30 other Jewish Yemenis were taken to Britain last August as political refugees. They were then deported to Argentina and then to the Israeli state.
After being exposed by the Electronic Intifada, the Israeli army issued an apology for an image it published of a lavish mall, allegedly in the besieged Gaza Strip, admitting that the Mall is actually in Malaysia, and claiming that what happened was “an honest mistake”.
The image, with a caption, alleged the huge and extravagant shopping mall is in Gaza. It was published on the English page of the Israeli Army blog.
In its blog, the army said; “Despite what you hear from the media, Gaza is not an open air prison”.
The statement by itself proves there was no “honest mistake’ in the post, and that it was intentional.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, has reported that the blog post of the Israeli military included pictures of fancy hotels, and pictures of Palestinians in Gaza allegedly “enjoying the nightlife scene”.
The Electronic Intifada website exposed issue and revealed that the mall picture Israel is trying to pass as being in Gaza, is actually the Suria KLCC Mall, in Pentronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
After the Electronic Intifada exposed the misleading caption, Haaretz contacted the Israeli army spokesperson unit on its official Twitter account, and the army admitted that the image is not from Gaza, and claimed that what happened was “a mistake made in good conscience”. The army then removed the picture.
Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, and author of One country; A Bold-proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, said that before this image was published by the army on its English-Language Website on August 12, the army published the same image on its French language post on August 4.
Abunimah added that the image was then published by the Tribune Juive anti-Palestinian website on the same day; in addition to the fact that other Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian website have also circulated the false image.
Abunimah stated that Israel is trying to distort fact and delude the international public to cover the dire situation in Gaza, and the deadly effects of its illegitimate siege on the coastal region.
He said that, right now, more than %70 of the population in Gaza is dependent on international humanitarian aid, compared with one third of the population in the year 2000.
“The Israeli army’s cynical propaganda is supposed to distract people from the fact that the vast majority of people in Gaza live in deep poverty and a very precarious economic situation, without electricity for 8-12 hours per day, and depend on humanitarian aid, due to Israel.
Gaza’s per capita annual GDP is just over $1,000 dollars. Compare that with $32,800 for Israel.
The lesson: learn the facts and don’t be taken in by Israeli army fabrications.” Abunimah said.
Full Electronic Intifada Article below
Israel army publishes fake image of huge “Gaza shopping mall”
Ali Abunimah – Electronic Intifada
The image, with a caption, alleged the huge and extravagant shopping mall is in Gaza. It was published on the English page of the Israeli Army blog.
In its blog, the army said; “Despite what you hear from the media, Gaza is not an open air prison”.
The statement by itself proves there was no “honest mistake’ in the post, and that it was intentional.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, has reported that the blog post of the Israeli military included pictures of fancy hotels, and pictures of Palestinians in Gaza allegedly “enjoying the nightlife scene”.
The Electronic Intifada website exposed issue and revealed that the mall picture Israel is trying to pass as being in Gaza, is actually the Suria KLCC Mall, in Pentronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
After the Electronic Intifada exposed the misleading caption, Haaretz contacted the Israeli army spokesperson unit on its official Twitter account, and the army admitted that the image is not from Gaza, and claimed that what happened was “a mistake made in good conscience”. The army then removed the picture.
Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, and author of One country; A Bold-proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, said that before this image was published by the army on its English-Language Website on August 12, the army published the same image on its French language post on August 4.
Abunimah added that the image was then published by the Tribune Juive anti-Palestinian website on the same day; in addition to the fact that other Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian website have also circulated the false image.
Abunimah stated that Israel is trying to distort fact and delude the international public to cover the dire situation in Gaza, and the deadly effects of its illegitimate siege on the coastal region.
He said that, right now, more than %70 of the population in Gaza is dependent on international humanitarian aid, compared with one third of the population in the year 2000.
“The Israeli army’s cynical propaganda is supposed to distract people from the fact that the vast majority of people in Gaza live in deep poverty and a very precarious economic situation, without electricity for 8-12 hours per day, and depend on humanitarian aid, due to Israel.
Gaza’s per capita annual GDP is just over $1,000 dollars. Compare that with $32,800 for Israel.
The lesson: learn the facts and don’t be taken in by Israeli army fabrications.” Abunimah said.
Full Electronic Intifada Article below
Israel army publishes fake image of huge “Gaza shopping mall”
Ali Abunimah – Electronic Intifada
15 aug 2013
An Israeli border guard officer has been discharged following a complaint to Israeli police by Arab member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi, the lawmaker said.
The complaint cited racist anti-Arab comments on the Facebook page of Melvin Bar Sheshet Aboudarham, a statement from Tibi's office said.
Among other racist remarks on Aboudarham’s Facebook page were “Death to Arabs” and “Jewish dies - funeral. Arab dies - hopefully”, the statement explained.
Aboudarham was also known for racist verbal attack against a female Israeli leftwing activist who he described as a “backward leftist” because she was defending a Palestinian family.
According to Tibi, the police responded to his complaint.
“After examining the complaint, the commander of border guards decided to discharge the officer because his remarks were unacceptable and foreign to the values which each police officer should enjoy.”
Commenting on the decision, Tibi said: “We will never yield to racism which has become a major trend in the Israeli street supported by Knesset members and racist ministers who have been trying to legalize racism through draft laws they propose.”
The complaint cited racist anti-Arab comments on the Facebook page of Melvin Bar Sheshet Aboudarham, a statement from Tibi's office said.
Among other racist remarks on Aboudarham’s Facebook page were “Death to Arabs” and “Jewish dies - funeral. Arab dies - hopefully”, the statement explained.
Aboudarham was also known for racist verbal attack against a female Israeli leftwing activist who he described as a “backward leftist” because she was defending a Palestinian family.
According to Tibi, the police responded to his complaint.
“After examining the complaint, the commander of border guards decided to discharge the officer because his remarks were unacceptable and foreign to the values which each police officer should enjoy.”
Commenting on the decision, Tibi said: “We will never yield to racism which has become a major trend in the Israeli street supported by Knesset members and racist ministers who have been trying to legalize racism through draft laws they propose.”
Shafram man murdered in Kiryat Ata
String of vandalism hits Mount Herzl
Ynet has learned that Mount Herzl has recently been hit by a string of vandalism attacks. Last month, vandals attempted to harm the grave of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Lea. In addition, an information machine was destroyed and different memorials were vandalized.
Defense ministry stated that security measures in the site will be bolstered, and police launched an investigation into the reported incidents.
Ynet has learned that Mount Herzl has recently been hit by a string of vandalism attacks. Last month, vandals attempted to harm the grave of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Lea. In addition, an information machine was destroyed and different memorials were vandalized.
Defense ministry stated that security measures in the site will be bolstered, and police launched an investigation into the reported incidents.
Hebrew media sources revealed that the Israeli government seek to present a new law allowing it to confiscate lands and houses belonging to Jerusalemites who are charged of resisting the occupier. The Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is due to present a new bill before the Supreme Court next month allowing the confiscation of Jerusalemite properties as a new punishment for those who are engaged in resisting occupation. The bill will enable the Israeli authorities to take control over the rest of the Jerusalemite properties, Haaretz Hebrew newspaper said.
Properties seized in East Jerusalem under the Absentees Property Law would not be returned to Palestinians with a security record or connection to hostile elements, under new procedures being drawn up by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein’s office that were obtained by Haaretz.
Palestinians with security records won’t get back seized East Jerusalem property, the bill states.
Under the Absentees Property Law, any person who lived in a hostile country or in the area of "Eretz Yisrael" that was not under the State of Israel’s control, and owned property within the State of Israel, is considered an absentee owner and his property can be transferred to the Custodian of Absentee Property, the newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted lawyer Sami Irsheid as saying that there is no Palestinian family who has no relation with "hostile elements" according the Israeli occupation’s dictionary. Each Palestinian family has a detainee or a martyr, he stated.
The primary purpose of this law was to use the Absentees Property Law to confiscate as many Palestinian properties as possible.
Properties seized in East Jerusalem under the Absentees Property Law would not be returned to Palestinians with a security record or connection to hostile elements, under new procedures being drawn up by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein’s office that were obtained by Haaretz.
Palestinians with security records won’t get back seized East Jerusalem property, the bill states.
Under the Absentees Property Law, any person who lived in a hostile country or in the area of "Eretz Yisrael" that was not under the State of Israel’s control, and owned property within the State of Israel, is considered an absentee owner and his property can be transferred to the Custodian of Absentee Property, the newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted lawyer Sami Irsheid as saying that there is no Palestinian family who has no relation with "hostile elements" according the Israeli occupation’s dictionary. Each Palestinian family has a detainee or a martyr, he stated.
The primary purpose of this law was to use the Absentees Property Law to confiscate as many Palestinian properties as possible.
14 aug 2013
Canada helped encourage the EU to ban Hizballah’s military wing
The extremism of Canada’s support for Israel just keeps growing.
The latest example is the Conservative government in Ottawa helping convince the European Union to list Hizballah’s military wing as a “terrorist” organization. After that decision was taken, Foreign Minister John Baird declared, “We are thrilled that the European Union unanimously has agreed to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization. We’ve been pushing for this.”
The National Post detailed Canada’s behind-the-scenes effort to get the EU to list Hizballah as a “terrorist” organization. Despite opposition from the Lebanese government, a foreign ministry official told the paper that this was “a clear priority that was set out by the minister.”
Canadian diplomats held bilateral talks with various European countries and also pushed for Hizballah to be listed at numerous multilateral meetings. At both a recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime meeting and a UN conference on radicalization in Europe, Canadian officials pressed key EU officials to define Hizballah as a “terrorist” group (“Canada pushed EU to add Hezbollah to list of banned terrorist organizations, official says,” 24 July 2013).
Canadian law enforcement and security officials were also part of the lobbying effort. Reportedly, they’ve been feeding their European counterparts information about the supposed threat Hizballah poses to both Canada and Europe.
Jumped at opportunity The Conservatives push to get the EU to list Hizballah was given a boost when six Israelis were killed in Bulgaria in July last year. Within hours of the bus bombing, Israel claimed Hizballah was responsible, yet more than a year later it’s still unclear exactly who committed this crime.
With a Canadian passport holder allegedly implicated in the bombing, Ottawa jumped at the opportunity to get involved in the investigation. Presumably, Canadian investigators shared information with their Bulgarian counterparts designed to steer them towards the conclusion that Hizballah was responsible.
In response to the EU listing its military wing as a terrorist group the Hizballah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said: “Why don’t you classify the state of Israel as a terror state? Why don’t you classify Israel’s military wing … as a terror organization if you recognize Israel is occupying Arab lands and refuses to implement international decisions for decades now? The entire world bares witness to the massacres perpetrated by Israel” (“Nasrallah to EU: Why not brand IDF as terror group?,” Ynet, 24 July).
Nasrallah raises an important point that Canadian foreign affairs professionals must be familiar with. It’s a simple fact that Israeli forces have killed far more civilians than the military wing of Hizballah.
The Israeli military and its allies in Lebanon have killed thousands of civilians. In fact, Hizballah was created in large part to fight the Israeli occupation of that country. Israel has conducted scores of targeted assassinations in many countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Certainly, Canadian foreign affairs officials must remember Gerald Bull. This Canadian engineer and designer of the Iraqi “supergun” was, according to CBC journalist Linden MacIntyre, shot dead by Israel’s secret service Mossad outside his residence in Belgium in 1990 (“Murdered by the Mossad?”, CBC The Fifth Estate, 12 February 1991).
And what about members of the current Israeli government who support illegal settlers and the killing of dozens of Palestinian civilians?
Relishing hypocrisy But apparently none of this “terrorism” bothers Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government. The Conservatives are either ignorant or relish their hypocrisy.
Though they are allowed to support the Israeli military, Canadians can go to jail for sending money to a group operating a school or medical clinic in Lebanon “directly or indirectly” associated with Hizballah, which comprises an important part of the Lebanese governmental and social service structure.
Dozens of Canadian companies sell to the Israeli army and many groups with charitable status promote the Israeli military. The Canadian Jewish News is full of advertisements for such groups: “Express your Zionism by serving as a civilian volunteer on an Israeli army supply base,” reads one ad. Another advertiser, the Libi Fund, runs educational projects for the Israeli military.
Established in 1971 the Association for the Soldiers of Israel in Canada also provides financial and moral support to the Israeli military. A June 2009 Canadian Jewish News ad promoting the group invited readers to “show your support for the brave youth of the IDF at our gala dinner.”
Prominent Toronto couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, who own or control more than two thirds of Chapters/Indigo/Coles bookstores, created the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers. Reisman and Schwartz provide up to $3 million per year for post-military scholarships to individuals without family in Israel who join the Israeli army. After completing their military service these non-Israeli “lone soldiers” gain access to this scholarship money.
For the Israeli high command (Heseg’s board [PDF] has included a number of generals and a former head of Mossad) “lone soldiers” are of value beyond their military capacities. Foreigners volunteering to fight for Israel are a powerful symbol to reassure Israelis weary of Israel’s behavior. Schwartz and Reisman’s support for Heseg has spurred a campaign to boycott Chapters/Indigo/Coles, which controls 70 percent of Canada’s retail book trade.
The Harper government is plowing full steam ahead with its support for Israel. Double standards and morality be damned.
Yves Engler’ is the author of The Ugly Canadian: Stephen Harper’s Foreign Policy and Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid.
The extremism of Canada’s support for Israel just keeps growing.
The latest example is the Conservative government in Ottawa helping convince the European Union to list Hizballah’s military wing as a “terrorist” organization. After that decision was taken, Foreign Minister John Baird declared, “We are thrilled that the European Union unanimously has agreed to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization. We’ve been pushing for this.”
The National Post detailed Canada’s behind-the-scenes effort to get the EU to list Hizballah as a “terrorist” organization. Despite opposition from the Lebanese government, a foreign ministry official told the paper that this was “a clear priority that was set out by the minister.”
Canadian diplomats held bilateral talks with various European countries and also pushed for Hizballah to be listed at numerous multilateral meetings. At both a recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime meeting and a UN conference on radicalization in Europe, Canadian officials pressed key EU officials to define Hizballah as a “terrorist” group (“Canada pushed EU to add Hezbollah to list of banned terrorist organizations, official says,” 24 July 2013).
Canadian law enforcement and security officials were also part of the lobbying effort. Reportedly, they’ve been feeding their European counterparts information about the supposed threat Hizballah poses to both Canada and Europe.
Jumped at opportunity The Conservatives push to get the EU to list Hizballah was given a boost when six Israelis were killed in Bulgaria in July last year. Within hours of the bus bombing, Israel claimed Hizballah was responsible, yet more than a year later it’s still unclear exactly who committed this crime.
With a Canadian passport holder allegedly implicated in the bombing, Ottawa jumped at the opportunity to get involved in the investigation. Presumably, Canadian investigators shared information with their Bulgarian counterparts designed to steer them towards the conclusion that Hizballah was responsible.
In response to the EU listing its military wing as a terrorist group the Hizballah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said: “Why don’t you classify the state of Israel as a terror state? Why don’t you classify Israel’s military wing … as a terror organization if you recognize Israel is occupying Arab lands and refuses to implement international decisions for decades now? The entire world bares witness to the massacres perpetrated by Israel” (“Nasrallah to EU: Why not brand IDF as terror group?,” Ynet, 24 July).
Nasrallah raises an important point that Canadian foreign affairs professionals must be familiar with. It’s a simple fact that Israeli forces have killed far more civilians than the military wing of Hizballah.
The Israeli military and its allies in Lebanon have killed thousands of civilians. In fact, Hizballah was created in large part to fight the Israeli occupation of that country. Israel has conducted scores of targeted assassinations in many countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Certainly, Canadian foreign affairs officials must remember Gerald Bull. This Canadian engineer and designer of the Iraqi “supergun” was, according to CBC journalist Linden MacIntyre, shot dead by Israel’s secret service Mossad outside his residence in Belgium in 1990 (“Murdered by the Mossad?”, CBC The Fifth Estate, 12 February 1991).
And what about members of the current Israeli government who support illegal settlers and the killing of dozens of Palestinian civilians?
Relishing hypocrisy But apparently none of this “terrorism” bothers Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government. The Conservatives are either ignorant or relish their hypocrisy.
Though they are allowed to support the Israeli military, Canadians can go to jail for sending money to a group operating a school or medical clinic in Lebanon “directly or indirectly” associated with Hizballah, which comprises an important part of the Lebanese governmental and social service structure.
Dozens of Canadian companies sell to the Israeli army and many groups with charitable status promote the Israeli military. The Canadian Jewish News is full of advertisements for such groups: “Express your Zionism by serving as a civilian volunteer on an Israeli army supply base,” reads one ad. Another advertiser, the Libi Fund, runs educational projects for the Israeli military.
Established in 1971 the Association for the Soldiers of Israel in Canada also provides financial and moral support to the Israeli military. A June 2009 Canadian Jewish News ad promoting the group invited readers to “show your support for the brave youth of the IDF at our gala dinner.”
Prominent Toronto couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, who own or control more than two thirds of Chapters/Indigo/Coles bookstores, created the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers. Reisman and Schwartz provide up to $3 million per year for post-military scholarships to individuals without family in Israel who join the Israeli army. After completing their military service these non-Israeli “lone soldiers” gain access to this scholarship money.
For the Israeli high command (Heseg’s board [PDF] has included a number of generals and a former head of Mossad) “lone soldiers” are of value beyond their military capacities. Foreigners volunteering to fight for Israel are a powerful symbol to reassure Israelis weary of Israel’s behavior. Schwartz and Reisman’s support for Heseg has spurred a campaign to boycott Chapters/Indigo/Coles, which controls 70 percent of Canada’s retail book trade.
The Harper government is plowing full steam ahead with its support for Israel. Double standards and morality be damned.
Yves Engler’ is the author of The Ugly Canadian: Stephen Harper’s Foreign Policy and Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian children from the occupied East Jerusalem have been denied their right to get the polio vaccination in a nationwide campaign conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Health, a move the residents of the holy city have labelled as racist and fascist.
Families from Kofr Aqab of the occupied East Jerusalem were turned back on Wednesday after they approached the Motherhood and Childhood centres for the polio vaccinations and were told that they were not on the Israeli Health Ministry’s list for vaccination.
“Although vaccination is a basic and holy right for the children, the Israeli authorities have denied 20,000 children of the age group one month to nine years old the polio vaccination on no logic ground,” said Sameeh Abu Rumailah, the local Coordinator of the vaccine and community leader in Kofr Aqab, a village within the boundaries of occupied Jerusalem in an interview with Gulf News.
“The Kofr Aqab families have been told that the medical centres were not authorized to vaccinate their children as the centres never received instructions from the Ministry of Health,” he said. “Racism has reached the vaccination of the little ones; this surpasses logic and is insane.”
A total of 4,000 children were ready for the vaccination and their families had brought them to the centres. All were turned back and instructed to never to show up at the medical centres. A total of 80,000 Palestinians live in the village of Kofr Aqab, and that they are all holders of the Israeli identity cards issued for Arab residents of the holy city. “Israel targets the residents of the village of Kofr Aqab in particular in a systematic way to separate them from the residents of the rest of the Arab neighbourhoods although Kofr Aqab is officially located within the boundaries of the occupied East Jerusalem,” he said.
“Health services and all other kinds of services have been denied and withdrawn for the residents of the village who have ended up with no rights at all.” The Israeli Health Ministry is currently conducting a nationwide polio vaccination programme for all children after thousands of people were found to be carriers. “It is in the Israeli vital interest to vaccinate the Kofr Aqab children to spare the Israeli children possible infection in the near future,” he said. The residents of Kofr Aqab will address this issue with other community leaders in occupied East Jerusalem to find a solution to the dispute. “We will not keep our mouths shut when our little ones are endangered,” Sameeh Abu Rumailah warned.
Families from Kofr Aqab of the occupied East Jerusalem were turned back on Wednesday after they approached the Motherhood and Childhood centres for the polio vaccinations and were told that they were not on the Israeli Health Ministry’s list for vaccination.
“Although vaccination is a basic and holy right for the children, the Israeli authorities have denied 20,000 children of the age group one month to nine years old the polio vaccination on no logic ground,” said Sameeh Abu Rumailah, the local Coordinator of the vaccine and community leader in Kofr Aqab, a village within the boundaries of occupied Jerusalem in an interview with Gulf News.
“The Kofr Aqab families have been told that the medical centres were not authorized to vaccinate their children as the centres never received instructions from the Ministry of Health,” he said. “Racism has reached the vaccination of the little ones; this surpasses logic and is insane.”
A total of 4,000 children were ready for the vaccination and their families had brought them to the centres. All were turned back and instructed to never to show up at the medical centres. A total of 80,000 Palestinians live in the village of Kofr Aqab, and that they are all holders of the Israeli identity cards issued for Arab residents of the holy city. “Israel targets the residents of the village of Kofr Aqab in particular in a systematic way to separate them from the residents of the rest of the Arab neighbourhoods although Kofr Aqab is officially located within the boundaries of the occupied East Jerusalem,” he said.
“Health services and all other kinds of services have been denied and withdrawn for the residents of the village who have ended up with no rights at all.” The Israeli Health Ministry is currently conducting a nationwide polio vaccination programme for all children after thousands of people were found to be carriers. “It is in the Israeli vital interest to vaccinate the Kofr Aqab children to spare the Israeli children possible infection in the near future,” he said. The residents of Kofr Aqab will address this issue with other community leaders in occupied East Jerusalem to find a solution to the dispute. “We will not keep our mouths shut when our little ones are endangered,” Sameeh Abu Rumailah warned.
An enormous shopping mall the Israeli army claims is in the Gaza Strip. Source: IDF Blog
In one of its periodic efforts to deny the devastating effects of its siege of Gaza, the Israeli occupation army published a blog post on 12 August claiming that Palestinians in Gaza are “out in force, enjoying themselves in sparkling new malls, beautiful beaches and hotels, and doing their shopping in pristine grocery stores and markets heaving with fresh produce.” (screenshot of entire “IDF blog” post).
The “IDF blog” includes the impressive photo above of a shopping mall where Palestinians in Gaza are supposedly shopping for the latest imported fashions.
I showed the photo to The Electronic Intifada’s correspondent in Gaza, Rami Almeghari. His reaction: “I can assure you that there is no such a mall in Gaza.” Rami is quite right.
Fake image If you do a Google Image search using the image from the “IDF” blog post, the same image turns up associated with the Metro Plaza shopping mall in Kolkata, India as well as several other places.
In one of its periodic efforts to deny the devastating effects of its siege of Gaza, the Israeli occupation army published a blog post on 12 August claiming that Palestinians in Gaza are “out in force, enjoying themselves in sparkling new malls, beautiful beaches and hotels, and doing their shopping in pristine grocery stores and markets heaving with fresh produce.” (screenshot of entire “IDF blog” post).
The “IDF blog” includes the impressive photo above of a shopping mall where Palestinians in Gaza are supposedly shopping for the latest imported fashions.
I showed the photo to The Electronic Intifada’s correspondent in Gaza, Rami Almeghari. His reaction: “I can assure you that there is no such a mall in Gaza.” Rami is quite right.
Fake image If you do a Google Image search using the image from the “IDF” blog post, the same image turns up associated with the Metro Plaza shopping mall in Kolkata, India as well as several other places.
A Google image search turned up many examples, like this one, of the image associated with other malls.
Where is it really? But the “Gaza mall” photo published by the Israeli army is actually an image of the Suria KLCC Mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as numerous user-generated photographs on the travel review site TripAdvisor.com attest.
You can also see many people shopping at the mall – in Malaysia – in this video:
Where is it really? But the “Gaza mall” photo published by the Israeli army is actually an image of the Suria KLCC Mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as numerous user-generated photographs on the travel review site TripAdvisor.com attest.
You can also see many people shopping at the mall – in Malaysia – in this video:
|
|
Israeli army sources: anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic blogs Before publishing it on 12 August on its English-language website, the Israeli army published the same post in French on 4 August.
It was then published by the anti-Palestinian website Tribune Juive the same day. But some of the material had already circulated on many other Islamophobic websites long before. For example, the same Kuala Lumpur mall photo, purportedly in Gaza, appeared on a virulently Islamophobic blog called “Barenaked Islam” in April 2012, and was disseminated on Facebook by “Geert Wilders supporters,” a page dedicated to the Islamophobic Dutch politician. |
It also appeared on “Religion of Peace,” another anti-Muslim hate site.
It would appear that the Israeli army gets its information about Gaza from Islamophobic hate sites.
Forced dependency The Kuala Lumpur shopping mall is vastly bigger than any commercial facility anywhere in Gaza.
But another image, the supermarket shown on the “IDF” blog, appears to be the Metro supermarket in Gaza. I didn’t visit it, but I did visit the Abu Dallal supermarket in Nuseirat refugee camp.
I was told that Abu Dallal is one of largest supermarkets in Gaza. By American, European, or Jordanian standards it is not very big, smaller than an average CVS or Boots drugstore.
More important than its size, however, is that like other stores in Gaza, it is packed full of Israeli goods.
That’s one of the ways the Israeli blockade creates dependency: While Gaza industry and agriculture are devastated by the siege, Israel is happy enough to see its own companies profiting from people in Gaza, siphoning off what little income they have, whether from work, humanitarian aid or remittances abroad, by selling them Israeli goods.
Poverty and dependency are the real effects of siege But Israel is much more restrictive when it comes to supplies that meet basic needs and could allow Gaza to move out of dependency. There is, for example, a shortage of 250 schools for Gaza’s children, which cannot be built due to the lack of building supplies.
And the reality is that while there is food in Gaza, “severe poverty has increased over years of closure and because of travel restrictions,” Gisha, an Israeli nongovermental organization that monitors the siege, noted in a recent factsheet. [PDF]
More than 70 percent of the Gaza population receives some form of humanitarian aid, compared with one third in the year 2000.
For imports of raw materials and many basic goods, Gaza’s economy remains heavily dependent on underground tunnels to Egypt, as I saw myself during my visit, and as Gisha also documents.
Since the Egyptian military coup on 3 July, the Egyptian army, which works closely with Israel, has been instensifying its effort to destroy the tunnels.
Exports crushed Israel continues to crush Gaza’s export industries. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel has allowed a total of 94 trucks out of Gaza in 2013 – that’s about a dozen a month from a population of almost 1.7 million people. Insignificant.
By contrast, in 2007, the year before the siege began to bite, more than 5,000 trucks were allowed out of Gaza. In 2001 it was 15,000.
Cynical propaganda The Israeli army’s cynical propaganda is supposed to distract people from the fact that the vast majority of people in Gaza live in deep poverty and a very precarious economic situation, without electricity for 8-12 hours per day, and depend on humanitarian aid, due to Israel.
Gaza’s per capita annual GDP is just over $1,000 dollars. [PDF] Compare that with $32,800 for Israel.
The lesson: learn the facts and don’t be taken in by Israeli army fabrications.
With thanks to Twitter user @sallyidwedar who initially spotted “IDF” fakery, and Omar Ghraieb for answering my queries about Gaza’s supermarkets.
It would appear that the Israeli army gets its information about Gaza from Islamophobic hate sites.
Forced dependency The Kuala Lumpur shopping mall is vastly bigger than any commercial facility anywhere in Gaza.
But another image, the supermarket shown on the “IDF” blog, appears to be the Metro supermarket in Gaza. I didn’t visit it, but I did visit the Abu Dallal supermarket in Nuseirat refugee camp.
I was told that Abu Dallal is one of largest supermarkets in Gaza. By American, European, or Jordanian standards it is not very big, smaller than an average CVS or Boots drugstore.
More important than its size, however, is that like other stores in Gaza, it is packed full of Israeli goods.
That’s one of the ways the Israeli blockade creates dependency: While Gaza industry and agriculture are devastated by the siege, Israel is happy enough to see its own companies profiting from people in Gaza, siphoning off what little income they have, whether from work, humanitarian aid or remittances abroad, by selling them Israeli goods.
Poverty and dependency are the real effects of siege But Israel is much more restrictive when it comes to supplies that meet basic needs and could allow Gaza to move out of dependency. There is, for example, a shortage of 250 schools for Gaza’s children, which cannot be built due to the lack of building supplies.
And the reality is that while there is food in Gaza, “severe poverty has increased over years of closure and because of travel restrictions,” Gisha, an Israeli nongovermental organization that monitors the siege, noted in a recent factsheet. [PDF]
More than 70 percent of the Gaza population receives some form of humanitarian aid, compared with one third in the year 2000.
For imports of raw materials and many basic goods, Gaza’s economy remains heavily dependent on underground tunnels to Egypt, as I saw myself during my visit, and as Gisha also documents.
Since the Egyptian military coup on 3 July, the Egyptian army, which works closely with Israel, has been instensifying its effort to destroy the tunnels.
Exports crushed Israel continues to crush Gaza’s export industries. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel has allowed a total of 94 trucks out of Gaza in 2013 – that’s about a dozen a month from a population of almost 1.7 million people. Insignificant.
By contrast, in 2007, the year before the siege began to bite, more than 5,000 trucks were allowed out of Gaza. In 2001 it was 15,000.
Cynical propaganda The Israeli army’s cynical propaganda is supposed to distract people from the fact that the vast majority of people in Gaza live in deep poverty and a very precarious economic situation, without electricity for 8-12 hours per day, and depend on humanitarian aid, due to Israel.
Gaza’s per capita annual GDP is just over $1,000 dollars. [PDF] Compare that with $32,800 for Israel.
The lesson: learn the facts and don’t be taken in by Israeli army fabrications.
With thanks to Twitter user @sallyidwedar who initially spotted “IDF” fakery, and Omar Ghraieb for answering my queries about Gaza’s supermarkets.
The Palestinian Christian Initiative (Kairos Palestine) issued a statement strongly denouncing the Israeli attempts to recruit Arab Palestinian Christians to the Israeli military. The statement came in response to the Israeli decision to form a joint committee of Palestinian Christians, and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, with the aim to encourage and act on recurring young Arab Christians, living in the 1948 occupied territories, in the Israeli army.
Kairos stated that the officials who are encouraging enlistment in the occupation army are conducting provocative actions that harm Christian Churches, national interests and the Christians themselves.
“Those who call for recruiting Christians to the occupation army do not represent us, do not represent our Churches, and do not represent the Christians”, Kairos said, “It seems that some of those who have been deceived chose a wrong path that does not serve our interests and faith as Arab Christians”.
It added that trying to recruit the Christians is immoral, and harms the Palestinian Christian identity in the Holy Land.
The initiative called on the international community to shoulder responsibility and take real action regarding the oppression, displacement and racial discrimination adopted against the Palestinian people for more than six decades.
Kairos stated that the officials who are encouraging enlistment in the occupation army are conducting provocative actions that harm Christian Churches, national interests and the Christians themselves.
“Those who call for recruiting Christians to the occupation army do not represent us, do not represent our Churches, and do not represent the Christians”, Kairos said, “It seems that some of those who have been deceived chose a wrong path that does not serve our interests and faith as Arab Christians”.
It added that trying to recruit the Christians is immoral, and harms the Palestinian Christian identity in the Holy Land.
The initiative called on the international community to shoulder responsibility and take real action regarding the oppression, displacement and racial discrimination adopted against the Palestinian people for more than six decades.
Official spokesperson Eduardo del Buey confirmed that United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will travel this week to Jordan, Israel and Palestine to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and the progress in peace talks recently resumed.
In Amman, the head of the UN will talk with king Abdala II and the Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
After that he will go to Ramallah, where he will hold a meeting with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas; and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, and visit the tomb of historical leader, Yasser Arafat.
Later on he will visit Jerusalem to speak with Israeli President and Prime Minister, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu, and render tribute to deceased head of government Yitzak Rabin.
Ban Ki-moon will also meet the heads of the delegations of Israel and Palestine to discuss peace negotiations that were recently resumed in Washington.
The tour of Ban Ki-moon through the zone coincides with the announcement made by Israel of the construction of 1,200 new Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories which are considered illegal by the United Nations.
In Amman, the head of the UN will talk with king Abdala II and the Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
After that he will go to Ramallah, where he will hold a meeting with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas; and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, and visit the tomb of historical leader, Yasser Arafat.
Later on he will visit Jerusalem to speak with Israeli President and Prime Minister, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu, and render tribute to deceased head of government Yitzak Rabin.
Ban Ki-moon will also meet the heads of the delegations of Israel and Palestine to discuss peace negotiations that were recently resumed in Washington.
The tour of Ban Ki-moon through the zone coincides with the announcement made by Israel of the construction of 1,200 new Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories which are considered illegal by the United Nations.
Nora Burrows/The Electronic Intifada
Students who walked out of a speech given by an Israeli soldier at Florida Atlantic University earlier this year are being forced by the administration to attend a chilling “re-education” program designed by an Israel lobby group.
This mandatory “training” program is based on curriculum designed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a lobby organization which has been instrumental in pressuring university administrations to curb Palestine solidarity activism across the US.
As The Electronic Intifada recently reported, the ADL has a lengthy history of spying on Palestine solidarity activists and academics, including Noam Chomsky.
Two of the three Florida Atlantic University (FAU) students being forced to attend this program have also been put on indefinite probation by the administration “for the remainder of our undergraduate careers,” they say in a recent statement.
About the ADL, they add: “this self-described advocate of anti-bias trainings promotes an exclusivist Jewish state that keeps Palestinians out of their ancestral homeland, and irresponsibly mislabels advocacy on behalf of Palestinians as ‘anti-Semitic.’ Yet we are expected to learn about ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ from them?”
“Motivated by outside pressures” Activists involved with Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida Atlantic University have faced extreme scrutiny and simmering administrative retaliation over the past year in particular.
As we reported, in April 2012 students at FAU were subjected to administrative pressure and death threats after they engaged in a nonviolent direct action calling attention to the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces. In a creative effort to raise awareness of Israel’s rampant home demolition practices, students posted 200 fake eviction notices on dorm room doors.
The Center for Constitutional Rights said that:
The students learned that the University was willing to bow to pressure from the campus Hillel chapter and outside organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Zionist Organization of America, by opening an investigation into their peaceful action, which had been officially authorized and accompanied by University housing authorities. And some news media were willing to report falsely that the notices were posted only on the doors of Jewish students, without independently investigating the matter. Legal and administrative action was threatened, and death threats were made against some of the student activists.
After weeks of turmoil, the University rightly announced that it would not take action against the students and confirmed that there was no evidence that Jewish students were targeted by the notices.
However, it seems that Israel-aligned groups kept up the pressure on the university since that incident. And after the walk-out action this past April, just one in a years-long series of similar protest actions against visiting Israeli officials and military personnel, the administration went full-throttle against the students.
This week, civil rights groups including the National Lawyers Guild, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Center for Constitutional Rights have admonished FAU administration’s outrageous actions.
In a letter dated 12 August, [PDF] the groups say that:
This disciplinary action against these students has the appearance of being motivated by FAU’s evident desire to respond to outside pressures. This is not an acceptable motivation to impose disciplinary measures, and it heightens the appearance that the University acted in an arbitrary, discriminatory and capricious manner, based on the students’ political views.
The groups add that they will monitor the university’s actions “to ensure that FAU does not continue to unfairly punish these students and other FAU campus activists for their outspoken views on an important human rights issue.”
I reported earlier this week on attempts by Canada’s York University to curb Palestine solidarity activism, including stripping Students Against Israeli Apartheid of their official status and barring an alumnus from setting foot on campus. It is clear that parallel draconian, anti-free speech measures are being undertaken by US administrations as well.
But, as York students and FAU students point out, the more university administrations try to stifle free speech and student activism on Palestine, the more determined students become to continue to speak out against Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights.
“Rights trampled” The full statement by FAU students Nadine Aly, Noor Fawzy, and Renata Glebocki is below. It was published on 11 August in the campus newspaper, the University Press.
In April of this year, Israeli Col. Bentzi Gruber spoke at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). His speech was propaganda, touting the ethics of the Israeli military. He offered a defense of his own actions in Operation Cast Lead, an Israeli military operation that resulted in the killing of over 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, and at least 300 minors. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented evidence that Israel committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 2008-2009 attacks.
As FAU students and Palestinian human rights activists, we could not stand idly by as this member of a foreign military that is guilty of committing serious war crimes used student tuitionpaid public space to spread falsehoods about what happened in Gaza. Two days before the event, we addressed two university officials. We expressed our concerns and disapproval of an event of this nature. We reminded the officials that some students on campus had family members killed by the Israeli military during Operation Cast Lead. We received no response, and it became clear to us that the university administration was apathetic to human rights when it comes to those of Palestinians.
Out of a resolute commitment to human rights, we attended the event and peacefully walked out in protest. After the speaker’s opening remarks, one of us stood up and read a few facts concerning the war crimes committed in Operation Cast Lead. This very brief commentary was met by derogatory slurs from non-student members of the audience, who accused us of being “spies,” “terrorists,” and other offensive names. We raised a banner that read “War Criminal” as we walked out. The duration of the entire incident was no more than one or two minutes. The event continued afterward, for about an hour and a half. We peacefully protested outside for about half an hour.
The university administration started investigating five of us that walked out, initially trying to obtain the names of other human rights activists who participated in the protest. After a four-month university effort to discipline us, all five of us — two of whom wish to remain anonymous out of fear of further retaliation — decided to sign agreements that keep the incident off of our records and confirm that we have not been found responsible for the charges brought against us. But the agreements place harsh conditions on those of us who remain at FAU this year.
Based on the agreements, two of the three of us still at FAU are on indefinite probation for the remainder of our undergraduate careers, two of us are barred from holding any leadership positions in official student organizations, and three of us are required to take part in a mandatory University Campus of Difference training program based on a curriculum created by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the fall. One of us, in addition to the mandatory training, is required to complete 25 hours of community service. Two of us who already graduated will also be subject to similar sanctions if we ever decide to come back to FAU to study.
It is important to emphasize that the mandatory training program is nothing short of officially sanctioned re-education, and it implies that we are prejudiced for standing up against war crimes and human rights abuses carried out by the Israeli military against Palestinians. The injustice of it is magnified because the co-sponsoring organization, the ADL, has been vocal in attempts to malign us for our Palestinian rights activism and has pressured the University to take action against us, has a history of spying on advocates for Palestinian rights, and is a staunch opponent of the internationally recognized legal right of Palestinians to return to homes from which they were expelled 65 years ago during Israel’s creation.
In other words, this self-described advocate of anti-bias trainings promotes an exclusivist Jewish state that keeps Palestinians out of their ancestral homeland, and irresponsibly mislabels advocacy on behalf of Palestinians as “anti-Semitic.” Yet we are expected to learn about “diversity” and “tolerance” from them?
We were well aware that the university’s goal was to impede our activism. But by signing these agreements we were able to avoid even greater scrutiny and harsher sanctions through a disciplinary proceeding and an extended legal battle with university administrators. Our goal is to instead focus on our education and activism.
We believe this is an opportunity to shed light on the miscarriage of justice at FAU and the clear violation of our First Amendment rights. The buckling of the administration to the demands of the ADL and several other external Zionist organizations – in this instance and multiple times in the past, is disturbing and at odds with free inquiry and the right of students to express their opposition to human rights abuses and war crimes. Although the university intends to silence our activism and stifle our right to free speech, this has only created unity among us and determination within us.
We believe that free speech advocates as well as civil rights and human rights advocates will be appalled at the actions FAU administrators have taken against us. The right of students to stand up for Palestinian freedom and human rights should not be trampled as has occurred at FAU. And certainly we should not be subject to the sort of re-education program the administration has in store for us in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that has been at the forefront of nationwide efforts to stifle student activism that criticizes Israeli policies and advocates for Palestinian human rights.
This article was originally posted on The Electronic Intifada. Click here to view original.
Students who walked out of a speech given by an Israeli soldier at Florida Atlantic University earlier this year are being forced by the administration to attend a chilling “re-education” program designed by an Israel lobby group.
This mandatory “training” program is based on curriculum designed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a lobby organization which has been instrumental in pressuring university administrations to curb Palestine solidarity activism across the US.
As The Electronic Intifada recently reported, the ADL has a lengthy history of spying on Palestine solidarity activists and academics, including Noam Chomsky.
Two of the three Florida Atlantic University (FAU) students being forced to attend this program have also been put on indefinite probation by the administration “for the remainder of our undergraduate careers,” they say in a recent statement.
About the ADL, they add: “this self-described advocate of anti-bias trainings promotes an exclusivist Jewish state that keeps Palestinians out of their ancestral homeland, and irresponsibly mislabels advocacy on behalf of Palestinians as ‘anti-Semitic.’ Yet we are expected to learn about ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ from them?”
“Motivated by outside pressures” Activists involved with Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida Atlantic University have faced extreme scrutiny and simmering administrative retaliation over the past year in particular.
As we reported, in April 2012 students at FAU were subjected to administrative pressure and death threats after they engaged in a nonviolent direct action calling attention to the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces. In a creative effort to raise awareness of Israel’s rampant home demolition practices, students posted 200 fake eviction notices on dorm room doors.
The Center for Constitutional Rights said that:
The students learned that the University was willing to bow to pressure from the campus Hillel chapter and outside organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Zionist Organization of America, by opening an investigation into their peaceful action, which had been officially authorized and accompanied by University housing authorities. And some news media were willing to report falsely that the notices were posted only on the doors of Jewish students, without independently investigating the matter. Legal and administrative action was threatened, and death threats were made against some of the student activists.
After weeks of turmoil, the University rightly announced that it would not take action against the students and confirmed that there was no evidence that Jewish students were targeted by the notices.
However, it seems that Israel-aligned groups kept up the pressure on the university since that incident. And after the walk-out action this past April, just one in a years-long series of similar protest actions against visiting Israeli officials and military personnel, the administration went full-throttle against the students.
This week, civil rights groups including the National Lawyers Guild, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Center for Constitutional Rights have admonished FAU administration’s outrageous actions.
In a letter dated 12 August, [PDF] the groups say that:
This disciplinary action against these students has the appearance of being motivated by FAU’s evident desire to respond to outside pressures. This is not an acceptable motivation to impose disciplinary measures, and it heightens the appearance that the University acted in an arbitrary, discriminatory and capricious manner, based on the students’ political views.
The groups add that they will monitor the university’s actions “to ensure that FAU does not continue to unfairly punish these students and other FAU campus activists for their outspoken views on an important human rights issue.”
I reported earlier this week on attempts by Canada’s York University to curb Palestine solidarity activism, including stripping Students Against Israeli Apartheid of their official status and barring an alumnus from setting foot on campus. It is clear that parallel draconian, anti-free speech measures are being undertaken by US administrations as well.
But, as York students and FAU students point out, the more university administrations try to stifle free speech and student activism on Palestine, the more determined students become to continue to speak out against Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights.
“Rights trampled” The full statement by FAU students Nadine Aly, Noor Fawzy, and Renata Glebocki is below. It was published on 11 August in the campus newspaper, the University Press.
In April of this year, Israeli Col. Bentzi Gruber spoke at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). His speech was propaganda, touting the ethics of the Israeli military. He offered a defense of his own actions in Operation Cast Lead, an Israeli military operation that resulted in the killing of over 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, and at least 300 minors. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented evidence that Israel committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 2008-2009 attacks.
As FAU students and Palestinian human rights activists, we could not stand idly by as this member of a foreign military that is guilty of committing serious war crimes used student tuitionpaid public space to spread falsehoods about what happened in Gaza. Two days before the event, we addressed two university officials. We expressed our concerns and disapproval of an event of this nature. We reminded the officials that some students on campus had family members killed by the Israeli military during Operation Cast Lead. We received no response, and it became clear to us that the university administration was apathetic to human rights when it comes to those of Palestinians.
Out of a resolute commitment to human rights, we attended the event and peacefully walked out in protest. After the speaker’s opening remarks, one of us stood up and read a few facts concerning the war crimes committed in Operation Cast Lead. This very brief commentary was met by derogatory slurs from non-student members of the audience, who accused us of being “spies,” “terrorists,” and other offensive names. We raised a banner that read “War Criminal” as we walked out. The duration of the entire incident was no more than one or two minutes. The event continued afterward, for about an hour and a half. We peacefully protested outside for about half an hour.
The university administration started investigating five of us that walked out, initially trying to obtain the names of other human rights activists who participated in the protest. After a four-month university effort to discipline us, all five of us — two of whom wish to remain anonymous out of fear of further retaliation — decided to sign agreements that keep the incident off of our records and confirm that we have not been found responsible for the charges brought against us. But the agreements place harsh conditions on those of us who remain at FAU this year.
Based on the agreements, two of the three of us still at FAU are on indefinite probation for the remainder of our undergraduate careers, two of us are barred from holding any leadership positions in official student organizations, and three of us are required to take part in a mandatory University Campus of Difference training program based on a curriculum created by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the fall. One of us, in addition to the mandatory training, is required to complete 25 hours of community service. Two of us who already graduated will also be subject to similar sanctions if we ever decide to come back to FAU to study.
It is important to emphasize that the mandatory training program is nothing short of officially sanctioned re-education, and it implies that we are prejudiced for standing up against war crimes and human rights abuses carried out by the Israeli military against Palestinians. The injustice of it is magnified because the co-sponsoring organization, the ADL, has been vocal in attempts to malign us for our Palestinian rights activism and has pressured the University to take action against us, has a history of spying on advocates for Palestinian rights, and is a staunch opponent of the internationally recognized legal right of Palestinians to return to homes from which they were expelled 65 years ago during Israel’s creation.
In other words, this self-described advocate of anti-bias trainings promotes an exclusivist Jewish state that keeps Palestinians out of their ancestral homeland, and irresponsibly mislabels advocacy on behalf of Palestinians as “anti-Semitic.” Yet we are expected to learn about “diversity” and “tolerance” from them?
We were well aware that the university’s goal was to impede our activism. But by signing these agreements we were able to avoid even greater scrutiny and harsher sanctions through a disciplinary proceeding and an extended legal battle with university administrators. Our goal is to instead focus on our education and activism.
We believe this is an opportunity to shed light on the miscarriage of justice at FAU and the clear violation of our First Amendment rights. The buckling of the administration to the demands of the ADL and several other external Zionist organizations – in this instance and multiple times in the past, is disturbing and at odds with free inquiry and the right of students to express their opposition to human rights abuses and war crimes. Although the university intends to silence our activism and stifle our right to free speech, this has only created unity among us and determination within us.
We believe that free speech advocates as well as civil rights and human rights advocates will be appalled at the actions FAU administrators have taken against us. The right of students to stand up for Palestinian freedom and human rights should not be trampled as has occurred at FAU. And certainly we should not be subject to the sort of re-education program the administration has in store for us in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that has been at the forefront of nationwide efforts to stifle student activism that criticizes Israeli policies and advocates for Palestinian human rights.
This article was originally posted on The Electronic Intifada. Click here to view original.
