31 mar 2014
Israel Cries holocaust in Vienna While Still Denying the Palestinian Nakba – The zionist state of israel, which criminalizes commemoration of the Nakba and denies the Palestinian Arab minority’s right to free speech and equality with regard to the historical memory of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe in 1948, is still crying the holocaust in Vienna.
On March 22 2011, israeli knesset or “parliament” passed the so-called “Al-Nakba Law” which calls on the government to deny funding to any organization, institution or university, educational institution, municipality in israel that commemorates the ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine during and before the establishment of the so-called “state of israel” in 1947-48.
The Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) is a term used to describe the suffering of Palestinians and the ethnic cleansing which was perpetrated against hundreds of thousands, who were expelled from their homes by the jewish invaders in 1948.
The “Nakba Law” infringes on the Palestinian Arab minority’s right to free speech and equality with regard to its historical memory. This zionist law also suppresses the memory of the Palestinian people and punishes their feelings.
This past weekend Shimon Peres, the head of the israeli occupation, the so-called “state of israel”, arrived in Vienna where the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear facilities are taking place since two months. Here he cried holocaust at the Judenplatz (jews’ square) in the city in order to dictate the terms of israel regarding the Iranian nuclear facilities on the IAEA and the security organizations in Austria while obstructing of the efforts of ongoing negotiations between Iran and the six countries.
Peres Prays in Vienna Under Watch of his Bodyguards
Peres arrived at the jews’ square or “Judenplatz” in the city centre under tight security measures in which Austrian police helicopters flew at a low altitude, special forces of the police occupied a number of surrounding buildings balconies, windows and rooftops, and some coffee houses were forced to close their doors for clients.
The old man, who looked weak and unhealthy, was forced to lean on his bodyguard instead of a stick, was wearing a small black hat (“Kippa”) and surrounded by dozens of security people when he arrived at the “Judenplatz” where Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer and the ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as a few dozens members of the jewish community in Vienna were present, among them chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg and the current and former presidents of the jewish community awaited for Peres to participate in a ceremony of “Shoah” for the Austrian victims of the holocaust. During the ceremony President Fischer and his guest President Peres laid a wreath for the country’s holocaust victims, delivered speeches and held a joint prayer.
President Fischer said that the jews’ space reflects a particularly tragic part of Austrian history and that the Judenplatz witnessed a dark chapter in Austria’s history. He added: “we must confess that the way Austria dealt with the Nazi period was followed by a harsh silence for a long time. In the past twenty five years, Austria underwent a deep process in historic awareness of the holocaust. He criticized Austria’s dealing with National Socialism and acknowledged that Austria today accepts common responsibility for Nazi crimes.
For his part, Mr. old man Peres, cried in his speech for the victims of the Holocaust in front of the audience so as to charge the feelings of those present and so guarantee the kindness of others. I was moved by the speech of the old President Peres and I felt the size of the horrific pain left by the Europeans to the jews.
I thanked God that the Palestinians were not together with the Europeans perpetrators of the Holocaust, despite my painful feeling as a Palestinian for our tragic history, for all the massacres and the ethnic cleansing which were perpetrated against us by gangs of European jews like Palmach, Irgun and Hagana in Palestine, before and after 1948.
I felt proud to the Republic of Austria after I listened to the speech of President Fischer, who spoke boldly about the tragedy of the Holocaust that took place in Austria and apologized for this to the Jews.
I wondered why Mr. Peres, the president of israel and his “state” do not follow the recognition of the Austrian republic, which apologized hundred million time to Israel and recognize the Palestinian Nakba and all the wrongs that he and the other the jewish terrorist invaders visited upon us Palestinians, the people of that time who were murdered, subject to ethnic cleansing and expelled from our homeland as well as upon later generations, who are to this day victims of a process of slow genocide by the israel of which Peres is a President??
Certainly, there is a vast difference between Austrian President, who spoke freely about the the Austrian responsibility for its history, and the head of jewish “state of Israel”, who together with his country does not recognize the Palestinian Nakba and suffering which since decades he and his “state” inflict upon us, while his “state” went so far to pass in March of 2011 the so-called “Nakba law” which criminalizes Palestinians who want to express their feeling and sorrows and commemorate the Nakba and their history, all so that Peres and many other jews can avoid being confronted with their own crimes and their historic guilt.
Adalah: Nakba Law Violates Rights of Arab Minority to Preserve its History and Culture
The Knesset enacted the Nakba Law (PDF) on 22 March 2011. The law authorizes the Minister of Finance to reduce funding or support provided by the state to an institution if it holds an activity that contradicts the definition of the State of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state, or that commemorates “Israel’s Independence Day or the day on which the state was established as a day of mourning.” In Adalah’s view, the Nakba Law is another link in a chain of racist laws that target Arab citizens of Israel, violate their rights, and restrict their freedom to express their opinion. The law will also cause substantial harm to cultural and educational institutions and further entrench discrimination against Arab citizens.
Adalah previously sent an urgent letter (Letter as PDF) to the Chair of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, MK David Rotem, requesting that the Committee reject the legislation. In the letter, Adalah Attorneys Orna Kohn and Sawsan Zaher argued that the law threatened to cut funding to many institutions, including educational and cultural organizations, thereby compromising their ability to provide important services to the public. These funding cuts are tantamount to the collective punishment of the public that receives these services, despite the fact that such persons are unable to intervene in the decisions of these institutions over whether to conduct a certain activity or not.
Adalah stressed in the letter that the law stood to cause major harm to the principle of equality and to the rights of Arab citizens to preserve their history and culture. The law deprives Arab citizens of their right to commemorate the Nabka, which is an integral part of their history. It also grossly violates the right to freedom of expression, a fundamental constitutional right. It may be applied to an institution simply because it held a seminar or study day on a political issue that addresses the definition of the state, or that discusses the future vision of Arab citizens, for example, or a cultural organization that screened a film or held a play that discusses the Nakba. According to the law, such activities are viewed as a threat to the existence of the State of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state.
Adalah further emphasized in the letter Israel is a signatory to all international human rights conventions, according to which the state should undertake, inter alia, to preserve and protect the unique culture and history of the Arab national minority. This legislation does just the opposite: the purpose of the law is to prevent members of the Arab minority in Israel from exercising their democratic right to commemorate a seminal event in their history.
On March 22 2011, israeli knesset or “parliament” passed the so-called “Al-Nakba Law” which calls on the government to deny funding to any organization, institution or university, educational institution, municipality in israel that commemorates the ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine during and before the establishment of the so-called “state of israel” in 1947-48.
The Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) is a term used to describe the suffering of Palestinians and the ethnic cleansing which was perpetrated against hundreds of thousands, who were expelled from their homes by the jewish invaders in 1948.
The “Nakba Law” infringes on the Palestinian Arab minority’s right to free speech and equality with regard to its historical memory. This zionist law also suppresses the memory of the Palestinian people and punishes their feelings.
This past weekend Shimon Peres, the head of the israeli occupation, the so-called “state of israel”, arrived in Vienna where the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear facilities are taking place since two months. Here he cried holocaust at the Judenplatz (jews’ square) in the city in order to dictate the terms of israel regarding the Iranian nuclear facilities on the IAEA and the security organizations in Austria while obstructing of the efforts of ongoing negotiations between Iran and the six countries.
Peres Prays in Vienna Under Watch of his Bodyguards
Peres arrived at the jews’ square or “Judenplatz” in the city centre under tight security measures in which Austrian police helicopters flew at a low altitude, special forces of the police occupied a number of surrounding buildings balconies, windows and rooftops, and some coffee houses were forced to close their doors for clients.
The old man, who looked weak and unhealthy, was forced to lean on his bodyguard instead of a stick, was wearing a small black hat (“Kippa”) and surrounded by dozens of security people when he arrived at the “Judenplatz” where Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer and the ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as a few dozens members of the jewish community in Vienna were present, among them chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg and the current and former presidents of the jewish community awaited for Peres to participate in a ceremony of “Shoah” for the Austrian victims of the holocaust. During the ceremony President Fischer and his guest President Peres laid a wreath for the country’s holocaust victims, delivered speeches and held a joint prayer.
President Fischer said that the jews’ space reflects a particularly tragic part of Austrian history and that the Judenplatz witnessed a dark chapter in Austria’s history. He added: “we must confess that the way Austria dealt with the Nazi period was followed by a harsh silence for a long time. In the past twenty five years, Austria underwent a deep process in historic awareness of the holocaust. He criticized Austria’s dealing with National Socialism and acknowledged that Austria today accepts common responsibility for Nazi crimes.
For his part, Mr. old man Peres, cried in his speech for the victims of the Holocaust in front of the audience so as to charge the feelings of those present and so guarantee the kindness of others. I was moved by the speech of the old President Peres and I felt the size of the horrific pain left by the Europeans to the jews.
I thanked God that the Palestinians were not together with the Europeans perpetrators of the Holocaust, despite my painful feeling as a Palestinian for our tragic history, for all the massacres and the ethnic cleansing which were perpetrated against us by gangs of European jews like Palmach, Irgun and Hagana in Palestine, before and after 1948.
I felt proud to the Republic of Austria after I listened to the speech of President Fischer, who spoke boldly about the tragedy of the Holocaust that took place in Austria and apologized for this to the Jews.
I wondered why Mr. Peres, the president of israel and his “state” do not follow the recognition of the Austrian republic, which apologized hundred million time to Israel and recognize the Palestinian Nakba and all the wrongs that he and the other the jewish terrorist invaders visited upon us Palestinians, the people of that time who were murdered, subject to ethnic cleansing and expelled from our homeland as well as upon later generations, who are to this day victims of a process of slow genocide by the israel of which Peres is a President??
Certainly, there is a vast difference between Austrian President, who spoke freely about the the Austrian responsibility for its history, and the head of jewish “state of Israel”, who together with his country does not recognize the Palestinian Nakba and suffering which since decades he and his “state” inflict upon us, while his “state” went so far to pass in March of 2011 the so-called “Nakba law” which criminalizes Palestinians who want to express their feeling and sorrows and commemorate the Nakba and their history, all so that Peres and many other jews can avoid being confronted with their own crimes and their historic guilt.
Adalah: Nakba Law Violates Rights of Arab Minority to Preserve its History and Culture
The Knesset enacted the Nakba Law (PDF) on 22 March 2011. The law authorizes the Minister of Finance to reduce funding or support provided by the state to an institution if it holds an activity that contradicts the definition of the State of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state, or that commemorates “Israel’s Independence Day or the day on which the state was established as a day of mourning.” In Adalah’s view, the Nakba Law is another link in a chain of racist laws that target Arab citizens of Israel, violate their rights, and restrict their freedom to express their opinion. The law will also cause substantial harm to cultural and educational institutions and further entrench discrimination against Arab citizens.
Adalah previously sent an urgent letter (Letter as PDF) to the Chair of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, MK David Rotem, requesting that the Committee reject the legislation. In the letter, Adalah Attorneys Orna Kohn and Sawsan Zaher argued that the law threatened to cut funding to many institutions, including educational and cultural organizations, thereby compromising their ability to provide important services to the public. These funding cuts are tantamount to the collective punishment of the public that receives these services, despite the fact that such persons are unable to intervene in the decisions of these institutions over whether to conduct a certain activity or not.
Adalah stressed in the letter that the law stood to cause major harm to the principle of equality and to the rights of Arab citizens to preserve their history and culture. The law deprives Arab citizens of their right to commemorate the Nabka, which is an integral part of their history. It also grossly violates the right to freedom of expression, a fundamental constitutional right. It may be applied to an institution simply because it held a seminar or study day on a political issue that addresses the definition of the state, or that discusses the future vision of Arab citizens, for example, or a cultural organization that screened a film or held a play that discusses the Nakba. According to the law, such activities are viewed as a threat to the existence of the State of Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state.
Adalah further emphasized in the letter Israel is a signatory to all international human rights conventions, according to which the state should undertake, inter alia, to preserve and protect the unique culture and history of the Arab national minority. This legislation does just the opposite: the purpose of the law is to prevent members of the Arab minority in Israel from exercising their democratic right to commemorate a seminal event in their history.
Israel recovers looted ancient burial caskets
Police and antiquities inspectors have arrested a gang accused of looting ancient Jewish burial caskets from a cave in the Jerusalem area, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.
"They were caught while in possession of 11 decorated stone ossuaries –- ancient coffins -– that the Jewish population used for burial in the Second Temple period, 2,000 years ago," the IAA said in a statement.
"Some of the ossuaries still contained the skeletal remains of the deceased," it said.
The suspects, from the West Bank, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, were arrested on Friday as they met prospective Jewish clients at a crossing point between the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
"Shallow engravings, etched in the past by means of a sharp stylus, were found on the walls of two of the seized ossuaries. They cite the names of the deceased whose bones were collected in the coffins," the IAA said.
One of the ossuaries bore the name "Ralfin", written in squared Hebrew script "characteristic of the Second Temple period", the statement said.
“There is no doubt that the ossuaries were recently looted from a magnificent burial cave in Jerusalem," it added.
Police and antiquities inspectors have arrested a gang accused of looting ancient Jewish burial caskets from a cave in the Jerusalem area, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.
"They were caught while in possession of 11 decorated stone ossuaries –- ancient coffins -– that the Jewish population used for burial in the Second Temple period, 2,000 years ago," the IAA said in a statement.
"Some of the ossuaries still contained the skeletal remains of the deceased," it said.
The suspects, from the West Bank, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, were arrested on Friday as they met prospective Jewish clients at a crossing point between the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
"Shallow engravings, etched in the past by means of a sharp stylus, were found on the walls of two of the seized ossuaries. They cite the names of the deceased whose bones were collected in the coffins," the IAA said.
One of the ossuaries bore the name "Ralfin", written in squared Hebrew script "characteristic of the Second Temple period", the statement said.
“There is no doubt that the ossuaries were recently looted from a magnificent burial cave in Jerusalem," it added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday slammed a UN rights body for a string of resolutions condemning the Jewish state despite a wave of rights abuses elsewhere in the region. "At the end of last week, the UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel five times, at a time when the slaughter in Syria is continuing, innocent people are being hung in the Middle East and human rights are being eroded," he told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting.
"In many countries the free media are closed down and the UN Human Rights Council decided to condemn Israel," he added. "It's absurd. This procession of hypocrisy goes on and we shall continue to denounce and expose it."
The 47-member UN body on Friday passed four resolutions critical of Israel's conduct toward the Palestinians and one on its occupation of the Golan Heights.
The motions on the Palestinians were carried by 46 votes to one, with only the United States against, while the Golan resolution garnered 13 abstentions and a US "no" vote.
"In many countries the free media are closed down and the UN Human Rights Council decided to condemn Israel," he added. "It's absurd. This procession of hypocrisy goes on and we shall continue to denounce and expose it."
The 47-member UN body on Friday passed four resolutions critical of Israel's conduct toward the Palestinians and one on its occupation of the Golan Heights.
The motions on the Palestinians were carried by 46 votes to one, with only the United States against, while the Golan resolution garnered 13 abstentions and a US "no" vote.
30 mar 2014
Chairman of the Join Chief of Staff Army General Martin Dempsey speaks during a retirement ceremony, Maryland March 28, 2014
Israeli occupation prime minister thanked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States for the additional US aid provided to develop the ‘Iron Dome defense system’. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu during his meeting with Dempsey in occupied Jerusalem praised the security and strategic cooperation between the US and the Israeli occupation state.
Dempsey met today with the occupation defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, in the presence of the army chief of staff Beni Gantz and discussed the recent developments in the region and the mutual military cooperation.
Ya'alon thanked Dempsey for being a “true friend of Israel”, noting that the United States.
The United States is sworn to backing Israel with an annual military aid and this visit reflects yet another time the unwavering commitment to the Israeli occupation security.
Dempsey began his visit to the Israeli entity will continue for three days.
Israeli occupation prime minister thanked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States for the additional US aid provided to develop the ‘Iron Dome defense system’. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu during his meeting with Dempsey in occupied Jerusalem praised the security and strategic cooperation between the US and the Israeli occupation state.
Dempsey met today with the occupation defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, in the presence of the army chief of staff Beni Gantz and discussed the recent developments in the region and the mutual military cooperation.
Ya'alon thanked Dempsey for being a “true friend of Israel”, noting that the United States.
The United States is sworn to backing Israel with an annual military aid and this visit reflects yet another time the unwavering commitment to the Israeli occupation security.
Dempsey began his visit to the Israeli entity will continue for three days.
A Palestinian member of the Israel's Knesset HaneenZoabi stressed that the Israeli occupation not only seeks to confiscate the land, but to control our minds and to eliminate the Palestinian relation with the homeland. She said Saturday on the anniversary of Land Day in al-Nassera " Land Day does not just celebrate a regular event , it is a historical and important event for the Palestinian people.
She pointed out that it is an important event that gathers the pre-1948 Palestinian minorities who still in their lands and an incentive that moves us to maintain our rights to exist and live in our lands in peace.
“The Israeli occupation practices will not deter the Palestinian from the right of maintaining sovereignty over his homelandwhich is derived from Palestinians' historical right.” she asserted, “ Palestinians are still keeping their pride and belonging to their land. In this day, they stressed their right to struggle against the Israeli occupation.”
Land Day indicated our historical novel which the Israeli occupation wanted to erase, distort and change its parameters.
Land Day, March 30, is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians of the events of that date in 1976. In response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed Palestinian citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested.
She pointed out that it is an important event that gathers the pre-1948 Palestinian minorities who still in their lands and an incentive that moves us to maintain our rights to exist and live in our lands in peace.
“The Israeli occupation practices will not deter the Palestinian from the right of maintaining sovereignty over his homelandwhich is derived from Palestinians' historical right.” she asserted, “ Palestinians are still keeping their pride and belonging to their land. In this day, they stressed their right to struggle against the Israeli occupation.”
Land Day indicated our historical novel which the Israeli occupation wanted to erase, distort and change its parameters.
Land Day, March 30, is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians of the events of that date in 1976. In response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed Palestinian citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested.
Chairman of the U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey is scheduled to visit Israel on Sunday, where he will meet the Israeli military minister Moshe Ya’alon. According to the Israeli media, Dempsey and Ya’alon will meet in the city of Jerusalem amid of tension that hangs over the relations between America and Israel due to the latest criticism by Ya’lon to America’s policy concerning the Iranian nuclear issue.”
Israeli military source expected that the visit will last for three days, but the American embassy did not state a full schedule for the visit.
Israeli military source expected that the visit will last for three days, but the American embassy did not state a full schedule for the visit.
26 mar 2014
Hebrew media revealed that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has received a few weeks ago a classified legal opinion authorizing the transfer of the Triangle and the Wadi Ara regions, in 1948 Palestine, along with their entire population to a Palestinian state in any future permanent peace agreement.
The opinion argued that transferring populations would only be in line with international law if executed with the consent of those being transferred, if it did not leave any of those transferred without any kind of citizenship and if it provides an appropriate compensation mechanism similar to the one received by the settlers who evacuated settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Lieberman said during a meeting with Foreign Ministry ambassadors in January "a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians should include settling Israeli Arabs", and claimed that this land and population swap plan was not a "transfer" but aimed at shifting the border.
Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that several days after Lieberman's speech, and when US Secretary of State John Kerry started working on a framework agreement for the negotiations, Lieberman asked his ministry's legal division to prepare a legal opinion on his plan.
An 18-page legal briefing was prepared by Ehud Keinan, the foreign ministry's legal adviser, in February. It is entitled Territorial Exchange: transfer of sovereignty over populated areas in the framework of a final arrangement with the Palestinians - legal aspects.
Keinan claimed that "transferring populated areas from a sovereign state to another as part of a permanent solution even without the population's explicit consent or a referendum is acceptable under international law as long as it offers residents clear citizenship after the transition."
“Lieberman’s plan, like the opinion issued by his ministry’s legal advisor, has a single overarching goal: turning Israel into a pure ethnic and religious state. Therefore, the goal of this plan cannot be described as anything other than ethnic cleansing – even if not by force of arms,” Ha’aretz said in an opinion published on Wednesday.
The opinion argued that transferring populations would only be in line with international law if executed with the consent of those being transferred, if it did not leave any of those transferred without any kind of citizenship and if it provides an appropriate compensation mechanism similar to the one received by the settlers who evacuated settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Lieberman said during a meeting with Foreign Ministry ambassadors in January "a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians should include settling Israeli Arabs", and claimed that this land and population swap plan was not a "transfer" but aimed at shifting the border.
Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that several days after Lieberman's speech, and when US Secretary of State John Kerry started working on a framework agreement for the negotiations, Lieberman asked his ministry's legal division to prepare a legal opinion on his plan.
An 18-page legal briefing was prepared by Ehud Keinan, the foreign ministry's legal adviser, in February. It is entitled Territorial Exchange: transfer of sovereignty over populated areas in the framework of a final arrangement with the Palestinians - legal aspects.
Keinan claimed that "transferring populated areas from a sovereign state to another as part of a permanent solution even without the population's explicit consent or a referendum is acceptable under international law as long as it offers residents clear citizenship after the transition."
“Lieberman’s plan, like the opinion issued by his ministry’s legal advisor, has a single overarching goal: turning Israel into a pure ethnic and religious state. Therefore, the goal of this plan cannot be described as anything other than ethnic cleansing – even if not by force of arms,” Ha’aretz said in an opinion published on Wednesday.
23 mar 2014
File Photo: The Israeli embassy in Washington
Israeli diplomats launched an unprecedented strike on Sunday, forcing the complete closure of embassies around the world as they escalated a dispute over pay, officials said. The industrial action has already threatened to postpone a visit by Pope Francis to Israel planned for May - one of 25 trips by foreign officials affected by a work slowdown the diplomats began on March 5 when wage talks broke down.
By escalating the action to a full strike - the first by the diplomatic corps since the country's establishment in 1948 - the diplomats will close all of Israel's 102 missions abroad, paralysing most diplomatic work with other countries and the United Nations.
"We are completely shutting down the (foreign ministry) office and missions abroad. This is the first time ever," ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
Another ministry official told Reuters: "As of now, the foreign ministry doesn't exist. It's not possible even to submit complaints".
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Called the strike "irresponsible" and "a wretched decision and a display of a loss of control on union's part."
"We shall do whatever possible to minimise the damage to the country and its citizens," Lieberman said.
Diplomats said the strike - involving some 1,200 foreign service employees - was open-ended and had been called after the Treasury had failed to present any acceptable proposals.
They are demanding an increase in monthly salaries, which they put at 6,000-9,000 shekels (1,030.99-1,576.81 pounds) ), and want compensation for spouses forced to quit jobs due to foreign postings. They say about a third of their number has quit in the past 15 years due to poor wages.
Yacov Livne, spokesman for the diplomats' union, said: "the Treasury is determined to destroy the foreign ministry and Israeli diplomacy."
Israeli diplomats launched an unprecedented strike on Sunday, forcing the complete closure of embassies around the world as they escalated a dispute over pay, officials said. The industrial action has already threatened to postpone a visit by Pope Francis to Israel planned for May - one of 25 trips by foreign officials affected by a work slowdown the diplomats began on March 5 when wage talks broke down.
By escalating the action to a full strike - the first by the diplomatic corps since the country's establishment in 1948 - the diplomats will close all of Israel's 102 missions abroad, paralysing most diplomatic work with other countries and the United Nations.
"We are completely shutting down the (foreign ministry) office and missions abroad. This is the first time ever," ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
Another ministry official told Reuters: "As of now, the foreign ministry doesn't exist. It's not possible even to submit complaints".
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Called the strike "irresponsible" and "a wretched decision and a display of a loss of control on union's part."
"We shall do whatever possible to minimise the damage to the country and its citizens," Lieberman said.
Diplomats said the strike - involving some 1,200 foreign service employees - was open-ended and had been called after the Treasury had failed to present any acceptable proposals.
They are demanding an increase in monthly salaries, which they put at 6,000-9,000 shekels (1,030.99-1,576.81 pounds) ), and want compensation for spouses forced to quit jobs due to foreign postings. They say about a third of their number has quit in the past 15 years due to poor wages.
Yacov Livne, spokesman for the diplomats' union, said: "the Treasury is determined to destroy the foreign ministry and Israeli diplomacy."
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa in East Jerusalem
Britain's leading architectural association has called for its Israeli counterpart to be excluded from the International Union of Architects in protest at Israel's occupation of Palestine, in a further indication of the growing momentum of the boycott movement.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has demanded the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) from the international body, saying it is complicit in the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and other violations of international law.
The former Riba president Angela Brady told a meeting of its council on Wednesday that failure to back the motion "would send a clear message to the world that we as an institution turn a blind eye or by inaction support what's going on – land grabs, forced removals, killing the state and human rights, and reinforcement of apartheid".
But other council members pointed to human rights violations in other parts of the world, such as North Korea, which is a member of Riba. "Don't you think architects are designing prison camps and torture chambers there?" asked one council member, Francesca Weal.
The motion – backed by 23 votes to 16, with 10 abstentions – was welcomed by the Palestinian BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement. It claims there is mounting international support for a boycott of Israel and points to an increasing number of companies disinvesting over fears of damaging their reputations.
"Architects and planners are central to Israel's colonisation of Palestinian land and the forced displacement of Palestinian people," said Rafeef Zaidah, of the Palestinian BDS national committee. "Given the complicity of the [IAUA] in Israel's construction of illegal Israeli settlements, it is only right that it is excluded from international forums."
Prof Baruch Baruch of the IAUA said the decision was "astonishing". He added: "I don't think architects can be blamed for government policies. I don't think boycotts will help to solve any of the problems in the Middle East."
His organisation, which includes Israeli-Arab architects, was not complicit in settlement construction. "A lot of members are against settlements and building in the West Bank. They won't be helped by a boycott."
Calls to boycott Israeli institutions have bitterly divided academic bodies in the UK, US and elsewhere. European governments are under pressure from trade unions, NGOs, churches and other organisations to take a tougher stand on Israeli settlement produce.
Scarlett Johanssen's celebrity endorsement of SodaStream, which has a factory in a West Bank settlement, caused an international furore earlier this year. US secretary of state John Kerry warned last month that the boycott movement could gain traction if his efforts to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians failed.
In response, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said: "Attempts to impose a boycott on the state of Israel are immoral and unjust. Moreover, they will not achieve their goal."
Source: theGuardian
Britain's leading architectural association has called for its Israeli counterpart to be excluded from the International Union of Architects in protest at Israel's occupation of Palestine, in a further indication of the growing momentum of the boycott movement.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has demanded the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) from the international body, saying it is complicit in the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and other violations of international law.
The former Riba president Angela Brady told a meeting of its council on Wednesday that failure to back the motion "would send a clear message to the world that we as an institution turn a blind eye or by inaction support what's going on – land grabs, forced removals, killing the state and human rights, and reinforcement of apartheid".
But other council members pointed to human rights violations in other parts of the world, such as North Korea, which is a member of Riba. "Don't you think architects are designing prison camps and torture chambers there?" asked one council member, Francesca Weal.
The motion – backed by 23 votes to 16, with 10 abstentions – was welcomed by the Palestinian BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement. It claims there is mounting international support for a boycott of Israel and points to an increasing number of companies disinvesting over fears of damaging their reputations.
"Architects and planners are central to Israel's colonisation of Palestinian land and the forced displacement of Palestinian people," said Rafeef Zaidah, of the Palestinian BDS national committee. "Given the complicity of the [IAUA] in Israel's construction of illegal Israeli settlements, it is only right that it is excluded from international forums."
Prof Baruch Baruch of the IAUA said the decision was "astonishing". He added: "I don't think architects can be blamed for government policies. I don't think boycotts will help to solve any of the problems in the Middle East."
His organisation, which includes Israeli-Arab architects, was not complicit in settlement construction. "A lot of members are against settlements and building in the West Bank. They won't be helped by a boycott."
Calls to boycott Israeli institutions have bitterly divided academic bodies in the UK, US and elsewhere. European governments are under pressure from trade unions, NGOs, churches and other organisations to take a tougher stand on Israeli settlement produce.
Scarlett Johanssen's celebrity endorsement of SodaStream, which has a factory in a West Bank settlement, caused an international furore earlier this year. US secretary of state John Kerry warned last month that the boycott movement could gain traction if his efforts to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians failed.
In response, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said: "Attempts to impose a boycott on the state of Israel are immoral and unjust. Moreover, they will not achieve their goal."
Source: theGuardian
21 mar 2014
The U.S. is "disappointed with the lack of apology" from Israeli Army Minister Moshe Ya'alon, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman told reporters on Friday.
"We still have remaining concerns about Ya'alon's pattern of behavior," Jen Psaki said during a press briefing. "I think we clearly expressed our displeasure by his offensive comments and an apology would be a natural next step."
Psaki added, however, that Ya'alon's comments don't reflect U.S. relations with Israel.
Washington has been incensed at the Israeli army minister since he leveled harsh criticism at the Obama administration in an address at Tel Aviv University, reported in Haaretz on Tuesday. Ya'alon said the United States "shows weakness" in various arenas around the world – including Ukraine – and that its allies in the Middle East are disappointed. Ya'alon said that because it is "sitting at home," America is opening itself up to terror attacks "and the United States will suffer."
Following a telephone call between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a personal talk with the Israeli prime minister, Ya'alon reportedly apologized to his American counterpart Chuck Hagel, saying, among other things, that there was no defiance, criticism or intention to hurt the United States or Israel's relations with its ally with his words.
However, in its statement following the Ya'alon-Hagel talk, the U.S. Defense Department refrained from referring to Ya'alon's statements as an apology, instead saying that Hagel said he thanked Ya'alon for the clarification, and appreciated what Ya'alon had to say about his commitment to those relations.
In January, Ya'alon raised the ire of fellow Israeli politicians and the U.S. State Department, after he was was quoted by the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth calling Secretary of State John Kerry "obsessive and messianic," adding that he hoped Kerry "gets a Nobel Prize and leaves us alone."
Source: Haaretz
"We still have remaining concerns about Ya'alon's pattern of behavior," Jen Psaki said during a press briefing. "I think we clearly expressed our displeasure by his offensive comments and an apology would be a natural next step."
Psaki added, however, that Ya'alon's comments don't reflect U.S. relations with Israel.
Washington has been incensed at the Israeli army minister since he leveled harsh criticism at the Obama administration in an address at Tel Aviv University, reported in Haaretz on Tuesday. Ya'alon said the United States "shows weakness" in various arenas around the world – including Ukraine – and that its allies in the Middle East are disappointed. Ya'alon said that because it is "sitting at home," America is opening itself up to terror attacks "and the United States will suffer."
Following a telephone call between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a personal talk with the Israeli prime minister, Ya'alon reportedly apologized to his American counterpart Chuck Hagel, saying, among other things, that there was no defiance, criticism or intention to hurt the United States or Israel's relations with its ally with his words.
However, in its statement following the Ya'alon-Hagel talk, the U.S. Defense Department refrained from referring to Ya'alon's statements as an apology, instead saying that Hagel said he thanked Ya'alon for the clarification, and appreciated what Ya'alon had to say about his commitment to those relations.
In January, Ya'alon raised the ire of fellow Israeli politicians and the U.S. State Department, after he was was quoted by the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth calling Secretary of State John Kerry "obsessive and messianic," adding that he hoped Kerry "gets a Nobel Prize and leaves us alone."
Source: Haaretz
A U.N. human rights investigator accused Israel on Friday of "ethnic cleansing" in pushing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and cast doubt that the Israeli government could accept a Palestinian state in the current climate.
He spoke against a backdrop of deadlocked peace talks and accelerating Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem which Palestinians say is dimming their hope of establishing a viable state on contiguous territory.
Israel says Palestinian refusal to recognise it as a Jewish state is the main obstacle. U.S. President Barack Obama this week pressed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to help break the impasse, saying both sides must take political risks before the April 29 deadline for a framework deal.
Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told a news conference that Israeli policies bore "unacceptable characteristics of colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing".
"Every increment of enlarging the settlements or every incident of house demolition is a way of worsening the situation confronting the Palestinian people and reducing what prospects they might have as the outcome of supposed peace negotiations."
Asked about his accusation of ethnic cleansing, Falk said that more than 11,000 Palestinians had lost their right to live in Jerusalem since 1996 due to Israel imposing residency laws favouring Jews and revoking Palestinian residence permits.
"The 11,000 is just the tip of the iceberg because many more are faced with possible challenges to their residency rights."
This compounded the "ordeal of this extended, prolonged occupation", according to Falk, an international law expert and professor emeritus at Princeton University in the United States.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the latter, declaring it part of its eternal, indivisible capital, a move never recognised internationally.
Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as their capital. In 2005 Israel quit Gaza, now run by Hamas Islamists opposed to Abbas' peace efforts, but settlement growth continues in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Falk said that Israel had made a systematic effort to "change the ethnic composition" of East Jerusalem by making it more difficult for Palestinians to reside there while encouraging the spread of settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
In a report last month, Falk said Israeli policies in the West Bank appeared to amount to "apartheid and segregation" with a de facto annexation of parts of the territory, denying the Palestinian right to self-determination.
There was no immediate Israeli response to his remarks on Friday. Israel has not responded officially to Falk's February report via the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, the usual channel, U.N. officials in Geneva said.
In the past Israel has strongly denied accusations of persecuting Palestinians, accusing them of inciting anti-Israeli violence and being unwilling to make permanent peace with the Jewish state.
"DRIFT TO THE RIGHT"
Direct peace negotiations usually coincide with intensified Israeli settlement activity, he told reporters.
The U.S.-brokered peace process seemed to be primarily a project of Secretary of State John Kerry who had received only "minimal support from Obama himself", Falk said.
"There are other reasons for encouraging the idea that it's still possible to negotiate a settlement based on the two-state model, even though most informed observers regard it as highly implausible given the changes that have taken place during the period of occupation and given the outlook of the Netanyahu government," he said, making clear he was among the sceptics.
Even entering negotiations, he said, is seen as a "betrayal" by Israeli political factions and parties that are to the right of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"A few years ago it would be hard to imagine that there was something to the right of Netanyahu. But gradually this drift to the right has created a whole new sense of the political debate within Israel," Falk said. "And there is a strong internal Israeli opposition to any sense that the Palestinian people in any diminished way deserve a state of their own."
Falk, an American law professor who is Jewish, has come to the end of a six-year term in the independent post and the U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to name a successor soon.
He has long drawn controversy in Israel, in 2008 comparing Israeli military strikes against Hamas in Gaza - during which 1,400 Palestinians were killed and there was widespread destruction in densely populated areas - to those of the Nazis.
Last June he said critics who called him anti-Semitic sought to divert attention from his scrutiny of Israeli policies.
He is to address the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, but it was not clear whether Israeli delegates would attend due to an ongoing strike by Israeli foreign ministry staff.
He spoke against a backdrop of deadlocked peace talks and accelerating Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem which Palestinians say is dimming their hope of establishing a viable state on contiguous territory.
Israel says Palestinian refusal to recognise it as a Jewish state is the main obstacle. U.S. President Barack Obama this week pressed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to help break the impasse, saying both sides must take political risks before the April 29 deadline for a framework deal.
Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told a news conference that Israeli policies bore "unacceptable characteristics of colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing".
"Every increment of enlarging the settlements or every incident of house demolition is a way of worsening the situation confronting the Palestinian people and reducing what prospects they might have as the outcome of supposed peace negotiations."
Asked about his accusation of ethnic cleansing, Falk said that more than 11,000 Palestinians had lost their right to live in Jerusalem since 1996 due to Israel imposing residency laws favouring Jews and revoking Palestinian residence permits.
"The 11,000 is just the tip of the iceberg because many more are faced with possible challenges to their residency rights."
This compounded the "ordeal of this extended, prolonged occupation", according to Falk, an international law expert and professor emeritus at Princeton University in the United States.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the latter, declaring it part of its eternal, indivisible capital, a move never recognised internationally.
Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as their capital. In 2005 Israel quit Gaza, now run by Hamas Islamists opposed to Abbas' peace efforts, but settlement growth continues in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Falk said that Israel had made a systematic effort to "change the ethnic composition" of East Jerusalem by making it more difficult for Palestinians to reside there while encouraging the spread of settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
In a report last month, Falk said Israeli policies in the West Bank appeared to amount to "apartheid and segregation" with a de facto annexation of parts of the territory, denying the Palestinian right to self-determination.
There was no immediate Israeli response to his remarks on Friday. Israel has not responded officially to Falk's February report via the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, the usual channel, U.N. officials in Geneva said.
In the past Israel has strongly denied accusations of persecuting Palestinians, accusing them of inciting anti-Israeli violence and being unwilling to make permanent peace with the Jewish state.
"DRIFT TO THE RIGHT"
Direct peace negotiations usually coincide with intensified Israeli settlement activity, he told reporters.
The U.S.-brokered peace process seemed to be primarily a project of Secretary of State John Kerry who had received only "minimal support from Obama himself", Falk said.
"There are other reasons for encouraging the idea that it's still possible to negotiate a settlement based on the two-state model, even though most informed observers regard it as highly implausible given the changes that have taken place during the period of occupation and given the outlook of the Netanyahu government," he said, making clear he was among the sceptics.
Even entering negotiations, he said, is seen as a "betrayal" by Israeli political factions and parties that are to the right of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"A few years ago it would be hard to imagine that there was something to the right of Netanyahu. But gradually this drift to the right has created a whole new sense of the political debate within Israel," Falk said. "And there is a strong internal Israeli opposition to any sense that the Palestinian people in any diminished way deserve a state of their own."
Falk, an American law professor who is Jewish, has come to the end of a six-year term in the independent post and the U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to name a successor soon.
He has long drawn controversy in Israel, in 2008 comparing Israeli military strikes against Hamas in Gaza - during which 1,400 Palestinians were killed and there was widespread destruction in densely populated areas - to those of the Nazis.
Last June he said critics who called him anti-Semitic sought to divert attention from his scrutiny of Israeli policies.
He is to address the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, but it was not clear whether Israeli delegates would attend due to an ongoing strike by Israeli foreign ministry staff.
The US administration asserted that its annual aid for the Zionist entity will not be reduced.
Two members of Senate Armed Services Committee confirmed that Washington to continue providing military aid to Israel despite budget cuts.
Kelly Ayotte and Joe Donnelly, who are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have visited Israel to confer on security issues on which the allies have partnered.
Donnelly stressed on the importance of having Israel as an ally in this region," pointing to Israel's rare stability in a turbulent Middle East.
The US administration signed a 10-year deal with Israel in 2007 granting it 30 billion dollars until 2017.
Two members of Senate Armed Services Committee confirmed that Washington to continue providing military aid to Israel despite budget cuts.
Kelly Ayotte and Joe Donnelly, who are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have visited Israel to confer on security issues on which the allies have partnered.
Donnelly stressed on the importance of having Israel as an ally in this region," pointing to Israel's rare stability in a turbulent Middle East.
The US administration signed a 10-year deal with Israel in 2007 granting it 30 billion dollars until 2017.