7 mar 2014
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Image from photo exhibit at Hebrew University
A week of events organized to bring attention to Israel's practices and policies which resemble the South African race-based system known as apartheid were held at hundreds of universities from March 2nd to 7th 2014. Among the universities that held events this year was the Israeli Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where a photo exhibit documented some of the issues faced by Palestinians living under occupation. The week of film screenings, cultural events, discussions and lectures was meant to draw attention to the parallels between the Israeli policies, including the more than fifty Israeli laws that explicitly discriminate against Palestinians; and the South African system of apartheid, which blatantly |
discriminated against black South Africans until it was abolished in 1994.
2014 marks the tenth year that students and activists have organized the week of action known as 'Israel Apartheid Week', and one of the biggest participants is South Africa, where the week of events will take place from March 10th to 16th.
According to South African organizers, “For us South Africans and our liberation, people of the world mobilized in their hundreds of thousands - if not millions - during the 1980s. Across the world people held protests, rallies, concerts, free Nelson Mandela events, lectures, film screenings and a host of other events, actions and campaigns to raise awareness of Apartheid South Africa's racist policies and to build support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Apartheid South Africa. Today we have an opportunity to 'give-back' by joining the growing international movement in solidarity with the indigenous Palestinian people (and their progressive Israeli allies) who are struggling against Israeli Apartheid.”
The South African organizers of the campaign to end Israeli apartheid-like practices and policies also note, “Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of Apartheid, said in 1963: 'Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state'”, adding, “In 2009, in a 300-page report commissioned by the South African government, the SA Human Sciences Research Council found that Israel is practicing a form of apartheid. This position was then confirmed by the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, which sat in Cape Town in November 2011. In March 2012 the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination made similar findings, and last month, on the 31st of January 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a scathing report in Geneva, Switzerland, on the state of human rights in Israel, finding that a form of 'institutionalized discrimination' is practiced by Israel.”
In cities around the world, multiple events have been organized as part of Israeli Apartheid Week. In Toronto Canada, students organized a number of film screenings and discussions, including a discussion on 'Pinkwashing, Homonationalism and Love under the time of Apartheid'. Universities from Paris, France to Sao Paolo Brazil have put together educational events and symposiums.
In Washington, DC, several organizations came together to organize the first First National Summit to Reassess the U.S.- Israel “Special Relationship” on March 7th at the National Press Club, which includes a long list of speakers addressing a number of topics regarding Israeli policies and the U.S. support for what the organizers say is a 'special relationship' with Israel that is harmful to U.S. interests.
Even in Israel, where talk about the Israeli occupation of Palestine is strongly discouraged and often criminalized, students at Hebrew University organized a photo exhibit to show some of what Palestinians experience under Israeli military occupation. The exhibit was strongly criticized by student representatives of the Israeli Likud party, who demanded that administrators remove the exhibit from the premises.
2014 marks the tenth year that students and activists have organized the week of action known as 'Israel Apartheid Week', and one of the biggest participants is South Africa, where the week of events will take place from March 10th to 16th.
According to South African organizers, “For us South Africans and our liberation, people of the world mobilized in their hundreds of thousands - if not millions - during the 1980s. Across the world people held protests, rallies, concerts, free Nelson Mandela events, lectures, film screenings and a host of other events, actions and campaigns to raise awareness of Apartheid South Africa's racist policies and to build support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Apartheid South Africa. Today we have an opportunity to 'give-back' by joining the growing international movement in solidarity with the indigenous Palestinian people (and their progressive Israeli allies) who are struggling against Israeli Apartheid.”
The South African organizers of the campaign to end Israeli apartheid-like practices and policies also note, “Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of Apartheid, said in 1963: 'Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state'”, adding, “In 2009, in a 300-page report commissioned by the South African government, the SA Human Sciences Research Council found that Israel is practicing a form of apartheid. This position was then confirmed by the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, which sat in Cape Town in November 2011. In March 2012 the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination made similar findings, and last month, on the 31st of January 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a scathing report in Geneva, Switzerland, on the state of human rights in Israel, finding that a form of 'institutionalized discrimination' is practiced by Israel.”
In cities around the world, multiple events have been organized as part of Israeli Apartheid Week. In Toronto Canada, students organized a number of film screenings and discussions, including a discussion on 'Pinkwashing, Homonationalism and Love under the time of Apartheid'. Universities from Paris, France to Sao Paolo Brazil have put together educational events and symposiums.
In Washington, DC, several organizations came together to organize the first First National Summit to Reassess the U.S.- Israel “Special Relationship” on March 7th at the National Press Club, which includes a long list of speakers addressing a number of topics regarding Israeli policies and the U.S. support for what the organizers say is a 'special relationship' with Israel that is harmful to U.S. interests.
Even in Israel, where talk about the Israeli occupation of Palestine is strongly discouraged and often criminalized, students at Hebrew University organized a photo exhibit to show some of what Palestinians experience under Israeli military occupation. The exhibit was strongly criticized by student representatives of the Israeli Likud party, who demanded that administrators remove the exhibit from the premises.
By Alex Shams
Palestine solidarity activists launched the 10th annual Israeli Apartheid Week in North America and the UK last week, as their counterparts around the world prepared to mobilize throughout the month of March.
Israeli Apartheid Week is a global campaign that seeks to raise awareness about the discrimination faced by Palestinians and to rally support in favor of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Activists are organizing IAW events in more than 150 cities around the world this year, including 36 locations in North America, according to organizers.
Activists credit the week of events -- which takes place at different times in late February and throughout March depending on local schedules -- for encouraging a major shift in discourse on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the last decade. Once a major taboo, criticism of Israeli policies against Palestinians has become mainstream, and thousands have become involved in pro-Palestine solidarity groups around the world.
Nowhere has this shift been more noticeable than on university campuses in North America and much of Western Europe, where majorities traditionally supported Israeli policies.
In the last year, a number of academic associations have come out in favor of the boycott of Israel, including the 5,000-member strong American Studies Association, while student associations in Toronto, Scotland, and California have voted in favor of resolutions to divest from companies linked to the Israeli occupation.
Danya Mustafa, an IAW national coordinator in the United States, told Ma'an that much of the work in the United States emerges from coalitions formed by local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, a grassroots national organization.
"IAW has fostered critical discussion and is getting people talking about Israeli state policies," she said, highlighting that the focus of IAW has shifted over the years from education to campaigns to pressure university administrations to divest from companies that do business with the Israeli occupation.
IAW is also creating "more momentum in mobilizing other social justice organizations behind divestment," Mustafa said, as student groups from a wide variety of backgrounds increasingly take part in Palestinian solidarity events and actions.
"The conversation on Palestine is now at the forefront of discussions at universities," Mustafa added.
Palestine solidarity activists launched the 10th annual Israeli Apartheid Week in North America and the UK last week, as their counterparts around the world prepared to mobilize throughout the month of March.
Israeli Apartheid Week is a global campaign that seeks to raise awareness about the discrimination faced by Palestinians and to rally support in favor of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Activists are organizing IAW events in more than 150 cities around the world this year, including 36 locations in North America, according to organizers.
Activists credit the week of events -- which takes place at different times in late February and throughout March depending on local schedules -- for encouraging a major shift in discourse on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the last decade. Once a major taboo, criticism of Israeli policies against Palestinians has become mainstream, and thousands have become involved in pro-Palestine solidarity groups around the world.
Nowhere has this shift been more noticeable than on university campuses in North America and much of Western Europe, where majorities traditionally supported Israeli policies.
In the last year, a number of academic associations have come out in favor of the boycott of Israel, including the 5,000-member strong American Studies Association, while student associations in Toronto, Scotland, and California have voted in favor of resolutions to divest from companies linked to the Israeli occupation.
Danya Mustafa, an IAW national coordinator in the United States, told Ma'an that much of the work in the United States emerges from coalitions formed by local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, a grassroots national organization.
"IAW has fostered critical discussion and is getting people talking about Israeli state policies," she said, highlighting that the focus of IAW has shifted over the years from education to campaigns to pressure university administrations to divest from companies that do business with the Israeli occupation.
IAW is also creating "more momentum in mobilizing other social justice organizations behind divestment," Mustafa said, as student groups from a wide variety of backgrounds increasingly take part in Palestinian solidarity events and actions.
"The conversation on Palestine is now at the forefront of discussions at universities," Mustafa added.
The 'criminalization' of student activism
Max Geller, an SJP leader at Northeastern University in Boston, argues that widespread participation in IAW "symbolizes changing times on US campuses in particular and the country in general," as criticism of Israel has increasingly become the norm rather than the exception.
At the same time, however, Geller pointed out that this success has been met by repressive measures, highlighting a widening gap between how student leaders think about Israel compared to university authorities.
Last week, for example, Geller's group posted mock eviction notices on student dorms to raise awareness about Palestinian home demolitions.
"We wanted to simulate the all-too-common Palestinian experience of waking up one morning to discover that your presence on your land has suddenly become illegal," Geller explained, highlighting that the flyer stated in large letters that the eviction notices were not in fact real.
Within a day of the flyers' distribution, however, Geller said that members began receiving "harassing phone calls" from university police, which he claims was spurred on by the campus' local chapter of Hillel, a national Jewish student organization.
The Northeastern University police department did not respond to an email seeking comment, but a statement released by the university Hillel said that they had prompted the university administration to work with the police department to begin a "thorough investigation."
"This criminalizing of student activism only goes to show the extent to which Zionist campus groups are willing to go to prevent criticism of Israel on campus," Geller said.
"While it feels like we in the US are finally catching up to the rest of the world in terms of identifying with the Palestinian cause, the reaction to our mock evictions also indicates how far we have to go and how much we have to overcome," he added.
Max Geller, an SJP leader at Northeastern University in Boston, argues that widespread participation in IAW "symbolizes changing times on US campuses in particular and the country in general," as criticism of Israel has increasingly become the norm rather than the exception.
At the same time, however, Geller pointed out that this success has been met by repressive measures, highlighting a widening gap between how student leaders think about Israel compared to university authorities.
Last week, for example, Geller's group posted mock eviction notices on student dorms to raise awareness about Palestinian home demolitions.
"We wanted to simulate the all-too-common Palestinian experience of waking up one morning to discover that your presence on your land has suddenly become illegal," Geller explained, highlighting that the flyer stated in large letters that the eviction notices were not in fact real.
Within a day of the flyers' distribution, however, Geller said that members began receiving "harassing phone calls" from university police, which he claims was spurred on by the campus' local chapter of Hillel, a national Jewish student organization.
The Northeastern University police department did not respond to an email seeking comment, but a statement released by the university Hillel said that they had prompted the university administration to work with the police department to begin a "thorough investigation."
"This criminalizing of student activism only goes to show the extent to which Zionist campus groups are willing to go to prevent criticism of Israel on campus," Geller said.
"While it feels like we in the US are finally catching up to the rest of the world in terms of identifying with the Palestinian cause, the reaction to our mock evictions also indicates how far we have to go and how much we have to overcome," he added.
Opponents use 'deflective strategies'
Divestment efforts have taken off at campuses across the United States, as students have launched numerous campaigns to pressure university administrations to ensure that official funds are not linked to Israeli policies against Palestinians.
Sarah Rahimi, a member of SJP at the University of California Los Angeles, stressed how their campus' version of Israeli Apartheid Week (entitled "Palestine Awareness Week") had laid the groundwork for a divestment campaign which culminated last week and targeted five companies involved in Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians.
During the week, "there was a specific focus on our university's investments and involvements," she said. Students would "come and learn about the situation and be upset, but when they found out that the university's funds are invested in such human rights violations, they were shocked."
Despite the campaign's success in allying with a diverse array of student groups, the divestment bill was not able to pass student government.
"There were very few arguments against the bill itself," she told Ma'an, arguing that "it's difficult to argue against a bill that essentially says, 'we should not be giving money to and making money off of violence.'"
Instead, Rahimi pointed out that outside Zionist organizations had rallied against the bill, and on-campus opponents utilized "deflective strategies" including the accusation that the "bill is designed to simply alienate the Jewish community."
Divestment efforts have taken off at campuses across the United States, as students have launched numerous campaigns to pressure university administrations to ensure that official funds are not linked to Israeli policies against Palestinians.
Sarah Rahimi, a member of SJP at the University of California Los Angeles, stressed how their campus' version of Israeli Apartheid Week (entitled "Palestine Awareness Week") had laid the groundwork for a divestment campaign which culminated last week and targeted five companies involved in Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians.
During the week, "there was a specific focus on our university's investments and involvements," she said. Students would "come and learn about the situation and be upset, but when they found out that the university's funds are invested in such human rights violations, they were shocked."
Despite the campaign's success in allying with a diverse array of student groups, the divestment bill was not able to pass student government.
"There were very few arguments against the bill itself," she told Ma'an, arguing that "it's difficult to argue against a bill that essentially says, 'we should not be giving money to and making money off of violence.'"
Instead, Rahimi pointed out that outside Zionist organizations had rallied against the bill, and on-campus opponents utilized "deflective strategies" including the accusation that the "bill is designed to simply alienate the Jewish community."
Students read a mock "Israeli apartheid wall" at the University of California Los Angeles
An atmosphere of 'hatred'
Critics counter that Israeli Apartheid Week itself contributes to an unproductive campus environment for debate and the "demonization" of Israel.
Hannah Brady, the founder and manager of the "Rethink 2014" campaign in opposition to IAW, told Ma'an that the week of events "encourages hatred towards Israelis and those who support Israel on campus."
Rethink 2014, however, seeks to "open space for dialogue and discussion as possible," Brady said, adding that Zionist students often feel intimidated by IAW events like the construction of mock separation walls and checkpoints on campuses.
"Improving campus climates is what leads to better discussion, by creating an environment in which more people feel able to enter into conversation," she added.
Brady argues that IAW does not foster this kind of environment, as the week "exaggerates and emphasizes division and cultivates an 'us and them' attitude," highlighting a student submission to the Rethink 2014 campaign that argued IAW "tries to force Jewish students to choose between their heritage and their humanity."
An atmosphere of 'hatred'
Critics counter that Israeli Apartheid Week itself contributes to an unproductive campus environment for debate and the "demonization" of Israel.
Hannah Brady, the founder and manager of the "Rethink 2014" campaign in opposition to IAW, told Ma'an that the week of events "encourages hatred towards Israelis and those who support Israel on campus."
Rethink 2014, however, seeks to "open space for dialogue and discussion as possible," Brady said, adding that Zionist students often feel intimidated by IAW events like the construction of mock separation walls and checkpoints on campuses.
"Improving campus climates is what leads to better discussion, by creating an environment in which more people feel able to enter into conversation," she added.
Brady argues that IAW does not foster this kind of environment, as the week "exaggerates and emphasizes division and cultivates an 'us and them' attitude," highlighting a student submission to the Rethink 2014 campaign that argued IAW "tries to force Jewish students to choose between their heritage and their humanity."
'There is nothing unsafe about granting basic rights'
Israeli Apartheid Week organizers, however, are not convinced.
Sarah Rahimi, the UCLA student activist, responded to accusations about Israeli Apartheid Week and divestment campaigns creating an "unsafe" environment by highlighting how unsafe campuses already are for pro-Palestinian students.
"There is nothing safe about having to prove your humanity daily and being forced to fund violence against your own people," she explained, adding: "There is nothing unsafe about granting someone their basic rights as human beings, unless someone is trying to imply that their rights depend upon the oppression of others."
"It speaks volumes about the amount of privilege behind such a comment, when the most threatening or unsafe thing imaginable to someone is a bill that seeks to attack corporations that enable human rights violations," she said, referring specifically to opponents of the divestment bill at UCLA.
Despite the divestment bill's failure to pass, Rahimi is optimistic about the future and about IAW's role in mobilizing a global movement in solidarity with Palestinians.
"I am incredibly hopeful because I see that the movement is only gaining solidarity and, in its own ways, inspiring other movements for other, similar causes," she said, adding: "Whatever the tipping point was, we passed it this week and from here on onwards, I see us gaining a lot of momentum."
Israeli Apartheid Week organizers, however, are not convinced.
Sarah Rahimi, the UCLA student activist, responded to accusations about Israeli Apartheid Week and divestment campaigns creating an "unsafe" environment by highlighting how unsafe campuses already are for pro-Palestinian students.
"There is nothing safe about having to prove your humanity daily and being forced to fund violence against your own people," she explained, adding: "There is nothing unsafe about granting someone their basic rights as human beings, unless someone is trying to imply that their rights depend upon the oppression of others."
"It speaks volumes about the amount of privilege behind such a comment, when the most threatening or unsafe thing imaginable to someone is a bill that seeks to attack corporations that enable human rights violations," she said, referring specifically to opponents of the divestment bill at UCLA.
Despite the divestment bill's failure to pass, Rahimi is optimistic about the future and about IAW's role in mobilizing a global movement in solidarity with Palestinians.
"I am incredibly hopeful because I see that the movement is only gaining solidarity and, in its own ways, inspiring other movements for other, similar causes," she said, adding: "Whatever the tipping point was, we passed it this week and from here on onwards, I see us gaining a lot of momentum."
A Jordanian anti-normalization group expressed its deep concern over news reports talking about the readiness of some Arab and Palestinian regimes to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The higher executive committee for homeland protection and anti-normalization stated on Thursday that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state means waiving the right of return and threatening the Palestinian Arabs' presence on their occupied territory.
The committee warned that everyone giving up the Palestinian people's national rights and holy sites would be held accountable by the Muslim nation and its future generations.
It saluted the Jordanian parliament for voting to expel the Israeli ambassador in Amman and recall his Jordanian counterpart in the occupied city of Tel Aviv, and for preparing a bill abolishing the Jordanian peace treaty with the Israeli occupation.
It said that theses parliamentary verdicts responded to the pulse of the Jordanian street and called for turning them from words into action.
"Any reluctance to execute these decisions is considered a betrayal of the Jordanian people who have welcomed them and of the Palestinian people who stand alone in defense of the [Muslim] nation's holy sites," the higher anti-normalization committee underscored.
The committee warned that everyone giving up the Palestinian people's national rights and holy sites would be held accountable by the Muslim nation and its future generations.
It saluted the Jordanian parliament for voting to expel the Israeli ambassador in Amman and recall his Jordanian counterpart in the occupied city of Tel Aviv, and for preparing a bill abolishing the Jordanian peace treaty with the Israeli occupation.
It said that theses parliamentary verdicts responded to the pulse of the Jordanian street and called for turning them from words into action.
"Any reluctance to execute these decisions is considered a betrayal of the Jordanian people who have welcomed them and of the Palestinian people who stand alone in defense of the [Muslim] nation's holy sites," the higher anti-normalization committee underscored.
6 mar 2014
The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters has slated March 26 for the first hearing of a lawsuit demanding the banning of Israeli activities in Egypt. Egyptian legal expert Hamed Seddiq filed a lawsuit at the Court of Urgent Matters, which banned Hamas this week, requesting that Egyptian authorities ban all "Israeli activity" in Egypt and declare Israel a "terrorist state."
The ban, Seddiq said, would include shutting down Tel Aviv's diplomatic offices in Egypt, including its Cairo embassy.
On Tuesday, the same Cairo court that will preside over the case released a verdict banning the activities of Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in Egypt and ordering all of the movement's offices closed.
The decision has raised angry reactions in Egypt, and was seen as a support for the Israeli occupation.
The Egyptian thinker and writer Fahmi Howeidi strongly condemned the Cairo Court's decision, and said "Egypt has joined the side of Israel by considering the Islamic resistance movement as a terrorist organization."
He stressed that Hamas movement has not interfered in the affairs of Egypt neither before nor after the revolution, while Israel has been proven to have "espionage" activities against Egypt.
Fahmi pointed out that the Fatah movement is involved in the conspiracy against Hamas.
The ban, Seddiq said, would include shutting down Tel Aviv's diplomatic offices in Egypt, including its Cairo embassy.
On Tuesday, the same Cairo court that will preside over the case released a verdict banning the activities of Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in Egypt and ordering all of the movement's offices closed.
The decision has raised angry reactions in Egypt, and was seen as a support for the Israeli occupation.
The Egyptian thinker and writer Fahmi Howeidi strongly condemned the Cairo Court's decision, and said "Egypt has joined the side of Israel by considering the Islamic resistance movement as a terrorist organization."
He stressed that Hamas movement has not interfered in the affairs of Egypt neither before nor after the revolution, while Israel has been proven to have "espionage" activities against Egypt.
Fahmi pointed out that the Fatah movement is involved in the conspiracy against Hamas.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved, on Wednesday, a bill which changes Israel's status into one of a "strategic partner" of the United States.
According to a report by Alternative Information Center (AIC), the new status will provide Israel with various security benefits, among them priority in receiving American weapons surpluses. Unlike the bill's original draft, the final version does not include the automatic granting of U.S. tourist visas to Israeli citizens.
The bill, which passed the House with a great majority, will now go to the Senate for a final confirmation.
According to a report by Alternative Information Center (AIC), the new status will provide Israel with various security benefits, among them priority in receiving American weapons surpluses. Unlike the bill's original draft, the final version does not include the automatic granting of U.S. tourist visas to Israeli citizens.
The bill, which passed the House with a great majority, will now go to the Senate for a final confirmation.
Israeli media said this morning that White House announced that the National Security Advisor of the United States, Susan Rice , will visit Israel during the month of May. According to Hebrew radio U.S. President Barack Obama who asked Rice to head the U.S. delegation team arrive for consultations with senior Israeli officials .
White House also said that Obama 's request comes after a meeting held between him and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu , adding that it will be Rice's first visit to Israel.
White House also said that Obama 's request comes after a meeting held between him and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu , adding that it will be Rice's first visit to Israel.
5 mar 2014
The United States has refused to issue entrance visas to senior Israeli officers and agents, according to an Israeli newspaper.
Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed on Tuesday that senior Israeli security personnel, including Mossad and Shabak officers, have been denied an entrance visa to the US.
"A number of officials did not get visas despite planning to discuss a weapons’ deal based on a strategic agreement signed between Washington and Tel-Aviv. The deal is now expected to be cancelled because officials were banned from entering the US," Maariv quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.
According to the report, in the past 12 months there have been “hundreds of cases” that employees from the Israeli intelligence agencies have been denied visas to the US.
It also said that requests for entrance visas by 25 senior Israeli officials and tens of Mossad and Shabak spay agents have been denied so far.
The report noted that senior Israeli officials have been told by US consular officials that they could not step foot on the US soil.
"We do not know the reason behind the new American policy, but we are persuaded that the US is putting obstacles before Israeli security officials to undermine their entrance to its soil," the newspaper quoted another senior security official as saying.
Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed on Tuesday that senior Israeli security personnel, including Mossad and Shabak officers, have been denied an entrance visa to the US.
"A number of officials did not get visas despite planning to discuss a weapons’ deal based on a strategic agreement signed between Washington and Tel-Aviv. The deal is now expected to be cancelled because officials were banned from entering the US," Maariv quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.
According to the report, in the past 12 months there have been “hundreds of cases” that employees from the Israeli intelligence agencies have been denied visas to the US.
It also said that requests for entrance visas by 25 senior Israeli officials and tens of Mossad and Shabak spay agents have been denied so far.
The report noted that senior Israeli officials have been told by US consular officials that they could not step foot on the US soil.
"We do not know the reason behind the new American policy, but we are persuaded that the US is putting obstacles before Israeli security officials to undermine their entrance to its soil," the newspaper quoted another senior security official as saying.
2 mar 2014
Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews took to Jerusalem's streets for a mass prayer vigil Sunday in protest at plans to conscript their young men for Israeli military service.
Wearing white shirts under dark suits and donning black hats, a sea of ultra-Orthodox men and boys representing the three major streams -- Lithuanian, Hassidic, and Sephardi -- were united in a rare show of power against impending legislation that could change their legal status in Israel.
Bearing signs with slogans such as "war on religion" and "we will not join the military," the masses took part in a prayer led by a cantor through huge loudspeakers set up at Jerusalem's main road in and out of the city.
Yaakov Biton, a 28-year-old resident of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, told AFP that he and the rest of his peers from his theological seminary came to Jerusalem "to show that we are not afraid of the criminal sanctions, we are united."
"We will win in the end, the Torah will win," said Biton.
Police said "hundreds of thousands" were taking part in the demonstration, which saw major disruption of traffic.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 3,500 police were deployed to maintain order.
The protests were sparked by cuts in government funding to Jewish theological seminaries, or yeshivas, and a planned crackdown on young ultra-Orthodox men seeking to avoid Israel's compulsory military draft.
The cabinet last year agreed to end a practice under which tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox were exempted from military service if they were in full-time yeshiva study.
New legislation is so far incomplete, but a parliamentary committee has approved a draft bill setting quotas for ultra-Orthodox men joining the military or civilian public service, to be implemented from 2017.
The proposed law allows for sanctions against men who evade service, including imprisonment, a clause that enraged the ultra-Orthodox leadership, which said it would amount to Israel sending people to prison for practicing their religion.
'Stop this persecution'
The move to force ultra-Orthodox men to serve their country is seen by many Israelis as amending the historic injustice of the exemption handed to the ultra-Orthodox in 1948, when Israel was created. At that time they were a small segment of society.
Owing to their high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox community has since swelled to make up roughly 10 percent of the country's population of just over eight million, and continues to be the fastest growing group in Israel.
The current exemption from military service is only given to ultra-Orthodox men who commit to remain in their yeshivas, and who are hence not available for work.
This creates poverty among the ultra-Orthodox and is seen by Israel's leadership as a growing threat to the national economy.
The new policy is primarily aimed at increasing ultra-Orthodox participation in the work force.
MP Nissim Zeev, of the opposition ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said the new policy amounted to religious persecution.
"The aim (of the protest) is to send an unequivocal message to the government," he told public radio.
"Enough is enough, you must stop this persecution."
Military service is compulsory in Israel, with men serving three years and women two.
Wearing white shirts under dark suits and donning black hats, a sea of ultra-Orthodox men and boys representing the three major streams -- Lithuanian, Hassidic, and Sephardi -- were united in a rare show of power against impending legislation that could change their legal status in Israel.
Bearing signs with slogans such as "war on religion" and "we will not join the military," the masses took part in a prayer led by a cantor through huge loudspeakers set up at Jerusalem's main road in and out of the city.
Yaakov Biton, a 28-year-old resident of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, told AFP that he and the rest of his peers from his theological seminary came to Jerusalem "to show that we are not afraid of the criminal sanctions, we are united."
"We will win in the end, the Torah will win," said Biton.
Police said "hundreds of thousands" were taking part in the demonstration, which saw major disruption of traffic.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 3,500 police were deployed to maintain order.
The protests were sparked by cuts in government funding to Jewish theological seminaries, or yeshivas, and a planned crackdown on young ultra-Orthodox men seeking to avoid Israel's compulsory military draft.
The cabinet last year agreed to end a practice under which tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox were exempted from military service if they were in full-time yeshiva study.
New legislation is so far incomplete, but a parliamentary committee has approved a draft bill setting quotas for ultra-Orthodox men joining the military or civilian public service, to be implemented from 2017.
The proposed law allows for sanctions against men who evade service, including imprisonment, a clause that enraged the ultra-Orthodox leadership, which said it would amount to Israel sending people to prison for practicing their religion.
'Stop this persecution'
The move to force ultra-Orthodox men to serve their country is seen by many Israelis as amending the historic injustice of the exemption handed to the ultra-Orthodox in 1948, when Israel was created. At that time they were a small segment of society.
Owing to their high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox community has since swelled to make up roughly 10 percent of the country's population of just over eight million, and continues to be the fastest growing group in Israel.
The current exemption from military service is only given to ultra-Orthodox men who commit to remain in their yeshivas, and who are hence not available for work.
This creates poverty among the ultra-Orthodox and is seen by Israel's leadership as a growing threat to the national economy.
The new policy is primarily aimed at increasing ultra-Orthodox participation in the work force.
MP Nissim Zeev, of the opposition ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said the new policy amounted to religious persecution.
"The aim (of the protest) is to send an unequivocal message to the government," he told public radio.
"Enough is enough, you must stop this persecution."
Military service is compulsory in Israel, with men serving three years and women two.
1 mar 2014
Ben White
This week has seen the promotion of yet more anti-democratic legislation in Israel. A new law that received final approval by the Knesset gives, for the first time, separate representation to Muslim and Christian Palestinian citizens on a national employment commission. The bill’s sponsor, Likud MK Yariv Levin, was clear about his motivation: “[the Christians are] our natural allies, a counterweight to the Muslims who want to destroy the country from within.” An editorial in Israeli newspaper Haaretz described it as “racist legislation” by “nationalist zealots”.
Meanwhile, an amendment has been proposed to the NGO Bill – again, by a member of Netanyahu’s ruling party – which seeks to ban certain groups from registering with the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits. Activities targeted by lawmakers include “advocating the boycott, divestment, or sanctioning of Israel or its citizens” and “denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.” In the words of MK Miri Regev: “Israel is not a regular country that can allow itself to lose its identity”.
These developments take place as the annual Israeli Apartheid Week is marked with dozens of events around the world. The response by the Israeli government and various lobby groups to the accusation of apartheid is a mix of tokenism, whatabouttery, and smears. But there’s one report Israel particularly hopes people don’t read.
The document in question comes from the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)[ PDF], and contains the concluding observations following Israel’s periodic review in 2012. It should be read in its entirety, but I will highlight some of its findings. It blows out of water the excuses, obfuscations, and outright denial of international law typically used by Israel and its apologists.
* “Israeli society maintains Jewish and non-Jewish sectors…[including] two systems of education…as well as separate municipalities: Jewish municipalities and the so-called ‘municipalities of the minorities’”
* Israel is urged “to make every effort to eradicate all forms of segregation between Jewish and non-Jewish communities.”
* “A number of discriminatory laws on land issues…disproportionately affect non-Jewish communities.”
* “Discriminatory laws especially targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel”.
* “Increasing difficulties faced by members of [Bedouin] communities in gaining access on a basis of equality with Jewish inhabitants to land, housing, education, employment and public health.”
* “The proliferation of acts and manifestations of racism that particularly target non-Jewish minorities in the territories under the State party’s effective control.”
* “policies and practices which amount to de facto segregation”, such as Israel’s implementation “in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of two entirely separate legal systems and sets of institutions for Jewish communities grouped in illegal settlements on the one hand and Palestinian populations living in Palestinian towns and villages on the other hand.”
* “two groups, who live on the same territory but do not enjoy either equal use of roads and infrastructure or equal access to basic services and water resources.”
* Israel reminded of “the prevention, prohibition and eradication of all policies and practices of racial segregation and apartheid” and urged to “prohibit and eradicate any such policies or practices” which violate Article 3 of the Convention (on “racial segregation and apartheid”).
* A “discriminatory planning policy, whereby construction permits are rarely if ever granted to Palestinian and Bedouin communities and demolitions principally target property owned by Palestinians and Bedouins.”
* Israel’s “policy of ‘demographic balance’, which has been a stated aim of official municipal planning documents, particularly in the city of Jerusalem”
* “two sets of laws, for Palestinians on the one hand and Jewish settlers on the other hand who reside in the same territory, namely the West bank, including East Jerusalem”.
* Israel urged “to end its current practice of administrative detention, which is discriminatory and constitutes arbitrary detention under international human rights law”.
To which Israel responds with – ‘But, but, we have an Arab in the Supreme Court!’
The reason why the Israeli government sees talk of apartheid as so problematic is because it shifts the discussion from a ‘security’ paradigm to a framework of institutionalised racism. When Netanyahu or AIPAC speak of ‘delegitimizaiton’, what they really mean is that Israel’s pursuit of policies most of the world considers illegitimate – segregation, collective punishment and ethnic cleansing – is being subjected to unprecedented scrutiny and opposition.
Ben White is a writer and researcher for Middle East Monitor and Journal of Palestine Studies. A second edition of his book ‘Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide’ has just been published. He is also the author of ‘Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy’. www.benwhite.org.uk
This week has seen the promotion of yet more anti-democratic legislation in Israel. A new law that received final approval by the Knesset gives, for the first time, separate representation to Muslim and Christian Palestinian citizens on a national employment commission. The bill’s sponsor, Likud MK Yariv Levin, was clear about his motivation: “[the Christians are] our natural allies, a counterweight to the Muslims who want to destroy the country from within.” An editorial in Israeli newspaper Haaretz described it as “racist legislation” by “nationalist zealots”.
Meanwhile, an amendment has been proposed to the NGO Bill – again, by a member of Netanyahu’s ruling party – which seeks to ban certain groups from registering with the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits. Activities targeted by lawmakers include “advocating the boycott, divestment, or sanctioning of Israel or its citizens” and “denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.” In the words of MK Miri Regev: “Israel is not a regular country that can allow itself to lose its identity”.
These developments take place as the annual Israeli Apartheid Week is marked with dozens of events around the world. The response by the Israeli government and various lobby groups to the accusation of apartheid is a mix of tokenism, whatabouttery, and smears. But there’s one report Israel particularly hopes people don’t read.
The document in question comes from the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)[ PDF], and contains the concluding observations following Israel’s periodic review in 2012. It should be read in its entirety, but I will highlight some of its findings. It blows out of water the excuses, obfuscations, and outright denial of international law typically used by Israel and its apologists.
* “Israeli society maintains Jewish and non-Jewish sectors…[including] two systems of education…as well as separate municipalities: Jewish municipalities and the so-called ‘municipalities of the minorities’”
* Israel is urged “to make every effort to eradicate all forms of segregation between Jewish and non-Jewish communities.”
* “A number of discriminatory laws on land issues…disproportionately affect non-Jewish communities.”
* “Discriminatory laws especially targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel”.
* “Increasing difficulties faced by members of [Bedouin] communities in gaining access on a basis of equality with Jewish inhabitants to land, housing, education, employment and public health.”
* “The proliferation of acts and manifestations of racism that particularly target non-Jewish minorities in the territories under the State party’s effective control.”
* “policies and practices which amount to de facto segregation”, such as Israel’s implementation “in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of two entirely separate legal systems and sets of institutions for Jewish communities grouped in illegal settlements on the one hand and Palestinian populations living in Palestinian towns and villages on the other hand.”
* “two groups, who live on the same territory but do not enjoy either equal use of roads and infrastructure or equal access to basic services and water resources.”
* Israel reminded of “the prevention, prohibition and eradication of all policies and practices of racial segregation and apartheid” and urged to “prohibit and eradicate any such policies or practices” which violate Article 3 of the Convention (on “racial segregation and apartheid”).
* A “discriminatory planning policy, whereby construction permits are rarely if ever granted to Palestinian and Bedouin communities and demolitions principally target property owned by Palestinians and Bedouins.”
* Israel’s “policy of ‘demographic balance’, which has been a stated aim of official municipal planning documents, particularly in the city of Jerusalem”
* “two sets of laws, for Palestinians on the one hand and Jewish settlers on the other hand who reside in the same territory, namely the West bank, including East Jerusalem”.
* Israel urged “to end its current practice of administrative detention, which is discriminatory and constitutes arbitrary detention under international human rights law”.
To which Israel responds with – ‘But, but, we have an Arab in the Supreme Court!’
The reason why the Israeli government sees talk of apartheid as so problematic is because it shifts the discussion from a ‘security’ paradigm to a framework of institutionalised racism. When Netanyahu or AIPAC speak of ‘delegitimizaiton’, what they really mean is that Israel’s pursuit of policies most of the world considers illegitimate – segregation, collective punishment and ethnic cleansing – is being subjected to unprecedented scrutiny and opposition.
Ben White is a writer and researcher for Middle East Monitor and Journal of Palestine Studies. A second edition of his book ‘Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide’ has just been published. He is also the author of ‘Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy’. www.benwhite.org.uk
28 feb 2014
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'Delta' has headed 'the Blue Helmets of Maidan' of 40 men and women - including several IDF veterans - in violent clashes with government forces.
He calls his troops “the Blue Helmets of Maidan,” but brown is the color of the headgear worn by Delta — the nom de guerre of the commander of a Jewish-led militia force that participated in the Ukrainian revolution. Under his helmet, he also wears a kippah. Delta, a Ukraine-born former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, spoke to JTA Thursday on condition of anonymity. He explained how he came to use combat skills he acquired in the Shu’alei Shimshon reconnaissance battalion of the Givati infantry brigade to rise through the ranks of Kiev’s street fighters. He has headed a force of 40 men and women — including several fellow IDF veterans — in violent clashes with government forces. |
Several Ukrainian Jews, including Rabbi Moshe Azman, one of the country’s claimants to the title of chief rabbi, confirmed Delta’s identity and role in the still-unfinished revolution.
The “Blue Helmets” nickname, a reference to the UN peacekeeping force, stuck after Delta’s unit last month prevented a mob from torching a building occupied by Ukrainian police, he said. “There were dozens of officers inside, surrounded by 1,200 demonstrators who wanted to burn them alive,” he recalled. “We intervened and negotiated their safe passage.”
The problem, he said, was that the officers would not leave without their guns, citing orders. Delta told JTA his unit reasoned with the mob to allow the officers to leave with their guns. “It would have been a massacre, and that was not an option,” he said.
The Blue Helmets comprise 35 men and women who are not Jewish, and who are led by five ex-IDF soldiers, says Delta, an Orthodox Jew in his late 30s who regularly prays at Azman’s Brodsky Synagogue. He declined to speak about his private life.
Delta, who immigrated to Israel in the 1990s, moved back to Ukraine several years ago and has worked as a businessman. He says he joined the protest movement as a volunteer on November 30, after witnessing violence by government forces against student protesters.
“I saw unarmed civilians with no military background being ground by a well-oiled military machine, and it made my blood boil,” Delta told JTA in Hebrew laced with military jargon. “I joined them then and there, and I started fighting back the way I learned how, through urban warfare maneuvers. People followed, and I found myself heading a platoon of young men. Kids, really.”
The other ex-IDF infantrymen joined the Blue Helmets later after hearing it was led by a fellow vet, Delta said.
As platoon leader, Delta says he takes orders from activists connected to Svoboda, an ultra-nationalist party that has been frequently accused of anti-Semitism and whose members have been said to have had key positions in organizing the opposition protests.
“I don’t belong [to Svoboda], but I take orders from their team. They know I’m Israeli, Jewish and an ex-IDF soldier. They call me ‘brother,’” he said. “What they’re saying about Svoboda is exaggerated, I know this for a fact. I don’t like them because they’re inconsistent, not because of [any] anti-Semitism issue.”
The commanding position of Svoboda in the revolution is no secret, according to Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Heritage Foundation think tank.
“The driving force among the so-called white sector in the Maidan are the nationalists, who went against the SWAT teams and snipers who were shooting at them,” Cohen told JTA.
Still, many Jews supported the revolution and actively participated in it.
Earlier this week, an interim government was announced ahead of election scheduled for May, including ministers from several minority groups.
Volodymyr Groysman, a former mayor of the city of Vinnytsia and the newly appointed deputy prime minister for regional policy, is a Jew, Rabbi Azman said.
“There are no signs for concern yet,” said Cohen, “but the West needs to make it clear to Ukraine that how it is seen depends on how minorities are treated.”
On Wednesday, Russian State Duma Chairman Sergey Naryshkin said Moscow was concerned about anti-Semitic declarations by radical groups in Ukraine.
But Delta says the Kremlin is using the anti-Semitism card falsely to delegitimize the Ukrainian revolution, which is distancing Ukraine from Russia’s sphere of influence.
“It’s bullshit. I never saw any expression of anti-Semitism during the protests, and the claims to the contrary were part of the reason I joined the movement. We’re trying to show that Jews care,” he said.
Still, Delta’s reasons for not revealing his name betray his sense of feeling like an outsider. “If I were Ukrainian, I would have been a hero. But for me it’s better to not reveal my name if I want to keep living here in peace and quiet,” he said.
Fellow Jews have criticized him for working with Svoboda. “Some asked me if instead of ‘Shalom’ they should now greet me with a ‘Sieg heil.’ I simply find it laughable,” he said. But he does have frustrations related to being an outsider. “Sometimes I tell myself, ‘What are you doing? This is not your army. This isn’t even your country.’”
He recalls feeling this way during one of the fiercest battles he experienced, which took place last week at Institutskaya Street and left 12 protesters dead. “The snipers began firing rubber bullets at us. I fired back from my rubber-bullet rifle,” Delta said.
“Then they opened live rounds, and my friend caught a bullet in his leg. They shot at us like at a firing range. I wasn’t ready for a last stand. I carried my friend and ordered my troops to fall back. They’re scared kids. I gave them some cash for phone calls and told them to take off their uniform and run away until further instructions. I didn’t want to see anyone else die that day.”
Currently, the Blue Helmets are carrying out police work that include patrols and preventing looting and vandalism in a city of 3 million struggling to climb out of the chaos that engulfed it for the past three months.
But Delta has another, more ambitious, project: He and Azman are organizing the airborne evacuation of seriously wounded protesters — none of them Jewish — for critical operations in Israel. One of the patients, a 19-year-old woman, was wounded at Institutskaya by a bullet that penetrated her eye and is lodged inside her brain, according to Delta. Azman says he hopes the plane of 17 patients will take off next week, with funding from private donors and with help from Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel.
“The doctor told me that another millimeter to either direction and she would be dead,” Delta said. “And I told him it was the work of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”
The “Blue Helmets” nickname, a reference to the UN peacekeeping force, stuck after Delta’s unit last month prevented a mob from torching a building occupied by Ukrainian police, he said. “There were dozens of officers inside, surrounded by 1,200 demonstrators who wanted to burn them alive,” he recalled. “We intervened and negotiated their safe passage.”
The problem, he said, was that the officers would not leave without their guns, citing orders. Delta told JTA his unit reasoned with the mob to allow the officers to leave with their guns. “It would have been a massacre, and that was not an option,” he said.
The Blue Helmets comprise 35 men and women who are not Jewish, and who are led by five ex-IDF soldiers, says Delta, an Orthodox Jew in his late 30s who regularly prays at Azman’s Brodsky Synagogue. He declined to speak about his private life.
Delta, who immigrated to Israel in the 1990s, moved back to Ukraine several years ago and has worked as a businessman. He says he joined the protest movement as a volunteer on November 30, after witnessing violence by government forces against student protesters.
“I saw unarmed civilians with no military background being ground by a well-oiled military machine, and it made my blood boil,” Delta told JTA in Hebrew laced with military jargon. “I joined them then and there, and I started fighting back the way I learned how, through urban warfare maneuvers. People followed, and I found myself heading a platoon of young men. Kids, really.”
The other ex-IDF infantrymen joined the Blue Helmets later after hearing it was led by a fellow vet, Delta said.
As platoon leader, Delta says he takes orders from activists connected to Svoboda, an ultra-nationalist party that has been frequently accused of anti-Semitism and whose members have been said to have had key positions in organizing the opposition protests.
“I don’t belong [to Svoboda], but I take orders from their team. They know I’m Israeli, Jewish and an ex-IDF soldier. They call me ‘brother,’” he said. “What they’re saying about Svoboda is exaggerated, I know this for a fact. I don’t like them because they’re inconsistent, not because of [any] anti-Semitism issue.”
The commanding position of Svoboda in the revolution is no secret, according to Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Heritage Foundation think tank.
“The driving force among the so-called white sector in the Maidan are the nationalists, who went against the SWAT teams and snipers who were shooting at them,” Cohen told JTA.
Still, many Jews supported the revolution and actively participated in it.
Earlier this week, an interim government was announced ahead of election scheduled for May, including ministers from several minority groups.
Volodymyr Groysman, a former mayor of the city of Vinnytsia and the newly appointed deputy prime minister for regional policy, is a Jew, Rabbi Azman said.
“There are no signs for concern yet,” said Cohen, “but the West needs to make it clear to Ukraine that how it is seen depends on how minorities are treated.”
On Wednesday, Russian State Duma Chairman Sergey Naryshkin said Moscow was concerned about anti-Semitic declarations by radical groups in Ukraine.
But Delta says the Kremlin is using the anti-Semitism card falsely to delegitimize the Ukrainian revolution, which is distancing Ukraine from Russia’s sphere of influence.
“It’s bullshit. I never saw any expression of anti-Semitism during the protests, and the claims to the contrary were part of the reason I joined the movement. We’re trying to show that Jews care,” he said.
Still, Delta’s reasons for not revealing his name betray his sense of feeling like an outsider. “If I were Ukrainian, I would have been a hero. But for me it’s better to not reveal my name if I want to keep living here in peace and quiet,” he said.
Fellow Jews have criticized him for working with Svoboda. “Some asked me if instead of ‘Shalom’ they should now greet me with a ‘Sieg heil.’ I simply find it laughable,” he said. But he does have frustrations related to being an outsider. “Sometimes I tell myself, ‘What are you doing? This is not your army. This isn’t even your country.’”
He recalls feeling this way during one of the fiercest battles he experienced, which took place last week at Institutskaya Street and left 12 protesters dead. “The snipers began firing rubber bullets at us. I fired back from my rubber-bullet rifle,” Delta said.
“Then they opened live rounds, and my friend caught a bullet in his leg. They shot at us like at a firing range. I wasn’t ready for a last stand. I carried my friend and ordered my troops to fall back. They’re scared kids. I gave them some cash for phone calls and told them to take off their uniform and run away until further instructions. I didn’t want to see anyone else die that day.”
Currently, the Blue Helmets are carrying out police work that include patrols and preventing looting and vandalism in a city of 3 million struggling to climb out of the chaos that engulfed it for the past three months.
But Delta has another, more ambitious, project: He and Azman are organizing the airborne evacuation of seriously wounded protesters — none of them Jewish — for critical operations in Israel. One of the patients, a 19-year-old woman, was wounded at Institutskaya by a bullet that penetrated her eye and is lodged inside her brain, according to Delta. Azman says he hopes the plane of 17 patients will take off next week, with funding from private donors and with help from Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel.
“The doctor told me that another millimeter to either direction and she would be dead,” Delta said. “And I told him it was the work of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”
