11 sept 2017
Thousands of pro-Palestinian Argentinians took to the streets in Buenos Aires capital city of Argentine in protest at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the country.
As Netanyahu headed toward Argentina overnight Monday, posters depicting him as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and declaring him wanted for genocide against the Palestinians appeared in the city.
As Netanyahu headed toward Argentina overnight Monday, posters depicting him as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and declaring him wanted for genocide against the Palestinians appeared in the city.
Local reports said the posters were put up by pro-Palestinian activists ahead of Netanyahu’s four-day visit to Latin America, beginning Monday in Argentina. It is the first visit by a serving Israeli prime minister to Latin America.
One poster showed Netanyahu with Hitler’s signature mustache and undercut, wearing a uniform reminiscent of the Nazi wartime SS units. The poster carried the Spanish slogan “Zionists out of Palestine, Netanyahu out.”
One poster showed Netanyahu with Hitler’s signature mustache and undercut, wearing a uniform reminiscent of the Nazi wartime SS units. The poster carried the Spanish slogan “Zionists out of Palestine, Netanyahu out.”
6 sept 2017
The Israeli occupation authorities continue to turn down applications for work permits by human rights NGOs staff members.
Dozens of human rights researchers and advocates have had their applications for work permits rejected over recent months.
A senior relief officer said the humanitarian situation is expected to take a turn for the worse due to the ban.
Another worker who arrived in Israel last June said the Israeli authorities have refused to grant her a work permit.
A director of operations working for a prominent human rights organization is expected to pop in the occupied West Bank in the next few weeks.
Since the start of 2017 the Israeli Knesset (parliament) approved a ban against foreign workers who support the anti-Israel boycott movement.
Dozens of human rights researchers and advocates have had their applications for work permits rejected over recent months.
A senior relief officer said the humanitarian situation is expected to take a turn for the worse due to the ban.
Another worker who arrived in Israel last June said the Israeli authorities have refused to grant her a work permit.
A director of operations working for a prominent human rights organization is expected to pop in the occupied West Bank in the next few weeks.
Since the start of 2017 the Israeli Knesset (parliament) approved a ban against foreign workers who support the anti-Israel boycott movement.
31 aug 2017
Three days after the High Court restricts detention of illegal migrants to 60 days, Netanyahu addresses crowds in south Tel Aviv, promising to clamp down on bosses offering illegal employment, and advancing legislation to circumvent court's decision; 'It is Israel’s right to deport them,' says PM.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told residents of south Tel Aviv that he was facing a “mission to return” the area “back to Israel” Thursday evening, three days after the High Court of Justice ruled that the State of Israel cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days.
Paying a rare visit to south Tel Aviv—the area which has been seriously affected by the wave of illegal migration in recent years that swept through Israel’s once-porous southern border—Netanyahu inaugurated a new police station and received a briefing from the police, before addressing the matter.
“I came to hear from the residents and what I am hearing is pain and distress,” the prime minister told a crowd in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood, before proposing a plan to contain the phenomenon of illegal migration and mitigate its impact.
“We have a very clear policy. We are dealing with the illegal infiltrators and it is Israel’s right to deport them,” he said in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling, which stated that illegal migrants could not be deported against their will.
Joined by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Minister of Culture and Sport, Netanyahu also met with residents embittered by what they say has given rise to a fundamental and conspicuous transformation of the area’s ethnic composition.
He added that on Sunday the government would be receiving a comprehensive overview on the matter and that a ministerial committee under his leadership would be established to tackle the problem directly.
The committee, he said, would consist of members of south Tel Aviv and various officials and would be tasked with monitoring all activities being implemented on the matter each month.
Moreover, he promised to clamp down on those abetting the migrant phenomenon by offering them illegal employment.
“Together with the public security minister and the minister of culture and sport, we will enforce (the law), in a far stronger fashion against those employing illegal infiltrators,” Netanyahu vowed.
Responding to calls that the state had to resist the High Court of Justice, Netanyahu said he respected its verdicts even when he did not agree with them, but insisted legislative measures could be adopted to circumvent their implementation on the sensitive issue. “We either have to change the law or change agreements which I worked on,” he continued.
Residents who met with the prime minister said later that he was extremely receptive to their stated grievances and that he gave them ample time to voice their concerns and problems and elaborate on what was required to resolve them.
According to Sheffi Paz, one of the neighborhood’s inhabitants who discussed the issue with the prime minister, Netanyahu accepted all of their demands. He also added that his visit to the area was the fruit of efforts undertaken by the residents.
But despite Paz’s optimism, others were less complimentary of the prime minister, with dozens staging a demonstration outside the blocked off roads and accusing the government of sowing “divisions” among weaker segments of the population.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told residents of south Tel Aviv that he was facing a “mission to return” the area “back to Israel” Thursday evening, three days after the High Court of Justice ruled that the State of Israel cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days.
Paying a rare visit to south Tel Aviv—the area which has been seriously affected by the wave of illegal migration in recent years that swept through Israel’s once-porous southern border—Netanyahu inaugurated a new police station and received a briefing from the police, before addressing the matter.
“I came to hear from the residents and what I am hearing is pain and distress,” the prime minister told a crowd in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood, before proposing a plan to contain the phenomenon of illegal migration and mitigate its impact.
“We have a very clear policy. We are dealing with the illegal infiltrators and it is Israel’s right to deport them,” he said in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling, which stated that illegal migrants could not be deported against their will.
Joined by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Minister of Culture and Sport, Netanyahu also met with residents embittered by what they say has given rise to a fundamental and conspicuous transformation of the area’s ethnic composition.
He added that on Sunday the government would be receiving a comprehensive overview on the matter and that a ministerial committee under his leadership would be established to tackle the problem directly.
The committee, he said, would consist of members of south Tel Aviv and various officials and would be tasked with monitoring all activities being implemented on the matter each month.
Moreover, he promised to clamp down on those abetting the migrant phenomenon by offering them illegal employment.
“Together with the public security minister and the minister of culture and sport, we will enforce (the law), in a far stronger fashion against those employing illegal infiltrators,” Netanyahu vowed.
Responding to calls that the state had to resist the High Court of Justice, Netanyahu said he respected its verdicts even when he did not agree with them, but insisted legislative measures could be adopted to circumvent their implementation on the sensitive issue. “We either have to change the law or change agreements which I worked on,” he continued.
Residents who met with the prime minister said later that he was extremely receptive to their stated grievances and that he gave them ample time to voice their concerns and problems and elaborate on what was required to resolve them.
According to Sheffi Paz, one of the neighborhood’s inhabitants who discussed the issue with the prime minister, Netanyahu accepted all of their demands. He also added that his visit to the area was the fruit of efforts undertaken by the residents.
But despite Paz’s optimism, others were less complimentary of the prime minister, with dozens staging a demonstration outside the blocked off roads and accusing the government of sowing “divisions” among weaker segments of the population.
In response to the Supreme Court decision to prohibit the detention illegal aliens for more than 60 days, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri proposes legislation to allow Israel to deport them against their will.
The government is set to vote Sunday on an amendment to the Entry into Israel Law proposed by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, which allows the deportation of illegal migrants to another country even without their consent.
The proposed amendment came after Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the State of Israel cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days.
According to the existing law, migrants who refuse to be deported can be held against their will indefinitely at Saharonim Prison—a detention facility for African asylum seekers located in the Negev—until they are "convinced" to be deported to another country.
The result, according to the Ministry of the Interior, is the illegal residence of some 40,000 immigrants from Eritrea and Sudan in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked have already announced they intend to support Deri's initiative to amend the existing legislation.
"I toured south Tel Aviv and saw the daily suffering of the residents, whose life in recent years has become a nightmare," Deri said. "This difficult reality also exists in Eilat, Jerusalem, Pardes Katz, Petah Tikva, Hadera, Netanya, Ashdod and other communities around the country. It is time to put an end to this, and I intend to act on several levels to take care of the residents of the State of Israel, who suffer greatly."
Deri will present the government ministers with updated data on the number of illegal aliens currently living in Israel and the impact of their stay on the lives of local residents. He is also set to demand to add an additional 250 Population and Immigration Authority inspectors to the 120 inspectors currently operating.
According to the interior minister, "The Population and Immigration Authority has complained that the number of inspectors who are supposed to enforce the law regarding illegal aliens is low and insufficient. I hear also complaints about this in my tours of Israel from residents of neighborhoods who have illegal aliens living next to them.
"I intend to demand that the prime minister, the minister of finance and the other ministers in the meeting on Sunday increase the number of immigration inspectors in order to ultimately better the lives of the residents of the State of Israel."
The government is set to vote Sunday on an amendment to the Entry into Israel Law proposed by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, which allows the deportation of illegal migrants to another country even without their consent.
The proposed amendment came after Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the State of Israel cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days.
According to the existing law, migrants who refuse to be deported can be held against their will indefinitely at Saharonim Prison—a detention facility for African asylum seekers located in the Negev—until they are "convinced" to be deported to another country.
The result, according to the Ministry of the Interior, is the illegal residence of some 40,000 immigrants from Eritrea and Sudan in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked have already announced they intend to support Deri's initiative to amend the existing legislation.
"I toured south Tel Aviv and saw the daily suffering of the residents, whose life in recent years has become a nightmare," Deri said. "This difficult reality also exists in Eilat, Jerusalem, Pardes Katz, Petah Tikva, Hadera, Netanya, Ashdod and other communities around the country. It is time to put an end to this, and I intend to act on several levels to take care of the residents of the State of Israel, who suffer greatly."
Deri will present the government ministers with updated data on the number of illegal aliens currently living in Israel and the impact of their stay on the lives of local residents. He is also set to demand to add an additional 250 Population and Immigration Authority inspectors to the 120 inspectors currently operating.
According to the interior minister, "The Population and Immigration Authority has complained that the number of inspectors who are supposed to enforce the law regarding illegal aliens is low and insufficient. I hear also complaints about this in my tours of Israel from residents of neighborhoods who have illegal aliens living next to them.
"I intend to demand that the prime minister, the minister of finance and the other ministers in the meeting on Sunday increase the number of immigration inspectors in order to ultimately better the lives of the residents of the State of Israel."
29 aug 2017
A coin that was celebrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as evidence of a historical Jewish link to the West Bank has been found to be fake replica.
Numerous media outlets reported last week on the find of a rare 2,000-year-old half-shekel coin by an eight-year-old girl, Hallel Halevy, in the Israeli illegal settlement of Halamish in the West Bank.
The find excited many Israelis who argued it provided evidence of the historical Jewish connection to the West Bank, usually referred to as Judea and Samaria by Israelis.
Among those lauding the find, Netanyahu claimed in a Facebook post that “the "2,000-year-old silver coin" was used during the Second Temple period in Jewish history which lasted between 530 BCE and 70 CE.
“This exciting discovery is additional evidence of the deep connection between the people of Israel and its land – to Jerusalem, to our temple, and to the communities in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu wrote in his post.
However, on Sunday it was revealed that not only was the coin not ancient, but also was in fact a replica souvenir, regularly made at the Israel Museum, where a small mint at the Youth Wing of the museum is used to create the coins during annual Hanukkah activities organized as part of an educational program for children.
“There is no chance that it is authentic, it is not an ancient coin," Haim Gitler, chief curator of archaeology and the curator of numismatics at the Israel Museum told The Times of Israel on Sunday. "Even to call it a coin is to exaggerate what it is,” he added.
Netanyahu deleted his Facebook post shortly after that. However, social media users were quick to comment on the news, with many ridiculing Netanyahu mistaking the replica for a historical artifact.
Numerous media outlets reported last week on the find of a rare 2,000-year-old half-shekel coin by an eight-year-old girl, Hallel Halevy, in the Israeli illegal settlement of Halamish in the West Bank.
The find excited many Israelis who argued it provided evidence of the historical Jewish connection to the West Bank, usually referred to as Judea and Samaria by Israelis.
Among those lauding the find, Netanyahu claimed in a Facebook post that “the "2,000-year-old silver coin" was used during the Second Temple period in Jewish history which lasted between 530 BCE and 70 CE.
“This exciting discovery is additional evidence of the deep connection between the people of Israel and its land – to Jerusalem, to our temple, and to the communities in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu wrote in his post.
However, on Sunday it was revealed that not only was the coin not ancient, but also was in fact a replica souvenir, regularly made at the Israel Museum, where a small mint at the Youth Wing of the museum is used to create the coins during annual Hanukkah activities organized as part of an educational program for children.
“There is no chance that it is authentic, it is not an ancient coin," Haim Gitler, chief curator of archaeology and the curator of numismatics at the Israel Museum told The Times of Israel on Sunday. "Even to call it a coin is to exaggerate what it is,” he added.
Netanyahu deleted his Facebook post shortly after that. However, social media users were quick to comment on the news, with many ridiculing Netanyahu mistaking the replica for a historical artifact.
The Israeli Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid charged Israeli Prime Minister with incitement against left-wing parties and the media.
At the Israel Bar Association Conference held in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Lapid said that Israel is changing into a corrupt state. He added that all of the prime minister’s close allies, including multiple former chiefs of staff, are under investigation.
Lapid also said that “Any individual convicted of a crime with moral turpitude, which most financial crimes have, should no longer be a minister”, referring to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.
“Deri has served more than two years in prison for a bribery conviction, but was reappointed a minister in the current government and remains in place despite the fact that he is once again under investigation”, Lapid highlighted.
At the Israel Bar Association Conference held in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Lapid said that Israel is changing into a corrupt state. He added that all of the prime minister’s close allies, including multiple former chiefs of staff, are under investigation.
Lapid also said that “Any individual convicted of a crime with moral turpitude, which most financial crimes have, should no longer be a minister”, referring to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.
“Deri has served more than two years in prison for a bribery conviction, but was reappointed a minister in the current government and remains in place despite the fact that he is once again under investigation”, Lapid highlighted.
28 aug 2017
The Israeli occupation has revoked the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians (known as Israeli-Arabs) in southern region of Al-Naqab (Negev) in the past two years, Israeli daily Haaretz revealed Friday, according to Days of Palestine.
The newspaper said that the Israeli Interior Ministry has changed the status of these Israeli-Arabs from “citizens” to “inhabitants,” which has led to the forfeiture of many of their basic rights.
Reacting to the report, Talab abu-Arar, an Israeli Arab MK, demanded that the ministry reverse the racial move.
According to Abu-Arar, the citizenships were secretly stripped by the ministry’s office in the city of Beersheba, when the Israeli-Arab residents applied to renew their national ID cards or passports.
In a statement, Juma Zbarga, an Israeli-Arab MK from the Joint Arab List coalition, asserted: “We will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to gradually expel us from our homeland… and delegitimize our existence.”
“The revocation of our citizenship makes us vulnerable to abuse and restricts our freedom of movement,” he added, pointing out that non-citizens lack the right to vote or run in general elections.
Describing the move as “contrary to Israeli law itself,” Zbarga added: “Our citizenship is derived from our presence in our homeland and our history — it does not depend on the whim of a few rogue officials.”
The newspaper said that the Israeli Interior Ministry has changed the status of these Israeli-Arabs from “citizens” to “inhabitants,” which has led to the forfeiture of many of their basic rights.
Reacting to the report, Talab abu-Arar, an Israeli Arab MK, demanded that the ministry reverse the racial move.
According to Abu-Arar, the citizenships were secretly stripped by the ministry’s office in the city of Beersheba, when the Israeli-Arab residents applied to renew their national ID cards or passports.
In a statement, Juma Zbarga, an Israeli-Arab MK from the Joint Arab List coalition, asserted: “We will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to gradually expel us from our homeland… and delegitimize our existence.”
“The revocation of our citizenship makes us vulnerable to abuse and restricts our freedom of movement,” he added, pointing out that non-citizens lack the right to vote or run in general elections.
Describing the move as “contrary to Israeli law itself,” Zbarga added: “Our citizenship is derived from our presence in our homeland and our history — it does not depend on the whim of a few rogue officials.”
23 aug 2017
A senior United Nations (UN) political affairs official Tuesday evening voiced concerns over recent developments that “undermine efforts to end the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Israel's move to amend a law to cement its control over East Jerusalem.”
“Jerusalem is a final status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties,” Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenèa told the Security Council during his briefing on the situation in the Middle East.
He said that if approved, the proposed amendment to the “Basic Law: Jerusalem the Capital of Israel” would further cement Israeli control over occupied East Jerusalem and would limit the ability of both sides to reach a negotiated solution that is in line with UN resolutions and prior agreements.
“Any move which could impact demographics in the city is extremely worrisome and could spark violence,” he said.
Earlier last month, Israeli Knesset backed a bill that aims to make it more difficult to give up sections of occupied Jerusalem in a future peace deal.
The basic law was requiring the consent of at least 61 MKs, a majority in the 120-member Knesset, for handing over sovereign control of any part of Jerusalem to Palestinians.
However, the bill would raise that to an 80-MK minimum, or fully two-thirds of the Knesset, a threshold that likely makes it all but impossible for a future Israeli government to obtain the Knesset’s approval for withdrawing from occupied Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem is a final status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties,” Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenèa told the Security Council during his briefing on the situation in the Middle East.
He said that if approved, the proposed amendment to the “Basic Law: Jerusalem the Capital of Israel” would further cement Israeli control over occupied East Jerusalem and would limit the ability of both sides to reach a negotiated solution that is in line with UN resolutions and prior agreements.
“Any move which could impact demographics in the city is extremely worrisome and could spark violence,” he said.
Earlier last month, Israeli Knesset backed a bill that aims to make it more difficult to give up sections of occupied Jerusalem in a future peace deal.
The basic law was requiring the consent of at least 61 MKs, a majority in the 120-member Knesset, for handing over sovereign control of any part of Jerusalem to Palestinians.
However, the bill would raise that to an 80-MK minimum, or fully two-thirds of the Knesset, a threshold that likely makes it all but impossible for a future Israeli government to obtain the Knesset’s approval for withdrawing from occupied Jerusalem.
20 aug 2017
Border police officers stand in front of Palestinians as they wait to cross from Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, West Bank, into Jerusalem.
Most of the circumstances that made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ripe for resolution — or at least made the peace process attractive to both parties — have all but disappeared over the past decade.
Many Israelis were likely happy to read The New Yorker article titled “The End of This Road: The Decline of the Palestinian National Movement” earlier this month. The piece is of particular interest due to where it was published — the liberal elite’s most prominent magazine, which generally champions the Zionist Left and the American-backed two-state solution.
The identity of its authors is also noteworthy: Ahmad Samih Khalidi was involved in Israeli-Palestinian talks for years; Hussein Agha is a close associate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was charged with holding secret talks with Yitzhak Molcho — Netanyahu’s chief envoy to the negotiations — and Obama’s former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross in the run-up to John Kerry’s peace initiative in 2013.
For the same reason we should also take the authors’ main argument, according to which Abbas is the last remaining Palestinian who can sign a final-status agreement, with a grain of salt. Yet the headline is not misleading, and it joins a long list of publications that rightfully declare the end of the Oslo peace process.
Over the past decade, most of the circumstances that made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ripe for resolution — or at least made the peace process attractive to both parties — have all but disappeared. The process began with the Madrid Conference at the end of the First Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that subverted and upended Israel’s mechanisms of control in the occupied territories at the time, which meant that Israel was suddenly faced with managing a hostile population. Meanwhile, as the Cold War came to an end, the United States was the sole remaining superpower to which the rest of the world wanted to get closer. The peace process promised Israel a thaw in relations with the Third World, an economic leap, and an end to the Arab boycott. Meanwhile, the then-exiled PLO was facing a crisis and feared the emergence of an alternative leadership developing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Twenty-five years later, Israel has grown stronger, including with regards to its influence over internal American politics. The low-hanging fruit of the peace process have already been picked. It is convenient for the Israeli Right, which loves to criticize Oslo, to forget the positive effect the accords had on Israel’s position in the world — its improved relations with Europe, China, and the United States, and the ensuing economic upswing. Other unharvested fruit, such as the prospect of total normalization with the Arab world, seem far less attractive following the Arab Spring.
Today Israel is perceived as a Middle East superpower. The United States, on the other hand, is buckling under the weight of crisis after crisis, as well as a weak and dysfunctional government. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, can do everything in his power when he flies into the region later this month — a final-status agreement won’t come of it.
The decline of nationalism
The Palestinian Authority is no longer a “state in the making,” as it was viewed by Palestinians in the years after the Oslo Accords were signed. Instead, it has become a part of the Israeli regime, used to manage the population in the West Bank, and Gaza to a certain degree. Agha and Khalidi rightfully point out that the PA’s most effective tool — or perhaps its only effective tool — is its security apparatus, which has long been Palestinian only in name. Today, the Palestinian security forces have become an integral part of Israel’s rule in the occupied territories, whose main function is to protect Israelis — as opposed to Palestinians — while ensuring the survival of the PA.
Just as Yitzhak Rabin foresaw, the Palestinian Authority has been far more effective at maintaining the occupation regime than Israel ever was. This is another reason we need not take too seriously the Israeli government’s intermittent threats against the PA. Such threats serve everyone involved: they allow both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to speak to their respective publics in a discourse framed by nationalism. In practice, Israel’s interest is ensuring a strong, effective Palestinian Authority; the PA, for its part, is entirely dependent on Israel for its existence.
But the most interesting argument put forth by Agha and Khalidi comes at the end of their article:
A national movement requires genuine mass engagement in a political vision and a working project that cuts across boundaries of region, clan, and class, and a defined and acknowledged leadership with the legitimacy and representative standing that empowers it to act in its people’s name. This no longer holds for Fatah, the P.A., or the P.L.O.
Be that as it may, the Palestinians may need to acknowledge that yesteryear’s conventional nationalism and ‘national liberation’ are no longer the best currency for political mobilization and expression in today’s world, and that they need to adapt their struggle and aspirations to new global realities. […] Because nationalism itself has changed, Palestinians need to search for new means of expressing their political identity and hopes in ways that do not and cannot replicate the past.
Palestinians aren’t going anywhere
Nothing better exemplifies the decline of nationalism as a force for mass engagement than the fact that the two Palestinian dictatorships, in the West Bank and Gaza, prioritize their survival and the survival of the elites that run them over the interests of their people.
In short-term, the dissolution of the Palestinian issue into a multitude of problems — the siege on Gaza, the occupation of the West Bank, political prisoners, East Jerusalem, the fate of refugees — is of great relief to Israel. As long as these issues come up separately it is relatively easier to respond to them, and the potential for a general uprising — with which Israel has had a difficult time contending — is small. But Israel’s real challenge is not Palestinian nationalism, it is the Palestinians themselves. And they aren’t going anywhere.
The Israeli right wing’s policies are premised on an inherent contradiction: on the one hand, policies that strengthen Israel’s grip on the West Bank and Jerusalem and broaden its oversight over Palestinian citizens of Israel increase the integration of Jews and Palestinians. On the other hand, the Israeli Right also encourages and engineers separation between Jews and Palestinians by building walls, obstacles, segregated roads, discriminatory policies, segregated communities, etc. In effect, these contradictory policies are effectively turning up the heat inside a pressure cooker.
The existence of a Palestinian national movement with a clear leadership meant that Israel had a clear somebody with whom it could either fight or negotiate. As the short-lived “knife intifada” demonstrated, we are entering a far more complex era — never mind the cultural and national-identity disintegration Israel is undergoing.
This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here.
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Most of the circumstances that made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ripe for resolution — or at least made the peace process attractive to both parties — have all but disappeared over the past decade.
Many Israelis were likely happy to read The New Yorker article titled “The End of This Road: The Decline of the Palestinian National Movement” earlier this month. The piece is of particular interest due to where it was published — the liberal elite’s most prominent magazine, which generally champions the Zionist Left and the American-backed two-state solution.
The identity of its authors is also noteworthy: Ahmad Samih Khalidi was involved in Israeli-Palestinian talks for years; Hussein Agha is a close associate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was charged with holding secret talks with Yitzhak Molcho — Netanyahu’s chief envoy to the negotiations — and Obama’s former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross in the run-up to John Kerry’s peace initiative in 2013.
For the same reason we should also take the authors’ main argument, according to which Abbas is the last remaining Palestinian who can sign a final-status agreement, with a grain of salt. Yet the headline is not misleading, and it joins a long list of publications that rightfully declare the end of the Oslo peace process.
Over the past decade, most of the circumstances that made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ripe for resolution — or at least made the peace process attractive to both parties — have all but disappeared. The process began with the Madrid Conference at the end of the First Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that subverted and upended Israel’s mechanisms of control in the occupied territories at the time, which meant that Israel was suddenly faced with managing a hostile population. Meanwhile, as the Cold War came to an end, the United States was the sole remaining superpower to which the rest of the world wanted to get closer. The peace process promised Israel a thaw in relations with the Third World, an economic leap, and an end to the Arab boycott. Meanwhile, the then-exiled PLO was facing a crisis and feared the emergence of an alternative leadership developing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Twenty-five years later, Israel has grown stronger, including with regards to its influence over internal American politics. The low-hanging fruit of the peace process have already been picked. It is convenient for the Israeli Right, which loves to criticize Oslo, to forget the positive effect the accords had on Israel’s position in the world — its improved relations with Europe, China, and the United States, and the ensuing economic upswing. Other unharvested fruit, such as the prospect of total normalization with the Arab world, seem far less attractive following the Arab Spring.
Today Israel is perceived as a Middle East superpower. The United States, on the other hand, is buckling under the weight of crisis after crisis, as well as a weak and dysfunctional government. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, can do everything in his power when he flies into the region later this month — a final-status agreement won’t come of it.
The decline of nationalism
The Palestinian Authority is no longer a “state in the making,” as it was viewed by Palestinians in the years after the Oslo Accords were signed. Instead, it has become a part of the Israeli regime, used to manage the population in the West Bank, and Gaza to a certain degree. Agha and Khalidi rightfully point out that the PA’s most effective tool — or perhaps its only effective tool — is its security apparatus, which has long been Palestinian only in name. Today, the Palestinian security forces have become an integral part of Israel’s rule in the occupied territories, whose main function is to protect Israelis — as opposed to Palestinians — while ensuring the survival of the PA.
Just as Yitzhak Rabin foresaw, the Palestinian Authority has been far more effective at maintaining the occupation regime than Israel ever was. This is another reason we need not take too seriously the Israeli government’s intermittent threats against the PA. Such threats serve everyone involved: they allow both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to speak to their respective publics in a discourse framed by nationalism. In practice, Israel’s interest is ensuring a strong, effective Palestinian Authority; the PA, for its part, is entirely dependent on Israel for its existence.
But the most interesting argument put forth by Agha and Khalidi comes at the end of their article:
A national movement requires genuine mass engagement in a political vision and a working project that cuts across boundaries of region, clan, and class, and a defined and acknowledged leadership with the legitimacy and representative standing that empowers it to act in its people’s name. This no longer holds for Fatah, the P.A., or the P.L.O.
Be that as it may, the Palestinians may need to acknowledge that yesteryear’s conventional nationalism and ‘national liberation’ are no longer the best currency for political mobilization and expression in today’s world, and that they need to adapt their struggle and aspirations to new global realities. […] Because nationalism itself has changed, Palestinians need to search for new means of expressing their political identity and hopes in ways that do not and cannot replicate the past.
Palestinians aren’t going anywhere
Nothing better exemplifies the decline of nationalism as a force for mass engagement than the fact that the two Palestinian dictatorships, in the West Bank and Gaza, prioritize their survival and the survival of the elites that run them over the interests of their people.
In short-term, the dissolution of the Palestinian issue into a multitude of problems — the siege on Gaza, the occupation of the West Bank, political prisoners, East Jerusalem, the fate of refugees — is of great relief to Israel. As long as these issues come up separately it is relatively easier to respond to them, and the potential for a general uprising — with which Israel has had a difficult time contending — is small. But Israel’s real challenge is not Palestinian nationalism, it is the Palestinians themselves. And they aren’t going anywhere.
The Israeli right wing’s policies are premised on an inherent contradiction: on the one hand, policies that strengthen Israel’s grip on the West Bank and Jerusalem and broaden its oversight over Palestinian citizens of Israel increase the integration of Jews and Palestinians. On the other hand, the Israeli Right also encourages and engineers separation between Jews and Palestinians by building walls, obstacles, segregated roads, discriminatory policies, segregated communities, etc. In effect, these contradictory policies are effectively turning up the heat inside a pressure cooker.
The existence of a Palestinian national movement with a clear leadership meant that Israel had a clear somebody with whom it could either fight or negotiate. As the short-lived “knife intifada” demonstrated, we are entering a far more complex era — never mind the cultural and national-identity disintegration Israel is undergoing.
This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here.
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The Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR) has warned of an Israeli plan to kill Sheikh Raed Salah, Islamic Movement chief in 1948 Occupied Palestine (Israel).
AOHR said in statement that the crackdowns against Sheikh Salah and the mistreatment he has been subjected to in Israeli lock-ups reflect the inherent sadism entrenched in the Israeli government and its extreme dislike of Salah’s anti-occupation activism.
AOHR called for providing Sheikh Salah with psycho-physical protection.
The organization said it has just found out that senior Israeli officers had threatened to execute Salah and to make the world believe he died in natural circumstances.
The threats were launched in an attempt to gag Sheikh Salah, who has long stood up for holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
An Israeli court ruled for extending Salah’s detention until August 21.
Sheikh Salah told the jury that he has been subjected to verbal and physical assaults by the Israeli wardens and held the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responsible for the upshots of such a preplanned intimidation.
AOHR said in statement that the crackdowns against Sheikh Salah and the mistreatment he has been subjected to in Israeli lock-ups reflect the inherent sadism entrenched in the Israeli government and its extreme dislike of Salah’s anti-occupation activism.
AOHR called for providing Sheikh Salah with psycho-physical protection.
The organization said it has just found out that senior Israeli officers had threatened to execute Salah and to make the world believe he died in natural circumstances.
The threats were launched in an attempt to gag Sheikh Salah, who has long stood up for holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
An Israeli court ruled for extending Salah’s detention until August 21.
Sheikh Salah told the jury that he has been subjected to verbal and physical assaults by the Israeli wardens and held the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responsible for the upshots of such a preplanned intimidation.
17 aug 2017
There are growing Israeli military concerns over the reluctance of young people to enlist in field combat units and the increase in the number of those who prefer to join other units, especially the air force, the border guards and the home front command.
As the summer draft has ended, there is a growing concern in the Israeli army over the fact that there has been a decline in the demand from recruits to serve in combat units, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
Data collected about the July draft, traditionally the army’s biggest combat recruitment cycle, shows a decreasing trend in motivation for combat service compared to the parallel recruitment last year.
Data from July, the army's large combat recruitment cycle, shows 67 percent of recruits sought to enlist in combat roles in 2017, compared to 68.8 percent in 2016.
For the army, this is the lowest rate in a decade. The last time such low combat recruitment motivation was recorded was immediately after the 2006 second Lebanon war.
The highest motivation rate in the last decade was recorded in 2010, when 80 percent of new recruits joined combat units, and the numbers have been consistently dropping since.
According to the army, the drop in motivation to serve in combat roles is the result of social changes in Israel; primarily, the erosion of the warrior ethos.
At the same time, there is also a clear preference emerging among new recruits, and particularly their parents, to join the technological units, such as the military intelligence directorate's unit 8200, cyber defense units, and other units in the computer service directorate. This trend has been gradually increasing over the past five years.
An analysis of recruitment trends shows that more and more soldiers want to have a comfy service closer to home, which could also give them an advantage later in life. Serving in technological units can undoubtedly meet those desires.
As the summer draft has ended, there is a growing concern in the Israeli army over the fact that there has been a decline in the demand from recruits to serve in combat units, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
Data collected about the July draft, traditionally the army’s biggest combat recruitment cycle, shows a decreasing trend in motivation for combat service compared to the parallel recruitment last year.
Data from July, the army's large combat recruitment cycle, shows 67 percent of recruits sought to enlist in combat roles in 2017, compared to 68.8 percent in 2016.
For the army, this is the lowest rate in a decade. The last time such low combat recruitment motivation was recorded was immediately after the 2006 second Lebanon war.
The highest motivation rate in the last decade was recorded in 2010, when 80 percent of new recruits joined combat units, and the numbers have been consistently dropping since.
According to the army, the drop in motivation to serve in combat roles is the result of social changes in Israel; primarily, the erosion of the warrior ethos.
At the same time, there is also a clear preference emerging among new recruits, and particularly their parents, to join the technological units, such as the military intelligence directorate's unit 8200, cyber defense units, and other units in the computer service directorate. This trend has been gradually increasing over the past five years.
An analysis of recruitment trends shows that more and more soldiers want to have a comfy service closer to home, which could also give them an advantage later in life. Serving in technological units can undoubtedly meet those desires.
15 aug 2017
A special flight carrying 233 new immigrants from North America landed in Israel's Ben Gurion Airport Tuesday morning, Hebrew sources reported.
According to the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post, the Jewish immigrants were met on the tarmac by a high level delegation of leaders welcoming them to their "new home" and wishing them a successful absorption into Israeli society.
The El Al Boeing 777 was chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliya and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund and JNF-USA.
The passengers include 21 families, 75 children, six sets of twins, and people working in a range of professions, including 26 medical professionals. The oldest is 79 years old, and the youngest is eight and a half months old. Thirty-two of the immigrants are moving to the periphery, as part of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s Go South and Go North programs.
According to the same source, more than a quarter of the olim (68 people) plan to join the Israeli occupation forces over the coming months as lone soldiers.
The flight was met by a slew of VIPs including Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky, Minister of Aliyah and Integration Sofia Landver, and Chief Rabbi David Lau.
Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founders Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart were also in attendance to welcome the newcomers.
According to the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post, the Jewish immigrants were met on the tarmac by a high level delegation of leaders welcoming them to their "new home" and wishing them a successful absorption into Israeli society.
The El Al Boeing 777 was chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliya and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund and JNF-USA.
The passengers include 21 families, 75 children, six sets of twins, and people working in a range of professions, including 26 medical professionals. The oldest is 79 years old, and the youngest is eight and a half months old. Thirty-two of the immigrants are moving to the periphery, as part of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s Go South and Go North programs.
According to the same source, more than a quarter of the olim (68 people) plan to join the Israeli occupation forces over the coming months as lone soldiers.
The flight was met by a slew of VIPs including Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky, Minister of Aliyah and Integration Sofia Landver, and Chief Rabbi David Lau.
Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founders Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart were also in attendance to welcome the newcomers.
14 aug 2017
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promoting a legal amendment that would give him more power to declare war without consulting the full cabinet, the Israeli TV Channel Two reported Sunday.
The report said that Netanyahu intends to introduce legislation to the Knesset after the summer recess that would allow him to declare war - or a military operation that could trigger a war - without the prior authorization of the entire cabinet, but rather just the security cabinet.
Netanyahu reportedly covets the change, which would require amending one of Israel's Basic Laws, in order to prevent leaks from the full cabinet, according to the sources.
Two months ago, the Israeli mini or security Cabinet approved an amendment that would allow the government to authorize the Cabinet at the beginning of each term to launch a major military operation or war.
“The amendment was passed in order to prevent leaks of sensitive information from (full) Cabinet meetings.”
According to the reports, the reason Netanyahu is promoting the newest amendment is an incident that took place seven years ago when Netanyahu and his Army Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Chief of Staff at the time, Gabi Ashkenazi, and the head of the Mossad at the time, Meir Dagan, to carry out a certain covert operation.
Dagan and Ashkenazi refused to obey the order and said that the operation in question was illegal, since it could lead to war with Iran.
08/12/17 Netanyahu’s Billionaire Backer May Help Bring Him Down (VIDEO)
08/09/17 Sara Netanyahu to be Indicted for Fraud and Misuse of Public Funds
The report said that Netanyahu intends to introduce legislation to the Knesset after the summer recess that would allow him to declare war - or a military operation that could trigger a war - without the prior authorization of the entire cabinet, but rather just the security cabinet.
Netanyahu reportedly covets the change, which would require amending one of Israel's Basic Laws, in order to prevent leaks from the full cabinet, according to the sources.
Two months ago, the Israeli mini or security Cabinet approved an amendment that would allow the government to authorize the Cabinet at the beginning of each term to launch a major military operation or war.
“The amendment was passed in order to prevent leaks of sensitive information from (full) Cabinet meetings.”
According to the reports, the reason Netanyahu is promoting the newest amendment is an incident that took place seven years ago when Netanyahu and his Army Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Chief of Staff at the time, Gabi Ashkenazi, and the head of the Mossad at the time, Meir Dagan, to carry out a certain covert operation.
Dagan and Ashkenazi refused to obey the order and said that the operation in question was illegal, since it could lead to war with Iran.
08/12/17 Netanyahu’s Billionaire Backer May Help Bring Him Down (VIDEO)
08/09/17 Sara Netanyahu to be Indicted for Fraud and Misuse of Public Funds
8 aug 2017
An Apache helicopter crashed near the Ramon Air Force base in the south of Israel on Monday, killing one crew member and leaving another seriously wounded, Israeli daily Haaretz reported Tuesday.
The pilots were on their way back to the base after a training flight when a technical malfunction was reported around 9 P.M.
According to the Israeli army's spokesman, the helicopter crashed near the landing pad at the base.
A military helicopter evacuated the injured Israeli pilot, who was seated in the helicopter's backseat, to a hospital in Beer Sheva.
The pilot who died is a veteran pilot with the rank of a major serving in reserve duty, while the injured pilot is a relatively young first lieutenant.
The army's Apache helicopters were only re-commissioned in July, after the discovery of a large crack in the back rotor blade of one of the helicopters in June saw the army's two Apache squadrons grounded and subjected to inspection.
Last month, a Golani officer was killed after being accidentally shot by a soldier during a drill in al-Khalil.
In 2016, an Israeli pilot was killed when he ejected from his F-16I fighter jet after returning from an airstrike mission in the blockaded Gaza Strip. The slightly altered Israeli version of the American-built F-16 has crashed three times during its use by the Israeli occupation forces.
The pilots were on their way back to the base after a training flight when a technical malfunction was reported around 9 P.M.
According to the Israeli army's spokesman, the helicopter crashed near the landing pad at the base.
A military helicopter evacuated the injured Israeli pilot, who was seated in the helicopter's backseat, to a hospital in Beer Sheva.
The pilot who died is a veteran pilot with the rank of a major serving in reserve duty, while the injured pilot is a relatively young first lieutenant.
The army's Apache helicopters were only re-commissioned in July, after the discovery of a large crack in the back rotor blade of one of the helicopters in June saw the army's two Apache squadrons grounded and subjected to inspection.
Last month, a Golani officer was killed after being accidentally shot by a soldier during a drill in al-Khalil.
In 2016, an Israeli pilot was killed when he ejected from his F-16I fighter jet after returning from an airstrike mission in the blockaded Gaza Strip. The slightly altered Israeli version of the American-built F-16 has crashed three times during its use by the Israeli occupation forces.