16 April 2012, Alternative Information Center http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)
Michael Warschawski
Hundreds of security personnel are busy closing Israel’s borders to international citizens whose only goal is to come, see and testify. By doing so, our Interior Minister confesses that Israel has a lot to hide. Nothing new indeed.
(Photo: Israeli Minister of Interior Eli Yisha is busy closing Israel's borders to Nobel Prize winning authors and human rights activists)
I doubt if Israeli Minister of Interior Eli Yishai ever red one line of Gunter Grass’ literature, and I am almost sure he never heard about the Nobel Prize laureate before the latter published a poem on the danger that Israel represents for the future of our planet.
Nevertheless, Yishai put Gunter Grass on a black list and forbid his entry to Israel. By doing so, Yisha may hope to divert local public opinion from the upcoming conclusions of the Inquiry Commission on the huge fire in Mount Carmel last year, and the expected harsh recommendations on the failure of his ministry in this regard.
Poor Gunter Grass! The author of The Tin Drum, who is very much welcome in each and every country of our planet, will not be able to come to Israel! Yishai, however, did not keep only Grass out of the country. He closed the borders to several hundred activists who intended to come to Bethlehem – not to Israel –to express their solidarity with the Palestinian population which suffers under 44 years of colonial occupation. The problem that should have been dealt with a long time ago by the Palestinian Authority is the lack of possibility to reach the occupied Palestinian territory without having to pass through Israel's borders; as long as the Palestinians will not have sovereignty over their borders, in the West Bank as well as in Gaza, any talk about "a Palestinian state" is nonsense, even if they will be granted a seat in the United Nations. Statehood is, first of all, sovereignty over borders, and the absence of such sovereignty makes the "Palestinian state" a mere Bantustan.
In order to grasp the severe mental illness of the Israeli authorities, one should read the letter addressed by Amnon Shmueli, head of the immigration Authority at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, to the airlines companies and the open threats included in this document:
"To all Airlines
Subject: Denied entry
1. 1. Due to the statements of pro-Palestinian radicals to arrive on commercial flights from abroad to disrupt the order and confront security forces at friction [sic] points,, it was decided to deny their entry in accordance with our authority according to the Law of entry in Israel (1952)
2. 2. Attached is a list of passengers that are denied entry to Israel. In light of the above mentioned, you are ordered not to board them on your flights to Israel.
3. 3. Failure to comply with this directive will result in sanctions against the airlines [my emphasis, MW]
4. 4. This list is partial and at a later stage you will be advised of additional names.
Most likely there will be additional activists, that their names we will not be able to advice in advance, that their entry to Israel will be denied"
Poor us! Like with the Gaza-bound 2010 Freedom Flotilla, like with other flotillas and flytillas, hundreds of security personnel are busy closing Israel’s borders to international citizens whose only goal is to come, see and testify. By doing so, our Interior Minister confesses that Israel has a lot to hide. Nothing new indeed.
Mostrando postagens com marcador Telavive. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador Telavive. Mostrar todas as postagens
segunda-feira, 16 de abril de 2012
Flytilla participants protest cancellation of tickets by airlines
15 April 2012, Alternative Information Center http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)
Israel bans 'flytilla' activists but hundreds left in Europe … Israel on Sunday barred 43 pro-Palestinian activists who had flown in for a "Welcome to Palestine" campaign as hundreds more would-be protesters were stranded at airports across Europe.
As hundreds of police deployed at Israel's main international airport in a bid to stop activists from entering, Europe's main airlines faced a wave of passenger fury after cancelling some 300 tickets following heavy Israeli pressure.
By late afternoon, police said they had detained 43 passengers on suspicion of being part of the fly-in campaign, better known as the "flytilla," with all facing deportation.
Organisers of "Welcome to Palestine," now in its third year, had been expecting to welcome up to 1,500 people as part of a campaign to expose Israel's control of movement both into and out of the occupied territories.
But only three activists managed to reach a news conference held by organisers in the West Bank town of Bethlehem in the early evening.
Israel had vowed to prevent the activists' entry, warning airlines they would be forced to foot the bill for the activists' immediate return home in a move which saw many carriers toeing the line.
With airlines cancelling at least 300 passengers' tickets, scores of activists staged angry demonstrations at airports in several European capitals.
At Brussels airport, protests erupted after at least 100 French and Belgian nationals were unable to board flights with Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss Air.
In Geneva, several dozen activists held an angry demonstration after around 45 people out of a group of 70 who had been planning to join the campaign were barred from boarding an easyJet flight.
Scores of activists also protested at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, where airport sources said 90 passengers had been prevented from boarding Lufthansa and Swiss Air flights for Tel Aviv.
Flanked by dozens of anti-riot police, they marched up to the Lufthansa counter to demand an "official written statement" as to why they had not been allowed to fly.
At Istanbul airport, another 50 activists were stranded after Turkish Airlines reportedly refused to allow them on board, Anatolia news agency reported.
In Vienna, Austrian Airlines said five passengers were barred from flights to Tel Aviv, and in Rome, Alitalia turned back seven Italian activists, press reports said.
Air France and two British budget carriers, Jet2.com and easyJet, also barred an unspecified number of passengers, with easyJet confirming it had prevented activists from flying to Israel from London and Switzerland.
Despite the success of its diplomatic campaign to pressure European carriers not to allow activists to board flights for Tel Aviv, Israel deployed hundreds of police at its main international airport with orders to "exercise restraint, but to intercept any troublemakers."
Sunday's arrests took place far from the whirring cameras with police detaining activists from France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and Portugal.
Thirty-one of those detained had refused to board planes back to their homelands, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
"Twelve have been sent back to the destinations from which they arrived, and the rest have been transferred to a prison in Ramle (near Tel Aviv)," he said, adding that most of them were French.
In addition, Rosenfeld said, "nine Israelis were detained for being involved in public disturbances at the terminal."
More flights were scheduled to arrive from Europe in the evening and the police will remain on site, he added.
Israeli officials hailed their counter campaign as successful.
"A few activists attempted to arrive and create a provocation; dozens were arrested," Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said according to Israeli media.
"My goal was to prevent a provocation and a public disruption, and that goal was achieved."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told activists to concentrate on solving "real problems" in the region.
"We appreciate your choosing to make Israel the object of your humanitarian concerns," he said in a letter dated Saturday. "We know there were many other worthy choices. You could have chosen to protest the Syrian regime's daily savagery against its own people, which has claimed thousands of lives. "We therefore suggest that you first solve the real problems of the region, and then come back and share with us your experience," added Netanyahu.
"Have a nice flight."
At the Bethlehem news conference, organisers dismissed Netanyahu's letter as "ridiculous."
"When Israel says it is the sole democracy in the Middle East it contradicts itself by deporting people," Amira Musallem said.
"Democracy isn't only about women being able to talk freely."
One of the three activists who managed to attend the news conference slammed the Israeli internal security minister for saying the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign was provocation.
"We are not criminals," the activist said. "We should all be able to fight -- peacefully -- for what we believe in."
Last year, around 800 people tried to join the campaign, with many blocked from flying by airlines. Another 120 were denied entry by Israel and deported.
Israel bans 'flytilla' activists but hundreds left in Europe … Israel on Sunday barred 43 pro-Palestinian activists who had flown in for a "Welcome to Palestine" campaign as hundreds more would-be protesters were stranded at airports across Europe.
As hundreds of police deployed at Israel's main international airport in a bid to stop activists from entering, Europe's main airlines faced a wave of passenger fury after cancelling some 300 tickets following heavy Israeli pressure.
By late afternoon, police said they had detained 43 passengers on suspicion of being part of the fly-in campaign, better known as the "flytilla," with all facing deportation.
Organisers of "Welcome to Palestine," now in its third year, had been expecting to welcome up to 1,500 people as part of a campaign to expose Israel's control of movement both into and out of the occupied territories.
But only three activists managed to reach a news conference held by organisers in the West Bank town of Bethlehem in the early evening.
Israel had vowed to prevent the activists' entry, warning airlines they would be forced to foot the bill for the activists' immediate return home in a move which saw many carriers toeing the line.
With airlines cancelling at least 300 passengers' tickets, scores of activists staged angry demonstrations at airports in several European capitals.
At Brussels airport, protests erupted after at least 100 French and Belgian nationals were unable to board flights with Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss Air.
In Geneva, several dozen activists held an angry demonstration after around 45 people out of a group of 70 who had been planning to join the campaign were barred from boarding an easyJet flight.
Scores of activists also protested at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, where airport sources said 90 passengers had been prevented from boarding Lufthansa and Swiss Air flights for Tel Aviv.
Flanked by dozens of anti-riot police, they marched up to the Lufthansa counter to demand an "official written statement" as to why they had not been allowed to fly.
At Istanbul airport, another 50 activists were stranded after Turkish Airlines reportedly refused to allow them on board, Anatolia news agency reported.
In Vienna, Austrian Airlines said five passengers were barred from flights to Tel Aviv, and in Rome, Alitalia turned back seven Italian activists, press reports said.
Air France and two British budget carriers, Jet2.com and easyJet, also barred an unspecified number of passengers, with easyJet confirming it had prevented activists from flying to Israel from London and Switzerland.
Despite the success of its diplomatic campaign to pressure European carriers not to allow activists to board flights for Tel Aviv, Israel deployed hundreds of police at its main international airport with orders to "exercise restraint, but to intercept any troublemakers."
Sunday's arrests took place far from the whirring cameras with police detaining activists from France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and Portugal.
Thirty-one of those detained had refused to board planes back to their homelands, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
"Twelve have been sent back to the destinations from which they arrived, and the rest have been transferred to a prison in Ramle (near Tel Aviv)," he said, adding that most of them were French.
In addition, Rosenfeld said, "nine Israelis were detained for being involved in public disturbances at the terminal."
More flights were scheduled to arrive from Europe in the evening and the police will remain on site, he added.
Israeli officials hailed their counter campaign as successful.
"A few activists attempted to arrive and create a provocation; dozens were arrested," Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said according to Israeli media.
"My goal was to prevent a provocation and a public disruption, and that goal was achieved."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told activists to concentrate on solving "real problems" in the region.
"We appreciate your choosing to make Israel the object of your humanitarian concerns," he said in a letter dated Saturday. "We know there were many other worthy choices. You could have chosen to protest the Syrian regime's daily savagery against its own people, which has claimed thousands of lives. "We therefore suggest that you first solve the real problems of the region, and then come back and share with us your experience," added Netanyahu.
"Have a nice flight."
At the Bethlehem news conference, organisers dismissed Netanyahu's letter as "ridiculous."
"When Israel says it is the sole democracy in the Middle East it contradicts itself by deporting people," Amira Musallem said.
"Democracy isn't only about women being able to talk freely."
One of the three activists who managed to attend the news conference slammed the Israeli internal security minister for saying the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign was provocation.
"We are not criminals," the activist said. "We should all be able to fight -- peacefully -- for what we believe in."
Last year, around 800 people tried to join the campaign, with many blocked from flying by airlines. Another 120 were denied entry by Israel and deported.
Second year of hysterical Israeli reaction to Welcome to Palestine
15 April 2012, Alternative Information Center http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)
Sergio Yahni
The Israeli government has responded with laughable hysteria for the second year in a row to the Welcome to Palestine Initiative, in which hundreds of international activists openly declare their intention to visit Palestine when landing in Tel Aviv.
Statement, of dubious legality, which Israel's Ministry of Interior is forcing selected visitors to Israel to sign in response to the Welcome to Palestine Initiative
Since the eruption of the Second Intifada in September 2000, tens of thousands of international activists have come to the occupied Palestinian territory to learn about the Palestinian reality and to express their solidarity by participating in demonstrations and sharing the life and hardships of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
However, this is the second time that participants in the Welcome to Palestine initiative decided that when arriving to Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, they won't hide their intentions. In the eyes of the Israeli immigration authorities, this decision has transformed them into a "security threat."
In the first edition of Welcome to Palestine Prime Minister Netanyahu personally visited Ben Gurion Airport, on his way to Bulgaria and Romania, and instructed various government agencies, including Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino and other security officials to “act decisively against attempts to create a provocation at the airport". Netanyahu further instructed security forces to avoid unnecessary friction with the international activists.
Although such a visit did not occur on April 15, the signs of Israeli hysteria were there. The Oz Unit, Israel’s privatized immigration police, cancelled their planned strike and the Israeli police posted 650 policemen in the airport. While some of the police officers were in plainclothes, the images from Ben Gurion are reminiscent of a military coup.
Israeli authorities perceive in the arrival of the international activists a danger to Israel's image, which may undermine current efforts to “re-brand” Israel in international public opinion. However, there is no need for international activists to damage the attempts to re-brand Israel; it is enough to read a new statement visitors are requested to sign in order to be allowed into Israel.
“I undertake that a cant be a member of any pro Palestinian Organizations and not to be in contact with any other Members of any pro Palestinian organizations, as well I will not participate in pro Palestinian activities. I understand that if I will be caught doing one of these things, all relevant legal actions will be taken against me including deportation and refusal of entry to Israel” (Errors are in the original).
In international public opinion polls, Israel is one of the most abhorred countries in the world. The 2011 EastWest’s global nation brands perception index scored 150 out of 200 countries. Israel came in behind states such as Eritrea and Chad. The hysterical reaction to international activists arriving to Ben Gurion Airport and expressing their solidarity with the Palestinian people is not about to improve this image.
Sergio Yahni
The Israeli government has responded with laughable hysteria for the second year in a row to the Welcome to Palestine Initiative, in which hundreds of international activists openly declare their intention to visit Palestine when landing in Tel Aviv.
Since the eruption of the Second Intifada in September 2000, tens of thousands of international activists have come to the occupied Palestinian territory to learn about the Palestinian reality and to express their solidarity by participating in demonstrations and sharing the life and hardships of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
However, this is the second time that participants in the Welcome to Palestine initiative decided that when arriving to Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, they won't hide their intentions. In the eyes of the Israeli immigration authorities, this decision has transformed them into a "security threat."
In the first edition of Welcome to Palestine Prime Minister Netanyahu personally visited Ben Gurion Airport, on his way to Bulgaria and Romania, and instructed various government agencies, including Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino and other security officials to “act decisively against attempts to create a provocation at the airport". Netanyahu further instructed security forces to avoid unnecessary friction with the international activists.
Although such a visit did not occur on April 15, the signs of Israeli hysteria were there. The Oz Unit, Israel’s privatized immigration police, cancelled their planned strike and the Israeli police posted 650 policemen in the airport. While some of the police officers were in plainclothes, the images from Ben Gurion are reminiscent of a military coup.
Israeli authorities perceive in the arrival of the international activists a danger to Israel's image, which may undermine current efforts to “re-brand” Israel in international public opinion. However, there is no need for international activists to damage the attempts to re-brand Israel; it is enough to read a new statement visitors are requested to sign in order to be allowed into Israel.
“I undertake that a cant be a member of any pro Palestinian Organizations and not to be in contact with any other Members of any pro Palestinian organizations, as well I will not participate in pro Palestinian activities. I understand that if I will be caught doing one of these things, all relevant legal actions will be taken against me including deportation and refusal of entry to Israel” (Errors are in the original).
In international public opinion polls, Israel is one of the most abhorred countries in the world. The 2011 EastWest’s global nation brands perception index scored 150 out of 200 countries. Israel came in behind states such as Eritrea and Chad. The hysterical reaction to international activists arriving to Ben Gurion Airport and expressing their solidarity with the Palestinian people is not about to improve this image.
Assinar:
Postagens (Atom)