Brazil’s MST begins solidarity olive harvest

25 October 2016, Alternative Information Center http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)

Written by Alternative Information Center (AIC)

A delegation from Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement joins the harvest to help Palestinian farmers pick olives and resist Israeli violence.

The Landless Rural Workers Movement, or Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), sent its yearly delegation to Palestine for the olive harvest in solidarity with farmers in the West Bank.

MST is a mass social movement in Brazil formed by rural workers and those who want to fight for land reform and against injustice in

B'Tselem's response to Prime Minister's attack

17/10/2016, B'Tselem בצלם http://www.btselem.org (Israel)

In solidarity with the B'Tselem Human Rights organization, targeted in a vicious campaign by the Prime Minister as by Netanyahu's satellites in the media and political system. we publish here verbatim the press release issued by B'Tselem Spokesperson Amit Gilutz.

B'Tselem's response to Prime Minister's attack: We will continue saying the truth in Israel and abroad; the occupation must end.

Unlike the Prime Minister and his slander, we believe that the Israeli public is worthy of meaningful discussion of the occupation. And, contrary to the complete overlap the Prime Minister establishes between the occupation and Israel, we insist on saying loud and clear: the occupation is not Israel, and resisting it is not anti-Israel.

The opposite is true. At the U.N. Security Council on

Yair Lapid’s Destructive Conspiracy of Silence for Israel

13.07.2016, Tlaxcla http://www.tlaxcala-int.org (Mexico) Tlaxcala, the international network of translators for linguistic diversity

Gideon Levy جدعون ليفي גדעון לוי

All Israelis who break the silence about the occupation and other crimes are doing their patriotic, human and moral duty. That’s why the Yesh Atid leader is so afraid of them.

The discussion on the occupation can only be held abroad. Such a debate requires the existence of a free democratic society where people know what’s going on. So the discussion can’t be held in Israel, just as the discussion on the Yazidis can’t be held in Iraq and the discussion on gay people and journalists can’t be held in Russia.

 

Breaking the Silence activists hold signs saying 'this is what the occupation looks like' at a rally against incitement, Tel Aviv, December 2015. Photo Moti Milrod

Under Israeli rule live two societies that are incapable of holding a discussion on the occupation. There’s the Jewish society that lives in denial and repression, knowing nothing and not wanting to know anything; and the Palestinian society that

Israeli-Palestinian Freedom March; Decade for Combatants for Peace

10/07/2016, The Israeli Communist Party http://www. maki.org.il המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎  الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي‎ (Israel)

 

 The last Freedom March held on June 3, 2016 

(Photo: Standing Together)

This Friday, July 15, Israelis and Palestinians will be holding the eighth monthly Freedom March against the occupation organized by Combatants for Peace and the Standing Together.  These joint marches for peace, independence, and justice for both peoples began late last year and will take place on the first Friday of

Hadash: the coming elections are about fighting for equality, social justice and a just peace

26 october 2012, The Israeli Communist Party http://www.maki.org.il (Israel) (Israel) info@maki.org.il   Neo-liberal and right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and fascist Foreign Minister Ivette (Avigdor) Liberman have agreed to join forces for a general election in the new year. Netanyahu and Liberman said Thursday they will present a joint list for the January 22 election without merging their respective parties, Likud and Yisrael Beitenu. Foreign Minister Liberman calls for expelling, by means of a land swap, hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens simply for being Arab. He ran an election campaign highlighted by the slogan, "Only Lieberman understands Arabic." He was a member of Kach in the late 1970s, which he understandably denies but which Kach veterans from that era swear to. He’s fantasized aloud in the Knesset about executing Arab MKs and threatened to bomb Egypt’s Aswan Dam. He has been under Israel Police investigation for corruption for nearly 15 years, and could face indictment pretty soon.

(Hadash and Communist Party of Israel demonstrators in Tel-Aviv, June 2012: "For Peace and Social Justice."/Photo: Hadash)

Thursday’s union between the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties has resulted in a tie between the rightist and the centrist-leftist blocs, a preliminary poll released after the announcement found. The centrist-left, however, includes Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel) and two Arab parties. Hadash leader Dov Khenin said that a Netanyahu-Liberman government, would open three war fronts: "One on Iran, a second against the Arab-Palestinians in Israel and another on democracy." Therefore, Khenin continued, "the coming elections are about fighting for equality, social justice and against the occupation and for a just peace with the Palestinian people."

SURVEY OF ISRAELI RACISM: 58% OF JEWS LABEL THEIR STATE ‘APARTHEID’

October 23, 2012, Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

by Richard Silverstein

Yesterday, I wrote a post about an Israeli survey by Prof. Camil Fuchs, one of Israel’s leading pollsters, that examined Israeli Jewish attitudes toward ethnic and religious identity, racism and other forms of discrimination. The survey was commissioned by the Yisraela Goldblum Fund and the results were first published by Gideon Levy in yesterday’s Haaretz.

I was so intrigued by the survey that I sought to obtain the full survey results (Hebrew, English summary). Prof. Fuchs forwarded my message to Prof. Amiram Goldblum of the Hebrew University, who sent me the results. Ironically, I first met Prof. Goldblum when he wrote, asking me some questions about issues of libel because Israeli rightists have made a habit of stalking him online. I was glad to offer some ideas about how to pursue his case.

So I was delighted to find out that a Fund he created in his wife’s memory commissioned the survey. He summoned a distinguished group of Israeli academics, diplomats, attorneys, former MKs, and human rights activists to formulate questions that would plumb attitudes of Israelis (Jews) on these critical issues of the day. Among them were Ilan Baruch, who recently resigned in protest from the Israeli foreign ministry, Alon Liel, who sponsored an initiative for Syrian-Israeli peace that was interrupted by the 2006 Lebanon war, human rights attorney Michael Sfard, Prof. Menachem Klein (Bar Ilan University), and IDF Col. (res.) Morela Bar-On.

My post yesterday largely followed the summary of it published by Gideon Levy. Today, I wanted to delve into it in more detail and convey the results more fully.

The first question asked how satisfied were respondents with their life in Israel. Though the overall response was 69% favorable, it’s notable that fully one-third of secular Israelis answered No to that question. Though dissatisfaction with life in one’s homeland isn’t a sure indicator that you’ll leave, it should be a worrying sign to those concerned with preserving this important demographic. These Israelis are the proverbial canary in the coal mine and tell us in which direction that sector of Israeli society is moving. In fact, I’d guess that this number will rise as Israel becomes even more religious, and the poor become poorer as the rich get richer, and wars and violence continue unabated.

While a plurality of 39% of Israeli Jews believe there’s discrimination against new immigrants who wish to work in government ministries, 50% believe there is such discrimination against Israeli Palestinian citizens. 59% believe there should be discrimination in favor of Jews pursuing such jobs.

A minority of 41% believed new immigrants should not be allowed to vote in year following their immigration to Israel. 33% believed that a law should be enacted prohibiting Israeli Palestinians from voting. Not only is this question important as an indicator of the disintegration of democratic values and the triumph of Israeli racism–it’s important because a number of far-right proposals suggest that Israel annex the Territories along with all their Palestinian population, while restricting or denying voting rights. This is precisely the sort of apartheid attitudes this poll was designed to explore.

There was an even 49-49% split on the question of whether the State should cater more to Jews or non-Jews. If an Israeli Palestinian family lived in their building, 42% of Israeli Jews would find this offensive. A similar percentage would be offended if a Palestinian child was in the same class as their own child.

It’s perhaps an unintended irony that when asked how they would respond to an American author who supported BDS and refused to visit Israel, a plurality of 48% suggested inviting the author to visit the country. When told that the author believes Israel is an apartheid state, 58% agreed that it was, either in full or in “certain spheres.”

36% of Israelis believe that the South African boycott contributed in whole or in part to the end of apartheid there. 30% had no opinion, which I interpret to mean some were too frightened to contemplate the question and its personal implications for them (and Israel).

38% want Israel to annex the Territories (48% oppose this option). A plurality of 47% of Israeli Jews support the ethnic cleansing (euphemistically called “transfer” in Hebrew) of Israeli Palestinian citizens. 36% of Israelis support the plan of Avigdor Lieberman to annex sections of Israel that are populated by Israeli Palestinians to Palestine (thus forcing their expulsion from Israel). Were Israel to annex the Territories, 19% of Israelis favor giving Palestinians living there the right to vote (this in essence is what a one state solution would mean). 69% would not offer them the right to vote (which in essence would be a replication of South African apartheid).

(Amir Mizroch’s Twitter profile featuring a “KILL” IDF vision test and a Middle East map on which the word “Bad” is stamped on every Arab country)

Only 17% of Israelis believe that segregated roads should not be permissible. 74% either are untroubled by segregated roads or are troubled by it, but accept it as necessary.

This is an extremely important social document. Please do you best to make it known as widely as possible.

There was one question I wish had been asked, but I know the answer even without it being included. If you asked whether they supported Israel being a democratic state, the overwhelming majority would say Yes. Which goes to prove that a country can go to hell in a handbasket while its citizens believe they’re well on their way to heaven.

A side note: I just came across the Twitter account of Amir Mizroch, Yisrael HaYom’s English edition editor. Go visit it before he hears that I’ve outed him and censors himself. It features the accompanying images: one is an IDF vision test featuring the sole word, “Kill.” The other is a map of the Mideast on which every Arab country has the word “Bad” stamped. N-o-t v-e-r-y f-u-n-n-y. Racist? Yes. Funny? No.

This is the way the winds are blowing in Israel. Yet another indication of the racism that infects not just the Israeli poor or uneducated, but the media elite and virtually every (Jewish) strata as well.

-----------------

ISRAELI POLL: ISRAELIS SUPPORT ETHNIC CLEANSING, ANNEXATION AND APARTHEID STATE

October 22, 2012, Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

by Richard Silverstein

Yediot graphic juxtaposes Israeli ID with Kach party emblem, a closed fist, for an article on the threat of Jewish fascism

A new poll (if anyone can find the full poll results please let me know) of Israeli Jews by Camil Fuchs and commissioned by the New Israel Fund has alarming findings concerning the deterioration of democratic values in Israel. Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz that Israelis (Jews) have largely shed their previous veneer of democratic values and now hold views that can only be described as authoritarian-racist, if not fascist.

The majority of the Jewish public, 59 percent, wants preference[s] for Jews over Arabs in…job [appointments] in government ministries. Almost half the Jews, 49 percent, want the state to treat Jewish citizens better than Arab ones; 42 percent don’t want to live in the same building with Arabs and 42 percent don’t want their children in the same class with Arab children.

A third of the Jewish public wants a law barring Israeli Arabs from voting for the Knesset and a large majority of 69 percent objects to giving 2.5 million Palestinians the right to vote if Israel annexes the West Bank.

A sweeping 74 percent majority is in favor of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. A quarter – 24 percent – believe separate roads are “a good situation” and 50 percent believe they are “a necessary situation.”

Almost half – 47 percent – want part of Israel’s Arab population to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority and 36 percent support transferring some of the Arab towns from Israel to the PA, in exchange for keeping some of the West Bank settlements.

Although the territories have not been annexed, most of the Jewish public (58 percent ) already believes Israel practices apartheid against Arabs. Only 31 percent think such a system is not in force here. Over a third (38 percent ) of the Jewish public wants Israel to annex the territories with settlements on them, while 48 percent object.

…The survey indicates that a third to half of Jewish Israelis want to live in a state that practices formal, open discrimination against its Arab citizens. An even larger majority wants to live in an apartheid state if Israel annexes the territories.

…The interviewees did not object strongly to describing Israel’s character as “apartheid” already today, without annexing the territories. Only 31 percent objected to calling Israel an “apartheid state” and said “there’s no apartheid at all.”

In contrast, 39 percent believe apartheid is practiced “in a few fields”; 19 percent believe “there’s apartheid in many fields” and 11 percent do not know.

The clarion call for liberal Zionists (including the New Israel Fund, which sponsored this poll) has always been that Israel is a “Jewish democratic state.” No one was allowed to separate those two words and say Israel was only a Jewish state or only a democracy. It had to be both. We can no longer say this is true. The majority of Israeli Jews hold views that are clearly antithetical to democracy. In fact, they’ve largely embraced the agenda of Meir Kahane, who held that democracy was a type of illness imported from the west and alien to the Middle East. Kahane favored a Jewish state that offered no democratic rights to non-Jews. This poll shows that Israeli Jews are rapidly flocking to this point of view.

Jews favor superior rights for themselves over non-Jewish citizens. They favor denying Palestinian citizens the right to vote. They favor preferences to Jews over non-Jews in awarding government jobs. They favor an apartheid transportation system. They support the ethnic cleansing of non-Jewish citizens from the State.

In an accompanying op-ed, Levy adds:

Israelis have never appeared so pleased with themselves, even when they admit their racism. Most of them think Israel is a good place to live in and most of them think this is a racist state. It’s good to live in this country, most Israelis say, not despite its racism, but…because of it.

I’ve written here before about the similarities between far-right Israeli attitudes and the Nuremberg Laws. The most extreme of Israel’s ultranationalists harbor such views explicitly. This poll indicates that vast numbers of Israeli Jews share such views, though perhaps they wouldn’t articulate them as virulently.

I find it astonishing that a majority of Jews explicitly accept the term “apartheid” to describe what Israel is. Also interesting is the finding that while 40% favor annexing the Territories, 48% oppose this. That does not mean, of course, that this group is willing to return the Territories. More likely it means they want to retain the status quo in which the West Bank is neither a Palestinian state nor annexed to Israel.

I do not believe Israel is a country that can save itself. Once it has stopped being a democracy, the solution to its problems cannot come from within. I’m afraid that we must wait for a dysfunctional country to perpetrate an act so heinous that the rest of the world cannot help but intervene to prevent something much worse. Serbia brought such a fate upon itself through the massacre of Srebenica and subsequent genocide in Kosovo. Syria is coming to such a crossroads with its recent likely assassination of Lebanon’s security chief. Israel will follow in Assad’s footsteps. It’s only a question of when. And how much bloodshed can the world absorb before it calls Israel out for its behavior.

The poll comes on the heels of an Israeli government report that finds that for the first time there are more Palestinians than Jews in the territory that encompasses Israel and the Occupied Territories. This means that if Israel refused to accept a Palestinian state and annexed the West Bank to Israel, there would still be a Palestinian majority. That in turn means that Israelis will have further reason to jettison the notion that they live in a democracy. In such a predicament, they will have to create an apartheid state in order to guarantee Jewish political dominion. The poll results indicate that this is beginning to sink in. Which means that we must deny supporters of the Occupation regime called Israel the right to call iself a democracy. Its own citizens, as indicated in this poll, explicitly recognize that it is not:

The “Jewish” gave “democracy” a knockout, smashing it to the canvas. Israelis want more and more Jewish and less and less democracy. From now on don’t say Jewish democracy. There’s no such thing, of course. There cannot be. From now on say Jewish state, only Jewish, for Jews alone. Democracy – sure, why not. But for Jews only.

More Fallout from the Protestant Leaders’ Letter on Aid to Israel

October 22, 2012, Shalom Rav http://rabbibrant.com (USA)
A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen

 

Two spot on responses to the recent NY Times article, "Church Appeal on Israel Angers Jewish Groups:"

The first comes from the Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan:

It seems to me that aid of all kinds should have basic human rights strings attached to it. I would have suspended all aid to Israel when it refused to stop its settlement policy on the West Bank, but that's a little like being in favor of an immediate space station on Mars, given the Greater Israel lobby's grip on Congress.

So let me just reiterate something that has no chance of ever happening, but I might as well put on the record: we should treat Israel as any other recipient of US aid. If a country is occupying and settling land conquered through war, if it's treating a minority population with inhumanity, the US should stand up for Western values. It should not single Israel out; but we have to stop treating Israel as the exception to every other US foreign policy rule.

Rev. Jim C. Wall (Contributing Editor of the "Christian Century") in an unflinchingly honest blog post:

To begin with, the 15 church leaders are heavyweights, top officials for their denominations. They include the leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the National Council of Churches, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the American Friends Service Committee (a Quaker agency) and the Mennonite Central Committee. Two Catholic leaders also signed, not including the Catholic Council of Bishops.

These are not just leaders of a few religious groups, which a Protestant version of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs could corral into an interfaith dialogue meeting. These are the major-domos of American Protestantism, which raises the question of what exactly gives the JCPA and its scattered letter signers, these “outraged Jewish groups” as the Times calls them, the right to claim religious standing in this conversation. Many of these Jewish groups are secular and function as part of the Israel Lobby, a collection of lobbying organizations that have Israel, not Judaism as their primary client...

The JCPA and its letter signers have no dogs in this hunt. They can be as outraged as they want. This is still a free country. But the 15 church leaders have made the right religious, not political, move. They are speaking the language of “moral responsibility” in a letter directed to the U.S. Congress on the matter of U.S. funds used by Israel to violate the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Interfaith dialogue has always been nothing more than a device used by American Jewish groups to intimidate the American churches into keeping the ecumenical deal. By this intimidation, these groups have followed the example set by the government of Israel which has long used the so-called “peace process” to sustain its occupation and expand its borders, always to the detriment of the Palestinian people.

It is the right time for the leaders of the American churches to make their moral demand to the Congress. With their letter, they have done so, courageously, considering the political climate of our time. Interfaith dialogue can wait.

As things stand now, the Jewish groups have called for a "summit" for the top leaders of Christian churches to "discuss" the situation with them - and they are reportedly considering it. I hope the Christian leaders will stand firm. It is not the role of these Jewish organizations to dictate how Christian religious leaders can live out their conscience or their values. These organizations have chosen to walk away from the table - they are in no position to demand the terms by which "dialogue" may resume.

We can only hope this sad turn of events will lead to a more honest interfaith conversation about Israel-Palestine - one based on honesty, respect and justice rather than emotional blackmail.

Senior Rabbi: Zionism to Collapse

14August 2012, Fars News Agency http://english.farsnews.com (Iran)

TEHRAN (FNA)- Senior Rabbi Mashallah Golestaninejad underlined the importance of this year's International Quds Day rallies against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, and said Zionism will collapse soon.

"Based on the righteous divine tradition, Zionism will collapse," Golestaninejad told FNA on Tuesday, adding that historicalrecords show that no cruel regime will remain and Zionists are also taking their last breaths.

He described the International Quds Day rallies as a symbol of defending the innocent Palestinian nation, and said, "The Iranian Jews attend the glorious rallies every year along with other Iranian citizens and we will participate in this ceremony this year too."

The last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan is dubbed as 'the international Qods Day' during which worldwide Muslims stage demonstrations to voice theirstrong protest and outrage at the occupying regime of Israel.

The International Qods Day was started by the late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, as a way of expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and underscoring importance of Qods to Muslims.

Haifa: A protest against the attack on Iran

11 August 2012, The Israeli Communist Party המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎ الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي‎ (Israel)
info@maki.org.il

This past Friday (August 10) dozens rallied in Haifa against the attack on Iran. Last Monday, (August 6) two hundred demonstrated outside the Defense Ministry, with the call: "Do not bomb. Talk! Rather than continuing the rhetoric of intimidation, it is time that the State of Israel will agree to join the regional talks, due to be held later this year in Helsinki, where Iran will participate.

Today is also the anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. On this day, the call is made all over the world read: No more Hiroshima, No more Nagasaki! We join this call and add: the safest way to end the nuclear arms race in the Middle East is to make the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. No attack on Iran. Yes to dialogue!"

The demonstration against the attack on Iran, yesterday, near the Baha'i Holy Place in Haifa (Photo: Al Ittihad)
In addition, Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel launched an anti-war campaign. Particularly striking was a commentary by well-know writer David Grossman, published in "Haaretz" (August 3) under the title, "As Netanyahu Pushes Israel Closer to War with Iran, Israelis Cannot Keep Silent." Grossman extends his challenge beyond the military to the Israeli public at large, asking why aren't there demonstrations at the prime minister's residence opposing another war launched by Israel? "How will we face ourselves and our children when we are asked why we kept silent?"

Related:
http://maki.org.il/en/component/content/article/11508-cpi-for-the-future-for-life-stop-the-war-with-iran

MY CONGREGATION PRESENTS “UNTOLD STORIES” OF LIFE UNDER OCCUPATION

May 25, 2012, Shalom Rav http://rabbibrant.com (USA)
A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen

My hometown paper, The Evanston Roundtable, has just published a thorough feature on "Untold Stories," a program initiated by my congregation's Peace Dialogue Task Force that features Palestinians sharing their personal stories of their lives under occupation.

"Untold Stories" was initiated after we invited two Chicago-area Palestinians - a man from Gaza and a woman from the West Bank - two speak about their lives during our Rosh Hashanah discussion groups. The presentation was so successful and well-received, the Peace Dialogue decided to make it an ongoing program - and eventually invite other faith communities in Evanston to participate as well.

From the article:
This fall, St. Nicholas Church will host another chapter of “Untold Stories,” knowing the narratives lend themselves to surprise endings. They allow (Palestinian presenter) Daniel Bannoura to learn that in Chicago, some of his best friends can be Jewish. And (JRC's Peace Dialogue chairperson) Sallie Gratch can discover that her involvement with Palestinians and their stories “sticks closer to my Jewish values than anything I’ve ever done.”

WHERE’S THE PALESTINIAN GANDHI? SOAKING IN BLOOD SHED BY SETTLERS

May 20th, 2012 Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

Jewish settler terrorist shoots Nemer Fathi of Asiara in cold blood

Yesterday, in the northern West Bank, outside the village of Aserra, a Jewish settler shot a Palestinian boy who was participating in a demonstration. Here is the picture of the assassin aiming his rifle and there is the picture of the boy after the bullet has hit its target.

UPDATE: Sheera Frenkel has spoken to the victim’s family and tweeted to me that the bullet entered by his cheek and exist by his ear. So by the grace of God it didn’t enter his brain, though it easily could have.

Pictures like this enrage me when I think of the inane questions of liberal Zionists like Gershom Gorenberg: “Where’s the Palestinian Gandhi.” Gorenberg makes his living off asking numbskull questions like this when the answer is staring him in the face. The Palestinian Gandhi, Nemer Fathi, age 24, is pictured here soaking in his own blood. The question shouldn’t be where is the Palestinian Gandhi. The question should be what will Gorenberg and the liberal Zionists do to stop the murder of the Palestinian Gandhis. When will they stop blaming the Palestinians? When will they recognize that the blame lies solely with Israel and that the timidity of the liberal Zionists allows their countrymen to continue to live under the illusion that they’ve done enough for peace and that it’s the Palestinians who haven’t.

These settlers are terrorists, but their government will not bring them to justice. That is the crime. That is where the Gorenbergs of the world should focus all their energy. He should identity this settler and demand the police arrest him. He should bring his liberal Zionist friends to the settlement and knock on the man’s door and make a citizen’s arrest (if such a thing is possible). And if the police won’t arrest him he and his liberal Zionist friends should camp outside the police station till they do.

But it’s so much more appealing to blame Palestinians instead of looking in the mirror to see where the real problem lies. It’s also appealing to smear critics like me by calling me an anti-Zionist in the pages of American Prospect instead of dealing seriously with the criticism.

Here is B’Tselem’s report on this incident. It makes clear that not only were police and IDF present at the shooting, that they did nothing to stop it. In fact, one shooter used a military issued rifle and was likely a soldier on leave and another was likely a police officer similarly off duty (or at least not in uniform):

On Saturday, 19.5.2012, around four thirty in the afternoon, a large group of settlers descended on the eastern outskirts of the village ‘Asira al-Qibliya, from the settlement Yitzhar. B’Tselem volunteer photographers filmed the events from two angles. The video shows the settlers, some of whom were masked and armed, throwing stones at Palestinian homes, and fires beginning to burn. One of the masked settlers was armed with a “Tavor” rifle which is only used by infantry soldiers, raising the suspicion that he is a soldier on leave.

Palestinian youths from the village soon arrived and threw stones at the settlers. A few minutes later, soldiers and Border Police officers arrived at the scene. During these moments, the video records the sound of several rounds of live ammunition being fired, but does not show its source.

Around 5pm, a group of three settlers are seen standing with a soldier in front of the Palestinian youths, while all around there is mutual stone throwing. Two of the settlers seen were armed with M4 rifles, and one was armed with a pistol. One of the settlers is wearing what looks like a police cap. The video footage shows the settlers aiming their weapons at the Palestinians and firing.

The firing injured village resident, Fathi ‘Asayira, 24, in the head. He is seen being evacuated from the area by a group of youths. He is hospitalized in a stable condition in Rafidiya hospital in Nablus. About fie other Palestinians were injured by stones.
The video footage raises grave suspicions that the soldiers present did not act to prevent the settlers from throwing stones and firing live ammunition at the Palestinians. The soldiers did not try to remove the settlers and in fact are seen standing by settlers while they are shooting and stone throwing.

B’Tselem wrote urgently to the Judea and Samaria Police requesting that those involved in the violent attack are arrested and prosecuted. Additionally, B’Tselem wrote to the Military Police Investigative Unit (MPIU) requesting that a military police investigation is opened at once into the suspicion that the soldiers did not adhere to their obligation to protect Palestinians from settler violence, and that one of the attackers was a soldier on leave.

B’Tselem additionally requested that the soldiers are instructed to cooperate with the police investigation and identify the suspect in the shooting.

Here (and here) are the B’Tselem videos of the assault on the Palestinians. Though B’Tselem has demanded an investigation, we all know what the result will be–no result. A pro forma investigation in which the case will be dropped for lack of evidence or for lack of interest or for whatever reason the army and police choose. The reason: “injury while Palestinian.” Now, our big, brave pro-Israel readers will come forward and remind us that Palestinians threw rocks and therefore what should they expect. But keep in mind that the settlers, according to B’Tselem’s statement, not only threw rocks first, but had deadly weapons and used them, while the Palestinians had none.

While I do not support violence on either side, can anyone except the pro-Israel flacks not understand how homicidal behavior such as this is one of the single most incendiary elements of the conflict? Put yourself in the shoes of anyone who was at this incident. Or any Palestinian who sees the video. What would you think? What would you do? Ehud Barak already knows what he would do. He’s already said publicly in one of his rare moments of truthfulness and candor that if he were Palestinian he would be a militant. Personally, I know that I wouldn’t be. But I do know that I’d find other ways to resist. I do know that that could be me out there in the line of fire were I Palestinian.

Once again, I say that these settlers are Jewish terrorists and that a State which permits their rampant violence aids and abets terror. The State is an accessory after the fact. I pray that sometime down the line the settler leadership and military and police commanders who stood by and did nothing while this attempted murder happened will be tried before an international criminal court for their reprehensible behavior. Like the militia leaders of Croatia and Serbia during the civil war, who were tried and convicted for their collusion with ethnic killers, these Israelis too are no less guilty.

Know that the world will hold you accountable. That you do not represent Judaism as I and most Jews know it. That Jews with any moral sense renounce you just as most Muslims renounce Al-Qaeda terrorists. Any Jew or Jewish organization that does not explicitly renounce this chilul haShem is not worthy of the support of anyone in the Jewish community.

SETTLER SHOOTING PALESTINIAN, 'ASIRA AL-QIBLIYA, 19.5.2012, RAW FOOTAGE, 2ND CAMERA

20 May 2012, B'Tselem בצלם http://www.btselem.org (Israel)


הצטרפו לעמוד הפייסבוק של בצלם: https://www.facebook.com/btselem

עוד מידע על האירוע: http://www.btselem.org/hebrew/press_releases/20120520_asira_al_qibliya

South Africa to ban labeling settlement products as 'made in Israel'

19 May 2012, The Israeli Communist Party המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎ (Israel)
info@maki.org.il

The South African government decided last week to draw attention of consumers that products they buy labeled “Made in Israel” could have been made in illegal settlements mushrooming the occupied Palestinian territories, a press release issued by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said on Saturday. It said that after more than a year of joint work between Palestinian and South African organizations, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies announced he will forbid false and misleading labeling of settlements products.

He said that the South African government will forbid the misleading labeling of products originating in the Jewish settlements in the occupied territory as if they were produced in Israel. According to Wafa Palestinian new agency “Consumers in South Africa should not be misled into believing that products originating from the occupied Palestinian territory are products originating from Israel," said a ministry statement. “The burden of proving where the products originate will lie with traders,” a step that will further trample attempts to obscure the origin or connection to settlements of some Israeli products.

A Palestinian activist confronts heavily armed Israeli soldiers in a weekly demonstration against the separation wall in Al-Masara, West Bank, on May 18, 2012 (Photo: Activestills)

According to the statement, the government of South Africa recognizes the State of Israel only within the 1948 borders, which do not include Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.

Mohammed Khatib, a resident of the West Bank village of Bil'in and the coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee who was involved in the efforts to promote the notice, said, “The notice is based on the recognition of the injustice done to us Palestinians by the occupation and Israeli settlements. It highlights the fact that the de-facto annexation of our lands as well as the settlements themselves are entirely illegal. The notice is an important first step, which, reason suggests, should be followed by a complete ban on the marketing of these products in South Africa, no matter how they are labeled.”

Denmark had also announced on Friday that all goods produced in the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank should have clear label of origin on them in order to differentiate them from products made in Israel proper. Denmark intended to follow European Union policy of banning settlement products from their markets because they originate from illegal locations.

This is a move that will clearly show consumers that this produce has been produced under conditions that not only the Danish government, but also the European governments have rejected," Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal was quoted as saying by Danish online news-site Politken.

"Then it is up to consumers whether they are prepared to buy the produce," he added. The Danish FM said that stricter controls and labeling of settlement produce should be seen as part of the European Union's support for a two state solution. Enforcing controls on settlement produce also shows the Palestinians that the world is against illegal settlement building. The move targets illegal settlements and not Israel, the Danish FM added. In April, the Co-operative group, one of the United Kingdom's largest food retailers, decided to boycott four companies that export products from Israeli settlements.

Related: UK food retailer boycotts settlement exports

Gallup Poll Finds 85% of Israelis Believe Economic System is Corrupt, Ranking It 18th in World

May 13th, 2012 Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

One of Israel's wealthiest oligarch families, the Ofer Brothers

A Gallup poll ranked Israel 18th most corrupt nation in the world (Haaretz coverage here) in the eyes of its own citizens. 85% of Israelis believed that business in their country was corrupt. Only 9% believed it was not widespread. This ranks them on a par with Sierra Leone and Greece, and the most corruptly perceived nation in the Middle East. In contrast 62% and 40% respectively of the citizens of the U.S. and Canada ranked their countries corrupt. More Israelis considered their country corrupt than the citizens of Congo, Zimbabwe and Kyrgyzstan.

To be clear, the results are not an objective indication of the level of corruption, but rather of the citizens’ perception of corruption. Of course, there may be countries that are objectively more corrupt, but whose citizens aren’t as aware of the corruption as in Israel.

For anyone surprised at the outpouring of enthusiasm and support for last summer’s J14 social justice movement, they should look no farther than this survey to understand the reasons. The overwhelming majority of Israelis understand that their economic system is run by a select elite group of oligarchical families. They control vast swaths of wealth in the country and do so with the connivance of the country’s political leadership. This crony capitalism is also indirectly linked to the moral corruption represented by Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians through its nearly 50-year Occupation.

In defense, a government official had this to say:

The source said the issue remains a problem primarily in the real estate sector, in the defense industry and among firms that do business with the government.

So there isn’t a problem except in three of the largest economic sectors of Israeli society.

Israel is no longer a true democracy (if it ever was) and it is no longer a society whose economic system is fair and reasonable. Though a select few live high off the hog and there is a class who benefits handsomely from the technology boom and related commercial development, poverty is rampant. The gap between haves and have nots is among the highest in the world. The gap between Jews and Palestinians (citizens) and between secular and religious in terms of economic development is huge. The economic injustice reflected in this poll goes hand in hand with the moral injustice of Occupation.

It remains to be seen whether the J14 movement will revive this summer and find recurring echoes among Israel’s citizens. This is its latest incarnation.

Related articles
Poll shows most Israelis have little faith in captains of industry (haaretz.com)

ZIONIST HISTORY: A SHORT QUIZ

7 may 2012, Alternative Information Center http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)

Neve Gordon*

Take this test to find out how much you know about the gradual shift in Israeli political thought over the decades.

Not long after Israel celebrated its 64th Independence Day on April 26, a friend prepared a quiz of sorts. She read out loud political quotes to about ten guests who were having dinner at my house, and asked us to identify the politician who had uttered each statement.

Truth be told, none of my guests did very well on the quiz, but I thought that readers acquainted with Zionist history might do better and would be able to identify the source of each of the following statements. There is only one rule to this game: all search engines, including Google, are off limits.

• "Does a bad law become a good one just because Jews apply it? I say that this law is bad from its very foundation and does not become good because it is practiced by Jews ... We oppose administrative detention in principle. There is no place for such detention."

• "We do not accept the semi-official view ... wherein the state grants rights and is entitled to rescind them. We believe that there are human rights that precede the human form of life called a state."

• "We have learned that an elected parliamentary majority can be an instrument in the hands of a group of rulers and act as camouflage for their tyranny. Therefore, the nation must, if it chooses freedom, determine its rights also with regard to the House of Representatives in order that the majority thereof, that serves the regime more than it oversees it, should not negate these rights."

• "We would propose that the Knesset enact a law of its own free will, limiting its authority and stipulating that it will not tolerate any legislation that limits oral or written freedom of expression or association, or other basic civil and human rights to be enumerated before the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee."

• "The day will come when a government elected by our people will fulfill the first promise made to the people on the establishment of the state, namely: To elect a founding assembly whose chief function - in any country on earth - is to provide the people with a constitution and issue legislative guarantees of civil liberties and national liberty... For the nation will then be free - above all, free of fear, free of hunger, free of the fear of starvation. That day will come. I can sense that it is coming soon."

• "Some say that it is impossible for us to provide full equal rights to Arab citizens of the state because they do not fulfill full equal obligations. But this is a strange claim. True, we decided not to obligate Arab residents, as distinguished from the Druze, to perform military service. But we decided this of our own free will, and I believe that the moral reason for it is valid. Should war break out, we would not want one Arab citizen to face the harsh human test that our own people had experienced for generations."

Confused yet?

If you are having trouble identifying the author, you are not alone. After hearing the quotes, I, too, wondered why they were so difficult to decipher. But, following a few misguided guesses, I recognised the source of the difficulty. The quiz was counterintuitive, and not only because all of the statements were uttered by a single politician.

No doubt, time has done its work and what was once pronounced by the undisputed leader of the Israeli right, now sounds more like declarations coming out of the liberal and far left - such as Knesset Members from Meretz and Hadash. Even the head of the Labor Party, Sheli Yichimovich, does not oppose administrative detention, and does not dare to claim that "there are human rights that precede the human form of life called a state", probably for fear of losing potential voters.

My friend's quiz managed to expose just how far right Israeli politics, as well as the public discourse informing it, have shifted over the years; so much so that, within the current political climate, declarations once uttered by former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who passed away 20 years ago, can now only be reiterated by leftists.

I have no doubt that if Menachem Begin, commander of the infamous Irgun militia from 1943-1948, were alive today and would utter these very same statements in the Knesset, his own party members from the Likud - as well as the Israeli majority - would condemn him. Today, citizens who hold such positions are simply called "traitors".

This article first appeared in Al Jazeera

*Neve Gordon is the author of Israel's Occupation and can be reached through his website.

THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT'S BADGE OF SHAME

23 April 2012, EDITORIAL Haaretz הארץ (Israel)

If Netanyahu feels he lacks the political power to obey the High Court's directives he must dissolve the government and demand an electoral mandate for its peace and settlement policies.

The behavior of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most of his ministers with regard to Beit El's Givat Ha'ulpana neighborhood recalls that of a career criminal who is undaunted by condemnation or punishment.

Despite the harsh response from the High Court of Justice, led by Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, to the government's request to postpone yet again the evacuation of the Migron outpost, Netanyahu has told Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to "find a solution" that would allow the state to violate its promise to the court to demolish Givat Ha'ulpana's buildings by the end of the month.

As with the recent case of the so-called Machpelah House in Hebron, which settlers moved into without the necessary permits, our elected officials are competing with each other in attacking Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who dares to try to meet the state's commitment to the nation's highest court.

A year ago Netanyahu himself signed off on the state's promise to evacuate the dozens of families living in Givat Ha'ulpana and demolish their homes. He now says the court order is "a decree the public cannot tolerate." The prime minister should now explain to the Palestinian public how it is supposed to tolerate the theft of its land and to the Israeli public how it is supposed to tolerate the repeated lawbreaking in the territories for as long as it serves the interests of the settlers.

The size of Givat Ha'ulpana and the duration of its residents' use of the private Palestinian land on which it was built, with state support, are not mitigating circumstances but rather a badge of shame for the rule of law. The government's repeated postponements of its legal, moral and international obligations to evacuate the illegal outposts - particularly those built on privately owned Palestinian land - is no substitute for good policy.

If Netanyahu feels he lacks the political power to obey the High Court's directives he must dissolve the government and demand an electoral mandate for its peace and settlement policies. One can only hope that the public will shake off its apathy and cry out against stealing land from the helpless, breaking the law and spitting in the face of the justice system.

Read this article in Hebrew

Palestinians and internationals attacked during biking trip in Jordan Valley

by Joseph and Emiliano*

15 April 2012/International Solidarity Movement, West Bank (Palestine) http://palsolidarity.org

Palestinian and international cyclists were brutally attacked by the Israeli occupation forces on Saturday as they attempted to bike up Route 90, the main North-South highway running through the Jordan Valley. The cyclists were demonstrating against Israeli apartheid policies in the Jordan Valley, which limit Palestinian access to roadways as part of an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Bedouin communities of the Valley.



One Palestinian woman and two international activists from Denmark and Holland were evacuated to the hospital with injuries after being struck in the head with an M-16 rifle, and one international activist was handcuffed and detained for over an hour before being released without charges.

Over one hundred activists from Palestine and around the world participated in the bike protest, organized by Sharek Youth Forum. Participants rode approximately 5 kilometers before being blocked by Israeli occupation soldiers and jeeps at the entrance to Route 90. Soldiers informed the bikers that they would not be allowed to continue “for their own safety.” When activists peacefully attempted to continue on their way, the local commander of the occupation forces swung his rifle at the head of multiple activists, resulting in the hospitalizations of the three activists and the detention of a man from Sweden.

Palestinian drivers on Route 90, the Jordan Valley’s main north-south route, face regular harassment and attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers. Palestinian drivers and cyclists are frequently pulled over and searched for no reason, and in some places Palestinians are even prevented from turning across the road at places Israelis have free access to.

The Jordan Valley faces a concerted Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing towards the Palestinians living there. Demolitions of homes occur with frequency, and the Israelis are currently stealing the vast majority of the valley’s land and water. The majority of the fruit and vegetables produced on this stolen land are exported to Europe and North America. The bike demonstration was part of a day of demonstrations and festivities that included visits to villages, a youth dubke performance, and speeches. The events aim to send the message to the world and the occupying forces that the people of the Jordan Valley and Palestine refuse to cede their land to the illegal occupation and will continue to resist and remain on their land.

* Joseph and Emiliano are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).