quarta-feira, 24 de agosto de 2011
CONFUSION EN ISRAËL, ISOLÉ DIPLOMATIQUEMENT ET TENTÉ DE MENER UNE NOUVELLE OPÉRATION MILITAIRE CONTRE GAZA
22 août 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) http://www.france-palestine.org (France)
Pierre Puchot, Médiapart
Dimanche, les Israéliens se sont réveillés avec une nouvelle situation de crise, diplomatique et sécuritaire. Dans les cafés, sur les lieux de travail, on ne parle que de l’enchaînement tragique qui se déroule dans le sud du pays depuis jeudi, de l’attaque contre les civils et militaires israéliens aux frappes israéliennes contre Gaza qui ont coûté la vie à plusieurs civils palestiniens (lire notre article publié vendredi :L’attaque d’Eilat interroge sur l’efficacité de la coopération militaire Egypte-Israël).
Depuis ces frappes, plusieurs dizaines de tirs de roquettes, pour certains revendiqués par le Hamas, sont partis de Gaza depuis vendredi, touchant le sud d’Israël, et tuant notamment un civil à Beer Sheva. Sautant sur l’occasion pour pousser le gouvernement dans ses retranchements, plusieurs députés de Kadima, le parti d’opposition de centre droit dirigé par Tzipi Livni, ont demandé dimanche au premier ministre, Nétanyahou, de mener une opération militaire d’ampleur contre la bande de Gaza. Enfin de journée, un accord pour un cessez-le-feu serait cependant intervenu, selon le témoignage anonyme d’un responsable du Hamas, selon le site du quotidien israélien Haaretz.
Ces derniers jours, l’agenda sécuritaire avant pourtant laissé place aux revendications du mouvement social sans précédent que connaît Israël depuis la mi-juillet. Dimanche, au lendemain de l’attaque, les tentes n’avaient pas disparu des rues d’Israël, comme l’avaient annoncé un peu vite plusieurs éditorialistes. Mais le moral des « campeurs » était largement atteint. Sans condamner le choix de Nétanyahou de frapper Gaza quelques heures à peine après l’attaque d’Eilat, beaucoup expriment leur doute sur l’opportunité de ce choix. « Tout est confus, on a tout fait pour éviter de parler entre nous du conflit avec les Palestiniens, pour ne pas nous diviser, glissait Ohad, 24 ans, électeur de Nétanyahou en 2009, et porte-parole d’un des campements de Jérusalem, vendredi au lendemain de l’attaque d’Eilat. Cela nous prend de court, mais tous ici partagent le sentiment que la sécurité n’est plus notre seule priorité aujourd’hui. Ce n’est plus le tapis sous lequel le gouvernement peut cacher toutes les misères sociales que nous devons affronter. De ce point de vue, une nouvelle opération à Gaza ne résoudra rien. »
Dimanche dans l’après-midi, le calme était revenu sur Beer Sheva. Et nombreux étaient les analystes, de droite comme de gauche, à appeler Benjamin Nétanyahou à la retenue.
Interrogé par Mediapart, le politologue israélien Tzvi Mazel, ancien ambassadeur en Egypte, juge pour sa part que « ce n’est pas le moment pour Israël d’intervenir dans la bande de Gaza. Tout cela est parti d’un incident limité, ajoute-t-il. Je connais Ehud Barak (ministre de la défense), il ne se laissera pas entraîner dans une riposte irréfléchie. Maintenant, c’est au gouvernement de décider. L’opposition met la pression, c’est son droit. Mais, avec l’aide de l’Egypte, nous devrions pouvoir arriver à une solution qui permettrait de calmer tous les esprits.»
« Une nouvelle escalade, et impliquer ainsi Israël dans une seconde guerre à Gaza, est-ce vraiment nécessaire ? s’interroge Ari Shavit dans le quotidien de gauche, Haaretz. Nétanyahou ne doit pas succomber à pareil scénario. Le Hamas ne se trouvait pas derrière les attaques de vendredi, et ne cherche pas non plus à accroître la tension avec Israël. (…) Le premier défi est de stabiliser les relations avec l’Egypte et la situation au Sinaï.»
Après la défiance de la Turquie, qui attend toujours des « excuses » pour l’affaire de la flottille (neuf morts l’an passé), Israël s’est pourtant mis à dos l’Egypte, qui a annoncé son intention de rappeler son ambassadeur pour protester contre la mort de cinq de ses policiers à la frontière avec l’État hébreu. Le gouvernement affirme que la crise diplomatique avec son allié de trente ans est déjà réglée. Mais personne ici n’est dupe : « Bientôt, les vues de Nétanyahou et Lieberman s’accompliront, et Israël fera face à ses défis tout seul, ironisait Yossi Sarid dimanche dans Haaretz. Heureux nous sommes, isolés nous sommes.»
L’isolement d’Israël est devenu une donnée importante que le gouvernement de Nétanyahou ne peut négliger. Critiqué de toutes parts ces dernières semaines sur le plan interne, économique et social, Nétanyahou doit désormais décider s’il choisit ou non de céder aux pressions de l’extrême droite comme de l’opposition, et, comme l’ancien premier ministre Ehud Olmert face au Liban à l’été 2006, de donner du temps à son gouvernement en engageant Israël dans un nouveau conflit dont les habitants et civils de Gaza seraient à nouveau les victimes.
MEDIAPART : http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/int...
segunda-feira, 22 de agosto de 2011
THE RETURN OF THE GENERALS
20 august 2011, Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)
Uri Avnery*
SINCE THE beginning of the conflict, the extremists of both sides have always played into each other’s hands. The cooperation between them was always much more effective than the ties between the corresponding peace activists.
“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” asked the prophet Amos (3:3). Well, seems they can.
This was proved again this week.
AT THE beginning of the week, Binyamin Netanyahu was desperately looking for a way out of an escalating internal crisis. The social protest movement was gathering momentum and posing a growing danger to his government.
The struggle was going on, but the protest had already made a huge difference. The whole content of the public discourse had changed beyond recognition.
Social ideas were taking over, pushing aside the hackneyed talk about “security”. TV talk show panels, previously full of used generals, were now packed with social workers and professors of economics. One of the consequences was that women were also much more prominent.
And then it happened. A small extremist Islamist group in the Gaza Strip sent a detachment into the Egyptian Sinai desert, from where it easily crossed the undefended Israeli border and created havoc. Several fighters (or terrorists, depends who is talking) succeeded in killing eight Israeli soldiers and civilians, before some of them were killed. Another four of their comrades were killed on the Egyptian side of the border. The aim seems to have been to capture another Israeli soldier, to strengthen the case for a prisoner exchange on their terms.
In a jiffy, the economics professors vanished from the TV screens, and their place was taken by the old gang of exes – ex-generals, ex-secret-service chiefs, ex-policemen, all male, of course, accompanied by their entourage of obsequious military correspondents and far-right politicians.
With a sigh of relief, Netanyahu returned to his usual stance. Here he was, surrounded by generals, the he-man, the resolute fighter, the Defender of Israel.
IT WAS, for him and his government, an incredible stroke of luck.
It can be compared to what happened in 1982. Ariel Sharon, then Minister of Defense, had decided to attack the Palestinians and Syrians in Lebanon, He flew to Washington to obtain the necessary American agreement. Alexander Haig told him that the US could not agree, unless there was a “credible provocation”.
A few days later, the most extreme Palestinian group, led by Abu Nidal, Yasser Arafat’s mortal enemy, made an attempt on the life of the Israeli ambassador in London, paralyzing him irreversibly. That was certainly a “credible provocation”. Lebanon War I was on its way.
This week’s attack was also an answer to a prayer. Seems that God loves Netanyahu and the military establishment. The incident not only wiped the protest off the screen, it also put an end to any serious chance of taking billions off the huge military budget in order to strengthen the social services. On the contrary, the event proved that we need a sophisticated electronic fence along the 150 miles of our desert border with Sinai. More, not less, billions for the military.
BEFORE THIS miracle occurred, it looked as if the protest movement was unstoppable.
Whatever Netanyahu did was too little, too late, and just wrong.
In the first days, Netanyahu treated the whole thing as a childish prank, unworthy of the attention of responsible adults. When he realized that this movement was serious, he mumbled some vague proposals for lowering the price of apartments, but by then the protest had already moved far beyond the original demand for “affordable housing”. The slogan was now “The People Want Social Justice”
After the huge 250,000-strong demonstration in Tel Aviv, the protest leaders were facing a dilemma: how to proceed? Yet another mass protest in Tel Aviv might mean falling attendance. The solution was sheer genius: not another big demonstration in Tel Aviv, but smaller demonstrations all over the country. This disarmed the reproach that the protesters are spoiled Tel Aviv brats, “sushi eaters and water-pipe smokers” as one minister put it. It also brought the protest to the masses of disadvantaged Oriental Jewish inhabitants of the “periphery”, from Afula in the North to Beer Sheva in the South, most of them the traditional voters of Likud. It became a love-fest of fraternization.
So what does a run-of-the-mill politician do in such a situation? Well, of course, he appoints a committee. So Netanyahu told a respectable professor with a good reputation to set up a committee which would, in cooperation with nine ministers, no less, come up with a set of solutions. He even told him that he was ready to completely change his own convictions.
(He did already change one of his convictions when he announced in 2009 that he now advocates the Two-State Solution. But after that momentous about-face, absolutely nothing changed on the ground.)
The youngsters in the tents joked that “Bibi” could not change his opinions, because he has none. But that is a mistake – he does indeed have very definite opinions on both the national and the social levels: “the whole of Eretz Israel” on the one, and Reagan-Thatcher economic orthodoxy on the other.
The young tent leaders countered the appointment of the establishment committee with an unexpected move: they appointed a 60-strong advisory council of their own, composed of some of the most prominent university professors, including an Arab female professor and a moderate rabbi, and headed by a former deputy governor of the Bank of Israel.
The government committee has already made it clear that it will not deal with middle class problems but concentrate on those of the lowest socio-economic groups. Netanyahu has added that he will not automatically adopt their (future) recommendations, but weight them against the economic possibilities. In other words, he does not trust his own nominees to understand the economic facts of life.
AT THAT point, Netanyahu and his aides pinned their hopes on two dates: September and November 2011.
In November, the rainy season usually sets in. No drop of rain before that. But when it starts to rain cats and dogs, it was hoped in Netanyahu’s office, the spoiled Tel Aviv kids will run for shelter. End of the Rothschild tent city.
Well, I remember spending some miserable weeks in the winter of the 1948 war in worse tents, in the midst of a sea of mud and water. I don’t think that the rain will make the tent-dwellers give up their struggle, even if Netanyahu’s religious partners send the most fervent Jewish prayers for rain to the high heavens.
But before that, in September, just a few weeks away, the Palestinians – it was hoped - would start a crisis that will divert attention. This week they already submitted to the UN General Assembly a request to recognize the State of Palestine. The Assembly will most probably accede. Avigdor Lieberman has already enthusiastically assured us that the Palestinians are planning a “bloodbath” at that time. Young Israelis will have to exchange their tents in Tel Aviv for the tents in the West Bank army camps.
It’s a nice dream (for the Liebermans), but Palestinians had so far showed no inclination to violence.
All that changed this week.
FROM NOW on, Netanyahu and his colleagues can direct events as they wish.
They have already “liquidated” the chiefs of the group which carried out the attack, called “the Popular Resistance Committees”. This happened while the fire-fight along the border was still going on. The army had been forewarned and was ready. The fact that the attackers succeeded nevertheless in crossing the border and shooting at vehicles was ascribed to an operational failure.
What now? The group in Gaza will fire rockets in retaliation. Netanyahu can – if he so wishes – kill more Palestinian leaders, military and civilian. This can easily set off a vicious circle of retaliation and counter-retaliation, leading to a full-scale Molten Lead-style war. Thousands of rockets on Israel, thousands of bombs on the Gaza Strip. One ex-military fool already argued that the entire Gaza Strip will have to be re-occupied.
In other words, Netanyahu has his hand on the tap of violence, and he can raise or lower the flames at will.
His desire to put an end to the social protest movement may well play a role in his decisions.
THIS BRINGS us back to the big question of the protest movement: can one bring about real change, as distinct from forcing some grudging concessions from the government, without becoming a political force?
Can this movement succeed as long as there is a government which has the power to start - or deepen - a “security crisis” at any time?
And the related question: can one talk about social justice without talking about peace?
A few days ago, while strolling among the tents on Rothschild Boulevard, I was asked by an internal radio station to give an interview and address the tent-dwellers. I said: “You don’t want to talk about peace, because you want to avoid being branded as ‘leftists”. I respect that. But social justice and peace are two sides of the same coin, they cannot be separated. Not only because they are based on the same moral principles, but also because in practice they depend on each other.”
When I said that, I could not have imagined how clearly this would be demonstrated only two days later.
REAL CHANGE means replacing this government with a new and very different political set up.
Here and there people in the tents are already talking about a new party. But elections are two years away, and for the time being there is no sign of a real crack in the right-wing coalition that might bring the elections closer. Will the protest be able to keep up its momentum for two whole years?
Israeli governments have yielded in the past to mass demonstrations and public uprisings. The formidable Golda Meir resigned in the face of mass demonstrations blaming her for the omissions that led to the fiasco at the start of the Yom Kippur War. The government coalitions of both Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in the 1990s broke under the pressure of an indignant public opinion.
Can this happen now? In view of the military flare-up this week, it does not look likely. But stranger things have happened between heaven and earth, especially in Israel, the land of limited impossibilities.
Uri Avnery*
SINCE THE beginning of the conflict, the extremists of both sides have always played into each other’s hands. The cooperation between them was always much more effective than the ties between the corresponding peace activists.
“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” asked the prophet Amos (3:3). Well, seems they can.
This was proved again this week.
AT THE beginning of the week, Binyamin Netanyahu was desperately looking for a way out of an escalating internal crisis. The social protest movement was gathering momentum and posing a growing danger to his government.
The struggle was going on, but the protest had already made a huge difference. The whole content of the public discourse had changed beyond recognition.
Social ideas were taking over, pushing aside the hackneyed talk about “security”. TV talk show panels, previously full of used generals, were now packed with social workers and professors of economics. One of the consequences was that women were also much more prominent.
And then it happened. A small extremist Islamist group in the Gaza Strip sent a detachment into the Egyptian Sinai desert, from where it easily crossed the undefended Israeli border and created havoc. Several fighters (or terrorists, depends who is talking) succeeded in killing eight Israeli soldiers and civilians, before some of them were killed. Another four of their comrades were killed on the Egyptian side of the border. The aim seems to have been to capture another Israeli soldier, to strengthen the case for a prisoner exchange on their terms.
In a jiffy, the economics professors vanished from the TV screens, and their place was taken by the old gang of exes – ex-generals, ex-secret-service chiefs, ex-policemen, all male, of course, accompanied by their entourage of obsequious military correspondents and far-right politicians.
With a sigh of relief, Netanyahu returned to his usual stance. Here he was, surrounded by generals, the he-man, the resolute fighter, the Defender of Israel.
IT WAS, for him and his government, an incredible stroke of luck.
It can be compared to what happened in 1982. Ariel Sharon, then Minister of Defense, had decided to attack the Palestinians and Syrians in Lebanon, He flew to Washington to obtain the necessary American agreement. Alexander Haig told him that the US could not agree, unless there was a “credible provocation”.
A few days later, the most extreme Palestinian group, led by Abu Nidal, Yasser Arafat’s mortal enemy, made an attempt on the life of the Israeli ambassador in London, paralyzing him irreversibly. That was certainly a “credible provocation”. Lebanon War I was on its way.
This week’s attack was also an answer to a prayer. Seems that God loves Netanyahu and the military establishment. The incident not only wiped the protest off the screen, it also put an end to any serious chance of taking billions off the huge military budget in order to strengthen the social services. On the contrary, the event proved that we need a sophisticated electronic fence along the 150 miles of our desert border with Sinai. More, not less, billions for the military.
BEFORE THIS miracle occurred, it looked as if the protest movement was unstoppable.
Whatever Netanyahu did was too little, too late, and just wrong.
In the first days, Netanyahu treated the whole thing as a childish prank, unworthy of the attention of responsible adults. When he realized that this movement was serious, he mumbled some vague proposals for lowering the price of apartments, but by then the protest had already moved far beyond the original demand for “affordable housing”. The slogan was now “The People Want Social Justice”
After the huge 250,000-strong demonstration in Tel Aviv, the protest leaders were facing a dilemma: how to proceed? Yet another mass protest in Tel Aviv might mean falling attendance. The solution was sheer genius: not another big demonstration in Tel Aviv, but smaller demonstrations all over the country. This disarmed the reproach that the protesters are spoiled Tel Aviv brats, “sushi eaters and water-pipe smokers” as one minister put it. It also brought the protest to the masses of disadvantaged Oriental Jewish inhabitants of the “periphery”, from Afula in the North to Beer Sheva in the South, most of them the traditional voters of Likud. It became a love-fest of fraternization.
So what does a run-of-the-mill politician do in such a situation? Well, of course, he appoints a committee. So Netanyahu told a respectable professor with a good reputation to set up a committee which would, in cooperation with nine ministers, no less, come up with a set of solutions. He even told him that he was ready to completely change his own convictions.
(He did already change one of his convictions when he announced in 2009 that he now advocates the Two-State Solution. But after that momentous about-face, absolutely nothing changed on the ground.)
The youngsters in the tents joked that “Bibi” could not change his opinions, because he has none. But that is a mistake – he does indeed have very definite opinions on both the national and the social levels: “the whole of Eretz Israel” on the one, and Reagan-Thatcher economic orthodoxy on the other.
The young tent leaders countered the appointment of the establishment committee with an unexpected move: they appointed a 60-strong advisory council of their own, composed of some of the most prominent university professors, including an Arab female professor and a moderate rabbi, and headed by a former deputy governor of the Bank of Israel.
The government committee has already made it clear that it will not deal with middle class problems but concentrate on those of the lowest socio-economic groups. Netanyahu has added that he will not automatically adopt their (future) recommendations, but weight them against the economic possibilities. In other words, he does not trust his own nominees to understand the economic facts of life.
AT THAT point, Netanyahu and his aides pinned their hopes on two dates: September and November 2011.
In November, the rainy season usually sets in. No drop of rain before that. But when it starts to rain cats and dogs, it was hoped in Netanyahu’s office, the spoiled Tel Aviv kids will run for shelter. End of the Rothschild tent city.
Well, I remember spending some miserable weeks in the winter of the 1948 war in worse tents, in the midst of a sea of mud and water. I don’t think that the rain will make the tent-dwellers give up their struggle, even if Netanyahu’s religious partners send the most fervent Jewish prayers for rain to the high heavens.
But before that, in September, just a few weeks away, the Palestinians – it was hoped - would start a crisis that will divert attention. This week they already submitted to the UN General Assembly a request to recognize the State of Palestine. The Assembly will most probably accede. Avigdor Lieberman has already enthusiastically assured us that the Palestinians are planning a “bloodbath” at that time. Young Israelis will have to exchange their tents in Tel Aviv for the tents in the West Bank army camps.
It’s a nice dream (for the Liebermans), but Palestinians had so far showed no inclination to violence.
All that changed this week.
FROM NOW on, Netanyahu and his colleagues can direct events as they wish.
They have already “liquidated” the chiefs of the group which carried out the attack, called “the Popular Resistance Committees”. This happened while the fire-fight along the border was still going on. The army had been forewarned and was ready. The fact that the attackers succeeded nevertheless in crossing the border and shooting at vehicles was ascribed to an operational failure.
What now? The group in Gaza will fire rockets in retaliation. Netanyahu can – if he so wishes – kill more Palestinian leaders, military and civilian. This can easily set off a vicious circle of retaliation and counter-retaliation, leading to a full-scale Molten Lead-style war. Thousands of rockets on Israel, thousands of bombs on the Gaza Strip. One ex-military fool already argued that the entire Gaza Strip will have to be re-occupied.
In other words, Netanyahu has his hand on the tap of violence, and he can raise or lower the flames at will.
His desire to put an end to the social protest movement may well play a role in his decisions.
THIS BRINGS us back to the big question of the protest movement: can one bring about real change, as distinct from forcing some grudging concessions from the government, without becoming a political force?
Can this movement succeed as long as there is a government which has the power to start - or deepen - a “security crisis” at any time?
And the related question: can one talk about social justice without talking about peace?
A few days ago, while strolling among the tents on Rothschild Boulevard, I was asked by an internal radio station to give an interview and address the tent-dwellers. I said: “You don’t want to talk about peace, because you want to avoid being branded as ‘leftists”. I respect that. But social justice and peace are two sides of the same coin, they cannot be separated. Not only because they are based on the same moral principles, but also because in practice they depend on each other.”
When I said that, I could not have imagined how clearly this would be demonstrated only two days later.
REAL CHANGE means replacing this government with a new and very different political set up.
Here and there people in the tents are already talking about a new party. But elections are two years away, and for the time being there is no sign of a real crack in the right-wing coalition that might bring the elections closer. Will the protest be able to keep up its momentum for two whole years?
Israeli governments have yielded in the past to mass demonstrations and public uprisings. The formidable Golda Meir resigned in the face of mass demonstrations blaming her for the omissions that led to the fiasco at the start of the Yom Kippur War. The government coalitions of both Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in the 1990s broke under the pressure of an indignant public opinion.
Can this happen now? In view of the military flare-up this week, it does not look likely. But stranger things have happened between heaven and earth, especially in Israel, the land of limited impossibilities.
TRAGEDY IN EILAT AND GAZA: HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND?
19 August 2011, Rav Shalom http://rabbibrant.com (USA)
by Rabbi Brant Rosen
In the wake of yesterday’s tragic violence in Eilat and Gaza, I commend to you this wise and rational-minded statement from Jewish Voice for Peace.
I would only add that I frankly think it’s remarkable, given Israel’s oppressive policies toward the people of Gaza, that we haven’t seen even more attacks such as this. To be sure, these kinds of incidents do not exist in a vacuum. History has shown us again and again that when people are oppressed, they tend to resist – often violently.
And when it comes to the history of Gaza, this resistance – followed by overwhelming Israeli military retaliation – has been ongoing since 1948.
As Moshe Dayan said during a funeral of an Israeli killed by a Gazan in 1956:
Do not today besmirch the murderers with accusations. Who are we that we should bewail their mighty hatred of us? For eight years they sit in refugee camps in Gaza, and opposite their gaze we appropriate for ourselves as our own portion the land and the villages in which they and their fathers dwelled.
This we know: that in order that the hope to destroy us should die we have to be armed and ready, morning and night. We are a generation of settlement, and without a steel helmet and the barrel of a cannon we cannot plant a tree and build a house.
Dayan, to his credit, understood the true source of Palestinians’ frustration and rage. But I think he was tragically wrong in his belief that Israeli machine guns and bomb shelters would be able to keep their rage at bay – or that their military power would ultimately keep Israelis safe. Yesterday’s incident in Eilat is but the latest proof of this sad reality. It didn’t work then, and it’s still not working now.
While I do not in any way condone Palestinian violence against Israelis, I do understand its source. And until these root causes are fundamentally addressed, I fear we’ll only continue to hear more tragic news such as this.
by Rabbi Brant Rosen
In the wake of yesterday’s tragic violence in Eilat and Gaza, I commend to you this wise and rational-minded statement from Jewish Voice for Peace.
I would only add that I frankly think it’s remarkable, given Israel’s oppressive policies toward the people of Gaza, that we haven’t seen even more attacks such as this. To be sure, these kinds of incidents do not exist in a vacuum. History has shown us again and again that when people are oppressed, they tend to resist – often violently.
And when it comes to the history of Gaza, this resistance – followed by overwhelming Israeli military retaliation – has been ongoing since 1948.
As Moshe Dayan said during a funeral of an Israeli killed by a Gazan in 1956:
Do not today besmirch the murderers with accusations. Who are we that we should bewail their mighty hatred of us? For eight years they sit in refugee camps in Gaza, and opposite their gaze we appropriate for ourselves as our own portion the land and the villages in which they and their fathers dwelled.
This we know: that in order that the hope to destroy us should die we have to be armed and ready, morning and night. We are a generation of settlement, and without a steel helmet and the barrel of a cannon we cannot plant a tree and build a house.
Dayan, to his credit, understood the true source of Palestinians’ frustration and rage. But I think he was tragically wrong in his belief that Israeli machine guns and bomb shelters would be able to keep their rage at bay – or that their military power would ultimately keep Israelis safe. Yesterday’s incident in Eilat is but the latest proof of this sad reality. It didn’t work then, and it’s still not working now.
While I do not in any way condone Palestinian violence against Israelis, I do understand its source. And until these root causes are fundamentally addressed, I fear we’ll only continue to hear more tragic news such as this.
ISRAEL'S SOCIAL PROTESTS ARE ANYTHING BUT DEAD
The smothering trap that successive Israeli governments have put us in for the past 40 years no longer allows us to breathe.
21 August 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
By Merav Michaeli
The day after Thursday's terror attacks, the media rushed to declare the end of the protest movement due to the security-political agenda that would now take over. As if nothing had happened, as though Israelis had not taken to the streets en masse in order to bring about change. To the media and, of course, to the government, it is as though nothing had changed, as though they would once again set the agenda. They - the government and the media - would remind us of what is really urgent and important.
That is the greatest threat we face. Not the security situation, but the usual thing - more of the same. That regular, completely automatic Israeli drill, mantra-like, as if hypnotized. Emergency meetings of the inner cabinet and the forum of eight senior ministers, the IDF attacks, the IDF kills, demands for an apology, demands for an investigation, funerals, injured, eyewitnesses. Whichever prime minister says for the who-knows-how-many time, "When Israeli civilians are hurt, we respond swiftly and strongly." Some defense minister or other says: "We will strike them decisively and with full force." Some head of the opposition or other says, "This demands action from Israel, we will support the government's actions." More and more of the same thing, repeating itself over and over again, trapping us on an endless merry-go-round, with no way out.
This dead end is one of the main reasons for the great and unprecedented protest movement that is taking place. Even if the word "occupation" is not uttered, even if no one speaks of a Palestinian state, the smothering trap that successive Israeli governments have put us in for the past 40 years no longer allows us to breathe. There is a sense of hopelessness and pointlessness stemming from the knowledge that everything is the same, and only the citizens' situation declines from day to day. There's nothing to look forward to, no prospect for something else in sight.
It is always astonishing to realize that, save the brief episode of the Rabin administration, no government took any step to change Israel's fundamental situation, in terms of security and policy in the region. No government proposed a solution or responded to an offered proposal. In keeping with that, no prime minister gave us hope, none offered a vision of a better life in Israel.
Everyone warned of myriad threats to the state's existence, but no one can think of a different reality. No one drew a vision of peace with the neighboring states; of good neighborly relations and partnerships that lead to fantastic economic growth, an enriching cultural mix and even military cooperation. Yes, yes. Just imagine Israel living in peace with Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with all of them forming a NATO-like alliance, a Middle Eastern Treaty Organization, and together fighting the radical Islamic organizations that threaten us all.
Sounds delusional, utopian, impossible? The truth is that it's not that far off from acceptance of the Arab peace initiative, which includes the normalization by all Arab states of relations with Israel, the creation of a friendly Palestinian state and a peace treaty with Syria. For years, all of these were within reach, and some still are. Add to them the desire to live in peace and with cooperation, and the imaginary picture could be very realistic.
In order to realize such a vision, our politicians must see it. Prof. Dan Ariely, author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions," explains that the brain creates an expectation that is then fulfilled by reality, regardless of the actual reality. For years we have been captives to an expectation of threat and war, which we respond to militantly. Over the years, this vicious cycle has grown increasingly shorter from incident to incident, becoming increasingly destructive to Israeli society and to the state.
The great social protest broke that pattern. The public does not want it any more. It has begun to sketch a new picture of the world. The protest demands a new agenda, one which refuses the axiom that militarism and aggressiveness should be at the top. This agenda also includes a new way of thinking in the world of regional policy. A welfare state is one that does not force its citizens to live under the threat of war and annihilation; a welfare state is one that strives for genuine peace and achieves it. And the demand for such a state is not going away.
21 August 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
By Merav Michaeli
The day after Thursday's terror attacks, the media rushed to declare the end of the protest movement due to the security-political agenda that would now take over. As if nothing had happened, as though Israelis had not taken to the streets en masse in order to bring about change. To the media and, of course, to the government, it is as though nothing had changed, as though they would once again set the agenda. They - the government and the media - would remind us of what is really urgent and important.
That is the greatest threat we face. Not the security situation, but the usual thing - more of the same. That regular, completely automatic Israeli drill, mantra-like, as if hypnotized. Emergency meetings of the inner cabinet and the forum of eight senior ministers, the IDF attacks, the IDF kills, demands for an apology, demands for an investigation, funerals, injured, eyewitnesses. Whichever prime minister says for the who-knows-how-many time, "When Israeli civilians are hurt, we respond swiftly and strongly." Some defense minister or other says: "We will strike them decisively and with full force." Some head of the opposition or other says, "This demands action from Israel, we will support the government's actions." More and more of the same thing, repeating itself over and over again, trapping us on an endless merry-go-round, with no way out.
This dead end is one of the main reasons for the great and unprecedented protest movement that is taking place. Even if the word "occupation" is not uttered, even if no one speaks of a Palestinian state, the smothering trap that successive Israeli governments have put us in for the past 40 years no longer allows us to breathe. There is a sense of hopelessness and pointlessness stemming from the knowledge that everything is the same, and only the citizens' situation declines from day to day. There's nothing to look forward to, no prospect for something else in sight.
It is always astonishing to realize that, save the brief episode of the Rabin administration, no government took any step to change Israel's fundamental situation, in terms of security and policy in the region. No government proposed a solution or responded to an offered proposal. In keeping with that, no prime minister gave us hope, none offered a vision of a better life in Israel.
Everyone warned of myriad threats to the state's existence, but no one can think of a different reality. No one drew a vision of peace with the neighboring states; of good neighborly relations and partnerships that lead to fantastic economic growth, an enriching cultural mix and even military cooperation. Yes, yes. Just imagine Israel living in peace with Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with all of them forming a NATO-like alliance, a Middle Eastern Treaty Organization, and together fighting the radical Islamic organizations that threaten us all.
Sounds delusional, utopian, impossible? The truth is that it's not that far off from acceptance of the Arab peace initiative, which includes the normalization by all Arab states of relations with Israel, the creation of a friendly Palestinian state and a peace treaty with Syria. For years, all of these were within reach, and some still are. Add to them the desire to live in peace and with cooperation, and the imaginary picture could be very realistic.
In order to realize such a vision, our politicians must see it. Prof. Dan Ariely, author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions," explains that the brain creates an expectation that is then fulfilled by reality, regardless of the actual reality. For years we have been captives to an expectation of threat and war, which we respond to militantly. Over the years, this vicious cycle has grown increasingly shorter from incident to incident, becoming increasingly destructive to Israeli society and to the state.
The great social protest broke that pattern. The public does not want it any more. It has begun to sketch a new picture of the world. The protest demands a new agenda, one which refuses the axiom that militarism and aggressiveness should be at the top. This agenda also includes a new way of thinking in the world of regional policy. A welfare state is one that does not force its citizens to live under the threat of war and annihilation; a welfare state is one that strives for genuine peace and achieves it. And the demand for such a state is not going away.
NOCHE DE REDADA EN HEBRÓN Y BELÉN
21 Agosto 2011, Centro de Información Alternativa (AIC) המרכז לאינפורמציה אלטרנטיבית
Mikaela Levin
"Esto es un castigo colectivo por los ataque en Eilat", sentenció un joven palestino apenas minutos después que cien jeeps militares israelíes se retiraran de la zona palestina conocida como H1, en el centro de Hebrón. Las redadas de anoche fueron de las más importantes de los últimos años. El número de detenidos es aún incierto; citando a un funcionario de Hamas la agencia de noticias de Ma´an habló de 120 detenidos, mientras que testigos denunciaron entre 55 y 75. Según esta última fuente, los soldados israelíes irrumpieron durante la madrugada con una lista de nombres de presuntas personas cercanas o miembros de Hamas. Más o menos al mismo tiempo, otro grupo de soldados israelíes entraba en el campo de refugiados de Duheisha en Belén. El AIC pudo confirmar una detención allí, la de un periodista de 26 años de la emisora afiliada a Hamas, Al-Aqsa.
Según la información que pudieron recoger activistas internacionales anoche en Hebrón, los cien jeep israelíes entraron a la ciudad alrededor de la medianoche y fueron casa por casa hasta las 2.30 o las 3 de la madrugada. Durante este período de tiempo, cerraron las entradas a la ciudad palestina; la policía de la Autoridad Palestina brilló por su ausencia durante las redadas.
Los soldados irrumpieron casa por casa, hasta que tacharon todos los nombres de su lista o, al menos, todas las direcciones. "En una casa, como no encontraron a la persona que buscaban, se llevaron a su padre de 60 años", informó más tarde un activista internacional.
Durante el día, la ciudad volvió al ritmo lento y tranquilo de Ramadán. Había más soldados israelíes de lo usual en los check points adentro y en los alrededores de la región H1 de Hebrón, pero los refuerzos estaban allí desde la semana pasada. A lo largo de los últimos días, los activistas internacionales que ayudan a observar y denunciar los constantes abusos militares contra la población palestina tuvieron que entregar en repetidas ocasiones sus pasaportes a los soldados en los check point. Los militares los fotografiaron antes de devolvérselos.
El endurecimiento del aparato militar no se veía ayer sólo en Hebrón, sino a lo largo de toda Cisjordania. El Ejército israelí instaló check points flotantes en las rutas que comunican las principales ciudades palestinas. Después del mediodía, podía llevar casi más de cuatro horas para ir desde Ramala hasta Hebrón, un viaje que normalmente tarda un poco más de una hora. A los dos check points fijos que controlan las entradas de las dos ciudades, las autoridades israelíes agregaron ayer otros dos check points flotantes.
Hacia el norte, el Ejército levantó otros dos check points flotantes: uno cerca de Qabir Hilweh, al este de Belén, y uno al lado de Eizariyya en Jerusalén Este. Según publicó la agencia de noticias Ma´an, los autos palestinos esperaron hasta tres horas para poder pasar.
Esta área también fue uno de los objetivos de las redadas de anoche. El epicentro fue el campo de refugiados de Duheisha. Hasta ahora sólo hay una detención confirmada, la de Usayd, un periodista e hijo de un clérigo local, Sheikh Abdul-Majid Ata Amarna. Su hermano le contó a un grupo de activistas internacionales que los soldados allanaron su casa justo antes de la oración matutina sin dar ninguna explicación. Cuando su primo les pidió a los militares que no se llevaran al joven camarógrafo, le dispararon en una pierna y se lo llevaron también. Supuestamente lo llevaron a un hospital, pero su familia no sabía a cuál. Según publicó más tarde la agencia Ma´an, el joven de 27 años fue internado en el hospital de Hadassah en Jerusalén.
Vecinos del campo de refugiados recordaron que antes de irrumpir en la casa del clérigo los soldados saltaron a los techos de las casas lindantes para "asegurar" la zona. Siempre según estas fuentes, las fuerzas de seguridad israelíes también dirigieron una emboscada anoche en el pueblo de Artas, a sólo cuatro kilómetros al suroeste de Belén. Sin embargo, esta operación militar aún no ha podido ser confirmada.
La tensión y la violencia están escalando en Cisjordania desde los ataques del jueves pasado en Eilat, pero estos no son conceptos nuevos para los palestinos. Durante las últimas semanas, las fuerzas militares israelíes irrumpieron en campos de refugiados durante la madrugada y mataron, hirieron y detuvieron a jóvenes palestinos. Durante el día, se ocuparon de reprimir cruentamente las protestas anti-ocupación y de detener a incontables activistas palestinos, israelíes e internacionales. El mismo modus operando; la misma justificación.
Mikaela Levin
"Esto es un castigo colectivo por los ataque en Eilat", sentenció un joven palestino apenas minutos después que cien jeeps militares israelíes se retiraran de la zona palestina conocida como H1, en el centro de Hebrón. Las redadas de anoche fueron de las más importantes de los últimos años. El número de detenidos es aún incierto; citando a un funcionario de Hamas la agencia de noticias de Ma´an habló de 120 detenidos, mientras que testigos denunciaron entre 55 y 75. Según esta última fuente, los soldados israelíes irrumpieron durante la madrugada con una lista de nombres de presuntas personas cercanas o miembros de Hamas. Más o menos al mismo tiempo, otro grupo de soldados israelíes entraba en el campo de refugiados de Duheisha en Belén. El AIC pudo confirmar una detención allí, la de un periodista de 26 años de la emisora afiliada a Hamas, Al-Aqsa.
Según la información que pudieron recoger activistas internacionales anoche en Hebrón, los cien jeep israelíes entraron a la ciudad alrededor de la medianoche y fueron casa por casa hasta las 2.30 o las 3 de la madrugada. Durante este período de tiempo, cerraron las entradas a la ciudad palestina; la policía de la Autoridad Palestina brilló por su ausencia durante las redadas.
Los soldados irrumpieron casa por casa, hasta que tacharon todos los nombres de su lista o, al menos, todas las direcciones. "En una casa, como no encontraron a la persona que buscaban, se llevaron a su padre de 60 años", informó más tarde un activista internacional.
Durante el día, la ciudad volvió al ritmo lento y tranquilo de Ramadán. Había más soldados israelíes de lo usual en los check points adentro y en los alrededores de la región H1 de Hebrón, pero los refuerzos estaban allí desde la semana pasada. A lo largo de los últimos días, los activistas internacionales que ayudan a observar y denunciar los constantes abusos militares contra la población palestina tuvieron que entregar en repetidas ocasiones sus pasaportes a los soldados en los check point. Los militares los fotografiaron antes de devolvérselos.
El endurecimiento del aparato militar no se veía ayer sólo en Hebrón, sino a lo largo de toda Cisjordania. El Ejército israelí instaló check points flotantes en las rutas que comunican las principales ciudades palestinas. Después del mediodía, podía llevar casi más de cuatro horas para ir desde Ramala hasta Hebrón, un viaje que normalmente tarda un poco más de una hora. A los dos check points fijos que controlan las entradas de las dos ciudades, las autoridades israelíes agregaron ayer otros dos check points flotantes.
Hacia el norte, el Ejército levantó otros dos check points flotantes: uno cerca de Qabir Hilweh, al este de Belén, y uno al lado de Eizariyya en Jerusalén Este. Según publicó la agencia de noticias Ma´an, los autos palestinos esperaron hasta tres horas para poder pasar.
Esta área también fue uno de los objetivos de las redadas de anoche. El epicentro fue el campo de refugiados de Duheisha. Hasta ahora sólo hay una detención confirmada, la de Usayd, un periodista e hijo de un clérigo local, Sheikh Abdul-Majid Ata Amarna. Su hermano le contó a un grupo de activistas internacionales que los soldados allanaron su casa justo antes de la oración matutina sin dar ninguna explicación. Cuando su primo les pidió a los militares que no se llevaran al joven camarógrafo, le dispararon en una pierna y se lo llevaron también. Supuestamente lo llevaron a un hospital, pero su familia no sabía a cuál. Según publicó más tarde la agencia Ma´an, el joven de 27 años fue internado en el hospital de Hadassah en Jerusalén.
Vecinos del campo de refugiados recordaron que antes de irrumpir en la casa del clérigo los soldados saltaron a los techos de las casas lindantes para "asegurar" la zona. Siempre según estas fuentes, las fuerzas de seguridad israelíes también dirigieron una emboscada anoche en el pueblo de Artas, a sólo cuatro kilómetros al suroeste de Belén. Sin embargo, esta operación militar aún no ha podido ser confirmada.
La tensión y la violencia están escalando en Cisjordania desde los ataques del jueves pasado en Eilat, pero estos no son conceptos nuevos para los palestinos. Durante las últimas semanas, las fuerzas militares israelíes irrumpieron en campos de refugiados durante la madrugada y mataron, hirieron y detuvieron a jóvenes palestinos. Durante el día, se ocuparon de reprimir cruentamente las protestas anti-ocupación y de detener a incontables activistas palestinos, israelíes e internacionales. El mismo modus operando; la misma justificación.
UN APPEL À L’ACTION
22 août 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) http://www.france-palestine.org (France)
La Campagne nationale, «Palestine : L’État no.194»
Depuis ses débuts, la cause palestinienne pour la liberté et l’indépendance a été adoptée par les peuples du monde entier, transcendant ainsi les définitions géographiques et nationales.
Ancré dans les valeurs universelles de liberté et de droits humains, des militants pacifistes internationaux, défenseurs des droits humains, et les peuples de tous horizons et de tous milieux professionnels ont fait de la cause palestinienne leur propre combat pour la liberté. Ainsi, leur dévouement, leur énergie et leurs sacrifices l’ont considérablement fait progresser.
À ce moment critique de l’histoire palestinienne, la solidarité internationale est d’une importance cruciale. Comme nous, Palestiniens, approchons de la dernière ligne droite vers notre liberté, l’aide internationale représente notre bouée de sauvetage de l’espoir, notre certitude que le monde est uni avec les Palestiniens pour la défense de la paix et la justice. C’est pourquoi la campagne nationale, « Palestine : l’État no. 194 "vous invite à soutenir, comme vous l’avez fait dans le passé, le peuple palestinien. Nous vous demandons de prêter votre voix à la Palestine, dans le cadre de notre campagne pour la reconnaissance depuis trop longtemps attendue de l’État de Palestine, en soutenant sa demande d’adhésion à l’Organisation des Nations Unies. Aidez-nous à garantir une action efficace, positive et collective par la communauté internationale qui conduirait ainsi le Moyen-Orient plus proche d’une paix juste et durable.
Nous appelons les syndicats, les organisations de la société civile, les fondations, les universités, et les citoyens du monde entier à soutenir la campagne du peuple palestinien pour la reconnaissance internationale et de l’admission de l’ONU. En tant que citoyens et représentants de la société civile, vous avez le pouvoir de lobbying auprès de vos représentants élus, des parlements et des gouvernements pour adopter la juste cause de la Palestine. La Campagne nationale compte sur votre soutien, votre coopération et votre coordination. Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous dans la création de notre campagne, en manifestant, et en marchant pour la liberté de la Palestine. Aidez-nous à travers vos communautés et à travers les réseaux sociaux et comptez sur nous pour tout le soutien dont vous avez besoin.
Les Palestiniens ont été et encouragés par des actions et initiatives déjà lancées dans le monde comme le soutien de principe des parlements et des personnalités internationales, des pétitions, ainsi que des médias et des efforts de sensibilisation qui sont une contribution inestimable à la campagne de Palestine pour sa reconnaissance et son admission aux Nations Unies.
Notre campagne va lancer une série d’activités, qui vont en majorité avoir lieu le 21 Septembre qui correspond à la date d’ouverture du débat général à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. Nous demandons votre aide pour faire de cette date une journée internationale d’action pour la reconnaissance tant attendue de l’état de Palestine.
La Palestine est éternellement reconnaissante pour votre soutien de principe de longue date.
Nous sommes fiers de faire partie d’une telle coalition impressionnante des droits humains et les champions de la liberté.
Le peuple palestinien puise sa force et son courage dans la solidarité internationale. Votre soutien a toujours permis aux Palestiniens de persévérer dans leur recherche d’une vie de dignité, de liberté et de prospérité et de rejeter l’occupation, l’humiliation et l’exclusion. Nous sommes confiants que, tout comme le militantisme et la solidarité internationales ont aidé à mettre fin a l’apartheid en Afrique du Sud, il peut et va mettre fin a l’occupation en Palestine.
La Campagne nationale, «Palestine : L’État no.194»
La Campagne nationale, «Palestine : L’État no.194»
Depuis ses débuts, la cause palestinienne pour la liberté et l’indépendance a été adoptée par les peuples du monde entier, transcendant ainsi les définitions géographiques et nationales.
Ancré dans les valeurs universelles de liberté et de droits humains, des militants pacifistes internationaux, défenseurs des droits humains, et les peuples de tous horizons et de tous milieux professionnels ont fait de la cause palestinienne leur propre combat pour la liberté. Ainsi, leur dévouement, leur énergie et leurs sacrifices l’ont considérablement fait progresser.
À ce moment critique de l’histoire palestinienne, la solidarité internationale est d’une importance cruciale. Comme nous, Palestiniens, approchons de la dernière ligne droite vers notre liberté, l’aide internationale représente notre bouée de sauvetage de l’espoir, notre certitude que le monde est uni avec les Palestiniens pour la défense de la paix et la justice. C’est pourquoi la campagne nationale, « Palestine : l’État no. 194 "vous invite à soutenir, comme vous l’avez fait dans le passé, le peuple palestinien. Nous vous demandons de prêter votre voix à la Palestine, dans le cadre de notre campagne pour la reconnaissance depuis trop longtemps attendue de l’État de Palestine, en soutenant sa demande d’adhésion à l’Organisation des Nations Unies. Aidez-nous à garantir une action efficace, positive et collective par la communauté internationale qui conduirait ainsi le Moyen-Orient plus proche d’une paix juste et durable.
Nous appelons les syndicats, les organisations de la société civile, les fondations, les universités, et les citoyens du monde entier à soutenir la campagne du peuple palestinien pour la reconnaissance internationale et de l’admission de l’ONU. En tant que citoyens et représentants de la société civile, vous avez le pouvoir de lobbying auprès de vos représentants élus, des parlements et des gouvernements pour adopter la juste cause de la Palestine. La Campagne nationale compte sur votre soutien, votre coopération et votre coordination. Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous dans la création de notre campagne, en manifestant, et en marchant pour la liberté de la Palestine. Aidez-nous à travers vos communautés et à travers les réseaux sociaux et comptez sur nous pour tout le soutien dont vous avez besoin.
Les Palestiniens ont été et encouragés par des actions et initiatives déjà lancées dans le monde comme le soutien de principe des parlements et des personnalités internationales, des pétitions, ainsi que des médias et des efforts de sensibilisation qui sont une contribution inestimable à la campagne de Palestine pour sa reconnaissance et son admission aux Nations Unies.
Notre campagne va lancer une série d’activités, qui vont en majorité avoir lieu le 21 Septembre qui correspond à la date d’ouverture du débat général à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. Nous demandons votre aide pour faire de cette date une journée internationale d’action pour la reconnaissance tant attendue de l’état de Palestine.
La Palestine est éternellement reconnaissante pour votre soutien de principe de longue date.
Nous sommes fiers de faire partie d’une telle coalition impressionnante des droits humains et les champions de la liberté.
Le peuple palestinien puise sa force et son courage dans la solidarité internationale. Votre soutien a toujours permis aux Palestiniens de persévérer dans leur recherche d’une vie de dignité, de liberté et de prospérité et de rejeter l’occupation, l’humiliation et l’exclusion. Nous sommes confiants que, tout comme le militantisme et la solidarité internationales ont aidé à mettre fin a l’apartheid en Afrique du Sud, il peut et va mettre fin a l’occupation en Palestine.
La Campagne nationale, «Palestine : L’État no.194»
sexta-feira, 19 de agosto de 2011
WHY ISRAEL SHOULD NOT ATTACK IN GAZA
18 August 2011, + 972 http://972mag.com (Israel)
Yossi Gurvitz*
A terrorist attack in Israel has claimed seven victims. Barak plans a large-scale attack on Gaza. We shouldn’t do it.
Seven Israelis were killed earlier today in a terror attack in the south of Israel, near Eilat. As these words are written, IAF fighters are circling in the skies of Gaza, and reports just came in of an airstrike in Rafah that claimed three lives. We still don’t know who is responsible for the attack, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak has already found the guilty parties, the residents of the Gaza Strip. Borrowing the language of the settler pogromchiks, he actually promised a “price tag” operation (Hebrew). In Gaza, people are already huddling in shelters, and following the tweets from there, you can feel the despair, the terror, the feeling of “not again”.
We are all familiar with this circle: Attack, terrorist attack, attack, terrorist attack, attack, major terrorist attack, major operation, terrorist attack, attack and so on and so forth. Maybe we should, for once, break the circle? Here are a few reasons why:
A. Enough with the Pavolvian instinct. Barak wants to take us to a major operation in Gaza? He should first explain to the public what proof he has the attack originated there. I may well be proven wrong in the coming days, but right now this looks more like an Al Qaeda job, certainly much more professional than anything Hamas ever managed to pull off. Al Qaeda has already attacked Eilat before (a rocket attack – Hebrew), and it threatened an attack on it last year (Hebrew). Secondly, Barak should explain how, precisely, will his attack change the situation. The ease, almost absent-mindedness, in which the government can take us to war should be stopped.
B. Nobody does it anymore. Israel is one of the few countries still clinging to the punitive raids method of the 1950s. Does Barak claim the Hamas is responsible for the murder of Israeli citizens by a rocket attacks on busses? He should go the UN and demand an investigation of what seems to be a bona fide war crime. What does Israel stand to lose, if for once it should let international law take its course, instead of breaking it? Will the coming blow will show any different results from the previous ones? Take a deep breath, let the blood recede from your eyes, let’s talk this over; don’t make decisions when you’re in this state.
C. Fear for civilian life: The IDF does not know how to fight without harming civilians – even assuming that i wants to. Much of its lore is fighting against civilians, making them a pre-mediated target. This began in the late 1960s, with the bombing of the Suez Canal cities, and reached its climax in operations Grapes of Wrath and Law and Judgment in 1990s Lebanon – both of which directly attacked the population so that it would pressure its government to end the fighting. Barak led one directly and was involved in the planning of the other. Politically and diplomatically, Israel cannot afford another such operation, particularly not after Cast Lead.
D. The suspicion of a putsch: A large segment of the Israeli people will not believe that a major offensive – which will entail the calling up of reserves – is the result of today’s attack. Given that one deputy minister, Ayoub Qara, already asked the tent-towns of the J14 protests to go home, and given that this morning saw particularly heavy fighting between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defense, this suspicion would be very hard to disperse. Particularly when the minister in charge is Ehud Barak, whose cynicism is only rivaled by the hatred the public feels for him.
Let’s, for once, not open fire as our first move. If this fails, we can always fire later.
----------
I am Yossi Gurvitz*, a 40-year old journalist, blogger and photographer.
I write for several Israeli publications, including the influential financial daily Calcalist and the Nana portal. In the past, I’ve been deputy editor of Nana News, and with Itamar Shaaltiel edited its 2006 Knesset elections section.
I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, graduated from a Yeshiva (Nehalim), but saw the light and turned atheist at about the age of 17. After the mandatory three years in the military, much more strictly enforced in 1988 than now, I studied history and classics, earning a BA degree, and studying three additional years towards an MA, but abandoned the project in favor of earning my living as a journalist. [It seemed a good idea at the time.]
Yossi Gurvitz*
A terrorist attack in Israel has claimed seven victims. Barak plans a large-scale attack on Gaza. We shouldn’t do it.
Seven Israelis were killed earlier today in a terror attack in the south of Israel, near Eilat. As these words are written, IAF fighters are circling in the skies of Gaza, and reports just came in of an airstrike in Rafah that claimed three lives. We still don’t know who is responsible for the attack, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak has already found the guilty parties, the residents of the Gaza Strip. Borrowing the language of the settler pogromchiks, he actually promised a “price tag” operation (Hebrew). In Gaza, people are already huddling in shelters, and following the tweets from there, you can feel the despair, the terror, the feeling of “not again”.
We are all familiar with this circle: Attack, terrorist attack, attack, terrorist attack, attack, major terrorist attack, major operation, terrorist attack, attack and so on and so forth. Maybe we should, for once, break the circle? Here are a few reasons why:
A. Enough with the Pavolvian instinct. Barak wants to take us to a major operation in Gaza? He should first explain to the public what proof he has the attack originated there. I may well be proven wrong in the coming days, but right now this looks more like an Al Qaeda job, certainly much more professional than anything Hamas ever managed to pull off. Al Qaeda has already attacked Eilat before (a rocket attack – Hebrew), and it threatened an attack on it last year (Hebrew). Secondly, Barak should explain how, precisely, will his attack change the situation. The ease, almost absent-mindedness, in which the government can take us to war should be stopped.
B. Nobody does it anymore. Israel is one of the few countries still clinging to the punitive raids method of the 1950s. Does Barak claim the Hamas is responsible for the murder of Israeli citizens by a rocket attacks on busses? He should go the UN and demand an investigation of what seems to be a bona fide war crime. What does Israel stand to lose, if for once it should let international law take its course, instead of breaking it? Will the coming blow will show any different results from the previous ones? Take a deep breath, let the blood recede from your eyes, let’s talk this over; don’t make decisions when you’re in this state.
C. Fear for civilian life: The IDF does not know how to fight without harming civilians – even assuming that i wants to. Much of its lore is fighting against civilians, making them a pre-mediated target. This began in the late 1960s, with the bombing of the Suez Canal cities, and reached its climax in operations Grapes of Wrath and Law and Judgment in 1990s Lebanon – both of which directly attacked the population so that it would pressure its government to end the fighting. Barak led one directly and was involved in the planning of the other. Politically and diplomatically, Israel cannot afford another such operation, particularly not after Cast Lead.
D. The suspicion of a putsch: A large segment of the Israeli people will not believe that a major offensive – which will entail the calling up of reserves – is the result of today’s attack. Given that one deputy minister, Ayoub Qara, already asked the tent-towns of the J14 protests to go home, and given that this morning saw particularly heavy fighting between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defense, this suspicion would be very hard to disperse. Particularly when the minister in charge is Ehud Barak, whose cynicism is only rivaled by the hatred the public feels for him.
Let’s, for once, not open fire as our first move. If this fails, we can always fire later.
----------
I am Yossi Gurvitz*, a 40-year old journalist, blogger and photographer.
I write for several Israeli publications, including the influential financial daily Calcalist and the Nana portal. In the past, I’ve been deputy editor of Nana News, and with Itamar Shaaltiel edited its 2006 Knesset elections section.
I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, graduated from a Yeshiva (Nehalim), but saw the light and turned atheist at about the age of 17. After the mandatory three years in the military, much more strictly enforced in 1988 than now, I studied history and classics, earning a BA degree, and studying three additional years towards an MA, but abandoned the project in favor of earning my living as a journalist. [It seemed a good idea at the time.]
O MURO DE BERLIM CAÍU. O DA CISJORDÂNIA CAIRÁ QUANDO?
18 agosto 2011/Vermelho http://www.vermelho.org.br
Enquanto a mídia se esforça para demonizar o socialismo nestes 50 anos da construção do Muro de Berlim, um outro muro passa incólume. Trata-se do muro ilegal que foi construído por Israel, há 11 anos, para isolar o território invadido pelo país na Palestina. Se o muro de Berlim foi um símbolo da crueldade da Guerra Fria, o chamado “Muro do Apartheid” é um símbolo do terror sionista.
Sete anos após a Corte Internacional de Justiça (CIJ) concluir que a construção, por Israel, de uma barreira no território invadido na Palestina era ilegal, um novo relatório das Nações Unidas reafirma a ilegalidade e pede que parte do muro seja derrubado.
“Só então as comunidades palestinas cortadas pela barreira poderão ser capazes de exercer os seus direitos à liberdade de locomoção, trabalho, saúde, educação e desfrutar de um padrão de vida adequado”, afirma o relatório “Situação humanitária na Faixa de Gaza“.
Os palestinos são forçados a atravessar portões, abertos apenas em horários específicos, para acessar aos serviços de educação e saúde, ou mesmo para fazer suas compras. Membros de uma mesma família divididos pela barreira precisam pedir autorização para entrar em Jerusalém e fazer uma visita.
O relatório também destaca o impacto da barreira entre os agricultores palestinos. Muitos só podem acessar suas terras com licenças emitidas por Israel. “Esta política tem devastado a subsistência agrícola em toda a Cisjordânia”, afirma o documento.
Ao longo dos últimos cinco anos, o Escritório das Nações Unidas de Coordenação de Assuntos Humanitários (OCHA) tem publicado relatórios sobre os prejuízos da barreira no aniversário do parecer consultivo da CIJ, comemorado na última segunda-feira (11/07).
O pior é que o Muro da Aparthaid não é o único. Agora Israel está construindo uma cerca imensa nas Colinas de Golã em território invadido da Síria:
Fonte: da redação, com informações de sanaud-voltaremos.blogspot
Leia mais:
-Harald Neuber: O 50º aniversário da construção do Muro de Berlim
-Alemanha Oriental: O muro invisível continua lá
Enquanto a mídia se esforça para demonizar o socialismo nestes 50 anos da construção do Muro de Berlim, um outro muro passa incólume. Trata-se do muro ilegal que foi construído por Israel, há 11 anos, para isolar o território invadido pelo país na Palestina. Se o muro de Berlim foi um símbolo da crueldade da Guerra Fria, o chamado “Muro do Apartheid” é um símbolo do terror sionista.
Sete anos após a Corte Internacional de Justiça (CIJ) concluir que a construção, por Israel, de uma barreira no território invadido na Palestina era ilegal, um novo relatório das Nações Unidas reafirma a ilegalidade e pede que parte do muro seja derrubado.
“Só então as comunidades palestinas cortadas pela barreira poderão ser capazes de exercer os seus direitos à liberdade de locomoção, trabalho, saúde, educação e desfrutar de um padrão de vida adequado”, afirma o relatório “Situação humanitária na Faixa de Gaza“.
Os palestinos são forçados a atravessar portões, abertos apenas em horários específicos, para acessar aos serviços de educação e saúde, ou mesmo para fazer suas compras. Membros de uma mesma família divididos pela barreira precisam pedir autorização para entrar em Jerusalém e fazer uma visita.
O relatório também destaca o impacto da barreira entre os agricultores palestinos. Muitos só podem acessar suas terras com licenças emitidas por Israel. “Esta política tem devastado a subsistência agrícola em toda a Cisjordânia”, afirma o documento.
Ao longo dos últimos cinco anos, o Escritório das Nações Unidas de Coordenação de Assuntos Humanitários (OCHA) tem publicado relatórios sobre os prejuízos da barreira no aniversário do parecer consultivo da CIJ, comemorado na última segunda-feira (11/07).
O pior é que o Muro da Aparthaid não é o único. Agora Israel está construindo uma cerca imensa nas Colinas de Golã em território invadido da Síria:
Fonte: da redação, com informações de sanaud-voltaremos.blogspot
Leia mais:
-Harald Neuber: O 50º aniversário da construção do Muro de Berlim
-Alemanha Oriental: O muro invisível continua lá
EN ISRAËL, ESPOIRS ET LIMITES D’UN MOUVEMENT SOCIAL SANS PRECEDENT
18 août 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) http://www.france-palestine.org (France)
Pierre Puchot, Mediapart
La société israélienne est profondément divisée, scindée en petits groupes. Le fait qu’ils se mobilisent ensemble est en soi une donnée très importante et totalement nouvelle. C’est pour cela que le gouvernement est perdu et ne sait comment le digérer.
À Tel-Aviv, les étés se succèdent et se ressemblent : les touristes (et les Français) déambulent mollement vers la plage sous un soleil de plomb, qui n’empêche pas les ouvriers de bâtir en bord de mer de nouveaux immeubles toujours plus massifs. Cette année toutefois, une nouveauté : des dizaines de petites tentes ornent le terre-plein de l’avenue Rothschild, une des avenues les plus cossues de la ville. Depuis un mois, le mouvement de contestation israélien fait beaucoup parler de lui. Après l’avoir ignoré, puis avoir espéré qu’il s’essouffle, le gouvernement israélien a interrompu ses vacances ce mardi 16 août pour tenir une réunion de crise, se rendant à l’évidence : le mouvement ne fait que commencer.
Samedi, la dernière manifestation a rassemblé plusieurs dizaines de milliers de personnes aux quatre coins du pays : le mouvement s’étend et touche aujourd’hui la plupart des grandes agglomérations. Près de 90% des Israéliens le soutiennent, comme le montrent divers sondages successifs parus dans la presse israélienne.
À Tel-Aviv, plusieurs campements ont germé depuis un mois, lorsque la désormais célèbre Daphné Leef, citoyenne israélienne de 25 ans, a décidé de venir planter sa tente sur Rothschild, quand le terre-plein n’était encore que le terrain favori des amoureux en quête d’une balade en bord de mer. Des terrasses des cafés, les estivants peuvent désormais observer les dizaines de tentes qui s’étalent sur plusieurs centaines de mètres, formant un ensemble hétéroclite des mécontents de la société israélienne.
Chaque soir, à la tombée de la nuit, le campement s’anime : le mouvement contre la maltraitance des bêtes côtoie une troupe d’« artistes en colère ». Des médecins urgentistes en blouse s’agitent à côté de DJ post-pubères. Chacun possède son stand, ses banderoles, presque toutes en hébreu. Il y a aussi les particuliers, comme Nathan, venu en famille, avec sa femme et ses deux enfants, motivés par leur incapacité à se loger décemment...
Malgré les apparitions timides d’anciens ministres ou de responsables politiques, comme Tzipi Livni, qui dirige le parti centriste Kadima, aucune organisation politique n’est tolérée. Et c’est en toute quiétude que, dès 19h, pièces de théâtre et concerts se mêlent aux prises de paroles devant quelques dizaines d’auditeurs. Mais dans cet amas improbable de cris, de maquillage et de revendications, tous n’ont pas le profil attendu, entendez bobos de la classe moyenne, habitués à nourrir les scores électoraux (devenus il est vrai faméliques) des partis de gauche.
Assis au milieu du stand de l’union étudiante, Tal Arbeli, grand brun sûr de sa parole, occupe tout l’espace. Un apprentissage, sans doute, forgé au gré des joutes verbales familiales, entre un père proche du Likoud et une mère définitivement travailliste. Le fils a tranché : pour lui, Kadima (parti fondé par Ariel Sharon et dirigé par Tzipi Livni), c’est déjà la gauche. En 2009, il a voté Avigdor Lieberman. Actuel ministre des affaires étrangères et dirigeant du parti d’extrême droite Israel Beitenu, Lieberman milite depuis deux décennies pour un Etat d’Israël 100% juif et a obtenu 15 sièges sur les 120 que compte le parlement israélien. «Lieberman est présenté comme un extrémiste, soupire-t-il. Mais il a simplement dit tout haut ce que souhaitent beaucoup d’Israéliens : deux Etats, les Arabes avec les Arabes, les Juifs avec les Juifs. Moi, j’ai surtout voté pour lui pour son programme touristique, dont ma ville d’origine, Eilat, a besoin. Mais c’est un autre sujet...»
« L’impact des révolutions en Tunisie ou en Egypte est réel »
À 26 ans, Tal Arbeli endosse aujourd’hui le costume de leader étudiant, par pur pragmatisme. Faute de pouvoir payer son loyer, il vit encore chez sa grand-mère, à plusieurs kilomètres du centre-ville : « Nous tentons de mettre la pression sur le gouvernement, parce l’inflation des prix est insupportable, et le problème du logement, une cause nationale, explique-t-il. Les loyers sont plus chers, en proportion du pouvoir d’achat, qu’aux Etats-Unis et en Europe. La classe moyenne n’existe plus. Les médecins, les enseignants, tous ceux qui rendent service au pays, ne parviennent pas à boucler leur fin de mois. C’est inacceptable. C’est notre combat de tenter de faire bouger tout cela.»
Un combat qui rassemble bien au-delà des clivages habituels. Samedi dernier, l’économiste israélien Hagai Katz manifestait dans sa ville de Beer Sheva, capitale du Neguev, qui, comme les principales villes du pays, s’est jointe au mouvement : « J’ai lu dans le journal que je faisais partie, selon les toutes dernières statistiques, des 10% des Israéliens les plus riches... et je ne peux même pas louer un appartement dans le centre de Tel-Aviv ! » Pour lui, ce qui se joue en ce moment en Israël ne doit pas être sous-estimé : « Il n’y a jamais eu quoi que ce soit de semblable dans l’histoire d’Israël, rappelle le professeur Katz, qui enseigne l’économie sociale et solidaire à l’université Ben Gourion de Tel-Aviv. La dernière manifestation de cette ampleur, c’était au début des années 1980, pour les massacres de Sabra et Chatila. Les manifestations importantes ont toujours été motivées par le conflit avec les Palestiniens. Ici, c’est la classe moyenne de Marx, qui la conçoit comme une avant-garde, qui est en mouvement, pour des motifs économiques.»
Une déclinaison locale du «printemps arabe»? «Certains peuvent penser que les gens en Israël ont arrêté d’être naïfs, de rester chez soi sans rien dire, du fait de ce que l’on appelle le printemps arabe ou du mouvement espagnol, admet Tal. Je ne pense pas que ce soit le cas. Certes, les tentes, ce sont les Espagnols qui les ont sorties les premiers. Mais pour ce qui est du monde arabe, eux se battaient contre des dictateurs. Nous avons une démocratie, nous nous battons parce notre quotidien économique est devenu impossible. Ce n’est pas encore ce que nous pourrions appeler “l’été israélien”.» Hagai Katz livre un autre point de vue : « La plupart ne l’admettront pas, mais beaucoup de manifestants, et même dans mon entourage, ont observé les révolutions arabes en se disant : “Comment se fait-il qu’ils puissent changer les choses et pas nous ? Nous sommes une démocratie, cela devrait être plus simple pour nous de sortir dans la rue pour exiger un semblant de justice sociale.” En ce sens, l’impact des révolutions en Tunisie ou en Egypte est réel, on ne peut le nier.»
De fait, le mouvement est né pour partie en ligne, sur Facebook, d’un boycott contre la hausse du prix... d’un fromage. C’était il y a plus d’un mois, et de l’avis de beaucoup de manifestants, la « victoire » qui en a résulté a donné aux Israéliens l’idée qu’ils pouvaient changer les choses en se mobilisant un à un, ensemble et massivement. Au sein du mouvement, la question politique demeure cependant taboue : « Ce n’est pas politique dans le sens où ce n’est pas un mouvement porté par le Likoud ou le parti travailliste, glisse Tal. Mais c’est un problème politique, car nous mettons la pression sur le gouvernement pour obtenir un changement de politique économique. Tout le monde est d’accord là-dessus : nous ne voulons pas le communisme, mais un Etat-providence qui fonctionne.»
L’économiste Hagai Katz décèle deux caractéristiques « encourageantes» dans le processus en cours : «Ce mouvement permet à différents groupes de personnes, mues par des agendas différents, de se rendre compte des intérêts qu’ils partagent, qu’ils ignoraient totalement par le passé, et qui ont tous à voir avec la doctrine libérale économique, structurée par la prédominance du marché et la disparition de l’Etat-providence. Le second point, c’est que ce mouvement social réussisse à mobiliser. La société israélienne est profondément divisée, scindée en petits groupes. Le fait qu’ils se mobilisent ensemble est en soi une donnée très importante et totalement nouvelle. C’est pour cela que le gouvernement est perdu et ne sait comment le digérer. Mais c’est aussi parce que personne ici n’a l’expérience de ce genre de mouvement, qu’il y a des erreurs de faites dans sa gestion et une grande difficulté à formuler des revendications claires et audibles, avec un agenda pertinent.»
La semaine passée, le gouvernement israélien a constitué un comité de dix-huit personnes, chargé de réfléchir aux problèmes posés par les manifestants. Ce qui ne convainc personne ici. Pour répondre à cette annonce du premier ministre Nétanyahou, les « campeurs » organisent leur propre comité, pour tenter d’élaborer une série de revendications représentatives, sans exclure personne. C’est l’une des limites du mouvement...
«L’aspect social est devenu primordial»
À quelques exceptions près, comme un campement à Jaffa, le quartier historique de Tel-Aviv, les Arabes israéliens sont absents du mouvement. « S’ils sont en dehors, c’est qu’ils se sentent toujours en dehors de la société israélienne, parce qu’ils ne bénéficient ni des mêmes droits, ni de la même considération que les Israéliens juifs », analyse Micole Stock, jeune Italienne de 25 ans qui, après plusieurs séjours en Israël, s’est installée à Tel-Aviv pour œuvrer au sein de YaLa, un programme de développement du lien politique, social et culturel entre Arabes du Maghreb et Moyen-Orient et Israéliens. « Il en va de même pour les campeurs qui songent avant tout à éviter toute division. Nos démarches pour tenter de faire le lien entre le conflit et la politique économique ne sont pas bien reçues : la question de l’armée, de la sécurité, c’est encore une question qui divise.»
Pour l’heure, ce sont les colons de Cisjordanie qui ont fini par se mêler aux manifestants – telle Einat, qui habite Eli, au nord de la Cisjordanie, et rencontrée à Tel-Aviv sur Rothschild – pour tenter de convaincre que les maux des Israéliens ne viennent pas d’eux, malgré les exonérations dont ils bénéficient, et le coût de construction des bâtiments, estimé à plus de 17 milliards de dollars. Un message qui a du mal à passer auprès des campeurs, qui fustigent aussi volontiers la communauté orthodoxe (un cinquième de la population), qui « ne travaille pas » et «reçoit quantité de subventions pour étudier le livre».
Quel impact ce mouvement aura-t-il sur les futures élections, prévues en 2013 ? Peut-il contribuer à reconstituer une gauche sans idées, totalement désunie, et minée par ce que les Israéliens appellent la «politique de la chaise», sous-entendu, la chaise octroyée au député élu à la Knesset, à laquelle il s’accroche coûte que coûte ? «S’il aboutit à un changement de culture politique, moins consumériste et résignée, alors ce sera déjà une victoire précieuse pour l’avenir de ce pays, juge l’économiste Hagai Katz. C’est un changement drastique dans l’histoire politique individuelle et collective des Israéliens, qui traditionnellement sont très passifs, et dont l’engagement politique (nombre de votants, de militants de partis et d’organisations) n’a cessé de décliner depuis 30 ans.»
À écouter Tal, passé de l’extrême droite au militantisme étudiant, un espoir subsiste : «Je soutenais activement la droite israélienne, explique le jeune homme de 26 ans. Mais c’est terminé, je ne voterai plus pour eux. J’étais de ces gens qui considéraient la sécurité comme le plus important. Et quelque part, je le pense toujours. Mais l’aspect social est devenu primordial à mes yeux. Car nous ne pouvons plus vivre ainsi, sans aucun horizon, comme des animaux, avec en permanence ces préoccupations matérielles en tête, parce que les besoins de base sont impossibles à satisfaire. Depuis vingt ans, la gauche a rejoint la droite et ne parle que de sécuritaire. Tout cela doit s’arrêter, aujourd’hui, maintenant.»
Ultime point d’accord qui réunit campeurs, militants politiques confirmés et analystes : la longévité du mouvement dépendra de sa capacité à faire plier le gouvernement sur des points concrets, pour que les Israéliens s’aperçoivent, enfin, qu’ils peuvent encore avoir une influence positive sur l’avenir de leur pays.
http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/int...
Pierre Puchot, Mediapart
La société israélienne est profondément divisée, scindée en petits groupes. Le fait qu’ils se mobilisent ensemble est en soi une donnée très importante et totalement nouvelle. C’est pour cela que le gouvernement est perdu et ne sait comment le digérer.
À Tel-Aviv, les étés se succèdent et se ressemblent : les touristes (et les Français) déambulent mollement vers la plage sous un soleil de plomb, qui n’empêche pas les ouvriers de bâtir en bord de mer de nouveaux immeubles toujours plus massifs. Cette année toutefois, une nouveauté : des dizaines de petites tentes ornent le terre-plein de l’avenue Rothschild, une des avenues les plus cossues de la ville. Depuis un mois, le mouvement de contestation israélien fait beaucoup parler de lui. Après l’avoir ignoré, puis avoir espéré qu’il s’essouffle, le gouvernement israélien a interrompu ses vacances ce mardi 16 août pour tenir une réunion de crise, se rendant à l’évidence : le mouvement ne fait que commencer.
Samedi, la dernière manifestation a rassemblé plusieurs dizaines de milliers de personnes aux quatre coins du pays : le mouvement s’étend et touche aujourd’hui la plupart des grandes agglomérations. Près de 90% des Israéliens le soutiennent, comme le montrent divers sondages successifs parus dans la presse israélienne.
À Tel-Aviv, plusieurs campements ont germé depuis un mois, lorsque la désormais célèbre Daphné Leef, citoyenne israélienne de 25 ans, a décidé de venir planter sa tente sur Rothschild, quand le terre-plein n’était encore que le terrain favori des amoureux en quête d’une balade en bord de mer. Des terrasses des cafés, les estivants peuvent désormais observer les dizaines de tentes qui s’étalent sur plusieurs centaines de mètres, formant un ensemble hétéroclite des mécontents de la société israélienne.
Chaque soir, à la tombée de la nuit, le campement s’anime : le mouvement contre la maltraitance des bêtes côtoie une troupe d’« artistes en colère ». Des médecins urgentistes en blouse s’agitent à côté de DJ post-pubères. Chacun possède son stand, ses banderoles, presque toutes en hébreu. Il y a aussi les particuliers, comme Nathan, venu en famille, avec sa femme et ses deux enfants, motivés par leur incapacité à se loger décemment...
Malgré les apparitions timides d’anciens ministres ou de responsables politiques, comme Tzipi Livni, qui dirige le parti centriste Kadima, aucune organisation politique n’est tolérée. Et c’est en toute quiétude que, dès 19h, pièces de théâtre et concerts se mêlent aux prises de paroles devant quelques dizaines d’auditeurs. Mais dans cet amas improbable de cris, de maquillage et de revendications, tous n’ont pas le profil attendu, entendez bobos de la classe moyenne, habitués à nourrir les scores électoraux (devenus il est vrai faméliques) des partis de gauche.
Assis au milieu du stand de l’union étudiante, Tal Arbeli, grand brun sûr de sa parole, occupe tout l’espace. Un apprentissage, sans doute, forgé au gré des joutes verbales familiales, entre un père proche du Likoud et une mère définitivement travailliste. Le fils a tranché : pour lui, Kadima (parti fondé par Ariel Sharon et dirigé par Tzipi Livni), c’est déjà la gauche. En 2009, il a voté Avigdor Lieberman. Actuel ministre des affaires étrangères et dirigeant du parti d’extrême droite Israel Beitenu, Lieberman milite depuis deux décennies pour un Etat d’Israël 100% juif et a obtenu 15 sièges sur les 120 que compte le parlement israélien. «Lieberman est présenté comme un extrémiste, soupire-t-il. Mais il a simplement dit tout haut ce que souhaitent beaucoup d’Israéliens : deux Etats, les Arabes avec les Arabes, les Juifs avec les Juifs. Moi, j’ai surtout voté pour lui pour son programme touristique, dont ma ville d’origine, Eilat, a besoin. Mais c’est un autre sujet...»
« L’impact des révolutions en Tunisie ou en Egypte est réel »
À 26 ans, Tal Arbeli endosse aujourd’hui le costume de leader étudiant, par pur pragmatisme. Faute de pouvoir payer son loyer, il vit encore chez sa grand-mère, à plusieurs kilomètres du centre-ville : « Nous tentons de mettre la pression sur le gouvernement, parce l’inflation des prix est insupportable, et le problème du logement, une cause nationale, explique-t-il. Les loyers sont plus chers, en proportion du pouvoir d’achat, qu’aux Etats-Unis et en Europe. La classe moyenne n’existe plus. Les médecins, les enseignants, tous ceux qui rendent service au pays, ne parviennent pas à boucler leur fin de mois. C’est inacceptable. C’est notre combat de tenter de faire bouger tout cela.»
Un combat qui rassemble bien au-delà des clivages habituels. Samedi dernier, l’économiste israélien Hagai Katz manifestait dans sa ville de Beer Sheva, capitale du Neguev, qui, comme les principales villes du pays, s’est jointe au mouvement : « J’ai lu dans le journal que je faisais partie, selon les toutes dernières statistiques, des 10% des Israéliens les plus riches... et je ne peux même pas louer un appartement dans le centre de Tel-Aviv ! » Pour lui, ce qui se joue en ce moment en Israël ne doit pas être sous-estimé : « Il n’y a jamais eu quoi que ce soit de semblable dans l’histoire d’Israël, rappelle le professeur Katz, qui enseigne l’économie sociale et solidaire à l’université Ben Gourion de Tel-Aviv. La dernière manifestation de cette ampleur, c’était au début des années 1980, pour les massacres de Sabra et Chatila. Les manifestations importantes ont toujours été motivées par le conflit avec les Palestiniens. Ici, c’est la classe moyenne de Marx, qui la conçoit comme une avant-garde, qui est en mouvement, pour des motifs économiques.»
Une déclinaison locale du «printemps arabe»? «Certains peuvent penser que les gens en Israël ont arrêté d’être naïfs, de rester chez soi sans rien dire, du fait de ce que l’on appelle le printemps arabe ou du mouvement espagnol, admet Tal. Je ne pense pas que ce soit le cas. Certes, les tentes, ce sont les Espagnols qui les ont sorties les premiers. Mais pour ce qui est du monde arabe, eux se battaient contre des dictateurs. Nous avons une démocratie, nous nous battons parce notre quotidien économique est devenu impossible. Ce n’est pas encore ce que nous pourrions appeler “l’été israélien”.» Hagai Katz livre un autre point de vue : « La plupart ne l’admettront pas, mais beaucoup de manifestants, et même dans mon entourage, ont observé les révolutions arabes en se disant : “Comment se fait-il qu’ils puissent changer les choses et pas nous ? Nous sommes une démocratie, cela devrait être plus simple pour nous de sortir dans la rue pour exiger un semblant de justice sociale.” En ce sens, l’impact des révolutions en Tunisie ou en Egypte est réel, on ne peut le nier.»
De fait, le mouvement est né pour partie en ligne, sur Facebook, d’un boycott contre la hausse du prix... d’un fromage. C’était il y a plus d’un mois, et de l’avis de beaucoup de manifestants, la « victoire » qui en a résulté a donné aux Israéliens l’idée qu’ils pouvaient changer les choses en se mobilisant un à un, ensemble et massivement. Au sein du mouvement, la question politique demeure cependant taboue : « Ce n’est pas politique dans le sens où ce n’est pas un mouvement porté par le Likoud ou le parti travailliste, glisse Tal. Mais c’est un problème politique, car nous mettons la pression sur le gouvernement pour obtenir un changement de politique économique. Tout le monde est d’accord là-dessus : nous ne voulons pas le communisme, mais un Etat-providence qui fonctionne.»
L’économiste Hagai Katz décèle deux caractéristiques « encourageantes» dans le processus en cours : «Ce mouvement permet à différents groupes de personnes, mues par des agendas différents, de se rendre compte des intérêts qu’ils partagent, qu’ils ignoraient totalement par le passé, et qui ont tous à voir avec la doctrine libérale économique, structurée par la prédominance du marché et la disparition de l’Etat-providence. Le second point, c’est que ce mouvement social réussisse à mobiliser. La société israélienne est profondément divisée, scindée en petits groupes. Le fait qu’ils se mobilisent ensemble est en soi une donnée très importante et totalement nouvelle. C’est pour cela que le gouvernement est perdu et ne sait comment le digérer. Mais c’est aussi parce que personne ici n’a l’expérience de ce genre de mouvement, qu’il y a des erreurs de faites dans sa gestion et une grande difficulté à formuler des revendications claires et audibles, avec un agenda pertinent.»
La semaine passée, le gouvernement israélien a constitué un comité de dix-huit personnes, chargé de réfléchir aux problèmes posés par les manifestants. Ce qui ne convainc personne ici. Pour répondre à cette annonce du premier ministre Nétanyahou, les « campeurs » organisent leur propre comité, pour tenter d’élaborer une série de revendications représentatives, sans exclure personne. C’est l’une des limites du mouvement...
«L’aspect social est devenu primordial»
À quelques exceptions près, comme un campement à Jaffa, le quartier historique de Tel-Aviv, les Arabes israéliens sont absents du mouvement. « S’ils sont en dehors, c’est qu’ils se sentent toujours en dehors de la société israélienne, parce qu’ils ne bénéficient ni des mêmes droits, ni de la même considération que les Israéliens juifs », analyse Micole Stock, jeune Italienne de 25 ans qui, après plusieurs séjours en Israël, s’est installée à Tel-Aviv pour œuvrer au sein de YaLa, un programme de développement du lien politique, social et culturel entre Arabes du Maghreb et Moyen-Orient et Israéliens. « Il en va de même pour les campeurs qui songent avant tout à éviter toute division. Nos démarches pour tenter de faire le lien entre le conflit et la politique économique ne sont pas bien reçues : la question de l’armée, de la sécurité, c’est encore une question qui divise.»
Pour l’heure, ce sont les colons de Cisjordanie qui ont fini par se mêler aux manifestants – telle Einat, qui habite Eli, au nord de la Cisjordanie, et rencontrée à Tel-Aviv sur Rothschild – pour tenter de convaincre que les maux des Israéliens ne viennent pas d’eux, malgré les exonérations dont ils bénéficient, et le coût de construction des bâtiments, estimé à plus de 17 milliards de dollars. Un message qui a du mal à passer auprès des campeurs, qui fustigent aussi volontiers la communauté orthodoxe (un cinquième de la population), qui « ne travaille pas » et «reçoit quantité de subventions pour étudier le livre».
Quel impact ce mouvement aura-t-il sur les futures élections, prévues en 2013 ? Peut-il contribuer à reconstituer une gauche sans idées, totalement désunie, et minée par ce que les Israéliens appellent la «politique de la chaise», sous-entendu, la chaise octroyée au député élu à la Knesset, à laquelle il s’accroche coûte que coûte ? «S’il aboutit à un changement de culture politique, moins consumériste et résignée, alors ce sera déjà une victoire précieuse pour l’avenir de ce pays, juge l’économiste Hagai Katz. C’est un changement drastique dans l’histoire politique individuelle et collective des Israéliens, qui traditionnellement sont très passifs, et dont l’engagement politique (nombre de votants, de militants de partis et d’organisations) n’a cessé de décliner depuis 30 ans.»
À écouter Tal, passé de l’extrême droite au militantisme étudiant, un espoir subsiste : «Je soutenais activement la droite israélienne, explique le jeune homme de 26 ans. Mais c’est terminé, je ne voterai plus pour eux. J’étais de ces gens qui considéraient la sécurité comme le plus important. Et quelque part, je le pense toujours. Mais l’aspect social est devenu primordial à mes yeux. Car nous ne pouvons plus vivre ainsi, sans aucun horizon, comme des animaux, avec en permanence ces préoccupations matérielles en tête, parce que les besoins de base sont impossibles à satisfaire. Depuis vingt ans, la gauche a rejoint la droite et ne parle que de sécuritaire. Tout cela doit s’arrêter, aujourd’hui, maintenant.»
Ultime point d’accord qui réunit campeurs, militants politiques confirmés et analystes : la longévité du mouvement dépendra de sa capacité à faire plier le gouvernement sur des points concrets, pour que les Israéliens s’aperçoivent, enfin, qu’ils peuvent encore avoir une influence positive sur l’avenir de leur pays.
http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/int...
ISRAEL’S FOREIGN POLICY LINKED TO ITS GROWING SOCIAL INEQUALITY
13 August 2011, World Socialist Web Site http://www.wsws.org (Australia)
By Jean Shaoul
Unprecedented social protests sweeping across Israel against soaring housing costs, social inequality, and declining living standards have focused on Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s embrace of “free market” reforms—and the resulting stranglehold of Israel’s dozen or so billionaires over the economy.
Little has as yet been said about one of the key factors behind this assault on Israeli workers’ living standards: the enormous economic strain coming from Israel’s brutal suppression of Middle Eastern workers in neighbouring countries, as part of Israel’s broader alliance with US imperialism. In recent years, the Zionist regime has spent billions of dollars on occupying and suppressing the Palestinian people, invading Lebanon, and building up a large military machine. Its crimes have been financed at the expense of the working class.
Moreover, these policies have been carried out largely in violation of the will of the Israeli population. In particular, repeated polls have shown that the majority of Israelis want a peaceful resolution of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A report by the Adva Centre’s Shlomo Swirski, The cost of occupation: the burden of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 2010 report, exposes the social cost to Israel of occupying Palestinian land—excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed directly.
Swirski says that both sides are paying a heavy price, although “Palestinians are paying the heaviest price”. But his report shows how the occupation’s costs have been placed squarely on the backs of the Israeli working class, via a sustained assault on its wages, working conditions, social, education and health care.
Military expenditure in the Palestinian territories took off primarily after the first Palestinian uprising or Intifada in 1987—before which Israeli bosses had profited by using Palestinian cheap labour to drive down Israelis’ wages. After the Intifada, however, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) stationed two special units permanently in the Occupied Territories. Moreover, the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories after the 1993 Oslo Accords came at the expense of investment in peripheral towns in Israel itself and required more military spending to protect them.
The suppression of the second Intifada starting in September 2000 led to extra security costs and an economic downturn to which the government reacted by slashing all civilian spending. The cuts amounted to NIS 65 ($18) billion between 2001 and 2004, which the report described as “an unprecedented retrenchment”. From 2001 and 2005, child allowances were cut by 45 percent, unemployment benefits by 47 percent and income maintenance by 25 percent—cuts that the Ministry of Finance admitted were made to pay for the defence budget.
The 2001 levels of spending were not restored after Israel’s bloody suppression of the uprising. Social spending per capita has fallen every year following 2001, while defence expenditure has risen.
Israel receives $3 billion a year in aid from the US, much of it for military expenditure, but this in no way covers Israel’s total military budget, believed to be at least $13 billion or approximately 7-8 percent of GDP, one of the highest in the world.
Swirski adds that the prolonged conflict also prevented the integration of Palestinian Israelis into Israeli society, and their social and economic advancement. This marginalisation of 20 percent of the population has further undermined Israel’s economic development.
The occupation’s precise cost is unknown, however, because the military budget is never published. All that is published is the “additional special expenditures” for the occupation. These additional appropriations alone came to NIS 45 ($12.6) billion in 2009 prices between 1989 and 2010. The report notes that this is “larger than the total budgetary outlay on elementary, secondary and tertiary education in Israel”.
The 2005 “disengagement” from Gaza cost NIS 9 ($2.5) billion; the Brodet Commission estimated the cost of building the Separation Wall between Israel and the West Bank at NIS 13 ($3.7) billion, a sum equivalent to the health care budget.
The 2006 Lebanon war to eradicate the pro-Palestinian infrastructure in Southern Lebanon cost NIS 8.2 ($2.3) billion; Operation Cast Lead against Gaza in 2008-09 cost a further NIS 4.5 ($1.3) billion, plus an additional NIS 1 billion ($280 million) to fortify the area adjacent to Gaza.
The impact of such military spending has been nothing short of catastrophic for all layers of Israeli society—save the very rich. The Israeli government does not represent the interests of its citizens, or even of all its Jewish citizens, but those of a section of Israel’s financial elite, a corrupt and venal clique that operates as international gangsters on behalf of its masters in Washington.
Adva’s 2009-10 Annual Social Report shows that inequality is high and growing, not only between rich and poor but between different sections of the working class: Jewish Israelis of European origin, of Middle East and North African origin, Palestinian Israelis, migrant workers, the impoverished orthodox Jews, and the 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2010, Israel’s Gini coefficient was 39 percent, making it one of the most socially unequal of the world’s wealthy countries.
The gross average income of 80 percent of workers fell in 2009, with the income of the poorest 40 percent declining most. The middle income group has shrunk from 33 percent of all households in 1988 to 27 percent in 2009, with the share of total income falling from 28 percent to 21 percent.
While 52 percent of Israelis are poor or very poor, the annual per capita income of Palestinian Israelis is about one third that of Jewish Israelis. They face discrimination in terms of employment and education, social welfare and housing investment budgets. Half of all the 850,000 poor children are Palestinian Israelis.
All levels of education, another key focus of the protest movement, are almost universally acknowledged to be dreadful. Teachers’ pay is low relative to other developed countries, while classroom sizes are above average. Students, including Israel’s top students, perform badly by international standards. Some 54 percent of 17 year olds failed to graduate from high school in 2009, reflecting even more starkly the income disparities between social groups.
Access to healthcare is no better, as reflected in average household expenditure on supplemental healthcare insurance, which has continued to grow as public provision has declined. While the poor spend a higher proportion of their income on healthcare, their more limited insurance buys them significantly fewer benefits.
The elderly have been particularly badly affected as the state pension is far below even a minimum standard of living, and the income of the majority is so low that they are unable to save for their retirement. According to Adva’s report, the bottom 20 percent saved almost nothing towards their retirement.
These conditions underscore that a successful struggle against social inequality in Israel poses the urgent necessity of a united struggle by the Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab working masses against the bourgeois Zionist state and the criminal policies of world imperialism.
By Jean Shaoul
Unprecedented social protests sweeping across Israel against soaring housing costs, social inequality, and declining living standards have focused on Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s embrace of “free market” reforms—and the resulting stranglehold of Israel’s dozen or so billionaires over the economy.
Little has as yet been said about one of the key factors behind this assault on Israeli workers’ living standards: the enormous economic strain coming from Israel’s brutal suppression of Middle Eastern workers in neighbouring countries, as part of Israel’s broader alliance with US imperialism. In recent years, the Zionist regime has spent billions of dollars on occupying and suppressing the Palestinian people, invading Lebanon, and building up a large military machine. Its crimes have been financed at the expense of the working class.
Moreover, these policies have been carried out largely in violation of the will of the Israeli population. In particular, repeated polls have shown that the majority of Israelis want a peaceful resolution of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A report by the Adva Centre’s Shlomo Swirski, The cost of occupation: the burden of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 2010 report, exposes the social cost to Israel of occupying Palestinian land—excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed directly.
Swirski says that both sides are paying a heavy price, although “Palestinians are paying the heaviest price”. But his report shows how the occupation’s costs have been placed squarely on the backs of the Israeli working class, via a sustained assault on its wages, working conditions, social, education and health care.
Military expenditure in the Palestinian territories took off primarily after the first Palestinian uprising or Intifada in 1987—before which Israeli bosses had profited by using Palestinian cheap labour to drive down Israelis’ wages. After the Intifada, however, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) stationed two special units permanently in the Occupied Territories. Moreover, the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories after the 1993 Oslo Accords came at the expense of investment in peripheral towns in Israel itself and required more military spending to protect them.
The suppression of the second Intifada starting in September 2000 led to extra security costs and an economic downturn to which the government reacted by slashing all civilian spending. The cuts amounted to NIS 65 ($18) billion between 2001 and 2004, which the report described as “an unprecedented retrenchment”. From 2001 and 2005, child allowances were cut by 45 percent, unemployment benefits by 47 percent and income maintenance by 25 percent—cuts that the Ministry of Finance admitted were made to pay for the defence budget.
The 2001 levels of spending were not restored after Israel’s bloody suppression of the uprising. Social spending per capita has fallen every year following 2001, while defence expenditure has risen.
Israel receives $3 billion a year in aid from the US, much of it for military expenditure, but this in no way covers Israel’s total military budget, believed to be at least $13 billion or approximately 7-8 percent of GDP, one of the highest in the world.
Swirski adds that the prolonged conflict also prevented the integration of Palestinian Israelis into Israeli society, and their social and economic advancement. This marginalisation of 20 percent of the population has further undermined Israel’s economic development.
The occupation’s precise cost is unknown, however, because the military budget is never published. All that is published is the “additional special expenditures” for the occupation. These additional appropriations alone came to NIS 45 ($12.6) billion in 2009 prices between 1989 and 2010. The report notes that this is “larger than the total budgetary outlay on elementary, secondary and tertiary education in Israel”.
The 2005 “disengagement” from Gaza cost NIS 9 ($2.5) billion; the Brodet Commission estimated the cost of building the Separation Wall between Israel and the West Bank at NIS 13 ($3.7) billion, a sum equivalent to the health care budget.
The 2006 Lebanon war to eradicate the pro-Palestinian infrastructure in Southern Lebanon cost NIS 8.2 ($2.3) billion; Operation Cast Lead against Gaza in 2008-09 cost a further NIS 4.5 ($1.3) billion, plus an additional NIS 1 billion ($280 million) to fortify the area adjacent to Gaza.
The impact of such military spending has been nothing short of catastrophic for all layers of Israeli society—save the very rich. The Israeli government does not represent the interests of its citizens, or even of all its Jewish citizens, but those of a section of Israel’s financial elite, a corrupt and venal clique that operates as international gangsters on behalf of its masters in Washington.
Adva’s 2009-10 Annual Social Report shows that inequality is high and growing, not only between rich and poor but between different sections of the working class: Jewish Israelis of European origin, of Middle East and North African origin, Palestinian Israelis, migrant workers, the impoverished orthodox Jews, and the 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2010, Israel’s Gini coefficient was 39 percent, making it one of the most socially unequal of the world’s wealthy countries.
The gross average income of 80 percent of workers fell in 2009, with the income of the poorest 40 percent declining most. The middle income group has shrunk from 33 percent of all households in 1988 to 27 percent in 2009, with the share of total income falling from 28 percent to 21 percent.
While 52 percent of Israelis are poor or very poor, the annual per capita income of Palestinian Israelis is about one third that of Jewish Israelis. They face discrimination in terms of employment and education, social welfare and housing investment budgets. Half of all the 850,000 poor children are Palestinian Israelis.
All levels of education, another key focus of the protest movement, are almost universally acknowledged to be dreadful. Teachers’ pay is low relative to other developed countries, while classroom sizes are above average. Students, including Israel’s top students, perform badly by international standards. Some 54 percent of 17 year olds failed to graduate from high school in 2009, reflecting even more starkly the income disparities between social groups.
Access to healthcare is no better, as reflected in average household expenditure on supplemental healthcare insurance, which has continued to grow as public provision has declined. While the poor spend a higher proportion of their income on healthcare, their more limited insurance buys them significantly fewer benefits.
The elderly have been particularly badly affected as the state pension is far below even a minimum standard of living, and the income of the majority is so low that they are unable to save for their retirement. According to Adva’s report, the bottom 20 percent saved almost nothing towards their retirement.
These conditions underscore that a successful struggle against social inequality in Israel poses the urgent necessity of a united struggle by the Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab working masses against the bourgeois Zionist state and the criminal policies of world imperialism.
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