quinta-feira, 30 de agosto de 2012

Rachel Corrie ruling 'a bad day for humanity' says her mother

28 August 2012, The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk (UK)

The mother of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Israel in 2003, has spoken out following the Israeli court's decision to reject the case brought against the military.

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An Israeli court rejected all claims of negligence in a civil lawsuit brought by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a protest in 2003.

“I reached the conclusion that there was no negligence on the part of the bulldozer driver,” said Judge Oded Gershon, reading out his verdict at Haifa District Court in northern Israel.

The judge said he found no case for negligence on the part of the Israeli army, and that the military police investigation – which found she had been killed by falling earth as a result of her own irresponsible behaviour – had been properly conducted.

He said her death was the result of an accident and rejected claims that key videotape evidence had been destroyed.

The 23-year-old was killed in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in March 2003 as she was with a group of pro-Palestinian activists acting as human shields to prevent a house demolition.

Exactly seven years after her death, her family launched a civil suit against the state of Israel and the defence ministry for the symbolic sum of $1, plus costs.

The family, who travelled from the United States to attend the hearing, followed the proceedings with the help of an interpreter.

They were accompanied by around 50 friends and well-wishers.

An Israeli military investigation into the incident was closed several months after her death without any disciplinary action, saying the bulldozer crew could not see Corrie because she was behind a mound of rubble.

ON THE RACHEL CORRIE VERDICT AND DOING THE “REASONABLE” THING


August 29, 2012, Shalom Rav http://rabbibrant.com (USA)
A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen
I'm sure many people find it perfectly reasonable that an Israeli court recently ruled Palestinian solidarity protester Rachel Corrie caused her own death in 2003 by standing in front of a moving bulldozer. After all, as Judge Oded Gershon pointed out, she knew the risks. She "chose to endanger herself" by going into a "closed military zone" to try and stop the destruction of a Palestinian home in southern Gaza.  In the end, she refused to step aside, as "any reasonable person would have done."

If this verdict all sounds perfectly "reasonable" to some, I believe it is only because it was presented devoid of any real context. It utterly ignores the fact that it is the Israeli military - and but extension, Israel itself - that creates the rules that govern the "reality" of this situation. The court could rule any way it pleased - even despite all evidence to the contrary - because at the end of the day it answers to no one but itself.

Why was this civilian area deemed a "closed combat zone?" Because the Israeli military deemed it as such. This, despite the fact that no combat was taking place in the area on that day and no closed military zone order was ever presented in court. This despite the compelling claims that these home demolitions have nothing to do with Israeli's security and everything to do with collective punishment.

If you have any doubt about the length and breath of Israel's military impunity, I urge you to read this article by the Guardian's Chris McGreal - to my mind the most important article about the Corrie verdict thus far:

"The case laid bare the state of the collective Israeli military mind, which cast the definition of enemies so widely that children walking down the street were legitimate targets if they crossed a red line that was invisible to everyone but the soldiers looking at it on their maps. The military gave itself a blanket protection by declaring southern Gaza a war zone, even though it was heavily populated by ordinary Palestinians, and set rules of engagement so broad that just about anyone was a target.”

Yes, Rachel Corrie knew the risks. As an activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), she went through extensive training to prepare herself to engage in this form of nonviolent protest.  Eyewitnesses testified that she wore a high visibility orange vest and stood in full view of the soldier driving the bulldozer. But tragically, I doubt all the precautions in the world could ever have protected her from what McGreal refers to as "the collective Israeli military mind."
Or, for that matter, Israeli military justice. As is now well known - and has even been admitted by US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro - the IDF's investigation into Rachel's death was a sham, carried out by a team of 19-year-old inexperienced boys who never interrogated a single Palestinian or non-military witness. This is a critical point: Israel has to date not carried out a full, credible investigation of its military's actions on that day - actions that resulted in the death of an American citizen. As Rachel's mother Cindy has correctly pointed out: "a lawsuit is not a substitute for a legal investigation, which we never had."
I have met Rachel's parents Cindy and Craig on several occasions now and I know them to be among the most compassionate and principled social justice activists I have ever met.  Yes, they are pursuing this case because of what happened to their daughter, but anyone who knows them knows they are driven by their deeply held value of justice.  Notably, they only sought one dollar in damages from the Israeli government - an award which Judge Gershon refused to grant them in his ruling.  I have no doubt that Cindy Corrie meant it from the bottom of her heart when she said after the verdict:
This is a sad day, not only to us, as a family. This is a sad day for Israel, a sad day for human right activists, a sad day for international law, a sad day for justice.
I do agree with Judge Gershon when he ruled that Rachel did not step aside "as any reasonable person would have done."  As too many nonviolent protesters know all too well, when you find yourself in the midst of an unjust context, doing the just thing is rarely the most reasonable option. (I'm sure many didn't consider it "reasonable," for instance, when marchers in Selma walked straight into a line of armed state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.)
Look at the clip above. It comes from a Korean news story about the Palestinian nonviolent protest movement in the West Bank. In this clip, you can see ISM founder Huwaida Arraf protecting protesters from armed soldiers with her own body. Nothing reasonable there. How many of us have one iota of her - or Rachel's - courage to stand firm in the face of such overwhelming injustice?
At the press conference following the verdict, the Rachel's family was asked how they felt that the judge said that Rachel should have moved out of the bulldozer's way. Cindy Corrie's response:
I don't think that Rachel should have moved. I think we should all have been standing there with her.

Rachel Corrie death: eyewitness attacks Israeli verdict as 'implausible'

8 August 2012, The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk (UK)

Tom Dale, a pro-Palestinian campaigner who witnessed the death of Rachel Corrie, refutes the judgement of an Israeli court that the death of the American activist was "a regrettable accident".

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The decision by an Israeli court that the death of American activist Rachel Corrie in 2003 "was a regrettable accident" for which the state was "not responsible" has been strongly condemned by eyewitness Tom Dale.

Mr Dale, who was working alongside Ms Corrie as part of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Group, described the judgement as "extremely disappointing", although he says that he was not surprised by the verdict, claiming that is was part of a "general culture of impunity" within the Israeli military forces and the judicial system.

Ms Corrie died after being run over by a Israeli Defence Force (IDF) bulldozer, while protesting against the demolition of a Palestinian house in Gaza. The IDF argued that the driver of the bulldozer was unable to see her - a claim accepted by the court in Haifa - but Mr Dale says this was not the case.

"I am absolutely clear that the bulldozer driver would have been able to see Rachel. It was a clear day, Rachel was standing in open ground, wearing a high-visibility vest and the bulldozer driver moved toward her from 20 or 30 metres away and absolutely would have had a chance to see her as she stood in one place, motionless, in that time".

New Military Order comes into effect


29 August 2012, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section http://www.dci-palestine.org (Palestine)
newsletter@dci-palestine.org
On 1 August, Military Order 1685  came into effect. The new order reduces the time within which children  detained by the Israeli military must be brought before a military court  judge for the first time. The order shortens the time from eight to four  days. This amendment applies to adults and children as young as 12 years. The  amendment does not automatically apply in cases where a person is being  interrogated by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet).

Some key points to note regarding these changes are as  follows:
Military Order 1685 has not been translated into Arabic as is required  under Article 65 of the Fourth  Geneva Convention, and accordingly has no legal effect. Previous military  orders relating to the establishment of a military juvenile court (2009) and  the age of majority (2011) have yet to be translated into  Arabic.

No explanation has been given as to why more favourable time limits apply  to Israeli children, including children living in settlements in the West  Bank. Under the law that is applied to Israeli children, a child below the  age of 14 must be brought before a civilian judge within 12 hours of arrest,  rising to 24 hours in the case of older children. Under international law, no  state is entitled to discriminate between  those over whom it exercises penal jurisdiction on the basis of their race of  nationality.
The critical period for children detained under Israeli military law is  during the first 48 hours after arrest. It is during this period that most  cases of abuse  are documented and the child is interrogated without the benefit of legal  advice or the presence of a parent – rights Israeli children enjoy. The  amendment which now requires children be brought before a military court  judge within 96 hours of arrest adds no additional protection.

DCI-Palestine continues to recommend that:
The Israeli government desists from applying discriminatory legal systems  to children based on race or nationality.

On arrival at a place of detention, children should be immediately  reminded of their right to silence. Their right to consult a lawyer prior to  interrogation should be respected.
Children should have a parent or guardian present prior to and during  their interrogation.

Interrogations should be audio-visually recorded and the tapes should be  made available to the child’s lawyer.
Breach of these recommendations should result in the discontinuation of  the prosecution and the child’s release.

Related links:
Children in Military  Custody - Report by a group of prominent British lawyers (June 2012)
DCI-Palestine - Bound, Blindfolded and Convicted (April 2012)
B’Tselem – No Minor Matter (July 2011)

THESE ARE NOT MY JEWISH VALUES!


 

August 21, 2012, One Voice Movement http://blog.onevoicemovement.org (Israel, Palestine, USA)



By Darya Shaikh*
Over the last year or so, I have felt myself hardening, growing increasingly jaded about the day to day happenings of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have been working on this issue for many years and made a promise to myself early on that I would stop if I ever lost touch with the emotion and passion that led me to choose this work in the first place.

Intellectually, I read the headlines and recognize the rapidly growing distance between the present and peace. However, if I'm honest, feelings of anger, frustration and alarm have been absent for some time.

All that changed today. The first two headlines I read left me absolutely infuriated and sadder than I've been in a long time. Late Thursday night, Jewish youth savagely attacked three Palestinians while shouting racist slurs in Jerusalem's Zion Square. Earlier that day, settlers hurled fire bombs at Palestinians in the West Bank, wounding a family of six.

This made me want to scream at the top of my lungs, "These are not my Jewish values!"

Some may question whether I am the right person to declare some form of ownership over Jewish values -- with a Jewish, Israeli mother and a Muslim, Pakistani father. I have let that worry stop me from speaking up before, but I refuse to let that silence me this time. The Judaism I was raised with is all about dugma ishit, or leadership by example.

I have heard Jews from across the spectrum of orthodoxy state that the Jewish people are a light onto all nations. True or not, every self-identifying Jew must recognize that when these kinds of vitriolic, hateful actions are perpetrated in the name of Jewish values -- by those who claim superiority and entitlement over others -- we not only fuel the growing tide of global anti-Semitism, we render ourselves completely unworthy of the title "the chosen people."

If this is the future of the so-called Jewish State, then I say no, thank you.

We cannot turn a blind eye to these events. They may be exceptional at the moment, but if the Israeli public chooses to sit silently by and allow these actions to be taken in their name, then they are all guilty by association.

When a Palestinian act of terror has been committed, we all rightly demand condemnation. Why is this situation any different? If anything, this is a key opportunity for the Israeli leadership to show their dugma ishit and demonstrate a commitment to non-violence as the only means toward peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Every single day, more and more negative realities are being created. If we take a step back, we can actually measure the growing rift that has formed between the present day, the status quo of conflict and occupation, and the future of the two-state solution.

These actions must be stopped. If the political leadership does not stand up to condemn them, then they are not worthy of being called leaders. Let the people stand up and show what real Jewish values are made of!

*Darya Shaikh is acting CEO of the OneVoice Movement. Her blog was originally published on The Huffington Post: http://huff.to/Qnf1U1.

MK Khenin: Palestinians and Israelis are paying greatly because the occupation

29 August 2012, The Israeli Communist Party המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي (Israel)
info@maki.org.il
Social activists joined OneVoice Israel on Tuesday in Tel Aviv to draw the inextricable link between calls for social justice and demands for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to end occupation.
Hundreds congregated in Rothschild Boulevard around a massive ice wall, symbolizing the "freeze" in peace talks and containing posters with information on dozens of under-funded social programs in Israel, while the government bleeds money toward conflict management over resolution. "In life there is no status quo, if you don't move forward you go backwards," said MK Dov Khenin (Hadash). "The government of Netanyahu speaks of two states, but acts on a daily basis to make this solution harder. The price? It's not only for the Palestinians, we too are paying greatly."

The ice wall on Rothschild Boulevard (Photo: OneVoice)
"Our social needs are being frozen along with the peace process," said Tal Harris OneVoice Israel executive director. "People forgot over the last 20 years that the peace process impacts their day-to-day life. We want to remind them of the need to freeze settlements and end the conflict once and for all by committing to serious negotiations." The government's defense budget ballooned to $14.5 billion in 2012, much of it to maintain the occupation, while education and health suffer serious deficits. Israeli taxpayers have so far bankrolled the occupation and settlement of Palestinian land to the tune of $50 billion while struggling to make ends meet.
Singers Noa (Achinoam Nini) and Mira Awad, MKs Khenin, Avishay Braverman, Nitzan Horowitz, Akram Hasoon and Raleb Majadele, and former Ambassadors Ilan Baruch, Alon Liel and Daniel Shek, among others, participated in the event.
OneVoice is an international grassroots movement that aims to "amplify the voice of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to demand a two-state solution. The movement educates and trains Israeli and Palestinian youth in leadership skills, non-violent activism, and democratic principles."

ISRAELI SOLDIERS BREAK SILENCE


August 30, 2012, Global Research http://www.globalresearch.ca (Canada)
 
By Stephen Lendman
Breaking the Silence (BTS) is an organization comprised of Israeli combat veterans. They served since the start of the second Intifada. They refuse any longer to stay silent.
 
Their testimonies expose "the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories." Their purpose is to stimulate public debate. They revealed abuses too gruesome to hide.
 
They include "looting and destruction of property." Many other crimes and abuses are much worse. In their own words, they reveal the deplorable immorality of Israel's militarized occupation.
 
Most Israelis ignore it. They turn a blind eye to what's done in their name. "In order to become civilians again, soldiers are (also) forced to ignore what they have seen and done."
 
BTS members have been revealing disturbing truths for years. A previous article discussed them, saying:
 
"We, reserve officers and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)....have always served in the front lines" (We) were first to carry out any mission, light or heavy, (and we did it) to protect the State of Israel and strengthen it."
"We....served....long weeks every year, in spite of dear cost to our personal lives, have been on reserve duty all over the Occupied Territories, and were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country (but were only given to perpetuate) our control over the Palestinian people."
 
"We('ve)....seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides."
 
"The commands issued to us in the Territories (have) destroy(ed) all the values (we learned) growing up in this country."
 
"The (way) the Occupation (undermines the) IDF's human character and (exposes) the corruption of the entire Israeli society."
 
"We....know that the Territories are not Israel, and that all settlements are bound to be evacuated in the end."
 
"We hereby declare that we shall not continue to fight this War of the Settlements."
 
"We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people."
 
"We hereby declare that we shall continue serving the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defense."
 
"The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose - and we shall take no part in them."
Women soldiers also speak out. Their testimonies match their male counterparts. They condemn the corrupt state of Israel's military. They want no further part of horrific crimes committed in their name.
 
To date, BTS collected over 700 testimonies. Soldiers from all segments of Israeli society supplied them. They're frank, bold, revealing, and courageous. Those published were "meticulously researched" for accuracy.
 
Facts are cross-checked with additional eyewitness evidence, as well as archival material from human rights organizations.
 
Most soldiers remain anonymous for their own safety. They're concerned about IDF recrimination and societal pressures they'll face otherwise. Israel doesn't take criticism lightly.
 
It wants no one obstructing or denigrating military or government policies. Doing so can be hazardous. Being Jewish doesn't grant immunity. Soldiers bearing witness to horrific crimes have special concerns. They have smoking gun proof of Israeli lawless.
 
Their testimonies are damning. They reveal the real Israel. They destroy the myth of a free, open, and equitable democratic state. Throughout its history, ruthlessness defines policy.
 
Militarism is a way of life. Arabs are considered lesser beings. Occupied Palestinians are persecuted for not being Jewish.
 
Edward Said explained it powerfully. His books, articles, and outspokenness bear witness to decades of horrific treatment.
 
He described "Sharonian evil." Among other crimes, he massacred children. He turned Palestine into an isolated prison. He used tanks and F-16s against civilians.
 
He, his predecessors, and successors committed virtually every imaginable atrocity. Netanyahu exceeds his extremism. He, Barak, and likeminded hardliners represent consummate evil.
 
Palestinians are persecuted and oppressed for their faith, ethnicity and presence. An endless cycle of violence, depravation, and degradation targets them. In Gaza, slow-motion genocide is policy.
 
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers operate like storm troopers. Hitler had a Jewish problem. Israel has a Palestinian one. They can't get rid of them, so they're brutalized mercilessly.
 
BTS soldiers want shocking truths revealed. Everyone has a right to know. Israelis need to know what type society they live in. Change depends on exposing it to the light of day.
 
US media scoundrels suppress it. So do European ones most often. Exceptions are rare. They prove the rule. London Guardian writer Harriet Sherwood headlined "Former Israeli soldiers disclose routing mistreatment of Palestinian children," saying:
 
BTS members described "beatings, intimidation, humiliation, verbal abuse, night-time arrests and injury."
 
Children most often face stone-throwing charges. Usually they did nothing. At most they caused no harm. They can face prison and torture either way. They're horrifically treated like adults. Sherwood gave graphic examples of soldier testimonies.
 
So did London Independent writer Donald MacIntyre. He headlined "Israel breaks silence over army abuses," saying:
 
As a teenager, "Hafez Rajabi was marked for life by his encounter with" Israeli soldiers. His scars bear testimony to their abuse. They terrorized and brutalized him. He was "certain that he was going to" be killed.
 
He's one of countless thousands. One boy was "beat(en) to a pulp." So were others. In custody they're tortured to confess even if innocent. British lawyers accused Israel of "serial breaches of international law in its military's handling of children in custody."
 
Kids young as 10 or younger are traumatized. Some never recover. Most are entirely innocent. Being Palestinian puts them at risk. Soldiers get habituated to violence. Commanders order it.
 
Dehumanization, brutalization, humiliation, and harassment are commonplace.Unaccountability is policy. Institutionalized cruelty goes unnoticed. So does murder and virtually every other type abuse.
 
Sunshine is the best disinfectant. BTS soldiers took full advantage. Others are encouraged to join them. Below are examples of what they said. Multiply each one by thousands if all soldiers spoke freely.
 
Growing up in Palestine means living with threatened state terror. Few kids escape it directly or indirectly. They face it growing up and as adults. Militarized occupation assures it.
 
A Hebron-based soldier said:
 
"You never know their names, you never talk with them, they always cry, shit in their pants….There are those annoying moments when you're on an arrest mission, and there's no room in the police station, so you just take the kid back with you, blindfold him, put him in a room and wait for the police to come and pick him up in the morning. He sits there like a dog …"
 
According to another soldier:
 
One kid lay on the ground "begging for his life. (He) was actually nine years old, I mean, a kid has to beg for his life? A loaded gun is pointed at him and he has to plead for mercy? This is something that scars him for life. But I think if we hadn't entered the village at that point, then stones would be thrown the next day and perhaps the next time someone would be wounded or killed as a result."
 
Another:
 
"We were sort of indifferent. It becomes a kind of habit. Patrols with beatings happened on a daily basis. We were really going at it. It was enough for you to give us a look that we didn't like, straight in the eye, and you'd be hit on the spot. We got to such a state and were so sick of being there."
 
Another:
 
"The commander said to (her): 'Keep away!' Came close, cocked his gun. She got scared. (He shouted): 'Anyone gets close, I kill him. Don't annoy me. I'll kill him. I have no mercy.' He was really on the edge. Obviously (the boy) had been beaten up. Anyway, he told them: 'Get the hell out of here!' and all hell broke loose. His nose was bleeding. He had really been beaten to a pulp."
 
Another:
 
"We'd often provoke riots (in Hebron). We'd be on patrol, walking in the village, bored, so we'd trash shops, find a detonator, beat someone to a pulp, you know how it is. Search, mess it all up. Say we'd want a riot? We'd go up to the windows of a mosque, smash the panes, throw in a stun grenade, make a big boom, then we'd get a riot."
 
"Every time we'd catch Arab kids. You catch him, push the gun against his body. He can't make a move - he's totally petrified. He only goes: 'No, no, army.' You can tell he's petrified. He sees you're mad, that you couldn't care less about him and you're hitting him really hard the whole time."
 
"And all those stones flying around. You grab him like this, you see? We were mean, really. Only later did I begin to think about these things, that we'd lost all sense of mercy."
Over 700 other testimonies read like these. If made public, thousands of others could replicate them. These are serious, unprovoked crimes. Prosecutions rarely happen. Punishments are no more than wrist slaps. Commanders have total absolution.
 
Israeli rule of law says Palestinians don't matter. They're kicked around like rag dolls. Stray dogs wouldn't be treated as abusively. Israeli soldiers have virtual carte blanche to do what they please.
 
Impunity protects them. Commanders order them to be tougher. So do extremist rabbis. BTS soldiers bear witness to Israel's dark side. It's the only side Palestinians endure daily.
 
Read the entire BTS report and know why.
 
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
 
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
 
 
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.