2 September 2011, Palestine Chronicle http://palestinechronicle.com (USA)
By Julie Webb-Pullman* - Gaza
The most fundamental fault of the Palmer Report on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident(1) is its one-eyed view of security. The second is its exceeding of the Terms of Reference (TOR).
While the Report upholds, and goes into considerable detail about, Israel’s right to security and the firing of weapons into Israel from Gaza and the killing of 25 Israeli’s since 2001, it COMPLETELY IGNORES Gaza’s – or the Palestinian - right to security, it ignores the innumerable military attacks on Gaza by Israel which according to an Israeli Human Rights group (2) have killed more than 4500, with 41 Israeli air strikes in the last week alone killing another 17, and it ignores Israel’s continuous invasions and incursions into Palestinian territory contrary to international law, and in breach of some 80 UN Security Council Resolutions.
If the claimed purpose of the Palmer Report is in fact to “avoid similar incidents in future” it would be more appropriate to address the ROOT CAUSE of the incident, which is Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, and ongoing military assaults on Gaza, even the weapons for which are disproportionate - while Gazan groups use homemade, inaccurate and usually ineffective weapons rarely resulting in injury, let alone death, Israel favours extremely high-tech, accurate, brutally effective – and ILLEGAL – weapons that almost always maim and kill.
Cause and Effect
The Palmer Panel, and the United Nations, would do better to prevail upon Israel to observe international law, as embodied in some 80 UN Security Council Resolutions and numerous international conventions, than do irrelevant book reviews that do nothing but give Israel more ammunition to legitimise its genocide.
It needs to be re-stated – rockets fired into Israel from Gaza, and efforts by international civil society to alleviate the suffering caused by the illegal siege of Gaza, are EFFECTS directly flowing from the ROOT CAUSE, Israel’s persistent and ongoing refusal to observe international law, or even internationally-determined borders.
Enforcement of UNSC Resolutions, not a glorified “book review,” are what is required to “avoid similar incidents in future.”
The TOR
The TOR makes it clear the Report was never intended to be anything but a Clayton’s exercise. They state: (and I don’t know where number 1 disappeared to – it was not in the copy I have)
The panel:
2 (a) will receive and review interim and final reports of national investigations into the incident; that is, do a “book review” and call it a Report, which the international community is expected to swallow, and “move on”.
(b) may request such clarifications and information as it may require from relevant national authorities. Not obtain or assess original or direct evidence, not even obtain witness testimonies or examine or cross-examine witnesses – merely have a chat to the ‘points of contact’ of the ‘relevant national authorities’.
3. In the light of the information so gathered the panel will:
(a) examine and identify the facts, circumstances and context of the incident; – which given the limited TOR can only be what the two national authorities ‘reported’ they were – a veritable exercise in Chinese Whispers (not sure of the politically-correct term for this, if there is one), which is not only a poor substitute for due process, but it is also very unlikely to establish the facts, circumstances and context of the incident such that any meaningful recommendations could be made;
(b) consider and recommend ways of avoiding similar incidents in the future. – the most obvious recommendation of all being OBSERVANCE BY ISRAEL OF ALL SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, such that defensive actions by Gaza, and humanitarian convoys to alleviate their suffering, are no longer necessary.
The Palmer Panel’s limited assessment of the evidence, and obsession with Israel’s right to security, seems to have blinkered them to this, the most obvious recommendation of all.
Did the Report Find the Naval Blockade is Legal?
While Israel, and lazy mainstream media, touts the Palmer Report as finding Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal, a closer reading shows no such thing.
If anything, the report shows that the Palmer panel exceeded their Terms of Reference (TOR) by the two chairs taking it upon themselves to lay the so-called “secure legal foundation” that served as the basis for their findings and recommendations despite acknowledgement they had no grounds to do so, then attributing legality to their subsequent considerations, findings or determinations.
In its own words, the panel states in paragraph 5 of its Introduction:
“It needs to be understood from the outset that this Panel is unique. Its methods of inquiry are similarly unique. The Panel is not a court. It was not asked to make determinations of the legal issues or to adjudicate on liability.” and
6. “It means that the Panel cannot make definitive findings either of fact or law.”
So why did it go on in Para 73 to make a determination that:
“The Panel considers the conflict should be treated as an international one for the purposes of the law of blockade.”
And in paragraph 81, to state that:
“The Panel therefore concludes that Israel’s naval blockade was legal.” –
These findings are clearly outside the TOR, and are findings on which subsequent statements rely, such as in the Summary at:
ii, “The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.”
And,
viii. Attempts to breach a lawfully imposed naval blockade.
Appendicitis
These painful contradictions can be explained by the first appendix in the Report, stating that:
“the Chair and Vice-Chair provide our own account of the principles of public international law that apply to the events under review” in order to rest their findings and recommendations “on a secure legal foundation.” – of their own invention.
Of considerable importance is that they do not even require Israel to have fulfilled its obligation to declare this blockade by notifying it to the UN Security Council according to the processes outlined in Article 51 of the Charter, instead accept their posting it on a few Israeli websites!
This makes a mockery of both the TOR, and the considerable body of highly-qualified international legal opinion that disagrees with their position, and that they explicitly chose to ignore in preference to their own. This ensures that the supposed secure legal foundation for the Report, thus all finding and recommendations based on it, are but a Palmer/Uribe house of cards.
The Palmer Report not only exceeds its TOR, but it is internally inconsistent, and in conflict with other reputable legal bodies and opinions, including those of other UN agencies.
In keeping with the TOR, therefore, any legal determinations and findings should, like an acutely-inflamed appendix, be immediately removed from the final report before they irreparably harm the host.
Extra-territoriality of the Application of the Naval Blockade
A curious omission from their legal deliberations on the legitimacy of the naval blockade, inappropriate as they were, is the attack on the Mavi Marmara 72 nautical miles from the coast and 64 nautical miles from the blockade zone. This goes way beyond enforcing a legitimate naval blockade, which extends at most 20 nautical miles from the coast, into extra-territorial application of the Gaza blockade into international waters.
This has serious - and extensive - implications in international law, which the panel chooses not to discuss, but which are directly relevant to the prevention of further incidents.
Curious – and Unsupportable - Justifications
An example of one of the more curious justifications for not finding the naval blockade disproportionate is the statement in paragraph 78 that “the prospect of delivering significant supplies to Gaza by sea is very low” because of the lack of port facilities.
That the port facilities were destroyed by Israel in 2001 appears to them too insignificant to mention. That Gaza port has been used for literally THOUSANDS OF YEARS for the delivery of “bulk supplies” through Gaza to Europe, and back again. Large ships moored offshore and smaller vessels, of which there thousands here, transferred the goods to port. Gazans were doing this long before New Zealand even had human habitation, and they continued doing it up until late last century - I have spoken to Gazan men in their 50’s who recall watching this as a favorite past-time as children.
There is no reason such methods could not be occurring now – but for the naval blockade. That they might be “inefficient” methods in the panel’s view speaks more to their first world arrogance and failure to appreciate the conditions on the ground in Gaza, than it does to the need to get bulk supplies in to meet the very real desperate need that exists, as repeatedly and continuously stated by the numerous international NGOs and UN agencies working in Gaza.
Recommendation to Use Established Procedures
Any remaining shred of credibility is totally destroyed by this bizarre statement in paragraph 154 which flies in the face of all available evidence, that:
“... the Government of Israel has taken significant steps to ease the restrictions on goods entering Gaza since the 31 May 2010 incident.”
And with regard to future prevention, the even more bizarre recommendation in paragraph iv that:
“All humanitarian missions wishing to assist the Gaza population should do so through established procedures and the designated land crossings in consultation with the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”
The panel has completely ignored not only the reality on the ground in relation to the so-called easing of restrictions, as reported by numerous NGOs (3), but also UN assessments such as that of OCHA published in March 2011, the Executive Summary of which stated:
“The partial lifting of import restrictions...increased the availability of consumer goods and some raw materials...However, due to the pivotal nature of the remaining restrictions, this relaxation did not result in a significant improvement in people’s livelihoods.”
And went on to say that despite 100 water and sanitation, education and health services. projects since being approved, “while the potential benefit of these projects, once implemented, is significant, due to the recurrent delays in implementation, the population has so far not experienced any improvement in the quality of services.”(4)
Finally, statements from both the Israeli and Turkish participants contained in the Appendix indicate that far from coming to the consensus decisions required of it, the Palmer Report is a Palmer/Uribe house of cards based on selective – and self-determined – legal determinations that exceed their TOR, and are one-eyed in the application of rights – to security, to self-defence, and to provide humanitarian aid as, when and where it is needed.
Most significantly, the selective condemnation of Gaza homemade rocket attacks, while failing to condemn Israel’s use of prohibited weapons against civilian targets in a clear and incontrovertible exercise of the collective punishment of a trapped population, beggars belief.
* Julie Webb-Pullman is a New Zealand activist and writer currently based in Gaza. She has written on social and political justice issues for New Zealand Independent News website SCOOP since 2003, as well as for websites in Australia, Canada, the US, and Latin America, and participated in several human rights observation missions. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
Notes:
(1) Palmer Committee Final Report (2011) Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident.
(2) B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories – Statistics. http://www.btselem.org/statistics.
(3) Amnesty International UK et al (2010) Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza.
(4) OCHA (2011) Special Focus: Easing the Blockade.
segunda-feira, 5 de setembro de 2011
Israel usa perros asesinos entrenados contra palestinos
1 Septiembre 2011, The Beirut Herald بيروت هيرالد http://www.thebeirutherald.com.ar (Argentina)
Perros entrenados durante meses para atacar han sido entregados a colonos israelíes para soltarlos contra los palestinos.
Según el grupo israelí a cargo de los animales, el llamado "Batallón civil de adiestradores de perros de Judea y Samaria (Cisjordania ocupada)", los perros están adiestrados para atacar a los participantes en las manifestaciones a favor de la petición palestina a las Naciones Unidas de formar un Estado independiente, ha informado este miércoles Press TV, citando a la agencia de noticias Reuters.
"Estos perros han sido entrenados para atacar a los comandos", ha dado a conocer el líder americano-israelí de colonos y también entrenador de perros, Mike Guzovsky.
Sin embargo, hasta la fecha, se han registrado varios ataques de canes del ejército israelí contra simples civiles palestinos.
El ejército israelí ha planeado armar con gases lacrimógenos y granadas aturdidoras, así como adiestrar a los colonos en los territorios ocupados palestinos con el propósito de enfrentarlos tras el probable anuncio del reconocimiento de un Estado palestino en la Asamblea General de la ONU.
El ministerio de Defensa del régimen de Tel Aviv ha gastado unos 22 millones de dólares para adquirir armamento de dispersión de multitudes a fin de hacer frente a las supuestas protestas.
El próximo 20 de septiembre, el presidente de la Autoridad Nacional Palestina (ANP), Mahmud Abás, tiene programado pedir ante la ONU, el reconocimiento de un Estado palestino dentro de sus fronteras anteriores a 1967 y con su capital en Al-Quds (Jerusalén Este).
Perros entrenados durante meses para atacar han sido entregados a colonos israelíes para soltarlos contra los palestinos.
Según el grupo israelí a cargo de los animales, el llamado "Batallón civil de adiestradores de perros de Judea y Samaria (Cisjordania ocupada)", los perros están adiestrados para atacar a los participantes en las manifestaciones a favor de la petición palestina a las Naciones Unidas de formar un Estado independiente, ha informado este miércoles Press TV, citando a la agencia de noticias Reuters.
"Estos perros han sido entrenados para atacar a los comandos", ha dado a conocer el líder americano-israelí de colonos y también entrenador de perros, Mike Guzovsky.
Sin embargo, hasta la fecha, se han registrado varios ataques de canes del ejército israelí contra simples civiles palestinos.
El ejército israelí ha planeado armar con gases lacrimógenos y granadas aturdidoras, así como adiestrar a los colonos en los territorios ocupados palestinos con el propósito de enfrentarlos tras el probable anuncio del reconocimiento de un Estado palestino en la Asamblea General de la ONU.
El ministerio de Defensa del régimen de Tel Aviv ha gastado unos 22 millones de dólares para adquirir armamento de dispersión de multitudes a fin de hacer frente a las supuestas protestas.
El próximo 20 de septiembre, el presidente de la Autoridad Nacional Palestina (ANP), Mahmud Abás, tiene programado pedir ante la ONU, el reconocimiento de un Estado palestino dentro de sus fronteras anteriores a 1967 y con su capital en Al-Quds (Jerusalén Este).
TERRA SANTA, DOCUMENTÁRIO SOBRE A VIOLÊNCIA DA OCUPAÇÃO ISRAELITA DA PALESTINA
2 Setembro 2011, Diário Liberdade http://diarioliberdade.org (Galiza, España)
Documentário retrata a violência no cotidiano das pessoas que moram na dita "Terra Santa".
Duração: 90 minutos.
Documentário retrata a violência no cotidiano das pessoas que moram na dita "Terra Santa".
Duração: 90 minutos.
TURKEY SLAMS ISRAEL WITH LAST MINUTE DEAL DEAD
2 September 2011, Hürriyet Daily News http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com (Turkey)
Sevil Küçükkoşum
The collapse of a last-minute deal pushed by Washington brings Turkey and Israel closer to a breaking point over the Mavi Marmara raid, with Ankara effectively expelling the Israeli ambassador and warning of harsher measures ahead
Turkey downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel to second-secretary level on Friday, effectively expelling the Israeli ambassador and senior diplomats over Israel’s failure to apologize for killing nine Turks in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year. Ankara announced five steps in protest, warning that more measures could follow.
“Diplomatic relations with Israel have been reduced to a second-secretary level. All personnel above the second-secretary level, primarily the ambassador, will return to their countries by Wednesday at the latest,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told at a press conference on Friday.
Ankara moved to make the announcement shortly after a long-awaited U.N. report on the Mavi Marmara raid was leaked to U.S. media on Thursday. Ankara believes the report was leaked by the hawkish wing of the Israeli coalition government in a bid to limit the room for maneuvering on both sides on a possible reconciliation deal involving an Israeli apology.
The downgrading of diplomatic ties was the first among five measures that Davutoğlu announced in response to Israel’s failure to apologize for the raid and compensate the victims’ families, which Ankara sought as a condition for normalizing bilateral ties.
Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy, whose term in Ankara was set to expire in mid-September, was already in Israel and will not return to Turkey. Ankara had already recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv immediately after the raid on the Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010, and other senior Turkish diplomats will return to Turkey by Wednesday.
Turkey previously downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel to second-secretary level in November 1980 after the Jewish state proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital. The chilly period continued until December 1991, when progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks prompted Ankara to appoint ambassadors to both sides.
Secondly, Minister Davutoğlu said all military agreements with Israel have been suspended. Last year, Turkey had already effectively suspended military agreements and military exercises with Israel, and Ankara barred Israeli military aircraft from using Turkish airspace. Turkey went a step further Friday by officially announcing that it has suspended all existing military pacts.
Turkey and Israel signed a landmark military cooperation accord in 1996, much to the ire of Arab countries and Iran, marking the outset of what was called “a strategic partnership.” In the first major projects after the accord, Israeli companies were awarded contracts worth $700 million to modernize 100 Turkish F-4 and F-5 fighter jets and sold Turkey rockets and electronic equipment.
Ankara, for its part, offered an opportunity for Israel’s air force to train in a vast airspace unavailable in its own country, as part of joint drills in central Turkey. The two armies also held joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean. Turkey is also said to have allowed Israel access to its radars in monitoring Iranian and Iraqi air space, while other deals involved the exchange of military students and expertise on chemical weapons protection.
Davutoğlu also said Turkey would take every precaution it considers necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the East Mediterranean, as the country with the longest coastline there. Turkey’s military presence in the East Mediterranean is expected to be boosted in the upcoming days. The move could be considered as a manifestation of Turkey’s position rejecting Gaza’s blockade, a Turkish diplomat said.
Davutoğlu said Turkey did not recognize Israel’s right to blockade Gaza and intended to ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to examine the blockade as it stood on May 31, 2010. “For this aim, we are starting initiatives to put the U.N. General Assembly in motion [on the issue],” he said. The move suggests Ankara will seek collective action at the U.N. to apply to the International Court of Justice in a bid to secure a legal deliberation on the legitimacy of the blockade.
Lastly, Davutoğlu said Turkey would support legal action by the families of Turkish and foreign victims in the Mavi Marmara raid. Turkish nationals can seek justice in local courts first. One of the nine dead was a U.S. citizen of Turkish origin and his family has already started legal action in U.S. courts.
The measures, Davutoğlu said, were a response to the attitudes of the current Israeli government, and did not target the Israeli people.
“Our aim is not to harm the historical Turkish-Jewish friendship, but on the contrary, to urge the Israeli government to correct their mistake that does not befit this exceptional friendship,” Davutoğlu said. “No state is above the law, and the time has come for Israel to pay a price for its illegal actions. This price, first of all, is being deprived of Turkey’s friendship.”
He said Turkish and Israeli officials held four rounds of talks to reconcile their differences and reached a consensus on two draft texts, which were also approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the agreements failed due to a split in the Israeli Cabinet, he said.
Referring to the Palmer Commission report and its leak to the press, Davutoğlu said: “We are determined to take this issue to the relevant international legal authorities.”
Although the report has yet to be released officially, President Abdullah Gül said Turkey regarded it as “null and void.” Gül warned of further measures targeting Israel “depending on how things will develop and how Israel will behave.”
He warned the Israeli government, branding it “a burden even for its own people” and charging that it had fallen “into a position deprived of any strategy” in the Middle East.
“There are steps Israel must take for peace and security in the region. If they fail to comprehend this by themselves, we hope their allies will tell them in a way they understand,” Gül said.
Sevil Küçükkoşum
The collapse of a last-minute deal pushed by Washington brings Turkey and Israel closer to a breaking point over the Mavi Marmara raid, with Ankara effectively expelling the Israeli ambassador and warning of harsher measures ahead
Turkey downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel to second-secretary level on Friday, effectively expelling the Israeli ambassador and senior diplomats over Israel’s failure to apologize for killing nine Turks in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year. Ankara announced five steps in protest, warning that more measures could follow.
“Diplomatic relations with Israel have been reduced to a second-secretary level. All personnel above the second-secretary level, primarily the ambassador, will return to their countries by Wednesday at the latest,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told at a press conference on Friday.
Ankara moved to make the announcement shortly after a long-awaited U.N. report on the Mavi Marmara raid was leaked to U.S. media on Thursday. Ankara believes the report was leaked by the hawkish wing of the Israeli coalition government in a bid to limit the room for maneuvering on both sides on a possible reconciliation deal involving an Israeli apology.
The downgrading of diplomatic ties was the first among five measures that Davutoğlu announced in response to Israel’s failure to apologize for the raid and compensate the victims’ families, which Ankara sought as a condition for normalizing bilateral ties.
Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy, whose term in Ankara was set to expire in mid-September, was already in Israel and will not return to Turkey. Ankara had already recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv immediately after the raid on the Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010, and other senior Turkish diplomats will return to Turkey by Wednesday.
Turkey previously downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel to second-secretary level in November 1980 after the Jewish state proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital. The chilly period continued until December 1991, when progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks prompted Ankara to appoint ambassadors to both sides.
Secondly, Minister Davutoğlu said all military agreements with Israel have been suspended. Last year, Turkey had already effectively suspended military agreements and military exercises with Israel, and Ankara barred Israeli military aircraft from using Turkish airspace. Turkey went a step further Friday by officially announcing that it has suspended all existing military pacts.
Turkey and Israel signed a landmark military cooperation accord in 1996, much to the ire of Arab countries and Iran, marking the outset of what was called “a strategic partnership.” In the first major projects after the accord, Israeli companies were awarded contracts worth $700 million to modernize 100 Turkish F-4 and F-5 fighter jets and sold Turkey rockets and electronic equipment.
Ankara, for its part, offered an opportunity for Israel’s air force to train in a vast airspace unavailable in its own country, as part of joint drills in central Turkey. The two armies also held joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean. Turkey is also said to have allowed Israel access to its radars in monitoring Iranian and Iraqi air space, while other deals involved the exchange of military students and expertise on chemical weapons protection.
Davutoğlu also said Turkey would take every precaution it considers necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the East Mediterranean, as the country with the longest coastline there. Turkey’s military presence in the East Mediterranean is expected to be boosted in the upcoming days. The move could be considered as a manifestation of Turkey’s position rejecting Gaza’s blockade, a Turkish diplomat said.
Davutoğlu said Turkey did not recognize Israel’s right to blockade Gaza and intended to ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to examine the blockade as it stood on May 31, 2010. “For this aim, we are starting initiatives to put the U.N. General Assembly in motion [on the issue],” he said. The move suggests Ankara will seek collective action at the U.N. to apply to the International Court of Justice in a bid to secure a legal deliberation on the legitimacy of the blockade.
Lastly, Davutoğlu said Turkey would support legal action by the families of Turkish and foreign victims in the Mavi Marmara raid. Turkish nationals can seek justice in local courts first. One of the nine dead was a U.S. citizen of Turkish origin and his family has already started legal action in U.S. courts.
The measures, Davutoğlu said, were a response to the attitudes of the current Israeli government, and did not target the Israeli people.
“Our aim is not to harm the historical Turkish-Jewish friendship, but on the contrary, to urge the Israeli government to correct their mistake that does not befit this exceptional friendship,” Davutoğlu said. “No state is above the law, and the time has come for Israel to pay a price for its illegal actions. This price, first of all, is being deprived of Turkey’s friendship.”
He said Turkish and Israeli officials held four rounds of talks to reconcile their differences and reached a consensus on two draft texts, which were also approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the agreements failed due to a split in the Israeli Cabinet, he said.
Referring to the Palmer Commission report and its leak to the press, Davutoğlu said: “We are determined to take this issue to the relevant international legal authorities.”
Although the report has yet to be released officially, President Abdullah Gül said Turkey regarded it as “null and void.” Gül warned of further measures targeting Israel “depending on how things will develop and how Israel will behave.”
He warned the Israeli government, branding it “a burden even for its own people” and charging that it had fallen “into a position deprived of any strategy” in the Middle East.
“There are steps Israel must take for peace and security in the region. If they fail to comprehend this by themselves, we hope their allies will tell them in a way they understand,” Gül said.
sexta-feira, 2 de setembro de 2011
ISRAELIS, GO PROTEST!
2 September 2011, Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com
Saturday the power of a society will be tested - a society that has finally come alive and grown up after decades of slumber.
By Gideon Levy
As the social protest enters its eighth week and the demonstration planned for Saturday is set to be the greatest in Israeli history, it's time to issue an emergency mobilization order. All people who care about their lives in this country must, simply must, report for duty.
All people who thought they could do nothing but grumble and discovered it can be completely different have a duty, not only a right, to go outside and come to the square.
Rightists and leftists, Jews and Arabs, women and men, young and old, religious and secular, northerners and southerners - everyone must be in Kikar Hamedina Saturday night.
Saturday the power of a society will be tested - a society that has finally come alive and grown up after decades of slumber. If the masses flood the square, their outcry will be heard. Nobody, not even Benjamin Netanyahu's government, could ignore hundreds of thousands of Israelis demanding change and social justice.
Size matters, but it's not the only thing. From the protest's first day, from the first large demonstration on July 23, it was marked by an enthusiasm we never witnessed at any other demonstration, perhaps since the birth of the state. Winds of change like that haven't blown since the night the state was declared, when we danced outside the old Tel Aviv Museum on Rothschild Boulevard.
The day after the first demonstration, I wrote here that a new spirit had emerged. At the second demonstration, I was proud to be an Israeli, more than I had been for years. At the third demonstration, the largest ever, I felt that Israel was celebrating its renewed independence.
A wind has blown through the country in recent weeks, changing the language, agenda and tone. Instead of a bunch of cynical, cliche-reciting and deceiving politicians, we have a group of plain-speaking youngsters who have set the agenda and tone. Instead of a group of greedy, ostentatious tycoons we have humble tent-dwellers. These winds of change must blow Saturday too, but more powerfully.
All eyes will be on Kikar Hamedina Saturday, not only those yearning for success, but also the worried, frightened eyes of people fearing change in the existing order, which was so good to them. The protest's enemies, few but powerful, will stay home hoping that the demonstration will bomb.
These are most of our politicians, tycoons and owners of big companies and their relatives. People who overprice and overcharge, who drive to their minimum-wage factories in their black Mercedes, like the chairman of the ailing Pri Hagalil plant in the north. Also staying home will be the army of high-paid conservative commentators. They're all lying in wait, hoping that the revolution will fail.
In the next two days, every Israeli should remember what the state and society looked like before the first tent was set up, what people talked about and dealt with. We should compare it to what we're dealing with today. We should think of the reduced prices, the rich who suddenly have adopted more modest ways, the government that appoints committees, reduces companies' profits and uses, at least outwardly, a new language. We should think especially about our politicians, who suddenly seem so pale and shabby beside the impressive appearance of Daphni, Stav and Itzik Shmuli.
Anyone who wants this music to end Saturday should stay at home. Anyone who thinks this music must not be stopped must show up. Nine o'clock at the square. That's the time, that's the place.
More on this topic
52 days later, Israel's social protest faces its biggest test
Saturday the power of a society will be tested - a society that has finally come alive and grown up after decades of slumber.
By Gideon Levy
As the social protest enters its eighth week and the demonstration planned for Saturday is set to be the greatest in Israeli history, it's time to issue an emergency mobilization order. All people who care about their lives in this country must, simply must, report for duty.
All people who thought they could do nothing but grumble and discovered it can be completely different have a duty, not only a right, to go outside and come to the square.
Rightists and leftists, Jews and Arabs, women and men, young and old, religious and secular, northerners and southerners - everyone must be in Kikar Hamedina Saturday night.
Saturday the power of a society will be tested - a society that has finally come alive and grown up after decades of slumber. If the masses flood the square, their outcry will be heard. Nobody, not even Benjamin Netanyahu's government, could ignore hundreds of thousands of Israelis demanding change and social justice.
Size matters, but it's not the only thing. From the protest's first day, from the first large demonstration on July 23, it was marked by an enthusiasm we never witnessed at any other demonstration, perhaps since the birth of the state. Winds of change like that haven't blown since the night the state was declared, when we danced outside the old Tel Aviv Museum on Rothschild Boulevard.
The day after the first demonstration, I wrote here that a new spirit had emerged. At the second demonstration, I was proud to be an Israeli, more than I had been for years. At the third demonstration, the largest ever, I felt that Israel was celebrating its renewed independence.
A wind has blown through the country in recent weeks, changing the language, agenda and tone. Instead of a bunch of cynical, cliche-reciting and deceiving politicians, we have a group of plain-speaking youngsters who have set the agenda and tone. Instead of a group of greedy, ostentatious tycoons we have humble tent-dwellers. These winds of change must blow Saturday too, but more powerfully.
All eyes will be on Kikar Hamedina Saturday, not only those yearning for success, but also the worried, frightened eyes of people fearing change in the existing order, which was so good to them. The protest's enemies, few but powerful, will stay home hoping that the demonstration will bomb.
These are most of our politicians, tycoons and owners of big companies and their relatives. People who overprice and overcharge, who drive to their minimum-wage factories in their black Mercedes, like the chairman of the ailing Pri Hagalil plant in the north. Also staying home will be the army of high-paid conservative commentators. They're all lying in wait, hoping that the revolution will fail.
In the next two days, every Israeli should remember what the state and society looked like before the first tent was set up, what people talked about and dealt with. We should compare it to what we're dealing with today. We should think of the reduced prices, the rich who suddenly have adopted more modest ways, the government that appoints committees, reduces companies' profits and uses, at least outwardly, a new language. We should think especially about our politicians, who suddenly seem so pale and shabby beside the impressive appearance of Daphni, Stav and Itzik Shmuli.
Anyone who wants this music to end Saturday should stay at home. Anyone who thinks this music must not be stopped must show up. Nine o'clock at the square. That's the time, that's the place.
52 days later, Israel's social protest faces its biggest test
quinta-feira, 1 de setembro de 2011
Polish-Jewish sociologist compares West Bank separation fence to Warsaw Ghetto walls
1 September 2011, Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
Sygmunt Bauman says Israel 'terrified of peace' and 'taking advantage of the Holocaust to legitimize unconscionable acts,' in interview with Polish weekly 'Politika.'
By Roman Frister
Sygmunt Bauman, the Jewish sociologist and one of the greatest philosophers of our time, castigated Israel harshly this week, saying it did not want peace and was afraid of it.
Bauman said Israel was "taking advantage of the Holocaust to legitimize unconscionable acts," and compared the separation fence to the walls surrounding the Warsaw Ghetto, in which hundreds of thousands of Jews perished in the Holocaust.
In a long interview to the important Polish weekly "Politika," Bauman said Israel was not interested in peace. "Israeli politicians are terrified of peace, they tremble with fear from the possibility of peace, because without war and without general mobilization they don't know how to live," he said.
"Israel does not see the missiles falling on communities along the border as a bad thing. On the contrary, they would be worried and even alarmed were it not for this fire," the Polish-British sociologist said.
Bauman, who lived in Israel briefly, referred to an article he wrote in Haaretz, in which he expressed concern that the younger Israeli generation was being raised on the understanding that the state of war and military alert were natural and unavoidable.
The Polish public has not heard such a diatribe against Zionism and Israel since the anti-Semitic propaganda campaign the Communist regime conducted after the Six-Day War.
Not surprisingly, leading Jewish figures came out against it.
"Politika" published the criticism alongside the letter of Israeli ambassador in Warsaw Zvi Bar, who rejected Bauman's "half truths" and "groundless generalizations."
Bauman, who was born in Poland in 1925, has been living in England since he left his lecturer's chair at Tel Aviv University in 1971.
He is seen as one of the greatest sociologists of our time and has dealt extensively with the ties between the Holocaust and modernism, globalization and consumer culture in the postmodern era.
Some of his books have been translated into Hebrew, including "Liquid Love."
His grandson is attorney Michael Sfard, of the human rights group Yesh Din.
Sygmunt Bauman says Israel 'terrified of peace' and 'taking advantage of the Holocaust to legitimize unconscionable acts,' in interview with Polish weekly 'Politika.'
By Roman Frister
Sygmunt Bauman, the Jewish sociologist and one of the greatest philosophers of our time, castigated Israel harshly this week, saying it did not want peace and was afraid of it.
Bauman said Israel was "taking advantage of the Holocaust to legitimize unconscionable acts," and compared the separation fence to the walls surrounding the Warsaw Ghetto, in which hundreds of thousands of Jews perished in the Holocaust.
In a long interview to the important Polish weekly "Politika," Bauman said Israel was not interested in peace. "Israeli politicians are terrified of peace, they tremble with fear from the possibility of peace, because without war and without general mobilization they don't know how to live," he said.
"Israel does not see the missiles falling on communities along the border as a bad thing. On the contrary, they would be worried and even alarmed were it not for this fire," the Polish-British sociologist said.
Bauman, who lived in Israel briefly, referred to an article he wrote in Haaretz, in which he expressed concern that the younger Israeli generation was being raised on the understanding that the state of war and military alert were natural and unavoidable.
The Polish public has not heard such a diatribe against Zionism and Israel since the anti-Semitic propaganda campaign the Communist regime conducted after the Six-Day War.
Not surprisingly, leading Jewish figures came out against it.
"Politika" published the criticism alongside the letter of Israeli ambassador in Warsaw Zvi Bar, who rejected Bauman's "half truths" and "groundless generalizations."
Bauman, who was born in Poland in 1925, has been living in England since he left his lecturer's chair at Tel Aviv University in 1971.
He is seen as one of the greatest sociologists of our time and has dealt extensively with the ties between the Holocaust and modernism, globalization and consumer culture in the postmodern era.
Some of his books have been translated into Hebrew, including "Liquid Love."
His grandson is attorney Michael Sfard, of the human rights group Yesh Din.
MASSIVE YOUTH MOBILIZATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
31 August 2011, Communist Party of Israel המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית http://maki.org.il
Statement of the Young Communist League of Israel (August 2011)
The huge wave of demonstrations that is sweeping Israel for the last month and half, including a demonstration of 300,000 protestors in Tel-Aviv on August 6th, presented a very clear message: The Israeli working class in general, and young people in particular, revolts against the soaring prices of housing and basic commodities, and no longer agrees to silently abide to a social system that works against the interest of the vast majority, and for the interests of the few.
This social protest movement, characterized by the setting-up of thousands of protest tents throughout the country, is led by young people, and raises demands that address the needs of the general population, but also specifically the needs of youth and students.
The wave of revolutions in the Arab countries, which saw the unleashing of creative energy, against oppression and poverty, and for democracy and social justice, has long hit Europe, where young people took to the streets in Spain, Greece, and elsewhere. Now, we are now witnessing a similar struggle in Israel: Young people, many of which have been dormant and passive, are now taking interest in politics, mobilizing massively on the streets, and are involved in democratically discussing the strategy and tactics of this movement.
The Young Communist League of Israel (YCLI) has supported this protest movement since its onset, as it expresses the interests of the great majority of young people in Israel, Jews and Arabs alike. Our commitment to social change, and our vast experience in organizing both cadres and masses, means that our Comrades are in the leadership of many local protest encampments, and are also present in the national leadership of the movement.
We have a special responsibility in broadening the scope of the protest movement, bringing it into the periphery of the country, to poor neighborhood inside the big cities, and into small towns, far off from the metropolitan areas. This is most evident in Arab towns and villages, where we are the key player in this recent wave of struggle, leading the initiatives of building protest encampments and organizing demonstrations.
As an integral part of this young, vibrant, dynamic and growing social movement, we raise immediate demands, which include:
- Young married couples cannot afford buying a flat. YCLI demands massive government housing projects, including in Arab towns and villages, and subsidization of mortgages (as was the case until the 1980s, when Neo-Liberal austerity plans were adopted).
- University and College students cannot pay the high rent. YCLI demands municipalities to adopt regulations that place a top limit for rents, to stop them from rising. Furthermore, the government should fund more dormitories in universities and colleges, to allow more students to live near where they study.
- The cost of living is on the rise, but monthly salaries remain constant. As a result, more and more workers, especially young workers who are employed in precarious jobs, cannot make ends meet. YCLI demands the government to intervene and fix prices for basic food commodities, for gas, public transportation, electricity and water, and to pay a monthly cost-of-living allowance to every worker.
- Arab towns and villages face an acute housing crisis, manifested by lack of building permits and confiscation of lands. YCLI demands an immediate stop of land confiscations, and a return of lands confiscated in the past. The regional and local outline plans for the Arab towns and villages should allocate areas for development of housing, and building permits shall be given on an equal basis. The brutal policy of house demolitions, which the government is directing not only against Palestinian in the occupied territories, but also against the Palestinian citizens of Israel, most be abolished, including in the so-called "Unrecognized villages" of Bedouin tribes in the south of Israel.
In addition to these – and other – immediate demands, YCLI contributes to the struggle on the ideological and on the political level.
Ideologically, we state, based on our Marxist-Leninist perspective, that this social struggle, in essence, is between two classes and two world outlooks: On the one hand, there's Prime Minister Netanyahu's capitalist world outlook, which is manifested in benefits for the ultra-rich, and in attacks on the rights of workers and students, under the slogans of privatization and "free market economy"; On the other hand, there is our socialist world outlook, that support an egalitarian, peaceful and socially just society, which will respect social, civil and national rights.
Politically, our contribution to this social movement is twofold:
First, we insist on making the connection between the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people, and the enormous social, economic and moral cost that the Israeli society has to pay for marinating it. Our position that the struggle for social justice is intertwined with the struggle for peace, is becoming more accepted as people realize that the hundreds of millions of Shekels that are currently spent on building settlements and increasing the military budget, could have been spent on building kindergartens, schools, hospitals and libraries.
Second, we emphasize that the success of this movement could be achieved only through adoption of a joint Jewish-Arab character. The movement needs to address openly the unique problems of the Arab citizens of in Israel (who comprise more than 20% of its population), and must create a close cooperation, on a massive scale, between Jewish and Arab youth. This kind of cooperation can help consolidate a broad public behind our demand for complete national and civil equality for the Arab-Palestinian minority within Israel.
The protest movement brought into activism a broad layer of young people, Jews and Arabs, contributed to their politicization, and presented them with a perspective of deep social change. As such, it is a most important development that we, as Young Communists, need not only study and analyze, but also immerse ourselves in it, involve our cadre and sympathizers, and help consolidate a clear perspective on how to take the struggle forward. Doing this will contribute to the cause of Peace and Socialism, which we believe is to prevail.
To contact YCLI ycl.israel@gmail.com
Statement of the Young Communist League of Israel (August 2011)
The huge wave of demonstrations that is sweeping Israel for the last month and half, including a demonstration of 300,000 protestors in Tel-Aviv on August 6th, presented a very clear message: The Israeli working class in general, and young people in particular, revolts against the soaring prices of housing and basic commodities, and no longer agrees to silently abide to a social system that works against the interest of the vast majority, and for the interests of the few.
This social protest movement, characterized by the setting-up of thousands of protest tents throughout the country, is led by young people, and raises demands that address the needs of the general population, but also specifically the needs of youth and students.
The wave of revolutions in the Arab countries, which saw the unleashing of creative energy, against oppression and poverty, and for democracy and social justice, has long hit Europe, where young people took to the streets in Spain, Greece, and elsewhere. Now, we are now witnessing a similar struggle in Israel: Young people, many of which have been dormant and passive, are now taking interest in politics, mobilizing massively on the streets, and are involved in democratically discussing the strategy and tactics of this movement.
The Young Communist League of Israel (YCLI) has supported this protest movement since its onset, as it expresses the interests of the great majority of young people in Israel, Jews and Arabs alike. Our commitment to social change, and our vast experience in organizing both cadres and masses, means that our Comrades are in the leadership of many local protest encampments, and are also present in the national leadership of the movement.
We have a special responsibility in broadening the scope of the protest movement, bringing it into the periphery of the country, to poor neighborhood inside the big cities, and into small towns, far off from the metropolitan areas. This is most evident in Arab towns and villages, where we are the key player in this recent wave of struggle, leading the initiatives of building protest encampments and organizing demonstrations.
As an integral part of this young, vibrant, dynamic and growing social movement, we raise immediate demands, which include:
- Young married couples cannot afford buying a flat. YCLI demands massive government housing projects, including in Arab towns and villages, and subsidization of mortgages (as was the case until the 1980s, when Neo-Liberal austerity plans were adopted).
- University and College students cannot pay the high rent. YCLI demands municipalities to adopt regulations that place a top limit for rents, to stop them from rising. Furthermore, the government should fund more dormitories in universities and colleges, to allow more students to live near where they study.
- The cost of living is on the rise, but monthly salaries remain constant. As a result, more and more workers, especially young workers who are employed in precarious jobs, cannot make ends meet. YCLI demands the government to intervene and fix prices for basic food commodities, for gas, public transportation, electricity and water, and to pay a monthly cost-of-living allowance to every worker.
- Arab towns and villages face an acute housing crisis, manifested by lack of building permits and confiscation of lands. YCLI demands an immediate stop of land confiscations, and a return of lands confiscated in the past. The regional and local outline plans for the Arab towns and villages should allocate areas for development of housing, and building permits shall be given on an equal basis. The brutal policy of house demolitions, which the government is directing not only against Palestinian in the occupied territories, but also against the Palestinian citizens of Israel, most be abolished, including in the so-called "Unrecognized villages" of Bedouin tribes in the south of Israel.
In addition to these – and other – immediate demands, YCLI contributes to the struggle on the ideological and on the political level.
Ideologically, we state, based on our Marxist-Leninist perspective, that this social struggle, in essence, is between two classes and two world outlooks: On the one hand, there's Prime Minister Netanyahu's capitalist world outlook, which is manifested in benefits for the ultra-rich, and in attacks on the rights of workers and students, under the slogans of privatization and "free market economy"; On the other hand, there is our socialist world outlook, that support an egalitarian, peaceful and socially just society, which will respect social, civil and national rights.
Politically, our contribution to this social movement is twofold:
First, we insist on making the connection between the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people, and the enormous social, economic and moral cost that the Israeli society has to pay for marinating it. Our position that the struggle for social justice is intertwined with the struggle for peace, is becoming more accepted as people realize that the hundreds of millions of Shekels that are currently spent on building settlements and increasing the military budget, could have been spent on building kindergartens, schools, hospitals and libraries.
Second, we emphasize that the success of this movement could be achieved only through adoption of a joint Jewish-Arab character. The movement needs to address openly the unique problems of the Arab citizens of in Israel (who comprise more than 20% of its population), and must create a close cooperation, on a massive scale, between Jewish and Arab youth. This kind of cooperation can help consolidate a broad public behind our demand for complete national and civil equality for the Arab-Palestinian minority within Israel.
The protest movement brought into activism a broad layer of young people, Jews and Arabs, contributed to their politicization, and presented them with a perspective of deep social change. As such, it is a most important development that we, as Young Communists, need not only study and analyze, but also immerse ourselves in it, involve our cadre and sympathizers, and help consolidate a clear perspective on how to take the struggle forward. Doing this will contribute to the cause of Peace and Socialism, which we believe is to prevail.
To contact YCLI ycl.israel@gmail.com
UN APPEL A L’ACTION
1er septembre 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) http://www.france-palestine.org (France)
La Campagne nationale, "Palestine : L’État no.194"
Depuis ses débuts, la lutte palestinienne pour la liberté et l’indépendance a été adoptée par les peuples du monde entier, transcendant ainsi les définitions géographiques et nationales.
Imprégnés des 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 les milieux 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. Pour nous Palestiniens, et au moment où nous nous approchons de notre liberté, elle représente une bouée de sauvetage de l’espoir qui est le nôtre. Cette solidarité montre avec 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 en faisant 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 collective efficace, et positive de la communauté internationale qui conduirait ainsi le Moyen-Orient plus près 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 l’admission à 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 en faisant campagne, en manifestant, et en marchant pour la liberté de la Palestine. Aidez-nous en soutenant cette cause dans vos communautés et à travers les réseaux sociaux et comptez sur nous pour tout le soutien dont vous auriez besoin.
Les Palestiniens ont été et encouragés par des actions et initiatives déjà lancées dans le monde. Le soutien de principe par des parlements et des personnalités internationales, des pétitions, ainsi que des médias et des efforts de sensibilisation sont une contribution inestimable à la campagne pour la reconnaissance de la Palestine et son admission aux Nations Unies.
Notre campagne va lancer une série d’activités, qui culmineront le 21 Septembre, 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 sera éternellement reconnaissante pour votre soutien de principe acquis de longue date.
Nous sommes fiers de faire partie d’une telle coalition impressionnante de défenseurs des droits humains 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 lutte palestinienne pour la liberté et l’indépendance a été adoptée par les peuples du monde entier, transcendant ainsi les définitions géographiques et nationales.
Imprégnés des 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 les milieux 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. Pour nous Palestiniens, et au moment où nous nous approchons de notre liberté, elle représente une bouée de sauvetage de l’espoir qui est le nôtre. Cette solidarité montre avec 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 en faisant 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 collective efficace, et positive de la communauté internationale qui conduirait ainsi le Moyen-Orient plus près 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 l’admission à 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 en faisant campagne, en manifestant, et en marchant pour la liberté de la Palestine. Aidez-nous en soutenant cette cause dans vos communautés et à travers les réseaux sociaux et comptez sur nous pour tout le soutien dont vous auriez besoin.
Les Palestiniens ont été et encouragés par des actions et initiatives déjà lancées dans le monde. Le soutien de principe par des parlements et des personnalités internationales, des pétitions, ainsi que des médias et des efforts de sensibilisation sont une contribution inestimable à la campagne pour la reconnaissance de la Palestine et son admission aux Nations Unies.
Notre campagne va lancer une série d’activités, qui culmineront le 21 Septembre, 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 sera éternellement reconnaissante pour votre soutien de principe acquis de longue date.
Nous sommes fiers de faire partie d’une telle coalition impressionnante de défenseurs des droits humains 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"
PERES CAN'T SAVE NETANYAHU FROM UN DEBACLE
1 September 2011, EDITORIAL Haaretz הארץ (Israel)
Reports have emerged that Prime Minister Netanyahu will ask President Peres to represent Israel in the General Assembly in the vote on Palestinian statehood. The president should not agree to go.
Around 130 countries have pledged to vote in the UN General Assembly in about three weeks to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories. Barak Ravid reported in Haaretz this week that Israel's UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, sent a classified cable to Jerusalem saying Israel had no chance of putting together a significant bloc of countries to oppose the resolution. Prosor said that only a few countries would vote against the Palestinian move and that at most a number of countries would abstain or be absent. This means a diplomatic defeat accompanied by Israel's deepening international isolation.
Against this backdrop, a number of reports have emerged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ask President Shimon Peres to represent Israel in the General Assembly. The president should not agree to go. From the outset, Israel should have dealt completely differently with the challenge the Palestinians have placed before it in the international arena. Israel should have supported the Palestinian move while conditioning it on renewed negotiations. After that didn't happen, there's no point in sending the president on a mission to persuade the world's representatives to support Israel's positions.
While Israel's leaders speak loftily about a two-state solution, Israel is trying to garner a majority to vote against international recognition of a Palestinian state. In the meantime, it is continuing its unilateral actions in the form of settlement-building. That's an impossible mission, even for a figure with as much sympathy around the world as Peres.
Under these conditions, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations should present the government's position on the establishment of a Palestinian state. It's not the president's job to represent the positions of the Israeli government, becoming a kind of foreign minister or a substitute for the public diplomacy minister. The government and the Foreign Ministry cannot divest themselves of their heavy responsibility for Israel's complex and difficult international situation.
President Peres should stay home. In any case, he does not have the power to change the UN's decision, and his participation in the General Assembly will only add to Israel's humiliation and isolation.
Reports have emerged that Prime Minister Netanyahu will ask President Peres to represent Israel in the General Assembly in the vote on Palestinian statehood. The president should not agree to go.
Around 130 countries have pledged to vote in the UN General Assembly in about three weeks to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories. Barak Ravid reported in Haaretz this week that Israel's UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, sent a classified cable to Jerusalem saying Israel had no chance of putting together a significant bloc of countries to oppose the resolution. Prosor said that only a few countries would vote against the Palestinian move and that at most a number of countries would abstain or be absent. This means a diplomatic defeat accompanied by Israel's deepening international isolation.
Against this backdrop, a number of reports have emerged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ask President Shimon Peres to represent Israel in the General Assembly. The president should not agree to go. From the outset, Israel should have dealt completely differently with the challenge the Palestinians have placed before it in the international arena. Israel should have supported the Palestinian move while conditioning it on renewed negotiations. After that didn't happen, there's no point in sending the president on a mission to persuade the world's representatives to support Israel's positions.
While Israel's leaders speak loftily about a two-state solution, Israel is trying to garner a majority to vote against international recognition of a Palestinian state. In the meantime, it is continuing its unilateral actions in the form of settlement-building. That's an impossible mission, even for a figure with as much sympathy around the world as Peres.
Under these conditions, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations should present the government's position on the establishment of a Palestinian state. It's not the president's job to represent the positions of the Israeli government, becoming a kind of foreign minister or a substitute for the public diplomacy minister. The government and the Foreign Ministry cannot divest themselves of their heavy responsibility for Israel's complex and difficult international situation.
President Peres should stay home. In any case, he does not have the power to change the UN's decision, and his participation in the General Assembly will only add to Israel's humiliation and isolation.
IN FINAL PUSH, J14 TO HOLD ‘MILLION-PERSON’ MARCH
31 August 2011, + 972 http://972mag.com (Israel)
Mairav Zonszein*
Protest organizers are running against the ticking September clock to get the turnout this Saturday night to be the largest the country has seen – however difficult questions remain about the future of social justice reforms
With September quickly upon us and reports coming out that the army is training settlers in the West Bank for “Operation Summer Seeds” (the name given to the army’s plan to respond to potential “mass disorder” during Palestinian demonstrations in September), the tent protest movement, almost two months old, is making one final push for a large demonstration this Saturday night before the country’s media becomes entirely consumed by the September events.
What is being called the “million-person march” is expected to take place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer Sheva, and is being heavily marketed on Facebook and through other social media. The J14 organizers have set up a “situation room” in an apartment next to the tent encampment on Rothschild Boulevard to encourage people to get involved. It is manned 24-hours a day by volunteers and although leaders continue to claim that the show of large numbers is not what matters, they are pushing every person to bring 5 friends to the protest on Saturday night.
There have also been promotional videos going around online, one especially dramatic one which asks viewers to imagine a scenario in which the protest movement dies out (Hebrew). In the video, there are hypothetical headlines in major newspapers portraying a sort of social justice armageddon, starting with the forceful evacuation of all tents on September 4th, moving on to the privatization of healthcare and annulment of minimum wage, and ending with the social gaps in Israel surpassing those in the US next summer 2012.
Even if the turnout this Saturday exceeds the largest of the tent protests that saw 300,000 people in the streets across the country, critical questions remain:
1) What will happen to the tent cities themselves?
2) Will the leaders of this movement form a national entity that will continue to function and will a political party come out of it?
3)Most importantly, (if and) how will the protests translate into policy changes?
None of these answers are clear, although there have been reports the tent cities will be taken down following Saturday’s march and efforts at establishing a nation-wide leadership have so far been mired in disputes regarding leadership and the decision-making process, and the question of disproportionate power held by original tent organizers. As for reforms, the Trajtenberg Committee appointed by the prime minister, which many tent protestors have disqualified as partisan, has been taking suggestions from the public and promises to produce recommendations before the holidays (end of September).
I actually overheard a J14 activist today telling someone that the first phase of the protest – taking tents into the street to wake up the public and get media attention – was very successful but is now over. Now is the time to do the hard work of sitting on your computer and in meetings in order to make sure that the protests translate into changes in policy.
*Mairav Zonszein is an Israeli-American journalist, translator, editor and academic. Her research focuses on contemporary Jewish identity politics, which she has been grappling with since attending private Jewish schools as a child in New York City.
Mairav’s work has appeared in Haaretz, Ynet, The Forward, The Nation and Dissent, among others.
Mairav has been living in Israel for over a decade and is active with Ta'ayush, a direct-action Arab-Jewish group whose activism focuses on the impoverished Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills.
Mairav Zonszein*
Protest organizers are running against the ticking September clock to get the turnout this Saturday night to be the largest the country has seen – however difficult questions remain about the future of social justice reforms
With September quickly upon us and reports coming out that the army is training settlers in the West Bank for “Operation Summer Seeds” (the name given to the army’s plan to respond to potential “mass disorder” during Palestinian demonstrations in September), the tent protest movement, almost two months old, is making one final push for a large demonstration this Saturday night before the country’s media becomes entirely consumed by the September events.
What is being called the “million-person march” is expected to take place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer Sheva, and is being heavily marketed on Facebook and through other social media. The J14 organizers have set up a “situation room” in an apartment next to the tent encampment on Rothschild Boulevard to encourage people to get involved. It is manned 24-hours a day by volunteers and although leaders continue to claim that the show of large numbers is not what matters, they are pushing every person to bring 5 friends to the protest on Saturday night.
There have also been promotional videos going around online, one especially dramatic one which asks viewers to imagine a scenario in which the protest movement dies out (Hebrew). In the video, there are hypothetical headlines in major newspapers portraying a sort of social justice armageddon, starting with the forceful evacuation of all tents on September 4th, moving on to the privatization of healthcare and annulment of minimum wage, and ending with the social gaps in Israel surpassing those in the US next summer 2012.
Even if the turnout this Saturday exceeds the largest of the tent protests that saw 300,000 people in the streets across the country, critical questions remain:
1) What will happen to the tent cities themselves?
2) Will the leaders of this movement form a national entity that will continue to function and will a political party come out of it?
3)Most importantly, (if and) how will the protests translate into policy changes?
None of these answers are clear, although there have been reports the tent cities will be taken down following Saturday’s march and efforts at establishing a nation-wide leadership have so far been mired in disputes regarding leadership and the decision-making process, and the question of disproportionate power held by original tent organizers. As for reforms, the Trajtenberg Committee appointed by the prime minister, which many tent protestors have disqualified as partisan, has been taking suggestions from the public and promises to produce recommendations before the holidays (end of September).
I actually overheard a J14 activist today telling someone that the first phase of the protest – taking tents into the street to wake up the public and get media attention – was very successful but is now over. Now is the time to do the hard work of sitting on your computer and in meetings in order to make sure that the protests translate into changes in policy.
*Mairav Zonszein is an Israeli-American journalist, translator, editor and academic. Her research focuses on contemporary Jewish identity politics, which she has been grappling with since attending private Jewish schools as a child in New York City.
Mairav’s work has appeared in Haaretz, Ynet, The Forward, The Nation and Dissent, among others.
Mairav has been living in Israel for over a decade and is active with Ta'ayush, a direct-action Arab-Jewish group whose activism focuses on the impoverished Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills.
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