BBC News
Israel 'worry' at settler attacks
Israeli security officials are reported to have raised concerns about an increase in violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
The Israeli Haaretz newspaper said officials had found an increase in incidents of settlers causing harm to Palestinians and to Israeli soldiers.
There were 429 incidents in the first half of 2008, against 551 in 2007.
There are frequent reports of settlers harassing Palestinians, with two attacks recently captured on video.
These have been widely broadcast and have brought the issue to greater prominence.
Haaretz said police, army and security services had also discussed allegations that some police and soldiers were deliberately ignoring violence by settlers against Palestinians, because they preferred not to get involved in difficult issues.
Settlement withdrawal delayed
In July, an Israeli rights group published a report saying nine out of 10 investigations into alleged attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers ended without anyone being charged.
The Yesh Din group said that, of 163 cases that it looked at, only 13 had ended with assailants being indicted.
Israeli police disputed the findings, but admitted just 15% of cases in the West Bank in 2007 ended in a charge.
And Israeli officials have said their priorities in the West Bank are to deal with terrorism against Israelis as well as criminal and public order offences, and resources are allocated accordingly.
Meanwhile, the Israeli defence ministry has said Israel has postponed the expected evacuation of the settlement of Migron, in the West Bank. No new date has been set.
Migron has a population of about 200, and is the largest of about 100 Jewish settlements established without Israeli government permission.
All settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
There are thought to be around 430,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Settlers Want Gaza Back
Here is an article that ran in Haaretz today. (In 2005, when Israel finally evacuated the illegal settlements in Gaza, the evicted settlers claimed that the Israeli government was responsible for instigating a "Holocaust.")
Settler group planning to reestablish Gaza bloc
By Nadav Shragai,
Haaretz Correspondent
The Homesh First Movement is expected to announce Tuesday that settlement groups are planning to return to settlements in Gush Katif evacuated during the August 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip. The core settlement groups hope to return the minute it is acceptable from a security standpoint, explained Boaz Haetzni, one of the leaders of the movement.
Haetzni told Haaretz that as soon as the Israel Defense Forces reenters the Gaza Strip, "and in our estimation the 'big operation' is only a matter of time, we will follow them in. We will not ask for permission from anyone. The [settlement] groups will be ready, and this evening we will start an organized sign-up for them. These core groups will do exactly what the group that reestablished Kfar Etzion did after 1967. They will return to the lands where they existed in the past, and will rebuild them," said Haetzni.
Dozens of families who left Netzer Hazani in the Gush Katif as well as dozens more families have already expressed their interest in signing up for the new settlement groups, said Aviel Tokar, the coordinator of the planned group for reestablishing Netzer Hazani. "I was born in Netzer Hazani, the first settlement in Gush Katif, which with the help of God will also be the first settlement to return there. In our home, there is a picture of me as a four-year-old boy presenting [Yitzhak] Rabin with tomatoes from our hothouse. I believe my children will also present the prime minister with tomatoes from the hothouses of the rebuilt Netzer Hazani," said Tokar.
He repeated that the only problem preventing them from returning is security, but the minute the IDF enters the area, even temporarily, his group will simply go and establish the "facts on the ground."
In a gathering planned for Tuesday, the settler leaders will read out a declaration stating their intention to return to both Gaza and the northern West Bank as soon as the security situation allows. The statement also declares the areas belong to the Jewish people, as an unnegotiable divine promise, and are integral to the Land of Israel. "We view the return of Jewish life to those regions as a national mission and divine commandment," declares the statement.
Related articles:
IDF commander: We must deal with settler 'provocateurs'
Settler holds knife to IDF soldier's throat in West Bank riot
Settler arrested in failed rocket attack on Palestinian town
Settler group planning to reestablish Gaza bloc
By Nadav Shragai,
Haaretz Correspondent
The Homesh First Movement is expected to announce Tuesday that settlement groups are planning to return to settlements in Gush Katif evacuated during the August 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip. The core settlement groups hope to return the minute it is acceptable from a security standpoint, explained Boaz Haetzni, one of the leaders of the movement.
Haetzni told Haaretz that as soon as the Israel Defense Forces reenters the Gaza Strip, "and in our estimation the 'big operation' is only a matter of time, we will follow them in. We will not ask for permission from anyone. The [settlement] groups will be ready, and this evening we will start an organized sign-up for them. These core groups will do exactly what the group that reestablished Kfar Etzion did after 1967. They will return to the lands where they existed in the past, and will rebuild them," said Haetzni.
Dozens of families who left Netzer Hazani in the Gush Katif as well as dozens more families have already expressed their interest in signing up for the new settlement groups, said Aviel Tokar, the coordinator of the planned group for reestablishing Netzer Hazani. "I was born in Netzer Hazani, the first settlement in Gush Katif, which with the help of God will also be the first settlement to return there. In our home, there is a picture of me as a four-year-old boy presenting [Yitzhak] Rabin with tomatoes from our hothouse. I believe my children will also present the prime minister with tomatoes from the hothouses of the rebuilt Netzer Hazani," said Tokar.
He repeated that the only problem preventing them from returning is security, but the minute the IDF enters the area, even temporarily, his group will simply go and establish the "facts on the ground."
In a gathering planned for Tuesday, the settler leaders will read out a declaration stating their intention to return to both Gaza and the northern West Bank as soon as the security situation allows. The statement also declares the areas belong to the Jewish people, as an unnegotiable divine promise, and are integral to the Land of Israel. "We view the return of Jewish life to those regions as a national mission and divine commandment," declares the statement.
Related articles:
IDF commander: We must deal with settler 'provocateurs'
Settler holds knife to IDF soldier's throat in West Bank riot
Settler arrested in failed rocket attack on Palestinian town
Friday, August 1, 2008
The Revolving Door
Yesterday Mohammed Omer's op ed was posted on The Nation. In the article, the young journalist describes how he was detained and tortured by Israeli military operatives, and how Palestinian journalists have historically been targeted by the Israeli army.
After his "detention," Omer was treated for trauma at an Israeli hospital. He is one of many hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who sustain trauma at the hands of the IDF and are then forced to seek treatment in Israeli hospitals.
In June I met a cameraman in Jerusalem whose right leg had been amputated as a result of injuries caused by an Israeli strike in Gaza. Not only did he sustain a severe injury at the hands of the Israeli military, but he was prevented from getting adequate medical care because of Israel's siege of Gaza. In the end, it was an Israeli doctor who told him that he would lose his leg.
One of the most far-reaching consequences (objectives) of Israel's occupation is the erosion of the Palestinian health care system. Palestinian hospitals, especially in Gaza, aren't equipped to treat the most serious cases because Israel prevents them from obtaining basic medical equipment and medicines.
Under international law, Israel, as an occupying power, is required to provide access to medical care for the Palestinian population. But if injured Palestinians are "lucky" enough to receive what is often life-saving treatment in Israel, they then have to depend on Israeli medical providers, people who are at least partly responsible for what their government/army is doing.
Again, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have gone through the doors of Israeli hospitals.
Many are treated for injuries caused by Israeli attacks. Others get treatment for advanced diseases, some of which could have been prevented if Palestinians had access to good medical care. The apartheid wall, which confines Palestinians into tiny bantustans, has also helped to further decimate the Palestinian health care system.
It is a tragic irony, and I can think of no analogous situation anywhere in the world.
After his "detention," Omer was treated for trauma at an Israeli hospital. He is one of many hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who sustain trauma at the hands of the IDF and are then forced to seek treatment in Israeli hospitals.
In June I met a cameraman in Jerusalem whose right leg had been amputated as a result of injuries caused by an Israeli strike in Gaza. Not only did he sustain a severe injury at the hands of the Israeli military, but he was prevented from getting adequate medical care because of Israel's siege of Gaza. In the end, it was an Israeli doctor who told him that he would lose his leg.
One of the most far-reaching consequences (objectives) of Israel's occupation is the erosion of the Palestinian health care system. Palestinian hospitals, especially in Gaza, aren't equipped to treat the most serious cases because Israel prevents them from obtaining basic medical equipment and medicines.
Under international law, Israel, as an occupying power, is required to provide access to medical care for the Palestinian population. But if injured Palestinians are "lucky" enough to receive what is often life-saving treatment in Israel, they then have to depend on Israeli medical providers, people who are at least partly responsible for what their government/army is doing.
Again, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have gone through the doors of Israeli hospitals.
Many are treated for injuries caused by Israeli attacks. Others get treatment for advanced diseases, some of which could have been prevented if Palestinians had access to good medical care. The apartheid wall, which confines Palestinians into tiny bantustans, has also helped to further decimate the Palestinian health care system.
It is a tragic irony, and I can think of no analogous situation anywhere in the world.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Palestinian Boy Killed by Israeli Army, "Witnesses Say"
Isabel Kershner has mastered the high art of information sculpting. The article below, which, presumably, is about a 12-year-old boy who was killed by an Israeli "security officer" should receive an award from the Institute for Israeli Propaganda. Kershner calls everything into question: the killing of Ahmad Hussam Musa, the means by which he was murdered, what he was doing before he was shot, the Israeli army's knowledge of the murder, the cause of the "increasingly violent" nature of the demonstrations, the cause of the last "incident" in which a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man was shot at close range, the extent of his injuries, and the theft of land and dispossession of Palestinians caused by the "separation barrier," which Kershner describes as "consisting mostly of wire fence...."
Israelis Kill Palestinian Boy at Protest, Witnesses Say
Israelis Kill Palestinian Boy at Protest, Witnesses Say
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
More Palestinian Homes Demolished Today
This morning Israel demolished more Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
Letter from Mira Rizek – National General Secretary, YWCA of Palestine
Dear all,
Please read this and share with your colleagues and friends.
This morning, our family woke up to screaming voices at 4:00 a.m., and we started looking around and wondering what was happening, but we could not see anything. So we went up to the roof of the house (our house is 3 stories), and we saw tens of Israeli army, special troops, border police, ambulances, fire department cars, police cars, surrounding Abu Eisheh’s house, who is our neighbor, ordering the family to leave the house because they wanted to demolish it. For almost two hours, the families who live there refused to leave, and soon they were pulled out by force, and some were beaten and had to be taken to the hospital.
For the last few months, this case of Abu Eisheh has been in courts, and the family have taken the case to supreme court few weeks ago, but of course, as expected, lost the case. The Israeli government decided to demolish the house because it is “illegally” built. This is not the first Palestinian house to be demolished in East Jerusalem, and for sure won’t be the last. Hundreds of houses have been demolished. The claim is that they are built “illegally” when Israel continues to deny issuance of building permits to East Jerusalem Palestinian residents.
Most houses where settlements have been built, have been the target for demolishing. As you all know, the YWCA is also neighboring the Shim’on Essidiq tomb, claimed to be a very important Israeli site. The Israeli Government is now planning to build a settlement near the tomb, which will be 201 units, to fit around 1,000 Israeli settlers, evacuating 20 East Jerusalem Palestinian families that presently live in and around that area. The YWCA building is facing this area, and could be eventually at risk, or could end up facing the Israeli settlement if kept “alive”, and probably we will have to go through a thorough security system to be able to enter our premise.
Where on earth can this kind of thing happen? For those of us who forgot that East Jerusalem is occupied, I have tidings for you…..we will continue to suffer all this until the Occupation is over. But I also hope that there still will be Palestinians in East Jerusalem to celebrate the day when the Occupation is over. Until then we will continue watching the expropriation of houses, land, resources and rights and just document and report on these stories, because we as Palestinians and the rest of the World have proven that we can do nothing about this. Sadly, we don’t even have a shepherd to guard East Jerusalem.
Until when will it continue, to be the case, that no one can stop Israel from violating international law on a daily basis? The International Court in the Hague confirmed that the building of what is called the “Separation Wall” is illegal, yet Israel is continuing with this Wall, and instituting a whole system of entrance permits. We even stopped talking about it, and pass though it every day. This is our new reality.
Abu Eisheh’s apartment building is 4 floors, and there are 8 families living there (4 of the apartments are rented/sold to other families). All of them were evacuated by force this morning, and stood out in the street watching their own house being demolished in their own eyes. One of the residents in one of the apartments is even traveling abroad, so when they return, they will figure out the new living mode on the street. All the furniture, personal belongings, memories and valuables of all the residents are in there, and soon will be buried under the rabble of stones.
This has been our story since 1948, and it looks this will continue to be our story until Israel and the rest of the world realizes that there can be no peace with house demolishing, with making people homeless, with land confiscations. As Palestinians living in Jerusalem, we continue to be “residents” and not citizens, and Israel has the right to terminate our residency right using different mechanisms, which they have been doing since 1967.
Lately, Ms. Mona Nasir, who is the daughter of Abla Nasir, the previous General Secretary of the YWCA, whom you all know well, has lost her Israeli Identity card (residency right) as she was crossing the bridge coming home to attend her brother’s wedding. Her child who was born in the States has been awarded a one month visa only, and Mona had to appeal 4 times to renew his visa so she can stay to attend her brother’s wedding. Mona herself was told that after she leaves Jerusalem this time, she will be allowed to return only as a tourist. Imagine, someone who is born in a country has no right to return to it. The justification being that now that she resides in the U.S. (because she married a Palestinian there) and since the U.S. is her center of life, 90% of the Israelis who are now living in Israel have emigrated to Israel after 1948 (establishment of the State of Israel) and most come either from Europe or the States or the rest of the world, and now these emigrants have more rights than the Palestinians who have been living in this land for hundreds of years. They can choose where to live, they are offered building permits, they have full citizen rights.
The press and UN observers came to the neighboring houses, and the roof tops were filled with people taking pictures, filming and watching. At 9:00 a.m., the army came to all our neighbors, and our street and closed it off, and ordered all people on roof tops (including us) to leave threatening to shoot . Later, Palestinian politicians and representatives of the PNA and Islamic Awqaf came, and the army came rushing ordering them to leave. They closed off part o the main road (which links Jerusalem to Ramallah), and prohibited the press from covering the story. One of Abu Eisheh’s sons was standing on the roof of our neighbor’s house, taking pictures of what he knew very well will become the “used to be his home”. I am not sure whether they or the rest of the residents of this house will have any roof to protect them tonight.
Usually, when the Palestinian receive notices for demolition, they are given the option of demolishing their own homes, which apparently the Abu Eisheh family is refusing to do. If the Israelis complete the demolishing today, they will send the bill to the owners, who have to cover the cost of demolishing, patrolling of police and all other related expenses. So on top of becoming homeless, people have to cover the cost of injustice. The other option is that they will crack the foundations, which they have been doing for the last few hours, and give him few days to complete the demolishing.
It is almost noon, and I just came to work, realizing it will not be a normal day of work for me. Many of our days have not been normal days, yet we have to go on and on and on. Every day we have a new story to share, and every day there is a new family that suffers, new prisoners, new martyrs, and more sufferings. Today we are receiving the group who are visiting YWCA/YMCA on the Journey for Justice, and I have to share with them today our eternal journey of injustice, wondering if there ever will be justice in our land.
At 11:30 a.m., I had to put my mother in my car and risk driving down our street which was blocked with army cars, and where tons of army were standing, and to argue with them that my mother has to go to hospital for her dialysis session. At least 10 army rushed to my car when I got to the middle of the street, asking me to stop immediately. It took lots of arguments to convince the army to let us pass, which finally they did, but most of our neighbors were prisoners in their homes, and probably will not be able to leave until the “operation” is completed. I also wonder at what hour I will be allowed to take my mother back home, and hope that we will return in a decent hour.
My mother was saying that she still remembers when she left her home in Jaffa in 1948, she thought it was for few hours and that they will return home. Well she and the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were never able to return to this date, and today the Abu Eisheh family have been forced to leave their home, knowing they will have no house to return to. Every day we add more and more to the list of Palestinian refugees and homeless, and I wonder when will the day come when all these people will have the right to return??
Mira Rizek
National General Secretary, YWCA of Palestine
Jerusalem
Tel. +972 2 6282593 - Fax +972 2 6282082
www.ywca-palestine.org
Letter from Mira Rizek – National General Secretary, YWCA of Palestine
Dear all,
Please read this and share with your colleagues and friends.
This morning, our family woke up to screaming voices at 4:00 a.m., and we started looking around and wondering what was happening, but we could not see anything. So we went up to the roof of the house (our house is 3 stories), and we saw tens of Israeli army, special troops, border police, ambulances, fire department cars, police cars, surrounding Abu Eisheh’s house, who is our neighbor, ordering the family to leave the house because they wanted to demolish it. For almost two hours, the families who live there refused to leave, and soon they were pulled out by force, and some were beaten and had to be taken to the hospital.
For the last few months, this case of Abu Eisheh has been in courts, and the family have taken the case to supreme court few weeks ago, but of course, as expected, lost the case. The Israeli government decided to demolish the house because it is “illegally” built. This is not the first Palestinian house to be demolished in East Jerusalem, and for sure won’t be the last. Hundreds of houses have been demolished. The claim is that they are built “illegally” when Israel continues to deny issuance of building permits to East Jerusalem Palestinian residents.
Most houses where settlements have been built, have been the target for demolishing. As you all know, the YWCA is also neighboring the Shim’on Essidiq tomb, claimed to be a very important Israeli site. The Israeli Government is now planning to build a settlement near the tomb, which will be 201 units, to fit around 1,000 Israeli settlers, evacuating 20 East Jerusalem Palestinian families that presently live in and around that area. The YWCA building is facing this area, and could be eventually at risk, or could end up facing the Israeli settlement if kept “alive”, and probably we will have to go through a thorough security system to be able to enter our premise.
Where on earth can this kind of thing happen? For those of us who forgot that East Jerusalem is occupied, I have tidings for you…..we will continue to suffer all this until the Occupation is over. But I also hope that there still will be Palestinians in East Jerusalem to celebrate the day when the Occupation is over. Until then we will continue watching the expropriation of houses, land, resources and rights and just document and report on these stories, because we as Palestinians and the rest of the World have proven that we can do nothing about this. Sadly, we don’t even have a shepherd to guard East Jerusalem.
Until when will it continue, to be the case, that no one can stop Israel from violating international law on a daily basis? The International Court in the Hague confirmed that the building of what is called the “Separation Wall” is illegal, yet Israel is continuing with this Wall, and instituting a whole system of entrance permits. We even stopped talking about it, and pass though it every day. This is our new reality.
Abu Eisheh’s apartment building is 4 floors, and there are 8 families living there (4 of the apartments are rented/sold to other families). All of them were evacuated by force this morning, and stood out in the street watching their own house being demolished in their own eyes. One of the residents in one of the apartments is even traveling abroad, so when they return, they will figure out the new living mode on the street. All the furniture, personal belongings, memories and valuables of all the residents are in there, and soon will be buried under the rabble of stones.
This has been our story since 1948, and it looks this will continue to be our story until Israel and the rest of the world realizes that there can be no peace with house demolishing, with making people homeless, with land confiscations. As Palestinians living in Jerusalem, we continue to be “residents” and not citizens, and Israel has the right to terminate our residency right using different mechanisms, which they have been doing since 1967.
Lately, Ms. Mona Nasir, who is the daughter of Abla Nasir, the previous General Secretary of the YWCA, whom you all know well, has lost her Israeli Identity card (residency right) as she was crossing the bridge coming home to attend her brother’s wedding. Her child who was born in the States has been awarded a one month visa only, and Mona had to appeal 4 times to renew his visa so she can stay to attend her brother’s wedding. Mona herself was told that after she leaves Jerusalem this time, she will be allowed to return only as a tourist. Imagine, someone who is born in a country has no right to return to it. The justification being that now that she resides in the U.S. (because she married a Palestinian there) and since the U.S. is her center of life, 90% of the Israelis who are now living in Israel have emigrated to Israel after 1948 (establishment of the State of Israel) and most come either from Europe or the States or the rest of the world, and now these emigrants have more rights than the Palestinians who have been living in this land for hundreds of years. They can choose where to live, they are offered building permits, they have full citizen rights.
The press and UN observers came to the neighboring houses, and the roof tops were filled with people taking pictures, filming and watching. At 9:00 a.m., the army came to all our neighbors, and our street and closed it off, and ordered all people on roof tops (including us) to leave threatening to shoot . Later, Palestinian politicians and representatives of the PNA and Islamic Awqaf came, and the army came rushing ordering them to leave. They closed off part o the main road (which links Jerusalem to Ramallah), and prohibited the press from covering the story. One of Abu Eisheh’s sons was standing on the roof of our neighbor’s house, taking pictures of what he knew very well will become the “used to be his home”. I am not sure whether they or the rest of the residents of this house will have any roof to protect them tonight.
Usually, when the Palestinian receive notices for demolition, they are given the option of demolishing their own homes, which apparently the Abu Eisheh family is refusing to do. If the Israelis complete the demolishing today, they will send the bill to the owners, who have to cover the cost of demolishing, patrolling of police and all other related expenses. So on top of becoming homeless, people have to cover the cost of injustice. The other option is that they will crack the foundations, which they have been doing for the last few hours, and give him few days to complete the demolishing.
It is almost noon, and I just came to work, realizing it will not be a normal day of work for me. Many of our days have not been normal days, yet we have to go on and on and on. Every day we have a new story to share, and every day there is a new family that suffers, new prisoners, new martyrs, and more sufferings. Today we are receiving the group who are visiting YWCA/YMCA on the Journey for Justice, and I have to share with them today our eternal journey of injustice, wondering if there ever will be justice in our land.
At 11:30 a.m., I had to put my mother in my car and risk driving down our street which was blocked with army cars, and where tons of army were standing, and to argue with them that my mother has to go to hospital for her dialysis session. At least 10 army rushed to my car when I got to the middle of the street, asking me to stop immediately. It took lots of arguments to convince the army to let us pass, which finally they did, but most of our neighbors were prisoners in their homes, and probably will not be able to leave until the “operation” is completed. I also wonder at what hour I will be allowed to take my mother back home, and hope that we will return in a decent hour.
My mother was saying that she still remembers when she left her home in Jaffa in 1948, she thought it was for few hours and that they will return home. Well she and the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were never able to return to this date, and today the Abu Eisheh family have been forced to leave their home, knowing they will have no house to return to. Every day we add more and more to the list of Palestinian refugees and homeless, and I wonder when will the day come when all these people will have the right to return??
Mira Rizek
National General Secretary, YWCA of Palestine
Jerusalem
Tel. +972 2 6282593 - Fax +972 2 6282082
www.ywca-palestine.org
Sunday, July 27, 2008
American Activist Attacked By Settlers
American peace activist and Palestinian children attacked by Israeli settlers near Hebron - July 27, 2008
http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30855
http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30855
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Israeli Settlers Attack (Again)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Palestinians Attacked in Jerusalem
Haredim attack --wounds two Palestinians in Jerusalem neighborhood.
From Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331061642&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
From Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331061642&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Monday, July 21, 2008
I Still Got A Crush On Ralph Nader
Old love dies hard. And when you see videos like this, you’re pulled back in.
Ok, maybe the Nader video isn’t quite as enthralling as Obama Girl’s. But it provides a backgrounder on Israel's siege of Gaza (and its occupation of Palestine) that Obama should consider as he embarks on his trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah. (Along with a critique of the notorious Obama speech to AIPAC).
Ok, maybe the Nader video isn’t quite as enthralling as Obama Girl’s. But it provides a backgrounder on Israel's siege of Gaza (and its occupation of Palestine) that Obama should consider as he embarks on his trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah. (Along with a critique of the notorious Obama speech to AIPAC).
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Impunity
If you want to see a hard-hitting interview with the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, check out Deborah Solomon's piece in today's New York Times Magazine.
Solomon's fourth question for Gillerman is: "You recently called Jimmy Carter a “bigot” after he met with Khaled Meshal, the head of Hamas. Is it true you were reprimanded by the U.S. State Department?"
Gillerman's response? "There was no complaint or reprimand. The only reaction I received was very positive."
But the funniest thing to me is this acknowledgement by the Israeli ambassador: "The Palestinians’ real tragedy is that they have not been able to produce a Nelson Mandela." In other words, in order to fight Israel's 21st century system of high tech apartheid, a Palestinian leader like Nelson Mandela must emerge.
Gillerman might recall that the State Department took Nelson Mandela off of its "terror watchlist" just a few weeks ago. See this post: "Nelson Mandela, Terrorist No More."
Solomon's fourth question for Gillerman is: "You recently called Jimmy Carter a “bigot” after he met with Khaled Meshal, the head of Hamas. Is it true you were reprimanded by the U.S. State Department?"
Gillerman's response? "There was no complaint or reprimand. The only reaction I received was very positive."
But the funniest thing to me is this acknowledgement by the Israeli ambassador: "The Palestinians’ real tragedy is that they have not been able to produce a Nelson Mandela." In other words, in order to fight Israel's 21st century system of high tech apartheid, a Palestinian leader like Nelson Mandela must emerge.
Gillerman might recall that the State Department took Nelson Mandela off of its "terror watchlist" just a few weeks ago. See this post: "Nelson Mandela, Terrorist No More."
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Obama Photo Op - Ni'lin?
Instead of posing in front of the Brandenburg Gate next week, Obama's staff should consider a photo op on the beautiful island of Ni'lin (one of many such "islands" in the West Bank).
What does the Brandenburg Gate have over Israel's separation wall? Neve Gordon, in his article for The Nation, writes that, "The events unfolding in Ni'lin provide the perfect ingredients for a good story." Pictures speak a thousand words, right? Dot dot dot. Obama could prove, once and for all, that he supports eeeveryyything Israel is doing.
Really, if Obama thinks the symbolism around the Brandenburg Gate will be effective, he should consider a well-timed photo op in front of the Apartheid Wall.
By the way, here is Gordon's afterword in The Nation article: "When the [Israeli] military realized that violence on the ground cannot stop the residents' emancipatory drive, it began arresting both Palestinian and Israeli protesters in the hope that hefty legal costs would do the job. To support the legal expenses incurred at Ni'lin, click here."
The link above takes you to the Anarchists Against The Wall site. When I was in Palestine last month, two activists from AATW took me to Bil'in, a village where people are organizing weekly protests against the wall.
The day before I was in Bil'in a young Palestinian man was shot in the leg during a protest there. He sustained severe injuries and is now permanently disabled.
What does the Brandenburg Gate have over Israel's separation wall? Neve Gordon, in his article for The Nation, writes that, "The events unfolding in Ni'lin provide the perfect ingredients for a good story." Pictures speak a thousand words, right? Dot dot dot. Obama could prove, once and for all, that he supports eeeveryyything Israel is doing.
Really, if Obama thinks the symbolism around the Brandenburg Gate will be effective, he should consider a well-timed photo op in front of the Apartheid Wall.
By the way, here is Gordon's afterword in The Nation article: "When the [Israeli] military realized that violence on the ground cannot stop the residents' emancipatory drive, it began arresting both Palestinian and Israeli protesters in the hope that hefty legal costs would do the job. To support the legal expenses incurred at Ni'lin, click here."
The link above takes you to the Anarchists Against The Wall site. When I was in Palestine last month, two activists from AATW took me to Bil'in, a village where people are organizing weekly protests against the wall.
The day before I was in Bil'in a young Palestinian man was shot in the leg during a protest there. He sustained severe injuries and is now permanently disabled.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Even The Washington Post....
...is reporting on the IDF's nightly raids in Nablus. See article below, written by Griff Witte, the Washington Post Bureau Chief in Jerusalem.
Unease Over West Bank Raids
Israeli Crackdown on Charities Problematic for Palestinian Authority
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 18, 2008; A10
NABLUS, West Bank -- When Faris Abu Hasan was deciding where to send his two young daughters to school, one factor stood out above all others: test scores.
So Abu Hasan opted against the beleaguered local government school, and chose instead the Islamic Basic School for Girls, where the classes were small and the teachers offered individual attention in math, science, history and English.
"I wanted them to go to the best school in Nablus. And this is the best school in Nablus," said Abu Hasan, a lawyer.
But the school is associated with Hamas, the Islamist movement that Israel considers a terrorist organization. One night last week, the Israeli military raided the school -- confiscating computers, trashing desks and ripping student artwork from the walls. The school was ordered shut for three years.
Read more here.
Unease Over West Bank Raids
Israeli Crackdown on Charities Problematic for Palestinian Authority
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 18, 2008; A10
NABLUS, West Bank -- When Faris Abu Hasan was deciding where to send his two young daughters to school, one factor stood out above all others: test scores.
So Abu Hasan opted against the beleaguered local government school, and chose instead the Islamic Basic School for Girls, where the classes were small and the teachers offered individual attention in math, science, history and English.
"I wanted them to go to the best school in Nablus. And this is the best school in Nablus," said Abu Hasan, a lawyer.
But the school is associated with Hamas, the Islamist movement that Israel considers a terrorist organization. One night last week, the Israeli military raided the school -- confiscating computers, trashing desks and ripping student artwork from the walls. The school was ordered shut for three years.
Read more here.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Why Assad Didn't Shake Olmert's Hand
Is it just me, or has it been irking other people that every time Sarkozy's meeting is mentioned in the American press, it is noted that Assad refused to shake Olmert's hand?
There is no understanding whatsoever that, among many other things, Israel annexed part of Syria (i.e., stole it). If reporters would provide just a tiny bit of contextualization, people wouldn't be quite so flabbergasted that Bashar al-Assad didn't shake Ehud Olmert's hand.
There is no understanding whatsoever that, among many other things, Israel annexed part of Syria (i.e., stole it). If reporters would provide just a tiny bit of contextualization, people wouldn't be quite so flabbergasted that Bashar al-Assad didn't shake Ehud Olmert's hand.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Guest Blogger - Delegation of One
From my Jewish editor and editor of all things Jewish (a.k.a., my husband):
I just got back from South Africa. Before my two weeks in Johannesburg, I was in Israel and Palestine.
When I was in East Jerusalem I ran into several members of the South African delegation referred to in this article. They were staying at the same hotel, learning about the situation in Palestine. I introduced myself to one of them outside the hotel, and he happened to represent the city of Nelspruit, next to the field site where I do my research in South Africa. I told him I worked in Bushbuckridge and would be going there next week, and that I too was on a fact-finding mission.
The area where I work in South Africa is set along an old apartheid road dividing game farms from the former black homeland. Standing on the road you see the injustice and desperation induced by apartheid. On one side of the street, there is lush growth of trees and bushes filled with wild game and a plantation growing non-native, water-sucking trees like eucalyptus. On the other, a few scrubby bushes sprout from parched earth. Only the worst land was left for black South Africans. Deprived of water under apartheid, desertified by global warming, and picked of any remaining trees for people's livelihoods, fuel, and coffins, this is where millions of South Africans were forced to live.
In the West Bank, you can drive down similar roads, some along the separation wall, and see areas of development, plenty, and forests brimming with non-native species on one side. On the other side of the wall you see barren poverty though you may also notice thousand-year-old olive trees if they have not yet been bulldozed or taken by the Israeli government.
Whereas almost any visitor to South Africa would blanch with shame over the legacy of apartheid that bred such environmental and social injustice, the situation is different in Palestine.
Some visitors come and recognize the obvious injustice, exploitation, and expropriation --of land, water, freedom and dignity.
People on the other side of the wall see something else. Fortified by decades of self-imposed propaganda and the same false pride that infected many white South Africans, they look at the landscape and say, "Look what we have done with the land. The Arabs didn't know how to grow anything, and look at us, we have made so much of this desert."
To cite the quote by Kurt Tucholsky that everyone seems to notice when entering the Yad Vashem memorial: "A country is not just what it does, it is also what it tolerates." For Americans, you could add what it enables.
I just got back from South Africa. Before my two weeks in Johannesburg, I was in Israel and Palestine.
When I was in East Jerusalem I ran into several members of the South African delegation referred to in this article. They were staying at the same hotel, learning about the situation in Palestine. I introduced myself to one of them outside the hotel, and he happened to represent the city of Nelspruit, next to the field site where I do my research in South Africa. I told him I worked in Bushbuckridge and would be going there next week, and that I too was on a fact-finding mission.
The area where I work in South Africa is set along an old apartheid road dividing game farms from the former black homeland. Standing on the road you see the injustice and desperation induced by apartheid. On one side of the street, there is lush growth of trees and bushes filled with wild game and a plantation growing non-native, water-sucking trees like eucalyptus. On the other, a few scrubby bushes sprout from parched earth. Only the worst land was left for black South Africans. Deprived of water under apartheid, desertified by global warming, and picked of any remaining trees for people's livelihoods, fuel, and coffins, this is where millions of South Africans were forced to live.
In the West Bank, you can drive down similar roads, some along the separation wall, and see areas of development, plenty, and forests brimming with non-native species on one side. On the other side of the wall you see barren poverty though you may also notice thousand-year-old olive trees if they have not yet been bulldozed or taken by the Israeli government.
Whereas almost any visitor to South Africa would blanch with shame over the legacy of apartheid that bred such environmental and social injustice, the situation is different in Palestine.
Some visitors come and recognize the obvious injustice, exploitation, and expropriation --of land, water, freedom and dignity.
People on the other side of the wall see something else. Fortified by decades of self-imposed propaganda and the same false pride that infected many white South Africans, they look at the landscape and say, "Look what we have done with the land. The Arabs didn't know how to grow anything, and look at us, we have made so much of this desert."
To cite the quote by Kurt Tucholsky that everyone seems to notice when entering the Yad Vashem memorial: "A country is not just what it does, it is also what it tolerates." For Americans, you could add what it enables.
Richard Falk, The Fall(K) Guy
Ronald Radosh, in an article titled "Righteous Among the Editors: When the Left Loved Israel," documents what he sees as The Nation's devolving position on Israel. (One would more aptly call it an evolving position on Israel.) Radosh targets Richard Falk in particular, citing Falk's identification of Israel’s “treatment of Palestinians with …[the] criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity.”
Coincidentally -- today AlterNet posted my interview with Falk from The Nation. The interview allows Falk to respond to issues brought up by many of his critics: Israel Bars UN Human Rights Watchdog From Occupied Territories
As far as Radosh's article goes, I find it interesting that he begins his review of The Nation in the 1940s. You would think that Radosh would track articles dating back, at least, to the Balfour Declaration.
I was especially struck by Radosh's time period selection because earlier this year I did a fair amount of research on The Nation's position toward Israel and found that several articles from the 1917 period on through the 1920s reflect a surprising amount of ambivalence toward the establishment of the Israeli state.
I didn't do a comprehensive review of all articles published in that period (nor did Radosh, apparently), but I looked at quite a few and found that several expressed apprehension about taking land from the indigenous population.
Coincidentally -- today AlterNet posted my interview with Falk from The Nation. The interview allows Falk to respond to issues brought up by many of his critics: Israel Bars UN Human Rights Watchdog From Occupied Territories
As far as Radosh's article goes, I find it interesting that he begins his review of The Nation in the 1940s. You would think that Radosh would track articles dating back, at least, to the Balfour Declaration.
I was especially struck by Radosh's time period selection because earlier this year I did a fair amount of research on The Nation's position toward Israel and found that several articles from the 1917 period on through the 1920s reflect a surprising amount of ambivalence toward the establishment of the Israeli state.
I didn't do a comprehensive review of all articles published in that period (nor did Radosh, apparently), but I looked at quite a few and found that several expressed apprehension about taking land from the indigenous population.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Food Poisoning
It's not enough to read the labels on your produce, you have to do some research. See article below:
The Guardian
'Illicit' settler food sold in UK stores-Supermarkets accused of duping customers with 'West Bank' produce grown in Israeli settlements
By Paul Gallagher
Sunday July 6, 2008
Food grown on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is being sold in Britain, often to customers who assume they are buying goods from Palestinian-owned farms.
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Somerfield have all admitted sourcing produce from Israeli-owned farms on Palestinian territory but claimed that labelling the goods 'origin: West Bank' gave enough information for the customer to make an informed choice.
All the leading supermarkets claim they are complying with EU law, which states that the origin of a product on a food label can be given as a geographical region rather than a country - providing the meaning is clear to the consumer. Campaigners say customers are being duped into believing they are buying goods from Palestinian-owned farms, when in reality they are contributing to the economies of the illegal settlements.
Click here for more.
The Guardian
'Illicit' settler food sold in UK stores-Supermarkets accused of duping customers with 'West Bank' produce grown in Israeli settlements
By Paul Gallagher
Sunday July 6, 2008
Food grown on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is being sold in Britain, often to customers who assume they are buying goods from Palestinian-owned farms.
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Somerfield have all admitted sourcing produce from Israeli-owned farms on Palestinian territory but claimed that labelling the goods 'origin: West Bank' gave enough information for the customer to make an informed choice.
All the leading supermarkets claim they are complying with EU law, which states that the origin of a product on a food label can be given as a geographical region rather than a country - providing the meaning is clear to the consumer. Campaigners say customers are being duped into believing they are buying goods from Palestinian-owned farms, when in reality they are contributing to the economies of the illegal settlements.
Click here for more.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Another IDF Raid in Nablus
I'm not able to keep track of the number of times that the IDF has raided the city of Nablus, even in the two weeks since I was there. It's incredible. Like every other Palestinian city, town, and village in the West Bank, Nablus is completely under siege. The mayor of Nablus --Adli Yaish-- has been in an Israeli prison for over two years.
According to Al Jazeera, "Dozens of jeeps and two bulldozers entered the town early on Monday, closing a girls' school and sports club operated by the charity and confiscating computers, documents, cash and furniture, witnesses said." Nablus is a place where everything is in short supply --who knows how the people will deal with this latest onslaught?
See report from Al Jazeera.
According to Al Jazeera, "Dozens of jeeps and two bulldozers entered the town early on Monday, closing a girls' school and sports club operated by the charity and confiscating computers, documents, cash and furniture, witnesses said." Nablus is a place where everything is in short supply --who knows how the people will deal with this latest onslaught?
See report from Al Jazeera.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Richard Falk and UN Panel
Today The Jerusalem Post reported on Richard Falk's efforts to expand his mandate as special rapporteur: "Many country delegates and NGOs were caught by surprise on June 16 when the new special rapporteur Richard Falk, an American Jew who has espoused many anti-Israel positions, called for a review of the mandate to include human rights violations committed by both Israelis and Palestinians."
Falk's call for monitoring rights violations on both sides was met by derision by Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yitzhak Levanon:
"I don't trust him," Levanon said of Falk. "He would not expand it. He would use this legitimacy to come to Israel and show the difference between the 'oppressors and the oppressed.' He would have the legitimacy of the expansion of the mandate. His reports would be worse than Dugard because of this legitimacy."
I interviewed Richard Falk in May. (See interview here.) When I asked him about Israel's decision to bar him from entering the West Bank and Gaza, he said: "Israel's official response to my appointment is to declare that it will not allow me to enter Israel or the Palestinian territories. This constraint, if it remains in effect, will, of course, limit my exposure to the direct realities. But I think it's quite possible to perform this role without that exposure. Barring my entry complicates my task but doesn't make it undoable."
Falk's call for monitoring rights violations on both sides was met by derision by Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yitzhak Levanon:
"I don't trust him," Levanon said of Falk. "He would not expand it. He would use this legitimacy to come to Israel and show the difference between the 'oppressors and the oppressed.' He would have the legitimacy of the expansion of the mandate. His reports would be worse than Dugard because of this legitimacy."
I interviewed Richard Falk in May. (See interview here.) When I asked him about Israel's decision to bar him from entering the West Bank and Gaza, he said: "Israel's official response to my appointment is to declare that it will not allow me to enter Israel or the Palestinian territories. This constraint, if it remains in effect, will, of course, limit my exposure to the direct realities. But I think it's quite possible to perform this role without that exposure. Barring my entry complicates my task but doesn't make it undoable."
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The Ku Klux Klan?
No....just Israeli settlers:
Israeli settlers bind Palestinian teacher to pole and club him in Samu'
7/5/2008
Hebron – Ma'an – A mob of Israeli settlers attacked 30-year-old Midhat Abu Karsh, a Palestinian teacher from the southern West Bank village of As-Samu' south of Hebron on Saturday.
Abu Karsh was hit in the head with sharp objects before he was dragged to a nearby settlement outpost where he was tied to an electricity pole. Eyewitnesses affirmed that four Israeli settlers struck Abu Karsh with clubs until his head began to bleed. He remained tied to the pole until an Israeli patrol came and untied him in order to administer first aid. Shortly after, Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances evacuated the teacher to the 'Alya Hospital in Hebron.
According to Abdul-Majid Al-Badarin, member of the local committee for defending lands at As-Samu', Israeli soldiers prevented local residents from accessing the injured teacher, and the ambulance had tried to reach him for two hours before it was allowed through.
The assault against Abu Karsh coincided with a rally in the neighborhood organized by local farmers, foreign and Israeli activists demanding that farmers have access to their agricultural lands.
During that rally, Israeli forces arrested 21-year-old Mahran Abu Karsh (a relative of the beaten man) and another boy aged 13 who was released after protest. Local residents accused settlers of setting fire to 15 dunums (15 square kilometers) of wheat in southern As Samu'. They mentioned that one Israeli settler is currently building a settlement outpost two kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Sham'a. The settler has been opening fire on Palestinian farmers when they came to tend their fields.
Here is a UPI report about yet another settler attack:
Israeli settlers bind Palestinian teacher to pole and club him in Samu'
7/5/2008
Hebron – Ma'an – A mob of Israeli settlers attacked 30-year-old Midhat Abu Karsh, a Palestinian teacher from the southern West Bank village of As-Samu' south of Hebron on Saturday.
Abu Karsh was hit in the head with sharp objects before he was dragged to a nearby settlement outpost where he was tied to an electricity pole. Eyewitnesses affirmed that four Israeli settlers struck Abu Karsh with clubs until his head began to bleed. He remained tied to the pole until an Israeli patrol came and untied him in order to administer first aid. Shortly after, Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances evacuated the teacher to the 'Alya Hospital in Hebron.
According to Abdul-Majid Al-Badarin, member of the local committee for defending lands at As-Samu', Israeli soldiers prevented local residents from accessing the injured teacher, and the ambulance had tried to reach him for two hours before it was allowed through.
The assault against Abu Karsh coincided with a rally in the neighborhood organized by local farmers, foreign and Israeli activists demanding that farmers have access to their agricultural lands.
During that rally, Israeli forces arrested 21-year-old Mahran Abu Karsh (a relative of the beaten man) and another boy aged 13 who was released after protest. Local residents accused settlers of setting fire to 15 dunums (15 square kilometers) of wheat in southern As Samu'. They mentioned that one Israeli settler is currently building a settlement outpost two kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Sham'a. The settler has been opening fire on Palestinian farmers when they came to tend their fields.
Here is a UPI report about yet another settler attack:
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Repercussions for Palestinians
No surprises here.
A long article on the calls to "Sever Jerusalem Arab Area" is on the BBC.
Here is a shorter piece from the Palestine News Network:
Bulldozer operation excuse to prevent reunification and revoke identification
02.07.08 - 21:42
Jerusalem / PNN – After Wednesday’s bulldozer operation by a Palestinian from East Jerusalem’s Sur Bahir, the Israeli Interior Minister, Meir Sheetrit said that all identity cards must be revoked and that no family reunification could be passed. This is already an issue that the Israelis have been trying to pass: preventing families who live within Israeli boundaries and those outside and in East Jerusalem, from being together.
Those inside Israeli boundaries and in East Jerusalem carry Israeli-issued “blue” identity cards. The Ministry is calling to revoke them now under the guise that this is a new move due to today’s attack. The Israeli Ministry said that the Palestinians must be entirely separated while the Israeli Jerusalem Mayor called to demolish the family home of the man.
Sheetrit said that the East Jerusalem man, because he had a blue identity card, received services from the Israelis, but should not have been allowed them. The Ministry does not take this position with Israeli criminals. The Israeli Social Welfare Minister, Yitzhak Herzog, also said that under current laws the wife of the man is allowed a widows pension and burial costs, both of which he says they refuse to provide her.
The Israeli Ministry called to limit the freedom of movement of Palestinians within Israeli boundaries, and revoking the identity cards is a “necessary precautionary measure.”
But this has been on the table for years, it is not new and not due to today’s operation.
The Jerusalem Mayor called to demolish the family home, which will just be another among the hundreds of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem which have already been demolished or are under threat. The stated reason for those demolitions is normally “built without a permit.”
A long article on the calls to "Sever Jerusalem Arab Area" is on the BBC.
Here is a shorter piece from the Palestine News Network:
Bulldozer operation excuse to prevent reunification and revoke identification
02.07.08 - 21:42
Jerusalem / PNN – After Wednesday’s bulldozer operation by a Palestinian from East Jerusalem’s Sur Bahir, the Israeli Interior Minister, Meir Sheetrit said that all identity cards must be revoked and that no family reunification could be passed. This is already an issue that the Israelis have been trying to pass: preventing families who live within Israeli boundaries and those outside and in East Jerusalem, from being together.
Those inside Israeli boundaries and in East Jerusalem carry Israeli-issued “blue” identity cards. The Ministry is calling to revoke them now under the guise that this is a new move due to today’s attack. The Israeli Ministry said that the Palestinians must be entirely separated while the Israeli Jerusalem Mayor called to demolish the family home of the man.
Sheetrit said that the East Jerusalem man, because he had a blue identity card, received services from the Israelis, but should not have been allowed them. The Ministry does not take this position with Israeli criminals. The Israeli Social Welfare Minister, Yitzhak Herzog, also said that under current laws the wife of the man is allowed a widows pension and burial costs, both of which he says they refuse to provide her.
The Israeli Ministry called to limit the freedom of movement of Palestinians within Israeli boundaries, and revoking the identity cards is a “necessary precautionary measure.”
But this has been on the table for years, it is not new and not due to today’s operation.
The Jerusalem Mayor called to demolish the family home, which will just be another among the hundreds of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem which have already been demolished or are under threat. The stated reason for those demolitions is normally “built without a permit.”
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Tragedy of Jerusalem
"JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli authorities are investigating why a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem rammed his bulldozer into several cars and buses Wednesday, killing three people before Israeli police shot him dead."
Uhhhh, let me see if I can guess why. For those who haven't been to Jerusalem lately, let's just say it's not quite the holiest of Holy Lands. In fact, I can't remember ever having been in a place that feels less spiritual. The students who flood the streets of the Old City rush around with a bizarre intensity, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Israeli soldiers and their weapons loom on every corner. Even in East Jerusalem, you see settlements emblazoned with the star of David.
The air is thick with triumphalism. Because of this, and because of the architectural and geographic beauty of the place, Jerusalem is so breathtaking that it's impossible to breathe.
Let's see what kind of overreaction comes next. Bulldozing the guy's home and expelling his family, obviously, but what about more evictions, house demolitions, expulsions and, of course, banning Palestinians from working on the light rail?
The NPR morning broadcast led with this story, believe it or not. Never mind when a family of Palestinians gets clubbed in a field by Israeli settlers (which happened just a few weeks ago). Or the daily killings of Palestinians by the IDF. These things almost never make the news here in the US.
The bulldozer, as usual, was made by Caterpillar. Typically it is Palestinians, and/or their houses, that are crushed by Caterpillar "earthmovers," which are used by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes. A few weeks ago I saw the remnants of a demolished house in, what do you know, East Jerusalem. The innards of the house --wiring, metal, plaster, wood-- were cast everywhere, baking in the sun. It was like coming across a rape victim, lying on the ground, exposed. Next to the ruins was a tent where the family was living.
The route taken by the Palestinian was the same that my cab driver Nasser took last Friday on the way to Lifte, the village destroyed by Zionist militias in 1948. (Now Lifte is just another ghost town in a valley hidden by Jerusalem highways. On weekends, people hike there --amidst the shells of old Palestinian houses, some of which are completely intact.) Up Jaffa Road from the Old City. A little past where I had lunch at a vegan cafe near the world-famous Sbarros, by the light rail construction in what used to be Palestinian neighborhoods. This is where the driver began his assault. He was heading toward Mahane Yehuda, the big market on the left side of the street, when the policeman climbed in the cab and shot him.
Here is the CNN report:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/02/israel.bulldozer/index.html
Uhhhh, let me see if I can guess why. For those who haven't been to Jerusalem lately, let's just say it's not quite the holiest of Holy Lands. In fact, I can't remember ever having been in a place that feels less spiritual. The students who flood the streets of the Old City rush around with a bizarre intensity, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Israeli soldiers and their weapons loom on every corner. Even in East Jerusalem, you see settlements emblazoned with the star of David.
The air is thick with triumphalism. Because of this, and because of the architectural and geographic beauty of the place, Jerusalem is so breathtaking that it's impossible to breathe.
Let's see what kind of overreaction comes next. Bulldozing the guy's home and expelling his family, obviously, but what about more evictions, house demolitions, expulsions and, of course, banning Palestinians from working on the light rail?
The NPR morning broadcast led with this story, believe it or not. Never mind when a family of Palestinians gets clubbed in a field by Israeli settlers (which happened just a few weeks ago). Or the daily killings of Palestinians by the IDF. These things almost never make the news here in the US.
The bulldozer, as usual, was made by Caterpillar. Typically it is Palestinians, and/or their houses, that are crushed by Caterpillar "earthmovers," which are used by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes. A few weeks ago I saw the remnants of a demolished house in, what do you know, East Jerusalem. The innards of the house --wiring, metal, plaster, wood-- were cast everywhere, baking in the sun. It was like coming across a rape victim, lying on the ground, exposed. Next to the ruins was a tent where the family was living.
The route taken by the Palestinian was the same that my cab driver Nasser took last Friday on the way to Lifte, the village destroyed by Zionist militias in 1948. (Now Lifte is just another ghost town in a valley hidden by Jerusalem highways. On weekends, people hike there --amidst the shells of old Palestinian houses, some of which are completely intact.) Up Jaffa Road from the Old City. A little past where I had lunch at a vegan cafe near the world-famous Sbarros, by the light rail construction in what used to be Palestinian neighborhoods. This is where the driver began his assault. He was heading toward Mahane Yehuda, the big market on the left side of the street, when the policeman climbed in the cab and shot him.
Here is the CNN report:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Nelson Mandela, Terrorist No More
Wait, I thought 'once a terrorist, always a terrorist.' But no.
According to CNN, George Bush signed a bill to remove the 90-year-old Nobel Prize winner and the other members of the ANC from the terror watch list.
Apparently the fact that Nelson Mandela, the world's most famous anti-apartheid fighter, was, up until today, on "the list," embarrassed Condoleeza Rice. (In April, she said that the situation was a "rather embarrassing matter.")
But now everyone is heralding this historic moment. Congresswoman Barbara Lee told a reporter that she is "especially pleased we are taking this important step to finally right this inexcusable wrong." She also said that the watch list was "anachronistic" and "wrongfully labeled heroes and freedom fighters as terrorists."
According to CNN, George Bush signed a bill to remove the 90-year-old Nobel Prize winner and the other members of the ANC from the terror watch list.
Apparently the fact that Nelson Mandela, the world's most famous anti-apartheid fighter, was, up until today, on "the list," embarrassed Condoleeza Rice. (In April, she said that the situation was a "rather embarrassing matter.")
But now everyone is heralding this historic moment. Congresswoman Barbara Lee told a reporter that she is "especially pleased we are taking this important step to finally right this inexcusable wrong." She also said that the watch list was "anachronistic" and "wrongfully labeled heroes and freedom fighters as terrorists."
Monday, June 30, 2008
Mearsheimer and Walt in Tel Aviv
Israel Lobby Authors Walt, Mearsheimer Travel to Tel Aviv
By Linda Mamoun
http://www.alternet.org/story/89117/
Tel Aviv -- like all of Israel -- is a stridently nationalist place. Israeli flags hang everywhere: over buildings, roads, city parks and beaches. They're mounted on cars and motorcycles. In residential areas, on the city's narrow tree-lined streets, you see flags draped over balconies, painted on ledges, growing in the bougainvillea. Some of the flags are festooned with lights. A fruit vendor may have so many flags bunched around his stand that you might not know if he is selling fruit or flags.
Like Cape Town in the 1980s, Tel Aviv is a classic apartheid city. Both Cape Town and Tel Aviv are wealthy port cities with vibrant art scenes and large gay communities. Relatively free of the right-wing fervor that marks Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has the feel of openness -- just as Cape Town, under apartheid, seemed more liberal than its inland counterpart Johannesburg/Pretoria. At early stages of development, unwanted populations were cleansed from both cities, making them appear less stratified. But nothing obscures the fact that Palestinians are prohibited from living in Tel Aviv. And Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are an invisible community, although somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 live in the neighboring ancient town of Jaffa, where they once numbered 100,000. (An additional 500 Palestinian families are currently in the process of being evicted from Jaffa). Even Palestinians who have Israeli citizenship are rarely able to rent an apartment in Tel Aviv. If you stand within city limits, you can't see the enclosure wall that Israel built to separate Palestinians in nearby Qalqiliya, but Tel Aviv activists know it looms only 12 miles east of their city. They call it the apartheid wall.
I was in Tel Aviv in the middle of June when John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, authors of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," spoke at a forum organized by the peace group Gush Shalom. The forum was held at the Bet Sokolov Press Club, a few blocks south of Rabin Square in the heart of the city. Just on the other side of Rabin Square, billionaire Uzbek oligarch and settlement builder Lev Leviev's Africa Israel Group is putting up a new mixed-use development with 970 residential units and 220,000 square feet of office space. The project will be called Sumayil, to "honor" the Arab village that was there until 1948, though many Palestinians refer to the village by the name Al Mas'udiyya.
Tel Aviv is considered the most liberal city in Israel, which might explain why Mearsheimer and Walt were greeted by a standing-room-only crowd. Many in the audience were middle-aged, bespectacled locals curious about the lobby that claims to represent them. But not everyone welcomed the American professors. There were a handful of protesters stationed in front of the building, passing out English-language booklets, eight pages long, to "counter the misinformation." Except for one young man, the protesters were not Israeli. They were Americans from StandWithUs, a U.S.-based organization which, according to its website, "ensures that Israel's side of the story is told in communities, campuses, libraries, the media and churches." The group's mission even extends to educating Israelis themselves.
Read more here.
By Linda Mamoun
http://www.alternet.org/story/89117/
Tel Aviv -- like all of Israel -- is a stridently nationalist place. Israeli flags hang everywhere: over buildings, roads, city parks and beaches. They're mounted on cars and motorcycles. In residential areas, on the city's narrow tree-lined streets, you see flags draped over balconies, painted on ledges, growing in the bougainvillea. Some of the flags are festooned with lights. A fruit vendor may have so many flags bunched around his stand that you might not know if he is selling fruit or flags.
Like Cape Town in the 1980s, Tel Aviv is a classic apartheid city. Both Cape Town and Tel Aviv are wealthy port cities with vibrant art scenes and large gay communities. Relatively free of the right-wing fervor that marks Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has the feel of openness -- just as Cape Town, under apartheid, seemed more liberal than its inland counterpart Johannesburg/Pretoria. At early stages of development, unwanted populations were cleansed from both cities, making them appear less stratified. But nothing obscures the fact that Palestinians are prohibited from living in Tel Aviv. And Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are an invisible community, although somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 live in the neighboring ancient town of Jaffa, where they once numbered 100,000. (An additional 500 Palestinian families are currently in the process of being evicted from Jaffa). Even Palestinians who have Israeli citizenship are rarely able to rent an apartment in Tel Aviv. If you stand within city limits, you can't see the enclosure wall that Israel built to separate Palestinians in nearby Qalqiliya, but Tel Aviv activists know it looms only 12 miles east of their city. They call it the apartheid wall.
I was in Tel Aviv in the middle of June when John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, authors of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," spoke at a forum organized by the peace group Gush Shalom. The forum was held at the Bet Sokolov Press Club, a few blocks south of Rabin Square in the heart of the city. Just on the other side of Rabin Square, billionaire Uzbek oligarch and settlement builder Lev Leviev's Africa Israel Group is putting up a new mixed-use development with 970 residential units and 220,000 square feet of office space. The project will be called Sumayil, to "honor" the Arab village that was there until 1948, though many Palestinians refer to the village by the name Al Mas'udiyya.
Tel Aviv is considered the most liberal city in Israel, which might explain why Mearsheimer and Walt were greeted by a standing-room-only crowd. Many in the audience were middle-aged, bespectacled locals curious about the lobby that claims to represent them. But not everyone welcomed the American professors. There were a handful of protesters stationed in front of the building, passing out English-language booklets, eight pages long, to "counter the misinformation." Except for one young man, the protesters were not Israeli. They were Americans from StandWithUs, a U.S.-based organization which, according to its website, "ensures that Israel's side of the story is told in communities, campuses, libraries, the media and churches." The group's mission even extends to educating Israelis themselves.
Read more here.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Occupation by Bureaucracy
This op ed by Saree Makdisi, recently published in The International Herald Tribune, encapsulates everything I've seen while I've been here.
Occupation by bureaucracy
By Saree Makdisi
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A cease-fire went into effect in Gaza last week, offering some respite from the violence that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and five Israelis in recent months. It will do nothing, however, to address the underlying cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Intermittent spectacular violence may draw the world's attention to the occupied Palestinian territories, but our obsession with violence actually distracts us from the real nature of Israel's occupation, which is its smothering bureaucratic control of everyday Palestinian life.
This is an occupation ultimately enforced by tanks and bombs, and through the omnipresent threat, if not application, of violence. But its primary instruments are application forms, residency permits, population registries and title deeds. On its own, no cease-fire will relieve the beleaguered Palestinians.
Gaza is virtually cut off from the outside world by Israeli power. Elsewhere, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the ongoing Israeli occupation comprehensively infuses all the normally banal activities of Palestinians' everyday lives: applying for permission to access one's own land; applying for what Israel regards as the privilege - rather than the right - of living with one's spouse and children; applying for permission to drive one's car; to dig a well; to visit relatives in the next town; to visit Jerusalem; to go to work; to school; to university; to hospital. There is hardly any dimension of everyday life in Palestine that is not minutely managed by Israeli military or bureaucratic personnel.
Read more here.
Occupation by bureaucracy
By Saree Makdisi
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A cease-fire went into effect in Gaza last week, offering some respite from the violence that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and five Israelis in recent months. It will do nothing, however, to address the underlying cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Intermittent spectacular violence may draw the world's attention to the occupied Palestinian territories, but our obsession with violence actually distracts us from the real nature of Israel's occupation, which is its smothering bureaucratic control of everyday Palestinian life.
This is an occupation ultimately enforced by tanks and bombs, and through the omnipresent threat, if not application, of violence. But its primary instruments are application forms, residency permits, population registries and title deeds. On its own, no cease-fire will relieve the beleaguered Palestinians.
Gaza is virtually cut off from the outside world by Israeli power. Elsewhere, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the ongoing Israeli occupation comprehensively infuses all the normally banal activities of Palestinians' everyday lives: applying for permission to access one's own land; applying for what Israel regards as the privilege - rather than the right - of living with one's spouse and children; applying for permission to drive one's car; to dig a well; to visit relatives in the next town; to visit Jerusalem; to go to work; to school; to university; to hospital. There is hardly any dimension of everyday life in Palestine that is not minutely managed by Israeli military or bureaucratic personnel.
Read more here.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
My Interview with Richard Falk
Richard Falk is the UN's new Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine. I interviewed him last month.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/mamoun
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/mamoun
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
In Palestine/Israel
I'll be in Palestine and Israel for the rest of the month, reachable via email/Skype.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Scandal After Scandal
Or, as my friend Ben says, "So many scandals, so little time."
There has been so much coverage of the Dunkin' Donuts keffiyeh kerfuffle that there is no need for me to chime in. You just have to wonder how far we have come. Especially when you hear about the other recent "scandal" involving a new Ben & Jerry's flavor called "Imagine Whirled Peace."
This week Ben & Jerry's came out with the flavor, meant as a tribute to John Lennon. The problem is that the flavor (via the Ben & Jerry's Foundation) is raising money for two nonprofits, one of which brings Israeli and Palestinian kids to the US for camp. In response, a "conservative" columnist has been tearing into Ben & Jerry's for promoting "moral equivalency camps." (In case you don't know, "moral equivalency camps" are summer camps that bring together Israeli kids and the children of "terrorists.") The Conservative Columnist (not the name of the blog, by the way, but I'm sure you can find it), works herself into a frenzy over this. If I recall, she even refers readers to her old blog postings about Ben & Jerry's, in which she oh-so-bitingly suggests new flavors like Hamas Caramel Crunch. Apparently, she's had it in for Ben and Jerry since she found out that they supported the uber-jihadi Cindy Sheehan.
Last scandal of the week: Today The New York Times published an article on the students in Gaza losing their Fulbright Fellowships because Israel won't allow them to leave the impoverished and besieged scrap of land known as the Gaza Strip. Someone emailed me a follow-up report, published in Haaretz. I've pasted part of it below:
U.S. presses Israel to provide exit visas for Gaza students
By News Agencies
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department said Friday it was pressing Israel's government to allow eight Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip to travel to the United States to study on coveted Fulbright fellowships.
"We are trying to revisit this issue with the Israeli government," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters, referring to Israel's failure to grant exit visas for the students.
"Frankly, a decision to let people that have been vetted for what is perhaps the most prestigious foreign educational program run by the United States ... it ought to be [as easy as] falling off a log for them to be able to do this."
Earlier Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would investigate a report that the State Department had withdrawn Fulbright Scholarship grants to the Palestinian students because they were denied exit visas by Israel.
"I had not known this, and I'll look into it," Rice told reporters on her plane while flying from Stockholm, where she attended an international conference on Iraq.
"Perhaps there are reasons, but I want to look into why this has happened," she said.
There has been so much coverage of the Dunkin' Donuts keffiyeh kerfuffle that there is no need for me to chime in. You just have to wonder how far we have come. Especially when you hear about the other recent "scandal" involving a new Ben & Jerry's flavor called "Imagine Whirled Peace."
This week Ben & Jerry's came out with the flavor, meant as a tribute to John Lennon. The problem is that the flavor (via the Ben & Jerry's Foundation) is raising money for two nonprofits, one of which brings Israeli and Palestinian kids to the US for camp. In response, a "conservative" columnist has been tearing into Ben & Jerry's for promoting "moral equivalency camps." (In case you don't know, "moral equivalency camps" are summer camps that bring together Israeli kids and the children of "terrorists.") The Conservative Columnist (not the name of the blog, by the way, but I'm sure you can find it), works herself into a frenzy over this. If I recall, she even refers readers to her old blog postings about Ben & Jerry's, in which she oh-so-bitingly suggests new flavors like Hamas Caramel Crunch. Apparently, she's had it in for Ben and Jerry since she found out that they supported the uber-jihadi Cindy Sheehan.
Last scandal of the week: Today The New York Times published an article on the students in Gaza losing their Fulbright Fellowships because Israel won't allow them to leave the impoverished and besieged scrap of land known as the Gaza Strip. Someone emailed me a follow-up report, published in Haaretz. I've pasted part of it below:
U.S. presses Israel to provide exit visas for Gaza students
By News Agencies
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department said Friday it was pressing Israel's government to allow eight Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip to travel to the United States to study on coveted Fulbright fellowships.
"We are trying to revisit this issue with the Israeli government," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters, referring to Israel's failure to grant exit visas for the students.
"Frankly, a decision to let people that have been vetted for what is perhaps the most prestigious foreign educational program run by the United States ... it ought to be [as easy as] falling off a log for them to be able to do this."
Earlier Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would investigate a report that the State Department had withdrawn Fulbright Scholarship grants to the Palestinian students because they were denied exit visas by Israel.
"I had not known this, and I'll look into it," Rice told reporters on her plane while flying from Stockholm, where she attended an international conference on Iraq.
"Perhaps there are reasons, but I want to look into why this has happened," she said.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Misdirected Anger
Matt Taibbi was on C-SPAN a few days ago, discussing his new book The Great Derangement. He talked about the polarization between the Obama supporters and the Clinton supporters, and how strange the animosity is considering the two candidates have very similar views on almost everything. Taibbi suggested that the intensity of emotion in the opposing camps is a reflection of something else, that it's misdirected anger.
Today I attended a luncheon in honor of the former Secretary of State. At one point, she was standing alone, and I thought I would go up to her and say something. I was either going to tell her how repulsed I've been all these years by her Iraq sanctions, or I was going to tell her what a huge Hillary fan I am, and commiserate with her about how Hillary is being "forced out of the race." (The more amusing but masochistic option.)
I didn't end up having either conversation. But I was sitting very close to her during the lunch, and I kept staring, trying to memorize her face. At one point she looked at me, and the expression on her face went from one of complete vacuousness, like you would see on any oldster sitting in a row of wheelchairs at a nursing home, to a toothy smile. She looked directly at me and smiled.
Today I attended a luncheon in honor of the former Secretary of State. At one point, she was standing alone, and I thought I would go up to her and say something. I was either going to tell her how repulsed I've been all these years by her Iraq sanctions, or I was going to tell her what a huge Hillary fan I am, and commiserate with her about how Hillary is being "forced out of the race." (The more amusing but masochistic option.)
I didn't end up having either conversation. But I was sitting very close to her during the lunch, and I kept staring, trying to memorize her face. At one point she looked at me, and the expression on her face went from one of complete vacuousness, like you would see on any oldster sitting in a row of wheelchairs at a nursing home, to a toothy smile. She looked directly at me and smiled.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Sealed Universes
Farhad Manjoo's newish book, True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society, is pretty good but long. I probably only read a few pages word for word. What else could be expected considering the premise of his book? (That we only read what we want to read, that truthiness is more important than actual truth, that we're increasingly hemmed in by our own narrow versions of reality.)
If you go just about anywhere in the blogosphere, you see how fragmented but strangely cohesive our worlds are. As Nicholas Kristof wrote in his New York Times review of Manjoo's book, we live in "sealed universes."
If you go just about anywhere in the blogosphere, you see how fragmented but strangely cohesive our worlds are. As Nicholas Kristof wrote in his New York Times review of Manjoo's book, we live in "sealed universes."