Tag Archives: Israel/Palestine

“more than one in three Israelis now say there is ‘too much’ free speech.”

open quoteA string of new laws passed this year by Israel’s right-leaning Knesset has triggered an unusually rancorous debate here over where to draw the line on free speech, exposing shifting sentiments about a core democratic ideal.

The latest battle erupted with the approval this month of a law that created civil and financial penalties against those who voice support for boycott campaigns targeting Israel or its institutions, including West Bank settlements that many in Israel and around the world oppose as an obstacle to peace.

Free-speech advocates blasted the law as an unprecedented assault on the right to criticize the government, while proponents praised it as a patriotic defense of Israel’s image.

It came on the heels of other measures that critics say erode Israel’s democratic foundations, including ones that penalize certain groups that publicly commemorate Nakba Day, marking the 1948 Palestinian displacement; legalize “admissions committees” to screen would-be residents of small Israeli towns; and require non-Jewish immigrants seeking citizenship to take a loyalty oath to Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state.close quote (Read more from latimes.com)

Israel-Iran War in September?

open quoteZerohedge is reporting on some very interesting positioning of U.S. naval ships:

As the most recently updated naval map from Stratfor demonstrates, the CVN 77 G.H.W. Bush has just entered the Persian Gulf, the first time a US aircraft carrier has passed through the Straits of Hormuz in months. What is also notable is that the LHD 5 Bataan amphibious warfare ship has just weighed anchor right next to Libya: this is odd since the coast of Tripoli had been left unattended for many weeks by US attack ships. And topping it all off is that a third aircraft carrier, the CVN 73, is sailing west from the South China seas, potentially with a target next to CVN 76 Ronald Reagan which is the second carrier in the Straits of Hormuz area. Three carriers in proximity to Iran would be extremely troubling.

Zerohedge goes on to report:

CIA veteran Robert Baer, the man played by George Clooney in Syriana, who as Al Jazeera reports, appeared on KPFK Los Angeles, warning that Israeli PM Netanyahu is “likely to ignite a war with Iran in the very near future.” It gets worse: “Masters asked Baer why the US military is not mobilising to stop this war from happening. Baer responded that the military is opposed, as is former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who used his influence to thwart an Israeli attack during the Bush and Obama administrations. But he’s gone now and “there is a warning order inside the Pentagon” to prepare for war.” The punchline: “There is almost “near certainty” that Netanyahu is “planning an attack [on Iran] … and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he’s also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict”, Baer explained.” For the betting public out there, an September CL call may not be the dumbest trade possible…

All this is real interesting, but here’s the real kicker: Economist Nouriel Roubini has tweeted the link to the ZeroHedge story. As long-term EPJ readers know, I consider Roubini the most connected man in finance. He has a small house warming party and George Soros shows up. To ring in the New Year, he shows up at billionaire Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s New Year’s eve party. He gave Larry Summers stock in his company. Within hours of DSK being arrested, he tweeted that Christine Lagarde would take his place–as she has done. He is a consultant to most of the central banks in the world.

I have never seen Roubini tweeting on foreign affairs before, he is unlikely to be tweeting because he finds the story interesting. The story likely falls in line with what he is hearing from his very in the know network.
close quote (Read more from economicpolicyjournal.com)

Israeli police will not face trial over death of Palestinian girl

open quoteIsraeli policemen suspected of shooting dead a 10-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl in 2007 will escape prosecution after a court said that too much time had elapsed to allow a re-examination of the case.

The decision will come as a blow for the girl’s parents, who have campaigned for justice for their daughter, Abir Aramin, who died after being struck in the head during a school break.

. . . .

But it backed an earlier decision not to charge two border policemen allegedly involved in her death, in part because of the difficulty of conducting an investigation so long after the incident in the absence of fresh evidence.

. . . .

Eyewitnesses claimed that border guards, who had clashed with stone-throwing Palestinian rioters nearby, fired at the girl from a passing jeep. The police opened an investigation but closed it a short while later, arguing it was possible she had been killed by a rock and that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.close quote (Read more from independent.co.uk)

The New Israeli Anti-Boycott Law

open quoteThe U.S. State Department responded Tuesday to the new anti-boycott law passed in Israel, saying that the freedom to organize and protest is a democratic value Israel and the U.S. have long shared.

. . . .

When asked to comment on the anti-boycott law, the U.S. State Department said the law was an “Israeli internal matter” but also hinted its criticism by pointing out the right to peaceful protest in democratic countries.

. . . .

J Street condemned the Knesset’s passage of the bill as well as a “clear and unabashed violation of the fundamental democratic precept of freedom of speech.”

According to newly passed law, a person or an organization calling for the boycott of Israel, including the settlements, can be sued by the boycott’s targets without having to prove that they sustained damage. The court will then decide how much compensation is to be paid. close quote (Read more from haaretz.com)

Alarming rise in clashes between settlers and Palestinians in West Bank

open quote IDF commanders concerned situation in territories may deteriorate further with diplomatic crisis looming in September when Palestinians make bid for UN recognition.

The IDF is alarmed by the increase in clashes in the West Bank between Palestinian villagers and settlers in nearby outposts and by the growing harassment of senior army officers and civil servants by right-wing extremists.

. . . .

Last week settlers burned a Palestinian field in the West Bank village of Burin, destroying more than 400 trees, after two Palestinians had stolen a car belonging to a settler from the nearby Yitzhar settlement.

Police arrested a number of suspects – the arson was video-taped from a distance by a Palestinian B’Tselem activist. But the court released the suspects for lack of evidence.

On the same day, Yitzhar’s secretariat sent a threatening letter to the mayor of the nearby village of Hawara, issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to return the stolen car and turn in the thieves. Otherwise, the letter warned, “it will be impossible to stop the residents’ rage.”

On June 7 the mosque in al-Mueir village was set on fire – the fourth mosque arson in a year and a half. The arsonists painted “price tag” on the mosque wall. Police believe the act was the settlers’ response to the Israel Lands Administration’s decision to evacuate structures in a nearbly illegal outpost.

Meanwhile, the defense establishment is planning moves that are likely to heat up the atmosphere even further. The state has pledged to the High Court of Justice to evacuate three buildings in the illegal Migron outpost by July 24. By July 20 outgoing Justice Ayala Procaccia is due to hand down the verdict in the case of a petition to tear down nine structures in the Ofra settlement.

The state has also promised to remove settlers’ facilities set up illegally on private Palestinian lands in three locations by the end of August.close quote (Read more from haaretz.com)

FRANCE: Israel extends a no fly ban to European activists. Airlines are denying boarding for European passengers. Mandatory interrogation prior embarking.

open quoteDozens of pro-Palestinian activists have been refused permission to board a flight from Paris’ Charles De Gaulle airport bound for Israel where they were due to stage a protest.

The group were prevented from leaving for Tel Aviv following a request from authorities there.

In an unprecedented move, European airlines have been given the details of 300 blacklisted passengers who will be refused entry to Israel.

Dozens more protestors headed for the same fly-in demonstration were also prevented from leaving Brussels.close quote (Read more from euronews.net)

Israel admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians

open quoteDocument obtained by Haaretz reveals that between 1967 and 1994 many Palestinians traveling abroad were stripped of residency status, allegedly without warning.

Israel has used a covert procedure to cancel the residency status of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians between 1967 and 1994, the legal advisor for the Judea and Samaria Justice Ministry’s office admits, in a new document obtained by Haaretz. The document was written after the Center for the Defense of the Individual filed a request under the Freedom of Information Law.

The document states that the procedure was used on Palestinian residents of the West Bank who traveled abroad between 1967 and 1994. From the occupation of the West Bank until the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians who wished to travel abroad via Jordan were ordered to leave their ID cards at the Allenby Bridge border crossing.

. . . .

Today, a similar procedure is still in place for residents of East Jerusalem who hold Israeli ID cards; they lose their right to return if they have been abroad for seven years.

Palestinians who found themselves “no longer residents” include students who graduated from foreign universities, businessmen and laborers who left for work in the Gulf. Over the years, many of them have started families, so the number of these Palestinians and their descendants is probably in the hundreds of thousands, even if some have died.

Also, several thousands Palestinians with close links to the Palestinian Authority were allowed to return over the years, as did a number of Palestinians whose cases were upheld by the joint committee for restoration of Palestinian ID cards. As of today, 130,000 Palestinians are listed as “no longer residents.”

Among them is the brother of the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat. Erekat’s brother left for studies in the United States and was not allowed to come back; he still lives in California.close quote (Read more from haaretz.com)

Israeli Soldiers testify, post Youtube videos about routine harassment and humiliation of Palestinian civilians

open quoteSome of the former soldiers describe the “neighbour procedure”, a term for the use of Palestinian civilians, often children, as human shields to protect soldiers from suspected booby traps or attacks by militants. The procedure was ruled illegal by Israel’s high court in 2005.

Others speak of routine harassment of civilians at checkpoints, arbitrary intimidation and collective punishment.

Idan Barir, who served in the artillery corps, describes in his testimony how an officer forced Palestinian civilians to crawl in a “race” towards a checkpoint near Jenin in the West Bank during the 2000 olive harvest. Only the first three out of “teams” of eight were allowed to pass.

Another, Itamar Schwarz, says Palestinian homes were routinely ransacked in search operations. He describes the day of the World Cup final in 2002, when soldiers confined a Palestinian woman and child in the kitchen of their home for two hours while the unit watched the game in the middle of an operation.

Arnon Degani, who served in the Golani brigade, describes the distress of a young woman who tearfully pleaded to be allowed to pass through a Jenin checkpoint in order to sit an important exam. He gradually came to understand, he says, that the Israeli army’s intention was “to enforce tyranny on people who you know are regular civilians” and to “make it clear who’s in control here”.close quote (Read more from guardian.co.uk)

Mideast envoy George Mitchell to resign

open quoteOn the surface it appears that president Obama has given up on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and, frankly, given the evidence, it is difficult imagining that there is something different beneath the surface. To wit:

Special Envoy George Mitchell resigned, clearly angry at the lack of support his peace efforts received from the White House – and his resignation letter was about as curt and cold as any in recent memory. The announcement of his resignation followed reports that the president’s Thursday speech on the Middle East will, amazingly, say virtually nothing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A day after Mitchell’s resignation came news that the president had decided that he will speak at this month’s AIPAC conference, the traditional setting for pandering to the Israeli government and, more significantly, to Israel-centred political donors.close quote (Read more from english.aljazeera.net)

UN report: Israel confiscated 35% of Jerusalem territories for settlements

open quoteA report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed that since its occupation in 1967, authorities of the Israeli occupation have confiscated about a third of the territory of East Jerusalem in order to expand settlement construction.

Ray Dolphin, the author of a report entitled “East Jerusalem: the basic human concerns”, said that Israeli policies and measures give priority to Israeli settlers in Jerusalem at the expense of the city’s indigenous inhabitants, pointing out that the Israeli occupation has confiscated thirty-five per cent of the Palestinian territories in eastern Jerusalem, for the benefit of projects aimed to expand Jewish settlements and to build other new settlements.close quote (Read more from middleeastmonitor.org.uk)

Israel ‘approves new West Bank settler homes’

open quoteJERUSALEM — Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has approved the construction of 294 new homes in Beitar Ilit settlement on the occupied West Bank, anti-settlement NGO Peace Now reported on Sunday.

It also said that work had started on more than 2,000 settler homes since the end in September of Israel’s 10-month freeze on Jewish construction on Palestinian land.

Peace Now made its announcement as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington preparing to address the US Congress and a powerful pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).close quote (Read more)