“God gave me this land a few thousand years ago.”
“Muslim occupied Israel. I’ve already picked out the home down there I’m going to take over as soon as we drive them out.”
Tag Archives: Israel/Palestine
Israeli lawmakers set up committee to investigate human rights groups for un-Israeli activity
The Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, voted this week to set up a committee to investigate the funding of local human rights groups that right-wingers here say are acting against Israel’s interests —a move opponents compare to the McCarthyism of the United States in the 1950s.
The committee, which was an initiative of legislators from several parties in the governing coalition, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, will have limited powers. But human rights groups argue it will create an atmosphere of hatred against the groups and their workers.
(Read more from globalpost.com)
Wikileaks: Israeli intelligence chief regarded 2007 Islamic takeover of Gaza as positive step
Moments before Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, former Director of Military Intelligence Major General Amos Yadlin said he would “be happy” if it happened, a diplomatic cable published on WikiLeaks revealed on Monday.
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The military intelligence chief, who recently retired and was highly esteemed among Israel’s political and military echelons, underrated Iran’s involvement in the Strip “as long as they have no (air or sea) port.”
According to the document Yadlin said a Hamas takeover would be a positive step, because Israel would then be able to declare Gaza as a hostile entity.
A few days later, his prediction came true as Hamas took control of the Strip.
The American ambassador noted that if Fatah loses control of the Strip, Abbas would be urged to form a separate government in the West Bank. (Read more from ynetnews.com)
Israel destroyed Syria nuclear reactor: WikiLeaks
Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in an air raid just weeks before it went online in 2007, said a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks and published on Friday in an Israeli daily. “On September 6, 2007, Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor built by Syria secretly, apparently with North Korea’s help,” then US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice wrote in the cable published in Yediot Aharonot newspaper. (Read more from hindustantimes.com)
WikiLeaks: Israel aimed to keep Gaza economy on brink of collapse
Israel told U.S. officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza’s economy “on the brink of collapse” while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to U.S. diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday.
Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to WikiLeaks, showed that Israel kept the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized blockade of the Gaza Strip. (Read more from haaretz.com)
Max Blumenthal debates for BDS at Princeton
Nomads No More: Arabs lose land in fight against Israeli desert demolition
Argentina recognizes Palestine
Argentina has recognised Palestine as a “free and independent state,” just days after neighbouring Brazil announced that it would “legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people for a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state co-existing peacefully with Israel”.
Hector Timerman, Argentina’s foreign minister, said on Monday that the Latin American nation officially recognised Palestine according to its 1967 borders and hopes for peaceful solution to Palestinian-Israeli conflict. (Read more from english.aljazeera.net)
Brazil recognizes Palestinian state
SAO PAULO — Brazil says it has recognized the state of Palestine based on borders at the time of Israel’s 1967 conquest of the West Bank.
The Foreign Ministry says the recognition is in response to a request made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last month to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Silva sent a letter to Abbas on Dec. 1, saying Brazil recognizes Palestine and hopes that the recognition will help lead to states of Israel and Palestine “that will coexist peacefully and in security.”
The foreign ministry says that the recognition is “in line with Brazil’s historic willingness to contribute to peace between Israel and Palestine.”
The announcement was posted Friday on the Foreign Ministry’s website. (Read more from washingtonpost.com)
Here is a map of the world by which nations recognize Palestine.
Headlines about our only Allie in the Middle East
U.N. Report finds Israel “summarily executed” U.S. citizen on flotilla
Last week, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a comprehensive report detailing its findings regarding the May, 2010, Israeli attack on the six-ship flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Israel-blockaded Gaza. The report has been largely ignored in the American media despite the fact (or, more accurately: because) it found that much of the Israeli force used “was unnecessary, disproportionate, excessive and inappropriate and resulted in the wholly avoidable killing and maiming of a large number of civilian passengers”; that “at least six of the killings can be characterized as extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions” (Read more from salon.com)
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Auschwitz survivor: ‘Israel acts like Nazis’
One of the last remaining Auschwitz survivors has launched a blistering attack on Israel over its occupation of Palestine as he began a lecture tour of Scotland.
Dr Hajo Meyer, 86, who survived 10 months in the Nazi death camp, spoke out as his 10-day tour of the UK and Ireland – taking in three Scottish venues – got under way. His comments sparked a furious reaction from hardline Jewish lobby groups, with Dr Meyer branded an “anti-Semite” and accused of abusing his position as a Holocaust survivor. (Read more from heraldscotland.com)
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A tale of two ghettoes
Why is Shoppers Drug Mart pulling 3,500 copies of Adbusters, my magazine, off its shelves?
A week ago, in the National Post, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) accused Adbusters of anti-Semitism for publishing side-by-side photographs of the Gaza and Warsaw ghettos ( “Anti-Semitism on your magazine rack — courtesy of Adbusters,” Oct. 23). The CJC has since successfully lobbied senior management at Shoppers Drug Mart into pulling our magazine off the Canadian newsstands. (Read more from nationalpost.com)
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Israeli Artists Boycott New Theater in Settlement
An artists’ boycott of a $11 million performing arts center opening Monday in the Jewish settlement of Ariel is giving a new twist to a pressing question — where should Israel’s permanent borders run?
Leading Israeli playwrights, actors and artists say they will not cross the “Green Line” — Israel’s frontier before it captured the West Bank in 1967 — to perform in the new theater in Ariel, an Israeli enclave of 19,000 people.
The artists wrote in a letter explaining the boycott that Ariel was built in the heart of a war-won land to prevent creation of a Palestinian state. (Read more from artdaily.com)
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Tutu begs singers to call off Israel tour
Desmond Tutu has urged the Cape Town Opera to call off its tour of Israel “until both Israeli and Palestinian opera lovers have equal opportunity and unfettered access to performances”. (Read more from timeslive.co.za)
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US government offers Israel $3 billion weapons deal in exchange for 3-month settlement freeze
After US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Israeli Prime Minister on Friday, the US set out an offer of additional military assistance to Israel in exchange for a 90-day moratorium on new settlement construction in the West Bank. Construction already in progress on hundreds of units of housing would be allowed to continue during the ‘moratorium’, which also does not include East Jerusalem.
Some Palestinian analysts say the US offer is weak, as it does not pressure Israel in any way to adhere to past signed agreements or international law, but merely forestalls the inevitable failure of ‘peace talks’ between two vastly unequal players. Some have even suggested that this is an attempt by the US to bribe Israel to do what it is required to do under international law.
Since the ‘moratorium’ would not include East Jerusalem, where the majority of current construction of Israeli-only homes and displacement of indigenous Palestinian residents is taking place, some Palestinians feel that it is only a token gesture that does not in any way address their concerns.
In exchange for the temporary, partial moratorium on construction, the Israeli military would receive a gift of 20 F35 fighter jets, worth $3 billion, from the US. (Read more from alethonews.wordpress.com)
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Israel plans 1,300 homes in Arab East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is pushing ahead with plans to build 1,300 new apartments for Jewish families in Arab East Jerusalem, the Interior Ministry said on Monday, despite fierce opposition from Palestinians.
The timing of the announcement could prove an embarrassment for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in the United States looking for ways to revive Middle East peace talks that have stalled over the issue of Jewish settlement building. (Read more from af.reuters.com)
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How the state helped right-wing groups settle East Jerusalem
The state has transferred hundreds of assets to both groups without the requisite tender process. Each year, the state also allocates millions of shekels for security at these sites, including security cameras and fences that separate the settlers from the neighborhoods’ Palestinian residents.
Information revealed here for the first time provides a glimpse of the relationship between the state and these Jewish organizations. The information was made available to leftist activist Dror Etkes by court order following a three-year legal battle.
Elad, arguing that disclosure would lead to bloodshed, fought to prevent publication of the information. The state supported this claim by furnishing cautionary opinions by security experts. But in the end, Etkes obtained a list of 11 assets relayed by the state to Elad and Ateret Cohanim, mainly from 2003-2008, without full transparency and at eyebrow-raising prices. (Read more from haaretz.com)
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Galilee politician works to prevent sale of homes to Palestinians
Residents of Karmiel are invited to report Arabs who intend to buy flats in the town, said Karmiel’s deputy Mayor, Oren Milstein, in an interview on the Internet site “Besheva”. In the same interview he mentioned a weekly ad in the local press which calls on residents to report such information to a special “purple email address”. Milstein went on to say, using the first person: “Residents are welcome to turn to us the moment they become aware of a flat which is about to be sold to someone from one of the [surrounding Arab] villages. Once a flat in Karmiel is sold to an Arab family – it is a solid fact for generations to come”.
Milstein intimates that the selling of 30 flats has already been prevented in this way. (Read more from mondoweiss.net)
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US activist’s family sue Israel
A civil lawsuit brought by the parents of a US peace activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli forces bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in March 2003 has begun being heard in the Israeli city of Haifa.
The driver of the bulldozer that crushed Rachel Corrie to death will testify in court on Thursday, while the military commander in charge of the unit on the day will give evidence at a future date. (Read more from english.aljazeera.net)
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Bulldozer driver [contradicts affidavit]
The lawyer also pointed to discrepancies in the driver’s testimony regarding how far he continued driving after crushing Corrie. The driver told the court he drove another 20 meters (66 feet) before stopping, but in his affidavit he said he stopped after three meters (10 feet). In addition, the driver claimed Corrie’s body was found between the bulldozer and a mound of dirt, while another soldier said the body was behind the mound. During the hearing, Attorney Hussein displayed a photo in which no mound of dirt can be seen at all. (Read more from ynetnews.com)
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IDF prosecutors chided for using testimony of mentally disabled Palestinian witness
(Read more from haaretz.com)
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Jewish Extremists Try to Kill Chilean Tourist, Mistaken for Palestinian
Jerusalem – PNN – Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth published a report on Monday about the attempted murder of a Chilean tourist in Jerusalem by eight Jewish extremists who mistook him for an Arab.
Jose Dominus Nolido, 43, came to Israel to celebrate the wedding of his son’s Jewish friend and visit holy sites. As he returned to his hotel, Nolido said he was accosted by youths.
“I decided to return to my room and I went through Independence Park,” Nolido explained. “Suddenly a youth attacked me. I thought he was a soldier, since he had on Israeli army pants. I tried to flee, but I ran into seven others. I fell on the ground and couldn’t get away from the blows. Then I lost consciousness. I was convinced they wanted to kill me because I looked like an Arab.”
Nolido was taken to a Jerusalem hospital, bleeding from the head and eyes. Doctors said they feared loss of vision in his right eye. (Read more from pnn.ps — or in Spanish)
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US snubs Israel over threat to Iran
US rejects Israeli request for military threat against Iran over its nuclear programme, favouring continued sanctions. (Read more from aljazeera.net)
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Video: Settlers commit arson on Palestinian vehicles in Qusra: Oct 14th, 2010
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Israeli settlers burn yet another mosque in occupied Palestine
Israel is worried that Jewish militants torched a West Bank mosque overnight Monday in a bid to undermine peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
A mosque in the Palestinian village of Beit Fajar, just south of Bethlehem, became the fourth in the last two years to be the target of an arson attempt, according to human rights workers. The attack is believed to be part of a campaign by vigilante settlers to ignite violence by attacking Muslim holy sites. (Read more from csmonitor.com)
Walking Palestinian Children to School
Our (U.S.) tax dollars at work:
Remember, they hate us because Palestinian are Islamic fanatics.
Helen Thomas on Her Resignation and Middle East
Settlers learn how to circumvent IDF to strike at Palestinian olive harvest
Settlers from the northern West Bank have reportedly been circumventing attempts by the Israel Defense Forces to protect Palestinian farmers as they harvest their olives. The settlers are believed to be entering Palestinian olive groves before the army can send troops to protect the harvesters – and taking the olives or destroying the trees. . . .
This year, the harvest began about 10 days ago, and according to IDF officers, there have been cases where settlers knew ahead of time which days the army was going to be guarding which orchards. It is believed that the settlers arrived before guards could be posted, and under cover of darkness harvested most of the olives themselves. . . .
However, security sources say it is very difficult to prevent theft and the district police do not treat thieves harshly when they are caught.
According to Sarit Michaeli, spokeswoman for B’Tselem, which is monitoring the olive harvest, said the settlers are believed to have a “new strategy” and that rather than resorting to physical violence, they were taking advantage of the fact that everyone knows the times when the guards are to be posted.
“In a number of places where the Palestinians are not allowed for the rest of the year, when they come on the days allocated to them, they find the olives have disappeared,” Michaeli said. About 100 trees had been bored into and ruined near the village of Turmus Aya north of Ramallah, Michaeli said. “In the village of Deir al-Hatab, south of Eilon Moreh, a B’Tselem field worker found a group of young Jewish men with their teacher, harvesting olives on privately owned Palestinian land” she said. (Read more from haaretz.com)
‘Show US The Map Of Your Borders’
PLO Responds To Israeli Demand Of ‘Jewish State’ Recognition: ‘Show US The Map Of Your Borders’ (Read more from imemc.org)
Israel / Palestine — Fishermen, citizens, and a new Iphone app
Israeli navy kills Gaza fisherman, Palestinians say
The Israeli navy fired on a Palestinian boat off the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, killing a fisherman, the territory’s Hamas administration said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that naval vessels shot at a fishing boat after it approached the limits of waters where Israel, which keeps Gaza under blockade, permits Palestinian maritime traffic. (Read more from haaretz.com)
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Lieberman: Peace talks must reassess Israeli-Arabs’ right to citizenship
Recognizing Israel as uniquely Jewish is one of the key demands by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the latest peace talks with the Palestinians, which began earlier this month.
“We can’t continue to ignore issues like that of Hanin Zuabi, who identifies completely with the other side,” Lieberman said, , referring to an Israeli Arab member of Knesset was stripped of her parliamentary privileges after sailing aboard a pro-Palestinian aid convoy attacked by Israel en route to the Gaza Strip. (Read more from haaretz.com)
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West Bank settlements can now be tracked on your iPhone
iPhone owners will now be able to install the “Facts on the Ground” application, which monitors the expansion of settlements in Judea and Samaria, created by Americans for Peace Now.
“This new app shows the unfiltered realities that settlements create on the ground of the West Bank. While people are entitled to their opinions on this divisive issue, there is only one set of facts, and our app makes these facts available in unprecedented clarity and detail,” said Debra DeLee, APN’s President and CEO. (Read more from haaretz.com)