Archive for the 'Israel' Category

Palestinians evicted in Jerusalem

Palestinian officials say the families lived in the houses for over 50 years

Israeli police have evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.

Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The US has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, a move not recognised by the world community.

The evictions have been condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and also the UK government.

The US said the evictions were not in keeping with Israel’s obligations under the so-called “road map” to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

‘Deplorable’

The operation to evict the 53 Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city was carried out before dawn on Sunday by police clad in black riot gear.

It followed a ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court that Jewish families owned the land. Israel wants to build a block of 20 apartments in the area.

The evictions were quickly condemned by the United Nations.

The incumbent Israeli supremacist government continues to show itself to be as guilty as hell of outrageous, outright, persecution.

And/or racism. And/or apartheid. And/or long time, serial denial of basic human rights for innocent Jerusalem, Arab families.

Moreover, anyone who attempts to tell anyone at all anything different is at best, hopelessly misinformed and/or unbelievably naive and/or incredibly ignorant.

At worst, they’re flat out unforgivable, damned bloody liars.

And, anyone even considering calling us anti-Semitic, obviously knows a lot less than squat about us personally.

(Cross posted from across at ‘How This Old Brit Sees It’)

(Cross posted from across at How This Old Brit Sees It)

We suppose that the law of averages dictates that even governments as full of gobshites as Gordon Brown’s is must eventually get something right … at sometime or other … and do the decent thing.

UK cuts Israel weapons contracts

The UK has revoked five export licences for equipment to the Israeli navy because of actions during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza this year.

The British Foreign office said the exports would now contravene its criteria for arms sales, but denied that it had imposed a partial embargo.

The UK says it does not sell weapons which might be used for internal repression or external aggression.

Israel says …

Read the rest of this report right here.

(Cross posted from across at How This Old Brit Sees It)

Benjamin Netanyahu, world class hypocrite

Israeli officials feigned dismay over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in Iran’s presidential election:

The re-election of hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a disputed vote underscores the growing threat posed by Tehran and its nuclear ambitions, two senior Israeli politicians said Saturday, urging the world not to engage in dialogue with Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that Iran’s nuclear ambitions, not Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, should occupy the world’s attention.

The Israelis have found that the American media is far less likely to scrutinize Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank when there is a perceived crisis elsewhere in the region. Maybe that’s why hardline Israeli officials were hoping that Ahmadinejad would be re-elected:

When it comes to the Iranian presidential elections, Jerusalem is convinced that it is in fact Iran’s current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is the best candidate to serve Israel’s interests. “We’re better off with him getting elected,” said a senior political source. “The prevailing opinion here is that Ahmadinejad just speaks his mind. How are the others any different? They’re just nicer, but they think exactly like him.”

Sources in Israel argue that Ahmadinejad expresses most clearly the opinions held by the Iranian establishment, and by virtue of this fact, actually facilitates the international community’s understanding of their positions. The source explained that such an assessment was shared by all the agencies in Israel dealing with the Iranian matter.

These same hardliners will tell you that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, and that Ahmadinejad has pledged to wipe Israel from the map. So why would peace-loving Israelis want Ahmadinejad to win? They wouldn’t. Government officials wanted him to win precisely because they do not want peace. They want to keep fighting, because they know that they will have to stop expanding West Bank settlements as soon as there is a lasting ceasefire. That’s why Israel helped nurture Hamas, that’s why they wanted Ahmadinejad to win, that’s why they keep expanding their settlements, and that’s why they violated a recent ceasefire.

Israel can’t get what they want in a peaceful environment, because what they want belongs to someone else. So they make a big show of pretending to negotiate with the Palestinians in order to keep American aid flowing, all the while striving to ensure that those negotiations never produce a lasting peace.

The following comes direct from our inbox and was sent to us by the Jewish Voice for Peace.

Dear Richard,

We’ve asked Prof. Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Middle East History at Stanford University, to give us his impression on President Obama’s speech in Cairo today. We’re sharing his response with you.

An articulate and charismatic President of the United States named Barack Hussein Obama giving a speech at Cairo University co-sponsored by al-Azhar, the most eminent institution of Muslim learning - now that’s a new picture. Its enormous symbolic value is President Obama’s biggest asset as he implements policy on the entire range of difficult issues he mentioned. The President stated, “Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail.” This is an excellent basis for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The President did not provide details on how the conflict should be resolved beyond general support for “two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.” But the meaning of this formulation is now contested due to its empty repetition by presidents and prime ministers whose actions and inactions have undermined it. Instead President Obama emphasized U.S. rejection of “the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,” saying nothing about the future of those settlements already existing and their nearly 500,000 inhabitants.

By limiting himself to an apparently pragmatic “first step,” President Obama may have made his task harder. If he does not produce concrete results very soon on this limited, albeit it absolutely necessary, measure, then the potential value of his fine words in Cairo will soon diminish.

Joel Beinin

June 4, 2009Stanford, CA

Professor Joe Beinin of Stanford University.

(Cross posted from across at How This Old Brit Sees It)

From Haaretz:

The Obama Administration will put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to, said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in his first comprehensive interview on foreign policy since taking office.

“Believe me, America accepts all our decisions,” Lieberman told the Russian daily Moskovskiy Komosolets.

Apparently, though, the Obama administration hasn’t gotten the memo:

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that Western-backed
peace efforts with the Palestinians had reached a “dead end” and that Israel intended to present new ideas for diplomacy, prompting a response from the State Department re-emphasizing the American goal of establishing two states.

I guess we’ll have to see if Lieberman is right about exercising veto power over American foreign policy decisions, or if Obama really has brought change.

Scarcely have we seen ’straight talk’ statements such as this spoken by an American : a ‘real’ American that is.

(Incidentally, huge heads-up hat-tip to fellow Brit blogger ‘Gert ‘ for this.)

First, just some small snippets from Charles Freeman’s recent personal statement:

The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired, still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in the Middle East. The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors.

There is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government – in this case, the government of Israel. I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in the United States to say so. This is not just a tragedy for Israelis and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to the national security of the United States.

The outrageous agitation that followed the leak of my pending appointment will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle East and related issues. I regret that my willingness to serve the new administration has ended by casting doubt on its ability to consider, let alone decide what policies might best serve the interests of the United States rather than those of a Lobby intent on enforcing the will and interests of a foreign government.

Now read Chas Freeman’s full personal statement.
Next, be your very own court, prosecutor, defender, jury and judge.

We realise of course that’s it’s simply stupidity of the silliest sort to even venture to suggest that anyone should ever act as one’s own executioner, as well : nevertheless …..

This ‘real’ old Brit’s just saying…..

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)

Check out this video.

Israeli soldiers shot 20 year old Mohammad al-Breem, despite knowing that he was an unarmed farmer. The incident took place on February 18, a couple of hundred yards from the “green line”, which means it was well withing Palestinian territory.

This is not an isolated incident. Have a look at a similar incident that took place at the same location on Feb. 12:

Human rights workers began videotaping harvests after a 27 year old farmer was killed by Israeli soldiers on Jan. 27.

The video camera is potentially the most powerful weapon that the Palestinians have against oppression, but it will only work if the American news networks start airing the footage and letting their viewers know what’s really going on in the occupied territories. And if the video camera proves ineffective, how can we justifiably condemn the Palestinian extremist groups when they resort to more extreme methods? Wouldn’t any of us consider violence if peaceful means of resistance failed to stop an occupying army from randomly shooting our families and neighbors?

(cross posted at This Old Brit)

While we readily admit that today we’re taking a sarcastic sort of swipe at the pretty dumb practice of stating the sodding obvious, we ourselves wish to make it perfectly obvious that we are in no way “having a go” at Ireland’s excellent ex President, Mary Robinson.

Since the sad truth is that there are still millions of westerners convinced that bums like George Bush and Tony Blair, to mention just a pair, always told us all the truth.

Just take a look at this.

GENEVA (Reuters)

Washington’s “war on terror” after the September 11 attacks has eroded human rights worldwide, creating lingering cynicism that the United Nations must now combat, international law experts said on Monday.

Mary Robinson, who was the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights when al Qaeda militants flew hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, said the United States caused harm with some of the ways it responded.

“Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and repeal abusive laws and policies,” the former Irish president said, warning that harsh U.S. detentions and interrogations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba gave a dangerous signal to other countries that could easily follow suit.

While new U.S. President Barack Obama has announced he will close Guantanamo to break from the practices of his predecessor George W. Bush, Robinson said sweeping changes needed to take place to ensure Washington abandons its “war paradigm.”

“There has been severe damage and it needs to be addressed,” she told a news conference in Geneva. “We are not more secure. We are more divided, and people are more cynical about the operation of laws.”

Arthur Chaskalson, former chief justice of South Africa, said that the United States should launch an inquiry into its counter-terrorism practices, including acts of torture by individual security and intelligence agents.

Although counter-terrorism issues have faded from the front pages since the change of government in Washington, Chaskalson said such practices have shifted around the world and could keep restricting liberties if they are not confronted head-on.

“We all have less rights today than we had five or 10 years ago, and if nothing happens, we will have even less,”

So here’s to you, Mrs Robinson, we have to say that we like your style. Like it a lot, in fact. Truth be told, maybe we even love it.

Now read the rest of this Reuters’report.

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)

If you belong to that bunch of barmpots who habitually condemn all American lawyers as being nothing but a load of lying, money grabbing mofos, don’t bother reading further. We’d hate to waste both your time and ours.

However, if you’re not so stupid as to all too easily swallow such silly shit, you’ll probably choose to continue.

A Report from Gaza

Strong Indications of Israeli War Crimes

By NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD

Gaza City.

We are a delegation of 8 American lawyers, members of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States, who have come here to the Gaza Strip to assess the effects of the recent attacks on the people, and to determine what, if any, violations of international law occurred and whether U.S. domestic law has been violated as a consequence. We have spent the last five days interviewing communities particularly impacted by the recent Israeli offensive, including medical personnel, humanitarian aid workers and United Nations representatives.

In particular, the delegation examined three issues: 1) targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure; 2) illegal use of weapons and 3) blocking of medical and humanitarian assistance to civilians.

Targeting of Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure

Much of the debate surrounding Israel’s aerial and ground offensive against Gaza has centered on whether or not Israel observed principles of proportionality and distinction. The debate suggests that Israel targeted Hamas i.e., its military installations, its leaders, and its militants, and in the process of its discrete military exercise it inadvertently killed Palestinian civilians. While we have found evidence that Palestinian civilians were victims of excessive force and collateral damage, we have also found troubling instances of Palestinian civilians being targets themselves.

The delegation recorded numerous accounts of Israeli soldiers shooting civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, in the head, chest, and stomach. Another common narrative described Israeli forces rounding civilians into a single location i.e., homes, schools which Israeli tanks or warplanes then shelled. Israeli forces continued to shoot at civilians fleeing the targeted structures.

If that snip has tempted/interested you enough to read the rest of this remarkably revealing report, then please be our guest.

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)