18 july 2012
Expansion of illegal outposts continues
Israel’s defense ministry revealed plans yesterday to expand the illegal outpost of Givat Salit, near Tubas in the north part of the West Bank.
There are more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law. There are a further 150 settlements which the Israeli government refers to as ‘outposts’ which are illegal under Israeli as well as international law.
Outposts are often issued with demolition orders. However these orders are rarely, if ever, carried out.
Previous Israeli governments had promised to remove Givat Salit, but now the Defense Ministry has commissioned its expansion with a view to granting it retroactive settlement status.
The recent Levy Commission report proposed granting settler status to all of the outposts in the West Bank.
The outpost controversy has grown in recent years with extremist settlers carrying out acts of violence against Palestinians in campaign called ‘price tagging’.
The Price Tag campaign is aimed at threatening the Israeli government against acting against the outposts by trying to provoke a reaction from the Palestinian villages nearby. Mosques have been burnt down and olive groves destroyed in attempt to destabilize the situation in the occupied territories.
Jewish settlers storm Nabi Yusuf tomb Hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed the Nabi Yusuf tomb to the east of Nablus city at dawn Wednesday, local sources said.
They said that around one thousand settlers arrived in buses to the shrine amidst heavy security measures on the part of Israeli occupation forces.
Noting that PA security forces disappeared from the surrounding area, the sources said that the settlers left after offering Talmudic and religious rituals.
Occupation soldiers storm al Aqsa mosque
A number of occupation officers broke into the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday amid tightened security at its gates.
Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and heritage stated in a press statement that 22 senior officers stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque and they provocatively toured inside the existing prayer houses such as the Marwani mosque, the old Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, while a number of settlers toured the yards.
The Foundation appealed to all citizens to head for Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan to respond to the remarks of the Zionist Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, in which he considered al-Aqsa Mosque, "an integral part of the Israeli territory and thus under Israeli Law".
It also confirmed that it will be organizing various programs in the mosque and providing buses towards it, in coordination with other organizations from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Witness: Settlers abduct 4 at gunpoint, later released
A group of Israeli settlers abducted four Palestinians at gunpoint in the northern West Bank on Tuesday evening, before later releasing them, witnesses said.
The group, who work for an advertising company in Ramallah, were stopped outside the evacuated Israeli outpost Homesh near Nablus by an Israeli-plated car, and a group of settlers ordered them at gunpoint to walk to a neighboring hill.
Noman Jalali, 32, from nearby Anabta town, said they were forced to walk behind the vehicle while surrounded by dozens of settlers, two of whom carried small weapons and another carrying a machine gun.
Jalali said they were beaten and verbally abused by the group while they held them for over an hour.
"One of them asked in Hebrew for another man to shoot us but he replied that we had children and they began laughing," Jalali said.
Their cellphones and money were seized by the abductors, he said.
Homesh outpost was evacuated in 2005, but settlers and Israeli politicians are campaigning to rebuild on the area, which remains under Israeli control.
Israel's West Bank college upgrade sparks row
Israel upgraded a college in the occupied West Bank, territory the Palestinians want for a state, to the level of university on Tuesday, a move that critics said was politically motivated.
The Ariel University of Samaria's new status will entitle it to more state funding, and some see the move as designed to strengthen Israel's stake in the West Bank, territory it captured along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967.
"This decision is not a decision to promote the education system in Israel," said Yariv Oppenheimer, head of the Israeli anti-settlement organisation Peace Now. "(It is intended) to gain the support of the settlers."
The chancellor of the university, founded in 1982 and attended by more than 13,000 students, dismissed the criticism.
"There are many Israelis very interested in developing Samaria and Judea," said Yigal Cohen-Orgad, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
The upgrade needs Israeli military approval to be finalized.
Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Peace talks with Israel broke down in late 2010 in a dispute on settlements, which the Palestinians say deny them a contiguous, viable state.
About 311,000 Israeli settlers and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank. The United Nations deems all Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.
Inside the Christians United for Israel rally: Unconditional support for Israel
American Christians from all over the U.S. attend gathering; largely unmoved over MK tearing up New Testament.
Liberal Internet users were quick to point out on Tuesday the irony in the fact that the seventh annual gathering of "Christians United for Israel" (CUFI) taking place in Convention Center in Washington, DC, coincided with a Israeli MK Michael Ben-Ari demonstratively tearing up a copy of the New Testament he received by mail, and throwing it into the trash, calling it " an abominable book that brought about the murder of millions of Jews in the Inquisition and autos da fé” and "provocation by church missionaries."
However, the leadership of the organization that claims 1.25 million supporters in the United States seemed unmoved by this act. "People here say that when they wanted to help Israel, at first they weren't welcomed with opened arms," CUFI Executive Director David Brog told "Haaretz". "Jews are somewhat suspicious toward Christians. So stories like this might disappoint our Christian friends, they might be curious why should anyone who belongs to people that went through such persecution, would be engaged in such destructive task. But I don't think it will deter them from their task."
Joshua Ahrens, a student from Portland State University, was not dismayed by Ben-Ari’s act either.
"My support of Jews is unconditional. I was astonished how quickly Jewish people opened their hearts and minds to me, and responsibility is on me to explain my motivations. So one person (Ben-Ari) doesn't trouble me at all,” said Ahrens.
Ahrens says he decided to get involved with CUFI on campus after "hearing some anti-Semitic remarks by professors on campus".
"I was looking for organization that deals with this kind of stuff. We put up a flier with an Israeli flags - the next morning I got a text message from one of the students that someone drew a swastika on it,” said Ahrens.
“This is not an OK comparison to me; it was done to hurt other people. So we alerted campus authorities and were shocked they were completely powerless. We had other students circulating untruthful mails about us,” continued Ahrens.
Pro-Israel activity on campuses was the major emphasis of the conference that brought together about 5000 participants from all over the U.S. They were served the usual mix of a video address from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israel public advocacy panels, prayers, a medly of Israeli songs, mostly right-wing speakers, received with standing ovation and waving Israeli and American flags. Speakers asked for "even bigger sacrifice" - i.e. donations.
Some things looked exactly the same as last year - including the choice of songs (with musical performance led by CUFI's leader, Pastor John Hagee's grown-up kids), and Pastor Hagee laying the Biblical foundation for unconditional support of Israel and criticism of the Obama administration.
"Supporting Israel is not a political issue, it's a Bible issue", Pastor Hagee exclaimed. "There is only one way to live your life - the Bible way or the wrong way."
Later on, he said: "Can we support peace agreement that doesn't provide Israel with defensible borders? The green line is not a defensible border."
Hagee turned to the subject of Iran, adding that "sanctions on Iran are mostly smoke. The Obama administration wants to make them even weaker. All twenty of Iran's major trading partners got exemptions from sanctions. [Secretary of Defense] Leon Panetta is exposing Israel's secret airbases.”
“Wouldn't it be better if the two nations would join forces and remove the nuclear threat?" asked Hagee.
The next issue was the indivisible Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. "Without Jerusalem there is no real life in Israel," Pastor Hagee said. "It's where the Messiah is going to rule the Earth. I assure you, this madness is going to end. The President of the U.S. told people of Jerusalem they can't build additional homes there. He has no authority to tell them that! They are a democracy!" (Another round of thunderous applause).
On the first floor, a special exhibition was arranged – with a warning sign at the entrance that read "the area you are about to enter is representative of the anti-Israeli propaganda students experience on their college campuses."
There was a mock "apartheid wall" that is used often during the "Israel apartheid week" protests on campuses, the "rogues" wall with prominent Israel critics such as Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein; plasma screen with video interview with college professor calling rockets fired from Gaza "self-defense," and computers offering visitors opportunities to check out various CUFI activities on campuses.
Ossie Hill, an African-American woman who came with her husband from California to CUFI conference for the second time in a row, says she became a supporter of the organization through her friend who is involved with the organization - and she along with other activists received a trip to Israel. "CUFI keeps us really updated on what is going on in Israel, and how to pray for these issues," she says.
Most conference attendants were Christian, but there were also some skullcaps spotted at the event.
Outside, several “Neturei Karta" members protested in front of the Convention center, holding signs saying that Zionism is not equal to Judaism - and some CUFI participants coming to argue with them - or just calling "shame on you!"
One of the skullcaps belonged to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who is running these days for Congress from New York's district nine. "There was a story recently that Israel is one of the most hated countries in the world", he told "Haaretz".
"In an age when Israel is so unfairly maligned and subject to such unwarranted vitriol, it's startling to see a vast group of millions who feel precisely the opposite - that Israel is the light, a beacon of human rights, freedom and a fulfillment of an ancient dream of Jewish destiny,” said Boteach.
As author of "Kosher Jesus," Rabbi Boteach was appalled by MK Ben-Ari's act. "I've seen irrational Jewish reactions to Christian scriptures. This reaction on the part of some Jews to Christianity and their desire to denigrate is a tragic reminder of how Judaism was often treated by Christians. We expect respect to all religions. They do it in Saudi Arabia. It's Taliban stuff. It's not Jewish. I feel strong about the important friendship of Christian and Jewish people. But America has ever had history of Christian Anti-Semitism, and I see CUFI is an apogee of its love affair,” said Boteach
Boteach went on to discuss the notion that such Christians are interested in Israel only to bring about the second coming of the messiah. "Judaism is clear that action is more important than intention, it's not motivation that matters. I also don't buy it that Christians love for Israel is a pre-condition for the return of Christ. I do believe it's sincere. I think it's based on a true desire to connect to the origins of Christianity,” said Boteach.
It is no secret that some of CUFI activists are considered to be far on the right. One of the members this year was wearing to the festive banquet closing the conference T-shirt against gay and lesbians, "poisoning minds" of kids, and comparing Obama with an anti-Christ. The organization is arguing they are not responsible for personal positions of conference participants. Formally they are also not endorsing political candidates - but of course, the tendency is clear.
"We don't endorse candidates. But I have some disappointments with first Obama administration, there seems to be a perception that Israel's intransigence is a problem. I see differently what drives this conflict - Israel comes again and again to the table, I don't see Israeli reluctance to negotiate as a problem."
Brog also commented on recent efforts by some churches to divest from companies that do business with Israel. "We don't think their leadership will be influenced by us, but we create home for their disaffected members, said Brog.
"Last month I spoke for the first time at a Methodist church. Christians are going to be involved with an issue of Israel whether you are comfortable with it or not. We work to make sure they are on our side,” he continued.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was one of the last speakers at the conference.
Bachmann spoke at length about Israel's troubled neighborhood and stated that the U.S. "should recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights.”
Also, Bachmann called on Obama to forbid the entry of Egyptian President Mursi into the U.S. rather than invite him in, unless he "renounces jihad".
On Iran, Bachmann said “pigs will fly before Iran cedes use of nuclear power. If history taught us a lesson - it is when man threatens annihilation of Jewish people - listen... The world must know we will never waiver commitment to Israel. We believe G-d will bless those who bless Israel.”
Kadima quits Netanyahu government over conscription law
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost a key coalition partner in a row over conscription for seminary students.
The centrist Kadima party, which has 28 MPs, decided to pull out of Netanyahu’s coalition government on Tuesday after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on an alternative to the Tal Law, Xinhua reported.
"It is with deep regret that I say that there is no choice but to decide to leave the government," Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz said on Tuesday.
Under the disputed law, which Mofaz called unconstitutional, ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt from military or community service as long as they are engaged in full-time religious studies. An alternative to the law must be passed by the end of this month as it is due to expire on August 1.
Mofaz, whose party only joined the coalition in May, also said he would resign as Israeli vice prime minister.
The Kadima party’s decision to leave the coalition has reduced Netanyahu’s majority in the 120-member parliament from 94 seats to 66. This could prompt the government to call an early election, most probably early next year.
In Israel, there are about 100,000 full-time ultra-Orthodox seminary students of draft age. Israelis are required to serve two to three years of compulsory service in the military.
17 july 2012
MK Michael Ben-Ari rips up New Testament, throws it in trash
Expansion of illegal outposts continues
Israel’s defense ministry revealed plans yesterday to expand the illegal outpost of Givat Salit, near Tubas in the north part of the West Bank.
There are more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law. There are a further 150 settlements which the Israeli government refers to as ‘outposts’ which are illegal under Israeli as well as international law.
Outposts are often issued with demolition orders. However these orders are rarely, if ever, carried out.
Previous Israeli governments had promised to remove Givat Salit, but now the Defense Ministry has commissioned its expansion with a view to granting it retroactive settlement status.
The recent Levy Commission report proposed granting settler status to all of the outposts in the West Bank.
The outpost controversy has grown in recent years with extremist settlers carrying out acts of violence against Palestinians in campaign called ‘price tagging’.
The Price Tag campaign is aimed at threatening the Israeli government against acting against the outposts by trying to provoke a reaction from the Palestinian villages nearby. Mosques have been burnt down and olive groves destroyed in attempt to destabilize the situation in the occupied territories.
Jewish settlers storm Nabi Yusuf tomb Hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed the Nabi Yusuf tomb to the east of Nablus city at dawn Wednesday, local sources said.
They said that around one thousand settlers arrived in buses to the shrine amidst heavy security measures on the part of Israeli occupation forces.
Noting that PA security forces disappeared from the surrounding area, the sources said that the settlers left after offering Talmudic and religious rituals.
Occupation soldiers storm al Aqsa mosque
A number of occupation officers broke into the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday amid tightened security at its gates.
Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and heritage stated in a press statement that 22 senior officers stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque and they provocatively toured inside the existing prayer houses such as the Marwani mosque, the old Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, while a number of settlers toured the yards.
The Foundation appealed to all citizens to head for Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan to respond to the remarks of the Zionist Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, in which he considered al-Aqsa Mosque, "an integral part of the Israeli territory and thus under Israeli Law".
It also confirmed that it will be organizing various programs in the mosque and providing buses towards it, in coordination with other organizations from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Witness: Settlers abduct 4 at gunpoint, later released
A group of Israeli settlers abducted four Palestinians at gunpoint in the northern West Bank on Tuesday evening, before later releasing them, witnesses said.
The group, who work for an advertising company in Ramallah, were stopped outside the evacuated Israeli outpost Homesh near Nablus by an Israeli-plated car, and a group of settlers ordered them at gunpoint to walk to a neighboring hill.
Noman Jalali, 32, from nearby Anabta town, said they were forced to walk behind the vehicle while surrounded by dozens of settlers, two of whom carried small weapons and another carrying a machine gun.
Jalali said they were beaten and verbally abused by the group while they held them for over an hour.
"One of them asked in Hebrew for another man to shoot us but he replied that we had children and they began laughing," Jalali said.
Their cellphones and money were seized by the abductors, he said.
Homesh outpost was evacuated in 2005, but settlers and Israeli politicians are campaigning to rebuild on the area, which remains under Israeli control.
Israel's West Bank college upgrade sparks row
Israel upgraded a college in the occupied West Bank, territory the Palestinians want for a state, to the level of university on Tuesday, a move that critics said was politically motivated.
The Ariel University of Samaria's new status will entitle it to more state funding, and some see the move as designed to strengthen Israel's stake in the West Bank, territory it captured along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967.
"This decision is not a decision to promote the education system in Israel," said Yariv Oppenheimer, head of the Israeli anti-settlement organisation Peace Now. "(It is intended) to gain the support of the settlers."
The chancellor of the university, founded in 1982 and attended by more than 13,000 students, dismissed the criticism.
"There are many Israelis very interested in developing Samaria and Judea," said Yigal Cohen-Orgad, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
The upgrade needs Israeli military approval to be finalized.
Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Peace talks with Israel broke down in late 2010 in a dispute on settlements, which the Palestinians say deny them a contiguous, viable state.
About 311,000 Israeli settlers and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank. The United Nations deems all Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.
Inside the Christians United for Israel rally: Unconditional support for Israel
American Christians from all over the U.S. attend gathering; largely unmoved over MK tearing up New Testament.
Liberal Internet users were quick to point out on Tuesday the irony in the fact that the seventh annual gathering of "Christians United for Israel" (CUFI) taking place in Convention Center in Washington, DC, coincided with a Israeli MK Michael Ben-Ari demonstratively tearing up a copy of the New Testament he received by mail, and throwing it into the trash, calling it " an abominable book that brought about the murder of millions of Jews in the Inquisition and autos da fé” and "provocation by church missionaries."
However, the leadership of the organization that claims 1.25 million supporters in the United States seemed unmoved by this act. "People here say that when they wanted to help Israel, at first they weren't welcomed with opened arms," CUFI Executive Director David Brog told "Haaretz". "Jews are somewhat suspicious toward Christians. So stories like this might disappoint our Christian friends, they might be curious why should anyone who belongs to people that went through such persecution, would be engaged in such destructive task. But I don't think it will deter them from their task."
Joshua Ahrens, a student from Portland State University, was not dismayed by Ben-Ari’s act either.
"My support of Jews is unconditional. I was astonished how quickly Jewish people opened their hearts and minds to me, and responsibility is on me to explain my motivations. So one person (Ben-Ari) doesn't trouble me at all,” said Ahrens.
Ahrens says he decided to get involved with CUFI on campus after "hearing some anti-Semitic remarks by professors on campus".
"I was looking for organization that deals with this kind of stuff. We put up a flier with an Israeli flags - the next morning I got a text message from one of the students that someone drew a swastika on it,” said Ahrens.
“This is not an OK comparison to me; it was done to hurt other people. So we alerted campus authorities and were shocked they were completely powerless. We had other students circulating untruthful mails about us,” continued Ahrens.
Pro-Israel activity on campuses was the major emphasis of the conference that brought together about 5000 participants from all over the U.S. They were served the usual mix of a video address from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israel public advocacy panels, prayers, a medly of Israeli songs, mostly right-wing speakers, received with standing ovation and waving Israeli and American flags. Speakers asked for "even bigger sacrifice" - i.e. donations.
Some things looked exactly the same as last year - including the choice of songs (with musical performance led by CUFI's leader, Pastor John Hagee's grown-up kids), and Pastor Hagee laying the Biblical foundation for unconditional support of Israel and criticism of the Obama administration.
"Supporting Israel is not a political issue, it's a Bible issue", Pastor Hagee exclaimed. "There is only one way to live your life - the Bible way or the wrong way."
Later on, he said: "Can we support peace agreement that doesn't provide Israel with defensible borders? The green line is not a defensible border."
Hagee turned to the subject of Iran, adding that "sanctions on Iran are mostly smoke. The Obama administration wants to make them even weaker. All twenty of Iran's major trading partners got exemptions from sanctions. [Secretary of Defense] Leon Panetta is exposing Israel's secret airbases.”
“Wouldn't it be better if the two nations would join forces and remove the nuclear threat?" asked Hagee.
The next issue was the indivisible Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. "Without Jerusalem there is no real life in Israel," Pastor Hagee said. "It's where the Messiah is going to rule the Earth. I assure you, this madness is going to end. The President of the U.S. told people of Jerusalem they can't build additional homes there. He has no authority to tell them that! They are a democracy!" (Another round of thunderous applause).
On the first floor, a special exhibition was arranged – with a warning sign at the entrance that read "the area you are about to enter is representative of the anti-Israeli propaganda students experience on their college campuses."
There was a mock "apartheid wall" that is used often during the "Israel apartheid week" protests on campuses, the "rogues" wall with prominent Israel critics such as Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein; plasma screen with video interview with college professor calling rockets fired from Gaza "self-defense," and computers offering visitors opportunities to check out various CUFI activities on campuses.
Ossie Hill, an African-American woman who came with her husband from California to CUFI conference for the second time in a row, says she became a supporter of the organization through her friend who is involved with the organization - and she along with other activists received a trip to Israel. "CUFI keeps us really updated on what is going on in Israel, and how to pray for these issues," she says.
Most conference attendants were Christian, but there were also some skullcaps spotted at the event.
Outside, several “Neturei Karta" members protested in front of the Convention center, holding signs saying that Zionism is not equal to Judaism - and some CUFI participants coming to argue with them - or just calling "shame on you!"
One of the skullcaps belonged to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who is running these days for Congress from New York's district nine. "There was a story recently that Israel is one of the most hated countries in the world", he told "Haaretz".
"In an age when Israel is so unfairly maligned and subject to such unwarranted vitriol, it's startling to see a vast group of millions who feel precisely the opposite - that Israel is the light, a beacon of human rights, freedom and a fulfillment of an ancient dream of Jewish destiny,” said Boteach.
As author of "Kosher Jesus," Rabbi Boteach was appalled by MK Ben-Ari's act. "I've seen irrational Jewish reactions to Christian scriptures. This reaction on the part of some Jews to Christianity and their desire to denigrate is a tragic reminder of how Judaism was often treated by Christians. We expect respect to all religions. They do it in Saudi Arabia. It's Taliban stuff. It's not Jewish. I feel strong about the important friendship of Christian and Jewish people. But America has ever had history of Christian Anti-Semitism, and I see CUFI is an apogee of its love affair,” said Boteach
Boteach went on to discuss the notion that such Christians are interested in Israel only to bring about the second coming of the messiah. "Judaism is clear that action is more important than intention, it's not motivation that matters. I also don't buy it that Christians love for Israel is a pre-condition for the return of Christ. I do believe it's sincere. I think it's based on a true desire to connect to the origins of Christianity,” said Boteach.
It is no secret that some of CUFI activists are considered to be far on the right. One of the members this year was wearing to the festive banquet closing the conference T-shirt against gay and lesbians, "poisoning minds" of kids, and comparing Obama with an anti-Christ. The organization is arguing they are not responsible for personal positions of conference participants. Formally they are also not endorsing political candidates - but of course, the tendency is clear.
"We don't endorse candidates. But I have some disappointments with first Obama administration, there seems to be a perception that Israel's intransigence is a problem. I see differently what drives this conflict - Israel comes again and again to the table, I don't see Israeli reluctance to negotiate as a problem."
Brog also commented on recent efforts by some churches to divest from companies that do business with Israel. "We don't think their leadership will be influenced by us, but we create home for their disaffected members, said Brog.
"Last month I spoke for the first time at a Methodist church. Christians are going to be involved with an issue of Israel whether you are comfortable with it or not. We work to make sure they are on our side,” he continued.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was one of the last speakers at the conference.
Bachmann spoke at length about Israel's troubled neighborhood and stated that the U.S. "should recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights.”
Also, Bachmann called on Obama to forbid the entry of Egyptian President Mursi into the U.S. rather than invite him in, unless he "renounces jihad".
On Iran, Bachmann said “pigs will fly before Iran cedes use of nuclear power. If history taught us a lesson - it is when man threatens annihilation of Jewish people - listen... The world must know we will never waiver commitment to Israel. We believe G-d will bless those who bless Israel.”
Kadima quits Netanyahu government over conscription law
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost a key coalition partner in a row over conscription for seminary students.
The centrist Kadima party, which has 28 MPs, decided to pull out of Netanyahu’s coalition government on Tuesday after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on an alternative to the Tal Law, Xinhua reported.
"It is with deep regret that I say that there is no choice but to decide to leave the government," Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz said on Tuesday.
Under the disputed law, which Mofaz called unconstitutional, ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt from military or community service as long as they are engaged in full-time religious studies. An alternative to the law must be passed by the end of this month as it is due to expire on August 1.
Mofaz, whose party only joined the coalition in May, also said he would resign as Israeli vice prime minister.
The Kadima party’s decision to leave the coalition has reduced Netanyahu’s majority in the 120-member parliament from 94 seats to 66. This could prompt the government to call an early election, most probably early next year.
In Israel, there are about 100,000 full-time ultra-Orthodox seminary students of draft age. Israelis are required to serve two to three years of compulsory service in the military.
17 july 2012
MK Michael Ben-Ari rips up New Testament, throws it in trash
Ben-Ari tearing pages from the New Testament
According to the Israeli website NRG, MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) tore the New Testament to pieces and then threw it in the trash after the Bible was sent to all 120 members of Knesset by a man named Victor Kalish, who according to NRG specializes in publishing Christian religious texts.
In the article, Ben Ari is quoted as saying, “This abhorrent book promoted the murders of millions of Jews during the Inquisition and the autos da fé… this is an ugly missionary provocation by the Church, there’s no doubt that the book and its senders belong in the trash of history.”
16 july 2012
Palestinians grappled with extremist settler groups that stormed Nazareth
Hundreds of Palestinians in Nazareth, within the territories occupied in 1948, have grappled with extremist settler groups from Chilano Yisrael movement and other right-wing groups led by the radical Baruch Marzel on Sunday.
The settler groups demonstrated in the city of Nazareth under the protection of 1200 policemen and two helicopters to demand 1948- Arabs participation in national service under the framework of the so-called "burden sharing", presented by the Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rejected by Arab citizens in the occupied Palestinian territories, and to delegitimize the party "NDA", founded by former Arab MK in Azmi Bishara.
Many Palestinians have participated in a counter-protest, including Arab MKs and Arab figures in the occupied territories, chanting slogans against the Israeli right-wing groups and against national service.
Arab citizens in 1948- occupied Palestinian territories expressed their refusal to perform national service, considering the demonstration by extremist Jewish settlers in Nazareth as a provocation, not only for the people of Nazareth, but also to all the people of the Arab sector in the country.
The Mayor of Nazareth and head of the National Committee for the Heads of the Arab Local Authorities, Ramez Jaraisy, denounced the right wing provocative demonstration in the city saying that it reinforces racism against Arabs.
Jaraisy held the Israeli police authorities, who granted permission for the right wing groups to protest in the Arab city, fully responsible for the outcome of this provocation, stressing that the people of the city will not stand idly by the right wing's provocations.
Hamas: Occupation intensifies its settlement and Judaizing projects
The occupation authorities ratified the construction of hundreds of new settlement units, and approved the resumption of the construction works on the Apartheid Wall around Jerusalem, a report issued by the Information Office of Hamas movement revealed.
According to the report, the occupation is continuing at an accelerated pace its settlement projects and its Judaizing plans targeting the Palestinian territories and the historical monuments in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, referring to the ratification on a plan to establish a military academy on the Mount of Olives, near al Muttalaa Hospital, by the Zionist District Committee for Planning and Building in Jerusalem.
Such project aims at reinforcing the status of Jerusalem as the capital for the Zionist entity and strengthening the Israeli control over eastern Jerusalem, through the falsification of the facts, the report added.
The report revealed that excavations are taking place at the Mughrabi Gate's road, at Al Buraq courtyard in Al Aqsa Mosque, noting the demolition of Jerusalemites' houses and shops.
It also referred to the Zionist settlers' attacks against the mosques as well as homes and properties of the Palestinian citizens.
Settler Violence, Settlement Outposts, Israeli Government with UNESCO Research Officer Philip Bato AICafè
Discussion about settler violence, settlement outposts and the Israeli government
With: Research Officer at the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights and Democracy at An-Najah University, Philip Bato.
On the occasion of this week's release of the report Outposts and 'Price Tag' Violence in the West Bank, researched by Philip Bato and published jointly with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israeli (EAPPI), please join us for a presentation and discussion of the crucial topics of settler violence and settlements, explored from a new and innovative angle.
Outposts and 'Price' Tag Violence takes two concepts related to the Israeli occupation – "unauthorized outposts" and "price tag violence"– and places them within the larger framework of Israeli settler violence and the settlements, while defining their relation to the Israeli government. The report clarifies why current outpost-related events should be seen as both the logical continuation of the Israeli settlement enterprise, and an important weathervane of current Israeli policy in the occupied Palestine territory.
The importance of this topic cannot be overemphasized, particularly at this time when settler violence toward Palestinians and their property is at an all-time high.
Philip Bato is the Research Officer at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) Chair for Human Rights and Democracy at An-Najah University in Nablus, the largest Palestinian university.
Transportation from Beit Sahour to Jerusalem will be available at conclusion of the event. Advance registration is necessary: please contact [email protected] or 052 637 5033 to reserve a place.
Please join for this informative event!
The AIC is a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy and grassroots activism. The AICafè is a political and cultural café open on Tuesday and Saturday night from 7pm until 10.30 pm. Every Thursday at 8 PM, the AICinema screens films from the Arab World and beyond.The AIC is located in the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, close to Suq Sha'ab (follow the sign to Jadal Center). We have a small library with novels, political books and magazines. We also have a number of Films in DVD copies and the AIC publications which are aimed to critically analyze both Palestinian and Israeli societies, as well as the conflict itself.
15 july 2012
Israel: visit of settler leaders to Italy “breaks boycott of Israel”
Israel’s Regional Council of Samaria, together with the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, is presenting a visit with politicians and wine growers in northern Italy as a “breaking of the boycott” of Israel.
A delegation of winegrowers and owners of wineries, led by Head of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika, conducted what they called a “precedent-setting” visit last week to northern Italy, where according to the settler-affiliated media outlet Arutz 7 they “succeeded in creating a first frontline of European parliament members, mayors, commerce sections and farmers for breaking the economic boycott of Judea and Samaria and promoting agricultural trade between Samaria and northern Italy.”
Last week visit followed a February 2012 visit to the Samaria Regional Council, the local administrative body for Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, by Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the EU Parliament, Dr. Fiorello Provera.
During this visit, Provera told a Knesset conference that he is critical of the EU for treating Israel as a “second-class country, adding that the double standard according to which Israel is being judged “illustrates the new anti-Semitism, a by-product of Islamic fundamentalism.”
The settler delegation to northern Italy last week was led by Gershon Mesika, together with Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein. They were joined by wine farmers from northern West Bank settlements, including Rechalim (Tura winery), Har Bracha, Gvaot and Arnon outpost (near Itamar settlement).
In a press conference, Mesika explained that “Samaria (is) the heart of the state of Israel”, noting country’s small size. However, the settlers actual reasons for colonising the West Bank were noted when he said that “the prophet Jeremiah promised in his biblical prophecy that the people of Israel would return to their land and that vineyards would be planted in the Samarian hills…We are renewing the wine renaissance in Samaria and building this area anew. “
Dr. Provera stated in the press conference that “our friends in Israel have an additional reason to renew the growth of wine – a religious, historical reason, to return their land, the land of Israel, to be a land of milk and honey."
Provera added that “the visit of the people from Samaria is definitely a political statement from our perspective also. I visited Samaria with additional parliament members, and I can certainly say that now we don’t call these areas ‘West Bank’ – but ‘Judea and Samaria.’
Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein is quoted in Arutz 7 as stating that “after ten years of delegitimisation against Israel which gave birth to the BDS movement and the boycott of products from Judea and Samaria, we succeeded in returning fire and breaking the boycott. The real connection established between farmers from Samaria and farmers from northern Italy has transformed the attempts at boycott into a farce.”
Settlers Storm Village, Attack Homes in Nablus
A number of Extremist Jewish settlers Sunday stormed Jalud, a village southeast of Nablus and attacked residents’ houses, according to a local activist.
Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of settlements file in the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the West Bank, told WAFA that settlers of a nearby settlement stormed the village, threw rocks at residents’ houses and tried to break into several homes.
New Israeli Settlement in Abu Al- Ajaj
According to the Israeli website NRG, MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) tore the New Testament to pieces and then threw it in the trash after the Bible was sent to all 120 members of Knesset by a man named Victor Kalish, who according to NRG specializes in publishing Christian religious texts.
In the article, Ben Ari is quoted as saying, “This abhorrent book promoted the murders of millions of Jews during the Inquisition and the autos da fé… this is an ugly missionary provocation by the Church, there’s no doubt that the book and its senders belong in the trash of history.”
16 july 2012
Palestinians grappled with extremist settler groups that stormed Nazareth
Hundreds of Palestinians in Nazareth, within the territories occupied in 1948, have grappled with extremist settler groups from Chilano Yisrael movement and other right-wing groups led by the radical Baruch Marzel on Sunday.
The settler groups demonstrated in the city of Nazareth under the protection of 1200 policemen and two helicopters to demand 1948- Arabs participation in national service under the framework of the so-called "burden sharing", presented by the Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rejected by Arab citizens in the occupied Palestinian territories, and to delegitimize the party "NDA", founded by former Arab MK in Azmi Bishara.
Many Palestinians have participated in a counter-protest, including Arab MKs and Arab figures in the occupied territories, chanting slogans against the Israeli right-wing groups and against national service.
Arab citizens in 1948- occupied Palestinian territories expressed their refusal to perform national service, considering the demonstration by extremist Jewish settlers in Nazareth as a provocation, not only for the people of Nazareth, but also to all the people of the Arab sector in the country.
The Mayor of Nazareth and head of the National Committee for the Heads of the Arab Local Authorities, Ramez Jaraisy, denounced the right wing provocative demonstration in the city saying that it reinforces racism against Arabs.
Jaraisy held the Israeli police authorities, who granted permission for the right wing groups to protest in the Arab city, fully responsible for the outcome of this provocation, stressing that the people of the city will not stand idly by the right wing's provocations.
Hamas: Occupation intensifies its settlement and Judaizing projects
The occupation authorities ratified the construction of hundreds of new settlement units, and approved the resumption of the construction works on the Apartheid Wall around Jerusalem, a report issued by the Information Office of Hamas movement revealed.
According to the report, the occupation is continuing at an accelerated pace its settlement projects and its Judaizing plans targeting the Palestinian territories and the historical monuments in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, referring to the ratification on a plan to establish a military academy on the Mount of Olives, near al Muttalaa Hospital, by the Zionist District Committee for Planning and Building in Jerusalem.
Such project aims at reinforcing the status of Jerusalem as the capital for the Zionist entity and strengthening the Israeli control over eastern Jerusalem, through the falsification of the facts, the report added.
The report revealed that excavations are taking place at the Mughrabi Gate's road, at Al Buraq courtyard in Al Aqsa Mosque, noting the demolition of Jerusalemites' houses and shops.
It also referred to the Zionist settlers' attacks against the mosques as well as homes and properties of the Palestinian citizens.
Settler Violence, Settlement Outposts, Israeli Government with UNESCO Research Officer Philip Bato AICafè
Discussion about settler violence, settlement outposts and the Israeli government
With: Research Officer at the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights and Democracy at An-Najah University, Philip Bato.
On the occasion of this week's release of the report Outposts and 'Price Tag' Violence in the West Bank, researched by Philip Bato and published jointly with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israeli (EAPPI), please join us for a presentation and discussion of the crucial topics of settler violence and settlements, explored from a new and innovative angle.
Outposts and 'Price' Tag Violence takes two concepts related to the Israeli occupation – "unauthorized outposts" and "price tag violence"– and places them within the larger framework of Israeli settler violence and the settlements, while defining their relation to the Israeli government. The report clarifies why current outpost-related events should be seen as both the logical continuation of the Israeli settlement enterprise, and an important weathervane of current Israeli policy in the occupied Palestine territory.
The importance of this topic cannot be overemphasized, particularly at this time when settler violence toward Palestinians and their property is at an all-time high.
Philip Bato is the Research Officer at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) Chair for Human Rights and Democracy at An-Najah University in Nablus, the largest Palestinian university.
Transportation from Beit Sahour to Jerusalem will be available at conclusion of the event. Advance registration is necessary: please contact [email protected] or 052 637 5033 to reserve a place.
Please join for this informative event!
The AIC is a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy and grassroots activism. The AICafè is a political and cultural café open on Tuesday and Saturday night from 7pm until 10.30 pm. Every Thursday at 8 PM, the AICinema screens films from the Arab World and beyond.The AIC is located in the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, close to Suq Sha'ab (follow the sign to Jadal Center). We have a small library with novels, political books and magazines. We also have a number of Films in DVD copies and the AIC publications which are aimed to critically analyze both Palestinian and Israeli societies, as well as the conflict itself.
15 july 2012
Israel: visit of settler leaders to Italy “breaks boycott of Israel”
Israel’s Regional Council of Samaria, together with the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, is presenting a visit with politicians and wine growers in northern Italy as a “breaking of the boycott” of Israel.
A delegation of winegrowers and owners of wineries, led by Head of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika, conducted what they called a “precedent-setting” visit last week to northern Italy, where according to the settler-affiliated media outlet Arutz 7 they “succeeded in creating a first frontline of European parliament members, mayors, commerce sections and farmers for breaking the economic boycott of Judea and Samaria and promoting agricultural trade between Samaria and northern Italy.”
Last week visit followed a February 2012 visit to the Samaria Regional Council, the local administrative body for Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, by Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the EU Parliament, Dr. Fiorello Provera.
During this visit, Provera told a Knesset conference that he is critical of the EU for treating Israel as a “second-class country, adding that the double standard according to which Israel is being judged “illustrates the new anti-Semitism, a by-product of Islamic fundamentalism.”
The settler delegation to northern Italy last week was led by Gershon Mesika, together with Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein. They were joined by wine farmers from northern West Bank settlements, including Rechalim (Tura winery), Har Bracha, Gvaot and Arnon outpost (near Itamar settlement).
In a press conference, Mesika explained that “Samaria (is) the heart of the state of Israel”, noting country’s small size. However, the settlers actual reasons for colonising the West Bank were noted when he said that “the prophet Jeremiah promised in his biblical prophecy that the people of Israel would return to their land and that vineyards would be planted in the Samarian hills…We are renewing the wine renaissance in Samaria and building this area anew. “
Dr. Provera stated in the press conference that “our friends in Israel have an additional reason to renew the growth of wine – a religious, historical reason, to return their land, the land of Israel, to be a land of milk and honey."
Provera added that “the visit of the people from Samaria is definitely a political statement from our perspective also. I visited Samaria with additional parliament members, and I can certainly say that now we don’t call these areas ‘West Bank’ – but ‘Judea and Samaria.’
Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein is quoted in Arutz 7 as stating that “after ten years of delegitimisation against Israel which gave birth to the BDS movement and the boycott of products from Judea and Samaria, we succeeded in returning fire and breaking the boycott. The real connection established between farmers from Samaria and farmers from northern Italy has transformed the attempts at boycott into a farce.”
Settlers Storm Village, Attack Homes in Nablus
A number of Extremist Jewish settlers Sunday stormed Jalud, a village southeast of Nablus and attacked residents’ houses, according to a local activist.
Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of settlements file in the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the West Bank, told WAFA that settlers of a nearby settlement stormed the village, threw rocks at residents’ houses and tried to break into several homes.
New Israeli Settlement in Abu Al- Ajaj
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Israeli settlers are establishing yet another new colony in the Jordan Valley. With the support of the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, they are taking over a disused army base close to two Palestinian communities and claiming the land for themselves, just as the notorious Maskiyyot settlers did in 2002.
In recent weeks the settlers' contractors have started to renovate the buildings of the disused Gadi military base, in the Abu Al Ajaj area of Al Jiftlik village, in the heart of the Jordan Valley. These new colonialists are clearly working closely with the settlement run 'Jordan Valley Regional Council' and the neighbouring settlement of Massu’a. One of the most aggressive colonies in the Jordan Valley, Massu'a settlers are responsible for a series of land grabs whereby they have violently stolen land from Abu Al Ajaj on three separate occasions in recent years. |
The establishment of a new settlement was announced on Israeli Army Radio on 10th March 2011, when Netanyahu visited Gadi base. At the time David Alhiani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, said:“Neither
the defense minister nor the prime minister will build a new
settlement in the Jordan Valley, not now. Maybe later, when there's
sovereignty in the valley”. Israel doesn’t have sovereignty of
the Jordan Valley today, any more than they had a year ago. Their
occupation is just as illegal as it was a year ago. But their attempts
to take over the valley have become more aggressive and transparent.
Thus, in September 2011 news broke of Israel’s plans to embark on the systematic removal of 27,000 Bedouin from East Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and the rest of Area C.
It has been reported that the new settlement will be run by the Israeli Bnei Hamoshavim youth organisation, and will specifically encourage young Israeli’s who have experienced poor mental health or addiction, to join in the Jordan Valley colonisation project. Prior to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967 the Gadi military base was used by the Jordanian army, and around 10,000 Palestinians lived to the south and east in Abu Al Ajaj refugee camp. All that remains of the refugee camp today are the cemetery and the UNWRA school. The mosque still stands on the hill, within the fence surrounding the new IOF (Israeli Occupation Force) base, and Palestinians have been prevented from using it for the last 45 years.
Since the refugee camp was destroyed, soon after the occupation, the Palestinian community of Abu Al Ajaj has eked out a living by farming a little land and grazing their sheep on the hillsides. There are around 120 families now living in the community, some originally from the Al Jiftlik area, and others who came as refugees from Yata’ near Hebron, when they were driven out by the settler’s there.
Gadi military base Over the last eight years the settlers of the nearby Massu’a settlement have worked hand-in-hand with the IOF to attempt the drive the Palestinians from the land.
On three separate occasions (in 2004, 2008 and 2010) they have selected an area of land that they want, removed any Palestinian buildings or possessions that were there, and taken the land for their own use:
They erected greenhouses to cultivate grapes in 2004, took a field to grow their crops in 2008, and in 2010 attacked local Palestinians when they came and fenced off yet more land, and later erected another row of greenhouses.
See UN OCHA Humanitarian Report .
On each occasion the IOF stood by and supported them. During the same period the community have received countless demolition orders, and subjected to dawn raids, with many of their homes and animal shelters being demolished and destroyed by the IOF.
There are around 30 homes that have had demolition orders served against them.
The families live with the fear that one day the IOF will arrive, and it will be their turn to have their home and livelihood destroyed. They have had their water pipes destroyed, their animals killed, and their access to grazing land stopped, and their land stolen in front of their eyes. Other local farmers have also been harassed by the IOF.
Waleed Abu Hania, living near the cemetery, has been uprooted from his farm three times by the IOF, each time attempting to claim that he's using state land! A little further up the road, the Saaidh family have received a demolition order for the metal shipping container on their small farm of date trees.
The small nearby community of Koursiliyya, comprised of four families, is even more vulnerable.
Tucked away in the valley to the west of Gadi military base, they have already been stopped from accessing water from a small nearby natural spring, and are under threat of forced transfer. All these Palestinian families are continuing to live on their land against the odds.
They are showing a steadfastness beyond belief, but also have nowhere else to go. This is their home. They are facing the concerted effort of the Israeli state to forcibly remove them from their land, and have experienced verbal abuse and physical assault from the illegal settlers from Massu'a. Now they face the prospect of another group of young settlers, given impunity by their government to use violence, aggression and harassment against their Palestinian neighbours.
14 july 2012
Yediot: Israeli Authority Asks Settlers in Gaza to Stay in Shelters, Warning from Possible Attacks
On Friday, 13th July, Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahranot, published on its website that the Israeli authority has warned and asked from the settlers who live in settlements that surround the Gaza Strip to stay close to shelters and make all the required fortifications, warning from a Palestinian possible attempt to attack Israel.
The leadership of the Israel interior front called those settlers to rush into the nearest shelters if they heard the sirens.
Mahmoud al-Hiqi, from al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, was killed yesterday, and five were injured in an Israeli artillery shell fired on al-Zaytoun and al-Shuja'yeh neighborhoods, east of Gaza.
13 july 2012
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian homes in Susiya, leave racist messages
A group of extremist Jewish settlers infiltrated into Susiya town south of Al-Khalil city and wrote racist slurs on the walls of Palestinian homes.
Coordinator of the popular committees against settlement in Yatta Rateb Jabour stated that Jewish settlers from Susiya settlement, that was built on Palestinian lands, wrote on Wednesday night racist remarks on tents, walls and water tanks calling for expelling the Palestinian natives from their homes.
The settlers also threatened in their graffiti to kill the Palestinians and some remarks said that the biggest achievement made by the Jews was the killing and displacement of Arabs.
The Israeli occupation authority had threatened in an earlier incident to demolish all Palestinian homes in Susiya town.
Goodbye, occupation myth
Op-ed: Even in purely legal terms, Israel did not occupy even an inch of Judea and Samaria.
The era of occupation in the territories ended this week. Finally. A committee headed by Judge Edmund Levy and comprising senior jurists went out on a limb by asserting that Israel is not an occupying power in Judea and Samaria; rather, it is the rightful owner.
In diplomatic terms, this is a problematic assertion. The gentiles won’t understand how the Levy Committee’s findings fit with all the Israeli rhetoric of the past decade, ranging from former PM Sharon’s Latrun speech to current PM Netanyahu’s Bar-Ilan speech. They will view the findings as a fraudulent trick aimed at allowing us to evade the moral duty of granting a state to the real owners of the land. In their view, this has been Arab territory for ages.
While every Christian bookshelf contains a Bible that says otherwise, the Jews themselves have replaced it gradually with a different holy book. Its 10 commandments include “two states for two peoples,” “thou shalt not occupy,” “thou shalt not settle” and so on. Now it would be difficult to accommodate them to the Levy Report.
Indeed, it will be difficult; so what? An important legal principle asserts that verdicts must not be adapted to public opinion caprices. The clear role of honorable judges is to weed out bias or common lies, such as the claim about Israel’s occupation in Judea and Samaria. The fluent speakers of the Peace Camp nurtured it diligently. They created a false image as if this view is shared by all world jurists, with the exception of a few meaningless rightists here and there.
Legal vacuum
The Levy Committee shattered this false display. It reminded us that in purely legal terms as well, Israel did not occupy an inch in Judea and Samaria. This is a region that less than 100 years ago was promised to us but the most prominent international forum at the time (The San Remo conference.) A Palestinian state never existed there. The Jordanians annexed it violently in 1950, with almost nobody recognizing this takeover.
Hence, at worse, the region now faces a certain legal vacuum. Given our historic rights, there is no moral reason to prevent us from filling this void.
When Meir Shamgar was Israel’s attorney general, he volunteered to apply the Geneva Convention and The Hague’s rulings in Judea and Samaria. This was no admission of occupation, but rather, a humanitarian gesture to the Palestinians. In those distant days, there was a consensus here that a Palestinian state is a mad idea. The promoters of withdrawal mostly relied on demographic arguments.
The occupation chatter only started to develop with the passage of years, when the demographic threat failed to uproot Kiryat Arba and its environs. In a historic perspective, this chatter is a relatively fresh matter. Should Benjamin Netanyahu quickly adopt the Levy Committee’s conclusions, he would be able to turn back the wheel. His English is good enough to convince the gentiles too.
US-backed Israeli brutality never-ending: Analyst
It has been reported that the new settlement will be run by the Israeli Bnei Hamoshavim youth organisation, and will specifically encourage young Israeli’s who have experienced poor mental health or addiction, to join in the Jordan Valley colonisation project. Prior to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967 the Gadi military base was used by the Jordanian army, and around 10,000 Palestinians lived to the south and east in Abu Al Ajaj refugee camp. All that remains of the refugee camp today are the cemetery and the UNWRA school. The mosque still stands on the hill, within the fence surrounding the new IOF (Israeli Occupation Force) base, and Palestinians have been prevented from using it for the last 45 years.
Since the refugee camp was destroyed, soon after the occupation, the Palestinian community of Abu Al Ajaj has eked out a living by farming a little land and grazing their sheep on the hillsides. There are around 120 families now living in the community, some originally from the Al Jiftlik area, and others who came as refugees from Yata’ near Hebron, when they were driven out by the settler’s there.
Gadi military base Over the last eight years the settlers of the nearby Massu’a settlement have worked hand-in-hand with the IOF to attempt the drive the Palestinians from the land.
On three separate occasions (in 2004, 2008 and 2010) they have selected an area of land that they want, removed any Palestinian buildings or possessions that were there, and taken the land for their own use:
They erected greenhouses to cultivate grapes in 2004, took a field to grow their crops in 2008, and in 2010 attacked local Palestinians when they came and fenced off yet more land, and later erected another row of greenhouses.
See UN OCHA Humanitarian Report .
On each occasion the IOF stood by and supported them. During the same period the community have received countless demolition orders, and subjected to dawn raids, with many of their homes and animal shelters being demolished and destroyed by the IOF.
There are around 30 homes that have had demolition orders served against them.
The families live with the fear that one day the IOF will arrive, and it will be their turn to have their home and livelihood destroyed. They have had their water pipes destroyed, their animals killed, and their access to grazing land stopped, and their land stolen in front of their eyes. Other local farmers have also been harassed by the IOF.
Waleed Abu Hania, living near the cemetery, has been uprooted from his farm three times by the IOF, each time attempting to claim that he's using state land! A little further up the road, the Saaidh family have received a demolition order for the metal shipping container on their small farm of date trees.
The small nearby community of Koursiliyya, comprised of four families, is even more vulnerable.
Tucked away in the valley to the west of Gadi military base, they have already been stopped from accessing water from a small nearby natural spring, and are under threat of forced transfer. All these Palestinian families are continuing to live on their land against the odds.
They are showing a steadfastness beyond belief, but also have nowhere else to go. This is their home. They are facing the concerted effort of the Israeli state to forcibly remove them from their land, and have experienced verbal abuse and physical assault from the illegal settlers from Massu'a. Now they face the prospect of another group of young settlers, given impunity by their government to use violence, aggression and harassment against their Palestinian neighbours.
14 july 2012
Yediot: Israeli Authority Asks Settlers in Gaza to Stay in Shelters, Warning from Possible Attacks
On Friday, 13th July, Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahranot, published on its website that the Israeli authority has warned and asked from the settlers who live in settlements that surround the Gaza Strip to stay close to shelters and make all the required fortifications, warning from a Palestinian possible attempt to attack Israel.
The leadership of the Israel interior front called those settlers to rush into the nearest shelters if they heard the sirens.
Mahmoud al-Hiqi, from al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, was killed yesterday, and five were injured in an Israeli artillery shell fired on al-Zaytoun and al-Shuja'yeh neighborhoods, east of Gaza.
13 july 2012
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian homes in Susiya, leave racist messages
A group of extremist Jewish settlers infiltrated into Susiya town south of Al-Khalil city and wrote racist slurs on the walls of Palestinian homes.
Coordinator of the popular committees against settlement in Yatta Rateb Jabour stated that Jewish settlers from Susiya settlement, that was built on Palestinian lands, wrote on Wednesday night racist remarks on tents, walls and water tanks calling for expelling the Palestinian natives from their homes.
The settlers also threatened in their graffiti to kill the Palestinians and some remarks said that the biggest achievement made by the Jews was the killing and displacement of Arabs.
The Israeli occupation authority had threatened in an earlier incident to demolish all Palestinian homes in Susiya town.
Goodbye, occupation myth
Op-ed: Even in purely legal terms, Israel did not occupy even an inch of Judea and Samaria.
The era of occupation in the territories ended this week. Finally. A committee headed by Judge Edmund Levy and comprising senior jurists went out on a limb by asserting that Israel is not an occupying power in Judea and Samaria; rather, it is the rightful owner.
In diplomatic terms, this is a problematic assertion. The gentiles won’t understand how the Levy Committee’s findings fit with all the Israeli rhetoric of the past decade, ranging from former PM Sharon’s Latrun speech to current PM Netanyahu’s Bar-Ilan speech. They will view the findings as a fraudulent trick aimed at allowing us to evade the moral duty of granting a state to the real owners of the land. In their view, this has been Arab territory for ages.
While every Christian bookshelf contains a Bible that says otherwise, the Jews themselves have replaced it gradually with a different holy book. Its 10 commandments include “two states for two peoples,” “thou shalt not occupy,” “thou shalt not settle” and so on. Now it would be difficult to accommodate them to the Levy Report.
Indeed, it will be difficult; so what? An important legal principle asserts that verdicts must not be adapted to public opinion caprices. The clear role of honorable judges is to weed out bias or common lies, such as the claim about Israel’s occupation in Judea and Samaria. The fluent speakers of the Peace Camp nurtured it diligently. They created a false image as if this view is shared by all world jurists, with the exception of a few meaningless rightists here and there.
Legal vacuum
The Levy Committee shattered this false display. It reminded us that in purely legal terms as well, Israel did not occupy an inch in Judea and Samaria. This is a region that less than 100 years ago was promised to us but the most prominent international forum at the time (The San Remo conference.) A Palestinian state never existed there. The Jordanians annexed it violently in 1950, with almost nobody recognizing this takeover.
Hence, at worse, the region now faces a certain legal vacuum. Given our historic rights, there is no moral reason to prevent us from filling this void.
When Meir Shamgar was Israel’s attorney general, he volunteered to apply the Geneva Convention and The Hague’s rulings in Judea and Samaria. This was no admission of occupation, but rather, a humanitarian gesture to the Palestinians. In those distant days, there was a consensus here that a Palestinian state is a mad idea. The promoters of withdrawal mostly relied on demographic arguments.
The occupation chatter only started to develop with the passage of years, when the demographic threat failed to uproot Kiryat Arba and its environs. In a historic perspective, this chatter is a relatively fresh matter. Should Benjamin Netanyahu quickly adopt the Levy Committee’s conclusions, he would be able to turn back the wheel. His English is good enough to convince the gentiles too.
US-backed Israeli brutality never-ending: Analyst
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The Israeli regime, under the auspices of the United States, continues its aggressive policies against Palestinians through the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, says an American activist.
“The settlements in the West Bank are the little, bloody continuation of this brute policy which is at the heart of Zionist colonization of Palestine. It is an ongoing process with the full might and power of not only the Zionist ... (entity) but of its sponsors in Washington,” Ralph Schoenman, author of the Hidden History of Zionism told Press TV in a Wednesday interview. According to a statement by several UN agencies and NGOs, “Last year, the number of settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties and |
property damage increased by more than a third; since 2009 it increased by nearly 150 percent. The statement was issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq and the Israeli NGOs Yesh Din and B’Tselem.
Illegal Israeli settlers often assault the Palestinians or vandalize their properties in the occupied territories.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Schoenman, however, asserted that Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is but the tip of the iceberg of Israeli’s atrocities as “not just the inhabitants of the West Bank” but “all of the Palestinian people,” are victims of Israeli atrocities and occupation since the West Bank represents a mere “fragment of the total dispossession of the Palestinian people.”
What Israel has done to Palestine is “the seizure of a nation, the seizure of a country, the seizure of their land, the seizure of their towns, villages and production, and the relentless massacre and expulsion of the inhabitants,” the analyst said, adding that the Palestinians are then “pursued in refugee camp after refugee camp, in war after war.”
Israel’s “permanent wars” reflect the brutal nature of “the Zionist entity and imperialism in the region,” the American author concluded.
Settlers break into Nablus-area park
A group of settlers broke into parks in the al-Bathan Valley northeast of Nablus on Thursday, witnesses said.
About 30 settlers arrived in three vehicles and entered the area of Wadi Bathan shortly after 5 a.m., locals said. They said it was not the first such incident of its kind.
There were no reports of damage.
Illegal Israeli settlers often assault the Palestinians or vandalize their properties in the occupied territories.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Schoenman, however, asserted that Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is but the tip of the iceberg of Israeli’s atrocities as “not just the inhabitants of the West Bank” but “all of the Palestinian people,” are victims of Israeli atrocities and occupation since the West Bank represents a mere “fragment of the total dispossession of the Palestinian people.”
What Israel has done to Palestine is “the seizure of a nation, the seizure of a country, the seizure of their land, the seizure of their towns, villages and production, and the relentless massacre and expulsion of the inhabitants,” the analyst said, adding that the Palestinians are then “pursued in refugee camp after refugee camp, in war after war.”
Israel’s “permanent wars” reflect the brutal nature of “the Zionist entity and imperialism in the region,” the American author concluded.
Settlers break into Nablus-area park
A group of settlers broke into parks in the al-Bathan Valley northeast of Nablus on Thursday, witnesses said.
About 30 settlers arrived in three vehicles and entered the area of Wadi Bathan shortly after 5 a.m., locals said. They said it was not the first such incident of its kind.
There were no reports of damage.
