A.LOEWENSTEIN ONLINE NEWSLETTER

• Perhaps journalists should just take government money and stop the illusion
• Resist the Serco beast before it’s too late
• What should be the real focus of Wikileaks anger?
• Yes: “The watchdog press died; we have Wikileaks instead”
• Australians in London demand immediate release of WikiLeaks founder
• Wikileaks rallies in Australia hit a nerve
• So this is what the Afghan war is all about
• Major Aussie media figures stand up for Wikileaks
• Mastercard, Visa and PayPal rather like illegal Zionist colonies
• Israel’s policy of separation is backed by Western powers

Perhaps journalists should just take government money and stop the illusion Posted: 13 Dec 2010 04:02 PM PST I’ve written regularly about the mainstream media’s love of being close to power. Ooh, look over there, Hillary in a red pantsuit! How charming. Sorry,  distracted by a very important news story. Deakin University’s Scott Burchill tackles the same issue, challenging corporate reporter’s desire to be players: To say that the WikiLeaks imbroglio has not been journalism’s finest hour fails to capture the extent to which the fourth estate has failed its basic responsibility to inform the public about the activities of government. Putting aside the sour grapes that comes from being scooped by a rival, it is difficult to recall another occasion when so many journalists and opinionistas have expressed such unremitting hostility to the public’s right to know what is being discussed and decided in their name. There have been honourable exceptions, but most remarkable is that they remain exceptions to an embarrassing and dishonourable rule. Journalists and commentators who have displayed a consistent opposition to WikiLeaks since the first tranche of Iraq war logs was released have been documented and dissected by Antony Loewenstein, in Australia, John Pilger in the UK and Glenn Greenwald in the US. Rather than duplicate that work here, it is worth examining the psychology behind those in the media who have been exposed by this saga as enthusiastic servants of state power. Proximity to the powerful has always had a disabling effect on the critical faculties of impressionable journalists. Some, who are easily flattered, like to get their photograph taken with the subjects they interview (Greg Sheridan with Condoleezza Rice, Leigh Sales with Hilary Clinton). Others see no conflict between their role as an independent journalist and accepting an award from a grateful government lobby group (Greg Sheridan and the Israel lobby). There is the attraction of sharing confidential discussions with shakers and movers from the US (journalists who have attended the Australia-America Leadership Dialogue) or a fully-paid guided tour of the Holy Land (being duchessed around Israel and the occupied territories by Israeli PR functionaries). Occasionally being so close to the great and powerful can be too much for “giddy minds” and leads to a total dereliction of duty (Leigh Sales “interviewing” Hilary Clinton). Invitations to a secretive inner circle where maintaining confidences is the password for entry can be very seductive. The magnetic effects of power are very effective tools of socialisation and politicians know just how to deploy them to advantage.

Resist the Serco beast before it’s too late Posted: 13 Dec 2010 03:55 PM PST The Serco infection moves to New Zealand, yet more unaccountable prisons sold as increasing “efficiency”: The Department of Corrections today announced that global service provision company Serco has been selected to manage Mt Eden/Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP) from next year. Finance, Systems and Infrastructure General Manager John Bole says that it is Government policy to use the private sector to inject new ideas into the prison system. “Serco was selected after a robust two-stage procurement process, with probity assurance provided by Audit New Zealand,” says Mr Bole. “The Department received three good quality responses to its Request for Proposal (RFP) and these were extensively evaluated. Serco’s proposal provided the best value for money, as well as the opportunity to inject significant innovation into the wider prison system. “Department representatives also visited Serco operated prisons and were impressed with what they saw. Serco operates six adult prisons and two youth offender centres in the United Kingdom and Australia. Mr Bole says the partnership is expected to improve rehabilitation and reduce re-offending. “The shape and intention of our partnership with Serco, has not been done before. The contract has a range of incentives and penalties written into it which will provide certainty and goal setting for both parties.” Mr Bole says the prison will still operate within the current Corrections framework and all prisoners will remain the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections. “Serco will have to comply with all relevant New Zealand legislation and international obligations. A prison monitor will be employed by the Department and based at the prison to monitor its day-to-day management. “Prisoners will also have the right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsmen and Corrections’ Chief Executive.” Mr Bole says that the Department is working closely with affected staff at the site to ensure as many of them remain in employment as possible – either with Serco, the Department or elsewhere. “Mt Eden/ACRP staff will have the first opportunity to seek employment with Serco.” The contract is expected to be signed by 31 January 2011 and following a phased hand-over, Serco will take full responsibility for the site by 1 August 2011.

What should be the real focus of Wikileaks anger? Posted: 13 Dec 2010 03:00 PM PST Many in the US establishment – and indeed, the Australian one, rather upset that their badly protected secrets are no longer secret, poor people – are baying for the blood of Julian Assange. But some sense is around: The predominant consensus in official Washington that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should eventually stand trial here on espionage charges is not likely to change anytime soon. But three influential voices are now saying publicly what many others say privately: that blame should be focused on leakers, not Assange, who after all was merely the middleman for the handful of newspapers and magazines that were given first crack at classified military and diplomatic documents. On Friday Jack L. Goldsmith, “widely considered one of the brightest stars in the conservative legal firmament” when he joined the Bush administration Justice Department in 2003, according to a typical assessment, wrote that he found himself “agreeing with those who think Assange is being unduly vilified.” “I certainly do not support or like his disclosure of secrets that harm U.S. national security or foreign policy interests,” Goldsmith wrote on the Lawfare blog. “But as all the hand-wringing over the 1917 Espionage Act shows, it is not obvious what law he has violated. It is also important to remember, to paraphrase Justice Stewart in the Pentagon Papers, that the responsibility for these disclosures lies firmly with the institution empowered to keep them secret: the Executive branch.” Goldsmith called the government “unconscionably lax in allowing Bradley Manning,” an Army private arrested on suspicion of giving WikiLeaks Afghan and Iraq war documents last summer, “to have access to all these secrets and to exfiltrate them so easily.” “I do not understand why so much ire is directed at Assange and so little at the New York Times,” continued Goldsmith, who resigned from the Justice Department after only nine months on the job because he disagreed with its legal rationalizations for waterboarding and other counter-terrorism tactics. Goldsmith’s remarks came only a few days after libertarian standard-bearer Rep. Ron Paul virtually celebrated WikiLeaks for exposing America’s “delusional foreign policy.” “When presented with embarrassing disclosures about U.S. spying and meddling, the policy that requires so much spying and meddling is not questioned,” said the nominal Texas Republican, denouncing calls for prosecuting Assange. “Instead the media focuses on how authorities might prosecute the publishers of such information.” On Monday influential Harvard political scientist Stephen M. Walt endorsed Goldsmith’s views, asking whether The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward shouldn’t be prosecuted for publishing secrets if Assange was. “I keep thinking about the Wikileaks affair,” Walt wrote for NPR’s Web site, “and I keep seeing the double-standards multiplying. Given how frequently government officials leak classified information in order to make themselves look good, box in their bureaucratic rivals, or tie the President’s hands, it seems a little disingenuous of them to be so upset by Assange’s activities.”

Yes: “The watchdog press died; we have Wikileaks instead” Posted: 13 Dec 2010 03:31 AM PST I’m coming a little late to this but I like it. Here’s US journalism professor Jay Rosen explaining how the mainstream media, after its capitulation to the US “national security state” post September 11, no longer became a reliable check on power (whether it was before 9/11, well, that’s another question). Wikileaks is therefore the best we have. Not perfect but a damn sight better than simply rehashing government spin. Rosen reminds us of an amazingly revealing quote from Judy Miller (former New York Times stenographer and somebody I’ve followed for years): Miller said that as an investigative reporter in the intelligence area, “my job isn’t to assess the government’s information and be an independent intelligence analyst myself. My job is to tell readers of The New York Times what the government thought about Iraq’s arsenal.”

Australians in London demand immediate release of WikiLeaks founder Posted: 13 Dec 2010 03:15 AM PST I just received the following information: On Monday 13th December at 4.30 pm, concerned Australian academics, artists, activists and expats will deliver a letter of demands to the Australian High Commissioner calling for the Embassy to be proactive in securing the immediate release from custody of fellow Australian citizen and founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange. The letter has been signed by celebrated journalist John Pilger, Australian born human rights activist Peter Tatchell and a growing number of Bristish based Australians outraged with the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder. Assange is presently held in London’s Wandsworth Prison having been denied bail at an intial hearing at Westminister Court last week. The group, called “Australians for the Immediate Release of Julian Assange”, will hold a vigil outside the Australia House on the Strand on the eve of Mr. Assange’s next bail appearance, which will take place on Tuesday 14th December. The group believes that the refusal refusal to grant bail to Mr. Assange is unjust and unwarranted’. ‘They argue that this denial of bail and present imprisonment of the WikiLeaks founder are politically driven by forces with which the Australian government are in connivance. They believe the actions of the Australian government and embassy in relation to Mr Assange, an Australian citizen, amount to a dereliction of duty. They are also demanding that the Australian government immediately cease co-operation in the persecution of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. A spokesperson for the group, veteran Australian anti-war activist Ciaron O’Reilly, stated: “Many of us share Julian’s background of being raised in the authoritarian state of Queensland where civil liberties were denied as matter of course. This formative experience shaped Julian in terms of his passion for free speech as it shaped us before him. Others of us are dismayed that, like Vietnam and Iraq, the present Australian government has followed the United States into another immoral, illegal and unwinnable war in Afghanistan.  Julian’s work with WikiLeaks has been courageous and revelatory. He’s in that jail for us and we’re out on the streets for him! We need to free him and bring this war and invasion of Afghanistan to an end!” * Present signatories of the attached Letter to the High Commisioner John Pilger (from Sydney, Australia) http://www.johnpilger.com/ Peter Tatchell, (from Melbourne, Australia) London based, Human Rights Activist http://www.petertatchell.net/ Michael Dutton, (from Brisbane, Australia) Professor of Politics, Goldsmiths University of London. Deborah Kessler, (from Brisbane, Australia) concerned citizen. Ciaron O’Reilly, (from Brisbane, Australian), London Catholic Worker/ Ploughshares.http://www.londoncatholicworker.org/ Eden Boucher, (from Adelaide, Australia) musician “Lovers Electric”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovers_Electric David Turley, (from Adelaide, Australia), musician “Lovers Electric”. Sharon Turley, (from Adelaide, Australia) classical musician. David Warburton (from Adelaid, Australia), Coffee Brewster Saul Newman, teaches Political Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London. John Hutnyk, (from Melbourne, Australia) Professor of Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths University of London. Peter Thomas (from Rockhampton, Queensland) teaches History of Political Thought at Brunel University, London. Maria Albrecht, (from Melbourne, Australia) Catholic Worker Farmhouse http://www.thecatholicworkerfarm.org/   Olivia Ball (from Melbourne, Australia) author Eric Snowball (from Sydney, Australia) social worker. Errol O’Neill (from Brisbane, Australia) actor. Mary Kelly (from Brisbane,Australia) trade unionist. Dan O’Neill (from Brisbane, Australia) scholar. Rik Lydon (from Sydney, Australia), sound engineer. For more info contact: Ciaron O’Reilly Mobile 079 392 905 76 (outside the UK) +44 79 392 905 76 Landline 0208 348 8212 (outside the UK) +44 208 348 8212 ‘Photographs will be available after the event from Marcin Ph. 0797 191 0257

Wikileaks rallies in Australia hit a nerve Posted: 13 Dec 2010 02:28 AM PST Green Left Weekly reports comprehensively on last week’s Australian pro-Wikileaks rallies: More than 1000 people rallied at Sydney’s Town Hall at 1pm on December 10 to show their support for Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange. Rallies also occurred in Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth. The rally, held to coincide with International Human Rights Day, highlighted the importance of freedom of information and the need for transparency in government. “We have a right to know about our government’s operations and the circumstances and behind their decisions and policies,” said Simon Frew from the Pirate Party. Independent journalist Antony Loewenstein chaired the event. He said much of the mainstream press had dismissed the recent Wikileaks revelations. Loewenstein addressed the media present: “The question is this: is your job to be an insider and a player, or someone who actually cares about the truth?” It is the job of journalists to hold governments to account. “It’s not that complicated”, he said. “As Australian citizens we reject monitoring, we promote transparency and we praise Wikileaks and Assange for that.” Loewenstein quoted veteran journalist Laurie Oakes saying: “Freedom of information, free press and non-censorship is the only way a free society can operate.” Video of Antony Loewenstein’s speech Greens Senator-elect Lee Rhiannon also spoke. She acknowledged the courage of whistle-blowers, agreeing with popular sentiment that, “Clearly, the world needs Wikileaks”. “Julian Assange is an Australian”, she said. “That makes me and I’m sure it makes you feel very proud. “But we can certainly not feel proud of our government. “Ms Gillard has said that Wikileaks activities are illegal, but she can’t tell us what the laws are that they have broken.” Video of Lee Rhiannon’s speech. Green Left Weekly co-editor Simon Butler called on Julian Assange to be considered for the Australian of the Year award. He said the government should be respecting media freedom and supporting Wikileaks, not attempting to silence it. “How is it possible that a prominent political figure in the US can call for the assassination of an Australian citizen, and our government doesn’t say back off, they say nothing. “Only one thing could be worse, if our voice doesn’t drown out Gillard’s.” Butler also condemned the companies who had shut down Wikileaks’ use of their services. “To any corporation or any government who wants to stand in the way of the truth, who wants to silence Wikileaks, our message today is: you’re not going to win.” Video of Simon Butler’s speech Following their refusal to service Wikileaks, the websites of Paypal, MasterCard and Visa suffered ongoing DDoS (denial of service) attacks rendering them temporarily offline as part of “Operation Payback” organised by online activist group Anonymous. Other speakers included David Shoebridge from the NSW Greens, acting director of GetUp! Sam McLean and Asher Wolf from WLCentral.org. Members of the crowd held signs declaring “Julian not Julia”, “Supporting Assange not terrorism” and “In Wikileaks we trust”. Photos of Sydney protest More Sydney photos  More Sydney photos In Melbourne, 1500 people marched in the evening of December 10. Protesters staged a sit-in on La Trobe Street in the city, disrupting peak hour traffic. Pictures of Melbourne’s rally In Brisbane, 350 protesters marched in defence of Wikileaks on the evening of December 9.The next day, 400 people rallied outside the offices of the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Protesters then marched through the CBD to the rousing chant of “Free Julian Now!” Speakers at the December 10 protest included: Greens representative Andrew Bartlett; radical academic Gary McLennan; the lawyer for victimised Indian Doctor Mohamed Haneef; Sri Lankan campaigner for Tamil rights Dr Brian Senewiratne; pro-Choice women’s rights activist member Kathy Newnam; anti-war veterans’ organisation Steadfast spokesperson Hamish Chitts; and Socialist Alliance co-convenor Jim McIlroy. Pictures of Brisbane December 10 rally Video of December 9 march About 100 people rallied in Perth on December 10 to mark International Human Rights Day. A key demand of the protest was defence of Wikileaks. About 150 people also rallied in an angry protest in Hobart on December 11. More than 500 people marched outside Parliament House Adelaide on December 12. Photos of Perth rally Video of Socialist Alliance activist Renfrey Clarke speaking at Adelaide protest There have also been protests in support of Wikileaks in Spain and other countries. A protest is scheduled in London for the evening of December 13 outside the Australian embassy. In Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, further protests have been called for the evening of December 14 to coincide with a court hearing for Wikileaks editor-in chief Julian Assange in London. In Sydney, the newly formed Supporters of Wikileaks Coalition has also called a protest for January 15, which it hopes is taken up as a date for protests nationally and internationally. The secret cables released by Wikileaks so far have revealed details of war crimes in Sri Lanka, vows to extend war in the Middle East, moves by the US to undermine countries in Latin America and evidence oil company Shell had infiltrated the Nigerian government (which is infamous for human rights abuses against anti-Shell activists).

So this is what the Afghan war is all about Posted: 13 Dec 2010 02:20 AM PST Patrick Cockburn reports in the Independent on the illusion that Western intervention is helping Afghanistan. A few people are getting amazingly rich, especially private firms in the West, but local citizens are not seeing anything. Not hard to see why the insurgency is thriving: The most extraordinary failure of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan is that the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars has had so little impact on the misery in which 30 million Afghans live. As President Barack Obama prepares this week to present a review of America’s strategy in Afghanistan which is likely to focus on military progress, US officials, Afghan administrators, businessmen and aid workers insist that corruption is the greatest threat to the country’s future. In a series of interviews, they paint a picture of a country where $52bn (£33bn) in US aid since 2001 has made almost no impression on devastating poverty made worse by spreading violence and an economy dislocated by war. That enormous aid budget, two-thirds for security and one-third for economic, social and political development, has made little impact on 9 million living in absolute poverty, and another 5 million trying to survive on $43 (£27) a month. The remainder of the population often barely scrapes a living, having to choose between buying wood to keep warm and buying food. Afghans see a racketeering élite as the main beneficiaries of international support and few of them are optimistic about anything changing. “Things look all right to foreigners but in fact people are dying of starvation in Kabul,” says Abdul Qudus, a man in his forties with a deeply lined face, who sells second-hand clothes and shoes on a street corner in the capital. They are little more than rags, lying on display on the half-frozen mud. … The flood of money has had little success in reducing economic hardship. “It has all messed up into one big soup,” says Karolina Olofsson, head of advocacy and communication for the Afghan NGO Integrity Watch Afghanistan. Aid organisations are judged by the amount of money they spend rather than any productive outcome, she says. “The US has a highly capitalist approach and seeks to deliver aid through private companies,” she says. “It does not like to use NGOs which its officials consider too idealistic.”

Major Aussie media figures stand up for Wikileaks Posted: 13 Dec 2010 01:56 AM PST Finally some Australian media heavy-weights join the cause in support of Wikileaks. It’s taken far too long but they clearly realise that this entire issue isn’t just about Wikileaks; it’s about our right to read important information in the public interest: The letter was initiated by  the Walkley Foundation and signed by the ten members of the Walkley Advisory Board as well as editors of major Australian newspapers and news websites and the news directors of the country’s three commercial TV networks and two public broadcasters. “In essence, WikiLeaks, an organisation that aims to expose official secrets, is doing what the media have always done: bringing to light material that governments would prefer to keep secret. It is the media’s duty to responsibly report such material if it comes into their possession. To aggressively attempt to shut WikiLeaks down, to threaten to prosecute those who publish official leaks, and to pressure companies to cease doing commercial business with WikiLeaks, is a serious threat to democracy, which relies on a free and fearless press.” The full letter sent to Prime Minister Julia Gillard can be viewed here and is also available below: Dear Prime Minister, STATEMENT FROM AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER EDITORS, TELEVISION AND RADIO DIRECTORS AND ONLINE MEDIA EDITORS The leaking of 250,000 confidential American diplomatic cables is the most astonishing leak of official information in recent history, and its full implications are yet to emerge. But some things are clear. In essence, WikiLeaks, an organisation that aims to expose official secrets, is doing what the media have always done: bringing to light material that governments would prefer to keep secret. In this case, WikiLeaks, founded by Australian Julian Assange, worked with five major newspapers around the world, which published and analysed the embassy cables. Diplomatic correspondence relating to Australia has begun to be published here. The volume of the leaks is unprecedented, yet the leaking and publication of diplomatic correspondence is not new. We, as editors and news directors of major media organisations, believe the reaction of the US and Australian governments to date has been deeply troubling. We will strongly resist any attempts to make the publication of these or similar documents illegal. Any such action would impact not only on WikiLeaks, but every media organisation in the world that aims to inform the public about decisions made on their behalf. WikiLeaks, just four years old, is part of the media and deserves our support. Already, the chairman of the US Senate homeland security committee, Joe Lieberman, is suggesting The New York Times should face investigation for publishing some of the documents. The newspaper told its readers that it had ‘‘taken care to exclude, in its articles and in supplementary material, in print and online, information that would endanger confidential informants or compromise national security.’’ Such an approach is responsible — we do not support the publication of material that threatens national security or anything which would put individual lives in danger. Those judgements are never easy, but there has been no evidence to date that the WikiLeaks material has done either. There is no evidence, either, that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have broken any Australian law. The Australian government is investigating whether Mr Assange has committed an offence, and the Prime Minister has condemned WikiLeaks’ actions as ‘‘illegal’’. So far, it has been able to point to no Australian law that has been breached. To prosecute a media organisation for publishing a leak would be unprecedented in the US, breaching the First Amendment protecting a free press. In Australia, it would seriously curtail Australian media organisations reporting on subjects the government decides are against its interests. WikiLeaks has no doubt made errors. But many of its revelations have been significant. It has given citizens an insight into US thinking about some of the most complex foreign policy issues of our age, including North Korea, Iran and China. It is the media’s duty to responsibly report such material if it comes into their possession. To aggressively attempt to shut WikiLeaks down, to threaten to prosecute those who publish official leaks, and to pressure companies to cease doing commercial business with WikiLeaks, is a serious threat to democracy, which relies on a free and fearless press. Yours faithfully   Clinton Maynard, news director, 2UE David Penberthy, editor-in-chief, news.com.au Eric Beecher, chairman, Crikey, Smart Company, Business Spectator, The Eureka Report Gay Alcorn, editor, The Sunday Age Garry Bailey, editor, The Mercury (Hobart) Garry Linnell, editor, The Daily Telegraph Ian Ferguson, director of news and programs, Sky News Australia/New Zealand Jim Carroll, network director of news and public affairs, Ten Network Julian Ricci, editor, Northern Territory News Kate Torney, director of news, ABC Mark Calvert, director of news and current affairs, Nine Network Melvin Mansell, editor, The Advertiser (Adelaide) Megan Lloyd, editor, Sunday Mail (Adelaide) Michael Crutcher, editor, The Courier Mail, Mike van Niekerk, editor in chief, Fairfax online Paul Cutler, news director, SBS Paul Ramadge, editor-in-chief, The Age Peter Fray, editor-in-chief, The Sydney Morning Herald Peter Meakin, director of news and public affairs, Seven Network Rick Feneley, editor, The Sun-Herald Rob Curtain, news director, 3AW Rod Quinn, editor, The Canberra Times Sam Weir, editor, The Sunday Times Scott Thompson, The Sunday Mail (Queensland) Simon Pristel, editor, Herald Sun Tory Maguire, editor, The Punch Walkley Advisory Board Gay Alcorn Mike Carlton Helen Dalley John Donegan Peter Meakin Laurie Oakes Jeni O’Dowd Alan Kennedy Malcolm Schmidtke Fenella Souter

Mastercard, Visa and PayPal rather like illegal Zionist colonies Posted: 13 Dec 2010 12:16 AM PST The huffing and puffing over alleged illegality by Wikileaks (nothing proven by a mile) compares badly to actual behaviour by many corporates in the Middle East. An important Crikey investigation: Visa, Mastercard and PayPal all enable donations to be made to US-registered groups funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international law. It appears at least one of the major credit cards also enables donations to an extremist Jewish group that has placed a bounty on the lives of Palestinians. All three have in the last week ceased enabling donations to WikiLeaks. Neither Mastercard nor Visa have explained the basis for their decision to do so. PayPal has backed away from its initial claim that the US State Department told PayPal WikiLeaks had broken the law after the claim was discredited. This is the third occasion on which PayPal has suspended payment services for WikiLeaks. Israel subsidises over 100 settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international law. Another 100+ are “illegal outposts” even under Israeli law. All benefit from extensive support from the United States, channelled through a range of Jewish and right-wing Christian bodies, all of which have charitable status under US law. The International Crisis Group’sreport on settlements in July 2009 identified the important role played by US charities. Israeli newspaper Haaretz has investigated the strong support provided via US charities, and Israeli peace groups have also targeted the generous support provided via private donations from the US and Canada.

Israel’s policy of separation is backed by Western powers Posted: 13 Dec 2010 12:02 AM PST Akiva Eldar writes in Haaretz what many people have known for years; Israel’s goal is to maintain the occupation forever: The testimonies of 101 discharged soldiers who served in the West Bank over past decade and collected their comments in a book published by Breaking the Silence show that even the status quo Clinton referred to doesn’t reflect the situation. Contrary to the impression that government spokesmen are trying to create – that Israel is gradually withdrawing from the territories based on the necessary caution dictated by security needs – the soldiers describe a steadfast effort to tighten Israel’s hold on the West Bank and the Palestinian population. It says in the book that the continued construction in the settlements is not only about stealing land whose future the two sides are meant to decide through negotiations. The increased presence of a Jewish population brings with it an increase in security measures such as the policy of “separation.” The testimonies show that this policy practically serves to control, plunder and annex the territories. It funnels the Palestinians through the Israeli control mechanism and establishes new borders on the ground through a policy of divide and rule. These borders mark the “settlement blocs,” which Israeli politicians argue are part of Israel (greater Ariel and the areas around Ma’aleh Adumim ). Soldiers who served in the Civil Administration say the settlers play an active role in imposing military rule over the Palestinians. The settlers hold public positions and are permanent parties to the discussions and the decisions by the army on matters concerning the Palestinians in areas where they live. Settler violence against the Palestinians is also used to control the Palestinian population. Stories about “economic prosperity” in the West Bank create the impression that life under foreign occupation can be tolerable and even not so bad. So it’s not so bad that negotiations continue for a year or two. But the soldiers who have served at the checkpoints or the fence crossings describe how they decide who will pass, which goods may move from one city to the next, who may send his children to school or make it to university, and who will receive medical treatment. The book has testimonies about the confiscation of homes, agricultural land, vehicles and even farm animals, sometimes for security reasons, but often because annexation is the motive. Sometimes the Israel Defense Forces also “confiscates” people too, for “training.” They break into a house at night and take someone into custody until the end of the exercise.