Today has not been a ‘good’ day here—the IOF and IAF have kept up attacking Gaza, and its militants have continued sending missives (some qassams, but mainly mortar shells) to Israel, most of which fell near or in communities near Gaza without causing damage or harm to individuals.
The exchanges, which have been deadly for the Palestinians, began several days ago, when Israel killed 2 militants in Gaza. Militants in Gaza replied with a heavy dose of shelling. Then Israel killed 2 more Palestinians who had come near the fence, and who (according to Israeli military) had not stopped when warned. Israel’s response has also been leashed on at least one tunnel. Finally, today, up till now (at least up till 5 minutes ago when I checked the headlines) was 2 additional responses, one which killed 4 members of a family (an 11 yr old, 16 yr old, 18 yr old, and a man in his 50s). A tank shell hit their house ‘by mistake.’ Israel’s PM apologized for the error. Finally there was another strike that killed 3 supposed militants. Hamas, which just a day ago suggested that this stop, and that they would not shoot any more if Israel would also stop its aggression, will probably not be able to control those who have lost comrades from their ranks.
Why did Israel kill the 2 that began this round? Perhaps it was an intentional means of causing violence. Israel’s leaders and military undoubtedly knew that if they killed, their would be a response. Every Jew living in that area knows this. But then Israel’s leaders have never really cared about lives—Israeli or Palestinian. Perhaps Israel’s leaders felt that they needed to deflect attention from what is happening here in Israel. After all, Israel’s image has in recent times darkened considerably.
In any event, it’s a sad state of affairs. It’s a pity that those in Gaza who retaliated did not think ahead. In recent times Gaza and the West Bank have received more solidarity than ever before. But their violent responses is likely to decrease this. Let’s hope the violence ends soon!
The number of items below—11–reflects the present uncertain state of affairs here. The final item is brief. I include it only because I thought that you might enjoy a one sentence response that I received within minutes of sending my email to that person.
Item 1 reflects the state of affairs in the West Bank since the killing of the parents and 3 of their children in Itamar. Colonists the ilk of Itamar colonists (i.e., fundamentalist mentality) have been using the killing as an excuse to make life difficult for the Palestinians. As a result, the Palestinians are asking for international help.
Indeed, why doesn’t President Obama declare Israel a ‘no-fly zone’ as he and others did in Libya?
Item 2 reports that Gaza’s youth are denied higher education by Israel’s blockade.
Item 3 remarks on the 2 bills that were to have come up for a vote in the Knesset today, but so far apparently haven’t. Today everyone was busy with the news of the day: the punishment dealt out to former President Katsav by the court: 7 years behind bars, and huge sums of money to the women that he presumably raped or sexually abused.
Item 4 is BBC’s report of last night’s attacks on Gaza.
Item 5 reports that in an attack today the IOF killed 4 members of a single family, three of whom were youngsters.
Item 6, Reports on this evening’s IAF kill.
Item 7 is a commentary by Robert Fisk, which includes his opinion about Israel.
Item 8 relates a cancellation of an affair at a French university and the debate it caused about freedom of speech.
Item 9 takes us to the upcoming flotilla to Gaza in May and Israel’s attempts to induce other countries to keep it from happening. Will they cave in to Israel’s demands? To bad if they do. But I doubt that even if they do, the flotilla (about 15 ships) will not float, regardless. Israel seems to be the sole country that thinks that other countries agree with Israel’s view of what took place on the Mauvi Marmara.
Item 10 is again a poll, but is more comprehensive than the previous one, though the results on the same questions as the other one are approximately the same. However, there are more questions on this one. I highly recommend at least glancing at the commentary that accompanies the results.
Item 11 is my letter to a blogger who blogs in the New York Times. Her single sentence response was totally unexpected! Of course it was easier for her to attack me ad hominem than to respond to my criticism.
All the best, and let’s hope that tomorrow will indeed be a better day for all—the Japanese, the Libyans, the Syrians, the Yemenites, etc, and also for Israelis.
Nite,
Dorothy
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1. LATimes,
March 21, 2011
WEST BANK: Palestinians ask for international protection citing rise in attacks by Israeli settlers
The Palestinian Authority asked for international protection Monday citing a sharp rise in Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
The call came after three Israelis from the Havat Maon settlement allegedly stabbed and seriously injured 33-year-old Mahmud Ibrahim Awad of Khirbat Tuba, a tiny village south of the West Bank city of Hebron, as he was walking home Monday morning. Awad was stabbed in the head, chest and arm.
In another incident, Israeli settlers allegedly opened fire at Palestinians during a funeral in the village of Beit Ommar, north of Hebron, injuring two people. One of them, a 59-year-old, was reported in critical condition. The second suffered injuries in the leg.
The Israeli army, which maintains a presence nearby because the village is on a road often used by settlers, intervened, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the Palestinians, who threw rocks at the settlers after the shooting.
Ghassan Khatib, director of the Palestinian Authority media center, issued a statement holding the Israeli government responsible for what he called “serious and systematic escalation” in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East War.
Khatib called for “urgent international protection to prevent further crimes against the civilians.”
Palestinians say attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank have escalated since the bloody slaying of an Israeli family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar last week.
No one has been arrested yet in connection with the Itamar killings, but Israeli officials and news media blamed Palestinian militants, resulting, Palestinians say, in revenge attacks by settlers. The Israeli government has placed a gag order on the investigation, after rumors that Thai and Filipino guest workers had been rounded up for questioning in the attack.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who strongly denounced the Itamar slayings, also denounced the assumption that a Palestinian was responsible, accusing Israel of convicting Palestinians before the truth behind the crime was known.
“There is an insistence on blaming the Palestinian people before the investigation had revealed the truth about who the killer was,” Abbas said, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. “I do not know why this persistence and why they insist on this position even though the facts are not yet known.”
Abbas said “there are daily crimes committed by Israeli settlers” against Palestinian civilians, yet no one seems to be talking about them. “Our villages are being attacked on a daily basis, and so our mosques and our homes and our olive trees are cut down,” he said. “Israel and the international community should take note of that.”
In its weekly Protection of Civilians report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory recorded 32 incidents in which by settlers caused damage to Palestinian property, including one incident that left eight Palestinians injured.
It said that in the immediate aftermath of the Itamar killings, Israeli settlers rioted in the West Bank village of Awarta, the closest to the settlement, setting fire to tires and assaulting an 18-year-old Palestinian. Additionally, incidents of settler stone-throwing and vandalism were reported in the Ramallah, Nablus, Kalkiliya and Hebron areas of the West Bank, resulting in 13 Palestinian injuries and damage to many vehicles, homes and other private and commercial structures, OCHA said.
OCHA noted that in the days before the killings in Itamar there had already been a sharp increase in the number of settler attacks against Palestinians, beginning March 3 when Israeli settlers held a “day of rage” to protest the Israeli army demolition of a number of unauthorized structures in the Havat Gilad settlement outpost. Settlers rioted and blocked major roads and intersections across the West Bank in what they described as payback in the “price tag” policy targeting Palestinian civilians and property to protest the Israeli army’s removal of their illegal outposts.
OCHA said that during the first two weeks of March there were 10 incidents involving Israeli settlers that resulted in 15 injuries to Palestinians, and 34 additional incidents resulting in damage to Palestinian property.
— Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank
Photo: Israeli soldiers and Palestinian medics treat Mahmud Ibrahim Awad, 33, after he was allegedly attacked by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Yatta, near the Jewish settlement of Mahon, in the occupied West Bank. Credit: Abed al Hashlamoun / Reuters
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2. The Guardian,
March 21, 2011
News Global development Guardian development network Series:
UN: Gaza’s youth ‘denied higher education’ by Israeli blockade
Medicine and engineering among sectors in desperate need of funds and equipment
Youth in the Gaza strip lack educational and employment opportunities thanks to Israel’s blockade, says the UN. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/AP The next generation in the Gaza Strip may be less educated, less professional and perhaps more radical because an Israeli blockade has restricted educational and employment opportunities, say UN and other sources.
The four-year blockade has particularly affected youths aged 18-24, limiting access to higher education, academic exchanges and professional development, says Gaza’s education ministry. About 65% of Gaza’s 1.6 million people are under 25, according to UN estimates.
“Higher education in all its forms is absolutely critical to a functioning society and the creation of a future Palestinian state,” UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory Max Gaylard told IRIN, and “to maintain a necessary level of skills in professional sectors, like medicine and engineering.”
Gaza’s unemployment rate – nearly 50% according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) – indicates dire prospects for the rapidly growing and youthful population.
The economic blockade, imposed by Israel after the Islamist movement Hamas took control of Gaza, has obstructed the import of books, science laboratory and other educational equipment to Gaza, according to the Unesco. Israel allows in limited humanitarian supplies.
The lack of facilities, new information and experiences has caused a marked deterioration of Gaza’s whole educational system. Noor, an English education student at Al-Azhar University, ranked second in Gaza, said she lacked essential books for her coursework and even chairs were missing from lecture halls.
“Our universities are not ready for new generations,” she said. “We only have one laboratory and two computer labs, and it is not enough.”
Enrolment levels at Gaza’s 14 public and private universities and colleges remain high, but conflict and the stringent blockade have seriously undermined access to, and the quality of, higher education, said UNESCO in a report.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza (pdf), “Under the policy of complete closure imposed since June 2007, Palestinians from Gaza who once constituted some 35% of the student body at universities in the West Bank are virtually absent from West Bank education institutions.”
The development of two separate systems due to the Israeli-imposed movement restrictions meant fewer subjects and facilities for Gaza’s university students, said UNESCO.
About 80% of the Gaza population is aid dependent, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and higher education institutions in Gaza are feeling the financial strain.
According to Unesco, students are increasingly unable to pay tuition fees, resulting in drop-outs and postponement of studies.
The inability of students to cover fees has hit Gaza universities hard, since student fees provide about 60% of university running costs, according to Palestinian NGO Sharek Youth Forum (pdf).
“The level of education is being compromised and we have trouble hiring qualified professors and staff,” said Kamalain Shaath, president of the Islamic University, ranked top in Gaza and the West Bank. Half the students at the university, he added, were unable to meet tuition requirements this semester.
Islamic University’s first medical school class of about 50 promising young doctors will graduate this spring, and will be desperately needed in this conflict area, although the university science labs – destroyed during Israel’s 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead that aimed at ending rocket attacks into Israel – were never rebuilt.
Seven universities and colleges were damaged during the offensive, which ended in January 2009, with six buildings fully destroyed and 16 partially, according to Unesco. As of March 2011, rebuilding has not been possible thanks to the embargo on building materials.
Overcrowding in schools is another problem. About 80% of Gaza’s public schools operate on double shifts, according Gaza’s education ministry director-general, Sharif Nouman. In 2010, only three new schools were built due to lack of building materials, yet another 100 need to be built, he said.
Meanwhile, the internal conflict between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas is putting pressure on the education system, thanks to a lack of communication between the Gaza and West Bank ministries, he added.
The unemployment rate among those aged 15-19 is about 72%, while unemployment affects 66% of those aged 20-24, according to a report in January by the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). West Bank unemployment rates were 29% and 34% for these age groups, respectively.
When young people graduate they have almost no opportunity to find a job in a company or association. About 70% of industrial establishments in Gaza have closed under the blockade, according to OCHA, while 120,000 private sector jobs were lost in the first two years of closure. A recent easing has allowed the limited export of cut flowers and strawberries from Gaza to Europe.
“When young people graduate they have almost no opportunity to find a job in a company or association,” said Bassam, a multi-media student at Al-Azhar University. Some try to start their own businesses, but “this cannot succeed in Gaza now because of the blockade,” he added.
UN officials in the region have expressed concern that isolating youth in Gaza from broader values and opportunities will backfire. “A rapidly growing society, becoming poorer, that is subject to restrictions on education will encourage extremism in its worst forms,” warned Gaylard.
Deputy director-general of the Israeli ministry of public diplomacy, Danny Seaman, however, said: “Hamas uses access to Israel to perpetrate terror attacks against our civilians and this immediate threat outweighs the concern over increased militancy amongst youth in Gaza.”
Some 71% of university students surveyed by UNESCO reported (pdf) they were not hopeful about the future and almost the same number worried there will be another war.
“Most of my peers want to emigrate,” said Shadi, a 26-year-old physical therapist in Gaza City. “We are isolated and frustrated.”
======================
3. Haaretz Editorial,
March 22, 2011
A blow to Israeli Arabs and to democracy
Extremists are counting on those Knesset members who ignore the inflammatory and racist context from which recent bills arise, and whom don’t discern their destructive consequences.
Two or three bills are to be voted on by the Knesset today on second and third reading, each of which is inappropriate in its own right. Taken together, however, just prior to the Knesset’s spring recess, they represent a discordant and worrying summation of the current Knesset session.
The so-called Nakba Law has deliberately vague wording. It would bar entities receiving public funding from organizing or themselves funding any activity “which would entail undermining the foundations of the state and contradict its values.”
Judging by the worldview of MK Alex Miller (Yisrael Beiteinu ), who initiated the legislation, such a definition is liable to apply to academic conferences and historical research and discussion focusing on various aspects of the War of Independence and the events preceding it. In essence, this is a law designed to shut people up.
The proposed law regarding resident admissions committees in certain small communities has undergone changes and has purportedly been softened. The maximum number of residents in the communities to which it would apply has been lowered to 400 and its application has been limited to the Negev and the Galilee. It is an outrageous bill, which would crudely trample the principle of equality and would limit Arab citizens choices of where to live.
An amendment allowing for the revocation of citizenship of those convicted of espionage or aiding terrorism, which was approved by the Knesset’s Interior and Environment Committee, encourages state abuse of power and would transform citizenship from an obvious right to a fragile privilege that the state can revoke at will.
The initiators of the bill have promised that they will attempt to pass the law before the end of the Knesset’s winter session, although even Shin Bet security service officials have argued that revocation of citizenship is a dangerous weapon that is liable to escalate tensions between Israel’s Arab citizens and the state.
It’s possible that such escalation is precisely what the initiators of the bill, both from Yisrael Beiteinu, want; in the constant battle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beiteinu, Arab citizens serve as a convenient punching bag.
The extremists, however, are also counting on those Knesset members who ignore the inflammatory and racist context from which these bills arise, and whom don’t discern the bill’s destructive consequences.
In advance of the vote, each Knesset member must therefore ask himself whether he is ready to take part in a process that will bring Israeli democracy to the edge of the abyss, or whether he will instead foil such a step
================
4. The Guardian,
21 March 2011
Israeli air strikes wound 19 in Gaza
Seven Palestinian children among those hurt in raids retaliating against Hamas rocket attacks
Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli military confirmed one of the raids, saying several Hamas-affiliated militants were targeted in northern Gaza.
At least 19 Palestinians were said to have been wounded in the Gaza strip as a result of air strikes launched by Israel on Monday after militants launched mortars and rockets into Israeli territory.
Among the wounded were seven children, two women and four militants, according to officials from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.
Hamas has stepped up rocket fire at Israel after a lengthy hiatus since the war of two years ago, claiming responsibility for the firing of more than two dozen mortars and rockets at the weekend.
The Israeli military confirmed one of the air raids, saying that several Hamas-affiliated militants were targeted in northern Gaza, as well as a tunnel used to smuggle weapons.
Witnesses in Gaza said Israeli warplanes fired a missile after three mortars were shot at Israel, and the Israeli missile landed harmlessly in a bin for animal feed.
Israel fired four other missiles at as many targets later in the evening, aiming at a Hamas security compound in Gaza City, a training camp north of the city, and a brickworks and metal foundry in northern Gaza, witnesses said.
Hamas fired two rockets into southern Israel on Sunday, a day after Palestinian militants fired more than 50 mortar shells into Israel in the the heaviest Palestinian barrage since a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza two years ago. In the evening, militants in Gaza fired another rocket into southern Israel, exploding near the city of Ashkelon. No one was hurt.
Medical officials in Gaza said on Sunday that the bodies of two Palestinian men who were killed overnight along the border had been recovered. The Israeli military said soldiers spotted two Palestinians crawling towards the border with what appeared to be a bomb. Soldiers called on them to stop, and opened fire after they continued moving.
Most rocket attacks from Gaza since the invasion have been carried out by small militant groups, although Hamas claimed responsibility for some mortar fire on Saturday, which slightly wounded two Israelis.
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5. Haaretz,
March 22, 2011
IDF tank fire kills four family members, Gaza hospital officials say
Gaza medics say 13 Palestinians, including children, were also wounded when Israeli tank fire struck a home in the Strip; IDF says they fired towards militants who had launched mortars against troops.
By Anshel Pfeffer, Avi Issacharoff and News Agencies
Tags: Israel news Gaza
Israel Defense Forces tank fire struck a home in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killing four Palestinians from the same family and wounding another 13, Gaza hospital officials said.
The IDF said Palestinian militants had launched mortars against Israeli troops Tuesday and the military shot at the source of the firing.
“Regrettably non-combatants were hurt, this is because the Hamas attacks from civilian areas,” the military said in a statement. An IDF spokesman added that he is saddended when any uninvolved civilian is hurt.
Israel has stepped up retaliatory strikes since a barrage of rocket fire was aimed at its towns in recent days from Gaza, which is ruled by the Hamas.
Palestinian medics said the dead youths were aged 12, 16 and 17. The 58-year-old owner of the house was also killed.
Locals said four Israeli tank shells struck the building east of Gaza City.
Israel hit a series of Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip earlier Tuesday, damaging smuggling tunnels and suspected weapons sites. Palestinian officials said 19 people were wounded in those attacks.
On Saturday, southern Israel was hit by over 50 rockets, of which Hamas claimed responsibility for 10. The Israeli Air Force struck Gaza targets in retaliation for the bombardment.
On Monday, an IAF fighter jet struck a Gaza tunnel running along the border with Israel, as well as Hamas militants in the northern Gaza strip, an IDF statement confirmed.
The IDF spokesperson’s office released a statement saying that the Gaza tunnel was used to smuggle terrorists into Israeli territory with the intent to execute attacks against Israeli citizens
Shortly after IDF fire in Strip kills four Palestinians – including two youths – aerial strike targets Islamic Jihad cell Israel says was behind recent Grad attack on Israeli city. Al-Quds Brigades: Expect different type of response
An Israeli air strike killed three Palestinians terrorists in Gaza Tuesday evening, Hamas figures said after four Palestinians, including two youths, were killed in a separate Israeli shelling of the territory.
According to the Ma’an news agency, an attack on Gaza City’s Zeitun neighborhood killed three gunmen belonging to Islamic Jihad’s armed wing – the al-Quds Brigades.
The IDF confirmed that its aircraft targeted terrorists who were on their way to launch rockets at Israel. The army said forces identified a hit on the vehicle the terrorists were travelling in. The army said the same terror cell was behind the launching of a Grad rocket towards Beersheba some two weeks ago.
Relatives of IDF attack victims outside hospital (Photo: AP)
Abu Ahmad, a spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, said the terror groups response will come “soon” and will be “different.”
Earlier Tuesday, four people were killed from Israeli artillery fire towards Gaza City. Two youths, aged 11 and 16, were among the victims. Eyewitnesses said one of the IDF shells landed at the entrance of a home in Tufah, killing four people and injuring five others. Among those killed were three members of the same family. According to the IDF, terrorists were also killed in the attack.
An initial investigation launched by the IDF found that the artillery fire targeted terrorists who had fired rockets towards the Negev region. The army said it regretted the death of civilians in the incident.
‘International intervention needed’
A Hamas official said in response: “Israel won’t feel secure as long at the Palestinian people don’t feel secure.”
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said in response to the shelling “it seems that the Israeli occupation is seeking escalation. We fired mortars only at army positions; we did not hurt civilians like Israel has.”
A spokesman for Hamas in north Gaza said the “resistance will respond to the Israeli escalation,” while Islamic Jihad said its men were “committed to respond the massacre conducted by Israel.”
Damage in Gaza after IDF attack (Photo: EPA)
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the attack “demands immediate international intervention to force Israel to stop the violence and dangerous escalation against our people in the Gaza Strip.”
International forces should also “provide protection to unarmed civilians whom Israel is targeting through raids, shelling or the continuous unfair blockade on the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Shortly before the IDF shelling in Gaza, four mortars were fired from the Hamas-ruled territory toward the northern Negev region. The shells exploded in open areas within the limits of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injury or damage.
Later Tuesday, a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon landed in an open area outside the Israeli city. There were no reports of injury or damage.
At around 6 pm another mortar shell that was fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in an open area near a kibbutz in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. No injuries were reported.
Shortly before 9 pm another Qassam rocket fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon apparently landed south of the Israeli city. There were no reports of injury in that attack either.
Yoav Zitun contributed to the report
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7. The Inndpendent,
22 March 2011
Robert Fisk: Right across the Arab world, freedom is now a prospect
From the mildewed, corrupted dictatorships is emerging a people reborn. Not without bloodshed and violence. But now at last, the Arabs can hope to march into the bright sunlit uplands
In the dying days of the Ottoman empire, American diplomats – US consuls in Beirut, Jerusalem, Cairo and other cities – NGOs across the region and thousands of American missionaries, pleaded with the State Department and with President Wilson to create one modern Arab state stretching from the shores of Morocco to the borders of Mesopotamia and Persia. This, they believed, would bring a large part of the Muslim world into the democratic orbit of Europe and the West.
Of course, the Sykes-Picot agreement which had already secretly carved up the Middle East, a dying Woodrow Wilson and America’s lurch into isolationism put paid to any such fanciful ideas. Besides, who knows if some Arabs might have preferred the “civilisation” of Rome and, just over a decade later, of Madrid and Berlin, to the supposedly decadent democracies elsewhere in Europe? In the end, the Second World War scarred Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Lebanon and left the rest comparatively unscathed. But this is the moment to recall the might-have-beens of history. For it is now just possible to recognise a future world in which we may be able to travel from Morocco to the Iraq-Iran border without a visa in our passports. Whether Arabs will be able to do this as speedily, of course, is another matter.
What is not in doubt is the extraordinary tempest passing through the region, the spectacular break-up of the Arab world which most of us have known for most of our lives and which most Arabs have known for most of their lives. From the mildewed, corrupted dictatorships – the cancer of the Middle East – is emerging a people reborn. Not without bloodshed, and not without much violence in front of them as well as behind them. But now at last the Arabs can hope to march into the bright sunlit uplands. Every Arab friend of mine has said exactly the same thing to me over the past weeks: “Never did I believe I would ever live to see this.”
We have watched these earthquake tremors turn to cracks and the cracks into crevasses. From Tunisia to Egypt to Libya, to Yemen – perhaps only 48 hours from freedom – to Morocco and to Bahrain and, yes, even now to Syria, the young and the brave have told the world that they want freedom. And freedom, over the coming weeks and months, they will undoubtedly obtain. These are happy words to write, but they must be said with the greatest caution.
Despite all the confidence of D Cameron, Esq, I am not at all sure that Libya is going to end happily. Indeed, I’m not sure I know how it is going to end at all, although the vain and preposterous US attack on Gaddafi’s compound – almost identical to the one that was staged in 1986 and took the life of Gaddafi’s adopted daughter – demonstrated beyond any doubt that the intention of Obama is regime liquidation. I’m not certain, either, that Bahrain is going to be an easily created democracy, especially when Saudi Arabia – the untouchable chalice almost as sacred from criticism as Israel – is sending its military riff-raff across the border bridge.
I have noticed, of course, the whinging of the likes of Robert Skidelsky who believes that the Bush-Blair fantasy “liberation” of Iraq – which has ended up with the country effectively controlled from Tehran – led to the street uprisings today “But Western democracies’ combination of freedom and order… is the product of a long history that cannot be replicated in short order,” he has been saying. “Most non-Western peoples rely upon the ruler’s personal virtues, not institutional limits on his power, to make their lives tolerable.” I get the point. Arabs cannot be trusted with democracy – indeed they aren’t ready for it like we smug Westerners are and, er, the Israelis of course. This is a bit like Israel saying – as it does say – that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, and then trying to ensure it stays that way by pleading for the Americans to keep Mubarak in power. Which is exactly what happened in January.
But Israel is a case worth examining. Usually capable of considerable forethought, its government and diplomats and overseas supporters have been hopelessly lazy and cackhanded in their response to the events thundering across the Arab world. Instead of embracing a new and democratic Egypt, they are sullenly warning of its volatility. For Israel’s government, it now appears, the fall of dictators whom they have many times compared to Hitler is even worse than the dictators’ preservation. We can see where the problem lies. A Mubarak would always obey orders – via Washington – from Israel. A new president will be under no such pressure. Voters in Egypt do not like the siege of Gaza. They are outraged by the theft of Arab land for Israeli colonies in the West Bank. No matter how big the bribes from Washington, no elected Egyptian president is going to be able to tolerate this state of affairs for long.
Talking of bribes, of course, the biggest of all was handed out last week – in promissory notes, to be sure – by the Saudi monarch, who is disbursing almost $150bn around his merry kingdom in the hope of being spared the wrath of his people. Who knows, it may work for a time. But as I always say, watch Saudi Arabia. And don’t take your eyes off it.
The epic we can afford to forget, however, is the “war on terror”. Scarcely a squeak from Osama’s outfit for months. Now isn’t that strange? The only thing I heard from “al Qa’ida” about Egypt was a call for the removal of Mubarak – a week after he had been deposed by people power. The latest missive from the man in the cave has urged the heroic peoples of the Arab world to remember that their revolutions have Islamic roots; which must come as a surprise to the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain et al. For they all demanded freedom and liberation and democracy. And there, in a sense, is the answer to Skidelsky. Does he believe they are all lying? And if so, why?
As I said, there is much blood still to flow. And many a meddling hand to turn new democracies into time-serving dictatorships. But for once – just once – the Arabs can see the broad sunlit uplands.
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8. The Guardian,
21 March 2011
Ban on Israel-Palestine debate ignites free speech row at French university
International petition calls on Ecole Normale Supérieure to restore ‘long history of political expression’
American philosopher Noam Chomsky is among those upset by the Ecole Normale Supérieure for banning a debate on the alleged criminalisation of supporters of the boycott of Israel. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA More than 150 of the world’s foremost academics have intervened in a simmering row over the banning of debates on the Israel-Palestine question at one of France’s universities, calling the move a threat to free speech.
Professors and intellectuals from Britain, the US and Canada, including American philosopher Noam Chomsky, signed a petition calling on the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris to restore “its long history of free speech and political expression”.
The row erupted after group of students calling itself the ENS Palestine Collective invited the bestselling writer Stéphane Hessel, 93, to a debate on the alleged criminalisation of supporters of the boycott of Israel in January.
Hessel is author of Indignez-Vous! (Time for Outrage) in which he expresses his belief in universal rights and criticises Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
As well as Hessel, the Palestine Collective also invited a former French justice minister, two Israeli pacifists and the Palestinian representative in Europe.
Less than a fortnight before the event, the university director, Monique Canto-Sperber, withdrew permission for the event. A few weeks later, she refused permission for a Palestine Collective-organised conference as part of “Israel Apartheid Week”. When her decision was applauded by a group of Jewish organisations, the Palestine Collective – a group of 15 students and teachers – accused her of bowing to pressure.
A Paris court struck down her ruling, but a higher court upheld it, arguing that higher education must be “independent of all political, economic, religious or ideological influence”.
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9.Forwarded by the JPLO List
European poll reveals changing perceptions of conflict in Palestine
13 March 2011 16:05
·
Al Jazeera Centre for Studies in conjunction with the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and the European Muslim Research Centre (EMRC) at Exeter University carried out a joint study in January 2011 to gauge British and European perceptions on the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. No major study of this kind has been undertaken on a European level since October 2003, when a survey conducted by the European Commission revealed that approximately 60% of Europeans saw Israel as the greatest threat to world peace.
This report presents the findings of a research study conducted by the polling institution ICM Government & Social Research Unit on behalf of Al Jazeera, MEMO and the EMRC. ICM interviewed 7,045 adults across six major European countries: Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
Key findings
A few of the most salient points drawn out from our study include the following. Of the adults surveyed:
· 50% believe that being critical of Israel does NOT make a person anti-Semitic;
· 70% believe that the pro-Israel lobby influences the media;
· 67% believe that the pro-Israel lobby influences the political agenda;
· 58% believe that European Law should not be changed to make it easier for those accused of war crimes to visit Europe;
· 65% believe that Israel does not treat all religious groups equally;
· 45% believe that Hamas should be INCLUDED in Israel-Palestine peace talks;
· 41% believe that Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is one of the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East;
· 40% believe that Israeli settlements are the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East;
· 51% thought of the Gaza Strip when they heard the words “Israel-Palestine conflict”;
· 34% believe that Israel is not a democracy but 65% believe that (democracy or not) there is oppression and domination by one religious group in Israel over another;
· 13% consider Israel to be the bigger threat to world peace compared with only 7% who said the same of the Palestinians;
· 53% were aware that Israel’s economic blockade of the Gaza Strip is illegal;
· 64% stated that the Israeli armed response to the boats carrying supplies to the Gaza Strip in May 2010 was illegal;
· 60% were aware that the Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008-2009 was illegal;
· 48% think that Israel exploits the history of the suffering of the Jewish people in Europe to generate public support;
· 39% believe that the Israel-Palestine conflict fuels “Islamophobia” in Europe; and
· 54% believe that Jerusalem should be a neutral international city.
Download a full and thorough analysis of this study and what these statistics mean compiled by MEMO.
Turkey group plans new Gaza flotilla with at least 15 ships
IHH, left-wing European groups plan to send flotilla this May, one year after another IHH flotilla resulted in bloodshed that prompted widespread international condemnation of Israel.
Israel will launch a public campaign on Tuesday against a plan by the Turkish organization IHH and several left-wing European groups to send a flotilla to the Gaza Strip this May, a year after another IHH flotilla resulted in bloodshed that prompted widespread international condemnation of Israel.
IHH activists aboard that flotilla attacked Israeli soldiers who tried to intercept it with axes, knives and iron bars. Nine Turks were killed.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon will summon foreign ambassadors to the ministry today to seek their help in stopping this year’s flotilla, which is slated to contain at least 15 ships. The sailing date has not yet been finalized, but the ministry expects it to be sometime between May 15, when the Palestinians commemorate the “Nakba” (“catastrophe” ) of Israel’s establishment, and May 31, the anniversary of last year’s deadly interception.
Thirty organizers from 15 countries met in Madrid about six weeks ago to discuss their plans, which have so far been kept under wraps for “security reasons.” They also asked the governments of some of the countries whose nationals plan to be aboard the flotilla to guarantee their safety should Israel try to stop the ships.
Over the last two months, the Foreign Ministry has asked several governments, including those of Spain, Britain, Ireland and Sweden, to publish travel advisories warning their citizens against sailing to Gaza. Britain and Ireland have in fact done so.
When the president of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, visited Israel about 10 days ago, the flotilla was a key topic of discussion. Christofias stressed that the order he issued a year ago banning ships from sailing to Gaza from Cypriot ports remains in force.
The ministry is far from sure the flotilla can be stopped by diplomatic means, but is determined to try.
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11. My letter in response to
“Jstreet at it again: Attacking efforts to defend Israel”
I am a 79 yr old female Jew (with American and Israeli citizenship) who has lived in Israel with spouse and 3 children since 1958. I am not a supporter of J street nor of violence nor of Zionism, though I did believe in a state for Jews when I first immigrated to Israel. So much for background to give you an idea of who is writing.
I believe in truthful reporting. If you insist on publishing the myth of Palestinian incitement (how many Palestinians do you know?) as though it were universal, you should also note the Israeli incitement against Arabs–of Israeli Arab citizens, as well as against Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. That too is not universal (there are those of us Jews who are not racists), but is government supported (see for instance http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israeli-taxes-are-funding-an-anti-arab-worldview-1.350348
It is a pity that the US Congress and President Obama continue to support Israel notwithstanding all its crimes. It is time that you, too, should become better informed. It took me many years to begin questioning and even more to find answers. I am sure that you, who are undoubtedly a good deal younger than I, can if you will, also learn the truth about the so-called Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Looking forward to better informed comment from you in the future on the subject of the ‘Israel-Palestine conflict.’
Sincerely,
Dorothy Naor
Herzliah, Israel
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The response arrived within minutes, but was one that I hadn’t anticipated.
