NOVANEWS
Posted by: Sammi Ibrahem
Chair of West Midland PSC
Dear Friends,
First of all, I apologize for the mess in yesterday’s message. The items were all in it, but some 3 or 4 pages below the intro. This morning I was in a huge rush to leave and only glanced at one or two emails before dashing out. One of these informed me that the items were missing. So without looking I resent them. When I returned home I found them on the original email, but only by scrolling a long ways down.
Also, I forgot 2 very important points when commenting on Dershowitz’s muck raking of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 1. Even if every argument that Dershowitz made to ‘prove’ that Israel is not an apartheid state were true, each and every one of the so-called proofs was besides the point. It did not prove the contention. 2. Dershowitz focused on the condition in Israel. But Desmond Tutu’s criticism is against the occupation and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians who live under it. See, for instance, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1957644.stm–
Old, but not outdated.
Of the 7 items below, one (item 6) is a link to a 5-6 minute video of a protest demonstration yesterday, in which you see the non-violence on the part of the protestors, and the violence on the part of the IOF soldiers.
As for item 1, I find it highly amusing—a plan to form a “pro-Israel” international news network similar to BBC and Al Jazeera, that will not be propaganda but will tell the truth. Tell me folks, how can a news media be a-priori pro-Israel and not deliver propaganda???
Items 2,3,and 4 are about the present Gaza-Israel violence. 2 and 3 are Israeli viewpoints, 4 a Palestinian view point.
In 2, PM Netanyahu with typical gusto and bravado announces in response to the Hamas offer for a cease fire that ‘Israel will decide when to stop firing.’ Item 3 is also bravado—announcing that one of the 20 individuals that Israel killed was involved in the kidnap of Gilad Shalit. While reading these I was listening to the radio news, which informed me that Hamas had fired over 150 missiles of one sort or another since the current exchange began.
When Netanyahu made his boast did he really have in mind the Israeli citizens who live under the barrage, who have spent most of the past 3 days in shelters, whose lives have been disrupted? Instead of saying ‘a cease fire is a good idea,’ he wants to continue! What an ego-show! The same can be said for the announcement of 3, which Hamas denies. Instead of talking about the cost in damage, in fear, and the rest, it ties a killing to Shalit’s capture, hoping that way to get Israeli approval.
Item 4 looks at the present situation from the Palestinian point of view. But while I have all the sympathy in the world for the people who are suffering from Israel’s means of fighting back, and even though Israel started this round when it killed certain Hamas operatives, the use of violence to retaliate was stupid! What have Hamas and the other groups gained except 20 dead (maybe more by now) and many more injured, not to mention destruction of residences and other structures. Violence is not the way to go. Militants won’t win against Israel’s might so long as the US furnishes Israel the means to cause Palestinians hell. Palestinian violence only gives Israel an excuse to cause as much damage as it can and to kill as many as it can. Meanwhile, the people on both sides suffer! One point in the commentary I agree with: the world is at fault for much of what Israel does. Governments at the most shake a finger at Israel. Only when they begin actual punishment, as for instance bds, will Israel’s leaders begin to change their policies.
Item 5 relates how armed settlers fortified by IOF soldiers attacked a Palestinian village.
Item 6 is the link to the video.
Item 7 is a new report by Who Profits. This one is about wines.
Still hoping for a better day tomorrow, at least for a cease fire—enough dead, injured, and damage! Enough!!!
Dorothy
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1. Ynet,
April 9, 2011
Coming soon: Jewish ‘al-Jazeera’
Dr. Alexander Mashkevich announces plan to form pro-Israel international news network. ‘It won’t be a propaganda channel, but will simply tell the truth,’ he tells Ynet during Jewish leaders conference
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054096,00.html
Liron Nagler-Cohen
WASHINGTON – Dr. Alexander Mashkevich, president of the United Israel Appeal’s annual conference of Jewish leaders in Washington, has announced his plan to form a pro-Israel international news network, similar to al-Jazeera and the BBC.
This year’s conference focused on attempts to deal with the de-legitimization campaign against Israel, and was attended by some 200 Jewish community leaders and key philanthropists.
Al-Jazeera studio in Washington (Photo: MCT)
An announcement on the creation of the international news network was made at the end of the conference, with the aim of dealing with anti-Israel defamation in the media and influence public opinion.
Mashkevich, who also serves as president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, said that the network would offer programs in English, French, Arabic and Spanish, focusing on news only.
“My intention is not to create a propaganda channel,” he told Ynet, “but simply a channel telling the truth.
“Unfortunately, in the current situation most channels simply don’t tell the truth about Israel,” he explained. “Every day that passes we lose the battle for Israel’s image. I am sure that Goldstone is a decent person, who didn’t want to damage Israel consciously and intentionally, but if everything he gets from the media every day is anti-Israel propaganda, I assume it’s hard to make the right decisions.”
Presentation within 3-4 months
Mashkevich, whose fortune is estimated at some $3.7 billion, plans to recruit other philanthropists and senior businesspeople for the mission. “The international de-legitimization has become a huge risk for Israel,” he adds.
Anchor Anderson Cooper. ‘We’ll get talents from everywhere’ (Photo: AP)
“It’s unthinkable that Israel has no television network like the channels operated by countries such as the United States, Britain and Russia. The creation of such a channel is necessary, and does not require something out of nothing, as there are existing models we can work according to.”
The channel is in the thinking stages, without a target date for the launching or even a revelation of the other names behind it. All Mashkevich agreed to say was that it would be a private, independent channel.
“We are preparing a work program, and in about three-four months we’ll hold a presentation in Israel. We’ll purchase talents from all other channels,” he promised. “From BBC, CNN – everyone.”
‘If we don’t fight back, we’ll be in trouble’
The conference was also attended by outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Britain and newly appointed Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who analyzed the anti-Israeli incitement on international media.
Student protest in UK (Photo: Leon Ferri)
“We deal with creating awareness,” said Prosor. “Today there isn’t one university campus in Britain which I, as an Israeli ambassador, can enter without facing horrible protests. If we don’t fight back – we’ll be in trouble.
“The current situation is that Jewish students in Britain feel uncomfortable in their own campuses. What I saw in Britain could definitely be seen here, in the United States, in the coming years,” he warned the Jewish community leaders.
Prosor told Ynet that the organizations behind the de-legitimization must be exposed, denounced and suffer a counter attack. “We have no choice but to strike back at them, to give a ‘price tag’ to those who demonize Israel. Too much is at stake here. We are all at the front, but if we coordinate, we’ll be able to win the battle.”
‘Situation like in 1947’
“It’s time for us to stop complaining about how bad Israel’s PR is,” added Hoenlein. “It’s not just Israel that’s in danger – but all of us. The entire Jewish people are under attack, and this is about the future of all the Jewish people.
Hoenlein with Peres. ‘World recognizes Jewish power, Jews don’t’ (Photo: Avi Hayun)
“Those who undermine Israel’s right to self-defense – hurt the entire Jewish people’s right to self-defense. We are not talking about a situation like in 1967, but like in 1947 – about the entire Jewish people’s right to exist.
“If we unite, others will join us too. So we must launch a well-coordinated campaign. It’s unthinkable that according to research we’ve conducted, the European governments are more committed to Israel than the public opinion in those countries. These are the enemies rising to destroy us – from the inside and the outside.
“Jews today have power, and the entire world recognizes it – apart from the Jews. We can make a difference, if only we remember that it’s a battlefield. We must educate our children from an early age – know what to answer.”
Hoenlein believes the establishment of a news network like al-Jazeera is vital. “People are influenced by it,” he says, revealing that he has already held several meetings in a bid to strike a collaboration with media organizations and Israeli governmental bodies.
Mashkevich lives in Britain and has an Israeli citizenship as well. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish oligarchs in the world, and a “warm Jew” who donates in many fields close to his heart. He built seven synagogues in different countries, named “Beit Rachel” after his mother, and donated 17 Torah scrolls. He also participates in the bringing in of each new Torah scroll.
“I still remember as a child, how difficult it was for me to get to the synagogue, which was far away and crowded,” he said.
His parents fled the Nazis and gave him “a proud Jewish education”. His childhood in Kyrgyzstan contributed to shaping his Jewish awareness as well. “In Soviet Russia people would never let me forget I was a Jew, not for one day,” he said.
“I feel the persecution of Jews on my skin. We can’t just be indifferent. Every year the situation gets worse, and we monitor it. People tend to think that the American Congress members know the truth about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it’s not true. All their information comes from the media.
“Seventy percent of what the international media reports in terms of the conflict is of anti-Israel nature. We check the ‘anti-Semitism index’ in 27 countries, and there is definitely a rise in anti-Semitism, which I believe is a direct result of what the media reports.”
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2. Jerusalem Post
April 9, 2011
Photo by: REUTERS/Charles Dharapak
Netanyahu: Hamas will not set new rules
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=215869
By HERB KEINON
09/04/2011
During late-night consultations regarding escalating violence in south, PM said Israel’s “response will be determined, harsh and ongoing”; Danny Ayalon: There is a heavy price for terrorism.
Israel will not allow Hamas to set the rules of the game, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Saturday night during consultations regarding the escalating violence in the south.
Netanyahu said that raising the level of violence whereby a tank missile is fired on a school bus, and thinking this is just part of the ongoing status quo, is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
“Even if we are not interested in an escalation,” he was quoted as saying, “the response will be determined, harsh and ongoing.”
In addition to holding security consultations, Netanyahu’s bureau also held discussions with various international officials examining ways to dampen down the violence. Netanyahu arrived into the country on Friday before Shabbat from a two-day trip to German and the Czech Republic. Earlier that day, following his meeting with the Czech President in Prague, the prime minister said, “The attack on a school bus crossed the line. Whoever tries to hurt and murder children will be held accountable.” He is expected to address the issue further at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting.
Deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, speaking at a cultural event on Saturday in Beersheba, said that Israel knows how to get Hamas to understand that there is a heavy price for terrorism, and will do everything to protect its citizens.
“Terrorism will not defeat us,” he said. “Israel has always known how to unify against threats and we are all with the citizens of the south. Unfortunately Hamas only understands strength.” Ayalon called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to condemn only Hamas, and to distinguish between Israel’s defensive actions, and Hama’s terrorist actions.
Meanwhile, European foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton issued a statement Friday condemning Thursday’s mortar and rocket attacks coming out of Gaza which she said “once again hit the innocent civilian population, and must stop immediately.”
Ashton, who said she was “deeply concerned by the escalation of violence,” also said she deplored the loss of civilian life in Gaza and called on Israel to “show restraint.” “The lives of civilians must be spared everywhere and in all circumstances,” she said. “Only an immediate cessation of all violence can bring back the calm necessary to allow for a lasting truce in the Gaza strip.”
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3. Haaretz,
April 09, 2011
Hamas militant killed in Gaza strike was ‘physically’ involved in Shalit kidnapping
Senior Hamas militant Tayser Abu Snima was killed in Israel air strike overnight in retaliation for attack on Israeli school bus; IDF spokesperson says Shalit family being updated on details of Snima’s involvement in Gilad Shalit’s kidnapping.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-militant-killed-in-gaza-strike-was-physically-involved-in-shalit-kidnapping-1.355006
By Jack Khoury and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel news Gilad Shalit Hamas
The Hamas militant whom Israel killed in a retaliatory air strike overnight on Saturday had been involved in the kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, an IDF spokesperson said on Saturday evening.
Israel said that Tayser Abu Snima was “directly and physically involved” in the 2006 capture of Gilad Shalit, which occurred during a cross-border raid.
The IDF spokesperson said that Shalit’s family was notified of the incident.
Snima was also “in charge of executing a terror attack from Sinai, firing rockets at the city of Eilat,” the IDF spokesperson said.
The Israeli air strike which killed Snima was carried out in retaliation for the Hamas attack on an Israeli school bus on Thursday, which left a teenager critically wounded and the bus driver moderately wounded.
Since Thursday, tensions on the border have escalated dramatically, with over 120 rockets, mortars, and Grad missiles being fired from Gaza into Israel. Eight rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said Snima’s killing “will not affect our work” and dismissed Israel’s claims.
He said Israel “does not have the information about Shalit’s capture to be able to say who among our leaders had a role in its execution.”
Israeli forces attacked 11 Gaza terror cells over the course of the weekend, an IDF spokesperson said.
Palestinians in Gaza say that 18 people were killed in Israeli air strikes over the weekend and over 60 wounded. Paramedics in the strip say that many of those wounded were civilians, including women and children.
Ubaida also accused Israel of “looking for an achievement as a cover for their crimes,” referring to Israel’s punishing retaliatory strikes on the Strip.
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4. From: Neta Golan <neta.golan@gmail.com>
Date: Apr 9, 2011
Subject: Please post nd send out to Palsolidarity
To: Pal Reports <palreports@gmail.com>
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17481/
Press Release: A New Israeli Massacre in Gaza
by Haidar Eid on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 7:40am
Press Release
9.April.2011
A New Israeli Massacre in Gaza
Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine,
The latest round of Israeli massacres committed against the people of Gaza has resulted in the brutal killings since Thursday afternoon to sixteen, including a mother and daughter, 4 children and an elderly man. Over the last 5 days, Gaza City has been bombed by Apache helicopters and F16 and E15 fighter planes. These terrible massacres come only one day after a statement issued by the disgraced Ehud Batak, the Israeli Minster of War, in which he calls upon his generals to intensify the attack against Gaza .
The slow motion genocide itself has killed more than 600 patients far. We condemn in the strongest possible terms these heinous crimes and reiterate our call upon all civil society organizations and freedom loving people to act immediately in any possible way to put pressure on their governments to end diplomatic ties with Apartheid Israel and institute sanctions against it.
Gaza has been enduring Israeli policies of extermination and vandalism since June.2006. We equally condemn the international conspiracy of silence and impotence in the face of these continuous Israeli crimes. Not a single action against Israel has been taken by the UN. The failure of the United Nations and its numerous organizations to condemn such crimes indicates complicity. We therefore reiterate our urgent appeal, not to the United Nations and the sanctimonious international community, but rather to all civil society organizations and solidarity groups to intensify the anti-Israel sanctions campaign to compel Israel to end to its aggression against Gaza. We also reiterate our call on all Arab revolutions to compel their governments to sever their diplomatic ties with Apartheid Israel. This was the demand of thousands of Egyptian men and women who demonstrated opposite the Israeli embassy in Cairo yesterday.
We ask, how many more dead corpses of Palestinian children and women does the international community need to see in order to act? What more do Arab governments need to see to translate their words of support into action? What would convince the UN and its Security Council that Palestinians are also human beings?
One Democratic State Group
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
University Teachers’ Association in Palestine
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Information
—
PLEASE FORWARD THIS UPDATE WIDELY
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5. ISM Saturday,
April 09, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Armed Settlers supported by Israeli army attack Palestinian village.
At 8.30am this morning around fifty settlers, some masked and armed with guns, descended from Yitzhar settlement onto the Palestinian village of Assira Al Qibliya. International observers from the UK and Ireland witnessed the settlers threw rocks at homes and people on the outskirts of the village injuring one local, who is being treated in hospital.
Within thirty minutes an army jeep carrying Israeli soldiers arrived. They stood in front of the settlers on the hillside approximately one hundred metres from the Palestinian homes yet did nothing to prevent their attacks. The soldiers could be seen firing guns into the air and directly towards the Palestinians who had come out of their homes to witness and document this attack on their village.
During the attack four settlers broke away from the main group and made their way to a Palestinian quarry. Two armed with machine guns stood on a ledge while two descended onto the side of the road and set fire to a car used by the Palestinian workers.
For video footage and more information please contact ISM media
Tel :00972597606276
Email: palreports@gmail.com
Notes for journalists
The settlement of Yitzhar was originally established as a military outpost in 1983 but demilitarised and turned over to residential purposes a year later*. Yitzhar is home to a Jewish orthodox community of over 100 who have in the past decade attacked the residents and properties of Assira Al Qibliya and neighbouring villages on numerous occasions using rocks, knives, guns and arson**. These attacks often happen on Saturdays, the religious holiday of Shabbat.
Yitzhar is home to Rabbi Elitzur who published a book last November entitled “The Handbook for the Killing of Gentiles”, condoning the murder of non-Jewish babies, lest they grow to “be dangerous like their parents”***. Rabbi Elitzur is vocal in his encouragement of “operations of reciprocal responsibility” such as the arson attack made on Yasuf mosque in December 2009****
Despite West Banks settlements’ status as illegal under international law, Yitzhar was included in the Israeli governments’ 2009 “national priority map” as one of the settlements earmarked for financial support. Yitzhar also receives significant funding from American donations, tax-deductible under U.S. government tax breaks for ‘charitable’ institutions.
* http://groundtruth.media.mit.edu/settlement/122/
**http://palsolidarity.org/?s=assira
***http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=37197
****http://coteret.com/tag/ronztki/
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The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led non-violent resistance movement committed to ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. We call for full compliance with all relevant UN resolutions and international law.
For specific media inquires such as interview requests, photo usage, etc. please email the ISM Media Office at media@palsolidarity.org
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6. From: israel putermam
To: againstwall@lists.riseup.net
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2011 5:43 AM
Subject: [againstwall] An-Nabi_Salih 8-4-11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9K8GTL12r0
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Forbidden Fruit:
The Israeli Wine Industry and the Occupation
Who Profits from the Occupation
March 2011
A new report by Who Profits maps the involvement of the Israeli wine industry in the occupation of the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights and traces some of the ways in which it masks this involvement. For this purpose, this report surveys the Israeli wine industry, maps the vineyards and wineries in the occupied territory and traces the connections between the main Israeli wine producers and this settlement industry.
The full report is available here: http://www.whoprofits.org/articlefiles/WhoProfits-IsraeliWines.pdf
Our report demonstrates that all of the major Israeli wineries use grapes from occupied territory in their wines.
Despite being part of the Zionist colonization project as early as the mid-nineteenth century, the Israeli wine industry as we know it today is a fairly new development and was only established in the 1980’s. Currently, the Israeli wine industry comprises six large wineries (Carmel, Barkan, Golan Heights, Teperberg 1870, Binyamina and Tishbi) and dozens of medium and small wineries, totaling over 150 wineries, and about 12,000 acres of vineyards.
This report provides detailed information about these wine producers and their connection to the settlement wine industry (see table below). Additionally, it includes a survey of almost all of the settlement wineries in the Golan Heights and in the West Bank.
While the wine industry is known for being very meticulous in providing information about the origin of grapes that are used in the production of wine, there are several methods which are used in the Israeli wine industry to conceal information concerning the use of grapes from settler vineyards in occupied territory. Investigating the connections of the Israeli wine industry to settler vineyards, we found that while grapes from the Golan Heights are used quite openly, the wineries that use grapes from West Bank vineyards most often use a myriad of methods to conceal their origins.
Our report describes some of these methods, from those used by government export agencies to those used by individual exporters. For instance, the Israeli export institution redraws the map of the wine regions of Israeli wine in a way that deliberately blurs the distinctions between areas inside the State of Israel and areas of occupied territory. Israeli manufacturers of wine conceal information concerning the exact location of the vineyards from which they receive the grapes, by using vague descriptions, by not providing full disclosure of the location of vineyards or by detailing vineyards in the West Bank only in their publications in Hebrew.
This report also provides a comprehensive portrayal of the incentives of the Israeli wine industry to cultivate grapes and to develop wineries in occupied territory. Our report has found that in addition to the benefits that all commercial activities in settlements enjoy, including readily accessible land, tax benefits and other financial incentives provided by the Israeli government, the wine industry in the West Bank enjoys particular benefits and support from several government offices.
For instance, Israelis who cultivate vineyards on occupied territory are allocated subsidized water quotas; they receive funds from the Ministry of Agriculture for planting and building agricultural facilities, from the Ministry of Defense for paving roads and for fencing in the plots and from the Ministry of Tourism for turning the vineyards and wineries into tourist attractions.
Developing vineyards and wineries provide additional advantages for settlers in the West Bank. Due to a combination of legal and physical conditions, the planting of vineyards is a relatively easy and highly accessible means for taking over Palestinian land. Additionally, settlers both in the West Bank and in the Golan Heights have found that the wine industry can be used in order to develop tourism to the settlements, for local and international visitors alike. Tourist attractions do not only serve as an additional source of income for the settlements, but, more importantly, they operate to normalize and promote the entire settlement enterprise.
Winery |
Findings |
Carmel Winery(Also sold under the Yatir brand name) |
Owns vineyards in the occupied Golan Heights and uses grapes from additional vineyards in that region. On one occasion, grapes from a settler vineyard in the West Bank were documented as being harvested and brought to a Carmel winery. Our report found additional indications that the company may be using grapes from settler vineyards in the occupied West Bank. The winery denies using grapes from the West Bank. |
Barkan Winery |
Owns vineyards in occupied regions, including the West Bank and the Golan Heights. |
Golan Heights Winery |
All of the wines that the Golan Heights Winery produces are manufactured on the Golan Heights, from grapes from vineyards in this region, which is occupied territory. |
Teperberg 1870 Winery |
Owns vineyards in the occupied West Bank. The company does not provide information as to the origin of the grapes in each of its wines. |
Binyamina Winery |
Owns vineyards in the occupied West Bank. The company does not provide information as to the origin of the grapes in each of its wines. |
Tishbi Winery |
Owns vineyards in the occupied West Bank and on the Golan Heights. The company does not provide accurate information as to the origin of the grapes in each of its wines, especially in its English publications. |