Well, after long thought I forced myself to omit the items that are not below. 8 is enough, especially since this ‘Today in Palestine ’ seems to me to have more articles and reports than usual. One can read only so much, even though all furnish important information.
Items 1 and 2 are on the same subject, but from different perspectives. Both are about yesterday’s Freedom Riders. Interestingly, yesterday only one of the 13 or so domestic and international on-line newspapers that I checked had a report on them–the Associated Press report in the Washington Post. Today a good many newspapers carry depictions of the event. Amira Hass writes from a viewpoint sympathetic to the Palestinian event. The second one, a report by Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, is from the perspective of a participant.
Item 3, “ Ireland most hostile country in Europe ” is amusing to me, though not intended to be. Pro-Palestinians are strong in Ireland . Some apparently put up a simulation of a check point, and harassed and hit the ‘Palestinians” trying to go through. The conclusion at the end of the report is that anti-Israel is anti-Semitic. Very funny, because some years back a group of Israelis (I think the Coalition of Women, but am not sure) did the same in Tel Aviv in the square in front of the Cinematech. I suppose that they—Israeli Jews—were also anti-Semitic! More power to the Irish!
In item 4 Amira Hass claims that Netanyahu is less of a liar than were former PMs. Whether or not she is correct, she does bring evidence to support her claim that remind us of what other PMs did.
Item 5 furnishes a new website that analyzes arms trade in Europe and Israel .
Item 6 reports that the US air force has received new 15-ton bunker buster bombs. Scary! Will the US furnish some of these to Israel to attack Iran ? 15-tons!!!! Someone is making money on these slayer-demolishers! How many people can one 15 ton bomb kill? Scores, for sure! Imagine that this money were used for schools, hospitals, and the like to benefit humanity instead of murdering it? What a world this might be.
Item 7 is Today in Palestine . Lots of information, including more on the freedom riders.
Item 8 is a gift from an activist friend in the US —a video of about 5-6 minutes that is powerful indeed. The title is “Do Palestinians teach their children to hate.” It is not a lecture. It is a poem recited by the poetess. Don’t miss this one.
All the best,
Dorothy
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1. Haaretz
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Palestinians embark on civil disobedience protests against ‘demographic segregation’
‘We have the right to reach Jerusalem . Why doesn’t a settler need an entry permit? We do not obey apartheid rules. We’re Palestinian, and this is Palestine ,’ protesters insisted.
Quite a large number of people awaited the no. 148 Egged bus that stopped in Kokhav Ya’akov junction on Tuesday afternoon. One could immediately recognize that these weren’t the regular passengers from the neighboring settlements.
“You can’t believe what’s going on here,” whispered one religious man into his cellular phone, “it’s unbelievable.” The man was obviously referring to the mob of journalists – with their multi-sized cameras, microphones and notepads – surrounding five men and a woman who were waiting at the station.
These were six Palestinians who decided to ride to Jerusalem on an Egged bus, that usually carries mostly settlers, without the required permits, and through the Hizmeh checkpoint, which is altogether off-limits for West Bank Palestinians.
This was the first in a series of civil disobedience actions planned to protest what the organizers call “demographic segregation,” which forbids Palestinians from reaching East Jerusalem, while allowing a two-tier transportation system in the West Bank : one for Israelis and one for Palestinians. The protestors were inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Riders, who boarded buses fifty years ago to protest segregation in the southern states.
“We’re part of the common human history of struggling for freedom,” said Basel al-Araj, a pharmacist from al-Wallaja. He was arrested six times during the demonstrations against the separation barrier which disconnects his village from its lands and neighboring Palestinian towns.
It seems that the security forces had no prior information about the event. A military jeep showed up after 20 minutes, before the Border Control, police and what seemed to be a settlement security vehicle arrived.
The Palestinian Freedom Riders assumed that the settlers would be violent. Badee’ Dwak, a social worker from Hebron , was the first to express his bewilderment, claiming that “the settlers here [near Ramallah] are quiet, not like ours in Hebron .”
Of the six, only Fadi Qurun – one of the Palestinian March 15th movement leaders – had never been arrested, except for a detention of several hours after a Nabi Saleh demonstration. “Being arrested is an integral part of our existence as Palestinians under Israeli occupation,” they said as they boarded the bus followed by an army of reporters, “We’re not special.”
The 15-minute ride until the Hizmeh checkpoint passed quietly. After they revealed a flag and some placards, one of the passengers swore at them. Dwak retorted, “You’re religious, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
A foreign reporter asked a passenger from Ofra for his opinion. He answered that Arabs could ride anywhere in the country, but Jews can’t drive to Ramallah. Other journalists explained to her that the speaker was Hagai Segal , who was part of the infamous Jewish Underground in the eighties.
At Hizmeh checkpoint policemen demanded that two of the riders get off the bus, but they refused. The next effort came after the settlers descended, in a parking lot. Policeman dragged Dwak to the steps of the bus, but then left without him. Police officers, of different ranks came and went. Some of them threatened the six, and others pleaded with them.
Huwaida Arraf, a lawyer and one of the six Freedom Riders on the bus, offered the officers the “honorary passport” she received from the Palestinians for taking part in the Gaza flotilla last year. They didn’t know they were arresting an Israeli and U.S. citizen.
Up until they were arrested and dragged away, the the Freedom Riders insisted: “We have the right to reach Jerusalem . Why doesn’t a settler need an entry permit? We do not obey apartheid rules. We’re Palestinian, and this is Palestine .”
I was honored to be a freedom rider and it was team effort at its best (those who rode and the many who worked behind the scenes). Two other Palestinians were also arrested with us who were there as a reporters/observers not participants. All eight of us were released eventually pending potential trials. Fajr kindly gave us a ride to the edge of Beit Sahour from Ramallah (we were released at Qalandia checkpoint) where my wife met us there with my car and then she and I gave a ride to Nadim and Badi’ to Hebron . I thus arrived home at 1 :30 AM and the phones started ringing again at 7 AM. I am extremely tired and with a headache but wanted to send you a brief report and links to stories about this amazing and inspiring experience. While released, we are still charged with “illegal entry to Jerusalem ” and with “obstructing police business” pending potential trial.
This was one of the most heavily covered media events I ever participated in. It was also streamed live on the internet and nearly 100,000 people signed a petition of support for us freedom riders (https://secure.avaaz.org/en/palestine_freedom_riders/?aerQkcb). Thus, I do not need to write to you in detail about how three buses refused to let us board and then one driver (who later told journalists he did not know what was going on otherwise would have also refused) allowed us on the bus and what happened on and off the bus. Below are some links to stories published that give you a taste of this. Note especially the signs that we carried and showed before we rode the bus and from the windows of the bus (I am the one with the “DIGNITY” sign). Perhaps I will write more personally when my mind is clearer and I have had some sleep. But there are two anecdotes that happened that are kind of unusual and funny and in some way worth telling while they are fresh in my mind:
-They took me to the Shabak (“Israeli intelligence”) guy before they took me to the investigator for the bus issue. The Shabak guy did not ask me about the bus at all. He introduced himself as head of the Shabak area of Ramallah (and previously of Nablus and Jenin). He asked me if I was abroad recently. I said yes. He said what happened when you came back. I said I was interrogated at the bridge. He said “come-on interrogating is a big word”. I said I do not know what else to call an 8 hour delay including 2 hours of actual questioning. He said what else they told you. I said that the interrogation would continue and that there is a captain “Suhail” or “Suhaib” or something like that who will call me later. He said that that it is him and his name is “Shihab”! I said “well then maybe we will save another visit”! He told me that is not likely as I seem to continue to “cause problems and violate laws”. I said there is something called international laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Denial of freedom of movement and entry to Jerusalem while allowing colonial settlers to live on our land and have freedom to travel in and out of Jerusalem on segregated buses is a violation of the International Convention Against the Crime of Apartheid. We also engaged in a political discussion and I explained about why Israel now has no incentive for peace ( the three main sources of income for it would all dry up if there is peace) and my views of a democratic, pluralistic country for its entire people.
-One young Ashkenazi soldier was very arrogant and even called me “Professor Teez” (Teez is Arabic for “ass”). We all (freedom riders) laughed it off and I told him that I did not insult him and that when someone insults me they demean themselves first. When he repeated it after my interrogation by the Shabak, I stood up and confronted him and the Druz officer intervened and the soldier moved away. There were other incidents with other people similar showing that our collective attitude was strong, defiant, and resilient. We all had Palestinian Kuffiyyas and kept wearing them. Fadi even wrapped himself in the Palestinian flag the whole time except when they did the full body search. We have some video from inside the compound which I will share later.
I came out to find the news that the Zionist mayor of New York Mike Bloomberg ordered the clearing out of the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters for now; a very important protest *. But my reading of history and trends tell me that the global intifada will only accelerate as a result of repression by the powers to be.
Anti-Israel protest outside Israeli Embassy building in Dublin
‘ Ireland most hostile country in Europe ‘
Foreign Ministry accuses Irish government of inciting against Israel . Dublin City Council sponsors display presenting IDF soldiers as ‘Nazi troops’ abusing Palestinians
Hatred of Israel reaches new levels in Ireland : An outrageous anti-Israel display was held over the weekend on Dublin ‘s main pedestrian street, presenting IDF soldiers as Nazi troops.
As part of the display, sponsored by the Dublin City Council, a group of pro-Palestinian activists set up a model of the separation fence and an IDF roadblock.
The activists dressed up as soldiers and beat, humiliated and pointed their weapons at other activists dressed as Palestinians, in front of thousands of Irish citizens and tourists.
The display joins accusations voiced against Israel at the Irish parliament last week, on the backdrop of claims that Israel “kidnapped”, abused and undressed Irish nationals who took part in a Gaza-bound flotilla stopped by the Israeli army recently.
Israel has strongly denied the accusations.
But that’s not all. A Facebook group launched about two months ago called for heavy rocks to be thrown at the Israeli Embassy building in Dublin . Anti-Israel elements recently vandalized a Dublin auditorium slated to host a concert by Israeli singer Izhar Ashdot.
The Facebook accounts of Israeli Embassy officials have been attacked by Irish hackers and, in addition, anti-Israeli elements are attempting to disrupt an Israeli film festival organized by the embassy in Dublin next week.
“The Irish government is feeding its people with anti-Israel hatred,” an Israeli official argued. “What we are seeing here is clear anti-Semitism.”
Foreign Ministry sources said Ireland had undoubtedly become the most hostile country to Israel in the European Union, “pushing all of Europe ‘s countries to a radical and uncompromising approach.”
According to the sources, when Israeli Ambassador Boaz Modai arrived in Dublin , one of Ireland ‘s leading newspapers greeted him with an article titled, “Welcome to hell.”
The officials voiced their concern that the pressures would lead to the cancelation of the Israeli film festival.
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4. Haaretz
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Netanyahu is less of a liar than past Israeli PMs
Merkel, Sarkozy and Obama, do not believe Netanyahu, but it seems that they and their governments are pissed off at him because he’s not as good a liar as his predecessors in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Does Benjamin Netanyahu lie more than other politicians? That, at least, is the impression one gets from various reports in the press. But does he lie more than other prime ministers about Israel ‘s strong (lack of ) desire for peace with the Palestinians? To say that would be downright mendacious.
The mouth speaks peace while the hand drives the bulldozer – the essence of Israeli policy. Yitzhak Rabin may have had a few slips of the tongue that gave hope to those of us who recoil from yoking God and real estate together. But it was during Rabin’s second term that the bypass roads to the settlements were built, making Psagot and the Etzion Bloc part of Jerusalem . It was during his watch that Hebron was punished with a ruinous curfew because a Jew massacred Palestinian worshippers. It was during his tenure that the closure policy was perfected, cutting off the Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip from the other territories occupied in 1967. Succeeding Israeli governments merely continued down the same slope.
The characterization of Netanyahu as a liar rests on two problematic assumptions. One, that consciously-chosen words are supposed to tell us something about intentions and policies. There is no area where Israel has used declarations by leaders to cover up intentions more than in our relations toward Palestinians (on both sides of the Green Line ). Contracts with architects, expropriation orders, checks to contractors. These are the words that speak the truth.
The second assumption is that the prime minister is the one who makes the decisions. But when it comes to our attitude toward Palestinians, the democracy, for Jews, is paramount. Every prime minister was and is the loyal representative of the decisions of the majority of the Jewish public and their pockets. The majority that went to watch the air strikes on the Gaza Strip from a nearby hill and fills Mann Auditorium, the one that relaxes in parks that used to be Palestinian villages and stands to attention during the Holocaust Day siren. It’s not mathematical gymnastics that give Netanyahu’s coalition its stability.
Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama, we are told, do not believe Netanyahu. But it seems that they and their governments are pissed off at him because he’s not as good a liar as his predecessors in the Prime Minister’s Office. They’re angry because he doesn’t bother to cover up the gap between the words and the bulldozers. It makes it harder for them to conceal the falsehood in U.S. and European policy. A policy which supposedly seeks peace in the region and a state for the Palestinians; in practice, one that collaborates with Israel ‘s aim to impose a capitulation arrangement on the Palestinians.
Netanyahu is lying? On its website, the OECD states: “The common thread of our work is a shared commitment to market economies backed by democratic institutions and focused on the wellbeing of all citizens.” Those who admitted Israel as a member knew that featured among the institutions backing its market economy are the Civil Administration, the Interior Ministry and the Jewish National Fund. Any resemblance between them and democracy and the well-being of all citizens is purely coincidental.
A major explanation for the lie can be found in the truthful words of Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. “Israeli technology is proving critical to improving our Homeland Security and protecting our troops,” he said on November 4 in remarks to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
And what’s true for the United States is also true for its European allies. “[Jo]int exercises allow us to learn from Israel ‘s experience in urban warfare and counterterrorism,” Shapiro said – and without the occupation there would be no urban warfare.
There’s more: “[W]e don’t provide assistance out of charity. We provide assistance because it benefits our security … we support Israel because it is in our national interests to do so.” So who would get caught up in trifles like exercising the Palestinians’ right to self-determination?
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Website launch – Who is arming Israel ?
Posted on July 11, 2011 by http://disarmtheconflict.wordpress.com/
Amsterdam/Antwerp/Brussels July 11, 2011 — Today Campagne tegen Wapenhandel, Vredesactie and Quaker Council for European Affairs launched a website analysing arms trade and military relations between Europe and Israel . The website gives information about the nature and extent of these relations and about relevant arms trade regulations.
As an important economic partner of Israel , Europe could use its position to promote a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There is no military solution to this conflict.
The website is work in progress and people are invited to contribute their information on research results, campaigns and policy developments concerning military relations between Europe and Israel .
You can find the site on
http://disarmtheconflict.wordpress.com/
Please react to disarmtheconflict@gmail.com
This entry was posted in News and tagged Campagne tegen Wapenhandel, QCEA, Vredesactie. Bookmark the permalink. Related Campaigns: Military Embargo Latest News & Analysis
■European anti-arms trade network endorses international call for Israel arms embargo
■Website launch – Who is arming Israel ?
■U.S. Coalition Contributes to Global Military Embargo on Israel
■Irish Congress of Trade Unions Maintains Commitment to BDS and Moves Policy Forward
■Palestinian civil society calls for military embargo of Israel
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■Palestinian civil society calls for military embargo of Israel
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6. Haaretz
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Report: U.S. Air Force receives new 15-ton bunker buster bombs
U.S. Air Force started receiving the massive bombs in September, Bloomberg news agency reports; the bombs are capable of destroying underground targets, such as Iran ‘s nuclear sites. [bigger and stronger does not mean better. Dorothy]
The U.S. Air Force has received new 30,000-pound bombs capable of destroying deep underground bunkers, the Bloomberg news agency reported.
The bombs, designed to be delivered by B-2 stealth bombers, “will meet requirements for the current operational need,” U.S. Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The U.S. Air Force reportedly started receiving the bombs in September. The bombs are six times bigger than the U.S. Air Force’s current bunker-busters.
According to the Bloomberg report, the Boeing company in August received a $32 million contract for eight of the bombs.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran rose recently after the release of an IAEA report that found that Iran has been working on developing nuclear weapons since 2003.
The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out conducting military strikes against Iran ‘s nuclear facilities, some of which are located in fortified underground locations.
