Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

• Irish flotilla ship will not sail to Gaza due to extensive sabotage

• Prisoner woes: a 14-year-old, an 18-year-old missile victim with one leg, and the father worried sick about his son who’s been held in solitary for 40 days

• Jordanian activists buy $800,000 boat for Gaza flotilla

• WikiLeaks document on Gaza blockade puts Israel’s flotilla hasbara to shame

• Israeli Army can’t provide evidence of flotilla’s violent plans, story unravels

• The ‘No Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza’ Canard: From massacre myopia to blockade blindness

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cancels plans to attend Jerusalem Film Fest following ‘Nakba Day violence’

• International solidarity & history in the making

• ‘Politico’ says Jewish Democratic donors may abandon Obama, though they like Dennis Ross

• ‘Washington Post’ exposes absurdity of Israeli response to flotilla

Irish flotilla ship will not sail to Gaza due to extensive sabotage
Jun 29, 2011 10:02 pm | annie

It pains me to write this.

IRISHSHIPTOGAZA.ORG

Terrible news has reached us in the early hours of Thursday – the Irish Ship To Gaza, MV Saoirse, has been SABOTAGED, presumably by agents of Israel. The damage is extensive, and indeed, if it had gone undetected apparently may have been lıfe-threatenıng if the ship had been at sea.

This is an unacceptable act of aggression against an Irish vessel (which is sovereign Irish territory), against the Freedom Flotilla, and most importantly against the people of Palestine which this flotilla was intending to reach in an act of humanitarian solidarity.

Irishtimes.com has also reported the Irish ship, the MV Saoirse, is no longer taking part in the flotilla because it has been “dangerously” sabotaged.

“This was the type of sabotage that endangered human life,” Mr Lane said last night. “They put divers under the boat who cut a piece out of the propeller shaft. That means that the damage would have happened gradually and what would have happened eventually is that the propeller would have come up through the bottom of the boat, caused a flood in the engine room and would have caused the boat to sink.”

He said the attack was “unnerving” for the crew, classifying it as a “violent attack” on the lives of those aboard. He said pictures detailing the damage to the ship would be published by the campaign today during a press conference in Dublin.

Mr Lane said that, due to the extent of the damage, the MV Saoirse would not be in a position to sail, adding that just six of the 20-plus crew who had been due to set sail would be able to take part in the flotilla by joining an Italian-based vessel today.

Prisoner woes: a 14-year-old, an 18-year-old missile victim with one leg, and the father worried sick about his son who’s been held in solitary for 40 days

Jun 29, 2011

Kate

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Wikimania 2011 sponsored by Israel government company that develops East Jerusalem
AIC 28 June — …EJDC projects, including settlements, conservation areas and new “heritage” sites, have been sprouting up steadily across East Jerusalem. Palestinian residents in Silwan, for example, are under direct threat from the excavation of the “City of David”, while the Jerusalem Municipality has issued plans to convert much of the Wadi Hilweh and Al-Bustan neighbourhoods into a settler-run archaeological park. To support this plan, Palestinians are evacuated from their homes, denied building permits, and demolition orders are often issued through the municipality on tenuous licensing pretenses.
link to www.alternativenews.org
AICafe 28.6.11 Landscape eco-museum project in Battir
Battir, a village of some 4,000 inhabitants in the Bethlehem area, borders Beit Jala, the villages of Husan and Al Walaje and the Green Line in the north. Battir residents received numerous Israeli military orders aimed at seizing Battir’s lands for various Israeli purposes. Some 900 dunams of land have been confiscated in the area of the “western countryside villages” for the building of the Separation Wall. Battir is also constantly exposed to the establishment of mobile checkpoints and a new settlement is planned on the hill between Battir and Al Walaje.  The project Battir Landscape Eco-museum: Management and Conservation of Natural and Cultural Resources of Bethlehem Governorate aims to protect the territory from Israeli land confiscation. The establishment of a Landscape Eco-museum is the output of several years of participatory research and planning.
link to www.alternativenews.org
IOA orders demolition of Maghrabi Bridge
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 29 June — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has ordered the demolition of the bridge leading to the Maghareba gate in the Aqsa Mosque in September to benefit from international preoccupation with the UN vote on recognizing a Palestinian state. Hebrew daily Ha’aretz said on Wednesday that the Israeli police recommendation of that date was meant to coincide with the UN vote to ensure that Arab reaction would be minimal. It said that the Israeli police force was still fearing confrontations in occupied Jerusalem as a result of the demolition process. The Maghareba gate is controlled by the IOA and is the only entrance gate for the Jews to the holy Aqsa Mosque.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israeli court rules to evict 8 Arab families in Ramla
RAMLA (WAFA) 29 June — An Israeli court Wednesday ruled to evict eight Arab families from their houses in Ramla city in Israel within a month, under the pretext of being ‘unprotected tenants’. The owner of the houses, Abdel Razek El-Ajou, said that he bought a piece of land and a house from the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) in 1960, through a protected lease by the Israeli housing company, Amidar. He built new houses for his sons in line with the contract, where the house owners paid monthly rents to the company. “Five years ago, Amidar stopped receiving the rents and filed a law suit against us in the court demanding to evict us. The company claimed that we are unprotected tenants. The court decided to uproot and evict us,” El-Ajou added
link to english.wafa.ps
IOF confiscates hundreds of Ramallah dunums
RAMALLAH (PIC) 29 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) confiscated hundreds of Palestinian dunums surrounding the villages of Mazra‘a Gharbiya and Janiya to the west of Ramallah city, citizens told the PIC on Tuesday. Supplying the PIC with the published map, they said that IOF troops and settlers stormed the confiscated land on Monday and installed signs on it, adding that the settlers had survey maps and that engineers with necessary equipment worked on outlining the land. They said that the IOF told the Red Cross, who was delegated by those citizens to inquire about the issue, that the land, rich with olive trees, was confiscated. The commander of the civil administration of the West Bank said in his decision that the land was expropriated according to the absentee law issued by the IOF after occupying the West Bank, which stipulates the expropriation of any land, which owners left and immigrated outside Palestine. [or if they can’t access their land for several years because they’re not allowed to]
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israel to seize 189 dunums of Palestinian land in Nablus
NABLUS (WAFA) 28 June — Israeli forces Wednesday handed landowners seizure notices to take over 189 dunums (1 Dunum=1000 Square Meters) of Palestinian land in Qaryut, a village south of Nablus.  Ghassan Daghlas, the official of the settlement file in the north of the West Bank, said that Israeli forces banned the Palestinians from entering their land, which they considered ‘state property’.
link to english.wafa.ps
Settlers
Outpost razed; settlers clash with police
Ynet 29 June — Three buildings at illegal outpost Ramat Migron demolished; two girls arrested for throwing paint bottle at police
link to www.ynetnews.com
Watch: Settlers and Palestinians who chose to live as neighbors / Harvey Stein
972blog 29 June — There’s a loose “movement” taking place in the West Bank: some settlers and Palestinians are meeting. It pushes the envelope on both sides, making a lot of people cynical — or angry (I have some leftist Israeli friends who think it’s totally hypocritical). Rabbi Menachem Froman, the rabbi of the settlement of Tekoa, is usually viewed as the inspiration for the work.
link to 972mag.com
Detention
IOF troops storm homes of liberated prisoners, round up child among others
JENIN (PIC) 29 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the village of Anin west of Jenin city on Wednesday and broke into the homes of a number of liberated prisoners, local sources said. Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the officer accompanying the soldiers met with a number of ex-prisoners and warned them against indulging in anti Israel activity. He also told them that they are under close watch. They said that the soldiers burst into a number of shops and questioned citizens.
Meanwhile, IOF soldiers arrested two Palestinians in Husan village, west of Bethlehem city, including a 14-year-old child and took them away blindfolded and handcuffed after terrorizing their families.
The soldiers on Tuesday detained four Palestinians in Al-Khalil, human rights sources told the PIC, adding that they were taken to Etzion detention center.
In the Negev, Israeli border police arrested 100 Palestinian workers from the West Bank in the village of Rahet for working in 1948 occupied land without permit.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israel to crack down on Hamas prisoners’ contact with Gaza leadership
Haaretz 29 June — New move comes as government steps up effort to toughen conditions of Palestinian security prisoners.
link to www.haaretz.com
Detainee’s father concerned for son’s health
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 June — The father of a Palestinian detained in an Israeli prison expressed concern for his son’s health, a prisoners’ center reported. Haitham Salhiya’s father learned from released detainees that his son was put in solitary confinement in a cell the size of a small mattress for 19 consecutive days in Al-Saba prison. He was later put in isolation for 21 consecutive days in Ramon prison.
link to www.maannews.net
Italian photographer captures suffering of Palestinian female prisoners, tells true story to the world / Falastine Al-Remawi
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 29 June — Italian photographer Venturo Formicone Wednesday inaugurated his photographic exhibition ‘Suspended Lives’ in Ramallah, which supports and gives voice to Palestinian female ex-prisoners  and prisoners in Israeli prisons, shedding light on the human rights violations they have been subjected to … “When I presented these photographs in Madrid last February, I saw people stop, check each photo and read the story, which is a way to support Palestinians. The Spanish government funded this work and that also shows support to the Palestinian issue. Each photo says I am a former prisoner, I am a human being,” he added.
link to english.wafa.ps
Arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah in Britain
Islamic Movement leader in Israel arrested in London
Haaretz 29 June — Head of northern branch of Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Ra‘ad Salah, expected to be deported from U.K.; reason for arrest unknown … Zahi Nujeidat, spokesperson for the northern branch of the movement, told Haaretz Wednesday morning that Salah was arrested at the hotel where he was staying after a speaking engagement in the U.K. city of Leicester.  Nujeidat said that there is no explanation for the Islamic leader’s arrest, but he believes that it is largely due to the Zionist lobby and members of the British Jewish community.
link to www.haaretz.com
An Israeli trap for Britain / MK Haneen Zoabi
Guardian 29 June — In arresting Sheikh Raed Salah, the UK authorities support the persecution of Arab citizens of Israel — The decision to ban the Palestinian leader Sheikh Raed Salah from entering Britain, and then to arrest him, was transparently not based on any serious examination of his political activities. It was an ugly kneejerk response to the growing hostility of the Israeli establishment and its supporters abroad towards anyone opposing its racist policies – and a rising tide of Islamophobia in Europe. Salah is head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, and three times elected mayor of the Palestinian town of Umm el-Fahm. He and I represent different political organisations and traditions. But there are no legal or legitimate reasons to pursue him. The Israeli persecution of him has recently intensified, as have its attacks on leaders of Palestinian citizens of Israel more generally.
link to www.guardian.co.uk
Sequence of events surrounding Sheikh Raed Salah’s arrest
London (Pal Telegraph) 29 June  – Sheikh Raed Salah arrived in London on Saturday 25th using his Israeli passport to enter Britain legally as he has done many times before. He was not questioned by anyone and there was no indication of the existence of an exclusion order. Over the past few days, Sheikh Salah has addressed MPs in the British parliament and has spoken in large public gatherings. His subsequent arrest last night will be challenged in the courts as unjustified.
link to www.paltelegraph.com
Activism / Solidarity
IDF has no way of stopping mass non-violent protest in West Bank
Haaretz 29 June — As September draws nearer, the Israel Defense Forces has been conducting drills in order to contend with the possibility of a mass civilian uprising in the West Bank in the wake of the Palestinian bid to seek unilateral recognition in the United Nations. “A non-violent protest of 4,000 people or more, even if they only march to a checkpoint or a settlement, and especially if the Palestinian police does not deter them, will be unstoppable,” one IDF officer claims. “Such a great number of determined people cannot be stopped by tear gas and rubber bullets.”
link to www.haaretz.com
Gaza
Israel continues to hold missile victim arrested at border:
GAZA (PIC) 29 June — Israel continues to hold Ayyub Atallah, 18, from the Gaza Strip, who has suffered extreme health complications after he was hit with shrapnel three years ago, the Gaza Prisoners’ Affairs Ministry said Tuesday. Atallah was arrested on 26 June 2011 on the Beit Hanoun crossing while returning from a trip to get an artificial leg in Slovenia. He lost his leg after Israeli forces launched a missile in April 2008, the ministry’s media director Riyadh al-Ashqar said. Atallah’s crossing of the border was done in coordination with Israel, which waited for his three-year treatment to finish ahead of his arrest. The detention poses grave danger to his health as he requires follow-up.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
IOF troops fire at citizens’ homes south of Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS (PIC) 29 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened machine gun fire at Palestinian homes and cultivated land lots east of Khan Younis, [in the] south of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday morning. Media sources said that IOF soldiers stationed at the Kissufim military position to the east of the city opened heavy fire at the Palestinian residential neighborhoods in Qarara and Khuza‘a. They said that the shooting did not cause any casualty but spread panic among the civilians especially women and children.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
The blockade on Gaza began long before Hamas came to power / Mya Guarnieri
972blog 29 June — …Sari Bashi is the founder and director of Gisha, an Israeli NGO that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement. She says that the gradual closure of Gaza began in 1991, when Israel canceled the general exit permit that allowed most Palestinians to move freely through Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Non-Jewish residents of Gaza and the West Bank were required to obtain individual permits. This was during the First Intifada. While the mere mention of the word invokes the image of suicide bombers in the Western imagination, it’s important to bear in mind that the First Intifada was, by and large, a non-violent uprising comprised of civil disobedience, strikes, and boycotts of Israeli goods.
link to 972mag.com
Gaza children aim to break world records
GAZA (Ma‘an) 29 June — More than three thousand students from the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees are expected to break the first of four Guinness world records Thursday as part of a summer games program organized by UNRWA … The world records being attempted include the largest amount of people flying large parachutes from the ground, which was set last year at 1,547. The event will be held at the Khan Younis stadium. “We intend to double the previous record”, said UNRWA spokesman, Chris Gunness. “If kids in Gaza are given half the chance, free from the constraints of this counter-productive blockade, they would show their full potential and be number one in the world. These records will put the spotlight on the world’s only community of hundreds of thousands of fenced in and locked up children. The message is simple: Give Gaza kids their freedom to be children. We need to end this blockade, which has become a blockade against childhood itself.”
link to www.maannews.net
Flotilla
Breaking news (so far unconfirmed) Deadly sabotage on Irish ship
29 June — Author: smac | DerryFriendsofPalestine — Irish ship to gaza has been sabotaged by underwater divers Life threatening damage has been done to the boat which could have resulted in the deaths of Irish people onboard the MV Saoirse. Press conference tomorrow at 11Am Dublin
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com
Gaza flotilla organizers demand Greek police provide security for ships
Haaretz 29 June — Two ships from Sweden and Greece sabotaged over last two days; organizer Manolis Plionis says damage ‘won’t stop us from sailing,’ believes both ships will participate in flotilla … Some of the activists announced that they themselves plan to guard the ships … According to the organizers, the propellers on both ships were damaged, and the pipes leading to the engines were damaged to the extent that an explosion might have occurred once the ships set sail, had it gone unnoticed.
link to www.haaretz.com
Flotilla: Even state officials say Netanyahu, IDF spread lies / Noam Sheizaf
972mag 29 June — According to government sources, the army doesn’t have any evidence that the flotilla activists are planning violent resistance, yet it publicly accuses them of conspiring to murder soldiers — The top story in two of Israel’s leading daily papers yesterday was a bombshell: The IDF unveiled plans by flotilla passengers to kill soldiers trying to stop the ships from getting to Gaza. Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s most widely read paper, ran a headline declaring “Flotilla activists set to kill,” which was attributed to military sources (but only in the fine print). The story declared, “Intelligence information revealed violent plans.” In the inside pages, the headline declared that this flotilla is considered to be “more violent than the previous one.” … Luckily, it didn’t take Max Blumenthal to debunk this one. The media’s tone today was entirely different. Government sources have told Maariv that the so-called “intelligence information” was a spin by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, reflecting “a Hasbara [propaganda] hysteria.”
link to 972mag.com
Hysteria, ‘hasbara’ and the flotilla / Larry Derfner
JPost 29 June — Rattling the Cage: Israel’s propaganda machine is in full swing prior to the ships’ upcoming arrival … I think Freedom Flotilla 2, even without making much progress toward Gaza, is playing hell with Israel’s image — or, rather, inducing Israel to show off its worst self (much as Freedom Flotilla 1 did.) Once again, Israel has gone hysterical, it’s lost touch with reality … I’m still waiting for the IDF to release all the videos confiscated from the Mavi Marmara — not just those that show the people aboard beating the commandos sliding down the ropes, but the stuff that happened before and after, too, especially the footage of the commandos killing those nine people. Why won’t the IDF let us see that? Why do “senior officials in Jerusalem” make up scare stories about the flotilla? Why does Benny Gantz try to portray Gaza as a horn of plenty? Why does Israel twist and distort and cherrypick its way through the truth about Freedom Flotilla 1, Freedom Flotilla 2, Operation Cast Lead and everything else that has to do with its treatment of Palestinians? And why on earth does anyone believe this “hasbara” — which has come to mean “Israeli disinformation” — anymore?
link to www.jpost.com
Israeli ministers slam flotilla threat as ‘spin’
JERUSALEM (AFP) 29 June — Several Israeli ministers have accused the army of “spin” over its claims that activists on board a Gaza-bound flotilla plan to harm Israeli soldiers, Maariv newspaper reported on Wednesday. The paper quoted several unnamed members of Israel’s security cabinet as saying the claims were “media spin” and “public relations hysteria.”
link to maannews.net
Gaza flotilla begins to form as first ship heads toward maritime meeting point / Amira Hass
Haaretz 29 June — One ship participating in the flotilla to Gaza has already set sail toward the flotilla’s scheduled meeting place in international waters. The French ship “Dignity” does not intend on anchoring before reaching the meeting point at sea, but it is still unclear how long it will be waiting for the rest of the ships, some of which were said to be sabotaged.
link to www.haaretz.com
Gaza-bound flotilla underway
Ynet 29 June — French ship which departed Saturday apparently skipped Athens stop, en route to rendezvous. Jordanian activists say they have purchased additional ship for $800,000
link to www.ynetnews.com
Gaza and thoughts of a starving Ireland / Ray McGovern
28 June — Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has joined with other humanitarians in a small flotilla determined to sail from Athens to Gaza in a challenge to Israel’s embargo of 1.5 million Palestinians trapped on that narrow strip of land. Awaiting departure, McGovern contemplates the forces of past and present that brought him to his decision: Thinking further here in Athens about how it came to be that I joined the passengers on “The Audacity of Hope” and why I feel so strongly about the oppression in Gaza, it struck me that my Irish genes (as well as my theology) may be playing a role. During the mid-19th Century potato famine, when the starving Irish were being treated in much the same way as Gazans are today, how much my ancestors must have wished for some sign that someone abroad actually cared about them.
link to consortiumnews.com
Gaza-bound — From Aboriginal to Palestinian rights / Amira Hass
GREECE (Haaretz) 29 June — This is not the first time that Sylvia Hale, 69, has been asked why she is so active for the Palestinian cause. What about the discrimination against the Aborigines in her own country, Australia, for example? Hale, a former Green Party parliamentarian who is still active in the party, immediately responded: “Undoubtedly, Australia has a very racist history. Aborigines were give the right to vote only in 1967. But whoever asks us ‘what about the Aborigines’ are not the ones who are interested in their rights, and not the ones fighting for those rights. They are using this as a diversionary tactic for evading the debate over Israel’s policy, or to delegitimize criticism of Israel.”
link to www.haaretz.com
Violence
Taxi driver assaulted in Beit Ommar
PSP 26 June — On the morning of June 26, Mahmoud Ahleia, a resident of Beit Ommar, was driving back into the town when Israeli soldiers stopped him at the entrance and questioned him about his car. Ahleia is a taxi driver, and although he has a taxi license, the soldiers told him that he needs to post a sticker which will identify his vehicle as a taxi, instead of a private car. Most of Beit Ommar is located in Area B, where the Palestinian Authority has jurisdiction over civil control. Thus, the Israeli soldiers who stopped Ahleia did not have legal precedence to do so. The Israeli soldiers removed Ahleia from his car and took him into the military watchtower at the entrance to Beit Ommar, where he was beaten.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org
Israeli forces fire at truck driver near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 28 June — Israeli forces on Tuesday fired at a Palestinian truck driver near Za‘tara checkpoint in the northern West Bank after he tried to run over an officer, witnesses told Ma‘an. The driver managed to speed away into Nablus, onlookers said.
link to www.maannews.net
Racism / Discrimination / Incitement
Netanya: Man suspected of stabbing Palestinian worker due to nationalistic motives
Palestinian man found stabbed in the chest two weeks ago; 23-year-old suspect says stabbing occurred because victim was ‘staring at his sister’. [Mississippi 1955?]
link to www.haaretz.com
Israel yet to act against Safed rabbis who warned against renting to Arabs
Haaretz 29 June — Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein says action against municipal rabbis still being examined by relevant officials; letter sent by rabbis in December last year warned homeowners not to rent to Arabs because of halakhic ban.
link to www.haaretz.com
US funds study on incitement caused by Israeli and Palestinian textbooks
Haaretz 29 June — In an effort to settle one of the longest-running disputes in the Middle East peace process, American, Israeli and Palestinian researchers are conducting what purports to be the first scientific study of incitement in Palestinian and Israeli textbooks.sis of how Palestinian and Israeli textbooks depict the “other”.
link to www.haaretz.com
Suppression of dissent
Boycott bill: A way to persecute leftists / Yossi Gurvitz
972mag 28 June — Under the guise of a bill against boycotts, the Knesset is muzzling the anti-settlement left — The Knesset’s Judicial Committee, led by MK David Rotem (Israel Beitenu) approved yesterday the “boycott bill” for its final reading. This likely means that the bill will imminently become a law … the bill is now wider: Where earlier on it targeted individuals, now it also targets corporations and NGOs. Article 4 (1) of the bill, for instance, seems to be an attempt to deny tax exemption status to left-wing NGOs, by denying organizations supporting a boycott of settlement products their status as a public institution. Article 4 further dictates that companies who supports a boycott on settlements — such as the Israeli companies who participate in the building of Rawabi, who are contractually obligated to refrain from buying settlement products — will not be eligible for government benefits or securities, for which other companies are eligible.
link to 972mag.com
Interview – Janan Abdu-Makhoul: “What cows are to India, security is to Israel: when they call in security, human rights vanish”
Amnesty blog 16 June — Janan Abdu is the wife of Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and a well-known human rights and civil society activist. Earlier this year, Ameer was convicted on various counts of having contact with enemies of Israel and espionage after a plea bargain agreement at his trial. The confession on which Ameer’s conviction and sentencing were based, was admitted as evidence by the court, despite allegations that he was tortured during his interrogation.
link to blogs.amnesty.org.uk
Sports in Arab Israeli society
No Arabs, no goals / MK Ahmed Tibi
Haaretz 28 June — 1. As is the case in all other spheres of life, sport in the Arab communities also suffers from neglect, non-inclusiveness and discrimination. There isn’t a single Olympic-size swimming pool in the Arab communities, and regular pools, too, are few and far between. There are many Arab swimmers, but their horizon for advancement and professionalism is a very narrow one. Moreover, the field of women’s sport – such as basketball, soccer, swimming and athletics – which should enjoy widespread interest, does not receive the preferential budget it deserves. Arab athletes have achieved success in boxing, judo, tae kwon do and karate, but there are no professional bodies to support them.
link to www.haaretz.com
Part-time heroes try to change age-old patterns / Udi Hirsch
Haaretz 29 June — Being an Arab sports reporter in Israel usually means you also need a day job, but that doesn’t stop many journalists from trying to improve things — There’s no use trying to contact Shaker Mo‘assi before 2 P.M., even if you have a hot story about Bnei Sakhnin, the most successful Arab-Israeli soccer team. Mo‘assi, head of the soccer desk for the weekly Panorama, needs the morning for his day job, which he refuses to talk about.
link to www.haaretz.com
Hollow hopes and sad delusions / Zouheir Bahloul
Haaretz 29 June — In Israel the situation of Arab athletes is dismal, catastrophical, but it is doubtful whether Israeli society can support the drastic change needed … Sports are supposed to help ethnic minorities survive … Here in Israel, the situation in what is know as the “sector” is stagnant: There is almost way of supporting sports activities, and many talented boys and girls never get a chance to explore possibilities which could help them expose their talents. Since there are precious few other alternatives, many young Arabs turn to the simplest activity they know: smoking a hookah.  
link to www.haaretz.com
Arab athletes join Israel’s Special Olympics team for first time
Haaretz 26 June — Two Israeli Arab athletes will represent the country at the Special Olympics in Athens this year, for the first time in history. Tennis players Muhammad Kunbar of East Jerusalem and Jafar Tawil from Beit Safafa, both 20, will strive for the gold this week alongside Elad Gevandschnaider, 22, of Be’er Sheva and Tamir Segal, 34, of Katzrin.
link to www.haaretz.com
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Report: Jordan to oppose PA statehood bid
Ynet 29 June —  A senior Jordanian official says the Hashemite kingdom will vote against a Palestinian statehood bid scheduled to be put before the UN General Assembly in September. “Jordan’s top national interests will be in danger if the Palestinian Authority declares statehood unilaterally — especially in everything related to the issue of refugees, water, Jerusalem, and the borders,” the UAE-based al-Bayan quoted a Jordanian state official as saying.
link to www.ynetnews.com
President Abbas opens embassy in Azerbaijan
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 June — President Mahmoud Abbas officially opened a Palestinian embassy in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, accompanied by PLO official Saeb Erekat, Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh and his advisor Mustapha Abu Ar-Rub.
link to www.maannews.net

Russia opens Gaza consulate
VoR 29 June — Russia has opened a consular office in Gaza, to serve the needs of some 200 Russian nationals in this Palestinian territory. The announcement is from the Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.
link to english.ruvr.ru
Video: Hamas official: I would support Fayyad as transitional PM / Dimi Reider
972mag 27 June — Ashley Bates interviews Dr. Ahmed Youssef — Despite the possibility of Salam Fayyad staying on as prime minister in the transitional Hamas-Fatah government being described as one of the major pitfalls awaiting the unity agreement, Youssef spends much of the time praising Fayyad as “humble,” “open minded”, someone he would feel comfortable discussing issues with, and ends up endorsing him as the best candidate to head the transitional cabinet.
link to 972mag.com
US Senate passes resolution threatening to suspend aid to Palestinians
Haaretz 29 June — Resolution 185 calls on Palestinians to halt bid for unilateral recognition in UN, calls on Obama to veto the UN vote in September.
link to www.haaretz.com
French senator calls MKs ‘colonialists’
Ynet 29 June — Members of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee were assaulted by a French senator Tuesday while meeting with a number of senators in Paris. Among other things, she called the MKs “colonialists”.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Arkia diverts Denmark flights to Sweden
Haaretz 29 June — In an escalation of the aviation security dispute between Denmark and Israel, which has led to a suspension of flights to and from Copenhagen by Israeli carriers, Arkia Airlines will use Malmo Airport in neighboring Sweden … Denmark recently refused to allow Israeli security agents to carry out their own security checks on Israeli airline flights from Copenhagen to Tel Aviv.
link to english.themarker.com
Other news
Fatah official: Palestinians may begin using dollars
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 27 June — A leading Fatah figure has revealed some of the means that might be used in the event the UN declines to take a positive decision on Palestinian statehood and its membership in the Security Council. “The Palestinian leadership will be pushed to take decisions with strategic dimension in dealing with this matter, including the use of the US dollar as the main currency in the Palestinian markets instead of the Israeli shekel,” said Muhammad Shtayyeh on Monday, speaking at the Justice Ministry in Ramallah … US dollars are widely used in the Palestinian territories in addition to the Israeli shekel. The Jordanian dinar and Egyptian pound are frequently used in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, respectively.
link to www.maannews.net
Tradition mingles with modernity in West Bank fashion show
Xinhua 28 June — …The fashion show held in Nablus this week, included the show of 25 different designs of Palestinian traditional clothes that were inspired by various geographical areas in Palestinian territories. The traditional dresses are Palestinian traditional handmade. Sahar Erqawi, the organizer of the project in the women department in the municipality of Nablus said the fashion show aims at keeping the Palestinian heritage and traditions and protect it from being stolen by the Israelis, adding “the dresses were a mixture of the old traditions and the modern designs.”
link to english.peopledaily.com.cn
IRS fishing for US tax dodgers in Israel
Haaretz 29 June — The United States Internal Revenue Service is gearing up for a widespread campaign to identify federal income tax scofflaws living outside the United States. Tens of thousands of them are estimated to be living in Israel. The Feds will presumably require banks worldwide to report on all customers with U.S. citizenship or residency, even if they hold a foreign, including Israeli, passport.
link to english.themarker.com
UJA Federation calls on Americans to enlist with Israeli soldiers in Israel boot camp on Long Island / Philip Weiss
Mondo 29 June — From the UJA Federation on Long Island — Federations are the leading Jewish charity — “Enlist in UJA-Federation of New York’s first Israel Boot Camp. Join us for an evening of activity as we simulate some of the experiences that Israeli soldiers encounter in a boot camp training program.  You will: Meet and train with Israeli soldiers. Be part of a competitive ground force. Experience military discipline. Learn about the complex dilemmas faced by Israeli soldiers. Train using Krav Maga, the simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers taught to Israeli soldiers
link to mondoweiss.net
Celebrate the Fourth of July with Haaretz.com
29 June — Want to win a free family-size pizza? ‘Like’ Haaretz.com’s page on Facebook to celebrate the Fourth of July with us live on our page, and you could be a winner!  Did your invitation to the U.S. Embassy’s official bash get lost in the mail? Not to worry, you can join the festivities on Haaretz.com as we stream the whole event live on Thursday, June 30. [which country is this again?]
link to www.haaretz.com
1st woman commands sniper platoon
Ynet 29 June — Among the graduates of the Ground Forces officer course Wednesday at the Officers’ Training School (Bahad 1) was one Second Lieutenant Noy, a combat soldier in the Caracal Battalion who made history by becoming the first female officer to command a sniper platoon … In between training and courses Noy has also managed to carry out several ambushes on the Israel-Egypt border after which she decided to enroll in an officers’ course — with the prestigious M-24 sniper rifle at her side.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Gas leaks into south Israel nature preserve after pipeline burst
Haaretz 29 June — A large amount of gas leaked into the Nahal Tzin Nature Preserve in the Negev after a major Eilat pipeline burst on Wednesday. The leak caused major damage to the southern Israel nature preserve’s wildlife. The pipe burst when the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC) was performing maintenance work in the Tzin Valley. While EAPAC was working in the nature preserve, a pipeline collapsed, resulting in the leakage of a large amount of crude oil into Nahal Tzin. [why are they calling it ‘gas’?]
link to www.haaretz.com
Analysis / Opinion
Netanyahu playing with fire in bid to win EU backing against Palestinian state / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 28 June — The impression emerges that after the drubbing Netanyahu gave Obama in Congress, the U.S. president is not eager to use the right to veto again.
link to www.haaretz.com
Video: Palestinian Gandhis Part IV: The cactus is mightier than the sword / Yousef Munayyer
PtoN 27 June — In this next installment of the Palestinian Gandhi project you will meet a Palestinian artist in Gaza resisting Israeli oppression through his creativity …At the university level, there is only one art department in all of the Gaza Strip, at Al-Azhar It is a testament to the human spirit that some Gazans persist in their ambitions nevertheless – and are quite resourceful in finding inspiration in the midst of destruction. In this video, Mohammed Al-Hawajri creates his works out of cacti – which he sees as a metaphor for Palestinians, who thrive despite the harsh environment.Check out the video below interviewing Mohammed Al-Hawajri:
link to blog.thejerusalemfund.org
Palestinian Gandhis Part V: Lyrical resistance / Yousef Munayyer
PtoN 29 June — Resistance Hip-Hop in the Arab world has taken off in recent years. Pioneers in this area include Palestinian groups like DAM who have used English, Arabic and Hebrew lyrics to convey messages of resistance through hip-hop. In this installment of our “Palestinian Gandhis” series, we introduce you to the DARG team, a Palestinian hip-hop group from Gaza that raps about resistance. In this video interview with the group, they discuss what hip-hop means to them and the struggles of being hip-hop artists under occupation and in Palestinian society.
link to blog.thejerusalemfund.org
groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)

Jordanian activists buy $800,000 boat for Gaza flotilla

Jun 29, 2011

annie

AFP is reporting today from Amman that Arab activists have purchased a boat to join the  flotilla intending to break the blockade of Gaza.

“Arab contributors have bought in Greece a 560,000-euro ($805,000) boat that can take up to 200 passengers to join the aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip,” Wael Saqqa, former head of the Jordan engineers’ union, told AFP.

“The boat has been registered under the name of Nur company, established for the purpose of purchasing the boat,” said Saqqa, adding 35 Jordanian activists would join the flotilla.                                                                                                    The vessel was expected to set sail for Gaza on Thursday, along with other ships.                                                                                                                                              “But it might be delayed because there is a general strike in Greek ports,” Saqqa said, adding the boat would carry medical aid and construction material.

This is likely the same boat Alex Fishman, Yediot’s senior defense analyst, mentions in his report today as being purchased by “the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood”.

IDF troops are liable to encounter intense physical resistance on two of the ships — the French vessel, Le Dignité-El Karameh, and an Arab boat that was bought by the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood.

Fishman’s article titled “They bought some time” is characterized by Joseph Dana as “Yediot’s senior defense analyst: IDF lied about the flotilla” and cautions:

“the dramatic announcements by Israel about preparations being made on board the ships to fight to the death and to kill IDF soldiers are strongly redolent of propaganda. “

Something tells me a fresh new round of propaganda is upon us.

WikiLeaks document on Gaza blockade puts Israel’s flotilla hasbara to shame

Jun 29, 2011

Alex Kane

As the second “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza attempts to overcome the various obstacles in its way, the Israeli security establishment is busy trying to confuse people about the economic situation in Gaza. There’s just one big problem with their strategy: a cable written by a U.S. diplomat about the Gaza blockade makes any Israeli propaganda claim about the Gaza Strip moot.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently said that the flotilla of ships set to sail to break the Israeli naval blockade was unnecessary because “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” Similarly, Israel Defense Forces chief Benny Gantz told a group of Israeli reservists that Palestinians in Gaza are “importing televisions and plasma screens, and exporting agricultural products to the entire Arab world.”

The message, in so many words, is that life in Gaza is just fine, and that there is no need for flotillas to challenge the Israeli blockade.

But this State Department cable, published by WikiLeaks and written in October 2008 from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, should put the kibosh on Israel’s claims about the economic situation in Gaza (my emphasis):

Israeli officials have confirmed to Embassy officials on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis…

While the [Israeli government] believes that maintaining the shekel as the currency of the Palestinian Territories is in Israel’s interests, it treats decisions regarding the amount of shekels in circulation in Gaza as a security matter. Requests by Palestinian banks to transfer shekels into Gaza are ultimately approved, partially approved, or denied by the National Security Council (NSC), an organ of the Israeli security establishment, not by the Bank of Israel (BOI). As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to econoffs on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge

What the cable reports–that Israel is deliberately keeping Gaza’s economy “on the brink of collapse”–is exactly why the “Freedom Flotilla” is seeking to break Israel’s blockade.

It hasn’t gotten any better since that cable was written.This June 2011 report from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency details the human cost of the Israeli siege on Gaza:

As the Gaza blockade moves into its fifth year, a new report by the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, says broad unemployment in the second half of 2010 reached 45.2 per cent, one of the highest in the world. The report released today, finds that real wages continued to decline under the weight of persistently high unemployment, falling 34.5 per cent since the first half of 2006.

“These are disturbing trends,” said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness, “and the refugees, which make up two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.5 million population were the worst hit in the period covered in this report. It is hard to understand the logic of a man-made policy which deliberately impoverishes so many and condemns hundreds of thousands of potentially productive people to a life of destitution.”

Those facts–Gaza’s dire unemployment and Israel’s deliberate strategy to keep it that way–are why Israel will have to keep facing flotilla after flotilla until the blockade of Gaza is no more.

Alex Kane, a freelance journalist currently based in Amman, Jordan, blogs on Israel/Palestine atalexbkane.wordpress.com, where this post originally appeared. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane.

Israeli Army can’t provide evidence of flotilla’s violent plans, story unravels

Jun 29, 2011

Max Blumenthal

Israelis woke up to a front page Jerusalem Post story claiming flotilla passengers planned violence against soldiers. The story has completely unraveled.

On June 27, the Israeli army released a highly suspect claim that passengers on the flotilla planned to kill and maim Israeli soldiers. The claim looks like yet another anti-flotilla hoax emanating from Israeli government channels.
Today, I reached an official from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit after placing several calls and an email to the office requesting proof to support the army’s claim. The official was unable to supply me with one piece of evidence. Instead, she said, “Basically there’s a trust between the IDF and reporters. And like in any other army, you know, a senior IDF source says something, people are inclined to believe it because this is somebody high up, this is somebody that has a lifetime of experience and credibility and this is like any other army.”
When I asked why anyone would report such a claim without seeing any firm evidence, the army spokesperson said, “If there were something we probably would give it but because of sensitivities we can’t expand further.”
Listen to the whole interview here:
IDF Spokesperson 06-29-2011 by maxblumenthal
Despite an apparent lack of evidence, the army’s disinformation found its way into top Israeli newspapers through a select group of military correspondents including the Jerusalem Post’s Yaakov Katz. Katz reported that flotilla passengers planned to kill Israeli soldiers and that they were bringing “bags of sulfur” to attack the soldiers. “This is a chemical weapon, and if poured on a soldier it can paralyze him,” an unnamed army source told Katz. “If the sulfur is then lit on fire, the soldier will light up like a torch.” Yedioth Aharanot’s Hanan Greenberg also reported, “IDF fears flotilla activists will try to kill Israeli soldiers.” And Haaretz hyped the claim in Hebrew.
Today, the army’s story was exposed as disinformation. First, Yedioth Aharonot military correspondent Alex Fishman reported, “There is no information that there is going to be a group of radicals on board that will form a hard core of violent resistance against IDF soliders. Nor is there any clear information about live weapons that will be on board the ships.” Then, a group of Israeli government ministers accused the army of “media spin” and “public relations hysteria” for claiming the flotilla passengers planned to attack soldiers with chemical weapons.
And now, an Israeli army official (who curiously did not want to give me her name) has refused to supply me with any evidence to support the army’s wild claims. As I wrote during Israel’s disinformation spree in the wake of last year’s flotilla, nothing the Israeli army says can be trusted. Unfortunately, many reporters still accept the army’s claims on trust, while others do not even bother to investigate.
This post originally appeared on Max Blumenthal’s blog.

The ‘No Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza’ Canard: From massacre myopia to blockade blindness

Jun 29, 2011

Nima Shirazi

On Monday, former IDF prison guard Jeffrey Goldberg approvingly quoted an excerpt from a recent anti-Gaza Flotilla opinion piece by Irish columnist Kevin Myers. Myers’ snide commentary is full of historical revisionism, factual errors, total fabrications, racist anti-Arab and Palestinian stereotyping, and an adolescent overuse of silly scare-quotes:

The last ‘aid flotilla’ to Gaza carried a large number of Islamists who wanted to provoke: and aided by some quite astounding Israeli stupidity, they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Now another convoy is under way, and again with an utterly disingenuous plan to bring “assistance” to the “beleaguered Gazans”, some of who, funnily enough, can now cross into Egypt any time they like, and buy their explosives and their Kalashnikovs in the local arms-bazaar.
And as for human-rights abuses: why, nothing that Israel has done in the 63 years of its existence can possibly compare with the mass-murders of Fatah members by Hamas firing-squads over the past five years.

Myers’ ignorance about the goals and participants of last year’s flotilla and the upcoming one is revealing. His ignorance about the Rafah Crossing is embarrassing. His comments about “beleaguered Gazans” are hideous and shameful. His weird comparison of more than six decades of ethnic cleansing, land theft, occupation, apartheid, colonization, military aggression, war crimes, assassination, and collective punishment with a few years of Palestinian factional violence is bizarre.
(Myers notably does his hasbaric best by only mentioning Hamas violence against Fatah – of which there has been plenty – as if the latter was an innocent victim of the other. For example, on May 24, 2006, the BBC reported that a member of Hamas had been shot and killed after being one of three men abducted by Fatah gunmen. In early October 2006, Hamas official Muhammad Odeh was shot and killed on his way to pray at a nearby mosque. In December 2006, the New York Times reported that “gunmen forced a prominent Hamas militant to his knees on Wednesday, then shot him dead outside a courthouse where he worked, in the southern Gaza Strip.” Later that month, Fatah members opened fire at a rally of about 200 Hamas supporters in Nablus, wounding nine. A couple weeks later, Ynet reported that “three Palestinians, all members of the same Hamas-affiliated family, were killed in the Gaza neighborhood of Sabara Saturday evening in exchanges of fire with members of a Fatah-affiliated family” and “seven Palestinians identified with Hamas were kidnapped in Gaza and the West Bank.” On January 30, 2007, the Jerusalem Post reported that senior Hamas official “Hussein al-Shabasi was shot and killed on his way out of one of the mosques in the city, in the first incident of violence since the cease-fire was signed between Hamas and Fatah.” Reports that “dozens of Fatah members” in Gaza were executed by Hamas for violating a Hamas-imposed house arrest – the only instance of what might be considered “mass-murders” – come exclusively from Fatah-run media. Even the highest estimation of casualties pales in comparison to what Israel inflicted upon Gaza during its winter massacre of 2008-2009.)
Myers seemingly justifies his dismissal of the injustice suffered by Palestinians in Gaza by writing, “According to Mathilde Redmatn, deputy director of the International Red Cross in Gaza, there is in fact no humanitarian crisis there at all.”
This supposed “proof” that the situation in Gaza is no big deal and everyone who cares about Palestinians there must be driven simply because they are virulent anti-Semitic Israel-haters has been racing around the internet lately without any fact-checking or critical research. The origin of the story can be traced back to the IDF Spokeperson’s website, which quoted a “Mathilde Redmatn” as saying the following:

“There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza…If you go to the supermarket, there are products. There are restaurants and a nice beach. The problem is mainly in maintenance of infrastructure and in access to goods, concrete for example. Israel has the legitimate right to protect the civilian population…”

It should first be pointed out that “supermarkets” with “products”, “restaurants”, and (through some sick, Islamic curse of geography) a stretch of sand near water does not invalidate the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis, and not just because most of those “products” are smuggled in through tunnels, and not the result of Israeli kindness. Also, as has been pointed out before, the Warsaw Ghetto had a lively “marketplace” in which people wore “coats” and sometimes the oppressed and imprisoned residents even went to the “theatre” where they’d watch “performers” like Diana Blumenfeld, Izak Moszkowicz, Leah Krause-Miller, and Aizik Samberg. No one would argue that these facts disprove the contention that there was a “humanitarian crisis” in the Ghetto, in which food restrictions entitled Jewish ration card holders to a mere 300 calories per day.
An Israeli government document released as a result of a lawsuit in 2010 and “entitledFood Consumption in the Gaza Strip – Red Lines, meticulously details the minimum caloric intake required, based on age and sex, to keep Gazans hovering just above malnutrition levels, and specifies the corresponding grams and calories of each type of food allowed into Gaza.” In 2007, Gaza’s UNRWA Operations Director John Ging statedthat “the entire civilian population in Gaza” was subject to “human suffering and misery” and said his agency was “unable to provide more than 61 per cent of the necessary calories to refugees.” According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, “between 2007 and 2009 the caloric intake per capita in Gaza and the West Bank decreased by 18 percent.”
Nevertheless, the “no humanitarian crisis” story was then picked up by outlets like CNN,Ha’aretz, Jerusalem Post, Miami Herald and elsewhere. As Myers’ despicable article demonstrates, it’s still being trotted about to this day.
However, the name of the person who was supposedly quoted is actually “Mathilde De Riedmatten” – a minor difference, sure, but one that proves that every subsequent news outlet has simply parroted the IDF line without question or due diligence. The reason this is important is that Mathilde De Riedmatten, who is deputy head of the ICRC’s sub-delegation in Gaza, gave an interview in late May which is posted on the ICRC website. Here is the entire thing (emphasis added):

Gaza: no end in sight to hardship and despair
20-05-2011 Interview
Mathilde De Riedmatten, deputy head of the ICRC’s sub-delegation in Gaza, talks about the situation in the coastal enclave and about how ordinary Gazans manage to carry on with their daily lives.
How would you describe the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip today?
The ICRC is concerned about the fact that the 1.5 million people in the Strip are unable to live a normal and dignified life. Almost no one can leave the Gaza Strip, not even to go to the West Bank, where many Gazans have family or previously had work.
Health-care facilities are suffering from the restrictions imposed by Israel on the transfer of medical equipment, building materials and many basic items needed for maintenance. Water and sanitation facilities have been under strain for many decades. The fact that they remain even barely in working order is due to the efforts of certain humanitarian organizations. Buildings that have been in need of repair for several years and the many buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli military operation in Gaza in 2008-2009 cannot be repaired or rebuilt as long as basic building materials, such as concrete, are not allowed into the Gaza Strip in meaningful quantities.
Violence claims civilian lives in the Strip on a regular basis. In recent months, many people have been killed or injured in escalating violence and sometimes even in open hostilities. Security incidents in the area between Gaza and Israel frequently result in loss of life or in destruction of property or livelihoods. We deplore the civilian casualties and continue to remind all parties that civilians must be spared the effects of the hostilities. Every feasible precaution must be taken to avoid civilian casualties.
ICRC staff constantly monitor the situation of civilians, such as farmers and rubble collectors, who have no alternative but to live and work in areas close to Israel. The area along the fence extending 300 metres into Gaza has been declared a no-go zone by the Israel Defense Forces. A far bigger area, extending nearly one kilometre into the Gaza Strip, is considered dangerous because of the Israeli military’s incursions and use of live ammunition. Whenever civilians suffer direct harm in such incidents, we document the cases and raise our concerns bilaterally and confidentially with the parties concerned.
Can you tell us more about the economic situation?
Gaza is more dependent than ever on outside aid. For young people – fully 50 per cent of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents are under 18 years of age – there is a crushing lack of prospects, and it is a constant struggle for them to maintain hope in the future.
The strict limits on imports and the almost absolute ban on exports imposed by Israel make economic recovery impossible. The unemployment rate currently stands at nearly 40 per cent. It will remain ruinously high as long as the economy fails to recover. This difficult situation exacerbates the considerable hardship already caused by the collapse of previously prosperous branches of the economy.
Over the years, access to land suitable for agriculture has been eroded by restrictions imposed in the areas near Israel and the levelling of land and destruction of trees by the Israel Defense Forces. To make matters worse, the high price or even total lack of some farm inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, etc., and the lack of export opportunities have weighed heavily on the primary sector. In addition, many fishermen have lost their livelihood as a result of Israel reducing the area at sea within which it allows fishing to three nautical miles from Gaza’s coastline.
Because Israel retains effective control over the Gaza Strip, in particular by maintaining authority over the movement of people and goods, it must fulfil its obligations under the law of occupation and allow the civilian population to lead as normal a life as possible.
Israel eased the closure in June 2010. Has that had a positive effect on the lives of ordinary people in Gaza?
The restriction on the movement of people out of Gaza remains unchanged. The current Israeli permit system, combined with rigorous controls, means that only people in need of medical attention who fulfil strict security criteria are allowed to leave either through the Rafah crossing into Egypt or through the Erez crossing into Israel. Very few other people are allowed out of Gaza.
The entry of goods into Gaza is also still highly restricted, not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of the particular items allowed. Long delays are frequent. Some goods that are allowed in are so expensive that their availability hardly matters to the vast majority of the population, who could never afford them. Although there has been media coverage of the export of certain cash crops such as carnations and strawberries, the actual level of exports from the Gaza Strip remains close to zero. Imports of construction supplies and raw materials are still mostly banned, even though they are vital to the territory’s infrastructure and economic recovery.
Unless there is political change that results in freedom of movement for Gazans, increased imports of a variety of goods and significant exports, there will be no improvement.
How can the ICRC help mitigate the effects of the closure?
To help families make ends meet, we have developed cash-for-work programmes and launched projects that provide farmers with tools and seedlings to improve crop yields.
We are also doing what we can to make sure that injured and sick people receive proper medical attention by providing support for the emergency services of the Ministry of Health and the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The Society provides pre-hospital emergency care and counselling services alongside the many other humanitarian tasks it performs within the Gaza Strip. The ICRC also provides support for the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre, the only facility of its kind in the Gaza Strip, which treated over a thousand patients in 2010.
Our water and sanitation engineers are focusing their efforts on the treatment of wastewater. At a plant that was recently completed in Rafah, some of the treated wastewater can safely seep into and replenish the aquifer, which remains the only source of clean water in the Gaza Strip. Thanks to the latest upgrades at the plant, treated wastewater could soon be used for agricultural purposes such as irrigating trees.

Hardly the rosy picture Myers (and Goldberg, due to his endorsement) are trying to paint. Nevertheless, the “no humanitarian crisis” nonsense continues and Israel’s stalwart defenders ignore the facts in their never-ending quest to whitewash Israeli crimes andpretend that peace and humanitarian activists – even Jewish ones – are Islamic terrorists or aligned with them.
Furthermore, if Myers and those who agree with him are so enamored with what the International Committee of the Red Cross has to say about the situation is Gaza, they should read its own June 14, 2010 press release, in which the ICRC states plainly that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is illegal:

The whole of Gaza’s civilian population is being punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.

While the ICRC points out its position that “the dire situation in Gaza cannot be resolved by providing humanitarian aid,” it calls upon the “international community…to do its part to ensure that repeated appeals by States and international organizations to lift the closure are finally heeded.”
The goal of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla – past and present – is not simply to bring aid (or “aid”, as Myers puts it) to the besieged territory; rather, a primary goal is to draw public and political attention to the situation in the hope that by physically challenging such a violation of international law, the blockade will end. The organizers of andorganizations involved with the flotilla openly state as much.
One wonders if this comes down to semantics. Myers says there is no “humanitarian crisis” but describes violent actions by Hamas against Fatah as “mass-murder.” It would be unsurprising if Myers agreed with the Israeli press‘ description of the brutal murder of five members of the Fogel family, Israeli settlers living in the illegal colony of Itamar in the West Bank, as a “massacre.” In that case, how would he describe the killing of over 1,400 Palestinians in 22 days? One can assume that their deaths illicit no sympathy from Myers, as they must be merely collateral damage during what the New York Timesinnocuously refers to as the “Israeli antirocket invasion.”
Or should that be “collateral damage”?
This post originally appeared on Nima Shirazi’s blog Wide Asleep in America.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cancels plans to attend Jerusalem Film Fest following ‘Nakba Day violence’

Jun 29, 2011

Adam Horowitz

From a US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation press release:

The Jerusalem Film Festival foreign office has confirmed that legendary basketball star and actor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reversed plans to visit Israel due to concerns arising “after the Nakba Day violence.”
Abdul-Jabbar was slated to present his film, “On the Shoulders Of Giants,” at the festival next month, as a candidate for the “Spirit of Freedom Award.” According to YNet News, his visit was scheduled in coordination with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Consulate of New York.
101 organizations of Palestinians, Israelis, Muslim-Americans, African-Americans, Jewish Americans and others have signed a letter thanking the Los Angeles Lakers legend for declining to attend the festival. The letter highlighted Israel’s discriminatory policies against the Palestinian people—whether living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, living as second-class citizens in Israel, or living as refugees in exile. It also highlighted the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israel until it ends its discriminatory practices. The boycott includes targeting Israeli cultural institutions. The letter explains:

“In an effort to salvage its worsening reputation, Israel has embarked upon an effort to re-brand itself as a beacon of cultural and technological progress, diverting attention away from its war crimes and apartheid policies. Israel uses its cultural institutions, such as the Jerusalem Film Festival, to whitewash its violations of international law and human rights.”

Abdul-Jabbar’s film documents the policies of segregation and racism that characterized the world of basketball in the 1930s. “Ironically,” the signatories told Abdul-Jabbar, “the majority of Muslim and Christian Palestinians could not even have attended such a screening because they are excluded from entering Jerusalem on the basis of their ethnic and religious background.”

Abdul-Jabbar’s decision comes as no surprise to those familiar with his history of activism for social justice. Earlier this month, in recognition for his commitment to education, understanding and equality, Abdul-Jabbar received the Lincoln Medal, an award also held by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an outspoken critic of Israel for “practising apartheid in its policies towards the Palestinians.” Abdul-Jabbar was a longtime friend of the late poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron, who dropped Israel from a tour last year. Abdul-Jabbar’s film also features Dr. Cornel West, who recently endorsed BDS. The letter urged Abdul-Jabbar to consider the BDS call as well.
Last year, actors Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman similarly declined to attend the Jerusalem Film Festival following Israel’s deadly attacks on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla killing nine humanitarian aid carriers, including one U.S. citizen.

International solidarity & history in the making

Jun 29, 2011

Medea Benjamin

Yesterday we had a great international press conference. There were representatives from Greece, Sweden, France, Norway, Canada, Spain, Turkey and of course, the U.S. The room was packed with press and passengers; there was really a feeling that we are part of something historic.

Our US speakers were Ann Wright and Alice Walker, as well as Huwaida Araf, who was not representing the U.S. boat but the international flotilla.

Ann talked about the efforts of the Israeli government to stop our boat, the bogus complaint against us launched by the Israeli legal center. (This is the same center, by the way, that has been suing us, trying to get insurance companies not to insure and pushing satellite companies not to help us get wired on the boat.)

Alice Walker gave poignant comments about the fight against slavery in the US, and how people from other nations came to support that struggle. “My government has failed us, and is ignorant of our own history,” she said. “When black people were enslaved for 300 years, it took a lot of people from outside our community to help free us. This is a fine tradition–going to help people who need us anywhere on the planet. I look at you in the room; if we have salvation as humankind, it is in the room.”

Huwaida Araf spoke first as a lawyer, stating the reasons why the closure of Gaza is illegal. Then she spoke as a Palestinian, making it clear that the flotilla is not about humanitarian aid but it is to support Palestinians demand for liberation. She chided Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for their criticisms of the flotilla.

A few other highlights: A representative from a Jewish group in Sweden said there are two kinds of Jews: those who reflect on the Holocaust and say ‘we will do everything not to let it happen to us again’ vs. those who say ‘we will not let it happen to anyone again.’ He received thunderous applause.

Henning Mankell, the famous Swedish mystery writer spoke as well. Assuming there were Israeli agents in the room, he said, “If there is someone in this room who reports directly to the Israeli government, please note that there is no declaration of war here; what we represent is a declaration of peace. Try, for once, to tell the truth.”

A Native American representative from Canada talked about how the Canadian government had urged their delegation to send aid through the channels that Israel has established. “As an oppressed people, one of the things we have learned over many years,” he said, “it that you should never ask the oppressor for permission. And when you work in solitary with the oppressed, you should never work with the oppressor.”

Our U.S. delegation made signs during the conference that said, “Let Us Sail to Gaza.” After the press conference, we went outside and unfurled our enormous 40-foot “To Gaza With Love” banner. To the delight of the press, we also broke out into song. “I love the U.S. delegation,” a French journalist told me. “You have signs, you sing, you are very animated.” Indeed, with Kaleo accompanying us on the trumpet and Alice Walker joining us in song and dance, we gave a great performance.

Meanwhile, with rumors swirling wildly of boats being sabotaged and/or given orders not to leave the various Greek ports, we have no idea what boats will be able to meet up at sea with the French boat and the Irish boat that are already on their way to the international meeting point. We had inspectors on our boat today but no word yet from them about whether or not they found us “seaworthy”. We obviously have to take this a day at a time.

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of Code Pink and a passenger on the Audacity of Hope

‘Politico’ says Jewish Democratic donors may abandon Obama, though they like Dennis Ross

Jun 29, 2011

Philip Weiss

Lest you doubt the strength of the Israel lobby, here’s a long report at Politico by Ben Smith undermining Obama on Israel inside the Democratic Party– despite efforts by Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ed Rendell to save the day. Obama is “losing the faith” of Jewish Democratic donors, Smith ventures, and then strings together the usual ultra-Zionist statements of fidelity to Israel from party activists.

The piece demonstrates the conservatism of Jewish Democrats on this issue– these are people opposed to dividing Jerusalem, though they’d never want to live there– the importance of Jewish money to the Democratic Party, and also the reason there’s been no Palestinian state for 64 years since it was promised, because American Jews with access are against it, and now have a fresh set of fears (Hamas) with which to attack the idea. Not a word here about the fearful Christian Zionists. No, on the Democratic side, the lobby is Jewish and wealthy. Also, notice how important the presence in the White House of Dennis Ross is to these Israel-backers, a policymaker who cares about Israel. Smith excerpts:

If several dozen interviews with POLITICO are any indication, a similar conversation is taking place in Jewish communities across the country. Obama’s speech last month seems to have crystallized the doubts many pro-Israel Democrats had about Obama in 2008 in a way that could, on the margins, cost the president votes and money in 2012 and will not be easy to repair.

“It’s less something specific than that these incidents keep on coming,” said Ainsman.

The immediate controversy sparked by the speech was Obama’s statement that Israel should embrace the country’s 1967 borders, with “land swaps,” as a basis for peace talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized on the first half of that phrase and the threat of a return to what Israelis sometimes refer to as “Auschwitz borders.”…

Most of those interviewed were center-left American Jews and Obama supporters — and many of them Democratic donors. On some core issues involving Israel, they’re well to the left of Netanyahu and many Americans: They refer to the “West Bank,” not to “Judea and Samaria,” fervently supported the Oslo peace process and Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and believe in the urgency of creating a Palestinian state.

But they are also fearful for Israel at a moment of turmoil in a hostile region when the moderate Palestinian Authority is joining forces with the militantly anti-Israel Hamas….

Some of these traditional Democrats now say, to their own astonishment, that they’ll consider voting for a Republican in 2012. And many of those who continue to support Obama said they find themselves constantly on the defensive in conversations with friends….

Even Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who spoke to POLITICO to combat the story line of Jewish defections, said she’d detected a level of anxiety in a recent visit to a senior center in her South Florida district…
“There’s an inclination in the community to not trust this president’s gut feel on Israel and every time he sets out on a path that’s troubling you do get this ‘ouch’ reaction from the Jewish Community because they’re distrustful of him,” said the president of a major national Jewish organization, who declined to be quoted by name to avoid endangering his ties to the White House…
Now [Cleveland lawyer Scott] Matasar says he’s appalled by Obama’s “rookie mistakes and bumbling” and the reported marginalization of a veteran peace negotiator, Dennis Ross, in favor of aides who back a tougher line on Netanyahu. He’s the most pro-Obama member of his social circle but is finding the president harder to defend.
“He’d been very ham-handed in the way he presented [the 1967 border announcement] and the way he sprung this on Netanyahu,” Matasar said.
A Philadelphia Democrat and pro-Israel activist, Joe Wolfson, recalled a similar progression.
“What got me past Obama in the recent election was Dennis Ross — I heard him speak in Philadelphia and I had many of my concerns allayed,” Wolfson said. “Now, I think I’m like many pro-Israel Democrats now who are looking to see whether we can vote Republican.”..
A top-dollar Washington fundraiser aimed at Jewish donors in Miami last week raised more than $1 million from 80 people, and while one prominent Jewish activist said the DNC had to scramble to fill seats, seven-figure fundraisers are hard to sneer at.

‘Washington Post’ exposes absurdity of Israeli response to flotilla

Jun 29, 2011

annie

Spilling the beans. Lots of them, reporting by Joel Greenberg:

On Tuesday, Israeli newspapers were filled with reports from unnamed military officials, charging that sacks of chemicals, including sulfuric acid, had been loaded onto flotilla vessels with the aim of using the materials against Israeli soldiers. The reports, citing military intelligence sources, said that some activists had spoken in preparatory meetings of their desire to “shed the blood” of soldiers and had threatened to kill those who might board their vessels. “Coming to kill,” said a headline in the Maariv newspaper over a photo of one flotilla ship.

“The State of Israel, with all its army, security services and everything it has is going against a bunch of 20 non-governmental organizations,” Feiler added. “Really, it’s ridiculous.”

yep. They even tattle on the PM’s office for theirHasbarapocalypse–pinkwashing hoax.

A spokesman for Netanyahu said the intern had acted without authorization.

Bwaaaaaaaahh. And the US boat has not even set sail yet. What audacity!

Annie Robbins has done volunteer work for the US Boat to Gaza’s communications team in the U.S.