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Destination? Gaza!: The Freedom Flotilla II meets the Israeli military

Jul 19, 2011

Steve Fake

The French-flagged ship, Dignité – al Karama, was halted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) en route to the shores of Gaza this morning. The small vessel was boarded and reportedly towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod. There were 16 people on the boat, with French, Greek, Tunisian, Canadian, and Swedish passengers among them. As coalition organizers stated, “It is now the representative of the entire Freedom Flotilla II.”

The ten passengers, three crew, and three journalists, including the respected Israeli journalist, Amira Hass, Greek coalition representative Vangelis Pissias, al-Jazeera television, and a French member of parliament, were in frequent contact with land teams until being cut off by Israeli forces.

The boat was stopped while still in international waters and before entering Gazan waters (let alone Israeli waters, which the flotilla has never planned to enter).

It became the sole representative of the flotilla to escape the clutches of the Greek coast guard when it was able to depart from the island of Kastelorizo late Saturday and head towards Port Said, Egypt on Monday.

The ship did not dock in Egypt (for fear of being trapped by yet another government bowing to U.S.-Israeli pressure), but rather anchored in international waters off the Egyptian coast overnight – precluding the threat of another predawn raid like the IDF pulled last year – to set sail in the morning for Gaza.

Before embarking on their final Tuesday morning run, the activists had previously sent messages from the Mediterranean exclaiming, “Morale here is like the sky and sea, very good …. Gaza, off we go, stay connected!!!”

As Israeli deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon announced Monday, “If this boat is on its way to Gaza, which is a breach of international maritime law (sic!), and tries a provocative act — yes, we shall intercept it… But I assure you we shall try our best to make those on board very comfortable.” Clearly, the Israeli government is still smarting from the public relations drubbing Tel Aviv suffered last year in the wake of its state murder of 9 flotilla passengers. Yet so incongruous was the promise to be gentle that it was difficult not to read it more as some sort of ironic threat. When a mafia don offers you tea and biscotti, do you relax?

The Dignité set off around 6 AM local time this morning. The French-flagged vessel would have been due to touch down on the sandy beaches of the Gaza strip around noon.

First contact by the IDF was made while the small craft was still some 50 miles out. Organizers lost contact with the boat at 10:10 AM, as the IDF began jamming the boat’s communications systems, while it was in international waters, north of Arish, Egypt. The boat was reportedly some 40 miles from Gaza and surrounded by four Israeli naval warships when communication was cut. The French vessel then received direct contact from Israeli forces initiated around 10:30 AM.

The Israeli naval tracking of the ship and initial radio encounter – in which the Dignité can be heard declaring their unwavering intention to sail to Gaza – was recorded by the IDF.

Israeli naval authorities claim the boarding of the ship by Israeli commandos, known as the Shayetet 13, occurred when the Dignité was some 12 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza. Initial reports have thankfully not indicated abusive treatment thus far of the nonviolent activists.

Israeli authorities asserted that the area off the shores of Gaza was under “a maritime security blockade.” The leading Israeli establishment news site, YNet, reports that the Israeli government considers the Dignité members to be “effectively entering Israel illegally.” Anyone who can contemplate how it is possible to illegally enter Israel for attempting entry into Gaza while also believing that Israel does not occupy Gaza is indeed a skillful practitioner of the Orwellian arts of double-think.

The Israeli commandos demanded to know if the boat full of peace activists was armed, maintaining the necessary ruse with presumably straight faces and appropriate earnestness. Doubtless the small pleasure craft was a grave security threat to the mighty warships flanking it.

In another IDF recording, commandoes can be seen boarding the ship from Zodiac boats. One must appreciate a power so smugly out of touch that it obligingly posts footage of its own misdeeds. Passengers were apparently escorted off their ship and onto a naval craft for the journey into detention ashore.

The AP notes that, “Israeli naval commandos… report[ed] no resistance during the takeover in international waters.” A great surprise, to be sure.

Israeli forces have since towed the Dignite to the port at Ashdod, Israel.

I was certainly not alone among the many passengers now returned to our home countries who avidly watched with great enthusiasm the progress of the little yacht, as it finally compelled the Israeli government to enforce its cruel blockade directly, rather than through hapless intermediaries.

Though English language television coverage was, to my knowledge, careful to studiously avert its gaze from the unfolding events, social media came to the rescue. Although I have been a casual user for some time, I confess to having never much relied upon Twitter for news. That changed last night.

As I mastered the finer points of hashtags and compulsively refreshed my #Dignité browser tab, I was scarcely able to look away long enough to pour a new cup of coffee. I was filled with Twitter-fueled, anxious excitement for our Flotilla’s free boat. I relate these feelings only as an indication of the enormous bonds of solidarity we in the Freedom Flotilla have forged amongst ourselves.

A steady stream of updates began issuing forth in the early morning hours on the U.S. East Coast. Messages such as “3:36AM EDT – AthenianDemocra Athenian: #BREAKING #DIGNITE israeli Warships asked for destination-answer #GAZA RT #flotilla” fed the drama. A selected digest of the late-night tweets on the travails of the blockade-running French ship is availableonline. I reproduce some highlights of my own choosing below. Through one of the last communications with the outside from the boat, we were able to chart its position in the Mediterranean Sea at the time.

It would be a serious error to judge the success of the Flotilla simply by its movement through the Mediterranean. The true goal is to raise global awareness of the horror of the blockade upon the youthful population of Gaza, whether that entails physically reaching Gaza or not. Yet there was an undeniable element of emotional satisfaction to be had in seeing the Dignité make a run for it.

“The Freedom Flotillas will keep sailing until the illegal blockade of Gaza is ended,” vowed Dylan Penner, a passenger from the Canadian boat, the Tahrir.

Nor is the detention of the Dignité the end of this flotilla. The departure of the French boat, loaded with representatives from across the Flotilla coalition, “prov[es] that the will of global civil society cannot be intimidated.”

Moreover, organizers declared, “the remaining ships in Freedom Flotilla II: Stay Human are regrouping to fulfill our obligations to the besieged people of Gaza and to the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people around the world who funded and organized this act of solidarity. As long as the illegal blockade of Gaza remains in place, ships will sail to confront it.”

The call has already gone out for people to mobilize immediately at the nearest Israeli embassy or consulate to protest the stopping of the French boat. Protests were announced for later today in cities in Canada, France, and Greece almost as soon as the boat was seized.

Messages of support can be sent to the passengers of the Dignité here (though, as they are now under detention, there is no telling when they will see them).

Meanwhile, the U.S. boat, The Audacity of Hope, continues to languish in indefinite detention in a military port outside Athens – punishment for challenging the Greek government’s complicity in Gaza’s collective punishment. As the Greek authorities are ultimately acting under instruction from the U.S. and Israel, we are calling for all citizens to apply continued pressure to Washington, through daily phone calls to the U.S. State Department.

The movement of international solidarity has emerged stronger from our time in Athens. And we’re only getting started!

What follows is a small sampling of tweets from today’s early morning hours.

2:57AM EDT

AthenianDemocra Athenian

#BREAKING #FLOTILLA FRIGATE APPEARED @1MILE FOLLOWING #DIGNITE

3:05AM EDT

huwaidaarraf Huwaida Arraf

Now from Dignité: Two Israeli army boats coming towards us; Dont know how long we can be in contact. We are at: 31 25 N 33 25 E #flotilla2

3:11AM EDT

AthenianDemocra Athenian

#BREAKING 3 WARSHIPS RUN CLOSE TO #DIGNITE #flotilla #gaza

3:25AM EDT

AthenianDemocra Athenian

#Dignité: 3Israeli navy boats on left 1on right @500 meters& closing 31.25 N 33.25 E #flotilla

3:25AM EDT

huwaidaarraf Huwaida Arraf

Israeli navy just made contact with Dignité. Dignité confirmed destination is Gaza. #flotilla2

3:34AM EDT

TahrirCanada Tahrir Canada

Lost contact with #BateauGazaFr #Diginté at 3:09 ET. Israeli Occupation forces: the world is watching! stay human #flotilla2

3:36AM EDT

postakutusu Berrak

French ship Dignite has been stopped and Israel declared it’s going to arrest the passengers on board. #dignite

postakutusu Berrak

Internet connection has been cut by Israel on #dignite.

3:41AM EDT

avimayer Avi Mayer

Channel 2: #IDF source says “We will not permit [the #flotilla2 boat] to deviate from its route and violate the maritime closure of #Gaza.”

3:43AM EDTIHHen Humanitarian Relief

4 Israeli ships and 1 big warship are following Dignite #flotilla2 @via IzzetShahin

3:53AM EDT

avimayer Avi Mayer

Haaretz: #Israel Navy ship has contacted #France #flotilla2 boat, asked it to identify itself and whether it is carrying weapons.

3:55AM EDT

avimayer Avi Mayer

Haaretz: #France #flotilla2 boat responds to #Israel Navy ship, says there are 13 passengers and 3 crew on board, no cargo or weapons.

3:55AM EDT

IDFSpokesperson IDF

First contact w/ #Dignite established; their answer: heading for #Gaza. It is illegal to breach naval blockade. #flotilla2

4:03AM EDT

SafaJoudeh Safa Joudeh

#Israel sources say if #Dignite does not turn back it will be towed to Ashdod port&activists arrested. 40-40 miles frm #Gaza. #flotilla2

4:07AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

The Israeli navy demanded to know of any weapons on board the #flotilla2 ship. The only weapon on board is Amira Hass’s pen.

4:15AM EDT

avimayer Avi Mayer

Haaretz: #Israel Navy has informed #France #flotilla2 boat “#Dignite” its current route will lead to area under maritime closure.

4:17AM EDT

huwaidaarraf Huwaida Arraf

Lost communication with the Dignite 15 minutes ago. Israeli navy was threatening to attack. #flotilla2

4:21AM EDT

IHHen Humanitarian Relief

15 min. ago we are informed that the Israeli forces threatening with attack #dignite #flotilla2

via @IzzetShahin

4:29AM EDT

sendbee jean

#Israeli naval forces open fire around French boat #Dignity in attempt 2 stop it #WTF #svpol

@hakansunar @danmike1 #Shiptogaza #flotilla2

4:37AM EDT

huwaidaarraf Huwaida Arraf

All communication w/Dignite lost. We can only assume ship has been attacked. Why is Israel afraid of 16 peace activists? #flotilla2

4:40AM EDT

SafaJoudeh Safa Joudeh

communication lost with #Dignite off #Gaza coast,reports of #Israel gunships opening fire,aftr threats to tow&arrest pasngrs #flotilla2

4:42AM EDT

HamzehLattouf Hamzeh Lattouf

RT @LumaQ: RT @atiatam: My heart is at: 31 25 N 33 25 E #flotilla2 #dignite #Gaza

4:42AM EDT

yrtRabia Rabia Yurt

rumours about gunfire sounds #flotilla2 I hope it’s just rumours

4:44AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

I hope that my assumation that Israeli navy seals are storming the unarmed #flotilla2 ship right now will not be realized.

4:47AM EDT

saminauk samina

French Navy ship #A758 is obligated to protect French boat #Dignité.

4:49AM EDT

BritainIsrael BICOM

IDF talking with #Dignite. Offering options to dock at Egypt (El Arish) or Ashdod. #flotilla2

4:51AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

One of the IDF new media people is reporting that the army is in ‘dialogue’ with the crew of the French #flotilla2. This is unconfirmed.

4:53AM EDT

hamzah_1992 Hamzah Nurgat

Communication has been lost.. Anything could be happening, keep praying, and remain alert! We are all Palestinian! #Dignité

5:03AM EDT

iheartNJonas Mrs. Nick Jonas

RT @IHHen: 15 min. ago we are informed that the Israeli forces threatening with attack #dignite

#flotilla2 via @IzzetShahin

5:06AM EDT

IHHen Humanitarian Relief

More Israeli navy ships surrounded Dignite all fully armed and ready to attack #flotilla2

5:10AM EDT

CNNAbuDhabi CNNAbuDhabi

The #IDF says their navy is in contact with crew on board the #Dignité & attempting to dissuade them front continuing toward #Gaza #CNN

5:18AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

Here we go: The first video from the #flotilla2 at sea comes from the IDF spokesman link to youtu.be just like last year

5:26AM EDT

IHHen Humanitarian Relief

IDF has not board on Dignite the negotiations still continuing #flotilla2

5:35AM EDT

IHHen Humanitarian Relief

AJE representative: IDF “if you don’t turn back we will take you back to the Mediterranean and arrest all the passengers” via @IzzetShahin

5:38AM EDT

nbeltov Nikolai Beltov

@

@IHHen @IzzetShahin They said: “We are going to board you, peacefully,We want you to work with us to do it with no violence.” #Dignite

5:48AM EDT

Daroff William Daroff

#Israel Navy preparing to take over #Gaza-bound French #flotilla2 ship link to bit.ly (@jerusalempost)

5:53AM EDT

AmoonaE ~ Iman ~

12:35 local time IDF chief orders Israel Navy to raid Gaza-bound French ship (via @Haaretz) #flotilla2

5:54AM EDT

benwaxman Ben Waxman

#flotilla2 – all over, the army took control of the boats. no injuries/martyrs reported. better luck next time guys!

5:57AM EDT

julesjrobinson Jules J. Robinson

Reports of #Dignite boarding by Israeli Navy — no violence — #flotilla2

5:57AM EDT

SafaJoudeh Safa Joudeh

#Israel navy took over #Gaza bound aid ship #Dignite , towing to Ashdod port, earlier IDF said passengers will be arrested #flotilla2

5:57AM EDT

SafaJoudeh Safa Joudeh

#Israel navy took over #Gaza bound aid ship #Dignite , towing to Ashdod port, earlier IDF said passengers will be arrested #flotilla2

5:58AM EDT

AP The Associated Press

BREAKING: Israeli military says naval commandoes have boarded Gaza-bound French ship. link to apne.ws -MM

6:10AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

The boat is apparently being taken to ashdod. No word on the condition of the passengers or soldiers sent to take it over #flotilla2

6:12AM EDT

avimayer Avi Mayer

Ynet: #Israel Navy’s takeover of the #France #flotilla2 boat took minutes, did not encounter resistance from activists on board.

6:15AM EDT

ECESG The European Campaig

by britain2gaza

In Paris, a rally is planned tonight at 18 pm at 30 Franklin Roosevelt subway via @BateauGazaFr

6:17AM EDT

CanadaBoatGaza Canada Boat to Gaza

Israel prevents even tiny pleasure boat from reaching Gaza. In Vancouver today protest against Israeli shipping giant ZIM. #flotilla2 #BDS

6:21AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

Haaretz reports that there was no resistance among the passengers of the #flotilla2 link to j.mp

6:23AM EDT

sendbee jean

IDF will interrogate the #Dignite passengers by entering the country by illegal ways #flotilla2 #svpol #Shiptogaza @hakansunar

6:30AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

According to @AJEnglish , everyone is safe on both sides. This is the most welcome news of the #flotilla2

6:32AM EDT

IHHen Humanitarian Relief

Passengers of the Dignite- Al Karama were transferred to military vessels #flotilla2

6:34AM EDT

moyilmaz123 MoYilmaz

AJE: Should take 2-3 hours to reach Ashdod and 3 ships are taking the French boat there #flotilla2

6:36AM EDT

moyilmaz123 MoYilmaz

IDF: Following the boarding, the passengers’ health was examined and they were offered food and beverages. #flotilla2

6:38AM EDT

moyilmaz123 MoYilmaz

IDF: At the Ashdod port, the security authorities and the Israel Police will begin the process of questioning the passengers #flotilla2

6:41AM EDT

ibnezra Joseph Dana

Israel has stated openly and repeatedly that it will charge #flotilla2 passengers with ‘illegally entering Israel” if they sail to Gaza

6:48AM EDT

LumaQ LumaQ

#flotilla2 boarded in International waters – #DIGNITE #gaza RT @abulkury: @LumaQ yes international link to bit.ly

6:51AM EDT

moyilmaz123 MoYilmaz

The Population and Immigration Authority say those on board will be banned for 10 years from Israel link to bit.ly #flotilla2

6:56AM EDT

IHHen Humanitarian Relief

The 16 passengers on board are being brought back to Ashdod. Israeli censorship still going on via @BateauGazaFr

7:05AM EDT

axeasy Vangelis Makridakis

AlJazeera Intl:Crew of #Dignite will be treated by immigration personnel and will be searched for any illegal item on board. #flotilla2

7:06AM EDT

b9AcE b9AcE

All supporters of #Palestine & #HumanRights in general: Demand your Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially protest to Israel over #Flotilla2

7:27AM EDT

KShihabi Khaled Al-Shihabi

Be sure #Flotilla2 was not the first.. it will not be the last… There is good in this world… #Palestine will be free

7:59AM EDT

cherylbenson Cheryl Benson

@CanadaBoatGaza asking all Canadians to contact MP’s & start protest rallies across Canada link to bit.ly #flotilla2

8:02AM EDT

IDFSpokesperson IDF

#IDF Spox: Dialogue w/ #Dignite reached dead-end; after all options exhausted, #Israel Navy boarded ship link to ow.ly

Steve Fake was a passenger on the U.S.-flagged Audacity of Hope in Athens. He is co-author of The Scramble for Africa: Darfur – Intervention and the USA (Black Rose Books). He currently lives in New Orleans.

Thinktank that promoted war w/ Iraq (& now Iran) was funded by Steinhardt, Saban, Bronfman, Feith and Marcus (of Home Depot)

Jul 19, 2011

Philip Weiss

This is fabulous. Eli Clifton at Think Progress has blown the lid off the funding for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, the neocon shop that helped give us the Iraq war and that “has become one of the the premiere DC organizations promoting more aggressive actions against Iran.” The people who underwrite this stuff have traditionally remained anonymous. Clifton:

While FDD has a 10-year history of engaging in alarmist rhetoric and fear mongering — e.g. in 2002 FDD aired a series of ads conflating Osama bin Laden, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein — and helped promote the “Bush doctrine” which led to the invasion of Iraq, its donors have, for the most part, hidden behind their anonymous contributions to the organization.

And who’s funding this shop?

Clifton’s exclusive–based on public records that he links in a pdf with his story– says that a lot of the usual suspects in the Israel lobby, Saban, Bronfman, Steinhardt, Mizrahi, Marcus and oh, Doug Feith’s father.

Canadians Edgar M. and Charles Bronfman, heirs to the Seagram liquor company fortune, contributed $1,050,000 to FDD between 2001 and 2004. Edgar M. Bronfman served as president of the World Jewish Congress from 1979 to 2007. Charles Bronfman, along with fellow FDD donor Michael Steinhardt cofounded Taglit Birthright which offers free trips to Israel for young Jewish adults. Steinhardt is a hedge fund mogul who contributed $850,000 to FDD from 2001 to 2004.

Other notable donors included: Home Depot cofounder Bernard Marcus who contributed $600,000 between 2001 and 2003; mortgage backed securities pioneer Lewis Ranieri contributed $350,000 between 2002 and 2004; and Ameriquest owner, and Bush administration ambassador to the Netherlands from 2006 to 2008, Roland Arnall contributed $1,802,000 between 2003 and 2004.

Other notable, but less generous, donors included: media mogul and Democratic Party donor Haim Saban, a surprising donor considering FDD’s Republican bent andClifford May’s former role as an RNC spokesperson; The Israel Project director Jennifer Mizrahi; and Dalck Feith, father of former Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith.

Bibi breaks ranks with rightwing on ‘political inquisition,’ but don’t hold your breath

Jul 19, 2011

Paul Mutter

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has now publicly expressed his opposition to two highly partisan Yisrael Beitenu-intiated bills that threaten to further undermine Israeli democracy and the automony of Israeli human rights groups, though the PM says he won’t ask the rest of Likud to follow his lead.

The refusal to enforce party discipline over this legislation suggests that the PM is looking to repeat his anti-BDS strategy: support the legislation in spirit, but not actually risk his position by casting a vote for or against it.

The first bill would effectively allow the government to perform inquisitions (branded blandly as “committees of inquiry”) on human rights groups that do not meet (right-wing) standards for “fairness” and “national security.” The second bill would give a Yisrael Beitenu-dominated Knesset committee unprecedented say in the appointment of supreme court judges. Both bills are to be voted on later this week.

Speaking at an assembly to honor the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union (FJC), the PM said that the “committees of inquiry” Yisrael Beitenu’s nonprofit “transparency” bill would establish are not necessary.

Netanyahu has also expressed his opposition to the Yisrael Beitenu-sponsored judicial appointments bill that would reduce the independence of the judiciary by granting veto powers to a Knesset committee (a committee is currently dominated by Yisrael Beitenu KMs).

According to Haaretz, some Likud KMs expressed concern over the legislation and told the PM that they will not vote for it, prompting Netanyahu to disavow the need for Likud to vote as a bloc on the legislation.

Yet all is not well in the coalition. Foreign Minister Lieberman, the head of Yisrael Beitenu, who also supported (but declined to vote on) the anti-BDS law, has reiterated his support for his party’s legislation. He, and other Yisrael Beitenu KMs, now say that the party will break ranks with Likud in the coming weeks if the PM refuses to enforce party discipline.

But, don’t let this tiff of the titans fool you into thinking a split is developing between the PM and his far-right coalition partners. Haaretz suggests that part of this spat is a matter of pride – Yisrael Beitenu wants to score one (well, two) for the right after the passage of the anti-BDS law.

Indeed, but this disagreement between the PM and the Foreign Minister is more likely a case of the political right wanting to have their cake and eat it too, leaving the dirty work (and the electoral risk) to the far-right politicians who are quite comfortable with “fighting” against “Leftist bias” (to paraphrase the bills’ sponsors) in Israel today.

Then again, I don’t know what goes on in Bibi’s mind. Maybe the PM is sincerely squeamish about supporting a bill whose opponents, including some Likud KMs, are comparing to McCarthyism and Stalinist show trials.

And Lieberman, for his part, may be as much concerned about the survival prospects for the bills (JPost says that without Likud’s declared support, both bills will probably not become law next week) as he is piqued that the PM has not backed these pet projects.

That the PM chose to announce his opposition to the bills at the FJC event is telling, though, of the balancing act he is trying to perform – hold onto the far-right, but maintain the appearance of a centrist and elder statesman.

Yisrael Beitenu, after all, draws much of its support from Russian Jews, particularly those who entered Israel after the dissolution of the USSR. And the FJC serves as a support network for this constituency. The PM must be concerned about alienating voters from the former USSR (as this demographic is already alienated within Israeli society). Yisrael Beitenu, sometimes labeled “the party of Russian Jewry,” was founded in 1999 in response to that alienation and proved to be a “kingmaker” for Netanyahu in 2009.

But at the moment, Yisrael Beitenu is not happy with the PM. The sponsor of the nonprofit “transparency” bill, KM Faina Kirschenbaum, says that Likud is “sacrificing essential security interests, their obligation to their voters and their nationalist values in order to find favor with the Leftist media.” Yisrael Beitenu spokespersons say that Likud “will pay for it in the next elections” if Likud doesn’t back these bills (especially the one to have inquiries of human rights groups – of the two bills, it is the one Yisrael Beitenu wants to pass the most).

In her remarks, Kirschenbaum also reasserted that the purpose of both bills is to “struggle against organizations that support terror directly or indirectly and harm IDF soldiers and the state of Israel’s right to defend itself.” Lieberman has reiterated these pointseven more forcefully: “these are not left-wing and human rights organizations, but terror groups and terror supporters,” he said, refering to the passengers of the Freedom Flotilla ship Mavi Marmara (on which nine civlians were killed by the IDF in May 2010) as well the human rights groups Adalah, Yesh Din and Breaking the Silence.

Given the potential these bills have to stifle alternative viewpoints and paint any critics as terrorist supporters, it is not surprising that opponents of the bills are alluding to Stalin in their criticisms.

And not without good cause. A chilling, even paranoiac, climate seems to be descending on Israel these days. Yesh Din said in a statement that “Lieberman’s methods are reminiscent of methods developed by dark regimes to deal with anyone who got caught speaking out against the regime.”

The Israeli right has, of course, been emboldened bysuccesses against their critics and the strong showing of support in the U.S. political establishment for their uncompromising position towards the settlements.

But the right is also gravely concerned by the growing strength of their critics, as well as the “Arab Spring” that deposed Mubarak and threatens the Syrian regime (no love lost there, but, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t).

Put together the fear of defeat and the taste of victory, and you have an unpleasant cold front descending over Israeli civil society (not to mention Palestinian society, though it’s more of a hot zone on their end).

On the general direction that democrcy and human rights are heading in Israel, though, I will let Bibi speak his peace. According to Ynet:

“[Netanyahu] said [in response to Lieberman] that “we have always been and will always be the only law-abiding democracy in the Middle East, which maintains human rights.” He quickly added, “Of course I hope this will change, but this is the current situation.”

I think the Israeli right would agree with you on that, Mr. Prime Minister!

Israel ‘maintains an apartheid regime,’ Israeli general says in ‘Haaretz’

Jul 19, 2011

Philip Weiss

A few years ago Terry Gross of Fresh Air attacked Jimmy Carter for using the word “apartheid” to describe the situation in the Occupied Territories. How will she reckon with Shlomo Gazit? How many Americans and American Jews will even contend with a retired Major General in the IDF, a past head of the intelligence service and one of the Israeli negotiators at Oslo, when he says “The legal system that enforces the law in a discriminatory way on the basis of national identity, is actually maintaining an apartheid regime.” Of course it’s in Haaretz, not in the American press.

Update: Gazit will be in the U.S. on Monday, speaking at the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Longer quote:

Today I consider the continuation of our occupation rule in Judea and Samaria an existential danger. As I see it, this situation is threatening the main achievement to which I contributed 70 years ago: the establishment of a sovereign and democratic Jewish state. If we don’t separate as soon as possible from the Palestinian population on the ground, Jewish and democratic Israel will be unable to survive.

A few years ago I became a member of the public council of Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights. I can’t influence Israel’s diplomatic decisions, but I saw it as my duty to contribute to upholding the law in the occupied under our control. I believe that the Israeli government, the Knesset and the vast majority of the people want the law to be enforced in the area east of the Green Line, just as they want it to be enforced to the west of it. But in the present situation, unfortunately, there is no equal treatment for Jews and Arabs when it comes to law enforcement. The legal system that enforces the law in a discriminatory way on the basis of national identity, is actually maintaining an apartheid regime.

Israel seizes last flotilla boat in int’l waters 40 miles from Gaza

Jul 19, 2011

Philip Weiss

From the US Boat to Gaza:

Earlier today, the Israeli navy took control of the one boat from Freedom Flotilla II that had made it into international waters on their way to Gaza. The French-flagged boat – Dignite/Al Karama – carried 16 people from France, Canada, Greece, Sweden and Tunisia. They were stopped about 40 miles away from Gaza and after several hours the Israelis took control of the boat, bringing it to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

There are no reports of any injuries and we have heard the passengers were being arrested. We do not yet know how long they will be detained or what will happen to the boat.

We urge you to contact the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC to call for the immediate release of these people. And – most importantly – we must call on the Israeli government to end the siege and blockade of Gaza, and to treat the people of Palestine in compliance with international law!

Annex hasbara on steroids

Jul 19, 2011

annie

Big hasbara push to annex the Palestinian territories today. We’ve got Glick making her appeal on JPost, annex or else “national suicide”. There’s Danny Danon, a member of Knesset, on public radio saying that “when the so-called Palestinians are threatening to take their bid for Statehood to the UN,” it is “an opportunity to annex Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.” And here’s deputy foreign minister Danny Ayaloncreatively framing the historical record illustrated with cartoon graphics for dummies and a catchy sound track jingle worthy of the Pink Panther.

An American tours Israel, looking for the Palestine his father never knew

Jul 19, 2011

Boulos

Boulos is a longtime friend of this site, a pseudonymous Palestinian-American scholar with a doctorate from an east coast school. Last week he sent Weiss several letters from Cairo following a visit to Israel. These emails are so powerful that we sought Boulos’s permission to publish them, with some edits to preserve his anonymity, because this young man has an academic career ahead of him…

Sorry for the long radio silence. I finished at [X university] and moved to [an east coast city] and started a new job there–teaching and doing a post doc. I also met a girl and that sort of occupied a lot of my time. That’s actually an understatement. I am, in fact, in Cairo right now and I just asked her to marry me–and have been in the Middle East since May and will be here till the end of August.

I took her to Israel earlier this summer to meet my family there and am hoping to make it to Lebanon later in the summer to meet the family there. It was a very strange experience going to Israel. My second time there. This time was different than my first. The border crossing was a lot smoother and less awful. Maybe crossing over with a girl and not as a single guy played a factor, I don’t know. She has been a number of times and has been held for up to seven hours because she has an Arab name, and even though she is a Christian, they assume she is a Muslim.

The Israel I experienced this past time was very much the Israel I experienced the first time I went, which was an Arab Israel. Not much interaction with Jews at all, though we spent one day in Jerusalem with an Israeli scholar friend of mine who took us around and showed us things, including an ancient structure. I was struck by how scared she was of everything: of Iran, of Hizbullah, of the Egyptian Revolution. I actually felt bad for her.

I went with one of my cousins one day to attend a lecture by Guy Bechor at the IDC [Interdisciplinary Center] in Herzliyya and was struck by how comedically awful it was, how full of cliches it was, and how unselfconscious he was when he pulled up Wikipedia on the powerpoint screen in the middle of the class to check a date.

Afterwards, my cousin and I went and got coffee and I was talking to her about what I thought of the lecture when an American in the class started talking to us; my cousin knew him and he told her he was getting married in July and was going to do it “over the Green Line” (i.e., in the West Bank) to “make a point.” We had an interesting conversation. He was a total pin head and was completely tangled up and trapped in a suffocating web of nationalist and religious mythology. It was interesting to see the worldview of someone who was an actor, at some very basic level, in the conflict. He spoke to me in perfect American English and so I asked him where he was from. He told me “Tel Aviv.” After speaking to him a little bit longer, I said to him, “Where are you really from?” He was from something like Oregon.

As we were walking out of the university, I was talking to my cousin in English and she told me to talk to her in Arabic because when Israeli Jews hear people speaking Arabic, it makes them scared.

I told my cousins there that I thought a one state solution was the way to go; I was struck by the impression that they don’t necessarily want one, though they never said that. Another impression which struck me: there are lots of ties between Palestinians on the West Bank and Palestinians in Israel proper. Palestinians in Israel go to Ramallah and go to the West Bank, I think, pretty regularly. They shop there, they have friends there, they have family there. Palestinians on the West Bank cannot go to Israel, but there is definitely a traffic that goes in one direction. It is illegal for Israelis to go to ‘Area A,’ but the government doesn’t seem to care if Arabs go. We drove to Ramallah thorough a back route and we weren’t stopped, even though it was illegal…

We crossed over at Eilat and ended up catching a ride to Jerusalem on a French tour bus which had an Israeli tour guide and driver. He was very friendly, both my fiancee and I thought he must have been French-born–his French was perfect–but the tour he was giving was complete and utter propaganda and hasbara. We heard about cherry tomatoes, we heard about Israel and potassium, we heard about Israel’s courageous choice to give up the Sinai for peace, we heard about Israel conquering the desert. As we drove through the West Bank, we got the line, “On the right is Judea and on the left is Samaria.” We passed a Bedouin shanty town and he told the group that the Bedouin earned 2K euros a month working in construction and chose to live that way.

We were in Jerusalem, actually, on Jerusalem day and saw all these people in their white outfits coming back from marches. The Israeli scholar friend of mine wanted to stay out of the Old City that day because it was going to be a mess, so we didn’t see any of the action, so to speak, but we saw some of the people coming back who must have been there. Because there are people there from all over the world, Jews and non-Jews, it probably is one of the most interesting places anywhere.

I don’t quite know what to make of all of it and how to process it. Definitely when you are in Israel, it is very possible to go on and live and be totally unaware of the West Bank, the occupation, etc. I think it’s harder to do that in Jerusalem, but it’s pretty easy to do in other parts of the country. out of sight, out of mind. some random thoughts for you…as if you cared.

I was just in [another city] last week, visiting some of my old teachers and they are all over me because I have not been publishing. I am not so vain as to think that you have been wondering the same about me, but I guess the answer to their question is, in addition to all the stress of the new job and teaching….Cherchez la femme.

[Weiss seeks permission from Boulos to publish the above, and he adds the following postscript]

The experience in Israel was a curious one. There are these incommensurable worlds at play there: there is a certain attractive logic to the hasbara claims that the French tour guide made: I mean, the cherry tomatoes in Israel really are amazingly tasty. The country does have good roads and they have made the desert bloom. The Zionists did take a place and do a lot of good things with it–but there are also the bad things they did with it, there is also the human cost that came with the taking of the country, there is also the dark, exclusivist worldview that animates religious Zionism, if not Zionism tout court.

What struck me this past visit is what struck me the time I went previously: there is a very Arab part of Israel: many of the street signs are in Arabic, you can get really excellent Arabic food–we even ate at a Lebanese restaurant outside of Jerusalem at one point–you can go through life, it seemed to me, and get by just speaking Arabic. Perhaps it is the same way with Spanish in many parts of the US. This Arab side of Israel does not get much press anywhere, I don’t think, including Israel.

It seemed to me, talking to my relatives, that the Israelis don’t really want the Arabs there. Wealthy Jews are buying up Jaffa, a traditionally Arab place, and driving up the rents such that the Arabs who lived there can’t afford to live there any more. If you have a family, your kids can’t afford to buy houses there when they get married and they will go live in Lyd and Ramleh instead. In Akka, I talked to a guy at the sandwhich shop where we had lunch. a little, semi-run down place which wasn’t touristy but which had delicious kefta sandwhiches. In Jaffa, he told me, they sell their land (i.e., the Arabs). Here, he said, we don’t sell. Wealthy Jews have been trying to buy properties in Akka and develop them.

It was sad to me when I asked him if I could get jibneh akawiyeh in Akka, this sort of Akka cheese that my dad likes and which you can get in America. My family in Jaffa had never heard of it, though the older people, who were born before ’48 had. The guy in Akka knew of it but said you couldn’t get it any more. A few people made it in their houses but it was not available as it had been in the past. There had been changes, he said. I assumed he was talking about 1948 and all that.

The Palestine that my father never knew–he was born in ’49 in Beirut–is gone in Palestine and now survives in the diaspora. Even linguistically, there are words in arabic that I knew from my father which the younger people don’t know anymore in Jaffa, but the old people know them. it’s like the diaspora is a time capsule. This is one thing that hit me when I went the first time and it hit me again this time: Palestine is dead. At some level, the Zionists did win. The clock cannot be turned back.

Another thing that struck me about the Arab Israel: one of the most heart breaking things is to see how badly Arabs in Israel would love to go and visit Syria and especially Lebanon. They watch Lebanese satellite t.v., they know Lebanese fashion, they know the Lebanese dialect, and they are a few hours’ drive from Lebanon, but it might as well be in outer Mongolia. At the port of Jaffa, there is a very neat map of the Mediterranean which shows how far various Mediterranean port cities are from Jaffa and it is absolutely striking to see how far (or rather, close) Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut are to Jaffa. In history, one often talks about continuities and discontinuities, and it is in such moments that one is struck by how both co-exist so strongly in such a place–a new language, a large number of immigrants from all over the world, what is essentially an American colony (one feels, when one passes into Israel from an Arab country, that one has just entered America)–but underneath it are also traces of that same, common Levantine culture that used to exist there and which made Jaffa, Haifa, Akka, Tyre, Sidon, etc., all part of a similar cultural continuum….

More inchoate thoughts for you: the situation is a royal mess. In my very unexpert opinion, I think that Israel as it stands right now is probably a sinking ship and is unsustainable. The US and Europe, if they somehow found the political will or testicular fortitude could perhaps force a two-state solution, but I think that it may in fact ineradicably be in the DNA of right-wing Zionism to oppose the establishment of any kind of Palestinian state west of the Jordan. Which means that what is going to eventually happen is the death of the current state of Israel–secular and Jewish–and the gradual emergence of something else. I don’t know what it will look like and am not persuaded that it will be a nice place to live for anyone, but the current state of Israel won’t last another decade. Haaretz is basically the opposition party and my impression is that it represents about 2% of the population.

Herman Cain, GOP pres’l candidate, says he would attack Iran over nukes, Israel

Jul 19, 2011

Philip Weiss

Another Republican standing by Israel no matter what. Will the Democrats politicize this issue? Can Ron Paul? Someone, please. Or maybe Obama has decided not to attack Iran, but he cannot say so? Too politically damaging? From Washington Times:

Mr. Cain said that, as commander-in-chief, he would “make it crystal clear [that] if you mess with Israel, you’re messing with the United States of America,” but stressed that his “Cain Doctrine” would not be a “blank check” for Israeli military action.

“There will be a set of conditions and circumstances that I will work with Israel on for them to understand that they cannot abuse that doctrine,” said Mr. Cain, a former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.

It’s apartheid– Desmond Tutu endorses TIAA-CREF divestment project in N.C. newspaper

Jul 19, 2011

Philip Weiss

Have you noticed that the boycott movement is largely ignored by the mainstream American press? The nonviolent movement to bring human rights to Palestine– overlooked. The new Israeli law against boycott advocacy may thaw this policy. Desmond Tutu got a piece into the Charlotte Observer this past weekend endorsing the Jewish Voice for Peace initiative! It has some great strong facts in it, probably new to his readers? Excerpts:

I, for one, never tire of speaking out against these injustices, because they remind me only too well of what we in South Africa experienced under the racist system of apartheid. I have witnessed firsthand the racially segregated roads and housing in the Occupied Palestinian territories. I have seen the humiliation of Palestinian men, women and children at the checkpoints and roadblocks. I have met Palestinians who were evicted and replaced by Jewish Israeli settlers; Palestinians whose homes were destroyed even as new, Jewish-only homes were illegally built on confiscated Palestinian land.

This oppression, these indignities and the resulting anger are only too familiar. It is no wonder that so many South African leaders in the anti-apartheid struggle, including Nelson Mandela and numerous Jewish leaders, have found ourselves compelled to speak out on this issue.

Though the situation deteriorates daily, I am not without hope. ..

More than two decades later, another wave of divestment has emerged, this time with the goal of ending Israel’s 44-year-old occupation and its unequal treatment of the Palestinians.

The TIAA-CREF campaign is important because it is one of the most broad-based divestment efforts in the U.S.: thousands of professors, doctors, students, and many other people of conscience are coming forward demanding that the suffering of the Palestinians not be ignored in the company’s bottom line. The campaign originated with a call from the American group Jewish Voice for Peace, whose members understand that ending the occupation means a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians…

Hasbara is in the American wallpaper– even in well-meaning stories on public radio

Jul 19, 2011

Phil Weiss and Anees of Jerusalem

From Public Radio international, a feel-good story by Matthew Bell about an Israeli doctor treating patients in Tel Aviv who are ferried to him from Gaza:

One of the doctors working on Odai [al-Kefarna]’s case was Akiva Tamir. While the vast majority of Israelis have almost no personal contact with Palestinians anymore, Tamir is an exception….

“I think I have treated in my life more Palestinians than Israelis. They are my patients, like any other patients,” Tamir told me before examining Odai and the other new arrivals. “I don’t think that we Israelis hate Palestinians in general. And I don’t see hatred from their side. Down to earth, the people would rather cooperate and help each other and live a quiet life together, from both sides. It’s politics that’s the problem,” Tamir said.

And at times, he admits that it’s been difficult to completely separate himself and his work from the harsh political reality that’s defined Israel’s relationship to Gaza in recent years.

“We had difficult days,” Tamir said. “In Gaza, they deliberately bombed a school bus of Israeli children before we left Gaza. And on the same day, Palestinian children from Gaza arrived to be treated here. You know, it crosses your mind that there, people kill our children and here we save their children. But except of that, we love the children. It doesn’t matter that they are Palestinians.”

I asked Anees of Jerusalem to comment:

Do I need to comment? : )
It’s just proof that even a doctor (assuming they are supposedly
higher beings) who is doing kind of humanitarian work here, can fail
to see reality outside the Israel reality distortion field – ‘They are
irrational killers, all of them! We never did anything to them!’, is
the message he is telling us, unchallenged.
And thus, proof that PRI – which is an American media company – is
very happy to continue to be within that field as well, a hasbara
mouthpiece to the unknowing American audience.