NOVANEWS
- Israel mobilizes special forces to deport ‘flytilla’ activists
- Refuser Diaries: Alon Gurman
- Wallace interview with Ahmadinejad was little more than deliberate demonization
- Power outages lead to the death of three children in Gaza
- The most moral army in the world has been very busy
- One state solution featured on NPR and in Carter ‘IHT’ Op-Ed
- On anti-Semitism, war crimes, and old poets
- Another Adelson (Moskowitz gives $1 million to anti-Obama PAC)
- Israel arrested over 300 Palestinians in March, including a mother trying to protect her 3-year-old son from Israeli soldiers
- When Mike Wallace questioned Israeli story of ’90 massacre, he got called into the owner’s office
Israel mobilizes special forces to deport ‘flytilla’ activists
Apr 12, 2012
Allison Deger
(Cartoon: Carlos Latuff)
This Sunday, the Airflotilla2, or “flytilla,” organizers expect around 1,500 international activists to fly into Ben-Gurion airport in order to draw attention to Israel’s abuses to the Palestinian people. As the third action of this kind approaches, Haaretz reports Israeli authorities are planning to deploy “hundreds of police and special forces,” to immediately deport the activists. Organizers of the Airfoltilla2 maintain they will continue with the demonstration and subsequent “Welcome to Palestine,” week-long program of activities in the West Bank. “They have the right to enter Palestine. It’s not up to Israel to forbid anybody from coming into Palestine,” said Abdelfattah Abusrour , a Palestinian fly-in coordinator. During their visit to the West Bank, activists will meet with Palestinian organizers in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron and Ramallah.
The AirFlofilla2 is an expensive direct action. Activists from around the world will board planes headed for Tel Aviv and when they arrive, they intend to inform airport security of their plans to enter the West Bank. Generally, announcing intent to enter the occupied Palestinian territories is grounds for deportation, though not an official Israeli policy. After last year’s fytilla, when two activists from Australia and New Zealand were denied entry they petitioned the order. However, the Israeli court did not accept the case, and 24-hour visas were then issued for the two activists. That case, and this year’s flytilla raises the legal question, can Israel deport travels for visiting the West Bank?
Anyone who has visited the occupied Palestinian territories understands the only way in is through an Israeli controlled boarder. And travelers know, divulging to the authorities plans to enter the West Bank or Gaza, even when obvious is risky, and often will lead to a denial of entry. Last summer, around 130 internationals who flew into Tel Aviv were imprisoned, and Israeli officials also promptly deported 36 activists. An additional 200 were expected to fly-in, however, they were barred from boarding flights to Israel in their home countries. The Airflotilla2 activists are challenging this de facto embargo placed upon the Palestinian territories.
Screen shot from the ligue defense juive (Jewish Defense League). Trans. from French: “The Jewish Defense League is organizing a welcome party for the anti-Semitic thugs who wish to travel to Israel mid-April. People wanting to participate in this warm welcome are requested to contact us.”
Activists also face challenges in their home countries. France’s Jewish Defense League (JDL) announced two days ago plans to thwart the fly-in at the departing airport. Their website ominously calls for a “welcome party for anti-Semitic thugs who wish to travel to Israel.” In the comment section of the post, one individual notes the JDL will meet at “terminal 1” show the flytilla activists “Israeli hospitality.”
Comment from the Jewish Defense League “warm welcome” post. Trans. from French: They must know Israeli hospitality !! Terminal 1 friends, sensitive flights (i.e., with Islamo-Nazis inside) we will be diverted to Terminal 1.”
For updates on Twitter follow @AirFlotilla2.
Apr 12, 2012
Alon Gurman
Noam Gur and Alon Gurman are keeping a diary of the week leading up to their refusal to serve in the Israeli military and their likely imprisonment. For their first entry, click here.
Thursday, 13th April, 2012
Alon Gurman (Photo: Activestills)
Today was a day of extreme dichotomy. Starting out with a few old friends contacting me to express their support and wish me luck, I go on to spend the rest of my morning dealing with hate-spammers on our Facebook event for the demonstration on our day of imprisonment. I have quite a bit of experience with this type of harassment, that usually incorporates cursing and racism and renders our event page useless. Eventually we overcome the spammers and the day goes on. Next, I am nervous for the very first time in regard to my imprisonment. I am filled with fear of the unknown, but I remind myself that many have been through much worse and have come out just fine. I relax again. I am suddenly filled with a slightly different anxiety. I feel as if I have already been through quite a bit and am quite glad thinking about being freed eventually.
I’ve also been dealing with criticism regarding my contribution to society, or at times – the state. Noam and myself haven’t addressed the subject publicly as we chose to focus our message on the oppression of Palestinians by Israel and its military. First, I’ll state with no apologies that I have no affinity to nations or states, and do not wish to contribute to such. Second, in relation to the “civil service” (a voluntary program for people who did not serve in the military) – I have considered taking part in such, but not out of obligation or need to fill a void of contribution to society left empty by my refusal. I take part in voluntary work, but do not feel the need to apologize for not serving and substitute my service for anything. My refusal is a contribution to society, and in my eyes – serving the Israeli military is not. -Alon
Wallace interview with Ahmadinejad was little more than deliberate demonization
Apr 12, 2012
Nima Shirazi
Since Mike Wallace passed away we’ve run a few pieces highlighting his coverage of Israel/Palestine. But not all of his work was exemplary. From Nima Shirazi’s March 2010 piece entitled, ” ‘Néjàd Vu, All Over Again: The Media, Pretext, Context, & 9/11“:
In early August 2006, Iranian President Ahmadinejad was interviewed on the CBS program 60 Minutes by veteran journalist Mike Wallace. A heavily-edited, hour-long version of the discussion, featuring overdubbed narration by Wallace, was broadcast nationally. In response to Wallace’s question about Ahmadinejad’s supposed proposal to “wipe Israel off the map” (which Wallace claimed the Iranian President had “said time and again”), Ahmadinejad replied, “I think that the Israeli government is a fabricated government.” Wallace then editorialized (via post-production voice-over) that this “fabrication” of Israel followed the Holocaust, “which [Ahmadinejad]’s said may also have been fabricated,” and continued, “Last December, Ahmadinejad said the Europeans had created a myth of the Holocaust.”
The interview made headlines around the world and Ahmadinejad’s reputation as a genocidal threat to Israel and a confrontational denier of the Holocaust was duly cemented in the hearts and minds of Western audiences. But those threats and denials came from Wallace’s voice-over, not Ahmadinejad’s actual words.
A few days after the CBS hatchet-job was broadcast, and at the request of Ahmadinejad himself, the complete, unedited, 90-minute interview was shown on C-SPAN. Thus, it became clear what had been deliberately omitted from the widely-seen 60 Minutes version. Apparently, Ahmadinejad’s response to Wallace’s question about Israel was truncated mid-sentence and his subsequent explanation was cut outright. This is what he actually said, but which CBS refused to show (keep in mind, nothing but the first half of the first sentence was aired):
I think that the Israeli government is a fabricated government and I have talked about the solution. The solution is democracy. We have said ‘allow Palestinian people to participate in a free and fair referendum to express their views.’ What we are saying only serves the cause of durable peace. We want durable peace in that part of the world. A durable peace will only come about with once the views of the people are met.
So we said ‘allow the people of Palestine to participate in a referendum to choose their desired government,’ and of course, for the war to come an end as well. Why are they refusing to allow this to go ahead? Even the Palestinian administration and government which has been elected by the people is being attacked on a daily basis, and its high-ranking officials are assassinated and arrested. Yesterday, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament was arrested, elected by the people, mind you. So how long can this go on?
We believe that this problem has to be dealt with fundamentally. I believe that the American government is blindly supporting this government of occupation. It should lift its support, allow the people to participate in free and fair elections. Whatever happens let it be. We will accept and go along. The result will be as you said earlier, sir.
No military threats, only a call for democratic elections and a government that represents the will of the people. But none of that made it into the final cut of the interview shown on CBS.
Rather than allow Ahmadinejad to speak for himself, Wallace and his production team at CBS decided to create their own narrative, shaped by decontextualized quotes, selective editing, and subjective voice-overs by the renowned interviewer. As a result, the interview that aired was little more than deliberate demonization, anti-Iranian propaganda, and purposefully obfuscated what the Iranian President had actually said to his interlocutor in order to further propagate a false narrative of an Iran is an “existential threat” to Israel and which officially denies the Holocaust. In response to a question about the severity of the editing of Ahmadinejad’s response to Wallace’s Israel question, Robert G. Anderson, the producer of the interview segment, reportedly stated, “I made that edit and I stand by it and completely disagree with your misinterpretation.”
As a result of this undeniable censorship and intentional obfuscation of truth in service of propaganda by a mainstream media outlet and respected reporter, Mike Wallace won his 21st Emmy Award for the Ahmadinejad interview.
Power outages lead to the death of three children in Gaza
Apr 12, 2012
Today in Palestine
Land Theft & Property Destruction / Restriction of Movement / Apartheid / Refugees
Settlers Establish New Outpost East of Ramallah
Dozens of Jewish settlers erected a new outpost near the “Hashmonaim” settlement east of the West Bank city of Ramallah under the name “Or Hadash” (new light).
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
New Israel Plans to Grab More Palestinian Lands
Recently released documents show that Israel’s Civil Administration, part of the Defence Ministry, has long earmarked up to 10 percent of the West Bank for new settlements or the expansion of existing ones. This is in contravention of international law, which bans the construction of towns and villages by the occupying power on territory captured in war.
link to palestinechronicle.com
The Palestinians have sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council seeking condemnation of Israeli settlement activity, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Tuesday. Riyad al-Malki said the Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, had submitted letters to the council and UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon on Monday, ahead of a meeting of the peacemaking Quartet in Washington on Wednesday.
link to english.al-akhbar.com
Record number of Israelis holiday in West Bank settlement areas
Tens of thousands of Israelis visited West Bank settlement areas during this week’s Passover holiday. Israel’s development of settler tourist attractions and normalization of its occupation are behind these record numbers.
link to www.alternativenews.org
The occupation imposes total siege on Ram in northern occupied Jerusalem
The Zionist occupation imposed a total siege on Ram neighborhood north-east occupied Jerusalem after closing its principal entrance this week using big cement blocks to prevent residents’ movements.
The Encircled Village of Al Walaja
As I pulled into the PNN office anticipating a day of stress-free work on my photos and blog Monjed nabbed me and said, come with us to Al Walaja for a meeting. Only a short time, he promised. Al Walaja is a small village about 4 km northwest of Bethlehem virtually surrounded by settlements including Har Gilo and Gilo and the apartheid wall, some sections built and some planned. Israel confiscated some of the original village’s land to build Har Gilo, a settlement, illegal by international law. It is also the site of al-Badawi, a 5,000 year old olive tree, claimed to be the oldest in the world.
Hamas: Destroying Qassam tombstone a crime
Hamas denounced the Israeli authorities for attempting to destroy the headstone of Sheikh Ezzuddin Al-Qassam’s grave in Haifa.
Dozens of local and foreign activists were either wounded or detained when Israeli occupation forces cracked down on participants in the 7th international Bilin conference near the Ibrahimi mosque.
Three Palestinian farmers wounded in Jewish settlers attack
Three Palestinian farmers from Aqraba village, near Nablus, were wounded on Thursday morning after Jewish settlers attacked them.
Passover violence in Occupied Al Khalil
The Israeli army enforced a system of extensive closures, detentions, and violence against Palestinians and internationals activists during the Jewish holiday of Passover in Al Khalil (Hebron). The army closed off the busy Beersheba road to allow Jewish settlers to visit the tomb of Othniel Ben Knaz inside of Palestinian controlled Hebron. Under the Hebron Protocol the city is divided into two parts; H1 is under complete Israeli military control and H2 is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, although the Israeli army frequently violates the protocol by entering P.A. controlled Hebron.
VIDEO: Protesters sprayed with ‘smelly water’
The Israeli army is using a non-lethal method of dispersing Palestinian protesters in the occupied territories – spraying them with an overpoweringly smelly fluid known as ‘skunk water’.
“I wish I had died before what happened in Deir Yassin,” said Zeinab Akel, a survivor of the village whose oral history is filmed by Zochrot, an Israeli group that teaches the Nakba to schoolchildren. Akel was just 20 years old when Zionist forces threw her from her home, on April 9, 1948. The building is now an Israeli hospital and part of larger mental health clinic.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/04/the-symbol-of-nakba-deir-yassin-remembered.html
In his previous exhibitions, the figures that feature in Abdulrahman Katanani’s work were fashioned out of scrap materials and day-to-day objects from Sabra and Shatila refugee camp. These were displayed in spacious and pristine galleries which bear no resemblance to the environment which they and Katanani hail from.
link to english.al-akhbar.com
Tadamun: IOF soldiers arrested 7 women in March
The international Tadamun foundation for human rights has said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) had arrested 300 Palestinians over the past month including seven women.
IOF soldiers round up 7 Palestinians in Nablus, Al-Khalil
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up seven Palestinians in Nablus and Al-Khalil at dawn Thursday, eyewitnesses said.
Dozens of local and foreign activists were either wounded or detained when Israeli occupation forces cracked down on participants in the 7th international Bilin conference near the Ibrahimi mosque.
IOF soldiers kidnap Palestinian for allegedly possessing arms
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained a Palestinian citizen in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday evening claiming he was carrying seven explosive devices, five bullets, and three knives.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Life of Abu Hadid in danger in Israeli detention
The life of 60-year-old Hussein Abu Hadid is in danger in Israeli administrative custody. He has been in Ramle prison hospital since his arrest last month.
Abdullah Al-Barghouthi, who is serving the highest sentence in Israeli prisons, has announced that he would start his hunger strike on Thursday demanding an end to his isolation.
A leading activist on Tuesday blasted Israel’s “crazy” reaction to a fly-in campaign of hundreds expected to arrive at Tel Aviv airport this Sunday in solidarity with occupied Palestinians. Israeli security forces said earlier on Tuesday that they had begun preparations for roughly 2,500 activists flying in primarily from Europe and North America, dubbing the ‘Welcome to Palestine’ campaign as “hostile.” “We have made arrangements and are prepared for this operation, which is expected to begin from Sunday,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, without giving further details.
link to english.al-akhbar.com
Dozens of Palestinian and foreign solidarity activists and relatives of prisoners rallied in front of the Israeli Sharon jail on Wednesday demanding the release of all Palestinian female detainees.
Resheq calls for widespread solidarity with captives next Tuesday
Ezzat al-Resheq, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas, today called for activities next Tuesday in Solidarity with the Palestinian captives in the occupation’s prisons.
Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners
Sumoud: An Evening in Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners Palestinian prisoners released on October 18, 2011 Thursday April 19, 2012 6:30pm at Concordia University Hall Building, Room H-110 1455 de Maisonneuve West Metro Guy-Concordia Montreal, Quebec Since 1967, it is estimated that approximately 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel as part of its repression of the popular resistance.
Organizing Guide “WSF Free Palestine”
What is a World Social Forum event? World Social Forum events are open, self-organized meeting spaces where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations come together to develop their thinking, debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action.
Video: Dabke flashmob at Arizona State University asserts (dancing) Palestinian presence, Ali Abunimah
Students for Justice in Palestine livened up an ordinary day at Arizona State University (ASU) by staging a dabke (Palestinian line dance) flashmob in the middle of campus.
Why Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Should Be Used to Target Israeli Apartheid
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a member of the US Campaign Steering Committee, a senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies and the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. I read with great interest Peter Beinart’s recent New York Times op-ed “To Save Israel, Boycott the Settlements.” His thesis is straightforward: Beinart believes Israel is a democratic country being undone by the occupation of the Palestinian territories. The settlements must be opposed while allegedly democratic Israel must be supported. Efforts to support the Palestinian right of return (for refugees), he contends, undermine the possibility of a two-state solution and, thereby, end the possibility for Israel as a Jewish homeland.
Rabbi: Justice system will be punished from above
Thousands attend ceremony at West Bank settlement evacuated during 2005 pullout. Minister Edelstein: We’re working to resettle Homesh.
Public zoo visitors discover it is open only for haredi public. Following complaints, visitors were allowed inside only if ‘appropriately dressed’.
Lebanese navy has been helping the IDF drive away boats that approach the Israeli border, as Israel Navy prepares for possible altercations on upcoming Nakba Day.
link to www.haaretz.com
How BBC views Gaza through a Zionist looking glass, Amena Saleem
According to the BBC, Palestinians in Gaza are accustomed to relentless Israeli violence, while residents of southern Israel experience constant anxiety and dread.
When Mike Wallace questioned Israeli story of ’90 massacre, he got called into the owner’s office, Philip Weiss
The late Mike Wallace was often called a “self-hating Jew,” and it seems clear from his obits that it didn’t really bother him. Community loyalty wasn’t big on his list. In this book of Jewish proclamations inspired by the last words of Daniel Pearl, Wallace says he got along better with Gaddafi and Arafat than he did with Menachem Begin. It appears that at least three of his four wives were not Jewish, and in this obit at the Forward, Barry Lando shows how Mike Wallace seems to have agreed with anti-Zionist Rabbi Elmer Berger that Jewish nationalism imposed a dual loyalty claim on Jews.
Debating Palestine: Representation, Resistance, and Liberation
There are currently an estimated six hundred political prisoners in Bahrain, as a result of the regime’s ruthless retaliation against a popular uprising that started in February 2011. 397 citizens are thought to be currently serving sentences delivered by military and civilian courts that fall far short of international standards for fair trials. To begin with, no group has ever represented the entirety of the Palestinian people. However, the groups that constitute the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) along with Hamas and Islamic Jihad come very close to representing the majority of Palestinians. While it is true that the number of Palestinians who are not card-carrying members of the original PLO groups increased after the collapse of the USSR (for the Palestinian left) and after the Oslo Accords (for Fatah and its allies), we can still detect their affinity for certain schools of thought in Palestinian society.
link to english.al-akhbar.com
‘When I put this on my website, some people will say, Those people are just terrorists.’Philip Weiss
When I was in Palestine in February, I visited my friend Beesan Ramadan in Nablus. Beesan is 22 and a little bit famous: all internationals go to see her. I met her last year, not long after Angela Davis met her with the women of color delegation. People seek Beesan out because she is articulate, gracious– and yes, she is also a feminist in a society that is not especially tolerant of that movement.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/04/when-i-put-this-on-my-website-some-people-will-say-those-people-are-just-terrorists.html
Has time run out for a two-state solution?
Diana Buttu and Robert Malley discuss the dwindling prospects for peace in Palestine with Shihab Rattansi on Inside Story Americas. The Israeli architect of the Oslo Accords has called on the Palestinian president to declare the so-called peace process dead. Should Mahmoud Abbas ignore US pressure and dissolve the PA?
Who Owns the Palestine Solidarity Movement?, Ramzy Baroud
A few years ago, after I spoke at a conference in South Africa, Ronnie Kasrils, then the country’s Minister for Intelligence Services, leaned towards me and said, “I agree with everything you said, but in order for the boycott of Israel to become adopted by world governments, the call has to be initiated by those who represent the Palestinian people in Palestine, not outside groups.”
Palestine Back on the Agenda, Alan Hart
By asserting that Iran is a threat to Israel’s existence (a ludicrous assertion) and beating the drums for war with it, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has succeeded in getting Palestine off the political and mainstream media agenda and winning more time for Zionism to consolidate its occupation of the West Bank. (As Barak Ravid noted in an article for Ha’aretz, “The Presidential election season in the United States is obviously an especially good time to enlarge settlements in the West Bank and strike new roots in the Jewish neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem.”)
On ‘Anti-Semitism’, War Crimes and Old Poets, Lillian Rosengarten
Silence in the face of apartheid is unbearable. We can no longer remain silent nor turn our backs and pretend ignorance to a gruesome occupation of stolen land where Palestinians once lived in peace. The situation has deteriorated as we observe Jewish settlers who spew their hate with such revulsion and racism on Palestinian families, it makes my stomach turn. The United States and Europe (by example I insist,) remain silent thus complicit, not daring to criticize the holier than thou state of Israel for fear of being called anti-Semite.
Human rights groups press Obama on Bahrain
Several NGOs have written to U.S. President Barack Obama demanding he weigh in on the case of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the jailed Bahraini human rights activist who they say may die soon due to an ongoing hunger strike. “We write to urge you to publicly call on the Government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release from prison Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. Al-Khawaja is a Bahraini human rights defender and democracy activist who may soon die, as he has been on a hunger strike for more than two months,” reads an April 9 letter signed by Amnesty International, 3P Human Security, Physicians for Human Rights, Freedom House, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Just Foreign Policy, the Project on Middle East Democracy, the Foreign Policy Initiative, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, Citizens for Global Solutions, and Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain.
A jailed activist who has been on hunger strike in a Bahrain prison for the last two months is weak but still conscious, a top Danish diplomat said Wednesday.
Bahrain has been trumpeting its return to normalcy ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix that begins April 20. But now there is increasing pressure to cancel the car race.
Bahraini opposition media office abroad announced the Bahraini Forum for Human Rights will form a human chain in front of the United Nations headquarter in Beirut’s Riad Solh Square tomorrow.
Bahraini killed in ongoing crackdown
Another Bahraini has died from asphyxia after inhaling poisonous tear gas fired by Saudi-backed regime forces on anti-government demonstrators.
Sunni mobs ‘attack Shia villages in Bahrain’
Sunni men descend on villages, witnesses say, allegedly to avenge an attack which injured seven police a day earlier.