Israel’s War Against Palestine: Documenting the Military Occupation of Palestinian and Arab Lands

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Jonathan Cook: Pilgrims to site where Jesus was baptised risk landmines

22 January 2011

The army declared the River Jordan a closed military zone in 1967 and later laid mines along much of its length to deter “infiltrators” from Jordan, both Palestinian refugees seeking to return to their homes in the West Bank and Arab fighters trying to launch attacks… [T]he Israel director of Roots of Peace, a global advocacy group opposed to landmines, said half a million remained in the Valley. He added that mines could drift from fenced-off areas during storm-floods, putting worshippers at risk if they strayed off marked paths.

Israel moves to turn deserted Palestinian village into luxury housing project

21 January 2011

Israelis and Palestinians dedicated to the village Lifta’s preservation have called the plan to build 212 luxury units and a small hotel the end for the last Palestinian village of its kind.

IOA Editor: Yet another example of Palestinian history to be erased by Israel — this time, while not physically razed, it will be raped and pillaged by government planners and private developers. Even greater than the loss of the remarkable architectural beauty of the remnants of this village (which managed to escape Israeli bulldozers for 63 years) is the importance of the ‘big picture’ behind the story: Israel has methodically eradicated most of Palestine’s pre-1948 Palestinian history — the more than 400 conquered Arab villages it destroyed after 1948 — while reconstructing Palestine’s Jewish history. This is particularly true for Jerusalem, where the ‘battle of the narratives’ continues to be at the forefront of the Occupation.

Gaza doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish two years after Israeli attack that killed 3 daughters and niece

20 January 2011

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish was a well-known Palestinian gynecologist who spent years working in one of Israeli’s main hospitals. On January 16, 2009, two days before the end of Israel’s brutal 22-day assault on Gaza, his home was shelled twice by Israeli tanks. His three daughters and his niece were killed. He has just written a book about his life called I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity.

Assaf Kfoury: Will the US Ignite the Lebanese Tinderbox?

20 January 2011

For months now, the media has been reporting that the UN-mandated Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is expected to indict Hezbollah members for the killing of Rafiq Hariri in February 2005. Up until about 2008, when Syria was Washington’s official evildoer, the STL targeted Syria. When the US sought to improve relations with Syria and draw it away from Iran, it was Hezbollah’s turn to assume the role and the STL put Hezbollah in its crosshairs. As with other shifting designations of who the official evildoers are, it is not too conspiratorial to suppose that the STL’s re-adjusted focus is more than mere coincidence and serves a political purpose.

Aluf Benn: Israel can’t stop Palestinian independence

19 January 2011

The ‘diplomatic holding action’ that Israel is conducting has enjoyed partial success, but the world is gradually becoming accustomed to the idea that Palestine will join the family of nations this summer.

IOA Editor: A centrist Israeli view about the impending Palestinian statehood. Maybe. Unclear just how any Israeli government — Netanyahu’s or other — would respond. And what kind of state? On that, read Aisling Byrne’s Building a Police State in Palestine.

Aisling Byrne: Building a police state in Palestine

19 January 2011

“If we are building a police state — what are we actually doing here?” So asked a European diplomat responding to allegations of torture by the Palestinian security forces. The diplomat might well ask. A police state is not a state. It is a form of larceny: of people’s rights, aspirations and sacrifices, for the personal benefit of an élite. This is not what the world meant when it called for statehood. But a police state is what is being assiduously constructed in Palestine, disguised as state-building and good governance.

Palestinian military prosecutors vow to stop arresting civilians

19 January 2011

The Palestinian military prosecutor’s office will stop detaining civilians, and civilians will no longer be tried by Palestinian military courts, according to a pledge made by senior officials in the Palestinian security establishment to representatives of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq.

IOA Editor: For background and political analysis, see Aisling Byrne’s Building a Police State in Palestine.

Student’s answer on civics test: Death to Arabs

19 January 2011

Israeli civics teacher: “When we have a discussion in class about equal rights, the class immediately gets out of control. The students attack us, the teachers, for being leftist and anti-Semitic, and say that all the Arab citizens who want to destroy Israel should be transferred… It’s very sad, but the students justify the [Kafr Qasim] massacre and say, ‘A good Arab is a dead Arab.’”

RELATED Israeli Humor: Hope Kindergarten

Israeli humor: Hope Kindergarten

19 January 2011

A brilliant skit from the Israeli comedy show “Eretz Nehederet” (“Wonderful Country”) on Israel’s Channel 2 TV showing anti-Arab racism introduced to young Israeli children very early in life.

IOA Editor: If you think that this is some sort of an abstract humor, think again. For the latest, see Student’s answer on civics test: Death to Arabs

ACLU suing King County [Washington State] over cancellation of disputed bus ad

19 January 2011

The ACLU of Washington filed a federal lawsuit against King County over the decision to cancel a bus ad that alleges Israeli war crimes. The lawsuit claims that King County violated the First Amendment rights of the group that sought to place the ad on the sides of [Seattle] Metro Transit buses.

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M. J. Rosenberg: US – Recognize State of Palestine in 2011

18 January 2011

It was once widely assumed that creation of the Palestinian state would be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. No more. The final nail in the direct-negotiations coffin was driven by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu when he coldly rejected President Obama’s offer of an extra $3.5 billion in U.S. aid in exchange for a 90-day settlement freeze.

IOA Editor: Just when was the last time such an assumption could be made? Twenty years ago? If then. Netanyahu’s predecessors, of the Likud and Labor alike, drove many earlier nails into the negotiations coffin. While Rosenberg is correct in calling for a US recognition of a self-declared future Palestinian state — a theoretical entity lacking borders, authority, or substance — he neglects to mention the historical role of all US governments in the burial of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations: it is US support of Israel — militarily, financially, and diplomatically — that enables the Occupation to continue unabated, now on the Nobel Laureate’s watch.

Russia: Palestine Exists!

18 January 2011

Medvedev: “As we did in 1988, Russia still recognizes an independent Palestine.” Russian president makes announcement after meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in West Bank; Israeli officials fear recognition will cause a domino effect of other states following Russia’s lead, including China.

Jonathan Cook: Zionist left writes its own obituary

18 January 2011

[Labor's] demise, however, should not be lamented. It has been in terminal decline for decades. What its disappearance may do is free up the political landscape for a real left to emerge in Israel, one less tied to the onerous legacy of Labor Zionism and prepared to collaborate creatively with the Palestinian national movements. That is an outcome not considered in Netanyahu’s scheming.

IOA: Netanyahu, Barak; Barak, Netanyahu – the more things change, the more they stay the same

17 January 2011

IOA Editor: As we said on these pages a few days ago, History doesn’t repeat itself, it simply continues…

In the final analysis, whether Barak stays in the Netanyahu government as the head of Labor, or as the head of a newly-created “Independent” section, or altogether retires from politics matters not. With Barak or without him, with Labor or without it, with Kadima or without it, the Israeli government — whether Netanyahu’s, Barak’s, Livni’s, or others’ — will continue its mission full force: the colonization of Palestine and the slow replacement of one people by another…

Jerusalem orders construction halted at site of controversial Sheikh Jarrah hotel

17 January 2011

Attorney Kais Nasser: “Anyone who reads the documentation file can see that the request for a permit was in fact intended to take revenge on the mufti in his grave, 100 years later, for his political positions in the Arab-Jewish conflict… The request for a permit has a political and Zionist agenda.”

IOA Editor: From the Before and After photos, the demolition of this fine example of Jerusalem architecture appears to be a done deal. Yet another bit of Palestinian history erased by Israel.

Israel eyes huge East Jerusalem settlement project

16 January 2011

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat: “I think it’s the time for the US administration to officially hold the Israeli government responsible for the collapse of the peace process.”

Gaza doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish: ‘”We saved lives,” I told the children. “Your sisters’ blood wasn’t wasted”’

16 January 2011

Two years ago, Israeli shells fell on Dr Abuelaish’s family home in Gaza, killing three of his young daughters and their cousin. The horror was caught live on Israeli TV when the doctor phoned his broadcaster friend. Amazingly, the loss did not embitter Izzeldin Abuelaish. Instead he decided his girls’ deaths must not be in vain – and slowly he has turned his family tragedy into a force for peace.

Anti Fascism demonstration in Tel Aviv – 15 January 2011

16 January 2011

Video of the Tel Aviv demonstration against rising fascism in Israel held of 15 Jan 2011.

David Shulman: “And no one wants to know” – Israeli soldiers on the Occupation

16 January 2011

Israeli Occupation soldier: “You don’t want to get into a confrontation with a Jewish settlement. They are the people that are closest to you, they are like your operations branch officer, that’s how it works.”

Thousands protest in Tel Aviv against Knesset probe of NGOs

15 January 2011

MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union): “Movements on the extreme left have proven that they are some of the people who would like to see the State of Israel destroyed. They are betraying the state and therefore there is no escape from taking steps against them. We will reveal that they are funded by enemy states and we will treat them like Hezbollah.”

IOA Editor: The original statement, in Hebrew, makes the point far clearer: “נעמיד אותם בשורה אחת עם החיזבאללה” or, “we will put them on the same line with Hezbollah,” with the strong connotation of standing them against the wall and shooting them.

S. African groups seek arrest warrant for Livni

15 January 2011

The Media Review Network and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance are seeking to secure an arrest warrant in South Africa for Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni, who is due to visit that country next week, Channel 10 reported citing South African media outlets.

Amnon Dankner: Decline to brutality – I am ashamed

14 January 2011

When people comment on [Israel] venomously around the world, we object almost instinctively and say, no, that is too much already. It is only anti-Semitic hate propaganda. But with a hand on the heart — are we not becoming, from year to year, more and more like our monstrous caricature, which is drawn by our worst enemies? For really, where are we going? Think for yourselves, as unpleasant as this may be: Are we becoming more or less racist? More or less democratic? More or less decent?

IOA Editor: It is good that Mr. Dankner has finally awakened from his self-inflicted vacuous state of mind, as former editor of Maariv, one of Israel’s two most popular rags. Unfortunately, the extent of his appreciation of Israel’s decline is remarkably limited. Indeed, very little and very late. Yet, the fact that a figure who spent decades at the heart of Israel’s propaganda machine expresses regret and disappointment in the state of Jewish State is somewhat reassuring, despite the repulsive feelings one is overwhelmed by when reading his statement.

Noam Sheizaf: Here is your peace camp, Israel – Labor’s visit to the settlements

13 January 2011

Hilik Bar, secretary general of the Labor Party: “Judea and Samaria is the land of our fathers and the Bible, and the Labor Party and its members are not disconnected from what this region represents, historically and religiously. We should all stay true to the legacy of the nation’s Fathers and Mothers, and pass it on from generation to generation. Labor belongs to the center and not to the far left […] we feel closer to the settlements’ people here than to the far left.”

IOA Editor: As Sheizaf correctly points out, Labor has not evacuated even a single settlement, and the colonization of the West Bank started on the party’s watch in the 1970s. It was subsequently expanded greatly under Rabin and prospered under Barak, throughout the Oslo “peace talks.” Indeed, Israel’s Labor movement was responsible for the colonization of Palestine from pre-statehood and, since 1967, it has steadfastly rejected opportunities to end the conflict with the Palestinians based on Land-for-Peace, that is, ending the Occupation in return for peace. Historically, there’s little doubt that Labor had played a far larger role in dispossessing the Palestinians than than the various Likud-led governments.

Akiva Eldar: Border Control / Kadima slides right

13 January 2011

MKs from the party heading the opposition recently voted in favor of two bills that should have been easy “nays”: giving mortgage help to would-be settlers and probing leftist organizations.

IOA Editor: Another, rather mundane, instance where so-called “Labor,” “Centrist” Israeli parties participate, alongside the “Extreme Right,” in the daily conduct of Israel’s colonization program: the century-long dispossession and repression of the Palestinian people, now with a new McCarthyist twist pointing to its own Jewish citizens. History doesn’t repeat itself, it simply continues.

After reporter made to ‘remove bra’ for security check, foreign press threatens to boycott Israel

13 January 2011

The Foreign Press Association in Israel is threatening to boycott briefings held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if security procedures are not changed immediately.

IOA Editor: Israel’s Shin-Bet security service has gone berserk – along with most of the country’s parliament, “Defense” (Occupation) Department, the national Police Department, and so many other public agencies and social sectors.

Chris Hedges: Even lost wars make corporations rich

13 January 2011

The corporations, no matter how badly the wars are going, make huge profits from the conflicts. They have no interest in turning off their money-making machine. Let Iraqis die. Let Afghans die. Let Pakistanis die. Let our own die. And the mandarins in Congress and the White House, along with their court jesters on the television news shows, cynically “feel our pain” and sell us out for bundles of corporate cash.

PLO: The Shepherd’s Hotel

12 January 2011

Israel’s demolition of the Shepherd’s Hotel property in the Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, in preparation for the establishment of a new Jewish settlement is part of the larger Israeli settlement enterprise aimed at maximizing territorial contiguity for illegal settlements, while incorporating the bare minimum Palestinian population within Jerusalem’s boundaries. It is designed to fragment the Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem and separate them from the Old City and the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory; and to preempt any negotiated solution on Jerusalem.

Israel’s orthodox rabbis: ‘Palestinians to the Ovens!’

12 January 2011

Back in the days of the Shoah [Holocaust], one of the slogans of the Jew haters was: “Jews to the Ovens.” Now, it causes me anguish to say, we have Israeli Orthodox rabbis saying the same about the Palestinians.

Divided you will fail, Loach warns Palestinians

12 January 2011

British film director Ken Loach brought a message of warning to the Palestinians on his first visit to the occupied territories: if you are divided you will fail.

Moshé Machover: Shlomo Sand’s the invention of the Jewish people

12 January 2011

From an unbiased viewpoint, even if it were true that present-day Jews are descended from an ancient people forcibly exiled from Palestine, it would clearly not justify Zionist colonization and the ‘repossession’ of the country after two millennia from its long-standing inhabitants. This is the epitome of hutzpah coming from Zionists, who deny the right of return to the Palestinians they evicted and exiled 62 years ago.

Corporate Complicity in Israel’s Violations of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law

12 January 2011

Documents of the Second International session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine that took place in London on November 20, 21 and 22 2010 on “Corporate Complicity in Israel’s Violations of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law”.

Critical Mass Tel Aviv bicycle ride against the Gaza siege and the Israeli Occupation

12 January 2011

On January 11, 2011 Israeli activist Yonatan Pollack began a 3 month jail sentence for riding his bike in a protest against the criminal siege of Gaza. While the war criminals responsible for the siege go free and siege protesters like Pollak are jailed. The protesters say: Prosecute the real criminals! End the siege of Gaza! Free Yonatan Pollack!

US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed

12 January 2011

US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan – an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed – that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.

Amira Hass: The nation is behind you, Galant

12 January 2011

The army’s seizure of land “for military and security purposes” quickly turned into large-scale appropriation for the exclusive benefit of Israel’s super-citizens, at the expense of the subpar species.

Haneen Zoabi: There can be no coexistence with a racist consensus

10 January 2011

The persecution of “Jewish Left extremists” creates a different dynamic than the persecution of Arab citizens. Political persecution is now extending to all layers of Jewish society, permeating into areas that not even the General Security Service, and the powers to be, have ever considered.

Netanyahu: Building on site of East Jerusalem hotel corresponds with Israeli law

10 January 2011

“It cannot be expected from the State of Israel to forbid Jews from purchasing private property in Jerusalem. There is no democratic country in the world that would impose such a ban on Jews and it cannot be expected that Israel will be the one to do so.”