Israeli Occupation Archive – Israel’s war against Palestine

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

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IOA content is now updated mostly on Facebook.
More on the current status of the IOA HERE.

Despite court ruling, IDF took Arab land for train line

17 December 2010

Former Civil Administration head signed order expropriating 50 dunams from West Bank village for rail line connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Shin Bet to compensate PFLP member for torturing him

17 December 2010

In an unusual move, the Shin Bet security service has agreed to compensate Jamal al-Hindi, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, for a partial disability that he says is due to having been tortured by Shin Bet agents 15 years ago. The amount of compensation remains secret by court order.

Israel denies plans to expand East Jerusalem hotel, but documents prove otherwise

16 December 2010

Israel has denied that it recently approved expansion plans for a hotel on the Mount of Olives owned by the Jordanian royal family, but documents obtained by Haaretz prove otherwise.

Moshé Machover: The endless so-called ‘peace process’

16 December 2010

Israel’s strategic aim is to prevent the creation of anything that can even remotely be described as a sovereign Palestinian state; to colonize as much as possible of the best Palestinian lands; and to confine the Palestinians to a series of disconnected enclosures not so much like Bantustans (which were a useful reserve of exploitable labour power for the South-African apartheid regime), but like US Indian reservations, or open prisons. The Gaza Strip has already been converted into the largest prison camp in the world.

Israeli towns continue to rewrite bylaws to keep Arabs out

16 December 2010

Town draft bylaws: “…multigenerational and variegated communal life that upholds Zionist values and seeks to maintain Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence … based on tolerance, human dignity…”

IOA Editor: The Jewish and anti-democratic majority that for more than six decades has systematically excluded the Palestinian Arab minority from access to land, national resources, equal employment and all other opportunities, is now attempting to codify its apartheid-like practices into law. Some liberal Zionists find the formalization of such long-held practices disturbing but, as can be expected, they are not prepared to criticize the structural foundation of such practices, which is inherent to Zionism.

Jonathan Cook: Apartheid Israel-style

15 December 2010

Adalah lawyer Suhad Bishar: “This legislation makes clear in very blunt fashion that the thrust of policy in Israel is towards maintaining segregation in housing between Jewish and Arab citizens.”

Dror Etkes: Instead of befriending neo-fascists, Israel should make peace

15 December 2010

Anyone who has visited the West Bank in recent months has been greeted by the din of mountain-moving bulldozers and jackhammers, alongside giant foundation drills sending up clouds of dust that can be seen for miles. Cement mixers are working around the clock, and everything is being done in a grab-what-you-can atmosphere.

‘Our lives became something we’d never dreamt’: The former Israeli soldiers who have testified against army abuses

15 December 2010

The book’s stark – and inevitably highly political – conclusion is contrary to the view that “Israel is withdrawing from the Palestinian Territories slowly and with the appropriate caution and security”. The IDF soldiers quoted “describe an indefatigable attempt to tighten Israel’s hold on the territories, as well as on the Palestinian population”.

Israel refuses entry to Palestinian firefighters being honored for Carmel fire assistance

14 December 2010

Palestinian Authority: “It’s not clear how the same firefighters who got permits to go out and help snuff the fire now are now refused permits to their honoring ceremony… We did this despite the occupation because it was our humane duty… We knew the occupation would still be here after our assistance.”

Edinburgh city council rejects Violia

13 December 2010

A pro-Palestinian pressure group claimed success last week after Edinburgh Council rejected an attempt by a controversial firm to take over a range of public services in the city. The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) had argued that Veolia should be excluded from Council contracts because of the company’s involvement in Israel’s Occupation of Palestine.

Lamis Andoni: Europe must emerge from US’ shadow

13 December 2010

The central difference between the US and the EU is that most European countries, rhetorically at least, believe that a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict must be based on international law and UN resolutions, while the US seeks to negate these to ensure that any solution is based on Israeli-manufactured facts on the ground.

Jonathan Cook: Israel’s war on Jerusalem children

13 December 2010

10 year old Palestinian boy: “One of the men grabbed me from behind and started choking me. The second grabbed my shirt and tore it from the back, and the third twisted my hands behind my back and tied them with plastic cords. ‘Who threw stones?’ one of them asked me. ‘I don’t know,’ I said. He started hitting me on the head and I shouted in pain.”

Akiva Eldar: An end to the occupation first

13 December 2010

Fostering the illusion that the conflict is ending doesn’t bring a solution closer; in fact, the focus on the final-status talks offers an alibi for deepening the occupation. The high and mighty words about two states for two peoples silence the protest voices of a nation that for more than 43 years has lived under the occupation of another nation.

Philip Dorling: Nuclear war – our fear of Iran

13 December 2010

Australian intelligence agencies fear that Israel may launch military strikes against Iran and Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities could draw the US and Australia into a potential nuclear war in the Middle East.

Sayed Kashua: Have you got a light?

10 December 2010

Let’s not be naive: We all know that Arabs are the ones who burned down the Carmel forests. Not one Arab, not two, not a thousand. The Arabs burned the Carmel… The Arabs burned down the Carmel because they are bad people. It’s as simple as that.

Randa Farah: Uneasy but necessary – the UNRWA-Palestinian relationship

10 December 2010

The absence of an effective Palestinian political body that could mobilize and represent refugees as a collective national group, combined with repressive state policies, catapulted UNRWA to center stage. Taking on a unique and visible role, it assumed many of the functions of a welfare government.

Former European leaders: Sanction Israel over settlement building

10 December 2010

26 former top EU officials, including ex EU chief Solana and former German President Richard von Weizsacker, urge world powers to confront Jerusalem over its refusal to obey international law.

Jonathan Cook: Israel’s racist rabbis

8 December 2010

Jews must not rent homes to “gentiles”. That was the religious decree issued this week by at least 50 of Israel’s leading rabbis, many of them employed by the state as municipal religious leaders. Jews should first warn, then “ostracise” fellow Jews who fail to heed the directive, the rabbis declared.

Lamis Andoni: The PA’s ultimate act of resistance

7 December 2010

The idea of dissolving the PA has many supporters – both inside the Palestinian territories and among the Palestinian diaspora. But this must not be a leap in the dark: the Palestinians must be prepared for the consequences of such a move and it must be undertaken as part of a clearly defined resistance strategy.

Top rabbis move to forbid renting homes to Arabs, say ‘Israel belongs to Jews’

7 December 2010

“We don’t need to help Arabs set down roots in Israel,” Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of the Beit El settlement, said. Aviner explained that he supported the move for two reasons: one, a Jew looking for an apartment should get preference over a gentile; and two, to keep the growing Arab population from settling too deeply. “Racism originated in the Torah,” said Rabbi Yosef Scheinen, who heads the Ashdod Yeshiva. “The land of Israel is designated for the people of Israel. This is what the Holy One Blessed Be He intended and that is what the [sage] Rashi interpreted.”

Anti-Muslim European MPs tour West Bank settlements

7 December 2010

Settlement leader: “European countries must understand that without a state of Israel there is no one to stop the Muslim wave from eroding Europe, and without Judea and Samaria, Israel is unable to exist.”

Israel warns Argentina: Recognizing Palestinian state shatters peace process

7 December 2010

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman: The decision was highly “damaging because they are in fact shattering the foundation of the peace process.”

IOA Editor: Like, say, the settlements?

Nurit Peled-Elhanan: the appointment of Yair Naveh to IDF deputy chief of staff

5 December 2010

We must gather up our courage and teach our children to refuse. Refuse to take part in an organization that is led by war criminals, murderers of children. An organization like that cannot be anything but a crime organization. Avoid it like you would avoid live fire, we should tell them, and think of other ways to contribute to the society in which you live.

Brazil explains recognition of Palestine

3 December 2010

In a move that took Washington by surprise, Brazil has recognized the state of Palestine along the 1967 borders before Israel’s seizure of the West Bank… Brazil’s outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued the recognition in a letter responding to a request from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Noam Chomsky: The charade of Israeli-Palestinian talks

2 December 2010

Washington’s pathetic capitulation to Israel while pleading for a meaningless three-month freeze on settlement expansion—excluding Arab East Jerusalem—should go down as one of the most humiliating moments in U.S. diplomatic history.

New WikiLeaks revelations show Ireland blocking US arms to Israel

2 December 2010

According to the [US] ambassador, “Segments of the Irish public … see the [Shannon] airport as a symbol of Irish complicity in perceived US wrongdoing in the Gulf/Middle East.”

IOA Editor: And what might that be, one wonders?

RELATED Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks cables reveal “profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership”

Mossad bids farewell to its ‘Superman’ [or: Chief, Murder Inc. retires]

1 December 2010

The head of the Israeli secret service, who the Egyptians nicknamed “Superman” after the assassination of Hamas senior official al-Mabhouh earlier this year, concluded on Monday eight years at the helm of the organization.

Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks cables reveal “profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership”

1 December 2010

Noam Chomsky speaks about the WikiLeaks documents release, comparing it to the 1971 release of the Pentagon Papers in which he had a role. Chomsky covers US-Israel relations in the context of the Occupation, the illegal Gaza siege, the separation of Gaza from the West Bank – in direct violation of the Oslo agreement, and much more.

Noam Chomsky: the economy, US Midterm Elections, Climate Change, Haiti, and more

1 December 2010

Noam Chomsky speaks about the US economy, US mid-term elections, climate change, Haiti, Honduras, China and North Korea, and much more. This is Part II of a DemocracyNow interview with Amy Goodman held on 30 November 2010.

Poll: Most Israeli Jews believe Arab citizens should have no say in foreign policy

30 November 2010

Approximately 86 percent of Israeli Jews believe any final Knesset decision regarding the country’s future political arrangement must be approved by a Jewish majority, according to a poll by the Israel Democratic Institute.

Jonathan Cook: Wikileaks and the new global order

30 November 2010

Underlying the gossip and analysis sent back to Washington is an awareness from many US officials stationed abroad of quite how ineffective — and often counter-productive — much US foreign policy is… The possibility that Israel might go it alone and attack Iran is contemplated as though it were an event Washington has no hope of preventing. US largesse of billions of dollars in annual aid and military assistance to Israel appears to confer zero leverage on its ally’s policies.

UN report: Palestinian territories – “prolonged occupation, a new type of crime against humanity”

30 November 2010

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk: “The Palestinian experience suggests the need for a new protocol of international humanitarian law… some outer time limit after which further occupation becomes a distinct violation of international law, and if not promptly corrected, constitutes a new type of crime against humanity.”

Israel accused over ‘cruel’ Gaza blockade

30 November 2010

Amnesty director Kate Allen: “The so-called ‘easing’ of the Gaza blockade does not change the fact that there’s still a cruel and illegal blockade collectively punishing the entire civilian population… The only real easing has been the easing of pressure on the Israeli authorities to end this cruel and illegal practice.”

Oxfam director Jeremy Hobbs: “Israel’s failure to live up to its commitments and the lack of international action to lift the blockade are depriving Palestinians in Gaza of access to clean water, electricity, jobs and a peaceful future.”

Chris Hedges: Real hope is about doing something

29 November 2010

Hope is not for the practical and the sophisticated, the cynics and the complacent, the defeated and the fearful. Hope is what the corporate state, which saturates our airwaves with lies, seeks to obliterate. Hope is what our corporate overlords are determined to crush. Be afraid, they tell us. Surrender your liberties to us so we can make the world safe from terror. Don’t resist. Embrace the alienation of our cheerful conformity. Buy our products. Without them you are worthless. Become our brands. Do not look up from your electronic hallucinations to think. No. Above all do not think. Obey.

WikiLeaks: US Embassy cables – browse the database via The Guardian

29 November 2010

Use The Guardian’s interactive guide to discover what has been revealed in the leak of 250,000 US diplomatic cables. Mouse over the map below to find stories and original documents by country, subject or people.