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.

Haaretz: Stop treading water

4 November 2009

The time has come for Obama to summon both sides for serious, continuous negotiations, accompanied by a timetable for establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel on the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders. There could be no clearer expression of the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security and its future as a Jewish and democratic state.

IOA Editor: There could certainly be no clearer expression of US commitment to all peoples in the Middle East, the inherent conflict between a “Jewish” and a “democratic” state notwithstanding.

US House rejects Goldstone report

4 November 2009

The US House of Representatives has rejected as “irredeemably biased” the findings of a UN-sponsored report which says Israel committed war crimes during its military assault on the Gaza Strip… vot[ing] 344 to 36 in favour of a non-binding resolution calling on Barack Obama, the US president, to maintain his opposition to the report.

Settlers force Palestinians out of East Jerusalem home

3 November 2009

“They can go to Syria, Iraq, Jordan. We are six million and they are billions,” said Yehya Gureish, an Arabic-speaking Yemen-born Jew who said his family owned the land and had Ottoman Empire documentation to prove it. “This land is Israel. We are in Israel. God gave this land to the Jews. The Torah tells us so. You want war? Declare war on God, not on us,” he said.

IOA Editor: Clearly, an educated, sensitive Israeli explanation of the root cause of the conflict.

Ban calls on Israel to halt eviction of Palestinians in East Jerusalem

3 November 2009

Mr. Ban called on Israel to “cease such provocative actions,” and to implement its commitments under the Road Map peace plan by freezing all settlement activity, including natural growth; dismantling outposts; and reopening Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem.

US National Tour about Palestinian Political Prisoners: 3-16 Nov 2009

2 November 2009

The $3 billion dollars of annual U.S. aid to Israel helps fund Israeli prisons and detention centers where 8,100 Palestinian prisoners — including 60 women, 390 children, and 550 administrative detainees held without charge — are imprisoned in substandard conditions and subject to torture.

Ala Jaradat, program manager of Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association in the West Bank, will be on a US tour beginning Nov 3 in Chicago, and proceeding to Milwaukee, San Francisco, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Youngstown, OH and College Park, MD.

Ashrawi: US treats Israel as a state above the law

2 November 2009

Ashrawi noted that this change in attitude towards Israel constitutes a reversal of the promises made by US President Barack Obama who initially stressed the importance of a settlement freeze as necessary to reopen the peace process. Ashrawi’s comments come after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday expressed support the view that a freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank should not be a precondition for renewed negotiations.

Jewish directors challenge Israel at the London Film Festival

2 November 2009

Defamation is a polemic by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. In his expose of America’s Anti-Defamation League (ADL), he claims anti-Semitism is being exaggerated for political purposes. He argues that American Jewish leaders travel around the world exploiting the memory of the Holocaust to silence criticism of Israel.

Gideon Levy: Settlements are fertile ground for Jewish terror

2 November 2009

When a settlement is born out of sin, the sin of stolen land, the gun rests during the first act, the act of illegally confiscating the land. But you can count on there always being someone to pull the trigger in the final act.

Akiva Eldar: It’s not peace, Madam Secretary

2 November 2009

All of a sudden, after 10 months and who knows how many meetings, freezing construction in the settlements is no longer a precondition for negotiations. True, until now the Palestinians were willing to negotiate the end of the occupation while their partner made it worse. That is how we have gone from 109,000 settlers – not including East Jerusalem – when the Oslo Accords were signed 16 years ago to more than 300,000 today.

Would Israel arrest a Jewish terrorist with only Arab victims?

2 November 2009

It’s reasonable to assume that if Yaakov (Jack) Teitel had focused only on attacking Palestinians, he would have encountered few problems with law-enforcement authorities. His big mistake, it seems, was targeting non-Arabs as well. Experience – and statistics – show that Israeli law enforcement is remarkably lax when it comes to tackling violence against Palestinians.

Tel Aviv councilman accuses city of ‘erasing Arab memory’ and quits

2 November 2009

A Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Council member resigned Sunday in protest of what he called “efforts to erase any memory of Arab names and identity from the city.” The municipality also failed to mark the new street name in Arabic, despite most residents of the neighborhood being Arabs. “It’s not enough that they ignore our requests, but how can they ignore the fact that a third of Jaffa’s population are Arabs?” Masharawi said Friday. “I’m afraid this is intentional, and motivated by a desire to Judaize Jaffa, to draw more Jews to the city.”

Tony Judt: Justice Goldstone and the Jews

2 November 2009

Goldstone’s standing in the world will only rise as a consequence of Israel’s short-sighted attempts to discredit the man, the report and the facts. That our own government has chosen to join in this unworthy exercise should be a source of deep embarrassment and shame.

Case against ‘New Profile’ closed

1 November 2009

Prosecution closes case against [Israeli] movement suspected of inciting youth to evade military service, cites lack of culpability, admissible evidence.

South Africa’s legal war over Gaza

1 November 2009

[South African lawyers] want to investigate South African citizens who may have fought for the Israeli army during the war on Gaza in December and January, with a view to prosecuting them on South African soil for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Richard Goldstone: Response to the Berman–Ros-Lehtinen Resolution

31 October 2009

I fully respect the right of the US Congress to examine and judge my mission and the resulting report, as well as to make its recommendations to the US Executive branch of government. However, I have strong reservations about the text of the resolution in question – text that includes serious factual inaccuracies and instances where information and statements are taken grossly out of context.

Israelis Targeting Grassroots Activists

31 October 2009

Israeli authorities are increasingly targeting and intimidating non-violent Palestinian grassroots activists involved in anti-occupation activities who are drawing increased support from the international community.

Larry Derfner: Some victims we are

31 October 2009

The kill ratio was 100-to-1 in our favor. The destruction ratio was much, much greater than that. To this day, thousands of Gazans are living in tents because we won’t let them import cement to rebuild the homes we destroyed. We turned the Gaza Strip into a disaster area, a humanitarian case, and we’re keeping it that way with our blockade. Meanwhile, here on the Israeli side of the border, it’s hard to remember when life was so safe and secure. So let’s decide: Who was the victim of Operation Cast Lead, them or us?

Dahiya doctrine

31 October 2009

Wikipedia’s important review of Israel’s military free-range killing doctrine: a proposed and approved strategy under which “Israel finally realizes that Arabs should be accountable for their leaders’ acts”.

Norway university to vote next month on boycott of Israel

30 October 2009

The university of Trondheim in Norway may become the first university in the West to adopt an academic boycott of Israel, if a majority of its board votes in favor of the move at a meeting on the subject [November 12].

Haaretz: Israel should cede Golan for full peace with Syria

30 October 2009

In parallel to efforts to reach a permanent settlement with the Palestinians and without hurting their interests, Israel must seek peace with Syria in the context of Security Council Resolution 242 of November 1967: full and secure peace in return for complete withdrawal. Those who do not want such a deal will seek to undermine it using arguments of procedure.

Zeev Sternhell: With a conscience that is always clear

30 October 2009

Most [friends of Israel] cannot understand the clear conscience of “the only democracy in the Middle East,” which does not hesitate to hold an entire people under occupation and siege, and at the same time punctiliously presents itself as always, in any situation, as the innocent victim of the hostile gentiles.

IOA Editor: This commentary is important in that it reflects the concerns of enlightened Israelis for the loss of the support Israel historically enjoyed in the West. In other words, global pressure against the Occupation and violations of international law works and must continue.

Student expelled to Gaza Strip by force

30 October 2009

It was the sixth known forced return to Gaza of Palestinians stopped at [this] checkpoint… in 10 days, according to the Israeli human rights group Gisha. Israel has also been preventing family reunifications in the West Bank for Palestinians with relatives living in Gaza, in effect forcing people to relocate to the Strip. The steps are part of an Israeli policy of treating Gaza and the West Bank as two separate entities, thereby undermining the coherence of Palestinian claims for a state encompassing both territories. The 1993 Oslo agreement stipulates that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are to be treated as one territorial unit.

West Bank land belongs to Jews, says Israeli army judge

30 October 2009

“When we [Israelis] say that this is a political conflict, then we lose the battle,” he told the Guardian, adding that it should be remembered that the ancient land of Israel is “given to us by the Bible, not by some United Nations”.

Mustafa Barghouthi and Anna Baltzer on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show – 28 Oct 2009

29 October 2009

Mustafa Barghouthi and Anna Baltzer on Jon Stuart’s Daily Show: complete interview

British lawyer, retired officer take opposing sides over Gaza war crimes

29 October 2009

Attorney Daniel Machover from London is one of the best known figures in the international group of lawyers and pro-Palestinian activists trying to put IDF officers on trial in European countries for alleged war crimes… Anyone surprised by the activities of the Israeli-born lawyer does not know his family history. His parents, radical left-wing activists, left Israel in 1968… His father, Moshe Machover, was… one of the founders of the Matzpen movement.

Ya’alon: I’ll forgo Europe trips to allow IDF freedom

28 October 2009

“Israel is transparent,” Ya’alon said. “The IDF has recently conducted five serious probes, the criminal investigation division opened an investigation into credit card theft. There is a team that will respond to the report without having to stop the army in order to do so.”

IOA Editor: Israel’s most transparent liar. Will not stop “the army,” but will he be stopped by by global activists?

Israel destroys protest tent in East Jerusalem

28 October 2009

In August, police evacuated two extended families — 53 people, including 19 minors — from their homes after the Israeli supreme court upheld a settler organisation’s claim to the properties.

Palestinians in Ma’aleh Adumim employed by Israel but on Jordanian terms

28 October 2009

“Ma’aleh Adumim was built on lands of the Jahleen; these people were pushed to the edges of the community,” [attorney] Lecker said. “This is not a hostile population and the city should be interested in ensuring that this community is not hungry.”

Aluf Benn: Who decided to go to war in Gaza and why?

28 October 2009

I want to know how and why it was decided to embark on Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip and to expand it into a ground offensive… I want to know if those who gave orders to the Israel Defense Forces assumed that hundreds of Palestinian civilians would be killed, and how they tried to prevent this.

Kenneth Roth: Human Rights Watch applies same standards to Israel, Hamas

27 October 2009

A country’s conditions do not remove its obligations under international law… Whether a state is an aggressor or acting in self-defense, whether it faces a regular army or insurgents that commit abuses, the laws of war apply, imposing a duty to minimize civilian harm. And being a democratic country prevents Israel from committing wartime abuses no more than it stopped the United States from torture and unlawful detentions at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

EU lawyers: We’ve got names of IDF officers suspected of war crimes

27 October 2009

Human rights lawyers and pro-Palestinian activists in a number of European countries hold lists with names of Israel Defense Forces soldiers allegedly linked to war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. Existing legislation enables arrest warrants to be issued against these officers if they enter those countries.

Israel accused of denying Palestinians access to water

27 October 2009

Amnesty:
-450,000 West Bank and E. Jerusalem settlers consume as much as or more water than the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.
-Palestinian per capita consumption of 70 litres per day compares with the WHO recommended level of 100 litres and Israeli consumption of 300.
-180,000 to 200,000 Palestinians living in rural communities, especially in the Israeli controlled “Area C” (60% of the West Bank), have no running water.
-The Israeli military “often” prevents them from accessing rainwater by destroying water-harvesting cisterns or even confiscating water tankers.

Shulamit Aloni: Only Jews deserve dignity?

26 October 2009

I believe we should be amending the Basic Law: Human dignity and Liberty, and decide that the State of Israel is committed to maintaining the liberty and dignity of a person only if he’s Jewish; Just like we have land that is only for Jews and roads that are for Jews only. By modifying the Basic Law as suggested, we will know that “dignity and liberty” in the Jewish state are only reserved for Jews.