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

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Israeli US Embassy: J Street could ‘impair Israel’s interests’

12 October 2009

“[W]hile recognizing the need for a free and open debate on these issues, it is important to stress concern over certain policies that could impair Israel’s interests.”

Israeli officials: UK support for Goldstone report may backfire

11 October 2009

[British Ambassador to the UN said that] he supports the findings of the Goldstone commission, and called for both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate its conclusions… The [Israeli] Foreign Ministry convened an emergency meeting in light of Sawer’s comments, and told ministers not to issue any official response.

In Gaza, only the dying get to see their Israeli relatives

11 October 2009

There are currently thousands of “mixed” Palestinian families, with one partner an Israeli citizen and the other a resident of the territories… the lives of these families became more and more complicated. Every entry and exit was accompanied by an exhausting bureaucratic process. Following the intifada, the regulations were stiffened further.

Israel hits back at Turkey over scuppered air force drill

11 October 2009

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been under pressure recently to exclude Israel from the drill, on the grounds that Israel should not be allowed to participate while its planes are bombing the Gaza Strip.

IOA Editor: The Turkish people have spoken.

Hamas says more babies born with birth defects since Cast Lead

10 October 2009

According to Dr. Muweiyah Hassenein, head of the ministry’s ambulance and emergency department, “we have found cases among newborn babies involving heart defects and brain abnormalities.”

IOA Editor: This report can be found in surprisingly few current media sources (Ma’an in Sept, Haaretz and Xinhua).

Israeli Nobel Laureate calls for release of all Hamas prisoners

10 October 2009

“I don’t understand why we incarcerate them in Israel in the first place,” the professor told [Israeli] Army Radio Saturday. She added that “all prisoners should be returned to Palestine regardless of a deal for Gilad Shalit’s release.”

Gideon Levy: How I felt watching a play about myself

9 October 2009

Gideon Levy, a courageous Israeli journalist whose work is followed and admired by readers all over the world, tells about the odd, yet moving experience of watching a play that focuses on his own work: “never have I felt such satisfaction from my journalistic work as I did in that hall. Never have I been so proud that another chilling story of mine about abuse committed by IDF soldiers, appears Friday in this paper…” We wish him the very best.

‘US furious over Israeli incitement against Obama’

9 October 2009

The U.S. administration is furious over Israeli incitement against President Barack Obama, Democratic congressmen close to Obama told an Israeli source who returned from a visit to Washington this week. The congressmen even hinted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been personally involved.

UN: West Bank riddled with Israeli obstacles

9 October 2009

Israel has 592 obstacles such as checkpoints, trenches and barriers across the occupied West Bank and a report that Israel was removing 100 such curbs can not be verified, a UN agency said on Friday.

Israeli conscientious objectors rile South African Jewish community with apartheid comparisons

9 October 2009

“These youngsters don’t realize the damage they’re doing… The problem is that their movement has lost all sense of proportion, it’s drifting away from a balanced point of view and has become completely obsessed with the occupation.”

IOA Editor: Yes, that pesky obsession that just won’t go away.

IDF to protect Palestinians harvesting olives, from settlers, for only 3 days

9 October 2009

The IDF banned Israelis from olive groves near Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank this week to enable Palestinians to harvest olives unhindered for two or three days. However, olive farmers and human rights groups say the harvest cannot be completed in that time.

Saree Makdisi: Last Straw for the Palestinian “Authority”?

8 October 2009

In looking for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then, we should once and for all stop looking to governments and officials (elected or otherwise), in the US, Israel, or among the Palestinians themselves. As the Obama administration has already demonstrated, the US government, in the present political conjuncture, will never put peace and justice in Palestine ahead of internal domestic pressures and politics; the Israeli government will not for one moment back down from its continually expanding colonization plan in the West Bank and East Jerusalem until it is compelled by outside pressure to do otherwise; and the Palestinian government — well, there is no such thing.

Daoud Kuttab: The lessons from the Palestinian Goldstone-gate

8 October 2009

Even supporters of the Palestinian Authority admit that it was clearly outmanoeuvred by the Israelis and the Americans, and was seen to be totally out of touch with its own public and the Arab and international supporters.

IOA Editor: Illuminating coverage of the background to the Abbas’ decision, and valid practical advice to the PA. However, stating that the Israeli government stood up to “tremendous US pressure” is not supported by by facts: there is no evidence of any actual US pressure.

An Open Letter to the President of the Palestinian Authority

8 October 2009

We strongly urge the leadership to reconsider its decision, and to begin to forge an independent path of diplomacy based on respect for international law that can lead to genuine justice and durable peace.

Stephen Lendman: The Gaza War’s Effect on Women

8 October 2009

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) new report, titled “Through Women’s Eyes,” highlights “the Gender-Specific Impact and Consequences of Operation Cast Lead” and the ongoing siege.

Israel has to be held accountable

8 October 2009

Sahar Francis, a Palestinian Israeli human rights lawyer: [T]he US and Israel, in the name of peace, were actually trying to push the point that any kind of accountability measures against Israel will affect negotiations. But how can you reach peace without giving justice to the people?

Israeli media mogul Haim Saban mulls stake in Al Jazeera

8 October 2009

Israeli businessman Haim Saban is negotiating with Qatar’s emir the purchase of 50 percent of the Al Jazeera television network, the independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Mesryoon reported earlier this week.

IOA Editor: We should rightly be concerned about media moguls: now an Israeli who reduces the Boycott Campaign to “anti-Semites” and “Jew haters.” There is every reason to worry about the future of Al-Jazeera’s independence and quality reporting. We call upon the Amir of Qatar not to go forward with the sale.


Appeal the Amir of Qatar NOT to sell any share of Al-Jazeera to Saban

Michael Warschawski: Yes to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)

8 October 2009

A Response to Uri Avnery: No Israeli who claims to support the national rights of the Palestinian people can, decently, turns his or her back to that campaign: after having claimed for years that “armed struggle is not the way,” it will be outrageous that this BDS strategy will too be disqualified by those Israeli activists. On the contrary, we must all together join to “Boycott from Within” in order to provide Israeli support to this Palestinian initiative.

IDF soldier arrested after caught on tape beating Palestinian

8 October 2009

[Bil'in] residents say the IDF conducts nighttime raids up to four times a week, sometimes using percussion grenades and tear gas and sometimes also entering homes, which has led to Israeli activists staying overnight in village homes.

Jordan’s king to Haaretz: Without two states, there is no future

8 October 2009

King Abdullah: “Is Israel going to be fortress Israel or is it going to be part of the neighborhood? Because if there is no two-state solution, what future do we all have together?”

CPD: We Call for the United States to End Its Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan!

7 October 2009

The Campaign for Peace and Democracy: “This may be a turning point for the expanding U.S./NATO wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a time when speaking out clearly and unambiguously against war can make a crucial difference. Today we see signs all too reminiscent of the step-by-step deepening of the U.S. commitment to the war in Vietnam in the 1960’s. In response, we declare ourselves firmly against military escalation in the region and for the withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and Pakistan now. We also call for an end to drone attacks in both countries.”

Volvo providing armored buses for Israeli settlements

7 October 2009

In its Code of Conduct, the Volvo Group commits itself to support and respect the protection of human rights and to ensure that it is not complicit in human rights abuses. However, by providing construction and transportation equipment that facilitates Israel’s occupation, the company violates this Code of Conduct on a daily basis. With increasing calls for boycott of and divestment from companies that support Israel’s occupation, Volvo Group can expect activists around the world to put pressure on responsible investors to divest from the company and to call on public bus companies not to buy Volvo buses.

Watch What You Tweet

7 October 2009

A social worker from New York City was arrested last week while in Pittsburgh for the G-20 protests, then subjected to an FBI raid this week at home—all for using Twitter. Elliot Madison faces charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. He was posting to a Twitter feed (or tweeting, as it is called) publicly available information about police activities around the G-20 protests, including information about where police had issued orders to disperse.

Cornerstone laid in East Jerusalem for Jewish quarter

7 October 2009

“We weren’t going to cancel a serious ceremony regarding the construction of another Jewish residency in East Jerusalem just because a few Hooligans make some noise,” organizer Avichai Buaran told Army Radio. “Nof Zion is in the Arab town of Jabel Mukaber, but it remains a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem,” he added.

IOA Editor: The colonial project continues, “dunam here and dunam there,” as the old Zionist saying goes.

Banned from Al Aqsa

7 October 2009

Jonathan Cook covers the growing tension between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, culminating yesterday in warnings by Palestinian officials that Israel was “sparking a fire” in the city.

Ahmed Tibi: The right to be free

6 October 2009

We have no interest or desire in a clash – the opposite is true. Popular protest is legitimate. However, we shall never accept a situation whereby one side feels like a knight while the other feels like the horse; one side is the master and ruler while the other is the servant and slave.

Robert Fisk: The demise of the dollar

6 October 2009

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies.

Thousands of Christians march for Israel in Jerusalem

6 October 2009

“We are here as flag-carriers for Israel at a time when evil forces are seeking to divide Jerusalem,” she said, her booming voice quivering with emotion.

Israelis headed the procession, with employees of weapons manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defence Systems marching in the lead, in step to a drumbeat and holding up a model of a missile. Nearby a man was dressed up as a fighter jet.

IOA Editor: So help us God.

Yitzhak Laor: Turning off the lights

6 October 2009

After years of total disdain for the international community, of violating laws and treaties while Israeli legal experts turn into a kind of public defense counsel for our generals, there are finally members of the military elite who can no longer travel to Switzerland to ski, or to the opera in Covent Garden, or to a high-tech exhibition in Spain, without first consulting their lawyers. And that’s a good thing.

Chief Jerusalem digger admits excavation endangers Arab homes

5 October 2009

A video tape made during a guided tour of the archaeological excavations at Silwan (the City of David) near Jerusalem’s Old City walls reveals how Elad, the association that runs the dig, works together with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Jerusalem municipality to dig under the homes of Arab residents.

ALSO: Court rejects Silwan residents’ petition against City of David archeological work

IOA Editor: As is often the case, Israel is acting as if the Palestinians do not exist. Or, treating them as ‘debris.’

Amira Hass: Mahmoud Abbas’ chronic submissiveness

5 October 2009

In a single phone call to his man in Geneva, Mahmoud Abbas has demonstrated his disregard for popular action, and his lack of faith in its accumulative power and the place of mass movements in processes of change.

Vice Premier Ya’alon cancels U.K. visit over arrest fears

5 October 2009

Ya’alon was asked to attend the dinner by the British branch of the Jewish National Fund.

IOA Editor: Ya’alon is the former IDF chief of staff and a life-long career officer who, in different capacities – including the commanding officer of Israel’s Central Command, responsible for the West Bank during the Second Intifada – was responsible for the death of possibly thousands of innocent Palestinians.

The Jewish National Fund, which predates Israel’s existence, is the foremost national institution responsible for the acquisition of lands, ultimately bearing a significant part of the responsibility for the dispossession of the Palestinian people.

There couldn’t be a more deserving person, or institution, to stand before the International Criminal Court.

See also Tiptoeing between lawsuits: Senior officials stay in Israel

John Pilger: The lying game – how we are prepared for another war of aggression

5 October 2009

Iran’s crime is its independence. Having thrown out America’s favourite tyrant, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Iran remains the only resource-rich Muslim state beyond US control. As only Israel has a “right to exist” in the Middle East, the US goal is to cripple the Islamic Republic. This will allow Israel to divide and dominate the region on Washington’s behalf, undeterred by a confident neighbour. If any country in the world has been handed urgent cause to develop a nuclear “deterrence”, it is Iran.

Akiva Eldar: Peace in exchange for the bomb

5 October 2009

But what will we do if the Iranians surprise Obama with an offer to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons and to help establish peace throughout the entire region? It is so convenient for us to remain tied to the policy of ambiguity on both issues.

Marwan Barghouthi: Israel is no peace partner

4 October 2009

“Anyone who thinks that peace is possible with the current Israeli government and was not possible with the previous governments is being delusional.”

Abbas orders probe into deferral of UN Gaza report

4 October 2009

“[A]fter deliberations among President Abbas and members of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad [and] President Abbas issued a decree to form a committee to find the reasons behind postponement of the debate on Goldstone’s report at the UN Human Rights Council.”

IOA Editor: Why does this smack of a Whitewash Committee?