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

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White House photo: Netanyahu phone call

6 June 2009

The president is seen with his legs up on the table, his face stern and his fist clenched, as though he were dictating to Netanyahu: “Listen up and write ‘Palestinian state’ a hundred times. That’s right, Palestine, with a P.” As an enthusiast of Muslim culture, Obama surely knows there is no greater insult in the Middle East than pointing the soles of one’s shoes at another person. Indeed, photos of other presidential phone calls depict Obama leaning on his desk, with his feet on the floor.

Israeli officials: US leaves no choice but to okay Palestinian state

6 June 2009

Officials in Jerusalem told Israel Radio on Saturday that there is no alternative but to ultimately agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state… [T]he quicker Israel adopts the road map for peace as the preferred diplomatic initiative, the more likely it will ward off American pressure to concede to a Palestinian state within the framework of an alternative plan that is less agreeable to Israel.

Protestors march in Tel Aviv to mark 42 years of occupation

6 June 2009

About 1,000 demonstrators marched in the rally. The speakers demanded that Israel stop settlement building and heed calls by U.S. President Barack Obama to restart the peace process.

Gilbert Achcar: Obama’s Cairo speech

6 June 2009

Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo… definitely lived up to expectations — provided we agree on what could have been expected. With regard to the form, Obama fully lived up to his role as the new black and human face of America in its relation with the rest of the world in general, and with the Muslim world in particular. He respected the specifications of his mission, seeking to repair the huge damage caused to America’s image and “soft power” by the previous administration… The world witnessed a spectacular attempt at seducing the Muslim world — its youth in particular.

A small circle of friends

5 June 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama says that Israel has to end its settlement activity. Does he have the power to force Defense Minister Ehud Barak to evacuate 24 outposts, in keeping with the promise made by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon to Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush? Does the president have any chance of forcing the Israel Police to implement the decision to evacuate the settlers of Hebron who squatted in that city’s abandoned market? Can the leader of the free world really order the Civil Administration to dismantle the new house in the outpost of Elmatan, under the noses of Israel Defense Forces soldiers, or to return to Ahmed Abdel Khader the land that settlers from Kedumim stole from him?

Palestinian Lawyers Take on Israel

5 June 2009

Dozens of attorneys around the world — in Norway, Britain, New Zealand, Spain and the Netherlands — are working on the Gaza lawsuits. In a globalized world, justice is also global: The basis for the initiative is the principle of universal jurisdiction in international law, which makes it possible to file suits worldwide for war crimes, genocide, torture and crimes against humanity.

Galilee communities: We’re not racist, we just don’t want Arabs

5 June 2009

Residents of the Misgav bloc of communities in the Galilee consider themselves to be liberal, peace-loving people who support coexistence with their Arab neighbors… Which is why they were shocked this week when proposals raised at local council meetings to accept only applicants who shared their Zionist principles drew negative headlines and criticism for alleged racism.

Akiva Eldar: The Great Land Robbery

5 June 2009

An important report on how settleres, settlement organizations, and the Israeli government, working in close cooperation, methodically rob Palestinian farmers of their lands and transfer them to Jewish settlers. Incidentally, similar methods were used by the Israeli government in the early 1950s to transfer lands of Palestinian citizens of Israel to Jewish hands.

Theater of the absurd: Samieh Jabbarin under house arrest in Umm al-Fahm

5 June 2009

Samieh Jabbarin, 40, a native of Umm al-Fahm, is a theater director and an Ibna al-Balad activist who normally resides in Jaffa. He has been under house-arrest in Umm al-Fahm since February, after being falsely accused of violence in an election related demonstration, with a court hearing now scheduled for 7 June 2009.

The Committee for Solidarity with Samieh Jabbarin has been campaigning for his release, including a petition and recent statement in advance of the court hearing.

Israeli Settlers: “We’re launching a campaign against anti-Semitic Obama”

3 June 2009

“We are launching a campaign against Barack Hussein Obama. He is bad for the people of Israel and for the state of Israel and his policies could bring about disaster. We expect our prime minister to say ’no’ to anyone who tries to harm us.”

Israel 141st out of 144 in Global Peace Index

3 June 2009

Only three countries in the world are less peaceful than Israel, according to Global Peace Index figures released this week.

Akiva Eldar: Border Control /Nothing natural about it

2 June 2009

The myth of “natural population growth” doesn’t impress Col. (res.) Shaul Arieli, nor do the stories about little children from good Jewish homes who are left without a kindergarten. Arieli… did the calculations and found that one third of Israelis living in the territories (not including East Jerusalem) settled there during the Oslo years and another third after the peace process was suspended.

Israeli proposal: Make Jordan the official Palestinian homeland

1 June 2009

“It has done big damage,” says Mamdouh Abbadi, a member of the Jordanian parliament who has been among the most vocal in calling for government action against the proposal. “Even if it’s not passed, when 53 members of the parliament [Knesset] accept this law in the first reading, this is very important. We can’t think it’s just for show; it’s the real thinking of the Israeli parliament and they represent the people.”

Akiva Eldar: What will happen if Israel ’defeats’ Obama?

1 June 2009

Does Israel really have an interest in winning the battle over the settlements? What will happen if we destroy the prestige of the strongest man in the world and portray him as an empty vessel, incapable of halting the settlement program of a U.S. protege? Will an Israeli “victory” strengthen the status of the U.S. in the international campaign against Iran?

Israeli ministers: No West Bank settlement freeze

31 May 2009

“I want to make it clear that the current Israeli government will not accept in any way the freezing of legal settlement activity in Judea and Samaria [West Bank],” Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz told Army Radio.

Obama offers olive branch of ’respect’ to Middle East

31 May 2009

According to The Sunday Times, “Administration officials say privately that Obama has given himself two years for a diplomatic breakthough on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, despite the opposition of Binyamin Netanyahu… to America’s minimum demand for a freeze on all settlement building in disputed territory.”

Uri Avnery: Racists for Democracy

30 May 2009

A million and a half Arab citizens cannot be expected to recognize Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State. They want it to be “a state of all its citizens” – Jews, Arabs and others. They also claim with reason that Israel discriminates against them, and therefore is not really democratic.

Uri Avnery: Racists for Democracy

30 May 2009

A million and a half Arab citizens cannot be expected to recognize Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State. They want it to be “a state of all its citizens” – Jews, Arabs and others. They also claim with reason that Israel discriminates against them, and therefore is not really democratic.

Gideon Levy: How to talk to a right winger

28 May 2009

In the outside world such a country is called an apartheid state. In Israel they call it the one-state solution. Once it was out of bounds, only the radical left in both nations dared to suggest it. Now it is being proposed by the Israeli right, while they blur and repress the reality.

Zochrot’s response to proposed Israeli law banning Nakba

28 May 2009

The proposal to legally bar the commemoration of the Nakba on Israel’s Independence Day reflects growing trepidation in Israel about the inevitable encounter with the Palestinian Nakba and the understanding that the Nakba is a foundational part of Israeli identity.

Amira Hass: Time to believe Gaza war crimes allegations

24 May 2009

Ashkenazi, like other Israelis, could have read the Red Cross’ protest during the offensive, that the IDF prevented medical teams from reaching wounded Palestinians by shooting at them. He or his aides could have gone to the Web site set up by Israeli human rights organizations, which was full of reports and testimonies.

Noam Chomsky: The Torture Memos

24 May 2009

[T]orture has been routine practice from the early days of the conquest of the national territory, and then beyond… Small wonder that the President advises us to look forward, not backward – a convenient doctrine for those who hold the clubs. Those who are beaten by them tend to see the world differently, much to our annoyance.

Ya’alon: Israel won’t yield to US demands, won’t halt settlement construction

23 May 2009

[U.S. Middle East envoy George] Mitchell will come, and we’ll talk to him. I suggest that Israel and the U.S. don’t set a timetable. We won’t let them threaten us… From the banks of the Potomac in Washington it is not always clear what the real situation here is.

France: Jerusalem should be capital of two states

22 May 2009

In France’s eyes, Jerusalem should, within the framework of a negotiated peace deal, become the capital of two states… In broad terms, France condemns the ongoing settlement, including in East Jerusalem. We reiterate the need for a freeze on colonization activities, including those linked to natural population growth.

Poll: “1 in 4 Israelis would consider leaving country if Iran gets nukes”

22 May 2009

“The findings are worrying because they reflect an exaggerated and unnecessary fear,” Prof. David Menashri, the head of the [Iranian Studies] Center, said. “Iran’s leadership is religiously extremist but calculated and it understands an unconventional attack on Israel is an act of madness that will destroy Iran. Sadly, the survey shows the Iranian threat works well even without a bomb.”

Yossi Melman: Obama quashed Israel military option against Iran

22 May 2009

The supreme tenet of Israeli defense policy states that Jerusalem must not launch any strategic initiative that stands in contradiction, or places in harm’s way, the clear interests of the United States. This stance has underpinned every fateful decision taken by Israel relating to matters of war and peace… If this tenet remains the cornerstone of defense policy, then Israel once again will not act against the explicit wishes of the U.S.

Gideon Levy: A friend of Israel

21 May 2009

We must be thankful to Obama… he is trying to rescue Israel, the Middle East, and basically the entire world… The ball is in Netanyahu’s court. If he ends the occupation, he’ll get peace and security; if he doesn’t, he won’t.

IOA Editor: Levy’s unbridled enthusiasm about Obama’s Middle East plans is not justifiable but may be explained as a desperate desire for someone to step in and block Netanyahu – a sincere hope, but not one grounded in reality.

Senators urge Obama to ‘mind’ risk to Israel in two-state solution

21 May 2009

A Majority of 76 Senators urged President Barack Obama Tuesday to advance Middle East peace talks while minding the “risks” Israel faces in a two state solution to its conflict with the Palestinians.

Irene Gendzier: Past tense, present sense: considering US oil interests and the connection with Israel/Palestine – 1945-49

21 May 2009

There was a revealing interlude in mid-September 2007, when the former Federal Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan, was quoted in The Washington Post of Sept.17, 2007, as saying that “the removal of Saddam Hussein had been ‘essential’ to secure world oil supplies….” Greenspan’s statement, that “the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil,” apparently shocked the White House, leading an anonymous White House official to explain, “well, unfortunately, we can’t talk about oil.” The former Federal Reserve Chair was already on record as conceding that he was ‘saddened that it was “politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.

Mustafa Barghouthi: Can Obama meet Netanyahu’s challenge?

18 May 2009

I am increasingly convinced that if Obama fails to speak out now, it will doom the two-state solution forever. Further fiddling in Washington — after eight years of it — will consign Jerusalem, the West Bank and the two-state solution to an Israeli expansionism that will overwhelm the ability of cartographers to concoct a viable Palestinian state.

Peace Now: ’Natural growth’ – Israel’s trick for West Bank expansion

17 May 2009

As Akiva Eldar reports,figures for 2006-07 reveal that the housing shortage in settlements stems largely from “migration” from Israel proper to communities beyond the Green Line, as well as the addition of new immigrants from abroad.

Amira Hass: The writing on the wall

17 May 2009

We came to annihilate you; Death to the Arabs; Kahane was right; No tolerance, we came to liquidate. This is a selection of graffiti Israeli soldiers left on the walls of Palestinians’ homes in Gaza, which they turned into bivouacs and firing positions during Operation Cast Lead. Here and there, a soldier scribbled a line of mock poetry or biblical quote in the same sentiment. There were also curses on the Prophet Mohammed and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, along with shift schedules and favorite soccer teams.

Amira Hass: Israel bans books, music and clothes from entering Gaza

17 May 2009

Altogether only 30 to 40 select commercial items are now allowed into the Gaza Strip, compared to 4,000 that had been approved before the closure Israel imposed on Gaza following the abduction of Gilad Shalit, according to merchants and human rights activists.

Poll: 40% of Israeli Arabs believe Holocaust never happened

17 May 2009

The survey shows that Holocaust denial among Israeli Arabs has become more prevalent in recent years… “This radicalization in the positions of Arabs was caused by a series of factors such as the Second Lebanon War, the stalemate in the negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Liverpool cuts funding for festival that includes ’anti-Semitic’ play

17 May 2009

Since its February debut, Jewish leaders have condemned “Seven Jewish Children” as anti-Semitic. The play is said to tie the Nazi murder of Jews during the Holocaust with the killing of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel. It also depicts an Israeli’s decision to tell a child not to feel sorry for dead Palestinians.

UN: Israel should reveal secret torture centers, if they exist

16 May 2009

A United Nations report published Friday by the world body’s Committee Against Torture urged Israel to reveal secret torture facilities.