zaterdag 26 december 2009

Hitlergroet op "Stop de Bezetting"

 
IsraNed wijst op een nieuwe uitglijder van Gretta Duisenbergs "Stop de Bezetting", waarin eerder ook de Holocaust werd geminimaliseerd en men het heeft over Israelische razzia's en concentratiekampen en etnische zuiveringen en Hamas wordt verheerlijkt. De betrouwbaarste TV zender volgens Stop de Bezetting is het Iraanse Press TV. Alle rest is door de zionisten geinfesteerd. "Stop de Bezetting" schrijft onder meer, bij een illustratie waarin de Hitlergroet wordt gebracht:
 
Dat christenen traditioneel worden bespuugd door de joden die ze helpen houdt de kerk natuurlijk in de doofpot. (..) Door schuldgevoel is het antisemitisme omgeslagen in filosemitisme, en is er een nieuw antisemitisme in zwang, namelijk tegen Arabieren, die ook semieten zijn. We hebben nog ± 20 jaar om te zien of daar een nieuwe holocaust uit voortvloeit - voor zover die nog niet in gang is gezet.
 
Het stukje is afkomstig van de extremistische raciste Sonja alias Jannetje de Waere van onder andere Volkskrantwatch, de blog Israellobby en de Empireblog.
IsraNed wijst er fijntjes op dat het openbaar maken van discriminerende opmerkingen en belediging van bepaalde bevolkingsgroepen is verboden in de Nederlandse wet:
 
Art. 137c Sr. Belediging van een bevolkingsgroep
1. Hij die zich in het openbaar, mondeling of bij geschrift of afbeelding, opzettelijk beledigend uitlaat over een groep mensen wegens hun ras, hun godsdienst of levensovertuiging, hun hetero- of homoseksuele gerichtheid of hun lichamelijke, psychische of verstandelijke handicap, wordt gestraft met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste een jaar of geldboete van de derde categorie.

Art. 137e. Openbaarmaking discriminerende uitlatingen
1. Hij die, anders dan ten behoeve van zakelijke berichtgeving:
1. een uitlating openbaar maakt die, naar hij weet of redelijkerwijs moet vermoeden, voor een groep mensen wegens hun ras, hun godsdienst of levensovertuiging, hun hetero- of homoseksuele gerichtheid of hun lichamelijke, psychische of verstandelijke handicap beledigend is, of aanzet tot haat tegen of discriminatie van mensen of gewelddadig optreden tegen persoon of goed van mensen wegens hun ras, hun godsdienst of levensovertuiging, hun geslacht, hun hetero- of homoseksuele gerichtheid of hun lichamelijke, psychische of verstandelijke handicap;
(..)
wordt gestraft met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste zes maanden of geldboete van de derde categorie.
 
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vrijdag 25 december 2009

Grettaforum brengt Hitlergroet

We kennen haar gegiechel over 6 miljoen en opmerkingen over het 'bezetten van Amsterdam-Zuid', maar de handschoenen zijn nu echt helemaal uit: onder een banner 'stop de vernietiging van het Palestijnse volk' brengt het Grettaforum nu doodleuk de Hitlergroet



Die moet dan dienen als illustratie voor een vunzig stukje met daarin:
Dat christenen traditioneel worden bespuugd door de joden die ze helpen houdt de kerk natuurlijk in de doofpot. (..) Door schuldgevoel is het antisemitisme omgeslagen in filosemitisme, en is er een nieuw antisemitisme in zwang, namelijk tegen Arabieren, die ook semieten zijn. We hebben nog ± 20 jaar om te zien of daar een nieuwe holocaust uit voortvloeit - voor zover die nog niet in gang is gezet.
 
 
OK opgelet: Wetboek van Strafrecht


Art. 137c Sr. Belediging van een bevolkingsgroep
1. Hij die zich in het openbaar, mondeling of bij geschrift of afbeelding, opzettelijk beledigend uitlaat over een groep mensen wegens hun ras, hun godsdienst of levensovertuiging, hun hetero- of homoseksuele gerichtheid of hun lichamelijke, psychische of verstandelijke handicap, wordt gestraft met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste een jaar of geldboete van de derde categorie.

110 Burgerdoden door missie Uruzgan

 
Het aantal burgerslachtoffers door de geallieerden in Afghanistan veroorzaakt, is sinds 2007 in totaal 1.650 doden, en Nederland heeft er ruim 100 op haar geweten. Hieruit blijkt, hoe moeilijk het is in dergelijke asymetrische oorlogsvoering, zonder front en met een vijand die overal en nergens is, om de burgerbevolking te sparen. Bij mijn weten heeft de NAVO behoorlijk strenge regels om de dood van onschuldigen juist te voorkomen. Misschien zou dit de landen die in Afghanistan vechten, of in Irak, of in een ander land, of een van deze oorlogen steunen, wat bescheidener kunnen stemmen in hun kritiek tegenover Israel, en bijvoorbeeld haar optreden tijdens de Gaza Oorlog. Ook Israel heeft strenge regels, en in de militaire opleiding wordt veel aandacht aan de ethische kant besteed. Dat soldaten en ook commandanten zich daar niet altijd aan houden, dat er excessen plaatsvonden, en dat daarvoor mensen moeten worden gestraft is allemaal waar, maar daar heeft Israel geen zelfgenoegzame arrogante Europese staten voor nodig en ook geen volkomen gekleurde VN commissie die is ingesteld door de VN Mensenrechtenraad, voorgezeten door Libië.
 
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110 burgerdoden door missie Uruzgan

De Tweede Kamer vraagt er al jaren om, RTL Nieuws heeft ze gekregen: de cijfers over burgerslachtoffers tijdens de Nederlandse missie in Uruzgan.
RTL Nieuws - 23 december 2009
http://www.rtl.nl/(/actueel/rtlnieuws/binnenland/)/components/actueel/rtlnieuws/2009/12_december/23/binnenland/Cijfers_burgerslachtoffers_Afghanistan.xml


Sinds het begin van de missie in Afghanistan medio 2006 hebben Nederlandse militairen 110 burgers gedood en 90 burgers verwond. Dat blijkt uit cijfers van het Ministerie van Defensie die op verzoek van RTL Nieuws voor het eerst zijn vrijgegeven.

Defensie heeft de cijfers inmiddels bijgesteld. Het ministerie houdt het nu op zeker 80 burgerdoden en 120 gewonden. Defensie zegt dat de cijdfers van de slag om Chora zijn omgedraaid: het zou gaan om 40 doden en 70 gewonden en niet andersom. RTL Nieuws baseert zich op gegevens van de Verenigde Naties en houdt vast aan de genoemde aantallen.

Onder de burgerslachtoffers zijn ook kinderen. In totaal keerde Defensie 350.000 euro schadevergoeding uit aan nabestaanden van slachtoffers en ter vergoeding van materiële schade. Nabestaanden krijgen 1500 Amerikaanse dollars uitgekeerd.

Lang niet alle nabestaanden van de 110 gedode burgers krijgen een schadevergoeding of compensatie van het Nederlandse leger. Defensie zegt daarover: "In voorkomend geval wordt ook nabestaanden van gesneuvelde Afghaanse functionarissen (die met de Nederlandse troepenmacht samenwerkten) of van burgers een geldbedrag geboden."

Defensie noemt het zelf ook geen compensatie: "Immers binnen het Nederlandse systeem wordt een mensenleven niet geldelijk gewaardeerd, maar is veeleer bedoeld als bijdrage in het toekomstig levensonderhoud van de nabestaanden." Hoeveel is 1500 dollar in Afghanistan? "Dat komt ongeveer neer op één jaarsalaris voor een gemiddelde Afghaanse familie en dat is niet veel", volgens Christa Meindersma van het The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

De gezamenlijke coalitietroepen in Afghanistan maken volgens cijfers van de Verenigde Naties sinds 2007 in totaal 1675 burgerslachtoffers. Vrijwel geen enkel ander land, actief in Afghanistan, maakt zulke gedetailleerde cijfers openbaar over burgerslachtoffers. Christa Meindersma noemt het dan ook 'zeer bijzonder' dat Nederland deze lijst vrijgeeft. Maar ze betwijfelt of de lijst volledig is. Dat klopt, het ministerie zegt zelf: "Defensie heeft niet de pretentie dat deze registratie volledig of accuraat is."

Sinds het begin van de missie in Afghanistan medio 2006 hebben Nederlandse militairen 110 burgers gedood en 90 burgers verwond. Dat blijkt uit cijfers van het Ministerie van Defensie die op verzoek van RTL Nieuws voor het eerst zijn vrijgegeven.

Defensie heeft de cijfers inmiddels bijgesteld. Het ministerie houdt het nu op zeker 80 burgerdoden en 120 gewonden. Defensie zegt dat de cijdfers van de slag om Chora zijn omgedraaid: het zou gaan om 40 doden en 70 gewonden en niet andersom. RTL Nieuws baseert zich op gegevens van de Verenigde Naties en houdt vast aan de genoemde aantallen.

Onder de burgerslachtoffers zijn ook kinderen. In totaal keerde Defensie 350.000 euro schadevergoeding uit aan nabestaanden van slachtoffers en ter vergoeding van materiële schade. Nabestaanden krijgen 1500 Amerikaanse dollars uitgekeerd.

Lang niet alle nabestaanden van de 110 gedode burgers krijgen een schadevergoeding of compensatie van het Nederlandse leger. Defensie zegt daarover: "In voorkomend geval wordt ook nabestaanden van gesneuvelde Afghaanse functionarissen (die met de Nederlandse troepenmacht samenwerkten) of van burgers een geldbedrag geboden."

Defensie noemt het zelf ook geen compensatie: "Immers binnen het Nederlandse systeem wordt een mensenleven niet geldelijk gewaardeerd, maar is veeleer bedoeld als bijdrage in het toekomstig levensonderhoud van de nabestaanden." Hoeveel is 1500 dollar in Afghanistan? "Dat komt ongeveer neer op één jaarsalaris voor een gemiddelde Afghaanse familie en dat is niet veel", volgens Christa Meindersma van het The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

De gezamenlijke coalitietroepen in Afghanistan maken volgens cijfers van de Verenigde Naties sinds 2007 in totaal 1675 burgerslachtoffers. Vrijwel geen enkel ander land, actief in Afghanistan, maakt zulke gedetailleerde cijfers openbaar over burgerslachtoffers. Christa Meindersma noemt het dan ook 'zeer bijzonder' dat Nederland deze lijst vrijgeeft. Maar ze betwijfelt of de lijst volledig is. Dat klopt, het ministerie zegt zelf: "Defensie heeft niet de pretentie dat deze registratie volledig of accuraat is."

Bekijk hier de cijfers en de vertrouwelijke documenten

 

Nog steeds terreuraanslagen op Westoever

 
Hieronder een bericht van IsraNed en uit de Jerusalem Post, waaruit blijkt dat er nog steeds geregeld aanslagen worden gepleegd en verijdeld op de Westoever. Het is relatief rustig, zeker vergeleken met een paar jaar geleden, maar de wil bij bepaalde groeperingen is er nog steeds, en de Palestijnse Autoriteit is er tot nu toe nog niet in geslaagd de terroristische infrastructuur te ontmantelen, zoals de routekaart voorschrijft.
 
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december 2009
Settler doodgeschoten
 
 
Wij houden nog steeds aanslagen en verijdelde aanslagen bij. Donderdag is op de weg tussen de Westbank-nederzettingen Shavei Shomron en Einav de veertiger Meir Chai, vader van 7 kinderen, in zijn auto beschoten. Chai, een inwoner van Shavei Shomron, stierf aan hoofdwonden. Een week eerder was een wegversperring langs die weg opgeheven. De aanslag is opgeëist door de Imad Mughniyeh-groep, een onbekende afdeling van de Al Aqsa Martelaren Brigade, meldt Ha'aretz.
 
Diezelfde dag, ook op de Westbank, verijdelden veiligheidstroepen een aanslag op de weg van Jerusalem naar Modiin. Nadat er knallen waren gehoord, vonden ze tussen de Palestijnse plaats Dir Nabala en Givat Ze'ev een zelfgebouwde bom. Er lag een gebruiksaanwijzing bij met aantekeningen in het Arabisch en tekeningetjes van auto's met davidsterren erop.
 
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Route 443 bomb was targeting motorists
Dec. 24, 2009
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Security forces discovered the remains of an improvised explosive device (IED) on the side of Route 443 last week after it failed to fully explode, the IDF announced Thursday.

Firecrackers attached to the bomb went off but the rest of the device did not. The minor explosion of the firecrackers caused major traffic disruptions on the highway which connects Jerusalem and Modi'in.

The bomb was found by IDF and Border Police forces near Dir Naballah, south of Ramallah last Thursday night and later destroyed by the IDF in a controlled explosion.

Road 443 is one of Israel's main arteries, and the attack was intended to target passing motorists.

The IED was created from a gas balloon and firecrackers. Attached to the explosive was a sketch of how and where the Palestinians planned to plant the bomb on the side of the road, causing the most amount of damage as possible.

The sketch also included the wording: "Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the Alla Abu Sharifa Unit", in an apparent reference to the terror group behind the attack.

Road 443 connects Jerusalem with Modi'in and Tel Aviv, and is under heavy IDF and Border Police security. There are occasional stoning and Molotov cocktail attacks on the road from surrounding Palestinian villages.

IDF sources said that they would continue operating against Palestinian terrorists that are targeting Israeli civilians and security forces.

In recent months, the IDF has noted a slight increase in attempts by Palestinians to carry out terror attacks in the West Bank. This is attributed to frustration among Palestinian youth with the current deadlock in the peace process with Israel.

 

Kleinzoon Jimmy Carter kandidaat senaat Georgia

 
Nou komt de aap uit de mouw: Carters excuses aan de Joodse gemeenschap waren niet zo altruistisch en oprecht als velen wellicht dachten. Ik vergeet vaak hoe cynisch het politieke bedrijf is, en ga ervanuit dat wat mensen zeggen, hun mening of visie reflecteert. De kandidatuur van Carters kleinzoon is wellicht niet de enige reden, maar toch wel een belangrijke, en werpt nieuw licht op Carters intenties. Daarbij wordt de waarheid wel wat bijgekleurd. Zo zegt hij dat hij niet alleen Israel verantwoordelijk acht voor het conflict, dat hij met de term Apartheid alleen heeft willen waarschuwen voor wat er gebeurt als er geen Palestijnse staat komt, en dat de Israellobby critici niet de mond snoert. Hij zou alleen AIPAC de machtigste lobby organisatie hebben genoemd. Hij zou ook alleen het beste met Israel voor hebben, en uit betrokkenheid bij het land handelen. Het klinkt allemaal mooi en evenwichtig, maar het is in tegenspraak tot wat hij eerder zei en schreef, van oproepen met Hamas te praten en beweringen dat Hamas bereid is Israel te erkennen tot fabels over het vredesproces en het weglaten in zijn boek van alle Palestijnse geweld, en zijn uitvaren tegen de Joodse lobby die hem en anderen het spreken en handelen zou proberen onmogelijk te maken.
 
Lees hier Ami Isseroffs boekbespreking van zijn boek: Carter's Apartheid book: Not anti-Semitic, but Not Good Either
Iemand kan van mening veranderen, maar dat gaat vaak geleidelijk, en is het resultaat van groeiend inzicht. Wat in het verleden is gezegd en gedaan wordt dan niet ontkend maar juist benadrukt, om het verschil met de nieuwe inzichten te benadrukken.
 
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Carter: Grandson's race not reason enough to apologize

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Jimmy Carter is asking the Jewish community for forgiveness -- and insists it's not simply because his grandson has decided to launch a political career with a run for the Georgia state Senate.

Jason Carter, 34, an Atlanta-area lawyer, is considering a run to fill a seat covering suburban DeKalb County should the incumbent, David Adelman, win confirmation as President Obama's designated ambassador to Singapore.

The seat, which is university heavy -- Emory, among others, is situated there -- also has a substantial Jewish community.

The senior Carter outraged Jewish leaders with his book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid," and they strongly criticized the former U.S. president for what appeared to be his likening of Israel's settlement practices to apartheid and seeming to place the brunt of the blame for a lack of peace on Israel.

On the subsequent book tour, Carter further enraged many Jews by intimating that the pro-Israel lobby inhibited an evenhanded U.S. policy.

Such bad blood could potentially translate into problems for Carter's grandson as he considers launching a political career.

But in an interview with JTA, Carter insisted that ethnic electoral considerations were not reason enough to reach out to the Jewish community, although he did not outright deny that it was a factor.

"Jason has a district, the number of Jewish voters in it is only 2 percent," he said, chuckling.

In a statement issued through his campaign manager, the younger Carter said the statement was not connected to his campaign.

"While I was very happy to see my grandfather's letter, it was completely unrelated to my campaign. The letter is a product of discussions with some of his friends in the Jewish community that have been going on for a long time.  I, like many others, see this as a great step towards reconciliation," Jason Carter said in the statement. "As for my campaign, I intend to  reach out to all people in District 42 and work hard to earn their  trust and their votes. Ultimately, this campaign will focus on the people of this district and the issues that a good advocate in the Georgia State Senate can affect, including fixing a broken transportation system, getting the economy moving again, and providing a first-class education to our kids."

It seemed clear, however, that Jason Carter saw the apology, issued earlier this month through JTA, as a means of outreach. The younger Carter has been trying for days to reach Liane Levetan, a former state senator and CEO of DeKalb County, and as soon as they connected Tuesday, he directed her to the JTA Web site to read the letter.

"I wanted to let Jason know that I really and truly understand his position that he loves his grandfather, but you can love someone and not agree with their points of view and actions in certain areas, and Israel is my area," Levetan told JTA in an interview after her conversation with the younger Carter.

Levetan is one of 14 Jews who split with the Carter Center in 2006 after the publication of "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid." The split with the center, which promotes peace and helps alleviate poverty, clearly pained her; she had known the Carters for years and had assisted Rosalynn Carter in expanding education for the mentally disabled when Carter was Georgia's governor in the 1970s.

"I admire the Carter Center; Mrs. Carter did a lot of good things for women," said Levetan, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. "But first I'm a Jew."

Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League's national director, said he was not disturbed that the former president's reaching out to the Jewish community might have been triggered in part by his grandson's political aspirations.

"If it turns out that President Carter's love for his grandson brought about an epiphany in his relationship with the Jewish people, that's fine," said Foxman, who has criticized Carter over his statements on Israel. "I don't care what stimulated him to re-examine his bias toward the Jewish people. If it's his grandson and his understanding that his grandson's relations to the Jewish community will help him succeed -- I don't think we have the right to judge."

In his interview with JTA, the elder Carter acknowledged that the negative impressions about his book and book tour had ruptured his relations with the Jewish community. Jewish friends, including Atlanta Rabbi Alvin Sugarman, prominent Atlanta lawyer Miles Alexander and Stuart Eizenstat, who was Carter's chief White House domestic policy adviser, urged him to reach out to the Jews.

He attempted to do so by arranging a talk at a synagogue or another Jewish venue, Carter told JTA, but was rebuffed. Hence he opted for the Christmas-Chanukah plea for forgiveness for any stigma he may have caused Israel.

"We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter wrote in his statement. "As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."

"Al Het" refers to the Yom Kippur prayer asking God forgiveness for sins committed against Him. In modern Hebrew it refers to any plea for forgiveness.

Asked what in particular he might have done to stigmatize Israel, Carter referred to the title of his book. The former president said that he had attempted to conflate into a single title his belief that Palestine, not Israel, should control the West Bank, and that apartheid, not peace, would prevail were that not to happen. Apartheid was a predictor, he said, not a description; such an outlook was not inconsistent with Israeli leaders and pro-Israel groups.

"I never intended or wanted to stigmatize the nation of Israel, even though I have disagreed with the settlement policy all the way back to the White House," he said.

This apology cum defense has frustrated Jewish leaders in the past. Carter seems overly focused on the title, they say, and does not deal with what they say are the book's distortions.

While Carter remained focused on the title in the interview with JTA, he appeared to have internalized criticisms that he was one-sided and unfair to the pro-Israel lobby.

He said he was pessimistic about current peace prospects, partly because Israel continued to build settlements -- but also because of the Palestinian leadership's "recalcitrance" in insisting on a total settlement freeze and its rejection of Israel's partial settlement freeze as sufficient grounds to restart talks.

"The Israelis have said they're not going to discuss East Jerusalem and are still constructing settlements in the West Bank, the Palestinians refuse to negotiate," said Carter, who travels frequently to the region. "The recalcitrance on the part of the Palestinians and Israeli settlements -- I don't see at this moment a way to bring an end to the impasse."

Carter said he never meant to convey the impression that the pro-Israel lobby silenced criticism of Israel, only that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was the "most influential lobbying group" and that presidents including himself and congresses have historically been "totally committed" to Israel's security. He was grateful for the rise of J Street, saying that the dovish group's views were aligned with his own.

"My pre-eminent foreign policy objective," Carter said, "has been peace in the Middle East" fueled in part by his affection for Israel. He said he remained committed to helping release Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas since June 2006, and noted that he had helped relay two letters from Shalit's parents to the captured soldier, and one letter from Shalit to his family.

Jewish groups that had led criticism of Carter welcomed the outreach -- and adopted a wait-and-see pose.

"Over the years NJDC has taken issue with what we perceived to be President Carter's one-sided criticism of the State of Israel," Ira Forman, the CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council, told JTA.  "We think only fair that when the former president asks for forgiveness for any criticism that may have stigmatized Israel that we should respond in kind. We appreciate President Carter's 'Al Het' and encourage him to keep these sentiments in mind as he speaks in the future about the State of Israel."

The younger Carter has downplayed his grandfather's views in what will primarily be a race -- likely to take place in March, if Adelman goes to Singapore -- fought on local bread-and-butter issues.

"You and I both know that the Georgia Senate doesn't set Middle East policy. And I don't think anybody would want it to," he recently told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Still, the elder Carter launched his first bid for the governor's mansion from a state Senate seat, and Jason Carter likely also has greater ambitions.

It would make sense for him to reach out to Jews, said Joy Malkus, the research director for JACPAC, a Chicago-based pro-Israel political action committee. She recalled the similar experience of Jesse Jackson Jr., the congressman who had to overcome Jewish animosity to his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jews in Jackson's district were "naturally somewhat skeptical," she said, and Jackson worked hard, through visits to Israel and cooperation with the local federation, to overcome the skepticism.

"From what I remember at the very beginning when he ran," Malkus said, "we really had to talk to people, and say, 'Yes, we did sit down with him, and he had a position on Israel, and he worked with federation,' and people had to be somewhat assured that he was going to be a friend."

 

Ron Kampeas is JTA's Washington bureau chief.

 

vrijdag 25 december 2009

The purity of shame - zaak Mohammed Al Dura

 
Ami Isseroff zegt hierover:
 

Chanoch Marmory, former editor of Ha'aretz, discusses how he was taken in by the Pallywood Muhammad al-Dura fabrication. The supposed murder of Al-Dura by Israeli soldiers, broadcast around the world, sparked the major violence of the so called Second Intifada. Marmory was not the only one who "bought" the Muhammad al-Dura fabrication. The IDF bought it too. And when I circulated, simply as a point of information, news of a reconstruction that showed that Israeli soldiers could not possibly have killed al-Dura, I was bitterly condemned as a Zionist propagandist. But it was all a lie, just as the "Jenin Massacre" was a lie, and just as the "Gaza Humanitarian crisis" is a lie.

The title "Purity of shame" - "Tohar Habusha" is a pun on a Hebrew expression for ethical conduct.

 
Chanoch Marmory, een voormalige Haarets journalist, bespreekt hoe hij de Al Dura leugen te makkelijk heeft aangenomen. Haaretz was daarin bepaald niet alleen. Het zou mooi zijn als andere journalisten zijn voorbeeld zouden volgen. Men moet nooit de hoop verliezen.
Het Israelische leger ging zelf aanvankelijk mee in de leugen, en benadrukte alleen dat het niet met voorbedachte rade was, en kwam pas later met een verklaring dat het onwaarschijnlijk was dat Al Dura door Israelische soldaten is gedood. Reconstructies en feiten die zijn dood door Israel in twijfel trokken, werden genegeerd, en pas de laatste jaren, met dank aan de niet aflatende inzet van Philippe Karsenty en de rechtzaken die hij heeft gewonnen, is er enige aandacht voor deze twijfels, zij het dat dit nog voornamelijk is in pro-Israel media.
Een aangename uitzondering is de Duitse publieke zender ARD, die al in 2002 een kritische documentaire uitzond over de zaak, en onlangs met een follow-up kwam.
 
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[Translated from the Hebrew at http://www.the7eye.org.il/Metukshar/Pages/091209_Purity_of_Shame.aspx ]

 

The purity of shame

By: Chanoch Marmory [Former editor of Haaretz]

Release Date: 10/12/2009

Today, when I know more about the way in which the Palestinians related their tragedy, and from across the years and experience accumulated during those years, I can openly accept even the film of German journalist Esther Schapira, "Al Dura - child, death and the truth". Today I know we bought that story too quickly, and cheaply.

It was on my shift, so you can certainly see self-criticism in what is written here. Nine years have gone by since then, and the personal memory of every detail has gone dull a long time ago. But the emotional turmoil caused in me by the scene of father and son, Jalal Mohammed Al-Dura and young Muhammad, I remember well. Those were feelings of shame and anger.

In front of every scene of horror, the emotional reaction of the journalist precedes the journalistic one. Muhammad Al-Dura was then my son's age, and it was easy to identify with the pain of the father who had his child lying shot at his feet. But we had to pull together and act as journalists even if the redness of shame often covered the cheeks.

The important lesson the years of intifada had taught me is that there is no way to do real journalism with veiled eyes. And even when the purity of shame blurs the vision, it is forbidden to abandon, even under the most difficult of circumstances, the basic tools of the journalist – curiosity, skepticism and a critical approach. Later it became evident how well the Palestinian side would exploit the embarrassment and shame of journalists like me as a tool in its combat.

The contribution of a minute and a half video segment taken at the gunfire exchanges at Netzarim junction on September 30, 2000 was decisive in turning protest demonstrations over Ariel Sharon's visit at Har-Homa into a complete Intifada. The clip that reflected the story of a son's dying in his father's arms after the two were caught partially exposed in the heart of the gunfire scene was embarrassing and shocking and was taken at face value: The son was killed and the father injured in the exchange of fire – whether it be IDF fire or Palestinian fire.

Wonder for the meaning of the event evaporated completely after the then Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Boogie Yaalon and Major General Giora Eiland stated publicly that the child was shot by IDF fire, accidentally of course. Even when the IDF investigated and retracted to state that Al-Dura was killed by wild Palestinian crossfire, we did not return to it. Anyone who then tried to keep digging around this innocent case was seen as a madman or one with a political agenda - or both.

We've left the issue with a certain relief, especially when the blaze swept all the territories and the full resources of journalistic coverage. Today it is clear we should have been more skeptical about eye impressions, also that the eyes were of only one camera: the camera of Talal Abu-Rahma, questionably hot material from the front, where there are those who describe it as Pallywood – the Palestinian video drama industry.

In time it became clear how this market took hold in the world, and especially in Western Europe, what drew the European media to provide with relative comfort and with low risk, bloody stories from the intifada fields of battle to a mostly non-critical audience that is not particularly selective. It was easy for the Palestinians to sell stories to the foreign press, and it was easy for those stories to produce bold headlines.

In  disproving  at least one instance I was involved personally; in setting things straight in the story of Abu-Ali, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp during the days of "Operation Defensive Shield", which was given in the French magazine "Le Nouvel Observateur" the title: "My Nine children were buried under the rubble". Abu-Ali's house was indeed destroyed during the battle, but his children escaped and were found safe and sound. However, and despite this, the French magazine, which did a very sloppy job, avoided  publicly retracting their words.

Today, when I know more about the way in which the Palestinians related their tragedy, and from across the years and experience accumulated during those years, I can openly accept even the film of German journalist Esther Schapira, "Al Dura - child, death and the truth" that was broadcast last night on "Mabat Sheny".

Today I know we bought that story too quickly, and cheaply. We were skeptical towards the IDF investigation, also because the army had a reputation of a body that suits investigative conclusions to its own needs. But from the moment when the army itself took responsibility for the case, we rid ourselves of it, while at the same time we showed impatience towards tests conducted by those perceived as obsessive. In the midst of the intifada there is no time for those who dig around in an old case, when events pile up on the table frequently.

Yair Atinger, the only one of the TV critics who referred this morning to the film that was broadcast last night, offers as a main lesson from it: "Do not believe anything that runs on the screen". I agree with his statement and his words that that "a picture, even a video image, may be the perfect lie, and effective television needs trusting viewers, not necessarily intelligent ones".

However I find it hard to accept Atinger's inclusion of the Al-Dura case into one package with Elvis legends and stories of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, i.e. in the category of conspiracy theories. If you take into account the fact that a minute and a half of photographic material created the great myth of the second intifada, a myth of the suffering, heroism and sacrifice, which generations of Palestinian children grow on, we should have made every effort to get at the truth of the affair. It was our job, to tell what exactly happened. And if not us, anyone who is willing to stick a pin in this myth should have been accepted openly. We had to try to distinguish between bothersome possessed people and meticulous researchers.

The question whether Muhammad Al Dura had indeed been shot by Israeli fire or if it was Palestinian gunfire will no longer get an answer. What happened there in the heat of battle could not be proven any more – especially given that the former Gaza Division commander, Brigadier General Yair Naveh, ordered the immediate destruction of all constructions located at Netzarim junction that were within firing distance of the outpost, and among them the wall that the father and son clung to during the shooting.

Either way, Esther Schapira manages to impress us with the contradictions she found in that video segment: the ground beneath the killed and the injured is without blood stains, fresh blood stains that emerge at the scene later, and blood stains on the video that pop up and disappear and change their location on the body of Muhammad as if they were a red rag he was holding in his hand.

Schapira presents the testimony of the sole witness, the cameraman Talal Abu-Rahma, who filmed for Charles Enderlin, a regular representative of the French network France 2, as false and fraudulent and baseless. She finds contradictions in his testimony that claims Al-Dura died before his eyes. According to him, he watched the continuous shooting from his car for about 45 minutes, took about 18 minutes of film, yet only submitted fragmented footage of one minute and a half of the father and son, when he could allegedly have shot continuously and had a charged battery in his hand. Abu-Rahma inexplicably interrupted the filming and his video did not capture the entire process of extracting the body, though he could have done so.

Schapira finds flaws with the father's version in regards to his own injury. With the aid of an Israeli doctor who treated him before, she proves that the scars he presented as caused in the Netzarim shooting incident were caused in mysterious circumstances for which he underwent treatment in Israel. Her hypothesis: body injuries such as those are caused by Hamas members as punishment for those who collaborated with the enemy, hence the question arising is even wilder: Has Hamas used the father and son forcing them to position themselves at the scene, so that the father will make amends for his crime against them?

Schapira presents the court verdict from a year ago, in which a French court accepted the appeal of Phillip Karsenty, a French Jew who has devoted most of his time to the rebuttal of the Al Dura story. After he claimed that the report Enderlin had broadcast was staged (Enderlin never stayed in Gaza during the shooting, but in Ramallah), France 2 filed a libel suit against Karsenty, and he was convicted initially. The courthouse of appeals did not ratify Karsenty's assertion, but ruled that it is not libelous. During the trial France 2 was forced to reveal the raw material taken before editing, and in a short piece that was not aired the boy, declared as dead, is shown to be moving his limbs.

Schapira does not settle for this. She creates a broader picture, of directing of injury scenes, of conflicting testimonies, of irrational scheduling, and finally raises a claim, relying on a face recognition expert, that the boy who was brought for burial that day at the mass funeral is not Muhammad Al-Dura, but another boy whose name is Rami Al-Dura, who was shot in his head or at least had a marking on him similar to a gunshot wound. From here, in her opinion, the possibility of raising the question if he is actually dead is open.

It is not clear who is this Rami Al-Dura, and under what circumstances was he killed. Esther Schapira makes it clear in the language: she does not claim that Muhammad Al Dura is alive. She just claims that he did not die during the video taking at the Netzarim crossing and that he is not the boy that was brought for burial during the funeral procession. This sounds like a fantastic option, but the whole scene is full of contradictions and inconsistencies. And there are those who made vast political capital from the funeral procession. Elvis case, then, it is not.

The Palestinian myth will remain strong even if there would be found clear cut evidence that the story of Muhammad Al-Dura was staged entirely. There will always be those who will argue that even if it is not clear what exactly happened there, the basic story remains as is: a helpless child was caught in Israeli fire and was shot deliberately.

Now that this film was presented before us, it is clear that what you see in the video shots of Talal Abu- Rahma is not the whole story. And possibly, it is an entirely different story. Suddenly, with considerable lateness, the need returns to do another round on it, in an attempt to get at the truth. Now I have to know what really happened there. It's not a petty matter and not a question of professional honor.I must know who they are, and of course, who we are. 

Kerstfeest in Bethlehem, Palestijnen mogen Israel in

 
Lees hier een Nederlandstalig verhaal over de kerstviering in Bethlehem:
 
Bezoeker Jonathan Croy uit Alabama in de VS zei het gevoel te hebben in Bethlehem een van de "reusachtigste familiebijeenkomsten" bij te wonen, zo meldde het persbureau Associated Press (AP). "Het interessante om hier te zijn is dat na het zien van de tweedeling van religies, alle nationaliteiten en religies zich hier door elkaar mengen," zei hij.

--------------
 
Unlimited permit quota for Palestinians
Dec. 24, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

In anticipation of the upcoming Christmas Holiday, the IDF and Civil Administration have issued an unlimited quota of one month-long permits for Palestinian residents of the Judea and Samaria region, allowing them entry to Israel for religious and family gatherings.

The army said that more than 10,000 permits, valid between December 20th and January 20th have so far been issued.

In addition, 300 Christian-Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip over the age of 35 will be permitted entry into the Judea and Samaria region for 24 hours during the holiday, the IDF said.

Another 300 Christian Palestinians will be permitted to cross to the Ben Gurion International Airport. These permits will be issued subject to a security clearance.

The army stressed that security forces would continue to operate in order to ensure freedom of religion and normal way of life for Palestinians uninvolved in terrorism. This is in accordance with security assessments and while continuing to combat terrorism.

Meanwhile, President Shimon Peres offered his warmest blessings to Christian communities around the world.

The president gave his blessings from the President's Residence in Jerusalem and posted them on his recently launched YouTube channel.

"From here, from the eternal city of Jerusalem, from this beautiful place, I want to wish each of you, and all of us, a happy and merry Christmas, said Peres. "Let's pray the next year will be a year of peace, of brotherhood, of tolerance, of affluence. That nobody will suffer unnecessarily. That everybody will be helped accordingly. This is the call of heaven. This is the wish of our lord. This should be our own purpose. Let's celebrate and hope and do accordingly. All the best to all of you."

Waar blijft de Palestijnse Sadat?

 
Ondanks Israels herhaalde oproepen om de tafel te gaan zitten, blijft Abbas weigeren. Dat de woorden van minister Ben-Eliezer geen propaganda zijn, blijkt uit het feit dat voormalig premier Olmert vorig jaar nog een serieus vredesaanbod deed aan Abbas, maar deze dat naast zich neerlegde. Onderstaande oproep zal de Nederlandse media wel weer niet hebben gehaald, waar alle aandacht uitging naar het oude orgaanschandaal, Livni's arrestatiebevel, het feit dat er nog steeds een muur door Bethlehem loopt en het 'Kairos document', waarin Palestijnse christenen alle schuld voor hun problemen, ten onrechte, bij Israel leggen (zie onder andere: Palestijnse christenen in zwaar weer ).
 
RP
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Dec. 24, 2009
Abe Selig , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel is ready and willing to hold immediate negotiations with the Palestinians, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told a group of more than a dozen Arab reporters, the bulk of them Palestinian, during a unique press conference held in east Jerusalem on Wednesday.

"We are ready to sit down tomorrow morning if you are," the former Labor party chairman told the group. "Right now there is an historic opportunity in that the prime minister of Israel, who was elected by the right-wing, has taken two unprecedented steps - he's recognized the need for a Palestinian state and he has frozen settlement construction. In my opinion, he's the only one who is strong enough to arrive at a [comprehensive peace] settlement.

"We've wasted the last 43 years," Ben-Eliezer continued. "But whether we like it or not, we're going to have to live together for the next thousand."

The press conference, which was organized by the Arab media division of The Israel Project - a non-profit organization which helps educate the press and the public about Israel - was the first of its kind featuring both Palestinian reporters and an Israeli cabinet minister.

"There are 350 million Arabs worldwide and their opinions are formed by what they hear, see and read in the Arab media," The Israel Project's Executive Director, Marcus Sheff told The Jerusalem Post after the meeting.

"We know that it's extremely important for us to communicate with them, and this was a great opportunity to do that, featuring a minister with a background like Ben-Eliezer's - and who speaks Arabic no less," he said.

The reporters themselves seemed keen to have direct access to an Israeli minister, and didn't shy away from asking tough questions.

Some spoke to Ben-Eliezer about the situation in the Gaza Strip, while others brought up ongoing tensions in east Jerusalem.

"These are all problems that can be solved at the negotiating table," Ben-Eliezer told them. "Which is why it's so important that we start talking. Everything is negotiable, and if Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] is willing to sit and talk, and come up with some results, maybe for the first time, everyone will be surprised."

Other issues broached by Ben-Eliezer were Sunni-Shi'ite relations in the broader Arab world, the split between Hamas and Fatah, peace negotiations with Syria and the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

"Iran is an issue that the entire Middle East will have to deal with, sooner or later," Ben-Eliezer said. "I recently met with [Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar] Suleiman and told him exactly this. I also told him that the sooner Egypt gets involved with the issue, the better."

While the press conference was held in English, Ben-Eliezer, who left Basra, Iraq for Israel when he was 15 years-old, did field a number of the reporters' questions in Arabic and even replied to some of them in his mother-tongue.

Overall, the meeting was cordial and the minister was even able to draw a few laughs from his audience.

But the main point of Ben-Eliezer's remarks was the need to return to the negotiating table and find a middle ground. "What we need are strong leaders," Ben-Eliezer said. "[Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat was strong, and [Jordanian King] Hussein was strong," he said. "That's why we were able to make agreements. We need a strong [Palestinian] leader who is willing to do the same, because we are two peoples who want to live on the same land, and I think we can find solutions for everything."

 

In België aanklacht tegen Hamas leiders voor oorlogsmisdaden

 
Dergelijke initiatieven zijn hard nodig als tegenwicht tegen de almaar actiever en feller wordende anti-Israellobby. Er zijn ook diverse Nederlanders omgekomen bij zelfmoordaanslagen in Israel, onder andere bij een aanslag waarvan een van de masterminds een prijs van Fatah heeft gekregen. Alleen de PVV stelde kamervragen. Linkse partijen vinden Joodse doden door Palestijns terrorisme blijkbaar minder erg dan Palestijnse doden door Israelisch geweld.
 
RP
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Last update - 09:49 24/12/2009       
Gaza rocket victims to Belgium: Try Hamas chiefs for war crimes
By Haaretz Service
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1137413.html
 
 
More than a dozen Israeli victims of Palestinian rocket attacks have petitioned a court in Belgium to bring Hamas leaders to trial for committing war crimes against them during last year's war in the Gaza Strip.
 
The 15 Israelis, who also hold Belgian citizenship, were all either wounded, sustained damage to their homes, or lost a relative in an attack from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
 
In an unprecedented lawsuit submitted by a pro-Israel group in Europe, the plaintiffs have asked the court to open a judicial probe against 10 Hamas military and political leaders and issue arrest warrants if necessary.
 
"The request for arrest warrants was submitted after six months of legal preparation and is based on strict evidence which ties Hamas leaders to terror attacks in which Belgium citizens ware harmed," the plaintiffs' attorney, Roel Coveliers told AFP on Thursday.
 
The complaint cites reports from international human rights groups, as well as the Goldstone Commission's damning report on the war, which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the three-week conflict.
 
"The Goldstone report says, among other things, that the rocket attacks by Hamas constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, so as a member of the United Nations, I don't believe Belgium will ignore the complaint," Coveliers added.
 
Syria-based Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, strongman Mahmoud Zahar and the heads of the group's armed wing Ahmed Jaabari and Mohammed Def have all been targeted in the lawsuit.
 
The lawsuit comes amid a slew of arrest warrants being issued in Europe against Israeli leaders. Most recently, opposition leader and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni canceled a trip to the United Kingdom after learning that a warrant had been issued against her there.
 
 

Palestijnse staat komt langzaam van de grond

 
Het gaat, in tegenstellling tot het beeld dat de media ons voorschotelen, goed in Palestina. Nee, niet met iedereen, en nee, het is niet perfect, en ja, er zijn nog steeds (enkele) checkpoints en Israel arresteert incidenteel Palestijnse verdachten en vindt explosieven bij checkpoints. De PA is nog steeds corrupt en de veiligheidsbarriere staat er ook nog steeds. Maar ondertussen ziet het er in een aantal Palestijse steden veelbelovend uit, en wordt stilletjes, zonder dat Westerse media het in de gaten hebben, aan een Palestijnse staat gewerkt.
 
RP
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Building peace without Obama's interference
A promising, independent Palestine is quietly being developed, with Israeli assistance.
By Tom Gross
The Wall Street Journal
December 3, 2009
 
 
It is difficult to turn on a TV or radio or pick up a newspaper these days, without finding some pundit or other deploring the dismal prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace or the dreadful living conditions of the Palestinians. Even supposedly neutral news reporters regularly repeat this sad tale. "Very little is changing for the Palestinian people on the ground," I heard BBC World Service Cairo correspondent Christian Fraser tell listeners three times in a 45 minute period the other evening.

In fact nothing could be further from the truth. I had spent that day in the West Bank's largest city, Nablus. The city is bursting with energy, life and signs of prosperity, in a way I have not previously seen in many years of covering the region.

As I sat in the plush office of Ahmad Aweidah, the suave British-educated banker who heads the Palestinian Securities Exchange, he told me that the Nablus stock market was the second best-performing in the world so far in 2009, after Shanghai. (Aweidah's office looks directly across from the palatial residence of Palestinian billionaire Munib al-Masri, the wealthiest man in the West Bank.)

Later I met Bashir al-Shakah, director of Nablus's gleaming new cinema, where four of the latest Hollywood hits were playing that day. Most movies were sold out, he noted, proudly adding that the venue had already hosted a film festival since it opened in June.

MORE MERCEDES THAN IN TEL AVIV

Wandering around downtown Nablus the shops and restaurants I saw were full. There were plenty of expensive cars on the streets. Indeed I counted considerably more BMWs and Mercedes than I've seen, for example, in downtown Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

And perhaps most importantly of all, we had driven from Jerusalem to Nablus without going through any Israeli checkpoints. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has removed them all since the Israeli security services (with the encouragement and support of President George W. Bush) were allowed, over recent years, to crush the intifada, restore security to the West Bank and set up the conditions for the economic boom that is now occurring. (There was one border post on the return leg of the journey, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but the young female guard just waved me and the two Palestinians I was traveling with, through.)

The shops and restaurants were also full when I visited Hebron recently, and I was surprised to see villas comparable in size to those on the Cote d'Azur or Bel Air had sprung up on the hills around the city. Life is even better in Ramallah, where it is difficult to get a table in a good restaurant. New apartment buildings, banks, brokerage firms, luxury car dealerships and health clubs are to be seen. In Qalqilya, another West Bank city that was previously a hotbed of terrorists and bomb-makers, the first ever strawberry crop is being harvested in time to cash in on the lucrative Christmas markets in Europe. Local Palestinian farmers have been trained by Israeli agriculture experts and Israel supplied them with irrigation equipment and pesticides.

A NEW PLANNED CITY

A new Palestinian city, Ruwabi, is to be built soon north of Ramallah. Two weeks ago, the Jewish National Fund, an Israeli charity, helped plant 3,000 tree seedlings for a forested area the Palestinian planners say they would like to develop on the edge of the new city. Israeli experts are also helping the Palestinians plan public parks and other civic amenities.

Outsiders are beginning to take note of the turnaround too. The official PLO Wafa news agency reported last week that the 3rd quarter of 2009 witnessed near record tourism in the Palestinian Authority, with 135,939 overnight hotel stays in 89 hotels that are now open. Almost half the guests come from the U.S or Europe.

Palestinian economic growth so far this year – in a year dominated by economic crisis elsewhere – has been an impressive 7 percent according to the IMF, though Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad, himself a former World Bank and IMF employee, says it is in fact 11 percent, partly helped along by strong economic performances in neighboring Israel.

NO, NOT A CONCENTRATION CAMP

In Gaza too, the shops and markets are crammed with food and goods – see for example, these photos from last Friday's Palestine Today newspaper about the Eid celebrations in Gaza. These are not the pictures you are ever likely to see on the BBC or Le Monde or The New York Times. No, Gaza is not like a "concentration camp," nor is the "humanitarian crisis in Gaza is on the scale of Darfur," as British journalist Lauren Booth (who is also Tony Blair's sister-in-law) has said.

In June, The Washington Post's Jackson Diehl related how Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him why he had turned down Ehud Olmert's offer last year to create a Palestinian state on 97 percent of the West Bank (with three percent of pre-1967 Israeli land being added to make up the shortfall). "In the West Bank we have a good reality," Abbas told Diehl. "The people are living a normal life," he added with a candor he rarely employs when addressing Western journalists

Nablus stock exchange head Ahmad Aweidah went further in explaining to me why there is no rush to declare statehood, saying ordinary Palestinians need the IDF to help protect them from Hamas, as their own security forces aren't ready to do so by themselves yet.

BORDER DISPUTES ALL OVER THE WORLD

The truth is that an independent Palestine is now quietly being built, with Israeli assistance. So long as the Obama administration and European politicians don't clumsily meddle as they have in the past and make unrealistic demands for the process to be completed more quickly than it can be, I am confident the outcome will be a positive one. (The last time an American president – Bill Clinton in 2000 – tried to hurry things along unrealistically, it merely resulted in blowing up in everybody's faces – literally – and set back hopes for peace by some years.)

Israelis and Palestinians may never agree on borders that will satisfy everyone. But that doesn't mean they won't live in peace. Not all Germans and French agree who should control Alsace Lorraine. Poles and Russians, Slovenes and Croats, Britons and Irish, and peoples all over the world, have border disputes. But that doesn't keep them from coexisting with one another. Nor – so long as partisan journalists and human rights groups don't mislead Western politicians into making bad decisions – will it prevent Israelis and Palestinians from doing so.

(Tom Gross is the former Jerusalem correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph.)

 

donderdag 24 december 2009

Hamas manipuleert Britse wet om Israelische leiders te vervolgen voor oorlogsmisdaden

 
Hamas misbruikt de Britse wet in een juridische oorlog tegen Israel. Maar over deze sluwe en sinistere propaganda zal je waarschijnlijk niks lezen in onze kranten. Alleen de notoire Israellobby bedient zich volgens hen van dergelijke technieken en trekt achter de schermen aan de touwtjes. Het is een theorie die velen te aantrekkelijk vinden om op te geven, ondanks het feit dat alle tekenen een andere kant op wijzen.  
 
The campaign by Hamas takes advantage of an aspect of law in England and Wales that allows anyone to apply for an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes without the need for a prosecuting lawyer. The identity of the person or organisation that applied for Ms Livni's warrant has not been made public, but Hamas says that it initiated the move.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said yesterday that the Government was "looking urgently at ways in which the UK system might be changed in order to avoid this sort of situation arising again".
Diya al-Din Madhoun, who heads the Hamas committee set up to coordinate the campaign, said that it had "all the political and military leaders of the occupation in our sights", although he did not specify its future targets. He told The Times: "This has absolutely become our policy."
 
The committee of legal specialists was established after the Gaza offensive to investigate allegations of war crimes carried out by Israeli forces. It compiled 1,500 cases over several months and started to encourage alleged victims to file charges against Israeli leaders in countries such as Britain, Spain, Belgium and Norway, according to Mr Madhoun. The committee intended to put the victims of alleged crimes in touch with lawyers and legal institutions in Europe, he said. "We do this as a government trying to protect our people and prevent these massacres from recurring."
Hamas had not been involved directly in filing legal cases or contracting lawyers, he said, but its governing administration had acted as a facilitator. "We have provided a group of independent lawyers in Britain with documents, information and evidence concerning war crimes committed by Israeli political and military leaders, including Ms Livni."
 
RP
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Hamas manipulating English law for war crimes persecutions against Israeli leaders

James Hider in Jerusalem

 
The committee of legal specialists was set up in response to the Gaza offensive last winter. Alleged victims are encouraged to take legal action in Europe
 
 
The Islamist group Hamas is masterminding efforts to have senior Israeli leaders arrested for alleged war crimes when they visit European countries including Britain, a top Hamas official involved in the effort has told The Times.
 
The claim comes amid continuing diplomatic fallout after a British arrest warrant was issued last week against Tzipi Livni, who served as Foreign Minister during Israel's Gaza offensive last winter. The warrant was withdrawn when it became clear that Ms Livni, now leader of the opposition, was not in the country. Its existence apparently prompted her to cancel a trip to attend a meeting in London.
 
President Peres described the incident as "one of the greatest political mistakes" that Britain could have made and calling for the law to be changed. "Everything is based on ... a hostile majority public opinion," he said last week. "The British promised they would fix this and it is time that they do so."
 
Gordon Brown and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, have each expressed their concern and their opposition to the warrant.
 
The campaign by Hamas takes advantage of an aspect of law in England and Wales that allows anyone to apply for an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes without the need for a prosecuting lawyer. The identity of the person or organisation that applied for Ms Livni's warrant has not been made public, but Hamas says that it initiated the move.
 
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said yesterday that the Government was "looking urgently at ways in which the UK system might be changed in order to avoid this sort of situation arising again".
 
Diya al-Din Madhoun, who heads the Hamas committee set up to coordinate the campaign, said that it had "all the political and military leaders of the occupation in our sights", although he did not specify its future targets. He told The Times: "This has absolutely become our policy."
 
The committee of legal specialists was established after the Gaza offensive to investigate allegations of war crimes carried out by Israeli forces. It compiled 1,500 cases over several months and started to encourage alleged victims to file charges against Israeli leaders in countries such as Britain, Spain, Belgium and Norway, according to Mr Madhoun. The committee intended to put the victims of alleged crimes in touch with lawyers and legal institutions in Europe, he said. "We do this as a government trying to protect our people and prevent these massacres from recurring."
 
Hamas had not been involved directly in filing legal cases or contracting lawyers, he said, but its governing administration had acted as a facilitator. "We have provided a group of independent lawyers in Britain with documents, information and evidence concerning war crimes committed by Israeli political and military leaders, including Ms Livni."
 
About 1,400 Palestinians died in the conflict. Many were civilians, although Israel and the Palestinians have disputed exactly how many. Mr Madhoun said that the countries such as Britain were chosen because their legal system allowed for the prosecution of foreign citizens for crimes not committed on their soil. He criticised demands for Britain to change its laws.
 
The Israeli daily newspaper Ma'ariv said that lawyers acting for the committee "go into action each time an Israeli senior official arrives in a European country in which they are operating. The 'incrimination file' formed by Hamas on the respective senior official is then dispatched to them, and from there it is sent to the court with a request for an arrest warrant."
 
Other organisations have tried to use European legal systems for a similar purpose. In 2003 a Belgian court ruled that Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli Prime Minister, could be tried in Belgium for war crimes over his role in the notorious Sabra and Shatila massacres of 1982.
 
In July this year the National Court of Spain issued arrest warrants against six Israelis including Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former Defence Minister, over war crimes allegations dating back to 2002. Several other Israeli politicians and officials are believed to have avoided travelling to Britain because of the threat. In September a British court declined a similar legal action filed against Ehud Barak, who is still serving as Defence Minister and has diplomatic immunity.
 
"These reports show that it is not human rights that drive these suits but an anti-Israeli campaign at the service of Hamas," Yigal Palmor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.
 
In Gaza Mr Madhoun urged European countries to resist Israeli pressure.

Kapitein Ike Aranne van Exodus 1947 overleden

 
De film Exodus liet indertijd miljoenen mensen kennismaken met een van de belangrijkste motivaties voor de stichting van een Joodse staat: het feit dat Joodse vluchtelingen, voor, tijdens en na de Tweede Wereldoorlog, nergens welkom waren behalve in Palestina, ware het niet dat tussen hen en hun broeders de British Royal Navy een vaak onoverkomelijke blokkade vormde. Tegenwoordig is dit verhaal van de Joodse vluchtelingen en de illegale immigratie grotendeels vergeten, en gaat alle aandacht uit naar de (vermeende) nakba, en de vermeende racistische praktijk dat Joden van over de hele wereld naar Israel mogen terugkeren, maar Palestijnse vluchtelingen niet welkom zijn. Het is op zijn best een kronkelredenering, want ieder land heeft eigen immigratiewetten waarin bepaalde groepen voorrang genieten boven andere. Het is eigen aan de aard van de natie-staat. Daarnaast is het de kern van een Joodse staat: een staat waar alle Joden welkom zijn. Als ook alle Palestijnen (en andere bevolkingsgroepen) welkom waren, zou deze wet binnen de kortste keren worden afgeschaft en waren Joden niet meer welkom. Zij zouden een minderheid in eigen land worden met alle gevolgen van dien.
 
RP
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'Exodus' captain Ike Aranne dies at 86
Dec. 23, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
 
Ike Aranne, who was the captain of 'Exodus 1947', died in Hadera on Wednesday after a long illness, his daughter Ella said. He was 86 years old.
 
Aranne was born in Danzig, Poland, and came to the country at the age of 10. Formerly named Yitzhak Aronowicz, Aranne later worked with ships and always loved the sea, his daughter said.
 
Ahronovitch is survived by two daughters, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His funeral is scheduled for Friday in northern Israel.
 
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post last November from his Zichron Ya'acov home, Aranne relayed his "accidental" path leading him to the helm of the famous World War II ship, which carried over 4,500 Jewish refugees, most of them Holocaust survivors, and was rammed and boarded by the British, who forced the ship to dock in France.
 
The passengers, however, refused to disembark there, and the British sent the ship to Germany, but following worldwide outcry at the cruelty inflicted upon the refugees, the passengers ended up in detention camps in Cyprus, thus bringing a change in the British policy.
 
Author Leon Uris popularized the story in 1958, and Paul Newman subsequently starred in its 1960 screen version. Aranne had told the Post that neither the novel nor the movie bears any resemblance to the actual facts.
 
Aranne's wife, Irene, died in 2001.
 
AP contributed to this report.
 
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Waarom zijn Amerikanen meer pro-Israel dan Europeanen?

 
De Amerikaanse steun voor Israel wordt algemeen toegeschreven aan de beruchte, duistere en oppermachtige pro-Israellobby in de VS, maar er zijn andere en meer voor de hand liggende redenen voor deze steun en sympathie. De pro-Israellobby is een van de vele lobbies, en heeft de olielobby en de Arabische lobby tegenover zich. Amerikanen zien, beter dan Europeanen, dat Israel de enige democratie in de regio is, die voor een groot deel dezelfde kernwaarden deelt en het meest westers geörienteerd is. In Europa zeggen alleen conservatieven dit, in Amerika is het een algemeen sentiment. Daarnaast heeft men voor een deel dezelfde vijanden, namelijk jihadisten en andere Arabische en islamitische nationalisten. Beide landen voldoen niet altijd aan die gedeelde kernwaarden en hebben soms boter op hun hoofd, net als Europese landen, die zich graag als kampioen mensenrechten presenteren. Waarom Europa vanuit eenzelfde verwantschap als de VS niet meer met Israel sympathiseert is een goede vraag. Ik ken (een deel van) het antwoord wel, maar het blijft verbazen.
 
RP
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Are Americans so Pro-Israel, and if so, why?

Perhaps it is more important to understand why Europeans are not so pro-Israel. After all, Europeans and Americans supposedly share the same values. Clearly they do not agree about Israel. It is also important to follow changes in American attitudes to  Israel and to the Palestinians. What is important is not so much how people think, but how attitudes are changing and why. 29% is a large number of Americans who have a negative image of Israel. It is not just Muslims or leftist extremists. It is also important to see who holds what opinions. If the 29% are mostly academics and people in leadership positions, it is bad news for Israel.
 
Ami Isseroff
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by Jeff Jacoby
 
Four reasons that put Americans sharply at odds with the rest of the world.
 
Why are Americans so pro-Israel?
 
Of all the ways in which the United States marches to the beat of its own drummer, few are more striking than the American people's consistent and deep-rooted support for the Jewish state. In a recent nationwide survey, the Gallup organization asked Americans: "In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?" For the fourth year in a row, 59 percent - nearly 6 in 10 - said their sympathies were with Israel, while just 18 percent sided with the Palestinians. When respondents were asked for their opinion of various countries, 63 percent said they had a favorable view of Israel (21 percent said very favorable), compared with just 15 percent who thought highly of the Palestinian Authority.
 
Conversely, only 29 percent of Americans told Gallup that their opinion of Israel was negative, even as a whopping 73 percent expressed a negative attitude toward the Palestinians.
 
This overwhelmingly positive feeling for Israel is normal for the United States, but it puts Americans sharply at odds with the rest of the world. At the United Nations, for example, nothing is more routine than the castigation of Israel. Similarly, any time Israel is forced to use its military power in self-defense, it comes under the harsh glare of the international media, which subject it to a scrutiny far more unforgiving than any other country receives. It was only a few years ago that a poll commissioned by the European Union found that a plurality of Europeans regarded Israel as the greatest threat to world peace - more menacing than even North Korea or Iran.
 
So what makes Americans different?
 
Foreign policy "realists" could certainly suggest reasons why close friendship with Israel is not in America's interest, beginning with the fact that most of the world doesn't share it. There are 300 million or more Arabs in the world, and they sit atop a vast share of the world's oil supply. Why endanger American access to that oil by maintaining such close ties to a nation with only 6 million people and no petroleum to export? Why risk incurring the wrath of Islamic terrorists by supporting Israel, a nation most of them detest? Surely it would make more sense - so a "realist" might argue - for Americans to distance themselves from the world's lone Jewish state, and tilt instead toward the much greater number of nations and governments that are hostile to Israel.
 
Yet most Americans instinctively reject such advice. The national consensus in support of Israel is longstanding and durable, and it isn't grounded in economics, energy policy, or a quest for diplomatic popularity. Nor, as some conspiracy-minded critics have claimed, is it because a "Zionist lobby" in Washington routinely hijacks US foreign policy, manipulating America into serving Israel's ends.
 
The roots of America's bond with Israel lie elsewhere.
 
First, Americans stand with Israel because in it they recognize a liberal democracy much like their own: a nation in which elections are lively, fair, and democratic; in which freedom of speech and the press are core values; in which the political rights of minorities are respected; and in which a commitment to civil liberties and justice is woven into the very fabric of society.
 
Second, Americans know that Israel is a stable ally in one of the world's most critical and volatile regions. Its intelligence service is perhaps the world's finest, its military is the best in the Middle East, and its painfully acquired expertise in counterterrorism is invaluable - all the more so as we wage our own war against jihadi terrorists.
 
Third, Americans sympathize with Israel because they understand that the enemies of Israel state hate the United States as well. The suicide bombers who revel in the death of innocent Jews, the fanatics who chant "Death to Israel," the Iranian- and Syrian-backed forces that launch rockets from Gaza or Lebanon with the aim of shedding Israeli blood - they are steeped in the same murderous ideology as Osama bin Laden and the Islamists who slaughtered so many Americans on Sept. 11, 2001.
 
And fourth, there is a deep religious bond between American Christians and the Jewish people, a bond that stretches back to the earliest era of American history. More than a century before the Revolutionary War, the Puritan leader Increase Mather taught his followers to anticipate the day when the Jews would return to their homeland and establish "the most glorious nation in the whole world." In 1819, former President John Adams wrote of his wish to see "the Jews again in Judea an independent nation." Today, tens of millions of American evangelicals passionately support - even love - the Jewish state, and consider it nothing less than their duty as Christians to stand with Israel and her people.
 
Why are Americans so pro-Israel? For reasons practical and idealistic, religious and strategic. They are linked by the kinship of common values - an affinity of strength and decency that reflects the best of both nations, and sets them apart from the other nations of the world.
 
This article originally appeared in the MetroWest Jewish Reporter
 
 

Volstaan de excuses van Jimmy Carter aan de Joodse gemeenschap?

 
Ami Isseroff neemt geen genoegen met Jimmy Carters excuses aan de Joodse gemeenschap:
 
Carter's "apology" is fluff. "I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so." doesn't do it. An Al Het is ordinarily offered for inadvertant wrongs that might have been done without being noticed. It is not a confession of guilt and repentance for specific transgressions. It is like the Godfather "apologizing" for "any harm I may have done" after wiping out someone's family.  It indicates that Carter doesn't understand or will not admit that lying about Israel is wrong, and that claiming that Jews control America and won't let him tell the truth is evil rubbish.
(...)
The door to repentance and forgiveness must always be open. But Carter must really apologize. He must admit that no sinister Zionist conspiracy has stifled his freedom of speech, that his account of the peace process was fraudulent, that his justification for terrorism was beyond the pale.
 
Het feit dat zoveel Joden, waaronder de Anti Defamation League, zijn excuses accepteerden en er blij mee waren, zegt veel over hoe vergevingsgezind Joden zijn. Maar Ami heeft natuurlijk gelijk dat echte excuses specifieker moeten zijn en dat hij specifieke uitspraken en beweringen moet terugnemen, of op zijn minst nuanceren. Anderzijds moet je natuurlijk ook blij zijn met wat er is, en wat een begin van meer zou kunnen zijn.
 
RP
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Not necessarily better late than never: Carter apologized for anti-Semitic propaganda, or did he?

 
 
After ranting for years, at every opportunity about the evil Jews and their control of the US government, spreading racism for fun and profit, lying about the history of the Middle East and peace negotiations, Jimmy Carter admits he "may" have caused Israel harm and repents ( see Carter apologizes to Jewish community):
 
In a letter released exclusively to JTA, the former US president sent a seasonal message wishing for peace between Israel and its neighbors, and concluded: "We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."
 
 It is better than nothing. To which a spokesman for the progressive coalition against Israel and the Jewish conspiracy will reply, "Now he tells us. We were all ready with the gas chambers and the other things needed to deal with Jewish control of the United States (AKA ZOG - The Zionist Occupied Government) and now Carter seems to be having second thoughts. Without Carter to lead us, we are a flock that has lost its shepherd.  Anyone want to buy some brand new gas chambers?"
 
Carter's "apology" is fluff. "I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so." doesn't do it. An Al Het is ordinarily offered for inadvertant wrongs that might have been done without being noticed. It is not a confession of guilt and repentance for specific transgressions. It is like the Godfather "apologizing" for "any harm I may have done" after wiping out someone's family.  It indicates that Carter doesn't understand or will not admit that lying about Israel is wrong, and that claiming that Jews control America and won't let him tell the truth is evil rubbish.
 
He didn't present incorrect fiction about the peace process inadvertantly or in the spirit of constructive criticism. He was not there to correct and improve, since lies and inflammatory slogans like "Apartheid" cannot be constructive or improving. He deliberately spread lies about Israel. Carter's falsehoods were deliberate. He would not retract his infamous fiction about the map of peace proposals even after Dennis Ross pointed out that it is a lie. He still did not retract it. He also spread racist incitement about Jews in the United States.  At least he could have said, "ooik, the Saudis paid me a lot of money to do this. I'm sorry, but you know, business is business." He needs to acknowledge and disown specific lies that he spread. Without that, his "apology" is an insult to our intelligence, an attempt to ingratiate himself with Jews and with decent people who were horrified by his anti-Semitic rants, while at the same time giving himself a license to continue doing exactly the same thing.
 
The Emperor Constantine, after leading a life of violence, was finally baptized on his deathbed, to wipe away all sin. Jimmy Carter is not there yet, and there is no indication he is done sinning. His apology to the Jews is premature. He will sin again.
 
The door to repentance and forgiveness must always be open. But Carter must really apologize. He must admit that no sinister Zionist conspiracy has stifled his freedom of speech, that his account of the peace process was fraudulent, that his justification for terrorism was beyond the pale.
 
Ami Isseroff