Twee Israelische soldaten bestraft voor verzet tegen huisuitzetting

 

Het mes snijdt aan twee kanten, en wie niet oppast kan zichzelf ermee in de vingers snijden: linkse actiegroepen hier steunen Israelische soldaten die uit principe dienst weigeren in de Palestijnse gebieden, en rechtse groeperingen spreken daar schande van. Zij tonen weer eerder begrip voor soldaten die weigeren om mee te werken aan het ontruimen van nederzettingen, en sommigen roepen ook daartoe op, zoals tijdens de terugtrekking uit Gaza.

 

Het Israelische leger probeert doorgaans rekening te houden met de principes en voorkeuren van haar soldaten, maar als iedere soldaat zelf mag weten welke orders hij uitvoert en welke niet, dan kun je het leger - elk leger - wel opheffen. Een goed idee? Wie moet dan het land verdedigen? En wie moet dan de nederzettingen ontruimen die vroeg of laat toch ontruimd zullen gaan worden?

 

Opvallend is de secretaris van Peace Now, die beweert dat linkse soldaten altijd zonder morren hun democratische plicht doen en ook bereid zijn nederzettingen te beschermen als ze dat krijgen opgedragen. Hij spreekt zeker niet voor héél links, al is het percentage refuseniks met enkele honderden niet erg hoog.

 

Wouter

____________________

JPost  - The Jerusalem Post
Nov 16, 2009 12:33 | Updated Nov 16, 2009 20:09
2 soldiers jailed for evacuation protest
By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027301522&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Two Nachshon Brigade soldiers, who demonstrated against the razing of two illegal structures near the settlement of Negohot in the Southern Hebron Hills on Monday morning, were sentenced to 30 days in military prison.

The soldiers were also banned from combat and command positions and were demoted.

The soldiers, who did not take part in the operation although their unit provided perimeter security around the area, went up on the roof of a structure in a nearby army base, raising a poster with the words "Nachshon also does not expel Jews" written on it.

IDF sources said that they view the incident in the "utmost severity."

Last month, soldiers from the Shimshon Brigade raised a banner during their swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall which said "Shimshon will not evacuate Homesh." Both Shimshon and Nachshon Brigades are part of the larger Kfir Battalion.

A family with six children lived in one of the structures that was demolished while a young couple with a baby lived in the other.

Assaf Freed, who lives in a nearby settlement, accused the Civil Administration of carrying out a "selective and racist" enforcement of building laws in the area.

"People are forced to build on their own because one cannot get a building permit nowadays due to political reasons. Only a mile from here you can a see an illegal Arab structure that I, as an IDF officer, together with a Civil Administration official, personally served its owners with a demolition order 10 years ago. But it is still there 10 years later while houses of Jews are demolished," he told Israel Radio.

Right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir blamed Defense Minister Ehud Barak for the deteriorating situation.

"Over the past weeks, we've been approached by more and more soldiers who don't want to be [Barak's] pawns and to expel children from their homes," said the activist, who also serves as parliamentarian aid to MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union.) "Today, we are casting the responsibility upon the defense minster and saying that Barak is responsible for the recent uprisings in the IDF, and if such expulsions continue, there will be manifold and severe repercussions.

Peace Now secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer slammed soldiers from the Right who of recent are disobeying more and more orders for political reasons, which is not the wont of the Left, according to Oppenheimer.

"For years, thousands of soldiers from the Left filled orders they were not at whole with, such as securing settlements and illegal outposts. I do it too annually in my reserve service, and nobody rebels, and we accept the democratic decisions. This is a phenomenon of mutiny in the army, and should be taken care of with severity," he said.

"The leaders of the Right should act on this, and speak out against such issues," Oppenheimer added.

5.000 Nieuwe woningen voor Arabieren in Jeruzalem

Terwijl de hele wereld valt over de geplande bouw van 900 woningen voor Joden in Gilo (Jeruzalem), plant Israel ook ruim 5.000 nieuwe woningen voor Arabieren in Oost-Jeruzalem.

 

RP
-------------------

13 November 2009
Jerusalem Municipality Advancing Plans To Build Over 5,000 New Housing Units for the Arab Public
(Communicated by the Jerusalem Municipality Spokesperson)

 

The Jerusalem Municipality is currently advancing plans to build over 5,000 new housing units for the Arab public in Jerusalem.

Among the plans currently being promoted in the eastern part of the city are:

A master plan for Tel Edasa in the northern part of the city, including approximately 2,000 new housing units.  The plan is due to be submitted local and district committees.

A master plan for the Arab-Aswahara area including approximately 2,500 housing units.  It is being discussed by the local and district committees.

A master plan for the Dir Al-Amud and Al-Muntar areas in Beit Tsafafa for an additional 500 housing units is currently in advanced planning stages.

A master plan for Jebel Mukhaber including 172 housing units and public structures is due to be discussed for approval by the district committee.

The district committee is discussing an additional 50 and 72 housing units for Abu Tor and Tzur Bahker, respectively.

The Jerusalem municipality is implementing court decisions and enforcing the law.  This is alongside advancing construction solutions and improving municipal services for residents of the eastern part of the city.

Mayor Nir Barkat points out that the municipality is working to meet the needs of all sectors and to allow the construction of new housing units in various neighborhoods in order to attract young people to the capital and encourage them to buy apartments there.  "There is demand in Jerusalem for the construction of new housing units throughout the city.  The municipality is working to meet the needs of residents, Jewish and Arab alike, in an equal manner," the Mayor added.

==================

Mayor Barkat Opens New Sports Complex In East Jerusalem
(Communicated by the Jerusalem Municipality Spokesperson)

 

During a working tour of the Beit Tsafafa community, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat opened a new NIS 5 million sports complex for the benefit of the local school and residents.

 

The 750 square meter sports complex is an integral part in the advancement of the local school and the local community and was made possible by the investment of the Jerusalem Municipality and in close coordination with the local residents.

 

Joining the Mayor on the working tour were the leaders of the community, the school administrators, members of the Jerusalem City Council, and department heads of the Jerusalem Municipality. Mayor Barkat is committed to investing in all sectors of Jerusalem in order to improve the quality of life for all residents of the city, irrelevant of race, age, gender, religion, or national identity.

 

 

Premie op ontvoeren Israëlische soldaten

Zou deze liefdadigheidsorganisatie ook (mogelijk via Oxfam Novib) Nederlandse subsidie krijgen? Je weet het maar nooit tegenwoordig. En anders kunnen ze zeker op steun van Van Agt en Meulenbelt rekenen, die warm voorstander zijn van praten zonder woorwaarden met Hamas, en bijzonder veel begrip voor het Palestijnse 'verzet' hebben.

 

RP

-------------

 

http://buitenland.nieuws.nl/575852/premie_op_israelische_soldaten

Premie op Israëlische soldaten

(Novum/AP) - Een aan Hamas gelieerde liefdadigheidsorganisatie in de Gazastrook heeft een premie uitgeloofd voor iedere Israëlische soldaat die gevangen wordt genomen. De Waad groep roept Palestijnen in Israël op om soldaten te gijzelen. De groep stelt hiervoor 1,4 miljoen dollar beschikbaar.

De Waad groep ondersteunt Palestijnen die door Israël gevangen zijn gezet en ressorteert onder Hamas-minister van binnenlandse zaken Fathi Hamad.

Waad-directeur Usama Kahlout zei dat tot het uitloven van de premie is besloten in reactie op het aanbod van een Israëlische organisatie om inwoners van Gaza te betalen voor informatie over de verblijfplaats van een Israëlische militair die al meer dan drie jaar door Hamas gevangen wordt gehouden. In ruil voor korporaal Gilad Schalit eist Hamas de invrijheidstelling van honderden Palestijnse gevangenen.

 

Israelisch leger treft wapenwerkplaats en smokkeltunnels in Gazastrook na raketaanvallen

 

Het is jaren niet zo rustig geweest in Sderot en omgeving, en het merendeel van de 750 raketten en mortieren die afgelopen jaar zijn afgevuurd vielen tijdens de Gaza Oorlog. De ruim 250 die er daarna vielen zijn een historisch laag aantal. In 2008 werden er meer dan 3.300 afgevuurd. Ik kan mij niet aan de indruk onttrekken dat er enig verband is met operatie Cast Lead, al is het in de mode te zeggen dat geweld alleen maar meer geweld uitlokt en je guerrillaoorlogen niet kunt winnen.

 

RP

------------

IDF Spokesperson

November 19, 2009
IAF Struck Weapon Manufacturing Facility and Two Smuggling Tunnels in the Gaza Strip

 

Overnight, Israeli aircraft successfully targeted a weapons-manufacturing facility in the southern Gaza Strip and two smuggling tunnels in the Rafah border area. The attacks were in response to the recent firing of rockets into Israeli territory.

Approximately 15 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel during the past month. In total, more than 250 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel since the end of Operation Cast Lead and more than 750 hit Israeli in the whole of 2009. Throughout 2008, prior to the operation, over 3300 rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel.

The IDF will continue to respond to any attempt to disrupt the calm in Israel's southern communities.

Palestijnse 'historicus': Joden zijn profiteurs en uit op wereldmacht

 

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar, a lecturer on Islamic history at the Islamic University of Gaza:

"In the modern era, an American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, issued a strong warning to the U.S. government, in its early days, about the presence of Jews in the U.S. He said to them: "If the Jews remain in the U.S., within 100 years - or 200 years, at most - the Jews will take control of all the economic resources of the country." Then [the] Jews will be able to sit in the shade of a fruit tree in his garden, to sip a cup of coffee, to put his feet up, and wait for the Americans to come to him in the evening, in order to hand over to him the day's earnings, and what they collected from working his land, which originally belonged to them. They will have become employees working for those Jews."

 

Dit nep-citaat van Benjamin Franklin behoeft geen commentaar lijkt me. Wie beweren er ook weer allemaal dat er geen antisemitisme is onder de Palestijnen, en men slechts een probleem heeft met de Israeli's die als bezetters kwamen? Wie beweren er dat Hamas steeds pragmatischer wordt, en er prima mee te praten is? Iemand die dergelijke dingen beweert speelt een zeer kwalijke rol in het voortduren van het conflict. Jammer dat het niet politiek correct is op dit probleem te wijzen.

 

RP

--------------

MEMRI
No. 2260| November 16, 2009

Palestinian Historian Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar: Ancient Egyptians Had the Right to Force the Jews to Work Building Pithom and Raamses; Benjamin Franklin Warned against the Jews

Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar, a lecturer on Islamic history at the Islamic University of Gaza. The interview aired on Al-Aqsa TV on July 31, 2009.

To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2260.htm


Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar:

"The claim that those who built Pithom and Raamses were persecuted is a lie. The archaeological finds have proven that they enjoyed rights and privileges, and that they did not suffer any injustice. Therefore, all the talk about persecution is incorrect. These are lies by the Jews, who have become used to not working, to being a burden on others. This has been part of their psychological makeup throughout their long history. They do not like to work. They like to have people working for them, and to receive the services.

In the modern era, an American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, issued a strong warning to the U.S. government, in its early days, about the presence of Jews in the U.S. He said to them: "If the Jews remain in the U.S., within 100 years - or 200 years, at most - the Jews will take control of all the economic resources of the country." Then [the] Jews will be able to sit in the shade of a fruit tree in his garden, to sip a cup of coffee, to put his feet up, and wait for the Americans to come to him in the evening, in order to hand over to him the day's earnings, and what they collected from working his land, which originally belonged to them. They will have become employees working for those Jews.

I don't intend to go into all the details - some of which are incorrect, because that land is not the land of the Americans, who are themselves invaders and occupiers - but I would like to emphasize the warning about the mentality of the Jews throughout their long history. This is the mentality of people who like to have others work for them, and provide them with wealth, without any effort.

Therefore, when they were forced to work at Pithom and Raamses, making bricks to build the two cities, they viewed this as persecution. This is not true. This was merely construction work, playing an active role in the society in which they live - a society that has the right to force them to carry out this work."

===============

For assistance, please contact MEMRI at memri@memri.org.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with proper attribution.
www.memri.org

IAEA inspecteurs vinden verrijkt uranium in Syrië

Op verschillende plaatsen is in Syrië verrijkt uranium aangetroffen, waarvoor het geen verklaring kon geven.

 

Agency inspectors who visited the Dir Azur site after the 2007 bombing found highly processed plutonium, so the uranium traces may indicate Syria's nuclear program was more advanced than was previously assessed.

 

Het woordje 'was' is het enige positieve aan dit bericht.

 

RP

--------------

 

'IAEA inspects site outside Damascus'

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/11/iaea-inspects-site-outside-damascus.html

'IAEA inspects site outside Damascus'

Nov. 17, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

 

Following Monday's report that the IAEA had discovered processed uranium at three separate Syrian sites, UN inspectors on Tuesday conducted an emergency visit to a smaller site outside Damascus, Channel 10 reported.

 

According to Monday's report, IAEA inspectors had discovered enriched uranium in three sites besides Dir Azur, where IAF jets destroyed an alleged reactor in September 2007.

 

These findings have led the UN nuclear watchdog to suspect that Syria has uranium stockpiles.

 

The main cause for suspicion was the discovery of nuclear material traces near a small research nuclear reactor outside Damascus, the TV channel said Monday.

 

When the evidence was presented to the Syrians, they failed to provide convincing explanations, senior IAEA officials were quoted as saying.

Agency inspectors who visited the Dir Azur site after the 2007 bombing found highly processed plutonium, so the uranium traces may indicate Syria's nuclear program was more advanced than was previously assessed.

 

 

De Israelische Rachel Corries: slachtoffers van Palestijnse terreur

Het wordt tijd dat zo'n boek ook in het Nederlands verschijnt.

 

Het feit dat in het conflict meer Palestijnen omkomen dan Israeli's, is absoluut geen reden de Israelische doden te negeren. Bovendien zijn de meeste Israeli's gedood met het bewuste doel om hen te doden, omdat ze Joods zijn en in Israel wonen. De Palestijnen die door Israel werden gedood waren doorgaans ofwel strijders (vaak erop uit om raketten af te schieten of een aanslag te plegen) ofwel burgers die onbedoeld werden gedood. In het ergste geval kan Israel wat dat betreft verweten worden dat het niet meer moeite deed om deze doden te vermijden.

Een ander belangrijk verschil: als het aan Hamas had gelegen waren er zeker vele malen meer doden aan Israels kant gevallen, want Israel heeft verreweg de meeste aanslagen verijdeld. Als Hamas de wapens van Israel had gehad, was er allang geen Israel meer en had men het vaak uitgesproken dreigement van een 'tweede Holocaust' in daden kunnen omzetten.

 

RP

------------------

 

The Zionist Rachel Corries - The untold stories of Israel's Jewish Martyrs

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/11/zionist-rachel-corries-untold-stories.html

 

The film "Rachel Corrie" tells the story (or fable) of an American girl who went to Gaza looking for trouble and was tragically killed. It is used as a tool in the war against Israel. On the other hand, there are thousands of Israeli martyrs who were not looking for trouble - just minding their own business. They were struck down by Palestinian terrorists. No book commemorates them as a group, and no movie tells their story. Now, a book has appeared in Italian to tell their stories.  

 

From

The Untold Stories of Israel's Martyrs

For the first time ever, in a book, depictions of the victims of Islamist hatred. Young and old, men and women. Struck down in a bus, at a bar, at the market. Killed solely for the "fault" of being Jewish

by Sandro Magister

ROME, November 7, 2009 – Today Jews all over the world are commemorating their martyrs of the "Night of Broken Glass," the victims of the Nazi pogrom on the night of November 9-10, 1938, in Germany.

There is universal, mournful observance of that massacre and of the tremendous extermination of Jews by the Reich that came after it.

But the same is not done, in Europe and the West, for the many other Jewish victims who for years have been killed in Israel, assailed by Islamic terrorism.

Every time one of them is killed, it is covered in the news and then immediately ignored. The victim ends up buried in the vagueness of the "Palestinian question," viewed by many as Israel's "fault."

Meanwhile, one out of every three hundred Israeli families has been directly affected by an attack. The terrorist actions number in the thousands. More than 150 suicide attacks have been carried out, and for each of these the Israeli police estimate that they have prevented nine more. 1,723 people have been killed to date, 378 of them women. More than ten thousand have been injured.

The indifference of the West and of Christians in the face of this steady stream of victims, struck systematically in the midst of their daily routine, on the buses, in the cafes, in the markets, at home, now has a response in a book that recounts their stories for the first time. It finally tells us who they are.

The book was published a month ago in Italy, and translations will soon be published in New York and London. Its title is "Non smetteremo di danzare [We will not stop dancing]." And the subtitle: "Le storie mai raccontate dei martiri di Israele [The untold stories of Israel's martyrs]."

...

His most recent book opens with a preface by English philosopher Roger Scruton, and with a letter by Robert Redeker, the French writer who has been living in a secret location since he began receiving death threats from Islamist fanatics.

The following is an extract from the first chapter.

_________


The unsung dead of Israel

by Giulio Meotti

From "Non smetteremo di danzare," pp. 26-36


Why this book? Because before it there was not even one presentation of the story of Israel's dead. It was written without any prejudice against the Palestinians, it is an account motivated by love for a great people and its marvelous and tragic adventure in the heart of the Middle East and through the whole twentieth century. Every effort to exterminate an entire class of human beings, from Srebrenica to Rwanda, has been commemorated in some great story. This does not seem to be allowed for Israel; history has always been scrubbed quickly of the blood of Jews. Jews killed because they were Jews, whose stories have been swallowed up in the disgusting and amoral equating of Israelis and Palestinians, which explains nothing about that conflict and even blurs it to the point of disappearing. This book is intended to rescue from oblivion this vast reserve of suffering, to elicit respect for the dead and love of the living. [...]

The most beautiful gift in these four years of research was given to me by the Israelis who opened their grief-stricken world to my request for help, laying their sufferings bare. It was me knocking at the door, a stranger, a non-Jew, a foreigner. But they all shook my hand and spoke about their loved ones for the first time. [...]

I decided to tell some of the great Israeli stories full of idealism, suffering, sacrifice, chance, love, fear, faith, freedom – and the hope that, in spite of all this silence, Israel will triumph in the end. [...] There are incredible people like the obstetrician Tzofia, who lost her father, a rabbi, her mother, and her little brother. Today she helps Arab women give birth to their children. [...] There's Torah copyist Yitro, who converted to Judaism and whose son was kidnapped and executed by Hamas. There's Elisheva, from a family of farming settlers who lost them all in Auschwitz, and whose daughter, nine months pregnant, was killed by remorseless terrorists because "she wanted to live the Jewish ideal." In Tzipi they stabbed the chief rabbi to death, and where his bedroom used to be there is now an important religious school. Ruti's husband and David's brother was a great humanist doctor who cared for everyone, Arabs and Jews. There's the rabbi Elyashiv, whose son, a seminarian, was taken from him, but who continues to believe that "everything in life makes the strong stronger and the weak weaker." Then there's Sheila, who always talks about the coming of the Messiah and about how her husband took care of Down's children. Menashe lost his father, mother, brother, and grandfather in a night of terror, but continues to believe in the right to live where Abraham pitched his tent. [...] Elaine lost a son during dinner on the shabath, and for more than a year was not able to cook or make any sound. There are the friends of Ro'i Klein, a human shield who leapt onto a mine reciting the Shema' Yisrael, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. Yehudit lost her daughter too soon, coming back from a wedding together with her husband. From Uri, who made the alyah from France, they took his daughter as well, a volunteer working with the poor.

Orly lived a happy life in a trailer, but her son didn't have time to put his kippah back on his head before he was killed. There's Tehila, one of those God-fearing but modern women who populate the settlements, the wife of an idealist who "lived the land," who loved the pink and blue plumage of Samaria's flowers. [...] There's also the marvelous Yossi, whose son sacrificed his own life in order to save his friends, and every Friday went to give out religious gifts to passers-by. Rina had created a pearl in the Egyptian desert, she thought of herself as a pioneer. She had her son taken from her, together with his pregnant wife. [...] There's Chaya, who embraced Judaism together with her husband. For them, conversion "was like marrying God." [...] All of these stories speak to us of this nation that is unique in the world, born from the 19th-century philosophy of secular Zionism, which from the ashes of the Holocaust brought back to their ancient homeland a people in exile for two thousand years and cut down to less than half its prewar size. Stories that speak to us of courage, desperation, faith, of the defense of hearth and home, even if errors are sometimes made, of the preservation of "honorable warfare" in the only army that permits disobeying an inhumane order. [...]

The story of these Jewish victims is not only a story of heroes. They are almost always defenseless people. [...] The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, the most important center for analysis in Israel, has calculated that only 25 percent of the Israeli victims were  soldiers. The majority were and are Jews in civilian dress. Among the Israelis, 40 percent of all the victims are women. Europeans believe that Israel is the stronger side, the country and military with the control of the territory, the technology, the money, the knowledge base, the capacity to use force, the friendship and alliance with the United States. And before it stands the pitiful weakness of a people claiming its rights, and ready for martyrdom in order to obtain them. But this is not the case. The stories of these new unsung victims proves it.

The Israelis have shown that they love life more than they fear death. The terrorists have killed hundreds of teachers and students, but the schools have never closed. They have killed doctors and patients, but the hospitals have continued to function. They have massacred soldiers and policemen, but the list of those who volunteer has never shrunk. They have shot up buses of the faithful, but the pilgrims continue to arrive in Judea and Samaria. They have made massacres at weddings, and forced young people to wed in underground bunkers. But life has always won over death. Like at Irit Rahamin's bachelorette party at the Sea Market Restaurant in Tel Aviv. When the terrorist began to shoot and throw grenades into the crowd, Irit threw herself to the ground, and from under the table called her future husband and told him that she loved him. Amid the screams. And the dying.

_________

The book:
Giulio Meotti, "Non smetteremo di danzare. Le storie mai raccontate dei martiri di Israele", Lindau, Torino, 2009, pp. 360, euro 24.00.

 

Khaled Abu-Toameh over de Palestijnse kansen op vrede en een staat

But when Toameh spoke, what stood out was not that he is pro-Israel, but that he is pro-Palestine.

For example, he spoke about the virulent anti-Israel atmosphere he is seeing on U.S. college campuses, about which, he observed, "there is sometimes more sympathy for Hamas than I see in Ramallah."

Dit geldt ook voor veel zogenaamde Palestina sympathisanten in Nederland. Een kritisch woord over Hamas is meestal ver te zoeken, behalve dan even een obligaat zinnetje dat de zelfmoordaanslagen natuurlijk niet goed waren. Wat is er nou precies zo pro-Palestijns aan extremisten die hun eigen bevolking als menselijk schild gebruiken, journalisten oppakken, herdenkingsbijeenkomsten van volksheld Arafat verbieden, en zich niet islamitisch kledende en gedragende vrouwen lastig vallen?

Democraten als Dries van Agt hebben alle begrip voor de gewelddadige coup van Hamas. Vredesactivisten begrijpen dat de wanhoop en de frustratie van de Palestijnen leidt tot de onbedwingbare behoefte je in een bus in Tel Aviv op te blazen, feministen als Meulenbelt zwijgen over de onderdrukking van vrouwen.

 

RP

--------------

 

Khaled Abu-Toameh talks about "peace" prospects - non-existent

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/11/khaled-abu-toameh-talks-about-peace.html

 

A sober assessment of peace prospects from one of the most astute journalists in the Middle East. Not Jewish and not a Zionist - an Israeli Arab who is owned by nobody and whose journalistic analyses set standards for objectivity and integrity.

 

SwS,

Ami

=======================

 

November 17, 2009

Peace in Arabic

By David Suissa
 

It's not that I get tired of listening to Jewish speakers. More often than not, they motivate and inspire me. Whether I agree with them or not, there's a familiarity, a connection. I learn from my people and I embrace their diversity.

But no matter how diverse, it's still the same Jewish tent.

That's why it was so fascinating the other night to listen to someone who describes himself as an Israeli-Arab-Muslim-Palestinian. His look, his dress, his accent and body language all felt different. His mother's "large clan," he said, lives in Ramallah, where he visits almost every day from his home in Jerusalem. I could easily imagine him drinking tea and eating hummus with them.

The man was Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, and he spoke at the home of Steve and Rita Emerson in Westwood.

Toameh has been reporting on Arab affairs for close to 30 years, for both Jewish and Arabic media. There's a quiet nonchalance about him, an old-school Middle Eastern dignity. Even when he says something familiar, it sounds different coming from him.

Toameh is in the middle of a U.S. tour sponsored by StandWithUs and was in Los Angeles for their annual "Israel in Focus" weekend conference, which gathers student activists from around the world. Of course, he wouldn't have been chosen if his views toward the Jewish state weren't sympathetic.

But when Toameh spoke, what stood out was not that he is pro-Israel, but that he is pro-Palestine.

For example, he spoke about the virulent anti-Israel atmosphere he is seeing on U.S. college campuses, about which, he observed, "there is sometimes more sympathy for Hamas than I see in Ramallah."

When he asked these students, "What makes you pro-Palestinian?" the answers were usually the same: "Israel is an apartheid state, Israel is a violent occupier, etc."

"But that's anti-Israel," he challenged them. "That's not pro-Palestine. I'm pro-Palestine. What makes you pro-Palestine?

"If you're really pro-Palestine, come help us instead of just spewing poison about Israel. Come teach my people democracy. Instead of Israel Apartheid Week, why don't you have Palestine Democracy Week?"

There was something authentic and disarming about him. His words didn't smell like propaganda or activism. He spoke for moderate Palestinians like himself, and he spoke from his heart, not from talking points.

He brought up a private meeting he'd had with President Obama a couple of years ago, while Obama was still a U.S. senator. Toameh told Obama that the key obstacle to peace is the hatred and incitement to violence that prevails throughout Palestinian society — in schools, the media and mosques — and is endorsed by the Palestinian leadership.

Commenting on the charge of incitement, Obama asked: "Is it true?" and later asked: "What can we do about it?"

Toameh suggested that the United States and other donor countries should predicate aid to the Palestinians on their stopping the incitement, to which Obama responded, "Isn't this political extortion?"

Toameh clearly thinks not. He thinks it is in the interest of the Palestinians to stop incitement, and he shared an Arab perspective on the subject.

"Look at the language that is now flying back and forth between Hamas and Fatah," he said. "It's the same poison you hear about the Jews: sons of pigs, infidels, etc. Incitement has spread and backfired on the Palestinians."

This incitement has also hurt the Palestinians' ability to make peace: "How do you tell people to make peace with the people you've called monsters and sons of pigs?"

Toameh sees no hope in the "top down" approach to peace. The soil is too rotten, he says. The Arab moderates have been undermined. "If I go to Ramallah and talk about Palestinian concessions on the right of return, I'll get shot in five minutes."

He says the Palestinians "already got their two-state solution - Gaza and the West Bank," and if it weren't for the Israeli presence in the West Bank, "Hamas would take over and Mahmoud Abbas would be lynched."

But lest you think there was no ray of hope in this Arab gentleman, he closed by discussing the people who he believes hold the key to an eventual peace between Jews and Arabs.

The Arab citizens of Israel.

"They are the ones who can build a bridge between Jews and Arabs," Toameh said. "They know what democracy is. They know about a free press and about freedom of religion. They know both sides."

He acknowledged the many obstacles - mutual mistrust, dual loyalties, Muslim radicalization, etc. - but he says Israel has no choice. If it wants a peaceful future, it must do a better job of embracing its Arab citizens.

The fact that some of them are becoming more radical is an even bigger incentive to embrace the moderates and preempt further radicalization.

It's true, he said, that Arabs have it better in Israel than anywhere else in the Middle East. But that's not the point. Israel must see its Arab minority not as a threatening nuisance that must be tolerated and contained, but as potential allies who can eventually help bring peace to the Holy Land.

From your mouth to Allah's ears, Mr. Toameh.

David Suissa is the founder of OLAM magazine. You can read his daily blog at suissablog.com and e-mail him at dsuissa@olam.org

 

"Joodse lobby heeft Groot-Brittannië in haar greep"

 

Er zijn honderden lobby organisaties op velerlei gebied, en er zijn waarschijnlijk duizenden (beroeps) lobbyisten in Groot-Brittannië, die het politieke spel op hun duimpje kennen en goed georganiseerd zijn. Een studie naar al deze organisaties, hun donaties en taktieken zou niet alleen interessant zijn, maar hoogst noodzakelijk om een groep die zich liefst zoveel mogelijk aan het zicht onttrekt in kaart te brengen.

 

Wanneer echter telkens de aandacht uitgaat naar één specifieke lobby, een lobby die bovendien verbonden is met een volk dat er van oudsher van wordt beschuldigd achter de schermen uit te zijn op werelddominantie, dan is er iets niet helemaal fris. De "Protocollen van de Wijzen van Zion", in de Arabische wereld nog steeds ongekend populair, moest indertijd bewijzen dat de Joden via duistere praktijken en het tegen elkaar uitspelen van volken uit waren op de wereldmacht.

 

Het is overigens welhaast ironisch dat, terwijl dit soort beschuldigingen en insinuaties mainstream zijn geworden, blijkt dat de anti-Israellobby grof geld krijgt van de overheid, onder andere via ontwikkelingsorganisatie Oxfam-Novib. Het zou mij niet verbazen als dat ook geldt voor Groot-Brittannië. Overigens krijgen ook anti-Israël groeperingen in Israël en de Palestijnse gebieden grof geld van de EU. Dus misschien moet de conclusie luiden dat terwijl de Israël lobby geld geeft aan de regering, de anti-Israël lobby het ontvangt.

 

RP

-----------------

 

Good news for Jews - we're taking over Britain

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/11/good-news-for-jews-were-taking-over.html

 

According to UK Channel 4, the "Israel Lobby" (AKA World Jewish conspiracy) is poised to take over Britain when and if the Conservative party comes to power, since an all powerful Jew conspiracy has permeated the corridors of British power. The next British monarch will be Ikey I, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, and the Menorah will be printed on British bank notes. The Channel 4 documentary evidently has compiled a list of the Jew lovers in the Conservative party, preparing to subvert the innocent British people, about to pass legislation that forces pubs to serve Manischewitz wine and kosher snacks. It must be the influential Jewish conspiracy that is responsible for tacit recognition of Sharia law and other pro-Zionist moves of the Zionist Occupied British government. The same Jew lobby was no doubt responsible for the spate of British Boycott Israel initiatives. Them Jews will get you every time, right?

Or is the documentary evidence of a quite different trend in Britain? What do you think?

 

Ami Isseroff

 

=================

 

Israel lobby 'big influence in UK'

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/11/2009111743832125800.html

Al Jazeera, November 2009

 

 

A British documentary has alleged that any future Conservative government will be disproportionately influenced by a powerful pro-Israeli lobby in the country.

Channel 4's Dispatches programme on Monday said that at least half of the Conservative shadow cabinet are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), one of a number of pro-Israel lobby organisations.

 

The prorgramme, entitled 'Inside Britain's Israel Lobby', said that such organisations make up "one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain", but that "little is known" about these groups and their associated individuals.

 

CFI members and their businesses are alleged to have donated more than $16.8m to the Conservative Party over the past eight years.

The alleged donations include tens of thousands of pounds to William Hague, after he was appointed shadow foreign secretary in 2005.

The documentary alleged that Lord Kalm, a CFI member and significant donor to the Conservatives, threatened to remove Hague's funding after he said that Israel had used "disproportionate" force during its war in Lebanon in 2006.

 

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, is alleged to have promised not to repeat the conjecture.

 

'Transparent'

 

Stuart Polak, CFI's director, disputed the figures in the UK's Guardian newspaper.

"CFI as an organisation has donated only £30,000 [$50,000] since 2005. Each of these donations has been made transparently and publicly registered," he said.

"In addition to this £30,000, it is undoubtedly the case that some of our supporters have also chosen, separately, to donate to the party as individuals."

The Dispatches documentary also claims that Poju Zabludowicz, a Finnish billionaire and chairman of Bicom (the British Israel Communications and Research Centre), gave $25,000 and $84,000 donations to Cameron and the Conservative Central Office respectively.

 

Zabludowicz has a business interest in a shopping centre in Ma'aleh Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank deemed illegal under international law.

Bicom organises briefings on and trips to Israel for journalists. The CFI and the Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) group, which is described in the documentary as "less unquestioning in its support of the Israeli government than CFI", plays a similar role, accounting for 13 per cent of the total number of paid-for foreign trips for MPs and candidates.

 

'Openness needed'

 

Zabludowicz told The Jerusalem Post newspaper that the Dispatches programme "seems to have a predetermined agenda".

"Some people have suggested that the production team felt compelled to 'balance out' their two recent programs exposing the footprint of radical Islamism in the UK," he said.

 

"I come to this conclusion with a heavy heart, having been led [through] a not-so-merry dance over the past 10 days by the programme-makers.

"Bicom is an advocacy organisation. We work with journalists every day. It is in our DNA to put our side of the story forward and to be transparent."

While the programme said that the donations are legal, one of its makers, David Oborne, a political columnist for the British Daily Mail newspaper, said that more needs to be known about the Israeli lobby's workings and power.

 

"There is nothing resembling a conspiracy," he wrote in the Guardian.

"The pro-Israel lobby, in common with other lobbies, has every right to operate and indeed to flourish in Britain.

"But it needs to be far more open about how it is funded and what it does ... mainly because politics in a democracy ... should be out in the open for all to see."

 

In 2006, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, two American academics, released a paper stating that Washington's support for Israel was predicated by a hugely powerful Israeli lobby in the US.

 

Erekat wil Palestijnse staat via resolutie VN Veiligheidsraad

De Palestijnen zouden, na de mild-afwijzende reacties op het voorstel eenzijdig de onafhankelijkheid uit te roepen, nu een VN Veiligheidsraad resolutie nastreven die de 1949 bestandslijn als de grens tussen Israel en een toekomstige Palestijnse staat definieert. Dit staat haaks op de afspraken in de Routekaart en de Oslo Akkoorden, die bepalen dat de precieze grenzen in onderhandelingen worden vastgesteld.

 

Onderhandelaar Erekat heeft gelijk dat de 1949 bestandslijnen ook daarbij door de meesten als richtlijn worden gezien, en alle vredesvoorstellen deze grenzen als basis hebben. Echter, wanneer de Veiligheidsraad deze grenzen zou voorschrijven is Israel al haar onderhandelingsruimte in één keer kwijt. In zo'n resolutie zou dan op zijn minst ook moeten worden opgenomen dat er geen sprake kan zijn van het zogenaamde 'recht op terugkeer' van de vluchtelingen. Ook zou Jeruzalem moeten worden uitgezonderd, anders zouden de Klaagmuur, de Joodse begraafplaats op de Olijfberg en de oude Joodse wijk zomaar tot 'Palestijns gebied' worden gerekend, ondanks het feit dat deze al lang voor 1948 Joods waren. Dit geldt ook voor andere delen van Oost Jeruzalem.

 

Bovendien moet de resolutie duidelijk maken dat de precieze grenzen het resultaat van onderhandelingen zullen zijn en dat de basis veilige en erkende grenzen van alle staten in de regio moet zijn. Zo'n resolutie bestaat echter al, en is kort na de Zesdaagse Oorlog aangenomen. Het enige verschil is dat daarin niet expliciet van een Palestijnse staat werd gesproken, wel van Israelische terugtrekking uit bezette gebieden en de territoriale integriteit van alle staten in de regio. Zie ook: Resolution 242

 

RP

-------------

Erekat denies PA plans to declare state unilaterally
TOVAH LAZAROFF and HERB KEINON , THE JERUSALEM POST

Nov. 18, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258489190816&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

The Palestinians will not unilaterally declare an independent state, but rather seek a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a two-state solution along the pre-1967 lines, Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Israeli officials said Erekat was backtracking on earlier statements calling for a unilateral declaration of independence, even as he said that Israel was "twisting his words."

The Palestinians want the Security Council to set the borders of their future state and those of Israel along the pre-1967 lines, Erekat said.

"What we are seeking is to preserve the two-state solution," he said. "One state is not an option."

In light of the deadlocked peace process and continued Israeli actions that jeopardized any possibility of a two-state solution, Palestinians felt that they had no choice but to appeal to the international community for help through the Security Council, Erekat said.

"We want the Security Council to declare that the two-state solution is the only option and that it would recognize the state of Palestine on the '67 borders and to live side by side with the State of Israel," he said.

One senior Israeli government source said that Erekat's comments were an effort to backtrack on the plan to unilaterally declare a state, following the refusal of either the US or the EU to support the idea.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said before a EU foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday that regarding a Palestinian state, "I don't think we are there yet. I would hope that we will be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state, but there has to be one first. I think that is somewhat premature."

At the same time, Bildt said, we are "discussing other steps to demonstrate our support for the Palestinian aspirations more than we have done so far, and clearly there is a need for that."

The senior Israeli government official said it was clear from the whole process of negotiations with the Palestinians over the past 16 years that the final borders needed to be negotiated, and "could not be set unilaterally."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said this week that a unilateral Palestinian declaration would have "no significance," but that such a move would break the "ground rules" and leave open to Israel "a whole range of possible responses." He did not elaborate.

Erekat said that a request for the UN Security Council to specify the pre-1967 lines as the future border between Israel and a Palestinian state was consistent with Security Council Resolution 1515 from 2003, which adopted the principles of the road map and a two-state solution, but did not specify what the borders would be.

Security Council Resolution 1397 from 2002 was the first to affirm a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state next to Israel.

"What we are asking the world to do is to specify the borders of the state as the 1967 border," Erekat said. If the UN Security Council already passed a resolution that endorses a two-state solution, why could it not say that this solution would be on the 1967 line? he asked.

"I want to make sure the Israeli people understand that we are not speaking of a unilateral declaration," Erekat said. "This is not an option."

He blamed Israeli leaders for reports that the PA was seeking a unilateral declaration of statehood, saying they were "always trying to twist our words."

Erekat said that while Israel's borders have yet to be finalized after 61 years, in the interim the country has changed the facts on the ground by continuing with unilateral steps such as settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The decision to turn to the Security Council, he said, was affirmed last Thursday at the Arab League's meeting of foreign ministers, and was necessary to prevent Netanyahu from "undermining the two-state solution" by continued settlement activity.

The Palestinians have not yet set a date by which they planned to turn to the Security Council, Erekat said.

At this stage, he said, they were consulting and seeking support from countries around the globe for the resolution. Statements by the US and the European Union rejecting Palestinian pursuit of unilateral statehood were not relevant, he said, because they did not correctly address the Palestinians' true goals.

He noted that the bulk of the international community has never recognized Israel's right to the West Bank or east Jerusalem.

Erekat said he did not believe that a Security Council resolution would stop the Palestinians and the Israelis from coming to a later agreement that would slightly modify the border through lands swaps such as those suggested in past negotiations.

What it would do, he said, was give the Palestinians an accomplishment to point to after nearly two decades of a diplomatic process from which they feel they have received nothing.

"I do not have anything now. The Israelis are still the authority," he said, adding that Israel continued building settlements and demolishing homes in east Jerusalem.

"Unfortunately we have an Israeli government that refuses to resume where we left off [with prime minister Ehud Olmert]," Erekat said.

"What should we do while the Israeli government is busy with fait accompli actions" but to turn to the Security Council to preserve the option of two states? he asked.

One senior Israeli diplomatic source said it was ironic that the PA, which turned down Olmert's offer just a year ago, was now "nostalgic" for that offer and trying to force the new Israeli government to take it up.

In Cairo on Tuesday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said that this plan was the only way to secure a state for his people.

He spoke with the media after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who urged him not to make good on the threat he had issued earlier this month to step down after a presidential election he had set for January 24.

But last week, in a move that made it hard for Abbas to quit, election officials postponed the vote indefinitely.

Many senior Israeli officials are still taking Abbas's resignation threat very seriously, convinced that Israel would be worse off without him.

Some are urging the government to take a strategic decision to bolster Abbas such as further easing movement in the West Bank, cutting in half the number of IDF raids into areas under PA control and placing more areas of the West Bank under the control of Palestinian security forces.

PA forces are deemed to be operating effectively.

A few have even urged the government to consider increasing the flow of goods into Gaza, which has been restricted solely to humanitarian aid since Hamas violently took over the area in 2007.

Proponents of easing Israel's blockade of the Gaza crossings have argued that this would reduce the reliance on goods smuggled into the area through Hamas-controlled tunnels from Sinai, thereby increasing support for Abbas.

American officials are also anxious for Israel to bolster Abbas. They believe that the economic and security progress the Palestinians attributed to measures instituted by Prime Minister Salaam Fayad would be lost, unless palpable momentum is achieved and conditions are created under which peace talks can take place.

Netanyahu on Sunday night, in an address at the Saban Forum, called on the Palestinian leadership to take "courageous" steps for peace, and said that once talks are resumed, "we can surprise the world."

But he warned the Palestinians that unilateral steps on their part would be met by similar measures on Israel's side.

AP contributed to this report.

Israelische Arabieren in Galilea wantrouwig, pessimistisch en vervreemd

De onderliggende problemen zijn enerzijds de weigering van veel Arabische leiders om (hun gemeenschap te laten) integreren in de Israelische maatschappij. Pogingen daartoe vanuit Israel worden met wantrouwen bejegend. Deze weigering heeft alles te maken met het feit dat men niet accepteert in een Joodse staat te leven en deze weigert te erkennen. Veel leiders sympathiseren sterk met de Palestijnen en spreken soms ronduit opruiende taal over Israel.

 

Het andere, hiermee samenhangende, probleem is dat Israelische Arabieren achtergesteld zijn, minder kansen hebben en door veel Joodse Israeli's met wantrouwen worden bejegend. De regering moet meer in de 'Arabische sector' investeren en discriminatie actief bestrijden. Zolang veel Arabieren echter zo afwijzend tegenover Israel staan is daarvoor weinig animo, en deze achtergestelde positie voedt op zijn beurt het wantrouwen tegen Israel.

 

RP

------------

JPost  - The Jerusalem Post
Nov 17, 2009 14:36 | Updated Nov 17, 2009 16:10
Study: Galilee Arabs fearful, alienated
By JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027312214&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Results of a year-long study into Jewish-Arab coexistence in the Galilee published on Tuesday indicated that tensions between the communities are running high.

Over the last year, 40 high ranking Jewish and Arab Israeli officials in the Galilee, including heads of local authorities, were asked about their perception of coexistence in the region.

One of the those who conducted the survey, Mr. Awada Baker, told Army Radio that the picture painted by the results of the study was dire and quite a distance from true coexistence. According to Baker, "feelings of pessimism, alienation, suspicion, fear, and a lack of trust between the different communities," were clearly identified.

Baker called on the government to intervene quickly.

"If meaningful changes are not implemented by the government with regards to the Arab population, the writing is on the wall," he warned.

Another charged issue is that of a mixed Jewish-Arab community currently being established in the Galilee. According to the study, the Arabs perceive this community as another "settlement", whereas Jews see the mixed community as undermining a Jewish presence in the Galilee.

However, the study did have some positive findings. Arabs and Jews in the Galilee reportedly support cooperation in the fields of education, business development and environment.

Joden hebben Arafat vergiftigd volgens Palestijnse kinderen

Dit is het gevolg van het met EU geld gefinancierde 'vredesonderwijs' van de Palestijnse Autoriteit.

A televised memorial ceremony for Yasser Arafat included a video clip of Palestinian children delivering messages in honor of Arafat. It is noteworthy that even though this clip was prerecorded and edited, the organizers of the PA's official ceremony chose to include hate speech and libels that demonized Jews and glorified violence and Martyrdom.

Zie hieronder voor citaten van de kinderen.

 

RP

-------------

Bulletin - Nov. 17, 2009

Palestinian Media Watch
Click here to view on PMW's new web site:
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1429

 

Kids' hate speech against Jews
included in PA Arafat memorial
by  Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik



"The Jews poisoned him [Arafat] and I hate them very much.
Allah will repay them what they deserve."
[Video of Palestinian girl shown at Arafat memorial,
PATV (Fatah), Nov. 10, 2009]


A televised memorial ceremony for Yasser Arafat included a video clip of Palestinian children delivering messages in honor of Arafat. It is noteworthy that even though this clip was prerecorded and edited, the organizers of the PA's official ceremony chose to include hate speech and libels that demonized Jews and glorified violence and Martyrdom.

Several of the chosen messages featured children repeating the ongoing Palestinian Authority libel that Arafat was poisoned by Jews. None of the children spoke about peace; in fact, the opposite was the case. One boy praised Arafat because he was a "fighter" who "did things through [violent] struggle," and who "did not make peace." The Martyrdom (Shahada) ideal was also selected as a message for the ceremony, with one boy quoting Arafat: "They want me dead, they want me prisoner but I say: Martyr, Martyr, Martyr!"

This children's section in the special memorial indicates the PA's success in transmitting to the next generation of Palestinian children hate libels that demonize Jews. Including these hate messages in the ceremony also shows that the PA approves of, and wants to publicize, the values of hatred, violence and Martyrdom that the children have adopted.

To view the children's hate speech included in the Arafat memorial, click here:

http://palwatch.org/pages/demon_videos.aspx?fld_id=22&doc_id=1430

The following is the transcript of excerpts of the children's messages:

Ceremony host: "Blessings to Yasser Arafat, and here are messages from the children of Palestine."
Boy: "I was very, very sad when Arafat died as a Shahid (Martyr), because he was a good man and he was a fighter. He did things through struggle, he participated in the struggle and did not make peace and so on. He wanted to fight."
Boy 2: "Yasser Arafat was a very, very important president. He stood up to all the enemies and was not afraid of anyone. And anyone who approached - he managed to stop him. All the Jews and the Israelis and the people who are against us, were afraid of him. When he died, he died of poisoning."
Girl wearing pendant in the shape of Israel: "I say that he died from poisoning by the Jews. That's what I say."
Boy 3: "Arafat used to say: "They want me dead, they want me prisoner, but I say to them: Martyr! Martyr! Martyr!"
Girl 2: "He [Arafat] was our former president. He was under siege in Ramallah, and when he was under siege we were very upset. The Jews poisoned him and I hate them very much. Allah will repay them what they deserve."
Boy 4: "He [Arafat] died from poisoning by the Jews. Well, I don't know what he died from, but I know it was by the Jews."
Boy 5: "They destroyed his whole house and he was left in one room and in the end the Jews poisoned him and blamed someone else."

[PATV (Fatah), Nov. 10, 2009]


To see PMW's recent bulletin on the repeated PA libel that Israel was responsible for Arafat's death, click here:

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1261

The official memorial ceremony for Yasser Arafat was held at the Ramallah Cultural Palace on Nov. 10, 2009, the fifth anniversary of his death, and broadcast live on PATV. Speakers included Salaam Fayyad (PA Prime Minister) and Nasser Al-Qidwa (Chairman of Board of Directors, Institute for Commemoration of Arafat, and former PA Foreign Minister).
Several senior PA, Fatah and PLO personnel attended, including Al-Tayeb Abd-Al-Rahim (Secretary General of the PA Presidency), Tayseer Al-Tamimi (PA Chief Justice of religious court and Chairman of Supreme Council of Islamic Law), and Fatah Central Committee members Muhammad Dahlan, Sultan Abu-Einin and Nabil Shaath.

===========
PMW
p:+972 2 625 4140     e: pmw@palwatch.org
f: +972 2 624 2803     w: www.palwatch.org 
PMW | King George 59 | Jerusalem | Israel

 

Zwitserland, Zweden, Denemarken en Nederland steunen anti-Israel strijd via NGO's

 

Nederland subsidieert samen met andere EU landen radikale anti-Israel organisaties in de Palestijnse gebieden. Daarnaast subsidieert Nederland via ontwikkelingsorganisaties waaronder Oxfam-Novib, ook de Palestijnse strijd in Nederland, zoals Een Ander Joods Geluid en Stop de Bezetting.,

Het wordt tijd dat hier eens het mes in wordt gezet, en geld voor ontwikkelingshulp ook naar ontwikkelingshulp (en bewustwording daarover) gaat, en niet naar het zwartmaken van Israel.

 

Zie ook: Strijd tegen Israel gevochten met Nederlandse subsidie

RP
----------

November 16, 2009
NGO Monitor
Promoting Accountability in the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Promoting Israel's Isolation:

Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands funding for NDC and NGOs

 

The NGO Development Center (NDC - Ramallah) has distributed $6 million to 25 NGOs on behalf of the governments of Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark. The NGO grantees include some of the most radical groups operating in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

 

NGO Monitor's analysis includes:

 

* Many recipients employ "apartheid" rhetoric: Al Mezan, Al Haq, Arab Thought Forum, Badil, ICAHD, Jerusalem Center for Women, JLAC, WATC, and Women for Life.

 

* NDC provides funds to PCHR, Al Haq, Al Mezan, Al-Dameer, Musawa, and WAC, which promote "war crimes" cases and lawfare against Israeli officials.

 

* Eleven grantees are signatories to the Palestinian boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign: Addameer, Al Dameer, Arab Thought Forum, Al Mezan, DCI-PS, JCW, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, PWWSD, Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies, WCLAC, WATC.

 

* Only 6 of the 25 groups focus on the "priority" issues of "gender equality and rights of women." Most link their work on women's rights with anti-Israel activism.

 

* NDC "facilitated" and funded the "Palestinian NGO Code of Conduct" which demands that Palestinian groups reject "any normalization activities with the occupier."

 

* NDC support is often in addition to other funding from the four governments to the same organizations.

 

Click here to read the full report

============ 

NGO Monitor
1 Ben Maimon Blvd.
Jerusalem, 92262 Israel
mail@ngo.monitor.org
www.ngo-monitor.org

Oxfam: kwart miljoen euro voor Nederlandse tak anti-Israël-lobby

 

Zie ook: United Civilians for Peace en Strijd tegen Israel gevochten met Nederlandse subsidie (2)

 

Het is een schande dat ontwikkelingsgeld op deze manier wordt misbruikt. Het is misschien een nog grotere schande dat ondanks herhaalde berichten hierover de regering er niks aan doet. Zo neemt het draagvlak voor ontwikkelingshulp af, terwijl die nuttig en noodzakelijk is.

 

RP

----------

 

 

http://www.dagelijksestandaard.nl/2009/11/17/oxfam-kwart-miljoen-euro-voor-nederlandse-tak-anti-israel-lobby/

Oxfam: kwart miljoen euro voor Nederlandse tak anti-Israël-lobby

Nov 17th 2009

Bjorn Frontpage

U moet het zich ook wel eens afgevraagd hebben: hoe komen die boze Arafatsjaaltjes toch aan het geld om de onophoudelijke stroom van 'debatten', demonstraties, websites, folders en wat dies meer zij te financieren? Stoppen de  Saoedies ze zo nu en dan wat zakgeld toe? De Iranezen anders? Betalen de boze jongens en meisjes het zelf (ha! as if..)? Nee, niets van dit alles. U, de belastingbetaler betaalt voor al dit moois!

Geld dat bedoeld is voor armoedebestrijding gaat, via Oxfam Novib (509 miljoen euro subsidie deze kabinetsperiode), na wat met potjes geschoven te hebben, naar allerlei anti-Israël-propaganda in Nederland. Formeel heeft Oxfam uiteraard tot doel om armoede te bestrijden, maar in de praktijk heeft het een politieke agenda waar de meeste Nederlanders geen weet van hebben. Wanneer men moet kiezen tussen het inenten van 100.000 Afrikaanse kinderen tegen de mazelen of het vervelen van Nederlanders met gekleurde (non-)informatie maakt men een zuiver politieke keuze. Naast de inmiddels bij de vaste DDS-lezer bekende anti-'racisme' agenda, heeft men namelijk ook een anti-Israël agenda. Bovendien heeft men een socialistische, politiek-islamitische en een imperialistische agenda, maar daarover wellicht een andere keer meer.

• Op 21 mei 2008 gingen de zelfbenoemd Ariër Andries van Agt (die overigens plaats heeft in een dekmantelorganisatie van de Internationale Socialisten: Stichting Stop de Bezetting) en de schrijver van het boek 'The Holocaust Industry' Norman Finkelstein met elkaar in 'debat'. Een 'debat' tussen twee gelijkgestemden, twee 'Israël-criticasters' (om het eens vriendelijk te verwoorden). Zo ziet Oxfam het graag: ze belonen het met 1.035 euro. De Internationale Socialisten (IS) zien dit zo ook graag, en zo mocht Finkelstein ook, op kosten van de Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA), met de grote vriendin van Hamas Miriyam Aouragh (lid van de Round Table van Oxfam) in 'debat'. De Internationale Socialisten worden overigens door Paul Aarts keurig bedankt (@00:30) voor het binnenhalen van Finkelstein. De UvA – of op zijn minst Aarts (bestuurslid Nederlands Instituut Palestina/Israël (NIPI) en present in het vriendenboekje van René Danen c.s.) – is sowieso goed bevriend met de IS, zoals ook blijkt uit de anti-Wilders bijeenkomst die in de UvA georganiseerd mocht worden door de IS. Voor de mensen die onbekend zijn met het IS-clubje: zie het dossier van Carel Brendel of, voor een zeer beknopte samenvatting, deze afbeelding (alleen op werkelijke grootte leesbaar). Aarts was overigens ook één van de vier 'wetenschappers' die Ramadan naar de UvA wilden halen.
• We blijven nog even bij Aarts en zijn NIPI. Deze club heeft namelijk vaker subsidies van Oxfam mogen ontvangen. Zo kreeg men 8.500 euro om de door het ontbreken van de 'de Palestijnse visie' 'eenzijdige' beeldvorming te herstellen. Dat lang niet iedereen de beeldvorming eenzijdig vindt, althans niet eenzijdig in het nadeel van de Palestijnen, vond Oxfam kennelijk niet zo relevant. Althans, een subsidie aan bijvoorbeeld de Israel Facts Monitorgroup heb ik niet kunnen ontdekken.
• Naar het Nederlands Palestina Komitee (NPK) ging 21.319 euro. Doel van de subsidie was om alle activiteiten van het NPK te financieren: de demonstraties, de folders, het lobbywerk, zelfs de website werd door Oxfam betaald. Eerder kreeg deze club al 11.280 euro om 'empathie' onder de Nederlandse bevolking te krijgen voor de Palestijnen. Overigens kreeg deze club ook nog eens 5.000 euro toegestopt door Cordaid (437.059.720 subsidie deze kabinetsperiode) om meer aandacht voor 'de langste bezetting ter wereld' te vragen.
• Dan Een Ander Joods Geluid (EAJG), Carel Brendel besteedde hier eerder al aandacht aan. EAJG heeft in 2008 50.000 euro mogen ontvangen, nadat men eerder dat jaar al 10.000 euro had gecasht. Zestigduizend euro bedoeld voor de EAJG-propaganda – leest u zelf de 'project'omschrijvingen maar.
• Aan FAST en Stichting De Balie, werd 25.000 euro besteed om 'zichtbaar [te] maken hoe ruimtelijke ordening gebruikt wordt als politiek instrument in Israël', want dat leidt tot 'apartheid'.
• Enzovoorts. Ja, de lijst kan nog veel langer worden. Onder andere de eerder op dit weblog al gemelde subsidies ter hoogte van 15.000 euro voor Gretta's Stop de Bezetting en 10.000 euro voor Stop de Oorlog. Het altijd objectieve UCP kreeg in 2008 120.000 euro (zie Jaarverslag 2008) voor Nederlandse activiteiten onder het kopje 'conflictpreventie'. Een deel van de inkomsten van UCP gaat overigens direct door naar Stop de Bezetting (dat wordt voorgezeten door de antisemiet Gretta Duisenberg). UCP kreeg in alle voorgaande jaren ook al geld van Oxfam, maar toen werd de exacte grootte van het subsidiebedrag nooit gespecificeerd.

In totaal ging dus minstens 272.134 euro van Oxfam naar de Nederlandse afdeling van de anti-Israël-industrie (dit bedrag is een absoluut minimum, Oxfam is alles behalve transparant over de wijze waarop ze hun geld besteden, het werkelijke bedrag is waarschijnlijk eerder een veelvoud van het hier vermelde bedrag). Al deze bestedingen hebben, los van het waardeoordeel over de gesubsideerde organisaties, niets van doen met armoedebestrijding. Terwijl Oxfam deze anti-Israël-industrie financiert, sterven er per jaar 197.000 kinderen aan mazelen, dat zijn bijna 540 doden per dag, 22 per uur. Een prikje tegen dit virus kost slechts 2 euro en 65 eurocent. Voor het bedrag dat Oxfam aan de anti-Israël-industrie besteedde, hadden meer dan 100.000 Afrikaanse kinderen ingeënt kunnen worden. Maar ja, keuzes…

Kritiek op Israelische historicus die bestaan van een Joods volk ontkent

 

De omstreden Israelische historicus Shlomo Sand zei vorige week tegen de BBC:

 

"I'm not a Zionist. I don't define myself as an anti-Zionist... but I'm not a Zionist... I don't put into question the existence of Israel," he said. "I compare when I am speaking before Arab students the birth of the Israeli state to an act of rape. But even the son that was born of the act of rape... you have to recognize him... the existence of Israel I don't put in question today, you understand me?"

 

Veel antizionisten zeggen dat ze geen antizionist zijn, net als veel racisten en antisemieten ook niet toegeven dat ze racist of antisemiet zijn. Blijkbaar heeft men toch het idee dat er iets mis is met antizionisme. Wat het artikel hieronder zegt over gebrek aan context en een tegenstem bij de boekpresentaties van Sand in Engeland, is maar al te herkenbaar. Vorige week had de Volkskrant een artikel ever hem waar nergens stond dat zijn ideeën omstreden zijn, dat hij een communist is (het communisme heeft een traditie van antizionisme) en tot een kleine minderheid behoort, dat veel historici met tegenbewijzen zijn gekomen etc. Het is sowieso opmerkelijk dat dit soort mensen, die de fundamenten van de staat Israel ter discussie stellen, in Europa zo populair zijn en zoveel aandacht krijgen in de media. Hetzelfde geldt bijvoorbeeld voor Ilan Pappe, ook een communist. Goede en veel betrouwbaardere Israelische historici die niet zo tegen de staat trappen zijn hier volkomen onbekend. Vreemd, nietwaar?

 

RP

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TAU historian accused of anti-Semitism
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027296653&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
By JONNY PAUL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
London

 

An Israeli academic has been accused of contributing to anti-Semitic discourse and incidents following his book tour in London promoting the thesis that Jews never existed as a people and the Palestinian Arabs are the true heirs of the biblical Jews.

Shlomo Sand, a professor of history at Tel Aviv University, spoke at a number of events in London last week to sell his book The Invention of the Jewish People, in which he writes that the Israelites were never exiled from the Promised Land and therefore have no right to return.

 

Jewish community figures questioned Sand's work and noted that no opposing view or contextualization was offered at his events.

 

"Sand's agenda is to sever the historic link between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel," said Jonathan Hoffman, co-chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. "To promote that agenda his book ignores archeological and genetic evidence. At none of his three London appearances was there a historian or Jewish history expert on the platform to counter his distortions, evasions and sensationalism. The result will contribute to anti-Semitic discourse and incidents in the UK, already at a record level."

 

A guest on BBC Radio Four last week, Sand told presenter Andrew Marr that he compares Israel's birth to "rape".

 

"I'm not a Zionist. I don't define myself as an anti-Zionist... but I'm not a Zionist... I don't put into question the existence of Israel," he said. "I compare when I am speaking before Arab students the birth of the Israeli state to an act of rape. But even the son that was born of the act of rape... you have to recognize him... the existence of Israel I don't put in question today, you understand me?"

 

"Sand's book represents another step towards the mainstream for replacement ideologies," said Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. "Our history of exile and ghettoization has meant that the Jewish people are remarkably cohesive, genetically, culturally and religiously, and through the centuries the countries in which we have lived have had no compunction in designating us as Jews. It is Sand's theory that is the upstart, rootless and incredible, not the history and collective memory of the Jewish people and our connection to Israel."

 

The Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, also questioned how there was no dissenting voice at any of Sand's appearances.
"The book was featured without dissent on BBC Radio on November 9, the 61st anniversary of Kristallnacht," said Mark Gardiner, the Community Security Trust's director of communications.

 

Gardiner said there had also been no contextualization during the appearances. Evident, he said, when presenter Andrew Marr summarized the book on the BBC radio show with Sand saying: "There was a kind of [Zionist] master plan to present the history of the Jewish people in Europe which emerged in the 19th century and the modern world has rather swallowed whole... [The book says] actually the history of the Jewish people is not as you thought... The Old Testament is very, very inaccurate... Most of the story of the Jews as presented in the history of the Old Testament is fictitious, you think..."

 

Gardiner added: "There are many ways, often subtle, in which anti-Israel or anti-Zionist debate can have an anti-Jewish impact. However, a new anti-Zionist book by Tel Aviv University Prof. Shlomo Sand remolds the paradigm: with notions of Jewish peoplehood now under attack in the service of anti-Zionism.

 

"The sense of common lineage, kinship and peoplehood that Jews around the world share and hold is a fundamental part of their identity, as perversely demonstrated by the splenetic accusations of 'self-hater' that are hurled by some Jews at others who do not toe the majority line. To deny this aspect of Jewish identity - perhaps more accurately to demand that for political reasons it be rejected - is surely to deny or reject something that is essential to our perception of Jewishness itself."

 

Gardiner said there was nothing wrong with genuine historical inquiry about Jews or any other facet of history.

 

"However, that is neither the core purpose, nor the core impact of Sand's book. It can be summed up very simply as: No real Jews = no need for a really Jewish state.

 

"To add insult to injury, not only are Sand's conclusions extremely questionable, but even his claims to originality are significantly overblown. For example, there is nothing new in his claim that the Old Testament is neither a revealed text, nor historically perfect. Indeed, there are entire synagogue movements that are ideologically premised upon those very doubts. Similarly, there has been much debate and study about the Khazar kingdom and Jewish lineage: in both Jewish studies departments and the more deluded end of the far-Right spectrum," Gardiner said.

 

Sand's book also received a critical review in the Financial Times on Friday.