maandag 13 juli 2009

Een land zonder volk voor een volk zonder land

 
Zeer vermoeiend is het hoe de Meulenbelts en Van Agts van deze wereld steeds weer met frasen komen aanzetten als dat de Zionisten dachten dat Palestina onbewoond was. "Een land zonder volk voor een volk zonder land" hoor je dan ook hoogst zelden in Zionistische kring maar des te vaker als sarcastische kritiek uit antizionistische hoek. Voor zover er zionisten waren die echt dachten dat het toenmalige Palestina onbewoond was, kwamen die er natuurlijk snel genoeg achter dat dat niet het geval was.
 
Dat neemt niet weg dat:
a) de toenmalige landstreek Palestina met pakweg een half miljoen inwoners relatief dun bevolkt was.
b) evenals de beruchte uitspraak van Golda Meir "Er zijn geen Palestijnen", waarschijnlijk niet bedoeld werd dat er geen mensen woonden, maar dat die mensen geen eigen natie vormden met de ambitie om in Palestina een eigen staat te stichten. De Arabische Palestijnen als volk hebben zich dan ook pas in de loop van de 20ste eeuw ontwikkeld, ironisch genoeg vooral als reactie - deels zelfs bewust - op de Zionistische immigratie en de oprichting van Israel.
 
Wouter
_________________
 

Where did this phrase come from?

De Joodse Nakba en de Palestijnse verzoening

 
Prof. Ada Aharoni is a Peace Culture Researcher, writer, poet and lecturer. She is the Founder and President of IFLAC: The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace. Ada lives in Nesher, Israel.
 
Ada is een vredesactiviste. Zij werd met tienduizenden andere Joden uit Egypte verdreven en woont nu in Israel, waar ze een nieuw thuis heeft gevonden. Het verhaal van de Joodse vluchtelingen uit Arabische landen kan bijdragen aan vrede en verzoening, betoogt ze, omdat het de Palestijnen laat zien dat zij niet de enige slachtoffers zijn van het conflict. Ook laten zij zien, om met Tom Petty te spreken: "You don't have to live like a refugee!" Er is leven na de vlucht; je kunt opnieuw beginnen en een beter bestaan opbouwen, tenminste, als je daarvoor de kans krijgt en die kans ook grijpt, en vooruit kijkt en niet terug naar een geidealiseerd verleden dat er niet meer is.

Wouter
____________________


Ynetnews / July 10, 2009
What about Jewish Nakba?
Publicizing story of Jewish refugees could facilitate genuine peace process
 
by Ada Aharoni
Published: 07.10.09, 00:02 / Israel Opinion
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3743829,00.html

 
One of the main causes of the modern wave of anti-Semitism currently sweeping through Europe is the Palestinian propaganda campaign, which created an anti-Jewish climate. In order to counter this basic element, we must present the truth about the expulsion of the Jews from Arab states.

The world only heard about the injustice causes to the Palestinian refugees, but there is almost nothing out there about the disaster suffered by the Jews expelled from Arab states, and especially from Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. A comparison between the events reveals that while the number of Palestinian refugees in 1948 totaled 650,000 people, the number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries was higher, and stood at 900,000 people (according to UNWRA.)

The property which the Jews were forced to leave behind in Arab states – both private and communal assets – was of much greater value than what the Palestinians left behind in Israel, as documented by the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

In fact, the Jews suffered "ethnic cleansing" in Arab states. Only a few Jews live there today. Egypt's Jewish community, for example, comprised 90,000 Jews in 1948. Today, only 38 Jews live there. On the other hand, the Arabs (who prefer to call themselves Palestinians) who live in Israel today constitute 20% of the population.

Explaining these facts would be very beneficial and allow for change, shifting from prejudice to fairness, justice, and truth. Once the Palestinians realize they were not the only ones who suffered, their sense of victimization and rejectionism will decline. Moreover, if the Jews from Arab states, who along with their descendents constitute almost half of Israel's population today, will see that their history and their "Nakba" is being considered an integral part of the Arab-Israeli conflict, they may be willing to offer concessions for genuine peace.

Matter of dignity
During a course I taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the head of the Palestinian student group, Fouad, said with amazement: We're surprised that you, the Jews, who are known as smart people, did not publicize this important historical affair - the Nakba of Jews in Arab states. Why do you leave it tucked away in your drawers for 60 years?

I asked him: Why do you want Israel to publicize it? And He replied: Because the Nakba narrative of Jews in Arab states salvages my dignity and that of my people! It makes us realize we are not the only ones who suffered in the conflict. Familiarity with the historical facts allows us to hold up our heads and opens up reconciliation opportunities.

Fouad added: For us, reconciliation means erasing all the hatred and ill feelings. Yet the condition for it is that the side that did the harm pay the aggrieved side for the reconciliation. The research in this course taught us that Jews from Arab states today comprise about half the Jewish people in Israel. We didn't know that. So Israel already paid for the reconciliation, with half its population losing all its property in Arab states. People were forced to leave the countries they were born in, just like us Palestinians, and they too spread worldwide. It is so clear to us now that we are not the only refugees who suffered from this tragic conflict.

Fouad noted that should the Israeli government present this issue properly, both peoples would be able to advance towards a process of real peace. We, the Palestinians, will feel that our dignity has been salvaged, and as you know dignity is the most important thing for us, he said. I was thinking to myself: My students were able to understand what all Israeli governments have failed to grasp thus far.
 
---
Prof. Ada Aharoni is the chairman of The World Congress of the Jews from Egypt

EU wil deadline stellen voor Palestijnse staat

 
De EU lijkt zich steeds eenzijdiger uit te laten over het Israelisch-Palestijnse conflict. Zo'n deadline versterkt het idee bij de Palestijnen dat zij helemaal niks hoeven te doen, en Israel gedwongen zal worden om hun een staat te geven. Ook is de premisse verkeerd dat het alleen Israel valt te verwijten dat er nog geen Palestijnse staat is.
 
RP
---------------

Israel blasts 'dangerous' EU call for deadline on Palestinian state
By Barak Ravid and Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondents, and Reuters
Last update - 23:23 12/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1099550.html

 
The Foreign Ministry on Sunday dismissed a call by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, for the United Nations to set a deadline for the establishment of a Palestinian state as "dangerous."

"Resolutions 242 and 338 of the United Nations, the roadmap [peace plan] and agreements between Israel and the Palestinians all cautiously determine that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be reached through negotiations by the sides," the ministry said in a statement.

Speaking Saturday at a lecture in London, Solana said the UN Security Council should recognize a Palestinian state even if no peace accord had been reached between Israel and the Palestinians by the deadline.

The Foreign Ministry added: "Israel has called more than once for the immediate renewal of the talks without preconditions.

"Another demand setting an artificial deadline endangers and harms the chances of actually reaching a bilateral agreement between Israel and the Palestinians."

The Palestinians have said they will not revive peace talks unless there is a halt to Israel's settlement activities in the West Bank.

Solana said on Saturday that, "After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution." He added that this should include border parameters, refugees, control over the city of Jerusalem and security arrangements.

"It would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation. It would mandate the resolution of other remaining territorial disputes and legitimize the end of claims," Solana went on.

Advocating a return to Israel's borders before the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Syria and Jordan in which it took the West Bank and other territories, Solana said mediators should set a timetable for a peace agreement.

"If the parties are not able to stick to it [the timetable], then a solution backed by the international community should be put on the table," he said.

Solana also praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "for finally generating an Israeli consensus" on a two-state solution.

The EU, along with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, is part of the Quartet of Middle East Negotiators.

Abbas weigert Netanjahoe te ontmoeten


Terwijl Netanjahoe al meermaals heeft gezegd Abbas te willen ontmoeten, blijft deze weigeren en voorwaarden stellen. Toch wordt Netanjahoe, die al de nodige concessies heeft gedaan zoals het opheffen van tientallen checkpoints, als de havik gezien en Abbas, die vast blijft houden aan zaken als de 'terugkeer' van miljoenen nakomelingen van de vluchtelingen, als gematigd. Hoe komt dat?
Dit is het gevolg van een sluwe mediacampagne en het opzetten van allerlei 'spontane' pro-Palestina groeperingen, het standpunt van de VN en mensenrechtenorganisaties die het steevast voor de Palestijnen opnemen, een disastreuze PR van Israel en het feit dat er een diepverankerde overtuiging is dat de Joden, sorry, zionisten zo sluw zijn en zoveel macht hebben achter de schermen. Dit laatste wordt ook wel antisemitisme genoemd maar dat mag je tegenwoordig niet meer zeggen want alom heeft de idee post gevat dat sympathisanten van Israel deze term alleen maar gebruiken om kritiek op Israel verdacht te maken en critici de mond te snoeren.
Zoals uit onderstaand bericht blijkt brengt een en ander de vrede niet dichterbij. Wat meer druk op, en een kritischer houding jegens de Palestijnen, zou wat dat betreft heilzaam zijn.

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

Abbas says he won't meet Netanyahu
KHALED ABU TOAMEH and HAVIV RETTIG GUR , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated on Sunday his refusal to resume peace talks with Israel unless Binyamin Netanyahu's government accepted the two-state solution and agreed to freeze all construction in the settlements in the West Bank.

Abbas's remarks came in response to an appeal from Netanyahu made during the Sunday cabinet meeting in which the Israeli prime minister called for the two leaders to revive the stalled peace process.

Abbas was speaking to reporters in Ramallah after meeting with visiting Romanian President Traian Basescu.

"Israel must recognize the two-state solution and stop all settlement activities in order to resume peace talks over final status issues," Abbas said. "The final status issues are settlements, Jerusalem, borders, refugees, water, security and prisoners."

Abbas said that both the Palestinians and the Israelis were required to fulfill their obligations in accordance with the road map plan for peace in the Middle East.

"We care very much about the peace process," he added. "We are demanding that Israel fulfill its commitments under the terms of the road map, first and foremost recognizing the two-state solution and halting settlement construction." He said that only then would the way be paved for the resumption of the negotiations with Israel over the final status issues.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the PA would not make any compromises regarding settlements.

"There can be no half-solutions with regards to the settlements, including so-called natural growth there," he said, referring to unconfirmed reports that the US and Israel have reached agreement on building new homes in some of the settlements.

Erekat said that the continued construction in the settlements would sabotage the international community's efforts to persuade the Palestinians and Israelis to resume peace talks in the near future.

He said that Abbas sent a message to the US administration over the weekend reiterating his stance on the settlements and making clear that the Palestinians would not compromise regarding this issue.

"If the US administration can't force Israel to stop the settlements, how will it force Israel to abide by any agreement regarding final status issues such as Jerusalem, borders, refugees, water, security and settlements?"

The cabinet meeting was held in Beersheba Sunday, just over 30 years after the May 1979 meeting of former prime minister Menachem Begin and former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

"Let's make peace, both diplomatic and economic," Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, which was also meant as an act of solidarity with the Negev city.

"There is no reason why we can't meet anywhere in Israel," he said of himself and Abbas, "and since we are in Beersheba, I say, let's meet here."

Netanyahu stressed the Palestinians' "basic right to live in peace, security and prosperity," and said the government had "made great efforts in recent weeks to ease their lives. We've removed many roadblocks; we decided to increase the operating hours of the Allenby Bridge for more goods; and I've decided to advance a series of projects with the Palestinians to promote peace. But all these efforts can only bring us to a certain point, and the results will be multiplied a dozen-fold if there is cooperation from the other side."

The prime minister called "on the leaders of the Palestinians and the Arab states: Let's meet and cooperate. We can bring many players on board."

Later in the day, at a ceremony on Mount Herzl marking 105 years since the death of the founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, Netanyahu insisted the Palestinians "must abandon their demand to settle the descendents of Palestinian refugees in Israel and gradually 'eat away' at the State of Israel after a peace agreement is signed."

The Palestinian Authority leadership has refused to relinquish this demand while successive Israeli governments have rejected it outright.

At the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also announced the resumption of planning work for construction of an Eilat-Beersheba train line that would connect Israel's southernmost city to the country's center, thereby creating a rail link between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. He said the line would be a "trade route between Asia and Europe and will open the entire South for [Israeli] travelers."

Ministers used the meeting to discuss infrastructure projects in Beersheba and the South.

 
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.
 

Fatah's doel blijft de bevrijding van heel Palestina

 
Terwijl de kranten maar blijven schrijven over de bouw in de nederzettingen, en de EU Israel maar blijft veroordelen alsof er niet twee partijen zijn in dit conflict, gaat Fatah rustig door met het opeisen van geheel 'historisch Palestina'. In de zekerheid dat Europese politici en journalisten het toch niet zullen opmerken omdat alle aandacht naar de nederzettingen gaat, kan Fatah zeggen wat het wil, zonder dat het haar imago als 'gematigd' en 'vredelievend' ook maar enigzins zal aantasten.
 
"It doesn't mean that we don't want the 1948 borders [all of Israel]...but our current political program is to say that we want the 1967 borders." [PA TV, Aug. 25 2008].
 
"It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."  
 
"I want to say for the thousandth time, in my own name and in the name of all of my fellow members of the Fatah movement: We do not demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand of the Hamas movement not to recognize Israel, because the Fatah movement does not recognize Israel, even today."
 
RP
----------------
 
Palestinian Media Watch
Fatah official: "Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

 

The PA will resume violence and terror against Israel when Fatah is "capable," and "according to what seems right," Fatah activist Kifah Radaydeh says in a PA TV interview. She states openly that peace is not a goal for Fatah: 

"It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."  

Radaydeh says that "armed struggle" has not been ruled out and will continue, depending on how "capable" the PA forces are. 
 
Click here to see the PATV interview with Fatah official, Kifah Radaydeh
 
Transcript:

"Fatah is facing a challenge, because [Fatah] says that we perceive peace as one of the strategies, but we say that all forms of the struggle exist, and we do not rule out the possibility of the armed struggle or any other struggle. The struggle exists in all its forms, on the basis of what we are capable of at a given time, and according to what seems right...
What exactly do we want? It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; and the goal is Palestine. I do not negotiate in order to achieve peace. I negotiate for Palestine, in order to achieve a state." 
[PA TV July 7, 2009] 

It should be noted that when Fatah refers to "Palestine", it is routinely referring to all of Israel.

Some examples:
 
1. The Fatah flag still shows the map of Israel under rifles. The same symbol appears on the Fatah website (
http://www.fateh.ps) and other official Fatah publications.
  
2. Fatah MP Najat Abu-Bakr said in a PA TV interview last year that Fatah's goal remains the destruction of Israel, but that their political plan is to focus on the West Bank and Gaza Strip: 

 "It doesn't mean that we don't want the 1948 borders [all of Israel]...but our current political program is to say that we want the 1967 borders." [PA TV, Aug. 25 2008]. Click to view
 
3. A PA TV educational documentary broadcast monthly since 2007 includes the following words denying the existence of Israel:
"Another section in Palestine which is the Palestinian coast that spreads along the [Mediterranean] sea, from... Ashkelon in the south, until Haifa, in the Carmel Mountains. Haifa is a well-known Palestinian port. [Haifa] enjoyed a high status among Arabs and Palestinians especially before it fell to the 'occupation' [Israel] in 1948. To its north, we find Acre. East of Acre, we reach a city with history and importance, the city of Tiberias, near a famous lake, the lake of Tiberias [Kinneret- Sea of Galilee]. Jaffa, an ancient coastal city, is the bride of the sea, and Palestine's gateway to the world." [PA TV, August 2007-June 7, 2009, dozens of times] Click to view
4. Muhammad Dahlan, senior PA official, recently stressed that Fatah adamantly refuses to recognize Israel, and that even Palestinian Authority recognition is to have better standing internationally in order to receive foreign aid: 
"I want to say for the thousandth time, in my own name and in the name of all of my fellow members of the Fatah movement: We do not demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand of the Hamas movement not to recognize Israel, because the Fatah movement does not recognize Israel, even today... It's required of the government but not of Hamas; it's required of the government but not of the Fatah, so that this government will be able to offer the necessary assistance, to carry out the necessary reconstruction, to offer assistance to the sick, to bring relief to needy families... This can be dealt with [only] by a government that has relations with the international community, one that is acceptable to the international community, in order that we can work together and benefit from the international community."  [PA TV March 17, 2009]
Click to view

Israel een Joodse staat - en al die andere staten dan?


Israels eis als een Joodse staat erkend te worden, wordt veelal bestempeld als racistisch omdat 20% van de Israeli's Arabisch is en het de Joodse bevolking voor zou trekken. Ook zou het niet van deze tijd zijn om een staat voor een religie te oormerken. Echter, de meeste landen in het Midden-Oosten noemen zichzelf expliciet Arabisch en islamitisch. Uiteraard wordt met 'Joodse staat' bedoeld een staat waar het Joodse volk zelfbeschikking heeft, ofwel een nationaal thuis voor het Joodse volk, en hoeft dat net zo min ten koste van minderheden te gaan als dat geldt voor iedere nationale staat waar een bepaalde bevolkingsgroep dominant is. Er is bovendien alle reden voor Israel dit expliciet erkend te willen hebben, want een van de oorzaken van het Midden-Oosten conflict is de Arabische weigering Israel te erkennen en er een compromis mee te sluiten. Ook voor haar stichting weigerden de Arabieren in Palestina ieder compromis met de Joodse gemeenschap, en ook tegenwoordig beschouwen zowel Hamas als Fatah het hele gebied van de Jordaan tot de zee als bezet Palestina (zie filmpje op YouTube). Dit is, misschien nog meer dan de nederzettingen, een van de grootste obstakels tot vrede.
 
RP
----------------

Friday, July 10, 2009
Religion and National Issues in the constitutions of Arab and European states
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/07/religion-and-national-issues-in.html
 
 
The Palestinians and Arab states, including and especially Egypt, have bitterly opposed Israel's requirement that peace must include recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. They insist alternately that a state of the Jewish people would necessarily discriminate against minorities and would be "racist," or pretending that "Jewish State" refers to a religion, they insist that no modern state can be based on religion. A survey of national constitutions in the Arab world and Europe reveals however, that many countries establish a nationality, a religion or both as the basis of their state either explicitly or by implication. In particular, Arab states declare themselves openly to be Arab and Islamic for the most part. In both Egypt and the Palestinian authority Islam is to be the basis of legislation. In Iraq, with an American inspired constitution, "Arab" is omitted in favor of the Kurds and other minorities, but Islam is the religion.
 
Greece is the mother of democracy as everyone knows. The Greek constitution declares:
 
In the name of the Holy and Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity
...
Article 3
1. The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.
 
 
Ami Isseroff
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Constitution of The Arab Republic of Egypt
http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Politics/Constitution/Text/040703000000000001.htm
 
PART ONE: THE STATE

Article 1
The Arab Republic of Egypt is a democratic state based on citizenship. The Egyptian people are part of the Arab nation and work for the realization of its comprehensive unity.

Article 2
Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic its official language. Principles of Islamic law ( Shari'a) are the principal source of legislation.

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

Palestinian Basic Law
http://www.mideastweb.org/basiclaw.htm

Article (1)

Palestine is part of the large Arab World, and the Palestinian People are part of the Arab Nation. Arab Unity is an objective which the Palestinian People shall work to achieve.


Article (4)

1. Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.

2. The principles of Islamic Shari'a shall be the main source of legislation.

3. Arabic shall be the official language.

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

Jordan
http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/const_ch1-3.html#CHAPTER%20ONE
 
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is an independent sovereign Arab State. It is indivisible and inalienable and no part of it may be ceded. The people of Jordan form a part of the Arab Nation, and its system of government is parliamentary with a hereditary monarchy.
 
Article 2: Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official language.

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

Syria
http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sy00000_.html
Chapter 1 Basic Principles

Part 1 Political Principles

Article 1 [Arab Nation, Socialist Republic]

(1) The Syrian Arab Republic is a democratic, popular, socialist, and sovereign state. No part of its territory can be ceded. Syria is a member of the Union of the Arab Republics.
(2) The Syrian Arab region is a part of the Arab homeland.
(3) The people in the Syrian Arab region are a part of the Arab nation. They work and struggle to achieve the Arab nation's comprehensive unity.


Article 3 [Islam]

(1) The religion of the President of the Republic has to be Islam.
(2) Islamic jurisprudence is a main source of legislation.

Article 4 [Language, Capital]
The Arab language is the official language. The capital is Damascus.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iraq
http://www.uniraq.org/documents/iraqi_constitution.pdf
 
Article 2:

First: Islam is the official religion of the State and is a foundation source of legislation:

A. No law may be enacted that contradicts the established provisions of Islam

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

Saudi Arabia
http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sa00000_.html
 
Article 1
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; God's Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God's prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution, Arabic is its language and Riyadh is its capital.

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

France
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8ab.asp#TITLE%20I
 
PREAMBLE

The French people solemnly proclaim their attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789, confirmed and complemented by the Preamble to the Constitution of 1946, and to the rights and duties as defined in the Charter for the Environment of 2004.

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

Morocco
http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/gov/con96.htm
 
PREAMBLE

An Islamic and fully sovereign state whose official language is Arabic, the Kingdom of Morocco constitutes a part of the Great Arab Maghreb.


Article 6: Islam shall be the state religion. The state shall guarantee freedom of worship for all.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ireland
http://www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/constit.htm
 
PREAMBLE
In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred,
We, the people of Éire,

Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial,


Article 1.

The Irish nation hereby affirms its inalienable, indefeasible, and sovereign right to choose its own form of Government, to determine its relations with other nations, and to develop its life, political, economic and cultural, in accordance with its own genius and traditions.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spain
http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sp00000_.html
 
Preamble
The Spanish Nation, desiring to establish justice, liberty, and security, and to promote the well-being of all its members, in the exercise of its sovereignty....
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
In the name of the Holy and Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity

Article 3
1. The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. The Orthodox Church of Greece, acknowledging our Lord Jesus Christ as its head, is inseparably united in doctrine with the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople and with every other Church of Christ of the same doctrine, observing unwaveringly, as they do, the holy apostolic and syn- odal canons and sacred traditions. It is autocephalous and is administered by the Holy Synod of serving Bishops and the Permanent Holy Synod originating thereof and assembled as specified by the Statutory Charter of the Church in compliance with the provisions of the Patriarchal Tome of June 29, 1850 and the Synodal Act of September 4, 1928.
2. The ecclesiastical regime existing in certain districts of the State shall not be deemed contrary to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
3. The text of the Holy Scripture shall be maintained unaltered. Official translation of the text into any other form of language, without prior sanction by the Autocephalous Church of Greece and the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople, is prohibited.
 
=============================
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors. Originally posted at
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/07/religion-and-national-issues-in.html. Please do link to these articles, quote from them and forward them by email to friends with this notice. Other uses require written permission of the author.
 
 

zondag 12 juli 2009

Amnesty Internatonal partijdig in rapport Gaza Oorlog

 
Ik lees zelden rapporten, dus ik weet niet hoe Amnesty International gewoon is zijn rapporten op te stellen, maar "Operation 'Cast Lead': 22 Days of Death and Destruction" is geen objectief rapport, maar een onverbloemde aanklacht tegen Israel.
 
De titel zegt alles al: Israel heeft 22 dagen dood en vernieling gezaaid, volgens het rapport met schijnbare minachting voor mensenlevens en zeker met minachting van het internationale recht. De opstellers zijn naar Gaza geweest, duidelijk met een oordeel vooraf over de dood en vernielingen daar en wie daarvoor de schuld draagt. Men heeft de Palestijnse getuigenissen braaf opgetekend, de puinhopen gefotografeerd en de spreekwoordelijke Jood aan het kruis genageld. Een 'kokervisie' heet dat in opsporingstermen.
 
Neem die UNRWA school waarbij in de buurt tientallen doden vielen: volgens Amnesty werden géén raketten afgevuurd door Hamas uit de omgeving daarvan ("there had been no Palestinian fire from a yard adjacent to the school"). Toch vindt een klootje als ik al binnen 10 minuten berichten van getuigen die het tegendeel zeggen:
 
De opstellers van het rapport lijken maar 1 doel gehad te hebben: Barbertje moest hangen!
 
Wouter
 
============================
 
Amnesty Internatonal bias against Israel regarding Gaza
 
This letter makes a good point. Here are some additional resources regarding humanitarian issues in the Gaza campaign,
BBC Interview of Col Richard Kemp discussing IDF operations in Gaza
International Law and Military Operations in Practice (a new Richard Kemp video and transcript)
 
============================
 
July 9, 2009
Letter

A Bias Against Israel

To the Editor

Amnesty International's report on the conflict in Gaza is fundamentally biased against Israel ("Report Accuses Israel and Hamas of War Crimes in Gaza," news article, July 3). Nothing illustrates this more starkly than when the report deals with the issue of Gaza civilians caught up in the conflict.

When assessing Israeli efforts to warn civilians of an impending attack, whether by telephone or by leaflet, the report says that all such warnings did was create panic because the civilians had nowhere to flee.

On the other hand, when the report looked at Hamas's placing military infrastructure in the heart of civilian areas, it minimized the effect by arguing that Hamas did not force people to stay in their homes so civilians could flee attacks.

In other words, Amnesty adjusted its version of the facts to suit its a priori assumptions that Israel was the main party responsible for civilian deaths.

In fact, in a complicated situation, Israel did all it could to avoid civilian casualties. The main violator of human rights was Hamas; its eight-year rocketing of Israeli civilians and its deliberate placing of its military in civilian buildings, homes, schools, hospitals and mosques were major violations of international law. One would barely know this from the Amnesty "investigation."

Kenneth Jacobson
Deputy National Director
Anti-Defamation League
New York, July 5, 2009

 

Al 15 maanden nauwelijks vooruitgang aan veiligheidsbarriere Westoever

 
Het lijkt nog de vraag of de veiligheidsbarriere ooit af zal worden gebouwd. Het is een duur project, en het Israelische Hooggerechtshof heeft herhaaldelijk wijziging van delen van de route afgedwongen, ook van stukken die er al stonden. De urgentie lijkt ook minder nu er nog maar zelden aanslagen op Israelisch grondgebied lukken. Dat komt door een combinatie van de bijna 60% van de barriere die af is, de checkpoints, en het optreden van de PA veiligheidsdiensten tegen terroristen van Hamas en co.
 
Door het lagere veiligheidsbelang zal de rechter waarschijnlijk ook bezwaarmakers tegen de 'muur' sneller in het gelijk stellen. De terreurdreiging wordt de laatste 3 jaar gedomineerd door raketaanvallen, waartegen een muur of hek niet helpt.
 
Wouter
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Security wall barely built in 15 months
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
Almost no progress has been made toward completing the West Bank security barrier in the past 15 months, according to numbers provided to The Jerusalem Post by the Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

To date, around 490 km. of the planned 805-km. barrier have been finished, according to Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror.

This is the same figure he gave the Post in February 2008, just after a suicide bomber came through a gap in the structure and killed a woman in Dimona while wounding 40 other people.

Dror spoke with the Post a day before the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice in The Hague's advisory opinion saying that construction of the barrier in the West Bank was illegal.

On Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay called on Israel to "dismantle the wall" and "make reparations for all damage suffered by all persons affected by the wall's construction."

Since the nonbinding court ruling, Israel has continued to say that the structure saves lives and that it has a right to build it in the West Bank to protect its citizens against terror attacks.

In practice, in the past two years, work on the barrier has slowed to a trickle.

While work crews continue to complete mostly constructed sections, or to redo sections of the route based on High Court of Justice rulings, the number of fully completed sections has not increased in 15 months.

In two years, the length of the barrier has increased by only about 40 km.

Although the Defense Ministry had initially said it would complete the fence by 2010, Dror told the Post it was now looking to finish 500 km., 62 percent of it, by 2010.

He would not make any projections as to when the entire barrier, which was begun in 2002, would be finished.

Dror added that the focus at this juncture was on completing the barrier in the Jerusalem area. He said 100 km. of the overall barrier route had been held up by court cases and that work had not yet begun on another 200 km.

He blamed both the High Court and budget problems for the delays in completing the fence in the areas of Ma'aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, the Ariel and Kedumim fingers, as well as the South Hebron Hills.

A spokesman for Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the project remained a high priority for Barak, but he had no explanation as to why work had slowed down.

The United Nations, left-wing groups that monitor the barrier, as well as the head of security for the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, all told the Post there was little overall progress toward completing the structure.

At a Jerusalem press conference, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report in which it said the overall length of the barrier route was 709 km., of which only 413 km., or 58.3%, was completed. It added that another 73 km. was under construction.

The UN said at the briefing that its issue was not with the fence but with the route, of which 85% is in the West Bank and only 15% along the pre-1967 armistice line. It, too, called on Israel to abide by the Hague ruling and construct the barrier along the Green Line.

Once the barrier is completed, the UN report said, 35,000 Palestinians holding West Bank ID cards in 34 communities will be located between the barrier and the Green Line. The barrier would surround approximately 125,000 Palestinians on three sides and 26,000 Palestinians would be surrounded by it on four sides.

It added that the barrier has made life very difficult for the Palestinians by dividing families, and cutting off access to medical care, schools and farm lands.

Pillay, in a statement Wednesday, said, "The wall is but one element of the wider system of severe restrictions on the freedom of movement imposed by the Israeli authorities on Palestinian residents of the West Bank."

According to Oxfam International, which also issued a report on Wednesday, the overall route would divide the West Bank into three parts and up to 22 smaller isolated enclaves, jeopardizing the viability of a future Palestinian state.

The route as it was planned in June 2008 passed through 171 West Bank localities, affecting 712,313 Palestinians, according to Oxfam.

It said that 49,291 dunams (4,929.1 hectares) of land had been confiscated for the barrier and 27,841 people had been displaced.

Oxfam did acknowledge steps the government has taken to try to ease the obstacles posed by the fence. To help farmers access their land, 70 agricultural gates were created in the barrier, though farmers still had a hard time getting to their fields, Oxfam said.

The government has also spent NIS 2 billion to construct an alternative system of roads, underpasses and tunnels to facilitate Palestinian travel around the barrier.

Speaking at a Foreign Ministry press conference in Jerusalem, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon denied that the security barrier obstructed Palestinian movement.

He noted that in spite of the barrier, 1.2 million tourists visited the Palestinian territories in the West Bank in the past year and that the area's GNP had grown by between 5% and 7%.
 
AP contributed to this report.

Palestijnen boycotten Netanjahoe's plan voor 'economische vrede'

 
Voor vrede zijn twee partijen nodig, dat geldt ook voor 'economische vrede'. Het is niet verbazend dat de Palestijnen wantrouwig staan tegenover de economische vredesplannen van Netanjahoe, die worden gezien als een zoethoudertje om de politieke onderhandelingen op de lange baan te kunnen schuiven. In zijn verkiezingscampagne bracht Netanjahoe het zelf zo, en de PA heeft hem op zijn woord genomen, zo blijkt.
 
Wouter
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Palestinians reject Netanyahu's 'economic peace' plan
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Last update - 08:40 09/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098858.html

 
Prior to the elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his program for "economic peace," which he said would improved the quality of life for Palestinians in the West Bank. However, 100 days after having formed his coalition government, there is no practical progress on economic projects.

The main reason for this is the refusal of senior Palestinian Authority officials to cooperate with Netanyahu and Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, who has been assigned the task of promoting the "economic peace" initiative.

The ministerial committee handling the matter met again Wednesday, deciding to open the Allenby Bridge to traffic 24 hours a day to encourage Palestinian imports and exports to Jordan.

Shalom also presented a list of projects that had been delayed for years due to various bureaucratic difficulties. These include an industrial zone in Bethlehem, (funded by France), as well as one near Jenin (funded by Germany) and another near Jericho (paid for by Japan). Netanyahu had instructed all ministries to further his "economic peace" efforts by getting rid of red tape.

Palestinians block progress

The committee also discussed the PA's role in blocking progress. In essence, its senior officials are boycotting their Israeli counterparts.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to meet Netanyahu, and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will not meet with Silvan Shalom, while Palestinian officials are not permitted to meet their Israeli counterparts.

"Israel wants to promote economic peace, and I am calling for increased cooperation from the Palestinians," Shalom said during the meeting.

According to a senior political source, all contacts on economic issues with Palestinian officials are carried out through the Quartet's special envoy, Tony Blair. Even though the former British prime minister is pressing the Palestinians to meet with the Israelis, he has been unsuccessful.

"The Palestinians are concerned that if they cooperate on economic peace, Israel will be able to avoid the political process," the source said.

The Palestinian refusal to meet senior Israeli officials resulted in the cancellation of a joint conference scheduled to take place in Tokyo on the Jericho industrial zone.

It was to be attended by senior Japanese, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian officials, but the Palestinians announced that at this stage they would not participate, saying this stemmed from the lack of progress on the peace process with Israel.
 

VS steun voor Israel niet gebonden aan conservatieve politiek

 
Je hoeft niet voor de republikeinen te zijn en voor de nederzettingen om Israel te steunen, aldus Alan Dershowitz, die door apologeten van de Palestijnen onterecht als een havik en conservatief wordt neergezet. Steun voor Israel gaat prima met progressieve politiek samen.
 
RP
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Published in: The Jerusalem Post Blog July 9, 2009
 

Melanie Phillips has written a critique of me because I remain a Democrat and continue to support President Barack Obama, despite his recent statements regarding expansion of Israeli settlements and other matters relating to the Middle East conflict. Other conservative supporters of Israel have joined her in attacking me as well. See e.g., Jonathan Tobin. This is how she put it:

"But just like the majority of American Jews, getting on for 80 per cent of whom voted for Obama, he is a Democrat supporter who is incapable of acknowledging the truth about this President. For most American Jews, the horror of even entertaining the hypothetical possibility that they might ever in a million years have to vote for a Republican is so great they simply cannot see what is staring them in the face -- that this Democratic President is lethal for both Israel and the free world."

She accuses me of being "blind" and says "he doesn't get it",

Oh, I get it alright. I just fundamentally disagree with her approach, especially when it comes to the United States.

Phillips, for all her good work in Great Britain on behalf of Israel, has absolutely no understanding of American politics. She would turn Israel into a wedge issue, in which Republicans were seen as the supporters of Israel and Democrats as its enemy. This is precisely what has happened, with disastrous results, throughout much of Europe. In most European countries, the left-wing political parties are anti-Israel, often virulently so. The right-wing political parties are generally more supportive of Israel, though not nearly as supportive as they should be in many instances. Because young people tend to be more liberal than their elders, support for Israel throughout Europe, has also become a generational wedge issue, with younger people opposing Israel far more than older people.

This is precisely the situation American supporters of Israel want to avoid. We do not want to replicate the horrible situation that currently exists in Phillips' Great Britain. We want Israel to remain a bipartisan issue and an issue that does not divide generations. During the Bush administration, Republican support for Israel - which they linked to their failed Iraq policy - alienated many younger and more liberal voters who despised Bush, Cheney and their policies.

Among the reasons that I supported Obama, having first supported Hillary Clinton, is because I believed, and continue to believe, that a young, extremely popular African American President who supports Israel, even if he disagrees with its policies regarding settlement expansion, would be far more influential with mainstream Americans and with people throughout the world than an old conservative republican, who also supported Israel. That is why I gave, and continued to give, President Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt in his dealings with Israel. I take him at his word that he seeks to bring about peace, by means of a two state solution pursuant to which all the Arab states recognize Israel's right to thrive as a Jewish democracy, while agreeing that any Palestinian state must be demilitarized and incapable of waging war or terrorist attacks against Israel.

I also take him at his word when he says that the United States will not accept a nuclear-armed Iran, and I believe that he has a better chance of achieving that goal through diplomacy - including sanctions if necessary - than would a tough talking and non-negotiating Republican administration.

I believe that although a military attack on Iran could have disastrous and far reaching consequences, a nuclear armed Iran would have far graver consequences. I do not know whether the Obama administration would, as a last resort, use military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Nor do I know whether a Republican administration would have engaged in military action against Iran, especially in light of its failed war in Iraq. Neither do I know whether the Obama administration would try to prevent Israel from defending its civilians against an Iranian nuclear bomb by preventively attacking its nuclear facilities, as Israel did to Iraq in 1981. In a recent statement Vice President Biden strongly suggested that he believes that Israel should have the right to take military action to protect its citizens, if all other options fail. I believe that Dennis Ross holds similar views. The Bush administration, on the other hand, refused to supply Israel with weapons necessary to implement a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, and according to press reports, it was reluctant to give Israel the green light to attack on its own.

No one knows precisely what any administration would do under varying and unpredictable scenarios. As I have previously written, I would strongly oppose a United States policy of learning to live with an Iranian nuclear bomb, regardless of which administration supported such a dangerous approach.

Recall that it was the Bush administration that for the first time announced its support for a Palestinian state - a position with which I agree, so long as it is completely demilitarized and incapable of aggression against Israel. Recall as well that it was the Bush administration that insisted on a freeze on Israel settlements in the West Bank - a position with which I also agree, subject to humanitarian and pragmatic considerations. (This should come as no surprise to anyone who has read my writings, since I have opposed Israel's civilian settlement policy since 1973. You can strongly support Israel's right to defend itself without supporting its settlement policy.)

Let me say as well that there were parts of President Obama's Cairo speech with which I disagreed, but there have also been parts of Republican speeches with which I have disagreed. I judge administrations by their actions more than by their words, though I wish President Obama had chosen some of his words more carefully.

The major difference between Melanie Phillips and me is that I want Jews to remain Democrats - if they support, as I do, liberal principles such as a women's right to choose abortion, the rights of gays and lesbians to equal justice, and other progressive policies. I also strongly support the separation of church and state, a constitutional principle that has allowed American Jews to be first class citizens and to reach greater heights in this wonderful country than they ever have achieved in Europe or anywhere else in the world except for Israel. Republicans, in general, seek to lower the wall of separation which would endanger the status of Jews in this country.

I also want Jews who disagree with my liberal politics to remain Republicans, if they choose, and to exercise influence within the Republican Party. I want all supporters of Israel, whether they are Democrats or Republicans to pressure their party and their government to protect Israel's security and defend its right to continue to thrive as a Jewish democracy.

It was clear to all perceptive Americans that Obama was going to win this past election in a landslide victory. The vast majority of Jews were on the winning side, and that is good for Israel. Recall the Republican Secretary of State James Baker's infamous remark: "F...the Jews. They don't vote for us anyway." Recall as well that among Israel's most virulent opponents are right wingers such as Pat Buchanan and Robert Novak.

Let me conclude by saying that because American Jews voted Democrat by and large and because the Democrats won, we have far more influence with this administration than we would if the majority of American Jews followed Melanie Phillips advice and voted Republican. When it comes to American politics, it is she who truly "doesn't get it." She should not be trying to influence the voting patterns of American Jews. We have done quite well, thank you, in maintaining widespread American support for Israel, because we understand the dynamics of the American political system.

Instead, she should be trying to change the terrible situation in Great Britain, where support for Israel has never been lower - in part because support for Israel has become a liberal versus conservative wedge issue. I wish there were more liberal supporters of Israel in Great Britain as there are among liberal political figures in the United States. So please stop lecturing us from your perch in Great Britain on who to vote for in the United States. We apparently "get it" over here a lot better than you do over there! The reality is we each have our problems and they must be addressed somewhat differently in different places.

So I will continue to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt, but if he does anything to weaken Israel's security, I will do everything in my power to change his attitude and to use whatever influence we have in Congress and among the public to make sure that American never weakens its commitment to Israel's security. That is my line in the sand - not the settlements.