Zes aanhangers Mousavi in Iran zouden opgehangen zijn

 

De onrust in Iran lijkt nog verre van over. Curieus genoeg zijn er zelfs 'linkse' Nederlanders die menen dat Mousavi maar beperkte steun heeft van vooral een bevoorrechte elite in de steden en van de CIA, die met een zak geld nog door de regering Bush toegekend het Iraanse regime ondermijnt. Hoe faut kun je zijn?

 

Wouter

________________

 

 

6 Mousavi supporters reportedly hanged

Jul. 1, 2009
SABINA AMIDI, Special to The Jerusalem Post , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

As the Iranian authorities warned the opposition on Tuesday that they would tolerate no further protests over the disputed June 12 presidential elections, a report emerged of the hangings of six supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Speaking after Iran's top legislative body upheld the election victory of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sources in Iran told this reporter in a telephone interview that the hangings took place in the holy city of Mashhad on Monday. There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Underlining the climate of fear among direct and even indirect supporters of Mousavi's campaign for the election to be annulled, the sources also reported that a prominent cleric gave a speech to opposition protesters in Teheran earlier this week in which he publicly acknowledged that the very act of speaking at the gathering would likely cost him his life.

"Ayatollah Hadi Gafouri said that the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] never wanted [current supreme Leader] Ali Khamenei to succeed him. He even went to say that the Islamic republic died the day the Imam did," one source said.

Other criticisms from senior clerics over the regime's handling of the elections and subsequent protests included a report from a Persian news agency, which on Tuesday quoted a senior cleric from the city of Esfahan, Ayatollah Seyyed Jalaleddin Taheri-Esfahani, defending Mousavi against the regime's criticisms.

The ayatollah was quoted as saying: "Is it a case of justice to see that an honorable and modest Seyyed [a descendant of the household of the prophet Muhammad], who until the last moments of Khomeini's life was a dear and close companion of that grand leader, is now considered to be a rioter and an agent of arrogance who must be punished?"

On Monday, witnesses said thousands of policemen and Basij militiamen carrying batons were deployed in Teheran's main squares to prevent any recurrence of the opposition protests. Drivers who so much as shouted "Allahu Akbar" or beeped their horns had their windows smashed by the Basiji and riot police.

Women police, better known as the Sisters of Zeynab, are also now out in force, the witnesses said.

"Some people are still going out into the streets, but there is despair and sadness," said one source. "Now we are told that [pro-Mousavi] green bands are illegal, which is ironic because it symbolizes the color of Islam."

On Monday, the daughter of former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, spoke a gathering of opposition protesters in Teheran's Enqelab Square, sources said. "Mrs. Faezeh Hashemi arrived and tried to give the people some words of encouragement," said one, "but the police broke up the rally within minutes."

He added, "My nephew saw one of these Sisters of Zeynab beat down an elderly woman with no mercy. When he tried to intervene, saying to her, 'Miss, she is like your grandmother,' the woman turned around to get a Basiji to deal with him."

Mousavi's Facebook page is still carrying messages aimed at quashing the notion that he is caving in. "He did not give in to the Guardians Council," runs one new message. "Mir Hossein Mousavi is not under house arrest, he is not about to leave the country, he is under strong pressure to end this, but he always said he will stand up for the people's will to the end! He is from and with the people."

Amid the talk of despair and quashed protests, one defiant reformist supporter told this reporter: "The regime wants the world to think they have won. Don't believe it... Even if this regime is about to collapse, they would not let anybody know until their final hour."

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This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1246296541275&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Israel-PA onderhandelingen vast door focus Obama op nederzettingen

 

Ironically, this state of no-negotiations is good and comfortable for PA President Mahmoud Abbas. He is not interested in negotiating with Netanyahu, figuring - probably rightly so - that he is not going to get more from the Likud prime minister than he got from former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was willing to cede more than 93 percent of the West Bank, make up for the rest with a land swap, and relinquish Israel's claim over the holy basin in Jerusalem.

 

Het lijkt erop dat de eenzijdige kritiek en druk uit de internationale gemeenschap en de VS, de Palestijnse positie hebben verhard. Zij leunen lekker achterover en wachten af totdat Israel eenzijdig allerlei concessies heeft gedaan, zonder dat zij daar iets tegenover hoeven te stellen. In tegenstelling tot Herb Keinon denk ik dat de VS er wel voor kan zorgen dat Israel de bouw in de nederzettingen stopt, ook in Oost-Jeruzalem, maar het is zeer de vraag of dat vrede een stap dichterbij brengt. Het zou vruchtbaarder zijn als de VS beide partijen ertoe kan aanzetten concessies te doen, niet zozeer voor Obama, maar om de kansen op vrede te vergroten en goodwill naar de ander te tonen.

 

RP

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Analysis: Obama's settlement focus handcuffing negotiations

Jun. 25, 2009
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

With Defense Minister Ehud Barak scheduled to fly back to Washington on Monday for another round of talks about construction in the settlements, it is instructive to ask at this point what exactly US President Barack Obama is trying to achieve by pushing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the wall on this issue.

If, as some maintain, it's a way to build his credentials in the Arab world, then - okay - the policy can be understood. US and European diplomats say continuously that everywhere they travel in the Arab world, settlement construction is the one issue that they hear about time and time again: that construction in the settlements is poisoning the atmosphere and that Obama's seriousness in charting a new policy with the Arab world will be judged in no small degree by how he deals with Israel on this issue.

And, as has been said ad nauseam, Obama wants the Arab world. He wants the Arab world to help him out of Iraq and the worsening quagmire in Afghanistan, and also in dealing with Iran -- though the international community's policy toward Iran is likely to undergo a drastic reassessment following the schisms within Iranian society that are now out there for everyone to see.

One can argue that it is ludicrous to link settlements with Syria's sealing its borders with Iraq, or getting the United Arab Emirates to reduce its booming business with Teheran, but the link is continuously being drawn, and Obama wants to remove this particular coal from the fire.

But if Obama is being so forceful on the settlements out of a belief that this will push the negotiation process forward, then he is mistaken.

Whether this was Obama's intention or not, his hard line on the settlements has effectively made Israeli-Palestinian negotiations dependent on a complete settlement freeze, something the Netanyahu government - because of its political makeup and Netanyahu's desire for political longevity - is simply not going to do.

So here is the status report so far on the Obama administration's settlement policy: The US has strongly called for a complete settlement freeze, Netanyahu has made clear that he will not comply and the Palestinians say that they will not begin negotiating until one is in place.

The bottom line: there will be no negotiations.

Ironically, this state of no-negotiations is good and comfortable for PA President Mahmoud Abbas. He is not interested in negotiating with Netanyahu, figuring - probably rightly so - that he is not going to get more from the Likud prime minister than he got from former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was willing to cede more than 93 percent of the West Bank, make up for the rest with a land swap, and relinquish Israel's claim over the holy basin in Jerusalem.

Abbas turned down Olmert's offer, telling The Washington Post that the gaps were too wide. He is probably reasoning that those gaps aren't going to narrow under Netanyahu, so why negotiate?

And Obama has now given him an excuse not to.

This state of no-negotiations might serve Netanyahu's purpose as well, at least if one believes his critics, who argue that the prime minister really doesn't think it is possible to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, and that all he is doing now is posturing.

Netanyahu has made clear that he will not agree to a complete freeze. He has said that he won't build any new settlements, or expropriate any new land, but he won't freeze construction for natural growth.

First of all, it is not clear whether he legally has the power to do so. How do you stop building an apartment that is 75% complete? What about contractual obligations? What about money invested?

Secondly, even if Netanyahu could wave his wand and magically stop everything right now, politically he can't. With Israel Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman breathing down his neck, the prime minister is not going to do something that most Israelis, according to the recent polls, don't even think he should do - stop natural growth construction in the large settlement blocs.

If Obama thinks that by pressing this issue real hard, the Israeli public will revolt against Netanyahu, or that Netanyahu will go gently into the good political night, then he is misreading both the public and Netanyahu. Netanyahu, currently flirting with Kadima's Shaul Mofaz, will not be felled so easily.

Interestingly enough, last week two former Washington insiders heavily involved over the years in Middle East issues - Aaron David Miller, the 1990s Middle East negotiator from the Left, and Elliott Abrams, the former deputy national security advisor from the Right - addressed a group in Washington and both said the Obama administration's focus on the settlements was a mistake.

Abrams, for his part, said he did not understand Obama's apparent decision "to take the position that Israel is the problem." And, indeed, making the settlements the issue takes all the onus off the Palestinians.

And as far as Miller was concerned, the JTA quoted him as saying that "as legitimate a problem as settlements are with respect to undermining the environment toward a negotiation," they are a "distraction" given all the other problems that need to be addressed.

"Given the stakes and reality, we are going to need a relationship with Israel of great intimacy in order to do this. We need to think very carefully about how we're going about it, where is the strategy, what is the objective," said Miller, no fan of the settlement enterprise.

And, indeed, if the US objective is to get negotiations started, then the Obama administration's policy of making the settlements its main focus is proving counterproductive.

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This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184921980&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Zweden subsidiëert pro-Palestijnse NGO's die het conflict aanwakkeren

 

Veel Palestijnse en pro-Palestijnse niet-gouvernementele organisaties geven Israel en de bezetting de schuld van vrijwel alle problemen die de Palestijnen teisteren, en dat zijn er nogal wat. Toch richten zij zich niet op dialoog, verzoening en vrede tussen de twee partijen, maar voeren eenzijdige en vaak opruiende campagnes tegen Israel, van boycot initiatieven tot strafrechtelijke vervolging van Israelische politici en militairen. Dergelijke NGO's worden niet alleen door Zweden gesteund maar ook door andere Westerse landen waaronder Nederland.

 

Gelukkig zijn er ook NGO's die zich wel oprecht richten op dialoog en verzoening, en krijgen die vaak eveneens Westerse steun.

Een aantal daarvan staan genoemd in het artikel Initiatieven voor vrede en verzoening.

 

Stom genoeg werken verschillende gesubsidiëerde NGO's elkaar tegen, en worden dialoog- en samenwerkingsprojecten verketterd door de radikalere pro-Palestijnse NGO's die een boycot van Israel voorstaan. Het Westen zou er beter aan doen om kritisch te kijken naar wie en wat ze ondersteunen met ons belastinggeld...

 

Wouter

______________

 

 

A Clouded EU Presidency: Swedish Funding for NGO Rejectionism
NGO Monitor
June 29, 2009

[For annotated version: www.ngo-monitor.org/article/a_clouded_eu_presidency_swedish_funding_for_radical_ngos  ]

 

On July 1, 2009, Sweden will assume the presidency of the European Union. This report shows that in order to have a positive impact on Arab-Israeli peace efforts, Sweden cannot continue to fund radical pro-Palestinian NGOs.

Swedish government funding for NGO activities under the guise of human rights and humanitarian aid is biased, highly political, and the details are often hidden.
Many NGOs receive significant Swedish support from multiple sources: directly from the SIDA aid agency, via NDC (Ramallah), and from Swedish "framework" NGOs. Some groups also receive funding from the EU's European Commission.

There is no evidence of a detailed study to determine whether this money given to NGOs has accomplished any of the stated objectives.

Sweden funds Diakonia's International Humanitarian Law project, which promotes Palestinian political goals through a distorted and misleading interpretation of international law.

Sweden also funded Sabeel's Nakba Memory program in 2008 "to commemorate the Nakba [Catastrophe] of 1948, examine the current struggles for freedom, equality, and identity, and confront the continuing problems of the 1948 refugees."

Sweden is a main supporter of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) - a leader in the NGO "lawfare" strategy of exploiting the universal jurisdiction to bring cases against Israeli officials alleging "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity." Such activities fuel the conflict.

The Palme Center falsely accuses Israel of "provok[ing] the al-Aqsa rising and the 'Second Intifada,'" and "disproportionate violence against civilians, unlawful executions and torture." The fighting in Gaza is also blamed on "the provocative Israeli occupation."

Other SIDA grantees, including the Alternative Information Center (AIC), Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), and Jerusalem Center for Women (JWC), demonize Israel with the rhetoric of "apartheid," "ethnic cleansing," and "massacres."

 

Background:

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) has been providing substantial aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since 2000. In 2008, these areas received SEK 455 million (~$59 million, over 70% of the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] budget). In 2007, they were the 7th highest recipient of SIDA funding in the world (out of SEK 15.4 billion worldwide; complete figures for 2008 are not yet available).

Through this funding, SIDA claims "to promote democracy and respect for human rights, especially in terms of equality," and to "create opportunities for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and contribute to a democratic Palestinian state governed by law." Sweden also provides "expert assistance to help strengthen the PLO's negotiating structures to enable it to be an equal partner in the peace negotiations with Israel," clearly taking the Palestinian position in the process.

SIDA's website also asserts that funding for joint Israeli and Palestinian human rights campaigns "has helped to increase public support for a peaceful solution in both Israel and Palestine." However, no evidence is provided for this questionable claim.

Funding Mechanisms:

 

Swedish, Israeli, Palestinian, and international NGOs are funded by the Swedish government through three mechanisms: Grants channeled through Swedish NGOs; a multi-national framework, the NGO Development Corporation (NDC), which includes money from Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands; direct funding to "organizations in partner countries."

 

Overlap between these schemes is not uncommon, as shown below, suggesting a lack of responsible oversight by the Swedish government. Additionally, while SIDA maintains a database on the indirect support through Swedish groups, the NDC project and direct grants to local NGOs are not included.  Due to this limited transparency, the information available to members of parliament, policy makers, and others, as well as the listings below, may not be comprehensive.

 

Grants channeled through Swedish NGOs

 

"Most of the [SIDA] support to the MENA region" is channeled through 14 Swedish "framework organizations," including Diakonia, the Swedish Mission Council (SMR), the Olof Palme International Center (OPC) and Save the Children Sweden (Radda Barnen). These groups are responsible for transferring SIDA funds to local NGOs and overseeing project implementation.
Additionally, the framework organizations provide the information contained in the SIDA database, but   the material is often inconsistent or missing. For instance, the "local implementing organisation(s)" is sometimes listed anonymously as "local NGO."
Data in this section is from the SIDA database, unless otherwise noted.

1. Diakonia funding for NGOs

 

In 2008 and 2009, SIDA allocated over SEK 100 million annually to Diakonia, a self-described "Christian development organization" and Sweden's largest humanitarian NGO. Diakonia oversees four projects in "Israel/Palestine". Two of its programs, the Children's Literature Program (18 million SEK from 2005-07) and the Rehabilitation Program (25 million SEK from 2008-09), appear to be genuine humanitarian projects. The bulk of Diakonia's funding from SIDA, however, is spent on Civil Society Organizations (13.5 million SEK from 2008-10) and the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) (46.4 million SEK from 2006-09) programs (figures provided by Diakonia).  The IHL program was created to influence public opinion, and presents a distorted and misleading interpretation of international law that promotes Palestinian political goals, such as "lawfare" against Israeli officials and foreign corporations doing business with Israel. This project primarily disseminates the Palestinian narrative.

 

Diakonia perpetuates the conflict through a paternalistic attitude toward Palestinian responsibility, blaming Israel for the failings of the Palestinian Authority: "[due to] the occupation and lack of peace in Palestine, it is not difficult to grasp the negligence of the Palestinian Government to implement the law of Disability eight years after it has been endorsed."

 

Many of Diakonia's partner organizations - Al Mezan, Al Haq, the Alternative Information Center, Sabeel, and others - are among the most extreme anti-Israel NGOs, erasing the context of terror, and employing inflammatory and at times, even antisemitic rhetoric. (For a detailed analysis see NGO Monitor, Diakonia: Exploiting International Law to Promote the Palestinian Cause, forthcoming July 2009.)

 

Alternative Information Center (AIC) 2004 - 2008. SEK 295,650 in 2008. AIC refers to the "Israeli occupation-regime" and the Arab-Israeli "colonial conflict." AIC is against normalization with Israel, claiming that the collaboration of a Palestinian NGO with the Israeli Peres Center for Peace "is politically unacceptable, and morally disgusting. Shimon Peres is definitely an enemy of the Palestinian people, of human rights and of  peace."  AIC officials participate in United Nations frameworks; have accused Israel of "genocide," a "policy of ethnic cleansing," and "apartheid"; and have also compared Israeli military and political officials to Nazis. (See AIC Profile, NGO Monitor, June 4, 2009)

 

Al Haq - Received SEK 3.2 million between 2006 - 2010, as part of Diakonia's IHL program (also funded by NDC - see below). Al Haq is a leader of the "lawfare" movement, initiating lawsuits in Canada and the UK, and preparing "ready-to-be-used case files" for use against Israeli officials in foreign courts. Al Haq lists boycotts among its goals and objectives, and lobbied the EU to annul the upgrade of EU-Israel bilateral relations. General Director Shawan Jabarin has been denied exit visas by Israel and Jordan on account of his alleged ties to the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. Co-founder Charles Shamas is a member of the Middle East-North Africa advisory board of Human Rights Watch, and has "advised the PLO/PNA on IHL-related diplomacy," and publically compares Israeli policy to "apartheid" and "genocide."

 

Sabeel 2006 - 2008. One 2008 Sabeel project, "The Nakba Memory, Reality and Beyond," used SIDA funding (SEK 540,000) "to commemorate the Nakba of 1948, examine the current struggles for freedom, equality, and identity, and confront the continuing problems of the 1948 refugees"; "create a better understanding of the history of 1948, the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe)"; and "create a stronger civil society informed and concerned about the Nakba and who will work proactively inside Israel.on.the situation of second class citizenship for Palestinians." This rhetoric supports Palestinian rejection of compromise, and works against the peace process that the Swedish government claims to support. Sabeel is a leader of the church divestment campaign, and director Naim Ateek employs antisemitic themes and imagery in sermons promoting his "Palestinian Liberation Theology."

 

Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-I) 2004 - 2008. SIDA contributed SEK 462,281 in 2008 and SEK 457,200 in 2009 to a two-year PHR-I project entitled "The Occupied Palestinian Territory, Prisoners & Detainees" claiming to "Protect the right to health of Palestinian in the Occupied Territories: Protect[] medical neutrality and the safety of medical premises and staff in the occupied territories, [and] Protect[] freedom of movement (access to health) of Palestinian patients, medical personnel and medical goods and conducting local and international advocacy." PHR-I campaigns include the unsupported claim that Israel is required to provide "free access to health services" in the Palestinian Authority, and that Israel is responsible for the PA's decision to suspend payments for Palestinian patients in Israeli hospitals. This political NGO is also lobbying against the upgrade of EU-Israel relations.

 

Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) 2004 - 2008. Received SEK 113,959 in 2008. WATC's plainly stated ideology is that "the social struggle for the full emancipation of all members of the Palestinian society...must go hand in hand with the national struggle for the liberation of Palestine." A WATC newsletter asserts that "[t]he Israeli occupation has continued building its wall of apartheid and segregation." In a letter entitled "Stop Israeli Massacres and the Zionist aggressions on the Gaza Strip immediately," WATC irresponsibly labeled the Gaza conflict "a war of extermination."

 

Harvard's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR), "IHL in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory" - SEK 2.8 million in 2006 - 2010. SIDA, via Diakonia, funds HPCR International's Humanitarian Policy & Law Forum, operated in conjunction with Harvard University's School of Public Health.  The IHL component was developed "in consultation" with the UN, and aims "to improve access to balanced information on international law and to promote the integration of legal and humanitarian analysis in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Roadmap framework."  In reality, this program promotes the Palestinian agenda behind an academic façade, based on a distortion and manipulation of international law.  Its "web portal" contains "policy briefs" that claim to "analyze" IHL on certain aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict, yet invariably conclude that Israel is violating international law.  The forum is also a major promoter of the non-serious argument that Gaza remains "occupied" after the Disengagement. (For a detailed analysis, see NGO Monitor's report on this program forthcoming July 2009.)

 

Other NGOs funded by SIDA-Diakonia include: B'Tselem and Al Mezan (see below), the "Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign" (implemented by Health Work Committees) and "Research Study Mental Health Effects of the Apartheid Wall on Pales[tinians]" (implemented by Arab Center for Counseling and Education).

2.  Swedish Mission Council (SMR) funding for NGOs

 

Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) SEK 97,461 in 2008. PMRS uses loaded language to delegitimize Israel and perpetuate distrust. The president of the PMRS, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, referred to the Gaza conflict as a "horrendous massacre," and used terms like "ghetto", and "apartheid" rhetoric on a radio program.  PMRS refers to the security barrier as the "apartheid Wall," and claimed that Israel employs a "racist ideology" and inflicts "collective punishment" on the Palestinians. All of these activities in support of the Palestinian position are inconsistent with the foundations of compromise and peace.

3. Olof Palme International Center (OPC) funding for NGOs

 

The Palme Center, established in 1992 by the Swedish Social Democratic Party and trade unions, promotes an overwhelmingly Palestinian narrative of the conflict. The Palme Center makes the absurd statement accusing Israel of "provok[ing] the al-Aqsa rising and the "Second Intifada," "contribut[ing] to a chaotic security situation" in Gaza following the Disengagement, and "disproportionate violence against civilians, unlawful executions and torture." Only "Israeli attacks" are mentioned; Palestinian violence, including thousands of rocket attacks and internal violence, is ignored and accepted. The fighting in Gaza is also blamed on "the provocative Israeli occupation" alone.

 

Jerusalem Center for Women (JWC) 2006 - 2009. Over SEK 690,000 in 2008-9. JWC claims "to stand against to the unjust occupation, oppression, war, apartheid, humiliation, and poverty affecting Palestinian women." A "fact sheet" refers to Israeli "illegal[] evict[ion]" of Palestinian families "so that settlers can take up residency," and refers to the "Annexation wall." JWC designed posters with provocative slogans, such as "Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem," "Stop the Apartheid Wall," and "Stop the Judaization of Jerusalem."

4. Save the Children Sweden - Radda Barnen (SCS) funding for NGOs

 

Defense for Children International - Palestine Section (DCI-PS) 2004 - 2009. DCI-PS regularly exploits the rhetoric of children's rights, manipulates international law, and campaigns against Israel in the UN and other international frameworks. For example, in a statement to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (September 29, 2007) DCI/PS condemned Israel for "deliberate targeting of civilians" in Lebanon, "terrorizing the civilian population" in Gaza and "collective punishment." DCI-PS endorsed the call for BDS against Israel, and refers to Israeli "racism," promotes the Palestinian narrative of "nakba" and the "right of return" as "a natural and legal right."  Swedish government funding for these activities fuel the conflict and constitute a major obstacle to peace.

 

Addameer (Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association) 2009. Addameer refers to the Israeli army as the "Israeli Occupying Forces," and accuses Israel of "collective punishment" and a "policy of using Palestinian prisoners as pawns to achieve political and military gains."  Addameer endorsed the call for BDS against Israel, which calls for "[e]nding [Israel']s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall," and compares Israel to apartheid South Africa, in a manner consistent with the Durban Strategy of anti-Israel demonization and the use of soft-power warfare.

5. NDC funding for NGOs

 

In July 2008, the NGO Development Center (NDC - Ramallah) received $6 million from the governments of Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands. NDC in  turn, distributed these funds to 25 Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, using tax money to support the inherently biased criteria of "organizations that monitor, document and report on violations by the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian human rights" and the potential for "lawfare" - "legal representations and litigation related to individual cases of human rights violations" (pg. 3). No information on the level of oversight (if any) by Sweden and the other donor countries could be found.
NDC "facilitated" and funded the "Palestinian NGO Code of Conduct," a document that rejects "any normalization activities with the occupier, neither at the political-security nor the cultural or developmental levels. No endeavor would be carried out if it undermines the inalienable Palestinian rights of establishing statehood and the return of the refugees to their original homes."

 

NDC funding recipients include:
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) - $400,000. PCHR regularly refers to rocket attacks on Israeli civilians as "resistance." Following the deaths of five children in a "work accident" (during the preparation of an explosive device) the NGO condemned "the danger of storage of explosives in residential areas by Palestinian resistance groups," and suggested that "IOF are involving through planting a booby-trapped explosive device inside the house" (sic). PCHR is also a leader in the "lawfare" strategy of exploiting the universal jurisdiction statutes in democratic countries in order to bring cases against Israeli political and military officials for "war  crimes" and "crimes against humanity." During the Gaza war, this NGO published accusations of Israeli "collective punishment" and "indiscriminate killing and continued systematic destruction of all the Palestinian institutions and civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip," and blamed the "international donor" community for "bankrolling the occupation" and of "complicity in Israeli violations of international law." In 2007, PCHR listed SIDA as a funder (pg. 6), but not in 2008 when it received NDC support. There is no indication of any assessment by the Swedish government regarding the benefits resulting from the funds provided to PCHR.

 

Al Haq - $500,000. See above.

 

Al Mezan - $500,000. Al Mezan claims "[t]o protect, respect and promote the internationally accepted standards of human rights." However, its activities and reports indicate that this NGO's main activities are focused on political campaigns directed against Israel, rather than on promoting universal not human rights. Al Mezan consistently refers to the Israeli army as the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF), erasing the context of Palestinian terror, and delegitimizing Israeli self-defense. Al Mezan promotes allegations of "Israeli massacres," "slaughtering civilians," "scandalous war crimes," and "despicable disregard to civilian life," and fails to condemn Hamas' use of human shields and illegal rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.

 

Badil -$100,000. Badil is a leading actor in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, and has called for a "targeted campaign to expose the lies of AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League and to expose the Jewish and Zionist community's double standards regarding Nakba & Occupation." Badil has also referred to "Israel's colonial apartheid  regime," "state-sponsored racism," and "systematic ethnic cleansing," and claims that "[i]nstitutionalized racism and discrimination" is the "root cause.of the ongoing internal forcible displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people."

 

Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC - Mossada) - $165,000. JLAC claims to "[d]efend[] the Palestinian victims of human rights violations; with accordance to the Palestinian laws and the international law.via legal aid and legal representation".  JLAC published a report entitled, "Rats in the maze: Freedom of Movement in the OPT," which refers to Israeli "crimes," "apartheid," and "collective punishment." JLAC also wrote a 34-page report calling on the US to freeze military aid to Israel.
NDC also funds other highly political NGOs: B'Tselem ($450,000), ICAHD ($80,000), Mossawa ($150,000), and the Palestinian NGO Network  ($130,000).

6. Direct SIDA funding for NGOs

 

SIDA also directly funds Swedish and local NGOs (12% of the MENA allocations in 2007, see pg. 42), as distinct from the various funding mechanisms examined above. As noted above, this aspect of SIDA funding lacks transparency and accountability.

 

Diakonia - see above.

 

International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) - Paris-based FIDH received $813,747 from SIDA for a project in the "human rights" sector; it will either be renewed or end in August 2009. Details about the project's connection to the Middle East are unavailable, but it should be noted that FIDH official Raji Sourani is also director of PCHR (also funded by Sweden, see above). During the Gaza war FIDH claimed that "[t]he operations of the Israeli Army constitute at the least war crimes, if not crimes against humanity."  FIDH has also joined calls for the freezing of the EU-Israel Association agreement due to Israeli "violations of human rights and IHL" and accused Israel of "collective punishment against civilians in Gaza". FIDH published "A Step by Step Approach to the Use of Universal Jurisdiction in Western European States," a guide for promoting "lawfare" - the use of democratic courts to bring "war crimes" cases against Israeli officials. Indeed, as noted, FIDH member PCHR is a leader in the "lawfare" movement.

 

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) - PCATI lists SIDA as a donor on its website; it also received a $240,000 grant from the NDC.  PCATI claims to lobby for prisoner rights and against torture.  While it extensively criticizes alleged Israeli abuses, the group has done virtually no campaigning to uphold the rights of Gilad Shalit - held incommunicado by Hamas for three years.  PCATI often lobbies in international forums to promote its one-sided, politicized agenda. For instance, in a report submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture, PCATI accuses Israel of attacks on "civilians and civilian objects" during the Gaza fighting, though the NGO openly admits that these topics "do not per se fall under the [Torture] Convention."

 

Overlap between different frameworks for Swedish NGO funding

 

In 2008 and 2009, many NGOs received funds from different frameworks within the Swedish government. For politicized NGOs that contravene the claimed Swedish goals of "creat[ing] opportunities for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," this raises questions of government oversight in funding processes. For genuine humanitarian projects, this phenomenon increases the bureaucratic overhead and waste that does not reach the organizations and suffering people who need the aid.  Efficiency, accountability and transparency should be required of all publically-funded NGOs.
It is noteworthy that the Palestinian NGOs listed here are also members of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO - see above), which means that they benefit from Swedish funding in yet an additional way.

[see website for table: http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/a_clouded_eu_presidency_swedish_funding_for_radical_ngos ]

Conclusion

On July 1, 2009 Sweden assumes the presidency of the European Union. As this detailed report indicates, Sweden's role in funding numerous highly politicized NGOs fuels the conflict, rather than the advancing the stated goals of promoting peace, democracy and development. The lack of independent oversight in the use of taxpayer funds, as shown in this analysis, is especially troubling at a time when accountability is receiving increasing emphasis. In addition, these NGO funding policies are not consistent with the efforts by the EU and member states to play a more central and constructive role in promoting peace negotiations based on compromise, and addressing the concerns of all the parties to the conflict.

As NGO Monitor's analysis reveals, the Swedish government funds NGOs that pursue Palestinian political goals under the guise of "human rights" and "international law," and demonize Israel with the inflammatory rhetoric of "apartheid," "ethnic cleansing," and "massacres." In addition to compounding Israeli mistrust of the role of the EU, which stems in part from support for NGOs that exclusively promote a Palestinian agenda and engage in biased anti-Israel activities, the delegitimization of Israel contradicts Sweden's stated goals for the region. In order to play a positive role as a European leader in assisting the constructive change necessary to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, Sweden's NGO funding practices and priorities will need to change.

Correspondence with the Swedish government

 

As of publication, NGO Monitor was still awaiting SIDA's response.

The Swedish Embassy in Tel Aviv elected not to comment on a draft of this report.
 

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Hamas wilde aanslagen op PA in Westoever uitvoeren

 

Snoep uitdelen is een traditie bij geslaagde aanslagen, maar of Hamas dat ook op de Westoever zou doen na een aanval op de eigen PA? Dat klinkt toch wat riskant. Of slaat dit op de Gazastrook. Daar zou volgens minister Koenders voedselschaarste heersen, omdat Israel veel te weinig hulpgoederen de strook binnenlaat. Hoe komt men dan aan die snoepvoorraad? Wellicht nog oud snoep dat ver over de datum is, want Hamas en co proberen telkens weer aanslagen uit te voeren, maar de strenge en internationaal steeds weer veroordeelde veiligheidsmaatregelen van Israel weten bijna alle aanslagen te voorkomen.

 

Wouter

______________

PA: Hamas plotted attacks on West Bank officials
Date: 29 / 06 / 2009  Time:  19:51
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38903

 

Ramallah - Ma'an - Hamas members planned attacks on Palestinian Authority (PA) officials in the West Bank on orders from Hamas leaders abroad and the group's armed wing in Gaza, a senior official said on Monday.

At-Tayib Abdul Rahim, secretary-general of the Palestinian Presidency reveled the alleged plot at a news conference in Ramallah. He said the PA learned of the plans from interrogations of Hamas prisoners.

He said that a Hamas cell had planned the attack ahead of the 7 [July] deadline set by Egypt for an agreement between Hamas and Fatah.

Hamas has not yet responded to these charges.

"We learned that some Hamas affiliates were told to prepare to distribute sweets on 1 July at 2:00pm after attacks are completed," Abdul Rahim asserted.

He said however that the security situation was under control and that all those who prepared to undertake attacks against PA officials would be arrested.

"These directives, and these intended attacks are aimed only at thwarting dialogue on 7 July, and that indicates Hamas is not ready to sign agreement in Cairo," Abdul Rahim added. He threatened to reveal the details of these Hamas plans to the public if that would be a necessity.

Abdul Rahim also said that concerned Arab states' leaders had been updated on the details of the newly revealed Hamas plots.

The Palestinian presidency secretary-general reiterated that Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip had detained about 100 Fatah affiliates including members of the movement's Revolutionary Council as well as regional leaders. He also mentioned that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas gave directives to release 100 Hamas-affiliated detainees in the West Bank.

Sarkozy vraagt Netanjahoe om Lieberman te ontslaan

 

Sarkozy's advies is zo slecht nog niet, maar het is natuurlijk nogal arrogant en not-done om de premier van een soeverein land een dergelijk advies te geven. Wanneer Lieberman Frankrijk op grove wijze had beledigd was het misschien nog begrijpelijk geweest, maar nu is het vooral een uiting van misplaatste Franse arrogantie. Sarkozy praat ongetwijfeld met meer mensen die z'n type niet helemaal zijn of die een ander beleid voorstaan, en dat hoort bij zijn ambt. Dat hij Lieberman zo openlijk afkeurt en beledigt, getuigt van weinig respect voor Israel.  

 

RP

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

Sarkozy urges Netanyahu: Get rid of Lieberman
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Last update - 21:54 29/06/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096504.html

 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "get rid" of hard-line Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Channel Two reported on Monday.

The Foreign Ministry responded to the report by lambasting the French leader for his "intolerable intervention in internal Israeli affairs."

Sarkozy spent a good portion of his meeting with Netanyahu last Wednesday discussing the composition of the Israeli official, according to the report. The presence of three other Israeli officials at the meeting did not deter the French leader from expressing his true opinion of the foreign minister, said Channel Two.

The French president reportedly told Netanyahu that while he usually scheduled talks with Israel's top foreign envoys on visit to Paris he could not bring himself to meet with Lieberman. According to Channel Two, this statement was accompanied by disparaging hand gestures.

Sarkozy then advised Netanyahu to fire Lieberman and bring former foreign minister Tzipi Livni back into the coalition, according to the report. Netanyahu reportedly told Sarkozy that Lieberman came across differently in private than his public appearances would suggest.

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen also comes across as a nice person in private, Sarkozy reportedly responded, to which Netanyahu replied that Lieberman was not Le Pen and that there was no basis for comparison. Sarkozy then responded that he did not intend to compare.

Hamas zal brief aan Shalit geven 'als hij de oorlog heeft overleefd'

 

Hamas houdt één Israelische soldaat gevangen, en Israel is bereid in ruil voor hem honderden tot meer dan duizend Palestijnse gevangenen vrij te laten. Natuurlijk weet Hamas of Shalit nog leeft of niet. Hij wordt, zoals men zelf zegt, zwaar bewaakt, hij krijgt, naar we mogen aannemen, als hij nog leeft dagelijks te eten en te drinken, en men weet dat hij levend veel meer waard is dan dood. Vanwaar die recente geheimzinnigheid? Zit er meer achter of is het slechts sadisme? Denkt men zo uiteindelijk een hogere prijs voor hem te kunnen krijgen?

Hoe zou de wereld reageren als Israel zou zeggen dat Palestijnen die het gevangen houdt, wellicht niet meer leven omdat ze de laatste Qassam aanval mogelijk niet hebben overleefd?

RP

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

 

Hamas to deliver letter to Shalit, 'if he survived the war'
Date: 29 / 06 / 2009  Time:  12:45
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38889


Gaza - Ma'an - Hamas leader Osama Al-Mazini promised on Monday to deliver a letter from the family of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit if the prisoner survived Israel's assault on Gaza last winter.

"Hamas received the letter and promised to send it to the relevant persons. If he is alive it will reach him, but if he is dead it won't reach him because we actually don't know if he is still alive after the Gaza war," he said.

Former US President Jimmy Carter had delivered a letter from the family of the captured soldier to Hamas officials in Gaza earlier this month, in an attempt to restart failing negotiations over his fate and the fate of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

"Carter asked for a confirmation from us and we replied that we don't know the real fact about whether he is dead or alive after Gaza's war," Al-Mazini added.

Meanwhile, the Hamas official noted that Shalit's location is an extremely guarded secret, and that Israel "doesn't know where [Shalit] is in spite of its spies," adding that recent reports that Israel does not know whether the soldier is alive is true, "not a media speech."

Regardless, the official said that there has been little progress on the soldier's case, but that in the first year of Shalit's detainment, there were understandings reached with Israel. Am-Mazini said that such negotiations ended with the administration of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who left office earlier this year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government hasn't submitted anything yet, and all that has been reported in the media are "test balloons," the official added, referring to a number of Israeli and Palestinian reports that a release and prisoner swap were imminent.

Al-Mazini added that choosing Egypt as a mediator was Israel's choice, apparently because Israel, publicly, says it does not negotiate with Hamas, which it considers a "terrorist" organization.

He also said that Israel has agreed not to rearrest anyone freed in the deal, but that there were no guarantees the country's military would not attempt to assassinate them later.

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Oorlogsmisdaden Gaza (video voor rechter Goldstone)

 

Maurice Ostroff - een Israëlische Jood die in Zuid-Afrika is geboren en opgegroeid - richt zich in onderstaande video tot zijn voormalige landgenoot, de (eveneens Joodse)rechter Richard Goldstone die een VN onderzoek leidt naar beschuldigingen van oorlogsmisdaden tijdens de recente Gaza Oorlog. Zowel de dreiging van de Qassam raketten uit de Gazastrook als de haat-indoctrinatie van jonge kinderen door Hamas komen hierin aan de orde.

 

Deze video is ook te vinden op YouTube:

Gaza War Crimes Memorandum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx-CW3UKoIg

 

 

 

 

VS en EU willen Hamas in vredesproces betrekken

 

Baker noted that it is impossible to make peace with people if you are unwilling to talk with them.

 

Nou, het valt ook vies tegen om vrede te sluiten met mensen die je naar de andere wereld willen helpen, en die roepen naar iedereen die het wil horen dat ze geen vrede en geen onderhandelingen met je willen. Als Hamas tot vrede bereid zou zijn, laat ze dan eerst maar eens Israel erkennen, de eerdere overeenkomsten van de PA ermee aanvaarden en zich bereid verklaren de wapens neer te leggen. Het zou zeer schadelijk zijn als de EU en VS die voorwaarden zouden laten vallen.

 

Wouter

_______________
 

U.S., EU seek to include Hamas in peace process
By Akiva Eldar

Haaretz - 28 June 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096045.html

 

The American government and the European Union are making efforts to include Hamas in a broader diplomatic effort that would include a long-term cease-fire with Israel, reconciliation among Palestinian factions and support for renewed negotiations with Israel on the basis of the Arab peace initiative.

A deal is reportedly being formulated for the transfer of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to Egypt, under the assumption that this would encourage Israel to agree to a deal with Hamas that would include the release of Palestinian prisoners and opening border crossings. A European diplomatic source told Haaretz yesterday that talks about manifesting the deal were held secretly until late last week, and only four persons were privy to the details of the talks. Israel was not a party to the effort.

Last week Israeli sources denied knowledge of any developments or plans to transfer Shalit to Egypt, a matter that Arab, and particularly Palestinian sources, gave much attention to in their reports. Israel has downplayed reports of a pending breakthrough in the Shalit case, and Israeli officials urged caution and noted that Shalit's release has been undermined in the past by too many public statements.

According to the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al-Hayat reporting from Damascus, a U.S. official visiting Syria two weeks ago said that "the Hamas leadership has recently made important and interesting statements." The official added that the U.S. is following the Hamas stance and hopes that the group will alter its views and adopt a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, four senior Republican and Democratic figures, including former president Jimmy Carter and former secretary of state James Baker, called on President Barack Obama to initiate a dialogue with Hamas without delay. Speaking during interviews organized by the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Baker said that just like the U.S. found a way to begin dialogue with the PLO, it must do so with Hamas. Baker noted that it is impossible to make peace with people if you are unwilling to talk with them.

Former national security adviser under President George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, said that if the peace process moves forward, the U.S. will urge Hamas to become part of it in order to avoid isolation.

The elder statesmen expressed their full support for the Obama administration's policies in the Middle East, and agreed that the peace process will not be able to move forward without active American involvement on all levels of negotiations. They also said that an end to Arab-Israeli hostilities is essential for achieving the strategic goals of the U.S. in the Middle East.

Tijdelijke bevriezing nederzettingenbouw in de maak

 

In an effort to placate the Obama administration on the issue of settlements, Barak is mulling a proposal whereby the Israeli government would pledge to a temporary, three-month halt to construction in all West Bank settlements, Army Radio reported on Sunday.

 

Dat klinkt goed. Dan heeft Obama drie maanden de tijd om de Palestijnen aan te zetten tot een serieuze tegen-concessie. Lukt dat, dan moet Israel de maatregel haast wel verlengen, en zouden beide partijen weer serieus kunnen gaan onderhandelen, en zou een stapje zijn gezet op weg naar vrede. Lukt het niet, dan is duidelijk dat de nederzettingen niet het enige of grootste struikelblok zijn, en ook meer druk op de Palestijnen nodig is om tot vrede te komen.

 

RP

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

 

Netanyahu: EU receptive to Israel stance on Palestinian statehood
Haaretz - 28 June 2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096158.html

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the European heads of state with whom he met last week were receptive to Israel's new position on Palestinian statehood.

 

"I found a receptive ear in Europe to the principles that we presented for the diplomatic process with the Palestinians," said Netanyahu at the start of Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

 

He listed the principles as, "The recognition of a Jewish state, demilitarizing a Palestinian state, and recognition that any agreement signed will be the end of the conflict and an end to demands [of Israel]."
 
Netanyahu said that these principles garner widespread public support. "I call on the opposition to declare its support for these ideas," he said.

 

On Wednesday, the prime minister said his proposal for a demilitarized Palestinian state was gaining international ground and was the only solution for Middle East peace.

 

"The idea of a demilitarized state will in course become accepted," Netanyahu said after meeting the leaders of France and Italy.

 

"If it is not accepted, there will not be an agreement," he told following his meeting in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "It cannot be that there is a Palestinian state and the struggle will continue within it."

 

Sarkozy, meanwhile, said that Israel must take immediate confidence-building measures for Middle East peace, including a complete freeze of construction in West Bank settlements.

 

The French leader told reporters after his meeting with Netanyahu that Israel must also work to improve freedom of movement for Palestinians in the West Bank.

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the cabinet on Sunday that Israel places "great importance" on reaching an understanding with the Obama administration on the issue of construction in West Bank settlements.

 

Commenting on the possibility of a temporary freeze in settlement construction, Barak said the matter has yet to be fully formulated.

 

"The subject of settlements is just part of a wide range of topics of conversation with the Americans," Barak said on Sunday.

 

Barak will travel to the United States on Monday for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell.

 

In an effort to placate the Obama administration on the issue of settlements, Barak is mulling a proposal whereby the Israeli government would pledge to a temporary, three-month halt to construction in all West Bank settlements, Army Radio reported on Sunday.

 

Mitchell was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris last week, although the meeting was put off reportedly due to the remaining gaps that separate Jerusalem and Washington on the subject of "natural growth."

 

Israel seeks American approval to continued construction within the existing municipal boundaries of West Bank settlements in order to accommodate the growing population within the communities, a stance that Washington rejects.

 

The reported proposal would make an exception for some 200 structures which are current in advanced stages of construction, according to Army Radio.

 

The offer of a temporary freeze is intended to gauge the Palestinian response and to determine whether the Americans are willing to consider the proposal.

 

The cabinet will discuss Barak's upcoming trip to Washington during its weekly meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday.

 

Netanjahoe's rookgordijnen rond de nederzettingenbouw

 

Gorenberg heeft gelijk waar hij een aantal argumenten van Netanjahoe tegen de bevriezing van nederzettingen onkracht, maar hij vergeet dat het de vraag is wat een dergelijke toch vrij vergaande eenzijdige concessie Israel oplevert. Niet alleen zou zo'n bouwstop tijdelijk moeten zijn, zij zou ook samen moeten gaan met Palestijnse concessies zoals opgeven van het recht op terugkeer van de vluchtelingen, erkenning van Israel als Joodse staat of een einde aan de opruiing in door de Palestijnse Autoriteit gecontroleerde media. Zo geven beide partijen een duidelijk signaal van goede wil af aan de ander, en dat verhoogt de steun aan beide kanten voor de eigen concessies. Daarnaast is het natuurlijk de vraag of Jeruzalem wel of niet onder zo'n bouwstop moet vallen. Onder de bouwstop die Rabin indertijd instelde viel het er niet onder, en van Netanjahoe een verdergaande stap te verwachten is niet erg realistisch, ook niet in een eventuele toekomstige coalitie met Kadima. Waarbij dan wel weer aangetekend moet worden dat de grenzen van de gemeente Jeruzalem nogal zijn opgerekt en nieuwe grootschalige projecten die buiten de oude gemeentegrenzen liggen wel onder een bouwstop zouden moeten vallen.

 

RP

-----------

Netanyahu's Settlement Smoke Screens

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062602770_pf.html

By Gershom Gorenberg
Saturday, June 27, 2009

 

 

JERUSALEM -- It has become a fixed feature in the Israeli media, almost like the weather forecast. Nearly every day come reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government is on the verge of a deal with President Obama to avoid a full freeze on construction in West Bank settlements. The sources are normally Israeli government officials, with an occasional American source speaking very far off the record.

 

What changes from one rumor to the next is the reason that the Obama administration has purportedly decided to let the concrete mixers keep churning: One day it's that Netanyahu has explained that he can't legally stop construction underway. The next day, he has persuaded Washington to accept "natural growth" of existing settlements or explained that his coalition will fall if he stops building. Together, these reasons are about as substantial as smoke, and if U.S. policymakers have done their homework, they know it.

 

Take the claim that the Israeli government doesn't have the legal power to stop construction once it has signed contracts with builders, or after buyers have put down money for homes. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly made that case to American envoy George Mitchell this month. But under Israeli Supreme Court precedents, the government's authority to set policy in territory under "belligerent occupation" (the court's terminology) trumps the interests of settlers and Israeli companies.

 

In 1992, the government of Yitzhak Rabin imposed a partial construction freeze in the West Bank. In two rulings, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected challenges to the freeze by developers and the municipal governments of settlements. The court eliminated any doubts left by those decisions with a far-reaching ruling in 2005, when it upheld the authority of the government and parliament to evacuate settlers from their homes in the Gaza Strip.

 

Achieving goals such as "peace, security, [and] international recognition" justified harming settlers' property rights and civil rights as long as they received financial compensation, Israel's highest court held. Let's be logical. If, for reasons of state, the court allowed the government to remove settlers from homes where they had lived for years, it would allow the state to prevent Israelis from completing homes where they haven't yet chosen the kitchen tiles. The only legal question would be how much compensation developers and buyers would receive. Netanyahu's reported assertion that he's hamstrung comes down to a hope that no one in Washington checks Israeli legal history.

 

Another claim is that the major building projects are in "settlement blocs" that are sure to remain in Israeli hands after a peace agreement. The term "blocs" refers loosely to clusters of large communities, most close to the pre-1967 border -- the Ma'aleh Adumim region east of Jerusalem, for instance. But the precise area of the blocs has never been defined. More important, Israel and the Palestinians have yet to reach an agreement on future borders. Lack of certainty about the blocs' future and their size is exactly the reason that the Israeli government continues to promote the blocs' expansion. As always, the purpose of settlement is to create a large enough Israeli presence that evacuation will seem impossible.

 

The argument that allowance must be made for "natural growth" of settlements is equally specious. Supposedly, building is needed to accommodate growing families and the adult children of settlers. But the alternative is obvious: Settlers have the option of moving into Israel proper; so do their children. In reality, migration has consistently flowed the opposite way, with the government's help.

 

As for Netanyahu's coalition -- yes, it could crack if he stops settlement expansion and his endorsement of a Palestinian state shifts from lip service to a diplomatic strategy. But Netanyahu's hard-right coalition is his choice. His Likud Party won fewer votes in the last election than Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party. Coalition talks with Livni collapsed over Netanyahu's unwillingness to pursue a two-state solution.

 

Netanyahu could still change his mind. In a multi-party parliamentary democracy, reshuffling a coalition is politics as usual. Livni would also resist an open-ended settlement freeze. But since her goal is to pursue the diplomatic process, she'd have an easier time agreeing to a defined moratorium -- allowing time for talks to proceed. A new coalition would be no less democratically chosen and would be more capable of pursuing peace. Netanyahu resists such a change for the same reason that he wants to expand settlements. He remains an ideological hard-liner, committed to keeping the maximum amount of land under Israeli rule.

 

All pretexts aside, Netanyahu agrees with Obama on this much: Building settlements stands in the way of an Israeli pullback and an agreement based on two states. They disagree on whether that's good or bad.

 

Amid all the rumors, the real question is whether the Obama administration will blink first or stand firm on a freeze as an essential step toward making peace.

 

=========

Gershom Gorenberg is the author of "The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977" and a senior correspondent for the American Prospect. He blogs at http://SouthJerusalem.com.

 

 

Hamas zegt niet te weten of Shalit nog leeft

 

Ook Hamas beheerst de 'kunst' van het manipuleren en marchanderen met de meest heftige emoties en gevoelens van een mens: de angst of een naaste nog in leven is en hoe hij of zij het maakt. Israel zou de onderhandelingen onmiddelijk moeten stoppen, en wellicht zelfs Hamas posities gaan bombarderen totdat Hamas met een bewijs komt of Shalit nog in leven is of niet. Wat dit laag bij de grondse gemanipuleer betreft past maar één antwoord, namelijk een duidelijke grens stellen en laten zien dat je niet met je laat sollen. Misschien dat Carter, VN onderzoeker Goldstone, en Human Rights Watch en Amnesty zich hier ook eens over uit kunnen spreken.

 

RP

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

 

[Google translation]

Hamas does not confirm status of kidnapped Israeli soldier
June 25, 2009 . 09h34 to 09h46 . updated
Terra Networks Brasil S.A
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnoticias.terra.com.br%2Fmundo%2Finterna%2F0%2C%2COI3843053-EI308%2C00-Hamas%2Bnao%2Bconfirma%2Bestado%2Bde%2Bsoldado%2Bisraelense%2Bsequestrado.html&sl=pt&tl=en&history_state0=

The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas announced that it can not confirm nor deny whether the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped in Gaza is alive.

"The insane war in Gaza destroyed everything, so we do not know if Shalit is alive or dead," Osama al-Muzaini, a Hamas official authorized to speak about the case, told the press today.

Today three years are completed after the capture of Shalit in a raid by a Palestinian militia on an observation post near the Israeli border with Gaza.

Although the couple has sent three letters and a video to your family, since mid last year his health status is unknown.

Muzaini said that in any case, Israel should continue with negotiations to exchange Shalit for Palestinian prisoners and other Arabs.

"The Zionist enemy should follow the negotiations without any sign that confirms or denies if he is alive or dead," he added.

In the last three years Israel and Hamas negotiated with the mediation of Egypt to achieve an exchange that ended up not finding the differences on the amount involved in the negotiations.

The father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, his brother and several human rights organizations, today asked the governments of Israel and Gaza to their release.

"My call today is that every citizen, man or woman, young or old, closed his eyes for three minutes, so try to imagine my son Gilad is ticking," said Noam Shalit, father of the military, in statements to a local radio station.

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Blair optimistisch over vredeskansen met Netanjahoe

 

Alleen Nixon kon naar China gaan, werd gezegd. Alleen Begin kon vrede sluiten met Egypte en de Sinai opgeven, en alleen Sharon kon de Gazastrook ontruimen?

 

De gedachte is dat juist een rechtse regering deze stappen kan zetten omdat zij geen felle tegenstand ontmoet, de linkse oppositie is er immers ook voor. Toen Rabin en Barak concessies deden schreeuwde rechts moord, brand en 'verraad'. Zelf aan de macht, werd rechts ook gedwongen tot concessies, onder vooral Amerikaanse druk. Ik geloof niet dat Netanjahoe happig is op een vredesdeal, maar de voornaamste oppositie zou daarbij uit eigen gelederen komen, en uit de religieuze kolonistenbeweging natuurlijk.

 

Wouter

____________

Last update - 00:08 27/06/2009       
Blair: Netanyahu election could be a blessing
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1095913.html

 

 

Mideast envoy Tony Blair said on Friday that said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be in a strong domestic position to deliver concessions for peace, if he was willing to do so.

 

"I hope and believe Prime Minister Netanyahu is sincere about wanting a Palestine state and wanting to help create one. If he is, he could be in a strong position to deliver it," Blair said.

 

Blair, former U.K. prime minister and currently the regional mediator for the Middle East peace Quartet that groups the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, a deal on a two-state solution in Palestine could be within reach if Israel compromises on issues such as halting settlement expansion.
 
A statement from the Quartet, which met on the sidelines of a G8 foreign ministers' meeting in northern Italy, called for Israel to halt all settlement activities and for Palestinians to combat violent extremism.

 

"There is a virtual consensus across the international community not just as to what needs to happen, but how...which was not the case a couple of years ago," Blair told Reuters.

 

"If Israel were to join that, we could get an agreement and an agreement in my view that protects completely the state of Israel."

 

Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians could resume soon, Blair said, but the process was at a delicate stage as foreign powers stepped up calls on Jerusalem to ensure a Palestinian state would not be undermined by settlements.

 

In a statement on Friday, G8 ministers urged Israel to halt the expansion of settlements, echoing a recent call from U.S. President Barack Obama after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington earlier this month.

 

Netanyahu heads a right-leaning coalition that could be fractured if he agreed to a settlement halt.

 

"The advent of the Obama administration has given a new sense of energy and commitment and to a certain extent hope... However, the challenges are still there," Blair said.

 

Before political negotiations on a two-state deal could begin, progress was needed on the ground such as the reopening of the Gaza Strip and the release of an Israeli soldier captured there three years ago by militant group Hamas, Gilad Shalit.

 

Gaza has been under blockade since Hamas seized power there two years ago in fighting with Fatah-led forces.

 

Hamas, shunned by the West for refusing to recognize Israel or to renounce violence, had won an election a year earlier.

 

A statement by the Quartet on Friday called for a halt to all violence and arms trafficking in Gaza and the reopening of all crossing points.

 

Blair said Netanyahu's election this year could prove a blessing, as his hardline government could have the domestic support to make concessions.

 

The world's richest nations earlier on Friday called on Israel to halt construction in West Bank settlements, including that which Jerusalem seeks to pursue to accomodate natural growth.

 

U.S. envoy George Mitchell told a news conference after the Quartet meeting in Italy that the United States hoped Israelis and Palestinians would soon begin "meaningful and productive" peace negotiations.

 

"We believe we are making progress in these efforts and we hope very much to conclude this phase of the discussions and to be able to move into meaningful and productive negotiations in the near future," he said.

 

"We are now trying very hard to seize the very favorably created political atmosphere, of Obama's election to push the peace process forward," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the conference.

 

The Group of Eight powers also deplored violence in Iran after its disputed election on Friday and urged Tehran to settle the crisis soon through democratic dialogue, according to the final draft statement seen by Reuters.

 

"We deplore post-electoral violence which led to the loss of lives of Iranian civilians and urge Iran to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression...," G8 foreign ministers said in the statement.

 

On the Middle East, the G8 called on all parties to "re-enter direct negotiations on all standing issues consistent with the roadmap" and it called for a freeze in Jewish settlement construction on the occupied West Bank.

 

"We also call on both parties to fulfil their obligations under the road map, including a freeze in settlement activity (as well as their 'natural growth') and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism," the statement read.

 

"We call on all parties to re-enter direct negotiations on all standing issues consistent with the road map, the relevant UNSC resolutions and the Madrid principles..."

 

 

Palestijnse veiligheidsdiensten kunnen nu ook 's nachts opereren in steden

 

Weer in een kleine verbetering voor de Palestijnse zelfstandigheid. Het wordt tijd voor een overzicht van de ontwikkelingen van de laatste jaren op het gebied van de PA autonomie en het verwijderen van wegversperringen en checkpoints, want in media en opiniestukken lijkt vaak verwezen te worden naar een situatie die inmiddels achterhaald is.

 

Wouter

________________

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:  Until now there were limits on the movement of PA security forces in the evening so that they would not clash with Israeli security forces operating in the area.]
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IDF Spokesperson

June 25th, 2009

Palestinians Security Forces Able to Operate Freely in Major Palestinian Cities

As of today, Palestinian security forces will be able to extend their hours of operation in the cities of Ramallah, Qalqilya, Bethlehem and Jericho, in order to better deal with criminal activity and maintain public order in the cities.

The decision follows a coordination meeting that took place yesterday in Bethlehem, between commander of the IDF Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Noam Tibon, head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen.Yoav Mordechay and the heads of the Palestinian security forces.

The IDF wishes to clarify that the responsibility for maintaining security in the region has not been transferred from the IDF, and that the IDF will continue to operate within Judea and Samaria in order to thwart terrorist operations.

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Iraanse dissident vraagt Israel om hulp

 

Volgens onderstaand artikel zijn er al zeker 500 Iraniërs gedood en 5.000 gewond geraakt door de politie en regeringsmilities als de Basij, en zijn veel van de Basij Arabieren.

 

As for the basijis themselves, Imani reported, many of them are Lebanese and Palestinian Authority Arabs hired by the regime to do its bidding. Iranians reportedly captured seven basijis who spoke no Persian, only Arabic. According to Imani, 10,000 more Arab hired guns arrived in Tehran to serve the mullah-led regime.

 

Het is moeilijk te beoordelen hoe betrouwbaar deze informatie is, en ik geloof ook niet dat veel Iraniërs nou om Israëlische hulp staan te springen, zoals deze blogger suggereert. De meesten hebben geleerd Israël en de VS te haten, en willen de toon wellicht wat gematigder dan die van Achmadinejad, maar zien Israël zeker niet als een vriendschappelijk land.

 

RP

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

 

Iranian dissidents ask for Israeli help

 

Iranian Dissident: Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters - Help Us!

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132073

"Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful. Please help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. There is a total media blackout and Iranians inside Iran for the most part are not aware of their brave brothers and sisters fighting and losing their lives daily. And the unjust treatment and brutal massacre of the brave Iranians in the hands of the mullah's paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs are not seen by the majority of the Iranians. Please help in any way you can to allow these stations resume broadcasting to Iran.

"And, please remember that we will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need," Irandoost concludes, signing his blogged call for help "Your Iranian Brothers and Sisters!"

In an interview with Israel National News, Iranian expatriate pro-democracy activist Amil Imani said that Irandoost's message represents the sentiments of much of the youth in the streets in Iran. They have a strong belief in the technological know-how of the Israelis to overcome the Iranian regime's attempts to block communications.

"This is going to be the most massive, impressive revolution of the 21st century," Imani said, "and we're seeing it live." However, he added, it is now too dependent on Internet communications, so the protesters are very much in need of outside assistance to fight the technological and information war.

More generally, Imani said, the Iranian people are lionizing any leader of any nation who comes out strongly against the Islamic Republic at this time.

According to Imani, at least 500 people have been killed by Iranian government forces, with another 5,000 injured. But the hospitals are no longer safe, he added, as the gunmen from the basiji militia enter the emergency wards looking for wounded protesters. Therefore, Imani said, sympathetic doctors have taken to treating the wounded wherever they can, including in private homes.

Even outside Iran, tens of thousands of protesters are out in the streets every day, especially in the United States and Europe. Imani said he thinks the phenomenon represents unprecedented unity in the Iranian expatriate community.

As for the basijis themselves, Imani reported, many of them are Lebanese and Palestinian Authority Arabs hired by the regime to do its bidding. Iranians reportedly captured seven basijis who spoke no Persian, only Arabic. According to Imani, 10,000 more Arab hired guns arrived in Tehran to serve the mullah-led regime.

But they are not the only ones thinking about guns at this point. Some Iranian protesters, Imani reported, have taken to threatening their oppressors, "God have mercy on you if we decide to [take up] arms!" 

"There is no turning back," Imani concluded.

 

Gilad Shalit binnenkort vrij?

 

Nieuwe berichten over een aanstaande vrijlating van IDF soldaat Gilad Shalit, na 3 jaar in handen van Hamas te zijn geweest. Europese en Arabische bronnen maken er melding van, maar Israel bevestigt het nog niet en Hamas ontkent het. Ik geloof het pas als ik het zie...

 

Wouter

_____________

 

 

New U.S. initiative to free Shalit underway
By Akiva Eldar and Avi Issacharoff , Haaretz Correspondents, and AP

Last update - 03:31 26/06/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1095663.html

 

Abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will be transferred to Egypt within a few days as part of a prisoner-exchange deal with Hamas, European diplomatic sources said Thursday.

The move is part of a new United States initiative that includes Egyptian and Syrian pressure on Hamas, internal Palestinian reconciliation and Israel's opening of the Gaza crossings.

A reliable European source said this Egyptian-brokered agreement was reached two days ago. A Palestinian source confirmed the report last night but officials in Jerusalem denied any knowledge of it.

The idea to transfer Shalit to Egypt in exchange for the release of Palestinian women, teens, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians being held in Israeli prisons was raised about a year ago during a visit by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter to Damascus, Jerusalem and Gaza. Apparently Carter raised it again on his visit earlier this month, during which he met Noam Shalit, Gilad's father.

According to the plan Shalit will be entrusted to Egyptian intelligence, and his parents will be allowed to visit him. He will be returned to Israel after an agreement is reached regarding the list of Hamas prisoners to be released that was previously submitted to the cabinet.

An Egyptian source close to the developments told Haaretz that Hamas is insisting that Israel release prisoners with "blood on their hands" as approved by the cabinet under former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel this week freed Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Sheikh Aziz Dweik after three years in prison. Dweik, a leader of Hamas in the West Bank, espouses a moderate line in the organization.

The European source said Shalit's transfer to Egypt was the first stage of the Egyptian-brokered agreement hammered out between Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions, in coordination with the U.S. and with Syria's support.

The deal would put the Gaza Strip under the leadership of a joint committee subordinate to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, removing it from the control of the government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

On Tuesday Palestinian news agency Maan quoted Egyptian sources as saying that Shalit was to be transferred from the Gaza Strip into Egypt within hours, a report that Israeli sources denied.

Shalit was abducted in a cross-border raid by Gaza militants on June 25, 2006.

The leader of Hamas said yesterday he welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama's new approach to the Middle East, but is waiting to see action.

In a televised speech Hamas chief Khaled Meshal pointedly avoided any mention of the recent turmoil in Iran, even though Hamas is backed by the Tehran regime.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, has increasingly tried to reach out to the Obama administration in recent weeks. The militants are trying to bring an end to an international boycott of Hamas and a two-year border closure of Gaza.

Meshal said the only way for Israel to win Shalit's release is by striking "a full deal," and not "the way of obduracy" which he claims was characteristic of Olmert.

Noam Shalit urged Israelis yesterday to think of his son's plight in Hamas captivity.

"My request today, June 25, 2009, is for every person in the country, man and woman, young and old, to close their eyes for three minutes. Three minutes only, and to wait until these minutes are over, and in this time for everyone to try to think of what my son Gilad is going through," Noam Shalit told Army Radio.

In the radio interview, Noam Shalit described his son as "a young man who is waiting with bated breath, not only for three minutes, and not only for three hours and not even for three days; but waiting in darkness and despair, suffering physically and mentally, for the freedom that was taken from him three years ago."