The United States & World Media barely touches Epstein links with Israeli intelligence 13 Aug 11:00 AM (2 months ago)
Absent from US news coverage of US President Donald Trump’s waffling over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is any mention of the child sex predator’s apparent ties to Israeli intelligence.
A 13 July Nexis search of US news outlets found that, of the 383 stories unleashed by Trump’s broken promise to reveal everything Epstein, only a single article broached ties between Epstein and Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad – and then tried to undercut it.
The Epstein-Israeli intelligence connection was covered extensively in a 2019-2021 series of in-depth articles by MintPress News.
MintPress investigative reporter Whitney Webb summarized an interview by former CBS News executive producer and Narativ investigative journalist Zev Shalev with former senior executive for Israel’s Directorate of Military Intelligence Ari Ben-Menashe. There, Webb summed up, Ben-Menashe claimed “not only to have met Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, back in the 1980s, but that both Epstein and Maxwell were already working with Israeli intelligence during that time period.”
Ben-Menashe also told Shalev he saw Jeffrey Epstein in the office of Mossad asset Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, several times in the 1980s.
MintPress further reported that one of Epstein’s chief financial backers, Victoria’s Secret owner Les Wexner, was part of The Mega Group – a secretive group of billionaires formed in 1991 by Wexner and Seagram’s heir Charles Bronfman focused on “philanthropy and Jewishness,” its mission described by one member as faith in and devotion to the state of Israel.
Wexner became Epstein’s biggest financial client in 1989, handing over the financial management of his $1.4 billion business and his charitable foundation to a young man virtually unknown on Wall Street. By also granting him power of attorney, Epstein was authorized to cash Wexner’s checks and give away his money.
Among more mainstream journalists, Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown, whose vigilance reopened the Epstein case after it was buried by federal prosecutors in 2008, also suspects that Epstein had connections with Israeli intelligence.
“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Epstein had connections to the [Israeli intelligence community],” Brown said in a July 2021 interview with The Times of Israel to promote her book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story. “Robert Maxwell certainly had those kinds of connections, and Epstein had a close relationship with Robert Maxwell.”
Maxwell is the British media mogul who had secretly worked for Mossad before drowning under mysterious circumstances in 1991. A 2022 BBC documentary series, House of Maxwell, revealed how Epstein helped Maxwell hide millions of his assets in offshore accounts after the newspaper tycoon was accused of plundering his employees’ pension funds.
Ultimately, more than a billion dollars was found missing from the Maxwell firms.
Epstein and associate Ghislaine Maxwell, the youngest of Robert Maxwell’s nine children and reportedly his favorite, recruited and trafficked underage girls who were sexually abused by Epstein and, it is contended, at least by some of the many powerful individuals he made a point of meeting and catering to.
In 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, Epstein, 66, was found hanged in his cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. His death was ruled a suicide, a finding that is now backed by the Trump administration to the outrage of Trump’s MAGA base.
But those close to the case, including Brown and Epstein’s brother Mark, believe he was murdered. Mark Epstein has pointed to a mark embedded in Epstein’s neck as evidence of strangulation.
He also hired a private pathologist, Michael Baden, to conduct his own autopsy of his brother. Baden found broken bones in Epstein’s neck that occur “much more commonly in homicidal strangulation.”
Suspicious, too, is that the two prison guards keeping suicide watch over Epstein happened to fall asleep during their scheduled checks that night while, at the same time, the two cameras outside Epstein’s cell were not functioning, according to a 2023 report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.
The report cited “a combination of negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures … contributed to an environment in which arguably one of the most notorious inmates … was left unmonitored and alone in his cell.”
To back up the official argument for Epstein’s suicide, US Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier in July released footage from cameras covering the common areas, stairwells and elevator bay leading to Epstein’s cell tier. Federal investigators say the footage is proof no one entered or left Epstein’s tier overnight.
An analysis by WIRED and independent experts, however, found the “raw” footage had been modified with a professional editing tool prior to its release. The experts also discovered nearly three minutes of missing footage from the recordings before midnight on the night of Epstein’s death.
A Who’s Who
Even if there is no missing footage, Mark Epstein points out that the cell doors could have been left unlocked inside the tier so that another inmate could have left his cell, killed Epstein and returned undetected.
“There are two possibilities: one, somebody killed him before they locked up the tier. Or two, someone already on the tier went into his cell,” Epstein’s brother told WPBF News, a TV station in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Nobody coming in from outside doesn’t mean he wasn’t murdered.”
In her interview with The Times of Israel, Brown questioned Epstein’s suicide by asking the question many in the US media have ignored: “Why would Epstein give up before he even got to court?”
Indeed, Epstein had no trouble skirting a tough sentence the first time he was charged with child sex trafficking in 2005. In a plea agreement that avoided federal prosecution, Epstein served just 13 months in a work-release program on a single state charge of solicitation for prostitution.
The architect of that deal was then US Attorney Alexander Acosta, who was later named Labor Secretary in Trump’s first term.
Acosta reportedly told White House interviewers prior to his selection that he cut the deal with an Epstein attorney because “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone.” The source of the quote was a former White House staffer cited in a 2019 Daily Beast article by Vanity Fair journalist Vicky Ward.
As Epstein’s accomplice, socialite and heiress Ghislaine Maxwell is understood to have lured most of the girls for Epstein’s abuse with promises of easy money, modeling careers and educational assistance. She was nabbed after a year of eluding federal authorities and convicted in 2022 of recruiting, grooming and sex trafficking underage girls for Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in a low-security federal prison in Florida and won’t be eligible for release until July 2037. According to Trump biographer Michael Wolff, Trump considered a pardon for Maxwell near the end of his first term.
Hundreds of Epstein-related court documents released in 2024 don’t accuse anyone of sexual misconduct but list the names, dates and places of many of those who met with Epstein.
The list reads like a “Who’s Who” of America’s top politicians, businessmen, scientists, academics and assorted celebrities. It includes Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Michael Jackson, Bill Gates, David Copperfield, retail magnate Les Wexner, hedge fund billionaire Leon Black, celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Nobel prize-winning physicist Stephen Hawking, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Bard College President Leon Botstein, along with Britain’s Prince Andrew and many others.
Intelligence ties
As is often noted, Trump and Epstein were a jet-setting playboy duo for more than a decade until they had a “falling out” in 2004, just a year before the FBI began to investigate Epstein for child sex trafficking. As late as 2002, Trump told New York Magazine, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Epstein later claimed in an interview with Wolff that Trump first had sex with now-wife Melania on Epstein’s private jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” one of seven documented flights Trump took on the infamous private jet.
Epstein’s lavish lifestyle and his ties to suspected Mossad asset Robert Maxwell and at least one high Israeli official – former Israeli general, defense and prime minister Ehud Barak – have raised questions as to whether he was working for Israeli intelligence, including the military arm, Aman.
Epstein met with Barak on nearly a monthly basis – 36 times between 2013 and 2017. After one particular visit to Epstein’s luxury Manhattan apartment in 2017, Barak was spotted leaving the complex with his face covered to dodge surveillance cameras.
According to his former employees, his victims and a lawyer for the victims, Epstein had 24-hour security cameras in every room of his residences.
Epstein also knew former CIA director William Burns, when Burns was US Deputy Secretary of State under former US President Barack Obama. Epstein met with Burns three times in 2014. Burns was named CIA director in 2021.
The sex trafficker’s political influence goes back at least to the Clinton administration, says MintPress investigative reporter Whitney Webb in her recent book, One Nation Under Blackmail.
“White House visitor logs show that Epstein visited the Clinton White House 17 times, accompanied on most of these visits by a different, attractive young woman. Reporting on those visitor logs was largely done by a single media outlet, Britain’s The Daily Mail, with hardly any American mainstream media outlets bothering to investigate these revelations about Epstein and a former US president.”
Israel’s leverage
Flight logs show Bill Clinton traveled at least 17 times on the “Lolita Express.” There are also numerous reports that he visited Epstein’s private island in the Virgin Islands, Little Saint James. That’s where lawyers for Epstein’s victims say many of the worst crimes against underage girls were committed.
In a 2011 deposition for her attorneys, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who at age 16 became one of Epstein’s sex trafficking victims, testified that he told her he had “compromising” information on Bill Clinton and that the former president “owes me a favor.”
An earlier story for MintPress News illustrated Israel’s leverage over Clinton by citing his last-minute presidential pardon of Marc Rich, the commodities trader and hedge fund manager charged in 1983 for violating the US embargo on Iranian oil while dealing on Israel’s behalf.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Rich was friendly with prominent Israel politicians, including Barak, and often volunteered his services for Israeli intelligence.
In his presidential campaigns, Trump has repeatedly brought up Clinton’s association with Epstein, but only to suggest that Bill and Hillary were involved in Epstein’s death.
Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown deserves the credit for not letting the Epstein story die. After his plea deal in Florida on much-reduced charges in 2008 that otherwise could have put him in jail for up to 45 years, Epstein’s case would have been forgotten after his having served little more than a year in a cozy work-release program if Brown hadn’t pursued the story further.
In a three-part series of investigative articles in 2018, she exposed the manipulation and corruption of law enforcement officials resulting in Epstein’s secret plea on state rather than federal charges for a much softer prison sentence.
In her Times of Israel interview, Brown said there was a striking similarity between Epstein’s death in August 2019 and Robert Maxwell’s death in November 1991.
The 68-year-old media magnate was alleged to have drowned after falling from his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, near the Canary Islands. Spanish police insisted no foul play was suspected in Maxwell’s death, but rumors persist to this day.
Maxwell to Bondi
Suicide is one possible theory. Another is that Maxwell was assassinated.
Maxwell was mired in debt at the time and may have been trying to blackmail the agency to bail himself out, according to political and investigative journalist Gordon Thomas, author of Robert Maxwell, Israel’s Superspy: The Life and Murder of a Media Mogul.
After Maxwell’s death, Epstein ingratiated himself with members of the Maxwell family who had been left bankrupt and riddled with debt, Brown said in her Times of Israel interview. Epstein may have offered financial assistance to Robert Maxwell’s widow Elisabeth.
Ghislaine was likely aware of the many secrets her father took to the grave related to his life in politics, finance and espionage, Brown said.
Following his death, Maxwell was honored with a burial on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives – formally occupied territory – where members of the Israeli intelligence community as well as then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir attended his funeral.
“Shamir eulogized the British tycoon for the political connections he brought to Israel during the 1980s and for the money he invested in it,” reported The Times of Israel.
Brown believes the Epstein case is far from closed.
“[Epstein] did not do this alone,” she told The Times of Israel. “There were plenty of people that either knew about what Epstein was doing, or even participated in what he was doing. This was an international sex trafficking organization that was similar to an organized crime family – so it shouldn’t just end just with the prosecution of [Ghislaine Maxwell].”
But before Trump ordered her to release the transcript of Epstein’s grand jury testimony on 18 July – after his support base had started a petition demanding her resignation – US Attorney General Pam Bondi said there was nothing further to investigate in the Epstein case.
She was at least consistent. This was something she failed to do while she was attorney general in Florida two decades ago.
As Brown noted on her X account in February: “It’s interesting to note that Pam Bondi was Florida’s attorney general 2011-2019 – a period of time when Jeffrey Epstein’s plane records became public, victims’ lawsuits were filed and a lot of new evidence against Epstein surfaced. So, questions should be asked about why she didn’t take up the case – or launch a probe – when she was attorney general in Florida.”
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Did Israel lobby “bullying and threats” push Univ. of Southampton to cancel conference? 3 Apr 2015 9:28 AM (10 years ago)
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Organizers of an academic conference on Israel are proceeding with an urgent legal challenge after the UK’s University of Southampton today confirmed that it has canceled the event.
Ali Abunimah
As The Electronic Intifada reported on Tuesday, university officials told organizers that they intended to withdraw permission for the conference.
But the university did not publicly confirm the cancelation until today, when it issued astatement citing “the foreseeable risks to safety and public order at and near the conference venue” as a justification for shutting it down.
The conference, “International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism,” had been scheduled for 17-19 April.
Police: the university’s decision
“This was not an easy decision,” the university states, adding that it “was made on the basis of information from the police who say it is probable there will be a high number of demonstrators at the event, the consequences of which could lead to incidents of public disorder.”
But speaking to The Electronic Intifada today, a spokesperson for Hampshire police seemed to distance the force from the cancelation: “it’s very much a university decision … the decision to cancel the event is definitely the university’s decision.”
A statement posted on the Hampshire Constabulary website today in response to enquiries from The Electronic Intifada confirmed that the force had been asked by the university to “provide a view on security” for the conference.
Organizers have previously rejected such claims as a pretext for succumbing to intense political pressure from Israel lobby groups and their supporters in government.
“Bullying and threats”
A number of the university’s own faculty have publicly condemned the decision.
“It seems to me outrageous that you seem to have allowed the bullying and threats of the Israeli lobby to prevent the perfectly lawful and legitimate exercise of free speech and academic debate,” Professor David Gurham, director of research for the University of Southampton School of Law, wrote in a letter to the university’s vice chancellor Don Nutbeam.
“I understand that the police had reported that they would be perfectly able and willing to deal with any security concerns at the event: this ought to be good enough,” Gurham added.
A report in The Jewish Chronicle on Tuesday lent weight to organizers’ suspicions that concern for safety was an excuse.
Board of Deputies of British Jews president Vivian Wineman told the Chronicle that “When we had a meeting with the university vice-chancellor they said they would review it [the conference] on health and safety terms.”
“The two lines of attack possible were legal and health and safety and they were leaning on that one,” Wineman added.
The Board of Deputies is one of a number of Israel lobby groups that have lobbied for the conference to be canceled.
Legal challenge
Lawyers acting for the organizers are expected to file an application this week forjudicial review of the university’s decision.
In a statement posted today, conference organizers revealed that an internal appeal of the decision had been rejected by the vice chancellor, prompting them to take the battle to the courts.
“This decision by the university is wrong in law, wrong in morality and wrong for the University of Southampton in particular and for all academic spaces all over the country and the world generally,” the organizers say.
“We hope that immediate legal action will help save the reputation of the University which has sadly been thrown into serious doubt by this decision.”
Israel embassy welcomes cancelation
Sussex Friends of Israel and the Israeli embassy welcomed the university’s decision to suppress the conference.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews also welcomed the cancelation. “This conference was never about academic freedom. It represented the opposite of free speech,” the group told The Jewish Chronicle.
“It was to be an international gathering of anti-Zionists who were using the cover of a distinguished university to promote their view that there should never have been a Jewish state,” the Board of Deputies said. “Such events have no place at a reputable British university.”
Growing outcry
Meanwhile, there is a growing international outcry over what looks to many like yet another example of freedom of speech and academic freedom being suspended when it comes to the question of Palestine.
There are now almost seven thousand signatures on an online petition urging the university to “uphold free speech” and allow the conference to proceed.
More than 900 academics from all over the world have signed on to a statement in support of the conference.
A growing number of scholars have also written individual and group letters to Southampton protesting its decision.
The letters from academics – including those from Southampton itself, the University of London colleges Goldsmiths and SOAS, Irish professors with the group Academics for Palestine and others – have been posted online.
Iran nuclear deal and actions 3 Apr 2015 8:50 AM (10 years ago)
rapidly growing Palestine Museum of Natural History
(http://palestinenature.org). I am also traveling to France and Norway
next week and would love to connect with those in those countries.
We have several good news in the span of few days: the win of
Netanyahu (which will accelerate the end of the apartheid regime), the
Iran nuclear deal, the restructuring and maturing Palestinian
leadership inside 1948 areas (including a march from Naqab to
Jerusalem to recognize the "Unrecognized villages"), the foolishness
of Saudi Arabia and Egypt getting into a quagmire in Yemen (even
though Yemeni people suffer but they will win), the relief on not
having the wall plan approved in Beit Jala/Cremisan area (see below),
and Palestine joining the International Criminal Court (even though I
think PA political leaders do not have the spine to actually bring
cases before the court since they put themselves at the mercy of their
occupiers). Oppression though continues here with Israel destroying
home shooting unarmed civilians, and kidnapping our people (including
the honorable Khaleda Jarrar). Of all the new developments, I think
the Iran nuclear deal will prove to be game changing. Lifting the
sanctions on Iran and beginning to normalize relations has many
ramifications. I want to just address one of the most significant: it
proves to the subservient Arab leaders that standing up to Israel and
its lackeys in Washington is possible. Iranian economy was and
continues to be better than geographically and populationally similar
Egypt (subservient regime to Israel) even when the former was
subjected to various sanctions and restrictions for 36 years.
Scientifically Iran was able to publish nearly as much research as
highest four Arab countries combined in the last 20 years. And now as
sanctions are slowly lifted Iran will leap a generation ahead
economically, socially, and scientifically. The reason is rather
simple: Iran (while being restricted by an "Islamic Republic"
ideology) still has competitions for president and parliament and a
relatively open society with respect for minorities and that includes
people who speak Arabic or Hindi or Durzi or other languages not Farsi
(Arabs, etc), and people who are not Sh'ii Muslims (Sunni, Jews,
Christians, Yazidis, etc). I am hopeful the US does not get its arms
twisted to further follies by Israel/Zionists and actually caries
through on its commitment to slowly lift sanctions. If they do, I am
certain Iran will progress in more liberal fashion than any nearby
country (Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or Syria or even Turkey). My eyes
now are on Turkey and other countries with leaders who actually can
read the geopolitical landscape to adjust their positions accordingly.
Perhaps Turkey, and Iran, joined by Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon can help
get rid of the Western created and backed fundamentalists and
democratize their own governments free from Israel/US interference.
There are monumental changes that are happening and the struggle is
not easy and maybe be bloody. The US and Europe can still get out of
this with minimal losses and really promote democracy and secularism
in the Western Asia and North Africa by abandoning their promotion of
sectarianism and violence. The biggest single step they can achieve
this is by applying sanction on Israel until it complies with
international law including the right of our Palestinian refugees to
return to their homes and lands. Israel must also end its 50+ racist
laws against non-Jews and hundreds of other laws/military orders that
discriminate against the 4.6 million Palestinians in the occupied
territories (occupied WB including Jerusalem and Gaza). In historic
Canaan/Land of Palestine we can then move to become a secular
democracy and a model for the other areas in the region. The injustice
to 12 million Palestinians remain the source of much (not all) of the
troubles dominating the news today and addressing it will show the
world that western power will indeed abandon their hypocrisy and
promote democracy and peace.
ACTION BDS: In support of CAPJPO-EuroPalestine campaign to urge FIFA
to suspend Israel from FIFA, please send a letter to FIFA president to
immediately expel the apartheid state of Israel from FIFA. Mandela,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the ex-government minister Ronnie
Kasrils, all of whom experienced the brutality of this regime, state
that Israeli apartheid is far worse than South African apartheid ever
was. Israel is guilty of far more serious crimes against humanity. For
further information: (French)
http://www.europalestine.com/
http://www.thenation.com/blog/
Did Israel lobby “bullying and threats” push Univ. of Southampton to
cancel conference?
http://electronicintifada.net/
organizer's response
http://freespeechsouthampton.
sign petition in support here:
https://www.change.org/p/the-
(case going to court)
Cremisan Monastery wins appeal in Israeli High Court: Route of Israeli
Wall must be changed
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Support Refugees in Egypt. Demand ending of repression
http://www.refugeesolidarity.
The Power of Israel over the United States
There are at least 52 major American Jewish organizations actively
engaged in promoting Israel’s foreign policy, economic and
technological agenda in the US
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2015/
and do come visit us in Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor and Director
PMNH
__._,_.___
Why is the U.S. okay with Israel having nuclear weapons but not Iran? 3 Apr 2015 7:15 AM (10 years ago)
Iranian officials sometimes respond to accusations that Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapons capability by replying that, not only do they not want a bomb, they'd actually like to see a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East. Yes, this is surely in part a deflection, meant to shift attention away from concerns about Iran's nuclear activities by not-so-subtly nodding to the one country in the region that does have nuclear weapons: Israel.
By Max Fisher
But could Iran have a point? Is there something hypocritical about the world tolerating Israel's nuclear arsenal, which the country does not officially acknowledge but has been publicly known for decades, and yet punishing Iran with severe economic sanctions just for its suspected steps toward a weapons program? Even Saudi Arabia, which sees Iran as its implacable enemy and made its accommodations with Israel long ago, often joins Tehran's calls for a "nuclear-free region." And anyone not closely versed in Middle East issues might naturally wonder why the United States would accept Israeli warheads but not an Iranian program.
"This issue comes up in every lecture I give," Joe Cirincione, president of the nuclear nonproliferation-focused Ploughshares Fund, told me. The suspicions that Israel gets special treatment because it's Israel, and that Western countries are unfairly hard on Israel's neighbors, tend to inform how many in the Middle East see the ongoing nuclear disputes. "It is impossible to give a nuclear policy talk in the Middle East without having the questions focus almost entirely on Israel," Cirincione said.
Of course, many Westerners would likely argue that Israel's weapons are morally and historically defensible in a way that an Iranian program would not be, both because of Israel's roots in the Holocaust and because it fought a series of defensive wars against its neighbors. "Israel has never given any reason to doubt its solely defensive nature," said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, summarizing the American position. "Israel has never brandished its capabilities to exert regional influence, cow its adversaries or threaten its neighbors."
There's truth to both of these perspectives. But the story of the Israeli nuclear program, and how the United States came to accept it, is more complicated and surprising than you might think.
The single greatest factor explaining how Israel got the world to accept its nuclear program may be timing. The first nuclear weapon was detonated in 1945, by the United States. In 1970, most of the world agreed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which forbids any new countries from developing nuclear weapons. In that 25-year window, every major world power developed a nuclear weapon: the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France and China. They were joined by exactly one other country: Israel.
The Israeli nuclear program was driven in many ways by the obsessive fear that gripped the nation's founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, in which the new country fought off Egyptian and Jordanian armies, Ben-Gurion concluded that Israel could survive only if it had a massive military deterrent -- nuclear weapons.
"What Einstein, Oppenheimer and Teller, the three of them are Jews, made for the United States could also be done by scientists in Israel for their own people," Ben-Gurion wrote in 1956. Avner Cohen, the preeminent historian of Israel's nuclear program, has written that Ben-Gurion "believed Israel needed nuclear weapons as insurance if it could no longer compete with the Arabs in an arms race, and as a weapon of last resort in case of an extreme military emergency. Nuclear weapons might also persuade the Arabs to accept Israel's existence, leading to peace in the region."
But Israel of the 1950s was a poor country. And it was not, as it is today, a close political and military ally of the United States. Israel had to find a way to keep up with the much wealthier and more advanced world powers dominating the nuclear race. How it went about doing this goes a long way to explaining both why the United States initially opposed Israel's nuclear program and how the world came around to accepting Israeli warheads.
So the Israelis turned to France, which was much further along on its own nuclear program, and in 1957 secretly agreed to help install a plutonium-based facility in the small Israeli city of Dimona. Why France did this is not settled history. French foreign policy at the time was assiduously independent from, and standoffish toward, the United States and United Kingdom; perhaps this was one of France's many steps meant to reclaim great power status. A year earlier, Israel had assisted France and the United Kingdom in launching a disastrous invasion of Egypt that became known as the "Suez Crisis"; French leaders may have felt that they owed Israel. Whatever France's reason, both countries kept it a secret from the United States.
When U.S. intelligence did finally discover Israel's nuclear facility, in 1960, Israeli leaders insisted that it was for peaceful purposes and that they were not interested in acquiring a nuclear weapon. Quite simply, they were lying, and for years resisted and stalled U.S.-backed nuclear inspectors sent to the facility. (This may help shed some light on why the United States and Israel are both so skeptical of Iran's own reactor, potentially capable of yielding plutonium, under construction at Arak.) The work continued at Dimona.
Gradually, as the United States came to understand the scope of the program, the administrations of Eisenhower, Kennedy and even the relatively Israel-friendly Johnson all pushed ever harder to halt Israel's nuclear development. Their response to an Israeli bomb was "no."
"The U.S. tried to stop Israel from getting nuclear weapons and to stop France from giving Israel the technology and material it needed to make them," Cirincione said. "We failed."
The turning point for both Israel and the United States may have been the 1967 war. The second large-scale Arab-Israeli war lasted only six days, but that was enough to convince Israeli leaders that, though they had won, they could lose next time. Two crucial things happened in the next five years. First, in 1968, Israel secretly developed a nuclear weapon. Second, and perhaps more important, was a White House meeting in September 1969 between President Nixon and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. What happened during that meeting is secret. But the Nixon's administration'smeticulous records show that Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said to Nixon, in a later conversation about the Meir meeting, "during your private discussions with Golda Meir you emphasized that our primary concern was that Israel make no visible introduction of nuclear weapons or undertake a nuclear test program."
That meeting between Nixon and Meir set what has been Israel's unofficial policy ever since: one in which the country does nothing to publicly acknowledge or demonstrate its nuclear weapons program, and in exchange the United States would accept it. The Nixon administration had concluded that, while it didn't like the Israeli weapons program, it also wasn't prepared to stop it. The Cold War had polarized the Middle East, a region where Soviet influence was growing and where Israel -- along with Iran -- were scarce American allies. If they had already resigned themselves to living with a nuclear weapon, Kissinger concluded, they might as well make it on their terms.
"Essentially the bargain has been that Israel keeps its nuclear deterrent deep in the basement and Washington keeps its critique locked in the closet," Satloff explained.
If the 1967 war had sparked Israel's rush to a warhead and led the United States to tacitly accept the program, then the 1973 Arab-Israeli war made that arrangement more or less permanent. Egypt and Syria launched a joint surprise attack on Yom Kippur and made rapid gains -- so rapid that Israeli leaders feared that the entire country would be overrun. They ordered the military to prepare several nuclear warheads for launch -- exactly the sort of drastic, final measure then Ben-Gurion had envisioned 20 years earlier. (Update: This incident is disputed. See note at bottom.) But the Israeli forces held, assisted by an emergency U.S. resupply that Nixon ordered, and eventually won the war.
The desperation of the 1973 war may have ensured that, once Nixon left office, his deal with the Israelis would hold. And it has. But the world has changed in the past 40 years. Israel's conventional military forces are now far more powerful than all of its neighbors' militaries combined. Anyway, those neighbors have made peace with Israel save Syria, which has held out mostly for political reasons. From Israel's view, there is only one potentially existential military threat left: the Iranian nuclear program. But that program has not produced a warhead and, with Tehran now seeking to reach an agreement on the program, it may never.
Some scholars are beginning to ask whether the old deal is outdated, if Israel should consider announcing its nuclear weapons arsenal publicly. Cohen, the historian who studies the Israel program, argues that the policy of secrecy "undermines genuine Israeli interests, including the need to gain recognition and legitimacy and to be counted among the responsible states in this strategic field."
The dilemma for Israel is that, should Iran ever develop a nuclear warhead, Israel will surely feel less unsafe if it has its own nuclear deterrent. But, ironically, Israel's nuclear arsenal may itself be one of the factors driving Iran's program in the first place.
"History tells us that Israel's position as the sole nuclear-armed state in the region is an anomaly -- regions either have several nuclear states or none," said Cirincione, of the nonproliferation Ploughshares Fund. "At some point, for its own security, Israel will have to take the bombs out of the basement and put them on the negotiating table."
Some scholars suggest that world powers, including the United States, may have quietly tolerated Egyptian and Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles as counterbalances to Israel's own weapons of mass destruction; a concession just large enough to prevent them from seeking nuclear weapons of their own.
Ultimately, while every president from Nixon to Obama has accepted Israel's nuclear weapons, at some point the United States would surely prefer to see a Middle East that's entirely free of weapons of mass destruction.
"We are not okay with Israel having nuclear weapons, but U.S. policymakers recognize that there is not much we can do about it in the short-term," Cirincione said. "But these are general back-burner efforts. All recognize that Israel will only give up its nuclear weapons in the context of a regional peace settlement where all states recognized the rights of other states to exist and agree on territorial boundaries. This would mean a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian issues."
In other words, the Middle East would have to cease being the Middle East. Maybe that will happen, but not anytime soon.
Update: The much-discussed 1973 incident, in which Israel allegedly readied its nuclear weapons in case the country was overrun by the invading Arab armies, may have never actually happened. Avner Cohen, the ultimate authority on the subject, wrote as much in an October post for Arms Control Wonk. "The nuclear lore about 1973 has turned into an urban legend: nobody knows how exactly it originated and who the real sources were, but it is commonly believed as true or near-true," he wrote, calling the event "mythology."
What actually happened, according to Cohen, is that Defense Minister Moshe Dayan proposed in the middle of the war that Israel prepare to detonate a nuclear warhead over the desert as a "test" and show of force. But his proposal, Cohen says, was rejected immediately. Thanks to freelance journalist and former colleague Armin Rosen for flagging this. Read more in this recent paper on Israel's 1973 "nuclear alert," co-authored by Cohen along with Elbridge Colby, William McCants, Bradley Morris and William Rosenau.
Israel applies to become founding member of China development bank 3 Apr 2015 5:52 AM (10 years ago)
(Mehreen Khan) The Israeli government has submitted its application to become a founding member of a controversial Chinese-led development bank, in a move that is likely to cause consternation in Washington.
Newly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a letter to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) by the March 31 deadline, according to the country’s foreign ministry.
Israel would become the latest country to join the 40-nation bank, which already includes the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Australia.
“Israel’s membership in the Bank will open opportunities for integration of Israeli companies in various infrastructure projects, which will be financed by the bank,”said an Israeli government statement.
The creation of the Bank, under the vision of Chinese premier Xi Jinping, has attracted criticism from the United States, who has warned their closest allies against courting better relations with Beijing.
Following Britain’s application for membership, one US official told the Financial Times: “We are wary about a trend of constant accommodation of China, which is not the best way to engage a rising power.”
The AIIB aims to rival similar organisations such as the World Bank, and Asian Development Bank, in funding $100 billion in infrastructure projects across the Asian continent. Half of that amount has already been budgeted by Beijing.
Diplomatic relations between the Israeli government and the Obama administration have reached a nadir as the US has sought to strike a nuclear deal with Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu accepted an invitation to visit Washington last month, behind the president’s back, addressing the US Congress and criticising the administration’s attempts to broker a deal with Tehran.
US Treasury Secretary has called on the AIIB to complement existing institutions and adopt standards of governance.
The Israeli foreign ministry hailed the AIIB as a “diplomatic achievement” and “one of the most important initiatives in terms of Chinese foreign policy and in particular for President Xi Jinping.”
%20%26nbsp;The%20Israeli%20government%20has%20submitted%20its%20application%20to%20become%20a%20founding%20member%20of%20a%20controversial%20Chinese-led%20development%20bank,%20in%20a%20move%20that%20is%20likely%20to%20cause%20consternation%20in%20Washington.%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3ENewly%20re-elected%20Prime%20Minister%20Benjamin%20Netanyahu%3Cstrong%3E%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2015/Pages/Israel-joins-AIIB-31-March-2015.aspx%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Esigned%20a%20letter%20to%20join%20the%20Asian%20Infrastructure%20Investment%20Bank%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E(AIIB)%20by%20the%20March%2031%20deadline,%20according%20to%20the%20country%E2%80%99s%20foreign%20ministry.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EIsrael%20would%20become%20the%20latest%20country%20to%20join%20the%2040-nation%20bank,%20which%20already%20includes%20the%20UK,%20Germany,%20France,%20Italy%20and%20Australia.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%E2%80%9CIsrael%E2%80%99s%20membership%20in%20the%20Bank%20will%20open%20opportunities%20for%20integration%20of%20Israeli%20companies%20in%20various%20infrastructure%20projects,%20which%20will%20be%20financed%20by%20the%20bank,%E2%80%9D%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2015/Pages/Israel-joins-AIIB-31-March-2015.aspx%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3E%3Cstrong%3Esaid%20an%20Israeli%20government%20statement.%3C/strong%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThe%20creation%20of%20the%20Bank,%20under%20the%20vision%20of%20Chinese%20premier%20Xi%20Jinping,%20has%20attracted%20criticism%20from%20the%20United%20States,%20who%20has%26nbsp;%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11495638/US-risks-epic-blunder-by-treating-China-as-an-economic-enemy.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ewarned%20their%20closest%20allies%20against%20courting%20better%20relations%20with%20Beijing.%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EFollowing%20Britain%E2%80%99s%20application%20for%20membership,%20one%20US%20official%20told%20the%20Financial%20Times:%20%E2%80%9CWe%20are%20wary%20about%20a%20trend%20of%20constant%20accommodation%20of%20China,%20which%20is%20not%20the%20best%20way%20to%20engage%20a%20rising%20power.%E2%80%9D%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThe%20AIIB%20aims%20to%20rival%20similar%20organisations%20such%20as%20the%20World%20Bank,%20and%20Asian%20Development%20Bank,%20in%20funding%20$100%20billion%20in%20infrastructure%20projects%20across%20the%20Asian%20continent.%20Half%20of%20that%20amount%20has%20already%20been%20budgeted%20by%20Beijing.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EDiplomatic%20relations%20between%20the%20Israeli%20government%20and%20the%20Obama%20administration%20have%20reached%20a%20nadir%20as%20the%3Cstrong%3E%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11481343/Benjamin-Netanyahu-and-Barack-Obama-on-collision-course-over-Palestinian-two-state-solution.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EUS%20has%20sought%20to%20strike%20a%20nuclear%20deal%20with%20Iran.%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EIsraeli%20Prime%20Minister%20Netanyahu%20accepted%20an%20invitation%20to%20visit%20Washington%20last%20month,%20behind%20the%20president%E2%80%99s%20back,%20addressing%20the%20US%20Congress%20and%20criticising%20the%20administration%E2%80%99s%20attempts%20to%20broker%20a%20deal%20with%20Tehran.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EUS%20Treasury%20Secretary%20has%20called%20on%20the%20AIIB%20to%20complement%20existing%20institutions%20and%20adopt%20standards%20of%20governance.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThe%20Israeli%20foreign%20ministry%20hailed%20the%20AIIB%20as%20a%20%E2%80%9Cdiplomatic%20achievement%E2%80%9D%20and%20%E2%80%9Cone%20of%20the%20most%20important%20initiatives%20in%20terms%20of%20Chinese%20foreign%20policy%20and%20in%20particular%20for%20President%20Xi%20Jinping.%E2%80%9D%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cfooter%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EPOSTED%20IN%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://govtslaves.info/category/economic/%22%20rel%3D%22category%20tag%22%3EECONOMIC%3C/a%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/footer%3E%3C/div%3E){kind=logo}
Israeli who fabricated kidnap story 'was looking for attention,' army says 3 Apr 2015 5:44 AM (10 years ago)
(*Attention through Deception . Give that boy a medal !
Niv Asraf, 22 from
Beersheba, was found alive and well in a dry creek bed
outside Kiryat Arba.
Israeli youth who fabricated a missing person's report, which
prompted a massive manhunt by security forces near Hebron
on Thursday, was "looking for attention," the army's top
spokesperson told Channel 2 on Friday.
Brig.-Gen. Moti Almoz recounted the tense hours during
Brig.-Gen. Moti Almoz recounted the tense hours during
which large contingents of soldiers and police concentrated
forces in the southern West Bank in a frantic search for
Niv Asraf, the Beersheba native who falsified a distress call.
"The army did not let up until we understood beyond
"The army did not let up until we understood beyond
any doubt that we could call off the massive search,"
Almoz said. "During those hours, we were focused
on finding a kidnapped person alive."
Police said they view the incident with the utmost severity
Police said they view the incident with the utmost severity
in particular due to what they said was a "major waste of
resources for all of the security services."
Police said Asraf, 22 from Beersheba, was found
alive and well in a dry creek bed outside Kiryat Arba,
with a sleeping bag and a supply of canned goods.
They added that the investigation against Asraf and
his friend is ongoing.
A massive search for Asraf was launched late Thursday
A massive search for Asraf was launched late Thursday
afternoon, after police received a call at 4:17 p.m. from
Asaraf's friend, who said he and a friend got a flat tire
near Hebron, on the road between Kiryat Arba and the
Palestinian village Beit Anoun. Police said he told them
his friend, Asraf, walked off to get tools to change the
flat tire, but did not return.
The report was taken as a possible kidnapping from the
The report was taken as a possible kidnapping from the
first moments, and soon hundreds of soldiers and security
personnel were combing the area and blocking traffic on
nearby roads in the hunt for Asraf, also carrying out
searches in Palestinian homes in Beit Anoun.
After responding to the call, security forces also noticed
After responding to the call, security forces also noticed
that the car did not have a flat tire. Other aspects of the
story didn't add up, and under questioning, Asraf's friend
contradicted himself to investigators.
Ben Hartman contributed to this report.
Ben Hartman contributed to this report.
Palestinian leader, parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar arrested by Israeli occupation forces 2 Apr 2015 7:26 PM (10 years ago)
In the early morning hours of Thursday, April 2, dozens of Israeli occupation soldiers raided the home of Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar, a prominent leftist leader, feminist, and human rights advocate, arresting her, kicking down the door and holding her husband in a separate room. A leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Jarrar defeated an Israeli occupation attempt in September 2014 to expel her from Ramallah to Jericho for six months.
See Italian Language alert: http://kanafani.it/?p=882
French language alert: http://www.couppourcoup31.com/2015/04/la-militante-palestinienne-khalda-jarrar-a-ete-arretee.html
Who is Khalida Jarrar
Jarrar is a long-time Palestinian political prisoners’ advocate, former executive director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Associationand a member of its board; she chairs the Prisoners’ Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council. She is also active in the Palestinian women’s movement, a feminist and prominent voice for the defense and expansion of women’s rights.
Jarrar has been a visible and prominent participant in the West Bank demonstrations in support of Palestinians in Gaza, denouncing the occupation military’s killing of over 2,000 Palestinians.
Since 1998, she has been forbidden to travel outside occupied Palestine; when she needed medical treatment in Jordan in 2010, she struggled for months in a public campaign before finally receiving her treatment.
Thousands of organizations and individuals from around the world took action in August-September 2014, declaring that they stand with Khalida Jarrar and demanding the cancellation of the “special supervision order” forcibly transferring her from Ramallah to Jericho. Jarrar refused expulsion to Jericho. Instead, she has set up a protest tent in the Palestinian Legislative Council courtyard in Ramallah, where she lived and worke until the order was lifted on September 16, 2014. “It is the occupation who must leave our homeland,” said Jarrar. The tent was visited by numerous Palestinian and international delegations, including international members of Parliament.
There are now 16 members of the elected Palestinian Legislative Council imprisoned by Israel, 9 under administrative detention without trial or charge. PLC members have been repeatedly and systematically targeted by Israeli occupation forces.
The Khalida Jarrar Solidarity Campaign is being reactivated to demand her immediate release.
1. Click here: Send a message to the Israeli Occupation Forces and demand the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar. It is important that the occupation learns that Khalida has supporters around the world who will not be silent in the face of this injustice.
2. Sign the petition! Sign and share this petition, demanding freedom for Khalida Jarrar immediately.
3. Contact your Member of Parliament, Representative, or Member of European Parliament. The attack on Khalida is an attack on Palestinian parliamentary legitimacy and political expression. Parliamentarians have a responsibility to pressure Israel to cancel this order.
4. Use the Campaign Resources to inform your community, parliamentarians and others about Khalida’s case.
5. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy for Khalida Jarrar. Bring posters and flyers about Khalida’s case and hold a protest, or join a protest with this important information. Hold a community event or discussion, or include Khalida’s case in your next event about Palestine and social justice.
6. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. Learn more at bdsmovement.net.
Free Khalida Jarrar Now!
Please send the letter below to Israeli occupation forces and demand her immediate release:
Letter Text:
To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brigadier General Dani Efroni:
To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brigadier General Dani Efroni:
I write today to demand the immediate release of Palestinian member of parliament Khalida Jarrar. Jarrar, a longtime prisoners’ rights activist and political leader, was arrested in her Ramallah home in the early morning hours of April 2, as her home was stormed by dozens of soldiers and her husband locked in another room.
The targeting of Palestinian political leaders for arrest by Israeli occupation forces is an obvious attempt to silence and suppress Palestinian demands for freedom from occupation and apartheid. The arrest of Khalida Jarrar is also an attack on Palestinian women’s leadership and organizing.
Thousands of people and organizations around the world stood with Khalida Jarrar against the illegal forced transfer and expulsion by the IOF last fall, and we stand with her now and demand her immediate release.
The world is watching and we stand with Khalida against this injustice.
Zionist terror targets British academic institutions 2 Apr 2015 7:15 PM (10 years ago)
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Gilad Atzmon writes:
For the second time in just a month, a British academic institution has been intimidated by an orchestrated campaign organised by the Zionist lobby.
On 31 March we learned that Southampton University has decided to withdraw its permission to hold an academic conference on international law and the state of Israel. The decision was taken on the grounds of “health and safety”, with the university claiming it did not have enough resources to mitigate the “
This comes just one month after the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM)cancelled a concert of mine for similar safety reasons. As with Southampton University, the RNCM was bullied by a violent pro-Israel group and it took us only a few hours to learn that the spokesperson for the pro-Israeli body was an infamous crook as well as a football hooligan (see here).
This raises an important question: Is it possible that, like the Palestinians, British academia is now also subject to Zionist terror?
The vile campaign against the Southampton conference was led by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a body that claims to represent Jews in Britain.
So far, not one single British Jewish body has stood up for the conference and for elementary academic freedom, nor has a single Jewish institution criticised the Board of Deputies’ campaign against British academic institutes. I guess the meaning of this is as simple as it is devastating: we now see a clear conflict between the Jewish community and those precious British values of tolerance and academic freedom.
Recently, Jewish community leaders have been concerned by the rise of anti-Semitism in Britain. In this connection, I would use this opportunity to remind them that Jewish institutional bullying of British academic institutions does not reflect well on British Jewry. In fact, it has a most disastrous effect
So, as we witness this devastating continuum between Gaza and Britain we once again come to realise that the plight of the Palestinians is not an isolated event in contemporary world affairs or history.
Britons are also now subject to Zionist terror, and the meaning of it is simple: now, more than ever, we are all Palestinians.
.jpg%22%20imageanchor%3D%221%22%3E%3Cimg%20border%3D%220%22%20src%3D%22https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2agQsg7Kg7s9lFKRhZ-eae_gdmELTApvKl1IT5IKdveTVeJTB_tWwyS7eMjdkNC6Yc696fUNm29Ci7-Rt6L-3UhIfhwgk4MHHrq7IZPZEvmuSbAXdvwrjR4A7NSCuJYle1Qm/s1600/Protect_academic_freedom+(1).jpg%22%20height%3D%22180%22%20width%3D%22320%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cem%3E%3Cspan%3EGilad%20Atzmon%26nbsp;writes:%3C/span%3E%3C/em%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EFor%20the%20second%20time%20in%20just%20a%20month,%20a%20British%20academic%20institution%20has%20been%20intimidated%20by%20an%20orchestrated%20campaign%20organised%20by%20the%20Zionist%20lobby.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EOn%2031%20March%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://freespeechsouthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/update-from-organisers-31-march-it-is.html%22%3Ewe%20learned%3C/a%3E%26nbsp;that%26nbsp;Southampton%20University%26nbsp;has%20decided%20to%20withdraw%20its%20permission%20to%20hold%20an%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.redressonline.com/2015/03/uk-zionists-plot-to-force-southampton-university-to-cancel-conference-on-israel-and-international-law/%22%3Eacademic%20conference%20on%20international%20law%20and%20the%20state%20of%20Israel%3C/a%3E.%20The%20decision%20was%20taken%20on%20the%20grounds%20of%20%E2%80%9Chealth%20and%20safety%E2%80%9D,%20with%20the%20university%20claiming%20it%20did%20not%20have%20enough%20resources%20to%20mitigate%20the%20%E2%80%9C%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThis%20comes%20just%20one%20month%20after%20the%26nbsp;Royal%20Northern%20College%20of%20Music%20(RNCM)%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/college-cancels-gilad-atzmon-concert-8779754%22%3Ecancelled%20a%20concert%20of%20mine%3C/a%3E%26nbsp;for%20similar%20safety%20reasons.%20As%20with%20Southampton%20University,%20the%20RNCM%20was%20bullied%20by%20a%20violent%20pro-Israel%20group%20and%20it%20took%20us%20only%20a%20few%20hours%20to%20learn%20that%20the%20spokesperson%20for%20the%20pro-Israeli%20body%20was%20an%20infamous%20crook%20as%20well%20as%20a%20football%20hooligan%20(see%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.redressonline.com/2015/03/uk-jewish-media-silent-about-hooligan-discredited-solicitor-and-zionist-lobbyist-anthony-dennison/%22%3Ehere%3C/a%3E).%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThis%20raises%20an%20important%20question:%20Is%20it%20possible%20that,%20like%20the%20Palestinians,%20British%20academia%20is%20now%20also%20subject%20to%20Zionist%20terror?%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThe%20vile%20campaign%20against%20the%20Southampton%20conference%20was%20led%20by%20the%20Board%20of%20Deputies%20of%20British%20Jews,%20a%20body%20that%20claims%20to%20represent%26nbsp;Jews%20in%20Britain.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3ESo%20far,%20not%20one%20single%20British%20Jewish%20body%20has%20stood%20up%20for%20the%20conference%20and%20for%20elementary%20academic%20freedom,%20nor%20has%20a%20single%20Jewish%20institution%20criticised%20the%20Board%20of%20Deputies%E2%80%99%20campaign%20against%20British%20academic%20institutes.%20I%20guess%20the%20meaning%20of%20this%20is%20as%20simple%20as%20it%20is%20devastating:%20we%20now%20see%20a%20clear%20conflict%20between%20the%20Jewish%20community%20and%20those%20precious%20British%20values%20of%20tolerance%20and%20academic%20freedom.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3ERecently,%20Jewish%20community%20leaders%20have%20been%20concerned%20by%20the%20rise%20of%20anti-Semitism%20in%20Britain.%20In%20this%20connection,%20I%20would%20use%20this%20opportunity%20to%20remind%20them%20that%20Jewish%20institutional%20bullying%20of%20British%20academic%20institutions%20does%20not%20reflect%20well%20on%20British%20Jewry.%20In%20fact,%20it%20has%20a%20most%20disastrous%20effect%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3ESo,%20as%20we%20witness%20this%20devastating%20continuum%20between%20Gaza%20and%20Britain%20we%20once%20again%20come%20to%20realise%20that%20the%20plight%20of%20the%20Palestinians%20is%20not%20an%20isolated%20event%20in%20contemporary%20world%20affairs%20or%20history.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EBritons%20are%20also%20now%20subject%20to%20Zionist%20terror,%20and%20the%20meaning%20of%20it%20is%20simple:%20now,%20more%20than%20ever,%20we%20are%20all%20Palestinians.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E)
The Global siege on Israel: a report from the World Social Forum 2 Apr 2015 7:11 PM (10 years ago)
In June, 2010, when Israeli forces attacked unarmed aid ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, killing ten passengers (including one who died this year from injuries), dockworkers around the world refused to unload or load Israeli ships or cargo. In the port of Oakland, California, hundreds of activists picketed, and members of the ILWU Local 10 dockworkers union refused to cross their picket line. A Zim cargo ship sat at the port for 24 hours before being unloaded.
The Israeli attack on Gaza in the summer of 2014 similarly brought activists and Local 10 dockworkers together in Oakland to stop another Zim ship, but this time the picket held for more than four days, and the ship was forced back to sea without unloading or loading most of its cargo. Everyone wondered if it would be the only success of its kind or the start of something bigger.
This question was soon answered. The next Zim ship left Oakland without its cargo ever being touched, and the third ship chose not to even enter the port of Oakland. Meanwhile, similar actions delayed unloading in Los Angeles and Seattle. Vancouver, Canada and Tampa, Florida also mounted challenges.
The result was that in November, 2015, the giant Zim shipping company decided that it was going to indefinitely suspend its ships from docking in the western ports of the United States (although it would continue delivery through other companies). This decision is still in force nearly five months later.
Although operating through other carriers might be costly, Zim appears to have calculated that it is better than being turned away at the ports. Zim customers, contacted by activists, were appalled that their Oakland cargo ended up in Russia, and decided to desert Zim for other carriers. Business is business. Zim apparently hoped that by avoiding ports where they might be blocked, they might weather the storm and the movement might peter out with no targets to picket.
That’s not going to happen.
In December, 2014, the Free Palestine Movement presented the case for a global movement to stop Zim ships at a conference of the Global Campaign for the Return to Palestine in Beirut, Lebanon. Then, in March, 2015, we joined with our partners, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza to present a workshop on stopping Zim ships at the World Social Forum in Tunis. In both cases we found interest and activity among groups from Malaysia to South Africa to Barcelona, Latin America and Morocco. These groups are now sharing ideas and experiences. Here is part of what we learned.
Although operating through other carriers might be costly, Zim appears to have calculated that it is better than being turned away at the ports. Zim customers, contacted by activists, were appalled that their Oakland cargo ended up in Russia, and decided to desert Zim for other carriers. Business is business. Zim apparently hoped that by avoiding ports where they might be blocked, they might weather the storm and the movement might peter out with no targets to picket.
That’s not going to happen.
In December, 2014, the Free Palestine Movement presented the case for a global movement to stop Zim ships at a conference of the Global Campaign for the Return to Palestine in Beirut, Lebanon. Then, in March, 2015, we joined with our partners, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza to present a workshop on stopping Zim ships at the World Social Forum in Tunis. In both cases we found interest and activity among groups from Malaysia to South Africa to Barcelona, Latin America and Morocco. These groups are now sharing ideas and experiences. Here is part of what we learned.
- In Morocco and Malaysia, it is not widely known that the Israeli Zim shipping line is doing business at the major ports. Although both countries are ostensibly opposed to cooperation with Israel, the ships are not Israeli flagged. However, the tactics used in Oakland are of little use. In both cases, picket lines are logistically difficult and the workers are not easily able or willing to mount an action on their own. However, public exposure of the existence of Israeli ships in the ports may pressure the authorities to block the ships. Morocco has already held two demonstrations and has uncovered previously unknown Zim traffic at the port of Tangiers.
- In Latin America, a conference in Venezuela will discuss strategies for blocking Zim ships in Venezuela, Cuba and Brazil, as well as Argentina, Uruguay and possibly other ports.
- France has created a network for activists to plan strategies and actions to stop Zim ships, and in Barcelona, activists are opening discussions with the dockworkers union.
- Although there is a lot of support for Palestine in South Africa, there is also a strong Zionist presence. COSATU, the national labor confederation, has a strong position on the issue, but the dockworkers union is not necessarily as supportive.
- The Free Palestine Movement has opened a multilingual list serve to connect movements in different countries with each other in order to facilitate the sharing of information. Currently, there are 31 organizational representatives exchanging information in on this network. Our Handbook for Blocking Ships is now available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic, as well as a list of Zim ports of call (English only).
It is our understanding that the US Block the Boat coalition is also reaching out to international groups in a similar way, which is bound to be an important part of the movement. Sharing of resources and information in this manner can only be helpful. If the effort is not necessarily centralized it can still be very effective, especially since each location has its own needs and challenges.
We will do our best to keep you updated. Based on the results in the US, we believe that if ten ports worldwide are closed to Zim, the company’s losses may cause it to close its doors. If Zim and the state of Israel are worried that this movement may become infectious, we can all be proud to spread the virus. The closing of this multi-billion-dollar company can be one of the greatest BDS victories yet.
Thank you for all your support. We are going to win this one.
The FPM Team
To make a US tax exempt donation, go to: https://freepalestinemovement.org/donate-2/
University wimps buckle under Zionist pressure to kill ground-breaking conference 2 Apr 2015 7:04 PM (10 years ago)
Southampton University, after giving permission to hold a ground-breaking academic conference on International Law and the State of Israel, has been bullied into cancelling.
by Stuart Littlewood
In an earlier article, “Don’t argue, don’t engage, just ignore”, I said the University was a case in point. And a very sad case it turns out to be.
The organisers – the Southampton Law School – say they’ve been told the health and safety risk posed by likely demonstrations is too great.
“The University claims that it does not have enough resources to mitigate the risks despite a clear statement from the Police confirming that they are able to deal with the protest and ensure the security of the event. As the law stands, the University is legally obliged to uphold freedom of speech…. the requirement of minimising risk should also fall onto the Police as the agency that is entrusted with the enforcement of the law (freedom of speech) and the provision of security…. It is very clear from the Police’s report that they are more than capable of policing the conference and ensuring the safety of university staff, speakers, delegates, students and property.”
So the advice, “Don’t argue, don’t engage, just ignore” didn’t sink in. The fools let the whiners in the door and handed them an important victory in the Zionists’ desperate campaign to silence any serious debate on Israel. The organisers say they are seeking legal emergency measures to prevent the University from cancelling and persuade it to properly collaborate with the police so that the anticipated demonstrations can be managed.
The Guardian reported that among those who condemned the conference were the Jewish Board of Deputies and MPs including Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, and Caroline Noakes, MP for Romsey and Southampton. The Zionist Federation UK arranged a petition with more than 6,400 signatures opposing the event. A counter-petition signed by more than 800 academics urged Southampton to resist the pressure.
The Board of Deputies complained that the conference lacked balance and focused on “delegitimising the State of Israel”. Their president Vivian Wineman claimed: “It is formulated in extremist terms, has attracted toxic speakers and is likely to result in an increase in antisemitism and tension on campus.”
Jewish News said the conference was being organised by Israeli-born Prof. Oren Ben-Dor, who had previously called Israel an “arrogant self-righteous Zionist entity”. Among the listed speakers was Princeton professor Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur, who has faced condemnation over his comments on the Middle East, including his suggestion in 2013 that Israel had “genocidal” intentions” towards the Palestinians.
Well-known British journalist Ben White has started another petition urging the university to allow the conference to proceed as planned.
“There is ample time for any concerns regarding the safety and security of university staff, students, and conference participants to be met. The university must fulfill its legal obligation to protect free speech and academic discussion.” The conference was scheduled for 17-19 April.
Under the spotlight is the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Don Nutbeam, who has announced he’ll soon retire. Nutbeam is an academic fat-cat with a package of £333,000 a year. The organisers complain that they’ve been unable to meet with him to consult on the organisation of the conference, and to invite him to open it. “On the other hand, the Vice Chancellor has met with pro-Israel representatives without ever calling us to attend meetings and we, as Professors in the University, feel disempowered and marginalised by this disrespectful behaviour.”
Stuart Littlewood
1 April 2015
%20and%20the%20provision%20of%20security%E2%80%A6.%20It%20is%20very%20clear%20from%20the%20Police%E2%80%99s%20report%20that%20they%20are%20more%20than%20capable%20of%20policing%20the%20conference%20and%20ensuring%20the%20safety%20of%20university%20staff,%20speakers,%20delegates,%20students%20and%20property.%E2%80%9D%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/h4%3E%0A%3C/blockquote%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://freespeechsouthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/update-from-organisers-31-march-it-is.html%22%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3Ehttp://freespeechsouthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/update-from-organisers-31-march-it-is.html%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3ESo%20the%20advice,%20%E2%80%9CDon%E2%80%99t%20argue,%20don%E2%80%99t%20engage,%20just%20ignore%E2%80%9D%20didn%E2%80%99t%20sink%20in.%20The%20fools%20let%20the%20whiners%20in%20the%20door%20and%20handed%20them%20an%20important%20victory%20in%20the%20Zionists%E2%80%99%20desperate%20campaign%20to%20silence%20any%20serious%20debate%20on%20Israel.%20The%20organisers%20say%20they%20are%20seeking%20legal%20emergency%20measures%20to%20prevent%20the%20University%20from%20cancelling%20and%20persuade%20it%20to%20properly%20collaborate%20with%20the%20police%20so%20that%20the%20anticipated%20demonstrations%20can%20be%20managed.%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Ci%3EThe%20Guardian%26nbsp;%3C/i%3Ereported%20that%20among%20those%20who%20condemned%20the%20conference%20were%20the%20Jewish%20Board%20of%20Deputies%20and%20MPs%20including%20Eric%20Pickles,%20the%20communities%20secretary,%20and%20Caroline%20Noakes,%20MP%20for%20Romsey%20and%20Southampton.%20The%20Zionist%20Federation%20UK%20arranged%20a%20petition%20with%20more%20than%206,400%20signatures%20opposing%20the%20event.%20A%20counter-petition%20signed%20by%20more%20than%20800%20academics%20urged%20Southampton%20to%20resist%20the%20pressure.%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EThe%20Board%20of%20Deputies%20complained%20that%20the%20conference%20lacked%20balance%20and%20focused%20on%20%E2%80%9Cdelegitimising%20the%20State%20of%20Israel%E2%80%9D.%20Their%20president%20Vivian%20Wineman%20claimed:%20%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20formulated%20in%20extremist%20terms,%20has%20attracted%20toxic%20speakers%20and%20is%20likely%20to%20result%20in%20an%20increase%20in%20antisemitism%20and%20tension%20on%20campus.%E2%80%9D%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Ci%3EJewish%20News%3C/i%3E%26nbsp;said%20the%20conference%20was%20being%20organised%20by%20Israeli-born%20Prof.%20Oren%20Ben-Dor,%20who%20had%20previously%20called%20Israel%20an%20%E2%80%9Carrogant%20self-righteous%20Zionist%20entity%E2%80%9D.%20Among%20the%20listed%20speakers%20was%20Princeton%20professor%20Richard%20Falk,%20former%20UN%20special%20rapporteur,%20who%20has%20faced%20condemnation%20over%20his%20comments%20on%20the%20Middle%20East,%20including%20his%20suggestion%20in%202013%20that%20Israel%20had%20%E2%80%9Cgenocidal%E2%80%9D%20intentions%E2%80%9D%20towards%20the%20Palestinians.%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EWell-known%20British%20journalist%20Ben%20White%20has%20started%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://www.change.org/p/the-university-of-southampton-uphold-free-speech-allow-the-conference-on-israel-and-international-law-to-proceed%22%3Eanother%20petition%3C/a%3E%26nbsp;urging%20the%20university%20to%20allow%20the%20conference%20to%20proceed%20as%20planned.%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%E2%80%9CThere%20is%20ample%20time%20for%20any%20concerns%20regarding%20the%20safety%20and%20security%20of%20university%20staff,%20students,%20and%20conference%20participants%20to%20be%20met.%20The%20university%20must%20fulfill%20its%20legal%20obligation%20to%20protect%20free%20speech%20and%20academic%20discussion.%E2%80%9D%20The%20conference%20was%20scheduled%20for%2017-19%20April.%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EUnder%20the%20spotlight%20is%20the%20Vice-Chancellor,%20Prof%20Don%20Nutbeam,%20who%20has%20announced%20he%E2%80%99ll%20soon%20retire.%20Nutbeam%20is%20an%20academic%20fat-cat%20with%20a%20package%20of%20%C2%A3333,000%20a%20year.%20The%20organisers%20complain%20that%20they%E2%80%99ve%20been%20unable%20to%20meet%20with%20him%20to%20consult%20on%20the%20organisation%20of%20the%20conference,%20and%20to%20invite%20him%20to%20open%20it.%20%E2%80%9COn%20the%20other%20hand,%20the%20Vice%20Chancellor%20has%20met%20with%20pro-Israel%20representatives%20without%20ever%20calling%20us%20to%20attend%20meetings%20and%20we,%20as%20Professors%20in%20the%20University,%20feel%20disempowered%20and%20marginalised%20by%20this%20disrespectful%20behaviour.%E2%80%9D%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EStuart%20Littlewood%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E1%20April%202015%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E)
Israel Is Only Going to Change Its Horrific Behavior If Outsiders Force It to 2 Apr 2015 6:56 PM (10 years ago)
For too long, the majority of the voices in the Jewish community have urged the treating of Israel with kid gloves.By Rebecca Vilkomerson / Jewish Voice for Peace
Israel's recent election was a clarifying moment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's appeal to Israelis' worst racist instincts worked. Between Netanyahu's declarations during the last week on the campaign trail that he has no interest in a peace agreement with Palestinians, and his horror at the act of Palestinian citizens of Israel voting, his political platform could not be more clear: It is anti-peace and based on Jewish nationalism at the expense of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Despite Netanyahu's attempt to walk back his comments after he won, there is little doubt that Israel's policies of expanding settlements, an ongoing siege of Gaza, periodic warfare and systematic discrimination will continue.
For many people, especially American Jews who express support for democratic ideals and are seriously committed to peace with Palestinians, the racist rhetoric and extreme positions Netanyahu was willing to deploy in the last days of the campaign uncomfortably highlighted ongoing Likud party policies. The Zionist Union was defined as an alternative "center left" that could offer a superficially new direction for Israelis tired of Netanyahu's belligerence toward anyone around the world who doesn't agree with him. But in substance, the Zionist Union did not actually offer policy positions that were much different in terms of the treatment of Palestinians both within and outside of the Green Line.
As openly offensive as Netanyahu is, he is not the only problem. Underlying his leadership is a systemic and society-wide problem of increasing support among Israelis for anti-democratic policies, including second-class citizenship for Palestinian citizens of Israel and complete control of the approximately 4.5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, who do not have any input over the government that has ultimate control over their territory.
For decades, Israel has delayed or obstructed constructive peace talks by claiming it had no partner for peace while continuing to expand settlement building and strengthening the infrastructure of occupation. Now, as Palestinian Authority senior officials noted, the world can't help but see that there is no partner for peace on the Israeli side.
Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf put it like this immediately after the election: "For years we have been hearing that Israel will either end the occupation or cease to be a democracy. Could it be that the Jewish public has made its choice?"
The question now for American Jews who express support for peace and democratic values is how to relate to an Israeli government which has openly declared itself against both. While major Jewish institutions, including the Jewish Federations of North America and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), congratulated Netanyahu for his win, others, like the Jewish Council on Public Affairs and American Jewish Committee, congratulated Israel for its fair election process. Noneof these pillars of the Jewish-American community showed even a moment's pause at the twisted values that won the election (though the ADL did praise Netanyahu's insincere apology to Palestinian citizens after the election).
So where does that leave the rest of us, who are dismayed by Israel's unequal treatment of its citizens and subjects? Jewish Voice for Peace has long held a theory of change that given the last 20 years of a fruitless peace process, external pressure from governments and civil society will be necessary for Israel to stop acting with impunity. That is why we endorse the call forBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as a system of accountability for Israel's blatant disregard for human rights.
The Obama administration is growing less willing to blindly protect Israel's every action. The administration is considering allowing measures to pressure Israel at the U.N. and other international bodies, where the U.S. has traditionally acted as a body block whenever Israel was faced with challenges to its actions. It is not yet clear if this is a serious threat, but that it is even surfacing shows that U.S. policies toward Israel may be significantly shifting.
For too long, the majority of the voices in the Jewish community have urged the treating of Israel with kid gloves, giving it the space and time to make its own decision to do the right thing. But that has only allowed Israel to entrench its system of occupation and control while its population becomes ever more right-wing and comfortable with the status quo. Whether for love of Israel, or simply love of universal human rights, we can no longer claim not to see Israel's positions as unacceptable, and therefore can't absolve ourselves of the necessity to support concrete steps to change its stance. Whether it is BDS, the International Criminal Court, U.S. economic military or economic aid, or other forms of non-violent pressure, it is time for consequences.
Link to peitition: time2choose.org.
A Peek Inside the UK's pro-Israel lobby 25 Mar 2015 2:59 PM (10 years ago)
Inside the UK's pro-Israel lobby
- Iman Saleh
Through the heavily-securitised doors of London's exclusive Lancaster hotel, several hundred smartly-dressed delegates are milling around drinking coffee or eating kosher sandwiches and snacks. The air is filled with the hubbub of chatter and the clinking of glasses, occasionally punctuated by a security announcement reminding everyone not to disclose their location on social media platforms "for security reasons".
This is the sight that greets me when, after being thoroughly patted down by a security guard, I enter the venue of "We Believe in Israel", a gathering of like-minded individuals and organisations that professes to be the "largest conference to promote support for Israel" in Britain. According to Director's address in the inside cover of the programme, "the overarching aim of the day is to unite as many people as possible behind one simple concept: Israel as a Jewish and democratic state". The sheer absurdity of this double-speak-esque oxymoron – Israel as a 'Jewish" and "democratic" state (as if the declaration of a state based purely on ethnic and religious classification was not antithetical to the very definition of democracy) - perfectly sets the tone for the day. George Orwell must be turning in his grave.
Well attended by a mixture of pro-Israel campaigners and Zionists from both Israel and the UK - the list of delegates is rigorously vetted and the conference organisers retain the right to deny attendance to anyone they consider unfit - the conference offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the UK's pro-Israel lobby, and an opportunity to engage with such groups on their own terms. As well as scheduled talks by all the usual suspects, such as BICOM, StandWithUs, the Zionist Federation and the Henry Jackson Society, there are also sessions run by pro-Israel factions in each of the UK's mainstream political parties, including the recently inaugurated UKIP Friends of Israel.
But beyond simply offering a platform for pushing a Zionist agenda, the conference also has a deeply practical focus, and offers a number of skill-based sessions aimed at "creating a more positive image of Israel in the UK", including talks on effective lobbying, campaigning, dealing with the press, shaping British educational policy, mobilising the grassroots and making effective use of social media platforms. All to teach people how to "develop and support a grassroots network advocating for Israel".
As part of the welcome pack presented to every delegated (I, for one, know that I will cherish my "We Believe in Israel" pen forever) is a "Tool Kit" intended "to give pro-Israel campaigners the essential information and advice needed to campaign for Israel both all-year-round and in the event of a crisis". This 65-page document is broken up into six sections, each tailored around a specific skill, from "How to influence people" to "How to set up a local campaign group" and includes "fact sheets" on key issues such as "Jewishness, Zionism and Israel", "Settlements", "Iran", "Hamas" and "The progressive case for Israel".
Most chillingly, the tool kit makes explicit the strategy potential recruits to the pro-Israel cause should adopt in spreading the Zionist message, proclaiming that "The absolute key to us shifting opinions on Israel is to develop individual personal relationships with people. This will make us better placed to influence them." In other words, instrumentalise your personal relationships and use people as pawns in a larger game of influence and opinion.
Except from conference handout: How to influence people
There are a number of key strategies to remember each time you try to influence someone:
- Decide exactly what your goal or objective is
- Define your message
- Identify your target audience
- Tailor your message to the audience
- Identify the most effective delivery mechanism for that message and that audience
- Execute the communication
- Evaluate how well it worked - did you shift opinions?
Alongside this document is a tiny, pocket-sized "fact" booklet produced by StandWithUs that reads like a manifesto for radical Zionism; a mind-boggling collection of cherry-picked sources, massaged statistics and downright propaganda. As well as proclaiming that "Jews are indigenous to Israel and have maintained a presence for over 3,000 years" and that as early as 1854 "Jews were the largest religious group in Jerusalem" the booklet is equally dismissive of Palestinian claims to sovereignty and human rights, claiming firstly that 1948 Arabs "accepted Israel's invitation to choose peace and become Israeli citizens" and, amazingly, that "Israel helped set up the first self-government for the Palestinians".
The Palestinians, if mentioned at all, are stripped of all humanity and corporality, reduced to either ungrateful citizens of a peaceful Israeli state, refugees whose plight has been used "as a propaganda weapon against Israel" by other Arab countries, or, predictably, as destitute nomads and backwards tribespeople crying out for the civilising influences of Israel. One page juxtaposes an image of group of huddled figures in a barren desert with a picture of a vibrant cityscape. Under the first image is the caption "Tel Aviv 1909", under the second "Tel Aviv 2009"; one hundred years on, and see how Israel has made the desert bloom. This well-worn and discriminatory trope of Palestinian ineffectiveness and poverty recalls the saying "A land without a people for a people without a land", thus effectively writing the Palestinians out of their own history.
Indeed, throughout the entire day, the Palestinian shadow looms over the conference, present only in its absence; an absent presence that nevertheless haunts proceedings, from the heavy emphasis on security to the increasingly shrill affirmations that "We Believe in Israel [and not Palestine]". The complete lack of willingness of any of the assembled parties to engage in any meaningful discussion of the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated against Palestinians on an almost daily basis speaks to a deep sense of unease at the heart of the pro-Israel lobby; it is almost as if they know that the entire edifice of their belief system is constructed on shaky foundations, and that to face the hard facts of reality risks bringing the whole thing crashing to the ground. And so they continue to engage in a sort of Orwellian double-think, waxing lyrical about Israel's medical achievements, tolerance for homosexuals, and technological innovations while pointedly ignoring any references to an apartheid state whose very existence depends on the subjugation and repression of hundreds of thousands of human beings.
But however easy it may be to ridicule the biases and fallacies of "We Believe in Israel", it would be a mistake to dismiss the pro-Israel lobby outright, or even to engage in a reciprocal slandering match, as many pro-Palestinian factions have been known to do. Instead, those who truly care for the fate of Palestinians whose very existence has been shaped by the continued presence of the Israeli military in the most intimate spheres of their lives should rather use this opportunity to learn the methods and strategies of the pro-Israel lobby from the inside, so as to better combat their propaganda attempts. In the words of Frantz Fanon: "Fervor is the weapon of choice of the impotent"; only by stepping away from their emotional involvement in the conflict, however difficult that may be, and adopting a calm and rational strategy in the manner of the pro-Israel lobby, will Palestinians succeed in making their voices heard.
The "tool kit" provided by the conference may thus be used by pro-Palestinians, as well as pro-Israelis. One of the most important lessons to be learned from the strategies set out in the booklet is that the most effective method of influencing people and effecting real change is not to engage in heated debates or other activities that may alienate people (armed struggle being a prime example), but to "develop individual personal relationships", moblise your personal and professional networks, "tailor your message to your audience" and, most importantly, "don't underestimate your own influence." If the Palestinians can ultimately use Israel's PR and propaganda strategies against them, and succeed in both exposing the hypocrisy and double-think of the pro-Israel lobby and in turning the tide of international public opinion against Israel, then the battle for an independent sovereign Palestine will already be half won.
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
NETANYAHU’S TWO STATE SOLUTION ~~ ONE WITHOUT PEOPLE 22 Mar 2015 5:15 PM (10 years ago)
zions mantra in establishing the State of Israel was “A land without a people for a people without a land”.
The mantra of today in reference to a State of Palestine is simply “A land without people”.
The Nakba of 1948 is an ongoing process
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Latuff ~~ The ongoing Nakba
Click on the following links to read what has been happening since Israel’s election …
The illegal settlers and the IDF are working hand in hand
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And President Obama remains silent
“Not my problem”
His silence speaks volumes
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
Mothers' Day 22 Mar 2015 5:11 PM (10 years ago)
Today in Palestine and many parts of the world is traditionally
mothers' day on the first day of Spring. The colorful carpets of
flowers in the fields are the gift of Palestine to the mothers. My own
mother is emblematic of Palestinian mothers. She is 82 years old and
she lost her good friend in Deir Yassin massacre during the ethnic
cleansing that marked the beginning of our Nakba (catastrophe). Her
own mother is from Nazareth. She suffered a lot but never said so and
always kept a positive spirit and love of people and life. From her I
learned to be who I am. To her I owe not just my biological being but
my psychology and all that I accomplished and hope to accomplish. To
my wife (mother of our son) and my three sisters (two mothers, one
grandmother) and to all the mothers out there and all the ladies
whether biological mothers or mothers of others by action and example:
utmost love and respect.
Even though our Palestine Museum of Natural History and its Institute
of Biodiversity and Sustainability did not officially open to the
public yet, we do get visitors regularly (by arrangement). This past
week we got a school from Nablus, farmers and Bedouins from the Jordan
Valley, a women group from Nahhalin, and international visitors. I
also also spoke to a large group of students from Harvard University.
Our dedicated volunteers did field work in places like Beit Qad in
Jenin district and Wadi Qana and Tulkarem. Today we also had a nice
lecture by Bassem Ra'ad at Bethlehem University and I had the honor of
being one of the respondents. He is the author of the highly
acclaimed book "Hidden Histories" (see review here
http://electronicintifada.net/
). We discussed how factual history is being suppressed in favor of a
zionist narrative that expropriated Palestinian Canaanitic history as
it had expropriated our land, our natural resources, our religious
sites, and even our food. Ra'ad's recommendation is to do our own
detailed historical research which we in the museum are doing. We are
also learning for the sake of learning. At the end of this month that
is dedicated to the environment, we Palestinians also have "Land Day"
(started 1976) in which we reaffirm our connections to the land as
native people and rejection of colonial activities. We will have
events at the Museum in Bethlehem both on 30 March and 31 March
(volunteerism, educational programs including a science cafe on March
31 about geology and paleontology). We could use volunteers in all
areas from social media to internet to researching material (in
history, languages, nature etc) to field work, to preparing animal and
plant specimens, to photography, to permaculture, to fundraising etc.
Our many volunteers all report satisfying and productive and fun
experiences. Send us an email if interested to join us at
info@palestinenature.org and we can give you detail and also you can
come by any day to the museum (open daily 7 days a week from 9 - 6 but
call to arrange time at (02) 2773553 )
Many of us are tired of governments and are looking to build
sustainable communities. Governments and their intelligence services
and their lack of respect for human rights are wreaking havoc and
promoting fundamentalism around the world (especially here in Western
Asia). The silence of the US-backed government of Afghanistan and not
punishing those who lynched a woman for burning the Quran. The public
executions and torture by the IS-backed government of "Saudi Arabia".
The silence of US media on these and the atrocities of US-backed
apartheid regime here. Most of us Palestinians who follow Israeli
politics were relieved Netanyahu gets to be Prime minister again. Why?
See this by Ali Abunimah on "Why I’m relieved Netanyahu won" (must
read analysis) http://electronicintifada.net/
Yonatan Mendel wrote in the London Review of Books before the
election reflective on real issues and is likewise prophetic. I said
the same thing before every election: we Palestinians prefer Netanyahu
and company over Livni, Peres, Rabin and the like. The oxymoronic
"left Zionists" sort of like "left Nazi" do more damage to native
rights but with a sheep cloak (more like a fig leaf). The "right" has
no such cloak and will move further right as Israel did at every
election. Gideon Levy writing in Haaretz wonders if Israel and
Netanyahu (a lying prime minister whose only accomplishment is killing
Palestinians) actually deserve each other! Now it is up to the
international community to decide how much of apartheid racism will it
tolerate before deciding to give accountability. Or will they wait for
genocide? anyway here are three analysis
Yonatan Mendel http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n06/
Gideon Levy http://www.haaretz.com/
This video from the Israeli media is beginning to go viral (Netanyahu
and the USA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(thoughtful) Reflections By An Arab Jew by Ella Habiba Shohat
“War, however, is the friend of binarisms, leaving little place for
complex identities…”
http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor and Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Bethlehem University
http://palestinenature.org
http://qumsiyeh.org
mothers' day on the first day of Spring. The colorful carpets of
flowers in the fields are the gift of Palestine to the mothers. My own
mother is emblematic of Palestinian mothers. She is 82 years old and
she lost her good friend in Deir Yassin massacre during the ethnic
cleansing that marked the beginning of our Nakba (catastrophe). Her
own mother is from Nazareth. She suffered a lot but never said so and
always kept a positive spirit and love of people and life. From her I
learned to be who I am. To her I owe not just my biological being but
my psychology and all that I accomplished and hope to accomplish. To
my wife (mother of our son) and my three sisters (two mothers, one
grandmother) and to all the mothers out there and all the ladies
whether biological mothers or mothers of others by action and example:
utmost love and respect.
Even though our Palestine Museum of Natural History and its Institute
of Biodiversity and Sustainability did not officially open to the
public yet, we do get visitors regularly (by arrangement). This past
week we got a school from Nablus, farmers and Bedouins from the Jordan
Valley, a women group from Nahhalin, and international visitors. I
also also spoke to a large group of students from Harvard University.
Our dedicated volunteers did field work in places like Beit Qad in
Jenin district and Wadi Qana and Tulkarem. Today we also had a nice
lecture by Bassem Ra'ad at Bethlehem University and I had the honor of
being one of the respondents. He is the author of the highly
acclaimed book "Hidden Histories" (see review here
http://electronicintifada.net/
). We discussed how factual history is being suppressed in favor of a
zionist narrative that expropriated Palestinian Canaanitic history as
it had expropriated our land, our natural resources, our religious
sites, and even our food. Ra'ad's recommendation is to do our own
detailed historical research which we in the museum are doing. We are
also learning for the sake of learning. At the end of this month that
is dedicated to the environment, we Palestinians also have "Land Day"
(started 1976) in which we reaffirm our connections to the land as
native people and rejection of colonial activities. We will have
events at the Museum in Bethlehem both on 30 March and 31 March
(volunteerism, educational programs including a science cafe on March
31 about geology and paleontology). We could use volunteers in all
areas from social media to internet to researching material (in
history, languages, nature etc) to field work, to preparing animal and
plant specimens, to photography, to permaculture, to fundraising etc.
Our many volunteers all report satisfying and productive and fun
experiences. Send us an email if interested to join us at
info@palestinenature.org and we can give you detail and also you can
come by any day to the museum (open daily 7 days a week from 9 - 6 but
call to arrange time at (02) 2773553 )
Many of us are tired of governments and are looking to build
sustainable communities. Governments and their intelligence services
and their lack of respect for human rights are wreaking havoc and
promoting fundamentalism around the world (especially here in Western
Asia). The silence of the US-backed government of Afghanistan and not
punishing those who lynched a woman for burning the Quran. The public
executions and torture by the IS-backed government of "Saudi Arabia".
The silence of US media on these and the atrocities of US-backed
apartheid regime here. Most of us Palestinians who follow Israeli
politics were relieved Netanyahu gets to be Prime minister again. Why?
See this by Ali Abunimah on "Why I’m relieved Netanyahu won" (must
read analysis) http://electronicintifada.net/
Yonatan Mendel wrote in the London Review of Books before the
election reflective on real issues and is likewise prophetic. I said
the same thing before every election: we Palestinians prefer Netanyahu
and company over Livni, Peres, Rabin and the like. The oxymoronic
"left Zionists" sort of like "left Nazi" do more damage to native
rights but with a sheep cloak (more like a fig leaf). The "right" has
no such cloak and will move further right as Israel did at every
election. Gideon Levy writing in Haaretz wonders if Israel and
Netanyahu (a lying prime minister whose only accomplishment is killing
Palestinians) actually deserve each other! Now it is up to the
international community to decide how much of apartheid racism will it
tolerate before deciding to give accountability. Or will they wait for
genocide? anyway here are three analysis
Yonatan Mendel http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n06/
Gideon Levy http://www.haaretz.com/
This video from the Israeli media is beginning to go viral (Netanyahu
and the USA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(thoughtful) Reflections By An Arab Jew by Ella Habiba Shohat
“War, however, is the friend of binarisms, leaving little place for
complex identities…”
http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor and Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Bethlehem University
http://palestinenature.org
http://qumsiyeh.org
A steep rise in sex crimes within Israel's Citizen's Army 18 Mar 2015 5:21 PM (10 years ago)
Number of indictments for sex-related offenses has nearly doubled over the past 2 years, IDF’s chief prosecutor says
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
Getting Past The Issue Of Being Jewish 12 Mar 2015 8:50 AM (10 years ago)
- An Analysis by Professor Lawrence Davidson
Part I - Is Being Jewish the Real Issue?
As the story goes, Ms. Beyda’s application was originally rejected because a majority of the board felt that her association with organizations such as Hillel, a group thatuncritically supports Israel’s apartheid-style culture and maintains anti-democratic rules and procedures of its own, would represent a conflict of interest and result in possible bias on her part. Given the tension on many campuses, including UCLA, between those who support and oppose Israeli policies and behavior - tensions which occasionally result in student organizations being disciplined - it was not an unreasonable assumption. Unfortunately, the student board members who questioned Ms. Beyda’s affiliations made it appear that their concerns flowed from her religion and ethnicity.
Then “at the prodding of a faculty adviser … who pointed out that belonging to Jewish organizations was not a conflict of interest, the students [on the board] revisited the issue and unanimously put her [Beyda] on the board.”
Of course, the story does not end there. According to theNYT, the episode has “set off an anguished discussion of how Jews are treated” and served to “spotlight what appears to be a surge of hostile sentiment directed against Jews on many campuses in the country, often a byproduct of animosity toward the policies of Israel.”
The Los Angeles-area Zionists have had a field day blowing the incident out of all proportions. For instance, Rabbi Aaron Lerner, “the incoming executive director of the Hillel chapter at U.C.L.A.” told the NYT, “we don’t like to wave the flag of anti-Semitism, but this is different. This is bigotry. This is discriminating against someone because of their identity.” At least on one point Lerner is wrong. Hillel does “wave the flag of anti-Semitism.” After all, Hillel maintains that “Israel is a core element of Jewish life and the gateway to Jewish identity.” The organization follows the Zionist line that those who strongly oppose Israel, oppose the Jews and Judaism per se.
Lerner’s charge of “bigotry” is harder to evaluate without seeing the recorded video of the board meeting (which has been removed from YouTube.) However, in a letter to the campus newspaper, the students who originally voted against Ms. Beyda apologized for the tack they had taken in their questioning of her.
The NYT goes on to air the opinions of Rabbi John L. Rosove, senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood, who called the board incident “insidious”; Avinoam Baral, the president of student council, who said the board was unfairly suggesting Beyda might have “divided loyalties”; and Natalie Charney, student president of the UCLA chapter of Hillel who complained that this was all the result of an “overall climate of targeting Israel” that has led to the “targeting of Jewish students.” Well, no one can accuse the New York Times of putting forth a balanced interpretation of events.
Part II - What is the Real Issue?
There is certainly something upsetting about this incident. It might very well be that the recent acrimonious struggle that resulted in the UCLA student government endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel set the scene for a less than sensitive approach to Ms. Beyda's application to the Judicial Board. Nonetheless, the incident and its repercussions tell us that those who oppose Israeli behavior have to be careful not to fall into the Zionist trap of assuming, or even inferring, that Israel is identical with the Jewish people and that individual Jews cannot do other than support the Zionist state. This is simply not true.
It seems to me that the mistake the board members made was to focus on Ms. Beyda’s membership in “Jewish” organizations. We can infer that from the faculty adviser’s intervention as described above. If those objecting to her application had thought the issue through, they would have realized that the real problem is not membership in organizations that are Jewish, but rather membership in organizations that support institutional racism and oppression. Focusing on the latter points allows one to get past the issue of being Jewish. After all, there should be a problem if an applicant belonged to any such organization, be it Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, communist, or even pseudo-democratic.
In the United States we may be approaching a tipping point in the struggle against Zionist racism and Israeli oppression. As such it is extremely important that those involved in this struggle express their feelings in a way that clearly maintains a separation between what is objected to and Jews generally. The struggle is against racism, discrimination, oppression, occupation and illegal colonization because they are evils no matter who perpetrates them. The Israeli case has to be prioritized because Israel and its Zionist allies have bought and bullied our own government and political parties in a corrupting manner.
Expressed in this way, anyone who applied for the UCLA Judicial Board, regardless of religion or ethnicity, might properly be asked about their attitude toward such issues.
Lawrence Davidson
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
Comparing Zionists to ISIS not so outlandish, after all 12 Mar 2015 8:49 AM (10 years ago)
The head of communications for the Joint Arab List party, Raja Za’atra, caused an outrage on Tuesday when he compared the Islamic State to the Zionist movement and claimed Hamas was not a terror organization.During a political panel organized by the Bar Ilan University’s student union, Za’atra said: “Where do you think Daesh (Islamic State) learned these things?”After someone in the audience responded with “From you!”, Za’atra continued: “Look for what the Zionist movement did in 1948. The rape, the looting, the murder… the exact same things.”* * *The Zionist Union issued a harsh denunciation of Za’atra’s comments. “We expect the heads of the (Arab) list to immediately renounce these outrageous comment comparing Israel and the Islamic State, as well as his remark that Hamas is not a terror organization,” the party said in a statement. “The comparison between beheaders who have no humanity, to a nation that was reborn and made many contributions to the world, is intolerable and points to ignorance and hatred.”
Meanwhile, over in Herzlliya . . .
Avigdor Lieberman, who has in the past described Israel’s non-Jewish minority as a “fifth column”, sparked controversy during a speech in the coastal town of Herzliya, a week before Israel’s election. “Those who are with us deserve everything, but those who are against us deserve to have their heads chopped off with an axe,” he said.
Who would have guessed? Comparing Zionists to ISIS is not so outlandish after all.
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
%20learned%20these%20things?%E2%80%9D%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EAfter%20someone%20in%20the%20audience%20responded%20with%20%E2%80%9CFrom%20you!%E2%80%9D,%20Za%E2%80%99atra%20continued:%26nbsp;%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%9CLook%20for%20what%20the%20Zionist%20movement%20did%20in%201948.%20The%20rape,%20the%20looting,%20the%20murder%E2%80%A6%20the%20exact%20same%20things.%E2%80%9D%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E*%20*%20*%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EThe%20Zionist%20Union%20issued%20a%20harsh%20denunciation%20of%20Za%E2%80%99atra%E2%80%99s%20comments.%20%E2%80%9CWe%20expect%20the%20heads%20of%20the%20(Arab)%20list%20to%20immediately%20renounce%20these%20outrageous%20comment%20comparing%20Israel%20and%20the%20Islamic%20State,%20as%20well%20as%20his%20remark%20that%20Hamas%20is%20not%20a%20terror%20organization,%E2%80%9D%20the%20party%20said%20in%20a%20statement.%26nbsp;%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%9CThe%20comparison%20between%20beheaders%20who%20have%20no%20humanity,%20to%20a%20nation%20that%20was%20reborn%20and%20made%20many%20contributions%20to%20the%20world,%20is%20intolerable%20and%20points%20to%20ignorance%20and%20hatred.%E2%80%9D%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/blockquote%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EMeanwhile,%20over%20in%26nbsp;Herzlliya%26nbsp;.%20.%20.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://shareverythingworld.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/32cbf488-c754-11e4-_869100c.jpg%22%3E%3Cspan%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cblockquote%3E%0A%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOaOcpm5Vy_jsZWjHdE15wCR_6Di6yjO0XGTWuwwwSGnVsMgibtIcYeGUFM3usuloDKHZN-feW6Gv6XcVLprtFwF20Zb0Ra07tR3TQbR1iqQ5xFsyI7vvPzmIUyOrwulws9bL/s1600/2.jpg%22%20imageanchor%3D%221%22%3E%3Cimg%20border%3D%220%22%20src%3D%22https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOaOcpm5Vy_jsZWjHdE15wCR_6Di6yjO0XGTWuwwwSGnVsMgibtIcYeGUFM3usuloDKHZN-feW6Gv6XcVLprtFwF20Zb0Ra07tR3TQbR1iqQ5xFsyI7vvPzmIUyOrwulws9bL/s1600/2.jpg%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4378229.ece%22%3EAvigdor%20Lieberman,%3C/a%3E%26nbsp;who%20has%20in%20the%20past%20described%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20non-Jewish%20minority%20as%20a%20%E2%80%9Cfifth%20column%E2%80%9D,%20sparked%20controversy%20during%20a%20speech%20in%20the%20coastal%20town%20of%20Herzliya,%20a%20week%20before%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20election.%20%E2%80%9CThose%20who%20are%20with%20us%20deserve%20everything,%26nbsp;%3Cstrong%3Ebut%20those%20who%20are%20against%20us%20deserve%20to%20have%20their%20heads%20chopped%20off%20with%20an%20axe,%E2%80%9D%3C/strong%3E%26nbsp;he%20said.%3C/span%3E%3C/blockquote%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EWho%20would%20have%20guessed?%20Comparing%20Zionists%20to%20ISIS%20is%20not%20so%20outlandish%20after%20all.%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://shareverythingworld.files.wordpress.com/%22%3Ehttps://shareverythingworld.files.wordpress.com%3C/a%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Ch3%3E%0A%3Cspan%3EWe%20are%20volunteers%20and%20depend%20on%20donations%20to%20spread%20the%20truth%20to%20a%20FREE%20PALESTINE.%20Please%20donate%20as%20much%20as%20you%20can%20afford.%20Every%20little%20helps.%3C/span%3E%3C/h3%3E%0A%3C/li%3E%0A%3C/ul%3E%0A%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cimg%20alt%3D%22%22%20border%3D%220%22%20height%3D%221%22%20src%3D%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif%22%20width%3D%221%22%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E)
Activist And Former Israeli Bomber Says “I Was Part Of A Terror Organization” 12 Mar 2015 8:48 AM (10 years ago)
Shapira’s activism began in 2003, when he co-signed a letter with other pilots pledging his support for peace. In a recent interview with The Electronic Intifada, Shapira spoke boldly about his time with the military, saying that he belonged to a terror organization.
Speaking with journalist Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Shapira revealed details of the Israeli government’s assassination policy, which put the lives of many innocent people in danger. Shapira said that “I realized something was rotten when the Israeli government started what was called the “assassination policy” in 2001-2003. Palestinian resistance failed to bring liberation and more extreme attitudes took place, such as suicide bombings and other [forms of] armed struggle. The government thought to assassinate everyone that has to do with armed resistance. Pilots would be sent with missiles to shoot the car of this person. In the beginning, this car could be driving outside of town where just the car was hit. Later they would allow shooting suspects when they are closer to the city. Eventually the assassination would be even if he’s in the middle of the market, or in his house at night with all of the family around.
His story continued:
“In July 2002, Salah Shehadeh, head of the armed branch of Hamas in Gaza, was bombed in the middle of the night with an F-16 dropping a one-ton bomb on his house where he was sleeping with his children and his wife. The bomb killed fifteen people, most of them children, and about 150 were injured. If I needed some answer for my questions and doubts, that was clear: this is a terror attack. And I’m part of a terror organization. The commander of the air force said that everything was done perfectly, and the pilots should sleep well at night. That was an additional thing that helped us: when someone says you can sleep well at night, maybe it’s time to wake up and start to think. For me and several friends, that was the moment we decided to do something.”
Then, on September 24, 2003, Shapira and 28 other pilots published what came to be known as “The Pilots Letter.”
In their letter, the pilots stated that:
“We, veteran and active pilots alike, who served and still serve the state of Israel for long weeks every year, are opposed to carrying out attack orders that are illegal and immoral of the type the state of Israel has been conducting in the territories. We, who were raised to love the state of Israel and contribute to the Zionist enterprise, refuse to take part in Air Force attacks on civilian population centers. We, for whom the Israel Defense Forces and the Air Force are an inalienable part of ourselves, refuse to continue to harm innocent civilians. These actions are illegal and immoral, and are a direct result of the ongoing occupation which is corrupting all of Israeli society. Perpetuation of the occupation is fatally harming the security of the state of Israel and its moral strength.”
This type of resistance is occurring within regimes all over the planet. Just last month, we reported on the story of a US drone operator who also changed his ways and became and activist after he was forced to kill innocent people.
This post is by John Vibes who writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
;%20border-top-style:%20solid;%20box-sizing:%20content-box;%20height:%200px;%20margin-bottom:%2020px;%20margin-top:%2020px;%22%20/%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cem%3EThis%20post%20is%20by%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://www.facebook.com/jgvibes%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EJohn%20Vibes%3C/a%3E%26nbsp;who%20writes%20for%20True%20Activist%20and%20is%20an%20author,%20researcher%20and%20investigative%20journalist%20who%20takes%20a%20special%20interest%20in%20the%20counter%20culture%20and%20the%20drug%20war.%26nbsp;%3C/em%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3E%3Ch3%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%0AWe%20are%20volunteers%20and%20depend%20on%20donations%20to%20spread%20the%20truth%20to%20a%20FREE%20PALESTINE.%20Please%20donate%20as%20much%20as%20you%20can%20afford.%20Every%20little%20helps.%3C/span%3E%3C/h3%3E%0A%3C/li%3E%0A%3C/ul%3E%0A%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cimg%20alt%3D%22%22%20border%3D%220%22%20height%3D%221%22%20src%3D%22https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif%22%20width%3D%221%22%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E)
The U.S helped Israel with H-bomb - 1980s report declassified 5 Mar 2015 11:09 AM (10 years ago)
Conceding to a federal lawsuit, the US government agreed to release a 1987 Defense Department report detailing US assistance to Israel in its development of a hydrogen bomb, which skirted international standards.
Russia Today
Russia Today
The 386-page report, “Critical Technology Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations,” likens top Israeli nuclear facilities to the Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories that were key in the development of US nuclear weaponry.
Israelis are "developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs. That is, codes which detail fission and fusion processes on a microscopic and macroscopic level,” said the report, the release of which comes before Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's March 3 speech in front of the US Congress in which he will oppose any deal that allows Iran's legal nuclear program to persist.
"I am struck by the degree of cooperation on specialized war making devices between Israel and the US," Roger Mattson, a formerly of the Atomic Energy Commission’s technical staff,said of the report, according to Courthouse News.
The report’s release earlier this week was initiated by a Freedom of Information Act request made three years ago by Grant Smith, director of the Washington think tank Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy. Smith filed a lawsuit in September in order to compel the Pentagon to substantially address the request.
"It's our basic position that in 1987 the Department of Defense discovered that Israel had a nuclear weapons program, detailed it and then has covered it up for 25 years in violation of the Symington and Glenn amendments, costing taxpayers $86 billion,” Smith said during a hearing in late 2014 before Judge Tanya Chutkan in US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Read more
‘Elections, not Iran’: Israeli PM accused of vote-scoring, risking US ties at Congress speech
‘Elections, not Iran’: Israeli PM accused of vote-scoring, risking US ties at Congress speech
Smith described in his federal court complaint how those federal laws were violated by the US in the midst of Israel’s budding nuclear program.
"The Symington Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 prohibits most U.S. foreign aid to any country found trafficking in nuclear enrichment equipment or technology outside international safeguards,” Smith wrote.
“The Glenn Amendment of 1977 calls for an end to U.S. foreign aid to countries that import nuclear reprocessing technology."
In November, Judge Chutkan asked government lawyers resistant to the report’s release why it had taken years for the government to prepare the report for public consumption.
“I’d like to know what is taking so long for a 386-page document. The document was located some time ago,” Chutkan said, according to Courthouse News Service.
“I've reviewed my share of documents in my career. It should not take that long to review that document and decide what needs to be redacted.”
image from the report “Critical Technology Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations"
The government’s representatives in the case -- Special Assistant US Attorney Laura Jennings and Defense Department counsel Mark Herrington -- initially said confidentiality agreements required a“line by line” review of the Defense Department’s report. They later shifted, arguing that its release is optional and not mandatory, as "diplomatic relations dictate that DoD seeks Israel's review."
Smith and the US agreed that the government would redact sections of the report on NATO countries, though the passages on Israel remain intact.
"The capability of SOREQ [Soreq Nuclear Research Center] to support SDIO [Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, or “Star Wars”] and nuclear technologies is almost an exact parallel of the capability currently existing at our National Laboratories," said the report, written by the Institute for Defense Analysis for the Department of Defense.
"SOREQ and Dimona/Beer Sheva facilities are the equivalent of our Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories...[and have] the technology base required for nuclear weapons design and fabrication."
The report’s authors Edwin Townsley and Clarence Robinson found that Israel to had Category 1 capability regarding its anti-tactical ballistic missile and “Star Wars” weapons programs.
"As far as nuclear technology is concerned the Israelis are roughly where the U.S. [w]as in the fission weapon field in about 1955 to 1960,” the report said. “It should be noted that the Israelis are developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs."
In a statement on the report’s release, Smith said Thursday, "Informal and Freedom of Information Act release of such information is rare. Under two known gag orders -- punishable by imprisonment -- U.S. security-cleared government agency employees and contractors may not disclose that Israel has a nuclear weapons program."
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s planned address before the US Congress was controversially arranged by Republican leadership without consultation of congressional Democrats or the White House.
The speech will occur weeks before Netanyahu will seek reelection, and is to center around his opposition to any agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, a deal the US -- while levying heavy sanctions on Tehran -- has pursued despite protests from its preeminent ally in the Middle East, Israel.
Tehran’s nuclear program is legal under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Israel is one of the few United Nations members that is not a signatory.
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Why We Need the International Criminal Court - An Analysis 17 Feb 2015 3:57 PM (10 years ago)
This is the first of two analyses on the International Criminal Court. The second one will consider the Palestinian appeal to the Court.
Part I - The Need for Rules and Laws
Americans consider themselves citizens of “the Land of the Free” with a tradition of rugged individualism that still provides mythical fodder for organizations such as the Tea Party and the National Rifle Association. People associated with such organizations (and their numbers are in the millions) also exhibit a deep suspicion of government. They believe that the politicians they elect should, as one-time Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater put it, “aim not to pass laws, but to repeal them.” They believe that the fewer rules and laws there are (except those promoting their own peculiar brand of morality), the greater is the citizen’s freedom.
It takes just a little bit of historical knowledge to know that this attitude is dangerous nonsense. The fact is you cannot have a stable and safe human environment without rules and laws. That is one reason why they have always existed in one form or another at multiple levels of human society, in the family, the classroom, private clubs, the town, the state, the country, and so forth. In fact, human history can be read as the expansion of enforceable rules or laws from smaller to larger groupings. Wider circles obeying the same set of hopefully humane rules.
It is also a historical fact that the larger and more developed a society becomes, the more rules and laws it accumulates. This tendency, which has become analogous with “big government,” seems to drive right-wingers crazy. And indeed, some of these regulations might well be superfluous (generating “red tape”), but others are not. In fact, it is well thought out rules and laws that hold societies together - countering, though not always adequately, the centrifugal forces of economic greed, special interest selfishness, and the callousness of citizens who would turn their backs on societal needs so as to avoid paying taxes.
It is my guess that most of us, worldwide, know what good rules or laws look like. In part they reflect the sort of rights and restrictions enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, various Geneva Conventions, the Charter of the United Nations and similar documents agreed to by peoples of many cultures. When these are taken seriously as models for enforceable law, they have the potential to both rein in the anarchists and prevent draconian behavior by the powerful and influential.
Part II - Who Is Above the Law?
The adage that no one should be above the law is of particular importance here. The problem is that there are innumerable cases where some individual or group holds sufficient political power to defy the rule of law. This situation, which almost always leads to an abuse of power, can arise both domestically and internationally. In the context of domestic national affairs we call such people dictators or tyrants, or amoral CEOs of companies that allegedly are “too big to fail.” These folks are easily identified but, short of revolution, less easily brought to account. Then there are the crimes committed under the guise of foreign policy and directed against people of other countries. In such cases the average citizen of the offending nation either does not know what is happening or is made to believe that crimes are not crimes, but rather actions in defense of alleged national interests.These highly placed leaders presuming to be above the law are sometimes harder to identify and even less likely to be held accountable.
Part III - The International Criminal Court (ICC)
It is to address this problem of the accountability that the ICC was established in 2002 by a multilateral treaty known as the Rome Statute. According to its own rules, the Court operates only when national courts will not or cannot prosecute an individual suspected of heinous crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, or other war crimes. Also, in order for the Court to have jurisdiction, crimes must have taken place within the territory of one or more of the 123 states that have ratified the Statute.
A number of important countries such as India, China and Saudi Arabia, have refused to sign on to the Rome Statute. Others, like the United States and Israel, have signed but never ratified the treaty and, subsequently, announced that they do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
That does not mean suspected criminals from non-ratifying nations are completely beyond the court’s jurisdiction. If a ratifying state claims that nationals of a non-ratifying state have committed crimes within its territory, the Court can investigate and, if warranted, indict the accused party. But then one comes up against the problem of enforcement. How do you arrest the indicted person if he is Henry Kissinger, George W. Bush or any number of Israeli military and civilian leaders, all of whom may well warrant the Court’s attention.
This issue has not yet been fully confronted because, until very recently, no one has actually brought the crimes of individuals representing large and powerful states, or their allies, to the attention of the Court. As a result the ICC’s list of prosecutions is notably lopsided. To date, all those indicted by the court have come from small nations without great power allies, and lacking influence within international institutions like the United Nations. Indeed, many of these prosecutions are against citizens of so-called failed states.
However, this is about to change due to the decision of the Palestinian National Authority to join the ICC. This has resulted in an ICC preliminary investigation of Israeli war crimes during the 2014 invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Part IV - Conclusion
How this investigation plays out will be a real test of ICC effectiveness. At this stage of our collective political history, how serious are we about creating a common set of rules allowing the investigation and punishment of serious crimes committed not just by leaders of small and weak states, but also by those who lead strong and influential nations? In other words, since law is one of the foundations of civilization, shouldn't we make sure that no one stands above it.
Lawrence Davidson
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Former Israeli Soldier Eran Efrati Lashes Out About The Occupation 17 Feb 2015 3:55 PM (10 years ago)
Conversation with Eran Efrati, a former Israeli combat soldier turned anti-occupation activist. He recently interviewed several Israeli soldiers who participated in the Shejaiya massacre in Gaza.
Later this month, Efrati will testify at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Brussels.
Debbie MenonWe are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps.
Canada opposes 15 Palestinian attempts to join United Nations treaties 17 Feb 2015 3:50 PM (10 years ago)
OTTAWA – Canada has formally opposed Palestinian attempts to join 15 different United Nations treaties and conventions — a position that puts the federal government on the wrong side of history and at odds with its citizenry, the Palestinian envoy in Ottawa says.
Canada is objecting in writing to the UN because it maintains Palestine is not a legal state. The Palestinians have formally replied to Canada’s objections in writing, issuing a pointed reminder that they won non-member observer status in November 2012 at the UN General Assembly.
The dispute has sparked the most scathing Palestinian criticism to date of the Harper government’s unwavering support of Israel.
“It pains the Palestinians to know that Canada is trying to exclude us from our rightful place in the family of nations. It is awkward to see a great country like Canada relegated to the role of cheerleader for Israeli extremists at the UN,” Said Hamad, the chief representative of the Palestinian delegation to Canada, said in an emailed response to questions.
“When future Canadians look back at Canada’s positions during this time they will be appalled that their country was so boldly opposed to justice and so far on the wrong side of history,” he added.
“We invite Canada to pursue a position of its own — rather than parrot policies developed by the Likud Party and its ultranationalist allies — on the matter of Palestinian freedom.”
Canada voted against the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition along with Israel, the United States and six smaller countries, but it still won the approval of the 193-member UN General Assembly.
On Nov. 29, 2012, John Baird — who was foreign affairs minister at the time — flew to New York to deliver a speech to the General Assembly to express Canada’s opposition to the bid.
Now, Canada is making it clear to the UN that because it does not recognize “Palestine” as a state, it does not recognize any treaty relations with it, either.
In documents filed by the UN, Canada has objected to the Palestinians acceding to the Rome Statute that creates the International Criminal Court and 14 other conventions and protocols.
Among them are the Convention on Biodiversity, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the UN Law of the Sea, a convention against transnational organized crime, a protocol on biosafety and biological diversity and the convention on womens’ rights.
In repetitive legalese, one of the documents citing Canada’s position says, “‘Palestine’ does not meet the criteria of a state under international law and is not recognized by Canada as a state.” It says that Canada considers any declarations “made by the ‘State of Palestine’ to be without any legal validity or effect.”
In its repeated replies, “The State of Palestine” says it “regrets the position of Canada and wishes to recall” the resolution of Nov. 29, 2012, that granted it “non-observer state status in the United Nations.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs says Canada has officially registered its objections to the Palestinian action with the UN Secretary General and the International Criminal Court.
“Canada’s position on Palestinian efforts to join the ICC and to become party to other treaties is clear: the Palestinians do not meet the criteria of a state under international law. They are not recognized by Canada as a state,” said spokesman Francois Lasalle.
“This provocative Palestinian attempt to politicize international organizations will not contribute to peace in the region.”
New Democrat foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said the Palestinians have earned the right to join UN treaties and conventions.
“At a time when we’re facing a crisis in Ukraine and devastation in Syria and Iraq, I’m sure there’s much more important work that our diplomats at the UN could be doing to save lives and promote global peace and security.”
Canada also opposes the Palestinian bid to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), a treaty that Canada itself signed in 2008 but has yet to ratify.
While the Canadian government has yet to formally deposit any ratification documents on the CCM with the UN, it has nonetheless managed to register its objection to the Palestinian desire to ratify it.
“Canada considers the declaration made by the ‘State of Palestine’ to be without any legal validity or effect,” says the notification on the CCM circulated by the UN on Jan. 23.
Last week, the UN circulated the Palestinian reply, which came with the same boilerplate statement of regret and reminder of UN recognition.
“The Conservatives should focus on ratifying Canada’s commitments on the Convention on Cluster Munitions rather than trying to keep others from joining this important international treaty,” said Dewar.
Canada has faced international condemnation for dragging its heels on ratifying the CCM, and for proposing ratification legislation that could undermine the treaty.
Cluster bombs are tiny submunitions that often lay dormant for decades, eventually maiming and killing innocent civilians.
Israel’s 72-hour bombardment of south Lebanon with cluster bombs in the final hours of its 2006 summer war with Hezbollah terrorists spurred the international effort to create the treaty banning the weapons.
Greek Tragedies 17 Feb 2015 3:47 PM (10 years ago)
Life rolls on not in any monotony but in the crazy waves of ups and downs and scenarios reminiscent of ancient Greek tragedies. We take the punches, resist the evil acts of some, act to help where we can, accept the things we cannot change and try to change those we can. That is life. This week we lost several friends and neighbors (Advocate Judeh Shahwan, Professor Naseer Aruri, Human Rights activist Kayla Mueller, Ihab Rishmawi) and we mourned atrocities committed in the US, Syria and Iraq . The racist Zionist Debbie Schlussel wrote that she has no sympathy for our friend Kayla for being "anti-American" (actually anti-Zionist control of American Foreign policy) and called Kayla other names so obscene to be mentioned here. A brief on Naseer Aruri just to show you the quality of the many we mourn (all of them are candles in the darkness and remain so even after death; truly inspirational):http://www1.umassd.edu/communications/articles/showarticles.cfm?a_key=3553
We were not surprised that the highest court in the apartheid regime rejected the well-documented evidence of the murder of Rachel Corrie and accepted the fascist soldier's version that it was an "accident." Western media ignored this travesty of justice. Time for the international criminal court. In other news in the last few days, a hate-filled criminal terrorist killed three young Muslim students in North Carolina. That is where I lived and worked for six years and knew intimately the Muslim and Arab community and I recognized many of the faces of the mourners at the funeral videos. After significant protest, Mr. Obama made a brief statement but it was not even close to his statement about the Paris killings. The media was even more hypocritical either ignoring the story or calling the executions as a parking altercation! (yes I know it is unbelievable). See these videos about this incidence
We find the mainstream media so distorted, so biased; they are either run by Zionist racists or afraid of backlash from Zionist racists if they tell the truth. Otherwise how does one explain the discrepancy of extensive almost round-the-clock coverage by American media of the hate crimes committed in Paris but little or no coverage of the crime in North Carolina. What little coverage they did was distorted claiming the guy killed those three innocent young Muslims because of a "parking space" issue! How else can we see that a story like the French police catching a Jewish Zionist who was spray painting cars of Jews as a false flag operation to increase emigration of French Jews to Palestine (transformed to the Jewish state of Israel). Why coverage mentioning this is in some obscure website not on mainstream media? Here is a report mentioning this:http://www.f169bbs.com/bbs/news/86206-france-police-catch-73-year-old-jew-spray-painting-the-word-jew-on-20-cars#axzz3Rdh6Lytv
But here is the Times of Israel interested in getting Jews to migrate out of France telling us the police arrested the guy but not saying he is Jewish and that Israel expects 10,000 Jewish French to come join the land thieves: http://www.timesofisrael.com/suspect-arrested-for-anti-semitic-graffiti-in-paris/
Such hypocrisy, such lies and countless false flag operations (billions spent on psy-ops to brainwash common people), and such evil forces are all around us. But then again I think of goodness. I think of those who organized vigils in Bethlehem and other towns for victims like the Jordanian pilot. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/jordan-kaseasbeh-palestine-hamas-ondemnation.html#
I think of 14-year-old Malak (english Angel) Alkhatib. She is a true angel who was incarcerated in Israeli gulags (fascist prisons). She was finally released and the video of her reunion with family and supporters is touching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6PkQ8x8uRE
%20and%20we%20mourned%20atrocities%20committed%20in%20the%20US,%20Syria%20and%20Iraq%20.%20%26nbsp;The%20racist%20Zionist%20Debbie%20Schlussel%20wrote%20that%20she%20has%20no%20sympathy%20for%20our%20friend%20Kayla%20for%20being%26nbsp;%3C/span%3E%22anti-American%22%20(actually%20anti-Zionist%20control%20of%20American%20Foreign%20policy)%20and%20called%20%26nbsp;Kayla%20other%20names%20so%20obscene%20to%20be%20mentioned%20here.%20%26nbsp;A%20brief%20on%20Naseer%20Aruri%20just%20to%20show%20you%20the%20quality%20of%20the%20many%20we%20mourn%20(all%20of%20them%20are%20candles%20in%20the%20darkness%20and%20remain%20so%20even%20after%20death;%20truly%20inspirational):%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www1.umassd.edu/communications/articles/showarticles.cfm?a_key%253D3553%22%3Ehttp://www1.umassd.edu/communications/articles/showarticles.cfm?a_key%3D3553%3C/a%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EWe%20were%20not%20surprised%20that%20the%20highest%20court%20in%20the%20apartheid%20regime%20rejected%20the%20well-documented%20evidence%20of%20the%20murder%20of%20Rachel%20Corrie%20and%20accepted%20the%20fascist%20soldier's%20version%20that%20it%20was%20an%20%22accident.%22%20Western%20media%20ignored%20this%20travesty%20of%20justice.%20Time%20for%20the%20international%20criminal%20court.%20%26nbsp;In%20other%20news%20in%20the%20last%20few%20days,%20a%20hate-filled%20criminal%20terrorist%20killed%20three%20young%20Muslim%20students%20in%20North%20Carolina.%20%26nbsp;That%20is%20where%20I%20lived%20and%20worked%20for%20six%20years%20and%20knew%20intimately%20the%20Muslim%20and%20Arab%20community%20and%20I%20recognized%20many%20of%20the%20faces%20of%20the%20mourners%20at%20the%20funeral%20videos.%20%26nbsp;After%20significant%20protest,%20Mr.%20Obama%20made%20a%20brief%20statement%20but%20it%20was%20not%20even%20close%20to%20his%20statement%20about%20the%20Paris%20killings.%20%26nbsp;The%20media%20was%20even%20more%20hypocritical%20either%20ignoring%20the%20story%20or%20calling%20the%20executions%20as%20a%20parking%20altercation!%20(yes%20I%20know%20it%20is%20unbelievable).%20%26nbsp;See%20these%20videos%20about%20this%20incidence%3Co:p%3E%3C/o:p%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%253DijEL191kIrA%22%3Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DijEL191kIrA%3C/a%3E%3Co:p%3E%3C/o:p%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%253DvnOI2CD8Fak%22%3Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DvnOI2CD8Fak%3C/a%3E%3Co:p%3E%3C/o:p%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%253DTHbG6fov_7U%22%3Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DTHbG6fov_7U%3C/a%3E%3Co:p%3E%3C/o:p%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EWe%20find%20the%20mainstream%20media%20so%20distorted,%20so%20biased;%20they%20are%20either%20run%20by%20Zionist%20racists%20or%20afraid%20of%20backlash%20from%20Zionist%20racists%20if%20they%20tell%20the%20truth.%20%26nbsp;Otherwise%20how%20does%20one%20explain%20the%20discrepancy%20of%20extensive%20almost%20round-the-clock%20coverage%20by%20American%20media%20of%20the%20hate%20crimes%20committed%20in%20Paris%20but%20little%20or%20no%20coverage%20of%20the%20crime%20in%20North%20Carolina.%20%26nbsp;What%20little%20coverage%20they%20did%20was%20distorted%20claiming%20the%20guy%20killed%20those%20three%20innocent%20young%20Muslims%20because%20of%20a%20%22parking%20space%22%20issue!%20%26nbsp;How%20else%20can%20we%20see%20that%20a%20story%20like%20the%20French%20police%20catching%20a%20Jewish%20Zionist%20who%20was%20spray%20painting%20cars%20of%20Jews%20as%20a%20false%20flag%20operation%20to%20increase%20emigration%20of%20French%20Jews%20to%20Palestine%20(transformed%20to%20the%20Jewish%20state%20of%20Israel).%20Why%20coverage%20mentioning%20this%20is%20in%20some%20obscure%20website%20not%20on%20mainstream%20media?%20%26nbsp;Here%20is%20a%20report%20mentioning%20this:%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.f169bbs.com/bbs/news/86206-france-police-catch-73-year-old-jew-spray-painting-the-word-jew-on-20-cars%23axzz3Rdh6Lytv%22%3Ehttp://www.f169bbs.com/bbs/news/86206-france-police-catch-73-year-old-jew-spray-painting-the-word-jew-on-20-cars%23axzz3Rdh6Lytv%3C/a%3E%3Co:p%3E%3C/o:p%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EBut%20here%20is%20the%20Times%20of%20Israel%20interested%20in%20getting%20Jews%20to%20migrate%20out%20of%20France%20telling%20us%20the%20police%20arrested%20the%20guy%20but%20not%20saying%20he%20is%20Jewish%20and%20that%20Israel%20expects%2010,000%20Jewish%20French%20to%20come%20join%20the%20land%20thieves:%20http://www.timesofisrael.com/suspect-arrested-for-anti-semitic-graffiti-in-paris/%3Co:p%3E%3C/o:p%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3ESuch%20hypocrisy,%20such%20lies%20and%20countless%20false%20flag%20operations%20(billions%20spent%20on%20psy-ops%20to%20brainwash%20common%20people),%20and%20such%20evil%20forces%20are%20all%20around%20us.%20%26nbsp;But%20then%20again%20I%20think%20of%20goodness.%20%26nbsp;I%20think%20of%20those%20who%20organized%20vigils%20in%20Bethlehem%20and%20other%20towns%20for%20victims%20like%20the%20Jordanian%20pilot.%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/jordan-kaseasbeh-palestine-hamas-ondemnation.html%22%3Ehttp://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/jordan-kaseasbeh-palestine-hamas-ondemnation.html%23%3C/a%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cbr%20style%3D%22background-color:%20%23fff9ee;%20color:%20%23222222;%20font-family:%20Georgia,%20Utopia,%20'Palatino%20Linotype',%20Palatino,%20serif;%20line-height:%2021.5599994659424px;%22%20/%3E%3C/span%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Cspan%3E%3Cspan%3EI%20think%20of%2014-year-old%20Malak%20(english%20Angel)%20Alkhatib.%20%26nbsp;She%20is%20a%20true%20angel%20who%20was%20incarcerated%20in%20Israeli%20gulags%20(fascist%20prisons).%20%26nbsp;She%20was%20finally%20released%20and%20the%20video%20of%20her%20reunion%20with%20family%20and%20supporters%20is%20touching.%20%26nbsp;%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%253Do6PkQ8x8uRE%22%3Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Do6PkQ8x8uRE%3C/a%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E)
On Politics and a Request 6 Feb 2015 8:57 AM (10 years ago)
changing and unless we establish a world based on justice and human rights, the US/Israel axis will lose big. Let me again remind you that our choices are 1) a livable world based on justice and human rights, 2) a dead-end world based on might is right, 3) there is no other choice. The Israeli leadership of Netanyahu tried to reassert
Israel’s “might is right” impunity by attacking a group of Hizbollah fighters deep inside Syrian territory (Israel also illegally occupies the Syrian Golan heights). Ten days later and on January 28, Hizbollah resistance struck back at Israeli soldiers inside the illegally occupied Shebaa Farms (Lebanese territory occupied by Israel illegally since 1967). This operation buried the notion that Israel
can attack anywhere and everywhere with impunity. In other world news:
an employee of a US subsidiary of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems was apparently killed (“suicided” by falling off of his hotel room) in Saudi Arabia. His family says it has to do with the complicated business of Israeli weapons being sold to Saudi Arabia!
That country had a shake-up recently with the new king even more allied with Israel and the US and he removed a number of officials who were “only” 90-95% pro-Israel. We also had more Snowden leaks about US and Israeli “intelligence” cooperation including in assassination of
Imad Mughniyeh and Iranian scientists. The Jewish State of Israel in the Levant (JSIL) apparently also convinced US intelligence to identify Palestinian resistance (that presumably includes everything
from Hamas to nonviolent popular committees in Nebi Saleh etc), Hizbollah, Iran, and Syria as joint enemies (hay perhaps that should give us a hint!). But then again even Egypt today is more pro-Israel than ever before (an Egyptian court ruled that Hamas military wing is a terrorist organization and Egyptian government enforces the Israeli
siege on Gaza that is killing civilians every week). And the US government budget of nearly $4 trillion will add $0.5 trillion to the exploding US national debt which will ensure the US gets bankrupt soon (unless they devalue the dollar and thus default on much of this obligation). The US will become soon a third world power and Zionists are already looking to move on to China and India (as they did when
they moved from Britain to the USA).
Huge changes are unfolding here in Palestine, the epicenter of much of the conflict in Western Asia and North Africa. Zionists push their luck by pressuring the moderates within the PLO who were always ready to have a two-state solution. The two-state solution was never alive
but if it was then it was also killed by the Israeli settlement
enterprise (650,000 Jewish settlers now live in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank). The upcoming Israeli elections are of “who is most fascist”. Zionists are intent on pushing further by stealing more natural resources, stealing Palestinian taxes, daily killing civilians, and even using their hegemony in the US to get judges there
to rule to give them money for being victims of “terrorism”. Of
course, the real victims of terror (millions of Palestinians) are not allowed to get any compensation. The Oslo process tied the hands of Palestinian officials. Some want to change now and when there is a will, there is a way. But what would YOU advise us Palestinian leaders
to do? I am genuinely curious as to how many of my readers have constructive advice based on what they know of geostrategic\ structures, capabilities etc. I will keep your advice confidential (unless you tell me otherwise) but summarize all responses received (I suspect >100) and share them with receptive Palestinian authority figures.
Thank you to those of you who responded to volunteer your time and in some cases your money for the Palestine Museum of Natural History (palestinenature.org). The museum is important to present young people
with alternatives to violence and a new way of looking at themselves and their environment (empowerment and nature conservation). Things are moving along: a beautiful garden is flourishing, animals are happy in natural settings, research is expanding, we were nominated for an
environmental award and for membership in several exclusive professional societies, our database is growing, students are here learning every day, and much more. But we could still use your help
so do contact the museum via info@palestinenature.org
A new initiative to encourage young Palestinians in Gaza to write (I am proud to be part of this as a mentor). You can also support it
https://www.indiegogo.com/
Zionist-sponsored tour for Muslim-Americans sparks anger in Palestine
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
http://www.israelnationalnews.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor and Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History (PMNH)
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS)
Bethlehem University
Sustainability, Youth Education and Empowerment
http://www.palestinenature.org
info@palestinenature.org
Tel 970-22773553
We are volunteers and depend on donations to spread the truth to a FREE PALESTINE. Please donate as much as you can afford. Every little helps