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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it    
Commentary

TitleDescriptionDate
Boycotts from Arizona to Palestineby David Hosey - Mondoweiss "If you haven’t heard, SB1070 effectively mandates racial profiling by giving local police officers the right to demand immigration documentation from anyone they think might be in the country without documents. Here’s the Washington Post summarizing the new law (and insisting on calling human beings “illegal”)"30/4/2010
Israel`s choice: Make peace or disappear By Tzvia Greenfield - Haaretz "An Israel that does not allow the Palestinian situation to be resolved has effectively announced its own inexorable death, via the gradual destruction of the resources of knowledge and talent that have enabled it to develop and defend itself until now. In order to save Israel, we must immediately separate from the territories and their inhabitants. "30/4/2010
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Arab MKs` Libya trip a path to Mideast peace By Haaretz Editorial "Such an invitation from an Arab leader would certainly have been received with great excitement had it been addressed to Jewish officials. After all, this is what Israel`s government, which is demanding gestures of normalization from the Arab states, is longing for. " 30/4/2010
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Is the Israel-Palestine Conflict “ripe” for Obama’s intervention?Henry Siegman - Foreign Policy - What exactly would an American president do when confronted with such a new reality, which undoubtedly would again produce a spate of full-page advertisements and AIPAC resolutions in the U.S. Congress stressing the Jewish people`s biblical attachment to the land and demanding that we stand by our traditional ally? How would a less than forthright U.S. response to such a situation play in the rest of the world? Isn`t it in America`s national interest-not to speak of the interests of the State of Israel and its people and of the Palestinian people-for an American president to exert every effort to prevent such a likely deterioration that would force our policymakers to make the most agonizing and fateful decisions? 29/4/2010
Israel`s tyranny of the majority is dangerous Gideon Levy - Haaretz - Our immune systems have long weakened. The press will be silent, and the Supreme Court will forgive. Meanwhile, protest slumbers and civil society, a concept on the rise in world politics, doesn`t exist. Go explain to the Israel of 2010 that the media`s role is to expose wrongdoing, the non-governmental organizations` role is to warn us, and the Supreme Court`s role is to be a gatekeeper. Instead, all of them are to be punished. Go explain that the tyranny of the majority is no less dangerous than control by the minority. Go explain that democracy means unlimited, free criticism. 29/4/2010
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Israelis have an un-American view of democracy Mondoweiss - What the Israeli poll makes clear is that Jewish Israelis and Americans, far from having an unbreakable bond of common values, actually have significantly different views about how democracy works. As Daniel Bar-Tal, a professor at Tel Aviv university said: “The public recognizes the importance of democratic values, but when they need to be applied, it turns out most people are almost anti-democratic.” 28/4/2010
US hegemony, not "the lobby," behind complicity with Israel Stephen Maher - The Electronic Intifada - US foreign policy in the Middle East is similar to that which is carried out elsewhere in the world, in regions free of "the lobby`s" proclaimed corrupting effects. The inflated level of support that the US lends Israel is a rational response to the particular strategic importance of the Middle East, the chief energy-producing region of the world. By building Israel into what Noam Chomsky refers to as an "offshore US military base," it is able to protect its dominance over much of the world`s remaining energy resources, a major lever of global power. As we shall see, those blaming the lobby for US policy once again misunderstand US`s strategic interests in the Middle East, and Israel`s central role in advancing them. 28/4/2010
When will time run out for a two-state solution?Yousef Munayyer - Guardian - "With every tick of the clock, every new settlement home, wall and segregated road, we`ve marched towards the threshold – or past it." 28/4/2010
Who Rules Israel?YOSSI ALPHER - NYT - "High Court Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch recently felt compelled to remind the government that court rulings are “not recommendations.”" 28/4/2010
A Middle East Peace That Could Happen (But Won’t)Noam Chomsky - AntiWar - "After its formal withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Israel never actually relinquished its total control over the territory, often described realistically as "the world’s largest prison." 28/4/2010
Red Rag: Remembrance DaysGideon Spiro - Remembrance Days - A moment of satisfaction - "They hate us more" - Every sixth person 28/4/2010
Gaza is the fuel for Muslim world`s anti-Israel struggleHaggai Alon - Haaretz - For its own security, and to protect its own interests, Israel must seek negotiations that will deal with the issues of borders and security as a single unit, with the involvement of a multilateral Arab military force and with major involvement by NATO. [The writer has been a political adviser in the Defense Ministry.]27/4/2010
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Secret agreement on construction in capitalBen Caspit, Maariv-translation Coteret - Netanyahu has expressed his agreement in secret, but hopes that something will come along to blow up the whole matter, and not move it forward. Prepare for the next crisis. 27/4/2010
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Waiting for the ‘Third Miracle’ Zeki Ergas - MediaForFreedom - We have three critical years before us during which a no-holds-barred struggle will take place in the United States between the Jewish-Israeli lobbies with their evangelical and other allies, and the forces that support the creation of a viable Palestinian state, which they see as better serving the geo-political interests of the United States.27/4/2010
Sovereign Palestinian State Requires Sovereignty Over Borders Michael Warschawski - AIC - "Israel is ready to recognize a Palestinian state… within the borders it itself will decide, and in accordance with its overall settlement expansion plan. One of the characteristics of this Palestinian state is that it will have no control over its borders and will not be able to freely decide who enters and who does not. In other words: the Israeli state will have unilateral control over the borders of the `Palestinian state,` even where it will not be adjacent to the sovereign territory of Israel"26/4/2010
U.S. isn`t a neutral mediator between Israelis and PalestiniansZvi Bar`el - Haaretz - "Israel is challenging the United States` strategic status. This provocation goes beyond the question of Israeli sovereignty versus American might. Idiotically, Israel is competing against itself because U.S. status is a fundamental part of Israel`s strength. And when Israel is ready to demolish this foundation for the benefit of the bullies in East Jerusalem and the West Bank outposts, Israel puts its own citizens at risk"26/4/2010
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Pathetic Elie WieselMichael Warschawski - Alternative Information Center - I have always asked myself what could justify a Nobel Peace Prize for Elie Wiesel: not only has he done nothing for peace anywhere on our planet, but the only political topic on which he has expressed himself strongly, he unconditionally justified and supported war: the wars of Israel which, by definition, is always the victim and has therefore the right to launch preemptive war in order to avoid a new Auschwitz.25/4/2010
Yasher koah, Judge GoldstoneLarry Derfner - Jerusalem Post - As far as I’m concerned, neither Peres nor Dershowitz nor any of the legions of other proud, patriotic Zionist Jews who’ve ganged up on Goldstone are worthy of carrying his briefcase.25/4/2010
In the name of ZionismUri Avnery - Gush Shalom - Israel is a Zionist state. Everybody knows that. But what does it mean?25/4/2010
Sowing hate and reaping deathRami Elhanan - words spoken at the Israeli-Palestinian Alternative Remembrance Day ceremony--Combatants for Peace24/4/2010
Book Review: Norman Finkelstein`s "This time we went too far" Ziyaad Lunat, The Electronic Intifada " A self-described "forensic scholar," Finkelstein fearlessly presents Israel`s case in support of the Gaza invasion as advocated by its most vocal supporters and then mercilessly shreds their arguments. His emphasis on factual documentation from non-partisan sources and statements from Israeli officials leave little room for doubt. " 21/4/2010
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Indyk: If Israel manages alone, it can decide alone By Haaretz Service "In an interview with Army Radio, Indyk said that if Israel sees itself as a superpower that does not need any aid from the United States, then it can make its own decisions. However "if you need the United States, then you need to take into account America`s interests," said Indyk. " 21/4/2010
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This Independence Day, Israel still turning its back on the Arab peace planAkiva Eldar - Haaretz - It is true that we are entitled to replace the hand extended in peace and neighborliness with a hand that digs the foundations for more outposts and more graves. After all, we are independent. Happy Holiday. 20/4/2010
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Bad Faith in the Holy CityRashid Khalidi - Foreign Affairs - There is nothing disputed about East Jerusalem’s status under international law as understood by every country besides Israel: it is universally considered occupied territory. 20/4/2010
End occupation then start negotiations Sam Bahour - Bitter Lemons - Holding Palestinian freedom hostage to an unachievable final status agreement is paramount to a war crime. [The article is one of four on "AN OBAMA PEACE PLAN?"]20/4/2010
Israel, a New DecadeRan HaCohen - Antiwar - "Despite all of the above, polls also show 60% support among the general public for removing the majority of settlements. As always, this 60% majority of Israeli Jews overwhelmingly believes it is a minority – only a third of respondents said such an evacuation had the support of the Israeli majority. This last figure – the majority being persuaded it is actually a minority – is one of the greatest achievements of the official Israeli brain-wash, and has been consistent for many years"19/4/2010
Film review: Uncovering truth and humor in Edward Salem`s "Impunity" Jimmy Johnson - EI - "Salem`s is not a conventional documentary in the sense that it doesn`t offer any one or series of narratives for the audience to follow. ‘Impunity’ is instead best appreciated as a profound ethnography on the coping mechanisms of a people under siege and in the aftermath of the massive destruction of Operation Cast Lead"19/4/2010
Difficult and More Likely to Succeed - How Obama Must Deal With Israeli Avoidance Methods Nadia Hijab - CounterPunch - "...the Obama administration should continue the steady if unglamorous task of pushing for a final and comprehensive agreement, albeit at a much, much faster pace and backed by clear costs for Israel for not ending its occupation. And it should call on Europe -- Israel`s largest trading partner -- to help make the costs of occupation clear. This will lessen the heat on the Administration and present Israel with a determined united front that says: Yes, to security for the citizens of Israel, No to occupation, injustice, and inequality"19/4/2010
In its 62nd year, Israel is in a diplomatic, security and moral limboHaaretz Editorial - "When the prime minister`s main message to the country is that we are once again on the verge of a holocaust, and his vision consists primarily of delving into the Bible, nurturing nationalist symbols and clinging to `national heritage sites,` it seems that Hebrew independence has become a caricature of itself"19/4/2010
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Likud power-broker: When Biden “or any other diseased leper” humiliates us, he sows the seeds of another HolocaustMoshe Feiglin - Ma`ariv - Didi Remez-Coteret translated this op-ed (and wrote a foreword) as we should from time to time also read the enemy [ed]. 13/4/2010
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Red Rag ColumnGideon Spiro - Anat Kam - a profane holiday - "they didn`t have to die" - pornography of death13/4/2010
To achieve Mideast peace, Obama must make a bold Mideast tripZbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen Solarz - Washington Post - The administration must convey to the parties that if the offer is rejected by either or both, the United States will seek the U.N. Security Council`s endorsement of this framework for peace, thus generating worldwide pressure on the recalcitrant party.13/4/2010
Letter from Israel to Jstreet: Please Do Not Call Me "anti-Israeli" !Ofer Neiman - mondoweiss.net - It`s the "radicals" who are leading the Israeli peace camp these days, as anyone who goes to Bil`in or to Sheikh-Jarah can tell. These "radicals" are not horned, yellow-eyed beasts. They are ordinary citizens, many of them young, who have learned that they can only rely on themselves and on like-minded people abroad, like the Berkeley activists campaigning for selective, morally justified sanctions against the occupation and the cynical corporations profiteering from it.13/4/2010
Breaking in with intent to terrorise Haggai Mattar - Dimi’s notes - "Why, come to think of it, do they need to break into our homes? After all, there are legal routes to obtain search warrants and confiscate computers, in a perfectly orderly manner. […] The answer is that breaking in signifies the deeper truth about the nature of their work. […] A break-in […] is a statement: ‘We are the law, and we are above the law, and under the radar of the law, as we please’; and also, ‘you know it’s us, and there’s nothing you can do about it’; and at the end of the day, ‘we are everywhere in your life, all the time, and don’t you forget it’”12/4/2010
The Anat Kamm Affair - The Dark Underbelly of Israel`s Security StateJonathan Cook - CounterPunch - "In a properly democratic country, Kamm would have an honorable defence against the charges, of being a whistle-blower rather than a spy, and Blau would be winning journalism prizes not huddling away in exile. But this is Israel. Here, despite a desperate last-stand for the principles of free speech and the rule of law in the pages of the Haaretz newspaper today, which is itself in the firing line over its role, there is almost no public sympathy for Kamm or even Blau"12/4/2010
IDF bid to expel West Bank Palestinians is a step too farHaaretz Editorial - "The order`s vague language will allow army officers to exploit it arbitrarily to carry out mass expulsions, in accordance with military orders which were issued under unclear circumstances. The first candidates for expulsion will be people whose ID cards bear addresses in the Gaza Strip, including children born in the West Bank and Palestinians living in the West Bank who have lost their residency status for various reasons"12/4/2010
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No chance for peace with Netanyahu, Ashrawi says By Natasha Mozgovaya - Haaretz Correspondent "Dr Hanan Ashrawi, the first woman to be elected a member of the PLO`s Executive Committee, is skeptical that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could deliver if U.S. President Barack Obama indeed goes ahead with a new Middle East peace plan. "I know Netanyahu even before Madrid," she told Haaretz." 9/4/2010
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US military aid to Israel violates domestic, international law Nahida H Gordon - The Electronic Intifada - Based on international and domestic US laws, and the Goldstone report`s finding that Israel committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the US government, in providing military aid and the transfer of arms to Israel, has violated its responsibility not to participate in the internationally wrongful acts of another state. 8/4/2010
El Al ordered to compensate humiliated Israeli Arab passengers Fadi Eyadat - Haaretz - The judge, Amir Toubi, stressed in his decision that the security officer Or admitted that neither of the brothers were deemed dangerous by the security check. The law, Toubi wrote, permits El Al security officials to search a person, his luggage or his clothes and ask the passenger for identification. It does not, however, allow them to follow a passenger around after the security check is complete, if there is no real and specific suspicion. 8/4/2010
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Israel `using Facebook to recruit Gaza collaborators` Jon Donnison - BBC News - Ronen Bergman, an Israeli expert on intelligence and author of Israel`s Secret War with Iran, says monitoring social networking sites is the very minimum you would expect from his country`s intelligence services. "Israel is using the personal information that is put in massive amounts on the internet to identify the people who can maybe help Israel," he says. 8/4/2010
What would happen if Israel stopped fighting the world? Gideon Levy - Haaretz - Spreading horror is a widespread, familiar practice in regimes that Israel does not want to resemble. Fear is the resort of the despot, a way to create false unity and prevent daring moves. Fear also feeds xenophobia, putting domestic problems out of people`s minds whether the foe is real or imagined. From Hamas` armament to the tunnels to accusations that foreign workers and refugees spread crime and disease, from the Iranian nuclear threat to swine flu - all are tried-and-true methods of intimidation by exaggeration. 8/4/2010
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Palestinians Try a Less Violent Path to ResistanceETHAN BRONNER - The New York Times - Something is stirring in the West Bank. With both diplomacy and armed struggle out of favor for having failed to end the Israeli occupation, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, joined by the business community, is trying to forge a third way: to rouse popular passions while avoiding violence. The idea, as Fatah struggles to revitalize its leadership, is to build a virtual state and body politic through acts of popular resistance. 8/4/2010
Israel’s Undiplomatic DiplomacyAlain Gresh - Middle East Online - Not that they are being treated like the Palestinians, but the United States and the EU - especially France under Nicolas Sarkozy - get more than a taste of Israel’s hostile “diplomacy,” says Alain Gresh. 7/4/2010
Against An Imposed PeaceReuven Kaminer - Two important voices for peace have come out openly in support of an imposed solution to the conflict: Uri Avneri and Professor Zev Shternhal. Their logic is that such a development, an imposed peace, is preferable to another war. However, this kind of argumentation has a number of serious drawbacks. Firstly, the fact that peace must be imposed enables the diehard warmongers to claim that they are acting on the basis of democratic principles and that they enjoy the support of the people.7/4/2010
Israel`s "Iron Dome" system aims to pacify, not protect Jimmy Johnson - The Electronic Intifada - On 25 March the online publication Intelligence Online revealed the development of the vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile system. The system was developed by Haifa-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems ostensibly to intercept Katyusha, Grad and Qassam rockets coming from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The Intelligence Online article however offers a different explanation, stating that "From the outset Iron Dome was always intended for Singapore, which helped finance its development. The island needs a very rapid antimissile system to defend its small territory of less than 700km2. Iron Dome will be battle tested in Israel ahead of export to Singapore at a later date" ("Singapore`s arms tests in Gaza") 7/4/2010
Netanyahu To Mitchell: “No Settlement Freeze” by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies "Netanyahu told the Israeli TV that “settlements are considered a red line”, he also underestimated the differences in stances between Israel and the United States, and described the relations between the two countries as open and sincere. The Israeli Prime Minister accused the Palestinians of placing obstacles and preconditions in front of the efforts to resume the peace process." 23/4/2010
Netanyahu isn`t, and never will be, a true leader By Yoel Marcus - Haaretz Bibi is deluding himself that Obama will not be reelected. But even in the three years remaining in his first term the president can impose uncomfortable sanctions on Israel - a step that should scare Israel more than Iran. Bibi has not yet grasped that what the U.S. administration wants is a change to the composition of the ruling coalition in Israel. So long as Bibi does not replace Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas with Kadima, there is no chance of moving in any direction." "23/4/2010
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Holiday over for Israel as Obama lays down the lawby Omar Karmi - The National "Israel went back to work yesterday after a holiday season that has disrupted most of April. For the Israeli coalition government, however, that return is probably even less welcome than to everyone else, with the country expected to come up with answers to US probing over a peace process with the Palestinians." 23/4/2010
The case we`re forbidden to report on Ze`ev Segal - Haaretz - The president of the Israel Press Council, retired Supreme Court justice Dalia Dorner, has said in a radio interview that it is "regrettable" that a court gag order on a certain security case remains in force, even though the foreign news media has reported on it in detail. Along with the regret over the government`s stupidity in not quickly asking for the gag order to be lifted, the silence that the court has imposed on the Israeli media is ludicrous. It infringes on the right of the Israeli public to know, a right acknowledged in the Freedom of Information Law. It feeds the rumors that are floating around under judicial auspices, and it makes a mockery of Israeli democracy. 7/4/2010
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Debate in Israel on Gag Order in Security Leak CaseTHE NEW YORK TIMES - A young Israeli journalist is scheduled to go on trial in Israel in mid-April on accusations of serious security offenses, possibly including espionage, according to Israelis familiar with the case. A court-imposed gag order has prevented any reporting of the case in Israel, but on Tuesday, a retired Israeli Supreme Court judge sharply criticized the forced news blackout, saying in a radio interview that it must be fought, and stirring a public furor.7/4/2010
The quarry is not about peace, but profitability Amira Hass - Haaretz - ... the Civil Administration is considering to grant new permits to the Palestinians following a February 2009 petition to the High Court of Justice by Yesh Din (Volunteers For Human Rights) to stop Israelis quarrying in the West Bank. Yesh Din argues Israeli quarrying involves removing natural resources from a conquered area to satisfy the needs of the occupier and violates international law and could, in certain cases, "be defined as pillage." 7/4/2010
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Court asked to define ‘Israeli’Jonathan Cook - The National - Israel refused to recognise an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality”. Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel”, the state is defined as belonging to the “Jewish nation”, meaning not only the 5.6 million Israeli Jews but also more than seven million Jews in the diaspora. 7/4/2010
The Palestinians Are Winning The Legitimacy War: Will It Matter? By Richard Falk - Armed resistance has not been renounced by the Palestinians, but it has been displaced by this emphasis on nonviolent tactics. The essence of this legitimacy war is to cast doubt on several dimensions of Israeli legitimacy: its status as a moral and law abiding actor, as an occupying power in relation to the Palestinian people, and with respect to its willingness to respect the United Nations and abide by international law. 6/4/2010
How the Shin Bet broke its deal with Haaretz At first glance, this `affair` has to do with the transfer of classified material to Haaretz correspondent Uri Blau, the very act of which was supposedly "harmful to national security." In reality, however, the crime in question is far more severe - the one committed by the security apparatus (GOC Central Command in particular) in ignoring a High Court order and approving the targeted assassination of wanted men who could otherwise have been detained10/4/2010
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Netanyahu`s Lies and the Politicians Who Swallow Them - The Lobby v. America Ramzy Baroud - CounterPunch - "When the President of the United States articulates a seemingly unmovable US position that rejects the building of more illegal settlements that would preclude any possible peace talks, and yet he fails to weaken Israel’s resolve even by an iota, some questions must be asked. Will the US use its leverage to twist Israel’s arm to respect international law? Will it at least hold on to some of the billions of dollars of funds that it continues to pour into Israel - especially as the US undergoes an unprecedented financial crisis, resulting in growing poverty and homelessness?"5/4/2010
How do we make Israel understand?The Daily Star - "It nearly leaves us speechless: This massive military power – the largest in the region and one of the 10 greatest armies in the world – is unable to keep a lid on the ragtag band of Hamas, and yet Israel fails to draw any sort of political conclusion from this failure?" 5/4/2010
A third intifada would work wonders for Israel`s battered image Zvi Bar`el - Haaretz - “Meanwhile, ‘popular struggle’ is a term that sits nicely with the Israelis. It`s interpreted as demonstrations here and there, some joint protests by Israelis and Palestinians, maybe a stone or two. It`s what they call ‘relatively quiet.’ Like a volcano that`s relatively quiet, until it`s not. The solutions are well known, and the Israel Defense Forces is, as ever, ‘prepared to make progress on every development’" 5/4/2010
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In search of the Jewish People (part II)Shmuel Amir - Hagada Hasmalit - The "Jewish People" is a basic construct of Zionist ideology. Without it there is no Zionist movement, no Klal Yisrael, in Anita Shapira`s words, including the Jews from all over the world. Nobody has yet asked American Jewry, for example, if they agree to this characterization. Should they be giving up their American citizenship and nationality in order to join the Jewish People? As things stand today, it looks the other way around.4/4/2010
Peace for Israelis and Palestinians? Not without America`s tough loveJonathan Ben-Artzi - An Israeli student explains why the US should act on moral outrage over Israel’s discriminatory policies before it’s too late. 4/4/2010
Palestinian aspirations are clear, but what does Israel want?Gideon Levy - Haaretz - Does anybody know what Benjamin Netanyahu wants? Has anybody ever understood what his predecessors wanted? Where are they headed? And where are they leading us? One after another, Israeli politicians have been asked these questions, only to reply with the standard rejoinders: "You don`t expect me to answer this question" or "Let`s leave this for the negotiations." Vague answers, obfuscations, evasive and noncommittal cliches - promises, promises. There was one clear, unequivocal answer - none.4/4/2010
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Ramallah is not Palestineby Sandy Tolan - Le Monde Diplomatique "Despite condemnation over Jerusalem and Gaza, Israel has boasted of improved conditions in parts of the West Bank. Yet Ramallah, with its coffee bars and restaurants, is far away from Area C, with its refugee camps, roadblocks, military patrols and harassment, where nothing much has changed"2/4/2010
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Who`s Afraid of a One-State Solution?BY DMITRY REIDER | Foreign Policy " As Israeli-Palestian peace talks remain at an impasse, a radical solution gains steam."2/4/2010
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Bili’in as an Allegory: The Party is Over, Declares Netanyahu Michael Warschawski - Alternative Information Center - The decision to declare Bili’in and Na’alin as closed military zones for a period of six months (so far) has meaning that goes far beyond the weekly demonstrations held there for the past five years already. “The party is over” – that is the message that the Netanyahu-Liberman government is sending to the social movement in Israel in general, and to activists against the occupation in particular. In other words, “from now on, what was will no longer be.” 1/4/2010
Imagining an Israeli Strike on IranDAVID E. SANGER - The New York Times - In 1981, Israel destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak, declaring it could not live with the chance the country would get a nuclear weapons capability. In 2007, it wiped out a North Korean-built reactor in Syria. And the next year, the Israelis secretly asked the Bush administration for the equipment and overflight rights they might need some day to strike Iran’s much better-hidden, better-defended nuclear sites. They were turned down, but the request added urgency to the question: Would Israel take the risk of a strike? And if so, what would follow? 1/4/2010
A rare voice of courage: journalist Gideon Levy interviewed David Cronin - The Electronic Intifada - GL: There is an enormous historic role that the Israeli media is playing. The Israeli media, which is a free media, free of censorship, free of governmental pressure, has been dehumanizing the Palestinians, demonizing them. Without the cooperation of the Israeli media, the occupation would not have lasted so long. It is destructive in ways I cannot even describe. It`s not Romania, it`s not Soviet Russia. It`s a free democracy, the media could play any role but it has chosen to play this role. The main thing is about the flow of information. It is so one-sided, so much propaganda and lies and ignorance. 1/4/2010
Let`s talkGideon Levy - Haaretz - Speak with a society that wants not peace but "separation" from you. Come and talk with those who have jailed 11,000 of your compatriots, some of them without a trial, others of whom are political prisoners, including members of parliament. Talk with those who just recently passed the Nakba Law, the law that denies your tragedy, and the Citizenship Law, which prevents your people, and only your people, the basic right to wed. Come and talk with those who do not recognize your refugee problem and are not ready to even discuss the refugees` return. Speak to them. Much will come of it for you. 1/4/2010
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MPs call for review of arms exports after Israeli assault on Gaza : Components from UK `almost certainly` used in Operation Cast LeadRichard Norton-Taylor - The Guardian - "It is regrettable that arms exports to Israel were almost certainly used in Operation Cast Lead [the attack on Gaza]," the Commons committee on strategic export controls says in a report published. "This is in direct contravention to the UK government`s policy that UK arms exports to Israel should not be used in the occupied territories." 1/4/2010
Barghouti: Palestinian Terrorist or the Next MandelaYermi Brenner - The Huffington Post - Barghouti has been in Israeli prison since 2002, serving five life sentences for involvement in terrorist activities. As a Fatah man, Ramallah-native Barghouti sat around the negotiation table with Israel in the 90`s. After the collapse of the talks, he was one of leaders of the Second Intifada. Barghouti has always been a vocal supporter of reaching a compromise with Israel. He adopted the armed struggle after being disappointed by the continuing Israeli occupation, and this made him a popular leader also amongst Fatah and Hamas crowds in the West Bank and in Gaza. 1/4/2010
Uniting against HafradaEinat Weizman-Diamond - A boycott against Israel should not only be about blocking off and separating. It must also generate new platforms for cooperation. 3/4/2010
Money and Support, The Trademark of Arab Summits Joharah Baker - MIFTAH - Abbas and the Palestinian people at large understand all too well that a few million dollars and some loyal lip service to Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause is all they`re going to get from their "brothers" the Arabs. Of course, this does not mean Arab leaders oppose the realization of national Palestinian rights or the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. On the contrary, such a state would serve their interests almost as much as the Palestinians. The point is, the Arabs are either too weak or too complying to outside pressures to put their own safeguarded interests on the line for the Palestinians.1/4/2010
Museum of Tolerance Desecrates GravesJohn Taylor - Antiwar.com - Rabbi Marvin Hier’s Los Angeles-based Museum of Tolerance, part of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, is building a $150 million branch in Jerusalem. The Museum, whose mission is confronting "global anti-Semitism, extremism, hate … and promoting unity and respect among Jews and people of all faiths," is being built atop part of the Mamilla Muslim cemetery, some of whose burials date to the 11th century. The graves, which may contain the remains of soldiers who fought with Saladin against the Crusaders, are being uprooted to make way for Rabbi Hier’s new museum1/4/2010
"Hold me back!"Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - “HOLD ME back!” is a part of Israeli folklore. It reminds us of our childhood. When a boy has a scuffle with a bigger and stronger boy, he pretends that he is going to attack him any moment and shouts to the spectators: “Hold me back, or I am going to kill him!” Israel is now in such a situation. We pretend that we are going to attack Iran at any moment and shout to the entire world: “Hold us back or…”4/4/2010
Israeli journalist Anat Kam under secret house arrest since DecemberStaff reporter - The Guardian - An Israeli journalist has been under secret house arrest since December on charges that she leaked highly sensitive, classified military documents that suggest the Israeli military breached a court order on assassinations in the occupied West Bank. Anat Kam, 23, goes on trial in two weeks on treason and espionage charges and could face up to 14 years in jail. A court-imposed gagging order, proposed by the state and more recently by the defence, is preventing media coverage of the arrest and charges in Israel.3/4/2010
From `wanted` to welcome Gideon Levy - Haaretz - Bilal al-Ahmar returned home a few weeks ago. For nine years, he hadn`t been back to his house, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. His elderly mother now lives on the first floor; the second floor is home to his brother Abed, Abed`s wife, Jewish American lawyer Allegra Pacheco, and their three children: Quds, Jalil and Carmel. 2/4/2010
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Independent and interdependentSam Bahour and Bernard Avishai - Haaretz - The challenge, in short, is to create dignified ways of becoming equals and partners in each other`s lives. Postponing this invites new violence that will rip apart the fabric of both Palestinian and Israeli society. And who knows how the violence will spread? Rather, we must shrink the negotiating agenda to a manageable scale, whose end game is clear: two independent but interdependent states, living side by side. The United States, for its part, should build on its condemnation of settlements and establish international law as a reference point for immediate changes. 2/4/2010
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Racing Towards a Dream Hajr Al-Ali - MIFTAH - We hitched a ride to Jenin with Suna Aweidah, better known on the tracks as “Malika Sibaaq Al-Sayyarat” (Queen of the Car Races). “Firstly, I race cars because I enjoy driving, and I simply love racing; I love the speed,” she says with a wink, “But I also think it’s important to show the strength of Palestinian women; to let men know that we are just as capable to do anything we’d like.” With a laugh she added, “(To prove) we can do what we want, when we want.” 2/4/2010
The right to deport Amira Hass - Haaretz - " The goals are to limit the population growth of Palestinians in the West Bank; to complete the process of severing the Palestinian population in Gaza from West Bank society (in violation of the Oslo Accords); and to deter foreign nationals joining the popular struggle against the occupation (see: IDF raids in Ramallah in search of foreigners)...When one takes into account Israel`s policy of disconnecting East Jerusalem from the West Bank, it is quite possible that the military ban on Palestinian East Jerusalemites entering areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority without a permit will be renewed. "14/4/2010
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For Jerusalem: a response to Elie WieselYossi Sarid - Haaretz - Someone has deceived you, my dear friend. Not only may an Arab not build "anywhere," but he may thank his god if he is not evicted from his home and thrown out onto the street with his family and property. Perhaps you`ve heard about Arab residents in Sheikh Jarrah, having lived there since 1948, who are again being uprooted and made refugees because certain Jews are chafing from Jerusalem`s space constraints. 18/4/2010
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Richard Becker - videoMiddle East expert Richard Becker speaks eloquently about the historical origins of the Arab-Israel conflict18/4/2010
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Hedy Epstein speaks at UC BerkleyA Jewish survivor of Nazi persecution in Germany speaks of her solidarity with the Palestinians. Extremely moving - must see.18/4/2010
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A birthday presentUri Avnery - Gush Shalom - If Barack Obama and his assistants intend to start a serious peace effort, as it now seems, that is the main thing they have to take into consideration: before addressing the hard problems of peacemaking, the profound lack of belief on both sides has to be overcome. Either side is completely convinced that the other side does not want peace and will bring a dozen proofs from real life. 18/4/2010
My Investment in Israel VIJAY PRASHAD - Counterpunch - I do not see the Israeli exertions in the Occupied Territories as especially different from the U. S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance. My investment in Israel is, however, not simply the same as my interest in other injustices, in other places. There is a particular set of reasons why I am invested in the struggles of the Palestinian against Israeli excesses22/4/2010
El Al sued for racial profiling Jonathan Cook - The Electronic Intifada - Two Palestinian citizens of Israel have won $8,000 in damages from Israel`s national carrier, El Al, after a court found that their treatment by the company`s security staff at a New York airport had been "abusive and unnecessary."21/4/2010
Don`t Tell Them, They Already Know Joharah Baker - MIFTAH - The Israeli government is not willing to do what it takes to make peace and it is still stubbornly supporting the settlement enterprise even as the settlers themselves nastily turn on Israel`s army. However, the weekly Sheikh Jarrah protests, the Bilin demonstrators, the journalists and bloggers out there who speak their minds and the ordinary Israelis who feel an obligation to write an email to a Palestinian to show their solidarity all point in the same direction. Israeli society will inevitably change and these people are the first soft breezes that precede the storm. I do not have to tell them about their occupation. My duty is to fight it. I have always known that. As for the Israelis? Well, ask them. A surprising number of them already know. 21/4/2010
Frequently Asked Questions: The Threat of Deportation from the West BankGisha - On April 13, 2010 order number 1650 ("the order" or "the new order") went into effect in the West Bank as an amendment to an existing order on "prevention of infiltration". Another order, number 1649, an amendment to an existing order on "security provisions", was also issued, addressing procedural matters stemming from the new order. The new order is worded very vaguely, such that it is not entirely clear to whom it applies and what it means. The following document was prepared to answer questions on the meaning of the order, as far as can be understood from its language, from the procedures that preceded its amendment and from various statements by Israeli officials.21/4/2010
Begin Was Right, Deportation Is A Nazi Policy Daoud Kuttab - Countercurrence - the signature of a single military commander can make a law that is enforceable in 100% of Palestinian areas with the help of a powerful military army and its bands of intelligence officers and local collaborators. Such was the case on October 13, 2009, when Major General Gadi Shamni, commander of the Israeli army in the West Bank, chanegd the legal definition of an "infiltrator" to anyone in the West Bank without a special Israeli-issued permit, and defined the punishment for those deemed infiltrators as seven years in jail, 3,500 shekels (1,000 US dollars) and/or deportation. 21/4/2010
Red Rag Column: a danger called IsraelGideon Spiro - On the occasion of President Obama`s nuclear conference: the Middle East should be made into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, and the process should start with Israel.21/4/2010
We cannot have a rational approach to the peace process, till we decouple the fate of Israel from the Jewish futureIsrael has been singularly successful in ensuring her military, economic and political dominance in the region... Yet, in spite of these remarkable achievements Israel remains insecure: she fears delegitimation. 17/4/2010
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The Middle East and the next decade - the unipolar world ends and economic crisis deepens Michel Warschawski Interview The Real News " We`re looking at probably a deeper economic crisis over the next decade, a continued strengthening of China, more aggressive rhetoric, at the very least, between Russia and the United States, if not more. What`s all this mean for Israel, the Palestinians, and the region?"16/4/2010
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Leaked espionage case shows Israel only targets the weakYossi Melman - Haaretz - The Anat Kam affair raises serious suspicions that Israeli law enforcement is good at coming down hard on the powerless, while overlooking similar suspicions when attributed to senior officials.11/4/2010
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The big gambleUri Avnery - Gush Shalom - Salam Fayyad can indeed say: After me, the deluge.11/4/2010
This isn`t just a war for my freedom but for Israel`s image When I left Israel I had no reason to believe our planned trip would suddenly turn into a spy movie whose end is not clear. I certainly didn`t think I`d have to stay in London ...only because I published reports that were not convenient to the establishment. 10/4/2010
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