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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
A Jewish and democratic state – how to live with the oppression of the minority and still feel goodShmuel Amir - the only way to turn Israel into a democratic state that cannot be undermined is simple: expel all the Palestinians from here. Then there will be no one left to discriminate against, to marginalize and from whom to deny rights generally. We will remain here by ourselves to be as democratic as we want with ourselves. Surely it should be clear that as long as there are Arabs among us we will be unable to be a democratic state, even if we want to be. Our entire past proves that. gm29/9/2016
Netanyahu’s “happy talk” campaign to destroy peaceRay Hanania - The Arab Daily News - "Benjamin Netanyahu has done everything possible to destroy the peace process and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian State, but cleverly disguises his nation’s brutality with “happy talk” and disingenuous pleas for I“peace.”" - id 28/9/2016
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Red Rag column: Obama: the god that failed. The return of Barak. Gideon Spiro - Obama is continuing the policies of his predecessors, with generous economic and political support which have permitted Israel to continue its policies which have amount to a massive and brutal violation of human rights that has lasted for 50 years. Indeed Obama has occasionally made declarations that were pleasing to the ears of lovers of peace, but they have never been translated into real change on the ground in terms of support and aid. 26/9/2016
Netanyahu`s Right: The Occupation Can Actually Go on Forever Gideon Levy - Haaretz - It’s discouraging for anyone who believed in the world, who believed in President Barack Obama or in Europe, who believed in the power of public opinion in the West to impact governments. It’s disheartening for anyone who believed there would be no more colonialism in the 21st century, that a brutal military occupation could not continue into its third generation. All the prophecies of doom that were a source of hope for those who believed the Israeli occupation must come to an end have dissipated. [bz]25/9/2016
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A `wave of violence` that never actually endsHaggai Matar - +972 - "When the Israeli media talks about the latest ‘wave of violence,’ it leaves out the five unarmed Palestinians who were shot to death by soldiers and police officers in the past few months." - id 21/9/2016
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How Israel is turning one Arab party into a security threatOrly Noy - +972 - "Balad isn’t the first political party in Israel to be suspected of violating campaign finance laws. But it is the first one to have its members arrested in overnight, commando-style raids." - id21/9/2016
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So Let the Settlers Stay. They Won`t.Gershom Gorenberg - The American Prospect - Netanyahu`s "ethnic cleansing" bluff should be called. Like other residents of newly independent Palestine, settlers who decide to stay put will become Palestinian citizens, their position the mirror image of that of Israel`s Arab citizens. The former settlers will live under Palestinian law and the authority of Palestinian courts. They should be prepared for lawsuits by Palestinians with very strong claims to ownership of the land on which large parts of the settlements stand. Where they don`t have such legal problems, they should know that Palestinians will be moving in next door, into homes that belonged to Israelis who chose to return to Israel.The number of settlers who would stay under those conditions could meet in a small cafe in Ramallah, perhaps at one table. All the rest would do the Zionist thing and move to the state of Israel.[ak]20/9/2016
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Begin and My Father Had the Courage to Be Real Leaders. Netanyahu Hasn`t Yuval Rabin - Haaretz - In the interests of accuracy and perspective, the Oslo interim accords did not deviate from the right-wing Likud`s endorsement of the 1979 “Framework for Peace in the Middle East,” better known as the Camp David Accords, in which Israel agreed to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza. [bz]17/9/2016
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Red Rag column: the robbed occupier; force-feeding; Women`s Boat to GazaGideon Spiro - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s manipulative use of the loaded term “ethnic cleansing” while discussing a hypothetical evacuation of settlers from the West Bank has already redounded to his discredit, as befits one who makes false use of historically emotive concepts. He has already been reminded that ethnic cleansing is what Israel did in 1948, when it expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and barred their return. 16/9/2016
Is Israel on the Brink of Tearing Itself Asunder?Jonathan Cook - Information Clearing House "On one side is a new peace movement, Decision at 50, stuffed with former political and security leaders. Ehud Barak, a previous prime minister who appears to be seeking a political comeback, may yet emerge as its figurehead.The group has demanded the government hold a referendum next year...On the other is Benjamin Netanyahu, in power for seven years with the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. On Friday he posted a video on social media criticising those who want to end the occupation." ca16/9/2016
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UN chief slams Netanyahu over `ethnic cleansing` remarkAFP - "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it was "unacceptable and outrageous" to claim that opposition to settlements was tantamount to ethnic cleansing." ca 16/9/2016
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Colin Powell gets real about Israeli nukesEli Clifton - +972 "Leaked emails reveal the former Secretary of State acknowledging Israel’s nuclear weapons, which he claims are all pointed at Iran." ca16/9/2016
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The Left’s Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti‑Semitism Nick Cohen - The Guardian - "Dave Rich’s new history reveals the origins of Labour’s recent antisemitic scandal in a wider leftwing revival of prejudice." id14/9/2016
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Knesset Member: Comparing Palestinian Citizens of Israel With Illegal Israeli Settlers Is Immoral, Irrational and AhistoricalWAFA - "“He [Netanyahu] should realize that no matter Israel`s institutionalized system of discrimination, this is our homeland and we are here to stay.”" - id14/9/2016
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The Human Rights of the SettlerNEVE GORDON - NICOLA PERUGINI - CounterPunch - "Netanyahu depicts Israeli and thus Jewish settlers’ disengagement from the occupied West Bank, which constitutes a mere 22 percent of Mandatory Palestine, as an egregious violation of the rights of Jewish settlers.| - id 14/9/2016
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A crime committed nearly every weekAmos Gvirtz - A group of armed men escorted by destruction machines enters a village, approaches the compound of a certain family (or families), force the members of the family out of the house and demolish it: including the sheep pen, storerooms and water tanks. Such a crime committed in a Jewish settlement (illegally built in the Occupied Territories) would face organized resistance, be widely covered by the media, and the victims would receive immediate compensation. When the victims are Palestinians, they would not dare resist and know full well that the media (except, perhaps, for Amira Hass and Gideon Levy in! Haaretz) would not cover it, and that they would not receive any compensation. The assistance that would arrive from the Red Cross or other aid organizations will also be demolished. 13/9/2016
Breaking the perceptual circle Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher, Orni Petruschka - Ynet - A proposal for principles of a permanent agreement of two states for two people, as long as it takes into account Israel`s national interests as well as self-determination for the Palestinians and which will be accepted by the United Nations Security Council, will serve as the required defined objective capable of getting the sides out of the negative spin they have been caught in. And Israel should make an effort to influence the international proposal so that it will not harm its vital interests, rather than settling for a condemnation of any international involvement. [bz]13/9/2016
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Between Warsaw and the NakbaYaron London - Ynet - Anyone demanding that his fellowman beat his breast should demand it first and foremost from himself. A strong and confident nation can recognize the wrongs it has done without undermining the foundations of its existence. Is that what we are doing? The political establishment`s attempts to forbid Israel`s Arabs to express the loss of their homeland in any way show that we do not trust ourselves. [bz]13/9/2016
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Obama & Palestine: The Last ChanceNathan Thrall - The New York Review of Books - By pointing to Israel’s receipt of the largest package of military assistance ever granted by the US, Obama could be more free to take steps not to Israel’s liking, including a last-gasp effort to secure a different sort of Palestine legacy. What legacy might Obama try to leave? Only one option isn’t seen as unrealistic: to set down the guidelines or “parameters” of a peace agreement—on the four core issues of borders, security, refugees, and Jerusalem—in a US-supported UN Security Council resolution. Once passed, with US support, these Security Council-endorsed parameters would become international law, binding, in theory, on all future presidents and peace brokers. [bz] 13/9/2016
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Palestinian Hunting SeasonYoav Litvin - CounterPunch - “[…] the present moment leading up to the inauguration of the next President of the United States may serve as an opportune time for a weak Benjamin Netanyahu and an insecure, thuggish Avigdor Lieberman to join forces and wage a new war against the quintessential Israeli scapegoats and victims, the Palestinians. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be only too happy at the distraction from their corrupt and sluggish campaign performances” [ry] 12/9/2016
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Ukrainian Orphan`s Tragic Life Takes Turn for Worse as Israel Orders His Deportation Ilan Lior--Last week, Samuel Gumeniuk received a notice ordering him to leave Israel within two weeks. Samuel’s father died when he was 18 months old. When he was 6, his mother became ill and Samuel was taken in by his aunt and uncle, Xenia and Valentin Kravchenko, who had three children of their own. Samuel’s mother died a few months later. dn11/9/2016
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"A Continuous War Mentality": Richard Falk on Israel`s Human Rights AbusesC.J. Polychroniouand Lily Sage, Truthout | Interview--Israel`s treatment of Palestinians mirrors the abominable system of apartheid in South Africa, but many members of the "international community" who fueled the gradual delegitimization and eventual collapse of South Africa`s apartheid regime are failing to apply similar pressure against Israel. In fact, many nations are even strengthening their ties with the Israeli government. dn11/9/2016
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Right of return is the heart of Palestine’s struggleMohamed Mohamed--As a descendant of Palestinians from a village in what is now known as Israel, the barrage of Israeli propaganda attempting to bury the history of our existence is not surprising. One can expect no less from a state that was created through the expulsion and subjugation of an existing population. dn11/9/2016
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Netanyahu’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ video earns strong rebuke from State DepartmentPhilip Weiss--Today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted another of his English language videos about the conflict. This one said that those who want to create a Palestinian state are seeking “ethnic cleansing” of Jews from the occupied territories, and some enlightened countries are supporting this program.dn11/9/2016
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Like a wave that builds slowly, inexorably on the ocean`s horizon, . . .Andrew Mitrovica--Like a wave that builds slowly, inexorably on the ocean`s horizon, the BDS movement is a cresting force that is destined to have a profound geopolitical impact, writes Mitrovica [Getty] dn11/9/2016
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How Israeli Politicians Took Peace With the Palestinians Off the Table Daniel Bar-Tal - Haaretz - These ideas are not foreign to Jewish society. They have already been created and have coalesced in Israel in the past. Prime Minister Rabin expressed them on May 4, 1994, in his remarks at the signing the Cairo Agreement: Our Palestinian neighbors, one hundred years of bloodshed implanted in us hostility toward one another. For one hundred years we lay in wait for you, and you lay in wait for us. We killed you, and you killed us… Today, you and we stretch out our hands in peace. Today, we are beginning a different reckoning. [bz]10/9/2016
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Is Israel Pushing for a Palestinian Civil War?Ramzy Baroud - Common Dreams - From Lieberman’s viewpoint, the opportunity must be ripe for refining and re-imposing the ‘Village Leagues’. Whether it works in its original form or fails, it makes no difference, since the idea is to engender further division amongst Palestinians, sow social chaos, political conflict and, perhaps, duplicate Gaza’s brief civil war in the summer of 2007. [bz]10/9/2016
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Like a wave that builds slowly, inexorably on the ocean`s horizon, the BDS movement is a cresting force that is destined to have a profound geopolitical impact, writes Mitrovica Andrew Mitrovica--This slightly amended phrase, appropriated from another equally succinct and now universally recognised adage, is perhaps the philosophical clarion call at the moral centre of a worldwide movement that seeks, peacefully, to redress the grim injustices endured by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.dn10/9/2016
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Don`t call it a comeback: Really, please don`t come backDimi Reider--It seems Ehud Barak is planning a return to politics: posters have appeared calling on him to “run” (where exactly is unclear), and now even Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy reluctantly voiced the opinion that for all his faults, Barak is “the only hope” to defeat Netanyahu because he is “so much more brilliant than his politician peers.” But before the buildup of yet another great white hope commences, a reminder might be in order. dn10/9/2016
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Why it`s crunch time for the Israeli leftMazal Mualem - Al-Monitor - "The Israeli left is at its lowest point in its history and must reinvent itself to survive." - id9/9/2016
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Breaking out of the stagnant Palestinian-Israeli status quo Ghassan Michel Rubeiz - The Arab Daily News - "Breaking out of the stagnant Palestinian-Israeli status quo. As long as Israel is comfortable with the occupation it will opt to maintain it. But Palestinians can radically change their predicament with a paradigm shift in their resistance." - id 9/9/2016
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Red Rag column: Syria and Israel; Holocaust denial and Nakba denial; Uzi BaramGideon Spiro - In recent days we have been hearing about populations being starved due to siege, which brings to mind the siege of Gaza. Israel is exhibiting insensitivity to this terrible disaster which is the lot of the Syrians and Iraqis. More than once have I heard this hair-raising statement: “What do we care if Arabs kill Arabs.” And then they’re astonished at those who were silent during the Holocaust. gm8/9/2016
What it would cost Abbas to reconcile with Dahlan Shlomi Eldar - Al-Monitor "Regardless of what he actually meant, it is clear to everyone that the Palestinian president confirmed that he is the target of a serious onslaught by all the Arab states in regard to Dahlan, whom several Arab leaders consider to be Abbas’ inevitable heir." ca 7/9/2016
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What is Israel`s place in the Middle East?Assaf David - +972 "The following talk was presented, in Arabic, at a conference titled “Winds of Change in the Middle East” at Ben Gurion University on January 26, 2015." ca7/9/2016
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Red Rag column: new school year and ongoing conflictGideon Spiro - Over 30 years ago, when my spouse and I accompanied our children to grade 1, I was troubled by anxiety about what kind of education system we were sending them to. Who would win out, the education system that volunteers students to be part of a colonialist racist system, or the system of humane values of their home? gm5/9/2016
Civil War Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - “A lot of Israelis have begun to talk of ‘two Jewish societies’ in Israel, some even talk about ‘two Jewish peoples’ within the Israeli Jewish nation. What holds them together? The conflict, of course. The occupation. The perpetual state of war” [ry] 5/9/2016
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Divided Congress upends US-Israel relationshipJulian Pecquet--Liberal Israel policy advocacy group J Street has endorsed more than half of the Democrats in the US House this cycle, the latest example of continued fallout from last year`s nuclear agreement with Iran. dn4/9/2016
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Why is Congress fighting Netanyahu’s battle?Akiva Eldar - Al Monitor - "US senators are pressuring the Obama administration to follow policies toward the Palestinians that match those favored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." - id28/9/2016
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IDF Censors Reporting on Mossad “Mole” Who Spied for Iran, Prisoner X2Richard Silverstein - Tikun Olam - "While I railed against the past censorship regime run by Sima Vaknin- Gil, at least she permitted journalists to hint at the truth about sensitive matters. Ben Avraham has not only put the genie back in the bottle, she’s sealed it shut." - id 28/9/2016
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Don`t Call Us `Israeli Arabs`: Palestinians in Israel Speak OutSam Bahour - epalestine blog (also in Haaretz) - For over half a century, Israel has preferred the designation Israeli Arabs, focusing on their Israeliness and attempting to obliterate any trace of their Palestinian identity. Among Palestinians in exile or the West Bank, they’re referred to as ‘48ers, referring to the year of the Nakba, or as those living “on the inside,” meaning inside the 1949 armistice line, better known as the Green Line. Now, a new cohort of Palestinian thinkers inside Israel writing 68 years after the Nakba reaffirm that they are not just Arabs, but Palestinian Arabs, and that while they may be “in Israel,” they are not Israel’s: they are their own masters. [bz]27/9/2016
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