April 8, 2009

The Assault against Gaza — More Facts: Jewish Peace News

A medical fact-finding mission on Israel’s assault against Gaza, continues to indicate the urgent need for an independent, international investigation. The communique below describes the mission, quotes briefly from its report, to which it also links, and lists three pressing practical conclusions entailed by the mission.
Subject: Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) published today its special report on the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, 27.12.2008 – 18.01.2009
Independent fact-finding mission of medical experts commissioned by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) published today its special report on the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, 27.12.2008 – 18.01.2009

In their report, the experts detail 44 testimonies by civilians who came under attack and by medical staff who were prevented from evacuating the wounded. The report provides first-hand evidence regarding the broader effects of the attacks on a civilian population that was already vulnerable on the eve of the offensive. The experts collected samples of human tissue earth, water, grass and mud suspected to be contaminated by unidentified chemicals. These were sent by the team to laboratories in the UK and South Africa for analysis. During the military operation in January, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel called for an external independent investigation into the events, for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip and for the opening of the Crossings.

Al-Haq position paper on: “Operation Cast Lead and the Distortion of International Law”

Israel’s claim to ‘self-defence’ as the legal pretext for ‘Operation Cast Lead,’ the latest and most destructive in a string of regular large-scale
military offensives against the Gaza Strip since 2006, received widespread and often unconditional acceptance from the international diplomatic
community as justification for the Israeli attacks. ‘Operation Cast Lead’ was not the first time that Israel has cited Article 51 of the UN Charter as
justification for military operations or unlawful acts within or against the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT); nor, in fact, the last. In October 2003, Israel attempted to invoke self-defence as the basis for the construction of its Annexation Wall within the West Bank; asserting to the UN General Assembly that “the fence is a measure wholly consistent with the right of States to self‑defence enshrined in Article 51 of the Charter.”
The International Court of Justice, however, concluded that “Article 51 of the UN Charter has no relevance in this case” and could not be invoked. In March 2009, two months after the end of ‘Operation Cast Lead,’ Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, sent a letter to the UN Security
Council, similar to the letter dispatched immediately prior to the launching of ‘Operation Cast Lead’, to inform the international community that Israel “will not tolerate, and will respond accordingly to attacks against its citizens” and that Israel “has the inherent duty to exercise its right to
self-defence enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.”

BRICUP Newsletter Number 15, April 2009

The Australian Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Responding to the CALL of Palestinian civil society to join the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, we are an Australian campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, as delineated by PACBI (the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel):
In light of Israel’s persistent violations of international law, and given that, since 1948, hundreds of UN resolutions have condemned Israel’s colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal and called for immediate, adequate and effective remedies, and given that all forms of international intervention and peace-making have until now failed to convince Israel to comply with humanitarian law, to respect fundamental human rights and to end its occupation and oppression of the people of Palestine, and
In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions:
We scholars, inspired by the wishes of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.

ACRI to Israel Railways: Setting Army Service as Employment Criteria is Illegal: Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

In March, following a change in the employment criteria set by Israel Railways, which added previous army service as a requirement, the company dismissed 40 Arab railway guards. In an urgent appeal to the Railways CEO, ACRI criticized the discriminatory policy change and demanded it be rescinded. Attorney Dan Yakir, ACRI’s Chief Legal Advisor, stated in the appeal that the Labor Court has in the past disqualified this criterion, as it discriminates against Arabs, ultra-Orthodox, and people with disabilities.

Read the whole item on the link above, on the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

A Match Made in Tel Aviv:ICH

Will Netanyahu and the neocons live happily ever after?
By Leon Hadar
April 07, 2009 “The American Conservative” — -Imagine that after Boris Yeltsin was elected president of a free post-Communist Russia in 1991, the Poles, residents of a former province of the Soviet empire, elected former Communist boss Edward Gierek as their new head of state. Then suppose that, upon entering office, he called on Moscow to forget about rapprochement with the West and prepare for military confrontation.
Improbable as it seems, some version of this scenario is playing out here. After their humiliating defeat in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections, the vanquished neoconservative legions won a major political victory in one of the provinces of the American empire when the parliamentary election in Israel brought to power a veteran neocon activist. He is calling on Washington to forget about changing U.S. policy in the Middle East and prepare for a military confrontation with Iran.
Initially, the neoconservatives envisioned a grander strategy. In November 2008, Americans would elect Norman Podhoretz’s favorite American politician, Rudy Giuliani, as their new president, followed by a vote in Israel in which Norman Podhoretz’s favorite Israeli politician, Benjamin Netanyahu, would be chosen as the Jewish state’s new prime minister.
It would have been like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire teaming in “Flying Down to Tehran” and dancing cheek to cheek in “Neocon Time.” Not unlike FDR and Churchill uniting their nations in the struggle against Fascism during World War II, Rudy and Bibi would bring their countries together to fight Islamofascism. How about a special commemorative issue of Commentary to celebrate the day the two tied the knot at the White House?
Rudy didn’t make it. But a stand-in was ready to play the part of neocon dummy, repeating the lines (“Bomb, bomb Iran”) provided by the usual suspects. They were confident that mating the American Empire with a Greater Israel remained a viable option under President McCain and—God willing!—Prime Minster Netanyahu. But then McCain lost to a man of Muslim ancestry whose middle name was “Hussein.” Worse, as Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg fretted, he didn’t seem to have it in his “kishke” or “gut” when it came to Israel. Obama was willing to withdraw from Iraq, engage Iran, and work hard to achieve an Israel-Palestine peace accord—in short, to challenge the neoconservatives’ first principles.
With Mac not back and Obama in the White House—after winning the majority of American-Jewish votes—it became clear that the American groom would not be showing up for the anticipated wedding. Yet the Bush administration’s last foreign-policy decision—giving Israel a green light to launch a devastating assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip—helped ignite ultra-nationalist and anti-Arab sentiments among the majority of Israelis. This produced a mini earthquake in Israeli politics, changing the balance of power in the Israeli Knesset from 70-50 in favor of the center-left bloc to 65-55 for the Right, ultra-Right, and religious Right parties. Although Netanyahu’s nationalist Likud Party took only second place in the election, behind the more centrist Kadima Party led by Tzipi Livni, which finished first by a miniscule margin, he was able to win the backing of all the 65 members of the right-wing bloc, including the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party and extreme Yisrael Beitenu Party of Avigdor Lieberman, ensuring that he will become the next Israeli PM.

Erdan: Israel not taking orders from Obama: The Jerusalem Post

“Israel does not take orders from [Barack] Obama,” Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said on Monday, responding to an earlier statement by the US president in which he reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to all previous understandings between Israel and the Palestinians, including the process launched at Annapolis, Maryland, in 2007. Erdan, who is also the liaison between the cabinet and the Knesset, praised Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beiteinu), who only last week said Israel was not bound by the Annapolis talks because it had never been approved by the cabinet or the Knesset.
“In voting for [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu the citizens of Israel have decided that they will not become the US’s 51st state,” said Erdan, who was representing the coalition in a Knesset discussion of Lieberman’s controversial statements. He added, however, that “Obama is a friend of Israel and the United States is an important ally, and everything between us will be the result of communication.” The Prime Minister’s Office responded to Obama’s comments in Turkey by saying, “Israel appreciates President Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security and to the pursuit of peace.”

Two questions:

Does Obamah know?

Does he care?

Thank you, J Post, for telling it like it is…

‘Israel holding Mideast hostage by shunning Arab peace offer’: Ha’aretz

Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Monday that an Arab peace initiative offers a solution for peace in the Middle East, adding that Israel should use the opportunity or risk ongoing conflict in the region. “Israel must decide whether they want to observe this opportunity and become integrated in the region or whether they want to remain a fortress … and keep the Middle East hostage in conflict,” Abdullah said in Bucharest, during an official visit. The king met Romanian President Traian Basescu Monday and discussed bilateral issues and the urgent need for peace in the Middle East. The 2002 Saudi initiative offers Israel recognition by all Arab countries in exchange for withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees. Basescu said he and Abdullah also discussed the possibility that Romanian and Jordanian companies start working in Iraq after the troops retreat, and even before. Romania and Jordan signed four documents on bilateral cooperation during the king’s visit to Bucharest. They deal with economic cooperation, the mutual protection of investments, cultural and scientific cooperation and environmental protection.
Abdullah was accompanied by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al Ali. The Jordanian king was on a tour of Eastern Europe. He was also due to visit the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Armed settlers confront US Consulate delegation near Nablus: Ma’an News Agency

Nablus – Ma’an – Armed Israeli settlers prevented a delegation from the US Consulate from approaching a settlement near Nablus on Monday, according to diplomatic officials. In a telephone call to Ma’an, a spokesperson for the US Consulate to Jerusalem said that officials were near the Hioval settlement, close to the Nablus-area village of Qaryut, when armed settler guards stopped the delegation. According to the American officials, the visit was a routine and periodic trip to areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the visit was previously scheduled. Ghassan Doghlus, the head of the village’s local council, told Ma’an that settlement guards stopped the American delegation from entering the area. “The guards prevented the delegation from getting close to the settlement and the nearby lands that were confiscated; the guards pointed their arms at the delegation, forcing them to leave the area,” he said. Another spokesperson for the US Consulate in Jerusalem, Michaela Sweitzer-Blum, confirmed that armed Israeli settlers did confront an officer from the US Consulate back from the edge of the settlement. “They [the US delegation] did meet up with some armed guards froma a local outpost,” she said of the incident.

Israel bans Gerry Adams from Gaza because he plans to meet Hamas officials: The Jerusalem Post

Northern Ireland political leader Gerry Adams will not be allowed to enter Gaza this week because he plans to meet Hamas officials, Israel said Tuesday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel “would not help Adams meet with Hamas terror leaders.” A spokesman for Adams, Ted Howell, said Adams and his delegation planned to visit Gaza on Wednesday. He said, “we will meet with whoever wants to meet us.”

IDF planning largest-ever drill to prepare Israel for war: Ha’aretz

The Home Front Command is preparing to hold the largest exercise ever in Israeli history, scheduled to take place in about two months, in hopes of priming the populace and raising awareness of the possibility of war breaking out. Should there be a war, Israel would have insufficient emergency and rescue response units, according to a senior Home Front Command officer. Speaking with Haaretz, Col. Hilik Sofer, who is in charge of the Department for Population at the Home Front Command, said that “in wartime there will be insufficient Magen David Adom, rescue and chemical and biological warfare units. Even if we call up the reserves of the Home Front Command, we will have to rely on the population itself.”

Don’t say you wern’t told! Read below to get the picture of what this is about.

Netanyahu and the threat of bombing Iran- the bluff that never stops giving?: The Huffington Post

In an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic, incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to have told President Barack Obama that either America stops Iran or Israel will. Not surprisingly, the interview sparked quite a controversy and only a day later, General David Petreus told the Senate Arms Services Committee that “the Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or delay it.”
So once again, in spite of President Obama’s best efforts, the military option was put back on the table and the atmosphere for dealing with Iran was turned into “Do as we say – or else…” Even if the President wants to give diplomacy a chance, disbelievers have been quick to limit Obama’s options by seeking to set arbitrary deadlines for negotiations – or by threatening Israeli military action if America doesn’t act with its military might. Reality is, however, that talk of an Israeli military option is more of a bluff than a threat – but it is a bluff that never seems to stop giving.
Israel does not have the military capability to successfully eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Even the most successful bombing campaign would only set back the known program for a few years – without affecting any potential clandestine program. This is not classified information. Military experts are well aware of Israel’s capabilities – and its limits.

Was Israel’s reported strike in Sudan an exercise in propaganda?: Ha’aretz

By Gideon Levy

Shhhhh, Israel has done it again. On the eve of the end of prime minister Ehud Olmert’s term, in what appeared like a suspicious coincidence, we heard the report from distant America about another covert, impressive Israeli operation. This time it was carried out by planes or unmanned aerial vehicles. Israel had struck again. The imagination-sparking report fit in well with Olmert’s end-of-term celebrations. Everyone, including Olmert himself, spread broad hints about Israel’s secret operations during his term, as a sign of his prowess in office. The sweet memories of taking over the boat Karine A at sea, assassinating Imad Mugniyeh (according to foreign sources, of course) and the mysterious shelling in Syria have barely faded. And suddenly we have Sudan. A supply convoy, no less, with dozens of trucks carrying arms from Iran, no less, including a boat at sea, no less, making their way to Gaza were bombed, and several dozen people were killed. Nobody knows for sure what was bombed, how much and why. Sudan, after all, is far away. But we can rely on our fine young men in the Mossad and air force to know what they’re doing. We were right, it worked again. All our forces returned safely, leaving only dust and ashes from the dangerous convoy. The muttering of Sudan’s government about innocent fishing boats that were bombed is irrelevant. Fishermen or terrorists, a la guerre comme a la guerre.
The military commentators and the entire Israeli nation in their footsteps were beside themselves with admiration. The Israeli James Bond is still here. An army that hasn’t fought against another army for decades finds its glory in such operations. So does the political leadership. What did Olmert say with a wink after the Sudan incident? “There is no place where Israel cannot operate.” Hooray. With a quarter of that imagination and daring we could have achieved peace already, but let’s not go into such trivia. Due to the character of the operation in Sudan we were unfortunately spared the regular spectacle: the first sergeant spreading a military blanket, on which soldiers lay out the loot – rows and rows of frightening guns. Countless reporters and photographers from Israel and abroad are invited, while officers and commentators recite – from a handed-down page – praises of the great achievement, descriptions of the dangerous weapons captured, and details of the “dangerous and complicated” operation.