EDITOR: You have read about the Israelis easing the Blockade. So now read about the real facts in Gaza…

Now that Tony Blair took the credit for changes in Gaza, standing on the blood of the nine activists murdered by Israel, and posed for lovely pictures with that other tzadik, Benjamin Netanyahu, just read about all the great changes which (never) took place in Gaza…

Report: Israel seizes oxygen machines donated to PA: Haaretz

Seven machines donated by Norwegian agency confiscated en route to PA over chance generators attached could be used for purposes other than medical treatment, Ma’an reports.

Israel confiscated seven oxygen machines en route to hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza based on the claim that there was a chance the generators attached to the machines would not be used for medical purposes, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported Saturday.
According to Ma’an, the Ramallah-based health ministry said that the generators, which were donated to the Palestinian Authority by a Norwegian development agency, were seized by Israeli officials despite the fact that only one machine was bound for Gaza.

The generators “came under the category of possible use for non-medical purposes” if they were delivered to southern Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement, adding that the six other machines were bound for government hospitals in the northern Gaza, inducing the European Hospital in Gaza City, the Rafdieyah hospital in Nablus, and other facilities in Ramallah and Hebron.

The Ministry of Health appealed to the Norwegian Development Agency, which supplied the machines, and asked that they intervene and demand the release of the equipment at the soonest possible date, Ma’an reported.

“Any delay in obtaining the medical equipment will negatively affect the health of patients,” the statement concluded.

Gaza factories remain paralysed despite Israel pledge to ease blockade: The Independent

After three years of deadlock, Palestinian businesses are hoping for a better future. But some fear that the new Israeli trade rules could actually mean a fresh squeeze. Donald Macintyre reports from Gaza City
Saturday, 26 June 2010
The chilled Tropika that Salama al-Kishawi proudly serves guests in his office tastes, unusually for a processed juice, of real oranges – especially refreshing on a 35C midsummer day in Gaza. But the flagship product of the Gaza Juice Factory has a significance that goes way beyond its taste.

The factory employs 65 workers and is one of very few industries to function despite the siege of Gaza imposed by Israel after Hamas seized full control of the territory three years ago this month.

How long it continues to function may well depend on just how the deal easing the Israeli blockade announced last Sunday works in practice. The future of Tropika has become a litmus test for Gaza’s real economy.
In diplomatic terms, the deal negotiated between Israel and international envoy Tony Blair was a breakthrough. Israel is still refusing – apart from internationally supervised exceptions – to allow in anything, including cement badly needed for rebuilding bombed out homes, which it deems Hamas could use for military purposes.

But the announcement signified a real change of policy: in theory at least, all other goods will, for the first time in three years, be allowed to enter.

But nearly a week after the announcement, the people of Gaza, while content about the prospect of an increase in consumer goods from Israel, are demanding that the much more fundamental promise in the agreement, to allow the expansion of “economic activity”, will also be honoured.

“If consumer items are allowed to come through the crossings, but at the same time we don’t allow materials and the means of production to enter, that will have a negative effect,” said Amr Hamad, Gaza director of the Palestinian Federation of Industries.

The Gaza Juice Factory, which is in the eastern suburb of Shajaia, in full view of the Israeli border, is a perfect illustration of the problem. Its neatly tended gardens and the bustle of forklift trucks loading the newly bundled bottles on to vans for shipment to local supermarkets testify that this is –unusually for Gaza – a going concern.

Their are tracks left by the Israeli tanks that smashed through the green metal perimeter fence during the military offensive of 2008-9, and the remains of what company boss Ayed abu Ramadan thinks must have been an Apache missile have been hung on the front wall as a memento to everything the factory has been through.

Its history is inextricably woven with that of the territory’s turbulent and blood-splashed politics over the last 15 years.

An imposing plaque reminds visitors that it was opened by Yasser Arafat just two days after his triumphant return to Gaza from exile in Tunis in July 1994. The factory became a success, exporting to Egypt, the US, Europe, and Israel itself for more than a decade.

In 2006, however, the exports ground to a halt. Hamas had won the elections, the land crossings were mostly closed. By then Gaza’s famous citrus groves had been almost destroyed by the Israeli military during its frequent incursions since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000.

“Here in Gaza we have always had the best oranges in the world,” said Mr Kishawi. “Now most of it has gone.”

Yet the 87p bottles of Tropika on the shelves of Gaza stores today are a testament to the company’s remarkable adaptability. Its managers diversified into Tropika, but also strawberry and tomato juice, along with ketchup, jam, and a popular range of candied fruits.

From being a 100 per cent exporter, the company now caters 100 per cent for the home market. And although it would have greatly preferred to buy its raw materials much more cheaply from Israel, it was obliged by the closure to bring in bottles, packaging, flavouring and colouring additives through the tunnels from Egypt, paying what Mr Ramadan delicately calls the high “subway tolls” demanded by the tunnelers to pay their own costs – including levies to the Hamas de facto government.

Scarcity of fruit was the first problem. “Last year I needed 9,000 tonnes of citrus to meet demand,” said Mr Kishawi, “but I was only able to find 1,000 tonnes.”

Oranges from Israel were half of what they cost in Gaza but only eating – as opposed to juicing – oranges were allowed in by the Israeli authorities.

To underline the Alice in Wonderland economics of Gaza it was also possible to import from Egypt, through the tunnels, identical concentrate to that which it used to export to Egypt. “In June 2007 I was selling concentrate at $1,350 (£900) a ton but now it costs me $4,000 a ton to bring in,” explained Mr Kishawi. “Where is the competition in that?”

As if this wasn’t enough, eighteen months later the factory suffered devastating damage from Israeli ground and air assaults during the 2008-9 offensive, which hit hundreds of industrial sites. The damage prompted Amr Hamad of the Federation of Industries to remark: “What [Israel] were not able to reach by the blockade, they have reached with their bulldozers.”

The main tube in the juice factory’s key evaporator, wrecked by a missile, was quickly repaired, but the huge, 2,000-tonne capacity freezer, along with its contents, was destroyed. Then, toward the end of last year, the firm hit another obstacle. It thought it had done a deal with Israeli suppliers to supply 500 tonnes of badly-needed grapefruit.

“But then, when they realised that it was going to a juice factory and not the supermarkets, they stopped the grapefruits coming in,” said Mr Kishawi.

Two weeks ago, in the wake of the international outcry that followed the crisis over the pro-Palestinian flotillas, came the first stage of the easing of the embargo and, perversely, with it a fresh threat to Tropika. The company was happy to hear the blockade was being eased – anticipating that it would now be able to import from Israel much cheaper raw materials.

Instead, it found that it was facing new competition. For the first time in three years, Israel has permitted the entry of processed fruit juice – at the competitive price of five shekels (86p) a bottle. In a final irony (though its bosses are not sure how long this will last), the company, which is effectively owned by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and has a board of directors appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is now depending on a lifeline from the Hamas de facto government. It has issued a protectionist warning to traders not to order processed juice from Israel.

The company has already preemptively reduced Tropika’s own price, from six to five shekels a bottle, and would have no problem competing with the Israeli product if it was also to import the much cheaper raw materials available in Israel. “If we have a truly open market we can compete with anybody, including Israel,” says Mr Kishawi.

Underlining the present imbalance, however, the company’s chief buyer, Haitham Kannan, says: “Israel can produce a bottle of juice for around 25 cents – which is what the plastic bottle alone costs us.”

As his boss, Mr Ramadan, puts it: “This is like tying someone’s hands up and telling him to get into the boxing ring. After everything we have been through – closure, war, shortages, it would be crazy if we lost the business now.”

Yet the Gaza Juice Factory is still – for now – operating. More typical is the fate of the Aziz Jeans factory on the edge of the Jabalya, eerily silent now, four years after it was alive with the din of 100 employees stitching teenage fashion jeans for the Aziz family’s appreciative Israeli business partner.

Able neither to import the fabric or, even more importantly, export the finished jeans, the firm, like many hundreds of others, came to an abrupt halt almost immediately the blockade began.

Its highly skilled workforce dispersed – “a lot”, according to Aziz Aziz, on to the Hamas payroll. The last time The Independent was here, Mr Aziz had generated a modest income by assembling electric plugs – but the competition of ready-made plugs smuggled though the tunnels made this a hopeless task.

Mr Aziz says that if the big Karni cargo crossing terminal – through which he and his brothers used to import denim and export the finished garments – was re-opened, he would bring his sewing machines back out of storage and be ready to start the factory rolling in a week.

Mr Aziz is no friend of Hamas, and would like a change of government in Gaza. But he adds that by maintaining the blockade – including on exports – over the past three years, “Israel has to know that it is not besieging Hamas; it is besieging the people of Gaza”.

That view is now the consensus in the international Quartet. Israel is still resisting, on security grounds, the reopening of Karni, relying instead on an expansion of the much more limited Kerem Shalom crossing’s capacity.

Most experts are convinced that Karni will have to be reopened if any semblance of Gaza’s previously productive manufacturing capacity can be restored.

Nevertheless, the promised expansion of Kerem Shalom would be a modest start if it happens – provided Israel is also ready to allow exports to resume.

Israel itself is facing conflicting pressures; the fourth anniversary yesterday of the incarceration of abducted sergeant Gilad Shalit, still being denied even Red Cross visits – on the one hand, and the prospect of more pro-Palestinian flotillas on the other.

But without a jolt for Gaza’s collapsed economy, Israel risks being seen as using Gaza as a captive market for its consumer goods while doing little or nothing to get people back to work.

Sari Bashi, director of the Israeli human rights agency, Gisha, said this week she was “mildly encouraged” by the explicit mention of “economic activity” in this week’s government statement, but warned that this would not happen “unless Karni is opened and exports are allowed”.

She added: “Israel has to abandon its policy of economic warfare and accept that it has failed.”

How the blockade is changing life in Gaza

The number of trucks bringing goods from Israel into the Gaza Strip each day has not yet increased, according to Palestinian coordinators, but the range of goods – including books and children’s toys, long banned – has.

At Hazem Hasuna’s supermaket in Gaza City’s western Rimal district, Egyptian razors, smuggled in through tunnels, were summarily replaced on Thursday by Gillette Fusion razors legally imported from Israel. But the comprehensive range of smuggled goods has made some Gazans cynical about the new imports. “Nothing has really changed,” said Mr Hasuna, 38, “People haven’t been missing ketchup and mayonnaise [two of the newly permitted products]. The only real change will be if they start bringing in cement for reconstruction and what the factories need to give people work.”

One of his customers, Rasha Farhat, 33, was asked by her Saudi-based relatives, who came to visit after the opening of the Rafah crossing this month, what she needed. “I told them ‘nothing’.” She added that, thanks to the tunnels, “we have never had as many products as we have now”.

Up to a point. Although still active, the tunnels have shown a sharp drop in activity in the past two weeks as wholesalers wait to assess the new blacklist of security sensitive goods Israel has promised to substitute over the next week for its heavily restrictive “permitted” list as part of the new “liberalising” imports regime.

Acknowledging that Gazans have become used to “tunnel products” over the past three years, a prominent Gaza economist, who preferred not to be named, said: “Of course Israel is capable of saying one thing and then acting differently. We will have to wait to see what are the consequences of the new policy.” But confessing that he had just filled his own car with Israeli diesel in preference to Egyptian, he added: “Palestinians have been receiving Israeli goods for 40 years. They regard products from Israel as extremely high quality compared with their Egyptian equivalents.”

Continue reading June 26, 2010

Gaza Flotilla: Global Citizens Must Respond Where Governments Have Failed: The Huffington Post

Stéphane Hessel
Israel’s illegal and immoral attack on the Freedom Flotilla humanitarian aid convoy, which left at least nine dead and dozens injured, has rightfully stunned the world. The all-civilian convoy of 6 ships carried over 10,000 tons of critically-needed humanitarian aid and nearly 700 citizens from 40 countries. The Flotilla was an ambitious attempt to break the siege imposed by Israel on the 1.5 million Palestinians of the occupied Gaza strip, since 2007. Carrying distinguished parliamentarians, religious leaders, authors, journalists, a Nobel Peace Laureate, and a Holocaust survivor, the relief convoy aimed not only to provide relief supplies to Gaza; it sought to direct the international spotlight towards the humanitarian crisis imposed on Gaza’s residents and the imperative to end it. There is no denying that the latter objective has succeeded, albeit with tragic consequences.

The Israeli attack on the unarmed aid convoy in international waters was “[a clear] violation of international humanitarian law, international law of the seas, and [by most interpretations] international criminal law,” to use the words of Richard Falk, Professor of International Law and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It is a sad reality that world governments have for too long become either complicit or apathetic to Israel’s crimes and fostered its culture of impunity, under a shield of unquestionable backing by the US. Its initial condemnation notwithstanding, the US government has pressured the UN Security Council members, again, to adopt ambiguous language which relieves Israel of responsibility and creates parity between aggressor and victim.

Characteristically, the Israeli government has blamed the victims of its raid for attacking the Israeli soldiers, claiming “self-defense.” Prominent legal expert and Director of the Sydney Centre for International Law at Sydney Law School, Professor Ben Saul, squarely refutes Israel’s claim arguing: “Legally speaking, government military forces rappelling onto a ship to illegally capture it are treated no differently than other criminals. The right of self-defense in such situations rests with the passengers on board: a person is legally entitled to resist one’s own unlawful capture, abduction and detention.” He adds that “if Israeli forces killed people, they may not only have infringed the human right to life, but they may also have committed serious international crimes. Under article 3 of the Rome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation of 1988, it is an international crime for any person to seize or exercise control over a ship by force, and also a crime to injure or kill any person in the process.”

Despite UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s statement calling for an end to Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza, the Security Council has failed to call for an unconditional end to the blockade, allowing Israel to commit grave war crimes with impunity, as well documented in the UN Goldstone report.

The absence of meaningful action from governments to hold Israel accountable to international law leaves open one path for citizens of conscience: to take this responsibility upon themselves, as done against apartheid South Africa. Non-violent citizen-led initiatives, exemplified by the Flotilla and the various boycott and divestment campaigns around the world, present the most promising way to overcome the failure of world governments to stand up to Israel’s intransigence and lawless behavior. By flagrantly attacking the aid ship, Israel has inadvertently brought unprecedented awareness and condemnation not only of its fatal siege of Gaza but also of the wider context of Israel’s occupation practices in the Palestinian Territories, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights, and its apartheid policies against the indigenous, “non-Jewish” citizens of Israel.

The Freedom Flotilla brings to mind the kind of civil society solidarity initiatives which brought an end to segregation laws in the US and apartheid in South Africa, an analogy impossible to ignore. Like the apartheid regime of South Africa, Israel’s reaction has been to label this non-violent act an “intentional provocation.” As in the case of South Africa, the call for international solidarity, in the form of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) came from an overwhelming majority of Palestinian civil society unions and organizations in 2005, and is being embraced by citizens of conscience and social movements worldwide. The BDS initiative calls for effectively isolating Israel, its complicit business, academic and cultural institutions, as well as companies profiting from its human rights violations and illegal policies, as long as these policies continue.

I believe that the BDS initiative is a moral strategy which has demonstrated its potential for success. Most recently, German Deutsche Bank became the latest of several European financial institutions and major pension funds to divest from Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Last week, two main Italian supermarket chains announced a boycott of produce from illegal Israeli settlements. Last month, performers Elvis Costello and Gil Scott-Heron cancelled appearances in Israel. Reminiscent of the South African anti-apartheid popular struggle, the current generation of students across university campuses is actively calling upon their administrations to adopt divestment policies.

I endorse the heartfelt words of Scottish writer Iain Banks, who in reaction to Israel’s atrocious attack on the Freedom Flotilla suggested that the best way for international artists, writers and academics to “convince Israel of its moral degradation and ethical isolation” is “simply by having nothing more to do with this criminal government.”

Stéphane Frédéric Hessel is a diplomat, former ambassador, French resistance fighter and BCRA agent. Born German, he obtained French nationality in 1937. He participated in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

Israel ‘blocks’ Jordan nuclear bid, King Abdullah says: BBC

15 June 2010
He said Israel had been pressuring states like France and South Korea not to sell Jordan nuclear technology.
Israel, believed to be the only country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons, has denied the accusation.
High oil prices are pushing countries to consider nuclear energy, but the spread of the technology increases the risk of proliferation, analysts say.

‘Underhanded’
In a lengthy interview in The Wall Street Journal, King Abdullah strongly criticised Israel for what he said were its efforts to persuade potential suppliers to abandon plans to sell Jordan nuclear power generating reactors, something Israel denies.

There are many reactors in the world and a lot more coming, so [the Israelis must] go mind their own business
King Abdullah
He said Israel’s “underhanded” actions have helped bring Jordan-Israeli relations to their lowest point since a 1994 peace agreement.
“There are countries, Israel in particular, that are more worried about us being economically independent than the issue of nuclear energy,” King Abdullah said. “There are many such reactors in the world and a lot more coming, so [the Israelis must] go mind their own business.”
Jordan, with US backing, is determined to develop nuclear power to escape from its near total dependence upon imported oil.
It hopes that nuclear energy will provide up to 30% of its power needs by 2030.

The desert kingdom recently short-listed a French-Japanese consortium, as well a Canadian and a Russian company, to build its first nuclear plant, due to be operational by 2019.

The Obama administration, while supportive of Jordan’s nuclear ambitions, is worried that the spread of nuclear power could open the door to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus reports.

So Washington wants to secure a nuclear agreement with Jordan under which the country would surrender its right to manufacture its own uranium fuel, our correspondent says.

That could prove a major sticking point between these two long-time allies, he adds.

Barak: Israel needs ‘daring initiative’ to thwart international isolation: Haaretz

Defense Minister says ‘the international preoccupation’ with Israel following the flotilla controversy emphasizes the need to rebuild ties with the United States.
Tags: Israel news Gaza flotilla Ehud Barak Benjamin Netanyahu
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has stressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the forum of seven senior ministers that Israel must put forth a “daring and assertive political initiative” in the coming months to emerge from its international isolation of the past year.

Barak will travel to Washington for talks with senior administration officials on advancing the peace process with the Palestinians.
A senior political source in Jerusalem said that in talks at the forum of seven after the Gaza flotilla incident, Barak spoke a great deal about the damage to Israel’s international standing. He repeated this stance in talks about setting up a commission of inquiry.

Barak said that “the international preoccupation” with Israel following the flotilla controversy emphasizes the need to rebuild ties with the United States.

“There is no way to rehabilitate ties with the administration without presenting an assertive political program that will address the core issues of a final settlement with the Palestinians,” Barak told Netanyahu and his other colleagues. “It is necessary to make decisions and take genuine political steps.”

Barak stressed that the flotilla incident and the assistance of the Obama administration at blocking the establishment of an international commission of inquiry prove how much Israel needs to assist the United States in pushing the peace process forward. If the United States’ standing in the world is undermined further, Israel is the one that will suffer, Barak said.

“A political initiative will break us out of the isolation and prevent phenomena like the flotillas to the Gaza Strip and international investigations,” Barak told the forum of seven.

“There have been governments in Israel that were able to operate freely from a military point of view only because they initiated political moves. We all need to think what the alternative would be to presenting a political program and what is the significance of continuing with the current situation. Israel’s isolation will only intensify.”

One reason Barak is trying to convince Netanyahu and the other ministers of the need for change is the growing pressure from within the Labor Party. Ministers from the Labor Party including Isaac Herzog and Benjamin Ben-Eliezer have questioned whether the party should remain in the coalition if the political standstill continues.

The head of the Histadrut labor federation, Ofer Eini, has joined the criticism; Eini is considered a future candidate for the post of party chairman.

The senior political source said that Barak did not pose an ultimatum or threaten leaving the coalition, but in many discussions with the prime minister he made it clear that there is little time left for Israel to present a political initiative.

The next six months are likely to be critical, with September marking the end of the construction freeze in the settlements. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly will meet in October, followed by the congressional elections in the United States in November.

Barak says that this is the time frame for making a political decision. If an initiative is undertaken, it may be necessary to broaden the coalition by including Kadima. If not, Labor may leave, which would leave Netanyahu with a narrower coalition government including right-wing parties Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu.

King of Jordan accuses Israel of ‘underhand’ plot to thwart nuclear project: The Independent

Wednesday, 16 June 2010
King Abdullah II of Jordan: ‘There will be many more reactors coming, so the Israelis should go mind their own business’
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has accused Israel of making “underhand” efforts to prevent the Middle Eastern country from developing a peaceful nuclear energy programme.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, King Abdullah said Israel had sought to persuade countries such as France and South Korea not to sell Jordan the nuclear technology it needs to develop its own civilian nuclear power industry.

“There are countries, Israel in particular, that are more worried about us being economically independent than the issue of nuclear energy, and have been voicing their concerns,” King Abdullah said. “There are many such reactors in the world and a lot more coming, so [the Israelis should] go mind their own business.”

King Abdullah, a vital ally of Israel in a largely hostile Middle East, warned that Israeli meddling in its nuclear ambitions had helped plunge relations between the two countries to their lowest point since a peace agreement was signed in 1994.

Israel, universally thought to have developed its own nuclear weapons, has long voiced its fears of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East triggered by the threat of Iran’s atomic ambitions. The United Nations and the West suspect Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian energy programme.

Jordan discovered huge deposits of uranium ore in 2007, giving the kingdom a tantalising glimpse of what an energy future free of dependence on costly oil imports might look like. Under an ambitious new energy strategy, Jordan envisages that nuclear energy will meet 30 per cent of its energy needs by 2030.

Crucially, Amman has won backing for its nuclear ambitions from Washington, which is seeking to promote the civilian use of atomic energy. Jordan is currently working out a nuclear cooperation deal with the US that would see American companies bring technology and know-how to Jordan.

The deal has been thrown into jeopardy, however, because the US does not want Jordan to produce its own nuclear fuel, the newspaper reported.

The accord would not prevent Jordan from mining the uranium, but it would not be allowed to convert it to fuel.

Jordanian officials have argued that the kingdom, a signatory of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, has the right to produce the reactor fuel that would help shore up the country’s economy.

King Abdullah argued that Jordan’s model to involve private companies in the project would allay international concerns, and set an example for other countries. Besides Iran, both Syria and Israel have tried to block external scrutiny of their nuclear capabilities.

“I believe nuclear energy in Jordan will be done in such a way where it is a public-private partnership so everyone can see exactly what’s going on,” King Abdullah said. “If we can be the model of transparency, it will push others.”

A spokesman from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office declined to comment on the Jordanian claims.

Arab MK to EU: Israeli leaders must be tried at The Hague: Haaretz

MK Afu Aghbaria, speaking at a hearing of the European Parliament, also said 700 Gazans have died at border crossings due to Israel’s actions.
Speaking at a hearing of the European Parliament, MK Afu Aghbaria (Hadash) accused Israel of deliberately harassing the residents of the Gaza Strip and called for Israeli leaders to be tried at the International Criminal Court.
The hearing, also attended by MK Nahman Shai (Kadima) and MK Einat Wolf (Labor), was organized by the Communist Party in the European Parliament.
“In its 62 years of existence, Israel has attacked its neighbors and its Arab citizens nonstop,” Aghbaria said.

“Israel prevents the passage of medicines and medical supplies to Gaza. As a result of this, 700 Gazans have died at the border crossings. [Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Ehud] Barak, [Avigdor] Lieberman and [Tzipi] Livni should be brought to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” the lawmaker said.
Shai and Wilf quickly condemned Aghbaria’s words, in a joint statement.
“It is very grave that at a time when MKs are making every effort to calm spirits, lessen the damage and bring a positive message to the European Parliament, an Arab MK comes and arouses tempers and takes advantage of his position to call on the European Parliament to enact sanctions on Israel,” they said.

“We plan to bring the contents of MK Aghbaria’s speech to the attention of Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin.”

EDITOR: Is this a joke?

Now, after more than 18 months, with Israel leaders responsible for the senseless murder of over 1400 Palestinians in Gaza, the IOF has found fit to take ONE soldiers to court-martial for the ‘killing of two women”…

IDF to charge soldier for killing 2 Palestinian women during Gaza war: Haaretz

According to the Army Radio report, solider suspected of opening fire at the women in an alleged disregard of the IDF’s rules of engagement.

According to the Army Radio report, the solider will be charged with opening fire at the women in an alleged disregard of the IDF’s rules of engagement during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s three-week war on Hamas which took place which took place in late 2008 and early 2009.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier is to face charges over the fatal shooting of two Palestinian women during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza early last year, Army Radio reported on Wednesday.
According to the Army Radio report, the solider will be charged with opening fire at the women in an alleged disregard of the IDF’s rules of engagement during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s three-week war on Hamas which took place which took place in late 2008 and early 2009.
Israel’s military conduct during the Gaza war was severely criticized by a UN report compiled by former South African jurist Richard Goldstone, who charged both Israel and Hamas with war crimes and acts that amounted to crimes against humanity, saying that the conflict dominated by Israel’s military superiority had killed 1,400 Palestinians and caused widespread damage to properties in Gaza.

Earlier this year, Israel submitted its response at the end of a three-month deadline set by the United Nations General Assembly for issuing its own report on the Israel-Hamas fighting in Gaza Strip.
“This morning we handed the UN a report of the investigations and operations that took place during Operation Cast Lead,” Barak, who was speaking at a Jewish National Fund tree-planting ceremony near the Negev town of Omer, said. “This report stresses that the IDF is like no other army, both from a moral standpoint as well as from a professional standpoint.”

“All of the soldiers and officers whom we sent to battle need to know that the state of Israel stands behind them even on the day after,” Barak said.
The UN General Assembly has already endorsed the controversial investigation led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone on the 22-day fighting between December 2008 and January 2009.

Mad Israelis section

EDITOR: Melanie Phillips is not Israeli, indeed. But this piece by John Crace is too good to miss, so I have upgraded Melanie to an Honorary Israeli, so this can be included…

The World Turned Upside Down by Melanie Phillips: The Guardian

Encounter Books, £13.99
John Crace,  14 June 2010
This book arose from a sense of perplexity that almost everyone in the world thought I was clinically mad. Everywhere I looked there were people who believed boarding a humanitarian aid convoy in international waters and murdering nine people was a little bit naughty. So I did what I’ve always done as a columnist for the Daily Mail; go where my bigotry leads.

Conspiracy theories abound in public life. Almost all of them are based on myth. The simple fact is that global warming is a lie created by politically correct liberals who are holding the universe to ransom. The reality is that not a single glacier has melted in Israel over the last 50 years. Likewise, green activists try to claim the teeny oil-spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an environmental disaster. How much oil has been washed up on the beaches of Eilat? None.

The legitimacy of the war in Iraq has been similarly subverted. Hard-line Trotskyists say we were led into the war on a lie. This is not the case. After Saddam Hussein was toppled, Mossad found huge caches of nuclear weapons in bunkers throughout the country. Understandably, Mossad chose not to go public with this because, as a responsible government agency, it didn’t want to worry anyone unduly.

Not that anyone has ever thanked Israel for this act of global compassion. But this is symptomatic of the way Israel is misrepresented. It is often suggested the Palestinians have an equal right to Israeli lands. This is demonstrably false. If you follow the Old Testament family tree from Adam to Abraham, you can see God gave the country to the Jews. Indeed, it is a mark of Israel’s tolerance that it allows some so-called Palestinians to live in the Gaza slums. And how do the Palestinians repay Israel? By throwing stones. How dare the world complain if Israel responds proportionately by returning the Palestinians to the Stone Age where they belong?

These falsehoods are presented as unchallengeable truths; in fact, they are anti-Semitic leftwing ideologies based on twisted evidence. We now live in a world of moral relativism where to believe in scientific inquiry or to be gay or a Muslim is socially acceptable. How can any right thinking person go along with this new age of Reason? The Enlightenment has a lot to answer for. Surely it must be apparent to even Richard Dawkins that he couldn’t have written the God Delusion without God’s help? Though obviously not the Muslim God because he doesn’t exist.

Secularism is the curse of modern life. If everyone went to Synagogue to thank the Intelligent Designer there would be no more conflict. Instead there is a global coalition of Muslims, environmentalists and vegetarians whose sole purpose is to destroy the state of Israel. The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre – co-ordinated by Osama bin Laden and George Monbiot – was nothing less than a dry run for a ram raid on the Burger King in central Tel Aviv.

Anti-Zionists claim the neocons are in the pockets of the Jews. Nonsense. Reason naturally aligns itself with reason. That is why no reasonable person can possibly be a Muslim. Many of the central tenets of Islam run contrary to Judaism and since Judaism is correct in every respect, ergo it must be irrational to be nice to Muslims. Yet such is our topsy-turvy world it is the Jews who get demonised for trying to do everyone a favour by preventing the Palestinians from becoming a recognised terrorist state.

The anti-Semitic lies proliferate at a terrifying speed. The most pernicious is that Israel has no sense of humour. What’s not to laugh about Mossad agents flying in to Dubai and taking out an Arab? All I can say is thank God there are still some fearless media outlets, such as Fox News and the Daily Mail, who are prepared to stand up for the truth. Hey? What’s with the strait-jacket? Where are you taking me?

Digested read, digested: Black is white.

Israeli Minister of Defence Cancels Trip Due to Possible International Charges for Role in Attack on Freedom Flotilla: AIC

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled an official visit to Paris on Sunday (13 June), announcing he would stay in Israel while the government establishes an investigative committee to explore Israel’s deadly naval attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

The announcement comes after French activists who were aboard the Gaza bound aid convoy threatened to bring charges against Barak over the raid that killed nine. The suit would be filed under the principle of universal jurisdiction, a principle that allows the prosecution of suspected war criminals in countries that have no direct connection with the events, in France and in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, according to the Associated Press. Three members of French parliament have also joined the effort.

“We must stop this bloody Israeli escalation and the only way is international judiciary. We want to stop Israel through punishing its leaders who partook in the operation. We will mainly target the leaders who gave the orders and those who executed them,” said Lilian Jalok, who represents the French activists.

Barak was set to dedicate a new Israeli booth at the Eurosatory arms fair, which opens in Paris this week.

“We believe it is unacceptable and unjust that the French government hosts Ehud Barak honoring him with official ceremonies after he claimed responsibility for the attack on our flotilla and the bloodshed,” said Tomas Hud, one of the Freedom Flotilla activists.

A small French cinema chain also took action to protest the Freedom Flotilla attack. The Utopia art cinemas canceled screenings of the Israeli comedy “Five Hours from Paris” and replaced them with the documentary “Rachel,” about an American student crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza.

“It was a protest of our whole company,” Anne-Marie Faucon, the co-founder of Utopia, said in an interview. “We show many Israeli films, we organize a lot of debates on what happens in the world, but this time we reacted very strongly and in a very emotional way.”

“Rachel” is a documentary made by Simone Bitton, a Moroccan-born, French-Israeli director who emigrated to Israel with her family as a child, served in the Israeli army, became a pacifist and mostly lives in France, wrote the New York Times. Bitton is also the director of “Wall,” a 2004 documentary about the Israeli Separation Wall that is dividing Palestinian communities and carving up land.

After Israeli-Dutch director Ludi Boeken told the Utopia he planned to withdraw his film, “Saviors in the Night,” from the cinemas “in solidarity with the censored,” and Culture Minister of France, Frédéric Mitterrand, contacted Ms. Faucon voicing his “incomprehension” and “disapproval,” the cinemas relented.

It “was a symbolic and limited gesture” Ms. Faucon said, stating that Utopia had planned to eventually release the Israeli comedy. She called “Rachel” “a film that corresponds perfectly to this mission of participating in democratic debate.”

EDITOR: War Criminal Blair rises from his deep slumber

As a prize for his war crimes on behalf of the House of Bush II, Mr. Blair got this cushy job in Jerusalem, which also allowed him to collect $1million from Israel through the Tel Aviv University. He has spent the last few years in hibernation, seldom arising from his lair. He has managed to keep his silence through thick and thin, and now appears set to collect some coupons for the coming end of the blockade, when in reality he was one of the main supporters of the blockade. You can see what he said a week ago in the item below, speaking to the Jewish Chronicle.

Gaza blockade to be eased within days declares Tony Blair: The Independent

By Geoff Meade, Press Association
Monday, 14 June 2010
The world must give “hope, help and prospects” to the people of Gaza, Tony Blair insisted today.
Emerging from talks with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, he repeated his belief that the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip will be eased within days.
The key, he said, was an agreement to change from a situation in which Israel operates a limited list of permitted goods allowed through border crossings into Gaza, to a prohibited list of goods – weapons and “combat material” – which are not.

“After my talks (with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), there is now in principle a commitment by Israel to move to such a list,” he said.

That would mean Israel maintaining the existing blockade to keep out arms while allowing in building materials and foodstuffs essential to normal daily life, Mr Blair said.

The change would simplify access for non-military goods, “rather than people struggling to get household items and foodstuffs in, rather than them having to fight over almost every bit of construction material”.

The former UK prime minister and current Middle East envoy added: “Most of all we must give the people of Gaza some hope, some help and some prospects.

“I believe and hope that we can reach a situation where we get a policy with regard to Gaza which is right regarding security, and regarding the people of Gaza and which gives the people of Gaza eventually the prospects of joining a two-state solution.”

Baroness Ashton, European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said EU governments were ready to send monitors to help police border crossings as part of any Israeli decision to ease access.

She gave a cautious welcome to Israel’s decision to launch an inquiry into how nine people aboard a flotilla of humanitarian aid ships attempting to breach the blockade were killed by Israeli fire when troops halted the convoy.

A spokesman for Baroness Ashton described the inquiry as “a constructive step” while Mr Blair said: “The issue of the inquiry continues to be an issue of strong political debate … it is a step forward.”

But some EU Governments, notably the Dutch and Swedes, want to see a full international investigation.

That view was included in a statement at the end of today’s talks in which EU foreign ministers expressed deep regret for the loss of life during “the Israeli military operation in international waters” and condemned the use of violence.

The statement declared that “an immediate, full and impartial inquiry into these events and the circumstances surrounding them is essential”.

It went on: “To command the confidence of the international community this should include credible international participation.”

The statement also called for “an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza including goods from the West Bank”.

It said the EU stood ready to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza and its economic revival, adding: “To this end, full and regular access via land crossings, and possibly by sea, on the basis of a list of prohibited goods, should be the prime aim, while at the same time providing strict control over the destination of imported merchandise.”

Oxfam warned that the Gazan economy would continue to “unravel” unless the blockade was completely and immediately lifted.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, said: “The blockade has unleashed a tragic chain reaction that has affected many of Gaza’s one and a half million residents. When a factory is forced to shut down because it can’t import or export, it doesn’t just affect the employees who lose their jobs – entire families relying on that salary also lose out, becoming dependent on humanitarian aid.”

He said that in recent months, Israel had allowed in an increasing number of food items, such as coriander, jam, biscuits and other sweets:

“While this is certainly welcomed, what Gaza needs most are jobs, raw materials for reconstruction and for industry, and the ability to export – not just short-term aid and consumer products like jam that, without a job, they can’t afford to buy.

“The civilian population has been kept just above the bar of a humanitarian crisis. It is trapped in a crisis of dignity that the international community must help resolve.”

Oxfam said Israel currently allows about 100 types of items into Gaza, compared with more than 4,000 before the blockade.

Meanwhile, a ban on political delegations entering Gaza angered Euro-MPs in Brussels today.

The Israeli embassy in Brussels has advised the European Parliament that Israel will no longer “facilitate the entry of political delegations to Gaza”.

The same ban applies to British MPs.

The Israeli letter to all MEPs said the accumulation of political visits “not only undermines Israel’s security but also undermines the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to lead the Palestinian people to peace”.

UK Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, who has been to Gaza four times, said: “I’m not surprised that Israel wants to keep politicians away from Gaza: every time one visits they return horrified at the results of policies that leave more than a million people undergoing collective punishment.”

Mr Davies, a member of the European Parliament’s Palestine Delegation, urged the British Government to open direct talks with Hamas – described in the Israeli letter as a “brutal terrorist organisation which openly calls for Israel’s destruction and appears on the EU’s list of terrorist organisations”.

Mr Davies responded: “I don’t agree with the policies of Hamas but the organisation cannot be ignored. The new British Government should follow the recent lead of the Russian president and meet with their representatives face to face.

“You cannot make peace without talking to your enemies.”

Blair: Israel has right to check what goes to Gaza: Jewish Chronicle

June 9, 2010
Tony Blair said Israel has his full support
Tony Blair has said in an interview that Israel has the right to check supplies that are sent into Gaza.
Speaking on Israeli television, the former British prime minister and Middle East Quartet envoy said the Gaza blockade should be lifted but “when it comes to security, I am one hundred per cent on Israel’s side.”
Mr Blair added: “There’s no question that there are rockets fired from Gaza and that there are people in Gaza who want to kill innocent Israelis.
“Israel has the right to inspect what goes into Gaza.”
He also said that any probe into the clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and the Israel navy should be “full and impartial”.
Mr Blair reiterated concerns about Iran gaining nuclear weapons. “That is not something we should contemplate or allow,” he said.

Poland backs German request to extradite suspect in Dubai killing: Haartez

Poland to rule within month on extraditing alleged Mossad man suspected of obtaining forged passport for January assassination of Hamas leader.
Tags: Israel news Israel Mossad Dubai assassination
Polish prosecutors will ask a Warsaw court to heed Germany’s request to extradite an Israeli man wanted there in connection with the Dubai assassination of a top Hamas official, a prosecutor spokesman said Monday.

The spokesman said prosecutors were not taking politics into consideration, but were acting in accordance with procedures, according to the Polish Press Agency.
An Israeli citizen using the name Uri Brodksy was arrested in Poland over the weekend on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining a German passport believed to have been used by a member of the hit squad that killed Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room in January.

A spokesman for the Polish court said earlier Monday that justices were to rule within a month whether to extradite the suspected Mossad agent in connection with the assassination.
Dubai has accused Israel of being behind the killing and provided the names of more than two dozen alleged members of a team it says tracked and killed the Palestinian, using fraudulent British, Irish, French, German and Australian passports.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any role in the assassination, prompting international indignation.
“The man sought by Germany was detained a week ago. He will be held for up to 40 days and during this time the court will have to rule whether to extradite him,” said Wojciech Malek, a spokesman for the Warsaw district court.

A spokesman in the Polish foreign ministry said there had been no formal request from Israel that its citizen be allowed to return home.
A spokesman for the German justice ministry declined to comment on the case, but said EU rules mandated that extraditions take place within 40 days of an arrest.

Mabhouh, born in the Gaza Strip, had lived in Syria since 1989 and Israeli and Palestinian sources have said he played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to militants in Gaza.
Australia and Britain have both ordered the expulsion of some Israeli diplomats over the use of fake passports in the assassination.

Continue reading June 14, 2010