As opposed to Canadian Leonard Cohen, intent on singing to Israeli soldiers in Ramat Gan (and, when under pressure, adding Ramallah to his tour, as a sop to to his many critics…) This other famous Canadian, Naomi Klein, is not confused on the question of whose side she is on!
Naomi Klein in Bil’in – 26-6-09
Watch this video to learn about Israel selling stolen properties of Plaestinian refugees, in breach of international law!
Al Jazeera Video Story: Israel sells Palestinian refugee property – Adalah
Lecturers say IDF officer who justified Gaza strikes should not teach law: Ha’aretz
Professors at Tel Aviv University are protesting a decision to appoint Col. Pnina Sharvit-Baruch as a lecturer for the Faculty of Law.
The objections come in the wake of a recent story published in Haaretz about Sharvit-Baruch, who heads the Israel Defense Forces international law division. The report said that under Sharvit-Baruch’s command, IDF legal experts legitimized strikes involving Gaza civilians, including the bombardment of the Gaza police course closing ceremony. Sharvit-Baruch is planning on retiring from the army in the coming months and is scheduled to teach at the university’s law department next semester.
Leading the protest against Sharvit-Baruch’s appointment is Professor Chaim Ganz of the university’s Minerva Center for Human Rights. Ganz wrote a letter to Professor Hanoch Dagan, the dean of the law faculty, claiming that Sharvit-Baruch’s interpretation of the law during Israel’s Gaza offensive allowed the army to act in ways that constitute potential war crimes. Ganz also said that Sharvit-Baruch harms Israel’s values system.
Dr. Anat Matar, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University’s philosophy department, said, “I was shocked to learn that half of the second-year law students will learn the foundations of law from someone who helped justify the killing of civilians, including hundreds of children.” Dagan told Haaretz that Pnina Sharvit-Baruch will be teaching a course on international law in the law faculty during the second semester of 2009, as scheduled.
He added that Faculty officials are not authorized and are not fit to respond to the factual questions and legal complexities raised in the article on which Professor Ganz’s claims are based. As long as these questions have not been cleared there is no room for premature conclusions. Dagan will not respond to the claims of the original story, but said that the Faculty of Law makes every effort to expose its students to a variety of opinions and encourages discussion, even about questions that provoke disagreement.
15 June ’09: Israeli human rights organizations to EU: Use Association Council meeting to stop settlements and open Gaza: B’Tselem
On the occasion of the 9th EU-Israel Association Council meeting on 15 June ’09, three prominent Israeli human rights organizations call upon the EU to link the upgrade of EU-Israel relations to respect for human rights and the rule of law.
In their letter to the EU Foreign Ministers, the organizations emphasized that the shared values of democracy and the rule of law lie at the heart of EU-Israel relations. These values must receive tangible expression, both in the bilateral relationship and in diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Specifically, both Israel and the EU must take concrete steps to promote and respect human rights and international humanitarian law. The three organizations, therefore, call upon the EU to use the Association Council meeting to explicitly link the upgrade process to Israeli demonstration of tangible improvements in the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Occupied Territories, including:
An immediate halt to all construction in the settlements and any other permanent changes in occupied territory;
An immediate end to the closure of the Gaza Strip;
Cessation of house demolitions;
Initiation of a criminal investigation into every allegation of torture or ill-treatment of Palestinians in Israeli interrogations;
Impartial accountability mechanisms for human rights violations, including those committed during the most recent offensive in Gaza;
Full cooperation with the UN fact-finding mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone.
According to the organizations, the Association Council meeting is a crucial opportunity for the EU to play a key role in the promotion of a process that will offer peace, dignity and security to both Israelis and Palestinians.
Participating organizations: HaMoked, Center for the Defence of the Individual; Physicians for Human Rights-Israel; and B’Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.