EDITOR: New year, old messages being recycled by Israel
Having persuaded themselves and the rest of the world that Jews can only live on their own, like Emperor Pengyuins on the South Pole, reality comes home to roost. Despite the Nakba and the many privations since then, There are as many Palestinians in palestine as there are Israeli Jews. So what are they going to do about it? Another Nakba? So was Zionism all in vain, and the wish of living ‘alone’ has to be forgotten? And what of ‘Jewish democracy’, controlling over six million Palestinians? Will Israel ever connect to these realities?
Israel’s right-wing is trying to stifle the reality of Palestinian demographics: Haaretz
Palestinian Authority’s Central Bureau of Statistics says number of Palestinians and Israeli Jews will be equal by 2015.
By Barak Ravid
Every year, in almost every country, government reports detailing statistics and demographics of the country’s citizens are published during the last week of December. The reports detail how many babies were born that year and how many people died.
Some of those reports are turned into semi-comic articles on the back page of the newspaper, or discussed on current event radio programs, and sometimes they are simply thrown to the wastebasket.
Last week, the Palestinian Authority’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) published its report summarizing 2011. As one could expect, the conclusions of the report barely rose to Israeli consciousness, and the media almost completely ignored the findings. But a brief look over the report shows a worrying picture, which raises hopes that at least some of the government ministers were exposed to the statistics.
The report revealed that the number of Palestinians in the territories stands at about 4.2 million people: 2.6 million in the West Bank and 1.6 million in the Gaza Strip. Added to them are about 1.4 million Palestinians who are Israeli citizens and about 5.6 million Palestinians that belong to the Arab countries and the rest of the world.
Three days after the Palestinian Authority’s statistics was published, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released its own report summarizing 2011. According to that report, the number of Israelis stands at 7.8 million people: 5.9 Jews, 1.6 million Arabs and 325,000 defined as “others.”
A conclusion of the findings shows that the number of Jews and Palestinians between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea are almost even. According to the Palestinian Authority’s CBS there are about 300,000 more Jews than Palestinians, while according to the Israeli CBS that number stands at 100,000.
What is especially disconcerting is the bottom line of the Palestinian Authority’s report. “On the basis of the estimations presented by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics in 2010, and provided that natural growth remains unchanged, the number of Palestinians and Jews will become equal and stand at 6.3 million [each] by the end of 2015,” it said. “In addition, by 2020 the number of Palestinians living in historical Palestine will stand at 7.2 million people, while the number of Jews will stand at only 6.8 million.”
One can only hope that in light of the meeting Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal emissary Isaac Molho and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in Amman, that Netanyahu was exposed to this data. When I read through the report I was reminded of a briefing Netanyahu gave to diplomatic correspondents in Washington in September 2010, hours after the launch of the direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Those negotiations lasted exactly three weeks before they collapsed.
Netanyahu spoke of the importance of attempting to reach an agreement with the Palestinians and also pointed out the issue of demographics. “We do not want to rule over one and a half million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria,” he had said. A number of reporters then reminded him that the number stands at almost 2.5 million Palestinians. He nodded and continued speaking.
Netanyahu’s words during that briefing represented the right-wing approach, according to which any demographic problem is far less serious than the picture that the Israeli left-wing is trying to paint. The “guru” at the head of this approach is Yoram Ettinger, who served at numerous posts in the Foreign Ministry in the past, including that of Minister for Congressional Affairs in Israel’s embassy in Washington. Ettinger knows Netanyahu well, and the two have been in close contact for many years.
Ettinger actually read the Palestinian Authority’s CBS report, but completely rejects it. He nicknamed the report “a misrepresentation of demographics”. According to Ettinger, the Palestinians publish misleading reports every few years in order to scare Israel. He is sure the PA is “inflating” the numbers of Arabs in the West Bank by 1 million people. This is probably where Netanyahu got his 1.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank figure from. In Gaza, Ettinger asserts, the numbers are inflated by 300,000 people. Similarly, Ettinger points out, the Palestinians “inflate” their birth rate and ignore the sharp increase in Jewish demographics.
The chances that the meeting between Molho and Erekat in Amman this afternoon will not end in failure are slim. The chances that their meeting will lead to a renewal of the peace process are nil. Based on this depressing state of affairs, the demographic data of the Palestinian Authority’s CBS are an even greater cause for concern.
EDITOR: A Middle East Fukushima…
Israel has some New Year resolutions, of course, but they are not different from last year’s, or the year before. Preparing for war, as ever, and now also facing Iran, Israel tells us of the new danger to the Middle East (but mainly to anyone living in Palestine – a Fukushima-like disaster during war. Something to look forwards to in this new year.
Israel to shut down Dimona nuclear reactor should war break out: Haaretz
IDF and the IAEC prepared for possibility of an attempted attack on the reactors during a conflict with Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas and other Palestinian organizations in Gaza.
By Amir Oren
Nuclear activity at the reactors at Dimona and Nahal Sorek will desist should missiles attack Israel’s home front. The aim of such nuclear stoppage would be to prevent damage to the reactors’ outlying area, should missiles penetrate the facilities’ defense shields. A decision for such a stoppage was reached by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, in coordination with the IDF Home Front Command.
The working assumption shared by the Home Front Command and the IAEC management officials responsible for the two reactors is that the multilayered defense systems, which feature anti-missile missiles calibrated to intercept missiles at various heights, along with fortified installations, should be sufficiently effective to minimize damage in an attack against the reactors.
Nonetheless, in principle any defense system can be penetrated. For this reason, nuclear activity in the reactors will be halted should warnings come of impending war. This stoppage procedure could also be applied in non-war periods of escalated skirmishes that involve rocket attacks against Israel.
The official explanation for this policy is that activity at the reactors is carried out for research purposes, and such research work does not need to be carried out constantly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The IDF and the IAEC, which is subordinate to the prime minister, are prepared for the possibility of an attempted attack on the reactors during a conflict with Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas and other Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip.
Such attacks could be carried out using missiles, rockets, planes or drones. Workers at the reactors will continue to report for duty, but will be active in specially fortified installations and bunkers, as happens with workers employed at other infrastructure or security facilities.
Dimona is located within the range of surface-to-surface missiles possessed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. Rockets fired from Gaza in the direction of Ashdod-Gedera could land within the perimeter of the Nahal Sorek reactor. The Dimona reactor was attacked for the first time by Scud missiles fired from Iraq in January and February 1991. This could be seen as a belated response to the destruction of the Iraqi reactor by Israel Air Force F-16 planes in June 1981. The Iraqi missiles missed their target.
Since the establishment of the Dimona reactor at the start of the 1960s, Israel has been prepared to use planes and surface-to-air missiles to thwart reconnaissance flights and attempted attacks.
Egyptian, Soviet and even Western spy planes apparently attempted to photograph the Dimona reactor in the 1960s; but since then such flights have abated, as a result of satellite activity. Nonetheless, Israel enforces a strict ban on flights in air space around the reactor.
Iran threatens to take action if U.S. carrier returns to Persian Gulf: Haaretz
Army chief says Tehran will not issue warning to Americans more than once, after Iran monitored U.S. aircraft carrier near a strategic waterway in the Gulf.
Iran will take action if a U.S. aircraft carrier which left the area because of Iranian naval exercises returns to the Gulf, the state news agency quoted army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying on Tuesday.
“Iran will not repeat its warning … the enemy’s carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf,” Salehi told IRNA.
“I advise, recommend and warn them [the Americans] over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Salehi as saying.
Salehi did not name the aircraft carrier or give details of the action Iran might take if it returned.
Iran completed 10 days of naval exercises in the Gulf on Monday, and said during the drills that if foreign powers imposed sanctions on its crude exports it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s traded oil is shipped.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, said it would not allow shipping to be disrupted in the strait.
Iran said on Monday it had successfully test-fired two long-range missiles during its naval drill, flexing its military muscle in the face of mounting Western pressure over its controversial nuclear program.
Iran also said it had no intention of closing the Strait of Hormuz but had carried out “mock” exercises on shutting the strategic waterway.
Tehran denies Western accusations that it is secretly trying to build atomic bombs, saying it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity.
The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the Islamic state’s nuclear row with the West.
The European Union is considering following the United States in banning importsof Iranian crude oil. U.S. President Barack Obama signed new sanctions against Iran into law on Saturday, stepping up the pressure by adding sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran’s central bank.
Abbas: Israel will face ‘hard measures’ if attempt to revive peace talks fails: Haaretz
Palestinian President issues warning as chief Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet in Jordan, in the intended purpose of resuming long-stalled negotiations.
By Barak Ravid and The Associated Press
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened Tuesday to take “new measures” against Israel attempts to renew Mideast peace talks fail, as meeting between chief Israeli and Palestinian negotiators commences in Amman.
Abbas’ comments came a day after Haaretz reported that Palestinians were preparing a diplomatic campaign that aims to put Israel under “a real international siege.”
The measures could include more action at the UN. Mahmoud Abbas issued the warning shortly before the chief Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were to meet in Amman. The goal of their meeting, the first between the sides in more than a year, is to find an agenda for renewed peace talks.
The Palestinians say Israel must freeze settlement construction and agree to return to its pre-1967 lines for peace talks to resume. The Palestinians want to establish an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip – areas that were captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Mr. Abbas said that if Israel accepts the Palestinian conditions, “we will go to negotiations.” He said the Palestinians have set a Jan. 26 deadline for talks to resume. “After that date, we will take new measures. These measures might be hard,” he said.
Mr. Abbas said no decision has been made yet. But Palestinian officials have said they are considering resuming their push for UN membership as well as ways to isolate Israel at the United Nations, such as a new resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Peace talks broke down in September 2010 after an Israeli slowdown on settlement construction expired. The Palestinians say there is no point in negotiating if Israel continues to settle captured lands. Some 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Israel says peace talks should begin immediately without any preconditions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, saying they would be indefensible.
Tuesday’s meeting is taking place under the auspices of the Quartet of Mideast peace makers. The group, which includes the U.S., European Union, Russia and the United Nations, has been trying to restart peace talks for months, with the goal of brokering a peace deal by the end of the year.
In September, the Quartet set forth a four-month target for the sides to present proposals on the key issues of future borders and security arrangements. The Palestinians believe the timeline expires on Jan. 26. Israel says the clock doesn’t start ticking until negotiations are under way.
The meeting comes as Mr. Abbas is trying to reconcile with the militant Hamas group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Mr. Abbas forces in 2007. Israel has warned it will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group. Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction, has called on Mr. Abbas to call off Tuesday’s meeting.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has implored Israel and Palestinians to resume peace talks. King Abdullah is worried about the growing influence of Islamic groups in the Middle East and fears that continued deadlock in peace efforts could strengthen radicals.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, 13 Jordanian opposition groups comprising Muslim fundamentalists and leftist groups called for a demonstration against the talks. The groups said the Palestinians must instead carry out a third uprising or armed resistance against Israel.
Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel.
EDITOR: Does BDS work or not?
opposition to the BDS, sometimes from surprising quarters, such as Norman Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky, claims one of the reasons they are against it is it does not work. Read below about the Israel Philharmonic and its visit to London in Sepotember 2011. They were shocked and displeased about the level of unhappiness their visit has created, and the loud opposition both inside and outside the Hall to their performance. Israelis cannot ever grasp the fact that not everybody likes them and their wars. Life is so ynfair, isn’t it? So they may not come back to London? Good riddance. BDS works, and is getting more effective all the time. The only thing which does not work, is doing nothing about Israeli atrocities.
Israel Philharmonic hands free pass to pro-Pal agitators: NormanLebrecht
January 3, 2012
In the Times (off-line) today, the long-serving secretary general of the Israel Philharmonic, Avi Shoshani, announces that the orchestra may never return to Britain after last summer’s Proms disruption.
‘I don’t think I really want to return to the UK,’ he tells Neil Fisher. ‘Why should I put my musicians in such an unpleasant situation? We want to make people happy – that’s what music is all about – and if people behave in such an uncivilised way why should we be part of it?’
The stupidity of his statement, in contrast to so many other reasoned arguments, beggars belief. In two sloppy sentences, Shoshani delivers a slap in the face to the BBC, the Times and the British public who supported the orchestra’s right to be heard at the Proms – and an unearned victory to the Boycott Israel campaign which cannot surely believe its luck that Israel’s musical flagship has slunk off, defeated.
His remarks contradict Zubin Mehta’s determination to present the orchestra on every major stage and to make the orchestra more reprsesentative of its multi-cultured country. The IPO has yet to admit its first Arab Israeli player and is losing audiences among the younger generation and the religious sector.
Shoshani is employed by the orchestra as secretary general, a position less authoritative than chief executive. He has taken recently to speaking out in its name.
He has been in the job since 1973 and in that time the world has changed and Shoshani hasn’t. If Israel and its orchestra want to join the 21st century, they may need to nudge Avi Shoshani, 63, towards a well-earned retirement.
Women Fight Religious Segregation in Israel: The Real News
Secular vs religious tensions rise as women fight segregation in Jewish Halacha law. Lia Tarachansky reports
Precis
On New Year’s Eve, thousands of Ultra Orthodox men came out in protest of what they called religious prosecution. In recent weeks, tensions in Israel between religious and secular Jews escalated after Israel’s main TV news, Channel 2 filed a report. It showed Ultra Orthodox men in the city of Beit Shemesh attacking an 8-year old Orthodox girl for not dressing modestly enough. The report sparked nation-wide outrage and brought thousands to Beit Shemesh in protest. The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky spoke to Rabbi Uri Regev of Hiddush as well as to Member of Knesset Tzipi Livni, the leader of the opposition and MK Sheli Yechimovitch, the leader of the Labor Party.