EDITOR: The lies and the imaginative Journalism at the JC Few days ago you may have read here that Mira Awad has given up on the concert in London after death threats were made against her. Well, it seems the death threats were only known to the Jewish Chronicle journalist, but Mira Awad never heard of those. Could it be the threats were made by someone connected to the JC, and that is why they knew about them?… It seems that the only threat which we should consider here is a threat against the truth and professional journalism. It may of course be that the JC journalist is a graduate of a Creative Writing programme?…
We can’t work it out: why Israel’s Arab pop idol isn’t coming to Britain: The independent
Claims of death threats and accusations of lies surround rift that put paid to Eurovision star’s visit. By Mark Hughes
When she became the first Arab to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest last year, it was inevitable that Mira Awad would stir controversy. Her duet with a Jewish singer was held up by many as a symbol of hope between the rival communities embroiled in the Middle Eastern conflict.
But her selection was angrily opposed by extremist Arabs and Jews who demanded, unsuccessfully, that she withdraw. Now Ms Awad has found herself once again involved in a political tug of war – this time involving death threats, accusations of lies, and a controversial concert in London. It began on Friday when it was reported Ms Awad had been forced to pull out of a London concert celebrating Israeli independence after receiving death threats.
The claims were made in a press release by the Zionist Federation, the group organising the concert at which Ms Awad was due to perform with her Jewish Eurovision partner Achinoam Nini, known as Noa. Ironically, the duo’s first-ever collaboration was a cover of the Beatles classic, “We Can Work It Out”. The release said that while Noa would still perform, Ms Awad would not participate “due to death threats made against her and her family”.
The story was picked up by the media, including the Jewish Chronicle and Israeli radio. Given the strength of feeling surrounding her previous performances under the Israeli banner, it seemed entirely plausible – until Ms Awad herself said it was not true. Ms Awad – who unlike most Arab-Israelis is Christian rather than Muslim – later posted a message on her Facebook page denying that her reason for pulling out of the concert had anything to do with death threats. Rather, she said, she considered the commemoration of Israeli Independence Day an inappropriate occasion on which to perform, because of her mixed heritage. Israeli Independence Day celebrates the 1948 creation of the state of Israel.
But Palestinian Arabs in Israel and the occupied territories commemorate 1948 as the year of the Nakba – literally “catastrophe” – because of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who were forced to leave their homes in what is now Israel. Ms Awad’s message, published in the Jerusalem Post, read: “Today, on Israeli radio, they said that due to threats on my life I cancelled a show in London I was supposed to appear in. I think it’s time to tell the whole story: My manager Ofer Pesenzon was approached with a request for a concert of Noa in London, with me as a special guest.
Ofer agreed, thinking it would be a good opportunity for me to expose my music, and more importantly, spread the more-than-ever relevant message that Noa and I try to convey. Later on, the date of the show was set for Israel’s Independence Day. “The minute I heard about this concert, I asked Ofer to cancel my participation, out of consideration for the complexity of this date for me.” But Ms Awad’s comments appear at odds with those of her manager, Mr Pesenzon.
Explaining his client’s removal from the London line-up, he told Israeli Army Radio: “Mira is in an impossible position. I’ve received phone calls from Jews saying there’s no way an Arab should be performing for Israel’s Independence Day, and Arabs have called saying the same.”
Medvedev: Israeli strike on Iran could cause a global catastrophe: Haaretz
An Israeli strike of Iran’s nuclear facilities could spark a nuclear conflict, which could spiral into a global catastrophe, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told ABC on Monday, adding that he supported what he called “smart” sanctions on Tehran as part of attempt to make it abandon its nuclear program.
The Russian president is in the United States for a 47-nation nuclear summit convened by U.S. President Barack Obama aimed at thwarting nuclear terrorism, and which may also center on a U.S.-back attempt to hit Iran with new nuclear sanctions.
Russia and China remain two important missing links in Obama’s drive to sanction Iran over its nuclear program.
Referring to the possibility that Israel may attack Iran if negotiations over its contentious nuclear programs fail, Medvedev told Good Morning America that “it would be the worst possible scenario,” adding that “war means lives lost.”
The Russian president also tried to estimate the meaning of what he sees as a war in the Middle East erupting as a result of such a move on Israel’s side, saying “everyone is so close over there that nobody would be unaffected. And if conflict of that kind happens, and a strike is performed, then you can expect anything, including use of nuclear weapons.”
“And nuclear strikes in the Middle East, this means a global catastrophe. Many deaths,” Medvedev said.
On the subject of imitating new sanctions against Iran geared at forcing it to abandon its nuclear program, the Russian president said that “it’s not whether it’s a good thought or bad thought, I’m talking about something else.”
“The sanctions is a tricky thing which works seldomly. You yourself were busy with politics, and you know that sanctions is not without conditions,” Medvedev said, adding but sometimes you have to do that.”
“What kind of sanctions? We have spoken about that with President Obama yesterday. Sanctions should be effective and they should be smart,” the Russian President said.
“They should not lead to humanitarian catastrophe, and the whole Iranian community would start to hate the whole world. And we’re worried that there are a significant number of people which have radical opinions. Do we want that radical thought to be sent to the whole world?,” Medvedev said.
However, the Russian president did not rule sanctions altogether, saying that they “should be smart.”
“They should force or obligate the Iranian leadership to think about what’s next. What could sanctions be? It could be trade, arms trade. It could be other sanctions,” Medvedev said, adding that “sanctions should let the country understand that all who impose sanctions have the same opinion.”
Medvedev said that any new sanctions “should not be paralyzing. They should not cause suffering. Aren’t we in the 21st century? That’s why if we’re going to develop our cooperation in this direction we have a chance to succeed. Better would be to go without sanctions and achieve things politically.
Earlier Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned Obama’s nuclear summit, calling it humiliating to humanity.
U.S. President Barack Obama is hosting the summit, which is focused on preventing nuclear terrorism but where world leaders are also set to discuss his push for new sanctions against Iran’s atomic program.
“World summits being organized these days are intended to humiliate human beings,” Ahmadinejad told delegates at a domestic tourism industry event, according to IRNA news agency.
Iran was not invited to the summit, which is being attended by leaders of China and Russia whose consent will be required to impose new sanctions which Obama wants agreed in the coming weeks.
Ahmadinejad had harsh words for politicians who claimed to represent the international community: “These foolish people who are in charge are like stupid, retarded people who brandish their swords whenever they face shortcomings, without realizing that the time for this type of thing is over.”
Iran has said it will complain to the United Nations about what it sees as Obama’s implied threat to attack it with nuclear weapons. Addressing the United States, Ahmadinejad said: “Your gift to the world is a nuclear bomb while Iran presents … humanity.”
Iran says sanctions will not force it to stop its pursuit of nuclear technology which it says is entirely peaceful. The West fears it is seeking to gain nuclear weapons.
Human Rights Groups Warn of New Powers for Israel: NY Times
By ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM — A recently amended military order that allows Israel to remove people from the West Bank if it does not recognize their legal status could lead to the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians, Israeli human rights groups warned Sunday.
The amendment — to a 1969 order on dealings with those judged to be infiltrators of the West Bank — was signed by military officials last October and is due to take effect on Tuesday.
In the original document, issued two years after Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war, “infiltrator” was defined as a person who entered the area illegally from a neighboring Arab country. The amendment redefined the term to refer broadly to anyone who entered the West Bank “unlawfully” or who “does not lawfully hold a permit.” The permit required is not specified.
“The wide definitions are the problem,” said Elad Cahana, a lawyer for HaMoked: The Center for the Defense of the Individual, one of 10 groups appealing for a delay on the change in the order. The group estimated that tens of thousands of Palestinians could theoretically be at risk.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, denounced the change. “These military orders belong in an apartheid state,” he said. “Extensive in scope, they make it infinitely easier for Israel to imprison and expel Palestinians from the West Bank.”
But Capt. Barak Raz, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said that there had been no change in policy regarding the extradition of illegal residents from the West Bank, and that “anyone who has the right paperwork” allowing residency “has nothing to worry about.”
Mr. Cahana said the concern was less of a mass expulsion than of the military deporting those officially registered as residents of Gaza, as well as Palestinians or their spouses who moved to the West Bank from abroad.
When the military currently tries to remove such individuals from the West Bank, it often faces difficulties in arguing the cases before Israel’s Supreme Court. The amended order could help the military overcome those difficulties, Mr. Cahana said.
Under the revised order, a deportation cannot be carried out until 72 hours after legal papers have been issued, and until the person served has had a chance to appeal in a military court.
Those convicted under the order could now face up to seven years in jail.
In the past, deportation orders could be carried out the same day they were served, with no appeal, so Captain Raz, of the Israeli military, said the amendment could actually help those without legal residency.
“It makes it easier for people without the right paperwork to appeal,” he said.