tagged w/ Current Radio
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What happens when an Israeli professor speaks his mind about the Israeli occupation? Let’s find out.
Take a look at Ben Gurion University Prof. Neve Gordon, who by the way, is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace’s Advisory Board and is also a member of the Committee to Support Ezra Nawi.
He published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, titled Boycott Israel: An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that it’s the only way to save his country.
(above from Muzzle Watch)
Article:
Boycott Israel:
An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that it's the only way to save his country.
By Neve Gordon
August 20, 2009
Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry articles about the push for an international boycott of Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers around the world.
Not surprisingly, many Israelis -- even peaceniks -- aren't signing on. A global boycott can't help but contain echoes of anti-Semitism. It also brings up questions of a double standard (why not boycott China for its egregious violations of human rights?) and the seemingly contradictory position of approving a boycott of one's own nation.
It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli citizen to call on foreign governments, regional authorities, international social movements, faith-based organizations, unions and citizens to suspend cooperation with Israel. But today, as I watch my two boys playing in the yard, I am convinced that it is the only way that Israel can be saved from itself.
I say this because Israel has reached a historic crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise his children in Israel, who has been a member of the Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply anxious about the country's future.
------------more at linkWhat happens when an Israeli professor speaks his mind about the Israeli occupation?... more
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Israeli Forces Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Closure on the Gaza Strip
- A Palestinian child was wounded when Israeli forces fired at fishing boats in Rafah.
- Israeli forces used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
- Israeli forces conducted 26 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
- Israeli forces arrested 28 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and one woman, in the West Bank, and two fishers in the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli forces demolished 3 car maintenance workshops.
- The State of Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
- Israeli troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including two children and two women.
- Israel has continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish majority in occupied east Jerusalem.
- Israeli settlers seized a Palestinian house in Silwan village.
- Israeli forces attacked religious sites in Jerusalem.
- Israeli forces have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
- 116 donums1 of land in Ya'bad village, southwest of Jenin, were confiscated by Israeli forces.
- Israeli forces ordered the demolition of 9 houses in Slem village, east of Nablus.
- An international human rights defender was injured and 4 others were arrested by Israeli forces during protests against Israeli settlement activities.
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I'll try to get this each week to people concerned. I'll get blasted of being biased in what I bring here to post, but the fact of the matter is that people report what interests them the most that NEEDS to be highlighted. Some people concentrate their posts about Sudan, about Cruelty to animals, Global Warming, etc. I choose to report on the injustice in this region. And, if you've read my profile, you'll see that I do not HATE anyone. Its the common defense of defenders of this injustice to call people names and accuse of siding with the enemy. Obviously, this is not the case. Those defenses are moot and only designed to cloud the reality of what is happening in the area. President Obama, in my opinion, is trying to make it better there, I only wish he would move quicker to hasten the cruelty that goes on there to many innocent people. We need Peace there, and for that to happen, the Israeli government needs to have their clothes put on the clothesline for everyone to see.
I entertain ALL commentators that have some positive input. Whether you are pure right wing or even in the government, I'd like to find a half way point that encourages a turn around in how the Palestinians are being treated. Most of them want peace. Most Israelis want peace. What most of the world sees is that Israel wants all the land to themselves and to destroy the culture and people who are Palestinians. If this is not the case, lets see some major changes now. Not tomorrow, not next week...NOW!Israeli Forces Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property... more
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President Obama has asked Israel to make some changes that have been largely ignored. President Jimmy Carter said, "The blockade of Gaza has brought death, destruction, pain and suffering to the people there. The International community must not ignore their cries for help." and "...the people of Gaza are being treated "like animals," and has called for "ending of the siege of Gaza" that is depriving "one and a half million people of the necessities of life."
One of the world's leading authorities on Gaza, Sara Roy of Harvard University, has said that the consequence of the siege "is undeniably one of mass suffering, created largely by Israel, but with the active complicity of the international community, especially the U.S. and European Union."
The law is clear. The conscience of humankind is shocked.
Yet, the siege of Gaza continues.
The people of Gaza have exhorted the international community to move beyond words of condemnation.
It is time for us to take action!
The Long March toward Freedom
To mark the anniversary of Israel's bloody 22-day assault on Gaza the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza will dispatch contingents from around the world to Gaza.
On January 1, 2010 we will march alongside the people of Gaza in a nonviolent demonstration that breaches the illegal blockade.
The march is inspired by decades of nonviolent Palestinian resistance from the mass popular uprising of the first intifada to the West Bank villagers currently resisting the land grab of Israel's annexationist wall.
It draws inspiration from the international volunteers who have stood by Palestinian farmers harvesting their crops, from the crews on the vessels who have challenged the Gaza blockade by sea, and from the drivers of the convoys who have delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza.
It draws inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi called his movement Satyagraha-Hold on to the truth. We hold on to the truth that Israel's siege of Gaza is illegal and inhuman.
Gandhi said that nonviolence requires more courage and is more effective than violence. We want to prove the truth of Gandhi's beliefs with our deeds.
We are not afraid, we won't turn back, we won't let Gaza die.
Gandhi said that the purpose of nonviolent action is to "quicken" the conscience of humankind. We want to bring humankind not just to deplore Israeli brutality but actively to stop it.
Those of us residing in the United States also draw inspiration from our Civil Rights Movement.
If Israel devalues Palestinian life then-just as northern whites went down South during Freedom Summer-we must both interpose our bodies to shield Palestinians from Israeli brutality and bear personal witness to the inhumanity that Palestinians daily confront.
If Israel defies international law then-just as federal marshals were sent in to enforce the law of the land against racist southern sheriffs-we must send nonviolent marshals from around the world to enforce the law of the international community in Gaza.
We take no sides in internal Palestinian politics. We side only with international law and basic human decency.
We conceive this march as yet another link in the chain of nonviolent resistance to Israel's flagrant disregard of international law.
The siege is illegal.
The wall is illegal.
The settlements and house demolitions are illegal.
The closures and curfews are illegal.
The roadblocks and checkpoints are illegal.
The detention and torture are illegal.
The truth is that if international law were enforced the occupation would be unsustainable.
The march can only succeed if it arouses the conscience of humanity.
If we join ranks with the people of Gaza in the march for freedom, and millions more around the world watch the march on the internet, we can breach the siege without a drop of blood being shed.
If the whole world is watching, Israel can't stop us.
Please join us.President Obama has asked Israel to make some changes that have been largely ignored.... more
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Is this Israels way of exterminating millions of people in Gaza needing health care and medicine to save or make better the lives of all these people? Israel is blocking much needed medical supplies among other life saving and living items.
Israel needs to answer this insanity-ALL the insane things Israel does to Gaza and the Palestinians.
No civilized country int eh world would not let this happen? We need to stand up and not let this happen to millions of innocent people.
Story:
Arafat Hamdona, 20, has been confined to the cancer unit of As-Shifa, Gaza's primary hospital, since he was diagnosed with maxillary skin tumours in June 2008. Red lesions protrude from his face, his features are distorted and his eyes swollen shut.
In April, Arafat was permitted to travel to Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem where he received three series of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment. He was scheduled to return for further treatment, but has not been granted permission by the Israeli authorities to leave Gaza.
"He is only given pain killers," said Arafat's father, Faraj Hamdona, explaining that that is all As-Shifa has to offer.
According to a July 2009 report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Jerusalem, Gaza doctors and nurses do not have the medical equipment to respond to the health needs of the 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip.
Medical equipment is often broken, lacking spare parts, or outdated.
WHO attributes the dismal state of Gaza's healthcare system to the Israeli blockade of the territory, tightened in June 2007 after Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the West, seized control. The poor organization of maintenance services in Gaza compounds the problem, reports WHO.
Medical equipment sits idle
Some 500 tons of donations of medical equipment which flooded the Strip after Israel's military offensive ended on 18 January sits idle in warehouses. Few donors consulted the health ministry or aid agencies working in Gaza to find out what provisions were needed. According to the health ministry, 20 percent of the donated medications had expired. WHO said much of the equipment sent was old and unusable due to a lack of spare parts.
WHO also said suppliers were unable to access medical equipment for repairs and maintenance and "since 2000, maintenance staff and clinical workers have not been able to leave the Strip for training in the use of medical devices".
The Israeli Defence Ministry says it is not obliged to allow into Gaza anything other than basic humanitarian supplies necessary for survival, and is concerned certain medical technology could be used for other more sinister means. Gaza's only other connection to the outside world is its border crossing with Egypt, which is closed most of the time.
The lack of proper medical care in Gaza can have dire consequences.
"The largest number of deaths due to the siege is among cancer patients," Gaza deputy health minister Hassan Halifa said. "Radiotherapy for cancer patients is not available due to the lack of equipment, and chemotherapy is generally not available due to the lack of drugs."
Lack of drugs, medical supplies
In July, 77 out of 480 essential drugs and 140 out of 700 essential medical supplies in Gaza's health ministry were out of stock, according to WHO.
Ismail Ahmed, a 66-year-old from Shujayah, also lies in the cancer unit of As-Shifa, with a catheter for urination flowing into a wastebasket.
"We lack necessary equipment for the patients," Abdullah Farajullah, a nurse at the unit, said.
Suffering from bladder cancer, Ismail requires blood transfusions.
"There are not enough IV [intravenous] bags. The nurses put blood into plastic water bottles to transfer into my IV bag," Ismail said.
------------more at the linkIs this Israels way of exterminating millions of people in Gaza needing health care... more
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Are you being called racist, a hater, slammed for sticking up for innocent civilians and being called a 'terrorist' for doing so? Now, not only can you sue both CURRENT and the poster/commenter, you can instantly find out who they are and bring them to civil justice.
Here's part of the story with the rest at the link:
A model who was slammed with derogatory terms by an anonymous blogger has the right to learn the identity of her online heckler, a judge ruled.
In August 2008, a user of Blogger.com, Google's blogging service, created "Skanks in NYC," a site that assailed Liskula Cohen, 37, a Canadian-born onetime cover girl who has appeared in Vogue and other fashion magazines. The blog featured photos of Cohen captioned with terms including "psychotic," "ho," and "skank."
On Monday, New York Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ruled that Google must hand over to Cohen any identifying information it possesses about the blog's creator.
---more at link
We've all been 'flagged' for community violations. Some are blatantly racist and harmful. Some, in our and others opinion are a freedom we believe it is ours. But freedoms come with responsibilities.
Current protects itself by rightfully removing the 'violation'. We all dislike this form of censorship, but, as the courts have shown, they and the commenter/story writer can be sued big time.
(I just wish CURRENT would monitor a little better and not wait for someones comment to be 'flagged' by someone)
Current is only protecting itself and people here.
I agree tho with many that we are being censored. But Current does reserve the right to have 'standards'. It is their site! And, there are other ways of expressing your disdain for a story or poster here. (Darn, is this going to be flagged!!!)Are you being called racist, a hater, slammed for sticking up for innocent civilians... more
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GENEVA — United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday accused Israel of violating the rules of warfare with its blockade stopping people and goods from moving in or out of the Gaza Strip.
In a 34-page report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pillay also called on Israel to stop expanding its West Bank settlements and punish all settlers who attack Palestinians.
Israeli Ambassador Aharon Leshno-Yaar rejected the findings of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. He said the report reflected the anti-Israel bias of the U.N. Human Rights Council that commissioned it, and failed to note recent Israeli moves to ease restrictions on Palestinians.
Leshno-Yaar, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said Pillay "didn't make any effort to investigate things herself, which is quite unfortunate."
Pillay said the Gaza blockade amounts to collective punishment of civilians, which is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of warfare and occupation.
She cited the conventions' requirement that "no protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited."GENEVA — United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday accused Israel... more
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Palestinian sources say 344 patients have so far died post 22-day war against Gaza, because of a lack of medical supplies in the Gaza strip due to an Israeli siege.
The last "martyr of the Israeli siege", according to Palestinian Ministry of Health, is 42 year-old Omar Ata Allah Al-Sha'er from Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip.
With the death of Al-Sha'er, the number of Palestinians to have died because of the Israeli siege imposed on the impoverished region since June 2007 now stands at 344.
The document provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health shows that Al-Sha'er suffered from chronic kidney failure and his health deteriorated while Israeli authorities disallowed him from traveling to receive treatment abroad, although he had the necessary papers for travel.
The Palestinian Ministry appealed to exercise pressure on Israel; in order to lift its siege and end the suffering of hundreds of patients who desperately need treatment in hospitals abroad.
Meanwhile, a 34-page report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, released Saturday, urged Tel Aviv to lift the blockade of Gaza and restrictions on the strip.
Pillay harshly criticized Israel for the violations "compounded by the blockade that the population of Gaza endured in the months prior to Operation Cast Lead and which continues."
more at linkPalestinian sources say 344 patients have so far died post 22-day war against Gaza,... more
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Another Peace Delegation to lift the siege of Gaza this September entering through Egypt is being organized by CODEPINK. The dates of the trip are September 16-22. We depart from Cairo the morning of September 16 and return to Cairo the evening of September 22.
Sign up to actually join the delegations below:
September Program:
* Effects of the 22-day invasion and ongoing siege, from the devastating economic impact to the physical and mental trauma
* Efforts at rehabilitation and reconstruction by the UN, NGOs and government agencies
* Political schools of thought, both government and non-government
* Laying the groundwork for the upcoming January 1 Gaza Freedom March
Complete the registration form at the link if interested, and/or, please pass this around to your email list.Another Peace Delegation to lift the siege of Gaza this September entering through... more
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On August 13, 2009, Human Rights Watch released a report, "White Flag Deaths: Killings of Palestinian Civilians during Operation Cast Lead," documenting serious violations of the laws of war by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead. Instead of responding to the findings of the report, Israeli officials are trying to discredit the report and Human Rights Watch by making false allegations.
"Instead of seriously addressing the findings of human rights groups in Gaza, the Israeli government is waging a propaganda war against them," said Iain Levine, program director at Human Rights Watch. "If the Israeli government wants to silence critics, it should fully investigate allegations of wrongdoing and take action to end the abuses."
* "Human Rights Watch is relying on the testimony from people who are not free to speak out against the Hamas regime." Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, in an interview with the BBC, August 13, 2009.
* "The Human Rights Watch report which claims that IDF soldiers killed 11 Palestinian civilians holding ‘white flags' is based on unreliable witness reports." Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement, August 13, 2009.
Both claims are false. Human Rights Watch methodology does not rely only on the accounts of victims and eyewitnesses. We examine medical records such as hospital and autopsy reports; forensic evidence left over from attacks, such as bullet casings, tank tracks or ammunition boxes; the attack sites themselves; and we conduct interviews with multiple witnesses, including medical staff and law enforcement, military and other officials and, where possible, the alleged perpetrators. Our interviews are conducted in private (unless otherwise stated) and confidentially. We carefully cross-check individual interviews with the interviews of other witnesses to assess reliability and consistency, and assess information we receive against accounts of the fighting made available by the IDF, Hamas combatant lists, and in the media.
Hamas is responsible for numerous and widespread human rights abuses in Gaza, but many Palestinians criticize Hamas practices during interviews with Human Rights Watch, most recently in our August 6 report on Qassam rocket attacks on Israel and our April 20 report on Hamas political violence. As Regev noted in an interview with Al-Jazeera, "It was Human Rights Watch that reported that Hamas members go around shooting in the kneecaps people who speak out of turn." This information, as the report noted, came from Palestinian witnesses in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch has had a permanent consultant based in Gaza since 2006. Israel continues to deny Human Rights Watch's other researchers access to Gaza.
* "Human Rights Watch's fundraising activities in Saudi Arabia in tandem with the kingdom's authoritarian government raises important questions as to that organization's objectivity, professionalism, integrity, and credibility." Regev, quoted by Agence France-Presse, August 13, 2009.
------------more story below
This is an important article that shows that Israel will murder, lie, cheat and steal to cover their tracks. Thos children holding white flags along with their mothers were told to do what they did by the IDF, and the IDF still shot them dead. What horror! Please read the rest below.On August 13, 2009, Human Rights Watch released a report, "White Flag Deaths:... more
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South Africa crack fighting unit, the National Prosecuting Authority, has been urged to prosecute people suspected of war crimes in Gaza. The call was made by the Palestinian Solidarity Alliance (PSA) and the Media Review Network (MRN).
The two organizations handed the NPA a file of about 3500 pages, which they said indicated prima facie evidence that “South African citizens and/or residents are implicated in the commissions of these crimes”.
Contacted for comment by the media, NPA’s spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said it was still “going through the file and considering it”.
----------more at the link and how the Jewish Board of Deputies there are trying to 'wiggle' its way around it. They described the move as an attempt to use South Africa’s judiciary system for an issue that is very political.
Political my a@@!!!! Criminal for certain.South Africa crack fighting unit, the National Prosecuting Authority, has been urged... more
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BBC NEWS: Two girls, aged two and seven were killed, and another, now aged four, was left paralyzed below the waist after Israeli soldiers opened fire on a family holding and waving white flags.
The five were standing outside their home after an Israeli soldier had ordered them to leave it, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
"We spent seven to nine minutes waving the flags, and our faces were looking at them [the soldiers]," HRW quoted the girls' grandmother as saying.
"And suddenly they opened fire and the girls fell to the ground."
Two of the incidents in question have also been investigated by the BBC.
In five of the seven incidents, Israeli soldiers shot at civilians who were walking down the street with white flags, trying to leave the areas of fighting, HRW said.
----------more of this horrific story at link
The world is waking up, but not fast enough to stop the Insane Israeli government.BBC NEWS: Two girls, aged two and seven were killed, and another, now aged four, was... more
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There is something happening that you and the world needs to know. The recent "Breaking the Siege" of Gaza by the Free Gaza movement witnessed the Israeli government ripping off natural resources from the Palestinians off the coast of Gaza in legal Gazan waters.
We need to stop what Israel is doing. Why? Because in the long run, it will affect you and me and the rest of the world. If you had oil in your backyard and wanted to drill and sell it and your next door neighbor found out about it and did all they could to steal it from you, wouldn't you want to claim ownership to it? They also try to steal your land, kill your people and starve you by placing a fence around your property and only allowing 1 small meal a day for your entire family of 20. And maybe some water? electricity? medicine?
You'd be mad as heck! When Israel gave back Gaza to the Palestinians, the Israeli government immediately broke their promise for peace by doing just that. Having no weapons, the Gazans did what they could to retaliate the inhumanity of not allowing any food, water, or anything for millions to live. Totally illegal for ANY country to do this to ANY people. And Israel did just that. (Look at what they are doing to Jerusalem! Illegally Kicking out Palestinians from their homes and replacing with Jewish settlers!)
As you may know, Israel has effectively 'locked down' all of Gaza, collectively punishing over a million people-99.9% innocent people made up of mostly children. Israels recent incursion into Gaza 6 months ago is not just speculation of human rights violations, but is now into International criminal proceedings against the leaders of Israel for murder, illegal use of experimental weapons, including White Phosphorous and 'dirty' bombs containing nuclear material, and much more, on the many innocent people there.
You may think that Israel is using its right to self defense. This is totally fabricated and Israel and the Israel Lobby has poured millions into twisting the news (and billions of $'s of US Citizens money) as well as lobbying the United States government. The Israeli lobby is in effect, a government agency for Israel within the US Government.
Most of what we say here is backed up with solid information and documents posted in most of our groups that we've formed and listed below here. Please check em out before you post, including any propaganda, because we will just ignore you. If you have a good argument, we will will listen and answer you. We're sick and tired of the Israeli propaganda and Israel paying thousands to go on the Internet and spread the lies. The hate. The 'twisted' news.
Watch this video. Get involved.
Some of the people involved with the Free Gaza movement are
* Journalists (CNN, Al Jazera, many others)
* Nobel Peace Prize Winners
* Government leaders, Representatives from hundreds of countries
* Human Rights organizations
* Holocaust survivors
* Rabbis
* Israeli citizens
* US and other counties citizens
* Peace Organizations
* Attorneys from many countries
* Doctors
* Writers
* many private citizens
We don't have anything against Jews. (Please read our WPTV Profile description) We do, however, have something against what the government of Israel is out to do and has done. So, anyone mouthing off that this is totally antisemitic, biased or totally hateful, is full of it. It's one of the propaganda weapons the Israeli government and Israeli lobby uses quite often. Recently, it has not worked because how can you defend thousands of accusations that have become criminal filings, among other investigations against Israel throughout the world. Those Israeli answers are moot points now.
Please, get involved and do something to prevent this insane Israeli government from doing to innocent people what had happened to them in WWII.
Info to help and to be involved on the video.There is something happening that you and the world needs to know. The recent... more
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Here we go again, the "LOBBY" slamming a man out for peace in the world. Now, if this Peace was only in the best interest of Israels government, then its ok! We are sick and tired of this LOBBY telling AMerica what is right and what is wrong, when in fact, THEY are wrong for calling anyone antisemitic because they say one little thing against Israel. Heck, the US, Europe takes much criticism, but we dont alienate the world by telling them they are haters because they criticized us.
The LOBBY needs to get beyond this and do whats right for the world. Not just THEM!
here's the story:
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday slammed the Obama administration for its decision to give a former Irish president the presidential Medal of Freedom, saying they were "deeply disappointed" by the move.
In a statement, the pro-Israel group cited what it called Mary Robinson's "long public record of hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state" as making her unsuitable to receive the nation's highest civilian honor.
The statement cites Robinson's role in leading the "deeply flawed" UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and for her supervision of the 2001 Durban Conference on Racism, which was boycotted by the United States and equated Zionism with racism.
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The statement claims Robinson's conduct on the UNHRC was "deeply flawed" and "marred by extreme, one-sided anti-Israel sentiment", and cites a 2002 UNHRC vote that "sought to condone Palestinian suicide bombings and terrorism".
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs responded to AIPAC's criticism by saying that Robinson was being honored as the first female president of Ireland.
"She is somebody whom we are honoring as a prominent crusader of women's rights in Ireland and throughout the world," he said.
"There are statements that obviously she has made that the president doesn't agree with and that's probably true for a number of the people that the president is recognizing for their lifetime contributions."
Robinson - the first woman to serve as president of Ireland, is an honorary president of Oxfam International and serves as the chair of the Board of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations.
She dismissed the criticism she had received from Jewish groups, saying "there's a lot of bullying by certain elements of the Jewish community".Here we go again, the "LOBBY" slamming a man out for peace in the world.... more
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In a bid to staunch the flow of damaging evidence of war crimes committed during Israel’s winter assault on Gaza, the Israeli government has launched a campaign to clamp down on human rights groups, both in Israel and abroad.
It has begun by targeting one of the world’s leading rights organisations, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), as well as a local group of dissident army veterans, Breaking the Silence, which last month published the testimonies of 26 combat soldiers who served in Gaza.
Additionally, according to the Israeli media, the government is planning a “much more aggressive stance” towards human rights groups working to help the Palestinians.
Officials have questioned the sources of funding received by the organisations and threatened legislation to ban support from foreign governments, particularly in Europe.
Breaking the Silence and other Israeli activists have responded by accusing the government of a “witch hunt” designed to intimidate them and starve them of the funds needed to pursue their investigations.
“This is a very dangerous step,” said Mikhael Mannekin, one of the directors of Breaking the Silence. “Israel is moving in a very anti-democratic direction.”
The campaign is reported to be the brainchild of the far-right foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, currently facing corruption charges, but has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Early last month, Mr Lieberman used a press conference to accuse non-government organisations, or NGOs, of replacing diplomats in setting the international community’s agenda in relation to Israel. He also threatened reforms to curb the groups’ influence.
------------more at the link
If Israels government starts this, I see it as a Pandora's Box for their country. Government censorship has opened the eyes of millions-now that millions of eyes have already been opened on Israels war crimes, many millions more will "see".In a bid to staunch the flow of damaging evidence of war crimes committed during... more
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On 9 July Harvard University's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) invited Colonel Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, former Israeli military legal adviser, to their online Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum. The stated aim was to bring "objective" discussion to the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law, or what the forum organizers called "combat in civilian population centers and the failure of fighters to distinguish themselves from the civilian population."
Although billed as a lecturer in the Law Faculty at Tel Aviv University -- and therefore as a detached humanitarian law analyst -- Colonel Sharvit-Baruch was in fact deeply involved in Israel's three-week onslaught in Gaza in December and January, that counted its 1,505th victim found under rubble earlier this month. With the devastating operation condemned and mourned worldwide, many asked why a ranking member of an occupying army that flouts its legal obligations should herself receive safe havens at two major universities.
What troubled many of the 200 or so participants who "attended" the talk via a virtual chatroom was that Sharvit-Baruch was cut off from public or legal scrutiny as she relayed her PowerPoint presentation. Questions were posed by the moderators, sanitized of any critical content. Yet the indisputable fact is that the army for which Sharvit-Baruch worked has been accused by all major human rights organizations of committing war crimes in Gaza. Some wondered why Sharvit-Baruch was being given the opportunity to offer a carefully prepared presentation unchallenged in an academic setting, rather than giving testimony to a tribunal or inquiry such as that being conducted Judge Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist heading an independent fact-finding mission into human rights violations during Israel's attack at the request of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Since the event organizers did not ask pointed questions about Colonel Sharvit-Baruch's actual role in Gaza, it is worth doing so here. As head of the International Law department (ILD) at the Israeli Military Advocate General's office, Sharvit-Baruch is known for green-lighting the bombing of a police graduation ceremony in Gaza that killed dozens of civil policemen. This was no ordinary airstrike. It was premised on a legal sleight-of-hand: that even traffic cops in Gaza could be considered "legitimate targets" under international law. In a conversation with conscripts at a military prep academy in Israel, school director Danny Zamir noted, "I was terribly surprised by the enthusiasm surrounding the killing of the Gaza traffic police on the first day of the operation. They took out 180 traffic cops. As a pilot, I would have questioned that."
Further, the Israeli army used heavy artillery and white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas of Gaza, against the UNRWA's headquarters and a UN school in Beit Lahiya. As reported by Judge Goldstone, Gazans trying to relay their civilian status were also hit. Even though the Israeli military tried several times to deny its use, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on white phosphorous use in Gaza quotes an unnamed Israeli official: "at least one month before [white phosphorus] was used a legal team had been consulted on the implications." HRW found that "in violation of the laws of war, the [Israeli army] generally failed to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm" and "used white phosphorus in an indiscriminate manner causing civilian death and injury."On 9 July Harvard University's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict... more
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The bloodbath in a gay-lesbian club, shocking and upsetting though it was, is merely a part, or perhaps a result, of the general violence into which this country (Israel) is descending. Hatred or intolerance for others' opinions leads to them dying by violence. There is a chilling similarity between what happened on Nahmani Street in Tel Aviv and what Yigal Amir did years ago.
A man wakes up in the morning and asks himself what he should be shocked by first: the fatal predawn traffic accident or the nightclub brawl that ends in a stabbing? The "father" who was investigated on suspicion of killing his wife's daughter and throwing her remains into the Yarkon River in a suitcase, or the father under investigation on suspicion of suffocating his daughter in cold blood with a plastic bag? The gang rape perpetrated by a group of 12-year-old boys on a 7-year-old girl? The woman suspected of starving her child, after which the ultra-Orthodox community rushed to save her from ... the hospital? The shocking descriptions of what veteran soldiers in the Golani Brigade and the armored corps do to new recruits? And the man says to himself in terror: What?! One of them could be my son. And either the abuser or the one being abused, supposedly in fun, could actually die - perhaps in battle, perhaps in an ambush.
The soldiers say this is a tradition that goes back many years. I know from personal experience, in the schools I attended, the feeling when people rub shoe polish in your face or booby-trap a room with a bucket of water to douse you when you enter. It is not pleasant.
-----------more at linkThe bloodbath in a gay-lesbian club, shocking and upsetting though it was, is merely a... more
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How the South African people feel about Israels Apartheid state in the Mideast. Amazing similarities. People need to stand up against this terrible state...here is the info:
We, South Africans who faced the might of unjust and brutal apartheid machinery in South Africa and fought against it with all our strength, with the objective to live in a just, democratic society, refuse today to celebrate the existence of an Apartheid state in the Middle East. While Israel and its apologists around the world will, with pomp and ceremony, loudly proclaim the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel this month, we who have lived with and struggled against oppression and colonialism will, instead, remember 6 decades of catastrophe for the Palestinian people. 60 years ago, 750,000 Palestinians were brutally expelled from their homeland, suffering persecution, massacres, and torture. They and their descendants remain refugees. This is no reason to celebrate.
When we think of the Sharpeville massacre of 1960,
we also remember the Deir Yassin massacre of 1948.
When we think of South Africa’s Bantustan policy,
we remember the bantustanisation of Palestine by the Israelis.
When we think of our heroes who languished on Robben Island and elsewhere,
we remember the 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
When we think of the massive land theft perpetrated against the people of South Africa,
we remember that the theft of Palestinian land continues with the building of illegal Israeli settlements and the Apartheid Wall.
When we think of the Group Areas Act and other such apartheid legislation,
we remember that 93% of the land in Israel is reserved for Jewish use only.
When we think of Black people being systematically dispossessed in South Africa,
we remember that Israel uses ethnic and racial dispossession to strike at the heart of Palestinian life.
When we think of how the SADF troops persecuted our people in the townships,
we remember that attacks from tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships are the daily experience of Palestinians in the Occupied Territory.
When we think of the SADF attacks against our neighbouring states,
we remember that Israel deliberately destabilises the Middle East region and threatens international peace and security, including with its 100s of nuclear warheads.
We who have fought against Apartheid and vowed not to allow it to happen again can not allow Israel to continue perpetrating apartheid, colonialism and occupation against the indigenous people of Palestine.
We dare not allow Israel to continue violating international law with impunity.
We will not stand by while Israel continues to starve and bomb the people of Gaza.
We who fought all our lives for South Africa to be a state for all its people demand that millions of Palestinian refugees must be accorded the right to return to the homes from where they were expelled.
Apartheid was a gross violation of human rights. It was so in South Africa and it is so with regard to Israel’s persecution of the Palestinians!
Organisational endorsements:
* African National Congress
* Al Quds Foundation
* Anti-Privatisation Forum and its 28 affiliates
* Azanian Peoples Organisation
* Congress of South African Trade Unions
* Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
* End Occupation Campaign
* Groundworks
* Media Review Network
* Muslim Judicial Council
* Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa
* Not In My Name
* Palestine Solidarity Alliance
* Palestine Solidarity Committee
* Palestine Solidarity Group
* Social Movements Indaba
* Socialist Party of Azania
* South African Communist Party
* South African Council of Churches
See here for the full list of signatories: http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2008/05/anti-apartheid-activists-see-no-reason.htmlHow the South African people feel about Israels Apartheid state in the Mideast.... more
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Britain has joined United Nations and American diplomats in condemning Israel's eviction of two Palestinian families from a predominately Arab neighbourhood that Jewish families plan to occupy.
The British Consulate which is located in Sheikh Jarrah, the same neighborhood near Jerusalem's Old City where the evictions took place, released a statement that said officials were "appalled" by the action.
"These actions are incompatible with the Israeli professed desire for peace," the statement said. "We urge Israel not to allow the extremists to set the agenda."
--------------more strory at link
More countries are stepping up to the plate to denounce and condemn Israel for what some say is an ethnic cleansing in order to gain control over the city of Jerusalem.Britain has joined United Nations and American diplomats in condemning Israel's... more
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Most of the world is not surprised. Not only have they defended their atrocious crimes, they've prepared documents and are sending a legal team to the Hague to field oncoming charges.
The report isn't even done and Israel is preparing this team. Talk about feeling guilty! Nevertheless, I assume the Israeli government will have a fair impartial trial for their crimes.
(http://e.gov.kw/News/KUNAMoreNews_Eng.aspx?NewsId=56342) (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1248277897030&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)
here's THIS story:
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has released a detailed report in defense of Tel Aviv's three-week-long all-out offensive on the Gaza Strip.
The report, published on Thursday, claims that Israel had "both a right and an obligation to take military action" against the blockaded people of Gaza in response to Hamas rockets fired into Israel, Haaretz reported.
In the 163-page document, entitled 'The Operation in Gaza - Factual and Legal Aspects,' Tel-Aviv admits for the first time that the Israeli army used munitions containing white phosphorous in Gaza.
Despite the existence of proof in form of pictures, soldiers' testimonies, and the victims' medical records, Tel Aviv had been denying the use of controversial chemical white phosphorous shells and depleted uranium munitions, claiming that it had fought a 'noble war' in the sliver.
Intentional killing of civilians, bombing of residential areas, shelling of a UN school-turned-refugee-camp, are among other human rights violations that Tel Aviv is accused of committing during the war on Gaza.
According to the report, Israel is conducting investigations into 100 complaints, including 13 criminal investigations after inquiries from UN and human rights groups.
The document comes ahead of two 'harsh reports' that are expected to be published by the United Nations soon, Haaretz reported.
Israel's offensive against the Gaza Strip left more than 1,400 Palestinians killed and injured at least 5,450 others. Several human rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.Most of the world is not surprised. Not only have they defended their atrocious... more
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Finally! Israel bowing down to International pressure. How much more evidence do they need? And..will they have an outside source do the actual investigation, one that is unbiased? That would be crucial to the veracity of the inquest.
story:
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has ordered 14 criminal probes into the conduct of soldiers during the war on the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.
It said the military is currently reviewing close to 100 complaints from a number of sources, including from soldiers who took part in the devastating 22-day operation on Gaza, as well as Palestinians and human rights groups.
The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the December-January war that left swathes of the aid-dependent, Hamas-run territory in ruins.
Among the Palestinians killed, 926 were civilians, 313 of them children, according to Palestinian figures which Israel disputes.
In a report earlier this month, Amnesty International accused both Israeli forces and Hamas militants of war crimes.
Also this month, an Israeli human rights group said Israeli soldiers were told to shoot first and worry about the consequences later, and used Palestinian civilians as human shields.
Instructions received before battle led to trigger-happy soldiers, civilian deaths and massive destruction in the densely populated Palestinian enclave, the Breaking the Silence group said in a report based on testimony from 30 soldiers.
In April, the military said its investigations showed the army "operated in accordance with international law," maintaining "a high professional and moral level" while facing an enemy who deliberately fought from within civilian areas.Finally! Israel bowing down to International pressure. How much more evidence do they... more
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