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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Poverty rife among Bedouin women denied status by Israel

2 August 2011
 
Khadra El Saneh started a weaving center that employs seventy women.
 
TEL AVIV (IRIN) - More than 180,000 Bedouins live in the Negev (Naqab) desert but there is a big gap in terms of life opportunities between those Bedouins who live in 35 unrecognized villages, and those for whom Israel has created seven towns or who live in seven officially recognized villages, say human rights workers.
Those in unrecognized villages face a constant threat of eviction and are cut off from even basic services. Aside from the threats to their homes, not enough is being done by Israel to lift these Bedouin communities out of poverty, they say.

Amal Elsana al-Hajooj, a Bedouin woman living in the Negev and the director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, explains that unemployment and poverty rates among the Negev Bedouin in unrecognized villages are the highest in Israel.

Residents of unrecognized villages have no status,” she says. “They have no address, their Israeli IDs state only the name of their clan. They have no claim to land. Their communities have no water, electricity or roads. There are no education or health services. The Negev is the backyard of the State of Israel. We are struggling to get any investment here.”

Al-Hajooj says the situation is most difficult for Bedouin women who face the dual challenges of living as Bedouin in Israel but also as women in a patriarchal society, where 30 percent of families are polygamous.
The conditions for women living in unrecognized villages are dramatically worse than for their counterparts in Israeli-built Negev towns, she says. “Today 75 percent of the Bedouin students [largely from recognized Negev towns] in university are women. But in the unrecognized villages the situation is very different — 65 percent of girls are out of school because there are no schools.”

Sued to pay demolition bills

The Israeli government’s recent suing of the Bedouin residents of al-Araqib village in the Negev — for $500,000 to cover the cost of repeatedly demolishing their homes — has sparked fresh debate over Israel’s treatment of its Bedouin minority.

Claims by Bedouin residents that al-Araqib is built on ancestral land have been dismissed by Israel, which has carried out more than twenty demolition and eviction operations in the village since July 2010. Israel considers al-Araqib, along with 34 other Bedouin villages in the Negev, an illegal village.

Ortal Tzabar, spokesperson for the Israel Lands Authority, says, “This case is not about demolitions; these people are criminals. This land has been deserted since 1950, when it was taken by Israel. We had even leased the land to other Bedouins for agricultural use and they chased them away. But their claim that the land belongs to them is now under investigation and if it is found they have any rights at all, they will be allowed to return.”

In response, a spokesperson for al-Araqib residents, Awad Abu Freih, says: “The court [process] is going to take some time, the next hearing is not soon. It has been very exhausting. The government doesn’t like us; they don’t want us but this is our land. They have been using our land for over sixty years. We don’t owe them any money. They should give us compensation.”

Empowerment through weaving

Khadra El Saneh is the director of Sidreh, the only organization of its kind in Israel working to educate and promote the rights of Bedouin women. A mother of four, El Saneh overcame initial opposition from the traditional elements in her community to set up a weaving center. The center now employees seventy local women to make rugs that sell in boutiques across Israel and are exported as far afield as New York and Tokyo.

Our aim is to empower women here with basic things. Bedouin women are at the lowest level of employment in Israeli society; 90 percent of Bedouin women living in recognized villages are illiterate. In unrecognized villages, that number is more like 100 percent. If a woman has education and economic empowerment, she can take more control, make decisions, be more useful to her society and her family.”

In an effort to combat low literacy rates, Sidreh also runs courses teaching Arabic, Hebrew and English. Since it opened in 1998, 1,400 women have graduated from its literacy course. It also offers community services, like early childcare.

Sidreh’s weaving business was launched in 2007. The 70 women employed to spin wool, stitch and weave the rugs each earn on average 2,000 shekels ($586) a month. The organization is supported by a number of international and national aid agencies, including Oxfam, but has received no support from the State of Israel.
According to El Saneh, the solution to her community’s education and employment crisis is simple: “If we have schools, girls can go to school. If we don’t have schools, girls can’t go. If a woman doesn’t have skills, transport and basic logistics she can’t open a business. If she has, she can.”

This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/poverty-rife-among-bedouin-women-denied-status-israel/10227

Dozens of MKs to Netanyhu: Solve Israel housing crisis by building in West Bank

  • Published 18:40 02.08.11
  • Latest update 18:40 02.08.11

MKs, cabinet ministers call on Netanyahu to consider all possible options to solve housing crisis, including settling of 'tens of thousands of citizens in Judea and Samaria, as well as Jerusalem'.

By Jonathan Lis Tags: West Bank Israel housing protest Knesset Benjamin Netanyahu

Forty-two cabinet ministers and MKs, all members of the Eretz Yisrael Lobby, signed a petition addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, calling on him to solve the housing crisis that has swept up the country by building in the West Bank and Jerusalem. 

The ministers and MKs wrote in the petition that “in light of the housing crisis throughout the country, we, as members of Knesset and signatories, call on you [Netanyahu] and the government to consider all possible solutions, including the immediate housing of tens of thousands of citizens in Judea and Samaria, as well as Jerusalem.” 

West Bank settlement - AP - March 13, 2011 A worker at a construction site in the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem on March 13, 2011.
Photo by: AP

The signatories including Moshe Kahlon, Mickey Eitan, Yossi Peled and Yuli Edelstein from Likud, Habayit Hayehudi leader Daniel Hershkowitz, and the head of the lobby, MK Zeev Elkin (Likud) and Aryeh Eldad (National Unity). Five Kadima members, Yoel Hasson, Ronit Tirosh, Yulia Shmuelov-Berkowitz and Otniel Schneller, signed as well. 

The letter was presented at a special gathering at the Knesset for the Eretz Yisrael Lobby in honor of both the end of the Knesset session as well as the release of the book, “The settlements; the real story”, which documents the lobby’s narrative about the settlements in the West Bank in both text and pictures. 

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/dozens-of-mks-to-netanyhu-solve-israel-housing-crisis-by-building-in-west-bank-1.376604

Israel's Supreme Court orders state to dismantle largest West Bank outpost

  • Published 13:52 02.08.11
  • Latest update 13:52 02.08.11

Unprecedented ruling states that Migron must be razed by April 2012; Israeli government had admitted outpost was built on lands belonging to Palestinians, but has thus far failed to dismantle it.

By Chaim Levinson 

Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an unprecedented ruling ordering the state to dismantle the largest illegal settlement outpost in the West Bank by April 2012. 

The decision follows a petition filed by Peace Now movement. 

Megron outpost in West Bank - Fitoussi West Bank settlement outpost of Megron.
Photo by: Olivier Fitoussi

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch harshly criticized the Israeli government for failing to dismantle the outpost of Migron, which is home to some 50 families, despite earlier promises it would do so and after it had admitted that it was in fact built on lands belonging to Palestinians. 

Beinisch said the Supreme Court has tried to show restraint despite the blatant illegality of the outpost.
"There is no doubt, that according to Israeli law, no settlements can be built on private lands of Palestinians," Beinisch said. 

In the court ruling, the Supreme Court justices said that they recognize the difficulties surrounding the dismantling of such an outpost, which has already expanded to 50 families, but said this could have been avoided if the state had initially worked to better enforce the law and prevented the construction of Migron in the first place. 

This is the first time the Supreme Court has ordered the state to dismantle an outpost in the West Bank, and the move brings the subject back onto the court's agenda. The decision to dismantle an outpost as large as Migron is likely to cause a political storm in the West Bank settlements. 

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-s-supreme-court-orders-state-to-dismantle-largest-west-bank-outpost-1.376583

Israel Police busts ultra-Orthodox cult suspected of abusing women and children

  • Published 13:26 02.08.11
  • Latest update 13:26 02.08.11

Nine cult members arrested in undercover investigation responding to complaint submitted to young woman; cult allegedly carried out abuse, including rape, over a two-year period.

By Haaretz Staff Tags: Israel crime Orthodox Jews Jerusalem

Israel Police, in cooperation with Jerusalem district officers and social services, arrested nine members of a cult living in Jerusalem and in the Tiberias area over the past few weeks, on suspicion of carrying out emotional and physical abuse of women and children over a two year period,

An undercover investigation into the cult was initiated following a complaint submitted by a young women to Jerusalem Police two and half months ago. The details of the arrests were revealed on Tuesday.

Orthodox cult abuse case - Olivier Fitoussi  - August 1 2011 The main suspect in the cult abuse case at court, August 1, 2011.
Photo by: Olivier Fitoussi

The investigation was uncovered at the beginning of July following a raid that police carried out for social services on the residences of cult members, two in Jerusalem and on3e  in Tiberias.

During that raid, police arrested an ultra-Orthodox man from the Bratslav sect suspected of leading the cult; the suspect is unofficially married to six women, most of them divorced with children.

The man allegedly sent the women and the children to various parts of the country to collect money for the maintenance the cult, as well as putting on shows featuring children in order to collect funds for the group.
Another suspect was arrested as the alleged right-hand man of the cult leader, as was a third suspected of filling in on occasion for the cult leader. The three are suspected of carrying out serious physical and sexual abuse, including rape, on some of the women and children.

The main three suspects will be presented with indictments tomorrow on charges of imprisonment, abuse, serious sexual abuse and slavery, Jerusalem Police said.

Deputy Director of Jerusalem Social Services, Menachem Geshel, said that this was the most serious serious case he had ever come across in all the years he has worked in social services

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-police-busts-ultra-orthodox-cult-suspected-of-abusing-women-and-children-1.376578

MK from Lieberman's party rapped for threatening colleague over Gaza flotilla

  • ublished 17:49 02.08.11
  • Latest update 17:49 02.08.11

Last June, MK Anastassia Michaeli forced her way over to Hanin Zoabi, who took part in the flotilla last May, and physically threatened her. Knesset Ethics Committee: behavior is without precedent.

By DPA Tags: Knesset Gaza flotilla

An Israeli lawmaker was reprimanded Tuesday for physically threatening a colleague who had participated in the attempt to break the Gaza blockade which ended in the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists last year.

During a stormy parliamentary debate about the Gaza flotilla last June, Anastassia Michaeli forced her way over to Hanin Zoabi, who was trying to address the plenum from the Knesset podium.

Zoabi - Tomer Appelbaum - June 2010 MK Anastassia Michaeli tries to approach MK to Hanin Zoabi, in June 2010
Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum

But ushers prevented Michaeli, 36, of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, from reaching Zoabi, 42, of the Arab-Israeli National Democratic Assembly.

Emotions had been running high and insults flew during the debate, held days after Israeli naval commandos overpowered the Turkish Mavi Marmara passenger ship in international waters off the coast of Gaza last May.

The commandos shot dead eight Turks and an American national of Turkish descent, as they battled with a group of knife- and stick-wielding activists on board.

Israel accused the activists of an attempted "lynch" of the commandos while the organizers accused Israel of "massacring" civilians.

Zoabi, from the Arab town of Nazareth in northern Israel, had been on board the Mavi Marmara, but said she had not been on the deck when Israeli commandos boarded and did not witness the violence.

Right-wing Jewish lawmakers accused her of being a "traitor" and a "terrorist," while an Arab lawmaker shouted at the St Petersburg-born Michaeli, as she was ushered out the plenum: "Go back to Russia."

A series of complaints were subsequently filed to the Knesset Ethics Committee, which on Tuesday condemned especially Michaeli's conduct.

"The Committee found no precedent of a Knesset member physically trying to interrupt a speech and considers this crossing a line that cannot be ignored," it ruled.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/mk-from-lieberman-s-party-rapped-for-threatening-colleague-over-gaza-flotilla-1.376601

Report: Israel's new Mossad chief behind assassination of Iran nuclear scientist

  • Published 11:08 02.08.11
  • Latest update 11:08 02.08.11

German weekly Der Spiegel, quoting an Israeli intelligence source, says last week's shooting was first 'public operation' orchestrated by Tamit Prado.

By Ofer Aderet Tags: Mossad Iran nuclear Iran

Israel's Mossad is behind the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last week, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported, quoting "a source in Israel's intelligence community." 

Last week, Dariush Rezaeinejad, a 35-year-old member of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was shot dead by two gunmen firing from motorcycles. This is the fourth attack on an Iranian nuclear scientist in the past year. In the previous cases, Iranian media outlets and spokesmen accused the Mossad, the CIA and MI6 of being behind the strikes. 

Iran nuclear plant in Bushehr, AP Technicians measuring parts of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in this undated photo.
Photo by: AP

"This was the first public operation of the new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo," an Israeli intelligence official reportedly told Der Spiegel. 

The report also claimed that there is a fierce debate in Israel over the efficiency of such assassinations and it also stated that Israel Air Force officers have stepped up their calls to bomb Iran's nuclear reactor. 

"Mossad experts have long believed that the best way to delay the progress of Iran's nuclear program is by assassinating key targets involved in its development and by striking Iran's nuclear reactors – but it is unclear when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will listen to these suggestions," the article said. 

The man, who was killed last Saturday, was initially identified by state-run media as Darioush Rezaei, a physics professor and expert in neutron transport. The media then backtracked, with officials subsequently naming him as Dariush Rezaeinejad, an electronics PhD student. 

Foreign officials contacted by the Associated Press have verified the name, but say that Rezaeinedjad participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead. 

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-israel-s-new-mossad-chief-behind-assassination-of-iran-nuclear-scientist-1.376567

'Israel ups Palestinian home demolitions'



Tue Aug 2, 2011 10:31PM GMT
 
Palestinians react after their homes were destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in the West Bank (file photo)
A UN relief agency says Israel has escalated demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank “alarmingly” in the first half of this year.


The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides aid for Palestinian refugees, said Tuesday Israeli forces have demolished 356 structures in the first six months of 2011, compared with 431 during the whole of 2010, AFP reported.

“Demolitions by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank have escalated alarmingly,” said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.

Israeli emolitions have displaced 700 people in the first six months of this year, compared with 594 in the whole of last year, the agency stated.

“Most demolitions have targeted already vulnerable Bedouin and herding communities,” Gunness pointed out, adding, “In many cases, demolition orders have been issued to virtually the whole community, leaving these communities facing a real danger of complete destruction.”

The home demolitions are taking place in a large area, which constitutes 60 percent of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control, according to UNRWA.

“This means that it is virtually impossible for a Palestinian to obtain a permit for construction, while Israeli settlements receive preferential treatment in the allocation of water and land, and approval of development plans,” Gunness further explained.

The UN agency officials have noted that demolitions of Palestinian homes appear to be concentrated in areas considered for “settlement expansion.”

“Most disturbing of all is the clear link we now see between settlement expansion and demolitions and the forced displacements that result,” Gunness finaly said.

In September 2010, the Israeli regime resumed the expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories after a 10-month partial freeze, prompting the Palestinian Authority leaders to break off the US-sponsored talks with Tel-Aviv that had resumed after a lengthy stalemate.

MAB/MGH
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192073.html

Teroris Breivik Jalani Operasi Plastik Agar Berwajah Aria

Anders Behring Breivik. AP/Scanpix

TEMPO Interaktif, Oslo - Kepala badan intelijen Norwegia Janne Kristianse percaya bahwa tersangka teroris Anders Breivik melakukan operasi plastik agar terlihat lebih "Aria."

"Anda tidak memiliki wajah Aria sebagai orang Norwegia," katanya dalam sebuah wawancara dengan Sunday Times. "Hitler akan memajangnya di poster. Dia memiliki wajah Aria klasik sempurna. Dia pasti telah melakukan operasi plastik."

Seorang teman Breivik yang tidak mau disebutkan namanya mengatakan kepada Telegraph bahwa Breivik mengatakan telah menjalani operasi hidung ketika dia berusia 21 tahun.

"Saya ingat kami berada di sebuah pesta dan dia bilang hidung dan dagunya dioperasi oleh seorang ahli bedah plastik di Amerika," kata temannya itu. "Itu agak aneh, tapi ia berkeliaran pada waktu itu dengan sekelompok orang yang terobsesi dengan tubuh mereka."

Sumber Telegraph mengatakan bahwa Breivik membawa peralatan rias ke selnya. Lelaki itu bukan hanya berhias, dia juga memilih kemeja Lacoste merah saat datang ke ruang sidang. Sebelumnya, pejabat melarang dia memakai seragam militer.

Breivik merupakan seorang penganut aliran supremasi warga kulit putih. Dia mengecam kaum muslim dan multikulturalisme dalam manifesto 1.500 halamannya. Dia juga menjadi anggota dari Liga Pertahanan Norwegia, sebuah cabang dari kelompok ultrakanan yang menentang Islam.

ERWIN | TELEGRAPH 


http://www.tempo.co/hg/eropa/2011/08/02/brk,20110802-349620,id.html

Protestors draft list of demands

Housing protestors present partial list of demands from government including reduction of indirect taxes and cancellation of national housing committees law
Tomer Velmer
Published: 08.02.11, 20:58 / Israel News

  Housing protest leaders are busy drafting a list of demands from the government. The National Student Union published several of the demands which were agreed upon as talks over other points continue.

Following is a list of partial demands included in the "Guidelines for a new social-ecomomical order" document:
• Reducing indirect taxes • Investing tax collection surpluses in citizens via state budget
• Canceling the national housing committees bill
• Increasing the Construction and Housing Ministry's budget on mortgages and rent, and increasing government aid
• Applying the Free Compulsory Education law to kids from age of three months
• Adding job posts, beds, medical equipment and infrastructures nationwide to match the OECD standard
• Halting privatization of welfare and mental health institutes
• Gradual cancellation of contractual work in the public sector


Protestors march in south Tel Aviv (Photo: Ofer Amram)

The leaders of the protest said that the list of demands will not be approved until they have discussed it with members of the public







in the coming days.
Earlier on Tuesday, the protest heads decided to unite forces with social organizations and set up new headquarters with representatives from all protest centers around Israel

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4103609,00.html

Penghancuran Rumah Palestina Meningkat Tajam

Rabu, 03/08/2011 08:00 WIB
KNRP - Badan bantuan PBB mengatakan bahwa Israel telah meningkatkan penghancuran rumah-rumah Palestina di Tepi Barat yang diduduki secara mengkhawatirkan pada kurun semester pertama tahun ini.

Badan PBB United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) yang menyediakan bantuan untuk pengungsi Palestina mengatakan, Selasa (2/8), bahwa pasukan Israel telah menghancurkan 356 bangunan dalam enam bulan pertama tahun 2011, sementara selama seluruh tahun 2010 Israel menghancurkan 594 rumah, demikian AFP melaporkan seperti dikutip presstv.

"Penghancuran oleh otoritas Israel di Tepi Barat telah meningkat secara mengkhawatirkan," kata jurubicara UNRWA, Chris Gunness.

Penghancuran oleh Israel itu telah mengungsikan 700 orang dalam enam bulan pertama tahun ini, dibandingkan sepanjang tahun dimana Israel menghancurkan 594.

"Kebanyakan penghancuran itu telah ditargetkan terhadap warga Badui yang rentan dan masyarakat penggembala," kata Gunness sembari menambahkan, "Dalam banyak kasus, perintah pembongkaran telah dikeluarkan untuk hampir seluruh masyarakat, meninggalkan komunitas ini menghadapi bahaya nyata dari kehancuran total."

Penghancuran rumah terjadi di area yang luas, yang merupakan 60 persen dari Tepi Barat dan berada di bawah kendali Israel sepenuhnya, imbuh UNRWA.

"Ini berarti bahwa hampir mustahil bagi Palestina untuk memperoleh izin untuk pembangunan, sementara permukiman Israel menerima perlakuan istimewa dengan alokasi air dan tanah, dan persetujuan rencana pembangunan," Gunness menjelaskan lebih lanjut.

Para pejabat badan PBB telah mencatat bahwa penghancuran rumah Palestina tampaknya terkonsentrasi di daerah yang tengah dipertimbangkan untuk perluasan pemukiman Israel.

"Sebagian besar yang mengganggu dari semua adalah hubungan yang jelas yang sekarang kita lihat antara ekspansi pemukiman dan penghancuran rumah dan hasilnya pemindahan paksa," Gunness mengimbuhkan.
Pada bulan September 2010, rezim Israel melanjutkan perluasan permukiman di wilayah Palestina yang diduduki setelah pembekuan parsial selama 10 bulan, yang mendorong para pemimpin Otoritas Palestina untuk memutuskan pembicaraan dengan Tel Aviv.(milyas/presstv)

http://knrp.or.id/berita/aktual/penghancuran-rumah-palestina-meningkat-tajam.htm

Konspirasi Israel Jegal Otorita Palestina di PBB

Rabu, 03/08/2011 06:19 WIB


Rezim zionis Israel melakukan berbagai cara untuk menggagalkan upaya Otorita Palestina mendapatkan pengakuan sebagai negara dan sebagai anggota resmi PBB dalam Sidang Umum PBB bulan September mendatang.
Seorang sumber di jajaran pejabat pemerintah Israel mengungkapkan, rezim zionis itu akan memulai kembali pembicaraan damai dengan Palestina dengan dasar Garis Hijau 1967. Namun Israel menetapkan syarat bahwa Palestina harus membatalkan rencana untuk mendapatkan pengakuan di PBB.

Pejabat pemerintah Israel yang minta jati dirinya dirahasiakan pada AFP mengatakan, "Beberapa pekan terakhir, Israel terus menerus melakukan upaya untuk membuka kembali proses perdamaian dan melanjutkan pembicaraan langsung antara Israel dan Palestina."

"Asumsinya, jika proses perdamaian itu sukses, Palestina akan menarik diri dari tindakan sepihaknya di PBB," lanjut pejabat tadi.

Pejabat itu membenarkan bahwa Israel dan Washington serta tim Kwartet--tim yang terdiri dari Rusia, AS, Uni Eropa dan PBB--berkolaborasi menyusun skenario untuk memulai kembali negosiasi damai antara Israel dan Palestina.

Skenario negosiasi yang akan dilakukan Israel dan sekutu-sekutunya itu mengacu pada pidato Presiden AS Barack Obama di hadapan kelompok lobi Yahudi pro-Israel AIPAC awal tahun 2011 lalu.

Dalam pidatonya, Obama menyerukan negosiasi Israel-Palestina berdasarkan kesepakatan garis perbatasan tahun 1967. "Tujuan utama dari negosiasi ini adalah terwujudnya dua negara untuk dua bangsa, Israel sebagai negara Yahudi dan tanah air bagi orang-orang Yahudi, serta Palestina sebagai tanah air bagi orang-orang Palestina," kata Obama.

Surat kabar Jerusalem Post melaporkan, Perdana Menteri Israel Benjamin Netanyahu dalam pertemuan tertutup dengan Komite Kementerian Luar Negeri dan Pertahanan mengatakan bahwa Israel sudah menjalin komunikasi dengan AS untuk menjalankan apa yang dikatakan Obama dalam pidatonya di depan AIPAC.

Negosiasi antara Israel-Palestina dihentikan pada tahun 2010 karena menemui jalan buntu. Penyebab kebuntuan adalah sikap Israel yang menolak menghentikan pembangunan pemukiman ilegalnya di wilayah Palestina di Tepi Barat.

Kebuntuan itu yang mendorong Otorita Palestina untuk membawa isu Palestina ke Sidang Umum PBB, dengan mengupayakan pengakuan dari seluruh anggota PBB terhadap status Palestina sebagai negara yang independen dan diakui keanggotaannya secara resmi di PBB. Selama ini, status Palestina sebagai pemerintahan otorita hanya sebagai negara peninjau di PBB. (aisyah/palnewsnetwork)

http://knrp.or.id/berita/aktual/konspirasi-israel-jegal-otorita-palestina-di-pbb.htm

Inilah Pandangan Capres AS atas Konflik Israel-Palestina

Senin, 01/08/2011 12:29 WIB
KNRP - Newt Gingrich, kandidat presiden AS dari Partai Republik, menilai bahwa penarikan Israel ke perbatasan 67 sebagai bunuh diri. Ia percaya bahwa Israel akan menghukum mati dirinya sendiri jika menyetujui permintaan yang diajukan oleh Barack Obama untuk kembali ke perbatasan 67 itu.

Dia mengatakan dalam sebuah wawancara dengan surat kabar Israel, Haaretz, bahwa kebanyakan dari kalangan konservatif Amerika banyak yang percaya bahwa keamanan Amerika Serikat dan Israel menghadapi ancaman yang sama.

Dia mengatakan keyakinannya bahwa lebih baik bagi Israel untuk menjadi konsensus bahwa kelangsungan hidup Amerika Serikat tidak dapat dipisahkan dari kelangsungan hidup Israel, dan bahwa Israel merupakan masalah yang tidak dapat dipisahkan.

Gingrich mengatakan bahwa Obama berbicara tentang batas-batas 67 dengan pertukaran wilayah yang disepakati, sementara mantan Perdana Menteri Israel, Ehud Olmert berbicara tentang ide yang sama, tapi ada perbedaan antara apa yang Obama katakan dengan klaiman yang telah dikatakannya, dimana dalam pernyataan aslinya, Obama membangun sebuah kerangka kerja yang memungkinkan bagi Hamas dan Otoritas Palestina untuk mengatakan, "Kita mulai dengan perundingan perbatasan."

Menanggapi pertanyaan tentang apa yang diusulkan untuk menyelesaikan konflik dan masalah pemukiman, Gingrich menilai bahwa permukiman tidak ada hubungannya, dan bahwa jika Israel harus mengenyahkan semua pemukimannya maka akan ada tuntutan baru lainnya.

Dia menambahkan bahwa ia tidak melihat konflik politik, tetapi yang ada konflik identitas daripada politik. Menurutnya, Islam radikal itu anti-Semit sejak tahun 20 dan 30-an pada abad yang lalu, sebelum pembentukan Israel. Dia melanjutkan bahwa permusuhan terhadap orang-orang Yahudi di Palestina itu tidak biasa, dan bahwa Mufti Yerusalem telah mendukung Nazi.

Terkait pemungutan suara di Majelis Umum PBB pada bulan September untuk pengakuan negara Palestina, ia menyarankan Amerika Serikat harus bekerja sesuai saran George Bush senior, James Baker, yaitu dengan ancaman untuk menghentikan pembiayaan PBB.(milyas/ammanpost)

http://knrp.or.id/berita/aktual/inilah-pandangan-capres-as-atas-konflik-israel-palestina.htm

Pasukan Zionis Serbu Kamp Pengungsi, Dua Pemuda Palestina Ditembak

Selasa, 02/08/2011 05:49 WIB

Utusan Khusus PBB untuk Timur Tengah Robert Serry mendesak otorita Israel untuk menahan diri setelah tentara zionis membunuh dua warga Palestina dalam penyerbuan ke kamp pengungsi di Ramallah.

Serry mengungkapkan "keprihatinan yang mendalam" atas pembunuhan yang dilakukan pasukan zionis terhadap warga Palestina dan meminta rezim zionis untuk melakukan upaya maksimum tidak melakukan kekerasan serta menyelidiki kasus pembunuhan tersebut. Ia juga meminta "semua pihak" untuk tenang.

Pasukan zionis Israel menyerbu kamp pengungsi Qalandiya, dekat Ramallah dengan dalih melakukan "penangkapan rutin" dan operasi penangkapan rutin itu sudah sesuai dengan prosedur. Namun dalam penyerbuan itu, tentara zionis menembak dua warga Palestina; Mutasim Issa Udwan,22 dan Ali Khalifa, 23.
Sejumlah saksi mata mengungkapkan, konfrontasi terjadi ketika tentara-tentara zionis menyerbu masuk ke rumah-rumah warga Palestina di kamp pengungsi itu. Tentara zionis melepaskan tembakan secara membabi buta. Udwan terkena tembakan di bagian kepala dan langsung meninggal di tempat. Sedangkan Khalifa terkena tembakan di bagian perut. Ia sempat bertahan beberapa saat sebelum akhirnya menghembuskan napas terakhir.

Juru bicara militer zionis mengatakan, pasukannya melepas tembakan karena lima tentara zionis terluka akibat lemparan batu yang diklaim dilakukan warga di kamp pengungsi.

Otorita Palestina mengutuk keras tindakan militer zionis dan mendesak agar dilakukan penyelidikan atas insiden tersebut. "Warga di kamp pengungsi Qalandiya sedang mempersiapkan diri menyambut hari pertama bulan Ramadan dan akan melaksanakan salat Subuh ketika mereka dihadang oleh pasukan zionis yang dengan keji menyerbu masuk ke dalam kamp untuk melakukan penangkapan ilegal dan menculik warga," demikian pernyataan yang dirilis media center Otorita Palestina.

"Kemarin, Perdana Menteri Israel (Benjamin) Netanyahu menyampaikan ucapan selamat Ramadan pada negara-negara Arab dan Muslim di dunia. Tapi ucapannya disertai dengan serangan mematikan terhadap warga Palestina," tukas Otorita Palestina.

Ketua hubungan media massa Otorita Palestina, Nabil Abu Rudeina mengungkapkan, rezim zionis meningkatkan serangan terhadap warga Palestina sejak Otorita Palestina menyatakan akan melakukan upaya ke PBB agar Palestina diakui sebagai negara dan anggota resmi PBB. (aisyah/mn)

http://knrp.or.id/berita/aktual/pasukan-zionis-serbu-kamp-pengungsi-dua-pemuda-palestina-ditembak.htm

Beginilah Nasib Pengungsi Palestina di Irak

Beginilah Nasib Pengungsi Palestina di Irak

Selasa, 02/08/2011 05:46 WIB

Situasi keamanan di Irak yang tidak stabil sejak invasi AS menyebabkan jumlah pengungsi Palestina di Negeri 1001 Malam itu makin berkurang.

Sebelum invasi AS, jumlah pengungsi Palestina di Irak sekira 35.000 orang. Setelah invasi, jumlahnya menurun drastis menjadi 22.000 orang dan sekarang semakin jumlahnya semakin menyusut sekira 7.000 orang.

Meski jumlahnya makin berkurang, Duta Besar Palestina di Irak, Daleel Al-Qassous mengatakan, kondisi para pengungsi Palestina di Irak adalah yang terburuk dibandingkan kondisi pengungsi Palestina di negara lain.
Menurut Al-Qassous, para pengungsi Palestina sering mengalami serangan karena latar belakang mereka sebagai muslim Sunni dan karena dicurigai sebagai pendukung mantan penguasa Irak, Saddam Hussein.

Al-Qassous juga mengatakan, para pemimpin dari berbagai sekte di Irak sudah berusaha untuk meringankan kesulitan hidup para pengungsi Palestina. Ia juga secara pribadi sudah melakukan pertemuan dengan para pemuka Sunni dan Syiah di Irak dalam upaya menemukan solusi bagi krisis dan mengatasi serangan yang sering dialami para pengungsi Palestina di Irak.

"Saat ini, hanya ada 7.000 pengungsi Palestina di Irak. Mereka tinggal di kota At-Tweija, Al-Za'faraniya, Al-Doura dan Al-Hurriya. Para pengungsi itu hidup dalam kondisi yang sangat miskin karena biaya hidup yang tinggi dan tidak tersedianya lapangan pekerjaan," kata Al-Qassous.

PBB, tambah Al-Qassous, sudah memberikan bantuan bagi para pengungsi Palestina itu, tapi kondisi para pengungsi masih sangat menyedihkan. Para pengungsi, selain hidup dalam garis kemiskinan, juga menjadi target serangan sejak invasi AS ke Irak tahun 2003 yang menyebabkan jatuhnya korban jiwa dan luka-luka. Ratusan pengungsi Palestina juga dilaporkan menjadi korban penculikan. (aisyah/im)

http://knrp.or.id/berita/aktual/beginilah-nasib-pengungsi-palestina-di-irak.htm

Settlers Torch Farmlands Near Nablus

Israeli settlers initiated the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan by torching farmlands in Palestine. Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene but failed to stop the settlers, but instead, obstructed the work of local firefighters. Yet, there are still those that believe that Israel and Palestine can exist together as One State. This is but one example as to why that will never work.
*
Settlers Torch Farmlands Near Nablus
 by Saed Bannoura
 *
A group of fundamentalist Israeli settlers set ablaze, on Sunday evening, 150 Dunams of farmlands that belong to residents of Ein Jaloud village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

File - Image PNN
File – Image PNN

Ghassan Douglas, in charge of the settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, stated that the armed settlers torched the lands while the army did not even attempt to stop them.

He added that this is not the first attack against Palestinian lands and orchards in the same area, in addition to similar attacks in other parts of the occupied West Bank.

Last week, a group of extremist Israeli settlers torched Palestinian farmlands that belong to the residents of Sorra village, west of West Bank city Nablus.

The attack took place after Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs and concussion grenades at Israeli peace activists who arrived at the scene in an attempt to prevent a group of extremist settlers from uprooting Palestinian farmlands.

On Friday July 15, settlers torched Palestinian olive orchards in Jabal Suleiman area, close to Burin village, south of Nablus.

The attack was carried out by a group of twenty heavily armed settlers who set ablaze at least 80 Dunams of farmlands, including dozens of olive trees.

Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene but failed to stop the settlers, but instead, obstructed the work of local firefighters.

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/
http://www.imemc.org/article/61774

PHOTOS THE IDF DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE … AND HOW THEY REACT WHEN YOU CAPTURE THEM ON FILM

A representation of Israeli soldiers

by Audrey Farber


If this is what happens to photographers who “misrepresent Israeli soldiers,” here is my rebuttal:
In the last eight or nine months, Nabi Saleh has become more and more the epicenter of military violence against non-violent protesters in the West Bank. In a situation where protesting is not just against the wall but against the very nature of the occupation, the soldiers have become more and more brazen in their aggression against the villagers and the protesters.


From the start, non-violent protesters are surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.

Tear gas is launched from army trucks blocking the road out of the village before anything other than marching and chanting has taken place.

The soldiers begin their game of cat-and-mouse.

Children are targeted, only temporarily at an advantage for better knowing shortcuts through the homes and streets of Nabi Saleh, a village on a hill.

The onslaught begins, and continues.

Soldiers try to force their way into a home…

…and watch the house from the outside. When it gets too crowded with protesters seeking refuge from the gas, they command the house be emptied.

A woman is chased back into her house; perhaps her garden is deemed closed military territory by the power-drunk young soldier in charge.

This was the last time I was allowed so close to him.

B’Tselem watches as his hand is checked for rocks. In a few minutes his father will have to present the soldier with the boy’s papers.

As the soldiers gain the upper hand in the maze of homes, they begin shooting from roofs rather than below walls.

A young Nabi Saleh boy shows me bullet casings he has found in the streets around his home left by weeks and weeks on end of soldiers. (And I thought West Philly was dangerous.)

A young man from Nabi Saleh drops to the ground. A tear gas canister has grazed the back of his head, and within minutes he will be surrounded by a pool of blood. Spent tear gas grenades litter the square around him. If you could see, not fifty yards to the left, a troop of soldiers stands with guns at the ready. I stand in their way, in front of the fallen, banking on the fact that 1. I am white, 2. I am a girl, and 3. I have a camera.

All photos are from Nabi Saleh, December 17, 2010. All photos are my own.
This is a crosspost from Audrey Farber’s blog.
Taken FROM

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/photos-the-idf-doesnt-want-you-to-see-and-how-they-react-when-you-capture-them-on-film/

'Israel's position weakening globally'


Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:38AM GMT
 
Interview with Dr. E. Michael Jones, an editor of Culture Wars Magazine
 
Thousands of Israelis have recently taken to the streets to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's social and economic policies.


Demonstrations have been held in more than ten cities with the protesters saying they are fed up with the increasing cost of living and social inequalities in Israel.

Press TV has interviewed Dr. E. Michael Jones, an editor of Culture Wars Magazine, to discuss the issue with him. What follows is a transcript of the interview.

Press TV: Isn't it ironic that Israelis want better living standards, yet Israel is keen on preventing humanitarian aid reaching Gaza? And also housing is the main issue, that means destruction of more land with direct negative impact on Palestinians.

E. Michael Jones: I don't think we are talking about economic issues here. I think that the economic issue has remained the same there. But I think what we are talking about is [that] Israel's position is weakening across the board, and they no longer have a defensible perimeter in terms of their foreign policy.

The key issue here was that the general who attacked Netanyahu just last week for his continuing threat to attack Iran thinks that is suicidal now because the world situation has changed, the situation has weakened, and they need to withdraw to a much more defensible foreign policy perimeter at this point.

Press TV: Could the people go as far as wanting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed from office?

Jones: Yes, I think that is what is going to happen. I think the other thing that is going to put the nail in his coffin is this whole attack in Oslo.

The attack in Oslo is shaping up to become clear that it was a false flag operation, and that the Israelis were involved in it in some way or another. The guy who did the killing was a flaming Zionist and this is all coming out on the internet, and this is going to weaken Israel's position vis-à-vis the world opinion.

Oslo was ready to recognize the Palestinian state in September, they would not let the Israeli submarines dock in Norwegian ports; the Israeli fingerprints are all over this false flag operation.

Press TV: If I understand correctly, you are saying that this whole situation with the people protesting for better housing is a facade, and you are linking Israel to the attacks in Oslo, correct?

Jones: Yeah, this was a Zionist who pulled off this attack. I think the realists in Israel realize that they don't have a defensible foreign policy perimeter anymore. They are going to have to step back from the Netanyahu demand of attacking Iran which has been going on for years.

I just don't see it happening anymore. And so, they have to adopt a much more realist foreign policy, and I think this is an expression of that fact rather than any economic fact.

REZ/HJL

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/191624.html

Organized Political Terrorism: The Norwegian Massacre, the State, the Media and Israel




August 2, 2011



Global Research, July 31, 2011






 “So let us fight together with Israel , with our Zionist brothers against all anti-Zionists, against all cultural Marxists/Multiculturalists”. Anders Behring Breivik’s Manifesto
“. . . two more cells exist in my organization”. . . Ander Behring Breivik in police custody (Reuters 7/25/11)
Introduction:

The July 22, 2011, bombing of the office of the Norwegian Prime Minister, Labor Party Jen Stoltenberg, which killed 8 civilians, and the subsequent political assassination of 68 unarmed activists of the Labor Party Youth on Utoeya Island, just 20 minutes from Oslo, by militant neo-fascist Christian-Zionists, raises fundamental questions about the growing links between the legal Far-Right, the ‘mainstream media’, the Norwegian police, Israel and rightwing terrorism.

The Mass Media and the Rise of Rightwing Terrorism:

The leading English language newspapers, The New York Times (NYT), the Washington Post (WP), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Financial Times (FT), as well as President Obama, blamed “Islamic extremists”, upon the first police reports of the killings, publishing a series of incendiary (and false) headlines and reports, labeling the event as ‘Norway’s 9-11’,in terms, which echoed the ideological motivation and justifications cited by the Norwegian Christian-Zionist political assassin, Anders Behring Breivik himself,. The July 23/24 front page of the Financial Times (of London ), read “Islamist extremism fears: Worst Europe strike since 2005”. Obama immediately cited the terrorist attack in Norway to further justify his overseas wars against Muslim countries. The FT, NYT, WP and WSJ trotted out their self-styled “experts” who debated over which Arab/Islamic leaders or movements were responsible – despite Norwegian press reports of ‘the arrest of a Nordic man in police uniform’.

Clearly, the US mass media and political elite were eager to use the bombing and assassinations to justify ongoing overseas imperial wars, ignoring the burgeoning domestic extremist rightwing organizations and violent individuals who are the outgrowth of official Islamophobic hate propaganda.

When Anders Breivik, a known neo-fascist extremist, handed his weapons over to Norwegian police without resistance and claimed credit for the bombing and massacre, the second phase of the official cover-up took place: He was immediately described as “a lone wolf assassin”, who “acted alone” (BBC July 24, 2011) or as mentally deranged, downplaying his political networks, his American, European and Israeli ideological mentors and commitments, which led to his acts of terrorism. Even more outrageous, the media and officials ignored the fact that this complex, multiphase terrorist attack was beyond the capacity of one ‘deranged’ person.

Anders Behring Breivik had been a dues-paying member of a Far-Right political party, The Progress Party and a collaborator and contributor to an overtly neo-Nazi web site. He frequently focused his hatred on the ruling Labor Party for its relative tolerance of immigrants. He despised immigrants especially, Muslims, and was an ardent Christian-Zionist supporter of Israeli repression and terror against the Palestinian people. His criminal action was political in essence and embedded in a much wider political network.

The political elite and media have scrambled to deny the overlapping links between ‘legal’ ideological Islamophobes, like the American Zionists Daniel Pipes, David Horowitz, Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, the Dutch far-right Party of Freedom led by the hate-monger Geert Wilders and their counterparts in the Norwegian Progress Party who rail against the “Muslim threat”. The “direct action” terrorists take their cues from electoral parties, like the Progress Party, who recruit and indoctrinate activists, like Behring Breivik, who then leave the ‘electoral road’ to carry out their bloody carnage, allowing the ‘respectable’ hate-mongers to hypocritically condemn him… after the outrage.

The Lone Assassin: A Fascist Superman Travels Faster than a Speeding Bullet Versus the Police Moving Slower than an Arthritic Turtle:

The case for the “lone wolf terrorist” defies credence. It is a tissue of lies used to cover up state complicity, intelligence malfeasance, and the sharp right-turn in the domestic and foreign policies of NATO countries.
There is no basis to accept Breivik’s initial claim that he acted alone for several outstanding reasons: First, the car bomb, which devastated downtown Oslo, was a highly complex weapon requiring expertise and coordination – the kind available to state or intelligence services, like the Mossad, which specialize in devastating car bombs. Amateurs, like Breivik, with no training in explosives, usually blow themselves up or lack the skill required to connect the electronic timing devices or remote detonators (like the unsuccessful ‘shoe’, ‘underpants’ and ‘Times Square’ bombers have proved) .

Secondly, the details of  (a) moving the bomb, (b) obtaining (stealing) a vehicle, (c) placing the device at the strategic site, (d) successfully detonating it and (e) then gowning up in an elaborate special police uniform with an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of ammunition and driving off in another vehicle to Utoeya Island, (f) waiting patiently while armed to the teeth for a ferry boat, g) crossing with other passengers in his police uniform, (h) rounding up the Labor youth activists and commencing the massacre of scores of unarmed youth and finally (i) finishing off the wounded and hunting for those trying to hide or swim away - is not the activity of a lone zealot. Even the combination of Superman, Einstein and a world class marksman could not perform those tasks.

The media and NATO leaders must view the public as passive morons to expect them to believe that Anders Behring Breivik “acted alone”. He is willing to take a 20 year prison sentence if it means, as he maintains, that their collective action is the spark that ignites his comrades and advances the agenda of the violent and legal far rightwing parties. Facing a Norwegian judge on July 25, he publicly declared the existence of “two more cells in my organization”. According to witness testimony on Utoeya Island shots from two distinct weapons were heard from different directions during the massacre. The police say they are… “investigating”. Needless to say the police have found nothing; instead they put on a “show” to cover their inaction by raiding two houses far from the massacre and quickly released the suspects.

The most serious political implication of the terrorist action, however, is the conspicuous complicity of top police officials. The police took 90 minutes to arrive at Utoeya Island , located less than 20 miles from Oslo , 12 minutes by helicopter and 25 to 30 minutes by car and boat. The delay allowed the right wing assassins to use up the ammunition, maximizing the death toll of young, anti-fascist activists and devastating the Labor youth movement. The police chief, Sveinung Sponheim, made the feeblest excuse and cover-up, claiming “problems with transport”. Sponheim argued that a helicopter “wasn’t on standby” and they “could not find a boat” (Associated Press, July 24, 2011).

Yet a helicopter was available; it managed to fly to Utoeya and film the ongoing slaughter, and over half of Norwegians, a seafaring people for millennia, own or have access to a boat. A police force, faced with what the Prime Minister calls the ‘worst atrocity since the Nazi occupation’, moving at the pace of an arthritic turtle to rescue youth activists, raises the suspicion of some level of complicity. The obvious question arises as to the degree to which the ideology of right wing extremism – neo-fascism – has penetrated the police and security forces, especially the upper echelons? This level of “inactivity” raises more questions than it answers. What it suggests is that the Social Democrats only control part of the Government – the legislative, while the neo-fascists influence the state apparatus.

The plain fact is that the police did not save a single life. When they finally arrived, Anders Behring Breivik had run out of ammunition and surrendered turning himself over to the police. The police literally did not fire a single shot; they did not even have to hunt or capture the assassin. An almost choreographed scenario: Hundreds wounded, 68 unarmed, peaceful activists killed and the Labor youth movement decimated.
The police can claim “crime solved” while the mass media prattles about a “lone assassin”. The far right has a “martyr” to mask a further advance in their anti-Muslim, pro Israel crusade. (It is reminiscent of the celebrated Israeli-American fascist mass murderer, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, who slaughtered dozens of unarmed Palestinian men and boys at prayer in 1994).

Only two days before the political murders, the head of the Labor Party Youth Movement, Eskil Pederson, gave an interview to the Dagbladet, Norway’s second largest tabloid, in which he announced a “unilateral economic embargo of Israel from the Norwegian side” (Gilad Atzmon, July 24, 2011).

The fact of the matter is that the Norwegian military has no problem promptly dispatching 500 troops to Afghanistan, half way around the world and providing six Norwegian Air Force jets and pilots to bomb and terrorize Libya . And yet they can’t find a helicopter or a row boat to transport their police a couple hundred yards to stop a domestic right wing terrorist – whose murderous rampage was being described second by second by the terrorized young victims on their cell phones to their frantic parents?

The Imperial Roots of Domestic Fascism: Conclusion

Clearly, the decisions of Norway and other Scandinavian nations to participate in the US imperial crusades against Muslim and especially Arab people in the Middle East have aroused and energized the neo-fascist right. They now want to “bring the war home”; they want Norway to go further, to ‘cleanse the nation’ by expelling Muslims. They want to “send a message” to the Labor Party: Either it must accept a full neo-fascist pro-Israeli agenda or expect more massacres, more elected fascists, more followers of Anders Behring Breivik.

The “Progress Party” is now the second largest political party in Norway . If a “conservative” coalition defeats Labor, neo-fascists will probably sit in the Government. Who knows, after a few years of good behavior, they might find an excuse to commute their ex-comrade's sentence . . . or proclaim him mentally rehabilitated and freed.

Clearly what is needed is the immediate withdrawal of all troops from imperial wars and a systematic, coherent and organized fight against domestic right-wing terrorists and their intellectual godparents, in America , Israel and Europe . Labor youth must go press on with their demand that the Labor Government, under Prime Minister Jen Stoltenberg, recognize the nation of Palestine and implement a total boycott of Israeli goods and services. A national and international political-educational campaign must be organized to expose the links between respectable electoral fascists and violent terrorists. The Labor Youth martyrs of Utoeya Island should be cherished and their ideals taught in all the schools. Their far-right enemies and supporters whether overt, covert or directly complicit, should be exposed and condemned. The best weapon against the renewed neo-fascist onslaught is a political and educational offensive, taking up the anti-fascist, anti-Quisling (Norway ’s notorious Nazi collaborator) fighting traditions of their grandparents’ era. It’s not too late – if the Labor Party, the Norwegian trade unions and the anti-fascist youth act now before the flood of resurgent fascism.

James Petras is a frequent contributor to Global Research.  Global Research Articles by James Petras









http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25839

Islamophobia, Zionism and the Norway massacre

 Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman condemned Breivik's ideology, but he is still an enabler of Islamophobia.

Last Modified: 02 Aug 2011 12:50
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Anti Defamation League director Abraham Foxman and his organisation opposed the building of the 'Ground Zero Mosque' because of the belief that it would 'cause some victims more pain' [GALLO/GETTY]

In a Washington Post op-ed last week, Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti Defamation League, likened the hateful ideology that inspired Anders Behring Breivik to massacre 77 innocent people in Norway to the "deadly" anti-Semitism that infected Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.

This is a parallel that I, and many others who have been observing with alarm the rise of anti-Muslim incitement in the US and Europe, have made frequently.

Does this mean that Foxman - head of one of the most hardline and influential pro-Israel lobby groups - has found common ground with the Palestine solidarity movement?

That would be a good thing if it helped to fight the growing scourge of racist incitement. But by criticising the ideology that inspired Breivik, and pointing the finger at a few of its purveyors, Foxman appears to be trying to obscure the key role that he and some other pro-Israel advocates have played in mainstreaming the poisonous Islamophobic rhetoric that has now - Foxman himself argues - led to bloodshed in Norway.

Pointing the finger

Foxman describes, in his Washington Post article, "a relatively new, specifically anti-Islamic ideology" which Breivik used to justify his attack. "Growing numbers of people in Europe and the United States subscribe to this belief system", Foxman writes, "In some instances it borders on hysteria. Adherents of this ideological Islamophobia view Islam as an existential threat to the world, especially to the 'West.'"

"Moreover", Foxman explains, "they believe that leaders and governments in the Western world are consciously or unconsciously collaborating to allow Islam to 'infiltrate' and eventually conquer democratic societies."

Just such irrational beliefs underpin the hysteria about "Creeping Sharia" - the utterly baseless claim that Muslims are engaged in a secret conspiracy to impose Islamic law on the United States. So prevalent has this delusional belief become, that legislative efforts have been mounted in about two dozen American states, and have been passed by three, to outlaw Sharia law.

Foxman points the finger - as others have rightly done - at extreme Islamophobic agitators such as Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, co-founders of "Stop Islamisation of America" - whose hate-filled writings Breivik cited in his manifesto.

So far, Foxman has it right. But then he drops a clue about what really frightens him:

"One bizarre twist to Breivik's warped worldview was his pro-Zionism - his strongly expressed support for the state of Israel. It is a reminder that we must always be wary of those whose love for the Jewish people is born out of hatred of Muslims or Arabs."

Who does Foxman think he is kidding? There is nothing "bizarre" about this at all. Indeed Foxman himself has done much to bestow credibility on extremists who have helped popularise the Islamophobic views he now condemns. And he did it all to shore up support for Israel.

After Norway, Foxman may fear that the Islamophobic genie he helped unleash is out of control, and is a dangerous liability for him and for Israel.
Zionists embrace Islamophobia after 9/11
Many American Zionists embraced Islamophobic demagoguery after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Their logic was encapsulated in then-Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu's notorious assessment that the attacks - which killed almost 3,000 people - would be beneficial for Israel.

Asked what the 9/11 atrocities would mean for US-Israeli relations, Netanyahu told The New York Times, "It's very good", before quickly adding, "Well, not very good, but it will generate immediate sympathy" and would "strengthen the bond between our two peoples, because we've experienced terror over so many decades, but the United States has now experienced a massive hemorrhaging of terror".

In order for Israel and the United States to have the same enemy, the enemy could not just be the Palestinians, who never threatened the United States in any way. It had to be something bigger and even more menacing - and Islam fit the bill. The hyped-up narrative of an all-encompassing Islamic threat allowed Israel to be presented as the bastion of "western" and "Judeo-Christian" civilisation facing down encroaching Muslim barbarity. No audience was more receptive than politically influential, white, right-wing Christian evangelical pastors and their flocks.

Sermons of hate

"Since the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon, on September the 11th, American politicians have tripped over themselves to state that the vast majority of Muslims living in the United States are just ordinary people who love America and are loyal to America. Is that true? Is that really true?"

That is the question Pastor John Hagee, leader of an evangelical megachurch and founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), posed to his followers whom, he said, were becoming more concerned as "mosques appear across the nation".

In a series of sermons soon after the 9/11 attacks which he titled "Allah and America," Hagee began a relentless campaign of inciting his followers to fear and hate Muslims and Islam (videos of Hagee's sermons can be found on YouTube.
Hagee has emerged over the past decade as one of the most prominent Christian Zionist supporters of Israel. His sermons are broadcast on dozens of TV channels and he influences millions of Americans.

As his "Allah and America" sermons progressed, Hagee's answers became clear: "In the Qur'an, those who do not submit to Islam should be killed. That means death to Christians and death to Jews. Now I ask you, is that tolerant? Is that peaceful? Is that a sister faith to Christianity?"

After reading and distorting "selected verses from the Qur'an, which is the Islamic bible, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, to increase our understanding of the basis of their faith," Hagee claimed, "the Qur'an insists that no matter how mighty a nation is, it must be fought until it embraces Islam."

And, apparently knowing that his congregation may hate and fear only taxes as much as Muslims, Hagee told them that the Qur'an's message to Muslims is "when you get into the government, tax Christians and Jews into poverty until they submit willingly to Islam. Sounds like the IRS [Internal Revenue Service], but not faith."

Then he offered this warning: "Politicians who are telling America that Islam and Christianity are sister faiths are lying to the people of this country. There is no relationship of any kind between Islam and Christianity. None whatever."

At every step, Hagee exhorted the faithful that Islam and Muslims were not only a danger to the United States, but specifically to Israel - a country to which they should offer unconditional support.

This sounds a lot like the ideology of generalised fear and loathing of Muslims that Foxman condemned in the Washington Post.

Islamophobic fearmongering, demonisation and dehumanisation, from the likes of Hagee, and bellowed continuously on cable channels and radio stations across America, enabled the US government to legitimise invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and expand wars from Pakistan to Yemen to Somalia. These took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, under the guise of a "war on terror" - all the while as presidents hosted White House iftars.

What makes Breivik's attack so shocking and new is that he turned the Islamophobic rhetoric against the white citizens of the Euro-American "homeland", those whom the officially-sanctioned military slaughter of Muslims abroad was ostensibly meant to protect.

Foxman welcomes Hagee in from the fringes

While Hagee offered his zealous support to Israel (he founded CUFI in 2006), not all of Israel's supporters returned the love. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, warned in 2007 that the pro-Israel Jewish community's embrace of far-right ideologues would drive away young, socially-liberal Jews from supporting Israel. He feared it could endanger the bipartisan support Israel always enjoyed in the United States by identifying it with what Yoffie saw as extremist elements.

Yoffie focused his criticism on Hagee, "who is contemptuous of Muslims, dismissive of gays, possesses a truimphalist theology and opposes a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict." He worried about the warm reception Hagee was receiving at conferences of Jewish Federations all over America.
One influential figure who didn't share Yoffie's fears about Hagee was Foxman, who told a reporter from the Religion News Service in March 2008, "I don't have to agree with anybody 100 per cent in order to welcome their support, as long as their support is not conditioned on my agreeing with them on everything or accepting them 100 per cent."

When it came to light during the 2008 US presidential campaign that Hagee had said in a 1999 sermon that Hitler had been sent by God to drive the Jews to Israel, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain repudiated Hagee's endorsement. But Foxman was quick to offer Hagee absolution, issuing a statement accepting the pastor's "apology".

Enabling Islamophobia

Foxman's embrace of Hagee does not even mark the lowest point of his dalliance with Islamophobic extremists. Recall last summer - in the run up to the US midterm elections - the hate campaign targeting a proposal for an Islamic community centre planned for lower Manhattan in New York City.

Dubbed the "Ground Zero Mosque" by its critics, it became a cause celebre for the Republican Party - and some gutless Democrats - who claimed that building the institution close to the former site of the World Trade Centre would be an insult to the memory of victims.

The hate campaign was notable for unprecedented anti-Muslim rhetoric that exceeded anything heard in the immediate aftermath of the 2001 attacks. While New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg earned plaudits for defending the right of American Muslims to build the Islamic centre where they wanted, Foxman and his Anti-Defamation League caused consternation when they backed the bigots and came out against the project.

And who was it who helped take a little-noticed plan for a community centre and turn it into "a national political spectacle?" None other than Pam Geller and Robert Spencer - as the Washington Post reported at the time- the same Islamophobic extremists whom Foxman now blames for fueling the kind of hatred that inspired Breivik to kill.

Rescuing Zionism from Islamophobia

Foxman's claim that Breivik's support for Israel is "bizarre" is a brazen attempt to deflect attention from the alliance that Foxman and leading Israeli politicians have made with the most racist Islamophobes - ones Foxman accurately likens to anti-Semites.

To be clear, Israel and Zionism have always been racist toward Palestinians and other non-Jews, otherwise how else could they justify the expulsion and exclusion of millions of Palestinians solely on the grounds that they are not Jews? It is the virulent, specifically anti-Muslim trend that has been particularly pronounced since 2001.

But the rot has already gone too far. As a recent article in Der Spiegel underscores, Europe's far-right anti-Muslim demagogues have found many allies and admirers in Israel, particularly within the upper echelons of the ruling Likud and Yisrael Beitenu parties.

And the feeling is mutual: European ultra-nationalists, such as Dutch Islamophobe Geert Wilders, have put support for Israel's right-wing government at the centre of their politics.

Islamophobia welcome in Israel

While the world was united in horror at Breivik's massacre, several commentators in Israel's mainstream media were much more understanding of his motives, if not for his actions. An oped on Ynet, the website of Israel's mass circulation Yediot Aharonot, stated that "the youth movement of the ruling Labour Party" - of which many of the youths murdered on Utoya island were members - "is an organisation of anti-Israeli hate mongers".
An editorial in The Jerusalem Post offered sympathy for Breivik's anti-Muslim ideology and called on Norway to act on the concerns expressed in his manifesto, while an op-ed published by the same papersaid that the youth camp Breivik attacked had been engaged in "a pro-terrorist program".

Meanwhile, an article in the American Jewish newspaper The Forward noted that on many mainstream internet forums, Israelis expressed satisfaction with Breivik's massacre and thought that Norway got what it deserved.

Clear warning signs

Foxman cannot claim he didn't see any of this coming. Back in 2003, I interviewed him for an article about the inclusion of Yisrael Beitenu and other parties in Israel's governing coalition, parties that openly advocated the expulsion of Palestinians. Foxman's attitude was as indulgent toward those racists and would-be ethnic cleansers as he was to Hagee's hate-mongering a few years later, and it is those same Israeli parties that have forged the closest ties with European and American anti-Muslim extremists.

The continued lurch towards extremism in Israel, and among many of its supporters, underscores the truth that anyone who wants to dissociate from ultranationalism, racism and Islamophobia, also has to repudiate Israel's state ideology, Zionism. Universal rights and equality for all human beings are concepts that are anathema to both.

With his panicked and belated jump onto the anti-Islamophobia bandwagon, Foxman hopes we won't notice, and that organisations like his can continue defending Israel's racism free from the stain of the deadly anti-Muslim extremism they have done so much to promote.

Ali Abunimah is author of "One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse", and is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/08/2011829164395822.html