Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010

Palestinian kids versus the IDF

By CESAR CHELALA

NEW YORK — The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is among the strongest armies in the world. According to Israeli Defense Minister Ehuda Barak, it is also one the most moral ones. One wouldn't know that for its treatment of Palestinian children.

On Dec. 13, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) stated that the Israeli military and police were violating Israeli law by detaining Palestinian children, some as young as 7, and interrogating them. This last denunciation follows serious accusations of Palestinian children being sexually abused by Israeli police officers.

"They [the police] hit me and dragged along the floor. They handcuffed me with these plastic handcuffs which are very tight. I was very scared. Only when my father came they stopped," Muslim Odeh, an 11-year-old Palestinian, told the BBC. His accusations were denied by Israeli police.

According to the Geneva-based Defense for Children International (DCI) they have 100 sworn affidavits from Palestinian children who said that they were mistreated by their Israeli captors in 2009. Fourteen among them say that they were sexually abused or threatened with sexual assault to pressure them into confession.

Defense of Children International (DCI) reviewed those affidavits which showed 81 percent of them were coerced into confessions, 14 percent were kept in solitary confinement and 4 percent were sexually assaulted. DCI believes that these figures may understate the extent of the problem. Many parents don't complain to the authorities, since they feel that they cannot rely on the same system that is accused of abusing their children.

There are currently 340 children in Israeli jails, most of them convicted of throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers and police. Children's complaints of violence are disregarded, and no proceedings are taken against those responsible. However, IDF spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich dismissed the reports on Israeli abuse of Palestinian children and stated that in her view the real tragedy is the exploitation of Palestinian children, who are sent to confront Israeli troops.

Amnesty International has condemned using Palestinian children in armed attacks and has also stated that, "Children are susceptible to recruitment by manipulation or may be driven to join armed groups for a variety of reasons, including a desire to avenge relatives or friends killed by the Israeli army."

Israel's policy toward children detainees has been sharply criticized by human rights organizations since it denies them access to their families, although their families' presence during some of the proceedings is allowed by Israeli law. In addition, children can only see their lawyers when they are in court.

"The ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian child prisoners appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized, suggesting complicity at all levels of the political and military chain of command," according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization.

Inside the occupied territories the Israeli military considers any Palestinian who is 16 years old or older as an adult, while inside Israel and in most other countries adulthood is reached at 18. Mistreatment of children is against the tenets of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Israel in 1991.

In Israel, the rules related to rights of minors in criminal proceedings are contained in Amendment 14 to the Youth Law, enacted in July of 2008, which took effect one year later. This amendment's goal is meant to incorporate the rules of international law into Israeli legislation, particularly those related to the treatment of juveniles in criminal matters and the obligations derived from them.

At the same time that these abuses are taking place, Palestinian children's education has been sharply affected by the situation in the occupied territories. Thousands of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem are unable to attend school since there is no room for them in the state school system, while the drop-out rate is the highest in the Israeli school system. There is a shortage of approximately 1,500 classrooms in East Jerusalem. This means that only about half of all Palestinian children in the city attend state schools, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

As the abuse of Palestinian children by the IDF continues, so does the construction of settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian land.

Cesar Chelala is an award-winning writer on human rights and foreign policy issues.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20101223cc.html: 

Jewish Extremism and Its Media Cover Up

http://www.davidduke.com
Everyone hears a lot about Muslim extremism, White Extremism even Christian extremism -- but there is very little in the mainstream media about the dangers of Jewish Extremists who have pernicious power in the media, government and finance.

Moshe Menuhin (Jew)

Moshe Menuhin (1893-1983) was born in Russia but lived in Palestine, Israel and the US. A prominent anti-Zionist, he was the author of "The Decadence of Judaism in Our Time", "Jewish Critics of Zionism", and of the family history "The Menuhin Saga". He was the father of famous violinist and universalist Yehudi Menuhin (see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Menuhin ).

Moshe Menuhin re Israeli oppression of Palestinians: “Jews should be Jews - not Nazis.” [1].

Moshe Menuhin re justice for the Arabs: “The education of prophetic Judaism that I got from my grandfather did not allow me to become an Arab hater. The Jews and Arabs can and should become good neighbors and collaborate jointly in every sense. And as the Arabs gain their political state and freedom (in Palestine), and as the world concentrates more and more on peace, justice and mutual aid, the border lines will stop having any significance.” [1].

Moshe Menuhin re an exclusively  Zionist Jerusalem: “World Jewry never needed Jerusalem for their spiritual lives… [for 2,000 years] it was the diaspora that gave spiritual assets to those few Jews who lived peacefully with the Arabs in Arab Palestine. With the coming of the new world order of a civilized nature, such claims of influence, spiritual centers, are archaic and out of date. The best of all nations and races belongs to all humanity, and the negative phases evolution will discard as ‘spiritual’ garbage.” [1].

[1]. Moshe Menuhin quoted by Grace Halsell in “Like father, like son: a tribute to Moshe and Yehudi Menuhin”, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), July 1996: http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0796/9607018.htm .
http://sites.google.com/site/jewsagainstracistzionism/menuhin-moshe-anti-racist-anti-zionist-orthodox-jewish-scholar-and-writer

The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)

The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is opposed to racism, colonialism and imperialism and to racist Zionism in particular (see: http://www.ijsn.net/home/ ).
The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is opposed to racism, colonialism and imperialism and to racist Zionism in particular (see: http://www.ijsn.net/home/ ).

The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) to the Tayyar International Conference, 2009: “The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is a growing network of Jews whose identities are not based on Zionism but on long histories of Jewish participation in liberation struggles from Eastern Europe and Iraq to Brooklyn. IJAN's solidarity with this conference reflects our commitment to these legacies and to our participation in current struggles against racism, colonization, and imperialism. Central to this commitment is solidarity with Arab liberation struggles against US imperialism and Zionism.” [1].
  The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) re the pro-Zionist US Alliance and Israeli attempts to derail the anti-racism Durban Conferecne , April 2009: “We are appalled by the concerted effort, led by Israeli officials, Zionist organizations and apologists, to derail the Durban Review Conference. We condemn the use of the memory of the Nazi genocide, as Jewish organizations did during the Durban Review week, in the defense of Israel's systematic domination and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians … It is beyond obvious to us that a conference about racism, and especially a conference that seeks to address the legacy of colonial oppression, must discuss Israel, since Israel is a settler-colonial state that systematically oppresses and denies basic human rights to millions of Palestinians. Israel's attempt to derail this important conference in order to avoid being examined and called to account is an affront against all the victims of racism all over the world, including the six million Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide. “ [1].

[1]. The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) home page: http://www.ijsn.net/home/ .
http://sites.google.com/site/jewsagainstracistzionism/international-jewish-anti-zionist-network-ijan-ijan-slams-us-imperialism-and-zionist-racist-colonization

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) is the first Jewish organization in the World to join  Boycott, Disinvestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign in support of Palestinians (see:  http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/453 ; IJV (Canada) website: http://www.independentjewishvoices.ca/ ).

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) voted to  the  Boycott, Disinvestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign at its 2009 AGM with the support of 95% of voting delegates, and also called on the Canadian government to "1) cease its one-sided and uncritical support for Israel and 2) insist that Israel abide by international law”.

 Diana Ralph, Co-Chair of IJV: "Independent Jewish Voices has voted to join the international boycott campaign because we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and support their right to self-determination. We are calling on the Canadian government and all Members of Parliament to push for immediate sanctions on Israel."

Fabienne Presentey, Steering Committee member of IJV: "The time has come for people around the world to rise to the challenge in Israel/Palestine, as we did for South Africa. All voices that can be raised against this injustice must be". [1]

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada), February 19, 2009 Press Release, about Stephen Harper Conservative government’s position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and Minister Jason Kenney’s cutting off funding for English Second Language training programs run by the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF): :
We believe that Mr. Kenny [sic] and his Conservative government is threatening CAF’s funding because CAF stands for justice for Palestinian people and because it expresses principled criticism of oppressive Israeli policies.

As Jews, we affirm that criticizing Israeli policies is NOT anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism refers to hostility and/or prejudice against Jews. Like any other government, Israel has obligations under international law.

To responsibly raise critical concerns about the discriminatory, illegal, and brutal policies of another government is an ethical imperative, which our government should support.

However, the Conservative government has gone further than any previous Canadian administration in endorsing illegal and brutal Israeli assaults on Palestinian and Lebanese people.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged complete allegiance with Israel and labels as “anti-Semitic” any criticism of Israeli actions (including the Gaza massacre, house demolitions, use of illegal phosphorous and DIME weapons against civilians, etc.).

As Jews, we believe this is a dishonest smoke-screen, a ploy to discredit principled calls for humanity, justice, and compliance with international law.” [2].

[1]. “Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) joins Campaign of Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions against Israel”, Global BDS Movement, 17 June, 2009: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/453 .
[2]. Independent Jewish Voices (Canada), February 19, 2009 Press Release, quoted by Edward Corrigan in  “Is it anti-Semitism to defend Palestinian human rights? Jewish opposition to Zionism”, Dissident Voice, 1 September 2009: http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/09/is-it-anti-semitic-to-defend-palestinian-human-rights/ .

http://sites.google.com/site/jewsagainstracistzionism/independent-jewish-voices-canada-world-first-ijv-canada-joins-boycott-disinvestment-sanctions-bds-campaign-against-israel