What is misleadingly being called in Israel the “Anat Kamm espionage affair” is quickly revealing the dark underbelly of a nation that has worshipped for decades at the altar of a security state.
Next week 23-year-old Kamm is due to stand trial for her life — or rather the state’s demand that she serve a life sentence for passing secret documents to an Israeli reporter, Uri Blau, of the liberal Haaretz daily. She is charged with spying.
Blau himself is in hiding in London, facing, if not a Mossad hit squad, at least the stringent efforts of Israel’s security services to get him back to Israel over the opposition of his editors, who fear he will be put away too.
This episode has been dragging on behind the scenes for months, since at least December, when Kamm was placed under house arrest pending the trial.
Not a word about the case leaked in Israel until this week when the security services, who had won from the courts a blanket gag order — a gag on the gag, so to speak — were forced to reverse course when foreign bloggers began making the restrictions futile [including notably Richard Silverstein]. Hebrew pages on Facebook had already laid out the bare bones of the story.
So, now that much of the case is out in the light, what are the crimes supposedly committed by Kamm and Blau?
During her conscription, Kamm is said to have copied possibly hundreds of army documents that revealed systematic law-breaking by the Israeli high command operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, including orders to ignore court rulings. She was working at the time in the office of Brig Gen Yair Naveh, who is in charge of operations in the West Bank.
Blau’s crime is that he published a series of scoops based on her leaked information that have highly embarrassed senior Israeli officers by showing their contempt for the rule of law.
His reports included revelations that the senior command had approved targeting Palestinian bystanders during the military’s extra-judicial assassinations in the occupied territories; that, in violation of a commitment to the high court, the army had issued orders to execute wanted Palestinians even if they could be safely apprehended; and that the defence ministry had a compiled a secret report showing that the great majority of settlements in the West Bank were illegal even under Israeli law (all are illegal in international law).
In a properly democratic country, Kamm would have an honorable defence against the charges, of being a whistle-blower rather than a spy, and Blau would be winning journalism prizes not huddling away in exile.
But this is Israel. Here, despite a desperate last-stand for the principles of free speech and the rule of law in the pages of the Haaretz newspaper today, which is itself in the firing line over its role, there is almost no public sympathy for Kamm or even Blau.
The pair are already being described, both by officials and in chat forums and talkback columns, as traitors who should be jailed, disappeared or executed for the crime of endangering the state.
The telling comparison being made is to Mordechai Vanunu, the former technician at the Dimona nuclear plant who exposed Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal. Inside Israel, he is universally reviled to this day, having spent nearly two decades in harsh confinement. He is still under a loose house arrest, denied the chance to leave the country.
Blau and Kamm have every reason to be worried they may share a similar fate. Yuval Diskin, the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret police, which has been leading the investigation, said yesterday that they had been too “sensitive to the media world” in pursuing the case for so long and that the Shin Bet would now “remove its gloves”.
Maybe that explains why Kamm’s home address was still visible on the charge sheet published yesterday, putting her life in danger from one of those crazed talkbackers.
It certainly echoes warnings we have had before from the Shin Bet about how it operates.
Much like Blau, Azmi Bishara, once head of a leading Arab party in Israel, is today living in exile after the Shin Bet put him in their sights. He had been campaigning for democratic reforms that would make Israel a “state of all its citizens” rather than a Jewish state.
While Bishara was abroad in 2007, the Shin Bet announced that he would be put on trial for treason when he returned, supposedly because he had had contacts with Hizbullah during Israel’s attack on Lebanon in 2006.
Few experts believe Bishara could have had any useful information for Hizbullah, but the Shin Bet’s goals and modus operandi were revealed later by Diskin in a letter on its attitude to Bishara and his democratisation campaign. The Shin Bet was there, he said, to thwart the activities of groups or individuals who threatened the state’s Jewish character “even if such activity is sanctioned by the law”.
Diskin called this the principle of “a democracy defending itself” when it was really a case of Jewish leaders in a state based on Jewish privilege protecting those privileges. This time it is about the leaders of Israel’s massive security industry protecting their privileges in a security state by silencing witnesses to their crimes and keeping ordinary citizens in ignorance.
Justifying his decision to “take the gloves off” in the case of Kamm and Blau, Diskin said: “It is a dream of every enemy state to get its hands on these kinds of documents” — that is, documents proving that the Israeli army has repeatedly broken the country’s laws, in addition, of course, to its systematic violations of international law.
Diskin claims that national security has been put at risk, even though the reports Blau based on the documents — and even the documents themselves — were presented to, and approved by, the military censor for publication. The censor can restrict publication based only on national security concerns, unlike Diskin, the army senior command and the government, who obey other kinds of concerns.
Diskin knows there is every chance he will get away with his ploy because of a brainwashed Israeli public, a largely patriotic media and a supine judiciary.
The two judges who oversaw the months of gagging orders to silence any press discussion of this case did so on the say-so of the Shin Bet that there were vital national security issues at stake. Both judges are stalwarts of Israel’s enormous security industry.
Einat Ron was appointed a civilian judge in 2007 after working her way up the ranks of the military legal establishment, there to give a legal gloss to the occupation. Notoriously in 2003, when she was the chief military prosecutor, she secretly proposed various fabrications to the army so that it could cover up the killing of an 11-year-old Palestinian boy, Khalil al-Mughrabi, two years earlier. Her role only came to light because a secret report into the boy’s death was mistakenly attached to the army’s letter to an Israeli human rights group.
The other judge is Ze’ev Hammer, who finally overturned the gag order this week — but only after a former supreme court judge, Dalia Dorner, now the head of Israel’s Press Council, belatedly heaped scorn on it. She argued that, with so much discussion of the case outside Israel, the world was getting the impression that Israel flouted democratic norms.
Judge Hammer has his own distinguished place in Israel’s security industry, according to Israeli analyst Dimi Reider. During his eight years of legal study, Hammer worked for both the Shin Bet and Israel’s Mossad spy agency.
Judge Hammer and Judge Ron are deeply implicated in the same criminal outfit — the Israeli security establishment — that is now trying to cover up the tracks that lead directly to its door. Kamm is doubtless wondering what similar vested interests the judges who hear her case next week will not be declaring.
Writing in Haaretz today, Blau said he had been warned “that if I return to Israel I could be silenced for ever, and that I would be charged for crimes related to espionage”. He concluded that “this isn’t only a war for my personal freedom but for Israel’s image”.
He should leave worrying about Israel’s image to Netanyahu, Diskin and judges like Dorner. That was why the gag order was enforced in the first place. This is not a battle for Israel’s image; it’s a battle for what is left of its soul.
For a much more objective and balanced view, see what Time reports:
link to time.com
Jonathan Cook does not even see the irony of what he reports. He is a resident of Nazareth in Israel and writes from there taking full advantage of the freedom of speech that Israel allows.
eee, the framing was so cute in the time article. they called the affair a squabble!!
let’s toast to wishful thinking TIME. what’s an assassination program worth anyway when the targets are only palestinian.
Annie,
I think TIME is right because Haaretz published already in 2007 the documents regarding the illegal assassinations. Kindly notice, that these were not censored in any way.
So what you’re saying, eee, is that censorship in Israel is getting worse over time, not better?
Chaos the racist,
You obviously do not understand the difference between censorship and a court mandated gag-order.
As was explained to you in another thread, your moral standing is zero. You have proved to be a liar and racist and until you back the allegations you threw at me, I am not going to answer any of your questions.
The thread in which Chaos was shown as a racist and liar if anybody is interested:
link to mondoweiss.net
Anyone else impressed by eee’s ability to cut and paste? Myself, not so much.
I take it the rest of you are going to turn a blind eye and try to ignore him instead of confronting him. Fine by me, I’m rather used to defending myself on my own terms by now. But bear in mind, eee will do this EVERY SINGLE TIME. On EVERY SINGLE THREAD. From now until he is confronted by the community.
Just saying that for those of you who complain that the discussions here are always being hijacked.
Chaos the racist,
Nobody is going to back you unless you back your allegations. Everybody can see that you are making unsubstantiated allegations and that is just plain lying.
Why should people support a liar?
eee, your link to the other thread and your upchucks about Chaos prove zilch; you bear the stigma of faulty logic and baseless accusations. Take your jolly-jumper to another site; you’re getting boring. And if the Israeli Foreign Ministry is paying you to pound your keys here 24/7, it’s not getting its money’s worth.
I beg to differ..You made a pathetically week argument bringing in the analogy “Birds have wings” to mean “all birds have wings” which “proves” that Chaos made a racist statement. This is flawed logic and morally corrupt. Maybe you didn’t notice that your analogy doesn’t logically work because there are no birds without wings. Had you chosen as he suggested, a different analogy “Birds fly” you cannot deduce that ALL birds fly because there are birds who do NOT fly!
You of course couldn’t care less. Why? Because you’re an unscrupulous, unprincipled fellow..Don’t think that no one is taking notice..We are!
Comment above is adressed to eee, of course, a totally unprincipled, morally corrupt person..
I didn’t see anything racist about Chaos’ statements in that thread
Eee, do you approve of assassination of non-combatants on foreign soil?
Unless they are Jews.
Potsherd,
That is an unsubstantiated allegation. Where did I say that I approve of the assassination of non-combatants unless they are Jews?
I didn’t realize that you are also afflicted by Chaos’ tendencies to make unsubstantiated allegations.
So you don’t, eee?
Let’s here you condemn the practice of assassination, whether or not is committed by Jews.
Chaos the racist,
As I explained to you in another thread, your moral standing is nil. You are a proven liar and racist and until you back the allegations you threw at me, I am not going to answer any of your questions.
The thread in which Chaos was shown as a racist and liar if anybody is interested:
link to mondoweiss.net
Oh yes. Please do go read that exchange, everyone. I encourage it.
Then come back here and expose eee as a coward by commenting on the Israeli tactics of assassination and lethal assault against civilians that eee would like you to conveniently ignore.
Chaos the racist,
You are also making unsubstantiated allegations on this thread!
Where is the backing for your allegation that I would like people to ignore “Israeli tactics of assassination and lethal assault against civilians”?
Where did I ever write that or even imply it?
You have been exposed as a serial liar unless you can back your allegation.
eee, israel has a proven track record of murdering people who happen to be “living while arab”. Their policy of not-very-well-targeted assassination has been proven and demonstrated by every news outlet there. Reading Mondoweiss alone should give you all the backround you need. Questioning israeli mafia-style of justice administration is like questioning whether the earth really does revolve around the sun. it’s the nature of the beast – just like in Algeria – occupation and colonization, beget thuggery.
Also, it is not for an ethnocentric israeli to call another person racist. israel was founded on the basis of racism and exclusion of other people, who are not considered jewish (though chances are palestinians have far closer jewish heritage than you do). You, who was sent over here as a hasbara trooper (not very high quality, standard issue trolling, BTW. grade is C-) with the intent of thread-jacking and riling up other commenters with baseless accusations, have no foot to stand on. Besides, I doubt you are actually israeli. If you are, feel free to comment in Hebrew. There are more than a few people here who’ll understand.
Alternatively, you may actually want to say something that makes sense and supported by some evidence, for a change. maybe then some would take you seriously. As it stands, I believe you are violating the comment rules here, and I hope others will report you as well.
Danaa,
Chaos is racist as I clearly proved. I have every right to call him a racist. You may criticize Israel all you like. There is nothing racist about that. But what Chaos does is blatantly racist. He makes sweeping generalizations that are patently false.
He had ample opportunities to back his allegations and prove me wrong that he is not a liar, he did not do so either. Why should I let this pass? Have you seen me treat anyone with disrespect otherwise? I will be more than happy to have a respectful and calm debate, but I will not let Chaos put words in my mouth or slander a whole people with racist epitaphs.
Let me ask you simply, has Chaos been putting words in my mouth? Has he or has he not been making unsubstantiated allegations against me?
Question:
“Are the targeted assasinations of people on foreign soil based on ethnicity, nationality and religion wrong?”
eee’s Reply:
“Chaos is a racist!”
Question:
“Do you believe that it is wrong to attack non-combatants moving the injured out of a weapons-hot zone?”
eee’s Reply:
“Chaos is a racist!”
Question:
“Is it wrong to build roads on Palestinian land that only Jewish soldiers and civilians can use?”
eee’s Reply:
“Chaos is a racist!”
Chaos the racist and liar,
Are you trying to change the subject again? Your moral standing is zero until you back the allegations you made at me and explain your racist slogans. You do not have any moral privilege to get an answer. Mend your ways or your moral standing will remain zero.
The thread in which Chaos was shown as a racist and liar if anybody is interested:
link to mondoweiss.net
I’m quite sure that no one cares about eee’s ridiculous charges, but anyone who reads that thread will discover that he wase proved to be a liar.
So you approve of assassinating Jews?
Not to mention the irony of a Zionist calling someone else racist, which I’m sure will never dawn on this eee troll.
Potsherd,
Where have I been proved a liar? Another unsubstantiated allegation from you.
Where is your evidence?
Sherbrsi,
Are you calling me a racist? If so based on what? Can you please show where I made a racist statement?
Chaos the racist liar. I like it . Precise and right to the point.
Chaos, stop feeding the baboon.
Sherbrsi,
I see, so you believe Zionism equals racism. You have a completely distorted view of Zionism.
You must really hate living in the US where so many people are Zionists, probably about 60% according to the latest polls. From your biased view, it would seem that you are living in an ocean of racists! How do you even get out of bed in the morning?
Are you calling me a racist? If so based on what?
Based on your defense of Zionism which requires nothing less than the supremacy accorded to Jews, based on the their exclusive right to Palestinian territory, and for the Palestinians to remain in ghettos so you can enjoy your economic privileges, and because you can’t have too many dirty Arabs sullying the Israeli economy.
So yes. Please drop this charade of playing the victim. We know that this Israeli ploy and people here at this site are more accustomed to it than anywhere else, so calling anyone else a racist only shows what a naive hypocrite you are.
The true colors of Zionism are known to all here and your pathetic attempts at diplomatic conversation and the routine acts of calling others racist (perhaps because you yourself are tired of using the anti-semitic label) aren’t going to get you anywhere.
Your poll numbers are wrong; the mjority of Americans are not Zionists: what they are is silenced for fear of being labeled anti-semites. The majority of the people in this country want the settlements stopped and the I/P situation resolved, as a major poll on TV indicated last week in which these questions were asked specifically. And Israel is being marginalized by its hasbara criticism, via proxy, of Petraeus. Wrong road for Israel to go down. You dont follow church news in the middle of the country.
A Zionist is a person who supports a Jewish state in the middle east.
Of course there are many Americans that do not support all Israeli policies, but what percentage would you say are against a Jewish state?
I am saying at least 60% of Americans are Zionists because in recent polls about 60% said they support Israel.
And you know what, most Israelis also want a solution to the I/P conflict and they realize that any number of settlements may have to be removed for that purpose. That does not make then not-Zionists.
You have a completely distorted view of Zionism.
Well if my views on Zionism were distorted before, your comments have absolutely cemented that yes it is racist. Not only is its ideology racist but its defenders are even more despicable as you so capably demonstrate. Do you think you are unique? That your attempts to veil your bigotry in a tone of diplomacy shields your true hatred? You are very much mistaken.
You must really hate living in the US where so many people are Zionists, probably about 60% according to the latest polls. From your biased view, it would seem that you are living in an ocean of racists! How do you even get out of bed in the morning?
Hah, just another ignorant comment from you, assuming that I live in the US. And secondly which poll would you be referring to? It wouldn’t happen to have been conducted by BlueStar PR now, would they?
sherbrsi,
Why the unsubstantiated allegations?
“Do you think you are unique? That your attempts to veil your bigotry in a tone of diplomacy shields your true hatred? You are very much mistaken.”
Where did anything I write portray that I am a bigot or a hater? Why are you inventing things? Where is your evidence?
eee, why do you insist on playing the victim? Are you unable to debate sincerely without resorting to childish games?
Stop whining.
…”unsubstantiated allegations”….
To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, “You keep using those words. I don’t think they mean what you think they mean.”
Where did anything I write portray that I am a bigot or a hater? Why are you inventing things? Where is your evidence?
Again you carry yourself as the victim when the evidence is plain to see. You are clearly bigoted in your remarks against the Palestinian right of return, your idea of “peace” (that Israel is joined in its imprisonment of Palestine by NATO members) and of course your defense of a ideology like Zionism that is through and through racist and supremacist in idea and colonialist in nature.
Cliff,
Who is whining? I am pointing out that Chaos is a liar and a racist as is my right to do. If he wants to make allegations, he needs to back them up. It is quite simple. No one gets a free pass on lying.
Sherbrsi,
So now everyone that supports the two state solution or some form of it is a racist and a bigot? So the US, UN, China, Russia, India, Europe etc. etc. are all bigots?
Is that all the evidence you can bring? Do you realize that what you are doing is basically saying that unless someone agrees with you about the I/P issue he is a bigot?
eee, “recent polls about 60% said they support Israel”. Of Republicans. Not Democrats. That number is under 50%, and Democrats are the majority in this country.
The majority of Americans support Obama on Israel over Netanyahu. That was on TV here a few days ago; the anchors expressed surprise because it represents a sea change in the American people In terms of blanket support for Israel. They double-checked what was asked of the surveyed, and the pollster said this was the first time they asked detailed questions about Israel, and read them out.
Editorials in mid-western newspapers are expressing veiled pissed-offness at Israel playing fast and loose with Petraeus’ concerns for our national security and our troops. I love the heavy-handedness of Israeli proxies in the DC area publishing anti-Petraeus screeds (National Review). Keep it up, because this tone-deafness is going to result in the same debacle that Biden’s visit did. When you lose the US troops — not the officers, the troops — and the churches in places like Denver and Arizona, you’re history. Doesn’t make a difference what they’re howling in DC.
Most Americans have never even heard the term “zionist.” Their very limited information about the I-P conflict, and their own country’s enabling of it in a very unbalanced way, is due to censorship by the US mainstream media, owned by a few corporations; essentially a media oliarchy, with all hired hands
coherced to tow the hasbara line.
MRW,
You know much more than me about American sentiment to Israel and I will not argue with you about it. I accept what you say.
What you do not understand, is what Israel really is and you are absolutely mistaken that Israel will not prosper if the US treats it like it treats any other country. Intel, Microsoft, Google, etc. etc. are in Israel not because someone forced them.
eee,
Intel, Microsoft, Google, etc. etc. are in Israel because our US foreign aid requires a % spent on US firms, and Intel, Microsoft and Google figured out how to milk it: tax-free money. That’s how that came about. Microsoft’s offshore worldwide headquarters, however, moved from Ireland to Dubai, not Israel.
As for this: ”you are absolutely mistaken that Israel will not prosper if the US treats it like it treats any other country.“ I made no such assertion. In fact, this is precisely what every regular contributor on this board wants.
MRW,
You are completely mistaken about Intel, Microsoft, Google, etc. etc. They are not in Israel because of US aid. The US aid requires Israel spending money IN THE US, not US firms spending money in Israel. These firms come to Israel because of the creativity of Israeli engineers.
For example:
link to seattletimes.nwsource.com
Perhaps we agree then, but what did you mean by:
“When you lose the US troops — not the officers, the troops — and the churches in places like Denver and Arizona, you’re history.”
Especially the part about Israel being history?
Sherbrsi,
I am supporting the two state solution in the form that has the widest international support. Yet, you label me a racist and bigot. If so, then I am in the company of billions of people. Please point out, where are my positions different than those of the UN, Europe, US, China, India etc? Why is my position racist and theirs is not?
eee,
Intel has been in Israel since 1974, due to tax considerations, just like any other US company that invests in foreign plants and operations.
Intel’s market share was declining prior to the article you posted, and it had been in Israel for over 30 years, so its a bit disingenuous to insist that the creativity of Israeli engineers in 2006 was what led Intel to invest in Israel in the first place. Despite the hype, Israeli engineers aren’t on average any more creative than any others, and to believe so is really rather ethnocentric. AMD ran in to some lean years in 2006 and 2007, but it had more to do with its own troubles than it did with Intel’s products. AMD is now back to cutting into Intel’s market share, despite those “creative” Israeli Intel engineers.
So now everyone that supports the two state solution or some form of it is a racist and a bigot? So the US, UN, China, Russia, India, Europe etc. etc. are all bigots?
Support for the two state solution does not contradict the racist positions that you have taken in support of the Jewish ethnic exclusive status they are granted in Israel nor the condescending views you have and state on the Palestinians by denying the same rights you assume to be the “birthright” of the Jews.
You don’t get away with setting up a strawman, eee. The pattern has emerged that the best you can do is label and evade, and you seem to be following on this track without fail.
Why is my position racist and theirs is not?
You have yet to show that all the states you mention share the view as yours. Besides the two state solution, which I am not even referring to, where do they share your racist of views of the denial of the Palestinian right of return, or the peace resolution of NATO joining Israel in its campaign of keeping the Palestinians concentrated in ghettos? That is for you to prove.
It’s hard to tell what kind of environment you’re accustomed to where you pretend that dodging questions and avoiding the topic at hand is not tantamount to support.
The Time article is a feeble attempt by the author to reframe the subject, reframe the story and present the gullible English reader with a filtered, watered down, sugar coated and touched-up copy of reality, not reality itself.
That much is certain.
As an Israeli who was actually born and raised in Israel, I actually agree with Chaos. He is not making generalizations. In fact, his assessments are usually spot on. The level of racism and bigotry that permeates Israeli society is undeniable to anyone who lives within it and speaks the language. You can pretend that things are different all you want, but that doesn’t change the reality.
Even a cursory look at public opinion polls conducted by Israeli newspapers are indicative of said bigotry.
eee,
If you are Israeli and your parents are too, as you claim, then answer me this:
Which common Israeli song usually sung to children, has the Hebrew word for shore in its lyrics?
This fallacy is called, an appeal to authority.
Where have I been proved a liar?
eee
———————
You better stop there eee..Better stop! You’re in a deep whole and you keep digging. Not very bright!
…”unsubstantiated allegations”….
To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, “You keep using those words. I don’t think they mean what you think they mean.”
tree
————
Excellent.. reminds me of ” don’t misunderestimate ” ..
Avi,
No it is not. It is showing that your argument proves too much and is therefore wrong. If your argument proves that the UN, Europe, US, China India are all racist, then it is obviously false.
Avi,
You are just plain wrong. Chaos said that Israelis call Obama “nigger”. Is that true of most Israelis?
Of course not.
Maybe where you live or lived, everybody is racist. But I live in Ramat-Hasharon and people are open minded and liberal. Where did you live Avi?
Tree,
Intel is just one example of many. It created FABS in Israel for tax reasons, but the research and development is not because of that.
Why did Google open a research center recently?
In the article I provided, many people acknowledge that Israel saved Intel. Why are you belittling that? Israel’s engineers are not more creative because they are smarter. Read “Start-up nation” and maybe you will understand.
Triple e,
Your making a point out of nothing.
“Fair and balanced?”
eee – so do you still believe that the IDF is the “most moral army in the world”?
Braicole,
I never said that the IDF is the most moral army in the world because I only served in the IDF. I do not know what other armies do and how they act in similar situations. Is there a ranking somewhere that we can objectively discuss? My experience is limited to one army only, so I cannot comment on any other.
Why would you want to rank morality? Morality is subjective anyway. There is the rule of law however.
And Israel, the government and the IDF, constantly break IL, and in the case of the Gaza massacre – have possibly committed crimes against humanity.
It is only because of politics that the IDF is able to escape justice. Hence, why you’re on this blog right now, eee, because you’re so used to just killing Palestinians who defy your racist, apartheid, State. You’re not to battling your opposition fairly or intellectually.
Hence, why you want a demilitarized Palestinian State while whining about people pointing out the hypocrisy of Israeli nukes. You want to kill Palestinians easier than a ratio of 100 to 1 (Gaza).
Freak.
Cliff,
Did I want to rank morality?
No, it was Annie.
And again you are lying and throwing allegations at me that you cannot back:
“you’re so used to just killing Palestinians who defy your racist, apartheid, State.”
“You want to kill Palestinians easier than a ratio of 100 to 1 (Gaza)”
Prove your allegation or admit you are a liar.
But you are familiar with the defenses set up by the Nuremberg defendants, and by Eichmann tried in Jerusalem, and by Lt Calley’s defense team, yes? How’s that to start the dialogue here? And don’t forget every member of the SS was legally deemed a member of a criminal organization.
I never said that the IDF is the most moral army in the world because I only served in the IDF.
eee
——————–
I doubt those who make this ridiculous claim served in different armies either.
It’s funny how this advertisement/publicity slogan became the cliche everyone parrots.
eee,
Why don’t you tell us how you came by your grasp of the English language?
Why, would you even ask a question like that unless you are prejudiced?
Prejudiced about what?
Why didn’t you answer my question about a song in Hebrew. You claim to be Israeli, living in Israel, but somehow, by a stroke of fate have no keyboard with a Hebrew layout. Strange, isn’t it?
wow, sometimes i am left speechless.
They’re Enemies of the State!
One could write a great thriller novel with these circumstances…
call it Escape from Mount Zion.
I see a direct arc connecting the strategically inept, immoral and callously arrogant behavior of the shin bet and IDF security apparatus in the Kamm case and that of the Mossad’s in the Dubai murder of Mabhoud. In both cases, the security establishment seems completely blind-sided by larger implications of their actions – especially its political and legal dimensions – and are swept up by the sheer hubris of their power , and a seemingly god-given right – and ability – to get away with what can only be called criminal behavior. I am sure others will call attention to the mafia-like mentality that’s slowly but surely eroding the legal foundations of the court system in Israel – a key institution of democratic states. Both cases employed essentially death squads to get rid of people they considered a threat and/or for purely revenge. No legal opinion needed, no proof of guilt required, no questioning of “security rationale” allowed. This is the road to Pinochet’s Chile, when journalists, reporters and witnesses became common targets – right along with human rights activists – many to be “disappeared” forever.
The trouble with mafia-style Justice dispensation is not only the immorality of it, but the fact that it may start with a ‘few” but ultimately becomes a torrent – part of a slippery slope where revenge killings, arrests and “disappearances” are increasingly arbitrary, with badly weakened system of checks and balances to put the brakes on undemocratic thuggish behavior by those to whom the state’s security is entrusted. What starts with an attempt to “protect” the state leads in the end to the darkness of a police state, where the state itself is delegitimized.
This case represents another nail in the coffin of Israel’s democracy, one that is according to Jonathan Cook’s article, of little if any concern to the majority of its citizens. It was said by many over the years that the occupation will only end up corrupting israel’s soul and democratic institutions. The disregard shown by venerable security institutions and the country’s own citizentry for society’s long term welfare are mind-boggling in their blindness and indifference to fundamental values such as individual privacy, respect for the law and freedom of the press, as well as for the implications to the state’s standing in the world at large.
the problem I see is that if this is indeed just another episode in the slide towards collective insanity that’s affecting an entire society, what can we expect next? can anyone doubt what might be planned for Iran with this kind of mentality as a guide?
Well put. It’s also similar to when Bush got in office; little regard for institutions and protocols. A slippery slope became a financial crisis, with no strategic goal for either wars.
Both cases employed essentially death squads to get rid of people they considered a threat and/or for purely revenge. No legal opinion needed, no proof of guilt required, no questioning of “security rationale” allowed.
Is this another effect here, in the US, of Israeli influence around the President that he would adopt this stance in issuing an assassination order against an American citizen that the state has deemed a threat-to-be. No legal opinion required; the paranoia of elected or hired mandarins the only prerequisite. My revulsion this week at what this forebodes is deep — and I am not naive enough to know that this doesn’t go on, ”domestic terminations“ have a long history in the US — but for this to become policy is a hideous capitulation to forces I fear unleashed.
I, for one, am tired of Israeli-style airports in the US, Israeli-style security, Israeli-style pre-emptive war policy, and foreign policy.
Funny you should mention this, MRW. Those were exactly my concerns – an infiltration of israeli-style tactics into the US – “targeted” assassinations on foreign soil – and all. It’s like a spreading infection – coming straight from israel, contaminating everything in its path. That israel has a rather cavalier attitude towards law – and its enforcement – we’ve known for a long time. The latest Kam/Blau incident merely confirms unequivocally what we all suspected and the palestinians knew to be true – in their bones- all along, as victims always do. That in the same week, the US – under Obama(!) – has issued orders to murder on sight an individual guilty at most of preaching is beyond the pale. If incitement was a capital offense why are Hannity, Beck and O’reilly still alive? Or Michelle Bachmann, for that matter (I want us to be armed and dangerous” she opined)? and BTW, they should not assume they are all that safe – this rounding up of the Hutaree “militia”, basically a bunch of family and friends planning to back up Michelle Bachmann’s dark urging and doing much play-acting, should make our friendly right wing talk show hosts feel just a bit of trepidation. The problem with mafiosi style justice – and tea party revolutions – is that it escalates, and eventually comes back to bite the very hands that fed the beast of violence. That’s why the French and Russian Revolutions were such good lessons. Once the forces of darkness and revenge are unleashed, they tend to consume everything in their paths – the rich with the poor, the innocent with the guilty.
Like you, I am extremely troubled by the decision to execute americans – without the benefit of detention or trial – something even Bush did not do. Am even more troubled by the silence on the left blogs (with all due respect to the few voices out there, like the inimitable glenn greenwald, who’s spitting mad, and rightly so), as well as in the not-so-vaunted halls of congress. This truly opens a pandora’s box, with some of the monsters released already in full evidence in Israel.
BTW, I always wondered whether this was not part of the neocon plan all along – get the US down and dirty in the mud of permanent occupation, right along with Israel. Isn’t that’s what’s happening? aren’t Iraq – and afganistan – ushering a sneaking corruption of the US military – right in front of our eyes? yes, I’m thinking of the wikileaks video, among others…..
Not much to cheer these days, alas….
Danaa, could not agree with you more. You hit all the other points I didn’t bother to write. ”BTW, I always wondered whether this was not part of the neocon plan all along – get the US down and dirty in the mud of permanent occupation, right along with Israel.“ My sentiments exactly. I also see direct links between what the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) was doing (see jewsonfirst.com and its excellent reporting on the RJC and Obsession) and what it continues to do, in my opinion. I suspect neocon/RJC participation in the Tea Party movement and the agitation of the amygdala in the service of creating a mob movement that can be molded at the height of emotion to effect all sorts of untoward results breaking this country apart. I know the RJC was behind initiating the Obama is a muslim and birther movement. I remember clearly when Tim Russert said someone traced the emails emanating from Brooklyn and Israel during a primary debate; it shocked me that he would say that. Scratch any right-wing extremist pro-Israel American Jew, today, and you’ll hear the same vitriol.
And I am in complete agreement with Glenn Greenwald’s pieces on this Obama action. The silence on the left and from Black political groups appalls me. I know this country does domestic terminations, the catchy euphemism for them; however, I object to the policy of it. The only generous thing I can say is that Obama is making that, too, transparent in order to make it go away. Fat chance, with me drinking the kool-aid.
Iran will be “set back a thousand years.” Note too how the US has been copying Israel’s domestic security and foreign operations–the US Constitution gets accordingly weaker and weaker. Ron Paul told the nation so back in 2002. He was right. The enmeshment of US-Israel is a very corrupting phenomena–and it does a great disservice to the US’s struggles to become a fair nation–and to the WW2 generation who died or were maimed in that war. Preemptive war, torture, suspension of habeas corpus, mass violations of privacy, etc… Future historians
will note all of this–how the zionist tail wagged the big (mostly Christian) dog at the top of its power, and made
it a little dog, no better than any that came before it.
This is the product of intoxication and arrogance with one’s power.
This has been all over Ha’aretz, understandably so.
I wonder if even the Mossad would be so stupid as to assassinate Blau on British soil. That would help Israeli legitimization! He had best apply for political asylum.
I don’t think their insanity has reached that level yet.
That would be a big deal in Parliament. But if it happened here,
Pelosi would come out for Act 1 and say there’s nothing that we wouldn’t do for Israel. (-she could also follow up with a message that Israeli tomatoes are in season and they are quite tasty.)
“…exposing the dark underbelly of a nation that has worshipped for decades at the altar of a security state.” Israel is all underbelly.
Let’s add to that “Police smash Israeli organ-trafficking ring ” from the BBC today and we have quite a picture of the modern state of Israel. The news keeps getting worse as the state system implodes as it meets the real world – not the faux one presented by the New York Times.
The U.S. government has engaged in intimidation (Valerie Plame tops my list), violence (Central America etc.) and censorship (press pools, denying accreditation to reporters, and limiting are at least as effective as a military censor).
The powerful use their power to flout the law to protect their image.
Why should Israel be any different? And what makes you believe that any of these state systems are imploding?
Looks to me like they’re going strong.
The myth of poor little helpless Israel that made the desert bloom is kaput.
The myth of Israel as a democracy is kaput.
The myth that Israel wants peace.
And on and on…
That’s what I mean.
Yes,they are going strong, complete with concurrent culture, e.g., Hostel, Hostel2, and Dirty Rotten Basturds (or whatever–all infantile sadistic wet dreams).
Off topic, and don’t know if this has been posted elsewhere, but Juan Cole has an interesting report that the US is now denying visas to engineers and technicians who work at Dimona:
link to juancole.com
I agree with you that the popular perception of Israel as peaceful is breaking. Israel’s image is now getting to where the U.S.’s, was under Bush. As to the others points, Israel is still perceived as a force for the good in science and maintains a strong democracy for Jewish Israelis.
yeah it’s looking pretty dark over there lately and I don’t see any good news in any pr campaign lately. It’s interesting that they keep democracy strong for one type and weak for others. The US does this also, and was much worse in the 1950′s.
Elliot, “maintains a strong democracy for Jewish Israelis.” Obviously not for Blau and Kamm.
“…maintains a strong democracy for Jewish Israelis.” The whole point of democracy is everyone gets equal influence. If political power is relegated by either ethnicity or religion, then you are talking about an ethnocracy or a theocracy, respectively.
I think the US is trending toward being like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Identity politics is increasingly taking hold at all levels. Remember, the Serbian minority guy
who murdered the ArchDuke (who ironically stood for equal rights to all based on the concept of individualism, rather than group). Hence the match was struck, and all the great powers stumbled into WW1. (And of course, the settlement of WW1 led directly to WW2) Next up at bat, WW3 (after many innings of the Cold War without any hits).
I’m not sure if that was meant as a specific reply, or at least I don’t see how it is, but I will say I’m hard pressed to disagree. We’re seeing a pretty sharp uptick in politically motivated violence in the United States, and I suspect it’s only going to steadily grow worse. And I suppose if an internecine conflict does break out — for example, a second Confederacy movement — it could result in a WW3 as you describe, assuming the rest of the world takes sides (or, either faction forces third parties to choose sides).
Correction: Zionist Israelis. Israeli Jews who dare question the establishment and the general trend in which that state is going are branded traitors by the public and marginalized by the establishment in the best case scenario, or violently attacked by the public and imprisoned for life by the government in the worst case scenario.
The historical record is rather clear. Even academic institutions an environment in which freedom of expression is expected, professors don’t get tenures, they are ejected from universities in witch hunts that seek to persecute them and students face expulsion should they participate in one peaceful demonstration or another.
Scale wise, Israel’s Palestinian population face the brunt of such attacks, but the Jewish population does too. Professor Illan Pappe, for example fled to London amid death threats.
It’s unfortunate that such a young girl will probably have to spend the rest of her life in prison. Fortunately for her Israel doesn’t have a death penalty for treason.
I wonder why Cook never mentions the racism, homophobia, gender bias and brutality of any of the Arab states?
You mean like in Iraq? Oh wait, the United States is occupying Iraq. Before we were there it was a secular society with gender equality. Oh don’t get me wrong, it was also a police state where torture and summary execution was routine. But now that the United States is there, torture, summary execution, racism, homophobia, gender bias and brutality are all routine.
That’s your idea of “domesticating” the Middle East, Mr. Neocon?
“Fortunately for her Israel doesn’t have a death penalty for treason.”
But it does have a death penalty for Gentiles, thay, you know…exist.
“I wonder why Cook never mentions the racism, homophobia, gender bias and brutality of any of the Arab states? ”
Errrm, maybe because these western-backed Arab dictatorships don’t market themselves as liberal wonderlands that get billions of dollars of Amercan aid every year?
Olive,
Please enlighten me. As far as I know Israel has a death penalty for crimes against humanity. This is how Eichmann was executed. I didn’t realize we had special death penalties for Gentiles. Could you elaborate more or perhaps link to the law?
Palestinians get shot dead in the West Bank on a weekly (if not daily) bases. Gazan civilians also get summarily executed if they enter the “kill zone” the IDF maintains within a couple kilometers of the border on the Palestinian side. And then, of course, there was the recent assassination in Dubai, which of course echoes the campaign of terror Israel perpetrated in summarily executing Palestinians all across Europe during Operation Wrath of God.
Thanks chaoas, I could not have written a better reply.
Anytime, olive. :)
Wow, talk about reading comprehension issues. eee, you are commenting under a post about the release of secret documents that outline the IDF’s assassinating of wanted Palestinian individuals when they could be safety apprehended instead, and those documents further show that the IDF condones the murder of innocent Palestinians when executing those assassinations, and you don’t think that equates to a death penalty for Palestinians? Sheer denial on your part.
Adding to Chaos’ spot-on reply: there’s apparently also a death penalty for ISM’ers for protesting peacefully against injustice. Not just gentiles, but preferably so, of course.
Mercifully, it is enforced sporadically. But we should not be surprised to find the pace increasing.
eee likes to have references (while providing none of his own, of course). Since he claims to live in Israel (something of which I remain unconvinced – say something in Hebrew, triple e, will you please? Yiddish doesn’t count, BTW), maybe he could walk over to the Rachel Corrie trial, now underway – in haifa, I believe? There are many interesting facts to gleam there, such as – who did what when, who knew and how was it covered up…..
Ah, so much to learn, so little time……….
Tree,
What the documents show is that THERE IS a LAW, but it was not followed. I read Olive as saying that Israel has on its books laws that allow to execute Gentiles for offences that Jews are not executed. That is of course false.
Danaa,
Yesh lach o lecaha harbe ba’ayot be’havanat ha’nikra. Kmo chen, at/ata tomechet mishom ma be’shakranim rak biglal she’hem tomchim ba’emda shelcha/shelach. Lama i efshar lasot diyon retisini im kavud hadadi?
Now, prove you are an American.
I am waiting also for your answer to what I asked you in Hebrew.
…you don’t have a Hebrew key layout? Huh.
So anyway, eee, you just made the case that Israel is a criminal state — you don’t even follow what are supposed to be your own laws, as you claim (you know, feel free to link to them), that resorts to state terrorism, war crimes and violations of international law in the course of its policy.
Chaos the racist and liar,
What are you implying by:
…you don’t have a Hebrew key layout? Huh.
What does that mean?
And again, your moral standing is zero, and you do not deserve an answer.
The evidence that Chaos is a liar and a racist can be found in this thread among others:
link to mondoweiss.net
The law you speak of only limits the circumstances under which the IDF may commit so-called “extra-judicial” killings, it does not outlaw them entirely. This is worse than the equivalent of a death penalty, since under a court-ordered death sentence the defendant is allowed a trial with a chance to know the evidence against him, and a chance to refute that evidence, and he is also allowed an appeal procedure as well. None of this applies to the assassinations that the IDF commits. And yes, even with the legal OK from the Israeli Supreme Court, the IDF has shown itself un interested in following the legal requirements set down by the SC. So, really, congratulating Israel for not having a death penalty is ignoring the reality that Israel shows no compunction about killing Palestinians without benefit of trial. That is what olive was referring to. That and Israel’s habit of killing Palestinians in the occupied territories and even its own Palestinian citizens and refusing to prosecute those state officers responsible. The killings of 13 Palestinian Israeli citizens in October 2000 is a prime example of that.
And again, your moral standing is zero, and you do not deserve an answer.
Evading the question again, I see. And here you just claimed that you don’t evade questions.
Pose a question and I will answer you.
Chaos the liar and racist does not deserve an answer, you do.
The evidence that Chaos is a liar and a racist can be found in this thread among others:
link to mondoweiss.net
Many questions have been posed.
You haven’t answered any of them.
Do you think this is a game?
As James Bradley has already stated, many questions have been posed. When you do “answer” it’s usually a dodge or an indirect, vague reply to something else.
You pretend as though you welcome a challenge and transparency, so how’s this for a challenge:
Read this thread again, make a list of all the questions and answer them one by one.
eee, maspik kvar im ha’shtuyot, OK?….ze lo makom tov bishvil’cha (ze “ata”, lo?). Ve al tid’ag al ha’avanut sheli….hakol dy beseder sham, baruch hashem…
Agav, lo nir’ah li she ata be’emet meunyan b’ “diyon retzini”, vezot habeayah – af exhad lo maamin lecha. U’lai tenaseh mashehu acher?
Az efoh lamadeta et ha anglit shelcha? rak shoelet….
As for my Americanism – well, that’s kind of self-evident – kind of like birds chirping, no? Besides, as hinted (in bold, blocked letters) earlier, I made reverse aliyah sometime ago to the real zion. Alas, that first zion – the one i escaped from in the ME, keeps reaching over to threaten the peace, quiet and sense of justice I came to so cherish in this lovely land. And I’m beginning to really resent that….which is not good…not good at all.
BTW, so far you seem to have gotten in trouble with just about everyone here. You wouldn’t be a masochist, by any chance? I’d so hate to see your feelings hurt….
Danna,
Ze makom metsuyan bishvili. Be’tor israelit (?) le’sheavar haiti choshev shelephachot hait menasa le’harot tmuna meuzenet. Israel betach lo mushlemet aval lama tsarich litmoch be-anashim shematzigim otano ke-zevel enushi?
Ma kara, rak biglal sheat lo baretz yoter tsarich lirok le’kolano bapanim?
As Primo Levy described: Yiddish talk is not for public. Yiddish proverb: “go fuck yourself”.
Primo Levi (of course)
And thank you, mr. Levi, for describing me your Auschwitz-Buna. Inviting me into Dante. ‘ till the stars do shine.
No, what Israel has instead of the death penalty are death squads.
“You’re wrong again” was the false charge you made against me a few days ago. Well, I now get to rightly say that you, “are wrong again”.
Israel does not execute Jews. It’s that simple. It’s a state policy. Non-Jews, however, are in a different category. Eichmann, for example, was executed, his body cremated and the remains were scattered outside of Israel’s territorial waters in the Mediterranean sea.
Personally, I am against the death penalty, but I believe that a certain category should be reserved for war criminals and mass murderers. So, while I support the court’s decision to execute Eichmann for being a war criminal, I would also support an Israeli court’s decision to execute an Israeli Jew, or any Israeli in general, for war crimes. Unfortunately, as stated above, Jews enjoy a special exemption in that arena in the Israeli legal system.
I wonder why Cook never mentions the racism, homophobia, gender bias and brutality of any of the Arab states?
“They suck more.”
I wonder why Cook never mentions the racism, homophobia, gender bias and brutality of any of the Arab states?
julian
—————
First, because Israel is supposed to be of a higher standard being “the only democracy bla bla in the ME”, remember!! Arabs states do not make such silly claims..Israel does.
Second, maybe because many are already in that niche and since he lives in Israel, why not?
Well, if South African apartheid is a model for how it will go with israel, than after some years in prison, Kamm may well be in the running for the leader’s position of new non-apartheid israel
Importance of the Kamm case:
link to counterpunch.org
As an American, I greatly resent my tax money supporting the rogue state of Israel, and I also greatly resent my own government copying Israel’s nefarious ways.
Preemptive/preventive war and torture, diminishment of privacy, a muzzled press–how far down this line do Americans have to go before they realize they live in a fascist state? History never repeats itself exactly, but that’s no excuse not to be aware
or, and fight, the obvious signs of dangeous collective mental disease.
I wish I had an answer to that question which was satisfying, Citizen. I’m not sure there is an answer that doesn’t require the collapse of the US as we know it, as we, as a nation, no longer seem to to have the moral or economic integrities to overcome our debts in either realm.
Maybe I’m wrong. I’d like to think there is a way to fix this mess that doesn’t require a dissolution of the United States as a political or cultural entity. But historical precedent doesn’t really bear that out.
Chaos,
The way I see things, for that change you speak of to take hold, a comprehensive reform of the electoral system needs to be put in place. That is the only way the change I sense you have in mind can come about peacefully and non-violently.
Then it will never come about at all, not peacefully and non-violently. The Senate will never allow it, let alone the other powers that be.
“Fortunately for her Israel doesn’t have a death penalty for treason.”
Just a permanent death penalty for being Palestinian.
Apartheid South African justice. As the song went then “The White man’s Heaven is the Black Man’s Hell.”
eee,
Do you ever go to sleep? take a nap, at least….the same issues will surely be here another day, just as intractable as ever. And no need to worry about people disappearing – the regulars here are very steadfast…..
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MRW and Avi,
I was commenting on Larry’s post:
The image of Israel in the West is different from the reality. For sure, life is harder for non-Zionist Jewish Israelis than Zionist Israelis, although it’s still infinitely better than that of Palestinians, Kam and Blau notwithstanding.
As to the reality, my point is that the United States maintains that it has a strong democracy yet the government has many legal and other ways of deterring dissent. We just manage to avoid it for the most part because it’s such a big country. In Israel, on the other hand, if you are at all political, you become very aware of the government’s heavy hand.
Having said that, I attended more political rallies on key issues in Israel than in the States. Public political activism here is for marginal radicals, at least where I live.