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  • University of Johannesburg to officially sever ties with Israel’s Ben-Gurion University
    • Surcouf March 23, 2011 at 4:13 pm

      I guess it takes South Africans to recognize an Apartheid policy when they see one.

      The wounds of Apartheid inflicted by White Afrikaners are still too fresh to be ignored and forgotten, and even more so now when South Africans see that other human beings are still being subjected to the same shameful policies in 2011. And for what reason? Because these human beings belong to a different ethnic group, practice a different religion, and speak a different language.

      There will be a day when these policies will end and the Jewish communities will look back and truly say : Never again!

      This decision is a message of strong solidarity with Palestinian civil society and will surely have an impact on future BDS campaign. Thank you South Africa.

  • 'This should only happen in response to genocide' (two leftwingers argue over Libya)
    • Surcouf March 21, 2011 at 4:55 pm with 2 replies

      Scott said : I don’t buy the oil thing.

      Neither do I.

      Total (French), ENI (Italian), Repsol (Spanish), OMV (Austrian), Statoil (Norwegian), ConocoPhillips (American), to name a few, were all already present in the Libyan oil fields thru various agreements with Libya's notorious National Oil Corporation, which has been the personal money generating operation for the Qaddafi clan as shown from cables obtained by Wikileaks.

      There was no oil to be had, as most of the oil contracts (exploration & exploitation) were already in the hands of Western companies, thanks to the normalization of relations with the West since 2003.

      Further more, it is important to keep in mind that Libya's oil production represent only 2% of the world total oil production.

  • Leftist arguments for the int'l intervention, from Yassin-Kassab and Woodward
    • Surcouf March 21, 2011 at 11:02 am

      Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst at Al Jazeera, and host of the show Empire, has a very good analysis of the current international intervention in Libya. His take is not very different from that of Paul Woodward, albeit taken from an another angle. This analysis certainly represents the thinking of many people who are following the events in North Africa since the spark set off by Mohamed Bouazizi, the 26 year old fruit vendor in Tunisia.

      Here are some excerpts of the article which should be read in its entirety:

      Libya could have and should have gone Tunisia or Egypt's path of change. But while their militaries conceded the need for regime change, in Libya the family-led powerful militias, financed and groomed to defend the regime's "country estate", sided with their pay masters.

      and

      Needless to say, Libyans in general deserve better than to see their country ruled like a ''family farm''. That''s why they insist on taking down the regime. But the Gaddafi dynasty would not have it, threatening to take the country down with them.

      The article can be found here : Framing Libya...debate

      Bishara certainly cannot be accused of pro-American or pro-Western views when it comes to the Middle-East and the Arab World. He has been very critical of American policies regarding the I/P conflict, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lukewarm reaction to the Arab Spring. But context, as it should be, must be applied here also.

  • Move over, Iowa
    • Surcouf March 17, 2011 at 10:08 am

      Well, it will be interesting to see if she pulls a "Mike-Huckabee".

      Or maybe she won't surprise us. She will actually out bid poor old Mike, if that is even possible to do.

      Her comments on the I/P conflict while in Israel will be indicative of the debate to come in the primaries.

  • Schnabel finally opens up on Israel: 'You shouldn’t have to be Jewish to be free in Israel . . . It is apartheid, that’s what it’s like over there. It is shocking.'
    • Surcouf March 17, 2011 at 9:46 am with 2 replies

      Thanks Avi!

      An increasing number of liberal American Jews believe that the solution to maintaining Zionism within Israel proper resides now, more that ever, in the 2SS. This is motivated not so much by their desire to finally recognize Palestinian national rights but rather by their fear of lording over a Palestinian majority with lesser civil rights than Jewish Israelis within a Greater Israel.

      As you have clearly demonstrated by your points 3 & 4, such a solution does not solve the problem of how to maintain Zionism, it only compounds it. Sure, the size of the non-Jewish population of Israel would be reduced from 50 per cent to 20 per cent if a Palestinian state were created, but more importantly, the debate about Palestinian rights would simply shift from one of national rights in the Occupied Territories - pre-occupation situation - to one of the inevitable demand for full equal civil rights for minorities within Israel proper - post-occupation situation.

      This unavoidable shift in the debate, from a national right conflict to a civil right conflict, is exactly what the Zionist polity fears the most and what they have tried to prevent from happening since its inception. So long as the national right conflict remains, there is no need to address the civil rights of the equation. In fact, the direct and/or indirect discriminatory policies against Palestinian Israelis, always justified by the all important mantra of national security, can only be maintained if the conflict remains a national right conflict.

      Indeed, if the demographic logic is so compelling for the 2SS from a Zionist perspective, why hasn’t Israel done so. The answer is often overlooked and very simple : granting full equal civil rights for minorities in Israel would spell the end of Jewish special rights and of Zionism itself.

  • The BDS debate
  • Conservative Canadian newspaper gives platform to student leader's 'genocide' assertion
    • Surcouf March 12, 2011 at 10:27 am with 2 replies

      The current Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) is the result of the merger in 2003 of the Progressive Conservative Party - fiscally conservative/socially progressive - and the Canadian Alliance (formerly the Reform Party) - fiscally conservative/socially conservative. This merger (and some called it an hostile takeover) resulted in the repositioning of the newly created party further to the right on the Canadian political spectrum on many issues, including the question of the I/P conflict.

      What is clear is that this repositioning on the I/P conflict was very much influenced by the Canadian Christian Right movement. While it is reasonable to say that the CPC is not a Christian Zionist party à la Hagee, there are party members, elected officials and current cabinet ministers in the Harper government that have acknowledged publicly their Christian Zionist beliefs and sympathy and support for Israel.

      While one would be hard pressed to find in the official policy papers of the CPC a similar acknowledgement of Christian Zionist beliefs, one only need to look at the unofficial policies enacted by the Harper government to see that indeed it is behaving in a Christian Zionist way. As is often the case, actions speak louder than words.

      1) withdrew government financial support to numerous Canadian NGOs advocating for Palestinian human rights and deemed to be critical of Israel, the latest of which being the faith-based social service group KAIROS.

      2) withdrew government financial support to UNWRA after a successful orchestrated campaign by B'nai Brith Canada trying to link the relief organization to Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations while European and US financial support was maintained and in some cases increased.

      3) the appointment of new members to the board of the Rights & Democracy agency who challenged the grants - $10,000 each - to 3 human rights organizations (Al Haq, based in Ramallah, Al Mezan, based in Gaza, and B'Tselem, based in Israel) known to be critical of Israel's human rights record, especially in the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

      These are just a few examples on top of Harper’s unequivocal support for Israeli invasions of Lebanon and Gaza, and for storming the Turkish humanitarian aid flotilla.

    • Surcouf March 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm with 7 replies

      Michael Ignatieff, the current leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, has a long history of changing positions on very important issues, depending on the audience and the time.

      Prior to becoming the leader of the Federal Liberal Party Ignatieff was director of the Carr centre for human rights policy, Kennedy school of government at Harvard University.

      In 2003, Ignatieff was a prominent supporter of the invasion of Iraq, a position which came to hunt him once he made the move to the Canadian political scene since Canada had not supported the Bush administration's folly. He then tried to back track and claimed that he had not been really in favor of the invasion.

      On the question of Israel and Apartheid, he wrote an article in The Guardian in April 2002 in which he clearly made the link between Israeli policies and the Apartheid-like conditions Palestinians are kept under. He now has the gall to make those recent statements about the Israeli Apartheid Week movement in Canada.

      The link to the article : The Guardian

      Unfortunately for him this track record certainly explains why an important number of Canadians cannot look at him and his party as a serious alternative to the Conservative/Christian Zionist Party of Stephen Harper.

      So Canadians are stuck with a government which has clearly outdone Bush when it comes to the question of supporting Israel. Canada has now joined the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Israel and the United States in voting against any resolution in favor of the Palestinian rights before the UN General Assembly.

  • The Jewish sideshow (and why I want to play in it)
    • Surcouf March 11, 2011 at 2:36 pm with 1 replies

      Phil said: How can you favor a peace process that has gone on for 20 years and produced nothing?

      From an Israeli perspective was the peace process ever meant to produce anything in the first place?

      Well, according to an article by Alastair Crooke in the London Review of Books dated March 3rd, 2011, those were not the intents entertained by Israeli officials. On the question - Why all these games of make-believe negotiations? - Israel’s vice-premier, Moshe Ya’alon replied:

      Because … there are pressures. Peace Now from within, and other elements from without. So you have to manoeuvre … what we have to do is manoeuvre with the American administration and the European establishment, which are nourished by Israeli elements [and] which create the illusion that an agreement can be reached … I say that time works for those who make use of it. The founders of Zionism knew … and we in the government know how to make use of time.

      The link to the article title : Permanent Temporariness

      One thing we can be sure of, for Israeli officials, the peace process IS a side show.

  • Amanpour says P.A. has 'not missed the opportunity to miss an opportunity'
    • Surcouf March 8, 2011 at 1:22 pm with 1 replies

      Ms. Amanpour, like any good American establishment journalist, has internalized the Israeli narrative of the conflict. She could not have reached the pinnacle of American journalism without repeating ad nauseam these half-truths and/or lies. Had she strayed from the prescribed script on the I/P question her career would have taken a different tangent.

      The recent events in Libya gave us a good example of how American journalism is practiced.

      Compare & Contrast:

      Ms. Amanpour interviewed Saif al-Islam, Gadhafi's son, on Feb 27th.
      Interview starts @ 4:00.
      Amanpour ABC Interview with Saif al-Islam

      Her colleague, Anita McNaught, at Al Jazeera English, also interviewed Saif al-Islam on March 4th.
      McNaught Al Jazeera Interview with Saif al-Islam

      These 2 interviews clearly show what is wrong with American journalism in the MSM.
      Unwillingness to challenge known falsehood, deference to authority, fear of offending and/or loosing access to their sources. Ms. McNaught is truly putting Ms. Amanpour to shame.
      I guess this is what Sec. of State Ms. Clinton would call "real news".

  • Republican congressmen join Islamophobic hate rally in California
    • Surcouf March 3, 2011 at 1:08 pm with 4 replies

      You're right!
      I didn't notice when I first watched it, but then on a second viewing I could clearly see a flag with a blue band on its lower half. Now which country has a blue band on it? Help me out here!

  • BDS leadership: 'Palestine Papers' show the peace process failed because it ignored Palestinian human rights
    • Surcouf February 17, 2011 at 4:51 pm

      Very interesting exchange on the Palestine Papers.

      When the papers were being released by both Al Jazeera and The Guardian, Mark Perry gave an interview about his thoughts on the content he was allowed to read and, according to him, and as he reiterated the same at this event, the most important point of the papers was the fact that the Obama administration had effectively killed the road map. To him, this is where the focus of the release should have been.

      You can watch exactly what he said at @ 24:50. According to Perry there are 6 documents - among the 1600 - that stand out and give exactly the position of the Obama administration with regards to the Peace Process.

      Perry states that in Phase 1 of the road map, in exchange for the end of Palestinian violence, Israel would freeze settlements. Obama however abandons the position of successive administration and allows for the continuation of settlement building because he is unable to force the Israelis to comply. This is when Netanyahu and AIPAC won.

      You can read the account of the story on Al Jazeera website:
      Israel's lawyer, revisited

  • Misled on Israel, but not by Jimmy Carter
    • Surcouf February 17, 2011 at 2:01 pm

      This kind of legal actions on the part of Right-wing Zionists is rather perplexing.

      At a time when an increasing number of progressive organizations that support Palestinian human rights are indeed bringing attention to the Apartheid-like conditions - and Desmond Tutu has claimed that these conditions are worst that Apartheid South Africa, as exampled by the separate road system in the WB which SA didn't have - one would think that the last thing that these Right-wing Zionists would want is to provide a forum for discussing this phenomena.

      Irrespective of the legal soundness of their case, which I believe is next to nil, such a trial could turn into a nightmare for Zionists of all stripes. Many so-called Liberal-Zionists both in the US and Israel have recognized the situation for what it is. Many Israeli politicians have recognized as such in varying degrees, some claiming we are already there, others claiming we are heading there fast.

      If I were a supporter of Zionism I'd be mad as hell about this latest attempt to defend Israel because it is no defense at all, it is simply exposing our flanks to our enemies. But as a supporter of Universal Human Rights I welcome it. I say, bring it on!!!

  • ‘Progressive Zionist’ group in U.S. calls for settlement boycott (while J Street continues to refuse to)
  • How did Labor Zionism, bent on liberating Jewish workers in Poland, end up discriminating against migrant workers?
    • Surcouf February 17, 2011 at 12:27 pm

      are they allowed to have sex with each other even?

      annie - of course not. If they did, this could result in "unwanted" pregnancies - that is "unwanted" by Zionist supremacists - and contribute to the growing number of non-Jewish migrant children. Now, we wouldn't want that, do we?

      No matter that these children learn to speak fluent Hebrew and that they identify as Israelis as they grow up, and that the road to citizenship for them is a maze of Kafkaesque bureaucracies. No, Israeli citizenship is reserved for the right kind.

  • 'NYT' beats a dead horse
    • Surcouf February 15, 2011 at 3:47 pm

      Citizen - the conduct of the Obama administration in regards to supporting the pro-democracy protesters has been little more than lukewarm initially, shameful at times when the regime was hitting back, and playing catch-up when it was clear where the momentum was, and as you said: a “too late” showing now absorbed by the whole Middle East.

      Some analysts and pundits have pointed out to possible internal conflicts between the White House and the Mrs. Clinton's State Department as for in what direction the American response should go, the “Wisner Affair” being an example of that conflict. Apparently Obama was mad as hell when he heard of Wisner's comments in Germany about Mubarak and instructed John Kerry to hit the Sunday shows to neutralize the effect. If anything, this only demonstrates the power struggle taking place right now within the top echelons of the Obama administration.

      Another example of how that changing power dynamic triggered by the events in Egypt is being played out in Washington was the statement made by James Steinberg of the State Department on the question of the US using its veto on the UNSC resolution about the illegality of Israeli settlements. What was the need to make such public announcement now other than wanting to corner Obama and prevent beforehand the possibility of the US to abstain on the vote. The Israeli interests lost on the Egypt question but they made sure they wouldn't in the UNSC. Or maybe this is just my Machiavellian mind running wild...

    • Surcouf February 15, 2011 at 10:44 am with 4 replies

      The desire by the likes of Avishai, Hertzberg, Goldberg and others to revive the so-called "Peace Process" has nothing to do with the aim of achieving meaningful and lasting results. They know full well that as long as the Israeli polity remains in the control of Right-wing Likudniks plus Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas supporters no agreement can ever be found with the Palestinians.

      So why bother with reviving the negotiations? Well, without negotiations, the isolation of Israel on the world stage will only grow. The nakedness of Israeli aggressions on the Palestinian population, be it within Israel proper or in the OT, will be seen for what it is - a racist supremacist enterprise aiming to subjugate other human beings. And this is exactly what they fear. The only thing that the negotiations have accomplished so far is to provide cover for the continuation of the Zionist project of dispossession of Palestinian rights and land.

      The events in Egypt have only made their call for renewed negotiations more urgent, and desperate, as they can all foresee that a future Egyptian government, in tuned with its population, will be less, not more, amenable to American and Israeli agenda towards Palestinians. The supporters of renewed talks understand that Israeli governments had it good until now and that the power dynamic is shifting away from Israel. The responses by the current Israeli government in the coming weeks and months will show if it understands that the power dynamic has changed. But don't hold your breath!

  • But we don't live in an ideal world
    • Surcouf February 15, 2011 at 5:35 pm with 4 replies

      eee,
      I am an atheist, but a Christian nonetheless. Once I understood, with great sorrow I must add, that my upbringing had imprinted on me some ways of life I could not part with, even though I rejected all religious and spiritual meanings of these ways of life, I accepted that part of me will for ever be Christian.

      Does that make me part of a Christian nation. Not at all. As an atheist, would I want to live in a Christian state. No thanks. I meet regularly other atheist Christian friends of mine when I travel to Europe. We share many things in common but many things also separate us. Last year, as a guest, I attended a baptism ceremony in France. For my friends, this ceremony had no religious meaning whatsoever, it was simply a rite of passage to welcome this new child in their family, for themselves and their friends. Did that event made us part of a Christian nation? No pun intended but, God no!

      An atheist Canadian friend of mine, who happens to have been brought up in a religious Jewish family, went to Argentina where he lived there for 2 years while studying music in Buenos Aires. As you probably know, Buenos Aires is home to a large Jewish community. He met with members of that community that introduced him to Polo games on Saturdays, to asado (Argentinian BBQ) in the country side, to every thing that made them proud of being Argentinians. Did my atheist Jewish friend - he is from Montreal, Canada - feel at any time that he was part of a Jewish nation? I'm sorry to say he didn't. Sure he recognized that they had commonalities in certain ways of life but all in all he felt more Canadian there than ever before. He missed playing hockey at the local ice ring with his friends and going out to watch a game of the Montreal Canadien, Polo just didn't do it for him.

      So you happen to be an Israeli atheist Jew and he happens to be a Canadian atheist Jew. Does that make you part of the same nation? My Canadian friend would say: Hell no!

  • Liberals say now is time to get two-state solution
    • Surcouf February 14, 2011 at 2:07 pm

      The so-called Liberal-Zionist supporters, all of them, are now desperately trying to pry open the proverbial narrow window of the known-dead 2SS, a window that has been closed thanks to various Israeli government policies since 1993, a window that the current Netanyahu government has been bent on shutting completely since taking power.

      No Arab governments and/or Arab politicians in the region have put a gun to the Israeli government's head and forced it to build those Jewish-only settlements since '67 at the expense of Palestinians.

      No Arab governments and/or Arab politicians in the region have called for the setting-up of a matrix of control in the Palestinian Occupied Territories that increasingly resembles the shameful legacy of White South Africa, with the intended goal of choking off the human and civil rights of a caged population.

      No Arab governments and/or Arab politicians in the region have asked the Israeli government to put in place a series of laws designed to disenfranchise 20% of its OWN population and which, in fact, have made discrimination against one human group a policy of the state, with new such obscene laws currently being tabled before the parliament of a democracy.

      Yes, some Arab governments and/or Arab politicians have been complicit in letting these policies being implemented, their complicity being generously bought and bribed by both American and Israeli Zionists.

      No, this is NOT going to continue as it did. Finally now, some Arab governments and/or some Arab politicians, backed by the legitimacy of democracy, are about to ask that all of the above should cease immediately.

      The desperation we witness on the part of Liberal-Zionist supporters of Israel is born out of their fear that the current Israeli administration will be unwilling and unable to roll back 63 years of racist behaviors that are increasingly seen by the rest of the world for what they are. For some supporters the message is clear - Israel must be saved from itself. For other supporters, but fewer, it goes further - Israel must be saved from Zionism.

      But rest assure, what democracy in the Arab World is about to ask in no uncertain terms is the complete dismantling of the barbarous policies which Zionism has been build on since 1948.

  • Another Israeli gives Americans bad advice
    • Surcouf February 14, 2011 at 10:19 am with 4 replies

      Another Israeli gives American GOOD advice,
      but will they listen...

      From Ilan Pappe in The Electronic Intifada today : Egypt's revolution and Israel: "Bad for the Jews"

      The gist of the Israeli narrative is simple: this is an Iranian-like revolution helped by Al Jazeera and stupidly allowed by US President Barack Obama, who is a new Jimmy Carter, and a stupefied world.

      ...what is at stake here is the pretence that Israel is a stable, civilized, western island in a rough sea of Islamic barbarism and Arab fanaticism. The "danger" for Israel is that the cartography would be the same but the geography would change. It would still be an island but of barbarism and fanaticism in a sea of newly formed egalitarian and democratic states.

      The Egyptian Revolution can bring a closure to more than a century of Zionist colonization and dispossession, to be replaced by more equitable reconciliation between the Palestinian victims of these criminal policies wherever they are and the Jewish community. This reconciliation would be built on the basis of the Palestinian right of return and on all the other rights the people of Egypt so bravely fought for in the last twenty days...But trust the Israelis not to miss an opportunity to miss peace.

      The whole article is worth reading and is certainly a more intelligent analysis than Morris' drivels.

  • Mubarak is out! Hands power to military as Egyptians hit the streets on ‘Farewell Friday’
    • Surcouf February 11, 2011 at 8:05 pm

      No there won't be!
      Egypt has now returned to its Arabic roots and destiny after 30 yrs of neutered isolation. This new Egypt will act as true brothers and sisters to their Palestinian-kins.

    • Surcouf February 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm with 1 replies

      annie, seafoid - some beautiful pictures to be found at the Boston Globe - The Big Picture - Egypt: the wait.

      Egypt: the wait

      Enjoy!

    • Surcouf February 11, 2011 at 4:34 pm with 1 replies

      You've got to love the irony.

      From Salon website:
      Protesting against Bush's violent means of spreading democracy, a loosely formed group organized the largest demonstrations in Egypt's history around the March 20, 2003, invasion [of Iraq]. They eventually became known as Kefaya, meaning "Enough." Adopting the mission to bring down Mubarak and restore power to the Egyptian people, Kefaya held regular protests that called for the end of the emergency law, more freedom for the Egyptian people, and better handling of the economy – essentially similar demands seen in Tahrir Square today.

      Out of Kefaya grew the April 6 Youth Movement whose members and affiliates played an integral role in this year's #Jan25 demonstrations.

      This is a case when History comes back to bite you in the *ss! I guess the neocons and their right-wing Likudnik friends didn't see this one coming.

      Anatomy of a revolution

    • Surcouf February 11, 2011 at 1:49 pm with 5 replies

      Taxi - Daniel Levy has a good article in the form a wake-up call for Israel in today's Haaretz English edition.

      According to his analysis Israel now has 3 options.
      1) Dig in with Might is right favored by Netanyahu.
      2) Return to the Peace process.
      Neither will work - 1) will worsen Israel's predicament and 2) is too little too late.
      His third option is a road never traveled by Israel, and I don't believe it has a chance in hell to succeed.
      3 a) an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines almost without preconditions or exceptions;
      3 b) Israel should undertake an act of genuine acknowledgement of the dispossession and displacement visited on the Palestinian people;
      3 c) a clear Israeli commitment to full equality for all of its citizens - full civil rights for the Palestinian Arab minority.

      I'd like to be optimistic but I can't see this third option being accepted by the Lieberman/Netanyahu government as this is going too far against the Zionist ideology.

      Egypt unrest could improve Israel ties

    • Surcouf February 11, 2011 at 12:11 pm with 1 replies

      From The Guardian news feed: Mubarak picked an auspicious date to resign. On this day 32 years ago the Iranian revolution took place when the Shah's forces were overwhelmed. And 21 years ago today Nelson Mandela was freed by the apartheid regime in South Africa.

    • Surcouf February 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm with 4 replies

      30 years of a stale and sclerotic regime now gone!!!!
      What a sight on AJE and BBC World! People hugging and chanting, cars honking!
      Beautiful!
      Tunisia, one down!
      Egypt, two down!
      Where will the third one be! What about the Fatah-led PA now?!
      The Arab world is finally breaking the chains of oppression.

      They have shown so much resolve, stamina, dignity and humanity.
      Can anyone claim that the people of Egypt are not ready for democracy.

      This day will also be remembered as the day when Israel's impunity ended.
      It's a new world now and the power is shifting away from the Zionist agenda.
      Most beautiful day for fundamental rights for EVERYONE, including Palestinians.

  • ‘NYT’ says two-state solution should be saved by building 25-mile tunnel so that Israelis don’t have to see Palestinians traveling to Gaza
    • Surcouf February 8, 2011 at 1:04 pm with 2 replies

      Mr. Avishai seems to be in good company judging by the comments from his own website where this NYT article is also linked.

      From one commenter:
      ... The Arabs do not want a peace agreement on any terms. They will not give up the demand for unlimited "Right of Return" which no Israeli government will ever agree to. I don't understand why people keep repeating the myth that the problem is the "settlements"...

      The Makings of America's Peace Plan

  • Obama's greenlight to Mubarak brings bloodshed to Egypt
    • Surcouf February 2, 2011 at 5:04 pm with 1 replies

      OT but important: to our American friends,

      Comments from Link TV about a simulcasting for about 12 hours a day of live Al-Jazeera coverage to about 33 million of nearly 116 million homes with televisions in the USA. Al Jazeera coverage on its DirecTV satellite channel (owned by a Mr. Rupert Murdoch), which for those of you with DirecTV is on channel 375:

      From their website:
      ALERT (2/2/11) - Programming will be interrupted by a LIVE broadcast of Al Jazeera English during these times:

      2:00pm - 2:30pm PT
      4:00pm - 4:30pm PT
      5:00pm - 7:30pm PT

      DISH Ch. 9410 & DirecTV Ch. 375

  • The Egyptian revolution is coming– to the U.S.A.
    • Surcouf February 1, 2011 at 1:05 pm

      Thanks James for clarifying.
      I have not been posting on this site for very long but I've been following it for over 2 years. What I've learned though, and that I am sure, is that the only person Richard has been able to fool is himself.

    • Surcouf February 1, 2011 at 12:56 pm

      Thanks annie for pointing this out! Much appreciated.

    • Surcouf February 1, 2011 at 12:44 pm with 9 replies

      sherbrsi - in support of your comment.
      In today's Haaretz editorial:

      1) This view (support for dictatorial stability) led Israel to disregard the citizens of neighboring countries, viewing them as devoid of political influence in the best case and as hostile Israel-haters in the worst case. Israel viewed itself as a Western outpost and displayed no interest in the language, culture and public opinion of its immediate surroundings. Integration into the Middle East seemed like a trivial, if not a downright harmful, fantasy. As a result, Israel never prepared for the changes that were occurring behind the sclerotic facade of these countries' rulers.

      2) The time has come to start preparing for a new regional order. Instead of clinging to the old, collapsing order, Netanyahu must seek peace agreements with both the Palestinians and with Syria in order to make Israel a more welcome and desirable neighbor.

    • Surcouf February 1, 2011 at 11:22 am

      Bravo Phil and thank you!

      Am I the only one to think that the end of the Jim Crow-like policies Palestinian Israelis are subjected to, and the Apartheid-like conditions OPT Palestinians are condemned to, is closer than we thought?

  • The widening double standard
    • Surcouf February 1, 2011 at 9:15 am with 1 replies

      “...Arab party will ever be included in any government coalition under the status quo...”

      This is simply amazing isn't it. It boggles the mind. Palestinian Israelis represent 20% of Israeli population and they have never been able to participate it the power structure of their state (they're citizens of that state after all) other than in token positions. What about a Palestinian Israeli as minister of defence, or as minister of finance, or as Prime Minister (Obama anyone!!!).

      But silly me I forgot, just like Tzipi Livni was reported as saying in the Palestine Papers : “Israel is for the Jewish people”, not for these uppity Arabs.

  • A democratic Egypt may save Palestinian and Lebanese lives
    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 10:28 pm with 3 replies

      Taxi - You are right in saying that the real test of Egypt’s liberation will be the Egypt-Gaza border issue. If ElBaradei is part of a national salvation government it won't be long before it's put on their agenda.

      Last April ElBaradei was saying that Gaza was the world’s largest jail. He was very critical of Mubarak's decision, at the insistence of US and Israel of course, to construct a steel wall along the border with Gaza. His quote : “The logical solution to the problem would be to close the tunnels and open border crossings while creating a free trade zone in Rafah where Palestinians can trade and then return to Gaza.”

      On the peace process : “The peace process has become a stupid joke which we talk about without achieving any progress,” adding that “the Arabs should back their negotiation option with force and deterrence.”

      Neocons and right wing Israelis hate him with passion because he was outspoken about the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the US-led invasion in 2003 when he was heading the IAEA.

      Now, do you think that Washington wants this guy to head a new national salvation government.

  • Brooklyn College does right thing and rehires Kristofer Petersen-Overton
    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 9:44 pm

      yonira- Not at all. He was fired precisely because of his views on Israel.

      Dov Hikind, in his letter to Brooklyn College President Karen Gould, clearly stated that, according to him, recommended readings by Ilan Pappé and Neve Gordon are not kosher when it comes to the ME.

      Anyone who knows how academic department works, knows that an adjunct professor must submit their syllabus to the department's head for approval. I guess Dov Hikind has more academic credentials when its comes to the ME than Mr. Petersen-Overton's boss.

      But the funny thing though is that in the same letter he purposely avoided to mention that the syllabus also contained articles and books by the likes of Tom Segev, Benny Morris and other Israeli academics. He chose to focus instead on those authors Zionists despise because their work, despite being peer reviewed and critically acclaimed in the international academic arena, do not fit their perverse alternative narrative.

    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 7:58 pm with 5 replies

      Avi - if you haven't already read this:

      College fires professor; views on Israel blamed

      I thought it gave a good summary of this sad story.

  • NYT's Douthat says all that wonderful Middle East stability gave us 9/11
    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 11:02 am

      Thanks Jim for pointing out this article. Eric Margolis is considered by many as the best Canadian journalist on the Middle East. He often says things people don't like to hear but are true, hence his firing from the Toronto Sun.

      Let me just add these 2 citations from the same article:

      1) The Mideast uprisings are poorly understood by most North Americans. The US media frame news of the regional intifada in terms of the faux war on terror, and a false choice between dictatorial "stability" and Islamic political extremism. Much of what’s happening is seen through Israel’s eyes, and is distorted.

      2) Platitudes aside, there is little concern in the US about bringing real democracy and modern society in the Arab world. Washington still wants obedience, not pluralism, in its Mideast Raj, and primacy for Israel in the Levant. As with the British Empire, democracy at home is fine – but it’s not right for the nations of the Arab world.

  • 'Mr President, we have Professor Chomsky on line 2.' 'Noam! Hi! I need to talk to you--'
    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 9:43 am

      Things are about to get a little more complicated for President Obama:
      From Al-Masry Al-Youm
      Tahrir Square protesters say they plan to march Friday to the presidential palace in Heliopolis unless the army makes its stance clear. Youth-led groups issued a statement calling for all Egyptians to march on the palace, the People's Assembly and the television building, in what they are calling the "Friday of Departure." They say the army must choose which side they are on: That of the people, or the regime.

      Protesters give army deadline to choose sides

  • Obama failed to seize the day (and spent his political capital)
    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 3:37 pm

      Obama might have the chance to correct this failure while the events in Egypt continue to unfold. The UNSC resolution on Israel's illegal settlements in the OPT is to come to a vote within the next 2 weeks.

      If Egypt is any warning for things to come in the ME then the Arab block at the UN is very unlikely to dilute the wording of that resolution. In fact, with the help of both the Palestinian Papers and the Egyptian street, the passage of that resolution is now almost assured. The question that remains now is : Is Obama going to at least abstain if he can't bring himself to vote in favor of it. If he chooses to use the US veto, then we'll know that the US influence in the ME is about to be crushed by popular dissent. But after so many disappointments I'm not holding my breath.

    • Surcouf January 31, 2011 at 3:20 pm

      Jim- you meant 1987 about Reagan's soundbite.

  • Homage to Cairo: 'Ordinary people are standing shoulder to shoulder.'
    • Surcouf January 30, 2011 at 4:54 pm with 2 replies

      I just love the Abu Quisling thing! LOL
      But it's not just a rumor. It's been confirmed by the PA controlled Ma'an News Agency : President Mahmoud Abbas contacted his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on Saturday, state media said. “President Abbas affirmed the Palestinian leadership's support for Egyptian security and stability,” Abbas was quoted as saying.
      I guess it takes an irrelevant political thug to recognize another one. Who is in charge of their communication in Ramallah?! It is such a stupid thing to say so late in the game for Mubarak and even for Abbas I should add.

  • Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood vs. Al-Qaeda
    • Surcouf January 30, 2011 at 4:21 pm

      yonira
      This article by Gideon Levy in Haaretz might shed some light for you.

      The Egyptian masses won't play ally to Israel

    • Surcouf January 30, 2011 at 2:57 pm with 1 replies

      Bang on!

      The implied association between the MB and AQ has been a recurrent meme on the part of US right wing Israeli supporters and Israel itself. For them, there is no shade between black and white when it comes to political Islam. In fact, moderate political Islam is seen as even more dangerous because they participate in the political process and hence gain legitimacy which is difficult to deny afterwards (Hamas 2006, Hezbollah 2009, Turkey AKP 2007).

      Knowing full well that the American polity reacts quite easily to the boogeyman scheme, the military-industrial complex, pissed off at the fact that the Soviet Union wittered away without a fight, needed to create a new ''ism'' that allowed for the continuation of unfettered militarism. As both Chas Freeman and Andrew Bacevich have demonstrated in their respective books, this unchecked militarism is about to bring the American economy on its knees.

      How else could you whip into submission an uninformed American public more interested by infotainment than real news.

  • The Egyptian revolution threatens an American-imposed order of Arabophobia and false choices
    • Surcouf January 30, 2011 at 12:15 pm

      Richard - I'll defer to others on this site to judge your liberal Zionist credentials based on your posting history.

      But on the question of Israel being a primary components of the movements we are witnessing it is nil at this stage of the game in my opinion, i.e. it is not the motivator.

      Having said that, and where the connection with Israel is evident for anyone to see, is that a dictatorial regime was maintained in place for 30 years for the benefit of Israel and Pax Americana. You cannot escape the fact that this twisted relationship was not for the benefit of the Egyptian people and the popular discontent we see is proof of that. What Egyptians do know is that throughout this period many of them have been tortured, exiled, imprisoned and killed for no other reasons than maintaining a status quo richly rewarded by American taxpayers at the behest of AIPAC and Israel. I'll leave it to you to ponder on the moral implications of that.

      Now, would this in itself be sufficient to generate ill feelings towards Israel? I'm afraid it could. But if you add to this the fact that the Mubarak regime has been an enabler and willing participant in the illegal blockage of Gaza and stood silently has the IAF pounded Gaza resulting in the death of 400 children, then I would say that any future Egyptian popular government is bound to change its relationship with Israel. At the end of the day Richard, we are all, both individually and collectively, responsible for our actions. And this is what Israel is about to find out!

    • Surcouf January 30, 2011 at 7:00 am

      Richard,
      I believe it depends on how you define ''Israeli liberty''
      If you define it as the liberty for Israel to continue unhindered in its treatment of Palestinians, both Palestinian Israelis and OT Palestinians, just like it has for the last 30 years, thanks among other things to the peace treaty with Egypt, then yes that liberty is about to be restrained in a big way. But don't you think it's a good thing? Don't you think that this is the wake-up call that could save Israel from its doom?

    • Surcouf January 29, 2011 at 8:00 pm with 7 replies

      You missed one Richard.
      There is no need to be that pessimistic.
      It could be 1989, and this is the Arab world Berlin wall moment.
      Signs are sure pointing in that direction.

  • Following the news from Egypt: ‘We are saying enough of this regime! It is a corrupt regime!’
    • Surcouf January 28, 2011 at 1:00 pm

      MRW
      This might have been pointed out by others but with the risk of repeating it you may be able to watch Al Jazeera Live on the Internet.
      I use the website ''Livestation'' at http://www.livestation.com.
      From there you are able to select Al Jazeera in English and/or Arabic. I watch both on two split screens.
      France24 is also available in English and French and their coverage is also very good.
      But you may already know that.

  • Clinton statement celebrates 'civil society' in Middle East
    • Surcouf January 29, 2011 at 1:39 pm

      This is a retype as I believe my last comment did not go through.

      Thank you Potsherd2. My irony and humor is sometimes even missed by my own spouse and does get me into trouble!

    • Surcouf January 28, 2011 at 10:06 pm

      Thanks Ellen!
      So an American company simply flying the flag of one of its most important customer. I guess no shame there.

    • Surcouf January 28, 2011 at 4:30 pm with 6 replies

      Gobsmacked! Ditto!

      Now full disclosure - I am not American.
      Where I live, companies own by foreign interests will sometimes fly their national flag along with our own national flag. It is not very common but it happens. No problem there. Now is this Combined Tactical Systems Inc. an American company? or an Israeli company? If it is an Israeli company I see no problem with this picture. However, if it is an American company why would they fly the flag of a foreign country, and an Israeli flag at that. Why not a Mexican flag? or a French flag? or a Chinese flag? Is this a case of Sarah Palin with an Israeli flag on her lapel? Please enlighten me!

  • The road to Jerusalem leads through Tunis and Cairo
    • Surcouf January 29, 2011 at 3:45 pm with 1 replies

      Wondering Jew,

      You commented on some points I raised and added some of your own.
      I will start with those I raised. Will address yours in a second post.

      ElBaradei:
      ElBaradei sees his role as a facilitator for a transition from a ''pharaohnic dictatorship'' (his words) to a democratic popular representation, something Egyptians have never had. In fact, he has been criticized a lot for not involving himself more closely with the opposition movements, which in itself could be a good thing since neutral arbitrators will be greatly needed in the months to come. As to your assertion that he would be anointed by Mubarak I find it highly unlikely since he has recently said on AlJazeera (today) that he seeks the end of that regime, not its continuation.

      It is also important to keep in mind that he was educated both in Geneva and in NY, currently resides in Vienna, and has therefore experienced first hand functioning democracies in action. I think he aspires nothing less for Egypt. What ElBaradei will not be, and this is where the GOI gets antsy, is to be as pro-American policy or as pro-Israeli policy (I suspect they're the same) than the Mubarak dictatorship was. American and Israeli policy makers reached the top of their influence in Egypt with Mubarak. Anything after that is downhill. It is a change the GOI does not welcome but it will have to deal with this new realpolitik. They had it good until now.

      Opening of Egypt-Gaza border:
      Hamas certainly stands to gain from the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border but those gains are not limited to the physical capacity of bring in more missiles or arms. In fact, financially speaking, the opening of the border will translate into a lost of revenues for Hamas since the current tunnel economy benefits mostly them, being those who control it. No, the most important gains to be made by Hamas are in the more moral and political arenas. On the Palestinian side, morally and politically speaking, their standing is bound to improve as they will be seen as those who steadfastly maintained a strong front again Israel, as opposed to the craven way in which the Fatah-led PA has behaved itself, and now the Palestine Papers have made this even more abundantly clear. They will have shown that time is on the side of their cause, on those who don't compromise the rights of Palestinians, if only they had real support among the Arab governments in the region, which Egypt might finally just provide them with.

      From Hamas' perspective they haven't traded anything yet and they are gaining in legitimacy. An new Egyptian support, coupled with the support they already get from Syria, plus the potential new support from Lebanon with the change of government favouring Hezbollah, plus the potential new support from post-Ben Ali Tunisia, it seems to me that they are sitting pretty good there. And this of course is what worries both the GOI and the Fatah-led PA. What the events in Egypt are about to do is to restore the moral and political legitimacy that Hamas had gained through the Palestinian elections of 2006.

    • Surcouf January 28, 2011 at 2:53 pm with 6 replies

      The events in Egypt are bound to have an impact on what will come next on the Palestine question.

      First, irrespective of the outcome of this popular uprising, one thing for sure is that the Mubarak regime is gone. Just like in Tunisia, some sort of national unity government will need to be formed, and just like Tunisians, Egyptians will not tolerate that members of the current NDP participate in that unity government. Such national unity government would remain in place until fair, free and internationally monitored elections are held and translate into a democratic popular representation.

      Second, the setting up of a national unity government will be accompanied by greater, not less, personal freedoms and individual liberties, as it did in Tunisia. The martial law will certainly be lifted. State control of the media will be eliminated.
      Mohamed ElBaradei is bound to play a crucial role in such national unity government. In light of previous statements he has made on the question of Gaza it is fairly accurate to believe that the illegal blockage, in which the Mubarak regime has eagerly participated, will not stand. It is hard to imagine that such a national unity government would continue to participate in the ongoing oppression of their fellow Arab citizens in a cage where they are kept barely at a survival levels. Remember the trend we are witnessing in the Arab world is towards more personal freedoms and individual liberties.

      Third, the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border, providing greater access to the rest of the world to witness the conditions in which they have been kept for so long, would allow Palestinians to move back and forth unhindered and finally get the food commodities, medicines and building materials that they need. Come to think of it, it's as if they would no longer be living under the Israeli matrix of control. Unlike their brethren in the West Bank, Palestinians in Gaza would not be subjected to the violence of illegal settlers high of ziocaine, or the checkpoints with IOF trigger-happy teenagers, or the constant stealing of their land, or the military enforced Apartheid regime which is their daily challenge, or...you get the picture. In fact, Palestinians in Gaza would be better off than the Palestinians in the West Bank, enjoying more freedoms and liberties. This new reality could be the last straw that broke the Fatah-led PA camel's back after the release of the Palestine Papers.

  • Boston Palestine Film Festival starts today
    • Surcouf October 1, 2010 at 12:46 pm with 1 replies

      Shmuel - Go easy with the red wine please!

    • Surcouf October 1, 2010 at 12:11 pm with 1 replies

      bijou - I felt it was a bit off topic in the sense of pouring out my own feelings about this group and their music! Did I say they were excellent by the way! ;-)

    • Surcouf October 1, 2010 at 11:51 am with 8 replies

      A bit off topic – I've discovered ''Le Trio Joubran'' just over a year ago and was completely taken by their music. You should give it a try. Their album Majâz is quite exquisite. The song Masâr, a special tribute to late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, is a good sample of what they can offer.

      You can get their interpretation of Masâr given in Haifa in 2008 here. Crank it up!

      This music really grows into you...well especially after a few glasses of red wine (it's good for your health you know!). You can feel throughout this music the Palestinian historical pain of dispossession but also a defiant resistance filled with hope and the will to overcome!

  • Our cross to bear
    • Surcouf September 21, 2010 at 12:53 pm

      Citizen - Thanks for the link.
      This is a very informative insider's view about Israeli society.
      We don't get to hear that perspective very often and how the brain washing is engineered. One senses that the pressure to conform to the ''norms'' must be so strong.

  • Mearsheimer: There will be no two-state solution, only a greater Israel, and Palestinians will need the int'l community in the coming fight against apartheid
    • Surcouf September 7, 2010 at 1:41 pm with 6 replies

      Avi – the keyword that set them off is Mearsheimer. Prof. Mearsheimer cuts to the chase and lays it bare for everyone to see.

      From his presentation ''The Future of Palestine: Righteous Jews vs. the New Afrikaners'' at the Palestinian Center in Washington, DC, last April:

      ''Regrettably, the two-state solution is now a fantasy. Instead, those territories will be incorporated into a “Greater Israel,” which will be an apartheid state bearing a marked resemblance to white-ruled South Africa. Nevertheless, a Jewish apartheid state is not politically viable over the long term. In the end, it will become a democratic bi-national state, whose politics will be dominated by its Palestinian citizens. In other words, it will cease being a Jewish state, which will mean the end of the Zionist dream.''

      Video & Transcript

      Now, if I were a Zionist, this would be the source of nightmares. And Mearsheimer cannot be silenced or intimidated, and when these talks fail, I suspect that we might see more of him because of what will come up next.

  • The question of apartheid in Israel/Palestine
    • Surcouf August 18, 2010 at 7:16 am

      Avi said : When Sfard was asked that question, it was clear that while his lips told one story, his body language told another.

      And I would add his mind was probably telling another story. Any thoughtful and intelligent Israeli human rights lawyer, such as he comes across in the interview, knows full well that making a public statement about Israeli apartheid before a foreign television crew is not going to be well received within this tight-knit legal community. He knows full well that making such statement is not, at the very least, going to help him achieve his legal goals when he is challenging this system of apartheid in court. Hence his carefully worded statement.

      But just like most legal experts what is important is not what they say but what they write. If one is to look at what Michael Sfard writes in the confine of the litigations he is involved in, one gets a different picture. And the recognition that Israel policies in the OPT is apartheid is explicit. In his petition before the High Court of Justice on January 7th 2007 here is what he had to say:

      Article 7 of his legal brief : We have said “the process for the legal cementing of institutionalized,
      methodical and deliberate discrimination”, to which we will now add the
      broader context – it is a process which is designed to tighten the control of
      one national group over another. Here lies our disgrace at its worst: The
      combination of the two is precisely the legal definition of apartheid.

      Article 43 of his legal brief : In addition, regardless of whether we classify the matter as emanating from the
      international law of human rights or from the general principles of
      international law, the Petitioners shall claim that the Directive creates an
      apartheid regime, as well as a regime of persecution of a national group,
      both of which constitute international crimes.

      The entire legal brief can be found here : Petition for order nisi and interlocutory order

      There is no doubt here that in Michael Sfard's mind if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck.

    • Surcouf August 17, 2010 at 6:44 pm

      Interesting comments on the parallel systems of criminal law.

      Interesting!?! Really!?! Did we watch the same video? Because Interestingwas not the first word that popped into my head while watching it. Despicable was more like it. It made me sick to my stomach to see how the discrimination and segregation against Palestinians by their Israeli overlords was so well planned. It is totally abject to treat other human beings in such a way. How is Israel “humanizing the other” with such policies is beyond me.

      Tell us Richard, do these Israeli policies help “Israel to legitimize itself” or do they help “Israel to delegitimize itself”? I'm curious to know.

  • Israel is delegitimizing itself
    • Surcouf August 17, 2010 at 10:58 am with 3 replies

      Sorry! Typo - should read - ...Siegman in his article...

    • Surcouf August 17, 2010 at 10:54 am with 4 replies

      Siegman is not saying that “Israel is delegitimizing itself”. He is saying that it is going down the wrong track and needs to reform.

      duh! Once again not addressing the fundamental points raised by Siegman in is article but nitpicking the choice of the words in the headline of the post. We've gone through this road before, haven't we? The purpose is obvious; to derail the discussion by focusing on minute, trivial, unnecessary, and unjustified criticism. Doesn't that constitute a form of trolling which the recent new comment rules were supposed to correct? Simply asking.

      Of course, Siegman doesn't specifically says that “Israel is delegitimizing itself”, i.e. he is not using those words exactly However, if one were to read the article in its entirety he states the following :

      Israel's problem is not the Palestinian or Arab refusal to recognize it as a Jewish state. It is, rather, the increasing difficulty of Jews familiar with Jewish values to recognize it as a Jewish state. Rather than demanding that Palestinians declaim on Israel's democratic and Jewish identity, or conjuring non-existent threats to Israel's existence, Netanyahu and his government would be better advised adjusting Israel's policies toward a people that has lived under its unforgiving military occupation in a way that honors their country's democratic and Jewish beginnings. That would contribute far more to its "legitimacy" and to its long-range security than its present undemocratic and very un-Jewish course.

      In other words what Siegman is saying is that, were it not for the Jim Crow-like policies Israel imposes on Palestinian Israelis and the Apartheid-like policies Israel imposes on the Palestinian population in the OT, Israel's "legitimacy" would not be put so much into question. It is precisely because of these policies that “Israel is delegitimizing itself”. Only a blind person would not see that.

  • Israeli soldier mocks Palestinian prisoners in Facebook photos
  • The 'Atlantic' runs a rationale for war by a journalist embedded in the Israeli psychosis
    • Surcouf August 16, 2010 at 8:11 pm

      Psychopathic god - The premise of Lustick's paper is how can Israel, as a European colonialist fragment where the indigenous population was not completely annihilated in the course of the colonial project, avoid the same fate of South Africa, Rhodesia or Pieds-Noirs French Algeria and establish itself as a permanent feature of a non-European landscape. Upon reading Lustick, one can only conclude that the Israeli leadership has been working feverishly towards that same fate. It didn't need to be that way.

    • Surcouf August 16, 2010 at 6:16 pm

      Phil,
      Thank you for pointing out the paper by Ian S. Lustick in your article.
      I've just finished reading it and his comments about Iran are spot on:

      The same pattern of discussing policy options with no regard to their impact on eventual opportunities to advance prospects for peace is apparent in Israel’s reaction to the possibility that Iran could join the club of Middle Eastern nuclear powers. It also reveals the country’s
      abandonment of the Iron Wall pedagogy of coercion. The Israeli definition of the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran is existential and desperate. This is precisely the image of Iran that Ahmedinejad and his allies are seeking to create. It is also worth noting that, once defined in this manner, there is no limit on the measures Israelis can imagine are justified in taking against it. After all, when
      survival is perceived to be at stake, there is neither need nor rationale for thinking about consequences or how to calibrate the use of force to foster positive outcomes or reduce the political fallout of military action. More generally, military options to eliminate the threat can be discussed with no attention to their long-term consequences for peace in the region.

    • Surcouf August 16, 2010 at 3:17 pm with 1 replies

      Great analysis Mr. Weiss. Combined with the response by Trita Parsi on Salon, which provides the proper historical framing of the Iran-Israel relationship, your article exposes Goldberg for what he is : an agent provocateur.

      ''So far the journalists to show up are bloggers, .... But this is a national concern of the most profound character, we need reinforcements.''

      Agreed! Our good friend Andrew Sullivan has indicated on his blog this morning that he would be responding to Goldberg's hasbara upon his return from holiday after Labor Day. It will interesting to see what that response will be like, especially since he is also at The Atlantic.

  • More on the right of return & the one state future
    • Surcouf August 5, 2010 at 2:37 pm

      lysias – Excellent article in the FT, thank you.
      Very rapid demographic processes are at work within Israel, and this is reflected in one hand, in a steadily growing part of Israeli society that is not equipped with the tools or the conditions to cope successfully in a modern economy (the ultra-Orthodox), and in the second hand, in a steadily growing part of Israeli society that is not allowed to take part fully in a modern economy because of racial discrimination and/or security justifications (the Palestinian Israelis).

      Yet, just like this article points out, today the majority of Israeli pupils comes from these 2 groups. According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics the percentage of pupils in ultra-Orthodox primary schools increased from approximately 11% in 1995/96 to approximately 27% in 2007/08 (Source – ICBS : Israel in figures 2009). During the same school year the Arab education branch of the Israeli Ministry of Education reported 234 694 pupils representing 28% of all primary school pupils in Israel (Source ICBS : Table 8.8 of Statistical Abstract of Israel 2009). Combined, this is a total of 55% of the future work force and both groups are steadily increasing.

  • 'a bad country'
    • Surcouf July 29, 2010 at 8:13 pm with 1 replies

      I should 've known! Now it makes sense. It's the trees!

      Israel : We Choose Trees

    • Surcouf July 29, 2010 at 6:11 pm

      Chu - Oh! But these Bedouins are the worst terrorists of all. They practice the most insidious form of terror don't you know. Their WMD (Weapon of Mass Delivery) is called a womb and there is very little Israeli can do against such a high-tech weaponry. The only thing left to be done is to try to prevent them from using their WMD, hence the necessary destruction.

      Move along, there is nothing to see here!

    • Surcouf July 29, 2010 at 4:56 pm with 2 replies

      Stellaa - I've just discovered your blog and wanted to thank you for posting this long presentation by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. It is so important to hear from Palestinians themselves without any filters. :-)

  • The ethnic cleansing of Palestine
    • Surcouf July 29, 2010 at 5:56 am

      My comment was obviously meant for jonah.

    • Surcouf July 29, 2010 at 5:55 am with 1 replies

      I had posted this on a previous thread and I am reposting it to help you educate yourself on the subject. This is 'real' background knowledge from Human Rights Watch. Feel free to comment on the content, after you've read it.

      Some facts about the Negev Bedouins:
      Bedouins population is the youngest in Israeli society, with a natural annual growth rate of 5.5 percent. For those of you not familiar with population statistics, such growth rate results in the total population doubling every 13 years. About 54 percent of the Bedouin population is younger than 14. – Source : jweekly dot com
      Total population is estimated in the lows of 155 000 to highs of 185 000.
      For this reason the Bedouin are seen as a demographic threat to the maintenance of a Jewish majority in the Negev region.

      Human Rights Watch has a very revealing report on the treatment of Negev Bedouins by the state of Israel since 1948. It is 128 pages long but it provides in horrific details the systematic discrimination visited upon them by their own government – remember these are Israeli citizens, but, alas, not Jewish. Had they been Jewish, their government would have lavished them with a $600 million project, named Blueprint Negev, for the establishment of Aliyah immigrants.

      HRW Report – Off the map

  • Nema Abu Said, a 33-year-old mother of five, killed in Gaza flechette attack
    • Surcouf July 28, 2010 at 7:37 am with 11 replies

      Shingo – I couldn't agree more with what you wrote.
      I have joined this blog just recently but had been following it for almost 1 ½ year. The pattern you describe is just that : Zionists' arguments are based on equivocation, misrepresentation, prevarication and double speak mixed with feelings of victimhood, self-rightousness and entitlement.

      People who have gotten used to privilege under a system based on ethnic discrimination see its abrogation as a threat to their welfare, because truly the result of the implementation of the Zionist ideology is just that. That's why the likes of WJ fear the 1SS. You hit the nail on its head when you said, and I'm paraphrasing : ''Zionists are only interested in an endorsement of their policies and ideology.''

  • Jeremy Ben-Ami's main argument against BDS is it doesn't affirm Israel's right to exist as Jewish homeland
    • Surcouf July 27, 2010 at 8:30 pm

      The Jewish population of Israel/Palestine is growing faster than the Islamic, and MUCH faster than the Christian.

      I believe that this is inexact. A sub-group of the Jewish population (ultra-orthodox) might experience a higher birth rate than all other sub-groups of the Israeli population but overall the Jewish population is not growing faster than the Palestinian Muslim Israelis or Palestinian Christian Israelis.

      Data from the Israel Bureau of Statistics don't lie. They give a clear picture. I'd like to see the data backing your claim if there are any. You may look at the data I posted further down this thread.

    • Surcouf July 27, 2010 at 8:15 pm

      DellaPergola's analysis of the data indicate that EJ, Golan Heights and Israelis in the WB are included in the Israeli statistics.
      What his data don't mention though are the number of Israelis living abroad (800 000 according to Foreign Affairs), so the Palestinian majority is higher ''on the ground''.

    • Surcouf July 27, 2010 at 7:41 pm

      Annie – Oh! the demographics HAVE already tipped the scales!
      The game is fixed and the Zionists know it!
      Since we could not accuse the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics of inflating the numbers of Palestinian Israelis, let's look at what they say:

      2010
      Jews – 5 619 000 – 74.5%
      Arabs – 1 591 000 – 21.1%
      Others – 332 000 – 4.4%

      In 2025, from the same source, Palestinian Israelis will reach 2 315 000 individuals and represent 25% of the population. What is interesting also is that a disproportionate percentage of the Jewish Israeli population is made up of 65 yrs +. According to the ICBS 94% of all elderly are Jewish and only 6% are Arabs, and the Jewish sub-population with the highest percentage of elderly are FSU Jews.

      ICBS Projections of population

      As for Palestinians in the OT the best recognized authority is probably Sergio DellaPergola from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Mr. DellaPergola has criticized Palestinians Authority officials many times over their so-called ''inflated'' population numbers. So one would think that he is a reliable Israeli source of information. In a paper presented in 2001 titled – Demography in Israel/Palestine:Trends, Prospects, Policy Implications – he makes the following statement :

      Looking now at the grand territorial total of Israel plus the Palestinian Territories, in 2000 a scant Jewish majority prevailed of 53% to 55% according to the mere or enlarged definition of the Jewish population. According to the medium projections such majority will already be gone before 2010 or very soon after (according to Jewish population definitions). By 2020 Jews would constitute 44-47% of the total population of Palestine, and by 2050 their share might further diminish to 35-37%.

      His numbers for 2010 – page 17 of his paper):

      Jews – 5 689 000 – 48.63%
      Palestinian Israelis – 1 555 000 – 13.29%
      Palestinians WB – 2 518 000 – 21.53%
      Palestinians Gaza – 1 645 000 – 14.06%
      Others – 291 000 – 2.49%

      So, as of now the majority between the river and the sea is non-Jewish (51.37%) and Palestinians are the largest group (48.88%). Palestinians will represent 53.3% in 2020, that's 10 yrs from now!

      Sergio DellaPergola's paper

  • Busloads of civilians cheer as Israelis uproot Bedouin village of 200
    • Surcouf July 28, 2010 at 4:27 pm with 2 replies

      Excellent article by Neve Gordon in the The Guardian (Ethnic cleansing in the Israeli Negev) on the destruction of the Bedouin village. Article is also accompanied by a video of the destruction - worth watching even though heart wrenching.

      Ethnic cleansing in the Israeli Negev

      Some facts about the Negev Bedouins:
      Bedouins population is the youngest in Israeli society, with a natural annual growth rate of 5.5 percent. For those of you not familiar with population statistics, such growth rate results in the total population doubling every 13 years. About 54 percent of the Bedouin population is younger than 14. - Source : jweekly dot com
      Total population is estimated in the lows of 155 000 to highs of 185 000.
      For this reason the Bedouin are seen as a demographic threat to the maintenance of a Jewish majority in the Negev region.

      Human Rights Watch has a very revealing report on the treatment of Negev Bedouins by the state of Israel since 1948. It is 128 pages long but it provides in horrific details the systematic discrimination visited upon them by their own government – remember these are Israeli citizens, but, alas, not Jewish. Had they been Jewish, their government would have lavished them with a $600 million project, named Blueprint Negev, for the establishment of Aliyah immigrants.

      HRW Report – Off the map

  • L.A. Times: ‘Many’ Palestinians 'prefer the one-state solution'
    • Surcouf July 26, 2010 at 8:46 pm

      ''I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t start off right away with the name calling''

      That was not name calling. It was simply meant to show you how racially loaded your ''scary'' comment was. It was as inappropriate as would have been the following sentence : - Scary- that a one state solution will lead to an Black majority with consequences of White expulsion or more probably flight.

      ''But it is not clear if that majority would be the ones who would be in control of the guns and the government.''

      What is clear though is that in the current situation a majority of Zionists is in control of the guns and the government and they have used both to subdue Palestinian Israelis since '48 and occupy and deny civil rights to OT Palestinians since '67. So your fears are based on the fact that you wouldn't want to be treated the way Palestinians have been treated by Zionists. That's understandable.

      However, I believe that Palestinians will rightly say : Never again! But this time they will really mean it and it won't be limited just to their tribe, unlike...

      ''...this certainly is not indicative of a mood of reconciliation.''

      Oh! There's been plenty of reconciliation in the South African case. In fact, many are surprised at how little political violence resulted from the change to a black majority government. Sure, some will point to the criminal violence occurring in SA but it must be understood in the context of a native population which was subjected to 300 years of colonialism and 50 years of racial segregation. White South Africans might have lost their political power but they still retain their economic one to this day.

      One cannot attribute the flight of 1 million of white South Africans to a lack of reconciliation. The power structure was changed and those who benefited from the old order lost their racially obtained privileges. I see nothing wrong with that. I guess they could not bare the thought that they no longer ruled the day. In the same vain, I suspect that some Zionist Israelis might just do the same as well in a 1SS. In this day and age one cannot justify to rule over another people because of race or creed.

    • Surcouf July 26, 2010 at 5:25 pm with 10 replies

      ''Scary- that a one state solution will lead to an Arab majority with consequences of Jewish expulsion or more probably flight.''

      Well, that's speaking like a true Zionist Afrikaner.
      Tell me WJ, why would Palestinians lower themselves to commit despicable acts that were committed on them by Zionists. As it occured to you that they might live up to a higher standard that yours. That they might show a magnanimity they were never shown. As for flight of Jewish population, that could well happen – almost 1 million white South Africans have left since the ANC take-over. But those were individual choices, not a policy by the newly formed South African government to expel them. Probably the most racist elements among them took off to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I believe that South Africa is probably a better place without them today.

    • Surcouf July 26, 2010 at 3:38 pm

      Sorry! Forgot to put the link of Avnery's article.

      Zionist Right One State Model

    • Surcouf July 26, 2010 at 3:34 pm with 3 replies

      Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery has also a good article on the Zionist Right new found love for a One State/Greater Israel scenario. According to his analysis of the various scenarios being thrown around, all proposals boil down to this:

      1) all of them exclude the Gaza Strip from the proposed solution. Gaza will no longer be a part of the country. Thus, the number of Palestinians will be reduced by 1.5 million, improving the menacing demographic balance Zionist are so scared of.

      2) the one state will, of course, be a Jewish state.

      3) the annexation of the West Bank will take place at once, so that the building of settlements can go on undisturbed. In a Greater Israel, the settlement enterprise cannot be limited.

      4) There is no way to grant citizenship to all Palestinian forthwith. As some advocates of this new vision said : ''...a process that will take from about a decade to a generation, and at its conclusion the Palestinians will enjoy full personal rights, but the state will remain, in its symbols and spirit, Jewish…''

      If you read the comments made by the likes of Tzipi Hutubeli, an MK on the extreme fringe of Likud, and others it makes apartheid look good.

      Nowhere do they talk about justice, civil rights, and human dignity. Their only concern is that the new state be a Jewish state, and as for democratic, as defined in the Western World, well...that just doesn't seem to be a Jewish value.

  • Aslan says 2-state solution is dead, and Indyk calls him a liar
    • Surcouf July 23, 2010 at 1:18 pm

      Thanks for the link Kathleen.
      Very interesting interview with Mr. Walt.
      As Walt is saying, the amateurish behavior of the Obama's administration demonstrates that it had not thought out clearly the eventuality of Netanyahu digging his heals the way he did.
      What do you then? Well, you fold as they did. They never imagined that Netanyahu would stand up to this newly elected post-racial American President who was very popular then.

      On the topic of Iran, he is right in saying that the people involved now are the same people that advocated for the Iraq War then. M.J. Rosenberg was claiming this week on TPMCafé that IOF Corporal Jeffrey Goldberg ''was busy at work on a magnum opus for "The Atlantic" calling for a bombing attack by the United States on Iran.'' This piece of hasbara propaganda should appear in the August edition.

      MJ Rosenberg : Get Ready for Iran War

  • Inside the Cosmetics convention, Ahava boss denies the Occupation
    • Surcouf July 22, 2010 at 2:39 pm with 1 replies

      rachelgolem,
      Just to let you know that your spoof web site has been reported to Democracy Now! corporate office in New York for misuse and abuse of their corporate identity.
      They should contact you soon via their attorneys.
      I provided them with your hotmail address as well.
      Your juvenile prank about Rachel Corrie was rather tasteless but what can we expect from someone high on ziocaine.

  • An unqualified defense of Helen Thomas
  • Blinding the witnesses
  • Can the Israeli government kill Americans with impunity?
    • Surcouf June 3, 2010 at 3:29 pm

      I guess you are right Frances, he wasn't a REAL American. But would REAL Americans say about this? Juan Cole clears it up for us:

      Hey, Tea Party. A foreign navy boarded an unarmed ship flying the flag of a NATO member in international waters and shot dead an American citizen with four bullets to the head and one in the chest on Memorial Day. It did this while the head of the belligerent state was on his way to a state visit to Washington, DC, to be awarded a further $200 million in aid on top of the $3 billion of American taxpayer money the US gives away to him every year.
      If you are not upset by this, your tea is weak, man. Weak.

      This is a link

  • Israel is becoming a liability for the United States
    • Surcouf June 3, 2010 at 12:53 pm

      – A few questions to the apologist friends of Israel:
      Will the recent raid on the Marmara help to stop/slow the BDS movement or will it galvanize the said movement?
      Will it ensure the final passage by the European Parliament of the Association Agreement between Israel and the EU recently agreed?
      Will it convince the new British government to modify its Universal Jurisdiction Law that currently allows UK courts to issue arrest warrants for Israeli politicians?
      Will it facilitate the adoption of a UNSC resolution asking for crippling sanctions against Iran in order to forestall its nuclear technology program?
      Will it advance Israel's position in the current proximity talks with the Palestinians?

  • 'MV Rachel Corrie' said to turn around so as to be fitted with video equipment
    • Surcouf June 3, 2010 at 7:45 pm

      TGIA,
      Touché! Even though you are right about Surcouf being the 'Roi des Corsaires' my choice of nic was not intentional. But I must admit it is quite 'à propos' in light of the recent events.

      I actually join Mondoweiss just recently (May 27th - before the Marmara incident) after following this blog for over a year. Why did it take me so long to get on board you might ask? Well, I was taking the time learning about Palestine before I jumped in. What finally got me to register? Would you believe it if I told you it is because of RW. His babbling about liberal Zionism needed to be answered - Liberal Zionism, oxymoron - couldn't take it anymore.

    • Surcouf June 3, 2010 at 4:26 pm with 2 replies

      There could be 2 other reasons for the delay other than the one stated.

      1) The MV Rachel Corrie is Irish owned but is not an Irish registered ship. It is a registered Cambodian-flagged vessel. The delay might then be necessary in order to allow for the re-flagging of the vessel to either Irish or Turkish flag, making the ship either Irish or Turkish territory.

      2) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already stated that future flotilla ships would be escorted to Gaza by Turkish Navy vessels. The delay might in this case allow the said vessels to reach the flotilla before they reach together Gaza territorial waters. If this is the case, we will see who will blink first this time, Erdoğan or Netanyahu.

      Turkish authorities might have asked for this delay for these 2 reasons, especially since we now have learned that the MV Mavi Marmara is not a Turkish-flagged vessel (hence Turkish territory) as originally thought. It is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which weakens Turkish legal position in light of the killing of their 8 nationals.

  • Liberal Zionism, oxymoron
    • Surcouf May 27, 2010 at 12:14 pm

      If Zionism is nationalism, the question remains : Is it a liberal nationalism?

      All nationalisms are based on the concept of an in-group and an out-group; us and them.
      In fact, it can be argued that nationalism is inherently illiberal by the very act of creating this distinction. Hence the need to differentiate between ethnic nationalism (originating in 19th century Europe) and civic nationalism (exemplified by representative democracies such as the United States and France).

      We all have seen the consequences of ethnic nationalism when it becomes the ideology of a state. This is why most, if not all, of Western democracies have moved away from an ethnic nationalist definition of their political entity to a civic nationalist definition. In that context, the state affords equal rights, both in theory (its laws) and practice (its judicial system) to all of its citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, gender, language, race, creed, etc.

      This is where Israel fails the test of liberalism. Where as it certainly cannot be denied the claim that Zionism is nationalism it certainly cannot be attributed the definition of a liberal nationalism. By its very own admission, Israel, the political entity, is defined a Jewish state, an ethno-religious identification. Jewish citizens, the in-group, are afforded special and privileged rights over the non-Jewish citizens, the out-group. This cognitive dissonance between liberalism and Zionism has simply been acknowledged by Peter Beinart.

      This is a long comment to simply say that liberal Zionism is most definitely an oxymoron.

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